A/N: This chapter actually contains some action (yay!) and starts to set up the plot. Enjoy! :D
Chapter 2;
There was no other way to put it: Holly felt good. Like all fairies, she loved to fly. But as she soared over the Irish countryside, her suit protecting her from the bitter winter air, she knew it was more than that. She was technically here to complete the ritual, but the disapproving look Trouble had given her as he signed her visa had made it clear that he knew what her primary motivation was. Still, that didn't mean she wouldn't take the opportunity to top up her tank. In fact, she had shielded most of the way to Ireland to justify taking a riskier (and far more interesting) land route, and wasn't quite as full as she had been.
The real question, however, was; what should she do first? See Artemis or complete the ritual? Despite her excitement to see her human friend, she knew the smart call was the ritual. Just in case she needed magic – she was visiting Artemis Fowl after all, who knew what could happen? Besides, if did restore her magic first, it would be far easier to sneak up on him using her shield and make him jump. Watch out Mud Boy, she thought, smirking
She scanned for nearby ritual sites. There was Tara of course, but on a beautiful night like this it would be jam-packed with surface-sick fairies. Instead she selected a more obscure site, made difficult to access by a few bogs. She smiled, remembering having a very similar train of thought many years ago. She had used the same reasoning to choose this particular ritual site after a disastrous encounter with a troll in Southern Italy. It had turned out to be a spectacularly poor decision that had resulted in her being kidnapped and held to ransom by Artemis Fowl. Still, that didn't mean her logic hadn't been sound, did it? And if she was honest with herself, hadn't her unfortunate encounter with Artemis ended up working out better for everyone involved? Certainly neither she or Artemis would be the people they were today otherwise; not to mention the People would probably have been revealed by Opal Koboi or Minerva Paradizo without Artemis's help. And, she realised, I would be lying dead in the ash on Hybras. She shivered at the memory.
She landed lightly after reaching her destination and it took her only a moment to scan her surroundings for humans. Satisfied, she removed her helmet, and shook out her auburn hair. She took a deep breath of fresh air (at least, fresher than the recycled air in Haven) and stepped forward to pluck an acorn.
When Artemis had ambushed Holly all those years ago, luck had saved her from Butler's first dart – she had crouched at the instant it was fired. Ladislav Petrov didn't mess around with hypodermic darts, and he certainly didn't miss. The 7.62mm round from his modified M14 rifle tore straight through Holly's LEP uniform and ripped apart her thigh.
The elf screamed and went down, blue sparks already dancing towards the mess of mangled flesh and shattered bone. Doing her best to ignore the white hot knives of pain shooting from her leg to her brain, Holly just about managed to reach a desperate hand towards her discarded helmet, but it didn't matter. A combination of pain and the magical healing process claimed her consciousness. She never saw the pair of figures approaching her, clad all in black and cradling automatic rifles.
Artemis may have been exceptionally good at hiding his emotions, but Butler had long since learnt to identify when his young charge was worried. And something was definitely bothering him now.
"Artemis?" he asked, tentatively. "What's wrong?"
Artemis looked up from his laptop, obviously startled. "Oh it's you, Butler. Sorry I didn't realise you were there. I'm a little preoccupied at the moment." He tried smiling apologetically as though it was no big deal, but his bodyguard was not so easily deterred.
"Don't avoid the question, Artemis. I know something is wrong. I thought we agreed you weren't going to keep secrets anymore?"
It didn't take a genius – even though Artemis was – to spot the obvious guilt trip about Artemis's behaviour when he had been in the throes of his Atlantis Complex. He sighed and checked his watch for the twentieth time in as many minutes.
"Holly is supposed to be completing the ritual tonight," he began. "She agreed to stop by here and see how I was getting on since my return, and she said she'd be here half an hour ago. At the absolute latest."
"It's not like her to go back on her word," Butler commented, frowning. "Or to be late for that matter. Perhaps you should call her. Or Foaly."
Artemis cocked his head, and after a moment of thought, began to slowly nod. He twisted his ring (the one that concealed a fairy communicator), and looked distinctly worried when nothing much happened.
"She's not answering," he said quietly. He twisted the ring again and this time, after a moment had passed, there was a response.
"May the fours be with you," exclaimed a rather theatrical-sounding voice. "How may I, the humble yet brilliant Foaly, be of service to you, Mud Boy?"
"I need to know where Holly is," responded Artemis, his tone crisp and business-like. "Now."
"What? No. Firstly, no. Secondly, you don't get to give me orders. Thirdly, no I am definitely not just going to give out the location of LEP officers to random humans. Fourthly-" he paused just long enough for Artemis to realise it was a jibe, "Why? Now I come to think about it, it's actually quite creepy you calling me at god-knows-what hour of the morning to ask so you can stalk my friend. How do you think Holly would react to this, hmm?"
Artemis was briefly stunned into silence, but it didn't take him long to recover. "Stalking? Stalking? It's got nothing to do with stalking, I happen to be worried about the physical well-being of one of my friends, and you accuse me of being a stalker?"
"Worried? What do you mean worried?" Foaly's voice had lost some of its swagger.
"Oh, interested now are we?" Artemis responded, the sneer on his face evident in his tone. "It just so happens that our friend is missing. So perhaps you'd care to tell me where she is?"
"Holly's a big girl, Artemis, she can look after herself. I highly doubt she is missing." There was a pause during which Artemis and Butler could hear Foaly tapping away at keys. "Oh come on Artemis, she's at a ritual site. No abnormal readings whatsoever, just a small gap in data transmission from about forty minutes ago, and that's almost certainly just a glitch. It's almost as if she went to the surface specifically to complete the ritual! Did it ever occur to you that she might be running late? Or maybe she just didn't want to see you? I certainly wouldn't blame her. Now stop wasting the LEP's time and resources on your childish fears. Goodnight Artemis."
Since the call was severed before he could respond, Artemis had to settle for sitting still and quietly fuming. At least, that was until Butler shattered the silence.
"There you go, Artemis. You have your answer. I'm sure Holly is fine."
After a long pause, Artemis nodded his head absently. "I suppose you're probably right," he muttered, but uncertainty was etched in his mismatched eyes.
Artemis woke to thin streams of winter sun dancing across his face. He opened his eyes and squinted angrily at the gap in his curtains. He was dimly aware that he had no recollection of leaving his study the night before, and guessed that Butler had carried him to his room once he had fallen asleep. But before he could dwell on it, another thought sliced through his groggy consciousness.
Holly.
He was instantly awake. He realised that he was still wearing his communicator ring, and without hesitating he twisted it; but there was no response from the elfin captain. Exactly as he had done the night before, he resorted to seeking the aid of the LEP's technical consultant.
"Did Holly return to Haven last night?" he asked, without waiting for Foaly to say anything.
"D'Arvit Artemis, this again?" the centaur sounded like he'd just been woken up by a call he really hadn't wanted to receive. Artemis ignored this.
"This is serious Foaly – answer the question. Did she come back?"
"Yes, no, maybe, I don't know. For goodness sake Mud Boy, I have better things to do with my time than this."
Artemis was famed for being extraordinarily good at staying calm, and for adopting an icy mask of composure on the rare occasions that he wasn't. Even so, he came very close to losing his temper at that moment.
"No you bloody well don't! She isn't here, she isn't answering any of my calls, and I'd be willing to bet that she isn't in Haven either. She is one of the best officers – if not the best officer – in the LEP. More than that, she is your friend. So, for the third time, where is she?"
There was a long silence, finally broken by Foaly. "That's odd," he said softly. "She's still at the ritual site. Maybe she slept there…?"
"Sure," Artemis snorted, "Holly Short decided she would just spend a casual night sleeping on the surface, in the open, in full view of any humans that happened upon her, without telling anyone. Sounds like just the sort of thing she would do, right?"
"OK, OK. No need to bite my head off. I admit it's not like her, but what else do you think happened? Her vitals are all completely normal, in fact…" he paused, his tone becoming more confused. "According to this all the readings from her suit remained completely consistent throughout the night. She didn't sleep, she didn't move, she didn't do anything. I'll talk to Trouble; he'll want to know about this."
"Tell me which site she's at Foaly; I will be able to reach it long before the LEP can even prepare a recon officer.
Foaly considered it. It was no doubt the most efficient course of action, but then again he didn't imagine Commander Kelp would be thrilled if he outsourced what could be a very important LEP operation to a human. Not just any human either – Trouble wasn't exactly part of the Artemis Fowl fan club. Still, this was Holly and she might be in danger. He had to do what would be best for her.
"OK, Fowl. I'll send the co-ordinates, but only on the condition that you stay in constant contact with me and promise to follow any orders the LEP give you. Oh and take Butler – it could be dangerous."
"Of course," replied Artemis absently. He had already sent a text to Butler explaining the situation and asking him to get ready to enter a hostile area, and was now busy connecting his ring to an earpiece and mic so he could more easily stay in touch with Foaly.
Only fifteen minutes after waking up, Artemis found himself in the passenger seat of the Fowl Bentley. Next to him Butler looked more or less ready to declare war on any number of small countries, with various weaponry and munitions evident all over his person.
A/N: Once again, thanks for reading! And, as before, please review! It means the world to me. :)
