Hi there. This is the second chapter which is relatively short but I promise the next chapter will be better. But that can't really be trusted because I have been known to break promises. Anyway next chapter will be starring one Paradizo and one Fowl. It's not Artemis, but there's more than one Fowl in the family, right? I should stop giving spoilers. I will try to update the next chapter as soon as I finish my projects and not to mention start studying for my End Of Year, which I promise to myself I will get really good grades for my science...
Just a little something. I did get back my bio paper, sobbed over it, then vented my anger in the form of arguing with my teacher and celebrated after I got an extra half mark. Yes I am that desperate. Now the disclaimer: I'm pretty sure my desperate state of mind cannot be compared to that of the brilliant Eoin Colfer's.
Chapter 2
Minerva just could not sleep after that. She picked up the phone.
"Butler speaking."
"Butler, it's me, Minerva."
"Hello there Minerva. I'm sorry but Artemis is still not back yet."
Minerva's grip on the phone slackened. "Oh," she said. "There's no need to feel sorry, old friend."
"It's three in the morning. How come you're still not asleep yet?" he asked, trying not to yawn.
"I'm sorry for calling you at a time like this but..."
"Let me guess. Artemis is haunting you."
Minerva nodded. "The last dream I just had he came back to kill me with Abbot's sword," she said. "I couldn't sleep after that."
"I understand you," Butler said.
"But it's not just Artemis," Minerva spoke up. Butler stayed silent, urging her to speak. "Holly and No1 too."
"No1?" Butler said, rather amused but managed to replace that with disbelief.
Minerva's eyes widened. "I know. He was chasing me off the cliff and zapped me to the moon and he conjured this gigantic boulder to flatten me," she said and turned away from the speaker. She sobbed into her fist, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Butler sighed. Poor girl, he thought, racked with guilt until she's dreaming about No1 murdering her on the moon. And I should be the one at fault. "Actually, Minerva,"he said and that heavy, sinking feeling came back. "I think it's mostly my fault."
"No!" Minerva exclaimed. "No. It was me. You did what had to be done. It was me."
Butler sighed again as he listened to another round of sobs. He knew how Minerva felt. Guilt. he got over it for a while but it seems to just haunt Minerva. And she was the one who said harboring negative feelings impact mental health. She was so guilty she was pretty depressed about it. "Listen, Minerva. What's done is done. You cannot go back in time. Okay, so maybe Artemis did go back in time, but that's not the point. I mean that you did what you thought was appropriate at the time, and the consequences that followed could not be changed. There are other factors to that, and it's not entirely your fault," he said in a stern but comforting way.
Minerva sniffed. "Thank you, butler," she said in between sobs.
"I will let you know if Artemis is back," he said.
"Thank you Butler," she said again. "Thank you."
She put the phone down and blew her nose. Artemis is lucky to have a man like Butler, she thought as another tear trickled down. Oh, Artemis.
Five hours later
Minerva sat at the table, where breakfast was waiting. "Feeling better, Minerva?" Gaspard asked. Minerva forced a smile and nodded. She stared at her plate, fiddling with her food.
"Minerva's been crying. Her eyes are red and puffy," Beau, Minerva's little brother, said. "Crying over her boyfriend."
Minerva directed her eyes on her food as Gaspard looked at her. "Beau's right. are you really feeling better?"
Minerva stood up. "You're right," she said. "I'm not feeling better. There's no point in trying to tell me to forget all about it because I won't." She turned to Beau. "And he's not my boyfriend!" she yelled and returned to her room.
Minerva was face down in her pillow, crying soft sobs. She willed herself to stop and remembered what Butler had said.
"What's done is done. You cannot go back in time. You did what you thought was appropriate at the time, and the consequences that followed could not be changed."
But couldn't she go back into the past? There was a time tunnel, there was. Artemis disappeared into one. The question is, can she find a way to get into it without the help of demons? She did not have the files. But she knew someone who did.
She picked up the phone again. "Butler? Yes, it's me again. No, I'm fine. Tell me, am I welcomed at Fowl Manor?"
