This story is completely separate from Treasured Recollections. If you want to use any of my epilogues as a basis for a post-TLG story, could you let me know so I could read it? If you just like it, thanks.
Remember When...
There was a party the night Artemis Fowl the Second was resurrected. By the time Holly had recounted all of their adventures, Artemis's brilliant mind had been processing at peak condition. His parents had been astounded when they had seen their thought-to-be dead, hospital gown wearing son riding on the back of a centaur, but they had taken it quite well. It seemed like their son could cheat even death with his prodigious intellect.
Now Angeline Fowl was glowing in the living room with its Persian rugs, silk throw pillows, and designer furniture. Her husband Artemis Fowl the First was chatting amiably with Butler, and the twins Myles and Beckett were talking with Foaly though Beckett was mostly trying to convince him to let him ride on his back. Myles actually tried to talk in Foaly's tech language, but was overshadowed by his twin.
"C'mon, I wanna ride!" begged Beckett.
"No, you can't," said Foaly resolutely.
"Why not?"
"Because it is the lowest form of treatment of a centaur."
"'S a what?"
"What he means," explained Myles patiently, "is that you would make him feel like an animal if you were to ride him."
"Exactly. Good job, mini-Artemis."
Mulch and Juliet were arguing-again-, and Holly was by the fireplace alone, swishing some of the wine she never bothered to touch. Artemis was nowhere to be seen, strange since he was the reason they were celebrating. But then he wasn't much of a people person, so it was understandable and extremely frustrating. She sighed and stood to look out the window at the full moon. At its luminescence, she felt the familiar tug that all Fairy Folk felt during the full moon. Though her magic was still pretty strong even from the recent disaster-she had performed the Ritual during the last full moon-Holly still felt like going out and feeling the moonlight on her skin.
She opened the window and hopped out, the cool Irish air brushing against her. She strolled in the Fowl's garden, now a bit overgrown, taking in the night-blooming flowers and the closed buds of others. On a whim, she bent down and picked one of the buds. She rolled it around in her palm absently, but then she caught sight of someone sitting out in a small copse of trees a few hundred feet from the garden. Holly frowned and made her way over to the copse.
As she approached, a faint mumbling voice reached her, "Could it really...no, but maybe...I need evidence...fortunate it's a full moon." She came to the person mumbling, and Artemis looked up, twin crystal blue eyes surprised. "Holly! I-I didn't expect you to find me."
"Aren't I always unexpected?" she said with a smile, sitting down beside him, "What were you mumbling about now?"
He frowned, and he wrung his hands. "It's nothing important, Holly. I'm not even sure if it's even true. If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."
"That's changed, Artemis," she said, punching him in the arm, "Back when we first met, yeah, but not now."
"This is in a different kind of realm."
"Tell me. C'mon, I can take it."
Artemis shifted. "If you insist. Do you remember when I kissed your forehead in order to give Foaly my DNA for the clone?"
"Yeah, and I still want to strangle you for your selflessness." Artemis smiled, and she punched him in the arm again, "but I can't stay mad at you. Not for saving my life for a change."
"Well, when the clone was being reconstructed, I think there was a bit of confusion."
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that your elf DNA rubbed off onto my human DNA, giving me this." He splayed out his pale, spidery hand, and tiny sparks trailed across his hand. Blue sparks, like hers had been. She stared for a long while, and he closed his hand. "I don't know if that is the only gift that elven DNA has given me. I might even have an extended life."
"H-how did you find out?"
"When I looked in the mirror." He parted his hair from around his ears, and both had a slight point at the end. "Apparently Foaly wasn't looking closely enough at my clone. I want to try something, though." He stood and walked over to a gnarled tree, knots prevalent on its trunk. He played with something in his hand, and Holly faintly heard the gurgle of water nearby. He bent down and dug a small hole and placed the something in his hands in it. He covered it, mumbling something under his breath, and stood.
The air around him exploded blue as magic, fresh and thriving, shot through his body. His hands shook, but Holly watched as he wrestled the magic back under control, the last sparks sinking into his skin. He fell back, head just inches from her lap. His eyes were electric, energy thrumming within him. "Well, that was certainly unexpected," he said, smiling slightly.
Holly was in disbelief. What she had witnessed was impossible for the Mud People, but not for this Mud Boy. "Th-that was the Ritual," she whispered, "You-you can really harness magic like an elf." Artemis laughed, the first genuine laugh she had heard from him. "What? What's so funny?"
"I just can't believe it," he said with a grin, "I'm part human, part elf. I'm the start of a new species!"
She poked his forehead. "Way to be modest about it, Mud Boy."
"Except I'm not exactly a Mud Boy anymore. Or at least not a boy."
"You are by my standards." Artemis feigned hurt surprise before he noticed the bud in her hand. He reached out and took it despite Holly's protests, and he studied it closely before a tiny spark traveled from his thumb to the bud. It opened, revealing green petals. He blinked and looked back at her. Without speaking, he put it in her hair. It was such a sudden and un-Artemis-like act that Holly hadn't reacted. Even when she realized what he had done, she didn't move to take the flower. "What was that, Artemis?"
"Just a gift," he said vaguely. He looked up at the starry sky just visible through a circle in the tree branches. Holly lay down beside him, and they studied the stars. "I never noticed just how beautiful the stars were before," Artemis said suddenly, "Beauty was always so trivial in my first life."
"Why?" Holly noted the way he said 'first life' as if this life was completely separate.
"It was unneeded in my view. Appreciated, yes, but not needed. I could have lived a life without beauty and be just as content, but now I know that I could not. Beauty is what ties things together, is what gives everything life. Everything has its own beauty."
"Even Mulch Diggums?" joked Holly.
"Yes, even though one has to dig deep to see it."
She laughed, but then thoughtfully asked, "What brought out this philosophical side?"
"Dying," said Artemis, "brings a new perspective to things. Being dead for an entire month brings more than a new perspective, it turns you into a different person."
"You don't seem that different."
"I'm different, but I suppress it the best I can."
"Why?"
"Because it scares me." Holly fought the urge to hug him. The vulnerability in that statement was something he would have never admitted, and the fact he had admitted it to her of all people made her feel responsible for him.
"It shouldn't. You're like how you've always been. Maybe less of that snarkiness and witty remarks, though."
Artemis smiled. "I thought you liked that about me."
"Only so much, Mud Boy." A comfortable silence passed, and they watched the sky slowly move as the night progressed. The party at the manor died down, but the two of them still watched the sky. A memory came to Holly's mind. "Do you remember when we first met?"
"Do you mean when I tranquilized you not far from Tara?"
"Yeah, and it still stings. What really stands out are my first words to you: 'Stay back, human. You don't know what you're dealing with.'"
"Which have been repeated by myself twice so far," commented Artemis, "Once during the lemur rescue and the other when I was coming to after resurrection. Extremely ironic timings, both of them were. Do you remember when Butler defeated the troll?"
Holly gave a tinkling laugh. "How could I not? That's one of the most popular videos in the Lower Elements! But he couldn't have done it without my magic."
"And for that I thank you," said Artemis. He was quiet until he said, "Remember when the goblins rebelled? When we first faced Opal?"
Holly shivered at the name, in both anger and fear. "Yeah, and you outsmarted her by using Foaly's recordings. And Cudgeon was thrown into the DNA plasma cannon feed. It hit Opal and knocked her out." Holly clenched her fists. "I wish it had killed her."
"And then my father's rescue operation. How many cigarette lights were there?"
"One hundred," she replied instantly, "and they were all dropped when we shot the flare."
"Yes, the gangsters weren't too bright, were they?" They laughed, and Holly watched as a leaf fell and swirled in the air.
"Remember when," she said, "Butler died?"
Artemis frowned. "Yes, and I wish I could forget it. He died because of my arrogance and only came back because of you."
"And you too," she added, "If you hadn't put him in a cryo chamber, Butler wouldn't be here today." Artemis nodded concededly. "You shouldn't be too hard on yourself."
"I'm being as hard as I deserve." They said nothing, but then a note of victory entered his voice. "But I remember when I defeated Spiro. I remembered my last words to him, 'About my name –Artemis -you were right. In London, it is generally a female name, after the Greek goddess of archery. But every now and then a male comes along with such a talent for hunting that he earns the right to use the name. I am that male. Artemis the hunter. I hunted you.' That was simply fun." Holly elbowed him, and he chuckled.
"Do you always remember every word of your gloating?"
"Yes, for it is amusing to dwell on later."
"Of course. Why did I did ask?" she said sarcastically with a smile. The smile slowly faded as another, darker memory came to mind. "I remember," she said, "when Opal broke out and came for you." Her eyes saddened. "And when she killed Commander Root. I couldn't do anything. I was so useless."
"You're anything but that, Holly," reassured Artemis, "It was a tragedy, and Opal was at the center of it. Blame her."
"I try, but...I wish I could have done something besides firing the shot that killed him."
"But in the end you made him proud by apprehending Opal."
"Me and the gang together. I thought it was a nice touch to eat those chocolates in front of her."
Artemis smiled. "It was genius-to-genius gloating. It was almost necessary."
"Still a nice touch." She pointed up suddenly. "Look! The Big Dipper!" And there it was, hanging languidly in the sky. "And if you follow the last two stars..." Her finger traced a line. "And there's Polaris and the Little Dipper!" The North Star shone brightly, and she elbowed Artemis. "Too bad I can't find Orion," she teased.
"Oh, don't remind me of him," pleaded Artemis, throwing his arm over his eyes, "It was hard enough to keep him repressed while I still suffered from the Atlantis Complex."
"So I'm not your princess?" she joked. His cheeks turned red, and she laughed. "Just joking, Artemis."
"It's not funny," he mumbled, "A fortunate thing Orion never met Minerva. I don't know what he would have done." Holly felt a stab of jealously at Minerva's name but ignored it. His voice turned nostalgic. "I remember when I first met her. She was looking for fairies, and we were looking for the demon occurrences. What we received was No1."
"The little rascal," said Holly with a grin, "Very smart, though."
"Yes, and Quan just won't admit the young warlock has surpassed him in every way."
Holly nodded. "Yeah, but I bet he's a bit protective of his student-master. N01 helped bring him back and beat Leon Abbot." She was quiet for a moment. "Not to mention I also died in Limbo. And you saved me." She looked over at him. "Thanks."
"It was nothing," said Artemis, shrugging, "You would have done the same."
"I would've tried, yeah, but not succeeded."
"I suppose. You would have run out of time, almost literally." She punched him playfully for the pun, and he rubbed it morosely. "Have I ever told you that your 'friendly' hits are actually quite painful?"
"No, because you know I wouldn't care." She hit him again, and he sighed, blowing back his bangs. "C'mon, cheer up, Artemis. I don't hit that hard."
"You'd be surprised. You may hit Butler like that, but I don't possess Butler's musculature or solidarity."
"Few humans do." Artemis nodded, and he pointed out another constellation. "Virgo. My sign, if you want to know."
"You believe in astrology?"
Artemis snorted. "Absolutely not, but I find it interesting."
"I thought you had a new perspective on things."
"I do, but my view of astrology remains unchanged." She grinned and shook her head. "I might add that I also know your sign: a Gemini, am I correct?"
"Hey! How'd you-,"
"Foaly's computers aren't hack-proof, I'm sorry to say. It's actually quite easy to access LEP records." He looked over at her, eyes mischievous. "How do you think I knew all the information about the Lower Elements?" She rolled her eyes and returned to stargazing. Another quiet spell passed.
"Do you remember when," began Holly, "we went back in time to get that lemur?" Beside her, Artemis stiffened. They were approaching a sensitive topic. "You were so worried about your mother. I was touched," she turned her head to glare at him, "but then you ruined it."
He avoided her gaze. "I'm sorry for the umpteenth time. I-I needed you to feel guilt in order to come with me. I...don't know how to excuse my betrayal honestly."
"You can't," she said shortly, "but I understand why you did it. Someone close to you was dying, and you were desperate. You could've told me the truth though. I would have helped you anyway."
"No, LEP would have prevented you from doing that, and then I would have been sent back into time alone. You know I can't handle the situations we faced alone." His expression turned irritated. "I could not even come back to the present without bringing younger Opal back, and we all know what happened to her." Sparks played along his wrist with his sulky mood, and one shocked Holly's hand. She yelped and jerked back her hand, and Artemis was puzzled until he saw the sparks. "Sorry. I guess I can't quite control it just yet."
"It happens to young fairies all the time," said Holly, "I shocked my parents often enough when I was a kid." He nodded in understanding, and the frogs croaked in the small river nearby as another quiet, comfortable spell passed. "I remember when you first showed signs of the Atlantis Complex," she said, "Looking back on it, it's kinda funny."
Artemis snorted. "Maybe for you, but I was trapped in my mind along with a swarm of murderous fours, and that insufferable Orion would always come through at the wrong times." He blinked as he reconsidered the statement. "Actually, I used him to escape the runes that Turnball put on me, so he was of some use."
"Not to mention comedy material."
"Oh, be quiet." She snickered, and a shooting star raced across the sky.
Holly pointed at where it had been excitedly. "Look, a shooting star! Make a wish!" She closed her eyes, and after a moment's hesitation, Artemis did as well. She opened her eyes and spied him making the wish. When he blinked his eyes open, she teased, "Wow, didn't know the great Artemis Fowl made wishes. Usually he makes them come true on his own."
"Not always," he said, taking the tease seriously, "Sometimes I need certain people to help me. To guide me." He sat up, and he stared at the ancient tree at the bend of the small river. "Would you like to hear my wish?"
Holly creased her brow. "You're not supposed to say what the wish was, or it won't come true. Don't you know that?"
"I do, but my wish involves you, so I don't think it would have negative effects." She sat up as well and looked confusedly at him. "Can I?" She nodded wordlessly, and he took a breath. "First let me explain what I meant when I said I was scared. What I am exactly scared of is myself. I've changed, and...so have my feelings toward you. Emotions that I've never felt and don't know how to phrase."
"Is it hate or something?" asked Holly quietly, tucking her knees under her chin. She clasped her arms around them. Artemis shook his head.
"I know what hatred feels like. Hatred boils your very blood, sinks its serrated teeth into your mind and never releases, blinds the intent to do good. It's what I feel when I think of Opal, of the gangsters who tried to kill my father. I not only wanted to kill them, but make them suffer and know they met their end by my hands." He shook his head. "It's fortunate I never fully acted upon it."
"But what I now feel toward you, Holly, it's so...wonderful. My heart leaps at the sight of your face, I grow warm at the thought of you, I open up in your presence. I've...I've never experienced this. I'm scared...scared of these wonderful feelings yet also attracted. My wish is that you accept me with these newfangled emotions. Perhaps you don't accept the feelings, but, please, accept me. I would break again if you didn't." He turned his sad blue eyes to her, the vulnerability back again.
Holly was stunned. What he described...was beautiful. A bit sentimental for Artemis, but she believed him, every single part. He had truly changed in that month of being in the limbo of the real world and the afterlife. She smiled and slid over by him. She hugged him from the side. "Of course I accept you, Artemis. Why wouldn't I?"
He gulped. "Because I think I love you." Holly stared up into his eyes, and he looked away. "S-sorry if that was too rash, but I think that's the new emotion I'm feeling. I don't know for sure." She was mute in surprise, and he belatedly returned her hug. "Please, you know I won't act on those feelings. I can ignore them as easily as hate." 'Can you?' a small voice nagged, 'Hatred burned, but this-this enlivens you. You can't ignore joy.'
Holly still didn't speak, her head bent, and he waited anxiously. She said after a minute, "Remember when we were in the gorilla cage, and I was healing you?" She lifted her head to look at him. He nodded, avoiding her eyes. "I remember when I thought you died, and I nearly died as well, but on the inside. When you came back, I was so happy that I gave you this." She turned his head with a hand and pressed her lips to his.
Blue sparks leaped into the air, and Artemis was frozen for a second before he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her, his magic leaking out of him. It didn't shock Holly, however; her own magic was drawn out and interlinked with the blue. She put her arms around his neck, and a haze of blue and amber spiraled around them. The kiss wasn't cut short like the one in the gorilla cage; this one lasted for what seemed like hours, and it was sweet, both of them releasing pent-up emotions. They finally parted, out of breath.
Artemis looked down at her, eyes wide. His mouth tried to form words, but she put a finger to his lips. "Yes, I accept you. All of you. Did you really have to ask?" He smiled, and he leaned in to kiss her again.
