Disclaimer:I don't own anyone or anything from Artemis Fowl, though I do own Alina Blau. :)
I send up scatters of bees before me as I wander over flowers
Grass and petal and soft-morning moist in the treads of my shoes
Time the stern-faced doctor, prescribed tranquility.
Mournful as Indian summer and regrets
Shoe hone slick with grass perspiration,
The simple dance. The memory lack.
The noon race to inspired.
The fight and fall and follow back to black sky nights.
Grieve the soldier blades of grass as I sweep on,
Oblivious strung high matter no matter or mind paid
Downwards. Sleepwalk and dream talk and pay my
Mobile homage to sunrise and hopeful.
Walking
~By Joe Palmer
"Not quite all, but mostly. It depends on your definition of 'all right', though." Artemis blinked, surprised once again that he was speaking rubbish again.
"You aren't all right, I can tell now," Holly commented, then moved closer, taking his hand and sending questing tendrils of magic up his arm, to test his health. They targeted the fuzziness in his brain, and banished it immediately, leaving him to finally truly be aware of his surroundings.
"Thank you," he said, somewhat more briskly than before, though inside he could still feel the creeping depression. Some types of depression even magic couldn't cure completely, he supposed, though this was something a bit more than depression.
"You're welcome," she sighed, then glared straight into his eyes. "So, why were you not answering my calls?" Artemis fell temporarily silent as she asked the inevitable question, and almost laughed as her gaze pierced him. Holly would always be the same Holly; he doubted that even time would change that. "I even coded the last one red; if Haven was on the verge of being destroyed or Opal Koboi's location was pinpointed, and that was the message asking for your assistance, what would you have done then?"
"The possibility of either of those happening is small, and at any rate, I knew it wasn't the case. Perhaps I did not reply, but I did listen; after all, I am not an idiot." he raised an eyebrow at Holly. "You did seem needlessly concerned in your messages, though. If I were lost or dead, the People would lose no sleep over me, especially considering what I have done in the past."
Already shaking her head, Holly tapped her fingers in an impatient frenzy on the arm of his swivel chair. "That's not really true, and you know it. Maybe the Council has had problems with you in the past, but I think you've done more good than harm over the years we've known you." Just not to me, she added mentally, though she had forgiven him for that incident a while ago.
"I daresay the Council has had more than problems with me; my mindwipe was clear evidence of that. Though, it has been a few years since then...perhaps they have changed, if only a little." Artemis shook his head, his mind still slightly unclear. Depression is such a dulling emotion...
"A little," Holly agreed, then fell silent for several minutes. When she finally spoke again, she was back to her more casual self. "So. Foaly thinks he knows where Opal's hiding out, though even an idiot probably could have found her, for all her brilliance. She's sequestered somewhere in the United States, most probably somewhere around Minnesota. Why she would go there is beyond me, but maybe there's someone or something she's after?"
"Knowing Opal, it's almost certainly someone. Who, though, is a mystery as far as I'm concerned, but we can find that out in due time. Where did you park the shuttle?" Artemis asked, pulling on a heavy trench coat. It was the middle of December already, and even a few seconds of exposure outside could result in more than a chill.
Holly followed him down the hallways, shielded. "And you know I brought a shuttle how?" though she could already guess. Artemis Fowl was a genius, after all was said and done.
"If you were planning on taking me along, I doubt you'd want to take me in these conditions. It's hardly fit for even a fairy to fly in, let alone a human." he replied, looking back over his shoulder before continuing on. "Also, you hate the cold, so why come in only a regulation suit and freeze when you could just as easily swipe a shuttle for warmer and safer passage?"
"That's all true, I suppose," Holly wrinkled her nose. "I think you know me a bit too well, Artemis."
After piloting the shuttle in silence for half an hour, Holly finally depressed the autopilot button and turned to Artemis. "So. You seem to have a fairly good idea of what Opal's up to. What do you suspect; that's she's after someone, or something?"
"I honestly do not know," Artemis admitted to her, something that the Artemis of several years ago would never have done. "Opal is insane, and therefore, I can't predict everything that she's going to do. To be blunt, I can't predict unpredictability without having a somewhat large amount of uncertainty, so it's better not to try and risk our deaths." Even if our deaths might come anyway, he added mentally, a fraction of his earlier gloom settling over him once more.
"I see," Holly winked at Artemis after she'd brought the old lie back to life. "Actually, I don't, but that's okay; so long as one of us does, we should be fine. I was never one to wait around trying to decipher wordplays, puzzles and the like while there was action to be had, in case you never noticed before."
Shaking his head ruefully, Artemis closed his eyes a moment, reassembling the information he had been picking apart and reassembling about Opal's possible hiding place. "We're going to Minnesota, then? As I recall from spending a summer researching all fifty of the states, there isn't anything particularly extraordinary there."
"It certainly has a few defining features; it is called the 'Land of 10,000 Lakes', though it has somewhere around 11,000, and it is also known as the Northern Star State...but all of that is nothing that Opal wouldn't know already or be interested in. Did she have any family connections there when fairies still lived closer to the surface, under Minnesota particularly?"
"Not that I know of, and I've been studying Opal's file since Trouble got on my case after our last adventure. I didn't really mind, though;" she added hastily. "I was going to read it anyway. He's got the whole of the LEP, captains and up reading it, just so they'll be prepared if they ever happen to have the bad fortune of running into her. Of course, the writer of the file, which just so happens to be Foaly, doesn't know everything about Opal. We don't have the complete history of all the older families, so there could be quite a bit missing."
"I understand. So, other than the guess that she's in Minnesota, what else do we have?" Artemis asked, only listening with half an ear.
"Well...there is a girl that Foaly's been keeping his eye on for the past fifteen years; apparently she's got a bent for finding the People. After an incident in which she had to be mindwiped, Foaly has kept tabs on her."
Nodding, Artemis turned to a computer and began typing. "It's better than nothing to start on. What's her name?"
Holly consulted her helmet for a moment, then replied with, "Alina Blau,"
"Her name has a German origin; very interesting..." Artemis trailed off, already consumed by thought.
"Well. Let's find her, shall we?"
*hides* Yes, I'm bringing in an OC...but have no fear; there won't be Mary Sues here! *brave face* Well...anyhow, she's not going to be your normal awesome good OC; Alina will definitely be different...but you'll just have to wait and see. :) I promise you this, though; the Loss Factor isn't going to turn into a slushy love story(no offense to anyone; it's just not my style); I totally promise you that. I may not be the best writer, but...yes. I'd stop writing before I let that happen.
It's a little longer than the first chapter, I think; it's certainly got more words...I'll try and make the next chapter even longer, too. ^_^
Anyhow...I hope you all enjoy reading this; constructive criticism and comments are welcome, as always, and thanks everyone who reviewwed! *glomps*