I don't own Artemis Fowl, or any songs I may choose to reference at the beginning of a chapter. XP
Chapter 1: Happenstance
The crisp wind blew through the long grass at Fowl Manor, rolling across in waves until reaching the firm walls. The windows rattled, shaking as though someone pounded on them, begging for entrance. But Artemis Fowl wasn't in his room to hear such a plea. As usual, the villain was out, partaking in yet another nefarious plot.
On this day, he was in a small village square. His bodyguard was, as usual, close by, working every angle to protect his charge. Artemis was quite certain no dark assassin would come to him here. This village was so small and insignificant, no one would think he'd set foot here. But business here was good. Especially for exchanges.
"When this bloke supposed to show up again Artemis?" Butler asked, knowing full well the answer.
"As I've now said six times, at 4:45. Hopefully there won't be too many students around here." Replied the young genius. Of course, this was a complete falsehood. For an abundance of students would be best, allowing him to blend easier, even with Butler scaring everyone who saw him.
He looked around idly, taking in the bustling of the square, the faces of a few vendors, and at last resting his eyes for more than a moment, although he'd never admit it, on a group of young girls about his own age.
'Damn puberty.' He thought idly.
Without realizing it, he was staring slightly at one in particular, whose vibrant orange hair shone in the afternoon sun. Long and sleek, it blew about her face in the wind, obscuring her other features.
"Oh, focus, will you?"
Artemis snapped to attention at the remark from his bodyguard, rolling his eyes and dismissing the possibility of him losing his focus.
His intended target appeared right on schedule, appearing in across the street, package tucked under his arm. His beady eyes were visible, darting back and forth as he nodded for Artemis to come closer. Taking a step into the road, Butler made his presence very clear by turning and facing the little man with his most terrifying stare. The man cringed, arching his back further, until meeting Artemis' eyes.
"Your…package, sir."
"Nice touch. And thank you. Butler, do you think we should compensate the gentleman?" 'More like urchin.' Thought the boy, smirking.
Butler handed out the bottle of vodka, containing a single gold piece. The little fool had no idea the real worth of what he was handing over, but when your fairy street scum, what choice do you have?
The Haven reject proceeded make a very, very, foolish one, as he took the bottle and emitted an electric dart out of his sleeve, which struck Butler in the neck. Butler proceeded to grab the creature's arm and break it, but was overcome by the surge of electricity that took control of his body.
Artemis watched, perturbed at what technology the cretin could have possibly had that wouldn't have shown on his scan of the area. This could have been a coping mechanism to his shock as his bodyguard collapsed, and he was left very much unguarded.
Leaping backwards lightly, the creature tried to take his package back with him, only for Artemis, in a rare moment of physical ability, to grab it and yank backwards. As they stood facing each other, the creature grinned maliciously, and its tongue, long, green and slimy, darted out at Artemis, clipping his neck as he fell backwards, into what he realized now was a street with cars.
The package slipped from his grasp as his hand clutched his now bleeding neck and his body collided with…surprisingly, not hard and speeding metal, or even cold stone. It was soft, and it clutched his shoulders as it twirled around with him, landing gracefully on the sidewalk, spinning his momentum so he didn't fall into the street. All he saw in the split moment it took to steady him was a long flash of orange before he and whatever was holding him hit the sidewalk concrete and fell.
He looked up to see the goblin like creature dart forward to get the package, only to be met by a firm fist from Butler, who recovered from his shock after only seconds. Horror clouded the creatures face as he realized his new situation, and it began running through the square with unnatural speed, knocking over a cart as it went.
Artemis put his right leg out, trying to stand as he focused on the throbbing on the left side of his neck. It was going numb, which was definitely not a good sign. In fact, after his twirling episode, it had almost immediately stopped stinging. Speaking of which…
His assistant was sitting on her bottom next to him, facing the opposite direction, with her left hand still on his shoulder. For a moment, he swore he saw slight blue sparks flickering in the corner of his eye. She looked at him, her grey-blue eyes swirling. She opened her mouth to speak, only to inhale and look at his neck intently. Her eyes widen, and he followed her gaze. She snatched her hand back, pushed up off the ground and stood, looking at him as he got to his feet. He touched the spot tentatively, and found that while blood was on his fingers, the cut was gone. Looking quickly at her, she looked loss for words, and nervous.
"I- I think you're all right, mate." She stammered and looked up at the hulking bodyguard that was behind Artemis, wheeling him around to face him.
"Where'd he get you? I heard you cry out. Oh, God" Butler said, noticing the blood, and taking out a handkerchief while dragging Artemis toward an empty table. He told Butler to release him, craning his neck to look at the girl again. She was backing away slowly, and her foot nudged the package, abandoned by both parties. She picked it up gingerly, and walked over to hand it to him. The wind blew again at that moment, blowing her long hair out of her face and he took in her features. Quite pretty, to say the least, with high cheekbones and red lips. But most importantly, her ears became visible as the wind pushed back the hair. And they were definitely a bit too pointy for normal humans.
She reached out to hand him the package, which had ripped in the scuffle. Its contents, which appeared to be some sort of silvery sand, poured out onto the ground and her hand, causing her eyes to widen and her to throw the box at him, only to be intercepted by Butler as Artemis stared at the girl. She stared at the sand as it turned blue and sparkled at her touch. She looked at it, flinging her hand about as she tried to shake it off. But the sand glowed, dissolving into her skin and running up her arm.
"What is- no, crap stop it!" She tried to remove the dust as it spiraled under her skin, drawing out blue sparks as it went.
It finally disappeared, and she looked back and forth from Artemis to her arm, and finally asked in a shaky voice, as she backed away.
"What was that? And who are you? Because I'm beginning to think I should've let you fall and spared myself some trouble."
Butler turned toward her and tried to put himself between the girl and Artemis, but of course, Artemis stepped out, offering his hand.
"I'm Artemis Fowl. But as I know who I am, I'm much more curious about you, and why dust that only responds to those with magic took such a liking to you."