New York City
Present Day
July 12th
Domovi Butler's eyes swept back and forth, examining every inch of the night club. His ears were soon filled by the nonsensical babbling of college aged children, and loud dubstep music. He suffered their presence in absolute silence. In the short time he had been there, Butler had profiled everyone ten times over. Any one of them could easily have been a threat to his charge.
The awkward dancing boy, the girl who could barely stand in her heels, even the wasted boy too wrapped up in his cellphone trying to drunk text his significant other; they all had the great potential to kill. Throughout his lifelong training, the tall Eurasian learned never to judge a book by its cover. He did not become one of the most dangerous men in the world by loosening his judgment on said term.
He grimaced. While he certainly blended in as a bouncer, he admittedly grew tired of shoes, music, and where all of the best eatery was.
"Relax, old friend. We would not want to make a scene." A familiar voice spoke. Artemis Fowl sat cross legged on a stone bench, as he watched several girls dancing off beat to the music. It was only their expensive jewelry, however, that he lustfully stared down. Several girls had tried to dance with him, but he politely refused, and continued his people watching. This caused many slurs and one drink to be thrown in his face, but he took it in stride.
The Irish youth laughed at his joke. They were quite a sight to see wherever they went regardless if it was intentional. The lanky boy and giant man were impossible to miss. Already Artemis had counted twelve people whose voices immediately hushed as they passed the intimidating body guard. Blending in, as ideal as it may be, was impossible.
"If only." Butler's lips brushed slightly into a grin.
"Tsk, Tsk." Artemis tutted. His gaze swam onto a teenage boy who was in the process of puking into a trashcan while several others tried to tend to him. It was as if Artemis was watching a train wreck. "I cannot stand people." He seemed to have a bad taste in his mouth, for he grimaced as if he had tasted something particularly sour.
"Master Fowl, we are a part of that group."
"Ha," Artemis chuckled. "Butler, I would hardly call us 'people.' Certainly not these kind of people to say the least." It was true. The duo were not at the high end night club for leisure's sake. Their presence was in fact due to a business transaction.
Artemis Fowl had been recruited by Russell Fermin, an American Tycoon. If recruited had been the correct word at all. Artemis pondered over this for a moment's time. Russell Fermin had promised they boy a 100,000 dollar reward for retrieving a mysterious amulet from this City. It was so mysterious, in fact, that it was said not to exist.
That was what seduced Artemis.
All traces of evidence, and Russell's coaxing, led him to where he was now. The more Artemis thought about it, he wondered why Russell had not sent one of his own henchmen to do the deed. Why, he had a plethora of them. He also seemed to know the best place to find it. Of course, it could have easily been because the American Tycoon's name had so unfortunately been attached to a scandal within the last five months. He had enough money to pay off the tabloids willing to slander his honest name, but a second offense would be nowhere near as forgiving.
The boy sighed. Fermin's reasoning mattered little to him if he was going to be honest with himself. The temptation of a new heist was far too compelling for the boy to pass up. It was the thrill of the kill, as so many liked to put it. The life of espionage made living far more exciting. Now that Artemis was twenty, he felt himself losing his touch. This was simply unacceptable.
"Artemis," The bodyguard's voice startled the boy. Butler did not have to continue talking, for already the boy saw a large number of party goers form into one giant mass. They surrounded a young woman in an orange sparkling dress inspired by the nineteen twenties.
Well, she's certainly the best dressed. Artemis thought. He rather hated the blind romanticism of the nineteen twenties, but admittedly thought they had the classiest fashion.
Artemis reluctantly rose from his seat. He would have much more enjoyed finding his mystery item on his own; it would have been much more productive. Russell Fermin, however, insisted that he try to avoid bringing attention to himself and find out the information first hand. The computer was not a valid source of information, according to the middle aged man. It was her matching orange necklace that caught his eye; it glistened against her lovely ebony skin. Perhaps Russell had not led him astray after all, but why on Earth would a little party girl have such a rare artifact?
"Excuse me." Artemis shoved through several dancers. He watched as the young woman opened her arms into an outstretched position, and smiled very broadly at her followers. Artemis, however, was less than impressed. He hardly found touching sweaty bodies in an already warm building to be friendly. If anything it was a sadistic thing to do. His expectations already had already dropped. Other people, however, ate up her every word as if it was that of God. It was almost laughable how very easily amused they were.
The boy looked up to meet her face, though he was still roughly ten feet away from her, they made eye contact. Her lips parted, revealing a come hither look. She walked backwards, and headed for the exit. The boy could not tell if he was meant to follow, but could not help himself. This was the most excitement he had felt in a long time.
The woman walked through several dancers. Artemis almost lost her several times, but the young woman always made sure that he was close enough to see her. She ran through the exit and slammed the door. Artemis paused, and reached towards the handle, ready to open it.
"Why were you following her, you little creep?" Artemis's eyes shot up instantly to meet two very big and very proud of it, fraternity boys.
"Excuse me," He raised his hands, "I thought that I knew her."
"You don't." They crossed their arms and muscled him away from the door.
"Really?" Artemis raised an eyebrow. While Artemis may have had them beaten in the brains department by more than a few IQ points, it would not help him out of this situation. He was not afraid, however, for it was only a matter of seconds before Butler was at his side. He could use those precious seconds to get as much information out of these men before they tried to punch him and invariably had their knuckles broken by his manservant.
"And how, may I ask, would you know that? Why, I can assure you that even celebrities have friends and she is not someone that I have read about in the tabloids."
"Do yourself a favor, weird talker." The man with the blonde braided hair spoke, "Get out of here. You're cramping the vibe."
"Well, this is a free country, is it not? I will leave when I am good and ready."
"You little punk!" The man with the brown buzz cut cracked his knuckles and poised it to punch Artemis.
The Irish youth did not move, instead he watched as Butler moved with an alarming speed and stopped the boy's punch. The Eurasian man proceeded to twist the man's arm in a way that was not natural. It made a sickening sound, which caused the man to let out a blood curling scream. All at once the crowd stopped babbling. The scene that they had been trying to avoid, had been made.
"Coincidentally, I am ready to leave." Artemis spoke to the man who was now crumpled on the floor. The man with the braid stared, dumbfounded at what had just transpired.
"Come, old friend. It is time that we make our leave." Artemis remained a polite guest for the remaining moments of their stay as party goers. All while he contemplated his next move.
"Butler," Artemis turned to the body guard once they were in the safe vicinity of his car. "We will be returning to retrieve the amulet," He buckled himself in the passenger seat of the car and then proceeded to turn on the air conditioning.
"The woman-"Butler began.
"She will show herself again, old friend. The amulet is most definitely with her, and I am willing to bet that she knows what it is. Why else would she have her pseudo guards masquerading as fraternity brothers? Obviously she had tried this particular masquerade before." He smiled at how easily he looked through her.
"We must be exceedingly careful, but that is no surprise to you." He leaned backwards in the chair and closed his eyes. "I imagine that she has already run her friends to tell of our presence. It is an unfortunate pebble in my shoe, but nothing more. Obviously the amulet must be important, if she is so heavily guarded. I assume it is worth more than I am being payed. I may have to have a meeting with Mr. Fermin about this."
"When shall we retrieve it?" Butler asked reluctantly.
"Why old friend," Artemis opened one eye to meet the man's stare. "The sun will be rising soon. Today, of course."
Butler stared at the boy. It was neither a look of disbelief nor was it a look of confusion. Rather, it was a look of acceptance. He did not plan on pressuring the boy this time around to reconsider his antics. His charge never once listened to his advice. There was no reason why this situation would be any different. The Eurasian simply stared, his massive hands gripped tightly to the steering wheel.
"Butler, I do believe we should be leaving now. No doubt we are being watched. Our next move could certainly put our observer's mind at ease." The boy's eyes closed, but he shifted his weight slightly to expose his discomfort with the stationary.
Butler looked left and right, yet saw nobody. He turned his head to make sure no passerby would be hit as he moved in reverse, and pulled out of the lot.
The soft rumbling of the engine was dignified. It was not too loud as to cause a scene, yet not too soft. It was the perfect collaboration of power and submission. The sound comforted the boy, and made him feel as if he was pulling all the strings.
Artemis chuckled to himself. Never had the noise of a car made him feel so in control. Then again, everything about that day had this effect on him.