2

Three days before Holly's due date, Artemis Fowl boarded a shuttle to the Lower Elements. Jenna Greenleaf was with him to assist if anything went wrong. Jenna was a Fairy-Elf-Vampire who he and Holly had met a couple of months earlier. It turned out that Jenna's true name was Annabeth Trinity Ellanora Minerva Greenleaf, and she was Holly's sister. Half-sister. Holly also had a half-brother, Carlisle Cullen. Jenna was clearly suffering, the scent of fairy blood sweeter than any other, including human. Even though her eyes were flat black with thirst, Artemis couldn't help but find beauty in her face.

Blasted puberty, he thought, and he knew she could hear it. She was a mind-reader, after all.

They certainly didn't look it, but the truth was that Artemis was almost three years Jenna's senior. The reason for this was a little out-of-space-and-time trip Artemis took with Holly and a bunch of demons to bring the demons back into space and time. But Jenna was frozen at fifteen, like she had been for nine months since becoming a vampire.

"Don't talk out loud. Talk through your thoughts. I'll project my answers back to you. I won't be breathing throughout the trip." Jenna had warned him, and he agreed. Neither of them wanted any fairy fatalities on the way underground.

Jenna was having troubles. Artemis could see it clear as day.

Just a few more minutes, Jenna, he thought. Jenna was stiller than a stone at his side. She didn't project back.

It was an awkward ride. They didn't talk, but Jenna could hear all of Artemis' thoughts. She didn't break the one-way mental silence.

Jenna's wings were shimmering into focus. She was loosing her control over her magic. Any second, the shuttle could be reduced to ashes. Artemis had to act quickly, but for once, he had no idea what to do.

Just let them show, he thought. She obliged. There were a few strangled gasps from the surrounding fairies.

Artemis decided to distract the beautiful girl beside him with a mental debate on the Big Bang Theory. Jenna's intellect was similar to his own. This got them through the last couple of minutes without Jenna breaking.

"Thanks, Arty." Jenna said as they reach air less saturated with fairy blood.

Cameron and Kim picked up the pair at the shuttle port. Again, Jenna was uncomfortable. Artemis explained the situation and continued the debate with Jenna, though it didn't last very long. Jenna had inherited the memories of all of the Fairy-Elves in existence, and that line started before the universe was created.

Ten minutes later, they were at Holly and Eric's house. Jenna exhaled with relief as soon as she was out of the shuttle. Fresh-no, fresher-air.

Cameron let them into the house with a key from her pocket. It was a beautiful and simple house. It was beautiful because it was simple. It was so Holly.

When they entered, Holly was curled up in a loose fetal position on the couch with Eric sitting beside her. They were talking to a hologram of Commander Root, who was just checking in. Jenna heard Root breath in sharply.

Holly twisted around, "Jenna! Artemis! You made it!" Then she noticed Jenna's pained expression and coal-black eyes, "Jenna? Are you okay?"

"Just give me a minute to get used to all this fairy blood. But next time I come down here, I am not using a shuttle. I'll fly. That was the worst hour of my life."

"She's not joking," Artemis said, "If you think she looks bad now, it was twenty times worse on the shuttle-"

"-and you're blabbering, Artemis." Jenna concluded, her tone flat and not even the slightest bit comical. That shut the Irish boy up fast. Jenna let her wings show and slumped against Artemis. He led her to the couch.

"Jenna? You sure?"

"Yes. Just give me a minute. I've got to let my gift kick in. Don't mind me."

All this time, Root was stunned, "Who is that?" He managed to ask.

"That's Jenna," Holly answered, "The Fairy-Elf-vampire Artemis and I met a couple of months ago."

"Vampire?" Hologram Root cried, "You want her in the room with you when you give birth? With all that blood?"

"Of course I do, Julius! Jenna is my sister and I trust her!"

"Of course, Holly, Julius, I won't be in the room with everyone." Jenna said.

What? thought Holly, a bit hurt.

"Holly, I almost killed someone on the way down here. I know the limits of my self-control gift. With all that blood, Julius is right. I could kill you, the babies, and everyone in the room before you could snap your fingers. I'm not putting myself in that situation," Jenna's cell phone rang. She recognized Shane's ringtone. It was her song, the one Shane had sung with her at camp, "Excuse me, I have to take this call." She went into the hallway.

"Shane, what's up?" Jenna asked.

"We can't be together, Jenna." Shane blurted.

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't-I'm not-I can't-It's not you, it's me." And then the line went dead.

Jenna clicked the phone shut, shocked. She shrank against the wall and sank to the ground. Jenna remained there for a long time, until Artemis came and found her.

"Artemis," Holly said, "Jenna's been gone a long time. Can you make sure she's okay?"

"Of course. I'm kind of worried about her," Artemis rose from the couch and walked into the hallway. There he saw Jenna, curled up in a ball on the floor, still as stone. He went, sat beside her and put his arms around her, "What happened, Jenna?" He asked.

"Shane just dumped me. Over the phone." She choked, and leaned into his chest. Jenna remembered a dim memory of her and Shane at camp. She hitched a sob.

In the living room, Holly's water broke. She started gasping, swallowing the air like she was suffocating, "It's starting," she forced between gasps. Jenna was instantly alert. She sprinted into the room and scooped Holly up. She sprinted to the shuttle, with everyone trailing her. Jenna placed Holly in the front seat and then ran and grabbed Artemis, who was just leaving the house, the slowest of the bunch.

Jenna sat in the back, sandwiched in between Artemis and Cameron. She was doing her best to keep herself calm and Holly in as little pain as possible. But it was hard with four elves and one human in a cramped car. Luckily, the drive was only a few minutes.

Jenna carried Holly to the stretcher when they arrived at the hospital. The fairies, human, and vampire followed to the delivery room, and Jenna stopped by the window with Artemis while everyone else went in.

Jenna and Artemis stood outside the delivery room for fourteen hours. Well, Jenna stood. Artemis fell asleep. At four o'clock in the morning on September 18th, Holly gave birth to Vanessa and Jenni Skystar.

As soon as the blood was cleaned up (the doctors using straight bleach at Holly's request), Jenna and Artemis entered the room.

Holly was holding two young beautiful baby elves. They both had a pair of wings. What surprised Artemis about their appearances was their eyes. They were mismatched on both of Holly's daughters. One eye was Holly's hazel, and the other eye was Artemis' own blue one. It surprised him to see his own features in the twins. Some of his DNA must have gotten into Holly's system when they switched eyes.

About twenty minutes later, Jenna did something the surprised Artemis even more.

"Cameron, Kim, take Vanessa and Jenni." They obeyed because of Jenna's anxious tone.

"What? Jenna-" And then the contractions started again, "Jenna. Explain." Holly gasped.

"Triplets" Jenna said.

"Cora-" Holly started to say a name and then her breath cut off. Tears streaked down Holly's cheeks. All of a sudden, she vomited a fountain of blood. It landed all over Artemis and Jenna.

Artemis placed himself between Jenna and Holly, anticipating what was going to happen. Jenna lunged and caught his throat, driving venom into it. His blood was hot and wet, but she managed to pull away. She composed herself, and left Artemis crumpled on the floor.

Holly was in a lot of pain. The doctors had run in to try to deliver the baby, but they had to do an emergency c-section.

Jenna was feeling Holly's pain. She was on the floor, coughing and gasping. Reality of what she had done hit her. She had changed Artemis. Without his permission. She crawled over to him and put her mouth against his throat again. Jenna sucked out any traces of the venom, leaving Artemis completely human.

The doctors had gotten the baby out of Holly. Another beautiful baby girl, exactly alike her sisters. The doctors were now focusing on saving Jenna's sister's life. Cameron and Kim had even stepped in with their magic, and so did Eric. Jenna took up a position to Holly's right. One hand went on the older elf's forehead, and the other on her heaving chest, "Livra" the fifteen-year-old sobbed tearlessly after a wave of deja vu hit her. Violet sparks erupted from her fingertips like a raging river. She pushed every spark of magic into Holly's body. She felt the elf's body being healed. It was all over in a few seconds.

Holly opened her eyes. They were glassy. "Jenna" she said weakly, "You saved me." And then she fell into a deep, natural sleep.

"We all did" Jenna said, and her head hit Holly's pillow.

Artemis woke up in a hospital bed. He sat bolt upright, remembering the events that had happened before he had passed out. Jenna had bit him. Why wasn't he dead? Why wasn't he a vampire? His hands instinctively went up to his throat. Was there something off about his skin? Yes, there was. There was a crescent-shaped mark, a few degrees colder than the rest of his skin. For some reason, Artemis knew he would carry that scar forever.

The teenager studied his surroundings. He was defiantly in a hospital, but the room was not like Holly's. Beside him, in another bed, Jenna lay, still uncontious.

"Jenna?" He asked tentatively.

The girl's eyes flew open. So she wasn't uncontious, "Finally," she said. "Nobody will take me seriously when I tell them I'm a vampire. Not even when I show them. It's too bad I can't mesmerize them. Holly just got released yesterday. She was in here this morning. That-"

"Wait. How long have I been out for?"

"Four days. You should see Nessie, Jenni, and Corri. They grow like Renesmee does."

"How's Holly?"

"Fit as a fiddle. No more fainting spells. That was some healing I gave her after Corri was born. Knocked me out for a good twenty minutes. Anyway, they think I'm insane. The doctors, I mean. They won't release me until I stop thinking I'm a vampire. But that will never happen, because I am a vampire! I feel like the walls are closing in on me. I'm extremely thirsty right now. I may have to kill somebody to get them to listen to me. And then I have to get above ground and talk to Shane face to face," Jenna said, "that boy has a lot to answer for."

"Oh, no. He didn't. After all this time. And he thought I was the fake. All this time, it was him." Jenna said after a minute.

"Shane?"

Jenna nodded, "I can't believe him! How could he do this to me? Have the last eleven months meant nothing to him? I revealed my true nature to him. I revealed my true name to him," She fumed, "I thought he was special. But he was just like every other teenager from the dawn of time. The only one I should have trusted with my true name-Annabeth Trinity-other than my family is you. You can keep a secret."

"What are the triplets like?" Artemis inquired, quite anxious to change the subject.

"They have the most beautiful eyes. Nessie-Vanessa-and Jenni, well, you saw their eyes. But with Corri-Coral-well, I can't even begin to describe them. They are the same colour as my eyes, or so Holly says, when I'm not thirsty. So, violet."

"And?"

"And they grow so fast. The triplets are well on their way to being toddlers, after only four days. They'll be fully grown in three or four years, judging by the average height of fairies. Holly is amazed. Holly is amazing. With the rate at which the triplets are growing, Holly will be back on the force in a matter of days. Her magic has already cured her of the baby bump, and she's back in tiptop shape. Vanessa, Jenni, and Coral can speak better than most adults, and can easily fend for themselves. Their intellect has surpassed mine, and is gaining on yours. But I do not believe theirs will pass yours. You are too smart. I don't know where they got their smarts from, because neither Holly nor Eric are geniuses. Don't get me wrong-they're really bright, but Nessie, Corri, and Jenni are brilliant. I'm amazed. Oh. Their smarts must have come from Father. That's how I got my intellect."

"How did Holly pick their names?"

"Well, with Jenni and Vanessa, if you put them in that order, they mean white butterfly. They have the same names as Eric's mother and aunt, who were twins. When you see the triplets, you will see how those names are apt. And Coral; Coral was Holly's mother's name. Coral Short worked with the LEPmarine. She died when the submarine she was trailing doused her ship with radioactive waste. It took her all of a week to die. That was, like, twenty years ago now. Holly has had no family for over two decades other than Commander Root. And then finding out her father was still alive, and she had a half-brother and half-sister, that was traumatizing. Truthfully, I'm the only one who fully understands my sister. I also know what it's like to loose family members. And then find out people you thought were dead really weren't, and that they had abandoned you and your siblings. Especially since I raised myself. That really upsets Holly, but she is good at hiding that."

Artemis was drowsy. His eyelids drooped, and he collapsed against his pillow.

"Go ahead" Jenna said. As if Artemis needed her consent to fall asleep.