The manor slept late the next morning. Artemis felt groggy when he awoke at around ten thirty, feeling strange and disorientated from waking up so late. Usually, the Irish boy was up at five am sharp, and considered a 'sleep in' to be five thirty. Holly and Butler were awake a few hours before Artemis was, and began to make breakfast. Mulch could have happily slept in til noon, if Holly hadn't dragged him downstairs to eat his share of pancakes (then Holly wished she hadn't, as Mulch ate not only his own share, but a portion of everyone else's…)
While Artemis, Holly and Mulch cleaned up the kitchen, Butler called Juliet, his sister on the telephone. He had already phoned her once earlier in the morning and explained their situation. Juliet had promised to catch the first plane she could find. Butler had decided to call again, to find out if she had managed to find a plane, and see what time she would be. Juliet replied that she should be arriving some time in the afternoon, around three o'clock.
With time to burn until Juliet arrived, Artemis suggested they try to decode the mysterious clues. Artemis was itching to make sense of 'The Dark Lady of the Forest'. Who was this mysterious new foe? And Azrael had spoken of two masters. Did that mean this 'Dark Lady' was not working alone?
It was almost eleven thirty when the group retired to the downstairs study. There was a sudden change in the air. It had been light, happy. Now it had become serious. Holly, who had been spending enough time with Artemis to read his moods, noticed a slight change come over the boy. He was in 'work' mode, calm and focussed, ready to unravel the secrets that surrounded them.
Artemis closed his eyes, thinking hard. "So, all we know is that Haven should beware the 'The Dark Lady of the Forest.'"
Butler frowned. "Whoever that is."
Artemis shook his head. "Azrael made a fatal mistake telling us the nickname of the one who sent him. This is a strong clue." Artemis turned to Mulch. "Mulch, could you please retrieve my laptop. It is in the Bentley."
Mulch nodded but stalked grumpily out of the room. "Make the dwarf do all the work."
Artemis ignored Mulch and continued.
"I have on my laptop, a very high tech translator and decoder. We enter the mysterious nickname, and it gives us possibilities for a proper name. Then, it uses the internet to cross-reference this list of names, and see if any of them have a criminal record, or if there is any background information on them which could be significant. The name is most likely a code for something. And if it's a code, I will crack it."
Holly smiled. "You really haven't changed a bit."
Artemis returned the smile. "No, I have changed. But for the better, I'm sure."
Mulch returned with the laptop and Artemis immediately booted it up.
"Could you bring us some tea, Mulch?" Holly asked sweetly.
Mulch looked at the elf with incredulity. "What am I, your personal slave or something?" He sulked off to the kitchen grumbling to himself. "Mulch, make the tea. Mulch, get the post. Clean the house, make the beds, cook our dinner…"
Artemis entered a few codes, and then handed the laptop to Butler.
Artemis looked at his bodyguard seriously as he handed it over. "The same way we searched for father."
Butler gave him a curt nod then started typing furiously, his hands a blur over the keyboard.
The room was strangely quiet for a long time. Mulch brought in a tray of tea and biscuits, so they all sat quietly sipping tea while Butler typed furiously. For three hours, all that could be heard were the keys of the laptop clicking away and the slight clink of porcelain cups.
"ARTEMIS!" Butler called croakily. Finally, he had some matches.
Artemis was by his side in a flash with Holly close behind.
"Match?" the boy asked. Holly looked down at Artemis' hand and saw that he had his fingers crossed, and she thanked him for that. At least mud-boy really did care what happened to Haven.
"Yes," Butler said turning the laptop around so that the pair could see.
Artemis stared at the list of five names. Five was actually a very good number. Artemis had expected a lot more, and had imagined them pulling all-nighters, sifting through hundreds and hundreds of names.
The young Irish read the names aloud.
"Damien Forrester, Ma'aya Kinomoto, Terrah Nero, Kirra Woods, and Eddie Treesong."
Holly glared at the screen. All possible suspects…
Artemis was frowning also. "Well, we can mark off Damien Forrester and Eddie Treesong."
"What?" Holly said with surprise, "How come?"
"Because they are males," Artemis said with exasperation, "and we are looking for the Dark Lady of the Forest."
Holly rolled her eyes. "Fine. No need to be such a darn smarty-pants."
Artemis ignored her and focussed on the task at hand. Butler silently removed Forrester and Treesong off their list.
Ma'aya Kinomoto…Terrah Nero…Kirra Woods…
Artemis studied the list carefully and Holly shut up. If anyone could figure out who the culprit was, it was Artemis, and she wasn't going to stop him from saving her home.
"Terrah Nero," Artemis muttered to himself. "An Italian name"
"What?" Holly interrupted with excitement, "Italian?"
Artemis glanced at Holly with curiosity, "What's your interest in Italy?"
Holly realised she had forgotten to tell Artemis all Foaly had told her.
"Foaly told me that when Haven was pinged he got a signal from Rome."
Artemis nodded and went silent. After a while he spoke. "In Italian, Terrah would mean earth and Nero would mean black. It could be a possible match."
Holly's stomach churned with anticipation. "But what about the other names?"
Artemis studied them carefully. "The first name is Japanese. I think Kinomoto has something to do with trees, but I'm not entirely sure. I'm not fluent in Japanese."
"And the last name?" Holly prompted.
Artemis stared at the last name. Kirra Woods. Woods would mean a forest. But Kirra? Artemis had a nagging feeling that he knew what that name met, he just couldn't quite remember.
"I'm not sure." Artemis said with a sigh. "I'd have to do further searching. However, I think that Nero looks promising. So let's see if we can cross Kinomoto off the list, eh Butler?"
Butler obediently opened the file on Ma'aya Kinomoto and all four occupants of the room moved closer to read about Japan's Most Wanted.
Artemis read faster than anyone and reached the bottom of the page in a flash. The last line got Artemis' attention.
"Kinomoto was apprehended in July, 2001 in Kyoto and currently resides in one of Japan's most secure prisons."
"No match." Artemis said with a sigh, "Kinomoto couldn't have pinged Haven from Italy if she was stuck in a cell in Japan."
Butler removed Kinomoto from the list. "Next, Nero." Butler said opening the file.
Artemis scanned the page of text with a feeling of growing excitement. "Terrah Nero was born in the twenties, so-"
Mulch jumped out of his seat with a cry, "So, unless the villain is a deranged evil zombie with a taste for fairy brains-"
Artemis gave Mulch a pained look and cut him off. "-this means our culprit is-"
"Kirra Woods." The group breathed in unison.
"Of course!" Artemis said jumping up with enthusiasm, "The name 'Kirra' means 'Dark' or 'Dark woman' so it would be obvious for our foe to assume the identity 'Dark Lady of the Forest."
Mulch frowned. "But why would she choose a name so obvious?"
Butler had been reading Kirra Wood's opened file. "Maybe because she has nothing to hide." He pointed at the screen. "She doesn't care who finds her."
Holly read the screen growing nervous. Kirra Woods was only sixteen years old, slightly older than Artemis. She was an English girl who was said to be highly ambitious from and early age. Her parents and sister had died from a house fire when she was only three and so she had lived in an orphanage in Italy until she was nine. A wealthy couple caught up in the Italian Mafia had adopted young Kirra and her life of crime had begun.
Kirra had a criminal record to rival Artemis. The only differences were that although Artemis scammed a lot of people out of their money, he had never killed anyone. Kirra seemed to enjoy killing people more than she enjoyed stealing their money. She had a high IQ, meaning that her intelligence was almost on par with Artemis'. However, Kirra was also cold and ruthless, her nasty disposition far worse than anything Artemis had been, or ever could be.
Opposing this new foe was going to be the hardest thing any of them had ever done.
Artemis frowned, sinking into a puffy chintz armchair. The others followed suit. No one spoke for a few minutes, even the usually talkative Mulch.
Suddenly, a beeping noise broke the silence. Artemis looked at Butler, who was studying a device around his wrist. "The security alarm is going off" explained Butler, getting out of the armchair he was sitting in and heading for the door. "It's most likely not an issue. Remember last time it went off? The strong winds had blown the sprinklers off course and they were watering the alarm." Butler sighed, "I'll go check the security screens." He had just moved through the door when a loud crash sounded from the entrance hall.
"Not an issue." Mimicked Mulch as the entire group ran out to the hallway. Holly groaned as they came face to face with ten men dressed in black. In the middle stood their leader, Azrael.
"Not you guys again." Holly sighed. Without another word, the hallway erupted in battles. Butler grabbed two assassins by the collar and smashed their heads together. Mulch dropped his head down low and rammed another man in the groin. Holly and Artemis worked as a team, standing back to back and blasting any men who tried to attack them.
Artemis was silently thanking God that his group had been training all holidays. Otherwise it was unlikely that they could go up against a group of skilled assassins. But Butler could kick anyone's ass, Holly had trained with the fairy police and Mulch… well, Mulch had picked up some unorthodox moves from his life as a convicted felon. Artemis was now a lot fitter than he used to be, and although he was nowhere near as skilled as the rest of his group, at least Artemis now knew how to fire a blaster without fainting.
Soon the number of assassins was down from ten to four. Only one of the black swathed bodies on the ground was actually dead. Three were knocked out and one had passed out from blood loss. The last man was completely uninjured, but was still clutching his groin from where Mulch had head-butted him.
Artemis and his group weren't without injuries. Artemis had a long, bloody gash on his cheek and a sprained ankle, Holly's shoulder was bleeding and Mulch had a black eye forming. Butler came out relatively unscathed, but sported a nasty bite mark on his arm.
Azrael and three of his men advanced slowly towards Artemis and the rest. With horror, Butler realised that he had let the assassins draw them into a corner and now they had no way to escape, and were in a bad position to fight. Butler felt sick in his stomach. He just wasn't the man he used to be, and he knew that he couldn't protect Artemis like he used to.
Azrael smiled evilly. "There's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide." He laughed quietly. "I will have you this time, Artemis Fowl." Azrael raised his gun once more. Artemis shut his eyes, awaiting the shot.
…But it never came… Artemis apprehensively opened his eyes to find Azrael, swaying on his feet. The bounty hunter's eyes were wide and there was blood dribbling from his mouth. Artemis realised, with shock, that there was an arrow sticking out of his back.
Juliet Butler stood at the front door, an ornate crossbow in her hands. In a split-second, the remaining assassins had scattered, and escaped through the open door. Two assassins lay dead on the floor, and Azrael was about to join them. The bounty hunter moaned and collapsed, dead, onto the marble floor.
"Nice shot" Artemis told Juliet weakly, and then he fell to his knees and threw up.
Juliet frowned as she hung the ornamental crossbow back up on the wall. "I see I arrived just in time." She walked over to Butler and they hugged. Butler clutched his sister, tears slightly forming in his eyes. "Thank you, Juliet."
Holly helped Artemis to his feet. "Um." The elf tried a shaky smile. "How about a cup of tea?"
-----
Half an hour later the group had all had their wounds fixed up and drank a cup of tea or two to settle their nerves. Now came the planning phase.
"What the heck are we going to do?" Holly asked glumly, "Without any contact from Haven, we're doomed. We need Foaly's help."
"I agree" Artemis answered, "But the fact of the matter is that we do not have Foaly this time. For once, we are truly on our own. And we will have to simply do the best that we can."
Holly gave Artemis a small smile. She was happy that he was being so positive for a change. They would need to be optimistic if they were ever going to save Haven. Artemis had changed so much from the cruel manipulative individual that he had been when he and Butler fairynapped Holly. Sure, he was still a conniving-contrary-know-it-all-brat, but at least he wasn't an evil-conniving-contrary-know-it-all-brat.
The room was silent, as everyone tried to come up with a plan. At least, Butler, Holly and Artemis tried to come up with a plan. Juliet and Mulch were taking it in turns to tap each other on the shoulder and blame it on Butler.
Holly jumped out of her chair and started pacing the room while the others watched miserably and she muttered more to herself than to the other occupants of the room.
"What we need is a safe path to Italy right? I bet there'll be agents posted at all the airports ready to get us if we try to fly to Rome. So we need fairy help."
Artemis shook his head. "But we can't contact the fairies because Haven is under a lockdown…"
Holly nodded. "And we're definitely going to need fairy gadgets. I could use a pair of wings, we'll need a basic tools kit… we need weapons… It would be suicide to enter Woods' domain without backup."
Mulch stood up. "Well, I'll leave the thinking to you guys. I'm gonna go watch TV. 'All My Larva' is about to start on the Atlantean Network."
Holly spun around and looked at Mulch with eagerness. "That's it, Mulch! You're a genius!"
"I am?" Mulch asked with confusion. "Oh yeah…" He suddenly looked proud. "Of course I am."
Artemis worked it out right away and grinned. "Of course, Holly!" Holly and Artemis shared a knowing look.
Juliet looked confused. "What is it? What's going on?"
Holly grinned. "Get the car started and head for the docks. I'll explain on the way."