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Artemis:
Artemis awoke feeling very refreshed and strong. He sighed happily. He could almost give up adventure, and stay here his whole life. But one does not just appear in a world unknown to them to relax. They were brought here for a purpose.
He got up, and found that Butler was already awake, meditating at the foot of the white bed. The whole room was white in fact. The window was open, and clean, invigorating air was flowing freely about the room. This place was amazing...
When they opened the door the room and stepped out, they found themselves in a corridor of stone tiles and marble arches. Artemis looked up, and saw a waterfall cascading from a small cliff face, into a peaceful pool. Benches encircled the pool of crystal clear water, and a very short, elderly man, with curly white hair, sat on one of these benches, humming a peaceful tune. He was wearing a button up vest over a plain white shirt, and he was wearing no shoes.
Artemis frowned when he saw the hair growing on the man's feet, but decided not to ask questions. He approached the man slowly, as not to scare him. The man's eyes were closed, and a peaceful smile lit his face.
"Sir?" Artemis asked. The man's eyes opened, and when he saw Artemis, he cried out, "Oho! A young man! Why, I haven't seen a man since...my adventure...yes... It has been a good year,"
Artemis was confused. What did this man mean, he hadn't seen another man for a year? He spoke almost as if, he wasn't a man. And after everything Artemis had been through, it wouldn't be that hard to believe. Now he was noticing how strange the man's ears were, and humans aren't normally short with hairy feet.
"You aren't human...are you?" said Artemis slowly, not wanting to insult the man.
"Of course not! I'm a hobbit of course! Bilbo Baggins, of the Shire. Pleased to meet you." said the...hobbit, shaking his hand vigorously.
Artemis paused, not used to such exuberant greeting, and said awkwardly, "Nice to meet you too... Bilbo Baggins. I better be going now, unless you can tell me where Elrond is?"
"Of course, of course!" said Bilbo, but instead of telling him where to find the elf, he yanked Artemis' arm and made Artemis sit on the bench beside him. "But, you can't leave yet! You haven't even told me your name! Sit, sit, and tell me about yourself!"
Artemis was befuddled, and embarrassed. He didn't particularly want to talk to this crazy man who said he was something called a hobbit, and had hairy feet. "Artemis Fowl,' he blurted, and stood up quickly.
"So, Artemis, are you from Bree, or Gondor? If I had to guess, I would say you were from Bree..."
Artemis had no clue what Bilbo was talking about, and he was relieved when Butler lifted him off the bench and set him far away from Bilbo's grasp.
Bilbo stared at his bodyguard, who just glared at the elderly man and said, "Now that's quite enough..."
"Y..yes...Master...What may I call you?" stuttered the frightened 'hobbit'.
"Butler," the man grunted.
"Yes Master Butler," muttered Bilbo, shrinking away from Butler's imposing figure. Butler turned, and escorted Artemis away, sharing a knowing glance with his young friend.
Then, loud, young voices rang out through the corridor, and three children, with curly, light brown, slightly orange tinted hair, came racing around the corner. They wore the same garb as Bilbo, and they too had no shoes on, showing their extremely hairy feet. A tall man, with dark, wavy, and very tangled hair, rounded the corner in a brisk trot, smiling as he watched the hobbits sprint up the hall. Then, he saw Butler blocking the corridor, and his eyebrows raised, his smile fading quickly. Surprisingly enough, he did not seem scared at all, only slightly impressed.
The other 'hobbits' however, were not paying attention in their hurry to get wherever they were going, and the thinnest one, with the lightest brown hair of them all, ran straight into Butler's massive form.
"Oof!" the hobbit cried, falling backwards onto his rump, like the silly characters portrayed in comics. The other one who looked almost identical to the one that had just fallen over, tripped over his friend, and sprawled out on the floor with another "Oof!"
The last one, plump, with more orange tinged hair than the others, managed to skid to a halt before he joined the pair on the floor. The man approached, amusement flickering across his expression ever so slightly, and Artemis noticed he had a large sword in a sheath at his waste. He wore green and brown clothes, very simple, and he was muscular. It was obvious that he had experience travelling on foot. At least, to Artemis it was...
The 'hobbits' looked at Butler in shock, and the two on the floor scrambled to get away from him. Artemis almost laughed. Butler had that effect on everyone. Everyone but this man, it seemed.
"And who might you be?" asked the man, walked up to Butler. He was standing so close, that Butler could have bashed him in the head without even unbending his arm. The man was almost as tall as Butler, and Butler was pretty tall.
"Butler," his bodyguard grunted for the second time that day.
"Strange... strange..." murmured the man, shaking his head in bewilderment, and turning to go.
"Wait, what is strange?" Artemis asked loudly.
"Three strange people in one day... That is all..."
"Three? Who else did you see?" he asked eagerly. Maybe it was Holly, or Mulch.
"That is none of your business, young man," the man answered curtly.
"It probably is..." Artemis retorted angrily, glaring at the man.
"I suppose I'll tell you...While I was escorting the hobbits to safety, one of them was gravely injured, and had to be rushed here quickly on horseback. I stayed behind to guide the other three halflings to safety. I caught a strange woman stalking us. She knocked the hobbits unconscious with a strange black magic, and tried to put a spell on me. She did not expect me to resist, however, and I managed to subdue her. She is to be presented to Lord Elrond, who will decide her fate. "
"Her fate?" gulped Artemis. If this man had overpowered Holly, then they were in trouble...
"Yes," grunted a man, coming around the corner. He had lighter brown hair, and wore garb with a depiction of a white tree. He had a round shield with the same tree on it, and a sword in a sheath at his waist.
The man continued, "She hardly deserves a hearing, after attacking the halflings. If I would have caught her, she would be dead on the road by now...Besides, everyone knows she'll be found guilty and executed in mere minutes,"
Artemis gasped in anger, and Butler growled.
"I'll have you know that's our friend!" Artemis cried, rage gleaming in his eyes. He felt Butler's heavy hand on his shoulder, and forced himself to take a deep breath. He needed to be calm about this, or he would just put all three of them in more danger.
"You know her?" asked the man with the dark hair, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Who are you, and why are you here?" demanded the other.
"Yes, why did Elrond let you into Rivendell? For you are merely a child."
Artemis felt his face go red, and he clenched his jaw, "You may view me as but a child, but I assure you, my intellect is vastly superior to yours," he said with a smirk. He watched amusedly as shock wrote itself all over their faces. The light haired one opened his mouth to say something, but Artemis cut him off, "I would also advise you to keep your mouth closed, before you utter foolish words..."
He opened his mouth once more, then thought about it for a moment, and closed it again.
"Now, if you would kindly escort me to the hearing. I think we have a friend to rescue..."
"Alright..." muttered the light haired one, gesturing for them to follow him.
