Chapter 4
Artemis paced back and forth, uncharacteristically nervous as he spoke.
"Moth-"
He took a deep breath and grabbed Holly's hand, offering it to his mother and father.
"This is Holly Short. My best friend, and an elf."
Holly smiled nervously. She had never expected to meet Artemis' parents. Especially not like this.
Then again, she hadn't even slightly suspected any of the things that had happened in the past few days.
Angeline Fowl grinned.
"Hello, Miss?"
"Short. Just call me Holly though."
"Holly," Angeline grinned. "I know you, I've heard all about you. Welcome to our home."
Angeline looked around herself. She looked lost. Like a small child in a grocery store.
Artemis Senior stared at the grass at his feet. He looked blank, gone. Like he this was a dream he couldn't wake from.
Artemis straightened his tie. This was his element, a seminar. It was to be a perfectly logical, intelligent explanation.
The problem was that this wasn't perfectly logical, and he didn't have a full explanation.
His father hadn't said a word since he had arrived here. Not a single word. He hadn't even looked at Artemis. Maybe he thought he was crazy, or maybe that his son was crazy, Artemis didn't like either.
Artemis Junior checked his watch. They should be here by now. Not that time really meant anything in this strange place. Artemis wondered if a thousand years might have passed back home, or no time at all.
He stared straight ahead, patiently, as Holly plunked herself down beside him. Then his parents sat down, his father looking as blank as he had earlier. Butler and Juliet came silently, Artemis barely noticed them sit. Foaly and Root came together, uncharacteristically quiet, and finally, Opal sat behind them all, her eyes meaningfully averted from Artemis', and into the distance.
"Hello, everyone." Artemis began, "Welcome to this place. I'm sure you're all wondering where exactly 'this' is, and that is just why you're here. I will explain as best as I can. Some of the things I am about to say are not fact, as I don't even remember them. Most of what I am about to tell you is pieced together from what Butler has told me from my forgotten past, and from my own knowledge and theories on time travel."
He paused, looking for something, any reaction from them. For a moment nothing, then Opal's eyes looked at him for a second, just a second. She understood, she already knew what he was going to say. She remembered.
"Three evenings ago, my parents held a large party at the manor. They invited many guests, and during this time, my mother's priceless blue diamond necklace was stolen. She was devastated, and I decided that I must get it back for her. I trawled though a few hundred guests, narrowing it down to ten prime suspects. I was prepared to investigate further when I received a call. It was a man, telling me he had the necklace, and was prepared to return it to me, in exchange for a large amount of cash. My mother overheard and demanded that she must come as well as Butler and Juliet, who were needed for protection. This is where my memories stop being truth. The rest of the story has been pieced together."
Artemis paused for dramatic effect. Holly was staring up at him with her huge eyes, hanging on to every word. She thought he was good for wanting to get his mother's necklace back. She was hanging on to that hope that he was really a good person. That was about to change.
"Here the story splits into two. One story, is what might have happened, and the only memory I have of this time."
He continued, "Holly was aboveground on a mission, and volunteered to help. I asked her to watch from the roof, and Juliet, Butler, mother, and I went in to the building."
Artemis clenched his fists, closing his eyes for a second. Preparing himself for what he had to say next.
"I went in first, completely oblivious to any danger. I never saw it coming."
"I reached towards a package, sitting on a crate in the warehouse. Butler saw the glint of a gun, as Opal aimed at me, and fired."
He took a deep shaky breath.
"Butler dived in front of me, taking the shot square in the chest. It was instantly fatal."
Artemis looked again at his audience. Butler's face had hardened, it gave nothing away. Opal was hiding her face. She could be laughing or crying. Artemis didn't care at this point.
"She quickly shot my Juliet, as she tried to save my mother. Mother was next, as she ran towards me."
"Holly heard the shots, and broke a hole through the ceiling of the warehouse. Opal shot her as she took it all in. She died instantly, falling to the ground."
He heard his mother sobbing against his father's shoulder.
Holly stared at him. She just stared for a moment, her hazel and blue eyes widening.
Then she got up quickly and strode away. She didn't ever look back.
Artemis began to set off after her. He had to apologize, he had to try to make her feel better.
"Artemis." A voice boomed after him, harsh and demanding. "Please continue."
Artemis turned. His father's eyes glinted dangerously. Artemis noticed for the first time that he had both his legs. There was no prosthetic leg. As if it had never happened.
There was no injury, no change in this world.
"In my memory, they had all been killed. So I created a time machine constructed of a combination between fairy and mudman technology. A perfect combination of science and magic. I traveled back in time, locking my past self in the trunk of the Bentley, and saving all my friends. I went face to face with Opal, knocking her and myself to the ground, and she shot me. I managed to utter a few words to Butler before I passed out. I told him; 'Time machine, trunk'."
"Butler found the time machine, and managed to send me back to moments after I had left, the coordinates which I had previously set in the machine. He did however, miss the very important second part of my message."
He paused yet again, to make sure everyone was listening. They were hooked, clinging to his every word. Holly was gone, nowhere in his sight.
"Holly rushed to the manor after Butler's message, healing me. Butler told me the story of what had really happened, discovering I had amnesia, and thought they had all died."
"As I sat at dinner, I tried to remember what I had forgotten. Each memory seemed just that little bit too far away, too dark, just out of reach. A glimmer of a memory passed through my mind, and I realized something; my amnesia was the only thing that kept me from creating an unsolvable paradox, an issue in time. By thinking my friends were dead, I had saved them, so that it had never happened. I couldn't remember what had really happened, it would destroy the perfectly balanced paradox."
"There was another thing too, I had left my past self in the trunk, probably to die. He is me, and if he died, I should have. This was yet another unsolvable issue with time."
"Because of these, I created a problem in time, resulting in the destruction of it for me, and a seemingly random selection of people connected to me. We're in Limbo, a place that is in no time or place, and connected to no other time or place. Theoretically, we will remain here for an unknown amount of time, before we are drawn, one by one to random times and places, until our death."
A/N: I know it's been a while since I updated, and I apologize! Please review if you enjoyed my efforts! :)
