Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl.
A/N: Sorry it took so long. By the way, I couldn't resist putting a literary reference in here. Let me know if you find it. : )
"Whoosh," was the sound Minerva's lungs made as air rushed out of them. Her mind reeled from the realization that she had just been body-slammed by a child. Cassie giggled from on top of her. Minerva tried to push herself up by her elbows, but then Cassie started jumping up and down on her back. She began to screech, "Horsey, horsey…"
Resting her chin on the floor, Minerva groaned. Soon Cassie's brother joined in with the chant. He circled around them waving his fists in the air. A pair of feet came into Minerva's view.
"Having fun?" asked Juliet innocently. Minerva groaned as the other twin jumped on top of her as well.
"You been teaching them wrestling moves again, haven't you?" said Minerva. She winced as Tom yanked her long blond hair.
Juliet bit her lip trying not to laugh. Ignoring the younger woman, she picked up Cassie, swinging her back and forth. The child squealed in delight. "I know someone who's having a good time. Yes, she is," sang Juliet. She set Cassie down onto her bed.
Meanwhile Minerva tried to reason with Tom, but wasn't having much luck. She spied an unfinished puzzle on the floor. Seeing as how it was closer to Tom's side of the room than Cassie's, Minerva took a chance. "That looks like a fun puzzle," she said. Tom looked over at it, than went back to messing with her hair. "Why don't we play later and finish putting your puzzle together now?"
The boy grinned and got off of her. He raced over to it. Picking up some of the pieces he began fitting them in place. Minerva sighed in relief and struggled upright. She staggered over to where the boy was playing and sat down cross-legged. She noticed that the puzzle was almost complete. The tiny pieces were quickly forming a twelve by eight rectangle that contained a picture of a chalkboard with mathematical formulas written on it.
Minerva studied the young child in front of her. He seemed quite bright. And he was finishing the puzzle far faster than a child of normal intelligence would have. Within seconds it was complete. Looking excited, Tom proudly showed it to Minerva. "Very nice," she said. "Do you know your multiplication tables, Tom?" He shifted his weight back and forth. "No…but Cassie does."
Upon hearing her name being called, the girl wiggled out of Juliet's grip and jumped off of the bed. She crashed into her brother and they both toppled to the ground laughing. Minerva frowned impatiently while Juliet smiled at the twins' antics.
"Cassie," asked Minerva, "Do you know how to multiply?"
Cassie nodded. "Yep. Five times eight equals forty. Twelve times two equals twenty-four," she hopped in place excitedly, "and six times nine is forty-two!"
Juliet frowned. "All right that's enough. Lunch is going to be ready soon, we should all go downstairs."
Minerva got up from her spot on the floor, wincing as she did so. "I think I'll skip lunch today," she said. "My back really hurts. I'm going to my room to lie down. Make sure nobody disturbs me, Juliet." She hobbled out of the room dramatically.
The caretaker glared as the door shut behind Minerva. She was really being to loathe her. Why Artemis was in a relationship with that girl, she'd never know. Juliet turned back to her charges. "Who wants to learn how to do a dropkick?"
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Minerva sat on her bed at Fowl Manor and studied the packet in front of her. Her eyes traced the name on it. Holly. The fairy he had tricked her into capturing long ago. Her hand reached for the clasp and was inches away from opening it, when a knock sounded from the door.
"Minerva," called Butler. "Another package arrived for you." She blinked with surprise. There was no reason for anyone to be sending her anything. The only mail she had received the entire time she was here was a package from her father's private lab, containing the packet she had filched from Artemis Fowl's room. It had been looked over for booby traps and had been deemed safe to open.
Curiosity overwhelmed her desire to send Butler packing. Shoving the packet under the bed, she stood up and opened the door. Butler took a large cardboard box from under his arm and handed it over with one of his giant hands. It felt strangely light, and as she took it from him, she noticed that he also held a steaming plate of food.
"It's for you," explained Butler. "You need to keep your strength up." Minerva did not need to be told twice. She balanced the plate on the crook of her arm and edged backwards into the room.
"Thank you, Butler. Now, if you could excuse me, I'm going to lie down." She kicked the door shut with her foot.
"Alright," she heard him say disappointedly. Minerva placed the plate on the desk. He probably wanted to discuss the progress that she had made on Artemis's disappearance. However, she had not had time to figure out exactly where Artemis was and she definitely had not had enough time to fabricate a believable answer for the bodyguard.
She took a bite of the chicken and mulled over her options. Perhaps it was becoming too dangerous to live with the Fowls any longer.
Standing up and placing her food down, she retrieved the box. Minerva looked at the postage and saw a tiny acorn sticker by the address. It was the symbol that her contacts used to reach her. She slit the tape and opened the flaps, shifting aside many plastic packing peanuts. When at last she reached the bottom of the box, she was rewarded with a machine the size of a laptop covered completely in a smooth, black material that was almost exactly like plastic. Light raced away from it and it was cold to the touch.
Frowning, she searched the box for a note, but found nothing else. Minerva ran her fingers over the machine, searching for a hinge, but finding nothing. Then, almost silently the black object opened. It split in half and the uppermost part folded back to reveal a small screen. A picture of a bird and the words Receiving Signal in Gnomish flashed repeatedly in the background. It was gibberish to Minerva, who had never learned the language.
A small creature appeared on the machine. She guessed that it must be a fairy or a demon of some sort. Then he spoke and she couldn't help but think that he had a melodic voice.
"Minerva Paradizo, if my sources are correct, I believe we have use for the others unique talents." He said in fluent French, his eyes shimmering with blue sparks.
"Oh?" she asked intrigued. "Well, that may be, but if you continue to try and hypnotize me, I'm afraid this professional relationship won't last very long."
He did not seem taken aback by her behavior, much to her irritation. In fact, he looked amused. "Nicely played, Miss Paradizo. Now, shall we turn to the matter at hand?"
"Which is?"
"Why, revenge of course."
Minerva grinned. "You have my attention."
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The business fairy droned on and on. "And so you see that the latest developments in holographic technology will open new possibilities in the future." The audience clapped automatically. Artemis groaned and slunk down farther in his seat. Next to him, Holly sat with a glazed expression on her face. This did not change, even as she leaned over to whack Artemis on the head. "Sit up," she hissed.
Rubbing his forehead, he obeyed. Taking a look around him he observed the hundred other fairies in the room. All were sitting on uncomfortable stone chairs. Most of them seemed to be paying little attention to the speaker. Holly shifted in her seat trying to resist looking at her watch. It was their day off and instead of sleeping in, she had dragged Artemis and herself down to a conference by Acorn Tech. The reason being that the seminar was about holograms. Besides running a research program on the subject, Acorn Tech was also offering grants and prizes for recent works. Foaly's holobole had made the list and, as his friends, they were here to support him.
"And without further ado, I present the winner of the Acorn Tech Grant of a hundred bars of gold to… Foaly the Centaur, for his invention of the Holo-ball."
Holly stood up and clapped happily. Next to her, Artemis allowed a small smile to break out on his face. Their friend walked proudly onto the stage, his hooves making a clopping sound on the floor. His head was held high as he accepted the grant. Holding onto the large cardboard check tightly, he took the microphone from the other fairy with his spare hand.
"I must tell you that this is a great honor for me," began Foaly. Behind him the Acorn Tech employee looked confused as to why his hand was empty. "Of course, I cannot say that I am too surprised, as I worked long and hard on the holo-ball to make it work correctly," He smiled. The other fairy began making not so subtle movements with his hands. Get off the stage, his expression pleaded.
Blatantly ignoring the employee, Foaly took a deep breath. "But as much as I would love to go on and on about the holo-ball and its capabilities, I'm sure that you'd find it much more interesting if I just showed you how it works. Therefore I have prepared a small demonstration." He motioned to one of the stagehands. The lights on the stage dimmed, so that the hologram would be easier for the audience to see.
Holly had sat back down. A massive tremor shook her body as she tried not to laugh. She leaned into Artemis, trying to stifle her mirth. Artemis turned red and stiffened.
Foaly pressed a button on his watch. A small glowing white object darted out from behind the blue curtain. Coming to a stop in front of him, the tiny ball hovered patiently. Foaly had the full attention of everyone in the room. This was far more interesting than anything that they had yet to see today. The entire conference was quite boring. In fact, it was probably the most interesting thing they would see at all that day.
Grinning at his cleverness, Foaly motioned the employee forward. The fairy did so with a resigned look on his face. Asking for his assistant to be perfectly still, Foaly pressed another button. The holo-ball glowed even brighter and suddenly a ray of light flew out from its center. Crisscrossing its way across the employee's head, the tiny scanner accessed every detail, down to the bald spot on the back of his head. Coming full circle, the tiny ball came to a stop.
Then a quiet electronic voice said smugly. "Data assessment complete." A perfect replica of the fairy's head floated in place of the holo-ball. Staggering backwards, the speaker tripped and landed on his bottom. The hologram mirrored his look of shock and echoed his swear quite loudly.
The audience roared with laughter. With a burning face the fairy struggled upright. He snatched the microphone away from Foaly. Covering it with one hand, he told Foaly to get off the stage. "Sure, all you had to do was ask," replied the centaur. He trotted off.
After that the presentation continued normally and when it was over everyone left the room to go attend the luncheon next door. Artemis helped himself to some fresh fruit from the buffet table while Holly trailed beside him looking everywhere for Folly.
"Where do you suppose he is?" asked Holly. "I'm surprised he hasn't shown up yet. Do you think they threw him off the grounds?"
"I have no idea," answered Artemis idly. He picked up a banana and frowned at the black spots on it. "Not the highest quality of food, eh?"
Holly snorted. "No. Supposedly Acorn Tech spends all their money on their grants and little on anything else."
"Hmm, where did you hear that?" asked Artemis.
"Foaly."
Artemis scanned the room looking for a place to sit down. He spotted a table in the corner of the room. It was in a secluded area, behind a large bouquet of flowers. About to suggest they move to the table, Artemis turned to find Holly looking in the opposite direction.
"Oh, I see him!" said Holly. "I'm going to go congratulate Foaly. Save me a seat okay?" She squeezed his arm and took off.
Artemis stood dazed for a moment and therefore was quite surprised when someone bumped into him, causing his plate to tumble to the floor. Staring at the interesting array of colors the juices from the ruined fruit were making on his shoes, he quickly backed away before the damage spread any further.
"Terribly sorry," exclaimed a voice. "Wasn't watching where I was going I'm afraid."
"That's alright," said Artemis, biting down his annoyance as he looked at a sprite. He seemed to be quite rich as he was wearing a suit that had gold cuffs on the sleeves. He peered at Artemis through his glasses.
"Goodness, Mr. Fowl. I didn't recognize you for a minute," said the sprite.
With a flash of realization, Artemis realized that he was a member of the Counsel who often came to meetings a bit late, a servant behind him carrying scrolls and books in a big rucksack. His name escaped him, however.
"The name's Walter Gage," said the sprite, shaking his hand after Artemis explained his memory lapse.
Several fairies brushed by impatiently, as Artemis was still blocking the buffet. Conversations started up all around them, making it hard to hear the other over the din. Moving away, Artemis caught sight of Holly through the crowd.
"So, what brings you here today?" asked Mr. Gage. "It's your day off. You ought to be having a night on the town. Not stuck here with a bunch of boring business folk."
"I'm supporting a friend of mine. He won a grant." Replied Artemis, trying to catch a better glimpse of Holly.
"Ah, Mister Folly," Guessed Mr. Gage. He grabbed a drink from a passing waiter and took a sip. Artemis nodded, taking a glass himself.
The sprite chuckled. "That was quite a show he put on back there. I'm grateful I wasn't in charge today."
Artemis grinned, despite himself. The person in front of him moved over a bit so that he had a clear view of Holly talking to Folly and someone he did not recognize. He gulped down his drink, continuing to watch them, and then started suddenly. The liquid went down the wrong way and he started coughing, staring at the scene in front of him.
"Mr. Fowl, are you alright?" asked Mr. Gage. Artemis tore his gaze away from the sight of Holly letting another fairy hold her hand.
"Y-yes," he managed in shock.
"Good, because you look quite pale actually," Mr. Gage frowned and checked his watch. "Well, I'm afraid I must continue on. So may people to see, so little time. But I must insist that you meet me later today. In my office, at about seven." He handed Artemis a business card. "I have something to discuss with you."
"Alright," said Artemis, his mind elsewhere.
"Excellent," beamed the sprite. He turned and walked away into the bustling crowd.
Absentmindedly, Artemis fingered the card as he elbowed his way over to Holly. The mystery fairy said something to her and she laughed. Jealousy flared up in him and he glared daggers at him. As if he knew Artemis was coming, the fairy squeezed Holly's hand and left, before Artemis could reach them.
As he was considering following the other fairy, he was stopped by Folly, who spotted him first. "Artemis, there you are," the centaur called out. Holly turned and smiled at him. Foaly trotted over. "How did you like the show? I believe it was a roaring success." The centaur wiped away an invisible tear. "Sometimes I impress even myself."
Artemis chuckled nervously. He decided to let the matter go for now to let Foaly have his moment.
"You know to be honest, I'm surprised that I even qualified," stated Folly a little while later. Artemis and Holly were shocked. "It's not that my invention wasn't great or anything, but the holo-ball was only a prototype. Sure, the hologram was flawless, but I still need to work the bugs out of the hovering system."
"Well, they were looking for a holographic invention," shrugged Holly. "They probably didn't care that it didn't always float."
"I guess so," said Foaly.
"You shouldn't be worrying about that," said Artemis.
Holly nodded. "Artemis is right. You won. You should be enjoying yourself. "
Foaly grinned. "Oh, believe me, I am." He had spotted the fairy that had been the speaker that morning. "I think I'll go say hello."
Artemis and Holly looked at each other and burst out laughing.
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A posh gnome opened the door. "Ah, Mr. Fowl, we have been expecting you." He ushered Artemis into the office, which was large even by human standards. Artemis's eyes flickered around the room taking everything in. Then he sat down in front of a large desk. His trademark vampire stare was already in place.
"Now, I am sure that you are interested in finding out why I asked you to meet me here, Mr. Fowl." Stated the sprite sitting behind the desk. His gray suit was perfectly clean and tidy. He leaned back into his office chair, clasping his fingers.
The gnome hurried over to them and placed a large water pitcher in the corner of the tabletop. Two crystal glasses filled with ice followed. He poured liberal amounts into each. Giving one to each of them, he bowed to the pixie.
"Thank you, Harry," said the sprite looking bored. "You may leave now." He took a sip and smiled in satisfaction. He motioned Artemis to do the same.
"This is the purest water that you can find on the planet under or above it. It is nearly tasteless."
Then, thought Artemis, what was the point of drinking it? He smiled politely and drank. It was perfectly chilled and slid down his throat like a fresh breeze. However, he could taste nothing. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the servant hastily leaving.
"You see Mr. Fowl, the Counsel is giving you the day off tomorrow. We need time to prepare for a special event," he paused. "I assume that you have not heard of the Fairy Lunar Festival. It is a tradition that goes way back in our history. It is not unlike the human celebration of the Winter Solstice. Since the solstice occurs at different times for each hemisphere, one in the winter and one in the summer, we choose celebrate it twice a year. One festival is held for each hemisphere. The moon holds a special significance for us, but of course you were well aware of that, weren't you, Mr. Fowl?"
Artemis shrugged. "Of course Mr. Gage." He set the glass down on the table. "This history lesson is quite interesting, but I can't figure out is what this has to do with me." His countenance did not reveal anything to the other fairy. "Goodness, not another dinner," he thought. Mentally wincing, he watched the sprite smile uncomfortably.
"Yes, well," said the sprite. "It has nothing to do with you of course. As it is the weekend, you have the day off. It says so in your contract."
Artemis picked up the glass of water again, and in one swift movement he downed it. "Well, it isn't strong, but it'll have to do." He thought.
"But, as you are so well liked by the fairies of Haven, it would be wonderful if you could attend." A strained silence fell. "Of course you would be paid overtime," the sprite added hastily.
Artemis was not impressed. No amount of money would make him sit through hours of torture on his day off. He'd much rather spend the day with Holly. A slightly glazed expression appeared on his face, as he thought of her.
In front of him the sprite was waiting for an answer. "Look, I appreciate the offer but I already have plans," explained Artemis. "I'm sure you understand."
"Of course," said the sprite smiling. A mouthful of sharp teeth revealed themselves. "In that case, I was hoping that we could talk about another matter that has come to my attention."
"By all means, go ahead," said Artemis.
The sprite rifled through the orderly stack of papers on his desk. He pulled a folder out. "Now this is the request form that you have sent for that pet project of yours. It's quite an order. All that gold. Even with the subject matter being of something of uttermost importance, it is unlikely it will be passed. And that would be such a shame." He trailed off, letting the sentence hang in the air for a moment.
If the sprite had been a mind reader, he would have been shocked at the vulgar phrases coming from Artemis's mind. Outwardly, Artemis did not move a muscle.
"Yes," he shrugged. "I suppose it would." He stared down the sprite with his famous vampire look.
A brief knock sounded from the door. "I'm in a meeting," He called, an edge to his voice. The door slowly opened and Harry poked his head in. "Sir, your guest has arrived."
"Ah! Send her in," the sprite was smiling again, noticed Artemis with a start. He was beginning to suspect that the other fairy was a touch unstable. Harry disappeared. They heard some shuffling and then "Right this way Madame." The door opened again and a tiny female elf nervously walked into the office.
Artemis felt as though all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. She had short red hair that framed her face and wore a light green dress that did the same to her body. The fairy looked almost exactly like Holly. She smiled and exchanged pleasantries with the pixie, shaking his hand. Turning to Artemis she held out her hand to shake and as she did so Artemis caught sight of her eyes. They were a bright blue that reminded him of the ocean. The foreign eyes reminded him that this was not Holly.
He jumped as though stung and gasped her hand, not really feeling it. Nor did he notice that she seemed just as eager to let go of him as he was.
"Mr. Fowl, this my good friend Thorn Ace. She lives on the outskirts of Haven and is going to be staying here for a few days."
Thorn interrupted him. "Did you tell him, yet?"
He faltered. "Yes my dear, but I'm afraid he declined to come. Seems he has other plans."
Thorn looked terribly disappointed. Clasping her hands together, she turned to Artemis. "You must come to the festival. It will be do much fun. I can hardly wait. You see," she whispered grinning, moving closer to Artemis. "I've never been invited to one of these before. You have to get an invite and as I live so far away I've never received one. It wasn't until this year that Walter could get me a ticket to the festival."
Artemis was getting flustered. Genius, he may be, but he was never great around women. And here Thorn was practically mauling him. Well, by his standards anyway.
He turned back to the sprite in desperation, and found him getting up, looking at his watch. "Goodness, look where the time has gone. I'm terribly sorry Mr. Fowl, but I have another matter that I need to attend to. By any chance could you do me a favor and show Thorn around the city. She rarely gets to see it and I'm afraid that I haven't got the time."
It was an incredibly obvious attempt to leave him alone with Thorn. Unfortunately there was nothing that he could do, unless he wanted to be rude. He turned to look at the fairy beside him. When he thought about simply telling the woman that he was busy, Thorn smiled and her hair caught the light reminding him of Holly. She would want him to help the fairy he realized. After all, it was the right thing to do.
He sighed and gestured towards the door. "Shall we?"
She smirked catching him off guard. She grabbed his arm and pulled it after her as she ran for the exit. "What are we waiting for?"
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It was very late when Artemis returned home. He walked through the still lobby grateful for the silence. Deep shadows penetrated the hallways, and he found himself standing on top of the welcome mat. He pressed his palm against the scanner hanging next to Holly and his door. It read his genetics and made sure that he was still alive, even if he was doubtful about that fact. The door opened automatically and he was thankful that Foaly had installed the security system for them. It made things much easier, not having to worry about keys.
He flopped down ungracefully on the tan sofa. Running his hands over his eyes, he sighed softly. He was so exhausted. The day had gone by surprisingly fast considering that he was spending it with someone that he had never met before. It had been fun exploring Haven with someone who was as clueless about the place as he was. He knew exactly how to get to Section Eight, the Counsel, the shuttle port and the hospital, but as they weren't tourist attractions he was lost as to where they ought to go.
Thorn had known about a small café, so they had briefly stopped by. Over a mug of coffee she had chatted with him and he had found her to be surprisingly intelligent. They spent an hour discussing his current job situation and how it related to city politics.
After that the two strolled the city. Several times he had gotten them lost, but Thorn had just laughed it off and said that it wasn't a problem. Whenever he looked at Thorn, he couldn't help but think of her almost twin, Holly.
He closed his eyes and smiled, thinking of the pretty elf. Life was surprisingly busy when you actually needed money to pay for things and he missed being able to talk to her.
A light touch on his shoulder took him away from his musings. Opening his eyes, he saw her looking down at him worriedly. "Artemis, are you alright? Where have you been?"
He shrugged grinning. "Around."
"Then why didn't you call to let me know that you were okay?"
"It didn't occur to me. Honestly, Holly I don't know why you're making such a big deal about this." He said, starting to get annoyed. It was too late for this sort of thing.
"Let me tell you something, Artemis Fowl," she said her temper flaring. "I've been a member of the LEP for years and there are things that you hear about out there on the force that would make your hair curl. So forgive me for not wanting to have to go down to identify your body in the morning."
"Holly, I was only showing a friend of Mr. Gage's around Haven. Nothing was going to happen. Stop overreacting," Artemis said. He got up with the intent of going to bed, but Holly blocked his escape route.
"What friend?" she asked curiously.
"Uh," he faltered. Instinctively, he had a feeling that Holly was not going to like hearing about Thorn, but neither was he willing to lie. She'd find out eventually and he did not want to be living with a livid elf in close quarters. He took a step backwards.
"Look, Artemis, I'm sorry. I just worry about you that's all," she said grabbing his hands. He froze mid-step.
"Her name's Thorn," he blurted out.
"Thorn?" she asked in a very strange voice that Artemis did not recognize. It sounded almost hurt. He stood there for a moment in silence, unsure of how to deal with this development. Thankfully, Holly quickly recovered. "S-so you were out with some girl that you've only met today and you couldn't be bothered to call me, the girl who has known you for years?"
He winced.
"I can not believe you!"
"Oh?" he said, trying to save his pride. "Well, its not like you're perfect. What about that fairy you where talking to this afternoon at the luncheon? You seemed happy to talk to him instead of me."
"Artemis," she said shaking her head in disbelief. "You have things so backwards that it is just ridiculous. Just promise me that you'll call from now on."
"Fine, who are you my mother?" he said.
Steam seemed to pour out of Holly's ears. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did you just call me?" she said very slowly.
Artemis gulped. "You know, I love my mother very, very much."
Famous last words.
A/N: Don't panic. The next chapter should be up soon. In the meantime, review please.
