Epilogue – Reinstatement
It had been a scant number of weeks after Artemis returned to Fowl Manor. He was, nominally, fully recovered; he had passed a series of interviews and psychological exams administered by Dr. Argon, including reciting the four times table. Artemis had sped through it, not stopping until Dr. Argon insisted he do so at "Four times four hundred forty-five is seventeen hundred eighty." But Butler suspected that his young charge was not quite completely himself. Maybe it was the careful way he would arrange things in his room, as though there was a purpose behind it. Maybe it was the fractal patterns of fives that he had worked into a recent painting. And maybe it was the fact that Artemis was making him drive to the spot where they had first met Holly without allowing him to breathe word of it to anybody.
"It's really quite a simple idea," Artemis was saying in the back seat, as Butler drove through the dark, nodding occasionally. "I've no idea why I didn't think of it sooner. It was No. 1 that inspired it, really. When the magical 'detox,' as Holly so charmingly described it, failed, we all thought it was simply psychological. But then it didn't work on Orion, either, who we've already demonstrated doesn't have many of the psychological hang-ups I do. And then No. 1 said, it would make sense if I was a fairy, because the purification ritual would risk damaging the parts of the brain that channelled their magic. Of course, he and Dr. Argon simply dismissed it on the principle that I'm notably not a fairy, but it made me wonder…"
"We're here," said Butler abruptly, as he turned the van onto a rarely travelled back road, effectively silencing Artemis. The boy still hadn't ever explained what exactly he was doing, and Butler wasn't sure he ever would. The best he could do was make sure Artemis didn't get himself hurt.
Artemis swung out of the vehicle with surprising grace. At least there was one advantage to Orion's intrusions – thanks to muscle memory and some of the first dedicated exercise in his life, he had become a little less awkward at physical tasks. He shook a single finger at Butler imperiously, wordlessly instructing him to wait here. Butler sighed quietly. It seemed it was Artemis' dedicated goal to make his job as impossible as he could.
Artemis walked underneath the ancient oak, stooping momentarily to pick up a tiny object. He examined it carefully, and cast a careful look at the moon, round and orange as the coin that hung like a pendant around his neck. Then, he knelt and began to dig a small hole in the ground with the fingers of the other hand. He murmured a few words in Gnomish, and dropped the little acorn in the hole.
There was a flash of light that caused Butler to call the boy's name, a note of worry barely evident in his voice. Artemis spun around and looked at him, eyes alight with a strange, unsettling gleam. "Everything alright?" Butler asked tensely, frowning at him.
Artemis gave him his best vampire grin, an expression the bodyguard hadn't seen in years. "Yes, Butler, everything is well. Everything is very well indeed."
