And now onto a twist you probably thought would take a while longer!


Chapter 7
"Better Than You Do"

Ireland, Fowl Manor

Artemis was scowling at the headlines. It would seem that once again the kidnappers had been one step ahead of him.

And yet, it also seemed Ethryn and Alex were one step ahead of the kidnappers.

The newspaper told about a disaster with the lights, startling everyone like horses and causing panic as each blew up. Apparently most were under the impression there was some type of gunfire because of the popping sounds, but no shell casings were found on the scene. The kitchen staff had also apparently complained that during the urgency to get out of the building, "two teenagers ran into the kitchen and jumped out the window followed by another man. But when he couldn't get out, he went around back". Artemis smirked at the notion. One didn't have to be a genius to find out who the two teenagers were. Trouble seemed to follow Ethryn and Alex wherever they went.

That was when an e-mail popped up on his computer.

Immediately he turned, expecting some message from his mother. His family was off in Hawaii now, and he was home 'with Ethryn'. Artemis had never been one for going to the beach or any form of heat. He was perfectly at ease in missing this trip. But the e-mail was not from his mother. Nor was it from anyone he expected to be receiving anything from.

It was a notification that 'his room' was currently in use. That if he wasn't currently inhabiting the room that it was recommended they be notified immediately so the intruders could be 'dealt with'.

So Artemis now knew where Ethryn and Alex were.

He'd never moved so fast before. Artemis shot up in his chair at once, hurrying down the hallway and shouting for Butler and Holly. Immediately the two were heading down the hallway where he'd just been. But now the impatient genius who wasn't going to take any chances was downstairs, making his way through his house towards the garage where the cars were parked. Holly and Butler were somewhat alarmed that he was moving around and still shouting at them. Was he alright?

"Artemis!" Holly finally shouted. "Where are you?"

"Waiting for you by the garage," His slightly winded voice replied back. "I know where Ethryn and Alex are and I don't want to take any chances waiting until they're found once again and forced to leave the premises."

This, for obvious reasons, helped Butler and Holly pick up their speed considerably.


Ireland, Secret Hotel

"Put these on," Ethryn told Alex, tossing him jeans and a black t-shirt. The jeans were stretchy, allowing him movement if they needed to run. Ethryn pulled out basically the same thing for herself and a track sweatshirt that was reverseable. It was either black with white stripes up the arms or white with back stripes up the arms. She tossed Alex a red track sweatshirt with large black stripes on the chest, arms, and sides.

"We're leaving now, then?" Alex said, heading towards the bathroom.

Ethryn nodded, "I don't think we should risk staying here for too long. If she gets wind of us being here somehow, we're screwed."

"Are you sure you're not just being paranoid?" Alex insisted. "She's smart, but not that smart."

"You never know," Ethryn muttered, hurrying towards her bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

Alex glared after her suspiciously. He still hadn't asked Ethryn what she'd done to that old woman. Why not now if he was going to ask? Alex walked into the other bathroom and changed quickly. They both came out at the same time, Alex taking the clothes, folding them, and putting them into the dresser like Ethryn did.

"Hey, Ethryn," he said, cutting into the silence. "Can I ask you something?"

She seemed surprised and stopped, looking up at him with wide and curious eyes. "Of course. Is something wrong?"

Alex shook his head, watching her expression carefully. Undoubtedly it would change after he asked. "No, not at all. Actually, I was just wondering . . . what is it you did to that old woman? You said you'd tell me. Now is about a good a time as any."

Her expression did change. Her curious gaze turned into one of shock as she stared. Suddenly all her focus was on refolding the clothes as slowly and as neatly as possible. It was suspicious to say the least. Alex's eyes narrowed. What was she hiding from him?

"I-I . . ." Ethryn tried to start and then squeezed her eyes shut at something.

Alex, surprised at the sudden pain she seemed to be in, reached a hand out and touched her arm with concern. Ethryn's eyes darted towards his face immediately as she continued to stare.

"Hey, Ethryn," He began sympathetically. "It's alright. I mean, I know we haven't known each other very long, but, we probably know a lot more about each other then other people do. That's just what happens when people are partners in something like this. Whatever it is Ethryn, you can tell me."

Ethryn still hesitated. "I can't really tell you . . . I'd have to show you."

Alex nodded his understanding.

She closed her eyes and continued. "Alex . . . you have to promise your opinion won't change about me. Okay?"

"I promise," He insisted, letting go of her and crossing his heart with a finger. "Seriously. Now what's up?"

Ethryn turned away from him and removed her jacket, tossing it onto the bed. Alex's brow rose, but he didn't say anything. Now, unbeknown to him, Ethryn's back was actually quite sore from holding it in so long. It wasn't so much that she wanted to tell him as it was she needed to let her wings out. Pain did strange things to a mind.

Thankfully the material of her shirt was Angel thread. The LEP had figured out how to make it some time ago, and most of her outfits were made out of the material that would allow her clothes not to rip. She closed her eyes and before she could contain herself, her wings burst out from her back.

Alex would've choked if anything had been in his mouth. Wings. That was the solitary thought in his mind as he stared at the pure white feathery object on Ethryn's back. If it was possible, they seemed to be begging to let him touch them. They looked so soft.

Ethryn jumped a little in surprise as soon as she felt his hand brush through her wings. She looked over her shoulder to see him staring at them in some sort of stupor, gently and slowly touching the feathers. Alex looked up suddenly at her face in awe and she turned to face him, her wings wrapping around her, protecting her form what she thought would soon be yelling from him. What if he didn't trust her anymore because of this? Did it change anything?

"You're . . ." Alex breathed, apparently unable to form sentences.

She looked down in shame. "I'm not a monster . . ."

At his sudden gasp she looked up. Alex was staring at her still, but in a new way. "I never said you were a monster!"

Her brows rose. "But-."

Alex moved towards her once again, shaking her head. "Ethryn this is . . . surprising at the very least but . . . wow, wings? Where are you from, exactly? Wait, does Artemis know about this?"

She nodded, "Yes, he knows. I'm not the only mythical creature that exists on this planet. And I'm not from this world, I'm from an entirely different dimension."

"How'd you get here then?" Alex asked, sitting down. He really had no idea why he was taking this so well. Why he wasn't in shock was a mystery to even himself.

Ethryn ran her hand through her own wings, marveling at their softness as well. "I was chased out. I didn't have a choice but to hide. Artemis and Holly, whose an elf, saved me from the person chasing me. After that I decided to stay and well, here we are now."

"And Opal?" Alex asked, running both hands through his hair as he focused on the floor in front of him. "Anything up with her? What's she, a pixie?"

Ethryn didn't say anything.

Alex groaned. "Oh man, leave it me to get mixed up in this."

She looked down at her hands shamefully, "I'm sorry."

He sighed and stood, shaking his heads after a short while. "Hey, you can't pick who you are. But, at least we know each other now, right?"

"On the contrary," Ethryn replied, eyes scrunching in confusion. "I don't know anything about you."

Alex's eyes widened as he realized the truth of this. Then he laughed. "You're right." He smiled and held his hand out. "Alex Rider. First and only teenage spy, as far as I know. I work for M16 and have saved the world on multiple occasions from various types of poisoning, mass takeover, and just all around bad stuff."

Ethryn took his hand and smiled back. "Ethryn Fowl. Adopted by the Fowl family a short while ago, and Angel in disguise."

Alex nodded his head. "It's nice to meet you, Ethryn."

"You too, Alex." She pulled her hand away after a moment with a shy smile. Her wings were instantly sucked back into her back and she took a deep breath, guessing they probably weren't going to come out again for a while. "We should probably get going. You ready?"

Alex sighed. "About as ready as I'm going to be."

"Good. Then let's get out of here."


Ireland, Streets

"I don't see them anywhere," Holly said, peering out the window.

Artemis scoffed at the notion. "This is Alex Rider and Ethryn, Holly. Do you really think they're going to make themselves seen to the immediate streets?"

"What do you expect us to do then, Artemis?" Butler asked, glancing at him through the mirror. "Get out and look."

"Not at all," Artemis replied. "I expect Holly to get out and look from above and us to go to the Hotel and wait for them to come out if they haven't already."

Holly glared at him, "You could have just said that before!"

Immediately after she shimmered out of the room and the window was rolled down. After about a minute, Artemis rolled it back up.

"Trying to keep to habit then, Artemis?" Butler said expectantly. "There's no need to be rude to Holly. She's just as worried as you are."

Artemis rubbed his temples in frustration. "I don't do very well under stress, Butler. I'll apologize to her once Alex and Ethryn are in our-."

The car slowed to a halt, stopping Artemis's words. His brow rose as Butler motioned for him to stay in the car as he got out, carefully and silently. Artemis would have asked questions had he not known better.

Although the sound of his voice might have saved a lot of trouble.

Immediately upon peering past the tinted window, Artemis saw two figures lithely dart through the alleyways. Obviously, since he had seen it, Butler had seen it. Immediately the hefty bodyguard was racing after them.


Alex noticed the monstrous shape racing towards them. He motioned for Ethryn to run, and they began to bolt at once again fantastic speeds. If Ethryn had been worried about not being active enough, these past two days would surely be enough of an exercise for a while.

The figure pursued, and Ethryn didn't look back. She didn't really want to know who was chasing them now, and she didn't want to know how Opal had found them so quickly upon leaving their sanctuary. All she focused on was Alex, gripping her wrist tightly and leading her onwards. Alex's eyes kept darting backwards, biting his lip and narrowing his eyes as if remembering something, or at least trying to.

It was then they came to a dead end. They were well ahead of their pursuer, but not for long now that they were cornered. Alex searched desperately for another ladder. But it seemed their luck had finally run out, and there was nothing to get them away.

"Ethryn," Alex turned to her. "Go!"

Her brows furrowed in misunderstanding. "What do you mean?"

"You're an Angel," He said quickly. "Can't you just fly out of here?"

Ethryn's eyes widened and she gripped his wrist. "I'm not leaving you, Alex!"

The sound of their chaser was heard, approaching. Hissing in irritation, making a last minute decision, Alex grabbed Ethryn and pulled her hood over her head tightly before shoving his own hood over his face. He then forced her behind him as he stood in front of her in a protective stance. It was Alex's natural instinct to protect women, and especially the ones he cared about. From their short but meaningful time together, Alex now knew he had to protect her no matter what.

Mythical being or not, she was his friend. Nothing was going to happen to her.

"Stay behind me, Ethryn." Alex muttered. "And keep your hood over as much as your face as you can."

Ethryn's gently hand touched his forearm. Nervously she murmured, "Alex-."

And then their pursuer was around the corner. One hulking mass with a gun pointed at both of them. Ethryn, at first, was being forced to hide behind Alex as he tried to keep her away from the danger. But seeing the giant figure, she became curious and peeked over his shoulder.

"Don't-," The man began dangerously.

But Ethryn's eyes lit up at once, recognizing the figure immediately. "Butler!"

Both males were surprised as she darted past Alex, throwing her arms around the manservant affectionately, as one might to another they haven't seen in a long time. As she ran her hood fell off, revealing her silky raven-colored locks and perfect features. Alex sighed in relief. He'd gone up against large men before, but the first impression of the shadowed figure had been a very hopeless one. He knew he'd felt something familiar about him. Alex found himself in disbelief as he tried to figure out how he could forget such a man.

"Ethryn, there you are," Butler said, also apparently relieved, but still on edge. He motioned for Alex with a meaty hand. "Come along, both of you. Before we're seen. Alex is waiting in the car."

Ethryn released Butler at once and skipped back to Alex's side, holding her hand out for him. Hesitantly, he gave it to her. A single brow on Butler's face rose, but otherwise he had no reaction as she tugged him gently forward. Her nerves were shot. For the time being, Alex had became the one she depended on when it came to uncomfortable situations.

What if there was still someone out there besides Artemis?

But yet the walk back was uneventful. The black, tinted-windowed car was sitting on the sidewalk, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. Butler shielded them with his body from anyone who might happen to be on the street (thought it was deserted) and opened the back doors, letting them inside before doing his routine check on the limousine and continuously glancing around auspiciously.

The moment the door shut, Artemis smiled at Ethryn. A genuine smile. Alex recognized it as the one like in the picture Artemis had shown him. It was almost astonishing to see it fit so naturally on someone who had seen so distant and cold.

"You're okay, then?" He said, on the opposite side of both of them and making no move to approach them.

But Ethryn beamed and lunged towards him, enclosing him in a tight hug. Artemis seemed so startled Alex had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the boy probably only a year or two older then him. Then Artemis's face softened and he patted her gently on the back.

"Artemis!" Ethryn said, pulling away from him. "I've never been so happy to see Butler with a gun."

Alex couldn't hold it back then and began to laugh, folding over with his face into his knees. Ethryn's giggle joined his own and he felt a movement next to him and looked up to see her smiling down at him, covering her mouth with a delicate hand as she snickered. She then looked back to Artemis, shyly.

"Artemis," She started, then looked down into her lap sadly. "Alex . . . knows about Angels."

Alex's eyes widened and his eyes darted to Artemis's face. The smile was gone, and his fingers drummed against the leather, seeming to consider this as he looked at the shameful Ethryn. As if it wasn't bad enough to see Ethryn look so pitiful, Artemis's eyes then went to Alex. It felt like he was just considering on how to deal with him, and it was a look Alex sort of knew. Similar looks had been given to him when people wondered what the best way of killing him would be.

Now he wasn't so sure if the situation was so different.

"Artemis," Ethryn's voice was suddenly pleading. "Please don't. He's saved my life and got me away from Opal this whole time."

Alex didn't quite know what to say. What did she mean 'please don't'? Don't do what? He looked back and forth between Ethryn and Alex, the expressions completely contrasting from one another. She began wringing her wrists out of nervousness.

Then Artemis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand and rolling down the window with the other. "We'll have to talk to Holly about it. In consideration of the secrets he's already kept, I have full confidence he could keep this secret. But, Ethryn, you have to understand, it isn't my decision."

Alex felt uncomfortable in the silence that followed. The only noise was that of Artemis rolling the window back up.

Then Artemis said, "Holly, Ethryn told him about us. You can remove the shield now."

And Alex jumped when a petite figure appeared next to Artemis on the chair. He didn't take this quite as well as he took Ethryn's news, and couldn't help but stare. The only way he knew for sure she was a girl was the curves, which he ignored at once out of respect. Then she removed her helmet, shaking red and obviously well-cared-for hair out with a sigh. She looked up with a sad smile towards Ethryn on her face.

"Aw, kiddo," the petite woman sighed. "What did you do now?"

Ethryn gripped Alex's arm protectively, "I trust him, Holly. Just like I trust you and Artemis. You've all saved me on multiple occasions. In the past few days, he's done it quite a lot actually."

Holly made a face, but nodded. Then she held a small hand out to Alex. "Nice to meet you, Alex. I'm Captain Holly Short, but you can just call me Holly, of course."

Alex shook her hand after receiving an encouraging nod from Ethryn. Then he smiled, "Nice to meet you too, Holly. Whatever the circumstances may be now."

"Yes," Artemis said, folding his hands carefully on his lap. "About that. My greatest apologies, Alex, but for your own safety you're going to have to stay with myself and possibly the rest of my family, along with Ethryn at my home. Anywhere else in the world is dangerous for you right now."

Alex didn't seem to really be concerned about that. In fact, he seemed to have almost expected this. Artemis was mildly surprised by this, but refused to let it show on his face. He assumed that Alex was used to changes in plans that hadn't gone right.

That didn't mean he was entirely senseless. "That's fine. But I'll have to make a call."

Artemis smirked. "Ah, yes. Your guardian."

But without any further words he reached into his pocket and handed Alex his cell-phone, which he took gladly. After dialing a few numbers he placed the phone to his ear. Butler finished his security sweep of the car and got in, starting the engine.

Just then Jack Starbright answered her phone, "Hello?"

"Jack?" Alex said, relief filling his body at a familiar voice. Every once in a while he needed that reassurance that some part of his life was normal. With the additional existence of magical creatures coming into play, he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

Immediately the reply was, "Alex! Are you okay? Where are you? How are you calling me? Did you-!"

"Jack, breath," Alex insisted, with a snort. Ethryn giggled beside him and Artemis cracked a small smile. "I'm fine. In a limo. With a cell phone. And, if I can guess correctly, I did escape with the help of a friend." His eyes wandered to where Ethryn sat and she beamed. "But, it might be some time before I'm able to come home."

"You said no more missions, Alex," Jack insisted. "You promised."

"It's not on a mission," He argued. "I'm the target."

Artemis made a cutting gesture of his neck, which Alex knew meant to not say too much. Even though Artemis severely trusted all of his equipment he knew that not everyone was ready to know the truth about their world. That they were actually a far second in their evolutionary race in both technology and the ability to adapt.

"You're what! Alex, you tell me what's going on this instant!" Jack shouted, obviously panicked on the other end of the phone.

Alex flinched at the shriek of fear at his well-being. But he looked down at his lap, the hand without the phone on the back of his neck. "I can't, Jack. I'm really sorry, but everything will be fine, and then everything can go back to normal again, okay?"

"Alex-!"

"Bye, Jack. Love you. See you soon" And he hung up on her, knowing he'd never get off the phone otherwise. Then he sighed, both hands dropped into his lap, his shoulders hunching, and his head hanging down in despair.

Ethryn looked on sympathetically, touching his arm, "Are you okay, Alex?"

Alex, after a moment, seemed to have shaken it off and nodded, handing Artemis back the phone with a somber expression, "Thanks."

"Of course," Artemis replied with a wary and suspicious expression on his face.

Not once had Artemis ever really approved of how affectionate and trusting Ethryn was with most people she met. Obviously, it had gotten her into trouble on numerous occasions, her compassion being one of the reasons she'd been hounded into a whole other dimension. But with Alex something was different. She'd embraced fully the role of cousin, treating Artemis like he was her dearest and closest brother. But with Alex, she acted just as adoringly, but in a different sort of way. A way the Fairy people probably wouldn't approve of.

And he wasn't sure he exactly approved either.


UGH! THIS TOOK TOO LONG!

So, now that Alex knows about Fairies, and the shock hasn't quite settled in yet, what can he expect in the future? And what about Artemis's growing suspicion and irritation of his littler-sister figure getting a bit too comfortable with Alex? NO, for you idiots who might think as much, he is NOT jealous. They're love is strictly sibling. And as a sibling, big brother has got to be protective. But with big brother being a once evil but still ingenious teenager, what has Alex got in store for him there?

Oh the joys of mysteries! :D

Till next time.