Hello again, everyone! I struggled to get this one uploaded by Sunday as I have unfortunately been back at school this week :( Highers are a killer.

Anyway, Thanks to all the reviewers out there, you are all very nice to me ^_^ And here is the next installment a few days later than i expected but at least i got it up :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl


Chapter 7: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Rosewoods Bed and Breakfast: England

The next morning, Artemis gently disentangled himself from the sleeping elf. If Holly woke up when they were like this, he had no doubt that he would be on the receiving end of a punch or two. Moving stealthily so as not to wake her, he climbed out of bed and stole across the room to where his phone lay. He had to try and contact Butler today without his phone being traced. Artemis sat down on the tiny red sofa and attempted to clear his mind. He needed to plan.

After about ten minutes, Holly stirred and sat up, rubbing her eyes blearily. She took a fleeting look at him before getting up and striding over.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to set up a secure phone line so we can contact Butler. He has to be prepared in case Opal decides to target my family. Plus, we can't keep running across the country forever. I thought I might get him to pick us up and take us to one of our safe houses in Ireland." Holly blinked, surprised.

"You have more than one safe house?" Artemis resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"My father was previously the head of a criminal empire, remember? My family has enemies."

"Ok, I'll grant you that. But why can't I just fly us to one?"

"Mainly, because I hate flying with those things." He pointed to the wings in the back of her suit. "But also because Opal will still be searching for us. She is far less likely to notice one of a billion cars, as she is to notice a shielded fairy flying with a human in tow." Holly had to agree. Then her eyes narrowed.

"Why haven't you done this before now?"

"Basically, because I do not have the technology to make my phone untraceable. Perhaps in Fowl manor I could have done it, but out here all I have is this." He held up his phone and Holly exhaled loudly.

"What do you need, mud boy?" He hesitated, knowing that his answer would be met with a large degree of resistance.

"Your helmet."

Holly scowled. "No way."

"Please?"

"No."

"It's the only method I can think of."

"No."

"Holly…" he wheedled.

"No. Not a chance in hell."

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Half an hour later, Artemis sat in the centre of the bed, the remains of his phone and Holly's LEP helmet scattered around him. The elf had disappeared, sulking.

He had built a crude but effective network by combining both his and Foaly's technologies. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep Opal out. With some trepidation, he selected Butler's icon from his contacts list and pressed 'call'. The bodyguard answered on the second ring.

"Artemis?"

"It's me."

"Thank god. Your parents have been frantic the last few days. They didn't know what had happened to you. Your mother was afraid you were going to disappear off for three years again." Artemis's only response was a slight thinning of the lips. Obviously, Foaly hadn't bothered to inform his parents that he was not dead. "Artemis?" he shook himself.

"Yes, old friend?"

"What happened?"

"Nothing much. Opal Koboi from the past attempted to kidnap me. We are not yet sure why, but the LEP were there in a matter of hours. They rescued me but Opal escaped. Holly and I are currently on the run from her and we need you to come and pick us up if possible. Also, on your way, would you please transport my family to one of the safe houses? I fear that they may become her next targets." Butler appeared to take all this in his stride.

"Very well, Artemis. Where are you right now?"

"We are currently in a small town called…" he glanced at a leaflet on the dresser. "Elterwater. It's in the Lake district in Cumbria."

"Right. I'll be there in about three hours. I shall call you when I am close."

"Thank you, Butler." He hung up just as the door swung open and Holly materialised with yet more clothes.

"What are those for?" he asked as she sat down beside him.

"It's snowing outside, in case you hadn't noticed. I figured you'd want something a little warmer than what you were wearing yesterday." She held out the bag to him and he took it with some apprehension.

"Where did you get the money for these?" Holly shrugged and began to answer, before noticing her dissembled helmet.

"Gah! Artemis, what have you done?" she picked up the visor and cradled it gently in her hands. "This isn't even fixable!" He raised an eyebrow at her outburst.

"You gave me permission Holly." She grimaced.

"I know. But still… what if Foaly needs to contact me?"

"It'll come through on my phone."

"Right. Fine." She didn't look too pleased. "Did you get Butler?" he nodded.

"Yes. He'll be here in three hours. He's taking my family to a safe house first." He frowned a little. Holly put an arm round his shoulder.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine." All of a sudden, her face lit up. "And I know what we can do in the meantime!"

"What?"

She smiled wickedly. "Just go get dressed in your new clothes, mud boy." Artemis made a face. When Holly looked that happy, it didn't usually bode well for him.

An hour later, after a speedy breakfast for Artemis and sneakily pilfered toast for Holly, they were on their way out the door. Artemis dumped a wad of cash at the desk, much to the surprise of the landlady. Before she could say anything however, he hurried out onto the snowy street and vanished from sight.

He trudged down the road, making slow progress due to the knee-deep snow. Drifting alongside him, invisible, was Holly. She was being unusually silent, which worried Artemis slightly.

"Holly?" he hissed without moving his lips for fear of attracting attention. He didn't want to seem like he was talking to himself.

"What is it?" Her disembodied voice whispered back.

"What are we doing now? You had an idea." He could almost hear her grinning as she said her next words.

"Oh, don't worry, Artemis. You'll see soon enough." The next second, Artemis fought back a yelp of surprise as a furiously vibrating hand grabbed onto his arm and pulled him along. It was a very strange sensation, and was sending shudders up and down his arm. "Just follow me." Came Holly's voice.

Artemis glanced around. It was highly unlikely that Opal would have tracked them here. She didn't rely on random searching to find her victims, which explained her sudden giving up last night. They should be safe enough until Butler arrived, providing they didn't draw any attention to themselves. Holly dragged him down a narrow street, through a small copse of trees and out onto a blank white field. It had been untouched since last nights snowfall. Finding his arm suddenly free from the elf's juddering grip, Artemis slowly wandered out into the centre of the space, marvelling at the satisfying feeling of fresh snow crunching beneath his boots. He felt almost childlike. Never before had he ventured out into the snow just to experience it. Even as a child, he had avoided it as much as possible. Cold and damp just led to discomfort. And discomfort was something that Artemis Fowl usually avoided at all costs.

He was distracted from his daydream by a huge white missile imploding on his face. Artemis fell over and promptly swallowed a mouthful of snow in his surprise. Choking, he stumbled to his feet, just as another snowball streaked towards him. Once again, he received a face full of snow. He lurched to the side and attempted to get out of range.

"HOLLY!" he yelled. The elf materialised, smiling cheekily. She was standing barely three metres from him.

"What is it Arty?" she asked politely.

"Stop chucking snow at me!" Holly beamed.

"No chance! I've never had a snowball fight before and this is fun. Besides, I'll bet you've never had one either." She buzzed back out of sight and lobbed another snowball his way. Her aim is impeccable, Artemis thought as he was hit in the face yet again. He blundered backwards, trying get away.

"You can't beat me-e" called a singsong voice. Artemis grumbled and was hit again. He twisted around, trying to pinpoint Holly's location.

"This would be a lot fairer if I could actually see you."

"When have you ever cared about being fair, Arty?"

"When I'm at the disadvantage," he mumbled, listening hard. Keep her talking; you need to know where she is. A snowball impacted on the back of his coat and he spun round. He could hear his friend laughing. He scanned the bleak frozen landscape, searching for even a slight shimmer in the air. It was no use. Foaly's upgrades had done the job. Suddenly, out the corner of his eye, he saw a snowball materialise seemingly out of thin air and fly towards him. It landed in his already dripping hair but Artemis didn't mind. He now knew where Holly was and could launch his counter attack. He surreptitiously scooped up a pile of snow and shaped it into a rough sphere, eyes and ears tracking Holly's movement all the while.

Time the trajectory, take into account speed of movement, Holly's average directional movement is to the right, estimate distance from her, her height from the ground is precisely 100 centimetres, calculate velocity, distance my arm can throw… Artemis pulled back his left arm and lobbed the compacted snow in the precisely calculated direction of his friend. For once in his life, his aim was true. He was bang on target. The snow smashed into an invisible barrier and Holly materialised, scowling. Her still-growing-out hair was soaked. She advanced on him menacingly.

"This means war, mud boy." She pulled two fistfuls of white mush from beneath her, balling them up as she walked. Artemis began to back away, suddenly fearing very much for his general safety.

Unfortunately for him, he reversed a bit too quickly. He slipped and ended up on his rear in a snowdrift. Holly didn't stop, she pressed forward relentlessly, coming to a halt above where he sat. Artemis tried feebly to stand up.

"Holly, please… oof!" The first snowball hit him in the face again, the second in the gut. With lightning speed borne only of years of LEP Academy training, Holly scooped up two more piles of snow and sent them his way too. She pelted him with a never-ending supply of snowballs; after about twenty seconds, Artemis lost count. He struggled to stand up and eventually made it to his knees. He no longer cared about a counter attack. He had only one thought on his mind. Stop that elf. With all the strength he could muster, he lunged at Holly, grabbing her around the knees and tackling her to the ground, all the while being bombarded with snowballs. Eventually, he managed to pin her arms by her sides. He sat on her legs to prevent her from kicking and then grinned.

"Ha. I won."

Holly was stunned. "How is that actually possible, Artemis? You can't beat me!" he smirked and leaned back slightly.

"Well I just did, so obviously it is possible."

Holly growled and wriggled violently, trying to get free. Artemis was very nearly thrown off but somehow succeeded in retaining his grip on the elf. If she managed to get free, he would most probably end up at the very least grievously injured. After all, Holly seemed to see punches as a sign of affection. After a few moments, she ceased her escape attempts and lay still.

"Okay." She conceded. "You win."

"Good." He carefully and slowly moved to free her. As soon as her arms were free, she grabbed him in a stranglehold and somehow managed to flip him over onto his knees.

"Ow!" she twisted his arm up the way before leaning in very close to his ear.

"I win." She breathed, twisting harder.

"You win!" he gasped. She let him go and he collapsed into the snow again. Holly lay back beside him and for a moment, they both concentrated on regaining their breath.

After a few minutes, Artemis became conscious of a muffled ringing sound coming from his pocket.

"Phone," he gasped, still not fully recovered. "I should probably get that."

"Yeah." Agreed Holly breathlessly. "You should."

With considerable effort, he sat up and ripped off a glove with his teeth. He rummaged around in his coat and finally answered the call. It was, of course Butler on the secure line.

"Artemis. Where are you? I'm in Elterwater."

"That was fast." Artemis remarked.

"I called in a few favours" The bodyguard replied nonchalantly. Artemis nodded. It seemed like everyone owed his manservant favours.

"Meet us in the village square. Holly and I will be right there." he hung up and turned to her. When he spoke, his voice came out a little higher than usual. "Our lift's here." She nodded and they struggled to their feet. Artemis's black hair flopped across his face, ice chunks dripping from it. He pushed it away impatiently with his gloved hand and glanced at Holly. She was just as soaked as he was. Oh well. Nothing they could do about that now. They set off back the way they came. Soon enough, they made it to the square.

"Which one is Butler?" Holly asked. Artemis inspected the line of parked cars on the street. He pointed to a non-descript Land Rover.

"That one. He's trying to blend in."

They crunched across the square and came to a sodden halt in front of the 4x4. Butler leaned across and opened the door, gesturing for the pair to get in. He watched them with raised eyebrows as they sat down, creating slushy puddles on the leather seats.

"What happened to you two?" he asked curiously.

"Snow." Holly answered unhelpfully. Artemis was kind enough to elaborate.

"Holly attempted to incapacitate me using snowballs."

"And managed by the looks of it." Butler remarked.

"He gave as good as he got, Butler." Smiled Holly. "Your get-fit regime must be doing him some good."

"Ha ha. Thanks Holly." Artemis chipped in as he fastened his seatbelt. Holly just grinned. Butler started up the car and they began the precarious journey through the snow filled streets. After about an hour, they made it to the airport. Butler had brought the Fowl's Lear jet, which was sitting conveniently on the airstrip, ready for take off.

They jumped out of the Land Rover and hurried across the tarmac. The snow had been cleared from the runway so they would get a clear takeoff. Butler pulled open the door and the three climbed inside, glad to be out of the biting wind. Artemis automatically made his way through to the cockpit. After all, he usually flew. Before he could take a seat however, Butler held out an arm, blocking his way.

"Let me fly Artemis. You could be traumatised." Artemis halted in confusion. Why would he be traumatised? It wasn't like the last few days had been any more taxing on his health than their previous escapades. He was perfectly capable of flying a plane. Nonetheless, he let the comment pass and after peeling off his soaking coat and gloves, sat down in the passenger area. Holly curled up catlike on the seat across the aisle from him and promptly fell asleep as the plane took off. Artemis watched her, lost in his thoughts. After about half an hour, he went through to join Butler. He was controlling the plane manually. Artemis casually inspected the various gauges and meters on the dashboard.

"Which safe house did you take my family to?" Butler kept his eyes on the instruments as he answered.

"The one in Limerick. It's fairly secluded there." Artemis nodded.

"Are we meeting them?"

"Yes. Ill drop this off in Dublin and then we'll drive down." Butler turned back to the instruments and Artemis watched closely. He had just noticed something extremely odd about one of the gauges.

This could prove to be a massive problem. He thought. He decided not to mention it to the bodyguard. Instead, he wandered back through to where Holly was still sleeping, one arm dangling off the blue armrest. He slipped into the seat beside her and shook her knee gently.

"Holly, wake up." he hissed. She stirred, blinked and was suddenly wide-awake.

"What is it Artemis?" she asked far too loudly.

"Ssh! Quiet! I need to speak to you."

"What is it?" she asked again, quieter this time.

"We're heading south-east." Holly blinked and stared at him, not understanding.

"What?"

"This plane is flying in an south-eastward direction." He paused for a moment. "Almost the opposite direction from where we are supposed to be heading. Ireland is west from England. We are flying south-east." He waited for the implications of what he had just said to sink in. Holly's eyes widened.

"What is Butler doing?" she asked in an undertone.

"I don't think this is his doing, Holly. That's why I didn't say anything to him." Holly finally cottoned on.

"Opal." She breathed. He inclined his head slightly.

"Either she's mesmerised him or she's finally sussed out long distance mind control." Holly sat up straighter.

"We need to get out of here." He looked at her sceptically.

"How? We're 25000 feet above sea level, in an aeroplane. How do you propose we do that?" She scowled at the sarcasm in his voice.

"We've got my wings."

"We can't open the doors when the plane is in motion. There's no way out of this plane till we land." Holly groaned.

"And that's no good. Opal will be waiting for us."

"Perhaps not. Butler will probably have to take us to her. We may still have a chance to get away once back on land." Holly rolled her eyes.

"Great. So right now, basically, our lives depend on pure chance." "Artemis grinned a little.

"Its real-life Russian Roulette."

"Ha ha. I'm glad to see that you're so calm and unruffled, Artemis, but what do you propose we do?" he didn't know. The plane had already begun its descent. He didn't have time to think properly.

"Right. We mustn't let Butler know that we know about this. We must pretend that nothing has changed. At least that will give us some leeway. If he grows suspicious, he won't let us out of his sight for a second." Holly nodded.

"That makes sense."

"Also, Artemis continued, "do you have any LEP related items on your person?" she nodded, able to see where this was going.

"I've got my boots. They're sprayed with tracker. I take it that that is why you are asking?"

"Yes. I have my phone so I am fine. We can both be tracked down by Foaly if the worst comes to the worst." Holly had a thought that she was surprised hadn't occurred to her earlier.

"Why don't you just call Foaly? Recon and Retrieval are still on the surface looking for Opal. They could be here in half an hour." Artemis shook his head.

"I thought of that but it's too risky. If Opal realises we've cottoned on to her plan, we could be dead in seconds. Less, if Butler is involved." He shuddered. He was having one of those rare moments where he remembered just how dangerous his bodyguard was. "we just need to stay quiet and act normal. We'll be landing soon. The plane has started to descend." With that, he leaned back in his seat and stared out the window. Beside him, Holly did the same. The only giveaway that she was under extreme stress was a slight tapping of her knuckles on the armrest. He closed a steady hand over her jittery one, stilling it, and then gave her a look that said, act normal.


Mwa ha ha! As i am sure you can tell, the next chapter is going to be pretty action packed compared to this :D

There seems to be some sort of theme going on here. Chapter where stuff happens, chapter where not much happens, Chapter where stuff happens, chapter where not much happens... hmmm. I'll need to fix that :)

Review! Please!