Chapter 9

Angeline Fowl had pounded on the door until her fists burned. She had begged Juliet to help her for nearly an hour, before she sank to the floor, sobbing helplessly.

Juliet sat, stone faced. This must be truly important, Dom would not put her through this unless it were. Still it burned. He had forced her away from her Principal. Dom was still tougher and stronger than the average man, but Artemis never was up against the average person. They were always either insane, or impossibly strong, occasionally both.

She decided this time she would trust Dom. Still she sat there and worried, until she heard a thump upstairs. It came from the room directly above this one, Artemis Junior's room.
Juliet was instantly on her feet. Angeline looked up.

"What? Did you hear something?" she demanded, despair on her face.

"Upstairs," Juliet quipped, and then with a quick kick, the door swung loosely on it's hinges.

Juliet was halfway up the stairs in seconds, "Could Artemis be back? What had they been doing that was so dangerous and so imperative?"

These things all ran through Juliet's head in the last few seconds it took for her to burst into Artemis' room. Empty. He had been there, she was sure. But he was gone now. Gone where? She had no idea.

As Juliet descended the stairs, she heard Angeline speaking.

"Our shopping trip was fantastic, Timmy! I bought a lovely new dress, wait until you see it! Juliet has just put the things upstairs," she gushed.

Juliet had to admit, Angeline was quite the actress. It was no difficulty to see where Artemis got it from. Both his parents were impeccable liars.

Angeline then rushed around the corner, grasping Juliet's shoulders.

"Where is he? Is he okay?" she demanded.

"He's not here," Juliet replied.

Angeline said nothing, simply opening her cell phone and pressing a number on speed dial.

"Butler," she breathed a sigh of relief. "Is Artemis with you?Is he alright?"

"Of course, Mrs. Fowl. We are nearly home, in fact. Expect us within the half hour," Butler replied.

Juliet knew her brother. Angeline may believe him, but Juliet knew not a word was true. What had happened to Artemis?


Butler hadn't lied to his employers often, but this was of vital importance. He had no idea where, or even when Artemis was. Before Artemis passed out, he had mentioned a time machine.

Butler had searched everywhere for this time machine. He looked in Artemis' every pocket, and throughout the back seat. Finally, it occurred to him to check the trunk.

He headed around the car and unlocked the trunk before he suddenly remembered something.

When Artemis had said those words, he had reached slightly towards his chest. There, that was where this time machine was.

Butler locked the trunk, ducking into the back seat where he had laid Artemis.

He unbuttoned the top of Artemis' shirt, to find a strange object strapped to his chest, much like a bomb.

This object, however, appeared to have a fairy plasma screen on the front, and a small sensor in the back.

The screen was scattered with strange numbers. Artemis had thought he could work this? The entire screen was full of mathematically intricate numbers, none of which made the slightest sense to Butler. He inspected the side of the object, there were three small buttons.

Butler took a risk. What else could he do? He pushed a button.

His young charge disappeared, right under his fingers. He was gone, and Butler had no idea where he had sent him. He could be dead in less than half an hour.

Butler dialed his phone again. Holly didn't answer on her fairy communicator.

Electronics weren't Butler's strong suit, however Artemis had already hacked a link to Holly's helmet on his laptop, he had told him.

Butler opened up the laptop. Password? it enquired.

Butler tried a few possibilities. First, the predictable; aurum potestas es. Next, the lesser so; centaur, Artemis had used that before.

I wonder, Butler thought. He tried one more; Domovoi.

ACCESS GRANTED, flashed on the screen.

Butler breathed a sigh of relief.

He entered a brief message:
Artemis is critical. Needs healing at manor.
SEND.


A/N: If you happen to notice my plot blunder so far, please point it out! Bonus points for you!

Don't worry, this "blunder" will be resolved fairly soon, and as a bonus, I got a few extra chapter and a potential plot for a sequel out of it!

Please comment, especially if you would like to see a sequel to this story. I'm warning you know, I'm going to leave you hanging a little at the end of this story... You might want that sequel.