Thank you for being so patient, everyone. An extra special thanks to those who reviewed and gave me advice on improving my writing. I believe that my writing has become much more engaging between the time when I first started this series up until now due to the great Fanfiction community.
Now on to the story.
Artemis was staring at the innocent-looking folder that the other elf captain had brought him.
It was probably a fake. The People wouldn't give up so easily. They were probably going to fool him, and destroy the entire property once he let the Commander and the Captain go, into the reach of safety. If they were sincere, however, then he would not exactly have a foolproof method of telling.
And Mother would be back anytime soon. This was going to be more complicated than he had originally planned.
But no matter – even the best of plans need to be altered occasionally according to the current scenario.
A long, muted, static beep disrupted Artemis from his musings.
It was coming from the computer room...after all this time...but no, it couldn't be...
"What was that, Mud Boy?" Captain Short asked. "Please don't tell me it's another plot to destroy the People or conquer the world or whatever it is that crazy humans like you like to do."
"It's nothing of the sort," he snarled. "It's..."
"Well? What is it?" Captain Kelp interrupted. Artemis could tell that the elf's bad mood was becoming worse. It was truly strange; all of the People that he had encountered so far seemed to have chronic bad moods. It must have been the weather. That, however, was of little importance to him at the moment.
"It is an alarm - please, forgive my rudeness," he said, steeling himself to his regular stoic state.
And he turned his back on the fairies, ignoring their shocked looks, and rushed - no, walked calmly, because Artemis Fowl never rushed, lest he lose his perfectly composed mask and accidentally show himself to be a little overly enthusiastic about something - out of the room.
His heart was beating, quite quickly, and he hadn't felt so much emotion threatening to disrupt his mental state in years. He allowed the fairies in the room no time to see his weakness. Before they had time to react, he was already rushing out of the study, past the empty walls that once housed the portraits of his ancestors, past the landing where the troll had been sent, towards the only hope he had left and the only hope he had ever known.
Artemis had once brushed ridiculous notions such as hope and luck off his shoulder and crushed it underneath his perfectly polished shoes, but now, he was seriously reconsidering this take on life.
He rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was not being deceived. But the evidence was crystal clear. He stared in shock at the computer screen. After all this time...
The computer screen was flashing green - green for a one hundred percent match to the magical signature of Artemis Fowl the First.
"Sir, are you all right?" Butler asked, walking in. After Artemis had run off without another word, not even bothering to open the package containing the blueprints, Butler had given the command for the fairies to stay put and followed him. Whatever distracted his young charge from the end of such a great achievement - robbing the People of their most deadly technology - must have been very important.
"I am afraid that you quite heavily offended the fairies. They did bring you the payment, after all, and you just ran off on them without even giving the blueprints a second glance."
Artemis frowned. "I could care less about that right now. I can always determine how to control time later. Look at this, Butler."
The bodyguard regarded the screen in wonder. "I don't believe it…"
The missing head of the Fowl family and fortune was definitely there – conditions unknown – but definitely there.
Artemis nodded. "Under normal circumstances, I would not have, either. However, a magical signature is one thing that we know to be foolproof – no one can fake one. Not unless the wizards have somehow figured out genetic engineering, something that is highly unlikely as they are still technologically in the Medieval times. We cannot hesitate, Butler. We must find him immediately, before he is hidden or moved. Father may be well and alive now, but if we wait for me to complete my magical education...this will not do."
"Are you certain, Artemis?" It was very unbecoming of his principal to rush into things so unplanned.
"Absolutely certain, Butler – can't you see? This could be our only chance to rescue him. He is my father, after all." For a second there, Artemis looked just like a kid. A vulnerable, ordinary child who missed his father. Not some juvenile criminal mastermind.
No. He was simply a child. He was just eleven-going-on-to-twelve. One that had been forced to grow up alone too quickly, with nothing but a bodyguard, his bodyguard's equally tough sister, an insane mother, an immeasurable intellect, and an uncrushable ego.
Nevertheless, Butler felt he had to warn Artemis of just what he was getting himself into. The Butlers may have been Muggles, but they knew plenty about the Wizarding world.
"Wizarding Murmansk is as notorious in Russia as Knockturn Alley is in England. Even though I am not a wizard, I have heard the name many times – and none of them mentioned anything good about it. The sheer cold is good enough to keep the city isolated from any types of prying magical authority, leaving many of its inhabitants to perform more shady practices without surveillance or regulation," Butler explained.
"Well, that is perfectly fine. It means that we can get away with 'shady practices without surveillance or regulation' as well," the boy said dismissively, so unbecoming of his normally logical character. Although his ruthlessness and deviousness was still the same.
"Do you even have a plan, sir?"
Artemis regarded him pensively. "Not now, but I assure you, by the time we reach the study again, I will."
Butler could only hope that he was right.
His father was alive. His father was alive. His father was alive.
And Artemis knew where his father was.
The signal was faint, but it was still there. One of the many satellites that he had hacked picked up energy radiating from the Arctic Circle – Murmansk, to be exact.
Murmansk. The congregation center for dark wizards in Eastern Europe (though Professor Dumbledore had said something about this one forest in Albania…but no matter).
His father must have been a powerful wizard, to still radiate enough energy to penetrate whatever magical enforcements there were even after nearly two long years of capture. He was a strong man; he was calling to Artemis for help now. To let him down now would be the utmost failure.
Artemis sorrowfully realized that for the ten years his father had been around, he had never truly known the man.
He saw him as a role model, a businessman, a friendly competitor, but never a father, and never a wizard.
Before all of this, the notion of a severe man like his father believing in magic was ludicrous. Even now, it still seemed so. He knew that Artemis Fowl I had kept magic a secret to protect him, being from a targeted line of purely magical blood. Artemis still couldn't put a finger on what was bothering him about the man.
It's my father, he repeated inside his head, like an ongoing mantra. It's my father. And he needs me.
Right now, Artemis had two options. He mulled them over carefully.
On one hand, he had the fairies to make a deal with. If the time-stop was successful, it would be a powerful arsenal against the men who had captured his father. He already had the Philosopher's Stone – if he figured out how to use it, then he would have all the money he needed to create the device. The downside was that it would take years of secrecy. He could survive it, but would his father?
This led to option two: On the other hand, he had family, still there, waiting for him. He had few supplies, barely any knowledge (much compared to the rest of the first-years, but nearly none compared to whoever he was going up against). To go now would be a fool's errand. It was a rash, bold action, with no carefully formulated strategy, that could fall apart at any moment and endanger his life, his father's life, and Butler as well.
If he waited, his father would either be lost again or die.
If he went now, he would probably die, but there was always the chance that Lady Luck would smile upon him again.
This was not the best of choices.
"Master Artemis, what are we going to do about Lady Angeline?" Butler cut into his thoughts.
Merlin – he had forgotten all about his mother. She was probably on her way back from the Ministry by now. He was surprised that she hadn't found out about his escapade yet.
His mother, ever since she had recovered from her madness, had tried to set him on a straight path. She had taught him about society, about the community, about his family, and about magic. Artemis felt that he was betraying her trust, but it was all for the greater good. If she found out that he had kidnapped and ransomed, not one, but two fairies, and well-known members of the Lower Elements Police, she would probably throw a fit. And kill him. And then bring him back to life, and kill him again. Without giving him a reason to explain what his motives were.
After witnessing his mother fight a troll with nothing but a wand (and two very frightening-sounding spells that chilled even Artemis), he was not very keen on being on the receiving end of her anger.
Least of all when she discovered what he was up to.
Artemis chose option number two.
"I know what your plan is."
They looked at him, bewildered.
"The LEP are trying to swindle me, aren't they? Once I get these blueprints and let the Captain and Commander go, they'll destroy the entire house and everyone else who they suspect knows of the People and retrieve those papers. Isn't that right?"
"D'Arvit," Foaly muttered, having watched the entire scene play out on camera. That kid was too smart for his own good.
Kelp and Root looked at Short, who hung her head sheepishly. He had them cornered. No one could lie to him.
"It was Foaly's idea," she mumbled.
Artemis nodded. For some reason, he was not angry. Perhaps it was because he was right – that the People were planning to cheat him. Or perhaps it was because he would have tried to do the same thing in such a situation.
Or, maybe, Artemis did not have the time to be angry, not when his father's life was at stake. Of course, his father's life had been at the hands of gamblers ever since his capture nearly two years ago, but now that Artemis could actually do something about it…
"If our negotiations still stand, however, then would you like to hear my proposal?"
They couldn't exactly deny it.
The Mud Boy brandished the folder. "As you can see, this folder (supposedly) contains the greatest technological secrets of the fairy world. I have not yet opened it. But, I have changed my mind as it being the only option for your freedom."
"What do you want? Another piece of technology?" Commander Root asked. This Mud Boy was so not worth it…
Surprisingly, he shook his head. "I want help."
It seemed like a simple enough phrase.
But this was a deranged Mud Boy.
"What sort of help?" Commander Root asked suspiciously.
Commander Root had been in the business for quite a few centuries, and he had never, not once, been in a situation like this. Captured by a human – a human who knew what he was doing. And the human in question was still a kid. One that had gone from blackmail and ransoming to asking for help.
Well - asking as in terms of gunboat diplomacy, but still - Root suspected that this was the closest thing this kid had ever done in terms of a friendly request. The Mud Boy was probably the type to force, manipulate, and take, or a combination of all of the above.
The child was quite temperamental, and, in the Commander's opinion, precariously unpredictable. He had literally switched sides within less than a minute. One moment, he wanted some of the most dangerous magical technology in the world, and, after that little beeping incident (he still had no clue what that was), was asking for help from the very people he had kidnapped and was ransoming?
He had gone from some evil, raving madman lunatic to a civil, logical, negotiable...mud man - kid - something.
Then again, he was smart. Judging from Captain Short's reaction, the People had been planning to dupe him this entire time. Root sighed. That was definitely their bad habit, especially when dealing with humans. But this Mud Boy knew too much to be caught off guard.
"It concerns my father and a…shall we say, unknown terrorist group in Murmansk."
"Murmansk? As in the Russian city on the Arctic Circle?"
"The very same."
"You've got to be mad, Mud Boy! Fairies and the cold do not go well together. I'd have thought, that with all those brains, you would have thought of that," Root thundered.
"Cold and humans do not go too well together, either, but you don't see me complaining." He had to give the kid a little bit of credit for that statement.
"You are seriously asking the very people who regard you as a threat for help?" Trouble Kelp asked incredulously. Root looked at the young officer. He was a good kid – great minds think alike.
"Would you rather that I kept the blueprints to some of the world's most dangerous technology? Oh, and if they happen to be fakes, rest assured that I will simply have to improve of them and make them more dangerous than intended."
That was disturbing, but Root wouldn't put it past the Mud Boy to somehow succeed.
Apparently Foaly thought the same. "This is ridiculous."
"This is a deal between the People and me," the boy said. "You know but a fraction of the potential power I hold over you. All I am asking is that you help me save my father, and I will retract my demands and free your top two officers - and considering that Captain Short is in my house, I could very well make it three."
Scratch that about a civil deal. This kid was as manipulative and cruel as ever. Root didn't give two shots about his daddy issues.
Captain Short looked at him curiously. "All right, so maybe helping you rescue your father How can we trust you? How do you expect us to give you a chance? What if this is just another trap?"
The boy's eyes pored through them all coldly. "In a situation like this? I never joke."
A/N: This chapter took a really long time to write. I kept having awful writer's block because even though I knew what to do in my head for the plot, I had no clue how to put it down on paper.
So, thank you to everyone for being patient with me. It was difficult and I'm afraid that some parts turned out slightly awkward because I was trying too hard to squeeze my ideas out into words.
