A/N: Okay, this was done ages ago. Like, months. It didn't get posted because I was trying to get Kahlan to betaread it. Never happened. Sorry if the chapters worse than expected, but I've gotten better. If anyone wants to take Kahlan's place, of if Kahlan herself thinks she can do this a bit more quickly from now on, I wouldn't mind betareading. But I'm now confident enough to go in without one if absolutely necessary.

Anyway, I apologize a thousand times over for the wait. I won't promise it won't happen again - life happens, and this is far from my favorite of my fanfictions. That's MageWalker Alpha, if you want to check it out. But I will try to actually drag myself over to Word a lot more often. Trust me, I'm never abandoning this story. I couldn't. I've promised myself I'll never abandon a story once I've started it.

Now, to the chapter.


Chapter 9

California
In which we begin from the Point of the View of the infamous Artemis de Fole, and he and the troop of heroes arrives at California. Later, it shall be so that the storming of the hall shall begin.


In the morning, as he had the day before, Artemis rose with everyone else at seven A.M. sharp. Rising, he dressed (He took his time, knowing Holly was most likely tapping her foot impatiently outside. She might be a friend, but she was also one of his favorite people to wind up) and, leaving the room, he found Holly, once more outside the door.

She was waiting just outside his door, foot tapping impatiently - just as expected. "Just how long does it take you to get dressed?" she demanded irritably. "I'm hungry!"

"Perhaps I take longer in the morning than you do, but I was able to memorize the layout of the house after my first day," said Artemis, smirking sardonically. "How long does it take you to commit a few corridors to memory?"

She hit him.

After heading downstairs, they found Reynie at the kitchen table watching Butler and Rhonda cook. They weren't quite preparing the fantastic feast of the morning before, but it was still quite a considerable amount of food. Everything was rather quiet; subdued. Anticipation hung thick in the air as the fog outside.

"Oh, Artemis!" Reynie called, his face breaking into a slight – though still friendly - grin."I was waiting for you! Would you say no to a quick game of chess?"

Reynie was looking carefully bland, not betraying fear or anticipation of any kind toward the planned events of the day. This alone was very off. His mind was clearly much more active than his face would willingly show. It was his eyes, however, that really betrayed him, and they did so with astounding clarity. He was worried (who wouldn't be, faced with such a daunting prospect?) but determination shone through, too. Artemis had gotten through to him. The end of the world was coming, and he was ready to do anything to stop it.

Artemis and Holly had sat down at the table before the boy replied. "Please, Reynie, that's an oxymoron. Where you and I together are concerned, there is no such thing as a 'quick game of chess'."

Reynie grinned. "Should I take that as a compliment, Artemis?"

"Yes," said Artemis, deadpan as ever. "I can't deny that you're a worthy opponent at chess. Not that I wouldn't win eventually, of course.

Holly snorted. "Oh, good. For a moment there, I thought something had happened to you, Artemis."

Before they could continue, however, Constance came down the stairs. Artemis looked at her curiously. Something seemed off about her; her slightly downcast eyes, her swaying gait… She didn't look sleep deprived, per se; just as though something had disturbed her slumber. "Constance?" he asked, seeking a response.

"Hmm?" she grunted, eyes raising momentarily to meet his, before lowering again.

"Did you dream again?" he asked. She seemed to have, and if she had, it could be vital; the Angels were the only lead they had on anything they couldn't see with their own two eyes. If Constance had some new information, he needed to know.

"No," she said flatly, and to the unsuspecting eye, she appeared honest, but Artemis was a trained lie-detector and could see the truth. She had dreamed last night and, for some reason or other, wasn't telling him about it. He hesitated. On the one hand, he very much wanted to know anything important, as he'd long ago learned to trust his own mind over those of others. But on the other, Constance was their only link to the Angels, and there had to be some good reason for that...

In the end, he decided against interrogating her further, for better or worse. "All right," he said, playing along with the four-year-old. "We'll go as planned."

"Not before breakfast, you won't!" said Rhonda sharply, laying their meal out before them. Artemis contemplated her. Her lips were pressed together slightly harder than normal, and her eyes were considerably colder than normal. Clearly the idea of the mission didn't sit well with her.

Soon after they began their meal, Kate and Sticky joined them; Kate's face shining with excitement and Sticky's a mask of worry. After greeting their fellow children, Holly, Rhonda and Butler they, too, pulled up chairs and began to eat. After a moment Reynie struck up a conversation about the history of the Holy Roman Empire with Sticky, clearly trying to cheer the boy up. His efforts were rather transparent, but Sticky seemed grateful. Artemis joined in, and soon, the three boy genii were lost in history, while beside them, Kate looked rather blank and Constance flatly ignored them.

It was near the end of the meal, when three of them had already finished, that Mulch joined them, and began to eat like a horse – with about the same level of politeness. Artemis was the only human present who was completely unaffected – at least outwardly – as he had dealt with the dwarf for years. The others were not so successful at hiding their disgust, but no one had ever accused Mulch of caring for such things.

Mr. Benedict joined them only once they were all finished. He looked… not afraid, but almost overly calm – the calm of a man who was hiding his worry. "Are you ready, children?" he asked, and Artemis was impressed by his self-control.

"As much as we ever will be," Sticky replied, clearly trying – and failing – to keep his nervousness out of his voice. Artemis almost bit his lip, but didn't, knowing from the experience of both himself and others how annoying mouth sores could be. Sticky might be a problem; Artemis needed to be able to depend on everyone who was working with him. Dependable people were immensely easier to manipulate.

Nothing could be done now, however, so… "Very well," said Artemis. "Let us recap on the plan. We will take my private jet to California. From there we will rent a car and make our way to Lone Pine, which is a small town near Mount Whitney. I researched it last night. We will rest there tonight – I've already found a suitable rental house, and purchased it for the night. Tomorrow, we will attack the Hall. Any questions?"

There were none. All the others sat silent, waiting. "Good. Then let us go."

They did – in just a few minutes they were packed into three cars. The ride was far from uneventful – Holly attempted murder on Mulch, Constance tried to read the minds of her companions in the other vehicles (a 'psychic exercise', she called it) and Kate got a headache with Reynie and Sticky going through a maze of mathematical exercises.

Once they reached the airport, they took off in Artemis' jet as quickly as possible, with Butler as pilot. Mulch was in the cockpit with him. The rest settled back into the would-be first class passenger area.

During the plane flight, at one point, Holly turned to Artemis, who sat beside her. "You know," she said quietly, so the others didn't hear. "You may have condemned us all to death, Artemis. LEPShadow is not a force to be trifled with."

Artemis, however, simply treated her to a signature vampire smirk and murmured, "Neither am I."

She just grunted and leaned back in reply. After a moment, she spoke again. "I just hope your plan is a really good one, Artemis, 'cause that's the only way any of us are getting out of this alive."

Artemis just looked at her and didn't reply.

A few seats further back, Kate, Reynie and Sticky were holding a similar conversation. "This doesn't look like a good idea," said Sticky quietly. "We; that is, five kids and a fairy, are invading against a force of trained killers. That's not good."

"No, it isn't," Kate replied. Turning to Reynie, she asked, "Do you really trust Artemis on this? It's dangerous."

"Logically the question isn't whether or not I trust Artemis," said Reynie, leaning back and clasping his hands, looking thoughtful. "It's whether or not I trust Constance. She's been having the dreams, and he's acting on them as much as we are. And I, for one, do trust Constance. Don't you two?"

There was silence. Neither of the others knew how to answer.

It was getting late when they reached California, but the drive to Lone Pine was not too long. They arrived at about nine o'clock, and turned in immediately. Artemis had managed to secure a three bedroom house, and they separated accordingly: Mr. Benedict and Mulch in one room, all the females in another, and Artemis, Sticky, and Reynie in the last.

As they lay together in the boys' room, Reynie rolled over on his mattress to face Artemis, who had deftly snatched the bed. "Sticky's asleep," he said softly. "Now I want answers. You're no idiot, Artemis; you'd never do something as stupid as this looks. You have more information than you're telling us. Spill."

Artemis met his eyes. "You're right, of course," he said quietly, without rancor. "I know more about this than anyone else. But what it is I know I can't tell you until I understand more myself. Trust me on this, though – I can say honestly that our odds of survival are over sixty percent." Suddenly he bared his teeth in a grin, like the vampire smirk he was famous for, but wider, and altogether more feral and deadly; more like the smile of a hungry wolf. "And that," he added, "Is a good deal better than my usual fare in such things."

Reynie held his gaze for a moment, and then shrugged and yawned. "If you say so," he murmured. "Night, Artemis."

"Good night, Reynie," said the Irish genius. And the two closed their eyes.

They, and all the others, slept fitfully at best. The same thought was running through all their heads:

Tomorrow, for better or worse, it all ends.

Little did they know how very wrong they were.


9:26 AM, California, in the wilderness by Mount Whitney – Point of View of Artemis Fowl II

They were gathered and they were ready. There was a cliff face to their right, and on all other sides, blank evergreen forest stretched on and on. Mr. Benedict was having some difficulty with the thin air, but had insisted on accompanying the children this far, along with the other adults.

They had just arrived, and were now just standing together there – the deep breath before the plunge. The tension was palpable. It wasn't long before Artemis said to the group at large, "All right, it's time."

He looked around at them all. "Mulch, forward to the wall. You are to chew it thin enough that in is easy to break through. Is that understood?"

"Yep. Easily done, Mud Boy," said Mulch, and, opening his bum-flap, began his meal. Everyone looked away. "All right, got it," he said after a time, quietly. They all looked to see him buttoning his trousers again. "Be quiet, you all," he said. "It's really thin – they might be able to hear."

"Very well. Thank you, Mulch," said Artemis. "Butler, in the unlikely event that I do not return, Mulch is to be given a quarter ton of gold directly from my funds before my will is followed."

Butler nodded, his face expressionless.

"Good," said Artemis. "All of you not in the raiding party, get back and out of sight."

The adults all did, and the children, as well as Holly, took formation just outside the new (and slightly moist) tunnel.

"Ready?" Artemis whispered.

"Ready," the others all replied.

"I shall go in first," said the Irish boy. "You all follow as you will."

"Artemis," Holly murmured, "What are you doing? I should be going first!"

"Why?" Artemis asked. "To be a meat-shield, and lose our best gun?"

"But you know the plan!" she said, as loudly as she dared.

"I never said I was to be a meat-shield, did I?" he asked. And with that cryptic reply, he rushed forward, gun raised, and smashed through the wall, entering the Hall of Frond.

It had begun.


A/N: There you are. How was it? Reviews are my food! They feed the story, too! So FEED ME!