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The Time Association was barely off the bus when Artemis's fairy communicator rang.
He wasted no time in answering. "Holly?"
"Artemis," Holly's voice said at once. Artemis activated the camera, and her face appeared on screen. She was breathing hard and seemed to be in the middle of flying a shuttle.
"Yes?" he asked. The other members of the Time Association peered over his shoulder to see the screen.
"I talked to the Council," she told him. "They won't help."
Artemis nodded thoughtfully. "It makes sense," he said. "If Foaly couldn't or wouldn't do something about it in the future, then there is nothing we can do to change that currently."
Holly shook her head a bit on screen, not even trying to decipher that statement. A thought struck her. "Artemis? Won't we not be able to change anything anyway? A time paradox, and all that?"
Artemis smiled patronizingly. "That's where you're wrong, my friend. N°1's magic works like that. However, I altered our device to work in a different way. Therefore, there are no paradoxes to confuse you."
Holly gritted her teeth, but decided to move on. "Okay, good. I had to get out of there fast, but I'm going back after things have died down to talk to Foaly again. What's going on with you guys?"
"We are working on our strategy," Artemis said. "In the meantime, though, it seems we have another problem."
"Oh, yeah, tell her about the dark forces gathering," Percy said cheerfully.
"I can hear you," Holly said.
Artemis shot an irritated glance at Percy. "Yes. Well, we were given a message from our little friends. We most likely do not have much time."
Holly frowned. "Opal and who else?" When he didn't answer, her eyes widened. "Oh, gods," she breathed. "They all came back to life, didn't they?"
"Every enemy under the sun, it seems like," Harry muttered.
"Every relevant enemy," Artemis corrected. "We still do not know how they came to be alive again, or why. Don't you think it's odd that we all just happen to know them, Holly?"
Holly's face was troubled. "What do you think's going on, Artemis?" she asked suspiciously.
He considered her question. "I believe there are unknown factors in this equation," he said finally.
Holly didn't get a chance to interrogate him further, because at that moment, a tremendous crash came from the back of the shuttle.
"D'Arvit," she cursed. "That Mud Girl is trouble. I have to go."
The screen blinked off, leaving the teens standing on a sidewalk in the middle of suburban New York.
"Goodbye, Holly," Artemis said, turning off the communicator.
?
But of course Artemis Fowl was correct.
There was a mystery element. One that came into play at the very beginning.
She was the reason the villains had come back from the graves. She found their souls, plucked them from the ground, and whispered to them:
"Do not fail again."
Her motives weren't known. Most didn't even hear her words. But the Dark Lord, the titan, and the malevolent pixie all understood her intentions.
Get revenge. Dominate.
And then, and only then, come find her.
Max
I accidentally broke the weapon rack in the shuttle. I don't know how. It just happened.
"Don't lean on things you know nothing about," Holly snapped when she heard the crash. "Got it, Mud Girl?" She paused. "Or should it be Mud Bird?"
"I'll take Mud Mutant," I suggested helpfully. "Or, hey, just drop the Mud. And maybe add, like, Air in front or something."
Holly growled at me. "I was on the phone, Max," she said. "And guess what? We have a new destination."
I folded my arms. "Does it involve travel by UFO again? Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm claustrophobic, and this isn't helping."
Holly gave me a sideways glance. "You have claustrophobia?"
I shrugged. "The School. Cages. Being a mutant experiment will do that to you."
"Oh," she said. "I'm a bit claustrophobic myself, actually." Her voice seemed a bit friendlier, to my surprise. "Anyway, since we've got nothing else to do right now, I decided that we're going to meet up with the others."
"Do they know?" Emma asked, leaning against the weapon's rack. Which, I might add, didn't collapse when she leaned on it.
She and Annabeth were looking at us like we were a mildly interesting tennis match. Hermione just looked irritated.
"Well, no," said Holly. "But I talked to them, and they sounded like they could use a bit of help."
"And yet you forgot to mention that you wanted to drop by," I said skeptically. "Really, fairy?"
"Artemis would think it's safer to split up," she snapped at me. "I can't deal with his arguments right now."
Hermione, Emma, and Annabeth all stared at her. "What do you mean, split up?" Annabeth asked. "Is there something we should worry about?"
Holly's eyes were huge (even more so than normal). "We'll talk when we get there," she said finally, in response to our expectant gaze.