Chapter Eleven; Retrieval
Section Eight HQ
Foaly paced his office nervously. He could barely comprehend what was happening. After several deep, calming breaths, Foaly recalled that he had promised the Commander a return phone call. He composed himself and called Commander Kelp. Trouble answered almost instantly, his face a mask of calm. But that was all it was, simply a mask. Foaly could see, in his eyes, that the Commander was nervous. The centaur figured that the first sensible thing to do would be to assure the Commander that everything was under control.
"First of all sir," Foaly put on his best confident smile, "Everything will be resolved. Holly has agreed to help out with this one. Artemis Fowl has as well."
"Right, okay," Trouble waved his hand as if to hurry Foaly along, "But what are we dealing with?"
Foaly explained the entire scenario to him, basically repeating what he had told Holly and Artemis. At the end of Foaly's tale, a lump grew in Trouble's throat. He, like Holly, had grown up listening to this legend but had never believed it. However, Trouble could not argue with facts, especially facts presented to him by Foaly.
"Alright Foaly," said the Commander, "I'm giving you full control with this mission. I want the witch stopped. I want damage to be minimal, meaning no on in Haven finds out, because if they do they'll either think we're crazy or we'll have a huge civil outbreak. So this is hush-hush. Also, I want you to keep an eye on things underground for me, just for a little while."
"Where are you going to go?" asked Foaly.
"Aboveground, to help out," Trouble said bravely, "Not yet though. First I want to meet the little girl responsible for this. Have you got and ID yet?"
"Yepp," Foaly nodded happily, "Her name is Arielle Oakes, forty-two years old, good girl. Her brother has been in a bit of trouble with the LEP before, nothing major, just some stupid offences here and there. But I don't know about her. Her record says she's a very intelligent, very level-headed young lady."
"Any intelligent young lady wouldn't set evil loose, right?"
"I suppose so."
"Alright, do you have an address? I'll bring her in."
"No need Commander," Foaly smirked, "I already have two of my…officers on the case. You just come down to Section Eight."
Downtown Haven
Doodah Day pounded the breaks on the company van and the vehicle skidded to a stop. He exited the car, smirking at his passenger.
"Come on Diggums," he said, "We've got business to do."
"I hate you," Mulch mumbled as he got out of the car, glad that his feet were touching ground again. In his opinion, Doodah was a horrible driver, no matter what anyone said. He went too fast and never obeyed any road rules. It surprised Mulch that he was actually considering the rules. He had been spending way too much time with Holly and Foaly. Okay, maybe not Holly, she wasn't one for rules, but he definitely needed a break from Foaly.
"Sure Mulch," Doodah laughed, "You're just jealous. And besides, I think I owe you a couple of wild rides, what with you nearly devouring me and all."
"Whatever," Mulch muttered, "Let's just get the girl and get back to Section Eight."
"Yeah, Foaly seemed pretty jittery. I guess this is important."
It was Mulch's turn to laugh, "Foaly? That centaur is afraid of his own shadow." Doodah could do nothing but shrug his shoulders. He knew it was true. As they spoke the two odd creatures approached a house. It was a cute little home, painted white with tiny windows and green curtains. Mulch motioned for Doodah to go ahead of him.
"Why me?" Doodah hissed, "For all we know this girl could be viciously insane."
"Because you're less intimidating than me," Mulch said happily, "And you're disposable." At this remark Doodah shot Mulch a dirty look. The dwarf looked unaffected. "Just ring the bell," he ordered. Doodah did so and a charitable looking elf answered the door. Doodah smiled a large smile.
"Hello," he said, "Is Arielle home?"
The elf smiled back, "And can I ask who you are?" This woman was clearly Arielle's mother. Doodah nodded in response to her question.
"I'm a friend," he said, "Name's Chip." If there was one thing that Doodah had learned from his three years working alone with Mulch, it was to never give out your real name. Just in case.
"Alright, just a second Chip." The elf closed the door and Doodah waited. Mulch took this as his opportunity to meet up with his partner. A moment or so later the door opened again and a younger version of the charitable woman stood in front of Mulch and Doodah.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Are you Arielle?" asked Mulch. The girl nodded, almost unwillingly. She had a bad feeling about where this was going.
"We need to talk to you," Doodah informed her, "Something bad happened."
Arielle's eyes went wide. This could not be happening to her. "Am I in trouble?"
"That all depends."
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A/N: Yeah, didn't so much like this one. Hoping you don't hate it. I just have a few loose ends to tie up and then we can get back to the good story line. Don't hate me.