Hellooo thanks to all the people who reviewed! It means a lot to me :D

Here's chapter 12. Ooh, not too far to go now! (Though still at least three more chapters)

Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl


Chapter 12: Helicopters

The Ritual site: Outside Dresden, Germany

As he covered up the seed with earth, he whispered the words once more. For a second or two, nothing happened. Artemis wondered if he had been wrong. Perhaps the ritual didn't work for humans.

Then, Artemis felt the magic rush up his arm like a jolt from an electric fence. He fell back into Holly and lay dazed for a moment, as the magic healed his various superficial cuts and bruises. When it slowed, he sat up and turned to the elf. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was laboured. He grasped her cold hand in his and directed the still-active sparks into her. They wound down his arm lazily. He pushed harder and soon, there was a veritable river of magic flowing from him into Holly. He pushed it and pushed it until she was engulfed in a cocoon of blue light. She began to shudder and jerk from side to side as the magic filled the dormant pathways in her brain, igniting neural connections and healing her from the inside. Soon enough, the magic died down and sputtered out. Artemis leaned over her. Did she need another shot? Suddenly, her eyes flew open.

"Artemis! I'm not dead!" She sat up and looked around in wonder. "Wow. Everything's so bright! I feel great." Holly grinned from ear to ear. "Mud boy, whatever's in your magic, it's sure done the trick!"

He stared at her in shock, Surprised by the outburst. He couldn't believe the extreme suddenness of the transition that she seemed to have gone through. "Holly are you sure you're alright?" His voice cracked a little on the last word.

Holly nodded. "I've never felt better." She looked up at the tear tracks still drying on his face and he wiped them away self-consciously. Crying was a sign of weakness.

Holly stared at him oddly. "I've never seen you cry before, Artemis."

Of course she hadn't. The only other times in his life that he could remember crying was when his father had been returned alive in the Arctic, and when Holly had died on Hybras. "I try not to make a habit of it."

She smiled a little at that and then jumped up, pulling him with her. "What now?"

He gave an uncomfortable shrug. "Well… I am going to be in a lot of trouble with the council. Trouble Kelp warned me of that before I took you without permission. Basically, when we return to the LEP, the very least I can expect to happen is a mindwipe."

Holly looked visibly upset at this. "They can't Artemis! You just saved my life. They can't wipe you after that!"

He shook his head solemnly. "Holly, I have basically kidnapped you again. They are treating it as such. Of course, you are free to leave at any time, but I will still be charged with the crime."

Her eyes widened in understanding. "Of course. Once they find out that you can do the ritual and still have magic, you'll fall under our laws."

He nodded. "I'll most likely be sent to a fairy prison if they catch me."

"Why did you do it, Artemis?"

He rolled his eyes. "Did you really think I was going to sit back and let you die?" There was silence for a few moments as he sent her a loaded glance, full of the emotion that he was too scared to voice a second time in as many minutes.

"No." Holly replied quietly. She suddenly became very interested in inspecting her feet, and Artemis was sure she was avoiding his eyes.

"Holly."

"Yes?"

"What are you going to do? Are you coming with me or will you go back to the LEP? I do not mean to pressure you but they will be here soon and I have to get away."


Though she knew it wasn't meant as such, Artemis's statement sounded to Holly like a test. It was as though he was saying; 'pick them or me'. The worrying thing was, she didn't know which she would choose. Artemis, her friend and long term ally, had just saved her life when the LEP had done nothing. He was risking a life's sentence in 'The Deeps' because he had brought her back from the brink of death. How could she leave him to face the might of the LEP alone? But what of the people? Sure, she knew the commander would understand; he was secretly on their side, but the council? Would they think that she was abandoning her race to help a human, or would they understand that Artemis had not kidnapped her at all? She smiled ruefully to herself. No. They would never think that. The council, (with a few exceptions) were a bunch of hypocritical upstarts that discriminated against humans at every chance they got. Artemis had been lucky to avoid a mindwipe in the past, never mind after something like this.

"Holly?" Artemis's voice floated through to her brain, penetrating the haze of thoughts that engulfed her.

She snapped back to alertness. "Sorry?"

"I said; we're running out of time. Butler just called. The fairies are coming."

Holly blinked and made a snap decision. "Right. I'm coming with you."

He stared at her, eyes wide with surprise. "Really?"

She nodded. "You just saved me. I can't exactly abandon you now."

He gave her a strange, lopsided smile and turned to the river. "Right. We need to head in the opposite direction of the LEP. Butler has called in a couple of favours and has help on the way." He immediately jumped down off the small ledge on the riverbank and began to slosh his way across, soaking the bottoms of his trousers. Holly followed, glad of her insulating LEP suit that she still wore beneath her mudman clothes. On the other side, they scrambled up the rocky beach and over a hedge. Artemis paused for a second, listening, "I really hope that's Butler." he whispered, looking back the way he came.

Holly listened. She could hear a faint crashing noise coming from the bushes on the opposite bank. The next second, a huge dark figure erupted through the foliage. Her knees went weak in relief. It was Butler. The manservant splashed through the shallow river and greeted them.

"Holly. Its good to see you're alive."

She smiled. "Thanks for helping, big guy."

Butler nodded and turned to scan the skies. In the distance, a small white light was making its way towards them. He pointed to it. "That's our lift." They began to hurry across a boggy field towards it. As it grew closer, Holly could identify it as a helicopter, a man-made machine with a carbon footprint as long as her arm. She wrinkled her nose in distaste and resisted the urge to cover her ears as it floated to a standstill a few meters off the ground. They ran the last few meters towards it and clambered up inside. Butler swung the door shut behind them and climbed into the front passenger seat as they took off. "Hello again Henrich." He said as he sat down.

Holly craned her neck and saw that it was the German airport official that Butler had greeted from the Lear jet. Henrich was saying something but the drone from the propeller blades was too loud for her to hear what it was. She tapped Butler on the shoulder. He turned round, holding onto the seats backrest for support.

"How did you get him to do this for us?" she asked.

The bodyguard smiled. "He owes me a few favours."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course he does. Everyone does." Holly settled back into her seat and stared out the window, eyes straining for some sign of the LEP. There wasn't even a shimmer, though she was pretty sure that they were following. Probably waiting for a chance to snatch her back.

Artemis turned to her, his face hidden in shadow. "Thank you Holly, for coming with me."

She smiled. "It's ok Arty. After all, you couldn't manage to evade the LEP for long without my help."

"True. Though I fear I still have a pretty slim chance of success."

She punched him in the shoulder. "Don't talk like that. I'll convince them. As long as you don't hold me for ransom this time." in the shadows, Holly could see the corners of his lips upturn as he smiled a little.

"I promise I won't. Besides, I value you a lot more than gold these days." Holly blinked as she took in this statement. Phew. Coming from Artemis Fowl, that meant a lot.

The fragile moment was shattered by a crackling ring coming from Artemis's jacket pocket. "Phone," he muttered as he pulled out the cobbled together combination of Holly's LEP helmet and his Android touch phone. "Foaly?" he listened for a moment. "Hold on." he put a hand over the speaker and whispered, "he wants to speak to you," as he handed her the phone. She put it to her ear and was immediately accosted by the centaur.

"Holly! I'm really glad you're alive and all but what in Frond's name are you doing?"

"I'm helping Artemis. You can't take him in for kidnapping me for half an hour, he was saving my life."

There was a rush of static from the other end of the line as Foaly sighed. "I know that Holly and so does Trouble but there's nothing we can do. It's the council."

"They'll put him in prison, he's just proven he has magic. He's under our laws now."

"I know that too! But maybe a good lawyer could get him out."

Holly snorted. "Yeah right. In a couple of centuries once he's dead."

"Holly please, think about what you are doing. You could lose your job over this."

"So? What's more important, job or friends?" in one fluid motion she hung up and passed the phone back to Artemis, fuming silently. There was silence in the helicopter for several minutes as they sped over Germany. It was just as they were entering Belgian airspace that the phone rang again. Holly snatched it from Artemis's hand before he had the chance to answer it.

"What?" she snapped, assuming the caller to be Foaly once again.

"Captain Short! I will not be addressed in that manner!" came the voice on the other end. Oops.

"T-Trouble. Commander Kelp. Sorry about that, I assumed it was Foaly again." She stammered down the line. She'd probably just blown any chances of keeping her job now.

"It's alright Holly, but listen." Her commanding officer's voice had an urgent tone to it that immediately caused her to worry. "We are tailing you now, but we won't take any offensive action with you inside the helicopter. The council accept that. However, there is not point in this stand, Holly. Artemis doesn't have a chance of getting out of this, and you can't guard him from the council for the rest of his life. I'm sorry, but he knew what he was getting into when he saved you. You have to accept that." Holly was silent for a moment. "Captain Short?"

"I'm still here. Sorry, but I will not let them do this. It's prejudice! Just because he's a human-"

"A dangerous one at that." Trouble pointed out.

"Yes but that's not the point. He's changed. You know that as well as I do. We owe him, Trouble."

All right Holly, but I don't think your career is going to withstand another bashing from internal affairs. This is it. If you do this; if you go against us, you're finished with the LEP. For good."

"I know," she whispered, clutching the handset tightly.

"Good luck Holly. I'm sorry I have to be on the bad guys side." The line went dead and the mobile slipped from her numb fingers, clattering to the floor.

She was throwing away her job, her life. What would she do now? Without saying a word to the other passengers watching her curiously, Holly turned her face to the window and uncharacteristically cried, letting the tears roll down her face unchecked.


Some hours later, the helicopter began to descend onto a pitch-black stretch of land. The only light sources apart from nearby Dublin were three small yellow squares that illuminated the stretch of garden outside Fowl manor. Butler's security timed lights that went on even when no one was home, as was the case now.

"Thank you Henrich!" Butler called as he jumped to the ground. Holly slowly followed, with Artemis bringing up the rear. The helicopter took to the sky once more.

"Are we safe from the LEP here?" Holly asked. "The no-entering-dwellings-uninvited spell has been lifted remember?"

"We're fine," replied Artemis in a strained voice. "I have other security measures to keep out fairies."

"Like you kept out Opal?"

He shrugged. "They weren't activated then, obviously, or if you had visited you would have triggered them." they hurried across the grass and into the small patch of light, where Butler activated a voice and finger scanner to unlock the door. When he was done, he ushered them both inside and then Artemis swept over to a small metal box attached to the wall. Holly watched, fascinated as he pulled it open and flicked a complex array of switches to the 'on' setting. Immediately, a glowing blue sphere of light rose up around the perimeter of the manor, enclosing them in a sort of luminous shell.

"It's the same basic principle as a time stop." Artemis explained. "Nothing can get in, nothing can get out. The only difference is that time moves at a regular pace both inside and outside. A handy security feature." She nodded silently and followed him through to the large kitchen, where he busied himself with plates and cutlery. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Yes please. I feel as though I haven't eaten in weeks." Holly sat back, feeling a little more like herself since she was inside a nice warm kitchen. She had cried herself out inside the helicopter and was now filled with some sort of steely determination. She had made her decision and was going to stick to it.


I just wanted to get this chapter up so apologies if it's not as good as usual. I'm too tired to reread it more than once :(

Anyway, review please! I love reading them soooo much! :D