Chapter 14: Here Comes Trouble
"Freaking little brother," Trouble muttered under his breath as he flew across the landscape of Ireland back to Fowl manor. "making me freaking miss half the freaking party." Though he would never admit it, Trouble was not just upset about having to take his kid-brother home. In fact, the Officer had been silently fuming since the moment Holly had walked, no, floated down those stairs and took Artemis' arm instead of his. Not that it should really bother him, I mean really, how old was he, 70? Sheesh, he needed to stop acting like such a child. Holly and Artemis were friends, there was nothing wrong with that.
Fowl Manor rose dramatically on the horizon, making a bold statement against the fields and woods surrounding it. For a mud kid, Fowl had quite the crib. Trouble glanced at his wrist watch as he approached the manor; 4:25am. "Wow, I wonder if anyone is even still here." He muttered. He tapped a button on his helmet, switching the visor to heat seeking.
"Thats odd," He thought, staring at the two blobs of heat in one of the upstairs rooms. "I wonder who that is." One of the creatures was human, the other was either an animal, or a fairy for it's body temperature was much higher than the humans. Something inside Trouble told him to leave it alone and go in the front door, but the temptation was simply too great. Don't they say, after all, that curiosity killed the fairy?
Trouble perched silently on the cool, marble balcony; slipping off his helmet to let his tender, pointed ears breathe. The room was pitch black, which only spiked the fairies curiosity. He blinked his eyes twice adjusting his iris cam so that he could see better. The sight that met his eyes immediately triggered bile to rise in his throat. It was indeed Artemis' room that he had stumbled across, the mud boy himself lay asleep in his giant bed. The sheets lay at his waist exposing his bare chest, white as the marble balcony. What made Troubles stomach heave however was the body laying beside Artemis'. Holly's flawless tan skin stood in sharp contrast to Artemis', which was made even more obvious by the close proximity of their bodies. Holly lay half on her side and half on her stomach, curled up next to the boy. Her tasseled, red hair fell to about the middle of her very bare back.
Trouble stared in shock at the scene, not wanting to believe his own eyes. "Oh Holly," He managed to breathe, though the lump in his throat made it very hard to speak at all. "Oh Holly, please no." But it was no illusion, he realized solemnly. Holly had broken the cardinal rule, and now left Trouble with only one option. So in one swift decision, Trouble buried away every soft emotion he held towards the pair, and in it's place began to rekindle his hatred toward the mud people, one mud boy in particular. Biting back his tears, he replaced his helmet and took off into the night.
"Let it be war upon you both." He hissed, speed dialing Commander Sool at the LEP Headquarters.