See, I told you I'd update faster! I'm boss that way. Kind of. Maybe.

"Father?" he reached out an arm through the bars. They were so close, he could almost touch him –

The man's eyes fluttered open. The obviously deep blue orbs widened – he rubbed his bruised and blackened eyes – and whispered, "Son?"

"How touching," a cold, snide voice sounded behind him, and Artemis whipped his head around to feel the sharp tip of a wand press against his throat.

Artemis looked up. His friends were all scattered around the hallway, petrified. Their eyes were the only thing moving; they stared at him, horrified. His heart beat for Butler especially – imagine having to see your Principal held at wand-point by an insane man with absolute malice in his heart and murder uppermost in his mind. To helplessly let Artemis die in front of his eyes would be the utmost disgrace to a Butler.

"They're not dead yet, if you're worried," the man hissed. "I may just bind you first and force you to die last…after your dear father, of course."

Artemis could feel a sharp pain in his Adam's apple as he tried to gasp for air. "For someone so small, you are pretty clever…I may have underestimated the Fowls. Impressive – you took down some of my best men, and right when I was about to check up on their progress, too…then again, it was not exactly a fair fight, but Fowls like you don't care, do you?"

Artemis refused to waste his time answering. He may have been physically trapped, but his mind was not. He surreptitiously let go of his wand and dropped it into his pocket. If he wasn't holding anything, the Disarming spell would not work.

"You must be Karkaroff," he said pleasantly. "I am very pleased to meet you." Not.

"Polite little child, aren't you? I must say, you've done much better than your predecessor."

"I prefer to die happy." Actually, I prefer not to die at all.

"You will find that we cannot always get what we want." Before Artemis could move out of the way (actually, he couldn't move at all) he was bound in the violet glowing wire, similar to the ones his mother had used to subdue the troll. "I believe this spell is familiar to you – Rodolphus Lestrange taught it to me, after all. He is your uncle, I believe?" It took Artemis a moment to remember that his mother's maiden name was Lestrange. That was not important, however.

"Now, as for your friends – and your father, too, I nearly forgot," the man, Karkaroff, taunted. Artemis tried not to breathe – the fool's breath was terrible. His teeth were yellowed, and his hair hung in loose, oily strings. His moustache and beard were in even worse conditions – one could not tell where one started and the other begun. The most disconcerting thing about the man was his overly cheerful expression; his smile would have been quite beautiful if it actually reached his cold, dark, pig-like eyes.

Artemis could feel the magical binds slowly constrict upon his chest, and his breathing became more labored. He had to do something – and fast. Luckily, he was also a genius, which made the stressful situation alleviate somewhat.

"Speaking of my father, prove to me that it is him," Artemis said slyly. If he couldn't open the door himself…

"Oh?"

"I cannot be sure. All I see is a sack of blood and bone in a dark room. I don't have any sentimental attachment whatsoever to your cousin Yuri."

Karkaroff grinned. "Intelligent, aren't you? Very well, then." The man opened the door to the cell and levitated his father out. Success.

"I guess I might as well perform while I have an audience," Karkaroff leered. Wait, what? "CRUCIO!"

Artemis watched in horror as his bruised and beaten father began twitching, biting his lip, before a strangled scream ripped its way out of his throat. Karkaroff released the spell, and then cast it again. Bile rose in his throat – this was absolutely sickening.

"No – don't!" he found himself rasping.

Karkaroff laughed. "Fortunately, your father is important…so I won't kill him yet. He loves you very much, you know – he's suffered over a year of this because he was just too stupid and stubborn to give in."

"You're sick," Artemis spat.

"And you're helpless," Karkaroff laughed.

Wrong thing to say.

Artemis Fowl was never helpless. He was a genius – a dangerous one. Even more so when he was angry. Like now.

Hatred began to consume Artemis. He remembered some of the things Butler had told him – Focus your energy. Artemis controlled himself, and directed all of his emotion at the glowing ropes that Karkaroff had conjured around him.

Karkaroff must have sensed that something was going on, because he stiffened and fixed Artemis with a look. He was right, for seconds later, the magical binds snapped apart, and bits and pieces of the coils ricocheted off the walls before dissipating, like the strained vest buttons of an inflating woman.

Another sharp pain shot up through Artemis' skull, but he didn't care. There was no time to succumb to the exhaustion associated with wandless magic now, not when his life, his father's life, and his friends' lives were at stake.

If Karkaroff was surprised, he didn't show it. Instead, he snarled angrily, dropped Artemis Sr., and headed straight for the son. Artemis dodged the curses sent after him, and a stray thought in his head compared his situation to playing Quidditch with thirty Bludgers instead of two. It was funny, how his sense of humor developed only in worst-case scenarios.

Time for plan B.

The one he knew they wouldn't like.

Artemis didn't waste his energy retaliating with his own attacks – he knew that whatever minor offenses he taught himself, Karkaroff would be sure to know the countercurse. Instead, he dodged whatever came at him, using his small frame to his advantage. Scuttling down the corridor, he looped around the broad end of the ship until his back was to the main wall of the submarine.

Finally, he had Karkaroff where he needed him. This was the most opportune spot, if he played his cards correctly. The chief support beams crisscrossed right at this wall, and they were the only thing physically holding the old decommissioned ship together.

It was all about timing.

Time...time...what is time...besides that there is none...

Artemis frowned. Stop that, brain. It's distracting. I'm a bit stressed here.

Karkaroff sent another spell at Artemis.

A jet of ugly orange light was zooming straight at his face.

And Artemis did what any reasonable, logical human being who valued his life would do.

He ducked.

The curse hit the rather unstable wall behind him – with great impact. Cracks ran along the wall up to the ceiling, and the entire ship trembled. Artemis had no idea what that curse would have done to him had it actually hit him, but seeing that the sheer force of the energy contained in the beam alone was enough to shatter the structural support beams of the submarine...he knew that it wasn't going to be pretty.

Timing...It is all about timing...One mistake, and you're dead. Don't screw up. Don't screw up. Don't screw up...

Shut UP! Artemis snapped in reply.

The ship shook again, and bits of plaster began fluttering to the steel-tile floor from the cracked webbing that had formed on the ceiling as the result of that last curse. A rather large chunk fell and struck Karkaroff on the head, temporarily dazing him, and 50 years' worth of old dust and powder showered down on the two of them. The mist obscured his view of Karkaroff, but it didn't matter, because he knew that it would distract Karkaroff as well.

Taking this opportunity, Artemis drew his wand. "Reducto!"

He may not have known as many spells as the veteran, but he had plenty of common sense.

In this case, it was to duck and run before the entire rotten structure collapsed on them.

On the other hand, Karkaroff chose to stand there, screaming, "You devil! What have you done?"

Artemis shut his ears. "Finite Incantatem – Finite Incantatem – Finite Incantatem – Finite Incantatem!" he said, freeing his friends from the Body-Bind that Karkaroff had inflicted upon them earlier. They sprang into action.

The first thing Butler said was, "Get down!" A large slab of metal crashed to the ground, mere centimeters from him.

"We've got to get out of here!" the commander growled.

"Abandon ship!" Trouble Kelp wholeheartedly agreed.

Artemis for once, however, wasn't thinking about himself. "Father!" Abandoning his usual calm, he dove through the collapsing rubble to his father. Upon later reflection, it was probably the stupidest thing he had ever done up until this point. Even stupider than the entire Philosopher's Stone incident.

(What he didn't know was, he would be doing even stupider things in the future, as he matured and became wiser...which was, really, a paradox in itself.)

The ship was still falling apart, and Artemis was, despite all his skill, nowhere close to being strong enough to lift his father while running for his life at the same time. In face, he could barely run at all. He cursed himself for allowing this period of weakness, mentally and physically, in the time when he needed it the most. Emotions could go die in a hole. He would have easily been crushed had it not been for his bodyguard - and he had never been more thankful for Butler in any other moment.

"Sir, we have to leave now! Run!" Butler seized him by the collar and threw him to the exit.

Artemis was not at all religious, but if he didn't praise the lord for the man's massive strength.

Butler slung Artemis Fowl Sr. over his shoulder in a fireman carry and darted out after him. For once, Artemis was regretting not exercising more when he had the chance. But there was no time for regrets – if he hesitated now, he would never have a chance to regret ever again. Or do anything else, for that matter.

Up ahead of him, the three fairies were also running for their lives while dodging bits and pieces of the collapsing ship, all at the same time.

"The opening up there is just wide enough! If you're careful, you can fly out of there!" Artemis gasped, pointing. He wasn't sure if the fairies had heard him or if they were simply thinking the same thing, but they managed to activate their wing-packs and escape the quickly collapsing ship anyway.

"Grab on, Mud Boy! I didn't go through all of this just so you could die again!" Captain Kelp bellowed. Nice fellow, Captain Kelp. But Artemis did as he was told and grabbed onto the cable attached to the elf's Moonbelt, and clung on for his life. It took both Captain Short and Commander Root to drag Butler and his father up, and even then, their wings were on the verge of failing.

He could still hear Karkaroff's enraged screams. "You won't get away with this!" He began randomly firing hexes and curses after Artemis' retreating form. Due to his unbalanced mental state, however, he thankfully missed.

"I get away with EVERYTHING," Artemis retorted. "You, on the other hand, have learned the hard way not to anger Artemis Fowl the Second."

Karkaroff spluttered and turned purple.

It seemed, however, that he had finally regained his senses and managed to assess of the gravity of the situation. He let loose a long string of expletives and sent one last curse after him before disappearing with an ominous CRACK.

They collapsed onto the cold, hard ground.

"What the hell was that, Mud Boy?" Kelp snarled.

"That," the Mud Boy said, smiling his vampire smile, "was plan B."

"What, blowing up the entire ship and then running for our lives?" Captain Kelp interjected.

"Well, we could not just have blown up the ship and then stood there like sitting ducks now, could we?" he said sarcastically.

Captain Kelp couldn't help it. It was the most inappropriate time ever, and yet the only thing he could think of doing was collapse into a fit of hysterical laughter.

Maybe this was a glimpse of what went on in the Mud Boy's head all the time.

Captain Short and Commander eventually came up, dragging Butler and another man, still in Butler's arms. Butler set him down on the ground, and the Mud Boy jumped up and ran over. The kid, Trouble swore, was bipolar. One second he was this scheming intellectual, and the next – he was just a kid. A kid who had lost his father, found him, and saved him.

"Is he alive?" he asked calmly, trying to regain his composure, but obviously failing.

"Ugly, yes, but alive," Captain Short said.

"He's been tortured and beaten," the Butler said, checking the man's vitals. "For information."

The Mud Whelp – no, it was Artemis now – was silent, slowly taking in the form of his father. The sun was rising over the bay at this point – the night had been especially brief, given that it was summertime in the Arctic. The arriving light, if anything, sharpened the father's injuries.

"But he didn't say anything," Artemis said. "He was brave. He cared about…whatever the information was, so much that he sustained their brutality for nearly two years without giving up –" he choked on his own voice, and in less than a second, went from his normal, cool, sarcastic, controlled demeanor into a sobbing mess.

It was almost a minute before he stopped crying.

Trouble Kelp stood around awkwardly as he watched his own kidnapper break down in tears.

"Please. Heal him. He's in pain," the begged. Did the kid actually just say please?

Maybe there was a little hope for him after all. Even if the kid had caused him so much unnecessary trouble…

But there was no reason to deny him that last favor. So it was done.

They were on a private jet back to Ireland.

Artemis Fowl Senior was currently resting in the back. Most of his injuries were healed, but the man was still asleep, quite weak. He would need a few days of additional care by human hands now – Artemis planned to do that at home. Bringing him to St. Mungo's would provoke unneeded questions. His face had also aged from the grueling experience he had endured for the past two years – no amount of healing magic would change that.

Artemis Junior had aged, as well. Though his young face did not show it, one could see the slight frown, the wrinkling of the eyes, that escaped his cool mask every now and then.

He knew it, too.

He was surprised that the People had helped him this much. He had, admittedly, been expecting absolutely nothing initially.

"I wanted to say, thank you to everyone…I couldn't have pulled this off without you. Thanks to you, I now have both of my parents…I owe you everything, even more than what I had originally stolen. And the way you flew us out of there was nothing short of spectacular…"

An elbow from Butler. He was rambling. Time to stop, now.

"You're welcome, Mud Boy. I wish I could say farewell, but something tells me that this isn't the last time we'll meet."

Artemis was silent.

"Oh, and Mud Boy – Artemis?"

Artemis looked up. They hadn't exactly called him by name before.

"Even though you dragged us into this mess in the first place, thank you. Those magic tricks of yours saved all of us more than once."

Artemis felt his lips curl into a smile – a happy one. If they ever met again – which they probably would – Artemis would have to put them on his friends list.

He realized that it was still sadly short.

Artemis watched the three fairies leave from the window of the manor's spare wing. It had been temporarily converted into a hospital for current purposes.

"The girl didn't even have to help, technically, but she did anyway. All of them – they gave more than they received. I feel like a terrible person compared to them," he confessed.

A silence followed, but it was by no means awkward. Butler placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and they stood in the stillness. Artemis was glad for it.

At least the voice wasn't bothering him anymore. He supposed it was just his mind reacting to stress.

I'll be back.

Artemis shook his head and ignored the voice, stuffing it into the corners of his mind.

"Sir?" Butler asked.

"Yes?"

"What are we going to do about Karkaroff?"

The man had Disapparated when the base had collapsed, taking the wards down with it. He was gone now, and there was nothing much they could do about it.

"Unfortunately, we must let it be. We cannot report him, because the actions I took to find my father were not exactly legal, and we could get drawn into the cross-examination as well. I wish that this would be the last time I will ever encounter him, but…"

"We know that he is far from gone," Butler completed the sentence that he could not bring himself to say.

"Thank you, old friend. The best course of action would be to keep on our guard from now on – I would not put it past Karkaroff to attempt another attack on our family again, as this one seemed quite personal," Artemis declared.

"You've done well, for now. That is all we can ask for," the bodyguard said sympathetically.

Artemis let another rare grin – a true grin – slip. "As for our little problem –"

He was interrupted by a piercing shriek of his name. "Artemis Fowl the Second, get down here RIGHT NOW!"

Mother.

Artemis paled, and hastily added,

" – can wait for later. We must deal with this one now."

This is the second to last chapter, guys! Enjoy it...I had a lot of fun writing this.

The end is coming soon!