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Before Butler wrapped up the elf, he looked at his employer.
"Artemis, are you sure that taking her to a ritual site is the wisest thing to do? I'm sure that Juliet can find another acorn, and we could-"
"No," snapped the young Irish boy. "We cannot. Holly is dying, and a 'green room ritual' will not work now. There is a full moon out right now, the perfect time for a ritual."
Butler nodded once before looking back Holly and wrapping her up tightly in his coat, trying to staunch the bleeding. It seemed that was all he was doing these days, trying to keep the little elf from bleeding to death from various injuries.
Butler set Holly in Artemis's arms and left with a sigh. The boy stared at her for a moment, then sighed and shook his head, turning towards the door.
He navigated the tunnels to the front door. Whispering her release in her ear, he went to the Bentley and put Holly in the backseat.
The ride to Tara was excruciatingly slow and painful to everyone in the car. Butler kept looking back at the bloodsoaked elf, and Artemis - who was in the passenger seat, much to Butler's disliking - was staring out the window the entire time. He didn't look back at the elf until they made it to the ritual site, and even then it was just a glance before he told Butler to take Holly out and exited the Bentley.
Butler followed Artemis with the unconscious form of Holly in his arms. He looked around to see if anybody - or any omens -was there. He relaxed when he didn't see anything. The place was deserted.
Butler stopped abruptly when he saw Artemis look on the ground, picking up something. He put Holly down and Artemis knelt next to her.
Putting the acorn in her hand, Artemis scooped up some dirt and put her hand in the soil.
What if this didn't work? The dying elf certainly needed a lot of magic.
Of course it would... wouldn't it?
Artemis took in a shaky breath and closed his eyes, whispering the words to complete the ritual. "I return you to Earth, and claim the gift that is... her right." He looked at Butler, who just shrugged.
Light blue sparks erupted from the ground, traveling along her arm. She was knocked away, rolling around a bit. The magic blue light growing more and more around her by the second, getting brighter. Suddenly the magic took her into the air. He short hair swirled around her still unconscious face as the magic continued getting brighter.
Butler shielded his charge from the magic, raising his own hand to block the light that was illuminating off of Holly.
Suddenly, it all went away. Holly collapsed on the ground, unconscious, and Artemis and Butler looked at each other, exchanging nervous glances before walking towards the elf.
Butler leaned down and took her pulse.
"Amazing," he muttered, looking over at Artemis. "Full recovery."
Artemis nodded, looking relieved. "Yes, but we are lucky she didn't wake up." With one hand on his hip, he wiped his forehead, damp hair flying to the side, away from his face. Looking around, he saw daylight creeping in the night sky. "It's best we go now before it's too late."
Butler smiled before picking up Holly. He shook his head and chuckled softly.
Artemis raised an eyebrow. "What?"
The bodyguard shook his head once more before answering, "You actually looked like a normal teenager for a second."
Artemis stared at Butler for a moment before shaking his head and turning around walking back to the Bentley.
Once at Fowl manor, Butler put Holly in her room and went to talk to Artemis in his study.
"She is surely going to attempt suicide again," the boy said, pacing in front of the manservant.
"Then what do we do? I still can't believe she actually tried to kill herself."
"I can. It's not even like this was just out of the blue, either. All the signs were there, I just believed that she could overpower it. This is all my fault." He sighed, sitting down in his desk chair.
Butler shook his head, "No, it's not, Artemis. You didn't kn-"
"But I did!" he interrupted. "I knew, I just ignored it!" He rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Tell me something, Butler. Why...why is it when it comes to Holly, I can't think right? I just get some messed up and emotional! I can't keep my emotions under control around her..." He paused. "It's like... she brings out my conscience. No, she is my conscience."
Butler's expression softened a little, a quiet chuckle escaping his lips. He thought about reminding Artemis that he was a teenage boy, and Holly was a pretty girl, and it was possible that his hormones were screwing with him over it, but quickly decided that he wouldn't take to kindly to that and instead said, "did you ever consider that maybe it's because you actually care about her?"
Artemis chose to ignore his statement. Butler was being beyond reason. She was his prisoner for Pete's sake!
Artemis got up and began digging around, and when he drew back and Butler saw what he had in his hand, he immediately knew something was up. "What are you doing?"
Artemis sighed. "I'm going to tie her down."
"In her room? Why not just put her in the basement again?"
"Because there are many things that can hurt her in there. She already has hurt herself in there before."
"That was you torturing her, Artemis."
Artemis shook his head, "No, when she was slamming the bed frame to plant the acorn she snuck in with her. You were unconscious at the time. She got some magic, enough to shield and mesmerize Juliet. She tore herself up in the process though, left big red welts on her hands."
Artemis turned and headed towards the door, but Butler still had more to say. "Artemis, I'm still not sure tying her up is the best idea. I'm sure that if we remove everything in there..."
Artemis stopped at the door frame. He glanced over his shoulder. "Holly views the basement as a threat. I just want to make her feel like she doesn't need to kill herself, and the basement being the place where I almost killed her... it wouldn't be the wisest choice."
Butler nodded, and Artemis left.
Artemis went straight to Holly's room. The elf was still unconscious. Artemis shook his head. He didn't want to do this, but it was Holly's only chance of surviving.
The boy sat Holly up, so her back was against the headboard of the bed. He outstretched her right arm and looked at the rope in his hand. He sighed and left the room, returning with two long lengths of silk fabric. He sat back down on the side of the bed and wrapped the fabric along her wrist several times before tying the rope around it, the other end going to the side of the bedpost.
He repeated it with her other arm, and put a pillow behind her head. He pulled the blanket over lap.
For a while he just sat there with her, staring at her with sad eyes, not doing anything. For the first time in almost 5 years, Artemis was on the brink of crying. He shook his head sadly, shaking away the tears.
He composed himself and laid a shaky hand on her cheek.
Holly's eyes suddenly fluttered open. She took one look at Artemis, and said in a raspy voice, "I'm not dead."
Artemis stared at her, eyes narrowed. "No, you're not."
"D'Arvit," she muttered.
Right then and there she noticed Artemis's hand on her face. She tried to move away, out of his reach, but found that she couldn't. She looked to the sides and took them in, then began struggling against her bonds. Artemis chuckled dryly, though her found no humor in the action.
"If you're thinking that you will bleed to death by cutting your wrists with the rope, think again. I put fabric under them, so you can't cause rope burn. And you needn't even think of escaping them either. They're tied so tightly Butler couldn't get out of them." He leveled her with a serious gaze. "I will make sure you do not hurt yourself again."
"How considerate." she sneered, though she did stop her struggling and instead turned her gaze down to her lap.
"My only question..." Artemis paused, using the hand that was on her cheek to grab her chin, forcing her to look at him, "is why?"
"No one cares about me." Holly answered immediately. She turned her head and broke the grasp Artemis had on her. "Especially not you."
Artemis's stomach lurched at her words. He looked away, his jaw clenching so hard it was painful. "Well then. Believe what you want to believe, I suppose. I'll leave you in peace for a while."
And then Artemis left, leaving the elf alone with her thoughts.
Artemis half ran down to the kitchen, where Butler had returned as he went to make the two of them a late dinner. He walked in and sat down, watching the man in silence for a minute, before blurting out, "you need to go talk to her."
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