Disclaimer: *sigh* I do not own Artemis Fowl or any of the characters. I am a penniless waif trying to write a story. Do not sue! Suing is bad!

Eh, on with the chapter…

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She awoke with a start to find Grub staring down at her worriedly. The fact that she was awake at all was something to be thankful of, but a quick examination of the room they were in was enough to bring a smile back onto her face. It had worked; those morons had actually fallen for it!

"Holly?" Grub asked uncertainly. She pulled herself to her feet with difficulty. Her hands were still cuffed but her head didn't ache from the clobbering that oaf had given her. Her magic must have healed it as she slept.

She didn't answer Grub, instead walking over to one of the whitewashed walls. True to his word, Gus had had them put into a room without any windows. The only door had no knob or key on the inside and the room had long since been stripped of any furniture it might have had. The only sign of there being a world outside this bleak prison was a camera on the wall she was looking at. Underneath which, there was a small vent - maybe the size of an average TV screen.

"How long?" She asked; noting with pleasure that her steady voice belied the tension she felt.

"How long have you been unconscious?" Grub asked slowly.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes Corporal."

"I'm not sure. It can't have been long though, you were still healing when I woke up, and that was only ten-fifteen minutes ago." Then, with a start "Why are you laughing? I don't get it, why did you do that? You only got yourself knocked out."

Holly didn't answer, and soon Grub felt so left out that he laughed with her. Holly didn't care though; it was the best laugh she had had in a while. "Those idiots," She choked, "Didn't even use enough gas to keep us asleep until Gus came back!" She shook her head, finally getting a handle on herself. She went to the far wall and scrutinised the camera closely.

Grub watched her fearfully now, clearly wondering if she had gone insane. He slumped to the floor, muttering to himself. "They have Commander Root, they have Trub and they're gonna go to the Bermuda triangle and kill them. And there's nothing we can- we can-" He stopped then, too despondent for words.

Holly looked back at him, realising that she hadn't explained herself clearly, and how hopeless the situation must look to him. She walked over and crouched beside him, nodding at the ventilation shaft. "If you give me enough of a boost, I bet I can squeeze through there."

Grub shook his head dejectedly, "Eye-ball orders. We can't try to escape."

Holly grinned. "As far as I recall, I wasn't awake to receive any eye-ball orders."

Grub gasped, realisation dawning on him. "That's why you picked that fight with the Sabres! So you'd be knocked out and they wouldn't - " then he groaned. "How are you gonna get that open? We're both cuffed and even if we weren't…it's nailed shut. Besides, the camera's always watching us, even if you did get out, they'd be after you."

Holly was mildly impressed that Grub could think so far ahead. She swallowed; making sure the throat mike was still there before considering Grub's first point. For a moment, she was stumped; she could deal with the camera easily enough, but the cuffs? She thought hard. Surely she hadn't let herself be put in this cell without some idea about how to deal with them. Their micro-circuitry made tampering with them impossible. Unless…her grin returned.

"First things first." She told Grub. "The cameras." She cleared her throat. "Foaly? Foaly, I don't know if you can hear me right now, I don't have an ear-piece so just listen up. Grub and me are in one of the rooms in Walsh Enterprises, and I need to get out of here. Try hacking into Gus's computer systems, you should be able to find us easily." She paused.

"I would wave at the camera, but as you can see, I'm cuffed. Now, I need you to feed the cameras a loop. I don't want the Sabres that are still here to know what we're doing. I doubt Koboi is here at the moment so you shouldn't encounter any trouble." She stopped for a breath, Grub was watching her, wide-eyed. "I guess we can't wait any longer, we'll know soon enough if Foaly could do it, anyway."

"What about the cuffs?" He asked meekly.

Holly bit her lip. "I have an idea, corporal, but I'm not sure it will work. Guess there's only one way to find out. There's a chain around my neck, can you pull it off?" In the end, Grub had to use his feet to get the chain off Holly's neck - an experience that neither of them wanted to repeat. There were two items attached to it, Holly's copy of the Book and a sealed acorn inside a plexiglass sphere. It was the latter that Holly was concerned with now, though.

Grub was baffled, there was nowhere to plant the acorn, even if having more magic would help, but he had long since given up asking questions.

Holly allowed the sphere to drop; it shattered easily leaving dozens of small pieces of glass lying on the floor. Then, she positioned herself so that her limp arms were hanging over the mess, and grimly, used her knees to push her palms into the sharp pieces of glass.

Grub gasped and Holly choked back a scream as blood oozed out from under her. When she pulled away, her palms were a mess of torn flesh. They stung unbearably but blue sparks had already begun jumping down the length of her arms and onto her palms. "Good." She grunted. Some of the sparks that were healing her got diverted and sank into her cuffs. Slowly, the microchips began to steam, until finally the paralysis ended. She flexed her arms with satisfaction. "The sparks fried the circuitry." She explained to a gaping Grub. She gestured to the shattered- and now bloody- glass on the floor. "You'll need to do the same. I'll need your help to reach that vent."

Grub squealed, but she talked him into it. Soon, she was being lifted onto his shoulders, if somewhat haphazardly. He walked them over to the vent, making a show of straining under her weight. "I'm not that heavy!" She protested, feeling offended.

The vent was nailed shut, and on closer inspection a lot smaller than it had looked from back on the ground. She would have to wiggle through it - rather than crawl. "I'll need something to get the nails out." She muttered. Grub pointed at the camera above the vent and she nodded. If Foaly was feeding the Sabres a loop then it hardly mattered if the camera itself was broken. It was a matter of minutes for them to smash the camera on the floor and find a piece of metal suitable for levering the nails out of the wall.

It was when Holly was working on the last nail that her dream came back to her in a flash. "You will have to make a choice…" She froze. What had the woman meant? Somehow Holly was sure that there was some kind of hidden meaning, that it was more than just a dream caused by lack of sleep and a restless day. Suddenly, a sense of unease overcame her, she felt like an unbearable burden had been placed on her shoulders. As if….As if the fate of the world relied on a decision that she would have to make. It was too much for her to take all at once. She wavered and almost fell from Grub's shoulders.

"Holly?" Grub said, when she was steady again.

She blinked. "What? Oh." She had finished on the last nail without realising it and was now looking at an open vent. It headed straight forward for a while, then turned left. She looked down at Grub, troubled. "Are you sure you can't come?"

Grub shook his head. "They told me not to attempt to escape, in any way."

Holly gritted her teeth. "Don't worry, I'll come back for you. With Root and Trouble. And I'll give Gus Lint a pounding for you."

Grub nodded. He trusted she would do exactly as she said. She wished she shared his confidence.

Even for someone Holly's size, the vent was a tight fit. As she had suspected, it was impossible to crawl, so she had to somehow find purchase with her feel and slide through. It was a painstaking process and took a lot longer than Holly would have liked. "Sure, a Recon mission to the surface, a little undercover work. Doesn't sound too hard. Idiot!" She muttered to herself, as more nails snagged at her clothes.

When there was finally an opening, Holly was too relieved to be cautious, and pushed the metal frame out of her way with relish. There was a loud clatter as it fell to a tiled floor and Holly held her breath and counted to ten before allowing herself to slip out of the opening.

She was in what seemed to be a locker room for Gus's Sabres. Like the room Gus had left her in, the walls were whitewashed and bare - indicative of Gus's no-nonsense nature. There was no one else there. About time I had some luck, she thought to herself.

A quick search of the lockers told her that the Sabres had confiscated a lot of equipment from the LEP officers they had kidnapped, which was helpful because it meant that she had her choice of wings and weapons both. The first thing she did, however, was grab a helmet and put it on. They wouldn't be giving her any orders now. Next, she picked out a set of Hummingbirds and a Neutrino.

It was only when she came across one of the Sabres' uniforms - black pants, a shapeless top and a black mask - that she realised how filthy her own clothes were. They were encrusted with blood and sweat and grime, and the strangest thing was that she had no idea when it had happened. With only a moment's hesitation, she slipped out of her own clothes and into the sombre black of the Sabres. It felt strange, almost like some sort of ritual before facing death itself but, as she reasoned, if she was going to get out of this alive, she'd need whatever edge fate threw her.

Finally, she set up a connection on her helmet to police plaza, and the Operations booth. "Foaly? Foaly, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, darling."

Holly breathed a sigh of relief. "So you took care of the camera in our cell?"

"Yes. And I don't appreciate your implication that I couldn't have done so if Koboi was still there." Foaly replied curtly.

Holly shook her head. "How are things down in Haven."

There was a pause, almost as if Foaly was picking his words. "Bad." He stated finally.

"They were bad before."

"This is worse. The Sabres that are still here aren't even pretending to be good anymore. They've redirected traffic in the main thoroughfare. Gnomes are blocking most lanes and someone let swear toads into Police Plaza. The remaining officers are paranoid, not sure who to trust and too busy to help anyone. I've shut myself in Operations; otherwise those louts probably would have thrown me in a cell. There's been six troll attacks in corporal buildings and that's only the beginning. There's looting, vandalism and the Sabres are at the root of it all. Holly, I don't know if Haven can ever be restored to what it was."

Holly took a breath. "That bad, huh?" She closed her eyes, wishing she were somewhere else, anywhere else. If someone didn't stop Gus Lint, then things could only get worse, and there was only her. "Foaly, can you somehow track Lint. I don't know if he's here, but he said something about a ship…and Bermuda." She frowned. "Is he going to take a boat to Bermuda?"

"Not the kind of ship you mean, and I won't need to track him."

Holly still didn't understand, "Foaly, what in Haven's name are you talking about?"

"The thing Gus - or rather Opal - was building? It was a ship. Huge. And based on the same propulsion systems we use for shuttles. This ship doesn't have shielding capabilities. About half an hour ago, a Portuguese satellite picked up this image over the North Atlantic Ocean." Foaly sent her a satellite photograph of a large grey circular vessel; the bottom of the ship would slope inwards, so from a side view it appeared to be a semi-circle.

Holly groaned, and slumped to the floor. "Is he mad? This will be all over the Internet by tomorrow - unless he's lucky and the airforce shoots him down. If he wanted to cause a cross-species war, why didn't he just announce the existence of fairies to the United Nations?"

"I don't think that's what he wants. Actually, I don't think he even cares about Haven or the People anymore."

Holly understood and laughed mirthlessly. "If you were about to gain enough power to rule the world, you wouldn't exactly care if you betrayed your own kind in the process."

"Holly," Foaly's tone was worried. "I know it's hard but we're relying on you - what's left of us - and Lint, Artemis, Koboi; they need to be stopped."

Holly felt it then, the burden of responsibility heavy on her shoulders. Gods above, why did it have to be her? "Where are they now?"

"Still over the Atlantic, as far as I can tell. It shouldn't be too hard to find them. What's your plan for getting out of Walsh enterprises?"

"I'm going to find a room with a window, and fly out."

"What if a Sabre spots you?"

"It's them that will have to be afraid of me." She bared her teeth and pumped her Neutrino. "They better stay out of my way."

As it was, Holly encountered no trouble with the people she passed. Garbed in their trademark black, they took her to be one of their own and didn't stop her. Soon she was flying over Dublin, and after a while the grassy hills and slopes gave way to clear blue ocean. I'm coming, Lint, she thought fiercely. I'm coming.

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Somewhere over the North Atlantic Ocean

Artemis walked the halls of the second deck of the ship that Gus had named The Origin. Artemis had had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at this title. Although it had been made quickly, Koboi had done a remarkable job.

Soon, they would be entering that infamous area where so many odd occurrences had taken place. Now was the time for action. The time to set Artemis's plan into motion. He had already dealt with Koboi's monitoring systems, it had been difficult, but like all problems Artemis had found that with enough time and effort, he could solve it. Now all that remained was one vital phase.

He strode down corridors, knowing exactly where he was going. Luckily, he ran into no one, which meant that he didn't have to use the buzz baton that was tucked underneath his jacket. This was not unexpected, as most of Tsu Ling's cronies would be up top, guarding their master. The 'roof' of the Origin also served as the uppermost deck, which was why it was flat. Tsu had intended to use this area to complete the ritual for stage two and make the sacrifice for stage three. However, Artemis did not intend to let him get that far.

Right now, Tsu would be making a speech to his followers. Which worked out well for Artemis.

Passing a window, Artemis suddenly stopped dead, and backtracked, looking out into the sky. The air around Origin was clouded with an impenetrable yellow mist. This did not surprise Artemis as much as he was sure it would surprise Tsu and his Sabres. It only meant that they had reached their destination.

Artemis had had plenty of time to research. In 1986 a Catalina seaplane had encountered the same phenomenon while flying over the Bermuda triangle. While engulfed in this murky, yellowish-grey soup, there had been no visible beginning or end and there was no way to tell how far land was. Their communication systems had malfunctioned and this had gone on for about four hours. When the plane had finally emerged, the radio revealed that they had only been out of contact for one hour. It was as if they had dropped out of normal time itself.

For Artemis, this meant that at least there would be no interruptions but he would have to act now. Without allowing himself any longer to ponder the matter, he headed down another corridor until he came to the door her had been looking for. It took him a few seconds to enter the code he had stolen into the terminal beside the door, and it swung open with a pneumatic hiss.

This was the section of the ship that Tsu's prisoners had been transferred to. All except for Root. Their manacles had been exchanged for those microchips that the Sabres had put on Holly and everyone was seated on the ground. It took them a moment to realise he was even there, then Juliet was running towards him.

"Arty!" She yelled, her arms flapping about wildly. Artemis grinned at her, then addressed the whole room.

"As you're not in a dwelling any more, your eye-ball orders no longer apply." They had been knocked unconscious before being relocated. He gestured outside and to the left. "There's a locker room that way, where you should find something to help you remove those chips. Commander Root is being held on the top deck, which is where most of the action will be, but I'm sure Haven could do with some help too." He stopped; the fairies had been staring at him wide-eyed.

"Why are you doing this, Fowl?" A tawny elf asked.

"I intend to stop Tsu Ling." Artemis said simply.

The elf nodded. "He's telling the truth, let's go." And with that, the assembly stood up as one and shuffled past Artemis towards the door.

"Wait!" Artemis said, pointing at his parents who, miraculously, had managed to stay unconscious. "Can some of you get my parents out of here?" Artemis did not like relying on the fairies for help when it concerned his parents, they had every right to refuse, but he had no alternative.

A cluster of fairies fell back and began to lift his mother and father. "Don't worry." One said reassuringly, "We're heading for Haven. We'll take care of 'em." The sprite was watching him, looking puzzled as to why he was helping them at all. Artemis met his gaze coolly and was not the first one to look away.

Juliet stood by his side, a firm expression on her face. He knew there would be no use in suggesting she left with the fairies that were going back to Haven. Instead, he raised an eyebrow. "Don't you intend to at least get those chips off your hands? Or can you protect me without the use of your arms?" He jibed.

Juliet scowled at him, then headed out of the door muttering. "Could you stay out of trouble for a few minutes?"

Artemis stepped out into the corridor himself and was surprised to see a familiar captain waiting for him. "Captain Kelp, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Trouble looked up at him, his expression serious. "I underestimated you, Fowl." He said.

"No need to apologise."

Trouble nodded, as if they had formed an understanding. "Holly?"

"As far away from here as I could get her." Artemis told him, silently hoping she was alright."

"I'm staying here. I've got to help Root, if you have a plan, I'd like to hear it. For now I'm going to get these cuffs off." Trouble turned, about to leave before pausing. "I can tell you care about her, Fowl. I'm not sure I understand, but I can tell. Although, I don't think you know her that well. She'll be here. If she isn't already."

Trouble was gone before Artemis could respond. Trouble's comment had taken him off balance. He had always been adept at hiding his emotions but it seemed that when it came to Holly, he was an open book. He was not sure that he liked the feeling.

It was then that he heard it. A voice that made his heart clench.

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Holly had finally caught up with the ship. It hadn't taken long, as Lint didn't seem to be concerned with speed. The sight of the colossal vessel awed her, and had the circumstances been different she would have loved to have a go at piloting it. As it was, she had to fly shielded, and when she was close enough to see the top deck, it was clear she wouldn't be able to waltz through the door. There were many Sabres gathered in a tight circle, and Holly wasn't sure she was ready to see what they were looking at.

She fell into a steep dive and skimmed the water until she was under the ship. A close examination revealed a small hatch that she managed to fit through. Soon, she was flying shielded through the ships many hallways. Looking for - she wasn't sure what. Maybe she was only delaying the inevitable, Root was sure to be…then she saw him. He was heading in her direction, and looked preoccupied, which was a good thing, because if he hadn't been, he was sure to have recognised that shimmering heat haze for what it was. Artemis.

Holly opened the throttle a little wider, so her head was an inch from the ceiling, and pumped her Neutrino. It would benefit her in the long run if he was taken out of commission here and now. She swallowed. I will NOT let my personal feelings jeopardise the security of the world. I will NOT. I will NOT! She kept thinking to herself. When she looked up, though, Artemis was gone.

"Where-?" Holly clapped a hand to her mouth as she realised that a door was open a little way down the corridor. Abruptly, a group of fairies in LEP uniform burst out, several of whom she knew, followed by Artemis. Holly found that her mouth was hanging open, but that was nothing compared to the shock she felt when another cluster of fairies emerged with Artemis's parents on their backs and Juliet on their heels.

Why would Artemis bring his parents here? He wouldn't. She thought. But that meant…

Holly pieced together the clues fairly quickly for one taken so off guard. When she had a vague idea of what must have happened, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She had been wrong! Artemis had been blackmailed or threatened into helping Lint! There was no other explanation. Holly felt as if a piece of her heart had been handed back to her, somehow more complete than she had felt in days.

She touched down on the floor gently in time to hear some of Artemis and Trouble's conversation.

"Holly?"

"As far away from here as I could get her."

"I'm staying here. I've got to help Root, if you have a plan, I'd like to hear it. For now I'm going to get these cuffs off." Trouble turned, about to leave before pausing. "I can tell you care about her, Fowl. I'm not sure I understand, but I can tell. Although, I don't think you know her that well. She'll be here. If she isn't already."

Holly felt the beginnings of a grin light her face. She let Trouble pass her before unshielding and leaning against the wall casually. "You know, a girl would think you were trying to get rid of her." She said. Her voice shook a decibel.

Artemis turned slowly and met her gaze tentatively, his eyes melting with emotion. "The girl should know that I was only trying to keep her safe."

Holly stood straighter. "Maybe this girl doesn't want to be safe."

Artemis walked until he was an arms length away from her and spoke softly. "I'll try to remember that." Then he made the worst impression of someone afraid that Holly had ever seen and said, "You're not going to hit me again, are you?"

Holly laughed, but was cut of as his arms snaked around her waist. Then, they were kissing.

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Aaaaaaw, there ya go, the make up you've all been waiting for. And a nice long chapter too. Hope it was satisfactory.

Ladeda: Ok, thanks for reviewin'

Sheen Rox: Aah! Ok, don't do anything hasty. I'm a new and improved author now so updates should be more regular. Just-put-the-knife-down! Lol, and there will be more romance in the next chappie, just for you! J

Flamaria13: Noooo! Don't boycott! Out of all the things you've threatened to do to me, that is the worst! :-)

Seadragon: I'm pretty sure you've reviewed before…but if you haven't thank you for reviewing now! I'm so glad you like it!

~*~*: lol! Patience, Goddess of Reviews, I ordered a shipment of fluff…It's due to arrive…next chapter!

kelsey: Why does everybody think I'm gonna kill Artemis? Lol, no, Holly's not gonna kill Artemis. As for the rest of your questions…wait and see…:-)

Mage Kitty: Well, yeah…The tapestry thingy & the lady were pretty much 'Fate'.

Queen-Of-Gondor1: wow, I've got queens bowing down to me? :-) *goes mad with power* Thank you, for saying so, and updates should be quicker from now on.

Illusion Warrior: Thanks! :-)

Holly B: lol, wake up! Or I'll get some smelling salts…:-)

Slime frog: *stare* *blink* *sweat-drop* I see…hmm…normally, I'd be offended, but I'm actually impressed. What's a drennit, thoddo and tralk? Sounds cool, I'm probably all those things…:-) And I seemed to have misplaced my conscience. Timmy, Timmy! Where are you? *whistles* Here boy!

Starlover11: Gus Lint. Maybe you should re-read some chapters

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Fuzzbunni: nah, my reviewers are generally good normal people…except for those people who keep threatening to kill me - *shakes fist* You know who you are! - and I coulda sworn I was followed home yesterday…hmm. Well, I hope this chapter reassured yah.

Jade Sabre: My muse seems to be appealing for assisted suicide now…:-) I'm glad you liked the chappie…took me ages to write…phew.

SilverButterfly: Yep, I had to do some research, I just kinda wanted to find out whether the Bermuda triangle would fit in with what I had planned…you shoulda seen the look the librarian gave me when I asked for a book on it, though… :-)

Andarilha: *blushes* You're too generous, I don't think Colfer would even consider reading my little ficcy

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StarChild22: Yeah, I know…damn server…Thanks for pointing out the grammar mistakes. I'm really bad with that. *hits her head repeatedly on desk* Bad shadowweaver! Bad!….ahem, I will try to fix that when I get the chance.:-)