Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail or Artemis Fowl

Flying underground with the retrieval squad was interesting, to say the least. First, they had the difficulty of realizing that the ethercube wasn't exactly designed to fit inside of their chutes to enter Haven. As Holly watched them pause at the entrance to chute E6, she frowned and tried to consider how to deal with the dilemma herself. "If you are concerned, why not simply drop us down the chute?" Zeref made the suggestion, while Artemis paled slightly at the idea. "It isn't as if we will die from the fall." He had frowned, glancing towards the hole. "Though…perhaps it would be a bit uncomfortable."

This guy had some strange ideas about how to describe things. Before Holly could object and make another suggestion, one of the more reckless of the retrieval squad did as he requested. "Sounds good to me. Enjoy the fall!" The officer, by the name of Gunter Patterson, laughed as the cube fell. Holly didn't even hear either of them make a noise in shock, though she did hear a bit of a shout when they landed. Based on the higher pitched voice, she assumed it was Artemis. Oddly, Zeref didn't make any sound as they landed at the bottom. Maybe it was just too quiet to hear at this distance.

With that, Holly and the rest of the team gathered together to follow after, in an actual shuttle. The people underground were startled by the odd cube with mud men inside, but they didn't dare question the authority of the LEP as they dragged it through the station. "Now, don't go bringing that thing through Haven, Holly. You know how people will react to it. I've already gone through the effort of clearing the shuttle station, so you've just gotta get to Aura Medical Center. Foaly's waiting for you there, and he's already given their team a heads up."

"What if the curse activates during the procedure?" Zeref spoke calmly, frowning towards them.

By his side, Artemis shook his head. "I shall deal with that piece for you, at least. There is a certain sleeping spell that seemed to have enough of an effect to act as a temporary anesthetic, at the very least."

"You know, I'm kinda proud of this kid. Remind me, how long was he aware of our existence before he traveled back in time? Because he's picked up on a lot."

Foaly's comments made Holly roll his eyes. "He never said, so don't bother asking."

"A question for one of us?" Artemis raised his eyebrows. "I am more than willing to respond, Captain."

Shaking her head, Holly sighed. "Foaly wants to know how long you've been aware of our existence."

"Approximately two months before I traveled back in time."

"Two…two months? Damn…I gotta say, I hope you survive this, kid. You better be up to helping me with a few of my inventions. Maybe you could help update my security above ground? Keeping an eye on mud men can be a pain in the neck." Holly relayed his request, suddenly disliking being Foaly's mouth for the time being.

Nodding, Artemis smiled. "Of course. While efficient, your cameras do seem to struggle with encompassing the wide space necessary to observe all of us." He glanced towards Zeref, frowning slightly. "Would you be opposed to cameras observing your empire?"

Zeref seemed to actually be considering it when Root began barking over the communication line. "Both of you drop it! We are not allowing a mud man to consult with us on anything, Foaly, and that's an order. This is the only time we're working with this kid, and that's because we need him for this emergency. Afterwords, we're wiping him and sending him home."

"All things considered…it might not be a good idea to wipe him." Foaly's comment made Root go silent. "Now, I'm not saying I'll keep trying to work with him…but here, let me just show you an example. Holly, ask him about Mulch. You know as well as I do that he's probably hiding somewhere above ground by now."

Glancing towards him, Holly narrowed her eyes. "Hey, future boy, you got any great ideas about how we can deal with an escaped criminal of ours? Foaly seems to think you might know a thing or two about a dwarf by the name of Mulch Diggums."

Smiling, Artemis nodded. "I do believe I have met that dwarf. It was a rather interesting encounter, to say the least."

"D'Arvit." Root swore, and Holly could already imagine his face growing read. "I see your point, Foaly. Getting some help closing a few cases might not be so bad." He paused for a moment. "But that's it. No consulting him for LEP weaponry, got it? I don't want him triggering some kind of self-destruct in the system that only he can activate. I wouldn't put it past a human to sabotage our systems."

"You got it, no weapons." Holly could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "Though…this procedure is kinda tricky. Holly, have you seen how intricate a wizard's magic system is? I mean…it's a little dated, but I am looking at a full body scan of their system right now. The networking of the ethernano channels is almost as delicate and small as the circulatory system. I see why Fowl actually compared the two before…it makes a lot of sense, his theory about it."

Walking the cube through backstreets towards the medical center, Holly nodded with a frown. "I know…but Fowl seems to trust us. Right now, it's not like he has many other options, either." She glanced towards the boy, seeing him looking rather focused on his own thoughts now. His eyes were closed, and if she hadn't looked closely at him, she might have said he was sleeping. However, there was too much tension in his forehead, a wrinkling of the skin as he seemed to lose himself in thought.

"It makes me wonder what you did for him in the future, Holly." She frowned, uncertain of it herself. He made it sound like she had hated him. If his reaction was any indicator, he didn't want to set back their relationship now either by talking about it. "I mean, you aren't the type of fairy to go around revealing our secrets, so he didn't learn about us from you. So, what else could you have done for him?"

The boy opened his eyes, as if sensing her gaze. Seeing her look, he raised an eyebrow at her. This time, even Holly wanted to know the answer to Foaly's question. "You wouldn't happen to be willing to explain why you decided to call me, would you? That night, when you were busy dying of guilt."

He pursed his lips, glancing away. "I…I don't have friends, Captain." It was a quiet comment, this time catching Zeref's attention as well. "As Zeref himself stated…I live an isolated life. My family is always nearby, but it isn't as if they'd comprehend what was going on. After all, would you believe a five year old child about such a story, if it was your own son or daughter?" Holly couldn't imagine having her own kids right now, so she simply shook her head. "As for others…the only person who would truly understand the situation was Zeref. Speaking with him wasn't as simple as contacting you…and it was actually his own words that made me so troubled. After some consideration…I realized your job just may come with such a distasteful result. Even if you yourself had not actually been forced to kill, you would at least be…sympathetic, I had believed. You did seem to have a high regard for life…and you seemed to be kind to Foaly, at least."

There was sniggering as Foaly overheard his comment, amused with his response. "Aww, look at that. Seems like we've got a date set for ourselves, if you're so sweet to me."

"Shut it, centaur, or I'll stop bringing you carrots when I go to visit." The centaur always had a strong favoritism for the vegetable, despite the fact that so many stereotypes about centaurs circulated around that very fact.

"Got it, no dates, Miss Short. Only business for us." He was quick to respond, this time making Holly roll her eyes. "Though…he is right, you know. You have a soft spot for someone in trouble…and he seemed to realize that without you even talking to him like a real person."

"I don't want to sit here listening to your personal debates about who Fowl likes or does not like!" Root's complaint came loud and clear. "Get the mission over with, Short. Then we can all send them home and end this nightmare of ours."

Walking into the doors of the medical center, Holly nodded. Sterile white walls greeted her, with the waiting area already cleared of fairies waiting to visit their loved ones. A male pixie came to greet her, with his assistant, a young sprite, by his side. "Captain Short? I can't believe this insane operation that donkey sent me over to do. Are you seriously having us put this much effort into two mud men?"

The man spoke, while Holly nodded. Behind her, Artemis glanced towards him. The pixie had been speaking in gnomish, so it wasn't like the young genius understood what was being said anyway. "Hmm…I always wondered what it sounded like. Reading gnomish is quite different from hearing it."

Mildly disturbed by the fact that he could even read it, Holly switched to her native tongue as well. "Sorry, Commander's orders. The young one seems to think he's got this procedure figured out for himself. In fact, he's the one who suggested it in the first place."

"Is he aware of the side effects? His growth will be stunted, to say the least, not to mention the imbalance caused in his system by the lack of hormone regulation. He'll have to take supplements for the majority of the ones he can tolerate, along with being monitored closely for further complications. Likely, he won't even be as tall as you, at this rate."

Artemis really would be like a fairy then, unlike Zeref who was already tall enough to be considered close to average for a mud man. Still, it was what Artemis himself said to do. Still, she hesitated. Switching back to english, she watched him for a moment. "You sure about this, Arty?" The nickname she had heard from his father slipped out on accident. Somehow, it seemed to fit him better. "Doctor says you likely won't get much taller than you are now after this procedure."

"I can confidently say that without it, the same would also be true." He gave her a wry smile, making her chuckle in response.

Zeref laughed with her, startling the elf. She stopped at the noise, her eyes wide as she gazed at him. "Sorry, I did not mean to alarm you. Few can make light of our situation so early on in the stages of the curse…I am beginning to see why I made such a comment to you before, Artemis. I am sorry if that does not make you feel better, but it does not change the truthfulness to what I stated."

The young genius' smile weakened slightly. "I understand. In a way, I can see your logic as well. My dislike of wastefulness keeps me from killing…yet my lack of friends prevents a true sense of value for life. An odd combination…yet somehow, it suspends the curse for the time being."

"We…we are friends, right, Arty?" Holly couldn't deny the fact that she had been excited to meet him in person. The shock of seeing a human child had kept her silent and still for quite a while. The more she heard him, though, the more she realized it actually was the boy she had been speaking with over her communication systems. Now, she could see the expressions she imagined he'd be wearing as he worked through his troubled thoughts.

Giving her a slight smile, Artemis nodded. However, that was followed by an odd gasp as he leaned forward, touching his head. "Sorry…though I do suppose…this proves my truthfulness, considering your…lack of trust." His eyes closed, and the box was suddenly filled with an outburst of black magic. The doctors jumped back in surprise, their eyes wide at the sight.

Smiling, Holly turned back towards them and let Artemis calm himself enough for the magic to fade away. "As you can see, there is a very good reason for their willingness to this procedure." She had switched back to gnomish, and both fairies nodded in response. "They can mostly keep it under control…but we've got more ethercubes on hand just in case. Plus, we'll be feeding them a constant drip of E-inhibitor tranqs to keep the magic as dulled as possible and allow you to cut into them in the first place."

"You'll have to rewire the magic system first, before removing the pituitary gland." Artemis spoke, interrupting her. "I am not certain what order they are planning on…but if they do the reverse, it is quite likely that the gland will be regrown by the curse before they finish the second part of the procedure."

Nodding, she relayed the instructions to the doctors who nodded in agreement. "Got it…they've given informed consent…and we've gotten permission from the LEP for the untested procedure…best we can get, all things considered. You sure the Council won't be getting us into any trouble for this? For operating on mud men?"

"We're taking care of that right now." Holly spoke swiftly, to avoid any doubt. Handing the cube over to them, the doctors began moving them down towards another room.

"Sounds good." The pixie seemed to hesitate, frowning towards her. "You gonna wait for them? Commander Root will want a report as soon as this is finished with, I imagine." Nodding, Holly smiled towards him. "The rest can leave, and we can't have you in the operating room. Authorized personal only, I'm sure you understand." With all of the red lines and tape in her own job, she knew exactly what that meant. Taking a seat, Holly watched him turn and vanish into the back room with Artemis and Zeref. Oddly, Holly felt a pang watching them leave. She didn't wish Artemis luck in the operation, nor did she even offer him comfort that it would go well. If something went wrong, that boy would die still thinking she was barely friends with him. As she leaned back in her seat, Holly closed her eyes and made a mental vow to change that as soon as he made it out. She'd tell him how badly she had needed that call from him after Hamburg. She'd tell him that somehow, he was her second closest friend, despite how little they knew each other. She really needed to keep in touch with other fairies, but that would be boring, she realized. Keeping in touch with Artemis would be a challenge, and the thought made her smile as she thought of the future adventures they just might have together.

The ending is getting so close now...I do hope you've enjoyed thus far. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!