Author's Note: Hello, my beautiful readers. Let's find out, who the mysterious voice was, shall we? Explanations, more mythical creatures, prophecies and a lot of obnoxiousness (is that a word? It is now!). Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Eoin Colfer owns all the characters from Artemis Fowl, I only own my imagination and my characters.
Chapter 6
The curtains blew gently in the breeze as the city sounds poured into the room through the shattered window. The corpse amidst glass shards strewn on the floor turned the luxurious suite into a sinister crime scene.
The professor was swaying. While she looked more alive than half an hour ago, her usual warm olive skin had turned an ashen hue. Butler caught her by the arm.
"The Major needs to see this," she said with a slurred voice, slumping against Butler. He would have led her back to the couch if there hadn't been the umpteenth interruption that night.
Glass shards crunched under someone's shoes, the moment a voice asked, "And what would you tell him?"
Butler released his grip on the professor's arm, who dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and spun towards the window. Another angel had entered the room through the open window, smiling at the sight of two pistols pointed at his head. With a simple flick of his wrist, Butler's pistol and Trouble's blaster flew across the room.
"Gentlemen," the man said reprovingly, strolling to the couch. He gripped the backrest and easily flipped it back. He sat, folding his wings behind him and motioning to the empty seats.
"Please, sit," he said graciously, enjoying the apparent confusion. "Bring the scholar too, if you don't mind."
When nobody moved, the man ground his teeth. Artemis could have sworn his eyes turned black for a second. "I am not going to ask twice, mortals."
Trouble had assumed a defensive stance, ready to fight with his bare hands if necessary. "Who are you?"
"Oh, are we going to this now? Suit yourself. I am Lucifer, Helel ben Shachar or the Devil, whichever title you prefer," he answered, waving a dismissive hand at them.
Butler couldn't keep an incredulous frown from forming on his forehead. Artemis openly scoffed at the less than impressive looking angel. "You are the devil?"
Lucifer sighed. He got that a lot. It used to be funny too, in the beginning. It got old, though. Not that he would ever turn away from terrifying mortals. He complied with the unspoken challenge.
The hotel room disappeared. Instead, Butler, Artemis and Trouble were standing in the middle of a flaming river, its red lava illuminating the pitch-black night. Artemis smelled burning flesh before he registered that it was his own melting skin. Trouble shouted in pain. His magic wasn't protecting him from the immense heat. Butler tried to shield Artemis from the danger, which was pointless as it was everywhere. And then, as fast as it had begun, it was over and the hotel room was back.
Trouble dropped to his knees. Butler's hands were shaking. Even Artemis was silent for once, his gaze jumping from side to side, trying to compose himself. The fire was gone. The angel with the auburn locks and ginger beard was not.
"How do we know you are not the real culprit behind these attacks?" Artemis asked, overplaying his dismay.
"That's the fun thing: you can't. But if I wanted you dead, you'd be choking on your own blood already," Lucifer said bluntly. "Now, how about the little chat?"
Artemis nodded and gave his bodyguard a sign. Butler picked up the unconscious professor and carried her to the couch before resuming his position behind Artemis. Trouble walked to the couch, his eyes never leaving Lucifer, much to the angel's amusement.
Slipping a golden signet ring off his hand, he pushed it on the professor's finger. Artemis watched, expecting some spectacle, but everything remained quiet. No sparks were flying through the air, but some kind of magic did happen. The woman began to stir and the colour returned to her cheeks.
"A little bird told me you've been up to all kinds of mischief today," Lucifer said with a glint in his eyes when her eyes fluttered open. Sofia sat up. This time she stayed sitting.
Lucifer returned to his seat on the upturned couch, watching how she acknowledged the presence of the three other people in the room.
She shot Lucifer an uncertain look. "What's going on?"
"I thought they were your friends," he lied, the gleam in his eyes giving him away.
"I've never seen–," her gaze fell on Artemis. She squinted her eyes. "You're one of my students."
"Technically, Professor", Artemis explained smugly, "I've been only observing your class. Quite a few people were curious after your recent shenanigans at The Palisades."
Sofia scowled, unsure if she was the butt of a joke, she wasn't understanding. "What?"
"What do you have for me?" Lucifer countered the playful glint in his eyes vanished. The exchange started to bore him.
Sofia hesitated. "Uh, do you want to do this… here?" She wanted to say with them, but Lucifer gave the three a quick look and shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" he asked, running a hand through his hair. He loved the audience. Sofia remained quiet, her hands fidgeting in her lap. Then she noticed the cloth around her middle, keeping her from taking deep breaths. Lucifer made an impatient noise when she turned her attention to the bandage instead of him.
"Have you not figured it out yet? The little people are much more observant when it comes to the demise of their kind. It was only a matter of time until you would get yourself caught with your antics."
"My antics?" Sofia asked prickly.
"I am not the one who tried to find out why my siblings changed their eating habits."
Trouble leaned forward. "What do you mean, changed their eating habit?"
"Oh yes. I keep forgetting how little you mortals know about the divine. How am I going to explain this, so that even your limited understanding will grasp this?"
Trouble shot Artemis a dark look, a dull throb starting to build behind his eyes. Were they multiplying?!
"My father realized that you mortals were getting too numerous. He sent the Nephilim to Earth to take care of this problem. Somewhere along the way, they found a liking to human blood and they started to prey on the living. With me so far?"
Butler and Trouble nodded, their expressions telling a different story.
Artemis frowned. "But we are still around."
"Yes, the Nephilim lost their divineness. They missed the opportunity to enslave you all," he almost sounded disappointed. Sofia rolled her eyes. Sometimes she wondered which side he was on.
He continued. "Or to leave. Now they are stuck here and operate from the shadows, preying on mortals. No angel is able to fight off a horde of mortals with pitchforks or whatever it is you are smashing your heads in these days."
Butler had listened intently, the professor's fleeting glances not escaping him. He still wasn't convinced by this story or the whole development of this night. If he pretended to believe it though, then, "Why isn't… God intervening?"
Lucifer scoffed. "Please, God isn't interested in the imperfect. He hasn't been involved in this sphere of existence since the Punic Wars. Not surprising, considering how toxic it is to us."
"It is not," Sofia murmured.
Lucifer stopped himself. "What?"
"I don't think it's Earth. It's us. There is a passage in The Book of Enoch that–"
"You mean this one?" he said, pulling the book out from his bulky leather jacket.
Sofia gasped as he threw it into her hands. She reached out for it, the ring slipping from her finger and tumbling to the floor. Picking it up, she held it out to him.
A calculated smile spread on his face. "Keep it. I have a feeling you will use it again at some point."
Passing over the comment, she opened the book in her lap and shot him a disapproving look. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't go around stealing artefacts."
He chuckled. "The correct phrasing is shouldn't. But let's not dwell on such trivialities."
Trouble snorted, giving Artemis another telling look. Artemis ignored him; he was more interested in what secrets the book held.
Handling the pages with the utmost care, Sofia turned the pages until she found what she was looking for. She read it out loud, waiting for Lucifer to realize the implication. He shrugged. "What? You want me to plant trees?"
"No!" she called out in frustration. "If my theory is correct, those trees are meant to be fairies. And the wine will be drunk and will bestow the power of the Divine all. But any of it that is left over and grows old is to be considered contaminated. Humans grow old, their blood is contaminated. Unsuitable."
"That is a far-fetched theory," Artemis noted doubtfully. Sofia reached into her pocket, pulling out her mobile phone.
"Not if you consider other manuscripts. One piyyut, an ancient text from the 4th century, outlines the creation of the world. It talks in particular about trees and the divine gifts of some small people. Historians think those are metaphors, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's actually a mistranslation," she said, her professional enthusiasm taking over as she looked for the photo on her phone. Moments later, she held up the grainy screen with the photo of the text.
"May I see it?" Trouble asked. Sofia hesitated for a second before handing her phone to the elf. This night couldn't get any more bizarre, she decided.
Trouble nodded after a while. He remembered the story; it was an old fairytale. A story, grandparents told little elves before going to bed. "The words are different," he finally said, handing the phone back. "But I have heard this fairytale before."
Silence fell over the room as Lucifer processed what this revelation meant. "But they have been drinking human blood for centuries," he said slowly.
Sofia snapped her fingers. "Exactly. And they look extremely… gaunt. You all do, to be fair. But they also display signs of dementia. As if they have become senile or are ageing."
Lucifer's expression became sombre for the first time since he had shown up. "You mean, they have been killing themselves over the last centuries?"
Sofia nodded. Lucifer clapped his hands, standing. "Great, so we'll let them continue doing that. Problem solved."
"They have started attacking fairies now, remember?"
Lucifer shrugged. "And I care because?"
"Fairies' blood will probably restore their powers?" she said, waiting for Lucifer to realize the implication. He didn't.
"That's very sad, but not my problem."
"I have more," she said gravely, flicking through her phone.
Artemis leaned forward, intrigued. The woman was proving to be more interesting after all.
"This is from the other book. The one you gave me. It didn't make sense when I read it. But last week with the angel, he said they would burn the whole place down–"
"Yada, yada, yada, come to the point, woman!" Lucifer cut her off.
She gave him an exasperated look before reading out the passage on her phone:
And he reveals to me the end that is approaching with the reinvigorated Divine: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and the earth shall be cleansed from all defilement, and from all sin, and from all punishment, and from all torment.
She paused, hoping that she hadn't misunderstood this passage as she regarded her audience.
And I saw a burning fire which ran without resting and paused not from its course day or night. And I asked saying: 'What is this which rests not?' Then one of the holy angels who was with me answered me and said unto me: 'This course of fire which thou hast seen is the fire which cleanses and makes all the luminaries of heaven whole again. It starts with the end and shall burn until the earth is devoured.'
Sofia stopped. Something in the way she pronounced every syllable like a fantastical poem had made Lucifer's smug grin disappear. "Explain," he demanded.
"This fire might start the end of the world. In which case Earth will be destroyed, and… I believe this could restore any angel, fallen or otherwise defiled to their original state. In which case they could probably return to Heaven."
Lucifer shrugged as if he didn't care. In reality, his head was spinning. Were they trying to leave this place to go home? Michael wouldn't let that happen, would he? Not without fulfilling his oh so precious duty.
"And?"
"If Earth is destroyed it will wipe out anything and anyone on it."
Including Yonatan. Lucifer crossed his arms in front of his chest to hide his trembling fingers. "And it only took you a year to find that out," he mocked her.
Sofia shifted in her seat, heat rising in her cheeks as she glared at him. "It's not like you gave me any pointers."
Trouble thought he had gotten most of the information. He would need to remember all this for his report as well as filling in Root and Holly.
"Can you create the fire without the end of the world and fairy killing? Can they be sent straight to Heaven?" he asked rationally.
Lucifer shook his head: "Cleansing fire can only be created by an angel that is pumped with divine powers. It's like spontaneous combustion and it'll spread. I am as divine as it gets, but not even I have those powers," he stopped himself, his gaze locked on Trouble. "I mean, I could get them, if I drank your blood, elf."
Trouble froze, reaching for his blaster, still laying at the other end of the room. Lucifer burst out laughing. He ran a hand through his curls. "Don't worry. I would never sink so low as to drink anyone's blood."
"Then how are you going to stop them?" Sofia asked, changing the subject.
"Is there a way to rid us from them without the fire?" Artemis mused.
"We could always kill them," Lucifer offered. "Do you have, I don't know, a few thousand armies to spare?"
Trouble shook his head. "The most important thing is to keep any fairy far away from those angels so that they won't become any more powerful."
There had to be a way to deal them a final blow, not the Guerilla tactics he tried in the beginning, Lucifer thought. But which, he couldn't tell. He had been imprisoned, when the Nephilim descended. He scratched his beard.
"There is only one being, who might know the answer to the problem. Zmeu was among the first creatures on Earth before the Nephilim descended. He will know what can destroy them, once and for all. He is staying somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains. Should take you no longer than a week."
"You talking to me?" Sofia asked half-jokingly. The angel looked at her as if she had lost every marble she owned. She snorted: "I have a job, you know, I can't just leave."
Lucifer's smug smile returned to his face. "And forfeit this one opportunity to learn more about the workings of the world? I don't think so."
Red spots of anger appeared on Sofia's face. "And why are you not going yourself, if you are so sure that he will have an answer?"
Lucifer smiled, feigning uncomfortableness. "We have a history. He wouldn't be too happy to see me."
"And what makes you think he will talk to me and not simply stick something pointy in me?"
Lucifer stifled a laugh, the joke lost to anyone else. "Trust me, he will talk to you. But the Major will accompany you. I have instructed him with the location. That should make you feel better, no?"
Butler's eyes twitched by the mentioning of the familiar name. Artemis glanced over to the angel's corpse.
"How are we going to get rid of the body?"
Lucifer followed his gaze, before snipping his fingers. The body went up in flames and burned into a pile of ash in less than a minute. Satisfied with the chaos he had created, Lucifer vanished through the window before anyone could stop him, leaving awkward silence behind him.
Trouble cleared his throat. "Your boss is… demanding."
Sofia snorted: "Please. He is not my boss. I'd rather kill myself."
She stood. Lucifer might enjoy bathing in the attention of these strangers, sitting around the coffee table. She did not. "I should go," she announced.
Artemis nodded. He buttoned his jacket as he stood: "You are right, we shouldn't lose any time."
"We?!"
Butler didn't seem to be too excited either. "Artemis, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"I am quite sure. You, Professor, will obviously need all the help you can get."
Sofia crinkled her nose. It was as if Lucifer had never left. "I have been managing fine by myself. Don't you have to be home at some point?"
"I would present a higher risk for my parents if I went home. As far as I am concerned, there is no need to lead any angels to my home base. I have been studying your career, Professor. You are conversant in several of the old Semitic languages. However, and correct me if I am wrong, Slavic languages don't cover your skills. You will need an interpreter to effectively fulfil your mission?"
She could have sworn that Lucifer had set the whole thing up. Nobody should have been able to imitate the Devil that well.
"On top of that, it will take you some time to get a flight to Romania. I have come here in my private jet and I can fly you there tonight."
That made her stop. "What do you want in return?" she asked, suspicious.
"Nothing. Can't I offer my help for the good cause?"
Sofia crossed her arms, making Artemis sigh. "You will need all the help in stopping the world's destruction, Professor. An apocalypse would affect me and my future endeavours as well. The stock market wouldn't react favourably to such an event. With regards to my funds, I am very much interested in your success. If you have no more questions, I assume you will want to pick up a few things before we leave?"
Dr Sofia Massetti had been teaching students for nearly five years. She had heard the wildest excuses for late papers and thought she knew crazy. The night she met Artemis Fowl, however, would take it to a whole new level.
A/N: Romania, here we come. Not before a big Butler reunion, though. I wonder if the Major is going to be happy to see his nephew again? Can we expect… tears?! Let's find out! Thanks for reading and as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter. 😊