A/N: Turns out I'm not dead, and will continue updating this. This is the conclusion of the battle for Fowl Manor.

-Kio

Chapter 17; Purge

Fowl Manor, Ireland

Artemis stumbled through Fowl Manor's abandoned corridors, his mind numb. He didn't know if he was being followed. He didn't know if he was heading straight into another group of former humans. He found that he didn't care.

Juliet was gone. There would be no miracles, no last-minute rescue. Even magic couldn't stitch her back together now. In a heartbeat, she was gone. Snatched away by Opal Koboi's spite.

She had always been like a sister to him. And she had died like a sister to him, giving her life to try and buy him time. Throwing away any slim chance she might have had of survival to give him the chance to live instead.

And now she's gone.

He had to keep repeating it in his head, keep refreshing the grief. The pain. The pain was good; it helped him focus. It helped him stop from sinking to his knees and giving up.

He understood now, of course. Understood that this had been inevitable. There had been too many enemies, there had never been a chance to beat them. They would die one by one, outmatched by sheer numbers, and he would have to see it. See everyone he cared about die.

This was what Opal had planned; they would start to believe that maybe there was hope, only to have it snatched away at the last moment, leaving Artemis only with the emptiness that was filling him now. The awful hopeless grief that Opal had felt when she saw her future self's dead body was being passed on to him.

Artemis staggered on, expecting at any moment to run straight into more formers that would rip off his arms and gouge out his eyes and tear out his throat. But the corridors remained mercifully empty. He knew what he had to do. There was a very real possibility it would kill everyone in Fowl Manor, but it was the only way to beat the formers.

He made his way down one flight of stairs, then another. Still he didn't encounter any former humans. He passed the main kitchen and glanced in. There were bodies everywhere. Severed limbs and black blood.

At first, he assumed that Butler must have passed through here, but then he looked closer at the carnage. The bodies were slashed and torn and mutilated. There was such savagery visible even in the aftermath that it was scary. There was no precision; no method. Just violence. It looked like someone, or something, had been enjoying themselves. This wasn't Butler's work. And that meant that there was yet another thing that he had to worry about, another threat trapped in Fowl Manor with them.

He tried not to think too much about it. He supposed that, in the end, it didn't really change anything. And whatever had killed those formers had probably done him a favour anyway.

Besides, worrying about a new threat wouldn't bring back Juliet.

Another stab of grief cut into him, slicing deep. He didn't try and stop it. Didn't try and quell it. He just stood there for a few moments in the doorway, letting it twist and wrench inside him until he couldn't feel anything else.

He entered the kitchen, not bothering to avoid the gore that was strewn about the place. He grabbed a discarded chair and hefted it, feeling the weight. It was heavy, but manageable. That was good. It would serve his needs.

He left through the same door he had come in through, heading towards his original destination, not noticing the footprints of black blood he was now leaving after him.

It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for. To anyone else, it would have just been another section of wall. But Artemis knew better. He knew what was behind it. He raised the chair high above his head and slammed it into the wall. It splintered, but largely held, so he hit it again. And again.

On the third swing, the plaster caved in, revealing the pipes and valves behind it. Artemis's eyes scanned the network of pipes, quickly locating the gas main. The hefted the chair one final time and swung it, putting his whole weight into the swing. He careered forward, sending the chair crashing through the pipe. Gas immediately started spilling out into the air.

Holding his breath, Artemis backed away. He didn't need to light it himself, of course. It would rush to fill the corridors, and would quickly reach the rapidly spreading fire that he and Juliet had set.

Juliet. No sooner had he thought the name than he overcome once again, but this time there was a spark inside him. The grief ignited, filling him with fire. Juliet's brother was still here in Fowl Manor. Still alive. Presumably. He couldn't allow him to die. Couldn't allow both Butler's to throw away their lives for him.

He fumbled with the communicator his manservant had given him. "Butler? Are you there? Can you hear me?"

Several seconds of terrifying silence. Then a voice, barely audible over the sound of gunfire.

"Artemis! Is that you?"

Relief flooded through Artemis. "Yes, old friend. It's me. I need you to do something."

Butler didn't respond immediately. Artemis thought he could hear the frenzied scream of a former human, made indistinct by distance from the communicator, then a loud burst of gunfire.

"I'm pinned down. Those things are everywhere. I'm not sure I can help, I'm afraid."

"I need you to get out of the house, Butler." He ran a few mental calculations. "Give it, maybe, three minutes, and get out of the house."

It was a rough estimate. Very rough. But with so many variables that he couldn't know, it was impossible to be any more precise. It could be two minutes, it could be ten. He didn't know. All he could say was that it would probably be at least three minutes before they were all engulfed by fire.

The boy could almost hear the frown in Butler's voice. "I'm on the third floor, Artemis, and I'm pretty sure I'm surrounded. That's not going to happen."

"Find a way."

"I'm sorry, Artemis, I really don't think I can. Listen, is Juliet still with you? I tried contacting her a few minutes ago, but I couldn't get through."

Artemis's earlier relief was instantly replaced by guilt. He didn't say anything. What could he say? Not the truth, that much was certain. It would only cloud Butler's judgement, and in the middle of a fight for his life, that wasn't something he could afford. The truth would probably get him killed, and that was not acceptable. He had to live. He had to, because above all else, that's what Juliet would have wanted.

"Just get out, Domovoi. Trust me. Please."

It was all he could say. He dropped the communicator, not waiting to hear what Butler had to say. It was all he could do not to fall to his knees. Without looking back at the communicator, he set off for his lab. He was probably going to run into a whole bunch of former humans. He was probably going to die. But that didn't matter. He had to try and get his family to safety. And Holly.

It wasn't particularly far to go. Even so, every time he turned a corner, he fully expected his next step to be his last. But it wasn't to be; the journey was passed in eerie silence. Nothing jumped out at him. Nothing tried to kill him.

He came to the heavy door to his lab. The reinforced steel was scratched where the former humans had tried desperately to gain entry, but remained tight shut.

Still alive, then, thought Artemis, relieved.

He glanced over his shoulder, making sure the coast was clear. He took a breath and raised a hand to the keypad set into the frame, quickly entering a sixteen-digit code and allowing both his eyes and his finger prints to be scanned. A dialogue box reading lockdown aborted flashed up on the tiny screen.

Artemis didn't hesitate. He tapped a button and immediately the heavy steel door started to swing forward, and he stepped forward into the lab.

"Mother? Fath-"

The words died in his throat as he caught sight of the lab's interior. The bodies of former humans and their dismembered body parts littered the floor, savaged almost beyond recognition. Some had been cut to pieces, some had been burned, some had been simply torn apart, but they all had one thing in common: none of them were moving any more.

In the middle of it all, stood Natalya, covered in black blood. She was smiling. She saw him and raised a playful eyebrow.

"Hey, Arty."

Artemis didn't try to speak. He just stared. In his mind, he was too shocked to speak. But nevertheless, he found that his mouth was moving, a quiet fury behind his words.

"What have you done?"

Natalya lost her smile. "You're no fun," she pouted. But then she saw looked closer and saw the rage in Artemis's eyes. The hatred. She sighed. "If it's your family you're worried about, I can assure you that they are all unharmed. Not a scratch on them, thanks to me."

As if to demonstrate her point, Artemis Sr. appeared beside her, stepping awkwardly between the dead bodies.

Artemis Jr. tried to speak but all that came out was a strangled whisper. He tried again. "Father?"

The Fowl patriarch nodded.

"Where is Mother? And the twins?"

His father smiled reassuringly. "They're fine. Your mother is back there shielding the twins from… this."

He gestured around him at the sea of mutilated corpses, but he needn't have. His son knew at once what he had been referring to. Neither of them were squeamish, but even so, there was a part of both of them that wanted to throw up at the sight of the scene that Natalya had left. It wasn't a view to which you wanted to expose a four-year-old.

Artemis Jr. sucked in a large breath. He took all his negative feelings towards Natalya and shoved them to one side, compartmentalising them. He could deal with all of that later; right now, they had to get out of the manor. That was all that mattered.

"We need to leave here. Immediately. Have Mother bring the twins."

Natalya frowned. "Why?"

Artemis pointed a shaking finger at her. "You," he snarled, his expression daring her to argue. "You don't get to speak. You don't get to do anything."

Natalya narrowed her eyes, and looked for a moment like she was going to say something, but then she shrugged, biting her tongue. Artemis strode past her into the lab. He offered his mother what he hoped was a reassuring smile when he caught sight of her, and then went straight over to Holly. He clicked open the handcuffs restraining her and picked her up, cradling her tiny frame in his arms. She was still now, resting peacefully.

He nodded to Angeline. "Come on. We need to go."

The Fowl family left the lab together, Artemis carrying Holly, Angeline doing her best to stop the twins from seeing the carnage they were walking through. Natalya walked a short distance away, eyes open for an attack, trying to figure out how best to play her cards with Artemis.

As they walked, she sniffed at the air. The smell of gas was faint here, but it was definitely there. She glanced at Artemis, understanding instantly what he'd done. She didn't bother wondering what he had set up to light it. It didn't matter. She added a little extra length to her strides.

"Where are we going?" asked Artemis Sr.

"Out of the house," answered his son. "As quickly as possible. Come on, hurry."

With him carrying Holly and his mother struggling with the twins, they weren't moving nearly as fast as he would have liked. According to his mental count, the three minutes he had given Butler were about to run out. And they weren't even out of the house yet.

We're living on borrowed time, he thought. Seconds ticked by, but then they reached what was left of the entrance hall.

Despite the gravity of the situation, both Fowl parents found themselves grinding to a halt.

"What…" spluttered Angeline. "What happened?"

Artemis opened his mouth to say Juliet happened, but then he remembered what had happened to her, and the words caught in his throat.

"Not now," he said. He pointed the gaping hole where doorway used to be. It looked like the formers had cleared most of the wreckage, leaving them with safe passage to the grounds. "Outside. Get as far as away from the house as you can."

A flash of movement ahead. Artemis froze. Formers were emerging all over the hall. Then Natalya was between him and them, her back to him, both swords already drawn.

"Go," she ordered. "I'll deal with these freaks."

The rest of the Fowls were already heading to the exit. Artemis hesitated. He wanted nothing more than to join his family and run the hell away from all the pain and the violence, but he reckoned he could see a good twenty formers coming towards him and Natalya. It had taken half that number to bring down Juliet. Even after everything, there was some part of him, something deep inside, possibly cultivated by Holly, that didn't want Natalya to give her life for him as well. Perhaps it was the same something that had made Holly heal Butler all those years ago, in this same hall, even though she had had no reason to help him.

"You can't," he said eventually. "They'll kill you."

Natalya shrugged but didn't turn to look at him. "I like my chances."

Artemis looked at her for a long moment, then shook his head and turned to go. He hurried after his family, Holly's sleeping form light in his arms. He heard Natalya deal with the first formers to reach her. It sounded violent. He didn't glance back, continuing away from the incoming explosion, keeping his mother and father in sight.

Butler was out of bullets. This would probably have worried him more if he'd still had his assault rifle, but he'd had it ripped from his hands in a scrap with a former human a few minutes ago. Still, it would've been nice to have a few rounds left in his pistol. As it was, he was down it to fists and knives. Up close and personal, just the way he didn't like it.

He kept running. He wasn't sure what he was trying to accomplish; all he knew was that he had been forced back into the corner of the manor, and every time he took another turn, there were more formers blocking him off. It seemed like what he'd told Artemis was true: he was surrounded.

A former human leapt out in front of him. Butler ducked low under its clumsy swipe and crashed into it, lifting it off its feet. He tossed it into a wall and sunk a heavy fist into its cheek. Bone gave way. The former slid to the floor and didn't get up. Butler carried on moving, barely breaking his stride.

He blinked and there was a group of formers blocking his path. Moving without thinking, he took a quick right, ducking into a corridor he'd never seen before. There was a former ahead. Butler's knife was lodged in its skull before it had even turned to face him, and already the manservant was running again.

He glanced at his watch. Already more than three minutes since Artemis had told him to get out of the house. He ran into the first room he came to and went to the window, looked out. It was a long way down. He heard movement behind and he turned, his fist slamming into a former and lifting it into air.

His brain took a moment to catalogue his situation; the former he had just knocked down was already getting back to its feet, and it was one of three. He stepped forward, bringing the fight to the other two before they could do the same to him.

The bodyguard dodged past the first former's attack, darting towards its comrade. Despite his age, Butler was still lightning fast, and in one fluid movement he stomped on the creature's knee and followed up with a vicious elbow to the jaw. There were two satisfying cracks as the former human's bones broke. It went down.

Butler spun to face the first former, but it was too quick, slamming a fist into his jaw. He cursed and took an involuntary step back as the pain hit, and the former made to press its advantage. Butler feinted low and went high, catching the creature off-guard with a chop to its windpipe.

Of course, the former humans didn't need to breathe, and so unlike a real person, the creature didn't crumple, unconscious. It just stumbled back, looking strangely offended, while the last former struck Butler from behind. The manservant staggered. He reached out for the former he'd hit in the throat, grabbing it and swinging back around into the other former. Both creatures went tumbling backwards, landing in a heap of tangled limbs.

Butler looked up, ready to start running again, hoping he might find an unoccupied corridor that he could slip through and escape the former humans that seemed to have him surrounded. But they were already filing into the room, growling and shrieking as they came. Five, ten, still more in the background. Too many to fight.

The bodyguard took a calming breath. He glanced at his watch. Artemis must have had had a reason to want him to get out of the house, and he had already passed the deadline.

Here goes, he thought, turning away from the oncoming formers and breaking into a sprint. A jumped at the last minute, tilting slightly so his shoulder was the first thing to make contact, and slammed straight into the window. The glass shattered and then he was hurtling through the air, the ground rushing up to meet him. It really was approaching very fast. He braced for impact, wrapping his arms over his head and extending his legs to act as a sort of rudimentary crumple zone. Then he hit the ground and every bone in his legs instantly shattered.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Butler shifted so he could see the house. Every movement sent white hot daggers of pain into his brain. His vision was blurring and already he could feel consciousness start to slip away from him, but he could just about make out hazy shapes moving behind the windows. They were getting bigger.

Former humans, he realised miserably. Coming to finish me off.

Then there came a sound. The sound of thunder. Flames surged through the manor, filling entire rooms and turning their contents to ash, shattering the windows and bursting out into the night. They swept through the corridors, destroying everything in their path, cleansing the manor of its infestation. In a heartbeat, Fowl Manor went from an extravagantly furnished home to a burnt-out husk, barely still standing.

Butler smiled as unconsciousness claimed him. Good old master Artemis, he thought. Always one step ahead. I just hope he and Juliet got out in time.

Natalya emerged from Fowl Manor only a few seconds before explosion. She ran hard, a couple of formers on her tail, only just clearing the kill zone. If not for her extraordinary speed, she would be dead. Even so, the explosion lifted her off her feet, adding to her momentum and depositing her in a painful heap. The creatures following her weren't so lucky; the explosion seared their flesh and ruptured their bodies.

Natalya moaned in pain. Her back was peppered with shards of glass and shrapnel and her skin was badly burned. She could feel at least a few broken bones, and worst of all, she had lost one of her swords in the fall. She liked those swords. If she couldn't find it, there was going to be blood.

She didn't want to get up. She wanted to stay lying on this patch of scorched earth forever. But now her magic was kicking in, dulling the pain, starting to repair her body, and she forced herself to her feet. She was a little unsteady at first, but then she found her balance.

There was a glint of steel in the corner of her eye. She smiled. She went to retrieve her sword, then scanned the grounds for a sign of Artemis Fowl. He wasn't hard to find. The boy was crouched by a shrivelled hedge not a hundred metres away, his family cowering alongside him.

Natalya hesitated, but only for a moment, before starting to trudge over to him. She didn't like this. Of course, she had always known there was a distinct possibility she would end up having to involve Artemis in her plans, but doing so in full view of Holly Short and his family wasn't exactly what she had had in mind. Especially now that the boy remembered her torturing him.

She shook her head. Not ideal at all. But Opal Koboi's army of dead men was a development she had not foreseen, and events were steadily spiralling out of her control. She would have to make do with what she had. Coming across Artemis's family was a lucky break; hopefully saving them and Holly would at least earn her the opportunity to make her case.

But what would she say? It was true that they shared a common enemy, but the enemy of his enemy wasn't necessarily his friend. She knew that well enough from personal experience. If she was going to convince him to work with her, she was going to have to give him a reason to trust her. And she had a horrible feeling that the only way of doing that would be to tell the truth.

Artemis watched Natalya approach with some anxiety. According to his father at least, his family owed her their lives, but the memory of what she had done to him was still raw. Some things could never be forgiven.

As she came forward, shafts of sunlight began to break through the azure dome that separated the Fowl Estate from the present. The time-field was losing its integrity. Whole patches were failing, leaving isolated blotches of morning sun floating in the sky.

Then, as he watched, the rest of the time-stop collapsed, taking with it the fear that had characterised that last few hours. Sunlight filled the estate, banishing the darkness. That was it. Seemingly the longest night of his life, and it was finally over. And somehow, amazingly, they were still alive.

Not all of us are, he reminded himself, and felt another wave of grief threaten to overwhelm him.

Artemis forced himself to stay strong. He glanced at Natalya, then looked away, turning his gaze to his ancestral home. The dawn sun covered the estate in long shadows, but still provided more than enough light to reveal the true extent of the carnage that night.

The grounds were charred and blackened and filled with ugly craters. Plants were burned away to nothing. Pockets of flame flickered and danced in the morning breeze. There were bodies everywhere. Some were recognisable as having once been human. Some weren't.

Fowl Manor still looked more or less as it always had from the outside, but through the windows, Artemis could just about make out the charred skeleton within. Smoke wafted gently out of the windows.

He heard the crunch of Natalya's footsteps as she reached him. He didn't bother turning to face her. He heard the slight intake of breath as she opened her mouth to speak, but he got there first.

"You want my help stopping Opal." It wasn't a question.

Behind him, Natalya hesitated, but then she nodded. "Yes."

Artemis pointed to a point around the side of Fowl Manor. "Butler. He fell before the explosion. He's hurt. Heal him. We'll talk when Holly wakes up."

He didn't say anything else. He just carried on gazing at what was left of his home. Natalya stared at him for a long moment, not speaking, then set off in the direction he had pointed in.

A/N: Artemis and Natalya working together? Will it happen? Or will Artemis decline? Or perhaps something else will go disastrously wrong? And what will Holly have to say about it all?

Also, I have finally got around to resuming writing new content for this fic instead of just editing my dwindling supply of pre-written chapters. Which is good news because it means that while updates might be slow, they aren't going to stop altogether.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Any reviews are much appreciated.

-Kio