As soon as the last of the monsters' carts disappeared around the bend, and the gates had been shut, cutting off the rest of the outside world, Artemis turned to his parents with a slight smile, knowing exactly what he would see.

"Artemis," his father greeted, not unkindly, but not without a note of suspicion. "You've been doing well?"

"Father." He nodded back. "Yes, quite well."

"I trust you didn't bring any of your more… unusual business contacts with you?"

"No, of course not. This was, after all, a private occasion."

Angeline chuckled, taking ahold of one of Artemis Sr.'s hands. "Oh Timmy, you know perfectly well that his 'business contacts' are already here."

True enough. After the Berserker Gate had been deactivated and, with assistance from two demon warlocks, dismantled, so as to never be used again, the LEP had taken no chances. There was constantly a small team of Section Eight fairies patrolling the grounds, some so heavily armed with magical countermeasures that it was a small miracle they didn't clank when they walked. They usually stayed well out of sight of the manor's human residence – except for Holly, whenever she was assigned here – but his family was well aware of their presence.

The man sniffed. "Yes, dear, but I was thinking more along the lines of that dwarf."

Beckett snickered, and Artemis smirked, amused in spite of himself. Oh yes, Mulch had made a very poor impression, the first time he and his father had met.

"I can assure you that, so far as I know, Mulch is currently nowhere in Ireland."

"Thank the Lord."

"Now, now," his mother chided. She turned back to Artemis with a soft smile. "Shall we meet you inside, once you've done your usual circuit around the grounds?"

He nodded in confirmation, and, once his family had filtered away – without a backward glance save for Myles, who cast back the meaningful stare that he'd come to know as his little brother's we need to talk expression – turned sharply on his heels and began his own patrols of the grounds.

He'd begun doing this almost as soon as he could walk again following his resurrection. No matter how many fairies had dropped by to assure him that the manor was safe, that Opal Koboi really was gone, he hadn't quite been able to shake the paranoia. Even after he'd assured himself many times over that no, the fairies really hadn't missed something, and yes, everything was fine, it had simply become habit.

He strolled along the edges of the grounds, checking the pond, the barn, the flower beds, every tiny alcove he could find until, eventually, he reached his final stop – the site of his own death, the spiral of brilliant orange roses.

There was a distinct shimmer in the air there, a heat haze above cool grass.

"Ah," Artemis said. "Is something amiss, officer?"

The haze shuddered, and then solidified into the form of a small winged form in severe matte black.

"Fowl." The sprite nodded to him, icily polite. "No, nothing's amiss, so far as I can tell… not yet, at any rate."

He lifted one eyebrow quizzically. "Any particular reason for your caution?"

The fairy lifted one arm – the one that had the familiar flashing screen of an active MagiScanner built into the already present tech. "Your brothers brought the monster's ambassador here. They might not have magic themselves, but there might have been some residual from the monsters clinging to them."

And monster magic is many times stronger than that produced by fairies. Artemis nodded, needing no further clarification. Who knew just what effects that kind of power could have on what still lingered here? "No monsters themselves?"

"No, they all remained inside for the duration of the ball. Just the Ambassador. They looked pretty nervous, too..." The officer cast him a look as he began scanning again. "I bet your little clone had something to do with that."

The Irishman's lips twitched up in amusement. Ah, yes, Myles. The boy had expressed interest in psycho-analyzing the Ambassador, should he get the chance, and if Frisk was anything like him, which they most definitely were at least in some respects, then someone reading them so easily would be just a little unnerving.

"Probably," he agreed. "Though I wouldn't say he is a clone..."

This earned a snort of disbelief, but otherwise, the fairy stayed quiet, passing his scanner arm over another stretch of roses.

This continued in silence for several minutes, the fairy flying in gradually decreasing circles and noting whatever magical anomalies he came across, and Artemis watching him impassively.

Then he asked, faux-casually, "I take it your team was keeping an eye on the Ambassador, whilst they were here?"

"What do you take me for, a moron?" The officer turned an irritated look at him. "We did. From a distance. They spent a solid month completely surrounded by monster magic, and a couple of years with a monster chaperone. High concentrations of fairy magic can make humans more inclined to believe in and search for magic – what would monster magic do?"

Fair point, though now he was curious if that magic had had some odd effects on Frisk –

The officer's MagiScanner went berserk, a high pitched beeping piercing unprepared eardrums.

Hands clamped over his ears – undignified, but far better than going deaf – Artemis grimaced. "Problem?"

"Hold on a damn second!" The sprite furiously tapped various buttons and the device's touch screen, scowling. "D'Arvit, this thing better not be malfunctioning, that'll be the third one this month –"

He stopped and stared. He looked up from the scanner to stare at the bare earth in the center of the rose spiral, then back down again.

"D'Arvit," he repeated. "Actually, I take that back, please let this be a malfunction..."

"Care to elaborate?"

The officer didn't even glare at him, still focused on the scanner.

"The readings," he said. "They're an exact match for the unidentified signature from the Underground."


Within a short three hours, a Section Eight research team was set up on the Fowl grounds, surrounding the suspect location. Lots of complicated machinery, and almost a dozen fairies milling about with an air of grim determination so thick one could choke on it.

One of which being one Holly Short, who was already thoroughly fed up with every officer here.

"I don't care if it's inefficient," she snapped to an irate nome technician. "Just get it set up quickly, we're burning moonlight here!"

"But –"

"Not now Private! Just get it done!"

With a huff, she turned away, stalking across trampled grass. Oh, how she wished she could just take a buzz baton to this whole bunch – or, better yet, let Foaly deal with them all!

But the centaur had to remain underground, coordinating information and assisting with the warlocks' studies, and, above all, keeping an eye out for that homicidal flower as the monster Underground's Retrieval team packed up and beat a hasty retreat.

Sometimes she loathed her job.

"Holly."

Blinking herself out of her angry stupor, she looked up at the familiar face of one of her human friends and grinned tiredly.

"Hey Mud Boy."

Said Mud Boy raised a concerned eyebrow that, to anyone unused to his subtle expressions, would have looked quizzical. "Troublesome subordinates?"

"More than troublesome," she groused. "Honestly, how does Foaly even work with these idiots… oh, who am I kidding, he probably enjoys it."

"Having so many around with such poor intellect no doubt makes him feel that much smarter," he agreed, giving her a sharp, amused smirk.

Then his expression softened. "How have you been, Holly? Rather stressed, I imagine."

"More than a little. We've been neck deep in the troll dung for a few days now, and the entire force is hopped up on caffeine and nerves." Holly sniffed. "Especially Retrieval…"

"Is there anything I can do to assist?"

"Sure. You can tell us how in Frond's name this magic ended up here. Up until now, it's only been in the Underground!"

Artemis sighed. "I've been running over all possibilities for several hours. The only suspicious activity in this general area was when my brothers brought the monster Ambassador here, likely to show off." He shook his head. "It seems unlikely, but the only explanation I have come up with so far is that they were somehow responsible."

Holly scowled, opened her mouth to say something along the lines of that's impossible –

Then remembered who she was speaking to, and shut her mouth.

That's right. Impossible happens every day around Artemis Fowl.

"Pretty unlikely," she agreed reluctantly, "but not impossible." She sighed, and kneaded her forehead with one hand. "We'll have to get a couple fairies on that, but after what happened in the Underground, I don't think Retrieval will be too happy about patrolling near monsters again..."

"What happened in the Underground?"

Holly blinked. Once. Twice. Then turned a disbelieving stare on the Irishman.

"You don't know?"

Artemis coughed, looking as close to embarrassed as she'd seen him in years. "I have been… unable to indulge in my usual hacking habits, lately."

"Of course," she muttered. "Well, Mud Boy, let me tell you, you've missed a lot. I don't suppose you have any information for us on flower monsters…?"


The city was quiet. The lights in several windows they could see through their own had gone out for the night. And in the other bed, Toriel was fast asleep, breaths soft and even.

Quietly, carefully, Frisk reached for their cell phone.

As relieving as it had been to find that SAVE point, it was also a little worrying. A SAVE point on the surface – they had no idea how that had happened. And not knowing was dangerous.

But they knew someone who might have at least an inkling. And they really should let him know what had happened anyway.

Muting their phone so that any rings or noises it made wouldn't give them away, the child texted one of the many numbers on their contact list.

From FriskyBits: Sans you awake?

They waited with bated breath until, after a few minutes, a reply popped up.

From HumerusPnmaster: yup. wassup kiddo

FriskyBits: Sorry but I need to tell you something

They paused, then forged onwards.

FriskyBits: We found a save point in Ireland

HumerusPnmaster: what

Despite the solemnity of their subject matter, Frisk couldn't help but giggle softly at Sans's response.

FriskyBits: We found a save point

FriskyBits: And used it

FriskyBits: Not joking

Another pause, presumably as Sans struggled to come up with a reply.

HumerusPnmaster: well

HumerusPnmaster: shit

HumerusPnmaster: where

FriskyBits: Fowl Manor. Its just outside of Dublin

They bit their lip, then continued.

FriskyBits: Do you know why its there?

FriskyBits: Never found one on the surface before

Toriel shifted in her bed, letting out a soft snort in her sleep, and Frisk froze. Once the monster had stopped moving, they turned their attention back to their phone.

HumerusPnmaster: no

Frisk sighed, a little disappointed, but not surprised. Sans may have been living through the Resets for longer than them, but that didn't mean he knew everything.

When no new reply came for several minutes, they turned their phone to vibrate, stuck it underneath their pillow, and laid their head back down.

Even if Sans didn't know, he'd probably have some idea soon. He was smarter than most people seemed to think, and he had a bunch of notes from previous Resets – notes that they were pretty sure weren't his, considering the handwriting. Which meant someone else might have known, and left information for others to find.

They'd figure it out.

And, in the meantime, they'd SAVED. They'd be fine.


I've had least one person ask me if Gaster was going to be involved in this story - and, since I'm sure people will likely be wondering about the good ol' doctor, I'm going to clarify things: NO, Gaster is not going to be appearing in this story.

Now, that being said, that doesn't mean he's not important to the plot! :3