Keeping tabs on the goings-on in the manor had been… interesting, to say the least. The fairies were in a constant state of panic from the moment the monsters arrived, and Holly had her hands full keeping them calm and professional. This meant that much of what Artemis heard through his fairy communicator en route to the manor was her complaints about the mediocrity of Section Eight in the face of sudden confrontation with their worst nightmare, rather than accounts of what was happening in present time. Fortunately for his patience, Holly knew him well enough to have taken note of several events herself, and passed the information along to him as well, so by the time his carriage (technically, it was a cart, but Fowls did not take such undignified modes of transportation as a cart) pulled up to the manor door, he was already well-informed of what was currently occurring within the manor walls.

Myles is staying close to the Ambassador. Albeit using childish games such as tag and hide and seek, but still, he was in a prime position to keep an eye on them.

The twins and the Ambassador are getting along well. This was not entirely surprising. He knew the twins had been looking forward to Frisk's arrival for some time – Beckett had hardly talked about anything else for at least a couple of days after the invitation had been extended, and Myles had joined his enthusiastic discussions with surprisingly little restraint. The ambassador had made quite the impression on the two of them, it seemed.

Flowey the flower is here on the manor grounds, along with the two skeleton monsters that brought him to Dublin. That information had only lead to a sigh, and two fingers pinching his brow to still the rising headache. Of course the flower would be on the grounds at the same time as an entire Section Eight team. Fortunately, the fairies had enough sense to stay shielded and up in the air, and had yet to be spotted. The two skeleton monsters, too, could be a problem, though if both Holly's and Butler's observations were any indication, then it was the shorter of the two who would pose more of a problem.

"The tall one, Papyrus, he's probably the most innocent creature I've ever seen in my life," Holly had said. "He's like an elfling in a candy store. His brother though, Sans… there's not much about him on the Ambassador's blog, save for various recordings of his puns and pranks, and we need more information on this guy, Artemis."

Indeed they did. Knowledge of Butler's mercenary kills, seemingly without knowledge of the mercenary career itself, some sort of hand-sign based language that both he and Frisk seemed capable of understanding, but didn't match any known dialect of sign language… Sans the skeleton seemed to have a repertoire of abilities and knowledge that had never made it onto Frisk's blog. Combine that with the presence of Flowey, and their apparent cooperation to investigate the site of Frisk's sudden illness at the center of the fairy rose spiral without Butler witnessing it for himself…

Needless to say, remaining ignorant of the skeleton's knowledge or abilities could prove a dire mistake.

However, that would have to wait for now.

Once the cart had drawn level with the manor door, and Artemis had exchanged quick, pleasant greetings with his parents, he immediately sought out his brothers' location.

"They were running amok earlier, but it looks like they're in your old study, now." Holly informed him. "They're with the ambassador, the skeletons, and the flower…"

"Thank you, Holly." Made a beeline for the study, and within a few minutes, as he approached the door, he could hear the distinct sound of conversation with crystal clarity.

"WOWIE, THIS 'CHESS' IS HARD! HUMANS MUST ALL BE VERY CLEVER, TO PLAY SUCH TRICKY GAMES!"

A loud, voice, full of innocent enthusiasm and admiration. Artemis didn't need Holly's muttered confirmation in his ear to guess that this voice belonged to the skeleton Papyrus.

"Yeah, it is pretty hard." Beckett's voice. He was smiling, no doubt – he could hear it in the boy's voice. "There's lots of humans that can't play it well at all. I should know, I'm one of them!"

"You're not quite as poor a player as some of my fellow students at school." And there was Myles, his tone a bit distant and thoughtful – no doubt concentrating on the game. "That one boy I told you of… I believe his name was Jeremy? He was atrocious."

At this point, Artemis had reached the study door, and very carefully pushed it open, so as not to disturb the room's occupants.

Indeed, just as he had suspected, Myles was sitting at the room's chess table, eyeing the board with thoughtful concentration and a laser focus that would have put a fairy scope to shame. Across from him, the almost ridiculously tall figure of a skeleton in an armor-like ensemble and a long red scarf and gloves was leaning forward to get a better look at the board himself. One gloved hand was in the process of moving one of the white pieces on the board. The monster ambassador was leaning around the seated monster, watching the board with interest, and Beckett was hovering over his brother's shoulder, as he often did, looking halfway between bored and awed.

The reason for his awe was blatantly obvious when Artemis glanced at the chess pieces. Myles had lost a good three-quarters of his pieces on the board, and several of the skeleton's were only a few moves away from checkmate. Considering that Myles could keep up reasonably well with Artemis himself…

It seemed that, despite his innocence, Papyrus's intellect was not one to be trifled with.

He carefully closed the door behind him, and the faintest click of the latch as it caught was enough to draw Frisk's attention. They looked up from the game, and their eyes widened when they saw him in the doorway. Before they could speak a word, Artemis put a finger to his lips and nodded at the two game-players.

No need to disturb them quite yet.

The child hesitated, then nodded their understanding and turned back to the game in time to see Myles move another piece.

"Checkmate."

"NYEH-HEH-HEH! YOU WON AGAIN! YOU ARE VERY GOOD AT THIS GAME, SMALL HUMAN MYLES!"

Rather than mourning his own loss, the monster saw fit to compliment Myles's win. Fascinating. Most people would at least look a little put out…

"Good job, bro. Keep this up, and you'll be a king of chess at no time."

The new voice drew Artemis's attention to the last two occupants of the room. The short skeleton – Sans – in one of the study's armchairs was slumped back, posture relaxed and shoulders slouching, the epitome of relaxed indifference. A flowerpot was held loosely in his elbow, and in said flowerpot, was the flower.

"Ha!" Flowey said, glowering at the board. "I bet I could do better than that!"

"I dunno, bud, kinda hard to beat my bro at his own game, y'know?"

Artemis cleared his throat as the flower turned towards the other monster with a face bordering on murderous.

"As riveting as a game of chess may be," he said, "could you spare a moment for a proper greeting, Myles, Beckett?"

The boys looked up, and their faces lit up like Christmas lights.

"Artemis!" Beckett went from zero to one hundred in a mere second, slamming into the older Fowl's legs like a small freight train. Myles followed with less force, but no less enthusiasm.

"You're here early!" Beckett grinned, eyes practically sparkling with glee. "I thought you weren't going to be here until supper!"

"Ah, well..." He cleared his throat, reaching down to ruffle each of the twins' heads (and pointedly ignoring the gagging noises the flower was making at this showing of familial affection). "I completed my work for today far more quickly than I anticipated. I take it you've been enjoying yourselves?" This last sentence was aimed both at his brothers and at Frisk, who shuffled their feet nervously where they still stood and nodded shyly.

"HELLO, NEW HUMAN!" Papyrus sprang to his feet eagerly. "YOU ARE SMALL HUMAN MYLES'S AND BECKETT'S TALLER SIBLING? WOWIE, I HAD NO IDEA OLDER BROTHERS COULD BE TALLER THAN THEIR YOUNGER ONES!"

There was a muted snort from the other skeleton in the room, the flower groaned, one of his vines creeping out to slap himself in the face, and Frisk now looked downright embarrassed. And was that a snicker that Artemis could hear through the fairy earpiece in his ear?

Artemis's only reaction to the comment was a raised eyebrow and, in spite of himself, a slight hint of an amused smirk.

"I can assure you," he said dryly, "that such things, though rare, are not impossible."

Now it was Frisk that snorted, quickly covering their mouth with one hand to hide their grin. The twins seemed amused as well, if their smiles were any indication – however, Papyrus seemed to take his dry wit at face value.

"OF COURSE I KNOW THAT, TALL HUMAN!" he boomed. His dark sockets scrunched up as if in a smile. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS KNOWS THAT MOST OLDER SIBLINGS ARE TALLER THAN THE YOUNGER ONES! THAT WAS A MERE JAPE! NYEH-HEH-HEH!" He posed dramatically, red scarf flapping in an unseen breeze. "WELL THEN, TALLER OLDER BROTHER HUMAN, IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

The amused smirk grew a little wider. "Artemis Fowl the Second."

Papyrus gasped – as in, he actually began his next sentence with the word.

"GASP! YOU ARE THE MONSTER-FRIENDLY REPRESENTATIVE THAT FRISK MET A MONTH AGO!"

"Indeed I am."

"WOWIE! FRISK, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME WHO HE WAS?! I COULD HAVE MADE A POOR FIRST IMPRESSION!"

Oh goodness, no wonder Holly had compared this monster to an elfin child – he was both clueless and innocent, and positively brimming with eager, naive enthusiasm, with a sunny view of the world that could only come with a lack of experience with it.

How on earth has that kind of attitude remained intact amongst us cynical human beings?

Artemis cleared his throat. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Papyrus." He paused for a moment of calculation, and then continued with the greetings as if nothing had happened, inclining his head at the other two monsters. "Sans. Flowey."

The flower stiffened, shooting him a shocked, suspicious look. Sans barely reacted at all, but the white dots of light that served as his pupils seemed to sharpen, and his sockets narrowed the slightest of amounts.

A flicker of blue lit in one, and, just for a moment, Artemis felt an odd sensation, a prickling flow of sparks down his spine. It reminded him heavily of both the sensation of being watched… and of the flow of fairy magic, which he had felt far too many times now to mistake for anything else.

Is this what Butler felt, when this skeleton was watching him? And, if so, is the skeleton's knowledge of him somehow linked to this?

Then the moment was over, and the skeleton's gaze was normal again, though still subtly suspicious. He did not respond to Artemis's greeting, now that he had done whatever he had done, but instead merely raised one hand in a limp wave.

I'm not particularly inclined to speak to him at the moment, either.

"Well," Artemis said, with deceptive calmness. "Now that introductions have been had, I'm afraid I would rather not stay here for the duration of time until supper – I have yet to make my usual trip around the grounds, and I'd much like to refresh my memory of my childhood home." He ruffled the twins' hair again. "I shall give you two your presents after our evening meal, yes?"

"Alright." Beckett didn't look or sound particularly happy at this, but not nearly so unhappy as he usually would be. Both boys had made the quickest of sideways glances – evidently, both boys had realized there was something else going on, but were hardly about to pry in their present company.

Smart decision.

He inclined his head towards Frisk and the monsters once more, this time in farewell, and took his leave.


*Okay, that was… a little weird.

Chara's suspicion was mirrored by Frisk's own, and they shot a look at Sans as Artemis Fowl left the room at a brisk walk.

The skeleton just shrugged at them, closing his right socket in a lazy wink. His free hand, now hanging over the side of the armchair, made a very short, very quick series of signs.

LV 1

Something off

There was something off about Artemis Fowl, even though he only had an LV of one?

"NYEH-HEH-HEH! SHOULD WE KEEP PLAYING CHESS THEN, SMALL HUMANS?"

"Well, we can if you want… I'm kinda getting bored though."

Frisk tuned back into the conversation quickly, before either twin could notice their thoughtful look. Both looked a little dejected at their brother leaving, but Beckett was obviously trying his hardest to bounce back, his grin fixed back in place.

"WELL, THAT WILL NOT DO! FRISK! IS THERE ANOTHER GAME WE COULD PLAY THAT WOULD NOT BE BORING?"

"Uh, well..." They thought quickly. They needed to talk to Sans, the sooner the better, and make sure that they wouldn't be interrupted while also lifting the mood…

Hmmmm. "What about hide and seek?" They offered. That could work.

"Aww, but Myles cheats at hide and seek!"

Frisk blinked. Even Sans raised a brow at this. "How can you cheat at hide and seek?"

"I do not cheat."

"Yes, you do! Tracking lessons from Butler count as cheating!"

Butler? As in the man mountain from outside? Huh. Frisk put that information aside for now.

"It's hardly cheating if you leave obvious trails behind when you run, Beck."

"Still, you always win!"

Papyrus straightened, posing heroically once again. "NYEH-HEH-HEH! IN THAT CASE, I SHALL ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE OF BEING THE FIRST SEEKER! SO HE CANNOT CHEAT!"

"But what about when it's his turn? He can cheat then!"

"Beckett, I do not cheat."

"Well, if Myles can track us down, what if we ask for help from others?" Frisk suggested. "You know, they can help us find a place to hide, or help leave false trails?"

"That's cheating too, though!"

"It's fair if both sides cheat."

"… Good point."

Myles sighed, apparently giving up his protests of innocence. "I suppose that would work. Is that acceptable to everyone?"

"OF COURSE, SMALL HUMAN!"

"Welp, guess that's my cue to skelle-daddle."

"SANS, NO. YOU WILL PLAY AS WELL!"

"Okay."

Papyrus covered his eye sockets with both hands and started counting loudly. Beckett grabbed Myles's hand and took off running, and Frisk quickly glanced over at Sans, who gave them a few more hand signs before disappearing using one of his shortcuts.

Roses.

Right. To the roses it was.


Even Artemis will agree that Papyrus is too innocent for this world, even if he wouldn't go so far as to call him precious! XD

Despite his failures to capture Frisk in the Underground, I like to think that Papyrus is actually very smart – maybe not good at common sense or normal logic, but he's still clever enough to strategize and work his way around a problem. Otherwise, how could he have made all those frankly pretty clever puzzles in the Underground? I mean, electric maze? The X O puzzles? You clearly have to know how those things work to set them up, and the ideas themselves are actually very good – it's just that he forgets some of the fine details sometimes.

Also, geeze, I'm running out of worldbuilding stuff to tell you all that isn't possible major spoilers for later chapters! Feel free to start asking me questions, guys, and I'll answer them as I see fit!

Now that that's out of the way, here's another worldbuilding tidbit that daniel helped me come up with: Artemis's deja vu from the first time Frisk LOADed in this story, after the assassination attempt.

Okay, firstly, I can't remember if I told you guys this or not, but in the M est P universe, human souls are usually multicolored, rather than having a single hue like the ones we see in-game. Artemis's deja vu is related to his having Determination as one of his dominant soul traits, though that's not the only factor in play here. He's one of the only people on the face of the earth apart from Frisk that's come back from the dead, plus he's been exposed to a ton of magic thanks to fairy shenanigans and the Berserker Gate on the manor grounds, AND, most importantly, there were his jaunts in Limbo and time travel to take into consideration. All those factors combined are what's allowing him those flashes of deja vu across timelines, and anybody who's experienced all those same events, or similar ones, will experience similar deja vu.