Chapter 5 – Out of Mind, or I guess "In of Mind" if you want to get technical, or "Artemis Fowl and the Mind Scape."

Artemis' Mind

Artemis came-to inside of a black void. He was already standing, but around him was an infinite void from which no light permeated. There was no sound, no light, and no sign of anything in the seemingly infinite stretch in front of him.

Was he dead? Is this what awaits on the other side?

He didn't necessarily believe in an afterlife, recalling nothing from before his resurrection, although his magic and the fact that his soul was pulled from death began to change his opinion. He tried one desperate measure.

"If you are there," Artemis shouted in a commanding tone, "speak."

"Hello there." A voice replied from behind Artemis, causing the boy to swivel and face himself.

Artemis instinctively took several steps back, "You. You look like me."

"Why yes my dear friend Artemis," the doppelganger replied, "in fact, one might say that I am you."

'What did Foaly do' was the first question that came to Artemis' mind. Trapped in a room with a lookalike or something entirely else.

"Surprisingly, our noble steed did little," the other Artemis jovially replied… to Artemis' own thought, "I've always been there with you."

Artemis needed to rationalize this, moving into an interrogation of sorts "You can read minds too? Is this just fairy magic then?"

The other Artemis looked somewhat disappointed by the boy's reaction. Behind him, a couch appeared, "Sit down, dear… friend I suppose, and I'll explain to you our tragic tale."

This made absolutely no sense to the Fowl boy, even magic had hard limits as to what it could do, yet whoever this was had the capability to pull off a massive illusion that even Opal Koboi couldn't perform with all her scheming. Still, he supposed the lookalike was not yet hostile, it was best to play to his hospitality. Thus, Artemis took a seat on a familiar leather sofa, the same one from his home in the Fowl Manor.

"Firstly, my twin, my name is Orion Fowl." The lookalike said, "Secondly, we are not residing in a physical space at the moment, this is our shared mind-palace."

Artemis glanced around, Perhaps this palace needs quite a bit of renovation.

"It's a figure of speech." Orion replied, "although development of a mind palace in your waking mind could result in something slightly less drab than this… purgatory."

"So," Artemis reasoned, "I overworked my brain and ended up in something of a mental palace. I am currently talking to an alternate personality and am still within the LEP laboratory. Is this correct?"

Orion gave a sort of nod, "Well I could not tell you of this laboratory, as I haven't yet awoken, but I suppose thus far you've got everything else right. Doth the fair elf princess remain steadfast by your side?"

Artemis blinked a moment, stupefied by the comment, "Princess?"

He could only assume Orion was referring to Holly, 'Do not tell me he's actually spoken to her.'

"Yes," Orion confirmed Artemis' worst fears, "I was unable to woo her then, but soon I will have my chance."

Artemis cocked his head, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Orion explained, "upon awakening, I will regain contact with that beautiful elf maiden, and it shall be my duty to make her mine."

"But," Artemis sort of stammered, normally he'd be wittier and more composed, but trapped in a mind-purgatory with his Shakespearean dropout alter-ego did little for his composure, "it's my body."

"No longer!" Orion was quick to state, bouncing out of the leather seat, "I now have the keys to the Fowl show!"

While Artemis was entirely unsure of whether anything that was being said to him was true, the void suddenly became a great deal more claustrophobic.

"How so?" Artemis nervously inquired.

"No idea, but on the bright side you'll get a front row seat, especially now that I can finally awaken this body!" Orion joyously declared, leaving Artemis suddenly a great deal more concerned.

Things only grew worse when Orion walked into the darkness of the void, leaving Artemis alone. There was naught but himself and a leather sofa. Artemis shuffled in his seat a moment, what exactly was Orion going to do, and more importantly, 'What can I do to get out of here?'

'You cannot,' Orion's voice pierced Artemis' inner monologue. 'Now silence, my foolish alternate personality, allow me to work my magic.'

Artemis felt the presence of almost a window in front of him, given form when light was able to come through as Orion awoke their shared body. It felt like watching a film on a television at home if the rest of the home was an infinite stretch of blackness and despair. The trapped genius was forced to watch as Orion slowly awoke as Artemis, and immediately saw Holly splayed out on a cot nearby.

'There she is!'

"Orion, please don't do this." Artemis attempted to talk sense into his twin personality, "you said you failed to woo her once before, I can't imagine you'd find it in yourself to change."

'Silence, this time I have no interruptions, and certainly no reason to be forced to shoot the princess.'

"What?"

'A small incident in which I capably rescued my body, the fair maiden, and our steed… among others.'

"By shooting Holly?"

'Yes.'

Artemis rubbed his temple in frustration, there was nothing he could do except mentally spar with this subpar… he couldn't even describe Orion as an imitation of him given the fact the doppelganger was far removed from the Genius' personality. He glanced up to see that Orion was beginning to attempt to move.

"Perhaps that's not a good idea." Artemis suggested, partially out of interest in Orion staying a troll's height away from Holly… actually even that was too close, and partially out of truth, the electrodes would probably be damaged if Orion moved.

'We shall see, the Princess is within my grasp!'

Artemis was aggravated twofold, naturally by the fact this Orion personality had the reigns, as well as his disturbing worship of Holly Short. He couldn't allow Orion to approach the elf while she slept, although he knew that Holly would certainly decimate an incredibly lean body like Artemis' if necessary. However, with no control he could only watch as Orion took his first step, and then immediately fell as his legs were still regaining blood flow, knocking a nearby instrument table into the laboratory wall in the process.

Artemis felt the pain, that didn't feel good.

"Perhaps you should allow someone more coordinated at the wheel." Artemis attempted once again to reason with his alter-ego, this time with a large portion of snark.

Suddenly Artemis felt faint.

'I had decided I would allow you to remain so that I may gloat as you watched this princess, someone whom you could never show the level of appreciation that I possibly can, fall for me and carry on our family name. Now I see that you are a distraction at best, away with you.'

Artemis could do nothing, he was suppressed and thus faded into the void that surrounded him.

It felt like no time at all when he returned to 'consciousness.' Still in the void that he last found himself in, he looked to see that the sofa was still there but the window was gone. Orion was sitting on the sofa, quietly curled up and weeping.

"Orion?" Artemis called out cautiously, approaching the personality.

Orion looked up, tear soaked, "That wretched steed ruined my chance!"

Artemis still barely understood what this entity meant whenever he spoke.

"What?" Artemis asked, this one word felt like it summarized the majority of his interactions with Orion thus far.

"I had been making progress with the wonderful Ms. Short, when that damnable ass of a steed came out from right stage and put our time to an end. You have the reigns now Artemis." Orion spat, cursing 'the steed' under his breath.

"Are you so sure?" Artemis pondered, "I mean, I'm still in here."

"You will not be upon your body awakening from its electrically induced slumber," Orion sighed. "Not only that, but I pieced together our story from what Holly had said, I am nothing more than a temporary personality. You were able to be rid of me."

"Is that so." Artemis curtly replied, happy that it was the case.

"Have you no sympathy?" Orion reacted very negatively to Artemis seeming lack of care, "How would you like it if it was you being erased?"

"Perhaps not at all a great deal, but I would much prefer death than whatever you intend to do with Ms. Short."

"Because you've had no urges around that elf woman, yes?" Orion grinned, only grinning further upon seeing Artemis' growing grimace. "As I thought, you know you cannot hide a thing from me. You wish to ravish that princess as much as I, but you feel the guilt and embarrassment of your past, especially knowing that she knows it all as well. She will never love a monster like you."

Orion's speech struck Artemis to his core. The alter-ego wasn't wrong, not a bit of it. Artemis always had a fear of mind-reading for this very reason, someone with knowledge of his thought processes could easily exploit them for gain. Still, this argument wasn't what Artemis was here for.

"Orion, leave that topic alone." Artemis flatly commanded. "She will never love you either, an alter-ego of that very same monster."

Orion stood up from the couch and aggressively sauntered towards Artemis. As the doppelganger approached, Artemis recognized the telltale signs of a Fowl having an idea.

"Perhaps not, but I may get my opportunity again if I simply remove you from the equation," the alter-ego declared, throwing a punch at Artemis.

Artemis took a step back, narrowly avoiding the fist destined for his cheekbone. He put his hands up in a defensive position, but he knew that he'd definitely lapsed on his self-defense with Butler. Orion easily took a step forward and threw a hook that sailed right past Artemis' arms and into his jaw. Both reeled back and clutched their respective mouths. Orion and Artemis may have had separate bodies in this realm, but surely enough they both felt the other's pain.

"I hit hard." Orion glumly observed, slowly rubbing his swelling cheek.

"More likely we have glass jaws." Artemis pointed out, similarly clutching his already aching mouth.

"I guess you're right. Well, knowing that, there truly is nothing I can do." Orion sounded surprisingly sensible for once, going so far as to drop his Shakespearean act. The alter-ego glanced over to the window in front of them, noticing that Artemis' body was coming-to naturally, "I wish you well Artemis. Treat the princess well, I'm sure I shall be watching in the distance."

Artemis looked over and began to approach the window in front of him. Looking back at Orion, "I will."

Stepping through the visage, he felt control return to his body. He felt a flood of memories overcome him suddenly, reliving another adventure in the span of a second felt like an eternity. As he experienced it all, he noticed one moment in particular and while his memory moved on his mind stuck on it. He kissed Holly. Sparks literally flew. It was all under false pretenses though. He used her, again.

'D'arvit.'