Career Day
A/N Finally this chapter is out , and I'm not very proud of it but I had to get it written sooner or
later. In this incident it was defentially later. Any way I detest this chapter , but its importent
for later things to come.A few people have been asking me to put certain things in this story
Or give certain charectors more prominence. I cant do that if it messes up with the plot I've
already sketched out.
Crazy one: Holly will appear in the chapter , and she will have a few more moments later on in
this story. However this was written for the BFW challenge which means she dos'nt have a very big
role if you catch my drift.
Ali Kelp: Thank you for your review. I based trouble's looks on Legalos from Lord of the rings
which is why he has " long girly hair". I'm sorry if Trouble was'nt cool enough for you , I try'
to make my charectors human which is why I made him look a bit daft.
Arqueete: Thank you so much for that kind review! it's nice to know that my story has managed to hold
your interest and I'm very flattered.
Mage Kitty: Dum dum dum.... is certanley right!
Alexis: I'm pretty sure that this chapter won't top the last one which is rather unfortunate.
I'm really glad you liked the last " seriously weird" chapter. This ones a lot more slow , and allows
you all to catch a quick breather.
Chapter eight
You better watch out
There was an old song about him , it began with "you better watch out"
He came from a time where Fairies had little or no humanity , a time where the world was filled with blood and bone rather then distant slow wars spoken of in discreet voices on the television.
He came from much more passionate , interesting times when the fairies were constantly at war with humanity.
The mud men had many names for him " the father" " Oberon" and finally " Sanda Claus" . If you were a good little boy or girl , you would soon be rewarded however if you were naughty you blood would stain the newly fallen white snow crimson.
Oh yes , he was a brutal fairy king.
But history and fairy tales refuse to remember such things , they dimmed the story and shaped it. They replaced the blood and bone with bags of coal , they replaced the death with gifts. They pulled out the bleakness of winter attempting to instill festive joy into the season. The centuries rolled by , one after the other and San D Klaus soon became Santa Claus a mere shadow of what he once was.
It is believed that gods have to constantly change in order to survive , he was definitely one of them.
Faint tinny Christmas bells played jingle bells over and over again in the shopping centres harsh fluorescent lights. Two half hearted teenagers leaned against a set of plastic candy canes dress in green t shirts and red shorts with bored expressions on there faces. The resident Santa Claus sighed with a mixture of disappointment and fury. When did everything go so horribly wrong? He thought to himself.
"Hello Santa , bit early for you isn't it? Its not even the winter solace yet" a voice snickered and jolly old saint Nick looked up from his position tired. If possible , his skin had a slightly green tinge to it.
" Actually they call it "Winter" now and you know those mud people there always attempting to exploit every penny from religious festivals and holidays" Santa said cynically , then suddenly as if he just realized what he said he clapped a hand over his mouth with horror. A figure stood in front of him , tall and rather thin dressed in a stained work mans shirt and what were once expensive trousers. It was a mud man , San realized with horror backing slowly up in his chair. The mud man slowly approached him , drunken as if he was having difficulty controlling his legs. San noticed several darks red brown stains on his finger nails and realized it was dry blood. The mud man faced him , and Santa was confronted by a face. A kind hearted , almost normal face , the face of a father , of a husband of a good person. However no fairy magic can hide the true nature of ones eyes , and a good fairy a powerfully fairy can always gaze into the others pupils and see their true nature. San recoiled with horror as he saw the hidden nature of those pupils. They were conflicting , two identities constantly fighting with each other , crashing together forming new power. The person in front of him was insane , clearly and indefinitely. San D Klaus had only ever seen such eyes once before many moons ago.
" You" he hissed barely able to believe it.
" Yes me" the magician laughed coldly.
"But your dead , the LEP killed you nearly a millennia ago!" San D Klaus cried and the magician smirked it looked horrific on his other wise gently features.
" My my how does the time fly by when your a corpse" he mused then suddenly his head snapped towards Santa and a hand shot out gripping the jolly fat man by the front of his dusky red cloak.
" Do you have any idea what they did to me? They put me in a casket which blinded me , even with my body gone it blinded my soul! I could not see I could not breathe!" He howled spit forming at his mouth. Suddenly his eyes calmed , and he let go of the cloak.
"No matter , they cannot keep me away from my mission forever I killed one for power and its only a matter of time before I'll kill another" he chuckled his eyes darting upwards.
" Mothers not here is she?" He finally asked a little sadly.
" No ones seen her for centuries , many assume she's dead" Santa Claus said sympathetically. The magician was obviously as mad as a hatter , but he did feel sorry for the poor boy it was always hard loosing a loved one.
" And you? I find you here in an ant hill crawling with mud men?" He growled baring his slightly caffeine stained teeth.
" Actually its a shopping mall , around a century ago I made the mistake of drinking something a little mud girl left me in her house. This was while I was doing my annual gift thing of course. Turned out it wasn't cold tea like I originally thought.. It was brandy .So now of course I cant associate with the people ever again but its not such a bad life this Santa gig pays off when it comes to royalties and you get used to mud children crawling all over you eventually" The magician stared at him with honest confusion.
" I am currently scanning this bodies memory banks attempting to discover what your speaking of" he said dully his eyes glazing over.
"Well that must be a useful tool" Santa remarked hesitantly and the creature flinched his face contorting into an expression of pain.
" Memories say here , that you are apparently a man of over weight appearance who rides several domesticated live stock of reindeer around the world in order to spoil greedy mud children with gifts , although really their parents buy these gifts and you do nothing" he said in a dead pan voice.
" I'm more of a figure head really , I got out of the gift giving thing a long time ago" San laughed uneasily.
" I see" The magician stated coldly.
" Great English by the way" Santa commented.
" This bodies tongue seems to remember it , it refuses to let me speak in gnomish" he replied coldly turning his head.
" Come with me San D Klaus , I need your expertise in order to begin inflicting my destiny once more" he said coldly.
" Look I'd love to but I've got a lot of work to do involving handing out Lolly Pops to screaming Toddlers" the jolly fat man said weakly , he was terrified.
" You assume that you have a choice , one thousand years ago you bind your powers towards mine" the magician reminded him.
" Things were different then , I was a different elf! I cant follow you now" he protested pathetically and the magician smirked. Slowly he reached towards San D Claus's head and wrenched his skull back wards.
" Your will is.." He began.
" You cant do that! That's breaking the rules of the book!" San D Klaus protested weakly.
" What can I say? You should never ever be surprised with the things I can do" he said forcing San D Klaus's yellowish eyes open.
'Now , your will is mine" his voice chuckled dribbling with the honey rich deadly mesmer.
****
"Foaly you do realize there are only two things more conspicuous then a Centaur in the middle of a night club wearing a tin foil hat" Holly remarked sipping on her nettle shake an amused expression on her face. Holly Short was currently on a well deserved vacation , Commander Root had practically forced her to go on one via gun point.
"And those are?" Foaly asked distracted his tail flicking from side to side.
"A centaur in a club whose wearing a tin foil hat reading what appears to be a book of fairy tales , while ignoring his drink" Holly said sarcastically pushing his Holy Goblin cocktail forward.
" I thought I told you to get me a double Opal" he said sourly.
" I cant believe they named a drink after that psychotic elf wench" Holly spat and Foaly shrugged his shoulder.
" Remember there's nothing more famous then being infamous" Foaly reminded her.
" Which is why they've named the chicken wings Artermis Fowl wings" Holly remarked sourly.
"Speaking of your boy Arty , his the reason why I'm, stuck reading these fairy tales in the first place" Foaly remarked absently sipping his Holy Goblin cocktail.
" His not my " boy" Foaly" Holly remarked but it was obvious from the tone of her voice that they had had this conversation many times before.
" Come on its totally obvious that the mud boys has one of those oh so adorable crushes on you" Foaly said with a wicked grin.
" Do you have a sadistic need for pain?" Holly asked sweetly and Foaly made a faint neighing noise under his breath.
" You know that Foaly likes it rough" he growled and Holly rolled his eyes , Foaly flirting was rather nauseating to say the very least.
"And you know that Holly hates it when Fowl speaks in third person" Holly remarked carefully moving Foaly's drink away. It was obvious that a Holy Goblin was a bit to strong for his taste.
"So any way like I was saying , turns out boy Arty has gotten the LEP in trouble again" Foaly said and Holly rolled her eyes.
"We really should just memory wipe the mud man" Holly said tiredly a small groan escaping her lips.
" His trying to find Tara" Foaly said conversationally and Holly choked on her nettle shake.
" Relax , with all the security I've rigged it'll be hard to find then a goblin with a college degree" Foaly reassured her dryly.
" You used that same line when you fitted the LEP's security systems and well all know what Opal did to them" Holly reminded him. Foaly's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared.
' I thought I told you to never mention that stink worms name in my presene" he growled and Holly backed away slightly.
" Calm down donkey boy , I'm just trying to warn you against being cocky Artemis Fowl has already made us look like a bunch of Goblins twice before and his not going to do it again" Holly said firmly and Foaly held up his hands defensively.
" Hey I didn't go clubbing with you in order to hear you ranting on about that so called child genius" Foaly reminded her.
" Then why did you come?" Holly asked sweetly and if possible Foaly's cheeks stained ever so slightly crimson.
" Ehem , so any way Root is chucking a huge stink about the mud kids excavation and next thing I know his blathering on about fairy tales and metal caskets" Foaly said tapping the cheap children's book with his knuckles.
" Which is why I'm trying to make sense of this ridicules thing" he finished triumphantly changing the subject.
"All right you explained the whole fairy tale thing to me Donkey Boy , but you still haven't answered my question" Holly said wickedly and Foaly stood up abruptly causing there tiny chair to topple over.
" Say , is any one else up for some double opals?" He asked a little to cheerfully and Holly shook her head.
" ER Holly I have to , re check my fibre optic networking" he finally managed to stutter practically falling out of his chair. Holly had to stop her self from snickering as the centaur pushed pass several break dancing dwarves in his haste to reach the exit. She turned to the book he had left behind and sighed thoughtfully under her breath. Flipping over one page her eyes caught a single word which transformed into a sentence.
" Once a apon a time ago there was a magician" she read , but was suddenly interrupted.
" Hey if it ain't the captain Short herself! Wanna dance?" An obnoxious voice asked. Holly looked up and immediately flushed with guilt , it was Chix fresh from the hospital with a bandaged wing. As much as holly wanted to say no she knew she was partially responsible for his injury and she couldn't very well turn the poor sprite down.
"Once dance , no bodily contact and you are definitely not allowed top attempt to stick your tongue down my throat" Holly said sternly .
"All right , deal" Chix replied reluctantly and Holly sighed abandoning the book on the table. A single page fluttered due to the air conditioning and revealed a picture , a badly done painting of a metal casket.
It began with the little things. Absent coffee cups , missed appointments and piled up paper work. Julia Peters grove had been flown in from Cambodia where she had been recently excavating a series of temples located in the harsh humid jungles. No one noticed that she was missing at first , Julia Peters grove had no friends , or family in Ireland. Her parents lived in America and her husband was currently in Italy. Julia Peters grove was completely alone. Eventually however some one noticed , days passed and there was no appearance of the absent minded doctor. Her assistant was also strangely absent.
Eventually however some one noticed.
"Artemis?" Butler asked , Artemis remained silent he was crouched next to his fathers bed an almost hungry expression on his face. His father was asleep , the medication he was forced to take due to his lost limb caused him to remain drowsy and ill. He had woken up occasionally and smiled weakly at his son and wife before dozing off once more into a fitful slumber.
" You can barely notice it at first , the way his breath comes in and out from a distance he appears to be dead" Artemis said distantly his hand lightly touching his fathers wrist.
" Well his alive now isn't he?" Butler reminded him with false cheerfulness.
" I remember when I was smaller , I used to sit underneath his desk taking apart old calculator. I've been thinking of that desk as being mine for nearly three years" Artemis muttered a confused expression on his face.
" Nothings mine any more is it Butler?" He asked and Butler gave him a puzzled glance.
" What I mean to say is that I excepted he was gone , and now that his back and like this " Artemis began then immediately flushed a guilty expression on his face.
" Your wondering if he would have been better off dead?" Butler asked and Artemis looked up sharply.
" father hated.. Hates being helpless" Artemis corrected himself.
"I'm not sure if he can cope once he recovers" Artemis said quietly. He let go of his fathers wrist and slowly stood up.
"Artemis I have received an urgent message from the McGraney estate Doctor Peters grove has disappeared" Butler managed to say gruffly.
"Any information? He asked Butler nodded.
" The surveillance camera illustrated the doctor entering the shaft with her assistant two days ago. The tape showed her leave , however there was a one second pause. Some one had obviously been tampering with it" Butler said and Artemis nodded.
" Most likely the LEP has finally caught wind of what we've been doing , we must proceed immediately" Artemis said standing up.
"If the LEP decides to perform the mesmer on her she's liable to sing all our secrets like an obnoxious song bird" Artemis added thoughtfully leaving the room. His father sighed once in his sleep and Artemis gave him a last reluctant parting glance.
" We can reach the McGraney estate by twilight" Butler said and Artemis nodded.
"Yes there's a difference between what is personal and what happens to be important" Artemis said slamming the door behind him.
****
As night fell , filling the farms sky was a dusky rose pink glow Amy sat on her family's front porch with her grandmother. Granny McGraney was setting up a small brass telescope on the front porch. Much to Mrs McGraney's disappointment Granny McGraney was still staying on the estate.
" Tonight is going to be a clear one lass , which means we'll have ample opportunity to study Jupiter's effects on Sagittarius" Granny said briskly rubbing her hands together.
" I cant believe you take this bunk so seriously" Amy said scornfully sitting on a wicker lawn chair.
"Don't disrespect the stars dear one they've been around a hell of a lot longer then you" her grand mother said opening her note book to a fresh page.
" Granny there balls of burning gas , they can't think and even if they could its not like there going to tell us anything useful" Amy pointed out.
" Useful eh? You want to hear something useful? What's the star sign of your young man?" Her grandmother asked snidely.
" His a Capricorn" Amy said without thinking and she flushed deeply.
" Artemis Fowl is not my young man" she said defiantly.
" Capricorn eh , oh that's not good his not very compatible with you" her grandmother tutted and sighed. Amy was a Virgo.
" I don't want to be compatible with any one" Amy replied shaking her hands with frustration.
" I saw the way you looked at that so called child prodigy" he grandmother said and Amy gave her a startled look. The events which had unfolded in her kitchen had acquired days ago but she was still sure without a doubt that her grandmother had not been present.
" How did you know that?" Amy asked curiously.
" Wee one , go into the kitchen and leave out a saucer of milk in case those buggers try to interrupt us. Although they haven't been around for a few days , something's scaring them off" her grandmother said thoughtfully her eyes glazing over.
" Well if there around we better save the milk for emergencies" Amy said kindly and her eyes fell on the road thoughtfully. Amy swung the telescope towards the direction of the road and peered through it slightly amused. She could see a black shape , barely distinguishable moving through the shadowy tree's.
"Shit" she muttered.
" No swearing" Her grandmother scolded her absent mildly.
" His back , I thought he was gone for good" Amy muttered sinking into her chair. Waves of embarrassment washed over her and she felt her face burn with shame. She could not face him , yet she partly wanted to run towards the Bentley and fling the doors open.
" Calm down wee one , things aren't always as bad as we make them out to be" her grandmother said attempting to calm Amy down.
" His here" Amy gasped as the Bentley became visible. The doors opened , and she could see Butler climbing out.
" His here for a reason" she finished firmly a tremor of fear in her voice.
A/N Finally this chapter is out , and I'm not very proud of it but I had to get it written sooner or
later. In this incident it was defentially later. Any way I detest this chapter , but its importent
for later things to come.A few people have been asking me to put certain things in this story
Or give certain charectors more prominence. I cant do that if it messes up with the plot I've
already sketched out.
Crazy one: Holly will appear in the chapter , and she will have a few more moments later on in
this story. However this was written for the BFW challenge which means she dos'nt have a very big
role if you catch my drift.
Ali Kelp: Thank you for your review. I based trouble's looks on Legalos from Lord of the rings
which is why he has " long girly hair". I'm sorry if Trouble was'nt cool enough for you , I try'
to make my charectors human which is why I made him look a bit daft.
Arqueete: Thank you so much for that kind review! it's nice to know that my story has managed to hold
your interest and I'm very flattered.
Mage Kitty: Dum dum dum.... is certanley right!
Alexis: I'm pretty sure that this chapter won't top the last one which is rather unfortunate.
I'm really glad you liked the last " seriously weird" chapter. This ones a lot more slow , and allows
you all to catch a quick breather.
Chapter eight
You better watch out
There was an old song about him , it began with "you better watch out"
He came from a time where Fairies had little or no humanity , a time where the world was filled with blood and bone rather then distant slow wars spoken of in discreet voices on the television.
He came from much more passionate , interesting times when the fairies were constantly at war with humanity.
The mud men had many names for him " the father" " Oberon" and finally " Sanda Claus" . If you were a good little boy or girl , you would soon be rewarded however if you were naughty you blood would stain the newly fallen white snow crimson.
Oh yes , he was a brutal fairy king.
But history and fairy tales refuse to remember such things , they dimmed the story and shaped it. They replaced the blood and bone with bags of coal , they replaced the death with gifts. They pulled out the bleakness of winter attempting to instill festive joy into the season. The centuries rolled by , one after the other and San D Klaus soon became Santa Claus a mere shadow of what he once was.
It is believed that gods have to constantly change in order to survive , he was definitely one of them.
Faint tinny Christmas bells played jingle bells over and over again in the shopping centres harsh fluorescent lights. Two half hearted teenagers leaned against a set of plastic candy canes dress in green t shirts and red shorts with bored expressions on there faces. The resident Santa Claus sighed with a mixture of disappointment and fury. When did everything go so horribly wrong? He thought to himself.
"Hello Santa , bit early for you isn't it? Its not even the winter solace yet" a voice snickered and jolly old saint Nick looked up from his position tired. If possible , his skin had a slightly green tinge to it.
" Actually they call it "Winter" now and you know those mud people there always attempting to exploit every penny from religious festivals and holidays" Santa said cynically , then suddenly as if he just realized what he said he clapped a hand over his mouth with horror. A figure stood in front of him , tall and rather thin dressed in a stained work mans shirt and what were once expensive trousers. It was a mud man , San realized with horror backing slowly up in his chair. The mud man slowly approached him , drunken as if he was having difficulty controlling his legs. San noticed several darks red brown stains on his finger nails and realized it was dry blood. The mud man faced him , and Santa was confronted by a face. A kind hearted , almost normal face , the face of a father , of a husband of a good person. However no fairy magic can hide the true nature of ones eyes , and a good fairy a powerfully fairy can always gaze into the others pupils and see their true nature. San recoiled with horror as he saw the hidden nature of those pupils. They were conflicting , two identities constantly fighting with each other , crashing together forming new power. The person in front of him was insane , clearly and indefinitely. San D Klaus had only ever seen such eyes once before many moons ago.
" You" he hissed barely able to believe it.
" Yes me" the magician laughed coldly.
"But your dead , the LEP killed you nearly a millennia ago!" San D Klaus cried and the magician smirked it looked horrific on his other wise gently features.
" My my how does the time fly by when your a corpse" he mused then suddenly his head snapped towards Santa and a hand shot out gripping the jolly fat man by the front of his dusky red cloak.
" Do you have any idea what they did to me? They put me in a casket which blinded me , even with my body gone it blinded my soul! I could not see I could not breathe!" He howled spit forming at his mouth. Suddenly his eyes calmed , and he let go of the cloak.
"No matter , they cannot keep me away from my mission forever I killed one for power and its only a matter of time before I'll kill another" he chuckled his eyes darting upwards.
" Mothers not here is she?" He finally asked a little sadly.
" No ones seen her for centuries , many assume she's dead" Santa Claus said sympathetically. The magician was obviously as mad as a hatter , but he did feel sorry for the poor boy it was always hard loosing a loved one.
" And you? I find you here in an ant hill crawling with mud men?" He growled baring his slightly caffeine stained teeth.
" Actually its a shopping mall , around a century ago I made the mistake of drinking something a little mud girl left me in her house. This was while I was doing my annual gift thing of course. Turned out it wasn't cold tea like I originally thought.. It was brandy .So now of course I cant associate with the people ever again but its not such a bad life this Santa gig pays off when it comes to royalties and you get used to mud children crawling all over you eventually" The magician stared at him with honest confusion.
" I am currently scanning this bodies memory banks attempting to discover what your speaking of" he said dully his eyes glazing over.
"Well that must be a useful tool" Santa remarked hesitantly and the creature flinched his face contorting into an expression of pain.
" Memories say here , that you are apparently a man of over weight appearance who rides several domesticated live stock of reindeer around the world in order to spoil greedy mud children with gifts , although really their parents buy these gifts and you do nothing" he said in a dead pan voice.
" I'm more of a figure head really , I got out of the gift giving thing a long time ago" San laughed uneasily.
" I see" The magician stated coldly.
" Great English by the way" Santa commented.
" This bodies tongue seems to remember it , it refuses to let me speak in gnomish" he replied coldly turning his head.
" Come with me San D Klaus , I need your expertise in order to begin inflicting my destiny once more" he said coldly.
" Look I'd love to but I've got a lot of work to do involving handing out Lolly Pops to screaming Toddlers" the jolly fat man said weakly , he was terrified.
" You assume that you have a choice , one thousand years ago you bind your powers towards mine" the magician reminded him.
" Things were different then , I was a different elf! I cant follow you now" he protested pathetically and the magician smirked. Slowly he reached towards San D Claus's head and wrenched his skull back wards.
" Your will is.." He began.
" You cant do that! That's breaking the rules of the book!" San D Klaus protested weakly.
" What can I say? You should never ever be surprised with the things I can do" he said forcing San D Klaus's yellowish eyes open.
'Now , your will is mine" his voice chuckled dribbling with the honey rich deadly mesmer.
****
"Foaly you do realize there are only two things more conspicuous then a Centaur in the middle of a night club wearing a tin foil hat" Holly remarked sipping on her nettle shake an amused expression on her face. Holly Short was currently on a well deserved vacation , Commander Root had practically forced her to go on one via gun point.
"And those are?" Foaly asked distracted his tail flicking from side to side.
"A centaur in a club whose wearing a tin foil hat reading what appears to be a book of fairy tales , while ignoring his drink" Holly said sarcastically pushing his Holy Goblin cocktail forward.
" I thought I told you to get me a double Opal" he said sourly.
" I cant believe they named a drink after that psychotic elf wench" Holly spat and Foaly shrugged his shoulder.
" Remember there's nothing more famous then being infamous" Foaly reminded her.
" Which is why they've named the chicken wings Artermis Fowl wings" Holly remarked sourly.
"Speaking of your boy Arty , his the reason why I'm, stuck reading these fairy tales in the first place" Foaly remarked absently sipping his Holy Goblin cocktail.
" His not my " boy" Foaly" Holly remarked but it was obvious from the tone of her voice that they had had this conversation many times before.
" Come on its totally obvious that the mud boys has one of those oh so adorable crushes on you" Foaly said with a wicked grin.
" Do you have a sadistic need for pain?" Holly asked sweetly and Foaly made a faint neighing noise under his breath.
" You know that Foaly likes it rough" he growled and Holly rolled his eyes , Foaly flirting was rather nauseating to say the very least.
"And you know that Holly hates it when Fowl speaks in third person" Holly remarked carefully moving Foaly's drink away. It was obvious that a Holy Goblin was a bit to strong for his taste.
"So any way like I was saying , turns out boy Arty has gotten the LEP in trouble again" Foaly said and Holly rolled her eyes.
"We really should just memory wipe the mud man" Holly said tiredly a small groan escaping her lips.
" His trying to find Tara" Foaly said conversationally and Holly choked on her nettle shake.
" Relax , with all the security I've rigged it'll be hard to find then a goblin with a college degree" Foaly reassured her dryly.
" You used that same line when you fitted the LEP's security systems and well all know what Opal did to them" Holly reminded him. Foaly's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared.
' I thought I told you to never mention that stink worms name in my presene" he growled and Holly backed away slightly.
" Calm down donkey boy , I'm just trying to warn you against being cocky Artemis Fowl has already made us look like a bunch of Goblins twice before and his not going to do it again" Holly said firmly and Foaly held up his hands defensively.
" Hey I didn't go clubbing with you in order to hear you ranting on about that so called child genius" Foaly reminded her.
" Then why did you come?" Holly asked sweetly and if possible Foaly's cheeks stained ever so slightly crimson.
" Ehem , so any way Root is chucking a huge stink about the mud kids excavation and next thing I know his blathering on about fairy tales and metal caskets" Foaly said tapping the cheap children's book with his knuckles.
" Which is why I'm trying to make sense of this ridicules thing" he finished triumphantly changing the subject.
"All right you explained the whole fairy tale thing to me Donkey Boy , but you still haven't answered my question" Holly said wickedly and Foaly stood up abruptly causing there tiny chair to topple over.
" Say , is any one else up for some double opals?" He asked a little to cheerfully and Holly shook her head.
" ER Holly I have to , re check my fibre optic networking" he finally managed to stutter practically falling out of his chair. Holly had to stop her self from snickering as the centaur pushed pass several break dancing dwarves in his haste to reach the exit. She turned to the book he had left behind and sighed thoughtfully under her breath. Flipping over one page her eyes caught a single word which transformed into a sentence.
" Once a apon a time ago there was a magician" she read , but was suddenly interrupted.
" Hey if it ain't the captain Short herself! Wanna dance?" An obnoxious voice asked. Holly looked up and immediately flushed with guilt , it was Chix fresh from the hospital with a bandaged wing. As much as holly wanted to say no she knew she was partially responsible for his injury and she couldn't very well turn the poor sprite down.
"Once dance , no bodily contact and you are definitely not allowed top attempt to stick your tongue down my throat" Holly said sternly .
"All right , deal" Chix replied reluctantly and Holly sighed abandoning the book on the table. A single page fluttered due to the air conditioning and revealed a picture , a badly done painting of a metal casket.
It began with the little things. Absent coffee cups , missed appointments and piled up paper work. Julia Peters grove had been flown in from Cambodia where she had been recently excavating a series of temples located in the harsh humid jungles. No one noticed that she was missing at first , Julia Peters grove had no friends , or family in Ireland. Her parents lived in America and her husband was currently in Italy. Julia Peters grove was completely alone. Eventually however some one noticed , days passed and there was no appearance of the absent minded doctor. Her assistant was also strangely absent.
Eventually however some one noticed.
"Artemis?" Butler asked , Artemis remained silent he was crouched next to his fathers bed an almost hungry expression on his face. His father was asleep , the medication he was forced to take due to his lost limb caused him to remain drowsy and ill. He had woken up occasionally and smiled weakly at his son and wife before dozing off once more into a fitful slumber.
" You can barely notice it at first , the way his breath comes in and out from a distance he appears to be dead" Artemis said distantly his hand lightly touching his fathers wrist.
" Well his alive now isn't he?" Butler reminded him with false cheerfulness.
" I remember when I was smaller , I used to sit underneath his desk taking apart old calculator. I've been thinking of that desk as being mine for nearly three years" Artemis muttered a confused expression on his face.
" Nothings mine any more is it Butler?" He asked and Butler gave him a puzzled glance.
" What I mean to say is that I excepted he was gone , and now that his back and like this " Artemis began then immediately flushed a guilty expression on his face.
" Your wondering if he would have been better off dead?" Butler asked and Artemis looked up sharply.
" father hated.. Hates being helpless" Artemis corrected himself.
"I'm not sure if he can cope once he recovers" Artemis said quietly. He let go of his fathers wrist and slowly stood up.
"Artemis I have received an urgent message from the McGraney estate Doctor Peters grove has disappeared" Butler managed to say gruffly.
"Any information? He asked Butler nodded.
" The surveillance camera illustrated the doctor entering the shaft with her assistant two days ago. The tape showed her leave , however there was a one second pause. Some one had obviously been tampering with it" Butler said and Artemis nodded.
" Most likely the LEP has finally caught wind of what we've been doing , we must proceed immediately" Artemis said standing up.
"If the LEP decides to perform the mesmer on her she's liable to sing all our secrets like an obnoxious song bird" Artemis added thoughtfully leaving the room. His father sighed once in his sleep and Artemis gave him a last reluctant parting glance.
" We can reach the McGraney estate by twilight" Butler said and Artemis nodded.
"Yes there's a difference between what is personal and what happens to be important" Artemis said slamming the door behind him.
****
As night fell , filling the farms sky was a dusky rose pink glow Amy sat on her family's front porch with her grandmother. Granny McGraney was setting up a small brass telescope on the front porch. Much to Mrs McGraney's disappointment Granny McGraney was still staying on the estate.
" Tonight is going to be a clear one lass , which means we'll have ample opportunity to study Jupiter's effects on Sagittarius" Granny said briskly rubbing her hands together.
" I cant believe you take this bunk so seriously" Amy said scornfully sitting on a wicker lawn chair.
"Don't disrespect the stars dear one they've been around a hell of a lot longer then you" her grand mother said opening her note book to a fresh page.
" Granny there balls of burning gas , they can't think and even if they could its not like there going to tell us anything useful" Amy pointed out.
" Useful eh? You want to hear something useful? What's the star sign of your young man?" Her grandmother asked snidely.
" His a Capricorn" Amy said without thinking and she flushed deeply.
" Artemis Fowl is not my young man" she said defiantly.
" Capricorn eh , oh that's not good his not very compatible with you" her grandmother tutted and sighed. Amy was a Virgo.
" I don't want to be compatible with any one" Amy replied shaking her hands with frustration.
" I saw the way you looked at that so called child prodigy" he grandmother said and Amy gave her a startled look. The events which had unfolded in her kitchen had acquired days ago but she was still sure without a doubt that her grandmother had not been present.
" How did you know that?" Amy asked curiously.
" Wee one , go into the kitchen and leave out a saucer of milk in case those buggers try to interrupt us. Although they haven't been around for a few days , something's scaring them off" her grandmother said thoughtfully her eyes glazing over.
" Well if there around we better save the milk for emergencies" Amy said kindly and her eyes fell on the road thoughtfully. Amy swung the telescope towards the direction of the road and peered through it slightly amused. She could see a black shape , barely distinguishable moving through the shadowy tree's.
"Shit" she muttered.
" No swearing" Her grandmother scolded her absent mildly.
" His back , I thought he was gone for good" Amy muttered sinking into her chair. Waves of embarrassment washed over her and she felt her face burn with shame. She could not face him , yet she partly wanted to run towards the Bentley and fling the doors open.
" Calm down wee one , things aren't always as bad as we make them out to be" her grandmother said attempting to calm Amy down.
" His here" Amy gasped as the Bentley became visible. The doors opened , and she could see Butler climbing out.
" His here for a reason" she finished firmly a tremor of fear in her voice.