Myth or Truth?
To Thea the Elf, rose_gal, slime frog, Isis, Kelti, EMerald Queen, Big Friendly Walrus, zorro, and mousie, who reviewed even when it was way in the back with all the other great, classical (and unupdated) fics of Artemis Fowl Fandom. Thanks for the review, but I NEED constructive criticism. My muse just went on vacation, so this might not be as good as usual, and kind of short, but it's the best I can do now. I'm sorry.
This chapter is mainly Artemis. Next chapter will be mainly Holly. I remember at some point I actually had a strict plan for this series, but then I encountered a pitfall, and have to go another way. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Now, on with the fic!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She lay flat on a rock, drowsing in the sun after having sunk her teeth into the sheep. It hadn't been cooked, or even burnt with the primitive fire that she used now, but it had nourished her, and her snakes had needed the blood. Lovingly, she caressed the smallest one; a stunted garden snake that still wasn't growing, much to her dismay, and it flicked a forked tongue out at her.
The sudden rumble of a metal machine (car, she reminded herself firmly, it didn't do to live in the past and call them by the names she had used when she had still been young and ignorant. A few decades past now) alerted her to possible danger. She let her tongue flicker out, forked like her fellows', tasting the air for a new scent to the area. And she found it.
It smelled of money and gold, stank of it in a way that most people didn't know how to produce, and the meat (flesh, she corrected herself) underneath it smelled young and tender, without the dense, tough muscle to chew through. And she recognized the faint arrogant dominance that radiated off the new being as a male sort of thing. She smiled, relaxing again, baring her fangs in a way that humans considered friendly, but she considered her own personal warning before she tore someone apart.
And then she smelt the other scent.
Freezing in her tracks as she began to sit up, she carefully analyzed the new smell. It had a military, tidy but blocky, feel to it. Of course, the last time she'd smelled this odor, it had been younger, and not quite so experienced. And the new money-boy had not been with him, or else she would have recognized them both. Her enhanced senses would have told her about them, but they had not. And now they were coming for her, of that, she had no doubt. What else could they want?
She lay back down, her white fangs now gleaming in the sun, muscles tensed, her body ready for a sudden leap upwards. She was a predator by nature, and she knew that when fate chose to bring you food on a golden plate, you would be wise not to question it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"There doth yonder treasures lie. Beyond gold and jewels prized." Artemis said cryptically, his blue eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed in a position that Butler knew very well. Knew well enough not to question, at any rate. The Master didn't take to questioning very well.
"Shouldn't I go first, Artemis? In case there are some rather nasty surprises." Butler asked, tacking on the ending when he recalled that Artemis would not like being treated like a child any longer. He had began the non-tolerance policy not long ago.. The Master had developed such a stubborn streak for flinging himself headlong into possible dangers nowadays. Butler blamed it all on his turning fourteen, and his mother having decided to send him to an all-male boarding school.
Oh, and the fact that he'd been cheating grown men out of their possessions probably added to it all.
Artemis smiled coolly. He wasn't so cold as not to recognize genuine concern when he saw it, and not so self-absorbed that he couldn't use it when he needed it. "Yes, of course, Butler, do go ahead. I believe she's just about to sink her teeth into us anyway. But we'll be turned into statues before that happens. We needn't worry about such things." His voice dripped of sarcasm and obvious disdain.
Butler stopped, turning around, enquiring. Artemis was rather formal to others of his age, he knew, but most of the time, he'd had nothing to complain about from Artemis himself. This turning fourteen-thing was really grating on Butler's nerves. "Should I go first or not, Artemis?" he asked, a shade less politely than usual.
Artemis detected the change in tone immediately, and switched voices, changing from an extremely sarcastic teenager to the voice that Butler thought of as normal; a firm, Masterly tone. "Of course you should go first, Butler." He replied. "I was merely warning you that she would attack unless you let me say something first."
"Of course." Butler replied courteously, stepping back.
As if the place belonged to him by right (and it probably did. He wasn't a Fowl for nothing) Artemis took his place, first setting a pair of very familiar goggles on his head, twiddling with several of the options. He looked rather harmless just then, his black hair glinting in the sun, his eyes, while slightly wary (like any smart teenager's) were calm and a serene blue just then (if anyone could have seen them from under the goggles). He looked almost normal, a strange condition for any un-average Fowl. Then he began spitting out several words in Staccato Gnommish, too fast for Butler to catch them. And whatever part of the speech he managed to hear properly carefully slipped out of his mind's reach, cackling evilly.
The Medusa took two steps towards Artemis, and froze, her face contorted and bulging with several emotions of greed and hunger, changing suddenly to hate when she began attempting to twitch, to move at all. Butler could see the air around her practically vibrating with the urgency to move, to live, to do anything at all that would prove she was more than a mere realistic statue.
Artemis took a few steps away from her, not in fear, but in pride as a hunter takes pride in something that he has caught and skinned for himself. Handing Butler a pair of goggles, which the manservant quickly strapped on, he began his speech. (Which he had researched for, written and learned himself. A key factor in being a good villain was a good victory speech.)
"See her, Butler?" he asked calmly. "Snake-Born, The Face that Made a Thousand Statues, She Who Killed a Nation, she's been reduced to eating raw meat, giving in to her desires for blood. I doubt any of the Underground would take you in now." He remarked offhandedly in Gnommish. The monster's eyes widened in surprise at being spoken to in her own tongue, and narrowed again in suspicion.
"What.. do.. you... want.. human?" she grated out, without managing to move her mouth. Stopping, she looked extremely surprised at being able to speak. Artemis smiled his vampire smile.
"It's merely a binding. You can go whenever you wish, so long as I extract a promise from you not to harm either Butler or myself, and to comply with our requests." He replied to her unasked question, not answering the one she had really posed to him, calmly infuriating her.
"I.. am.. willing.. to.. serve.. you.. and.. not.. harm.. you.. in.. return.. for.. my.. release.." she replied, spitting out each syllable as if they were something disgusting, something to be hated. Like Artemis himself, although he really couldn't care less. This monstrosity was the key to unlocking.. something. Even Artemis himself wasn't sure what it was, only that it was barely hinted of in all fairy myths that he had ever read. He didn't know. But he intended to find out.
"Quanen Thus." He said, speaking the two words that would release her, and she fell to her knees. Rubbing her joints, she got up, openly glaring at him. Ignoring it, he looked openly back. Butler did nothing. There was no violence, so there was really nothing he had to do. She wasn't acknowledging his presence, that was good. As long as she didn't admit she knew him in front of Artemis, he was safe.
The Medusa's muscles tensed, all her instincts screaming for her to attack the threat. Kill him and get away as fast as possible. This was a dangerous duo, a tricky situation, and she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of this one. Die here, and she was dead.
"So what did you want me for?" she asked warily.
Artemis smiled again, his own brand of predatory instinct. "Why don't we go back to the hotel to discuss that?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Like it? Hate it? Think that I can do better? Tell me and I will do better! I hope. REVIEW!
~Trisani
To Thea the Elf, rose_gal, slime frog, Isis, Kelti, EMerald Queen, Big Friendly Walrus, zorro, and mousie, who reviewed even when it was way in the back with all the other great, classical (and unupdated) fics of Artemis Fowl Fandom. Thanks for the review, but I NEED constructive criticism. My muse just went on vacation, so this might not be as good as usual, and kind of short, but it's the best I can do now. I'm sorry.
This chapter is mainly Artemis. Next chapter will be mainly Holly. I remember at some point I actually had a strict plan for this series, but then I encountered a pitfall, and have to go another way. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Now, on with the fic!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She lay flat on a rock, drowsing in the sun after having sunk her teeth into the sheep. It hadn't been cooked, or even burnt with the primitive fire that she used now, but it had nourished her, and her snakes had needed the blood. Lovingly, she caressed the smallest one; a stunted garden snake that still wasn't growing, much to her dismay, and it flicked a forked tongue out at her.
The sudden rumble of a metal machine (car, she reminded herself firmly, it didn't do to live in the past and call them by the names she had used when she had still been young and ignorant. A few decades past now) alerted her to possible danger. She let her tongue flicker out, forked like her fellows', tasting the air for a new scent to the area. And she found it.
It smelled of money and gold, stank of it in a way that most people didn't know how to produce, and the meat (flesh, she corrected herself) underneath it smelled young and tender, without the dense, tough muscle to chew through. And she recognized the faint arrogant dominance that radiated off the new being as a male sort of thing. She smiled, relaxing again, baring her fangs in a way that humans considered friendly, but she considered her own personal warning before she tore someone apart.
And then she smelt the other scent.
Freezing in her tracks as she began to sit up, she carefully analyzed the new smell. It had a military, tidy but blocky, feel to it. Of course, the last time she'd smelled this odor, it had been younger, and not quite so experienced. And the new money-boy had not been with him, or else she would have recognized them both. Her enhanced senses would have told her about them, but they had not. And now they were coming for her, of that, she had no doubt. What else could they want?
She lay back down, her white fangs now gleaming in the sun, muscles tensed, her body ready for a sudden leap upwards. She was a predator by nature, and she knew that when fate chose to bring you food on a golden plate, you would be wise not to question it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"There doth yonder treasures lie. Beyond gold and jewels prized." Artemis said cryptically, his blue eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed in a position that Butler knew very well. Knew well enough not to question, at any rate. The Master didn't take to questioning very well.
"Shouldn't I go first, Artemis? In case there are some rather nasty surprises." Butler asked, tacking on the ending when he recalled that Artemis would not like being treated like a child any longer. He had began the non-tolerance policy not long ago.. The Master had developed such a stubborn streak for flinging himself headlong into possible dangers nowadays. Butler blamed it all on his turning fourteen, and his mother having decided to send him to an all-male boarding school.
Oh, and the fact that he'd been cheating grown men out of their possessions probably added to it all.
Artemis smiled coolly. He wasn't so cold as not to recognize genuine concern when he saw it, and not so self-absorbed that he couldn't use it when he needed it. "Yes, of course, Butler, do go ahead. I believe she's just about to sink her teeth into us anyway. But we'll be turned into statues before that happens. We needn't worry about such things." His voice dripped of sarcasm and obvious disdain.
Butler stopped, turning around, enquiring. Artemis was rather formal to others of his age, he knew, but most of the time, he'd had nothing to complain about from Artemis himself. This turning fourteen-thing was really grating on Butler's nerves. "Should I go first or not, Artemis?" he asked, a shade less politely than usual.
Artemis detected the change in tone immediately, and switched voices, changing from an extremely sarcastic teenager to the voice that Butler thought of as normal; a firm, Masterly tone. "Of course you should go first, Butler." He replied. "I was merely warning you that she would attack unless you let me say something first."
"Of course." Butler replied courteously, stepping back.
As if the place belonged to him by right (and it probably did. He wasn't a Fowl for nothing) Artemis took his place, first setting a pair of very familiar goggles on his head, twiddling with several of the options. He looked rather harmless just then, his black hair glinting in the sun, his eyes, while slightly wary (like any smart teenager's) were calm and a serene blue just then (if anyone could have seen them from under the goggles). He looked almost normal, a strange condition for any un-average Fowl. Then he began spitting out several words in Staccato Gnommish, too fast for Butler to catch them. And whatever part of the speech he managed to hear properly carefully slipped out of his mind's reach, cackling evilly.
The Medusa took two steps towards Artemis, and froze, her face contorted and bulging with several emotions of greed and hunger, changing suddenly to hate when she began attempting to twitch, to move at all. Butler could see the air around her practically vibrating with the urgency to move, to live, to do anything at all that would prove she was more than a mere realistic statue.
Artemis took a few steps away from her, not in fear, but in pride as a hunter takes pride in something that he has caught and skinned for himself. Handing Butler a pair of goggles, which the manservant quickly strapped on, he began his speech. (Which he had researched for, written and learned himself. A key factor in being a good villain was a good victory speech.)
"See her, Butler?" he asked calmly. "Snake-Born, The Face that Made a Thousand Statues, She Who Killed a Nation, she's been reduced to eating raw meat, giving in to her desires for blood. I doubt any of the Underground would take you in now." He remarked offhandedly in Gnommish. The monster's eyes widened in surprise at being spoken to in her own tongue, and narrowed again in suspicion.
"What.. do.. you... want.. human?" she grated out, without managing to move her mouth. Stopping, she looked extremely surprised at being able to speak. Artemis smiled his vampire smile.
"It's merely a binding. You can go whenever you wish, so long as I extract a promise from you not to harm either Butler or myself, and to comply with our requests." He replied to her unasked question, not answering the one she had really posed to him, calmly infuriating her.
"I.. am.. willing.. to.. serve.. you.. and.. not.. harm.. you.. in.. return.. for.. my.. release.." she replied, spitting out each syllable as if they were something disgusting, something to be hated. Like Artemis himself, although he really couldn't care less. This monstrosity was the key to unlocking.. something. Even Artemis himself wasn't sure what it was, only that it was barely hinted of in all fairy myths that he had ever read. He didn't know. But he intended to find out.
"Quanen Thus." He said, speaking the two words that would release her, and she fell to her knees. Rubbing her joints, she got up, openly glaring at him. Ignoring it, he looked openly back. Butler did nothing. There was no violence, so there was really nothing he had to do. She wasn't acknowledging his presence, that was good. As long as she didn't admit she knew him in front of Artemis, he was safe.
The Medusa's muscles tensed, all her instincts screaming for her to attack the threat. Kill him and get away as fast as possible. This was a dangerous duo, a tricky situation, and she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of this one. Die here, and she was dead.
"So what did you want me for?" she asked warily.
Artemis smiled again, his own brand of predatory instinct. "Why don't we go back to the hotel to discuss that?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Like it? Hate it? Think that I can do better? Tell me and I will do better! I hope. REVIEW!
~Trisani