Chapter Five: Not For The Faint Hearted
~Tunnels Beneath Haven City~
Holly wasn't complaining. Riding in the big manservant's arms was pretty comfortable when you were this small and he was so big. She only felt uncomfortable when, with a darting glance, she saw Artemis staring silently up at her in Butler's arms. At this point, Holy had already healed herself but Butler had insisted she take it easy. Holly told them what had happened and Butler was genuinely concerned for her. She looked down at Artemis again; he was still staring, still smiling. Holly spoke to him. 'Hey, mud-boy, what's with the staring contest with my arm?' she joked; Artemis shook his head quickly and blinked. 'I Uhh. well. umm.' Artemis couldn't reply, Holly knew this before he had even spoken. 'Artemis, you're getting a little weird. ever since.' Holly blinked, 'Oh yeah, I'm mad at you!' she said, silencing straight away. Now was Artemis' chance, he knew what he had to say and he needed to say it quickly. 'I wanted to get another Elf, not to harm him but to keep in contact with the People,' he said, Holly making to interrupt him, 'BUT, I had no idea it was going to be your brother and when I found out-' He stopped, taking a deep breath, 'I made every effort to ensure his safe journey home and comfort. I even gave him back all of his technology.' Holly was speechless, she didn't understand much of this, 'But. I gave you. I gave you my helmet, so you could keep in contact with me. I wanted to.. to.' she stopped. Butler was ignoring the conversation; he was scanning the immediate area for any possible enemies. 'I knew you left it, I was very grateful but. I wanted you to be in front of me, I wanted to see you right in front of me again. a view screen wasn't going to cut it.' Artemis looked down at the ground; Holly was beginning to get angry. Artemis didn't have any reason for her to be there for him any more. 'Why, Artemis? Why would you want me to be there? Why would you want me to be 'right in front of you'? Tell me why.' Holly growled. It was true that Holly had begun to enjoy Artemis' company, she loved having him around for his ideas and his wit but he didn't have to go to such desperate measures just to get close to her again, did he? 'I just wanted to tell you how much you mean to me. how much our time together has influenced the way I am and how I never want to be without you again.' Artemis said weakly, he was finding it hard to speak, Holly just blinked. 'What are you trying to say, mud-boy?' Holly said the first thing that came into her head. 'I'm not sure. I don't know.' he replied. He really didn't know and he couldn't think straight. Holly jumped down from Butler's arms and stood facing Artemis who had stopped, he was shaking ever so slightly and he looked into Holly's bright hazel eyes and smiled weakly. 'You're a silly boy Artemis. I would have come if you'd have just asked me to.' Holly said and placed a hand on Artemis' dirty cheek. 'All you had to do was ask and I would have been there before you could count to ten.' she leaned in close to Artemis who, by now, was growing almost scared of her.
Holly kissed him on the cheek.
~LEP Plaza, Haven City~
Foaly had clicked the last piece into place and immediately the egg started to whirr. The small egg-shaped mechanical invention was roughly the size of a football; Foaly stood looking at it fondly. 'This is what will save me, Julius' Foaly said, Root looked at it, eyes narrowed. 'What is it supposed to do?' Root asked, picking up the egg. 'It will make a split in the time stop so that I can exit it safely and stay outside the normal loop of time until the time stop recedes.' Root didn't fully understand Foaly's words. A bit too technical for him 'And why do you need to be saved from the Time Stop again?' 'Because, my fungus brained friend,' Foaly snapped, he had told Root this several times now, 'Centaurs don't go into time stop zones because when the time stop ends they loose their minds!!' Foaly shouted, turning away and snatching his egg back from Root. Foaly slowly trotted back to his office, he looked down at the egg, pressed a small switch on its side and watched as it powered itself up. Green energy began to flow from the holes in its sides and slowly, a patch of the blue time-stop air turned slowly back to its normal colour. Foaly moved the egg until the patch of normal time was surrounding his desk and computer; no use being bored while he waited out the Time Stop.
~Disused Koboi Laboratories, Haven City~
Agamemnon and his droned Goblins were happier than usual at the moment. During his trip into the tunnels, Agamemnon had found his target. He didn't care if the Goblins tarred and feathered Holly Short now, the locket that had once rested around Holly's neck, given to her by her mother, was now clasped in Agamemnon's hand. The stone, which rested in the metal casing of the locket, was over six hundred years old. Dating back to the early 15th century, the stone was a bright emerald green stone. It wasn't precious as such, it was only a piece of rock which came from the exact centre of the planet but this stone was special to people who knew how to use it. The power to control any mud-man who could see the stone was the precious part. Agamemnon knew the power was concealed in the stone, his wife Julia had created it from the many spells her family had helped to write over the centuries. But how did it end up in Holly's family? There was a short and simple answer to this question but that wouldn't be much fun to tell, would it?
Not knowing the true power concealed in the stone, Holly's grandfather had stolen it from Agamemnon after he had supposedly committed suicide five hundred and fifty years previously. The unwitting Elf, 'Rose Thorn' Short was a daring thief in these years, stealing tons of gold and precious stones from Haven strongholds and banks with the famous Dwarf, Orion Diggums. This necklace was Rose Thorn's prize catch and when the LEP caught him in 1712, he had hidden this as an heirloom in his family. Passed down from Father to First-born for only one generation now, Holly was the second to inherit this necklace from her mother. She kept it close just because it was her mother's, no one in the family ever knew how powerful the little stone was. The only problem was Holly didn't know it was lost.
~Tunnel Entrance, Haven City~
Trudging muddy, cold and damp from the cave entrance was Artemis, Holly and closely behind, Butler. Butler was completely confused. Artemis was walking closely next to Holly, who felt compelled to cling on to Artemis' arm. The journey through the caves and tunnels had been very enlightening. Holly and Artemis shared their thoughts and feelings which ad been bottled up since their adventure in Russia. Artemis felt completely at ease with himself now that Holly understood his reason for kidnapping another Elf, even if it was her brother. Holly felt complimented by the lengths Artemis would go to be with her, contact with her was obviously Artemis' number on priority after recovery from the memory wipe. Neither Holly or Artemis knew what was happening but they both felt like love struck teenagers. Holly had been denying how she felt for a long time because of the fact that Artemis was just a mud-boy from the surface but now it didn't seem to matter.
Butler shook his head, 'Kids' he mumbled and walked quicker.
Dedicated to Kelaal and Becca.
~Tunnels Beneath Haven City~
Holly wasn't complaining. Riding in the big manservant's arms was pretty comfortable when you were this small and he was so big. She only felt uncomfortable when, with a darting glance, she saw Artemis staring silently up at her in Butler's arms. At this point, Holy had already healed herself but Butler had insisted she take it easy. Holly told them what had happened and Butler was genuinely concerned for her. She looked down at Artemis again; he was still staring, still smiling. Holly spoke to him. 'Hey, mud-boy, what's with the staring contest with my arm?' she joked; Artemis shook his head quickly and blinked. 'I Uhh. well. umm.' Artemis couldn't reply, Holly knew this before he had even spoken. 'Artemis, you're getting a little weird. ever since.' Holly blinked, 'Oh yeah, I'm mad at you!' she said, silencing straight away. Now was Artemis' chance, he knew what he had to say and he needed to say it quickly. 'I wanted to get another Elf, not to harm him but to keep in contact with the People,' he said, Holly making to interrupt him, 'BUT, I had no idea it was going to be your brother and when I found out-' He stopped, taking a deep breath, 'I made every effort to ensure his safe journey home and comfort. I even gave him back all of his technology.' Holly was speechless, she didn't understand much of this, 'But. I gave you. I gave you my helmet, so you could keep in contact with me. I wanted to.. to.' she stopped. Butler was ignoring the conversation; he was scanning the immediate area for any possible enemies. 'I knew you left it, I was very grateful but. I wanted you to be in front of me, I wanted to see you right in front of me again. a view screen wasn't going to cut it.' Artemis looked down at the ground; Holly was beginning to get angry. Artemis didn't have any reason for her to be there for him any more. 'Why, Artemis? Why would you want me to be there? Why would you want me to be 'right in front of you'? Tell me why.' Holly growled. It was true that Holly had begun to enjoy Artemis' company, she loved having him around for his ideas and his wit but he didn't have to go to such desperate measures just to get close to her again, did he? 'I just wanted to tell you how much you mean to me. how much our time together has influenced the way I am and how I never want to be without you again.' Artemis said weakly, he was finding it hard to speak, Holly just blinked. 'What are you trying to say, mud-boy?' Holly said the first thing that came into her head. 'I'm not sure. I don't know.' he replied. He really didn't know and he couldn't think straight. Holly jumped down from Butler's arms and stood facing Artemis who had stopped, he was shaking ever so slightly and he looked into Holly's bright hazel eyes and smiled weakly. 'You're a silly boy Artemis. I would have come if you'd have just asked me to.' Holly said and placed a hand on Artemis' dirty cheek. 'All you had to do was ask and I would have been there before you could count to ten.' she leaned in close to Artemis who, by now, was growing almost scared of her.
Holly kissed him on the cheek.
~LEP Plaza, Haven City~
Foaly had clicked the last piece into place and immediately the egg started to whirr. The small egg-shaped mechanical invention was roughly the size of a football; Foaly stood looking at it fondly. 'This is what will save me, Julius' Foaly said, Root looked at it, eyes narrowed. 'What is it supposed to do?' Root asked, picking up the egg. 'It will make a split in the time stop so that I can exit it safely and stay outside the normal loop of time until the time stop recedes.' Root didn't fully understand Foaly's words. A bit too technical for him 'And why do you need to be saved from the Time Stop again?' 'Because, my fungus brained friend,' Foaly snapped, he had told Root this several times now, 'Centaurs don't go into time stop zones because when the time stop ends they loose their minds!!' Foaly shouted, turning away and snatching his egg back from Root. Foaly slowly trotted back to his office, he looked down at the egg, pressed a small switch on its side and watched as it powered itself up. Green energy began to flow from the holes in its sides and slowly, a patch of the blue time-stop air turned slowly back to its normal colour. Foaly moved the egg until the patch of normal time was surrounding his desk and computer; no use being bored while he waited out the Time Stop.
~Disused Koboi Laboratories, Haven City~
Agamemnon and his droned Goblins were happier than usual at the moment. During his trip into the tunnels, Agamemnon had found his target. He didn't care if the Goblins tarred and feathered Holly Short now, the locket that had once rested around Holly's neck, given to her by her mother, was now clasped in Agamemnon's hand. The stone, which rested in the metal casing of the locket, was over six hundred years old. Dating back to the early 15th century, the stone was a bright emerald green stone. It wasn't precious as such, it was only a piece of rock which came from the exact centre of the planet but this stone was special to people who knew how to use it. The power to control any mud-man who could see the stone was the precious part. Agamemnon knew the power was concealed in the stone, his wife Julia had created it from the many spells her family had helped to write over the centuries. But how did it end up in Holly's family? There was a short and simple answer to this question but that wouldn't be much fun to tell, would it?
Not knowing the true power concealed in the stone, Holly's grandfather had stolen it from Agamemnon after he had supposedly committed suicide five hundred and fifty years previously. The unwitting Elf, 'Rose Thorn' Short was a daring thief in these years, stealing tons of gold and precious stones from Haven strongholds and banks with the famous Dwarf, Orion Diggums. This necklace was Rose Thorn's prize catch and when the LEP caught him in 1712, he had hidden this as an heirloom in his family. Passed down from Father to First-born for only one generation now, Holly was the second to inherit this necklace from her mother. She kept it close just because it was her mother's, no one in the family ever knew how powerful the little stone was. The only problem was Holly didn't know it was lost.
~Tunnel Entrance, Haven City~
Trudging muddy, cold and damp from the cave entrance was Artemis, Holly and closely behind, Butler. Butler was completely confused. Artemis was walking closely next to Holly, who felt compelled to cling on to Artemis' arm. The journey through the caves and tunnels had been very enlightening. Holly and Artemis shared their thoughts and feelings which ad been bottled up since their adventure in Russia. Artemis felt completely at ease with himself now that Holly understood his reason for kidnapping another Elf, even if it was her brother. Holly felt complimented by the lengths Artemis would go to be with her, contact with her was obviously Artemis' number on priority after recovery from the memory wipe. Neither Holly or Artemis knew what was happening but they both felt like love struck teenagers. Holly had been denying how she felt for a long time because of the fact that Artemis was just a mud-boy from the surface but now it didn't seem to matter.
Butler shook his head, 'Kids' he mumbled and walked quicker.
Dedicated to Kelaal and Becca.