A/N: FINALLY!!!!! I'M BACK!!!!!! *crowd goes wild* Hello peoples! It seems that Crouching Secrets, Hidden Memories has easily made it to the top of peoples' favorite lists. Sorry it took so long, but I had to reconstruct the plot in order to fit into the events in the Eternity Code. Now, the plot line will have even more action and romantic stuff. Here is a little summary: Artemis has been keeping a secret, a big secret. That even he didn't know about. It was erased from his mind when he was mind wiped. But that makes him vulnerable to an ancient enemy, an enemy he didn't even know he had. This enemy is dangerous, and powerful. If Artemis doesn't remember things soon then everything could get really messy, really fast.

Replies to reviewers, whoa... WAY too many reviews to do them all, so I am just going to pick a few people that asked questions or something:

Big Friendly Walrus: Yes, yes. I know, this looks like I total Mary Sue doesn't it? Don't worry, Belle has flaws, lots of them, I just haven't revealed them yet. Like, even though she seems so sweet right now, she has a REALLY bad temper. As bad as Julius's, well, not that bad... You really won't want to get on her bad side, because she can be BRUTAL. But Arty doesn't remember that he has to be careful with her temper... heh heh...

PsychoDude: PSX???? I don't know! All I have is a PS1 and a couple of games. How would I know about that stuff? And yes, eventually Artemis will get his memory back. Not till later though. Heh heh... And Belle is not Mexican!

ednra: You, mister, are in BIG TROUBLE if you don't review some more of my stories!!! You hear?? I don't get enough feedback from you!!!

Burgundy: No, I'm not parodying a Mary Sue, if I am, I don't know that I am. And Belle is NOT a Mary Sue, the story isn't over yet and you don't know enough to judge her! Humph.

Tie-Kerl: Yeah, I know. I tend to make up female characters that have flaws that don't seem to come up till a couple of chapters later in the story. But she isn't a Mary Sue, believe me. All will be explained later on in the story. Oh, and the story will get even better now, because this is where the action begins!!!

Vana Burke: Yep, not a single other story in this section where Artemis gets amnesia. Same goes with my One with the Moon story, it is the only story where Arty goes werewolf. I like to have my storylines to be very original. That's me, original, and individual. Heh heh...

anime_fan: Well, first of all, Holly can't heal him, he was mind wiped in the Eternity Code. And magic only heals the physical injuries, it can't take down the mental barrier blocking out Artemis's memories. And about the Xbox and Nintendo 64 thing, I never said he actually *plays* with them, they are just the result of his parents' attempts to make him happy.

Thank you everybody for the reviews! I love reading reviews sooo much!! And I apologize to those I infuriated with my sluggishness with the updating.

Disclaimer: mumblegrumblerumble... I do not own any Artemis Fowl characters and stuff that belong to Eoin Colfer... mumblegrumblerumble...

Crouching Secrets, Hidden Memories

Chapter 3:

Butler sighed, typing in the password to the surveillance cameras that only he, and Artemis Sr. knew, Artemis Jr. used to know, but he kinda forgot it. Ever since that car accident Artemis hadn't remembered a thing. Not a thing, nothing, zip, zero, zilch. He had even forgotten what his parents looked like for heaven's sake! And what would happen to Artemis if he didn't start to remember things soon? He would have to go back to school eventually, and if he didn't remember how to read he would have to go all the way back to elementary school. There was no way he would be able to finish his years at St. Bartleby's with him in this state.

Butler looked up at the plasma monitor where the surveillance cameras were showing all that was going on in Fowl Manor. There was Artemis, wandering the dark corridors of his forgotten home. Obviously lost again, he was probably looking for a bathroom or something. Oh well, Belle would probably help him, she was usually up late around this hour in the library writing in her diary or something. Or she was soaking in the hot tub. She LOVED the hot tub. He searched the monitors for the form of Belle in her white silk nightgown. There she was, out in the garden looking at the stars and the luminous full moon.

Before Artemis lost his memory he and she had spent a lot of time out in the garden at night. Especially on nights when the moon was full. Before that car accident the two of them had been almost inseparable, never away from each other's side, not even when they got into fights. Which was not very common, Belle and Artemis got along so well it seemed they read each other's minds; they even finished each other's sentences sometimes.

But he had never gotten along well with Belle himself. She was incredibly annoying, she insisted on hanging onto Artemis 24/7 and she demanded Butler's obedience. Besides, HE was the adoptive father; he was supposed to be the one in charge. But Belle insisted that he wait on her hand and foot. Artemis ordered him around all the time, but at least he used a respective tone, unlike Belle, who seemed to think she was the queen of England or something, and Artemis her king.

If it hadn't been for Artemis's fondness of Belle he would never have adopted the girl. Mr. and Mrs. Fowl had insisted that Artemis make a friend, somehow. So Artemis had donated money to a local orphanage and had gone there to visit and "talk" with the other children there. He had only intended to go to the orphanage once, but he had forced Butler to drive him back there the next day, and then the next day, and the next. It had turned out that Artemis had been paying visits to one orphan in particular. Belle Sampson, he insisted on going to see her every day. Finally it had become absolutely ridiculous and Butler had resolved to adopt the girl himself. Mr. and Mrs. Fowl had been delighted that their attempts to have their little boy socialize with others his age had finally paid off and he had made a friend. But they soon found out that Belle was more than just a friend to Artemis.

Belle and Artemis had seemed so happy together, it must have been the first time that either of them had been truly happy in their entire lives. As Artemis was always so lonely, and Belle had always been in despair of her parents' choice of leaving her behind. But once they had finally been happy, now it was all taken away from them, just because a chauffeur had had a little too much champagne.

Butler turned his attention to Artemis, who was currently wondering into one of the numerous tastefully decorated rooms of Fowl Manor. He had had the casts taken off only a couple of days ago, so navigation was much easier for him these days. Artemis looked around the room, and then walked out again. He was searching for something, or someone, sometimes he went to find Belle. Butler shook his head; even with Artemis's memories erased he was still hard to separate from Belle.

~*~

Artemis glanced around the room. Nothing did he recognize, even after four weeks staying in this 'home' he didn't remember it. If he had stayed here before he had started suffering from amnesia he truly wondered how on Earth he had found his way around, the twisting corridors and the infinite rooms, each one looking almost the same as the one before it and the one after. It was impossible to get around. He was beginning to wonder if the Manor was made to be a maze instead of an actual dwelling. He couldn't even find his way to a doorway where he could get outside to Belle in the garden.

He always found himself strangely drawn to her. Artemis was attracted to her for sure, but there was something else. Her smile seemed to bring a tickling at the back of his mind, like it was sparking a distant memory buried deep underneath the emptiness that filled his head. But those memories never seemed to get quite free of the thick layers of nothingness, there was always too much in the way, too many obstacles. Obstacles, he realized, that may never be broken down. What would happen then? Would he have to live like this forever? Feeling empty and unfinished for an eternity? Would he ever be able to endure that? What awaited him on the other side of that wall in his mind? What would eventually break that wall down? Would he ever get his memories back? There were so many questions he asked himself these days, and more often that not, he rarely had an answer for them.

He sighed, watching his feet as he walked along, not paying attention to the hallway ahead of him, until his head bumped into something hard. He rubbed his cranium and looked up. He smiled, without even realizing it he had walked right to the back door of Fowl Manor. And outside through the glass panes of the door he could see Belle, perched on an elegant garden bench, she glowed fantastically in the moonlight and her hair swayed in the gentle breeze. Her face was turned upward, her eyes glittering softly in the starlight. She was so beautiful; he could only wonder how he could possibly forget her.

He opened the door, and walked out into the cool night. His feet padded across the soft green turf silently. He didn't know why but stealth seemed to come to him naturally. Sneaking around must have been a habit of his before he had been hit with this case of amnesia.

Artemis stopped just behind a tree, its branches loaded with cherry blossoms. He watched Belle, balanced gracefully on the bench. She was yet to detect his presence, and he just watched her silently, unseen. Then a cold hand was pressed across his lips, preventing him from crying out. Cold steel was placed against the skin of his neck, the skin in contact with it started to burn.

He struggled, but in vain. Whoever was holding him was holding him tight. Suddenly, he felt very sleepy. His eyelids drooped, and soon everything went dark as he drifted into a deep slumber. Artemis hung limp and vulnerable in the arms of his kidnapper, whom with a wave of an arm disappeared, taking Artemis as well.

~*~

Belle shivered, a cold wind blew through the garden. Suddenly she felt restless, she found little interest in the stars anymore, she felt like there was something she was missing. Something important, not the good sort of important either. She scanned the garden with her eyes, nothing had changed. But she did notice something, the tree branches and bushes were still, as if there was no wind at all. She blinked, she felt the intensely cold current of air on her skin, but that should mean the tree branches would be shaking wouldn't it?

She shook her head, she probably just needed sleep. She got up and started for the door into the Manor, when she reached it she turned and looked over the garden again. Something was strange here, she felt an urge to walk back into the garden. Towards a particular cherry tree actually. She frowned and shook her head, she really needed sleep.

Belle opened the door and entered Fowl Manor. When the door closed behind her she had expected the cold wind to go away, but the odd thing was it didn't. She shook her head again and rubbed her eyes. Her bed would be warm, she was sure of it.

~*~

A/N: Here is where I am going to stop this chapter. Next one will be up sometime. Sorry, I told you Holly would be in this chapter, but I had to redo the entire plot line so it fit in with The Eternity Code. I'm not sure when Holly will come in, I think it would be safe to say next chapter.

Chow! Don't forget to review!

~Kitty~