A/N: A new story from none other than, moi! I just can't stop coming up
with ideas! (Sorry to the people out there that are still waiting for my
other stories to be updated, I'll get around to it... sometime....... I
hope.) Anyways, this story will catch your interest, I think. I'm having
trouble deciding on a title... so I might change it unexpectedly. Okie
dokie... anyway, the story is about Artemis, of course, and he meets this
other girl, blah blah blah, then a new adventure starts. The fairies are
included in this story... then there is also another couple of fairy
species that even the People don't know about. Because, if the People
could hide from the Mud Men so long... Surely, another form of beings could
be hiding from the People and the Mud Men? Another thing, don't even
bother me that Iris is a Mary Sue, she is going to have some huge faults,
I'll make sure of it.
Dedication: To ednra, for without him this document would never have been posted because I wouldn't have been able to make up my mind about the title.
Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl or any of the other people and things from the books by Eoin. I do own Iris though, she's all mine. She may be clumsy and a little weird, but she is one of my favorite characters, so if any of you try to steal her... I'll set my cat on you. And he is a big cat, with big claws, 'cause I forgot to clip 'em. Heh heh.
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Thy Ancient Kin Forgotten Not
Chapter 1: Iris
~*~
"No, Father. I will not, absolutely not."
"But Arty, this is your chance to finally make communication with people your own age! Maybe even meet someone..." Artemis's father waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Ridiculous. The idea of me doing such a thing is repulsive. I have better things to do than attend this... party. Whatever you wish to call it." Artemis set his jaw obstinately. It was his fifteenth birthday, and his parents had insisted throwing a big party for him, namely a party with other fifteen year-old boys and a lot of fifteen year-old girls. He had managed to wiggle out of a party last year, but his parents had been determined to get him to interact with others his age this year and there had been no escaping because of sudden and unavoidable business meetings to attend in other countries, his parents were cunning when they were determined.
"Please, Arty? I'm sure you'll enjoy the party if you just try a little bit. These people are here for you, you know." Mr. Fowl smiled encouragingly.
Artemis scowled at him. None of these people were there for him, his parents had invited them, and he didn't know most of them. If only they had let him invite his business associates instead, then maybe he could actually get something out of this party.
Mr. Fowl sighed and leaned on his cane. "Well Arty, if you don't go and talk or dance with someone, your mother will be very disappointed," Mr. Fowl nodded his head toward Mrs. Fowl who was talking to a group of her friends a little bit away. "So if you don't go and enjoy yourself then I'll take away your internet and cell phone privileges, and make Butler train you for the entire month you will be grounded."
Artemis jaw dropped, "What?! That's entirely unfair!" No internet? No cell phone? Training with Butler? He'd never survive the first week! Butler wasn't exactly an easy coach, as he had learned when he had first thought he should learn how to protect himself with Butler getting older. Artemis had had to quit before four days had gone by in order to avoid death from exhaustion and too many pulled muscles.
Mr. Fowl smiled the vampire smile Artemis had picked up from him. "Well then, you better get to enjoying yourself. And Arty, life isn't fair."
Artemis scowled. Parents always said life was unfair when they wanted you to cope with something you didn't want to.
Mr. Fowl looked around at the crowd of teenagers in tuxedoes and evening dresses in the Manor ballroom. "Why don't you find someone to dance with to start the night? See anyone you like?"
Artemis turned his back on his father and surveyed the crowd, nothing could be worse than training with Butler, even if it meant dancing with a girl. His cold blue eyes passed over person after person; he forced himself not to look at many of the pretty girls around on the dance floor for too long. Hormones were frying his brain, and he didn't like looking like a drooling cave man.
A lonely-looking girl on the other side of the room near the enormous windows, to his shame, caught his eye. Her dress was a deep ever-green and loose blonde hair cascaded down her back so fair it was almost white. Artemis sighed, might as well get it over with.
As Artemis ventured into the crowd Mr. Fowl smiled triumphantly and his wife came up to his side.
"It worked?" Angeline inquired.
Mr. Fowl nodded. "Yep, I had to use the Butler threat on him."
"He always was so very stubborn."
"Yep, he picked that up from me."
Angeline chuckled and took his arm. "Oh, Timmy..."
Artemis pushed his way through the crowd of teenagers, most of which he was astonished to discover, were much taller than he was. Artemis's scowl deepened, he had always felt small with Butler around but he had never realized how small he really was. Finally he reached the other side of the room. The girl was still there, her back was turned to him and she was admiring the view of the garden from the floor-to-ceiling window.
Artemis took a step forward, and another. The next step was harder to take, surely there was some way he could avoid this? By the time Artemis reached the girl all his previous anger had been replaced by... nervousness? Artemis took a deep breath, the only interactions with women Artemis had ever had were with his mother and Juliet, and someone else he couldn't quite remember. He had heard awful rumors about how women usually act at St. Bartleby's, and he honestly didn't think women sounded like very nice people.
"Hi." Artemis felt stupid once it had left his mouth. But it was all he could manage at the moment.
"Hm?" The girl turned around. "Oh, hello." She smiled a little, knowing smile like she was amused with the world. Artemis's blue eyes met her violet ones, which went well with her hair, and to Artemis's ultimate shame, he felt himself blush. Curse hormones.
"Uh, hi." He repeated.
The girl's smile widened. Her face was pale, almost as much as Artemis's but there was more life to her face, whereas Artemis looked like the undead.
Artemis smiled back, unable to come up with anything intelligent to say.
The girl's smile still got wider. Artemis wondered what could be so funny. Finally, the girl couldn't hold it back any longer and she laughed raucously.
Artemis grew indignant. "Excuse me, but what could possibly be so funny?"
The girl put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from giggling. "I'm sorry, it's just... it's just my old boyfriend used to blush a lot, like you're doing right now, and he had red hair... so he was so very a funny sight. He looked quite like a cherry, or a tomato. And you just reminded me of him."
"Oh." He said for lack of an intelligent thing to say. Artemis's stomach lurched and flopped inside him like a crazed three-legged rabbit and his heart pounded against his ribcage like an overactive bouncy ball. He shifted his feet nervously.
Finally the girl managed to suppress her giggle fit; she smiled broadly, her long, pale face filled with amusement. "Sorry 'bout that, it was just so funny. Anyways," she extended one pale hand with the long, tapered fingers of an artist or writer. "I'm Iris."
Artemis took her hand and shook it, her hand fit perfectly into his big, clumsy, pubescent hand. "Artemis." He said after he had swallowed the lump in his throat.
When she had retracted her hand Artemis looked over his shoulder desperately in search of something to reassure him. His mother and father were watching him from the dance floor while doing a waltz.
Artemis turned back to Iris who was watching him with intense violet eyes with an amused smile on her face. "Um, would you- would you like to dance?" What was wrong with him? Where had his great vocabulary gone?
Iris's warm-pink lips stretched into a pleased smile, Artemis blushed deeper, for he was starting to like her smile. "Of course." She extended her hand to him again.
At first Artemis wasn't sure what he was supposed to do because of his hormone-stupefied brain. But he took her hand in his and guided her to the dance floor.
It took him a moment of fumbling with his clumsy, pubescent hands to figure out he was supposed to put his hand on her waist and then they had joined in on the waltz. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his parents smiling proudly, and triumphantly, in his father's case. But at the far reaches of his peripheral vision he thought he glimpsed Butler smirking in a corner by a fan palm plant.
Artemis moved on the dance floor awkwardly, he was sure he stepped on her feet once or twice. Or had Iris been the one to step on his feet? But now that Artemis could move with purpose he felt himself calming a little.
He couldn't be sure if Iris was really looking at him, or beyond him; she had an odd way of looking like she saw everything at once but was also daydreaming and paying no attention at all. Artemis wondered how she did that. At least she was shorter than he was, if only by an inch or two, but he didn't feel quite so small anymore.
Just when he thought his normal cool was coming back the waltz ended and the orchestra began a slow song. Curse the orchestra. Whoever had invented hormones and slow songs had a very sadistic mind. Iris came closer, the intoxicating smell of some exotic floral perfume filled his nostrils, and Artemis wondered if he would have a heart attack then and there.
They rocked back and forth with the music; was there any way to get out of this without having to train with Butler?
Then someone tapped his shoulder, Artemis turned, grateful for the excuse to let go of Iris.
"What do you think you are doing?" A gruff voice said.
Artemis swallowed; he looked up and up and up, the man must have been as tall as Butler, and almost just as buff as Butler. Right then, Artemis was having second thoughts. Maybe training with Butler was better than asking a girl to dance.
"Um, dancing." Oh yeah, that sounded smart.
The man raised a pale eyebrow that almost reached up to his curly, white-blonde hair. "Dancing, huh? And who do you think you're dancing with?"
Artemis swallowed hard; he had heard stories from other boys at St. Bartleby's that if you were unlucky enough to dance with the girlfriends of some big buff guy they would beat you up. But wait, wasn't this guy a little old for Iris? He must have been at least twenty-five, he also looked strangely familiar. He looked back at Iris, she had that strange dreamy and attentive look in her eye, and she didn't look worried for Artemis's safety at all. But then he saw the resemblance, the same long, pale faces, the white-blonde hair, and the high cheekbones, Iris and this man were related.
"Well?" The man didn't sound too friendly.
"Oh Wesley, this is Artemis." Iris finally, to Artemis's relief, had joined the potentially dangerous situation.
Wesley looked down on Iris, who was tiny in comparison to him. "He wasn't bothering you was he, little sister?"
Oh, wonderful. That made him her big brother. Artemis had heard even worse stories about overprotective older brothers.
"No, he wasn't bothering me. We were just dancing, Wesley."
The older sibling scowled. "What if he-"
"Excuse me, but what is going on here?"
Artemis relaxed, Butler was here.
Wesley's brown eyes met the cold ones of the enormous man standing at Artemis's shoulder. "And who might you be?"
Butler's expression was blank but the way he clasped Artemis's shoulder was aggressively protective. "I am Butler, and I could be asking you the same question."
"Butler, eh? I'm Wesley. And you can be telling your kid there," he gestured to Artemis, "that I don't want him near my little sister."
Butler's grip on Artemis's shoulder tightened, there was immediate dislike between Butler and Wesley, and Artemis could almost feel hatred emanating from the two.
"Wesley, there is no need for this. Artemis and I were only dancing, it's not like he was going to hurt me or anything."
Wesley looked down at Iris again. "How can you know that? What if he was going to hurt you? He can't be up to anything good if he's got this big guy following him around."
Butler pushed Artemis behind him to confront Wesley face to face. "Actually, Artemis is the reason you are here. This is his birthday party, and the reason I'm here is to keep people like you from hurting him."
Wesley snarled. "Oh, so he's the birthday boy now is he? Well, I'm here to keep the hands of little felons like him off my sister."
Someone was tugging at his arm, Artemis turned to see Iris pulling him away from Butler and Wesley. "Where are we going?"
Iris didn't answer. She pulled him out the ballroom door into the Manor garden. They past spouting fountains and many beautiful flowers that Juliet and Butler and the gardeners worked so hard everyday to keep beautiful. Iris guided him into the rose bush maze, which was one of Artemis's favorite thinking spots, and turned aimlessly through the maze until, amazingly, they got to the very center where a large fountain with a mermaid perched on a carved marble rock spurted water into the air.
Iris let go of his wrist and walked over to a garden bench on one side of the grassy clearing where she promptly sat down.
Artemis sat down beside her. "What was that all about?"
Iris ran a hand through her hair to smooth it down. "It will take Wesley a while to find us here. I'm really sorry about him; he's always like that, so it's nothing personal. So who was that big guy?"
"Oh, that was Butler. He's my bodyguard, and also my(ah, butler."
Iris giggled. "So he's named Butler and he IS a butler? Ha! Is that his real name?"
Artemis blinked. "As far as I know." But didn't he know more? Artemis thought he could remember Butler having a first name but he couldn't quite grasp it.
Iris was silent. Artemis looked at her, wondering what he was supposed to do. But he had to stop himself from staring at her, the pale moonlight hit her milky skin in a most striking way, it almost made him want to drool. Once again, curse hormones.
Artemis looked away and instead set his eyes on the stars. He had always loved to sit out here and watch the stars. Even though lately he found less and less time to sit out here in the garden, this had been his favorite star-watching spot when he was little. A tiny smile played across his lips as he began to truly relax for the first time that evening. Artemis closed his eyes and he could hear the ghost of a beautiful, exotic song, a song he was sure he had heard long ago.
Artemis was suddenly jerked back to real life, literally. Something was holding him down; a blindfold had been put over his eyes so he couldn't see. He could hear Iris's muffled screams somewhere nearby, before a wet cloth was pressed over his mouth and nose. The next time he inhaled the chemicals in the cloth entered his body and everything grew quiet as he slipped into unconsciousness.
~*~
"D'Arvit!" Captain Trouble Kelp cursed as he and his comrades were forced to retreat behind a building in one of Haven's many plazas in order to avoid being pin cushioned by the multitudes of arrows that were raining down on the LEP officers. He could hear many of his officers repeating the phrase.
Trouble dodged behind the corner with the rest of his troop and leaned his back against the wall to catch his breath. Ever since the Artemis Fowl affair and the goblin uprising the People had lived in peace. Until now.
Haven civilians were being rushed to shelters as the LEP tried earnestly to fight back the strange forces that had invaded the Underground. The invaders had come right out of the blue, none of the People had known of the gathering of the army, and the invaders obviously weren't Mud Men. The strange enemies fought with bows and arrows and swords and spears and all other kinds of old-time weapons and more. But what made them so difficult to defeat was that they somehow were magically advanced enough to use curses and enchantments powerful enough to make it nearly impossible for the LEP to fight back. Only licensed wizards were supposed to be able to do that, and there were few wizards today that were powerful enough to do such big time magic.
Every attempt of the LEP's to attack the invaders came up fruitless. Foaly was just about to have a nervous breakdown back in the Op's booth, since he knew next to nothing about the People's new adversaries and he was having trouble learning information about them. He knew but one thing, they dubbed themselves as the army of the Unseelie Court.
~*~
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU 'DON'T KNOW'?!!! ALL THAT MONEY IS POURED INTO YOUR DEPARTMENT AND YOU 'DON'T KNOW'????" Commander Julius Root was busy screaming his head off at a timid looking centaur that was cowering by his computer twiddling his thumbs as Holly entered. "WELL PONY??!! WHERE'S MY INFORMATION??? I WANT TO KNOW WHO THE D'ARVIT THESE GUYS ARE AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO STOP THEM!!!!"
"Er... Well Julius, sir... I haven't found... anything..." Foaly looked truly put out now that suddenly his computers weren't helping him.
"WELL THEN, PONY, YOU BETTER GET TO FINDIN' SOMETHING OR I DO BELIEVE YOUR BUDGET WILL BE GETTING A GREAT DEAL SMALLER!!!!"
And then something dawned on Holly. "Commander?"
Root whirled around to face her, his face the trademark hue of purple. "What is it Captain?" He said rather vehemently.
"Well, could HE be involved with this? I mean, I know he was mind-wiped, but knowing him he probably had some sort of scheme to get his memories back and-"
"SILENCE CAPTAIN!!!" Root and Foaly didn't even need to ask who 'HE' was, since 'HE' was Holly's automatic answer for every problem that came up, mind-wipe or no.
"That is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULUS!!! Fowl was mind-wiped a year and a half ago and HE ISN'T COMING BACK!!! PERIOD!!! END OF DISCUSSION!!!"
Holly's eyebrows came together as she was unconvinced. Artemis Fowl would be making his comeback soon, she was sure of it. If only people would believe her.
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A/N: Oooooh... I am SOOOOO EVIL! Muahahahahaha! Major cliffy there. Of course we all know what Holly is going to do next, but what has happened to Arty and Iris? What is the Unseelie Court and why are they attacking the People? I'm not telling! But maybe if I get lots of reviews... *wink, wink* Oh, and for those of you that think that Jon Spiro, the mafia, the B'Wa Kell, or Opal Koboi were the ones that kidnapped Arty and Iris, don't even bother to think it.
Dedication: To ednra, for without him this document would never have been posted because I wouldn't have been able to make up my mind about the title.
Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl or any of the other people and things from the books by Eoin. I do own Iris though, she's all mine. She may be clumsy and a little weird, but she is one of my favorite characters, so if any of you try to steal her... I'll set my cat on you. And he is a big cat, with big claws, 'cause I forgot to clip 'em. Heh heh.
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Thy Ancient Kin Forgotten Not
Chapter 1: Iris
~*~
"No, Father. I will not, absolutely not."
"But Arty, this is your chance to finally make communication with people your own age! Maybe even meet someone..." Artemis's father waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Ridiculous. The idea of me doing such a thing is repulsive. I have better things to do than attend this... party. Whatever you wish to call it." Artemis set his jaw obstinately. It was his fifteenth birthday, and his parents had insisted throwing a big party for him, namely a party with other fifteen year-old boys and a lot of fifteen year-old girls. He had managed to wiggle out of a party last year, but his parents had been determined to get him to interact with others his age this year and there had been no escaping because of sudden and unavoidable business meetings to attend in other countries, his parents were cunning when they were determined.
"Please, Arty? I'm sure you'll enjoy the party if you just try a little bit. These people are here for you, you know." Mr. Fowl smiled encouragingly.
Artemis scowled at him. None of these people were there for him, his parents had invited them, and he didn't know most of them. If only they had let him invite his business associates instead, then maybe he could actually get something out of this party.
Mr. Fowl sighed and leaned on his cane. "Well Arty, if you don't go and talk or dance with someone, your mother will be very disappointed," Mr. Fowl nodded his head toward Mrs. Fowl who was talking to a group of her friends a little bit away. "So if you don't go and enjoy yourself then I'll take away your internet and cell phone privileges, and make Butler train you for the entire month you will be grounded."
Artemis jaw dropped, "What?! That's entirely unfair!" No internet? No cell phone? Training with Butler? He'd never survive the first week! Butler wasn't exactly an easy coach, as he had learned when he had first thought he should learn how to protect himself with Butler getting older. Artemis had had to quit before four days had gone by in order to avoid death from exhaustion and too many pulled muscles.
Mr. Fowl smiled the vampire smile Artemis had picked up from him. "Well then, you better get to enjoying yourself. And Arty, life isn't fair."
Artemis scowled. Parents always said life was unfair when they wanted you to cope with something you didn't want to.
Mr. Fowl looked around at the crowd of teenagers in tuxedoes and evening dresses in the Manor ballroom. "Why don't you find someone to dance with to start the night? See anyone you like?"
Artemis turned his back on his father and surveyed the crowd, nothing could be worse than training with Butler, even if it meant dancing with a girl. His cold blue eyes passed over person after person; he forced himself not to look at many of the pretty girls around on the dance floor for too long. Hormones were frying his brain, and he didn't like looking like a drooling cave man.
A lonely-looking girl on the other side of the room near the enormous windows, to his shame, caught his eye. Her dress was a deep ever-green and loose blonde hair cascaded down her back so fair it was almost white. Artemis sighed, might as well get it over with.
As Artemis ventured into the crowd Mr. Fowl smiled triumphantly and his wife came up to his side.
"It worked?" Angeline inquired.
Mr. Fowl nodded. "Yep, I had to use the Butler threat on him."
"He always was so very stubborn."
"Yep, he picked that up from me."
Angeline chuckled and took his arm. "Oh, Timmy..."
Artemis pushed his way through the crowd of teenagers, most of which he was astonished to discover, were much taller than he was. Artemis's scowl deepened, he had always felt small with Butler around but he had never realized how small he really was. Finally he reached the other side of the room. The girl was still there, her back was turned to him and she was admiring the view of the garden from the floor-to-ceiling window.
Artemis took a step forward, and another. The next step was harder to take, surely there was some way he could avoid this? By the time Artemis reached the girl all his previous anger had been replaced by... nervousness? Artemis took a deep breath, the only interactions with women Artemis had ever had were with his mother and Juliet, and someone else he couldn't quite remember. He had heard awful rumors about how women usually act at St. Bartleby's, and he honestly didn't think women sounded like very nice people.
"Hi." Artemis felt stupid once it had left his mouth. But it was all he could manage at the moment.
"Hm?" The girl turned around. "Oh, hello." She smiled a little, knowing smile like she was amused with the world. Artemis's blue eyes met her violet ones, which went well with her hair, and to Artemis's ultimate shame, he felt himself blush. Curse hormones.
"Uh, hi." He repeated.
The girl's smile widened. Her face was pale, almost as much as Artemis's but there was more life to her face, whereas Artemis looked like the undead.
Artemis smiled back, unable to come up with anything intelligent to say.
The girl's smile still got wider. Artemis wondered what could be so funny. Finally, the girl couldn't hold it back any longer and she laughed raucously.
Artemis grew indignant. "Excuse me, but what could possibly be so funny?"
The girl put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from giggling. "I'm sorry, it's just... it's just my old boyfriend used to blush a lot, like you're doing right now, and he had red hair... so he was so very a funny sight. He looked quite like a cherry, or a tomato. And you just reminded me of him."
"Oh." He said for lack of an intelligent thing to say. Artemis's stomach lurched and flopped inside him like a crazed three-legged rabbit and his heart pounded against his ribcage like an overactive bouncy ball. He shifted his feet nervously.
Finally the girl managed to suppress her giggle fit; she smiled broadly, her long, pale face filled with amusement. "Sorry 'bout that, it was just so funny. Anyways," she extended one pale hand with the long, tapered fingers of an artist or writer. "I'm Iris."
Artemis took her hand and shook it, her hand fit perfectly into his big, clumsy, pubescent hand. "Artemis." He said after he had swallowed the lump in his throat.
When she had retracted her hand Artemis looked over his shoulder desperately in search of something to reassure him. His mother and father were watching him from the dance floor while doing a waltz.
Artemis turned back to Iris who was watching him with intense violet eyes with an amused smile on her face. "Um, would you- would you like to dance?" What was wrong with him? Where had his great vocabulary gone?
Iris's warm-pink lips stretched into a pleased smile, Artemis blushed deeper, for he was starting to like her smile. "Of course." She extended her hand to him again.
At first Artemis wasn't sure what he was supposed to do because of his hormone-stupefied brain. But he took her hand in his and guided her to the dance floor.
It took him a moment of fumbling with his clumsy, pubescent hands to figure out he was supposed to put his hand on her waist and then they had joined in on the waltz. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his parents smiling proudly, and triumphantly, in his father's case. But at the far reaches of his peripheral vision he thought he glimpsed Butler smirking in a corner by a fan palm plant.
Artemis moved on the dance floor awkwardly, he was sure he stepped on her feet once or twice. Or had Iris been the one to step on his feet? But now that Artemis could move with purpose he felt himself calming a little.
He couldn't be sure if Iris was really looking at him, or beyond him; she had an odd way of looking like she saw everything at once but was also daydreaming and paying no attention at all. Artemis wondered how she did that. At least she was shorter than he was, if only by an inch or two, but he didn't feel quite so small anymore.
Just when he thought his normal cool was coming back the waltz ended and the orchestra began a slow song. Curse the orchestra. Whoever had invented hormones and slow songs had a very sadistic mind. Iris came closer, the intoxicating smell of some exotic floral perfume filled his nostrils, and Artemis wondered if he would have a heart attack then and there.
They rocked back and forth with the music; was there any way to get out of this without having to train with Butler?
Then someone tapped his shoulder, Artemis turned, grateful for the excuse to let go of Iris.
"What do you think you are doing?" A gruff voice said.
Artemis swallowed; he looked up and up and up, the man must have been as tall as Butler, and almost just as buff as Butler. Right then, Artemis was having second thoughts. Maybe training with Butler was better than asking a girl to dance.
"Um, dancing." Oh yeah, that sounded smart.
The man raised a pale eyebrow that almost reached up to his curly, white-blonde hair. "Dancing, huh? And who do you think you're dancing with?"
Artemis swallowed hard; he had heard stories from other boys at St. Bartleby's that if you were unlucky enough to dance with the girlfriends of some big buff guy they would beat you up. But wait, wasn't this guy a little old for Iris? He must have been at least twenty-five, he also looked strangely familiar. He looked back at Iris, she had that strange dreamy and attentive look in her eye, and she didn't look worried for Artemis's safety at all. But then he saw the resemblance, the same long, pale faces, the white-blonde hair, and the high cheekbones, Iris and this man were related.
"Well?" The man didn't sound too friendly.
"Oh Wesley, this is Artemis." Iris finally, to Artemis's relief, had joined the potentially dangerous situation.
Wesley looked down on Iris, who was tiny in comparison to him. "He wasn't bothering you was he, little sister?"
Oh, wonderful. That made him her big brother. Artemis had heard even worse stories about overprotective older brothers.
"No, he wasn't bothering me. We were just dancing, Wesley."
The older sibling scowled. "What if he-"
"Excuse me, but what is going on here?"
Artemis relaxed, Butler was here.
Wesley's brown eyes met the cold ones of the enormous man standing at Artemis's shoulder. "And who might you be?"
Butler's expression was blank but the way he clasped Artemis's shoulder was aggressively protective. "I am Butler, and I could be asking you the same question."
"Butler, eh? I'm Wesley. And you can be telling your kid there," he gestured to Artemis, "that I don't want him near my little sister."
Butler's grip on Artemis's shoulder tightened, there was immediate dislike between Butler and Wesley, and Artemis could almost feel hatred emanating from the two.
"Wesley, there is no need for this. Artemis and I were only dancing, it's not like he was going to hurt me or anything."
Wesley looked down at Iris again. "How can you know that? What if he was going to hurt you? He can't be up to anything good if he's got this big guy following him around."
Butler pushed Artemis behind him to confront Wesley face to face. "Actually, Artemis is the reason you are here. This is his birthday party, and the reason I'm here is to keep people like you from hurting him."
Wesley snarled. "Oh, so he's the birthday boy now is he? Well, I'm here to keep the hands of little felons like him off my sister."
Someone was tugging at his arm, Artemis turned to see Iris pulling him away from Butler and Wesley. "Where are we going?"
Iris didn't answer. She pulled him out the ballroom door into the Manor garden. They past spouting fountains and many beautiful flowers that Juliet and Butler and the gardeners worked so hard everyday to keep beautiful. Iris guided him into the rose bush maze, which was one of Artemis's favorite thinking spots, and turned aimlessly through the maze until, amazingly, they got to the very center where a large fountain with a mermaid perched on a carved marble rock spurted water into the air.
Iris let go of his wrist and walked over to a garden bench on one side of the grassy clearing where she promptly sat down.
Artemis sat down beside her. "What was that all about?"
Iris ran a hand through her hair to smooth it down. "It will take Wesley a while to find us here. I'm really sorry about him; he's always like that, so it's nothing personal. So who was that big guy?"
"Oh, that was Butler. He's my bodyguard, and also my(ah, butler."
Iris giggled. "So he's named Butler and he IS a butler? Ha! Is that his real name?"
Artemis blinked. "As far as I know." But didn't he know more? Artemis thought he could remember Butler having a first name but he couldn't quite grasp it.
Iris was silent. Artemis looked at her, wondering what he was supposed to do. But he had to stop himself from staring at her, the pale moonlight hit her milky skin in a most striking way, it almost made him want to drool. Once again, curse hormones.
Artemis looked away and instead set his eyes on the stars. He had always loved to sit out here and watch the stars. Even though lately he found less and less time to sit out here in the garden, this had been his favorite star-watching spot when he was little. A tiny smile played across his lips as he began to truly relax for the first time that evening. Artemis closed his eyes and he could hear the ghost of a beautiful, exotic song, a song he was sure he had heard long ago.
Artemis was suddenly jerked back to real life, literally. Something was holding him down; a blindfold had been put over his eyes so he couldn't see. He could hear Iris's muffled screams somewhere nearby, before a wet cloth was pressed over his mouth and nose. The next time he inhaled the chemicals in the cloth entered his body and everything grew quiet as he slipped into unconsciousness.
~*~
"D'Arvit!" Captain Trouble Kelp cursed as he and his comrades were forced to retreat behind a building in one of Haven's many plazas in order to avoid being pin cushioned by the multitudes of arrows that were raining down on the LEP officers. He could hear many of his officers repeating the phrase.
Trouble dodged behind the corner with the rest of his troop and leaned his back against the wall to catch his breath. Ever since the Artemis Fowl affair and the goblin uprising the People had lived in peace. Until now.
Haven civilians were being rushed to shelters as the LEP tried earnestly to fight back the strange forces that had invaded the Underground. The invaders had come right out of the blue, none of the People had known of the gathering of the army, and the invaders obviously weren't Mud Men. The strange enemies fought with bows and arrows and swords and spears and all other kinds of old-time weapons and more. But what made them so difficult to defeat was that they somehow were magically advanced enough to use curses and enchantments powerful enough to make it nearly impossible for the LEP to fight back. Only licensed wizards were supposed to be able to do that, and there were few wizards today that were powerful enough to do such big time magic.
Every attempt of the LEP's to attack the invaders came up fruitless. Foaly was just about to have a nervous breakdown back in the Op's booth, since he knew next to nothing about the People's new adversaries and he was having trouble learning information about them. He knew but one thing, they dubbed themselves as the army of the Unseelie Court.
~*~
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU 'DON'T KNOW'?!!! ALL THAT MONEY IS POURED INTO YOUR DEPARTMENT AND YOU 'DON'T KNOW'????" Commander Julius Root was busy screaming his head off at a timid looking centaur that was cowering by his computer twiddling his thumbs as Holly entered. "WELL PONY??!! WHERE'S MY INFORMATION??? I WANT TO KNOW WHO THE D'ARVIT THESE GUYS ARE AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO STOP THEM!!!!"
"Er... Well Julius, sir... I haven't found... anything..." Foaly looked truly put out now that suddenly his computers weren't helping him.
"WELL THEN, PONY, YOU BETTER GET TO FINDIN' SOMETHING OR I DO BELIEVE YOUR BUDGET WILL BE GETTING A GREAT DEAL SMALLER!!!!"
And then something dawned on Holly. "Commander?"
Root whirled around to face her, his face the trademark hue of purple. "What is it Captain?" He said rather vehemently.
"Well, could HE be involved with this? I mean, I know he was mind-wiped, but knowing him he probably had some sort of scheme to get his memories back and-"
"SILENCE CAPTAIN!!!" Root and Foaly didn't even need to ask who 'HE' was, since 'HE' was Holly's automatic answer for every problem that came up, mind-wipe or no.
"That is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULUS!!! Fowl was mind-wiped a year and a half ago and HE ISN'T COMING BACK!!! PERIOD!!! END OF DISCUSSION!!!"
Holly's eyebrows came together as she was unconvinced. Artemis Fowl would be making his comeback soon, she was sure of it. If only people would believe her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Oooooh... I am SOOOOO EVIL! Muahahahahaha! Major cliffy there. Of course we all know what Holly is going to do next, but what has happened to Arty and Iris? What is the Unseelie Court and why are they attacking the People? I'm not telling! But maybe if I get lots of reviews... *wink, wink* Oh, and for those of you that think that Jon Spiro, the mafia, the B'Wa Kell, or Opal Koboi were the ones that kidnapped Arty and Iris, don't even bother to think it.