A/N: Hi again! Sorry it took so long to type it up, I got buried under a
mound of homework and had to dig myself out with my bare hands! Well,
actually, I had a pen too. Okies! To work. Unless you didn't notice the
title of the prologue, it said what is to COME. So, nobody's died. YET.
So, until later. I never said anyone died, now did I? Heh heh...
Anyways... I think I wanted to say something else... but I forgot it... oh
well! On with the story!
Disclaimer: blahblahblahIdon'townanythingblahblahblah...
Replies to reviewers: (Wow! So many reviews! And for such a short chapter, I thought I'd only get two or less until I got the next chapter up!)
kiesh: Hehe... The entire story is supposed to be a bit eerie. I'm glad I've accomplished that feeling! It's what I was kind of what I was striving towards.
Eva Kasumi: Ha! Now I can say, "Curiosity killed the cat!" Muahahahah! (Don't worry, I won't kill you, just torture you with tons of plot twists and cliffhangers.)
alex: When you say it like that it sounds so... CASUAL. But you wanna know who died? Well... I'll tell you. Just follow the little dots...
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
Ha! Made you look! There's NO WAY I'm gonna tell you! You'll have to find that out later...
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Ahhh... the power of the author. *resume evil laughter*
Okies! No more delays! Here it comes...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Judgment
Chapter 1: Memories Are Hard to Erase
~*~
Holly landed smoothly in the clearing. The ancient oak stood above her, its branches barren with the nearing winter. Holly took off her helmet and hung up her wings on a familiar branch. The leaves rustled in the wind and a stream trickled behind the shrubbery, but those were the only sounds. She bent to pick up an acorn.
"You're late, Captain."
Holly froze, completely immobilized in her stooped position.
"I've been waiting for quite a while." The voice continued.
It couldn't be, just couldn't. The Mud Boy had been mind- wiped, she was hearing things.
"Aren't you going to turn around and greet an old comrade, Captain?"
Holly spun around quickly, expecting to find nothing. But there was a figure leaning against a tree trunk on the other side of the clearing, half hidden by shadow. A coin was tossed into the air, it fell back into the boy's hand and again he used his thumb to flip it back into the air. This time the moonlight caught the coin and it glinted gold, there was a hole in the middle.
Holly stared open-mouthed as the figure stepped out of the shadow to reveal his pale countenance smiling that familiar vampire smile.
"Ar-Artemis..." She stammered, taking a step back.
She swallowed, "I-I thought you gave that to Mulch." Holly said looking at the coin, and purposefully ignoring the subject that this was Artemis Fowl standing before her.
Artemis flipped the coin again. "Nope, that was a fake one."
Holly scowled, regaining her composure. "So you tricked us."
Artemis kept on smiling proudly. "Yeah."
She shifted, not sure whether she was happy or angry. "Um, you look different." She said pointlessly.
But indeed, he did look different. Puberty had finally become noticeable in him after more than two and a half years. Artemis now stood almost as tall as his father and his shoulders had grown broader. But he was still stick thin and ghostly pale. The moonlight cast eerie shadows in his face, and he looked more like the living dead than ever before.
Artemis tugged at a strand of hair that had strayed into his face with annoyance. "Yeah, I've been meaning to get a cut."
Holly squirmed; still unsure about her feelings. For she had thought she would never have a conversation with this certain Mud Boy ever again. "How did you do it? Regain you memories I mean."
Artemis stopped angrily smoothing back his midnight locks and the vampire smile returned. He shook a finger at her. "I can't tell you that, it's a secret."
Holly's mouth twisted into a grimace and she put her arms akimbo. "Well then, Mr. Secretive. What do you want anyway? Another mind-wipe so you can trick us again? Is it all a game to you?"
The smile disappeared. "N-no..." He looked down at his loafered feet. "I... wanted to see you." He glanced at her then averted his eyes. "After my memories were erased, I reverted... into my old self." He sighed regretfully. "I became that monster again, and many people suffered for it. Including the Butlers."
Holly shifted her feet. "Oh... Wait, why would someone like you want to see me? Are you after something?" Holly narrowed her eyes.
Artemis straightened; for the first time, Holly could swear a warm smile was about to part his lips. "I missed you. Once I regained my memories..." He sighed. "It's been so long..."
Holly stared. "You MISSED me?"
Artemis's dark eyes bored into her for a few moments then he stepped closer and knelt down so their faces were but inches apart. "Yes." He said quietly. He raised a hand to touch her but a flash of light caused him to jump back; and it's lucky he did because a pile of leaves where he had been kneeling were blasted into smithereens.
"Step away from my Captain, Fowl!" A gruff voice said from above.
Artemis quickly complied while searching the air for the source of the voice.
It wasn't hard to find. A green-suited figure with a bulging belly landed next to Holly, keeping the tri-barrel blaster he held aimed at Artemis's chest. The visor of the LEP helmet went up to reveal the anger-swollen face of LEP Commander Root.
He spoke to Holly, without taking his eyes off Artemis. "Captain, are you alright? He didn't hurt you?"
Holly responded by forcing down the Commander's arm that held the gun. "No! Don't shoot him, he didn't do anything!"
The Commander snorted. "Yeah, and I bet Butler is around here somewhere waiting for just the right time to shoot you, Captain. AND WHY DID YOU TAKE OFF YOUR HELMET? YOU KNOW IT'S AGAINST REGULATIONS! THIS PLACE HAS BEEN RED FLAGGED ANYWAY EVER SINCE THE FIRST KIDNAPPING!"
Holly shrunk and the Commander raised the gun to Artemis again. "I won't have a second kidnapping, Fowl. Don't even think about it."
All the warmth in Artemis seemed to have fled with the arrival of the Commander, and his face held no emotion now. "I wasn't thinking about it. For your information, Butler has yet to regain his memories, the same with Juliet. And I have already given you my word; I am no longer a threat to the People."
Root scowled. "You're lying through your teeth, Fowl. Holly! Why don't you have your gun out yet?! We're taking him into custody so we can mind-wipe him again. We'll have to go get the Butlers too."
"But we can't do that, Commander!"
Root scowled. "Are you questioning me, Short?! We can, and we will."
"But Commander-" Holly was cut off.
"Now, Short!"
Artemis sighed. "I suppose I should be going then." He turned to leave.
"FOWL!! Where do you think you're going?"
Artemis spoke over his shoulder. "You have no conflict with me, and I have none with you. I brought no harm upon you, and as it says in the Book, you can't do anything to me against my will. I do not wish to lose my memories." And then he disappeared into the shadows again, leaving the Commander in a rage and Holly to endure it.
~*~
Holly sped through the icy air over the Irish landscape speckled with autumn colors. The sea crashed against the cliffs on her left, and the moonlit Fowl Manor rose ahead.
She made way to one of the lit windows near the top floor. Upon surveying the interior of the room from the window, she found it was a study. Artemis Sr. was doing paperwork at the mahogany desk across the room past the polar bear rug. Holly turned her eyes away from the rug, humans could be so disgusting. Instead she took in how much Artemis resembled his father. If it wasn't for the missing leg and fingers, and had Artemis Junior's cheeks been a little fuller, they would have been almost identical.
Holly flew up to the next level and over several windows to the next lit one. Here she found Artemis Jr. sprawled out on the thick winter quilt of his enormous bed. The window was open, so she could hear the scratch of his pen as he wrote something in a leather-bound volume that sat open on his pillow.
She glided in silently, sure he would hear the slight buzz of her wings.
He did. He jumped into a sitting position and snapped the book shut. "Holly!" He said instantly, his eyes fixed on the shimmer in the air.
Holly unshielded and touched down on the heavy, woven rug that covered much of the hard-wood floor of Artemis's bedroom. Artemis swung his legs over the edge of his bed opposite her; and he walked over to an antique desk and pulled open a drawer which he dropped the book in. Then he locked the drawer with a heavy, silver key as old-looking as the desk from a leather thong around his neck. Holly couldn't help but notice that it wasn't the only key he kept around his neck, and her gold coin was there as well.
"You know, locking it won't make it safe from me." She said, smirking.
Artemis straightened and hid the leather thong under his evergreen robe. He turned towards her and smiled wolfishly. "Oh yes, it will."
Holly raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "You seem quite confident in such a small security. You haven't forgotten how technologically advanced we fairies are, have you?"
The smile widened and his eyes twinkled secretively. "You aren't the only one with access to magical things."
Holly frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
But Artemis put a finger to his lips to say he wasn't telling.
The Captain found herself getting frustrated. "What is it with all the secrets lately?!"
"I've sworn to secrecy." Artemis said while sitting down onto his bed. "And I always keep my word."
Holly was confused with Artemis's sudden warmth. Ever since Foaly had named him a viper, that's how she had perceived him. She hadn't let herself think of him as more than that, because she was afraid of what she would find in the depths of her heart and mind. But this new Artemis was forcing her to rethink it all. She had come there to try to get answers that she needed in order to sort herself out. But there was one question she needed to ask most of all.
"Artemis?"
"Yes?"
"Why did you miss me?" She inquired. "I mean... I wouldn't expect someone such as you to have any sort of attachment to anything. Much less me."
The robed teenager cocked his head and raised and inquisitive eyebrow. "Someone such as me? Tell me, who is someone such as me?"
Holly blinked. "Well, you know..."
"No, I don't. Please explain to me."
"Er, well... You're cold, and heartless... and um, evil."
Artemis threw back his head and laughed. "Evil? Evil? That's how you perceive me?"
Holly shifted uncomfortable while he laughed.
The laughter stopped abruptly and Artemis suddenly became serious. "And what, exactly, brought you to think of me as such?"
Holly couldn't read his face, which was skillfully blank. "Well, that's how you've always been." She waved her hands, trying to come up with the words. "You're... um, just... mean, that's how you've been ever since I met you. I mean, you DID kidnap me and all."
Artemis sighed. "Indeed, that's how I started out. I have apologized for that incident. But, Holly, I've changed. I'm different now." He gazed at her imploringly. "I would like to forget how I've been in the past, what matters is how I am now."
Holly frowned. "You're still Artemis. You're still a criminal. I don't see any change."
The boy's shoulders drooped and he rubbed his eyes. He breathed out in a sigh and said, "You're stereotyping me, Holly. You don't really KNOW me; therefore you are in no position to say such things." His hands dropped back into his lap and he stared at her for a few moments. Then he patted the bed beside him for her to sit.
Holly complied; for she still had questions to ask him. Once she was settled beside him (and it had taken quite a bit of scrambling to get onto his high mattress), she opened her mouth to speak her mind.
But instead Artemis slapped a hand over her mouth. "Wait! I'm not finished. What I'm trying to say is: you need to get to know me to be able to judge me." Artemis took his hand away. "I... really missed you. You've been a great influence in my life, and... I want you to KNOW me, I mean, truly know who I am... in here." He put a hand over his heart to indicate what he meant.
Holly scrutinized him with narrowed eyes. He was up to something, she knew it. "What are you after? What do you want?"
Artemis sighed and shook his head. "You still don't trust me, do you?"
"No." Holly said simply.
Artemis looked away from her for a few moments then turned his gaze back to her. "You know, I do want something from you." He said quietly. "But judging from your attitude towards me, it may be more than you can give."
Holly felt her chest swell with triumph. She had been right! He had been up to something.
Artemis continued. "I want your friendship."
Holly's chest instantly deflated, and she stared at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. "What did you say?"
Artemis titled his head back and stared at the ceiling. "I want you to trust me, I want you to know that you can rely on me." He looked back at her and Holly met his gaze. "And I have a feeling you are going to need me soon."
Holly frowned, wondering if he had gone insane. "Riiight." She hopped off his bed; suddenly the only thing she wanted was to get away from this crazy Mud Boy. "Well, I should get going now." She gave the boy a fake smile and flew out the window she had come in.
Artemis followed her to the window and watched as she disappeared behind her shield. He stood there for several minutes, his face blank.
Then he turned away, sensing another presence in his room. He spotted the visitor at once.
"Tehana? What is it?" He inquired of the girl perched on his desk.
The white-dressed lass smiled slightly and twisted a strand of whitish hair between her pale fingers. She spoke distantly, as if her mind was somewhere else. "Tomorrow, among the flowers you must wait, for upon midnight your guest shall arrive." The girl's mysterious smile grew wider. "This guest you must welcome with warmth, or one of two fates will befall you; one terrible, and the other filled with adventure and greatness. This I have foreseen."
Artemis's brows furrowed. "Who is this guest I must welcome, Tehana?"
The girl shook her head. "My vision is clouded."
Artemis frowned deeper. "Have you seen anything more about Holly?"
Tehana laughed. "I have."
"Tell me!" Artemis said urgently.
The pale girl only smiled. "Patience, patience. You will find out with time."
Artemis clenched his fists. "You said Holly would need me, soon. But WHEN? Will she be in danger?"
"Perhaps." Tehana said ominously.
He fumed. "Why can't you tell me?"
Tehana's mysterious smile seemed a permanent feature of her face. "As I said, patience. The time will come for you to find out." Then she disappeared as silently as she had come.
"Tehana? Tehana! Wait, come back!" Artemis scowled. Why did she always disappear like that?
~*~
A/N: Whew... nice and long. Didn't I tell you it would be long? Yep. Anyways... um... oh phooey, I forgot what I was gonna say again. Oh well, bye-bye everybody! And don't forget to come back!
Disclaimer: blahblahblahIdon'townanythingblahblahblah...
Replies to reviewers: (Wow! So many reviews! And for such a short chapter, I thought I'd only get two or less until I got the next chapter up!)
kiesh: Hehe... The entire story is supposed to be a bit eerie. I'm glad I've accomplished that feeling! It's what I was kind of what I was striving towards.
Eva Kasumi: Ha! Now I can say, "Curiosity killed the cat!" Muahahahah! (Don't worry, I won't kill you, just torture you with tons of plot twists and cliffhangers.)
alex: When you say it like that it sounds so... CASUAL. But you wanna know who died? Well... I'll tell you. Just follow the little dots...
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
Ha! Made you look! There's NO WAY I'm gonna tell you! You'll have to find that out later...
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Ahhh... the power of the author. *resume evil laughter*
Okies! No more delays! Here it comes...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Judgment
Chapter 1: Memories Are Hard to Erase
~*~
Holly landed smoothly in the clearing. The ancient oak stood above her, its branches barren with the nearing winter. Holly took off her helmet and hung up her wings on a familiar branch. The leaves rustled in the wind and a stream trickled behind the shrubbery, but those were the only sounds. She bent to pick up an acorn.
"You're late, Captain."
Holly froze, completely immobilized in her stooped position.
"I've been waiting for quite a while." The voice continued.
It couldn't be, just couldn't. The Mud Boy had been mind- wiped, she was hearing things.
"Aren't you going to turn around and greet an old comrade, Captain?"
Holly spun around quickly, expecting to find nothing. But there was a figure leaning against a tree trunk on the other side of the clearing, half hidden by shadow. A coin was tossed into the air, it fell back into the boy's hand and again he used his thumb to flip it back into the air. This time the moonlight caught the coin and it glinted gold, there was a hole in the middle.
Holly stared open-mouthed as the figure stepped out of the shadow to reveal his pale countenance smiling that familiar vampire smile.
"Ar-Artemis..." She stammered, taking a step back.
She swallowed, "I-I thought you gave that to Mulch." Holly said looking at the coin, and purposefully ignoring the subject that this was Artemis Fowl standing before her.
Artemis flipped the coin again. "Nope, that was a fake one."
Holly scowled, regaining her composure. "So you tricked us."
Artemis kept on smiling proudly. "Yeah."
She shifted, not sure whether she was happy or angry. "Um, you look different." She said pointlessly.
But indeed, he did look different. Puberty had finally become noticeable in him after more than two and a half years. Artemis now stood almost as tall as his father and his shoulders had grown broader. But he was still stick thin and ghostly pale. The moonlight cast eerie shadows in his face, and he looked more like the living dead than ever before.
Artemis tugged at a strand of hair that had strayed into his face with annoyance. "Yeah, I've been meaning to get a cut."
Holly squirmed; still unsure about her feelings. For she had thought she would never have a conversation with this certain Mud Boy ever again. "How did you do it? Regain you memories I mean."
Artemis stopped angrily smoothing back his midnight locks and the vampire smile returned. He shook a finger at her. "I can't tell you that, it's a secret."
Holly's mouth twisted into a grimace and she put her arms akimbo. "Well then, Mr. Secretive. What do you want anyway? Another mind-wipe so you can trick us again? Is it all a game to you?"
The smile disappeared. "N-no..." He looked down at his loafered feet. "I... wanted to see you." He glanced at her then averted his eyes. "After my memories were erased, I reverted... into my old self." He sighed regretfully. "I became that monster again, and many people suffered for it. Including the Butlers."
Holly shifted her feet. "Oh... Wait, why would someone like you want to see me? Are you after something?" Holly narrowed her eyes.
Artemis straightened; for the first time, Holly could swear a warm smile was about to part his lips. "I missed you. Once I regained my memories..." He sighed. "It's been so long..."
Holly stared. "You MISSED me?"
Artemis's dark eyes bored into her for a few moments then he stepped closer and knelt down so their faces were but inches apart. "Yes." He said quietly. He raised a hand to touch her but a flash of light caused him to jump back; and it's lucky he did because a pile of leaves where he had been kneeling were blasted into smithereens.
"Step away from my Captain, Fowl!" A gruff voice said from above.
Artemis quickly complied while searching the air for the source of the voice.
It wasn't hard to find. A green-suited figure with a bulging belly landed next to Holly, keeping the tri-barrel blaster he held aimed at Artemis's chest. The visor of the LEP helmet went up to reveal the anger-swollen face of LEP Commander Root.
He spoke to Holly, without taking his eyes off Artemis. "Captain, are you alright? He didn't hurt you?"
Holly responded by forcing down the Commander's arm that held the gun. "No! Don't shoot him, he didn't do anything!"
The Commander snorted. "Yeah, and I bet Butler is around here somewhere waiting for just the right time to shoot you, Captain. AND WHY DID YOU TAKE OFF YOUR HELMET? YOU KNOW IT'S AGAINST REGULATIONS! THIS PLACE HAS BEEN RED FLAGGED ANYWAY EVER SINCE THE FIRST KIDNAPPING!"
Holly shrunk and the Commander raised the gun to Artemis again. "I won't have a second kidnapping, Fowl. Don't even think about it."
All the warmth in Artemis seemed to have fled with the arrival of the Commander, and his face held no emotion now. "I wasn't thinking about it. For your information, Butler has yet to regain his memories, the same with Juliet. And I have already given you my word; I am no longer a threat to the People."
Root scowled. "You're lying through your teeth, Fowl. Holly! Why don't you have your gun out yet?! We're taking him into custody so we can mind-wipe him again. We'll have to go get the Butlers too."
"But we can't do that, Commander!"
Root scowled. "Are you questioning me, Short?! We can, and we will."
"But Commander-" Holly was cut off.
"Now, Short!"
Artemis sighed. "I suppose I should be going then." He turned to leave.
"FOWL!! Where do you think you're going?"
Artemis spoke over his shoulder. "You have no conflict with me, and I have none with you. I brought no harm upon you, and as it says in the Book, you can't do anything to me against my will. I do not wish to lose my memories." And then he disappeared into the shadows again, leaving the Commander in a rage and Holly to endure it.
~*~
Holly sped through the icy air over the Irish landscape speckled with autumn colors. The sea crashed against the cliffs on her left, and the moonlit Fowl Manor rose ahead.
She made way to one of the lit windows near the top floor. Upon surveying the interior of the room from the window, she found it was a study. Artemis Sr. was doing paperwork at the mahogany desk across the room past the polar bear rug. Holly turned her eyes away from the rug, humans could be so disgusting. Instead she took in how much Artemis resembled his father. If it wasn't for the missing leg and fingers, and had Artemis Junior's cheeks been a little fuller, they would have been almost identical.
Holly flew up to the next level and over several windows to the next lit one. Here she found Artemis Jr. sprawled out on the thick winter quilt of his enormous bed. The window was open, so she could hear the scratch of his pen as he wrote something in a leather-bound volume that sat open on his pillow.
She glided in silently, sure he would hear the slight buzz of her wings.
He did. He jumped into a sitting position and snapped the book shut. "Holly!" He said instantly, his eyes fixed on the shimmer in the air.
Holly unshielded and touched down on the heavy, woven rug that covered much of the hard-wood floor of Artemis's bedroom. Artemis swung his legs over the edge of his bed opposite her; and he walked over to an antique desk and pulled open a drawer which he dropped the book in. Then he locked the drawer with a heavy, silver key as old-looking as the desk from a leather thong around his neck. Holly couldn't help but notice that it wasn't the only key he kept around his neck, and her gold coin was there as well.
"You know, locking it won't make it safe from me." She said, smirking.
Artemis straightened and hid the leather thong under his evergreen robe. He turned towards her and smiled wolfishly. "Oh yes, it will."
Holly raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "You seem quite confident in such a small security. You haven't forgotten how technologically advanced we fairies are, have you?"
The smile widened and his eyes twinkled secretively. "You aren't the only one with access to magical things."
Holly frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
But Artemis put a finger to his lips to say he wasn't telling.
The Captain found herself getting frustrated. "What is it with all the secrets lately?!"
"I've sworn to secrecy." Artemis said while sitting down onto his bed. "And I always keep my word."
Holly was confused with Artemis's sudden warmth. Ever since Foaly had named him a viper, that's how she had perceived him. She hadn't let herself think of him as more than that, because she was afraid of what she would find in the depths of her heart and mind. But this new Artemis was forcing her to rethink it all. She had come there to try to get answers that she needed in order to sort herself out. But there was one question she needed to ask most of all.
"Artemis?"
"Yes?"
"Why did you miss me?" She inquired. "I mean... I wouldn't expect someone such as you to have any sort of attachment to anything. Much less me."
The robed teenager cocked his head and raised and inquisitive eyebrow. "Someone such as me? Tell me, who is someone such as me?"
Holly blinked. "Well, you know..."
"No, I don't. Please explain to me."
"Er, well... You're cold, and heartless... and um, evil."
Artemis threw back his head and laughed. "Evil? Evil? That's how you perceive me?"
Holly shifted uncomfortable while he laughed.
The laughter stopped abruptly and Artemis suddenly became serious. "And what, exactly, brought you to think of me as such?"
Holly couldn't read his face, which was skillfully blank. "Well, that's how you've always been." She waved her hands, trying to come up with the words. "You're... um, just... mean, that's how you've been ever since I met you. I mean, you DID kidnap me and all."
Artemis sighed. "Indeed, that's how I started out. I have apologized for that incident. But, Holly, I've changed. I'm different now." He gazed at her imploringly. "I would like to forget how I've been in the past, what matters is how I am now."
Holly frowned. "You're still Artemis. You're still a criminal. I don't see any change."
The boy's shoulders drooped and he rubbed his eyes. He breathed out in a sigh and said, "You're stereotyping me, Holly. You don't really KNOW me; therefore you are in no position to say such things." His hands dropped back into his lap and he stared at her for a few moments. Then he patted the bed beside him for her to sit.
Holly complied; for she still had questions to ask him. Once she was settled beside him (and it had taken quite a bit of scrambling to get onto his high mattress), she opened her mouth to speak her mind.
But instead Artemis slapped a hand over her mouth. "Wait! I'm not finished. What I'm trying to say is: you need to get to know me to be able to judge me." Artemis took his hand away. "I... really missed you. You've been a great influence in my life, and... I want you to KNOW me, I mean, truly know who I am... in here." He put a hand over his heart to indicate what he meant.
Holly scrutinized him with narrowed eyes. He was up to something, she knew it. "What are you after? What do you want?"
Artemis sighed and shook his head. "You still don't trust me, do you?"
"No." Holly said simply.
Artemis looked away from her for a few moments then turned his gaze back to her. "You know, I do want something from you." He said quietly. "But judging from your attitude towards me, it may be more than you can give."
Holly felt her chest swell with triumph. She had been right! He had been up to something.
Artemis continued. "I want your friendship."
Holly's chest instantly deflated, and she stared at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. "What did you say?"
Artemis titled his head back and stared at the ceiling. "I want you to trust me, I want you to know that you can rely on me." He looked back at her and Holly met his gaze. "And I have a feeling you are going to need me soon."
Holly frowned, wondering if he had gone insane. "Riiight." She hopped off his bed; suddenly the only thing she wanted was to get away from this crazy Mud Boy. "Well, I should get going now." She gave the boy a fake smile and flew out the window she had come in.
Artemis followed her to the window and watched as she disappeared behind her shield. He stood there for several minutes, his face blank.
Then he turned away, sensing another presence in his room. He spotted the visitor at once.
"Tehana? What is it?" He inquired of the girl perched on his desk.
The white-dressed lass smiled slightly and twisted a strand of whitish hair between her pale fingers. She spoke distantly, as if her mind was somewhere else. "Tomorrow, among the flowers you must wait, for upon midnight your guest shall arrive." The girl's mysterious smile grew wider. "This guest you must welcome with warmth, or one of two fates will befall you; one terrible, and the other filled with adventure and greatness. This I have foreseen."
Artemis's brows furrowed. "Who is this guest I must welcome, Tehana?"
The girl shook her head. "My vision is clouded."
Artemis frowned deeper. "Have you seen anything more about Holly?"
Tehana laughed. "I have."
"Tell me!" Artemis said urgently.
The pale girl only smiled. "Patience, patience. You will find out with time."
Artemis clenched his fists. "You said Holly would need me, soon. But WHEN? Will she be in danger?"
"Perhaps." Tehana said ominously.
He fumed. "Why can't you tell me?"
Tehana's mysterious smile seemed a permanent feature of her face. "As I said, patience. The time will come for you to find out." Then she disappeared as silently as she had come.
"Tehana? Tehana! Wait, come back!" Artemis scowled. Why did she always disappear like that?
~*~
A/N: Whew... nice and long. Didn't I tell you it would be long? Yep. Anyways... um... oh phooey, I forgot what I was gonna say again. Oh well, bye-bye everybody! And don't forget to come back!