Chapter 2
Mulch wasn't quite fond of his new cell. In fact, he hated it. And who wouldn't, after getting the taste of freedom and then have it crushed into the ground? It was infuriating. However, as Commander Root promised, this was steel. And not even a top-class dwarf could stomach that.
The person in this thought entered the room, puffing on one of his vile cigars. He dragged himself a chair and sat down, eye to eye with Mulch.
"Thought you could play some games, convict?" he snorted with a glare. "After your trial, when we figured all of your arrests were void, you go off wandering with some ransom fairy gold in your pocket. Of course we kept a tracker on you, but I guess you got a little careless, hmm?" Mulch bared his teeth in frustration. "And what then? You land in jail for the umpteenth time. We even thought of putting you in Howler's Peak." Mulch swallowed.
"I thank you for your kind consideration of my feelings. Not that it matters after last night," he smirked with the satisfaction of the slightly red face reddening in front of him.
"Yes, well under normal circumstances, that's exactly what we would have done," the commander said, waving the comment aside. "But these are not-"
"Ah, yes, Julius. I've been through this before. You want me to save your ass yet again."
Roots face had taken on full hue. "If butt-kicking is all that matters to you, convict, there is no need for further talk. Howler's Peak has many spaces available still." Mulch grimaced, and Root smiled. "So are you open for negotiation? It seems like we are in your need again."
"Are you? What is it this time? I thought we were free of both our enemies. One is locked up, the other is currently suffering from permanent amnesia. Now what? Swear toads taking over?" Despite the comment about Artemis having memory loss, Mulch still knew the truth. He fingered the gold medallion still in his pocket.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but it's a bit more serious than that," said a whinny from the small screen hanging in the corner of the ceiling."
"Nice to see you too, Foaly," said Mulch, rolling his eyes. "Now what's the deal?"
"Hold on, I'll let the captain do the honors," rushed Foaly, punching buttons all around the screen. It buzzed for a moment, and Captain Holly Short was on, straightening her helmet.
"Hey, dwarf, long time no see. Jail record's not doing to well, is it?" She smirked watching Mulch curse.
"I bet you were in the capture squad last night! I was doing just fine without you."
"Oh, were you? You seemed like you had got in a cell yet again. Who's going to keep you from getting stuck in the toilet?"
"GET A MOVE ON IT, CAPTAIN!!!!!" roared Root, and everyone jumped. "THIS IS NOT A TIME FOR LIGHT TALK!!!!"
Holly caught her balance and appeared on the screen again. "Alright. Here's the deal. There have been many more trackers on the Mud Men since the Fowl incident. We're still looking for the signs of great intelligence like Artemis had. There haven't been any yet, but we did find a strange Mud person."
Another one? Artemis was strange enough. This was getting absurdly unfair. Mulch ground his tombstone teeth together.
Holly smirked. "Oh, I know what you're thinking. Another world- takeover mastermind. Another control struggle. No, like I said, this girl has nowhere near the intelligence Artemis has. But she's still significantly smart. And there's a reason." She brought up a full color picture of Aimee. "Take a look at her ears."
Mulch's narrowed his eyes. "They're elfin. Obviously a descendant. Don't try to fool me, Holly. She's not a Mud person."
"No," Root intervened, "she's a Mud Girl-fairy mix. I thought for sure that it was impossible, but trackers examined her DNA. It's absolutely true." Mulch was unable to speak. "Her mother was a Mud woman who had a child with a sprite." Everyone winced in disgust. It was a sacred commandment not to have affairs of any kind with the Mud people except when defending themselves.
"Why wasn't this known until now?" asked Mulch.
"The sprite in question had been making frequent visits to the surface for police matters. We lost contact with him suddenly, and he reported back 3 days later. He shortly after commited suicide for unknown reasons. Aimee's mother Andrea also killed herself six days after her daughter was born." There was silence for a moment.
Holly brought up a profile. " This is the Interpol file on Aimee Howell." Mulch scanned down. 5 feet, 3 inches. Shoulder length brown hair. Hazel-blue eyes. Located: Amsterdam, Holland. Guardian: Areida Howell (aunt). 14 years old. Gender...his eyes lingered on the answer. He sniggered with a sudden realization.
"It's a Mud Girl," confirmed Mulch with a touch of disdain. He sniggered. Holly turned pink.
"And what's wrong with that?" She said defiantly.
"Well, it depends--it's either the fact that you are one or the fact that Artemis wasn't." Holly had steam coming out of her ears.
"You shouldn't be throwing insults at my officers," Root warned with a reprimanding tone. "There is the strange fact that Artemis and Aimee are both the same age," Root went on, ignoring Mulch's angry looks. " Actually, they were born the same day." Mulch's unhingable jaw dropped, and it wasn't pretty.
"Yes. It does seem impossible, doesn't it?" said Foaly, offscreen." But it's true. No idea why. Funny things happen, especially when related to the Fowls. Fortunately, Aimee is not a criminal, although she has been doing secret work in her so-called 'private' files. That's where we got worried. In her Internet search record, she has a number of sites investigating the existence of our race, exactly how Artemis started his plans of capture. We planted a blocker to all of the sites, and she was able to get past to all of them. We were able to plant it with a false fingerprint to put her off, so I don't think she has enough information yet to prove anything. But she's coming close."
Mulch rubbed his whiskered chin thoughtfully. "Genetic pull, no doubt. Especially with the Mud Men family tree craze going on right now."
Root clapped his hands impatiently. "I think that's enough on Aimee. Now can you please tell him about the problem!"
Holly took a deep breath. "Okay. Aimee is a side complication for now. Something has gone wrong with Artemis." Mulch groaned. "He's reversed his psychological makeup. He is now back to plotting for the family fortune. Not only that, but Butler and Juliet have both gone back also. The only ones unchanged are Artemis's parents. The whole cycle could start again. The Book translation, the kidnapping, and then the doom of our race. All over again."
Mulch sighed and cursed. He wasn't ready for a cross-species war. Not even was he ready to be living exposed to the Mud Men. He had plenty of plans for his future already. He didn't really want to work with the undercover fairies of the LEPrecon, but it was better than Howler's Peak. He rubbed his hands together.
"Okay, Julius, what's the plan?"
Mulch wasn't quite fond of his new cell. In fact, he hated it. And who wouldn't, after getting the taste of freedom and then have it crushed into the ground? It was infuriating. However, as Commander Root promised, this was steel. And not even a top-class dwarf could stomach that.
The person in this thought entered the room, puffing on one of his vile cigars. He dragged himself a chair and sat down, eye to eye with Mulch.
"Thought you could play some games, convict?" he snorted with a glare. "After your trial, when we figured all of your arrests were void, you go off wandering with some ransom fairy gold in your pocket. Of course we kept a tracker on you, but I guess you got a little careless, hmm?" Mulch bared his teeth in frustration. "And what then? You land in jail for the umpteenth time. We even thought of putting you in Howler's Peak." Mulch swallowed.
"I thank you for your kind consideration of my feelings. Not that it matters after last night," he smirked with the satisfaction of the slightly red face reddening in front of him.
"Yes, well under normal circumstances, that's exactly what we would have done," the commander said, waving the comment aside. "But these are not-"
"Ah, yes, Julius. I've been through this before. You want me to save your ass yet again."
Roots face had taken on full hue. "If butt-kicking is all that matters to you, convict, there is no need for further talk. Howler's Peak has many spaces available still." Mulch grimaced, and Root smiled. "So are you open for negotiation? It seems like we are in your need again."
"Are you? What is it this time? I thought we were free of both our enemies. One is locked up, the other is currently suffering from permanent amnesia. Now what? Swear toads taking over?" Despite the comment about Artemis having memory loss, Mulch still knew the truth. He fingered the gold medallion still in his pocket.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but it's a bit more serious than that," said a whinny from the small screen hanging in the corner of the ceiling."
"Nice to see you too, Foaly," said Mulch, rolling his eyes. "Now what's the deal?"
"Hold on, I'll let the captain do the honors," rushed Foaly, punching buttons all around the screen. It buzzed for a moment, and Captain Holly Short was on, straightening her helmet.
"Hey, dwarf, long time no see. Jail record's not doing to well, is it?" She smirked watching Mulch curse.
"I bet you were in the capture squad last night! I was doing just fine without you."
"Oh, were you? You seemed like you had got in a cell yet again. Who's going to keep you from getting stuck in the toilet?"
"GET A MOVE ON IT, CAPTAIN!!!!!" roared Root, and everyone jumped. "THIS IS NOT A TIME FOR LIGHT TALK!!!!"
Holly caught her balance and appeared on the screen again. "Alright. Here's the deal. There have been many more trackers on the Mud Men since the Fowl incident. We're still looking for the signs of great intelligence like Artemis had. There haven't been any yet, but we did find a strange Mud person."
Another one? Artemis was strange enough. This was getting absurdly unfair. Mulch ground his tombstone teeth together.
Holly smirked. "Oh, I know what you're thinking. Another world- takeover mastermind. Another control struggle. No, like I said, this girl has nowhere near the intelligence Artemis has. But she's still significantly smart. And there's a reason." She brought up a full color picture of Aimee. "Take a look at her ears."
Mulch's narrowed his eyes. "They're elfin. Obviously a descendant. Don't try to fool me, Holly. She's not a Mud person."
"No," Root intervened, "she's a Mud Girl-fairy mix. I thought for sure that it was impossible, but trackers examined her DNA. It's absolutely true." Mulch was unable to speak. "Her mother was a Mud woman who had a child with a sprite." Everyone winced in disgust. It was a sacred commandment not to have affairs of any kind with the Mud people except when defending themselves.
"Why wasn't this known until now?" asked Mulch.
"The sprite in question had been making frequent visits to the surface for police matters. We lost contact with him suddenly, and he reported back 3 days later. He shortly after commited suicide for unknown reasons. Aimee's mother Andrea also killed herself six days after her daughter was born." There was silence for a moment.
Holly brought up a profile. " This is the Interpol file on Aimee Howell." Mulch scanned down. 5 feet, 3 inches. Shoulder length brown hair. Hazel-blue eyes. Located: Amsterdam, Holland. Guardian: Areida Howell (aunt). 14 years old. Gender...his eyes lingered on the answer. He sniggered with a sudden realization.
"It's a Mud Girl," confirmed Mulch with a touch of disdain. He sniggered. Holly turned pink.
"And what's wrong with that?" She said defiantly.
"Well, it depends--it's either the fact that you are one or the fact that Artemis wasn't." Holly had steam coming out of her ears.
"You shouldn't be throwing insults at my officers," Root warned with a reprimanding tone. "There is the strange fact that Artemis and Aimee are both the same age," Root went on, ignoring Mulch's angry looks. " Actually, they were born the same day." Mulch's unhingable jaw dropped, and it wasn't pretty.
"Yes. It does seem impossible, doesn't it?" said Foaly, offscreen." But it's true. No idea why. Funny things happen, especially when related to the Fowls. Fortunately, Aimee is not a criminal, although she has been doing secret work in her so-called 'private' files. That's where we got worried. In her Internet search record, she has a number of sites investigating the existence of our race, exactly how Artemis started his plans of capture. We planted a blocker to all of the sites, and she was able to get past to all of them. We were able to plant it with a false fingerprint to put her off, so I don't think she has enough information yet to prove anything. But she's coming close."
Mulch rubbed his whiskered chin thoughtfully. "Genetic pull, no doubt. Especially with the Mud Men family tree craze going on right now."
Root clapped his hands impatiently. "I think that's enough on Aimee. Now can you please tell him about the problem!"
Holly took a deep breath. "Okay. Aimee is a side complication for now. Something has gone wrong with Artemis." Mulch groaned. "He's reversed his psychological makeup. He is now back to plotting for the family fortune. Not only that, but Butler and Juliet have both gone back also. The only ones unchanged are Artemis's parents. The whole cycle could start again. The Book translation, the kidnapping, and then the doom of our race. All over again."
Mulch sighed and cursed. He wasn't ready for a cross-species war. Not even was he ready to be living exposed to the Mud Men. He had plenty of plans for his future already. He didn't really want to work with the undercover fairies of the LEPrecon, but it was better than Howler's Peak. He rubbed his hands together.
"Okay, Julius, what's the plan?"