I can't believe I've got 59 reviews! Thankyou everyone who reviewed, it
means a lot. Sorry I've taken so long to get this chapter up. I'm on summer
holidays and have been, unfortunately, staying with my grandparents, which
means no computer.
Disclaimer: Again? Well, if I have to... I do not own Artemis Fowl or any related characters. Ebony belongs to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'There she is again!' Artemis thought, deep in his subconscious. He was dreaming again, dreaming about her. Her face was always in shadows, all he could see was her full, red mouth and her deep, hazel eyes... always in the shadows. She smiled and Artemis felt his heart skip. "Don't you recognise me Artemis?" she asked softly.
"No... I-I'm afraid I don't." Artemis said sadly.
He felt himself waking, and she began to fade into the darkness. "Wait!" he called feebly, knowing it wouldn't make a scrap of difference.
He woke, stretched and yawned. He got up dressed and went to see what his Dream Interpreter had to say.
It was gone.
As calm as he could possibly be, Artemis pressed the intercom. "Butler, come up here please, we have a problem."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Will you please tell me what's going on?" Foaly demanded. Ebony was stretched out under the body of her machine, installing the engine, or trying to. She was covered in grease and her black hair was escaping from its hasty plait, framing her face like dark storm clouds. Foaly's heart began to race; she was so beautiful even now. He couldn't wait for tonight!
"No, I'm not telling you yet. When it's finished you'll be the first to know." She said with a laugh. Foaly gritted his teeth and changed the subject. "How's Holly doing?" he asked. Ebony's mouth tightened grimly. "Ask her yourself." She replied, pointing out the window. Holly was walking past, bleary eyed and dejected. Foaly stuck his head out the door. "Hey Holls, are you okay?" he asked. Holly jerked out of her trance briefly. "Huh? What? Oh yeah, sure, whatever." She mumbled absently as she continued on her way. "Is she okay Foaly?" Trouble asked, his eyes following Holly's path.
It's a long story Trub, and one you won't like." Ebony answered swiftly. Trouble nodded sadly. He knew. He had guessed that she was in love with Artemis Fowl the second, even before she had.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Anything?" Artemis queried anxiously.
Butler shook his head. "Nope, nothing master Artemis."
"D'Arvit!" he swore, using a fairy term he remembered from... Commander Root? Probably.
"Colourful word sir, where did you learn it?" Butler inquired.
"Oh, around about, you know, in my travels." Artemis answered airily. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do? No way of finding clues?"
"No, Master Artemis, I don't think there is. Unless of course..."
"What? Is there a way or not?" Artemis demanded.
"Wait." Butler said as he rummaged through his pockets. " I may have some... Ah ha!" he exclaimed, producing a small spray can. He began to spray the room. "This is an ultra violet light spray." He said. "With any luck, the culprit's fingerprints will show up.
Artemis watched with detached interest as Butler combed the room with an ultra violet light. "Artemis!" he called urgently.
"What? What is it?" Artemis ran over, his curiosity piqued.
"One set of prints in the entire room, right where the Interpreter was!" Butler said. "But they're not like any other prints I've ever seen before." He scratched his head in puzzlement.
Artemis frowned. He crossed to his computer and, taking a photo of the prints, scanned it in, and ran his files. The first thing he had done when he had regained his memories was reclaim his fairy files from Foaly. It had taken him a while to hack into the system, but he was surprised that the centaur had let him take them at all. The search on fairy fingerprints complete, Artemis's theory was confirmed...
The thief was a fairy. It was time to enlist some help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey sis! How's it going?" to Ebony, Holly's voice seemed tight, almost stretched.
"I'm fine thanks Holls. You?" she replied.
"Been better." Holly answered dejectedly.
"Understandably." Ebony said, and then looked up as she remembered something. "Oh! I almost forgot! Holly, on your way home tonight could you stop in and tell mum that I'm going on a date and won't be home til late?"
Holly seemed to brighten a little. "A date!? Who with? Trouble?"
Ebony blushed. "Foaly." She muttered.
Holly grinned, something she really did these days, but this was a golden opportunity. "Pardon? I didn't quite catch that."
"Foaly!" Ebony yelled.
"Jeez! No need to shout!" Holly laughed. "But Foaly? Why?"
"Why Artemis?" Ebony retorted, then winced as Holly paled.
"What about him?" she inquired. She turned and walked away, calling over her shoulder; "I'll let mum know Bonny."
"Thanks." Ebony replied as she slid back under her machine, muttering as she worked. "By Frond! I'm so stupid! Why did I have to bring up Artemis?"
By the time she finally got the engine running smoothly, Foaly wandered in again. "Where've you been?" she asked mildly.
Foaly grinned, "Making dinner reservations." He answered.
"Oooh! Where at?" Ebony demanded.
"None of your business." Foaly replied cheekily.
"Fine the! Mow either go away or be quiet. I need to concentrate." She said with mock indignation. Foaly sat back to watch, but rocketed to his feet when he saw blue sparks swarming around her fingers. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
Ebony looked at him. "Putting on the finishing touches." She answered calmly. She touched her magic to the machine's computer, sending vast amounts of power through its circuits. "Done!" she announced.
"Oh that's nice." Foaly said sarcastically. "Are you sure you have enough energy left to WALK!?!?"
"Yep! I've got heaps left!" she did a quick back flip, as if to prove her point.
"Well, pack up and get changed. I told Holly to help you pick something to wear, because I'm not telling you were I'm going to take you."
Ebony nodded and placed the machine back in the corner of the room. She was just about to leave when Foaly's monitor beeped and he swore loudly. "What's up?" she questioned.
"Fowl is trying to contact me!" he answered.
"Well, see what he has to say!" Ebony ordered instantly.
"Fine," Foaly pushed the intercom button. "Hello Fowl. Long time no see! What can I do for you?"
"Hello Foaly!" Came Artemis's soft, clipped Irish accent. "I need help. And invention of mine has been stolen... by a fairy, I have evidence here."
Foaly looked at Ebony in surprise. "Send the evidence to me. My email is foaly.ops@LEP.co.uk."
"Right. Mine's hunter_arty@fowlmanor.co.uk." Artemis replied.
"Cute." Foaly commented. "This could take a few days, you know."
"Fine. Thanks for your help." Artemis said politely.
"Anytime." Foaly answered, before hanging up. He looked at Ebony. "Holly, now." He ordered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Right then little sis." Holly said with a small smile, "The big date, I picked this out for you." She pulled out a tight, sparkling, halter neck dress that was as black as her hair.
"Wow!" Ebony exclaimed as she pulled it on. 'Where is he taking me?' she wondered.
Holly smiled again. "That's not all it does, look!" She undid the Chinese style buttons at the side of the dress, and the materia came away, revealing a nice two-piece outfit.
"This is great Holly!! Thanks!" Ebony squealed and hugged her sister tightly.
"That's okay Bonny. Now, take your hair out, brush it, then leave it as it is." Holly replied. Ebony did as she was told, then went to meet Foaly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Foaly looked at his watch. "Come on Ebony, get a move on." He muttered to himself.
As if on cue, he heard her voice call; "Sorry I'm late!" He turned to face her, and what he saw took his breath away.
Her dress fit her perfectly, and her hair fell in soft curls down her back and framing her face. Basically, she looked gorgeous. "Are you ready then?" Foaly asked, somewhat nervously.
"Yeah, lets go!" she said with a smile.
Foaly escorted her to the chutes, and Ebony was very surprised and delighted when they landed in front of the most exclusive restaurant in Haven. "Middle Earth! How did you get reservations here? The waiting list is huge!" She was so excited that she hugged the Centaur around the waist.
Foaly blushed. "The manager was one of my friends at the University. He owed me a favour." He answered.
When they entered, they were greeted by a cheerful elf wearing a suit. "Foaly! Good to see you! Ah, this must be the lass you were telling me about earlier! Lovely, lovely indeed!" He boomed jovially.
"Thankyou Ciaran, her name is Ebony." Foaly said while the 'lass' in question tried to contain her laughter.
"Lovely name for a lovely lass! Pleased to meet you, Miss Ebony."
"Likewise, Master Ciaran." Ebony replied politely.
"Lovely, lovely indeed. Now, I'll show you to your table."
When they were seated and Ciaran had gone, both Ebony and Foaly burst into laughter. "Lovely, lovely indeed!" Ebony giggled, imitating Ciaran's Scottish accent.
"That's what got him into trouble in the first place!" Foaly gasped.
"What did he do?" Ebony asked.
"He said it to Vinyaya's daughter and it got him into hot water. I had to do and explain that he was talking about the catering from the previous night's dinner party, not attempting to flirt with the girl." Foaly replied, then they both dissolved into laughter again.
The date went better than either of them could've imagined. After dinner they went to a movie, and although Foaly had to use all his control to stop himself from Kissing Ebony on the spot when she removed the middle section from her dress, they both enjoyed the new Blockbuster movie about Holly's first encounter with Artemis Fowl.
After the movie, Foaly offered to walk her the five blocks to her home, and Ebony agreed happily. As they walked towards her home, they talked about things like work, and Holly, and of course, Artemis Fowl.
Foaly walked her up to the doorstep. "I had a really great time tonight." He said softly.
"Me too." Ebony smiled sweetly.
"Would you like to do it again some time?"
"Definitely."
"Well... goodnight.' Foaly said uncomfortably and began lo leave.
"...Night." Ebony whispered, a little disappointed, and began to unlock the house.
Now it was Foaly's turn to battle with that 'mean and nasty' little voice of reason that Holly had waged war against for so long. "You idiot! Don't just walk away! kiss her you moron!!!" it screeched.
Foaly didn't need an awful lot of convincing. He spun around and walked back over to the door. Ebony had her back to him, so he walked over and pulled her to him. Before she had a chance to speak, his mouth was on hers and he kissed her passionately. Ebony responded with the same ardour, and neither of them wanted the moment to end.
When they finally broke apart, both were breathing heavily. "Goodnight." He said again, and kissed her so sweetly she thought she was going to faint.
"Goodnight."
***Once in your life, when you find her,
someone who turns your heart around,
and next thing you know,
you're closing down the town.
Wake up and it's still with you,
Even though you left her way 'cross town,
Wondering to yourself "hey, what've I found?"
When you get caught between the moon and New York City,
I know it's crazy, but it's true.
If you get caught between the moon and New York City,
The best that you can do, the best that you can do,
Is fall in love.***
Disclaimer: Again? Well, if I have to... I do not own Artemis Fowl or any related characters. Ebony belongs to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'There she is again!' Artemis thought, deep in his subconscious. He was dreaming again, dreaming about her. Her face was always in shadows, all he could see was her full, red mouth and her deep, hazel eyes... always in the shadows. She smiled and Artemis felt his heart skip. "Don't you recognise me Artemis?" she asked softly.
"No... I-I'm afraid I don't." Artemis said sadly.
He felt himself waking, and she began to fade into the darkness. "Wait!" he called feebly, knowing it wouldn't make a scrap of difference.
He woke, stretched and yawned. He got up dressed and went to see what his Dream Interpreter had to say.
It was gone.
As calm as he could possibly be, Artemis pressed the intercom. "Butler, come up here please, we have a problem."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Will you please tell me what's going on?" Foaly demanded. Ebony was stretched out under the body of her machine, installing the engine, or trying to. She was covered in grease and her black hair was escaping from its hasty plait, framing her face like dark storm clouds. Foaly's heart began to race; she was so beautiful even now. He couldn't wait for tonight!
"No, I'm not telling you yet. When it's finished you'll be the first to know." She said with a laugh. Foaly gritted his teeth and changed the subject. "How's Holly doing?" he asked. Ebony's mouth tightened grimly. "Ask her yourself." She replied, pointing out the window. Holly was walking past, bleary eyed and dejected. Foaly stuck his head out the door. "Hey Holls, are you okay?" he asked. Holly jerked out of her trance briefly. "Huh? What? Oh yeah, sure, whatever." She mumbled absently as she continued on her way. "Is she okay Foaly?" Trouble asked, his eyes following Holly's path.
It's a long story Trub, and one you won't like." Ebony answered swiftly. Trouble nodded sadly. He knew. He had guessed that she was in love with Artemis Fowl the second, even before she had.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Anything?" Artemis queried anxiously.
Butler shook his head. "Nope, nothing master Artemis."
"D'Arvit!" he swore, using a fairy term he remembered from... Commander Root? Probably.
"Colourful word sir, where did you learn it?" Butler inquired.
"Oh, around about, you know, in my travels." Artemis answered airily. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do? No way of finding clues?"
"No, Master Artemis, I don't think there is. Unless of course..."
"What? Is there a way or not?" Artemis demanded.
"Wait." Butler said as he rummaged through his pockets. " I may have some... Ah ha!" he exclaimed, producing a small spray can. He began to spray the room. "This is an ultra violet light spray." He said. "With any luck, the culprit's fingerprints will show up.
Artemis watched with detached interest as Butler combed the room with an ultra violet light. "Artemis!" he called urgently.
"What? What is it?" Artemis ran over, his curiosity piqued.
"One set of prints in the entire room, right where the Interpreter was!" Butler said. "But they're not like any other prints I've ever seen before." He scratched his head in puzzlement.
Artemis frowned. He crossed to his computer and, taking a photo of the prints, scanned it in, and ran his files. The first thing he had done when he had regained his memories was reclaim his fairy files from Foaly. It had taken him a while to hack into the system, but he was surprised that the centaur had let him take them at all. The search on fairy fingerprints complete, Artemis's theory was confirmed...
The thief was a fairy. It was time to enlist some help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey sis! How's it going?" to Ebony, Holly's voice seemed tight, almost stretched.
"I'm fine thanks Holls. You?" she replied.
"Been better." Holly answered dejectedly.
"Understandably." Ebony said, and then looked up as she remembered something. "Oh! I almost forgot! Holly, on your way home tonight could you stop in and tell mum that I'm going on a date and won't be home til late?"
Holly seemed to brighten a little. "A date!? Who with? Trouble?"
Ebony blushed. "Foaly." She muttered.
Holly grinned, something she really did these days, but this was a golden opportunity. "Pardon? I didn't quite catch that."
"Foaly!" Ebony yelled.
"Jeez! No need to shout!" Holly laughed. "But Foaly? Why?"
"Why Artemis?" Ebony retorted, then winced as Holly paled.
"What about him?" she inquired. She turned and walked away, calling over her shoulder; "I'll let mum know Bonny."
"Thanks." Ebony replied as she slid back under her machine, muttering as she worked. "By Frond! I'm so stupid! Why did I have to bring up Artemis?"
By the time she finally got the engine running smoothly, Foaly wandered in again. "Where've you been?" she asked mildly.
Foaly grinned, "Making dinner reservations." He answered.
"Oooh! Where at?" Ebony demanded.
"None of your business." Foaly replied cheekily.
"Fine the! Mow either go away or be quiet. I need to concentrate." She said with mock indignation. Foaly sat back to watch, but rocketed to his feet when he saw blue sparks swarming around her fingers. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
Ebony looked at him. "Putting on the finishing touches." She answered calmly. She touched her magic to the machine's computer, sending vast amounts of power through its circuits. "Done!" she announced.
"Oh that's nice." Foaly said sarcastically. "Are you sure you have enough energy left to WALK!?!?"
"Yep! I've got heaps left!" she did a quick back flip, as if to prove her point.
"Well, pack up and get changed. I told Holly to help you pick something to wear, because I'm not telling you were I'm going to take you."
Ebony nodded and placed the machine back in the corner of the room. She was just about to leave when Foaly's monitor beeped and he swore loudly. "What's up?" she questioned.
"Fowl is trying to contact me!" he answered.
"Well, see what he has to say!" Ebony ordered instantly.
"Fine," Foaly pushed the intercom button. "Hello Fowl. Long time no see! What can I do for you?"
"Hello Foaly!" Came Artemis's soft, clipped Irish accent. "I need help. And invention of mine has been stolen... by a fairy, I have evidence here."
Foaly looked at Ebony in surprise. "Send the evidence to me. My email is foaly.ops@LEP.co.uk."
"Right. Mine's hunter_arty@fowlmanor.co.uk." Artemis replied.
"Cute." Foaly commented. "This could take a few days, you know."
"Fine. Thanks for your help." Artemis said politely.
"Anytime." Foaly answered, before hanging up. He looked at Ebony. "Holly, now." He ordered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Right then little sis." Holly said with a small smile, "The big date, I picked this out for you." She pulled out a tight, sparkling, halter neck dress that was as black as her hair.
"Wow!" Ebony exclaimed as she pulled it on. 'Where is he taking me?' she wondered.
Holly smiled again. "That's not all it does, look!" She undid the Chinese style buttons at the side of the dress, and the materia came away, revealing a nice two-piece outfit.
"This is great Holly!! Thanks!" Ebony squealed and hugged her sister tightly.
"That's okay Bonny. Now, take your hair out, brush it, then leave it as it is." Holly replied. Ebony did as she was told, then went to meet Foaly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Foaly looked at his watch. "Come on Ebony, get a move on." He muttered to himself.
As if on cue, he heard her voice call; "Sorry I'm late!" He turned to face her, and what he saw took his breath away.
Her dress fit her perfectly, and her hair fell in soft curls down her back and framing her face. Basically, she looked gorgeous. "Are you ready then?" Foaly asked, somewhat nervously.
"Yeah, lets go!" she said with a smile.
Foaly escorted her to the chutes, and Ebony was very surprised and delighted when they landed in front of the most exclusive restaurant in Haven. "Middle Earth! How did you get reservations here? The waiting list is huge!" She was so excited that she hugged the Centaur around the waist.
Foaly blushed. "The manager was one of my friends at the University. He owed me a favour." He answered.
When they entered, they were greeted by a cheerful elf wearing a suit. "Foaly! Good to see you! Ah, this must be the lass you were telling me about earlier! Lovely, lovely indeed!" He boomed jovially.
"Thankyou Ciaran, her name is Ebony." Foaly said while the 'lass' in question tried to contain her laughter.
"Lovely name for a lovely lass! Pleased to meet you, Miss Ebony."
"Likewise, Master Ciaran." Ebony replied politely.
"Lovely, lovely indeed. Now, I'll show you to your table."
When they were seated and Ciaran had gone, both Ebony and Foaly burst into laughter. "Lovely, lovely indeed!" Ebony giggled, imitating Ciaran's Scottish accent.
"That's what got him into trouble in the first place!" Foaly gasped.
"What did he do?" Ebony asked.
"He said it to Vinyaya's daughter and it got him into hot water. I had to do and explain that he was talking about the catering from the previous night's dinner party, not attempting to flirt with the girl." Foaly replied, then they both dissolved into laughter again.
The date went better than either of them could've imagined. After dinner they went to a movie, and although Foaly had to use all his control to stop himself from Kissing Ebony on the spot when she removed the middle section from her dress, they both enjoyed the new Blockbuster movie about Holly's first encounter with Artemis Fowl.
After the movie, Foaly offered to walk her the five blocks to her home, and Ebony agreed happily. As they walked towards her home, they talked about things like work, and Holly, and of course, Artemis Fowl.
Foaly walked her up to the doorstep. "I had a really great time tonight." He said softly.
"Me too." Ebony smiled sweetly.
"Would you like to do it again some time?"
"Definitely."
"Well... goodnight.' Foaly said uncomfortably and began lo leave.
"...Night." Ebony whispered, a little disappointed, and began to unlock the house.
Now it was Foaly's turn to battle with that 'mean and nasty' little voice of reason that Holly had waged war against for so long. "You idiot! Don't just walk away! kiss her you moron!!!" it screeched.
Foaly didn't need an awful lot of convincing. He spun around and walked back over to the door. Ebony had her back to him, so he walked over and pulled her to him. Before she had a chance to speak, his mouth was on hers and he kissed her passionately. Ebony responded with the same ardour, and neither of them wanted the moment to end.
When they finally broke apart, both were breathing heavily. "Goodnight." He said again, and kissed her so sweetly she thought she was going to faint.
"Goodnight."
***Once in your life, when you find her,
someone who turns your heart around,
and next thing you know,
you're closing down the town.
Wake up and it's still with you,
Even though you left her way 'cross town,
Wondering to yourself "hey, what've I found?"
When you get caught between the moon and New York City,
I know it's crazy, but it's true.
If you get caught between the moon and New York City,
The best that you can do, the best that you can do,
Is fall in love.***