Author's Note:

ENJOY THE CHAPTER!

Disclaimer: I do not own Arty and his friends...darn...

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Memento was immersed in her thoughts, what was the devil hiding from her?

She was currently walking down a dirt path, a path she made with each step, they seem to dry up as she passed.

Then there was that nagging feeling that tells her she isn't suppose to be like this, but if so, what is she suppose to be?

Remember us She shook herself, where did that thought come from?

Looking at the distance, she decided to carry on with what she planned.

She disappeared, leaving an end to the wilting trail she made, and reappeared in on of the halls of the LEP department.

She could here loud movements and screams from the Ops Booth, her allies must've arrived already. She walked calmly towards where all the commotion is occurring.

Artemis was being held by Faith and Hope, Butler and Short seemed to be trying to come up with a way to escape from the tight situation, thought it was obvious there wasn't a way out. The centaur tried rearing but was soon gagged by Life, who was riding at its back with a smirk; the red-faced man was holding a gun aiming at Magic, the blonde girl was lying on the floor, unconscious.

They were oblivious by her presence, she actually preferred it to remain like this for a while, but changed her mind when she saw Root preparing to fire at one of her unaware comrades. Barely a second later she was standing in front of the commander wearing a frown; Root was shocked by her appearance.

Taking advantage of this, Memento touched the gun with a slender finger. The gun became mere ash, not a weapon to be favored by anyone.

The room went silent as they saw her.

"Memento, Master said that we should take care of this, why are you here? You know he doesn't want to be disobeyed," Service snarled.

Memento looked down at her coldly, and Service felt frozen with fear, fear she never experienced with the devil's anger.

She looked at Artemis who seemed to have paused from struggling and was now staring at her with surprise.

Walking towards him until they were a mere feet apart, she said, "Fowl, where's this charm?" Artemis looked at her blankly, and then as if getting it, he looked at Elegance who had her hands around the crystal, on the verge of destroying it.

None moved as Memento walked towards her, she held out her hand and Elegance gave the chain to her, holding it up, Memento examined it, somehow, it seemed familiar.

"Let Fowl go," she said evenly.

The others glanced at each other, and released, Artemis...stiffly.

"Came here, Artemis," Butler said immediately.

Artemis gratefully came within his bodyguards protection, what followed then was what seemed like a staring contest between the two groups.

Finally, Memento decided to say the first word, "I need you to answer some of my questions."

Silence.

She pressed on. "Why did you say my name isn't Memento Mori?"

"Because it wasn't your real name, your real name is Cyrenela Arlene Perfecto," Artemis answered.

Memento raised her eyebrows, but decided to take his word, for now.

She held up the pendant and asked, "What's this?"

"You gave it to me before you transformed."

She didn't seem convinced. "Why did-

They were interrupted by the devil's arrival. Eyes flaming, teeth gritted, fists clenched, it was obvious that the devil was in a bad mood.

He walked steadily towards Memento; she just looked at him calmly.

His eyes blazed with anger, Memento displayed an amused expression. "Why did you disobey my orders?" he whispered, his voice sounding deadly.

"I did nothing to disobey your orders, you told me to not follow them. I didn't, I just made my own way," she said matter-a-factly.

The devil's anger eventually reached its highest point, in other words...he lost his temper. He slapped Memento at the face.

There was a stunned silence.

A red mark was evident on Memento's cheek, she touched it lightly, it stinged considerably, her black eyes met with the devil's flaming red ones.

"What was that for?" she asked, her voice steady, but Artemis felt poison dripping from her words.

"Don't play dumb," he hissed. "What compelled you to disobey a direct order?"

"You were hiding something from me," she said softly.

"It doesn't concern you," he lied.

"I know you're thoughts, devil, you can't hide anything from me," she scoffed confidently.

"What are you talking about? I am the devil; it is you who can't hide anything from me."

A sly smile grew in Memento' lips. "I don't think so."

The devil glared at her, "You...you dare challenge me?"

"Are you deaf?"

The devil glowered at her, no one insulted him and got away with it, they would usually end up in hell anyways, and that was where he got his revenge.

He looked at his servants, "Well? What are you waiting for?! Come here! We have a battle to fight."

They looked at each other with doubt, they wanted to side with the devil, he was the devil after all. But, for some strange reason they were being tempted to side with Memento, as if...friends.

"COME HERE!!!"

Alerted by this they slowly went to stand by the demon. He let out a triumphant laugh, "See? Your chances of winning are so slim, I can't see it!"

Memento looked at him with her confidence as high as ever, the devil continued. "You're going to fight us alone? Maybe you have lost your puny mind," he insulted, still laughing.

Artemis took a step forward, forcing himself to look at the enemy's red eyes, he said, "No, she has me."

The devil raised an eyebrow, and snorted. "You can't do anything, boy. You don't have your perfect ally now, do you?" he taunted.

Artemis looked at Memento, doubting himself for a second...just a second.

Memento felt a pair of eyes at her; she turned to see the Fowl boy staring at her with a thoughtful expression. "Do I want you to side with me?"

Artemis was taken a back by her refusal, he had never offered help willingly until now, and here she was, throwing it out the open window.

"No," he admitted.

"Yes, now, I can handle myself, and actually...I have no idea why you want to side with an enemy."

Saving him from another round of discomfort was Butler who gripped his employer's shoulder firmly, saying, "I'm not going to allow him anyway."

Artemis was about to speak out an argument but Butler shushed him.

Memento turned back to meet the devil and his allies, smiling, she disappeared.

"So it begins," the devil muttered.

Memento reappeared by Hope's side, who gave a yelp of surprise and was soon on the ground, unconscious.

Sensing the battle's beginning, Butler pushed his charge behind a pile of burnt metal before joining the battle itself. Foaly, who isn't really a fighting type ducked under a desk immediately. Holly and Root took out their Neutrino 2000s and joined the fight. Juliet was still unconscious; Artemis did put quite an effort in dragging her body to a safe spot in the room.

It was a battle between magic and force, good and evil, right and wrong,

Whenever Butler got close enough to do heavy damage, he would find himself thrown backward by a blast of energy.

The battle was hardly fair, twenty five verses a human and two fairies...Memento seemed to be working for herself.

Holly was doing quite fine and managed to get her target four times, though it never rendered them unconscious, when shot they merely got up again, wearing a smug look.

She began to notice this and knew that if they kept on going at this state victory will never be theirs.

As if answering her silent question, Memento appeared by her side and whispered, "Your weapons are useless to them, they feed on energy, with each blast, you only make them stronger."

Holly gaped at her; just recently, she refused help, now she was giving help. "You need to hurt them...physically."

Faith attacked Memento from behind, she felt a slight shock of pain but quickly recovered, giving Faith a very hard kick on the abdomen, causing her to crumple on the floor, clutching her stomach in pain.

Getting the idea, Holly put away her Neutrino and decided to punch instead.

Butler was currently having trouble, having half of the enemies on you would have been the reason of this. He felt frequent shots of pain on his body, his eyes watered but it stopped there, he was a strong man. Crying isn't like him.

With a burst of unbelievable strength, he managed to throw them off him, sending the girls flying off in different directions, coming into contact with very hard objects, unconsciousness was immediate.

Only thirteen more was left, but that still included the devil.

Memento and the devil were bent on destroying one another. "Aren't you afraid of your friend's fate, my dear?" he taunted as he released a broad wave of heat that melted metal as it proceeded.

Memento merely wiped a drip of sweat from her face. "And who are these friends?" she replied carelessly as she dodged yet another blast of energy, this time pure molten lava, that melted the floor which she stood upon earlier.

"Fowl and his companions of course."

Memento's guard suddenly dropped, low. "I thought you said I was suppose to destroy him?"

Sensing his breakthrough, the devil allowed himself a triumphant grin. "I did."

"And?"

Instead of giving an answer he glided smoothly towards Artemis, holding the boy by the arm.

Almost all of the devil's accomplices were down, only Faith and Hope were left.

Butler stared at Artemis, the devil holding him, he produced his Sig Sauer aimed at the head of the enemy and fired.

The bullet whizzed at lightning speed, but for some reason it came through the devil, hitting the wall instead.

The devil chuckled, "Your worthless attempts are meaningless, I am indestructible. Now, how would you want to die, Fowl?"

Butler tensed, "Don't touch him."

He laughed, shaking his head, he said, "How many times must I tell you? Nothing can stop me," unless the girl comes to her senses that is, but that would unlikely happen he added in his thoughts.

Hope and Faith rushed to their master's side, bearing quite a number of bruises and scratches here and there.

Holly and Root came closer, guns at the ready.

The enemy ignored them; he looked at Artemis, "I think that since you're so speechless, I'll choose for you."

Artemis's eyes widened fearfully, something that rarely happened.

Butler gritted his teeth and clenched his hands, the two fairies still held their weapons but were unmoving, Memento looked around her calmly.

He produced a very sharp knife out of thin air, placing it inches from the boy's throat.

Artemis gulped nervously, his eyes darting around, clearly pleading for help.

Holly cautiously took a step forward.

The devil tutted, "Don't step closer, Miss Short." He rested the edge of the knife in Artemis's bare neck, Artemis could feel the coldness of the sharp blade on his skin.

Foaly's head emerged from under the desk, staring at the group.

Holly slowly inched towards Memento, leaning slightly she whispered, "Please, help us save him..."

The devil didn't seem to notice so Memento answered her, with thoughts.

He is nothing to me

Holly stared at her with wide eyes; she answered her with thoughts too. WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S NOTHING?! YOU ACTUALLY BEGGED FOR HIS HELP BEFORE!!! Holly thought this with so much strength that Memento flinched slightly.

And why, pray tell, do I not recall this?

That devil did something that turned you against us

Memento thought about it, it could be true...Are you telling the truth?

Yes Holly answered honestly.

The devil was hiding something from her, the crystal gave her fragments of memories...that she can't recall, though they did seem familiar. And lastly there was that tinge of doubt she felt when the devil ordered her to destroy the boy before...it did make sense. Alright, I will...

Holly sighed with relief.

Memento turned her gaze to the enemy, "Let the boy go."

"No," he said curtly.

"Fine," she proclaimed. With a slight wave of her hand, Artemis disappeared from his grasp and reappeared by Butler's side.

The devil glared at her, "Humph, you will pay...now."

He ran at an amazing burst of speed, striking the knife sharply at her. Memento was surprised at first, but then she felt the pain. There must've been something else with that knife, for she fell unconscious at once.

Butler rushed over to try and retrieve her, but the devil was faster.

"Fowl," he said. "Let me make you a little deal, you care for the girl, right?"

Though Artemis, as we all know, wouldn't really reply to that question at a normal circumstance, but since this wasn't really normal, he nodded.

The devil smirked, "Let's say that if you want her to live at all, or see her again alive, I suggest you let me go, or this knife just might dive deeper."

None of them moved. Artemis noticed Memento's eyelids flutter, he remained silent.

"Good, now as you well know of my identity, I could escape anytime! But I want a different one now, rather than merely disappearing."

He saw black eyes open up slowly.

"Fowl and the girl are threats to my plans, and such a threat is suppose to be eliminated," the devil continued.

Memento's eyes looked around her, now wide awake, and angry. The devil, however, was oblivious.

"I don't need to plea for you to allow an escape, therefore I think I should kill her now, there isn't a difference."

Hearing those words snapped Memento into action, with a well aimed kick; the devil was on the floor, groaning with pain. She didn't waste any time, she gathered all the energy she could and blasted him into dust, the beam went through him, the floor, and the earth, anything that was unfortunate enough to get hit by it is as good as gone.

For some reason, Faith and the others vanished also.

After the commotion, Memento breathed deeply, and fixed her eyes at Artemis, "Short tells me you're a friend of mine."

She went closer to him; Butler tensed but allowed her to proceed.

"Yes," Artemis confirmed steadily, looking at her straight in the eyes.

"How am I to know this is true? I have no friends, they only make you weak."

He couldn't blame her, that was how he felt before, "You could find proof."

She snorted, "From where?"

Artemis wouldn't really go all spiritual in any condition, but there was only one answer to that question,

"From inside yourself."

She laughed, "This is just a waste of time, I think I'll just destroy you as I planned."

Artemis didn't budge, "Touch the crystal."

"Excuse me?"

"You'll know when you touch it."

The pendant was on the floor, she dropped it when the battle begun. Holding it by the chain, she lifted it up from the ground, "What will happen when I touch it?"

Artemis shrugged, but he did have an idea, he just didn't voice it aloud.

Memento didn't really know why she was doing this, trusting a complete stranger, a stranger she was suppose to kill earlier. But there was a small part of her that said he wasn't a stranger...with thoughts still in her mind, she briefly placed it over her head, and wore it around her neck. The jewel rested on her chest.

For a moment, nothing happened, but there was a sudden burst of rainbow colors, illuminating the room brightly.

Artemis squinted the light was so bright it hurt his eyes, he could see various dark figures, probably his friends. He hoped his theory was correct... The light disappeared suddenly; he looked around, trying to focus his vision.

Memento was on the floor, unmoving.

Holly clambered over checking her pulse, "She's alive, what should we do?"

"Let's get her to the Manor," Artemis suggested.

"How?" Foaly asked shakily.

Artemis took off the chain gently from Memento. "With this."

Take us to Fowl Manor, please, he thought.

They braced themselves; they learned earlier that traveling like this usually ends up for them being piled on top of one another.

As silent as the wind, they were gone.

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Author's Note:

I want to know if you think Memento will turn back to her old angelic self when she wakes up or not...suggestions please!

Dorinda

Yeah, this is my first fic. TNX for your review!

Identity99

Your welcome! And I started the series weird too, I started with the 3rd then 4th, 5th, 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th, and so on...do you think they will meet the Quagmire triplets again? The reason I update fast is cuz I have a lot of spare time! And TNX a lot for your chapterly reviews, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside...so...TNX again! Keep in touch!

cocoaducks

Thank you!

READ AND REVIEW!!!