Who I Am
By: ChocolateEclar
Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis (though I'd like to) or Holly or Foaly or Root or the rest of the LEP or Butler or Juliet or Mulch or… Yeah, you get the idea.
Claimer: But I do own Ashling!
To Shelma, a.w.g, neutralgal, and plughole: Thanks for the reviews.
To sabouki: I love Ashling too. Thanks for reviewing.
To sara: The pairings are just Holly/Artemis as far as I've planned, but that won't be until the end of Part One. So, probably 4 or 5 chapters from now. Part Two will be much longer.
To Artemis Obscure: I e-mailed you my response…
To Miss General Bob: Yeah, Ashling is sweet. Too bad I'm going to harm my poor little character… Thanks for the review.
To Barbie Emily: Hey, fellow Emily. You know I'm older though. LOL. Arty is definitely the coolest evil teenager. Thanks for reviewing. Hope you like this…
To Amy Shadows: You're right about original characters. That's why I'm staying as far away from them as possible…with the exception of the main villain in Part Two and Ashling. Thanks a bunch.
Chapter 2: Emerald Deception
American Museum of Natural History, New York City
In the home of the Patricia Emerald, a massive stone of six hundred and thirty-two carats, Artemis now sat in a rented limousine with tined windows in the museum's parking lot. Central Park West and 79th Street were just beginning to become busy as Butler waited in the front seat for Artemis to be ready. The teenager glanced at his watch to see the second hand pass the twelve, signaling nine AM. The museum would open in an hour. They would be done long before then.
Logging on his laptop, he opened a hacking program of his own design. To save time, he had hacked into the museum security system before he had left just before dawn that morning. To enter the security system, he snuck in through a computer backdoor he had left for himself. Now, just to loop three cameras and switch off a laser. The rest was up to physically switching the emerald with a temporary hologram projecting through a nearby security camera. The real Patricia Emerald would be hidden right under everyone's noses – in a ceramic pot filled with flowers on the other end of the exhibit.
To get the emerald there, all they had to do was haul the stone there. It was not as complicated as Butler supposed it was going to be. Of course, there's no use in doubting Artemis Fowl, so he followed Artemis to a side door where Artemis hit a key on his computer and the electronic lock clicked open. The camera trained on the door was one of the three stuck in a loop.
Artemis and Butler left a ransom e-mail signed with the alias Apollo Fair in the curator's inbox and arrived back in the airport in Dublin via another plane trip just before lunchtime. Ashling and Juliet covered for them in the meantime.
Fowl Manor
Ashling came from a line of Aisling Catriona Fowls. Although her parents had chosen to anglicize her first name, Ashling was still considered Aisling the Fourth. Though she did not show it, it rather annoyed her in her teenage years to be referred as this by an elderly businessman and friend of her father. Even in her younger years though, Ashling was known for staying calm when under pressure.
That was why she was needed in convincing Artemis Senior and Angeline Fowl. Juliet was not enough alone in this case.
Juliet, who was in a stage of her life where she was experimenting with hair color, entered Ashling's bedroom with red highlights in her blonde hair. Ashling looked up from her position on her window seat and said, "What time?"
"Nearly eight thirty," explained Juliet. "Butler called to say they had just arrived in NYC."
Nodding, Ashling said, "Mother is just up. Father has for an hour. Breakfast now?"
"If you're ready," said Juliet, grinning slightly.
It took five minutes for the girls to reach the dinning room where Angeline and Artemis Senior awaited breakfast. Ashling was first. "Father? Mother?" she chirped.
"There you both are," said Angeline. "Where are Arty and Butler then? They're usually both here so early. We need to give our birthday boy his presents."
Ashling smirked. Arty would have been peeved to be talked about as if he were a child… Your turn, Jules.
"Oh, Butler and Artemis told me to let you know they were going to do some research in the library in Dublin," Juliet replied.
"Yep, yep," cooed Ashling. "Arty's bringing me some of the special…thingies he likes there."
"You mean the computer store?" questioned Artemis Senior skeptically. "He's bringing you back something from a computer store?"
"Yep," recovered Ashling. "You know, I want that pony game."
"But on his birthday?" asked Angeline.
"You know Artemis, Mrs. Fowl, he's not one for sentiments like that."
That one worked. Sighing resignedly, Angeline nodded. Artemis Senior nodded. "When will they be back then?" he queried. The questions now were not so dubious and prodding.
Both girls let out a relieved inward breath.
"You just had to create your own plan, didn't you, ladies?" stated Artemis. There was no anger – just mild exasperation. Juliet and Ashling had greeted Butler and Artemis at the backdoor. "And such an appalling plan at that."
"Mother's looking to give you your present," said Ashling.
"As expected," Artemis replied. "What is it this year? A toy? Some outdated equipment?"
"C'mon, Arty, you find out now," Ashling exclaimed excitedly.
Butler and Juliet watched the exchange with amusement. Siblings.
Operations Booth
Commander Root stepped into the room. Foaly could already tell he was in a fowler mood than usual. He had seen him storming all the way to the Operations Booth through the cameras linked electronically to his computer. Foaly was sure it wasn't his fault this time though. He hadn't asked for a pay raise in a week.
"Yes, Julius?" said Foaly cheerfully, as Root stomped in.
A glower was his only initial response. Then, Root grumbled, "Prepare for a Recon mission, ponyboy."
"What is it this time? Another bunch of idiotic goblins in the South end of Haven?" Foaly queried.
"Unfortunately not," huffed Root. "The Patricia Emerald was stolen, and the Council wants it returned to the Mud Man museum it was in."
"Oh, that old rock," said Foaly, disappointed and turning back to his keyboard. It was nothing important then.
"Yes, that rock," huffed Root. "You know very well what it does."
"It just acts as an impenetrable shield against lasers is all," said Foaly. "And that's special compared to my shields because…?"
"Because it is considered sacred among the Jade Nation and you know how they are," Root replied.
Foaly grimaced. Of course. The Jade Nation was known for their extreme tactics at spreading their want for humans and the People to reunite. They had caused more mindwipes than the amount of times Mulch Diggums had broken into a dwelling of any kind. And that was saying something. The LEP had mindwiped the entire city of Los Angeles once because of the organization.
If the Jade Nation found out the stone they had forced the Council to put in a human museum, under penalty of going on CNN and letting out the People's secrets, was lost, there would be havoc.
"So, do we know who stole the emerald?" sighed Foaly.
"That's the worst part."
"There's a worse part?"
"Considering Artemis Fowl is the one who stole the stone, it'd say yes," Root grumbled.
All Foaly could do was groan. Everything always led to that Mud Boy.
Dublin, Ireland
There was an extremely short man, at table six in the Envious Beauty Café, who was drinking Irish spring water and picking beetles from his beard. If the manager, Henry Mor, didn't do something soon, he would lose a lot of customers. Very rich ones included.
"Sir," he pleaded, "I really must ask you to leave."
"I'll gladly leave," the man sniffed, offended. "This water is horrible anyway. "Too many concrete particles. Not enough clay."
Henry Mor frowned and said, "This way, sir."
As he stepped out of the restaurant, Mulch Diggums turned around and asked, "You wouldn't happen to know which way is Fowl Manor, would you?"
LEP Invisi-Tent, Outside Fowl Manor
"Just get the rock and leave. Just get the rock and leave. Just…" mumbled Holly to herself. It was roughly an hour passed noon, and all of the fairies were waiting for the sun to set so they could commence operations. "Foaly," Holly groaned, "it would be easier to deal with the Jade Nation."
Laughing, the centaur replied, "That exact argument was rejected by the Council when Julius proposed it. They said they'd rather deal with a teenage Mud Boy than a couple thousand crazed sprites and elves."
"Wonderful," mumbled Holly with a grimace.
Fowl Manor
"Wonderful," Artemis said impassively. "It's wonderful, Mother."
"Don't sound so enthused, Arty," Angeline said. "Go on and pet him."
Sitting on the leather chair beside Angeline was a small, vicious looking kitten with black fur and green eyes.
"Don't worry," whispered Artemis Senior in his son's ear. "The front claws have been removed."
Reassuring, Artemis thought. He did not like the look of this new pet. When he had been perhaps four or five years old, he had been given a little German Shepherd puppy. Then, it had bitten Butler's uncle. Thus, no more puppy.
The teenager cautiously stuck out one pale hand towards the cat's nose to allow his scent to be acknowledged. When the kitten had licked his knuckle, he went to rub its neck, only to receive a hiss and a paw to his hand.
"Just wonderful," grumbled Artemis.
Ashling cringed as the kitten hopped onto the armrest of the chair and bit her brother's hand. To break the silence, she asked, "His name, Arty?"
"Brutus," answered Artemis with a half-smile. Et tu Bruté? He nearly sighed aloud. What was he doing making jokes?
Outside Fowl Manor
Perched atop the massive wall surrounding the manor were four of the twelve Recon captains. The fifth above ground was still in the tent taking final orders from Commander Root.
"I do not want this to get out of hand, Holly," barked Root. "No memory wipes. Just simple get in, get the emerald, get out. Got that?"
"Yes, sir," sighed Holly. The sun was just disappearing below the horizon as she flew up to join the others.
"All right," hollered Root in everyone's helmet comm.'s. "Let's review. We've already established that only Captain Short has permission to enter since Fowl made it so that once he was mindwiped only she would be allowed in. So she will get in first, while you all use scanners to find the emerald from outside. When the rock is found, Captain Short will carry the stone out. Now, get to work."
Holly flew straight off the wall towards an open window, while the other four spread out around the area. Entering a spacious room, Holly hovered for a moment to observe her surroundings.
She was in Angeline Fowl's private room. Her vanity, mirror, and makeup were neatly placed with photographs on the walls. Holly paused at the pictures. A tiny four-year-old version of Artemis, in a blue school blazer and tie, was glaring at her as if to say, "I don't want to be here!" while Ashling was pictured perched on a swing with a little red dress and fancy white dress shoes. Holy could just picture the scene that must have been involved to seat a six-year-old Artemis on the back of a donkey in India. It was blatant to her the fowl mood the boy was in by his scowl and posture. Artemis had much more control over his emotions now, but she could still see when he was unhappy.
"Better move it, Holly," Foaly hissed in her ear. Holly scowled and continued out into the hallway. She flew down a staircase and passed by the drawing room on the first floor. Artemis Fowl the Second was reading a thick, aged novel and trying to ignore the kitten batting at his ankles.
Holly flinched. It was then that the kitten looked up and hissed in her direction. D'Arvit. Just because only rats could actually see shielded fairies, didn't mean other animals with keen senses couldn't detect them. Holly knew what was coming next. Artemis turned his eyes from the pages of the book to the doorway. There was no one there to be seen, but that did not mean no one was there in reality.
Artemis calmly reached under the arm of his chair and pressed the button on a tiny plastic, raindrop-size device. "Get back!" Foaly hissed too late in Holly's ear. Static buzzed in her ears as the floor released a tiny electric charge. It would have been enough to knock out a human, but Holly's magic healed herself.
When Artemis's eyes widened, Holly paused in removing her smoking helmet. Artemis let out a slight groan before his pupils contracted and he shut his eyes quickly. He could see her…
One word slipped from his mouth. "Holly."
The elf clenched her hands around her helmet. "Oh, D'Arvit."
It was agonizing at first. Uncovering the hidden parts of his mind was not something Artemis would have liked to repeat. Little flecks of remembrance came at first – like the first drops of rainfall. And then, it began to pour.
One memory made him laugh bitterly though. "I don't like lollipops." He would have chuckled at the absolute intolerable way he had uttered that sentence for quite some time, if he had not realized who was glaring and cursing him just a few feet away.
"Captain," Artemis mocked, standing up.
"I'll kill you," growled Holly. "Do you have to do these things to me? I'm going to lose my job! What do you remember anyway?"
Sighing, Artemis replied, "Everything of course, Captain. Now, this is not my fault. I had an electric field installed in the foundation of the manor, which I could use intermittently, after receiving the notion I was being watched. I had no idea I would catch an elf with it though."
"No, no, no," Holly was mumbling.
"I am sorry, Holly, but I really did not plan this," Artemis said, trying not to smirk. "I had other ways of returning my memory in mind."
"Oh yes, of course," hissed Holly. "But that would mean you lied under the mesmer!"
Artemis gave her an almost sheepish, vampire smile. Holly groaned and through her hands up. "Do I even want to know how you did that? No! I don't. I need to get out of this mess! Stop grinning like that, or I'll go with my first plan of killing you!"
Artemis made more of an effort to control his features as he stated, "First off then, it has been quite a long time."
"Not long enough," Holly interrupted.
Ignoring her, Artemis continued, "Why are you here? I have done nothing to the fairies…although I have been scheming a new way to get the Book."
Holly advanced on him furiously. "Shut it, Mud Boy. So help me, I'll…"
"I have a plan, if you need one either way," said Artemis. Holly glowered up at him. He had grown quite a bit by human standards. He was almost six feet tall with slightly longer hair. He sat back down on his chair, so that they were now level. The kitten mewed at Holly's feet and wound over her legs. It was rather as if the master had charmed the beast to convince her of his plan.
She didn't have a job if this continued anyway, so what did she have to lose?
Moaning, Holly rolled her eyes. I'm going to regret this, she thought. "Okay," she said aloud. "What do you have in mind? Make it quick, Mud Boy." Artemis just gave her his patent smirk.
Outside Fowl Manor
"Now, where are you going, Mud – er – kid?"
"Oh!" exclaimed Ashling, sneaking around a tree. "I just going…I mean…" she trailed off.
"I see," said the short man at the gates. "Do you think you could let me in, wherever you're going?"
"Not supposed to," grumbled Ashling distrustfully.
"C'mon, kid," grumbled the man.
"Nah uh," Ashling persisted.
"I'll tell someone you're sneaking around alone," Mulch threatened.
Ashling paused for a moment before protesting, "You can't do that. You out there."
"Okay, okay," said the man exasperatedly, while scratching his beard. "I'd rather do this the easy way, so let's start over. I'm Mulch Diggums."
"I'm Ashling Fowl," replied the petite child, smiling with her little teeth.
Ah, a Fowl, thought Mulch. Of course. "Then, your brother is Artemis Fowl?" he asked with a grin.
"Uh huh," answered Ashling.
"Good," said the dwarf. "So, Ashling, why don't you go get Butler to search me all he likes and ask your brother if I can come in?"
A/N: Review! (Oh yeah, I am so creative with these author's notes.)