Hi everybody, this is a weird sort of thing which I just randomly started to write and then for some reason decided to post on the internet. You may have read my other fic which is the main one I'm working on, Artemis Fowl and the Middle Class Family, and it's heaps lighthearted compared to this one, but I wanted to try writing something sad.
Also, I'm not sure if this should be a one-shot or not. I have some stuff written as a sort of 'potential' chapter, but I don't want to wreck it by making it go on if you guys thing it's better as a one-shot.
One last thing, as well as reviewing and telling me to stop wasting precious database space with my stupid stories, could someone please look up something in the first book for me and tell me the quote - I lent my copy to someone else and I can't remember the exact wording. So, if you have the book handy and feel like reviewing, could you please tell me the bit where Artemis is talking to Holly when he's recently kidnapped her and it goes something like "…you… you…" The creature thought him so awful, she couldn't even find words to describe him. I'm not sure if that's right but anyway, if you feel like telling me I would be very very grateful!!
Disclaimer: If you're mistaking this load of D'Arvit for Eoin Colfer's stuff, you are either truly stupid or else you're trying to build a case against yourself for slandering him. HA turned the legal stuff against you... muhahahaha...
The wind whipped through Artemis' hair, making the many scratches on his face sting furiously. He stood on a hill, vaguely concealed by undergrowth, and gazed into space, eyes unfocussed.
"To err is to be human, Artemis," Butler said quietly, placing a weathered hand on his charge's shoulder.
"I know, Butler. But when did I ever express a wish to be human?"
The two stood in silence and stared across the land where so recently had stood the magnificence of Fowl Manor. Butler heard Artemis draw a sharp breath when the first stretcher was brought out from the wreckage. The stretcher carried Angeline, barely breathing, to the waiting ambulance, where attempts to revive her were started.
The second stretcher to emerge carried a man who Artemis knew had been in a sorry state like that more than any man needed to, without this. It was for his father's life that he feared most, and he found himself hoping more desperately for his father than for his mother, which confused him.
"Shit, Dom, what the hell happened there?" yelled Juliet as she walked towards her brother and Artemis. She had quite a deep scratch on her cheek, and she was clutching her left wrist, suggesting that it was badly hurt.
"Juliet!" cried Butler, who jogged towards his sister but refrained from hugging her so as not to hurt her wrist, his eyes full of concern. "Were you in there too? I never knew... have you had them check your wrist? Are you okay?"
"Dom, I'm fine, seriously. And I don't want to go near them, they'll decide I'm concussed or something and keep me in hospital for the next six months. Wow, that would suck so much. But what happened?"
Butler looked at Artemis, who swallowed and stepped forward. He had noticed a little venom in Butler's look at him, which he put down to the fact that Juliet had been hurt too.
"It was my fault. All my fault. I was experimenting with unstable compounds without the proper equipment. They weren't completely confined in the magnetic field and... this happened. Juliet, Butler - I'm... sorry. I really am."
"That's okay Art'mis, no... well, not much harm done. We forgive you, don't we, Dom?"
Butler nodded silently, the venom gone from his eyes and replaced with a sad, tired look which made his face look far older than it should have. The bodyguard had been touched by the honesty and uncharacteristic emotion in Artemis' response.
"Yes, we forgive you, Artemis."
The boy smiled wryly and shook his head. The sadness in Butler's eyes was even worse than the venom, and for some reason he felt guilty deep inside as he noticed the bodyguard's more haggard looks.
"You might forgive me, and I thank you for it. However, the idea that I am worth forgiveness is new to me. In my quest for power, I have destroyed everything. What do I do now?"
"Mate, you haven't destroyed everything. You've still got us, haven't you? Cheer up, the house can be built again."
"Look down the hill, Juliet. See those two ambulances?"
"Is that... are they... oh dear."
Tears sprung to Juliet's eyes for the first time that day as Artemis continued to explain.
"My mother and father are within them, fighting for their lives. Because of me. If I had only been less keen to create something so powerful..."
"Hey Dom, what if we follow them to the hospital? Could find out how they are and stuff."
Butler shook his head, and his eyes had narrowed.
"Now is not a good time to hang around. It seems that the authorities down there may wish to ask some questions – Artemis, unless you are prepared to answer such questions, we might be wiser to leave for now. In the current international climate, unexplained explosions will not be treated lightly. Shall we?"
The bodyguard could see that Artemis considered staying and dealing with the investigators, but put a hand on the boy's shoulder and steered him gently away from the wrecked manor and into the grounds.
"You won't be much use to anyone if they get you now, Artemis," Butler said softly. Artemis nodded and walked with the Butlers silently.
The small, sombre group walked briskly into the darker part of the forest which was on Fowl land, where they found a small house. They went inside and Butler motioned for them to sit on the comfortable granny-style couches.
"This was originally the gamekeeper's lodge," Butler explained. "This is where I come on my day off to think. I have a first aid kit here Juliet, you might want a bandage for that wrist, and some antiseptic for your face..."
"Do I have to? That stuff stings so much. I'm fine, really, Dom," she insisted as she carefully wrapped a bandage around her injured wrist.
"Fine, wash it out with water, I don't care. Artemis, do you want some antiseptic?"
"No thankyou, Butler. I too will simply wash my scratches with water."
Butler shrugged and sighed.
"Not much use being a bodyguard if your principal and sister succumb to micro-organisms anyway."
This earned him a punch from Juliet and a slightly softened look from Artemis.
"So when do you think we can visit my parents?" asked the boy.
"Well I guess we'll need a plan. The authorities don't know that we were there at the time of the blast, do they?" Butler looked thoughtful.
"I see no reason for them to know that... unless my mother has woken up and started asking about us. But from the state she appeared to be in when they took her..."
Artemis swallowed and was silent. Juliet patted him on the shoulder and attempted to reassure him.
"She'll be fine, Artemis, they both will, I'm sure. But yeah, I suppose they'll probably still be out of it."
"Right, well anyway, if they don't know we were there, we should be fine. Does that sound right to you, Artemis?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can we go now?"
The Butler siblings could tell that the boy was very distracted indeed. They didn't blame him in the least – both of them remembered losing their parents with a pain that stung more than any antiseptic. All they could do was hope that their young friend would not have to go through the same ordeal.
"There's an older car around the back here which I use to run errands in sometimes. I hope you won't mind the lack of luxury, Artemis – it's not as comfortable as the Bentley – but I suppose you'll get over it so long as the engine works."
"Which it will," added Juliet hurriedly to her brother's somewhat dubious comment, after seeing the boy's eyebrow twitch warningly.
The three quietly filed out the door and followed Butler through the forest to a small carport at the end of a muddy driveway. Inside was a little car that looked about ten years old, but still in reasonable condition. The huge bodyguard squeezed himself into the driver's seat and turned on the engine before the others entered the car.
"It's okay, you can get in, she just needs a couple of minutes to warm up a bit," Butler said, patting the steering wheel. Juliet gave Artemis a small grin and motioned him to take the front passenger's seat, but he shook his head and climbed into the back seat instead.
"You sit next to Butler and talk to him, I need to think," he muttered. Juliet shrugged and got into the front seat. As soon as she had done this, her brother revved the engine and reversed out of the carport, then drove along the driveway.
"Is it alright if we go a slightly longer way, Artemis? Just going through the back roads a bit until we get away from the Ma- the property. For safety's sake."
Artemis murmured assent and stared at his reflection in the window, thinking. It was all his fault, he knew that. And it was his fault that Butler looked so disappointed, and old. This was something he could barely cope with – something you couldn't formulate a solution to, or a plan to fix. As much as he might insist that his powers of communication were brilliant, he'd never quite got the hang of empathy, or repercussions on others from his actions. If he really thought about it, he wasn't actually a particularly good person in any way, as a human. But he never said he wanted to be human.
Well, there you go. Review! Either agree with me and say it's pointless crap, or beg to differ and say that it is crap that serves a purpose - to amuse by its crappiness. Ah whatever, do what you like, but if someone could tell me that quote I'd be much obliged. And whether to continue it or not. Thankyou!