Amulet of Quietus
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Artemis Fowl. sigh But, one can dream, no?
Summary: Artemis regains his memory and sets out after a powerful Amulet. Only problem is he needs the helps of a stubborn water sprite to get it.
Setting: Middle of South America and Ireland
Chapter 1: Water Utopia
Sunlight played across the water set village. It cast away shadows, and shone through the shallow pools of water in which young sprites played. Many older sprites feared to leave their puddles, afraid the sun would shrivel them in seconds, and so were confined to one or two main pools . Of course, this lead several young ones to believe that the sun could dry them out just as fast, if not faster, and so the village had set itself under the shade of trees. Of course, said trees were in the water, so the sprites never had to leave their true home.
Among some of the younger aged water elves was Anya. By younger aged, of course, I mean a couple hundred years old. Anya was nearing two hundred years of age. This placed her somewhere around being a teenager in human years, something like fifteen. Gods, how young those humans really were! Normally, Anya would be in a peppy disposition, but not now. Never this time of year.
Most naiads, or water spirits, were elated at this time of year. This was the time of years when all sprites gathered and returned to their real home for three months. For Anya's type, this home was Water Utopia, located 200 feet under the surface of the ocean. Now, you're probably thinking "What's wrong with that? She's a water sprite after all!" Well, maybe she was a sprite, but that didn't mean she enjoyed it.
In fact, Anya almost despised the wet world in which she resided. Of all the fairy's she knew who ventured from the water, Anya was the only one who'd left the water for more than one hour. She'd gone off gallivanting three weeks ago, and since returning, had been a social outcast.. The others were appalled by such behavior, and thought she should seeks forgiveness from Tethys, the goddess of aquatic nymphs, which just angered Anya more.
Today marked the beginning of a week before they set off for Utopia, and her behavior hadn't improved much. She'd been assigned guard duty for the youngest sprites of the village. It was like babysitting (one of her worst fears), but worse. None of the children could drown, but they sure could disappear onto dry land. That would set the village into an uproar, and she'd be blamed for being such an influence on the tykes.
After being thoroughly splashed by Marsden, a young boy nymph, Anya kept her distance from kids. She sat on a rock twenty feet from the pools, close enough to watch, far enough to stay dry.
"Stupid brat, I should pull him out of the water and watch him cry. How funny would he be then? Huh? He'd be-" She continued on, murmuring to herself for some time, consumed with anger. And then she felt it. A pull in her mind, a small ach in the back of her head. What was this? She stood, but before she could react, her vision was filled with black…
Her mind soared across vast amounts of land. Green was so rare… there were more tall gray buildings than trees. Her visions took her west, to a land of foreigners. She flew over minute, overcrowded islands, and then desolate islands. Suddenly, she was descending. Before her was a small land mass, noticeable only because of the enormous mountain directly in the center of it.
Her vision flew to the mountain, and at the base of it stood a cave. Dark, malicious looking, she almost didn't want to go in. Anya tried to turn, but found her mind being pulled forward, into the dark. She called out in fright, but no sound came. And then, she stopped.
It happened so abruptly that it seemed almost unsettling. Anya looked around, absorbing her surroundings. A small cave, about ten feet across, ten feet deep, and fifteen feet high was before her. She stood in the entryway, looking in. And what a sight it was.
Absolutely nothing. It was disappointing, but the room was bare. Anya looked around again, searching in vain for something, anything, to show why she was here. This was it? An empty cave? Some flight that was!
Step forward, and the light shall show you. Anya jumped, unaware that she wasn't alone.
Step forward? Fine, but don't expect me to get all excited about nothing. Anya stepped forward, or her mind did at least. A light suddenly shown down, lighting up the small cave, and glittering off of something.
Cautiously, she moved forward, and gasped. It was beautiful! A small silver amulet sat on a pillar. The amulet sported many diamonds, but the greatest thing about it, the most accentuating item on it was the blood red ruby in the middle of it. The jewel was shaped like a heart, and she almost swore she could hear it beating.
You are the only one who knows its here. I have only shown you because my time has come and gone, and you are least likely to ever seek it. Guard this knowledge well. That voice again. Hey, what did it mean by she was least likely to seek it?
Look, I don't know what you are, or who, but I want answers. What is this? Why am I least likely to seek it? Why would anybody seek it at all? And why me?
You were pure of heart, a good strong child of the magic world. I decided to show you because you seemed worthy. This is the Amulet of Quietus. Many people seek it, because of its powers, and because of its fortune. You must not tell anyone where it is, lest its evil be brought to this earth again.
Evil? What evil?
That I can not tell you. Guard it well, my child. And be warned, the ones who seek me will seek out you as well. Be prepared for them to come. Good-bye.
Wait! Anya tried to stop moving, but she was expelled from the cave, and sent flying back to the world. She was flying home, in fact, there was her island…
"Anya Vistou, you wake up right now, or so help me, I'll give you to Oceanid himself." That wasn't a good thing to wake up to, but that's all that greeted Anya as she awoke to the real world. In front of her stood Misty, an elderly hag who pestered anyone stupid enough to get near her.
"What happened? Oh, hi Misty, how are you?" Anya pretended like she'd just woken up, but in all reality, she felt like she'd never gone to sleep.
"Don't you sass me, young lady! Have you been watching the children? Of course not, you were sleeping! Now, tell me, are all of them here?" Misty's beady eyes bore into hers, awaiting an answer. Turning from Misty, Anya began to count the kids.
Cari, Dalit, Kenda, Killian, and Moselle all were swimming together. The only one missing was…
"Marsden! Oh, Gods, where is that child?" Misty made a tsk sound at her, disapproving of the girl who'd lost one of their own.
"Anya, don't you come home tonight until you find that boy, you understand?"
"Yes, Misty, I understand. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to doze." She started a string of apologizes, but was cut short.
"Don't stand here talking to me! Go find the child, you idiot girl!" Misty snapped.
Anya blushed furiously and started off towards the forest, a favorite place among mischievous little boys. Especially boys like Marsden, who loved straying from the pools he was limited too.
Anya sighed, know she wouldn't get any sleep for sometime, and set off into the dark woods.
Artemis sighed. It had been to easy. His memory had been back for well over a week, and the fairy world was still in the dark about it. They had no clue, and he planned to keep it that way, lest he went through all that hard work again, only to have it be such and easy challenge, again.
After he had awoken and found the lens in his eye, Artemis had asked Butler to contact some friends who knew about those types of things. As it turned out, one of his friends in Limerick had been expecting them, and had something to give them.
Joseph
McDugal was some what astonished when he informed Butler that he'd
seen him just a few months ago. Butler seemed confused, but went
along with the flow, saying he must have forgotten what he was there
for.
"Care to refresh my memory?" Butler asked.
"Of course, sir. You asked for a special type of contact, one which was very adhesive, and washes out only with water. I'm surprised you don't remember, that order was a dozy. Oh, you also asked me to give this too you when you returned, and said that I should remind you to call this person immediately."
Joseph handed Butler a handed piece of paper, on which he recognized his own hand writing. He pocketed it and thanked his friend.
On the plane back to Dublin, Butler took out the note and read it thoroughly.
To Butler:
Don't worry, your not insane. Yes, you wrote this, but you won't remember it. Believe me, everything will be clear when you do as I say. This number below is to a contact of yours, a good friend. He's very weird, very short, and not quite normal. Call him and tell him that Artemis wishes to reunite at the manor, and then hang up. The guy should show up with a small laser disk. Let him show it to you, and you'll remember everything. To prove that you really wrote this, I included something only you, Juliet and Madame Ko know. Good-bye, and good luck. Butler
Butler was amazed, to say the least. He decided to play along though, and looked below. There was a number, an area code somewhere in the USA, and below that was the so-called proof. His jaw dropped, and Butler's eyes widened. This couldn't be true! How had this person known? It was true what they'd say, that only he, his sister, and Madame Po had known that.
Before he could ponder anymore on it though, a stewardess announced that the plane was landing, and that he should fasten his seatbelt. Artemis was going to love this. Not only had someone set this up for them, but they had provided a way for them to solve this contact business. Assuming, that is, that that person really was Butler himself.
Artemis was skeptic to say the least, but decided to give the guy a call. As it turned out, that had been all they needed. Within in one day, the midget Mulch had shown up, shown them the disk, and restored their memories.
Of course, he was still at the house, ransacking the refrigerator at the moment. Butler was keeping an eye on the dwarf, and Artemis was sitting in his room, pondering what to do.
So far, the faeries had no idea he knew about them, again. This gave Artemis an advantage, and he intended to use it for his last mission. Yes, that's right, his last. He'd sworn after Spiro not pull another amazing heist, but Artemis just couldn't resist. It was time for his revenge on those Russian pigs who'd kidnapped his father and thought to get the better of Artemis Fowl the Second.
Artemis sighed again, coming at a dead end on his computer. The search for the jewel was almost a challenge. He'd found out about the jewel from the disk, which had mentioned it briefly. Something about death and pain, and ultimate power. Sounded like the perfect toy for Artemis.
He typed a new search engine, this time coming up with a hit. It seemed that the amulet had last been used over five hundred years ago, and had decimated nearly half the world. Faeries had then given it to a Guardian and locked that magical being away, somewhere in the confines of the Mud Man world. Just his luck, that he didn't have to make an excursion down to Haven or any other underworld city, for that matter.
After printing out a picture of the amulet, Artemis had read the riddle about where the Guardian was, and decided to get a second opinion. So he called the only person he trusted.
"Butler, come here for a moment, I'd like your opinion on something." Even though Artemis was three floors up, Butler was there in half a minute, dragging Mulch in behind him.
"Sir?" Butler asked after releasing Mulch from his grip.
"I was wondering what you'd conclude when you read this riddle, so tell me what you think." He showed Butler the screen waiting while the manservant read it. Artemis recited it in his head, having already committed it to memory.
The Guardian shall have to hide
Among the Mud Men so up high
The place she hides is so discrete
That very few shall ever meet.
Those of water know her well
Though they hide inside a shell
One to be chosen, so distraught
This one only must be taught.
Seek the child of the water
The Guardians only daughter
Make her shown you, ask her how
The Amulet can be found
Butler studied over for a minute more and then turned to Artemis, a scowl on his face.
"Another mission, Artemis?" After the boy nodded, he continued. " Seems like this Guardian had one kid, a girl who likes water. She told the kid where it was, and now only her and the girl know. They're not underground though, but not somewhere highly populated either."
Artemis nodded, having come to almost the same conclusion. "I thought the same thing, but I think I understand that it meant by 'discrete'. It referred to somewhere no one goes, or knows about. And the reference to 'those of water'? I think it means water nymphs. So, what if by discrete it meant somewhere no humans go? What if it meant-"
"A water sprite pool." Mulch finished for them.
Author's Note
This is kind of an author's own universe, though I did try to keep it related to Artemis. That part about sprites and what not I kinda made up, so don't explode at me. Also, this is set about one year after Eternity Cube.
Review, tell what you thought of it. Thnx!
P.S.- If you haven't guessed, the thing on the note to Butler was his real name, Domovoi. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think anyone else would know that.