Chapter 2: Flashback -Knightsbridge, London-
The Fowl family was out at En Fin. It was the restaurant where Artemis had once met Jon Spiro, a Chicago entrepreneur. A felon, in fact. It was also the place where Butler suffered from a lethal wound. Obviously, Artemis didn't realize any of this. He was just here to celebrate his birthday.
While dining, Artemis thought of the recent gap he was having in his memories. A week ago, Artemis was dumbfounded at the ton of gold sitting inside his safe. His mind decided that it was from a recent robbery, but his heart felt it wasn't right. Also, about these fairies, it was almost as if he knew them already.
This is what usually happened as an aftereffect of a memory wipe. To the fairies' relief, it ended there, merely being confused at one's lost memories, not even knowing it was actually lost.
Juliet had gotten into the wrestling team. Artemis was extremely annoyed at this, though he had hardly doubted she would fail. She was as audacious as a leprechaun, to put it mildly.
Leprechaun? What made him think that a leprechaun was brave?
-Chute #57-
Holly was doing the Ritual as far from Ireland as possible. She was in the United States, because she didn't want to risk another abduction. Artemis. It was their fault in the first place to mind-wipe him. They just didn't have the right. Erasing certain parts so the human will not be a liability, that was fine. But completely annihilating what had once been his scheme, carefully planned over a year? Holly was not so sure. Apart from missing Artemis, the other emotion she had felt was guilt. She was just about to put the acorn into the ground.
"Hello," said an icy voice, which was undoubtedly….
"No," Holly breathed. No, it couldn't be. Not Fowl. He shouldn't be here. She slowly turned around. This Mud Man was far from being Artemis. He was much taller, and he had a cynical grin on his face, which was, if possible, far more evil than Artemis.
"Jon Spiro," Holly said, absolutely stunned. "But-. How-"
"Amazing, isn't it?" Spiro drawled. "Who would have ever known that fairies actually exist?"
"I did some research after that Fowl boy bamboozled me. I was utterly confused. How could a boy, no matter how much a genius he may be, simply disappear in front of my eyes? I had no evidence. None at all. Until I looked closely at my cousin's thumb. I saw a scar around the knuckle. It apparently must have been cut out. I examined other fingerprints on his thumb, and found one other than Artemis's."
Holly couldn't take anymore. She shielded herself and flew into the night sky.
"Just remember I'm after you fairies," Spiro sneered, "I will soon go underground. And this time, your dear Fowl will not be there to outwit me."
Holly closed her eyes. This was bad. So bad.
-Haven, Lower Elements-
Diana Choi was a Korean-English teenage girl, with long black hair and stunningly black almond shaped eyes. She was a teenage undercover agent. She was not your everyday typical Mary-Sue. Exotic, yes, but not what would fit in the standard of 'pretty.' She was also the first to be hired by the fairies on their own free will after mind-wiping Artemis Fowl. She was in fact definitely not pleased, because her mission wasn't about spying or hurting anyone.
"So what you're saying is," Diana drawled, "That I have to un-wipe this intelligent mind of a teenage criminal and his pet gorilla, and force him to return here to help the fairy race. Am I correct?"
"Yes," Holly replied, handing her the gold laser disk. "You must call Artemis and tell him you are a criminal and wants to work with him. Then give him this disk. Little by little, his memory will come back. And then-"
"And then after he's back, I will be of no use, and therefore it will be my turn to be mind-wiped." Diana spat bitterly. "Clever deduction, eh?"
"Oh, Diana dear. Must you be so pessimistic?" Foaly said. "You are of no disadvantage to us, for you're not evil like him. Besides, we've decided not to mind-wipe brilliant humans anymore-it will be far too hazardous."
"Fine," Diana said. "Give me his number."
-Knightsbridge, London-
Diana stared at the boy sitting across from her. He had raven hair, the color matching Diana's own, and midnight blue eyes. He was about 3 inches taller than her, and slender. This all seemed normal, except that this teen was abnormally pale, thoughts were wrinkling his brow, and he was wearing an Armani suit (a new one, since he had grown out of the other).
Feeling uncomfortable due to Diana's scrutiny, Artemis cleared his throat. "So, Ms. Choi," Artemis said. "How old are you exactly?"
"Fourteen next month," she replied tersely. "I hear you are also fourteen, but I don't have time for light talk. Mr. Fowl? Do you have a laptop computer?"
"Certainly." Artemis took out his computer.
Diana showed him the gold disk. As soon as Artemis saw it, he felt his heart jolt, yet he was not sure of the reason. "What, may I ask, is that?"
She shrugged. "Don't ask me. Just open it, read the contents, and don't say a word until you have remembered everything."
Artemis smirked. "And remember what, mademoiselle?"
"You'll see," said Diana, smirking back. "Just read,"
Artemis put the disk inside and opened the first file. The Booke Of the People. He read it, but he didn't seem to get it.
"Are you showing me a fairy tale, Choi?"
Diana scowled. "Move on to the diaries."
Artemis did. Suddenly, several unknown characters rushed into his mind. Holly. Auburn hair, and hazel eyes, with fiery determination. Caramel skin. 1 meter tall. Foaly. A quadruped animal. A witty centaur. Root. A purple faced fairy. And Mulch.
Mulch. That name struck his head unlike any other.
He sat there, stunned at all these memories. He had, after all, known the fairies all along. And he was their friends. He felt ashamed to have ever thought of destroying them. He also thought about Mulch. Then he remembered.
"Mulch," he gasped. "He was supposed to bring me the medallion. How come you have it?"
"That's it." Diana said, smiling with satisfaction. "Artemis the hunter is back."
