Chapter 10: Predicament

Keeth was so happy he could even blush. The girl sitting next to him now was a stupid girl, no doubt, but she seemed like his dream girl. She was impatiently sipping her raspberry cocktail as if waiting for something. Unfortunately, Keeth misconstrued this girl's demeanor as a wanting for more conversation. Poor Keeth. Enamored by a mere female he had just met on the streets!

Keeth cautiously opened his mouth, trying to sound casual. "So, what's your name?"

"My name?" The fairy asked. "Oh, my name. It's…Lorien."

"Lorien." Keeth commented. "I see." He rolled his head around for something else to say. "Where do you live?" He apparently was oblivious to the fact that his words sounded only like platitude. Again, poor Keeth.

"In Haven," the girl replied, imbibing her cocktail through a straw very noisily.

Shocked by her rude behavior and her concise reply, Keeth just sat there, not knowing what to do. Then he smiled and draped his arm around her shoulder.

The girl smiled back, and if Keeth were to have noticed the mischievous look in her eyes, he would have been safe. As quick as light, she grabbed Keeth's hand and twisted his arm, causing him to yelp in pain. She reached for Keeth's other arm, and held them together. She then reached for some handcuffs in her pocket and snapped them onto his wrists in an adroit way. All this happened in three seconds.

"What-" Keeth was aghast. "Lorien, what are you doing?"

"Gotcha!" the fairy shouted giddily. "Nice try, Keeth. But wrong move!"

"Keeth?" Keeth's face was wan. "What do you- I'm, I mean… how do you know my name?"

"Oh, everybody knows you, Keeth." The girl smiled. "And don't call me Lorien. I know you're familiar with me. But let me introduce myself. I'm Holly Short, Captain of the LEPrecon unit."

"Holly…Short?" Keeth stammered.

"At your service." Holly grimaced. "I know this is confusing, but just let me help you out. After I assure the people in the bar that everything's fine." With a smile so malevolent that it reminded Keeth of Spiro, Holly made a swift kick to the back of his head. The sudden brunt of the collision made everything go black.


"He's awake," said a girl's voice grimly.

"Are you sure?" said another girl. "His eyes are still closed."

"Yeah, I'm sure," the other girl replied. "Look at him. He's breathing harder now."

Keeth reluctantly opened his eyes. Two girls were staring down at him. Keeth could barely make out their figures. One was a blonde, and the other had dark hair. He struggled to sit up, but failed because his arms were still held together with handcuffs.

"Oh, so he is awake!" the dark-haired girl clapped her hands. "I'll call him now-"

"I'm already here," a boy's voice replied.

A teenager stepped out behind the door. He walked gracefully to Keeth and sneered. The boy's suave composure and his vampire smile made Keeth shiver.

"Ah. So you have gained consciousness now? I wonder what a person with such an underhanded mission is doing here, so alone and wide out in the open? And without his accomplice?"

It was dark, and Keeth squinted his eyes desperately to adjust to the darkness. "What do you know?" he demanded. "And who are you, you stupid Mud Boy? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, so you do not know me?" the boy laughed, a hollow, mirthless one. "I thought I was infamous down in Haven," he searched for a light in the room. "Think, my fellow goblin, if you have a brain. Taken into account that no Mud Man has directly associated with the People, the only possibility will be-" He found a switch and flicked it on.

Keeth blinked. The figure of the boy that looked like a silhouette before now looked dead white. His blue eyes were icy cold, and his hypnotic gaze penetrated through Keeth's own eyes.

Keeth couldn't look any longer. The boy's irises were like cold needles pricking through his retina. In front of him was the Mud Boy he had so respected, and yet so dreaded…

"Artemis Fowl." Keeth said.

"At your service." Artemis grinned.

Artemis gripped one shoulder of the poor goblin(which was very difficult to do indeed, for Artemis was far taller than Keeth) and made him stand up. It was an aggressive move, definitely unlike Artemis. He made him sit down on a backless chair, while he sat on what looked like a comfortable couch. One by one, Foaly, Root, and Holly walked in. Holly flashed a grin. Keeth scowled. But the scowl on his face soon vanished when he saw the purple hue of Root's face. It was more than risible for him to bear. Keeth barely stifled a snicker, which resulted in a strange sound far too similar to the sound of dwarf gas being emitted. Holly smacked his head.

As Keeth rubbed his head in pain, he felt a huge lump perched on the top of his head like a hill. Root helpfully handed him a balmy cream from one of the drawers to allay the pain, but Keeth spurned it. Root frowned.

"Now, Artemis." Foaly said calmly. "He's all yours to interrogate. You know what to do. And don't take your time. You know there is none to spare." Artemis nodded. The rest of Artemis's entourage went out. Diana looked back hopefully, hoping to stay, but she was coerced to leave. She shook her head sadly. "Nobody lets me do anything." She frowned like a child.

When Diana was relegated to the next room, still pouting like a baby, Artemis suddenly realized that Butler was missing. "Where's Butler?" he asked.

Foaly poked his head back in. "He was having a hard time, so we just sent him back. The poor guy."

Artemis cocked an eyebrow. "Without my permission?"

Foaly shrugged. "Sorry, The guy told me not to tell you. Said you won't allow it under any circumstances."

Artemis nodded once more. Of course. Butler knew Artemis too well. Artemis was not always sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but in this situation, it was definitely bad.

Foaly clicked the door and closed it. As if he had been waiting for this all along, Keeth grinned and offered his hand. "Artemis Fowl. What an honor to see you."

Artemis shook his hand gingerly. "I admire you also," Artemis grinned back. "With such avarice, you would most possibly have succeeded with the plot you've contrived. However, for I have been asked for assistance by Captain Short, it seems inevitable that you would have been caught."

"Because no living being ever outwits Artemis Fowl the Second." Keeth held his grin. "You're just how I expected. Clever, felonious, and insolent – but it would be hard to be modest for such an intellect as you, wouldn't it?"

"Of course," Artemis replied. "And you know why Short brought you here. Most certainly you do."

"No," Keeth lied. "But what I do know is that I need to remove my handcuffs. Captain Short's so uncivilized, although she has a pretty face-"

"That's enough," Artemis said roughly. "I will not ask questions. I hope you will comply and explain to me what I need to know."

"I know there's no point in lying," Keeth replied. "I assume you know about Spiro. And how he is my partner, although I don't want to admit it – and basically what we were planning to do. Where do I start?"


Jon Spiro was more than indignant, he was practically fuming with infuriation. Keeth was gone. Gone with the wind. Just as a rainbow disappears in the sky. Although he searched frantically, Keeth was still nowhere to be seen. Spiro took the alternative; the only alternative, that is, which is to go straight ahead to Police Plaza. The gray façade of the colossus building was dull and monotonous, with a shape so exotic that it reminded Spiro of Star Wars.

Haven. The New York of the Lower Elements. Haven at night was like Broadway on Christmas, or perhaps New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, Spiro was going in the opposite direction of the rest of all the other people. Every time Spiro bumped into a fairy, they said "What the-" or "D'Arvit!"

He had no idea what D'Arvit meant, and he began to count the people he bumped into. Eventually, he lost count. For what seemed like the millionth time, Spiro ran into another person, this time two teenage girls. This time, they didn't utter the two things that the rest of the people blurted out. It was a good thing. If they had said "What the-" or "D'Arvit!" Spiro would have stepped on their feet and screamed at them for gabbling in an unknown language. (D'Arvit was not interpreted in his automatic translator inside Spiro's ear, the one that Keeth gave him, of course.)

One of the girls rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, those stupid LEP people, I just can't understand them. Do they have to shield themselves, like, a mile away from Police Plaza? Who do they think they are? Superman?"

The other girl replied, "I know! They're so snobbish, they think they're superheroes just because they save civilians from getting in a car accident every day. And you know why leprechauns are called leprechauns? I mean, do you know how they got their name?"

"No," The first girl said.

"Because of the LEPrecon unit. LEPrecon. Get it?"

They both laughed and sneered and jeered, all for Spiro to hear, but that was the least of his worries. The building that looked so immense that it seemed so near was actually a mile away. A mile. He had to walk another mile, after all these miles he had walked just now.

Oh, why, God? Spiro looked up at the sky, which was not even the sky, but a kind of ceiling made of a brownish-black dirtlike substance. Why did I have to come here and get acquainted with the fairies? For the sake of revenge? Why was I so blind by my own greed? Why? Why? WHY?


A/N) Now, people. Did you enjoy the revised edition? The only main changes that were made were in the prologue and the 1st chapter, perhaps in the 2st chapter. The rest were just grammar, word choice, or typos. FF is slow, so it took me about two and a half hours to complete all this. If you want to see the next chapter, review. Yes. Press that beautiful, spectacular button on your monitor that says go. I mesmerize you.

I'll be back when I receive eight reviews from eight different people. Good day:)