I have returned. Have any of you read my one-shot "A Lesson on Female Association?" It's a random fic I felt like writing. But that's just for fun. I guess I'm back to writing serious fics.. for now. (grins mischievously)

hehe: Thank you! I'm glad you like my story. Keep reading, please:)

cybergurl: So you liked the little cliffhanger I left for suspense, eh? Don't worry, there are lots to come.

ruusa: Thanks. I hope you'll keep reading!

Lils Evans: See? I told you:) I'm glad I have a new reviewer! If you're reading this chapter, then hurray!

All my staunch reviewers seem to have abandoned me... Except you, cybergurl, and I appreciate it very, very much.


Chapter 16: Conflicts

"Hey! I thought all of you were pretty smart guys," Diana said. "I told you, she's fine. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Yes, Diana. We do understand you. It's just that... well, you don't seem to be in your right state of mind now." Root said, pronouncing each and every syllable steadily.

"Now what are you talking about?" Diana shouted, pointing her index finger at Root. "Julius! It seems as if you're the one who's not in one's right mind!" She practically shrieked at the last sentence.

Artemis, Juliet and Foaly were utterly shocked. No one was meant to address Root in such an impertinent way. Especially when Root was emotionally disturbed, as in this situation. All three held their breaths as Diana plopped onto a chair and broke into a fit of snores. Much to their relief, Root was not so offended. He knew well that most humans were far from lucid when they were under the mesmer. Yes, as soon as Diana came through the door with a hypnotized expression on her face, he knew it had to be the mesmer. Who used it did not have to be doubted.

Root was not offended, but as it turned out, it was someone else that was seriously mad. No, mad didn't even do justice, for it was certainly not madness that caused Foaly to jump to his hooves, stalk over to Artemis, and punch him on the cheekbone with a painful smack.

Juliet gasped as her surprised Principal sprawled to the floor. This unexpected action certainly called Root's attention as well.

Foaly grabbed Artemis by the collar and forced him to stand on his feet. "You cold-hearted, squalid Mud Filth," Foaly hissed under his breath. He could barely contain his anger. "What have you done with Holly? What have you done?!"

Artemis had never seen Foaly so outraged. He decided it was not the time to play the innocent. "I know what you're thinking, Foaly, but it's not what you assume. If you would only give me a chance to explain-"

"Shut up!" Foaly let go of Artemis, causing him to loose his balance once again. "I don't give a D'Arvit about your explanations, okay? I thought I knew who you are. I still do, but it's the polar opposite of what I thought before. You're an egocentric, self-proclaimed genius. Yeah, that's exactly who you are."

Artemis fell silent. I am not speechless, he thought to himself. I'm just staying still because Foaly is far too indignant to listen to what I have to say.

"You'll never know how much Holly worries about you. She used to call me at least five times a day after your mind-wipe took place about how she felt guilty about erasing your accomplishments from your head. Taking your memories from where they belong. You know why she and I decided to give your memories back? It's because Holly was so sure that you've changed. She knew she was your friend. And this is what you do to her, what you give in return? You don't give a care about how she feels, do you? No, all you care about is you and your money and your preppy Armani suit."

Foaly drew closer to Artemis so that their eyes met. "I have one last thing to say to you, Fowl, and I won't repeat it. You are the foulest Mud Boy that ever dared to walk below the Earth. Do you hear me? You live by your name, Fowl."

Foaly shoved Artemis shoulder-to-shoulder, and walked away with Root. Just when he was out the door, he turned back and said something that pierced Artemis's mind like daggers. "If I lose one of my few friends because of you, I don't know what I'll do, so it's best that you run away when you have the chance."

Artemis could see that Juliet was unsure of what to do. After all, after Juliet had gone out on her first wrestling match, she had been notified of now being the legal bodyguard of Artemis, for her brother Domovoi had grown old. Madame Ko wouldn't abandon her Principal no matter what. If Juliet were to do that, after being berated fiercely, she would be deserted of all hopes of getting her blue diamond tattoo. Except she had decided long ago that she didn't want that tattoo anymore, nor emulate her brother's great feat. After apologizing to Artemis inwardly, Juliet followed the two out the door.

It was then Diana chose to wake up. She looked around the room with wide eyes, only to find that everyone was gone except Artemis. As she searched for the rest of her friends, she said to Artemis, "Where is everybody?"

Artemis didn't answer. He couldn't.

"Artemis?" Diana inquired once again cautiously.

Artemis choked down a sob. A sob? He was breaking down in tears because of a friendship feud. If he had been told two years ago that he will have a conflict with a friend, much less make another one besides Butler, well, he wouldn't see himself in that way. But here he was, doing that exact thing. "They've gone to implement our plan. Why don't you catch up with them?"

"Okay," Diana said. "But what about you?"

"I have some more important affairs to complete, in order to tune our plan, make it impeccable. It's quite complicated, you wouldn't understand it." Artemis forced out a taut smile.

"All right, all right." Diana replied. "Whatever it is your doing, you'd better finish it soon. There isn't a person we can spare, in your exact words."

"No, there isn't." Artemis said. "You need not worry."

"See you later," Diana left the room along with a few strands of hope he had left. All that remained was a single thought he never knew he would ever think:

What have I done?


Somewhere above the Lower Elements

The world was a handful of swirling colors. Dizziness. Yet so dark. Darkness swallowing hints of light in whole. Holly felt as if each of her eyelids weighed at least a ton. Merely opening her eyes needed quite a lot of effort. She opened one eye slowly. There appeared to be a excruciatingly bright, white light pulsing gently above her.

Holly struggled to stand up, and a few bones creaked. Although Holly was not aware of it, her ankle had been sprained from the fall and her healing powers had long since mended it. Blue sparks were dancing on her shoulder, for her arm had unfortunately parted with her socket. Holly popped it back in in a professional way. No need to squander magic, she thought. She checked her trigger finger, as she did every morning when she woke up. Still intact. It was a habit she had developed after she had lost her finger on a train in the Arctic Circle.

Where was she? She looked around the room in bewilderment. Her surroundings looked very much like those of a cell. She reached out to touch the cool concrete wall, but quickly drew back her hand in a sudden flash of realization.

Trapped!

Her mind was in a state of mass turmoil. The overdose of adrenaline caused her heart to pound in her ears at an alarming rate. This just had to be one of her nightmares. It turned out to be just a wishful thought.

"Rise and shine, Holly." A comely voice greeted her from a small screen in the corner of the room.

Holly's feet automatically moved toward the view screen. There was a chair so kindly provided just for her about 2 feet apart from the 12 inch monitor.

Inside the screen stood the infamous trio: Opal with her dangerous smile, Spiro standing out for he was far taller than the rest, and Keeth, waving idiotically at a shocked LEP captain with an asymmetrical smirk on his face. All three were not even close to being welcome in Holly's perspective.

"Gates," Holly whispered. "How the hell did you get your backside out of that place." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I have my ways," Keeth replied, his smirk still filled with smugness.

"Ha ha," Holly muttered. "So you guys all think this is so funny, right? Like this is some kind of joke?"

"Awww, Captain Shorty is maaaaaad!!!" Opal howled with laughter at the new nickname, and Keeth doubled over with tears in his eyes.

Spiro quietly put a finger to his lips, requesting silence, and for once the two complied. Satisfied, he took his seat in the dead center of the screen so that he and Holly met face-to-face.

"Captain Holly Short," Spiro smiled, and Holly couldn't possibly imagine a smile more gruesome as this Mud Man's. "I've been anticipating our meeting."

Holly didn't say a word. Better to keep to herself, for she might give away a part of the plan.

"Not that you have much of a reputation," Spiro added quickly. "You are just one of those filthy elves that wander around outside my window." Opal and Keeth bobbed their heads in agreement, one curtly, and one furiously. It was miraculous that after all the criticism Spiro had received from the two fairies, he was taking the initiative at this moment.

Holly was seriously taken aback. 'Hey,' she almost blurted out. 'Don't you ever call my species benighted. Elves are by far the most intelligent species living underground, and our technology is about a century ahead of that Mud Man garbage you have right there.' She chose to say something more, if possible, friendly. "You've been looking forward to meeting me, you say. So, what's your impression?"

"Short," Spiro replied immediately, grimacing. "Even with fairy standards. One centimeter below the average height, which is a quite a difference when you have none to spare. Hmmm. Amazing how all my adversaries live by their names."

"Short is short and Fowl is foul," Keeth agreed.

Spiro gave him a shut-up-or-else look and continued. "You see what all this is leading to, fairy? You are defeated. None of your fairy or human allies will be coming to save you. Do you understand?"

Holly shut her mouth once again. She mustn't say anything, not one thing at all.

"What are friends for? Being emotionally attached causes weakness. I thought a self-proclaimed 'competent' elf like you would know something like that." He emphasized the word 'self-proclaimed' strongly.

"Have you gotten all that information stuffed into your thick skull? Have you realized the meaning of life? Why don't you think about that later, and meanwhile make yourself at home? For your sake, I will postpone further insults for now."

Make myself at home, Holly rolled her eyes. You wish.


Police Plaza, near the Ops Booth

A fuming centaur, a leprechaun full up to his ears in magic, and two young human girls were racing down the halls of the restricted area in Police Plaza. An explanation for those who have not yet witnessed this remarkable spectacle; it is most certainly not something that happens every day.

"Um, Foaly?" Diana was suddenly more timid than she used to be. "Where are we going? It seems to me that we're just haphazardly running around."

"No, we are not, and we're going to rescue Holly." Foaly replied as concisely as possible.

"And do we know exactly where she is?" Juliet asked.

No answer. Usually, a speechless Foaly meant something bad.

"What about Artemis? Juliet continued with her questions, but more soothingly so that she would not get on Foaly's bad side.

Foaly looked back for a brief moment, but only to give her a look that undoubtedly said 'Forget Artemis." His expression somehow implied that he wanted to throw a gnome into the air at the thought of broaching up Artemis as a subject of a conversation. That is, if hurling a gnome was virtually possible, which it wasn't.

"What about the plan?" Diana had to risk another question.

"Forget the plan." Foaly was being so taciturn, so unlike him. It was starting to frighten Juliet more than anything else she had encountered, despite her experience of body-slamming men twice her size and using her favorite wrestling technique, the 'clothesline' on famous wrestlers at least twice a day. Quite a mortifying experience indeed for a well-known wrestler to be defeated by a girl still to young to drink…

As their running reduced to a steady walk, all four people knew that something had gone so terribly wrong. What was more awful is that no one could do anything about it. A tad dramatic, but let's face it; they were doomed.


Somewhere above the Lower Elements

Holly exhaled her breath on the windowpane, the steam making the crystal clear window seem filmy. She watched as the steam slowly disappeared, leaving no trace of the steam mark there was before. She followed the raindrops flowing down the glass in tiny rivulets with her index finger gloomily, starting at the top of the window, and stopping near the windowsill.

She had sat before at the two cameras' blind spot, trying to enjoy herself worrying the three kidnappers to death by being unseen, but instead Opal had manacled her hands and tied her feet together with her new invention, the Digi-key. Theoretically it could only be removed by Opal herself. Holly was now sitting directly in front of a camera, bound to a chair that was not even comfortable. Needless to say that she was not pleased.

Her hands moved unconsciously to her belt near her hip, where her trusty buzz baton used to be, and not much to her surprise found that it wasn't there. She felt under her LEP suit jacket, where her favorite weapon, the one and only Neutrino 2000 was there at all times, and found… a gun in a holster?

Suddenly perked up in excitement, she hopped with her tied feet like a kangaroo, her chair following her every move. Not a very Captain-like stance, but Holly didn't have time for proper stances. Keeth, who was eyeing Holly without much movement, suddenly yelled out, "Short, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Holly ignored his shouts and took her seat once again at the cameras' blind spot. This was her only chance of escape. It meant she still had enough time before Artemis came. It meant they could move to Plan B, which was far more efficient than Plan A. It also meant that mistakes would not be allowed. Her hand reached for the gun but automatically stopped as she grasped the handle. This was a human dwelling, for Spiro was human. Was it really all right to escape without permission?

The sound of footsteps behind the door of her room really got her going. This was no time to be a hypocrite; she never had a thing for rules and planned to break them all. She drew out the gun, aimed briefly, and fired.


Aw. Okay. That wasn't so bad, was it? Just two cliffies in a row. Not so bad, right? (turns to see all her reviewers holding sharp objects and grinning menacingly) Oh. Oh. Okay. I promise. I'll be good, just not for a while...