Artemis Fowl: Blue Eyes
Chapter 6- Give Her Up
The computer screen shining in the dark room was the only thing keeping Artemis awake. That, and the three glasses of rich, black coffee. To say the least, what he read scrolling down each page fascinated him, and not because of the fact that it was unbelievable information either, but rather that he was the one who'd discovered it. "Fairies…" he murmured quietly. "An interesting species indeed." He paused, taking a rather large sip of coffee. "Holly said that I should have some sort of memory back, but I don't." With that flat statement, he continued reading.
When he finally glanced at the time near the bottom of the screen, he practically fell asleep on the keyboard then and there. Six twenty-two a.m. Fairies were interesting, but a boy needs his rest.
So, groggily sitting up straight while rubbing his eyes to stay awake, Artemis turned off the computer. As if doing that had opened up his mind, many thoughts came rushing up. Who really is "Ice"? What was he planning? Who in the world is Holly? The information disc said we were rivals...Why do I like her hair and her ears?
That last one made him blink in surprise. And maybe blush a little. Maybe. The thought disturbed him. "I do NOT like her. I don't even know her! Besides, she said that I was her rival, so that basically settles it." Artemis crossed his arms in frustration. He had to find a way to fill the holes in his memory. He had to, and not tomorrow, either. This problem had to be fixed tonight.
The walk to Holly's room didn't take over a minute. It was after he'd gotten there that it took five minutes just to decide to knock on the door. He heard a mumbled "Come in…" It was not a cheerful kind of "come in."
"Holly?" Artemis stepped inside the room…
…and was shocked to see shattered glass and blood spots on the cream carpet. "What the hell did you—!"
"Don't start with me, Mud Boy. I'm REALLY not in the mood." Artemis clamped his mouth shut. He found that odd- obeying her like he wanted to, almost. But, regardless of whether she was moody or just being stupid, he still needed his problem fixed. According to his reading, "Holly" was supposed to be a feisty fairy actually resembling him a lot, if he'd been a girl, anyway. This Holly did not look like Ice, who he knew was a fairy. She was a human.
The thought occurred to him that if she was indeed human, then she couldn't help him with his problem. This was critical, because otherwise, he'd need to seek help from…Ice… He would not do that.
Artemis felt his eyes grow wider as a blue glow suddenly enveloped Holly's hands. He watched any shards of glass that were in them fall to the floor, and the bad slices instantly heal themselves. Something in the back of his head tingled. Like an itch he couldn't scratch, or a book on a shelf that he just couldn't reach. She healed herself…with magic…
"Well, that was interesting. I'm pretty sure I don't know any other human who can do that." He said, trying to be nonchalant.
"Don't play dumb with me. I know you know I'm a fairy. Fairies use magic. That's simple enough for a genius, right?"
"You don't look like a fairy."
"I will in about a half hour." Holly stood up. "So? What is it you want? Don't expect me to think you came up here at 6:30 in the morning just to chat with me. You know very well that I can't leave until you say. So, what?"
"I want my memory back."
It was Holly's turn for wide eyes. "But, you have it back…don't you?" Her expression seemed to change back and forth from surprise, and anger at being outsmarted.
"No. I don't."
"But—what about in the hall? And that wasn't really me; I was acting." Holly felt her cheeks turn a light shade of pink. "Just so you know. I'm not a whiney-ass crybaby. I never cry. Unless if on purpose."
"That wasn't me either, I-" That was all he needed to say. Holly's face finally had settled on extreme rage. It not only was red, but her teeth were bared and she seemed to be growling. "Hold on! Before you do anything irrational, let me ask you something."
"Like what? You have one minute."
"Can you use…magic…on me?" Artemis twisted his lips around those words like they were dirt on his tongue.
"Why in the name of the bloody king of Scotland would I want to do that?"
"I'm not sure myself. I just need to know something. Holly, my memory hasn't returned, and I've read every bit of information I can to get it back. I do know about fairies again, but that's not enough. I want to know what happened two years ago."
Holly started to say "fine," but then something she learned from Artemis himself kicked in. "Will you let me leave if I do this for you?"
Artemis thought on that for a moment before answering. "I guess. I don't know if you'd want to. You're an LEP officer, and from what I understand, there are two criminals in my residence." The boy now had a slight grin.
"Good. No, I'll send someone else to deal with those ruffians. Hold still."
For some reason unknown to him, those two words made his heart race. Maybe it was the way she said them, or the way she walked across the room to him. He wasn't very tall, but Holly was short. Shorter, anyway. He took a step back, and Holly frowned at him. "Do you want to do this or not? I don't have to, but I'd like to get as far away from this place as I can."
Artemis sighed and nodded. He tried to keep himself still from shaking. Her hands, now soft and smooth like a child's, lay gently on his cheeks. His breath suddenly caught in his throat. "Are you sure you're all right?" she asked. "You're shaking like a leaf in October."
He didn't know what to tell her. No, he wasn't 'okay'. Yes, he was shaking quite noticeably. But to say, "Holly, I'm extremely nervous because I like it when you touch me," would be blasphemous. He tried not to gulp, and nodded again. That seemed to be all he was capable of doing at the moment.
The book he wanted suddenly fell off the shelf. The itch was scratched. As a blue glow surrounded him, memories filled him. So many things that he should've known- wanted to know- came back in a beautiful light shade of blue. As the glow faded, Holly stepped back a little. "Holly?" He said hoarsely. She looked up. "Can I still call you Elaine?"
"AAH!"
Smack.
Artemis saw little white spots appear in front of everything else, but they faded quickly. His fingers touched his face lightly. It hurt, but… No, he wasn't going to call it a "good" hurt, but rather, like he deserved it.
That did not matter. She still smacked him.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"
"FOR BEING—STUPID!"
"STUPID!"
"YES! STUPID LIKE YOU!" This crazy girl was being…a girl. He sighed. Trying to understand girls was like trying to tell a fish why a bird flies and it swims. They were just two different things. "Look, I—" He was going to explain something he thought he didn't understand, but found out he did. He did remember things. He blinked at Holly, seeing her in a completely different light. She slowly tilted her head up at him, frowning- though...it almost seemed like she wanted to…
Foaly and Commander Root both stood crouched outside Fowl Manor. They were alone, but this mission was easily solved; wait till Fowl comes outside, demand he let Holly go free, and be back on their way.
No. Foaly knew very well that wasn't the answer. What if Fowl knew? What if he really had escaped the Mesmer? It was impossible for anybody, but was it impossible for a genius? Artemis wasn't just anybody.
Now Foaly was nervously shifting from hoof to hoof, hoping Julius would hurry up with this grand plan of his. It was almost time for the sun to come up, and that meant getting back underground as quickly as possible. Root looked as though he were a statue, standing there, all ready and alert.
"Hello, there, friends! It's been quite a while, you know."
The two whirled around, and saw nothing. They knew who was there, and they knew he was a fairy. Root was firing a Neutrino before Foaly had the chance to stop him.
"Hey! Calm down, you old mammoth, I'm not gonna do anything!" Ice revealed himself as he calmly landed in front of the Commander. Root, though, didn't look calm at all. He looked rabid. "There. What brings my old buddies up this far?"
"We should be asking you that. You went missing at about the time Fowl came several years ago. And I don't have time for questions; put your hands up and I won't kill you."
"Commander…" Foaly said quietly, but Root brushed him off as just being annoying.
Ice tilted his head slightly sideways. "How in the world could you kill me? That's illegal anyway. I would know, after such a brilliant performance on Mulch's court date." He paused, then said slowly and clearly, "I'm on my way to India, Root. And I'm taking Holly with me. You might need Fowl's help on this one, too. Oh, and don't rush off too quickly. That could lead you right to your death." The reaction from Root was exactly what Ice wanted.
"Why are you telling us this?" He was still alert, though enraged.
"Commander!" The centaur yelped suddenly.
"Foaly, not now!"
"But, I really think you should look—"
At that moment, the ground they were standing on caved in. Ice flew up above the large hole they'd been plunged into and laughed. He loved winning. Root looked funny in a hole, since he by some chance didn't have his wings.
"See? What'd I tell you. My plans always work," Mulch said. Root realized his mouth was hanging open in disbelief, and he snapped it shut.
"Yeah, yeah…" Ice continued. "I knew it would work too. All I needed to do was keep Julius down there angry enough to annoy the donkey." His grin was maddening. "You asked me why I'm telling you my plans? To make it interesting, of course. What sort of insane super- villan wouldn't want to have fun while he takes over the world?"
"Well," Root asked through gritted teeth, "if you're so cocky, then why not tell me what you plan to do in India?"
"If I told you that, then it would spoil the surprise, don't you think? I'll leave it at that. Now, I must go find my queen…"
"ICE! GET BACK HERE!" Root fired the last of the Neutrino's shots, but Ice was long gone, and so was Mulch. Foaly was already at work with a way to get them out.
Kiss: To touch or caress with the lips as an expression of affection, greeting, respect, or amorousness.
Was that even in Artemis' vocabulary?
He stepped back breathless from Holly. He had just shared his first kiss with a fairy in a human body. Who would believe him? He didn't know what to think. He didn't know what to do. It was like, being in shock, only he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted Holly to kiss him again. He wanted to kiss Holly again. He shuddered slightly.
The tan girl looked up at Artemis with a confused expression. Kissing Artemis had been like kissing flower petals… Weird. But he was kind of a nancy-boy. His name was even girly, but… Holly thought he was beautiful. She couldn't love him, she knew that, but he was perfect on a level that she didn't understand. She watched him take a few steps back from her and slowly sit down in a dark colored chair. He closed his eyes.
Ha! He's probably trying to find a 'logical explanation' for why I kissed him. I'll bet he thinks I'm trying to seduce him. That's a laugh! Holly even chuckled aloud.
And she was right. Artemis was deep in thought. Was she trying to seduce me into letting her go just in case I go back on my word? Ironic how the two were so much alike. No… There's something more there. I could see it in her eyes when I leaned back…
There was a loud knock at the door. Artemis and Holly exchanged sidelong glances. Artemis was the one to open the door. There was no one there. He suddenly heard Holly scream, but as abrupt as that was, it stopped equally as fast. In the two seconds it took him to turn around, Holly was gone. He could hear a distant laughter, taunting him. A voice was saying, "Remember our deal, Fowl. That's a lot of gold--all yours, if you keep your nose out of this; I no longer require your help." A slight pause, then the voice returned. "She's mine. She's mine, and you'll never have her." The last of the words seemed to burn. "She's a fairy, mud boy. Give her up before she gives up you…"
It echoed in the still and silent room.
a/n—ok, that took even longer to update, and because I wasn't consistant, I got nearly no reviews. (big sad face) But, I'll finish this non-the-less. Maybe I'll even get some new reviewers! I miss the old guys, but hey, I write for myself and for the people who love what I write. If they're busy, okay! I don't mind. But I'll NEVER ever ever give up on a fanfiction that I put up here. If it kills me, I'll finish it. So with that bit of info, I'll bid you adue. I won't even give a hint as to what's gonna happen next, cuz I really don't know… Thanks, as usual, and good-bye for now. The Fowl Ficlett WILL continue!
