Summary: One shot. Holly's day started off pleasantly but it was ruined by one phone call confirming that Juliet Butler is dead and that Holly is invited to attend her funeral.
Disclaimer: Plot inspired by the manga, Fullmetal Alchemist. Artemis Fowl is not mine.
It's Raining
One Shot
Darkness surrounded the young Fowl heir as he walked down the unknown tunnel.
'Where am I?' wondered Artemis as he continued to walked, in a dreamy state, down the shadowy path. 'Why am I here?'
"Artemis," yelled a distant voice that clearly belonged to a female.
Artemis picked up his pace towards the source of the noise. 'What am I doing?' He didn't know what made him run. He ran. Ran towards the voice that was calling out to him.
It has been a very uncomfortable day for Artemis Fowl the II. Some how, he had a very uneasy feeling in his stomach that wanted to make him throw up. He awoke in the morning, literally on the wrong side of the bed, on the ground.
Something is definitely not right. Artemis never had a pointless dream. It was always about his next evil schemes. There was never a female calling out to him and the voice was too familiar. Artemis felt so frustrated for not being able to figure out who the voice belonged to. It was as if the girl's image was at the edge of his vision and when he tried to looked at it, it would go away. Was this an omen?
3 days later in Haven.
It was a Saturday and Holly was sleeping in. She was having a pleasant dream about Artemis, Butler, Juliet, Mulch, Foaly, Commander Root, and her, all having a picnic at a nearby park. They were like family. The dream made Holly feel so relaxed and calm that when her phone rang, she nearly jumped up in surprise.
Holly eyed the phone wearily. The caller ID said that it was Fowl. Why would he be calling her this early in the morning? This better be good.
"Hey Fowl," Holly said.
On the other end, Artemis was having a hard time trying to control the sadness in his voice. He didn't like showing a weak side of his to a possible enemy. But Holly was friend so he had to tell her what happened.
"Juliet. She was in a car crash in America. She died last night in the hospital and her funeral is scheduled for today."
The news hit Holly like ice. She couldn't believe her ears at that moment. She check the calendar to see if it was April Fool's day and surprisingly it was. She laughed on the other end but stopped when she remembered who she was talking to. Artemis Fowl was not a joker. Even though he has changed some bit, she doubt that Artemis will joke about a life of an almost family member.
Artemis didn't say anything. He knew this was too much for Holly to take in all at once. He himself couldn't believe it when Butler gave him the news. Artemis has been too calm in handling the situation. There was silent for a while.
"Where is it gonna be?" came Holly's faint voice.
"The cemetery about 5 blocks from Tara. You can't miss it. It's going to start in 2 hours."
Holly nodded on the other end but certainly Artemis didn't see her. " How? How can this be?"
"It was a hit and run accident."
"Well see you then Artemis." And they hung up.
Holly stood where she was taking in the information that she just received. 'A hit and run accident' She stood and cried her eyes out and wondered how Artemis was taking it. Would he cry for Juliet? Would he mourn for her death. He sure didn't sound like he did when they were having their little conversation. How was Butler doing with the news.
Holly changed into a black dress that she wore for her grandma's funeral. It brought back so many sad memories that she hated that dress so much to wanting to actually burn it. But instead of burning it, she buried it under all her baby clothes. Yes, black made her look skinnier and brought out her red hair even more but this is a day where she shouldn't care about how she looked.
She got on the next flare to Tara.
Holly's late thought Artemis. Well the funeral was at short notice. No one expected Juliet to be dead at such an early age. Juliet had lived a life of an adventurer. She had experienced so many things that a normal girl would never have experienced. She witnessed a civilization of a race unknown to any humans, helped kidnapped an elf, befriended them and the dwarfs, went against an empire of gangs in Chicago, became a wrestling all star. She is one of the few who his friends with possibly the most dangerous human in the world, Artemis Fowl. She is the little sister of the most feared man in Haven, Butler.
Yet she had to die so soon.
She was energetic and lively but when Artemis say her pale and cold in her casket, he felt so sick. Many people were there. Madame Ko, her colleagues, her admirers, all the boyfriends that she had, the Fowls, and of course her own brother, Butler.
Mrs. Fowl was crying and so was Madame Ko. Everyone else was bowing their heads and thinking about what a bright star Juliet could still be. Everyone was in black. Butler had cried already. He had had his emotional breakdown already and had to stay strong to prove that he was okay.
Artemis was silent all through the burial. He never shed a tear as Juliet was laid down into the earth. He saw Butler wipe his eyes a few times. Once she was covered, the crowded started to disperse slowly until there was only the Fowls, and Butler left.
"Let's go home Arty," said Mrs. Fowl. Her eyes were puffy and red.
"No mother, I would like to stay a little while with her. You could go home first," came Artemis's reply.
"I'll give you a ride." said Butler but Mr. Fowl stopped him.
"You have gone through enough Butler. You can have the rest of the day off. I know how to drive." Mr. Fowl assured him.
"What about Master Fowl?" asked Butler indicating Artemis II who was still staring unemotionally at Juliet's grave.
"I can take care of myself and plus, I have an old friend that is coming."
So the Fowls and Butler left Artemis staring blankly at Juliet. Artemis regretted deeply about not having any concern about he dream that he had a few days ago. The voice belonged to Juliet but he couldn't remember. If he had remembered, he could of warned her about the trouble but Juliet still wouldn't believe him. Artemis didn't want to sound so superstitious. He believed only the facts and a dream is still no reason to sound concern about a person that is hundreds of miles away. So far, Artemis had not showed any sign of grief towards the death of Juliet Butler.
It was cold in that spring day. The winds were rough and it sent Artemis's hair flying all out of place. Artemis pulled his black clock tighter around him. He stood still for so long that he looked like a statue. It was only when Artemis heard steppes coming towards him that he looked around. It was Holly. She was carrying a bouquet of white flowers wearing all back that everyone should to show respect to the dead. The word dead twisted Artemis's stomach even more than it had when he had that cursing dream.
Juliet Butler is dead. That thought terrified Artemis.
Holly knelt by Juliet's grave and placed down the flowers. Artemis's eyes followed her silently. Her eyes were wet with tears and puffy like his mother's. She was also carrying an umbrella.
"What's that for?" asked Artemis pointing at Holly's umbrella.
"Oh, It's for you. I saw Butler when coming here and the report says that it's going to rain. He told me to give this to you." Artemis nodded but didn't say anything else. He kept his head down and didn't look at Holly directly.
For years, Artemis has mastered the still of keeping all his emotions inside of him. For years he has showed that he is capable to hide all of his feelings and love. He concluded that showing who you care about will expose a weakness. He did love his parents, Butler, Juliet, Holly, but he never wanted to show it. He became so used to closing himself that when he tried to open his feelings, he felt so shy about it that he would close himself even tighter to never let anyone in. It was getting better now. He has showed his caring side back to his parents but not completely yet. He would get used to them first. He wanted to cry when the funeral started but held it in like a man should. Would anyone laugh at him when he breaks into tears? Would Holly accept a weak Artemis like him? Would she laugh?
Neither of them talked. It they did, they would of talked about Juliet and how amazing she had made their life. She brought excitement and happiness. The sky was slowly turning gray and dark as if also grieving for Juliet's death.
"What makes a human human?" asked Holly so suddenly. Holly wanted to break that shield that Artemis had built around him. She wanted to expose the real Artemis yet she didn't know what it might be.
"What do you mean?" came Artemis's gruff voice. He was getting quite. He wanted to be back home meditating about what his next step will be in his schemes and not be thinking about Juliet's death. He was also getting tired of the speech too. It was always given to him by his parents. The one where you are human and humans have the right to be sad once in a while. It's okay to be cry when you want to, but Artemis didn't want to cry.
"You know perfectly what I mean Fowl. I know you might have heard this a dozen times but you are a human and humans have the right to break down once and a while. It's tiring to keep a poker face on you all the time. No one knows what you are thinking or what you feel about them. It's okay to fall because when you do, you will have me and your family members there to help you up. I will be there to protect you Artemis. No one will laugh or ..."
"Stop!" Artemis interrupted. He wanted to be strong for Juliet, for the family. "That is enough. I know that I'm emotionless. I have no feelings okay? If you want a person that is weak and nice then you found the wrong person okay? So why don't you get out of my face right now." Artemis was enraged. Either it was because Holly was actually annoying, or that the anger he had stored up for Juliet's early death.
Holly smiled. He was getting angry like a human should.
Artemis realized he had gone too far. Friends were not suppose to put each other down. Friends don't hide their feelings from each other. He turned away from Holly and looked to the dark and cloudy sky and wondered if Juliet was up there.
"Whatever you do Artemis, you know that Juliet cares for you. She always wanted you to be happy and smile for her. She wanted you to show your real self. She died never knowing if you have a heart inside of you. Would you cry for her when she dies? Would you cry for me if I die?" Artemis was silent as Holly when on.
"I know you will Artemis. You are crying right now in your heart but you are just hiding it. There's no one here. Show Juliet that you are a human with feelings."
She did not know if any of her words had taught him a lesson, but it would also be weird it Artemis had suddenly started bawling for Juliet. Artemis was still Artemis and Artemis wouldn't change good in a day. Finding your real authentic self can take some time and Holly knew that she would be able to find it.
Artemis was tired of hiding himself. He didn't display that he understood anything that Holly just said but continued to look at the gloomy sky. Then, Artemis said something that confused Holly.
"Oh look, it's raining already," Artemis managed to say.
Holly looked at the sky and held out her palm but it was as dry as ever. It wasn't raining one bit. She was confused at Artemis's statement so she looked at Artemis and understood. Two trail of tears were running down Artemis's pale face. His eyes were closed and Holly felt that Juliet would of been proud of him, very proud.
"Yes, it is raining." agreed Holly. She had made a creak in that dense shield of him but it was Juliet that really broke it. She hoped that Artemis would slowly share his feeling to her and put down the ultimate defense he had put on himself. Holly smiled as she continued to see the rain fall to the ground and a rainstorm swept all over Ireland.
A/n: How is it? First angst one shot and sorry for all the grammar mistakes. I'm too lazy to reread this and I promise that if I have time, I'll sit back down to edit all my mistakes. Some things may not make sense so sorry. Again, this was inspired by the manga, Fullmetal Alchemist though I did change some things so the plot still belongs to me. Review please since this is my first sad Artemis Fowl fanfic.
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