Hold Me

Chapter 8: Chaos

A/N: READ THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! I'm sorry to say, this will be the last chapter of Hold Me. No, it's not ending. It just wasn't working for me; if you read to the end of this chapter, you'll find that it's very Mary-Sueish and rather stereotyped. Oo; Again, I'm very sorry to anyone who really wanted to find out what would happen. This chapter was supposed to be uploaded in November 2004; as you can see, I'm way behind schedule. But you see, I started to reread my story and read a whole lot of others. I realized that it was rather stupidly unbelievable. So, I would like to say thanks to all my reviewers. Your support was great. I hope you don't mind.

It was complete chaos. The ceiling was falling in, debris was scattered everywhere, and screaming was all to be heard. Then there was another loud boom, and everyone became silent and froze in their tracks. The dust finally settled, and it was apparent for the cause of the explosion.

The remains of a small dynamite bomb were lying on the ground in the centre of the Aud next to the bodies of several limp, dust covered elves.

And Artemis Fowl.

Holly heard a scream, a throat wrenching scream to slice the very air and rip a person's heart out. When she realized it was her, her screaming, screaming for a one time enemy who was now as good as dead.

Wait a moment.

His chest was rising.

Holly rushed over to Artemis, cradling his head and weeping. She wiped her eyes angrily and through the onslaught of tears, examined Artemis' wounds.

It didn't look good.

She gently traced a slim finger along the trickling cut on is cheek, healing it as her finger moved.

Then she noticed the rip in his shirt which was trailing blood.

She ripped his shirt open to see a piece of glass, lodged in his chest, stained red by the ever flowing rivers of ruby blood. His chest was still rising, slowly, but she didn't think he would last much longer. Holly gently drew the shard out, noting Artemis' wince as it pricked the edges of the wound. At least he was alive. Fresh tears poured down her face for her friend-or was he more? Quite a lot of them dropped on him, partially washing away some of the blood. Holly delicately touched the corner of the slashed chasm in his chest, and whispered, "Heal."

She didn't know when it was, but as she healed, her strength weakened, and she began to droop, but she fought to stay awake until finally, skin an ashy pale, she fainted half dead over Artemis, fingers still on his chest, which had lightly knitted itself together. But he wasn't safe yet. Not by a long shot.

Meanwhile, the other members of the LEP were looking on in mesmerized silence, as if a spell had been cast over them. No one dared to speak a word, as if the building would collapse with the caress of one sound wave.

Finally Foaly broke the silence. Not by speaking though. By fainting. The soft bump of his body hitting the ground was all it took. Chaos erupted again. Only Julius Root and Trouble Kelp thought of the two limp and lifeless bodies on the ground. Both of them silently padded over to Holly and Artemis, and the only words exchanged were, "I'll take Holly. You take Artemis." by Kelp. The quartet disappeared into the mêlée of the crowd and emerged out the back doors to survey the wreckage of Haven. Haven was actually in fine condition, except for that at random intervals, singular buildings were smashed. It was like a tornado had jumped from one structure to another. As it was, nothing seemed safe. And judging by the look of our two casualties, their chance of living was not secure either.

Holly's skin was grey, and her body seemed almost translucent. She was worn out with the effort of healing, and most likely, she wouldn't recover if she didn't complete the Ritual fast.

Artemis，on the other hand, looked even worse. His skin too, was almost translucent. Even with all the magic Holly had pumped into him, he was for sure headed to the land beyond. Numerous trickling cuts peppered his body, and the half-healed wound still didn't look quite right. No matter what, Artemis would probably always have a scar there.

"They need professional medical help," Root whispered. Trouble nodded.

"Holly? Mother? Father? Butler? Juliet? Where are you? HOLLY!" Artemis collapsed to his knees. "Where am I?" He wondered aloud. Then he became aware of a dull throbbing in his chest, when he looked down，he was surprised to see a cool white hand on it. He looked up, and saw the glimpse of a face before it disappeared. It had looked curiously like, like…Mother? "Mother?" he called into the surrounding, blank darkness. The figure of Angeline Fowl materialized out of the darkness. And she had really become the "Angel" his father always used to call her. She had sprouted a pair of soft, glowy wings that engulfed the whole form of her. "Mother, where am I?" Artemis asked, feeling four years old again. "Artykins, I'm not sure. I think-I think-"

:Half an Hour Later:

Holly blinked. For a moment she couldn't remember what had happened. Too bad Artemis isn't here to explain, she thought. And then it came flooding back. The bomb, the chaos, the healing… "Artemis…" She whispered. "Oh no…" she groaned. "I wasn't able to save him..." She said softly, hugging herself and feeling warm salt tears rolling down her cheeks. Then she realized something. She wasn't in the Aud anymore. She was wearing a white shift, in a white bed…She was in medicare. But where was Artemis? She scanned the room. Then she saw him. She was in one of those private two-person rooms, with a screen separating the two beds. And in the other bed was Artemis, not looking good. Better than before, but still not good. At least ten medi-packs were piled on him at injuries. A nurse came bustling in with a tray of food and…an plexiglass-encased acorn? Suddenly she felt fatigued and drained. She realized she needed the Ritual.

"As soon as you eat, Commander Root and Captain Kelp will take you outside to do the Ritual," the white-and-red clad nurse informed her. "Luckily, tonight is the full moon." Holly ate mechanically, her mind still trying to recall the events of…

"How long have I been sleeping?" Holly asked through mouthfuls of nutrient calculated nettle bread.

"Not long enough," the nurse muttered. "You came in just about fifteen minutes ago," she said more loudly.

So it hadn't been that long since the explosion.

Finishing up the last bit of food, Holly swung out of bed and picked up the small cube. She felt around her neckline. She was right. They had taken it from her neck. "Let's go." She said resolutely, pushing open the door. She found Julius and Trouble perched outside anxiously. "Are you okay?" Trouble and Root asked.

"Yes, I am fine," Holly snapped, not sure why she was being so touchy. "But Artemis isn't, so we should hurry, shouldn't we?"

Holly strode ahead of them outside to the hospital's main doors. She pushed them open and stood for a moment, trying to remember where the nearest shuttle port was. There was one three blocks away, she remembered. She set of at a jog, something her body protested. But years of long training with the LEP had remedied that. She forced her body to do what she wanted.

Julius and Trouble hurried to catch up to Holly when she disappeared around a corner. They were just in time to see her duck into a building called, SHUTTLE PORT # 192846203. Quickly, they followed her in and immediately saw her flashing her badge at a freaked gnome who was very, very intimidated by Holly's brisk manner.

"Holly!" Root called out to her.

Holly turned. "What? Come to offer some help getting on a shuttle?"

Root and Trouble, breathing a little heavily, reached her. "We're coming with you."

Root turned to the gnome. "Now," he said in a voice dripping with false honey, "You can either hand over passes for three elves to go aboveground and stay safe, or you can refuse the passes and suffer the wrath of the LEP's most testy Commander." The last part had a cold edge to it. The gnome quickly dodged behind the desk and with a shaking hand, drew out three passes from the cabinet. Handing them over, he promptly ducked behind t he desk again and didn't come out.

Holly smiled a little. "Thanks. Let's go do the Ritual."

:Above Ground:

"This place okay?" Trouble asked. Holly nodded.

Holly then dug a small hole with her fingers and pushed her acorn in.

Almost immediately she felt that familiar jolt that was magic coursing through her veins. Sparks jumped over her as the magic settled in.

The Ritual was complete. She was restored.

"Let's go save Artemis," Holly said with a fire burning in her eyes.

A/N Well, there it is. The Chapter that never was. So that's the end of Hold Me; I'm working on a new fic (three, actually) right now. Go to my Author's Page for Summaries and Promos. Thanks everyone!

irene your story sucks: HI STEPHANIE! Blah blahblahblahblah….LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU! No, your ending will not suffice. And no, it is not good. And Blah to you too………………………. You suck Irene……. O.o

Artemis the hunter (girl: NO! THE EVIL CLIFFIE HAS RETURNED! XD LOL And there is nothing wrong with river dancing, it's just that Arty doing it wouldn't be dignified for his Genius Constitution.

Utena : Umm…it river dancing, not rain dancing…;;

neutralgal: It's Women(wimmin) attraction(trackshion) dance (danz) of the (ze) Verbill man. I submitted 3 pics for AgiVega's Arty Fowl fanart site, artemisfowlfc. Mine are Pastel Artemis, Artemis, and Holly.

Emma Watson Rules: River dancing is sort of like an Irish version of tap dancing. Except you NEVER move your arms around. Your body is rigid except for your legs.

VampirePeaches: Look at Chapter 2. You'll see lots of nasty, nasty swears. Including the f-word.

Also thanks to Hopelessly Hooked Reviewer,xxkatherinexx, PeanutButterOreoCookieGirl99, Black Aliss, DarkPurpleDragon, Sakura12, Hikari's-Dark-Side08, tania15, liz, trohS-ylloH, and AgiVega. And all others who reviewed after I wrote this chapter.