Wow...well, the hits are high. In two days I had 'bout 100 people read it. Not much I guess, but it seems a lot to me, cuz I wrote that particular chapter in a really bad state and I think it sucks. (first chapter, I mean.)
Thanks to my fewreviewers, for bothering to review... O.o as it seems no one else bothered, psh to you all.
Anyway, I have a vague plot set for this, which is odd for me, I generally write things with a lack of plot, but Artemis is a complicated fellow, so I had to come up with something or it woulda sucked worse than it already does.
Kazinoki: Thanks for the heads up 'bout the typos and grammar, I shall try not to do it so much. Hopefully I can get someone to edit this stuff before I post it... I've yet to ask however, so no promises.
Zarroc: I don't actually know if it was the girl or not, I had this vague idea that it was, for a while...then my mind decided it wasn't...and now i don't know. Soo...yeah...maybe it'll be answered this chapter?
lightninglisa: Thankya! maybe i can keep it up if i work hard...eh?
Anna's pastime: Oh, lol, thanks, I'm glad you liked it! Monologue is fun to write, lets you sink into character... as for the fighter... I'm not sure, lol, cuz i dunno who you think it is!
Dark Empress of Eternity: Heh, I guess so... I dunno. I'm not sure it's going to have a lot with world domination and so on... I've a vague plot, but I'm not giving any spoilers away.
Quick note: I am on about 7 cups of strong coffee right now, because my total amount of sleep in the two days has been 4 hours... forgive typos, grammar and any other idiot things i might do while writing, I will look over this when i actually have a mind to comprehend it.
CHAPTER I: STUMPED
It is a well known fact that as soon as a child hits the adolescent years, eventually such things like character developement, muscle memory, self steem and work habits are established for the rest of the youth's life.
Also, with pubirty come the physical establishments of a body switching from child to adult. Such changes are well known to hinder, confuse, switch and damage the way a child would normally act. Mood swings caused by hormonal surges is the most common reason behind it. And absolutely no one has the right to say that they hold an immunity to that side of the puberty phase.
Of course, this has been something that Artemis wrestled with for nearly a year after the Opal Deception. He had in his head the outmost confidence that he could create something to make him immune to such trivial bothersome things such as mood swings during his stronger, later to come years in puberty. However, Butlet, Holly and even Foaly had posed objections to such an idea.
To Butler it seemed skipping over such a part of human life was something that could leave Artemis with a blank to the normality of that stage. Not to mention, Artemis already seemed to be living an abnormal teenage phase anyway.
Holly had snickered and rather haughtily laughed (to his shock) saying that she was surprised he was unable to handle himself in a normal human situation. Overall, she had been amused by his fear of it.
Foaly had had the most relevant statement, in Artemis's point of view. He had rather factually described the many psychological tests and character building expiriences that such chemical reactions put a human in, making the mood swings a rather helpful part in later years.
So, Artemis had rather moodily accepted the idea that he was going to be going through those rather bothersome swings and that he would have to develope a rather tuned sense of control... and a way of realizing when it was a mood swing or not.
As it so happened, he was having trouble at that moment in detecting the slight change of outlook his day had taken at the simple beating he had gained in the gym, and such was his self centered view that he didn't notice also that it was just a teenage thing. After all, 'just' is hardly a word Artemis was used to describing his circumstances.
Artemis was still in a bit of a mood. It wasn't a good mood at all, and he was well known for having the least likeable 'good' mood around.
So, you can probably guess how popular his 'bad' moods were. In this case, it wasn't really a bad mood, oh no, this was a lot more important, quite a bit deeper than most bad moods. Albeit, it was also a childish one.
He had thought and thought soon after his brain had over come the shock of being annihiliated. It wasn't that big of a problem, however he was dully aware of how much his developing ego and self steem had been affected by such a show of... inadequate capability on his part, something he was not used to showing.
Despite having been quite the weaker player in all his fairy adventures before, he had pulled through. And one way or the other he may have been weaker when it came to physical tests, but otherwise he was a worthy opponent.
Right up to that morning, at least.
With a scowl on his face and a stride that meant business he walked into his next classroom, being carefully avoided by even those who thought they were close enough to at least say hi to the powerful young man.
Instead, any peers that were about quickly made themselves scarce, side stepping out of the way and giving him all the possible room a psychopath would need in order to keep himself from harming anything organic.
The room was still empty, as it seemed he was early for his first academic class. Girls and boys sat and talked in different corners of the room, glancing catiously in the direction of the teen vampire before going back to their conversation, avoiding eye contanct and carefully keeping themselves from shivering.
When he had that look on his face, you'd think you were the smallest most insignificant worm on the planet...
Which, it seemed was exactly what he thought of most people when he had that look on his face. Some things looked to be unable to change.
The walls were made of a wine colored wood that rose up much higher than Artemis thought needed for such an architectural structure. During this particular class (which was physics) he had spent his time drawing out the correct way to build that particular wing of the school, without such a waste of material, energy and money.
He had considered dropping the note off at the architect's office when he figured out who it was, but had decided it was too low a blow. Butler and Holly would be stern about their reactions if they found out, and with Foaly on monitors under ground that was bound to happen.
So much for the claimed liberty of friendship...
The other side of the room was made of several tall windows seperated by decorative pillars of stone looking out to the school court yard which was centered off by a giant fountain which at the time was spouting greenish looking water... not at all enviting.
The sun was out, and the sky was blue and all this passed right over the genuis's head and out the window for all he cared.
Instead he sat down at the nearest desk and concentrated on not thinking about the little incident in the gymnasium. This of course led to more thinking of the incident...
Needless to say, Artemis was beginning to feel a bit childish. It had affected his ego, yes, but he was mature and intelligent enoughto realize that such a thing could be brushed off if he paid it no mind. However, the thoughts still lingered, and there was something bothering him, at the corner of his mind...
It was like a splinter, festering and irritating him.
This did not improve his mood.
He looked up, seeing a shadow fall across his desk. In front of him stood the girl he had seen sitting on the staircase railing... the one that had been carelessly studying him.
He blinked mildly at her and leaned back, to get a better look.
She was small, for someone supposed of her age, and her eyes were so big that it made her look all the younger. They were a deep gray and cold... He noted that quickly, having seen that coldness before, though not directed at him. Butler had that coldness...
Her face was small and delicate, shaped very much like what most people called a pretty face. She had a perfect little nose and lush kissable lips. Her skin was pale as ivory, making her look ghostly, and it contradicted so harshly with her dark waving locks of black hair that for once Artemis felt like perhaps his skin tone wasn't so bad after all.
She didn't seem to be smiling, and her eyes weren't very friendly, but she wasn't posing a threat, other than simply standing there, waiting.
"May I help you?" Artemis asked after a long moment of silence. he detected that she too had been studying him at that moment. Her eyes flickered back to his face.
"I would suppose my sources are right and that you are Artemis Fowl the Second, correct?" she asked, her voice light as a feather over the air, almost like a whisper, but also heavily accented.
Artemis frowned, getting the feeling that she was shy, though she didn't look it.
"Yes. May I add, staring at someone for disturbing periods of time is hardly a way to start a conversation." he stated rather harshly, not the least bit in the mood for one of the fangirl conversations he had had the last few months. He actually had what most boys called a dream. A fangirl group following him around... It was irritating at best, from his perspective.
A smirk slowly spread over her features, and Artemis frowned, having not seen that reaction coming.
"Ah, sarcastic as expected." she replied, her posture loosening, more comfortable in her space.
His frown only deepened. "What do you want?" he asked instead, not bothering to follow up on an obvious lead she had placed there.
"I waited for you to say something to see what a genuis would decide to use to reply to silence." she said calmly, her arms folding comfortably across her chest.
"It did not seem all too clever, to be honest."
He glared at her thoughtfully, wondering where she had acquired such information. He certainly didn't go around telling people of his I.Q.
Most people didn't even know, as a matter of fact.
"You have yet to answer my question." he retorted. The girl sighed and examined her nails, paying him no attention. "You are not capable of a conversation either. Social abilities are low, are they not?" she asked instead, making him stare.
So, he wasn't a great communicator. It wasn't his fault, most people didn't understand half the words he used anyway.
"It seems you're incapable of proccessing information as well." he snapped instead, his temper rising, something that did not happen every day.
She laughed. "Excellent point, obvious... of course." she added, as if not really impressed. She extended her hand.
"My name is Crystal Lord." she said more peacefully. "I meant no offence, my curiousity is strong." she explained.
For a moment, Artemis didn't know what to do. Everything Butler had told him about odd people who switched from foe to friend went against taking her hand... But he was in school for god's sake and she was his age if not younger.
Sighing, he took her hand and shook, knowingly not being blown to bits by the teenage girl.
"So strong that politeness is not so...important?" he enquired, still a bit on the defensive. She smirked, and it surprised him, having seen such a smile somewhere before...
The mirror.
"Oh yes." she replied simply, stepping back a bit.
He thought about her name a moment, locating her accent in all the facts that were ricocheting in his head.
"Lord? As in Mikkael Lord?" he enquired, finding the name close to what he remembered to be an important business associate of his father's from England... or had been, before his family had decided to go straight.
This was not good company.
Crystal's smile widened, and for some reason Artemis was sure that that was not a good thing.
"Why yes, Mikkael Lord is my father." she replied.
Artemis's thoughts flowed quickly. He could see no wires on her, but he couldn't be sure. He couldn't remember what his father had said of the ending verdict concerning the dealings with the Lord family. However, that left Artemis to deal with the supposed daughter on a basis of no information.
It was a possibility that she was lying, and that he was in danger of some sort of aggressive attack...
Keeping calm as ever, he leaned back against his desk. The fact that she knewof his I.Q was actually surprising and a little unnerving. That was always his ace before. Now it was common knowledge in the conversation...
"What are you doing so far from home?" he asked, recalling Artemis Senior mentioning the over protective way that Mikkael cared for his children.
Crystal smiled again, doing nothing to lighten the atmosphere. "Father is currently paying a visit to your parents in Paris. Business, I would presume." she explained, examining her nails thoughtfully once more. The information made Artemis freeze.
Paying a visit? What sort of visit? And what business? His father had not worked on anything with the Mikkael's for the last year...
"I'd heard of you before and found it curious that father would hold you at such high esteem, so I researched you." she continued, urged on by his quiet listening.
"You 'researched' me?" he asked, the concept weighing heavily on his mind.
"Oh, it wasn't easy at all, let me assure you." she said, quieting his confused thoughts.
She has connections to my family. That's probably where she got a trail to follow. Most of the world doesn't know I exist, and if they do they don't care... She's the only one with the resources to find me.
He relaxed...slightly.
"You've still to answer my question." he muttered impatiently. Crystal smiled again. "You noticed. Good." she said, as if she had been testing him.
"I'm here because father decided that if your parents and mine are to be associates again then we'd better move closer." she explained. "We moved to the outskirts of Dublin, not too far from your home. I didn't feel like going to a boarding school so, father had me come here."
Artemis froze. "You're a new student." he stated. Crystal nodded. "Yes."
For some reason, he didn't feel like that was a good thing. She had an attitude that made him feel... inadequate, yet again.
That was the second time in less than an hour, something was horribly wrong. He stared at her a moment, as if processing the information, instead he studied her face, thinking...
There was something a bit too smart in her eyes. It was giving him a sinking feeling.
A bell rang, cutting thoughts off and making Crystal turn to look as the Professor walz in late, muttering under his breath. She gave Artemis one more thoughtful look and went to sit down, walking gracefully and sitting down in complete silence, looking for all the world like an innocent porcelain doll.
Somehow, it was doubtful she was so innocent at all.
The day went by quickly, as time tends to do when you're deep in thought for most of it.
Artemis was in a hurry to get home, and as a matter of fact in a hurry to call Butler because it seemed a necessity to tell him that there was someone he needed him to research.
It was possibly the first time that Artemis had researched someone his age that wasn't dead...
By the third class of the morning, and having lost sight of Crystal somewhere in the hall, he decided he didn't want to wait any longer and asked the professor patiently if he could be excused from class for a moment.
As he made his escape, he quickly slipped his cell phone out of his pocket, speed dialing Butler's own cell... Hopefully Butler wouldn't get utterly paranoid at the fact that Artemis was calling from school, during class hours.
"Artemis? Are you all right? What's the matter?" Butler's voice said gruffly, as soon as the machine stopped ringing.
The Fowl boy cocked an eyebrow, walking down the hallway of the school, his eyes open for any bothersome Professors walking about.
"I'm all right, old friend. No need to panic. I've just a favour I need you to do for me." he continued, making his way to the library.
Butler gave a grunt. "I'm not going to help you cheat, if that's what you're planning." he said, though it was a sarcastic statement.
The boy smirked and shook his head. "I could probably take the ending exams today and pass without any trouble, I don't need help." he replied, grabbing the door to the library.
"What I do need is for you to research someone. There should be some information on the web, however, if not there should be quite a bit of it in Father's study."
At this, Butler grew quiet and very serious. "I have no real interest in going into your father's private study, Artemis..." he said slowly.
Artemis sighed, having seen this coming. "Butler, there is a girl here who came up to me using vocabulary and mental skills that only I am used to hearing from..well..me. She claims to be a Crystal Lord, daughter of Mikkael Lord, past associate of my father's. She also claims they are working together again. However, father has said to go straight... This is making minimum sense and I have my doubts about this girl. There's something odd."
He heard, to his great relief, papers being shuffled and keys being pressed.
"I'm looking it up... Mikkael Angelo Lord... 42 years of age, holds a large fortune well in the billions...His family has been persecuted by the police consistently for the last couple hundred years. Wow, Artemis this sounds like your family."
Artemis frowned, realizing that wasn't a good thing. "I know.."
"He has a daughter, age 18 name is- wait." Butler stopped, as did Artemis out of instinct, right at the Library doorway, his back to it.
"He 'had' a daughter age 18 named Amelia. She died last year, kidnapped..." The bodyguard said gruffly, not liking the route this was taking.
Frowning, the boy shrugged off the uncomfortable memory of Crystal's cold gray 'sad' eyes.
"Right... any other children?"
"Yes, 16 year old Crystal Elizabeth Lord. There is absolutely no information on the girl past that."
Artemis stopped again, pausing by the library computers. "Nothing at all?" he enquired, plopping down on a chair and quickly typing in her name on the web.
"Nothing. She's a ghost in the family. There is information on the cousins, for god's sake... It's almost like they forgot her."
"Or she wanted to be forgotten. I have a bad feeling..." he murmured softly.
"I'll call your parents and check up on them, all right? Juliet is with them at the moment too, so I figure if there is a problem she'll at least figure a way to let us know. Perhaps you should contact Holly and get her to ask Foaly for a little assistance. We don't want to be caught off guard." Butler continued, getting into defensive mode.
Artemis thought about it for a moment, then sighed. "I will when I get back home. I don't want to make this bigger than it is. It is a possibility that what she says is true, however it still bothers me... Something isn't fitting in." he frowned.
"Well, starting with her older sister is dead." Butler allowed himself to point out.
"Yes. All right, old friend. Thank you for your help. I will call if anything else comes up." he mumbled, feeling a bit out of sorts.
"All right. Do not worry yourself, Artemis. It does nothing."
"Yes... Goodbye." Silently, he hung up and turned his attention to the screen, which had as a matter of fact, turned up blank.
"What are you looking for, Master Fowl?" a voice asked behind him, making him spin around in surprise.
Crystal stood there, her hands behind her back, blinking at him curiously. His hand drifted to the esc. key and pressed it quickly, though he knew she had seen.
"Apperantly nothing, as it seems there was no information." he replied.
Crystal smiled knowingly. "Ah. Yes... Can't get much on me there." she explained. She reached towards him, in her hand a miniature disk.
"I figured you would want to read something." she said calmly, while Artemis hesitated to take the disk.
Finally, he reached out and took it, not bothering to look at it, but concentrating on her again.
"I mean no harm, I assure you." she nodded. He noted again a sad glitter to her eyes at that moment, one he had failed to notice before.
"It's fine.' he managed to say.
"Good. You'd better hurry back to class, I heard Professor Albeny is beginning to get teased for letting you go... you've been gone a very long time." she informed him, before turning away and heading out the door.
He frowned. How did she know he had Albeny at that moment...?
Grumbling to himself, he stood and walked out, determined to get an answer to that question, but found the hall empty on both sides. She was nowhere to be seen.
So, there is the first chapter...sorta, I think it was the second, maybe, I can't recall. Oh well.
I hope you guys like it. Please R&R. And wouldn't you know it, I didn't figure out who the fighter was in this chapter... Maybe next time?
Give advice, give comments, no flames please!
-White Scribe