Wow! It's been so long! Guess y'all thought that this story was dead, huh? Most of this was written last Christmas, but at leastI finally got off my royal ass to fix thesmall specks I didn't like and a few other things. It just in need of a bit 'o magic, and a little bit 'o inspiration.

Well, it's back!

So, sing those carols! Call out that holly! Light that therecandle! Fix up them therelights! It's time for another dose of that holly jolly Arty-infested Christmas!

Not to be taken lightly either . . . poor Arty!

And yo, I know that the Opal Deception contradicts everything here now, but bear with the old Pash-can tradition of the last two chapters and throw the rule-book out the window with following sequals, cause Opal's different, and there's no way I'm changing this plot now!

Enjoy: )

Breaking Christmas
Chapter 3 ---- Christmas Letter

Holly watched cautiously from a far bush as Artemis Fowl encountered his own kind and took his wallet back. Humans even fighting amongst themselves --- and a halfbreed. A mere half-sprite. Darren Knotts as Foaly informed. Dangerous creatures. Holly could see why. They were unpredictable, uncommon to their magic. She had to feel sorry for him too.

But, she had to follow Fowl and follow she did. Shielding, she flew from the bushes and hovered above the boy. She had been shocked how much he had changed in a six month span. She hadn't gotten a good view yet, but knew that he would have said a whole lot more if the true Artemis had been there in front of the trio of Mud People.

"Foaly," she called into the mike. There was an annoyed answer.

"What?"

"How long has it been since the Mind Wipe?"

"Seven months and twenty six days, forty-two minutes and three seconds to be exact --- wait, now seven seconds. And aren't you supposed to be looking for Opal?"

"Smart-ass."

"Ooh, such a mouth. Something bothering you Holly?" Foaly's voice grew soft. This when the elf knew there was not another soul in Foaly's workplace. Usually, Root or Trouble would butt in at this moment and say 'Back to work Short!', but Foaly was different. He had been a good companion to share her troubles with since she had arrived on the LEPrecond squad. "Is there?"

Holly sighed, "No, because as you said, Who could be friends with a viper? I . . . have to agree." She searched for the words with difficulty. So close to a friendship . . . so close.

The centaur sighed into the microphone. "And I don't take that back. It was duty. You know as well as I that the Mud Boy is better off not knowing us." There was a slight pause. "Think of it this way Holly, if Haven was ever in trouble by an outside source, Arty-boy would have been the first to fall because he is a Mud Man and knows where we are. He could have easily jeopardized us and you know how he makes his deals. Doesn't care about anyone but himself --- and his family. Did you really want Haven to be in jeopardy for as long as he lived?"

"No, I suppose not." But would he do that? After the Mafiya and Jon Spiro, Holly doubted it. Though Foaly knew more about the Mud Men physiology better than she did and he was probably right. He was always right.

Suddenly, Artemis stopped short and glanced up directly to Holly as if to find something. There was nothing to find to his eyes. Searching keenly, he probed the sky for a moment then shrugged it off and continued his trek around the block. He zipped up his fleece fully and shivered. It was getting quite cold.

Screams and gunfire erupted from the block before and Artemis spun on his heels. He could recognize the voice easily, his mind registering instantly who they were. It was that girl, Julia, and those boys, Darren and Duke. To Holly's surprise, Artemis began amble towards the noise and then, as if with an idea, turned into the Tree Lot. She followed, disobeying orders, landed in a thick grove of trees and unshielded to save her magic. Bad idea. Very bad idea.

"I thought someone was following me," Artemis stepped from behind a tree enigmatically, almost appearing from the shadows themselves. He had been watching Butler for way too long, Holly thought in mild surprise. "What are you? A dwarf?"

Holly puffed out her cheeks angrily and drew her Neutrino 2000 from her holster. "An Elf actually, Artemis Fowl." Her narrow eyes met his for a brief moment and then she lowered her weapon distinctively. Holly Short hardly ever lowered her weapon on a Mud Man. "I won't shoot if---"

There was another scream and then the two boys cried after her, then the screech of wheels against the pavement and the slam of a door. Within moments, Artemis had glanced at Holly directly in the helmet lens to her eyes with a made decision and ran. Holly, of course, shielded and followed.

The men working the lot turned to find a boy high-tailing it through the rows of pines towards the entrance. They didn't know a git like him could run that fast --- and stumble that frequently on the ice.

"Well, will you look at that Bob," the first man said, tipping his hat up to catch a better glimpse of the ice-tripping boy, "We got a show 'ere. Maybe 'e can do a ba'kflip for us."

The second man laughed as the boy slid and ducked a lazytree branch, "I don't think that git has it in him."

Artemis skidded to a stop and sighed gratefully, stepping onto the concrete in relief. Solid ground. Thank God. Holly crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Impudent Mud Man. Sauntering towards the scene, he examined the peculiar sight before him in mild interest. Rather interesting to tell the truth, he was already wondering what had happened to these poor folk. He wasn't worried --- just wondering. Darren knelt on the ground, one hand covering a bloody arm. He was cursing up a storm. Artemis frowned at the language and eyed the other boy. Duke was flat on his face with a bloody nose, also swearing loudly. Then things began to get rowdy.

The redhead, on instinct, glanced back to Artemis and snarled, "You! You must have done this!" He stood. "You took her! You must have!"

Artemis blinked in slight confusion, fake of course.

Tears wield into Darren's eyes, "Just when you disappeared, they took her! You must have been in on this --- you must have!"

Blue eyes met black. "Do you really think that I stole your girl? Open your eyes. I was on the other side of the lot."

"Then you commanded someone to! There's no denying it! You've been wanting to get even with me ever since you got it good at school! Serves you right you arrogant ass---"

"Listen," Artemis shot him a glare that would make even hell freeze over, "if I wanted payback, I would have gotten it sooner than now. I am not one to wait." Every word was crisp with venom. Detached and void of any emotion. "So open your impudent little eyes and look around you. There are a million buildings here that could have hid your so-called culprit ---"

"Then your beefy manservant did it! What was his name? Meatloaf or something?" Darren clenched his fists, "But you did it! I know you did you---"

One thing was for sure, Artemis Fowl did not like to be interrupted, for his words were colder than the last. "Stop your juvenile squabbles because I don't see a being alive here that is listening to you run your damn mouth. How in the hell do you think I could have set this up at all? And why would I? Frankly, I even don't have those answers because I know that I wouldn't kidnap your girl. If I would have, you would have been without a limb and a girlfriend." He paused for a shaky breath. "Now do you want my help or don't you?"

One could have heard a pin drop; even Foaly listening in from Holly's helmet held his tongue.

Darren blinked in surprise and let down his guard, "What? Come again?"

The boy genius smoothed out his hair and took a deep breath. "Those tire marks are from a Ford. The tractionof it, seeing that there isn't a whole lot of skid marks, was minimum. That means it was a new car ranging from 2003-2005 model. By the amount of black rubber, it was rather light also, meaning that it was a light car. That narrows it down. It must have been a Ford Mustang, 2004 to keep the model at a safe range." He paused so both Darren and Duke could register the information. "As I said, do you want my help or don't you?"

With his mind working faster than his mouth, Darren stood mouthing a few words for a moment before shaking his head somberly and pulling himself up straight. "I don't want your help, Fowl."

Artemis began away.

"But, Julia means the world to me, and I don't want her to die."

----

Foaly drummed his fingers on the keyboard thoughtfully, listening to the occurring conversation. Fowl wouldn't have done that unless he was incredibly stupid, incredibly bored, or just plain desperate. He hoped it wasn't the first or last.

"Holly, can you follow them?"

Static. "I thought you said that I needed to get back to my mission."

"You do," Foaly said exasperatedly, "and you are doing that now. I have a feeling that their connected."

"And how is that?"

"Call it a centaur's intuition," Foaly laughed, "and the wonders of my cranium." Two words. Pompous Mule. "They must be related."

Holly frowned on the other end, "Sure, but you're taking the blame if Root finds out."

"Fine. Fine. But I highly doubt that I am wrong." Foaly's mind was working overtime. So many possibilities to the riddle --- and so many changes in Fowl. It was baffling. If he could have, he would have done both at the same time. Which one to work on first? The Artemis Fowl Files or the mission? Why did he even have to think about this?

Popping open a book on physiology, he slipped in the disk of Fowl's memory he had saved and began to search. There had to be a way to help old Arty, Foaly knew there was. But if it was restoring his memory, that would be a whole new game to him. Root wouldn't approve at all. Clipping his heels, he cut off his viva phone to Root and began his research. This was more fun anyway.

----

'05 Silver Ford Mustang

Julia screamed again in the car as they hauled ass down the road as fast as the Mustang could gallop. She couldn't believe this --- a perfect girl like her was being kidnapped! Why did it have to be her --- why! A woman in red laughed beside her and gagged her instantly.

"Now now, we don't need your big mouth screaming the whole way to the hotel," the woman tied the gag tightly and shoved the girl back into the seat. Jon Spiro glanced back in his rearview mirror and grinned. "Jon, we can stop speeding now, she won't say anything else, will you girl?"

Julia, eyes wide with horror, shook her head frantically and gulped. Oh how she wanted to just scream right now. Just to scream. First her dress was ripped and now this! Duke would pay dearly for this . . . Duke and Darren both!

The car slowed to a stop beside a drop-off box and the woman glared at her driver wearily, "What are you doing? One of Foaly's cameras are around here!" Her voice was almost a shrilling shriek. Julia could tell she had lost her composure a while ago. Something was going astray.

Spiro, still grinning, took an envelope from his breast pocket and slipped it into the mail box. "I'm sending a letter to Fowl. You know that disk you copied for me of Arty-boy's memories?"

"Yes . . ."

"I've designed a special contraption that let's our dear Fowl recall everything he's lost right when he opens the letter. He'll have no choice." He closed the mailbox and began to drive away.

Opal became very rigid, "Why?"

"My dear," Spiro looked through his rearview mirror again, grinning, "it is no fun to have a nemesis who can't even remember you. I would like to kill him when he's on the top of his game, not on the bottom."

"This seems too simple for you Jon. Won't the information be to much for even his brain?" It clicked. She was catching on slowly. Julia on the other hand, was frightened, clueless, and had to pee really badly.

"As I said, kill him while he's at the top of his game," with this, he slipped sunglasses over his eyes and drove with an eerie silence riding in the car with them and the tension just from the name Artemis Fowl.

Continue: Yes? No?