AN: Ah, the delights of controlling a cliffy. Yes, I have already previously registered that I'm evil x) hehe. I've merged Chapter four into this chapter, since I didn't really want to come up with like, 3000 words. I wrote for about ten minutes and I found that I had only written five hundred words, so… yeah :P Also, on a very happy note, I FINISHED MY EXAMS! –happy dance– ugh, the exams just hover over you like a death wish, and I just feel so happy after they finished… we all had a little party there's still two weeks of school to go though, all thanks to our 13 week long term. Ugh.
Okay, finish Author's note right now. Thanks again to my reviewers. I'll reply to you all! (or try to, at least).)
Disclaimer: Artemis belongs first and foremost to Eoin Colfer
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Chapter Three
Missing in Action
Police Plaza, Haven
Foaly acted like a reflex. His fingers hit the 'Exit' button as soon as Sool's first word reached his horsy ears. The screen went blank.
"SHORT!"
Holly grimaced, her expression turning sour. Sool however, fortunately didn't see the screen, or more importantly, what was on the screen. She glanced at the centaur, who was now busily typing away, his head tucked to his chest. Only the elf would see the temporary relief shining through his eyes.
"Yes, Sool?" Holly asked, knowing that she would get another ear bashing for not using his proper 'title'. Holly mouthed the words Sool started shouting behind her.
"You do not refer to your superior officers without their proper titles!" He ranted.
"Okay, sorry sir." She said flatly.
Sool looked like was contemplating if he should give Holly a lecture about respecting her superiors or just get on with what he was going to tell her. He chose the latter.
"Where is Root?"
"I thought you just said we need to refer to our superior officers with their proper titles?" Holly asked innocently.
"Do not mess with me Short!" Sool bellowed.
Holly didn't flinch. She was too used to Root to be affected by what Sool said.
"I do not know the current whereabouts of Commander Root." She said, emphasizing the word Commander so that Sool glowered at her.
"Foaly? I trust that you have been monitoring all travel?" Sool said, turning to the centaur.
"Well, sir, there are too many transport systems that all move at the same time, and often with the same frequency so it would be quite impossible to record all needed data right away, it would take a few minutes for me to sort through all the stored records, and after that I'll have to contact the security that was appointed at the time to confirm my results to their tallies as well-"
"Foaly, shut UP! Plain Gnommish! No jargon." Sool scowled.
Foaly continued. "Sir, I would be unable to speak to you even in Gnommish if you commanded me to shut up."
"Foaly, stop messing around! Just tell me if Root has gone anywhere!" Sool roared.
"No."
Sool glared at him. "That's it? You don't even need to check?"
Foaly turned back to the screen, and Holly saw the smug grin on the centaur's face. "If there was any new unscheduled transport going on my program would automatically send me an alert. I have received none since yesterday, when one of the tour buses broke down and ran late."
"Well, keep updating your program. We need to know if anything fishy is going on."
Holly started: "Sir, we do live underground-"
"Do I look like a complete imbecile to you Short? I am very aware of where we live!" Sool growled, cutting her off.
He didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he turned and stormed out. Foaly grinned at the equally grinning elf.
"And he didn't even cut your budget." Holly smirked.
"I wonder why he was asking about Root." Foaly mused, turning back to his computer. Then something seemed to hit him. "Ah, poor Arty, I bet he's wondering what's going on below…"
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St. Bartleby's, Ireland
Artemis was doing no such thing. He only worried, or perhaps a better word, thought over things that he did not fully understand. Considering that these things were very few, Artemis at the current time was not thinking about the abrupt disconnection. He had heard the familiar nasal voice of the fairy, and knew too well why he had been cut off.
Artemis trailed aimlessly back to his room. Life was so pointless at St. Bartleby's. At least at home he could reach things through his laptop. He smirked as he thought back to Holly's annoyed face. His laptop of course, was not the one she had so subtly snatched. That and all his disks were locked in a safe, whose location was known by only Artemis and Butler. Artemis kept only his most personal things in that safe.
When he had gotten bored of staring aimlessly at the stain on the wall of his room, Artemis wandered the small grounds. He should've been at his third class by now, but what use was going to his classes when he didn't learn anything? Besides, his teachers would probably be thanking God that he wasn't there, much less report him.
Artemis halted at the edge of the small tree 'plantation', contemplating if he should enter. He saw the dozen of sad looking broken saplings that Juliet had used as her little punching bags. The plants were all snapped in half, dangling precariously by a thin strip of bark that still held. He watched the wind buffet it this way and that, each time the bark shredding thinner and thinner. When the wind had cut through the final section, the piece of wood fell slowly to the earth, and the soft thud was muffled by a howl.
The wind picked up, before Artemis turned and walked back to the school. It loomed ahead of him like a prison sentence. He met Juliet on his way in, and she was just in the middle of practicing one of her moves on an arrogant adolescent.
"Juliet, you know that you're well on the way to be banned from the school." Artemis said lightly as he approached the frightened boy.
The blonde girl's head barely moved. "Oh, we're just having some fun Artemis. Aren't we, Rob?" She added cheerfully to the perspiring boy. Artemis noticed the poorly veiled threat in her voice, and he watched with amusement as the boy visibly gulped, and nodded weakly.
Artemis considered letting Juliet continue her vicarious fun. The boy seemed to be on the verge of tears though. He must've been at least eighteen.
"Juliet, there's a few trees outside that needs… breaking." Artemis said dryly.
Juliet held the boy for a bit longer, before loosening her hold on him. The boy almost stumbled in his haste to get away from her, tripping and almost falling flat on his face as he raced away. Juliet chuckled, and Artemis hid a small smile. Juliet had a sick sense of humor.
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Police Plaza, Haven
Holly was spinning around in her chair, cherishing the lack of work that that day had presented, when Ark Sool came storming in, again. Holly rolled her eyes. Will he ever stop annoying her?
"Any news on Root?"
"Why, sir?"
"PICK UP YOUR ACT SHORT! I AM YOUR SUPERIOR AND I WILL NOT APPRECIATE ANY MORE CHEEK FROM YOU!"
Holly was surprised that that was all it took for him to explode. Something seemed wrong.
"Why do you keep asking about Commander Root, sir?"
Sool cast Holly a scornful glance as he started walking out. "I thought that it would be a little obvious, Short, you being the smart girl you are." He sneered.
"Nope," Holly said cheerfully, ignoring the jibe. "That's Foaly's job."
Sool scowled heavily, before walking out the door. "Commander Root is missing."
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St. Bartleby's, Ireland
Artemis tapped his foot against the tiled floor, an unconscious nagging him. Over the past few days, he had the constant feeling like that he was being watched. Every time his head inched sideways, he could almost see something like a pair of lights winking out. It was slightly unnerving. Artemis had always hated it when something was happening to him and he couldn't explain it – this time included.
He questioned Juliet about his suspicions.
"Well, I didn't think that I needed to annoy you about something I'm not 100 sure about…"
"But you have had the feeling?" Artemis repeated impatiently.
Juliet nodded. Her eyes were serious for once.
"I get a feeling. It's not like the feeling when I get when you're watching me. It's like someone's aiming a gun at my back, not just watching. Weird, don't you think?"
"Not weird…" He murmured to himself.
Well, it wasn't. A lot people in the world had an excuse to try and kill him. Artemis would be the first to admit that fact. This was different though. "I think I'm going to have to talk to Foaly about it." He mused.
When Artemis got back to his room, he locked the door this time before trying to make a connection. It took a while. Either Foaly was not paying attention or something really big was going on underground. Since Foaly was always paying attention then Artemis guessed that something big was going on underground. He wondered briefly if he should start preparing himself for an unexpected journey.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time, would it? He thought to himself.
But finally, he got through. Foaly's face flickered onto the screen, and he looked worn out.
"Hey, Fowl." He greeted tiredly.
"You look quite depleted Foaly." Artemis observed.
"Yeah, well, things have been really hectic around here lately." Foaly said vaguely, rubbing his fingers to get the circulation going. "What do you want?"
"Can you do me a favour?"
Foaly gaped at him in shock. "The great Artemis Fowl expects help from me?"
Artemis rolled his eyes. Well, he should've expected an answer like that. "Yes Foaly. It's nice to know that you think so highly of me." He replied scathingly.
"Well, as I said, we're pretty busy down here. What do you want exactly?"
"I just want a scan. I've got a feeling that someone's watching me. Juliet feels the same too."
Foaly didn't reply, but his fingers did a quick dance across the keyboard and the computer started humming. Artemis waited, inspecting his nails. He needed them manicured in a few weeks… But Foaly's expression diverted his train of thought.
"What did you find?"
"I think we need to chat."
Artemis suppressed a groan. "You have got to be kidding me."
"When do I joke with you, Mud Boy?"
Artemis registered the renewed use of the word 'mud'.
"True." He admitted. "Well, how do you propose that we 'chat'?"
"Well, the only way is probably if Holly comes up there…"
"You don't mean here, do you?"
"Fowl Manor, Mud Boy."
If Artemis was a normal teenage boy, he would've punched the air in victory. However, as many people know by now, Artemis is not an ordinary teenager. He permitted himself a vampire smile, making Foaly-on-the-screen look wary.
"You better not have anything planned Fowl."
Artemis pretended to be hurt. "You always expect the worst from me, Foaly." Then his face straightened. "I just didn't think that I'd be getting out of here this soon."
"Sure."
"Oh, one more thing... Do you have a plan to get me out of here or are you leaving that up to me?"
"Oh, you can manage it, Fowl. Surely kidnapping a fairy is harder than wagging school." Foaly said, winking at him before disconnecting.
Artemis frowned at the screen. He called Juliet then, and started packing his things. They were leaving.
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Police Plaza, Haven
Holly ran from office to office, trying to sort out who had called her first. As soon as she started a decent conversation with one fairy, another one would start bellowing her name. This was confusing… Suddenly, a metallic voice spoke.
"Captain Holly Short! Please report to the Ops Booth immediately."
Holly shook her head, now sprinting towards the Ops Booth. What did Foaly want now?
I can't do this for much longer, Holly thought grimly as she confronted the solemn faced centaur. First Root goes missing, and no one even saw him leaving his office. They had no footage of Root leaving his office once he had entered it about five hours ago. Holly was feeling more than a little worried, but was prevented from doing anything unless it was answering to some fairy with a higher rank than hers. She couldn't wait till she got promoted. Holly's mind was brought back to earth however, by Foaly's next few words.
"Holly, we have a situation above ground."
Holly groaned. "Please, please, please don't tell me that Artemis is going to be pulled into this."
Foaly almost looked sorry for her. He couldn't quite manage it though, letting a few snorts of laughter escape. "Sorry Holly, he is. Typical, eh?" He joked, trying to cheer her up.
"Great." Holly grumbled. "First Root and now the Mud Whelp. What does he want?"
"Well he contacted me a few minutes ago to ask for a scan. He felt like someone was following him."
"Big surprise." Holly muttered under her breath.
"Anyway," Foaly continued, "I found the same power source that was lurking down here tagging along with Fowl."
"What? Doesn't that just mean that he's setting all this up?" Holly asked.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. That's why you've got the special grant to go above to interrogate him."
"And get captured again? I don't think so." She snapped.
"I don't think Fowl would capture you." Foaly said, his eyes twinkling.
Holly squinted at him. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean, pony?"
"Oh, nothing." Foaly replied vaguely. "I just thought you'd like to have a chance to get away from all this and go visit our favourite Mud Boy."
"Favourite now, is he?" Holly asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'll go. I don't know where my head is anymore." She sighed.
"Poor Hollykins."
"Oh, shut up."
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Fowl Manor, IrelandArtemis walked towards his room, and Juliet dumped his things onto the floor. Butler came rushing out, his face worried and a gun in hand.
"Artemis! Is everything okay?" Butler's large frame made the spacious hall seem suddenly smaller.
Artemis held up a hand, before continuing on his way to his room. "Everything is fine Butler. However, I doubt that they will stay that way for much longer."
Butler gave Juliet a confused look. His sister just shrugged. Artemis didn't make things much clearer for her either.
"All I know bro, is that we're going to get a visit from Holly soon."
Artemis went to his room after fetching his laptop and the disks he had hid from Foaly's search, before setting them up again in his room. It would take the fairies at least one hour to get there, so why not do a little probing himself?
Artemis combed the net for anything that could explain what was happening. He found a website, Strange Happenings of the World, and decided he would try it. What he read was not disappointing, even though it raised more questions rather than answer them.
There have been few reports the last few decades about missing persons. When they turned up, the missing people have ranted about black eyes, games and a scavenger hunt. A lot of these people have been labeled as 'insane', but with growing numbers of these people that turn up and spout the same information, there are an increasing number of the general public that are starting to believe that what these people have claimed to have seen has actually happened. After being questioned more thoroughly, every missing person has given the same story, with almost the exact words.
Artemis paused there, thinking. Well, he didn't know precisely what was wrong. He had never seen any black eyes. He continued reading, not knowing if he should believe in all this or not.
After staring at the screen for what seemed like an age, Artemis felt his chair being pushed around. He almost fell over in shock, before he realized that he was staring into a pair of large hazel eyes. Holly stared back at him for a moment before cracking up.
"Oh, my, god… You should've seen the look on your face!" she gasped in between bales of laughter.
Artemis straightened, his expression dignified. "Well, what do you expect me to look like Captain? I can't be expected to greet you properly when you insist on creeping up on me like that." He replied indignantly.
Holly's laughter ceased slightly as she collapsed onto his bed, her small frame still trembled slightly as she rocked with laughter now and again.
"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked impatiently.
"Oh, that…" Holly immediately sobered up.
Artemis took in her change in mood. The elf had changed from being a carefree, laughing person to the captain guise that he knew so well. The elf crossed her legs on his bed, picking at a spot on her uniform. He waited patiently before Holly opened her mouth to speak.
"Root's missing." She mumbled.
Artemis raised an eyebrow. "And that two word sentence took you five minutes to sum up, did it?" he said scathingly.
Holly glared at him. "Well I expected an answer like that."
Artemis waited.
"How about you tell me what's going on in more detail?" he prompted, after Holly gave no impression that she was about to say anything soon.
It all came out in a rush. "There was an unexplained power source in Haven, and no one knew where it came from. Foaly, Recon and even Root went to see what it was but no one found anything, and we just left it. Then you came and Foaly did the scan, the power sources were exactly the same. Then Root went missing, and Foaly sorta connected everything together and here I am…" she trailed off.
Artemis didn't say anything. His mind was now analyzing the new information with things that he already knew – and nothing matched. He exhaled sharply, frustrated. Holly glanced at him, her fingers playing with a frayed edge of her uniform and a smile started playing at the edges of her cherubic lips. She loved seeing Artemis frustrated. It was only those times that he got to see that he didn't know everything.
"Well, it's all a bit vague, but what can we expect?" he finally murmured.
Holly interrupted. "Excuse me? Since when has this been a we? There was never a we, especially when you get involved in a we, everything gets twice as hard as it should be." She griped.
Artemis dropped his serious expression, smirking at Holly. "Oh, come now, Captain, who handles all this saving the world business better than we do?" he jibed, quoting Holly.
"No one." She replied reluctantly, but she smiled. Holly stared back at his deep blue eyes. She had never realized how blue they were. Most blue eyes had a greyish effect, but his were as blue as a polished sapphire, gleaming at her in the dim light of his table light.
Artemis in turn held her gaze. He never realized how pretty Holly's eyes seemed to be; there were golden flecks among the different shadows of brown, all blending together like an abstract painting. They seemed to be calling out to him, blazing fiercely, and for one second, on moment, Artemis saw behind that tough girl act, and saw Holly, the real Holly; the Holly that had always hidden away. Holly when she was vulnerable. Artemis didn't know if it was a good or bad thing that he knew that she did have that part of her.
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Fowl Manor, Ireland
Artemis had been talking to Foaly, since Holly had tuned out as soon as Foaly started boasting about his latest model of a tracking device. She had heard more than enough of that a long time ago. Artemis though, predictably, drank it all up.
"… so if Root is still wearing his, my computer can track him down even if he was in outer space." Foaly finished.
"But he's not showing up? What would that mean?"
"Two things. One, he's been taken out of our dimension. That's not really possible. Two, someone's taken off the tracker and just blew it to pieces. This one isn't that likely, because I had also sprayed everything that he was wearing with a solinium-base tracker, so unless the kidnapper – we are presuming it was a kidnapper, Root wouldn't exactly go waltzing off – made him change clothes and got rid of all his weaponry – keeping in mind he has the latex – there is no possible chance that we wouldn't be able to detect him."
Artemis turned to Holly, who was sitting on his bed, looking rather bored.
"So, Captain, got anything to add?"
Holly didn't even look his way. She was examining an interesting blotch of brown on the brown painting. "Nope,"
"Thanks for your input." He shot at her. "Foaly, what are the possibilities that Root can be in another world?"
"About ten million to one at an average guess."
"But it is possible?"
Foaly shrugged. "Well since I haven't even thought of a way to make that happen and my technology is the best under and above the world, that isn't such a good option either." Foaly said, slightly sheepish.
Artemis rubbed his temples. "Did you get another lead on that power source?"
Foaly shook his head. "It hasn't moved half a millimeter, but there's still nothing there. It's grown now, on the screen it's about half a centimeter in diameter. In real life it would have to be at least ten meters long. But it moves on the spot, like its pulsing."
Artemis looked at Foaly straight in the eye. Foaly saw the burning determination, and was reminded forcefully of Holly. He knew that what Artemis was about to say next, he wouldn't like it.
"I need to come to Haven."
Foaly didn't like it.
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Alleyway, Lower Elements
Artemis approached the area, Holly at his side. Foaly's gadgets had malfunctioned all of a sudden, but they had both agreed that they didn't need to go back. They were only looking around, after all. If Recon and Root had come here and found nothing, what would they find? A little part of Artemis though, wanted to find something that would highlight, make more interesting, his now slightly boring life. He needed something to take his mind off things.
Holly stopped in a corner. "The last time I came here, this was the exact place that the power source was. Foal said that it didn't move, so it should still be here."
"And it's such a smart move, isn't it, that you are standing right in it?" Artemis said sarcastically.
Holly scowled at him, but moved away. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Ugh…"
Holly swayed on the spot, before collapsing. Artemis ran to her, a surge of worry rushing through him as he pulled her upright.
"Holly? Holly? Are you alright?"
He saw three blue sparks sinking into her head. After a minute, Holly's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was two huge blue eyes staring at her, filled with worry.
"Artemis…" She groaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "What was that?"
"You just… fainted."
Holly shook her head, blinking rapidly, staring at something over Artemis' shoulder. "Please tell me that I'm dreaming."
Artemis turned. A light mist had begun to collect, except that it was concentrated in one area. It slowly darkened in colour, until a half way solid shape appeared, and it continued to gather wisps of mist like threads. Artemis stared.
"What the…"
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AN: Oh, this chapter was fun at the start and I couldn't resist writing a cliffy. The next two chapters will show you people the plot. I've already planned most of this out. There's going to be at least 30 chapters in total, depending on how long I want to drag it out. I must confess that writing Arty fan fics are really interesting. You kinda imagine yourself in that scene… Anyway, next chapter coming. I'm just running it through a few more grammar and spelling checks, before I'll post it. After the next two chapters, I'll be getting onto the plot :)
xx Athemia