Chapter 1 : Discovering the Waterfront

(lol…sorry Silverstein but the title fit so perfect…I give you total props for it though…)

Artemis followed Holly down through the long maze of tunnels. Butler followed closely behide, hunched over from the lack of room. The large man had been extremely skeptical about visiting Holly Shorts "friend". He hadn't seen the need in coming all the way down here just for a job, but Holly had insisted that she needed ever job she could get an that this one was not one that she could pass up. He had then proposed that he and Artemis just wait at the cave entrance, but no.

Holly had insisted that Artemis would want to see this.

"Pardon the impatience, but exactly how mush further is it?" Artemis inquired. He was not made for this sort of gallivanting.

"Well if I remember correctly it should be right…. up…here!" Holly said with a large smile.

And where exactly is here? Artemis thought to himself.

"Where are we?" Butler inquired echoing Artemis's thoughts aloud.

The cavern that they had entered contained nothing but water. Water which cast an eerie blue light though out the room.

"This is Atlantis," Holly explained as she made her way towards the waters edge. "Well actually just the entrance to Atlantis. The actual city is miles below the surface."

"Fascinating," Artemis said as he inched closer to the blue water. "So how do we get to the city? I didn't see you stow away any oxygen tanks in that backpack of yours Holly," Artemis said as a small smile spread across his lips.

"Cute…really," Holly replied smiling back at the human boy. "But we wont be going underwater today. Sorry to disappoint you.," she said making a sad face in his direction.

Holly and Artemis had became quite close since Holly's recent resignation from the LEP. Artemis knew that she missed her job, but luckily her and the centaur Foaly had still managed to stay friends and he helped Artemis and Holly out whenever he could manage it. Even though he had been strictly forbidden from assisting Holly by Sool ( the not so favorable commander of the LEP force), but naturally Foaly could never resist defying an order.

"So I take it your "friend" is supposed to be meeting us here?" Butler said as he scanned the room.

"Yes. She is probably already here, but she wont show herself until I verify for her that the cost is clear. My "friend" is someone of great importance in Atlantis and this meeting is very risky. If the wrong people found out about this there could be a lot of trouble."

"So what's the signal?" Artemis inquired sitting down on the sandy ground. His legs hurt and he felt awkward. He looked down at his attire, a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He was attempting to seem more like a teenager than a business man, for the sake of his mother. Her constant worrying over him made him feel guilty. So while his mind was of a state far more advanced than most doctors and scientists, he condensed his outer appearance to that of a normal 15 year old boy.

Butler came and sat down beside him.

"No worries my young friend, you look fine in your new clothes. I personally prefer it."

Butler always knew what Artemis was thinking, but that was to be expected when you watched someone grow up.

Artemis let his attention drift to Holly. She now kneeled by the water, pushing up her sleeves. She placed her hands on the waters surface and after a moments waiting a white glow began to engulf the water around her hands. Then a bright flash lit the room for a moment. The elfin girl then pulled back her hands and watched the water expectantly. A large splash erupted at the center of the water.

Had that been a fish? If so that was the largest one he had ever seen.

"She's here," Holly said softly as she continued to scan the water.

"What exactly is she?" Artemis asked feeling stupid not to have asked this before. Sometimes he forgot that when it came to life below the surface everything wasn't restricted to one species, but to endless possibilities.

"Mermaid…Don't gawk…" Holly got cut short by another splash in the water.

"Uh.." Butler grunted. Apparently he hadn't thought of that option either.

All at once everyone's attention went from their thoughts to the pair of eyes that was watching them from the water. All that was visible of the creature was the very top of its head. What had she meant by saying not to gawk.

"It's me Holly," the elf stated.

The figurer in the water looked at Artemis and Butler, but then began to rise up out of the water, until the upper part of her body-and it was definitely a her- was out of the water. Artemis now understood what the whole gawking thing was about. He looked sheepishly down at his tennis shoes.

"I had expected your mother," Holly began with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Where is she?"

"My mother has fallen ill and sent me in her stead," the meek and shaky voice of the girl came through the air as if it were the wind itself speaking. Her mere whisper seemed to fill the room more than a shout or yell could.

She again glanced at Artemis and Butler.

"Who are they?"

"Oh, this is Artemis and Butler. They are helping me. Don't worry about them they are perfectly harmless. Well Butler is anyways."

The large man smiled and the mermaid looked at the two happily.

"So onto business. What exactly is the problem?"

"We seem to have gained enemies. It is the exiles. They have declared war. As you know Holly, we are not a very "violent" species, quite the opposite actually, but they are a different story. Their temper is what got them thrown out it the first place."

Holly looked confused and a little angry. "And what am I supposed to do?"

"Well, we were hoping that you and your friends could maybe help us. My mother had counted on you bringing them and we have all heard the stories of all the miraculous stunts that you all have managed to pull off. We had hoped that you could come to Atlantis and help until we sort this all out."

"Umm…" Holly stammered, evidently caught off guard by the statement. "Go to Atlantis?"

"Yes," the girl said with a hint of begging in her voice.

"That would be quiet complicated and not to mention expensive. All the equipment that that would require and then there is the question of how long we would be there---"

"We? Excuse me Holly but my time is valuable and I don't remember agreeing to this. Plus there is the matter of my mother--"

"Artemis you know that I can simply use the mesmer on your mother."

This conversation was becoming a series of interruptions. And if there was one thing that annoyed Artemis it was most definitely being interrupted.

"Holly--," Artemis was cut off again.

"Artemis we may need to get out of here your mother just called my cell phone for the 5th time and I can't very well ignore her again."

"Please Miss Short, we need the help of you and your friends. My mother has told me to tell you that you all can have three days to decide, but in the mean time I must accompany you because simply coming here was very risky. I can not make the trip again."

"Well then…I would say you could stay with me but I have a friend living with me right now. So how about you stay with Artemis. He lives in a castle anyways."

"Once again you are volunteering me for things! And how do you suggest we hide a mermaid?"

Patience was not one of Artemis virtues at the moment. He suddenly felt uncontrolled, a feeling which startled him. Was his age and hormones finally starting to kick in? All day he had felt strange and having a topless girl (mermaid or not) in the same room with him was rather distracting anyways. Then there was also the fact that Holly was bossing him around. It was then that Artemis exploded.

"Could we all just SHUT UP? For gods sake I can barely hear my own thoughts! I need a moment…to think. Especially if you want me to help you."

Holly smiled at him evidently pleased that he was considering, Butler grimaced evidently in no hurry to execute another one of Artemis's "plans". The mermaid retreated deeper into the water. Leaving only her head above the surface. For this Artemis was thankful, how was he supposed to concentrate?

"All right first off how do we hide the mermaid?"

"Well if Holly has brought the cloths as I asked her too, then that will be no problem." The girls smiled then; a smile which implied that she knew something he didn't. Yet, another thing Artemis hated.

"They're in my backpack along with some towels," Holly interjected.

"Well then, I guess it's up to Artemis," she glanced at Artemis challengingly, "but if you don't think you can pull off smuggling a mermaid princess."

"Me? Not be able to pull it off? Ha!" he turned to Butler. "Me and you are going to go call mother and see what she wants. Holly can help…I'm sorry but what is your name?"

"Zinnia," she replied gracefully.

"Okay, Holly can stay and help Zinnia, but how are we going to hide your fins?"

The mermaid laughed and Artemis immediately felt stupid. He remembered now. When out of water mermaids turned into humans.

"Sorry I forgot…well hurry up and get dressed. I'll be waiting outside with Butler."

"Artemis," Holly whispered, "how are you going to hide her?"

"Well I'm not positive, there are still a few things to be sorted out. What kind of clothes did you bring her?"

"Human stuff. That's what they requested."

"Didn't you think it was odd that they wanted clothes? I mean why else would they need them?"

"I didn't think anything of it. Mermaids are really fond of humans. I guess it's where they are so closely related."

"Yeah, how exactly did that happen anyways? The Book never said. It just said something about a spell."

"Well you know the whole Disney movie? Aerial? Well that has some of the story in it."

"That actually happened?'

"For the most part."

"Uh-hmm," the mermaid groaned. "I really am getting bored."

"Sorry," Holly apologized. "We'll meet you outside."

"Okay."

Artemis looked back at Zinnia. She was staring at him. And looked away when she noticed he was looking at her. Strange girl , he thought to himself, but he assumed she would fit in.