Chapter 2: Arty Gets a Girlfriend

Artemis and Butler stood outside, by the car. Butler looked at his young companion. He wondered what kind of lie Artemis would tell his mother.

As far as she knew right now, her beloved Arty was on a nature walk looking at bugs and trees, so that he could do a repot for school. It wasn't a whole lie. He had gone for a walk and it had involved nature but it wasn't for a school report.

"Okay, Butler, I need to use the cell phone."

He handed Artemis the small flip phone and watched as the boy dialed his home phone number. After a moments silence he could faintly hear Mrs. Fowl say hello.

"Mom, I wanted to ask you something…..Could I have a friend over…..There name is Zinnia….Yes mom that's a girls name….Yes mom it's a girl….No mom she isn't my girlfriend…She will need to stay with us a few days…Her parents are away on business…So its okay….thanks mom……Love you too…Bye."

"Clever," Butler said. "But how exactly do you plan to go to Atlantis?"

"Already working on it."

Holly and Zinnia walked out of the cave and Artemis was caught off guard by Zinnia's appearance. Her jeans were tight, her spaghetti strap shirt showed off every curve, and her sandy brown hair fell just below her shoulders drawing more attention to the one place Artemis was trying to ignore.

She looked magnificent and to anyone who didn't know she could most definitely pass as human, but to Artemis' watchful eye the signs were all there. Her eyes were an unnatural blue and her skin had a golden, almost glowing, shine to it. But all things could easily be blamed on colored contacts and body glimmer.

She also looked incrediblely nervous, but that had been expected.

"Well Zinnia has a place at my house to stay. We will have to buy her some more clothes and all the other things that she will need, but besides that, every thing is good."

"Great. I'll call you when its time to meet back up."

"You mean you won't be coming with us?" Zinnia asked Holly meekly.

"No, I need to go prepare all the equipment and I have other things I need to do before I go and stay at Atlantis for a week."

"Well don't worry about equipment. That I have covered," Zinnia stated happily, throwing a small glance in Artemis' direction.

"Still yet…need to get back to Haven," Holly said this time glancing nervously down at her watch. She didn't look in Artemis' direction when she waved good-bye and in a flash, she was gone.

Holly was hiding something. Curious, Artemis thought to himself. I shall have to get to the bottom of that.

"Well off we go," Butler motioned for Artemis and Zinnia to get in the car. Artemis helped Zinnia into the car (a courtesy his father had always told him was necessary) and then climbed in himself before Butler shut the door.

The two teenagers sat in silence as Butler started the car and began the drive back to the manor, but after a while, Artemis got unusually annoyed by the silence that he usually liked. He had questions to ask and he was curious about how much of "the little mermaid" story was true.

"So…would you care to tell me about the story of Aerial?"

Zinnia looked at him smiling secretly. Had her eyes changed color? Probably, when it came to the People anything was possible.

"I would be honored," she turned in her seat so that she was facing Artemis and then moved a little closer to him. "Well unlike your story in truth Arial was at first a human- the Mud Men changed that part around to make it seem like fairy people wanted to be like them. Anyways, Arial was in love with the prince of her fathers' rival kingdom-much like a Romeo and Juliet situation- and when the two kingdoms refused to unite the young lovers looked to "new places" to find a haven for their love.

Arial had heard of a Witch who lived at the far end of the shore, deep inside a cave. Her and her prince decided to go there and ask her for help in exchange for anything she wanted, but when they found the Witch, she asked for one thing. She also said that she had been waiting for them since the day they had been born. She told them the stars had said them destined for each other," Zinnias' eyes glistened as she said this. "She told the couple that she had made a spell for them. She told them the sea would be theirs and that if they ever grew tired of the ocean they could leave but not to stay away to long because by accepting the spell they made themselves part of the sea. She told them that their children would be born the same as them.

So the couple traded the Witch. They gave her the part of them that bond them to the land and she gave them something that bond them to the sea.

Imagine their surprise though when they find that they are not the only ones of there kind. They find out that the Witch has made the deal before with other humans and that the reason why she took their land essence was because the Witch was an immoral creature and she was the only true mermaid in existence. After the rest of her kind had died out, she made her fist deal with a human couple. She used what she took form them to enable her to a human.

Sadly enough she searched for her love for hundreds of years but never found him. So she returned to the sea. And by the time she did all the humans she had made into mermaids had formed their own underwater kingdom. She went there and found a merman, who by the way was the prince at the time, and married him. She cast away her immortality. And with a heavy heart, she cast one last spell, that if ever one of her descendents were to find themselves in her situation that they would not have to settle for a love that was never whole but they would find true love with a Mud Boy. Like you!" she laughed and then sat back in her seat.

"So did her spell ever take effect?"

"Who really knows? After a while, her descendents lost track of their true heritage."

"But if she married the prince isn't likely that you could be her descendent?"

"I guess but it's hard to tell. So many things have happened since then."

They sat quietly the rest of the way and when they finally did pull up to the Manor Artemis felt himself happy to finally be home.

They got out of the car and to Artemis' surprise, he found his mother waiting at the door.

"Oh hello dear. You must be Zinnia," Angeline Fowl said as she inspected her sons' new friend. "Why aren't you just gorgeous? Why haven't you mentioned this girl before Artemis?"

"I don't know mother," Artemis replied. He knew the question had really been rhetorical but he honestly just wanted his mother to stop fussing over Zinnia.

"Well come along you two, I will introduce you to Mr. Fowl and Artemis can help Butler take your things to," she stopped mid-sentence. "Well where has Butler run off too?"

"He went back out to get Zinnias' suitcase."

"Oh…well off we go. Come along Artemis." his mother turned slightly away from Zinnia and whisper to Artemis. "See dressing normally has done some good huh? Your father and I had begun to wonder if you would ever have a girlfriend."

Artemis rolled his eyes. "Oh really mother," he whispered back.

It wasn't that Artemis couldn't get a girlfriend he just hadn't ever wanted one. No time for matters of mush in a life of crime. He sighed as he followed Zinnia and his mother to his fathers' office.

His mother barely knocked on the door before pushing it wide open.

"Look who's her honey!" his mother shouted joyously.

Artemis Fowl Senior looked up from the papers on his desk and smiled.

"And who is this pretty young lady?"

"This is Artys' girlfriend, Zinnia."

Artemis felt his face color deepen. His father walked over to shake Zinnias' hand.

"She will be staying with us for a few days while her parents are away on business."

"Oh really? Do your parents work often?"

"Yes actually. I told Artemis how boring it got being in that house with only the maids for company and he said that he would ask if it was okay for me to come. I do apologize if it is an imposition."

"No, no. Not at all! It will be nice to have a girl in the house again. With Juliet gone I have only the boys for company."

"Well thank you for letting me come."

"You're welcome."