Disclaimer: Most characters, settings, etc. belong to Eoin Colfer

Author's Note:
Thanks to reviewers (well one from hollybridgetpeppermint for last chapter but I'm feeling nice today)! Thank you for every one that is reading this! By the way Happy Easter! ;)

Chapter 3

/ Time – 4.00 pm Plan- Unknown/

Recap

Artemis headed towards his room, feeling the urge to do some researching, and he'd trace that call while he was at it Artemis didn't know even if he knew everything in the world he would still never be able to escape from… the god.

End Recap

Fowl Manor 3.00 pm

Foaly, Root and Holly arrived at Fowl Manor one hour before the expected meeting with the 'person'. Actually, Artemis wasn't exactly sure that the Unknown Caller (or UC as he had now begun to think of them as) was actually human. The first reason why he had his suspicions was because he couldn't trace the phone call itself. Even Foaly had no idea where, who or what number the caller was, which brought the closest thing to surprise Artemis had had all year. Foaly, on the other hand, was nursing hurt pride. First, Root had recorded his first 'I don't know' in about a century on tape, and had gotten away with it, having hid the video camera in his hidden safe, now he couldn't even trace a phone call! Then, when Foaly thought that nothing could get worse, all his computers crashed.

They had been filled in with what was happening by Butler, mainly because Artemis was trying futilely to reach the internet somehow and anyone who had tried to interrupt him (i.e. Holly and Root; Butler and Juliet knew him better than that) had withdrawn within thirty seconds flat. Holly had come out of his room looking extremely sulky. Artemis himself had come out of his room about forty five minutes later, and no one was able to get out of him what he had found. Again, only Holly and Root tried. Again, Butler and Juliet knew that if Artemis didn't enter the room with his usual 'I have something of extreme importance to tell you and if don't listen it will be at your expense' air, then he had nothing to say. Foaly on the other hand, recognized when a fellow genius needed to keep his ideas to himself for a while.

Artemis himself had a slight idea of what they were facing, yet again, but what did 'UC' want? He almost knew for sure though, that this time it would be a little more challenging than all the times that they had faced Opal Koboi. Artemis wasn't saying that that was easy though… but he also wasn't saying that it was hard. Artemis was sitting in his meditating position on a cushion while the others were sipping their Earl Grey tea on the sofa, a few of them (again, Holly and Root) scowling at him at the lack of answers that their interrogations had been given. Butler was thinking about getting his Sig Sauer, and he made up his mind ten minutes to four. He was gone and came back within thirty seconds, and the slightly smaller population of the room (erm, Holly and Root) cast the large weapon wary looks.

At five to four, Holly was getting impatient with everything and started tapping her fingers on the oak coffee table, which caused a constant flow of a tap tapping, and Artemis creased his brow slightly, but didn't stir. The silence deepened, and everyone seemed to be watching the large clock tick along.

"Foaly, are you sure you can't track that phone call?" Holly said, breaking the silence. Foaly didn't know if she was just saying it for the sake of saying it, or if she was goading him with the constant reminder that he couldn't trace a phone call. However, he had nothing better to do, so he replied, while mentally rechecking that he had rechecked all the ways that a call could've been traced, and all the ways that a trace could be blocked. Then again, if there was a way that he had never thought of, then it would be a way that he didn't even know that existed, and then it would be a way that he would never be able to crack because…

"Yep, all the satellites are down and I can't even reach the Internet to play my chess games.' Foaly sulked, while his mental train of thought continued to swirl in mindless circles. Root, feeling that the current flow of conversation was not one that he would be able to keep up with easily, and not being able to bellow at any one, asked "Why does this mud man want us here?"

"We aren't definite that the 'person' I talked to was a mud man or a fairy." Artemis said coolly. Everyone jumped slightly, having grown accustomed to his silence. Artemis uncrossed his legs, and stood up, just as the grandfather clock out side in the hall struck four. Artemis headed off to the front door (A/N Hey I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. He heh), and everyone trudged out, following him, not knowing what to expect behind those mahogany doors. What they did see thought, received different reactions from all of them. Let's go through them all.

Holly rather thought that it was a dream, and she had gotten soft overnight, and was going to go punch something. Foaly thought that this was one of his worlds that he had programmed into a holo-grammar and it had suddenly been inexplicably activated. Root wondered if this was what heaven was like. Juliet had similar thoughts to Root, and Butler thought that this place was so misty and full of things for people to hide behind, he was considering not even letting Artemis step one foot into it. Of course, that thought was rather useless seeing that Artemis had already stepped into it, a small, slightly satisfied smile on his face.

Out side was magnificent, and completely changed garden scenery to what Angeline Fowl had mapped it out to be. It was misty, everything you saw was on a such a degree of perfection, everything was so clean, it was like one of those crystal ornaments that you were afraid to touch because you thought you might soil it, or it might fall apart in your hands. It was like one of those dreams you have in your sleep of a perfect garden, or like in the garden of eve. Then a female like voice came out of nowhere.

"Hello Artemis, Holly, Foaly, Juliet, Butler, and Root. Welcome to the Garden of Possibility. I am Zeus." It sounded mystical, like it usually does in cartoons when they're showing voices from a memory, or a dream, or in a crystal ball. It was echoic, soft, and had an edge to it that sounded like the person was always on the edge of laughing. Then Artemis spoke in a completely human voice.

"Zeus is male," he said arrogantly, "So either you don't know what a male voice should sound like, or Zeus isn't as great as the Ancient Greeks made him out to be."

The voice wasn't put off at all. It sounded like that it expected an answer like that from Artemis. Anyone who knew him would… "Actually I am female. When I revealed my secret to a farmer in Greece, he changed my gender and the other gods' Gender to make his gender, male that is, thought highly of. So Artemis is officially a male's name, if you want to know. No more 'Goddess of Hunt' for you anymore, Arty."

"What do you want from us?" Holly said, trying to get to the point. As much as she wanted to laugh at Artemis' expense, she rather thought unfreezing the world (and Foaly's computers) would come before her personal pleasures.

"Hot headed, all of you," The voice sniffed at them, "Alright then, to the point… We Gods have not been very amused the past decade, and the only happenings that have caught our interest are the adventures of you six there. Out of democracy we have brought you here out of a frozen span. A frozen spans only affects living life forms and last for as long as we want. We want you to attempt all the activities we shall put up to you. If you do not complete the tasks one third of your population will die. Artemis holds all the mud children from age 0-14, Butler mud men from 14 and onwards, Juliet mud women from 14 and onwards, Holly female elves, dwarves, goblins and trolls, Root male elves, dwarves, goblins and trolls and Foaly centaurs and pixies. Not accepting the tasks will also result as a failure. So take it as a demand, rather than a request."

Silence followed these words. The bleak light that had warmed and contented the lot suddenly seemed extremely flimsy. Holly shuddered slightly, and wrapped her arms around her elfin frame, and Butler clutched his Sig Sauer just that little tighter. Juliet twisted her plait around her fingers so tightly that the tips of her fingers were starting to turn purple and Foaly and Juliet exchanged looks with each other that signified complete disbelief. Artemis of course, couldn't be read by his face. Of course though, it was also him that broke the heavy tension, thick silence.

"What will we have to do?" asked Artemis, his face betraying nothing, though his voice was just a little shaky.

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Author's Note:
The reward of being an author, you like cliffhangers. -Evil laugh- Review please. :) Happy Easter! Now back to my chocolate eggs!

/Brizo/

Note from Beta: Well, I've turned this a-little-bit-longer-than-the-previous-chapter chapter of 400 words to 1500! I'm getting better at this… Anyway, as usual, grammar checks, and everything else should be better now, and I've tried my best to stick to the original story, but I've added a few things, more detail, etc. … I can't believe that I'm doing this for free :-) 25.08.2006