A/N: Did a little bit of editing since I first posted, hope you don't mind.

Chapter 2: Synthesis

Holly clipped quickly along the Haven central walkway, the endless business fronts and signs plastered with advertisements around her tinged red in the twilight. Although on the surface the sun was rising on yet another day for the Mud Men, here in the underground fairy metropolis the artificial light of the sun strips overhead had already dimmed into an imitation of evening.

Despite the fact that the temperature was perfectly moderated, Holly felt slightly chilled, and she rubbed her arms unconsciously. She had been feeling cold rather often lately, almost whenever she stopped moving or had a moment to think.

As Holly came around the corner, she paused. Her eyes fell on the by-now familiar sign of the clinic of Dr. Jerbal Argon, with its neat, official lettering on a spotless white background.

For just an instant, she hesitated there, as all the same feelings that rose within her every time she saw that sign rose again. Deeply buried feelings, so similar to when she was facing down a raging troll, or staring at a kraken about to violently shed its skin, or looking out over a room of rich, bloodthirsty humans—as though, even as she recklessly hurled herself into danger, playing the hero once again, there was some tiny part of her that would have liked nothing better than to turn and run.

But of course, that impulse was only ever a flicker, a shadow of a shadow, and it was instantly overridden. Holly Short didn't run away, especially when there was someone nearby who needed saving.

Holly approached the automatic doors at the front, and they slid open to admit her.

The two fair children cried, their tears glistening like diamonds on their ruddy cheeks.

"Don't go!" they begged of the knight, clinging to his battle-worn armor.

"Now, my young ones," said the brave knight tenderly, "you are free from the tyranny of your evil stepmother and your kindly father has been restored to you. But you must let me go, for I must continue on my journey to vanquish evil and defend other innocent souls such as yours from those that would do them harm."

The children gazed up at the great hero in awe, before at last nodding in grave understanding. They then turned as one, racing back to the waiting arms of their beloved father, like playful butterflies on the breeze.

Dazzling sunlight played off the thatched roof of the small cottage, and the knight watched the scene with a warm glow in his chest. He thought to himself, how wondrous a thing to be the instrument of good in a world full of such avarice and villainy.

While still in the midst of these contemplations, a faint rustle in the grass behind him alerted him to another presence. Pivoting where he stood, the knight's hand flew with the speed of the great falcon's dive to the sword at his hip. However, he sank in relief as his eyes fell on a face most familiar and welcome. For a moment, he was lost in the curve of her high cheekbones, the rich brown skin like wild nuts, the short auburn hair that sometimes stood on end like wisps of fire, the clear hazel eyes sparkling like gems—

Artemis stopped reading.

Ordinarily, his stoic disposition kept him calm and cool under the most strenuous of psychological pressure, but even Artemis had to admit that the flowery prose he was currently reading had him on the verge of a breakdown, or at least of losing the all-vegetarian dinner he'd received earlier at the courtesy of his fairy caretakers.

The author of this work ought to be institutionalized, Artemis thought. A short pause. Oh wait, he already has been.

There, that had been a joke. Not bad either. If they had been there, then even Butler and Holly, who were usually the most severe sources of criticism where Artemis's humor was concerned, would have had to laugh.

As Artemis sat on the white sheets of his hospital bed, staring at the offending piece of writing displayed on his laptop screen, he rubbed his temples, trying to prevent the headache he felt coming on.

Artemis had been trawling through the copious amounts of data stored on his hard drive a few hours earlier, and had been surprised to come across an unfamiliar file. Suspecting a prank from Foaly, the LEP's technical advisor, he had opened the document expecting to find a message of the manner of, 'Ha ha! Gotcha, Mudboy. You fell 4 it.'

Instead, much to his dismay, Artemis had quickly discovered that it was not a prank, but a lengthy novel written by none other than his alter ego Orion.

Dr. Argon had suggested that both of Artemis's current personalities receive counseling, as the therapy didn't seem to be doing the real Artemis much good. As a result, they had been intentionally switching him back and forth via electric shock. Artemis had noticed lapses in memory for unknown spans of time during these sessions, but Dr. Argon had assured him that it was normal for his mind to automatically step out when the alternate personality's activities seemed to have become repetitive or boring. However, Artemis did not think boring was the term he'd have elected to apply to this revolting travesty of an English novel.

"'I am at your service as always, Lovely Maiden,'" said a voice from behind Artemis in a gently mocking tone. "'The knight swept a low chivalrous bow, though it pained him to have to look away from those enchanting eyes even for even a moment.' Frond that is awful. Sitting around reading sappy romances—d'arvit, and they told me it was Artemis today."

Artemis turned to see Holly Short sitting perched, perfectly balanced, on the arm of the visitor's chair next to the bed, apparently reading Orion's novel over his shoulder. He'd been so busy being mentally nauseous, he hadn't even noticed her come in. That was quite a lapse for him.

Artemis quickly minimized the word processing window and turned toward Holly, who had gotten down and settled back onto the chair, which, having been made to hold Butler, was far too large for her and made her look almost like a doll in its expanse. He took notice of the bags under her eyes and apparent stiffness in her limbs when she moved, but did not comment.

"No, it's me. I was only looking over this manuscript out of curiosity; apparently Orion has been keeping himself rather busy. I will probably delete this once I have seen if there is anything worth salvaging, and destroy the evidence before it ever sees the light of day." He smiled wryly. "Imagine if this was ever published; Violet Tsirblou fans, accustomed to the utmost sophistication and taste as they are, would probably riot."

"Oh, I see," said Holly, with a look of comprehension coming over her face that Artemis didn't fully understand. But then she said quizzically, eyebrows raised, "Violet Tsirblou?"

Artemis considered evading the question, but decided it was not worth the effort. "'Violet Tsirblou' is a pseudonym I've used in the past when I've published a romance novel here or there," he explained. "I found other, more reliable sources of funds by the age of eleven or thereabouts, but even so, you would be surprised how much money there is to be made by fulfilling the fantasies of teenage girls. Certainly, as far as texts go they are not real literature, not like Sun Tzu's The Art of War, or Machiavelli's The Prince. But if you're ever interested, they are 12.95 euro a copy..."

He trailed off in mid-sales pitch as he noticed Holly's expression, which was almost pitying and maybe even guilty.

Artemis felt a stab of surprise, wondering if she was somehow taking all this talk of romance personally. As an adolescent, she had technically been the initiator during their escapade back in time, but they had decided to leave all that in the past, he'd thought, and in light of what he had done, it seemed inappropriate somehow for it to bother her.

Artemis, unused to the position of reassurer in matters of guilt, was uncertain what to say. He decided to play it safe for the moment.

"Something wrong, Holly?"

"Well..." Her face appeared sympathetic, but the corner of her lip twitched as though she was trying at the same time not to laugh. "Well, the truth is, I already knew about Orion's manuscript. Sort of."

"You already knew," Artemis repeated. He suddenly had a massive feeling of foreboding. "What do you mean?"

Holly coughed, the sound suspiciously resembling an attempt to cover up a chuckle. She did look genuinely apologetic, however, as she said, "Actually, I think Orion already signed over the publishing rights to Dr. Argon. On the way over, he was telling me about a successful new book written by a hospital patient, but he was so vague I didn't make the connection until now. Apparently it was just released last week."

"Well, the damage isn't too great then," Artemis said, trying to remain reasonable. "I'll simply convince Dr. Argon to retract the book from stores before too many are able to read it. All I need to do is ask Butler to have a word with the good doctor..."

"...And apparently it's already a bestseller all around Haven. Dr. Argon must have really played it up, though I wouldn't know, since I've been spending so much time on the surface I've been kind of out of it. Foaly foisted a copy on me just before I left Headquarters. Unfortunately."

Artemis sat and rubbed his temples for a long minute, the action doing nothing whatsoever for the pounding migraine he felt coming on once again. Finally, he said, "...No one is ever going to take me seriously as a brilliant criminal mastermind ever again, are they?"

"Probably not," Holly said, patting his arm consolingly. "But on the bright side, you're getting a percentage of the revenues. That's amounting to a good share of fairy gold, from what I hear."

"Gold?" Artemis said, perking up, his headache suddenly receding. Then, sighing a little, he said magnanimously, "Well, I suppose total and complete humiliation while under the effects of several psychological disorders isn't the end of civilization as we know it. Perhaps it could even be said that the experience is a good character builder."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Looks like those psychological disorders haven't done anything to change the fact that Artemis Fowl is like a planet orbiting a personal sun made of gold, as always."

"Interesting metaphor," said Artemis, not bothering to pretend to be affronted. But then he blinked and looked thoughtful as he turned back to study Holly's face.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said. "Only I'm surprised. I would have thought you would be more upset about it yourself."

"Why? I didn't write it. It's your problem." She stopped, obviously unsettled by the look Artemis was giving her.

"Well, you are right of course," Artemis said casually. "But, seeing as how you are the heroine, I thought your reaction might be a bit stronger."

The room was silent for about ten seconds. Then, Holly laughed. "Oh, you're joking. You have the worst sense of humor, you know."

"No," Artemis said. "After being with my other, less...cunning side for an extended duration, I'm surprised you think you would have escaped. Besides, I believe I'm going to give up the practice of joking entirely. Although I've come up with a multitude of clever witticisms, I've discovered over time my audience is generally not educated enough to laugh." His tone carried the hint of a moody teenager, albeit a thoroughly sophisticated one.

However, Holly seemed to miss most of the last part of that speech; she had more important worries than Artemis's skill at telling jokes, or lack thereof.

"You aren't serious."

"Oh, but I am." Artemis reopened the word processor with Orion's document and, turning his laptop around so Holly could see the screen, he pointed to the passage he had just been reading before Holly had come in.

"This is you," he stated. "Princess Hollina Shortera. It seems Orion thought to protect your identity by giving your character a false name, how thoughtful. I would still advise you to keep this away from Commander Kelp, however."

It was probably a good thing that visitors had to leave all weapons at the door; Artemis could have sworn he saw Holly's fingers twitch toward her hip, where her Neutrino 3000 usually hung.

However, Artemis was saved the necessity of trying to argue that there was no use getting angry at him, since he hadn't exactly had a choice in the matter himself, because at that moment the door swung open and a second fairy visitor entered the ward.

Nº1, the most powerful demon warlock of the century, waddled in with his short stump of a tail drooping behind him.

With his fire-orange eyes, gray reptilian skin, and demonic horns jutting from his forehead, little Nº1 was enough to make most humans run screaming. But despite his apparently fearsome features, Nº1 didn't look particularly intimidating at the moment. The little demon stared straight at Artemis with red-rimmed eyes. Both to Holly and Artemis's horror, they saw that, coincidentally, the little demon was clutching a copy of Orion's book to his chest.

"B-b-beautiful," he blubbered. Getting a hold of himself, he added, "It was almost as moving as Lady Hethrington Smythe's Hedgerow." He came forward and dropped the book in front of Artemis. "Autograph it for me?"

Needless to say, Artemis did not think much of this greeting. "I apologize, Nº1," he said slowly. "But I'm not the one who wrote this."

"But..." Nº1 began, wiping his eyes and sniffling slightly. He pointed a gray finger at the cover, where Artemis's name was written in bold letters beneath the comparatively small font of the title.

Artemis wasn't sure which was worse, his name appearing anywhere at all associated with this book, or the cover itself, which featured a tall, dark-haired youth, who was dressed in a set of gleaming silver-plate armor and staring into the eyes of the young woman in an utterly cliché white princess gown next to him. The scene was topped off by a romantic sunset.

"And to think," muttered Holly, "I thought nearly being drowned in a barrel of animal fat was disturbing."

"Please?" said Nº1, innocent orange eyes wide and shining with hope. "I never realized having something with the creator's own signature was worth anything, but I understand it's quite a valued tradition in human culture. Juliet told me."

Those two seem to be getting along a little too well, thought Artemis. He would have to have a talk with Butler about this.

"You couldn't have liked it that much," Artemis stalled, certain that no one he knew would ever let him live it down if he gave in and put his signature inside the cover of such a book. But Nº1 usually got his way in the end, as those who dealt with him always had to consider the possibility that the inexperienced demon warlock could fry someone's brain by accident if they didn't.

"I did," Nº1 insisted, nodding vigorously. "The ending was so touching. Is that how you really feel? Misunderstood? Was all this really like an autobiography?"

Artemis was not sure he wanted to know what happened at the end. "No, it's all a fantasy," he assured the little demon. He muttered as an afterthought, "One that I wasn't fully aware I was having until today."

"I see," said Nº1. He did not withdraw the book, though, and instead looked down at it, then back up at his human friend expectantly. He picked up the pen, which he had set down next to the book, and replaced it delicately right in the middle of the cover, as though trying to give Artemis easier access to it.

Artemis looked at the book, then at Nº1, and then back at the book again. He mentally sighed, resigning himself. He picked up the writing utensil gingerly, reluctantly, as though it was some heavy instrument of taxing manual labor.

Just as Artemis had lowered the tip of the pen to the inside cover, Nº1 cried suddenly, "Oh! Do you think you could personalize it for me? Autographs are supposed to be even more valuable with a little note of some kind, so I heard."

Artemis just stared at Nº1, then noticed Holly's expression. Despite the unpleasant discovery of finding herself featured in the book, he detected traces of amusement in her expression at the sight of his predicament. Artemis decided then that he would salvage something from the situation: there was no need for the LEP captain to be so smug.

"Certainly, Nº1," Artemis said generously, and he noticed out of the corner of his eye Holly straighten a little in her chair, curious. "With all you've done, you deserve much more than this from me." Artemis picked up the book and started writing a quick note addressed to the little demon. As he worked, he added offhandedly, "You may want Holly's signature as well, if she's willing. I based one of the prominent characters on her, after all."

Holly's hand was twitching toward her hip again as Nº1 said happily, "Oh, that's right! Thank you, Artemis. Holly, would you...?"

Holly's eyebrow twitched, but then she sighed. "Okay, Nº1." Out of the corner of her mouth she muttered, "You are so dead, Fowl."

Nº1 looked shocked. "Holly! You wouldn't say that if—"

But by then Artemis had finished the short note and was handing the book back to the little demon. "Here you go, Nº1."

The demon warlock was so happy that he was distracted from his train of thought. He immediately spun and offered the book to Holly hopefully.

Holly took it, shooting Artemis a poisonous look before she started writing something in a rapid scrawl beneath Artemis's tidy handwriting.

"This is so wonderful," Nº1 said to Artemis. "I don't know how to thank you." His eyes lit up then and he said, "No wait, yes I do."

Once he had taken the book back from Holly, he held it up before him, arms out straight. "In my lessons with Master Qwan, I've been learning some more...unorthodox magic lately. Unorthodox—oh, I love that word."

"More unorthodox than time travel?" Holly asked skeptically, knowing the little demon well enough that it was usually best just to ignore his ramblings about etymology.

"Not that unorthodox," Nº1 admitted. "Just the kind of stuff that the elfin warlocks don't bother with."

Artemis was curious. "What kind of magic?"

Nº1 held up the book before him and the runes on his forehead glowed red for an instant. Electric sparks enveloped the book and the demon pulled his hands apart as though meaning to rip the book in half, but when the veil of magic had faded, they saw that he was now holding two identical copies of Orion's book.

Nº1 grinned. "It's called synthesis. You know, sort of a variation on what I did with little Jayjay's brain fluid. Master Qwan said I needed to do a lot of work to refine my technique, but with my magic, I can create perfect duplicates of pretty much any object you want. Doesn't much work on living things, though; the copies always come out brain dead, even if they look spot-on on the outside."

Artemis nodded. "Like clones. That makes sense. The spark of life in all the living creatures of this world is the one thing neither science nor magic has ever fully succeeded in replicating."

Nº1 handed Artemis the extra copy of the book, looking so happy that Artemis realized there wasn't much point in trying to refuse the gift. Artemis took it, and for a moment could feel the warm buzz of magic in his hands before it cooled and faded.

Nº1 turned to Holly, beaming. "I'll make you one next."

Holly put up her hands as though to ward off an attack. "I already have a copy, thanks," she said quickly.

"Oh..." Nº1 seemed crestfallen.

Just then a knock came at the door and an elf with a thick muscular neck that reminded Artemis vaguely of Butler poked his head into the room.

"Almost done there, demon? We'd like to be getting you back before they start thinking something's off. They might just send half the LEP down here to storm the building."

Nº1 sighed, obviously disappointed. "I never get to stay very long," he complained.

Artemis glanced at the guards. Of course the LEP wouldn't want their most powerful warlock spending too much time visiting mentally unstable criminals.

"I'm coming," the little demon said, sighing. "See you later then, Artemis, Holly." With that, he ambled out the way he had come. For a moment when the door swung a little wider, they were just able to catch a glimpse of an entire crowd of tough-looking LEP personnel, apparently all there to guard Nº1. Dr. Argon was there as well, looking apprehensive and not at all appreciative of the big elf's storm-the-building comment.

As soon as they were gone, Holly turned to Artemis.

"You are going to pay for that," she said.

Artemis shrugged, hiding a smile. He looked down at his new copy of Orion's book, then sighed. "I didn't get a chance to ask him if he could do that trick with a pure gold bar."

Still annoyed, Holly refused to laugh. "I think that would be against the law," she said dismissively. "Or if it's not, it will be before long. Don't get Nº1 caught up in any of your illegal schemes, Artemis. You know he's still just a kid."

"Indeed," Artemis said, but this time his tone lacked the levity of before. For some reason, her words had brought back another thought that had been coming and going through his mind for the last few months, ever since he had turned fifteen.

I suppose I will no longer be considered a child before long, he thought. I am nearing the age when the intellect I've possessed my entire life will no longer be considered so extraordinary. Then what will I have?

Artemis smiled slightly to cover the sudden feeling of melancholy. Since he had begun to develop the Atlantis Complex all those long months ago, he'd found himself having these moments of emotional weakness more and more, even outside the fits of paranoia and hysteria over which he had no control. He would be sitting there one minute, feeling almost like his old confident self and certain that he must be close to recovery from the disease. Then the next he would suddenly perceive the reality of his own insignificance in the world, and he would be seized by a sense of crippling emptiness in all the many studies and projects that he had once found stimulating. Everything around him that used to matter so much would fade to gray.

Even though the various treatments with Dr. Argon seemed to have helped his state of mind tremendously and suppressed the most overt symptoms of the Atlantis Complex, such moments still came upon him with disturbing frequency. Inopportune as those moments may be.

Not now, he told himself coldly. If you mean to indulge in an excess of self-pity over a matter so trivial, do it later. A good host does not waste the time of his guest in such a fashion.

But despite Artemis's best effort at reigning in his expression, Holly, of course, did not fail to notice, and probably wouldn't have even without the fairy empathy which helped her sense vaguely what he was feeling. She had known him too long.

"What is it, Artemis?"

Artemis could have rolled his eyes, exasperated with his own behavior. Such sentimentality didn't suit him at all; he might as well just break down in tears and go join a support group while he was at it. Not that it mattered whether he acted like a woe-as-me, sniveling fool or not now, considering that he'd probably already shredded whatever respect Holly had had for him when he'd started counting his words and confessing his undying love to her in endless strings of romantic nonsense.

"Nothing," he said. A niggling part of him almost wanted to speak the truth of his concerns about the future, but he suppressed the impulse. He could make mental projections for such a conversation, and he already knew that Holly wouldn't be able to see it as a real concern in light of all their other problems, and she would be quite correct. He wasn't so downtrodden by the Complex that he was ready to give up what little was left of his dignity.

With the intensity of his own self-disgust he felt his strength rise, and he regained his poise.

Artemis made a show of sighing deeply, then continued, "Only that I know I will have to come up with some new money-making ventures before long. I've had this reoccurring dream that my parents are living happily at the manor, squandering the Fowl fortune we built up. However, whatever means I contrive will likely have to be legitimate. That will make things difficult." The corner of his thin lips turned up in a smile.

Holly nodded slightly, but didn't look entirely convinced. Her eyes, with their dark half-circles, stayed on Artemis, and he felt a keen discomfort under her gaze, though he did not allow it to show.

Holly opened her mouth as though to say something, but then she closed it again. An awkward silence followed, and finally Artemis decided it was a good time to change the subject.

"So, you have a copy already," he mused, glancing down at the book Nº1 had given to him with distaste. "I suspect that to get through it you will either have to be exceptionally bored or possibly masochistic."

"Knowing Foaly, he's probably sending copies to everyone he knows," muttered Holly. "Mulch is going to love this."

Oh yes, Mulch. The dwarf that delighted in making fun of everyone in his vicinity. Artemis could feel his headache coming back.

Artemis studied the front cover of the book once again. Right above his own name was the title, two lines of text in a lacy, almost cursive form of Gnommish. He considered it for a moment, before deciding it was the perfect title to reflect the nauseatingly sentimental material inside.

Noble Heart, hm? He could only hope no one took that too literally.

A/N: So now you know where the title of this fanfiction comes from. I guess for a story like this, it's kind of twisted... But never mind about that.

Thanks very much again to levina for betaing! :DD (No matter if people don't know who you are, they know now. And I think most people probably don't know who I am either, lol.)

Hope you enjoyed the second chapter! I tried hard to keep the early chapters mainly on the light side. (Ever since I saw the first episode of Evangelion, I've had this kind of feeling that I want to start what I write with a bit of a laugh, or at least a valiant attempt at a laugh, and then work up to revealing darker/more serious things later.) Though once I get to a certain point in the editing, I think all my objective sense has gone out the window anyhow...

So then, next chapter we'll get back to Opal and start to get the actual plot kicked off. This is one of those stories that's going to take a lot of time to develop, so hope you'll bear with me.

Thanks for reading! If you have a moment, please leave a review and let me know what you thought. (: Hope to see you next time!

Posted 9/18/12

Edited 7/11/13: I cut out the later section from the first scene for the sake of natural flow.

Reposted 10/1/18: I cut the first scene down dramatically, once again for purposes of natural flow, and because the tone was feeling a bit melodramatic this early on in the story.