Chapter Three, The Alibis

Five months and three weeks, Silyah kept reminding herself. Six months, one week and two days had painfully ticked away since the Reaping. Five months and three weeks became lost in the past since the end of the Games. Three months and four weeks had passed by ever since Elijah Fowl had introduced himself to the newest Hunger Games victor. During that time frame, the girl had not only gotten to celebrate her sixteenth birthday, but she had also been forced to sit down at the Fowl's conference table eighteen times to call Commander Trouble Kelp and guarantee him over and over again that the People's secrets were perfectly safe with her.

The brunette shook her head, realizing that her eyes had lost their focus on the digital calendar hung up in the Fowl's living room. She told herself to come back to the real world and then took note of a sound coming from beside her.

"Silyah?" Elijah leaned over, snapping his slender fingers before the girl's face in an attempt to catch her attention.

"I'm sorry, what?" She blinked and furrowed her brows, annoyed with herself.

"I have been trying to ask you how you were doing, but you seemed to have your head up in the sky."
"Once again…" mumbled Silyah, clearly displeased. "To answer your question; I'm the same as always…"

"Are you sure about that?" asked Elijah, raising his right eyebrow ever so slightly.

"Well, I tried to go back to my parent's house for a few days. Let's just say that it didn't work out for me."

"Tell me about it; it's bad for your mental health to bottle up problems no matter how small."

The girl's hand went around a lock of her hips-long hair. "That's exactly what my mother doesn't understand. With her I'm not allowed to have issues." She crossed her arms. "Thing is, the minute I walked inside, she began to criticize me. She told me that I should take my life back in my hands and go back to school again instead of being 'lazy.' She says that I will never have a future and that… Well, bottom line is; I thought something that scared me quite a bit and it completely confirmed my decision to go live on my own."

A frown appeared on Elijah's face. "You cannot be serious? Your mother actually said… That is outrageous."

"What's truly outrageous is that I thought: 'I'm going to kill her.' Even though I know that I would never do that, I have taken human lives before and that thought was completely unacceptable to me."
The boy's frown grew. "You're a victor; you probably need time to get used to not having to look out for potential enemies in every corner."

"I'm just sick and tired of being treated like some type of alien no matter what I do," the girl tightened her crossed arms over her chest. "Mind you, your family is most likely the only human contact I can tolerate and, aside from your mother, your family isn't even 100% human. Go figure."

"And what about Wiress and Beetee? They are quite human from what I know and you seem to be getting along with them both."

"True…" said Silyah slowly. Ever since she had settled in the Victor's Village, Beetee had started to pay her a few visits and eventually, Wiress came along, bringing the girl a meal once a week, or inviting her for dinner. The woman was extremely kind to Silyah even if she had not been her mentor due to the "One Mentor Challenge" – a challenge implemented during the third Quarter, which allowed the Districts to win bigger prizes for their Hunger Games victories if they only had one person coaching both tributes. "However," mentioned Silyah. "They are victors too. They get what it's like to come back from the arena." A brief thought about the two other victors living in the village crossed Silyah's mind. She had seen them on rare occasions, but they both seemed to be extremely distant and perhaps a tad troubled.
"But they are people," Elijah pointed out. "Isn't it a good thing that they might understand what you're going through? They can help you."

"They do help me a lot…"

"Exactly."

Silyah ran a hand through her hair. "Shall we go in the conference room?" offered the brunette.

"Why not."
"The sooner we'll end the Kelp call, the sooner you'll be able to go pack up for the tour."

"True. It'll be nice not to have to listen to Kelp for some time."

The two of them progressed to the conference room. "You'll get a big break from him until we have to go see him in person."

Elijah made a face. "He is far less charming in person, believe me."

Silyah breathed out a shy laugh. "I did notice that you make him sound like someone who's always frustrated because he is so short compared to us."

"It would not surprise me if it was the case," muttered Elijah with a hint of a smile as he opened the door, holding it for the young woman. Silyah gave a small grunt and walked to her usual chair. The raven-haired boy took a seat beside her. "Let's hope the Chairman is in a better mood today," he said as he set up the conference table to receive the elf's call.

"Surely he trusts me more now. It would be pretty sad if he had yet to realize that I am rather inoffensive." Aside from the fact that you've killed two people… she then thought.

"Oh, he doesn't mind you. It's me he has issues with."

"Let me guess, long history with your family?"

"Something along those lines," confirmed Elijah. "I can thank Artemis the Second for that, I suppose."

It was not too long after the young man spoke those words that the conference table lit up and emitted a ringing noise.

"Morning, Ms. Natho. Fowl," nodded the LEP Commander as he appeared into view.

"Kelp," muttered Elijah.

"Good morning Commander," saluted Silyah, trying her hardest to stay on the elf's good side.

Elijah did not seem to have such a worry, perhaps because he had known Kelp for so long and that there was no place on his good side for the Fowl boys. "Let's get this over with, shall we? I am sure you have other obligations you're eager to attend to."

"That's right." Trouble grabbed an electronic notepad. "So, as you both know, this is our last conference meeting before Silyah's tour, therefore, I thought that a brief recapitulation of what we've accomplished would be necessary to make sure everything and everyone is well prepared for what's coming."

"In all honesty, Chairman, I don't think that it's a necessity," said Elijah.

"In all honesty, Elijah, I was only asking to be clear and polite. It's actually a mandatory protocol," replied the elf with a forced smile.

Silyah glanced towards Elijah. The boy seemed to be getting really tired of the LEP Commander and the meeting had barely begun. "In this case, please do go on with the recapitulation," she suggested.

Elijah inhaled deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine…"

"Alright, so during the first meetings, we worked on consolidating Artemis Fowl's identity in Panem. On the first day, we came up with what you decided to call 'The Mayor Plan' to explain the fact that Artemis the Second was not part of your family. That operation is filed under the 'successful' category. Is everyone in agreement?"

The two teenagers nodded. As far as that case was concerned, they had thought about everything. They had even fixed the fact that it would have been strange for Artemis to call himself like that considering it was also Elijah's father's name. At Holly Short's suggestion, they had made Artemis's official Panemian name Orion Hewatts and had fabricated a story about "Orion" figuring out who his real father was and using his name on official papers to shock him if he was ever Reaped. Basically, all of the loose ends had been tied up, both in the Districts and in the Capitol, thanks to the help of a team of fairies and their mesmer.

"After this," continued Kelp, "We moved on to Silyah's magic. We tested you for healing skills, which you do possess and control. Then, we checked if you had the gift of tongue, which you might or might not have if we take in consideration that you are a natural fast learner. We then found out with Foaly's help that even with magic, pure humans cannot shield and when we tested you, you did not seem to be able to use the mesmer. Did any of these abilities change?"

"No, sir," affirmed Silyah. "Even after doing the Ritual with Elijah, Haley and Mr. Fowl, my abilities didn't change. However, my magic was indeed renewed."

"Alright. We'll review this situation when you'll be in New Haven," the elf scribbled a few things on his notepad before pressing on its screen to change the page. "Moving along, we talked about the Victory Tour. Let's see if you remember what can and can't be said, shall we?"

Silyah breathed in and out. "Let's see… Obviously, I must say as little as possible about the circumstances surrounding my last minutes in the Games. I must avoid talking about the golden parachute and be very vague about the code language I used with Artemis."

"Don't forget about that time when he healed you and all those when he used his mesmer," Elijah pointed out.

"Of course not," acquiesced Silyah, fighting against flashbacks from the Games.

"Good," Kelp turned to Elijah. "On to you, Fowl. Can you summarize what we have established your role to be during our last meeting?"

Elijah sat up in his chair, making sure that the elf knew who the taller man of the two was. There seemed to be a growing ice front between the LEP Commander and him. "I am to follow her around and make sure she abides to your 'guidelines.' I must also remain as invisible as possible and not expose myself to the public eye."

"And what if something goes wrong?" enquired the Commander.

The raven-haired boy's eyes hardened. "Nothing will go wrong, Trouble."

"That's not the point of my question, Fowl. If something goes wrong, you have to be prepared."

"You know me rather well, Kelp. I think you know that I am always prepared for catastrophes."

"In this case," said the elf slowly. "Tell me: what are you going to do if Silyah lets something slip by accidentally?"

"If she says something she shouldn't or if she's in a compromising situation, I will subtly remind her to be careful. If she's in too deep, I will tell her what to say next," replied the boy with a dry tone.

"That's what I wanted to hear," nodded Kelp. "Now that we're done with the recap, let's move on to a new subject. As you both know, Silyah's tour is in three days from now, so we roughly have that time span to get in touch with everyone involved in the planning of the said tour so that they all consent to having Elijah follow Silyah during the celebrations. This means that we have to contact Coriolanus Snow and his advisors, as well as the Gamemakers for precaution purposes. Then, we have to get in touch with Effie Trinket, Beetee Latier and Silyah's entire preparation team."

"Do you think we should contact the train operator?" wondered Silyah. "That man probably knows who's supposed to embark in his vehicle, after all."

"Good point," Kelp added the idea to his digital list. "As far as the technicalities go, we will only have to mesmerize the higher-ups of Panem into telling the others that they have allowed Silyah to have a guest on the tour. The official story will be that Silyah's psychiatrist thought it would be better for her mental health to have someone her age to talk to until she can be let into bigger groups of people. Elijah would have been selected because he wanted to know more about his half-brother. Two birds, one stone."

"Sounds reasonable to me," agreed Silyah. Surely, the statement contained some type of truth considering that the last time she had been in a large group for a family dinner, some plates had gone through a very bad time with no chance of recovery.

Elijah slightly furrowed his eyebrows. This plan needed to work. "How many of your men can help? Not that I could not do it alone with the time frame we have to work with; it's just that it would be quite tiring to mesmerize people through a screen all weekend."

"Oh, you poor thing. If you recall, last time we did a mesmer operation, you were barely involved. The LEP has highly trained teams, worry not."

For a second, Elijah was eyeing the elf leader's hologram as if his highest desire currently was to strangle it. The look faded as the boy let go of an exaggerated sigh. "Just send us what we'll need us to do and we'll handle the situation."

"You will receive a description of what you will have to do right after this call," grumbled Kelp. "Now, before we all lose our patience, there is one more topic we have to address; your stay in District 13. Fowl, is the Phoenix still operational?"

"My sister ran a full-system and an exterior check only a few days ago. It's hot and ready to go."

"Marvellous. After the tour, you will take Silyah to the Phoenix and leave for New Haven. Haley can come too if she wants to. However, we have to make sure that Silyah has an alibi as to why she won't be in District 3 for a few days after her trip."

Silyah thought about it for a moment. "I could get sick. With all the people I'll have to meet during the tour, it would be believable for me to catch something contagious and be down for a few days. I usually don't get many visitors, but I could post a note in one of my windows to say that I'd prefer not to contaminate anyone in case someone does come."

"Do you often receive calls?" asked Trouble.

"Every once in a while, my mother calls me."

"In this case, we will provide you with a communicator linked to your home phone as soon as you'll arrive in 13. It's a small precaution, but it might be useful."

"It's better to be safe than sorry," approved Silyah.

Despite his general prejudices about humans, Trouble had to admit that the Hunger Games victor was being very cooperative and rational. She demonstrated an overall good understanding of the situation.

"Once you're in 13, or New Haven as we call it, you will reside with Major Short. The Fowls will have their usual rights of access within the whole district; however, Ms. Natho will have a restricted access only. Her rights may change over time. The LEP and the Council will try to make your stay in 13 as quick as possible, but you will both have to expect to be here for at least two days." Kelp glanced up to see if the two teenagers were still listening to him, which they mostly did. Well, while Silyah was listening, Elijah was giving him looks of despair. After a sigh, the elf went on. "When you'll have a minute, consider sending us your food preferences so we can get whatever product you humans eat nowadays. Any questions?"

"Actually, yes…" Silyah straightened her back. "With all due respect, you have gotten to know me since our first meeting, so why do I have to go meet you in person? You know I'm honest and if you didn't believe it, you could have asked Elijah to mesmerize me into oblivion."

Elijah's gaze traveled from Silyah to Kelp. He would most certainly enjoy watching him try to find an explanation that would not alarm Silyah.

"Ms. Natho… I wouldn't want to frighten you, but while some people truly want to give you a chance, you are facing a trial here. We are offering you a chance to represent yourself in front of the People and some of us are too paranoid to trust holographic screens."

While Silyah was waiting for the news to sink in, Elijah swore he could have heard Foaly snorting somewhere in the same room as the LEP Commander.

"Also," continued Trouble. "We suspect that…" A deadly glare from the blue-eyed Fowl boy stopped him mid-sentence. "Well, never mind. We will explain everything you need to know when you'll be here. Do you happen to have any other interrogations?"

Silyah shook her head despite her frustration. She knew that some things were being kept from her, but she was also aware that her chances of getting simple and clear answers were very slim.

"I believe we covered everything." Trouble set his electronic notepad down. "I will send you the details of the last mission as soon as possible. Until then, this meeting is officially over. Good luck on the tour."

"Thank you," mumbled Silyah as Elijah simply nodded.

"I will make sure you'll know when we'll be done with the mission and I'll send you Silyah's food preferences before we leave," said the boy. After brief salutations, he ended the call and got up.

"So now we wait?" asked Silyah, getting to her feet as well.

"So now we wait," replied the boy.

Elijah and Silyah barely had the time to make it to the living room that the doorbell of the Fowl residence began to ring.

"Guess who's home!" said a feminine voice through the intercom that linked the gate of the house to the living room, as well as various other places within the habitation.

Although it could have been a trick of the light, Elijah's face lit up for a short second as he got up from the couch to go open the front door for their guest.

"It would be really nice if you guessed fast because I forgot my keys when I left," said the voice, this time coming directly from behind the door. "It's cold out here with my luggage."

"It's not like you to complain so much," said Elijah as he opened the wooden door. "Did he give you a hard time?"

A young woman with dark blond hair stepped inside the Fowl's house, her luggage in hands. "Missed you too," she told Elijah with a grin, putting her bags beside the door, closing it behind her. "Where's the rest of the family?" she asked, taking off her taupe-colored coat and swiftly placing it in the entrance's wardrobe.

"They're somewhere around the house. Haley is working on some 'secret project,' Mother is probably upstairs and Father is handling some delicate matters for work," said Elijah monotonously and matter-of-factly.

"Oh, the usual then," replied the girl. "But tell me, is that who I think it is?" The slender woman who had just arrived in the living room eyed Silyah with a certain curiosity.

"That would depend on who you think it is, but since you can obviously and easily tell who she is, you are merely asking a rhetorical question for me to confirm your thoughts. Therefore, yes, it's her."

"Hi, I'm Silyah," the brunette introduced herself, vaguely amused by the length of Elijah's "monologue" on who she was.

"I'm Malodie Butler," smiled the other girl. "We've been trusted friends of the Fowls for multiple generations," she added, proud of her family heritage.

Elijah sat down again, removing some dark strands of hair from his face.

"Which reminds me," Malodie gave Elijah a worrying grin. "I could not have traveled in District 2 without bringing back some goodies. Supposedly, they are into masonry in that district, but who are they kidding?" The woman rummaged through her handbag, retrieving two small and slick objects. "Here are the new test cases my brother showed me. These little things are the utility knives of weapons. At the press of one button, they can turn into five different means of protection. Of course, the hand grenade setting was permanently unarmed, but I knew Haley and you would not resist examining these." She handed the boy one of the two black objects, which had a flattened egg shape.

Elijah's piercing blue eyes roamed over the device that had been handed to him by the blond girl. "I will see if I get the time…" he said, slightly displeased. He often sounded like that when the Fairies wanted him to put most of his free time aside to do something for them.

"Oh… Something must be wrong. I've never seen you in that state when presented with a new gadget to mess around with…" Malodie sat beside him.

"Kelp wants me to… Follow her around during her Victory Tour… She knows things," explained the boy with a neutral voice. "Hal will probably know everything about this gadget before I even have the time to bring it downstairs."

Silyah raised her eyebrow. "You know, she can hear you," she said. "And she is still mildly offended about the fact that some people have trust issues about her."

"I know," Elijah gave a small snort. "And, you know how the People are, Malodie. Kelp can't handle anything on his own, yet he still takes all the credit he can take. It's unbelievable that he is still in charge of New Haven."

"He's probably scared of messing up because he still lives in Root's shadow," shrugged Malodie, referring to what she had heard from the different fairies she knew. "Also, let's face it; he's probably enjoying giving you orders because Holly ended up choosing…" The young woman stopped, giving Silyah a side glance. "Oh, time traveling is weird," she breathed, passing a hand on her forehead. Judging by her demeanor, she was most likely wondering if she had said something she shouldn't have.

"She knows the story," said Elijah. "And… Well, I know about living in someone else's shadow. Kelp isn't trying hard enough."

"Well, that's Trouble for you," she told Elijah. The blue-eyed woman then turned to Silyah. "So, you know that you actually saved the entire Fowl family? That was a very noble deed, if you ask me. I saw your Games and let me tell you, I've never been on the edge of my seat quite as much in my entire seventeen years of life. Although, I have to admit that I knew everything was going to end well. After all, I've been with the Fowls twins since their birth."

"To quote you, time traveling is weird," acknowledged Silyah, now 100% certain that her involvement with Artemis's rescue might have affected her memories.

"We already went over the whole 'we were here, but we weren't' deal with her," murmured Elijah, appearing more tired and grumpy than usual to Malodie, whom he had grown up with.

"Well then, I'll go see where your sister's at," Malodie got up, slightly worried about Elijah's behavior. He's just being a teenager, shrugged the 17 year-old. He's probably in that phase, she figured.

"Please do so. I am sure that Haley will be delighted to have you back in the house."

"Why of course! What would a Fowl be without his or her partner in crime?" grinned Malodie.

"Even more of a catastrophe," remarked Elijah.

"Run while you still can," laughed the girl, disappearing in the stairway leading downstairs. "It's nice to meet you Silyah!" she added, speaking loud enough for her to hear.

Elijah sighed, shaking his head. "Combined with my sister, Malodie is probably my personal Effie Trinket… Can't believe I grew up with them around." At least the Butler girl's brother had also been there for a while before he had to move to District 2.

"If that is your Effie Trinket, you haven't seen a thing yet."

"I can't wait for the Tour…" said Elijah with unmasked sarcasm.

"Neither can I," replied Silyah deliberately slowly. "Can't wait to tell everyone how amazing I was when I contributed to the murder of their people."

"Don't worry; we'll incorporate that as a subliminal message in your speeches."

Silyah gave the boy a small smirk. "Love me or die, people of Panem!" she said in a hushed voice, waving her fingers about.

"Good slogan, let's go for it."

"The sad part is that it's actually pretty close to what Snow is preaching."

"On second thought, maybe you should stick to the cards Effie will most likely have prepared for you, try to be as obedient as possible and just hope everything will be over quickly."

"Oh, speaking of being prepared and efficient, I was wondering if you'd prefer to stay at my place for the night before our departure. It would ensure that we'd both be ready to go when my team arrives. I have three guest rooms I never even stepped in, plus I still have a considerable amount of food to finish off before leaving…"

"That… That's a kind offer and it would make it easier for us to be ready at the same time," nodded the raven-haired boy.

"Great. I'll expect you on Sunday evening." Silyah sank in the couch dark leather couch. In a way, she was a bit anxious for the tour. Truth be told, she mostly wanted it to be over as soon as possible in order to finally be able to meet the fairies of 13 and convince them once and for all that she could keep their precious secrets.

A tiny noise suddenly rang in the air. "That must be Kelp's directives," presumed Elijah, fetching his fairy communicator. The boy's thoughts were quickly confirmed. "Time to get to work," he told Silyah.

One last mission and you might be able to get out of this time traveling mess without exposing Artemis and the People, thought Silyah. Hopefully, their well-weaved web of lies would provide her with enough alibis to get Snow's attention away from Artemis's fake death.

We would like to wish a Happy New Year to all of our readers! May your 2015 be ever in your favor!