Chapter Thirty-Five, Paradox

Belinda Zito stared at her screen, her eyes almost shooting flames at the raven-haired ice prince at its center.

When could she finally get rid of him?

A long, long time ago – perhaps in a time that had not quite happened the way it had been supposed to – Opal Koboi had started a series of experiments on rare animal species; her studies revolving around their different properties in relation to her magic.

She had first begun those researches during an outbreak of Spelltropy, which had killed about twenty-five percent of the fairy population. Using her intellect to be considered the hero of the People, Opal had figured out that the cure to that deadly infection could be found in the brain fluids of Silky Sifaka lemurs… However that had not been her only discovery; she had also found that when treated in the right way, the fluid had quite the magical potential… It was then that a new scheme sparked in Opal's mind. After a few illegal tests, Opal had come to realize that the lemurs could provide her with a way to reach the future. Back then, her researches had not been advanced enough talk about time traveling, but the pixie with enhanced powers got to have a little psychic glimpse of what life might bring her later on… Much to her horror… As soon as she saw the future, Opal realized that she had been defeated; she was long dead and gone, yet Opal Koboi could never have let herself be defeated! As if that was not enough bad news for a day, the first thing Opal learned when she got back into her own mind was that a forest fire had completely exterminated the Silky Sifakas she had attracted and captured in order to complete her studies. The pixie had thus been forced to make a few changes to her original plan…

Her new scheme had been rather brilliant, although not as impressive as the first one; mesmerize a group of Extinctionists and simply wait for them to hand her rare animals to then extract their cerebral fluids and other body parts to exploit them and watch her powers grow. The only flaw in her perfect project had been the fact that her newly acquired powers faded overtime, which was a major disadvantage considering that most of the animals she had used had been the last of their kinds… Just like the Silky Sifaka lemur Damon Kronski, leader of the Extinctionists, had managed to find for her… Due to those circumstances, the pixie knew that if she wanted to survive in the long run, she would have to make a wise decision and be patient. A moment would come when she would get to exploit the lemur and save herself…

And that very moment had occurred a little more than three years after Opal incarceration in Atlantis' maximum-security penitentiary… Even if she had been fairly bitter about having been caught by the LEP after her second world domination attempt, the pixie had to admit that the prison life had its advantages; notably, the rumors that went around the building… One in particular had caught her attention more than the others; Artemis Fowl, her newfound nemesis, had apparently disappeared not too long ago, leaving absolutely no traces behind but a small demon warlock, who was too shocked and stricken by guilt to even utter a single word.

Well that's interesting; it looks like the Fowl boy discovered time travel by himself, had mused Opal, admiring her collection of chewed cardboard sea horses. Yet another advantage of a long stay in prison had been the fact that she had been allowed to bring in a few of her personal belongings in her cell. Of course, all of them had been thoroughly scanned before being allowed in, just to make sure that the pixie would not try to smuggle anything that would help her get out of Atlantis… I am so sorry Twinky and I hope you will forgive me, Goodboy, had thought Opal as she severed one of the horses' tail and the other's head. The amazing thing with chewed cardboard was that it provided a really good hiding spot for chemical components, such as a lemur's brain fluids, due to the ones already present in the craft glue Opal had used to make her sea horse collection.

After that, it had been a child's play for her to mix the two parts of her concoction, use her fresh magic to track down the path Artemis had taken to reach the future and send herself at the very same place, a just a few weeks before the kid even arrived.

As soon as she had landed in Panem, Opal had gotten to work, making her way to the social élite of the Capitol with the help of her newly restored mesmer, whichshe had acquired thanks to Kronski's lemur. Disguised as Belinda Zito – a Capitol woman of Opal's invention who had translated her love for fairytales through body modifications – the pixie had gotten herself a job in the Panem government, which had allowed her to keep an eye on Artemis's whereabouts through the many surveillance cameras of the country and to start working on a spell to keep him in the future. When the boy had appeared in District 3, the only thing Opal had left to do was to recite an incantation and draw a few runes to trap Artemis Fowl in Panem with her brand new time-magic.

Then all it took was a little hack in the District 3 printer – the one responsible for printing out the names that went in the Reaping bowl – and Opal was assured that the blasted boy would be sent to the Hunger Games.

The Games were probably the thing Opal liked the most about the future. She had been instantly delighted after hearing about how they were carried out; not only would she let the dirty business of killing Artemis to other children, but she would also get to see him die on a big screen. Not to mention that even though she did not have that much power when it came down to the actual protocol of the Games, Opal's Gamemaker privileges allowed her to control certain parts of the arena in which the death match occurred; the muttations being one of them.

Up to date, Opal had done almost everything she could to facilitate Artemis's death but she had gotten extremely frustrated in the process. Every single one of her traps had been deflected by Artemis's new girlfriend, or used at the boy's advantage. Even that stupid beauty, Kalheb, had failed her and considering that Artemis was enclosed in a force field, Opal had been rendered unable to take the matter into her own hands… Plutarch had affected her to the Muttation Department with a team of simpletons. As she looked over her screen, the pixie mentally cursed Havensbee, swearing to get her revenge on him as soon as the Games would be over.

Why was the whole Universe protecting Artemis Fowl? Opal's plan was so brilliant; why wouldn't it be carried out properly? The thing was that if Opal actually managed to get rid of Artemis in a time in which he never belonged, many theories regarding paradoxes could hypothetically occur; each of them resulting in complete chaos, or fatalities. The less dramatic of scenarios would be Artemis Fowl's death and it completely satisfied Opal.

The bitter pixie sighed. The only thing she could now do was to hope someone would slaughter Artemis before he would have the chance to go further in the Games.

Artemis had ended up abandoning all hopes of getting any more sleep for the night. Besides, he had to keep an eye open in case enemies might approach the tent… Though since no other tributes were in sight, the boy had been reduced to watching Silyah sleep. Sleeping or being dead? How big was the difference, really? Almost as if he wanted to reassure himself, Artemis observed the girl more closely. He could hear her constant breathing and see her eyes move rapidly behind her lids. She was probably in REM sleep. The acknowledgment of that fact allowed Artemis to settle his mind to rest… At least temporarily, as a sudden noise suddenly made him cringe. His nightmare had made his senses go haywire. The boy glanced back down towards Silyah trying to calm himself down, but it only made the matter worst. Artemis could almost see blood leaking from under Silyah's chest every time he would let his dream surface.

Artemis shook his head; he would not let his mind play tricks on him… Nevertheless, the longer he let his eyes rest on the girl before him, the more blood he saw. It was irrational, really, but at this point, rationality was not exactly a priority…

The boy slid out of the tent and got to his feet. He needed to get some distance from Silyah just for a while… Just for a little… Just so he would not cause her death by letting his mind give in to the nightmare… It had been awful enough to take Kalheb's life, he would not see himself committing any more murders.

Kalheb is not the only one you've murdered, whispered a voice at the back of Artemis's mind. The teenager pressed a hand against his head, as if he could make the hissing at the back of his skull go away, but it was of no use; another voice had joined the previous one, this time as a memory.

"I am nothing like Jon Spiro. He's a cold-blooded killer!" had once said Artemis.

"Give yourself a few years," had replied Holly. "You'll get there."

Artemis took his head between both of his hands, covering his ears. It was true! She had been right about him! He was just like Spiro; just like the rest. He had killed! Twice… Ended the lives of people in a time in which he was not even supposed to live in. What paradoxes could this cause?

Paradoxes? Why would that cause any paradoxes if the Hunger Games were only made of odds? thought the logical and still lucid part of Artemis as he rested his head back against a big oak tree to try to block out the mess that was inhabiting his brain.

Every creaking branch, every whistle of the wind and the occasional animal cry were not doing anything to improve Artemis's condition. The boy sank down along the tree, resting his head against the wood as his breaths escaped his lips in short gasps. Closing his mismatching eyes, he tried to let himself relax by listening to the sound of the constant flow of the river behind him, focusing on it. At first, it had been a good technique until a new sound reached the boy's ears. Fizzle; that was the best word to describe it.
Not really knowing what to expect, Artemis slowly opened his eyes, moving his gaze to the silver line of water behind him. The reflection of the moon could still be observed in the water, though it would not be there for too long since dawn would soon come… The flow of the river was distorting the satellite's light, as if a web of electricity was traveling through the watercourse. His stare lost in the current, Artemis noticed something in the middle of the river; something which appeared to slowly float up to the surface…

The top of a head could have been seen in the river, followed by a pair of feminine blue eyes. Though he was seated, Artemis stumbled backwards, letting go of a choked and horrified scream. The head had now fully emerged from the water. Artemis could clearly see her grey-tinted skin and the emptiness in her eyes.

"Murderer," she whispered, her blond locks sticking to the sides of her head.

Artemis uttered a strangled sound. "No…"
From the water, the blond girl watched the raven-haired boy hauntingly. One of her hands reached forward, as if to touch him, but then the girl began to scream in pain as her flesh began to steam. Artemis's eyes grew wide with terror.

"That's not exactly how a gentleman would behave…" called a disappointed voice from behind an oak tree. Artemis turned so quickly that his neck nearly cracked.

From where he was, he could see Kalheb smile at Aquilna as he walked towards her to push her back in the middle of the lake. "No need to thank me," he said, glancing towards Artemis.

The frail boy was now shaking. How could these things come back to haunt him? Aquilna was dead; his own invention had seen to it… And Kalheb… He had more or less killed him with his own hands for Frond's sake! How could they appear before him now? Eventually, it became clear to Artemis that he was the subject of heavy hallucinations, most likely caused by guilt; an emotion he often tried to suppress. However, even if he was aware of his state, any attempts at trying to see through his illusions were anything but possible to the boy. Wherever he would look, Kalheb's corpse would be standing there, an opalescent snake playing in his arms.

Artemis curled up against the oak as he covered up his ears, his eyes shut so tight that it made him dizzy. If he ever came back from the macabre adventure, Artemis could confirm Holly with complete liability that he would never be able to kill anybody.

"What are you doing there?" Silyah took a few steps towards Artemis, intrigued. It had not been too complicated to find him about three meters away from their shelter after she had woken up to realized that he was not in the tent anymore.

The raven-haired teenager was still lying against the tree, his head buried in his hands.

"Artemis?" asked Silyah tentatively.

The boy slowly opened his eyes. For a treacherous second, they betrayed pure terror.

"You know that sleeping contorted beside a tree is not the best way to get up in a good shape the next morning right?" said the girl. She almost felt bad looking at him. His muscles would ache as soon as he would move, according to his position.

Artemis looked up to her, his eyes gaining back their usual calmness. "No, I had no idea," he said with clear sarcasm.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Once again, she was able to read through him, sensing his fear.

"Yes, I am fine…"

"Funny that I have heard these words before… Coming from my own mouth while I was trying to let myself die." Silyah took a few more steps in Artemis's direction and sat on the ground beside him.

Artemis sighed. "Trust me."

Why should I argue? thought the girl, rolling her eyes.

The boy stretched, slowly moving his feet. They did hurt after having spent so much time in such an uncomfortable position.

"What is the plan for today?" Silyah's eyes followed Artemis as he got up.

"Stay alive."

"Well, I did have that part figured out," she smiled, trying to ease the mood.

"Good… Let's… Get some breakfast and move the camp."

"Sounds reasonable," nodded Silyah.

Katniss looked at her television screen with a disgust obviously aimed at the Capitol. At that point in the Games, the chances of mental recovery for the tributes were nearly non-existent.

Caskar had been seeing… things, Artemis now had hallucinations, Silyah would probably fall back into a critical mood if Artemis happened to die, Zinque was constantly getting lost in the forest and Silver had poked Caskar's eye out.

What a strange gang of possible victors. Katniss had certainly not expected the top five to be like that.

"Do you think that District 3 will anger the Capitol as much as we did?" wondered Peeta, referring to the nightlock incident.

"Well, they do have some poison close at hand, but Caskar received his cure at the Feast," Katniss pointed out.

Peeta rolled his eyes. "Always so pessimist."

"I'm not a pessimist, I am being realistic."

The young woman knew that the Capitol would not let two people get out of the arena alive anyway. It had only happened once and the price had been a Gamemaker's life.

"I wonder what is going on in his head," said Katniss, pointing her chin towards the screen on which was Artemis.

"Guilt, most likely… He has been acting like that ever since Kalheb's face appeared in the sky."

"It is the Hunger Games, Peeta," commented the girl. "How old is he, fourteen? He had fourteen whole years of watching other kids die on television; he must have known that sometimes, thing like that are inevitable when it comes to saving someone else's life." Katniss had a thought for Rue. Sometimes, killing was the only option to try to save someone you cared about… But then, she thought of Artemis once again. There was something odd, almost old-fashioned about the boy.

Peeta looked at his fiancé. "Don't tell me you have never thought about the lives you took."

To Katniss's defense, the lives she took were not something she actually wanted to think about very often. It was a hard thing to realize that the human being you were could destroy someone of his own kind for the sole purpose of vengeance and entertainment.

Bread and circus, recited Katniss. Panem.