A/N: Another chapter, although I cannot promise to keep this pace. First, I want to thank you all, specifically Eldewind Dolly, for the reviews, and in particular, the review of the last chapter. It helped me grasp some of the problems I was having with the narrative but had been unable to put my finger on. My aim had been to craft the story like a puzzle, but I think the framing was becoming limiting, so, hopefully the next few chapters will be an improvement, at least in some regards, without losing the structure entirely. Additionally, this chapter is going to spend a decent amount of time on an OC far removed from our protagonists, and while I apologize, I do believe it is a necessary evil and should pay off in the end. Again, thank you all for reading, and if you are, please do leave a review. They are all very appreciated.

Around 1000 years ago - Haven City

To the inhabitants of Haven, the day Arthur Sutpen arrived seemed no different than any other. The Boulevard of Kings was still a dirt path in those days, and there was a sense of denial that permeated the weatherless air. Though it had been several millennia since Taillte, the residents of the Lower Elements still viewed their city as temporary, merely a safe-haven. The winter solstice celebrations still ended with the traditional refrain "next year at Tara," and the stories passed down from parent to child were distinctly that of a diaspora lacking a home. This nostalgia was inseparable from a deep melancholy that perforated every gathering and, unspoken, provided the context to every conversation and joke, no matter how light-hearted. The descendants of the descendants of those who had fought were disappearing. Lineages were confused, texts lost to the ravages of time. Havenites bore little cultural resemblance to their ancestors, yet, they continued living in a dream of return.

This was the context to which Arthur Sutpen arrived, wagon carried by two gruff looking gnomes. While the largest city below ground, even then, Haven resembled a small town more than an elven metropolis, and as such, gossip immediately swirled around the elf's mysterious arrival. The metalsmith was of the opinion that he was Atlantean, and had it on good authority that Arthur had been run out of that town for a dispute with the local government. Still, another said that Arthur had been living above ground, swashbuckling from daring adventure tricking unsuspecting humans around Ulaid and stealing from even the High human Kings. The local schoolmaster, when her pupils inquired, insisted it was all hot air, and that Arthur was merely a ne'er-do-well born to a disgraced family with no gold to their name, and that in a few years he'd be gone and destitute in the next town foolish enough to listen to his wild stories. Indeed, there were grains of truth to all of their accounts, but the overall effect was that nobody in Haven quite knew what to do with Arthur when he arrived.

The schoolteacher was wrong about one thing, however. Once Arthur had settled on Haven, he was not to be moved. And while he certainly had a penchant for entertaining the local men on the weekends surrounding a barely controlled bonfire, his wildness was matched only by his industry. In mere months, Arthur had built a mansion seemingly from thin air, and had begun work developing half of Haven. And even if the older elves were known to mutter disapprovingly from time to time, he had become a pillar of the community. In time, he was nominated to replace the ailing Chairman Flecker on the Council. It was there Arthur met Cahartez, another young ambitious elf who had recently joined the body governing Haven, and, so well did the two elves get along, the match seemed pre-ordained. Bound by their youth and ambition, Arthur and Cahartez became strong allies on the Council, pushing the reforms that shaped Haven into the cultural center it was to become. Arthur pushed strongly to break the fog of regret that stood heavy in the lives of Haven's residents, urging reconciliation and renewal with a vigor and righteousness that surprised those who remembered him mostly from his early years drinking and telling tall tales.

That is to say, Chairman Cahartez and Arthur Sutpen were the strongest of allies, until, suddenly, they weren't. The shift appeared suddenly to even those intimate with Haven's political scene. Though in hindsight, it was largely agreed upon that the rift began with Reconciliation.

"I brought curry," Arthur offered diplomatically, entering Cahartez' office.

"If you think I'm changing my mind on…your proposal, you are sorely mistaken," said Cahartez, removing the conical hat that adorned his balding head and taking the curry from his friend's hands.

Arthur sighed. "I thought you of all people would understand, this, what we have here, it's untenable!" Arthur said, gesturing at the cold stone building. "We're burying ourselves alive and soon there will be nothing left to dig out," he continued sadly.

"So what," Cahartez snapped, "we trot out like sheep to the slaughter?"

"A people need roots. And I know Máel, he is an honorable man, and controls Tara and all of Ireland now. He's eager to help, and is sympathetic. Not all men have forgotten the old treaties. I will not let us disappear into a bog of sentimental ruin."

"He's eager to help? He's eager to exploit us! And even then, what next? When he dies, and they decide we're not worth keeping around anymore, what then? The Lower Elements are expanding, soon there will be 1,000 fairy families in Haven alone. We have a life here now. No, there will be no reconciliation, friend, no matter how much you desire it."

Arthur's blue eyes smoldered with indignation, "I don't think you understand. I didn't come here for your vote. I came here merely as a courtesy, as your friend," he practically spat, "to tell you that with Nan's support, Reconciliation now has the necessary four votes. You have already lost."

"A courtesy? Hmph. I have faith that in the end cooler heads will prevail," Cahartez said, waving his hands dismissively even while his voice trembled. He had seen, and in fact employed his friend's intensity to their joint advantage on many occasions, but never before had he been on the receiving end of Arthur's barely suppressed rage.

"We will vote before the week is out. I suggest if you aren't willing to reconsider, you get out of the way, Chairman." And with that, Arthur left leaving Cahartez shaken. Cahartez, however, had not made it as far as he had without tricks of his own, and Arthur's righteousness, while a powerful weapon, left him exposed. Cahartez gathered himself, and began to do what was necessary to kill the bill.

And then, as suddenly as he had arrived, Arthur Sutpen disappeared. Rumors swirled that the young Fairy Council member had met an unsavory end at the hands of a mysterious assailant, whose identity varied depending on who was telling the story, and how much mead had been consumed. However, no body was found, and in those days there was little to do to check the veracity of such claims. Although he had been a powerful force in the community, Arthur Sutpen had never married, and cultivated few close friends. And those who had known him from his earliest days in Haven seemed the most eager to partake in the gossip surrounding his disappearance. In time, Havenites reported cousins who had claimed to see him in Atlantis, and, beyond the realm of anecdote, the matter was largely dropped and forgotten by most. Of course, Elves live a long time, and the memory of those few who counted Arthur among their friends was slow to fade.

20 hours ago - Ireland

Holly Short had never been keen on following instructions, and now that her best friend's life was at risk, she had no plans to change. As she flew through the Irish air toward Fowl Manor, she wondered if there was a chance Artemis had found a way to survive the biological bomb that Foaly was certain had enveloped Fowl Manor hours earlier. It certainly wouldn't be the first time, she thought. It wouldn't even be the first time someone tried to bio-bomb the genius following a mind-wipe.

It was very much like Artemis, Holly decided, to constantly be in the cross-hairs of life threatening fairy plots. And if she could rescue him again, Holly decided, this would be suitable penance for the less noble actions on the part of herself and the LEP that had led Artemis to being vulnerable in the first place. And if he hadn't survived…Holly shuddered, not allowing herself to finish the thought.

It was this desire for penance that had led Holly to insist to Foaly that she leave ahead of the official LEPRecon team Trouble had ordered to investigate, and it was perhaps the centaur's own guilt that had convinced him to go along with her plan. Still, Holly realized, her plan left much to be desired. She was unsure, for instance, what she was going to do if she found Artemis, and perhaps more importantly Butler, and they didn't recognize her. And if Artemis had not escaped... She again pushed these thoughts out of her mind. If Holly lacked a concrete plan, however, it was not entirely her fault. She had merely grown used to outsourcing such concerns. After all, it was hard to deny that matters of planning and strategy were usually best left to Artemis.

Holly shielded as she approached Fowl Manor. While she didn't expect to find anyone in the recently rinsed Manor, she was not about to take any chances. And if Artemis had escaped the bomb, well, Artemis lacking his memories was perhaps more dangerous than whomever had planned the attack in the first place. Lowering herself slowly, Holly forced her way through a window and entered the main foyer of the building. Feeling for the second time in two days a stranger in a familiar land, Holly observed no sign of a struggle, or anything out of place. Nearly everything appeared in its proper place. The painting of the Fowl patriarch at the top of the stairs was still crooked, as it had been days earlier. Holly thought back to when Becket, chasing Myles down the hall, had, reaching to grasp his brother's collar, missed, and slammed into the wall. Artemis had chuckled when Becket had demanded Holly heal his stubbed toe, and Holly, beginning to feel almost a sense of belonging, had felt a warmness inside her she had not known herself capable of.

Snapping back to the present, Holly turned the corner to Artemis' study. She knew that if Artemis had been caught unaware by the attack, this is likely where she would find him, or, what was left of him if Foaly's description of his invention was to be believed. Opening the door, and entering the ornately decorated room, Holly felt an ominous feeling rise in her chest. Something was wrong, she thought briefly. It was precisely at that moment that all hell broke loose.

As soon as Holly had crossed the perimeter, three distinct, yet alarming, events were simultaneously set into motion. First, Holly heard the unmistakable sound of the door slamming shut and locking behind her. Second, across the room, she could see bars mechanically sliding down blocking off the windows. And, third, as if that wasn't alarming enough, Holly heard a faint buzzing, almost as if the Manor itself was vibrating. Holly swore internally, recognizing the sensation. Holly had the sinking feeling that once again Fowl Manor had been hit with a time stop. Hearing footsteps approaching the now locked down study from across the hall, Holly drew her Neutrino, and placed it on its stun setting. While Holly didn't relish the distinct sensation of once again being held prisoner in Fowl Manor, at least this time, she was armed.

19 hours ago - Fowl Manor

Butler felt restless. Though he trusted Artemis with the specifics of getting them out of their current predicament, he couldn't help but distrust a plan that relied on using Artemis as bait. Still, he thought, as he flipped through the latest edition of Guns and Ammo, Artemis had, up until now, been remarkably prescient. He had outmaneuvered the LEP at every step, and seemed confident that they were closing in on a conclusion to their current escapade. And if the amount of equipment that Butler had been forced to set up throughout the Manor's elegant towers was any indication, Artemis had pulled out all of the stops. Evidently being framed for murder had not gone over well with the teenaged genius.

Hearing the sound of an alarm emanating from Artemis' computer, Butler looked up with barely concealed curiosity.

"Ah, it seems our guest has arrived early" Artemis said, standing up and straightening his tie. "I believe it is time for a face to face visit. After all, we wouldn't want to be bad hosts."

Butler merely grunted, as he stood stiffly, and followed his charge toward the study.

"Greetings intruder," Artemis began briskly. "If you have not noticed by now, I will point out that you have walked directly into my trap. At this point it would be of great benefit to your person to reveal yourself, and surrender any weapons you have," Artemis coldly lectured, standing behind the armored door.

"Stay back, human. You don't know what you're dealing with."

Artemis and Butler looked at each other, in shock.

"I take it this is not who you were expecting?" Butler commented wryly.

"No, most certainly not, old friend. I fear this may introduce some new complications into our plan," said Artemis. "If you could fetch some tea for our guest, I believe we will need some time to think our way out of this predicament."

Indeed, Artemis realized, he had miscalculated rather severely. His plan was entirely contingent on his enemy, and only his enemy, acting first. While he had adequately controlled for as many variables as he had identified, he had failed to take into account the actions of a certain rules-adverse red-headed LEP Captain. Still, if Artemis was being honest with himself, he was glad to have Holly around. He had felt badly deceiving her earlier, even if he had justified it to himself as necessary in evading the mind wipe. Besides, he rationalized, his plans had a much higher probability of success, given his track record, with Holly at his side. Besides, when the time stop wore off, Artemis realized, he would have to face a full LEP team, as well as, potentially, his unidentified opponent.

With this on his mind, Artemis opened the door and strode into the room. "Holly" he started warmly.

Unfortunately, Holly, not relishing the dubious prospect of reprising her role as kidnapee, decided to shoot her Neutrino, and, before any more words could leave his mouth, Artemis Fowl slumped to the floor, temporarily stunned.

Suddenly, it dawned on Holly what Artemis had said, and what exactly that happened to imply about the current state of his memories.

"D'arvit," she swore, leaning over Artemis's collapsed form, magic flowing from her fingers into her friend's chest.

It was at that moment that Butler returned carrying a tray of tea and scones. Piecing together what had happened, Butler frowned.

"I can't leave you alone for one minute without you two shooting each other, can I?"

"It's good to see you too, Butler" Holly replied, a guilty smile forming on her face.

Around 1000 years ago - The Lower Elements Council Building

Cahartez entered the building with no lack of urgency. He had summoned Arthur to this midnight meeting with the promise that they may talk once more about Reconciliation, but the Chairman had something very different on his mind.

"So have you come to admit defeat?" Arthur said smugly, emerging from the shadows and gliding across the rotunda.

Cahartez wasted no time getting to the point. "I know what you are."

Arthur merely laughed coldly. "I'm a member of this Council."

"Did you really think it wouldn't get out? Did you really think we wouldn't notice why you wanted Reconciliation so badly?"

"This maybe would have mattered years ago, it's too late now Cahartez. I've won," Arthur said quietly.

Cahartez approached his once-friend. "Maybe the other saps believe so, but I know better. And I know you think you've won, but that's because no matter how strong willed you are, you're too earnest, like your father," and, taking his friend into an embrace, Cahartez thrust a knife deep into Arthur's ribs, "and that makes you stupid."

Arthur collapsed on the floor, blood gurgling from his lips.

By morning, when the Council convened, there was no sign of Arthur. When Lope looked at Cahartez, eyebrow raised, Cahartez merely shrugged, feigning ignorance. Reconciliation was not brought up, and the Council moved on, business as usual. Or so it seemed.

After adjourning from the morning session, Nan Burdeh approached Lope quietly. "Did you see how Cahartez was grinning? I...don't think Arthur left, Lope. What do we do?"

"We wait," Lope answered in a hushed tone, "We let him think he's won. Cahartez is smart, and will be expecting us to respond. But one day, he will lower his guard. One day, circumstances will change. Until, then we wait."

After all, fairies live a long time, longer than human thought can easily conceive of. And while revenge can be delayed, it cannot entirely be escaped.

to be continued...