Hello, everyone! Long time, no see! *lowers head sheepishly*. I'm sorry for not updating in over a month. Just so the credit goes to the person who deserves it, I was inspired to update by Blinded in a Bolthole.

There isn't much dialogue in this chapter, but Jason has a battle scene and Artemis makes a break-through.

Also, I meant to get to the arrival of the guest in this chapter, but it got pushed aside. For those who want to know who the guest is, PM me. I'm not going to put it on here because some people might not want spoilers.

EDIT: for those who are interested, here is my list of story priority:

One of the Four

The Black Rose

The Meek, the Sweet, and the Slightly Insane

Legacy

Replies to anonymous reviews:

sophia: ive literally been c hecking on this fanfic everyday...PLZ DONT LEAVE ME WITH THIS CLIFF HANGER. im sufferingggg don't leave this fanfic unfinished. i will literally cry. :'(

Aww... thanks! Why don't you make a acount?

SilverMoonGrimm: Got The Book Theif for Christmas and loved it! It was brilliant, one of my favorites! I heard the movie is out now but I haven't seen it. There's no way it's gonna be as good as the book was, though.

Yeah, movies rarely are. Look what they did to PJO! According to wikipedia, Josh Peck will be playing Nico di Angelo. *grinds head into a table*. He's twenty seven, you idiots. I'm wondering if he's pretty much going to be a slightly younger version of Sirius Black.

44Lefty: I wonder how Arty will react to Tempest? And how will the demigods react to the People? This is a great story!

Thanks! Sorry to disappoint you, but Artemis will not be introduced to Tempest. I do, however, have plans for him to meet Mrs. O'Leary...

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The gardens of Fowl Manor were extensive, but morbid. Withered primroses hung over the path. Flowerless petunias huddled in the beds. A juniper tree was the only splash of color: everything else was dead from cold.

The eight demigods and the one stormy horse were hidden behind a huge holly bush. Tempest was snorting and stamping his spectral feet while Percy tried to calm him long enough for Jason to mount.

"He doesn't like this place," Percy whispered to Jason, who grimaced.

"He's not the only one."

"Tempest, quiet down, boy," muttered Percy. The horse rolled his eyes and went stock-still, but the moment Jason was on his back he kicked his hindquarters. The whites of his eyes- whites that shouldn't have existed and must have been called into existence by fear- showed.

"Go, boy," said Jason quietly, "Let's show this mare of Diomedes how a real monster horse does things."

The horse took off across the lawn, a dark streak against the white of the sky and the pale grays of the garden. Both rider and horse flickered: lightning rolled over Tempest, and sparks of electricity flashed in Jason's hair. The ground flashed passed under Jason's feet and he grinned. The wind whistling past his ears, the crackle of electricity, the stormy sky above- this was his element. That Mare was going down. He felt the reassuring weight of his sword at his hip, the vapory flanks of Tempest between his legs and the lightning ready to flash down from the heavy clouds. He cracked another smile.
Then, breaking his wildly joyful moment and pushing him into a more serious mood, there came a loud, long, coarse whinny. Or at least, he assumed it was a whinny. In fact, it sounded to him like the hoarse screech of laughter from an old grandmother, but since he doubted there were any ancient grannies in the nearby vicinity, he settled with the whinny idea.

Tempest cam to a halt, tossing his head and blowing steam from his nostrils- actual, visible steam that came out in huge clouds, which, Jason thought, was probably the form they originated in. The son of Jupiter leaned down and patted the horse on its stormy flank, which heaved and flickered under his fingers.

"Ready?" he murmured, "Then let's go, boy. Prorsus!"

Tempest shot away like a streak of charcoal lightning toward the distant screech. As the celestial duo approached, the dark gray figure became more discernible, even against the dull silver landscape. Its eyes glowed a fiery red, and as it stamped its hoof and bared its teeth, Jason saw pointed canines.

Oh, great.

Drawing his sword, Ivlivs, he summoned the power of the lightning to burn the Mare to smithereens. He had his doubts as to whether it would work, but he was willing to give it a go. He felt the energy milling restlessly above him, just out of sight, hidden by the heavy storm clouds.

One, two, he counted to himself, waiting for the optimum lightning time, THREE!

A blinding fork of white light struck down from the could bank right onto the place where the Mare was standing. For a moment Jason swore he could see the equine skeleton, and then the light was gone, leaving a very puffy, smoking, carnivorous, and above all angry horse standing in front of him.

Damn. If he couldn't electrify the thing, he'd have to rely only on his sword and Tempest's speed. Why did monsters have to be so hard to beat?

The Mare gave him a contemptuous look, as though it was saying "That all you can do? Pathetic. Give me your best shot, if you think you can handle me." Jason glared, patted Tempest one more time, and charged. He sliced down with his sword, but where the Mare had been there was now nothing but empty space. He wheeled his steed around, turning to face the monster mare and its superior expression.

Tempest charged once more and Jason cleaved at the Mare's head. It tried to jump out of the way, but this time it wasn't so lucky. Ivlivis cut a long gash right above its left eye. Nickering, it pranced away, kicking the ground, teeth bared.

And this time, it was the Mare that attacked. Tempest swerved to avoid the blow, but the Mare's pointed teeth caught Jason's hand and ripped off a good chunk of skin before the pair got out of bite-range. White-hot pain flashed up his arm.

Gritting his teeth as divine horses interlocked once more, he stabbed straight down. The Mare must have seen the blow coming, for it swung its head away, but the sword sliced a huge wound that just missed the jugular. The Mare skittered nervously away.
Each side gave the other some space, glaring suspiciously at each other and nursing their wounds.

I'm going to have the best shot at killing it if we're in close-range combat, Jason realized. Come on, Tempest! he urged. The spectral horse lunged forward suddenly, surprising the Mare, giving Jason just enough time to sever its windpipe. It gurgled for a moment, then exploded into sparkly gold dust.

Jason sat astride Tempest, for a moment, panting, then bent down and picked up the trophy that was all that remained of the Mare of Diomedes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Butler tore into the guest room previously occupied by the children of the ocean, the sky, beauty, wisdom, fire, war, riches and death. Artemis followed close behind him, panting heavily.

"They're gone," said the manservant, turning to his employer.

"Yes, yes," Artemis replied irritably. "The question is, what to do now? Should we try to detain them and extract information?" His eyes narrowed in thought. "Yes."

Butler nodded.

"I'll try to stop them from leaving," he said shortly.

"Good. Our guest should be almost here and I would appreciate it if we could get this mess sorted out before they arrive. It would not make a wonderful impression if they were to take note of random adolescents on our property."

Butler grunted in reply and as he jogged off to attempt to halt the escape of the Seven of the prophecy and one Ghost King, Artemis permitted himself a small smile. At last. Something was happening. He could feel it; this was the start of something big. Ripples were forming on the previously calm surface of water, and when the wave came, Artemis Fowl the Second was not gong to be found riding it. No, he would be the ones pulling the reigns. He would be the one controlling the flood.

As he set off back up the stairs to his office, a thought came to him. It was a memory, but a memory stitched together from various things the teenagers had said and done.

He's like Tyson but with more eyes.. Just let them stay, just let them stay... We were being shot at with arrows... Just do what she says, do what she says, what she says, she says, says, says, says...

Those were not natural powers of persuasion. And that could mean only one thing.

Magic.

But not mesmer, Butler had shown no signs of fighting the mind-control, which he did admirably when mesmerized. This was something different. A new kind of magic, of mind-control.

What else could they do?

Artemis suspected that the blond boy at least could communicate via telepathy. Why else would he put himself in a trance-like state if not to communicate with someone inside his head? And his nod as he'd woken up, like he'd arranged something.

Mind-control, telepathy...

Artemis stopped dead on the stairs, staring sightlessly ahead.

A new breed. A new breed of fairy with mind-related powers. And a breed with arrow-shooting enemies. Although Artemis knew that a lot of what he had been told was lies, he believed that at least. And though an opponent who used old-fashioned weapons was not to be underestimated, as his or her motives and supplies were uncertain, neither was a race with tele-powers. If Artemis could persuade these 'adolescents' to become his allies, he would have quite a reservoir of power should he run into a spot of trouble with the LEP.

Smiling his vampire smile, he continued up the stairs.