Chapter 6 – In which they both meet fairies
Nubi and Juliet were escorting the teenagers to Tara. One of them was a little more informed on the real subject of the visit.
In the back, Artemis and Ivy were putting their heads together and designing a new computer program. Of course, two genius minds were never destined to think in perfect harmony.
"No, no, no, we are not going to insert in that piece of hardware… the virus scans are not even up to seventy-five percent reliable, Kestrel."
"The point of these restrictions are so that children can appreciate more of the internet websites than usual. You do know that most parents put up blockers on most of the websites children like to go on to encourage them to watch Discovery channels, don't you?"
"Yes, but isn't that like encouraging the children to watch more television than usual and not for educational purposes only?"
"Well, if you'd ever studied business, then you'll know that it's the products that people like that they'll buy! And, so far, you haven't said anything about parents!"
Juliet rolled her eyes. All of them being dressed in civilian clothing (Artemis with a little more protesting than the rest before Ivy threatened to kick his shins) to blend into the countryside, it was going to take some convincing to Sool that he wasn't Artemis Fowl.
As for Nubi, she wasn't unduly worried. Being the one who had done worse than Juliet in weapons and combat, but much better in discipline at Madame Ko's Academy, she was able to put the trust in the two adolescents. After all, being in civilian clothing and acting like geniuses still made them civilians in the eyes of most humans.
Unfortunately for Nubi, she really did think this was a trip to see birds. Disciplined and smart she might have been, but with a great memory? I wish! She had brought the binoculars, but she had long forgotten that her charge had them redesigned and cobbled together a Fairy Tracker.
"Here's your binoculars, Miss Kestrel. I'll be over there if you need me. I know that you can kick anyone's behind if you wanted to." Winked Nubi, going over to the tree spot where Ivy thought she spotted something.
Spinning around with her binoculars, she caught another flicker. It seemed as if the flicker knew that she was watching.
"Er… one second, Artemis. Could you excuse me? I need to go and check something out." Smiled Ivy, leaving Artemis alone with his palmtop, no doubt trying to track the same fairy that I've just spotted, thought Ivy, hopping onto the tree.
Swinging gracefully up the tree, she tapped the shielded fairy on the shoulder. As the fairy turned, Ivy saw that this fairy didn't have those new suits that she had designed with Foaly. She quickly deducted that this fairy wasn't with the LEP… either that or the fairy was just nosy and wanted to watch the two teenagers.
"Excuse me, fairy, but I'd rather you didn't watch my friend and I. You do know who I am, don't you?" Asked Ivy in her reasonable voice. The fairy came round to face her.
There was an audible pause, and the elf glanced around, obviously checking that Fowl wasn't watching. The elf unshielded, revealing short, auburn hair, and hazel eyes that could literally hold you in its power.
"Ivy, if you know what's good for you and for the People, you'll leave this place now!" Hissed Holly Short, grabbing Ivy's sleeve and shaking her soundly, "Why are you here? I thought you lived in England? Gods, are you and Fowl out on a date?" Whispered Holly urgently.
Ivy had had enough. Shrugging Holly's hands off, she answered the questions in order.
"One, I'm here on a school exchange trip. Two, I live in England, but the exchange trip was between my school and Artemis's school and I'm not about to travel across the Irish sea everyday! And thirdly, why is everyone just jumping to the conclusion that Fowl and I are out on a date?" The last one came out as a strangled yell.
"Are you alright there, Kestrel? Fallen out of the tree, have you?" Came a voice that was unmistakably Artemis's. Clapping her hand across her mouth, Ivy parted her fingers to call out,
"I'm fine, don't worry your frail little muscles about it. I'm not as liable to go running into trouble as you are!" She shouted back, turning to Holly again.
"Why are you following Artemis and I?" She demanded, as if Holly had no choice but to obey her. The young Kestrel had learnt this trick from her mother's tone of voice when her mother was trying to weasel something out of her.
"Alright, alright, I only just got here. Foaly sent me to spy on the two of you, so that you wouldn't try and use any of your powers trying to rob the newest security in Ireland." Holly sounded grumpy. Obviously, she had done this against her better judgment. "Anyhow, why are you with the Mud Boy? It doesn't say that you've got to accompany him everywhere on the syllabus, does it?"
Ivy muttered something inaudible. Detective Short couldn't make out every word, but she caught the word 'Mum'.
Ah. So that was why Ivy Saraswati Kestrel was following instead of leading. Holly's fist clenched. Her own mother had passed away when she was barely even twenty, leaving her and her father to mourn for her. She would have given anything to have a mother, but even she knew that Ivy's mother was a little too possessive.
"You don't have to listen to everything your mum has to say… I mean, aren't you a teenager or something, now? Your job is to make her life a misery!" Muttered Short, her famous temper blaring up.
"Look, Holly, you're straying from the point… why did Foaly send you here? It isn't as if I'll be telling Fowl about me very soon… he'll somehow find out, I'm sure." Then, seeing the raised eyebrow on Short's face, she hurriedly mended the sentence, "I mean, if he's as smart as he claims to be, then I think that you'll find that he can deduct things just as quickly as I can. And it really isn't my fault that the very air acts strangely around me!"
With this, the wind picked up, twirling around her, as if to try and comfort her and calm her down. Ivy forced her anger down, and the wind departed from her.
"Alright, Foaly sent me here because he was afraid that if Fowl found out about you, then he would use you to rob banks, and if even a trace of your power is seen somewhere… well, you know the rest of it."
Ivy did know. Since she was eleven, she had been in contact with Foaly almost daily, getting the advice on the latest engineering technology, how to streamline a vehicle… and at the same time, she would see what was going on in the underworld. There were three worrying situations so far, and whilst she didn't know many names, she had pestered Foaly until he yielded the human's name at the very least.
"Yes, okay, I get you. But why did they send you? I thought that you and Mulch had set up a detective agency that's actually raking in the money, aren't you? I mean to say that people have started to rely on the Short & Diggum's Agency instead of the LEP more, haven't they?"
"Yes, but to tell the truth, it's much easier being on the LEP… you get to have weapons, and not just your fists. Seriously, the agency isn't that funded as to the extent that they'll let us have weapons permit. It'll be a good two years or so till that."
Ivy gnawed at her lip. She desperately wanted to know why Foaly wanted Holly to look after her and Fowl. Granted, Holly was Ivy's best friend in the underworld, and it was Holly who would look after her for a few days when she was still a child, teaching her the basics of weapons training and aiming.
Not the top two things that a parent wanted her child to do, but what choice did she have if every few minutes the said child would cause a thunderstorm or worse when exposed to the surface?
"Okay, I'll accept that you're here on official business, and I've already done the Lightning Vow with mother, so you can just enjoy the countryside for now, okay?" Said Ivy absently, wandering where Artemis had got to. Then she remembered the most important part of the day.
"Holly, do you know anyone who's coming to the surface this evening? I mean, apart from you." Ivy needed to know… because she had already guessed who it was, but she needed some kind of promise that he was coming.
"Not that I know of, but this is Tara, remember? Every fairy hippie will be dancing around here, and we'll look as if we're underwater, there'll be so many People in this place. And you're asking me to specify one? Have you gone bonkers?" Chided Holly, punching her playfully on the shoulder. But one look into Ivy's green eyes and she knew that this was not the time to joke around.
"Okay, if you really want to know, I heard from Mulch's friend that Sool is coming up this month, but he comes up every month. Just not around the Tara place. This year's a one-off." Mulch had too many friends to keep track of. When Holly mentioned the words 'Mulch' and 'friend' was when she couldn't be bothered to think of the names that started to pop into her head.
How does Mulch remember all those names? Holly wondered. Then she saw the raised eyebrow of her young friend. Sometimes she reminds me so much of that Mud-Boy… even though we know they weren't even born in the same reality. Then she felt it. The realisation hit her before her hand did. How could a few short months have changed her intuitive so much?
"You don't think that Artemis and Sool are…" Started Holly, looking Ivy straight in the eye, which was a lot easier than when she tried to make eye-contact with Artemis now – the boy had grown at least four inches since the last time they had met.
"I'm afraid so, Holly. Come on, before Sool figures out that I'm here as well and decides that he needs his memory wiped again, and that I've been too much responsibility for the People to keep a secret and wipe me as well." Jumping out of the tree, she landed on two feet, as graceful as a cat.
"Still, maybe if he wiped me, the council will vote him out. I mean, I'm the one who saved you from all those earthquakes. I actually asked the earth to stop shaking and the plates healed. So now, you only have to worry about really, really distant quakes." She joked, though Holly could tell from the girl's eyes that she was lying.
"Promise me that you won't get too attached to him. If you do, I'll have to…"
"You'll have to what? Put the mesmer on me and not let me have my happiness?" The Kestrel almost sounded serious! Was she, Ivy Saraswati Kestrel, girl genius, controller of elements, actually developing an attachment to Fowl? Holly Short shook her head, and hovered behind the diminutive figure.
Artemis had met up with Butler at the well, and Butler had already put on his disguise. With the leftover latex, Artemis had made a mask that would alter as soon as the computer gave it an image, and it would change into that image.
"Alright, then Butler. I daresay that Sool will come. I am determined to get him fired from his job. It really was quite helpful of Foaly to allow us access to his files in return for not spreading the news. At that time, Artemis had slipped something undetectable in… something that he had found in his lab that one of Foaly's technicians had not detected.
A micro-bug, which had been planted into Foaly's systems, allowed the young Fowl to roam around on the PPIF (PeoPle Internet Facility) and he had picked up a few interesting facts about Sool.
For one, Sool wasn't always so great. In fact, it also shoed a slight criminal record that had always been traced down to drinking. The problem was that Sool had been married to a sprite, but the sprite had gone missing a few centuries before. And that got Artemis thinking. Quite rapidly.
He scaled the walls of the PPIF, and soon found Sool having black market sales with Mud Men Wine. And then Artemis had found a picture of his 'late' wife. He studied it closer. Until he finally managed to figure out why the character looked so familiar.
It was the sprite he had taken the Book from in Ho Chi Minh City.
His thoughts were interrupted by the red blip on the screen flashing rapidly. Covering himself with some cam-foil that he had taken from Detective Short's bag before she had quit, he hid in the shadows, and left Butler (or Mr. Zhan) to his business.
A few minutes run from his place, were two girls, one on wings, and the other one on foot. Surprisingly enough, the girl on foot was the one going faster.