Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. Don't rub it in, please.
Sorry this is so late! Thanks to everyone who reveiwed last time, and I hope that you still like this thing!
Chapter 23 – In which some bumping is involved
Ivy had long since gotten up from her overly luxurious bed and had started pacing. In her mind, she was chastising herself for pacing, saying why am I pacing? I shouldn't be pacing…
If she had been in any kind of rational mood to admit that she was frustrated mainly because it was the first time – literally the first time – she had ever come across a problem that she couldn't solve before. She wasn't being pompous, it was a plain fact that whatever problem she tackled, if she simply stared at it long enough, she would be able to solve it.
"That must be your Kestrel heritage, Ivy." Came a quiet voice from the doorway.
She started, and then framed a particularly waspish comment in her mind, projecting it out to her father of about three hours.
"And please, control your tongue. I know of the vulgar customs that the Mud People taught you, but please, refrain from using them in this reality, at least."
Ivy rolled her eyes, and opened the door, giving a clear invitation to step inside. She moved out of the way as the Duke strode in, and settled onto a chair.
With a swish of his cloak – no less.
"Okay, what do you want?" Ivy snapped, feeling particularly ungracious that day, "And it had better be good, otherwise you're going straight back out!"
Her father arched an eyebrow, and she mirrored it, trying to stifle the surprise that she felt when she saw how similar the action was to her own. She made a point of staring at him, hoping that he give way sooner than she would.
"Don't you think that you are just a little bit old for this kind of childish behaviour, Ivy? Or is it some more of what Melissa's been teaching you?" Sighed the Duke, inspecting his fingernails that spoke of a kind of weariness of the world that she would never be able to understand.
"Oh, you'll understand it, all right. As soon as we remove that mind-barrier of yours, you'll be bombarded with just as many thoughts as I am being pounded with right now." Retorted her father, his eyes dancing in a way that her eyes had never done before. Her eyes she may have inherited from the Kestrel side of the family. Her expressions, however, were almost definitely her mother's.
"Very true."
Finally, her patience snapped, and she resolved to speak out every single one of her…
"You'd better." Her father said solemnly, although she could…
"I can tell that you're trying your hardest to not laugh. It's not working, just as some friendly advice." Ivy snapped, her green eyes blazing.
Here, her father sighed, and came to terms with the fact that fourteen years with Melissa were never going to be good for a young, impressionable girl. Especially when she was armed with the Gift of Water.
"What Gift of Water?" Ivy asked, unaware that her father had not said this out loud. The Duke smirked, and then quickly covered it with his practiced mask of manners. It seemed that the shield was finally starting to crumble properly.
"There are always gifts that each of the elements decide to give their Chosen Ones. Unfortunately, we've only ever managed to get our hands onto two of the four Gifts, the Gift of Water and the Gift of Air."
Ivy nodded absent-mindedly, trying to shake a buzzing noise around her head. Since she had uttered the question, 'What Gift of Water?' it was as if she were drowning within a monsoon of flies, all trying to out-buzz the other.
"Don't worry about the buzzing, by the way. It'll go away once your system becomes adjusted to the number of coherent thoughts you're hearing at once."
Ivy's eyes narrowed in suspicion – she didn't need to voice that opinion for her meaning to be perfectly clear. This would have had an ominous effect, if only she didn't buckle under the weight of the buzzing after about another second or so, screaming as she toppled over, none too gracefully either.
As the world faded into darkness again (why did life have to be made of so many true clichés?) Ivy found herself thinking that this was becoming a little bit too much of a routine for her now.
Artemis was in his element, once again. Well, almost his element – he was back to being in charge, albeit also being bossed around when he got too commanding, and he was able to understand everything that was around him once again.
If only this didn't include having to haul around heavy objects.
"Why is it that every time I go on one of these ridiculous rides, I end up either being hurt or working?" He demanded to know, chucking another piece of coal into the pile, only for the fire to guzzle it up greedily.
"Simply said, Mud Boy? It's your luck." Panted Holly, following suit, determined not to be outdone by a Mud Boy, especially not this particular Mud Boy.
"In that case," Muttered Artemis, lugging another piece of wood into the stove, "I need to buy some better luck."
"Luck is like happiness, Artemis, you can't buy it."
"Would you like to bet gold on that?"
Some things in life never changed.
"So why are we here shovelling fuel into this outdated garbage in the first place? Doesn't the LEP have anything better than this?"
Holly stopped feeding the monster machine fuel, and replied in a breathless voice,
"The fact that this place was created way back in the first Frond Dynasty, equivalent to your Stone Age, may have something to do with it, Fowl! The technology back then wasn't exactly top-notch LEP now, and they hadn't made it so that this tunnel was compatible with anything else."
"So we're stuck with this outdated technology until we get to the other side? Well that's great, isn't it?"
Holly chucked a piece of soft wood at Artemis's head, taking great pleasure in hearing the resounding thud as it landed on Artemis's chin.
"This is not the time to be using sarcasm! Convert that energy into hauling these logs around!"
Artemis did just that for as long as he could, but that wasn't an impressive amount of time. Although he had greatly improved his reaction times, reflexes and endurance, he did this under air-conditioned conditions. It was not meant to be put to the test under such heated conditions.
"Holly, when are we going to get to the other side?"
"We're not."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Yes, you should, shouldn't you? I still haven't completely forgiven you for that kidnapping, you know."
"Holly, that was over two years ago now…"
"To answer your question, Fowl, we're trying to get to the eye of the storm. This thing will only carry us halfway there, and it will be all we can do to get back in the same ship. When we get to the eye, you need to summon the spirit of Earth with this." She held up something that looked suspiciously like a jar of… dirt. "If you truly have seen the Earth Spirit before, then it will respond to you, as long as you follow the technicalities."
"And the jar of… dirt?"
Holly shot him a withering glance, "Fowl, we're trying to summon Earth. For that, we need a more direct piece of earth than just this hunk of metal." She gestured to the ship, "And unless you have a better idea, deal with it."
Artemis took the tiny fairy's word for it, and began to shovel wood into the greedy mouth of the engine. His cold, calculating brain began to make mathematical conclusions. At the speed they were going at, they would rip out chunks of the machine too quickly for his liking. If this could be modified slightly, replacing the outside of the ship with a stronger metal, and making slight changes in the aerodynamics of the entire thing, then they could sail relatively peacefully…
A jolt brought him back onto his feet, his head throbbing again. Rubbing it, he noticed a piece of coal lying next to him. Looking in Holly's direction, he could just about see her perfectly innocent look, and that in itself was all the clue he needed.
Deciding to ignore it, he carried on scooping fuel into the furnace, and eventually, the ship began to slow down slightly.
"Fowl! We're almost at the centre of the storm!"
"I can see that, Holly. I wasn't aware that you had been appointed the announcer of the obvious."
There was no really witty response that could be thrown back at that, but a stuck out tongue was good enough for Holly. Evidently, some things never change.
"Do you think that she's going to be alright?" A concerned voice seemed to almost drift into her consciousness. The buzzing had subdued itself.
"Of course she is. Although I've never seen the Heritage hit anyone so hard like this before…"
"You mean she's not okay!"
"No! I mean that… oh, never mind, I'm just as worried as you are, Artemis…"
Ivy cracked an eye open, trying to ignore what a tremendous effort it took to even lift an eyelid. The buzzing was getting louder again.
"Glad to know that I'm appreciated." She murmured, struggling to sit up on the bed. "So how long have I been out for?"
"Not long, considering this is your First." Answered her father, frowning slightly. "You really shouldn't be able to do that, you know."
"Do this, you mean? I don't exactly feel like I can, but as you can see quite clearly, I am, so stop pondering. It really hurts."
The buzzing eased up slightly, to Ivy's relief, she looked into Artemis's eyes again, and quickly glanced away again. The fact that his eyes were the same as the other Artemis's eyes was really disconcerting. Not to mention it was wreaking havoc with her emotions.
"I'm going to make a half-way educated guess and say that being the Chosen One of Water amplifies all of your natural abilities, although I'm not a hundred per cent certain how you manage to do so many things." Muttered Artemis, wringing out another cold towel, handing it to the diminutive girl. She reached out for it gratefully, and plastered it to her aching head.
"Actually, I'm placing my bets on that she absorbs the powers around her. It would make sense. Sort of." Duke Kestrel frowned slightly. It would certainly complicate matters.
"Why would it complicate this further? I've just found out I'm the Chosen One of Water, that Artemis was split into two, that he has the most powerful capabilities in the Universe…"
"In this Universe, I have to stress that. There are many other Universes that have yet to be travelled to." Artemis ventured, halting when Ivy glared at him.
"There are other parallel universes apart from this one?"
"Actually, the original Universe hasn't got any kind of magic in it. Just a lot of people with a lot of wild imaginations. That's how we came into being." The Duke cut in, his green eyes flashing, daring his daughter to challenge his authority. Suffice to say that Ivy submitted.
"Fine, okay, so I'm meant to get the two Artemis-s back together, so that… what?"
"So that I can finally put right a few things that I haven't been able to so far. I have some control over this power." Artemis demonstrated, pointing at a wilting flower, commanding it to stand up straight, "I can shift the balance in things like plants, insects, protozoan. Humans, however…"
"Artemis here has never been able to handle more than the simple aspects of human life. If the life-form is too complicated, then it is too risky to try and shift their balance in any way."
"So, basically…" Ivy frowned, hearing a small whisper in the back of her mind, "If you try to shift any sort of balance in a complicated beings, the results would be… unpleasant?"
"To say the least."
"Ouch!" Artemis's fitness training had not prepared him thoroughly enough to brace himself for the several bumps that they were hitting.
"Hey, pilot! Could you possibly miss a couple of whirlwinds… you know, just for variety's sake?" Yelled Holly, also trying to cushion her falls.
"We're nearly at the eye… as soon as we're at the eye, you're going to feel a little bit of a tug…"
Artemis dragged himself up from his almost permanent spot on the cold floor, and immediately fell back down. This is ridiculous… I am the tactician, not the punch-bag.
"Hey, Fowl, get your lazy butt off the floor and help me with this, would you?" Holly demanded, adding a slight punch for good measure.
Then again…They were both thrown to the floor this time, both of them colliding a few inches away from the furnace.
"Stupid outdated hunk of junk!" Ranted Holly, kicking the side of the furnace, before gathering her wits and yelling towards the pilot, "That wasn't a gentle tug!"
Cat looked out of the pit, and frowned, "Didn't you use the straps?"
"Huh?"
"The straps, over there." She pointed at three red seats with the appropriate safety equipment. "I would have thought that the great Artemis Fowl would have thought to use them when I said 'a gentle tug.'"
The two girls turned to face a flushed Artemis, who, in his mind, was cursing whoever had decided that humans had to go through puberty. It seemed that Ivy's safety was pushing everything else out of his considerable mind. And that was quite a feat.
"Hey, Holly, there's a little problem if we want to go ahead." Cat said, coming into the cockpit.
"What problem? Foaly ran a test a couple of weeks ago, nothing was wrong."
"Yeah, but the latest criminal thrown in has caused some sort of blockage. We can't get through."
"D'Arvit!"
"Well said, although I could think of some riper words that may satisfy better." Cat drawled dryly.
"So what can we do now? I need to be on solid ground to perform that ceremony to summon the Earth's consciousness." Holly frowned, weighing the small bag she had in her suit. "I just hope that nothing in here is broken."
"Ivy…" Artemis was staring out of the window, his intense blue eyes focusing on something in the distance. His eyes clouded over.
"So this is where you are. I'll tell Ivy… we'll be there in a second."
And the human boy's eyes cleared again. His expression was one of rare contentment. He turned to the room of gaping eyes and said,
"I know what to do."
Ivy was startled to be woken up by a shaking sensation. After all, the other times when she passed out it was either her biological father or the other Artemis who was sitting there beside her. This time, however, she was being woken up by Artemis shaking her.
"Come on, you'd better get up, we're about to get going!" Artemis whispered. Ivy turned, and saw that Duke Kestrel was fast asleep.
"Sorry about knocking your dad out. You wouldn't believe how hard I had to knock on his head before he went out. He'd skin me alive if he knew what we're about to do."
"And just what are we about to do?"
A pulling sensation filled Ivy, and Artemis grabbed onto her hand. It was probably one of the worst times ever for Ivy to suddenly break out into a blush, but thankfully Artemis managed to ignore it. His blue stare penetrated into Ivy's own intense stare, and whispered,
"This is what we're about to do."
And faded away.
"Okay, so how is this going to help us find Ivy?"
"Simple, something took me over and I saw Ivy, although she wasn't exactly conscious. Something came into my mind… it reawakened some part of my brain. I think I'm now using a larger percentage of …"
"Okay, okay, we'll take your word for it. Just don't try to go into the details. Just tell me, Mud Boy, is this going to work or not?"
His blue eyes were more intense than ever as he turned to face the fairy.
"Yes, Holly. This is going to work."
She nodded. That was all she really needed from Artemis to know that something was going to work. Cat, however, needed a little more persuading.
"Hey, how come you're just going to trust him like that?"
To which Artemis replied, "Hey, how come I'm trusting you to be within two metres of me?"
Holly ignored the verbal repartee between the two teenagers and focused on her task – the Earth Ritual. She poured the earth that was kept in the jar out onto the floor of the cockpit, and murmured the ancient summoning words for the spirit of Earth to come. Of course, she wasn't exactly expecting Earth to come - not when they weren't even technically on solid ground.
What came, however, was not what she expected.
"Holly! Oh Frond am I glad to see you!" Sighed a somewhat startled Ivy and a boy who couldn't be there because he was also standing behind Holly, arguing with Cat. Holly stared into those blue eyes again before she opened her mouth and, for the first time in her life, screamed out of pure fear.
"That wasn't the reception that I would have liked, but it'll do, I suppose." Commented a bemused Artemis. "Hi, I'm Artemis. Artemis Fowl."
A/N: Oh wow, I finally managed to get another chapter up! Don't expect another one until Summer though - I've got GCSEs and one AS level to tackle, and I really shouldn't be on here right now, so toodles!