Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own. Artemis. Fowl. Characters. sob
Chapter 28 – In which some previously impossible things become the improbable
"Fowl, you're being ridiculous. Do you want me to heal Ivy? We'll get the bullet hole out of her," Here, Holly had to swallow a lump in her throat, "but it won't make any difference. Her mind's gone – her heartbeat won't restart."
Artemis was holding Ivy's limp head in his hands, and not really attending to Holly's protests. If he was really going to pull this off, then there was a good chance that something would go wrong. Experimentation was never something to be taken lightly, especially with an unknown element in the equation.
And his new powers were definitely unknown.
"Fowl? Are you even listening to me? And what makes you think that I'm going to help you at all?"
"Nothing." It was the first words he had spoken in a while. Holly was taken aback by what he said. This was not normal Artemis Fowl behaviour. Before she could formulate some sort of response, he had turned to her and said,
"In fact, I'm going to ask you another favour."
"Favours? Artemis Fowl understands favours?"
"Of course I do." He passed a hand over eyes that were still too old for that face. Holly subdued slightly, allowing Artemis to carry on, "Holly, I'm too tired to make any deals with the People. Just promise me one thing, alright?"
"What is it?" Holly had had enough dealings with Fowl in the past to know not to trust him when he was vulnerable – or at least when he seemed vulnerable.
"When we get to the other side, you have to promise me that you'll come back. No arguing – I want you to leave Kestrel and me on that side, come through the tunnel and not come back in until I get back. Do you understand?"
Holly did not understand. Actually, she wasn't completely sure whether she didn't understand or didn't want to understand. Either way, what Fowl was asking for was a lot more than she could ever agree on. Opening her mouth to reject this absurd 'favour', she found her mouth being covered easily by Artemis's human hand.
"Holly, I know what you're going to say." For once, Holly couldn't disagree with someone on that line, "But I am going to do something profoundly unnatural and reassure you that I will be fine. Just make sure that you come right back when you drop me there."
He didn't even wait for a response. He simply fell back into the abnormally subdued state, holding Kestrel's head the way he used to hold a bar of gold. Perhaps with more affection, but it scared Holly to think that Fowl knew how to show affection. Then, she realised something that should have hit her long ago. All this shock must be getting to her head – her mind was still a little foggy with disbelief at Ivy's death.
"Fowl, how are you getting back without a ship?" Then, she thought of something else, "Where's your doppelganger?"
"He's… still present."
"Where? I didn't see him materialise with you, so he must have disappeared somewhere along the lines."
The Mud Adolescent stared down at the sleeve of his suit, now worn out from such hard conditions. Experience had taught Holly that this tunnel somehow took offence to clothing, and did its hardest to get rid of all types of material. If Fowl wasn't careful, he wouldn't be left with anything to protect his dignity.
"Fowl – leaving you behind is not an option, do you realise that?"
"There is always an option, Holly. I think that it is you who is barring all other options in your own mind."
"That's not the point, Fowl! I do not leave friends behind – it's against my basic principles!"
Artemis chuckled coldly, the chuckle sending a wave of coldness down her spine. She sincerely wished that someone, anyone, was here with her. The bitterness hidden behind that one laugh was terrifying – almost as if this wasn't the first time he had experienced the loss, and that he had almost resigned himself to this.
But this is Artemis Fowl we're talking about – you never know when he's pretending and when he's not, Holly cautioned herself, and steeled herself for another try at discouraging Artemis from doing this.
"Look, Fowl, whatever you have to do, you can do back in our world. Is it really necessary to do all of this over on the other side of the tunnel? Can't we do this on our side?"
Artemis nodded hesitantly, but then hurriedly put his hand over Holly's mouth again. Holly wished that he would stop doing that – it was much more effective than a fellow fairy blocking her mouth.
"Holly, I just want you to do that one favour for me. I promise that I will come back safely; with a live Kestrel. Tell me – do I look as if I'm lying to you?"
Holly had to admit that those blue eyes that spoke volumes by themselves did not look as if they were lying – nor did they look like the eyes of a madman. Holly shook her head, trying to chase away any thoughts of going easy on Fowl only because he seemed to believe in some mad fairy tale.
Although the 'disappearing into thin air' act was enough to jolt her resolve a little.
So she had to pull her final trump card. Commander Root.
Switching on her helmet mike (Trouble's helmet mike, Holly had to remind herself), she asked,
"Foaly, are you there?"
There must have been some sort of desperation in her voice, because Foaly didn't even try to crack a joke, or be sarcastic. He simply turned the mike to Root, who took it and said in a tired voice,
"What is it?"
And maybe that was the final push that shoved Holly over the edge. She became the first one to shed tears for her fallen comrade, her charge, her friend. Sobbing uncontrollably, she fell to her knees and choked out some fairly incomprehensible sentences before handing the helmet over to Artemis, whose eyes were now startled out of his reverie.
Artemis felt empty inside. When he was younger and the literature of amateurish romanticised authors still attracted him, he was always reading about how someone's heart had been ripped out of someone's chest and thrown onto the floor. Before, he would scoff at these melodramatic phrases, telling himself that it wasn't possible, as the heart was an essential centre of the human body, without which the body would shut down.
He finally knew it could be done.
It was only Holly's crying that jerked him out of his reverie. He tried to remember another time when Holly had cried so freely, so passionately. Needless to say, he failed.
Even as his mind was in the depths of shock, depression and pain, he still knew who he would be talking to. Letting Kestrel's limp head rest on his lap, he took the helmet and stated flatly, "If Holly Short couldn't make me change my mind, commander, I doubt that you can."
The answer to this blatant rejection was different from what Artemis had expected. Instead of the ear splitting scream that would usually follow such audacious actions, he heard only the sound of a gruff, tired old man.
"Fowl, I'm too tired to blow up. You've lost a comrade. You're angry. You're sad. You want revenge. That's all understandable."
"You've been there, have you not, commander?"
"Of course. But please, I am no longer a commander – only a civilian. You can call me Root."
"Force of habit that won't be changing in the near future."
"Understandable. That's all understandable. But suicide is not."
This really snapped Artemis out of his reverie. He never thought that the commander would be so calm as he said that. He placed one hand on Ivy, whilst giving his full attention to the commander.
"I never said that it was suicide."
"It's the equivalent of suicide, Fowl. Leaving you on that side could be disastrous – that reality may have another you, another Fowl family. They're bound to find out that there is another world beyond their own. The People already have enough trouble trying to keep ourselves a secret – imagine what would happen if they really found a way to get through! Inter-species wars would look like practical jokes."
Artemis had to admit that he had a point there.
"If we leave you there, there's no knowing if we can get you back. We've never tried to reopen the portal from the other side before – we think that the Kestrels only managed to come over because of some sort of strange power fluctuation close to the portal, probably emanating from… well…"
Artemis knew who Root was referring to. It seemed that Ivy had touched even Root's heart in some small way.
"The point is, Fowl, no matter how smart you are, you have no great powers. This portal seems to only react to massive levels of energy, and no matter how much brain power you have, Fowl, it's not going to make it open for you. It would make you as good as dead in this world."
Artemis contemplated this. He couldn't tell Root about the whole Balance incident right now – it would only add to the confusion that was already in the air.
"Hey, who's committing suicide?" Came a voice from the co-pilot's seat. Cat had apparently decided that Piccolo didn't need a co-pilot anymore. And the loud sobbing noises had aroused her curiosity.
"Fowl is." Holly retorted, still a little unstable from her crying spree.
"Huh?"
For a moment, Artemis was about to turn to Ivy to comment that people who used idiomatic terms such as 'huh' were annoyances, before he realised that Ivy wasn't there to turn to anymore.
Pity, he thought absently, she was perhaps the only person my age that I can talk with like an equal.
"Fowl wants us to go our merry way to the edge of the portal, drop Kestrel and him off at the end, then go happily off back through the tunnel to re-emerge from the other end, without them." Holly's voice and face were too cheerful to be mistaken for anything except for sarcasm. Artemis really wished that she would get through the 'he wants to kill himself' phase.
"Holly, I'm not going to be stranded there, I have a guarantee."
"Oh, and what guarantee is that? That Ivy's just going to somehow magically come alive again over on the other side and create another ship for you to fly back with?" Cat demanded, making exaggerated gestures with her arms. Before Artemis could say another word, she made a sharp cutting action, obviously signalling for him to shut up.
Which, of course, he blatantly ignored.
"I'm not sure how long you have known Ivy, but…"
"Would you please stop speaking so impersonally?"
"What?"
This really shocked Artemis. What did Cat mean by 'impersonally'?
"A friend of ours just died. Can't you find it within you to at least look upset? I know that you're this… this mafia prince or something, but that doesn't mean that you…"
"Excuse me?" There was a hint of frost in his tone that made even Cat shrink away slightly.
"Now, Fowl, there's no need to get hostile… Cat is just as concerned as we are about you…"
"I doubt that, somehow, Holly. You see, Cat here thinks that in order to be 'upset', I must burst into floods of tears and fly into hysterics, much like she does. However, she does not take into account the fact that neither of the above will be helping Ivy." He turned his intense gaze onto Cat, causing her to shrink slightly, "Flying into hysterics isn't going to bring her back. What I'm about to do, is."
Silence clung to the heavy air like a barnacle to a boat. The atmosphere felt as if it could be cut with a bread knife.
Piccolo's voice drifted out as he announced soberly that they had arrived.
"That's our stop. We'll see you later."
And with that, Artemis picked Ivy up bridal style, and walked awkwardly over to where the ship could drop them onto solid ground. He halted at the faint touch of a hand. A human hand.
He turned to face Cat, and glanced at what she was offering to him. A helmet.
Not one of the LEP helmets, of course, but nonetheless a helmet that could give him valuable supplies of oxygen. No speech was necessary here; their eyes locked, and both gave small, tentative smiles. Artemis put on the helmet.
And he was gone.
Duke Kestrel was waiting by the entrance of the Tunnel with anxiousness that he had only experienced once in his life – and that was when his father was ill and was threatening to change his will in favour of his younger sister. Pacing back and forth, he wondered if this was what it would have felt like if Melissa had given birth in this world.
A fluctuation in the air caught his attention and effectively upended a tree in front of his train of thought. He expected to see his daughter, and Artemis. Or two Artemises, he wasn't sure what he should expect to see from the boy he had taken under his wing.
What he saw, however, didn't fulfil any of his expectations.
"What happened to my daughter, Artemis? What happened to her?" He sounded a lot calmer than he felt, seeing as his voice wasn't even rising above normal level yet.
"Ah, Duke Kestrel, I presume? I have some memories of you, but I am sure that we shall have plenty of time to be personally acquainted. After I get Ivy up and about again."
And that was when Duke Kestrel realised that his daughter – his sole heir – had died.
Artemis knew from the moment he stepped into the new world that he was in trouble. Meeting the father, he assumed, was always one of the more terrifying experiences in a relationship. Meeting the father when his daughter was dead, however, was an entirely different kettle of fish.
Laying her down on the earth, he beckoned towards Duke Kestrel (whose real name even he didn't know) and asked him to take away the bonds.
"What bonds?"
"The Elemental Vows, sir. Your wife managed to make Ivy swear on every single element for different purposes."
"She… she…"
"It's blocking my ability to get through to her. I need the… pathway to be clear." As if there was need for further clarification, he added, "It's my first time doing this."
Deciding not to question him, the Duke simply said, "We need a fire."
Apparently, being in another world meant that certain items would be lost. Luckily, the tunnel hadn't completely eradicated their clothing yet, but lighters, matches, anything that could light a flame easily was lost. Luckily, the fairy folk here were no less ingenious than their relatives.
"Warlocks locked the power of a small flame in here – it's relatively cheap, seeing as I didn't want a forest fire." The duke brought out a small, metal container that seemed to pulse like a flame.
"And the case doesn't melt because of the internal heat?"
"You know, half of you lived with me for fourteen years and that's the first time you asked me that question."
"How did I survive here?"
Duke Kestrel also brought out a small shell that looked a lot like a translucent sunflower seed that bore uncanny resemblance to a Fizzer.
"Let me guess… water?"
"Of course. We need the elements here."
"We don't. Lightning isn't present, and lightning was the last vow that she had taken."
"She never broke any of the oaths directly, correct? Oh, and you are providing the lightning. Any live person can count as lightning."
"I see – the electricity in our body counts then. No, I don't think she ever broke any vows. I have researched her and there haven't been any life-threatening storms anywhere near her house."
"That makes this process easier, then."
Duke Kestrel made Artemis sit on the earth, hands on both the metal canister (after he had been assured that the metal had a magical insulator on it) and the Fizzer, with his face towards the wind. Artemis noted that even the weather seemed impossibly grey. He wondered if this had anything to do with Ivy's… absence.
"Of course it does, Artemis. The elements have sensed that she is gone – this is their way of mourning."
"Are you sure this will remove the vows, and isn't a funeral rite?"
The same green eyes that had previously made his face flush and his heart try to jump through his ribcage shot a withering glance his way, then turned away again, and began chanting in a language that Artemis hadn't heard before.
This must be the Gnommish version of Latin.
Ivy was lost. The darkness pressed against her on both sides, urging her to go onwards, but she stayed put, more fearful of death in the darkness than she had ever been in the light. Curling up into the foetal position, she waited for the light to come so her fear could go away.
But after what seemed like a week, she took to murmuring to herself, just to hear something, the satisfying feeling that her senses were all still working,
"Someone will come. Someone always comes. Someone… someone…"
It was rather upsetting that whenever she thought of 'someone', a faceless stranger always came up. It was as if she was losing all of her memories, one by one, because she could hardly even think of her own mother's face anymore.
Then, a light sparkled in the distance. Ivy's eyes watered from the brightness of that spark, and tried to crawl away. The light at the end of the tunnel – it looks like clichés are having a field day with me.
Then, she heard the sound of a voice. A voice she had… forgotten, but still knew.
"Ivy! Ivy? Kestrel, if you can hear me, head towards the light!"
But she felt weak. Too weak to even crawl towards the light. And besides, walking towards the light would mean accepting that she was… gone, wouldn't it? She didn't want to give up her life… not yet.
"Stop it! Give her back!"
Why was the boy yelling?
"She will benefit the world… both worlds!"
Who was he yelling at?
"If you won't give her back, then I'll just have to take her!"
Who was he yelling about?
Artemis was becoming frustrated. Walking into the darkness of the Balance again made him suspicious from the beginning. It made him even more suspicious when all that answered him was the Balance.
"Ivy! Ivy? Kestrel, if you can hear me, head towards the light!"
No reply. Apart from the Balance.
She cannot hear you. She cannot hear anything apart from herself. In time, she will pass on freely. I am the one preventing her from returning.
"Stop it! Give her back!"
I cannot. I do not know if she will destabilize the world or not, but I cannot take that risk.
"She will benefit the world… both worlds!"
I cannot risk it.
"If you won't give her back, then I'll just have to take her!"
I'd like to see you try. He could almost hear the smirk. Pulling out his final trump card, he began,
"I am thy Keeper. I command thee to let her go."
This is what you meant by making me?
"If thou dost continue in this jest, thou shalt lose more than my services. Thou shalt lose me."
And it was at this moment, that someone tackled him to the non-existent ground, a painful scream tearing out of her, an endless,
"NO!"
And the world materialised again, with a startled Duke Kestrel (singed hair, drenched shirt and muddied boots) thrown back into a tree and a very much alive Ivy Kestrel in Artemis's arms.
"Congratulations, Duke Kestrel." He murmured, staring down at the breathing, living, sleeping form of Ivy Saraswati Kestrel, "It's a girl."
He pulled the body to him in a small, tentative hug, and promptly fainted.
A/N: See, I did bring her back, didn't I? This chapter really sucks, but I couldn't care less because I am almost floating away! Just got my exam results back, and I couldn't hope for better results...
Ivy: Finally, I'm back! Wait... why am I catatomic?
PeridotNox: Because you just died and having you bouncing off the walls would be unrealistic?
Artemis: And having me bring her back from the dead is realistic?
All three begin to banter
Duke Kestrel: Sigh Just read and review. It's easier, trust me.