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Chapter 2: Tiniest Bit of a Sweetness
-----
There was an appropriate period of silence after this statement.
Shock. Very brief shock. Most of these people were used to dramatic declarations. Being Artemis Fowl© characters made then immune, mostly.
"They......" Vinyaya put a hand to her lips. "Dear Frond...a probe..."
A probe meant that a non-fairy satellite had picked up on fairy civilization. It hadn't been predicted to happen for another 300+ years, by Foaly's calculations. If such a satellite were to come near Haven or Atlantis, the two cities would automatically turn off all electricity to minimize risk.
"It was a short alarm," said Foaly, as if that made it better. "Barely ten minutes without electricity."
"Was this like the Fowl probing? I heard this has happened before, to Haven," Qwan interjected suddenly. Of course, Qwan hadn't been present at the time; he'd heard it second-hand. Had a good ale at the time, too.
Holly looked up sharply, hair swinging. "Artemis!" she spat angrily.
"Possibly," Foaly said.
"I thought we were done with the C-Cube!" Holly hissed, jumping off the table-top with clenched fists.
"Calm down, keep your hair on," Foaly said, which wasn't the wisest response. Under the circumstances.
"He better have a good explanation for this--!"
"C-Cube?" N°1 asked curiously.
"--or I'm going to kill him and--"
"Artemis created a little cute computer using scraps of fairy technology," Foaly explained. "Gave us a scare."
"C-Cube..." musedN°1. He thought about what Foaly had said. And took it quite literally. "Stands for...Cute-Cube...?"
"--Neutrino his--"
"Holly!" Foaly yelled.
The elf stopped abruptly in mid-rant. Foaly never yelled. Unless under extreme circumstances.
"I don't understand why you're so....so...." Foaly struggled for the word. "Angry! At Artemis! For something we don't even know he did! If I didn't know better, you're feeling betrayed."
Holly spoke through stiff lips. "Foaly, I'm n--"
She stopped. What could she say?
An inferno of emotions spun inside her--fury, mostly fury, but now a small bit of that was pointed at herself. Of course, Holly had never been the touchy-feely type, and didn't notice the rest of it. There was also a small, half-realized fear, a touch of sadness, and the tiniest bit of a sweetness she couldn't identify.
I'm too quick to assume it's Artemis, she thought with a realization of guilt. Foaly's right--how do I even know he had anything to do with it?
"And," Foaly said, quieter, "Does it really matter that much? If I'm right--and I usually am--you two don't share much love lately."
N°1 started suddenly, then stilled himself as Foaly continued.
"You haven't even spoken to him for over three months," Foaly said.
There was a silence.
Holly worked her mouth wordlessly, trying to say something.
Everyone in the room--Vinyaya, Qwan, N°1---watched with fascination as the scene unfolded. This was better than the PPTV reruns. Everything was frozen, and literally you could hear a pin drop. If pins hadn't been banned from Section 8 as a security risk.
It's been that long? Holly thought.
Her guilt was stronger now. If she wasn't careful, it would drag her under and drown her slowly--as a fortune cookie had once told her.
And Holly Short was not about to break down in broad public.
"You monitor my calls?" she tried to accuse.
"I'm just saying, Holly," Foaly said, shrugging apologetically, "that you're too quick to condemn him. For past actions."
And that hit home with double meaning.
"We are not having this conversation," Holly growled. "Not right now. We're over the lemur thing."
The other occupants in the room--the ones not involved in the drama---whipped their heads around from speaker to speaker like it was ping pong match. A very interesting verbal ping pong match.
But wait, they thought collectively--excepting N°1 of course, what lemur thing?
Abruptly, Foaly switched from the offensive to the peace-maker. He held up his hairy palms.
"Alright, Holly," he sighed. "Alright. Let's concentrate on the current trouble. Shall we?"
"Fine," Holly said bitingly.
Once again, she perched herself on top of a table, and began stabbing her mushrooms and rice savagely. She chewed so that she didn't have to speak, or reply to questions she couldn't answer. Slowly, her anger slipped away.
Three months. Had it really been that long?
She hadn't meant to....but everything so busy...
Who was she kidding? Why lie to herself?
She'd needed a break. That's what is was. A break from saving the world, a break from getting into life-or-death situations (and occasionally, dying), a break from the trolls that she seemed to encounter everyone she went.
A break from everything.
A few tears treacherously stung her eyes, but luckily no one saw them before she oh-so-casually brushed them away.
And while she was on it, a break from time-travelling, a break from long-buried memories reemerging, a break from betrayals, lost trusts, of loss....and---and---stinking elf dandruff shampoo, and regrets, and pixies, and---and----
Artemis. And all the stupid emotions and adventures that came with him.
Sometimes it was all too much, and every time they met another emergency was one their hands. Some part of her irrationally thought that a little break from him would give them some temporary peace.
Well, that had worked, hadn't it.
"Atlantis is requesting a full inquiry," Foaly said, reading the data scrolling across the screens. "By all intelligence agencies..."
"Hold that," Vinyaya interrupted. "All of them? Section 8 is about all we've got."
"Sorry....Inquiry of all intelligence agencies....of M16, CIA, blah blah blah...." He pressed a few keys and muttered to himself. Not a good sign.
"Can't we simply contact Artemis?" asked Qwan. "We could see if it was him. And the C-Cube."
"Double-check," N1 agreed.
Foaly scratched his chin and thought about that. It took 2.56 seconds for him to come up with an answer.
"Sure," he said. "Might as well. It could save us a lot of time."
Immediately, he began to busy himself with building a long-range communication link--directly to Artemis's computer. If the Mud Boy was in his study--which he almost always was---he'd pick up a live feed straight from his laptop.
They could simply talk to each other (and/or accuse each other, scream, lie, etc.) from Section 8 to Fowl Manor over a secure channel, on their computers.
"Now?" Holly said, not smiling. Apprehensive.
"It's a good a time as any," Foaly said. A hint of a smug grin nearly made it to his lips.
----------
FOWL MANOR
Three Days Previously
It was beautiful music. You didn't have to be a musical virtuoso to realize that, although Butler could name someone who was. And that someone was playing.
A sweetly layered rendition of Canon in D echoed through the upper rooms of Fowl Manor.
Everyone in the house found themselves smiling. It was good to hear Artemis play the piano again. It seemed like the music room had been silent for too long, although it had only been a year....hadn't it? For some of the Fowl family, anyway...
Artemis, for his part, was happy. How could he not be? He was playing a nine-foot Fazioli. The expensive Italian piano brand known for its lush tone quality, as well as futuristic design based on ocean waves, was stunning. Although he rather missed the old baby grand, at times.
A content smile relaxed Artemis's face, a rare moment. His fingers darted through a quick succession of notes, the final complicated chords ringing with impressive speed.
Ending the peace with the last trailing chords, he sat back. His fingertips tingled from his insanely fast playing----the tingling self-caused and strangely pleasant.
Outside of the room, he heard a few footfalls.
"Butler?" he called, and corrected himself. "Domovoi?"
"Yes, Artemis." Butler stepped inside of the room casually. He'd been passing through. "I'm here."
"All right," Artemis said, sliding off of the bench and walking softly over. He came to a stop beside Butler and craned his head upward to meet his eyes. Artemis had always been short for his age, and seemed even smaller to those who thought he was eighteen."Lovely piece, is it not?"
"Yes. Pachelbel, isn't it?"
"Yes. A true piece of genius--" he smiled at that "--in my opinion. Such simple chords, that strike just the right emotions."
"A touch of sadness," Artemis continued, gazing up at the ceiling. "A small, half-realized fear....and...."
He stopped and continued softly.
"The tiniest piece of a sweetness you can't identify..."
Artemis shut his eyes, closing his lost expression.
The bodyguard leaned down and spoke in low tones. He spoke confidentially, low enough to thwart any pesky eaves-droppers. Particularly the ones under four feet and loved coffee.
"It's one of those times, isn't it?" Butler said. He laid a massive hand on the boy's shoulder and gently guided Artemis through the doorway."How long do think this will last?"
"I don't know..." Artemis said, opening his mismatched eyes. "It's frustrating. I know...there's something I'm forgetting, but I can't recall it." He let out a brief spurt of laughter. "There's something wrong, but I can't diagnose it......But--Domovoi, do you think..."
Butler took in a deep breath.
"Should we contact them?" Domovoi asked.
For a second, Artemis's face froze and his lips worked soundlessly.
"Do....do you think they could do anything?" Artemis said. "If they even would? They don't trust me."
"I..." Butler chose his words carefully. "Well, they are a forgiving people. I think they would think differently, if they knew what's happening. To you."
There was silence for a moment.
"We should probably contact them," Butler restated. "They could help." Possibly.
The teenager didn't reply to that, at least not directly. Domovoi could see in Artemis's eyes that he didn't really believe that help could come. Not that it wouldn't, but that there was simply no possible way it could....
And he's always been so independent, Artemis, Domovoi thought. He's never opened himself to someone else. Never enough.
That's why Artemis had had to trick Holly into helping him heal his mother, Butler had realized. It was because he'd never really relied on someone else completely enough to simply trust that they'd do whatever it took to help him.
Maybe Holly would have helped him without manipulation. Maybe she wouldn't have. In Artemis's eyes, he couldn't take chances, even if it completely killed any trust between Holly and him.
He'd do anything it took to save the people close to him. Even if they hated him for it.
"The problem with trust," Artemis said suddenly, averting his eyes, "is that is difficult to build, and so painfully easy to tear down. And," he added, a small smile crinkling the creases in his eyes, "the problem with pity...."
"Is that it is a one-sided sympathy," Domovoi finished.
"And not really a relationship at all. Yes."
That was a direct quote from a novel, or a very long research paper you might call it, which had taken a deep look at the emotions of human bonds. The book---Relationships, As Seen By A Child, one of the few books Artemis had written under his own name---had had the "vocabulary and poetic insight" of an expert, yet with "subtle wit and charm" as the New York Times had put it.
It had earned much praise and awards, one of the reasons being it was written by a six-year-old.
"Well," Butler said briskly, killing the emotionally-deep atmosphere, "As they say, 'the weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.' They would help you, Artemis."
That brought a smile to Artemis's face. "Mahatma Gandi's doctrine, isn't it?"
"If you say so," Butler shrugged with a small grin. "And don't change the subject."
"I can't help it if I change the subject," Artemis said dryly. "I am evasive by nature."
"You're doing it again."
Artemis's lips twisted in what could have been a smirk. "As I said, it's natural. Impossible not to. Just like my incurable allure for crime."
"Artemis."
The genius pressed his lips together tightly.
Throughout this conversation, the two had been walking down through the carpeted hall. Reaching a doorway, the two of them entered Artemis's study. They sat themselves down, Artemis in his desk chair, and Butler on the couch. For a while, they both stared at each other silently.
Scattered papers rustled slightly as Artemis rested his arms on them. He'd neglected to clean up his research, lately, what with time-travelling and all.
Butler didn't say a word. Granted, he didn't need to. His eyes told it all.
Artemis groaned and put his head in his hands. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"No, Artemis."
There was a small twitch of the slender piano fingers.
Slowly, he slid his face out of his hands, leaving his fingertips touching his cheekbones.
"Why won't you....?" Artemis looked even paler than normal, and his eyes were impossibly large on his face. His fingers trembled on his skin. "Just...let this go....?"
Domovoi leaned forward with determination in his eyes. "When you need help, when you absolutely need it, whether you want it or not, you're going to get it."
HAVEN--SECTION 8
Present
"Signal....signal....D'arvit, where is he? He's always in his study!" Foaly tapped the screen impatiently.
Currently, in Fowl Manor, there was a small beeping sound coming from Artemis's computer. Although, unfortunately, Artemis was not in his study----a novel experience.
"Pick up the stupid signal!" Foaly muttered. "This is worse than telephones."
"We can always leave a message," Vinyaya suggested.
Foaly snorted. "Yeah, that'll go over well. 'Hey Arty, did you, by any chance, probe Atlantis lately for your own evil purposes?'"
"Not classy at all," Qwan said.
Foaly began tapping the screen again with a hairy finger. Beep. The beeping continued. Beep... Beep... Beep.
I really need to fix that beeping, Foaly thought. No wonder Mud Men are so short-tempered. Infernal cave-man machines.
"I'm hungry," N°1 said randomly.
"Me too," said Holly, picking at her last pieces of rice.
"Why can't you share?" N°1 pouted.
Beep.
"I'm all done." She stuffed the last mushroom in her mouth quickish.
"Liar!" N°1 wailed.
"Just how hungry are you?" Foaly asked. "I have some lovely cartons of beetle juice."
Beep.
N°1 visibly blanched. "No thanks. Not that hungry."
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
B---
"Hello?" Domovoi Butler's voice came over the speaker. "Is this Holly?"
Foaly shot a horsey grin at Holly.
"They automatically think it's you, huh?" he said, and pressed the answer button before Holly could retort. Butler's aging face appeared on the screen, standing above Artemis's computer. They watched as he awkwardly sat himself down in Artemis's rather small padded desk chair.
"Yeah, sugar," Foaly said to Butler in luverly falsetto. "This is Holly."
Holly's cheeks were red and she stabbed a finger."I do not sound like that, you horsey---"
"Foaly." Butler's voice came over the speaker quietly. "And hello, Holly," he added in a slightly warmer tone.
"N°1's here too," N°1 piped up. "Hey!"
"Nice to see you too," Butler said. "In a matter of speaking," he added, his eyes not quite focusing on the screen. "You forgot a visual feed on my end."
Dear Frond, he speaks more like Artemis every time I see him, Holly thought. It must be contagious. She'd have to be careful.
Foaly snapped a finger. "That's what I forgot!" he exclaimed, and there was a rapid patter of typed keys.
Butler's eyes seemed to meet the other pairs of eyes, losing their vague focus.
"That's better," he said."It's nice to finally see you all. Now..... " His face hardened.
"Is there any particular reason why you called?"
Everyone flinched as his icy tone.
The assembly of fairies were abruptly frightened, a primal instinct envoked, even though--in all honesty--Butler would never hurt them and they were thousands of miles away from him at the moment. He would have put Ares, the Greek war patron, to shame.
Steadily, he gazed at the fairy assembly. Not a calm gaze, not a quiet gaze, but one of the ice about to crack and plunge you into dead water below.
Holly was the first to speak. "B-Butler?" she managed.
Holly remembered something Artemis had said once, a long time ago..."Nobody ever calls me just to say hello." Why did situations always happen to them? The drama and the excitement? Why couldn't things be normal?
"Well?"
Domovoi's eyes were flint---when he was truly furious, his anger was not explosively fiery, but icy cold with the storm roiling underneath. "Anything you'd care to tell me? Anything at all?"
"Butler? What's--" Foaly started. Holly cut his clumsy question off.
"Is...is Artemis there?" Holly asked tentatively. She almost cringed when Butler switched his stare to her.
Abruptly, any trace of steely anger vanished from Butler's face, to be replaced by open shock.
"You mean you don't know?"