A/N: Okay, this will probably be the fastest update for a little bit seeing as I'm going to start a large number of projects in a very small frame of time and also try and keep up with them all. By the end of this weekend I'll probably have about four stories going all for different topics. This is my Artemis Fowl, which I have been stewing on for a while. It will be an Artemis and Holly fanfiction but not the sole focus of the plot will be on them. I plan on integrating Colfer's own style into this. I'm even bringing in new characters, and giving Minerva someone to enjoy. I do hope you like it, but be wary the rating may go up to T depending on my mood, so please understand you'll be subject to graphic details and slight cussing, but not much more. Thanks!

Artemis Fowl: The Enigma Complex

Chapter One

The Difference of Family

Every sweet has its sour; every good it's evil. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Salzburg, Austria, North of the Alps, later evening.

Artemis Fowl rarely liked to leave his home country of Ireland or his home of Fowl Manor where his somewhat demoted and retired friend Butler could keep an eye on him with ease. But at times the youth found it very difficult to wheedle out of every family occasion, and now Angeline Fowl had reigned in her son's acts and had him under a very watchful eye. So Artemis had followed his family to Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart, in order to stay on better terms with his mother's temperament.

He was now in the sitting room of a nice cottage that overlooked the historical buildings and was promptly bored by the entire scene before him. He had tired of the museums and statues years before and his mind craved stimulus. But there was no leaving in the middle of this, it was a family vacation, and a chance to get father out again; his mother had absolutely forbade his leaving Austria unless there was an absolute emergency. He somewhat regretted having to have told her everything about the People, but there was no denying his mother now. He could remember the anguish he felt as he spilled all his secrets to her, as he skated across his lies and deceit all over again; for his mother, no less. Perhaps he had gone soft in his time with the fairies, or that was how he'd felt at the time, only a week before their trip to Austria.

Angeline Fowl had fixed her eldest son with a curious gaze as he entered the small dining room in the west wing of the Fowl Manor, and for the first time she realized how he was awkward in her presence and perhaps even his home. Artemis had tried to case away all the excess emotions he'd had leftover from the previous day, and had made sure to spend a good deal of time meditating before meeting with his mother. Nevertheless, he had not managed to contain everything, and the guilt showed on his face.

They began talking in a relatively polite fashion, as though they'd just stopped on the street to chat, but eventually Artemis could sense his mother drawing in on the subject of their meeting, and she closed upon it like a shark to its prey. Due to his mothers horrendous experience with Opal Koboi he had been forced to tell his mother much more than he would have normally preferred, even the parts that showed him for the criminal pest he'd been as a child.

When his story was through Artemis sighed and leaned back in the dining chair, and waited for her reply. Inside he was a jumble of impatience and nerves at everything he'd just put on the table, but he remained calmer than most under her cool stare. She stayed like that for some time, unresponsive to anything but the thoughts inside her own head. Finally, she took a long deep breath in and murmured, "Oh Arty, it doesn't seem real. I know it is now though, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Artemis himself was puzzled by this response and waited again for her to continue and reveal more of the path of her thoughts.

"I should have been a better mother when your father was away, I should've brought you out of the family goldlust much sooner. There are so many things I should've done to help you Arty, and I didn't do a thing. And now you are more attached to these fairies and People than to your own family, and I can find no one to blame but myself."

He moved to speak, but Angeline raised her hand to silence him and continue on, but Artemis bristled with guilt all the same.

"As for the People and the LEP, I would prefer not to get involved in an interspecies war, though I doubt my discomforts will keep you from consorting with them. At the very least I would appreciate it if you let me know before you go to save the world again; I don't want to be in the dark if you disappear again. Maybe we could show this as an example that your People and us humans can get along, and perhaps we will be the first in a new order. I just need time to think Arty; you've given me a lot to think on."

At times the doubt in her voice was almost tangible, but Artemis knew that his mother had meant every word, the same way he knew she was his mother in the first place. Soon after that their conversation ended, but it would replay itself in Artemis's head time and time again.

It was this conversation that was currently running through the head of Artemis Fowl the Second as he looked out into the Austrian sky. He had thought it over so many times before, but he still could not figure out why his mother had reacted quite the way he did. After receiving a degree in psychology and writing several papers and articles on the field, Artemis was rather taken aback by this stunt in his thought process. Then again, having and raising children was a thought that had never crossed his mind and he'd never researched it, so he would have no idea the guilt that had wound its way into his mother's heart and why she blamed herself for his misdoings.

A harsh wind blew across the Austrian scene and Artemis found he longed familiar company and intelligent conversation. He reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out the fairy communicator he'd received from Holly so long ago, but found he had no new messages from her and her own way shut off, presumably in a pocket or at her home. Artemis stood and put the communicator back in place, berating himself for sounding so desperate in the last message he'd sent her, and he wondered if it was a small form of punishment on her part, or just mere coincidence. He'd been growing worried, it had been nearly two weeks since his last contact with the People, and the last time they'd gone quite so long without speaking was after he'd had his mind wiped.

The thoughts of Holly and the People were shaken off by someone coming in the door and he found he missed Butler's firm watch of things and his forewarning of visitors. He wished he could feel that reassurance as he stood in the living room that was half his normal bedroom, defenseless against an intruder.

Than the other members of the Fowl family bustled in with Juliet in their wake and Artemis was greeted by an enthusiastic hug from either twin. Really, he thought to himself, they must learn some self restraint.

His father smiled at the rather worked up boys and exclaimed that their skiing trip had been a success. Patting Artemis on the shoulder, his father followed the boys with Juliet up the stairs. Juliet nodded to him as she passed, a smile on her lips, but he knew no memories of their early adventures were left.

Angeline Fowl took Artemis in her arms and kissed his cheek as she yawned softly, and she smiled at him, cheeks still rosy from the frigid outdoor air. Artemis blinked at her tired smile, knowing to accept something good from her relaxed frame. She put a hand on his shoulder and told him something he hadn't realized he'd yearned so badly to hear, "I'm proud of you Artemis. You took the right path, even if you didn't always do the right thing."

With those simple words a tension loosened up within Artemis, and he felt himself lighten, but before he could reply, a harsh beeping interrupted him. His mother seemed to become more aware in an instant, and she blinked at him in surprise, the sound came from his jacket. "What is that Arty?"

Artemis was puzzled for a moment; his fairy communicator was on silent at all times, except…

"That Moth- Mom is a dire emergency."

Please tell me what you think! This is the beginning of a journey and I'm going to need serious feedback about what to do later on. The next chapter will be within the next week or so, so it won't be forever away. That's actually where the plot really gets started, this is just a bit of filler with a cliffy of sorts… Anyway, cookies to all who review!!!!!!!!!!!!

~Tamdiu