Chapter Seventeen: Things Unveiled
Normally Matt would be disappointed if events made her lose a perfectly good bad mood. This time though, any thoughts of being angry had completely flown from her head.
When she had first burst into Artemis's room, determined to give him a piece of mind, she had hit someone standing behind the door. At first she assumed it was Artemis and felt a slight satisfaction, but upon closing the door she saw that she was mistaken.
"My God! It's… an Oompa Loompa?"
In truth Matt wasn't entirely sure what the little creature before her was, but, unless a clever disguise was involved, she was fairly sure it wasn't human. Matt got the feeling that she had just stumbled across yet another thing that Artemis would need to do some explaining about.
Tentatively she moved closer to the little person, who was now sprawled out on the floor. Unfortunately she had just gotten close enough to notice the creature's pointed ears when the door flew open again, this time connecting with Matt's skull.
"Oh geez, I hope I didn't just give you a concussion." Juliet closed the door behind her to see what damage she had done. To her surprise there was a creature on the floor that she had never seen before but somehow seemed very familiar. Juliet closed her eyes for a moment as a headache of her own came over her.
"Matt, who is that?"
Matt looked up from cradling her head. "I don't know. I was still trying to figure out what she is when you decided to bludgeon me with the door. I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking."
Juliet ignored her and moved to take a closer look at the mystery creature. As Matt had guessed it definitely seemed to be female, but the stranger thing was that it was glowing. Juliet shook her head. No, it wasn't glowing, there were just blue sparks traveling up her body to where the door must have hit her.
It's healing magic, said some part of Juliet. She wasn't sure where the words came from, but they felt right. She had learned that it was usually best to trust these kinds of instincts.
Suddenly the blue sparks stopped and the creature began to move.
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Mulch groaned loudly when he saw Foaly across the street from the detective agency. He had been hoping to take a break from his and Holly's never-ending investigation. Holly had left a few hours ago to beat up the Mud Boy or something, and it had looked like Mulch was finally going to have a moment of peace.
But no, here was Foaly, back again after only a few hours; apparently he didn't think his job was worth spending a full shift at. There weren't many things that really annoyed Mulch, but that centaur was quickly climbing to the top of his list. For almost two weeks now it had seemed that Foaly wasn't able to say anything to the dwarf except "Have you found Estella yet?", "Have you found any clues?", "Have you made any progress what-so-ever?", and "Has all of your detective experience come from bad movies or did you read up on some tips from James Bond novels too?" Mulch had no idea who James Bond was, but he knew an insult when he heard one, and from the look on Foaly's face as he trotted up the front stairs, he was bound to hear more of them soon.
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During the journey home, the air around Artemis was particularly tense. Under ordinary circumstances he would have most likely noticed the tension and tried to figure out the cause of it; after all, it wasn't like his father to be this angry. However, right now Artemis was too preoccupied with the problems of the fairy world, which was hard to focus on anyway thanks to the resurfacing image of the hurt look on Matt's face when he had left her behind without an explanation.
Artemis hoped that she wasn't too angry, especially since he was going to have to lie to her again to explain his hasty departure. He felt a twinge of guilt at the thought but pushed it aside; he had more important things to worry about. From the recording he had seen, it was clear that Rognab was hoping to create a new uprising against humans, probably expanding into an all-out war. He was communicating around the world by having key paintings stolen and moved to other places, and he had apparently somehow gotten Crane and Sparrow to be his middlemen. That explained why they had been trying so hard to kill Artemis after he had fouled up their network by stealing the Old Woman in the Wood painting.
For a second Artemis felt his heart stop. Of course, the stolen painting; that must have been why his father had come for him, why he was so furious. Somehow his father had found out.
Artemis tried to maintain a cool disposition as his mind raced. He didn't know just how much his father had found out, but it was bound to be enough. Artemis tried not to leave any trails, but he had left some encrypted files on his computer back home. His father must have hacked into them. That meant he had already suspected Artemis was up to something; he had had reason to invade his son's privacy and had known what to look for. If that much was true, then Artemis Senior had probably been very thorough in his investigation.
Artemis grimaced. His father was a very smart man. If he knew Artemis was a criminal, then he probably knew about the vast majority of his crimes. There would be no point in denying it; it seemed that now he would finally have to face some consequences for his actions.
He smiled grimly; at least Holly wouldn't be there to watch.
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Before Holly opened her eyes, she tried to remember exactly what had happened to her. She had broken into Artemis's room and then…gotten hit with a door…really hard. It must have been hard enough to knock her out for a moment, because she didn't remember falling, and she was most definitely on the floor now. But if someone had opened the door, that meant they had come into the room, and they had probably noticed the strange little creature on the floor.
Holly strained her memory, hoping against hope that it had been Artemis who had bludgeoned her with a door. Her heart sank as she recalled the shocked-looking Mud Girl who had stared at her before she had blacked out. Holly's heart sank even further as she tuned into the voices in the room. There was more than one person there. She listened more closely. It seemed that she hadn't been unconscious for very long; from the conversation Holly could tell that she had only just been discovered. More importantly, one of the voices was familiar.
She opened her eyes hesitantly and pushed herself up to a sitting position. She saw the girl who had knocked her out first, a lanky child in a school uniform, but it was the other person that made Holly feel hopeful. It had been almost two years since she had seen Juliet, with her there all Holly had to do was mesmerize the other girl and then Juliet would be able to help her find Artemis.
"Um, hello, Miss Oompa Loompa, or whatever you are." Holly stared blankly at the nervous-looking school-girl. What under Earth was an Oompa Loompa? "Are you a friend of Artemis's? Are you…his creation or something?"
For a moment Holly forgot all about her plans to mesmerize the girl. She was quite clearly insane. "His creation? What are you talking about, Mud Girl?" Holly turned to Juliet. "What have you been telling her?"
However, it didn't seem like the former bodyguard was going to be much help. Juliet was currently wearing a thoroughly mystified expression, as though Holly was someone she didn't quite recognize. Holly's eyes widened at that thought; it was true, Juliet didn't recognize her. She had never gotten her memories about the People back. The situation had suddenly gotten much more complicated.
Matt looked back and forth between the two women. "Do you two know each other then? Juliet, what exactly is this person? What's going on?"
Juliet was quiet for a moment, but then something seemed to come to her and she began to speak, more to herself than anyone else. "She's a fairy. Artemis captured her a few years ago…He had figured out that their were fairies living underground and he kidnapped this one so he could get their gold, but then they froze time and—"
"Juliet!" Holly broke in. "As happy as I am that you're getting your memories back, could you please stop spewing out all of the People's secrets? A mesmer doesn't always take you know."
Juliet blinked as she realized what she had been doing. Her new-found memories would have to wait; right now something had to be done about Matt, who was probably thinking she had gone crazy by this point.
Oddly enough Matt's expression was only one of moderate surprise. "Alright then," she said holding out a hand, "my name is Matt, it's nice to meet you. I'm guessing you don't want me to call you Miss Fairy, so could you tell me your name?"
Holly stared at the schoolgirl dumb-struck and hesitantly took her hand; this situation was just getting stranger and stranger. "My name is Holly. Um, are you all right Matt?" She looked into the tall girl's eyes and laced her voice with the mesmer. "You seem to be a bit too calm for someone who's just learned about the existence of fairies, maybe you should get some rest."
"No, I'm fine," said Matt, seemingly oblivious to the hypnotic effect of Holly's voice. "I've just had a rough day. At this point finding a mythical creature in my best friend's room makes perfect sense. By the way, do you know where Artemis is?"
Holly shook her head, now thoroughly mystified. Not only was this human remaining perfectly calm in a situation that would send many into a state of shock, but the mesmer seemed to be having absolutely no effect on her.
Juliet spoke up. "Well, it looks like we all have a lot of questions for our favorite boy genius. I happen to know his cell phone number; why don't we give him a call?"
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Artemis paced back and forth in his room. As soon as they had gotten home his father had insisted that Artemis confine himself so that his parents could have a moment to talk. Although a part of Artemis was angry at the childishness of being sent to his room, he was too busy planning to give it much thought.
Before he had gone upstairs he had given Butler his fairy phone and ordered him to leave the grounds of the Fowl estate in case Holly called. Come what may Artemis could not risk having his parents learn about the People.
Just then his door opened and Fowl Senior stepped inside followed shortly by a distraught-looking Angeline. Looking at his mother Artemis had a sudden urge to confess every misdeed he had ever done, if only so he could come clean, but he knew there was nothing to be gained by such an admission. If he admitted to something they didn't even know about yet it would only make an already dark situation far worse.
His father cleared his throat and began to speak rather grimly. "Artemis, I know that you are by no means an ordinary boy and I have never expected you to be one. You have always shown extraordinary skill and determination to achieve whatever goal you set your sights on, regardless of how it may affect others.
"I'll admit that this is at least partially my fault. I was never a very good role-model for you, Artemis. I always taught you to strive for power, no matter what the means. Since the incident on the Fowl Star I've been trying to make up for my mistakes, especially in regard to you. However, because of my guilt and the way you had been raised I knew I could only hope to change your values gradually. That was why I didn't do anything when I first found out you were continuing your criminal activities against my wishes. I know the thrill that comes from having a plan go well and it was natural that you would want to continue."
Artemis frowned, he had expected his father to have been angry about his crimes, but it seemed more like he was trying to make as many excuses to explain his son's behavior as possible. It also seemed that his father had known about his illegal activities for some time. Why was he confronting him now? There had to be something else going on.
"I had also noticed that your thefts were shifting to a more noble nature. My hope was that they would in fact help you to become a better person, but it seems I was sadly mistaken." Mr. Fowl gazed sternly yet sadly at his son before continuing. "Artemis, stealing is one thing but I'm not about to sit back and watch you become a murderer!"
He threw a newspaper onto Artemis's bed, but it was a few moments before the young genius noticed; he was too paralyzed with shock. Why on Earth would his father think he was a murderer? He slowly turned to look at the paper and his eyes widened when he saw the headline his father had opened to.
'Japanese Tourist Found Dead on Hotel Roof-top'
Artemis snatched up the newspaper and hastily read the article. Tomoe Kagawa's body had been found about a week after his confrontation with her but the information had been with-held from the press for a few days so the police could investigate possible foul play. It had originally been thought that she had been killed by some sort of electrical shock, but since no possible means had been discovered her death was being attributed to heart failure.
Artemis tossed the newspaper aside in a show of disgust. "You don't honestly think that I murdered that woman do you?"
His father scowled. "I don't want to believe it Artemis, but it fits too perfectly to be a coincidence. I've been remotely accessing your computer for a while now and I know you were investigating that woman right before she died. She was staying in the same town as you, she had affiliations with the Russian mafia, you clearly had some sort of contact with her, and it was even a Saturday when she died!"
Artemis was beginning to get angry and that was never a good thing when quick thinking was needed. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Although it pained him to admit it, his father's reasoning made perfect sense considering what he knew. The best course of action would be to just tell the truth, after all Artemis was in fact innocent…for once, but that meant saying that Kagawa had been remotely electrocuted by a device that there was no evidence had ever existed right when she was going to reveal who her boss was. Even in his head it sounded as plausible as B-grade science fiction. A few omissions would be necessary, but if his parents already knew about how much he had lied to them these past few years and were now accusing him of murder, would they be willing to believe what he said?
Artemis looked at his parents more closely, hoping for some clue to their thoughts; even now they probably knew more than they were letting on. His father's face was completely blank, clearly something he had mastered from years of practice, but his mother's was a different story; it was a mix of distress, hurt, and… hope?
Of course, his parents wanted him to be innocent; all he had to do now was tell enough truth to make the lies sound realistic.
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It is a very simple thing to intercept a phone call. It is even simpler when the call is being relayed by a primitive satellite created by a primitive species and you have technology several centuries ahead of theirs. However, despite just how simple the act was, the conversation being intercepted was of the utmost importance to the secret plans of hundreds, and the even more secret plans of the one who lead them.
10:30 PM, October 29th
"Hello?"
"Finally! I've been trying to call you for the last forty minutes! Where are you?"
"I'm sorry for your inconvenience Juliet, but in a bit of a predicament right now."
"What's happened? Have you been abducted?"
"In a manner of speaking. My parents have discovered some unsavory things about me and are insisting that I not leave the house until they find some way to reform me. They're also rather upset about the assassin that Butler had to kill to protect me a few weeks ago."
"So what did they find out that they're so upset about? Did they figure out that you're a thief?"
"…Is there a memo going around with that information? I'm getting a bit tired of people confronting me with knowledge they're not supposed to have. Did Butler tell you?"
"No, I actually just remembered about an hour ago. Speaking of which, I also recall that a few years ago there was someone you kidnapped…and she's sort of sitting next to me right now."
"What? What on Earth is Holly doing above ground?"
"It's something about being mad at you and wanting to get some information out of you even if she has to throttle it from you."
"Charming. Well, it looks like tonight is going to be one of the most stressful ones of my life. Kindly tell Holly that she can use her phone to call Butler and get all the information she needs. As much as I'd love to meet with her, I'm trapped in my house. My parents are keeping a ridiculously close watch on me. They think I'm in the bathroom now and I can't afford to be gone any longer, so if there's noting else…"
"Well, actually…"
"Why are those suddenly the worst two words I've ever heard?"
"Holly's not the only one here with me; your little cross-dressing friend was looking for you too. We all sort of… crashed into each other in your room."
"What! You mean Matt's seen Holly?"
"Yes, but on the bright side she seems to be taking it well, which is good because Holly's mesmer doesn't seem to be working on her."
"And that just makes me feel worlds better. Juliet, I hear someone coming. I have to go, but I'm counting on you to keep the situation as in-control as possible. Call Butler to help you. I'll contact you as soon as I can."
"Good luck Artemis."
End Transmission
This was an unexpected, but fortunate turn of events. Both Holly Short and Artemis Fowl were out of the way. Now they just had to make sure things stayed that way.
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A/N: Ha! I bet you'd all thought that I'd forgotten about this story, or that I'd given up! Not so! I was just…kind of busy…with my utter lack of things to do…and school, I do recall that there was school at one point. Anyway, the important thing is that I'm back and I'm still writing (and this story is kind of, maybe, sort of, just a little bit near to being done). Did you know I've been writing The Charity Case for over a year now? That is way too long for me to like one story. I'm hoping you still like it too.
Speaking of my writing, I'd like to quickly mention that I'm working on another story (though this one still takes priority) which will hopefully have its first chapter up in a week or two. I'm trying my hand at femmslash in the Beauty and the Beast fandom by pairing Belle with one of the triplets in her town. Be sure to check it out if you're interested.
Finally, I'd like to say that this chapter has received the Beta Curse. Although most of the chapter was read over and fixed up one of my betas went to France and the other got banned from her computer before I was able to finish. So any errors that still exist are entirely my fault. Still, thank you for the work you were able to do Elflover and Inkheart. You guys really are awesome.