A lot of people have been saying that there are grammar mistakes in the first chapter. I'll tell you right out. I SUCK at grammar. If it weren't for spell check this would probably all be illegible. The bottom line is that I'm not going to be able to fix these mistakes on my own. It's not because I don't care, it's because I won't be able to find them on my own. So if you see a mistake please tell me so that I can go back and fix it. That being said: I don't own anything, enjoy the story, I like reviews, yadda yadda yadda...

Dublin

Holly flew with the thrusters set at maximum speed high above the ground, watching low clouds fly past her through the helmets visor. The readout on the nave-map said that she was just over ten miles away from Fowl Manor. Almost there.

"Ok," said Foaly in her ear, "Trouble's not happy about it, but he cleared you for a few more hours of above ground time. I told him you had personal business to attend to. I think he understands."

Holly blew air through her cheeks. "Alright, I'm approaching the target now"

She flew in a wide arc, air streaming past the shimmer suit as she dove through the cloud cover. Straight ahead, Fowl Manor loomed like a giant fortress in front of her. She flew over the high pentagonal outer wall and lighted on the lawn stowing her wings.

"Be careful Holly," advised the centaur. "Lets try to avoid another 'save the world' dilemma here"

"Hopefully this will all just be straightforward." Said Holly.

Foaly snorted into the mike, blasting her with static.

"Like anything connected to Artemis is ever straightforward."

Holly strode forward and went up to the door of the manor. Ordinarily Artemis would have already greeted her by now. She went up to the door waiting for him to open it and great her.

A minute passed with Holly standing, taping her foot on the steps flanking the door. Holly knocked on the door and looked in the window. No sign of Artemis anywhere.

Now seriously worried, Holly removed the Omni tool from her equipment belt and stuck the prong into the lock. Nothing happened. She stowed the Omni tool and looked around. There on the wall was a complex keypad and finger-scanning device.

She sighed. Of course Artemis would have put the highest-level security on his house. "Foaly, can you get me in?"

"What, he invites you over then locks the door?" he said.

"Just get me in, Foaly. This is serious."

"Ok, Ok. Just put your hand on it. I can probably get it from here."

Holly put her hand on the gel fingerprint scanner and tiny Omni sensors in her the fingertips of her suit connected to it, uploading all the information to the Foaly's computer.

"Devilish little caveroach, he put an indefinite matrix on here." complained Foaly (Holly opened her mouth to tell Foaly to get his butt in gear). "Hang on, I think I can bypass it."

A further minute of clicking and the door swung open ("Ha!" said Foaly). Holly rushed into the entrance hall with her Neutrino drawn. No sign of Artemis anywhere.

"Artemis?" she said cautiously, silence answering her back.

She set the visor to a thermal scan. There! On the third floor the thermal indicated a single person in one of the upper bedrooms.

Holly leaped up the stairs and raced down the hallway to the door the thermal had indicated. She stopped next to the door and set the Neutrino to the max setting. She had no idea what to expect. While the thermal showed all heat sources it could still be fooled and had been fooled before. Anything could be waiting for her in there.

The door was slightly ajar which could mean several things. Maybe Artemis had simply never bothered to close it. Or maybe someone was expecting her. In Holly's experience an open door was never a good sign. Hostages tended to be kept behind locked doors.

Holly nudged the door open with her foot, Neutrino drawn, and stepped into the room. At first she didn't see anybody in the room. She walked further into the room before she spotted a dark mass in the corner. Artemis was on the floor beside a table shivering lightly.

Holly felt years of professional experience drop from her like a discarded towel.

"Artemis!" She cried.

The Neutrino clattered to the floor as she rushed over to Artemis. She flipped him over but he did not respond to her touch.

"Foaly! Something's wrong with Artemis!" She shouted into her mike.

"No need to shout Holly. I'm right here," said Foaly. He typed something into the computer and Holly's helmet performed a few scans. "It looks like he's in a coma."

"What's wrong with him?" Breathed Holly her eyes darting over Artemis's tense frame.

"I don't know," replied Foaly. "Magic first, ask questions later. His vitals are dropping fast."

Holly nodded, biting her lip. She removed her helmet to better assess the situation. Artemis was deathly pale. He needed a shot of magic now. She twisted her chin sharply to the left until her neck clicked, summoning her magic. She could feel the power in her veins. A few stray blue sparks rolled down her arms. She placed her hands on Artemis's chest.

"Heal." She breathed.

Sparks jumped down her arms and across her fingertips like a river, sinking into Artemis's body. The instant the sparks touched him Artemis let out an ear-piercing scream, convulsing underneath her grip. Holly was so surprised that she almost lost her grip. She was about to lift her hands away and cancel the magic when Foaly spoke in her ear.

"Don't stop!" He ordered. "I don't know why he's reacting this way but the sparks are still doing their job. If you remove the magic now the shock of the transition could kill him."

Holly redoubled her grip upon Artemis, forcing the magic to keep flowing. Under her Artemis's back arched in agony.

Give him everything, thought Holly, every last spark.

She searched her body, getting every spark of magic from her ears to her toes and feeding them into Artemis. The last spark rolled down her fingers. Artemis was now covered in leaping sparks, seeking out tears in his tissue, repairing muscle damage, and stopping internal hemorrhaging.

Holly stepped back. She was completely dry. She doubted whether she even had enough magic to shield.

On the floor Artemis began spasming and his yells became louder.

"He's going into shock," said Foaly. "You need to hold him down. The sparks wont do him any good if he snaps his neck thrashing around like that."

Holly spun herself around behind Artemis. Bracing herself, she grabbed Artemis by the arms held him down, his head clutched in-between her legs to stop it from flailing from side to side. Shudders from his body ricocheted up her arms rattling her teeth. She had to hang on. Holly considered Artemis one of her best friends She didn't know what she would do if something happened to him.

More tremors passed through Artemis and, through him, Holly. Slowly, the shaking became weaker and Artemis's yells dropped. Then all was quiet. Holly got slowly to her feet. She felt exhausted. Artemis was now relatively calm and some color was even returning to his cheeks.

Holly gave a sigh of relief; it was over.

Artemis coughed and heaved slightly. Recognizing the signs, Holly pushed him onto his side just before he retched onto the carpet.

Well, she thought grimacing; I guess that's to be expected after what he's just gone through.

Artemis groaned whipping his mouth on his sleeve and sat up. He opened his eyes and focused on Holly.

"Holly." He said quietly. "You came."

Holly gave a wide smile. A single tear ran down her cheek.

"Of course I came for you Artemis." She said. "I couldn't let you die very well could I? Who would help me save the world?"

Artemis smiled and tried to get up. He stumbled and fell back down again. His limbs felt like they were full of lead. The sparks may have repaired the damage to his body but he had burned all of his energy thrashing around.

"Come on." Said Holly helping Artemis to his feet. "You should go get cleaned up"

"Ah yes." He said glancing down at the mess he had made on the carpet and then, regretfully, at his own sweat-soaked clothes. "I appear to have ruined a few of my possessions."

Artemis gathered a new outfit from his wardrobe and headed off to the washroom stumbling slightly on the carpet.

"Well... That was exciting" interjected Foaly who had remained surprisingly quiet throughout the ordeal.

"That's one way of putting it." Said Holly as she gathered her helmet and Neutrino and set them on the bed. "So what happened to him?"

"I'm not sure," said Foaly through a clenched jaw. He hated to admit there was something that he didn't know. "It's not a run-of-the-mill illness that's for sure. The symptoms are common enough for a seizure or a similar abnormality, but the way he reacted to magic..."

Foaly trailed off leaving Holly to her own thoughts. She heard the sound of a shower being turned on in the other room. It was definitely not normal the way Artemis had been caused pain when the sparks had touched him. Yet, he seemed ok now. Maybe the healing had cured whatever was wrong with Artemis.

"Well I guess I should head back down." Said Holly

"No." said Foaly thoughtfully. "Not just yet. I don't think what's wrong with Artemis was fixed by the healing, just abated."

"So what do you propose we do about it?" asked Holly.

"Well..." Said Foaly slowly. "I think your going to have to bring him down here. I need to examine him personally. His reaction to magic seems familiar for some reason."

Holly mulled it over in her mind. The last thing she needed now was to jeopardize her career by disobeying another order. Artemis might really be in trouble though.

"What about the Council? Or Trouble?" asked Holly. "And I don't know if I can get him down there. The wings are almost out of charge."

"I spoke to Commander Vinyáya" said Foaly. "She thinks that in light of Artemis's past assistance she can pull a few strings. And there's an unused cargo shuttle in bay 139. I have Mulch on standby. He can take the shuttle right up to the manor if he has to."

Holly thought for a moment. It sounded like a fairly sound plan except for where Mulch was concerned.

"Can't we get anyone else to drive the shuttle?" Pleaded Holly, remembering as she did so the damage that had been done to the last shuttle Mulch had piloted.

"Sorry." Said Foaly who did indeed sound legitimately regretful. "Vinyáya wants to keep it under wraps. We can't pull anyone else off the job. Besides you can pilot it back down. Mulch just has to get it up there."

"If Mulch can get it up here in one piece." Said Holly grumpily. Still, it sounded like the best way to make sure Artemis was ok. "Alright go ahead and send it up."

"I'm giving Mulch the go-ahead. He should be there in an hour or two."

"See you soon" said Holly taking off the earpiece and placing it next to the rest of her equipment.

Holly sat down on the bed and closed her eyes.

Another disaster adverted, she thought. I wish just once I could have a normal visit when I get a call from Artemis.

She snorted: Artemis normal. Yah right.