I know people were thinking this would be an epilogue. Instead: part three! Hurrah! Moving into the last act here, folks.

Part III

Chapter Twenty: Lucky

If Angeline and Artemis Fowl I are surprised to come down for brunch and find their breakfast room already occupied by various exhausted looking - and mostly unexpected - people, they don't show it.

'Good morning, Mother, Father,' Artemis, dark circles under his eyes, is spreading marmalade on his toast. 'Lovely day, isn't it?'

'Very,' Angeline smiles. 'And how nice to have company for it. Though would anyone mind if I opened the blinds a little more?'

The slatted wooden blinds are almost entirely closed, letting in only faint slits of watery November sun. The room is dim, but Mulch has made sure to sit in its darkest corner.

'Actually, I've got an awful headache,' Juliet lies quickly. 'I'm sorry to be a pain, but I just couldn't take light right now.'

Underneath her tan, Juliet is pale from lack of sleep and, like Artemis, her eyes are underlined in violet. Angeline eyes the group before her, frowning with worry. 'Of course not, Juliet.'

'You lot look terrible,' her husband grins. 'Did you have a good night?'

Holly looks up from her fruit. 'One to remember,' she deadpans. Nodding their heads, her companions chuckle quietly in agreement.

Artemis Senior knows asking for elucidation will only get him a long and involved lie.

Escorted by their nanny the twins arrive, joining the already crowded table.

'What have you been doing?' Myles asks, frowning like his mother. 'It looks like none of you slept.'

'That's because we didn't,' Mulch pipes up from his corner. He rolls his eyes, turning to Artemis, 'Really takes after you, doesn't he, this one?'

Myles and Artemis both purse their lips.

Juliet giggles.

'We were visiting Minerva,' Artemis looks his younger brother in the eye. 'She'd taken several things of mine that I needed back.'

Myles swallows.

Unnoticed by everyone but Angeline, Holly raises a sceptical eyebrow at the possessive pronoun.

This is too much for Artemis Senior: he opens his mouth to ask, but Angeline gives a quick shake of her head and he closes it again, sighing.

Later that day, Myles stops Holly on the stairs as she returns from the gym.

'Are you alright?' he asks her, his big child-eyes wide.

Holly blinks. 'What do you mean, Myles? Of course I'm alright.'

'No, I mean, did Minerva do something to you?' The boy is smart enough to have put two and two together and come up with the only thing Minerva could have stolen that would cause Artemis to chase after her that same night.

'Oh.' Holly shakes her head, 'No, she didn't do anything to me. Your brother was too fast for her.'

Myles nods, taking this to mean that Artemis has succeeded in curing Holly. 'Will you be leaving us now, then?'

'What?' The woman is baffled. 'Who told you I was leaving?'

The boy frowns. 'Minerva did. She said Artemis was going to cure you because you were different and then you'd ... go.'

Holly stares down at his heart-broken little face. She sighs and, putting a finger under his chin, squats down to his level. 'Minerva had it backwards, Myles. I'm not going anywhere, don't worry.'

'Ever?' he asks.

She laughs. 'Well, I mean, let's put it this way: if I go away, I'll always come back. Is that okay?'

Myles' face is identical to Artemis' when she refuses to live at the Manor. 'I suppose,' he says at length.

Still chuckling, she rises, ruffling his hair. 'Thanks for your permission. I'll see you at dinner, okay?'

'Alright.' He cranes his neck to watch her as she continues up the stairs.

Artemis is still in his clothes, asleep on top of his duvet.

Holly smiles and, instead of heading straight to the shower, pads over to the bed.

His eyes open as she approaches and he yawns into his sleeve, shaking his head. 'How on earth do you have the energy to jump about like a maniac right now?'

'Well, I wasn't running around flying across the continent in the wee small hours of the morning.'

'No, you were tied to a chair and being threatened with syringes, so the question remains.'

She smoothes back his hair. 'I guess I'm still running off adrenaline. Or maybe it's all of my healthy living coming into its own.'

He harrumphs.

'Did you know,' Holly changes the subject, 'that Minerva told Myles you were trying to cure me and that when you did, I'd leave forever?'

Artemis rolls onto his back, rubbing his face with both hands. 'Did she now? Well, that makes things clearer.'

Holly frowns. 'What things?'

'Nothing important,' he says, playing with the hem of her shirt, making her unconsciously lean closer.

'Right,' her scepticism is plain to hear.

'Honestly,' he says, openly pulling her towards him.

Holly raises her eyebrows, 'Oh, I believe you,' she smirks. 'So much so that I'm going to go have my shower now.' She's off the bed before he can react.

Artemis makes a face. Foiled. 'It really isn't important,' he calls to her as she heads to the bathroom.

He can hear her laughing as she turns on the taps.

It's three days before Holly and Juliet finally make it back to their flat. In that time Artemis comes up with a myriad of different schemes to keep them at the Manor; not that he has to try very hard; neither of them, especially Holly, are in any hurry to go.

'You know,' Juliet speaks while serving Holly squash soup, 'you could have just stayed.'

'I signed the lease for a year,' Holly reaches for a slice of ciabatta.

Juliet shrugs, sitting down to her own bowl. 'The term's almost over, I'm sure I could find a new student to sublet for Hilary.'

Holly shakes her head. 'I'm staying 'til my lease is done. I like having my own space. Unless, of course, this is a ploy to get me out of here so that Arthur can move in?'

The other woman laughs. 'Not at all. God, we'd need a whole other flat just for his books.' But Juliet's gaze drifts, sliding out of focus as she thinks.

Holly smirks. 'Right, and that would just be terrible.'

'Shush, you.' Juliet snaps back to the present.

In the end, it's Artemis (and, by extension, Butler) who moves out first; buying, that April, a loft apartment near St. Stephen's Green. He leaves his post at the university at the end of Trinity term, becoming a guest lecturer there instead of a permanent one. Everyone - especially his students - feels that this is for the best.

The year passes quietly enough. Christmas dinner, and all of its accompanying meats, is as awkward as everyone had hoped it wouldn't be but knew it would. A few months later Holly is nearly crushed by an errant tractor when she goes to Kansas to arrest a gang of dwarves stealing cows from local farmers. Around Easter, she and Artemis don't speak to each other for two weeks over something trivial that neither can remember at the end of the fortnight. N°1 and Mulch come up to spend Beltane with their favourite humans and they all go down to the beach once the sun has set, picnicking and watching N°1 try to catch seagulls.

In the summer Artemis begins working on Riemann's Hypothesis. He debates whether or not, when he arrive at the proof, he will make his results known. The ability to bypass any and every number code, as he believes the proof will do, is worth slightly more than a measly one million American dollars, after all; especially considering their recent fall in value. Of course, that's without factoring in Holly's fury when she finds out what he's doing.

As the summer progresses, however, Artemis does have to admit that, so far, she has stuck to her word to accept his less-than-saintly moments without comment. In August he begins an illegal trade in soy products with a friend of Doodah Day's and, when she figures out what he's up to, she barely bats an eyelash.

'Just don't let Trouble catch you,' she says, and returns to frowning over her income tax forms.

Occasionally, her unwavering acceptance makes him feel slightly guilty. Usually, he assuages this by taking her somewhere exotic.

Then again, stealing countless billions from anyone and everyone on the planet is slightly larger than harmless unauthorized imports.

But what if he stole billions and then donated half of them to numerous charities? Think of the advances the human race could make if Exxon had a few billion less and the World Wildlife Fund a few more. Surely she would agree to that?

At any rate, he's a few years from proving the hypothesis – he can cross that bridge when he gets to it.

As to the question of Holly's living arrangements, it's never really addressed. One night, during the last month of her lease with Juliet, she comes to have dinner with Butler and Artemis and is still there three weeks later. During this time Butler and Juliet surreptitiously begin to move her things into the apartment.

'Wait,' Holly stands in the walk-in closet, two weeks after the dinner, 'I don't remember bringing the Matt Doodys over. Or my trainers, for that matter. How did they get in here?'

Still in bed, Artemis shrugs.

Not hearing his shrug, Holly pokes her head back into the room. 'Artemis, are you having Butler bring my things over?'

'No,' he tells her, propping himself on his elbows.

She narrows her eyes.

'Honestly,' he says, lying back down. Holly clicks her tongue and Artemis asks, 'Why are you getting up now, anyway? We've nowhere to go.' Having Holly around all the time is making him indolent.

She laughs. 'If I don't, we'll stay in bed all day.'

'I fail to see the problem with that. Look, it's even raining; why bother going anywhere in such miserable weather?' He gestures towards the floor to ceiling windows. The panoramic view of Dublin stretching out before them is grey, berated by a sudden summer storm. Far below, the still green treetops of St. Stephen's poke through the mist, made all the brighter by their dreary surroundings.

Holly laughs. 'Fine. But only until noon. After that I'm out of here.'

'Of course,' Artemis replies, without believing a word of it.

'Minerva phoned today,' Butler says one September night, as they sit down to dinner.

Artemis raises an eyebrow.

'She's in Cork with her father and brother. Wanted to know if we would like to have lunch.'

'Why on earth would we want to do that?' Artemis asks, with only the slightest emphasis on 'we'.

Butler shrugs. 'It's been a while since...'

'I think we should go,' Holly says.

Artemis looks at her, his surprise evident. 'You hate Minerva.'

Holly plays with her spaghetti. 'She's a rich, spoiled brat, but she's not so bad, really.'

'Have you forgotten last November already?'

'No, obviously not. It's just...' Holly shrugs, looking at Butler. 'Look – I can understand why she did it. It wasn't out of greed, it... She wanted your attention, that's all.'

Artemis blinks. 'She wanted a Nobel Prize.'

'Well, yes, that too. But that wasn't really all of it, was it?'

Artemis raises his hands in a gesture of confused acceptance. 'Well, since you both seem so anxious to go...'

'I'll tell her we're coming then, shall I?' Butler asks, smiling.

'If you must.'

Holly comes to help Butler as he empties the dishwasher. Artemis is typing away in the study. The sun is sinking below the city skyline, reflecting red and gold off the windows of the flat.

'You really want to see her again, don't you?' Holly asks, as she stretches to put away the plates.

'Minerva?'

'Mm.'

'Yes,' Butler sorts silverware, 'I do.'

'It's hard isn't it?' Holly grabs a handful of spoons, 'Always having to forgive and forgive and forgive.'

Butler nods. 'Do you ever find that you start to hate yourself a little for being so pathetic?'

'No,' Holly shakes her head. 'Forgiveness gets a bad rap in situations like this; it takes a lot more guts than people give us credit for. It takes courage to bare your throat to someone who has bitten you before.'

Butler eyes the tiny woman before him. 'You've changed your tune, Holly Short.'

She smiles. 'I have, haven't I? Which isn't to say that there aren't going to be times when I hate his guts; I'm sure I'm going to spend a good portion of my human life yelling myself hoarse. But what I'm trying to say is that I - we - shouldn't feel bad about it.'

He chuckles, 'Our roles certainly have reversed.'

Holly smiles. 'I wonder who's the luckier of the two?'

Minerva, though oblivious to the distress she's causing, is just as anxious about lunch. She catches herself twisting the hem of her shirt in her hands and forces them to lie still on her legs. Just then, the door of Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud opens and in they walk. Her hands return to her shirt.

'Minerva,' Butler moves forward, knowing he will have to play peacemaker throughout meal.

'Butler,' her face lights up as he opens his arms, though her smile wavers slightly. Without hesitation, she walks into his embrace. 'It's good to see you,' she murmurs into his shoulder, hugging him tight. Behind him, she can see Artemis, his eyes hooded and cold. She watches Holly as frowns, elbowing him in the ribs.

Butler steps back, pulling out Minerva's chair for her to sit back down. She knows better than to move forward for a greeting from Artemis, but still has to swallow her disappointment as she sits.

'Hey,' Holly sits next to the blonde; Artemis sits across the table, as far away as possible. 'How are you doing these days, Minerva?'

Minerva looks at the other woman, confused. Of all the people to be kind to her, Holly Short is the last person she would have expected. 'I'm fine. Keeping busy. I've studying for another Masters degree in 20th century Latin American Literature. A lot of Neruda, that sort of thing, you know.'

Holly doesn't know, but makes an effort. 'Are you enjoying it?'

'Oh yes,' Minerva smiles despite herself. 'I've never really made as much time for art and literature as I should have and Neruda... well, he writes so beautifully.'

'Do you speak Spanish, then?'

'Yes, I learnt when I was twelve.'

'Right,' says Holly, and looks to Butler for help. Surreptitiously, she kicks Artemis under the table. He remains mute.

Butler, however, is more than capable of keeping the conversation afloat. His efforts, with the occasional comment from Holly, keep the lunch going smoothly. Or, at least, as smoothly as it can be hoped to go with a dead-white statue lording it over one end of the table, oozing cold and disdain. Every once in a while, Holly gives him another kick for good measure, but Artemis may as well be a statue for all the response he shows.

At last, the food is done and even Butler is beginning to feel the weight of Artemis' perverse silence.

'It's been good to see you, Minerva,' he says as they rise from the table.

'You too. Really, I –' she pauses, fiddling with her hem again. 'Thank you, Butler,' she says at last, looking him in the eyes. She is perfectly aware that he is the only person at the table who, currently at least, genuinely cares for her.

Holly puts a hand on the other woman's shoulder. 'You should drop by the flat the next time you're in town. It's got a wonderful view and that way you two could play chess all day long,' she smiles.

'That would be lovely,' Minerva says in a small voice.

Holly can feel Artemis' eyes jabbing her in the back. She ignores him. He briefly considers passing a snide comment about inviting Minerva to the wedding but knows that not only is this vastly premature, but that it will get him more than just a subtle kick under the table.

He opts instead for, 'Shall we go, then?'

Butler and Holly exchange a look and, waving to Minerva, follow Artemis out onto the pavement.

Once safely in the car, Holly lets him have it.

'Artemis, what under the earth got into you? I have never seen such rudeness from anyone in my entire life!'

Butler, knowing this argument had been imminent, has refused to let her drive, so she sits twisted around in the front passenger seat, glaring at Artemis over her headrest.

'Really? I have.' Artemis looks her straight in the eyes. 'From you, when we met Minerva at that conference in London. Or had you conveniently forgotten your behaviour then?'

'That's not the same. I have a reason to be rude to her, you don't! She's your friend.'

'You have a reason to be rude to her, but I don't? She kidnapped you!'

'Isn't that supposed to be my line? And might I remind you that once you let her kidnap me.' Holly is even angrier because she knows he's got a very good point.

'To save N°1,' Artemis bites back. 'Or would you rather have left him there? To be subjected to goodness knows what?'

'Don't talk to me about subjecting fairies to goodness knows what, Artemis Fowl!' Holly spits. 'That's hardly a subject that will do you any favours.'

Artemis' face is pinched and closed. 'Stop dragging up the past, Holly. That was years ago and you know perfectly well that I've changed. Drastically.'

'Yes, well, maybe so has she. But what, only the great Artemis Fowl II deserves a second chance?'

'You're being an utter hypocrite. You were frightful to her before - hardly giving her a second chance then, were you? Don't try to pretend to be a saint, Holly Short, because you aren't.'

'At least I'm not a monster,' Holly snaps back.

Artemis recoils as if slapped. For a brief second his eyes are wide with hurt, but then he turns his face away and, silent, watches the city flow past his window.

Holly faces forward with an angry 'Ugh!', swiping viciously at her treacherous eyes. She hates it when Artemis reminds her of how cruel he can be, and it's that, more than anything else, that has made her angry. She takes a deep breath and slouches in her seat. You made a choice, she tells herself, and you knew exactly what it entailed. So grow up and deal with it. He is always going to be that person. Besides, he's right; you were hardly lovely to her yourself at the conference. You're hardly being lovely right now. You can't blame him for being angry.

Her head falls back. Frond, it's even worse when he's right.

Butler doesn't say anything, but thinks that he's lucky that at least he's been spared from the pain of things like this.

Holly sits on her hands on the edge of the bed and looks at her toes. Artemis is still in his study, clearly wanting to ensure sure she's fast asleep before he comes to bed. She pulls a face and stands up.

The living room is dim, lit only by the streetlights through the glass walls. She pads across, heading towards the sliver of yellow peeking out from below the door of the study.

Entering without knocking, she drags a chair over to his desk and sits down cross-legged. His profile is perfectly composed as he studiously ignores her.

She sighs. 'I'm sorry, Artemis. It was a terrible thing to say and, at any rate, you were right – I've been horrible to her too.'

Silence except for the sounds of the keyboard.

Holly frowns. 'I mean it, Artemis, I'm sorry.'

More typing.

'Look, what else is there to say? It's not like you're some poor victim here, you behaved as badly as I did to her.' Holly clenches her fists in her lap, fighting to keep her temper down. 'I'm sorry, alright?'

He checks something in one of the many books beside him.

She growls quietly. 'What else do you want, Artemis?'

Artemis chuckles, turning to her at last. 'To see how long it took for you to get angry again.'

Holly stares at him. She drops her head into her hands, groaning. 'I hate you,' she says, laughing as she stands.

'With good reason,' he replies and moves to let her join him in his seat.

'Next time, just be a bit nicer, okay?' Holly says sometime later. 'For Butler's sake.'

'Butler?' Artemis frowns, puzzled.

'They're friends, Artemis. He cares for her. And so do you.'

'You don't though, so why does it matter to you?'

Holly sighs, pulling away. 'I guess... I just... I can understand how she feels. I can sympathise with her, even if I don't like her.'

'How annoying,' he tugs her back. 'All that empathy will get you, Holly, is obnoxious house guests.'

She moves closer, laughing.