Artemis sighed and massaged his temples with his fingertips. The Fowl Star had been swallowed by the freezing expanse that is the Atlantic Ocean, and with it, a large investment, support from the thieves and conmen of the world, as well as the creditors who would kill to get their share of the Fowl fortune. It had been two months since the accident, and the Fowl's prospects looked grimmer than ever. He had already auctioned off the Rembrandt sketch, fetching a price of over seventy thousand euro, but that had been used to finalise the various debts caused by the sinking of the Fowl Star. Artemis had also used the money to pay the final payment for the mortgage. He hadn't even known there was a mortgage on the family estates. At least there would be no more trouble over the estates. Going back to the only computer in the entire mansion (although that was about to change. Artemis had just ordered twenty desktops and laptop computers from Dell), he looked over the accounts for the past two months. Computers, check. Mortgage, check. Debt to Montinelli family, check… As he added the sums up, mentally checking off every payment, he reminded himself to leave five thousand euro for the Arctic expedition. Content with the figures, he reached over to the pile of letters next to the computers. Now that all the other staff members were gone, Butler had replaced all of them. In fact, he was much better at their jobs than the professionals. And Butler was one person. Artemis sifted through the letters. One letter addressed to his mother caught his eye. Looking at the header, he recognised their bank's symbol. Feeling trepidation, he quickly sliced it open with his father's letter opener. His letter opener. Artemis unfolded the bank statement, and scanned it quick. He groaned. Angeline had wasted yet another large sum of money on her quest to save the world, believing that her husband could quickly replace that money. Artemis looked at the figure at the bottom. Five thousand euro. His mother had used the money Artemis had prepared to use to search for his father on some environmental concern. Sighing, Artemis grasped the letter and left in search of his mother.


Angeline was crying. Anyone who saw their mother crying would soften. Artemis could not afford to be soft anymore. In order to get the attention he needed, Artemis needed to be stronger. No one took a ten year old seriously, let alone a blubbering whelp. He told himself to be strong.

"Mother, what is this?" Angeline focused on her son.

"Arty, little Arty. Come and sit with me." His mother looked terrible. Her skin was pale, so very pale you could see the veins under the skin clearly. The black mascara rimmed her eyes, streaking down her face. Artemis could feel his resolve melting away.

Be strong.

Artemis tried to jog Angeline's memory. "I want you to explain this fifty-thousand-euro cheque to a wildlife centre in South Africa." Angeline looked bewildered. Artemis, fearing for his mother's sanity, fearing that the House of Fowl would fall, fearing that his father would never come back, lost his patience with his mother.

"Mother, please. Try to think. We do not have spare funds for South African charities. All the staff have been let go except Butler and he hasn't been paid for a month."

"Lemur! I remember now. I bought a silky sifaka lemur."

Artemis rebuked his mother coldly. He felt like he was changing into another person. What am I becoming, he wondered, if I can talk to my grief-stricken mother like this? The reason came to him almost immediately. I am a Fowl, and Fowls have always triumphed in the face of adversity.

As Artemis baited Angeline to find out where the lemur was, he wanted to scream out his frustration. Father is missing and you have spent the expedition money on a lemur! His mother's delicate situation prevented him from shouting obscenities. His rage simmering, Artemis came to a conclusion. If I cannot take back the money, I will have to earn it back. Artemis exited the room. As he walked back to his room, Artemis decided on a plan. Animals previously thought to be extinct were extremely valuable. If he could sell the lemur, then Artemis would be able to regain the expedition money as well as a substantial profit. He reflected on the idea, and, sifting through his vast mental list of animal traders, Artemis decided to sell the lemur to a group of Extinctionists famous for the high prices they paid for rare, endangered animals. Artemis was horrified at himself. It had taken him all of three minutes to decide on a course of action so repulsive there was no name for the plan he was about to undertake. Be strong. No matter what it took, Artemis was going to find his father and bring him home.


Sana, spread out on her bed, stared at the ceiling and sighed. Ever since Artemis Snr had disappeared, Artemis had withdrawn from all unnecessary contact with other people, and Angeline's risk of becoming insane grew larger day after day. She sighed again, then picked herself up and began stretching. Sana slowly lowered herself into a split. Her ambition was to become a dancer, and so she had to be as supple as a snake. The sound of Artemis's door opening and closing made her sit up and take notice. Artemis had been practically living in the study for the past few months, and he had rarely stepped into his room, conducting business meetings and whatnot. Sana crept to her door, opening it slightly, and peered through the crack, to see Artemis dressed in the navy suit he wore to the Convent Garden opera, walking towards the kitchen. Where is he going, dressed so formally? Spontaneously, Sana stalked Artemis until she heard Butler's voice. She quickly pressed herself against a wall, then cautiously sneaked to the kitchen doorway.

"… It will give me a chance to try out my flamethrower." Huh? Flamethrower? "Are we going somewhere formal?"

"Nowhere formal," Artemis said in a voice that sent chills up Sana's spine, "Just business. I am in charge of the family affairs now, and so I should dress accordingly."

"Ah… I detect a distinct echo of your father." Sana heard cleaning sounds. "We have some typical Fowl family business to conduct, do we?"

"Yes, with a monkey's uncle." A monkey's uncle? Had Artemis finally cracked? Sana hesitated, then stepped into the doorway. She wrote I'm coming too on her board, and then tapped Artemis on the shoulder, showing him what she wrote.

Artemis, turning around quickly, said coldy, "No. You will be in my way. Now go and do your homework, like the good girl you are."

Sana fought hard to control the chills she felt at the new Artemis, writing, I am coming to look after you, as your father told me to do. Artemis's face twisted. No matter how he felt about a matter, what Artemis Snr had said was now his code for living. Still, he presented his arguments.

"I have Butler with me. He can protect me well enough. If he has to protect the both of us, then it'll mean increased danger for me."

Sana stood her ground. Artemis stood there impatiently while Sana wrote down her argument. I am coming with you. I can protect myself, thankyou very much. I am going, and nothing can change my mind. She felt like the only thing she could do for Artemis Snr was to try keep on the straight and narrow. Whatever the outcome was, Sana was going to do her best. Recognising the look on Sana's face, Artemis sighed. Nothing he said would be able to change her mind now.

"We leave in thirty minutes for Rathdown Park. Do not be a hindrance if you decide to come." Artemis swept past Sana on the way to visit Angeline once more before he left. Sana stood, bewildered at the turn of events. She had even thought of what she would say three turns later. Then, elated and scared at her triumph, she raced upstairs and got dressed in her most comfortable clothes. As long as she was allowed on these trips, Sana was determined to do her best to fulfil Artemis Snr's wishes.


Artemis stood before his mother's doorway. Gathering his nerve, he knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Artemis entered the room. Crossing the carpet carefully as so not to step on the vines and bring bad luck, he stood next to his mother. "Mother, I am leaving for a school excursion to Stonehenge. I will see you in a few days."

Angeline looked up and met her son's eyes. "Who are you? What are you doing in my room?"

Artemis reeled back. "Mother, what's wrong? It's me, your son, Arty."

"No you're not! Do you really think I'm so stupid as to not know my son? My Arty is visiting my lemur!" Angeline's voice rose hysterically. "How did you get in here? Get away from me! My husband is an important man, you know. He will find out who you are and punish you for entering my room! Get out! GET OUT!" The last words were screamed out, the last syllable swallowed with panic-stricken sobbing. Artemis stumbled out of the room, not caring if he stepped on a vine or not, then, still in a dazed, tripped down the stairs. His mother had not recognised him. Artemis stumbled on a stair, sliding down the last couple of steps. The fall snapped him out of his daze. Artemis knew the only way to save his mother was to find his father. And by recognizing this fact, Artemis blew away the last shreds of doubt on his plan surrounding the silky sifaka lemur.


Butler entered the study silently. He had heard unknown voices in there, when there shouldn't be any voices. A vaguely familiar voice was speaking.

"Calm yourself, Captain. He stays outside. I saw it with my own eyes."

Butler spoke up. "Saw what with your own eyes?" The taller of the two spun around. The dim lighting made it hard to discern their features. The smaller one had on a silver wig and Butler could recognise the clothes they wore. How did two children get into the Fowl Manor in their underwear? "You two kids have been helping yourselves to the Fowl wardrobe I see. Now are you going to cause a fuss or are you going to come quietly? Let me give you a hint, the correct answer is come quietly."

The smaller one, with the star-ship trooper hair, spoke up in compelling tones. "Stand down, human." Butler felt woozy, which triggered his alarm. These kids were controlling him!

"What? How did you…" Butler stumbled backwards, bashing his shoulder on the arch behind him. The pain woke him up, to some extent.

"Sleep, Butler." How did they get his name? They were smarter than they looked. He had to neutralize them before they could harm Master Artemis or Mrs. Fowl. Butler reached for the tranquilizer pistol, hesitating slightly before laying his hand on it. After all, children could be dangerous. Example: Artemis Fowl. The star-ship trooper came out of the shadows. She had different coloured eyes. One blue, one tawny. The blue was vaguely familiar. Butler registered her voice again.

"Sleep, Butler. Aren't your eyelids heavy? Sleep." They were hypnotizing him! Butler dragged the pistol out slowly, his hands feeling stiff and soft.

"You sleep." Butler shot the girl. Before succumbing to the anaesthetic, she moaned.

"Not again." Again? He had never seen these people before. As she fell, Butler's head cleared. The little girl is the professional of the two. Eyeing the boy, Butler thought, I wonder what this scruffy individual contributes to the partnership.

The boy spoke. His voice sounded vaguely familiar. "Listen, Butler, I have something to tell you…" Butler did not waste any time. The thirty minutes were almost up, and Master Artemis did not like to be kept waiting.

"No, no, no. No more talking from either of you." Butler briskly pulled the trigger. The boy pulled out the dart. His face was shocked.

"Butler! You shot me." The boy fell to his knees, and then collapsed beside his companion. Butler reached over to sling the two children over his shoulders. Why was he so shocked? He looked sure that I would not dare to shoot him. And the only people I don't shoot no matter what are the Fowls and Juliet. Puzzling over this new thought, Butler walked out to the Bentley to where Artemis and Sana was waiting. Artemis looked faintly surprised at the extra luggage Butler was carrying.

"Who are they?"

Butler grunted and opened the boot, hoisting the two intruders into the boot. "I don't know."

"I am intrigued. Something extraordinary has happened here." Artemis studied the two closely.

Butler checked the boy's pulse. Still thumping away strongly. He bent over to check on the girl's pulse. "Hardly extraordinary. Two thieves somehow broke into the manor."

"They bypassed all the security. Not so much as a blip on the motion sensors?"

"Nothing. I just happened on them during a routine sweep. Hiding in the shadows, wearing cast-offs from the wardrobe."

As Artemis and Butler continued to discuss the intruders, Sana gazed at the boy. He reminded her strongly of Artemis, only older. Artemis after puberty, perhaps. Her attention switched to the girl, as Artemis said something about adult proportions and foreheads. The girl reminded Sana of someone she had seen in passing, out of a window when her mother went out for night-time walks. Sometimes she saw Rowan talking to someone who looked a bit like this girl… but that couldn't be possible, right? This girl wasn't human, and Rowan was definitely 100% human.

Her reverie got interrupted by Butler slamming the boot. Artemis was talking in his cold, cold voice again.

"It's a lemur, Butler. An I am away that you believe this operation is beneath us, but my father's life is at stake." A lemur, again? Sana tuned back into the conversation. "… and after we have done the deal with the Extinctionists, then I can decide what to do with our two guests…" Extinctionists? No way. Artemis would NEVER sell an endangered animal to the Extinctionists! Would he? Then Sana remembered the lemur. Oh my God. What has Artemis become? The conversation ended, and Sana slid into the rear seat after Artemis, shocked to the core. How can I protect him when he's doing the destroying himself?


And so we finally enter the first adventure of little Arty&Co.

Just to make sure, there will be no 'big Artemis' p.o.v.s in this adventure, as it hasn't happened yet.