Sorry it took so long! and sorry about this chapter! It's a bit dodgy... But the next chapter will have a lot of new developments, and it WILL be posted in two weeks. So please don't give up on this story!
Artemis blinked. They were back in the study, and he and Sana seemed to have arrived without too much mishap. From his first journey in the time stream, Artemis had observed that his body had felt shaky, as if it could fall apart at any time. His violent reaction to exiting the time tunnel solidified his belief that one's atoms became unstable from entering and exiting the tunnel. He really would have to perform some experiments on it. If he could somehow replicate that kind of travel, travelling on Earth would forever be changed… Artemis let go of Sana's tense hand, shook the LEP officer's death grip off impatiently, and checked his body perfunctorily to see whether all his body parts were intact, putting his speculations somewhere accessible in his brain. Artemis walked over to the wardrobe and began to dress, looking around the study. No more fairies in suits and helmets, no more screens filled with Foaly's face, no more fat trails in the floor. Next to him, Sana had made her way to the pile of clothes she had discarded ten seconds ago (technically) and was already getting dressed. Behind him, the LEP officer was on his hands and knees, retching loudly. Artemis turned, buttoning the last button on his shirt.
"Officer," Artemis smirked, "As we are already here and 'settled', I think it's time you went back to your time, don't you think?"
Grub swallowed, picking himself up from the ground. "I think I'll stay here until you go to bed," he said, tottering on his feet.
Artemis gritted his teeth and forced his lips to curve upwards. He felt his chance at studying the time tunnel slipping away. "Officer. I believe that we are capable of going to bed by ourselves. You can go back to the future now." Grub gulped audibly. Artemis looked like he was about to take a chunk out of someone.
At that moment, Sana stretched and gave a yawn that seemed to split her face into two. Slumping, she caught Artemis' attention, signing her want to go to bed. Artemis nodded, getting her message, and she made her way out of the room slowly, stumbling half asleep down to her room. The last time she slept was on the shuttle going back to the Manor from Morocco, and that was a day ago. She fell on the bed, not bothering to undress, and promptly fell asleep.
Back in the study, Artemis was being mesmerised by Grub, who had just overcome his nausea and fear to remember that he, Grub, was a fairy and had magic.
"Artemis," he intoned, layering his voice heavily with bass tones, "Walk to your room." Artemis obediently turned and walked to his room. With more prompting, the boy got into his pyjamas and slid into bed. "Go to sleep." Artemis' eyelids drooped, and soon his breathing became deep and regular. Grub slumped to the floor, wiping his brow. Then he grinned and sauntered back to the study. As he invoked the time tunnel, Grub was already formulating all the stories he could tell his friends about how he had ordered the great Artemis Fowl around…
Artemis woke up, opening his eyes. For a moment red sparks had flashed and danced in front of his eyes, chasing each other's tails into nothingness.
Red sparks. Unusual. I have seen stars before, but never sparks.
Artemis stretched luxuriously, grabbing his duvet. A half-smile was hanging on the corners of his mouth.
I feel safe and happy.
The boy bolted upright, the bed creaking from the sudden movement.
Happy? I feel happy?
He hadn't felt this cheerful since his father's disappearance two months ago. Perhaps it was the deal with the Extinctionists… but that particular deal had left him feeling sick down to the very core of his being. So what was making him feel so optimistic? It had been a… dream. A plan…to get enough money to fund a hundred Arctic expeditions. That was it. The dream. What had it been about? Artemis tried to grasp the images fading away, tried to focus before they disappeared completely. He concentrated hard, and then his lips twitched.
Fairies. Something about fairies.Sana woke up, opening her eyes. For a moment red sparks had flashed and danced in front of her eyes, chasing each other's tails into nothingness. She closed her eyes again.
I feel safe. I feel happy.
The comfort and bliss she always experienced when her mother hugged her. She had not felt this content since that fateful night more than three months ago, and the swirling pot of emotions she had felt since then had not been helped by Artemis' deal with the Extinctionists, which had left Sana sick to the very core of her being. She breathed in deeply, her hands grabbing her duvet. She could almost smell her mother's scent of sun-bleached meadows and rustling trees… Unbidden, an image from a vague dream she had experienced just before waking. Greenish brown, or brownish green, eyes stared at Sana, boring a hole into the girl's skull. There had been words… but what had they been?
What was it? The eyes… The eyes want me to find it, but what was it?
Sana concentrated hard. There had been something about a tree and a river. Rowan tree? Holly tree? Ash tree? Oak tree? Oak tree! Next to a river. Was it the second, or the third? The third sounds about right. She racked her brains, trying to see if it really was the third oak tree next to the river. Nothing was suggesting itself, and Sana safely assumed that it was the third oak tree next to the river. And the only place she knew with oak trees was her home.
I need to go visit home. And I have to learn sign language soon too. It's getting tiring, writing down everything I want to say.
Butler walked slowly to the door of his young master's bedroom. Artemis' actions for the past few days had left Butler fighting against his morals and ethics. Although he was technically only a bodyguard, he felt that Artemis was the son he would never have. Selling an innocent animal had been bad enough, but selling the life of a human-like fairy? That was just… Butler grinded to a halt and knocked on Artemis' door heavily, the solid wood doors thumping dully from the impact of Butler's fist.
"Come in." Artemis' voice called from within. How his voice sounded young! Too young to be embroiling himself in the dirty cesspool of the world. Butler opened the door softly, and walked cat-footed into the room.
"Good morning, Artemis. I'm glad that you're well from your trip," Butler said stiffly. He forced the unpleasant memories of the past few days into a murky part of his brain and looked up into Artemis' deep blue eyes. Butler frowned. For an instant, he swore Artemis' eyes had turned red. He looked closely at the Irish boy. The red had disappeared. It must have been a trick of the light. Artemis looked bemusedly at his bodyguard.
"What do you mean? I got home after getting back from Morocco and have been sleeping ever since. All the trips I undertake are always with you."
Butler opened his mouth. "I mean, the trip to the – " Butler stopped. What had he been about to say? It had something to do with the girl… Girl? There had been no girl except Sana. Butler shook his head and freed his mind partially from the fog obscuring his memory.
"Anyway, all I wanted to say was that breakfast is ready, Artemis."
"Thank you, Butler. I'll come down when I'm dressed." Butler walked out of the room, shaking his head to try clear his head fully. Maybe he would go and train for a while. Training always cleared his head, and Butler doubted that training would fail him now.
Sana opened the door to the library. Breakfast had been delicious, as always, but her mind had been distracted by her decision to learn sign language. She knew Artemis was proficient, as he had learnt it while he was learning how to lip read – Artemis had always said that it was wise to learn it in order to be able to read the messages of the deaf and mute – so she knew there was a sign language dictionary in the library. Sana walked into the room, and looked up. Her mouth dropped open with astonishment. The library was huge! Just like the one in Beauty and the Beast, when the Beast took Belle to his library after the wolf attack. Sana never knew libraries like that existed! The last time she went to the library was when she was… three? She remembered trying to find Artemis for something or other, and then Angeline had taken her to the library, and a vague impression of vast spaces, but that was it. No wonder her mother had told her to come here! Rowan had always urged her daughter to the library, but Sana had always preferred climbing the numerous trees growing in the Fowl grounds. The memory of her mother reminded the girl of why she came in here in the first place. Hurrying to a computer sitting on a small desk next to the window, Sana opened up the database where all the contents of the library were stored and began to search for the dictionary.
Two hours later, Sana was still looking for the dictionary. Even though the database had told her where the book was in the library in a few minutes, the shelves were so big, the books so many, that she still hadn't found the stupid book yet. Sana began to make promises to herself.
One more shelf, or I'm giving up! It'll be after that book. No? Fine, after that white one. Maybe not. But it's definitely after that red-and-gold one.
She crawled along the entire length of the bottom shelf, looking for the dictionary. She was about to give up – there were only two books left – until a thick blue book caught her attention on the next bookcase. She stood up, wincing at the protest her stiff knees were yelling, and hobbled over to the book. A large title adorned its spine: Dictionary of Sign Language.
What? But the computer said that shelf! Which stupid person put the stupid dictionary away in the wrong place??!!
Sana scowled, grabbing the dictionary off the shelf, and then made her way back down the stairs onto the bottom floor and out of the library, hugging the tome to her body. She slowly made her way down the corridor and into her room, throwing the volume onto her bed. It landed with a thump. Sana flopped onto the bed next to it. She eyed the brick lying next to her with distaste. She knew there were a lot of signs, but to fill up a book that big? Sana sighed. She had decided to do this, and her mother had always told her to face the consequences. The girl sighed again. It looked like there'll be a lot of sleepless nights in her future.
Please keep supporting this story and review! The next chapter will be awesome and long and everything fabulous.
I'm just making up excuses for this crap chapter, aren't I?
