Hi people! I'm officially back from the dead! It's been what, four months or something since I last posted. I'm EXTREMELY SORRY! DX I won't give any excuses though... because I don't have any! :P It's just been me being lazy... so yeah. I'm sorry :(

Ok, I'll stop grovelling and actually let you read this latest installment of The Dance Called Life. But before I do that, I must give a massive THANK YOU to my sister for her constant nagging (which I ignored half the time :P) and her live reviews :D YOU'RE AWESOMEEE~! ^^

Enjoy! *places a plate of cyber-cookies next to chapter to enjoy while reading*


Fowl Manor

Butler artfully tossed on to three plates a casual dinner. He made his way into the dining room and placed two of the plates in front of the two occupants sitting next to one another at the dining table. Sana nodded her thanks, as usual. Artemis mechanically started eating, forking food into his mouth, thought lines deeply furrowing his once-smooth brow.

Butler shook his head, worried about his young charge, but Artemis no longer listened to his bodyguard's advice, nor cared about the opinions of those around him. From what Butler had heard from his uncle Major before being contracted as young Artemis's bodyguard, Mr. Fowl was an intimidating, commanding man with more underground connections than the Godfather. And from the way that Artemis had been acting since his father's disappearance and his mother's slow descent into insanity, he was turning into the father he both loved and revered. Which would be a good thing, thought Butler, if not for the fact that Mr. Artemis Fowl's not the most ideal of role-models for young prepubescent boys, like his son.

His heart heavy, Butler walked to the attic holding the last plate, repeating the words Madame Ko had beaten – sometimes literally – into every trainee's head to prevent emotions from clouding their thoughts.

I am a bodyguard, first and foremost. I am here to protect my principal, who is Artemis Fowl Junior, and to do whatever task he wants done. I am a bodyguard, first and foremost. I am here to protect my principal...


Artemis quietly chewed a cherry tomato.

He contemplated on his work so far in researching fairies. Even though it one of the most ludicrous ventures he had undertaken since Artemis Fowl Snr had disappeared, all of the other more reasonable plans had fallen to pieces.

The main reason for their failure was, of course, his youth. None of his father's business partners had been willing to deal with a child, especially since the guardians of said child were not particularly stable, one being missing and the other rumoured to be going insane.

Artemis' frown deepened at all of them, at their many polite, subtle but firm rejection letters for being their business partner littering his desk. His inventions could never be acknowledged fully until he became an adult, making his twenty odd inventions void as money-making endeavours.

He had thrown himself at his formerly neglected fairy research after the eleventh letter had arrived, since their prejudice had practically slaughtered, for the lack of a better word, his most lucrative plan. Artemis had expected prejudice from his father's former business partners but he had hoped it did not exist.

Artemis smiled grimly. I have to stop my habit of hoping for things. Hope cannot be used for everything. Except for the fairies…

Since he had begun his research, Artemis had regretted not pursuing this area of study with more earnest.

There are no concrete pieces of evidence whatsoever for the existence of fairies. Or should I say, in accordance to so many legends, the People. But... the sheer number of stories, myths, legends and folk tales that exist have to point to a truth that most people have ignored. The People exist. It defies logic if they don't, as all legends contain a grain of truth, and there's a whole desert of metaphorical sand out there.

How should I go about this? More internet trawling? But that last site...

Artemis shook his head slightly. Artemis, he told himself sternly, do not falter. If you succeed in this enterprise, you will acquire enough funds to find Father. You WILL be able to find proof, you WILL be able to reach the People. Have patience. He relaxed his frown with mirth.

I sound like what Mother said when I nearly gave up on the blueprints for the Cessna motor last year. The frown reappeared. Now. About that proof...


Sana quietly chewed a stalk of lettuce.

Had she known that Artemis was planning a way to help him on the way of exploiting the People, a plan that culminated in the kidnap of a certain LEP captain, Sana would have gasped in shock and tried to persuade her adopted brother out of it. But ever since she had met Opal, she had not thought about much other than Opal and how to help her take revenge for her parents' deaths.

What's Opal going to make me do? She said call her next time I'm free, so that she can train me. But train me how?

Why's she being so nice anyway? I mean, I've been living here for ages now, and she comes see me now? Not before? And she's giving me a house. All to myself. And it's filled with the coolest things ever. Why would she give it to me anyway?

Sana frowned. Why would anyone give away a house? Especially one so big and beautiful and filled with gadgetry at least five decades ahead of human technology? Was there some sort of 'ulterior motive'?

A mental nudge lightly touched her thoughts.

Opal is so nice. The corners of her mouth lifted a fraction. Ulterior motives! Why would someone so nice and pretty have ulterior motives? I'm reading too many fantasy books! Besides, the evil people in the books are always ugly, smelly brutes with really gravelly or harsh voices. Opal's voice is so pretty, sometimes she speaks like she has a choir singing her words with her.

I hope I can help her a lot... What can I do though? I'm only ten!

Another mental nudge.

Opal will know what to do. She's so cool. As long as I follow her directions, I'll be fine. I'll be helping her avenge Ma and Da.


Artemis pressed the intercom button beneath his desk.

"Butler, please come to the study," he said coolly. He cut off the connection without waiting for a reply and leaned back into his chair.

Hmm, the chair back is too high for me. My head barely reaches half its height. I shall have to order a new chair.

At that moment, Butler entered the room, breaking Artemis' chain of thought.

"Yes, Artemis?"

"I will require these things to the exact specifications on the sheet." Artemis pushed a sheet of paper across the desk towards Butler.

"How long will it take to procure these objects?" Butler, scanning the list quickly, did some nearly instantaneous mental calculations in his head. He might not be able to do general arithmetic as quickly and as accurately as his master, but no one in the world could beat him at calculating standard bodyguard mathematics, including the angles for the fastest escape route, the shortest distance for the safest rescue mission, and the time it would take to get the items that the principal needed, even if the objects in question did not exist at the time.

"I have a contact in Limerick who'll be able to get all of these things, so it should take two days if I do it now."

Butler's contact in Limerick was someone who dealt exclusively with bodyguards, and he had been dealing with this particular bodyguard for over twenty years. With this one contact, Butler could obtain almost anything.

"Do you need to leave the manor?"

"No."

"Then go. When you are done, come back here. I've got more that I need you to do."

Artemis turned back to his computer screen and began to type again, filling the room with muted clacking of keys. He ignored, or had forgotten about, his bodyguard still standing in front of his desk. Butler, obviously dismissed, turned to go, locking his worry for his charge's behaviour into a large mental box. He already had two overflowing boxes of worry stored somewhere in his head.


KATS (Opal's über-fast shuttle)

A shrill ringtone jolted Opal from the depths of unconsciousness. Sitting up and looking around blearily, she reached over to her bedside table and hit a button.

"Hello?" she said into the phone, her voice heavily laden with sleep.

A soothing voice answered her. "Opal. It's Sana."

That woke Opal up properly. "Sana! What's wrong?"

"You said to call you when I had free time," the soothing voice said, "And I'm free for the next few weeks. The others are going somewhere to do something, and I'm staying at home, so do you want me to come over?"

"I'll come over in an hour. Meet you by the gates, okay?"

"Yeah, 'kay. Bye."

"Bye, Sana." With that, Opal pressed another button and terminated the call.

She looked at her clock. Nine o'clock in the daytime. Opal groaned. The Mud world's tendency to work during their daytime was wrecking havoc on her internal clock, used to sleeping from seven to seven during those hours. What happened to sleeping to avoid the hot, glaring ball of flame that was the Sun? She had had to put on various lotions before and after going outside under that blistering thing.

But… if she could train up Sana to become the pivot for her scheme, in accordance to her plan, then her discomfort was worth it. All of it. Besides, Opal had reinforced some of her persuasion before, so the girl should now be listening to her as if every word was gold and thinking of her as 'the bestest person ever'.

She frowned. Or whatever Mud children said, the untrained, unsophisticated things. Not that she expected Sana's vocabulary to be so crude as to say 'bestest', since her magic should be helping Sana write or speak eloquently for a ten-year-old.

Opal looked at the clock again. Nine-ten. She really should be getting ready to meet Sana. But her bed was so comfortable…

She really needed to change the voice on her communicator. This particular communicator had been developed by Koboi Laboratories to allow even deaf and dumb people speak to their loved ones, and worked by scanning and analysing brain waves and the minute movements that people did when they communicated. When she had developed this, it had revolutionised communication. It had also made Foaly start wearing a tinfoil hat.

Opal smiled at the ridiculous image of her rival, and then frowned delicately, her contemplation returning to her initial thought. The voice was too… cold. Too machinated. She wanted a voice that could reflect the emotions and inflections that people put into their speech. Even though there was a different voice for each gender, it lacked vitality.

Nine-seventeen.

Opal jotted 'new voice development' down onto her mental to-do list next to 'wings' and 'live feed cameras' and reluctantly got out of bed. Before she could work on those intellectually challenging projects, she had a girl to meet.


Before she left, Opal opened the door to Merv and Scant's room, about to get them to do something, but then shut the door gently and walked away.

Oblivious to the workings of their boss, who had just driven off in her sports car, Merv and Scant slept peacefully, undisturbed. Their hands were entwined, as they have been since the day they were born.


Sana's house, from now to be referred to as Jörmungandr

Sana sat cross-legged in the large dojo-like area, facing Opal, sitting in a swivel chair at odds with her surroundings. The last time Sana had seen something like this, it had been Butler's dojo, and the only things inside were wooden floors and yoga mats. Not one swiveled cushioned chair in sight.

Opal opened her mouth to speak. "Jörmungandr."

The pixie laughed as Sana stared at her in confusion. "That's what I'd like to call this house. I know I've given you this house already, but do you mind me naming it?"

Sana nodded in understanding, and then grinned.

I don't mind. That sounds cool. What does it mean?

"It's the name of a Nordic mythological serpent so big he can circle the Earth and still swallow his tail. I thought it'll be a good name for this house, especially in regards to the plan for avenging your parents."

You still haven't told me the plan yet. What is it? What are we doing? What type of training are we going to be doing?

Opal shook her head. "I'll tell you, but not before I do something." Opal slid smoothly out of her chair and onto the floor, also sitting cross-legged. "And don't bother asking what it is. It's a surprise." She beckoned with one finger. "Come here and sit in front of me."

Curious, Sana scooted forward.

"Turn around so that your back's facing me."

The girl turned around obligingly. Is this good? she wrote with a questioning glance at Opal.

Opal nodded, smiling. "Now I want you to breathe in for five counts, hold for five counts, exhale for five counts, and then hold again for five counts."

After making sure Sana was following her instructions, Opal closed her eyes and breathed deeply, sinking into a meditative state. She placed both hands onto Sana's shoulder blades, reaching into her mind to find her magic, and then, both mental hands grasped full of magic, shot them through her actual hands and into Sana, deep in a meditative state.

Magic did not affect the physical body when it was not injured, and since Sana was completely fine (Opal had made sure of it by shooting Sana with a few blue sparks on the way to their current location) the lack of response in her physical body channeled all that magic into her brain, sparking all the mental connections to life.

Opal had, in the past few weeks, read many books on the human brain and psychology. It had appalled her that Mud people only used ten percent of their brain. By shooting magic into Sana's brain, she hoped to open a lot more of the girl's brain to her use.

She was also almost certain that the new brain space would give Sana's subconscious so much exultant joy that it would let her speak again. But she didn't know, wasn't certain. There were other human-fairy hybrids, but there weren't many. Opal, as a result, didn't know the definite results of flushing Sana's brain with magic – which she hated, this not-knowing – but her own intellect told her that it would be fine.

What her intellect hadn't expected was the roar of blue fire flooding the girl's entire being. Shaken, she withdrew, and opened her eyes.

Sana was encased in a shroud of blue lightning, sparks occasionally flying off the lightning storm.

Who would've thought that she had so much magic trapped within her being? Her mother's fairy heritage may have added to her conscious magic and forged a door to this considerable power, allowing her to use this magic, but I have just broken the dam and allowed it to become part of her.

Opal shivered, half delighted, half intimidated. Maybe all humans have this potential locked inside their ninety-percent of unused brain space. But if they do, I'm glad they can't access it.

I will need to amend my plans to take this into consideration.

Opal returned to her swivel chair, positioning it in front of the seated girl, and began to change her plan for world-domination.

With this magic, Section 1 Part II C becomes possible, as does Section 3 Part V B. Section 1 Part II A will need to become...

After long minutes, the magic finally subsided, sinking into Sana's skin, until she once more looked like a normal girl. Opal polished the last bits of her plan, gleeful at the things that could now be accomplished with Sana's magic. After setting her plan into permanent memory, Opal regarded the human-fairy hybrid in front of her.

"Sana."

At her name, the ten-year-old opened her eyes. Still the customary hazel, but now with an electric blue edge around her iris. Opal shivered once more at the sight.

Sana looked at the pixie blankly before smiling delightedly, as if she had just received the best Christmas present ever, even if Christmas was more than a few months away.

"Hi, Opal."


So we slowly enter the mess that Opal has devised for both the human world and the fairy world. Poor poor Sana, being manipulated by a psychotic fairy into doing this. I don't think she even realises what she's doing. :/

See you next time! Which, I hope, will be soon 3