Disclaimer: The characters, much of the dialogue, and sadly, even the plot are not mine; they all belong to Eoin Colfer.

Pages: 54 – 58

Chapter 3: A Liar and a Thief

Mother dying. Please come at once. Bring Nº1.

Questions chased each other around inside Holly's head as she flew at top speed on her way to the manor.

Artemis knew the potency of fairy magic; even non-warlock elves had power strong enough to heal almost any injury, no matter how severe. In fact, Artemis had seen firsthand many times what Holly's magic could do. She had once given his father a nearly complete magical makeover after two years trapped in the Arctic, rescued his mother from spiraling deeper into depression and completely losing her mind, saved Butler from mortal injuries at least twice, and even made Artemis himself as good as new when his own broken ribs had punctured his chest.

So what could have unnerved him so much he felt they needed Nº1? Perhaps he just wanted to play things safe, but even so, it seemed a little extreme. Or was it? It was his mother's life after all. If there was one situation that justified his being a little dramatic, surely it would be that. As she knew only too well.

Holly stared straight ahead, at the choppy ocean waves on the horizon, and tried not to think about it, tried not to feel it. Yet in spite of her best efforts, she felt those things she had been trying to keep deeply buried for two decades worming their way to the surface of her mind.

I'll help you, Artemis, she thought. Just wait there. I won't let it happen to you, too.

Holly opened the throttle a little more, and shot through the bright, cerulean sky.

Half certain they would be able to fix the problem with ease, half dreading some kind of apocalyptic catastrophe, Holly reached the manor by mid-evening. The first thing she did was run a thermal and from the heat signatures she quickly located the house's occupants. Three in one room on the lower level, one in an upstairs bedroom, and one in another room. Holly headed for the lower level room, figuring that in terms of probability, she had the best chance of finding Artemis there.

Holly carefully placed a toe on a sill. Putting her omnitool to work on the lock mechanism, she heard a soft click, and she pushed it open and slid inside. She balanced there a moment, looking down on the scene below.

As she had guessed, one of the three people she had picked up on her scanners was Artemis Fowl. Dressed as always in a neat black suit, he sat at the end of a long table with a crystalline glass surface in the company of two other figures, all three seated in expensive-looking black leather armchairs. Long shadows weaved back and forth across the floor like a spider web, and darkness seemed to swallow the corners. In short, the place looked suspiciously like a set for a scene of a shady business deal in a Bond movie.

One of the other people in the room was, of course, Butler, Artemis's ever faithful bodyguard, and the other Holly immediately recognized as the man she had saved and healed in the Arctic a few years back. Artemis Fowl Senior, Artemis's father.

They appeared to be in the middle of some kind of quietly tense discussion. Holly could not reveal herself with Artemis Fowl the First right there, so she hung back. Artemis had probably not been expecting her so soon.

However, Holly could not help but notice that the very moment she moved the window glass, Artemis's mismatched eyes flickered to where she crouched in the sill, invisible, and she knew he knew she was there. She lowered herself to the floor and cautiously approached, though still keeping to the shadows.

"I absolutely believe it, Father," Artemis said, eyes going back to Artemis Senior. "More with every minute."

Artemis's thin face was even paler than usual, drawn and tense. But far from his usual shrewd, calculating look, the spark in his eye held something more like hope.

Artemis Senior gazed back. "That's the spirit, son."

The voice of Artemis Fowl the First was an unfamiliar one to Holly and she tried to remember if she had ever heard him speak before now, or even seen him conscious. She shifted her gaze to get a better look at him, and was startled to discover that his eyes were precisely the same shade of blue as Artemis's, or the blue they had both been before Hybras. But it wasn't just the color—the look of such unbreakable, absolute determination was exactly the look she had seen in the hardness of Artemis's sharp eyes so often when they were in an impossible situation, or had just reached a tricky part of a complicated plan. Apparently Artemis's stubbornness was inherited.

Besides the fact Artemis had one hazel eye—Holly wondered what he must have told his father about that one, as Artemis clearly wasn't wearing a colored contact to cover it up—the resemblance between the boy and his father was almost uncanny. It occurred to her that in looking at this man, she may well be getting a glimpse of what their little Mud Boy may look like twenty years from now. A grown-up Artemis—Now there was a strange thought. Mud People certainly had such fleeting lives. But she couldn't help but think that a part of her would still always think of Artemis as that twelve-year-old boy she had met all that time ago.

The two didn't move for several seconds, and Holly noticed Artemis Fowl Senior's hand over Artemis's, an uncommonly affectionate gesture among Fowls. But though the two both looked pale and somehow older than they really were, anyone could see they were far from defeated.

Artemis Senior nodded once and got to his feet. "Good. Then does everyone know what he's doing? We are not going to let this happen."

Butler and Artemis stood up as well, and it felt odd to Holly to see the way they both seemed to look to Artemis Senior as the leader, even Artemis.

"Yes," Butler said tersely. "I should go immediately. Good luck to us all."

Butler, shooting one surreptitious look right at the place Holly stood, turned and strode quickly to the door.

"And I will return to Mother's room to set up the Webcam," said Artemis.

"Good boy, Arty," said Artemis the First. "And once you do, make sure you get a line to those underworld contacts you mentioned earlier." He gripped his son's shoulder and gave Artemis a look that struck Holly as strange for a father to give a son. The sort of look a drowning person might give to the lifeguard, a desperation to be saved.

Apparently, everyone always turned to Artemis for solutions to difficulties, even his own parents.

Artemis and his father left the Bond-setting-like conference room soon after, both heading up the stairs, barely speaking as they went. Holly held back a moment, then followed them at a distance. They split off as Artemis Senior headed up for the roof to the Fowl aircraft, and Artemis turned toward his mother's room.

"We will cure her, Arty," Artemis Senior had said before they parted ways, though he had looked as though he was reassuring himself as much as his son. "We'll do everything we can and then some. We won't let her go."

Cure. Holly felt a chill. This situation was beginning to feel all too familiar, a replay of one of the most painful experiences of her life, that still continued to torment her to this day.

No, she told herself. Not the same. Because we're going to save her. Or Nº1 will save her. Artemis won't have to go through what I went through.

Holly followed Artemis Fowl Senior's progress up to the flying transport vehicles on the roof with the thermal radar scanner on the inside of her visor, making certain that he was long gone and away before she stepped into Angeline Fowl's bedroom. She found Artemis working at the foot of the bed to set up the Webcam to allow his mother's condition to be viewed remotely before at last powering down her shield.

Holly put a hand on his shoulder. "Artemis, I am so sorry."

"Thanks for coming, Holly," replied Artemis, voice surprisingly calm and businesslike as usual. "You got here quickly."

Holly explained briefly about her aboveground mission with the kraken.

Artemis strangely did not cut right to the point. "Ah yes," he said, "Tennyson's beast." His voice was light and conversational as they talked a bit more about the creatures. "Not many krakens left now. Seven, by my reckoning."

"Seven? We're only tracking six." Holly eyed him suspiciously until Artemis quickly changed the subject.

Holly had a feeling the conversation would have continued to meander aimlessly in the same way had she not received mail. She checked it. "Nº1 is on the way," she told him. "They're sending the Section Eight shuttle. No way to contain this now, so whatever we need to do has to be done fast."

"Good," said Artemis, nodding. "I need all the help I can get."

Neither of them said any more, and the reminder of why they were there seemed to have effectively killed the illusion that the moment of light, casual conversation had brought, that this was just any ordinary social visit between friends. The air in the room seemed to grow suddenly heavy and stifling with anxiety.

Artemis turned his attention back to putting up the camera, but it slipped through his long fingers and rolled under the bed, a moment of clumsiness that was most uncharacteristic of him.

"Hellfire," he muttered, kneeling down to retrieve it. She heard him continue to mutter, "I can't...I just can't..."

Unexpectedly then, Holly felt a hard blow, as though she had just been punched in the stomach.

Artemis had stopped moving and it took her a moment to realize that the sudden storm of emotion was her magical empathy, heightened by close proximity.

"What kind of son am I?" he asked suddenly, a quiet bitterness in his tone. "A liar and a thief. All my mother has ever done was love me and try to protect me, and now she may die."

In all the years she had known him, Holly had never heard Artemis speak like this. The closest thing she could remember was when Butler had very nearly been killed by one of Spiro's men, and Artemis told her mournfully, "He stopped a bullet that was meant for me." But even that slight break in his composure could not compare to how he was now.

For a moment, Holly didn't know what to do. Artemis hated letting other people see him like this, she was sure, and she felt like an intrusive outsider. It should have been Butler or Artemis Fowl Senior standing here, she knew—those two would have known what to say to support this boy who was to everyone else an infallible pillar of genius. The way Foaly and Trouble and the others were not in a position to provide immediate relief for what she had felt in returning from Hybras as, even if they were her friends, they were not people she wanted to ever see her weak, she was simply not the right person to be here.

As she stood there, uncomfortable, irresolute, staring uncertainly at Artemis, she suddenly caught a glimpse of the left side of his face, and his hazel left eye.

And then, strangely, she felt her discomfort melt away as quickly as it had come. I'm the one who left this dimension with him and came back to a missed three years, she thought. Not Artemis Fowl the First. Not even Butler. Me.

Gently, Holly took hold of his elbow and pulled on it lightly, urging him to his feet. "You're not that person anymore, Artemis," she assured him, putting every bit of certainty she could muster into her voice, "and you love your mother, don't you?"

She was glad when she saw her words seemed to have the desired effect.

"Yes," he replied, and the dark mood from just a moment before seemed to pass as quickly as it had come. She saw self-consciousness and embarrassment as he glanced away from her. "Of course."

Holly went on soothingly, continuing the logic of her argument to reinforce her point. "Then you are a good son," she said. That was the only way to speak to Artemis, really: with logic. "And your mother will see that as soon as I cure her."

Holly had managed to take the edge off Artemis's anxiety for the moment, but really the best thing for him now would be for him to see his mother well again. There was no point delaying it; the sooner she did what needed to be done, the sooner Artemis would get back to his usual snide, conniving, arrogant self. The way he was acting now, like he was actually sorry about something, didn't suit him in the slightest.

Holly extended a hand toward Angeline Fowl's sickly form, drawing her magic down into her fingers. Holly refused to allow her eyes to wander to the woman's pale, deathly ill face, as unwelcome images flickered at the edge of her thoughts, trying to push their way in. Sparks were visible at Holly's fingertips now, clustered tightly together, twisting faster and faster, as though even the magic could sense her agitation. She was ready.

"No," said Artemis unexpectedly, a strange note of urgency in his tone. He added hesitantly, as though regretting the force of his outburst, "Wouldn't it be wise to check the symptoms first?"

Holly abruptly cut off the flow of magic and she turned her head to eye him, suspicions aroused again.

Something was definitely amiss. Now that she thought about it, it was strange for him to get so worked up, so emotional if it was probable that his mother would be simply cured by magic. Artemis's behavior was clearly not the nagging worry of a person who had the cure, but feared something might go wrong; he seemed really desperate, like there was nothing anyone could do. And he had specifically asked for Nº1.

There was only one way Holly could think of that Artemis could possibly know that magic wouldn't work.

Holly pulled off her helmet so her searching gaze would be unimpeded. She moved right up close, frowning hard as she stared at her devious friend, as though she could read his mind if she concentrated hard enough.

She had long since wondered if Artemis might not have been lying to her back then, when they had first returned from Hybras. He had temporarily gained a bit of magic in the time tunnel, and maybe he held onto some sliver of magic after all, even if he had point-blank denied it at the time. Could Angeline's illness be the result of some magical experiment gone awry? Or perhaps, though she hated to think it, this was all part of the beginning of some new scheme that somehow required her and Nº1 to be here.

"Have you done something, Artemis?" she asked sharply.

Artemis did not look away, and not even the slightest flicker of guilt passed across his features as he replied. "No. I am more cautious with my mother than I would be with myself, that is all."

Holly wanted to believe him, and he looked entirely sincere. But this was Artemis Fowl and she wasn't soon to forget it.

Artemis tried to argue as she took hold of both sides of his head solidly, and forced it down low enough so she could touch her forehead to his—had he gotten taller?—allowing her own magic to permeate his skull, just enough to see.

She knew she could not continue dealing with Angeline Fowl's problem yet, not until she knew for sure there was nothing else going on here. That this wasn't one of Artemis's games.

After barely a moment, she pulled away, relieved. "Nothing," she pronounced. "Echoes of magic. But no power."

Artemis was impatient for Holly to take a look at Angeline, even though she didn't doubt Artemis's knowledge base concerning esoteric illnesses was far greater than her own. In fact, she privately thought he should have considered himself better qualified to give a diagnosis, but there was something about this particular disease that had unnerved him.

Holly still hesitated. She would have preferred to simply heal Angeline without really looking at her. The sharp, painful memories of her own mother were swarming at the edge of her mind, trying to get in, trying to overwhelm her. "I'm sorry about the probe," she said, stalling a second longer. "I had to be sure that I could take all of this at face value."

"My feelings are unimportant. Now, my mother. Please."

Holly took a deep breath and lifted her eyes to Angeline's face. The moment she did, she felt a swooping sick feeling in her stomach, and once again as they had above Helsinki harbor where the kraken had exploded, the memories overtook her.

A/N: So, the first scene with extensive use of borrowed dialogue in this chapter. I didn't think there was much choice in this case, though. Actually, it seems like the scenes that are actually in the book already are harder to work with than scenes made from scratch, since it's so hard not to make the dialogue come across sort of stilted and awkward...

Ah, I hope none of this (especially all the internal monologue X3) has become too tedious. I'll keep pushing myself to edit and improve my writing as best I can, so I'll be happy if at least a few people stay interested in this enough to keep reading. (:

Anyway, thank you for the reviews last chapter; please tell me what you think! (:

Posted 9/30/12, reposted again 9/30/14