Disclaimer: The characters, much of the dialogue, and sadly, even the plot are not mine; they all belong to Eoin Colfer.
Pages: 360 – 361
Chapter 33: Recharge
"Butler?"
The manservant, who was relying heavily on the wall next to him to push himself down along the hall, stopped, allowing Holly a couple seconds to catch up. He stood there, his entire frame tense with the kind of dangerous stillness of a tiger about the spring. He was so on wound up Holly rather had the feeling if someone so much as twitched unexpectedly in his presence the manservant was liable to break something.
A bit of color rose back into Holly's pallid face, and she had to work to swallow her embarrassment as she said tentatively, "I know Artemis has two younger brothers. Would it be alright with you if I just borrowed a set of clothes?"
As much as Holly hated the idea of Butler thinking she was being flippant and getting her priorities mixed up, worrying about modesty at a time like this, Holly hated the idea of running into the entire LEP squadron that served as Nº1's personal guard dressed only in her one-piece even more.
Butler stared down at her for a second, expression unchanging, and for a second Holly wouldn't have been surprised if he'd started cussing her out, but then he nodded once. "Just a few doors down from Artemis's study," he said, and he sounded tired. "There's one of Beckett and Myles' bedrooms. There are clothes in there."
"Thank you." Holly started to turn away, then stopped. Her eyes drifted up to settle on the vacant, faraway expression on her giant of a friend's face. Slowly, she reached up to lightly touch Butler's elbow, the highest point she could comfortably reach.
"He'll be fine," she said, trying to inject all the confidence she could into her tone, despite her feeble posture and slightly labored breathing. "The LEP will be here soon, and they'll save him."
The muscles in Butler's face tightened further, and he didn't so much as look at her. "I'm not paid to let others take care of what's are my responsibility," he said in a tone that clearly expressed that there was not going to be any argument meant for the purpose of making him feel better.
Holly's mouth opened automatically to respond, but nothing came out. A sharp sting, the source of which she couldn't have identified, pricked the back of her mind. A sudden flare of heat in her chest. However, Holly quickly pressed both of them back and smothered them beneath a blanket of determined stoicism and reason.
"He'll be fine," Holly repeated at last, uselessly unable to find any better encouragement to give. She knew from experience that, for a man like Butler, it wouldn't be of any consolation whatsoever to try to tell him this had been out of his control, that it wasn't his fault. It wasn't whose fault it was Butler was concerned with.
Holly stood there awkwardly a minute, feeling as though she ought to say something more, but unable to think of anything. At last she turned and simply headed off back down the hall, and she heard Butler's feet resume their heavy tread down the stairs.
Walking slowly, her back slightly hunched to avoid aggravating the churning in her stomach, it took Holly several minutes to reach the twins' room near the end of the hall. Even this small trek seemed a fairly substantial undertaking to her in her impaired state, and as she stepped inside she had to fight to strong urge to sink to her knees and rest a minute. Instead, Holly staggered over to the small bureau over on the other side of a average-sized bed that was low enough to the ground that even Holly could have comfortably gotten into it.
Holly knelt and pulled out the drawer closest to the floor. She was a bit relieved to find that Artemis's young brothers did not follow in their older brother's footsteps in terms of his mania for having a severely limited wardrobe, as Holly definitely felt ready to get into something more comfortable than a two-piece suit; she really didn't know how Artemis bore it, black suits and collared shirts all day every day, all four seasons. He may not have been able to run a mile, but she supposed he was forbearing in his own way.
After rifling through the contents in search of articles of clothing that were devoid of cutesy images or logos of expensive brands, Holly at last drew out a pair of gray elastic shorts and a plain white T-shirt, the latter of which had a little color splashed across the front as though the last wearer had been painting enthusiastically. As Holly pulled the clothes on over her drying one-piece, she found they were a bit too wide for her, seeing as how her body proportions were different from those of a Mud Man toddler and a bit on the short side. However, they would have to do.
Holly was panting and slightly dizzy from her exertion by the time she left and started back to Angeline's room. She went a short ways, then at last gave in and allowed herself to fall back against the wall in the hallway to rest. It wasn't like she had anywhere she needed to be; her part was over.
Holly's eyes fell on the closed door opposite of where she sat, and she recognized the doorknob of Artemis's study. Holly blinked, then closed her eyes to shut out her surroundings. Her head dipped to her knees, but her mind continued to run on despite her desperate need to stop and recuperate.
Holly guessed that the LEP shuttle that had been hanging back at Tara, which Foaly had called at least twenty minutes or so ago, could reach the manor easily within the next twenty. Either she or Butler would quickly outline the situation for them, and they would immediately take off in pursuit of Opal. Artemis and the mad pixie genius had been gone quite a little while now, but even the oldest model fairy craft would be several times faster than a Cessna, or a half-drugged Opal with a wing-pack. The shuttle could surely catch them in half-an-hour after that or less. Or, if Holly could get in touch with Foaly before the shuttle got to the manor, he could relay the information of what was going on right away, and they could go after Opal directly.
For a long time Holly sat there in the long, ornate hallway, trying to clear her mind and meditate. She worked to find a peaceful place deep inside her that would allow her to simply sit here with the perfect tranquility of someone who has let go of all those things now out of their control.
However, unfortunately, meditation wasn't really one of her strong suits.
Holly's mind was still in the insomniac-like state of being unable to let her sleep, but so blurred with the need for a reprieve from the strain of everything that it happened that it really wasn't good for anything but sleep, when she was distracted from her thoughts by a small noise in front of her.
Holly's eyes slid open to find young Artemis standing in front of the study door. He was looking at her over his shoulder, slim fingers resting on the silver knob.
"Taking a nap, are we?" he said dryly. "I see you are finally getting that chance to relax... Captain, was it?"
"I won't relax until Opal is caught," said Holly, voice slightly hoarse from her still sensitive throat.
"How very noble." Holly caught a glimpse of his lip curling slightly as he turned back to the study door. "Well then, don't let me disturb you."
Holly was about to reply by saying that she couldn't relax, but then she stopped. Her eyes flickered down to where his white hand was still on the knob, then up to his eyes, which she thought she imagined had a sneaky look about them, even by the standards of how he usually looked.
"What are you doing?" she asked, a hint of suspicion creeping into her tone beneath the fatigue.
"Nº1 will have to send me back from this room, won't he?" he said delicately. "So I thought I would just wait here. Possibly take a bit of a look around in the meantime."
As much as she didn't want to, Holly sighed very deeply and heaved herself to her feet, though still staying a little bent and having to rely on the wall behind her for support. "I think you've done enough 'looking around,' Mud Boy," she said, and her voice scratched and grated like an old engine. "Knowing too much about the future will make a mess of things when you get back there."
Artemis ignored her and, returning his attention to the door, silently turned the handle and entered the study without a single glance back.
Holly remained where she was a moment, still doubled over like a hunchback, hesitating. She would have liked to think they were beyond danger from this boy at this point. However, after all her years of experience with him, she knew better; left unsupervised, he would probably have no qualms about hacking into Artemis's computer in order to get a hold of even more fairy-related information than he already had, not to mention the next four years worth of stock prices for every major company around the world.
So, sighing a little to herself and her deadpan expression shifting into a distinct frown, a second after he was gone Holly pushed herself off from the wall and hobbled after him.
The room was now much darker as the sun dropped below the horizon, the evening just now beginning to give way to night. Holly could just make out the congealing patches of a white-yellowish liquid glimmering in the darkness in the center of the room, where the fat from the barrel had spilled out when Butler first caught her and Nº1 less than an hour before.
"What happened to that doctor?" Holly asked, pointedly keeping her gaze away from the semi-transparent globs sinking into the carpet and focusing instead of young Artemis's back, where he was still standing just inside the doorway. "The one Opal was controlling."
"As near as we can tell, he fell unconscious the moment Opal took off in pursuit of my older self," the boy replied as he briskly flipped on the light and made a beeline for Artemis's laptop. "After all, she no longer required him. Butler removed his firearm and locked the good doctor in a guest room." As he spoke, the younger Artemis sat down and drew up the lid as naturally as if it were his. Which, in Holly's view of things, it most certainly wasn't.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mud Boy," said Holly, trying to be threatening but probably only succeeding in sounding like an aged fairy on a respirator on the verge of dying of old age.
"Of course you would," said the ten-year-old, reaching out and depressing the power button just in front of the keyboard. The machine hummed to life as he continued, "No being could resist learning a bit about his future if he had the chance." He paused. "Especially when the only deterrent is from a source where the warnings are all so decidedly superficial."
Holly let out a frustrated sigh as she stumbled up next to the desk. She really didn't have the capacity to deal with this right now. The boy already knew way, way too much as it was, but she didn't have the energy to fight with him.
He was watching her out of the corner of his eye. "So then, why does my older self appear so young if this time is eight years ahead of mine?" he asked conversationally. Apparently he still hadn't forgotten about that.
"Long story," Holly replied curtly again as she had the first time, hoping she would get the point across she was not in the mood for lengthy explanations just now.
Young Artemis raised an eyebrow slightly. "I'm surprised, fairy. In light of our future relationship, I would expect you to be more generous."
Holly stiffened at the word relationship. Just a hint of energy returned to her and, calmly reaching across the boy, she hit the power button on the computer, forcing it to turn off – she hoped she didn't damage Artemis's system – or on second thought she hoped she did – then shut the lid with a snap. She turned her head to stare into the matching blue eyes. She found that, unlike the Artemis from this time, when this boy was sitting down their eyes were nearly level. He looked back at the laptop as though she wasn't worth his full attention.
"One... I don't consider you the same Artemis I know," she said decisively to the side of his face. "He wouldn't sell out a living being to a group like the Extinctionists... let alone do it twice. Two, there is no relationship. That was just... just a..." She scrambled to find the words. "It was an accidental... a temporary lapse in judgment. Okay? Thanks to my transformation... It was nothing."
Even this small speech, raspy and broken as it was, was enough to leave Holly a little winded and her stomach felt even more unsettled, but she concentrated on keeping her breathing steady nevertheless and she refused to glance away even once.
After a moment or two, young Artemis leaned back in the computer chair and swiveled the entire thing to face her completely, and Holly had to step back out of the way. The boy's head rested almost lazily against bent fingers.
"...So then tell me," he said lightly, "was it an accident, or a temporary lapse in judgment?"
The issue of child abuse notwithstanding, if she'd had the strength, Holly would have punched him in his self-satisfied face right then, but at that moment the many dark monitors in the room flickered to life, revealing the LEP's one and only paranoid centaurian technical advisor.
"I was just able to get back in a moment ago. I hate to admit it, but it looks like Artemis – our Artemis – was right about Opal Koboi... Uh, I hope I'm not interrupting something."
The centaur eyed Holly, who was trying to pull off a glare even as her normally robust complexion was at the moment tinged a chalky pale gray as she stared at the ten-year-old, while he stared serenely back, just a hint of smugness about the turn of his lips.
"No need to worry," said young Artemis smoothly. "It's nothing of great importance. Do you have something to report?"
Those were Holly's lines, but she decided not to contest it. She would probably need a good long rest before she would be in the mood to make snippy remarks or get into a verbal sparring match with Artemis Fowl, no matter which one it was. Her head was pounding, and it also occurred to her that little Artemis had serious blackmail material on her, though she could always vehemently deny every bit of it if worst came to worst. She sighed a little again to herself; she really wished they were mind-wiping him. Knowledge of that particular event was almost as unwelcome as his knowledge about fairies – and his knowledge of fairies was likely to inevitably lead to endless future plans to exploit them.
"Right," said Foaly. "The LEP shuttle should reach the manor soon. Any minute now."
Holly's gaze flickered briefly his way. "You've talked to the LEP? Then tell them about Opal, so they can go after her. Artemis may not have a lot of time."
"I did." Foaly's eyes dropped. He added in a low voice that he struggled to make matter-of-fact, "And they're coming to the manor."
Holly did not fully comprehend what he was saying; however, the gravity in her friend's tone made her limbs seize up, her body freezing in place. Then at last she slowly turned until her entire body was facing the centaur, her eyes rising to the screen once again to meet his more steadily. "What... do you mean?" she began. "They need to get after Opal as soon as they can... Why would they need to stop by here?"
"I wouldn't call it 'stopping by.'"
Holly was silent. A deep sickness that seemed to have taken up permanent residence inside her, like a bloated tapeworm, expanding outward until she felt like her gut would split open, reaching up from the pit of her stomach until it felt like fingers were clawing up her throat. Somehow, her intuition had already told her what he was getting at. What this meant. However, she refused to believe it. She had to be jumping to conclusions.
"What are you talking about?" she asked again through clenched teeth as she bent, an arm around her abdomen as though she'd been punched. Her tone had a harsher note to it now. "They are going after Opal. They have no choice. This is a major emergency; a high-risk criminal is on the loose and a life is at stake. It... can't get anymore clear cut than that."
Foaly sighed. "You'd think so. But... well, you know the LEP."
Holly couldn't get herself to speak at first. "Tell me," she whispered finally. "What did they say?"
Foaly's long face was solemn, and he shifted uncomfortably. "You're not going to like it."
Holly could only stare at him. She knew what was happening, but she didn't know why. It didn't make sense.
Oddly, young Artemis seemed unsurprised. "I thought that might be the case," he said, with the barest hint of a sigh of his own.
"What?" Holly demanded, anger flooding her with a sudden burst of energy again, and her eyes darted between the two of them.
Little Artemis was as usual unperturbed by Holly's ire, and he spoke in perfectly calm, measured tones as he replied, "Taking the lemur wouldn't have just made my future self safer from Opal, it would have guaranteed the assistance of your organization. But it seems he preferred to take the risk to ensure the lemur remained safe and out of Opal's grasp. I had hoped perhaps he had strong enough ties with your people so that it may not matter, but it seems that is not the case. Of course a group such as the LEP are bound to have certain objectives that take precedence. It's unfortunate."
Foaly didn't add anything. He shifted restlessly, unable to look Holly directly in the eye, and she knew the boy's evaluation was dead on.
Neither Foaly nor the young Artemis Fowl moved to do anything, and Holly glared at them with tired eyes rimmed with dark circles. Then, without a word, she turned and strode, or rather staggered, from the room.
Using the wall as a support, Holly shuffled down the hallway toward the staircase that would take her to the entrance hall of the manor, where she and Butler had once tangled with a troll, ignoring the twisting nausea in her stomach and the piercing ache in her temple.
Holly gritted her teeth against the discomfort, a flicker of fear at the back of her mind pushing her ever forward. A cold sweat had broken out all over her, but she didn't care.
Like Butler, she continued ever forward, making her way down the simple staircase with difficulty, disoriented by a persisting sense of vertigo. Like Butler, pushing herself even when there was probably nothing she could do, because she could do nothing else.
"I'm not paid to let others take care of what's are my responsibility..."
Holly's hand caught on a portion of the banister and she stopped a second, panting. Wasn't it her responsibility too, though? Didn't she have that right?
Gritting her teeth, Holly forced herself onward.
When Holly finally reached the bottom step, she found Butler standing in front of a whole squadron of armed LEP personnel – Nº1's handpicked unit of elite bodyguards.
Despite not being in much better shape than Holly, Butler was towering over them, looking almost as ferocious as she had ever seen him. To the fairies' credit, they only seem to have shrunk back a little under the giant Mud Man's gaze, though only the captain of the guard standing at the very front of the pack remained defiant and unmoved.
"What did you just say?" said Butler, his voice so low that Holly thought she could feel it like the tremor of an earthquake in her chest.
Holly had to admit she was impressed with the captain of Nº1's personal escort. If Butler had been looking at her like that, she would have been going as fast as she could in the opposite direction. The elf must certainly be a brave one indeed – or perhaps he was just a moron, pure and simple.
"Try cleaning the mud out of your ears, human," said the captain, with shocking bravado under the circumstance, circumstances being Butler glowering at him with enough force to burn a hole in the captain's broad forehead. "The capture of Opal Koboi is not the arriving squadron's primary concern. The LEP want to be certain the demon Nº1 and the lemur are completely secure. The pixie can be dealt with at a later time, by the Retrieval unit now being authorized to be sent up from Haven."
Butler's fists were clenched at his sides, shaking, but he still spoke in a voice of forced calm. "Artemis... the boy who brought the lemur is in danger right now."
"He is also responsible for providing Koboi access to this time," noted the captain. "If this human Artemis Fowl – " he said the name as though it were a curse word – "is as clever as they say, he should have no trouble anyway."
"You're... You're not going to go get him?"
This question came, not from Butler, but the elf standing at the bottom of the stairway, leaning against the bottom of the handrail and dressed in a sad assortment of mud-child clothing.
The captain of the guard eyed her attire and took in her sickly appearance. "Captain Short," he said. "You should expect strict disciplinary action for the poor judgment you have shown here. Unless you want to argue that you have acted under threat and duress from these humans."
Holly ignored this. It wouldn't be the first time she disobeyed orders and got punished within an inch of her life for it. Probably wouldn't be the last either, unless she was fired, which was looking like a distinct possibility at the moment.
"What about Artemis Fowl?" she asked in formal tones, though she couldn't quite fully detach herself from the railing. "Are you going to abandon him?"
The captain snorted. "Abandon," he said with derision. But his face was solemn and serious without the least hint of mockery as he continued, "One cannot abandon someone who is neither a comrade, nor an innocent in any way, Captain Short."
Holly felt a bitter taste in her mouth. She would have liked to march up to the captain right then, with all his muscle and battle scars, and hoist him up by the lapels, but even if she'd still been physically capable of such a thing at the moment, she knew better than to think it would do any good.
Butler was staring at nothing, his fists still clenched at his sides so hard the tendons stood out on his wrists like steel cables. But then his hands relaxed, perhaps an acknowledgment that he knew he couldn't say anything that would make them change their minds.
Nº1's guards marched forward into the manor, heading for the stairs, flowing around the mountain of a bodyguard standing there stock-still, like the flowing of a stream around an immovable rock. The captain shot a look at Holly again.
"May I ask what became of your suit, Captain?"
"Opal has it," she replied dully.
He arched an eyebrow. "I'm not even going to ask."
The footsteps of the small battalion faded up the stairs.
Butler still stood in the corner of the hall, frozen.
Holly felt stunned, breathless. Still leaning against the railing, she sank slowly to sit on the bottom step.
"Artemis is banking on the LEP arriving to capture Opal before that happens."
The LEP were never going to arrive now. At least no where near in time to be of any help to Artemis. He was going to be fighting Opal all on his own.
But surely he had some sort of backup plan. He always had a backup plan.
Flashes of a figure lying in the thick grass of a jungle habitat, arm twisted at a sickening angle and spatters of blood standing out against deathly pale white-skin flickered across her mind. No matter if he had a plan, if he made a mistake like he had all those times in the past...
Holly's breath caught slightly when Butler suddenly moved, a statue coming to life. He strode over to the wall by the door and yanked a device similar to a walkie-talkie out of its cradle, though it still remained attached to the wall with a cord that took the place of an antenna. Rapidly punching several buttons, he put the device to his mouth.
"Artemis?" he said, his voice so perfectly steady anyone would think all was going according to plan if they didn't know the bodyguard as well as Holly did. "Are you there, Artemis?"
"Butler, old friend," came back Artemis's voice a moment later, interspersed with bursts of static, "I'm here. Tell me the good news." There was just a touch of irony to his tone.
Hearing his familiar timbre gave Holly a momentary thrill of relief. He was alive and all right, at least for right now.
Butler let out a breath, and just a tinge of hopelessness crept into his tone as he said bluntly, "They're not coming after the Cessna. You are not the priority."
"Nº1 is," said Artemis immediately, not sounding in the least surprised, as in control of things as always. "They need to get him below-ground. I understand."
"Yes," said Butler wearily. "Him and..."
Artemis cut across his bodyguard. "Say no more, old friend. Opal is listening."
A chill crept down Holly's spine. How close was the pixie then? Holly's helmet could only intercept transmissions without Foaly's assistance within a certain range, and that was the equipment Opal was working with. But in any case, Artemis was right: they could not afford to risk letting Opal know Artemis did not really have Jayjay.
"The LEP are here, Artemis," said Butler, a touch of urgency making its way into his calm baritone voice, despite his disciplined professionalism. "I want you to turn around and fly back." There was a certain sternness about the tone, a sternness that masked the look of tense, distinct unease etched into his hard face, which at the moment Artemis could not see. Holly had to admire the bodyguard's fortitude at a time like this, when one of the people he cared about most in the world was in critical danger and he could take no immediate action to be of assistance.
Yes, she thought. Come back here, Artemis. You've done enough.
There was a pause, nothing but crackling static from the other end. Holly strained to hear, but there was no reply at first. When his voice finally did come through again, she froze, and she knew there was disbelief carved all over her face.
"No," said the boy with awful finality. "I will not put Mother at risk again."
Butler's entire body was tense at these words and he said, apparently using every bit of strength he possessed to force his tone to remain composed, "Very well. Another location then. Someplace where we can dig ourselves in."
Holly, meanwhile, felt a numbness spreading through her.
"You are safe now, Mother. And so long as you are safe, nothing else in the world matters to me. Not even my own future."
Why? she wanted to know. Why was he continuing to deliberately place himself in the path of peril? But she knew why, of course. It was always his parents. He would do anything for their sake, including the most despicable things. Look at all he had done on this trip alone, and when she thought about it, his younger self had essentially been doing the same, exchanging the lemur and then a fairy for the chance to save his father. There was no limit to the lengths he would go, lying, cheating, stealing.
However, apparently she was seeing now that ignoble methods were not his only tactic. He was so dedicated to his goals that he would even risk his own life, continue pushing himself further and further into danger until there was no hope of escape.
Holly covered her mouth as though about to be sick again.
Of all the idiotic times to start developing a heroic streak.
Holly closed her eyes. He sounded unruffled, in command as always. So surely he must have a plan of some kind.
But wasn't Artemis just the type to feign confidence at all times to stop their worrying, no matter what the circumstances? Smart as he was, what could she realistically believe him capable of achieving left all alone against Opal's powers? The most anyone could accomplish would be to keep running away, keep running away either until help arrived or until Opal finally caught and killed him. But now he knew that that help was never going to arrive, and so that strategy was hopeless. Without any safe place to flee to, there was nothing more to do but run, and run, and run... And how long could that last?
"Very well," replied Artemis. "I am on a southerly heading anyway, so why not – "
Artemis's voice was abruptly cut off by a screeching squall of sound that assaulted them from the communicator.
Holly cringed, reflexively pressing her hands to her sensitive ears to protect them.
When the noise finally petered out, Butler called in his deep voice, that note of urgency pushing through the calm again, "Artemis? Are you still there, Artemis?"
No answer. The line was dead.
Holly could not help but think back to when she had sat crouched in that empty dye vat in the souk. Once again they had been cut off, this time by Opal. In which case, it might not just be the line that was...
No. Holly's hands fell slowly from her ears. I will never accept it.
Butler, meanwhile, was as pale as Holly had ever seen him. It seemed to cost him a great effort not to crush the communicator in his expansive hand as he shakily mashed it back into its cradle.
He suddenly turned, expression extremely calm and business-like, like he was just about to leave for an everyday business meeting. Holly had an inkling he meant to take one of the Fowl vehicles and set off south down the road, or else take off for the airport to retrieve one of the Fowl aircrafts, to search for his charge manually himself, combing to the entire southern end of the country inch by inch until the two of them were reunited. Holly had no doubt Butler would be capable of such dedication, though it probably wouldn't be the most useful course of action right now. And Butler still wasn't in any shape to be going anywhere anyway when he could barely walk properly.
"Wait."
Butler stopped, but didn't turn around.
Holly had forced herself to her feet, though she still leaned heavily on the banister. Artemis relied on his faithful bodyguard and worst-enemy-turned-friend fairy LEP captain more than anyone for most all his plans. Yet how pathetic and useless the pair of them must look right now.
"I'll go," she blurted breathlessly. "I'll get him. I just need a suit."
Butler hesitated, turning slowly back to her. Dark blue eyes met Holly's mismatched ones as she stared up at the bodyguard with steely determination.
She pushed herself off the handrail, making herself to stand straight at last, but as she took a step toward the hulking bodyguard, the world suddenly spun in an array of dark and light colors as she was hit with another wave of dizziness and she wobbled.
Butler automatically reached out a hand to steady her and as she grasped it the hand felt as steady and reliable as the handrail.
Holly raised her gaze, having to tilt her head nearly as far back as it would go to see his face. In his expression, she saw just a flicker of hope, but it was quickly overridden by anxiety and doubt.
"As much as I would like to send Artemis help," he began, sounding as though the words pained him, "you're obviously in no condition to go anywhere, Holly." Just a flicker of guilt passed over his grave features, over what he had done while under Opal's control.
He was right of course. Holly would need more time to recover before she would be of any use to anyone. But the truth was that now was not the time to worry about what she could or couldn't do. It was immaterial. She would never be satisfied unless she had done everything she possibly could, exhausted all possible avenues of action to intervene on her friend's behalf.
"No choice," said Holly shortly, her voice strained and cracked. "Just get me a suit off one of Nº1's bodyguards. Besides, I... think maybe I'll be fine once I'm in the air. I was born flying." She tried to force a smile.
Butler stared down at her, eyebrows slightly lifted. If Holly hadn't know better, she would have thought he looked amazed. An expression of true gratitude on the normally hard, stoic bodyguard's face slowly spread from one side to the other.
"You'll be fine," he repeated, still sounding doubtful, but seemingly unable to stop himself seizing on this small spark of light he was being offered. "Are you sure?"
Holly most definitely wasn't sure. She hadn't felt so ill in a long time. But she thought perhaps all this nausea wasn't just from the memory of having the thick, slimy substance all over her, pressing in on her body and crushing the air from her lungs, getting gummed up in her nose, on her eyelashes, in her ears. Rather, perhaps it was just as much from the intense sense of claustrophobia. In which case, maybe getting out into the open really would help. At least, this was what she was trying to convince herself, and that the movement of flying wouldn't actually make her feel even sicker still.
"Yes, it'll be fine," she said, probably lying, though trying to use that tone of certainty that Artemis always used whenever he was most determined to get what he wanted. "I just need a moment more, and then all I need is a suit."
"Hmm." Butler frowned. Evidently she wasn't pulling off 'the tone' very well.
However, the bodyguard let go of her and went around her up the stairs. Halfway up he paused a moment, his back to her.
"Holly," he said quietly. "I really don't know how to thank you. I... don't know where we would be without you."
Holly gazed up at him. A small hard knot that she had been carrying inside her ever since the incident with Hybras eased ever so slightly. "He's my friend too," Holly replied softly. "Even if there's no way I can make it in time, I have to try." She hesitated. "And you know Artemis. I bet he really does have a plan anyway."
The bodyguard did not turn around. He gave one sharp nod, then wordlessly continued on up, one labored step at a time.
Holly let herself sit back down again as her head spun and her unsettled stomach felt like it was making strange contortions inside of her. She leaned back against the rail once more, closing her eyes and trying to get in a last few moments of rest and peace.
But a kind of restless panic that weighed her down and paralyzed her was already there, worming its way into the core of her mind, the way the bits of fat had wormed their way into her nose and ears and under her one-piece. Artemis was somewhere out there, continuing to serve as live bait, luring Opal ever farther away from the manor and his mother by making the pixie think he had Jayjay. The game of cat and mouse could not last much longer, if it was not already over. Sooner or later, something would give, and once her magic came back, Opal would be the one in control.
Holly knew she didn't have the time or excess energy to waste worrying on such things. She needed to concentrate on what needed to be done and nothing else. However, perhaps her thoughts refused to bend to her will because deep down she knew that it was already far too late. That she would never reach Artemis in time to make a bit of difference. That if Artemis had no alternative plan, he would die, just like Commander Root, just like her mother.
The sound of Butler's heavy footfalls as he lumbered back down the steps reawakened Holly to her surroundings.
She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again, letting the hardness reform itself in them. She would never give in, no matter what the odds. Even in the face of there being no chance at all, she would keep going to the end.
Something flopped down next to her on the steps and Holly glanced at it, seeing right away that it was a dark squad uniform.
"Here," he said. "They were only too happy to let you use it."
Despite herself, Holly managed a weak grin, imagining Butler's way of 'asking' to 'borrow' a suit from Nº1's body guards. She sincerely hoped it was that brazen captain of Nº1's bodyguards, though that would probably be setting her sights a little high.
"How will you know where he's gone?" Butler asked as Holly got up and headed around behind the stairs to change.
Holly already had a plan for this. "Opal's still wearing my suit. I should be able to use the radiation trail my suit leaves behind to track her and determine where she is, and wherever Opal is, Artemis will be."
As Holly began to strip out of the toddler's outfit, Butler turned away, doing routine checks on his Sig Sauer to make sure it was working properly. Probably his equivalent of nervous fidgeting.
Holly pulled on the suit with some difficulty, zipping it up with stiff, unwieldy fingers as the material shrank slightly to better fit her. She latched up the belt full of equipment, and she fingered the Neutrino at her hip. It felt good to be packing heat again.
However, as she stepped out from behind the staircase, she had a thought that, even though she had a weapon now, she probably wouldn't be able to shoot it straight as yet another wave of vertigo made her feel sick again, threatening to send her into another wracking coughing fit.
Butler noticed her unsteadiness immediately. The uncertainty was back in his face. "Holly, are you certain you can do this? Perhaps I should just – "
Holly shook her head vigorously, then wished she hadn't. Still, she forced herself to straighten up, trying to force the nausea back down her throat with sheer willpower.
"I will be fine," she said, with more authority than the first time, though she imagined again how her normally dark, healthy skin must still be bleached and sickly at the moment, testifying against her words. "No choice," she reaffirmed.
Slotting the suit's helmet onto her head, she turned around to start for the front entryway.
"Going?" said a voice. "Going where?"
For the first time Holly saw Nº1 standing in the open doorway, flanked by a group of his burly bodyguards, Jayjay perched safely on the little demon's shoulder, and she wondered how long they had been there without her noticing. She caught sight of one guard lurking off to the side looking rather sulky, dressed only in what appeared to be one of Butler's shirts, the long white material reaching all the way to the floor and even bunching up in rippling piles over his feet.
The guards were all carrying the latest and most advanced LEP weaponry, including laser rifles that were almost as long as Nº1 was tall. Thankfully none were being pointed at her, but the group was blocking her path.
"I'm going after them," she said, almost defiantly, daring either Nº1 or his guards to try to stop her.
She saw the captain of the guard scowl behind his visor, but he said nothing. Technically the two of them were of equal rank, so he couldn't order her to do anything. Instead, everyone standing there looked to Nº1.
The little demon's face suddenly broke out into a smile. "You won't get far looking like that," he commented. Jayjay chattered his agreement.
Holly's vision was blurring and she still felt dizzy. Too much stress. Too much moving around.
"Get out of the way," she ordered, then added, a bit more kindly since she knew her demon friend didn't mean any harm, "Please, Nº1."
Nº1 continued to beam at her and suddenly Holly noticed something.
"You're looking good," she said in a rasp, eyes narrowed slightly with suspicion. "Too good. Almost back to your usual chipper self. Don't you feel sick at all?"
Nº1 shrugged, still smiling. "Just a twinge. Once I got all the fat off, I got to feeling better right away and I even got control over some of my magic just a bit ago. I won't be back to a hundred percent for a while, but I'm getting there."
Holly stared, then shook her head slightly. Unbelievable. Not for nothing was Nº1 considered the most powerful demon warlock of this millennium.
"So..." Holly began slowly. "What you're saying is..."
Nº1 raised his stubby fingers, red sparks beginning to dance around the tips. His yellow eyes sparkled.
"Think you could do with a recharge?"
"Do I ever," Holly replied gratefully, and was only too happy to let the warmth of Nº1's magic engulf her and meld with what little was left of her own.
Holly felt Nº1's magic chase away the weakness and nausea, and even somehow chase away the debilitating fear of Artemis's demise, at least for the time being. The magic seeped in and filled every part of her being. When Holly opened her eyes, she felt like a new fairy.
"Thanks, Nº1," she said. She turned to Butler and said with that usual dependable slight cockiness she hadn't had in days, "I'll be back with him before morning."
Then, without another word, she turned and ran for the door, weaving with easy grace around Nº1 and his guards.
Holly ignored the warnings and shouts of protest that rang up behind her as she leaped down the steps and powered her legs down the gravel drive, the ground crunching beneath her boots.
Holly was no longer smiling now, her face a mask of absolute determination. She was going. She would do everything she could, even if in the end that amounted to absolutely nothing.
I'm coming, Artemis, she thought. Whatever you do, don't die.
And with that, she propelled herself off the ground with all her might, activating her wings in mid-jump, and rocketed off into the darkening night sky, shimmering out of sight.
A/N: Hey there, I just got back from vacation yesterday, and the first thing I did this morning was get up and finish working on this. Yeah, I really wanted to finish it before TLG (The Last Guardian) came out tomorrow... (Just one more chapter left now! I couldn't say whether some of you will find it disappointing or not, but I'm following my own vision with the hope I won't have any regrets. (; )
So anyway, it looks like I'm going to be a bit more chatty even than usual this time. XD (Lol, my author's notes are way too long, aren't they?) As always, you can skip to the last paragraph if you like. (: I'm just going to talk about my plans for posting the next chapter and talk a tiny bit about TLG, the new AF fanfiction project I'm working on that I'm going to start posting on very soon, and lastly the usual technical notes about issues I ran into in writing the chapter in comparison with the original TTP.
First, the final chapter of this won't come out until after TLG, and definitely not before I've read it myself. (I ordered it online so I wouldn't have to make a special trip to the bookstore, lol, but that means I have to wait for shipping, so I probably won't get it for a week after that. So I'll have to stay off here and AF forums for a while if I don't want it spoiled, I suppose. XD) I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some A/H themes in the story, lol. You know, at least carrying on with some of the elements that were introduced but left unresolved in TAC, and wrapping them up a little... But overall I hope there won't be too much, because more people will be looking to read A/H fanfiction if they aren't satisfied, right? (; (My sister says I'm a bit twisted and maniacal... I can't argue with that.) Haha, you'll all have to tell me what your overall opinions of the last book are when you read it. (:
Next on the agenda is the new project. I know I already talked about this to a few people, but I wanted to mention it here too in case anyone is interested. (: Even though this fanfiction is drawing to a close now, I'm not feeling ready to leave the AF fandom alone yet, so I have another story in the works now, lol. Actually, this 'new' fanfiction is really my first AF-fanfic attempt, and this TTP-parallel fanfiction just kind of came about as an offshoot from an idea I had for that one. (I was planning to just have one or two chapters where Holly flashes back to the events of TTP, and we see various scenes from her point of view, but I kept wanting to do more and more, and eventually I wanted to try to make the whole thing work by itself).
So, you could legitimately consider the new story a post-TAC sequel to this one, at least in terms of themes and such. Originally I wasn't planning to start posting anything on it until I was completely done with this, but that was when I intended to get this all out before TLG came out. Because I wanted to start posting on it almost right at the same time as the last book came out, kind of as an experiment to see whether strategic timing of fanfiction posting affected the amount of 'foot-traffic' the stories got. (Yes, I'm weird and like to do experiments like that. XD)
So yeah... I plan to post the prologue shortly, and I'd be happy if I was able to meet with some of you again over there, if you liked. (: Basically the main driving point of the plot is Opal's working to set things up so she can take her revenge on Artemis by framing him, and turning everyone including his closest allies against him, in order to take full advantage of Artemis's criminal history and his current state of mental impairment (ie, his Atlantis Complex). However, Opal faces the obstacle of the fact that she's pulled practically the same stunt twice before, and Artemis and the others are all on the lookout for this precise strategy. But she has a plan, and she's not too worried.
At the same time, oblivious to exact form Opal's strategies are taking, Artemis has his hands full struggling with feelings of a loss of self-worth brought on by the Complex, and Holly is plagued by a sense of helplessness in regards to her ability to help at all in Artemis's battle with his mind, conflicted between a need to do something about the problem, and in being unable to, a need to escape.
So yeah, that's it. We'll see how it goes. It's a far more complicated story than I've ever attempted to write before, but I've been doing my best. (: Most of the chapters are going to be obscenely long, so that will mean longer intervals between updates, but there's no helping that... Personally, in doing a ton of self-betaing on both of these stories, I've found the 'new' one easier to get through (while this one's more tedious at times, and harder to get back into once I've gone away from it for awhile, I think partly because so many of the events are just retelling of things I already read, and I already know precisely how it's going to end), but maybe that's just my bias as the author. (;
Last quick technical note: Interestingly, in the original TTP, Artemis comments that Holly and Nº1 will be diminished for 'hours' from the dunking in the animal fat, but it clearly hasn't been hours when Holly leaves to go after him, as I don't think that there's anyway that the whole Artemis/Opal battle from the time he leaves the manor could be more than an hour or an hour and a half, judging from the fact he has only gone sixty miles before Opal crashes him. So my solution was to make it so Artemis underestimated Nº1's power.
Hmm, yes, way too long of an author's note again. XD But it's better to have long author's notes you can skip over if you want than no author's note when you'd like to read them, yeah? (For some reason, a lot of the time I look forward to author's notes... which is why I tend to write so much of them, I think. But maybe this is overkill...?) Anyway, thank you so much for reviewing last chapter! I'll be looking forward to hearing from you, as always. Have fun reading TLG!
Posted 7/9/12