Chapter 3

"I'm sorry if I interrupted your class." Artemis said, looking quite annoyed from the screen of her phone. It was a piece of human technology, of course, modified and using LEP communications in order for the signal to reach down into Haven. Foaly either wasn't able to detect the human device on the network, or more likely conveniently looked the other way.

"Hardly. None of them wanted to be there." Holly replied, "Least of all me. I'm just doing some required non-sense paperwork with all the peace and quiet."

"I can't imagine it's that bad." Artemis answered. He was a part time teacher himself at that point, so he probably thought he could relate.

"I 'teach' a LEPacademy course on Human and People relations, Arty, while the LEAF builds up fortifications and shoots to kill any fairy that even thinks about applying any lesson I might teach. It's busy work to keep me irrelevant, and every single damn one of my students knows it. Frond, I'm not even allowed to give out a final grade anymore. It's either 'credit' or 'no credit' and the only way they get 'no credit' is if they don't show up for more than seven classes."

"That's not terribly uncommon..."

"It's a once-a-week, thirteen week course, Arty."

"Oh."

Holly set down her pen, "On top of that, the Council recently dropped an edict on Trouble's head declaring that higher ranking officers in this 'era of uncertainty' can't be risked, and thus are no longer permitted to operate any field maneuvers... not even a damned patrol of Haven, for crying out loud."

"Because, God knows war is on the doorstep of the Lower Elements." Artemis said with a roll of his eyes. "Let me guess, that policy change only really affects you."

"I'm the only one above Captain rank who regaled myself with field duty, yes." Holly confirmed. "Council claims it's simply a matter of codifying was what already standard operating procedure. I think they're trying to get my goat."

Holly had good reason to think this way. She had become rather famed for her surface exploits, as well as her advocacy for open relations with the "mud-men." It flew directly in the face of the more militant council that was readying defenses for what they felt was not a matter of if war came to the Lower Elements, but when.

The more those elements in power could diminish Holly's presence, the better off they were.

She forced those conspiracy theories out of her mind. She was starting to sound like Foaly. Besides, Artemis had called her for a reason, and she doubted it was to listen to her complain. She also guessed she knew what the call was intended for. "Anyway, enough about me. What happened on your blind date? How'd you screw it up this time?"

"She just wasn't interesting." Artemis replied vaguely.

To be fair, Artemis had approached the entire thing with a distinct lack of enthusiasm; the result of a lost bet with a handful of other professors. Holly had seen people more excited by their sleeping pill overdose. So she wasn't surprised that it didn't go well.

On top of that, she also knew that it would take a particularly special mind to keep Artemis's attention. While he was male, it took more than a shapely figure to appeal to Artemis Fowl for terribly long. "I take it she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer?"

"She wasn't a Minerva Paradizo genius, no." He answered. "But she wasn't a simpleton, either. Nuclear Physics student, if I remember correctly. Pretty enough, I suppose. She just... wasn't interesting. She..."

His voice drifted off and he looked away from the screen. Holly wasn't certain, but she thought she saw a hint of color rise up his neck and cheeks. Pressing the issue, she asked, "She... what?"

Artemis finally turned back, clearly showing his flushed features, and bluntly declared, "She wasn't you."

Holly's eyes bulged at the confession, and she was not the least bit surprised to find herself both elated and horrified to hear it. Elated because she genuinely adored Artemis Fowl, and no longer attempted to deny that fact to herself. He had grown up into a striking young man with a strong sense of honor and decency, yet retained enough of his mischievous edge to never be boring.

Artemis had taken on a resigned tone, as if he couldn't believe what he had admitted to. "There. I said it. As insane and impossible as it would be; I'm completely smitten with you. You're so much... everything... that no girl I've met since has been able to measure up."

Yes, he was a human, and as such it would never work, and that's what horrified her. As long as she could convince herself it was just platonic, then it wasn't be too taboo. The right people could look the other way while she had a strong friendship with a mud-man. They'd be a lot less forgiving to think there was a legitimate romantic affection.

How messed up was this scenario? She wanted an affection to be unrequited. Which was why her heart was already dropping knowing what she had to do.

"Arty..." She began, disturbed by how breatheless that attempt sounded. "You... you know that can't work. It... just can't."

"We're from two different worlds, Arty. My people would never allow it, even if I wanted to. I am so very sorry. I shouldn't have led you on like this. I didn't realize how deep your affections had become. I shouldn't have hung around this long anyway. Frond, I'm so very sorry. I won't talk to you again. I won't blame you for thinking terrible things about me. I deserve it. Bye. Umm... yeah. Bye."

"Holly! Wait!" Artemis said frantically, but Holly didn't give him the chance, terminating the call and pushing her phone away. She then tossed it into the waste bin on the other side of her office space when he tried to call again. And buried it under a pile of blank crumpled up paper when he tried a third time.

At that point, Major Holly Short dropped her head onto her desk, and cried loud, bitter tears. Figures that she'd fall for some human that she could never have in the capacity she wanted. Of course she couldn't have been happy with an accomplished, stable elf like Commander Kelp. Of course she had a rebel streak a mile wide. Because hell if she could ever have a stable, happy life. That would apparently disrupt some sort of cosmic balance.

Foaly's face flashed on the display of her workstation, and the centaur said, "Ya know, had anyone told me I'd be concerned when a friend has a short communication with a mudboy I'd... whoa!" The exclamation came once Foaly processed Holly's distressed state. "Holly! Holly! Hey now... ummm... what happened? What'd Fowl do? Come on, Holly... talk to me."

She didn't raise her head, not wanting Foaly to see her like this. "Artemis... told me he was in love with me."

"Oh!" Foaly yelped. She doubted he was surprised by that; he and N°1 loved to tease Holly about that very thing at least twice daily. But the implications quickly settled in, and the centaur followed it up with a much more morose, "Ohhhh... and you had to let him down."

Holly nodded slowly.

Despite the gravity of the scene, Foaly couldn't let it go without one quip. "Or, is it more that you had to let yourself down, I wonder?"

"Shut up, Foaly." Holly grumbled, "I just lost a best friend, okay?"

The centaur clicked his tongue, "Now, come on... don't be like that. Fowl's pretty smart for a mud-man. I think he knows damn well that the two of you couldn't be a real item. Give it a day, decompress, and then give him another call."

Holly finally lifted her head, using her sleeve to wipe away the tears. "You... really think so?" She asked hopefully.

"The two of you have worked through betrayal, mutual distrust, and more potential global catastrophes than can be counted on two hands. I find it extremely hard to believe that one admission of fancy would ruin everything."

Holly attempted to say something that came out as a sniffle.

"And if that doesn't work, you can always try and find the Fey and have them turn you into a human." Foaly joked, then grew serious when he noticed Holly's incredulous expression. "That was a joke. Please tell you you weren't actually thinking about that."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Of course not." The unsaid part was that she only hadn't thought about it because the idea hadn't even occurred to her.

The Fey were a fairy tale in a world of fairy tales. Their interaction with the rest of the Lower Elements, especially after the retreat of the People underground, was sparse at best. What little remains of the knowledge of the Fey was urban legends at best, stories the Fey seemed to care little to correct if they were wrong.

There were records of them turning fairies into humans (or other things) on said fairy's request; though it was said they always exacted a price, a price that varied depending on the record and the fairy involved. The deals were never fair, and often carried stipulations that made the change far worse than what was before.

Foaly interrupted her line of thought, "Although I wouldn't speak about this little episode to Commander Kelp. I know you two aren't a thing anymore, but you know how worked up he gets whenever you start talking about 'Arty.'"

Holly's eyes narrowed and her lip curled crossly, "Shut up, Foaly."

The centaur laughed, "Come on, don't play coy with me. I'm probably one of the few people who know just what you and the Commander were arguing about when you both got tossed from that crunchball match."

"Shut. Up." She slowly growled.

Honestly, Holly was amazed that spat hadn't become front page gossip news. Perhaps it was fortunate that by the time the pair really started drawing attention, they had resorted to punching, kicking, and biting.

At the time, Holly didn't understand why Trouble had gotten so angry. It had been a simple comment that Artemis would never take her to a place like this, and escalated rapidly with Trouble venting his frustration about "always being compared to that mudboy."

It took time, and the events at the Beserker's Gate for her to accept that she had indeed been doing that through all of her dates with Trouble. Everything he did she had compared to what Artemis would have done. It had been pretty sickeningly transparent when she let herself accept her feelings; even though she knew they could never be returned.

Foaly laughed, feeling he had successfully jarred Holly out of her doldrums. "That's the girl I know! But honestly, seriously, give 'Arty' a call tomorrow. Lay it all out, and see what happens from there. He might surprise you by understanding, if he doesn't already."

Holly did sleep on it, and decided Foaly was wrong.

Why call him when she could show up in person?

It wasn't exactly difficult to manage, after all. Holly was always way ahead on her paperwork, and as she had no team that reported directly to her, and her class only met once a week, so there was no obligation that kept her to her office outside of a handful of days. She could report a personal day, flash her credentials at the tube of her choosing, then hop up to the surface.

From there, she'd activate her holo-camo (one of Foaly latest inventions that created a life-like human projection of herself that other humans could even think they were touching (due to magical feedback that fooled the human nerves and brain). It was amazing how people wouldn't just pass right through something that they didn't think they could.

"I've come to discover the human mind is a frighteningly powerful thing." Foaly had said at some point last year. "If the mudmen ever figure out how to use it properly..."

He had said that after humans had rebounded from the collapse of Opal-influenced technology in five years rather than the thirty to fifty that experts among the people predicted it would take. At this point, it was almost like barely anything had happened. The Holly pre-Artemis would have been terrified by that. The Holly now was proud to see it.

There was a lot of good in humanity, and so much potential to do that good.

"Major." Commander Kelp said when Holly made the call to inform him of her personal day request. "I had a feeling you would call. I need to you come downtown. It's... a big deal."

She contemplated deploying her wings and flying to the LEP Main Station, but figured that it might cause a panic, and the People in Haven were already high strung enough with the fear mongering being shoved down their throats by the LEAF and their Council supporters. It'd probably start a riot.

So she took the public shuttle, and the twenty minute winding path downtown.

Trouble wasn't at his desk when he summoned her into his office. Instead, he was looking out at the city through the halfway opened blinds. This wasn't good. He always had bad news when he looked contemplative.

"The Council has turned over administration and operations of all surface tubes and stations over to LEAF." He said simply, explaining why he was holding his hands in front of him. He didn't want Holly to see them clenched into fists so tight he was borderline drawing blood. "They have been reclassified as military border outposts."

He turned, moving his hands behind his back in the process. "Everyone Major rank and higher is now prohibited to make surface trips outside of the required rituals to maintain their magical levels, and will have LEAF escorts at all times. I think you can figure out what that means."

Holly grit her teeth, deciding rage was better than crying. She knew damn well what it was. She was the only higher ranking officer that took any leave to the surface, and by giving control of the paths to the surface to LEAF, she wouldn't be able to slip by LEP patrons on the down-low like before.

It was another damn "broad reach" policy that only affected one person; herself.

"As much as I have no problem with locking you down underground, I don't like losing authority to do it." Trouble grumbled. "I want to blame you and your reckless flaunting of regulations..."

"How dare you!" Holly screeched.

Trouble turned away, again shifting his hands. "But..." He said with a raised voice to get her attention, "I know, in reality, you're just collateral damage in this power shift, and that if it wasn't you it'd just be someone else they'd flaunt as a reason."

Easy for him to say, Holly thought to herself. He wasn't the one being targeted by this garbage.

"I'm granting your personal day, Major Short. Take several. Take some time off somewhere not here and not on the surface." His voice grew softer and apologetic, "I know it's not much, and I know you feel punished enough as it is."

Holly nodded, and saluted silently. She had expected to be crying on the inside, absolutely bereaved at this systematic ostracizing against her. But instead, she found herself determined. If the Lower Elements didn't want her; fine. She knew someone who did.

But it was going to require some underhanded tactics to get what she needed.

She opened up her handheld computer, tapped out a short command, and offered it forward. "I'll need your thumbprint, as usual."

As she had expected and hoped, Trouble didn't give her handheld even a first look; offering his signature to what was a blank order sheet. Once she left, she'd type out the orders herself and file them low priority where it wouldn't get even a passing glance from Internal Affairs.

She'd need access to classified archives within the local database. Easily enough done, and none of them would be too highly restricted anyway. She'd need some equipment, but just flashing the order to Foaly would get them without too many questions asked.

She wasn't going to jump into it haphazardly, unlike what some would think her idiom. It was going to take some research, and not just to learn as much as she could about her quarry and what she could expect.

But Major Holly Short was going to find the Fey, and see if they could make an offer she couldn't refuse.