Kiss Me, I'm Irish {An Artemis Fowl Fan Fiction}

Chapter 18: Holly's Thoughts

Hey everyone. Sorry this took so long. College is kicking my butt this week. =/ I got most of my work done now, minus a paper and a pre lab both due on Tuesday. Anyhow... I got this done, and I hope you all enjoy it. Now to go work on All I Need.

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            Holly found herself flying at high speed towards Flint, once again. Her mind was racing; halfway through her shift, Artemis had called her. His words still echoed through her every thought, haunting her with every second that passed. Although he hadn't said much, Holly knew something wasn't right.

            Urgent, he had said. That her assistance was dire. All Holly knew was that whatever was going on, it couldn't be good. Artemis hardly played jokes, especially ones that were this serious. Holly began mentally preparing herself for whatever this situation was. Holly was admittedly afraid of what kind of nonsense she was being drug into this time. Just when they had an adventure-less streak going too.

            The elf tried to compose herself as she finally reached the grounds of Artemis' uncle's manor. Holly hovered for a moment, trying to remember where on the grounds she was supposed to be meeting Artemis in the first place. Holly didn't have to search long; the night vision on her helmet kicked in, showing one figure towards the back of the yard near a water fountain. The figure was pacing back and forth along the furthest edge of the fountain, clearly anxious about something.

            The female elf sighed as she moved down to the ground level, unshielding in the process. Holly placed her hand on her holster, ready to pull her Neutrino out if necessary. She approached the figure with caution, not sure what to expect. Upon further examination, Holly now realized that the figure who had been pacing was Artemis; it was now clear to her under the light of the nearly full moon. The elf released her weapon, now realizing that there was no threat.

            Holly came to a stop at the edge of the fountain, just as Artemis' eyes made contact with hers, but he quickly looked away. Although Holly only got a glimpse of his eyes for a moment, Holly was fairly sure she had never seen Artemis' eyes look so angry, so sad. Especially not at the same time. Whatever was going on, Holly was now certain that it wasn't good. Someone was really tearing at Artemis' heart and mind.

            "Evening, Artemis," she muttered. When he said nothing, Holly continued. "You wanted to see me?"

            Artemis adverted Holly's gaze, instead looking at his feet. That fact alone made Holly's heart sink. "We have a situation," he said in a whisper.

            Holly resisted the urge to roll her eyes; now was not the time. "Obviously," she stated. "What is it?"

            Artemis continued to stare at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact. "Spiro kidnapped Diana. I have three days to give him the C Cube or she'll meet an untimely fate."

            Holly couldn't resist smacking her helmeted forehead out of frustration. "You have got to be kidding me, Artemis. Tell me this is just some sick joke, that she's really at home in her bed sleeping," she pleaded. "We can't afford another situation with Spiro."

            Artemis finally looked back at her, his eyes glaring at her with a fiery intensity. "I'm being serious, Holly. Why would I joke about something like that? Why would I even make any kind of joke about one of my friends being in danger? That would be completely infantile."

            Holly disregarded Artemis' remark, and instead spoke directly to Foaly through her helmet's microphone. "Foaly... are you hearing this?"

            "Loud and clear," the centaur buzzed through her ears. "He's being serious. And considering that the C Cube has fairy components, as we already know, we cannot allow Spiro to get his hands on it. It's as simple as that."

            Holly was afraid of him saying that. She didn't say anything for a moment, staring blankly at the human before her as she debated what she was going to say next to Foaly. "And Kelp is just going to be okay with this?" She knew Trouble Kelp well; he hadn't changed much as a commander and she certainly didn't see him risking the lives of his officers to help humans.

            "He doesn't have much choice, Holly," Foaly went on. "The risk of exposing our culture is too high; its either we give Spiro what he wants, and risk being exposed, or going in, rescuing Diana, keeping the technology, and call it good."

            Although she didn't want to admit it, Foaly did have a point. Holly knew that the People couldn't risk having their subterranean culture exposed to the humans again. They had been through that enough in the past few years. Holly weighed the options in her head; she didn't really like either of them.

            "Besides," Foaly continued in a teasing voice, "the commander already gave me clearance."

            Holly grimaced. That meant another seat-of-the-pants adventure for her, and surely another chance to get herself killed. All the action she had had in her years on LEPrecon was more than most fairies would see in a lifetime. Holly was beginning to wonder if retirement should come sooner for her than she intended.

            "Fine," Holly said mostly to herself. She turned the volume down in her helmet, no longer able to hear Foaly jabbering in her ears as she began to speak to Artemis. "Well, Fowl, I certainly hope you have a plan to get your friend out of this predicament alive, because I certainly don't."

            Artemis said nothing as he leaned back against the nearby stone wall. He closed his eyes as he braced his head against the wall. "I have a few ideas, though I'm not positive about any of them yet. I obviously can't hand him the Cube, but I can't just let him harm Diana either. I'm in a delicate position Holly; you must understand that."

            "Oh believe me, I know you're in a delicate situation," Holly went on. "And it's going to get a lot worse for you if you don't come up with something to get us out of this mess. Again."

            Artemis sighed. Holly could tell he was getting frustrated, if he wasn't already. "I'm doing my best, Holly. The only solution that would seem feasible without either party getting harmed is for me to build another C Cube, although it wouldn't have the same capacities as this one, and would quite obviously be a fake."

            Holly resisted the urge to shake Artemis senseless. "Then why don't you just build one? Seriously. What are the chances he's going to notice the difference? I mean... he's not smart enough to test it before we leave."

            The elf watched the contemplative expression on her friend's face carefully. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, but then again- could anyone? Artemis sighed, a sure sign of defeat. Holly could tell he had just made a decision he certainly didn't want to. "Round up a team," he stated. "I have a cube to build."

            Holly merely nodded. She turned away from her friend, worried that something was about to go terribly wrong for them all, no matter what Artemis actually did.