Artemis Fowl and the future rewritten

The Forbidden Forest Part II

Salazar Slytherin looked stunned. Artemis smirked. He liked constantly making people amazed by his deductions. It was a fact of life for him.

'H-how,' spluttered Salazar, seeming at a loss for words.

'Your centuries comment was a dead giveaway,' replied Artemis. 'As was your eyes, they were the same onyx black when I last saw you.'

'Artemis Fowl,' said Salazar, reeling back dramatically. Artemis was reminded about Salazar's flare for dramatics. 'You never cease to amaze me.'

'Stop being so dramatic, Salazar,' came a girl's voice from behind him. She was about one foot tall, with the same accent as Holly; a little bit of everything. Artemis knew that she was an elf at once. She turned to him with a welcoming smile. She nudged Salazar on the side.

'Oh sorry, how rude of me, come in to our precious abode, which we have been trapped in for all eternity.' Artemis and the elf both rolled their eyes, and Salazar, upon noticing them, said, 'This is Tariqa by the way, Artemis, Tariqa Leaf. Tariqa, Artemis Fowl.'

'Pleasure to meet you,' said Artemis, smiling briefly at her and stepping into the cave. Salazar led the way, and though Tariqa tried to make conversion, both of them replied with one word answers, each lost in their own thoughts.

At last, all three of them came a stop. Artemis's first impression was of a huge cavern, with artificial light. Artemis was surprised to find that there were a lot of people, literally. There were elves, goblins, witches, wizards, sprites and even centaurs all talking together without arguing. Much.

'When you are forced to interact with each other in a daily basis or die, there isn't much choice, isn't there?' Salazar's voice, for once, was quiet and serious. At the sound of his voice, all the people fell silent, but there were a lot of disgruntled murmuring from them when they saw Artemis.

'Meet Artemis Fowl, half -human and half elf hybrid,' announced Salazar.

There was a lot of muttering at that. One brave soul actually said, 'Do you think it is wise, Salazar, to trust someone you have barely known?'

Now Salazar looked annoyed. 'I've known him for ten years, witch, and I do not want you commenting on my choices.' His voice was cold.

Artemis wanted answers right now. 'What's your story, Salazar?'

Salazar waved his hand. 'I'll tell you in a minute. What's got you so hurried, anyway?'

Artemis looked at his watch. It was still working, but much faster than usual. Artemis immediately knew that this cave had a time stop on it. He had upgraded his watch so that they could withstand time stops. It was a good thing he had arrived an hour early in the Forbidden Forest to explore it. There was still a half an hour to go. 'I still have an hour and a half, so make it quick.'

Salazar sighed. 'I'll get to the point then. The People and the Mud Men were fighting a war to stop extinction. While the People had more advanced technology, the Mud Men had more people on their side, and their goals were different; the Mud Men wanted to eradicate the fairy race, while the People fought to live. The Mud Men were getting more violent, and the fairies were desperate. We offered them our assistance. We had magic and technology on our side, while the others only had technology. Finally, we were going to be on the surface without Mud Men.' Salazar's voice was bitter. 'But, we were betrayed, by one of our most trusted people, no less. They murdered Godric, Rowena and Helga, but they –or the leader- had a personal grudge against us.' He gestured to the people, who were listening.

'They had formulated a plan of making us locked in a cave with a time stop, so we could never sleep and starve to death. They were all very clever. They mixed magic and technology: a dangerous combination, and made this cave.

Some of the men who weren't against us wanted to free us, but only few of The People could get out of the cave, since their magic supply was limited, and they weren't as powerful as the original creator.  Those of the People rushed underground immediately, deciding to live peacefully without the harmful effects of the humans, only coming towards the surface in necessary circumstances, to complete the Ritual and the like.'

One of the men altered the wards a little so that we couldn't go out, but some people can come in. The centaurs had been a help with that.'

'But the wards are weakening, as you saw by Luna. I want you to remove them.' Salazar ended his story.

'I suppose I could ask No. one for assistance in this,' he replied slowly. 'But I do not know of the after effects. whether you will be stuck in a coma, or merely die, I do not know that. I will try my best.'

'That is all we ask,' Salazar smiled his easy going returning, but Artemis saw the bitterness that was kept within him. He led Artemis to the entrance of the cave. 'And I'll take my chances.'

'Of course you will.' Smiled Artemis. 'You are Salazar Slytherin, after all.'

'Of course,' Salazar smirked as they came to the entrance. 'Don't let me keep you on your meeting with Holly, and please send her my regards.'

---- A/N I'm not going to update in another two weeks, and you people can guess why----

---- Thanks for suggesting the name Tariqa, Anoush, 'cause I was running out of mysterious names.----