Artemis Unbound

Prolouge

Artemis' death was horrible, as one might imagine. So, for six months, his family, the Butlers, and all his Fairy friends waited eagerly for his resurrection. None wanted to give up on Artemis, even though the odds of his soul hanging on to life for six months was slim. Holly, ever the warrior never let another tear slip past her eyes after the initial shock of her friend's death. She was saving her tears until she was sure Artemis was gone, forever this time.

Foaly on the other hand, pushed his grief aside and got to work on the chrysalis, knowing it was the only way to save the Mud Boy. (He'll never admit it but Foaly would miss the juvenile genius. Artemis was the only one who understood how hard he worked on his gadgets, everyone else took it for granted.) Commander Trouble Kelp was not as close to the Irish boy as his other colleagues, though he definitely felt remorse for Artemis' death. At the age of 15 (or technically 18) he'd saved several species, prevented Armagaddon, contributed to the defeat of several fairies starting revolutions, and helped save Haven from a probe. Artemis was a good resource for intelligence from within the humans themselves, and would be missed. Mulch Diggums, kleptomaniac dwarf mourned the loss of a potential bussiness partner and friend.

Butler and Juliet had complete faith in Artemis, and went about their daily activities. The only difference was in the more rigorous training regime both bodyguards seemed to subject themselves to. Angeline, Artemis Sr, Myles, and Beckett were probably the most affected. They missed Artemis terribly.

On the sixth month and on the day of Artemis' revival, all involved parties were waiting eagerly on the Manor's large lawn. His family waited anxiously at the door, while Butler, Foaly, and Holly proceeded and laid the body of Artemis in the midst of his Fairy Roses. The figure was only a few inches taller than Artemis had been when he died, making him appear 18. Chronologically, he should be 21 and he'd been 15 when he died. It seemed the cloning had aged him right in the middle. His raven black hair swept down to his shoulders and he was wearing a hospital gown. Foaly took out the portable defibrillators and pressed them to the clones chest, jump starting it's heart. The rest was up to Artemis now, whether he'd already passed or his soul would find it's way back to the cloned body.

The wind blew over the trees, laying the roses flat. The scented perfume surrounded the Trio standing over the prone body. As minutes passed with no sign of movement, Foaly snorted and stamped his feet. Butler was silent, staring into the sky. Holly was nervous internally, but showed no sign. After ten minutes had passed, Foaly bowed his head and Holly sank to her knees, ripping out handfuls of roses as the tears she had kept in for so long burst out of her eyes in small rivers. Butler was silent as ever but if you looked closely, you could see the tears pooling in his eyes.

Holly crawled over to her best friend and laid his head on her lap. The clone appeared to be asleep and unresponsive, though it's heart beat steadily. It was a husk, a soulless being until Artemis returned. Her tears dropped onto his pale face as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry," She sobbed. "I'm sorry Artemis, I should have protected you. It s-should've been me..." Foaly cried too, large droplets of water rolling down his elongated face. The breeze stopped for only a moment, the word stilling. The Clone's breathing hitched and it's eyes flew open.

Holly felt movement between her fingers and gasped when she saw the ice blue eyes staring into her mismatched orbs. "It was never your job to protect me Holly," Artemis murmured, just loud enough for her to hear. Tears of joy bubbled out and she laughed for the first time in months. The day seemed suddenly brighter, the birds were singing and the cool wind relaxing. Holly stood and helped Artemis to his feet where he wobbled unsurely. Foaly and Butler had already started to plod away dejectedly. Making sure Artemis was steady, she left him and ran down the hill, grabbing Butler's large meaty fingers and pulled him around.