Artemis Fowl: The Unpredictable Future

Chapter 18: Under Siege

Holly groaned as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. She looked beside her to see Rachel still snoozing, but wondered where Artemis had gone to. The bathroom door was open so he wasn't in there. She reached over to Rachel and shook her shoulder gently, "Hey, it's time to wake up. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

Rachel stirred and pulled her pillow over her head, mumbling, "But my body hurts, it's too early, I'm still naked, and more sleep sounds amazing."

Holly looked under the covers to remember that she was still in the nude as well, "Oh fine, but I'm coming back for you in a little bit." She slightly laughed. She crawled over Rachel to get off of the bed, whom let out another groan.

Holly walked into the bathroom carrying her pajamas and new set of underwear. After last night's escapade, she really wanted to take another shower. As the water cascaded against her body, she noticed she was feeling... upset. She stood there with the water hitting the top of her head, trying to figure out why. "Ughh!" She moaned in frustration and shut the water off, then began to dry herself off. Why did that even happen last night? That's not like me at all. She left the bedroom after putting her clothes on, leaving Rachel to wake up on her own. Walking down the hall, she noticed Foaly and Artemis hanging around in the living room. Foaly was sitting on a couch that looked like it was designed just for his rear and Artemis was sitting in an arm chair. Holly walked in, forcing a smile on her face, "Good morning you two."

Artemis immediately stood and buttoned his suit jacket closed, "Morning Holly, I hope you slept well." He smiled and offered Holly his seat, which she accepted.

"I see you were able to find a new suit Arty, although, I thought you hated the color green?" She poked at his tie and laughed.

Foaly covered his mouth to hide his snickering, "Please tell me you saw his shorts."

Artemis glared at him with a frown, "If word of that ever leaves this household, I will unleash literal hell on your world Foaly." He scowled.

Holly bellowed out in laughter, "Now there's the Artemis we all love to hate." Artemis sighed in defeat, sitting on the arm of the chair and resting his hands inside his pockets.

"Aww, you know we are only having fun with you Arty. You look cute when you're flustered, for a mud man that is." She winked subtly at him before turning her attention to Foaly, "Is there anything we can eat? The last thing I remember eating was a half a can of beans yesterday."

Artemis moved one of his hands towards his stomach. I don't remember eating anything at all.

Foaly stood and started to make his way towards the kitchen, "Now is usually the time Caballine has breakfast ready, it is thirty o'clock after all."

Holly looked up at Artemis and whispered, "Thirty o'clock?"

Artemis stood up and held his hand out for Holly to take, "The literal time is different here. It seems they either have shorter hours or longer days." Holly held his hand and stood up, looking at their hands touching. Artemis quickly withdrew his hand and held it behind him, gesturing for her to walk ahead of him with his other hand, "I can imagine you are quite famished. I shall fetch Rachel." He gave her a gentle smile before walking down the hallway into the bedroom. Holly watched him and huffed out a sigh, slightly irritated. She quickly made her way into the kitchen with Foaly.

Artemis could feel his heart pounding against his chest and tried his best to ignore it. I must overcome this. For all of our sakes. He ran his fingers through his raven hair, slicking it back before he approached the bed. Rachel was still asleep with the pillow over her head. Artemis poked at her to gauge a reaction, "Rachel?" She groaned out from under the pillow. "Rachel, it would seem that breakfast is available. I'm sure you would like some actual food, right?" He shook her a little.

Rachel flipped over onto her back and pulled the blanket off of her body, letting out strained moans as she began stretching. Artemis stumbled back with incomprehensible stammering as Rachel had just exposed her entirely nude body in front of him. He averted his eyes and covered the side of his face with the palm of his hand, keeping her out of his line of sight. Rachel sat up and leaned back on her arms, "Mmm... I had the most amazing dream. Oh! Good morning... Artemis? Is everything alright?"

Artemis braved a peek only to turn completely around immediately after seeing her bare chest staring back at him, "Uhh... food... in the kitchen. We will be waiting for your presence after you dress yourself. Please don't take too long." He hurried out the door, closing it behind him. He inhaled deeply and straightened his tie, shaking his head as he made his way back to the kitchen.

As he walked in, Holly was receiving a plate of what appeared to be bacon, eggs, and waffles. Caballine looked up and smiled at him, "Morning there Artemis. Oh I hope you like the outfit we picked out for you. Suit shopping isn't really my forte'." Foaly was at the head of the table only drinking out of his coffee mug.

Artemis bowed his head with a smile, "The gesture is sincerely appreciated Miss Caballine. It is a perfect fit and certainly my style of attire. Thank you for going through the trouble for me."

Caballine laughed, "It was no trouble at all dearie. Now, come over here and share a meal with us." She placed a plate in front of the seat next to Holly before trotting over to Foaly and kissing the top of his head, "I'll be going with Emily today for a girl's day out. I'm sure there are plenty of things to catch up on with your friends." She turned to Artemis and Holly with a smile, "It was a pleasure to have met you both finally."

Holly nodded, "And you as well Caballine. Thank you for everything." Artemis smiled and nodded in agreement, sitting down beside Holly.

Caballine bid her farewell as she left the house, "I love you darling, I'll be back in a few hours!"

Artemis noticed Holly was still smiling, but looking at him, "It's strange seeing your gentleman-like nature, but it's kinda charming. You know, in a scary kinda way."

He gave her a vampiric smile, "Could you imagine what power I would hold if I integrated that nature into everything else I do? I'd be unstoppable."

Holly shuddered at his smile, "On second thought, it's more disgusting than charming." Artemis laughed as he lifted a piece of bacon up to his mouth, only to pause before biting down on it. Rachel had walked into the kitchen wearing her pajamas from last night and sat in the seat in front of Artemis, who seemed to be blushing. He kept his gaze at his food and tried to distract himself by eating. He wasn't surprised that the bacon was synthetic.

"Morning guys! Sorry for the wait, I slept like a rock," Rachel laughed.

Foaly got up and prepared a plate of food, placing it in front of Rachel, "Good to see you up and about little sprite."

Her face lit up as she screamed, "Real food!" Before she began to devour the hearty substance.

Holly let out a chuckle as she slid her pieces of bacon onto Artemis' plate. She licked her lips as she began to eat the rest of her food, a little more gracefully than her friend. She was going to savor each bite. Who knew how long they could stay here before they could go home. If it were possible could go home. Holly tilted her head at Artemis, "Earlier in the living room, were you consulting Foaly on how to get us back to our own time?" After waiting a few seconds for a response, she reached over and grabbed his leg, squeezing it.

Artemis jumped and blinked, looking at her, "Oh. Yes, that is what we were talking about. We both have theories on how to get back, but theories are the best that we have at the moment. It could take days, weeks, maybe even years before we can discover a reliable way to get back home."

His thought process was interrupted by a peculiarly loud explosion outside the house, but the house itself barely shook. Foaly jumped up and rushed towards a window, looking frantically outside. Artemis got up and ran up to the opposite window. He fell back yelling out loud as a bright red-orange flame engulfed his view accompanied by another exploding noise. Breathing heavily and clutching at his chest, Artemis yelled, "Foaly, we are under fire!"