Artemis Fowl: The Unpredictable Future

Chapter 28: The Grass Is Greener

"Holly... Holly? It's time to wake up." Rachel poked at Holly's cheek. She had passed out in the bedroom, draped around her pillow. Without gauging a reaction, Rachel rubbed her green hands together before letting out an evil smirk. "Last warning little elf. I don't wanna have to hurt you!"

"Ughh... I've only been asleep for like seven minutes though." Holly whined. She covered her face with the pillow. "Wake me up when the sun is out, ok?" She muffled.

Rachel dropped her arms and huffed before pulling the pillow away from her. "The sun is out silly girl." She walked over to the window and flung the curtains open.

Holly whined again and squirmed on the bed, covering her eyes as rays of light flooding into the room. Groaning sarcastically loud, Holly finally sat up and stretched out. Her hair sticking up in various places from sleeping at such a weird angle.

Rachel giggled and began patting down the strands that were poking out. "I doubt you want to go home looking like you're recovering from a hangover."

Holly ran her fingers through her hair as she stared at Rachel, "Go home? You mean... he's finished?"

Rachel smiled with a nod, "Yeah." She sighed, "Looks like our time together is wearing thin." With still a smile on her face, a single teardrop fell from the corner of her eye. "I'm going to miss you guys." She wrapped her arms around Holly, holding her close.

Holly leaned into the hug, holding her just as close, "I don't know what we would have done without you, Rachel. Thank you... For everything." She leaned in and kissed the pixie's cheek, "One more for the road." She pulled away and gave her a soft smile.

Rachel giggled and rubbed her cheek, "Oh! Before I forget." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver chained bracelet of dark beads. Holly gasped as Rachel held it up in the rays of the sunlight. The bracelet seemed to absorb the light, but also reflect a different kind of light at the same time. As Holly leaned closer to it, she noticed swirling vortexes of what appeared to be stars in the five beads. Rachel clipped the bracelet onto Holly's wrist, "A present from all of us. I had Mr. Foaly help me make it out of his Curry Man Tie."

Holly laughed, "I think you mean his Kuro Mondai." She smiled warmly at her gift, "It's beautiful Rachel, thank you so much."

"Oh, it was nothing." She pointed at Holly with a stern finger, "He said to be absolutely sure, under no circumstances, are you to hold it up to the sky during a thunderstorm while it rains booze." She looked up while poking a finger at her own lips, "Or something like that. I think that's what he said."

Holly giggled and nodded, "I'll keep that in mind." She stood up from the bed and stretched out again. "So where is Artemis now?"

Rachel skipped her way towards the door, "I think he's outside with the others. They are probably wondering where we are right now."

As Rachel continued skipping down the halls, Holly slowly walked behind her, taking a moment to admire the various pictures and assorted knick knacks on the wall. She glanced outside the window to see Artemis bowing towards Caballine. She laughed a little to see him cringe awkwardly as Caballine pulled him into a hug.

Artemis gave a sincere smile and straightened his tie as Caballine released her grasp on him. "You be careful on the other side now dearie. We wouldn't want any other mishaps on the rest of your vacation, now would we?"

Artemis nodded, "I will do my best to keep us out of trouble Miss Caballine. Thank you again." He turned towards the house when he noticed the door open in his peripherals.

Rachel hovered out of the doorway while Holly seemed hesitant to leave the house. She tried not to make eye contact with Artemis as she walked up to Caballine, "I guess this is good-bye." She smiled sadly.