Artemis Fowl: The Unpredictable Future

Chapter 29: Inevitable Bliss

Artemis groaned as he opened his eyes. Butler had taught him to always examine his surroundings if he ever woke up in unfamiliar territory. A few seconds of acknowledging what is around you could be the deciding factor between life and death. He was sitting up in a swivel chair in what appeared to be a bedroom with a blanket draped over his shoulders. He looked over to the bed and noticed Holly unconsciously lying still. Breathing. Sleeping to be more precise. He examined the room itself and looked out of the window, "We're inside the hotel." Artemis stood and rubbed his eyes, walking over to the side of the bed and sitting down. "What... had happened?" He rubbed his temples as he scoured the insides of his subconscious. Closing his eyes, his memories replayed themselves in his head.

Artemis and Holly pushed open the door and stepped outside. Foaly and his shuttle were nowhere in sight.

"Artemis..." Holly looked around and sighed in relief. The statue was no longer covered in aged moss and there were crowds of people walking around the area with maps in their hands, exploring the battle fort as well. Although a few tears fell past her eyes, Holly began laughing, "We're back. We're home Arty."

Artemis smiled and nodded, relaxing his shoulders as they were tensed the entire time. He and Holly turned their attention to a man shouting at them. She held onto Artemis' arm but kept a serious gaze against the man running towards them.

"Hey you kids, that area is off limits!" The man looked to be hotel security. As he approached them, he was surprised to see that neither of these kids actually looked like kids. "Sorry for shouting, but no one is supposed to go down there. It's actually supposed to be locked."

Artemis cleared his throat, rediscovering his fake accent, "Our mistake sir. We thought this was part of the fort we could explore." He looked down at Holly. She was holding her head and looked a little off balance. "Holly, are you feeling alr-" He grunted. He felt a sudden surge of pain throughout his own head. He breathed in deeply, trying to stay conscious as he watched Holly collapse onto the ground.

The security guard dropped to his knees and placed two fingers under the crook of Holly's neck, "Good God, what's wrong?" He turned on his walkie talkie that was clipped on his uniform, "Hey Thomas, we have a situation outside in section 3. Call in an ambulance ASAP."

"No! No ambulance required." Artemis fought with all his will power to stay upright and appear normal. The absolute last thing they need to deal with is having an elf check into a human hospital. "She has narcolepsy. She falls asleep involuntarily at the most inconvenient times. Could I have assistance in returning her to our hotel room?"

The security guard picked up the small girl and turned his talkie back on, "Cancel on the ambulance. I am bringing two hotel guests through the back and escorting them to their room." He stood up and looked down at Artemis who was rubbing his temples. "You good sonny?"

Artemis returned his look and nodded weakly, "I'm fine, thank you. Let's hurry please."

With a sigh, he stood up from the bed after recollecting his thoughts. He leaned down towards Holly and carefully removed her ear piece as well as his own. They were manufactured from the Kuro Mondai to accurately emit a mixture of soundwaves and ultraviolet rays towards the brain to counter against the radioactive waves and reverse the effects of the previous minor mutation. He dropped them onto the ground and slammed the bottom of his heel against them, breaking them into pieces.

Holly stirred and sat straight up, gasping sporadically and looking around the room frantically, "Wha- What happened? Artemis, where are we?"

"Calm yourself Holly." He leaned down and picked up the broken pieces, tossing them into a nearby trash bin. "We're back in our hotel room."