Artemis fowl

Love changes all

authors notes: here we go ch27, last chapter i revieled Artemis's plans, some of you had already guessed it, good job to those who did (all of you), anyway, it will still be a chapter or two before Minerva's wedding, gotta have those inbetween parts that gives a break to the action. BTW, this is going to be a long ch so buckle up.

anyways enjoy

-Yendor

Chapter 27: deciding factor

9:30 am HT (HT=Haven Time) Holly's apartment:

Artemis and Holly were sound asleep in Holly's bed, they had agreed to turn off the clocks alarms so they could sleep in a bit, the party had taken its toll on the both of them so they needed some extra sleep, especialy with today being thier designated departure day, thats right, tonight they will hop on board a shuttle thats going topside to return to the manor to prepare for Minerva's wedding, they still had a week before the wedding however there was much to do, so very much to do, and they were going to get them done...ok there wasnt that much to do, they just wanted some down time to relax, down in Haven theres so much to do and so many people to see that they would hardly get any days to just spend indoors, thus they decided to leave the day after the party, after they say goodbye to everyone that is, they would hate to hurt anyones feelings.

Holly was the first to wake, and the sight she awoke to was quite te shock, she seemed to have buried herself into Artemis's chest, and he seemed to be holding her for dear life, the scene really made Holly think about what she should do wit her feelings, if she just admited them already then mabye every morning could be like this, with the warmth of Artemis's body keeping the cold out and making her feel as safe as she's ever been, she would honestly like nothing else, however then the thought of Artemis not returning her feelings, that would send Holly into a cold and dangerous place, however, she could also reach that place by doing nothing, its about time she decided, would she take the risk that would send her to either heaven or hell, or will she continue down her path to limbo, a fate that could be worse then hell, 'I will decied after today, to tell him or not, if i feel theres a chance, i will tell him, screw the consiquences' Holly thought with confidence, It was her stirring around that eventualy stirred Artemis awake.

"Morning Holly, do you always move so much when you wake?" Asked Artemis who didnt seem to notice his position.

"Only when there's someone that has to wake up so i can get up." Replied Holly who forced Artemis to notice their position.

"Oh, sorry about that." Artemis responded with a slight tinge of color in his cheeks.

"It's alright, you make quite a warm blanket." Holly stated with a slight smile as the red in Artemis's face grew to a deeper shade.

"I'm...glad to hear it, if my knowledge ever fails me its nice to know i have a talent as a blanket." Artemis responded with a smile of his own.

"I dont think i will ever get used to hearing you crack jokes." Stated Holly as she made to the bathroom to change.

"I dont think i will ever get used to cracking jokes either." Artemis called as Holly disapeared into the bathroom.

"Im sure you will eventualy" Holly called back as she turned on the shower, Artemis took this as a cue to move to the kitchen to prepare what ever was needed for breakfast.

"What do you plan on cooking this morning?" Artemis called to Holly, hoping she could hear him.

"pancakes of coarse." Holly called back.

With that in mind Artemis started to get everything ready, he started by finding a frying pan and setting it on the oven, next was the ingredients, Artemis couldnt list the ingredients of by hand, however he was a genius with a really good memory so he just pulled up a memory from the last time Holly cooked pancakes, the most recent memory that contained the knowledge he needed was when Holly had first cooked pancakes, back at fowl manor, he quickly made a note of the ingredients and started his search, he had about half of the ingredients out when Holly finished her shower, she then made a quick dash to her room while only covered by a towel, luckly for her Artemis was a gentleman who wouldnt dream of peeping on an woman, that and he knew that if he did peek Holly would eventualy find out and then Artemis would be in deep trouble. It was a few moments later that Holly had joined Artemis in the kitchen.

"Thanks for preparing for me, your turn for a shower." stated Holly as she grabbed the rest of the ingredients.

"No problem, its the least i could do to return the favor of you cooking breakast." Replied Artemis who left for the bathroom.

Artemis may have been a gentleman but that doesnt mean a certain elf was a gentlewoman, she didnt grow up in a fancy and rich family (even if they started out as criminals) so she didnt have quite the same...manors as Artemis, she also didnt have quite the fear of the other as Artemis does, so once she heard the water turn on she was alone with her thoughts of a naked Artemis only rooms away, it took all of her control to not tempt a look, that and she knew that Artemis would know instintly, he had a tendacy to absorb every little bit of information as possible, so it would be childs play for him to keep tabs on foot steps and noises,plus what would e think of her if she did attempt to peek, would he be flattered or disgusted by it, it could ruin her chances with Artemis,so with that in mind Holly got to cooking her special pancake breakfast after all, the way to a mans heart is through his stomach, or so Juliet says.

A few minutes later and the pancakes where done, with good timing to, because just as she placed them on the table Artemis came out of the bathroom and walked to her bedroom for his suitcase of clothes, Holly decided to start digging into her food, it was a few minutes later when Artemis came out of her room, fully dressed, and started eating his own pancakes, the two ate in silence for what felt like ages, it was Holly who decided to break the silence.

"So, what do you want to do today, before we leave for the surface." Holly asked.

"Hmm, well we have to say goodbye to everyone, so i suggest one last trip to police plaza for Foaly, Mulch and im sure commander kelp would want a goodbye, then from what i understand No.1 is the closest from there, and then finaly Caballine and Terra, After that, who knows, we will figure it out then." Stated Artemis.

"Ok, sounds like a plan then, so first stop is Police Plaza." Said Holly.

Artemis and Holly continued to eat in silence after that, it was only after they finished their meal and had cleaned the dishes did one of them talk, and even then it was short, it was a simple 'ready?' and a nod and then they were off to Police Plaza to say goodbye to Foaly, Mulch and to let the commander know aswell, Holly still shivered at the idea of Mulch now being LEP, and she was sure that Root was stiring in his ashes, she was sure that the late commander might even make a trip back to the land of the living to demand to know whats going on, Mulch had been a wanted criminal, he even made it onto the top ten list of most wanted criminals once, at number 7, simply because of his ability to escape anything you throw him into, he was nearly impossible to catch and even when you caught him he would still escape, Root had to personaly track him down on multiple occasions and even with one of the best on the case he was still able to narrowly escape, and now he is the commander of a new police force branch that specilizes in dealing with trolls, Roots heart would finaly explode after hearing that, and that long forgotten bet would have finaly been settled., so yeah, Holly would believe mulch if he came running down the halls yelling that Root was haunting him, she would believe it without a doubt, that made Holly start thinking, what would the late commander think if he was to find out about her feelings for Artemis, would he support her or would he attempt to haunt as he would Mulch, she thought about it for most of the walk to police plaza, she reached a conclusion as they reached the doors, 'Julius thought of me as his daughter, of that im sure, so im sure that he would support me in any decision i choose, as long as I've made that desicion with all my heart, im sure he would support me.

All Artemis could think of was the plan, he had been thinking about it in the shower and he continued to think about it for the entire walk to pollice plaza, he was calculating the odds of them finding a suitable path for the plan over and over, his hope was that it would be a simple procedure, like a healing or a mesmer, however something this complicated could turn out to have an intire rutial to it, a ritual that could have been lost to the ages by now, the only hope he would have of finding it is if Qwan knew something about it, and even then it would all be a matter of getting Qwan to help, something he has been reluctant to do, everytime he or Foaly contacts Qwan about information for the plan he gives a really weak excuse or outright ignores them and continues on with a different subject, it was tiring, his only hope now is for No.1 to find a way to transform him into an elf saftly, Artemis doesnt know much about magic and its logic, however he could still guess about what could go wrong, his soul could be effected in a way where it rejects the body, then he would be left to wander again, he could lose his memories again, how pernament that would be is anyones guess, and theres even more that can go wrong, like instead of an elf he becomes a goblin or a dwarf, or he could be turned into an elf and not be able to use magic, 'i must find a way to complete the plan saftly, for Holly' was Artemis's last thought as the two walking onto Foaly's lab.

"Hello Artemis and Holly, take a seat, ill only be a minute" Stated Foaly who was face first into one of his inventions, Holly was worried he might inhale it with how close he was.

"Ok, we will wait then." Stated Artemis who took a seat, Holly took the seat that was beside his.

"What are you working on Foaly?" Holly asked and even thought she could see it she knew he was smiling.

"Its a project that will change the world." Stated Foaly.

"So like all your other projects then." Stated Artemis with a sly smile.

"This one really will, i promise that." Replied Foaly who finaly pulled his face out to look at the two.

"We dont doubt it, all your projects change the world, or at least the fairy world." Stated Holly who really didnt want Foaly to go on a rant about how this was the biggest project ever, she's heard that one plenty of times aswell.

"Good, Im glad you understand, now, im guessing this is a cya later type of visit, am i right?" Stated Foaly with a small smile.

"That is a really good guess, considering you already knew of our departure today, and of our plans" Artemis replied sarcasticly.

"Well, i guess it'll be a while before we can speak face to face, so i guess i might aswell enjoy it then." Stated Foaly who reached for a carrot.

"We will try to get a visa to come and visit sometime, im sure you and Artemis would enjoy that, since it means you to could work on your projects in person." Exclaimed Holly with a slight smile

"Working with each other in person is better then over a vid chat which could be shut down from a magma flare, so yeah, feel free to visit anytime." Replied Foaly.

"Good, we will hold you to tat, esspecialy when you cant lock us out anyway." Stated Artemis with his signature vampire smirk.

"My systems will be much more advance the next time you visit, i will make sure that you wont be able to just 'wave' the doors open again." Stated Foaly.

"Oh, i cant wait, I will prove once again that you cannot outwit me, the next time will be like last time, im sure of that." Stated Artemis, Holly knew she had to put a stop to this before they actualy started butting heads in real life.

"Ok, well, we have many more people to say bye to, so if you'll excuse us Foaly, we must be going." Exclaimed Holly who Pulled Artemis over to the door, a little to eager to leave.

"Oh, well, ok then, until next time." Foaly said with a wave.

Artemis and Holly returned the gesture and just like that they were of to see their next friend, they first needed to find out how to get to mulch's division, neither of them had seen any clue as to the where abouts of the new division, there were no signs in the hallways, and when they pulled a map up of Police plaza on Artemis's phone (something Holly noted down for further discusion) it wasnt there either, and Artemis is allways one for detail so he wouldnt have missed an update, so that left the question, where is Mulchs troll riders division, the two decided that it would be best to ask Commander Kelp about the issue, it would kill two birds with one stone as they still needed to notify the commander of their departure, so they made their way to his office, Holly knew all too well where it was, after all it used to be Roots old office, and she had spent quite alot of time in there, not all of that time was good either, once they were outside his office Artemis knocked and the Commander called for them to enter.

"Holly, Artemis, What a surprise, i wouldnt have guessed you'd be paying me a visit today." Exclaimed Trouble with little surprise.

"Foaly told you didnt he? that we're heading back tonight." Artemis asked, however he made it sound more like a statment.

"You know Foaly, he'd do anything to try and bug someone." Trouble replied with a sigh.

"That certanly sounds like Foaly, but why would it bug you?" Holly asked suddenly, both Artemis and Trouble had been caught of gaurd, it was easy for anyone to see th reason why.

"It...its because he still believes i have feelings for you." Stated Trouble embarasingly, he couldnt understand it but he just didnt feel like lying anymore.

"Oh, and do you?" Holly Continued with the questions and Artemis started to feel bad for the commander.

"I...No, i Dont, you will allways be my friend and i came to accept your dicision awhile ago, if im not your type then so be it, and besides, i have someone else on my mind right now." Trouble stated proudly, Artemis started to feel respect towards him, for saying that.

"And you better treat her right you hear, cause i know Clair, and if you hurt her, i will hurt you, friend or not." Holly threatened with a smile, a smile that managed to send a shiver down Artemis's spine, aswell as the commanders.

"I... i promise i will, i wont do her any harm, i Promise." Trouble stuttered from being threatened.

"Good, now to business, we need to know where the Troll riders are, we need to say bye to Mulch aswell, and we cant find a single clue as to where their division is." Holly exclaimed with a slight smile from the look of her commander.

"The troll riders?...Their actually located outside of Haven, as a precaution, it was the one condition that the council had, however i believe that Mulch spends most of his time away from their headquarters, he leaves everything to his secretary, and he only really helps when theres trouble, and i dont blame him, Trolls dont exactly have a daily routine for attacks, it just happens." Trouble explained.

"So even if we were to go to the Troll Riders headquarters there's no certainty that Mulch is even there, that is a bit of a problem." Stated Artemis who started thinking.

"Well, i have no clue about what to do now, you never know where that Dwarf could be, he might even be on the surface knowing Mulch." Holly exclaimed with a huff.

"Oh well then, if we cant find him then let him find us, Mulch does indeed have a certain...ability to show up at the wrong place at the right time, so i suggest we leave it be for now, besides its not like we're in to much of a hurry." Stated Artemis.

"Thats true, Mulch has allways shown up when we least expect him too, if thats the case then we should go see No.1 now then." Holly exclaimed.

"Im sure No.1 really wants to see you guys aswell, well then off with ya, i was working before you got here you know." Trouble stated with a slight irritation, Artemis and Holly both figured it was due to the work he mentioned.

"Ok then, we'll leave you to it then." Holly said as she opened the door to leave.

"A pleasure as allways." Artemis said as he walked through the doorway, the commander just waved them goodbye.

And with that the two started towards their next target, No.1 would most likely be at the warlock temple, the place where most of the warlocks in the fairy world lived, it was a place full of old and new magic, a place where they could peacefully study and test new forms of magic, needless to say, No.1 was warmly welcomed, considering the little guy was probably the most powerfull warlock in history, and that he proved helpfull to the creation of new magics, and with dispatching some of the old magic, like the fairy magic that prevented a fairy from entering a human dwelling without permission, it has since proved benifitial in capturing rouges that managed to enter a human dwelling, No.1 has been a blessing to the magic society, so much so that they have allready given him the highest title possible, along with Qwan and Qweffor aswell of coarse, No.1 also enjoyed the company of other warlocks from time to time, so that adds to the possibility of finding him there.

They walked for about 10 more minutes untill they had finaly reached the doors to the temple which was more like a collage after you looked at it, Artemis and Holly had managed to find what resembled a front office to ask for directions, and to ask if No.1 was even there.

"Hello, we're here to see No.1, is he here?" Holly asked the sprite that was at the front desk.

"Hmmm, i dont know if he's here or not, however if he is he's probably in room 407 in practice building B , thats the room his mentor uses alot of the time, its the second building on the right, facing this way, you cant miss it. Repleid the receptionist.

"Ok, thanks"

Artemis and Holly had easily found the building where the receptionist had told them to look for No.1, it was the second big building beside the other big building, both were about twice the size of every other building around, after entering they went to the fourth floor to find room 407 where they would hopefuly find No.1, once they reaced the fourth floor they looked at the first door to see what number it was, the number was 401, which meant that they still had to go a bit farther down to find 407, but they found it just as easily, once in front of the door they knocked, no sense in walking in if their performing a ritual that could blow them up, they waited for a few seconds which turned into minutes, eventualy they decided to say 'screw it' and went in anyway, they only found Qwan who seemed to be meditating in the middle of the room, there was no sign of No.1 anywhere, this meantthat they would have to look elsewhere, but where? they couldnt possibly ask Qwan where No.1 is, he seemed to be in the middle of something, it might not be important but what if it was.

"Stop right there!" Qwan yelled in their direction as they turned to leave.

"Hello Qwan we-"

"What do you think you are doing!" Qwan cut Holly off mid sentance.

"Well we were looking-

"What did i tell you, you never listen do you, you will regret it if you do that." Qwan cut Holly off again, Artemis and Holly were getting a little irritated and confused.

"Fine, it would have been so funny though." stated No.1 who shimmered into veiw right behind the them, causing Artemis and Holly to jump forward a bit.

"No.1, how did you do that, there was no shimmer at all, we couldnt tell that you were there at all." Holly asked a little excitedly.

"There was no shimmer because i wasnt shielding, it was a reflective illusion which uses quite a bit of magic, basicly i projected a variant of the space i was in, a variant of which i am not in, so i become invisable without having to shield, Foaly wanted me to learn it, he wants to use it or a gadget for the LEP." No.1 stated as he moved to stand beside qwan.

"And while he was learning it he made a bet with me on wether or not i could detect him or not, as you could tell, i won the bet." Qwan stated proudly.

"How were you able to tell where No.1 was?" Artemis asked, hoping to find a way to see through this new technique aswell.

"I have trained for centuries,i am at a point now where i can simply feel someones magic, i used that to pin point his location." Qwan explained.

"I see, so it takes a certain level of training to be able to sense magic, however No.1 if your simply creating an illusion then an infrared camara should be able to spot your body heat no problem." Artemis exclaimed.

"Hmmm, your right there, and since i cant see or control heat then i guess thats a downside, however its the same with shielding... oh well, i guess Foaly will have to fix that with his machines then." No.1 smiled.

"Good choice, just leave it to the tech crazed centaur, im sure he would love the challange anyway." Holly stated as she grew her own smile.

"So, what brings you here today?" Qwan asked, Artemis could tell that there was a slight dangerous tone that seemed to be directed at him, as if daring to answer with 'turn me into an elf, please'

"We came to say goodbye, we're heading back to Fowl manor tonight and we wanted to see everyone before we left, we've already said goodbye to Foaly and Commander Kelp, Mulch is no where to be found and after you we plan to go see Caballine and Terra." Holly exclaimed, completly missing the glare Qwan was giving Artemis.

"I see, well I'm sorry we couldnt have seen each other before this however i have been extremly busy lately, i managed to take today off to spend time with my favorite pupil." Qwan stated, who stopped glaring.

"Aw man, you guys are leaving already, but i just got back last night, i was hoping to spend a bit more time with you guys." No.1 stated while getting a little depressed.

"Dont worry No.1, I'm sure we will plan more trips to Haven in the near future, we can spend time together then." Artemis exclaimed, giving No.1 a smile, something that No.1 hadnt seen him do all too much,and with that the two left, waving farwell to their two demon friends, now it was on to Caballine and Terra.

The two of them continued on to the residential districts, this took about half an hour to walk, all the while they were talking about how much No.1 has grown as a warlock, it really was impressive to say the least, eventualy No.1 will be a huge asset to the people, and he might even help with convincing the humans that they meant no harm, if they were ever discovered by humans that is, while talking about No.1's magic Artemis's mind couldnt help but wander back to the problem at hand, his transformation, if anyone could do it it'd be No.1, but what if by the time No.1 solves this problem its to late? demons live just as long as any of the other fairy families, maybe longer, esspecially for No.1 who is a being thats full of high grade magic, what if No.1 takes a hundred years, it would be too late, Artemis would probably be long dead by that time, this caused Artemis to think of back up plans, maybe he could go a more medical route, an operation maybe, no, it would be even more dangerous, what could he do to be with Holly, Artemis didnt relise how simple the answer was, he was to anxious to notice.

"So, where do you want to go after saying bye to Caballine and Terra? we still have time to eat you know, so where do you want to eat?" Holly asked as they continued to walk.

"Pardon? sorry, my mind was wandering." Artemis stated.

"You ok Artemis? your mind never wanders, well hardly atleast." Holly stated as she gave Artemis a look of worry.

"Im fine Holly, i was just enjoying the walk a bit too much so my mind just wandered off on me." Artemis replied with a sincere smile "And thanks for worrying."

"your welcome" Holly said as she returned the smile.

After that the two continued on to Caballine and Foaly's house in silence, both of them just enjoying the walk and the company, there was a comfortable aura eminating from of them as they walked, just being around each other seemed to have a calming effect, they could really be themselves around each other, its just too bad that they cant notice this themselves cause if they did notice then they would be in a much different relationship right now, the two continued to walk for a few more minutes until they reached Foaly and Caballine's house, Holly was the one who knocked and Terra was the one to answer.

"HOLLY!" Terra exclaimed as she threw herself into Holly while wrapped her arms around her, Holly returned the gesture.

"Oh, i wasnt expecting you two till later." Caballine exclaimed from inside the house as she had came to see who was at the door.

"We are a bit ahead of schedule." Eclaimed Artemis.

"Artemis!" Terra then exclaimed as she gave Artemis the same treatment she had just given Holly.

"Terra! dont be a bother to Artemis, im sure he doesnt want people clinging all over him, he comes from a sophisticated family you know." Caballine stated.

"Dont worry Caballine, i dont mind, it actually reminds me of my little brothers, well one of my little brothers, myles seems to have picked up on my...rigidness, i hope he finds someone who will help him with that though. Artemis exclaimed fondly.

"Like how Holly helped you?" Terra asked with wide innocent eyes

"yes Terra, like how Holly helped me, i just hope he doesnt kidnap that person like i did." Artemis stated with a smile.

"Well are you two coming in or not, we're not cooling all of Haven you know." Caballine stated.

"Sadly no, we just dropped by to say goodbye, today we head back to the surface." Holly said this more to Terra then Caballine, after all Caballine had allready known about this.

"Aww, your leaving allready?" Terra asked a bit teary eyed.

"Im sorry we couldnt stay Longer Terra, however we have plans on the surface that cant be missed." Artemis stated while leaning down to be eye level with terra.

"Like what?" Terra asked.

"A wedding, a friend of ours is getting married and we're important to the wedding." Holly explained.

"Oh...ok then, i will forgive you this time, but next time you come down i want something special, ok?" Terra exclaimed.

"Ok Terra, its a deal." exclaimed Artemis as he and Terra shook hands to seal the deal.

After that the four of them said their farewells and Artemis and Holly were off to their next objective, Dinner, and Artemis knew exactly where to go, it would take a while for them to walk there, however it would be worth it, the two continued their walk, Holly was Following Artemis as he had said he knew the perfect place to have dinner on their last day in Haven, Holly couldnt imagine where they were going however she didnt mind, mostly because she knew that if she asked Artemis where they were going he would try to redirect the conversation to something else, after all Artemis did like his secrets, Holly wondered if there would come a time when Artmeis didnt have a single secret left to himself, he had allready told Holly quite a bit while she was helping with his recovery, infact it sort of helped with the healing, however Holly knew that Artemis hadnt spilled everything, he wasnt like that, if he had something he really didnt want someone knowing then no one knew about it, thats how artemis works, Holly couldnt help but remember what Artemis had said, about him introducing her to the person he liked, she couldnt help but feel a twinge in her heart at the memory, thats when another thought struck her, Artemis is to shy to show affection outside of his comfort zone, his comfort zone being mostly wherever Holly was, that means that Artemis likely hasnt told the person his feelings, which meant that she could still change his feelings before it was to late for her, Holly's confidince grew as this she thought this, and she grew determaned to become a couple before the wedding, this was her mission, and she couldnt fail.

It was another 30 minutes until they reached there next destination, Holly relised where they where going the second they turned the corner and saw the face of her friend in his prized food truck, Holly picked up her pace and Artemis adjusted his aswell as to not be left behind.

"Well, well if it isnt my favorite costumer, back again with her not-boyfriend friend." Stated the cook.

"Yes, we're back, unfortunatly though i have another long mission coming up so i wont be able to eat here for the next while." Holly exclaimed with a sad smile.

"Thats to bad, however i guess you got to work, a top LEP officer such as yourself is doing this city proud with your hard work, just promise that you will come and visit when you get back, ok?" The cook said as he moved to work on some food.

"I will, dont worry about that, your cooking is great so i definitly wont miss an opportunity to come back." Stated Holly with a grin.

"Thats good, now here's your order for two, on the house for the finest officer in the house." Stated the cook with a smile.

"You're too kind Sal, but thank you." Stated Holly as she grabbed the food from Sal.

"Dont mention it, and i mean dont, people will get all up and jelious if they heard i gave out free food." Sal whispered with a smile.

"Ok, no problem, thanks again, and cya when i come back." Stated Holly as she took off for the spot they had last time, Artemis was left standing there confused.

"Dont worry about it, and if you dont mind me asking, do you have feelings for Holly? im just a tad curious, i promise to keep it a secret." Sal asked while leaning over the window to make sure no one else could hear, Artemis stared him down for a few moments before deciding that he looked trustworthy enough.

"Yes, i love Holly, however now isnt the time to tell her." Artemis exclaimed as he took a step in Holly's direction.

"There is no right time, you just have to tell your loved one that you love them before its too late, before one of you pass on, time doesnt care about what we have left to do or about how young we are, eventually we'll run out of the time to say these things." Exclaimed Sal.

"I can tell you've lost someone dear to you, and i'm sorry for your loss, i will think about your words, Sal." Artemis stated as he continued over to Holly.

"What took you so long?" Holly asked as Artemis finaly reached her.

"Just wanted to make you wait a little longer, i thought it would help you learn patiance." Artemis responded with a smile.

"I have patiance, just not when I'm excited." Holly retorted as Artemis sat next to her.

"Can i have my food please?" Artemis asked after Holly made no move to hand him his share.

"I dont know, it might take awhile, patiance is necesary isnt it?" Holly asked with a devilish smile.

"Ok, fine, i admit that patiance can be forgotten in some cases, now hand me my food, please." Artemis exclaimed with a slight smile.

"Here you go." Holly said triumphantly as she handed Artemis his food.

"Thank you." responded Artemis as he grabbed his food container.

The two ate in silence after that, a comfortable silence that the two had rarely had while down here, it was either planning for the party or hanging out with friends they hadnt seen in awhile, there was allways something going on, it was moments like this however that the two really enjoyed, just them spending time together, not really saying anything but at the same time saying everything, they had grown so close that they could practicly tell what the other was thinking, except for when it came to their feelings it seemed, they could never really see the signs the other gave off, it took Holly yelling it and Artemis overhearing it for one of them to discover the others feelings, they say love is blind and these two were the prime examples.

Unfortunatly Artemis and Holly had had it quite peaceful for some time, not including run in with trolls, they didnt count anymore, and some higher power must have thought the same thing for the next thing the two had heard was screaming coming from inside the city, the next thing they saw were people running away from that section of city, the next was LEP cruisers heading towards the area everyone was running from, the two only had time to look at each other with a look that said here we go again before they took off following the police cruisers, cause if trouble doesnt find them they find trouble, in both sense of the word as a few minutes of running later they had came up to Commander Trouble Kelp who was looking out from this side of a barracade.

"Commander, whats going on?" Holly asked as she took the spot beside Trouble.

"A Gnome is on a rampage, from what we've gathered he has an experimental blaster of Opal Koboi's, aswell as a personal sheild to prevent us from stunning him." Trouble stated as he turned to Holly and Artemis, not in the least bit supprised to see them.

"Ok, and whats so dangerous about this blaster where we cant get near him?" Artemis asked as he took a look over the barraced to see the Gnome in a clear ball like blue light, there was a clear circle of barracades around the gnome aswell to prevent a ground escape, however the Gnome didnt seem to mind.

"The blaster seems to give the person shot with it a spelltropy like desease, we allready have half a dozen or so wounded, so far no one has died and it doesnt seem like it spreads unless there is attempt to heal, this is a bad situation." Trouble responded as he handed Holly a blaster after stating "just in case."

"So it only effects magical beings?" Artemis asked.

"We dont know, all we know is that like spelltropy it turns the magic ageinst the person, plus the gun deals just enough damage to force a healing, which causes the magic to do harm instead of healing, in short if you were to use magic in any way, that magic would hurt you instead, however because we dont know what it will do to a human like you i suggest-" Trouble was unable to say any more as when he turned to face Artemis he wasnt there, it was when Holly noticed that Artemis was gone did the both of them look over the barracade to see Artemis walking towards the Gnome.

"You stupid reckless moron, if you were in the LEP, IA would be having a field day with this alone." Trouble spouted in rage.

"A..Artemis, you better come back." was all Holly was able to whisper as she watched in Horror as Artemis drew closer.

Artemis didnt know what had came over him, he never prefered the physical route over the mental, and now what he was doing was absolutly mental, however when he was about half way to the gnome he relised something, soemthing the Commanders hadnt told them, and of coarse Trouble wouldnt have told them, if he had mentioned the little pixie girl that was being held hostage Holly might have done something reckless 'like what your doing now' said a voice in his head, Artemis could only agree as the gnome turned to him.

"Oi, what do you think your doing, huh, you want to die?" The gnome had yelled at Artemis.

"Im not going to die, and your not going to harm anyone else." Artemis said confinitly, he had remembered to stay calm when faced with a potentialy insane person.

"Oh really, come here and we'll see about that." The gnome taunted, Artemis had reached the outside of the shield which was about 10 feet in diameter which will be enough if Artemis's five second plan works.

"last chance to end this peacefully." Artemis called from the outside of the barrier.

"The only end here will be your life." Stated the gnome as he pointed his blaster towards Artemis.

All Holly could do was watch in Horror as Artemis stepped into the Barrier, a red ball of energy was shot from the blaster and had hit Artemis square in the chest, Holly had to use every fiber of her being to stop herself from running over there and making the situation worse, her eyes were the best so she was able to notice that the transformation ring had just disintegrated, the magic had destroyed it, Artemis had then shot up to is full hight, he was now towering above the gnome who looked as though he had just messed his pants, and who could blame him for standing in front of him was Artemis Fowl, the man who had stopped Opal Koboi after she had obtained an almost unlimited amout of magic, the man that was once on the top of the LEP's most wanted list, and the man who was now a friend to the people, the gnome looked at the man in front of him in shock and Horror, Artemis took this moment to strike, he pulled his fist back as far as it could go, he placed his feet as Butler had taught him to do, and he focused all his anger aswell into this single punch as he brought it down into the face of the shocked Gnome who was sent flying from the punch, the blaster slipping out of his grip and flying out of the shield while the gnome landed just inside the sheild, after a moment of shock passed through the LEP officers on sight they got to work, they rushd in to arrest the Gnome, Holly was one of the first to run in, however she was stopped halfway by what she saw, a red cloud had now completly surrounded Artemis who only looked directly at Holly as the red cloud shot into Artemis, scarring his entire Body, Holly was now beyond Horror, she was beyond scarred, this was a whole knew level of pain, a pain that felt just like before.

"ARTEMIS!" Holly screamed as she took off once again as Artemis collapsed to the ground, Trouble had noticed that Holly was preparing to heal Artemis, he could allow that as it would mean Holly would be infected aswell, so he took action and managed to tackle Holly to the ground ust before she entered the Barrier, it took all of his might to try to keep her down however eventualy he had to call for backup, it took Four people to hold Holly down while the Commander placed a couple knockout patches onto Holly's arm to well knock her out, it would be easier this way, Trouble looked on towards Artemis and as the medice Warlocks started moving him he couldnt help but worry, not for Artemis but for Holly.

"You promised me you wouldnt hurt her, dont break it."

A.N: im sorry

next chapter: waiting