A/N:
I must say, this fic is really long, compared to all the other fics
I’ve written! Here, this is where the main story starts people.

Also,
I’m not going into deep details yet, like how Artemis might have
telepathic connections with Holly because of the shared eye, or
whatever. And like how Colfer said that fairies have a bit of night
vision, Artemis might have some too. Let’s just say that Artemis
finds out about that a while later—hey, I’m not tying up ALL of
Colfer’s loose ends!

Also,
you may notice a few quotes here and there stolen from the AF books.
Just to make it seem more like Colfer’s writing.

Chapter
1: Discovery

Fowl
Manor, Ireland

A
Bentley crossed over the driveway of Fowl Manor. Gray gravel crunched
under its tires, and the car halted to a stop outside the foyer. A
driver, dressed in a Hugo Boss suit, stepped out of the front. He
straightened his jacket, then crossed over to the passenger seat at
the back and opened the door, bowing slightly.

A
raven-haired boy of around fifteen stepped out, his pale skin even
paler in the sunlight. His blue-black eye was cold and distant, his
hazel one warm and kind. He exited out of the vehicle, tailored suit
newly ironed, extending his hand to lead out a pretty blonde girl
with corkscrew curls.

Artemis
Fowl and Minerva Paradizo stepped up towards Fowl Manor, where the
front door opened, and one of the many butlers escorted them inside.

“Really,
Minerva, that lecture was somewhat tiring,” the boy complained.

“Oh
Artemis, stop moaning, it was yesterday. The only thing you
should be tired from is the flight, albeit the fact that the Fowl jet
is one of the least turbulent of all aeroplanes,” the girl replied
serenely.

“Ah,
well…” the youth’s eyes searched the halls. “I wonder where
Holly is? Butler was supposed to welcome her whilst we were away in
France.” He cocked an eyebrow—the one above the penetrating blue
eye.

Minerva
didn’t answer. She shrugged and continued along the hallway of the
huge manor, where previous generations of Fowls snickered down at
her, their signature smirk shown on display. Soon, she knew, Arty
would be up there too. But unlike the others—who mostly had either
piercing blue eyes, or deep, mysterious ones—Artemis would have his
two different gazes: warm and cold, Yin and Yang, neutralizing his
two personalities. His ambitious, power hungry self, and his
conscience, which, to Artemis’ great displeasure, constantly
reminded him of the virtuousness his Father had now embedded into his
mind.

Artemis
watched Minerva’s curls bounce, as she seemed to glide down the
hallway, head held high. There was an air of elegance around her that
somewhat reminded him of his Mother. She really had
changed, like Butler had said.

When
Artemis had just returned from Hybras, and when Butler had started to
make the phone calls, the prodigy, just having recovered from the
surprise at the mention of his twin brothers, had told him to halt,
and stop the calls: both to Minerva, and his parents. He preferred to
talk to them physically, it would take away the second shock when
they met him afterwards. Better to get it over with. Plus, the
explanation would be easier as well.

Artemis
had told Angeline and Artemis Fowl the First that after receiving a
rare virus, Butler had had to send him to a cryogenics plant, where
they had frozen him, until such a cure would come. This procedure had
held back his growth, explaining his age. Finally, Butler had been
able to find such a method (which Artemis briefly explained the use
of stem cells), and number one surgeons had helped the teenage
criminal mastermind return to his usual state. However, the virus had
affected one of his eyes, and the colour pigments had mutated over a
course of the prolonged effect. Furthermore, Artemis had also lied
that Butler had been instructed to prevaricate, in fear of his
parents’ worries. And all the people involved, who knew of his
existence, had also been forced to sign a confidentiality contract as
well. His parents had been too happy of his return to be angry with
him, to Artemis’ eternal relief.

It
was a simple fib, but Artemis already felt guilty of having to lie to
Mother and Father. It was this newfound conscience in him…and when
he had asked the bodyguard why he felt so wrong telling these
stories, the Eurasian just grinned and replied simply, “you’re
not telling lies, Artemis. Your memory’s just exaggerating.”

It
was not like Butler to make silly jokes, but this lie was also for
the good of the People, and with that reason, Artemis pushed the
thought to the back of his mind.

After
his talk with Mother and Father, Artemis had met up with his twin
brothers: Beckett and Myles. Neither had his intelligence, nor both
Artemises’ eyes. Instead, they had inherited their Mother’s teal
ones…though none of her patience and poise—nor their Father’s
previous stoic self. Instead, they were simply a pain in the behind,
to use that colloquialism. Artemis had also noticed that their
personality was turning similar to Juliet Butler’s, who was now
acting as their nanny and half-bodyguard. So the boy had cut the
reunion short—for the twins had kept on crying and wailing so
immaturely—and set off to meet up with Minerva.

Artemis
had, after careful consideration, decided to tell Minerva the truth.
But before he could even say hello, she had flung herself into his
arms and told him how sorry she was. After the two had gotten over
their embarassing gestures, Artemis had explained about the past
events. The girl’s eyes—which now resided contact lenses, instead
of the glasses she used to wear—had widened in shock as she had
recalled the incidents, and had found out how she had nearly caused a
cross-species war. When the initial distrubance had subsided, the
Irish youth had informed Minerva all about the People. And basically
everything he knew. Somehow, Artemis could find sometimes that when
he stared into her emerald eyes, or conversed to her about quantum
physics, he saw a slight shadow of himself inside her. The air of
smugness and self-pride. It attracted him with a mystique he could
not explain. Now, there were two genii, both knowing about the
underground fairies, and—at the risk of sounding cliched—both
willing to save the world.

The
teenagers reached the study, where Artemis had instructed Butler to
wait with Holly, and question the elf about the problem she had
mentioned. A week ago, Holly had contacted Artemis (via the fairy
communicator), and had told him that ‘something was about’. She
had only briefed him lightly on what the situation was, and he hoped
that this visit would clarify his many suspicions. Artemis guessed it
was something to do with Section Eight’s current mission.

“Butler,
we’re back,” Artemis spoke in his clipped tone of voice. He
opened the door to find the giant manservant and Holly Short, sat
opposite each other on the sofa. The elf stood up, still shorter than
Butler. Of course, this was a great difference, Butler being
particularly huge,
and Holly being…very small. “Holly, nice to see you again.” He
stepped in to receive her hug.

At
ninety-nine centimeters, Holly Short really was short,
one centimeter under the
average fairy height, in fact. Artemis had to bend down lower to
embrace her properly.

“Mud
Boy. You haven’t kept in contact since last time we talked,” she
tried to pout. “Busy with your…friend?”

Much
to Artemis’ displeasure, Foaly the centaur’s contagious humor on
Artemis and Minerva seemed to have been passed onto Holly herself.
The prodigy ignored the last part of her statement, but looked down,
grimacing. “I had to lie to my parents. And I had to clean up
whatever records Butler had left. You know, how he told them about
the People,” Artemis glanced at Butler, who looked sheepish. “But
all’s well,” he waved the matter away royally with one hand.
“Though apparently, not for you?”

Holly
smiled. “Hey, introduce me to your girlfriend
first. Where have all your manners gone? Or has her beauty entranced
you so?” the elf snickered, whilst Artemis scowled.

“No
need, Holly, you know who this is,” he murmured. Minerva came to
the rescue, sensing Artemis’ inability with vocabulary and lack of
speech.

“Minerva
Paradizo,” she spoke politely, holding her hand out to shake
Holly’s. “I’m sorry for what I did…I was immature, and I hope
you and the People will forgive me. I sincerely do.” She smiled
genuinely.

Holly
returned the friendliness. “No problem, Mud Girl, just a little
misunderstanding. And plus, everything’s turned out well.” The
fairy nodded softly.

Minerva’s
relaxed visibly. She looked down right relieved. “I appreciate it,”
she replied.

“Okay,
let’s cut the stuff short, Short,” snapped a familiar voice. The
paranoid tone was audible beneath the annoyed attitude. The LEP
technology really was
advance, so that the sound was crystal clear, thanks to the one whose
voice was currently projecting out.

The
Irish boy grinned. “Foaly.”

Holly
rolled her eyes and pulled out the fairy communicator, where the
centaur’s smug face appeared.

“That’s
right, Fowl. You didn’t think I’d be missing out on this little
reunion, did you? All this sentimental drama…better than human soap
operas I must say.” The centaur grinned mischieviously.

“All
this drama, eh? How about you and this little Miss Caballine, I hear
from Butler? Engaged?”

A
tint of pink appeared on the techie’s face. He opened his mouth to
snap a retort back at the boy, but Artemis cut in a falsely innocent
voice.

“I’m
surprised Foaly, I thought you would’ve had trouble finding another
centauress who loved you as much as you loved yourself. I’m gone
for less than three years, and you’ve nearly tied the knot? Though
I must say, the intensity of it all is very touching.”

Foaly
pursed his lips, the pink glowing slightly redder. “All right, Mud
boy, you win. Although I’m not even going to mention that your
girlfriend—”

“Foaly,
shut up,” Holly sighed. “You’re bickering like an old
grandmother.”

“What?”
the centaur pouted. “I mean even Mulch, out of all people, helps me
more…”

Artemis
smirked. “Mulch? Helping a donkey? It’s a case of brotherly
love…”

Foaly
just gaped, with no witty comebacks…even if Mulch was a dwarf, not
a donkey.

Holly
sighed again. There was bound to be a row, and she didn’t need it
at this moment, not when they were all possibly in mortal danger, as
Artemis was about to find out. She turned to him. “Let’s talk
about why the People need yours and Minerva’s help,” she said at
last.

The
prodigies didn’t reply. “Tell them, Holly,” came Butler’s
growling voice. Though it wasn’t menacing or unfriendly in any way,
it sent shivers down the elf’s spine, even if she had gotten used
to it and knew that Butler was a friend. If thunder had a voice, this
would be it. The bodyguard had been quietly examining the situation,
and now, Holly could see a muscle throbbing in his jaw, as though
impatient to get started at saving the world.

“Alright.
But I think it’ll be easier if I told them where, in Scandinavia,
we’re going.” Holly allowed herself a crooked smile. “And I
thought Murmansk in Russia was bad.”

Minerva
grinned. Artemis smirked. “I think I know where. Helsinki,
correct?” he asked.

Foaly
shook his head wearily, the sign of defeat. “It’s so hard to beat
two geniuses,” he groaned.

“Genii,”
chorused Artemis and Minerva automatically.

Foaly
looked exasperatedly at Butler. “See what I mean?”

The
giant man grunted. “Tell me about it,” he said.

———————————————————————————————————————

Helsinki
Harbour

“Here?”
Minerva asked skeptically. “This
is where the trolls are supposed to have been buried?”

Holly
nodded. “Yep. According to the research that Section Eight have
been doing, the trolls—which are famous in Scandinavian legend—were
supposed to have been petrified or frozen here.”

“And
they want to reck havoc…on the world?” the French girl said
incredulously. “Why does it seem like we’re discovering demons
all over again?” She shuddered at the thought of it. Minerva had
already been told of the events she could’ve caused…had Artemis
and Co. not come to the rescue.

Over
the years Artemis had gone missing, Minerva’s own vain self had
turned somewhat different. She had regretted miserably on what she
had done, and was grateful that Artemis had actually forgiven her.
Other than that, she had also kept in contact with Butler, and had
turned out good friends with him. The thought of demons all over
again made her stomach churn. She didn’t want those events to
happen all over again—once was enough to last a lifetime. Deep in
her thoughts, Minerva didn’t notice Holly, who was studying her
carefully.

The
ex-LEP Captain was mildly surprised. Minerva really had changed. It
was the first time she had seen the girl again after the incident at
the Taipei 101, and after she and Butler had finished discussing the
troll situation, the manservant had told her about Minerva. Now Holly
truly understood what Butler had meant.

With
her corkscrew curls slightly loosened up, her conceited behavior
gone, and her growth over the past three years, Minerva Paradizo had
grown into a real beauty. No wonder the fairy had caught Artemis
staring googly-eyed at her every now and then—such as on the flight
en route from Dublin to Helsinki. And he said he had puberty under
control… D’Arvit. As if, Mud
Boy, Holly inwardly smirked.

“Minerva,”
Artemis spoke up. He had been inspecting the ground near the pier
they were stood on. “The demons were one of the eight families of
the fairies. These trolls are…different. They’re their own tribe,
if I may say so. I’m guessing that they’re more menacing than ever,
and have greater intelligence as well than the ones we know of. The
demons may have wanted to kill us, but compared to the trolls,
they’re as much a threat as little rabbits.”

Everyone
was silent. When Artemis said ‘I’m guessing’, he was probably
correct, so no need to doubt anything on his theory.

The
chilly wind blew across the harbour. Particularly in the middle of
winter, the weather was
worse than in Murmansk (where Artemis had had to rescue his Father
from the Russian Mafia). At approximately minus five degrees celcius,
the icy air around him condensed as he breathed out.

Helsinki,
Finland, was a place of different cultures. Well, different
nationalities mainly, what with Russians, Estonians, Swedish,
Somalians, Serbians, Chinese, Germans, and many other different races
in one small city, it was pretty much a multinational place. Artemis
had known that Holly had meant Helsinki when she had mentioned
Scandinavia. It was out of intuition, for he had spent many agonizing
weeks here, a couple of years earlier, whilst waiting for his Father
to recover. During that time, he had learnt Finnish, which added
another language to his long languages list. But the climate then had
been better, for spring was on the brink. Now however…things were
to get frosty, and he not only the weather.

“Artemis
is right,” Holly said. “These trolls…they’ve been resting for
over thousands of years. Not even the Vikings have seen these kinds
of trolls before. They’re more brutal than the average ones known
to mankind…or fairykind. The only evidence left of them is the
caveman paintings, but those are only faded ones. We don’t even
know how they really look like…although the estimated size of them
is around thrice the size of the trolls we’ve met. And that
information was found with the helpof Section Eight. They really
haven’t left a trace, have they, these trolls?”

Minerva’s
eyes widened. “Thrice?
But…according to Butler, the troll he
wrestled was—”

“Damn
big,” the manservant cut in. “This is no minor matter, Holly. We
need to stop them from waking up from their sleep, and stop them from
destroying what we’ve tried to preserve. If they do make an
appearance, people could think that there could be more creatures
buried underground, and where would that lead?” He didn’t need to
answer his rhetorical question. Butler didn’t care if the trolls
woke up and went scuba diving; all he minded was whether they would
expose Haven, and kill the people on Earth—namely his charge.

Holly
let out her breath, and the water vapour created hung around for what
seemed like forever, before the wind broke it and swept it away.

“That’s
the problem Butler. Foaly says that basically, these…brutes…were
drawn somehow to the country of Morocco, like you know how the demons
were drawn to the moon? We don’t know why. It might be of the
landscape, but surely, after millenia, Morocco’s hills are bound to
change. Perhaps it’s the structure of the mountains, and maybe the
trolls need a special or specific type. If that is
the case, what if another country holds a similar resemblance? Will
the trolls be drawn to that country?” Holly stopped to catch her
breath. “Whatever it is, we need to find out.” She looked at
Artemis, then Minerva. “And that’s where you two come in.”

Minerva
plucked at a curl of her hair, her eyes unfocused, staring out into
the Gulf of Finland. “Trolls…” she murmured. “They were
believed to have been petrified when met with sunlight or curses.
That was what the Norwegians believed anyways. Do the Finnish think
the same? Because if they do, it could mean that these creatures
supposedly buried beneath Finland are the same ones the Norwegians
meant, clarifying to us that we have possibly found their only weak
spot.”

Artemis
had heard these tales before. Of course, it was no surprise, him
having a two hundred plus IQ. But the teenager had read even deeper
into this topic, and had delved down to the core of it several years
ago when he was first catching trace of the People.

He
nodded. “True. I guess you’ve seen the cavemen paintings in
Toulouse before?”

Minerva’s
eyes focused on him and she smiled slyly. “Naturally…it’s not
that far from home of course. There were a few paintings of giant
monsters as well…although I’ve never thought them trolls.
Of course, each civilization will have different views on these
creatures. It’s only normal. The historians thought that those
ancient people mistook each other, such as the Cro-Magnon mistaking
the Neanderthals. What stupid people, those doctorate earners.”
Artemis looked tantalized as Minerva shook her head and her corkscrew
curls danced around.

Holly
was tired of their subtle flirting—or from her point of view
anyways. She put her hands on her hips and snapped, “Look, you two,
I don’t care if you want to go lounge around, talk all mushy
lovey-dovey stuff or anything, just do it after we’ve saved the
world this time, okay?” The glare that she gave them shut the two
prodigies up. “You’re supposed to be smart, think of something!”

“Well…we
were cut out to be genii,” Minerva said grudgingly, a sheepish look
on her face.

The
elf scoffed. “Pity no one put the pieces together properly.”

Artemis
and Minerva stared at each other, bewildered at Holly’s unusual
personality.

Serves
them right, she thought. Always
acting sweet and kind, think I won’t notice it?
Holly didn’t know why she was behaving like this…what did she
have against their hormones and their obvious googly eyes? Perhaps it
was because of the fact that the elf she
used to love hadn’t taken hint…?

Holly,
stop thinking of him! It was long, long,
time ago. Plus he’s a friend now, don’t you forget. It was never
to be anyways, so don’t destroy the trust you have between each
other. You do want to remain his friend. Better friend, than foe…

But
how about if I want to be more than just his friend and colleague?
What if I—

But
her thoughts were disrupted as Minerva recovered first from Holly’s
previous retort.

The
girl prodigy crossed her arms dejectedly. “So, what do you propose
we do, Holly?”

Holly
opened her mouth, but to her great annoyance, Artemis beat her to
replying.

“Obvious,”
he said, smirking as if to say ‘duh’. “We go to Morocco.”

Minerva
grinned back. “Just what I thought.”

Holly
groaned inwardly. Great, they’re
back to flirting, she thought.

———————————————————————————————————————

The
Fowl Jet, en route from Helsinki to Rabat, Morocco

(Above
the Mediterranean Sea)

“Ar—Artemis,
take a look at this,” Minerva called out to him. Her voice seemed
slightly panicked.

Artemis,
who was in the pilot seat, and who was flying the Fowl Jet, pressed
the autopilot button, and flicking a few switches, stepped out of the
cabin to where Minerva was curled up like a cat, his laptop on her
knee.

Artemis
Fowl Junior had actually designed his own operating system: FOX 2.0
or Fowl Operations Xplorer. Other than the vampire appearance one
usually described him with; Artemis found his personality similar to
that of a fox’s. Cunning, sly, ambitious…he fitted the persona
well. FOX was connected to his home computers and mainframe back in
Fowl Manor, and had survellience equipment as well. He could access
straight away what was going on at home and at the Ring of Tara with
a click and rapid voice-activated command. Of course, he had compiled
data of fairy technology to help with the upgrades. It had signals
from the satellite, and did everything the C Cube did. Too bad the
Cube had been destroyed by the LEP. It had been classified as
‘harmful and dangerous’—despite Foaly’s objections that it
could be used to their advantage in understanding Artemis Fowl—and
had been terminated: a hard thing to do if you had human technology,
for the C Cube had been made out of tough polymer, almost
unbreakable. But it was a piece of cake for the fairies. Thus ended
the days of the C Cube.

Other
than the use of fairy technology, Artemis had basically designed this
laptop, the FowlBook, and it’s operating system himself.

The
FowlBook was black, and FOX 2.0’s theme was blue-black as well.
Just like his eyes. It suited the Fowl Jet’s design well too, for
the most stylish technology obviously fitted well with an aeroplane
equipped with a bar, computers, sofas, gray plush cushions, and two
private bedrooms.

“I
presume you’ve found some more information?” the boy quipped up,
leaning in to see what Minerva was showing him.

She
nodded softly, as if afraid that something would break if she nodded
too hard. Artemis scanned the article and the various sites on the
screen. As he read on, his eyes grew slightly wider at each word.
Finally, he finished, and stumbled into the seat next to Minerva.

“D’arvit,”
he gasped. “We are in trouble.”

Even
him, criminal mastermind, was thrown by the information Minerva had
discovered. It was so unexpected.

It
couldn’t be! The boy thought.His masters at seven were
Mozart, Einstein, Vivaldi, and Archimedes. By eleven, he
had mastered them.
How could he not have known this?

Minerva
put the laptop on a mini desk in front of her and turned to the boy,
who was even paler than usual.

“You
know what this means, don’t you?” she asked quietly.

Artemis
looked at her. Her face was calm, but he could detect a hint of fear
in those eyes. “It means…that Holly’s not going to like this,”
he whispered.

Minerva
nodded in agreement. “She’s not going to like this at all.”

“Those
trolls…” Artemis took a deep breath, steadying himself. “They
can time travel. At will.”

His
gaze focused on the FowlBook’s screen behind Minerva, where a faded
caveman painting was displayed. A circular hole was visible, and
something big seemed to be stepping out of it.

A/N:
Don’t kill me Minerva-haters! Please! I know she might seem a bit
Mary Sue-ish here, but hey, Colfer didn’t explore her character
enough, okay? I’m still sorta confused about her personality…
(Scratches head)

Anyways,
if I do carry on with this fic, I might make her more…believable. I
just can’t be bothered to think of another plot…here, I made up
the trolls thing just by pure imagination, without thinking of
another plot.

I
mean, Colfer’s gonna write another book, no? And then my fic will
be useless. No, I prefer waiting for the last Artemis Fowl book, then
writing Book 7 for it! Or I’ll just write oneshots in between like
I already have

I’m
a full A/M shipper, so don’t come and insult the
ship…grrr…otherwise your review will be deleted!!! Mwahaha…sorry.

Speaking
of reviews, please review if you can. No flames, but constructive
criticism is accepted.

Some other stories by The III Prodigy:

• Culpabilité du survivant: Survivor's Guilt
• Chéri de Minerva, je suis si désolé: Minerva darling, I am so sorry
• The Fairy Well