The crater in which the clear liquid lay was smooth on all edges, except for a small dent—the perfect size for a footing—on one side.
He grasped the stopper in his mouth, since Artemis didn’t want to place it on the floor for fear of it rolling around. After biting on the stopper, Artemis placed his right hand without the vial on the clear stones around the pond, and with his legs on the opposite end, lowered himself into the giant dent inside the quartz. The stone was very slippery, and he had to hold himself steady lest he fall. He was now strung out across the hole.
Artemis never liked PE at school, but now he found out that it would be good to actually have some physical strength in times like this.
He stretched out his left arm that held the vial but it was still approximately two feet from the water just as Artemis had guessed.
Artemis wriggled his feet and hand until he dropped down the required height. Perfect.
The exhausted boy dipped the vial into the pool of liquid. The mist spread as if parting to let him through, and once the vial was filled—except for a few centimeters to let the stopper through—Artemis used his mouth and left hand to place the stopper firmly into the mouth of the vial.
Storing the crystal container inside his Armani suit pocket once more and zipping it incase it fell out, Artemis resumed to the task of climbing out. That was when the conclusion jumped out to him like a Halloween mask: he was stuck.
This conclusion nearly made Artemis burst out laughing, despite his strange position.
He couldn’t jump down, because the crater was too deep, and that meant he couldn’t climb out afterwards. He couldn’t climb out: it was too high. And he couldn’t just hang on there forever. So he still had to climb out even though it was near impossible. But still possible.
Excluding his right arm and hand, and his legs, Artemis only had his left arm and hand free to climb.
He looked around. The walls around him were so smooth; there was no way he could climb out. He needed a leg-up or something to push from.
Then his eyes spotted something. It was the dent Artemis had noticed before. But now, it wasn’t just a little dent. It was the thing which would save him, and possibly his life…and luckily, it was at just the right height.
Placing his left hand on the side of the well, Artemis slid his right foot into the dent, it fitted snugly.
With a place to push up from, Artemis stretched his bent leg, and lifted himself up a foot, moving his hands as he went along.
He used his hands to move side by side, until he wasn’t strung out straight across the circle but rather a bit to the left. He then reached his left foot to step over the side of the well.
Now for the difficult task. The criminal mastermind reached up with his left hand, and managed to grasp hold of the edge, even though it was slippery. Then he maneuvered his other hand to reach it as well. His position at that moment was amusing, with two hands up, a leg up, and a leg down.
Using all his strength, the boy forced his arms to lift his form and right leg up.
Artemis rolled over the edge of the well, collapsing in a pile of Armani and loafers. Panting, he checked his watch: one minute to go.
Taking a deep breath, Artemis steadied himself up again, mentally promising that this was the last time he was doing any physical work.
The raven haired boy walked absentmindedly towards the shuttle, preparing himself for another flight up, and reversing his commands from before like left transforming to right.
That was when he fell into a hole about a foot deep, ironically getting his right foot stuck.

Above, Butler prowled the hill like a tiger. Two agonizing minutes had passed, and still Artemis had not returned. The Eurasian turned to face Juliet, who was still busy playing with her hair. He shook his head silently.
It was dangerous, and Juliet liked to fool around. Not to mention the squeezing together of Artemis and Juliet.
Butler wondered how it would feel if Artemis and Juliet really fell in love. No, the conclusion was too far beyond imagination. Not that it would be bad…What are you thinking? Butler scolded himself. Best if he could avoid the situation.

Artemis stared at his foot in disbelief. He wasn’t one to wander and get into situations like this. The hole was slanted downwards, and enabled his foot to slip in, but was difficult to slip out.
Artemis wriggled his shoe about. It didn’t even budge. Only the tip of his toes could wriggle. Surely, his loafer was destroyed. The child winced; these were particularly an expensive pair, limited edition too. Oh well, he would have to make do.
Forty-five seconds.
And quick.
Artemis wriggled his shoe again, but it would not even move the slightest inch. No matter how much he strained, the leather held grasped onto the edge of the hole, and the sole of his design shoes held a high amount of friction, clinging onto the bottom of the groove.
Thirty seconds.
Then a light bulb lit up in the genius’s juvenile brain. Artemis wriggled his foot, but instead of trying to dislodge his shoe, he tried to free his foot. He had worn a too perfect fitting pair, and his foot would not escape.
Twenty seconds.
Perhaps a little lubrication was needed. Artemis did not have any oils or material good enough for that. The only passable item was the magical water. It would have to do.
Artemis took hold of the crystal vial inside his pocket, and pulled out the stopper. He lifted up his trouser leg, pouring as little of the precious liquid down his leg, wriggling his foot at the same time the liquid started to trickle down his ankle.
Ten seconds.
Unfortunately, his sock absorbed most of the elixir, but in the end, Artemis managed.
The foot came out, but the loafer and grey sock were left behind.
A swishing sound behind Artemis made him whirl around. The shuttle had started to move, getting ready for take off. Artemis leapt up and ran to the vehicle just as he had five seconds left and climbed up inside, buckling himself in. Close shave.
The shuttle obviously had some sort of weight checker, since it acknowledged the fact that a passenger was seated.
Automatically, the shuttle blasted off at the zero countdown, and Artemis was left to control it the vehicle again.

Five, four, three, two, one, zero. Butler looked up from his watch and turned to Juliet.
“Okay Juliet, as soon as the shuttle arrives back up, you go down to fetch Artemis and…try not to…erm…”
Butler was lost for words, which didn’t happen very often. “To erm…tease him about you two in the same small place…” he finished off lamely.
Juliet giggled as the shuttle reappeared, carrying a boy with only one shoe on.
“Artemis! Butler shouted. I was about to send Juliet!”
“Arty!” Juliet ran up to him and hugged his neck. When they drew apart, Artemis was the colour of his burgundy tie. Butler grinned even though he wasn’t that forward with the Artemis/Juliet thing. Artemis returned to scowling.
“What happened?” the teenager asked the prodigy.
“I’ll prefer it if I could give you a full account when we get home and after I’ve had a rest, as you can see, I’ve already lost a shoe down there,” Artemis replied.
“Aw…fine Arty, but you have to tell me everything!”
As Artemis opened his mouth to return a retort, Butler stepped in and said, “Okay children, let me take you home first, and stop the bickering.”
Artemis just nodded whilst Juliet pouted again, knowing that this way, she’d never get a full conclusion out of Artemis.
Nearby, a heat haze hovered nearby, whispering, “This is not good…”
But unfortunately, before it could tell anyone, this fairy was murdered by a pixie Artemis would soon meet, and who wanted the human and fairy worlds to collide.
Furthermore, it was this very pixie, that had changed the voice-recognition in the fairy vessel, so that the possibility of a human discovering the fairy world would increase.
And the fairy who died? Oh, he was a sprite, called Tix Verbil. His last name sound familiar to you? Well, let’s save those stories for later shall we, since those characters come in a whole different tale.

Some other stories by The III Prodigy:

• Artemis Fowl: Book 6
• Culpabilité du survivant: Survivor's Guilt
• Chéri de Minerva, je suis si désolé: Minerva darling, I am so sorry