Um….hi ::nervous smile:: It's been awhile. I do apologize. I went to Illinois a few days ago and forget to tell you all about it before I left. ::cringe:: My bad! But I'm back and ready with the fourth chapter…although it is kind of short in comparison to the last chapter. ::bows:: Gomen!

Like always, a big, big, BIG thanks to all my reviewers. You guys are wonderful, simply first class . Keep up the good work!

And I have a bit of bad news….this may be the last update for awhile. You see, I've fallen into an inspirational rut, so the production of chapters may dwindle. ::shifty eyes:: Well….Bye! Enjoy the fic!

WARNING! WARNING! A wee bit of romance ahead! But it has a good reason! I promise!

Arc: SS (should be the last part)

Chapter Four: Sealed with a Kiss (Otherwise known as Tinkerbell's happy dust)

While Holly waited anxiously underground for the results of Foaly's extensive tests, Butler waited above ground with a similar mentality. However, unlike Holly, he had Juliet to keep him company. The two siblings sat at opposite ends of Artemis's bed, Juliet complete with her leg in a cast and her neck in a brace and Butler with a carefully checked solemn look on his face. They offered comfort to each other in silence, touching an arm, squeezing a hand, smiling reassuringly. They hesitated to speak aloud, for fear of waking the boy lying on the bed, white as the sheets around him.

Butler was in the middle of berating himself for leaving home, something he did every five minutes with fresh guilt, when Juliet gasped. Artemis was slowly awakening, his eyes blearily focusing on the two people hovering over him. "Domovoi...Juliet," he whispered, voice unable to pitch any higher. "You're home. Where's Holly?"

"She'll be back soon, Artemis," said Butler, brushing wayward strands of raven locks from the youth's eyes. "Do you need anything? Something to eat, maybe? Or drink?"

"No thank you," said Artemis, ever polite. He coughed a few times, brining up a fresh trail of blood to stain his porcelain cheek. Then, to the siblings' great shock, a tear trickled down from the corner of his eye, mingling with the blood on the way down. When next he spoke, the childish fear was easily detectable in his voice, despite his adult words. "Butler, at the risk of sounding cliché...everything is becoming hazy. I f-fear my time grows short."

Butler encompassed one of the boy's frail hands in his own enormous one. "Don't talk that way, Artemis. You'll be fine. Holly will be back by morning with something to make you better."

Artemis decided not to comment on that. Instead to turned to Juliet. "Hello, Juliet. I'm glad to see you're well. I was worried...you wouldn't come back to us. You've been a valuable member of my family. Both of you. I...I don't know what I would have done without you two. "

She took his other hand, intertwining their fingers tightly, even if Artemis did not have the strength to squeeze back. "You're going to be all right, Arty," she said. Her own eyes were streaming now, but she did not attempt to dry them.

Artemis shut his eyes tightly, twin tears falling from his lashes. "I wish...my parents were here..." he choked out.

"You'll see them soon," Butler reassured him, bowing his head slightly to wipe at his eyes. "Just hold on. Hold on, my friend."

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Captain Holly Short paced restlessly outside Foaly's lab, chewing her lower lip to threads. She'd been kicked out by the centaur for incessant badgering, reducing her to an apprehensive wreck. She checked her moonometer. Four-forty five AM. Nearly seven hours since she had left Fowl manor. How long could these tests possibly take? Surely not any longer than a day. Surely not...

Holly was five seconds away from barging in there and demanding some results when Foaly emerged, a few sheets of paper in his hand. "Well?" she barked.

Giving her a scathing look, Foaly decided against any sarcastic and, for once, got straight to the point. "I found a lead on what might be afflicting young Master Fowl, but the theory has some major holes in it."

"Tell me anyway," Holly said instantly.

Foaly reviewed his notes. "I ran several tests on that blood sample and they all come up saying the same thing. And this is where the holes pop up." He glanced at her over the top of the papers. "According to the tests, that boy's blood is loaded with pixie dust."

Holly's face paled. Pixie dust was LEP slang for a dangerous narcotic made from ground pixie reeds. It was popular among juvenile fairies for its hallucinogenic properties when smoked, but, as every LEP knew, that when taken in mass quantities it was a deadly poison. There had been so many pixie dust related deaths in the late 1960's that the Council had outlawed its distribution all together, though it remained a hot item on the black market.

Faced with all this, Holly's knees gave out on her and she sank into a nearby chair. "Pixie dust?" she whispered. "No, that can't be right. How would pixie dust get into Artemis's system? It's not possible."

"No," agreed Foaly. "That's why I said the theory has major holes. But my computers never lie. It's pixie dust all right. In it's most undiluted form. If I had to guess, I would say the stuff is in a powder. And ruling out the possibility that Artemis is actually secretly addicted to the stuff, maybe it's being slipped into his food or water?"

Holly shook her head weakly. "Impossible. I've been the only one home with him for days. Besides, he hardly ever eats. The only time he drinks is when he..."

The pills!

Holly stood up so fast her ears rang. Foaly looked at her with alarm. "Holly, what is it?"

She was so angry with herself she could hardly breath. How in the name of the Book had she missed something so obvious? She'd been careless, that's how. And now Artemis's life was in jeopardy. "It's those pills of his," she hissed in explanation. "He's been taking pills, ones that would supposedly cure his pneumonia. That would explain why he seemed to be better at first. D'Arvit! Every morning and night I've been giving him something that was slowly killing him!" She broke off for a breath. "Foaly, do you realize what this means?"

"First that reporter and now this," the centaur moaned, shaking his shaggy head. "Julius's going to love it. Not only are we discovered, but some wayward fairy is trading illegal drugs with the Mud Men."

"Foaly," said Holly, a hint of pleading to her voice, "tell me you can whip up a cure to this. Some sort of antidote?"

"Surely. But it's meant for fairies, not humans. And it's a prototype, at best."

"Do it," said Holly. Then she noticed the look the centaur was giving her. "What?"

He sighed. "Holly, I hate to tell you this, but it looks like Artemis doesn't have much time left. The powder's wreaking havoc on his blood and nervous systems as we speak. You don't have much time. And from what you've told me, he'll be receiving a fresh dose within the hour."

Swallowing down a lump of panic, Holly checked her moonometer. It read five o'clock. Butler was an early riser. He'd be ready to give Artemis his next shot of lethal narcotic any minute now. Adrenaline filled her veins, fueling her fear as well as her determination. "Have that antidote ready, Foaly," she called out her way out, "I'll be right back."

"But it's nearly sunup!" Foaly protested.

Holly replied with a statement that professed just how much she really did not care if the sun was up or down or frozen over, then she was off and running for the shuttleport. Unfortunately, she couldn't run far. There was a huge crowd milling around the port; with the lockdown on temporary reprieve, every fairy in the Lower Elements was clamoring to get out and visit the hotspots. After all, this might be their last opportunity to enjoy the moon. Holly felt bad for them, she really did, but this was not the time to be subtle. So she whipped out her badge and forcibly removed any fairy unlucky enough to get in her way. She had to exercise every ounce of control to keep from blasting a hole in the gnome at the ticket counter, but after a few badge waves (and a threat to actually carry out the previous act of violence) she was cleared for a personal transport up to the surface.

The ride up and the flight to the manor was excruciating. Every second that ticked by was a second off Artemis's life, and Holly couldn't help but feel partly responsible. She could only pray that she wouldn't arrive too late.

When the dark outline of the manor loomed into view, Holly went straight to the window and pounded on it hard enough to rattle wooden pane. Footsteps charged forward, and Butler threw open the glass. "Holly!"

Somewhere in the darkness, Juliet's voice called, "Get in here, fairy girl!"

Holly took the girl's invitation readily and alighted on the floor. Her heart pounding somewhere in the region of her throat, she glanced from Butler to the bed and then to Juliet. "Butler. Did you give him that last pill already?"

"What? Why?"

"Tell me!"

Confused and frightened, Butler said, "Well, yes. I did. But it's not working. Holly, I don't understand."

There wasn't a comment Holly could spare on that statement. She rushed to the bedside, dreading what she would find. But to her indescribable relief, Artemis was still alive. His breathing was shallow and slow, but he was alive. He didn't have much time, though. Perhaps not even enough to get him back to Ops. She would not think of that. Not now. She at least had to try. "Butler, pick him up," she commanded, readying a piton her moonbelt. Sensing the tone in her voice, the manservant obliged her without question. His huge arms lifted Artemis easily, too easily, enveloping his slight frame with the tenderness one would use to cradle a china doll. Holly tied them both to her moonbelt, reducing their gravitational pull so that she could effortlessly fly them out the window.

Juliet climbed to her feet, or at least, her good foot. "I want to come!"

Attached securely to the moonbelt, Butler was halfway out the window. "You stay here. Just in case Mr. and Mrs. Fowl return." Then he was gone, enveloped by the night.

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The flight down to Haven was as easy and as fast as the flight up. It was going through the shuttleport that Holly was dreading; after all, it wasn't every day that two humans strolled into the Lower Elements. However, it couldn't have been simpler. The fairies in the crowd couldn't have given Holly and her entourage a wider birth if they'd come in bearing the Bubonic Plague. Of course, Holly received her fair share of looks, expressions that ranged from incredulity to terror to fury. She ignored them all and led Butler to Ops. where Foaly was waiting.

"Finally," said the centaur when they appeared in his lab. His voice made him sound merely impatient to perform his newest experiment, but Holly did not miss his nervous four footed shifting or the way his lips pursed whenever he wasn't forcing them into a straight line. He was worried for Artemis, too.

Butler did not spare time on analyzing and observing. "Hurry up and do whatever it is you're going to do," he said with a clipped briskness that came only from concern. "Artemis is fading fast."

Foaly nodded and gestured at a stainless steel lab table, for once cleared of scientific gadgets and such. "Put him there for now. I made the antidote a little stronger than what is used on a fairy to compensate for a human's body structure, but I really have no idea how this is going to affect him." He picked up a vial containing a faded yellow liquid. "I don't suppose he can keep this down himself?"

Holly and Butler shook their heads.

"I figured as much," said Foaly, rummaging around in a drawer and pulling out a small syringe. He filled the chamber with the poisonous looking liquid and positioned the needle at the crook of Artemis's elbow. "Hold him down," the centaur said, looking uncharacteristically grim. "He isn't going to like this." When both Holly and Butler had a secure grip on the youth's arms, Foaly inserted the needle deep into Artemis's arm, searching for the vein that would carry the antidote throughout his system.

As before, Artemis did not take kindly to the pain, which was something like getting a normal shot at the doctor's only multiplied by the factors of hyper sensitivity and the fact that the syringe was much larger than a regular needle. Despite his condition he did struggle against the grips on his arms, but it was a weak and futile effort. Too weak for Holly's comfort. And to everyone's growing horror, Artemis did not calm even after Foaly had injected all of the medicine and removed the needle. For a few moments Artemis's breath came fast and strangled, his limbs rigid and his mouth open in a silent call of distress. Then he stopped moving.

Completely.

Holly leaned closer, her heart hammering somewhere around in her throat. No breath. No pulse. No life. Her heart dropped to her stomach.

Artemis was dead. They were too late.

The Ops. booth was quiet as the death that had settled around it. Then Butler dissolved into tears, a sight that broke Holly's fluttering heart entirely. To see a nearly seven foot tall man such as Butler weeping over the motionless body of a pale, sixteen year old boy shook Holly's soul right down to the very core of her being. She just couldn't quite believe it herself. It was unreal. Death was not something she accepted well, especially when she could have prevented it from happening. She hadn't known about the pills, of course, but that didn't excuse her from being so damned oblivious. And now she had Artemis's blood on her hands, so to speak.

Butler's overwhelming grief was contagious. Foaly bowed his head, looking genuinely remorseful. The centaur was about as close to shedding a tear as he would ever be, and over a Mud Boy at that. There was so much sadness and depression in that room, that still and silent room, there was an almost palpable weight that seemed to burden the shoulders of all present. The walls could have cried and it would not have been out of place.

Holly couldn't stand it. She didn't like this new reality, this cruel slap in the face. So she did something that later she knew she might very well regret. Her mother would be ashamed of her, she knew, and the consequences could be dire. But she did it anyway. Holly spoke softly at first, barely above a whisper so that Foaly could not hear her in time to stop her. With her words she pulled up the magic within her, infusing it into her voice and creating the spell.

"Thy burning life has been spent

And in my heart a dagger rent.

In life thou was mine kindred soul;

In death, the soul is black as coal.

To be without thee I cannot bare;

Without thee my spirit tears.

A fairy be I, a fairy dying...." Holly had to clear her throat to continue, the intense magic flooding her being causing her voice to break and croak.

Foaly finally noticed what she was saying and his eyes became as round as dinner plates. "Holly, no. You...you can't be serious..."

Holly ignored him and focused harder on the incantation.

"Thy departure hast left me crying

out for love lost and straying

for our bond is slowly fraying.

I cling to threads of love and caring

So with thee life precious I am sharing.

Turn thine eyes from golden gates,

With my help defy the Fates.

Take not heed to heavenly calls;

Turn away from pearly halls...." Again Holly paused, but this time it was to shut her eyes tightly, blocking out Foaly's stricken image. She could still hear him, pleading with her not to finish the spell, but Holly had no choice in the matter. She couldn't have stopped now even if she'd wanted to. The magic was coursing through her without control, pervading her veins and muscles and causing flickering blue sparks to dance across her nut brown skin. The last part of the spell required the utmost concentration, so Holly resolutely thought nothing of the burning that was beginning to sear her from the inside out nor every nerve that seemed to jolt and jump erratically. She forced herself to think only of the words and of the magic.

"I shall bring thee back, I shall breath life in;

This bond of blood and soul unspoken."

Butler and Foaly could scarcely believe that the deep, rich tone emanating from Holly's mouth could indeed be the female LEP officer speaking, for it sounded nothing like the Holly they knew. With each word the power that gathered around her crackled and hissed, sending the hairs on their necks standing on end. The air was electric with magic just begging to be released.

"Take my hand," Holly took Artemis's cold, limp hand in her own, "I shall not miss," she leaned in closer, closer, so that their noses almost touched.

"Holly, don't...." Foaly murmured on deaf ears.

Holly opened her eyes, steeling herself for the last few lines. "These promises...sealed with a kiss." Then she pressed her lips to his and the room exploded into blue and white sparks.

Immediately Holly lost sight of Foaly and Butler. The moment her lips touched Artemis's she was hurled into a plain of absolute nothingness. The Ops. lab was gone. There was only whiteness and the veil of blue sparks that seemed to come from within her and from everywhere at once. She found that she could not pull away from Artemis, but she had no desire to. Instead she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly to her as they both floated soundlessly in a void of pure ivory.

Holly had no way of knowing how long she stayed like that, her lips pressed to his in a chaste kiss. It could have been years or it could have been seconds; her sense of time was shot. But the next thing she knew she was looking right into the very blue eyes of Artemis Fowl, and suddenly he was kissing her back.

It was at that moment that the Ops. booth reappeared and Holly was back on a lab table, holding a pale Mud Boy in her arms and being gawked at by a centaur and a massive body guard. Hurriedly she pulled away, finding that she could move again, and looked apprehensively down at the aforementioned Mud Boy. Artemis blinked slowly up at her, the sound of his deep, even respiration music to her ears. Then his eyelids fluttered and he drifted off to sweet slumber, though Holly did not miss the small contented smile that crept to his lips.

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Kissy kissy woo!! Eh heh heh….. What can I say? I'm a drama queen! How'd ya like my poem/spell thingy? Came up with it all by muhself. As you can tell, I am definitely not a poet. Do you have any idea how many words there are that DON'T rhyme with kiss?! Yeesh, it's ridiculous! But it got the point across, right? ::Juliet/Artemis supports pick up their tomatoes:: Wait, wait! Before you start pummeling me, I did have a good reason for it! And that reason will be explained in the next chapter…when it comes out….

Oh, and Juliet's "accident?" It may or may not have a relation to the elusive plot. I haven't decided yet. :: blows raspberry at strict plot lines::

But rest assured, those of you who do not like my coupling (why are you reading anyway?) this will be the first of very few kisses in this story, or so my muse tells me. I have one more actually planned, and believe me, it is a funny scene ::big smile::

If you liked this chapter, review it please! Let me know if I should keep going, cause this story is all about you, the reader! ::waves banner:: Thanks!

Oh yeah, and pixie dust has nothing to do with the gold glitter that Tinkerbell throws on happy little children. My kind of pixie dust would make you THINK you could fly….It's the fairy equivalent to CRACK!! Oo;