There are sometimes things that are scarier than spiders.

Very important, please read:

A/N: Alright, hello everyone. Hopefully you're reading this, so you can be well informed. This is not a story. Rather it is a collection of short stories, each based upon a different phobia. As I stated in the summary, these stories will cover a variety of genres and relationships, so I think everyone will be pleased at one point or another. Because these are short stories rather than chapters, updates will not be as frequent as they are for my chaptered stories which, if you read them, you know that they are updated almost every day. But even though you may only get a new story once every week or so, please do not think I will forget this collection. I will continue writing it until I run out of ideas, in which case I will let you know. So, let's get right into it. Happy reading!

And, here's my infamous generic disclaimer; I don't own Artemis Fowl. Enough said.

-x-x-x-x-

"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back."

- Harvey MacKay

-x-x-x-x-

Chronophobia

The fear of time.

Time, such a trivial thing, yet so complex. It seemed to drag on forever when spent in unwanted ways, but could disappear in the blink of an eye. Artemis Fowl, sitting up in bed, knew better than anyone about lost time. It was, after all, only simple mathematics. Sixty seconds in a minute, thirty-six hundred in an hour, eighty-six thousand four hundred in a single day. How much time had Artemis lost in the span of three years? It was a worrisome calculation. One he would much rather not perform.

Artemis heaved a deep sigh, feeling an uncharacteristic lump in his throat. He had missed so much. What had been a day for him, had been three years for everyone else. It was incredible, if not terrible. Three years, and everyone had moved on, grown. Some had died, others were born. Artemis now had siblings; two twin brothers. The teenager smiled at the thought of the young Fowls. They were adorable and Artemis, who never was one for much affection, couldn't stop a warm smile from creeping up on his lips whenever he looked at the pair. He was secretly very thankful that the twins had come along. They had been a small beacon of light for Artemis Senior and Angeline in the tough times following their eldest and, at the time, only son's disappearance.

At that thought, Artemis felt a pang of guilt dwelling in his stomach. How could he have been so careless? How could he have been so wrong? The boy closed his mismatched eyes and when he reopened them, glanced at the clock resting on his bedside table. He blinked at the electric blue numbers, and noticed that during said blink, the minute had changed to signify midnight. Artemis sighed again. Another day gone, in what seemed like mere seconds.

"Just the blink of an eye," he muttered to himself, a rather sad tone present in his voice. Artemis slowly rose out of bed, not feeling the least bit fatigued, even at the late hour. He slipped on his navy blue robe, running his fingers over the crest embroidered on the breast pocket as he did so. The Fowl Family Crest, proud and unique. A family that Artemis was glad he had returned to.

Slowly and silently, Artemis crept out of his bedroom, careful that the door did not squeak as he opened and closed it. He wanted nothing less than to wake the twins or his parents. Butler, he need not worry about. The manservant, or rather ex-manservant, was taking a few days relaxation in the tiny cottage where Artemis had found him right after his return from Hybras.

Tonight, for some unknown reason, Artemis felt much more parched than he did tired, and owing to such a feeling, he stalked down the stairs, on his way to the kitchen. As he did so, Artemis passed by the ancient grandfather clock that sat just below the portrait of his great uncle, Sir Thomas L. Fowl. A slight smirk sprung upon the teenager's lips as he recalled just how that man had become knighted. It definitely was not thanks to completely legal actions.

However, Artemis' smirk disappeared quickly as his eyes fell away from the portrait and onto the clock just below. The face, framed by marvellous cherry wood, told him that it was barely five past midnight. Artemis frowned and then continued to make his way to the kitchen, his eyes reluctantly leaving the clock.

He reached the kitchen in mere moments, but did not put one foot inside. Instead, he leaned against the doorframe, apparently forgetting why he had gotten out of bed in the first place. The thought of a tall, cold glass of water had faded from his mind completely. He was consumed by thoughts of time.

Artemis was afraid to blink. He was afraid that if he let his guard down for one moment his life would return to it's whirlwind state, which had ultimately led up to the events of the time tunnel. He was afraid that if he took one second to blink he would miss another important event in his life, and the lives of his family. And with each passing second, Artemis became more afraid. He turned away from the kitchen, no longer thirsty; simply afraid.

"Perhaps I just need sleep," he mused out loud. The boy began to walk back to bed the same way he had come. Consequently, he passed the portrait of Thomas Fowl and that blasted grandfather clock. He stared at it for a moment before an almost crazy urge struck him. He longed to open up the face of every clock in Fowl Manor and rotate the hands backwards for three years worth of seconds, whatever disgustingly large number that may be. Of course he'd do the same for all of Holly's clocks, so as she wouldn't have missed three years of her life as he did. He'd even do the same for Minerva, just so she stayed out of all the trouble the demons had caused. However, he couldn't do such a thing, and he was forced to stare at the pendulum of the grandfather clock, rocking back and forth slowly, cruelly. The ticking seemed to hypnotise him, taunting him with all the time he had lost. With much difficulty, Artemis dragged his eyes away from the clock and wondered if there was anyone on Earth who felt the way he did right now. It didn't take very long for his incredibly intelligent mind to supply him with an answer. There was only one other who could possibly understand.

Artemis set off for his bedroom, this time at a rather brisk pace. And although he was moving much faster, he was careful not to make a sound. Once inside his bedroom, Artemis rummaged around on his night table for a moment, carefully avoiding looking at the clock. Finally, he found what he was looking for; an extremely lovely ring, which he proceeded to place on his finger. After a tiny bit of twisting, Artemis held his hand up to his ear, waiting for an answer.

Of course, he had called Holly Short, the only other being Artemis knew to have missed three years of her life due to being stuck in Limbo. One precious minute merged into the next before Holly answered the call. Artemis could tell, from the grogginess of her voice, that she had been sleeping.

"Holly, it's Artemis," he said after she had muttered a tired 'hello'. The boy heard movement on the other side of the call and figured that Holly must've sat up in bed.

"What do you want Artemis?" she asked, yawning, "It's so late. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Yes," Artemis said, "But I can't sleep Holly. I'm…scared." The words had come out slowly. It was an odd sensation, admitting fear. It was something Artemis rarely did. Holly half-snorted.

"Bad dream?" she teased. Something in the back of Artemis' mind laughed happily. Holly could always make him feel better, whether it be in the face of starved trolls or a late night dilemma.

"Not quite," he replied, "I'm just afraid that time's going to run out before I have time to enjoy it. I'm afraid of missing things. I'm afraid that the world is going on and leaving me behind shouting for help, but no one's there."

There was silence. Artemis shook his head; sincerely hoping Holly had not fallen asleep again as he had spilled his feelings out. However, the silence turned out to be a thoughtful one, as Holly spoke again quite soon.

"Artemis," she said softly, "I know how you feel. I mean, I've missed so much. Foaly and Caballine got married. I missed one of my best friend's weddings. He told me that he held off the marriage for a year and a half, because he wanted me to be there. I let him down. Trouble became Commander and the LEP are much better off. There are a few more female officers now too. I feel like I've been left behind, sleeping for three years."

"What do we do Holly?" Artemis' voice was laced with helplessness, something that almost never happened.

"I guess we adjust," the elf said, "Try the best we can."

"I suppose."

Another silence fell. Artemis heard Holly let out a large yawn and suddenly felt extremely guilty over waking her up. No doubt, she had been through a lot since they returned. All Artemis had to do was adjust. Holly probably had endless forms to fill out. She probably hadn't had a good sleep in ages. The boy smiled, and even though Holly couldn't see it, the smile was meant for her.

"I'll let you go Holly," he muttered, "You sound exhausted."

"Great observation genius," Holly retorted. Artemis chuckled. Even when she was tired, her sarcastic manner was as sharp as a blade.

"Sleep well Holly," the teenager said.

"You too," she said, "And Artemis?"

"Yes?"

"If you ever need to talk…"

"I know," he said. Artemis and Holly said goodnight one final time and the connection was broken. The teenager didn't bother taking off the ring. It comforted him knowing that someone understood him, and that someone would never be too far away. After taking off his robe, Artemis crawled back into bed and squirmed around for a few seconds, trying hard to find a comfortable spot. Once he did he rested his head on his pillow and closed his eyes.

Artemis Fowl fell asleep with a small grin playing about his lips. Some things, not even time could change.

-x-x-x-x-

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed that. It was pretty difficult for me to get the right concept. I really hope that it was well done. Please review and let me know what you think. And also, let me know if you'd like another one. Awesome, thanks so much. Cheers!

-Liv xoxo