(A/N So, you have decided to enter my world... be prepared. The song I chose for this chapter is High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco, because I was listening to that song when I had the idea to write this. I am going to set up a review system right now: 5 reviews = next chapter. Enjoy!)

(Disclaimer: I don't own High Hopes or the original Artemis Fowl series. Wish I did though)

-Introduction-

Artemis Fowl, 18 year old genius, was asleep in his bed when a loud crash resounded through his room, instantly waking him. Through the busted out wall, Artemis saw a group of blurry men. One of them pointed at him and he felt a sharp pain in his neck. D'Arvit, he thought, then passed out as the sedatives in the dart overcame him.

-Holly Short; Haven, 2 weeks later-

Captain Holly Short, First female elf to ever join the LEP recon, was heartbroken. She had just been told that her best friend was dead. Shot in the head by a megalomaniacal pixie named Opal Koboi.

"No," she said numbly, dropping the handheld communicator. "No, no, no," she said, sobbing now. "Are you sure it's him, Foaly? And not some lookalike?"

"It's him, Holly. I'm sorry, DNA tests confirmed it." the centaur's voice came through the communicator. "They're having a funeral this Saturday, do you want to go?"

"I do, but-" she started.

"No 'buts', Holly. I'll take care of all the paperwork. All I need is a yes or no. Do you want to go to the funeral or not?"

Holly sighed. "Yes."

"Consider it done, then. Because it is. In fact, if you want to go right now, that would be fine. Spend a night at the Manor. That's where they're having the funeral, by the way." Foaly sounded proud of himself in spite of everything.

"No, I'd rather not spend a night in the same house as my dead best friend," she said, "I'm going to take the rest of the day off."

"SHORT! MY OFFICE! NOW!" That was one of the interesting things about Commander Kelp. He never needed to use the intercom, even if the fairy he needed was across the compound.

"You'd better see what he needs first, though," said Foaly, stating the obvious.

Trouble Kelp's office was horribly disorganized. It made Holly sick every time she entered it, and this time was no exception.

"I don't have time for formalities, so I'm going to get straight to the point. Artemis Fowl is-"

"Dead, I know," Holly interrupted, "Foaly just told me and got me a visa for the funeral."

"D'Arvit, when will that centaur learn to keep his mouth shut?"

"Does Butler know?"

"He does, Ms. Fowl told us. Apparently his body just turned up on their doorstep. Butler was devastated, he sounded ready to rip off that diamond tattoo of his."

"That's horrible! When I get my hands on Opal, I swear I will rip out her-"

"That's enough, Captain. Why don't you go home and cope with your loss? I'll finish your work for you."

"Thanks, Commander, I will." Holly flew home, where now the tears flowed unchecked. Her last thought before she cried herself to sleep was, at least I get to see him one last time.

-Fowl Manor, Saturday-

Holly sat, invisible, on Butler's broad shoulder, next to an ornate ebony coffin in the entry hall of Fowl Manor. He was gently sobbing, something she had never seen him do before. He knew she was there, of course. Not even Butler could simply dismiss forty pounds suddenly landing on his shoulder.

"I feel horrible," he said, "I should have been there to help. I could've-"

"Butler," Holly interrupted, "I don't blame you. None of us saw that coming. I doubt even Opal thought is was going to go that well for her. I don't blame you for anything."

"Thanks, Holly. there's three people who don't blame me. The other two are his parents." Butler sighed, looking down at the body of his former charge. They were both silent for several minutes.

"Butler?" asked Holly.

"Yes?"

"Can you put me on the table next to the coffin? I want to see Artemis' eyes one last time."

"Yes, I can do that," the big bodyguard replied. But as Butler put Holly on the table, she grew worried. What would she see when she opened his eyes? Would she see the warmth she had grown to love, or would she see a blue and hazel eye, both as cold as the day she had met him? When she pulled back his eyelids, however, she saw something entirely unexpected.

As she looked into the eyes of the man she loved, two deep, empty blue eyes stared at the ceiling above them. Holly Short fainted right then and there.

( PM me please! I need ideas!)