Salvete. Once again, this chapter has been revised. I hope you like it. : )

Disclaimer: Gah. How many times must I say that I don't own Artemis Fowl?

Chapter 1

Fowl Manor

Artemis Fowl II never liked children. It was the honest-to-god truth. So, when he got back from three years in Limbo, he wasn't happy at the idea of having little brothers. It took quite some time to get used to their eratic behavior. Who knew little kids had so much energy?

When his parents requested that he watch his siblings for a half-an-hour, he wasn't particularly thrilled about the idea. He loved his brothers, but he never was sure how to keep them entertained. He'd learned not to try teaching them lessons after his last run-in. Artemis spent the first half hour in the garden trying to catch the hyperactive two-year olds and get them inside. He knew that Opal Koboi's past self had been set loose upon the unsuspecting world, and quite frankly, he didn't trust his brothers around Angeline's prized flowers.

Finally, he realized that he couldn't force them inside. He stopped and shouted, "You both realize that Mom made cookies, right?" This was true, but they weren't supposed to know about the cookies.

Myles and Beckett stopped in their tracks, almost colliding with each other. They exchanged glances, eyes wide.

Oh gods, Artemis thought. This can't be good.

He was right. The twins took off running toward the kitchen, yelling, "Cookies!!!" all along the way.

Artemis groaned: more running. He tried running after the twins, but they still got to the kitchen before hime.

"Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!" Beckett was chanting. Myles was trying to get him to shut up.

Artemis groaned and went to the top cabinet—using a chair, I might add. He grabbed the box of cookies.

"Now, you can't eat too much—" It was the equivilant of telling a teenager not to text. The twins were eating those chocolate-chip cookies faster than a centaur eating a carrot.

What now??? Artemis thought.

* * *

Police Plaza

Thunking filled Captain Holly Short's cubicle. The sound was caused by her head colliding with the desk. The paperwork crystals stacked on its surface vibrated with each collision, coming closer to falling over.

It wasn't advisable to bang your head against your desk in such fashion, obviously. So, why was our heroine doing this? A simple answer: Internal Affairs. They'd been heavily on her case since her time jaunt with a certain human. Here she was now, with mountains of paperwork and one day to do it.

Holly's head hit the desk at the same time a loud crack sounded. Holly paused. Surely, her head had not hit the desk that hard. Then the sound came again. Of course, someone was at the door. Not that it was an actual door. It was more of just an opening in the plastic cubicle. Foaly stood at the space, hand prepared to knock again. His eyebrows were raised.

Holly saw the glance and shrugged.

"Ignoring the fact that you were just losing much-needed brain cells, you're needed in Commander Kelp's office," Foaly said.

Holly jumped up, glad to have something to do, even if it involved being yelled at. "I'll pay you back for that comment later," she said, walking out the door. Foaly followed close on her tail.

They arrived at Kelp's office to find him leaning against the door frame. He looked extremely annoyed and his facial color was beginning to match that of the late Julius Root's.

"Finally," he commented, as Holly and Foaly filed in. Trouble shut the door and sat down at his desk.

"Sorry sir," Holly replied.

Commander Kelp waved away her apology and moved on. "Foaly, if you please."

Foaly stood up and began giving his brief. "As you both know, Opal Koboi's past self is somewhere in the world, very likely planning on causing havoc." Holly grimaced. It had been partially her fault that they had this problem. "And, we need to catch her before the whole timestream comes undone. We just received word that Koboi, the one of the present, has escaped."

"Escaped?! How?" Holly exclaimed. Atlantis's jail was maximum security. There wasn't a possibility of escape. It was impossible.

"You know the war has traveled to Atlantis. Poseidon is fighting Oceanus. We've dispatched officers to help in the fight, but I'm afraid they're not doing much good. Unfortunately, Atlantis's prison was destroyed on one half because of the fighting. Guess who used the distraction to get away?"

Holly groaned. This was bad, bad news.

"Anyway, we've tracked her to Camp Half-Blood," he said.

Holly glanced up sharply. "Camp Half-Blood? What is she doing there?"
Foaly and Trouble glanced at each other.

"We don't know," Trouble answered.

"Anyway, there are two things we need to do. The first, is to send people to Camp Half-Blood. We suspect that she may be working with Kronos. The second is to protect Artemis," Foaly continued.

Holly nodded. "So you want me to get Artemis and take him with me to Camp Half-Blood, so we can figure out what she's up to, right?"

"Actually, that's a good idea," Foally muttered. Commander Kelp glared at him. Foaly continued. "I do know the activities director of Camp Half-Blood."

"No, no, no. We're not trying to get them killed here! Koboi would likely shoot them on the spot!" Commander Kelp exclaimed.

"Not if she's trying to keep her cover. So long as they don't let her get them alone, they should be fine," Foally replied.

Holly looked between them both. "How about we let Artemis decide?"

They both froze and looked at Holly. Then they looked back at each other.

"We-ell. . .I suppose we could do that," Commander Kelp said hesitantly.

"It's settled then," Holly replied. "Now if you excuse me, I have to go check to be sure that Mud Boy is alright."

That being said, Holly Short walked out of the room.

* * *

Artemis was pouring water for Myles and Beckett when his phone vibrated. He jumped, and water sloshed over the counter.

After grabbing a towel, he twisted the ring and held it to his ear.

"Holly?"
"No. This is Foaly," came the sarcastically cheerful response.

"Haha," Artemis commented drily.

"I try."

"So have you found her?"

"No. I'm just calling to say hello," she said, not being able to resist.

"Holly."

"Alright. We didn't find her. That's not why I'm calling."

"Oh, gods. She didn't—" Artemis let that trail off.

"She did," Holly replied.

Artemis groaned. "Okay. See you."

"Yeah."

She cut the connection. Artemis snapped the phone shut.

"So, who is Holly?" Myles asked. Artemis had forgotten that the twins were in the room. "And who did you guys find?"

"Holly is my best friend. She lost her. . .dog. And she promised to call me when they found it. They know where it is, but they now have to go retrieve it. A family a few miles away found it, so we have to go get it," Artemis lied through his teeth.

"Why do you have to go?" For a 2 year old, Myles was smart. He could figure out simple things.

"Because she's my best friend and I'm giving her a ride."

"Oh," Myles said.

Then Beckett—tired of being left out of the conversation—interrupted. "Artemis, can we finger paint again?"

Artemis faked a smile. "Of course."

End Notes: Okay, that is the first chapter. I hope you like it. : ) As always, please review.

Valete,

Holly Marie Fowl