Chapter 4 (Part 1) ~ Vivid Memories

Holly knew that the memory of her first above-ground mission would haunt her forever. The painful look in Danae's eyes as the harpy poison consumed her body, like a flame searching feverishly for kindling. The sound of breaking bones as she fought to cough up the phlegm that clogged her lungs. And the look in Root's eyes as he watched her die.

She tried to forget, or at least, not let it control the rest of her life. But she had other memories like that, too; the day her mother died, when Root was killed, so painful, so vivid. A horrible memory. The only reason, she thought, that she was remembering it at all was because she was having a bad day. Not the first, but annoying whatsoever.

Sitting in front of a atrociously slow computer, waiting for something work-related to pop up, she drummed her fingers against the desktop. The working day not yet half over, she was frustrated that her eyes were drooping constantly, as this made it even harder than normal to fully concentrate.

The computer froze. Holly stared in slight disbelief, then shook her head. "Perfect," she said sarcastically. "Just my luck." She tapped a few keys in a half-hearted attempt to get it started back up, but, knowing it would never work, gave up. Letting the muscles in her neck give out, she hit her forehead against her desk, once, twice, thrice. Bang, bang, bang.

To her dismay, the noise attracted someone who happened to be passing by the open door of her office. He cantered into the room. "Holly, are you alright?" Foaly asked, eyeing his friend warily.

Holly looked up at him, glaring. "Your supposedly revolutionary computer just froze on me." She went back to smacking her forehead against the desk.

Foaly leaned over the perfect example of someone under far too much stress, typed a few keys, and the computer restarted, finding it's way back to where Holly had been moments before the crash. He read over her shoulder;

O'Connell Secondary School; Meanscoil Ui Chonaill

He snickered. "I didn't know that you held an interest in Irish schools, Holly…particularly this school."

Holly exited the web page before he could read further, the glared at him, though, the image was ruined slightly by the faint red flush running over her cheeks. Still, the little elf's angry scowl was not something easily ignored, and, throwing his hands into the air (and splattering Holly with a few carrot bits in the process), he left, shutting the door behind him.

Holly reloaded the page staring at a simple picture; a group of geeky-looking students dressed in school code, flashing the camera winning tin grins. The caption said something about a national math award, but she only had eyes for the pale teen in the back row, the only one who was not smiling, hunched away from the group as though simply touching them would be toxic. She watched his eyes, one blue, one hazel, stare at something behind the photographer, and she couldn't help but wonder what he was looking at…

………

At almost the same moment, someone hundreds of miles away was looking at the same picture, but wondered different, albeit similar things; Why were his eyes different? What did he gaze at so intently? What caused that little furrow between his eyes…

Chapter 4 (Part 2) ~ The End of Freedom

"You were WHAT!?!?" The hag shrieked, clenching bony hands into fists. Her yellowish eyes bulged as she stared in horror at her cringing daughter. Iris's eyes were closed to the flying spittle that rained from Aello's mouth. "WHAT were you THINKING!?!?" Her breathing was hard and raspy as the remnants of her screech echoed around the hall.

When Iris deemed that her eyes would be safe from soggy shrapnel, she opened them an shrugged nonchalantly. Her mother's outbursts, which were quite common, was not her biggest concern, but though she didn't show it, she was at slight unease with the reason behind the explosion. She had, for some unknown reason, thought that Aello would understand, that she would not be angry. Oh, for the compensation of our errors. Her mother was not the type to be sympathetic to anyone, save maybe her sisters. Iris shook head sadly at her mistake, and flopped onto her bed.

This blatant show of disobedience only proved to infuriate Aello more, but she forced herself to calm down some. Suddenly, blessed with a brilliant idea, she smirked. The look caused Iris to stop wallowing silently and sit up. No one was safe when her mother got that look on her face.

"Well…" Aello started, coolly and calmly as though the two had just been discussing the weather. Iris narrowed her eyes. "If you have such difficulty behaving yourself when I give you freedom to do what you'd like, I suppose that I could enforce my rules more strictly…" She trailed off, smirking in a way that made Iris suspect the worst.

Aello pretended to think. "You will go back to that school." She decided, leaving Iris wondering where the punishment came in. "And you may speak to that boy." Iris was still more confused. "But you will not go alone." The little colour drained from Iris's pale face as she realized what her mother meant.

Aello patted her daughter's cheek. "It's all for the best, Iris, and you know that I only have your best interests at heart." What heart? Iris thought scathingly.

"Europa will meet you at the gates tomorrow." Aello smiled, knowing she had won this battle. She turned on her heel and left, shutting the door firmly behind her. Iris sank back into the pillows wondering just how hard it was to kill a harpy.

………

When she tired of moping, she stood and walked to the computer at her desk. She turned it on, accessing the internet, staring at the picture that was, for reasons unknown, so captivating…

Why were his eyes different colours? What did he gaze at so intently? What caused that little furrow between his eyes…

Chapter 4 (Part 3) ~ Insomnia

Artemis lay staring at the ceiling, his gaze steely, as though he could learn the secrets of the universe from each speck, and they weren't telling him. His thoughts drifted, something he rarely allowed…Her pale ivory skin…obsidian-black locks…and the mystery of her eyes, their colour still forgotten….

Why does this torment me so? He wondered. I haven't even spoken to her. And then, Blasted puberty.

The moonlight filtered in through gauzy curtains (chosen by his mother, of course), casting an eerie shadow over all it touched. His own pale flesh glowed in the dim light, a dull radiance. The storm outside had clamed as the night claimed all, leaving but a gentle gust of wind to sooth the world into a peaceful slumber. Most of the world had answered the call of the night.

Sleep was impossible. A daft dream. He knew it would kill him in the morning, when he was expected to show up for class, but he knew that his mind would never let him rest. So he left his mind to it's vile games, giving in to the subconscious thoughts it so desperately wanted to dream…

Tomorrow I will talk to her, Artemis promised himself. I will not be a coward. I am Artemis Fowl II. With the promise of a new day, he settled in for a long night of wondering, wondering, wondering…

Haha. Well, I truly hope that this chapter made up for the suck-tastic one before it....heehee...I couldn`t help but add that puberty thing in there at the end. It was too tempting. I know that it wasn't very long, but the next chapter will be much better, as, not only will it be longer, but I will actually give Holly something to do rather than bang her head on her desk (again, too tempting), and Arty will actually speak to Iris! Yay! Thanks to Liz, for being so supportive of my clinical angst while writing this, and thanks also to Liris, for reviewing every chapter...I probably missed someone, but oh, well!

Through Love and Lies,

Realistic Fate.

p.s. Yes, I changed my pen name to Realistic Fate. There is a reason behind that, but it`s ALLLLLLLL written on my profile, and I am not rewriting it here. Amen. Good bye. XD