The First Puzzle Piece

The first rays of sunlight branched over the grounds surrounding Fowl Manor, filling the room of one Artemis Fowl with the soft light of early morning. To any outside observer the young man lying on his side was a handsome raven haired teen with a ghostly pale complexion. This outside observer would probably not guess that this mere boy had helped to halt rebellions, taken part in kidnappings, built world saving technology, traveled through time, and saved the entire human race. He was perhaps the only lad above ground that could say that he had died and returned to the land of the living with the aid of flash cloning technology. His most recent escapades had seen him die and come back to life seemingly without his memories.

Artemis stirred from his sleep, his dreams were fraught with shouted words, tears, and then the feeling of being pulled in two directions at the same time. He rubbed the remnants of rest from his eyes and sat up holding his head in his hands. Mulling over this dream he felt an almost familiar rush as the dream was processed in his hippocampus and was restored in its rightful place as a memory.

"One piece of the puzzle falls into place…" muttered Artemis, as he pinched the bridge of his nose in response to the blaring headache that seemed to come with the return of his first memory.

Artemis rubbed his temple with his left hand as he felt another rushing feeling as a host of new memories assailed his consciousness. Any normal person would have been overwhelmed by the staggering amount of information that assailed Artemis' brain but he sat meditatively sorting through the vast jumble of experiences and emotions.

'I appear to have knowledge of my life up to the age of thirteen.' Artemis thought, 'I can reasonably conclude that there is much of my past that has not been made apparent as not only are there are seemingly vast blank periods between my most recent memory and the memories that came in the second rush but there is much that Holly has told me that hasn't filtered through my brain apparently.'

Swinging his feet over the side of the bed he made his way towards the bathroom. Still processing these newfound memories as he lingered under the hot water of the shower he shook his head in disgust, not in response to any particular aspect of bathing, but rather at what he had done. He didn't know exactly why but he felt guilt and more than a little sadness when he recalled his first interactions with the fairy folk. Holly had spent the last three days regaling Artemis of their adventures and misadventures, but with the memories pulsing through his head it brought a new life to her words. He sighed heavily and picked an orange scented organic shampoo and began to clean himself, there were going to be many more headaches in his future but he welcomed the prospect as it was a small price to pay for reclaiming pieces of himself.

His shower complete he dressed in an Armani suit, well part of an Armani suit. He kept the dress slacks and shirt but refrained from wearing what he assumed to be his customary tie and jacket. After dressing he looked at himself in the mirror, a moment's consideration led him to roll up his sleeves to his elbows. The old suits from his memories made him look as serious and imposing as a young man in a designer suit can be.

'I am not yet wholly myself again, but based on what I remember currently I have no desire to behave in a manner similar to my younger self.' Artemis mused as he combed his hair and stepped out into the hallway. 'Holly did mention that I have made remarkable changes throughout our friendship, she cannot be exaggerating if my memory of what I did to the poor silky sifka is true.'

Butler was in the kitchen preparing a vegetarian breakfast while Juliet entertained Myles and Beckett. His father and mother were currently out tending the plot of land the fowls had kept for their own purposes. The estate now had several cottages and much of the land was sectioned off belonging to different locals who now did their own farming to survive. The Fowls were no exception and every morning Artemis Sr. and Angeline rose just before dawn to head to the family plot to maintain their crops.

Butler noticed his young charge descending the stairs looking at Juliet and himself with much more recognition in his eye than he had for the past three days. It had been such a miraculous relief when Artemis has sat up among the strange rose bush but his complete lack of memory had been an unexpected complication. Butler still had mixed feelings about Artemis' current state but he could not deny that whatever the cost to his memories it was infinitely preferable to the alternative.

"Good morning Artemis did you sleep well?" Butler inquired, watching Artemis as he made his way around the twins who were taking it in turns to put on Juliet's luchador mask.

"I had quite a strange dream that turned out to not be a dream at all, but rather a partial memory of my death." Artemis answered in his characteristic matter-of-fact tone. And in answer to Butler's raised eyebrow he quickly added, "It was immediately followed by a recall of all events up to the fairy mind wipe."

Butler nodded, "So, you have your memories up to the age of thirteen?" It was Artemis' turn to nod as he grimaced, "There are things I have done, that I am not proud of, namely the kidnapping and dealing with a group such as the extinctionists. I find myself looking forward to the memories that I can look upon more favorably."

"If you remember as much as you say you do, then you know you have done far more good than harm. But don't worry Artemis it will all come back." Butler laid a spade sized hand on Artemis' shoulder meanwhile looking past him to the stairway. The corners of Butler's mouth turned up slightly as he went back to making breakfast.

Artemis looking around saw the now familiar face of Holly Short. Their gazes met across the room and Holly beamed when she saw the recognition in Artemis' ice blue eyes. She walked down to the table pausing only to dodge a tiny Beckett sized luchador, and to wish good morning to Juliet as she passed her and Myles working on biology flashcards that Myles had made himself.

Artemis turned, smiling, to face Holly, "So mud boy do you remember me now?" She asked, fist coming to a rest on her hip as her eyebrow rose. "I can remember right up to the mind wipe, after that it is… blank, for a while." Artemis felt no need to bring up the memory of his death, he felt that he should speak to Holly in private concerning that particular memory. Artemis continued, "I realize I am not the same person that I was in my recently regained memories, so that would infer there is still much to process but I hope to make some headway, plus," he added, "Thirteen years of memories is a fairly promising start."

Holly grabbed an apple from the kitchen and after taking a bite she asked, "Did anything particular get you to start remembering or was it just a sudden recall?" she finished her query with a bite of apple as she looked at Artemis chewing thoughtfully. Artemis fidgeted, glancing at the twins, Beckett was suitably preoccupied but Myles was trying to subtly listen in on their conversation between flashcards.

Artemis stepped towards the door, "I think that it would be best if we continued this discussion outside, if you would join me for a walk." He said, smiling and motioning to the door. Artemis and Holly had been taking walks around Fowl Manor frequently over the last three days as they discussed a past that Artemis couldn't remember until now. Holly had informed him of as much as she could of the events involving her and the People. Holly caught up with Artemis as he was heading for the door punching him on the arm as they went, and though it hurt a bit, Artemis smiled as the action seemed so familiar to him.

Butler half yelled across the kitchen, "Breakfast in ten." Holly who had been about to make a jibe at Artemis as a follow up to the punch responded instead to Butler, "We will be back in a few minutes." And with that they left to walk the grounds.