It was a cold, cloudy day at Fowl Manor when Artemis Fowl died. A soft rain
fell gently, its rhythmic patter echoing around the empty streets.
Holly didn't know what the weather was like in the Mud Man world, though, as she sat curled up on her bed in the underground. She wanted more than ever to get outside now, to fly to the Manor. To enter the wine cellar Mulch had entered the house through, to go up to the attic where she had healed Angeline Fowl, to see the tapestry through which she had watched Butler take on the troll. She even wanted to see the concrete cell that she had been imprisoned in. But Root wouldn't even let her go on stakeout duty, let alone find her an excuse to go topside. He and Foaly had practically had to hold her at gunpoint to get her to go on maternity leave.
She grinned grimly, remembering Root's reaction when he had figured out she was pregnant. The baby had been well along before Root had finally noticed that there was something wrong with Holly. Certainly he had observed her distended belly, but instead picking up on her pregnancy, he had started to comment on her weight. But her performance on duty hadn't been affected, so nothing had been said. It wasn't until Corporal Frond had found her throwing up in the bathroom that Root had put two and two together. He had then proceeded to throw a spectacular tantrum - it was the reddest Holly had seen his face yet. And not only had he done it right in front of Foaly and a couple techies, but he had shouted loud enough that all the LEP employees within the near vicinity had heard him. And the ones who didn't hear him got the news from others - "Did you hear? Short's pregnant!" It was the first time in decades that Holly had felt truly and thoroughly embarrassed.
Really she was lucky that her husband, an LEP Captain himself, hadn't ratted on her. But she had made it clear to her dearly beloved that being female had never been a drawback in her career before, and it certainly wouldn't be now. Her husband usually was the loser of arguments like these, such as Holly wanting to keep her name, and whether they should have children or not in the first place. She still suspected the only reason he had kept quiet was because of the rumors that Commander Root would be retiring soon, and Holly's name was being surfaced as a possible replacement. If Holly was going to be a viable candidate for Root's position, she had to miss as little work as possible.
But Root had made it quite clear in his blow-up that it was a grave endangerment to both Holly and her baby for her to work. Privately, Holly felt certain that Root was overreacting because it was her, and he was genuinely paranoid about her. Holly frequently compared Root to a sort of nasty older brother, and she was certain that Root often thought of her as a stubborn little sister. He certainly hadn't exploded at young Officer Tessa Balsam (the third female Recon officer since Holly's test case) when she had told him she was pregnant. But then again, she had actually told him, and not left him to figure things out on his own. And she had willingly left work, while Holly would have worked up till the moment her water broke if Root hadn't intervened.
Holly got off her bed, stretching out her limbs. Bored and tired of spending every day barricaded inside her home, she flicked on the TV to watch some newsbytes. The first sight to greet her there was the face of an old man, creased in weariness, drained of strength. His thinning hair was white and unkempt, and there was sorrow in his eyes. Holly stared at the shot for a moment before the sound kicked in.
"...He was 92 years old, and alone with a servant in his home. The Lower Elements News Netline can reveal exclusively that his profile has been deleted and his home, Fowl Manor, is no longer red-flagged. Today, the People's largest threat has finally been eliminated."
Holly couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were talking about him as if he was an active threat who had been finally been overcome by the hard work of the People, not an old man who had a heart attack. She almost laughed aloud. And they had managed to completely avoid the fact that if it hadn't been for Artemis Fowl, Briar Cudgeon would in all probability have led the Lower Elements to their death in an attempt to flush out humans.
92 years old. He had lived a good, long life for a human. And an extremely successful one. She wondered how Mud Men televisions would be reporting his death. No doubt they too would be celebrating the death of a notorious criminal. The reporter droned on. Her voice faded out of Holly's hearing as her thoughts began to spin.
As she stared at the face on the screen, she mentally compared it to the one she had known; the pale face of a calm, malicious, and brilliant youth. The sinister smile, the jet-black hair, the menacing dark blue eyes peering malevolently over steepled fingers. The face she knew as a villain and thief, her kidnapper and captor.
And then other memories flooded back to her. The young boy who longed for a father, who pined for a mother, and who she helped to obtain both. The boy whose sobs of relief she had heard over her helmet mike system when she pulled his father from the icy Arctic waters, who had risked his life to help save the Lower Elements. The boy who has restored her finger, she thought, observing the scar on her index finger with a smile.
Her smile vanished quickly. No one else would know of these things. No one except perhaps Root and Foaly. And she doubted they would mourn for him. He had certainly caused them enough grief in his time.
Holly knew his life had been hard. His father had died when he was still young, always plagued by the injuries he had sustained in the Arctic. His mother had died an old woman, but she had rarely seen Artemis, who was always busy. And, of course, Butler had died over 60 years ago in Artemis' service. It seemed the Mafia had never quite forgiven the Fowls. There had been an assassination attempt on Artemis Junior, but Butler had taken the bullet meant for Artemis. Holly never found out whether it was simply because the assassin missed, or whether Butler had jumped in front of Artemis to save him. Either way, the closest thing Artemis had to a friend in life had been killed, and it was his fault. And Holly knew, even if no one else did, that he did have a conscience in him, and it would eat away at him.
He had died alone; no wife, children, parents, or friends beside him - just a hired servant. He would be remembered only as a crook to the fairies, whose 'Public Enemy #1' view had been too firmly lodged in their brains for Fowl's help in the goblin uprising to remove it. And though humans would remember him as a genius and a criminal in this time, he would be forgotten in barely a century.
It was depressing, Holly admitted. And though she was no longer as youthful as she had been in the days of the Artemis Fowl cases, Holly was still young, while Artemis had grown old and died. For a moment, her contempt of the Mud Men faded as she wondered what they had done to deserve such lives.
There was a tap on Holly's door, and it swung open. She didn't look up - there was only one person who could get past the locks he had installed all over the door. Her husband was even more paranoid about her than Root; when she had started staying home, he had installed a ridiculous amount of security systems on their home. As if she couldn't take care of herself, Holly thought derisively.
"Holly?" questioned a man's voice.
"Hi, Trouble," she answered. "What are you doing back from work so early?"
"I thought I'd check on you," Trouble Kelp answered.
"Yep, that's right. If you leave me alone for more than 3 hours, I'll spontaneously combust."
Trouble opened his mouth to make some retort, but he stopped when he saw the screen. He hesitated for a moment, before giving a twisted sort of smile. "Feeling a bit nostalgic?" he asked. Holly's immediate reaction would have been to snort and sarcastically tell him how much she was going to miss Artemis Fowl, but she remembered how he had proved on many occasions that it impossible for her to hide her feelings from him. They were married, after all. So instead she nodded dolefully. "I'd have thought your Stockholm's Syndrome would have worn off several decades ago," he said, in mock concern. She swatted viciously at him, and he ducked. "Ok, so you're not in the mood for banter right now." Holly shot him a very dangerous look.
There was a prolonged silence, something very rare when the two of them were in one room. Holly knew Trouble was waiting for her to open up to him. So with an inward sigh, she obliged. "It's hard to explain. Everyone hates him, you know? But he's not such a bad guy." Holly was appalled at the lameness of her own statement. She would have taken on a troll before saying that to anyone but Trouble.
"But not everyone does," said Trouble quietly. "You don't." And Holly realized with a start she had been leaving herself out of her own calculations. No one would mourn him? She would mourn him. He would be forgotten? But she would remember him. He died alone and friendless? No, he had one friend left, even if she was far away in the underground.
Holly smiled, suddenly cured of her quiet, inner torment. "You're a genius, Trouble," she said, patting him on the head fondly. She ran to the kitchen to whip up a smoothie for him before he had to go, leaving her bewildered husband to wonder why his words had had such a profound effect on her.
Holly didn't know what the weather was like in the Mud Man world, though, as she sat curled up on her bed in the underground. She wanted more than ever to get outside now, to fly to the Manor. To enter the wine cellar Mulch had entered the house through, to go up to the attic where she had healed Angeline Fowl, to see the tapestry through which she had watched Butler take on the troll. She even wanted to see the concrete cell that she had been imprisoned in. But Root wouldn't even let her go on stakeout duty, let alone find her an excuse to go topside. He and Foaly had practically had to hold her at gunpoint to get her to go on maternity leave.
She grinned grimly, remembering Root's reaction when he had figured out she was pregnant. The baby had been well along before Root had finally noticed that there was something wrong with Holly. Certainly he had observed her distended belly, but instead picking up on her pregnancy, he had started to comment on her weight. But her performance on duty hadn't been affected, so nothing had been said. It wasn't until Corporal Frond had found her throwing up in the bathroom that Root had put two and two together. He had then proceeded to throw a spectacular tantrum - it was the reddest Holly had seen his face yet. And not only had he done it right in front of Foaly and a couple techies, but he had shouted loud enough that all the LEP employees within the near vicinity had heard him. And the ones who didn't hear him got the news from others - "Did you hear? Short's pregnant!" It was the first time in decades that Holly had felt truly and thoroughly embarrassed.
Really she was lucky that her husband, an LEP Captain himself, hadn't ratted on her. But she had made it clear to her dearly beloved that being female had never been a drawback in her career before, and it certainly wouldn't be now. Her husband usually was the loser of arguments like these, such as Holly wanting to keep her name, and whether they should have children or not in the first place. She still suspected the only reason he had kept quiet was because of the rumors that Commander Root would be retiring soon, and Holly's name was being surfaced as a possible replacement. If Holly was going to be a viable candidate for Root's position, she had to miss as little work as possible.
But Root had made it quite clear in his blow-up that it was a grave endangerment to both Holly and her baby for her to work. Privately, Holly felt certain that Root was overreacting because it was her, and he was genuinely paranoid about her. Holly frequently compared Root to a sort of nasty older brother, and she was certain that Root often thought of her as a stubborn little sister. He certainly hadn't exploded at young Officer Tessa Balsam (the third female Recon officer since Holly's test case) when she had told him she was pregnant. But then again, she had actually told him, and not left him to figure things out on his own. And she had willingly left work, while Holly would have worked up till the moment her water broke if Root hadn't intervened.
Holly got off her bed, stretching out her limbs. Bored and tired of spending every day barricaded inside her home, she flicked on the TV to watch some newsbytes. The first sight to greet her there was the face of an old man, creased in weariness, drained of strength. His thinning hair was white and unkempt, and there was sorrow in his eyes. Holly stared at the shot for a moment before the sound kicked in.
"...He was 92 years old, and alone with a servant in his home. The Lower Elements News Netline can reveal exclusively that his profile has been deleted and his home, Fowl Manor, is no longer red-flagged. Today, the People's largest threat has finally been eliminated."
Holly couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were talking about him as if he was an active threat who had been finally been overcome by the hard work of the People, not an old man who had a heart attack. She almost laughed aloud. And they had managed to completely avoid the fact that if it hadn't been for Artemis Fowl, Briar Cudgeon would in all probability have led the Lower Elements to their death in an attempt to flush out humans.
92 years old. He had lived a good, long life for a human. And an extremely successful one. She wondered how Mud Men televisions would be reporting his death. No doubt they too would be celebrating the death of a notorious criminal. The reporter droned on. Her voice faded out of Holly's hearing as her thoughts began to spin.
As she stared at the face on the screen, she mentally compared it to the one she had known; the pale face of a calm, malicious, and brilliant youth. The sinister smile, the jet-black hair, the menacing dark blue eyes peering malevolently over steepled fingers. The face she knew as a villain and thief, her kidnapper and captor.
And then other memories flooded back to her. The young boy who longed for a father, who pined for a mother, and who she helped to obtain both. The boy whose sobs of relief she had heard over her helmet mike system when she pulled his father from the icy Arctic waters, who had risked his life to help save the Lower Elements. The boy who has restored her finger, she thought, observing the scar on her index finger with a smile.
Her smile vanished quickly. No one else would know of these things. No one except perhaps Root and Foaly. And she doubted they would mourn for him. He had certainly caused them enough grief in his time.
Holly knew his life had been hard. His father had died when he was still young, always plagued by the injuries he had sustained in the Arctic. His mother had died an old woman, but she had rarely seen Artemis, who was always busy. And, of course, Butler had died over 60 years ago in Artemis' service. It seemed the Mafia had never quite forgiven the Fowls. There had been an assassination attempt on Artemis Junior, but Butler had taken the bullet meant for Artemis. Holly never found out whether it was simply because the assassin missed, or whether Butler had jumped in front of Artemis to save him. Either way, the closest thing Artemis had to a friend in life had been killed, and it was his fault. And Holly knew, even if no one else did, that he did have a conscience in him, and it would eat away at him.
He had died alone; no wife, children, parents, or friends beside him - just a hired servant. He would be remembered only as a crook to the fairies, whose 'Public Enemy #1' view had been too firmly lodged in their brains for Fowl's help in the goblin uprising to remove it. And though humans would remember him as a genius and a criminal in this time, he would be forgotten in barely a century.
It was depressing, Holly admitted. And though she was no longer as youthful as she had been in the days of the Artemis Fowl cases, Holly was still young, while Artemis had grown old and died. For a moment, her contempt of the Mud Men faded as she wondered what they had done to deserve such lives.
There was a tap on Holly's door, and it swung open. She didn't look up - there was only one person who could get past the locks he had installed all over the door. Her husband was even more paranoid about her than Root; when she had started staying home, he had installed a ridiculous amount of security systems on their home. As if she couldn't take care of herself, Holly thought derisively.
"Holly?" questioned a man's voice.
"Hi, Trouble," she answered. "What are you doing back from work so early?"
"I thought I'd check on you," Trouble Kelp answered.
"Yep, that's right. If you leave me alone for more than 3 hours, I'll spontaneously combust."
Trouble opened his mouth to make some retort, but he stopped when he saw the screen. He hesitated for a moment, before giving a twisted sort of smile. "Feeling a bit nostalgic?" he asked. Holly's immediate reaction would have been to snort and sarcastically tell him how much she was going to miss Artemis Fowl, but she remembered how he had proved on many occasions that it impossible for her to hide her feelings from him. They were married, after all. So instead she nodded dolefully. "I'd have thought your Stockholm's Syndrome would have worn off several decades ago," he said, in mock concern. She swatted viciously at him, and he ducked. "Ok, so you're not in the mood for banter right now." Holly shot him a very dangerous look.
There was a prolonged silence, something very rare when the two of them were in one room. Holly knew Trouble was waiting for her to open up to him. So with an inward sigh, she obliged. "It's hard to explain. Everyone hates him, you know? But he's not such a bad guy." Holly was appalled at the lameness of her own statement. She would have taken on a troll before saying that to anyone but Trouble.
"But not everyone does," said Trouble quietly. "You don't." And Holly realized with a start she had been leaving herself out of her own calculations. No one would mourn him? She would mourn him. He would be forgotten? But she would remember him. He died alone and friendless? No, he had one friend left, even if she was far away in the underground.
Holly smiled, suddenly cured of her quiet, inner torment. "You're a genius, Trouble," she said, patting him on the head fondly. She ran to the kitchen to whip up a smoothie for him before he had to go, leaving her bewildered husband to wonder why his words had had such a profound effect on her.