Artemis Fowl: The Fairy Well

Prologue
Fowl Manor, Dublin, Ireland
Artemis frowned as he scrolled down the page. The Internet contained such a vast amount of information; one would find it hard to sort out fact and fiction.
But Artemis wasn’t just an ordinary boy. No, he was Artemis Fowl the Second, heir of the Fowl fortune and son of Irish businessman, Artemis Fowl the First. Of course, he was probably smarter than his Father, being a child prodigy, not to mention a criminal mastermind.
His Father had disappeared when the Russian Mafia had bombed the ship he was abroad, the Fowl Star, along with Butler’s uncle and thousands of cans of coke. Since then, Artemis had only one goal: restore the family fortune.
At this point in time, Artemis’s ocean blue eyes were scanning the page, absorbing in every detail. He paused, running his hand through his raven black hair, a thin eyebrow arching up—a big show of emotion for someone as blank as him. Then, as if coming to a conclusion, Artemis’s hands began to type at such a fast rate that they were merely a blur on the keyboard.
After finishing with the keyboard, the youth smiled, giving him the appearance of a vampire. He had found it. The information needed to prove his theory; a theory that could plunge the world into a cross-species war. Of course, he didn’t know of the danger he was creating for other beings at that particular moment…or maybe, he just plainly didn’t care.

Chapter 1: Journey
Butler was preparing himself for bed, when the ringing tone of his alarm—which was the sign when Artemis was calling him—began to ring constantly. The giant Eurasian sighed and walked to his young charge’s room.
Being a bodyguard, Butler knew that he was supposed to take a dangerous route in the crime industries or at least, risk his life for the welfare of his charge. But Butler also knew that the young Fowl made his life more complicated by involving himself with the biggest criminal businessmen in the international underworld.
The bodyguard sighed again, and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” came the clipped tone of Artemis’s reply.
Pushing the door open, Butler stepped into the child’s bedroom, which wasn’t as filled to the brim with electronics like in the study he had inherited from his Father, but was just as high-tech.
“Butler, I will need a ride to the Ring of Tara tomorrow, you do know where that is don’t you?” Artemis asked, looking at him with a piercing blue stare.
Butler nodded. Of course he knew. It was situated to the North of Dublin. The Hill of Tara itself was believed to have 142 kings reigning from its mount in prehistoric times.
“Good,” came the reply. “We will leave tomorrow, prepare anything you might need, otherwise, I don’t believe that we’ll have any problems.”
Butler knew that was the you-can-go-now phrase, shooing him away, but he couldn’t hold himself quiet enough to ask, “Why are we going to the Ring of Tara Artemis?”
Instead of getting annoyed like Butler thought he would, Artemis just grinned his trademark vampiric grin, and replied, “Aurum Potestas Est Butler, Aurum Potestas Est.”
Butler knew that this was the final warning and exited the room, aware that the phrase Aurum Potestas Est was the family motto, Gold Is Power.

Ireland, en route from Fowl Manor to the Ring of Tara
Juliet Butler grinned as Artemis scowled again for the nth time. She had forced Artemis to take her along this trip, but he refused to tell her what was so special about The Ring of Tara.
“Arty…plweeze…” Juliet begged, making a puppy dog look on her face and using the pet name Artemis’s Mother, Angeline, had given him.
Artemis grimaced at the colloquialism but he didn’t mind so much about Juliet using his pet name. Somehow, he thought of her as a sister, or maybe a bit more…but of course, Artemis would never accept that conclusion, even if it was a small part of reality.
“Plweeze…” Juliet repeated. He knew that she was doing it to drive him up the wall, but he still wouldn’t budge, even if he went insane. The time wasn’t right, and Artemis would decide when it was.
“Juliet, enough,” Butler scolded from the driver’s seat of the Bentley. Being Juliet’s older brother, Butler had control over his sister’s immature behavior. The blonde girl pouted and said, “You just don’t care brother, because Artemis has already told you everything.”
That was true enough. Before leaving Fowl Manor, Artemis had informed Butler regarding the part where the Ring of Tara was believed to be the sacred dwelling of gods, and was the entrance to the otherworld. Artemis had explained that the entrance story was true, as there were a whole new species under civilization right now that he planned to exploit. But he was still skeptical about the dwelling-of-gods belief being fact.
Butler had asked, “How do you know all this Artemis?” which was a sort of silly question, considering the hours Artemis had spent trawling through the Internet. Artemis just told him the truth.
“This is just simplifying it Butler,” he had said. “The fairies under us are considered to have something called The Book, which is their bible, this is what I wish to obtain. And after I found out that Holy water is poisonous for fairies alike, I also found that there is a well Butler, a well under the Ring of Tara that possibly has the most magical water on Earth. This will counteract the Holy water. All I have to do is find a fairy, make he or she drink the Holy water, and blackmail that fairy to lend us their Book.”
But the Eurasian still had one more question, and was surprised when Artemis voiced his thoughts.
“You are wondering why I don’t use this magical water to cure my Mother’s current situation correct?”
Butler nodded.
Artemis sighed. “Unfortunately, this well has been protected from the same person going in twice. Not that it would be a problem. But you can also only take one vial at a time, otherwise something very nasty is going to happen that I won’t mention. This also won’t be a problem. The real complication is that this water cannot heal psychological disorders like my Mother’s. Only the magic the fairies possess can heal her.”
For a second, Butler saw the 12-year-old Artemis should have been had his Father not disappeared, before this expression faded away and Artemis returned to his usual stoic state.
“After that information, I found out that the entrance to this well is at the Stone of Destiny, which was originally used for an artificial hotdog in a pizza stand, which I believe was what Stone Henge was used for. Funny how a pizza stand turns into a pagan centre of worship. Anyways, that stone is the entrance to the well. I know that you are wondering how to get in, but I will tell you when we arrive at the destination.”
Even now, Butler was still afraid of what the long version would be, if this was just simplifying it but he questioned Artemis no more, as his jolly temper was sure not to last long, as proved with Juliet.

Chapter 2: Tara
Tara
Artemis trudged up the grassy hill. Tara had many mounds, but Artemis was only interested in this one. The air was cool, and the breeze gently caressed his face. Of all he countries he had been to, Artemis loved Ireland the most, with its wonderful scenery, myths and legends, which were now partly fact.
Reaching the Stone of Destiny, Artemis reached into his Armani suit’s pocket and pulled out a Swiss pocketknife. According to his research, to enter the well beneath Tara, one must give their blood to the stone. But as fairies have healing powers; this wouldn’t be a big problem, unlike a human.
The entrance was small, Artemis knew, so Butler could not do this job for him, nor could Juliet, considering the fact that Artemis didn’t trust her completely as she was sure to just fool around. No, this job he needed to do himself, and the only person able to enter was the person whose blood was given.

Butler’s eyes widened to a rate that made them look like they were going to pop out of their sockets. What was Artemis doing? He wasn’t suicidal, so that meant he was going to cut himself. But why?
“Artemis?” Butler asked worriedly. Artemis turned around, and the unwavering gaze that he gave Butler was enough to tell him that no one else could do what he was about to.
The giant man turned to look at his sister, whose eyes looked like giant glass spheres, staring with disbelief at Artemis’s courage to do something so…so stupid?

Artemis held his breath, and he ran the cold, iron blade against the tip of his index finger of his right hand. Since he was ambidextrous but slightly more accurate on the left, he did this with no problem.
A jolt of pain ran up his arm as crimson blood spluttered out of the cut for a millisecond, then it stopped. The wound was too small for blood to flow freely, not that it was a problem for him. The Irish boy walked up to the Stone of Destiny and squeezed his finger until a drop of maroon liquid trickled out of the cut, and onto the stone.

Juliet watched with amazement as the piece of granite rumbled, and then lower itself until its peak was beneath the ground. It then slid to the side, revealing a vessel of some sort—with one seat, large enough for a child—which rose up to accommodate Artemis.
The 16-year-old watched as Artemis talked with Butler.
“Butler, I will be gone for only a few minutes…make sure that no one sees the transformation of the Stone of Destiny. Here, take this,” Artemis handed Butler a communicator. “I’ll contact you via that.”
And with that, he slipped himself into the vessel, strapped himself in, and waited as the machine lowered itself into the chute below.

“Butler, I will be gone for only a few minutes…make sure that no one sees the transformation of the Stone of Destiny. Here, take this,” Artemis handed Butler a communicator. “I’ll contact you via that.”
Then the genius turned to the vessel, and buckled himself up, waiting whilst the machine lowered itself into the chute—or the abyss.
As soon as the craft was inside the chute, the granite stone actually sealed itself again, capturing Artemis in eternal darkness, with only the glow of the screen in front of him as light.
Artemis remembered the reading he had done before journeying on this trip. He had encountered the myth that the Stone of Destiny would roar if human flesh touched it. This, he concluded, was only to scare away the humans, but the spell started to disintegrate, roaring randomly, thus creating the legend where the stone would roar when the genuine King touched it.
Just as he had suspected, the stone did not protect itself against the blood of humans, as the fairies were too arrogant, and didn’t think that any Homo sapiens’ blood would meet the stone.
A voice sounded, dragging Artemis back to reality.
“Scanning DNA,” recited a recorded voice with a video of a pretty blonde…elf? Her ears were pointed, and there was no mistaking it.
Artemis grinned, then frowned. Earlier on, Artemis had thought that the language would be different, but here was the elf, gibbering away in plain old English.
Perhaps it was her lack in IQ, mind you, she did look stupid.
Artemis smirked. How could a fairy be silly enough to think that a human would enter the chute?
“DNA scan complete,” the voice said, and the blonde elf smiled a supermodel smile that rallied Juliet’s. “Now please look at the coordinates that you have received and type them in, speak them aloud, or drive this shuttle if you prefer. This is a voice-activated vessel, so there are no controls or joysticks here, and no autopilot too I’m afraid,” the elf pouted, trying to look sympathetic.
Artemis had not expected this and any more skeptism he had was driven away. He had to drive this shuttle. But then again, it couldn’t be too hard now could it? Considering how he could steer about any aircraft, shuttle, or vessel ever made.
Funny how wrong Artemis was this time when he usually was the most accurate person on Earth.

Chapter 3: Chute and Chamber
The vessel rumbled, and Artemis was thrown forward as it launched itself down at 135 degrees. The shuttle began to move forward at an alarmingly fast rate though he knew he was only going to have to travel sixty meters or so to reach the well. There were pieces of jagged stone on the edge of the chute, and Artemis had to command the shuttle to avoid them.
“Left…okay…right!!! Stop! Okay…pull back as far as possible or slow down a bit—okay, you won’t slow down. Well, whatever,” Artemis paused at the word. He must have learnt it from Juliet. Artemis scowled. That girl. Too late, the shuttle began to vibrate vigorously.
The command must have confused the shuttle, thought Artemis as the windows of the craft crashed open, letting through air that bent Artemis’s limbs to a comical version of himself. Even though air was forced into his lungs when he spoke, Artemis forced himself to push open his mouth, and command the shuttle when no sound came out. Only a slight gurgle as air rushed passed his tongue.
But before he could think of anything else, he was forced to scream a command—which seemed to work when he was near death—in order to veer left before crashing into a jagged stalactite, or stalagmite…he lost track of gravity as he plunged down towards the Earth’s core.

Fifty meters above Artemis, Butler paced the hill.
How is Artemis doing right now? He thought. What will I do if he doesn’t return? Worries filled his mind.
“Brother, stop pacing, you’re giving me a headache,” Juliet told him, whilst playing around with her hair. The look Butler gave her informed her that this was why Butler had his blue diamond tattoo and Juliet didn’t: by keeping alert.
Every male Butler—with the exception of Juliet was shipped off to Madame Ko’s Academy when they were ten. There, they learnt skills like cordon bleu cooking, marksmanship, emergency medicine, information technology and a customized blend of martial arts. At the end of their training, the Butler would receive a blue diamond tattoo etched into their skin.
The Butler also wasn’t allowed to reveal their first name to their charge…considering how it would develop into personal affection like Butler’s way of seeing Artemis as a son or brother.
If there was no Fowl to guard at the end of their training, the Butlers were eagerly snapped up as bodyguards for various royal personages, generally in Monaco or Saudi Arabia.
Back to Butler and Juliet.
Butler continued pacing, until a ring on his communicator startled him and he jumped about a foot in the air that made Juliet crack up laughing before Butler gave her another silencing glare.
The male bodyguard grabbed the device. “Artemis, are you alright?” Butler asked.
The only reply was a raspy, scratching noise.

Artemis guided the shuttle until he thought his voice was going to go out, considering the fact that it was so hoarse from ordering the shuttle.
Just when he thought he’d had enough, the chute leveled out and the craft slid to a stop. Once the door of the craft opened, Artemis stepped out of the machine swiftly, and then swayed on his feet as he surveyed his surroundings.
He was in a sort of chamber, with stalactites and stalagmites forming around everywhere, which, instead of being sandstone or another type of dull colour, were crystalline.
The floor itself was also made of a clear stone, but the texture still looked like a cave, with bumps and grooves.
There was a pond set deep into the quartz, filled with crystal clear water, swirling gently in a whirlpool in the center of it all. Steam gently drifted from the liquid, its tendrils forming images and pictures Artemis’s eyes could not make out.
The cave smelled not of sulphur as Artemis had expected, but the air seemed to be heavy of an exotic, musky smell that was unlike the usual hot springs Artemis had visited before.
There was a small foggy mist twirling around Artemis’s ankles, its slender, threadlike hands reaching around his trousers.
The occasional drip-drop of water around him was pleasant, added with the swirling sound of water made this place tranquil and serene, but at the same time, dangerously mysterious.
Artemis had heard legends that Atlantis was indeed, beautiful, and that theories suggest that Tara was the ancient capital of the lost city itself, and that the mythical land of Atlantis was Ireland, but he had never thought it true. Now that he had witnessed the well, he could believe that Atlantis—if the well was part of Atlantis—was without doubt exquisitely stunning.
“You have three minutes to get the vial of healing water, and then this vessel will automatically return to the surface. So please hurry,” the voice of the elf voiced behind Artemis, startling him out of his thoughts.
The Irish youth turned his wrist and looked at his Carrier watch. Three minutes to go.
Artemis reached for his communicator, and rang the ring for Butler.
“Artemis, are you alright?” came the bodyguard’s anxious reply. This tone scared as much as half the wits out of Artemis that he dropped the gadget, sending it reeling into the translucent floor. Artemis mentally swore as he dashed after it which was very unlike him. Again it was Juliet’s influence.
Picking up the communicator again, Artemis replied, “Yes, everything is fine, apart from Juliet’s use of colloquialisms nearly killing me, but I’ll tell you about that later as I can only talk for a small moment, since I have just found out that the shuttle will return up to you in three minutes. If the shuttle returns without me, send Juliet down here, and I think I will be able to squeeze in with her on the way up—,” Artemis was broken off with a giggle from Juliet.
Even though the prodigy knew that Juliet could not see him, he turned a fine shade of red at the thought of squeezing into the small shuttle next to Juliet, with her form pressed up against his.
Artemis shook his head to rid these horrid thoughts, then carried on instructing Butler. “Just tell her to watch out when she has to steer the craft as even I found it challenging.”
Artemis could tell Juliet had pouted.
“I am skilled ya’know,” she sniffed. “And I’m here so you can talk to me instead of letting Brother get all the fun.”
“Juliet, this is not about fun,” Butler warned his sister, then turned—no, returned—to communicating with Artemis.
“Okay, Artemis, just hurry,” he said, before Artemis stuffed the device back inside his pocket.
Hurriedly reaching inside his suit, Artemis drew a crystal vial the size of around an average cup out of one pocket. Pulling out the stopper, he ran to the side of the swirling water.

Chapter 4: The Well
The crater in which the clear liquid lay was smooth on all edges, except for a small dent—the perfect size for a footing—on one side.
He grasped the stopper in his mouth, since Artemis didn’t want to place it on the floor for fear of it rolling around. After biting on the stopper, Artemis placed his right hand without the vial on the clear stones around the pond, and with his legs on the opposite end, lowered himself into the giant dent inside the quartz. The stone was very slippery, and he had to hold himself steady lest he fall. He was now strung out across the hole.
Artemis never liked PE at school, but now he found out that it would be good to actually have some physical strength in times like this.
He stretched out his left arm that held the vial but it was still approximately two feet from the water just as Artemis had guessed.
Artemis wriggled his feet and hand until he dropped down the required height. Perfect.
The exhausted boy dipped the vial into the pool of liquid. The mist spread as if parting to let him through, and once the vial was filled—except for a few centimeters to let the stopper through—Artemis used his mouth and left hand to place the stopper firmly into the mouth of the vial.
Storing the crystal container inside his Armani suit pocket once more and zipping it incase it fell out, Artemis resumed to the task of climbing out. That was when the conclusion jumped out to him like a Halloween mask: he was stuck.
This conclusion nearly made Artemis burst out laughing, despite his strange position.
He couldn’t jump down, because the crater was too deep, and that meant he couldn’t climb out afterwards. He couldn’t climb out: it was too high. And he couldn’t just hang on there forever. So he still had to climb out even though it was near impossible. But still possible.
Excluding his right arm and hand, and his legs, Artemis only had his left arm and hand free to climb.
He looked around. The walls around him were so smooth; there was no way he could climb out. He needed a leg-up or something to push from.
Then his eyes spotted something. It was the dent Artemis had noticed before. But now, it wasn’t just a little dent. It was the thing which would save him, and possibly his life…and luckily, it was at just the right height.
Placing his left hand on the side of the well, Artemis slid his right foot into the dent, it fitted snugly.
With a place to push up from, Artemis stretched his bent leg, and lifted himself up a foot, moving his hands as he went along.
He used his hands to move side by side, until he wasn’t strung out straight across the circle but rather a bit to the left. He then reached his left foot to step over the side of the well.
Now for the difficult task. The criminal mastermind reached up with his left hand, and managed to grasp hold of the edge, even though it was slippery. Then he maneuvered his other hand to reach it as well. His position at that moment was amusing, with two hands up, a leg up, and a leg down.
Using all his strength, the boy forced his arms to lift his form and right leg up.
Artemis rolled over the edge of the well, collapsing in a pile of Armani and loafers.  Panting, he checked his watch: one minute to go.
Taking a deep breath, Artemis steadied himself up again, mentally promising that this was the last time he was doing any physical work.
The raven haired boy walked absentmindedly towards the shuttle, preparing himself for another flight up, and reversing his commands from before like left transforming to right.
That was when he fell into a hole about a foot deep, ironically getting his right foot stuck.

Above, Butler prowled the hill like a tiger. Two agonizing minutes had passed, and still Artemis had not returned. The Eurasian turned to face Juliet, who was still busy playing with her hair. He shook his head silently.
It was dangerous, and Juliet liked to fool around. Not to mention the squeezing together of Artemis and Juliet.
Butler wondered how it would feel if Artemis and Juliet really fell in love. No, the conclusion was too far beyond imagination. Not that it would be bad…What are you thinking? Butler scolded himself. Best if he could avoid the situation.

Chapter 5: Escape
Artemis stared at his foot in disbelief. He wasn’t one to wander and get into situations like this. The hole was slanted downwards, and enabled his foot to slip in, but was difficult to slip out.
Artemis wriggled his shoe about. It didn’t even budge. Only the tip of his toes could wriggle. Surely, his loafer was destroyed. The child winced; these were particularly an expensive pair, limited edition too. Oh well, he would have to make do.
Forty-five seconds.
And quick.
Artemis wriggled his shoe again, but it would not even move the slightest inch. No matter how much he strained, the leather held grasped onto the edge of the hole, and the sole of his design shoes held a high amount of friction, clinging onto the bottom of the groove.
Thirty seconds.
Then a light bulb lit up in the genius’s juvenile brain. Artemis wriggled his foot, but instead of trying to dislodge his shoe, he tried to free his foot. He had worn a too perfect fitting pair, and his foot would not escape.
Twenty seconds.
Perhaps a little lubrication was needed. Artemis did not have any oils or material good enough for that. The only passable item was the magical water. It would have to do.
Artemis took hold of the crystal vial inside his pocket, and pulled out the stopper. He lifted up his trouser leg, pouring as little of the precious liquid down his leg, wriggling his foot at the same time the liquid started to trickle down his ankle.
Ten seconds.
Unfortunately, his sock absorbed most of the elixir, but in the end, Artemis managed.
The foot came out, but the loafer and grey sock were left behind.
A swishing sound behind Artemis made him whirl around. The shuttle had started to move, getting ready for take off. Artemis leapt up and ran to the vehicle just as he had five seconds left and climbed up inside, buckling himself in. Close shave.
The shuttle obviously had some sort of weight checker, since it acknowledged the fact that a passenger was seated.
Automatically, the shuttle blasted off at the zero countdown, and Artemis was left to control it the vehicle again.

Five, four, three, two, one, zero. Butler looked up from his watch and turned to Juliet.
“Okay Juliet, as soon as the shuttle arrives back up, you go down to fetch Artemis and…try not to…erm…”
Butler was lost for words, which didn’t happen very often. “To erm…tease him about you two in the same small place…” he finished off lamely.
Juliet giggled as the shuttle reappeared, carrying a boy with only one shoe on.
“Artemis! Butler shouted. I was about to send Juliet!”
“Arty!” Juliet ran up to him and hugged his neck. When they drew apart, Artemis was the colour of his burgundy tie. Butler grinned even though he wasn’t that forward with the Artemis/Juliet thing. Artemis returned to scowling.
“What happened?” the teenager asked the prodigy.
“I’ll prefer it if I could give you a full account when we get home and after I’ve had a rest, as you can see, I’ve already lost a shoe down there,” Artemis replied.
“Aw…fine Arty, but you have to tell me everything!”
As Artemis opened his mouth to return a retort, Butler stepped in and said, “Okay children, let me take you home first, and stop the bickering.”
Artemis just nodded whilst Juliet pouted again, knowing that this way, she’d never get a full conclusion out of Artemis.
Nearby, a heat haze hovered nearby, whispering, “This is not good…”
But unfortunately, before it could tell anyone, this fairy was murdered by a pixie Artemis would soon meet, and who wanted the human and fairy worlds to collide.
Furthermore, it was this very pixie, that had changed the voice-recognition in the fairy vessel, so that the possibility of a human discovering the fairy world would increase.
And the fairy who died? Oh, he was a sprite, called Tix Verbil. His last name sound familiar to you? Well, let’s save those stories for later shall we, since those characters come in a whole different tale.

Epilogue
It was summer, and after scheming and planning until his plot was perfect, Artemis had been dragged across three continents, with six false alarms.
He was on a private jet, headed for Ho Chi Minh City, South Vietnam.
Artemis swirled his Earl Grey tea around in its cup to cool it down. Butler was reading a Guns and Ammo magazine next to him. The bodyguard’s weapons were in a black bag on the seat beside. Artemis would have no problem flying the jet himself, but today, he needed to run over his plan again.
He placed his tea down, laced his fingers together, and put his fingertips to his temples, massaging gently. Everything would have to be perfect, or he would have to improvise.
The 12-year-old’s mind began to wander off…he thought of the well under the Ring of Tara…the incidents involved…the shoe…Artemis smiled. That was already considered a lot of expression for someone as emotionless as him.
Losing a shoe was a small price to pay, even if it was an expensive one and he would have to order another copy to replace the right shoe that had been left. This would be especially difficult: it was limited edition.
He wondered what the fairies would do when they found his shoe planted there…would they track it back to him? It wouldn’t matter, because at that time, Artemis would have what he wanted.
But if the fairies did track him before he arrived at his objective…it would possibly slow his mission down. But it was near impossible to track down someone with just a pair of—no, just one side of a pair of loafers.
Artemis pushed the Delay Theory to the back of his mind, and when he wanted to convince himself of something, he would really believe it.
Leaving a loafer behind, Artemis thought, smirking, let’s just say that it’s something to remember me by.