Fowl Play (closed )

Holly walked with a frown, her auburn hair long enough to pin back for a change. She was pretty much running on empty- but she'd have to wait to try and grab a shoot up to the surface...

The city was on lock-down. the Mudpeople had drilled too deep not too far from them, just south of London, and disrupted what was an otherwise well contained collection of Dirty radiation.

To humans, fine- not a big deal. It was nothing they could feel anyway. But to faeries and Gnomes, it was a deadly toxin. Goblins were running a muck, and some snot nosed elves were only making keeping them in check more difficult.

What was more- rumor had it there was a Drow running around.

Oh, how she would love to get her hands on the dark skinned pest if she could.

She frowned and stopped walking to look around. From where she stood- noone was disobeying the lock down. People were simply too afraid to come out of their homes.

"Short. Come in Short."

Holly frowned at the voice in her ear. "Short here." she responded. The sooner Foaly got better, well... the better. The centaur had fallen ill with the radiation and last she had heard was in critical condition.

The strangers voice in her ear was a reminded of that. And to be fully honest, it hurt.

"You didn't report in." the male scolded.

Holly scowled. "Are you kidding me Toot?" She snapped. "No news is good news, keep the channel clear!"

[i]"Hey- I'm just doing my job. Unlike some people..."[i/] the voice said dryly.

Holly glared at the wall near by through her visor... If looks could kill it woudl have shattered into a million peaces. "Short out." she said heatedly, turning the com link off.

Ass/ she thought.

Toot was hardly even of age, let alone old enough to throw digs like that.

Holly was doing her job. And Damn well at that! It wasn't her fault the humans breached the container on her watch. It was the fault of whoever was on patrol before her. They never should have let the humans through the glamor...

She changed channels and turned the link back on. "Root, are you there?" she asked.

The epidemic had spread through their ranks rather drastically... Even the commander was on the front lines now, due to the sheer lack of faerie power at their disposal. She could just see his purple face, chewing on his cigar angrily as he stalked up his assigned area. He was too big for the suits, and she had tried her best not to laugh at him that morning, his pudge sticking out over the belts rather comically.

Holly pulled her knees up to her chest as she slipped into the pod, grinning to herself. Root hadn't liked her idea- though he also hadn't been able to deny she was right.

There was one person, aside from Foaly, who would be able to help contain the radiation. Artemis Fowl.

The name made her pointed ears flatten slightly. The two had left on good terms- almost friends really... Strange considering how he had almost destroyed their way of life when they first met- and kidnapped her- and--

She pushed the negative thoughts out of her head as she messed with the controls, waiting for the next magma floom to rise up. He owed her, and that was what mattered.... After all they had gone through- demons Opal, kidnapped fathers-- world domination and such, he at least owed her the curtsy of hearing her out.

Only an hour before, Holly had been on foot patrol. Now she had the latest set of wings strapped on, boots buckled and magic buzzing at her finger tips. She was excited.

As the floom rumbled, she braced herself, closing her eyes. It was an older shuttle, one that got hot and made it difficult to really focus.

She felt the lava hit the hull and force her upward, her back pressing forcefully into the padding of the pod.

Too bad Foaly wasn't up and about to help control the thing from afar.

She opened her eyes and guided the pod up and out a shoot, just south of Scotland. It only took 15 minutes- but in temperatures over 100*, 15 minutes felt like hours.

---

"I call it, future golfing!"Artemis said, watching as a holographic image snazzled up from the end of the club.

Holly grinned slightly, watching from above as the human boasted if only at how much he had grown. Butler looked the same... Artemis though-- if he were to knock off a few feet, he might even have been someone she woudl consider good looking.

The image was a bit distorted but still visable: a red glowing ball shined from within one of the Fowl fountains.

"See how it shows the exact location of my hit?"

"I do." Holly interjected, flipping a switch that stopped her body from vibrating. It made her visable to the two mudpeople on the ground.

Normaly- that was a no-no. A HUGE no-no.... but on this private estate, she knew noone but them woudl see her... And Fowl was no ordinary human.

Holly landed, the new design for the dragonfly-wings retracting into her back as she followed, pulling her helmet off.

But of course he was expecting her. That boy was always five steps ahead.

Man, she found herself correcting. Artemis was no boy anymore, even if his age was considerably smaller than her own. He never had really been a boy... He'd been an adult all along in a childs body.

A body dieing. Like all humans.

She frowned as she jogged to keep up, three of her steps hardly long enough to match one of Butlers.

"So, how did you know I would be comming this time?" she asked quirking an eyebrow. "One of your seismographs tip you off?" she asked in a slightly taunting tone.

Holly pursed her lips. For a moment, she wasn't sure if he was still that cocky, or truly believed in self- fulfilling prophecy.

Then again, hadn't she herself been praying for another chance encounter with him recently?

She pushed the idea away. It was foolish... One doesn't simply get what they want by wanting it. If it were that simple, life woudl be no fun.

"I need you to pull some human strings." Holly said when he shifted the topic back to business and sat down. "Some Muddpeople are drilling for oil near Haven. They hit a reserve called dirty Radiation."

She knew he knew that that was. How could he not? He knew everything else.

Holly herself didn't look well. She didn't look sick, but she looked tired. More Weary than the pale human most likely ever recalled seeing her.

"There is no cure." Holly frowned. "The entire city is on lock down, and LEP has their hands full trying to contain the leak... the real issue comes into play with hoe many have already fallen ill. Foaly, for example."

She knew Artemis knew that particular name. A super mind able to rival his own.

"We're all wearing masks, but that will only protect us for so long... Radiation seeps through the skin." she frowned. "Someone will be fine for up to a week after exposure.... then the shit hits the fan, and it hits hard and fast." she informed him, shifting where she sat. "The majority of the Council's been contaminated. And the LEP as well... So, we've decided to take drastic measures. We will not only give you gold for your help, but access to some of our newest technology." Holly informed him.

The elf stood up. Her nut brown skin seemed a bit grayer than usual. "we need you to contact the muddpeople drilling and have them stop." she said. "If they continue, we'll have no choice but to evacuate above ground."

She frowned up at him, much preferring him as a child.... where she could see eye to eye with him.

"The LEP always have enemies." she said frowning. "But lately there's been talk about drow." she noticed him quirk an eyebrow of his own now.

Ah yes.... Drow weren't mentioned in the Book. They had been exiled long before it was written.

"They're a dark race of elves, said to be half related to demons." Short said. "They were case out of the Fairy community and seen as vermin. They're more brutal than Trolls. mostly because they're wicked smart, strong, and can use magic."

She explained what she knew. If he wanted any more information, he would have to do his own research. But then, he always was good at doing his homework.

"Right now, we have a sleeper Deeper covering the entire city to stall the effects of the radiation." she said noticing his critical look. "I've been on patrol for a week solid with no sleep...." the elf trailed off in order to stifle a yawn.

"So." Holly quipped. "Are you interested?" she asked, leaning on the chair. It was slightly odd seeing someone of her stature do that. Cute even.

"We know youve got the resources. An an officialy sponcered trading rute to the Foul Epire might eb discussed if you find a cure. If not, the very best I can offer you is something a bit more personal."

Artemis fixed his gaze back at her, this was business as usual. It held again something to his best interest, how could he refuse?

"You have my attention and cooperation." He told her, then to his employer, "Butler, look through my files and see if you could gather up as many of my associates as you can. We're going to have a serious meeting."

From outside, butler tapped on the door signalling his understandinding before heading off to commence on the task.

"I will complete my part of this situation, let's hope the drows will comply. First, we need to establish something of interest to them. A price perhaps that could lure them from continuing their play date. Anything coming to mind?" He directed this at Holly, wondering if she was still on top of her game. It'd be a pity if otherwise.

Holly shook her head. "You don't understand, Artemis." she said, for a moment amused by that statement. She was sure it woudl be a long time before she could say that again. "To our knowledge the Drow are extinct." she said. "They haven't been seen since before the book was even written." she pointed out. "Noone knows anything about them other than legends. They were exiled for wanting to cross with humans."

"Actually, I'm not reffering to your bible. It's useless to me. I have another resorce. A witch's old book, in this one they got down all those creatures be it myths or legends," he veered his gaze toward the thick, leather bound book which rested upon the mahogany desk. "I was even surprised to find the Grimm's tales were all true. But that's not what's the matter. Our focus is crafting a plan containing two outcomes." Artemis returned his attention toward the woman, hopefully she was on the same page. "We either get them to comply to our terms and abort their absurd mission, or we use brutal force and make them stop. That force is playing a piece that'll put them in a corner, drive them to make that decision. All I require is the know on how to eradicate them if necessary." His expression darkened considerably. He disagreed in using violence as a means of tactics to reach a desired outcome. But if things got out of hand there wasn't much he could do unless he was given an opening -the tiniest crack and he'd be right up that alley. Always changing the ways to handle a situaion, always something new. Life was never boring.

Holly sighed and recited all she knew about the Drow-- which really was not much. It was a legend passed down rarely from adult to child-- seeing as how everything in it was a painful reminded of how faerie used to live above ground. It was a legend even before they fled the mudmen. "Try to bear with me." she prompted before beginning.

"Not long after the creation of the elves, they were torn into rival factions, one evil and one good. After a great civil war, those who followed the path of evil and chaos were driven far from the world's forests and into the bleak, lightless caverns and tunnels of the underworld.-- Mind you this is all well before the rest of us took to the underworld for safety-- elves were one people until the Spider Queen Lolth used the dissent among the elves to gain a foothold; the elves of Lolth took the name Drow to signify their new allegiance, but as they massed to conquer the other elves, Corellon Larethian and his followers drove Lolth and her people deep into the earth, where they chose to remain. The dark elves who became the drow were originally simply elves who held more with the tenets of might than those of justice, and as they quested for power they became corrupted and turned against their fairer brethren. Honestly-- that's all we know for sure. We know from our history books about the Spider Queen, who was so well versed in magic that's been lost to us now she was able to 'bless' her followers. So, with that, we assume Drow are naturally resistant to magic. They also possess darkvision superior to most other supernatural races. Drow have the ability to summon globes of darkness, outline targets in faerie fire which causes no harm but makes the target brightly visible to everyone who sees them, and create magical balls of light. They can also levitate for short periods of time. Female Drow are naturally inclined to priestly magic and males are naturally inclined towards arcane magic. Like other elves, they are more dexterous than humans, but have a weaker constitution. They live to extraordinarily long ages if not killed by violence first, over a thousand years in some cases. Their hearing and vision are better than that of a human being and they are difficult to sneak up on because of this. They also naturally excel at moving silently."

It all sounded like a rather text book answer-- which by all rights it was. Holly simply happened to love legends and myths and knew more than your average farie did. But that was it. Nothing else was known. No weakness or way to destroy them. Nothing. And as to who this Corellon Larethian-- he was lost in the tide of times. Noone knew who or what he had been.

"Thats all the information we have on drow- and who knows what's right and what's wrong. I would assume Dirty Radiation would be harmful to them as well-- so I really doubt it's drow who are drilling... Do you see where we need you to come in now, Fowl?" she sank back into the seat she had been leaning on. The stress, lack of sleep, and idea of not knowing what they were up against-- it clearly was taking it's toll on the small officer.