FicWad

Koboi Laboratories, Private Office

Opal Koboi awoke in a makeshift bed that was made of old lab coats and crumpled newspapers along with her partially burnt prison clothes, the soft hum of computers in the background was the only thing that made her feel somewhat relaxed for an unknown reason. Though she was still feeling disoriented and nauseous, Opal pried her eyes open and immediately regretted it as the searing lights overhead burned her sensitive pixie eyes. She let out a low growl and a long string of curses followed by a hard thud to the floor.

"Good, you're awake, Opal..." purred a female voice. "Sister."

The human pixie was confused. Sister? She had no sister, not to her knowledge anyway. Who knows what various things have happened after she turned her back on her family a few decades ago. She was contemplating the possibilities of a younger Koboi sister as the fairy inside the room scrutinized her laying form.

She has no idea what happened after she woke up, has she? Past Opal slowly shook her head dismayed at her future self, thinking how unfortunate the events after that Fowl character found out about the People. Certainly, this cannot be her, the infamous Opal Koboi whose inventions had surpassed most of the LEP's technical consultant, Foaly's technology. The creature under her penetrating gaze looked like an overgrown pixie with rounded ears. Opal Koboi turned herself into a human! Oh, the horror, she thought, slightly disgusted at the sight of her human form. To even think she would be that desperate to exact a pointless revenge and lose everything above all, she didn't know who to blame: herself, Future Opal, Cudgeon or Fowl! The pixie beforehand had submerged on researching about everything that happened ever since the Mud whelp robbed them of their fairy gold, she had to admit the boy has a spark of intelligence but it was not somewhere near as brilliant as hers. However, she could never forget one particular venture that her future self concocted, namely planning to reveal the entire fairy civilization to the Mud Men. As she read that particular article, her blood boiled and she couldn't contain a mad shriek of frustration when Artemis Fowl thwarted her yet again, taking advantage and using her biggest strengths and deepest weaknesses against her: chocolate truffles. She could imagine biting his head off even after she finished reading and had contained herself. For once, she understood Future Opal's seething obsession towards the genius Mud boy.

"Where am I?" muttered Future Opal, shaking the pixie out of her wandering thoughts and bringing her curtly at the current matter.

Her face flickered with a frown and before the human pixie could take notice of it, Past Opal broke into a fake smile. "Now, now sister… I trust you must know who I am by now, surely Opal Koboi is not that mentally derailed already. You did compose this plan, did you not?"

The human pixie didn't miss the irritation behind those words and hastily looked up at the speaker. Her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as she laid them to an undoubtedly familiar looking fairy, her past self. She was utterly confused now than ever, Opal rubbed her temples to ease the growing headache and slowly picked herself up to a sitting position while facing her other self. How very confusing, she pondered.

"You seem to misplace some recent memories, I gather?" The pixie rolled her eyes and pouted. "How unfortunate, we had a good plan going and it looks like we have to compromise. The explosion was subtly faulty so I suppose you weren't flawlessly unscathed then." She sighed. "Truly vexing…" Past Opal added, scraping her nails on the hover boy she was sitting on.

Human Opal however was still perplexed. The last thing she remembered was her eavesdropping on the cell guards at Atlantis. So she must have made a plan and somehow contacted her past self then broke out of the highly guarded prison, cliched but ingenious nonetheless. Now, they have the slight problem with her misplaced memories. Can't be too hard, she thought sourly. Whatever plot she had made was no doubt something of a wonder but not entirely out of the box. She could only think of one thing ever since that Fowl showed up and she'd been contained in Atlantis; revenge. And pain, a very, very large amount of excruciating mental and physical pain. Opal relished just imagining it, how would it even feel when she would be the one exacting it on the Mud whelp? She giggled maniacally at herself. Past Opal arched a delicate brow at this. Once an Opal Koboi is always an Opal Koboi, deranged amnesiac or not.

"Sister, I must say that my missing memories are no conflict with the plan. My one goal still stands and I know it is no extreme feat, especially for the both of us to achieve it." The human pixie drawled smoothly, displaying a grace the pixie had never witnessed during their conversation.

Past Opal curled the ends of her lips upward, looking menacing and cat-like. "Well said sister, well said…"

Artemis' Bedroom, Fowl Manor

Juliet Butler was working on wiping off the slowly gathering beads of sweat on Artemis' forehead, looking squeamish and anxious at the same time when the window nearest to the bed flew open, allowing a cold gust of wind to enter the room. The slight haze in the air was not undetected by the younger Butler's trained eyes. She didn't know who to expect, an enemy of the Fowl heir or a friend. Juliet chose to act on instincts: offense first, defense later as she slowly crept her hands to a concealed semi-automatic pistol she always wore on her person, pretending to have not seen the shimmer. The girl waited for a moment before clicking the safety off and directed the gun right at the concealed fairy's face, earning a sharp gasp from its spot. The fairy didn't unshield nor did it say anything, making Juliet's agitated hand rub on the trigger guard.

"I think… you should put that firearm away… before you startle our guest, Juliet."

"Shut up Arty, if you know what's good for you then just-" The younger Butler's eyes widened, only comprehending whose voice had spoken. Her mouth hung agape and was stunned to see Artemis already sitting up and leaning heavily on the bed post. She didn't even hear him move a muscle, much less wake up.

Holly thought this was her cue and unshielded, wearing a sheepish grin on her cherubic face and looking apologetic at the same time at Juliet's way. "Sorry about that Jules, I couldn't just materialize out of thin air with a barrel of a human gun resting between my eyes." She shifted her attention to the Mud boy's form and tentatively took small steps to his side. Juliet only looked dumbly and tried to form words that never came.

"M-Major, it's considerate of you... to-to drop by…" Artemis said between short gasps of breath, looking even paler than Holly imagined he would be.

"D'arvit Mud boy, you look like a pack of trolls trampled you over- and I thought you looked way better at Artemis' Temple." She chuckled softly, afraid to make her friend's condition worse than it is. She glanced back to where Juliet was and caught her sizing up Artemis' condition. She looked at the pale boy on the bed and decided to call Angeline Fowl downstairs. Juliet briefly nodded at the Major, silently instructing the elf to look after the genius. In turn, Holly nodded and smiled slightly.

Artemis watched this in clear annoyance. They don't have the need to treat him like a lowly patient who can't fend off for himself when the trouble of getting to the bathroom arises. Not that he didn't know it wasn't about sanitation they were fussing about, but he couldn't help thinking a bit pubescent at the present situation. How uncouth for a Fowl, he cringed inwardly. The elf was about to say something when his breathing became painfully irregular once again, his right hand making its way on top of his chest while the other kept grasping on the ocean blue sheets. His vision started darkening on the edges before an electric feeling warmed his body and blue sparks danced from Holly's fingertips. The Mud boy sighed in relief as the struggle to breathe was dissipating quickly. She lifted her head and stared worriedly at Artemis.

"That was much appreciated." The genius offered a weak smile at the elf.

Holly didn't bother replying and gingerly lifted her hand to Artemis' temples. "You're cold Arty…" she scrunched her brows together displaying a look no one would mistake than apparent concern. Artemis snorted at this.

"No remotely discernible pun intended?" He lamely added looking quite delighted to still have his poor humor- to Holly's point of view.

The Major couldn't suppress a scoff at the sick Mud boy, her mismatched eyes looking ablaze in the dark lighting. She pinched the bridge of her nose, quite disbelieving the genius' behavior. "Quit trying to lift the mood, genius. Besides, you already lost me at 'remotely discernible' and this is not the time to make lame jokes when you're practically at your death bed-"

"I assure you Holly that I am not dying anytime soon." Artemis starkly pointed out and cutting off the Major in mid-rant.

She gave him a deadly glare before continuing, "-and in danger of getting sabotaged by a certain pixie… Err, pixies. "

"And the LEP's quite certain those megalomaniacs are contiguous to exploit revenge-"

"-on you, yes Artemis. Actually, it's quite a wonder why on or under earth would anyone want vengeance against you?" Holly asked skeptically, faking a shocked look. "Now, now don't look at me like that Mud boy, you know these fists can pack one heck of a punch, don't you?" She smirked dryly and hefting up a closed fist in front of Artemis' scowling face.

"That was a very enlightening fact." He replied, sarcasm coating every word. "But going on to business, when did exactly Opal broke out of Atlantis?" Despite his earlier complication of going into comatose, Artemis couldn't resist the urge to delve into planning where his intellect is needed and can just ignore whatever ailment is disturbing him. He had some previous theories as to what is exactly wrong with him but there were too many possibilities of what it could be. The genius never really wanted to know what weakness he has that lies ahead so he was going to keep himself distracted for the time being.

The elf sat straightly and mulled over the Mud boy's faraway look. She was contemplating whether she should answer the question instantly or wait for the genius' eyes to refocus. Before she could decide, the door to Artemis' room swung open and a group of men came in looking harried with medical apparatuses in tow. In a split-second, the Major was out of the visible spectrum before anybody in the room, aside from Artemis noticed her presence. The group of men was actually the Mud boy's father, Artemis Fowl Senior and his bodyguard Domovoi Butler, with an old man wearing thick glasses and a white coat; which anyone could guess was the doctor.

Butler's uncanny sight caught the pale boy's sitting form and was immediately there with the doctor at his side. Juliet and Angeline came in while Artemis Sr. looked on wearily but relieved to see his son now awake. Artemis only pasted on a look of discomfort as he imagined himself like a specimen under a microscope. He looked past his bodyguard and steadied his gaze on the friendly-looking doctor with his other friendly-looking equipment. He frowned.

"How are you feeling, Artemis?" The giant Eurasian's rumble diverted the boy's attention to him. He was clearly looking more like his real age and Artemis was feeling slightly guilty at this. He glanced at his parents and at Juliet who were standing a good distance from the scene looking very worried and unnerved. This did not help his conscience and concerned himself to replying his manservant.

"I feel better, Butler. Absolutely fine that I don't need a doctor anymore, thank you. " He looked pointedly at the doctor and at Butler.

"I doubt that's alright Artemis, the last time you said that, you collapsed and was unconscious for hours…" Butler lifted a brow as if asking the genius to try and challenge his resolve. Artemis sighed, someone remind me who is taking orders from whom.

The doctor was looking unfazed by this exchange and to Artemis' surprise; he almost looked fond at him. Before voicing his suspicions about the doctor, the old man spoke. "Why, it's been a few years haven't it Master Fowl? Do you still recognize me?" Unbidden, the pale boy nodded.

Dr. Winston S. Fitzpatrick, Artemis thought. He was his doctor since his mother gave birth to him, which Angeline supplied of course. He never saw him after a treatment he couldn't quite place when he was merely two years of age. Why he was here now and what might be the connection of his childhood was immediately realized by the genius. It could only be a relapse of what he had and this time however was worse, he was sure of it.

The doctor smiled warmly at him. "What a young lad you've become, Artemis. Now if you don't mind my unwelcome equipment, I must ask for your permission to use it." Out of the corner of his eye, Artemis could decipher the shape of the doctor's machines while some electrical wires connected to suction cups peaked out.

An Electrocardiogram with an efficient Echocardiogram to boot. Artemis Fowl the Second has a heart disease. The genius almost laughed. Almost.