Artemis Fowl: The Olympian Case

V: Artemis and the Barn Owl

(1 hour earlier...)

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Artemis wonders what has become of him for the past few weeks.

Placing the safety of others before himself was an aspect still new and alien to him, yet his execution of selflessness this time was different: It was laced with anger and fear. Of what? Why, of Minerva getting hurt, of course! This was a byproduct of love! Yet, it left him with an internal struggle within himself, as he fails to see the reasoning behind his actions nor could not comprehend why he was calm to be doing something as foolish as throwing himself in between danger for a girl.

No...she was not just any girl.

He shook his head and sighed as he sat up, his wounds nearly non-existent thanks to Holly's healing magic. He had other pressing matters to attend to at the moment, his personal crisis would have to be put aside for now if they are to make it back home alive and preferably with all their limbs attached. Artemis grabbed his briefcase and began looking around the infirmary until he found the restroom, where he changed into his sharp business suit, his LEP goggles dangling on around his neck. As he washed his face, he  reviewed his thoughts accordingly: the worst-case scenario had unfolded in the first jump. Although this would severely push their plans on human jumps back by months, he was not surprised such a failure had arisen.

In fact, this was why he had selected a planet that was nearly similar as their own–The most obvious purpose is the closeness to civilization; just imagine getting trapped in an alternate Earth with no sentient life? How many lifetimes would it take to replicate the machinery that jumps to other alternate Earth's, even more so on gathering the resources to make it possible? Artemis was surely ten steps ahead in regards to convenience and comfort, but now it all came down to rebuilding it.

No matter how much of a breakthrough this project was, it is still in its primitive stage, and has yet to undergo alterations to a more sophisticated scale. Artemis was sure that Minerva had already begun working on that bit of the blueprint, so he had no worries in the technical side, but as for the magical aspect...
He pulled out his phone and loaded up E-38's data. The information was pretty vague and barely any use but it was the best at the time, managing to state the alternate earth's relevance percentage in comparison to his (which was 94%), its mineral composition, life percentages...

Magical entities.

He smirked at that part. In truth, he was playing a gamble in entering an alternate earth that contained magical beings that may even exceed that of the People. His agenda for such was pretty simple: To interact or observe these entities and may be able to find a more efficient magic source than from his original Earth, maybe even strike a partnership of some sort; A reasonable investment considering what Artemis holds is a valuable device that works and the benefits are pretty self-explanatory. It all comes down to taking the initiative, that is if he could find these entities first.

After freshening up, he left the restroom and dumped the briefcase on the stretcher, deciding to scout ahead and get a more detailed idea of where they are exactly, since from his GPS he later identified to be somewhere in New York, Long Island-but that's about it. Odd.

He stepped outside the infirmary and stretched, glad for the approaching dawn. He then put on his LEP goggles and switched on night vision, and squinted around. Everything was...distorted somehow, like a watercolor painting spilt on a canvas, and nothing seemed real...nor fake.

He craned his neck, thinking maybe it was due to the injury, but instead it got worse as headache took hold as a growing frequency began buzzing on his ears. He nearly crumbled to the ground if it weren't for the support of the beam, a sense of vomiting taking hold on him. Was I sick? Delirious?