Artemis Fowl: The Olympian Case

XV: Demands

"Throw!"

Leo and a couple of Apollo kids threw flash-bangs at the trolls. Aside from Leo's, they all hit their mark–the light flashing right at the creatures eyes and rendering them stunned. Bronze nets were instantly flung over them, but before ropes could be adjusted, Annabeth cut them off, "Wait! I have a better idea!"

After a bit of brunt effort, they have loaded the two trolls onto some nearby catapults, and launched them back from whence they came.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Leo questioned as the demigods cheer in unison.

Annabeth snorted, "It's a rampaging, killing machine; I doubt even they can control it–now..."

"It ain't over! Rally to the cabins!" Annabeth was furious; while the campers were preoccupied with the trolls, the hooded figures had been breaking and entering their private quarters. The demigods roared in mutual anger as they split up to defend their respective homes. Chiron and the harpies have been tending to the wounded throughout the chaos, but at last the centaur trotted towards Annabeth with a bow on hand, "Well done, my dear. By chance do you know the cause of all this madness?"

"Chiron! They just broke through the barriers!"

"What?" Chiron paled upon hearing the news, and seemed to grow a century older, "How...how could that be?"

"I think it has something to do with Artemis Fowl" Annabeth thought quickly, "At the same time not"

"What do you mean?"

"Long story short, those three mortals do not belong in our realm of existence; they are from an alternate Earth! I don't know how and why, but the thing I do know is that the Fates will it"

"You didn't strike me as the religious type, my dear" Chiron replied with a mild chuckle.

Annabeth waved the thought aside, "We can discuss theology another time, going back in topic–this battle was basically a misunderstanding; they believed the Artemis Fowl we are sheltering is their Artemis Fowl, and have engaged against us thinking we are allies to him"

"But with no warning at all?" Piper joined in with a questioning look, overhearing the entire conversation, "With no mercy or qualms?"

"It must have been the severity of the crimes committed by our Earth's Artemis Fowl against them" Annabeth furrowed her brows in concentration, "I'm guessing them want him either way: dead or alive"

"Kill all sympathizers to his cause, huh?" Nico melted out of the shadow with a scowl, "Sensible if his crimes are in a inhuman degree"

"Or unforgivable–revenge of sorts" Calypso suggested as she bandaged Leo's arm, the two joining in "How did they track him in the first place?"

"The frequency from yesterday!" Leo's eyes widened, "The one that trashed the forges; it had the nearly the same decibels as a long-range radio-scanner and the ones to trigger of the shock mines. No wonder..."

"Who are they to begin with?" Nico asked after summoning a couple undead to join in on the camp control, "To be strong enough to break our barriers, to wield weapons far superior than our own..."

Before Annabeth could reply, a sharp siren blared and echoed the valley. A couple seconds later, the hooded figures were swarming in formation, zipping away while throwing smoke bombs and cocussers behind them.