Ignis Aurum Probat (Part 2)
———————————
(Part 1 can be found here.)
———————————————
He had left the door unlocked, so it took him only a second or two to creep back within the house, shutting the door carefully behind him. The dark, shadowy stretches of space unnerved him- he quickly flicked on the first lamp he could, surveying the rooms before him with a falsified confidence.
This is my house too. I am not an intruder here, he thought, in an attempt to reassure himself. He felt jittery and out-of-touch with the space around him. At least, for tonight. Afterwards, most likely that will change.
It wasn’t a pleasant train of thought.
Forcing his concerns to the back of his mind, Artemis located the kitchen, flicking on the lights and making himself a glass of water. He didn’t bother to keep quiet- at this point, it didn’t matter. He needed them awake.
In seconds, he had downed the glass, taking the time to rinse it out and put it away. The clink of the glass in the sink felt out of place this late at night, but he didn’t bother to disguise the sound.
He thought he heard the sounds of someone awakening upstairs, and the sound of lights being switched on.
Passing through the foyer, Artemis made his way into the den, seating himself comfortably in one of the armchairs. It felt odd- there had been no armchairs on the ship (a necessary sacrifice to make way for equipment, albeit a less-than-comfortable one).
Artemis sighed, loudly, focusing on his breathing the way Butler had taught him. The upcoming meeting was no doubt going to be distinctly unpleasant (he could feel a familiar frustration knotting itself within his chest, desperate to be released). Nevertheless, it was unavoidable- it would need to be had now or later, and later would only complicate matters. Complication was hardly something he could afford at the moment.
It only took a few seconds for his Mother and Father to descend into the foyer- in seconds, they were both standing at the entrance to the room, both half-asleep and completely bewildered by the sight of their son.
“Hello, Father. Mother.”
Artemis’s tone was overly formal, cold and distant in a way it hadn’t been since the recovery of his memories post-mind wipe. He made no attempt to soften it, as he was not here to exchange words or pleasantries with his parents.
Artemis Fowl was here to give warning.
Before either could speak, Artemis raised his hand, cutting both off before a word could leave their mouths. His face contorted in an ever-so-slight snarl- his fury was beginning to shine through, and he let it. “Don’t say anything, either of you. I’m not here to bandy words back and forth, nor am I here to listen to whatever reasons you two decide to excuse your actions with. I’m done with that.”
Their faces slackened in surprise at the sudden vitriol in his voice.
“No.”, Artemis continued. “Tonight, you are going to listen, without interruptions. If you have anything to say, feel free to air it to the empty room after I have left- I have no wish to hear either of you speak, right now. The time for negotiation has long since passed.”
He steepled his fingers in front of his face, his eyes narrowing. The next words had been well-rehearsed, though he found himself speaking with less emotion than his original attempts- he felt like he had stepped into frozen water, the chill slowly eating its way through him until it had numbed him. He imagined that would not be the case later, but for now, he accepted it- it made the words that followed easier, somewhat. More detached.
“I am taking custody of the twins.”
Immediately, his parents stiffened. His father’s voice reminded him of a gunshot.
“What in the-“
“Be quiet.”
Artemis’s growl cut through the air, drowning out his father’s protest. He raised his hand again for silence, his lip still curled into a slight snarl. “I said I didn’t want to hear you, and I meant it. I’m not going to give you the chance to guilt me or intimidate me in the way you did to my brothers- I know better than to listen to you, now. So be quiet, because I am not going to repeat myself.”
Fowl Sr.’s hands curled into fists at his side, but he did not speak. Artemis took that as acceptance, and continued.
“The twins are both currently with Butler. I will be taking them with me, and I will be caring for them for the foreseeable future. As I’ve stated, I will be taking custody of them.”
His voice darkened.
“I refuse to explain to you why- I have tried to make you see reason many, many times, and each time I find myself disappointed. So tonight, I won’t bother. If you can’t see what’s wrong with what you’ve done, that’s your own shortsightedness, not mine.
If you attempt to stop me, rest assured that you will fail. I am perfectly willing to take this the legal route- and I would win in court, as you know. Should you attempt again, or in any sort of violent manner, and I will instead seek help underground. I have informed Commodore Holly about your behavior, and while I’m sure she doesn’t want to be involved, she’s as appalled as I am. I doubt you want to risk upsetting her, seeing as part of your ridiculous argument is centered so heavily around the fairy folk’s ‘interference’ in our lives. Hardly very grateful, but again, that is your issue.”
As he spoke, Artemis felt the knot of anger that had been curled in his chest ever since that one call from Beckett unravel, if only slightly. It didn’t abate his fury in the slightest (he doubted anything ever would), but in some sense, it felt like relief. Like he had lived his life with poison festering inside him, and now he was free to let it slowly drain away.
“I will be returning soon to collect the twins’ things. If I find any harm has come to their property, the aforementioned ‘legal route’ will become the only route. I have covered my tracks well, but I doubt our ‘family name’ will help you much in court.”
Artemis took a second to pause for breath, surveying their reactions with the same cool-eyed stare he had usually reserved for enemies. An expression completely unemotional, as not to give anything away.
“I made a promise to my brothers that I would protect them. I uttered it the first day I met them, and I’ve repeated it every day since. I am fulfilling that promise now. I am their older brother, and the fact that it has come to this is partially on me. I shouldn’t have trusted you with their care, because at the end of the day, I was also raised by you, and the effects of your negligence still affect me to this day: it has taken me a long time to realize that.
I do not know when you will see them again- it depends on what the twins want, alongside what my reason demands. Were I simply to follow my heart, the answer would be never, but I understand that is not always the healthiest option. For now, I think it’s best you limit your contact to me, and I strongly recommend you keep it minimal. Are we clear?”
His parents stood, shocked by his overly-formal statement of warning. Artemis felt a brief pang of guilt at the horror on his mother’s face- he did not know if she had been involved in the lockdown. But the fact was, she hadn’t protected the twins, time and time again, and that made her almost irresponsible as Father.
Let me be a monster, then., he thought grimly. I know I am right.
He stood. “I’ll see myself out.”
——————————————
When he returned to the boat, both Myles and Beckett had piled themselves together on one of the seats, each looking uncharacteristically (though understandably) glum. Beckett visibly brightened when he saw his brother stoop through the low entryway, though Myles only gave him a dismissive glance, turning his anxious gaze back to the opposite window.
“I’m back.”, he announced, loud enough for Butler to hear from the helm. After a few seconds, the boat tumbled to life.
Artemis picked his way through the twins’ scattered belongings, eventually settling on a seat adjacent to them. Beckett immediately scrambled over, eager to pile back onto his brother- in seconds, Artemis felt the ever-excitable twin curl up against his side. The contact was warm and Artemis felt some of the hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach lessen. Myles turned to face him, though he kept his distance. His glasses were slightly crooked.
“Well?”, he snapped. “You said you would explain this nightmare.”
Artemis nodded, heaving a sigh. “I suppose I did, didn’t I?”
Beckett shifted against his side. “You totally did.” He chirped. “Which is good, cause I’m pretty confused-“
“As am I!”, Myles agreed, his tone slightly bordering on the hysterical.
“Okay then.”, Artemis nodded, reaching into one of the bags he himself had brought, quickly finding what he needed. He tossed the pack of gummy worms to Myles.
“Here, I brought these for you. Eat while I talk, you’re getting anxious.”
Myles likely would have disagreed, if he hadn’t already been furiously devouring the sugary snack. Artemis mentally reminded himself to fetch more at the first opportunity- Myles liked them, and they helped soothe his anxiety, which was something that would most likely be very important in the upcoming days.
“I’ll preface this by saying that none of what has happened tonight is either of your faults, in any way.”
Both twins paused- Artemis’s tone had lost its jovial tone, now all seriousness. In fact, he almost sounded a little sad.
“Mother and Father are… no longer responsible for you, as of right now. I am.”
Beckett turned to look up at Artemis, confusion swimming in his gaze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”, he mumbled. Artemis patted him lightly on the head.
“To put it as simply as I can, Mother and Father weren’t taking very good care of you. They were never spending time with you, or keeping an eye on you, and always yelling at you when they were angry- that makes them negligent. When Father decided to yell at you both, scare you, and isolate you from everyone else, and then ignore you as a form of punishment, he was being… a bully, to put it mildly. That’s not how parents should behave, so I'm stepping in for a little while. Maybe a long while, if they refuse to change. Does that make sense to you?”
Beckett deliberated the question for a moment, his face screwed in a look of intense concentration. “I guess.”, he eventually decided.
Artemis’s expression softened at that. “Well, I suppose that’s good.”, he said with a small laugh. His gaze flickered upwards to the other twin, currently seated across from him, absentmindedly picking at the seat underneath him. “Myles, did that make sense to you?”
“Of course it did.”, the younger boy hissed, his expression immediately becoming defensive. “I’m not stupid.”
Artemis detected a note of fear in his brother’s voice- his heart broke a little more.
“You’re not stupid, Myles. Neither of you are.”
The younger twin didn’t respond for several seconds, his stony expression unreadable. Then, when he spoke again, his voice broke.
“Why…”, Myles stammered, curling in on himself slightly. He looked significantly more distressed now. “Why did he yell at us? It’s not like we meant to get the jet blown up- how were we supposed to know someone would attack us-“
“Myles....”
The genius twin glanced upwards, his expression distraught.
Artemis had already crossed the narrow aisle, seating himself besides Myles. He didn’t touch him- his younger brother was much like himself in that he didn’t like sudden, overwhelming contact. Instead, Artemis let Beckett race past him, the blonde boy immediately placing himself next to his twin. Artemis noticed him bump against the side of Myles’ hand with his own- a unique form of high five.
“Myles,”, Artemis repeated, waiting until the boy’s eyes were on him to continue. “It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault at all. You shouldn’t have taken the jet, yes, but Father’s reaction was extremely out of line, and you didn’t deserve to be treated like that. You never deserve to be treated like that.”
“But… I should have known better, I’m a genius-“
“No.”, Artemis shook his head. “It’s still never okay. Even if you’re a genius. Father made you upset because he couldn’t handle his temper- that’s his fault in every way. Not yours at all, okay?”
Myles didn’t answer, though Artemis noted that he was no longer hunched over. That was a good sign.
“Myles, Beck, listen to me.”
Both turned to him- Myles looked significantly calmer now, though both still looked slightly distressed. Artemis couldn’t blame them- this entire night had been a rollercoaster.
“Remember what I promised you two earlier? It’s going to be okay. We’ll be okay. That was a promise, alright? I don’t break my promises.”
Neither looked wholly convinced. However, much to Artemis’s surprise, Myles eventually leaned over, so that his head was resting against Artemis’s arm. “Against my better judgement,” he mumbled, his voice muffled by Artemis’s sleeve, “I believe you.”
Beckett swiftly took the opportunity to clamber over his brother, firmly nestling himself against Artemis’s other side. Artemis lifted his arm, and soon Beckett was completely snuggled up against him. The blonde twin rarely missed out on a chance to be clinging to someone- normally, Artemis would have found this overwhelming, but after such a night he found it was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
In all honesty, he had no idea what was going to become of this. He still needed to inform Holly about his whereabouts (he had asked her to keep an ear out, in case the meeting had taken a turn for the worse), and he still needed to plan to retrieve the twins’ belongings from the Villa. Nevertheless, Artemis Fowl was certain that this was the right thing to do- he could only hope that the future was a little brighter, after this.
Whatever may come, my brothers, I will continue to protect you. That will always be a promise.
