Thanks for reviewing! I didn't realize how much reviews can motivate someone to update quicker until just now.

And no, I am not Marie. I am not quite that crazy. I do talk to my books sometimes though…

Artemis watched Butler pace back and forth in the kitchen. It was obvious that the bodyguard was distraught. He had just gone over the security tape, and watched as the girl popped into existence with no logical explanation.

Butler turned to face his teenage charge. "I don't understand. Nobody can just appear from thin air. It's impossible." His eyebrows were knit together. "You should know that more than anyone else, Artemis."

Artemis appeared to be deep in thought. "Yes, I am well aware of the laws of physics," he remarked absently.

"Do you think there could be any – fairy – involvement?"

Artemis was not surprised by this comment. He was used to dealing with extraordinary happenings. However, he shook his head slightly. "No, I think Holly would tell me before attempting anything magical in the Fowl Manor."

Butler almost smiled at the way Artemis immediately thought of his favorite fairy, and even used her first name. But there were more important things to concentrate on now. "Maybe it wasn't Captain Short. She might not know anything about this."

Artemis nodded. "Anything's possible. However, I can think of only one probable explanation."

Raising one eyebrow, Butler waited for the teenager to elaborate. When Artemis didn't appear to be forthcoming, he cleared his throat loudly.

Artemis narrowed his eyes, annoyed at having his train of thought interrupted. "Do you remember when we went back in time?"

"How could I forget?"

"Well, when we arrived at the Fowl Manor of about six years ago, we seemed to appear out of thin air. On the security tape, that's exactly what it looked like."

"So you think this girl is from the future?"

"It's really the only thing I can think of to explain this."

"But how can we know for sure?"

Artemis smirked. "Why Butler! You are a military man, aren't you? Haven't you ever heard of a little thing called interrogation?"

Butler looked suspiciously at Artemis. "What exactly do you mean by 'interrogation'?"

"Oh, nothing much. We'll just have a friendly chat. You know, from one fellow time traveler to another."

Butler was not reassured.

Marie knew that she should be terrified. She was locked up in a strange room and was soon going to meet one of the most dangerous men in the world (According to her Artemis Fowl books. And she practically worshipped her books). But she was too busy running around the room to be terrified.

"OOOOH! Artemis touched this actual paintbrush! And he sat in this actual chair! And he drank out of this actual soda can!"

She paused mournfully. "I wish I was a soda can!"

Suddenly, the ridiculousness of this statement struck her. If it was possible for her to mentally roll her eyes, she would have. Marie whispered quietly to herself, "Okay, calm down. You are a completely rational human being. There is no reason to freak out. It's not like he is going to come in here and treat you any differently than he would any random trespasser. Hmm… how would he treat a random trespasser? Should I be scared?"

As much as she loved Artemis Fowl, she did not want to get on his bad side. With this in mind, she decided to sit down calmly and wait for the questioning that would soon be coming. She didn't have to wait long. After a few short minutes, there was a loud knock on the door. Frankly, Marie was surprised that they would bother to knock. She sat up straighter and tried to appear brave.

The door opened and two people came in. Artemis entered first, closely shadowed by his bodyguard, who was glancing suspiciously around the room. Marie tried not to react to Artemis' intense gaze, but she found herself blushing despite herself. The two men walked towards her menacingly, and sat down in two armchairs that were not any farther than three feet away from her.

Artemis attempted to smile. Even Marie had to admit that it was a rather pitiful attempt. Nevertheless, she grinned widely back. She knew that she really should try to be good, but she was sitting right next to Artemis Fowl! There was only one option available: adoration. If he had a problem with that, he could lock her in one of the manor's prisoner cells… not that she'd mind.

Artemis did not appear to be initiating the conversation. He was just studying her intently. Marie decided to break the ice.

"H-h-hi… I'm Marie." Wow, that sounded incredibly intelligent. He probably thinks I'm brain dead now.

The young genius raised one eyebrow. "I have no particular interest in your name."

"Oh."

Artemis leaned forward slightly. "I would like to know why you appeared in my house out of nowhere."

Marie was torn between feeling scared and swooning. "Ummm… actually, I am not quite… That is to say I really don't…"

Artemis looked pointedly at his watch. "I am a busy man. I do not have time for a stuttering buffoon. Please, get to the point."

If it was anyone else, Marie would have replied with a caustic remark, but when Artemis Fowl called her a "stuttering buffoon" it sounded almost like a compliment. She cleared her throat to give herself a few more seconds to gather her thoughts, and then launched herself into the story.

"I… I guess it started when I woke up this morning. It was my birthday. Well, actually it still is my birthday. But you don't care. Right. Ummm… okay, so then my parents sang to me, and I blew out my candles and made a wish. And then I showed up here."

"And what was your wish?" Artemis inquired impatiently.

Marie did not respond right away. She knew that she could not tell Artemis that there were several books about him. Not only would he think she was crazy, but he might consider her to be a threat if she knew all of his secrets. "I… wished that I could… meet the world's most famous… uhhh… criminal mastermind?"

Surprisingly, he seemed to accept her explanation. Turning to Butler, he motioned towards the door. They stood up and walked away. Artemis turned around and spoke once more to Marie, "Thank you for your help. I trust that you will be comfortable here. I will send Butler with lunch in a few hours."

Marie frowned. "Wait! You're leaving me here?"

Artemis inclined his head slightly, and coldly said, "Well, I'm afraid the mysterious appearance of a teenage girl in my house is considered by my bodyguard to be a potential risk to my personal safety. You will have to remain here until we can be sure that you do not present any danger to us."

Without giving her a chance to respond, he closed the door. Marie heard the lock click behind him.

Butler was confused. They had talked to the girl for no more than two minutes. Artemis was usually a very thorough young man. Why would he allow the girl to fabricate some unbelievable story? It did not make sense.

Artemis walked into the kitchen, with Butler following behind him. He sat down casually. "That girl is smarter than she looks."

Butler was taken aback by this comment. "What do you mean?"

"Appearances may be deceiving," Artemis said sarcastically, "but if you look past those ridiculous pajamas, you might be surprised. That girl is from a different dimension."

Butler's eyes narrowed, unbelievingly.

"You are going to ask how I know this. Well, I can assure you that I am not crazy. After an enlightening discussion with No1, I learned that sometimes the line between dimensions can get blurred. About once every few centuries, a time traveler accidentally passed through that line. Very few make it back to their own dimension. I could tell that the girl was from a different dimension because of a faint glow from her skin. It is one of the common side effects of dimension travelling, although it is so faint that very few people notice. It fades after a few days."

Butler did not like the sound of this. "More magic? Just what we need," he groaned.

Artemis could not prevent a smirk from forming on his face. "Indeed. The girl was wise not to tell me what had happened. It is what I would have done in her situation."

"So now what do we do?"

"We wait."

Holly had argued with Foaly for half an hour before the centaur had finally agreed to let her visit Artemis. It was only after she told him that there was a definite possibility of the mud man getting a black eye that he finally gave in to her pleas. She was now on her way to the surface. And Artemis was going to have a nice, long talk with her.

There were just too many conflicting thoughts! She had to get them off her chest, or she would go mad. She didn't know how the confrontation would end. Either she would make him end his little "crush" for good or she would accept his feelings and maybe even admit to harboring her own immature, romantic hopes. It would be up to him which one she chose. If the conversation went well…

But that didn't matter until she actually got to Fowl Manor. For now, she had to concentrate on flying.