ASN: Surely you get the idea by now...

I wake to a rhythmic knocking, and for a few moments I mistake it to be my masseuse. Suddenly I remember. The train. With the fairies.

I must still be on the train. Holly and I fell into the carriage after pulling Commander Root and Butler inside. I wonder how long I've been unconscious. Even though I don't want to move, I open my eyes anyway, expecting a wave of pain and stiff joints to hit me.

Actually, I feel just fine. No aches, no pain. Holly must have healed me. I wonder why. Was I hurt? I don't think so.

I glance up to see Commander Root covering Holly with a piece of material. She doesn't seem to be awake yet. Root doesn't even look at me as he begins to speak.

"Oh, you're awake, are you? I don't know how you can sleep at all after what you've just done."

That sounds ominous. "Done? But I saved you—at least, I helped."

"You helped all right, Fowl." Root spits at me. "You helped yourself to the last of Holly's magic while she was unconscious."

I groan. That explains a lot. "I see what must have happened. It was an…"

Root stops me. "Don't say it. The Great Artemis Fowl doesn't do anything by accident."

I rise to my knees slowly, trying to see Holly's face. "It can't be anything serious. Just exhaustion, surely."

Wrong thing to say. The commander is suddenly in my face, screaming at me. And his words send a wave of horror through my body.

"She lost her finger?" I repeat numbly.

To my disgust, Root holds up the body part. "Not lost, exactly. It poked me in the eye on the way past."

I need a plan. This is serious, and since it happened during my rescue attempt, I'm the one responsible. "If we go back now, surely your surgeons can graft it on?"

Root shakes his head. Too dangerous, apparently. What else can we do?

"How long?"

The elf blinks at me. "What?"
"How long ago did it happen?"

"I don't know. A minute."

"Then there's still time." I say, my mind racing. If only…

Root looks interested now. "Time for what?"

"We can still save the finger."

The interest is suddenly gone. He rubs his shoulder and glares. "With what? I barely have enough power left for the mesmer."

I close my eyes. There has to be something. Anything. Come on, you're a genius; think of something!

"What about the Ritual? There must be a way."

"How can we complete the Ritual here?"

Let's see…oak trees, a full moon, an acorn, Holly's escape from—yes!

I move as fast as I can to where Holly lays and begin searching her clothes. There's a sudden noise of sputtering from behind me.

"In heaven's name, Mud Boy, what are you doing?"

Even though I don't glance up, I know Root's not too far from killing me in the slowest and most painful way possible. And quite honestly, if I'm wrong, I wouldn't blame him.

But I'm never wrong, so we should be fine.

"Last year, Holly escaped because she had an acorn."

Another moment of meaningless sounds. "Five seconds, Fowl. Talk fast." he says finally.

"An officer like Holly wouldn't forget something like that. I'd be willing to bet…"

Root babbles something about the Council, a sealed acorn, and hearsay. I ignore it. He hasn't shot me yet, so I assume I have permission to continue. I unzip Holly's tunic slightly, and see two objects on a chain around her neck. One is her Booke, and the other…

Inwardly, I smile.

"That's against regulations." Root says softly when he notices the sphere of earth. He doesn't sound too distressed.

Holly now decides to wake up. "Hey, Commander. What happened to your eye?"

I don't say anything and crack the sphere against the floor. Earth and an acorn land in my palm. I knew it.

"Now all we have to do is bury it."

Root grabs Holly and stands. He glances at me. "Then it's time to get off this train."

Joy.

We make it off the train, and I think I'm going to remember every moment of that trip for the rest of my life. Simple physics or not, that was not at all what I was expecting.

The commander and Butler work on getting through the snow and ice as I stand and watch. We have to hurry.

Butler uses his gun to knock a hole in the ice. There's earth underneath, and my heart pounds. We only have seconds to make sure this works. They place Holly in the hole, and Root pushes her hand holding the acorn deep into the earth. We wait, worry almost tangible in the air.

"It mightn't take." Root says softly. "This sealed acorn thing is new. Never been tested. Foaly and his ideas. But they usually work. They usually do."

'Usually' isn't a real comfort. But I can tell Root is worried. Slowly, I place my hand on his shoulder, like my father always did. What else can I do?

If this doesn't work…

Nothing happens. How long has it been? I wasn't keeping count.

This was all my fault. I just—wait…

"Look! A spark." I cry.

"Stand back." Root warns. I back up, not really listening to the rest of his words as I stare at Holly's form. The sparks are multiplying.

Holly jerks up suddenly, and begins to move erratically. The sounds she makes are inhuman. Which makes a sort of sense, since she isn't human, but still…

"Is this normal?" I ask.

"I think so. The brain is running a systems check. It's not like fixing cuts and bruises, if you know what I mean." Root answers.

Steam and water begins to cloud our view of Holly. The part we can still see is her hand, almost a blur of movement. If this is a good sign, I'd hate to see a harmful healing.

She freezes, and disappears into the misty steam surrounding the hole. Root moves closer first; Butler and I follow a little more slowly. We peer in.

"I think she's awake…"

Before I can say anything, Holly sits up sharply, gasping for breath.

Relief.

I dart to her and grab her by the shoulders. I am being much too forward, but I don't care. "Holly. Holly, speak to me. Your finger. Is it okay?"

She moves her fingers a little, watching them almost proudly. They curl up into a fist easily. Her eyes flicker up to meet mine.

I don't like that look…

"I think so," she tells me.

Pain!

She hit me.

She hit me.

Again!!

Does she have some fascination with trying to break my nose?!

News of my father's miraculous rescue comes in the middle of AP Physics. Why does everything happen during class?

Not that I'm complaining.

Doctor Po comes in and hurriedly whispers in my teacher's ear. Both turn to stare at me. Any other time I would be concerned, but I know what they are talking about.

Po almost runs to my seat. "Artemis, you need to come with me!" he says urgently. I calmly stand and gather my materials, taking some small pleasure in making him wait. As soon as we get into the hall, he turns to me, eyes shining.

"Artemis…we got some wonderful news. Your father…he's alive!"

I allow a flicker of surprise to cross my normally implacable face, but say nothing. Po watches me for a moment, then turns and walks toward the entrance of the school.

"Your bodyguard is on his way to take you home." he says. I nod and keep walking. I can see Po give me a sideways glance.

"I believe I owe you an apology, Artemis." he says, surprising me. I look at him. He smiles a little. "After all, you were the one convinced he was alive, and I doubted you. You were right."

I say absently, "Of course I was."

Po looks at me sharply. "Artemis, Butler won't be here for another ten or fifteen minutes. Why don't you step into my office so we can talk about this event?"

Oops.

I must be extremely tired to even think that.

I reluctantly follow the counselor into his office.

He's gotten a new chair.

I smile. He notices. "So, Artemis. Your father has returned after all these years."

"It was only two, sir. Hardly a lengthy period of time."

There was silence for a moment. "How do you feel about this, Artemis?" he asks suddenly, catching me off guard.

My mind begins to race. How do I feel about my father being back? Quite frankly, I'm ecstatic. He's home—my life can completely return to normal.

Normal as it can be, considering I was the one to rescue him.

And I had to shoot him to do it.

But that's acceptable. I've only had one nightmare about that.

Of course, yesterday was the first time I was actually able to sleep since returning from the Artic, but that's not an important fact.

Po clears his throat, and I suddenly realize he said something else. "Pardon, sir?"

"Are you all right?" he asks kindly.

"I…lost my train of thought, that's all." I tell him calmly. Po raises an eyebrow.

"I didn't know a genius could lose his train of thought." he says dryly.

"Well, genius does have its limitations." I say. Po nods tolerantly and scribbles something on his ever present notepad.

"But then, stupidity is not thus handicapped." I add.

Po's head snaps up, and he stares at me in disbelief. I sigh, and stand.

"Sir, I realize you wish to talk to me about my feelings at this pivotal point in my life, but my father has been found alive after being told he was dead for the past years, and I wish to see him. May I go?"

Po slowly nods. "Sure, Artemis." he says.

I head for the door. I do not run. I never run…unless the People are involved.

But I did move fast.