"But how did you get past the memory wipe?" Hermione wondered as Artemis finished telling Harry and her about his adventures in the fairy world.

"I didn't," Artemis admitted. "On the day of the wipe, I gave Mulch a disc containing all of my knowledge regarding fairies and their technology, with instructions to bring it back to me in two years. That's what he was doing today, before you two showed up."

"Fascinating," Hermione said, examining a small metallic blue cube that was resting on the table.

"How do you know this Foaly character is going to be able to help us?" asked Harry. "Or even want to help us, for that matter?"

"He will," Artemis replied confidently. "Foaly is always looking for a challenge. And he is the best."

"If you say so..." Harry said doubtfully.

"What does this do?" wondered Hermione, still looking at the cube.

"It's a C-Cube, built from fairy technology," Artemis explained. "Don't bother trying to open it, it's encrypted with an unbreakable eternity code-"

But before Artemis could finish his sentence, Hermione had opened the cube and was experimentally pressing buttons. Harry chuckled at the shocked expression on Artemis' face.

"How did you...?" Artemis gaped.

"It's not like it was hard," said Hermione. "Do you think it can help us?"

"I don't know," admitted Artemis.

"It's your cube," Harry reminded him.

"I just finished reconstructing it today," Artemis replied testily. "You can't expect me to discover all of its capabilities after only a few hours-"

There was a knock on the door.

"Someone's here to see you, Artemis," Juliet called.

"Send them in."

The door opened and a small fairy by the name of Holly Short entered the room.

"Fowl," she greeted him. "Just when I thought we'd seen the last of each other."

"Hello, Holly. Let me introduce you to my guests. Harry and Hermione, meet Captian Holly Short of the LEP."

"Charmed," said Holly, shaking Harry and Hermione's hands. Hermione let out a short, ruefullaugh. "What's so funny?" Holly wondered.

"Never mind," Harry apologized. "It's been a long day. What's LEP?"

"It stands for Lower Element Police," said Holly.

"So it's like fairy law enforcement?" asked Hermione.

"Exactly." Holly grinned at Artemis. "Careful, Fowl, this one might give you a run for your money."

"Not if we send her back to her own universe," replied Artemis, reminding everyone of the purpose of the meeting.

"Right," said Holly as she adjusted the earpiece of her helmet. "Foaly, are you reading me?"

"Like a book."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Cute. Is Root there?"

"Unfortunately," Foaly replied. "Er...He wants to know whether you've 'got that damn dwarf yet.' He's not happy, as you may have guessed."

Holly cringed. "I'm working on it. Tell him not to worry."

Foaly laughed. "Have you met Root?"

"I know. You'll be listening in on things, right?"

"Of course. Good luck, Holly. Foaly out."

"Where's Mulch, Artemis?" asked Holly.

"Locked up and incapable of causing trouble," Artemis replied.

"I really should take him into custody."

Artemis laughed. "And take my leverage? I thought you knew me better than that, Holly."

Holly frowned. "What do you want, Fowl?"

"Nothing much. Just the assurance that when this is over, my memory will still be intact."

"You should have thought about that before you contacted us."

"Do you want Mulch or not?"

"You're a bigger liability than he is."

"We'll see."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Listen, Mud Boy-"

As Artemis and Holly continued arguing, Harry and Hermione moved off to the side. "This isn't going well, Harry," whispered Hermione.

"You don't have to tell me that," Harry replied.

"We have to do something, or they'll never stop."

"What are you proposing?"

Hermione's eyes twinkled. "Intervention." She walked back over to Holly and Artemis, who were still arguing. "Stop!"

They both looked at her.

"That's better. Now, here's what we're going to do," Hermione explained, "Foaly will use his technological expertise to send me and Harry home, in exchange for the criminal Mulch Diggums and Artemis' promise not to expose the world to fairy technology."

"What do I get?" Artemis protested.

"The knowledge that you did the right thing," said Hermione. "That, and your memory."

"But how do we know Artemis won't use our technology?" wondered Holly.

"Because at the first sign that he is, you get to erase his memory. Are we all in agreement?" Hermione asked.

"Let me check," said Holly. "Foaly, did you get all that?"

"Sounds good to me."

"It's fine with us, Hermione," Holly said. "Artemis?"

"I suppose."

Hermione smiled. "Excellent. What are we waiting for?"

Voila! Spring Break is a wonderful thing, isn't it? Yes, I am working on longer chapters and more frequent updates. Thank you to everyone for your reviews! Keep them coming! -Luna