Niki- I'm typing this chapter completely on my own. No demon to help me (or hinder me, as it were), because Vi is off in her own little world, playing with catnip. So if it doesn't make much sense logically or if Holly or someone is out of character, just review and tell me so, and I'll try to fix my mistakes. I know that last sentence might be a fragment, but I'm not going to try and fix it, as I am in an such an incredibly lazy mood that it's a wonder I'm even bothering with capital letters and punctuation. I was up really late last night thinking of an idea and… ::breaks off here and begins humming Freckles from Rurouni Kenshin (which I don't own):: Review thankings:

Rath Set-Seraph- FRIEND! ::hug:: Well, you have many "looks" and I'm not even writing this story, it's writing itself, so I can't exactly explain the terms used in it. The monkey? Oh, yeah, I'm not sure. It was just something that kind of popped into my head. Again, this story is writing itself, so I'm not quite sure where most parts of the plot come from. Most of them are just weird random memories that are most likely from dreams or nightmares. And it's not completely a monkey. It was creepy looking in the nightmare I got it from. It kind of sort of attacked me…::shudders:: Anyway, I'm writing this chapter as fast as I can. And I hope you appreciate that I rushed on that paragraph in order to keep you from being upset with me.

DemonOfShadow- Thanks for the review! Don't worry, that was kind of to get to know the characters. We have some scenes in here that are outside the head. Artemis comes in.

Angel's Heart, Demon's Mind- Thanks for getting around to reviewing me! I knew that comment of mine would get some readers out of hiding. But believe it or not, I wasn't even referring to you! I really appreciated you mentioning my story in your comments, thank you!

Miliko01- Weird. I didn't mean to make anyone sound like you, because the characters here are based on people I know really well. Most of the people here I even know from outside of the Internet, and Cristina/Skyfaxy helped me with the chapter that followed her around. Thanks for the review!

Laurie (I think)- You're welcome.

Apricanicus- Thanks.

Morganry- ::laughs:: Don't worry, you're in here. I finished it off early, but you're in here. And it's spelled Françoise, but that doesn't really matter. I decided not to cut it after all that since it turned out to be pretty much fine as is.

Disclaimer: We do not and probably never will own Artemis Fowl or any related characters, including Artemis, Angeline, Juliet, Butler, Holly, Trouble, Root, or Foaly. We also do not own any original characters other than Niki and Vi, because they are based on real people and, therefore, own their own characters. Although Jae doesn't know that she has a character, but we won't get into that.

(Just so my readers know, the only POV I will give is either Niki's POV or the narrator's. I might follow a character around and talk in third person about Niki, but if I'm not being narrator, assume that I'm being Niki. But just to make sure you get it, I'll put the POV b/w scene changes as a divider.)

(Niki)

Okay, so I wasn't sure what sort of sedative Cristina needed. Any sort of sedative needed could be recreated in perfect detail, and if Cristina didn't get something to calm her down soon, she would probably break the floor, the ceiling, or her head. It would most likely be her head that got hurt, because the floor and ceiling were unbreakable. 'I did make them myself, after all,' I thought with a certain pride. I needed to wake up, too. I was wandering off again, mentally. I caught myself and returned to the present moment.

Watching Cristina, I wondered how Jae, another very good friend, was doing. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door that Cassidy had come in through. Everyone stared at the wood, even Cristina, who stopped bouncing to stare.

"Come in," I yelled to the door.

To everyone's surprise and astonishment, Jae opened the door and came in. She hadn't come with us. How could she have gotten into my brain— Oh! I remembered suddenly that Jae was exceptionally spiritually aware, and so when I was thinking about her, she had known about it and come to see how I was doing. She must have finally developed her skills enough to do so. And…I looked out the window to the sky…it was night. Jae was dreaming, but she knew enough about her powers to know this place was real. I smiled at her, and began to explain. I told her all about Artemis, and his strengths and weaknesses. When I was finished, Jae responded.

"Are you a stalker or something?" she asked.

"NO!" I said with a righteous fury that I had developed in dealing with Vi. "Artemis is a character in a book. He has own book, about him, and about the faeries of the LEP, especially Holly Short. And it's supposed to be fiction! I AM NOT A STALKER!"

Jae was backing away at this point, clearly freaked out by my sudden burst of anger. She poked me in the forehead with a soft, plushy twig. I giggled and muttered something about Neopets and plushie poking sticks (neither of which I own). She relaxed, and so I looked around, and immediately realized that everyone was staring at me. After all, I had just made an angry, uncharacteristic outburst and no one knew what to make of it. Jae had made me angry, which rarely happens, and, even more astounding, I had acted on that anger and screamed at her.

"How did I get this?" Jae asked. She stared at the twig she now held in her hands.

"You wanted it at the time, so it appeared," I responded automatically.

Everyone was still staring at me. I couldn't help it: I flushed bright pink. I can't stand that much attention. If you haven't guessed already, I'm a tad antisocial, despite my large quantity of quality friends, and so attention frightens me sometimes. I'm shy, too, and no one expected me to be capable of such rage.

"Is there something wrong with you, Niki?" asked Laurie. When I shook my head 'no,' she continued, "You're bright pink."

"It's all the attention," I admitted. "It's uncomfortable. Please stop staring at me."

When they tried to but couldn't bring themselves to, I sank into the floor to take control of my own body, advising Cass to go back to herself, too. I could hear footsteps. Important-sounding footsteps. We were about to have a visitor in our "room." An important visitor: Those footsteps, haughty and precise, could only belong to Artemis Fowl himself. I almost gulped as I regained my control over my full self and stood up to welcome him as he turned the key in the lock. I could see Cassidy blinking on the floor and Vi standing up as well. Artemis entered the room. I asked everyone inside my head to be quieter so that I could focus on recalling every important detail of the book to prepare myself for seeing this infamous and intimidating boy. 'Remember the name Domovoi Butler,' I thought to myself. It seemed like the best way to convince both Artemis and Butler of my nearly inhuman knowledge. Then I realized that Artemis probably didn't know Butler's real name. He might not even know that Butler needed help. But I knew, and I realized that I should help Butler. Perhaps that would create enough trust and memories in Artemis that he would help my friends and me to get home. I knew it wasn't the most reliable of plans, but it was the best I had, and I wasn't going to make it up as I went along.

The door opened, and Artemis Fowl, child prodigy, spoiled child of billionaires, and bane of fairy existence entered the room.

(LEPRecon HQ: Narrator)

"D'arvit," Foaly swore. He had just received a transmission from Artemis' cameras that meant big, big trouble. The centaur's cameras were still receiving footage from the Fowl residence, and Artemis was getting footage from them that would definitely trigger residual memories. He set up a communication to Commander Root. The commander would want to be the first to hear about bad news like this. "Commander? I think you'd better check this out."

"What is it, Foaly? I'm in a meeting," he growled. "This had better be something worth my time."

Choosing to ignore the commander's gruff tone, Foaly replied, "It's Fowl. He's got something that could cause residual memories, and we need to check any data on the girl who's talking to him. You need to see this footage."

"No sarcasm? This has to be serious if you're not being sarcastic." Root shut off the link and proceeded to postpone the meeting, which was really nothing of importance. All of the Lower Elements area was in danger if Artemis Fowl was getting his memories back.

When Commander Julius Root entered the control room and heard what the human girl on the tape was saying to Artemis, he looked at Foaly suspiciously.

"I did nothing to this footage. It came like this," Foaly said with sincerity. "This is going to get the courts all over us for leaving someone out of the mind wipe."

"D'arvit… Get Holly on the line. She needs to see this. That mud girl right there could prove dangerous if she knows as much as she's letting on."

"Okay, Holly's connected," said Foaly after pressing a single button. "You can just talk into your helmet and she'll hear you,"

"Holly! Get in here, it looks like our mind wipe missed someone!" Root's face turned beet red as Holly protested. "GET IN HERE, NOW! FOWL HAS DANGEROUS GUESTS! There's a mud girl who knows about something we don't!"

About half a minute later, the Captain in question, Holly Short of LEPrecon, came running into the room in a panic and looking disheveled. When she saw and heard the recording of Artemis' tapes that was playing, she gasped. Something had gone terribly, horribly wrong with the world.

(Laurie: Narrator)

Laurie gasped as she saw Artemis Fowl enter the room. Watching from Niki's mind, she heard gasps and whispers behind her as her friends also caught sight of the boy genius entering the small room. Reminded of Holly while comparing Artemis to the descriptions of him in the book, she became suddenly curious, and wondered whether the acorn Holly planted had begun to grow. As she wondered this, an answer came into her head. The voice was cool and metallic, and informed her that the acorn had, in fact, sprouted into a small plant and was thriving in the corner in which it was planted, having been removed and potted by Artemis himself. She assumed that the voice was that of Ruby, the computer section of Niki's mind.

"I take it you are Artemis Fowl. I'm Niki Pound. I take it your surveillance has been watching us this entire time. Am I correct in this assumption?" asked Niki, sounding calm and collected while small parts of the ceiling above us swelled into red symbols and entities rushed to find words and information around us. Niki's brain was a little weird when she got confused and eloquent at the same time.

'Does she always get like this?' Laurie asked Ruby, barely aware of her question.

'Every time she talks to people she isn't comfortable with, she gets like this. Most girls her age would blush or become lost for words, but instead, Niki gets eloquent, confused, stuffy, and unaware of her surroundings. You know, she gets herself in danger when she's like this. It can sometimes become a Mood. Right now, those signs above you are saying, "left temple throbbing, Artemis Fowl here, must remember," but you don't need to pay any attention to them. What you do need to pay attention to is where you are and what's going on.' Ruby was answering what Laurie wanted to know before she could ask, and so when the computer ended the description, she turned back to the main screen and looked at the conversation. (I know that sounds like nonsense. Now shush and let me continue.) Artemis was being aloof and politely curious, and Niki was being eloquent and embarrassed.

"Are you slightly off in the head? Is there any particular reason you want to know whether I remember when that seed was planted and why?" Artemis looked slightly incredulous, Niki having just asked him about the potted plant in the corner. "I will not be answering ridiculous questions from someone who trespassed in my house."

"Oh, but I do have a reason," said Niki, her left temple beginning to throb more violently. "I just don't need you to know my reason at the moment. Oh, and about Butler, how is he lately? According to my cousin here," she gestured to Vi, "He seemed to be aging a little too rapidly for his apparent age. Do you know anything about that?"

"I'm not your—" Vi began, but was silenced by an elbow in the ribs. Laurie could see what Ruby had meant by Niki's headaches becoming Moods.

"I don't have any idea how you could know about Butler. It isn't obvious at all."

"He's right, you know," Vi whispered. Niki turned to glare a death glare at her and she cringed.

Artemis, of course, heard, and said, "There is definitely something unusual going on here. How did you get into this house? How do you know about Butler? And what was your 'cousin' talking about when she started to say she wasn't your cousin?"

"Now you've begun asking real questions." Niki gave an open grin as she said that, and her mind cleared up. "Since I have your curiosity, I might as well tell you. I'm not from this world. My friends aren't from here either. Where we live, there's a series of books called Artemis Fowl, and you're the main character. How do I know about Butler? Not only do I know, I have an explanation that you won't believe."

Ideas had begun to flash and spark around us, the red letters disappearing as an energized purple glow began to flow through the room. Niki's mind was getting stranger each time we saw more of it. A metallic giggle resounded through the room as a light breeze cooled everything. 'She's home free,' stated Ruby enthusiastically.

(A/N: I'll revise what I said in the beginning a little: Assume that I'm being Niki or Vi if I'm not being the narrator. Yes, I know, Vi isn't here right now. I'm good at improvising, though, and I like being Vi. And yes, I am being Vi now.)

I heard Niki relax and revive, and I smiled confidently. "Hello. I'm Vi. Niki decided not to introduce me, so I'll introduce myself. I'm not from this world, but I'm not from her world either, unless you count her mind as her world, because usually I live there. I'm pretty much a demon, although you could also consider me a spirit, a darker half, a preincarnation, etc. Yes, I know that 'preincarnation' isn't a word, but it makes sense. And I think you may have been considering fairy tales lately… am I right?"

Artemis gave me a glare. I giggled, and my giggle turned into an evil laugh while his glare slowly turned into a stare of incredulous shock. My collar, turning cold as ice, froze my evil laugh, and Niki sent, /Vi! What are you trying to do? We're supposed to be being respectful, remember? Focus on the objective here./

Fine. Just stop with the ice, you're going to freeze my undead neck off.

"Excuse me, Artemis. Vi? Could you go over and talk to Cass? I think she's bored or something." I waved a good-bye, unable to talk for the shivering in my throat, and walked over to Cassidy. She was trembling slightly. I smirked. She was a better actor than I remembered from that bit of time I spent in her mind without her noticing. But considering that she had tricked both Niki and me I supposed she must have been a good actor to begin with. I walked over to her, as my bossy hikari in "eloquent mode," conversed with the Fowl boy.

"Hey, Cass," I said casually in a low voice.

"H-hello, V-Vi," she 'managed' to choke out.

"Ah, cut the act, it's not like she can hear you."

Cass gulped, then gasped, then turned serious, the change in her demeanor making me want desperately to giggle. "You know about that?" she asked, then her face lit up and she said, "Of course! I was in your brain, and you've got to have some form of telepathy of course, since you're not mortal, so you saw my thoughts and emotions as they pertained to you!"

"Pertained. That's a fun word. You know, I never would have imagined you to be the type that would use that word. I know you're good at English, but your habits and method of speech don't tend to include eloquence that resembles Niki's so closely." I peered at her closely, my catlike pupils widening and then narrowing. She didn't seem to notice.

"Just because I don't usually use words like that doesn't mean I can't. Did you really believe me when I did that acting bit back there? Did Niki believe me? I mean, yeah, I was startled, but I wasn't scared. Did I actually convince you guys?"

"You're a pretty good actress, Cass. You managed to fool Niki, an' she's like the queen of that psychoanalysis- err- stuff?" I finished lamely. Niki had blocked off my cursing abilities again. I'd wanted to say 'shit,' but the censorship blockade wouldn't let me. Cass giggled, then spoke.

"It's more that Niki tends to make assumptions. Because she thinks she knows me, she figures that I am who I seem to be. She may have good analyzing skills, but she takes the people around her for granted."

"She psychoanalyzes herself enough that we don't need to analyze her. Hmm, what else can we talk about?" I pondered for a few seconds, wondering what else to bring up. Cass was giving me a weird look. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Morganry and Sirius appeared. Morganry had a triumphant look on her face and her fist dramatically up in the air, and Sirius was twitching violently, electrical currents running painfully along his curled-up form.

"HA!" yelled Morganry triumphantly. "I told you we would get here okay, Sirius! HA! Sirius?" She looked down and spotted him writhing in agony. "Oh well, at least I'm okay. Actually, it's a wonder you're still alive with all of that electricity running through you. Well maybe not alive, but you're still moving, right?"

"AAUGH! YOU STUPID IDIOT– AUGH! GET IT OFFA ME! MAKE IT STOP!!!" yelled Sirius as a response.

I looked over at everyone else. Cass was staring at them, Niki was muttering something about how she "should have known, Artemis had quite obviously lost control of his lower jaw as it was hanging limp and stretched to its full capacity. As he noticed me staring, however, he regained his composure. I could have giggled if it weren't for the more pressing matter of how to get Sirius shockproof.

"Yo, Françoise! Yo, Cass! How are you guys? I jumped through the computer into the fanfiction- Oh, wait, am I not supposed to tell Artemis that? OH WELL!" Morganry yelled. "Do you guys even know you're a fanfiction? Well yer gonna have to operate under the assumption that you are from now on." I blinked at her. It made very little sense at first, but then it became clear.

"EUREKA!" I yelled. "That's it! We're in Niki's mind somehow anyway! She's dreaming and we're all knocked out, except her real body is on autopilot so she's writing this down as it happens. Wow, that does sound stupid in words. But you guys know what I mean, right?" Artemis blinked. Niki raised an eyebrow. Cass stared at me, baffled. Inside Niki's head, I could sense everyone staring at me except for Laurie, who had probably understood all of what I said, and Cristina, who also seemed to have followed every word despite her enmity towards me. I thanked her silently for the second time in this crazy day as she began to put my theory into terms that everyone else would understand.

End!

Okay, thanks for coming and we hope you liked the story. Remember to review. And, yes, that was a really bad attempt at an ending, but my reviewers like my story so I decided to rush production a bit. Sorry it took so long. Weirdo's going to make an appearance next: AUTOPILOT!! Until next time,

--Niki Pound