A/N: New songfic. Kinda expands on the concept I started in P5shed, so some of you may know what to expect. If you don't know…go read it right now. XD
And for the sake of it, this fic is AU, post-TOD. Whatever.
Song used: The Little Things Give You Away – Linkin Park
Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl.
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Water grey
Through the windows, up the stairs
Chilling rain
Like an ocean, everywhere
Foaly sat at his swivel chair in Ops, motionless. He faced his computer monitor, but didn't pay attention to anything on the screen. His unfocused eyes stared into nothingness, and his face was devoid of emotion. He had work to do, but it took a backseat to his swirling thoughts.
He turned his chair around slowly, and got up. Clip-clopping across the floor, Foaly exited his Ops booth into a hallway strewn with papers and various utensils. Ignoring the chaos of Police Plaza, Foaly set his eyes out the nearest window, and saw Haven City. Well technically, half of Haven City, several burned-out buildings, small fires, and a few bodies. An absolute riot. From what he heard, Atlantis wasn't fairing very well either
Don't want to reach for me, do you?
I mean nothing to you
The little things give you away
And now there will be no mistakin'
The levees are breakin'
The thought hit Foaly as hard as ever. Opal Koboi had succeeded, Holly and his human friends were dead, and Haven City was wiped out by several million tons of molten hematite. And that was only two weeks ago. Within 5 days of the tragedy, humans had already declared war on fairy civilization, plunging the despair even deeper. The LEP were mustering up any forces available to combat the humans, mostly because almost all personnel had either died when the riot spun out of control or joined the rioters themselves. Foaly was supposed to coordinate them, but life had lost its taste for Foaly.
The centaur headed back to his Ops booth, still with his slow plodding. Settling down back into his swivel chair, Foaly donned his V-keyboard gloves and started typing. He was searching for something. Something that he remembered as vividly as his hitching ceremony, or his incarceration in his own Ops booth.
All you've ever wanted
was someone who truly looked up to you
And six feet, underwater
I do
Foaly found his target, a simple photo. Foaly enlarged the picture, the gas screens clearly displaying every minute facial expression, down to the pixel. Foaly sighed a little, reminiscing. Anger started bubbling up, not at Koboi, but at himself. There was something I could have done…
The picture was a portrait of Foaly and Opal Koboi, both smiling and obviously not irritated by each other's presence. It was almost a century ago, and both of them were outside Haven City's university, ready for their first year. In the picture was a ring on Foaly's index finger, a token of the two's friendship since their childhood. Foaly pulled out a drawer, revealing the ring itself, albeit a bit dusty. It no longer fit any of his fingers, but he kept it as a memento of a relationship now lost.
In a fit of frustration, Foaly slammed his fist onto the desk, gloves undamaged. The picture file minimized into the taskbar. Calming down, Foaly mumbled, "I still can't believe it. I let the relationship go to hell and I did nothing."
Hope decays
Generations disappear
Washed away
As a nation simply stares
A video-chat window popped up on Foaly's monitor. The centaur raised his head, only to see his long-time pixie rival's dolled-up face.
"Koboi."
Opal laughed. "Oh, you idiotic centaur. I can't believe it! I've won, and you lost. Within minutes, human troops will storm Haven City, killing every fairy in the city. Oh, I've also commanded the troops to take you and only you alive, so that I can kill you myself."
Opal leaned back on her chair, expecting a snide comment or tantrum from Foaly. But she received neither. All she saw was Foaly's stone cold face. The face itself made Opal's subconsciousness uneasy, chilling her. It was a sensation she never experienced before: a soul of nothingness.
Don't want to reach for me, do you?
I mean nothing to you
The little things give you away
And now there will be no mistakin'
The levees are breakin'
Twenty seconds passed, time slowing to a crawl between the two rivals. Opal frowned. "Well? I'm expecting an oh-so-great plan from you, donkey."
Foaly said nothing, still.
Now infuriated, Opal yelled, "What are you doing? Say something!"
Foaly's face didn't react, still completely emotionless. Opal sat back down in her chair, a little afraid. Even though she hated him, she still knew what Foaly was like. And right now, Foaly was exhibiting a side of him she had never seen before.
Foaly picked up the ring from his desk, and held it up to the camera. Opal gasped silently, her brain connecting the ring to a series of memories centuries ago. For a moment, Opal sensed Foaly's emotions: sadness, anger, resent, hopelessness. A heart frozen solid.
All you've ever wanted
was someone who truly looked up to you
And six feet, underwater
I do
All you've ever wanted
was someone who truly looked up to you
And six feet, underground now I,
Now I do
The centaur noticed Opal's reaction to the ring. "Now do you remember?" he said, "Do you remember what happened all those years ago?"
Foaly stood up, and walked out the room, leaving Opal's jaw hanging open.
He walked over to the window he previously stared out from, and saw a new sight in Haven City. Chutes 34 and 81 were swarmed with human storm troopers, firing their gunpowder-based weapons. Even from where he stood, Foaly could see the blood strewn over the streets. Rioters were now 'innocent civilians', as they ran away from the advancing human troops. Foaly's mind swam, colours distorting, flashing, resting on objects.
Foaly had lost everything: his friends, his family, and his species. And now he was going to lose his life in a matter of hours. He stood there for several minutes, seeing his fellow fairies die before his eyes. A door being kicked down three stories down and weapons clinking failed to break Foaly out of his emotionless void.
They were getting closer now, boots heavy against the tiles. Soldiers were yelling out orders and weapons were trained against their targets.
Foaly's vision started to shut down, as well as his nervous system. The centaur fell, onto his right side. Through a thick fog covering his eyes, he could slightly see the black uniforms of the human troops strafing towards him.
(oh) Little things give you away, (oh) Little things give you away
(oh) Little things give you away, (oh) Little things give you away
(oh) All you've ever wanted, was someone to truly look up to you
(oh) All you've ever wanted, was someone to truly look up to you
(oh) All you've ever wanted, was someone to truly look up to you
(oh) All you've ever wanted, was someone to truly look up to you
And from his eyes, everything went grey.
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A/N: Yes, depressing. But that's the point. Go listen to the song. I've always been fascinated by the Foaly/Opal friendship thing. Hell, that's what got me writing fanfiction in the first place.
For the record, Linkin Park wrote this for Minutes to Midnight after they visited New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
R&R. XD