Chapter 3
Memories
Same disclaimer as always. I own nothing and would be proud, but I have no pride. Ner.
Thanks to my [two] reviewers! I have lots of time now that I'm out of school, though this weekend I'll be at the beach. I appreciate all the support and would appreciate a lot more!
Artemis groaned. His head was aching. The same mind-wrenching dream- what was it about? It seemed very familiar. But then again, who would forget the feeling of getting you brain dragged through sandpaper.
It sent chills up his spine, just thinking about it. He shivered. Rubbing his temples, he leaned against the desk, trying to shut out the teacher's endless droning.....
Trouble is, the teacher noticed.
"Fowl! What's wrong with you, boy?" Mr. Hoptkins was not known for his subtlety. No more than he was for his good looks. "Need the nurse again?"
Artemis stayed where he was. "Yes."
"Say 'Yes sir, Mr. Hoptkins.' Speak up!"
"Yes sir, Mr. Hoptkins. Speak up!" Artemis barely noticed the snickers his response aroused. He barely noticed that he had said more than instructed. He barely noticed anything, with the obvious exception of the bombs going off in his head.
"You trying to be smart, boy?" If Artemis had not been feeling so out of sorts, he would have looked up and seen the now looming Mr. Hoptkins, who had a stiff yardstick in his hand. He would never use it, of course, but he thought it made him more menacing and respected. Menacing it did, respected it did not.
Artemis was past caring. "Yes sir, Mr. Hoptkins. I think I need-"
"What!" Mr. Hoptkins roared. He had never encountered this before. The poor kid must really be sick. "That's it. You'll be in the nurse's office before lunch!"
Artemis had barely muttered "Thank you sir, Mr. Hoptkins," when the teacher hefted him out of his seat by the collar. He would be sent straight to the nurse, of course, but the other boys could imagine that he would be beaten in the hall and then sent to the nurse to heal. That was Mr. Hoptkins for you. Teach 'em a lesson with fear. Worked every time; the boys still feared him and usually behaved.
Artemis landed in the nurse's chair with a plump, wincing as he felt the cold unpadded wood. He leaned his head back and sighed. He had to have a fever. That and a migraine. Maybe the dream had something to do with it, but he doubted it. Fever and migraine, plus maybe a cold and measles. Chicken pox? It could well be small pox for all he knew.
He felt like he was dying. Weird, all over. Something like that. Like what?
The nurse interrupted his sad little twisted thoughts with "lay down on the cot" and a thermometer. Artemis rolled onto the bed and tried to stop thinking.
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The nurse straightened up from the patient. This was not a healthy patient. Something like a fever and migraine, with other side effects and probably caused by stress.
The thermometer beeped. She took it out of his mouth and gasped. 105 fevers usually could be foreseen, but this one was real as life and twice as unexpected. [A/N: I don't know! It sounded good] She gently prodded the patient until he opened his eyes.
"Mhnmnmeh?"
"Artemis, you have a very high fever. You are very very sick, so we are going to call your family. This is a bit frightening, so just stay calm and go to sleep."
Not like that was a problem. The boy's eyes closed, and his breathing evened. Didn't have to tell him twice.
She scurried over to the PA system. Calling the office, she asked the secretary to alert the director and call the Fowl family and let them know that their son was seriously ill.
Hanging up the phone, the nurse said a little prayer for the boy's family. Then she waited for the ambulance.
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Holly was slightly limping as she came into work the next day. As she had just learned, kicking refrigerators to relieve the pain of a nightmare only hurt her more and dented the fridge. And it would only be natural that she not have enough magic to heal it.
[A/N: Holly always seems to be running dry. Has anyone else noticed that in the books and stuff? Just keeping the tradition. And it keeps with the story, too, of course]
Coming in through the formidable double doors, she winced as a hurried sprite stompted on her toe in a rush to leave, effectively killing the point of Holly using nearely all her magic to ease the pain of a split toenail.
Holly sighed. It was going to be a long day, and why she had decided to arrive at work early for it was beyond her. But, as she rounded the corner to the corridor with her commander's office in it, she was glad she did. It was usually a good thing, to arrive early for a day you're going to take off.
She knocked on the door, flinching at the very unwelcoming "Come in."
"Sorry, sir, but I have some bad news."
Root rolled his eyes. Why did bad news have to come in the morning? Ruin my day, why doncha.
"I'm out of magic. I need to complete the Ritual."
Root looked at Holly as a cat might look at a bird, debating whether chewing her out would be satisfying or just time consuming.
"You should have done this before you were completely out, Short. Now. Foaly, give me the Ritual information on the mainscreen."
Foaly suddenly appeared in a small box on Root's computer screen. Cameras were a great thing. Foaly looked around the commander's messy office, waving at Holly and grinning.
"I don't have to. See the icon on your screen? The acorn with the words 'Ritual Information'? Well here's how you can do it yourself. Now listen closely, it's a bit tricky-"
But before the overconfident centuar could begin his seminar on the methods of point-and-click, the impatient commander exploded. "FOALY! I DON'T WANT TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT MYSELF! BIG IMPORTANT FAIRIES LIKE ME HIRE LITTLE UNIMPORTANT FAIRIES LIKE YOU TO DO ALL THE GRUNT WORK! SO DO-"
The aforesaid commander was unable to finish his aforesaid explosion because the aforesaid centuar surprised him by pulling up for him the aforesaid file.
While Root regained his breath and lit a smelly fungus cigar, Holly looked up and down the list.
"All the locations are out!"
Foaly corrected her. "All but one, my dear. Time for a trip down memory lane for Captain Holly Short."
Holly scowled at the grinning centuar.
"I'll send a techie down with some wings and a camo foil. Sorry, Holly, but it's the best I can do." The commander looked at Holly, worried. He certainly did not want his best officer to go through a mental breakdown because of revisiting the site a now mindwiped Mud Boy kidnapped her. But it was a risk they had to take.
Holly nodded at the commander. "I'm sure I'll be fine."
Foaly nodded incouragingly at her. "I'm sure you will, too. But this whole thing could've been avoided if you had just used my newly patented timestopped acorn-" Again, the newly grinning centuar had annoyed the newly steaming commander, who looked at the newly anxious captain and pointed at the newly unplugged cords that provided the moniter to be newly blank.
[A/N: sorry if that "newly" thing was annoying.]
"Well," Root said slowly, "It would look like you're going to Tara."
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=
Well? You like? Review review review!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
Memories
Same disclaimer as always. I own nothing and would be proud, but I have no pride. Ner.
Thanks to my [two] reviewers! I have lots of time now that I'm out of school, though this weekend I'll be at the beach. I appreciate all the support and would appreciate a lot more!
Artemis groaned. His head was aching. The same mind-wrenching dream- what was it about? It seemed very familiar. But then again, who would forget the feeling of getting you brain dragged through sandpaper.
It sent chills up his spine, just thinking about it. He shivered. Rubbing his temples, he leaned against the desk, trying to shut out the teacher's endless droning.....
Trouble is, the teacher noticed.
"Fowl! What's wrong with you, boy?" Mr. Hoptkins was not known for his subtlety. No more than he was for his good looks. "Need the nurse again?"
Artemis stayed where he was. "Yes."
"Say 'Yes sir, Mr. Hoptkins.' Speak up!"
"Yes sir, Mr. Hoptkins. Speak up!" Artemis barely noticed the snickers his response aroused. He barely noticed that he had said more than instructed. He barely noticed anything, with the obvious exception of the bombs going off in his head.
"You trying to be smart, boy?" If Artemis had not been feeling so out of sorts, he would have looked up and seen the now looming Mr. Hoptkins, who had a stiff yardstick in his hand. He would never use it, of course, but he thought it made him more menacing and respected. Menacing it did, respected it did not.
Artemis was past caring. "Yes sir, Mr. Hoptkins. I think I need-"
"What!" Mr. Hoptkins roared. He had never encountered this before. The poor kid must really be sick. "That's it. You'll be in the nurse's office before lunch!"
Artemis had barely muttered "Thank you sir, Mr. Hoptkins," when the teacher hefted him out of his seat by the collar. He would be sent straight to the nurse, of course, but the other boys could imagine that he would be beaten in the hall and then sent to the nurse to heal. That was Mr. Hoptkins for you. Teach 'em a lesson with fear. Worked every time; the boys still feared him and usually behaved.
Artemis landed in the nurse's chair with a plump, wincing as he felt the cold unpadded wood. He leaned his head back and sighed. He had to have a fever. That and a migraine. Maybe the dream had something to do with it, but he doubted it. Fever and migraine, plus maybe a cold and measles. Chicken pox? It could well be small pox for all he knew.
He felt like he was dying. Weird, all over. Something like that. Like what?
The nurse interrupted his sad little twisted thoughts with "lay down on the cot" and a thermometer. Artemis rolled onto the bed and tried to stop thinking.
============================================================================ ======
The nurse straightened up from the patient. This was not a healthy patient. Something like a fever and migraine, with other side effects and probably caused by stress.
The thermometer beeped. She took it out of his mouth and gasped. 105 fevers usually could be foreseen, but this one was real as life and twice as unexpected. [A/N: I don't know! It sounded good] She gently prodded the patient until he opened his eyes.
"Mhnmnmeh?"
"Artemis, you have a very high fever. You are very very sick, so we are going to call your family. This is a bit frightening, so just stay calm and go to sleep."
Not like that was a problem. The boy's eyes closed, and his breathing evened. Didn't have to tell him twice.
She scurried over to the PA system. Calling the office, she asked the secretary to alert the director and call the Fowl family and let them know that their son was seriously ill.
Hanging up the phone, the nurse said a little prayer for the boy's family. Then she waited for the ambulance.
============================================================================ ======
Holly was slightly limping as she came into work the next day. As she had just learned, kicking refrigerators to relieve the pain of a nightmare only hurt her more and dented the fridge. And it would only be natural that she not have enough magic to heal it.
[A/N: Holly always seems to be running dry. Has anyone else noticed that in the books and stuff? Just keeping the tradition. And it keeps with the story, too, of course]
Coming in through the formidable double doors, she winced as a hurried sprite stompted on her toe in a rush to leave, effectively killing the point of Holly using nearely all her magic to ease the pain of a split toenail.
Holly sighed. It was going to be a long day, and why she had decided to arrive at work early for it was beyond her. But, as she rounded the corner to the corridor with her commander's office in it, she was glad she did. It was usually a good thing, to arrive early for a day you're going to take off.
She knocked on the door, flinching at the very unwelcoming "Come in."
"Sorry, sir, but I have some bad news."
Root rolled his eyes. Why did bad news have to come in the morning? Ruin my day, why doncha.
"I'm out of magic. I need to complete the Ritual."
Root looked at Holly as a cat might look at a bird, debating whether chewing her out would be satisfying or just time consuming.
"You should have done this before you were completely out, Short. Now. Foaly, give me the Ritual information on the mainscreen."
Foaly suddenly appeared in a small box on Root's computer screen. Cameras were a great thing. Foaly looked around the commander's messy office, waving at Holly and grinning.
"I don't have to. See the icon on your screen? The acorn with the words 'Ritual Information'? Well here's how you can do it yourself. Now listen closely, it's a bit tricky-"
But before the overconfident centuar could begin his seminar on the methods of point-and-click, the impatient commander exploded. "FOALY! I DON'T WANT TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT MYSELF! BIG IMPORTANT FAIRIES LIKE ME HIRE LITTLE UNIMPORTANT FAIRIES LIKE YOU TO DO ALL THE GRUNT WORK! SO DO-"
The aforesaid commander was unable to finish his aforesaid explosion because the aforesaid centuar surprised him by pulling up for him the aforesaid file.
While Root regained his breath and lit a smelly fungus cigar, Holly looked up and down the list.
"All the locations are out!"
Foaly corrected her. "All but one, my dear. Time for a trip down memory lane for Captain Holly Short."
Holly scowled at the grinning centuar.
"I'll send a techie down with some wings and a camo foil. Sorry, Holly, but it's the best I can do." The commander looked at Holly, worried. He certainly did not want his best officer to go through a mental breakdown because of revisiting the site a now mindwiped Mud Boy kidnapped her. But it was a risk they had to take.
Holly nodded at the commander. "I'm sure I'll be fine."
Foaly nodded incouragingly at her. "I'm sure you will, too. But this whole thing could've been avoided if you had just used my newly patented timestopped acorn-" Again, the newly grinning centuar had annoyed the newly steaming commander, who looked at the newly anxious captain and pointed at the newly unplugged cords that provided the moniter to be newly blank.
[A/N: sorry if that "newly" thing was annoying.]
"Well," Root said slowly, "It would look like you're going to Tara."
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=
Well? You like? Review review review!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
