A/N: I am very ashamed of myself. Very ashamed. It's been forever. But I'm back! *groans that are quickly turned into half-hearted cheers at slime's glare* and I will make efforts to get chapters up more often. But you really shouldn't expect too much… I have EVIL teachers who are trying to kill me (death by coursework/sleep deprivation/heavy sarcasm) and I am very stressed and very busy, and I don't have any free time any more. *sigh* but I will endeavour not to commit suicide, but keep writing! So here is the product of my latest efforts on the keyboard. Well, a little further down, but you know what I mean…
TO MY REVIEWERS: You guys… *wipes away tear* I got over 100 reviews, and it's all thanks to you. I would do a special 'name-all-the-reviewers-that-have-ever-been' but Friends is about to start, and I wanna get this posted. I know you understand. Therefore, I shall do the normal… Thanks to Eleida, Becca, The Oracle, Carly, TrisaniSlytherin, seambowler, sindaaraniel, EMerald QUeen, skye and crazygirly007. I love you guys… Feel free to review lots and lots of times, and feed my low-self esteem with much-needed flattery. *winks*
Right then… what you are actually here for… not my ramblings, that's for sure…
IN THE BALLROOM:
Corporal Lili Frond cast her eyes desperately around the semi-intoxicated mob in the hexagonal ballroom. Where the hell were Captain Short, Commander Root and Foaly? After five more minutes of fruitless searching, Frond decided she would have to ask somebody, even though she was meant to be being subtle.
Captain Kelp saw her heading towards him, and couldn't help letting his eyes slip casually up and down her figure. Tastefully short dress, showing off a nice bit of leg. No straps, revealing delicate shoulders, and a hint of cleavage. Blonde hair tumbling down the back…Trouble immediately reprimanded himself – Lili was a fellow officer, and deserved some respect. And anyway, he conceded, she didn't look as good as Captain Short. Sure, Frond was pretty… but there was just… something about Holly. From a professional point of view, obviously.
Trouble rubbed his forehead, the alcohol reducing his thoughts to a sluggish ooze. He really shouldn't have had all that wine… if you were going to get pissed, it was better to do it after all the formal stuff was over.
"Captain Kelp… I was wondering if you could help me with something?"
The corporal's voice dragged Trouble from his thoughts.
"Sorry…" he said dazedly. "… what was that?"
Lili's mouth twisted into the perfect pleading-damsel-in-distress smile. "Lope told me I had to get Captain Short, Commander Root and Foaly, and I can't find them anywhere! The speeches are going to start soon, and they really have to be here." She gave her eyelids a slight flutter, and stared innocently and sadly up at him. "You haven't seen them have you?"
Captain Kelp stumbled with the words, all eagerness to help. Lili smirked inwardly. It was just so easy to get a guy to do what you wanted when you pulled a bit of feminine charm on them. The fact that the one before her was half-drunk really helped as well…
Trouble finally got his tongue under control. "I think they're all outside the room somewhere. Captain Short left, then Root went after her, then Foaly followed the two of them." He pointed to an exit. "They went through there."
The corporal smiled, relief and gratitude flooding her face. "Thank you so much. You're a life saver! But, you couldn't do me the biggest favour could you?" Kelp nodded. "Could you go get them for me? It's just, I really need to find some of the other officers, and check everything's OK…" She smiled again, half apologetically this time.
Captain Kelp unconsciously stuck out his chest. "Don't worry, I'll get 'em."
"Thank you. You're a star. I'll see you around, OK?"
And with that she left, leaving her quarry slightly stupefied. Trouble reluctantly collected his thoughts, and decided that he would give the three five minutes to re-appear, then go after them if they hadn't materialised.
While he was waiting, he thought, he might as well have a drink. He reached for another glass of wine, hand slightly unsteady. Stuff what it was best to do… if he got stoned now, he wouldn't have to listen to all those boring speeches…
IN THE ROOM NEAR THE FREEZER:
Commander Root took a deep breath. "There might be a way, using my magic, to bring Holly back. It's an ancient spell, and it hasn't been used for millennia… but it just might work. It involves me pouring all my magic into her. It's designed to kick-start her organs and get her vital functions working properly again. Thing is, I have to have the full consent of the victim and at least one witness, or the spell won't work. I think we can pretty much assume that Holly will have no problems with this, but I have to have your agreement. It's like the invite thing…"
He waited expectantly. Foaly looked confused. "So, you're going to re-start her organs? Julius, they're still working! We need to warm her up, before that becomes a problem!"
Root looked impatient. "That's what it's designed to do. But we can use the side affects. It was outlawed 3000 years ago because it was fatal – the intense flow of magical energy literally fried the victim. But we can use that… Holly's body temperature is too low, so hopefully it will just restore it to normal, or at least something she can stand."
Foaly shook his head slowly, disbelieve etched into his face. "Hopefully? What d'you mean, 'hopefully'?"
Root glared at him. "I never said it was without risks. But if we don't do this, Holly will die anyway, so we might as well try!" He kept his mouth open to continue, but Foaly had something niggling at him.
"So how come I've never heard of this before? I'm pretty clued up on magic, non-magical that I am, and I sure as hell don't know anything about this one."
Root waved his hand impatiently. "Never mind that now… Let's just say I saw it the back-tunnels once, before your time. Not pretty. They had a choice though. We don't. I would like to remind you, pony-boy, that if she goes down, we go down too. There is no way I can take this manor on my own with a whiny centaur on my heels. Our lives, and possibly the lives of those in the ballroom, hang on whether she lives to fight. There's no time for doubts, Foaly."
The centaur got up and walked away, thinking hard. This wasn't something you could just decide, not when it was a friend. Essentially, her life was in his hands. And Foaly felt decidedly nervous with it.
Meanwhile, Holly's condition was worsening fast. She was losing her grip on life – barely hanging on by her fingernails. Her eyes were closing for longer, and at more frequent intervals. While the other two fairies had been arguing, she'd been drifting away. She petered on the edge, about to plunge into the blackness.
With no small effort, she opened her eyes again, and tried to say something. Her voice was barely a whisper.
Root dragged himself from glaring angrily at Foaly's pacing back, and gave his attention to the one all the arguing was about. He leaned closer so that his ear was near Holly's mouth to hear what she was saying.
Captain Short arranged her lips for the last words they would say. "I'm so sorry…" she croaked. "But I can't hang on. Goodbye Julius. Tell Foaly I'm sor-so-s…" Her voice died away, and her eyes shut. Her whole form went limp, and her head lolled to one side.
Root started, then grabbed her by the shoulders, and shook her, gently at first, but then more violently. "Holly!" he hissed. "Holly, keep you eyes open, D'Arvit!" No response. "Short! Come back now! Don't you think you can slink off when the going gets tough! Open your eyes now, missy, or you'll be out of Recon!" Even the threats didn't work. Holly's head just flopped from side to side like a doll's.
"D'Arvit!" swore Root, lying Holly back down, and checking her breathing on the back of his hand. "Foaly, I need a decision now. She's lost consciousness."
Foaly turned sharply, terror in his eyes. He cantered over to her, skidding to a stop.
"How long's she been out?"
"About thirty seconds. Feeling ready to make up your mind yet, hooves?"
Foaly turned away, desperately trying to come to the right decision. Root shook his head. "She's stopped breathing. Now, please. I don't want to administer the treatment for this condition unless I have to." He grabbed Holly's limp wrist, checking her pulse. It was barely detectable. He moved to the pulse point at her neck, where it would be stronger. "Her heart is beating slower and slower. Her body's going into automatic shutdown. Get on with it!"
Foaly turned back. "What are the risks, apart from her getting fried?"
Root shook his head again. "There's no time for that now Fo - "
The centaur wasn't having any of it. "What are they?" he growled.
Root sighed. "Worst case scenario, where she lives; there could be permanent brain damage for the two of us, but that's only a fifty-fifty chance."
Foaly was livid. "Brain damage? Only a 50% chance? Are you crazy? And what do you mean, 'the two of you'. I thought it was Holly who gets zapped."
Root was getting impatient. "Firstly; yes, brain damage. And yes, a 50% chance is good. It means we have a lot of hope. Thirdly; anything that happens to Holly's body happens to mine while I do it. So any risks apply to me as well. Can we get on with it?"
Foaly was getting desperate. "But it won't work! For it to do so, the magic has to be in a big 'lump', or it will just flow straight through her! That's what fairy magic does; it flows."
Root rolled his eyes. "I know that! It's possible to collect all your magic like that when 'the night equals the day'."
A light dawned in the centaur's eyes. "On one of the equinoxes…"
"Yes. And as it happens, it's the vernal equinox tonight, so I know it will work! Now, do I have you consent?"
Foaly made a split second decision. "Do it."
Root nodded. "Good. Now repeat after me: As a member of the magickal community, I pledge my support for this act, and give my word as a faerie that I have consented to this course of action."
Foaly said it, hesitating only slightly before looking at Holly's lifeless form.
"Thank you." said Root sarcastically. "Now before I do this, there is something you must understand. As a fairy with no powers, a flow of magic this big will kill you in a millisecond. If you touch Holly or I during the spell, the magic will be transferred right into you. Do you understand?"
Foaly nodded. Root felt he needed to make sure. "Under no account do you touch her or me. Even if she screams with pain, you stay back. I'll tell you when it's safe. Oh, and one more thing; just so you know, I may have to restrain her, so don't be alarmed. Whatever you do, let me finish. Have you got all that?"
Foaly nodded mutely, before asking his final question. "What do you mean, restrain her?"
Root bit his lip, eager to get on. But he felt he owed this explanation to him. "I won't lie to you. This is going to be the most painful thing Holly ever has to go through. When the pain gets too much, she won't be able to pass out, because of the magic, and she may try to break free. Ready?"
The centaur spread his hands, backing away. "She's all yours."
"Good." grunted the elf, flexing his fingers. Cautiously, he took Holly's hands in his, gripping them tightly. As he closed his eyes to feel for the magic, doubt flashed in his mind. What if he couldn't… but there was no time for any hesitation. He'd just have to hope that watching the events in that tunnel so many years ago would be enough. Learning a spell by seeing someone do it once, from a distance was not the most effective method. He shook his head. It was now or never.
Root reached inside himself, and clumsily scooped up all his magic. Sending a silent pray to anyone who was listening, he raised the ball of blue light, feeling it struggle in his grip. He forced it to remain still; mind over matter, as they say. Taking a deep breath, he began to force it down his arms. It was like trying to push a lump of rock down veins that had only ever channelled liquid. Painful, but not enough to slow him down. The ball of magic squeezed through his wrists, and in a flash of blue, began travelling up Holly's fingers.
Captain Short's eyes flew open the minute the magic touched her, and she gave a small whimper. Root stopped pushing for a moment, taken aback at how quickly she had regained consciousness.
Holly felt it. "Don't stop!" she gasped, gritting her teeth against the escalating pain. "I can take it. Just keep - " She convulsed in agony. " – going."
The commander hurriedly continued. Holly screwed up her face, biting right through the skin on her lip to stop from crying out. Her fingernails dug into Root's hands, the digits threatening to smash bones. She began to shake her head, trembling all over. The pain was way over her threshold by now. This was meant to be the part when she took refuge in the blackness, but she couldn't. She began to scream at the excruciating hurt. It was the only way for her to deal with it, short of dying.
She started to thrash desperately, all mental functions abandoning her as she tried to break free. Root promptly sat on her. Holly continued to wriggle, but it had no effect. And then the commander felt it. The tail end of the mass of magical energy. He heaved a mental sigh of relief. Soon this would all be over.
The knowledge must have somehow passed to Captain Short, as she seemed to calm, and her cries of pain started to die away. He felt the last of the power flow from his fingers, and allowed himself to relax. Big mistake. By allowing his concentration to slip, Root had let go of his own soul. He sensed it pulling away from him, towards Holly, and he was helpless against it. His whole essence sank into her skin, and for a split second, Root felt what it was like to be her, in her body.
It was very strange. She was so… alive. It reminded him of how he had felt when he had been younger. A lot younger. It felt… good, good to feel fresh and alert. There was nothing like youth for a pick-me-up. But Holly's vitality was faded, hidden under a shell of pain. It reminded Root why he was really there, doing what he was. He tried to pull away, but found that he couldn't. He was stuck.
As he began to panic, he felt something lift away from him. Holly's soul was the one floating about now – drawn magnetically towards the empty husk that had used to be him. Root tried to grab onto her, stopping her going. He didn't think Holly would be very pleased to wake up in the body of her middle-aged commander.
It was at this point that Foaly decided to intervene. When the actual spell had been taking place, Holly had been glowing with a blue light from under every centimetre of her skin. There wasn't so much as a twinkle now, so Foaly assumed that the spell was over, and he could see that something wasn't right. He thought he'd seen a shadow, though a shadow made of light, pass between them, and now another, brighter one was crossing in the opposite direction. He realised what was happening. Somehow, Root must have initiated a soul-swap, and if he didn't break the contact soon, they would be irreversibly trapped in each other's heads.
He flexed a hoof, aimed it, and brought it crashing into the commander's side, knocking him from Captain Short, and against the wall. Holly also flew through the air, slamming into the corner, and slumping instantly to the floor, the cut on her forehead re-opening.
Root groaned, and staggered up, weaving a little as he made his way to where Foaly was already squatting next to Captain Short. Holly didn't look like she'd taken the impact well. A trickle of blood ran down her pale cheek. Root swore, checking her pulse. It was strong and even.
Holly's eyes flickered open, and she glared at her two companions. "What the hell took you so long?" she rasped.
Root and Foaly's faces broke into simultaneous grins of relief. "Sorry. Pony-boy here couldn't make up his mind." explained Root.
Holly smirked at the centaur. "Don't worry about hurrying or anything when my life's on the line, will you Foaly?"
The centaur glared back at her. "You're very cocky for a girl who was swooning in the arms of her boss a few minutes ago. May I remind you that if it wasn't for me, you would be dead now?"
Holly's colour quickly deepened, and she stared fixedly at the floor, swearing silent revenge against the centaur. Trust him to bring up stuff like that at the most inopportune of moments.
"Well maybe if you had gotten your four-legged arse into that freezer a bit quicker, I wouldn't have died in the first place." She mumbled. She raised her head to look into Foaly's face, carefully avoiding Root's eyes. "I was hardly in control of what I was doing."
The centaur's mouth, meanwhile, was hanging open. "You died?"
Holly waved her hand. "Well… in a manner of speaking. I was just about to leave my body when I was pulled back with a…" She glanced at Root's shocked features. "… kick in the face. And talking of kicks… what the hell happened? I could have sworn I felt the commander in my head."
"He accidentally initiated a 'permūto de ănĭmus'." drawled the centaur, back in intellectual control again. "Or as it's more commonly known, a 'soul exchange'." Holly raised an eyebrow. Foaly sighed. What he wouldn't give for someone of equal mental ability sometimes… "He let go of his soul, his essence, his life-force. It followed his magic into you, and your soul was drawn irresistibly back to him."
Holly nodded. "Uh-huh." she said vaguely, as if implying that he was making it up. "Or it was that just an excuse to kick our dear superior?"
Root glared at the centaur. "While we're on the subject… Did you really need to kick that hard? I would have thought your so-called intellect would have deduced that Captain Short didn't exactly need to be slammed against a wall after a near death experience."
"Magical rebound." snapped the centaur. "The traces of energy left over repelled outside contact, reacting very violen - "
"So I nearly ended up as Root?" interrupted Holly as the commander made a move to strangle Foaly.
"Yep. And I believe congratulations are in order, sir."
The elf raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"
Foaly grinned. "You're the first ever recorded man to penetrate the mind of a female." He winked at Holly. "Not even us geniuses have yet found a way to understand what goes on up there." He tapped the forehead of an extremely pissed-off Holly.
She grabbed his fingers, squeezing just hard enough that they wouldn't break. "How about I let you in on a little secret of the sisterhood, and tell you what's going through my mind right now?" she growled, baring her teeth at Foaly.
He gulped. "That's OK, I think I can guess." he said quickly. Root tried and failed to smother his laughter. Holly gave him a look, and the chuckles subsided.
She swung her glare back to the unfortunate centaur. "And if you ever call me 'Darling', 'Sweetheart' or any other endearing term along those lines I will personally rip your throat out." She smiled sweetly. "Got it?" Furious nods. "Good."
Captain Short climbed a little unsteadily to her feet. She checked under the jacket that had been draped over her shoulders at sometime, she couldn't remember when, for her weapon. Sitting in its holster, gleaming. Excellent. Holly let the jacket fall to the ground as she drew the stolen laser, firing it up. She smirked at the other two fairies, before striding to the doorway.
She was just disengaging the lock on the door, when her vision was swamped by viscous darkness. Her head swirled, and she found she couldn't stand up. She sank to her knees, keeling over onto her side.
The other two fairies saw her fall, and were immediately by her side. Holly blinked furiously. "I'm fine." she muttered. "Just a bit dizzy, that's all. I'll be alright in a minute."
The commander wasn't having any of it. "Oh no you don't." he said, hoisting her into a sitting position and propping her against a wall. "You don't leave this room until you convince me you're well enough to. Foaly, I assume you can explain this?"
Holly winced, arms crossed protectively over her side. It gave Foaly all the information he needed. "It's the MS bullet that's still in her. It's wreaking havoc with the internal chemical balance. We need to get it out now."
Holly gave an exasperated sigh. "Later, Foaly, when this is all over. I can manage till then. I told you, I'm fi - "
Root glared at her. "You; shut up. You are only OK when I say you are OK, understood?" he turned to Foaly. "How?"
"You're going to need to get it out manually; we don't have the tools. It will be near the surface of the skin by now."
The elf did a double-take. "Me? Isn't it you turn to do something, centaur? You are, after all, the expert in this."
"True as that may be, you have to do it. As you warned me yourself, my body is not built to handle large flows of magic. The power stored in the chamber has been held for longer than the recommended time, and it wants to get out. If I make contact with Holly, it will find me, and flow into me, and the closer I am to it, the quicker."
Root looked unconvinced. "So how was it possible that you could touch her before?"
The centaur was ready for that one. "I wasn't actively trying to claim it, the need to escape was less, and I wasn't in contact with Holly's bare skin long enough for it to get to me." he said coolly.
The commander glared. "Fine. What do I have to do?"
"First we need to find the point of entry. I suggest you look for a weak spot in the side of her dress. The fall-out from the bullet does knit back together, but loosely. It'll be easy to break apart."
Holly moved her arms, giving Root clear access to that part of the dress. He ran his fingers gently over the material, pausing once or twice before finding the spot. With the expertise of an LEP officer of many missions, he ripped a neat slit. Holly opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it. She decided she'd rather face Carmen's wrath than Root's, but it was a close call.
The commander turned to Foaly. "Right, what now?"
"There should be a lump or hard spot under the surface somewhere near. The bullet may have moved since it went in, but it won't be far away."
Tentatively, Root laid his hand over the skin on Holly's waist. She flinched slightly, and he immediately drew back. "Did that hurt?" he asked.
Holly forced a smile. "No, cold hands, that's all." She saw Root beginning to rub them together. "No – don't bother. It's kind of soothing…"
Root raised an eyebrow, rightly guessing that the real reason was that she was hoping it might numb the pain. Cautiously, he re-placed his fingers, running them over the skin. Holly gritted her teeth and kept still this time.
Eventually he found it, though due to the hardness of all the muscle around it, it wasn't easy to detect. Holly had obviously built up strong back and stomach muscles with all the field work and preparation she had to do.
"Found it. Next?"
"This is the tricky part. You need to try and draw it out with the emptiness that has replaced your power. As soon as it breaks the skin, you have to grab it, or it will try and sink itself into you."
Root couldn't help but glare at him. It seemed to the commander that he was making this difficult on purpose. The elf pictured the emptiness inside him, and what it was made of. There had been something like this in the advanced magic class back at school… What was it again? 'You can use anything to do with power to call something, even the absence of power itself, if you picture it clearly in your mind… Root tried to see the emptiness drawing the chamber out. There was a movement under Holly's skin, and Root saw her bite her lip against the pain. He pulled harder, and felt as well as saw the thing wriggling to the surface.
Finally it broke through, peeping out through a hole quickly filling with blood. Mentally, Root kept pulling, and with his fingers, attempted to grasp the end. It slipped, lubricated by the red liquid. He called it out perhaps a millimetre more.
"Got it." he said, teasing it out of the hole. Holly let herself relax. She didn't really care if she was bleeding. She'd been through worse than that in the last few minutes. The commander placed the bullet beneath the sole of his shoe, crushing the chamber. The magic was absorbed harmlessly into the rubber sole. He handed the slightly squashed, blood-covered projectile to Foaly with a grin. The centaur looked at it disdainfully. Obviously not big on blood and gore.
Holly was pressing a strip ripped from her skirt to her open wound. She would have used Root's magic but she couldn't control it yet. It was still adjusting to her body.
She tied the makeshift bandage tightly round her midriff and stood up, stretching stiff arms and legs. "Can we go now?" she asked sarcastically. "I've had my butt kicked more times than I can count in the last half an hour. I'd say it's just about time for me to be doing some butt-kicking of my own."
Root and Foaly grinned. It was good to see Holly back to normal again.
*****
Go Holly, go Holly, go Hol… *tails off at the weird looks she is receiving* Ahem, yes well. There you go. *squeaks* Looky looky looky!!! *waves hand at great big long thing that she loosely calls a chapter* My longest yet! *smiles proudly* Nearly 4,500 words. Go me!
Anyway, I just think I better mention that no matter how much coursework I get, and no matter how long between chapters, I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS STORY! Oh no. I have the whole plot worked out, and I have the ending done, and I have even made up an ending sentence… I will finish it. Promise. Unless, that is, I commit suicide/get murdered by a wrathful teacher (probably IT or English). Yeah.
Right then… you know the drill… REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! *smiles sweetly* please. It will be good for my, ahem, 'sanity'. So I shall see you later!
Luv slime xxx
PS: You will finally find out what really happened between Baz and Holl next chapter. *grins evilly* hehehe… this is my revenge on you, Holly, for being one of the too many Hollys I know. *counts on fingers* I know six! Six!!! And that's real people. I like to think I know two more…