"Ex- cuse me?" The taken aback Artemis asked Foaly. It was quite humiliating, this situation. He was propped up in bed with a centaur interrogating him and he had no idea what was going on. Utter ignorance. That and he had just been accused of being... crazy? Well, not being crazy, but not being crazy anymore – which would lead you to suspect that he had been crazy at one time or another.

"Ah, yes. So, you don't remember anything since you put you brothers to bed." Foaly said.

"Last night you mean?" Holly and Foaly shared a look.

"Yes, last night." Something about the way Foaly said that made Artemis nervous, though it took him a few moments to register that, it not being a well exercised feeling for him.

"No, I assume I was asleep." He'd had to say something. Everybody was silent, Foaly, a thoughtful look on his face. "Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?"

"I'm not sure." At least Foaly was being frank with him now. "I'll tell you this; you didn't put your brothers to sleep last night."

…

"A week?" said Artemis. "I've been… incapacitated for a week?"

"6 days, 14 hours, 27 minutes, and 38... No... 39 seconds." Corrected Foaly. Even Artemis had had to roll his eyes at that one.

"That does not console me, centaur." The small group was seated in Artemis' study; they had just finished explaining what had happened to him.

"Not my problem, if it weren't for me you'd be in LaLa Land right now, and I wouldn't find that very consoling." Artemis' replying glare could have melted ice.

"LaLa Land? How far out was I, exactly?" Watching Artemis now, you would hardly believe he had just suffered from a severe psychological attack. He was his usual erect self, en route to being briskly cold.

"Fwwwwew-" Foaly lamented with a wave of his hand, " waaay out of it. Would 'av been comical if these two hadn't been so worried." Artemis new Foaly was just ribbing him but that didn't stop a tight frown from stretching his lips.

"How long?" He asked, his tone far from light.

"Pardan?"

"You said the cure was temporary, how long until it wears off?"

"Well, it depends." Foaly told him.

"On what." Artemis pried.

"Species, dosage, severity of condition, reaction to treatment, &ct." Artemis frown tightened.

"Don't tell me you haven't theorized an estimation, Foaly."

"All right Fowl, I'll give you a good round week. After that we'll wait three days before administering it again."

"Right, a week to cure myself." Artemis sounded weary. No one spoke for a moment.

"You'll do it Artemis, you always do." The elf had laid a hand on the boys shoulder, a gesture of comfort. A thin smile she received for her efforts.

"I know, I always do."

…

That evening was a quiet one, the fairies left and Artemis had dinner with his family. It wasn't until later when he was alone that he began formulating a plan of action…

One: Diagnose himself. [Check]

Two: Act upon diagnosis and gather research. [In the process of completion]

Three: Find a cure. [Yet to happen]

Five: Share with Foaly [Happening one step at a time since he needed the centaurs help, albeit not admitting it to anyone]

It being redundant to say, his mother was far from reassured, but could obviously come up with no better plans herself. This and the fact that just over a day ago she presumed her son to be dead for the second time in as many months, did not make for a joyful atmosphere at Fowl Manor, in fact it was quite somber.

…

~Three Days Later, 11:30 PM : Fowl Manor, Artemis's Bed Room~

Artemis collapsed on his bed not bothering to do more to his attire than kick off his shoes and rip off his tie. It had been three days since Foaly had given him a week to endure sanity. Artemis had only managed to do three things in this amount of time:

1) Memorize all the information Foaly had on his condition.

2) Discover that the unpleasant side effects of Foaly's temporary 'cure' included; loss of memory, loss of fine motor skills, and sudden unpredictable fainting. It was indeed amazing that he was able to memorize mass amounts of information accordingly, but let us not forget that Artemis was determined. The loss of his dexterity didn't put him in high spirits ether.

3) Stay awake for a full 52 hours strait.

These things were not considered, by Artemis, to be great accomplishments. Particularly number three, of which he was now sorely regretting. He gave an inaudible moan as he hit the bed sheets, this he thought, was a living nightmare. Little did he know that it really had yet to begin.