Chapter 4 - A Second Centaur

(This one's shorter than usual. Hmm.. Got lazy. XD)











Chapter 4





A Second Centaur











"No, he's sleeping." Said a voice "Yes.. Yes, I'll be sure to keep you posted, Dom." Silence.. "No, no, he'll live. Yeah. Y'think I'd let him go? Okay, yeah... You're welcome. Bye."











Foaly hung up the phone and clip-clopped over to a bruised and burned Artemis Fowl, lying unconscious on a cot. He'd better not die. Foaly thought. The centaur had made a third friend, this was uncommon among quadrepeds of his nature, and he didn't want to loose two. Holly was on the centaur's other side, in a cot similar to Artemis's, but smaller.





"You can't go on me." Said the centaur. "You're my friend." He checked the monitors next to the human's bed. There was a knock at the door. Foaly raced over to it and opened it slightly. "Yes?"





"It's me." Said a voice from outside the room.





"Ooh, fantastic." Said Foaly and opened the door wider. "My second in command computer geek man has arrived!" He cheered quietly.





"Idiot"





"I heard that." Said Foaly, wagging a finger mockingly, but he remained cheerful. "Please, come in. They're sleeping right now."





A second centaur with black, shoulder length hair entered the room. "This is your office?" Said the centaur.





"No, no, it's just a room." Replied Foaly, grabbing a chocolate shake off of a table and taking a drink.





The phone rang just as Foaly set down the shake. "Oh." Said he as the other centaur reached for the phone.





"Hello, Foaly of the LEP Opperations booth, how may I be of assistance?" He sang cheerfully into the phone, immitating Foaly with a slight mock in his tones.











"Hello, Foaly, is that you?" Blaiz whispered gently into the phone.





"Who the heck do you think it is?" Said the person on the other line before static blared in her ear. It sounded like there was a struggle on the other end.





"Foaly?" Repeated Blaiz.





"Yes? Sorry." Said Foaly.





Blaiz heard roaring laughter in the backround. "Is everything ok?" Inquired the girl, hearing the laughter increase in volume.





"Yes, yes! All is well." Said He, and Blaiz heard the ticking of a keyboard.





"I was wondering if I could come down there and-"





"Yeah, you can. But if you're coming to see him, he's not pretty." Interupted the centaur, who stopped typing and looked back at the teenager in the cot. Artemis's head flopped to one side, but he slept on.





Blaiz arrived five minutes later, knocking quietly four times on the door. "Enter" said a voice that she knew was not Foaly's own.





She stepped into a room with boring blue walls and floor. The curtains were drawn over a fake window, just a spotlight beyond some plastic. "Foaly?" She asked again in that same timid voice.





"Suprise!!" Came a fake-happy voice from someone who'd lept out from behind a large potted plant. Blaiz squeaked in shock and fell over flat on her back. "You are so freakin' gullible!" A voice howled above her, barely audible because it was laughing so hard.





"Don't be rude." Came a softer voice. That, there, was Foaly. But who was that other one?





"You jerk!" She kicked out, coming in contact with the person's shins.





"OW." Gasped the centaur through his teeth. He reared onto his hind legs and was ready to drive down on the girl. Foaly seized a lock of the angry quadreped's jet black hair and yanked, sending the centaur backward, sprawling on the floor.











A yell and a crash, Artemis's eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly, his breathing quickening. His eyes slid over a centaur and his sister flat on their backs, Foaly's head swiveling back and forth between the two so fast, it looked like he were watching a tennis match. Foaly's muddy brown eyes met Artemis's deep blue ones. "Sorry for the rude awakening." Chuckled he and trotted over to the boy, counting on his fingers with a sympathetic look toward him. Artemis watched. 3.......? 2.......? 1.......? A blast of pain shot down Artemis's spine, more painful near the middle. He shut his eyes and cried out, flopping back onto the bed.





"What was that?!" Gasped he, fighting a losing battle against the tears in his eyes.





"It's a pain reliever and it looks like it just ran out." Replied Foaly as he opened a box on his desk. He removed a bottle from it and dumped a little into a dish. "Just sit up and I can get this on your back." He said. With dificulty, Artemis did so. "Does your back feel like it's on fire?" Asked Foaly. Artemis nodded once. Foaly's frown lowered. "All the worse for you, then." He shrugged, then tossed the liquid across Artemis, leaping backward as he did so. The liquid supercooled, turning into ice in a small cloud of steam. The boy yelled, this made Foaly feel guilty, but then again, it was for his own good. Blue crystals skipped along the ice and melted through it, reaching Artemis's skin. They hopped along his spine until they disappeared, ice and all. Artemis fell back, slightly crosseyed, but there was no pain upon impact.





"What is that?" Said Artemis in a small voice.





"It's just magic in a bottle, does whatever I tell it to, but never directly. That's why it had to freeze you first." Artemis glared. "Hey, hey! It's better then setting you on fire, 'n it?" Said Foaly defencevely.











By this time, yes, Blaiz and the centaur were up and watching Foaly at work. Blaiz's eyes widened in shock when Foaly threw something onto Artemis, while the centaur's were fixed on the girl, a murderous look in his eyes. She looked across at him. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and held out a hand shyly. "Blaiz."





He took her hand and shook it briefly. "Taurus." Seeing Foaly was watching, he quickly lied, "sorry about that." Foaly smirked triumphently and turned back to Artemis.





"All is forgiven." Replied Blaiz, scooting closer to the bed where Artemis sat. "How are you?"





"Fine." Said Artemis shortly, he noticed Foaly had placed a t-shirt on the boy's lap and departed to his office. Quickly, he pulled it on. His hand brushed against something, it was his belt. He put his feet over the side of the bed, his suit pants still on. Thankful for that, he stood and stretched, his back painless.





"Clever isn't he? To fall ten feet and feel nothing in the morning." Commented Blaiz.





"Yep." Replied he, shortly again, but he wasn't listening fully. His eyes were on the unconsious, corpse-white captian in the cot beside his..

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