To Awesome as Annabeth- Yes! It's finally here! And about time too, I know! And it didn't take FOREVER, I was just having a bit of trouble with the starter chapter. But that cliff hanger has been appeased faster than originally planned, so no killing me maybe? Your heart is solid now? Let me see if I can melt that again- wait for my Christmas one-shot, should be up later :P Crystal's powers are kind of lopsided, in a strange sense. She has no control over them whatsoever, so if she gets upset or angry she'll either turn all shadowy like Nico did in BoO after too much shadow travelling or summon precious metals or a mix of the pair. I think I said that in the last few chapters on the first one :D
To SharkSwordDemon- Thank you :D
Melanie made her presence known at the five month mark. She had hijacked every electronic communication device- TVs, phones, radios, etc. Joel and his technicians were doing their best to locate her, but whatever frequency she was working on scrambled their devices and threw out all sorts of random locations. Joel and Neville were watching the blips intently to see if there was a pattern or a blank space that no blips showed up in; where was she?
"Ladies and gentlemen," She smiled coldly, "I won't waste more of your time. My demands are simple. Each government is to relinquish sums of money, amounts I have already detailed to them. You are also going to declare me as your one and only ruler. Any that oppose me will be shot down for treason. You have five hours. If my demands are not met in full by then..." She paused dramatically. "Well, you will regret it." The communications cut off. Joel cursed his laptop profusely and slammed it shut, fuming.
"Better than new technology and nothing!" His team stayed quiet, drawing up maps of the blips. If Joel was getting stressed, things were definitely bad.
Sighing, Joel combed his fingers through his hair. "How are the ground forces doing?"
"Holding the line for now, but they're not machines. They can't go on forever."
"And the evacuation tunnels?"
"Nearly done." Joel nodded, chewing his lip.
"Joel, you might want to look at this!" They had set up air surveillance and taken control of as many satellites as they could. Very little happened without them knowing it; very little being Melanie.
Leaning on the back of his teammate's chair, Joel frowned at the computer screen.
"Any medics spare?"
"No, but look." The image on the screen zoomed out and hope fluttered through Joel. Other members of the team were leaning in out of curiosity and a few cheers went up.
Percy had been hit. He and Annabeth had been leading the Greeks alongside Clarisse and the Ares cabin counsellor. Annabeth didn't see it happen. She had just dispatched of one of Melanie's men when Percy staggered into her, grimacing.
"Percy? What is it?" He didn't reply, unsteadily meeting her gaze, his hand clawing at his chest through his armour. "Seaweed Brain?"
"He got hit with one of their magic things!" Clarisse grunted, slamming her fist into an opponent's face. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. "Right here!" She tapped herself on the chest and threw herself into deeper combat.
"Percy, focus on me." Annabeth ordered, fumbling for the last of her nectar. He tried to refuse it, but she glared at him. "Seaweed Brain, do as you're told!" He tried to protest and she snapped into action, forcing him into swallowing the godly drink.
"Hey, what-?" Annabeth looked up from tending to her husband to see what had stunned Clarisse. "What's in Hades is going on?" She demanded.
All enemy forces lining the street had dropped their weapons and shields and magic powers to cover their ears and yell and cry in pain. Some stumbled away, tripping over debris and abandoned possessions; Annabeth saw blood seeping from their ears, staining their hands scarlet.
One by one, they turned and fled, leaving everything behind. Annabeth's heart soared- those weapons and shields would definitely rearm demigods and legacies.
But what had caused the mass retreat?
Percy stood a little straighter and mumbled incoherently, pointing with his sword. Annabeth followed the misdirection, not quite grasping what she saw before her.
A slight figure, average height roughly and in a white-golden cloak was kneeling over an injured legacy. Within a minute, the legacy was back on her feet and cleared of bloodstains, raring to go. She thanked her healer, shaking their hand vigorously.
Then they came to them.
Alvie dropped his hood, almost tentatively. Looking very sheepish.
"You have some serious explaining to do." Annabeth told him, doing her best to conceal her smile. Alvie nodded in agreement, murmuring a hello to his father and resting a hand on his chest.
"Keep still." He advised. Percy had no trouble doing that, frowning down at his son, slowly processing what was going on. Gradually, his eyes sharpened. He blinked a few times and then grinned, smothering his son in a firm hug. Alvie squirmed and gasped, Percy all but crushing his ribs.
"You're mom's right," Percy agreed, abruptly letting him go, "you have some serious explaining to do, mister."
"I know, I know." Alvie prodded his father's chest experimentally. "Shouldn't have too many problems if you take it easy." Percy did a double take. "Maybe cut down on the demigod stuff," Alvie continued, oblivious to his dad's disapproving look.
"Are you saying I'm too old for this?"
"Yes. No!" Alvie corrected hastily, cottoning on. "I just meant... I... ooohhh..." He pushed his hands through his hair, trying to figure out how to get out of this hole. His parents' humour died there; a thick scar diagonally traced from just above Alvie's eye and up, disappearing into his hairline.
"How'd you do that?" Percy asked, brushing aside Alvie's hair to get a better look.
"Looks like a knife." Annabeth commented, her fingertips dancing across the old wound. "Alvie..." She warned.
"I'll explain later." He mumbled, looking back up at his dad. "I didn't mean to call you old, I just," He tapped Percy on the chest again, "think you should go easy now. That wasn't a nice spell."
"Dammit, ruined my streak." Annabeth smacked her husband's arm, Alvie trying to sift through the sarcasm.
"Do as he says, Percy." She warned. "Did you make them go away?" She asked her son, waving in the general direction of the retreated army. He nodded vaguely, still puzzling over his father's comment. "How?"
"Issued a high-pitched sound directly into their brains." He replied, scratching at his chin. "They won't come back for a day or so, no matter how much Melanie screams at them."
"Plenty of time for you and Crystal to get reacquainted then!" Percy said cheerily. Alvie looks stricken. "What?"
"She's going to kill me."
"Aha!" Percy clapped him on the shoulder. "That just means she missed you." Alvie wrung his hands nervously, his eyes darting from one parent to the other.
"Did you?" He asked quietly. "Did you miss me?" Annabeth smiled softly and drew him into a hug. Percy joined in.
"Of course we did, sweetie." Alvie relaxed a fraction, relieved, and hugged them back.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Crystal raged as soon as she got over the shock of seeing Alvie in the main room. She wanted to hit him, hug him, kill him, kiss him all at once, not sure where to start.
It ended up with a fierce hug that cracked his ribs. Unbeknownst to her, Percy and Annabeth exchanged sly smiles. "You're an idiot." Crystal murmured into his chest.
"I'm a Jackson boy," Alvie told her, remembering something Tobias had said earlier, "we're all idiots."
"Hey!" Percy protested. Annabeth hit him once and he fell silent, pretending to sulk.
"Group hug!" Tobias called. He grabbed those nearest to him- Joy and Max- and initiated the group hug, completely ignoring Alvie's sudden disapproval of so many people. "You love it really, bro." Tobias grinned, ruffling Alvie's hair. "Ooh, nice battle scar."
"What?" Crystal pinned Alvie's hair back with her fingers and examined the scar. "How did you do that?" She demanded. "Where have you been? What have you been doing? Where were you when Melanie attacked?"
"Give him a chance to answer, Crystal." Nico half-laughed. He was sat by the window, balanced on the wide shelf below it and tending a gash on his thigh.
"Well?" She added, drawing back and crossing her arms firmly. Alvie regarded her for a second and then the rest of us family, his gaze lingering on each individual for a few seconds.
"It's a long story." He eventually said. "I'll tell you all when this is over."
"Are you going to stop Melanie?" Adrian asked excitedly.
"I'm going to try."
"Smack her in the face for me," Louisa grumbled, restringing her bow, "'n' I might forgive ya for bein' an idiot."
