Disclaimer: My dog is still worth more than I am, so I obviously own nothing.

Thank you for your wonderful reviews StinkFace and Raven Child 2. QK, I hope this clears up your questions.

Migraines

Book Learned

Neil picked up another cheerio on the tip of his spoon, studied it, and slipped it into his mouth. He chewed it meditatively, before swallowing it.

'Oh, will you just eat the stupid things already!' Archie snapped, slamming his hand down on the table, with a bang. He had finally become annoyed with the other hero and Neil, sensing this, answered with his own quip.

'If you're planning on threatening me, you might want to make it slightly more convincing,' he answered calmly, continuing to eat his cheerios one at a time.

Where's my hairbrush?

'Under the sink in the bathroom, Theresa, where it always is,' Neil called back.

'What is?' she asked, poking her head into the kitchen, looking slightly puzzled.

'Your hairbrush. Weren't you just—oh, never mind,' he ground out, sending her an irritated look. Standing, he dumped the remains of his breakfast into the garbage. Briefly, he wondered if he would get in trouble if he skipped school, then decided he didn't really care and retreated to his room. He paced around it once, then flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

'Neil? We're going now. Are you coming?' Odie asked from outside the door.

'I'm going to get some sleep,' Neil answered, pulling the covers over his head.

'He probably got a zit,' Archie told Odie, laughing. The lazy ass.

Neil started. None of them ever swore, it was a form of taboo among the group. That's it! I'm clinically insane! his mind screamed.

'You're not insane, Neil. You're just...' Odie began, only to be interrupted by Archie.

'Obsessed!' Archie howled, laughing at his own joke. Neil blinked.

'Go away, Archie,' he yelled back. Archie laughed but his footsteps retreated. Odie gave a frustrated sigh, before he, too, left the dorm.

Flinging the sheet off of himself, he leapt out of bed, intent on heading directly to Chiron's library.

'Neil? Shouldn't you be in school?' Chiron asked as the youngest hero walked up to him.

'I'm taking the day off,' Neil replied, rubbing an eye and yawing, 'But I need some info on Narcissus. Think you can help?'

'Yes…but I believe bed rest would do more for you than knowledge,' Chiron answered.

'Believe me, it's really important,' Neil told him quickly, 'I think it's going to drive me insane.'

Chiron chuckled, 'I'm sure it's not that bad. However, I can supply you with the appropriate texts.' He plodded over to a bookcase, fingering the spines, before frowning in concentration and moving onto the next. He did this several times, finally stopping in front of a faded silver book.

'This should help you in your quest, Neil.' Thoughtfully, he turned, as though remembering something of slight importance. Glancing suspiciously at Neil, he headed back into his office, returning a few minutes later with a small and nearly unidentifiable black box.

'I believe that this belongs to you now, Neil,' he said simply, relinquishing the rectangular object. Neil set the tome down on a table and cracked open the lid of the box. A cloud of dust instantly rose up and he sneezed viciously, before waving it away.

Chiron laughed, 'I believe you will face the same problem with your text.' Smiling, he retreated to his office.

Inside the box were two armbands, seemingly made of pure silver rested on a bed of red velvet. A gold plac read Narcissus in the bottom right hand of the box. Gently, he lifted one out of the cradle indented in the material to hold them in place. Pulling off his own armbands, he slid on Narcissus' and admired the way it went with his complexion.

Tuning from the box, he glanced back at the tome, and the real reason he had come. Flipping open the cover, he sneezed at the second cloud of dust he was forced to battle that day. Brushing it away, he began to read.

Telepathy and Empathy -347-

Narcissus developed his telepathy early in life, the process involving multiple migraines and a bout of insomnia. During this time, he began hearing voices in his head, some he knew, and others he did not. Emotions attached to the thoughts gave them even more solidity. His Empathy developed almost without his knowledge. He became more aware of the feeling of others, at any given point in time. By focusing, he was able to use either of them to enter the minds of others, listen to their thoughts and feel their emotions, project thought and enhance emotions, and alter memories and dull emotions.

Consequently, he began to dislike those around him as he was able to tell the truths behind what they said to him. This was cause enough for him to reject the company of others, including the mountain nymph, Echo, which led to his being cursed.

Neil stared at the passage for a moment longer, and then pulled frantically at the silver bands encircling his wrists. They refused to budge, as though they had simply become an addition to his skin. Fear welled up inside of him; he did NOT want to be cursed, under any circumstances. Cursing, he gave up, and dropped his head into his hands.

'And they call me the lucky one.'
Well?

Cheers!

Me