Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.
AN: Ok, I know I haven't updated for a suitably long time (in my opinion), and I was rewriting small bits of Hopeless, since I thought that it was...too rushed. But then I realised I couldn't do that without changing the whole story, and since I already started a sequel...anyways, just need to say sorry, but don't expect another update for some time. I want to try and make sure the next few chapters are fine.
And many thanks to Shiego627, IceAge Mutant, englishtiger and IceDynamiteDragonflyStars for reviewing, they really made my day!
Chapter 10:
Manny gaped at Diego, who looked incredibly agitated and spooked. "What?"
By now, Shira's parents, and the others of the Herd were there. "Slow down, Diego." Ellie smiled nervously. "What's going on?"
Diego was panting heavily, his hazel eyes wide as he stared at them. "Diana's been captured."
"No way." Eddie spoke up. Ellie glared at him, before turning back to Diego.
"By who?"
"I don't know. But they're not Ordinaries." Diego's eyes were flitting around.
"Ordinaries?" Manny questioned.
Humans. Shira mouthed at them from where she was now standing next to Diego.
"Diego?" Shira turned to Diego, who's breathing had turned more rapid. She glanced up helplessly at her parents, who immediately acted.
Shira's father knelt down next to Diego.
"Diego? I need you to calm down." Diego didn't look at him. He snapped his fingers in front of his face, and Diego looked up. "You're having a panic attack, Diego. Calm down."
Diego was now gasping for air. "Diana."
"We'll get her back."
"Just whether alive or not, we don't know." Crash joked.
This set him off.
Instantly, Ellie, Manny and Shira each smacked him in the head. Hard.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Manny hissed at him. For some reason, he didn't feel any sort of glee. Any smug part of him he suppressed. Maybe it was because he had come to terms with the fact that he and Diego were not the same species, much like he and Shira.
The house started trembling, and they looked around in horror as a mild earthquake started up.
Melanie, Shira's mother, immediately sprinted upstairs.
"Go to the living room." Shira's father said in a low voice. "Now."
Shira didn't argue with the tone, silently leading them to the room, where they heard Melanie come back downstairs.
The last thing they saw was a silver bracelet of some kind being clamped down on Diego's wrist.
Melanie had seen a fair share of attacking species back when she and her parents used to live in the Other world. Elves, Pixies, Sidhe, Angels, heck, even Witches. But Diego's panic attack was beyond anything she had ever seen. The sheer power that he controlled was, without a doubt, immense.
For a fleeting moment, she wondered whether it was safe or not to let Shira date Diego.
She quickly pushed the thought away as she forced the bracelet onto Diego's wrist. She had one from the time she had released her husband from one. Hopefully it still worked.
It did.
The shaking stopped, but Diego's eyes clamped shut, hands buried in his hair and tugging so hard it must've been painful. His eyes then jolted wide.
"Benito."
The single word held so much anguish.
Diego shook his head, a dry sob escaping him.
Melanie let her motherly skills take over. She moved to Diego's side, wondering if his own mother had ever done this before. Then again, she didn't even know her or where she lived. Definitely not in the same town, or he would've gone to her place instead.
It pained her to think that the only person he could go to were friends from school.
Diego leaned against her shoulder, eyes shutting once again in pain as the bracelet did it's work. It tightened around his wrist.
"Just let it go. It's fine." Melanie murmured.
Diego let out a ragged scream, his eyes flickering at something none of them could see. Another scream escaped him.
Melanie could only rock him gently, until he collapsed against her, spent, unconscious.
The screams scared them.
Shira was fidgeting with her hands.
When the screams finally ended, they looked up. A low murmur of voices. Then footsteps sounded up the stairs, while Melanie entered the living room.
"Is he ok?" Shira blurted out.
Melanie nodded. "Unconscious, but fine."
"Anything else?"
She raised an eyebrow. "He mentioned someone named Benito."
Ellie frowned. "Didn't he mention someone like that when he had that panic attack last year?"
Shira nodded, already reaching for Diego's bag, which was now sitting next to her. She took out his phone, typing in the password, before opening contacts.
"What are you doing?" Ellie asked.
"Getting Soto. The only one who would actually have a guess about this is him."
She dialled the number.
"Diego?"
"Soto, it's me." Shira put the phone on speaker.
"Lopez? Why are you calling me on Diego's phone? Much less at this time?"
"Diego had another panic attack."
Silence.
"And he mentioned someone named Benito."
"And?"
"Do you have any idea who he is?"
A heavy sigh, reluctance clear in his tone. "To be honest, I'm not sure."
"But you suspect." Ellie pointed out without hesitation.
Soto sighed again. "I think that Benito was his brother? I mean, besides…"
Shira frowned at the tone. Her mind raced. What would Soto be worried about revealing without Diego's permission? Something personal, about siblings- wait. "I know about his half-siblings."
"What half-siblings?" Manny demanded.
Shira pursed her lips. Her parents were looking confused as well, and she sighed. "I can't tell. I promised Di I wouldn't."
Soto spoke up from the line. "Anyway, I think something happened to Benito."
"Why?" Shira frowned again.
"Think about it, Lopez. We've all heard from the crazy older sister," Crash and Eddie snickered, "but no brother. Unless Di is paranoid and really wants to keep Benito a secret, means something happened to Benito."
"But what?!" Shira growled. She heard Soto's equally annoyed growl.
"Do you think I know, Lopez?!"
Shira blinked, then shook her head. "Sorry, just-. You know."
Soto's answer was also resigned. "Tell me when he wakes."
"Sure thing." Shira nodded, about to hang up, before Soto's voice cut in.
"Hey, have you tried calling Diana?"
Shira growled. "No. Apparently, Diana's missing. Probably some thugs."
Surprise coloured Soto's tone. "Seriously? Because from what Di's told me, Diana's able to hold her own in a fight."
"What?" this information was new. Shira noticed her parents leaning forward, eyes more alert now. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that Diana's survived many assassination attempts. That person must be really powerful if they managed to take out Diana."
Shira frowned, noticing her parent's alarmed looks. "Ok then. I'll try calling her. Thanks, and bye."
"Bye."
Soto hung up, and Shira looked at her parents, troubled. Wordlessly, she dialled in Diana's number, putting her on speaker. The phone rang once, twice, and then fell to voicemail. "You've reached Diana Bennett. I'm currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep." Beep.
She looked up at her parents, scrolling through the phone's contents. Diego had called his sister about half an hour ago.
"What is it?"
Melanie leaned forward, her face serious. "Shira, if Diana is as good as Soto seems to think, then she must've been taken by something from the Other world."
"The Other world?" Manny repeated confused. "What's that?"
Shira's father looked surprised at the question. "I thought you would know it, being children of Dæmon-hunters. The Other world is the world where our kind reside. We can't live here in this world all at once - we would be hunted down faster than you can say "dead"."
"Why would they take Diana?" Ellie leaned forward. "I mean, sure, Diego's a Witch, but is Diana one? If she was, then she could've escaped, right? Mom said that Witches' powers act on instinct to their user's emotion. If they jumped her, she would've been able to win, right?"
"That's because Diana's not a Witch." Diego was walking down the stairs to join them in the living room. For having collapsed recently, he seemed fine, eyes intent as he looked at Ellie.
"She's a human?" Sid guessed.
A shake of the head. "No. She's half-elf."
"Whoa whoa whoa. Hold it." Ellie frowned. "You're a Witch. Diana's half-Elf. I'm guessing she's also half-human?"
A nod.
"Then how does that work?"
Diego frowned, considering it. "My mom was an Elf. My father was a human. Diana was the first child."
"Then what about you?"
"Witchcraft has always run in my family." Diego sounded like he was choosing his words carefully. "So has other strange kinds. My grandfather was a Sidhe, but is was something of a skip generations thing, so my mother was an Elf from my grandmother."
"That happens?" Ellie asked, head tilted.
Diego nodded. Melanie frowned. There was something niggling in the back of her head - something that she had learnt as a child. There was a family line before, one of which had random powers appearing…she just couldn't remember the name.
Diego sat down, directly opposite the window. "Yes. It does for some. Such as the Head's family. His family had been around for centuries - some of them were Elves, some were Faes, some were Medians, like Shir and her family."
Shira huffed. "So-"
"Get DOWN!"