To Guest, Nico survived, so yes, you're psychic! Join Alvie's club!
Alvie came over the following day to help finish decorating. Luckily, Tobias was working.
Crystal attacked him with a fierce hug the second he walked into her room.
"Um… hi?" Alvie stammered, tentatively hugging her back.
"I can hug my boyfriend if I want to." She retorted, kissing him lightly. "Guess what happened." She smiled.
"Um…" Alvie studied her for a few seconds, milky white shards appearing in his eyes. "Something with William." He started, his eyes getting paler by the second. "And a gun." He looked down, his hand gently covering her bandaged wound. "Are you OK?" He asked.
"I'm fine." Crystal smiled, waving it off, before telling him everything that had happened last night. "And I heard Mom and Nico talking last night." Her grin brightened. "Mom's going to divorce William!" Alvie smiled. "That means Mom can start again and cut all ties from that ass completely!"
"With Nico?" He asked quietly. She looked at him blankly. "Um, will she start again with Nico?"
"Oh I hope so. He's so cool!" Alvie nodded in agreement. Crystal moved away and sat on her bed, Alvie following her faithfully. "I used to plan about tracking my dad down and having a go at him for leaving, but now I know the truth, I can't have a go at Nico. I thought he'd freak out more about having a daughter he never knew about, but he's so chilled about all of this."
"He's got Joy back." Alvie mumbled. Crystal looked at him. "Dad was talking to Mom earlier and he said Nico hadn't been so happy for years."
"Well, that's depressing."
"I know, but Dad was glad Joy was back. Apparently she meant everything to Nico when they first met and-" He was cut off by a friendly caw and Madam flew in through the door, resting on the head board of Crystal's bed.
"What's with the crow?" (I will put that one-shot up soon, hopefully).
"Nico found her as a little, featherless thing and raised her and now she's a loyal pet."
"But Madam?"
"Self-explanatory." Alvie replied, just as Madam gave a demanding caw. "No food." He told the bird. Madam squawked at him, ruffling her feathers. "No." He repeated firmly. The crow glowered at him, cawing a final time before taking flight and circling out of the room.
"Yep, Madam." Crystal agreed.
It took them another four hours to finish decorating and clean-up. After that, Nico took them all out and treated them to a 'well-deserved McDonalds'. He got a Happy Meal.
"What is it with you and Happy Meals?" Crystal asked, unwrapping her Big Mac.
"Toy." Nico replied casually, holding up the plastic package with a Smurf toy in. "Oh, I've got this one." Joy nudged him, smiling. "What? Toys are awesome."
"Brakes are for babies, but toys are awesome?" Crystal challenged. "Hmm…"
"Shut your face." Nico said, sticking his tongue out at her. Crystal mimicked. "Ow!" Nico turned to look at Joy disbelievingly. "You attacked me."
"My foot slipped." Joy smirked. She glanced at Alvie, who was picking at his fries. "Are you OK, sweetie?" Alvie didn't respond, reaching for his drink. Crystal saw that his hands were shaking.
"Alvie?"
"You're not vegetarian, are you?" Nico asked, thinking about the chicken nugget meal he had bought for Alvie. He didn't get a reply either, Alvie staring at his fries while mixing his banana milkshake with the straw. Nico reached across the table and pressed his fingers to Alvie's forehead.
A jolt went through Alvie and his drink went flying. He was up and stumbling away from the table, looking at them all, terrified.
"Alvie, what's the matter?" Crystal got up and followed him, but he only turned and ran.
"Alvie!" Nico shouted after him. "Oh gods, Percy's going to kill me…"
"What did you do to him?" Crystal demanded, rounding on Nico. He met her glare evenly, his shoulders tensing.
"I was trying to see if he was OK, but he freaked." Nico left the booth and ran after his nephew, leaving Crystal and Joy to get weird looks from other people.
"Mom, what's going on?"
"I don't know, sweetie." Joy replied honestly, looking worriedly after Nico and Alvie. She put her hands on Crystal's shoulders, still gazing after the runaways. "We should go after them." Crystal nodded in agreement.
It took them half an hour to find Nico and Alvie, but something was wrong. The whole length of the corridor was deserted of all shoppers. Alvie and Nico stood ten metres apart, storm owls filling the air, their screeches echoing shrilly. Alvie's eyes were glowing pure white, cold and lifeless, but his grimace made him look pained and angry.
Nico was blasting storm owls with shadows, but there was always another one to replace any he dispatched of.
"Alvie, stop!" Crystal screamed, trying to run forward for only her mother to pull her back. "Alvie!" She started fighting her mother, but Joy suddenly displayed a hidden strength.
Nico threw his hands out and dying shrieks emitted from the storm owls and they all evaporated. Alvie staggered, as if Nico had delivered a punch to him, but he righted himself quickly and glowered at Nico, bunching his fists.
Alvie spread his hands wide, seeming to embrace something, but white energy crackled along his arms. Throwing his hands forward, bringing them together in a single, resounding clap, the energy surged forward, straight at Nico. Nico retaliated by doing the same thing, but with shadows.
Light and Darkness clashed in the centre. The explosion that followed knocked them all back, filling the air with the smell of smoke, ice and darkness, rendering them blind and choking on the thick smell of smoke and blood.
Nico sat up groggily, feeling drained. He swatted at the swirling shadows in front of him and they obediently swished away, clearing the air. He looked round and saw Joy moving towards Crystal, who was coughing and spluttering.
"Baby, are you OK?" Joy asked, her hand trembling as she took Crystal's hand.
"I'm OK." Crystal replied thickly, sitting up. "Where's Alvie?" Nico glanced at his nephew, who was lying on his side, his back to them. Nico scrambled to his feet and raced over, falling to his knees next to Alvie.
"Alvie?" Nico shook Alvie by the shoulder gently. "Buddy, can you hear me?" Nico's fingers fumbled to check Alvie's pulse. It was weak and uneven, but it was there. Fumbling for his phone, Nico ran through his head on how to break the news to Percy. All of his children were Percy's soft spots, but Alvie was the main one and stirred the most worry in Percy.
"Nico? What's up?"
"It's Alvie-" Nico started.
"What?" Percy demanded fiercely. "Nico, what's happened?" Nico hurriedly explained, imagining Percy's reaction. "Where are you?" Nico didn't get to reply as Alvie suddenly coughed, blood splattering onto the floor.
"Oh gods…"
"What?" Alvie choked again, bringing up more blood. "Nico, what?!" Holding the phone between his ear and shoulder, Nico pulled Alvie back and sat him up. Alvie's coughing became heavier and more laboured, blood drenching his front.
"Percy, get here now."
That will do…
If you haven't read my new story yet, could you check it out please? It's called The Lost Legacy.