The Sea and the Sky

Chapter 9:

AN/ Sorry for the long wait, I've been a bit preoccupied with my studies. But I'm back now! :D This is the long-awaited Flock intro! Are you excited?

Fang POV: (Right after Max left)

I smiled as Max threw herself out the window. Finally, that traitor was gone from the Flock. Honestly, I don't how I couldn't see it before. She was always keeping things from us, and that Voice in her head should have been a sign from the start. I paused in my thoughts as I heard Nudge's muffled sobs. I looked at her and noticed that she was curled up on the couch, her face buried in a pillow. In an act of complete instinct I pulled her in close. The Flock all sent me surprised glances, especially Angel, but I sent them a glare that said, "What? I can be caring too."

Nudge brought her face out from the pillow, which now had long tracks of mascara running down it. I patted her head a little awkwardly. I hadn't really had much to do with comforting anyone. Ma…the traitor normally took care of that. "It's going to be ok Nudge." I said quietly. "She was a spy; she didn't need to stay here." Nudge started sobbing into my shoulder. Great. At least my shirt was black. "I know!" She choked out between sobs. "But she's been like our mom for so long! She fed us and cleaned up and healed us when we were hurt! She taught us how to fly and how to read and how to fight!* And now she's gone!" She succumbed to her tears and completely buried her face in my shoulder.

The rest of the Flock started quietly sobbing as well, and I felt a few traitor tears spilling onto my face. "We don't need her!" Angel yelled. I cleared my foggy vision the best I could and looked at her. She was the only one that hadn't shed any tears. Her face was set in anger, and I wondered what could have got her so upset. "She was a traitor, don't you remember?" She paced to the window and slammed it shut. "She was weak and a terrible leader. I'll be a much better one." As soon as Angel said that it was like a fog was cleared from my mind. I blinked a few times and stood up from my position on the couch. My expression turned from quiet sorrow to what I assume was death walking. The rest of the Flock blinked a like they were seeing light for the first time.

I growled at Angel and she backed against the window in fear. "You did something to us." I ground out. Angel started quivering a little. "I only made you see the truth." She said, her angry words not matching her terror. Nudge got up from the couch, her eyes red and swollen from her tears. "No." She snarled, matching my angry tone with one of her own. "You controlled our minds to make us kick Max out!" The rest of the Flock stopped blinking and glared at Angel, as if uttering what she did aloud had broken her spell. Angel shakily opened the window, as if preparing an escape route. "Why would you do that?!" Gazzy yelled, barley able to believe his sister's betrayal.

Angel's eyes once again turned to steel. "She was a terrible leader and she has almost no power. Jeb told me that I was the superior being, that I was supposed to be the leader but she was born first. I should be the leader." She growled, trying to ensnare us in her mind control again. I shook my head and glared at her. "That's not going to work a second time." I said walking closer to Angel. She backed away a few steps and her back hit the window sill. "I think you should leave." I said quietly. Her mouth flopped open at the clear invitation to exile. She frantically searched the faces of the Flock for a little compassion, something that would allow her to stay. They were all frozen in a look of unbridled hatred and the pain of betrayal. She slowly closed her mouth.

"Fine. I'll leave." She said quietly, her eyes on the ground. Suddenly her head snapped back up and her eyes were full of fire. "But one day I'll be back, and you'll wish you would have made me your leader!" And with that she clambered up onto the window sill and took off into the rapidly approaching twilight. We watched her as she flew out the very window Max had thrown herself out of, but this time no tears were shed. I sighed tiredly and plonked back down onto the couch. The rest of the Flock watched Angel for a few more seconds the joined me. "What are we going to do now?" Gazzy said, his face still trained toward his rapidly retreating sister.

My thoughts turned to Max. We had let that little devil child trick us into ruining, outcasting her. She needed to hear that we were sorry, that we had made a grave mistake and we needed her back. That I needed her back. I looked at the rest of the Flock. They were visibly shaken at having lost two of our members in such a short time, one at the cruelty of the other. I turned to Gazzy. "We're going to find Max." I said firmly. Slowly, one by one, their faces turned into ones of stony determination. I knew then that no matter how long it took, no matter how much pain we faced, that we were going to get her back.

Two Years Later-

We had searched and searched, but it was like Max had disappeared of the face of the Earth. Every member of the Flock had grown up a little, including myself. My hair now reached to below my shoulder blades, and I had grown into an almost-adult. Gazzy was no longer the cute little kid he used to be. He had grown into a slightly lankier pre-teen, with pain in his every gaze. He had taken the loss of Max and angel the hardest. Nudge was now a beautiful teenager, and more than once I was forced to protect her from seedy men looking for a one night stand. Iggy had let his hair grow out as well, and he now had some muscle definition.

Somehow we had made our way to New York during our search, but it turned out to be a bad move. The night we entered the city all kinds of beasts and monsters that I had thought were just myth had come lumbering out of the darkness to attack us. They all whispered of a little temptress ordering them to destroy us. At first they were hard to see; it was like a mist surrounded their bodies. As soon as one hit us, though, we were able to see them just fine. It was a good thing we were used to fighting Erasers, or we would have never survived the night. We weren't even able to leave the city, since if we tried monsters instantly swarmed us.

A few weeks of living through that hell, and I started to hear a voice. I thought I was finally going insane, but I followed its instructions anyway. Apparently it was leading us to a place called Camp Half Blood, a place safe from monsters. "You do not belong there, but perhaps they will let you in. Your patron goddess, after all, does reside in the camp." And so we ran. We didn't stop for food or sleep and just went on pure adrenaline. More and more monsters picked up on our trail, and soon there was a pack of them right behind us. We just kept running, hoping that we could reach this supposed safe haven soon. In the middle of the day we finally reached a hill. There was a sign that said strawberries, but I didn't pay much attention to it. One-eyed beasts and huge dogs were on our trail, and now they had us on open ground. I turned to face the oncoming horde.

"Go." I growled to the Flock. "I'll hold them off for as long as possible." The Flock wheeled around to face the monsters with me. "If you go, we go." Iggy said. "Idiots." I murmured, secretly glad they had chosen to fight with me. As the first one-eyed monster reached us and I prepared to meet God, or whoever had a nasty sense of humor when they created me, I heard a thunk. The creature hit the ground with a loud thud, dead at my feet. A golden dagger had sprouted from its forehead. We looked around in surprise as the monsters stopped their advance, clear looks of fear on their faces. Suddenly, two creatures swooped down from the sky. In my sleep deprived state my first thought was angels, as they glinted gold and silver in the sunlight. At closer glance it turned out that it was a boy and a girl, about the same age as me.

The girl held out another golden dagger. "Back, ye bitches." The boy rolled his eyes. "What she means to say is, get the hell out of our territory before we blast you into bits." He pointed his sword at them threateningly. Wait, since when was he holding a sword? The monsters looked downright terrified. The biggest one of them spoke timidly. "But, the temptress commands us." The boy's eyes darkened, and I felt an irrational fear twist my stomach. "So be it." He purred softly, and that was more terrifying than all the yelling in the world. He raised his hand. "Goodbye." He said cheerfully. Shards of ice pelted the monsters from the sky, spearing them and mutilating their bodies. They screamed as they evaporated into dust.

The kids, and I hesitated to call them kids, turned to us. The boy had long black hair, and eyes as blue as the sea. He was pretty much made of muscle, but not in that gross way. A pair of cream, blue, and silver wings stretched above his head. The girl had long golden blonde hair and feathers were woven in and out of her locks. She was extremely fit herself, and I couldn't help but admire her. Her wings were tawny, like a hawk's. I kept thinking that there was something familiar about her, but I just couldn't place it. They both looked like they had seen plenty of battle and practically radiated power.

"Mutants, huh?" The boy said, balancing his sword on his shoulder. We all nodded mutely, to stunned to speak. "Well, I guess you can stay in little miss sunshine's cabin." He said, gesturing to the girl with a smirk on his face. He turned back to us. "My name's Percy, by the way." The girl pushed him to the side. "What you're supposed to say is, welcome to Camp Half Blood." I froze. I hadn't heard it in two years, but I would know that voice anywhere. I was about to form the word, but Gazzy beat me to it. "Max?" He gasped, and everything froze.

AN/ Again, sorry for the long wait! Hope I didn't discourage anyone from reading. I plan to get at least another chapter up by the end of vacation, if I have the time. So, till next time!

*I know Jeb did some of these things, but let's pretend Max did it, ok?