Chapter 67: Alcyone

I was a bit nervous. Yet excited. I had waited so long for this day. These emotions were mixed inside me. I followed Pranu to the edge of the cliff, it was a long way down.

"Ok, so first remember to uncurl your wings when in the air," Pranu instructed, "now you must lift your wings high and jump off this cliff. Now try it!"

"That's it? Nothing else?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh Pranu, that is NOT it," Alex sighed.

"Here, let me try teaching," Shirley offered, as she walked towards the cliff edge.

"What Pranu said was part of it, now here is the rest of it. Right after you jump, uncurl your wings. You will suddenly rise up, it may hurt a little at first, but it's normal. Then flap your wings. Not too much though, you'll know instantly how fast to flap it once you're in the air. Your head is like a steering wheel. Aim it forward, and you'll go forward, aim it up, you go up, etc. Also, when you land, aim toward the ground, or cliff in this case, and when you are almost there, pull backwards and curl your wings. I'll show you," Shirley explained. She leapt off the cliff and flapped about, looping through the air, then swooped downwards and pulled back, she landed safely. She almost made it look easy.

My heart pounded as I neared the edge. It's ok, I can always just stop time, I thought to myself. I took a deep breath and pushed off with my feet. I squeezed my eyes shut, then I remembered. I was falling... possibly to death. UNCURL THEM! I screamed at myself. Suddenly I lurched upward, my stomach flipped. Shirley was right, right when I uncurled my wings, I knew how fast to flap them. I flapped there, dazed. I'M FLYING! I cheered to myself. I swirled around and around in large, lazy circles. I could go on like this forever. Half-asleep, I was soon awakened by a scream.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Someone yelled.

Instantly I remembered the directions and aimed myself towards the rocky cliff. Before I knew it, it was right below me, I suddenly pulled back and landed on my feet. That's when I noticed the Heartlesses, eyes full of hatred, floating towards me.

And these were the real deal. Not some mechanically engineered ones. They were there- in the flesh- well, not really. More like just there. I pulled my sword out from the Void and prepared for an attack. So did the rest of the group- Ruidi even tried to slice one of them up but his weapon just passed through it while the Heartless cackled with pleasure. The group's faces were drawn and they looked almost... resigned. Resigned to their eventual fate.

"Ok guys, form a circle around them so that they can't escape." I ordered them.

They exchanged glances. "Are you sure about this?" Bhavana asked. I nodded in reply.

"Now, concentrate on your weapon. Use all of your willpower to push them away. Imagine something good, like the first time your dad said 'I'm proud of you' or something, and turn it into a strand of light in your mind, and imagine that strand slicing these monsters into tiny little pieces."

The people around me looked skeptical, but did as I asked. They hovered around the Heartlesses and formed a circle. The Heartlesses froze in place while I stopped Time in the area they were. I was having a bit of trouble with the hovering and couldn't keep steady but that was OK. The flock closed their eyes and soon their brows were furrowed with concentration. I tried to help them as much as I could.

Suddenly, one of the monsters uttered a shrill shriek that existed only in your heads and immediately dissipated into little ribbony strands of monster. Ruidi opened his eyes and grinned.

"I did it!" he yelled, almost as loud as the monster had mentally screamed. Shortly after that, the rest of the group also effectively killed their share of monster.

"They'll be coming back." I told them. "They always do. But never in large numbers, always in small groups."

"How do you know?" Pranu asked me, curious.

"Experience." I replied, then said, "Hey, why don't we fly to the scientist's camp? I think I know where it is."

Chapter 68: Bhavana

"So." I asked Alcyone, once in the air. "How old do you think you are? And are?"

"I'm pretty sure that I am 12." she replied. "After my grandfather was defeated by Percy, my father was killed by the Roman camp, but not before he donated several sperm to a science lab. My mother was the daughter of Athena, and also a donor. The labcoats wanted me to do stupid things like fight people and run around in a maze but I refused. They punished me by not teaching me how to use my wings. When I was 6 I escaped into the Void and stayed there for quite some time."

When Kronos was defeated? That was almost 50 years ago! Alcyone must've stayed in the Void far longer than she thought she had.

"Hey, since you can transport us around like Eshana, could you do it for us? Take us to their headquarters?" Pranu asked.

"Well, I'll try." and the world was engulfed in black.

"This is kind of familiar, like Caiyi's shadows." Alex said.

"We're here." Alcyone told us.

Already? Well that was quick. A shining hole opened up before us. The lab. Our destination.

"We should rest up a bit before entering." Tim argued.

And so our tired little troupe consented, and resigned ourselves to a nice little nap before we infiltrated one of the most protected buildings in the world.