I feel terrible. What happened was that a 'flower fairy' came in through the window. It's one of those things that you catch and blow away while making a wish. Well, me being as lovely as I am gave the 'flower fairy' to my little sister (she's 5) and she wished for a unicorn. Before I knew that, I explained to her that the 'flower fairy' has to go all the way to Magic Land which is in an alternate dimension and then the wishes would come true. Then I found out she wanted a unicorn and now she's expecting one to turn up any second now and I'm running out of excuses while frantically looking for unicorn toys on Amazon. I've told my sister that the wish has to be approved by the 'flower fairy council', but as they have so few unicorns left, they have to be careful with who they send unicorns to. What do I do?!
Crystal waited until William had left for work before begging her mother to go and see Alvie.
Arriving at the hospital, she was relieved to see that he was propped up against the pillows, but worried slightly at the damp cloth covering his eyes. Annabeth was sat on the bed next to him, holding his hand and talking to him reassuringly.
"Alvie?"
"Who's that, Mom?" Alvie asked, turning his head slightly in his mother's direction.
"It's Crystal." Alvie brightened.
"Where is she?"
"Is he OK?" Annabeth pulled a face, waving Crystal over. "Alvie, what's going on?"
"I don't know. I just can't see. Where are you?" Crystal took his hand and he relaxed.
"Take the cloth off."
"No, it's helping him." Annabeth explained. Crystal frowned slightly in confusion. "Percy figured it out, surprisingly, but when Alvie woke up he couldn't see at all and started panicking. The water helps him stay calm and is slowly clearing his eyes."
"Clearing his eyes? What's that mean?"
"Um… I'll tell you later." Annabeth decided.
"Is Dad back yet?" Alvie asked.
"No, not yet."
"He'll come back, right?"
"Of course he will, Alvie." Annabeth laughed softly. "Don't worry." She squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"He's in the cafeteria." Alvie suddenly said. "Demon lunch lady at the counter."
"You what?" Annabeth's smile had vanished.
"They found Dad. There's loads of them."
"Oh gods… Alvie, I'm going to go and help him. Will you be OK?" Alvie's grip tightened on Crystal's hand momentarily, as if making sure she was still there.
"Yeah."
"Is there anything I can do?" Joy asked as Annabeth passed her.
"No, it's OK thanks."
"Alvie, why can't you see?" Crystal asked worriedly as soon as the door had closed behind Annabeth.
"I dunno." Alvie had turned his head in her direction. "Dad called Apollo in and he said something along the lines of me seeing things others can't."
"That doesn't make sen- yeah, it does." Crystal paused. "So you are psychic?"
"Apparently."
"That's kinda cool and kinda creepy."
"It's annoying." Alvie muttered. "I can't see anything." Crystal carefully removed the cloth and nearly screamed. His eyes were pure white, glowing menacingly.
Noticing the bowl of water on the side, Crystal distracted herself by dampening and rinsing the cloth a few times before replacing it over Alvie's eyes.
"So, how does the water help?"
"Dad's a son of Poseidon. Water is kinda his thing."
"And your mom's godly parent?"
"Athena."
"That's the wisdom goddess, right?" Alvie nodded. "You're gonna have to help me with all of this godly stuff. It's confusing." Alvie smiled weakly. "Hey, you missed it at school. Liam came back. He didn't know at the time what happened to you and was all 'Where's the dumbass?' and his supposed best friend stuck up for you!"
"Which one is his best friend again?"
"That Bill guy."
"Oh, him."
"You really scared him. He was shouting at Liam and I think he mentioned how it was weird that somebody that was supposed to hate him – you – knew more about Bill's home life than his apparent best friend did." Crystal grinned. "It was so cool."
The door opened and Percy and Annabeth stumbled in.
"You were right, Alvie. There were loads." Crystal bit her lip nervously when she saw Annabeth slipping a knife up her sleeve.
"Are you both OK?" Alvie asked, facing in his parents' general direction.
"Bumps and bruises." Percy replied, smiling. "We're fine, Alvie, don't worry about us."
"We've done this for years, remember?" Annabeth smiled. Alvie relaxed slightly.
"Got you ice-cream." Percy grinned.
"Mint choc chip?" Alvie asked hopefully.
"Yup."
"Thanks Dad."
Crystal stayed with Alvie until lunchtime. Joy had to work the afternoon shift at a posh care home for the elderly and was about to take Crystal home when Percy offered to keep an eye on her.
"Oh, please let me stay here." Crystal begged, jumping at Percy's offer.
"Well- bless you, Alvie." Joy laughed. Alvie had sneezed and the cloth over his eyes had fallen off.
"I can see!" Alvie beamed. Relief flooded over his parents' expressions and Percy laughed.
"How many fingers?" He asked. Alvie stared at his hand for a few seconds.
"Three."
"Blurry?" Annabeth asked.
"Yeah, but I can see!" Annabeth smiled.
"Keep the cloth on then. It could stop making things blurry." Alvie nodded and sat still as his mother replaced the cloth. "And don't sneeze."
"Knock knock." Leo said, walking in with Charlie at his heels.
"Alvie can see." Leo grinned.
"We need celebration choccie cake!"
"Yeah!" Charlie agreed happily.
Alvie was discharged a few days later, surprising the doctors from recovering from being on a ventilator and almost dying a few times to walking about and breathing normally on his own.
He went to school two days later, hobbling about on crutches. He enjoyed the crutches, tripping Tobias up and poking Sage and Percy relentlessly.
Crystal met him outside the school gates, beaming at him.
"How are you feeling?" She quizzed, taking his bag from Percy. Being on crutches meant it wasn't overly easy carrying his school rucksack.
"These are fun." He grinned, lifting his arms briefly to motion at the crutches.
"They're a bloody nightmare." Percy said, but he was smiling. "Be good, alright. I don't want a phone call saying you've beaten someone up with those things."
"He's too nice." Crystal smiled. Percy nodded in agreement, ruffled Alvie's hair and left.
Walking on through the school gates, Alvie did not expect everyone to start cheering. He faltered in his steps, stunned and nervous.
Crystal laughed. "Oh, Alvie."
"Wh-?"
"Everyone here knows what you did. You've never been so popular." Alvie glanced sheepishly and anxiously round at everyone.
Crystal was right to not expect Alvie to adjust to the positive feedback he got from classmates that had once picked on him. He remained on edge all day in case some of the newly nice people turned back into their old mean selves.
"Alvie, relax." Alvie pulled a face. "Look, you amazed everyone by doing what you did. No-one expected it of you. I've talked to some people- sure they picked on you, but they didn't want you dead."
"Right…" Alvie said uncertainly, glancing around the corridor.
"We've got Art next, right?" Alvie nodded, having memorized his and her timetables. "Lots of plasticine then. You like plasticine."
"Yeah." He admitted quietly, offering a small smile.
The one advantage of Alvie having a busted leg was that he and Crystal could get into lesson ten minutes before everyone else, leave ten minutes before everyone else and get into the cafeteria ten minutes before the rest of the school. It was great.
The Art teachers, Miss Hill and Miss Dolan, (my art teachers- they're so cool!) , smiled happily as Alvie and Crystal walked in. The teachers were both of average height. Miss Hill had short, choppy hair dyed a bright pink (because she could) and wore a matching pink blouse with smart black trousers. She was very childish, scared of glitter (yes, my art teacher in real life is scared of glitter) and had the habit of offering out chocolate digestives or sweets. Miss Dolan was Irish with her dark hair pulled back in a high pony tail. She wore a blue floral dress with a black cardigan. She had a similar sense of humour to Miss Hill, but could be a bit stricter with her class.
"It's so good to see you again, chickety." Miss Dolan smiled.
"I'm going to sign your cast." Miss Hill announced, bouncing away for a marker.
Crystal helped Alvie sit down (he wasn't the most balanced of people), propping a stool under his broken leg.
"Is that OK?" She asked.
"Itchy." He mumbled.
"Itchy?" He put a hand on his cast.
"Itchy." He confirmed. "Mom said no scratching though, like that's even possible." He sighed. "Itchy!" He complained, whimpering childishly. Crystal laughed.
Ok that's all for tonight. Most of it is drabbley, but I had several people like 'DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ALVIE BLIND OR I WILL KILL YOU!' and the likes. I'm not done yet though *evil laugh*
The unicorn matter has been resolved. I have ordered a toy off of Amazon for my little sister. I've told her that I got a message from the 'flower fairy' that the unicorn was packing her back and would be here in three to five days. But my little sister has to be extra good or the unicorn will turn around and go home.