To ThatFanWarrior- I'm leaning towards Max going on this quest more than the others, but there are three more legacies needed and that's in this chapter- I just hope you lot agree with it all :P Thank you- but son? I am a girl!
To everyone now- I have said the following twice to two people and now I am telling all of you-
SHOULD I GET ONE SPOILER OF HOUSE OF HADES, I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX TO KILL OFF A CHARACTER IN A HORRBILE, VICIOUS WAY AND NEVER BRING THEM BACK!
I HAVEN'T GOT HOUSE OF HADES! *SULKING*
Does anyone read The Mortal Instruments? I'm just finished the third one AND OH MY GODS, WHAT IS GOING ON!?
Just a bit of Crystie…
Alvie tripped over something, throwing out his hands to break his fall. Pain shot up his wrists, to his elbows, but he ignored it as he turned to see what he had tripped over.
Panic shot through him and he scrambled back, a cry choking in his throat.
Tobias stared blankly at him, dried blood creating a thick crust on his T-shirt and surrounding the knife in his chest.
Alvie stared, horrified, before some part of him found enough sense to scramble to his feet and to run.
But running from one only led to more…
First Sage, her throat slit, her knife still in her cold hand. Then Max, pinned to a tree with a spear through his heart. Elsie and Alokia, taken down by enemy archers, their bows dropped and blood-stained a few feet from them. The triplets were drenched in icy water, bound by thick rope back-to-back, Percy lying on his side next to them, a pool of blood surrounding him.
Alvie changed direction, but his knees gave way. From where he was, he could see in all directions. His mother was over there, not far from Charlie- both skewered by pila. Leo and Louisa were a short distance from them, their fingers inches apart, as if they had been trying to reach each other before it all stopped. There was a dart in her arm- poison. He was battered and bruised, dried blood coating the back of his shirt from a knife between his shoulder blades.
"Alvie, wake up!" Alvie opened his eyes and sat bolt upright. Crystal looked stunned, but concerned. "Alvie?" She asked softly, resting her hand on his shoulder gently. He was breathing heavily, as if he had sprinted a marathon, but he was beyond terrified, hysterical. She had walked in to check on him and found him crying and fighting his bed sheets.
He was still crying now, tears streaming down his cheeks from those tortured silvery grey eyes, but at least they were normal tears, not bloody ones. He was shaking something chronic, pale and sickly behind the tormented look, trying to steady his breathing and control his sobs, but failing miserably.
She sat on the bed next to him and pulled him into her arms, stroking his hair and talking to him reassuringly and softly. "It's OK, just a bad dream…" He shook his head and clung to her tighter. She ran her hands through his hair. "Talk to me then, Alvie." He started mumbling, stuttering and she couldn't understand him at first, but then realised he was talking in Ancient Greek.
She hated Ancient Greek with a vengeance.
Crystal tried to get up to get somebody who could translate, but he was holding onto her so tightly, his slight frame racked with sobs while he choked and slurred his way through talking to her. Alvie rarely showed emotions to this level and her mind was blank of solutions.
A caw caught her attention and relief swept through her. Madam landed on the head board of the bed and hopped around to face them, her head cocked to the side. She cooed softly, curiously. "Get Nico or someone." Crystal told the bird. "Quickly!" The bird took flight, her wing cuffing Crystal's head gently and she flew out the room.
A minute later, Nico and Percy ran into the room, Madam fluttering behind Nico and settling on his shoulder.
Percy had to physically pull Alvie from Crystal. Alvie instantly clung to his father, his eyes tightly shut with normal tears streaming down his pale cheeks. He started mumbling incoherently in Ancient Greek and Percy held him reassuringly, wrapping his arms securely around Alvie.
Crystal watched father and son, seeing Alvie's torture quickly make its way onto Percy's face.
Percy started replying in Ancient Greek and Alvie gradually relaxed. Both of them gained a soft green glow about them.
Nico looked relieved when Alvie opened his eyes and saw that they were normal; red from crying, but normal. Percy rested his chin on Alvie's head, closing his eyes and smiling his relief.
"That won't happen will it?" Alvie mumbled, finally returning to English.
"No." Percy assured. "It was just a nightmare."
"But-"
"No blood, no blindness, no headache, no nothing. It was a nightmare." Alvie didn't seem convinced. "Ask Dad or Athena or Apollo." Alvie nodded and stayed quiet for a few seconds. Relief flooded his face and more tears fell, but happy tears this time. "See, told you." Percy smiled.
"Horrible." Alvie said. Percy nodded in agreement.
"How about we go and see the others?"
"They're here?" Alvie asked, looking up.
"They never left."
Alvie stuck close to his father as they walked around Camp to find the rest of the Jackson and Valdez children. They were everywhere- Elsie and Alokia at the archery range with Louisa; Charlie with Leo in Bunker 9; Tobias, Sophia and the Little Twins down by the lake; Max getting back into training; Sage and the triplets in the Athena cabin with Annabeth.
Crystal went with Alvie, amazed at Bunker 9. Leo and Charlie were quite happily throwing random, heavy-ish objects at a sheet of metal, but they only bounced off with no damage done to the metal.
"What are you doing?" Percy asked, folding his arms and voicing her question.
"We're rebuilding Festus and making sure he has body armour to be jealous of."
"OK…" Percy studied his brother-in-law and nephew curiously for a few seconds. Charlie had a good throw for a six year old. "Anyway, us lot are having a meeting in the rec room and-"
"Will there be cookies?"
"Probably."
"Count us then." Leo smiled. "What's it about?"
"This prophecy thing."
"Oohh…" Leo just nodded. "What time?"
"After lunch." Leo nodded again and cheekily kicked them out of Bunker.
"Festus?" Crystal asked.
"Big metal dragon." Crystal blinked at Percy and he told her the story as they walked back to the dining pavilion. Nico met them there, Madam perched on his shoulder. "But then it crashed and Leo later used Festus's head as the figure head for the Argo II."
"Argo II?"
"Another story, another time."
"Aw, what?" Crystal protested. "Demigod stories are way better than poxy Snow White." Percy and Nico grinned in agreement. Alvie wasn't listening, biting his thumb and looking around carefully. "You OK?" Crystal asked him. Alvie focused on her for a few seconds, his expression blank, and then nodded.
Crystal had to sit with Nico at the Hades table. She heard a lot of whispers as she followed her dad- it was still weird to think of him as that- like:
That's Nico's kid!
Nico has a kid? Damn…
How much do you reckon he paid the mom?
Don't be mean, Fergie!
"Nico?"
"Mm?"
"Where's Hazel?"
"She's Roman." Nico replied, flicking Madam from his shoulder. She squawked at him, flapping her wings and settling on the table. "She goes to Camp Jupiter."
"I haven't been there, have I?"
"No."
"Can I?"
"Maybe."
"You rarely give straight answers, do you?"
"I just gave you two. Three if you include this one."
"Shut up, What." Nico smiled at her. Crystal sat opposite him, noticing empty plates and goblets in front of her. "So… what? Give our orders or something?"
"Yeah, actually. Say what you want- cheese and ham pizza." Cheese and ham pizza appeared on Nico's plate. He grinned sarcastically at her and she glared at him.
After lunch, they had their meeting around a ping pong table. All the Jackson and Valdez kids were here and the triplets and Little Twins decided Tobias was a good place to sit.
"I can't see Tobias." Annabeth laughed. "I just… he's just a voice."
"I'm an amazing voice, Mother dear."
"Mother dear?" Tobias laughed cheekily. "Shut up, you weirdo."
"I am not a weirdo!" Tobias protested. Annabeth gave a disbelievingly laugh. "Ow, Theo! No, Callum! Who are you?"
"Eh."
"That helps…" Tobias was sat on the floor. Lilly was sat on his shoulders, her back against the wall. Finn and Darcy were nestled against Tobias's chest while Theo and Callum sat on his lap.
"Tobias Jackson- defeated by midgets."
"It was the cuteness!"
"Cuteness? I thought that wasn't manly."
"I, well… um…" Sophia smirked triumphantly and Tobias settled into a sulky silence. "I don't like any of you anymore."
"Ditto." Louisa said, walking in. Leo and Charlie were behind her. It had taken her twenty minutes to pry them from lunch and persuade them to go to the meeting instead of Bunker 9. "Right, which Squirtfaces are goin'?"
"Alvie, did you see anything?" Annabeth asked, looking at her son next to her. He was twirling a ping pong paddle in his hands, watching it thoughtfully. Annabeth had to poke him to get his attention. "Do you know who's going on this quest?"
"Um…" He bit his lip and they all saw his eyes fade to milky white. "Max… and, uh, Elsie."
"What?!" Max and Elsie protested. "I am not going anywhere with that thing!" Elsie argued, pointing angrily at Max without looking around.
"Elsie!" Louisa glowered.
"Oh, as if I'd go anywhere with your ugly mug."
"Max!" Percy tried. He glanced at Alvie. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Alvie looked at him, confused.
"Will you two knock it off!?" Louisa ordered. Max and Elsie fell into an angry silence, glaring at each other with pure hatred. "Right, who else?" Her voice was thick, as if she were refraining herself from shouting or throttling her daughter and nephew.
"Is Alvie going?" Sage asked. "It is his prophecy, so I thought he'd be going…" Sage looked at her mother, who didn't look happy with that, but she could relate to what Sage was saying. "I'll go too." Sage offered.
"No." Percy and Annabeth said together. Sage protested instantly, but Percy cut across. "You're eight years old! You're not going!"
"But-"
"Sage…" Annabeth warned. "For once, just listen to your dad."
"Mom, that's not fair!"
"I go?" Charlie asked.
"You're six!"
"I fla- fla… um…"
"Flammable?" Leo offered. Charlie nodded. "That doesn't make it better, Charlie. Sage is smart and she's not going."
"I smart too!"
"Ha, not as smart as me." Sage teased.
"Not you two as well!" Louisa grumbled. "Bloody kids…"
"I'll go." Tobias offered.
"No!" Alvie protested. They all looked at him curiously. Blood was pouring down his cheeks and he looked terrified.
"Why can't I go?" Tobias asked, not seeing the state his brother was in from where he was sat on the floor.
"You… you…" Alvie turned his head to look at his parents, even though everything was covered by a sticky, scarlet veil. Annabeth and Percy shared a glance.
"Tobias, you're not going." Annabeth declared.
"But I want to go." Tobias insisted. Alvie looked petrified and started shaking his head, blood pouring steadily from fully scarlet eyes. Percy got up and walked out, returning a minute later with a bowl of water, a clean cloth and Chiron in his wheelchair.
"Tobias, you are not going." Annabeth said firmly. "Alvie would have said different if you were." Chiron and Percy stopped either side of Alvie, Chiron curiously studying him while Percy dampened the cloth and placed it over Alvie's eyes.
"But-"
"Tobias Christopher Jackson, if you argue back again, we're going to have serious problems."
"You love me really." Tobias muttered, but kept quiet.
"Mammy, Tobias sulking." Lilly called.
"Tough." Chiron smiled to him and Annabeth fixed him with a steely look. In response, he held his hands up in innocence. "Alvie, you OK?"
"Bit better." Alvie replied quietly after a few seconds pause. "Kia's going." Alokia paled.
"And the fourth one?" Annabeth asked gently, cutting across Leo's protests- both of his daughters were going and that was something he wasn't happy about.
"I don't know. Can't see them."
"He might be seeing the others from his point of view, Mom." Sage offered helpfully. "He could be the fourth one."
"Sage has a point." Chiron agreed. "Leo, would you fetch Rachel?"
"But-"
"If you would, please, Mr. Valdez." Leo, glowering, stomped out of the room. Louisa watched him carefully, her head titled to the side, before looking around at her mentor. Chiron gave a thin smile. "As Elsie would say, he's doing the protective daddy thing."
"Mom?" Alokia squeaked. Louisa looked at her and a silent conversation seemed to pass between mother and daughter. Louisa held her hand out to Alokia, who stumbled forward and they left.
"First quest jitters." Chiron mused. He gently removed the cloth covering Alvie's eyes. Alvie squinted in the sudden brightness. His eyes were mostly cleaned of blood, but he looked dazed and confused. "Can you see?" Chiron asked kindly.
"No." Alvie's tone held a hint of panic, his shoulders tense.
"It will be alright, Alvie." Chiron assured, handing the cloth to Percy to rinse and replace.
Crystal was lying on a bunk in the Hades cabin. Nico was asleep in his bunk on the other side of the room; Madam nestled on the headboard with her head under her wing.
Nico didn't worry. If he was worrying, he didn't show it, but he wasn't exactly a people or emotions person, like her and her mother. Crystal was worrying- Alvie was going on a quest with the brother that had recently made his life hell and his two cousins, one of which had murderous feelings towards Max while the other was as nervous as Alvie was. Crystal had heard the adults claim Alokia as Alvie's female counterpart or vice-a-versa. Crystal could understand why- both of them were shy bookworms that worried more than they should and had very little confidence. Alokia was an archer and Alvie could use a knife if he had to. There were only two other differences- Alvie was autistic and psychic.
Sighing, Crystal rolled onto her side and glowered at the wall. She would go on the quest if she could, just to keep an eye on Alvie, but what good was she? She had no powers, no training, no nothing- she had enough godly blood in her to get past the Camp's barriers.
"Sulking?"
"I thought were you sleeping, What."
"Kinda hard to when someone fidgets and makes so much noise."
"You don't like sharing your cabin?"
"Not with noisy people. I generally don't like sharing anyway." Nico admitted. "But your mom would kill me if I didn't keep an eye on you twenty four seven if she's not around to protect her precious baby." The triumphant sarcasm in his voice made heat rise in her cheeks and she rolled onto her other side to glare at him. The cabin was pretty much pitch-black, but he chuckled as if he could see her anyway.
"Do you get night vision being a son of Hades?"
"Well, I see better in the dark than most people, but I wouldn't call it night vision." He fell quiet. "Worrying about Alvie?" Crystal hummed in response. "He'll be fine. We're all on back-up, just in case."
"Will you get there in time to help?"
"I shadow-travel, remember? I can take some others as well."
"Could I help in anyway?"
"You'll need training." Nico paused. "I'll see if I can get Percy to put you in one of his classes."
"As long as I'm not with kids half my age." Nico gave a dark, sarcastic laugh.
"I'll see what I can do."
"How on Earth did Mom start dating you? You're evil!"
"Piper used to call us Yin and Yan."
"Oh, Light and Darkness!" Crystal smiled in understanding. "Who's Piper?"
"Daughter of Aphrodite." Nico sighed. "Go to sleep. I'll talk to Percy in the morning."
"But when's the quest?"
"Rachel said next week. Monday probably. Everybody hates Mondays."
I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING LATELY! I've worked on this chapter for the past two or three days and this is all I have, but this is the eighth page, so it has to count for something. I've just been writing stuff, but I'm not happy with it enough to post it, but you guys deserve an update, so here we go! I hope it's OK! AND I MEAN IT ABOUT THAT PROMISE ON THE RIVER STYX!