To PjoHP. LSR- I am working on the bit with Crystal, just hold your horses!
To Taliesan- welcome back! Where've you been hiding? The deepest pits of Tartarus aren't deep enough for me and a giant snake won't eat me? Sounds good. I can get out of either situation because I'm too much of a 'murdering bastard'. I'm seriously working on the typos though! Thanks! I do hope of becoming a famous writer when I'm older… Not sure who George RR Martin is, so no. The plan was to kill off people. I'm not done yet. Oh, and send Max to the Fields of Punishment for TEN YEARS? He was only a major jerk for year and a half, maybe two. I can't remember. But Elysium afterwards sounds good.
Alvie was stuck with the stupid medallion he couldn't break or get rid of. It didn't hurt him like it did Elsie and Alokia. No matter where he threw it, it always came back, appearing in his hand in seconds. His cousins had long given up trying to get him to stop throwing it and to start trying to understand it, but he didn't want to know. He dropped rocks on it, levitating them with psychic powers and ignoring the nosebleeds. He threw it in chasms, at walls and at the monster that occasionally attacked. He was stuck with this bloody thing and he hated it.
After gods knew how long walking through the Labyrinth, they found an old chamber and stopped for rest, setting up camp. Alvie tried burning his new hatred on the fire Elsie had going, but it remained unaffected, not even heating up at all. It remained cold and unbreakable.
Using a prism Alokia had, Elsie's water powers, the light from the fire and a drachma, the sister set up an IM link with the parents. They connected in time to see Alvie angrily hurling the medallion as far as he could.
"Alvie?" Annabeth called worriedly. Alvie didn't respond, glaring as the medallion reappeared in his hand. "OK, what is that?"
"We found it." Elsie told her. "Alvie hates it. He keeps trying to break it and get rid of it, but nothing's working." Annabeth sighed.
"I can see that. Alvie!" Alvie looked round then, chucking the medallion back in the fire. "Well, that was a great idea." He looked away. Annabeth bit her lip, her eyes shining in tears. Percy put an arm around her. There was no cheeky sparkle in his eyes, no warm smile. He was pale, a stoic mask, but his eyes were miserable and worried. "Just… just give him time to calm down. It's been four days and-"
"Four days?!" Elsie and Alokia protested together.
"Oh, Labyrinth." Percy bopped himself lightly on the head, no sarcasm included this time. "Forgot about the screwing with time thing." He spoke quietly, sadness under the attempted emotionlessness.
Another IM shimmered next to Elsie and Alokia and they were suddenly connected to their parents. Leo smiled thinly at them.
"Hiya." He said. Louisa waved, peering over their shoulders at Alvie, who was trying to get something from the fire with a stick.
"Leo, that you?"
"Ooh, is Annabeth on another one?"
"Yes, I am. So be careful."
"Yes ma'am."
"What's Alvie doin'?" Elsie explained about the medallion.
"Hates it. Apparently, he's been trying to destroy it for four days."
"Wouldn't blame him." Louisa muttered. "What does it look like?"
"Um…" Elsie turned to face her cousin, noticing he was in the process of chucking the medallion away for the millionth time. "Alvie!" He froze. "Can you bring that here to show them?" She nodded at the IMs.
"Can't you get it, lazy?" Leo asked.
"No, Dad. It… it, like…"
"Shocks us if we try to hold it." Alokia finished. "Alvie seems fine with it."
"Yep, so fine with it, he wants to break it."
"He's dropped boulders on that bloody thing- not a scratch." Alvie stumbled to a halt, behind the sisters. He held the medallion up by its chain, wanting as little as possible to do with it. Leo shook his head, not recognising the picture. Louisa frowned at it thoughtfully while Percy looked quizzical and Annabeth chewed her lip, running it through her mental library.
"That's a picture in Apollo's temple." Louisa eventually said.
"No it's not." Annabeth protested.
"The old one. Not your one."
"I don't remember seeing that."
"On the ceilin'?"
"No…"
"It was there." Louisa insisted. "Apollo loved it."
"Well, he never mentioned it to me."
"You were probably workin' on the doors or somethin'."
"Shut up, Lou."
"Ladies!" Leo called. "Silence!"
"Leo, you just told the two most dangerous women to be quiet." Percy said. Leo hummed in agreement, shying away from Louisa's glare.
"I'm gonna go 'n' see Apollo 'n' see what he thinks."
"Smack him for me." Annabeth ordered.
"Gladly." Louisa got up and left the IM. Leo watched her go and they heard a door open and close.
"I love it when she leaves to pick on gods."
"Somebody's going to fry her one day."
"Then have you and Poseidon on their case."
"Damn right." Percy agreed. Alvie dropped the medallion and kicked it away. "Alvie?" Alvie didn't reply to his father, turning and sulking back to the fire. The medallion appeared at his side seconds after he sat down. Alvie ignored it.
Alvie didn't listen as the girls wrapped up the IM messages, poking irritably at the fire. He kept glancing up to talk to Max, but that was just habit and that small part of him still hoping for his brother's presence made him forget the reality.
At some point, Elsie and Alokia settled down to sleep. They had tried talking to him, but their words were distant and echo-y, and he struggled to pay attention. Realising that he wouldn't sleep, the two curled up in their sleeping bags while he prodded the fire and dropped more sticks and bits of wood onto it.
He massaged his forehead as a headache started throbbing. Dizziness quickly joined it and he realised, with a panic, he was going to have another 'psychic attack'.
Shaking his head and closing his eyes, he tried to fight it off, but it stubbornly exploded in his mind in a flash of blinding golden-white light.
He was seeing the original nightmare of the poisonous tunnel. When he had first seen this, he hadn't understood or registered what was going on. He saw Tobias fighting Luke; Luke breaking Tobias's mask and that bought a strong surge of panic coursing through Alvie.
But now he realised his mistake.
He hadn't seen Tobias.
It had been Max.
Opening his eyes, Alvie felt tears brimming again. How could he have been so stupid? He never mixed his brothers up, but the one time he did, he had lost one.
You should listen to me more often, bro, Tobias's voice smiled in his head, an old memory, I may be a wee bit cuckoo, but I know what I'm on about.
"Alvie?" Alvie looked up, frowning. Elsie and Alokia were asleep. "Oy!" He glanced over his shoulder and saw an IM. "This thing works, right?" Crystal looked bewildered. "Hey, you OK? Can you hear me?" Alvie nodded, pulling his sleeve over his hand and wiping at his face. "Nico told me what happened. I'm so sorry." She looked genuinely concerned for him, properly sorry for his loss. "Talk to me, Alvie, please." She frowned. "This is working, isn't it? This IM stuff is confusing."
"It works." Alvie mumbled, turning back and poking at the fire.
"You're still not talking to me…" She pried in a sing-song voice; a soft, yet sad tone underlying the teasing.
"I got it wrong." He mumbled.
"Got what wrong?"
"It wasn't Tobias. It was Max." She looked confused. "When we were planning the quest… I thought it was Tobias who… but it was Max." Crystal bit her lip, noticing that his eyes were shining in the firelight. There was miserable and then there was guilty-regretful-shameful-miserable Alvie.
"It's not your fault." Crystal tried her best to assure him, but he just shook his head, bundling his fists. "Alvie, don't. Don't blame yourself. Don't you dare." Elsie stirred, rolling onto her side and muttering 'shut up'. Crystal sighed. She tried a different tactic. "What's that next to you?"
"Stupid." He grumbled.
"That narrows it down. Alvie, seriously." Alvie sighed, snatching the 'stupid' up without looking and holding it up for her to see. "Well, that's some huge necklace."
"Elsie called it a medallion. It doesn't break. Or go away."
"What'd you mean?"
"I don't like it."
"Is it that ugly?" She was trying to lighten his mood, but he didn't respond to it. "What's that on it?"
"It's something to do with Apollo."
"That's good then, right?"
"Yeah. Amazing. Stupid prophecies, stupid quests, stupid tunnels, stupid medallions…"
"Just stupid in general?" He nodded. "Alvie, when you get home, we're going to sort this stuff out, OK? We'll go and see Apollo and set his bloody ideas straight. Seriously, some stupid medallion? What's it all a- did you just chuck that on the fire?!"
"It doesn't break. Or burn. Or melt. I can't get rid of it."
"Why'd you want to get rid of it? That could be either really powerful or really big bucks at some point in the future. You could buy your own bookstore!" Her attempts to cheer him up weren't working, but the mention of the bookstore stirred a hint of interest in him, she noticed. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit of interest, but it was a slight improvement. "What would you call your bookstore? Alvie's great reads. Books, books and more books! Oh gods, we need to work on that too. And- what's that?" The IM was shimmering. Alvie studied it for a few seconds. "Oh, I don't have any more drachmas. Nico only gave me one." She pulled a face. "I'll try and bribe another one out of him, but that'll probably mean I'd have to clean up after Madam or something. Think about the bookstore!" The IM cut off, leaving Alvie to listen to the cracking and sparking of the fire.
Crystal wished she had had longer to talk to her boyfriend, but he obviously didn't want to talk about anything other than stupid things in his life, on that stupid quest. He was hurting. He blamed himself for Max's death. He blamed himself for the prophecies and giving a reason for this quest, although they didn't fully understand it. He now had a medallion that they had found, but it had cost Max to get it. Alvie didn't want it or any reasons as to why he had it or to what it did.
Nico walked in and Madam flew straight at him, squawking happily in greeting. Nico grinned, holding his hand out for his crow to settle on his wrist.
"Hey." He smiled at her. "Talk to Alvie?" She nodded. "How'd it go?"
"He's got some medallion thing and he hates it." Crystal explained the rest of the conversation. Nico was a good listener, feeding Madam digestive biscuits. "Uh, he blames himself for, um, for what happened to Max."
"Yeah, I figured he would." Crystal frowned.
"What'd you mean?" Nico looked at her.
"You said it yourself. The whole prophecy, quest, Max, medallion thing." He said, twirling his hand in the air. "Something like that… hard to not blame yourself…"
"But, he… he didn't…" Nico shook his head.
"Percy will help him, one way or another." Nico looked at Madam for a second. "Percy always comes through, even if he's struggling himself. He'll help Alvie himself or he'll find someone who can."
"Like who?"
"His mom and his stepdad- have you met them?" Crystal shook her head. "Uh, Poseidon to some extent. Athena might, I'm not sure, but she'll help Alvie by helping Annabeth. I don't know if she's got used to Percy and Annabeth being married and all that." Nico paused. "The rest of the Seven. Leo, Hazel, Frank, Jason and Piper. I know that was years ago, but they're still the Seven."
"You were on that quest. Annabeth told me that."
"Yes..." Nico pulled a face. "Such an amazing time."
"You sound so sarcastic."
"Well, I wasn't always so happy."
"You? Happy?" Crystal looked him up and down. "You might want to change a few things." She smirked.
"There is nothing wrong with how I dress. You're just scruffy and judgemental."
"You dress like some gothic-emo-madman person thing."
"So?"
"How on earth did Mom ever get with you?" Nico gave a sly grin.
"Obviously, my outright amazingness."
"Yeah, OK." Crystal collapsed onto her bed, pulling the blanket about her. "Night, What."
"Night, Crystal." Madam cooed softly, resting on Crystal's headboard, like she had been suddenly the past week.
Crystal woke up at some point in the middle of the night to people talking. Madam was still perched on the headboard, her head tucked under her wing.
Sitting up, Crystal saw Nico talking to a tall man who had his back to her. Nico was still nestled in his bed covers, rubbing at his eyes sleepily with one hand and his hair a rat's nest.
"Captured?" Nico protested. "What-?" He saw her awake and promptly fell silent. The tall man turned and studied her with obsidian dark eyes, his dark hair hanging about his shoulders. Crystal was sure she could see terrified faces in his robes as he turned. Power radiated from him; scary, paralysing power that chilled the room.
"Wh-?"
"Crystal, this is my dad." Nico told her flatly, stifling a yawn. "Hades." Crystal stared at the god, half-stunned and half-wary. "Normally, she doesn't shut up." Nico smiled grimly. Crystal sensed 'daddy issues'.
"Do I bow or…" Crystal glanced uncertainly at her father before looking back at the god. Both of them looked amused.
"She looks nothing like you." Hades commented, turning back to his son. Nico shrugged, running a hand through his hair, realising the mess it was in and trying to flatten it.
"She missed out on the good looks."
"Oh, yeah, amazing good looks." She smirked as his hair refused to lie flat and sticking up in all directions. Nico threw his pillow at her and she sharply threw it back, disturbing Madam. The crow squawked in protest, taking flight. Her wing cuffed Crystal's cheek briefly as she flew across the room and settled on Nico's thigh. He scratched the bird's head gently, yawning into his free hand.
"Honestly, Dad, what's it with you and the early hours?"
"This was important." Hades insisted. "You should tell that annoying son of my stupid brother."
"Wh-? Oh, Percy. Right. Wait, what's going on?" Nico and Hades shared a look. Hades' eyes hardened and he was glaring at his son warningly. "Is Alvie OK?"
"Alvie's fine."
"Well, as fine as he can get in his situation." Nico muttered.
"You're not helping!" Crystal protested, hurling her pillow at him. Hades snatched it out of the air and stared at her. "He's not helping!" She argued, pointing accusingly at Nico. She was probably irritating him, but she was worried about Alvie and quite frankly didn't care.
"Now I see how she is yours." Hades nodded slowly, turning to face Nico. "Your wretched cousin is tending to his young ones. Go and see him now."
"But-"
"Now." Hades persisted, his tone serious. Crystal jumped up, catching their attentions. Nico waved at her to stand down, his eyes widening in warning, but she ignored him.
"What's going on?" She demanded, bunching her fists when she noticed her hands were shaking. Hades studied her for a few seconds. Crystal never dropped his gaze, clenching her jaw stubbornly.
"Yes. Yours indeed." He left her question unanswered, which only infuriated her further. She stepped forward, completely disregarding Nico's warning look and grabbing Hades' arm, forcibly making him look at her.
"What," Her voice shook angrily, "is going on?" He glowered at her. Images flashed through her mind. Wars, minor fights, accidents- videos of various forms of death were flitting through her mind.
"Dad, stop it." Nico was on his feet now. He didn't look very threatening in Perry the Platypus pyjama trousers or his Cookie Monster T-shirt, but he managed to distract Hades. The images faded, leaving Crystal dazed and scared. "She's just worried and upset. And she hates being woken up early."
"The matter is not of your concern."
"It is if it involves Alvie!"
"Crystal!" Nico moved around his father and put his hands on his shoulders. "Calm down."
"But-"
"Look, we'll sort it. Don't worry about it."
"Alvie-"
"He's on his way home now. Be about another week or so."
"Why a week?"
"The Labyrinth is really confusing. I'll tell you more about it later." He promised. "Just calm down and apologize to Dad before he adds you to his skeleton army." Nico rubbed at his throat. "Joy would have my head if that happened." His small attempt at humour eased her temper slightly.
"Coward." She teased. Nico ruffled her hair and ordered her back to bed. Reluctantly, she did. Nico grabbed his jacket, pulled on his trainers and left, Madam on his shoulder. That left her alone with her godly grandfather. Who she had managed to tick off in the three minutes of knowing him. She was off to such a wonderful start.
Hades paced the cabin slowly, his hands behind his back. Crystal got the impression that he was inspecting the cabin. Did he approve of it, considering it was built in his name? As far as Crystal knew, Nico was the only one that used it, before she came to Camp. Unless Hazel visited and bunked in here. She didn't know.
Crystal cleared her throat awkwardly. "Sorry. For, uh, annoying you."
"Normally, I don't overlook such things, but," Hades sighed, "Years with your father, I've annoyingly grown used to being contradicted often. Not that I like or approve of it."
"Yeah, I… I just… you… sorry." She mumbled. Hades just nodded, picking up one of the Mythomagic characters that Percy insisted Nico kept on the dresser. It caught the light and Crystal realised it was Hades. She had noticed Nico never touched this one, as if he were worried he would break it, but she never knew why. He always looked pained whenever he glanced at it, but that also eluded her.
Hades looked at her.
"This toy killed his sister." He said, as if reading her thoughts. Crystal had a mental image of figurine Hades drawing a plastic sword and screaming a high-pitched scream while chasing a faceless figure. She had no idea what Bianca looked like and she didn't know how she had died either. "Bianca had become a Hunter of Artemis and went on a quest shortly afterwards. That wayward nephew of mine promised Nico not to let harm come of Bianca. They were going through a junkyard of ours and Bianca saw this. It was the only one Nico didn't have at the time. It was silly of her, but it meant a lot to her for her brother to be happy. But taking the toy triggered one of Hephaestus's traps and she was killed destroying the machine."
"Oh." Crystal said. "But… it was a junkyard. A place where you chuck stuff you don't want anymore. And she only picked up a toy. It was harmless." Hades gave a nod of agreement, setting the toy back on the dresser. "You've not forgiven Percy." His jaw clenched angrily and his hands curled into fists. Crystal cursed her big mouth, but was relieved when he regained control of himself.
"Nico may have. I haven't."
"Not yet?" He looked at her. "Hey, I'm trying to be positive." He scoffed, turning to study the rest of the cabin. "Is everything OK between you and Nico?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well… something was up. I could tell."
"We have had… issues… in the past. Not that it matters." Hades glanced at the Cookie Monster clock Leo had gotten for Nico randomly. Crystal did too and saw that it wasn't even three in the morning.
They remained silent for near enough five minutes.
"Nico said 'captured'. What's been captured? Or who?"
"Do not worry yourself, child." Crystal opened her mouth to reply when Nico stumbled back in. It was raining outside, she saw, getting heavier.
"Yep, great idea telling Percy." Nico grumbled. Madam flew to one of the spare bunks and shook water from her feathers. Nico shed his soaking wet jacket and chucked it on the back of a chair by the door. Thunder boomed outside. "He's gone into major freak out mode. Left Tobias with the kids and went to see his dad."
"You told Annabeth, right?"
"Yeah. She'd kill me if I didn't."
"Who are you more scared of? Annabeth or Joy?"
"Annabeth." Nico replied instantly. "Daughter of Athena. Bloody scary when she's mad."
"Can you tell me what's going on now?"
"No." They said together. Crystal raged quietly while they struck up a conversation in Ancient Greek. Both of them were fully aware she hadn't grasped the language and it annoyed her relentlessly.
What was going on and why wouldn't they tell her?
Ninth page! Woo!
Ugh, sorry for not updating. I had, like, half of this chapter and it wasn't worth posting it, but I felt like slotting Crystal meets Hades in somewhere and then the plan started to fall together. Hopefully I can update again tomorrow.
Also, I was working on a new one-shot earlier. There's some Caleo in it and I've got Lou being nice to Nico, which is a first. If I can finish that tomorrow or something (the idea kinda faded as the day went on), I'll post it.
And nobody kill me. You'll miss the good stuff.
Oh, and if you haven't read it yet, I've put up another one-shot- Baby crow. That's the one where Nico gets Madam.