Thank you to TheGodlyShadowHunters for giving me an idea to continue. BIG THANK YOU, AWESOME SAUCE PERSON! HAVE COOKIES AND ICE-CREAM!

Also, this idea, if I can, will be in Max's story, most likely after the thing Percy and Annabeth figured out in Chapter Thirty-Six.

And Alkie, I will add in that big boat when I can. Let me work on that idea.

Alvie had found a new reading spot- the roof. But that only worked if it wasn't raining. If it was raining, he would sit in the attic.

There was one problem with both of these hiding places- nobody knew where he went. OK, it was nice to read quietly, but when his parents started yelling for him, he figured he should make an appearance.

It was Max that found him on the roof one day.

The quest had finished nearly two weeks ago. Over the course of the last week, his parents had figured out something that slowly made the old Max reappear, but they hadn't told Alvie what it was. He couldn't glean it from their minds, as if they knew he would try and get it and were keeping it in a locked safe. They were still working on removing the headpiece though and, if it wasn't for that, Alvie would have thought his older brother tired and disgruntled about something- boredom, most likely.

Max stared at him for a few seconds and then down at the book in Alvie's hands. Alvie had seen that look of confusion on his brother's face a lot lately. Max was beginning to recognise things that weren't his favourite zombie TV show and one of those things had been Alvie's beloved Kindle.

Alvie was genuinely shocked when Max sat next to him. It was a mildly warm day today, a gentle breeze ruffling their hair. As far as Alvie knew, Max hadn't been outside since returning home, but it wasn't like he had any intentions to.

Slotting his bookmark in place, Alvie looked up at the headpiece. Max was still watching him, but there was no soul behind those eyes, no sense of self. Even though Alvie was clearly being watched, it didn't feel like it.

The headpiece glinted in the sunlight. Alvie sensed a hum coming from his brother's restriction; a machine hum with the odd nonchalant click.

"Max? Can… can you… can you take it off?" Alvie looked briefly at the headpiece and then back at his brother, but his words didn't register with Max. Alvie sighed and reached for his book.

"A…" Alvie whipped round, holding his book tightly. Max was frowning. "A… vee…" Max closed his eyes and shook his head, grimacing. Then, as quick as a wink, he was back to stoicism. He got robotically to his feet and padded back inside. Alvie stared after him.

Percy found him five minutes later.

"Alvie, are you OK?"

"Dad…" Alvie's voice caught. Percy frowned, his eyebrows drawing together in worry. He moved forward and sat next to his son. "Max… he… he nearly… he nearly said my name…"

"He nearly said your name?"

"I… I think so…" Alvie looked down at his book, chewing his lip. Percy rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go find out for sure then." Percy jumped up, hauling Alvie to his feet. Alvie had no choice but to stumble alongside his father.

Max was standing to the left of the kitchen door, watching Annabeth dart around with a damp cleaning cloth in hand, the smell of baking blue cookies enriching the air. Percy intercepted his wife as she rushed past, kissing her lightly in greeting and talking to her quietly in Ancient Greek. Alvie didn't pay attention, wary of Max frowning at him again with that look of recognition back again.

Annabeth was suddenly looking at Alvie, examining him like a blueprint. Alvie had seen that look before and he was struck with the immediate impression he should be more tidily dressed with his hair combed or something. Not that his mother minded what he looked like as long as he was comfortable and happy, but her scrutinising look unnerved him.

"A…" All attention was back on Max. He was still staring at Alvie. "A… A… vee…" Annabeth said Alvie's name slowly for Max to comprehend. Max tried again, but he seemed unable to pronounce the 'l' in Alvie's name. "A… vee…"

"A-vee…" Percy repeated, smiling broadly like an idiot. It was like a child saying his first word- that instant, unexplainable joy of the parent. "Say 'Dad'."

"Seaweed Brain…" Annabeth warned. Percy smiled sweetly.

"Al-vee…" Max said slowly.

"To-bi-as…" Alvie startled and whirled round. Tobias grinned at him. "Hi." He ruffled Alvie's hair. "What's going on?"

"Max said Alvie's name."

"Ooh… now say 'Tobias'." Max just stared at him. Tobias pulled a face. "Alright, alright, we'll work on that later. And I mean that- how dare you not say my name?"

"Tobias…"

"I mean, it's me. I'm the awesome one!"

"Tobias…" Tobias looked at his mother, incredulous that she dare interrupt his ranting. Annabeth crossed her arms over her chest and staring him out. Tobias hunched his shoulders and played the 'I'm-so-innocent' card. "Go away."

"No." Tobias defied instantly. Annabeth turned briskly and yanked open a cupboard, wrenching out a frying pan. Tobias gave a startled yell and ran from the room. Annabeth chased after him, wielding the frying pan. Other kids were scared of spiders, heights, the dark or losing loved ones. Tobias was scared of frying pans. He was scared of frying pans and his mother.

"Well…" Percy clapped his hands together, completely ignoring Tobias's shouts for help. "I think we've made some great progress today." He grinned at Alvie and Max. "Now all we need to do is figure out how to get that bloody thing off of him." Alvie studied his brother briefly and turned back to his brother.

"Dad…" Alvie was feeling dizzy again. He must have stumbled or swayed slightly as Percy was holding him by the elbow. "Dad…" Alvie's knees buckled and Percy caught him. Everything faded into sticky redness and Alvie felt that familiar panic forming in his chest. He hated not being able to see.

"It's OK, Alvie, I've got you. Annabeth, Alvie's having a psychic attack!"

"I was only gone a minute!" Annabeth ran back in seconds later, shoving the frying pan into Max's hands without looking at him. Alvie felt a soft, warm hand in his hair and then his mother was talking to him in gentle, reassuring tones. Footsteps announced Tobias's presence and then a tap was running, a clatter of bowls in the cupboard.

Pain sparked along his lower spine and Alvie twisted, trying to fight it off. Percy held onto him tighter, his kind tones mingling with Annabeth's.

Other than fear, dizziness and headaches, Alvie didn't feel anything during a psychic attack. The pain, whatever was causing it, twisted up his spine; coiling around his windpipes and making it hard to breathe. A cool, wet cloth was placed over his eyes and the water eased the disorientation and his nerves slightly, but the pain was in his head now, bringing with it a series of flashing images.

At first, they were too fast to gather anything from, but then they slowed down and Alvie saw a brown, dusty leather-bound book with faded gold lettering stitched into the front cover. The book flew open, the pages flickering loudly and the hard cover hitting the old, dark wood table. Alvie saw a single candle to the top left of the book, its flame shimmering from the rise of air from the pages.

As suddenly as it had started, it stopped. This page was somewhere in the middle of the book- page three hundred and ninety four- and it showed a rough sketch of the headpiece. There were notes spiralling around it; tiny, scrawling writing that was difficult to make out at first.

The image of the book vanished and Alvie stopped fighting his father, only just realising he had been. He was exhausted and struggling to catch his breath, panic still creeping up on him. All he could see was an inky blackness tinged with scarlet, but the writing from the book was etched so clearly into his mind, he could recall it like his name and birthday.

Somebody was calling his name, he realised, and their voice grew louder with each passing second until it stopped sounding from miles away and more like right next to him.

The cool cloth was removed and he could see his parents' fuzzy silhouettes through a red haze. He felt blood on his face, eerily warm and disgustingly sticky.

"Alvie, can you hear me?"

"Mom…"

"Oh thank gods… Alvie, what was it?"

"It… I… There was…"

"Calm down and then tell me, OK?" She said softly. Alvie nodded, resting his head on his father's shoulder. The previously white cloth, now blood-stained, came back into sight and Percy gently started wiping blood from Alvie's face.

It took nearly ten minutes for Alvie to calm down even remotely.

"I… I know… I know how to help Max…"

And TheGodlyShadowHunters, you are not allowed to give spoilers to anyone or I swear on the River Styx to kill off more characters.

Don't forget to vote, people! The poll closes tomorrow!

And did anybody notice the reference?