Some guest reviews to reply to quickly:
To Ev10123- Thank you very much! I do try and I've got a bit of an idea now- MEAN IDEAS! *evil laugh* Uh, anyway… I'm not mean. At all. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
And to Guest- you'll find out what happens next in this chapter, call me Art or Toni, I don't mind and THANK YOU!
And random thing of the day- I've pulled the skin from my thumb…
Crystal was on the ladder after Percy and could only stare up at Alvie's comatose, underfed and pastel white face. Bruises ringed his neck and crawled up his cheeks, dried blood splattered through his hair and across his forehead.
That was half an hour ago. Tobias and Max were sat with hot chocolates tinted with nectar and wrapped up in as many spare blankets as possible. Colour had returned to their cheeks and Tobias was starting to make feeble jokes again, his grin slowly making a comeback.
Alvie was still unconscious, lying on the sofa bolted to the floor and the wall of the plane. He had his back to them and was covered in at least five thick blankets. Annabeth had managed to give him a bit of nectar, but he had remained stubbornly on his side and unresponsive. Crystal sat next to him; going through the information Lucy-Jo and Louisa had managed to steal. There were folders overflowing with papers, memory sticks, floppy disks (yes, they're still real) and disks. All Crystal had to do was find anything related to Alvie and psychic testing and then hand it over to Joel, Neville and Annabeth.
Crystal didn't feel very demigodly or like she was on a quest. She hadn't really done anything other than flipping paperwork.
Looking up to check on Alvie for the millionth time, she sighed. He had to wake up. She needed to apologize. She needed to- why was he pink?
"Annabeth!" She called, dropping everything and kneeling up to check him over properly. Annabeth looked round from tending to her two eldest sons, her frown fading into panic. She hurried over, ordering Tobias to stay. He had been half out of his chair and was now staring at his mother as if she had eyes in the back of her head.
Athena's daughter felt Alvie's forehead, her frown returning, concerned.
"That doesn't make any sense. He was freezing cold twenty minutes ago, hyperthermia." Alvie shifted then, hitting away the blankets and complaining. "Now he's too warm." She pulled away the blankets and gave Alvie a few minutes. The pink in his cheeks faded and he calmed down. Unfortunately, he didn't wake up. "Oh, that's why…"
"What?" Annabeth startled and whirled around to glare at her husband. He held his hands up in surrender instantly.
"I told you to stop sneaking up on me!"
"Sorry…" He mumbled. "Um, what's the matter with Alvie?"
"Look." Annabeth pointed at the bruises around Alvie's neck. Golden sparks flitted across his skin and the bruises faded away slowly.
"What-?"
"Must be Apollo magic or something. An extension of his gift."
"So… Alvie's OK?" Tobias asked, trying to peer around his parents. Annabeth watched him for a few seconds sceptically. "Hey, I didn't get up. Besides, I'm nice and warm now, hot choccie included." He grinned, raising his mug to his mother.
"Physically, he's getting better. But we can't be sure what mental duress he was under."
"I know this ain't gonna help, but it'll be a lot 'cos Str-Miss," Lucy-Jo hastily corrected herself, "hates not gettin' what he wants 'n' he don't care that Alvie's a kid. If he's got 'special powers'," She marked air quotations around this, "He's gonna want 'em."
"He's bad." They all looked round and saw Joel standing in the doorway of the cockpit. For once, he wasn't smiling and looked genuinely nervous. He held his coffee mug in both hands, like a lifeline. Leo hovered nervously behind him, chewing his lip.
"Joel-" Lucy-Jo started, but he shook his head.
"No." He said, his voice quiet. "I… I was there… longer than Alvie was. After a month… or two, you lose track of time…" He waved that bit off, casting his eyes to the floor. "You… forget who you are or where your trust lies. When… going back home…" He shook his head again. "How long was it until I talked to you?" He asked, looking at his best friend. Lucy-Jo bit her lip thoughtfully.
"Six months. Ya didn't talk ta anyone at all." She gave a lopsided smile. "Record for ya." Joel's smile returned timidly and he rubbed at the back of his neck.
"Considering Alvie was only there for… a week or so, right?" Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, it'll take a few months at the most, but he'll be OK."
"At the least?" Percy asked, glancing at his son worriedly.
"A month? I'm just guessing here, it varies." Annabeth and Percy shared glances, but nothing more was said as Alvie opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling, but not seeing it through the scarlet glow.
Not blood, no. His eyes were glowing red.
"That's new." Tobias mumbled. He made to get up, but froze at his mother's glare, sinking back in his seat and doing his best to look as innocent as possible through concern for his brother.
"Alvie?" Percy tried, peering into his son's face, searching for an answer of some sort. Alvie didn't move, a breathing statue. "Oy, bud. Alvie. Can you hear me?"
"Sit him up." Annabeth suggested. Percy hooked his arm carefully behind Alvie's shoulders and his wife propped the pillows up. They let Alvie sit back, but he didn't even seem to notice. "Alvie, sweetheart, what's going on?"
Those crimson eyes landed on Crystal. He didn't say anything or make any attempt of moving, but she was suddenly rooted to the spot, paralysed in… was it fear? Worry? Nervousness?
Why should be scared of Alvie? He was harmless, a total sweetheart.
Worried- about him yes, but not for herself. Why was she worried for herself?
Nervous, yes, that would work. He had super psychic powers and she had hurt him. It would make sense.
She heard screaming. Pained, high-pitched and terrified screaming.
She didn't realise it was her until Nico grabbed her by the shoulders, his lips moving and his brow furrowed in concern, but she didn't know what he was saying, her hands over her ears and her screams drowning everything out. All the while, she felt Alvie's fiery ruby eyes on her, as sharp and as penetrating as white hot knives.
The screaming didn't stop. Lucy-Jo and Louisa scrambled, the Assassin retrieving a green bag and Louisa pushing Nico aside. Crystal started fighting then, but Louisa held her still with Annabeth's help. Lucy-Jo returned, her expression set. She held a syringe with a clear liquid in it. Crystal gathered that the needle went in her arm, but she was numb to anything except the shrill, persistent ringing thundering in her ears and the throbbing, venomous chill working its way through her system.
Crystal collapsed in Louisa's arms, her eyes rolling back in her head.
"What'd you do?!" Nico demanded. "Oh gods, Joy's gonna kill me…"
"She's asleep." Lucy-Jo retorted. "I'm more concerned 'bout what he's doin'." She waved her hand at Alvie.
He was on his feet now, a soft, golden cloak about his shoulders- the cloak Apollo gave him.
Nothing else happened with Alvie then, two loud explosions throwing the plane sideways at a forty-five degree angle. They all tumbled over, Percy tucking his arm around his wife to cushion her from hitting the wall. Tobias grabbed Alvie and did the same, not that Alvie noticed.
"What was that?" Max shouted.
"Uh, missiles." Joel called back.
"Big ones." Leo added. "They hit the engine!"
"Oh gods dammit…" Annabeth cursed. Her mind was whirring, trying to think of a solution, but the plane nose dipped and they started sliding towards the front.
It was Alvie that rescued them. His eyes flared from red to the familiar crystal white and he was on his feet again, freeing himself from Tobias's arms and suddenly incredibly steady. He threw his hands out and the sky outside darkened with storm clouds.
They were in a storm owl.
Max glanced out of the window, Tobias noticed, and that was bad apparently, because Max fell into a panic attack, falling sideways out of his chair with a panicked yell and scrambling away, breathing unevenly and heavily, pressing his back to the wall and curling up. Annabeth was the first at his side, Tobias and Percy struggling toward him.
"Max, it's OK." Tobias assured. "Mom, why's he freaking out?" He asked quietly.
"I… I'm not sure. Let me calm him down." Annabeth gently pulled Max's hands away from his face and smiled reassuringly. "You're OK, Max. Alvie's storm owl is supporting the plane." Max shook his head, closing his eyes and trying to pull away. Annabeth studied him for a few seconds, before ordering Tobias and Percy to cover the windows.
"Why?" Tobias quizzed.
"Just do it!" Father and son scrambled away.
Alvie didn't notice any of this, standing in between the seats with his hands out to his sides. The plane levelled out to cheers of joy from the two pilots. Louisa and Lucy-Jo were securing weapons that had fallen loose while Nico sat with Crystal.
Her screams still echoed in Alvie's ears, but his conscious didn't recognise this. When she started screaming, he felt… cold. Emotionless and hateful. Blasé.
But then the plane started falling and that all faded, replaced with a sudden panic for his family. The storm owl materialised and he felt good about it. He was helping, right? If he could land the plane and his family were safe, that would be good.
He had no initial thoughts, no other feelings. Just good and bad. There were dull rumbles outside as more missiles tried to take the plane down, but the storm owl easily deflected them, absorbing the force of the explosion and repelling it against the next attacks.
There was a dull throb against the small of his back, a stabbing pain. It was that brother of his, Max. The storm owl would of course trigger a panic attack. It was one of the few things Max remembered before the… incident in the tunnel.
Max gradually calmed down, but he didn't move from the corner. Tobias sat with him. Alvie felt the eldest child's eyes fixed on him in concern, but he paid him no attention. His main focus was landing the plane safely. He was quickly feeling the drain of the storm owl.
Time was meaningless to him. It passed like sand through his fingers, but he was aware of every second, every hour. At some point, the missiles stopped.
It was going well until she woke up.
At first, she wasn't sure where she was or what was going on. Her father, that son of Hades- he asked her something, to which she nodded at. It was that brief moment where she was unaware of the events unfolding around her that Alvie felt everything good wash away.
The plane pitched forward, enticing startled yells and various curses from the passengers. A chill crawled from his fingertips to his wrists, slowly working its way up his arms.
She was staring at him now, her silvery blue eyes wide in what Alvie uncharacteristically hoped was fear. The ice was now dispersing across his chest. Every part of him was cold, except for his eyes. They were burning, like fires. He didn't understand what was going on, but this girl stirred unpleasant memories, ones he wasn't sure of.
Crystal stared at Alvie, seeing how his glowing white eyes were scarlet in the blink of an eye. It was only when he looked at her did they change colour.
He stared right back at her and it was like she could feel the frosty waves of hatred tumbling from him. It wasn't nice.
"Alvie-" She started, but he simply raised his hand, closing his fist. She was cut off by a choke, an unseen force snapping around her neck in a threatening and petrifyingly tight hold. She tried to draw breath, but only managed to utter a choking cry.
"Alvie, stop it!" Tobias got up, but Alvie turned on him, throwing out his hand. Tobias was thrown back, smacking the wall and slumping to the floor.
"Alvie!" Annabeth cried in protest. Alvie barely regarded her, searching the rest of the plane for a threat.
Lucy-Jo was fumbling with something in her sleeve. Crystal watched and saw a gauntlet of sorts covering the Assassin's forearm. There were black swirls all over, jagged spikes giving the otherwise beautiful pattern a surreal and deadly air. A compartment popped open and she pulled a simple thin dart from it.
The Assassin looked up, seeing Crystal's eyes on her. She smirked, letting her sleeve fall over the gauntlet, the dart held between her forefinger and thumb. Crystal shot her a bewildered look behind the breathless panic, only for Lucy-Jo to draw back her arm and take aim with a fierce, almost frightening look of concentration. She bought her arm back around in one trained, swift and demeaning move and the dart whistled from her hand, striking Alvie in the side of his neck.
He glared at her with those incinerating eyes, tugging the dart from his neck. He raised his hands, curling his fingers. Red energy crackled about his fists, circling his arms.
Lucy-Jo simply watched him expectantly, slightly amused, her lips moving in a silent countdown. She snapped her fingers to signal the end of her count and the light about Alvie died. His eyes returned to normal, just for a second, and then rolled back. He crumpled to the floor.
Crystal inhaled sharply, coughing harshly with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Glad that's sorted," Nico smiled, clapping his hands together. "Now, what about the bloody plane?"
"Oh, piece of cake." The Poseidon twins had that look- an understanding they shared that no-one else knew. They got to their feet, Louisa standing just this side of the door to the cockpit and her brother at the opposite end, directly in line with her. They held their hands out either side of them and closed their eyes. Annabeth edged towards a window and lifted the cover, seeing the vast expanse of sea shooting past below them.
Sea foam sprayed against the window, followed shortly by a blanket of sea water.
The plane was encased with the twins' home turf and it levelled out once again, gradually descending.
They were in a bubble, filled with water, riding a gigantic wave towards land and the mortals couldn't see a thing!
The flying was smooth, for the twins, but they really needed to work on their landing. It wasn't entirely rough, just bouncy, but Max still whacked his head on an armrest.
"Sorry." Percy mumbled, opening his eyes and dazedly staring at his son. "You OK?"
"Oh, just a concussion, don't worry about me." Max waved it off. Tobias groaned, catching their attention.
"The world is going mad…" He mumbled, blearily looking up at them all before leaning against Max and closing his eyes. "Mad, mad, mad…" He into sleep and Max was stuck as Tobias's pillow.
Annabeth cautiously walked towards Alvie, kneeling at his side and checking for his pulse.
"What did you shoot him with?"
"Knockout toxin. He'll wake up in… three, four hours. He'll be fine, don't worry."
"You shot my son!"
"'N' he flew a plane with his mind, he strangled her with his mind 'n' threw him with his mind. I'd be more worried about his mind than me shootin' him." Annabeth glowered at the Assassin until Percy stumbled over, resting a warm and familiar hand on her shoulder. He picked Alvie up in his arms and she tucked the cloak about him.
"Apollo has explaining to do."
OK, this is me brainstorming and working my way slowly towards my idea. I want to get it over as many chapters as possible without too much drabble. I hope this is OK! AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AMAZINGLY, LOVELY AND AWESOME SAUCE PEOPLE! May 2014 be ever in your favour!