Oh my gods, I haven't updated this one in FOREVER. But I have ideas now and I can try and update more stories more often! Hopefully… I know I say that a lot, but writer's block is a sly foe.

There were four Guests so:

Guest 1: Flipping tables? I like you already :D And thank you!

Guest 2: I'm going to try and update now. I've worked on this pretty much all day from a random idea I had brushing my teeth, bizarrely, so I hope it's OK. And that's wishful thinking! 3:D

Guest 3: I know, it wasn't that great… much better in my head, I assure you. And thank you! If it wasn't for you lovely, yet slightly insane bunch, I doubt I would have carried on with stories on here!

Guest 4: I'm amazing, aren't I? ;) No, just kidding and hopefully this chapter will be alright!

Again, if I missed any guest reviews, feel free to… shout at me or whatever.

When Alvie woke up, he found he was in his bunk in the Poseidon cabin. Tobias was sat at the foot of his bed, shuffling a deck of cards and sorting them into two piles. Max was sat on the bunk above, his feet dangling over the edge. Alvie knew it was him by the blue socks. Max always wore blue socks.

"What's the score?" Tobias asked.

"Three all."

"Best of seven?" The older brother suggested. He glanced briefly at Alvie, looked away and then did a double take. "Ooh, he's awake! How are you feeling, Alvie?" He asked as Max jumped down. Alvie just nodded, propping himself up on his elbows. His head spun sickeningly, but the soft watery light in the cabin was calming and easy on his eyes. Max handed him a glass of nectar, which Alvie was grateful for. It eased his headache greatly.

His brothers were smiling at him. There was a soft yellow about them, but that yellow blended in with a very dirty looking brown. Alvie frowned slightly. They were hiding something.

At his frown, they glanced sheepishly at each other and both of them gained shards of grey.

Tobias cleared his throat nervously. "Alvie…" He started slowly, shots of blue spiking the air around him. He was thinking, slowly piecing sentences together in his mind. "Um, after you… did your drive-everyone-to-insanity-thing… uh, Dad bought you here; we've watched you for a few hours now, but, um… we started playing cards and I won the first few rounds, but-" Alvie struggled to follow Tobias's babble and his frown deepened in concentration. He wasn't sure what he did or how, but he relaxed as Tobias tensed, cutting off his nervous chatter. There was a tug in Alvie's mind and Tobias choked, his eyes widening. Alvie barely noticed the sudden change in his brother, closing his eyes and pushing with his mind instead.

Pictures flickered through his mind, an incoherent mess of words and sounds bringing back his headache.

He saw a deck of cards being shuffled in his hands. No, not his hands. Tobias's hands. He was seeing Tobias's memories.

Alvie tried harder and the images slowed. In the memory, Tobias reached up and removed a blue-socked foot from his head, Max's snickers echoing in his ears. Alvie clamped down on distractions and there was a sudden blur of colours and sounds.

When it stopped, he was watching their father, still through Tobias's eyes, carry a small, white-cloaked figure towards them. Tobias happened to glance around, ADHD, and Alvie saw that his two brothers stood on the porch of the Poseidon cabin.

Percy set the cloaked figure in Tobias's arms. Tobias looked down and saw Alvie's peacefully sleeping, yet eerily pale face.

"What happened, Dad?" Tobias shot a look at Max and then at their father.

"The red eyes thing. He did something and they're all mad now." A spark of awe flitted through Alvie's mind and he understood that Tobias was smiling.

"Oy!" They all looked round and saw Nico storming towards them. That awe Tobias had felt shrank, replaced with fear. "Where's Crystal?!" Nico demanded angrily. Percy looked mildly surprised, but there was a hint of pride in his smile. Nico glared at him, looking a bit pink all of a sudden. He was really stepping up to this daddy role.

"We thought she was at your cabin." Max offered, wary of his uncle.

"She was here!" Nico argued, gesturing furiously at the porch. Tobias and Max both took involuntary steps back at the sudden show of Big Three powers. Percy remained unfazed, resting a hand on Nico's shoulder.

"We'll search the Camp." He assured. "You two keep an eye on Alvie." Tobias and Max nodded obediently. Percy and Nico went off. Tobias looked at Max, who was staring at Alvie and chewing his lip worriedly.

Alvie heard a faint buzz in his ears and a pressure on his shoulder. He centred himself and all external feelings vanished. The pictures whirled through his head again, stopping at some point an hour or so later. Percy was back. Tobias had just found the cards and was searching the pile for the joker cards.

"Is everything OK, Dad?" Max asked from the top bunk. There was a creak as he sat up and he swung his feet over the edge, cheekily poking Tobias with his toes. Tobias waved his foot away, trying not to smile.

"Crystal's missing."

Alvie opened his eyes and pulled out of Tobias's mind. His eldest brother inhaled sharply, hand on his heart. He had gone red in the face and was breathing and choking heavily as if… he had been suffocating.

Max stood a metre away, looking desperately from one brother to the other. He had paled, but Alvie didn't notice that, aware of the colours surrounding Max.

Brown, grey and mustard yellow.

Unsettled, worried and pained.

"Wh-? Wh-? You-" Max caught his breath and closed his eyes, sinking to the floor with his head in his hands. Tobias coughed, not as red now, and got up. He stated words of assurance for Max, but Alvie wasn't listening.

As Tobias gently eased Max's hands away and hugged him, Alvie spotted Crystal's cell phone on the bedside table, where he had left it.

What did they mean she was missing? He had left her here.

He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind again, focusing on Crystal. Out right, he didn't get much, other than feeling faint.

Opening his eyes, he checked his brothers were still sorting themselves out. Max had calmed down a fraction, nestled in Tobias's arms as he breathed as slowly and as evenly as he could.

Alvie pushed himself from the bed and gently crossed to the door. He got out without so much as a sound, closing the door with a barely audible click behind him.

The porch of the Poseidon cabin had been decorated with potted sea plants- Lilly had insisted. She was absolutely fascinated with the different sea plants her father had shown her one day and now they were here. There was a cool, watery feel to the air about the porch, a sea scent lingering and lightening Alvie's mood slightly.

Alvie studied every inch of it from where he stood, eventually spotting a scuff of mud on the step.

He stepped down and knelt brushing his fingers over the dirt. It had dried partly, still damp on the inside. It seemed to have been here for as long as Alvie had been unconscious.

Sitting on the bottom step, he studied the railings either side of him.

Small, faint scratches; cracks in the paint and muddy fingerprints gradually made their presence known, set on the banister and the first few bars holding it up.

Alvie stared at this new evidence, feeling a familiar weight settle about his shoulders. He didn't know his cloak could materialise like that. It didn't matter- he felt more focused with it there.

Events started unfolding in his mind, like with Tobias. The only difference was that these images weren't as… restricted. He felt lighter here and there was a lack of blurs of colours, lights and sounds. There was no resistance against him, as there had been in Tobias's mind.

He wasn't sure how to explain it. He wasn't reading someone's memories, but more like picking things from the air and rearranging them into chronological order.

He saw Crystal standing on the porch, wringing her hands and chewing her lip nervously. Alvie could see himself making his way towards Thalia's tree, highly visible in his white-golden cloak.

Crystal sighed, glancing around. Something was different with Alvie, something sharper and… not-quite-so-gentle-shy-Alvie. She was more curious than fond of it and decided to give him some time and as much help as she could to get over whatever ordeals Strike had put him through.

She stepped forward to sit on the steps and wait for him to come back, but her foot slipped on something and she fell backwards, smacking her head on the solid wood of the porch. Stars danced in her vision and two clearly male figures dressed in black from head-to-toe appeared, looming over her.

"Mud was good." One of them nodded.

"She's smaller than I thought she'd be."

"Let's just get her back. He'll kill us otherwise." The second one nodded, placing a hand over Crystal's mouth and nose.

She couldn't breathe. She tried to kick or hit them, but they held her still.

Darkness tinged the edges of her vision and panic settled into her stomach. Her lungs screamed at her to breathe, but she couldn't.

"Alvie!" Alvie was pulled from his thoughts and dragged to his feet by his father. Percy crushed him in a hug. "Oh thank gods. Are you OK?" Alvie stared at his father and Percy's smile faltered slightly. "They told you about Crystal then?" Alvie shrugged and Percy frowned, half-confused and half-worried.

The door opened behind them and Tobias stood there.

"Hi." He croaked.

"Are you losing your voice?" Percy quizzed. "Please say yes. I could do with some peace and quiet."

"I feel loved and no. My throat just hurts." Tobias glanced at Alvie, tilting his head to the side as if he wasn't quite sure what to say. Alvie stared back for a few seconds, his eyes shifting of their own accord to look over Tobias's shoulder.

"What's happened?" Percy sounded like he shouldn't have expected anything within in the relative boundaries of normal, but these were his sons they were talking about. His sons, Annabeth would say.

Tobias waved them in. Alvie stayed outside, wanting to know what happened to Crystal, but Percy dragged him in.

Max was sat back on his top bunk, swinging his feet and staring into space. He held a water bottle so tightly; it was a miracle it hadn't exploded. Tobias slept bottom bunk on the next bed over- easier to see each other to talk that way, as far as they were concerned. Alvie's bunk was below Max's, which suited him fine. Less heights and near the back door in case he wanted to sit outside.

Tobias explained what happened. Percy was sat next to Alvie, waving Max's foot occasionally from his head. Max had a habit of putting his feet on people's heads if he got the opportunity. At least he was feeling better.

"Then Max started panicking, but I'm not sure why. You OK now, Max?" Max nodded and Tobias gave a relieved smile. "I looked up to check on Alvie, but he'd gone. The guy's turning into such a ninja, I swear."

Percy stayed quiet after Tobias had finished, hands clasped between his knees. Tobias had never seen his father so thoughtful before. It was usually Annabeth that did all the thinking.

"Alvie?" Percy glanced at his third son. Alvie looked at him for a second and then away again, at the family photograph framed on the bedside cabinet.

"He hasn't said anything since he woke up." Max mumbled, nudging Alvie gently in the head with his foot. "Eat the sock." Alvie moved away, but Max followed. Tobias snickered, the mood in the cabin lightening considerably.

"That's not her!"

"But… she fits the description…"

"Does she look pregnant to you? She's twelve years old, you morons!" Crystal heard thuds and wished that she had seen whoever had kidnapped her getting whacked about the head. "Get out of my sight! I'll deal you with thick idiots later!" There were hurried footsteps, a door creaked open and close and she was left alone with that other person.

The blindfold was removed and she came face-to-face with Strike. He stared at her calculatingly. Crystal leant back as far as she could, but he tugged fiercely on the rope around her wrists and she couldn't get away.

Strike sighed. "I guess I'll have to use you as bait."

"You want my mom. Why?"

"Your mother isn't who I want, but your brother."

"My brother?"

"A grandson of Hades, no less."

"But… Nico's my dad too." Probably wasn't a good idea to bring that up, but Crystal was curious.

"Yes, but you don't have any powers, do you?"

"I'm still hoping. But my brother probably won't either."

"That's where you are wrong. As a boy, he is likely to have a closer connection to your father than you do."

"And you're hoping this includes some power or something?"

"You do know the extent of your father's powers, don't you?"

"I think so. Raises the dead, summons and talks to ghosts, control over rocks, yadda yadda yadda." Strike just nodded, as if the summarised versions of Nico's powers were all she needed to know. "What if my brother doesn't have anything? What will you do?"

"I could do with a sidekick."

"And my mom?"

"That depends…" He gave a sly smile and Crystal's heart pounded in her ears.

He would kill her mother.

Strike started dragging her away. Crystal tried to fight, but he was a lot stronger and bigger than she was. He could quite easily kill her if she couldn't help his plan.

"Let me go!" She protested, kicking him in the back of the leg. He tripped, but regained his balance. He half-turned to glare at her.

"I liked you better unconscious."

"Let me go!" He yanked on the rope again. She was going to have serious rope burn on her wrists…

"You'll do well to hold your tongue and behave, child. I have very little patience."

"And you want to take on a baby…" Crystal scoffed. "You'll need the patience of a frigging saint."

She was dragged further down the hall until they reached a dungeon cell.

"I think you'll get on well with your roommate." He said, unlocking the door and shoving her forward. He slammed the heavy metal door shut and the click of the lock echoed unnervingly about the gloomy cell.

Strike marched off. Crystal cursed him with one of Nico's frequent Ancient Greek curses and squinted around in the darkness for something sharp to get the ropes off.

"Crystal?"

"Francis? What are you doing here?"

"He said I knew stuff about Alvie that he wanted to know." Francis's voice trembled. Under the fear, she heard relief- somebody was here with him. He wasn't alone, with one of his best friends.

She felt a hand on her arm and then Francis hugged her.

"It's OK, Francis. We'll get out."

"How?" Crystal debated that to herself.

"I'll get back to you on that one." She replied eventually. "Do you have anything to get these ropes off?"

"Hold on…" Francis pulled away. She could see his silhouette as he scampered about in the dark, searching the floor for something. He seemed thinner and was shaking from head to foot.

He returned a minute later with a sharp chunk of rock. "If I cut you, I am very sorry." Crystal hummed noncommittally, looking around as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

There had to be a way out!

She needed to keep her mother- and her baby brother- safe.

Ta da! I feel so happy! I UPDATED ALVIE'S STORY FOR THE FIRST IN FOREVER! WOO HOO! :D