A.N.: Heh, last chapter, I got a whole mess o' new reviews. That makes me happy. And holy carp! Twelve chapters already, and we're no where near being finished. This fic has a freakin' mind of it's own! Updates may take a long time in coming, but there are reasons for that. I hate my new job, but the money pays for Internet so...

Disclaimer: I own a memory stick with lotsa space on it, but Cott? Nope!

Time Stops

/

Archie was feeling good. The past few days had been mercifully uneventful for the team. Besides spending several hours pouring over dusting books in the back of the school library, and participating in various training activities involving griffins and fire, Archie was able to spend a few days doing 'normal' stuff.

Neil was improving rapidly, his wounds healing very well, to the excitement of the entire team. Atlanta was especially pleased with how Neil was healing, and spent so much of her free time with him Archie suspected that Neil had already make the move to ask her out.

He knew better than to pry, however, and satisfied himself with light teasing whenever he had the opportunity to spend time with his two friends. Like right now, for example.

"Soon as you're back on your feet, Neil, me and you? We're going to throw the biggest, loudest, craziest party this school has ever seen." Archie grinned as he watched Neil's eyes widen, and Atlanta's face begin to flush red. "At this party, there'll be how many girls there, we'll pick up so many phone numbers we'll be able to fill a book!"

Atlanta was now scowling, her eyes narrowed, her arms crossed, and she was eying both the heroes with an alarming expression on her face. Neil shot a glance at her, his face going pale, and clearing his throat nervously, said, "Th-that's Ok Archie. I don't think so."

Grinning viscously, Archie asked, "Whys that Neil? Normally you love picking up new phone numbers." Then, raising his eyebrows as though he had been struck by a sudden thought, he said, "Wait a second. Neil, you don't have a girlfriend or something now, do you?"

Archie's grin widened as both his friends sputtered, their faces flushing an identical red. This is even more amusing than Odie when the Internet is down back at the dorms. Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Archie suggested, "'cause if you have a girlfriend, that means that you'll have to take her out -"

"Archie! There you are!" All three teenagers jumped as a new voice called out. Turning around, Archie felt a grin appear on his face as he saw who was at the door. Theresa was wearing a light green tee-shirt today, with skinny black jeans and her long red hair pulled back into a ponytail. Damn, she looks good today. Archie's tongue suddenly felt unusually thick in his throat.

Atlanta giggled, reaching over to tap the Warrior on the nose, "Your mouth is open, you know."

"Hush you." Archie snapped, before standing up to greet Theresa, "Hiya Terri. Were you looking for me?" He nearly slapped his forehead at his question. Duh Archie. Let's try not to lose our head, shall we?

Theresa strode into the infirmary, a warm smile on her face as she looked over her three friends. Neil was sitting on his bed, his shirt half buttoned, allowing his bandages to be seen. Atlanta sat beside him, not to close, but still close enough to brush against the Charm every time either of them moved. Archie stood beside a tall backed chair, his hands stuffed in his hoodies' pockets as he leaned against the ugly chair.

"Yes, in fact I was, and it's a good thing I found you here, so I can let all of you know." She said, moving to stand beside Archie, whose face seemed to be strangely flushed.

"Let all of us know what?" asked Neil, who leaned forward slightly, only to pale and lean back when his wounds protested the movement. Atlanta leaned over worriedly, but relaxed when the Charm gave her a smile.

Smiling at the actions of the two, Theresa tilted her head to look at Archie, who was still a little redder than normal. "Herry and Odie just called from Hephaestus's workshop. He just finished with the Hover Jet, and we'll be able to go to Europe and tart looking for Equinox by tonight!"

"Seriously?!" Archie cried, his dark eyes lighting up with excitement. Pushing away from the chair, he darted over to his backpack, muttering under his breath, "Perfect timing, that means it should only take a few hours, should I bring it? And what about the necklace? Am I gonna need that?"

Glancing at each other in confusion, Atlanta and Neil both craned their necks to watch Archie quickly zip open his pack, and start rummaging through it. Digging through his bag, he pulled out a trio of thick books, a half squashed sandwich in a plastic baggie, and a fat tube of Pringles before shouting "Ah-ha!" and pulling out a battered map-book.

Theresa stared at the Warrior as he got to his feet, triumphantly holding his prize high in the air, a massive grin on his face. Finally, the Fighter cleared her throat, before calling, "Uh Archie? Earth to crazy-boy, come in crazy-boy!"

"Huh?" Archie glanced over to Theresa, then to Neil and Atlanta, all of whom were staring at the Warrior with blank expressions. Flushing red, the Warrior cleared his throat, lowered his arms, and strode over to the heroes with a small, sheepish grin on his face. "A-heh. Sorry. But it's a good thing that Hephaestus finished with the Hover Jet upgrades when he did."

"Whys that?" Atlanta asked, leaning forward as she rested her elbows on her knees. Neil glanced over to the Huntress, a little grin on his face, then glanced away suddenly, his ears burning red.

Sending the Charm a weird look, Archie said, "'cause just last night, I think I figured out where Equinox now lives. With the Hover Jet ready, that means we'll be able to get to him that much faster."

"You figured out where Equinox lives? That's awesome Archie! How did you figure that out?" Theresa asked, leaning towards him as the Warrior opened his map-book.

Archie flipped through the pages of the book until he came to a page with the heading Baden and ran his finger down the page, until it reached a little dot on the map, titled Illianid. Tapping the dot, Archie said, "That's where I think Equinox will be."

"What?" Leaning forward, Atlanta snatched the book out of the Warrior's hand, and inspected the page, as Neil moved closer to look over her shoulder. She hummed quietly, looking down at the paper, "Archie, this is a little Netherlands town, practically in the middle of nowhere. What would Equinox be doing there?"

Grinning smugly, Archie once again leaned against his ugly chair, one arm propped on the back. "One of the library books Jay found mentioned a small town of Azsrutha, which was watched over by Lord Derfilia. There was barely any information on the town, just the name and that the castle, Castle Rotteln, was said to be guarded by unnatural creatures. Jay though this sounded a little weird, and he gave the book to me."

Theresa moved beside Archie and leaned against the other side of the chair, a large smile on her face. Everyone had been relieved to see Archie and Jay getting along once more, but none more so than Theresa. "So that's where the two of you have been keeping yourselves for the past few days. It's a good thing you were working together or you never would have found it."

"No kidding. Once Jay gave me that book, it was easy." Archie stated with a shrug. Continuing, he said, "The book was kind of old, but it only took a few questions of the right people to figure out what the town had been renamed."

"But how can you be so sure that that's where Equinox is?" Asked Neil, who grinned a perfect grin when both the girls turned to stare at him.

Archie merely gave his own mysterious grin, his eyes glinting with excitement. All he said before he turned and walked out the door was "I asked the right question."

You're changing how I view my world, I see everything so differently now...

"Fully-automatic, high-powered, rapid-fire... I don't know a lot about these kinds of weapons, but Wow Hephaestus, you've really outdone yourself this time!" Odie exclaimed, darting from one end of the Hover Jet to the other, attempting to take everything in at once.

Standing beside the navigator's seat, Hephaestus chuckled lightly, a wide grin on his face. "I must admit, this has got to be one of my finest works yet." Slowly turning about the cabin, the god started pointing out features, "State of the art tracking system, full energy solar panels, nuclear powered engines, capable of speeds up to I-haven't-even-figured-that-out-yet, and of course, the weapons."

While everyone listened to Hephaestus list off each and every destructive bit of machinery on the new and improved Hover Jet, Archie stood on the floor of the workshop, a dangerous frown on his face.

"Ares, you cannot be serious. Making him stay behind would not be a good idea! He is needed for this mission and the team would not agree with leaving him behind!" Archie growled at the taller being, trying to keep his voice low.

Ares sneered, his small eyes narrowing into slits. "The boy can barely walk. You used to spend much of your time questioning if he was even a real hero or not! What? Because he saved your life, you've changed your mind?"

"No." Archie hissed, glowering up at the god, who seemed taken back by the teen's response. He continued, his voice still carefully controlled, "Neil was always a hero. He's brave, loyal, honest, and I wouldn't lose him as a friend for the world. Just because someone doesn't look their part, doesn't mean they can't do it."

Ares frowned angrily down at the Warrior, his massive fists shaking as he held back his temper. "Archie, I am going to order you to ask the boy to stay behind on this mission!"

"And I am going to defy that order!" Archie snapped, his own fists clenched at his sides. "We are a team. There are seven of us, including Neil, and I am not leaving him behind on your say so. Even wounded, Neil is invaluable to us, and I'm not risking an endeavor like this without him."

"The boy can't fight, he's hardly got -" Ares started before, with an angry shout, Archie stopped him.

"His name is Neil. He's my friend, he's a hero, he's way braver than anyone I know, and he's coming with us!" Archie snarled, before turning and stomping away angrily.

Ares was left standing alone on the floor of the workshop, but his anger seemed to fade and his expression turned thoughtful as he watched the Warrior stomp up the ramp of the Hover Jet. "Hur-mm. I've never seen such powerful loyalty before. Perhaps... perhaps I was wrong..." The god muttered, rubbing his chin with his hand as he watched the Warrior disappear into the Hover Jet.

"- but all I want to do is sit in the chair! Come on, just this one time!" Neil's whiny voice rang through the airship, followed immediately by groans and several "no"s from his teammates. The Charm was standing beside the pilot's seat, balancing steadily on a pair of crutches, staring at the controls before him longingly.

Coming up beside the Charm, Archie had an amused grin on his face as he asked, "What in the world is going on up here? From the screams of terror, it sounds like you guys saw Cronus in the shower or something."

"Not quite." Atlanta responded, frowning, before screwing up her face. "And ew, Archie. That's a mental image I could have done without." She winced again, shuddering, before walking away towards the open area behind the navigator's seat.

Archie grinned, but winced as Odie suddenly appeared at his side, clamping down on his arm with an iron-like grip, "Archie! Please tell Mr. Insane over there that he cannot fly the Hover Jet! The only one who should be flying this baby is me!"

"The only one?" Lifting an eyebrow, the Warrior smirked teasingly. "Come on now Odie, you don't think you're gonna be the only one who can fly this thing?"

The Brain stammered, his dark skin becoming darker as he blushed, "Wh-what?! No! Th-that's not what I meant!"

Chuckling, Archie clapped Odie on the back, nearly sending him crashing to the ground. "Relax Odie. I know you didn't mean it. And I really think you'd probably be the best man for the job of flying us to Illianid."

"Aww, Archie, I wanna try it!" Whined Neil, who wobbled unsteadily and nearly crashed to the ground had Atlanta not grabbed his arm and steadied him.

Rolling his eyes as he turned his attention to the Charm, Archie struggled to keep a sudden grin from appearing on his face. He's becoming so stubborn. I think Atlanta is beginning to rub off on him. Clearing his throat slightly, the Warrior said, "I know that, but think about it Neil." Now he grinned, his eyes flicking from Neil to Atlanta. "If you sat in the pilot's seat, you wouldn't be able to sit beside Atlanta."

The reaction was immediate, and hilarious. Both teens blushed beet red, Atlanta yanked herself away from Neil, who nearly tumbled to the ground at the loss of his support, and everyone else on the team burst out laughing.

Still blushing wildly, Atlanta frantically waved her arms around in the air, yelling over gales of laughter, "Shut up! Shut UP! You guys are so horrible!" She was ignored by her teammates, and the lithe Huntress turned and stomped away, her nose high in the air.

As soon as she reached her seat, the laughter began to die away. Until, the timid voice of Neil broke the silence, "'Lannie? Can I sit with you?"

Howls of laughter shook the entire Hanger, and Hephaestus looked up from the video game he had been just seconds away from beating. "What in Atlantis is going on in there?"

What I'm starting to feel, it's the most fragile, and most powerful thing I've ever encountered...

"But Jay! All it would take is a few hours! It's not like it would be that out of the way!" Theresa rarely whined to get what she wanted, but with a non-compliant Jay standing in her way, she seemed to be willing to do just about anything to get her way.

Leaning forward in his seat beside her, Archie snorted, holding back his snickers. "Not that far out of the way? Theresa, we're going to the Netherlands, not to France."

"Hush." She snapped, not even glancing at him. Sulking, the Warrior leaned back in his seat. "Jay, come on! Me and Atlanta want to go shopping, or at least see Paris!"

Jay glanced over to Atlanta, who was in the middle of a heated argument with Neil. "I don't really think shopping is whats on Atlanta's mind right now." No one was sure what they were bickering about, but by this point, it didn't really matter.

"You're ridiculous! Why would we even want to try that?" Atlanta snapped at Neil, who scoffed and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Only because it's a good idea, duh! Why are you always so negative?" He returned, frowning down at Atlanta.

The Huntress narrowed her eyes in irritation, "I'm negative because your ideas are stupid!"

"My ideas aren't stupid!"

"Yes they are!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not"

"Are too!"

"Guys!" Herry snapped, looking up from his magazine. "Don't make us separate you two!"

For a moment, there was silence as everyone looked at Herry in surprise. Then Archie started snickering, which was quickly silenced by a well aimed elbow courtesy of Theresa.

Atlanta got to her feet. "No need for that Herry. I'll move." With that, she walked stiffly away from the Charm, whose only reaction was to scowl at her back as she moved away.

With a huff, Atlanta sat down beside Theresa and Archie, crossing her arms and looking everywhere but at Neil, who now looked very similar to a lost puppy, sitting by himself on the far side of the Hover Jet. Theresa jabbed Archie with a slender finger. "Move Arch."

Grumbling, the Warrior got to his feet and walked over to where Neil was seated, glancing back to watch the two females move closer to each other and begin whispering. Rolling his eyes, he turned his back on them and plunked himself down beside Neil, who was still staring over at Atlanta with wounded eyes.

"Give it up already."

Neil jumped, his eyes sliding over to Archie, before he cleared his throat sheepishly, glancing away. "Well, she didn't have to storm off like that."

Archie rolled his eyes once more. "She's a girl. It's what they do."

"You... kinda have a point. Huh."

"What?" Archie asked, eying the Charm in irritation. "Do you think I know nothing about girls or something?"

"When was the last time you went on a date?"

His jaw dropped open in exasperation. "When was the last time you went on a date?"

The two boys continued squabbling, Atlanta and Theresa were still whispering together, now with identical smirks on their faces as they glanced at the two. Jay pinched his nose in frustration, Herry hunched lower behind his magazine, and Odie rolled his eyes from the pilot's seat.

Jay groaned as both girls began giggling madly. "Odie! Are we there yet?"

Brightening, Odie leaned forward, glancing at one of the computers before him before returning his eyes to the window. "Actually Jay, yea, we are!"

We dance over new worlds and leave the old behind...

"Alright guys, we've made it here in mostly one piece. Let's try to keep it that way here, and find out what we can about Equinox before we go running off to explore the castle." Jay called over the group, most of who weren't really listening.

Archie found himself frowning as he watched Theresa giggle at Jay, who was standing in front of the team with a determined look on his face. What the heck? Theresa can giggle at who she wants. Still scowling, the Warrior turned his head, suppressing a low growl. But I'd rather she giggle at me!

"Ok. We've made it here without attracting too much attention to ourselves, and we know this is close to the place where Equinox once was. Now, I want to find out if any of the locals know about Equinox, or even about Castle Rotteln, before we go exploring up in the hills." Jay said, his voice confident and commanding.

Against his will, Archie felt some of his anger slide away. Since he and the Leader had set aside their disagreements, Jay had regained some of his former confidence. Archie was pleased, though he would never admit it, at how his friend was once again leading the team. Glancing to the side, Archie let a little grin appear on his face as he noticed Atlanta and Neil.

"But 'Lannie!! All I wanna do is check out some of the local shops! I promise I'll remember to ask about the dragon, and stuff." Neil begged, balancing unsteadily as he gripped his crutch.

Atlanta glared at the Charm, crossing her arms as she eyed him. "Neil, I don't care if you want to check out some of the shops. You are still not fully healed from what happened, and I don't want you hurting yourself while you're running around!"

Cracking a grin, Archie took a step over to Neil, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "I'd listen to her if I was you, Neil. 'Lannie can get pretty mean if she thinks someone she cares about is doing something stupid."

Beside them, Herry snorted, his own grin appearing on his face. "The question is, just how much does 'Lannie care 'bout you, eh Neil?"

"Herry! Shut up!" Cried a blushing Atlanta, who quickly turned away from the three boys, her arms crossed protectively over her chest.

"You boys are such dorks. Why do we put up with them again 'Lannie?" Theresa walked over to the group, bumping shoulders with the Huntress, who looked up with a smile.

"You know what, Terry?" She cocked her head to the side, eying the boys, all who were grinning somewhat guiltily. "I can't remember why we keep them. Are they amusing?"

"Hmm. Actually, most of the time, they aren't." Theresa mussed, one hand on her hip as she gave the boys a passing glance. Then, professionally flipping her hair over her shoulder, she turned away. "In fact, these guys are mostly boring. Lets' leave!"

With that, ignoring the protesting of the three, both girls linked arms, and walked away, immediately beginning to chatter about which shops they would explore.

And all three boys were left standing in the middle of the road, identical expressions of disbelief and confusion on their faces. Eventually, Archie let his arm drop from Neil's shoulders, and he rubbed at his nose with one hand, sighing. "Girls. Man, I think I'll never understand 'em."

Herry scratched his head, squinting in the direction the girls left in. "You and me both buddy."

Jay, who until that moment had been arguing with Odie over whether or not they should lock the Hover Jet, looked up and frowned. "Hey. Where'd the girls go?"

I'm changing things about me, and I have you to thank...

Glancing around, Archie found himself in a normal, everyday, run-of-the-mill, ordinary town. No one was wearing eccentric clothing, no one had unusual hair, none of the vehicles visible were new or fancy, all of the buildings had all their windows in place, the street was paved, there were no sidewalks, and besides a few wary glances, no one was paying much attention to him. In short, Illianid was boring. And, since he was alone, there was no one to complain to about it.

Jay, once informed that the girls had ditched to look for clues about Equinox – see 'shop' – decided that splitting up to explore the town was a good idea. After convincing Odie and Neil to stay with the Hover Jet (Neil because of his wounds, Odie because of his nervousness around what he called 'potential dragon snacks'), Jay, Herry and Archie had started for town. Then, Jay and Herry had started arguing about which was the more rewarding pastime, sailing or eating, and Archie decided it was time to leave.

Now, he wandered about the town of Illianid, which was seriously making him question whether or not he had chosen the right town, or not. There was nothing exciting about the place.

"Desino! Man, you are such a freak!"

Frowning, Archie's feet came to a stop as he looked around. The harsh tones of the voice were ones used by someone who was laughing at someone. But where...?

"Leave me alone guys! My friend is waiting for me!" A young boy's pleading voice made a surge of anger rise in the Warrior's belly. He had always had a strict intolerance of bullies.

Harsh laughter sounded from a nearby alleyway and with a dark scowl on his face, the Warrior started forward.

Turning the corner, he paused to view the situation. Three large, bulking boys, all standing shoulder to shoulder with identical sneers of contempt on their faces, looking down at a thin youth, who Archie could only catch a glimpse of. He had only caught a glimpse of the youth's wide oddly colored eyes before the three boys turned around to look at him.

"What do you want?" Asked the boy in the middle, the ringleader of the trio. He glared at the older youth, whose appearance was so different it was shocking, and Archie only sneered coldly.

"You kids having fun, pickin' on someone smaller than you?" His voice was low and dangerously angry, but the trio did not back down. Yet.

"Desino? He's a freak! He don't fit in, an' he don't look like us!" Snapped the boy on the left side of the group.

Archie's temper flared. That's far too familiar to be comfortable. "So, what? If someone doesn't look like you, or act like you, you taunt them and make fun of them?"

Growling dangerously, the Warrior stepped forward, his fists clenched as he advanced closer. The boy on the right reacted first.

"No way I'm sticking around!" Stumbling away, the boy escaped down the alley, not glancing back once.

The middle boy looked thunderstruck. "Donnie! What the hell?"

Before Archie could take another step, both remaining youths turned tail and ran, escaping down the alley and shouting back insults that the Warrior didn't even bother to listen to.

Smirking, Archie glanced down the the youth still on the ground, who was staring up at him with an awed expression. Holding out a hand, he said, "Archie."

For a moment, the youth hesitated, before he took the proffered hand and was pulled to his feet. A grateful smile appeared on his face as he said, "Desino."

/

A.N.: Ok! There's chapter Twelve! A little more lighthearted, and possibly a little silly, but that doesn't bother me.

I now have a full time job that I sorta-kinda hate. Thus, updates will probably be a little farther apart, but they will come, I promise.

Oh, oh, one more thing. A few chapters ago I mentioned a link in my profile you could use to see a picture of what Equinox looked like. That is still there, but theres a new link in my profile you can use to see what Castle Rotteln looks like. Take a gander, it's pretty impressive!

Thanks for reading, and if ya don't mind, review!

Review!