The Wings, the Wand, and the Wave

Mission

Max POV

"Max," I heard. My eyes snapped open, and I bolted upright. "Voice? Are you back?" I hadn't heard from the Voice in two months, but maybe that was because we'd found a house that we were safe in. And by "we", I mean the flock. Come on guys, you should know this by now. If you don't, I'll recap, if so, skip the next paragraph.

The flock consists of me, Maximum Ride, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel, in order of age. We spent the majority of our lives in the School, a scientific torture chamber. They altered our DNA as infants, and now we have wings, along with a variety of other abilities. Ever since our escape as littles, we've been hunted by Erasers, human-wolf hybrids. Oh, the joys of being a mutant bird kid.

The "Voice" was this, well, voice that I had inside my head. No, it's not my conscience. I don't think he's been around in a while. But I always listened to my Voice. Okay, well, most of the time.

"Max," it said again. What do you want? I thought. "You need to fly to England, right now, and obtain Harry Potter. He and you will fly to New York, where you will meet Percy Jackson. You need to transfer blood, and give them wings. It's the only way." Harry Potter? Percy Jackson? Why can't they just fly themselves over here? I'm in Colorado, dang it! It'll take me a week!

"They don't have wings yet, Maximum. That's why you need to do the blood transfusion." Blood transfusion? How am I supposed to do that? And where, exactly? Both New York and England are huge! "I will send you the coordinates, and once you have obtained them, will instruct you for the transfusion." I sat up even straighter when I received the locations. Right now? What do we need to do? "Yes, leave now. You need to be punctual if you are going to save the world."

I've heard the whole "save the world" gig before, but my Voice has never said for someone to help me. With a sigh, I slipped out of bed and pulled on my Windbreaker and shoes, along with my bag, which stayed packed. Hey, Voice? What if they don't come with me? "They will, Maximum. I have told them, and while they may be reluctant, I am certain they will cooperate. They know what is at stake." Usually when my Voice said it was "certain", it never was, but I felt a strange sense of trust towards its words, for once.

I left my room, and wrote a quick note that I put on the kitchen table. I knew Fang would be the first to read it, because Iggy got in the kitchen first, but he was blind, and would go get Fang.

I pushed the balcony doors open, and a gust of wind blasted my face. I breathed in the crisp mountain air, and, with a glance back at my home, jumped over the railing, and flew out into space.

Four Hours Later

Harry

"You need to save the world, Harry." "What?" I said, a little louder than anticipated. Luckily, I'd out sound dampeners on my curtains for when I had nightmares. "I know what you need to do. A girl by the name of Maximum Ride will arrive at Hogwarts in six hours, right as you are in your quidditch game. You need to go with her, despite what your friends try to tell you. Don't say goodbye, it will hinder you, and worsen your guilt. The girl Maximum has wings, and you will fly with her on your broomstick to New York, where you will obtain Percy Jackson, who will assist you greatly on your mission. I will instruct you from there." "No! No way! I'm not going with some random girl to 'save the world'. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm sort of in a predicament." "Your 'goblet of fire' games do not matter. This is more important." I groaned, but if leaving meant saving my friends, I would do anything. "Okay." I whispered. I didn't think I would sleep, but right then my consciousness faded, like a switch being turned off.

Six hours later

I adjusted my robes, which were hot against my skin. My heart was pounding, but not because of the game. I was nervous. No, terrified. But I was ready.

Hermione waved at me, and Ron gave me a thumbs up. I shot them a fake, wide grin and a short wave. Even from up here, I could feel Hermione sensing that something was wrong. I saw her eyes shoot up, and I balked, almost falling off my broom. From the clouds the winged girl, Maximum, appeared, hovering in the air, searching for something. No, someone. Me.

Out of my peripheral vision I saw Dumbledore's wand raised towards her. "No!" I shouted, racing towards her. I got there just in time, and the blast knocked into my shoulder, pushing me off my broom and into Maximum. She caught me, and sagged about thirty feet in the air, before flying back down and setting me gently on the ground. "Harry," she called, still hovering a little to the left of me. "Are you alright?" "Maximum?" I blinked. "Call me Max. Now are you good enough to head for New York?" "My broomstick!" Then I looked at her feet, and saw it hanging delicately between them. I took it back, and swung a leg over. "Nice reflexes." She didn't respond, because the entire house of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, the teachers, and half of Slytherin were gathered around us. I saw Max's fists clench, tensing into a fight position. "Hey," I breathed. "Calm down." She didn't fully relax, but I saw her knuckles loosen a bit. Hermione and Ron pushed to the front, but I backed away from them, filled with dread.

"Harry!" Hermione said, ever the lecturer. "What were you thinking? Why would you protect a monster?" I could feel Max glaring at her, just I saw Hermione glaring back, but Ron broke the spell. "What's going on?" His voice was shaky. I glanced guiltily at Max, and she nodded, almost imperceptible. "I'm sorry," I said.

Max surged upwards, and I followed, trying to ignore the expressions on their faces.

"Harry Potter, you are not allowed to leave these grounds!" Snape. As a response, I kept going, blinking through the tears. I stayed right behind Max, in case they tried casting at her again. They didn't. I glanced back one last time, and could see Hermione's pleading brows, kneaded together, and Ron's angry mouth, pressed into a harsh line. "I'm sorry," I whispered again, right before I flew away.

Fang

"Fang!" I heard a shout, startling me out of dreamland. "Fang!" It was Iggy. There was an urgency in his tone, struggling to be suppressed. I tore out of my room, down to the kitchen, the flock at my heels. "Iggy, what's wrong?" He held up a piece of paper, and I unfolded it. My breath caught in my throat. "No..." I breathed. Gazzy attempted to peer over my shoulder, but I was a head taller. "Read it aloud," Iggy said, impatient. I swallowed.

"Dear flock. Okay, sorry, that was cheesy. Also, I apologize for spelling. I need to leave for now. Please don't come looking for me. I'm perfectly fine, and I'll come back soon. I have a mission, given to me by the Voice. Usually I wouldn't leave you guys for anything, especially if the Voice told me to. But I believe it now, because I have to work with someone else. Two someones, actually. I will come back, but if I don't, then I'm sorry that I never got to say goodbye in person. Love, Max." I choked when I read out her name, and looked up to see tears streaming down Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy's faces. Iggy simply stood there, mouth hanging open, unbelieving. "So we're going to get her back, right?" Nudge said. I nodded. "Yes," my voice cracked. "There's no way she would leave us. Max has been captured."