Note: This is going to be a long but fast paced chapter to introduce the OC's! 

Alicia's POV (OC Character)

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Liam hisses behind her, and she turns to glare at him.

"It's a little too late to be backing out now, don't you think?" Alicia huffs at him, glancing behind him to the group of ten people she had rounded up for the job. She knew there would be a slim chance of getting in and out alive, but to her, it would be worth it.

"It's just...I don't know, I feel really unsure about this whole breaking-and-entering thing. Like someone already knows we're here."

"For God's sak-" she cuts herself off and inhales deeply, reigning in her frustration. "Do you want to get our dad out, or not?"

"Of course I do" he replies, but he avoids her gaze. Ignoring it, she forges on ahead, climbing up the ladder and slipping through the open vent hole, kicking the pried-off metal door away noisily as she did.

"Come on. As soon as we get in here, we have to work as quickly as possible."

One by one, her brother followed with the rest of the group, clambering into the vent a little more noisily than she would have liked. As bad as it sounded in her head, she didn't care about their fates-she only cared about her's, her brother's and their father's. As far as she was concerned, the rest of them were merely a distraction.

The group shuffle through the vents of Voxel Labs, their ears straining at every noise coming from the various experiment rooms. Now and again, the vent dipped as it went to the lower levels, but it didn't even faze Alicia-her mind is set on one goal, and she couldn't allow anything to distract her.

"How much lo-"

"Shhh!" she growls behind, rolling her eyes at the stupidity of one of the group who had decided to talk at normal volume. If this screwed up because of one stupid mistake, she would...

She didn't know what she would do.

Finally, after an eternity, she reaches one of the lower levels; the one she had been aiming for.

Holding her fingers to her lips, she waits for everyone (that she can see) to nod in confirmation, before she slowly eases the vent door open, and drops onto the corridor.

Almost immediately, alarms go off. It's a loud, screaming siren that cuts into her eardrums like a knife through ice cream, and she clamps her hands over her ears before beginning to sprint towards the door she knew which led to the "holding chamber". The top secret experimental prison was the name everyone in Voxeltopia gave it, but no one had actually been inside and managed to get out again to tell everyone what it was like, except the workers.

Alicia doesn't care if the rest of the group followers her or not. She is in now, finally, and she only has one chance.

Running through the hallways and blocking out the siren as much as she could, she can feel the inhuman part of her which she buries all the time begin to awaken at the adrenaline kick she is having, the activation of her survival instincts letting the...powers inside of her stir. Pushing them down hard mentally, she forges on, until she sees the glowing sign above the double doors.

"HOLDING ROOM."

Throwing open the doors, she sees him immediately. Battered. Bruised. Broken. But alive!

"Dad!" she screams, launching herself at the bars, only for strong arms to grab her legs and yank her backwards. The man behind the bars frowns in confusion, staring at her in surprise.

"Sedate her! Quickly!"

"Mexxy!" is the last thing she remembers yelling, before everything turns black and she sinks into oblivion.

Tia's POV (YAAAAAAY)

Stirring the steaming hot coffee in her mug, Tia frowns when she feels someone patting the back of her top down, and she rolls her eyes in annoyance and sighs theatrically.

"Deamon, leave it already, I'm fine."

The quartgod's mentor chuckles behind her, continuing his patting. "I think you'll find that fluff does not look professional when you're going for an interview."

"It's not an interview" she corrects him, sipping her favourite beverage before turning to face the demigod. "And who says fluff isn't professional?"

"I do" he smirks, giving her a look over. "There, you look...somewhat formal, I suppose."

Looking down at her ridiculous clothing, she groans. "Why do I have to wear this stuff anyway?"

Dressed in a stupid white blouse with a stupid black miniskirt, she looked every inch the nerdy high school teenager, which she wasn't. Not any more, anyway. She'd managed to pass through that phase as quickly as it came; the only small incidents which were classed as somewhat "exciting" during her childhood included the great screw up of her pathetic excuse for a boyfriend five years ago who had ultimately stayed with her for a month before getting bored and moving on to someone else, ruining her life temporarily and breaking her heart.

But she is over that now. Sort of. Maybe.

"Stop thinking about your boyfriend, you've got other things to think about" Deamon murmurs, pushing the messy strands of her hair behind her ear and neck to hide them.

She scowls. Damn him and his mind reading skills, she thinks, which of course he picks up on immediately and winks at her with his signature cheeky grin.

Deamon is sort of her father figure-she had no idea who her real father and mother were, and being a quartgod woman in a, well, demigod man's world sucked already without being an abandoned one as well. But Deamon had taken her in, and became her mentor when she came of age; that made him the ruler of her life. When she had been sucked into her relationship with another quartgod boy, he had disapproved entirely and the pair had fallen out for a while until it ended badly, and he was there again, letting her cry on his shoulder and complaining about the tear drops on his coat.

"Ex boyfriend" she mutters under her breath and he rolls his eyes at her, gulping down his own coffee before tapping her chin up.

"Keep your head up, and your back straight. You know you're going to get in, so act like it. Keep eye contact at all times, and respect everyone you talk to, even if there are some bitchy ones there. Show them you're professional, and they'll take you on."

"I know, I know. You've told me about a million times" she moans, but lays her head on his shoulder all the same in thanks.

"Then I'm telling you once more" he laughs, pulling her in for a surprising hug. "I'm so proud of you, you know? Whatever happens today, don't forget-I'm proud of you."

Smiling, Tia buries her head into his coat, blinking back stupid sentimental tears. "Love you, Deamon."

"Love you too, Tizz" he replies, and laughs darkly when she complains at his nickname for her. In response, she fluffs up his tousled dark brown hair, causing him to bat at her arms and accidentally karate chop her coffee-holding arm.

Kissing her on the head, he ushers her out of the front door, barely catching her falling coffee cup. "Go on, and good luck!"

With a grin, she kicks off into the air, flying high up into the clouds before leaning forward slightly to pick up speed in the direction of Voxel Labs.

When every quartgod boy and girl who had graduated college got to 20 years of age, they were put in for work experience-if they were good enough on the day, they were enrolled to work there. Some chose to be placed in the industrial section, for mining and quarrying, and hard labour. Those were generally either the maths nerds or the stronger immortals. Some decided to go into magic, which were the quartgod's with specifically unique talents or those who just wanted to learn the ways of being a mage. Some went into the military, and trained as soldiers for combat-those were the ones with the big ego's and the muscles to compliment them. There were other, smaller courses of course, such as medical and agricultural jobs like farming.

But the big job that rarely anyone could apply for was to be a scientist at Voxel Labs, the centre of everything in Voxeltopia apart from the castle itself.

Only a handful of students had the opportunity-and the brains-to work here. Tia had no idea how she had made the cut for it, and she had a feeling Deamon had pulled a few strings to let her in, but she couldn't help feeling important-just being on the list to work here opened up doors for her in every job.

You can't miss the giant lab-it was half as big as the castle but it still stood out from the rest of the scenery. Tia slows herself down as she prepares to land-she is still getting the hang of flying properly, and she couldn't afford to walk in with dirt all over her clothes.

She touches down gracefully outside the doors before taking a deep breath and entering the labs.

The place is spotlessly clean; the walls and floor are marble white, and are so shiny you can see your reflection in them. Above her, the ceiling is a light grey colour, with black vents criss-crossing like an airborne labyrinth. Looking around in awe, she spies the front desk and she heads over to it, clearing her throat.

"Name?" the desk worker asks.

"Tia, I'm here for the work placement."

"Well, Tia-I'm-here-for-the-work-placement, here's your ID card, and some introductory papers. Go to the right and wait."

Scowling at the woman who thankfully has her head down, she takes her ID card and papers, and goes to the right where there is a group of young quartgod's.

Her stomach turns at the sight of them, and she starts to wish that she had stayed at home.

All of them looked incredibly professional, and she recognized a lot of them from various awards they had received in college and school. Every single one of them is incredibly intelligent, and they all look to her with piercing eyes, judging her silently without saying a word. But it is clear from their expressions-and even the tour guide's slightly raised eyebrow-that she would not be getting this job.

"Keep your head up, and your back straight. You know you're going to get in, so act like it." An imaginary Deamon pipes up in her head, and she follows the advice grudgingly, sitting down on one of the seats provided and pretending to read one of the papers.

She hears them whispering. Giggling. When she looks up, most of them are still staring at her, smirking at her pitifully. 

"And you are?" one of them asks, a brown haired girl with glasses. Her voice screams poshness, and Tia knows she came from a rich family.

"Keep eye contact at all times, and respect everyone you talk to, even if there are some bitchy ones there."

"Tia" she replies, and on cue a group of 3 of them burst into giggles. Looking over, someone smiles at her, and she smiles back politely only for them to give her a weird expression and turn their back on her.

"Tia...are you sure you're not supposed to be somewhere else? You know, maybe the...farming job?"

Holding eye contact with the girl, she smiles again, like she is in on the joke. "Nope, I'm supposed to be here." She even adds in a little fake laugh at the end, like she found it funny too, though inside, she feels like she is going to be sick from regret.

The girl looks her up and down a few times, eyebrow raised so far up it's almost in her hair. "Are you sure?"

Tia's smile hardens and she grits her teeth. "Positive."

"Alright everyone, I think everyone is here. Welcome to Voxel Labs! I'll be taking you on a tour around the labs and if you have any questions then please, do ask me. After the tour, we will be holding some interviews-" Tia inhales sharply, eyes widening, "and then you will be sent home to wait for the results."

An interview? Tia swallows hard, dropping her eyes to the floor and slouching. She didn't bring any files and she hadn't prepared. At all. 

She has visions of getting back home, and Deamon asking her how it went. Enthusiastically, excitedly, not doubting that she got in, only to see the look on her face and knowing  she wasn't in. Would he still be proud? 

"I must ask that throughout the tour you do not wander off, you stay with me at all times in a group. There will be breaks throughout. Do not touch anything, do not talk to anyone unless you are aloud-if you break these rules, your entry will be ripped up and you will be escorted away. Understood?"

Everyone nods, and murmurs in confirmation.

"Good. Follow me."

______________________

By about halfway through the tour, Tia wanted to literally puke up somewhere. Not only were the rest of the group crowding in front of her when they were at an exhibit and bumping into her so often that she spent more time on the floor than standing up, but the exhibits themselves were too complex for her to even understand. The rest of the group were asking intelligent questions about "quantum physics" and other things-she didn't have a clue what they were talking about and lingered at the back throughout, poking the floor with her foot.

So far, she had only seen physics and industrial sciences. Her speciality is environmental sciences, like biology and geology.

"Are you alright, Tia?"

Tia snaps her head up to see that the whole group is watching her, giggling. The tour guide looks angry and Tia swallows quickly. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Have you got any questions you'd like to ask?"

Eyes flickering warily to the other students. "Um, where are all the...environmental sciences...studied?"

The group is silent for a moment, before bursting into laughter. Tia backs away in alarm, frowning at their reaction. What is so bad about environmental science?

"Oh dear" the tour guide chuckles. "Environmental sciences are not, and never have been, studied here at Voxel labs."

Her stomach does a backflip, her heart pounding. "B-but I was told-"

"What you were told is false. Now, have you got any OTHER questions you would like to ask?"

Tia struggles to stop herself from trembling before managing to stammer out another question.

"Do you know where the bathroom is?"

Tia stays in the bathroom for about half an hour, not crying, but on the brink of it. She calms herself down, breathing in and out deeply like Deamon taught her to.

"Show them you're professional and they'll take you on."

Well I've screwed that up, she thinks. Looking at her options she decides to admit a hasty retreat back to home where she can curl up in her pyjamas, eat pizza and cry like an idiot for a few hours whilst listening to Deamon tell her that he was proud of her, and she should be too.

Proud of herself? Tia snorts bitterly. How can she be proud-and more importantly, how can HE be proud-of a failure?

Sighing, she unlocks the bathroom door, and heads back out into the corridor. She passes a worker, and she taps him on the shoulder. 

"Hello, do you know where the exit is?"

The man points vaguely down the corridor, and she thanks him, even though she doesn't know where to go. Heading down some stairs, she descends onto some lower levels, calling out for assistance on each of them.

Finally, she reaches the bottom corridor, and she hears some workers. Breathing a sigh of relief, she heads over to them.

"...Yeah, they broke in through the vents, a big group of them. Think there was about 12 of them..."

Ears pricking curiously, she hides round the corner and listens in.

"Who were they?"

"Oh, I think they were some rebels, you know? Traitors to the crown, want to break the old king outta here, y'know?"

Tia's eyes widen. The old king is here? Everyone in the capital adored the new king, but in the other cities and towns, everyone secretly loathed him-his name is Cisco, and he is a tyrant, especially to the poorer places. He is the old king's son, and he kicked his father off the throne, branding him a traitor to the country, and then took his place.

"Huh, yeah, must be it. Where are they?"

"Holding chamber. We moved the old king further down. Most of them are dead now, the torture's too much for them to handle, bless their cotton socks. About four left now. The leader, some guy, a girl who keeps swearing at everyone who comes in and some blaze hybrid girl. You can hear them kicking and screaming from here, listen."

The pair become silent, and Tia listens too, straining her ears. Sure enough she can hear screeching from further down the left of the corridor.

"What you gonna do with them?"

"Kill 'em, I guess. Up to the king."

Tia clenches her fists-Deamon is a huge supporter of the old king and hates the new king with a fiery passion. If she broke the rebels out, he'd have something to be proud of her by, even if she didn't get into the labs.

Her mind is made up, and when the two men leave to the right of the corridor, she takes her chance, and dives down the left, adrenaline pulsing as she sprints down it, the double doors with the flashing sign of HOLDING CHAMBER being her target.

Opening them quickly, she looks inside to the cages, and recoils in surprise.

The men were right-there are four rebels inside the cages. What they failed to mention is how some sort of gas is being pumped down some pipes into their skin, making them scream and writhe in agony.

Acting before thinking, Tia launches herself at the machine doing the pumping, and unplugs it, letting the gas fade from the pipes. The four's screams slowly die down, and she takes her chance.

"Who are you?" 

When no one replies, she asks again, clenching the cage bars hard.

"I said, who are you? Are you the rebels who tried to break the king out?"

One of them, Tia guesses she is the leader, recovers quickly and nods at her in confirmation, sweat dripping down her face from the pain.

"Good" Tia says, before summoning up her immortal power and blasting it at the cage bars.

Tia had been gifted with the power of blowing things up. There isn't a prettier way to put it, in her mind, and she still had not managed to control it properly. So she aims it at the cage but it ends up blowing up the cage, the machine and pretty much everything else in the room, causing a huge explosion.

Boom.

The noise is deafening, and alarms go off immediately. Coughing and waving away the smoke, she reaches into the nearest cage and yanks one of the rebels out-it's the same girl who nodded before, and one by one they come out of their cage.

"Quickly" she splutters, holding the wall. "Get out of here."

"Mexxy" the other girl rasps, grabbing her surprisingly roughly by the shirt. "Where is he?"

"Get out!" Tia repeats, coughing. "Go, now, before they catch you again.

"The king!" the other girl yells, slamming her hard against the wall. "Where are they holding him?"

Some sort of gas is released from tubes in the ceiling, and Tia starts to feel woozy and dizzy. The other girl lets go of her, and the rest of the group drop to the ground, coughing and spluttering. As Tia begins to fade into unconsciousness, demigods fly into the holding chamber wearing masks.

If this day could have gone any worse, Tia thinks, it just did.

She blacks out.