Grover and Percy watched Leanord Academy from across the street, glancing at their watches every now an then.
"When does her school get out again?" Percy asked Grover, sounding fatigued.
"Three o' clock," Grover sighed, leaning back onto the tree he was leaning against.
Percy checked his watch again. Two fifty seven. Three minutes seemed to be taking a while.
The bell finally rang and children flooded out of the school. Percy and Grover watched intently for the head of Alyxanderia Malone to come bobbing out of the school with the swarm of other children. They kept their eyes peeled for the coal black hair and emrald eyes –much like Percy's own appearance- to appear. When Audrey did not come out, Percy and Grover became utterly worried.
"Should we go in and get her?" Percy asked Grover, knowing it was a stupid question. Of course, they should go in! Without a word, Grover and Percy burst through the halls of the school, frantically searching for Alyxanderia. They found her in the middle of a hallway, getting yelled at by a female teacher. Alyxanderia had a sour look on her face as the teacher told her to clean the spray paint Alyxanderia had applied to the lockers. As Alyxanderia cleaned, she heard a growl from her teacher.
"Geez, I know you hate me but is growling really nescesarry?" Alyxanderia turned to glare at her teacher, but stopped cold when she found herself face to face with a... thing."Holy crap!"
Her teacher lunged at her, and Alyxanderia jumped to the side. Her teacher slammed into the lockers, denting them terribly. Despite the situation, Alyxanderia found herself giggle a little."Well, now I don't have to clean the lockers..."
Her teacher spun and knocked her against a wall. Alyxanderia stared up in horror at the snake-skinned, ruby red-eyed monster her teacher had formed into. Just as the monster was about to kill Alyxanderia with a swipe of her claw, the monster crumpled to the ground, turning to dust.
Alyxanderia, who was breathing hard and blinking repeatedly, slid down the wall, eyes looking up at a black haired, emrald eyed boy. He held his hand out, and Alyxanderia ignored it, using the wall to help herself up.
"Are you okay, Alyxanderia?" Grover hurried over to her quickly.
She looked at him, at Percy, and at Grover again before laughing shakily, "Yeah, peachy keen."
Okay, listen Alyx, Alyxanderia thought to herself. You did NOT just see you're math teacher turn into a blood-lusting monster that got killed by these two boys. You did NOT. You're imagining it. No biggie. Shrug it off.
Alyx mentally smacked herself. That couldn't be true even if she wanted it to.
"U-um, okay, can you please tell me what just happened before I decide I'm ready for the Whacky Shack?"
Grover and Percy shook their heads. "Not yet. We've got to get you to Camp Half-Blood. It will all be explained there." Percy promised, grabbing Alyx's wrist and tugging her to the door, or at least trying to. Alyx didn't budge.
"Oh, hell no. You're explaining this now." She set her ground firmly and chenched her jaw.
Percy let out a sigh and began explaining. Grover helped add a few helpful facts about what Alyx was, and when they were done explaining, Alyx surprised them greatly.
"So... I'm a... I'm the daughter of a god?"
Percy and Grover nodded.
Alyx grinned and threw a fist into the air. "Sweet! My life's not boring anymore!" She suddenly turned mischevious. "Ooh, I am so getting Katiana with this..."
"No!" Grover shook his head frantically. "You can't tell anyone you're a demigod! It will give monsters hints on you're location and its just a bad idea."
"Oh," Alyx looked disappointed. "Well... can I still prank people with whatever power I have? Like, you said Percy controls water or whatever, so with whatever I can do, I can prank a certain conceited, uh, 'friend' of mine?"
Percy raised an eyebrow while Grover looked like he was about to die from stress. "Can you come with us to Camp Half-Blood now?"
Alyx shrugged and followed Grover and Percy.
Once they made it to Camp Half-Blood, Percy and Grover led Alyx up to the Big House, where Annabeth, Chiron, and Mr. D would be waiting.
Percy spotted Chiron and Mr. D playing cards and Annabeth watcing uninterestedly on the back porch of the Big House, and he ran up to them, Alyx and Grover following. Alyx was looking around with an amazed gleam in her eyes.
I cannot believe I'm important like this- a freaking child of a god... Take that, Karma. You've put me down with dislexia and ADHD for my whole life, but guess what? I'M THE CHILD OF A FREAKING GOD!! I don't know which one yet... but who cares? THE CHILD OF A GOD! THAT'S ME!
"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed at seeing her friends. "Grover!"
"Chiron, this is Alyxanderia," Percy gestured to Alyx, who, at the sound of her name, instantly looked to Chiron.
He smiled kindly at Alyx and held out a hand. Mr. D shot a glance at Alyx before going back to the game, filling his goblet up with Coke. Alyx shook Chiron's hand and smiled back at him.
"Hello, Alyxanderia," Chiron nodded to her.
"Call me Alyx." She replied breezily. She looked around curiously. "So this is Camp Half-Blood? I imagined it like this, to tell you the truth. Much too predictable..." She'd murmured the last part more to herself more so than anyone else. Suddenly, a thought popped into her mind. "Oh! My parents!"
"You already know your parents?" Percy asked incredously.
"They're my adopted parents- not my actual parents. But... they've been so good to me. I can't help but love them genuinely." She got a far away, glazed look in her eyes before she perked up. "Does this camp have reception? Like, cell phones and such?"
Chiron nodded, slightly amused. He watched her pull a slim phone out of her jean pocket and punch in a few numbers. She held the phone to her ear and waited for her adopted parent's response.
The phone was answere clumsily, it sounded like, and Alyx's adopted mother sounded frantic. "Alyx, sweetheart, where are you?"
"I'm at-" she stopped, glancing around, then she sighed, "I'm with some friends right now. What's wrong?"
"Alyx, don't come home! Trust me! Do not come home!" Alyx heard crashes, a strangled cry, and a shrill roar. "Alyx! Do you hear me? Stay with your friends! Do not come home!"
"Wait- what's going on? Are you okay?" Alyx worried.
"Honey- tell me you wont come home!" The crashing and screaming didn't cease.
"Tell me what's going on!" Alyx yelled. The silence in the Big House and the sudden silence on the other line made Alyx's nerves clench. "Janette?" She called her adopted parents by their first names.
"Oh, God," A low moan sounded from the other line, and Alyx's heartbeat picked up frantically.
"Tell me what's wrong! I want to help! What's going on? Are you okay? Janette!"
"Honey..." Janette whispered, sounding pained. "Do not, under any circumstances, come back to this house... Do you understand...?"
"No! I don't understand! What's wrong? Where's Chester? Why are you sounding so... dead?"
"I'm so sorry, Alyxanderia... You will find out soon... stay at Camp Half-Blood. They can protect you."
How'd she know I was at Camp Half-Blood?!
Janette had stopped speaking. Alyx head snuffling and a growl before a clatter- and the line went dead.
"Janette!" Alyx shrieked into the phone. "Damn... I've got to go to my house. Do you know any local cities? I need a car, fast."
"Didn't she just tell you to stay away?" Percy looked at Alyx worridly. When Alyx shot him a questioning glance, Percy shrugged. "She was yelling really loud."
"Exactly!" Alyx shouted. "I've got to go see her!"
Chiron stood –from his wheelchair, which made Alyx do a double take- and set a callused hand on Alyx's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Miss Malone, but I'm going to have to have you stay. You can't go back to you're home- not just yet."
"What are you talking about!?" Alyx shrieked, flinching out from under Chiron's hand. "The only two people in my life are in trouble! I can't just wait here! I need to help them!"
"You can't help them if you go there and die, Miss Malone."
"They're the only thing I have left!" Alyx cried anxiously. "Can't you see how much they mean to me? I don't need you to tell me what to do. I'm going!"
"Let's discuss this rationally," Chiron suggested. Alyx suddenly had an idea.
"Fine... fine. We'll discuss it rationally." Then she put an embarressed expression on.
"Is something wrong?" Chiron persisted. Alyx shook her head, making herself blush.
"No... I've gotta go to the bathroom..." She said quietly. Chiron smiled lightly and pointed into the Big House.
He smiled, but looked at Annabeth. "Annabeth, could you show her where it is?"
Translation, Annabeth thought amusedly, "Go and make sure she doesn't flee". Smart move, Chiron.
Annabeth nodded and smiled at Alyx. "Here- c'mon."
Annabeth stood by the door cautiously, listening hard for anything Alyx might try. Alyx closed the bathroom door tightly behind her and locked it firmly. She looked to the window high above everything else, just below the ceiling, and climbed up onto the countertop, prying the window open and slipping out. She landed on the grass with an inaudible thud and got up, running for all she believed in. She got to a road and ran along it. When a cab drove up, it slowed and pulled up to the curb Alyx was standing on.
The driver rolled down the window. "Need a ride, Miss?"
"Yes! Yes, thank you!" Alyx cried happily. She threw herself into the backseat and gave him the adress. When they got to the house, Alyx thanked the driver once more and hopped out, rushing up to the house. On the outside it looked perfectly fine. Perfect. But once Alyx opened the door, she met the sight of furniture strewn everywhere, the walls busted up, the autmn leaf colored staircase broken savagely.
Alyx saw her parents lying on the floor, eyes opened sightlessly, chests not rising and falling. Alyx collapsed next to them.
"Janette!" She shook her adopted mother, then tried her adopted father. "Chester!"
They didn't respond. "No!" Alyx cried. "NO!" Then, in a quiet whimper, she sobbed, "Why did this happen...? Why did this happen...? Why you...?"
There was a creak behind her, and Alyx spun, crying openly. A beast that slightly resembled a shaved dog was snarling at her. She'd read about these before.
"H-Hellhound...!" She gasped. "Oh, God, what do I do?" She spoke to herself. "Oh, God... Oh, God... Oh, God...!" Thunder clapped overhead and Alyx jumped. "What the-!?" Alyx didn't have time to finish her exclamation before the Hellhound lunged, teeth bared. Alyx rolled out of the way and screamed. She looked around for something to use in battle, and her eyes rested on a useless umbrella and a wooden walking stick. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." But the Hellhound was getting back on its feet, so Alyx saw no other choice. She grabbed both the walking stick and the umbrella and fought for dear life. She threw up the walking stick as a block when the Hellhound launched itsself at her again, and hit it across the face with the umbrella afterwords. The Hellhound pushed her down as she blocked it with the walking stick, and once she was down it took the chance, throwing its front feet down onto her- and being blocked yet again by the walking stick. They each tried to get the best of the other and defeat the other, but no one was winning nor losing. Alyx was losing strength. Alyx was losing momentum. She was losing her adrenaline.
The door swung open and who was standing there? Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Chiron. They saw her playing "Fight to the death" with a Hellhound and gasped.
"Alyxanderia!"
I really wish they'd just call me Alyx.
Alyx shoved the Hellhound off, which resulted in it being thrown into the opposite wall. Alyx laid back on the floor, unable to go any further. Two monsters in one day for a newbie? That's pretty impressive. Percy and Grover defeated the Hellhound and Annabeth and Chiron mended to Alyx. Alyx was hoisted onto Chiron's back, and she slumped forward so that she was leaning against his back. Annabeth climbed on after Alyx and made sure she didn't fall. Percy and Grover hopped on last, after defeating the Hellhound.
Alyx's consciousness slipped and she had one last thought.
Please let me wake up again.
"Augh..." Alyx moaned, rolling over on her side which equalled in her falling right off the bed she was resting on. "Ouch...."
She slowly stood, having to use the wall as a support. She looked around and found she was alone in a cozy little bedroom. Light was barely visible from a draped window beside the bed. Alyx opened the drapes wide and squinted into the morning sun. Alyx noticed a long gash on her forarm and realized she ached all over. She smiled out at the world and breathed out a sigh. Deciding to go down to the porch of the Big House –which she assumed she was in- she headed down the halls toward the porch. No one was on the porch, so Alyx decided to go sit on the beach. She knelt down an inch away from where the waves licked the shore and stuck her hand in. She gasped. Energy flooded through her, and she felt as if her sore body was cured. She looked down at the cut on her forarm and watched the blood slowly vanish and the cut melt back to the pure, slightly tanned skin.
"That's cool..." Alyx breathed. How did I do that?
She stuck her feet in the water and felt energy overpower her. She laughed loudly, and fell back, staring up at the sky happily. "Being a demigod is freaking cool."
"Alyxanderia!" Three voices called frantically, and Alyx lifted her head, looking annoyed.
When Percy, Annabeth, and Grover reached her, they knelt next to her. Alyx sat up and glared.
"One," She began irritatedly. "Call me Alyx. Two, when I'm peacefully resting by the ocean, do not interrupt."
"You like the water?" Percy asked, completely missing Alyx's point.
Alyx, forgetting her point, nodded enthusiasticly. "Oh, yeah. Did you know I was first place in every swimming competition I ever entered?" The three demigods looked at Alyx skeptically.
Their thoughts were almost simultanious. Likes- no, loves water... she doesn't look beat up anymore... has black hair like Percy... has green eyes like Percy... Oh, no. Can it be true?
"Um... Alyx?" Annabeth looked at Alyx, and Alyx was staring out at the ocean. "Do you think-"
"How did they know...?" Alyx murmured to herself. "My adopted parents knew about Camp Half-Blood, and they knew I was a demigod... How did they know all that? I don't think the orphanage I was at provided that information... Unless it was a completely insane orphanage I was at."
They sat in silence, pondering this. Annabeth decided to speak up again.
"Do you know your real last name, Alyx?"
Alyx looked sideways at Annabeth before shrugging. "Yeah. Why?"
"What's your last name?" Annabeth persisted. Alyx flopped back onto the sand and sighed.
"Jackson," Alyx smiled up at the sky again. "My whole name is Alyxanderia Brooke Jackson is my full name. At least I knew that about my mom- her last name was Jackson. I think they said her full name was Sally Jackson. I can't really remember, though."
Alyx was oblivous to Percy, Annabeth, and Grover having a near-panic attack.
"Do you think-?" Annabeth looked between Percy and Grover.
"I think there's a possibility..." Percy bit his lip.
"She very well could be...!" Grover played with his hands nervously.
I'm right here, you know. Alyx thought, but not irritatedly. At least they weren't interoggating her anymore.
"Alyx, we've got a few questions for you." Annabeth announced. Alyx sighed.
I take that back. I don't want to be here anymore. Why'd I get up again? Maybe if I stayed in bed I could've avoided this...
"Shoot." Alyx replied in monotone.
"Do you know what your mom looked like?"
Alyx nodded and explained. The three demigods kept exchanging glances. After about thirty minutes of questions, Annabeth sighed.
"I think we all know it's true." Annabeth turned to Grover and Percy.
"Oh- hey." Alyx remembered her third rule. "I have one more rule."
They looked at her expectantly.
"Don't leave me out of conversations. Especially when they're about me."
"Okay," Annabeth breathed out a sigh with her eyes closed, and she opened them, staring at Alyx squarely, "we think you're Percy's sister."
"Okay- what!?" Alyx gasped. "But- but you said he's son of Poseidon. I don't know who I'm the daughter of, so you can't be sure. Right?"
Annabeth shrugged. "Well, you have your feet in the water right now, and you don't look at bashed up as you did back at your house. Percy got rid of his cuts and bruises from Capture the Flag when he was first here. He stepped into the small creek and they were gone and he had energy."
Alyx considered this, and then looked around. She stood up and waded into the water, looking for a sharp rock.
"What are you doing?" Grover asked. Alyx held up a finger, not taking her eyes off of the water. Then, she found a sharp edged rock and grinned
"Gotcha!" She plunged her hand into the water and pulled out the rock. Alyx waded back to the shore and Annabeth's eyes lit up in recognition.
"You can't!" Annabeth looked up at Alyx worridly. "That's so stupid!"
Alyx shook her head. "It's proof." She rose her arm and brought the rock down hard on her other arm, leaving a gash from her shoulder to her wrist. "Augh!" Alyx hadn't meant to make any sound, but she couldn't help one little groan get out.
"Alyx!" Percy and Grover hopped up and stumbled over to her. Annabeth sat with wide eyes. What was wrong with this girl?
"Don't-!" Alyx hobbled away from Percy and Grover. "Wait." She staggered into the water and lifted her face to the sun. She felt energy flow into her and when she looked down at her gash- it was gone. "Crap..." She turned to Percy, Grover, and Annabeth and held her arm out. "Guess I'm the daughter of Posiedon, then."
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