I awoke under the large tree that grew into the ceiling of my room in Valhalla, on floor 19. My thoughts were jumbled, but I managed to pull one out of the mixture of words. Ask Alex out, was pretty much all I could think.

I changed and brushed my teeth, and ran a hand through my shorter, choppy hair. The longest of the blonde locks stopped and my ears. I sighed, and jumped on to the bathroom counter, staring at the wall.

Hey, came Jack's voice in my mind. Jack was my sword, otherwise call Sumarbrander, or the Sword of Summer. He prefers Jack because reasons.

Yes? I thought back.

Don't be nervous about Alex. Whatever her answer is, you'll have to accept it. You gotta be flexible. And don't give her the evil eye if she says no. I asked this one hot spear out and she said no and I just kept glar-

Okay enough, I thought, my hand placed on the pendant around my neck. I got it. I'll do it. Just try not to say anything while I'm talking to her, please.

Cool, fine. Good luck, Magnus.

Thanks.

I hopped off my bathroom counter and opened the door to my room. I could hear Mallory Keen arguing with her boyfriend, Halfborn. I hoped that Alex and I would be like that. Not the whole, "calling eachother idiots" thing, because Alex would proabbly take my head off, but actually liking each other, and accepting each other for who we are.

I took a deep breath and walked towards Alex's room. I knocked softly on the door. She swung it open, dry clay covering her hands. "What do you need?" she asked, her voice gruff. I could tell immediatley, today Alex was feeling very male.

"I, uh, erm..." I was suddenly feeling really self-conscious. He glared at me, his one amber and one brown eyes narrowing. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah sure," he glanced back at his potter's wheel and the vase sitting on it. It had splashes of red-gold paint on it. I guessed it was the unfinished gift for Sif, the goddess that had helped us on our most recent quest. I stepped into his room and studied his face. It was grim, with a bit of rage laced in. He closed the door to his room, and looked at me.

"Have you and Samirah talked recently?" I asked. He sat on the grass that grew from his room floor and sighed, running a hand through his spikey green hair. He then placed his clay-covered hands over his face. I sat down across from him.

"She won't listen to me," he mumbled through his fingers. "She doesn't understand how I can resist my mo- father." He looked at me through his fingers, expecting me to say something.

"Look, Alex," I carefully set a hand on his shoulder, and hoped I wasn't going to loose it. "Sam needs time. She's dealing with a lot of stuff right now, and trying to force another problem on her isn't going to help her. I know she hates Loki as much as you do, but forcing her to train to resist his mind control won't help her learn."

Alex sighed and leaned into me, his head resting on my chest. I froze, a bit nervous of his gesture, but hugged him. "I'm just scared that she's not going to be able to learn in time, and then-" his voice hitched. I could tell that Alex was tansitioning into a she. Alex looked at me, her eyes scared.

"It's- it's going to be fine. Everything will be okay, I hope," I said.

She snorted, her usual sly smile plastered to her face. "I hope too, Maggie." I glared at her with a playful twinkle in my eyes.

"Don't call me that. Its annoying."

"That's why I do it."

"I know."

I smiled and pulled her closer to me, lost in thought about what was to come in these next few disastrous weeks.