CHAPTER TEN: I'm Positively Ecstatic
(TWO DAYS AGO.)
Piper sat next to Alex, both girls leaning against the bed in the latter's cabin. They watched the sky go by through the porthole of the Argo III.5. Alex tapped her feet against Piper's.
"Do you know how weird it is to have Guillermo Del Toro as your godfather?"
"Sort of godfather," Piper corrected.
"Oh, of course." Alex rolled her eyes.
"As if having Usain Bolt at your birthday party and giving you a pet turtle isn't weird too?"
"Hey, that's what you get for having an Olympian as a mom."
They stared at each for a beat and then burst out laughing.
"Wait, though -" Piper tried to stifle her laughter. "So your mom really was…?"
"Oh, yeah. Three-time gold medallist for the Women's Marathon, representing the United States of America," Alex said dramatically, putting her hand on her heart.
"And she trained you and everything."
"Yep. Hardcore. My school didn't have a girl's football team so my mom did a petition and everything."
"Did you even want to play football?"
"Nope. But I did one season."
"And the team, won?"
"Obviously."
"Amazing."
"I really liked running, though. I did all the races. Relays. Sprinting. Marathons. I did long-jump too. Beat the school record." Alex did a halfway dab and Piper snorted.
"My mom wanted me to love sports as much as she did. And I was, don't get me wrong. But I hated the competition part of it. I just wanted to run and have fun. I love my mom but she can get really…ambitious. Competitive. I won't even talk about karaoke scores," Alex laughed. Then her laugh faded away, something shifting in her eyes.
"After the accident…she was really lost. For so long. She wouldn't eat, she couldn't sleep. It was only three years ago that she started training for the Paralympics, though," Alex smiled. Piper mirrored her smile, hugging her knees to her chest. Alex chuckled again. "And, of course, the competitive streak came back. But luckily, by that time, I was already going off to uni so she couldn't make me run laps at five in the morning anymore."
"So that's where it all comes from then? All your elaborate stretches?"
Alex's cheeks flushed. Piper burst out laughing.
"You're not supposed to -!" Alex nudged Piper and Piper's elbow fell onto her plate of donuts. "Make fun of someone's -! Way of exercising -!"
"And forward, and back! And forward, and back! And reach for your lunch! And back for a nap!"
"I only said that out loud ONCE."
(PRESENT DAY.)
"And it's positively a MINEFIELD out here, folks, you wouldn't believe! Campers dodging left and right, and upsy-daisy, and - OH! A near-miss by the beautiful Chiara, of Tyche. Green slime definitely won't go with that eyeshadow! At least smoke-bomb grey goes with our orange t-shirts, brought to you by our sponsor, the Camp Halfblood Store -"
"No commercial breaks! JUST DEATH!"
"And back to your regularly scheduled program! The first leg is going amazingly, I'll tell you that. And to our listeners waiting at the other legs, just you wait until it's your turn! Remember, kids: take care of your flour baby, but first and foremost, take care of your own!"
Piper caught Mags' eye and both of them shook their head at the radio. Leo and Harley had installed one radio at each start of the leg, so the campers waiting could still be updated on what was happening. So far they'd heard that the Hebe-Demeter team had almost lost their flour baby when a mine full of shrapnel exploded, but Paolo Montes, a child of Hebe, had blocked the shrapnel with his shield. The commentary had been: our favourite, sun-kissed, son of Tyche, protecting his baby with his wonderfully sculpted biceps.
Piper had no idea who was doing the commentary, but they seemed to be in love with almost every camper somehow and had a perfect fifties radio host voice.
"- and a SPECTACULAR leap by Virgil Porter, vaulting over a pool of lava, on the way to rescue his team-mate, Tram Nguyen from the blockade of Ares kids trying to stab at her flour baby - a WONDERFUL effort by the Unclaimed Demigods so far!"
Mags cheered and hugged her team-mate, Fiona. But Fiona, probably stung by being called 'the Unclaimed Demigods team' had a less excited reaction. She continued tinkering with her watch.
"Ugh, I hate not seeing anything -" Meg McCaffrey grumbled, spinning her siccae blades around out of boredom. "Why couldn't you have made a TV instead, like a real sports thing -"
"Hey!" Leo protested. "I'll have you know, Chia Girl, that was our first idea but we all decided that it was better to have a radio since that's more realistic for an actual battlefield. You have to learn to trust what you hear - and it's also a way to learn how to describe battle situations well."
"Talking about Paolo's biceps is a good battle description?"
Leo paused.
"It's a good description," he said.
Piper laughed. She didn't actually mind the radio idea. That way, she could focus on the environment while still listening in on what was happening.
The third leg was meant to be through the woods, but since they hadn't started yet, all the campers were kept just outside it. Satyrs kept watch of them, stopping campers from trying to sneak in to get a head start on the surroundings. Mags got caught a couple of times. Piper felt sorry for Mags the most; almost everyone here had ventured in the woods at least once, but this would be Mags' first time. She was actually facing away from the radio and looking into the woods, as if trying to learn the layout of the forest by pure osmosis.
While they waited, Piper explained the woods to her as much as she could. She was waiting for something else anyway. She was surprised Alex hadn't been mentioned much this whole time, other than: "Oh! There goes Leticia, daughter of Apollo, trying to get at Alex May Estrada's flour baby - Gods, what a long name. Can I just call her Alex May? All-righty then! Alex May! -"
She would've thought something SPECTACULAR! or WONDERFUL would've happened by now, but it seemed as if Alex May was just part of the crowd like a regular participant.
And then:
"And we're coming up to the end of the first leg, folks, the Tyche-Athena team's the first to get OUT of that chaos in mid-field. It seemed as if a Crazy Eight of mines have gone off and it's caught all the campers off-guard! Chiara and Neale grab the first accessory on the table - a wonderful hairclip - and have attached it to their flour baby. No harm to the team or the baby, as far as we can see - they're heading to the start of the second leg - this may be another victory for the Blue Team from last week's Capture the Flag - who put these two cabins together, anyway?
Who will be the next team to win? Is that the Ares-Hypnos team? Oh, my GODS! They've put everyone to sleep! But it seems the effort has knocked out Dale, son of Hypnos, as well - there he is being carried by Trevor, the resident nice kid of the Ares cabin - what a guy, what a doll. BUT WAIT! Someone's coming from the edges of the field! They've managed to dodge the sleep spell! It's Alex May!"
Mags spun around from her staring of the forest, crawling towards the radio.
"She's run for the Ares-Hypnos team and knocked them over like a couple of bowling pins! Holy Hera! That's what you get for huddling in a group! And, hang on - what's she doing? She's fiddling with one of the minefield bombs - IS THAT EVEN LEGAL?"
All the third-leg campers heard a boom. Piper saw the mushroom cloud rise from over the hills.
"By the GODS! She's set off the bomb to wake everyone up! An UNBELIEVABLE act of sportsmanship! Now everyone's grabbing for their accessory and are off to the second leg! And now a word from our sponsor -"
"ALEX MAY!" came Harley's voice, booming through the radio. Leo clamped his hands over his ears. "That was super cool but NOW you're gonna PAY for CHEATING -"
"And, undeterred, Alex May blows a kiss to the judges' stand before she heads off to the dunes! And, by Aphrodite, is that a blush, Harley -?" There were some choking sounds. "I'M JUST DOING MY JOB -"
Piper and the rest of the third-leg campers laughed.
Then a loud horn sounded.
The announcer coughed. "That's the start of the second leg!"
Part one of the second leg was rather uneventful.
Sure, Julia Feingold almost lost a leg from the metal monster hiding in the sand dunes - and Mitchell almost drowned in quicksand. Luca had to pull him out with Alex's help. It was uneventful by demigod standards, at least.
And then it was a dive into Long Island Sound.
The radio announcer explained that water nymphs were holding onto the accessories, one for each team, and the campers were meant to chase them around in the Sound. The nymphs were allowed to swim a hundred feet out into the water, and stay as long underwater as they could. Piper thought that was pretty tame. Most of the demigods could swim anyway, and from the sound of the radio, they all seemed to be having more fun than they should be, laughing and playing in the water.
The main danger with the water nymphs was their flirting, but other than that, they were as helpful as the satyrs. Piper, herself, still had quite a good relationship with the nymphs. Whenever she wandered off to think and be alone (this happened a lot after Jason), the water nymphs would chase people away. They even chased off Percy, and they adored him.
Piper lied down on the grass.
"- And is that Mitchell Blanchett in the water, dancing with a water nymph? Oh, what a smooth turn this has taken, now EVERYONE'S flirting with the water nymphs!"
There was a faint scream in the distance and then a splash. Some of the third-leg campers walked forward towards the hill, trying to see, and the satyrs blocked them.
"Riley, one of our mortals, seems to be staying on the beach and is holding off WELL with the metal monsters. He looks like he's dancing from the way he's hopping about, holding tight to his flour baby! And WHOA that's Adele Waters flying towards the - well - water! A NASTY throw by our bronze kraken there which is only a prototype, apparently. Can't wait to see what Bunker Nine comes up with next! I am currently wetting my pants!"
Ellis Wakefield shook his head. He kicked at the grass. Adele was his little sister, and though they hadn't heard anything about the Ares-Hypnos team yet, he was already acting like they'd failed.
"And the following teams now have their accessories: Aphrodite-Hecate, Iris-Nike, Dionysus-Apollo, and Alex May! Talk about a league of her own! She chased that nymph out to the edge of the water and it looks like she got more than just an accessory there, folks! Is it possible to get a nymph's phone number? Do nymphs have phones?"
Piper pulled a face.
"It looks like the real challenge'll be in the woods, dear listeners. The second leg's just about wrapped up. All the teams are heading back to the shore and - hang on, what's that in the sand? Harley, is this another one of your creations? Wait, is that -? Hold on to your pegasi, folks! THE MONSTERS ARE HEADING TO THE SEA!"
Piper heard faint screams in the distance.
"And they're even faster in the water! Out of the sand, we've got clear visuals of the Gothic creations Harley and his team have created for us - and we've got what looks like a bronze squid! And the kraken! By the Gods, it's huge! And a swarm of seahorses, ah, that's what was biting your ankle earlier, Riley! AND HE'S BEING DRAGGED INTO THE WATER! ALL OF THEM ARE!"
Mags gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.
"They're stealing the accessories! The squid's got the accessories! The SEAHORSES have the accessories! Why doesn't the kraken take the -? HOLY MACKEREL! THE KRAKEN'S EATEN LUCA DE LA MOTTE!"
It was Lou Ellen's turn to gasp. Then she jumped up from her spot, trying to get to the hill to see, but the satyrs held her back. Tony led her down to the grass again, trying to convince her that their little brother hadn't just been eaten and was probably just in some sort of net inside the monster.
"Harley wouldn't actually make them eat us, right?" Tony asked, doing a half-hearted laugh. No one answered.
"Guys?" he asked again. "Right?"
"Now, I've got some schematics here with me, folks - for the listeners at the legs, what we see here is that the kraken is about as big as a trireme - with a mouth the size of Ellis Wakefield's ego. Which is BIG. It takes about two demigods at a time and drops it in its mouth before diving underwater. And from the looks of these plans, it doesn't look as if that chamber inside the monster is waterproof. And no possibility of prying that mouth open from the inside either, this locking system is too advanced for me, but maybe a demigod can find a solution! Gee golly, I hope those demigods can hold their breath! At least it resurfaces every few seconds for some air -"
A bronze kraken automaton that drowned its meals instead of eating them? If this was only the second leg, Piper could only wonder what was waiting for them in the woods.
"This is insane, Leo, they might actually die -" Mags said.
Leo just crossed his arms tight over his chest, rubbing his chin and staring hard at the radio. Piper knew he'd probably made most of these monsters with Harley. He couldn't say anything.
"Seven demigods eaten and the Tyche-Athena and Ares-Hypnos team have now teamed up to fight the squid to get their accessories back, and the rest are trying to nab the seahorses! Unclaimed demigod, Sun Kim, has grabbed their accessory and is now trying to evade the school of seahorses! Is a group of seahorses called a 'school'? Your announcer doesn't know! Hang on - what's Alex May and Riley doing at the shore over there?"
Piper and Mags sat up to pay attention.
"Riley's -! What's he doing? No, seriously, what's he doing? He's taken off his armour, he's wading into the water, he's SINGING? What's he singing? 'Hungry Like The Wolf'? A mortal singing 'Hungry Like The Wolf' to a kraken. Well, this announcer's officially seen it all. Stop clapping, you fool, get out of there!"
Mags slapped her hand on her forehead.
"Everyone seems to be having trouble here, folks, they've either been eaten, tired, or losing their mind like our dear mortal over here. But, wait - what's Alex May doing? She's running on the beach? No! She's running to the water! The kraken's heading for Riley! Alex May's taken a leap! Good Gods, she's leapt ten feet into the air, twenty feet across, and -! Straight into the kraken's mouth!"
Everyone stopped.
"It looks like this second leg may never end, folks. I'm never one to lose hope, but this seems like it'll be a real struggle. Demigods and water and monsters? A deadly battlefield! Who will make it out alive? Will this marathon end before dinner? I'm starving! And dinner this evening is brought to you by - whoa, whoa, whoa - what's going on? Bringing this to you live as it's happening, listeners - the squid has malfunctioned. It's eye is blinking rapidly. The seahorses have also stopped, they're shaking in their spot. And what's happening with the kraken? It's -? It's mouth is opening!"
Piper had a feeling…
"It's -! Can you believe it, it's Alex May! She's got the mouth of the kraken open. Pried it open with her bare hands! Will you look at that strength! The kraken's sparking from the inside, the demigods are swimming out! Alex May's destroyed the kraken! Harley is pissed! She helps the other demigods get their accessories before the automatons sink into the ocean! Now Harley's REALLY pissed! Watch out, third-leggers, they're coming to YOU!"
In the woods, Piper figured out who was doing the announcing and how they were doing it.
It took her a while to recognise the voice, before she realised it was Basil with an amazing knack for accents. She was surprised to learn from Tony that Basil was actually younger than Taki. He acted so strict and stoic. She'd never even seen the satyr do anything more than grimace, and she thought he thought that was a smile. He'd once said 'I'm positively ecstatic' with a straight-face, and she didn't think he was joking. Only when he said 'I'm positively ecstatic' in the commentary did she realise it. And, deciding no one else in the whole of Long Island said things like 'I'm positively ecstatic'…
She was saying 'I'm positively ecstatic' too much in her head.
Basil the Announcer followed the main action via mechanical birds that worked like cameras with built-in radios. Now that all the teams were split up into different parts of the woods, looking for their accessories, each team had a bird and the commentary was a little more erratic.
"Hermes team - off to a great start with an unharmed flour baby -"
"- probably not good to wash the dirt off your baby in the river, Ellis -"
"- could the Dionysus-Apollo team please stop pissing off the wood nymphs? Thank you -"
"- and now the flour baby is drenched, well done, Ellis - we will not be getting you another one. Is a drenched baby still alive? You tell me!"
Piper tried to swipe at the bird following them, but Lou Ellen stopped her before she could do any real damage.
They took turns holding the flour baby. It remained relatively unharmed, except for a wet patch near the head - but it seemed as if Mitchell kept it above his head for most of the time, or floating in his helmet. The way he'd thrust it into Piper's arms, looking like a madman, still made Piper snigger.
The third leg's objective was to survive the woods, find the correct accessory for their team, and then head to the Combat Arena. And to add insult to injury, Basil was now announcing the success of the teams.
Thirty minutes into the woods, and an announcement sounded:
"The Iris-Nike team have taken an accessory!"
Lou Ellen groaned. "This is a little too Hunger Games for my taste."
"Don't say that, you'll just jinx us," Piper said.
"Hey, if you get jinxed, that's on you."
"Can you do a spell to track the accessory?" asked Piper, making a point to face Tony and ignore Lou Ellen. The daughter of Hecate rolled her eyes.
"I could try." Tony took out his wand, took a deep breath and then -
"Actually, this is a really simple spell, Tony, I'll do it -" Lou Ellen put down his hand. Tony pouted.
Taking out a notebook from her pocket, the pages flipped by themselves and stopped in the middle. Lou Ellen muttered an incantation, and a gust of wind burst from the notebook. The trio waited.
"…nothing," Piper commented.
"Patience," Lou Ellen said.
"I am patient, and there's nothing."
"I can tell you're not so huge on magic," Tony pointed out, hugging the flour baby close to him.
Piper shrugged. "I can deal with magic as much as the next demigod, but I'd rather keep things simple."
A twig snapped and Piper spun around, holding her sword out.
"Calm down, it's the spell." Lou Ellen pointed at the footsteps on the ground, crunching on dried leaves, grass, and twigs. "Follow the steps. They'll take us where we need to go."
Piper sheathed her sword. "Better not accidentally lead us to a monster."
They followed the steps down-river. All three demigods kept an ear out for any sounds out of the ordinary. When they thought they heard trees whispering, Piper told them to cover their ears with their hands and they all skirted around the territory of the Grave of Dodona. It was also a good way to avoid Myrmeke's Lair. But as they passed by, and took a look at the entrance - it was quiet.
"Huh," Tony said, "maybe they're off to eat someone else."
The steps kept going, and going, until suddenly - it stopped in the middle of a clearing in the trees.
"The Dionysus-Apollo team have found an accessory!"
"Eight more teams left, not too bad," Lou Ellen assured them.
"The Hebe-Demeter team have taken an accessory!"
"Seven more teams?" Tony gulped.
"The Unclaimed Demigods have taken an accessory!"
At least Mags was doing okay.
Piper kept her eyes on the footsteps, which seemed to be deciding whether to go left or right. And then it stopped in the middle, and disappeared in a puff of wind. She watched the leaves fall down lamely, and then turned expectantly to Lou Ellen.
The girl raised her hands in surrender. "My mom's the goddess of crossroads, sometimes the feet can't decide where to go, so it just stops!"
"The Hermes Team have found an accessory!"
Tony wrung his hands together, his wand tucked behind his ear. "Oh, no, this is going to take forever - are we supposed to go through the whole forest? We went through the whole North Woods, there was nothing -!"
"Tony," Lou Ellen patted his shoulder, "calm down -"
"Oh, Gods, we're going to be last, mom's gonna be mad at me because I screwed up -"
"Tony, you haven't even done anything -"
"That's the point!" he exclaimed, still hugging the flour baby tight.
"The baby's going to explode if you don't let go -"
Piper decided to leave the two siblings alone for a second, and ventured out to the edge of the clearing. Something seemed to be moving there. A large figure in the trees, moving slow. There was a glint in its body. And it seemed to be heading towards them.
The camera-bird perched itself on a tree branch, watching the scene unfold.
"Guys…I think we have a situation here."
The silhouette of the monster moved forward, facing them now. The glinting thing shined even brighter now that it was catching sunlight. The closer it moved towards them, the more light shone on it.
"Do we run? Why don't we just run, it's so slow," Tony whispered.
"No…" Lou Ellen squinted at it. "I think…I think that thing's got out accessory."
Sure enough, as soon as it emerged in the clearing, the huge monster had what looked like a tree branch tied to its horn.
It looked like a huge bull, it's head drooping so low, it actually looked sad. It stopped at the edge of the clearing. The demigods took a step back anyway.
"Are you sure that's our accessory? And is that even a monster?" Piper asked.
"Yes, and yes," Lou Ellen answered. "I recognise that branch. It's a yew branch. Tony made his wand out of a yew tree, and it's a good conductor of magic. And it also has some flowers on it, and…that monster's super stinky, but I think I smell a perfume."
Piper took a moment to sniff. Past the pungent odour of the monster…she smelled Chanel No.5.
"Yep, that's ours," she frowned. "And the monster?"
"Give me a second."
Lou Ellen separated from them, walking around the circular clearing so she could see the side of the monster. She peered at its head.
"Okay, so…" she whispered, heading back to the team. "It's either a really depressed bull, or…it's a catobeplas."
"A catobeplas?" Piper repeated, puzzled.
"Super stinky bull, but if you look at it, it can hypnotise you, and if you smell the odour too much, the fumes can kill you."
All three of them held their arms to their noses. Piper had her hand on the hilt of her sword.
"So…do we attack…?"
"It looks peaceful," Tony said, "why don't we just ask it to give us the accessory?"
The two children of Hecate looked to Piper.
Piper frowned. "What, you guys don't have a persuasion spell up your sleeve?"
"Not as strong as charmspeak," Lou Ellen pointed out.
Fair point.
"Okay, um…" Piper kept her arm to her nose, but she made sure her mouth wasn't blocked and she could be heard clearly. She focused her energy on the monster, keeping her breath steady, her centre calm. "Catobeplas? Are you listening? Will you be our friend? You have something we need. You should help us."
She hadn't used charmspeak in so long, she thought she'd almost lost the ability. But the words she spoke flowed out of her so easily, and she could see the monster's drooping head sway a little. The threads holding the accessory to its long horn started to loosen.
"That's right, that's it. You let us go, and we'll let you go. Let us have that branch. Let us go."
The swaying continued until the threads loosened entirely and the branch fell to the ground next to the monster's feet. Piper saw Tony do a silent cheer from the corner of her eye.
"Thank you, catobeplas, now let us come over to you and -"
She stopped when she saw him lift his head. It was so slow but somehow so entrancing, and she could barely hear what Lou Ellen was screaming -
"Don't look it in the eye!"
Tony pulled Piper to the ground, and they crawled out of the monster's line of sight. Piper grabbed the fallen flour baby and held it to her chest. She made sure not to face the bull when she looked up again, but now there was a layer of green smoke along the ground, and Piper coughed at the smell. Any stink she inhaled made her lungs burn and she coughed even harder.
Lou Ellen was still standing, and looking straight at the monster.
Hypnotised, she started walking towards it. Slowly.
Piper heard the monster gnashing its teeth. The sound was worse than nails on a chalkboard. It had Piper's nerves on edge. Tony pulled her up, back to the trees, and they rested against it as they thought of a plan. The green smoke hissing from the catobeplas' open mouth seemed to rise higher. Even Lou Ellen was starting to cough, her steps getting weaker.
"I'm using my wand," Tony huffed.
"You don't even know if it works properly!"
"It's going to work, it has to -" Tony lifted the wand and pointed it at the catobeplas. Shocked, Piper looked around to make sure the monster wasn't looking at him. But it had only eyes for Lou Ellen.
"Do you even know what you're going to do?"
"Yes. I'm gonna blast this stupid guy all the way to the strawberry fields."
"Okay, but - don't blast Lou Ellen as well. Make sure you're aiming right."
Tony grit his teeth. "I know."
"And…focus your energy on the one thing. Don't make it too big."
"I knooOOOoow," he said in an annoyed sing-song.
"Just concentrate, Tony -"
Tony's eyes flashed, looking back at Piper.
"I KNOW."
The tip of the wand lit up. The energy it gathered was black and purple, and Piper had already seen that mixture before. A year ago, just a few days before she left for university. When Tony waved around the new wand around the campfire, and demonstrated its power by accidentally creating a blackhole.
The energy shot out. It hit the catobeplas exactly, and the roar shook the entire woods. It made Lou Ellen cry out before her knees buckled and she fell over, the hypnotic trance broken, and Piper held her hands to her ears.
The blackhole energy crackled and twisted the catobeplas around, before it disappeared in a blip, leaving nothing but the accessory. The blackhole had also sucked in the green death smoke with it.
The three demigods looked stunned. Tony was the first one to snap out of it, and rush quickly to grab the accessory.
"The Aphrodite-Hecate team have taken an accessory!"
"I…meant to do that," Tony said sheepishly.
Piper didn't say anything. She just let out a sigh of relief, patting the boy's shoulder.
She could already see the sun setting above the trees, but with their accessory in hand and Lou Ellen better now after a bite of ambrosia Tony had in his pocket, Piper was feeling optimistic. The whole point of the marathon was not to finish first, but to survive, save the baby, and find the right accessory. And now they'd done all three.
Honestly, if you asked her, she was feeling pretty pumped. As random and intense as a flour baby death marathon seemed, it was bringing back all the good memories of Camp Halfblood that she'd almost forgotten. The teamwork. The near-death experiences…
Not knowing what she was doing, Piper had taken out Katoptris, throwing it in the air and spinning it in her content state. When she caught the dagger by the hilt and looked into the blade -
She saw the same man from her vision a week ago, but his eyes were ablaze with panic and desperation. Around him was fire, and he was looking straight at her, yelling:
"SAVE HER. SAVE HER."
Piper dropped her blade and the vision stopped. Tony picked it up for her and offered to hold the flour baby again if Piper was getting tired, but she insisted she was fine.
Something to remember for later.
Save her, save her…save who? Alex?
Entering the Southern Woods, she was just about to wonder what was happening to Alex May and the other teams when the ground started rumbling. All three demigods stopped.
Birds squawked and escaped from the trees. Wood nymphs and satyrs started running past them, running from something to the west.
And then suddenly there was Leo and Nyssa, Nyssa holding Marie Cook, daughter of Nemesis over her shoulder. Leo and Nyssa were running through the woods, arguing in rapidfire Spanish, while Marie was yelling at whatever they were running at.
Only when they got closer did Piper notice they were all covered in gold glitter.
"- aw, pobrecito - I'm sorry you were too busy daydreaming about your girlfriend to realise you stepped into that trap, you IDIOT-" Nyssa shouted.
"Oh, please, we BOTH should have known!" Leo was yelling, before Piper screamed for him to stop before he collided into her.
The rumbling of the ground got louder. Piper's teeth was chattering in her mouth. With Leo suddenly grabbing her by the shoulders, the flour baby slipped out of her hands.
Leo started to drag her away from the rubble. Lou Ellen, Tony, and Nyssa were already running.
"What - what is it, Leo?!" Piper shouted. The gold glitter from his hands stuck to her shoulders.
"MYRMEKES -"
Piper and Leo ran. But when she looked to him and saw the flour baby peeking out of his bag, her eyes widened. She skidded to a stop and looked back.
The white bag with its make-up and one remaining fake eyelash looked sad in the middle of the forest.
And the stampede of Myrmekes, heading for the glittering gold children of Hephaestus, were already on their way.
Leo screamed. "You're on your own, jefe!"
How important was the baby? Baby or life? Life or baby? Baby or -? They had gone so far. Lacy had survived a minefield, Mitchell had flirted with nymphs and fought a giant squid -
Screw it.
Piper sprinted towards the baby. She and the myrmekes seemed to be the same distance, the closer she got, the closer they were. She took out her sword, ready to slice a path for her escape.
She reached the flour baby first, skidding to a halt all the way to the ground. She scrambled to get up, taking off running again, and she hugged the flour baby to herself as she tried to outrun the Myrmekes.
The chattering of their mandibles was enough to creep Piper out forever and never touch another bug, but she pushed herself forward. She panted, she took short breaths, she could see the rest of her team and Leo in the distance, just fifty feet ahead of her, and then the sunshine on the archery range - she was coming to the end of the woods!
And then, a tree root happened.
Everything moved in slow motion; Piper saw herself flying through the air, felt the pain of a twisted ankle, grabbed the flour baby before it could slip out of her reach, saw the Myrmekes right behind her, and just when she thought she would hit the ground, kill the baby, and become roadkill - everything stopped.
Something was holding her up by the belt of her sword.
She was lifted up as the stampede rushed by. Piper's heart stopped and she gasped as the Myrmekes rushed by under her, not even thinking to look up. They were probably still going for a golden Leo and Nyssa and Marie. She hoped by now they were in the safety of the Combat Arena and the Myrmekes were being directed somewhere else. Hopefully not back to her.
When it seemed like the coast was clear, Piper hugged the baby to her chest again, and then looked up to see who was holding her.
Alex May, on a tree branch, holding her by her jeans.
Piper held her breath. And not for any catobeplas stink reason.
"You can - put me down now -" she stammered.
The woods calm again, the sunlight dappled through the trees. It wasn't the best place, but it wasn't the worst either. A smirk grew on Alex's lips. "What?" she asked.
"Put me down," Piper frowned.
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"If you say so."
Alex dropped her.
Immediately, Piper landed on her sprained ankle and she fell over.
"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry!" Alex leapt off her tree branch.
The flour baby still a priority, Piper had made sure to fall on her back, but it didn't make it any less painful. She groaned, the throbbing of her ankle worse now. Without a second's notice, Alex May, apologising the whole way, picked up Piper and carried her out of the woods, both of their flour babies in Piper's arms.
It was a sight for the rest of the teams to behold.
As soon as they stepped onto the Combat Arena, everyone gasped and cheered. When Piper placed the flour babies on the table, they cheered even louder.
Chiron emerged from the crowd, laughing, his hand on his stomach.
"Of course a trek in the woods wouldn't be complete without attracting the Myrmekes. I suppose the destruction of the Archery Range gives us a reason to construct a new field, but quick thinking on Taki's part, thank you, Taki! But, I must say, I'm surprised the children of Hephaestus did not think of a gold glitter bomb first. Instead, our Fiona did!" Chiron held his arm out to the team of Unclaimed Demigods. Fiona beamed. Mags and her whole team cheered, engulfing Fiona in a group hug.
So that was what she had in her watch. Any time Piper looked at her, she'd been fiddling with that thing.
"And since the Iris-Nike and Dionysus-Apollo teams chose the wrong accessories, in fact they chose each other's, and the Hermes team killed their flour baby - this means the team of Unclaimed Demigods arrived first, with all their team-members safe and their baby intact! The team of Unclaimed Demigods have this victory! Well done! Well done, campers!"
Despite their losses, all the teams erupted into cheering and whooping for the success of their five newest demigods, plus Mags and Riley.
Piper laughed, clapping and joining the cheering while Alex just whooped. She was still carrying Piper in her arms. With Alex distracted by the cheering, Piper took a second to just look at her. She smiled, her heart growing warm.
And just as Riley started an impromptu sing-along to 'We Are The Champions', Fiona started rising from the ground.
"Wait, wait, guys - guys, what's going on?!" Fiona squeaked, holding her sword out.
Holly and Laurel Victor, pushing their way to the front, gasped. Chiron just grinned, proud.
In a burst of white light, Fiona's armour and camp clothes were transformed into a white chiton, cut just above her knees, and at her feet were bronze, athletic sandals. At her head was a fresh laurel wreath. A symbol appeared above her head as she was gently lowered to the ground.
All the campers whispered to each other and then Chiron beckoned for them all to bow. Fiona was still bathed in the white light as she looked at everyone, puzzled.
"It is my pleasure and privilege to announce, my dear campers," Chiron said, solemn but smiling, "that one of our victors, Fiona Kostakis, has now been claimed - and is our newest daughter of Nike."
Everyone bowed. Alex and Piper just bowed their heads. The light faded away, and then Fiona was left in her Ancient Greek chiton, the laurel wreath blooming on her head, her face flushed with excitement.
In a split second, the campers erupted into cheering again. Piper laughed. Everyone around them was screaming and cheering and singing 'We Are The Champions'. The Ares-Hypnos team were grumbling that nobody noticed them, but they were soon caught up in the festivities as everyone moved towards the Dining Pavilion, everyone still covered in sand, or stink-bombs, or glitter, or smelling like seawater.
The satyrs rushed around trying to get everyone to at least cover their wounds if no one was going to the Big House to get properly healed yet. The Apollo kids helped. The Iris-Nike team were trying to work out if they could claim Fiona as part of their team since she was a child of Nike - Holly and Laurel were the first to pick up their newest sister and hold her up in the air, proudly claiming her as theirs.
From there, the entire Unclaimed Demigods team crowd-surfed all the way to the Dining Pavilion.
And Alex and Piper?
Alex did her best to not have Piper's ankle crash into the sea of demigods around them. She lifted her up, spun her around, and made Piper laugh as she carried her with ease, keeping up with the crowd. With everyone pushing in around them, Piper was close enough to Alex's face and, in a rush of joy, she kissed her cheek.
The celebration that night was the wildest it had been in a long time. Dinner seemed to last for hours. And the rule about tables was thrown to the side as the new campers sat anywhere they liked. Even Chiron mingled with everyone. Gone were the formalities and here was nothing but newfound jubilation and an appreciation for each other.
Everyone celebrated the winning team, and the newest claimed demigod. Everyone laughed at how the Iris-Nike team and the Dionysus-Apollo team had mistaken each other's accessories for their own. The Iris-Nike team had picked up what they thought was a 'victory cup' that reflected light, when really it was a wine cup with sun symbols. And the Dionysus-Apollo team had picked up a laurel wreath with 'grape vines' on it.
All through the night, campers teased the teams by thrusting drinking cups into their faces:
"Is THIS your accessory!"
"Or THIS?"
"Or THIS!"
When Cecil Markowitz splashed his cordial onto Priya Gupta's face, that was the last straw. Priya cursed him to have terrible reception for all his Iris Messages.
Everyone had a new respect for the two mortals, Mags and Riley. Piper, her ankle almost fully healed, listened to the parts of the marathon she didn't catch. How Riley had saved a water nymph from being strangled by the squid. How Mags had fought off an Aeternae all by herself.
And there were stories of Alex too.
The glow was something they all saw. Mags and Riley had never noticed it, but maybe it was a demigod thing. She glowed when she ran across the fields. Alex had leapt into the air, impossibly high, and deflected a flying bomb with her shield. She breezed through the sand-dunes and avoided quicksand traps, but she was strong enough to pull out Austin Lake with just one arm.
Austin did a three-minute serenade on his saxophone.
And of course, she single-handedly defeated the kraken automaton. Harley still looked pouty about that, but Alex went over and hugged him as an apology. He looked so embarrassed the entire Hephaestus cabin couldn't stop teasing him about it the whole night.
In the woods, it seemed as if every team met Alex at one point, and she helped them defeat the monsters they met. Except for the Hephaestus-Nike team and the Myrmekes.
"When they just started running, I thought it would be a good idea to just run too," Alex explained, laughing. "But, that was the mission Chiron gave me -" She smiled, glancing at the centaur. "I didn't have an accessory, and I didn't have a team. But I had the flour baby and my mission was to help you guys. Make sure everyone survived. Do what I could."
Everyone raised a toast to Alex, and Piper had never seen her so happy.
She still hadn't reacted to Piper's kiss on her cheek. Piper didn't know why she wanted her to react. Friends did that all the time. Lacy certainly kissed most everyone on the cheek; she liked to act like an old Hollywood superstar, kissing the air on either side of people's face. No, she didn't care. The kiss meant nothing.
But she stuck close to Alex all night, sitting next to her at dinner, sharing their meals, and then telling each other everything about the marathon.
She tried not to think about the vision from her dagger. Why couldn't the gods leave her alone for once?
They promised to talk more at the campfire, but first, Piper needed to get salve from the Big House. In the crowd heading towards the Amphitheatre, someone had kicked against her still-healing ankle.
Piper limped towards the Big House. In and out in five minutes, she stopped at the porch to apply the healing cream to her ankle and took a second to let it sink in. She breathed in the night air. In the sky, the Stormchaser constellation twinkled at her. Piper smiled.
Then she saw Riley coming out from behind the Big House, holding his phone.
"Hey, Riley -" Piper called out.
Riley spun around, surprised to see Piper there, but his expression immediately changed to his usual grin. He tapped on his phone without looking and Piper started to hear music playing from it.
"Whatcha doing here?" he asked, gesturing at her ankle.
"Healing up. My ankle started to hurt again and I wanted to get the salve before sitting down at the campfire." Piper arched an eyebrow. She told herself to keep her tone light and not obviously suspicious. "And you?"
"Just took a walk," Riley shrugged, the easy smile on his lips. "I was getting a little claustrophobic in there."
"And your phone?"
Both of them looked at it.
"I was just listening to music. It's so quiet here sometimes, y'know? I kinda miss the hustle and bustle of the city. But, hey - you wanna head over to the campfire together?"
Riley pocketed his phone, the music still playing. She didn't recognise the song
"It's Sunflower," he explained, showing her the screen. "From the movie, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse?"
"Yeah, I've heard of it. Nice album cover," she said, using that as an excuse to take a longer look. When she saw what she needed, she gave him back his phone and smiled. Piper agreed to let him hold her up, while they walked to the campfire together.
Riley chatted the whole way, telling her his part of the marathon now. Then he started talking about the Halfbloodtunes idea he'd been working on with the Apollo and Hephaestus cabin. And more, and more, and something about music again, but Piper could only think of one thing:
If Riley had said he'd taken out the sim card from his phone, then it shouldn't be showing the name of his carrier and two bars of reception…right?
A/N: from the shortest chapter to the longest one !
god this was a doozy, but I was excited to write it and I hope it was exciting enough to read! LOTS of action and so many people to keep track of, I hope it wasn't too confusing to read. i just kept thinking of the announcer from legend of korra for this chapter lmfao
And I know that the demigods usually have a lot of rivalry going on, but I really like the idea of them sort of growing together and just working together more over the years. That's how the demigods are better than the gods, I think. They work together and appreciate each other more.
and SundayPopTarts, i'm so glad you like the flour baby death marathon! it means so much to hear that my story is Riordan-esque, that's probably the highest compliment ever. thank you for reading and always leaving lovely comments! and I do like the idea of Alex facing off with Percy so…I'll keep that in mind 👀
and regarding an update schedule, at this point i really don't have one. i go with my inspiration, but I try not to go too long in between chapters.
also thank you to everyone who's left a comment so far, it makes writing these even more fun and more gratifying!
thank you for reading everyone ! lots more things in store, stay tuned!