There is no excuse.

I don't own PJO

Maija

"What do you mean we can't leave!" Alex yelled in frustration, kicking a sapphire.

"I mean Zelus put some kind of spell over the Underworld were you, nor I, can leave." Hades told her for the third time, and yet remained so calm.

"What about the gods on Olympus?" I cut in.

Hades waved his hands in a obvious sign of unknowing. "I'm not sure if the magic allows communication."

"Well what are we waiting for!" Alex threw her hands up in annoyance, then in a calmer fluid motion; mist formed. "Who's got a drachma?"

I pulled one out and tossed it in. "Iris accept our offer, show us Lord Zeus, ruler of Olympus."

The image showed the snow like on a t.v. when the cable goes out. Alex growled, walking over to the wall and smacking her head against it. "So, what are we suppose to do?" I asked, trying to ignore the painful sounds Alex was making by hitting her head. "Just sit and wait for Zelus to take over the world?"

"There has to be a way." Jake insisted.

"Any ideas?" I inquired dryly. He opened his mouth, but sank down in his chair. "What about you death boy?"

Nate rolled his eyes at me from the couch next to Zoey, who was curled up and staring blankly at the wall. "No idea honestly."

"Can you shadow travel out?" Zoey muttered an idea.

Nate shrugged. "Try." I ordered.

He stood and bowed dramatically, "As you wish your highness." He dissolved like he was mist blown away by the wind.

About five minutes later, he returned. "It worked, I got to Olympus but I didn't do anything. I came back here immediately."

Alex jumped up, "You have to go! Tell Zeus what's going on!"

"Why me?" Nate got wide eyed.

"You're the only one that can leave." She said like it was obvious.

He groaned. "Can't we try and see if you can come with me?"

I shook my head. "He said his specific goal was to keep her here."

"Can't imagine what my brother is going to do." Hades commented. Persephone, who had come down to take care of Alex when we reported in, smacked him.

"Go, Nate." I pushed. "Tell them what happened, and please, come back with something useful."

"No pressure or anything." He grumbled. I rolled my eyes and shoved him into the wall. He disappeared before he made contact, which was what I was counting on.

"Hey Al, its gunna be ok."

"Yeah I'll believe that when I see it." She scoffed and stood up. "I'll be in the arena."

Hades smirked. "So much like her mother." He turned to a skeleton minion. "Keep her supply of targets plentiful unless you want to become a target." Its bones rattled in fear, disappearing to fulfill the order.

At lunch, Alex didn't show up to eat. I decided to start without her, I'm not going hungry because she wants to starve herself. Slowly, everyone else followed my lead and started eating.

As our meal died down, only a few of us were still eating. James was done, but he sat loyally by my side; waiting for me to finish. Zoey was always a slow eater, so she wasn't done either. And as soon as he was done, Jake stood and left. I didn't pay much attention to it, considering that's what Hades and Persephone had done earlier.

~~Ignore the pretty page break~~

Jake

Alex didn't come to eat, and I was worried about her. Sure she ripped my heart out when she said she loved that traitor, but I was still her best friend, and I wasn't going to let her become anorexic.

On my way to the arena where she said she was going to train, I stopped at the kitchen and had the skeleton workers there fix up a plate of her favorite food: Borscht. Don't ask me why her favorite food is something out of the Middle East, because I don't know. I mean, it has beets in it! Who likes beets?

I guess it wasn't all bad though, it had potatoes,carrots, spinach, and meat as well. Her mom's made it several times before, and almost every time I was over at her house for some reason or another. It was one of those things, like sheep guts, that you don't tell the person what they're eating until they've eaten it. It was actually surprisingly good.

I grabbed a loaf of Italian bread, sour cream, and a pitcher of her favorite drink-OJ to go with it. Walking slowly and keeping my upper body still as I walked, I headed towards the arena. I didn't spill a drop on my way, and I'll have to remember to thank Mr. B for teaching me how to do that during marching band.

"Alex!" I called happily. Startled, she turned around with her sword drawn at me. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!...Whoa! Put that thing down, I come bearing lunch!"

I held out the tray to her. She looked down apprehensively at it, then suddenly smiled. Oh man, I love her smile. "Is that borscht?" I nodded, even though it probably wasn't necessary. "My favorite! Come on, let's sit down over in the benches."

I followed her into the stone stands surrounding the actual arena and set the tray down. Alex poured herself a glass of OJ, and settling the plate on her lap, she dug into the rich soup. After her first bite, she moaned in satisfaction. "This is so good! Jake, I love you!" She shoved another bite into her mouth.

"Really? I thought you loved Dylan." I muttered under my breath so she couldn't hear.

But of course, with my luck, she heard it anyway. Alex stopped mid-bite and set the spoon back in the dish, looking suddenly very hurt. "Jake..." Her lower lip quivered and tears welled up in her eyes.

I mentally beat myself up and sent every curse I knew in Greek, Spanish, and English at the mangled version of myself. All in my head, of course. I jumped from my seat and moved next to her. "Alex, I'm so..." I didn't bother finishing the sentence. I could see clearly there was nothing I could say short of 'April Fools! Dylan sooo got you!' that would make her feel better.

I gently lifted her chin up, but she wouldn't look me in the eye. Her body was lightly shaking from pushing herself and the exhaustion of training all day no doubt, and fighting off tears she hates shedding. Alex is strong, stronger than I am, and than most of the people/gods here by a long run.

Alex was the most headstrong person I knew, she's got a temper, but she's down to earth and incredibly intelligent. She's far from perfect, but who isn't?, but I have never in my 16 years met someone more real.

Ok, so she's got a bit of an under-bite, and her skin is a little bit to pale to be healthy at the moment. She's very fragile, proved many a times when she's fallen and hurt herself but I've been there to help her up every time, thin as a toothpick, and she doesn't go anywhere without a hoodie with our school label on it or softball something or other written on it. But Alex is reliable and loyal, she can pack a punch, and she's fiery and willful to the point of being pigheaded and stubborn. She doesn't back down, and its a rare occurrence to see her cry.

To see her so sad, so broken all because of that douche bag, is a bit of a shock. Alex sucked in a few long breaths, each steadier than the last one. She took her head out of my hand, finally looking me in the eye. Her dark grey eyes bore into my blue and I could see she put her walls up again, the same ones it took me so long to break down.

Unable to control my actions, I leaned toward her, keeping our eyes locked in that soul-reaching gaze. I finally pressed a soft kiss against her lips.

Alex let out a shuddering sigh, her eyes closed, and the tension in her body flowed out of her. I filled that one kiss with as much passion and love as I could manage and still keeping it slow. I didn't know of she realized it, but I've been in love with her for a while.

But then again, how could I not?

~~Ignore the pretty page break~~

Maija

"Ugh," I ran my hands through my hair later that night. "All she does is train and yell and-and-and-bitch!" Everyone stopped and looked at me. "What?"

Zoey opened her arms like a little child. I sighed and walked over, pulling her into a hug. "Where's Alex?"

"Al?" Jake thought for a second. "Training in the arena I suppose."

I gave Zoey a squeeze and stood up; smacking Jake as I passed him. "Ow! Hey what was that for!"

"For leaving her alone!" I yelled over my shoulder.

"Alex?" I called gently from behind her as she hacked at the skeleton in front of her. She didn't turn around until she had successfully sent the skeleton back into the ground. A second one took its place only a few seconds later. An endless supply, just like Hades had said.

When she registered who I was, she huffed and turned her attention to a group of skeletons on the left side of the training grounds. I groaned and called after her. "Alex!"

"Speak." She grunted between swings.

My mouth hung open in surprise, she could not be serious. Shaking my head, I decided to take what I could get. "You need to talk about this,"

"Talk about what!" Alex spun on her heel, her eyes filled with fire. I stepped back. "That I'm stuck here with nothing to do? That my trainer is gone so I can't practice this huge burden the gods stiff armed me with? Or maybe how my boyfriend stabbed me in the back with a sword right out of the forge!"

I put a hand out to try to calm her, "Alex-"

"I loved him!" She turned and decapitated three of the skeletons in one wipe. She kept her back to me after, her sword point pointed to the ground along with her head. It crushed me to see her like this. I walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder; she flinched at the contact. "I loved him." She repeated, softer.

I opened my arms and she walked into my embrace gratefully. "I know," I soothed. "I know. Come on," I loosened her grip on her sword, not an easy fleet let me tell you. "Let's go somewhere to talk about this."
Alex curled up on the bed in my room, well not my room, my room wasn't all black and depressing like everything in the Underworld. Well not everything I suppose, the priceless gems did give the place a little color.

"What am I going to do Maija?"

I shook my head, not really knowing what to tell her. "No one could have predicted this was going to happen, not even Apollo."

"Yeah..." She trailed off.

"Hey," I placed a hand on her knee. "It'll be ok."

"Easy for you to say," Alex grumbled. "You have a loving boyfriend who is no more likely to go over to Kronos then that bowl of fruit over there."

I chuckled, a ghost of a smile played at her lips. "Just wait, when we get out of here, possessed fruit is going to attack you."

Her smile grew a little when suddenly, she frowned. "Don't make me laugh."

"Aw come on," I punched her shoulder playfully. "Smile, its good for you."

She shrugged me off. "Yeah whatever."

My shoulders slumped and I sighed. It was then that I noticed all the papers spew about. "Did your notebook throw up?"

"No," She sniffed, "I was writing a song."

I smiled lightly, same old Alex. "Can I hear it?" I asked gently.

"Sure." She walked over to a pile on her desk next to the dresser and pulled out several sheets of paper; she handed me half. "Play my drums?" Alex asked hopefully.

I smiled and took the papers to spread them out on a music stand in front of the drums. "Is that even a question?"

She sent me a genuine smile and did the same next to the electric guitar amp. I watched as she plugged it in and tuned it up. "1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4..." Alex counted off softly, playing at the end of four. I came in a beat later just like it was written on the music. "Ah Ahh, Oo Oouh Oo, Ah Ahh, Oo Oouh Oo." She started with me doubling up as back up.

"So, you see You've got me back again, for more And it seems Your song is in my head This is war Mystery; how I could feel you breathe me

I was sure, you would keep Every promise; you would keep Every word"

I expected her to write about this, and I'm surprised it took her so long to tell me.

"For every 99 times You looked me in the eye,
You looked me in the eye And swore you weren't lying

Well, I was so blind I never saw the signs I'm getting out tonight And you're not invited

Its a shame That you left me hanging, like you did It was brave, oh But it was much more foolish Don't you think? Don't you think?
Cause, you know I wont be satisfied Until you realize"

As she sung the chorus again, I couldn't help but smile. This is the type of song writer Alex was, she didn't really write songs that said 'Feel sorry for me', but more of a 'Don't make his mistake' kinda feel. Or maybe even 'Don't mess with me'. For the most part, she has written one or two with just a 'Hey come relax with me' kinda feel.

"These things are all so typical These things are unforgivable I'm gone and you're invisible now, oh.
Don't let me catch you followin'
Don't ask, cause I'm not offering You've caused enough of my suffering, ah."

Alex stopped playing her guitar as the next chorus came around, I kept up with the symbol. She didn't write that in, but it seemed to fit, and she smiled at me in agreement that it was a good addition.

"Well, I was so blind I never saw the signs I'm getting out tonight And you're not invited"

The song trailed off with a repeat of the 'Ah's and 'Oo's. I jumped up, "That's what I'm talking about!"

She smiled shyly. "Yeah, singing that out loud for the first time makes me feel better."

"That's the first time you've actually sung it?" I laughed and patted her on the back. "Weirdo."

Alex's laughter joined mine. "I'm the weirdo!"

When our laughing died away, I asked more sincerely, "Alex, how are you, really?"

I felt relieved when she gave me one of her old smiles. "Truthfully Maija," She placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm doing alright."

~~Ignore the pretty page break~~

The son of Hades appeared in front of the fourteen, currently thirteen, Olympians. They were all dully shocked to see him, aware he was on a quest at the moment, or suppose to be.

"Uncle," He knelled at the King of the Gods throne, rising when commanded to do so. "I bring disturbing news."

"What kind of disturbing?" Zeus asked apprehensively.

"Betrayal."

"Speak boy!" He roared, suddenly furious at the thought of another betrayal happening under his rule.

"Zelus sent Dylan to escort us to the Underworld. When we arrived we were sealed in while Dylan left to become Kronos' new host."

OK! Well, credits to Kate Voegele, who wrote 99 times. Guys it's a great song and you really should listen to it! I'm obsessed with it.

I listened to it on youtube, repeat on, the whole time I wrote this. Oh, if you have firefox you can download a reply button and loop vids on youtube and boy, I love the person who came up with that idea!

Ok, well you're probably wondering just why I haven't updated. Maybe? I'll just tell you anyway.

I got this amazing story idea about Annabeth and Percy being CSI agents, and I've been developing it. It's engulfed my thoughts, but I will NOT EVER FORGET A STAR IS BORN! I'm finishing this story if it kills me!

But I want to know, if I posted that story idea, would you guys read it? Also, I don't have a title, so if you guys could help me it would help tremendously!

Thanks guys, I love y'all.

Yours,
Arty