CHAPTER FIVE: Bohemian Rhapsody

"And that's her?"

"Yep, that's her."

"The one who slayed a Laistrygonian giant with one hit?"

"And tried to make friends with the other one? Yeah."

Piper and Leo watched Alex puke over the side of the Argo III.5. Mags had been holding a bucket in front of her, but seemed grateful that the puke was sent overboard. She patted Alex's back before helping her back inside.

"Yeesh. Talk about a fatal flaw."

"You think motion sickness is fatal?"

Leo did a dramatic gasp. "You think it isn't? I'll think about stabilisers or something next time. Anti-turbulence or something. We can be invisible to monsters, and keep away from gods, but we can't escape the demon that is motion sickness."

"There are worse things," Calypso grinned, walking up behind Leo and wrapping her arms around his torso.

Piper turned away from the view of the sky, leaning her back on the railing and crossing her arms. She smiled at the couple. "How've you been, Cal?"

"Been doing good, Pipes," she beamed. "But how's your friend? Is she up and walking now?"

"She was for about ten seconds but I think she's not used to, uh, flying."

"Ah, I thought I heard someone's insides hurling overboard." Calypso walked over and gave Piper a tight embrace. "I've missed you. We all have. Percy and Annabeth are going to strangle you with a hug."

"They might actually be plotting my murder after all that's happened." Piper hugged her back. With every hug she was getting, she felt the pressure release from her shoulders. But her comment about 'all that's happened' had made Leo quirk an eyebrow. She didn't want to face that yet. At least Calypso was keeping it casual. "I've missed you guys, as well. It's…it's good to be going back. I feel like I've missed a lot –"

"Oh, not much. Just the usual," Calypso leaned against Leo, and he put his arm over her shoulder. "Working hard…"

"—or hardly working," Leo teased, and was immediately met with a gentle pinch to his rib.

"I'm keeping him in line," Calypso rolled her eyes. "Which reminds me, I have to check on the bridge. But we'll catch up properly later." She pointed at Leo as she walked away. "Also, if I find something wrong, remember you said this is your baby, so don't blame me."

"Wait, no, I said last night –" Leo jogged to catch up with her and Piper followed the amusing story as it unfolded. "I said last night this was our baby –"

Calypso snorted. "I seem to recall you saying I only owned fifteen per cent of this baby."

"…an argument can be made for twenty."

"Unbelievable."

"It's an ingenious fifteen per cent. Irreplaceable. But to be fair, I had the blueprints for the engine and the bones of the ship, and I had the ideas for the games room, and the stainless steel kitchen -"

"Uh-huh."

"And me and Festus did most of the heavy lifting…literally, we lifted the heavy things."

"Right."

"And the failure to launch the first time? That's on you –"

"Wow –"

The son of Hephaestus paused. He stood in front of Calypso, his thinking face on, like he only just figured out how he was sounding. Piper stifled her laugh.

Leo sucked in air through his teeth."…I'm gonna have to pay for this percentage-ownership thing in a subtle way later, huh?"

"Not gonna be that subtle." Calypso poked his forehead. She waved goodbye as she finally headed to the bridge.

"You complete me!" Leo called out.

"Fifteen per cent of you!"

Piper watched Leo watch Calypso go. She could practically hear the lovesick sigh that left him, his whole body going gooey in that way she'd only see Leo go when he was around a girl he was obsessed with. But this wasn't something as weird as obsession. Nor as immature as a crush or puppy love. Nah. He was in love. Actually in love. And it was written all over his face when he turned back to her, sighing.

"Pipes. Piper. Piper-roni –"

"Six years ago I told you never to call me that again, and I stand by that."

"Okay, but listen. Calypso's the one."

"You've known that for like four years."

"I know but…Gods…" He pumped his hands on his chest, right over his heart.

"All right, loverboy, what are you thinking?" Piper narrowed her eyes, then they widened in surprise. "Hang on, are you actually thinking…? Like…?"

She gave him a look.

Leo's mouth dropped. "Whoa. No!" he exclaimed, before lowering his voice again. "No, no, no, I don't think so, no way. I mean, we're too young, and I'm way too immature for that. You know me! I need to be, like, stable and –" He thought it over. "…nah, man. Nah, no, no, no. Big nope. We're fine the way we are. Continuing to stay together doesn't mean we have to get married. We just…" He gestured randomly.

"Stay together?" Piper suggested.

"Exactly. Stay together." He paused. "Do you think Percy and Annabeth are gonna get married?"

"Leo."

"What!"

"You literally just said you're too young. We're too young! That includes Percy and Annabeth too."

"Hmm." Leo scratched his chin. "Well. Whatever happens, we all know Percabeth's endgame."

"I will literally throw you overboard."

"I knew I gave you too much ambrosia, I should've kept you weak."

"Wish I could stay weak. Then I'd have an excuse."

And just like that, she was out of Leo-and-Piper world, and back in the real one. Piper scrunched her nose, turning around to lean on the taffrail again, letting the wind blow past her face. She tapped her fingers along the wood. While the Argo II looked like the original Argo, an ancient trireme with railing shields and oars, the Argo III.5 had the appearance of a more classic ship. Like a ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean (which Leo probably used as inspiration, now that she thought of it).

The figurehead still looked like Festus (but she was happy to know the bronze dragon was sleeping below deck). The deck was bigger now, with a proper forecastle, and a stern, and a large bridge that had a table for Leo's maps. At the stern were the captain's quarters (though Leo was still trying to get everyone to call him 'Supreme Commander'). The ship was smaller than the Argo II, probably since it was Leo's 'personal ship', but there was still enough space below deck for the same mess hall, now with added kitchen, plus a lounge, games area, Iris-messaging booths, two pegasi stables, and only four cabins. Leo and Calypso stayed up in the captain's quarters. Piper had one cabin. Riley and Mags had the other, and Alex was in her own cabin. While the Argo II's cabins had been personalised, these ones were generic.

Leo let her stay quiet for a few seconds. They watched a cloudless sky go by, the ground under them just green as far as the eye could see. Then he cleared his throat to get her attention again.

"…do you…want to talk about it? Before you have to talk about it with everyone else? I mean…what actually happened?"

She pressed her lips together. "I probably should."

"But you don't have to rush into it."

"…how much longer until we reach Camp?"

"We're actually going pretty slow," he beamed. "On purpose. So we'll reach 'em by tomorrow morning. Or the end of the day if you want."

Piper shook her head. "No. Tomorrow morning's good. I think it's best for me and…the rest of the team too. They need a break."

Leo's teasing smile returned. If there was one thing she found eternally annoying about Leo, it was his 'I know something you don't' smile. Which was fifty per cent of his smiles. "The team, huh? Look at you, finding yourself a new squad…"

Her jaw tensed. "They're not my squad."

"But it's what you need. I can tell. I have, like, an eighth sense about that kind of stuff. It's like I have ESPN or something." He glanced at her sideways, seeing if that made her smile even a little bit. But her face was stony, refusing. Leo scratched the back of his neck. "Okay. Time to be a good friend."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Pipes. You'll always have me, and everyone else and you know this. But you should also know by now that none of us are good alone. We're terrible alone. Absolutely shit at it. After I almost died…" Piper glanced at him here. "There was that short, ultra-short, time when I was trying to find Calypso. I mean, I knew I was going to find her, so I wouldn't be alone forever but I also knew…you guys thought I was dead. And, sure, I was gonna go back to you guys eventually but…for the few hours I was alone? Actually alone, even with Festus?" The boy released a calm sigh. "It sucked. Being in the middle of an ocean. Feeling like…Gods, is this it? After everything that happened, I'm really just…some speck of dirt floating through all this? And I know you've probably felt that way too. But I hope you've realised now that...that kind of feeling can be fixed, even just a little bit, by being around good people."

At that moment, Riley emerged from below deck to look around, mashing something in a bowl. He caught Piper's eye, nodded his head with a tired smile, and then went back down.

"They are good people, aren't they?" asked Leo.

"Yeah. Yeah, they are." Then Piper leaned her head on Leo's shoulder, closing her eyes and breathing in the sky air. "Since when did you get so smart and stuff."

He grinned. "Bitch, please. I've always been like this. Some folks just don't listen."

Energised by Leo's talk, Piper headed below deck. She rolled up her sleeves and jogged down the stairs, thinking about who she should talk to. But she didn't have to think for long. As soon as she stepped foot onto the corridor, she heard loud music playing from one of the doors. Piper walked over, slid it open, and was met with the sight of Riley, baking something, and rocking out to 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME AND SPIT IN MY EYE –

Riley waved at Piper with a smile, pointing at the speakers as if to let him finish the song at least. And Piper nodded, with a good-natured roll of her eyes, knowing it would finish soon. She noted the bandages around his arms, and the healing wound on his cheek.

As soon as they had arrived on board, the night before, Calypso went to work on healing them as Leo steered them to safety. Piper had healed in a mere hour, but the others had to rest all night. Alex was out cold until noon. It gave time Piper to explore a bit of the ship before the others were up and about. She made sure their weapons, including the black arrow, were safe in Leo's captain's quarter's, behind lock and key. The arrow was something to deal with later.

Leo really went all out with his 'personal ship'. She figured that the stainless steel kitchen was something he and Calypso had always wanted. Calypso still preferred doing things by hand, if Piper remembered correctly, and Leo missed cooking things with his mom like they used to. She didn't know if they'd cooked here yet, but she was glad that Riley was breaking the kitchen in – baking what she believed was banana bread and something powdery in a bowl.

Piper slid into the kitchen stool, directly opposite Riley. She propped one elbow up on the counter and leaned her chin on it.

The song ended, with Riley singing softly along to the end: "…any way the wind…blows…"

Both Piper and Riley made a 'whoosh' gong sound, as the song finished.

"And that concludes playlist Lovin' The Classics, curated by your very own DJ Riles."

"Inspiring. But how are you playing your own music, I thought Leo told you to throw away your phones?"

"Nah, he just said to throw away the sim cards and not use wifi anymore. He said the only way monsters could actually find us is if we're connected to the broader world. And I already downloaded all my Spotify songs for offline-playing. Got all my babies right here," he grinned, showing his phone.

Piper was impressed. So Leo had finally figured out the demigods-and-technology mystery. Chiron had never fully explained it, and she didn't think he ever really knew. "Cool. So what's all this, then? You know you can just ask for whatever food you want, and –"

"What, your magical plates? Psh," he swatted his hand in the air. "This is, uh…" Riley cleared his throat, "polvoron. It's Filipino. Alex likes to eat this, after a big fight like that. Sometimes as a celebration thing, it's this really sweet powdery stuff that you're supposed to press into a cookie shape but…we're usually too impatient for that so we eat it off the bowl. Good thing Leo had brown sugar."

Piper didn't know what to say. Instead, she just nodded.

"And, yeah, like I said – sometimes it's a celebration thing but I think it just comforts her as well. So it's become comforting for me and Mags too. We haven't had this in a year. I almost forgot how to make it." He paused to mix around the powder. "Alex's mom taught me. You mix everything in, and you fry the flour…you wanna try?"

He slid over the bowl and a spoon. Piper stared at it for a few seconds.

"What's in it?"

"No meat," Riley smiled. "Just flour, sugar, powdered milk, butter…can you eat milk and butter?"

Piper nodded. She took the spoon and scooped up a bit of the powder, taking it in one bite. She was surprised at how warm it was, the granules feeling messy in her mouth, like when she used to eat Milo from the can. "…it's sweet," she said, cracking a smile. "I like it."

"Nice," he beamed. "I hope Alex does. When she's recovered, I'll bring it over to her. I'm pretty sure Mags has been drowning her in water. She always does." Riley paused. He opened his mouth as if to say something again, and then had second thoughts. He moved the bowl back to him and covered it with plastic wrap, moving his focus back to the banana bread mixture.

"And Alex bought this on our way to the airport. She knew where you'd be, so she told us, and then she convinced us to go to the supermarket since it was on the way. We have mixes for banana bread, red velvet cupcakes, and brownies."

"Riley," she stopped him there, though her voice was soft and patient. "Are you okay?"

He tried to keep up appearances. Really, he did. He nodded his head, eyes focused on the banana bread, and then his nodding turned into shaking, and then he just hung his head completely.

"…no." He slid the bowl aside and laid his forehead on the counter. "…Alex is never supposed to fight. That was our…that was our deal, we'd talked about it."

"Why shouldn't she fight?"

"You saw what happened to her, man, she – I mean, she's amazing but then afterwards, it's like she's halfway to death. It exhausts her so much. And it just gets worse every time, and we don't know why."

Piper couldn't figure it out either. "You'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. Now that we're going to Camp Half-blood, there are gonna be people there who know more than me. You'll meet Chiron. He's…ancient," she tried for a smile.

Riley shook his head. "Ah. We'll see. I – I mean, I'm sure they're nice," he added quickly, "but it's never really worked out for us before. The people we tried to get help from, they'd tell us we weren't special enough, that we didn't matter, or they'd see how Alex fights and then they'd try to use her…" A shadow fell over his face, but he closed his eyes for a second and the shadow lifted. He opened them and immediately went back to baking the banana bread.

"But… how can she fight like that?" she asked. Riley took out a pan and started pouring the mixture in. "I've never seen anything like it. Not at Camp, or even in Camp Jupiter." Percy, Annabeth, and Reyna were supreme-level fighters, in her eyes, and they still couldn't fight like that. Making impossible jumps, and impossible hits. "Not even the Amazons or the Huntresses of Artemis can fight like that. Not that I've seen, at least. Riley, you've gotta tell me the truth," she said seriously. "Is she a demigod?"

Riley frowned. "No."

She arched an eyebrow.

"No," he said again. "She's not a demigod. Trust me. I've met her parents. They've been together since, like, the beginning of time." When it looked like Piper didn't believe him, he sighed. "Look, it's not like I know every single detail of their relationship, but I don't believe Mrs Estrada ever cheated on him. I like to believe that's actually possible."

Piper nodded, about to get lost in her own train of thought until:

"Wait. Estrada?"

"What, you thought May is Alex's surname?" The smile returned on Riley's face. "Alex May Estrada. Jesus, Piper, you've been working with her for like four months," he laughed. "It was even on the program for the musical. Alexandra May Estrada, playing Cinderella."

Piper's face heated up. Was it that bad that she didn't know Alex's surname? Everyone knew Piper's, but that was just because of her father's fame. And everyone knew Alex as 'Alex May'. That was how she introduced herself, for crying out loud. Piper willed herself to not be so embarrassed. Plus, not everyone knew everyone's surname. She tried to think of Riley and Mags' surnames.

Nothing came up.

"…you're thinking about our names now too, huh?" Riley joked.

"Shut up." Piper frowned. "…what are your names?"

"Nah, I'm not telling you now."

"Jerk."

"It's not important anyway. What's important is making sure we'll be okay at Camp Halfblood. Can we even get in?" Riley gestured at himself.

"You should be able to. You're not the only mortal that's been in Camp. We have an Oracle."

"As in a fortune-teller?"

"As in the Oracle of Delphi. She's mortal."

"Yeah, but like you said, she's an oracle. Mags can barely read a clock that's not digital."

"You'll be fine. I promise. And Leo can stop the ship at the barrier, check in with Chiron, make sure you have safe passage…it's nothing to worry about."

His face became pensive again. "…and you can actually promise we'll be okay?"

Piper pursed her lips. She held his gaze, looking at him seriously. "I can actually promise: you'll be okay."

Riley's laughter was still echoing in her head when she left the kitchen. Piper shifted her grip on the bowl of polvoron. Alexandra May Estrada. Gods, how did she not know this? Why did she have to have three names like that? Piper huffed, blowing her fringe off her face.

Reaching Alex's cabin, she knocked on the door.

"It's open," came the familiar voice, sounding a little more muffled than it should.

Piper opened the door curiously, and saw Alex on the floor of her cabin, surrounded by three plates and two cups from the mess hall. One of them was piled with spaghetti, the other had fries from (probably) McDonald's, and the last was rice and what looked like spring rolls. She couldn't tell what was in the cups.

"Piper, I'm in heaven," Alex chuckled, covering her chewing mouth with her hand.

She smiled. "Uh-huh, I can see that. Permission to join the feast?"

"Permission granted."

Stepping over a bucket (empty and free of puke, thank goodness), Piper sat down across from Alex and her feast.

"Wait, what's that?" Alex pointed at the bowl in Piper's hands.

"Oh, it's, um – polvoron. Riley made it for you, he wanted me to bring it over."

Alex's mouth dropped open in surprise, then it closed to show a watery smile. She held her hands out for the bowl and Piper gave it to her. She hugged the bowl. "I love him so much."

Peeling off the plastic wrap, she took a spoon and almost started to eat before holding it out to Piper again. "Have you tried it?"

"Yes, and before you ask: all of that is yours. Riley portioned off a bit for him and Mags. This is all yours," Piper emphasised.

Alex narrowed her eyes playfully, then continued eating without a second thought. Through a mouthful of powder, she lifted the plate of spring rolls. "What about this? Want some?"

"What's inside?"

"Pork, I think. Oh, wait – right," Alex set it down, then pointed at the plate of fries. Piper nodded, and took a few, stuffing them into her mouth.

"So," Piper asked, eating a few more fries, "what's in the cups?"

"Pineapple juice and iced tea."

"Good combo."

"I haven't had pineapple juice in ages. Not the kind I like, anyway. The Asian store is so far from where we lived in Seattle." Alex took the cup closest to her and sipped at it, her smile widening. She offered it to Piper, and Piper obliged, taking her own drink.

The two of them ate in silence for a while, Piper picking from the fries – until Alex poured her plate of spaghetti onto the plate of rice and spring rolls. "I could've just gotten a new plate," Piper laughed, incredulous. But Alex just said they were both too lazy, and it was fine anyway. The meal that appeared on the plate were finger food sandwiches and donuts.

"Oh, my God, why are you so obsessed with 7-Eleven sandwiches?" Alex laughed, after eating one of them.

Piper's face went red (yet again, and she was really starting to hate this). The sandwiches were miniature versions of the 7-Eleven sandwiches she'd grown to like. "They were the easiest things to pick up on the way to rehearsal. And I kinda miss them since, y'know, we haven't been to rehearsal in a while."

At the reminder, Alex's smile saddened a little. About to take another sandwich, she took a donut instead. "...and a Dunkin' Donut. I used to get these as well, you know. I'm surprised we didn't run into each other on the way."

"Well, I was usually late."

"True."

"Maybe next time."

"…do you really think there's gonna be a next time?"

Alex caught Piper's gaze and Piper didn't hesitate. "Well, we know Mariana's probably ninety per cent done with the rebuilding by now. And it's gonna be bigger and better, and we'll probably have super-advanced rigging and things. Like if they do Mary Poppins again, Mary Poppins won't fall halfway through flying."

Alex stifled a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand again. "Jesus! I remember that. I can't believe you watched that show."

"Before I moved here, I just visited for a week to check it out. I caught the last show. Were you in it?"

"I played The Bird Woman."

Piper's eyebrows shot up in complete surprise. "You didn't."

"I did!"

"I loved the Bird Woman –"

They had never talked like this, ever, and Piper was surprised to find how calming it was. And it wasn't the kind of calm that she felt in the apartment, where everything was almost normal, like a bad joke waiting to reveal itself. It was hard to forget where they were now and how they got here. But in the weirdness of it all, with her and Alex just talking and eating and laughing, Piper felt truly calm. It was like she wanted to smile as much as she could, for any reason at all.

Alex asked her how the plates worked, and Piper said she had no idea, so Alex made a random theory that there was some god in charge of cooking food as fast as possible – and maybe they also had mind powers because they had to know exactly what the eater wanted.

"Riley, Mags and I were all eating here like two hours ago and Mags had this huge plate of rice, vegetables and meat. Riley just had KFC," Alex said. "I think he still prefers making things by hand."

Alex asked her what she'd been doing all day, and what happened last night, and if Leo and Calypso thought she was rude for not saying 'hi' properly yet. Piper assured her they definitely didn't, and that Calypso was ready to make some sort of potion to ease Alex's motion sickness – and then Alex turned bright pink. "Okay, after this, I'm going up there and I'm showing my face. I don't have motion sickness," she said with a slight frown. "I just…I was really tired." She scooped up spaghetti with her fork, but didn't eat it yet.

Piper hugged her knees to her chest, tilting her head. "Alex, no one's blaming you for being tired. Riley explained to me –"

The slight frown turned into a full frown. "What did Riley say?"

"Not much," Piper said quickly, calmly. "Just that after you fight, especially after a big one, you get really tired. And that polvoron is like your comfort food after."

Alex's shoulders slumped. Three seconds of quiet went by, before: "…I should probably tell you what's going on, huh?"

"It would…be nice, yeah."

Alex set down the fork of spaghetti and picked up the cup of iced tea. She took a short sip and then looked out the cabin window as she thought of where to start. Piper waited patiently.

When it seemed like Alex didn't want to talk at all, Piper began to say: "We don't have to talk about it right now –" but then Alex started.

"So…I'm a good fighter. I've always known that. And this was way before knowing about monsters and gods and things. Yeah. It was just…" Alex looked up at the ceiling, thinking of how to explain herself, "it was just life."

Piper settled in her seat to listen, letting her friend continue.

"I could always run faster than everyone, do sports longer, throw things further. I beat the school record for long jump," Alex said with false enthusiasm. "I got into a few fights at school. Actually, they were my friends' fights, and I'd just try and stop them…and I would. But somehow, the aftermath was always worse. I'd always finish a fight, but what happened after..." her expression darkened. "I had, um…I had a friend of mine who…he had a lot of rumours about him, going around school. Because people are stupid," she snorted, rolling her eyes. "But then the rumours just kept getting worse, and then one week, we had martial arts lessons instead of gym class. For whatever reason."

Alex took a deep breath and exhaled.

"And everyone was super into it, y'know, just doing karate chops everywhere and beating each other up. It was whatever," she shook her head. "I didn't know how my fighting thing worked, but I was scared that even if I did a little it would start the whole thing. Then they started ganging up on my friend. Like…six of them. A few big guys, and some girls who couldn't shut up. And my friend…" Alex cracked a smile, "he was always braver than me. Sometimes I think he wanted to start fights. He never liked people talking behind his back or whatever, because he wanted them to say it to his face. But then the whole class got in on it. I guess it looked like a game to them. Say what they could, see what was gonna make him react."

Piper frowned, already imagining the kind of shit kids could pull. She felt guilty, all of a sudden, for thinking that Alex was just some secret show-off. She remembered feeling conflicted about it, angry about it, that Alex had just let Piper try and protect her while knowing full well what she could do. Now she realised it was much more complicated than that. Now she remembered, things were never that simple.

"So…" she asked, "what did you do?"

"All the insults and stuff, we were used to it. I stood in the crowd but I didn't do anything 'cause…I mean, he could handle it. But then someone threw their water bottle at him. He picked it up and started drinking from it. So the guy who threw it – Damien Gates," Alex sighed, her brow creasing. "Started screaming about how he was gonna get a disease or something, and he punched him in the face. Right on his mouth." Alex paused again. "And then, I just – I just, y'know, I just stopped them. The bullies. I stopped Damien. And then other people got in, and I stopped them, and three broken arms later…I was expelled. And I never saw him again."

The sound of the ship groaning filled the silence that fell between them. Piper could hear music playing down the hallway again, pop music this time, not rock. Footsteps went by the door. She thought of what she could say, if there was anything to say. When nothing came to mind, she settled on continuing to give Alex her full attention. She hugged her knees closer to her chest, waiting for her to continue.

"Then I had to change schools and then – my parents told me I had to stop doing sports. But…that day. After I got expelled. My mom made me sit at the kitchen bench. And I watched her make me a huge batch of polvoron," Alex smiled, her eyes glistening a little. She blinked back her tears. "I wouldn't stop crying so I couldn't help her make them into proper shapes, so she just said I could eat from the bowl. And I…I know this doesn't really explain anything, Piper," she admitted, wiping her eyes with her sleeve pulled over her hand. "I'm sorry it doesn't, I just…I don't actually know."

Piper fidgeted with her own sleeves. "Alex…"

"My mom was a marathon runner, and my dad's a mechanic. An actual mechanic, not like a secret human form of Hephaestus, or Vulcan. They've never had anyone but each other. They moved here from a different country together. All they told me about my fights was just to keep myself centred, calm, and to not fight unless I absolutely had to. They knew I had some extra physical stuff going on, so they told me not to do any more sports in case it triggered it. And I always got tired after my fights. I ate a lot, I slept a lot. And we could never break that cycle, not even with all of my mom's training. But I still had a lot of energy cooped up inside of me so…so they told me I could pursue something else physical. And I started doing theatre."

All that talking seemed to exhaust Alex all over again. Piper watched her entire figure slump, and she leaned against the wall of her cabin, taking steady, deep breaths. And then there was the regret, the look on her face that said she wished she hadn't spoken so much, that she could take it all back. Piper understood the feeling. But she also understood now, that talking to someone, and letting someone understand her worries and concerns…it helped the other person too. Piper now felt like she understood Alex more. And she was grateful for it.

"Okay," Piper said, standing up. Her knees cracked as she went, and she scoffed at them. "Okay, come on, get up."

Alex looked up at her, confused. "What are we doing? I don't want to go out yet."

"No, we're not going out." Piper looked determined, with her hands on her hips. "We're going to hug."

"We're gonna hug?"

"Yes, come on, shut up, just get up here."

Alex wobbled as she stood up, holding herself against the wall for support. She looked down at the plates between them and made a 'now what?' face at Piper, but Piper just stepped over the plates into Alex's space, until there were just three inches between her and Alex.

"Don't be alarmed," said Piper, in mock seriousness.

"Gotta admit, I'm a little alarmed. Are you possessed right now? Is this a real-life possession?"

Piper fought the urge to smile. "Can you stop being an idiot for five seconds and take this seriously? I'm trying to comfort you."

Alex wiped away the tear tracks from her cheeks, rolling her eyes. "Brontosauruses don't need comforting."

"But velociraptors do. So come on." Piper reached over and pulled Alex into a hug. She made sure to give a tight squeeze, wrapping her arms around Alex completely. These were the kind of hugs she'd usually have with Leo or Annabeth, and she was happy to know that long blonde or brown hair wasn't tickling her nose anymore. She fought the urge to ruffle her hand along Alex's hair, like she would sometimes do to Leo. Instead, she just smelled the laundry detergent they used at the apartment. Lavender.

Pulling apart from the hug, she still had her hands on Alex's shoulders, her expression softening. "Leo does this to me when I feel bad. It always helps me, so…" she shrugged, then slipped her hands off quickly, forgetting they were there. "I'm not really good at…thinking of words that can help you feel better."

"It helped," Alex assured her with a smile. Piper noticed her cheeks were a little flushed. Alex leaned back a little, so there was more space between them. Piper acted like she didn't notice. "It helped a lot. Thanks, Piper. For listening. And if…if I find out more about what's going on with me, I swear I'll tell you. You'd be the first to know."

"And I won't run away anymore," Piper said suddenly, saying it before she realised she'd wanted to say that the whole time. "I'm sorry I did. That's a whole other…thing about me too. There's a lot of things we should talk about eventually but...for now, we're good."

"God, so many secrets." Alex breathed out a laugh. "It's like a soap opera. But yeah, you're right. We're good. I still trust you," she smiled, leaning her head to one side. "So if you ever wanna talk again…it's my turn to listen."

Piper mirrored her smile. "I'll remember that."

They remained in the room to finish off the food, and then for the rest of the day, Piper took Alex on a tour around the Argo III.5. She explained the story of the original Argo II, and how the sleeping dragon in the brig was the original figurehead of the ship. Alex pointed out the possibility of the current figurehead being another, secret, dragon altogether and Leo had overheard, whistling loudly to himself as he walked by.

The two girls were joined by Riley and Mags again, Riley's neck covered in marks that Alex pulled a face at and Mags turned bright red. The four hung out in the lounge, Alex and Piper deep into a conversation, reminiscing about their time working on Into the Woods ("Reagan wouldn't shut up about how she would've been a better Cinderella," Piper said, to which Alex gasped: "That bitch."). Calypso walked in, making the three mortals' jaws drop as the titaness stood in the doorframe, rolling her eyes at the reaction. Calypso put her hand on Alex's forehead to test her health, and then pressed a vial into Alex's hand, telling her to smell it if she felt motion sickness again. Alex didn't have the chance to explain that she didn't have motion sickness at all and God, Piper, can you please tell her, she's too nice. After Calypso left, Mags snatched the vial from Alex's hand to smell it and confirmed that it, indeed, smelled just like a more magical version of Vicks.

For dinner, everyone ate a hearty meal, complete with Riley's banana bread (which everyone finished before dessert) and Leo pulled out a piano from the wall. It could play any song they requested, and Riley requested the opening song of Into the Woods. All four of them – Piper, Alex, Riley and Mags – sang along to the song as loud as they could, and Leo and Calypso sang the parts they knew and warbled the rest.

When night officially fell, and everyone retired to their cabins, Piper stayed outside on the deck. The ship was flying low among the clouds, the crow's nest completely covered in it. It was helpful for staying out of sight, with the ship flying on low power to save energy, but it blocked out the stars.

There were a few times during their journey to defeat Gaea, where Jason would sometimes fly himself and Piper up, higher than the Argo II, but never too far away because she knew flying could exhaust him sometimes. It was enough to just be away from everything, even for a few seconds.

Piper stared down the mast, taking note of all the ropes and sails connected to the crow's nest. When she spotted the ladder rope, she headed for it.

One, two, three, four…she counted each step the higher she went, her teeth beginning to chatter at the cold winds, but she pushed herself to keep going. The clouds got caught up in her face and the air became so cold her nose hurt when it breathed – but then the sky cleared altogether.

Piper quickly crawled into the crow's nest, sitting down on the wooden floor and hugging her knees to her chest. She hadn't seen the stars in years, and not because of heavy clouds and tall buildings. She simple refused to look up. But this time, she did. And it didn't take her long to scan the sea of white, sparkling dots and finally spot him:

Apollo's new constellation, The Stormchaser.

A pretty dramatic title, if you asked her, but seeing the line of stars form a boy flying through the sky – it was perfect as a way to honour Jason Grace.

"I'm sorry I stayed away for so long," Piper said, smiling a little, before she let herself cry.

A/N: guess who's emo ? i am !

this is a hella long chapter but one that i just loved writing bc it was so chill and i really liked delving into everyone's relationships again, and yES that little leo/calypso interaction was very tony/pepper inspired, so suE me

i've also gathered the trials of apollo series (finally) so hopefully i can get around to reading that soon. for now, the only canon will be up to 'the burning maze', so when 'the tyrant's tomb' comes out, i probably won't take it as canon ! hopefully no one else…dies….

and hey any god can make a new constellation, right? artemis created 'the huntress' after zoe nightshade. artemis and apollo continue to honour their heroes by making them into constellations!

this was such a soft chapter sigh, calm before the storm

hope you enjoyed ! thank you for reading, and i'll try to post new chapters sooner !