CHAPTER SIX: Because She's Special

The team arrived at Camp Half-blood on a crisp Tuesday morning and Leo dropped them off at the Hill. He, Calypso and Piper had discussed steering the Argo III.5 to the east of the camp, as a better introduction to the place, rather than to the west with the Forest. That was something they shouldn't introduce yet. The East was kinder to newcomers. Already from here, Piper could see the Big House, the Amphitheatre, and the strawberry fields.

"Oh, my God," Alex whispered. "It's beautiful. It's...it's…so old!"

Piper smiled. If Alex May could see Camp Half-blood, then it was a good sign.

"Yeah, it's old but...I mean, I guess it's beautiful?" Mags tried.

Riley scratched his head. "Alex always did like old stuff."

"Yeah, but this is just...nothing."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked. "Can't you see the big theatre and the lake and – holy shit, is that a mermaid?"

Riley and Mags leaned over the edge of the ship to try and see but Calypso pulled them back before they could fall, dusting off her hands as she headed to the steerage.

Leo was the one to explain to Alex. "Mortals see an old, abandoned farmhouse and bare fields."

"Man, are you sure this is the right way? Maybe it's over the next hill?" asked Mags.

"And they also start believing that they should just head another direction. All magic stuff, no biggie," Leo smiled. Piper saw Alex nod slowly, a crease forming on her brow. Another reminder that she wasn't as mortal as she thought she was, Piper thought. She could sympathise.

Calypso steered the ship around, she and Leo estimating where the actual barrier line was, so that they wouldn't have three fried mortals on their hands. None of them actually knew how it worked, maybe they would just be ejected off the ship (which was still not a good thing to happen, no matter how Leo chuckled when Piper suggested it). As they turned, they scraped the hull against the barrier, the thrumming energy shaking everyone's skulls. If Riley and Mags weren't already freaked out by the seemingly invisible mythological camp, Piper bet they were now.

After coming around, Calypso parked the ship as low as she could, and the four hopped off. Leo waved goodbye as he climbed back up and Piper watched the ship disappear over the hill. She put her hands on her hips, looking around them before telling them they had a while to wait. She almost felt bad for Riley and Mags, usually so confident and spunky, and now they looked completely lost.

"Well," Mags huffed. "We can't see anything magical yet –"

"Guys, take a picture of the statue!" Alex was already dashing up the hill.

"What statue?" asked Riley.

"The big one of the lady here." Alex was staring up at the tall, grey-eyed statue. Piper looked too; she got the same feeling she did when Annabeth would stare them down, trying to find whatever they were hiding from her, or just doing a good old-fashioned glare for intimidation. "Who is it?" Alex asked.

"Athena," Piper answered. "It's officially called the Athena Parthenos. Protects the camp...and other stuff," she added vaguely.

Mags had her hands held out in front of her, determined to find something magical. "God, I hate that I can't see anything, this is like Disneyland but I paid the poor ticket and now I need to bribe Walt Disney's ghost himself just to see the freakin' castle -"

Riley laughed as he watched her reach around. Alex took his and Mags' hands and dragged them to stand in front of the statue, beginning to describe how it looked, and what she could see of the Camp from here. Then all three of them tried taking pictures with the Athena statue, relying on Alex's ability to see.

Piper shook her head in disbelief as the three mortals posed for pictures. She hoped Athena wouldn't strike Riley's phone down in anger. She didn't even know how pictures worked with magical objects. Maybe all the photo would see was the sky and three grinning faces and peace-signs and dabs.

But no invisible force pushed the mortals back, so Piper figured they were safe here. All four of them sat at the hill, Alex professing her love for 'LAND, SOLID LAND' as she lay down. Riley took a few more pictures of the view around them. The rolling hills, the Farm Road, fields, and of course, the Sound itself and then the sea. Huh, Piper thought, looking around as well. It was beautiful. She'd never really noticed it before amidst all the running, screaming, wars, and vengeful deities. If there was any place to sit down and pause for a while, it was Halfblood Hill. The best lookout views this side of Olympus, in Piper's opinion.

And she was feeling more herself now. Even just outside the border, she felt safer. She figured it would take a while for Leo to park the Argo III.5, then get Chiron and then for all of them to come to the Hill.

A minute later, Mags joined her on the grass, lowering her head to whisper: "Do you think maybe Athena could be Alex's mom?"

Mags was the only one who thought there might be some sense to Piper's theory.

They were the first two up, eating breakfast together in the mess hall before Mags suggested they take their plates up to the deck. After some small talk about how nice the ship was, and a few funny Argo II anecdotes from Piper, it was Mags who cut to the chase. And Piper was grateful for it. Gods had pulled crazy stunts like this before, keeping secret kids here and there. She also didn't really like the idea that Alex was just this rare specimen, someone the gods cooked up like a nice Frankenstein's monster (Leo's theory), or perhaps she was just a new mortal hero (Calypso's idea), or Kryptonian (Riley's idea). The gods weren't the smart. Alex was someone, and they needed to find out who.

And while Mags had met Alex's parents with Riley, unlike Riley, she was happy to entertain the idea of Alex being a demigod. They both thought that legacies couldn't be that powerful. Piper had mentioned Frank, but they both ended up thinking he was the exception, not the rule.

And Alex being a daughter of Athena?

"I'm not sure," Piper admitted. "There's a lot of Athena kids at camp. Not all of them are the same, of course, but usually they're more...thinkers. Goddess of battle strategy and all that."

"True. And Alex is usually more...instinct-based," Mags mused. "Like, when she fights, she doesn't really think. She just knows what to do."

"Yeah, and usually when demigods come in contact with something related to their godly parent, something happens. Like, I got claimed when I first arrived here. If she was Athena's kid, then maybe the statue would have done something."

"How do people get claimed?"

"Usually, it's a symbol above their head."

"Huh." Mags looked over to Alex, who was already falling asleep on the grass, then back to Piper. "What about you?"

The girl grimaced at the memory. "I got Aphrodite's blessing."

"What's that?" Mags asked, already smirking at how Piper was reacting to it.

"She just made me unnecessarily pretty."

"Tragic. What actually happened, though?"

"I was like...glowing, or whatever. Got extra makeup. A hair blow-out."

"Mm, yeah. Standard stuff. Did she do your nails too?"

"Shut up," Piper pushed against her shoulder to shove her into the grass. Mags snorted as she laughed, allowing herself to fall.

"It was...super traumatic for a fifteen year old," Piper added in mock seriousness.

"I hear you. And that's her 'blessing'?"

"Prettiness is just one of her things."

"Goddess of love and prettiness. Got it. What else? Artemis? No, she's a virgin goddess, right?"

"Right. And I was actually thinking she could be a child of the Big Three."

"As in Zeus, Poseidon, Hades…?"

"Exactly. But since she's not all ocean-y like Percy, and not connected with death or jewels like Nico or Hazel…" Piper ticked off her ideas on her fingers, knowing that she was dropping more names than Mags knew. "And Zeus…I dunno." Jason and Thalia having another secret sibling kept away from them would be overkill. "Has Alex ever flown? Or done anything lightning-y?"

Mags stretched out onto the grass. "Lightning-y?"

"You know, like, calling lightning from the sky. Or maybe she can control the air or something."

"Nah, none of that. I mean...she hates it when she gets static-shocked by carpet."

"Fair enough."

"What about Ares?"

Both girls scrunched their lips to the side, thinking it over. Piper noticed they had the same thinking face (or rather, Riley had pointed it out one morning in the apartment and had taken a picture of it too).

"It's...the most logical. Alex is made for battle," Mags said. "I think that's pretty safe to say. And you've only seen her fight once, too. I've seen her fight more than that. The last time she fought...was crazy."

That must have been when Riley made the deal with Alex that she would never fight again. But no one had explained it to Piper. Yet. She waited for Mags to open the topic.

"So, yeah, probably Ares. I'd bet money on Ares," Mags decided.

So much for that. Piper was starting to really hate all these secrets, but she knew it was probably just karma for her own reservedness.

Leo appeared five minutes later, trudging up the hill, panting, with Chiron and two satyrs in tow. And there was the boost in Piper's confidence again, the feeling of ease. Riley tapped Alex's leg to wake her up, and the girl practically shot up out of the grass at the sight of the centaur. Chiron watched all four of them form into a line. The barrier was still between them. Piper could see the Mist shift around Chiron's lower half, the appearance of the horse's legs and the wheelchair switching. The energy of the barrier between them sizzled, as if deciding by itself if it should let these three new people in.

Chiron looked the three of them in the eye, one by one, and Piper was proud to see none of them cowering. Riley actually puffed out his chest a little more and Mags tugged on his sleeve to make him stop.

The centaur chuckled, settling his gaze on Piper. "What a strange journey you've been on."

"No stranger than usual," she said, feeling herself begin to smile.

"Well, I'm happy to report, you can rest in the meantime. Welcome back, old friend. And to you three," Chiron smiled, placing a hand on his chest and bowing his head. The three of them bowed their heads as well. "Welcome to Camp Halfblood. Breakfast has already been served and packed away, unfortunately, but I'm sure Mr Valdez has kept you well-fed on the...Argo IV, is it?"

"Argo III.5, actually, but I'm thinking of handing a survey around later for -"

Chiron patted his shoulder with a smile and Leo pouted. "We'll talk more later. For now, I think it's best that we reconvene in the safety of the camp's borders and after our new campers settle in, we'll discuss this curious situation more."

Piper watched the centaur carefully. Chiron was usually a good judge of character, if not a very vague one as well, as most wise teachers seemed to be. And she knew exactly what Leo would have said to him, since they discussed it that morning:

"You'll only say that they're three mortals who fight monsters," Piper had said, "and I met them and hung out with them a while…"

"...and then you ended up getting attacked in an airport by two Laistrygonians and Stymphalian birds." Leo nodded. "Got it."

The black arrow was still stashed away in the Argo III.5. There was to be no mention of Alex's extra abilities. She figured it was best to see how much Chiron liked Alex, Riley, and Mags, before adding more to the situation. There was still a lot to be discussed anyway. Like how Leo knew to pick them up at the airport. And she still hadn't forgotten what Alex mentioned about her dreams. And if Rachel was here, she was probably the best person to speak to about the future. And Percy and Annabeth, if they weren't in New Rome anymore. Gods, maybe they should have stopped by Camp Jupiter first. But, no, around this time, they usually visited New York and the Camp thanks to her work as architect of the Gods – but maybe they already left and she just missed them –

One thing at a time, Piper thought, wringing her hands together as she calmed her breathing. Maybe here, she could do something about her anxious spiralling.

She saw Chiron look at the team again. He didn't linger on them for very long, only showing his warm smile at the end, and then extending his arm out to the camp, inviting them in. The two satyrs led them at the front, and she could tell that by the time they passed through the barrier, Riley and Mags could finally see everything by the way they gasped (and she thought she heard a squeal, too).

Piper walked with Leo and Alex, and Chiron stayed behind. She didn't want to look back, but something in the back of her neck prickled. With a quick glance, she saw Chiron staring pensively at Alex. But then Chiron's eyes flickered to Piper, and she looked away.

Since it wasn't summer yet, less than half of the usual population of demigods were here. But the number of year-rounders still made up quite a group, with over a hundred of them scattered around Camp. Some of them gathered around the Amphitheatre, taking a break and reading, or chatting with each other. Some were on the lake, or working on their arts and crafts, and Piper could hear the clanging of metalwork happening in the forge. Her steps became slower, happy to bask in the place she hadn't seen for over a year. Home. She couldn't stop thinking about it.

Alex was quicker on her feet, wanting to see everything and go everywhere. She ran forward a bit, accompanied by one of the satyrs, who had introduced himself as Taki. Taki had curly brown hair he kept tied back in a long ponytail, and he sported what Piper could only describe as a 'festival aesthetic', with a brightly patterned shirt and leather bracelets around his wrists. He also had a band around his forehead like Rocky. He made sure Alex didn't walk too far ahead or wander too close to the lava wall. But when he offered to take Alex's bags (two of them, one a duffle-bag and the other her backpack), she refused.

"It's a little heavy –"

"No, really, it's fine," Taki assured her. "If I don't take your bags, it'll look bad, trust me," he looked behind him at the elder satyr, named Basil. Basil had blonde hair, stood half a foot taller than Taki, and had quite large muscles under his plain black shirt. He arched an eyebrow at Taki and stomped one of his hooves onto the ground. Taki jumped and started tugging on Alex's bag.

"Okay, okay, fine –" Alex let go of the duffle-bag, and Taki almost tripped over from how unexpectedly heavy it was.

Leo called out from the back of the walking tour: "What could you possibly have in there?"

"Our entire closet!" Alex rolled her eyes.

"WHY."

"It's not MY fault – blame Riley!"

Riley held his hands up in surrender.

Piper wondered if the bag included the coloured costumes she remembered seeing her first night there. She didn't even know how Riley and Mags managed to carry everything while running and fighting and then climbing hysterically on board a flying ship.

Yeah, it had been a crazy few days.

Chiron had the two satyrs direct the three mortals to the Hermes cabin for the meantime, and then told Piper and Leo to meet him in the Big House in fifteen minutes. Leo headed back to his cabin, and Piper went to hers. She found herself quickening her steps to get to her cabin faster. She counted all the cabin numbers, noting all the changes in décor over the past year. Honestly, not much, but a year still felt like forever. One of the Ares kids waved at her as she walked past. Two Athena kids greeted her.

And the chic blue and white cabin of the children of Aphrodite? She had actually begun to miss it – if only for her siblings.

Mitchell greeted her at the door, and he swooped her up in a hug along with Lacy. "Oh, praise the Gods, thank Hades you're all right!" the younger girl sobbed. She and Mitchell battled to try and hug Piper the longest before Piper had to tap out, tapping both of their heads so her siblings would peel off. Mitchell pouted as he tried to fix his sleek hair, but Lacy couldn't seem to care less. They were the only two Aphrodite kids this time around.

"Why are you taller?" Piper asked, tapping Lacy on the head again.

"Growth spurt," Lacy beamed. "And thank goodness I got one, otherwise I'd be the shortest and not Mitchell."

"She's sixteen now, believe it or not. You'd think she'd be more mature," Mitchell groaned, dragging one dramatic hand down his face – an inch above his face, of course, Piper could see the meticulously applied makeup from here. Even she knew how difficult it was to get something perfect, and Mitchell was immaculate. She'd had her doubts about Mitchell being able to step up as the new Head Counselor after she left camp, but just as Mitchell's makeup and hair styling was improving, so was his confidence.

Around the cabin, Piper could see more weapons on display, all of them as cared for as the hair straighteners and Korean face masks. All the weapons also had paint on them, and ribbons and stickers. But the best part was? No more rubbish under the beds.

"No more love notes, no more candy wrappers…no more trashy magazines?" she pointed out to Mitchell, who blushed while Lacy giggled behind her hand.

"Teen Vogue isn't trashy," Mitchell murmured.

"We keep the love notes on the pinboards now!" Lacy skipped over to her bunk, where a full corkboard hung over her pillow. All the bunk beds had them. Upon closer inspection, Piper was surprised to see there were also battle strategies mapped out.

"We're working on our training more," Mitchell explained, hands on his hips. "Mom always said, 'all is fair in love and war'. We have the first part figured out, might as well figure out the second too."

"And Piper…" Lacy's voice went small. "It was Mom who told us to find you."

Piper blinked. "Wait, what?"

"A few days ago," Mitchell added, sitting on a bunk bed. Piper and Lacy sat opposite him. "We were in the lake working on our rowing, which is super frustrating because we had our Versace sunglasses on and the naiads kept snatching them but –" he calmed himself with a flourish of his hand, "I'm getting ahead of myself. We heard Mom's voice in the water. And the naiads ran away too. No one could scare them off like that. She told us that you were in danger in Seattle and we had to send someone. So we sent Leo."

"Are you okay now?" Lacy asked, holding Piper's arm gently.

Piper looked between her two siblings – Lacy and Mitchell, the pair who had always been there for her since day one. As she looked around, trying to decide how to answer, she spotted the Shoes of Shame up on a pedestal, with the placard 'Last Worn By Drew Tanaka', dated just a few months ago. And her father's old King of Sparta poster was still in the same spot it was in, after she put it back almost four years ago. All of it made her smile.

"Lacy…" Piper put her arm over her shoulder and she gestured Mitchell to come over, putting her arm over his as well. Lacy leaned her head against Piper. "Short answer? Yes. I'm okay. Right as rain. I missed you guys," she squeezed them into a quick hug. "Long answer…there's still a lot to figure out."

"When is there never anything to figure out?" Mitchell huffed. "But, y'know, it's actually been pretty peaceful at camp. The longest peace we've had in years."

"Seriously?" Piper asked.

"Legit. We only call head counselor meetings now to keep campers in line. The last time was Meg McCaffrey trying to kill Connor."

"Again," Lacy rolled her eyes.

"But otherwise, it's been chill and peaceful."

"Too peaceful," Lacy said dramatically.

Mitchell put his hand on her face and she pushed it away. "No," he said. "It's been actually peaceful. Then again…we're still finding monsters in the woods and someone gets lost in the Labyrinth occasionally. Would you consider that peaceful?"

Piper laughed. "I'd consider that paradise."

She left Katoptris, and her sword in the trunk at the end of her bunk bed (which, according to Mitchell, had been untouched for a year and she saw that from the cobwebs hanging above her bed). Then she told her siblings she would catch up with them later, after she was done speaking with Chiron at the Big House.

Leo was already there when she arrived, sitting at a rocking-chair at the porch with Chiron, already in his wheel-chair.

"Well, lookee here, boys, see what the cat dragged in," said Leo, in an exaggerated old Western accent. His rocking-chair creaked as he pushed it back and forth, grinning like he was so pleased with himself.

Chiron and Piper shared the same, tired look.

But when they were all finally inside, the three of them got to business. All Chiron had to do was asked 'what happened' and Piper already prepared her answer. She told him about how she met Alex May, working at the musical. How she saw Riley and Mags fight the storm-spirits one performance.

"…storm spirits?" Chiron asked, folding his arms over his chest. "We must alert Aeolus, if the spirits have escaped him once more –"

Piper looked down at her feet. "Actually, he knows."

Chiron waited.

"…he knew this whole time. Aeolus…he spread his dominion to practically all of Canada now. Not in some 'conqeur-y' way, he just wanted to keep the storm spirits in tow since a lot of them were popping up now."

"And you knew this how?"

Piper saw Leo looking between her and Chiron, curious but also slightly worried.

She sighed. "I made a deal with Aeolus. We made a deal that he would send some storm spirits to me. So I could keep up with my training and he'd also have a way to get rid of the spirits."

Chiron looked conflicted. Which meant that he stared at Piper with his sharp eyes for two seconds, and then looked out the window for the rest. "Your training," he repeated.

"Yes," she answered, willing her voice to remain strong. "I didn't want to get…get weak while I was away. And…it helped was a way to get rid of…to release…" she struggled with the right term.

"Your frustration," Chiron suggested. Piper nodded, looking down at her shoes again. "I see." She could practically feel him watching her, but she didn't want to see that indiscernible look again. She hated not being able to figure out what he was thinking. "Continue, please."

Then she told him all she knew about Riley, Mags, and Alex. Just the basics, since she felt it wasn't fair for her to reveal all their secrets (that was up for them to decide, if they were to talk with Chiron). But she told him about how they were trained by a legacy from Camp Jupiter, and that was why they had imperial gold swords (Leo vouched for this, saying they allowed him to keep them in the Argo III.5). She told him about how they had been killing monsters secretly for a few years in Seattle. How they saved her at the airport when the giants and the birds attacked.

Here, a twinkle appeared in Chiron's eye. "Ah, yes, and this is where the game changes. As we are all aware, monsters are attracted to the high concentration of ichor in demigod blood. But why would two fully-grown and, apparently, quite domestic, Laistrygonian giants attack only one demigod? With a flock of Stymphalian birds?"

"Because she's speeeecial?" Leo suggested in a sing-song.

"Because I'm not the only special one," Piper said.

Chiron nodded. "Now to your friend. Alex May."

It was better to just tell Chiron what she'd seen: Alex was strong enough to pick up the debris, without a single scratch on her. She was fast enough, precise enough, skilled enough, and scary enough to kill one giant in less than five seconds, and make bloodthirsty birds flee for their lives. And, after all this, she'd been knocked out cold for the whole night and a bit of the day after.

"…she is a strange one," Chiron murmured, rubbing his chin slowly as he thought. "And she says she has no godly parentage? Not a legacy of any kind?"

"Not that she's aware of," Piper replied. "Mags and I…we were thinking she probably is just a demigod or a legacy and she has no idea who she is. It's not rare for parents to keep secrets from their kids."

"Be that as it may…family is always a sensitive topic. To come forth with a theory like that, you would have to be careful. And if she is so strong in her belief that her parents are, and have always been, her only birth parents, with no godly ancestry of any kind…"

"But, come on, Chiron, have you ever seen anyone like that who isn't a descendant of a god?" Piper felt herself getting impatient, and she calmed down, trying to relax into her chair. The chair felt too soft, and she hated that sinking feeling. She sat on the edge. "In all your years of training warriors, heroes, demigods…has a mortal ever matched that description?"

Chiron looked at her thoughtfully, a secret behind his eyes again. "No one that young. No one who has not trained all their lives. Champions do not just sprout out of the earth, they are made. By time, or by the hands of fate. Whoever your friend is, I would advise us not to jump to any conclusions." He paused. "But you said that she became increasingly tired after her fight?"

"Not just tired. It was like the energy was drained out of her completely. Like a battery."

Chiron rubbed his chin again, mumbling behind his hand. Piper could just make out the words: "…but that wouldn't make sense…"

Maybe it was time to tell Chiron about the dreams too. But Piper held her tongue. She hadn't even spoken to Alex May about that yet, and it wasn't her place to mention. She really wanted to get this over and done with so Alex could finally come in and all could be revealed. "So we just have to ask her, then. If you talk to her, I'm sure she'll spill something or you'll figure out something and then –"

Leo cleared his throat.

Piper and Chiron turned to him, as if just remembering he was still there.

"Okay, so…" Leo cleared his throat again, loosening his collar regardless of how loose it already was. "Piper," he glanced at her, "I think we should tell him. About that…extra thing." Leo gestured tapping at his forefinger, like pointing at an arrowhead.

Piper pressed her lips to a thin line. Now?

"Yes now," Leo frowned. "This is important. It's a necessary clue."

"But I thought –"

"Just because you're fine with investigating and working alone, it doesn't mean I am –" he stopped himself there, making himself busy with walking outside to get the arrow.

Piper was dumbstruck. Leo was…mad? For her wanting to work alone? To have her own plan she wanted to follow? And he was just bringing it up now, right in the middle of a serious talk with Chiron? That's rich, she thought angrily, coming from someone who didn't even tell her he was alive for almost the same amount of time as her so-called 'working alone' –

When he walked in to the room with the arrow, Chiron jolted up, his centaur form practically leaping out of his wheelchair to pick up the arrow from Leo's hands, inspecting it from point to nock.

"…by the Gods, it can't be…" he whispered.

"Chiron," Piper said, trying to get his attention. "Chiron, what is it?"

The centaur stopped, holding the arrow tighter in his hands.

"This is the arrow that killed the giant?" he asked.

Piper nodded.

"Did you see who shot it?"

"No, but Bill did –"

"Bill?"

"The giant," she added quickly. "He said that he was sent to find the 'demigod child-child' –" Piper suddenly remembered, feeling stupid for even forgetting in the first place. "And then – I dunno, I think the arrow came from the sky." She glanced at Leo, who was just as confused as she is. He shrugged. He had nothing to add. The two demigods waited for Chiron to speak.

But Chiron looked too distracted, staring at the arrow.

"Chiron," Leo spoke up, his voice clear. "You have to tell us what's going on."

"You must bring Alex May in to speak with us. Now. She must tell us what she knows…" then Chiron did something Piper had never seen him do before. He frowned, an almost vengeful look coming over his face. "Or else, she'll have Hades to pay."

A/N: ! who is alex may estrada !

pls let me know what you think of the story guys! is the suspense still working? the plot, the characters? any and all comments would be appreciated, and im already so grateful for all the readers so far, thank you everyone :)