CHAPTER SEVEN: Alex May Estrada

ALEX.

There was one thing Alex could always rely on Riley and Mags to do, and that was to make an awkward situation a fun one. It was one of the things that made it really work for them as a squad. Mags was the brains. Alex was the heart. Riley was the soul. Logos, pathos, ethos. All that jazz. She almost knitted sweaters with those labels on them once, when she was in her knitting phase.

And now, watching them shake the entire Amphitheatre with makeshift speakers from the Hephaestus kids, connected to DJ Riles' We Vibin' playlist – she figured her next hobby would be event planning. Or maybe that could be their business after all this monster and god stuff. Riley and Mags had personally invited every demigod with free-time for an impromptu dance party.

It was, as Riley called it, God-Chella.

He had already drawn up a logo with some paints provided by the Apollo kids. The canvas with GOD-CHELLA TURN UP was stretched across the seats, everyone being too lazy to find a proper place to hang it up.

All of it was just the right amount of embarrassing that made it fun, and if she wasn't so exhausted, Alex would've been down there dancing with them.

As soon as Piper and Leo disappeared, they were left to their own devices – which, in a strange, new place, was probably not the best thing to do. Sure they had Taki and Basil escorting them around. And the demigods were definitely nice. The Hermes kids hadn't pranked them yet, no matter how much Taki warned them about it. But they were so clearly, and undeniably different. Not just as mortals, but age-wise too. Taki explained that there were a lot more older demigods now, but most of them were living on their own, had gone to college, or had transferred to New Rome.

She hadn't felt so stared at since middle school. Riley, standing over six feet tall, and beginning to sport a five o'clock shadow. Mags, not as tall, but definitely looked more mature than most of the demigods. Her sharp look always made her look older than she actually was. And then Alex May, a nervous giraffe.

They weren't the only older kids, of course. There was Mitchell, from the Aphrodite cabin, who was evidently Piper's brother. He had immediately honed in on Alex when the Aphrodite cabin came up on their tour. They didn't stay there for very long.

"…and this is Cabin Ten, home of the children of Aphrodite," Taki had introduced.

"Looks like home," Mags had frowned.

"Well, hello," Mitchell had said, his eyes sparkling as he leaned against the doorframe with a smirk that made Alex blush.

"And goodbye." Riley had steered Alex away before the son of Aphrodite could do any more damage.

When they were told they couldn't do anything else, not the lava climbing wall, not the rowing, not even exploring the strawberry fields – the trio were left with the only thing they had in their arsenal. Music.

"So you actually pay Spotify Premium?" an Apollo kid had asked, she and two of her siblings sitting down next to them in the Amphitheatre. Their music-listening session had been going on for almost half an hour, and it had started to attract a lot of attention.

"Yeah, I get it paid automatically and stuff," Riley shrugged.

"Do your parents pay for it?"

"Nope," Riley shook his head. "I do."

The Apollo kid turned to their sibling. She must've been only seventeen. "Gods, I should get a job."

A few more demigods, questions, a Hermes kid's secret stash of soda, and makeshift speakers later – they were in the middle of a full-fledged party.

Alex was sitting at the seats of the Amphitheatre, bobbing her head along to the music and sipping water, when Taki came to sit next to her.

"Do you guys always do this?" he asked, smiling.

"Sometimes. Not the partying part, but…we always play music when we're doing something and not talking."

"Like…?" Taki nudged her to keep talking. Even if they'd only known each other for about two hours, after almost pushing him into the lava climbing wall and making him deal with her trying to run around and see everything…she and Taki had made a connection.

"Like, when they just finished fighting monsters and they're super tired but they won't sit down until they've taken off their gear, cleaned it, and also cleaned their weapons." Alex sighed. "And I'd be baking them something. Or cooking. Or just doing anything to make it easier for them."

"So music…fills the silence?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It's a comfortable silence, though." She pointed out at the party. "This was an awkward one."

Speaking of awkward, in the crowd, she spotted Mitchell smiling and waving at her and she quickly looked away. She didn't know what his smirk meant earlier and she didn't really want to find out.

"…and music fixed it," Taki grinned.

"Fixed what?"

"The awkward silence."

"Oh! Yes, it did. It totally did."

Taki tapped his hooves to the beat as the song changed to something more mellow. People took a break from the dancing and just swayed to the music, some of them singing as loud as they could.

"You know, satyrs can work with nature using music," he piped up.

"Work with nature? Like, you make plants grow faster or something?"

"Yes, that. I guess it's more like…controlling nature? We can make plants do whatever we want. But I don't really like the idea of controlling them. The way I see it…the plants could always do that. Music is just the language that we use to…to…let them know how they could help us."

Alex smiled. "Kind of like dancing?"

"Exactly! Riley chooses the music that he knows people would want to dance to. Like this song right now." They watched as people sang along to the lyrics, making wayward movements with their arms. "Who sang this?"

"…Ariana Grande, I think?"

"Nice," Taki beamed. "I like Miss Grande."

"So you guys have…no access to the outside world at all?"

"Nope. None of that Internet thing, or whatever."

"But then how do you know what's happening around the world?"

"People will tell us," Taki shrugged. "Any new demigod that comes in. And visiting demigods, of course. But, hey, we're not completely helpless. I've been out in the world before. I've brought in a few demigods. I brought in Leticia," he pointed at the Apollo girl who had asked Riley about his Spotify account. "I stayed in her school four months before we headed to Camp Half-Blood."

"Wait – you stayed in her school?"

"Why, yes! Satyrs are the protectors of demigods. We don't come in there and steal you away from your life. At least, not usually. We just make sure you're safe. And if you're not…then we steal you away."

Alex nodded, pouting a little as she thought more about it. Satyrs protected demigods.

No matter how much she hated the very idea of having a different parent to the only parents she'd ever known, she was really starting to consider it now. Even if she never had a satyr protecting her when she was younger (as far as she knew). Me, a demigod, she thought. It sounded ridiculous. None of it made sense. She was human. But then what else could she be? A legacy like Scott? As great as he was, Scott was more mortal than godly, and she really didn't think legacies could be as powerful as her…

She frowned, hiding the frown behind a swipe of her hand. She didn't need Taki or anyone else asking if she was okay. But she hated thinking of herself as powerful. She preferred to think of it as mechanic. Something would press a button in her that turned on the 'fighting mode' and when it was turned off, the shut-down and reboot drained all her battery.

Yeah, that was it.

It was how Scott described it, at least.

"Fighting, training, picking up a spoon and learning to feed yourself with it –" he'd said, bringing Alex aside while trainers worked with Riley and Mags. Alex had been eighteen, freshly graduated from high school. She held the imperial gold sword firmly in her hand, her body knowing exactly what to do. But her face betrayed her hesitation.

"All of that is automatic," Scott said. "Meant to be automatic."

"But when I eat, I can control where the spoon goes. When I fight, I can't, it – it's too automatic."

Scott furrowed his white-haired eyebrows at her, staring her down. "Then maybe you don't need to control it. You just need to time it."

Her mother had told her differently. A hundred exercises, a hundred lessons on how to control her breathing, her stance, her everything. Now Scott was telling her to just let it be?

"What, so I'm a clock now?" she frowned.

Scott chuckled. "If that helps. Then you are most definitely a clock, Alexandra. Set yourself an alarm. Tell yourself when you should stop. When you should wake up. Until then, unleash your ability."

Scott never did tell her how to recharge herself afterwards. Riley never gave them the time. That was the last thing Scott ever told her.

"Hey, heads up," Taki nudged her again, his nose sniffing the air. "I smell Leo."

"You smell Leo?"

"Oil. Burnt stuff. And I sense he's a little tense."

"Right. Okay…" Alex frowned. She stood up from her spot and cupped her hands around her mouth to shout at Riley. "TURN. OFF. MUSIC."

The demigods were singing along to the chorus of a Post Malone and Swae Lee song, so her shout was lost in the din.

Alex took a deep breath. "RILEY –"

Then the music was cut off entirely. There were a few groans of annoyance, shouts of 'turn the music back on!', and then Leo appeared at the DJ's table, clearing his throat and holding the cords awkwardly in his hands.

Leo waved. "Hey, everyone, uh," he pointed at the Big House. "Alex, Riley and Mags, you're wanted at the principal's office."

Alex's eyes widened. Taki let out a worried bleat.

They had left in an awkward chorus of 'ooooooohh, you're in trouble' and Alex would have seriously preferred that over the tension in the room. For all the welcoming appeal of the Big House, and Chiron's friendliness earlier, she really did feel like she was in the principal's office. And that she was in big trouble, only she didn't know why.

She twiddled her thumbs nervously as Piper explained.

Piper.

They had grown close over the last couple of days, and now there was that aching feeling in her chest, the feeling that all that now meant nothing as Piper told them what she and Leo had explained to Chiron. Her voice was steady, calm, like a soldier reporting to her commanding officer. It betrayed no emotion. It was the side of Piper that she struggled to understand most of the time. If anything, Alex thought being so in line exhausted and annoyed Piper.

Nevertheless, Alex looked down at her lap, ashamed and disappointed.

The story seemed pretty standard. She was surprised Piper didn't mention them knowing a Roman legacy or that they'd been monster-hunters for a couple of years. She got up to the part where Alex fought the giants ('quite easily' were the words Piper used) and then Chiron all but slammed the black arrow on the table.

Riley jumped at the loud sound. His face became furious for a second. "What the hell?"

Alex put a hand on his arm, reminding him to relax.

"I think it's time you explained who you were, Alex May," Chiron frowned. The kindness was gone in his voice. He wasn't a mentor, or a caretaker anymore. He was an interrogator. "Do you know this arrow?"

Mags intervened. "She doesn't have to explain anything to you."

"Unfortunately, she does," Chiron stated, but he barely glanced at her. His eyes were trained on Alex, trying to find something, anything, and Alex could barely keep her breathing straight. The voice in her head was back, the one that told her everyone hated her, and that she was an inconvenience they all wanted to get rid of. She gripped the armchair of her seat until her knuckles were white.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Piper and Leo standing together. "Chiron –" Piper began.

"No, Piper. Alex May is not who you think she is."

"But shouldn't we –"

"NO," Chiron remarked. He seemed to lose himself a little there, shocked at his own actions, but Alex had seen that same look once before. Desperate for the truth. She'd seen that same look on Riley countless times.

She really hoped he wouldn't pick a fight with Chiron.

The centaur placed the top of his fists on the table, leaning on them as he hung his head. "Alex…" he sighed, his voice more controlled now. "Tell me. Do you know this arrow?"

All eyes were on her.

"No," she said.

"You're sure you've never seen it before?"

"No, never." Her voice was stronger. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"Have you touched it yet?"

Her brow creased. "No?"

Chiron looked up, eyes narrowed.

"I picked it up after the giant disappeared," Mags spoke up, keeping her voice level but cautious. "And then it was in my bag, and I gave it to Leo on the ship. Alex hasn't touched it." Then she added in a murmur: "And now I feel like I really don't want her to."

All eyes went back to Chiron. He was now staring at the arrow.

"Alex, come forward," he said.

It took a while for Alex to unglue herself from her chair, but she did. Riley took her hand and squeezed it for encouragement, but all her confidence slipped away as soon as his hand was gone.

"Do you see the markings on the arrow?" Chiron asked, when Alex was close enough.

She could see Leo trying to step forward to see the markings too, but Piper held him back.

Alex kept her hands crossed over her chest as she looked down at the arrow, careful not to touch it yet. The black arrow was a little longer than the arrows she'd seen at Scott's home. The wood was smoother, and the shaft thinner. But the shaft had etchings along the wood, Ancient Greek symbols that – when she blinked – she could suddenly understand:

Seek, avenge, destroy, for the honour of our fallen, to preserve the world.

And the chant repeated around the wood. She was surprised an arrow could fit so much.

"What does it mean?" she asked, looking to Chiron.

He looked at her, calculating. "Pick it up."

Alex unfolded her arms. She hovered her hands over the arrow, feeling every eye on her again. The air in the room didn't seem to be moving. Everyone, including her, was holding their breath. And then she picked it up.

As soon as she did, a searing pain jolted from her feet, all the way up along her body to her head, like an electric shock but a thousand times worse and she screamed, dropping the arrow as her knees buckled and she fell.

But in her fall, another jolt struck her mind – in her eyes she saw an ancient city that burned, an archer that glowed, and bodies…bodies all around her. But what hurt most was the feeling of the electricity shooting back into her heart, surrounding it and making it feel heavy, full of a vengeance and anger that scared her – and then, she hit the floor.

The burning city engulfed her mind. It was like she could feel the fire covering her, seeping into her eyes and mouth and scorching her from within. The fury of a thousand poor souls. And then the winds picked up, and she was lifted away. She could see her arm outstretched, reaching for the city like it wasn't too late, she could still save it, she could still change the future. And then she was at the edge of the sea.

A tall figure stood at the shoreline. A woman.

Her face was wrinkled. Her dark hair was streaked with grey, and it was so long it reached the ground. Her dress was a shade of blue that matched the colour of the sea exactly. It billowed around her, and with the tide coming in like it did, in time with the wind, she almost thought the dress itself was made of water.

She reminded Alex of her mother.

"They have found you now," she said, her voice breaking, as if choking back a sob. "They will try to take you from me. But you cannot give in. You must not. You must not forget who you were born to be."

Alex tried to open her mouth. Nothing came out but air, and it joined the wind. When she tried to walk towards her, the woman was swept away into the sea.

At least she wasn't out cold like last time.

Mags had caught her before she could hit her head on the floor. Piper and Riley were at her side. Keeping her eyes open was a struggle; the ceiling light suddenly seemed too bright and the pain along her leg felt like fire. She could see Riley getting up and shouting at Chiron, even going so far as to try and shove against the centaur's chest, but Leo pulled him away.

"We shouldn't have come here, this was a mistake –" Riley fumed.

"Alex?" Mags patted her shoulder. "Alex, are you okay?"

Alex gulped. She shut her eyes tight and then opened them again, breathing deeper to psych herself up as she sat up. Mags still supported her with an arm, but Alex was fully conscious now, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the white spots and then trying to massage her leg.

"Why does –" she winced, "why does my leg hurt so much? What did – what did the arrow do?"

Chiron walked over to his desk, picked up something from what looked like a candy jar, and then stepped towards her. "Give her some room, she'll be fine," he said, his voice back to calm.

He handed her a pink bar that looked like a brownie.

"Are you sure?" Leo asked, alarmed.

"I think you'll find that she'll survive this. It's what she sorely needs," Chiron said. Then he looked to Alex again. "It's ambrosia. Eat. You'll feel better."

Alex stared at the brownie-looking bar, and nibbled at the corner of it. As soon as the crumbs melted in her mouth, it was like breathing in a good gust of oxygen – immediately, she felt more alert and less ill.

"It tastes like…" Polvoron, she wanted to say, but didn't.

"I wouldn't eat it too quickly," Chiron pointed out. Alex nodded, chewing on the bar slowly, her strength coming back by the second.

"So what, you're okay with her now after you knocked her out?" Riley accused.

"No, Riley. Her falling unconscious wasn't my doing. I simply saw what I needed to see."

"And what did you see?" Piper asked, sounding almost as accusatory as Riley.

"This arrow, this black arrow." Chiron picked it up from the floor, where it lay close to Alex's feet. She pulled her legs away from it. "There were dozens like it. Only dozens, you see. Not hundreds. They were made from a special wood. A wood only found from one tree."

The centaur paused, holding it out to the rest of the group, but no one dared touch it now. "There was a mother arrow, if you will," he continued. "It was found in the ruins of Troy and then planted and blessed to grow a tree that would produce more arrows like it."

"Wait," Leo's eyes widened. "Troy?"

"These arrows…they're not very special in the sense that they have some extra ability. They can't pierce through a shield, or withstand fire. No. They're more…symbolic. Made for a specific purpose."

Everyone waited. Chiron hesitated, looking almost sorry for Alex for what he said next:

"When touched by a descendant of Achilles, that descendant is reminded of the pain of their ancestor. The shot that killed him. But you would've seen more than that, I believe."

Alex froze. Everyone looked to her again, and then back to Chiron. After all his warmth, and then anger, and then confusion, the centaur was beginning to look less like a wise warrior, and more like a tired, old man.

"And I…I apologise for my behaviour, Alex, but you must understand…I thought I ended your line over a hundred years ago." He paused. "You're not meant to be here."

A/N: and that's who alex may is ! at least, that's how we're starting with it.

was the reveal underwhelming, overwhelming, or just the right amount of whelming?

hopefully it wasn't too quick. without spoiling too much, there is still a lot to uncover and I thought having a chapter from Alex's perspective would be good. is it too distracting having multiple points of view?

i'm not sure how many chapters there will be with multiple POVs, but since piper is still the main character here, i think I'll just state the name of the person at the top of the chapter when it's not piper, if that makes sense? so all the piper chapters will be normal, and if it's alex then it'll say so!

let me know if reading from alex's perspective works, and also if there's anything you're dying to know asap – which backstories should I explore more? Alex, Riley, Mags? Chiron? :O

and SundayPopTarts (i'm sorry i can't respond to your comment privately!) thank you so much for your lovely comments and all your questions will be answered soon. hopefully. but i can tell you this, i'm really trying to plan it so that everyone gets a cameo somehow 😎

hope you enjoyed the chapter! i'll try not to leave you hanging for very long 😊 thank you for reading!