CHAPTER NINE: Flour Baby Death Marathon
It was all Mitchell's fault.
Somehow, word had gone out that Alex May was secretly a demigod. And by 'somehow', Piper had caught Mitchell eavesdropping on her and Leo's conversation around the campfire. Even when she'd threatened to confiscate his ten-step Korean skincare routine, he still went ahead and told everyone what he'd heard. Which was only: Alex is potentially dangerous, but she's our friend, so what can we do? How do we help her learn to control her fighting?
So, naturally, Mitchell made his own conclusions. Later, when Piper confronted him about it, he argued that it was better that everyone knew what was happening if Alex was as dangerous as they were talking about.
"And something about Amazons...?" he'd asked, arching an eyebrow.
The skincare routine was now in her locked trunk.
Among the other campers, it actually started with everyone wondering if all three mortals were demigods. At breakfast, one of the Apollo kids sprinkled ambrosia crumbs on their pancakes. Taki freaked, swiped the pancakes off Riley and Mags' plate, and the dryads showered the entire Apollo table with orange juice.
All through the morning, stories had been swapped about how the mortals were monster-hunters and fearless. Leo was the source of the Laistrygonian giant story ("You gotta give them something, the people demand an answer and, like, it's true anyway, so don't hit me –!") and then imaginations ran wild from there.
Bored demigods were truly a force of nature.
Piper was just glad Harley hadn't gotten in on it. Yet.
By lunch, everyone had now moved on to claiming Alex May as theirs. Camper attitudes had truly changed in the last four years, and Piper barely noticed it until she'd been gone as long as she was. Cabin rivalry was still there, but in a healthy competitive way. Everyone was more welcoming of newbies. It was demigods for demigods. Demigods against the world.
Harley was still resident mascot, now twelve years old and still as buff as ever. She never thought there could be anyone more loud than Leo, but here was his brother raising the bar. The boy dedicated a toast to Riley and Mags at the end of breakfast and wished Alex a speedy recovery. And he also hoped she would be there for his flour baby death marathon that afternoon, whatever that meant. All the campers groaned.
Alex May still hadn't woken up from her sleep, but Piper wasn't worried. When it got to one o'clock and Alex still hadn't stirred, then she would be worried. But still there was that impatient, heavy feeling inside her, like she should be doing something and not just going about her camp-life as usual. She could hardly concentrate on her Ancient Greek. She didn't even know how she got to Ancient Greek class with Basil, but once she'd wandered in, he kept her there.
At lunch, with the no-sitting-at-other-tables rule now being enforced by all the head counselors, it was deafening and hilarious watching everyone shout at each other from their different tables.
"Who else is tough enough to defeat a giant like that?" Ellis remarked, banging his fist on the Ares Cabin table.
"Being tough doesn't automatically make you a child of Ares!" Laurel Victor protested. "She could be ours!"
"I don't see why you guys are stereotyping her as violent and sporty just because she's a good fighter," Priya Gupta, a child of Iris, snapped.
"She's athletic and musical -" Kayla Knowles quipped.
"She likes food, and she bakes, so she could be a child of Demeter," Billie Ng suggested positively.
"Why don't we throw her at a karpoi and see how they react?" Meg McCaffrey shrugged, apple juice spitting from her mouth as she munched on the fruit.
"NO," everyone shouted.
By one o'clock, everyone was back to training or crafting or working on the forge, and everyone was wondering what happened to Alex. Cecil Markowitz was the one to update everyone outside the Hermes cabin, looking so serious and grim everyone wondered if Alex had somehow died in her sleep.
"No, thank Hades, she's just…" Cecil wrung his hands together, "...super tired."
She couldn't blame him for feeling so uncomfortable. A tired Alex usually meant a looking-on-the-verge-of-death Alex. Only Nico had that effect on Cecil once.
When Riley and Mags went in to try and speak with her, they stayed for five minutes and told Piper that she would be coming out in a while. Piper waited with Leo and Taki. Then Leo had to go check on something in Bunker Nine, and Taki had to meet with Basil and Chiron. And then it was Piper waiting alone, sitting at the steps of Hermes' Cabin.
She waited for a maximum of twenty seconds before deciding to snoop around the windows, to at least get a glimpse of Alex.
This is stupid, she couldn't stop thinking. Why don't I just go inside and talk to her? Piper huffed, shaking her head at herself. Because I don't want to bother her. Because even Riley and Mags couldn't get her to come outside so how could I? And maybe she's just actually tired. But maybe she's sick. Maybe she...
She peeked inside the farthest window, finding Alex lying down on a lower bunk bed. Alex hugged a pillow to her face, her eyes and forehead just visible. Her short hair was sticking up, and stringy and oily-looking. Her brows were knitted together so tight, Piper thought she might have been in pain. All of a sudden, she didn't want to say anything or bother her at all. If Riley and Mags said she would be out soon, then she would be out soon. The voice in her head told her something else: maybe she needs you.
Piper was lifting her foot to take one step back when she heard another voice.
"Stalker," Alex mumbled. She blinked one eye open.
Piper smiled thinly. "Morning."
"Afternoon."
"How're you feeling?"
"Murderous."
Piper didn't answer. Clearly it was a joke, but she didn't want to be the one who misread the situation.
"It's the spirit of Achilles within me," Alex continued. She yawned, stretching her arms up and touching the wooden bars of the bunk above her.
Piper still didn't answer.
"And asshole Davy Crockett."
Still no answer. She looked less like death now, and more like someone who just woke up from a flu-ridden sleep.
Alex groaned. "God, please insult me, this is already weird enough."
"...I want to but I literally can't think of anything to say."
"The great Piper McLean. Speechless."
"Sorry, but that's what hearing about a historic killing machine does to me."
Alex laughed.
She watched Alex sit up in her bed, and then lie back down, groaning again.
"I think you've had too much sleep," Piper said.
"Old habits die hard." Alex sat back up again. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the opposite wall. "...I don't want to do anything. But I'm hungry. But I don't want to do anything."
"You should eat. And definitely have some ambrosia."
"Don't they…" Alex yawned again, "close up the Dining Pavilion?"
"Not really. Your adoring fans will get you the food anyway."
"My what?"
"Oh, you haven't heard?" Piper smiled, leaning her arm against the window. With the glass windows open, all that was left between them was a flyscreen. "You're famous. You're the new favourite hero. An overnight sensation."
Alex groaned, mumbled incoherently, and then slapped her hands on her face.
Piper's smile softened. Now she wished she actually had gone inside the cabin. "Are you ready to come out yet? It's okay if you're not."
Alex dragged her hands down her face. She paused, taking her time to think about it.
"...I will. Soon. I swear," she added, looking up at Piper for the first time. "I just need some time to get ready and look...less like a mess. Can you...ask Taki to meet me outside the girl's bathroom?"
Piper's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Taki?"
"Yeah." Alex stood up from bed, wobbling a bit, and then approached the window. "I dunno, but somehow it's really easy to talk to him. Like, uh, he gets me instantly."
"Oh. Yeah, sure-" she added quickly, trying to cover up her sad little 'oh', especially now that Alex could see her clearly. "That's satyr powers for you. Coach Hedge does the same for me sometimes. When he's not yelling."
"Coach Hedge…?"
"I'll tell you about him later."
Alex smiled. She put her hand on the window and tapped her fingers gently on the dirty flyscreen, scrunching her nose at it. Piper stepped closer.
"And we'll talk more later too," Alex said. "I have something to tell you." They held each other's gaze for a second, and then Alex had to go.
"Remember to tell Taki, okay?" Alex called out, when Piper had already left the window.
Piper rolled her eyes, not looking behind but lifting her hand in acknowledgement. She was smiling too much to speak.
There were too many campers to have everyone do Harley's flour baby death marathon at the same time. Chiron wanted to avoid a stampede, so after a bit of talk and agreeing to make the marathon longer and more difficult - Harley finally accepted.
It was in the middle of him explaining the relay teams aspect that Alex appeared with Taki. They'd been walking among the strawberry fields for what felt like hours, when really it was just one, and Piper had hoped they would be able to talk before the marathon. But with the marathon now beginning, their talk would have to wait.
She heard Harley's first three-legged death race had resulted in missing limbs. Hopefully, at the end, she'd still have an intact head to talk to Alex with.
She could barely keep track of what the boy was shouting. "LISTEN UP, KIDS. This isn't amateur hour-!" Harley commanded. With his hands on his hips, he looked like he was puffing his chest out as far as it could go. "I don't want anyone lollygagging and I don't want anyone cheating, or you'll pay the consequences!"
"What consequences!" someone shouted, sniggering.
"I'LL SIC A KARPOI AT YOU, THAT KINDA CONSEQUENCES!"
Everyone turned to see Peaches at Meg's feet, salivating and stamping his hands on the ground. No one wanted to be turned into karpoi chow.
"And remember your baby! You will love, live, and breathe that baby! Show your baby! "
Lacy lifted the Aphrodite cabin's flour baby over her head. She'd taken the time to draw her a pretty face, with perfect makeup.
Piper sighed sharply. So all the team members had to finish their leg, AND pass on the flour baby as unharmed as possible. Otherwise, it was game over. Okay, she thought. Okay, okay, okay, okay…
With over a hundred campers here, and 7 in each cabin, Harley and Chiron made it so there were ten groups of two cabins partnered together. The Aphrodite Cabin was paired with Hecate's, Hebe with Demeter, Iris with Nike, Dionysus with Apollo, Hephaestus with Nemesis, Ares with Hypnos ("CHIRON! Clovis isn't even awake yet!"), and Tyche with Athena (everyone said this was definitely unfair). Only the Hermes cabin, and the unclaimed demigods remained had their own unmixed teams. Riley and Mags joined the team of unclaimed demigods. Mags was already leading the group, an encouraging smile on her face as they talked strategy. Riley looked like he was trying to do the 'We Will Rock You' beat on his chest-plate to psych them up.
All the demigods were expected to wear their armour, and were allowed to use any magic at their disposal, and any weapon. Piper adjusted the strap of her helmet. It was basically Capture the Flag but as a race and with more competition and they had to save a sack of flour with a face on it. Ellis had already hit Clovis with the sack to wake him up so their flour baby burst open. A satyr had to run to the judges' area to get a new one.
Yet in spite of all this chaos, Piper was actually finding it fun. It was a team-building exercise, after all.
There were three legs to the marathon. At each leg, they were supposed to find an object to further accessorize their flour baby ("And I'll know if you cheat," Harley warned, "because I know what the accessories are meant to be so don't even TRY, Aphrodite Cabin -").The first was through the training fields at the foot of the Eastern Hills. Harley said there would be all sorts of exploding, stinky, razor-y, obstacles there. The second was through the dunes, with exploding, razor-y, sandy, obstacles, and also a swim in the Sound (Piper could practically hear the water nymphs giggling, waiting to drown them). The third, and last, leg was through the woods, with all the cabin members (at the same time) placing their flour baby on the cradle in the Combat Arena. It almost sounded like the easiest leg if you didn't count all the monsters waiting and Gods know what else.
So. Easy peasy.
"Don't worry," Chiron said, "we placed the accessories in the woods with Harley during lunch, and the area is safe. Well. As safe as it can be."
The teams were given some time to plan their strategy. They were allowed to place any number of campers at each leg, but no one was allowed to do more than one. All campers had to finish their leg. No one could be left behind.
Among the Aphrodite-Hecate team, Piper was placed at the last leg in the Woods, along with two children of Hecate: Lou Ellen and Tony. She was glad to have Lou Ellen on the team, but the last time she met Tony, he'd been experimenting with a wand he invented and...
"No more blackholes this time, I swear, I've worked out the kinks," Tony waved around a wand with intricate symbols etched along the wood. Lou Ellen confirmed the wand was definitely better this time around.
At the swimming and dunes leg were Mitchell and the other Hecate kid, Luca, and starting the marathon was Lacy and Dottie. The two were already whispering about defensive technique and distractions, comparing their strategy to Mario Kart races, which Piper was actually pretty proud of. When planning was done, everyone gathered at the foot of the Athena Parthenos.
The statue seemed to glow even brighter under the afternoon sun. Piper squinted at it. The statue stared. Something else glinted at the corner of her eye. She saw Alex May sitting with Chiron and the satyrs at the foot of the statue. Pegasi were also resting there. After their leg was finished, campers were free to follow along with the marathon on foot, or they could ride a pegasi to follow them. But they couldn't help their fellow team members. With Piper being at the last leg, she, Lou Ellen and Tony, had no other choice but to wait for the marathon to come to them.
After a lot more talking, Alex May whispered something in Chiron's ear. He grinned, nodded, and held his hand out to the gathering of demigods. Piper saw Taki's face drop. Alex May picked up armour, a sword, and her own flour baby from Basil. Basil and Chiron shared a look. That 'ah, good thing we came prepared because we knew this was coming all along' look. Basil explained quickly to Harley before the boy could explode, and then Harley coolly nodded his approval. Piper couldn't believe them.
Alex jogged to the line-up, ten groups of demigods all waiting for the go signal. The rest of the teams would disperse to their starting positions soon.
She positioned herself next to the team of unclaimed demigods, at the far end of the line. Riley and Mags were off to the side; Piper assumed they would be in the second or third leg. Mags cheered when she spotted Alex in line, doing her stretches.
"ALEX? ALEX, OH MY GOD - " Mags screamed, clapping and whistling while Alex tried to hide her embarrassment. She put on her armour and tested the swing of her sword. Even at this distance, Piper could already see the twinkle in Alex's eyes. Alex hopped around on her toes, continuing her stretches.
Mags' demigod partner, Fiona, shook her head. "She's not on our team! Stop cheering for her!"
Mags just cheered harder.
Riley had looked stunned for about five seconds before continuing his 'We Will Rock You' beat, banging his sword on his chest plate while his partner clapped.
Lou Ellen laughed. Everyone was starting to notice Alex now. The Ares-Hypnos team were beckoning for her to join them, but Alex just shook her head.
"She's not doing this whole thing solo, is she?" Lou Ellen asked.
Piper shrugged with a knowing smile. "Guess so."
Harley shouted that it was time for the first team to organise themselves on the starting line, and for the second and third teams to go to their places. Piper wished Lacy and Dottie luck, and Lacy quickly hugged her before going back to the line.
"Remember!" Harley boomed through a megaphone. "You're allowed to kill your competitor's baby!"
Pegasi would drop the second and third teams off at their places. She saw Riley's jaw drop as he mounted his pegasus, Piper thought he might actually cry. But before she mounted her own, she took one last look at Alex May.
The glow was back, surrounding Alex, as she went into a sprint start position at the starting line.
"Piper, we have to go!" Lou Ellen tugged on her sleeve. "Mitchell's already gone, and the race is about to start!"
"Okay, okay -" Piper mounted Lou Ellen's pegasus, "but wait, I just wanna see this -"
Lou Ellen grumbled, keeping the pegasus in mid-air.
All the demigods seemed to be shaking with nervous energy, excited for the race to finally start. Chiron shot the light arrow into the sky. It exploded in a burst of green sparks and a BOOM sound.
The teams launched forward, pumping their legs as fast as they could carry them. The field was filled with the sound of twenty demigods thundering across. The table with the accessory on it could just be seen at the end of the field. They did nothing but run for a hundred metres, and then suddenly the ground exploded.
"Piper, we're going!" Lou Ellen led the pegasus into the sky. Piper kept looking back, grinning as she saw Alex running and jumping through the chaos, completely free.
A/N: the shortest chapter I have so far! but this marathon is so jam-packed I thought it was better to split it up. hopefully the game makes sensE. god action scenes are hard to write when there's like a hundred demigods to keep track of why did i do this
lots of things are brewing so far. don't forget, calypso went away to get someone she thinks will help. AND the amazons are, presumably, still after alex. AND now there's piper and alex 👀
the next chapter will be up soon ! more of the flour baby death marathon coming your way ! who are you rooting for ?