CHAPTER TWELVE: That's What You Get

ALEX.

She couldn't believe she was the only one who heard the crying and screams of pain coming from the forest. No way. Not in a million years. A camp full of restless hyper-attentive demigods? No way, no way, no way…

But for some reason, she was.

No one else in the Forge even batted an eye. She'd come here instead of waiting in the Big House, her own restlessness getting the better of her. Harley was in the middle of telling her about a new invention he was making. It was actually Harley that had explained all demigods had ADHD and dyslexia. She didn't have dyslexia, but she did have the common symptoms of ADHD. She'd just never known that was what it was.

"How could you not know?" Harley asked, confused. "Didn't you ever go to the doctor?"

Alex shook her head. "My family doesn't really...it's not that they believe in that stuff, but I guess they thought we didn't really need to know?"

Harley thought about it for a while, then shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. But now you know. What do you think of this?" He held up plans for a new invention.

He was thinking of trying to make a Transformer. An actual car that could transform into a killer automaton. And, not gonna lie, Alex was pretty into it.

"Is he gonna look more like Optimus Prime or Bumblebee?" she asked.

"Megatron."

"Awesome."

Keeping up conversation with Harley helped, but try as she would to ignore the cries, after two more minutes of dealing with it, Alex excused herself to go check it out. The cries were getting more painful by the second.

She took with her a sword and shield from a shelf and then ran towards the forest, dodging questions and confused looks. The last thing she wanted was an audience, not when she wasn't even sure what she was running towards. For all the campers knew, it was just Alex May going off to train in the forest.

Badass Alex May. Awesome Alex May. One-Man Army Alex May.

She was so embarrassed.

It was nice, of course, having everyone be excited for her and cheering for her. It was one of the things she loved about competing in sports. The cheers afterwards. As awkward as she could be when people singled her out and called her things like 'best of the best' and 'one of a kind'...it really was nice. Maybe that was the blood of her mother, who would cheer for herself after she won a thumb-war. Maybe that was the theatre kid in her. Maybe that was the blood of Achilles.

Alex May slowed her running. She'd been so deep into her thinking she didn't know where she'd ended up.

Looking around, she recognised the cluster of trees as the place where she'd first found the Aphrodite team yesterday. There was the tree she climbed, and picked up Piper. The memory made her smile. She hoped Piper's conversation with Chiron was going okay. Another reason why she left was that she could faintly hear Piper and Chiron's conversation, and she didn't want to invade her privacy.

Alex rubbed her ears. She honed in on the crying sounds, closing her eyes and listening through the forest.

The cries came from the north.

Alex ran again.

Yesterday had been amazing. Scary and thrilling, and the before and after weren't the absolute best (she was trying not to dwell too much on her depressive episodes, though), but still amazing. Running through the field, tearing apart the metal of the kraken...Alex's hands tingled at the memory of it. How easy it was to rip apart. How running made her feel like flying. It was the same sensation she'd get when she sang a solo on the stage, her voice reaching the back of the room, the people in the audience gazing up at her in wonder.

She made sure her breathing was stable as she run, just as her mother taught her.

Pump your arms, don't just keep them hanging everywhere.

Keep your back straight if you can. Keep your breathing stable.

When she found a good gap in the trees, Alex broke into a full sprint, and then bounded upwards. She kept a good grip on her sword and shield, keeping them close to her so they wouldn't get caught in branches. Alex soared through the treetops, the leaves and twigs brushing against her face. And when she landed, she leapt up again, seeing how far she could go without running and with just a single jump.

God, I wish I could fly.

And in the air, the crying became clearer. She finally recognised who was making them.

The Myrmekes.

Everyone yesterday had scattered and screamed at the sight of the huge ants but for some reason, Alex was excited. She'd felt a pull to the ants, somehow. An 'ancient' part of her awakened, like she recognised something in them. She'd heard the crying yesterday too, more angry and annoyed than today, though. Today, they were in complete pain. But before she could figure out why this was, and how she was somehow understanding them, Leo and Nyssa were pulling her away and she'd raced ahead to stop being trampled by the stampede.

But Alex had a funny feeling that even if she hadn't run, the ants wouldn't have hurt her.

And now someone was hurting them.

One more run, one more jump, and she landed in front of the Myrmekes' Lair. And right there on top of the anthill, were two figures fighting them off.

A teenage boy, and a young woman. The boy held a black sword, his face emotionless as he fought the Myrmekes. Under his armpit, he held something bronze with gold parts that glinted. That must have been what the Myrmekes were attracted to. In contrast to the pale complexion of the boy, the young woman next to him was dark-skinned, tall, broad-chested and muscly, a bronze broad sword in her hand. The two were bickering - or, at least, she was trying to bicker and he was trying to focus on something else. His sword slashed through the Myrmekes like they were nothing, but more and more were attacking them.

Alex stayed in the treeline, uncertain of whether to attack or not.

The boy lifted his hand, and a crack appeared in the ground, the Myrmekes falling through, and something was pulling them down. Skeletons?

Something else was happening too. The boy was releasing some sort of energy, some deadly force that slowed the Myrmekes and felt like pure agony. Even from her distance, she could feel something different in the air.

The crying of the Myrmekes reached a higher pitch. Dangerous or not, the Myrmekes were just protecting their territory - and the golden thing and the fear wasn't helping at all.

Then, for some reason, voices came into her head - like none other she'd ever heard before. A language she couldn't fully understand, but the faint message was clear: they were calling out to her, to someone - anyone - for help.

Alex ran forward, stopping at the foot of the anthill. The Myrmekes didn't touch her, if anything they rallied around her.

"HEY-" Alex shouted, surprised at how loud and steady her voice was. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" The Myrmekes began to gather around her, clacking their mandibles at the two strangers in a steady drum beat. The only ants remaining near the strangers were dead bodies.

Alex steeled herself.

The young woman spun around. Her braids were tied together in a ponytail and it smacked the boy in the face. He just frowned, then his eyes narrowed at Alex.

"It's her," he said, pointing a long, pale finger at her. The Myrmekes cowered at his pointed finger, but Alex felt the familiar warmth of the glow surrounding her, her hand gripping and re-gripping her sword. Maybe it protected her from whatever energy the boy was emitting.

The boy opened his mouth to say something else but the woman beat him to it. She pointed her sword at Alex, her eyes furious. "YOU. You're coming with us."

"What?" Alex asked, confused.

"Issa," the boy said, irritated, "don't do anything stupid."

But Issa just screamed a war cry to rival Riley's. She jumped off the anthill in an impressive leap, her sword lifted up and swinging down, ready to slice off Alex's head.

Issa never got the chance.

Alex lifted her shield up to absorb the force of the blow. The two celestial bronze objects clashed, sending out a force so strong and a BOOM reverberation so loud, the nearest Myrmekes tumbled to the side.

Alex herself was sent backwards by the force, but her shield-arm didn't waver and her legs steadied themselves against the might of the older warrior. Her feet simply slid across the dirt.

She lowered the shield, her eyes flashing behind them.

Issa charged. Alex raised her sword again.

The blades made a scraping sound that set Alex on edge as they grappled with their swords, both trying to overpower the other. Issa pulled back, swinging again. Her sword swiped up, then left, right and everywhere - she was the strongest person Alex had fought so far. Part of it was terrifying but also exhilarating.

The Myrmekes left the two warriors to fight while they went to attack the teenaged boy.

The stranger dealt an endless attack. Each blow and strike was blocked by Alex, and returned three-fold, the force of their attacks cracking tree trunks and making waves across the ground as they fought. She was feeling it again, that sense of unlimited power, some energy inside her being released with every swing of her sword. When Alex crouched to swipe at Issa's feet, Issa avoided the kick, spinning around and maneuvering her sword to block Alex's blows.

Then Alex lunged forward, aiming straight for Issa's face. Issa turned at just the right time, switching swordhands to try and slash at Alex's arm behind her. Alex moved her arm, but the sword still reached its target - barely. It scratched the surface of her skin, but the skin only appeared red and the blade clearly hadn't broken through.

Issa stared at it, the confusion in her eyes turning into anger.

"You're a monster," she spat. "A machine bred for nothing but destruction -"

Alex's eyebrows furrowed. Taking a deep breath, Alex went on the offense, her attacks so quick and strong, Issa could barely keep up. Sword clashed against sword and Alex saw the sweat dripping down the stranger's forehead and her first thought was: good.

She was not a monster. She was going to show her, she was going to prove to her that she was good, that she was only a fighter because she was born that way, and not because it was her choice. She would tell her all this, and more, but only after she defeated her.

And still, there was hesitation in her mind. She watched as Issa pushed herself to keep fighting, to match Alex's intensity and ruthlessness with a weapon. Where was the man's voice? He'd been there to tell her to stop when she killed the telekhines. He'd been there to tell her she was strong enough, that she could save all of them, even after so many months of not fighting, when the giants attacked the airport. Where was he now?

Instead, she heard another voice. The voice of the woman by the sea:

If you surrender, they will never let you go. They will believe you're weak. They'll walk all over you, and your friends. You will have failed protecting them.

Alex grit her teeth. She wasn't going to surrender to this stranger just to prove her innocence. She wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

Their fight moved further into the forest. Alex wasn't sure which direction they were going. Issa had started to run to avoid her. Alex had already discarded her shield, left it behind at the Myrmekes' Lair. Trees suffered under her sword - at one point, she swung so hard, it cut through half a trunk and the whole tree fell over from Issa colliding against it.

Alex's body was on automatic mode. She knew what was going to happen before her enemy even made a step or drew a breath. Issa was getting tired.

But even then, she was still holding her own.

The longer their fight lasted, crashing through the forest and disturbing all the spirits, the more attention they gathered. From the corner of her eye, Alex could see satyrs and nymphs hiding behind trees, wide-eyed and fearful. Campers training in the forest coming over to see what was wrong. But no one dared approach them, not when they were moving so quickly and still dealing blows. And even then, Alex made sure to steer the fight away from everyone else, pushing Issa away from the crowd so she wouldn't hurt them too.

She was sure now, that this was someone out to kill her, one of those people Chiron warned them about who was after the line of Achilles.

Alex fumed. Over her dead body.

And it would never come to that.

They grabbed each other's sword hands and wrestled to put each other down. Issa smacked her forehead against Alex's. Alex just winced, before head-butting Issa right back, and the two crashed outside the forest.

She could see the Dining Pavilion and the cabins from here. It was too close, way too close. From the Dining Pavilion, she saw Meg McCaffrey come forward (she'd memorised that girl's face and name ever since she saw her threaten Riley with a small goblin looking plant thing). Roots from the ground burst up to try and grab at Issa, and Issa just slashed at them with her sword, her furious eyes turning towards Meg.

"NO -" Alex shouted, charging forward and tackling Issa to the ground.

Issa tumbled backward and threw Alex off. All the demigods pulled back to avoid being collateral damage. Five people kept back Meg. She saw Ellis running forward with the Ares kids but others held them back too.

The sword-fighting continued.

Alex had to figure out a way to end this and quick.

Issa stabbed her sword forward, aiming for her throat, and Alex stepped to the side. In one clean motion, she grabbed Issa's swordhand and took the woman's entire weight, picking her up and hurling her towards the only direction that didn't have demigods watching them.

Issa flew through the air two hundred feet, her body colliding into the cliffside of the lava wall. Her screams could be heard all the way from here, peeling herself away from the lava.

Alex's breathing was steady and slow, her eyes watching the lava wall. All the demigods had stopped talking, watching with bated breath. She didn't dare turn around. She heard Cecil Markowitz's familiar voice, shouting something like 'THAT'S WHAT YOU GET' - and then the noise started all over again. But it didn't all sound supportive and cheerful. Some were confused, some shouting about something else.

She vaguely heard Chiron calling her name, but all her attention was still on Issa.

Issa had crawled out of the Issa-shaped hole she'd been thrown into, her arms covered in third-degree burns, her shoulders and back too. She was breathing so hard, Alex thought she would breathe smoke from how mad she was.

"Stay down," Alex shouted, her voice carrying across the field.

"Finish what you started, murderer -" Issa shouted.

"I'm not fighting you anymore," Alex frowned. "It's already done -"

"Like HELL it is." Issa picked up her sword from the lava, the metal scalding hot, and she threw it at Alex. "Prove to everyone what you are!"

The sword flew in the air in slow motion. She saw the blade coming towards her, and she slid to the side, catching it by the handle before it could reach the demigods.

She heard Lacy's familiar scream of fear.

That was it.

Holding the sword in her hand, Alex charged forward.

Her footsteps were light against the grass as she dashed towards her, flying once more, sword held to the side. This was ending now.

And then just as she reached the halfway point, the teenaged boy appeared from the shadow of the wall next to her. He stepped in front, blocking Issa from Alex's view.

He seemed to be covered in the same golden glitter that had attacked Leo and Nyssa at the marathon. But he'd wiped his face clear of the sparkly mess, showing a sullen and serious expression.

The boy held up his hand, like a stop sign, at Alex. She kept running forward, ready to strike both of them down. The shouts from the campers were louder now, everyone telling her to stop. But she couldn't, wouldn't, not when they were dangerous -

"Are you insane?!" Issa screamed. "She'll kill you!"

"No, she won't," he said, his voice clear in Alex's ear. "You won't because that's not what Ettore Estrada taught you."

Alex's eyes widened.

She skidded to a halt in front of the boy and his hand. The wind rushed forward from her momentum, blowing his hair back and some of the glitter from his shoulders.

"My grandfather. How...?" Alex lowered her sword, suspicious.

"I spoke to him. Short conversation. He told me to give you this."

From his pocket, he took out a chocolate cake wrapped in plastic.

Alex dropped her sword. "But this isn't sold in -"

"In the US? Yeah. Manila's pretty great, by the way."

He gave her the cake. She held it in her hands, stunned. "He's been dead for seven years. So, same question, how...?"

"Son of Hades. That's sort of my thing."

Alex just stared. The glow faded. The exhaustion didn't hit her like it usually did, but she could feel it begin to wear her away. She heard what everyone was yelling now. She guessed it was the boy's name, and they'd been telling her to stop, but now everyone breathed a little easier. Issa appeared next to him looking dumbfounded, standing a whole two feet taller than the boy and her wounds had already begun to heal.

Alex swayed a little and the boy picked up Issa's sword from the ground.

"Use this to balance yourself." His expression didn't soften, per se, but it lost some of its stoniness. "I don't usually say this, but I think I have all the answers to your questions. I bet there's a lot. So...we should get started as soon as possible."

A/N: i was so excited for this chapter i just wanted to upload it already! now we have the shortest chapter in the story so far.

more mysteries! more action! more familiar faces 👀 the fates are being kind, hopefully the next chapter will come as quickly as this one!

as always, thank you for reading !