The next few weeks passed in a blur. That first night in Cabin 9, Alexa was properly introduced to her siblings; Otto she already knew, as he was the one running the arts and crafts lessons, but she found herself with four new older sisters, and another older brother aside from Otto. There was the twins, Brent and Tamra Sawyer, both thin, wiry, and black haired 13 year olds, Jamie Taylor, a short stocky african american girl of about twelve, Helen Wyatt, an exceedingly tall, thickly built red headed eleven year old, and Sapphire Sparks, next to youngest now that Alexa was there, ten years old with an olive skin and dark wavy hair.
They welcomed Alexa with opened arms, and as the weeks wore on Alexa started to fall into a routine of constant and unending experimentation. Most of the day was spent making things; metal work, black smithing, ice carving, pottery, origami, hardware design, if there was something to make they tried her out on it. It was through this experimentation that Alexa discovered how her powers really worked and what her limits were.
First and most important of all, she found that she was not, in fact, fireproof. She could not dunk her hand directly into molten hot metal without consequence. Oh she was certainly fire and heat resistant, even on the slightly skewed scale her siblings operated under, but she would start feeling the heat after a few moments of touching something really hot. It'd start getting painful not long after that. Her ability to control molten stone didn't just stop at magma, however. Any sort of rock or metal counted as far as her powers were concerned, it didn't matter if it was lava, molten iron, super heated lead, or white hot copper, so long as it was from a rock she could move it with her will. The main drawback, however, she couldn't make the metal hot enough for her power to work on it. If she happened upon an existing form of molten stone, like the lava from the rock walls, or anything they cooked up in a forge, she could force it to stay hot or even raise or lower the temperature. The moment it started to solidify, though, she'd lose her connection with it.
Metal work was not the only form of experimentation Alexa found herself performing, however. Jasmine was true to her word and started taking a special interest in Alexa's progress. Her former bully had done a complete one eighty in terms of her stance on the daughter of Hephaestus. Although she still drilled her with the same level of intensity and force, it was far more positive.
Every time she was on the rock wall, there was Jazz, cheering her on and pushing her to better her time, every time she was racing one of the nymphs, Jazz was shouting for her to "Catch those overgrown twigs!", and every time they entered the sword fighting arena, Jazz sat and watched Alexa lay into a dummy, occasionally commenting or advising her to try a different weapon. Combat was where Jazz really excelled as a teacher; during the first week she remained on the side lines. The two, through a lot of trial and error, had fitted Alexa with a leaf shaped, double edged sword about the length of Alexa's arm, and a leather coated bronze shield. It didn't feel right in Alexa's hand, but Jazz assured her that they would find her a better fit later.
"Right now, it's all about getting yourself familiar with the basic concepts of swordplay. The fundamentals translate perfectly fine from sword to sword, so we can start you off on this one while we look for a sword that fits ya right." Jazz said brightly before pushing the younger camper towards the straw filled training dummy.
Alexa would have enjoyed Jazz's training a little more, if it didn't include an audience. Ares' cabin was bad enough, always glancing over at her with curiosity, but more often than not, they shared the sword fighting arena with the Aphrodite cabin, usually a gaggle of giggling girls, and always the same two boys. They always seemed to be looking at her every time Alexa looked up and the group's gaze made her fingers slacken on her sword. Once the two started sparing properly, Jazz always got a free shot in when Alexa glanced at the kids from Cabin 10.
The only break in their training regiment occurred on Saturdays. Technically Saturday and Sundays were entirely free to campers, allowing them to fill their day with whatever they liked. Otto and Jamie, for example, spent most of their Saturdays discussing classic cars, while Brent and Tamra alternated between arguing over the most recent rock album and modifying what had once been a cocktail style Galaga machine, but now looked as if half an arcade had puked inside it. Credit where it was due, the thing ran an entire arcade's worth of games, some even made by the twins themselves.
Alexa didn't spend her Saturdays in the cabin, though. Half of the day was spent with Jasmine, training in the arena until the young girl was left sweaty, panting, and sore. Rarely did she ever manage to land a blow on the more experienced and battle hardened daughter of Ares, and she almost never managed to get away without a swat to her ribs or arms. After they broke for lunch, she and Jazz would head up to the tallest hill on the camp's border. This far out, they could see pretty much the whole of Camp Half-Blood spread out beneath them. On top of this bare hill, so close to the camp's magical boundaries that one false step would take them outside the camp's magical protection, the two demigods sat and talked.
Jazz would never dare call it what it a therapy session, but in truth that was essentially what it was. She often let Alexa take the lead in these discussions, allowed the little girl to tell her about what was bothering her with the camp, or discuss her life before with her mother and sister, or just discuss music or television outside the camp's borders. It was a bit of a balancing act, if Jasmine pushed too hard Alexa would shut down and refuse to go any further, if she pushed too little Alexa would avoid things that were bothering her.
It was on one of these Saturdays that Alexa noticed two figures making their way towards the edge of the camp, vaguely in their direction. The taller of the two she immediately recognized as Uncle Theodore, the satyr that had brought her to camp, today dressed for travel with a dark green t-shirt, a backpack over his shoulders, jeans on to cover his furry goat's legs and a simple wooden walking stick clutched in one hand. The smaller of the two looked to be a kid, wiry with curly brown hair, dressed almost identically to Uncle Theodore. She frowned, she had thought she had at least met most of the kids at camp, but she didn't recognize this one.
"Who's that with Mr. Theo?" Alexa asked in the slight lull in the conversation. Jazz squinted where she was pointing and smiled.
"Oh that's just Grover." Jazz informed her. "Looks like they're finally getting a move on."
Alexa gave Jazz a blank stare and Jazz elaborated a bit more. "Grover's Mr. U's kid. Technically they're both employed by the camp, but Grover's still got the training wheels on. The camp sends satyrs all over the place looking for Half-bloods to bring to camp for training. They usually put them in schools, social clubs, things like that. Grover's still a bit young to go solo so his daddy goat is gonna spend a year with him undercover to make sure he's good, then Grover will be able to take his own assignments."
Alexa sat back, watching Theodore and Grover for a few more moments before a thought occurred to her. "Then...how'd he find me? I only met him for the first time on the day...I got to camp." She grimaced but Jazz pretended not to notice. "And I don't remember Uncle Theo at Kindergarten, so how'd he find me?"
"Nature spirits" Jazz said immediately. "The camp gets some spirits to work in certain parts of the juvenile justice system. Since there aren't that many nature spirits willing to take the job and it's kinda a gamble they only stick them in major cities. Some nature spirits are way better at figuring out stuff about a half-blood, but since they're tied to their tree or plant or whatever, most of the ones the camp can get out there can't go very far so it's a bit of a trade off from what satyrs can do. Their a little bit less accurate about it, but they're way more mobile."
Alexa's mind flashed back to that night, remembering the Nice Lady in white who had gotten her McDonalds and stayed with her until Uncle Theodore showed up. She hadn't even gotten the woman's name that night.
Alexa kept her eyes on the two satyrs. The younger one seemed skittish about crossing the boundary line, fidgeting as he walked and occasionally chewing on his shirt collar. His father set his hand on the younger goat's shoulder, trying to prompt him forward, looking down at him with those patient and concerned eyes that had first looked down at her.
Before even she knew what she was doing Alexa was on her feet. She made her way down the hill, Jazz hot on her heels.
"What are you doing…?" Jazz asked. Alexa didn't answer. She didn't say anything until she had gotten within earshot of the two satyrs.
"If you eat it now you'll look silly when we get to Colorado." Theo chided gently. "We don't want the mortals asking too many questions too soon."
"Sorry daddy...I get nervous…" Grover mumbled, his lower lip quivering slightly.
"You didn't think you'd get away that easy, did ya?" Alexa called as she approached. Both satyrs looked up. Grover let a slightly strangled noise, his limbs locked up, his jaw clenched, and he promptly toppled sideways. His father was quick, though, grabbing him by the back pack to keep him from smashing his head in the dirt and gently lowering him down to the ground.
"I've been trying to break him of that habit…" Theo sighed. He turned to Alexa with a smile. Alexa responded with a slight pout.
"You were gonna leave without saying goodbye!" She accused, taking another step forward. Theo stepped back, as if he were afraid that Alexa might hit him. Instead the young demigod rushed forward and wrapped her arms as best she could around his waist. She buried her face into his shirt, sobbing softly.
"Yeah we've been...kinda working on expressing our emotions lately." Jazz explains, wincing slightly "Just give her a minute." It took several minutes for Alexa to calm herself down. Pulling away, Alexa sniffled and smiled up at Theo.
"You saved me." She said in a quiet voice.
"You saved me from…" She shakes her head, her face still wet and her hands shaking. "I don't even know what. If you think you can leave without me saying goodbye you're out of your mind!"
The girl grabbed the satyr in another hug, this one much gentler than before. He blinks down at her but slowly returns the hug.
"You say that like I'm the hero here. I'm just a satyr." Theo chuckled. Alexa smiled and shook her head...stupid goat.
They held each other for several long moments before Alexa finally pulled away.
"Go and find another kid. Save them, okay?" She smiled and turned to face Grover, who again froze under her gaze. The younger satyr was older than she was, maybe ten or eleven years old if she had to guess, but he still trembled like a leaf in a wind storm when she looked at him.
"And you!" She said taking a step closer
"D-don't hurt-!" Grover started to say through chattering teeth. Alexa didn't allow him time to say anything else.
"Keep him safe, okay?" She said, nodding towards Theo. "If things get really dangerous out there, he's gonna need someone to watch his back."
Grover just stared at her, blinking, his mouth gaping like a goldfish. She turned on her heel and began to trot away, heading for the path back to camp.
Jazz smiled down at her as they walked, unbeknownst to Alexa. "So, what now? We still have most of a day to ourselves."
"I think I'm going to head back to my cabin, actually." Alexa muttered.
"Everything okay?" Jazz asked. Alexa glanced back, looking behind Jazz towards where they had been. The satyrs were already gone.
"Yeah." Alexa sighed. "I just...I need some time to myself."
Jazz nodded understandingly and gave Alexa's shoulder a little squeeze. "I'll be in the arena if you need me."
And just like that, Alexa was alone again. She headed back to her cabin to find it mostly empty, save for the arguing forms of Brent and Tamra somewhere in the upper levels. Alexa didn't want to bother them, she quietly moved into her own little work space, a few feet from the section of wall that hid her own bed. Her work table wasn't nearly as cluttered as her siblings, but she suspected that was only because she hadn't been there for nearly as long.
The work table held many many different tools ranging from hammers and tongs to a soldering iron and a gardening trowel. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what sort of application a trowel had in a chop shop like this but she didn't bother to ask. Her favourite part of her work station was what took up a corner of her table; To an outside observer it might've looked like a microwave or a pizza oven, a small box of metal and stone with a variety of knobs and buttons on the side. In some sense it was a small oven, but rather than food this was meant for metal. What Alexa, and every other child of Hephaestus had on their work table was essentially a mini forge.
The ovens weren't used for anything big, no one was going to try to make a sword with one of the mini forges, they were strictly meant for more delicate work; springs, gears, nails, clock works parts, anything that would be a waste firing up the camp's larger forges for.
Alexa silent made her way to her workstation. She pulled up the little stool she used to reach the work surface, fired up the mini-forge, and reached into a bucket on the side of her table and deposited a few pieces of scrap metal into the mini-forge's intake tray.
Molten Celestial Bronze hissed and bubbled as the 6 year old pulled the tray from the mini-forge. She pulled on a pair of thick protective gloves and began to work, shaping the metal with her hands as much as her power. As she worked she gently pushed out with her powers, hardening impurities in the liquid metal and causing them to drop from the work, tinkling onto the work table.
Alexa simply let her hands do whatever they wanted, occasionally pausing to grab a screwdriver, to carve into the cooling bronze. Meanwhile her mind wandered. Over and over again it went back to Theo and Grover. She chewed her lip, trying to push the satyrs from her mind. It was silly to worry, they were trained protectors, she shouldn't be worried about them...and yet…
Sighing, Alexa finally focused on what she had made. Honestly...the best way she could think to describe it was the unwanted child of a spoon and a tuning fork; it consisted of a small dish, about big enough for her fingertip, with two pairs of thin metal antenna sticking out from the handle, one pair sticking straight up, the other at a 45 degree angle from the handle. The only clue to what her subconscious had intended came from the collection of Celestial Bronze wires sticking out from the bottom of the handle like the head of a teeny tiny mop.
Looking up, Alexa gently set her new mutant spoon on the work surface. On the mantle of the large metal door sat a small statue, a small bronze figure of a squat little man with a thick beard, thicker arms, and one leg bound in a brace of some sort. He stood in front of an anvil, dressed in overalls and a thick apron, caught in the act of bringing his hammer down on some unseen bit of metal work in front of him. Aside from the small shrine near the back, this was the only depiction of Hephaestus in Cabin 9, the rest of the space was taken up with the work spaces of the god's children. Licking her lips, Alexa decided to do something she had never done consciously before. She decided to pray.
"Hey...um...d-daddy…" She mutters quietly, her eyes locked on the statue. She felt stupid, awkward, not only because she was talking to a statue the size of a bowling ball, but because she was asking her dad, a person she had never even met in her life, for a favor. Still, she pressed on. "I...I know it's not really your...your wheelhouse or anything and you're probably really busy but...um...if you get time can you look after Theo and Grover for me…?"
She waited for a sign, a signal that her dad had heard her, for better or worse, but nothing came. With another sigh, Alexa went back to work, grabbing up a circuit board. Even if Hephaestus did nothing, which was the likeliest outcome, she could at least tell herself she tried.