Alexa was in a cave, that much was certain. Gravel was spread all over the ground, along with the bones of small rodents. The air stunk of decay and stillness and yet, in front of her and slightly lower down a crest, was a deeper hole, surrounded by stalagmites.
"Beware!" The whispers came from all around her, gray spirits of the dead clung to her like mist as she was drawn towards the pit. Then another voice issued from deep below her, driving away the spirits.
"Come closer little hero!" The voice crooned. It had an off quality to it, like the words were a recently sharpened blade, Alexa disliked it immediately but she found her feet moving forward regardless. She stood at the edge of the pit, stalagmites hemming her in like the crooked fangs of a massive beast.
"You walk the paths the gods put before you, completely obedient. Tell me, what have the gods ever done for you?" The wind buffeted her forward as the thing spoke. "Where was your precious Queen when you were scared and cowering? Where was the huntress, the protector of maidens when you were left bloody and bruised?"
It chuckled as it spoke, as it whispered the very things that Alexa herself had thought in her darkest moments.
"If the gods are all-powerful, and they love you so much, why did they let you suffer for those six long years? Why are they fine with you risking certain death to purify yourself? Why has your father, the useless blacksmith, allowed you to have such a hard life?" The voice sneered. Alexa felt like she had been punched. Her father did care about her...right? He comforted her after Morgan died, he helped her find Nikola's journal and her sword, she even thought he had a hand in getting her to camp...he had to care. But the voice seemed so certain the opposite was true that it almost felt like it could overwhelm her own conviction.
"The gods are unworthy to rule. Join me! Help me rise and together we can build a world of such beauty. We can start the world over, and create a place where a child will no longer have to fear the wrath of their own twisted parents." Something felt...wrong about that promise. It was the first thing the voice had said that felt hollow. Alexa shook her head. The voice chuckled.
"You will serve, hero. You will serve me!" It felt like the wind was pressing hooks into her flesh, dragging her towards the pit. She dug in her heels, and felt the sensation shift, no longer pulling her towards it, but using her to pull itself up.
"You will serve me!" It reiterated "If you want to survive what's coming!"
Just when the tugging became the most painfully intense Alexa's eyes snapped open. She sat up, pale and sweaty on her bedroll.
"Woof?" Luna asked, giving her a nudge.
"I'm...I'm fine. Just another nightmare." Three days had passed since the pair had left Camp Half-blood behind and every night she had had a similar nightmare. Although Alexa tried to keep it from bothering her, the dreams always lingered. The words of the voice wormed its way into her skull, trying to poison her thoughts. Luna could feel how out of sorts the dreams left her, she'd insisted on slowing down in the mornings to give Alexa time to work things out. She sighed, shook herself roughly and got up.
Almost before she could finish standing an older looking man popped out of the ground with a hiss of steam.
"Right at seven o'clock!" He laughed, slapping Alexa on the back. He was a short man, looking to be in his mid fifties with salt and pepper hair, and a short beard. He wore a flannel button up and dark slacks held up by suspenders, a pair of half moon spectacles sat on the end of his nose to complete the look. The only oddity was his legs...which was to say, he didn't have any. His waist and everything below it disappeared into a cloud of steam.
"Guess it runs in the family! You sleep alright? No critters giving you trouble?" It wasn't all that surprising to find that Old Faithful had a spirit tied to it, but it was a bit surprising to find out that the spirit was a relative. She had discovered that most geyser spirits were children of Hephaestus, and Old Faithful was no exception. Alexa and Luna had set down in Yellowstone and seconds after landing Old Faithful had practically assaulted them with hospitality. The old spirit had offered them a nice quiet place to sleep, some food, and safety from any roaming monsters for at least one night, it was all incredibly nice.
"Oh," Alexa said with a yawn "About as good as ever. How about you? Have a nice show or two?"
The spirit chuckled in response.
"Late night shows ain't too popular, but I always get a happy couple or two who wanna watch under moonlight. Are you two going to be leaving soon? You said first light and the sun's starting to come up." That was another thing about Old Faithful, he was a stickler for routine and schedule.
"We'll be on our way in a bit, just got to pack up." She gave her immortal half brother a slight grin.
"Why? Trying to get rid of us?" She teased.
"Of course not!" Old Faithful laughed a wheezy laugh that sounded to Alexa like a tea kettle warming up.
"Good!" She responded, reaching down and rolling up her bedroll while Luna yawned and stretched, the wings on each of her paws extending and working as they performed a self check. An odd shudder passed down the canine's body. Before Alexa could question it, Luna was helping herself to a breakfast of sticks and twigs.
Shrugging, Alexa cracked open a granola bar and took a bite. She made a mental note to find a way to get fast food in the next few days, after Melody's cooking she couldn't go back to a diet of granola and jerky.
"So...I've been thinkin'" Old Faithful said slowly, taking a cautious step forward. "I mean, I get news from Olympus, same as anyone. Ya hear things and...well…"
He slipped a hand behind his back and for a moment Alexa tensed. She felt certain in that second that he was going to pull a weapon on her, but instead he pulled out a little black book.
"Do ya think...I could get your autograph for my guest book? Olympian tourist season's coming up and I wanna prove that I met you!" He held the book out to Alexa. Alexa blinked, then laughed.
"Apollo mentioned I was getting famous, I didn't think people would start asking for my autograph so quickly! Why me though? You're way more famous than I am!" She pointed out, still chuckling.
"To mortals maybe!" The geyser spirit chuckled. "But you're the talk of Olympus! The next Heracles! The second one this century to get past their first task. I couldn't exactly travel to see Farrokh when he was active, but you...you're here! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"
Alexa chuckled and patted down her pockets for a pen, once again reminding herself to look up who Farrokh was. Old Faithful whipped out a pen and gleefully watched as Alexa signed.
"To Old Faithful, " she read allowed "The best host a sister could ask for. With Love, Alexa Barber."
The moment she finished the geyser spirit hugged the book to his chest and grinned from ear to ear.
"I hope you have a good trip, and if you're ever in the neighborhood don't hesitate to stop by! The other nature spirits would lose their bark if you came by for a visit!"
Alexa and Luna had everything put away within the hour and had gotten flying again just after dawn. The rest of Wyoming and then Idaho stretched beneath them as they flew vaguely North West. Seattle bloomed in front of them all at once, the Space Needle hovering like a massive flying saucer over the skyline. The Olympus mountain range on the far side of the city like a giant blue set of teeth capped with ice.
As they flew over the city and the bay, climbing steadily to start going over the range, Alexa couldn't help but wonder if the gods ever came out this way themselves. She half expected to see Zeus's summer home on the cliffs of this new Olympus.
As they passed over the first peak, Luna suddenly shuddered beneath her.
"Luna?" Alexa asked. The only answer Alexa got when Luna opened her mouth was a loud grinding sound and a plume of black smoke. Alexa's eyes widened.
"Luna!" She cried. The metal dog's eyes went dark, the engine inside her died, and all at once all ten wings stopped moving. There was a moment when momentum kept them airborne, then Luna began to fall like a stone.
Alexa yanked and pulled at her, her hands frantically moving over the controls, trying to force a system reboot. The icy cliffs of Olympus loomed as the pair continued to drop. The best Alexa managed was to turn their fall into a steep glide. Luna's paws hit stone, and they began to skid. Alexa was thrown from Luna's back and went sailing off the nearest cliff in one direction, Luna in the other.
The next several seconds were a barely remembered blur. She didn't remember how many times she hit the unforgiving ground, nor how long she laid there bloody and broken, drifting in and out of consciousness, but she did remember the shuffling sounds, the hooting of what sounded like a monstrous owl, and a hand thicker than any had a right to be coming into her view. She was lifted and cradled like a child against a warm, smelly, and furry blanket, and finally she passed out for good.