Marcus was mad. Alexa had been imprisoned for a grand total of four months now and she hadn't once seen Marcus truly angry, but today, it seemed, was the day. His brow furrowed when she awoke, his cheeks seemed a little redder than usual, and when he passed her her breakfast he practically shoved it through the bars.
"You're going to remain here for the next three days." Declared her guard gruffly. Alexa blinked and looked at Luna, then back at Marcus.
"Not that I don't appreciate a vacation but won't that screw things up, upstairs?" She asked. Although she couldn't exactly read people in the same way she could work a blueprint, she was good enough at it to see the clenching of his jaw. She was about to retract the question when her guard answered it.
"The tribe won't be here. The only ones here will be the wives, the youngest of the children, and us. The rest are headed east, to Mt Olympus for the Amazonian games." It took Alexa more time than she wanted to admit to put the pieces together. It was the time of year that the Gargareans met with the Amazons. There had been some chatter about it but the Gargareans had been careful about keeping specifics away from the unmarried girl in their midst. Hell, the fact that they were going to Mount Olympus was news to her, though really it shouldn't have been; symbolism aside it was the largest mountain in the chain.
"Since you're not the King or his jerkoff son, I'm guessing you're not ticked about not getting your rocks off with some Amazons. So what's the big deal about missing the festival?" Alexa took an odd sort of delight in seeing the slight flush rising to Marcus's cheeks. Usually the guy was either unflappable or asleep, seeing the embarrassment showing was something Alexa hadn't really been counting on.
"The games are a chance to win glory for the tribe! There's sword fighting, discus, track and field, ballet, dodgeball! I've been training every day for two years to compete and I get stuck on guard duty…" Marcus slumped dejectedly in his chair while Alexa mulled. Marcus hadn't been training, at least not around her…and he only left after lights out.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry you're stuck watching me." She ventured. "I mean if you've been training for that long, the king should've found a replacement for the festival."
Marcus let out a derisive snort at the mention of his leader and Alexa found herself gently clutching the bars. She decided to press her advantage and sate a bit of her curiosity.
"Marcus…why are you even here? You're obviously not like the other Gargareans, you're respectful, quiet, and the guys around here treat you worse than they treat me. Why are you still here?" Marcus was quiet for so long Alexa thought, first, that he wasn't going to answer, promptly followed by the worry that he had fallen asleep. When he did answer his voice had a bit of sadness to it that she hadn't heard there before.
"One of my grandfathers, generations ago, was led to freedom and the Gargareans by Apollo, along with fifthteen other men and boys. My grandfather poured his blood, sweat, and tears into the tribe, fought the king of his day, and became the only man of our family to become king." Although she still couldn't see his eyes due to the ever present sunglasses, Alexa had no doubt that he was staring off into the past.
"He put so much into the tribe, they all did. But the tribe started to suffer the day he died. They all began moving backwards, they didn't see the glory of man, the kindness owed to his fellow man, the goodness to put their bodies in front of those who couldn't protect themselves, and the decency to lift up those who couldn't stand. They grew weak, and lazy and they grew into…this. We're better, I know that from the bottom of my soul. That's why I stay." As Marcus finished speaking, Alexa found herself staring openly at him. It wasn't just acting, either, part of her was awed by his ambitions…which was why it hurt to pop that bubble.
"I honestly think you're wasting your time." She said with a sigh and a sad shake of the head. "They're way too far gone, Marcus…hell I caught two seven year olds trying to peek on me in the shower just last week and they said 'It's not a big deal! You're just some girl in the basement!' Do you really think you'll be able to change them now?"
There was a long pause as Marcus's unreadable eyes studied her.
"...Not from where I am now." The words took several seconds to sink in.
"You're planning on becoming king!" She declared, her eyes growing wide. Marcus's thin smile was proof enough that she had hit her mark.
"The king is slower than he's been in years, it's only a matter of time before he retires, and when Chad takes over I'll challenge him." Marcus explained. Alexa could see Marcus easily trouncing the prince, that'd be quite the sight. But…
"Why not go after the king himself?" She asked
"There's no way I could win. He's too good. I'd just be throwing away my chance. Then everyone would just blame it on the fact that I'm goddess-born, and the problems just get worse for the rest of the ones who share that trait with me." Marcus didn't seem all that put out by the possibility, it seemed more inevitable to him. Maybe others had tried and seen such a result. That didn't mean Alexa could stomach it, though.
"You scared the piss out of Chad on my first day here, you moved so fast I didn't even see it, and yanked him off a wall! You can beat the king!" Marcus looked unconvinced, stubborn. She'd have to try a roundabout way. "What if I helped?"
"In what way?" He asked, his eyebrow going up.
"I'm a daughter of Hephaestus, I can make you a sword for the fight. Blessed metal, enchanted in the right way, that'll guarantee your victory." She explained.
"And I assume you'd want your freedom in return if I win?" Marcus asked.
"As well as the signet ring, like I asked for before." Alexa added. When he continued to look unconvinced she asked "What have you got to lose? There's everything to gain if you win. All you have to do is give me some time to myself and a bit of trust and the throne is yours."
Marcus thought about it for quite a long time…then without a word he grabbed his folding chair, folded it up, and began to walk away. Alexa pressed her face into the bars.
"Your mom, by the way." She said, her words causing Marcus to pause. "Who is she? I need to know before I start."
Marcus stood there in the shadows, quiet for a long moment before he answered.
"Nyx." With that one last word the only child of a primordial god she had ever met slipped out of the stairwell. Long after the sounds of his feet had disappeared, Alexa finally spoke.
"Did you know about that?" She asked. Luna creaked and whistled in response. "I know, crazy, right? Keep watch until I get back."
Alexa crawled under the bed and rolled up the section of camouflage canvas, dropping into her tunnel. She crawled and shimmied her way down three more floors, and into two crawl spaces between wall sections before finally reaching the forges. She dropped from the wall, high above her own work table, into the caged off area behind a wall of tools. As she expected it was completely empty and the gate had been left open.
Hurrying to the closest forge, Alexa first reached for the Celestial Bronze, but hesitated. He was a son of Nyx…maybe…she picked up the unrefined chunk of Stygian Iron. The metal felt cool under her fingers, cold enough that her fingers almost stuck to it. This would have to be one hell of a sword. She looked up at the ceiling.
"Dad, I may need a bit of help with this one." The ceiling gave no answer, not that she expected it to. She fired up the forge, tied her hair out of her face, cracked her neck and stepped forward. It was time to get to work.
She began darting around the forge like a demented hummingbird; after melting down the metal until it was a rolling mass of ghostly blue liquid she began to add things to the crucible as she muttered in low Ancient Greek. A bit of nightshade, a coffin nail, a feather from screech owl.
After the ashes and nail fell into the mass she used her power to stir it, flexing her fingers and waving her hand over the crucible. She poured the molten metal into a form and clenched a hand into a fist. The metal cooled, going from a thick liquid to a consistency almost like taffy, with a solid handle. She brought the lump of metal taffy over to an anvil, the color had changed, now it was a toxic looking violet. She allowed it to cool to the point that her power was just starting to lose its grip on the molten mass, then she slammed her hammer home.
Sparks flew creating a brief but brilliant star scape, the metal flattened slightly under her strike. She kept working. Again and again she pounded out the ingot, molding it with the hammer, shaping it, her mind going blank except for the task at hand.
Her hand reached out into a bucket, grabbing a fist full of black volcanic glass chips that she sprinkled atop her creation. She folded the metal, reheated, and refolded. Once, twice, three times, six times, twelve. Her power worked just as much as the equipment around her, the harder metals moving to what was rapidly becoming the edge of the blade, while the softer, flexible metals settled into the spine. She quenched the sword in a mixture of water from the Acheron and pomegranate juice, causing a plume of steam to sing from the quenching barrel. She brought it out, spent only a second or two on the grinding wheel, reheated it, and this time plunged it in a barrel of Lithe water.
She wrapped the grip in leather before she brought the blade up and admired her work; metal as black as a moonless night, but dotted with pinpoints of light that shifted with the slightest twitch. The sword felt balanced in her hands, and the edge on the ebony blade looked like it could cut light itself if she moved it too fast. She smiled at it like a mother would smile at a newborn baby, bringing it down and running a finger down the flat, her pale digit dancing across it like a skater on a frozen lake of ink.
"Well, my little Duskfall, let's go show you to your daddy." Alexa said, before she doused the fires in the forge, and practically skipped back up her tunnel to her cell.