I do not own Percy Jackson nor Heroes of Olympus, they belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter Six - Alyx

She noticed how jumpy Carlos would get. When she'd knock on his door, she'd hear a thud and a yelp, or when he'd make his bed with the door open and she would say something to get his attention, he'd immediately freak and jump. Not to mention he'd zone out.

To say the least, she was worried.

She laid in bed Saturday night, staring at the ceiling with boredom. She couldn't fall asleep, so obviously her mind was working. She lifted her arm, looking at the SPQR tattoo and hoping maybe someone was looking for her. Even if it was just one person. Maybe her mom or dad was looking? Or a close relative? She huffed and bit her nail, gripping her pillow and turning onto her side.

"Alyx?" Sitting up, she saw Carlos peeking in, covering his eyes. "Are you decent?"

"Yes." He uncovered his eyes and came in fully, shutting the door behind him, and well… Fidgeting. He shuffled his feet. He wore a long t-shirt and simple boxers with socks, probably not standard sleepwear for winter, but then again she wore shorts and tank tops so she had no room to judge. She pulled off the covers and patted the spot next to her. He shyly crawled in, snuggling under the covers, his shirt pulling up. He cuddled up to her, much to her surprise, and buried his face into her stomach, wrapping his arms around her tightly as if she'd disappear. She ran her fingers through his curls, soft and still a bit damp from his shower.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "You've been weird since yesterday." He sniffled.

"If I told you, you'd leave…"

"What do you mean?" He lifted his head, laying his chin on his hands.

"I'm selfish…" He muttered. "I haven't had friends since junior high, and now you're here…" He sniffled, wiping his eyes. "I want to keep you by my side because you gave me hope…" She chuckled, running her fingers through the curls repeatedly.

"I won't leave you." She said. "You're the one who saved me, and like I said, I plan to save you again and again, even if it costs me my life." He squished his cheek on his hand, blinking.

"Really?"

"Yup. Now, tell me what's bothering you." He shook his head.

"It's nothing. I don't want you to worry…" She chuckled and looked over his head.

"Wow, I was right."

"What?"

"You got a nice body." He glared, pulling his shirt down. "Hey, I'm not hitting on you." She patted his back, pulling him close.

"Rest, okay?" He nodded and fell asleep, his breathing slowing, his lashes fluttering against his cheeks like an angel's. She smiled, running her thumb over his eyelid. She fell asleep slowly, loving the warmth and comfort he gave off.

She stood in a snow covered forest. An older woman with a girl stood in ankle deep snow, both of them seemingly in deep conversation. The girl had shoulder length black hair, electric blue eyes and slightly tan skin. She wore a silver band around her head, with a silver parka, silver camouflaged jeans and boots. The woman wore a purple sweater, jeans and boots, her black hair braided elegantly down her back. She had brown eyes and tan skin, with a few faint scars like she's been battling her whole life.

"I'm telling you, My Lady is missing." The girl was saying. She looked scared.

"I know, so are the other gods."

"What?"

"They've gone silent, like they did with-" The girl suddenly stiffened and turned.

"Shh." She said, drawing a bow. A rabbit came from a bush, a rolled up scroll tied to its neck. Its tail twitched and it bounded up to the girl. She pulled the scroll off and the rabbit went back into the bush. She untied it and opened it, her face paling as she read it.

"No…" She covered her mouth.

"What?"

"The gods have been captured."

She opened her eyes to see Carlos looking at her with a very annoyed expression, his face bright red and his hands curled on her chest like a kitten's.

"What?"

"Your hands are in a place that is very inappropriate." She raised an eyebrow, and squeezed where her hands were. He gasped and squirmed.

"Ooh, big and firm, yet squishy…" She squeezed again and he buried his face into her shirt.

"I can file this as sexual harassment, you know!" he said even though it was muffled. She chuckled and nuzzled his head.

"Come on, let's go bathe." His head shot up.

"Excuse me?"

"What?" She tilted her head.

"B-Bathe? As in… Together?" She shrugged.

"Why not?" He shot up, scrambling away.

"Cause, I don't know… You're a girl and I'm a guy?" She tilted her head more.

"What's your point?" He stared at her in horror. "What? You're the one who rubbed lotion on me, right? I don't see anything wrong with bathing together."

"Y-You…" She laughed, getting out of bed and picking him up bridal style, making him gasp.

"W-We're not even a couple though!" She simply carried him into the bathroom, ignoring his protests.

"You don't want to wake your parents, now, do you?" She purred, making his face turn bright red.

They sat in the bathtub together, Alyx scrubbing Carlos's back happily. He had tons of freckles, on his back, arms, practically everywhere on his body.

"You got a lot of freckles." She said, grabbing the bar of monster proof soap.

"Yeah…" He mumbled. "I hate wearing shorts out in public in summer."

"Why?"

"It makes me self-conscious…"

"Hm." She laid her chin on his shoulder, scrubbing his hips. He squeaked, curling his toes and moving his head away.

"Does this make you a bit uncomfortable?"

"Y-Yes!" She chuckled and handed him the rag, and he cleaned his privates then allowed her to wash his legs.

"You've got really nice legs." She thought out loud, running it up his calf and making him shiver.

"I-I know… L-Last summer we went to the beach and I got a lot of cat calls…" She shook her head, scrubbing his feet.

"Do you like swimming?"

"Yeah…"

"Running?"

"Yeah."

"Riding bikes?"

"What's with all these questions?"

"I'm just getting to know you better." She said defensively. She twirled her finger. "Turn?" He shook his head rapidly.

"Nope." She chuckled.

"Alright, my turn." He nodded and picked up a second wash rag as she turned. "So, biking?"

"Yeah, only in summer." She nodded, making note.

"What's your favorite candy?" He seemed to perk up at this question.

"Chocolate."

"Heh, same. Favorite food?"

"Hmm…" He scrubbed her neck. "Probably tacos or enchiladas."

"For me it'd have to be maybe… Asian food? I don't know, if I had my memory, I'd know."

"Right." His hands were trembling as he scrubbed lower.

"Hobbies?"

"I dunno, honestly… I liked playing video games with Harper but they're boring now…" He scrubbed her stomach.

"How come you got so shy with your body?" He was silent for a moment, before he replied.

"Last summer, one of Harper's high school friends would make fun of my body when she wasn't around. She told me I was fat and small for my age." Alyx scoffed, scowling.

"What a brat."

"Yeah. I guess she was moody because her boyfriend left her to go overseas."

"Why?"

"I dunno. Then in one of Harper's letters, she said that they broke up when he got back."

"Wow. What a needy…" She had a few names to call her but she decided not to. "And she made you self-conscious?"

"Yeah…" He looked down. She turned, cupping his cheeks and pressing her forehead to his, making his face break out in red.

"I don't think you need to be self-conscious." She said. "Your body makes you who you are, and frankly I have had my moments where I hated my body." She pointed to all of the tattoos and scars. "Then I realized that maybe it wasn't so bad. After all, a lot of cops have ink." He nodded, sniffing.

"But I'm so…" He squeezed his thighs. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him into her lap, making him squeak, his face reddening even more.

"I think you're perfect." She said.

"This is weird." He muttered. She laughed and hugged him, nuzzling his wet curls. She took the shampoo and poured some in her palm, massaging it into his hair. He looked down, closing his eyes while she took the shower head and rinsed the soap out. Then she put in the conditioner, twirling his curls happily.

"So cute…" She mumbled.

"You're so weird…"

They finished bathing and then headed into their rooms to get dressed. She dressed in black leggings and a black tank top and socks. She had no idea where the black came from, she just thought it went along nice with her hair color and eye color. She combed her hair and headed downstairs. Silena was in there, cooking breakfast, her hair tied up in a bun, her face clear from makeup (like she needed, woman was gorgeous) and wore a blue shirt, a white apron and leggings. Pearl, Charles and Carlos were nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning, Alyx." She greeted as Alyx took a seat at the table.

"Morning." She replied, watching her go to the oven and open it. "Need any help?"

"Oh, no, I don't think so. Thank you for offering though." There was a small silence, so she fiddled with her clothing. She thought about her dream, about the girl and woman. The girl looked familiar, but she couldn't place it until… Her eyes met the picture that Silena kept in the kitchen of three kids. In the middle was a black haired, green eyed and tan skin guy, his hair looking like he'd just came from a walk on the beach. To his right was the girl from his dream. She had shorter hair in the picture, and wore a band t-shirt that said Imagine Dragons and black ripped pants with combat boots. The same band she saw in her dream was around her head. To his left was a scrawny boy with pale skin and shaggy black hair and dark eyes. He wore an aviator's jacket, black jeans and sneakers, a black shirt with a skull on it.

Silena caught her staring. "That was taken before Charles and I moved here." She said, pulling out the waffles from the iron. She buttered them.

"Really?"

"Yes." She looked at the picture, a pained smile on her face. "It's been years since I've spoken to them."

"How come you haven't talked to them?" She sighed, sitting down after she poured some more batter.

"It's a long story."

"I'm listening. I like stories." She smiled and looking at her feet.

"It was almost… Twenty three years ago? Or twenty two." She bit her lip. "I dunno. Anyway, we lived in New York at that time. We were staying a camp for half-bloods, Camp Half-Blood, and well there was a war going on." She picked up the picture. "These are the children of the Big Three. That's Percy, Thalia and Nico. Percy is son of Poseidon, Thalia is daughter of Zeus and Nico is son of Hades. Well, the Titan Kronos was coming back, and there was a prophecy saying a half-blood who turned sixteen would either turn the world upside down, or defeat Kronos. Charles… 'Died' in an explosion on a mission, and I supposedly got killed when I got hit with poison." She scowled for the first time since she knew her.

"And you didn't actually die…?"

"It was weird. We felt dead, but then woke up in an apartment with food, clothes, money and the apartment had been paid for." Alyx narrowed her eyes as she sat down again with her glass.

"That's… Suspicious."

"Yeah. So Charles managed to enroll at university, and we eloped, and then I got pregnant with Harper." She patted her belly. "And now I'm having our fourth."

She spat out her drink.

To Be Continued...