Dawn was a welcome relief for Alexa. Despite her outward confidence and her hopes that things would turn out well, she was still plagued with nightmares. The one that eventually resulted in her waking up involved a glimpse of the future if things went poorly; Thalia's pine had turned into a withered and rotten hunk of wood, bare branches reaching like skeletal fingers towards the sky. The cabins were nothing but rubble, the Big House was burning, and the campers were either dead, in a pile of mangled corpses, or living in chains held by faceless beasts and covered in wounds and festering sores. The soft pink tones of sunrise were a far better sight.
Despite everything she still couldn't shake the habits she had created during her hunt for the Hind, rising just a little bit before the sun, meaning she was the first to arrive on the beach. Percy and Tyson came next, Tyson all smiles and walking with a bounce in his step, and Percy looking determined and mildly embarrassed.
"Morning!" Alexa called, waving them both over. "Are you all packed and ready to go?"
"I brought my things from the camp store!" Tyson responded eagerly, holding out a backpack that most campers could probably use as a tent if they wanted to. Percy just responded by hefting his own bag.
"Good! Glad you're both so well prepared! Now we just have to wait for Clarisse!" Alexa chirped, trying to keep her voice chipper and upbeat.
"Right here!" The gruff and cocky voice of Ares's daughter came not from the camp, but from the ship at her back. Alexa turned to find Clarisse making her way down the starboard side ladder. She swung herself off one of the lower rungs and landed with a splash in the shallows.
"Let me guess, you spent the night out here." Alexa said dryly.
"I had to inspect the thing! Had to make sure the guns work and we got the right kind of ammo!" Clarisse explained, an eager glimmer in her eyes.
"What sort of ammo are we talking?" Percy asked. Clarisse's grin only grew wider and wilder.
"20 centimeter Celestial Bronze shells! That's what kind!" She half-crowed. Alexa sighed, leave it to high caliber weaponry to make the child of a war god forget she disliked someone.
"Well, we're all here. Clarisse, I trust you know vaguely where you're going?" Alexa asked.
"Not that difficult to figure out in the broad sense; Keep going south until we make it to the Bermuda triangle. After that we just keep looking around until we find the right island." Clarisse listed.
"Right…but you need to be careful about time management. I talked with Katie last night after the meeting. The tree will be lucky if it lasts the next two weeks." Alexa urged.
"So, we'll do a smash and grab, and get through as fast as we can!" Clarisse insisted.
"Not another deadline." Percy groaned.
"Yup." Alexa agreed. "Wouldn't be much of a quest if there wasn't a ticking clock."
"We'll get it done!" Clarisse said earnestly.
"I have no doubt you will." Alexa nodded. "But before you go, there's one last thing."
Alexa hesitated, all too aware of all five eyes staring her down. How did Chiron do this all day everyday? How'd he deal with the constant expectations, or people thinking you had all the answers? Alexa had only been at this for a day, and she was already beginning to feel like a fraud.
"I had a visit last night…from Hermes. He wanted me to pass along a message, ironically." She shifted her gaze to the massive warship. Somewhere in there, Annabeth was hiding…she could just let this go now. But if they found her out and left her behind…she sighed and pushed on.
"There's a chance you'll run into Luke while you're out there." Alexa explained.
"Who's that?" Tyson asked blankly.
"Traitor, older than us, blonde hair, scar over one eye." Percy rattled off.
"Oh! Then I don't know him!" Tyson responded brightly. Percy seemed on the very edge of saying something, but he managed to catch the words before they could escape.
"So, what? Does Hermes have a warning about fighting him or something?" Clarisse asked.
"No. He wanted me to ask that you give him one last chance. Tell him that Hermes is worried about him and ask him to come back home." Alexa's message got pretty much the reactions she had expected; Percy gave her a look of disbelief tinged with anger, Clarisse let out an angry grunt and rolled her eyes, and Tyson just looked confused but happy to be included.
"I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing. But even if it wasn't a request from a god to do something, it's a request from a father who's just trying to help his son in what way he can. Besides, it takes next to nothing to offer…" Alexa glanced between the three; Although Clarisse hadn't budged from her spot, Tyson was nodding in a slow and thoughtful manner, and it might've been her imagination, but Percy seemed to have softened, if only the barest of amounts.
"If we run into him, there's no guarantee we'd get out of it again." Percy pointed out.
"Between the three of you and the ship? I doubt that!" Alexa chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a little. It didn't really work. Alexa sighed.
"Just…if he can't be reasoned with, do what you have to get back safely, okay?" Alexa urged the trio. A large hand fell on her shoulder, and Alexa was surprised to find it belonged to Tyson.
"Don't worry flying lady! We have spooky ghosts, a big boat, angry girl and Percy! We will be safe and there'll be a party and snacks when we come back!" His confident smile never wavered, even as Clarisse muttered "Angry girl?" Sharply under her breath.
Alexa desperately wanted to have Tyson's sort of faith and optimism…but she had read too many stories. She couldn't bring herself to crush his enthusiasm, though, so she tried her best to smile.
"I'm sure you will, so long as you all look out for each other." Alexa agreed.
"Yeah, yeah, babysit each other, teamwork, heart of the cards, blah blah blah. In case you sappy dopes forgot, we are on a time crunch, so can we get this show on the road?" Clarisse asked pointedly, jerking her thumb at the war ship.
"She's got a point," Percy agreed reluctantly. "We should probably start heading out." Alexa nodded and took a step back.
"May the gods watch over you on your journey and return safely." Alexa said. She watched as the trio quickly climbed the ladder, Tyson's bulk causing the metal to groan in protest as they climbed. The moment they were onboard the ship blasted a short note on its horn, smoke began to billow from its smokestacks and the whole hulking mass lurched. With an agonizing slowness the ship moved backwards into open water, turned and began to head south. Alexa stood there on the beach until she couldn't see the warship any longer. She turned to head back to Camp, taking the long way around to loop to Thalia's tree.
She was only mildly surprised to find half of Cabin 4 working on the pine; Fresh moss coated the trunk, the dirt had been churned around some of the larger roots, fresh compost mixed in with the dirt, and up in the tree was two campers with pruning shears and spray bottles filled with liquid plant food.
"How is she?" Alexa asked. Katie Gardner looked up from her work on one of the roots. She dusted the dirt off her hands and stood.
"About as good as she can be, given the circumstances." Katie responded with a sigh. "The poison or whatever it is, is just too strong. We planted a few beneficial fungal patches to try to encourage the roots, but the moment they tapped into the root system they pretty much all died."
Alexa winced and glanced up at the pine.
"Would the fungus help draw the poison out if you used more?" Alexa asked hopefully.
"I wish! The moment the mushrooms died the stuff just kinda leaked out and were soaked up by the roots. We'd have to have millions of mushrooms and watch them all like a hawk to even make a dent in this." Katie's response, although disheartening, was pretty much exactly what Alexa assumed.
"It's never that easy." Alexa grumbled.
"You've seen people poison a magical tree before?" Katie asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Unless you count dryads on Thai food night, no." Alexa shook her head and sighed. Katie frowned and looked back at the tree.
"We'll figure something out until Clarisse gets back." She assured Alexa. Alexa nodded her head and began to turn back to Camp. She had barely walked three steps when a satyr began to run to meet her. She recognized him immediately as the one hanging around Tantalus.
"I've been looking for you since sunup!" He panted, sliding to a stop next to her.
"Bucky, right?" She asked to which the satyr nodded. He looked to be about 17, which of course meant he was in his mid 30s. He was thin and tan, with curly brown hair to his shoulders, only the barest tips of his horn breaking through the curls.
"What's up?" She asked.
"I was assigned to be your assistant! That's what's up!" He huffed, brushing a sweaty tuft of hair out of his eyes.
"Assigned by who?" Alexa asked.
"Mr. D, of course!" Bucky answered.
"Of course." Alexa echoed with a sigh.
"I have your schedule memorized and it's my job to help you through whatever I can until your month long probation is done." Bucky said, a little pompously.
"Or until Chiron comes back." Alexa pointed out. Bucky's eyes sparkled with hope for a brief instant before he got it under control.
"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst." He said with a shrug. "Until he's back you're the activities director and I'm your assistant."
Alexa nodded her head and restarted her trek back to Camp. Bucky fell into step next to her.
"Alright then, Bucky. What do we do first?" She asked with a smile. She had big shoes to fill, best to get started.