Lunch was surprisingly cheerful, despite the dire situation. New campers were excitedly talking to one another about the activities they had had up until then, while older campers traded information and gossip. Courtney sat at the Ares table, wincing slightly as she used her non-injured hand, the other nearly completely purple due to her last class. Despite the pain, she seemed to be taking the lesson well. Alexa could only hear a bit of the conversations going on, but Courtney had yet to dispute the victory and when she spoke of Alexa it was only in respectful tones which Alexa found mildly surprising.
"So, Miss Baker, how is your first day going?" Mr. D asked from his chair. Alexa glanced over to find the wine god was watching her a little too closely. All at once she felt the desire to head to the nearest bar but she quickly fought down the impulse. Mr. D smirked, Alexa's momentary glance away causing her to miss the brief flash of approval in the god's eyes.
"It's been… interesting. I don't feel like I should be doing it…at all. Like I can say one wrong thing and completely ruin a kid's life." Alexa explained.
"Lives are made to be ruined." Mr. D answered without a second of hesitation. "That's why we have so many of you mortals, one ruined life doesn't ruin the batch."
Alexa sighed. It was such a typical godly response, and exactly what she had expected of Mr. D…which is why it was more than a little surprising when he kept talking through a mouthful of chicken.
"But in my experience, worry is a good thing. Worrying you're not good enough for the job means you care about the kids. Caring about the campers is the second most important part of teaching them, right behind having something to teach them. Every teacher worth the pay worries that they didn't teach them enough to make it when things become real." Mr. D swallowed his chicken and took a swig of Diet Coke.
"...Do…you ever worry about them?" Alexa asked.
"Goodness, no!" Mr. D laughed. "But then, I'm not a good teacher. No…the centaur, he's one of the good ones. Annoyingly so. Every time a camper would leave, he'd start praying for their safety and happiness."
Mr D paused to roll his eyes theatrically.
"Have you any idea how annoying it is to have someone pray to you in the very next room?" He asked rhetorically. Alexa frowned and thoughtfully returned to her food. After all this time, thousands of years, Chiron still worried about the welfare of his students. While this was undeniably sweet and certainly made her feel better about her own teaching abilities it also placed a lead blanket made of guilt over her shoulders. How much worry had she caused Chiron? An apology card and a box of chocolates didn't really seem to cover the anxiety her boneheaded decisions would've caused.
"If I were you, I'd find something to do now that your classes for the day are done. Something that will allow yourself to process things while making yourself available for the campers." Mr. D continued.
"Like pinochle?" Alexa asked flatly.
"Like pinochle! Glad I thought of it!" Mr. D smirked. Alexa couldn't help but laugh.
"I may take you up on that, but I have a few things I need to take care of beforehand." Alexa said as the idea struck her. Mr. D nodded his agreement and silently went back to his meal.
Maybe it had been Mr. D's presence that had reminded her, or maybe it was the conversation about worrying people but it had suddenly occurred to Alexa that she hadn't kept her promise to Jazz. The invention was hardly new, everyone in Cabin 9 learned how to make an IM client during their first week. Alexa whipped up her own in just half a minute with a bit of prismatic crystal from the Camp Store and a flashlight. She retreated to her room in the Big House and flipped on the flashlight, shining a clear and perfect rainbow onto the far wall. Alexa pulled out a drachma.
"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." Alexa said as she tossed the coin into the rainbow. As it blinked out of existence she said "Jasmine McDonnell, Victoria Minnesota."
The rainbow shimmered and rippled for a second, then a fist seemed to fly at her from out of nowhere! Alexa jumped back from the Iris message, the punch causing the whole thing to shake and distort.
"Spits?" The image righted itself to show Jazz, clad in sports bra, workout shorts and hand wraps, standing in the middle of her workout room.
"Why would she put the message directly on the punching bag!" Alexa complained.
"You do know I can't actually punch you through the Iris message, right?" Jazz laughed.
"Tell my heart that! Jeeze!" Alexa grumbled. Jazz's chuckles faded, but her grin remained.
"So what's up?" She prompted.
"Just calling to give you an update…a lot happened yesterday." Alexa pulled up a chair and sat. Luna hurried over and plopped down, laying her head in Alexa's lap.
"So to start, I got my new labor from Her Highness…she wants me to go to the Underworld to act as a handmaiden over the winter." Alexa sighed. Jazz winced.
"The whole winter?" She asked.
"And the autumn too, I leave in September." Alexa shook her head.
"Well…could be worse." Jazz said with a small laugh.
"It gets worse!" Alexa insisted "I decided to go back to Camp for the summer, and I walked into a madhouse!"
Alexa hesitated. She honestly didn't know how Jazz would react, she had been a full time camper for 8 years after all, she loved this place just as much as Alexa did…but keeping her in the dark felt worse than sharing the unpleasant news.
"The…the camp barriers are failing." Alexa announced.
"What? What do you mean? That shouldn't be possible." Although Alexa wasn't as adept at reading Jazz's emotions as Jazz was at reading her's, Alexa could at least see the worry growing in her big sister. She hesitated, but in the end she explained to Jazz what had happened to Thalia's tree. Jazz was gritting her teeth within seconds, but she made the effort not to interrupt Alexa. The effort failed when Alexa got to the part where the gods blamed Chiron.
"What?!" Jazz barely kept from yelling. She was on her feet, fists up, eyes narrowed, and teeth bared. She looked about ready to start tearing her way across the country like a tornado of fury.
"That's what I said!" Alexa fumed. Jazz punched a training dummy, causing the whole foam covered torso to hit the wall with a soft thud and a defeated sounding wheeze. Jazz stepped back, huffing and puffing before returning to the conversation.
"So what's going to happen to him?" Jazz half growled.
"He's…been fired." Alexa sighed "But that's as far as they went. He decided to spend the time with a centaur herd somewhere down south."
Jazz let out a snort like a bull.
"In the meantime," Alexa continued, "I've taken up his job as the activities director here at Camp."
"Wait…what?" Jazz asked with a blink.
"Well you know…someone had to do it and before I stepped up they were going to bring back Tantalus to do the job!" As Alexa spoke Jazz visibly relaxed.
"Well at least they got someone competent for the job!" Jazz said, a smile returning to her face. For some reason that only set Alexa's nerves on edge.
"Are you sure? Because it's only been a day and I've already sent four kids on a potential suicide mission, threw water balloons at some more and nearly broke a girl's arm!" Alexa's voice was rising in pitch and volume. "I have no idea what I'm doing! Every time someone asks me a question I feel like they're going to figure out I'm a fraud! I can barely think straight! I can barely eat, I keep doing things that seem right but what if I'm just making things worse! What if I'm forgetting something important! What if…What if the camp falls apart because of me?" Every worry, self-doubt, and anxiety came rushing up from the pit of her stomach like an erupting volcano. Now that the veneer of calm assuredness was shattered Alexa felt like something was sitting on her chest! Her babble faded into hyperventilating, and she sat heavily in her chair, her hands vibrating against her thighs.
"Woah! Spits, breathe!" Jazz said. Alexa sat in her chair. Luna was quick to hurry over, laying her big square head in the demigod's lap until she managed to calm down. The vice-like grip slowly loosened from her chest as she slowly ran a shaky hand through Luna's fur.
"Jeeze…" Jazz sighed. "Spits, I wish I could tell ya you're doing a good job, but honestly that's not up to me. Are you connecting with the kids?"
Alexa frowned, idly petting Luna's head, the soft metal filaments calming her nerves.
"I think so…" Alexa finally answered, though her voice still sounded unsure.
"Are you teaching them something they need to know?" Jazz continued.
"Yeah." Alexa said, some of her confidence returning.
"And are you doing everything you can to fix things? To get Camp back to what it's supposed to be?" Jazz pressed. Alexa's mind flicked to the three demigods and the young cyclops on their warship. Could they really find a way to fix this? Maybe…but clearing Chiron's name on top of that seemed like a bit of a stretch. Still…she couldn't let go of that tiny hope, not yet. Not with her first home on the line.
"Yes." Alexa answered after a long pause.
"Then you're doing everything you can! Everyone is nervous when they step out of the box, and the more pressure, the harder it is. But every smith smashes their finger at least once before they make a knife worth holding! You just got to keep at it until even you think you're a good teacher!" Jazz said earnestly.
"Did…you just use a blacksmithing analogy to try to make your point?" Alexa asked flatly.
"Did it work?" Jazz asked with a grin.
"...Yeah," Alexa begrudgingly admitted, "Thanks Jazz."
"Anytime!" Jazz laughed. Alexa sighed and got to her feet.
"I'd better go before anyone decides to kill each other, talk to ya later. Say hi to the family for me." Alexa stretched and patted Luna.
"Will do! Chin up and try to have fun out there!" Jazz encouraged. She smiled in response and quietly turned off the flashlight, disconnecting the call.
"Fun…" Alexa muttered, heading for the door, a hand still on Luna. "You know how to play pinochle?"
"Aroof!" Luna barked.
"Well that makes one of us…" Alexa sighed "Come on, we better get down to the deck before Mr. D has to look for us."