The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 56 - Apollo - The Worst Narrator Ever

The part that Alex left out: she didn't make it back to CHB. 

Oh, this is Apollo, by the way, in case you were wondering who this beautiful blonde head with the most- oh alright Alex. I'm not diverting off topic. 

So yeah. 

We, the gods sitting at Mount Olympus, watched her fight those monsters, automatons and whatnot. When she was done, CHB cheered so loudly that I was sure that the sound would go way past the Mist barrier.

What I couldn't have ever predicted though, was what she did next.

She got onto that horse of hers and rode it around the magical barriers of the Camp. And within minutes after it had broken into a run, the clip-clip sound of the horse trotting faded into the crackling noise of a burning fire.

Greek fire burned through the outer barriers, threatening to burn to ashes anyone who tried to bring danger to the Camp. 

In the middle of it all, at the entrance to the Camp where the fire burned brighter, sat in a cross legged stance, my dear Alexandra.

It was a pitiful sight.

She was a good friend, and to see her burning herself with Greek fire brought tears to my eyes.

It was all my fault.

She'd sacrificed her spot at Olympus for me.

The thought ran through my head at least a hundred times.

(We gods do feel guilt sometimes, Perseus. Stop rolling your eyes.)

Artemis' eyes never drifted away from the TV. Once in a while I'd hear her mutter, "Should've joined the hunt."

Hera, my dear step-mother, on the other hand was the most worried. Her eyes were sunken and gray patches colored her hair which had once been a lush black. 

"She cannot burn herself," she muttered over and over again, as though she had had a premonition about Alex dying if she ever stepped into fire. She was literally fire before Hephaestus came into the game.

I wouldn't say the same thing about the gift of prophecy. Sure, she could look into time once in a while, but she had no right to reveal what she saw, and she never did.

But she came in useful. You could always realize from the look that Alex gave you whether you were doing something right or wrong. Like this one time- I was, uhh... teasing Pan about his scratchy thin beard (come on, I wasn't bullying him. Shut up Alex!)

Anyway, when I remarked on Pan's shrilly voice, Alex gave me this look. It was like a super-ultra-deluxe-you'll-regret-that-look.

Well, so I backed away from Pan. And thank the gods I did because later Pan's voice, the sound of Panic helped us gods in so many battles.

But back to the place where we were.

Zeus didn't seem to have a glint of the whole OMG-my-daughter-in-law-is-dying-panic in his eyes. He watched the TV unblinkingly. I almost expected him to ask popcorn.

Poseidon had decided not to attend the meeting. A good choice, if you ask me. That guy and my father never get along. 

I thought the fires might consume the Camp itself. And then came the more terrifying thought- my orientation film. 

If the fires consumed the camp then the orientation film would be destroyed as well. The difficulty I had gone through to compile all that artwork-

I was tempted to rush into the camp and secure the orientation film cassette in my best fireproof chiton. It'd be a waste of the chiton but the orientation film was worth it all.

I was about to get up when-

"The camp won't get on fire," a small voice came from the fireplace. "My daughter won't let that happen."

Everyone, even Zeus look up from the TV. From the flames rose a woman with eyes as dark as charcoals, but the power in them were like burning coals. She wore a long red cloak with a hood that covered most of her face. But her eyes, they seemed to burn through that hood.

Hestia removed the hood from her head to reveal her scarless, spotless and perfect face. 

"My daughter," she said, "if she is truly my daughter, she will not let those who love her and those who believe in her die."

"But the fire will consume them all," Athena said, "won't it? They'll all burn down! Father-"

"Fire," Hestia interrupted, "does not destroy. It brings together everyone. It purifies everything it touches. It is not a destructive force, my niece. And I know that my daughter will not let the fire harm anyone she loves. Alexandra knows the power of love. That's why Camp Half Blood is still not burning down."

Her face broke into a small smile.

"She could truly be my daughter," Hestia said.

And then she was gone in a blaze of fire. Everyone stared at the patch of black soot on the floor for a moment.

And then all eyes were on the TV.

I didn't exactly understand why my family was so concentratedly watching Alex. She'd been burning for the past twenty minutes until I had this thought, but the Olympus gods seemed to think that she'd burn into ashes as well.

Clearly, they couldn't go more wrong than that.

Finally, Dionysus broke the silence with a chuckle. 

"What?" Artemis asked, eyeing the wine dude severely. The two of them hadn't exactly been the best of friends, especially after Dionysus had a kid with one of Artemis' hunters.

"Well," Dionysus said, "I just remembered the days back in India." 

He looked back at the TV, and frowned a little.

"In fact," he said, "I think my sister may have just done what the Bramhans of India did."

His face turned wine red at the memory. 

He summoned a Diet Coke and before we knew it, he'd finished four cans.

See, when Dionysus tried to invade India, the Bramhans, the ritual priestly people of the place had calmly defeated his raging armies. If Dionysus hadn't been a god, he surely would have died in the process of claiming the Golden Country that is now known as India.

But what Dionysus said was true. Alex was sitting just as the Bramhans had done during the wars. Her face was calm and peaceful, as though nothing in the world mattered to her. The fire seemed to bend to her will, however, as though they were being pulled away from the camp by the full power of all the gods combined. Zeus' eyes widened in shock. 

She was unstoppable, and he'd just realized it.

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