Chaos Rising |BOOK 2| Harry Potter x PJO |Alexandra Marine|

PHOEBUS APOLLO

I was shocked too. A beam of sunlight slipped in through the cracks of the cave, glittering over the creature. A drakon, green and larger than most that one might see in real life on Earth, was snoring quite loudly enough for us to hear, perfectly settled on the ground in a circle, right next to the crack in the ground that led to Chaos.

"We should leave," Percy whispered. "I'm convinced only Ares' children can kill drakons."

"Shh," I whispered at him, taking a few steps forward towards the crack in the ground, and peering into it.

Chaos was neither black or dark or white or any color, to be honest. It was a mix of it all. "She told me to meet here... did she leave?" I wondered.

"Who?" Percy asked, his sword out and ready, just in case.

"Alex."

His hands faltered, and the sword fell to the ground with a CLANG.

"Alex?" he asked. "You mean... my sister? Alex?"

"I meant the goddess Alexandra, yes," I replied.

Percy's eyes seemed to well up with tears. The sword's CLANG echoed through the cave over and over again as the two of us stared at each other, Percy in shock, and I was waiting for him to pounce at me for not informing him earlier.

Our little competition was brought to an end by a vicious snarl sounding at the other end of the cave.

I looked away from Percy. "What was that?" the boy asked.

"Uh... I concur with you. We should run."

No sooner had I said the words when the drakon took heavy steps towards us, and let out a blood-curdling scream. I tried to move, but my feet seemed to stick to the ground.

It was not one step away from me, its nasty breath blowing my hair away, it's throat burning up bright enough for me to see the fire gurgling to the tips of its mouth.

"HEY!" a voice sounded. The elevator behind us DINGed.

The drakon stopped running at us at once.

"If I faint, please don't leave me here," Percy squeaked.

Footsteps echoed into the cave. I tried to close my eyes, but they weren't working. I was staring into the drakon's eye, a bright amber and glowing. It's neon green scales moved on their own, like it was muscle memory.

"How many times must I say that you're not allowed to eat other people?" the voice asked.

I turned around.

She looked like she'd died, been through hell, and come back again to life after a swim in the sewage.

Alexandra Marine was standing in front of us, her usually tan face pale like she was a Hades kid (which she technically was) her blue eyes glowing and changing color in the sunlight. She was wearing a black top and a pair of black yoga pants, her dark hair tied up into a messy bun, her long fingers wrapped around a cup of coffee from Starbucks, and her other hand holding a Lotus Casino Card.

Percy's knees let go, and he fell into my arms. "Alex?"

"Percy?" Alex frowned. "Percy!"

The Starbucks cup and the card fell to the ground, and Percy ran towards Alex, enveloping her in the biggest hug that a brother could give any sibling.

***

"I'm sorry, Percy, I should've done something," Alex apologized as she finished her story. We were all sitting down on the black sand of the cave, the drakon back to sleeping, and the siblings were holding each other's palm tight as she spoke. "Maybe I could've sent you some sort of message-"

"It's okay," Percy replied, his eyes red from crying. "I always knew you were alive. And look at you- you're actually here! I mean, I don't know what to say."

The two of them grinned at each other. 

I cleared my throat. "That was very brave of you, Alex," I said, "but you wanted me to get over here. I think I'd like to know why."

Alex's smile disappeared. "Right," she said, her voice serious. "Apollo, as you know, I need some time to complete my mission. I can't be here to lead anyone this time. Piper McLean will be back with the cure, and you must make the right decision. In the meanwhile, I'm going to need you and Percy to recruit some people."

"Sorry?" Percy asked. "Recruit?"

"Yeah," Alex replied. "This war is bigger than Greeks. It's bigger than us all. That's why Jason and I even met. If Gaia was a difficult war, Tartarus is going to be ten times worse."

I swallowed. "Whom do we recruit? The wizards?"

"Well," Alex smiled, and she stood up now, "you're going to have to go to the other side of Manhattan, climb some unclimbable walls to meet some dead people at their hotels, and of course, we can't forget the mortals that saved New York from the Chitauri."

She helped me up and pulled me into a hug. "I leave this in your good hands, the two of you."

"Wait," Percy asked, "what are you going to do in the meanwhile?"

Alex smiled. "Well, I'm going to have to kill myself, haven't I?"

I laughed. "Seriously?"

Alex nodded. "Anyway, Percy, you want to ask Ariana for her ideas on time machines before you go meet them, okay?" she turned to her brother, smiling.

Percy nodded solemnly. "I won't disappoint you."

"Okay." She turned away from us. "The drakon will join you for the final battle." She started to walk towards the crack in the cave, looking into Chaos.

"Alex... what are you doing?" I asked.

Percy seemed to be indifferent to her curious behavior. In fact, he said, "Good luck, sis. You better come back, or I'll jump in there and find you and drag you back out."

"Right," Alex chuckled. She turned to us one last time. "Alright, boys, see you in a bit."

And she let herself fall into the darkness.