After giving Percy a band-aid, the three demigods were sitting on the front porch. Will was annoyed, Percy was wondering how he’d let his guard down, Clarisse was just plain mad. She kicked a small rock, and turned towards the guys, “How could Chiron let her get away with it?”
“Clarisse…” started Will.
“No! I mean who does she think she is? Seriously,” she was really mad and was on the verge of shouting, “how can you be so calm?” She turned towards Percy, “And you Percy. I mean the way she talked about you and Annabeth AND she had the nerve to put a sword at your throat!” her hands were clamped into fists and she was breathing heavily.
“Wow… Clarisse calm down…” said Will.
“I’m sorry.” said Clarisse, she sighed, but the anger in her eyes didn’t subside. “Just I don’t like people like her.”

“I know.” Will sighed, he turned towards Percy, he smiled, “I guess we’ve established how supposedly dangerous she is, huh?” He put a hand out. Percy took it and lifted himself up. He couldn’t help but smile, too. He looked at Clarisse, “I thought you didn’t like me.”
“I don’t” Clarisse patted his shoulder, “I didn’t want you to die in the hands of a little girl, like her.”
“Jeez, thanks. Love how much you trust me.”
“Anyway, let’s go tell the rest of the councilors that we have a meeting before dinner.” said Will,
“And a potential killer to interview.” said Percy.
“Oh, get over it.” said Clarisse.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Percy was glad that, as he was heading to the cabins, Annabeth ran to meet him. “Why aren’t you at the stables? Aren’t you supposed to clean them?”
Ok, Percy didn’t need to be reminded of that. Especially after almost being killed. “Long story, but, first things first…”

After Percy told Annabeth about the meeting, her expression went from cheerful to worried, which upset Percy. “Why?”, “Remember the girl we found before yesterday?”
“Yes. They said she couldn’t move. Is something wrong? ” she sounded concerned, “She’s OK, right?”
“More than OK.” said Percy. “And she’s moving around.”
“What? How? When?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I wasn’t at the stables. She…”

“She, what, Percy?” Annabeth had this don’t-try-and-lie look, then she added with a smile. “She distracted you?” Percy was pretty sure that she meant something else.
“What? No,” Percy said, he told the whole ‘story’. Annabeth nodded, “So I guess we’re having this meeting to find out what she is? But that doesn’t make much sen-... Why do you have a band-aid on your throat?”
“Huh, what?”
“Band-aid. On your throat. What happened? Did you get hurt?” She approached and started touching it. Even after a couple of months of dating, whenever Annabeth touched Percy, a small wave of warmth went through him.

Still, he wasn’t going to tell her that the girl, Alexandra’s her name, almost killed him. So, he lied, “It’s nothing.”
“Percy,” Annabeth sounded serious, “Tell me.” Damn, nothing passed that girl. Not even a little lie like this one.

So Percy, reluctantly, told her how Alexandra had, pretty much, insulted their relationship to set a trap. He’d lost his temper, charged, and almost got his throat slit. He even told Annabeth how Alexandra threatened and had pressed her sword against his throat even more, which, he guessed, had caused that small scratch.

Percy was pretty sure he’d never seen Annabeth so angry.

“That bitch.” she mumbled. “Uh, what?”. Asked Percy. “Nothing. The meeting’s before dinner?”
“Uh, yeah.” Percy looked a bit nervous.

Annabeth looked at her watch, it was around noon. She looked at Percy, “If you don’t finish cleaning the stables, Mr.D. will be mad at you.” she smiled dazzlingly, she leaned against him,“So better go finish.” She kissed him, it seemed to calm him, “I’ll tell the rest of the counselors. Go. We’ll meet up when you’re done, right?”

Percy grinned, “That is if I ever finish. Mr.D also asked me to scrub each and every stable individually. He also wants every corner to be spotless.”
“Oh Gods, he didn’t. That’ll take you forever.”
“Yep, I guess he wanted me to be ‘busy’ the whole day.”
Annabeth laughed. “So, I guess I’ll see you at the meeting with the empousa.”
“Oh my Gods, you didn’t just…” laughed Percy.
“Yes, I did.” Annabeth started going, “See ya.”
“Bye” Percy turned and headed towards the stables.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“You shouldn’t have done that scene.” stated Chiron. He was in wheelchair form, and was trying not to get angry.
“I thought having a teacher like you would prepare him for something like that.” said the girl.
“Yes, but they don’t fight people like you.” said Chiron, “An Exorcist.”

The girl rolled her eyes, “ I know we’re not…” she tried to grasp for a word, “... nice, but…”

Dionysus snorted, “You’re worse than that.” He looked up from his drink. “After hearing so many rumors, you start to think that Exorcists are like monsters.”
“Because we are trained to kill?” the girl’s face darkened, “Your demigods are also trained to kill.”
“Yes, but they kill monsters,” stated Dionysus, he sounded bored of that fact, “They VERY rarely kill a human, and almost never in cold blood.” Dionysus chuckled, “You kids are like psychotic assassins.”
“Thank you.” said the girl.
“Ms. Orlov.” started Chiron, the girl lifted her head up. He sighed, she was so young, “Why are you here? Why had you fainted?”
“I don’t know.” said the girl. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters if something bad is about to happen to my camp or to any of my students.” said Chiron.

She looked at him straight in the eyes, “Nothing is going to happen to the camp or them.”, she said it with such certainty that even Dionysus believed her. “As long as my identity remains a secret, nothing will happen.”
“So, as long as we keep your identity secret, no danger will befall?” asked Chiron.
“Yes.” replied Alexandra. Chiron thought about it for a minute or two. Finally he said, “Alright. How long do you plan on staying? You can walk and all.”
“I’m still rather weak,” said Alexandra, “and I can’t walk for too long. This mechanical boot tends to be overwhelmed at some point, so I have to whip out my cane.” she looked at Chiron, “That’s not good, for an Exorcist.” she lowered her head and crossed her arms, “I will be here for a week, at most. If nothing unexpected happens, that is.”

Chiron didn’t look convinced, “How do I know you won’t try and hurt one of my students?”
Dionysus answered, “ Because she will break one of the rules of guest hood.”
“Thank you, Mr. Dionysus.”
“Lord.”
“Lord Dionysus.” said Alexandra. Number 1 rule with dealing with some gods, always be diplomatic. “I am bound by the sacred rules of guest hood, which were put in by none other, than Lord Zeus himself.” her expression didn’t seem to change, but Chiron saw some uneasiness when she mentioned that name. “Which means,” she continued, “while I’m under your roof, I will not do anything that may displease you, the host.” her expression turned to something sly, “Of course, as a host, you’re bound by the laws of hosting, which means, you cannot turn away a guest when they’ve asked for your… urm.. Help.”

Dionysus laughed, “Wow, she’s good.” he looked at Alexandra, “What do they teach you? Keep acting this way, and I will not be able to blast you or anything!” He kept laughing.
Chiron looked angry, “One week.”
“I’ll try my best to meet that time, Sir Chiron.” said Alexandra.
Chiron went into centaur-mode and trotted over to the exit, until Alexandra stopped him. She had gotten up from her seat and had walked towards him, “Sir Chiron,” she wanted to say sorry, but she decided against it, “Can I do an Iris-message? It’s important.”
“Yes.” said Chiron.
“Thank you.” she bowed her head.
Chiron left.

“Don’t bother looking for a fountain.” Alexandra turned towards Dionysus, “Only the Poseidon cabin has one.”
“I know.”
“Of course you know.” chuckled Dionysus before disappearing with a poof.

Alexandra went out. “Meeting’s before dinner.”, thought Alexandra to herself, “ I believe I have time.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Once out of the Big House, she looked to her right. Yep, just as she had known, Poseidon cabin was just after Zeus cabin. She headed for it.

Once inside, she found the fountain at the end of the cabin. She threw one drachma in, “Wolfgang Archibald ,HQ2, Underworld.”, the fountain burbled then said, in a lady’s voice, “Entering unmapped zone.”, Alexandra threw in a Euro coin. It did the trick.

In the mist made by the fountain, she saw a 16 year old guy , with blondish red hair, sitting on an office chair obviously bent over a book. He seemed to be so engrossed in the book, he didn’t notice Alexandra… Until she said hi.
That made him fall off his office chair and land on the ground, with a surprised look on his face and a dagger withdrawn in his right hand.

“Wer? Woh-” he seemed to notice it was Alexandra, “Alexandra! What? Oh Iris-message.” He had gotten up with such speed, it almost destabilized the iris-message.
“Hi, Archibald!” said Alexandra, waving, “Nice to see you again, too.”
“Oh Hades, Alexandra!” He sat down on his chair and lowered his voice, “Everyone’s been worried about you.”
“Uh-huh. I guessed.” She became worried, “How’s everyone? Charlie, how is he?”
Archibald smiled, “We’re fine, but” he frowned, “We’re being asked to instate a new leader which has everyone on edge, even our allies.”
Alexandra snorted. “Why am I not surprised? Order 1 and their ‘friends’?”
“Yes, of course.” Archibald smiled, “ When they said for sure you were dead, it pretty much pissed everyone off, no one believed you were dead,”

Alexandra couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride. Her comrades haven’t given up on her. Well, at least, for now. “That’s good to know.” she said.
Archibald picked his book up and scrutinized it. It was in Latin and it was about observing stars. “Seeing how glad you supposedly look,” started Archibald, “I’d rather not tell you what our comrades have done. For your sake.”

Alexandra’s feelings of pride vanished and were replaced by worry. “ What have they done Archibald?” Her voice sounded so calm, it sounded dangerous.

Archibald didn’t want to tell, but, as Alexandra’s comrade, it was his duty to inform, “ Rectrix, because no one believed you were dead, they wanted search parties. But, because of the war, we and the other Orders, don’t have the resources and recruits. At least, that’s what Order 1 said.”
Alexandra had a feeling what was Archibald going to say, but she still asked, “ And what happened after that?”
“Well, none of our comrades or allies wanted to take that so…”, Archibald reluctantly said, “... they’ve kind of ‘organised’ their own search parties.”
“What does that mean?” said Alexandra. She was getting worried and angry. She hoped that it wasn’t what she thought it meant, but seeing Archibald’s expression… “Archibald,” she was containing her anger, “these ‘organised’ search parties,” she was saying it very slowly, “, were they official?”
Archibald simply shook his head. “Reported? Classed? In the records, at least?”
“No, no, and no.” said Archibald, with his head down.
Alexandra didn’t know what to say. She was angry. She couldn’t believe that her own comrades, her own Order, would do such a thing.
“But it was for you, Alexandra. They…” Archibald wasn’t doing any eye contact.
“They what?” Alexandra didn’t want to question Archibald like she would a suspect, but she had to.
“They were worried, Alex. They…”
“Even if it was for me, Archibald, it doesn’t matter.” Alexandra had her arms crossed, “It’s illegal.”
Archibald hung his head, “Yes, rixter.”
“You, of all people, should have put a stop to it.” Archibald looked ashamed, “Actually, it shouldn’t have even started.” Alexandra mumbled. She turned back and looked at her comrade. “Anything else I should know?”
Archibald lifted his head and looked at her. “Yes.”
“Tell.”,
Archibald sighed, he knew Leonidas wouldn’t forgive him, but, “Are you where I think you are?”
“Sssh. I don’t want you-know-who to know where I am.”
Archibald nodded, “Oh yeah… the rumors and your ‘warranty’.” Alexandra nodded, “Well, anyway. Three of our comrades know where you are and they’re coming for you.”
“Were they on duty?” Alexandra asked.
“Yes.” said Archibald. He was pretending as if he was reading his book, “They were on ‘Delivering’ duty.”

‘Delivering’ duty or job is when a three-member team are sent to tell parents or guardians of fallen comrades that they’re dead. They’re also given the task of giving the ashes to the parent or guardian. Not a pleasant job, but most parents or guardians of demigods almost never know when their kid has died in action. The problem with such a job is that, not only is it unpleasant, you must complete it. No detours, no changing jobs. If you do that, the Order has to pay a fine and the member or members who ignored their duty must be punished by the leader of the Order.

Alexandra knew all that, “Archibald, tell them to stop.”
“Sorry?”
“Tell them to stop. They shouldn’t come all the way here. They’d be found out and punished.”
“Yes, boss.” said Archibald. “But, they’re smart. They’re not going to be found, I believe.”
“Yes, but then that would mean that our ‘friends’...” she looked at Archibald intently, “... would find out that I’m alive, and send their own people. And you know what that means.” Alexandra looked at Archibald, “Besides, we don’t want our most adored ‘friends’, up there, to find out I’m here. It would not only bring trouble to me, but to the ‘locals’ as well.”

Another rule of being an Exorcist, never state your orders or reports clearly. Always in code.
“I understand.” said Archibald, “Anything else?”
“Yes, start selecting a new leader.”
Archibald looked at her quizzically, “Are you resigning?”
“Nope,” Alexandra smiled playfully, “Just playing.”
Archibald smiled. He so very rarely smiled these days. “I’ll try and convince everyone else. I hope you can come back before we’ve chosen a new leader.”
Alexandra smiled, “Give me a week or so. I will be back.”
He chuckled, “Aah, those references.”
“Uh-huh…” Alexandra paused, she seemed to be thinking about something.
“What’s wrong?” asked Archibald, his smile fading.
“How’s Clyde?” asked Alexandra.

The question took Archibald by storm. He realized Alexandra had disappeared before Clyde had… He wanted to lie, to say that Clyde was fine and all that. But Archibald knew, that either way, Alexandra was going to find out.
“Alexandra… I’m…”
“C’mon Archibald, I don’t have all day.” she was still smiling. She also smiled rarely.

Archibald put his head down. He remembered the blinding light that had helped defeat Tartarus. “Alex,” he started. He remembered after the dust settled and everyone was cheering and jumping out of joy. “Clyde… he’s… he’s”. He remembered their leader, Clyde, walking towards them, with a smile on his face. “... he’s dead.” Archibald blinked back tears. “After the war was finished, his cancer…” he couldn’t finish.

Alexandra didn’t say anything. She simply put her hand to her forehead and put her head down. After what seemed forever, she said, “I have a meeting with the counselors.” her voice sounded hoarse. “Alex…”
“It’s OK.” she lifted her head and did a small smile. “I’ll try and be polite.” She looked at Archibald, “You simply pass the order to everyone else.” Archibald nodded.
She disconnected the Iris-message and left the cabin.

Notes

Notes are optional. You don't have to read them. Simply go to the end for special thanks and all that

This chapter was to give Alexandra more character, since so far, the only character we have of Alex is evil bitch. Evil, judgmental bitch. Anyway, this shows the risks and maybe sheds some light to why no one must know of her identity as Exorcist. Sooner or later, I'll make those reasons clearer.
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Since I don't want to populate the comment section, Am I doing something wrong? Are the chapters too long? Is the story boring?
I need feedback people! :D .... Please? !(O^O)! (I have no idea what face is that.).

Anyway. Thank you for reading and spending your time reading my story. Stay cool, keep reading, you guys are awesome. Don't do drugs!

Lolig out!