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Magnus Chase somehow managed to shower all the chocolate off of himself, but he couldn’t wash off the sensation he felt on his lips. In fact, he never wanted to.
He put on a fresh set of clothes and laid down on his bed, staring up at Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and thought about Alex Fierro.
He thought about his badassery in every way, shape, and form—in every sense of each of those words. No matter if Alex was a girl or a guy, Magnus finally admitted to himself something he already knew, but couldn’t quite believe himself until now.
“I’m in love with Alex Fierro.”
The words felt amazing yet foreign to say. He had crushed on Alex since she arrived at Hotel Valhalla all those months ago, but he never really realized what those weird fuzzy feelings in his stomach were until Alex kissed him under the blanket in Niflheim, and suddenly, everything became a thousand times clearer.
Even after the second kiss, Magnus still couldn’t quite fathom the idea that Alex might actually like him back.
Magnus touched a couple of fingers to his lips to make sure they were still there and thought about what Alex had said.
“I need some space, Chase.”
Magnus decided that that was reasonable.
I mean, I did kind of just say that her kissing me is the best thing to ever happen to me, Magnus thought to himself. And I did it on a boat made of dead people’s toenails, surrounded by giants. Yep. Super romantic.
Magnus thought about everything before deciding something for himself:
I need some space too. But first, Alex Fierro.
He thought about how Alex would call him stupid if he heard Magnus’s somewhat contradicting thoughts, but the thought of Alex made Magnus’s cheeks flush and his stomach buzz.
Magnus got out of bed and headed towards Alex’s door and knocked. When Alex opened it, he gave Magnus a face that said: really?
“Magnus, what part of ‘I need space’ and ‘I’ll get back to you’ did you not understand? Do you want me to explain it to you like you’re two?”
“Hello to you too, Alex. Listen, I understand you need space, and I’m completely okay with that. I just came here to tell you that I need a bit of space too, just to figure things out, okay?”
Alex nodded and crossed his arms.
“That’s fair.”
“B-but I also don’t want us to completely ignore each other,” Magnus continued, feeling himself getting flustered. Alex smiled, which did anything but calm down the wild party that was happening inside of Magnus’s chest.
“Aww, you’re so cute when you’re smitten and flustered!” Alex said, pinching Magnus’s cheek and laughing. Magnus’s face only became more red.
“I hate you,” Magnus said, trying to be seriously sarcastic but smirking.
Alex smirked back. “I hate you too.”
Magnus got lost in Alex’s eyes before he remembered what he was going to say.
“Oh, one more thing: can I borrow that book with all the BLT terms?”
“Did you mean that book with all the LGBTQIA+ terms?”Alex asked, rolling his eyes and smiling. “I do tend to have the power to make people question their sexuality. Here, I’ll go get it.”
A moment later, Alex returned carrying a decent-sized book that had been well-used and well-loved. The cover was covered in colored doodles and stickers, and the title read: The Queer Alphabet: A Guide to LGBT and Everything In Between. The title text looked like it was written in silver holographic glitter that made rainbows when you moved it.
“If you damage this book in any way, shape, or form, I will not hesitate to kill you,” Alex stared with daggers in his eyes as he slowly handed the book to Magnus.
Magnus sensed that despite the fact that they were einheirji in Valhalla and could easily reincarnate, Alex was not being completely sarcastic.
“This is the book that helped me figure out who I am. I got it from my abuelo,” Alex whispered, not meeting Magnus’s eyes. Magnus gently patted Alex’s arm.
“Thank you for sharing this with me, Alex.”
Alex Fierro smiled and Magnus’s stomach was about to explode with happiness, rainbows, unicorns, and falafels.
“I hope it helps you as much as it helped me,” Alex said before closing the door and leaving Magnus staring at the polished brown wood.
Magnus returned to his room, plopped down on his bed, and opened the book. On the inside of the book was a note, written in what looked Spanish. After being homeless and looking at Mexican restaurant menus for two years and hanging out with Alex for the past few months, Magnus was just able to read the note:
My Dear Alex,
I hope this book helps you figure out who you are. No matter what, never stop being the amazing person you are, and don’t be afraid of change.
With love, Abuelo.
The last few words of the last sentence were underlined in neon pink pen, and in the same color, just below the note, was another note (in Spanish) that read:
No lo haré. (I won’t.)
Magnus softly smiled at the little written exchange.
As Magnus flipped through the book, he felt like he was discovering a whole new world. He knew, of course, that non-straight and non-cisgender people existed, but he never truly knew how many types of non-straight/non-cisgender people there were. As he went along the book, he noticed little notes written in the margins with neon colored pens and definitions highlighted in either pink or green. He also made a list on a separate sheet of paper with a list of sexualities and romantic orientations (something else he previously did not know existed) that he could possibly be:
Aromantic: yEaH tOtAlLy (no)
Asexual: hmmm, probably not.
Bisexual: maybe probably?
Demisexual: I know this doesn’t have anything to do with demigods but I bet Percy’s demisexual (but I’m not).
Gay/Homosexual: It would probably be hard for me to be attracted to only one (1) gender with Alex Fierro being genderfluid, so nope.
Heterosexual: LMAO NAH BRO
Lesbian (see: gay/homosexual): not even close.
Magnus kept flipping through the book until he came across a term that, when he read its definition, made his heart vibrate for a second.
Pansexual: Attraction to people regardless of gender; attraction to all genders.
Magnus looked at the pink, yellow, and light blue striped flag that was next to the word.
Suddenly, he felt right.
The next morning, Magnus returned the book. At least, he tried to. When he knocked on Alex’s door, there was no response. Magnus took a post-it note and wrote a note on it and stuck it to Alex’s door. Deciding it would be better and safer if he kept the book in his room rather than leave it on the floor in a hotel full of regularly-dying-and-fighting dead people, Magnus went back to his room to prepare for the day’s battle. He had just taken his shirt off when he heard a voice behind him.
“What is it with you and not closing the door before you change your clothes?”
Alex Fierro leaned against Magnus’s door frame wearing a pink and green chain-mail sweater vest with dark green jeans.
Magnus felt the blood rushing to his face.
“I—uh—” was all he could stutter out.
“Gods, Magnus…” Alex said as she rolled her eyes—Magnus realized that Alex was now female—and smiled up at the ceiling.
“At least you’re not covered in chocolate,” Alex finished, her heterochromatic eyes sparkling.
Magnus couldn’t think of anything to add, so he decided to do what he did best: awkwardly change the topic.
“Thanks for letting me borrow the book,” he started. “It really helped.”
Alex smiled fondly and genuinely, and Magnus nearly melted on the spot.
“I’m glad,” Alex said, walking towards Magnus and pulling out a crumpled-up post-it note from her jean pockets. Magnus realized it was the one he had left for her.
“I’m guessing you’ve decided on…hmm…asexual?” Alex tried to hold back a laugh (and failed to do so) as she and Magnus looked at the bad drawing of a pan with “oh no I’m attracted to kitchen stuff” written next to it. Magnus couldn’t help but join in.
“You do know what pansexual means, right?” Alex asked, still laughing.
“Yeah,” Magnus replied.
“Good, because I’m pansexual too.”
Magnus couldn’t stop the giddy feeling that exploded in his chest.
“I know it’s none of my business, and you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to or whatever, but what’s your romantic orientation?” Alex asked, calming down.
“Probably panromantic as well. Can that be different than my sexuality?”
“Oh yeah, totally. I know people who are asexual but biromantic, pansexual but aromantic, et cetera, et cetera.”
“Cool,” Magnus remarked. “What’s your romantic orientation?”
“I’m panromantic too.”
“Cool,” Magnus said.
The duo stood awkwardly next to each other before Magnus realized what Alex wanted.
“Here’s your book,” he said, getting it from his bed and handing it to Alex. “I promise I didn’t damage it.”
“You better not have,” Alex said with a smirk as she turned around and began walking to the door. “I’ll see you on the battlefield, Chase.”
“See ya then, Fierro.”
Alex looked back and smiled before closing the door behind her.
The battle was a bloodbath.
The daily battles always were, but it was especially bloody today.
Everything Magnus could see was tainted red due to the blood dripping down his head. He felt light and heavy all at the same time and he could feel himself about to die. He called upon his healing powers and was rejuvenated just enough for his vision to become clear again and for him to have enough self-awareness to see what was happening no more than ten feet in front of him.
Alex was fighting—and losing to—a berserker from Floor 432. Magnus noticed that the berserker’s spear was about to impale Alex.
He started running towards the two fighters. Despite knowing that death in Hotel Valhalla was temporary, the thought of Alex dying and him not doing anything to stop it made Magnus sick.
Magnus gathered up the little strength he had left, and at the last second, he threw himself between the spear and Alex.
The spear impaled him straight through the heart.
The last thing Magnus heard was Alex screaming, and the last thing that he saw was Alex beginning to cry as she beheaded the berserker with her garrote.
Magnus woke up hours later in his bed, his scars from the day’s battle in the last stages of healing.
He attempted to sit up in bed and grunted at the pain in his chest.
“Lie back down, idiot.”
Magnus’s eyes adjusted and he saw that Alex Fierro was standing over him, his eyebrows knitted together with what was either worry or concentration.
Magnus noticed that Alex had shifted genders again and was now male.
“I’m fine,” Magnus said, wincing at the pain.
“Like Hel you are,” Alex responded, rolling his eyes.
Magnus sighed as he asked, “Why are you here? Not that I don’t want you here or anything, I just—”
“I waited for you to wake up, idiot,” Alex responded, crossing his arms across his chest.
Magnus let the fact that Alex Fierro had waited for Magnus to wake unsettle in. His heart felt like it would burst out of his chest.
“Listen,” Magnus said as he started to explain himself.
“About what happened on the battlefield—I know you said you needed space—”
“Magnus—”
“—and I understand that completely, but I just—”
“Magnus—”
“I couldn’t just stand there and watch you die!”
“Dude, I’m already dead.”
“You know what I meant.”
The two einherjar stared at each other.
“I get that you need space—”
“Magnus, please—”
“But—”
Magnus was cut off by Alex Fierro leaning down and kissing him.
As Magnus closed his eyes, he suddenly forgot what he was saying.
Though it caused his shoulders to scream in pain, Magnus reached up and gently took hold of Alex’s head.
When the couple broke apart, Magnus noticed that Alex’s gender had shifted to female.
“You’re—you’re a girl now,” Magnus noted.
Alex smiled and nodded.
“Neat. I didn’t know that kissing a genderfluid einherjar caused their gender to change.”
Alex laughed and held one of Magnus’s hands against her face
“I thought you needed space?” Magnus asked, rubbing his thumb against Alex’s face.
“I got my space, Chase,” Alex said, kissing him again. “I’m ready when you are.”
Magnus couldn’t (and didn’t try to) stop the smile that beamed across his face. He leaned forward and kissed Alex again.
Magnus backed slightly away, stared at Alex’s eyes, and smiled again.
“Bring it on, Fierro.”