Chapter Text
Before Alexander died, his last thoughts were about his sister.
Not even a full day after being told Greek gods were real, he was being bombarded with plans for a trip across the country. NO PLANES, because apparently he could be a kid of some god Zeus didn't get along with and Riker didn't want to take the chance.
How sketch was that.
"They couldn't have jusht made more campsh? I've gotta go all the way to the Easht Coasht?" The teenager asked, mouth chewing on a handful of curly fries. He thought of himself as a true Californian, born and raised in Inglewood. Going to Lame Island or whatever it was called sounded dumb as hell.
The two were the only ones in the Jack in the Box during what should be a busy rush hour of teens getting out of school on a sunny September weekday. Sitting at a booth in an otherwise empty greasy fast food place, the only other people in there were the employees that cooked their orders.
Riker looked at him apologetically. "Well, you'd need a director for every additional camp, and it's not like we have an infinte roster of heroes and gods to ask for help from. The one in LONG Island is ran by Chiron! You know, the teacher of Heracles, Asclepius, Jason—"
"Don't care, man. Not a hero. My dream is to stay alive." Alexander shot finger guns at Riker as he got up from his booth, taking his tray to the trash cans.
Riker frowned, forgoing the rest of his own curly fries to follow him with a tray in hand. "It's also much safer there than here, dude. Your scent isn't as strong as most demigods I've met, but you're still a target and it's only a matter of time before a monster catches you."
"You said that usually a demigod is found by a satyr or monster at around twelve. Then they either make it to camp or die trying, right?" Alexander asked. "I'm already sixteen, maybe it just means I don't even have to go to this stupid camp," Alexander reasoned as they walked out the door. He was complacent with his life, and he couldn't imagine leaving his younger sister Maya behind with his newest foster family. This was their third assigned family, and while he's pretty sure they didn't care for him since he was already a "moody" teenager, she was only 4 and cute enough that she wouldn't have a hard time worming her way into their hearts.
It had only taken a month since they started living with this new couple until they'd taken to Maya like she'd been their own flesh and blood. Alexander was fine with that, she needed an actual family; not just an aimless teenage sort-of-delinquet brother. He'd ride it out without stepping on too many toes until he was an adult and could find his own way through life.
Riker walked alongside him with a weird gait he's had since Alexander met him. He'd always thought it was the result of unfortunate bone structure or something along those, as Riker's top half made him look like a normal teen with dark skin and black curly hair. But nope, his newest friend for sophomore year of high school was just a goat from waist down. And not a proverbial one like you'd say LeBron is, but an honest-to-gods goat that bleats. He had a sneaking suspicion that this won't be the weirdest thing he'll see in his lifetime.
"It's not that simple, dude. It's, like, my job to take any demigods I find to camp. I'm already older than most satyrs working for their searchers license," Riker explained. "It's a win-win! You get a safe place to live and/or train for possible godly glory, and I get my license for bringing you back in one piece. C'mon bro, please! Just check it out. It would take like, a week max by car. Road trip! Think of all the hot dryads we might meet on the way." Riker seemed stoked just talking about it.
Searcher's license? Hot dryads? What the hell is he talking about.
"Mmm, gimme a day to think about it. If I've gone this long without a monster attack, I'm pretty sure I've got another day where I'm fine. Gotta pack and say bye to Maya and all that. Maybe explain it to the new folks if I feel like it. Plus, new episode of Jackass tonight," Alexander laughed.
Riker furrowed his brow. "...Alright, I guess. Just pick me up tomorrow before school starts and we can hit the road." They turned into the alley shortcut Alexander started taking once school started.
"Wait." Riker whispered as he held his hand out in front of Alexander, sniffing the air. "...something's here."
"You sure it's not just your upper lip? Maybe it's a dog," Alexander whispered back. He hoped it wasn't a dog. He wasn't a dog person. Too much slobber. And unconditional love. He wasn't even an animal person, really.
"No. It smells... reptilian." Riker frowned.
"I'm pretty sure the only reptiles I've seen around here are like, those small lizards that do push ups. Someone lost their pet iguana?" Alexander joked.
BANG!
The sound of an industrial dumpster getting tossed aside in front of them echoed throughout the alley, sending trash flying everywhere. The first thing Alexander saw was a snake coming out of the hole behind the dumpster. Then two, then a dozen, all converging until the scaly lines met at what looked to be a ball peeking out from the hole.
That ball turned, revealing one of the ugliest faces he'd ever seen in his life. It walked out of the hole, revealing a... confusing body. Scaley skin, pointy ears, chicken feet, black wings, harsh eyebrows and dressed in some kind of judge's robe, this... woman dethroned Riker as the weirdest thing he'd ever seen.
"Okay, not an iguana. What the hell is that?"
"Sister, come on! We're finally in the mortal world again! I can't wait to start killing demigods again!" the first one joyously exclaimed. A second, equally hideous and slightly differently colored snake woman followed behind her. The first turned to Alexander and Riker, both frozen in shock. "And look at that! A human and a satyr already laid out for our first blood. You can take the satyr, my snakes want the human all for myself." She paused for a moment. "Hold on, I think this boy is a demigod! Hah! I couldn't smell anything off of him at first, his scent is so faint! He's no Perseus, but my snakes won't discriminate." An ugly sneer plastered itself over the first snake woman.
"Euryale, that's no fair! You know my snakes don't like satyrs! They think they taste too much like vegetables," the other snake lady complained. They both stalked towards the pair with bloodthirsty looks in their eyes.
Oh crap. Alexander didn't even know when he started moving his legs away from them.
"Oh crap," Riker concurred, his hand wrapped around Alexander's arm and sprinting down the alley. "T-That's Euryale and Stheno, two of the gorgon sisters. Why the hell are they here?!" Riker lamented.
The two gorgons pushed off the cracked concrete and started pursuing the two boys from the air, tailing them as they ran. "Come on, boys! Unless the demigod is a son of Hermes, there's no way you can outrun us both!" Euryale shrieked.
Unfortunately, she was right. The demonic looking snake ladies both started swiping at the two with their scaly clawed hands.
"Riker, where do we go?! I can't lead them back home, and unless you're carrying a real weapon I don't think we can fight them off!" Alexander's mind was frantic. Sure, he'd had his fair share of fights. But that was with other humans, nothing more than fists and the occasional knife. What was he supposed to do about these two snake hags?
As they pull out of the alley onto the street, the nearest building that was open was a Bargain Mart with a bright neon orange "Now Hiring!" sign on its glass walls.
"Uh... Uh.... we hide!" Riker hurriedly decided, dragging Alexander through the automatic doors into the store. There were a few people in there shopping, a few employees manning the cash registers.
The two sprinted to the back of the store close to the employee's room and restrooms. Alexander could feel the greasy curly fries threaten to come back up.
"There's no way they can come in here without anyone with eyes calling the police, right?" Alexander hoped while breathing hard.
Riker hissed. "Not that simple. While you and me can see those two for what they really are, that's not the case for mortals. The Mist will just twist their perceptions and make them see something they can understand."
The two peeked around one of the aisles, spying on the entrance to the store.
Euryale entered the store first, seemingly asking the twenty-something year old cashier if they'd seen two boys enter the store. The poor guy just shrugged, as Euryale just scoffed and walked in, checking each aisle on foot. Stheno came in after, cheerfully asking if they were still looking for job applicants.
Riker turned to Alexander, "Okay, scratch our old plan. We have to get to Camp Half-Blood A-S-A-P. Those two aren't regular monsters like dracaenae, those two acually have powerful names. There's no way to fight even one of them by ourselves." Alexander squatted down and took out his flip phone, scrolling through the contacts until he could find one of his newest foster parents. He couldn't remember the guy's name for the life of him, but he thought the lady's name started with a L or something. Lana? Lauren? Lois! He speed dialed her number, letting the phone ring.
Riker raised an eyebrow. "Who could you possibly be calling right now?! Can't it wait until after we escape with our lives?" He whisper-yelled.
Alexander made a placating gesture as the phone continued to ring. "Dude, chillax. If I'm gonna skip town outta nowhere, they're gonna think I died. Or kidnapped. I gotta at least send them a message."
"The person you are trying to reach is unavailable. At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up or press 1 for other options. Beep."
Alexander groaned. "Hey Lois. I'm probably going to be gone for a couple weeks. Don't worry I won't die or do drugs or anything, I'm just heading to New York to... find... my parents. Kind of. Emergency stuff. Haha. Do NOT call Child Protective Services, can we keep this on the down low? Thanks! Tell Maya I love her and I'll be back soon, okay? TTYL" He folded his phone to hang up and pocketed it.
"Okay, we need to sneak out of this store, make a break for your car, and then drive our asses out of California to New York. You can do this, come on Riker!" He slapped his own face to get himself hyped.
"Aren't you supposed to be my guardian or whatever? Not feeling very guarded," Alexander said to himself.
"THERE!" Euryale's shrill voice screamed from the dairy aisle.
"WHERE?!" Stheno responded from somewhere in the kid's section. She seemed to be holding some kind of robotic dog speaker thing. An iDog?
"You imbecile, just follow me!" Euryale took to the skies with a jump— or rather, swingng across the hanging incandescent ceiling lights. Wasn't that a sight. Employees and shoppers started panicking and making their way to the exit.
"Run for it!"
The two boys sprinted through the aisles, shelves behind them getting knocked down by the two gorgons. They were just a few seconds from the exit, pass the produce aisle and they'd be—
Alexander felt a cold hand grab onto his arm, dragging him and flipping him onto one of the apple stands, sending granny smiths rolling all over the tile floor. Alexander groaned, the impact causing him to lose the air from his lungs.
"ALEX!" Riker scrambled to a stop and started running towards the fruit stand, almost slipping on one of the apples.
Don't call me that, dude, he thought as he laid on a fruit stand with his assaulter pinning him down with her weird bird feet. Maybe I should think about my priorities.
"You're stupid to try and escape the both of us." Euryale joyously mocked. "You demigods just get weaker and weaker as the years go by." She dangled his left finger right in front of his face, pointing at him. "You're not even a warm-up!"
Alexander would then do one of the stupidest things he would regret for the rest of his (albeit short) life.
He strained his neck forward and bit that finger as hard as he could to break skin, blood flowing into his mouth.
The gorgon shrieked.
Alexander felt like he might start heaving. "Blegh, that tastes like straight asscheeks! What runs through your veins, sewage?!"
"You moron! Any blood from a gorgon's left side poisonous! You just sped up your own death!" Euryale cackled.
What.
Alexander felt his face go white. He started flailing in a panic.
"POISON?!" Riker screamed incredulously. Stheno had finally caught up and held onto Riker's shoulders, keeping him in place as they both watched.
Alexander had felt his fair share of pain before. He broke an arm falling from the monkey bars as a kid, back when he'd been an only child and his real mom and dad would take him to the park. He'd gotten through the emotional pain when he was told by police that his parents died in a supposed accident, leaving him and a two-year-old Maya alone. He'd been cut up by his classmate's crazy boyfriend because the psycho thought he was making a move on her.
Nothing could compare to the pain he felt in that moment.
It felt like white-hot burning, starting with his throat and inside, emanating outward to his skin. He started coughing, and his vision started to become unfocused. It felt like each second got worse, eathing at his entire body. He could faintly hear a deep voice screaming in pain as well as two shrill voices laughed.
Damn. I'm so sorry Riker, there's no way we go out like this, right? My last meal was curly fries and buttermilk ranch. I didn't... get to... do a lot, it seems. Huh. I at least wanted to say bye to Maya. Watch her grow up. Meet her first boyfriend. Intimidate said boyfriend. Embarrass her in front of her friends.
...Did I even tell her I love her today?
The pain started to subside, which Alexander reasoned to be his body being destroyed to the point his nerve endings couldn't even communicate with one another to send pain signals. Blind and deaf to the world around him, Alexander spent the last few seconds of his life wishing he got to do more, and that his sister would be able to live a long, happy life in his place.