The Mighty Ones' Fall

Chapter 6: Alec Crashes His Own Party

That night I didn't sleep well. I dreamt of the minotaur. And Alec. Layna, too. My mind was jumbled with a bunch of confused thoughts, and I was trying to make sense of them all. After I woke up for the third time in the middle of the night, I slipped on my leather sandals and got up to go to the restroom. I was walking along through the cool night air, minding my own business and glancing up at the thick clouds that were threatening rain, when a flash of movement caught my eye, and so I turned around, finding myself face-to-face with Layna. Quite the coincidence.

"You couldn't sleep either?" she questioned, her green eyes opened wide. I only blinked at her, distracted by the fact that she was wearing only a skimpy pink nightdress, her bleach blonde hair tousled by the warm breeze. She continued, "I feel really bad about what happened with Alec in the infirmary too."

I rolled my eyes. "You shouldn't feel bad," I told her. "That's just how Alec acts. He's been that way ever since the gods died."

"Really?" Her eyes got even wider. I thought it was cute. Not that I would ever tell her, of course. "What about before the gods showed up? What was he like then?"

I shrugged, scratching my head. "Alec always kept to himself, like he does now, but he was never this angry. He was happy when he was with the gods, I think." Layna just looked at me expectantly, and so I paused before elaborating, "In the Woods, I always saw him with them. He even slept in their tent and ate with them and fought with them. He was just like them, without all the powers. Jan says Alec lost his best friends that day, not his gods."

"What is Alec's deal with Jan anyway?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my flannel pajama pants. "Jan is the only person Alec will tolerate for more than a few minutes. Damien and Darius think Jan knows something about Alec and the gods that no one else does, but that's all just speculation."

Suddenly, I heard the familiar clanking sounds of armor from off to my right, followed by a loud grunt of frustration. Layna obviously heard the noises too, because she immediately looked to me to lead the way. I frowned, but waved for her to follow me as I slowly wove my way between the tents, until we came upon the sword fighting arena. I bet you could guess who was there.

Alec, of course. Who else would break curfew to practice battle all through the night? The poor hero must have been training before Layna and I walked up, but now he was just collapsed on the sand near the practice dummy in the center, lying flat on his back with his hands behind his head and glaring at the twinkling stars above him. Alec was obviously not expecting an audience or a real fight because he was shirtless, wearing no armor whatsoever and thus showing off all of his well-defined, upper body muscles. A shining kopis sword was sitting on the opposite side of the arena, and I guessed Alec had purposely thrown it over in that direction, probably the origin of the sound Layna and I had heard.

"Are you two really sneaking out to meet each other in the dead of night? If I didn't know any better, I'd guess that you want Jason to be angry with you," Alec suddenly sneered, keeping his gaze locked on the heavens, and both Layna and I jumped. We didn't think he had noticed us.

"Well, what are you doing here?" Layna answered his question with a question, crossing her arms defensively. "You're breaking the curfew rules just like us."

"I don't sleep much," he said. "Never have."

Silence followed. I watched in wonder as Layna slowly hopped the low stone wall that circled the arena and bravely went over to lie down beside Alec, but not too close. Then I followed her lead, forcing myself not to stare rudely at the mysterious old scar that ran across his six-pack abs and halfway around to his back, but Alec only glared at us before redirecting his gaze back to the stars. "You should leave," he whispered to us, closing his eyes and not seeming at all affected by Layna's suggestive attire.