"What… in the names of the gods was that?!" Thalia asked, "that- that thing bled white… it… what was it?"
"I- argh!!!" Alexander hissed. A sharp pain spread through his chest, as if someone had pressed a branding iron to it, burning deep. A dull throbbing was left after the pain subsided. His hand was pressed to his chest, activating his cold powers. I've formed over the pain and the pain lessened, though it didn't stop. Curious, Thalia pulled up his shirt and saw something which made her gasp.
"What is it?!" Alex ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Over his heart was a tattoo, a twenty sided dice, like the one that Ozymandias had over his heart. It glowed a white color, like snow reflecting the light. Ozymandias' tattoo had been bright red… the king of games… was that what this was about? He touched the tattoo and could feel a rush of power, like electricity flowing through his veins. The sensation stopped the moment he stopped touching it.
"System… what is going on?"
Nothing.
"Tsk- fine, I'll figure it out myself", he sighed, "what could this mean?"
"Alex, it's time for breakfast"
"R- right", Alex put his shirt back on, the orange fabric hiding the white glow easily.
Walking out, they noticed that the snow they had seen from the window was in fact not laying all over the camp, only in a 30 meters circle around the Zeus cabin. It seems that during last night's… fun, he had lost a bit of control and unknowingly created a little snowstorm above their cabin.
The other cabins were also on their way to the dining pavilion, where the hunters were already seated. The hunters seemed to sense that Thalia was no longer a maiden and gave her dirty looks, or maybe they just didn't like her, who knows. The hunters handed out flyers to the maidens, trying to recruit them. It was a tempting offer, immortality but Alex and many of the older campers knew what that meant. To never love, kiss or even hold hands with a boy… it was a heavy price.
Alex sat down at the Zeus table, trying hard to ignore the dull pain still pulsating underneath his orange camp halfblood shirt. Now still clinging to his black hair, flakes melting off of it by the Pavillon's warmth.
Thalia nudged him with her elbow, "you okay, frostbite? You have been zoning out, it's like you are somewhere else since… well, since the thing"
He gave her a half hearted smile, "yeah, just… thinking"
"About the mark?"
Alexander's eyes flickered to her. She wasn't stupid. She had seen the glow, the dice, the resemblance to Ozymandias, of course she'd be thinking about it too, "yeah, it's weird, right? Why is it suddenly on me?"
Thalia leaned closer, speaking in hushed voices, "what if it is some kind of curse, passed down from defeat?"
Alexander frowned, the word curse echoing in his mind like a bad omen.
"Curses don't usually come with power boosts, do they?", he muttered, poking at his breakfast, pancakes with plenty of syrup.
"A power boost?"
"Yeah, when I touched it, it was like power was injected into my veins, as if I could do anything. It was amazing but also…" he tried finding the right words but fell short.
"We should tell Chiron" Thalia pressed, "he has lived longer than anyone in camp, surely he knows what this is about"
Alexander hesitated, glancing down at his plate, the syrup pooling in little golden puddles, untouched, "yeah… maybe", he said, though his voice lacked conviction.
Thalia's eyebrow raised, "maybe? Alex, you grew a magical tattoo that looks like the mark of a demigod king or something. This isn't a maybe situation"
"I just… yeah, let's tell Chiron", Alex still sounded hesitant but now he couldn't back out.
Thalia nodded, though her sharp, blue eyes lingered on him longer than was comfortable. She could tell that he wasn't telling her everything but she didn't press. He had been hiding something for a long time now. All these strange powers… something was up. She had ignored it until now but with this new discovery, she could no longer.
As breakfast ended, Thalia dragged him to Chiron, "Chiron, we have a few… questions"
"Whilst I am usually more than happy to help, right now is-"
"It is important" Thalia pressed
"I have-"
"Have you ever heard of the king of games?" Alex interrupted. Chiron's face went through a hundred extremes in seconds.
"Where have you heard about that name?"
"We- we fought him"
Chiron looked as if he had been shocked by a million volts of electricity, "follow me"
Chiron led them to the big house, in which he looked them up and down, "the king of games… it has been long since I heard that name, that he had disappeared about a century ago, to the east if I remember right. He- he was once a demigod son of Tyche. He played with the gods in a card game for power. He wanted to be ageless, easy enough for a god to grant but he got greedy after he won and tried to add more to the deal. He was punished or perhaps rewarded? Mr D liked his moxy I think but anyway, he was given domain over games, not quite a god, more a spirit, forced to wander the earth, immortal but still with a human mind, he was driven insane by time. He was chaotic, which is why he is dangerous, no one can predict him. If he wants something from you, he could ask nicely or kill you for it. That you are still alive means he was in a good mood"
"And what- is this?" Alex pulled up his shirt and his eyes went wide.
"You have his mark?"
"What does it mean?"
"I- don't know", Chiron admitted, "this is new… that mark, none know what it really does, Mr D was quite drunk when he created it… we will have to wait and see"
New horizons eh?