"A Taco Bell?"
The girl across from Xander twirled a lock of hair in her finger, making little spirals. Apparently, her hair was more interesting than their current conversation.
Xander grunted. "Yes, a Taco Bell. That's what they said, Karyn,"
Karyn smirked, as if to say "you're lying, I know it," and let go of the piece of hair in her finger, now resting her hands primly on the table. Funny thing is, she looked kind of well-kept – which was way too odd to see. The girl's choppy, long hair looked cleaner than usual, and her fingernails weren't as dirty as Xander had seen them just the day before.
"No way. There are not Cyclopes resting in a freakin' Taco Bell," said the demigod. Xander studied her features again – and he remembered that they, were, in fact, siblings.
The boy rolled his eyes. Ugh, he thought, Believe it already, 'cause I'm going to blow up any minute now. "You keep saying it like it's the most surprising thing on planet Earth. Don't you remember when we found a whole bunch of pit scorpions in a high school?"
A wave of memory flashed into Karyn's thoughts – not a particularly good one, too. They had defeated several of those nasty, filthy scorpions about a month ago. By the time they were finished, she was covered in dirt, sweat, and some other matter, and it took Karyn at least two weeks to get the monster dust off of her.
Karyn smiled. "That was one good day. We totally creamed the little rodents!"
Although he absolutely hated talking and even thinking about monsters, Xander couldn't help but smile also. Sure, he had been bruised and cut up all over, but his sister made it sound so heroic – everything he was aiming to be. The hot cup of tea in front of him warmed up his hands, and he took a sip of the drink.
"So, when do you want to go?" Tea burned Xander's tongue, and he made an inarticulate sound. His actions reminded Karyn to finish her own, then setting the empty mug in their sink. She fished out a little ring from her pocket – a tiny accessory with some jewels at the front – looking at it intensely. In a second, it had transformed into a silver sword, and Xander flinched. Her sudden movements startled him – they always did – and he frowned, wanting nothing more than for her shiny, almost intimidating sword to go back to its smaller and less threatening form.
Xander crossed his arms. He got up from his chair. "I'm guessing you want to go now."
Turns out, it was an abandoned Taco Bell – a piece of information Xander had not been told. It looked kind of eerie and unsettling, as usually the two were used to seeing places like this filled with life, and Karyn couldn't help but be reminded of an apocalyptic era when she saw it.
As if on cue, the moment the two walked in they both shared a strange feeling. Monsters were here for sure.
Xander pulled out his battle axe. The slick, polished celestial bronze caught his eye – and it did the same for others, too.
Two Cyclopes assembled out of rubble, and Karyn stepped back, pulling Xander with her. Hopefully, the gods were feeling nice today, because Karyn was sure she would have to do some praying if she wanted to survive without a lost limb. Xander wriggled out of Karyn's grasp and ran unnoticed to the other side of the now-not-so-bursting-with-life fast food place and snuck around the monsters, placing himself directly behind them.
"Tiny demigods should not be here," one of the fiends said, and the other grunted in agreement. Wow, Karyn thought, I didn't realize you guys had such big heads.
While Karyn was busy keeping the Cyclopes distracted and thinking about their abnormally large heads (and their eyes for that matter, too), Xander quickly bludgeoned one in the lower back, agitating it. The monster howled in pain, and the other twin swung around, letting out a battle cry and running after Xander.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed the half-blood, and he dashed towards Karyn. His sister thumped him on the head and hurled her sword smack into one of the Cyclopes' faces.
Monster dust spewed everywhere, and Karyn stupidly got some into her mouth – it tasted faintly of sawdust and tacos. Xander's battle axe reappeared in his hands, and he dropped it, the weapon clashed onto the floor. Hurriedly, he picked it up, running towards the monster – bravely or frighteningly, Karyn wasn't sure – and slashing one of its arms.
Karyn's sword – now in the form of a ring – appeared on her finger, and she took it off, letting it transform into a longsword again. Xander ran around the Cyclopes, swinging at it blindly.
It didn't take long for the girl to put on her game face and bolt to the villain. Karyn pushed Xander out of the way, and he fell away from the monster, landing on his bum. The monster growled, and Karyn smelled his disgusting, fowl breath and she lodged her sword into his chest.
Another puff of monster grime filled the air and Xander coughed. Karyn's sword clung to the ground and she waited for it to materialize on her hand. "You did great," she said, half-sarcastically and half-truthfully to Xander. A wide grin spread on Xander's face, and with Karyn's help, he got up, dusting himself off.
"Hey," said Xander. "I think I'm starting to like this monster stuff."
"Me too," Karyn's ring finally showed up and she stuffed it back into her pocket. "But let's promise to stay away from all Taco Bells for a while."