Warning: occasional swearing, adult themes, violent depictions, shirtless guys, and copious amounts of weasels—wait? There are no weasels in this one?! Refund!

What happens when a monster captures a demigod and decides to keep it as a pet? One of the members of the Traitor's Seven goes missing and his brother has to recruit help to get him back. Assuming the monster hasn't already destroyed him…

When the Stone Cracks Part I

By J. Flash

Act I

When Kally's sister shouted that someone was at the door for her, she was crying into one of her pillows.

No one should have been making an unannounced visit. Her best friend, Merry, was in New York, over 400 miles away. The only other person who made house visits was her… friend Pax, who normally snuck in through her window and would never do so at the reasonable hour of 8:17 on a school night.

It was probably a monster. Monsters had done this before: used the Mist to cover up their true appearance to drop by for some chat and kill. They would claim Kally had their German textbook or the likes. At least the monsters could try to feign some effort-she didn't even take German.

The footsteps thumping up the stairs were too rapid for a calm house call.

Kally snatched the Argonaut statue off the bookshelves built above her bed and rose to her feet. It turned into a celestial bronze discus when thrown, and she had a feeling she'd need it. Unfortunately, her room wasn't big enough to properly hurl it, so she'd have to be careful—

Someone knocked at the door.

Monsters were not known for their courtesy-knocking.

"Kally?" a shaky, familiar voice called."May I—I'm sorry for the intrusion—"

She dropped the discus and rushed to open the door.

Axel stood on the other side. His short hair looked disheveled, and Kally realized he must have normally gelled it. Stubble darkened his normally well-trimmed goatee. Half a cigarette was tucked behind one ear. His clothing reeked of smoke.

"I—may I come in?" he asked, trembling.

There wasn't much "in" to come into, since her room wasn't big enough for a desk or chair, but she nodded and stood to the side. Axel never looked this… agitated. She was too stunned to say anything, except to blurt, "I didn't know you smoked."

Axel didn't seem to hear her. He squeezed past her, eyes frantically darting from her bed, her nightstand, and her closet with the armoire inside. Once he inspected the place thoroughly, his shoulders sagged. "Pax isn't with you…" he stated.

"No," she confirmed. Worry twisted her stomach. Was he supposed to be? Pax did need a babysitter, else you might find him teepeeing the closest temple, and that was if he was feeling uncreative.

"Have you seen him in the last 24 hours?" Axel asked.

"No…" she repeated, feeling horrendously unhelpful.

"I think… I think he darted me asleep," Axel said. He puffed up his cheeks and popped them, then mumbled in Mayan. He shook his head.

From what Pax had told Kally, Axel had night terrors that caused insomnia. Every so often, Pax would use his knockout darts to give his brother a well earned nap, without his permission of course. Just a normal expression of Pax affection.

"When I woke up, he was gone—but the van door was wide open like…" Axel shook his head again and mumbled more in Mayan. Kally hoped he realized, as much as Pax had been trying to teach her useful phrases like my corn tastes better than yours, she didn't actually speak the language. "It's been over ten hours, not including however long I was asleep. Chris messaged that he's not with the Hermes Cabin. You're the only one I know he'd go to see…"

That was worrisome. Axel couldn't get Pax to leave him alone for thirty minutes unless he was harassing Kally or Chris, let alone a few hours.

From the look on Axel's face, he was scared.

When he settled his gaze on her face, his eyes widened. "Kally…" He reached out to touch her face. "What happened?"

At first, she didn't know what he was talking about. Then she remembered how puffy her cheeks got when she cried. Normally, she would shy away or blush if Axel touched her—especially her jaw line. Though she didn't think Axel had ever touched her face.

She shouldn't talk about it, especially not when Axel was so worried about Pax and needed to be looking for him. But her lower lip trembled with the threat of further sobs. "I talked to my mom," she said.

Kally didn't need to explain about what. Everyone in their party knew her parents were married, and that her mother either cheated on her nonbiological father with Apollo or was raped by him. Since she found out she was a demigod, she'd been trying to get up the courage to ask.

Axel's gaze was steady. "What did she say?"

Against her will, she could feel the hot wetness streak down her cheeks. Her voice cracked. "She didn't. She just—she just packed up her bags—and—and—she left to stay at her sisters. She…"

Kally choked. Axel was not the typical person you'd want to seek comfort from. He was notorious for criticizing others for being emotionally compromised during battle and shaming them into compliance. He was so strong. This was the weakest she'd seen him.1 Even if this wasn't a battle, she didn't want to bother him with her family problems when he'd tried so hard to shield her from his.2

That's why she was so surprised when she felt him slip an arm around her shoulder and another around the small of her back. Axel hugged her, pulling her against his chest and leaning down so she could cry into his shoulder.

By then, she gasped with sobs. "I didn't even get to ask—I—I said I knew dad wasn't my biological father—I was trying to be gentle, like Merry said—the look on her face. She looked horrified and offended, like I'd smacked her. And she just—she just left—she just…"

Kally heaved, her legs feeling weak. She hadn't talked to anyone. None of her siblings or her father knew why her mother had suddenly left. Her mother left a note saying there was an emergency and they hadn't heard from her since.

Axel rubbed a hand a long her back, letting her cry. She didn't want to, but-but really, really all she wanted was to be held, for someone to tell her that her mother would come back, that it was Apollo's fault, not her fault for being born and fucking up her family.

"Confronting your mother was brave Kally," Axel said at last. "Don't discount that."

She was scared she'd start to sob again. Despite herself, she laughed weakly and said, "You smell terrible."

Axel withdrew. His lips twitched like he wanted to smile. "I know. Pax hates this smell too."

"We should go find him," Kally said. She waited for him to say she wasn't fit for action.

He examined her. Others said Axel's gaze was unnerving. He seemed to blink less than the average person, and his stare was almost…predatorial and hungry.

Instead, he nodded. "Let's get you out of here. You have your discus, nectar, ambrosia, and some nice looking street clothes that you can still fight in?"

"Street clothes?" Kally repeated. That was all she really heard in the long list. Fortunately, she already had ambrosia and nectar tucked away in her messenger bag.

"Yea," Axel confirmed. "I have a guess as to where he is, but I need to ask some people some questions before I can be sure."

"Oh—oh-okay," Kally mumbled dumbly.

"We're going to a club," Axel clarified.

She'd never been to a club. She wasn't old enough for the big kid ones and there wasn't an overabundance of them for sixteen-year-olds. Hesitantly, she reminded Axel, "I—uh—don't think I can get into a club."

"You can get into this one," he assured with a shrug. "Since Camp Othrys was defeated, they don't see a lot of half-bloods. They'll be excited you're there," he spoke like it was intel for a mission. Kally guessed it technically was, but it didn't make her feel more comfortable. Though her comfort didn't matter; she'd do anything to get out of the house and get her mind off what happened.

She put a hand to her mouth, thinking. "Um, nice street clothes?" she asked.

He shrugged again. "I just wear a nice T-shirt and jeans but…" He hesitated. "I'm a guy. I'm not sure how it works for women. But make sure you can still fight in it."

Kally had several skirts she she'd bought thinking she'd one day she'd look less like a slob, and that day never came. Axel excused himself out of the room while she fumbled to find one that wasn't wrinkled. She ended up with a high-waisted skirt that flared a few inches above the knees, some leggings, and a pair of combat boots. She wished Merry were here. She'd fix her hair and makeup in seconds, but Merry would also probably roll her skirt up by one layer. Kally threw on some mascara.

Axel stood outside the door, facing away and surveying the hallway like a bodyguard. When he heard the door open, he turned and smiled. "You look cute," he said.

Kally felt her cheeks get hot. She hated when he dropped compliments like it was nothing.

Her father would probably already be asleep or in the basement, playing computer games. Her sister apparently didn't care that Axel was here. Luke and Mark were out. That left—

As they started to go down the stairs, Kally caught sight of John standing by the front door, arms folded. "Where do you think you're g—"

Her brother choked on his words when he saw Axel behind her. He shrank back against the wall. "Uh—"

While they finished the last few steps, Axel waved at him. "Hi John," he said, like he hadn't scared him senseless last time they'd met. "I'm taking Kally to a club formerly for Kronos's men, to save my brother from a kidnapping. I'll try to get her back before dawn."

John stared at him. He glanced from them to the stairs to the door.

"Good man," Axel said, patting John's shoulder. John flinched. Kally could have sworn Axel was trying not to smile.

Axel stepped ahead and held the door open for Kally. Although she shouldn't have, Kally lifted her chin at John. "You're not the only one who's allowed to sneak out of the house," she snapped, then scampered out after Axel.

Most of the ride was silent. Axel kept the window cracked, so he could tap his ashes out. Kally couldn't understand why it bothered her so much. Maybe it was because she felt like she should have noticed that he smoked before? It did explain why the van would occasionally smell like someone had dumped a warehouse of Bath and Bodyworks as a cover-up.

She didn't want to bring it up while he was so unsettled but he'd gone through at least three cigarettes. From the reflexive reach to pull another out from behind the sun visor, he wasn't aware of how many he had smoked.

"Pax doesn't like it when you smoke, does he?" she asked quietly.

Axel frowned. He was a quarter way down number four, but flicked it out the window. He didn't reach for another. "It reminds him too much of Santiago and Kouta. It really upsets him."

"Why do you always say Santiago instead calling him your father?" Kally asked. It didn't occur to her until now, but Pax would say "Dad" and Axel only ever said "Santiago."

"The man Ajax calls Uncle Frasco—he legally adopted me. He took care of me and my siblings. He and my mother w…" Axel trailed off.

When Kally glanced over, she could see Axel pressing his lips together. His brow was furrowed. Too much, Kally thought, these stupid Pax boys carry too much alone. He shook his head, eyes focusing into a scowl. "My dad is Frasco. I'll never call Santiago my father."

She wanted to apologize for asking and for the fact that Frasco was dead and Axel couldn't save him. Instead, hesitantly, she reached a hand out to where Axel's knuckles were tense on the van's shifter. Gently, she placed her fingers overtop his. "I know you need to be strong around Pax but… if you ever want to talk…"

She didn't want to insult Axel by suggesting he could ever be weak. As much as Pax told her about the awful things that happened to them when they were kids, she was sure Axel had never told anyone.

The van decelerated and Axel shook off her hand when he put the car into park. He kept his eyes down as he muttered, "We're here."

Kally tried not to feel disappointed. She grabbed her messenger bag off the ground, feeling stupid and silly in her skirt. Though she really hadn't wanted it to, the thought, "what kind of girl would a Pax boy date?" had definitely decided some of her outfit choice. When she opened the door, she was surprised to hear Axel say, "Kally…"

She glanced over.

The worry crinkles around Axel's eyes made him look older than he was, but his wide eyes were those of a scared child. He puffed out his cheeks and popped them, opened his mouth then shut it. "Stay close to me," he finally said. His eyes narrowed back into battle mode and Kally couldn't shake the feeling she'd missed an opportunity to talk that would never arise again.

"We're not going to engage in long conversations with anyone unless we have to. I want us to go in and out as fast as possible. This place is not safe."

She forced a smile. "I'm a demigod. Of course this isn't safe."

His eyes softened at the truth in her statement. "You hang out with Ajax too much," he said.

Kally wanted to point out that he encouraged Kajax quality time every opportunity he got, but figured she should stick to the more relevant topic at hand. "What's the name of the place we're going to?"

A dark smile cracked his lips. "It's called The Horizontal Monster Mash."

The Horizontal Monster Mash, or Hmm as Axel told Kally monsters called it, was about as dingy a place as one would expect monsters to horizontally mash. That horrifying thought was one that Kally couldn't get out of her head the entire night, and—she feared—wouldn't go away for the rest of her life.

They parked a block away, but even that single stretch of sidewalk made Kally realize this was no place to parade a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt.

Other than the half-moon sneering down from the sky, there wasn't any lighting until the door. Trash and cigarette butts littered the ground. Two ionic style columns were on either side of the doorway with neon blue and purple lights spiraling downward. The sign above blinked HMM every few seconds, to the rhythm of their footfalls on the concrete.

People were lined up along the side of the building, waiting to get in. From what she'd seen in movies, this was normal, but with each step closer, she realized why they unnerved her so much.

Most of them weren't human.

There were a few reptilian men and women, two or three people over six and a half feet tall, one or two were definitely ghosts—which made her wonder exactly why they were standing out in line. They were all hissing and chattering in Ancient Greek. "Did you see Medusa's newest statue? She says anything less than a smile lacks creative insight, but I think the horror in that child's eyes is much more telling of the soul of the modern hero."

"You lack creative insight. She wasted a perfectly good meal!"

Reflexively, Kally stepped closer to Axel and clutched her messenger bag. Although he'd said not to worry about it and to act natural, this felt like casually walking towards a sniper with a bull's eye drawn on your chest. How could he think none of these monsters would attack them?

Kally was already sure they were about to get jumped by at least ten different monsters, but then Axel did something to make matters even worse: he walked right past the line. Kally stared at the ground as hard as she could, her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she felt the eyes of those ten monsters staring hatefully after them.

There was a bouncer at the door. It was a Cyclops, about eight feet tall, with a clipboard in his hands. Maybe Kally should have felt a little racist for wondering it, but could Cyclopes read? He wore a black biker jacket that had Kally realizing that some Harley Davidson, somewhere, was making jackets in size XXXXXL.

When Axel got up to the Cyclopes, it completely ignored him, flirting with one of the snake women in line. Axel remained calm, took one hand out of his pocket and pushed the Cyclops's clipboard down. The snake woman hissed at him.

Kally had to wonder: since she wasn't particularly fond of the Greek gods, but this whole Greek god thing had shaken her relationship with God, who should she pray to when she thought she was going to die?

"My V.I.P. list doesn't have pipsqueak on it," the Cyclops snarled, hardly glancing at Axel with his one dark eye.

If Pax wasn't on the line, Kally would have immediately apologized and found out if she could outsprint monsters in their best club wear. But Pax was on the line. Plus, Axel remained calm. He said, "Try Axel Pax."

The Cyclops turned his full attention on Axel, eyebrow furrowing with difficult thought.

Axel put his hands back into his pockets, and sighed. "Head of the Triple As," he said aloofly.

The Cyclops dropped his clipboard. Kally didn't know what was more terrifying: the Cyclops itself or the fact that its eye widened with fanboy excitement. "Axel Pax!" he squealed. Several monsters in line whispered among themselves and peered around one another at Axel. The Cyclops continued to cause a ruckus that made Kally very uncomfortable. "The guitarist for Orpheus Metal! You guys were so good! We haven't had a concert as good as that one with the goats—"

Axel held up one hand. "That was nothing."

"Nothing!" the Cyclops roared. "When are you doing a reunion tour!?"

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Our lead singer is dead."

"Right—okay—when he's feeling better, you do a reunion tour," the Cyclops insisted. Kally had forgotten that dead meant different things to monsters and people. Much less permanent.

"Yea… we're going in now. You don't need to see her ID," Axel stated.

At first, Kally thought Axel was using the Mist to confuse the Cyclops, but then she realized he really didn't have to.

"Of course not! She with you—go in! Go in!" the Cyclops was bustling with joy, but froze. "Wait."

For a second, Kally saw Axel's jaw tighten.

Then the Cyclops picked up his clipboard and shoved it at Axel. To her horror, she realized it was blushing. "Could you… um… my son… Clops, he'd love an autograph…"

Axel bit back a laugh. He took the clipboard and scribbled on it. The Cyclops's face brightened again with happiness. It was weird seeing a monster like this. She was used to them just being… well, monsters from stories. Not fanboys.

Kally didn't realize she'd been standing behind Axel until he moved. After he handed the clipboard back to the Cyclops, he quarter-turned to her. In a flash, he'd wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. When she lost her balance and stumbled into his side, she almost choked. Axel didn't give her time to react. He was already leading them into the club.

As the Cyclops opened the door for them, the thump of a subwoofer felt like a physical smack. The lighting inside was dim, with strings of more purple and blue bulbs blinking in descending patterns from the ceilings. Half of the club was what she expected from what she'd seen on TV: there was a bar along one wall, with two Gegenees—six-armed giants—as bartenders. Their collective twenty four hands flashed across the bar, sometimes filling a monster's glass with nectar, sometimes slipping some drachmas or some gold aureus into the cash register, sometimes smacking a thief away from their tip jar. In front of the bar, there were stools in various sizes, apparently on some sort of rolly system, since they had ones that could accommodate the smallest half-blood and… not the tallest giant, but there was definitely one at least a sixteen feet tall seated at the bar. That chair must have been made out of Titanium.

The ceiling was expansive—she assumed—to accommodate all the giants. Kally gawked when she glanced up. There was a patio ringing the second story. A woman with leathery bat wings leaned against the second story banister to flirt with the sixteen foot giant, whose head was almost even with her. Others sat at tables along the patio, more monsters perched on the banister, and a few were hanging from the edges to chat with the bartenders. Dark shapes darted through the blue and purple light strings. The ceiling itself appeared to glow a faint green and ripple how Kally imagined an Aurora would if it had a tide.

Opposite to the entrance, past the chairs and a clustered dance floor, was a pool. Telekhines, merfolk, and icthyocentaurs frolicked about the water, splashed other patrons, and did trick flips.

She realized how happy she was to be tucked protectively against Axel when she saw the other wall. There were humans mingling comfortably among the monsters, but there was also a cage. Inside, two half-bloods battled with sword and shield. If one tried to back away from the other, or tried to rest, a Scythian Dracanae would jab them with a cow prod. A few monsters seemed actively interested, but the half-bloods seemed to be more of a backdrop.

Axel dropped his head down to her ear. "They're actors," he assured. "Luke and I once fought in there."

The name Luke sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. Especially not with Axel's face so close. Unfortunately, the reek of smoke shattered any illusion of giddiness.

Axel led them towards two empty seats at the bar beside a guy who had passed out on the counter with his hands on his head. Axel didn't sit down, but instead leaned against the bar like he was going to order them something. Kally debated on whether or not she could get up the courage to tell Axel she wasn't old enough to drink, then realized how stupid she would sound if she pointed that out.

As soon as Axel's elbow made contact with the bar, the man beside him sat up. "Ah! I'd recognize that smell anywhere!"

"Anywhere! Anywhere!" a second voice cheered.

"AXEL PAX IS IN THE HOUSE!" screamed a third voice.

At the shout, Kally felt Axel clench her shoulder. A few monsters nearby cheered.

They were swarmed in seconds.

Kally instinctively went for her messenger bag. Axel's hand slipped from her shoulder to grab her wrist. For a sickening moment, she realized that was the second she needed to defend herself. He'd taken it from her.

Then the monsters started talking about how great a band Orpheus Metal was, how Reptilian Rap wasn't the same—when were Pax and Axel going to perform again? Did they still do the circus performance stuff too? Axel released her wrist and rested his hand back onto her shoulder.

None of this felt real—well, the monsters felt real enough, but the fact that they were utterly mesmerized with Axel, and Axel had to wave off and divert question after question, promising he'd talk to the rest of the band soon—

"Is the Leonis Caput ever coming back?"

Axel's calm smile melted. His eyes flared and a low growl emitted from his throat, though that could have been the music. He abruptly turned back to the bar, ignoring the Empousa that asked.

Kally had never really gotten over the fact that her first monster was an Empousa. Although Axel clearly didn't want her to reach into her messenger bag, she kept one hand on the strap for quick access.

Once all the fuss had quieted down, they returned their attention to the man who started the shouting. Kally decided she shouldn't bother gaping anymore, but she was surprised to find this man hadn't just been the originator of the first shout, but the second and third as well.

He had three faces, one in the front and one on either side. He wore a black shirt, jeans, and his brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. There were two gags tied around his neck.

"Hello Tresus," Axel greeted, leaning his elbow back against the bar.

"Hello!"

"Hello!"

"Goodbye!"

The middle face frowned. His right face, the one facing Kally, winked. Like he was trying to outsmart himself, he slowly stretched his arms above his head, then snapped them down to reach the gags.

"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" cried the one on the right, biting at Tresus's fingers as he shoved a gag into the mouth.

"Left faces have rights t—mmmm!" said the left one as—Kally assumed—he gagged it as well.

"Much better," Tresus's last mouth said. He relaxed against the bar. The right face scowled at the middle and made Kally wonder, if the left face was also scowling at the middle, did that make him cross eyed? She'd have to remember that for Pax later.

Apparently this was completely normal, because Axel bit back a smile and waited patiently.

"I'm not sure I like the new Mist look," Tresus said, sizing Axel up. "Who were you going for? Like, a Luke-look? Or an Achilles look?" All of his eyes flicked to Kally. "All you half-bloods look the same to me—here, drinks are on me."

He snapped his fingers and the closest Gegenee slid two shot glasses down the bar. They were full of golden liquid.

Axel cleared his throat.

Tresus rolled all six of his eyes. After the first roll, the eyes on his right face continued to go in circles. Kally was scared she might get sick if she stared at them for too long.

He snapped his fingers again. The Gegeneee huffed at him before setting two black mugs down beside the shot glasses. A thick dark liquid sloshed inside and made Kally's stomach reconsider ever getting hungry again.

Axel picked up the mug to hand it to her.

Kally stared from the cup, back up to Axel's calm face. Her boundaries were already blown beyond recovery. She was a sixteen year old half-blood standing in a bar for monsters and evil half-bloods while talking to some three-faced guy for information because one of her best friends was missing. This was where she put her foot down. She wasn't going to try some alcoholic—

"Kally, it's hot chocolate," Axel said.

She blinked. "Oh," she squeaked while taking the mug.

Axel smiled, picking up his own mug to sip.

Tresus watched this interaction with rapt curiosity. The right face tried to mumble something into the gag, but Tresus smacked it. "Ow!" he muttered, then shook his head. He smiled at Kally. "So, are you a snack or a girlfriend?"

Snack or girlfriend. Kally didn't like the lack of grey area between those two descriptors. Plus, she didn't know if snack was monster slang or literal. So, when in doubt, she uttered the ingenious, "What?"

An uncomfortable moment passed where Axel didn't take a lead in the conversation. When she glanced over, she found him taking a long swig from his mug, peering at her over the rim. Then she realized, in horror, he wasn't going to answer.

At first, she was baffled how anyone could mistake her for Axel's girlfriend. Hades, he'd turned down the Goddess of Love like it was nothing. She figured Axel could probably convince Hera to cheat on her husband if Axel wanted. Then Kally became uncomfortably aware of Axel's arm around her shoulder, the smell of smoke, and how securely she'd huddled into his side. Considering how popular Axel seemed to be here, the monsters that would smile at Axel, then scowl at her might not have just been doing it because she was a half-blood.

She swallowed, attempting to put on a confidence that Merry would find more than mock-worthy. "He's my date," she stated.

Tresus laughed. While Kally was happy this meant her internal panic wasn't visible, it also made her want to cower behind Axel and apologize for being so bold. Axel smiled faintly and squeezed her shoulder.

"You Pax boys love your strong women," Tresus chuckled. His right face's eyes were wide with disbelief. Kally couldn't look at them or she'd get indignant.

Ah¸ Kally thought, so it wouldn't be convincing had I not answered myself. She needed to set Axel and Pax down for a how-to-give-warning class after this.

Tresus tossed back one of the golden shots. "You two have the club in an uproar. Now all we need is Jak-Jak or Alabaster to show up," he said.

Axel set his mug down on the bar. "So my brother did come by the bar?" he asked casually.

"Hm? Oh yea, he and Lamia were here… yesterday was it?" Tresus reached up to scratch above his ear, placed further back on his head than a normal person to accommodate the faces. His right face's eyes crinkled like it wanted to smile in derpy pleasure at the scratches. Tresus's main face looked confused. "I don't really leave the bar, so I have a hard time telling time. But he was going on and on about how she'd gotten this sweet new place."

Axel's grip on her shoulder became uncomfortably tight. "I'd love to see it," he said.

"And I'm sure she'd love you to see it." Tresus nodded, throwing his hands to either side in a gesture of helplessness. "But unfortunately there are rumors that you and your brother have gone soft on the wrong kind of half-bloods. How bad would it look if I just gave you information on where someone lives… without a fight." He folded his hands into his lap and grinned.

Axel let go of Kally's shoulder, sighing.

In a flash of motion, he smashed Tresus's head into the bar.

Kally jumped, waiting for some of Tresus's monster friends to rush them. The closest Gegeenee snarled and threw a bar towel at Axel.

Axel caught the towel. "Sorry Dean," he muttered. Axel picked Tresus's head up by his hair, neatly laid the towel under his face, then slammed it back into the bar-top.

The Gegeenee turned its attention to other customers down the bar. Everyone else continued to order drinks and socialize like it was Trash-Tresus-Tuesday.

At Kally's stare, Axel shrugged sheepishly. "Dean doesn't like blood on his counters." Axel's hand was covering Tresus's right face, leaving his middle face crunched in pain.

"You didn't have to make it so real!" he complained.

"Kally, threaten him," Axel instructed.

"What?!" she asked, still stunned that no one found this out of the ordinary. Sure, these were monsters, but shouldn't they have some kind of code of ethics or—

Tresus swung an arm back and Axel had to use both hands to keep him down. "It'll be good practice," he encouraged through grit teeth. "Go for it."

From what Kally remembered, she'd never threatened anyone in her life. Movies—she'd seen it there. Her best friend, Merry, threatened her all the time with social humiliation and abandonment whenever Kally was being a coward about something.

By nature, Kally didn't feel very scary. The only weapon she had on her was an imperial gold discus; however, in a club full of monsters that hated holy metals, when Axel had been so careful to assure they didn't look like they had weapons on them, she figured flashing her discus and saying she forgot to put it in the Weapon Check… that would probably be bad. Still, it was all she had.

Kally tossed her whole bag a few inches into the air. She hoped the magic that changed the Argonaut statue into a weapon would activate and she wouldn't end up spilling ambrosia squares all over the ground. Tendrils of smoke seeped from her bag as she caught it. A few monsters nearby twitched and glanced around, as though they'd gotten a chill.

Holding the bag so only Tresus could see inside, she whispered, "You see this discus? It'll b the last thing you see if you don't tell us where Pax is."

Pax would scold her later for being unoriginal, but she couldn't think of anything else.

Tresus's central set of eyes blinked, unimpressed. His other face was, fortunately, smashed under Axel's palm, so she didn't have to face the humiliation of two skeptical expressions. He glanced at Axel with a grunt, "I'm calling it now. She's not your girlfriend. You're eating her later."

Axel jammed his palm below Tresus's hairline. Although she didn't see Axel pull out a weapon, Tresus squealed like he'd stabbed him. "Okay! Holy Algea—Axel—gods! They're off 53rd street, in the cellar of a house up for eviction. You'll be able to see her magic from three blocks away."

Axel smacked Tresus's left forehead into the bar before releasing him. In a tone completely contradictory to the action, he said, "Thank you Tresus. Seriously—here—" Axel waved down Dean. The Gegenee slid another shot glass of golden liquid into the bar cloth. "I hope this helps your headache."

As Tresus sat up and shook his head, Axel set several drachma on the counter. Tresus grinned goofily. His right face crunched in offense at being smashed. "It always does," he said. "Tell Pax he still owes me a staring contest. Lamia dragged him off before he could cough up."

Axel took one last swig of his hot chocolate. Kally swirled hers, aware she hadn't taken a sip. Figuring this would probably be the last bit of sustenance she'd have before a fight with whatever monster Lamia was, she took a deep chug and yelped.

The chocolate was thick—more like a syrup consistency—rich, and spicy. For someone who subsisted off of microwave dinners and her mother's bland Irish cooking, Kally felt like she'd just swallowed the engine of a running fighter airplane. She shoved the mug back onto the counter and frantically searched for a glass of water, debating on flagging down Dean or taking the easy route and making a run for the pool.

Axel laced his arm back over her shoulder. "You—oh—" He must have noticed how red her face had gotten and coughed back a laugh.

"You poisoned me," she choked.

"It's Mayan hot chocolate. It's made with peppers. Dean knows I like things hot," he explained like this was as funny as the time Calex caught Pax stealing his wallet.

Kally fanned her face. If this wasn't Axel and they weren't looking for Pax, she'd start biological warfare with his next meal.

Dean slid another shot glass down the table, this one filled with something frothy and white.

"Drink it," Axel instructed. "It's probably cream."

Probably scared her at a monster bar, but she was desperate. Kally downed the shot without hesitation. Although her mouth still felt awful, it dropped from Tartarus levels of pain to pissing off Clarisse levels of pain.

Tresus examined her with that goofy grin. "Yea—" He turned to Axel. "She couldn't handle you. Cute though. I hope she survives the night."

Once she could focus on more than the volcano in her mouth, Kally frowned. She wondered how scary Lamia was if Tresus were worried about her dying. When she felt Axel's hand squeeze her shoulder, she felt a different type of heat flare up her cheeks. Tresus wasn't talking about Lamia.

This was another comment Axel wouldn't answer, but there was no way she could respond to that. Instead, she squeaked, "Let's go get Pax."

Huge Disclaimer: If you haven't read anything else from Traitors of Olympus, don't worry about this message. For those of you who HAVE read it, in particular Blood of a Mayan, I wrote this short story before I wrote Blood of a Mayan, so I was experimenting with characters, plot, and magic use. I hadn't done enough research to properly portray one character (so I apologize for inaccuracies with his magic in the next act or two). There are some plot reveals you've already read (this was the original way I wanted to do them! :D), but there is also some character building that never comes up in the official series. Regardless, I hope you enjoy! Once I'm done posting this (3 acts I think?) I will resume with the end of Blood of a Mayan. Thanks for your patience on that!

Oh, and if you haven't picked up on this, there's a lot of Kalex… wait, that doesn't work. That's a character. And Kax can refer to either brother… um…. Axlypso? Sure? Wait, that could mean Calypso… augh. Okay, Axssand. Regardless, there's lots of Axssand fluff. I wrote this as a Christmas gift to my editor, Mel, who ships them hard. If you ship them, congrats! If it's kind of weird to you, like it is to me (XD I love you Mel!) then don't worry. There's some blood, horror, and friendship fluff to distract you.

Thanks for reading!

1 I don't think she counts Aphrodite, since that was… godly manipulation of emotions… Foul play on Aphrodite's part!

2 Reference to events in Blood of a Mayan.