"What happened?" Hercules insisted, following Jason to the sleeping quarters. "Heard a lot of noise from the den and when I got there Alex was on the ground with that crazy Helen girl standing over her. Dragged her to one of our security guys to drag her off to the city guard, but fat load that'll do..." He explained quickly. "I tried to ask Alex what happened but all she would tell me was 'I was stupid' and I can't get another word out of her," he carried on, and I had the feeling he was carrying a lot of guilt with him.
He led us to a small room that was dimly lit. A bed large enough for one adult to sleep comfortably was in the corner, a small end table next to it held a basin of blood-tinged water, several crimson stained rags, and the small oil lamp serving as the room's only source of light. Also next to the bed was a small wooden chair. Alexina was lying in the bed, and she turned her head to look at the group entering. Had I not known it was her I never would have recognized her. Her nose was swollen and slightly crooked, deep bruising spreading from her nose to her eyes that were nearly swollen shut, and it looked like she was holding a large mouthful of food in one of her cheeks.
"Alex!" Hercules shouted in surprise at the sight of her, and sat in the chair next to her bed. "What happened?" He asked.
"I was stupid," She replied, her voice slightly muffled.
"Care to elaborate?" I added, lifting a brow at her. She glanced around the room and sighed, clearly she had no intention of repeating her argument with Jason from earlier and decided to stop being so unnecessarily cryptic.
"Fine. Helen came looking for you," She pointed to Hercules, "I was less-than-polite when telling her to leave,"
"And she did this to you?!" Hercules responded, incredulous.
"I was a lot less than polite, may have used a few colorful words" She admitted, and you could see the flush in her ears. I'm sure beneath the blue-black tapestry her cheeks were just as red.
"You? Swearing?" I asked, shaking my head, "I literally can't picture it," I tapped my finger on my bottom lip, playfully cursing in a timid tone; I heard Jason snort behind me. She waved a dismissive hand at me and her gaze went back to Hercules,
"How does she keep getting in?" She pondered. Hercules's body language shifted and I could tell he was uncomfortable. A chill rolled through me and I shifted with the same disquiet, wanting off this subject immediately.
"I don't know," He answered after a pause. Wonderboy was great at many things, but lying was not one of them. His tone was stilted as he gave his answer; I could tell he didn't wish to bring others into our deity troubles. Hell, I hardly wanted to bring him into my lovely fight with Hades's Lima Syndrome. I felt a powerful pang of guilt that Alexina was now injured as a result of it. Do I really have to bring suffering to everyone? Damn it Hades. It's me you want you cowardly son of a bitch. Stop attacking everyone around me.
"She's practically a kid," Jason noted, "Maybe we can find out who her father is and have him set his little psycho strait, since our guards apparently won't," I had the distinct impression Jason was picturing something a bit less eloquent to deal with her.
"I have a feeling that if her father had a good leash on her to begin with, we wouldn't be having this conversation," I added, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back against the wall to try and force a more relaxed posture.
"Look... I think you should know, umm... I think that uh... Helen may be getting some... help," Hercules ambled, beginning to knit his fingers. "At this point you deserve to know,"
"What do you mean help?" Jason snarled, drawing himself up. "You knew she had a way into the villa but decided to do nothing about it, or even tell me?!" He snapped. Hercules stood at this point, matching Jason's aggressive stance. "Alex could have been killed! You'd probably be a lot more concerned if she were the one beaten half to death!" Jason snarled, pointing to me.
"I wasn't beaten half to death," Alexina's voice was hardly discernible over the booming voices of Hercules and Jason.
"And you don't care!"
"You really think I don't care?!"
"Why else would you keep it a secret that you know this chick can burst in here whenever she damn well pleases?!" The men were standing hardly an arm's length from each other, posturing like wild animals. The tension in the air was so thick you could swim through it. I side-stepped along the wall so I was closer to the doorway.
"Because I was still trying to think of a way to fix it!" Hercules bellowed, trying to match Jason's outraged shouting.
"One horny teenager is too much for the mightiest hero in Greece?!"
"Hades!" Hercules clarified, relaxing with obvious effort. "Hades is where she's getting the help. Fixing it is more complicated than it seems," His tone steadied, "You know I would never wish for any harm to Alex, or Meg, or you, or anyone," He added. "Of course I care she was hurt!"
"I'm sorry," Jason apologized, running his hands through his hair. "I just got so worked up when I saw Alex like that, and then when I thought we could have prevented this..." I could see the change in Hercules's posture. He had expressed to me before his guilt over his inability to protect his own homestead, and now the victim pool had grown deeper.
"Jason?" Alexina's voice inquired, but she was still lost as background noise to the testosterone beasts.
"But... Hades?!" Jason asked, confused. "As in Hades. The Hades. Lord of the Underworld, reaper of souls, guy who just tried to end the world last week?"
"Yes," Hercules replied simply. Jason sat back town, running the back of his head to wipe the sweat from his brow. With four of us in the small room with no windows it was quickly growing hot, the fight doing little to help. "I don't know much more than that, but I promise I'll do everything I can to fix this," He got that determined look on his face.
"How?" Jason asked, shaking his head, "How is Hades helping this chick? And why?" His face scrunched in confusion. Because of me. That snide voice in the back of my mind reminded me. You bring suffering to everyone you know. You damn near killed Wonderboy, and now Alexina. I remembered my midnight chit-chat with Aphrodite and felt a chill coarse through me. The Sword of Damocles.
"To get to me," Hercules stated, No. To get to me. He knows you're my biggest weakness. He knows getting to you is getting to me, and at this point I think it's me he wants. I reminded myself, although he gracefully left out my part in this. "Helen has always been a bit of a..."
"Pain in the ass?" I chimed in, curling my lip.
"I was gonna say nuisance. But I guess Hades took notice of how bad she wanted to keep getting to me and figured she could help him meet his own goals. Which I don't fully understand," That last statement wasn't entirely a lie, and thus he managed to sound genuine. Hercules and I both understood Hades felt stilted in the soul-exchange department, but why he was acting so roundabout rather than simply snatching me confused us both.
"What can we do?" Jason pondered, rubbing his forehead. "What if she comes back? I mean for some scrawny teen she's clearly capable of damage,"
"I think for now the best thing we can do is hire a few more guards for the inside of the villa. She can probably sneak past the outdoor ones with Hades's help, so let's put some inside," Hercules offered, but didn't sound very confident in his suggestion.
"Doesn't help she does special favors for one of them," I muttered under my breath, recalling the disconcerting sight I had seen a few days prior that got her through the front gates.
"Jason," Alexina chimed in again, looking at Jason. The young man returned her gaze and I saw her ears glow red again. She looked about to speak,
"How are you feeling?" He cut her off,
She closed her mouth and shrugged, reaching up to touch the swollen tissue around her eyes, "Sore, but it looks worse than it is," Her lips pulled back and the swelling made her attempt at a smile look more like a scowl. "I'll be fine," She insisted. "Really. Stop fussing."
"I think we should let you get some rest," Hercules stated, looking at Jason and I. We both agreed with him, and after bidding Alexina well wishes said goodbye we left her to rest. Jason parted from us in the hallway, stating he needed to go back to clean up the mess he left when he helped bandage Alexina up. Hercules and I continued back to the kitchen where we had left Echo in our mad dash to the staff sleeping quarters.