III

"They're trying to kill the hydra!" Lucille squeaked from the counter. Her voice altered as she commanded, "Don't panic! Please exit in an orderly fashion. Larger monsters and monsters with better footing, please help smaller monsters and demigods get outside the premise."

The charm speak worked instantly. Everyone calmed down, despite the continuously flickering lights. A few other demigods in the room looked confused as larger monsters picked them up and carried them towards the exit. Lucille went to organize the exodus at the front while Vicky directed workers out from behind the counter.

Axel and Ajax stumbled to their feet. Jack put an arm around either of their shoulders to push them towards the exit. His fingers twitched to tug at his hair. "Lucille! I don't understand! Why is this happening if they're attacking the hydra?!"

Luke broke eye contact with Flynn, grumbling. He grabbed Jack's shoulder to hurry him and the boys towards the orderly line by the exit. "All shops connected to this one become unstable when the hydra sprouts more heads," he said.

Flynn slid the blade back into her hair. She stepped back to the boys.

They made it to Lucille stood by the doors. She trembled violently. From her reaction, Flynn realized they were actually in danger. This wasn't some kind of courtesy precaution that Lucille was directing them out. "The hydra can't concentrate where its power is going," she confirmed, pushing all the boys through. "Why do you think Flynn and I had to talk to the hydra about this one?! Now, please hurry your exiting—"

A roar screamed in the distance.

Through the tree line, closer to the river, fire exploded everywhere. Smoke blasted in all directions. The ground shook.

The blast was far enough away that there shouldn't have been any debris or structural damage. So Lucille's horrified, "GET OUT!" along with the way she tackled Flynn through the door came as a surprise.

Pain exploded along her back.

A secondary tremble throttled the sidewalk under them. Flynn tried to shove her little half-sister off. Lucille held strong—

Like they were beside the other explosion, a wave of heat and force flattened them. Breath evaporated from her lungs. Like she'd doused her face in gasoline all over again, there was no way to inhale and no respite from the heat.

They must have fired on the donut shop.

Cool air swept over them as the air vacuumed and tunneled back towards the building. Flynn thought, for a horrifying moment, that the explosion had caused some sort of mythological black hole.

Instead, when she opened her eyes, she found a sizzling crater where the shop had been.

Someone's labored wheezes hissed right into her ear.

Flynn shoved Lucille off, then froze, looking at her.

"Jack!" Flynn snapped. "Jack!" Her eyes darted around.

Jack, Luke, Axel, and Ajax had left the donut shop before them. Could they have been caught up in the blazing inferno?

In answer to her question and what would have been a prayer if Flynn wasn't an atheist, Jack appeared at her side.

His hands hovered over her face, his mouth moving to form words that she couldn't hear. There was a ringing in her ears. Behind all of it, she swore she could hear the hum of opera music.

"I'm fine!" she snapped, knowing Jack wouldn't be able to hear her either and hoping he could read her lips. All of her limbs worked, and she didn't see more than a few small burn marks. She pointed at the other girl's collapsed body. "Lucille!"

Jack pulled Lucille into his lap, stomach down.

Flynn's little sister wasn't moving.

From what she could see, Lucille's Monster Donut uniform had melted into the skin on her back. The reek of burnt flesh scorched Flynn's nostrils. Lucille's pale flesh was blackened. That smell made Flynn touch her face, remembering how it lingered on her for days.

Lucille's hands were trembling: a good sign. She was in shock, but she was alive. For now.

Sound slowly returned. Monsters, demigods, and nature spirits alike screamed and cried. The ground crackled with embers. A Cyclops touched some ash at the edge of the crater, and Flynn had to wonder if that ash was its vaporized friend.

Luke shouted orders, trying to organize the survivors. Soldiers carried the injured to Jack.

Flynn's mind took a moment to process: one of the Cyclopes must have covered Luke, Jack, Axel, and Ajax. Axel held Ajax as they crouched beside Jack, looking stunned at the carnage. There was no damage to the boys. Cyclopes, after all, were fireproof.

Then a wonderful sound soothed Flynn: Jack's seraphim song.

Sweat gleamed on Jack's forehead. Tears dripped down his eyes. He cradled Lucille, eyes glancing up to Flynn.

It would have been Flynn burned there if Lucille hadn't shoved her down. Really, Flynn would have probably been vaporized just inside.

Flynn considered her stomach to be a strong one, but even she felt nausea rock her. Jack peeled off the burned flesh from Lucille's back, where the skin had cauterized with the fabric.

As they watched, Lucille's skin went from blackened, to raw-red. Jack danced his fingers across her torso, where her vital organs were. The skin seemed to react like thread pulled by a needle. It stretched into pinkish netting. Jack reached up to his forearm. As his fingers traced it, thin strips of his own skin peeled away like strands of dough. To her horror, he weaved his own skin into Lucille's back. While Jack's lips moved, he trembled. His head began to lull. What color was left in his face drained. His lips turned parched and leathery. The dark circles under his eyes deepened, like his own vitality dripped through his song and skin into Lucille.

The tinier of their "adopted" sons lost the three donuts he'd just consumed and the rest of his stomach's contents.

The older one looked queasy, not caring that his little brother had accidentally splashed his foot with throw up.

"They—they just—what happened?" Axel asked, dazed.

Luke appeared at Jack's shoulder. He touched the younger demigod. As soon as Jack stopped singing, his eyes rolled up in his head. He collapsed backwards and would have clacked his own head into the concrete sidewalk if Axel hadn't grabbed him with his free arm.

Luke glowered at Flynn, daring her to say something about how they could have prevented this if they killed Percy. "They killed the hydra. When the hydra dies, its line of power cuts, so all Monster Donut shops face the same vaporization as it."

"And everyone inside them," Flynn muttered, touching her little sister's exposed backside.

Lucille's breath had eased. Her vitals seemed normal. The skin along her slender shoulders, the small of her back, and the curve of her butt was pinkish. Along her legs and arms, there were still some first-degree looking burns, but nothing like the charred flesh before.

Flynn heard demigods grew more powerful with age. She wondered, if she and Jack survived until they were in their twenties, if Flynn could command full troops with her voice and Jack could resurrect the dead.

And if Luke would grow more cowardly.

She wanted to scream at Luke. This is why they needed to kill that uncontrollable "weapon," before he did more damage.

Someone shoved a piece of cloth into Flynn's hands.

She blinked. Axel had taken off his shirt, handed it to her, and looked away. He covered Ajax's eyes. "You should put that on Lucille," he said.

Flynn trembled with rage. She would deal with Luke later. Gently, she pried Lucille from Jack's limp fingers. The tattered clothing fell away. Careful to avoid Lucille's burns as best as Flynn could, she slipped Axel's shirt over Lucille. From what Flynn knew of her, the younger girl wouldn't appreciate having scars the way Flynn did.

Luke cursed, "Vicky got vaporized trying to help the others in the back get out."

Struggling to keep her composure, Flynn scowled at Luke. Charm speak enlaced in her words, "When we get back on the ship, you will have Ethel tend to Lucille while she's recovering."

Luke's face crinkled with concentration. Somehow, he'd learned to resist her charm speak. Likely a product of his mind-meddling with Kronos. "Ethel is pregnant and has to take care of a toddler," he said.

"Exactly," Flynn snapped. "She's worthless for fighting practice right now."

Plus, after what Zeus had done to Ethel a second time, the fifteen-year-old mother couldn't stand going near any of the male demigods aboard the ship. She'd electrocuted more than one person in a panic, including Luke. When Flynn had scoffed at her, Phil reminded Flynn that different people reacted differently to trauma.

Maybe this could strike two birds down with one stone: Lucille was gentle and mild-mannered. If anyone could pull Ethel from her barbed shell, it was Lucille. And, Ethel was beautiful, else she wouldn't have attracted the King of the God's attention twice.

Flynn knew Lucille's secret and why Camp Half-Blood's Aphrodite Cabin had mocked her away for being "different." It was about time Lucille got to spend time with a nonaggressive, beautiful girl.

"Prove your worth," Flynn snapped to Axel and Ajax. Luke could stay to clean up his mess. Meanwhile, Jack couldn't do anything else for the wounded. At least his singing appeared to have spilled over to heal some of the minor injuries of those around him.

Axel sat up at attention. Ajax cowered behind his brother.

"What do you need us to do?" Axel asked.

"The stronger of the two of you, carry Jack back towards the ship. The weaker get Lucille," Flynn said. She stumbled to her feet, her head feeling woozy from the sensation of flames so close to her face. "I'll trade off with you whenever one of you gets tired."

She glared at Luke, challenging him to contradict her order.

Luke's blue eyes scowled in return.

As far as Flynn was concerned, this was his fault. If he would get over this weird delusion about Percy Jackson, he would still have these soldiers to his cause. Vicky would still be alive.

Luke cursed under his breath. He broke eye contact and turned to shout orders to the monsters.

Axel picked up Jack, slinging him across his shoulders in a fireman's grip. The lanky, older boy's limbs spilled limply everywhere like miscolored props. Jack looked even paler against Axel's tan.

"Ajax," Axel said.

The smaller boy rushed over to Lucille. He lifted the fragile girl, apparently much stronger than he looked. Lucille's semi-nudity didn't bother Ajax as much as it did his older brother.

Flynn lead Axel and Ajax towards the shoreline where she knew a centaur would be waiting to carry them back onto the ship.

So much for Lucille having her noncombat job. She'd be back in the Assault and Battery unit as soon as she was well enough to fight. Despite the brush with heat and the explosion, relief flushed over Flynn. She wouldn't need to lead anytime soon.

"Um… Flynn?" Axel asked.

She looked down at him. He seemed uncomfortable, like he wasn't sure what to call her. Both he and his little brother trembled. Their eyes were glazed. The smaller one's breath panted erratically.

This is when Flynn was probably supposed to comfort them or give them some kind of pep talk. Flynn didn't believe in those kinds of lies. They'd both seen someone die before: Julian's fight happened a few hours prior. If they were fighting in Kronos' army, they would have to get used to violence.

Instead of asking for comfort, which Flynn would have scoffed at, Axel cleared his throat. "Did those kids know what they did? That killing the hydra would make the donut shop explode—or whatever just happened—and kill everyone inside?"

Flynn snorted. She doubted it. Demigods on the Olympic side only learned about monsters to kill them more efficiently. "Does it matter?" she asked. "Will that change Vicky's death?"

Axel's gaze narrowed, his eyes coming more into focus. He adjusted Jack, so her boyfriend's limbs flopped out more. After a moment, he glanced down at Lucille as she breathed shallowly in his little brother's arms.

"No," he said, "No it wouldn't."

They walked in relative silence for awhile. In the background, moans of the injured and dying fuzzed together with the rumble of the tide. The water was coming into view, along with another blast sight.

Seeing the crater where the hydra must have been bombed, Axel cleared his throat. "I want to make sure this doesn't happen again. And show them that ignorance doesn't excuse cruelty."

When Flynn examined him, she could see fury in his expression.

Flynn snorted again. Maybe she could get behind having two adopted sons after all.

Maybe I should have done a Christmas/Hanukkah special to lighten the mood? XD Regardless of a lack of talking reindeer, I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading. :D And I hope you guys are having some awesome holidays/holiday breaks!

Stay tuned next week, when we kick off the new year with Ajax's Magical Daycare, where you meet some of my favorite characters in TFMO (and some I know one or two of you have been waiting for XD).