II

Lou Ellen was better at sneaking out than he was—something he found obnoxious since he was the one trained in stealth. She had recently learned to cast an invisibility spell. However, it sputtered and flickered when she giggled. This happened frequently enough that Pax claimed there must be a haunting as he walked around the ship.

Pax, meanwhile, could turn into other people. He mostly kept this a secret. Only Alabaster, Lou Ellen, and—of course—Axel knew about it. They'd even been nervous about telling Flynn and Jack. Axel thought Flynn would send Pax into enemy territory, something far too dangerous in Axel's eyes.

What did Axel think Mercedes was training Pax in? Basket weaving? At some point, Axel needed to realize that Pax grew bored being useless and would start to do less-than-useful pranks if left to his own devices. Matthias was always full of ideas that sparked his chaotic side.

Pax hadn't wanted to be around when Flynn found out that Jack was missing. As such, he needed to find someone that could leave the ship without asking anyone's permission.

Pax thought he found the perfect person until a woman's voice hissed, "You smell odd, Witch Boy."

They were making their way to the Centaur Exit Port. (Pax preferred to think of the centaurs as emergency pods.) He resisted the urge to make mechanical docking noises as they approached.

Pax froze at the woman's voice. He tried to keep calm. Acting was one of his specialties. What would Alabaster say? "I have a name," Pax growled.

Not perfect, though Alabaster was sensitive about people calling him by his full name.

He turned, fingering the golden apple in his pocket the same way that Alabaster would finger a spell pouch. A golden apple appeared in his pocket every morning, a gift from his mother. Each apple granted the ability to shift into another person for a short period of time, assuming his intention in that time was to cause some mischief.

Beside him, he could hear Lou Ellen inhale sharply.

The women who spoke wore the dark dress of a mourner. Her eyes glowed the green of a child of Hecate. Serpentine slits made her eyes unique. Beautiful, Pax thought. Her clenched fists had nails hardened to claws. From the way she ground her jaw, Pax could see crocodile teeth between her lips.

Lamia, Alabaster's sister. Pax almost choked. This woman had publically challenged Alabaster multiple times for control of Hecate's children. Alabaster had beaten her each time. Afterwards, though, Pax had helped dislodge ice blades from Alabaster's skin and treat the burns of magical wounds. Luke was bringing a stop to the challenges, since he couldn't afford to have two of Hecate's most powerful children injured. Plus, while Luke and Alabaster argued, Alabaster supported Kronos' army. Lamia might not.

Pax might look like Alabaster, but he certainly couldn't use magic to stop Lamia if she chose to attack.

Lamia took a step closer to him, uncomfortably close. Her eyes were terrifying at this distance. With Alabaster's gangly height, they were almost level to Pax's. Although a scowl winkled her face, Pax could tell she was gorgeous, having the elegance of a full-grown woman. If Pax didn't look like Lamia's half-brother and they weren't trying to sneak off the ship, he might have given Lamia a kiss on the cheek, just to annoy and fluster her.

Then again, Lamia was a few centuries too old for him.

She sniffed. "You smell odd."

"That's a riveting observation," Pax said, mimicking Alabaster's slow, wry speech. Again, not perfect, but close. Hopefully close enough.

She snapped her jaws at him.

Pax used all of his will power not to flinch. Alabaster would not appreciate if he looked weak to this woman.

"If you don't mind," Pax said, nodding towards the centaur docking bay.

Lamia snorted. She turned towards the origin of Lou Ellen's earlier gasp. "Lou Ellen, you're sparking," she said reproachfully, "Someone—" Her eyes shot to Alabaster. "—should be teaching you better."

Lou Ellen released an indignant snort. Pax could imagine the way her face screwed up in anger.

Blindly, he reached out, meaning to grab her shoulder in case she went after Lamia for the insult to Alabaster.

Instead of grabbing her arm, he grabbed her hair. He had forgotten he was so much taller when he looked like Alabaster.

She squeaked. "Pax!"

Pax immediately released her. "Sorry!"

Realizing how not-Alabaster that was, he coughed and gave Lamia a glower.

Lamia paused, examining them. "I see," she said. Her expression twisted to one of amusement. Slowly, she walked away.

Pax released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Something told him that Lamia wouldn't have smiled like that if she thought he was Alabaster.

They turned to a waiting centaur—or Pax assumed they both did. He didn't hear Lamia scream from Lou Ellen casting some semi-successful spell.

A centaur with a brown and cream spotted coat, bronzed skin, and massive ram's horns stared at Pax and the spot that was sparking beside him. "Oh… kay…" he said skeptically.

Maybe Pax was better at sneaking than Lou Ellen. He hadn't noticed the sparking before, but what Lamia said to Lou Ellen made her spark like it was the Fourth of July.

Neither of them planned this part through very well. The centaur would likely notice if an invisible girl hopped on his back.

Before Pax could come up with something, Lou Ellen tugged at his lab coat, making the material billow. "The explosion is going to happen soon," she said, sounding ill. A tremble in her voice cued Pax in to her smothered giggles.

Pax snapped his fingers. Everyone feared the children of Hecate's magic when it went haywire.

"We need off the ship," Pax said.

The centaur looked nervously at the sparks. "I didn't hear anyone scheduled for a departure."

Pax had never considered that there was proper paperwork to fill out to disembark. Alabaster, Luke, Flynn, or one of the Titans always organized disembarkment. He just assumed you were supposed to jump on a centaur and shout, "Fly like the wind, Bullseyes!"[footnote 1] and they would charge over a rainbow.

He made the most annoyed sigh he could manage. "When Lou Ellen's spell wears off, it will blow a crater the size of this ship. Do you want to be around when that happens?"

Lou Ellen stifled another giggle.

The centaur paled. They had him.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned next week to see who busts these two red-handed. Er, well, red-headed in Lou Ellen's case and red-hipped in Pax's? It'll make more sense when you see all the blood—I mean paint. *ehem* Nothing bad ever happens to these characters in my story, right?

Footnote: This movie hadn't come out yet according to the real time line. I don't care. I'm willing Pax to have premonitions of Toy Story.