"Well," Hades demanded, "How does it look?"

Pax was stunned into silence—an unusual thing for him. Normally, when he got nervous, he blathered. The helm hadn't turned his brother invisible. It liquefied him. Was that a side effect of being Mayan? Instant liquefaction upon contact with Greek artifact? Hades didn't seem alarmed, just eagerly awaiting a response. Did he turn into putty every time he put on his helm? If so, gross. More props to Persephone for kissing this ooze master.

"Um," Pax said in a voice that he hoped conveyed thoughtfulness instead of panic.

Hades crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against his massive biceps.

Pax's brain scrambled. If he were a Lord of the Dead, what lie would he want to hear about his helm? And how would he want it explained that "Sorry, we can't give you your helm back. It ate my brother and is now lost in the ether."

Then, someone grabbed his arm.

Pax almost screamed, thinking the guards knew something was wrong and were about to drag him back to the River Styx and drown him in the boiling water. When he glanced, there was no one there, not even footprints in the sand. The hand was definitely there though. It experimentally patted down his side.

By the time Pax realized what was happening, it was almost too late. His brother had grasped Pax's foot. Pax only had a split second to balance himself. Then the invisible Axel (or, assumedly the invisible Axel; this could have been an acrobatic Casper for all Pax knew) boosted Pax up for an assisted front-flip.

Their audience didn't applaud. All they saw was a spark floating over the guards' heads. One said, "pretty," but clearly didn't appreciate the technical skill it took Pax to twist away from a spear tip before being gutted.

He landed on the sand on the other side of the guard circle. Unlike Axel, his feet did make a dent, even if the landing was nearly soundless.

Hades stood to full height in his chariot. Malice emitted in dark waves, making Pax feel sicker than the worst dead guy's BO could make him feel. While guards were awed by the dancing spark display, Hades was not amused. "GET THEM!"

His roar made the cavern shudder.

Axel was probably still in the center of the circle. Pax needed to make a distraction.

"No—my Lord—the helm! It is so stupid looking!" Pax said apologetically. "I—I can't bear it. The shame you'll bring upon your household—"

"KILL HIM!"

"He's already dea—"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"This is why your henchmen lie to you!" Pax shrieked.

All the guards turned towards Pax's voice and the sparking of his invisibility spell. Meanwhile, Pax fumbled in his belt. He really hoped things turned un-invisible when he dropped them.

Five of the guards were already stumbling blindly in his direction, but a rank of them was closing circle where Axel probably stood. There was no way to tell where Axel really was, but Pax had to assume the worst.

He dropped two things. One was a smoke bomb. Upon contacting the ground, it exploded green mist everywhere.

The other took Pax a moment to light. Once he struck it hard enough against his flint bracelet, one of Matthias's left over sparklers spat to life. Benefits to having an explosion-and-firework-crazed friend that helped with your utility belt: always some fun goodies at hand.

Pax tossed the decoy sparkler into the center of the green smoke.

The guards fell for it.

The next few seconds blurred. Half the guards had raced into the smoke bomb, getting lost in the swirls. A quarter managed their way towards the sparkler he'd dropped. A few fired shots.

Pax dropped to the sand. His heartbeat pounded in his head. Yea, tricking idiots with swords at a distance was one thing. He didn't realize any of these ancient looking guards had upgraded with futuristic equipment.

"Follow his footprints!" a Fury hissed.

Pax swallowed. He had left footprints. They weren't obvious in the dark sand, but he could see a rotting foot soldier bend down to examine the ground he'd stumbled from.

They'd be on him in no time.

That's why he couldn't decide if he wanted to scream in horror or in relief when invisible hands grabbed him again. It took Pax every ounce of self-restraint to refrain from shrieking, "Ah! A ghost!"

He didn't know how Axel had crept from the circle of guards—ones that were currently tightening their ranks so much so that Pax hoped they'd stab each other if they got any closer. Talk about a friendly fire nightmare if any of them had guns.

Axel threw Pax over one shoulder and took off sprinting. Instead of going upriver, towards the exit, the sensible direction, they raced away from the river, further into the underworld. Pax only caught ever few of Axel's words between his breaths, "Going—kick—your—ass—"

Pax was about to point out that they'd both be dead if it wasn't for him, unless Axel had some other brilliant plan that didn't involve playing chicken with the God of the Dead's unkillable army.

Most of the air was exiting Pax's lungs in painful gasps. Axel could use his shoulder blades to work as a butcher if their impact on Pax' diaphragm was anything to go off of. Pax had managed a full breath right as Axel swooped low beside a stalagmite.

A familiar giggle rang in Pax's ears. "Axel!" came a cheery voice, "How did you know I was there?!"

"Lou Ellen?" Pax asked with his limited breath.

Axel must have scooped her up. That didn't answer why she'd been crouched there, but Pax wasn't going to argue.

"See—through—Mist—" Axel gasped. "See—Ajax—whole—time—" His pace had slowed with the weight of a demigod per shoulder, even two tiny ones. The fact that Axel could carry them like that at all was impressive, except it wouldn't be enough.

Behind them, someone must have noticed the spark from Pax's invisibility shield. That, and the soldiers had stabbed his sparkler out. Hades screamed so loudly, Pax had to wonder if it was really Poseidon or Hades that caused earthquakes.

A squadron of soldiers were chasing after them. In the air, the Furies were gaining. One of them was enough ahead that she could sweep in wide circles like a vulture. Pax didn't want to think of what she would do with that whip if she caught three handsome adventurers. Talk about eternity of punishment.

Pax wasn't the type of person to point out that they needed a plan, but he also didn't like the idea of being a free-range target for Hades. The god was sure to start tossing soldiers at them like skeet shooting—Underworld style.

"We need a plan!" Lou Ellen said, saving Pax from staining his chaos-loving reputation.

"We—running—it—"

That was all Pax could understand from Axel's pants. Although it was impossible to fully turn with his position over Axel's shoulder, he caught sight of something large, ominous and empty ahead of them.

Then, Pax understood what Axel had been trying to say. We're running towards it.

Pax figured this out as his brother's feet leapt off the edge of the Underworld and the three of them freefell into a pit of blackness, towards a nest of potentially unfriendly monsters, and the equivalent of Greek Hell. Pax wanted to remind Axel that demigods (or Mayan warriors for that matter) should not be willing to go to Tartarus, but he figured that would be a mute point with all their screaming.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned next week to see these three take a fluff bath. Because what else are you going to do in Tartarus?