The next part of the fight was kinda gross. There were a lot of feathers, some brain goo, some monster miscellaneous bits. Pax would not recommend eating while watching reruns of the fight on Hephaestus' reality TV show.
Pax now understood why it was preferable for monsters to dust immediately. The demigods tried not to kill many monsters at Camp Othrys—a "fish are friends, not food" mentality. He had only seen a handful of monsters get killed. Axel tried to protect him from seeing a lot of violence (even though Pax argued endlessly that nothing would be as brutal as the fatalities in Mortal Kombat). There were rumors about monsters that didn't dust immediately.
Pax could now verify that it was disgusting.
When Axel called for Pax to come on top of Prometheus' rock, Pax wanted to request two Ziploc bags to slip over his hands.
Lou Ellen giggled. "These might work better," she said, withdrawing some latex gloves from a pocket.
"Ah, ever prepared to handle corpses," Pax said.
"Vital to a Witch's Survival Kit," she said. "Alabaster says it is always prudent to be prepared."
Pax wanted to ask if she wanted to keep one for her hand. In their excitement of Axel's victory (and the ensuing gross out afterwards), she forgot to keep it tucked under her armpit. When Pax glanced at the stump, he could see that the skin around the edges had blacken and wither inward, towards the bone.
Everything smelled like it was rotting down here, but Pax got a whiff that smelled particularly of eau de roadkill.
Pax wanted to keep both of them from panicking and cheer her up. "At least, if it becomes permanent, we can get you a cool pirate hook," he said.
Lou Ellen didn't giggle. She looked away and tucked her stump back under her armpit.
Pax paused in scaling the rock. He frowned, trying again. "I'm sure it'll smell better if you air it out a bit. Body odor plus rotting corpse. Not a good smell to lure my brother—"
"You can't tell Axel," Lou Ellen said.
That scared Pax. Lou Ellen only would only say that if there was of a permanent problem.
"It was more important for us to save Prometheus while we were down here. Then we wouldn't need to take another trip and avoid Hades. Prometheus will be really important to the war effort, and your brother really looks up to him…" Lou Ellen trailed off, seeming unable to convince herself it was worth it now that she could join a gangrene gang.
Pax almost sputtered. "Please tell me you did NOT fall head over—" He gestured violently towards her stump. "—hand hard enough for Axel that you sacrificed a limb so he could go fanboy at someone in Tartarus!" Pax could barely handle Axel being courageous and stupid and that was Axel's modus operandi. The witches were supposed to be reliably clever and focused on self-preservation—like sane people.
Lou Ellen's face went flush. She didn't look embarrassed, just sad. "I—I knew I might lose it as soon as I did the spell wrong, when I left my hand with Jack. But I knew my invisibility spell wouldn't hold on you if we got far away. I had to come back for you and Axel."
When Pax thought about it, how Lou Ellen's invisibility spell let them trick Hades and how her cotton ball conjuring saved them from splatting onto Tartarus's unforgiving ground, Pax realized that they would have probably died without her. Considering everything Lou Ellen had done in the last day and how much magic Pax had seen her cast at once, she was probably depleted. Had her hand been rotting since the beginning and she been hiding it with what little incantation she had left before summoning all those cotton balls?
There was only one thing that Pax could think to do: he pulled Lou Ellen into a hug. "The Pax family owes you a hand for the big one you gave us," he said, trying not to let his voice tremble.
She released one sob into his shoulder. Despite the reek of rot, Pax felt comforted by her scent. It was similar to Alabaster's, faintly herb-like under the sweat and grime. "Just promise me that your brother will take me on a date after this," she choked.
"That is definitely a thing within my power to promise," Pax said, petting her tangled black curls. "Think about it: we'll be able to guilt Axel into anything for months—"
"Ajax! Still need your help up here!" Axel's voice called down.
Lou Ellen grabbed Pax's shoulder with her good hand. "You can't tell him," she whispered, "I've only got minutes before the spell can't be reversed, and there's no point in spending that time panicking."
Pax wanted to disagree. He rather liked the idea of panicking. Leaning back to examine her face, he could see the resolution in those green eyes. She didn't want to spend the last few minutes panicking when they there was no obvious way to save her hand.
"Ajax, I can tell you two are whispering down there. Plan pranks later. I need you up here!" Axel voice drifted down again.
"I'll give you something that'll leave you bald for months," she said, the tears now dried up. Her threat came with a forced giggle.
Pax choked back his own tears. "You wouldn't do that. My hair is a trademark. I'm a mascot for Camp Othrys—"
She shoved him towards the boulder with her good hand. Lou Ellen snatched up the latex gloves that they had dropped when he hugged her.
Pax had completely forgotten the blood on the rock. He swallowed, slipped on the gloves, and turned to climb, hoping Lou Ellen's stump wasn't completely consumed by rot by the time he came back down.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed—well, as much as you can enjoy Tartarus. Also, last week, I lied. Now, you can stay tuned to meet Rocky!