Alexa's feet pounded across the concrete as she exited the warehouse's back door, turning and rushing for the house. She only had a few seconds head start but she could already feel her lead shrinking, the hot breath of the wild cats and hunting dogs on her heels. She dove into the house, slamming the door behind her before heading upstairs, taking them two at a time.
She had to think of a plan. Had to think of some way to free her friends.
"Don't spend all your time planning" Jazz had once urged her "Balance planning with doing. If you waste all your time trying to figure out what to do you'll come up with a great plan just in time to get a sword in the gut!"
So that's what Alexa did, she let her mind piece together a plan while she moved on autopilot, up to the top floor of the house and into a bathroom. She kicked out the small window and scrambled through it.
A moment later she realized her mistake. She had a bunch of cats and birds on the roof with her, and the dogs had cut off her retreat. Down below she could see Carol still dragging the swan, Jeff, behind her by his lead, surrounded by a herd of bulls, cows and horses. She sucked in a breath.
"This is crazy…" she told herself, her eyes flicking to a pair of jaguars that had begun to creep up to her. She gave herself no more time to think. She launched herself from the roof directly towards Carol.
She landed in a roll amidst the animals, the impact shaking her bones in her skin and causing her knees to scream in protest. She brought her sword up, ready to slice Carol across the face, but a pair of tusks knocked into her sword arm, sending the blade flying. Almost at the same time thick green coils wrapped around her, pinning one arm to her side and leaving the other pointing straight up in the air.
"Nice try." Carol smirked above her. "Too bad it wasn't anywhere near good enough!"
Carol's fingers brushed almost lovingly up her neck, tenderly cupping her chin. "Poor, sweet, naive child. You should never have come here. You had zero chance of beating me. I always win!"
"That's not what I saw!" The words tumbled out of her mouth unbidden and in that moment she realized her mind had come up with a Plan B. An even stupider, just as risky Plan B that leaned a lot on luck as well as the hope that Carol hadn't caught up on pop culture since returning from Circe's island. But on the other hand it also relied on one of her greatest weapons, a blade she kept sharp as any younger sibling worth her salt would; her innate ability to be annoying.
"I saw all the medals. All that silver." A smirk of her own formed as she felt Carol's hands tighten. "And those three little gold medals. Really, I think I would've preferred being gored. Would've been less embarrassing compared to losing to a loser like you."
Carol recoiled as if she had just realized Alexa was venomous. Emotions chased each other over the witch's face; disgust, indignation, a bit of fear, and a heaping helping of rage. Rage was what eventually won out over the others.
"How dare you! Do you have any idea in that simple little head of yours who you're speaking to?" Carol growled, drawing herself up straighter. "I am Carol Reynolds, daughter of Nike, chosen of Hecate, top student of Circe, head masseuse of C.C.'s spa and resort-"
"You're also a kidnapper, human trafficker, likely a cannibal if that tasty comment early was any indication, and someone who obviously lost their mother's favor years ago!" Alexa shot back.
Carol blanched. The only thing she could think to say was. "I-its not human trafficking or cannibalism if they're animals!"
"Hell! I bet I could beat you and I'm just a little girl!" Alexa watched Carol, this was it...if Carol didn't take the bait, if she just decided to slap a collar on Alexa, this quest would be over. Alexa would spend the rest of her days in a stable if she were lucky. She didn't dare let the fear onto her face, even as Carol's own continued to redden with fury.
"A simple contest, for the highest stakes." Alexa continued. "Should be easy to come up with, I'll even let you keep my sword. What do you say...unless of course you're too chicken!"
A rooster and a few hens clucked in protest near Carol's feet.
"No offense to the present company." Alexa added smoothly. Carol didn't answer at first, her eyes hardening as she stared down at Alexa. Several moments passed, the silence filled only by the rustling and breathing of Carol's captives.
"Fine!" Carol barked without warning, bowing to her innate need for competition. At the word the snake that had once been Rose unwound from Alexa's body. She paused only long enough to give Alexa that oddly sad look again, her forked tongue flicking out of her mouth, then she was off. She slithered down her body and over to Carol's heels, her collar glinting in the sunlight.
"We'll need two cups and some soda," Alexa declared, her mind already working. One question rang in her mind as a few of the witch's slaves ran off to fulfill her request; could she do this?
Logistically she felt like the answer was yes, she was capable of doing it, in theory. What bothered her worse was the moral problem. Could she do this? If she did, if the plan went off without a hitch, then she'd be a killer. This wasn't some monster she was killing, if she killed Carol there wouldn't be any reforming and coming back, she'd just be dead. Her soul would go straight to the underworld, to judgement, probably even to the Fields of Punishment. Could she do that?
She glanced at the animals, at the boar that had been Jazz, the snake that had been Rose. Her jaw set as she thought of the nameless multitude who had died to this witch. She found her resolve. Yes, she could do this. This wouldn't be a murder, this would be justice.
The animals returned with two red cups and a bottle of dark brown cola. A dog carried her sword and flopped down next to Carol with it as if it were a massive metal bone.
"First, I want your word. Swear that if I win all these people go free, returned to their original forms and the people in town will be released." Alexa said, staring down Carol.
"Fine, I swear by the River Styx, I'll follow the rules you set out and the beasts and mortals will be released and restored if you manage to beat me and I swear not to cheat." Thunder boomed in the clear blue sky. Carol waved her hand and, as one, the animals moved to the witch's side. Alexa nodded.
"Good, pour the soda." She said, nodding to the cups while she dug in her bag. She moved an old cookie wrapper and a pair of shorts aside, her fingers wrapping around her alloy collection. She pulled the case free of the bag and popped it open, plucking free a vial of what looked to be silvery white liquid.
"You see this?" She asks, holding it up so it caught the light. "This is a special mix of metals created by my big brother Nikola, a little mix of arsenic, tin and mercury. When introduced to liquid it immediately takes on it's properties. It becomes indistinguishable from the real thing, but this amount here is deadly enough to kill three elephants."
Carol raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Alexa took the two cups of soda from in front of her and turned around, blocking the cups and the vial with her back. She turned back a moment later, taking care not to spill any. She set a cup down in front of both of them, dropping the now empty vial between them.
"Now, where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun." She said, unable to help but throw out the quote. When she saw no recognition in Carol's eyes, she kept going. "It ends when you decide and we both drink and find out who is right...and who is dead."
A small smile wormed its way onto the witch's face.
"But that's so easy! All I have to do is figure out whether you're the type of person to poison their own cup or mine!" The witch mused "You're a cocky thing, that much is obvious. You could have way too much confidence in yourself and foolishly believe that you could withstand the poison, so clearly I can't pick the cup in front of you. But I also saw the way you ran before. The speed and the daring of that plan, ill-considered as it was, and the flair for the dramatic you're showing right now. You could very well be a child of Hermes which would give you a natural cleverness. A clever demigod would never put a poison like that in their own cup so I can't choose the soda you gave me either!"
Despite the severity of the situation, Alexa couldn't help but smile. Even if she didn't know it, Carol was playing the role Alexa had given her to the hilt.
"So you've made your choice?" Alexa prompted. She was delighted when Carol answered.
"Not even close!" Carol scoffed. "You obviously love your companions so it could be this is all a distraction hoping that their affection for you will help them break through my enchantment somehow, a silly thought, but that'd mean you just want me to talk in circles! So clearly I can't trust either cup!"
"Truly you have a dizzying intellect." Alexa commented ryely.
"You have no idea!" Carol chuckled before pressing on. "You have this metal on your person so it could be you think you can get to your bag for an antidote before it kills you so I clearly can't choose the cup in front of you! But you're obviously smart enough to know that the poison would kill you before that if it's as potent as you say so I can't trust my cup!"
"You're trying to trick me into revealing something, it won't work." Alexa said with a smirk
"It has worked!" Carol responded, nearly knocking over her own cup as she slapped the ground "You've given everything away! I know where you slipped the poison!"
"Then make your choice!" Alexa prompted. Rather than respond, Carol picked up her cup. Alexa did the same, grabbing it with her right hand while her left clenched into a fist on her knee. She focused on the cola, focusing her mind on the liquid metal she knew to be in there. She squeezed her hand shut, brought the soda to her lips and began to drain the cup.
As one the pair began to drink, but Alexa was both thrilled and relieved to feel the poison collecting just in front of her tongue, a small ball of it growing with every gulp, near microscopic particles drawn together as if there was a powerful magnet resting on the tip of Alexa's tongue. Before they could even finish the cup, Carol suddenly choked.
The witch's eyes grew wide and as round as coins. The cup dropped to the ground, the liquid spilling out over the dirt. Carol gagged, gasped, then without another sound the witch's eyes rolled up in her head and she keeled over. Alexa sighed, putting down her own cup and spitting the remaining poison back into the vial it had come from.
For her part Alexa was a bit perturbed. Not at the death she had caused but at her own lack of emotion from it. There was no joy in what she had done, no feeling of victory, but there also wasn't any guilt either. Or at least, not the soul crushing guilt that she suspected was supposed to accompany the taking of a human life. She couldn't help but wonder if that made her a terrible person, feeling nothing for Carol's death. Just as she was considering the moral implications of this train of thought there was a sound similar to a dried stick being stepped on.
Alexa's head snapped upwards at the sound, just in time to find the collar falling away from the dog that had held onto her sword. As the strip of metal fell it seemed to dissolve into mist. No, not mist, Alexa realized with a start, but Mist. The Mist exploded from the collar as it hit the ground, wrapping around the canine. There was another snap and as the smoke sank away, disappearing into the earth, it left behind a man with the shaggy gray head of a Deerhound. Alexa had never seen a cynocephalus in the flesh, but she had read about monstrous humanoids all throughout her mytho-zoology class. They had spread from Africa in the 300s bc and had followed humanity and their four legged cousins around the world. Their canine heads shifted and changed with every new land they entered, mimicking the rise and fall of dog breeds around the world exactly.
The dog man gave a quick shake of his head. He wore a thick set of leather armor over a white button up shirt and a pair of slacks. He quickly patted down his body with his hands and raised his head in a triumphant howl.
"Freedom!" He cried in a thick Scottish accent, other collars popping loose all around him. All around him, more and more creatures changed. There were some humans, demigods Alexa suspected, mixed in but the vast majority were monsters. The dogs were cynocephali, the birds turned out to mostly be harpies, the goats were grateful satyrs, the horses were centaurs all dressed in tie-dye, football helmets or body paint, and the cats big and small all turned out to all be women dressed in lion or leopard skin patterned clothing and long braids, with knives strapped to their hips and a shield on their backs.
Alexa was jostled out of her head count by a tackle from the side. Jazz had regained her human form and was attempting to squeeze the life out of her.
"That was incredible!" She crowed
"N-no." Alexa chuckled through her wheeze "It was inconceivable."
Jazz blinked once and recited "To defeat the witch, the inconceivable one must display…"
"The fates have a sense of humor." Rose chuckled, giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder. Before Alexa could begin to look over the two any further, one of the women with the knives marched forward. She walked with grace and purpose, her eyes were a strange lilac color and were about as hard as amethysts. She stood in front of the three girls and looked down imperiously.
Gritting her teeth Jazz slowly reached for her bracelet. Before she could do much more than glare up at the woman the woman dropped into a deep, graceful bow.
"We owe you a debt, young one. What is your name?" She asked, her voice low and with an almost musical cadence.
"Alexa...Alexa Barber." She said, gently grabbing Jazz's wrist and forcing her hands apart.
"Well Miss Barber, I am Sibilla. These are my sisters." She waves at her fellow former felines, all just as graceful as she. "The Korybantes honor our debts. If you ever need us...don't hesitate." She reached into her pocket and produced a small business card which she passed to Alexa. It had the name of a dance studio in Auburn along with a phone number and email address.
"Thank-" Alexa began
"Ack!" The Scottish dog headed man groaned "You're all gonna give me a cavity!"
The cynocephalus marched over, flanked by two of his fellows, a pitbull headed female in business attire and a poodle headed male in an open throated purple shirt. The Deerhound reached into his pocket and yanked out a pen and piece of paper Alexa could just barely see was an old grocery list. He scrawled an email address on the bottom of the page and tore it away.
"You save my pack, you're a part of it now." He said gruffly before turning and walking away. Alexa half expected the centaurs or the harpies to start swearing fealty or something, but the harpies had all flown off and the centaurs were currently busying themselves by clearing out the house's fridge. The demigods and satyrs had all gathered around her and her friends, Jeff included although he refused to look at her. With their messages delivered, the
Cynocephali and Korybantes had all begun to go their own ways.
"Well…" Rose said softly. "Let's see if she has wood lying around here. She deserves a proper funeral, at the very least. It's only right."