It was late afternoon when the Gargareans began to flow back into the halls of their underground stronghold. Alexa knew this because, for once, she was actually outside her cell. Her wrists were bound in a set of handcuffs that she felt reasonably sure she could escape if push came to shove, with her still sunglasses clad guard standing next to her.
"Breathe." She whispered. "You'll do fine."
Marcus hardly seemed to hear her at first, but nodded after a pause. The king had just walked in, a noticeable swagger in his step until he noticed Alexa. His brow furrowed slightly.
"And what is the prisoner doing here? I thought I informed you I no longer wished to see her." The king said, folding his arms over his chest.
"She's here because I'm going to be too busy to watch her today." Marcus responded, puffing his chest out slightly. "Your Majesty, I hereby challenge you to trial by combat for the throne!"
There was a slight stir in the Gargareans around them but the king broke into a laugh.
"You? You want to fight me?" The man chuckled. "Tell you what, goddess-born, I'm in a good mood! I'll let you retract your challenge and walk away without any further punishment."
Alexa opened her mouth to speak, but Marcus beat her to it.
"Typical." Marcus said, turning to face Alexa. "I told you he was a coward, didn't I?" Alexa, much like the others, was stunned. He had stolen the words from her, wheedling the king to get the results they had wanted. Marcus was more of a straight shooter than that. However, Alexa was not one to let surprise get in the way of an advantage. Her lip curled in contempt.
"I mean are you surprised? He flaunts it all the time with that speedo. No balls." She said, her voice dripping with derision. That got a loud "Oooohhhh!" From the assembly of men and boys around them and, if she wasn't mistaken, even a few of the serving girls cracked a smile.
The only one not smiling was the king. His face had gone red and his smile had disappeared like a spirit in sunlight. He glowered at the pair of them, both seemed to have hardly noticed his look.
"Arena. Now." He growled, his poor bruised ego prompting him into action. The alarms were quickly sounded as both competitors were hustled towards the small fighting ring surrounded by bleachers.
They were chanting and cheering now, bloodthirsty, ready to see their king decimate another unworthy opponent. Alexa moved her bound hand to Marcus's and gave it a quick squeeze.
"You got this!" She whispered before pulling back to the sidelines. She resigned herself to watch. Watching, but unable to help if things got bad. She hoped that, whatever her next task was, it wouldn't make her feel this helpless.
The Gargareans' chant changed, shifting in ferocity and pitch. They screamed and stomped their feet, until the referee finally rang the bell and the match began.
It started similarly to the previous match, with a blind charge from the King. Marcus began to scramble to the side to avoid the overhead chop he was sure was coming, but the king spun on his heel, putting his built up momentum into a horizontal swing meant to take the young challenger's head off! Marcus switched tactics, rolling forward, towards the King and taking the axe's shaft on the shoulder. Marcus cried out in pain, he could feel the bone of his upper arm snap, his glasses flew from him, but he was still in this fight!
He drew his own blade and stabbed straight downward, eliciting a howl as Stygian Iron sank into the Monarch's foot. The two fell apart, Marcus scrambling back to avoid a swing from the King's fist, the King stumbling backwards as blood spurted from his shoe. Marcus winced, nursing his own injury, his eyes never leaving the King.
This proved prudent, as the King chose that moment to strike, rearing back with his axe and throwing it straight for Marcus. Marcus dodged the axe, which lodged itself into one of the corner poles, but he didn't avoid the clothesline that followed it up. The King's meaty bicep slammed into Marcus's throat like a bag of hammers, knocking the wind out of him, and sent his sword clattering to the floor. Before he could recover the King wrapped him in a chokehold.
He yanked Marcus around and pointed him at the bleachers. The Gargareans cheered.
"You hear that, goddess-born?" Hissed the King "All of them are begging me to do it. They want to see you die! This is a man's world, Stevens, and I am the man." As he spoke Marcus's eyes drifted away from the screaming crowd, down to Alexa standing there on the sidelines. What was that he saw in her eyes? Hope? Fear? Worry? She still believed in him. She wouldn't be that afraid if she didn't. He couldn't just let down the people depending on him, even if it was just one person! Especially if the person was someone like her!
"Say goodnight." Whispered the King. His muscles tensed and he twisted…nothing. The lights had begun to flicker and in the space of a blink Marcus had slipped out of the King's royal headlock. Sudden pain flared in the back of the King's knees, sending him sprawling to the mat. He rolled over and sprang to his feet, grabbing up his nearby axe. What he found waiting for him forced him to pause. Marcus stood in a pool of darkness, a shadow cast by a single dead lightbulb above the pair seemed to thicken as it touched Marcus's body, enveloping him like a cloak. His eyes had changed, glowing like two pale moons set deep into his skull. Slowly he reached down and picked up his sword.
The King let out a roar and charged at Marcus again but this time he barely even made it halfway before he fell flat on his face. Pain flared white hot in the back of his legs, and Marcus stepped from behind him, casually, blood dripping from the ebony blade that had just cut the King's Achilles tendon.
"This is not a man." Marcus said into the hush that had fallen over the crowd. "A man is so much more than this. A man's strength doesn't make him a man! It's those things that are unique to human beings that make a man a man!"
Marcus paused to dodge a swipe at his shins from the King's axe. He drove his sword down and the axe dropped, no longer supported by the arm with its own tendons cut.
"Humility, decency, honor, love, devotion, perseverance. That's what makes a man." He lifted the King's chin with the top of his sword, and stared him down with those glowing pale gold eyes. "You're no man, and as such I deem you unfit for office."
Marcus suddenly twisted and brought the hilt of the sword down on the King's skull, knocking him out cold.
"But mercy also makes a man." There was silence in the crowd. The referee broke it.
"The old King…" he said with a slight quaver in his voice "Has been rendered helpless, and unconscious. All hail the new King!"
As the cheer went up, the darkness faded from Marcus's skin and his eyes returned to their normal shade.
"Hail! Hail! Hail!" The boys whooped and screamed. Marcus held up one hand and much to his own surprise, they obeyed, falling into a hushed silence. When they were mostly silent Marcus reached down and pried the heavy gold ring from his predecessor's finger. He nearly toppled as the fatigue from the fight washed over him. He stood up straight and pointed down at the bloodied body of the former King.
"First and foremost, I need a few of you to cart him off to the infirmary, get a healer to patch him up." He then turned to look down at Alexa. He motioned for her to join him on the mat and she happily obliged. She only paused to pick up his sunglasses enroute.
"I think you look better without these." She teased as she handed them over. He smiled and slipped them onto his collar.
"Are you sure you want this? You could still live here, you know." Marcus asked gently. Alexa smiled.
"Tempting, but I'm afraid Hera would be cross if I gave up my quest." Alexa explained.
"I had to ask, but I thought your answer would be something like that." He chuckled. The new King of the Gargareans reached into his pocket and retrieved the key to her cuffs.
"The demigod Alexa Barber, from this day forward, will be known as a friend to the Gargareans." He paused and grabbed both her hands in his, slipping the signet ring into her grasp. "And a personal friend of mine."
He turned to the Gargareans, perhaps to avoid seeing the slight flush creeping into Alexa's cheeks.
"Bring our guest's supplies from lock up and be sure not to damage anything!" As one of the tribe scurried off he turned back to Alexa.
"I wish I could feel better about this…I only won because of the sword you made." He said with a soft sigh. Alexa smirked slightly.
"Did you honestly think I could enchant something to guarantee you victory?" She teased. "Victory is never guaranteed, that's why it's precious. You won on your own merits."
"You…wait what?" Marcus asked. Alexa couldn't help but giggle. It wasn't a sound many of the Gargareans had heard from her before…many thought she was incapable of making it until that moment.
"I knew you could win, I just needed you to believe it too. The sword will remain sharp and is pretty damn resilient, but that's about it." Alexa grinned at Marcus. Marcus, however, frowned.
"That was a bit of a dick move." He pointed out.
"Well-" Alexa started to say, but the rest of the words died in her throat. As she had started speaking Marcus had roughly pulled her forward and pressed his lips to her's. Her mind went blank, the room seemed to disappear, all that there was was Marcus, the texture of his lips, and the frantic bird that seemed to have appeared in her chest where her heart should've been.
It might've been an hour later, it might've been a second, but eventually Marcus pulled away, leaving Alexa's face a glowing red mess, and the faint smell of something burning in the air.
"Now we're even." Marcus said with a smirk.
"Uh huh…" Alexa muttered in her daze.
"I probably won't see you for quite a while, but I expect you to write." Marcus added
"Uh huh…" Alexa said in the exact same tone.
"Your four legged friend has your bags, you should probably be on your way." Marcus said.
"Uh huh…" Alexa repeated for the third time. She didn't even realize she was moving until Luna had carried her half way up the stairs to the entrance. She turned around on the canine's back and yelled back at the still grinning King of the Gargareans.
"We're going to have a long talk about that next time I see you, Your Highness!" Marcus laughed.
"I look forward to it! Stay safe out there Miss Barber!" With those parting words, Luna stepped outside into the cold of a Washington winter, bayed at the moon for the first time in months, spread her wings, and began to fly the pair Eastward. To Olympus once again.