We stood in front of the revolving door for a full five minutes.

"You guys are seeing this too, right? Like I'm not going completely insane?" I asked.

"No..." Will said shaking his head, still looking around in disbelief, "I see it too."
"So..is it a trap?"

"Only one way to find out..." Raph said and our really odd three legged race shifted into the huge revolving door.

But unlike the revolving door that would lead us into the big grand front entrance, we stumbled out of a fake door into the middle of a living room shows room. Raph was lead us and he stumbled into the show room table all set up and staged. A few of the plates and cups clattered.

The family that was wandering by, jumped and looked at us funny, as we stumbled around the show room. thye mom ushered her kids away. While the dad muttered something about hoodlums and street kids and drugs.

Will immediately turned around and came face to face with a solid wall. The wall had a full sized picture of a kitchen, so it looked like a barn door could separate the two rooms, but even the door was fake and didn't move! I tried finding the mark of Daedalus. Running my hands over every inch, and I was muttering to myself.

"We should keep moving and stay low, I don't know what the mist is making people see." Raph advised.

"Ya. The mark isn't here...the entrance moved!"

Raph, Will and I did our best to stay discreet, and not draw attention to ourselves. But...Raph is tall and broad and I was covered in monster dust and Wills blood. And who knows what the mortals actually saw, but we were getting some frighten looks.

"Elevators!"

Raph grabbed my hand and pulled me after him. Will right be hind us. He pushed the down button, the doors dinged open and we slid in. We would have had the elevator to ourselves when a cane was stuck out and prevented the doors from closing. The doors slid back open, revealing an old lady so wrinkled I was surprised she could see. She hobbled into the elevator and stood in the corner. She didn't say anything nor did she answer when Will asked what floor she was going to.

Will looked back at us and I shrugged. Raph looked at the buttons and pressed the main floor. The old wrinkled lady used her cane and pressed another button. Again she didn't look at us or acknowledge we were there. I was getting a very uncomfortable feeling about her. My hand gripped the handle of my one blade. The doors finally dinged and started to slide shut.

"Don't you just love the smell?" The lady finally spoke. And it sounded like she had just are a frog.

"What smell? Fresh fake wood and meatballs?" I asked.

"The fresh smell of Demi god's."

I pulled the knife from my belt grabbed Will and yanked him away from the lady. Except she wasn't an old lady anymore. She had some how sprouted big ugly leathery bat wings, and from the shoulder down she was...a bat. Her old wrinkled face was still human, yet she had fangs now that went half way down her chin.

"Vampire bat?"

"Where do you think the stories come from?" She gave me an evil smile and then I hailed deeply. "Ahhh fresh demi gods! Smells like barbeque!"

"Batty old lady!"

"Respect your elders girly!"

"How about I respectfully tell you to go back to Tartarus?"

"Manners Girly!" She shriek and lunged at me. I managed to duck and spin under her bag wing. I slashed my knife as I did.

The bat lady screamed in displeasure. Raph was there right by my side, his sword was a little too big for the elevator. I pulled my other knife out.

"Raph!" I tossed him the knife. He caught it mid air and slashed. Ripping the leathery wing of the monster. She spun towards me, her mouth open ready to chomp down on me. I managed to get my knife under her ribs and pushed it upwards. Just as her teeth sunk into my arm. She screamed and slowly turned to ask, dissolving into a pile of crazy bat lady.

"Nice moves Sunshine."

"Thank....whoa." I stumbled backward, my knife clattered to the ground. I gasped in pain and grabbed my arm. Pain from the pits mark was shooting up my arm.

"Not...not doing so well." I mumbled. I tried blinking the fuzzy vision and I slid down the wall. I was extremely dizzy now.

"Styx!" He cursed.

Raph was by my side in an instant. The elevator door dinged open. We weren't on the main floor. The bat lady took us to some other floor I'd never seen before. It looked just the wearhouse part of an IKEA, but instead of regular house hold furniture for regular homes, this was... Greek.

Will and Raph glanced at each other. And then back at me. Pain shot through me again and I groaned in pain. My eyes fluttered and my head tipped. I felt a hand hold my head up.

"No no, come on. Stay with me. Wake up. Come on. Eyes open!" He gently shook my head, my eyes fluttered and I just managed a whimper. I could feel the poison in my arm trying to spread. I fought to keep my eyes open and focused.

I focused on Raph's face that was only about a foot away. Raph looked around to Will who was already digging through his extensive bag of first aid supplies. The door dinged and tried to close. Will placed his foot in the way of the door, keeping the door open. Raph got me onto my feet, and pretty much carried me out into the the wearhouse.

The guys glanced around and walked down an aisle away from the elevator, and sat me down against the wall. He wiggled out of his chest armour, and laid his backpack down. Will slid on his knees to a stop beside us already pulling things out of his bag.

"...guys..." I whimpered. "...I'm...cold..."

By this point Raph was holding me up. My head was resting on his chest. My body slumped and I started to slide sideways. My body started to shiver. He held my head gently in the crook of his arm, and held me tightly to his chest. Head head flopped, and my eyes rolled.

"Dude hurry up!" Raph hissed.

He tossed a Nectar Aid juice box to him. Which he jabbed the straw into and got it into my mouth.

"I can't just give her any kind of remedy, that was vrykolakas- the original vampire- and that's super delicate poison! But I've never seen a Vrykolakas and himan before! So...I'm doing my best!"

"I know, man. I know. Sorry."

"What happened to Geek?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow quick before digging back into his bag.

"Come on ya Geek, hurry up!" He snapped, but the lightness in his voice made Will chuckle.

"Nora, you gotta take one of your Vitamin D and Iron pills!"

Will rummaged through my bag and pulled out the bottle, popped the lid open. He shoved the pill into my mouth and Raph held the Nectar Aid again.

"Ah! Here it is!" He pulled out what looked like a lolly pop, he ripped off the package and shoved it into my mouth.

"Don't chew it, the antidote needs to absorbed slowly into your system. It's a Lolly Pop, suck. Very Berry flavored." He demanded.

I did my best, I didn't have the coordination or strength to actually hold it anymore. Raph put the juice box down and he had to hold it for me.

My eyes fluttered and I used then for a second, trying to recover some strength. I felt the poison fading from my system. And as it did so my hearing became sharper. And so etching caught my attention.

"I want to speak to the manager!"

I frowned, and squeezed my eyes closed, trying to concentrate.

"No! The customer is always right! I want to speak to whoever is in charge."

"That would be Luke, ma'am."

"Then get him on the phone! I'm surrounded by idiots! None of them know how to work! I was promised Minions! I was promised glory and riches and vengeance!"

"Thetis, we work for the same employer...ma'am-"

"Do not ma'am me! Do you know who I am? Do you know who my baby boy is? I demand half off the whole shipment!"

My eyes snapped open. Will and Raph looked down on me in relief.

"Oh thank Apollo!" Will muttered in relief, he deflated slightly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Shh!"

"Did you just shush me?"

"Yes! Shh!"

"You can't shu-"

"Shut it!" I placed a hand over his mouth. Raph grabbed my wrist to pull it away. "There's voices coming from a few aisles down." I whispered. Their eyes went wide. "She wants someone to call Luke. Thetis? That name is familiar..."

"Achilles mother?" Raph hissed, he pulled my hand away from his mouth. Wil snapped his fingers and nodded vigorously. I slowly sat up, still feeling shaky and weak, but way better.

"I only know one Thetis..." Will dropped his jaw open. "What's she doing here?"

"Well... considering where we are..." I said quietly and pointed to the shelves behind the guys. They turned. The shelves were stocked full with build your own Trojan horse. I looked at the signage; we were in Aisle 32, Trojan Era Weapons.

"Well this definitely is not good."

🔆

We slowly kept as close as we could at the self check out was a woman in black leggings that stopped mid calf, some kind of sports active wear jacket and sketchers sneakers. And massive huge sunglasses tucked into her  short dyed blond hair. Clutched in her french manicured hands was a Starbucks coffee, and causing a scene.

"Is...is Thetis...She's a total Karen!" Will whispered in disbelief.

"Oh absolutely she is. I agreed.

"She definitely seems like a Karen." Will whispered, trying to suppress a giggle, she even has the hair cut!"

"What's a Karen?" Raph asked.

"Someone who wants to speak to the manager! Someone who thinks they're right, they're entitled and demanding." I whispered back.

"Ah."

We watched as she folded her arms and tapped her sneaker clad foot impatiently.

"What are they waiting for?"

I felt something cold and and sharp press against my back.

"Waiting for you demigods." A voice hissed.

"Not good." Will whispered.

🔆

The three of us knelt infront of her, our hands tied behind our back. Thetis stormed up and down in front of us. She stopped infront of me. And looked down, using her french tipped fingers to top my face up, she turned it this way and that. Her eyes narrowed.

"Really? This one? This is the one we gotta fear? She looks half dead!"

"Well you took her lolly pop. That was for medical purposes!"

Its true, Karen-Thetis snatched my poison cure away and tossed it, some other old wrinkled lady picked it up and sniffed it stuck it in her mouth and vaporized herself. And now I could feel the poison working its way through my system, not as potent, but it was definitely hindering my ability to function.

She let go of my face and stepped over infront of Raph. Her dead soulless eyes regarded him and then she smiled.

"My dear handsome boy. You remind me so much of my boy. Strong, rugged good looks, loyal....I made him a god-"

"Didn't he die? By an arrow to his heel?"

"I made the gods see him! I made the gods dear him! He was just a good a fighter as Ares. And just as handsome as Apollo, just as mighty as Zeus!"

"But....he died!"

"Enough! You don't know me or my son!"

"Maybe he took the arrow to get ride of you!" I shrugged, "Id be ashamed of you too!"

"How dare you! I'm going to get you and everyone else fired, arrested, what's we if takes! I want your manager!"

"That would be Chiron. You can call him if you'd like, but I doubt he'd want to talk to you. And he's usually on our side, the employees..."

I felt a smack in the back of my head, making me tip sideways into Raph. Both boys protested angerly.

A bored looking teenager in an Ikea vest walked up. "Ma'am? Your shipment is ready."

"Is it pre-assembled?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips.

The guy shrugged.

"I paid for pre-assembly! Do you know who I am? And the important work I'm doing here? This is all for charity!"

"Aren't you working for Luke?"

"Yes, I volunteered my managerial skills, that poor boy would be so lost. He's just like my son, Achilles, so lost without me guiding him."

"Micro managing more like...no wonder the guy went on so many deadly quests, just to get away from his mother!" I muttered.

"I want it pre assembled! Now!"

The teen groaned and walked away back to the customer service desk and typed something into the computer. A red light flashed over the desk and the sounded of a buzzer went off. There was the sound of a big garage door opening.

"All employees report to customer service, we have a code Karen."

Hundreds of uneven footsteps spunded and all kinds of monsters filled the check out section. They each grabbed a box or two and ripped into them. Loose screws, wood pegs and parts littered the ground. Every monster sat on the cement floor if No srer Ikea attempting to read the instructions of a build your own weapon.

I watched as a few flipped through the instructions tossed them away and Fry on their own. A few flipped them over like they were reading upside down.

"I don't speak Swedish!"

"Is this box 1 or box 2?"

"I have extra screws! Why do I have extra screws?!"

"Hey, that's my box!"

"I think I put this piece upside down..."

Thiets marched through the group. We had been left alone for now. Only one young monster, stood leaning on the self checkout machine, he was flipping through the Ikea magazine, clearly bored out of his monster mind.

"We need to get out of this!" Will grumbled, straining against his ropes.

Raph had already busted through his ropes, like some kind of Sampson. He was already reaching for his sword at his hip.

"I'll take care of them. Will get Nora to safety."

"Hey," I called. Raph turned. "Go kill stuff, Geek!"

He smirked at me. And kept to his feet, and sliced through our distracted guard. Raph had already swiped through a few more before Thetis realized Raph was free and killing the employees.

"No!" She screamed! "I payed for this! I expect results! You need to do your jobs! Get back to work!"

Except there was no work happening now, all the monsters were now going after Raph with claws or fangs or half pieces together weapons. Thetis stomped her foot and balled her hands into fists, threatening to call their boss.

I struggled with the ropes. I was frustrated with how weak and helpless I felt. Will wiggled out of his bonds and then scrambled over to me and started working on my bonds. I watched as Raph roped through the monsters like paper dolls. I swear there was a slight red glow to him. More monsters were pouring out of the warehouse doors. They came screaming to their death. Raph was on a war path, his face was almost, relaxed in a creepy manic enjoyment. It was actually kind of scary, seeing him twist and turn, slash and stab. The monsters hardly stood a chance.

Karen was screaming, the monsters were dying in poofs of dusts. But Raph wasn't stopping. He was getting more violent, his face was twisting.

"He needs to stop..." Will whispered in slight fear. He has helped me to my wobbly feet.

"He'll be okay." I said with more assurance then I felt. Will started pulling me towards the elevator.

"Uh uh uh!" A voice said. Will was ripped away and I slid to the floor. I rolled onto my back. A cold blade was held to my neck.

"Hello Will." A voice whispered. A girl about 17 stood behind Will, he was being held hostage, a blade to his neck. She looked ready for war. Camo pants, black t shirt, combat boots, her face was even painted for war.

"Oh honey."

I shuddered, I knew that voice. My eyes slowly flicked up to the woman who made my life a living hell for a year. Ms Black was standing over me, a blade to my neck, holding me pinned to the floor. .

"So, our father has you doing his dirty work, huh?"

"I thought....I thought you were a monster!"

"Your skills to see through the mist are terrible, honey."

"Well you still look like a monster...so-"

I had to stop talking when she pressed the blade further into my skin. I felt a warm trickle of blood.

"Jenna, why are you here?" Will asked.

"Luke openedy eyes. The gods are terrible, greedy, and selfish! I was left unclaimed! My godly parent couldn't even care to claim me!" The girl spat. "I was alone for 4 years!"

"You had family! What were we? All the kids at camp? What about Chiron?"

"No! It's not the same! You all were claimed! You found your place!"

"What's your excuse?" I asked, looking up at my former math teacher. "Apollo clearly claimed you, so what's your excuse for joining Luke? Other than you're just as nasty as a monster?!"

I hissed as she pressed the blade.

"Oh Honey," she whispered maliciously, "I don't need to explain myself." She paused and regarded me for a minute. "Luke and Lord Kronos will be delighted to learn that I have you back. They have been anxiously awaiting your arrival!"

"What? Why me?"

"You do know about the big prophecy, right?" The girl named Jenn said, frowning.

"What?" I asked, "What big prophecy?"

"Oh Chiron never told you! Ha. Another reason I left! They never tell you everything. Even he with holds information, he twists and manipulates us just as much as the gods!"

"No!" I cried.

"Enough talk!" Ms Black snapped. "Kill the extra. We just need her!"

Jenna didn't hesitate. She grabbed a handful of Will's hair and yanked his head back, she kicked his knees from behind, making him collapse.

"No!" I screamed, terrified for Will. "Please don't!"

She laughed. "your all dead anyways! Should have joined Lord Kronos!" Jenna smiled, and it was so twisted in cruelty I whimpered.

They couldn't kill him! I wouldn't let that happen! Not caring about my own blood. I grabbed the blade at my neck, the hot tingling sensation in my chest erupted so fast, it shot through my arms and up the sword blade and into Ms Black. She erupted in hot red and gold flames with a scream. Just as a small bronze sharp of a weapon passed through the fire where she was a second ago.

Jenna looked up and let go of Will in shock just as the cestial bronze shard sunk into her chest.