"Hey, you're pretty good at that," she giggled, leaning against the arcade machine as her soaking wet body dripped pool water onto the carpeted floor. She fluttered her eyelashes and trailed her index fingers down the length of the plastic gun's barrel. "Aren't ya, cutie," she purred.

The satyr's face turned nearly as bright red as her hair as his eyes rapidly flipped between her finger slowly massaging the toy gun, her face, and of course her bare chest. The arcade game he had been playing only seconds before was now the last thing on his mind, the cartoonish hunters on screen were now seeking their revenge on the absent player character for killing their camo-clad friends. 'GAME OVER' flashed across the screen in blood red letters as the satyr's eyes finally looked below her waist.

"BAAAA- Baaaad! Bad! I'm not baaa!" the young guardian half-baaed half-stammered as his body temperature rose to almost absurd levels. His groin alone was only a few degrees shy of a deep-sea thermal vent. "I'm not bad!" He managed to yell, as he pulled his eyes up from her uncovered thighs.

"Yeah," she smiled, tracing the tip of the plastic barrel with her finger in seductively slow circles. "Too bad the game just ended..."

The satyr's head snapped to the screen and he blanched when he realized she was right. "I... I..." His eyes lit up and he shoved his free hand into his shirt pocket, pulling out what looked like a credit card. "I can play again!" he cried out with all the enthusiasm of a dolphin about to receive a fish. "Or you can play?"

She lit up like an angler fish only to immediately deflate like a puffer fish. "I don't know how to play..."

The young satyr furrowed his brow and frowned. "You don't know how to play..." he repeated.

"Maybe you could show me?" she suggested when it didn't seem like he was going to reach that obvious conclusion on his own. "That is, if you don't mind..."

He practically threw the orange gun into her hands as he cried out ecstatically "Yes! I'll show you!"

With a flick of her wrist she pumped the fake shotgun and moved in between the deceptively young looking male and the game cabinet. The satyr tried to walk around her to swipe his card in the machine, but she reached behind and pulled him flush against her back. She felt him tense up, as all males would do when pressed against a naked woman, but he somewhat relaxed and reached around her to swipe his card. "Thank you so much," she purred, wrapping his left arm around her waist before turning her head slightly to look him in the eye. "But I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten your name already."

"Y-you-you d-d-didn't," the satyr stuttered as she grinded against him; all the while pretending she had no idea what she was doing. "I-I never t-tol-told you. Dios Immortales!" he panted. "I'm-I'm Grover. Grover Underwood."

She smiled at him as the screen loaded a crudely rendered digital forest with several hunters clad in camo and bright orange clothing hiding behind the pixelated trees. "I know." A hunter leapt out from behind his cover, but before he could get off a single shot she shot him three times, her smile turning into a sadistic grin. "My name's Lisa."

----

*Two hours earlier*

Her entrance into the world had been at the bottom of one of casino's numerous pools, and though the chlorinated water stung her gills at both sets of eyes, Lisa reveled in the warmth of the water against her skin and scales. "Now this is more my speed," she sighed contently, breathing in deeply from the gills in her neck and then exhaling a second later from the gills on her hips. "Waaaaaay better than that musty old university." She closed both sets of her eyes and gave what she considered to be a gentle kick, propelling herself through the water faster then any human was capable of; only slowing down when she had already crossed two-thirds of the Olympic-sized pool. "Right, Allison?" Lisa gave yet another gentle kick, sending her back to where she had started. When the woman she loved didn't respond, she poked open the red-orange glowing eye on her right temple. "Allison?"

Although her new eyes could see more than her human eyes ever could, it was her heightened sense of smell that located the former-empousa, as the rich, metallic smell of blood filled the water. The aroma of human blood made her mouth salivate as the screaming began. She glanced up to the water's shimmering surface and gave a fang-filled grin as her scales turned bright red and the little specs of light that covered her body like freckles glowed a brilliant blue. "Oh, baby... You don't know what you do to me," Lisa chuckled.

For within the middle of the rapidly spreading haze of red she could see with crystal clarity her lover. The former-empousa-now-child-of-the-black-abyss floated in the water with a poise and grace that was matched by only her, with a young man directly floundering in front of her as his gut was torn open by one clawed hand. The man tried to scream like those still trying to escape the red waters, but the long, midnight black tentacles that made up Allison's hair pulled his face against hers in a cruel parody of a kiss.

"This is getting hot," Lisa muttered to herself as one of her own red tentacles with blue rings slid into her mouth. She began to suck on the appendage and it began to suck back, which absolutely drove her mad with want.

She watched as her lover began to suck on the man's lower lip, while she simultaneously shoved her hand up within his chest cavity. Allison's victim tried to thrash his way free, but her tentacles wrapped themselves tighter around his head until he went limp. The fleshy hair released its victim just as Allison tore off the man's lower lip and sucked into her perfect lips like a piece of spaghetti. Then with a quick jerk, her lover ripped the man's heart out and swam over to her. "For you, my love," the sleek, black skinned beauty purred with a predatory smile; offering her the still beating heart.

Lisa spat out the tentacle and took the gift with her own clawed hands, while her body changed to an even deeper red. "Chocolates? For me?! Why, thank you, Mistress Allison," she grinned before plopping the entire organ in her mouth like a bonbon. The hundreds of fine, razor-sharp teeth that lined her mouth tore and ground the muscle into a fine puree that practically melted in her mouth. "You sure know the way to lady's heart," she chuckled, licking her lips with the tip of her tongue.

Allison placed two fingers under the redhead's chin and tilted her head back. "You are no lady," she purred; her four blue eyes slowly pulsing.

She pulled away from her lover and quickly licked the fingers that had just been under her chin, making Allison recoil in surprise. "You're right," she smiled, swimming closer to her mate and wrapping her finned-arms around her. "I'm so much better than a lady." Lisa's own shorter, red and blue tentacles wrapped themselves in Allison's black and blue ones as their lips met for a tender kiss, which quickly turned far more passionate. Their fangs clacked together as they both seemingly tried to swallow the other and their tentacles tugged and pulled at each other; Allison's tentacles even going as far as to latch their claws into Lisa's.

After several minutes of intense passion, she managed to pry herself (albeit reluctantly) from the former-empousa's grasp. Despite their mouths being practically melded together, neither were out of breath in the slightest. One of the perks of having dual respiratory systems. "Think we got time for a quickie?"

Allison arched both her left brows and raked one clawed hand down from the redhead's neck to where her naval had been, leaving behind five paper-thin cuts that leaked blue blood into the water between them. "We've got all the time in the world."

-----

After thirty minutes of intimacy (and an additional fifteen for Lisa's wounds to heal), the two of them emerged from the blood and gore polluted pool and shifted into their human forms. The tentacles on their heads split into thousands of strands of hair. Their second set of eyes receding into their foreheads as the other set lost their glow. The claws on their hands shrank into fingernails as their fingers shortened and the webbing disappeared between them. The slick flesh that changed colors depending on their mood changed to a peachy white and grew tiny hairs all over it as what scales they had retracted into it. The gills on their necks and hips sealed up forcing them to breathe through their mouths or noses.

Before she would have been thrilled to have a dripping wet, naked Allison standing next to her, but the human form no longer did anything for her. Humans in general did nothing for her. If she could have it her way, she would never change into her old shape ever again and would slaughter all the mesmerized humans that dared look at her beloved.

But Allison took her hand within her own and pulled her away before she could let her anger get the better of her. Leading her to a smoothie bar near the entrance of the Casino.

"You think they're here yet?" she asked before taking a sip from her concoction of guava and mango. It was a rhetorical question, as she had smelled their targets the instant they breached the water's surface. Four preteen demigods and a twenty-something satyr that raised several questions. "Or do we need to wait a bit longer?" she asked, while winking at one of the wait staff that couldn't stop staring at the two naked girls.

Allison frowned at the sight and kicked her in the shin under the table. "You know they're here," the black-haired beauty sighed, adjusting the glasses she had snagged from some old lady playing the nickel slots. "The master wouldn't have sent us here if they weren't." Allison took a sip of her beat and liver smoothie and chuckled. Her red lips twisting into a mischievous smirk.

"What? What's so funny?" she asked with a smirk of her own as she rested one foot between her mistress' thighs.

Allison arched one perfectly plucked dark eyebrow as she began to massage her with her toes. "I just found it so impressive that you devoured a human heart like that. It... it was absolutely breathtaking."

She leaned across the table, resting her chin on her hands. "Well, it is rude to turn down a meal your significant other made just for you," she said with a shrug. "And I'm glad I didn't, it tasted soooo good."

The former-empousa reached beneath the table and removed the foot from her lap; breaking Lisa's big toe as she did it. The redhead slammed down on the table top, spilling her drink, and let out a howl that was a mix of agony and ecstasy. A few of the casino's guests turned to look at the source of the strange cry, but the magical influence they were under quickly took hold and they went about in their eternal pursuit of pleasure.

"But didn't it feel strange? To eat another human?" The raven-haired woman clarified. "I mean, you were human..."

"Keyword there is were," she huffed as her toe snapped back into place without so much as a bruise. "My connection with humanity was severed long before I got this deep-sea makeover..." If she would have been in her natural form her coloring would have faded until it was as black as her lovers, but all she had now was human flesh which paled at the painful memories that surfaced with all the force of an orca leaping out of the sea.

Her mother and father had been human, Irish Catholics from Hoboken, who had no problem whatsoever tossing their only daughter out to the curb when she came out to them. Her very human father going as far as rewarding her courage by breaking her jaw while her mother called her a harlot and a filthy whore. And when she tried to return home weeks later to beg for forgiveness with the promise to try to suppress her feelings, she was met with a gun pressed against her forehead and a promise to kill her if she ever tried to return.

Her friends had been human -all born with ten fingers, ten toes, and bellybuttons- and all of them and their families refused to help her in any way, shape, or form. That included driving her to a hospital or calling an ambulance. They had all just stood at their doorsteps and offered her excuses why they couldn't help or insincere apologies about not wanting to get in trouble with their parents. She knew the truth though: they were all grossed out at the idea she could be attracted to them.

The sisters that ran her school had been human too, and they had no qualms whatsoever expelling her from the chapel as she tried to plead for sanctuary with a shattered jaw. Her parents had apparently called ahead and told them what she was, so they had no issue pummeling her with their paddles and straightedge rulers in hopes of making her repent for her wicked ways. For an order whose chief beliefs were mercy and forgiveness they had offered her none.

The men who had found her passed out in the dark, grimy alley behind the Maxwell House Coffee plant had been the epitome humanity. Offering to take her battered and broken self to the hospital in exchange for... certain favors.

Her memories shifted to what happened immediately after that, and a small smile tugged at her lips.

If Allison hadn't attacked those men when she did, a blur of fire, fur, metal, and claw, she was positive she would have died. Void, she wanted to die then. She had even pleaded for Allison to put her out of her misery; believing the empousa to be the Angel of Death or a sign of her slipping into madness. But in act of unparalleled cruelty, Allison refused to kill her and took her back to her lair within the coffee factory's basement.

An act, that completely backfired.

It was hard to say when she and Allison became friends, and even harder to say when they became something more, but somehow, they came together as the servant of the goddess Hecate nursed her back to health. Allison told her stories about women throughout the ages who had a similar orientation to hers, helping her come to terms with herself and realizing that there was nothing wrong with her. She in turn gave the empousa her mortal name (because the hisses, snarls, and growls of empousai language was just a little hard to replicate with human vocal cords) and helped her perfect her human form (the long, black hair and eyeglasses was all her idea). The months they spent in that basement that smelled of mildew and roasted coffee beans were some of the best of Lisa's life.

But the relationship between an empousa and a human is not an easy thing. Empousai by nature are violent creatures that torture mortals foolish enough to fall for their wiles to feed off that misery before killing them. So while it took all of Allison's willpower to not gut her like a fish, any time they engaged in any sort of physical activity left her covered in deep lacerations and bite marks that refused to refused to heal. They both knew that if they continued with their relationship the empousa would eventually kill her, but she was more than willing to die if it meant having someone that loved her.

Allison... Allison didn't like that. Saying that it was foolish to throw away one's life for love. She strongly disagreed with that as Allison was the only thing she had that made life worth living, and after a heated argument that result in three broken ribs, they decided to search for help. They tried various gods and goddesses, both major and minor, but most did not respond while those that did demanded too much for so little. For some time it seemed that their love would result in a tragic ending.

But then salvation came in the form of the obscure Roman goddess of discipline, Disciplina. The goddess definitely had some quirks to her, becoming something of the goddess of BDSM as the definition of discipline changed over the years, but what the deal she offered was too good to pass up. She and Allison would become her handmaidens and attend the prep school where she made her home, and in exchange she would stay eternally young and any wounds she received would heal by morning's light as long as she stayed on the school grounds. She eagerly accepted, and the next she knew, she was sharing a dorm room with the love of her life.

Life at Pompeii Prep had been amazing. The classes were self-audited, so she got to study any topic she wanted to any time he wanted. She got to play any sport she desired -not just softball which her father had begrudgingly allowed- and found out that she was a natural athlete; soccer and cross-country being her favorites. She cut her hair short and dyed it a vivid red that would have made her parents disown her allover again. The timid persona that had been forced upon her was completely erased, a louder more boisterous version of herself with a sophomoric sense of humor replaced it; which she realized was who she really was.

And best of all: her relationship with Allison no longer had any pesky restraints.

Sure, the first few years had been agonizing and horrifying. What with Allison loving to rip her fingernails out, bite her tongue off, disemboweling her, and on special occasions slitting her throat. But as promised the injuries healed with the rising of the sun, and with enough time the pain morphed to a pleasure few knew.

Lisa's frown returned and quickly turned into a snarl as her grip on her smoothie tightened.

Life had been perfect for them and should have continued that way until the end of time.

But that's when humans had to ruin her life yet again. Some group with a King Arthur fet ish decided to wage war on all that was divine and magical, and instead of being wiped out in an instant as anyone with half a brain would expect, they actually won. They plowed through the gods -their own gods- with ease, and in a matter of months had claimed victory.

Pompeii Prep being destroyed early in the one-sided war.

The humans had stormed the school, their home, in the middle of the night and somehow managed to strip Disciplina of her divinity. She, Allison, and the other creatures that lived there had tried to fight back, to save their goddess. But swords, spears, and claws had been nothing compared to the human's anti-divinity weapons, and she had found herself surrounded by the falling, glimmering dust of what had been her lover and her friends. The humans didn't kill her, but she as hades tried to kill them. Yet despite her blinding rage, she learned just how weak she was. A lesson she would be reminded of again and again after the humans sent her off to a psych ward; believing she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and other mental defects. All because her love for Allison didn't fit into their narrow ideas of what love was.

So, was it any surprise that she agreed to deal the whispers proposed? Her Allison back until the end of all creation, power beyond her imagination, and revenge against those that humiliated hurt her. All that in exchange for killing a false god known as Nodens, sacrificing her life, and giving her soul over to her new master. A trivial price to be reunited with the woman she loved.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

Lisa blinked and found that Allison leaning across the table with her fingers just inches from her faces.

"You okay?" the raven-haired beauty asked, sliding back into her chair. "You just kind of zoned out there for like... five minutes and made a bunch of faces. I thought you might be having a stroke."

"I'm fine, my Mistress," Lisa answered with a sad, little smile. "Let's just change the topic though." She tried to take sip of her smoothie, only to get nothing. A quick glance at her cup explained her lack of beverage: the bottom had popped off from her squeezing it too tightly; the semi-frozen concoction now pooling beneath their table. "Great..." she sighed, tossing the cup off into the crowded casino. "How about we go over the mission? Just as a quick refresher?"

Allison stared at her for a moment but relented to her pointless request with a small smile. "First thing we are to do is eliminate the satyr and the younger of the two female demigods."

"Simple enough," Lisa shrugged. "Don't understand why, but if the master wants us to vivisect some tweens I'm more than happy to oblige."

"He explained why! How do you not listen to a force that-" Allison let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head in defeat. "Look, it's pretty simple: the girl and the satyr play a huge role in things to come. Things that have happened elsewhere, but not here yet. By eliminating them, the master gets to see if their presence aids or hinders his goals."

"And the master hasn't tried this before now because...."

"Oh, he has," Allison sighed. "At least on five separate occasions-"

"Seems like a low number for a being capable of observing all of creation. You'd thing that number would be- OW!"

The former-empousa retraced her foot from the redhead's shin and glared at her. "You know he has to be careful. If a Guardian or a Keeper so much as sniffs his influence, he must start over again. Billions of years of effort wasted." Allison took another sip of her still intact smoothie and glanced at the crowd of brainwashed humans. "So, he keeps these experiments small. Easier to manage." She took another sip. "So that's why we're here. Plus, that idiot Brian accidentally wiped out the other experiments with his shoggoths..."

"For claiming to be so smart, he sure is an idiot," she hummed, tapping her nails on the tabletop. "Okay, so what's our other objective?"

"The book."

Both of their heads swiveled to the hotel and casino's grand entrance, where behind the concierge's desk, an ancient safe was built into the wall. Like most hotel safes, it was filled with the valuables of guests who didn't feel comfortable leaving them in their rooms and would retrieve them when they checked out. But in a hotel where no one ever left, the safe had accumulated millennia's worth of treasures to the point that just beyond that simple iron door sat actual mountains of gold, jewels, pearls, and cash.

But the treasures of man had no appeal to them (other than maybe a new pair of earrings if a pair just so happened to catch her eye). Rather, a nondescript black book called out to them like a siren's song. They couldn't see it, but they could feel exactly where it was at: smushed between a minx fur coat and the shield of Achilles.

"Do you think this one's the real deal?" she asked. Her gaze shifting back to her lover.

"I doubt it," Allison said, meeting her gaze once more. "I doubt the map to the Dreamlands would be in a hotel of all places."

"Just like a fragment of Hastur wasn't beneath our school," she countered with a smirk. "Or that Papi was a normal human?"

Allison rolled her eyes and tossed her head back. "Touché..." She looked back up and narrowed her eyes. "And did you honestly think a man that could drive a school bus at Mach 10 was a normal human?"

"Well I don't now," she smiled, while unconsciously lifted a hand to her throat where Pompei Prep's driver and maintenance man had once held a blade to it. Never figured the old cook would be Nodens' protector...

"Well..." Allison rose from her chair, making several men of various ages gawk and drool all over themselves. "Should we get on with it, my love?" she asked, offering her one hand.

A hand she gladly took. "Of course, my Mistress," she smiled as her love dug her nails into the soft flesh of her hand. "Shall we divide and conquer? It'll give us more time for ourselves before we have to return."

"What an excellent idea, my little cuttlefish," Allison smiled, before placing a kiss on the center of Lisa's forehead. "Any preference on who you want?"

She licked her lips and grinned. "I could kill for some gyros..."

-----

"I... I don't mean to pry," Grover gulped, "but why are you naked?"

Lisa pulled the trigger twice on the orange, plastic gun, killing three of the virtual hunters. "Because fur is murder," Lisa giggled. "Synthetic fabrics create tons of poisonous chemicals that are dumped into the environment. Cotton is planted and harvested in an unsustainable manner. And on top of all that, most clothing is made by children in sweatshops." She pumped the faux shotgun and immediately blew the head off another hunter. "I figure what the gods gave me is all I need." By the time she finished the spiel she had completely made up on the spot, the satyr was practically drooling. In fact, she did feel a bit of drool running down her back. Seriously dude?!

"You are environmentalist goals," Grover grinned like a lovesick puppy. "I wish every other mortal was like you..."

"You and Gaea both," she snickered. "Not that it will matter in a few years..."

"What was that?" the satyr asked, his eyes momentarily losing their magic induced hazed.

"I said your really good at saving the deer," she answered, running her right-hand down Grover's furry thigh. While she herself was repulsed by the sensation (fur had nothing on the sleek skin of Allison's new body), the satyr bleated in pure ecstasy. "You are such a good teacher."

"Thank- thank you," the boy panted, his eyes half-lidded and unfocused. Whether it was the result magic of the casino's signature dish or just his nature of a satyr, he didn't notice that he had not once given her any instruction on how to play the arcade game. The strange, naked, redheaded girl rocketing past his own high score with ease. "I- I do what I can."

"No, thank you," she purred into Grover's ear. She returned the orange gun to its holder on the machine, allowing the game's enemies to kill her character with ease, and spun around to face the satyr. "If only there was a way for me to show you just how grateful I am." She trailed one delicate finger down his chest, only to briefly stall when she noticed he was wearing the same type of orange T-shirt that a certain kind boy with sky blue eyes and short blond hair had worn so very long ago. Back when she was still human. She pushed those memories aside and leaned in so close to the freckled youth. "Do you have any idea how-"

Grover smashed their lips together before Lisa could finish and wrapped his arms around her waist. Pulling her in so tightly their bodies practically became one.

And judging by the prodding she felt against her thigh, that was the satyr's goal.

Gross...

But she allowed the satyr to continue his kiss. Grover baaing and bleating into her mouth as his hands snaked their way down her backside, only stopping to cop a feel. It was disgusting to be handled by a man in such a way, but this was the game she had chosen to play, and it was only fair she gave him a little bit of pleasure before it came to its inevitable end. She pretended to return the enthusiasm of the twenty-something satyr, tangling her fingers in his locks and lifting her leg to straddle his own; moaning in false pleasure as she did so.

The enthusiastic Grover pushed her against the arcade machine, shaking it and the machines next to it. Earning some brief glares from those enraptured by the neighboring games, before being consumed by the Lotus' magics once more. At the same time, she felt the satyr's tongue seek entrance into her mouth. To which she gladly obliged, entangling her own tender muscle with his.

And now for the real fun to begin!

Still clutching the boy's head, she allowed her tongue to transition back to its natural state: a long, slimy tube that ended with a fang-filled, circular sucker like that of a lamprey's mouth. The satyr gave momentary pause at the taste of and texture of the slime that now filled both their mouths but continued on until the secondary mouth tore into the delicate tissue of his tongue. His eyes flew open and were filled with panic and confusion as she reeled his tongue deeper into her mouth; stretching the muscle to the point of tearing.

He tried to pull away, wildly thrashing his arms and kicking at her with his hooves, but she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and sank her claws into the back of his head. The satyr's painfilled bleating managed to momentarily attract the attention of some of other guests, but they were quick to look away when they spied what looked like two teenagers in the throws of passion.

As Grover delivered a desperate kidney punch (Ha ha, that's not where they're at anymore!), her pharyngeal jaws darted forward from the back of her throat and severed his tongue off in a rush of blood. Just like a Moray eel eating its prey.

And it was only then did Lisa release the foolish creature of myth.

As she gracefully landed on her feet, she couldn't help but laugh as Grover fell to the ground. Clutching the gushing wound that his mouth had become. "What wrong little goat?" she asked as her second set of eyes fluttered open. "Catfish got your tongue?" she laughed before poking the severed flesh between her lips.

Grover's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he watched her swallow his tongue in one gulp. "AAABAAA!" he screeched in terror, trying to scramble back with one hand still pressed against his mouth; blood dripping between his fingers and onto his shirt.

"Oh, don't leave a girl hanging," she chuckled, easily catching up to the wounded beast with two strides. Her human form giving way to her true, beautiful self. "But then again..." She struck at his groin as fast as a shark at the smell of blood and tore away his goathood. "I've always been more of a solo act." Then before the satyr had a chance to react to the pain radiating from his lower regions, she sank her fangs into his throat and ripped it open.

But instead of a rush of blood and one final agonized scream, the young nature spirit turned into a daffodil surrounded by his bloodstained shirt and stupid hat in a flash of light.

"Way to blue ball a girl," she huffed, snapping the flower's stem between her claws. "Free T-shirt though," she laughed, picking up the bloody, orange article and sliding it over her head. "Score! It fits!"

"I've always been more of a solo act? Really? What am I, chopped liver?"

Lisa turned around to find Allison looming over her with an amused smile on her face. Her claws and chin were stained with blood, and like her, had looted a T-shirt; although hers was purple with gold lettering. But what truly stood out was that clutched in her right hand was a black book and what looked like a black collar with a golden pendant.

"You got the book without me?!" she cried, ignoring her lover's questions. "You know how much I love heists! I was going to bust out some sweet Kungfu moves, do some flips, and come up with an overly elaborate plan that would fail and we would have to resort to violence!"

"That is exactly why I did it on my own," the former-empousa said with a disapproving shake of her head. "That... and when I came back from dispatching the girl, it looked like you were having fun with that creepy satyr playing Deer Avenger."

"Jealous?" She fluttered her eyelashes; or the scaly skin that passed for eyelashes.

"A little," Allison smirked. She stepped closer and placed her free hand under Lisa's chin, tilting her head back. "But not anymore," she purred with a subtle nod of her head to the fallen flower. Her partner than leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips; both enjoying the taste of the blood on one another. "I picked up something for you, if that makes things any better?"

"Mmmmm it might," she smirked back. "Whadya get me?"

Allison released her chin and swapped the collar over to her free hand. "I found this next to the book," she explained, lifting the black collar up for Lisa to see. "And when I saw what was etched into it, I just knew I had to take it."

She took the collar in her claws, only for her breath to hitch when she was the inscribed symbol. "Ally... this is..."

"The Yellow Sign," Allison finished with a soft smile, cupping Lisa's cheek. "The symbol you used to lure out Nodens and invoke the fragment. The symbol you used to bring me back. The symbol of our eternal love."

It was only then did Lisa learn that her new form was incapable of crying, as if it was tears would have been rolling down her face. "Mistress... I- it's perfect!" she beamed. "Help me put it on!"

"Sure thing."

She spun around giddy with excitement and lifted her tentacles up for her partner's ease. A second later the Allison carefully placed the collar around her neck; carefully setting it so as to not irritate her gills. "This is the nicest thing you have ever-" A strange sensation overcame her and Allison, bringing her thanks to a complete halt. It felt just like someone forcing their way into a world from the void. Reality itself trying to fight against the incursion but failing as whatever beast or being clawed its way through. "He would come and kill the fucking moment!" she hissed. "It's like he knows when someone is happ-"

Allison grabbed her chin and turned her head to the source of the sensation. "Look."

"Why it's just Brian's unstable as..." she trailed as her four eyes processed what had just crossed into the universe. "That can't be good..."

For stepping out of the darkness into the middle of the crowded casino was a scarred young man with black hair, vivid green eyes, and a right arm made of Celestial Bronze along with a shorter, younger teen with dark, shaggy hair, piercing black eyes, and what appeared to be Zeus' Master Bolt clenched tightly in his right hand. What was most alarming though was that the two carried a familiar smell to them. The ancient smell of the long dead world she and Allison hailed from.

"What do we do?" she hissed to her lover.

Allison blinked. Her four eyes dilating. "I- I don't know... Call the Master?"

I aM aLrEaDy AwArE, a spinetingling voice resonated from every fiber of their beings. NoW lIsTeN cLoSeLy...

----

"Neeks, this isn't good," the older traveler gulped. Barely holding back tears as the two young men stared down at the mangled remains of the blonde demigod Allison had slain. "I-" he squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed hard "She was just a kid! Who could do this to a kid! This isn't even a monster killing for survival! This- this is a fucking slaughter!"

The shorter teen reached up and gently patted the elder's back as every ounce liquid in the surrounding area began to boil. "I know Perce... I know... She's in Elysium now."

"Really?! Annabeth's in Elysium?" the taller teen snapped. "Neeks, this was her first quest! My first quest! She- she hasn't done anything yet! She's-"

"Still a good person," the shorter insisted, making the taller shut up. "My father and the tribunal will recognize that, Percy."

The older teen pinched the bridge of his nose with his artificial hand and took a shuttering breath. "Fuck... You're right, Nico... Sorry I- Sorry I snapped at you."

"No need to apologize," the younger said, "I get it. She was my friend too." His back stiffened up as electricity arced from the ends of the Master Bolt; the grand hall of the casino filling with the unmistakable scent of ozone. "And we will set this right."

Lisa had to clamp a hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing; which was not as hard as she thought it would be with a transparent body. "Shorty's pissed," she snickered just loud enough for Allison to hear. Which, the more that she thought about it was her normal speaking voice as the resort's patrons continued with their various activities as if the there wasn't a corpse of an eleven-year-old girl lying in a pool of her own blood.

Allison snickered in response. "Yeah! And what kind of name is "Nico"?"

"Really?" she asked, hip checking her invisible girlfriend. "What about Percy?" she asked. Imagines of a small, green tank engine with a face from her childhood springing to mind. "Toot toot!"

Allison snorted at her sound effects. "I- Oh, crap they're moving again!"

"We still have another huge problem, Neeks," Percy sighed as all the nearby liquids dropped from a boil to a simmer. "I'm alone." Nico arched an eyebrow at him in confusion. "I mean, younger me is alone," Percy clarified. "There is no way I could have completed this quest on my own! I have to go to the Underworld yet, outsmart some weird mattress guy, and fight freak'n Ares! I couldn't have done any of that without Annabeth and Grover!"

Nico furrowed his brow in deep thought and stroked his chin. "You don't have to be alone..."

"Huh? What, are you going to resurrect-" Percy's eyes lit up as something clicked within his head. "You don't mean..."

"Yeah," the younger demigod nodded. "Me and Bianca are somewhere around here," he said, looking around the grand hall for something. "I know we were absolutely clueless about being demigods at the time, but our presence would at least help you deal with father."

Percy squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head like a petulant child. "Shit, that's... that's going to mess up everything! Who's going to save me from that killer game of dodgeball next year? Save me from the manticore? Solve the riddle of the sphinx in the labyrinth? Convince Luke to sacrifice himself? Return the Athena Parthenos?"

"I... I don't know, Percy," Nico gulped. "But everything's changed anyway. Plus," the younger teen smirked, "you and I would be just about the same age now."

"You're absolutely horrible," The green-eyed boy chuckled, wrapping his real arm around Nico's shoulders. "Trying to set up a parallel universe version of our younger selves." Percy stopped and frowned. "That sounds so stupid when I say it aloud..."

"I try not to think about it," Nico huffed. "But are we in agreement? We find ourselves and get them out of here together?" He made a sour expression. "Gods, it does sound weird..."

"Yeah. Yeah, let's do it," the older teen sighed. "But first let's take care of Annabeth. Give her a proper burial and inform her dad about what happened. He- he needs to know. Then we can look for that stupid book."

While Nico nodded, Lisa found herself overcome by a sadistic glee that was not her own. A glee that she was certain Allison and even Brian felt. I lOvE iT wHeN a PlAn CoMeS tOgEtHeR!!! Her master cackled from his prison. The glee faded away and was replaced by a frustrated confusion. DoEs AnYoNe GeT tHaT rEfErEnCe? Or ArE yOu ToO yOuNg FoR ThAt OnE?

"No, no. I get it," Lisa whispered. "The A-Team. I watched it growing up." She paused. "I'm actually surprised you know what that is though..."

"Yeah, same," Allison nodded.

WhEn YoU'rE aLl-SeEiNg YoU wAtCh A lOt Of TeLeVisIoN... I'm An AbSoLuTe PrO aT jEoPaRdy! Their master laughed hysterically. NoW... GeT rEaDy FoR tHe NeXt PhAse...

-----

"This will be fun," she snickered as Percy and Nico approached the poolside bar where she and Allison had hidden the book.

Like every other copy of the book they had found, it was just that: a copy. Yes, it contained forbidden knowledge on their master and his numerous monstrous relative written in human blood on tanned human skin; which Lisa thought was the most metal thing in the history of ever. But the real book allegedly wasn't a book at all, rather a piece of magical-techno-whos-it-whats-it that would reveal its true form to whoever held it. The copies they had found were created by some monk who was driven mad when he somehow gazed into the void; the books he wrote having the same presence as the original. Some copies though... Some were even older than human history. Which went way over her head.

But she and Allison weren't paid to think (not that they were paid), they were paid to do their master's bidding without question. So, if he wanted them to hide the book for the otherworldly intruders to find, then that was just fine by her.

Though I don't understand why we can't kill them? Sneak up behind them and gut them like fish?

BeCaUsE sHuT Up, ThAt'S wHy! Her master snapped, as the muscles in her neck began to constrict. NoW fOcUs!

Her neck returned to normal as demigod duo pushed their way passed the confused bartender. Percy seemingly summoning a wave with a flick of his metallic wrist that propelled the poolside customers away from the counter. "You sure it's here, babe? This... thing you feel?"

"It's here," the younger demigod answered as he began to throw open the cabinets beneath the bar. "Whatever it is, it's here...."

"I'll take your word for it," Percy shrugged as he eyes the various bottles of alcohol on the mirrored shelves behind the bar. "Heh... it just dawned on me: we're over twenty-one now, aren't we?"

"Focus, Perce," she heard Nico say from beneath the counter. "And yeah. We've been what qualifies for legal for... a couple hundred years? Or what passes for years?"

Lisa licked her lips as the older demigod's hand brushed against the book; hidden in plain sight under a pile of yellowing napkins with a purple lotus pattern. "And now to make it look real," she said with a smile.

"What are you thinking? A shoggoth? Some Deep Ones?" Allison asked, tracing one clawed finger around the uppermost gill on her left hip.

While the feeling her lover's finger on the sensitive flesh sent shivers down her spine, Lisa frowned at the suggestions.

The shoggoths, huge, black masses of an ever-changing number of tentacles, purple eyes, and fangs, were not her thing. They were smart, she couldn't deny that, the amorphous creatures capable of adapting to any situation, but they lacked... personality if she had to describe it with one word. They were more akin to machines than any living creature. Doing whatever they were tasked with with a ruthless efficiency. But the main reason she didn't like them was because they were essentially part of their coworker Brian, who she absolutely loathed. As she saw the former engineer as the personification of all that was wrong with humanity.

Meanwhile, the Deep Ones -the very creatures she and Allison were in charge of- were to put it bluntly: fish people. That's it. Take a Large Mouth Bass, add the hind legs of a frog, T-rex like arms with webbed fingers, the bioluminescent lure of and angler fish, and make it six-feet tall and you had yourself a Deep One. They were... fairly intelligent. Smart enough to learn the human tongue and hide beneath the waves from the prying eyes of the Guardians, but gods help them if they needed to follow a plan with more than two steps. Combat wise they were also lacking. Under the sea they were second only to her and Allison in speed and mobility, but on land they capable of hopping around for a few minutes before their skin got to dry. Really, their only saving grace was that they were capable of interbreeding with humans, the results of such unions producing half breeds that could pass for human for the first fifty-or-so-years of their lives before becoming Deep Ones.

"No, I'm thinking... bigger," she purred with a seductive smile. She then placed two fingers in the black-tentacled beauty's mouth. "Blow."

Allison sucked on the clawed digits for a second (not fair!), and then did as instructed.

As the air rushed passed her scaly digits, the slight friction created an infrasonic whistle imperceptible to the human ear. If the satyr was still living he would have undoubtedly heard it, but there would have been nothing he could have done to stop it as the veil between this world and the void was torn asunder at the bottom of the pool.

"Neeks! Neeks, I found it!" Percy whooped. The young man literally jumping with joy with the book held high into the air. "It's- It's..." He caught sight of the creature she had summoned and let out a frustrated sigh. "Why would I expect anything different..."

The younger demigod poked his head up from behind the bar and sighed just the same. "Yup... This makes sense..."

Lisa removed her fingers from her lover's mouth and licked off the slimy saliva that coated them, while her eyes (literally) lit up at the sight of her and Allison's more capable servants. "I went with something a little... bigger," she laughed as her lover wrapped her in her arms.

"I see that," the former-empousa purred, kissing the small patch of skin between her upper and lower left eyes. "Dagons or Mother Hydras?"

Deep One were funny creatures. They were biologically immortal and continued to grow in size for as long as they lived. After a few centuries of life, their bodies would elongate to the point they could no longer stand upright; forcing them to live beneath the waves. A few centuries after that, they shed their lures as their arms and legs transitioned into pseudo-flippers that allowed them to return to the land once more. Though few actually did go back to the land as there was nothing their large enough to feed them; most resorting to cannibalism to avoid starvation. And with age their scales fell away, a sleek, speckled skin like that of a salamander's taking its place that was resistant to all forms of damage. If a Deep One managed to make it to that stage in their life, the younger humanoids often worshiped them as gods. Calling the males Dagons and the females Mother Hydras.

"I went for one of each," she shrugged in her lover's arms as the two terrible creatures bared their shark-like teeth at the demigods. "You know, see if one sex is better than the other." She looked over the pair of elder Deep Ones and noted that the Mother Hydra's flipper muscles were bigger than those of the Dagon's. Most likely giving her a speed advantage on both land and sea. "My money's on the M.H."

Allison nipped her ear, making Lisa yelp in surprise. "No fair, that's what I was going to bet," she said with a fake whine.

"Percy? Would you be upset with me if I deep fried them?" Nico chuckled nervously, holding the Master Bolt aloft. "They're not like your cousins or anything, right?"

The teen in question raised a wall of water as the pair of elder Deep Ones sized up their prey; their gills pulsing with a neon blue light. "If I am, the next family ruin is going to be really awkward... GET 'EM!"

The wall of water split off into two torrents as the male and female creature struck at the demigods like cobras. Nico released a blast from the salvaged weapon of the gods as he tackled his boyfriend into the shadows. Only a split second before poolside bar was crushed by the pairs of massive jaws; one pair sizzling with electricity.

"Ouch town, population you, bro," Lisa hissed as the Dagon shook off the electric attack. Plumes of steam rising from its Cadillac-thick body.

Meanwhile, the Mother Hydra spotted the pair of demigods exited from the shadows near the poolroom's entrance. With a roar that shook the room, the great leviathan heaved itself out of the pool and chased after the duo; crushing any mortal that was unable to flee from its destructive path in time. Two massive hands of water formed in the pool at the center of the room and attempted to hold the enraged amphibious beast in place while bolts of white-hot lightning peppered its hide. Unlike its dazed mate though, the Mother Hydra was seemingly unphased by the attacks and slid through the watery hands like an eel.

"IT'S LIGHTNING AND WATER!" she heard Percy cry out in disbelief. "THIS THING SHOULD BE CHARCOAL!"

"LESS TALKING MORE BLASTING!" Nico cried.

She and Allison giggled as the boys ran out of the room with the Mother Hydra hot on their heels. The Dagon blinked with both sets of eyelids and looked to her expectantly. "What?" she asked. "Go kill them or whatever. Go! Shoo! Scat!" The male nodded at her and slithered out of the pool in pursuit of the demigods and the Mother Hydra. "Geeze, remind me to only work with women..."

"No," the former-empousa hissed with a grin. "I'll get jealous."

She looked up at her mate and kissed her cheek. "Well, maybe I want to make you jealous. You ever think of that?"

Allison nipped at one of her tentacles as their bodies returned to their normal coloring. "I should warn you: I'm mean when I get jealous..."

"Oh, I know, baby... And it turns me on."

----

"ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE USING THAT THING CORRECTLY?!" Percy's voice cried out over the roars of the ancient Deep Ones.

"HOW COULD I USE IT WRONG?!" Nico shouted back as an unseen wall was smashed to bits by the rampaging beasts.

"I DON'T KNOW! MAYBE YOU GOT THE BATTERIES IN BACKWARDS?!'

Lisa chuckled to herself as the world around them descended into chaos. But the funny thing was, it all seemed so far away as she ground her hips against Allison's on the remains of the casino's dancefloor. The music still played on despite the DJ being crushed to death under a pile of debris; a slow but sensual beat filling the room. The disco ball and lighting system filled the dark room with hundreds of dots of multicolored light that moved and pulsed to the beat of the music; her and Allison's own bioluminescence quickly syncing up with the artificially lighting. The floor was littered with corpses with grins permanently etched on their faces, as the casino's magic refused to let go even in death, but the two of them glided across them as if they weren't there.

Lisa lived for moments like these. Where it was just the two of them without a care in the world (or worlds). When they could be themselves without others looking at them with eyes filled with judgment and disgust.

For she found that no matter what she looked like or who she served someone, would always disapprove of her.

But never Allison.

Allison would always stand by her side.

And she would always stand by her in return. Because they were in love and that's what people did when they were in love. And sacrificing her life, her humanity, and her world had been a trivial price to be with the woman she loved until the end of everything. No one else mattered in the grand scheme of things, just Allison.

"NEEKS, IF WE SURVIVE THIS, TWO WORDS: INFINITY GAUNTLET!" Percy cried out as the music changed to a slow dance. "WE'RE GOING TO GET ONE! FUCK, GET TEN OF THEM!"

"THAT'S NOT HOW THE MULTIVERSE WOR- SHIT!" the younger demigod screamed as the Lotus Hotel and Casino shook.

She lifted her arms over her head and wrapped them around Allison's neck, while gyrating her hips. "I love you, my Mistress."

"And I love you," Allison replied. Those four little words making Lisa's skin turn bright red as every faux freckle on her body burned a brilliant blue. The taller servant of the void slowly raked her index finger upwards from Lisa's hips. "How about a little us time before we have to return to that creep Herbert?"

Lisa hummed in approval and tossed her head back when she felt her lover's claw pierce her flesh. "You know how to make a girl quiver," she moaned with pleasure as her lower abdomen was cut open.

"I ACTUALLY MISS GAEA! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!"

"PERCY, WOULD YOU SHUT UP AND FOCUS ON KILLING THE MURDEROUS SALAMANDERS?!"