Crossroad Blues in Crescent City

(Bad Moon Rising and Party on Bourbon St.)

The shadowy figure is bounding toward them with impossible speed, and everyone's getting ready for a fight. Calliope plants her feet and holds the 'Hell's Scream' out in front of her.

The woman she only knows as 'LivingDeadGirl' does the same, pulling her silver dagger up in front of her. Dysnomi holds his hands up, Nagaveni has her gaze planted on the shadows, Asmodeus' hands are on fire, and Amarok is in a fighting stance, hoping he doesn't have to turn into the wolf in the open like this.

It gets closer… and closer… and closer. Everyone has anxiety through the roof now… Then, two ruby-red eyes appear in the shadows.

"Wait!" Calliope yells out, dropping the 'Hell's Scream' and bracing herself for impact. Everyone stands down except Amarok and the woman.

"Stand down!" Asmodeus yells.

"Are you crazy?! This thing's been followin' me all day, and now we're gonna get mauled by it!" the woman yells.

"Stand. Down," Asmodeus says again. Well, the demon says it in its creepy, ethereal voice. Flames keep coming off Asmodeus' body. They start at his hands, traveling up his arms to his shoulders. "STAND DOWN!" the voice commands. "I will not tell you again."

"Please!" Calliope begs, a choked sob coming out.

Amarok hesitates, looking to Calliope for guidance.

"Please," she begs him, her eyes starting to water. "She won't hurt you."

Amarok sees the sincerity in her gorgeous eyes and nods to the woman, signaling for her to stand down, and for her to trust him. The woman sighs, but she puts away her weapon.

The shadows then take the shape of a massive wolf as it bounds into Calliope, knocking her down. Amarok takes a step toward her, wanting to protect her. The woman with cobalt-blue hair yells out, "Holy shit! What the fuck is that?!"

Calliope pushes the wolf off, laughing. "Okay, easy girl," she says. Nanook whines and sits back, while Amarok pulls Calliope up using one hand and sets her on her feet. She turns to Nanook and says, "What are you doing here?" The hellhound whines and paws at Calliope's feet. "Did you miss us?" She pets Nanook on the head, which cuts her hand in small, thin slices.

"You sweet girl, come here," Nagaveni says, walking over to pet Nanook.

Calliope pulls her hand back, wiping off the blood that spilled as her cuts heal rapidly, leaving no trace of them. Then, she turns to the woman and Amarok and says, "This is Nanook. She belongs to me. She's a hellhound. Nanook," she says, turning to the wolf. "This is my new friend Amarok."

Nanook goes over and sniffs his hand, and he waits patiently until she allows him to pet her. When he pulls his hand back, he says, "Damn. Even werewolf hair isn't that sharp." Calliope notices his scratches are already knitting themselves back together.

"And this is…" Calliope says, gesturing to the woman known as 'LivingDeadGirl' while looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh… I'm Xena," she says, holding her hand out cautiously. Nanook sniffs her hand once before huffing at her and walking away to sit at Calliope's side once more.

"Sorry about that," Nagaveni says. "She's probably just upset about you trying to attack her."

Calliope gasps and says, "Nanook," in a scolding tone. "She didn't know who you were. You were following her… You scared her." Nanook puts her head down, whining.

"Aw, it's alright," Xena says. "Don't worry, I'm used to random creatures followin' me around here. It's kinda my job."

Calliope notices now that Xena talks with a thick Creole accent. 'She's probably lived here her whole life,' she thinks.

"Oh?" Dysnomi questions, standing straighter.

"What do you do?" Asmodeus asks.

"I hunt feral supernatural creatures–either creatures that were already feral and can't be trusted to live around people, or ones that start harmin' folks later. Officially, I'm a mercenary…" She brings her voice down to a whisper before saying, "Unofficially, though, I get paid by the government."

"So, you hunt… things like us?" Nagaveni asks, keeping her eyes on Xena's ear since she can't look into anyone's eyes without turning them to stone.

"Us?" Xena repeats, confused.

'Nagaveni looks like a human right now.'

"Oh!" Nagaveni looks around, ensuring there aren't any prying eyes. Then she slips the 'Serpent Tamer' off and hands it to Calliope. Nagaveni turns in a slow circle as the snakes atop her head start to wake. When the snakes catch Nanook's scent, however, they start hissing like crazy.

"Okay… I wasn't expectin' that," Xena says. Her jaw is open and she's taken a step back, putting more distance between her and the angry snakes.

"Alright, let's put this back on before they get too pissed," Calliope says, walking over with the 'Serpent Tamer.' The two stubborn snakes in the back hiss at her angrily, then one of them attempts to strike out at her. She dodges it with ease and says, "I see 'Hiss Hemsworth' and 'Reese Slitherspoon' are as joyful as ever."

Nagaveni laughs as Calliope clasps the necklace closed, once again putting the snakes to sleep and creating the illusion of long black hair on Nagaveni.

Xena leans back against the cool brick wall and lets out a long breath, calming herself. Then she says, "Okay, so I have hunted humanoids before. But only when they were killin' humans. So far, that's included rogue vampires, or werewolves, sometimes."

"Though, Bastian had it comin'," Amarok says.

"Yeah? Try tellin' that to those other mutts, will ya?"

"Hey…" he says in a warning tone. Then he replies, "You know I would if they listened to me. But I'm not part of the pack."

She waves him off, unconcerned. "Regardless, I've only had to kill a handful of sentient beings. The occasional werewolf or vampire, a harpy, and a witch once. That was awful," she sighs.

"But witches are human," Nagaveni whines, her voice cracking with emotion. "I don't understand…" Her lip quivers, and her eyes start to water. Dysnomi puts an arm around her shoulders and pulls her close to him, whispering comforting words in her ear as her tears start falling. He holds out his hand. In it appears a green stuffed snake. The stuffed animal has a bow tied around it under its head and a bag of chocolates tied to the bow.

"If there had been any other way, I wouldn't have killed her," Xena says with a sigh. "But she was cursin' and killin' folks for money. She'd already killed six people by the time they called me in. She wasn't gonna stop. She said Hecate—the Greek goddess of the crossroads, witchcraft, and the underworld—called on her to do her work. She said it was her job to send people to the underworld for Hecate, so she 'might as well make money while doing it.' She said she was only acceptin' jobs for people that deserved death. But that's the thing–the 'deserving' people weren't nothin' more than slight annoyances to the people that hired her. You can't decide someone deserves death when you don't have all the facts. This witch had gone to the crossroads, performed some kinda ritual, and made some kinda deal with someone she said Hecate sent to her to make her magic stronger. Then she abused that power."

"Wait, she made a crossroads deal?" Asmodeus asks.

"That's what she told me."

"Is that important?" Calliope asks, turning to look at him.

Asmodeus lets out a slight scoff with a raised eyebrow, amused. "I promise you, whoever she made that deal with was not sent by Hecate," he says. "That had to be a demon. They're the only ones that do crossroad deals anymore. I mean, other than Papa Legba, but he does most of his business in this city. So, uh, I can promise you that witch didn't make it to the underworld. If she made a deal, she probably gave up her soul. It's the thing most commonly given because most people think souls aren't real. She's gotta be in the demon realm."

Nagaveni wipes her eyes while hugging the stuffed snake, then says in a small voice, "Well… it does sound like what you did was for the best."

"It had to be done. Anyway, most of the supernatural creatures I hunt are things like wraiths, revenants, ghosts–things that can't live in a society. They're usually fine if they're in the wild somewhere, but sometimes one makes its way to a city like this, and it has a field day with the people. I'm the one they call in to put an end to the violence."

"Alright, I can see how that's an important job," says Calliope. "But what does that have to do with us?"

"Well, officially, I'm a mercenary, so I'll take the occasional job from whoever's willin' to pay, provided whatever I'm killin' actually needs to be killed. If it's somethin' intelligent—like a vampire, werewolf, whatever—I always check to make sure there's not another way of handlin' the situation first. I know you may not like my job, but I promise you I only kill when it's necessary." Xena sighs and runs a gloved hand through her hair. She seems frustrated, though mostly at herself–as if she doesn't want to admit what she's about to. "Someone contacted me on the chat forum. I never saw their face, never met 'em in person. Hell, they weren't even gonna pay in person–they were gonna leave it somewhere safe for me to pick up. Half when I accepted the job, and half when I sent 'em proof the job was done."

"Okay, not to be rude, but what's your point?" Calliope asks. "Where are you going with this?" She leans down and scratches Nanook behind the ears, feeling the familiar sensation of getting a hundred paper cuts. The cuts start to heal when she pulls her hand away. Then the enormous wolf stands and stretches, letting out a big yawn and padding away, dissolving into the shadows.

"Okay, I would never get used to that," Xena laughs, staring at the shadows where Nanook disappeared. "Anyway, I'm tellin' you this 'cause the job they wanted me to complete was killin' you. Now, I wouldn't normally take a job across the country, but I gotta admit, I considered it when they told me how much they were gonna pay."

"Does that mean you're here to kill me?" Calliope crosses her arms. "Because if you are, you sure took your sweet-ass time getting to the point."

"Please," Xena laughs. "If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have spent so much time talkin' to you. I do my research. I wanna make sure it's well-deserved before just murderin' someone. Needless to say, you're not a threat to the public. Though, I did notice you had a lot of friends mysteriously go missin' a few years ago."

"Oh, about that… Um," Calliope starts, wringing her hands together while trying to figure out what to say.

"Then I noticed it only happened when you were datin' a certain demon ex-boyfriend." Xena shoots Asmodeus a look, but as he opens his mouth to reply, she holds a hand up and says, "Save it. I don't care what'cha do in LA. But this-" she gestures to the streets of New Orleans, "Is my home. So keep your nose clean while you're here."

"Y-yeah… Of-of course," Asmodeus stutters out. Calliope doesn't think she's ever seen him this nervous, or ever heard him stutter like this.

Xena turns back to Calliope, rolling her eyes and saying, "I didn't find out much about the person that tried to hire me, but I do know that for whatever reason, they did not want you to come here."

"Here like, The Tipsy Piano? Or like, New Orleans in general?" Calliope raises an eyebrow, and it's clear she doesn't trust the hunter. "Oh, and 'Deus is a cambion. You know… half-incubus and half-human?"

"New Orleans. I figure that means there's something here they don't want you to find. So this is the best place you can be right now." She ignores the comment about Asmodeus.

"So instead of killing me, you… what? Brought me here as bait?"

"Um, I was thinkin' that if you're here and they don't want you here, it should make your search for them a lot easier. Though…" Xena holds one finger out, thinking. "Being bait isn't a bad idea…"

"Oh, hell no. We are not offerin' her up as bait," Amarok says, stepping forward. "Xena, you know I respect you and the work you do. You've always been alright with me. But we're not just gonna offer her up. Let's at least search for what they don't want her to find first."

"Alright, whatever, if that's what y'all wanna do." Xena shrugs. "Not much more we can do tonight. Who wants drinks? First round's on me."

Everyone agrees, perking up as they head back inside. Nagaveni is still rooted to Dysnomi's side, while Xena catches up with Asmodeus to bombard him with questions about hellhounds and the different hells, trying to learn as much as she can.

Amarok puts his hand on the small of Calliope's back, covering it, and warming her bare skin in the place her crop top doesn't cover her. She didn't even realize she was cold until now.

Zephyr has a welcome smile on his delicate facial features when they make it inside, and drinks are already waiting for them on the bar top.

"Zeph, you are the absolute best," Calliope groans, taking the seat closest to him and clinking her glass against his. "You're drinking with us now?" Her eyes light up with amusement and joy, and she looks around, noticing there's no one left in the small bar except her and her friends.

"Of course I'm drinkin', chere. You would, too, after a long day of serving and bein' nice to the assholes that come in here." Zephyr gulps down a shot of whiskey, slamming the glass on the counter. Nagaveni giggles at the sight from her seat next to Dysnomi, prompting Zephyr to ask, "What's so funny, ma chérie?"

Nagaveni replies, "You look so… elegant and put-together. It's not every day you see someone so regal-looking slam down a shot like that."

"Really, ma chérie? …Would you like to make a bet with me?"

"A-a bet?" Nagaveni asks, getting nervous.

"Yes, of course, it'll be fun. Whoever finishes five shots first wins. The loser has to…" he trails off, deep in thought.

"Hmmm… if you lose, you have to give me the recipe for the Siren's Lament so I can get the bartenders at Dys' club to make them," Nagaveni says.

"Fair enough," Zephyr says. "If you lose, you have to show me your snakes. I would very much like to see the real you."

Nagaveni smiles. "Alright, deal."

Calliope pours shots for herself and Amarok. "Well, I'm not gonna let them have all the fun," she says. "You in?" She raises an eyebrow, challenging him.

"Bring it on, little girl," he says with a wolfish grin.

Xena, Asmodeus, and Dysnomi grab their drinks and watch, cheering and joking with each other. Calliope thinks it's nice to see the guys getting along for once.

'It must be the magic of NOLA.'

Calliope smiles back at Amarok and slams down her first shot, then her second. She picks up the third, throwing it back, but by the time she sets the shot glass on the bar, she notices that Amarok is already done.

"What!" she questions. "How?!"

He shrugs. "It takes a lot to get werewolves drunk. Eventually, you learn how to drink super-fast so you can actually feel it."

"Well, it does not take much for me," Calliope says, shaking her head and giggling. She tilts her head back, taking her last two shots back-to-back. She hears an excited squeal from Nagaveni then, and turns to see her raising her arms in triumph.

"AND THE WINNER IS… NAGAVENI!"

Dysnomi announces, using the same loud, commanding voice he used on the opening night of Tartarus. It's encompassing, blocking out every other sound–as if his voice is Gandalf and every other sound is the Balrog.

Zephyr sighs as if he's sad, but his eyes twinkle with amusement. "I know when to quit," he sighs. Pulling out a piece of paper, he writes down how to make the Siren's Lament and slides it across the bar to Nagaveni.

She giggles and tucks it away. Then she says, "I know you didn't win, but I think I'd still very much like to show you the real me."

"You serious, chere?" he asks, his face lighting up with joy, and his brown eyes shining with happiness.

"Yeah. I think you're really cool, so I'd love to introduce you to the snakes," she replies. She unhooks the 'Serpent Tamer' and Zephyr watches, amazed by the magic, and by how realistic the illusion was. When the snakes atop her head start moving around, hissing softly, he gasps in awe of them. "These are my 'little Jörmungandr babies.' They don't really have names, but Calli kinda just makes up some for them."

"Yeah, like these two," Calliope says, pointing to two snakes near the front, "Are 'Monty Python' and 'Darth Viper.'"

Zephyr laughs before telling Nagaveni, "They're beautiful, ma belle." Nagaveni looks away, blushing, and when she finally peeks at him again, Zephyr reaches over and takes her hand. "Thank you for showing me the real you. You're even more beautiful as your true self."

Nagaveni blushes again, and says, "Thank you," before holding the 'Serpent Tamer' up to her neck and letting Dysnomi clasp it shut for her.

Zephyr then sighs, saying, "Unfortunately, I need to get going. I've got a lot to do tomorrow."

"No worries, brah, we'll get outta your way." Amarok and Zephyr slap their hands together in a type of farewell, and everyone stands up, heading for the door.

"You know…" Dysnomi starts. "Just because we're leaving here doesn't mean we have to go back to the hotel yet."

"What do you mean?" Nagaveni asks.

"Well, New Orleans is known for its nightlife, right? Why don't we check it out?"

"There's an awesome place on Bourbon Street if you wanna check it out," Amarok states, holding the door open for the group. "It's always crowded, but it's worth it."

"You know I'm down for it," Calliope says with a smile as Amarok once again puts his warm hand against her lower back, leading her. She shivers involuntarily, and he moves to wrap his arm around her waist, keeping her warm.

Dysnomi has his arm around Nagaveni in the same manner, while she holds the stuffed snake against her chest like an innocent child.

They continue walking along streets rich with history—Amarok and Xena stopping the group now and then to point out a historical or cultural landmark—and eventually, they come up to a loud, crowded club. Walking inside toward the bar, Calliope takes in the scene before her. There's loud music coming from a DJ playing on a huge stage, and there are so many people dancing, talking, and drinking.

"This is amazing," Calliope says. "It doesn't look this big on the outside."

"That's the thing about NOLA. Nothing is ever as it seems."

Amarok hands her a new drink after he tells her that.

"Well then… Here's to Crescent City. I hope she never changes," Calliope says, raising her glass in the air, then drinking the burning liquid inside.

"To Crescent City!" her friends repeat, following her lead. Calliope can even hear random people around her group yell it, drinking with them. Before long, however, the group splits up, everyone dancing or checking out different parts of the club.

Calliope sees Nagaveni dancing and laughing with Dysnomi, and thinks, 'They look so cute together.'

Calliope dances with Amarok, laughing when he twirls her around, ending when her back is pressed into his chest. He has his arms wrapped around her from behind, and she can feel his breath on her neck as she sways her hips against him in time with the music.

"Oh, you're killin' me," Amarok growls in her ear, his hands tightening to a painful degree at her waist, causing her to whimper. His growl sounds to Calliope like an animal more than a man. She spins around to face him, and finds that his golden-yellow eyes are glowing, staring at her luscious, full lips.

"What…" she starts, though before she can finish, Amarok's lips come crashing into hers. His kiss is demanding and relentless, leaving them both gasping for air when it ends. Calliope didn't even notice until now that Amarok had picked her up into his arms. She smiles as she taps him twice on the arm in a playful manner and he sets her back on her feet, grinning down at her.

The moment her feet hit the floor, she can feel anger and jealousy coming from Asmodeus, who approaches, with Xena in tow. Asmodeus shakes his head as he walks off to find Dysnomi and Nagaveni. 'I can't believe she fucking kissed him,' he thinks. 'I know we're not together, but I thought we had something.'

'I told you! She doesn't love you!'

The demon screams in his head as he finds Dysnomi and Nagaveni, bringing them back to the group.

"What's going on, 'Deus?" Calliope asks.

"Xena needs to tell you something. I figured everyone should hear it," he sighs, exasperated.

Calliope feels that he's upset with her, and she realizes he must have seen her and Amarok kiss. Then she reminds herself to focus on what Xena has to say first and deal with Asmodeus later, so she turns to face the drunk monster hunter.

"So…" Xena starts. She's wasted, and it shows. "I remembered somethin' that might be important when I was drinkin' with 'Deus."

"Okay, what is it?" Calliope questions. The group watches Xena with bated breath.

Finally, swaying on her feet and leaning on Asmodeus for support, she speaks. "I'd forgotten about this, but the person that tried to hire me mentioned that you're real powerful, 'specially when it comes to fire magic and lightning magic. And that's on top of your siren abilities like telepathy, levitation, and the 'sonic shriek,' whatever the hell that is. They said…" she gasps, and her eyes go wide. She tries to walk toward Calliope, but she stumbles, so Asmodeus catches her, helping her walk the last steps. "They said you might be… Well, that your dad might be a god."

Everyone gets quiet for a moment. Then, Calliope starts laughing. "A god?!" she asks. "Are you serious?"

"I dunno, but they seemed pretty serious about it," Xena replies, leaning on Asmodeus to stay up-right. "They said you're the daughter of Shango. He was some… Yoruban king, but he's now known as the spirit of fire and lightning. He's… He's pretty well-known in the voodoo community."

"Oh, great. First, my mom makes herself known to the New Orleans voodoo community and now I find out my possible dad is known around here, too."

"Your mom?" Asmodeus asks.

"Yeah. Around here, she's known as La Sirène."

(The Big Bad Wolf)

Hours pass before the group decides to get some rest. As they walk out of the nightclub, Xena stumbles, then giggles when Asmodeus catches her. "Oh, I'm s-sorry," she says.

"It's all good," he says. "Hey, why don't you let me walk you home? You don't seem like you're in a condition to go anywhere by yourself." He glances at Calliope, wondering if she'll get jealous, but he only makes his own jealousy rise when he sees that she's cozied up to Amarok.

"Oh. Sure… yeah," Xena replies.

"Mind if I walk you back to your hotel?" Amarok asks Calliope around the same time.

"I'd love that," Calliope answers, as Amarok wraps one of his arms around her.

A few paces ahead of them, Nagaveni yawns. "I'm so tired," she says. "I haven't stayed out all night in ages."

Dysnomi laughs and says, "You need to live a little. It's the weekend, and we're in New Orleans. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm gonna be out all night every night."

As they get to the front of the hotel, Calliope cranes her head up to look at Amarok, saying, "So… I'm kinda curious… Do you have an actual wolf spirit inside? Like, is it a separate entity than you? My phoenix and my thunderbird are both separate, and when I use their powers, it feels more like they're controlling me… like they can take over my body whenever they need to."

He looks down at her as they walk toward her room. "Yeah, that's it exactly. The wolf is separate from me. The wolf can take over and change me if I'm angry or need to fight, but it can also take over without changing me. The wolf is a very simple creature, though, so I don't let him out very often. All the wolf cares about is hunting, protecting his loved ones, and… fucking." He catches himself, and says, "Excuse my language, darlin'." They reach the door to Calliope's room, and stop outside the door. "Lucky… You get to lay in bed now. I still gotta go home. I live on the outskirts of the city–I needed space to let the wolf run free."

"Well…" Calliope bites her bottom lip, thinking, while Amarok sucks in a harsh breath of air, staring at her seductive pink lips. "If you want to, you could stay with me… at least for tonight."

"I'd love to…" he starts, but he trails off, looking distraught.

"But…?" She questions, some small part of her feeling sad.

"But…" he says. "It was hard enough to control the wolf when I kissed you in the club, even with all those people there. I don't know if I'll be able to control it if I get you alone."

"I guess that makes it a good thing that I don't want you to," she replies as she smirks and opens the door.

In one swift movement, Amarok picks her up with an arm around her waist, takes her into the suite, and slams the door. The last thing Calliope hears from the hallway is Nagaveni cheering, "Get it, Calli!" before howling like a wolf.

Then Dysnomi says, "Nini… shush," as he helps her into her room, whispering to himself, "How did I end up being the responsible one tonight?"

Then, everything is pushed from Calliope's mind as Amarok throws her on the bed, ripping off her crop top like a savage animal and tossing the destroyed shirt across the room. He moves to her jeans and starts jerking them off, kissing down her body as he goes. When he throws his own clothes off, he pounces on her like she's his prey, growling into her ear, "You're so beautiful… I'm going to ravish you."

"Yes, please…" she whimpers with a quivering lip as she grabs hold of him. He thrusts inside of her then, eliciting an excited moan from her. His actions are demanding and wild, but passionate.

"Yes," Calliope whimpers. "Harder… please." She throws her head back as he envelops her petite body in his massive arms. "Oh… gods," she cries out. Amarok digs his nails into her sides, causing her to scream, "Oh, yes!"

Calliope digs her sharp nails into Amarok's back as he moves against her harder, causing him to let out a feral growl in her ear. "You feel… so… damn… good." His words come out in his growl, sounding more like the wolf than the man.

When Calliope pulls back to look at him, she notices that his golden eyes look inhuman now, and his canine teeth have grown longer and sharper.

He sees the concern on her face and reassures her. "I've got it under control… even though being with you makes it very, very difficult." He growls again, then whispers, "God, the things I wanna do to you…"

His grip on her tightens, and he scratches down her back, drawing blood. She kisses him, scratching her nails down his back in response, saying, "I like you the way you are. I want you to ravish me."

He grins, leaving kisses and bites down her neck, slamming into her harder every time she scratches him, until they both finish–Calliope screaming his name and whimpering, and Amarok growling in her ear.

Then, when they finally catch their breath, they get ready for bed, before falling asleep together, forgetting all their troubles.