~Blair POV~
I hit the ground hard. Which sucked. "Ugh my freaking EVERYTHING!" I groaned. I did a quick internal check for damage and found nothing except bruises. "Oh ow..." I pushed myself up and stood, dusting myself off. "Where the Hades am I?" It looked like a giant dark cave, the air was sour like some nasty wine. Purple smoke curled through the air, and vines hung from the ceiling. "Uhh, hello? Nico?" I called. I walked forward cautiously.
You have 10 minutes. Hades had said. Great. 10 minutes. This place is huge how am I going to find him in 10 minutes.
And then I heard the screams.
"Oh..." I whispered.
I quickly followed the sounds. "Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods..." This poor guy, I can't believe I sent him here...
Wait... I sent him here. I blinked. "Holy shit, if I can do this to my enemies I'd be so badass!"
Another scream sent that thought out of my mind pretty quickly. I scanned the darkness for... something. Anything that would tell me where he is. Then I spotted it. A bright light, like from a camp fire, and throne of thorny vines. I winced in sympathy. The closer I got, the clearer it became that this was definitely Nico. And someone else, but I was focused completely on my friend. The other voice, which by the way was most certainly not human, growled. I crouched behind the throne. In the chair, I could hear Nico's ragged breathing. I took a deep breath. This is my relm. I am the only one who can fix this. I stepped out from behind the throne and stood in front of Nico.
And came face to face with a cat. "I am Blair Ivy. Daughter of Dionysus. Master of the Thersus. And Patron of Madness. Release this demigod."
The leopard ducked its head and to my surprise, immediately released Nico, letting him fall to the floor. I glared at the cat before rushing to Nico's side. "Oh my gods, Nico are you okay? I'm so sorry, it was an accident, I didn't mean to send you here. Are you okay? Shit, that's a stupid question of course you're not okay, oh my cheezus are you alive?" Nico coughed and blinked up at me. For a moment, his eyes seemed unfocused. Then they cleared and he let out a relieved sigh. "Ouch." He mumbled. I felt a hysterical laugh rise in my chest. "Gods, that was close. Huh?"
He rolled his eyes, "Took you long enough. Where were you?"
I grinned and shrugged, "Oh you know, chatting with your dad." He raised and eyebrow, "Is that so?"
I nodded, "Yeah. Now we need to leave. Your old man has requested a quest. He wants us to go."
He looked around and caught sight of the leopard. His face darkened. "Can I smack that cat before we go?"
The leopard crouched low to the ground, it's muzzle pressed against the ground. Forgive me, mistress. I was only doing my duty.
I stared at it. "Wow, you are super cool."
I am your servant, mistress. If you feel it is needed I will accept punishment for my wrongdoings... He covered his golden muzzle with his paws. His amber eyes glowed. Then I noticed the wings. How I hadn't spotted them before, I dunno. They were huge angel wings, creamy in color and feathery.
I straightened, "You are pardoned. What is your name?"
The leopard sat up. I am known as the Keeper, mistress.
I frowned, "That's not a good name, dude. Hmmm, how about I call you Iacchus."
The leopard flapped his wings, If this is your wish. But he sounded excited to have a new name.
I helped Nico stand, trying to ignore the flare of warmth I felt when he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Despite being tortured for almost a week down here, he smelled like peppermint and chocolate. I shook my head, "Um, Iacchus, could you get us out of here?"
The leopard lowered himself in front of us, Hang on tight.
I climbed on first, holding on to Iacchus' thick scruff. Then I helped Nico mount the leopard, ignoring the strange twist in my stomach when Nico grabbed my waist. "Okay, Iacchus. Take us home."
Iacchus roared and leapt into the air, beating his wings twice, and we shot upwards. I heard a scream of panic, that I later realized was Nico.
"Wait? How do we escape here by flying? This is in our minds!" I shouted above the wind.
Simple. Iacchus said. And he flew into a wall.
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Gasping, I sat up. Then immediately pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes. "Ooowww."
There were only four people left in the room including Chiron, but Hades was gone. I had been standing when I had first collapsed, now I was laying across Nico's chest. His eyes fluttered open. Nico smirked slowly, "Why are you laying on me, Blair?" I jerked away from him. "I just saved your life, asshole. Don't start with me."
"Yeah, after you put me there in the first place." He countered, sitting up.
I scoffed. "Well, excuse me! Maybe I should have left you there you ungrateful, dickweed!"
"Dickweed? Really?" He shook his head, grinning.
"Yeah, fucking fight me!" I snapped, raising my Thersus, which somehow materialized in my hand.
"Are we going to do this again?" Nico laughed, standing slowly.
I glared at him, but shrunk my staff, shoving it in my pocket. "No."
"Ehem." Nico and I turned to everyone else.
"What?" I growled. I was about to walk away when tiny claws dug into my shoulder. Not enough to hurt, but enough to get my attention. "Iacchus!" I squeal happily. Grabbing the tiny leopard off my shoulder. "You're... so small!" The tiny golden cat sat in the palms of my hands, his little wings the size of hummingbirds.
"Hello? Annabeth sent me... Is that a miniature cat?"
A girl with beautiful rainbow hair stood in the doorway. She had pale skin and pink lips and dark brown eyes. I blinked. "You're hot." I called.
She blushed, "T-thanks?" I shot her a wink and a thumbs up.
Chiron cleared his throat. "Yes, yes, anyways. This is Monroe Prism, daughter of Iris. She was found in the big house, bags packed claiming she had just appeared there."
Monroe ducked her head, "Yeah, it was weird. Annabeth filled me in on the way up here. Are you guys my fellow quest-mates?"
I grinned, "Yup! I'm Blair Ivy, daughter of Dionysus. And this is Nico-"
"Son of Hades! Yeah, I- I know about you." She blushed as Nico smiled at her.
I frowned. Wait a second... Somethings not right here... OH MY GODS she has a crush on Nico. I felt a flicker of annoyance. We have a quest to do, this isn't some vacation for them to get to know each other. TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. Cheezus.
"I took the liberty of packing for you Blair." Pollux said, handing me a galaxy backpack full of all your questing needs! Extra clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, ambrosia and nectar, bandages, a just-in-case dagger, a flair gun (wait, where did he get a flair gun?) and you know other stuff like money. I was tempted to take out the cash and make it rain, but I controlled myself.
Percy tossed Nico a black bag. "And I packed for you dude. Good luck." Nico blinked at the bag, then at Percy. "Thanks man."
Chiron nodded. "Now I would have preferred that you rest. But your father was adamant that you leave quickly."
"Wait, you mean now?" I asked, swinging my backpack onto my shoulder.
"Yes. I'm afraid I don't know your destination... So transportation may be something we can't help with."
"I know where we need to go." Monroe spoke up. When we all turned to look at her she blushed, "Um, it's just... I've been having these dreams. I think my mom has been trying to contact me."
"Right, Iris is the messenger of the gods. It makes sense she would be able to communicate more easily, she must be super stealthy. Where do we go?" I said, tapping my chin.
"She keeps sending me images of a dark cave... And I know its not much to go on, but I get the feeling this cave is way, way, way underground."
I snapped my fingers, "Oh bitch, got it!"
They all looked at me in surprise, "Blair..."
I held up my hands, "My dudes, I freaking got it! We gotta go to Georgia."
Nico frowned, "You mean... like in America?"
Pollux tilted his head, "Is there another Georgia?"
I shook my brother's shoulders, "Yes! We have to go to Georgia, as in Europe."
Percy sighed, "Of course, It could never be as easy as a relaxing journey to Atlanta to visit Porky."
Monroe shook her head in bewilderment, "But how do you know? All I got was deep, dark cave."
I smirked, "Easy peasy, peasant. The Veryovkina Cave in Abkhazia, Georgia."
"What?"
I sighed dramatically and rolled my eyes in Nico's direction. "Unbelievable! You people don't even know your random facts! The Veryovkina Cave in Abkhazia, Georgia is the worlds deepest cave system. Duh."
Chiron exchanged looks with Percy. "I suppose this is the best lead we have..."
"How will you get there?" Nick piped up from the corner.
Now that is a question I knew how to answer even quicker. I shrugged nonchalantly, "We'll fly."
Nico scowled, "Do you know how much mortal money that would cost?"
I waved him away. "Not in a plane, doofus. On Iacchus."
If it was possible for Nico to get any paler, he did. "Uh, are you sure we can't just... not fly?"
'I'm sorry, do you have a better idea?' I wanted to ask, but I saw the nervousness in his eyes and the way he cracked his knuckles. A nervous-tick. Aww, poor angel. I resisted the urge to pinch his cheeks.
"I don't think so, but if anyone can think of anything, I'm open to suggestions." I said slowly.
Unfortunately, no one had a better idea.
Percy raised his hand, "Please tell me that cat gets bigger."
I laughed, "Oh you right. Iacchus, you can carry three people right?"
Of course, mistress. And he began to grow. I yelped and quickly set him down outside. I chuckled nervously, "Sorry, he's been trapped in that place for so long. He gets excited easily."
When I turned back to Iacchus, he was the size of an elephant. I whistled, "Damn, that's cool."
I shot a grin over my shoulder as I climbed on Iacchus. "Come on guys, les go."
