We Get Distracted, AGAIN

It didn't take Tyson long to rip open the doors with his bare hands, we ascended the steps and entered a wipe room.

"Well hey there Luke." said Kelli from the doorway. She has wearing what appeared to be a flaming scarlet backless dress.

"Kelli, fancy seeing you here." Luke said flatly.

"I killed you!" Annabeth blurted out.

"I always was a fast reformer." said Kelli.

Annabeth raised her dagger.

"I really did like you you know." she said, walking up to him and touching his cheek.

"Oh did you now?" asked Luke. "Then you'll have no problem letting me through."

"Now see," she said pulling out a keris. "I can't do that. Lord Kronos' orders. No one gets through. Not even you."

She snapped her fingers and dracaenae began emerging from the hallways on the sides of the room.

"Come on Kelli. Let me through."

"You hurt me so much..." she cooed as she started to stroke his face. "I was your most loyal attendant. I helped to nurse you back to health after your fall from Mount Tamalpais." Here she softly ran a finger across his lips. "All those feverish bouts of weakness and illness. I helped you through them all."

Thalia held her spear tightly and had a livid expression on her face like she was about to lunge at Kelli, but I noticed Luke's right hand was placed behind him in a kind of "on my signal" gesture, which I discretely pointed out to Thalia.

"All those," she moved closer to him and wrapped her other arm around him." Heated nights where I held you in my arms during your darkest nightmares."

Thalia was about to explode, I swore I could see lightning crackling in her eyes.

"I'm still loyal to you you know." Kelli whispered in Luke's ear, running a scarlet fingernail down his scar. "Leave them behind and come with me. We can be together." She made to kiss him, but Luke held up two fingers and pressed them against her lips.

"I would babe, but, umm, I have other plans." he said and his hand switched to a thumbs up.

"Hey, toots." said Thalia, taking her cue, and Kelli looked at her angrily. "Hands off the goods." She smacked her in the face with the butt of her spear, sending her sprawling backwards onto the ground.

"Kill them!" she shouted angrily rising to her feet, and the dracaenae began to advance.

"Ladies," said Luke to the snake women. "Been awhile, care for a latte, or a nice rat?

They gave a shrill hiss and kept advancing.

"Guess not." he said. "You guys handle the dracaenae. I'll take care of Kelli."

"Oh no you don't." said Thalia. "We'll take her together."

"Why?"

"You aren't back at full strength yet." she said, placing a hand on Luke's shoulder.

"You're going to pay for that girlie!" Kelli shrieked, but she remained in human form and her fingernails turned to brass claws and her eyes flared red, then she charged at Thalia.

But Thalia raised her shield and Kelli recoiled. Meanwhile, we were parrying dracaenae blades.

Beckendorf swung his hammer and knocked a row of them aside and Silena killed two with her butterfly knives. Tyson caught one by the tail and hurled it into the wall, then grabbed another and swung it, slamming it into its colleagues. Nico and I started swinging and jabbing, felling a few with each swing. Clarisse was waving her spear like a crazy woman while Grover just closed his eyes and swung his club around. Lee was firing arrows into the hordes trying to climb up the pillars to jump down on us from the ceiling; monster dust filled the air every time one found its mark. Annabeth was dodging and weaving and slashing with her dagger.

Luke was dodging as well; Kelli was swinging her Keris at him, her high heels making tapping noises on the marble as she moved. She sweep kicked at his feet to try to knock him off balance but he lept over her foot and swung at her with his sword. She parried it and moved around him. Thalia shot lightning out of her spear at Kelli, but she lept nimbly out of the way. She took a swipe at Thalia but she blocked it with her shield.

"Give up." laughed Kelli, "it's hopeless." She took another swing at Thalia, but Luke reached across and blocked it. She pushed him back and sweep kicked him again. This time however, she knocked him off balance and lunged at him. But he leaned over backwards placed one hand against the ground and back flipped, kicking Kelli in the chin as he did so, and lept backwards and landed on his feet. Thalia came in form the side and jabbed a few times with her spear. Kelli ducked and tried to slash at her feet but Thalia stepped to the side and tried to stab her, but Kelli moved lithely out of the way. Luke slashed at her with his sword, but she blocked it and counterattacked, she slashed madly with her brass claws and they raked across Luke's face, tearing into the side with the scar and reopening the old wound, blood began to flow from it.

Thalia screamed in rage and unleashed a torrent of lightning from her hand, and Kelli was blasted over and recoiled quickly for another attack and launched a flurry of slashes with her blade.

Just as she backed up for another attack, Luke and Thalia moved in incredible tandem, they spun around each other twice and extended their weapons as Kelli charged, causing her to impale herself on their blades. Their weapon arms were overlapped and almost interlocked.

"Sorry sweetheart, but you're not my type." he said, Thalia started laughing.

Kelli gave a shriek of pain and rage and burst into emerald flame then exploded into dust.

"Everybody stand back..." said Grover as he reared back and gave a mighty shout. The dracaenae scurried away, back down the halls and up pillars, the hallway doors slammed and the door Kelli had been guarding opened. Monster dust coated the floor.

"Nice job Grover." said Silena, patting him on the back.

"Thalia, look." said Luke turning to her. "I can explain..."

"You don't have to." she said, looking at him. "We don't have time right now anyway. We need to keep going."

She turned around and began ascending the next flight of stairs.