Louisa turned the ship upside down looking for Leo. Empousai had flooded the Argo, the boys were still a little dazed and the girls were mad as hell. It seemed the she-demons had attacked out of nowhere, made a complete mess of both the boat and its inhabitants, taken Leo and disappeared. The only thing they had on Leo was Nico saying, "He's not dead."
"He's not here!" Louisa shot back fiercely. Nico looked at her sadly. Percy stepped in then.
"We'll find him, Lou." The others agreed, trying to reassure her. Instead, she only got angrier.
"Then why ain't we stopped? Why are we still movin', why aren't we stayin' put in case he comes back to his own fuckin' invention?"
"We have to keep moving." Annabeth replied calmly. "I know you're worried about Leo, but we still have the quest to think about." Louisa told her where to shove the quest. Percy squeezed her shoulder sharply;
"Annabeth didn't cause the quest, don't take it out on her." Louisa glared over her shoulder, shaking him off and storming out. Piper sighed. Charlie figured what she was thinking, but said nothing, quickly hurrying after his mother instead.
"I'll help you look for him." He offered, smiling easily. Louisa fumed even more. "I know I'm not as good at tracking as you are, but I can help. If the scary demon ladies took him, then they would go home, right?"
"Caves." Louisa grunted. Charlie nodded. They stopped at the edge of the ship, a mountain range flowing by below them. "What did ya do that freaked him out?"
"If I knew, I'd have told you." Charlie surveyed the drop. "How are we going to get down?"
"Jump."
"And go splat on the side of a mountain? Not how I planned to go, but OK."
"Idiot." She muttered, fiddling with her watch. Charlie stepped back as her bow snapped into life. She showed him an arrow and he relaxed.
"Grappling arrow. Very nice."
"Ladies first." And she shoved him overboard. Charlie whooped delightedly, free-falling for a few seconds. She caught up in no time, hooking an arm around his middle. "Hold on." She told him, yelling over the winds. Charlie wrapped his arms around her neck, giving her ample opportunity to fire her special arrow. He watched the magic rope fly and unwind, tied to her bow. It kept going until the arrow lodged itself in the hull of the Argo Two. Their free-fall jolted to a slow descent. Charlie looked down as the mountain gradually rose up to meet them.
"Can we do that again?" He asked excitedly, slipping on a bit of snow.
"Maybe." Louisa unslung her quiver, rifling through her arrows. Charlie watched interestedly. She checked quite a few before finding the one she wanted. She stood and eyed him curiously. Charlie started to speak when she yanked a few of his hairs.
"Ow! Hey! Watch the hair, the hair is important!" She flipped him a 'be quiet' like, silently amused. The strands she had obtained- stolen- fell into a little slot in the arrow, a lid closing and sealing shut behind them. She shook it until it lit up with an amber fiery glow. Charlie hissed at it. "Glowing things are bad for legacies."
"Legacies?" Louisa puzzled. "We're demigods."
"Potato patato." Charlie shrugged, heart hammering against his ribs. "What does it do?" Louisa loaded it and aimed straight up. The arrow took to the sky with a shrieking whistle, dipping into the low hanging clouds. It emerged a moment later and bounced off Charlie.
"No." Louisa told it. The arrow shook itself and darted down the mountain. Louisa hurried after it. Charlie slipped trying to scramble after her, having to be caught by the scruff of his T-shirt. She opened her mouth to tease him, distracted by the arrow tapping her on the shoulder. "No. I thought you were going after Leo." A series of beeps whined from the projectile and it continued its course down. Louisa was more sure-footed than Charlie, having to catch him almost a dozen times before she realised she should probably hold onto him.
"I'm going to die." Charlie panicked. She had grabbed him by the back of the shirt this time, leaving him suspended and looking straight down a very rocky death.
"You ain't gonna die, ya big nancy." Louisa tutted and pulled him back up.
"Well, if the mountain doesn't kill me, your rescue tactics will." He rubbed at his throat and stuck his tongue out at her. Louisa rolled her eyes.
"What'd ya want, a piggy back ride?"
"If you're offering-"
"Do I look like a mountain goat ta you?"
"More like a nanny goat." Charlie muttered.
"I resent that remark. Next time ya fall, ya goin', understood?" Charlie smirked. Louisa looked tempted to push him down herself. If it hadn't been for her tracking arrow beeping excitedly, she probably would have. She disappeared, hopping neatly from ledge to ledge and vanishing from sight.
"Hey!" Charlie called. "Hey, not funny! I can't get down!"
"Suffer!" She called back.
"When we find Leo, I'm telling! Oh good gods, I really am going to die." Charlie went slowly and carefully, making it to about the third ledge she had bounced off of before slipping and tumbling. He frantically tried to grab onto anything, fingers sliding on snow. He must have yelled at some point as Louisa returned, torn between laughing and strangling him. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him back up. "I think I will take that piggy back now."
"No."
"Don't leave me to die."
"I ain't gonna."
"You nearly did!"
"OK, tone down the squealin' 'n' I'll help. No piggy back though." Charlie sulked. Louisa started directing him down, left foot there, right hand here, don't look down, etc. It took a little longer than she would have liked, but they eventually made it to a lip. Her arrow had nose-dived the ground, the magic worn off, its final act to point them into a cave. "I don't get why they'd take Leo." Louisa admitted. "He's an idiot. 'N' he won't make much of a meal either. If they were hungry, they'd have taken Frank or Percy. Not some little matchstick like Leo."
"Hey." Charlie pouted. "Us matchsticks are amazing, shut up."
"Never said ya weren't. Just don't make any sense for 'em ta take the small pickin's."
"At least someone appreciates us."
"I will drop-kick you off this mountain."
"Fair enough. Ladies first?" He gestured towards the cave.
"Chicken." She shook her head. "Come on."
"You know, dark and ominous caves are just as bad for le- demigods as much as glowing objects are."
"Who told ya that?"
"You."
"I never- oh. From the other place, right?" Charlie nodded. "I sound like a right twat wherever you're from."
"I assure you, it's the opposite."
"Mm-hm."
"How about you go in and scope it out and if it's safe, call me. If not, I'll assume you've been eaten and head back."
"I'm goin' ta take that as a joke 'n' you're now goin' in first." She grabbed his wrist and swung him forward. Charlie staggered, tripping over his own feet and landing with an oof. "Ya been eaten yet?" Louisa called.
"Oh, ha ha, very funny." Charlie huffed, pushing himself up and dusting himself down. "You're freakishly strong, I'm staying away."
"Nah, you're stuck with me. Let's go 'n' find the other idiot. I'll try not ta kill you."
"That just fills me with confidence."
Just a little mother-son moment even if she doesn't know she is mother.
