AN: ngl, its like 2.30am rn and i just wanna sleeeepp. but heres the chapter, nothing much. reviews are always appreciated :))
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights go to Rick Riordan
The cave seemed to be connected to a maze of tunnels that ran deep into the mountain, as they discovered, shining their torches down yet another giant hole leading off to gods knows where. They had made a few turns down them the first couple of times, and were now hopelessly lost.
"It's been forever. Can we go now?" Percy whined in true six year old fashion, wanting to get out of the dark and dank cave.
"Percy, it's only been maybe two hours. If you were helping us, we would be able to find this "dragon's treasure" faster," Thalia rolled her eyes, patience already worn thin by the constant complaints. Bristling at the implied insult, he stomped off in a different direction, torch lighting the ground in front of him.
"If you were helping us," he mimicked her words in a falsetto under his breath as he stalked off, fuming. She was the one that got them lost in this gods forsaken maze in the first place! Luke stared after the boy, watching as he stomped off into the darkness. They couldn't just let the kid go off on his own!
"Leave him, he just needs to cool off. He's not good in enclosed spaces," she said, as if reading his thoughts. Luke peered after Percy, watching the light from his torch grow smaller the further away he walked.
Sighing, he continued after Thalia, trudging forwards, methodically moving his torch from side to side, hoping to find something that resembled treasure. The only things they had found so far were the remains of the dragon's prey; skulls and bones, some white and bleached, others, far fresher.
After around ten minutes of just continual walking, they froze as Percy's yell echoed off the walls. Trading panicked looks, they ran back in the direction that the shout had come from. Percy kept yelling for them, only making them run faster. The pounding of their feet synced with Thalia's heart thudding in her chest; what if something had happened? They had just had a fight, and now those might've been her last words to him!
With Percy's shouts guiding them, they found him relatively quickly, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of him unharmed. Slowing down from their mad dash, they stopped short, spotting what he was yelling about.
He had found it. The dragon's treasure. Giving off its own soft glow, was a literal mound of assorted celestial bronze weapons and precious stones. Awestruck, they walked towards it, Luke ruffling Percy's hair before slinging his arm across his shoulder. Thalia was the first to reach it, face awash in wonder as she gazed at the pile. It was about four feet tall, coming up to her chest as she reached out to grab the handle of a sword.
Percy just climbed up the side until he was walking around on the uneven surface, picking up various things and sticking a few jewels in his pocket. Luke followed his lead, also clambering to the top, before pacing around, careful to not get his foot stuck in the crevices and pits on the mound. He studied the weapons carefully, inspecting the swords to find the sword.
Upon seeing her two companions just walking around on top, Thalia decided to join them. As she prepared to jump and just wriggle on, a hand reached down to her, and she blinked, looking up.
"Come on, I'll help you up," Luke smiled, and she returned it as she grabbed it, grunting as he hauled her up.
"Thanks," she grinned, before something caught her eye. Narrowing her eyes, she bent down to get a closer look. It was a pair of hunting knives, the sheathes connected by a band of leather. Going to pick it up, she frowned as it refused to come out. The stupid thing was completely wedged into the little space. Tugging harder, she felt it give, and smiled triumphantly, before her expression changed to one of shock as the part of the mound she was standing on started to fall apart. She stumbled, eyes widening as her centre of gravity was thrown and she almost fell along with the other weapons and stones that tumbled down to the ground. A hand grabbed her arm and yanked her back towards the centre of the mound, where it was somewhat stable.
Adrenaline was still pumping through her as she breathed a thanks at Luke. It wasn't a big fall by any means, but it definitely wouldn't have been pleasant to fall on the ground and be buried by the wave of very hard and very pointy weapons. Percy, who had been at the other end during all this, came to see what the big commotion was. He regarded the both of them, the missing side of the mound, and the very big pile of weapons on the ground, eyes narrowed suspiciously. Dismissing it, his mood made a complete one-eighty, a delighted smile spreading across his face as he whipped a sword out from behind his back.
"Look!" Luke warily took a step back to avoid getting his head chopped off as Percy recklessly swung it around, giggling gleefully.
"This is mine now," Percy proclaimed, chest puffed out with pride as he lowered it. Shaking her head affectionately at his antics, she slipped her new hunting knives through the belt loops on her jeans and grinned. Luke looked between the two of them, realising he still had not found a new sword that he liked, the reason that they were here. They were all either too flashy, too small, too long or too unbalanced. None of them felt right.
He headed to the edge of the mound, avoiding the sinkhole - sink gap? - and lowered himself back down to the ground, dejected. As he turned towards the entrance of this particular cavern, a soft glow in the corner caught his eye. Walking towards it for a closer look, he heard the thump of Thalia jumping down onto the ground. Reaching it, he knelt down, picking it up. It was just a regular old sword. But as he took it out of its sheath and gave it a few experimental swings, his eyes widened in surprise.
It was flawless. Including the hilt, it was about three and half feet in length, and perfectly balanced in his grip. It was as if it was made for him, an extension of his arm as he swung. He headed back towards where Thalia and Percy were waiting for him at the entrance, a grin worthy of the Cheshire cat stretched across his face. Chuckling at his child-like delight, Thalia led the way back into the system of tunnels.
-Line Break-
By the time they made their way back out to the main cave entrance, their fire had died, and the rain had stopped. Percy ran to the entrance, peering up at the afternoon sky, before racing back towards the two amused demigods.
"Can we please get some food? I haven't eaten anything all day!" The whining had recommenced, much to Thalia's chagrin, and Luke sniggered at the vexed look on her face.
"How about, we pack up our stuff and then we can go get food once we're out of here?" As amusing as it was to watch Thalia stew in annoyance, he would rather not have another fight so soon.
With the compromise set and the assurance of food as motivation, Percy eagerly rolled up his dried sleeping bag, stuffing it into his backpack. Once they had finished packing their limited belongings, they headed out, following the trail back down the mountain.
-Line Break-
After they made their way out of the nature reserve, they managed to hitchhike with a travelling band to the city of Greenville. Thanking them, the trio waved as the van continued down the road.
"Okay, now can we get food?" It was now around six in the afternoon, and Percy's stomach wasn't the only one growling. Thalia surveyed their surroundings, taking in the towering sky rises and buildings, ignoring the people staring at them.
"Come on, let's go further in and see if we can find somewhere to stay for the night. Then we can get food," she walked off, disregarding Percy's groan. Luke just patted him on the shoulder sympathetically before following Thalia, leaving Percy to jog after them.
An hour of walking later, they had found a couple of nice looking hotels, a number of different shops and grocery stores, and more than enough clothing stores. Percy had taken to complaining again, whining about the lack of food in his stomach, and Thalia was tempted to knock him out, if only for some peace and quiet.
The Fates seemed to pity them, as they spotted a McDonald's restaurant a couple hundred feet away. Walking towards it, Luke started paying more attention to the mortals as they walked passed, scrutinising them with narrowed eyes. As a mortal man drew closer towards them from the opposite direction, he nudged Thalia with his shoulder, winking, before he tripped.
Stumbling forward, he crashed into the man, knocking them both to the ground. Apologising profusely, he picked himself up, offering a hand to help the man up as well. Glaring and cursing him out, the man slapped Luke's hand away, instead pushing himself up and spitting on the ground before stalking away.
"What the Hades was that?" Thalia rounded on him, incredulous at what she just witnessed.
He just grinned, holding up a black leather wallet, opening it up and pulling out the I.D.
"Good old…" he paused, squinting as he read it with some level of difficulty.
"Connor Jones, has generously volunteered to pay for our dinner tonight, ladies and gentlemen," he finished his announcement with a flourishing bow. Anger fading away to happiness, Thalia plucked the wallet out of his hands, shifting through its contents.
"Let's see, fifty, twenty, twenty, five, five, ten, five, ooh! Hundred!" she counted through the bills, excitement radiating off of her. They had at least two hundred dollars, not to mention the multiple credit and debit cards she had also seen. Cocking her head, she turned to Luke, the bewilderment clear on her face.
"How'd you know that this guy would be loaded?"
"Son of Hermes thing, I guess. I can tell when someone's carrying something valuable and how valuable something is. I could sense that he had a lot of money, and it's kind of a bonus that he was a jerk. Then I don't feel bad at all," he explained, clarifying further as Thalia frowned in confusion. Percy's stomach decided to make its hunger known to the world once again. Loudly.
"Come on kiddo, let's go get some food," Luke chuckled at his disgruntled face, ruffling his hair affectionately.
-Line Break-
Once they had ordered their food and sat down in a booth, they began discussing what they would do now. Well, more accurately, Luke and Thalia discussed whilst Percy stared at the kitchens, wishing their food would come quicker.
Thalia recounted her dream again, she was supposed to find some kind of help in the cave. That's what Amaltheia had told her, and she had no reason not to believe her father's sacred goat. Staring at Luke, she zoned out, not hearing what he was saying. Something about dreams.
He had helped her out, more times than she could count in the almost forty eight hours she had known him. Hades, she trusted him with her life, and she knew Percy absolutely adored the guy, looking up to him as the older brother he never had. Her mind would've kept wandering if their ticket wasn't called out, Percy jerking up as he heard the magic numbers.
Finally, food. He clambered over her, stepping none too gently on her thigh in his hurry to get out of the booth, ignoring her oomph as she hunched over in pain. She was going to kill the little brat, painfully. Luke looked at her apologetically, hands raised in a "what can you do?" gesture before hurrying after Percy. None of them would get food if they let Percy carry everything.
She was still grumbling and rubbing at her thigh where Percy had used her as a springboard when they came back. Luke was holding two food trays piled high with burgers, chicken nuggets and more burgers. Percy just beamed proudly, holding onto his own tray, despite it having almost nothing but chips and their drinks in cardboard holders.
Thoughts of revenge and pain forgotten for the moment, Thalia looked up at Luke, amusement twinkling in her eyes as she raised her eyebrows; silently questioning. He raised them right back, tilting his head towards Percy. No way was he letting the happy-go-lucky kid hold the trays with the actual food. Setting them down on the table, Luke sat down, whilst Percy attempted to climb back into his original seat.
"Oh no, you don't," Thalia growled, lifting her hand to his face and shoving. Percy landed on his butt at the edge of the seat, eyes narrowing in disbelief. Unwrapping his burger, Luke took a bite, moaning at the heavenly taste of unhealthy food. Leaning back, he relaxed, content to watch the other two duke it out.
"Lemme sit!"
"You can sit here, on the outside!"
"Wha- why?"
"Because you stepped on me, punk!"
"So?"
"So?!" She repeated, incredulous. The audacity. She glared down at him, hands inching towards her new hunting knives, before they both paused. Luke froze as two pairs of eyes suddenly fixated on him. He looked down at his hands, where the burger wrapper was still balled up, before meeting their furious gazes, smiling sheepishly.
"Hey, guys…?" It came out as more of a question, his instincts screaming danger. Ignoring him, they moved as one, both picking up their respective burgers and unwrapping them, before biting in. The tension quickly dissipated, as did the smell of ozone that Luke hadn't even realised was there. Reaching for another burger from the literal pile of burgers, he ate along with them, content to listen to the ambient sounds of the McDonald's.