Ok, so there are Caleo kids in this fic, and, specifically, this chapter. Their descriptions are with the others on my profile. Also, for ages. Achilles is 19, and so is Laurel. Silena and Luke are 16, as are Ran and Em. Ethan is fourteen. Mel is 15 and Tristan is twelve. Marie is fourteen, Sammy's 12. Ez and Zoe are almost fifteen. Pairings are as follows: Achilles and Laurel. Silena and Ran. Luke and Mel. Marie and Ethan. Ez and Hayden Stoll (he'll be mentioned, but probably won't show up). And now, I give you the second chapter.
Chapter 2- Well, of Course We Aren't Letting Them Go Without Us
Laurel: Tartarus
The connection cut, and Achilles stared at the screen in complete dumbfounded shock. "She, she just cut the connection."
"Ya," I said softly. "She did."
"They-they're coming down here."
"It looks like it."
"Gods damn it!" He bellowed. I flinched a little in surprise and he calmed down a little.
"Sorry Laurel. I didn't mean to scare you."
I put my arms around him and laid my head on his shoulder. "It's all right Achilles. I don't like the idea of them coming down here either."
Achilles gently put down his laptop and returned the hug. I could feel his emotions, fear for his siblings, guilt at causing them to come here, and buried deep under the other emotions, a small flicker of hope that we might finally be rescued, then more guilt for the hope. I was feeling the same things, but I knew that Achilles, who'd always been overprotective and still saw his younger siblings as the cute five year-olds we'd left behind, must be feeling much worse. He was shaking.
"It'll be alright, Li," I said softly. "They'll have Aunt Thalia with them, and they'll be as prepared as they can be, and they're a lot older than we were when we fell, and there are more of them. They'll be alright."
I knew that I needed to be there for him. It was my fault that we were down here in the first place, but it was the people who mattered most in the world to my boyfriend that were rushing into danger to rescue us. Comforting him was the least I could do.
Achilles relaxed against me. "Thanks Laurel," he mumbled.
We were still holding each other when Bob and Damaesan came back from the Plethagon, where they'd been refilling our containers of fire-water in preperation for monster induced injuries that may occur when Bob wasn't around to cure them.
"What happened?" Dameasan rumbled.
Achilles sighed. "I got through with the video chat."
"But that is good news!" Bob exclaimed. Then he noticed the looks on our faces. "Isn't it?"
Achilles sighed, and I answered. "Selena was the one to answer the call. She, Luke, Ethan, Randall and Emerald are coming to get us without anybody else but Aunt Thalia."
Bob grimaced. "That is not good."
"Our thoughts exactly, Bob." I sighed. "Our thoughts exactly."
Mel P.O.V. New Athens
They weren't here. I turned to my friends. "Since when do any of them not show up?" I demanded.
See, I, my brother Tristan, and our friends/cousins Marie, Sammy, Ez, and Zoe had planned to meet up for a movie with Silena, Luke, Ran, Em, and Ethan twenty minutes ago. We were standing in front of the theater, but the others still hadn't shown up.
"Uh, never?" Marie asked. "Silena wouldn't let them be late."
Sammy nodded, agreeing with his sister.
"We could go over and see what's holding them up," Ez suggested.
"Hopefully nothing major," Zoe said with a grimace. There was a general consensus to that statement. The last time we'd tried to go to a movie with all of us, Silena had fallen down the stairs accidentally taking me with her, and we'd both had to spend the next three days in the infirmary.
"Let's go."
Teensey-Tinesy-Like-Five-Minute-Line-Break
There was a note on the door. I took it off and handed it to Marie, who'd managed to inherit her father's lack of dyslexia.
Dear, Mom, Dad, and everyone else,
We've just gotten and video call from someone we thought was dead.
Achilles and Laurel got taken into Tartarus, but they're alive, and Bob, Small Bob, and Damaeson are with them.
We are going to find them and bring them home.
We're really sorry for disappearing like this, but we know that if we'd told you you would've tried to stop us,
or worse, to go yourselves. We know about the nightmares Aunt Annabeth, Uncle Percy, and Uncle Nico
still have from that place, and we don't want you guys to have to go through that again, also,
you've had enough quests to last all of you several lifetimes, you deserve a break for life.
We've got supplies, plenty of food, water, ambrosia, and weapons, we know what to avoid,
there are more of us, and we'll be careful.
Please don't come after us.
We love you,
Em, Ran, Silena, Luke, and Ethan
Marie looked up at the rest of us.
"What do we do?"she asked.
"Isn't it obvious?"I asked, pulling a pen out of my pocket and adding my name to the end of the list, "We go after them."
"Into Tartarus?" Tristan asked.
"Ya." I said, "We can't very well let them go on their own. We're a family, and we'll do this together. You know, minus Hestia."
"Of course we're going," Marie added, plucking the pen out of my hand and adding her own name.
We all stared at her. Marie was the most hesitant of all of us about going on quests, and she tended to scare easy. This was a side of her that didn't surface often.
"What?!" she demanded.
We stared some more.
"Oh, c'mon." Marie huffed, "Mel's right they are our family, and if any of you thing that I'm letting Ethan go traipsing off to to literal hell without me, than you all are sorely mistaken. I would've gone even if no one else would."
She handed the pen to Sammy, and the rest of us passed signed their names on the note.
"We need to get our things," Zoe pointed out.
"We can get our stuff, and then meet at the Pine in ten?" I suggested.
"Sounds good. We can figure out where to go to find the others then too," Ez agreed.
"Great," I grabbed Tristan by the arm and we ran across the street to our house. Thankfully our parents were at Camp Jupiter at the moment, and so it was empty. I ran upstairs to my room and grabbed what I needed: drachmas in case we needed to do an Iris Message (the coins were noticeably missing from the list of things that the others had already taken with them), an extra change of clothes, and duct tape (you never knew when you might need it). Then I ran downstairs and packed food, water, nectar and ambrosia. As an afterthought, I grabbed a wad of the mortal cash that'd been part of my birthday present from Gramps and stuffed that in my backpack too.
"Tristan, you ready?" I shouted.
"Almost," he shouted back. A few seconds later he came running in.
"You've got your ring?" I asked.
"Yep, right here," Tristan wiggled his right hand, showing me the ring, that, with a twist, turned into his dagger. "You got yours?"
For my eleventh birthday, my Aunt Thalia had given me my two large hunting knives (with permission form Artemis) to use. When I was thirteen Uncle Leo's present to me was to modify them to conduct electricity easier and turn into two belt chains at my hips.
"Ya, I do, I guess we're good to go then." We ran up the hill to the Pine that had once been my aunt. We got there right before Ez and Zoe. Ez was panting harder than Zoe, and when I looked at her quizzically, she explained.
"Left a note for Hayden," she gave a small smile. Hayden Stoll was her boyfriend, and I sympathized with Ez for having to leave him behind. My own boyfriend, on the other hand, seemed to have no such qualms, I thought with a small frown.
"So, where do we think that they went?"Sammy asked.
I bit my lip, "Well, they'll need to go to the Underworld to get to Tartarus," I said.
"They'll need a guide," Ez piped in, "Someone who's been there before," Zoe added.
"It wouldn't be Uncle Nico, obviously, or Uncle Percy and Aunt Annabeth," Tristan said.
"So who does that leave?" Marie asked.
We looked at each other, for maybe half a minute before a light bulb went off in my brain.
"Aunt Thals!" I exclaimed, "She's been there, but not to Tartarus, plus she's still technically fifteen."
"Definitely," Ez agreed, "but how do we find her?"
That was the question all right. I was so deep in thought that I jumped when Marie suddenly whistled sharply. The shadow of the tree rippled and a huge, black hellhound lept out of it.
"Marie, you're a genius! Why didn't we think about sooner Onyx" Ez shouted.
"Good thinking," I told her. See, Onyx is Marie's pet, and one of Mrs. O'Leary's sons. He was Uncle Percy's first birthday present to her, when he was a puppy, to protect her.
Marie grinned at us, and hoisted herself onto Onyx's back. "Well, what're you all waiting for, let's go!"
Third Person POV
A few hours later, when the Jacksons came home, they found the note on the door to the house, and read it. After a few minutes to get themselves somewhat together, the Iris messaged their friends and told them what'd happened. Then, the put Hestia to bed and sat together on the couch to wait for everyone to get there. That was all they could do, for the time being. Wait, and pray to the gods that their children made it home safe.
AAaaaaaand that concludes this chapter, at least a month after I started writing it. And also it's just a little short. Sorry. Anyway, Hope y'alls liked it, and also that you review. Please, please, please. I see reviews, and I'm like, oh my god, people actually like this, I wanna write more! So, yes, reviews do mean faster updates.
Shoutout (How sad is it that I only have one review to shoutout to? Very.)
fluffypuff554- Thank you for reviewing, you rock and your story was good, I enjoyed reading what you have so far.
Until next time! :o)