Fire and Wisdom [Leo Valdez]

XIII - Leo

Leo was worried for Caroline. He couldn't believe she was a Roman half-blood. While the three of them walked towards the Cave of Echidna in silence, he wondered if he would see his girlfriend again if she gets sent to Camp Jupiter. No, he thought, don't think like that, Leo. Just don't. "Leo?" He heard Caroline say, "Leo!" Caroline snapped her fingers in front of his face, which got his attention. "What?" Caroline rolled her eyes at him, but smiled anyway. "I was saying: 'What should we do?'" "Oh, I—I don't know. I don't even know where Thalia is in the cave!" He heard Annabeth sigh, "Alright, fine. Let's just figure it out on our own!" She began leading them inside the cave, where a flat rock-like surface lead down under the earth in darkness. Leo conjured a flame and looked at his magic tool belt, "Give me three Ancient Greek torches," and he took out three metal torches that seemed old, but looked brand new. He lit all of them, and handed two of them to Caroline and Annabeth, and held his own above his head. "All hail, 'King Leo'!" He joked, and Caroline laughed at him. The three of them headed inside the dark cave, holding their torches in front of them. Annabeth caught the smell of cucumbers, "We're close," she said "How can you tell?" Leo asked "Gorgons smell like cucumbers. Kinda like poisonous snakes—which I'm pretty sure their hair mostly is." Caroline cringed at the smell, "Well, if that's true, then Gorgons need to wear some perfume twenty-four-seven." Leo smiled at her and continued walking down the cave in silence, all of them hoping that both Thalia was okay, and that they wouldn't become a Gorgon's appetizer. "Somebody help me!" A voice screamed, and they ran towards the source, only to see a group of several girls wearing silver in front of them. "What in Hades are you all doing here?" Annabeth snapped rudely, and the girls looked at her. "Looking for our lieutenant. What does it look like?" A blonde girl said, glaring at Leo like he was a Hydra head. "So are we. She's a friend." Annabeth eyed the hunting knives everyone was holding in their fists, but the voice that was behind the boulder they were in front of screamed again, "Help me, please! I'm going nuts in here!" And Leo got an idea. "Stand back, ladies." He said, handing Annabeth his torch and creating a huge ball of fire and stood in front of the Hunters as he touched the rock that instantly became a burning red color. He grabbed a thick branch and rammed it into the rock, that instantly broke into pieces, where everyone saw a weakened looking Thalia in the golden cage, barely awake. "Thalia!" Annabeth gasped and ran to the cage. "A—Annabeth?" Thalia asked weakly, and Annabeth nodded. Leo walked over and tried to melt the bars, but it didn't work. Caroline walked over and took out her gladius and knelt to the ground, then plunged it into the ground next to the cage, where a bright white light appeared from the cracks, and small bolts of lightning burnt the bars, the cage collapsing like a cut-all-together cardboard box. Everyone gasped, and they all eyed Caroline with shock. "She can't be—" "She is!" A few Hunters said and Caroline stood up, putting her gladius back into its sheath on her belt nonchalantly—as if nothing happened. Leo helped Annabeth stand Thalia up, who groaned as her friends supported her. Just as they were about to help her outside, the sound of snakes hissing caused them to freeze in place. "Well, well, what do we have here?"