"We're getting our weapons back first." I said as I untied Tommy's bindings. He rubbed his wrists. "How did you do that? Untie the ropes, I mean." He asked me. I shrugged. "Water kind of loosened the fibers, I guess."

Tommy and I got to our feet and slid along the side of the wall, keeping as quiet as we could.

Now, I understand you're probably confused. How did we escape? Well, you know all that water dripping from the ceiling, drenching Tommy and I? The next cave we were taken to still had water dripping from the ceiling. So, yeah, I used that. I soaked the ropes that were restraining us and they came loose easily.

So now, we were going to get our weapons back. I held Tommy back as I peered outside, looking for any sign of monsters. Nothing moved, so I nodded to Tommy and we jumped from bush to bush, careful not to make a sound.

"I feel like a spy." Tommy said after a while. "Shut up," I warned him, "or you're going to get us caught."

I hopped over to another bush and ducked. Tommy followed me, landing with a thump. "Do you even know here we're going?" He asked.

I didn't reply. I had no idea where we were going, but I was hoping that we would stumble across our weapons at some point.

Thinking this to myself, I realized how stupid it sounded. Demigods never have the good fortune of "stumbling" across the things they need.

"Hello? Shaggy?" Tommy called, waving his hand in front of my face. I bit my lip. "I have no idea where we're going." I admitted.

I expected Tommy to get frustrated, or even say we had to go back, but instead he grinned. "So, you're not all organized are you?" He said with a smirk. I scowled at him. He held up his hands and continued, ignoring me. "Nah, it's cool. I work better this way."

I sniffed. "You work better when things are messy, and you're proud of that?"

Tommy shrugged. "You should be happy that things are at my pace. I'm a valuable team mate."

"Whatever..."

Tommy crossed his arms. "You don't believe me, do you?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. "No offense, or anything, Tommy, but you have to admit..."
"Admit what?"
"Dude, you're kind of annoying."

Tommy put his hand over his heart. "I-I think I've been shot." He whispered, tumbling into the bush.

I bent over to help Tommy to his feet, but a rustle in a bush distracted me. I jumped and spun around.

"What's up, Shaggy?" Tommy asked, his hand still in the air. "Shut up," I warned him, keeping my eyes on the bush.

We had no weapons, so if this was a monster, we were practically dead meat.

"You-are-snippy." Tommy huffed, helping himself to his feet. I thrust out my hand and slapped his arm. He shied away from me. "What's your problem?"

The bush rustled again. This time, Tommy heard it. He stared at me, and, in spite of myself, I shot him an I-told-you-so look.

Tommy scowled at me.

I turned my gaze back on the bush. "What do you think it is?" Tommy asked. I shrugged. "It could be a monster. Maybe we should move..."

Suddenly, whatever was in the bush pushed its way into the open.

Tommy and I stared at what had just walked into the open. Well, I think it's better to say who.

A girl, with spiky black hair and electric blue eyes. She wore a silver jacket, silvery camo-pants and black combat boots. She looked about sixteen.

"Er, hi?" I said cautiously. The girl stood up straight and brushed herself off. A bow was slung over her shoulder and I could just make out the hilt of two hunting knives in her pocket.

"Are you Bianca di...um...are you Bianca?" The girl asked. I nodded slowly. "I'm Thalia Grace." She held out her hand and I shook it.

Why should I trust this random stranger? Well, Thalia Grace is a legend. Everyone knows who she is, my mother and father have told me about her.

For the first time, Thalia seemed to notice Tommy. A look of disgust took over her face. "Who's that?"

"Well, hello to you too." Tommy purred, strolling up to Thalia and pinching her cheek.

Thalia whipped out her hunting knives and angled one at Tommy's neck and one at his heart. "Never. Touch me. Or I will kill you."

Tommy grinned, even though he had two knives pointing at very dangerous places. "Aren't you cute," he said, "but, darling, you don't have the guts to slice my throat. I'm too adorable."

I mentally facepalmed. Tommy is an idiot. There is no nice way to say it. Right now, he was just peeing off the freaking lieutenant of Artemis.

Thalia stared at him, fire burning in her eyes. "Did you just call me darling?" She whispered, her voice dangerous and concealing a death threat.

"Yeah, I did. What are you going to do about it, cupcake?"

For a second, I though Thalia was going to run Tommy through with her knife. Her hand actually twitched. But instead, she backed away.

"Told you so." Tommy teased.

I was about to relax, but I realized that Thalia was not relaxing. She was tense, as if she was about to spring at Tommy and chop him into a not-so-healthy salad.

I opened my mouth to shout a warning, I didn't want Tommy to get hurt, considering he was my traveling companion, but I was too late.

Thalia sliced at Tommy, fast as lightning. Blood spattered the ground and glittered on the hunting knife. I couldn't do anything but widen my eyes as Tommy dropped to his knees, clutching his chest.

She didn't kill him. I tried to assure myself. She would never kill just for the fun of it.

Thalia looked at me, a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Now let's get out of here."

I heard a thump as Tommy crumpled, his cheek against the ground. A few drops of blood slipped between his fingers.

Thalia tilted her head at me, as if she couldn't figure out why I was panicking.

"It's not that bad." She said.

Yeah. Okay.

•••

A/N: Well that chapter sucked. I'm sorry I made you wait for long for that. Okay, I need your opinion. Should I keep alternating chapters, or should I make Bianca go again since this was kind of a cliff hanger? Let me know.

I'm sorry again for the boring chapter, but I'm trying to lead up to this big plot with their mind connections and...well I wouldn't want to spoil it.