Grape Vines and Angel Wings

Chapter 13: I'm not jealous, she should be jealous

~Blair POV~

I hit the ground hard. Which sucked. "Ugh my freaking EVERYTHING!" I groaned. I did a quick internal check for damage and found nothing except bruises. "Oh ow..." I pushed myself up and stood, dusting myself off. "Where the Hades am I?" It looked like a giant dark cave, the air was sour like some nasty wine. Purple smoke curled through the air, and vines hung from the ceiling. "Uhh, hello? Nico?" I called. I walked forward cautiously.

You have 10 minutes. Hades had said. Great. 10 minutes. This place is huge how am I going to find him in 10 minutes.

And then I heard the screams.

"Oh..." I whispered.

I quickly followed the sounds. "Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods..." This poor guy, I can't believe I sent him here...

Wait... I sent him here. I blinked. "Holy shit, if I can do this to my enemies I'd be so badass!"

Another scream sent that thought out of my mind pretty quickly. I scanned the darkness for... something. Anything that would tell me where he is. Then I spotted it. A bright light, like from a camp fire, and throne of thorny vines. I winced in sympathy. The closer I got, the clearer it became that this was definitely Nico. And someone else, but I was focused completely on my friend. The other voice, which by the way was most certainly not human, growled. I crouched behind the throne. In the chair, I could hear Nico's ragged breathing. I took a deep breath. This is my relm. I am the only one who can fix this. I stepped out from behind the throne and stood in front of Nico.

And came face to face with a cat. "I am Blair Ivy. Daughter of Dionysus. Master of the Thersus. And Patron of Madness. Release this demigod."

The leopard ducked its head and to my surprise, immediately released Nico, letting him fall to the floor. I glared at the cat before rushing to Nico's side. "Oh my gods, Nico are you okay? I'm so sorry, it was an accident, I didn't mean to send you here. Are you okay? Shit, that's a stupid question of course you're not okay, oh my cheezus are you alive?" Nico coughed and blinked up at me. For a moment, his eyes seemed unfocused. Then they cleared and he let out a relieved sigh. "Ouch." He mumbled. I felt a hysterical laugh rise in my chest. "Gods, that was close. Huh?"

He rolled his eyes, "Took you long enough. Where were you?"

I grinned and shrugged, "Oh you know, chatting with your dad." He raised and eyebrow, "Is that so?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Now we need to leave. Your old man has requested a quest. He wants us to go."

He looked around and caught sight of the leopard. His face darkened. "Can I smack that cat before we go?"

The leopard crouched low to the ground, it's muzzle pressed against the ground. Forgive me, mistress. I was only doing my duty.

I stared at it. "Wow, you are super cool."

I am your servant, mistress. If you feel it is needed I will accept punishment for my wrongdoings... He covered his golden muzzle with his paws. His amber eyes glowed. Then I noticed the wings. How I hadn't spotted them before, I dunno. They were huge angel wings, creamy in color and feathery.

I straightened, "You are pardoned. What is your name?"

The leopard sat up. I am known as the Keeper, mistress.

I frowned, "That's not a good name, dude. Hmmm, how about I call you Iacchus."

The leopard flapped his wings, If this is your wish. But he sounded excited to have a new name.

I helped Nico stand, trying to ignore the flare of warmth I felt when he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Despite being tortured for almost a week down here, he smelled like peppermint and chocolate. I shook my head, "Um, Iacchus, could you get us out of here?"