Equilibrium

Chapter 36: Luka's POV

I'm still kinda baffled by it all. I opened up to her, about everything, and it felt good knowing that there was someone who actually knew what was going on in my life.
But I also slipped up. I wasn't supposed to kiss her, but me being a stupid idiot, I gave in.
But ANYWAYS, that was eventful.
Poor Jackie just hurt her ankle so badly I'm not even sure how she's going to walk. We were on Harper again and he was flying us to the top of the mountain where the cave was supposed to be. Flashback to the last time we had to go in a cave... I almost died, Maple DID die, and overall it was just not a good experience. Can't wait to go exploring in another! Maybe if I die, Jackie will wait even longer to tell people.
I imagine it would go something like, 'Oh hey Chiron, I know I told you that Luka abandoned our quest to move to the Bahamas and live his best life, but he actually kinda died I just didn't want to say!'
Also, I love how I said that I kissed her and gave in, but the fact that it happened twice is really saying something. I can't keep doing that though, like seriously what's wrong with me, why can't we just finish this quest and not make it awkward? Every time it happens I find myself slipping farther and farther from the friend zone. Catching feelings is not something I can afford to do right now, and I'm getting dangerously close to doing just that.
Jackie shifted around a bit in her seat, trying to get comfortable, but whimpered when her ankle hit my foot.
"Sorry, sorry, you good?" I asked, shifting back a bit so she could sit properly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she mumbled.
Harper was still ascending and I was starting to feel the lack of oxygen. We were pretty high up and I felt lightheaded and faint. I could tell that Jackie was feeling the same because she leaned back onto my chest and closed her eyes, sighing.
We stayed like that until Harper landed in front of the cave, using each other's bodies to stay warm. 
The cave had a large opening, bigger than the last one we went to, and was surrounded by icicles. I couldn't see inside because it was so dark, but I could tell that whatever was in there was not good news.
"Jackie, what's Artemis' relic again? I forgot," I asked, shivering. I was freezing my ass off, but Jackie was wearing my sweatshirt and I wasn't about to ask for it back. She was the one with the busted ankle, after all, and I'd never admit it but it was much too big for her and she looked awfully cute.
"A silver arrow. It's supposed to be glowy, and hit it's mark every time or something?"
Sounds fun enough to me. I slipped my hand in hers, not in a flirtatious way, but in a way that said, 'we're about to walk into a pitch black cave with no idea what's inside, be scared with me.'
"Let's do this," I said as confidently as I could, trying not to show how cold I was by stuttering, or letting my teeth chatter. I patted Harper on the back quickly and started to walk. I wanted to make it quick but Jackie's injury was doing us no justice. She was limping a little and I could tell that the only reason she wasn't screaming on the floor in agony was because of the ambrosia.
My hand instinctively let go of hers and wrapped around her waist, allowing her to lean on me for support  as we walked further and further into the cave. The only light inside the cave came from the small flashlight Jackie was holding, barely lighting up the path as we slowly trudged forward.
"Luka, I'm scared," Jackie whispered, "This is dangerous, we can't even see and my leg is all busted up."
There was no way that Jackie Elway just said that she was scared. No way. I stopped in my tracks and turned to face her, "I swear to gods. You are the Jackie Elway, and NO ONE can scare you, ok?"
She looked a little taken aback by my answer but nodded, smiling a little. I put my arm back around her waist, because why the heck not? Uh, platonically, of course. "Let's fucking do this, short stuff."
She grinned.
"Sounds like a plan, Godzilla."
It took awhile after that for anything to happen. At least we weren't that cold anymore because we were so far into the cave that the wind and snow couldn't reach us anymore. The small yellowish ray that came out of the flashlight we had was suddenly mixed with a whiter light. Before I could point it out, Jackie noticed too. She ripped herself off my side and spun around a few times, looking somewhat unbalanced as she tried to keep the weight off of her left ankle. It was still difficult to see, but a little farther in, we were able to spot a silvery glowing light.
"Yes!" Jackie grinned, "We fucking found it, bitch!"
One thing that I've learned about Jackie is that she swears excessively when she gets excited. Scratch that, she swears a lot in general, excitement doesn't really have anything to do with it. She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the light.
There was nothing super special about where the arrow was sitting, it was just placed in a wider part of the path.
Literally just lying there. On the floor.
Booby trapped? Definitely.
Jackie reached down to pick it up, but before she could touch it, I wrapped my arms around her torso and lifted her up, swinging her around to the opposite side.
"What the hell Luka???"
I shook my head, "What are the odds that this isn't a trap, silly?" I said, smirking, "We can't have you getting hurt again."
She nodded her head in thought for a second, "You do have a point."
I know I do. Because ya boy is a smart motherfucker.
Catch me never saying that again.
"Ok... So what do we do?" Jackie asked, staring at the shimmering arrow lying in front of us. Well I hadn't thought that far.
"Uhhhhh weeeee..... Wait?"
She gave me a deadpan expression, "You have no idea, do you."
I shook my head, "Not a clue."
So we stood there.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen minutes?
Just thinking of what in Hades' name we're supposed to do without setting something off. Finally, Jackie sighed, "I have an idea." I looked at her, relieved that our mindless staring finally got us somewhere.
"What is it?" I asked eagerly.
"This."
This stupid short child lunged forward and picked up the arrow off the ground.
"Jackie, I swear to gods?!?!" I whisper yelled, convinced that we were both about to die.
"Luka, weren't you the one who said that I shouldn't be scared of anything or anyone because I'm freaking Jackie Elway?"
Well I really feel that she shouldn't have let that get to her head. Before I could say anything I heard a noise. Of coURSE I heard a noise. Now we were going to get attacked by some stupid monster and die.
So much fun. So much fun.
Something snarled in the darkness. It sounded like one that came from the fake cgi dogs in the movies, but that didn't make it any less terrifying. Jackie and I backed up. I put my arm in front of her protectively and grabbed the flashlight out of her hand, shining it in front of me.
"Ok, well maybe I shouldn't have done that," Jackie said meekly.
Yeah, no shit.