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Penny

"You ready Jackson?"

"No." I admitted. To be honest,my throat made a slight improvement as I could actually use my vocal cords. It's been a long time since I've been stuck here. Now that I think about it,for how long was I actually trapped here? It felt like an eternity. I could hear her chuckle.

"Good." she said,sitting down next to me,sharpening her knife. The very sound made my skin crawl but I did my best not to show my fear on my face. Instead I decided to made a conversation.

"So what's your story?" I asked. The sharpening stopped,so I didn't know whether I should be scared or relieved.

"You don't need to know." she said dully.

"Um,yes I do."

"Screw you Jackson." she scowled. I tried to grin but it was too painful. I liked this girl,even though I couldn't fully trust her. But I could sense this type of...power from her. Like she was holding in some kind of dark secret (or secrets) and knew that one day her day would come where she would have to face her next challenge. I knew that feeling. I felt it everyday. In ways,she reminded me of..well,me.

"I had a brother. Well,I still do. But chances are that he doesn't know about me." she snorted. I blinked.

"Sorry,what?"

"You heard me Jackson. He doesn't know me. Probably has no memory of me either."

"How?"I asked. She stayed silent for a few moments. I didn't like the fact that she was holding a knife,whereas I was weak,bonded and had no means of defending myself. But I had the feeling that she didn't want to hurt me.

"Our mother was a TV star. She was famous,beautiful..things every woman usually wants. Then she met my dad,and everything changed. My mom was usually I greedy person,but after meeting my dad,the greed intensified. She went mad."

"Why?"

"My dad usually would leave for months,years even at times. My mom tried everything to keep him here. Two years after I was born,my mother had another child;my brother. Then my dad left again. Only this time,he never came back."

I felt a ping of sadness inside of me. Though my story and her story were both completely different,I could relate to it.

"My mom went crazy. She started doing drugs and drinking. One day she was out driving. She had had too much vodka. She didn't make it." she finished bitterly. I didn't say anything.

"My dad had to come back and take care of me and my little brother. He sent him to a boarding school,and sent me to one too. The limo that was taking us had a serious accident. Even I don't remember. All I remember is that my brother had a serious head accident and me...my dad blamed me."

"What?"

"Yeah. Don't ask me why. I couldn't handle it. Everyone called me a freak. My brother hardly knew who I was when I went to visit him. So I ran away." She began sharpening her knife again. "It took a lot of adventures and years,but I met this guy. Together we made our way to New York. We lived together,fending off problems as much as we could. But then we parted ways." she sounded pained. I didn't made inquiries about her friend.

"Well,I know it doesn't make much of a difference if someone tells you that they're sorry about the things that happened to you."

"Yeah."

"But still..I'm sorry."

"Thanks." she grunted,putting the knife down. We stayed silent for some time,leaving me in my own thoughts.

"We've got a couple of hours." she said,breaking the silence. "Now I gotta ask you;you seriously didn't know that your brother was associated with Dhruv till now?"

"I didn't know. But I wish I had." I said angrily.

"Well,I don't know how much anger you're feeling on him,but I'd say that he was smart to hide it from you."

"What?"

"If you had known,you'd be forced to live like him. Constantly on the move. Living in fear. Not being able to sleep at nights. Occasionally going drunk. Going mad on trying to save your loved ones. He must really care about you to hide it for these many years."

Now that I think about it,she's right. Percy only did it for mine and everyone else's good. So I stayed quiet,and I knew that somehow she'd understood my silence. I don't know for how long we sat there,until I heard her get up and cut my bonds.

"Wha-"

"Get up Jackson. It's time."

Annabeth

"We wait for one more hour. If there's no word,I'm driving there myself and bursting that damned door open." Apollo argued. Percy put his hands up.

"I'm in with you on that man." he replied calmly.

The two of them hadn't made up,but they weren't fighting anymore. They seemed to have non-verbally made a silent truce. Good enough for us. The only thing breaking the silence was the annoying and irritating music and hairdryer from Daphne's room. I swear,that girl is a shark with blond extensions and makeup. I glanced at the clock. It was already 9:10 pm. One way or another,we had to make sure that this would get over tonight.

OoOoOoOoO

"Oh...hey." I said,walking into the kitchen to see Apollo. He smiled weakly at me.

"Hey." He gestured that it was okay to sit. I sat down next to him silently. I never really talked to him that much alone. And given the situation happening...I'm sure that he had a lot of thoughts.

"So I know that this is a stupid question...but are you okay?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know. Everything's a big mess."

I nodded,not sure of anything to say. Finally he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Annabeth,there's something I need to let out..but promise me that you won't tell anyone."

"Sure." I said,a bit surprised. He took a deep breath.

"Is it weird that..that I'm kind of angry at Penny?"

I blinked "About what?"

"Well after hearing Percy's story..I realized that Penny had told me a fair lot of lies about her childhood. And I'm not putting that against her-" he said hastily "-after all,I never thoroughly explained Daphne to her..but this..she never told me anything. Anything. I-I don't know what to think." he said bitterly. I curled my lip.

"Well I don't know how close you both are,but I guess it must hurt when she never told you. She probably didn't tell you for the same reason Percy didn't tell you-she probably wanted to just keep you safe. Maybe she thought you would've overreacted.." I shrugged. He frowned.

"Well,you've got a point." He said,not showing any emotion "I just...I've been so focused on bringing her back,I never thought of what would happen when she came back." he said,sounding frustrated. I hesitated. I was praying that she wasn't being driven insane there..or worse.

"Well...let's just concentrate on bringing her back at the moment." I said hastily. He nodded wearily and left the kitchen without another word.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"Can you stand?" she asked. Gulping,I used the wall for support. My legs were shaking-badly. I gasped out loud and fell to my knees,my eyes stinging. She grabbed my arm and hoisted me up,letting me lean on her for support. I didn't like it,but right now I needed all the help I could get.

"Thanks." I muttered. She didn't reply.

"A few steps and you'll be fine. We'll get you to the upper chambers. It's better than here,and they definately won't check for you there. And then-"

"Yeah,I remember the plan." I said,trying not to sound too weak or anything. "But what if we meet anyone on the way."

I could hear her chuckle dryly "Eh. That's the least of our worries. But leave that to me. And if by any chance we get separated;don't look back."

"What?"

"You heard me. Keep looking straight and run. Don't go into any side doors. If you see someone,hide and pray that they don't find you. You're in no position to fight."

"Gee,thanks."

I heard the familiar clanking of the door. It opened. Heart pounding,I took a deep breath. Would I make it out alive? I blinked my eyes,which was only used to the darkness of that room. We were in some underground cellar;like the type that you only see in movies. My vision kept flickering as she lead me through corridors. I felt like puking but I kept it in. If this was my one chance of escaping,there was no way I was gunna ruin it. We went up a staircase,and at the end of it there was a door. She pushed it open and helped me through.

I gasped for the air. Gods that felt good. But the plan wasn't over yet.

"Here,keep this." She gave me some kind of black flip phone. "It's a tracker. In case if we split,I'll be able to haul your ass in the right place."

"Again,gee thanks." I said. Only then did I get a good look at her. She was as tall as me,wearing ripped black jeans,chains,a black shirt and a black leather army jacket over it. She had jet black hair that was short and choppy with a few purple and silver streaks in it. Her skin was pale white like Nico's and she has freckles splashed over her nose and face. She was thin yet muscular like me (except that I probably lost the 'muscular' part) and her eyes were startling electric blue. Those eyes looked weirdly familiar.

"C'mon." she grunted before I could ask her anything. I noticed that she'd been analyzing me too. I followed her to a left corridor. I was able to walk better,but my feet felt like jell-O. We passed several doors and once in a while heard footsteps,but they faded away soon. Oh the Fates are smiling upon us. But seriously,how big was this place? I wanted to pass out. I was starving,and the coldness of that cell was still clinging on to me. I stared down at my clothes. I couldn't even recognize them. They were torn,bloodstained (how had that happened?) covered in dirty and extremely worn. I couldn't even look at my hands and arms without wincing. They were extremely thin and gaunt,my veins popping out. I couldn't imagine what I really looked like.

"Wait here." She said,hiding me behind a door. Her opened her pack and took out something small and round-some kind of bomb? Of course,I didn't question her. I usually was intimidated,but she made me tremble when she glared at me. I liked her. She took out a match and lit it. I stiffened a bit.

Fire. Another weakness. Visions flashed through my eyes.

'Percy,Penny come on!' Mom yelled urgently,grabbing our hands and running. I was scared and confused. I had never seen mommy this serious before. I stumbled along,my tiny legs not letting me run very fast. Suddenly I had dropped my doll.

"My doll!" I screamed,tearing mom's grip off of me to get it. She stopped and turned,looking scared. I could see fire dancing in her eyes;the reflection of the fire that was so close to me.

"PENNY NO!"

"LET'S GO!" A voice shouted,snapping me back to the present. Before I could blink,she had grabbed my wrist and tugged,running at top speed. I could feel warmth radiating behind me. I turned.

Fire. I could hear bells going off,things getting demolished. She violently pulled me right,into another corridor. In the distance,I could hear several footsteps and shouting. My mind was jambled. I could hardly see. I could hardly breath.

Suddenly the ceiling collapsed. I screamed and fell back,luckily missing the heavy boulders,but when I looked around there was no way out. I was surrounded by nothing but cement and boulders. And behind me a fire. There was no way out. Smoke arose in my lungs. I hugged my doll tightly,screaming at the top of my lungs. For mommy. For Percy.

I was getting dizzy. I was a tiny thing amongst all this. I fell to the ground,the doll tightly wrapped in my arms. My hearing shut down. I could hear my heartbeat alone. Suddenly I heard banging,some shouts and two strong familiar arms carry me up. I opened my eyes feebly.

"Daddy?"

"I'm here squirt."

My eyes were moist and my throat was jammed. I felt him running,yelling at other people. I didn't understand,but I knew that my daddy had come to save the day. He would save us all. He was my hero.

"Da-aady?"

"Hush,little squirt. Daddy's here for you. He'll always be here for you."

"PENNY LET'S GO!" She yelled. I looked down. There was a guy knocked out cold,laying down on the floor. I blinked slowly,and then fell to my knees. Without complaint,she hoisted me up and continued running. I could see my life flashing in front of my eyes.

Suddenly I fell. I heard my dad yell,"NO!" I didn't know where I didn't know where my dad was. I heard explosions,rays of fire shooting everywhere,walls falling down. All I knew was that I had my doll tightly wrapped in my arms. And then I felt more arms. They hoisted me up. I breathed a little. I didn't bother opening my eyes.

'Papa?' I whispered.

Another voice answered 'Yes darlin' C'est moi.'

But that wasn't my papa. 'Who-who-'

I felt his hand travel up my skirt ,his fingers moving. I felt pain. 'Stop it. Please.'

'Stay silent,little doll. Daddy's got you.'

'No..no stop it. Please.'

Glass shattered,piercing through my skin. I heard another explosion,a huge one sending us flying. We had jumped out the window,that girl next to me. Air was whizzing past my ears,my clothes on fire. I heard shouting and..alarms? I closed my eyes,waiting for the arms of death. But it never came. Or maybe it had already come;I just hadn't felt it.

'GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!" I heard mummy scream. A nasty sound,and the man fell down next to me. I looked up feebly. I saw mummy,her face dirty and tears falling down her face.

'Mommy...why are you crying?' I asked gently. She started sobbing,pulling me close.

'Mommy loves you baby. Mommy will always love you.'

Percy

"Come on..." I muttered,trying to go faster. Suddenly I saw something in the distance;Fire.

"No." I whispered,my eyes widening. I stopped the car and we all got out. I could see something red and flickering through the window. "Guys let's-"

BOOM.

I could feel impact from where I was standing. It had exploded. Fire erupted everywhere,walls crashing down.

"NO!" Apollo yelled. We didn't waste any time. We ran forward,not caring about the fire or the danger. Penny was in that building,and it had exploded. My heart beat was slowing down. It was happening all over again. Suddenly my legs stopped moving. I couldn't breath. All I did was just stand there,watching the flames move across the cement. Penny...Penny was in there...

"NO!" Apollo yelled again,rushing forward,but Jason grabbed him. Apollo wrestled furiously against him,until he ended up falling on his knees,sobbing uncontrollably. I didn't hold back either. I let the tears fall. Jason turned towards me. I couldn't see his expression;my vision was blurred.

"Guys! GUYS!" I heard Nico yell,his voice more hoarse than ever. He was running towards something. I didn't know what else to do. I raced after him,my elgs feeling like blocks of wood. I looked down,my heart speeding up again.

"GUYS IT'S HER!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Leo looked up;I had never seen that look on him before. He looked ready to kill,and the look was a bit intimidating. Without making any jokes or saying anything,he ran straight down to Nico. But Apollo was the first.

"Penny." I heard him whisper. The boys ran down. They grabbed something;someone. They came closer to me,struggling to carry it;her. My eyes rested on her. I could hear the yells of Jason and Nico,telling me to get the fucking car but I couldn't move. I saw Leo and Nico carrying someone else but I didn't stop to see who it was. Without thinking,I went straight back to the car and started it. I heard fire alarms. I looked around warily. Fire trucks.

"Percy." I heard Nico say softly to me "We need to go. Take us home."

"Home." I muttered,eyes filling with tears "I can do that."

I stepped on it. The last thing I saw were the tiny figures of firemen swarming the area.

Take us home.

I swear,this chapter almost made me cry. Review!