A/N: Bit late at night, yes, but I was either in a lake, watching a movie, or reading a book by one of my favourite authors so . . . I had to drag myself out of the Otherworld to do this. And now, some of you questions will be answered!

Cora: Prisoner

I came back to my senses slowly. It was like trying to surface through pudding. It took me a minute for my head to clear partially. I was sore all over, and my muscles were cramped. I blinked open my eyes to see nothing. Craning my neck downwards I saw a thin beam of grey light coming from somewhere near the base of my feet.

Still groggy, I tried to sit up but immediately found that I couldn't. My ankles had been bound together. Same as my wrist which had been tied behind my back and my upper arms lashed tightly to my chest. I was completely unable to move. Then it all came back in a rush.

Everything, the fight, the capture, the quest - everything. I remembered all that had happened in the last few minutes before I had been knock out. Involuntary I choked up, tears forming in the corners of my eyes. I had been kidnapped, captured, whatever you want to call it.

I wasn't sure where I was, but it was some sort of cart. I knew because every once and a while the whole thing would move like it hit a bump and I faintly heard the creaking of wheels.

The ride wore on and on and on.

It took me only a few minutes of being conscious to feel something on my skin crack. There was a funny taste in my mouth. After a moment of trying to place it, I did. I was tasting blood, and the dried stuff on my face was dried blood.

I wasn't sure how long I was in there like that, but it was a very long time.

I was soon starving, who knew how long I was out for. Could of been days for all I knew.

But eventually the cart (if that's what it was) lurched to a stop. The end near my feet was rolled up, letting bright sunlight suddenly flood. It stung my eyes and I had to blink constantly to avoid becoming blinded.

Someone slashed the cords that bound my feet and two strong arms reached over and hauled me up into a sitting position. I blinked in surprise at the sight before me.

A small inlet surrounded by rock walls. Behind that, desert for endless miles as far as the eye could see. Standing before me was one of the warriors, who looked like some mass-produced living statue. And another man.

The strange man was dressed in a long robe made of a rough looking fabric. It was an indefinable hue between grey and purple. He had a wrinkled, but sort of timeless face and yellowish skin. He was extremely tall, taller than an average human. He had long white hair and a beard to match. On top his head was some weird extremely tall and skinny hat. He regarded me with cold, icy blue eyes.

I gazed hard at them unblinkingly. I would not show how freaked out I was. I squared my shoulders and sat up straighter. My cramped muscles screamed in protest, but I ignored it the best I could.

The man smirked at me, like he found this amusing. I scowled and looked harder at him.

Without saying a word, he just turned away. He snapped his finger and the warrior dragged me to my feet. My head spun and my legs almost immediately gave out. The warrior gripped the back of my neck and kept me up.

A moment later he forced me to walk forwards quickly, while he held a sword to my back. My legs ached. I would have loved to try and get away. But the sword pushing into my back was the only thing stopping me from spinning around and kicking him in the soft spot. That and the fact he was covered in armour and I was still a little dizzy.

I had no choice but to follow that man with the beard inside the mountain. Yes, inside the actual mountain. I managed to get a good look at several mountains in a long row before they hurried me inside. We were probably at some mountain chain. Like I really needed to get locked inside mountains.

Around and around through what was so twisting with so many turns off it could have been a Labyrinth. The whole time I was following that bearded man.

Eventually he led me into a room and I caught my breath. It was a huge domed room made of the mountain. The roof was riddled with passageways and holes. At least it should have been. Instead they were sealed off by huge designs made of stained glass. It was breath-taking; too bad the people who were here were no doubt evil. It really would have been a cool place to come under any other circumstance.

As soon as I was in, a door behind me appeared and closed. Leaving what looked like a seamless wall. I was left alone with the bearded man. The warrior had just vanished.

The man steered me to a stool in the centre of the room and pushed me down on to it. He tossed something near my feet and a second later a metal clamp was tight around my ankles. Yes, he bound my ankles again, like I was going to try and run out of a room with no exit. Were some people really that dumb? Apparently so.

I glared icily at the bearded man; he returned my look with a small smirk. Which of course made me harden my glare and scowl at him. We held it for a minute. Then he sighed and folded his arms.

"Such a shame," he mused. "To bad we can't change the past."

My scalp prickled and I fought hard to not spit in his face. "Who are you and what do you want with me?" I spat at him. My voice was thin and airy, cracking in my throat. It hurt.

"You don't know? Ah, how sad," he said.

"Just tell me."

He gave a fake frown, "You don't have to be like that, after all you're home." I resisted the strong urge to roll my eyes and snort.

Yes, yes, play along. That annoying voice whispered in my head. Act like you believe, play for time, get information. If I could, I would have talked back to that voice. What else was I supposed to do? It was impossible to believe him. Of course I was going to try and get information, until it got to hard to keep up the front; that was the first thing you do when you're surrounded by weird people who had bound you. But why did I know that? And how?

"Oh really?" I said raising my eyebrows. "Then may I ask, why were me and my friends ambushed? Why am I tied up? Mind telling me that?" I knew I had scored a point; the man scowled for a second then cleared that expression off his face.

"It is not our fault, there was no other option," he said. "You were on a mission when you got attacked. Hence your memory loss. Those at the camp recognized you; they used your innocence to fool you. We knew you would not believe us at first that is why all this is necessary." If not for the seriousness and the need to act like I believed him, I would have busted out laughing. It was so ridiculous!

"Those people you travel with are not your friends," he added. I felt rage as his words got to me. It took all my willpower to not scream in his face.

"So, then why was I not rescued? Wouldn't that have been the smartest thing to do? I'm not sure I can fully understand what you are trying to tell me. Maybe you should explain our location, that might help me remember," I replied. The man's eyes narrowed for a second then returned to their normal bored look.

"I suppose you're right," he said. Suppose? This guy is so stupid . . . I thought. I gave a small nod to signal for him to continue. "Seeing as you've forgotten, we're in the Superstition Mountains. The north-western end."

Then he did something very strange. This whole time his hands had been clasped behind his back, and now there was a sharp snap.

Suddenly I felt tempted to believe him, why shouldn't I be from here? I almost shook my head to clear it, it was all muddled now. I couldn't think straight. Everything was garbled, my thoughts coming out twisted.

Then there was a burning feeling began on my chest, as well as on my forehead. It woke me up fast and the muddled feeling began to vanish. What was burning on my skin? Why in two places? My Soul Key! Of course, that was why my chest burned in one spot; it was directly beneath my Soul Key! But . . . why did my forehead burn? I'd find out later.

As my head cleared, something told me this game was at an end.

Tilting my head sideways and putting on a sweet yet sarcastic smile on I said, "I'm sorry, but I find this all very hard to believe. I can't help but feel you've been lying." I should have kept my mouth shut and not of said that. The bearded man lost his self controlled look and scowled fiercely, his eyes shooting dagger at me. I was screwed, mental note to self: do not anger people who have you tied up.

The man yelled something I couldn't understand. Okay, not a good sign if I didn't understand! He snapped his fingers and the metal clamp fell away from my ankles.

A hidden door opened up in the wall and another warrior entered. He walked over to me and hauled me on to my feet. Making me walk, the bearded man went first and took me through more twisting passageways of stone.

After walking for a very long time, we came to a long staircase descending downwards into a black hole. I stumbled down them the best I could. My legs ached.

Once down, my legs were about to give out, but I was distracted from the aching by what was before me.

It was a huge underwater lake, with the odd column of rock spanning from the ceiling to the ground under the water dotted about. There was a small patch of rocky land just below the entrance, it went halfway across the cavern and was about five feet wide.

They pushed me halfway down the land and forced me on to a large rock directly beside the water. The bearded man dropped a long length of rope next to me and it magically wrapped itself around my ankles. I gave a frustrated sigh, like I could possibly find my way out of here. The bearded man smirked at my discomfort and I glared at him.

They turned back around and headed to the gaping doorway. Only then did I realize the only source of light was a single torch next to the doorway. Pausing before he left, the bearded man said, "Just a warning, this water is often used for visions and scrying, it has strange properties. I wouldn't look too closely if I were you." Then, with a sweep of his robes he was gone, and I was alone.

After a few minutes, I felt tears form in the corners of my eyes. I was prisoner in an underground hole. My friends were somewhere, probably clueless as to where I was located. I was completely alone, and this place would no doubt be the end of me. I wished desperately to at least not be alone, for some friendly face to appear. But that couldn't happen, I was mile below ground.

I don't know how it happened, but I found myself staring sadly at into the lake. Suddenly the water in front of me began to shimmer. Slowly an image appeared in it.

First thing I saw was firelight, flickering dimly and showing a wooden structure. Blobby shapes of three people began to form. A minute later, they came in to focus. I nearly gasped out loud at who they were. It was my friends. Percy and Annabeth were asleep next to each other. Hunter was sitting up, staring into the dying fire. He looked horrible, like he hadn't slept in day. Seeing this, I felt fresh tears well up in my eyes.

I don't remember making a sound, but I must have because Hunter suddenly sat up straight and his head snapped in my direction.

He looked like he was about to go for his dagger, when his eyes met mine. He stared for a minute then crept over. He was breathing quickly, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I didn't even know if he was actually seeing me. I had to be imagining this.

"I'm hallucinating, this isn't real," I muttered under my breath; squeezing my eyes shut and shaking my head. All that resulted in was my head pounding. Cautiously I opened my eyes, the image was still there.

"You . . . you're . . . oh gods," Hunter whispered. He reached out a hand, but it disappeared since what he was seeing wasn't real. I choked up, biting my lip to keep myself from bursting into tears. I would not cry, never. Not in front of others. Hunter took a shaky breath then, "Cora? Is – is that really you?" he sounded like he didn't want to admit it; I sure couldn't believe this.

I nodded the best I could, "It's me." I could barely manage those words. He looked utterly shocked for a minute, then blinked and backed up.

"I'll get Percy or Annabeth," he said, beginning to turn around. I let out a strangled sound, who knew how long I would have?

"Hunter, no," I told him. He looked back at me in surprise. "I – I don't know how long I have, and I don't even know how this happened. Please." Nodding he settled himself in front of the image.

"You're – you're not hurt are you?" he asked. "Do you know where you might be?" Gods, he sounded worried.

"I'm fine," I assured him. "Tied up, but fine. And I think I might be near the Superstition Mountain's. But I don't know if the man who told me that was lying or not because he told me things that I know are a lie and – and -" my voice broke off. A tear slid down my face and splashed into the water. It rippled, causing the image to do so also. Hunter squinted confused.

"What was that?" he questioned.

"Just that water rippling, sorry," I said. He raised his eyebrows.

"Water? Why don't you just water-port away then? Wait, you're crying!" At that I looked down stubbornly.

"No!" I exclaimed, wincing at how loud I was. Anyone could be listening. "And I would, but my ankles are bound and I can't really move."

"Okay." He looked away like he was about to cry then took a deep breath and watched me. "So tell me what you can then, before this cuts off or something," he said. I nodded.

I told him everything the best I could. He listened intently, paying attention the whole time. It was surprising because he has ADHD. When I finished, my throat was parched. But Hunter now knew everything, meaning I had a hope for escape.

"That's really all I know," I finished. Hunter nodded looking sorry.

"I'll find a way to explain everything to Percy and Annabeth; despite the language barrior. We'll come and get you out somehow. Just hang on till we can get there," he promised.

"Not much else to do," I said sarcastically. He gave a small smile, and I found it hard to not return it. Suddenly, the image started to fade. It slowly grew dimmer with each passing second.

"Cora?" Hunter's voice was sounding faint. "You're growing fainter, what - ?"

"It's shutting off, the connection. I'm sorry, but remember to . . ." I trailed off as it disappeared altogether.

I blinked and lifted my head, my neck was stiff. The dark water shimmered like oil, creating an eerie look. Without really thinking, I started to struggle against the ropes binding my arms and wrists. I twisted and tried to get them off. But all that did was make the ropes bite deep into my flesh.

Eventually I stopped. Biting my lips as I felt blood rise in my wrists. Fresh tears sprang to my eyes. This time I let them fall. I sat there sobbing, in the dark. And I felt lonelier then ever in my short miserable life.

A/N: Enchanted water. Totally a good thing! Not. So yeah. The fact there was a message had nothing to do with Cora (okay, maybe it did a little, being the daughter of Poseidon) but the fact the water is enchanted or whatever. Anyways. What did you think? Let me know your thoughts through either review or fav or alerts or PM . . . any method – I just want to know if you liked it! See y'all in a week.