Clara began to see a pattern. They would go, get captured, nearly die, escape, repeat. While this adventure certainly was bizzare she didnt like that it was currently a predictable cycle. Usually that would be good, you would want to be able to accurately guess what will happen to you on a dangerous adventure. But they have a mission, and right now all it feels like is that they are all still hung up on square one. Percy and Annabeth held their stance with weapons drawn, ready for anything these creature would throw at them. Though with those fangs and talons Clara doubted it would be an easy fight to win, espacially with all the other tricks an powers these creatures seem to posses. She then wondered if any of these two vampires could also breath fire, like the chimera.

Meanwhile the Doctor was still be hung upside down by his legs by a cyclops. He wasnt resisting, but merely announced to us that he found out the answere to our question. There were, in fact, monsters here. Everyone else rolled their eyes and continued to focus on the empousai.

"Anyone care to evaluate our chances of survival," asked Clara.

"Close to the equivalent to winning the lottery," responded Annabeth.

"Thats a reassuring thought, playing the lottery for your life."

"Relax, we're not dead yet," Percy tried to reassure her.

"No talking either!," hissed one of the empousai. Everyone immediately stopped talking. "Drop your weapons as well. we dont want anyone to try to be a hero, cause then you would have to die," said the other.

Percy and Annabeth droped their sword to the ground. The empousai examined us, then the weapons.

"Where is the convenient sound actuation device? Our master warned us of it, give it now!"

At first they were confused, until Clara realized what they meant.

"Oh, you mean the sonic screwdriver?"

"Yes, yes, bring it."

They exchanged nervous glances. They knew the sonic screwdriver was their best and last chance at escaping. Clara looked back at the Doctor. He seemed to be talking to the cyclops as if trying to reason with it or buy time. He was in the background, the empousai seemed to have overlooked him as if all they thought of him was a feebled old useless fool. That he couldnt possibly be a threat to them. Make no mistake, he is.

"Well?," one said, baring her fangs and reaching out to Percy with her talons. Clara suddenly had an idea. These creatures have no idea who or what they are messing with, so how would they know what a sonic screwdriver looks like?

"Its here," Clara announced. She took out a pen she kept from work, and held it out to them. At first she didnt think they would buy it. She soon grew nervous. Then with immense speed they swiped it from her hand. All she could see was a blur that came across her hand. Clara then understood how outmatched they were. They examined it with curiosity.

"This is the weapon that could kill us, trap us? Its puny and weak! It looks nothing like a great weapon!"

In the background Clara could see the Doctor giving distasteful expressions. He didnt appreciate that everyone kept mistaking his pacifistic tool as a terrible weapon. Nevertheless, he kept his mouth shut. They studied it for another minute before concluding it must be what they were looking for. They kept the pen while leaving everyone elses weapons behind on the ground.

"Good thing these creatures are stupid," Clara thought. She hoped that all other monsters she would face would also be this gullable.

"Come along then, and behave. No talking!" The empousai then gestured for the cyclops to follow them, after she instructed him to turn the Doctor around since he was obviously getting light headed. He was now dangling from his arms. It didnt look much more comfortable, but at least he would'nt eventually pass out. Then the empousai helped the other grab and lift the tardis above her head for transport. Apparently they needed it as well. The Doctor explained to her before that the tradis adjusts its own weight to be able to land on the earth without causeing earthquakes, but even when its been lightned she has never seen anything other that a helicopter or heavy duty moving equipment move the tardis. That meant these things werent only extremely fast, but immensely strong.

We marched down beside a large river. The empousai holding the tardis led the march, while the other stood behind them, watching and keeping pace. The cyclops with the Doctor hung back, as the last in line, but stayed close.

"So, hows it going?," Clara tried to stike a conversation with the empousai. When the empousai didnt respond, she kept quiet. She knew she was pushing her luck, but their wasnt much choice. She was hoping that they would say something that would spark an idea, or give them a clue on how to deafeat them. Though if anyone knew how to kill them, it would be Percy and Annabeth. Even they seem really scared. They were complying without hesitation. Surley this situation wasnt that hopless. She concluded that she would have to bide her time.

She then noticed the river, and how fast the current is. She wondered how good they are with swimming. While they were nearest to the river Clara used this oppertunity to try to talk to them while using the background noise as cover.

"Psst, water boy," she whispered. "Use the river to wash them away."

"I cant."

"How come? You have have a chance to free us, and prove me wrong."

"I have to concentrate. I cant do that while we're under guard, they'll notice me and we'll be dead."

She quietly sighed to herself. She went over to Annabeth. "Psst, non-shadow architect, any plans?"

She responded with a hard stare as to say 'Shut up, your going to get us killed". She quietly sighed to herself again.

They continued their march for hours in the day by the river. It was cloudy so it wasnt sunny or terribly hot, which everyone appreciated. Clara thought about asking another question, but decided against it. It was so painful to her. She usually is great at talking her way out of stuff, you might even think the Doctor trained her in the art of argueing. But she was is a position where she couldnt say a single word, or risk being teared to shreds.

They finally allowed them to rest a sundown. The empousai dropped the tardis (not very carefully) on the ground and sat. Everyone else was also allowed to sit down, and the Doctor was placed on the ground. The cyclops then walked to the river for a drink. Clara jebbed at Percys leg, getting his attention. She then gestured to the river and made a 'smash them' gesture with one fist punching into the palm of her other hand. Percy shook his head. Clara turned to the Doctor and stared at him, waiting for some sort of response. He just shrigged his shoulders and tapped his wrist with his finger gesturing for 'time,' as in we need more time.

Utterly defeated, Clara decided to enjoy the time given to rest and laid down in the grass. Though it was a little itchy, the cool soothing grass felt good after spending all day on a hike. She also felt thirsty, but they didnt have any water; and she did not want to take her chances on river water. If they let her go to the river in the first place. She felt relaxed enough, she couldve gone to sleep, if it werent for all the dang mosquitos. She made a mental note 'Next time when we go on an adventure bring a bag of outdoor equipment, including mosquito repellent, and maybe a tent, and possibly a pillow. Blankets couldnt hurt either.'

Everything was going as fine as the situation would let it be. The clouds covered the stars which was dissapointing. She was finally about to drift to sleep before she heard the strained hissing of an empousai.

"Where is the grey haired creature!"

Clara shot up and looked around. She couldnt see the Doctor anywhere. The empousai were already on their feet and rushed to where he was sitting. She heard a murmur of words from them.

"Where did he go-you were watching him last-how could you let this happen-you are an imbecile-me? your clearly the imbecile"

Just then the Doctor shouted out from a distance.

"Hey there! Lovely night tonight!" All Percy, Annabeth, and Clara could do was watch. The empousai hissed more and rushed to him. They cleared half the distance to him in seconds. Before they reached him he activated a device on his wrist and he turned invisible. Then it hit Clara. He wasnt gesturing for more time, he was trying to let me know he had his watch. Percy and Annebeth had dumbfounded expressions of their faces. They didnt know to be excited or terrified. The Doctor showed himself again farther away. Was he leading them away to some trap? Their wasnt any buildings or debris here to entrap them. Just a large field and some woods. He then dissapeared from sight, Clara could only hope he would be fine.

"He must be buying us time!," shouted Annabeth. "Quick, slaughter the cyclops." The cyclops started charging at them. He was in the woods doing who knows what and came when he heard the trouble.

"How are we supposed to do that. We have no weapons, tools, or tech. Heck, I'm not even a fighter!," said Clara

"Ok then, heres the plan," said Annabeth. "Clara, stay out of the way and get to safety. I'll distract it and get it close to the river. Percy, you drown it." He nodded. Clara wasnt too fond of it. She didnt like not being useful or unhelpful, but seeing as this was clearly way outside her department, she let it pass. The giant cyclops' steps rumbled in the ground harder as he got closer. He almost caught up to them. His massive size could easily intimidate some of the biggest strongest men. Clara decided to take thier advice and get to cover. They seem to know what they are doing after all. She ran away from the river and to the woods line so she could still see the fight.

The cyclops stayed focused on Percy and Annabeth. Annabeth got the attention of the cyclops by throwing rocks at it. Needless to say it got mad and charged at her, towards the river. She kept mocking and insulting it while throwing more rocks. One landed straight into his eye. He howled in pain and stubbed his toe in on a rock poking out of the ground. During the time the cyclops took rubbing and clearing his eye out Percy did his part. He closed his eyes for a moment and held his hand out. The rivers tide increased where the cyclops was standing on shore. Clara watched skeptically from her safe spot. Percy held out his hand a little longer before jerking it back. This caused a wave of water to jet out, snatch the cyclops, and wash him into the river. This shocked Clara. The cyclops was still thrashing underwater, deserately trying to surface for air. Percy kept his hold on him. Moments later it dissolved to dust. Percy relaxed and dropped to his knees, panting.

Once she was sure the problem was taken care of she walked over to them.

"So...guess I owe you an apology."

He was still panting but still managed to get one sentance out. "Dang right you do."

Annabeth came over and helped him up. "Wheres the Doctor?" she asked.

"No idea," responded Clara. "But I know him, he'll be fine, he's got this."

"You seem way too confident. Isnt the reason you travel with him is to help him. So how do you think he's going to do without his partner?"

"I...um, we should probably run, just in case."

Just then they heard something tunble down into the river with a loud crash. They turned and saw an empousai where the tardis was.

"Congradulations," it hissed. "You managed to save your own skin, it wont last for long. This is only a small set back, we will be back and next time you'll beg us to kill you."

It gave a smug smile before limping off. She seemed to be in great pain and barely able to stand. She somehow sucked it up enough to run away, not as fast as she did before but still fast enough to read as a blur.

...

He ran as fast as he could through the woods. Though he was invisible they were always hot on his track. They seemed to have canine senses of smell and hearing, capable of detecting their prey from afar. He tried all he could, which only meant he could zig-zag through the woods. He knew with their speed it wouldnt be long before they center in on him. He was panting heavily, he was used to running but not so much. He hated being an old man. For a brief moment he remembered what it felt like to be young and spry, like his previous body. He stood still in the woods for a moment, catching as much breath as he could. He was starting to regret putting himself in this situation, though he was still confident he would find the way to beat them. He did the same for numerous other enemies. His time-lord brain was kicked into overdrive. He began to ask himself questions. "How do I beat them-what do I do-how can i outsmart them-what advantages do I have verses them."

He looked down at his watch, suddenly an idea materialized. The empousai were nearly there, he could hear their hissing and the air being whipped by there extreme speed. He would have to hurry. With new energy he ran frantically across the woods looking for a straight sharpened object, a spear or sharpened stick would do fine. During his running he came across something hard in the leaves. He dug it out to find that its a long piece of rebar. One end was short and jagged, clearly it had been cut before and just left here.

'Humans are such litter bugs.' he thought. Soon after he noticed an old bear trap near where he found the rebar. He covered it with more old leaves, took note of it and continued his plan with the rebar. There was a dead tree nearby. He then jabbed and pushed the rebar into the tree trunk. It was just stable enough to stay standing. Now all that was left was to reprogram and make adjustments to his watch with the sonic screwdriver. The problem was it would be like sending a beacon to the empousai, leading them directly to him, so he had only one shot at this.

He got out his screwdriver, activated it, and quickly made the modifications. He could hear their hissing from not too far. They would be here soon. Once he was finished he hid behind the tree from the way they were coming and turned on the watch. However, instead and making himself invisible it turned the tree in front of him invisible. The rebar poked out from the other side of the tree, witing for the empousai to make their appearence. Seconds later they showed up in a blur. Instead of charging him immeditely they looked at him with bloodthirsty eyes.

"You were more trouble than you were worth anyway, we should have devoured you from the beggining." He just stood there, unfazed.

After it spoke, she charged at him. Talons out and ready to slash, fangs beared. She joyfully hissed as she jumped at her meal. Before she could reach him she came to an abrupt stop. She let out a wail of pain before dissolving. The second one stood there, shocked. She was trying to procces what just happened. The Doctor still seemed unfazed. He showed her the watch and deactivated it, revealing the dead tree and the rebar she impaled herself on. She hissed and growled in anger.

"It didnt have to be this way," he said. She didnt care about what he had to say, she charged him. He activated the sonic screwdriver. This caused her to drop to her knees. If he had known they had sensitive ears he would have used this trick a while ago. He calmly walked past her and alighned her to the bear trap. Once he deactivated it she jumped to her feet and rushed to him only to be caught half way in the bear trap. She also let out a wail of pain. She started to carfully open the trap to set herself free. The Doctor quickly threw a rock at her causing her to slam the bear trap back on her leg. She wailed again. The Doctor walked up to her.

"Like I said, it didnt have to be this way. You dont have to kill us, you dont have to be in pain."

"Y-you dont understand anything old fool, we are always in pain."

"Its not too late, you can join me. I can take you in my tardis, we can explore the universe together. You dont have to be like this, non of you do."

"your wrong. We have to if we want to survive, to end our suffering. And when we do I'll take great joy in starting yours."

She then hit the Doctor by the palm of her hand, sending him flying across the floor. He got the air knocked out of him with maybe a broken rib or two. He laid on the ground, gasping for air while trying to cause the least amount of pain possible. He made sure to have the sonic scredriver in hand so she couldnt hurt him. She freed herself from the bear trap and limped off. Even with a broken ankle she was fast. He laid there for several minutes trying to recover. Once his breathing was stable again he got up and walked to everyone else.

AFter walking for several minutes he came close enough to see everyone in the distance and waved to them. He was tired, hurt, and didnt feel like walking the rest of the way. He signaled them to come to him. Soon they arrived and asked him what happened and if he was ok.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Just got the air kocked out of me. Think I have a broken rib as well. Anyway, long story short I lured them into improvised traps. One is dead. The other got away."

"Yeah, we know one got away," said Percy.

"Did you see her leave?"

"No actually, she kinda threw the tardis into river, it got washed away and now we cant find it," said Clara

The Doctor gave a unamused expression. "You lost the tardis."

"It wasnt lost, it was chucked down a river. Honestly Doctor, you cant expect me to fore see everything."

"Paul."

"Um, its Percy."

"Yes, yes, right. Do you mind fetching the tardis, its only extremely important and all our lives are riding on it."

"I tried. The river is deep and it has a fast current, it got washed away pretty fast, I cant find it anywhere. And I'm too exhausted to search anymore."

"Just feed him more ambrosia," said Clara.

"It doesnt work that way. He can only have so much until he spontaneously cumbusts," said Annabeth.

"Wow, rough. Doctor, cant you summon the tardis. I thought for sure you've done it before."

"I cant."

"why?"

"I forgot my keys."

"But, then how will we continue our mission?"

"Dont worry, I still have the locater, we'll just have to adventure on foot for a while. As for the tardis I'm not worried about it. They went through all that trouble to carry it along so they must want it for something which means they'll find my tardis for me. In the meantime I really want some food, I'm starving. Lets go quest for a Mc'donalds."