Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Escape

When I woke up, I was propped up against a cold, stone wall, a wooden spoon in my mouth.

The room spun around me. A groan escaped me.

Movement. Silena hurried over a pulled the spoon out of my mouth. "Oh, Annabeth! Are you okay?"

I closed my eyes and nodded. "I think so. What happened?"

Concern filled her eyes and she said, "When you tackled Neraudris, you must've touched the pearls." She shook her head. "Neraudris said they can be fatal to mortals. You're lucky you aren't dead."

Remembering my visions, I shivered. "Are the pearls safe?"

Silena nodded. "Yeah. I found an oven mitt in one of the drawers and put them in that. Annabeth, really, are you okay? You were having some sort of fit."

"Is that what the spoon was for?" I asked, sitting. My stomach lurched and I held my head.

"Yes." She stood and walked over to the center of the room. I looked up and saw a squirming form in a chair, one of the ones we had abandoned. Nick was slumped against the opposite wall, unconscious.

Shakily, I stood and joined Silena next to Neraudris. She glared up at me. A gag was wrapped around her mouth, her hands and feet tied. I raised an eyebrow at Silena. "Did you do this?" I asked, impressed.

She beamed. "I used some seaweed from on those windows. It's really strong."

I nodded. Neraudris stopped thrashing as I pulled the gag out. She spat out the last of the seaweed and glared. "You tricky liars! I shouldn't have ever let you into my house! Just like the last ones! Tricky, tricky demigods…"

"The other ones," I repeated. "Alex and Rosalie. What did you do, Neraudris? What did you do to Alex?"

She cackled. "I didn't do anything to the boy. Men." She spat. "They take, take, take. All they do is take. That one tried to take my pearls. My pearls! My gift! But he got his, yes, he did."

"What did you do to him?"

"I made him eat it!"

Silena spun Neraudras around to face her. "What did you do to Alex, you crazy-"

"Silena," I warned. I kneeled in front of Neraurdris and looked into her wild green eyes. "Listen to me. You need to tell me what you had Alex eat."

Her eyes locked on a cupboard above Silena's head. I got up and opened it. Sitting alone on the shelf was a thriving, squirming squid, one of the tentacles missing. It stank of clams and sulfur.

I shivered. "Silena, come look at this."

Silena joined me. "Ew, what is that?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it made Alex very sick." I left Silena with the squid and searched for something to keep it in. Finally, I found a purple purse in the bottom of one of drawers. Pulling off my sweatshirt, I picked the squid up inside it and dropped both of them into the purse. I zipped it up and slung it over my shoulder. "Chiron will be able to make a cure out of this." I turned back to Neraudris. She watched me with her teeth bared.

There was a loud crash from the next room. Silena and I frowned at each other, and I ran to investigate. Silena stayed behind to watch Neraurdris. Gagged and bound in the next room over was a dirty, bedraggled girl I recognized.

"Roaslie?" I gasped. Her bright eyes met mine, and she started trying to speak through her gag. I quickly cut it and let it fall.

"What are you doing here?" she croaked, staring at me wide-eyed. "Is Alex okay?"

"Alex is fine, he's at camp. Chiron sent us to get the cure and find you," I said, working on her bindings. "How long have you been here?"

She coughed. "Two weeks. Your sure Alex is okay?"

"Yes, fine. Come on." I help her to her feet and lead her into the next room. Silena had woken up Nick who was sheepishly avoiding looking at Silena. Silena just looked annoyed.

Before we left, I turned back to Neraudris. She sat defeated in her chair, her brown hair hiding her face. Something broke inside me at the sight of her.

"Do you really love Perseus that much?" I asked softly.

Her face fell, then twisted. "He left me. He was so kind to me, so very kind. I've never met anyone as kind as him. He said he would love me forever. Then he left." Neraudris' eyes lit up. "But one day, he'll come back. I make sure the house is in perfect condition for him. I even asked my father to keep the water out of here so Perseus will be able to live with me." She looked me full in the face, and for a second I could see who she was before the insanity set it. "Do you think he'll come back?"

Looking at her, my heart broke. I felt her sorrow as clearly as if it were mine. This is what love can do to you. "I think the way you're going about this is wrong. I don't think the one you are serving will help you. I think you should return to your father and sisters. They'll understand," I told her.

For a moment, her eyes cleared and she smiled. "Thank you."

Nick, Silena, Rosalie and I left the house. As soon as we did, the water hit us like a wall. I sucked it in greedily, trying to get used to the tingling in my lungs.

Rosalie, however, was having problems. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks were puffed out with air. Silently, I curse myself for not thinking ahead. Swiftly, Silena swam to the sandy ocean floor and deftly snatched up a hermit crab. She yanked the juicy body out of its shell and pushed it into Rosalie's mouth.

After a moment, Rosalie relaxed and took a breath. She nodded her head to Rosalie in thanks.

We continued swimming the way we had come. As we swam, Silena frowned and looked at me. She held the oven mitt with the pearls tightly in her hand. "Do you think Kronos will realize we took the pearls?"

I grit my teeth. "Let's hope not."

Only one chapter left after this one. Stay tuned!