I recommend listening to the song 'We Move Lightly' by Dustin O'Halloran. If you look up the song on Youtube, and then in the address type 'repeat' before the Youtube address, it will take you to a different site where the song plays on repeat.

I have a link on my profile if you're having trouble.

Do you have the song playing? Okay, you can read now.

Percy

Mold. It was the first thing I smelled before I came to. Groaning, I ran a hand through my hair and jerked in pain when my fingers hit a massive goose egg on my head. I sat up, blinking in the low light.

"Where am I?" I moaned.

Turning my head gingerly because of an aching neck, I saw that I was in a cell. A small one. A disgusting slime coated the walls, and a torch was blazing outside the bars of the cell.

I strained my thoughts about what had happened to me, and how the heck I got here.

It all came back to me in a flood. The ship, Annabeth, being attacked from behind.

Anger surged through me and my hand jerked to my pocket, searching for Riptide so I could hack my way out of here and then kill the person who put me in this stupid cell.

There was nothing there.

I was confused for a minute, but then realized that meant I was still behind the Pomerian Line. At least I knew where I was. Generally.

I leaned against the pile of straw in the corner, thinking hard. Who would have done this? Why? Octavian was the first person to pop in my head. He seemed like the most obvious person to have done this. He hated my guts, hated the Greeks. He had a good reason - for him - to freaking kidnap me and put me in a stupid cell. But then, that could be a reason why he didn't. Because he was too obvious. He wouldn't want to put himself that much into the open, would he?

Shaking my head, I tried to think of someone else who could have done it. I felt slightly ashamed thinking about this, but it could have been Reyna. She was hesitant to let my friends in. Maybe she changed her mind, went crazy, and decided to knock me out. She said she trusted me, but she could have been lying.

That spurred on another thought, which filled me with dread. What happened to everyone else? What happened to Annabeth? Where were they? Were they safe?

I shot to my feet, feeling mad again. I let out a yell and kicked at the wall, which made me yell even louder. My life was unfair. So freaking unfair. I was taken from my home, from people that I loved and dumped in a stupid burned up house with absolutely no memory. I had to make my way down to the Bay Area being chased by stupid monsters that wouldn't die. I was tired of it all. Tired that I couldn't just stop and rest. Why couldn't I just be at peace for a few months? Was that too much to ask?

I put my arm on the grimy wall and leaned my head against it, breathing hard. I needed to find a way to get out of here, fast. I needed to find Annabeth and make sure that she was okay.

I just stood there for a minute, trying to calm myself down. I knew I couldn't think straight if I was mad. I started to concentrate on the crackling of the torch, and I soon managed to breathe steadily. I started to pace the length of the cell. It was only about seven steps across. How to get out of here...

I gripped the cell bars and shook them. Although they looked rusted, they held firm. The hinges looked weak, but I had nothing to use to loose them. I could barely fit my arm through the spaces between, but it wouldn't do me any good if I didn't have a key, and there was no guard stationed outside the door. I had no idea if there were any guards at all.

Scrapping that idea, and coming up with nothing, I sat back down on the straw.

Come on, Seaweed Brain, think! What would Annabeth do?

I could almost hear her voice in my head. A child of Athena always has a plan.

But I'm not a child of Athena! Your mom freaking hates me.

I mentally slapped myself in the head. I wasn't going to get anywhere if I kept arguing with myself, especially if I was pretending to be Annabeth.

I started to count my breaths. Slowly. In out. In out.

I began to time them with a steady dripping of water. One drip, breathe in. Next drip, breathe out.

A small puddle was forming in the corner of the cell, and the water continued to drip into it from an unknown source.

Water.

Water!

Why didn't I notice it before?

Jumping to my feet, I walked over to the corner, seeing how deep the puddle was. It was about six or seven inches deep. Peering up to the ceiling, I saw the water dripping, but still didn't know where it was coming from.

Feeling a tugging in my gut, I willed the water to come out just a bit faster. It now came out in a steady stream. Testing it a bit more, I had it come out stronger. Soon it was shooting out with the force of a fire hose.

I realized where I was - underneath the lake.

I stopped the stream all together, and I felt the pressure start building. When it was too much to bear, I let it shoot out in such a force I was almost knocked off my feet. The water shot towards the door, and infiltrated the rusty hinges. The door blasted off the doorframe into the opposite wall.

Doing a mental fist pump, I jogged lightly out of my cell, peeking around corners and checking behind me to make sure I wasn't being followed.

I turned the last corner and saw the door leading out. It was completely unguarded. Whoever put me here was an idiot.

I almost made it to the door before a rough hand grabbed my shoulder and pinned me to the wall. A sword blade was placed against my neck and barely bit into it. A trickle of blood ran down my neck and splashed on the stone ground.

Octavian.

I cursed in Greek.

"Well, well," he said, smirking. "Look what we have here."

"Octavian," I growled. "How do you have a sword? You're past the Pomerian Line."

"I have my assets," he said, allowing the blade to dig in a bit deeper into my throat.

"What are you doing? Reyna will have your head. Or, at least, I'll give it to her when I'm finished with you."

He laughed. "How can you do something like that if you don't have a sword?"

Confidence flashed in his eyes. I took advantage.

Kicking my leg up, I smacked him in the soft spot. Squealing in pain, he dropped the sword, and I nimbly caught it by the handle, pointing it then underneath his chin.

He thrust his hands up in the air, looking terrified. I started to circle around him, and his eyes flickered from the blade to my face.

"Why don't you ever learn your lesson?" I asked tauntingly.

He gulped.

"I could say the same to you." He gave his head a little jerk.

Arms suddenly thrust under mine and almost lifted me off the ground. The person holding me smelled really bad, too. They obviously had no idea what deodorant was.

The sword clattered to the ground and Octavian picked it up, dusting it off with his toga.

"Thank you," Octavian said to the person. "You know, Percy, it's a good thing I caught you. I've been meaning to have a little...chat."

"What do you want?"

He chuckled again. He thrust his hand inside his toga, pulled out a tiny vial filled with a milky substance and shook it under my nose. "Do you know what this is?"

"Your disgusting bath water?"

Anger flashed across his face, giving me a feeling of satisfaction until the person holding me squeezed harder, making me go slightly light-headed.

"I don't appreciate your cheek, Jackson. I'll tell you what it is. It's water from the River Lethe. You know what its properties are, don't you."

I didn't say anything, not sure where this conversation was going.

"A single drop of this water could easily wipe the memory of a giant. Now, I'm going to give you an offer. Do you want Miss Chase to live, or to die?"

I stared blankly at him, but my heart was pounding.

Octavian started to pace. "I'm sure you want to see her alive. You love her, don't you?" He clicked his tongue, starting to sound business-like. "How would you feel if the contents in this vial just slipped in her next meal?"

I thrashed around, trying to break free and kick Octavian in the face at the same time.

"What've you done with her?" I growled.

"Now, now, she's safe. I knew you wouldn't cooperate with her in horrible conditions. Here's the...ah, catch. I certainly don't want to do it. I don't want my hands to get dirty. That's why you must do it."

"Are you insane?" I screamed. Blood was starting to flow freely from my neck.

"You must tell her you don't love her. Let that be the last thing she remembers before wiping her memory. Break her heart, or I break you even more."

"And if I don't?"

"She'll watch you die. Or, would you want to watch her die?"

"No!" I was screaming. "I'll get out of here! You can't kill her! You..."

"I'm afraid, Percy, that you are out of options. You will not be escaping any time soon, I can assure you. Besides, what would you do if you did escape? You have no idea where Miss Chase is being held. If you escape, she'll die all the faster. Do this, or death is just around the corner."

A tear trickled out of my eye.

"Why are you doing this?" I whispered.

He smirked, and instead of answering, pressed the vial in my hand and walked away.

~littlebitclever