I do not own Percy Jackson nor Heroes of Olympus, they belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter Thirteen - Carlos

He got dressed, packed his bag and then headed back into the bathroom, finding Alyx putting on eyeliner. He stared while she did her right eye.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Uh… Are you putting on makeup…?" She capped the tube and nodded.

"Yeah." She said. He decided not to ask any more questions, because really, how can you argue with a simple statement like that?

"You got us lost."

"I did not."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Guys, come on…" Carlos crossed his arms, looking at the barely budding trees and shivering at the nipping of the cold wind. After getting off the train and deciding not to take a cab to the hotel until tomorrow morning, Alyx decided to go a different route and ended them up in a forest.

"We're going to get kidnapped." Liam said nervously. "I heard stories that people lurk and then kidnap kids and kill them." Alyx looked back at him, raising her eyebrow.

"Are you serious? We can defend ourselves, Liam." She patted Carlos's shoulder. "Besides, if anything, they better watch out."

"True." Carlos admitted. Liam made a sound like a whimper but nodded and fidgeted.

"Also," She raised her hand and tapped her earring, her mask appearing over her face. "Put on your masks and hoods." They nodded and put them on. They continued on until he heard rustling in bushes. He inched closer to Liam, grabbing his jacket on instinct. Apparently he heard it too, because he slipped his hand into his pocket. Alyx stiffened, folding up her map and slightly reaching toward her throwing knives. He heard a whistle and something hitting his arm, making him fall against Liam dizzily.

The next thing he knew he was on the ground, Alyx and Liam collapsing next to him. His eyes shut and everything went black.

When he woke up, he heard female voices and the crunching of dirt. He kept his eyes shut so they didn't decide to interrogate him. He felt a finger touch his sleeve and realized he was tied up and on his knees, his head bowed.

"What should we do with them? The males could be useful, but the woman?" What?

"Hmm…" He heard boots on the sand and a presence in front of him, someone gently touching his eyelid. He tried not to twitch.

"This one could be used nicely. The other one is in well condition, so he could be of service in the heavy lifting."

What in the world were they talking about? The woman in front of him had pleasant voice, yet commanding and strong. She was most likely in her mid-thirties.

"But the woman did put up a good fight before she passed out… Perhaps she could oblige to our agreement and become one of us."

"But shouldn't we contact your sister first?" Another voice asked.

"Yes, go and call her. Tell her we found three demigods that may be valuable to their search." His heart skipped a beat. He remembered his dream of the people in that control room, talking about a quest.

"On it, Your Highness." Who the hell were these people?

"But first…" He felt a finger run over his eyelid and held back a whimper. "I wonder how to take this mask off… I want to see their faces." She slid her fingers dangerously close to his ear, then back to the bridge of his nose.

"Beautiful facial structure." She thought out loud. "Willow, look how beautiful this male is."

"He'd definitely make a good child bearer." He felt Alyx twitch next to him. The woman's other hand slid down his thigh.

"Hmm… As soon as my sister comes and interrogates them, I hope she will let us keep them." The woman stood, and walked away, but he heard a small snap of rope. Apparently the people didn't hear it, so they didn't bother looking.

"Now, let's see this girl." He heard crunching and felt Alyx twitch.

Then she lashed out. He opened his eyes just as Alyx slammed her fist into the woman's face, grabbing another woman's spear that jabbed at her and slamming the butt into her stomach. She threw the spear away and dodged other punches. She grabbed a woman's wrist and punched her and the woman crumbled to the ground. Another woman (he just realized they were all women) went to slam her arm on Alyx's neck, but Alyx turned around and used her arms to block the blow, then swept her leg through the woman's, making her drop and hit her head a bit, knocking her out. Not once she pulled out her sword or dagger, and she didn't reach for her knives. The woman who had gone to call someone appeared and reached for her sword, but Alyx was faster. She ran at a high speed and dodged the woman's punch then slammed her fist into her cheek, sending her back. Then she ran back over and cut their bonds.

"That was awesome." Liam said in awe. She laughed, and they grabbed their packs and ran down the trail.

He rubbed his wrists, watching Alyx pull her hoodie and gloves off. Surprisingly, they hadn't thought of taking off Alyx's hood to see her hair. Liam rubbed some lotion on his wrists, and then handed the bottle to Carlos.

"Man, those women were scary." He said.

"They touched me inappropriately." Carlos huffed, rubbing it on. It instantly soothed the sores. "I'm so done with that."

"Right?" Alyx said, sitting on the couch, wringing her hands together. She shut her eyes and pressed her forehead against her hands.

"You okay?" He asked, sitting next to her.

"If I knew who I was, I could've probably recognized her…" She sniffed.

"It's not your fault someone took your memory away, Alyx." Liam said, sitting on the coffee table and tilting his head. "Whoever took your memory will pay dearly by my hands."

"Yeah!" Carlos agreed, rubbing her back. "Besides, you made new friends, we're on an adventure and we're going to get your memory back. It's going to be okay." She smiled softly, but her eyes were dark like rain clouds. The green had turned into a mint.

"We'll get your memory back. We'll make sure of it." Liam reached and took her hands, squeezing gently. She squeezed back, the trident on her hand rippling with the motion. She sniffed again, and to their surprise, her eyes filled with tears. She started to cry, messing up her eyeliner, but she probably didn't care. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his tissues, gently pressing it against her nose, her sniffles muffling. She held his wrist but didn't shove him away, rather continued to cry and let out her emotions.

They ordered room service and then sat on Alyx's claimed bed. Alyx laid her head on his lap while she nibbled on a sandwich, sniffing occasionally. He whispered soft reassuring things in her ear while she cried, and she stopped in under two minutes, which made Liam look at him curiously.

Alyx got up after eating like five sandwiches and went into the bathroom, shutting the door.

"So…" Liam said, wiping his fingers on a napkin. "Where'd you get charmspeak from?" He raised his eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

"You have charmspeak."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do. How did you calm Alyx so quickly?"

"Because I was relaxing to her…?" He set his bag of chips down. "Why do you think I have charmspeak?"

"I've heard it before." He sighed.

"Look, I may be grandson of Aphrodite, but I don't have charmspeak." He laid back.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

And they left it at that.

To Be Continued...