Daughter of Neptune

Hotdogs with cheese + mustard

After a long afternoon of combining powers the four demigods sat down in the middle of the room, with a plate of sandwiches in between them. As Jason reached for a second sandwich Hannah spoke up.

"Where do you think they are?" she asked.

"I don't know." Jason said simply, his smile fading.

"Except, I know that we'll find them." Esme said, lifting Hannah's spirits a little. A cold breeze came through the open window, but no one made a move to close it.

They ate the other three sandwiches in silence. Esme was thinking about who could've kidnapped Brianna while Hannah was worrying about what they were doing to her half-sister.

"It's time to go." Jason said as he stood up.

"I agree, we've been here to long." Esme stood up as well.

"But... we learnt to combine our powers. Now Esme can shoot electric arrows at our enemies." Hannah said as she walked over to her bed to get her backpack.

"Don't forget me!" Ben mocked shock. "Don't forget I can now camouflage into my surroundings." Ben disappeared for a few seconds and then reappeared by his bed. "I can sneak past monsters!" he exclaimed.

"Awesome." Jason mumbled.

<>

The next day, the four demigods had followed Bruce to Minneapolis. They stopped at Loring Park, and each had a hot dog topped with mustard and cheese. They were walking around the lake of the park, enjoying the scenery.

"Yum!" Ben exclaimed as he bit into his hot dog.

"Where do you think we go now?" Hannah asked her mouth full of hot dog.

"No idea." Jason said pausing to think. Esme thought hard about the prophecy while she finished her hot dog. The sun was warm on her skin and the birds were singing across the park.

Something clicked and she gasped. Hannah was in front of her in a second asking what was wrong.

"Have we encountered any sirens on our quest?" she asked.

"Not that I have noticed." Jason answered.

"Don't you remember? 'Hear the sirens call.' We have to find the siren!" Esme declared.

"Of course." Jason sighed. "I think I saw a music store a block away from here."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ben jumped excitedly.

~~~~~

I wake on the slimy, stone floor of my cell. I move to sit up but as I move my ankle, pain shoots up my leg. I cry out in pain and slowly shuffle to a sitting position against the wall. I sit there for a few minutes, as to stop the pain.

I don't know how long I've been sitting there, as it is hard to tell how much time passes without a clock. I could've been here for a week or only a few days.

I sit there for who knows how long, when I feel a tear come from my eye. I let it roll down my cheek and before long I am crying myself a waterfall. I cry for myself, Leo and for my friends. I wonder how Ben is? With his multi-coloured hair and bright smile. How did my disappearance affect him?

I hear a groan sound to my left and look over into Leo's cell. I wipe my wet cheeks and hear another groan. The figure, which is a boy, gradually pushes himself up with his arms. I watch as he rolls onto his side with a small moan. He pushes his curly hair from his brown eyes and gasps.

"Brianna?" he asks and I recognize him as Leo. "You're still here. Have they hurt you?" he quickly questions as he slides to the bar in between our cells.

I slide forward myself and answer him as he is looking at me worriedly. "I'm fine, just a snapped ankle. We should be focusing on you, you look worse for wear." I joke remembering he is a son of Hephaestus.

His ribcage shakes slightly and I smile to myself in the darkness, knowing I made him laugh. Then he winces and covers his ribcage protectively with a hand.

"Let's keep the jokes to a minimum?" he suggests and I nod. We hold hands through the cell bars and we comfort each other. We Tell each other stories of our lives before Camp Half-Blood.

Leo tells me about his mother. She works as a mechanic and tells him stories of his dad. I smile at that; my mother doesn't talk about my father often. I tell Leo about how I was surfing when I was attacked by a sea serpent. We occasionally laughed at each other's stories.

I lost track of the time, not that I could measure it anyways. Soon enough Tom was back again. He wanted me to follow him, how with my broken ankle, I'm not sure.

"Get up." I transferred my weight to my left foot and tried to swiftly take a small step with my broken ankle. As my right foot touched the ground I shrieked and fell to the ground.

"I cant." I said while I lay on the ground.

"Do you want me to do it in front of him?" Tom asks pointing to Leo. I nod and tell Leo to look away. Leo obeys and shuffles on the floor so he is facing the wall. Tom opens my cell door and walks in, not bothering to shut the door. I can't just walk out.

He crouches next to me and then brings out a small dagger. He motions for me to hold out my hand and I do so. He also brings out a vial, as big as my index finger. He pulls the stopper from the vial and smiles wickedly at me.

He holds the vial under my hand and with a swift movement; he swipes my palm with the dagger. It stings, but the pain is bearable.

I watch my blood drip into the vial. When the vial is three-quarters full he slides the stopper into it. Tom smirks and stands up. He turns to leave, and takes a step. Then he changes his mind and quickly turns around and violently kicks my broken right ankle.

I inhale a sharp breath as the pain flares up again. I shriek and see Leo struggling not to look. I face Tom with tears flowing from my eyes and try to look somewhat dignified.

He laughs and exits the cell. I take shallow breaths waiting for the pain to leave; I don't make an attempt to move it because it'll hurt even more.

"Can I turn around now?" I hear Leo ask with a gentle, caring tone. I nod slowly and then release he can't see me. I mumble a yes and he turns to face me.

I watch as he assesses my tear-streaked face, swollen ankle and the blood dripping off my hand.

"You should put some ice on that."