The Ocean Arrow

1 minute

Oliver

1 minute.

That's all it took for Adrian Chase to grab Percy. I rubbed my hand against my forehead. It was my fault. Of course it was. Felicity was worrying about Percy being gone, but I didn't think much about it. It was only until Felicity found the security footage of Big Belly Burger.

The line was long, but we watched as Percy made his way up the line. As the minutes went pass, the more the people left. Percy sat in his booth and began eating. But not even 15 minutes after he sat down, a man with a hat covering his face entered the store, making the bell chime as the door opened. He sat in Percy's booth and began talking to him. Even from video, you could tell he was stressed. Percy started to stand up but something made him sat back down. We couldn't see the man's face, but it was only when he made a slight turn of his head that you could see it was the familiar face of Adrian Chase.

They talked for a mere 3 minutes before the screens went black. We skipped ahead to where the video came back on, but it was one minute later. We have one minute of them undocumented. One minute where anything could've happened. One minute they were there, the next, they were gone. The people around them seemed unfazed, it was as if nothing even happened.

Why were things like this always my fault?

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Percy

I've never loved mud this much until now.

As soon as this Talia woman left me there, I immediately ran straight for the mud. There were some dry chunks but other than that, it was all wet, which means water.

I dug my hands in the mud, letting it soak in my skin. The texture felt gross, and I wasn't sure what kind of bacteria and bugs were in this mud. But people have to do things for the greater good, if you know what I mean.

I could feel the extra pulse of energy flow through my body. The water in the mud gave me the energy I needed.

I looked out the window slit, barely a few inches and saw how far up I was. I grinned, we were just a few meters off the ground. It was an easy jump, you'd think ninjas would have better prison cells.

I closed my eyes and thought. This wasn't the best idea, as it would be very, very loud, but it was the best I got without Annabeth. If she were here, she would've found a way to manipulate them into letting us go, or would've used the nature to our advantage while being brought to this building. But I wasn't a child of Athena (thank the gods).

I summoned the water from the mud, watching as the mud got dry in the process. The water grew into a ball, increasing in size within seconds. And as soon as the water was around the size of a those bouncy yoga balls, I aimed it at the back wall and used all the force in my body and shot. The hard pressure of the water and the strength of my force was successfully able to break down half of the old wall that was already on the brink of collapse. All it really needed was a good push. I did not think that would work.

I looked down at the ground from my cell and jumped down, escaping easily. I landed in the sharp grass with a fancy roll that people do in movies. I immediately jumped up and hid in the corner, as a group of ninjas ran near me, must have hearing the loud commotion I've caused.

I quietly slipped away, I really hadn't thought of any plan besides getting out the building.

I paused for a moment, my back against a big tree. What would Annabeth do if she were here? If you don't have anything on-hand, use your surroundings. You always have the advantage in a situation, don't forget that.

I heard another group of ninjas run by, coming to inspect the site. I recognized Talia standing in front of the group, talking to another ninja. To my surprise, Adrian was nowhere to be found.