Percy's head hurt. He didn't know what he'd eaten at that bakery but whatever it was, it made him feel sick. He could almost imagine the smell - full of thick smoke with a little dash of a sweet yet sickly scent. Come to think of it, the smell reminded him of when his mum would cook a fresh hunt for dinner or actually, instead of that, it made him think of the time he'd stuck his hand in the fire and gotten it severely burnt. Wait a minute - no, no this can't be happening. That couldn't of happened. Slowly things began to seep back into his mind; the orange flashes; black smoke; loud voices; rough hands. He remembered those same hands taking him far away from the outskirts of the Olympus pack and into unknown territory. At the time he had been slipping in and out of consciousness but some moments were still vivid in his mind. A blonde - definitely not werewolf - boy leering at him as he was half-dragged away to wherever he was now. Percy even remembered when that smell of alpha became so strong that it was hard to picture his life without this powerful scent clogging his nose. After that, he remembered nothing. "-but then again they must've given you something pretty strong if they wanted you to stay down without fighting back. You must be very important to them. Well, to him actually. Kronos."

"Whaaa?" Percy's own voice sounded hoarse and it felt so dry - too dry. He was still trying to figure out where he was and why; it was too early to try and deal with a strange voice in the already new surrounding. But they might have answers... In the end Percy's curiosity got the better of him when he decided to open his eyes and look around him. He'd never really seen one before but the room was exactly what he'd describe as a banquet hall. Nobody was sat at the huge oblong table however there were many wolves bustling around the room. As his gaze turned back to him Percy realised his wrists were wrapped in chains. Silver chains. Silver wasn't as bad for werewolves as the legends had people believe yet they still left painful red marks on Percy's skin. The chains lead back to a grey stone wall which happens to be in the corner of the large room. Even though the room is full, Percy is practically invisible to all who are rushing past apparently with somewhere better to be. Well, not everyone.

"I said that it was pretty odd that these guys have gone to such lengths in order to contain you. I mean the amount of meetings they had discussing exactly how to extract you was phenomenal. I actually lost track of my counting. And I'm a warlock! I could count to a billion without losing track and that would take at least thirty-one years. It actually isn't a lot when you think about it - I could count to a trillion and that would only be 'bout thirty-one thousand and seven hundred years. But I'm immortal so if I started counting now I wonder how high I could ge-"

"Woah, wait. You need to slow down." This girl speaks fast. And I only understood a quarter of the things she said. After Percy had seen there were no imminent threats and he was safe (as safe as he could be whilst being chained by silver in unknown territory) he decided to get a better look at the person beside him. Her long fiery red hair was dirty and matted but not even a bit of grime could dull the blazing colour. It reminded Percy that not all orange streaks brought death and destruction. The girl was a warlock as she'd mentioned before which was already obvious because of her bright glowing aura. "Are you okay?" she asked tentatively after realising she may have skipped over the fact that they didn't even know each other. "Oh, and I'm Rachel, Rachel Elizabeth Dare by the way. And you are?"

"...Percy," he decided to offer his hand albeit reluctantly,"Percy Castellan." She eagerly took his hand and Percy began to wonder how long it had been since she had last had a positive interaction with someone. Only the gods know how these wolves have been treating her. "How...How long have you been here?" Percy wondered. Her bright expression turned gloomy and sullen.

"Sorry! Sorry. That was rude and-"

"No it wasn't. You're just curious. And to answer your question I've been here seven years." She said it with an as a matter of fact tone but Percy could see her outer wall breaking showing a slither of the true misery she felt.

"Seven years." Percy echoed trying to grasp how that would feel. Rachel pulled away and managed to make herself look even smaller as she brought her legs closer to her body and lent her back against the wall. "Yeah, well, not everybody has a family that constantly checks to make sure their so called loved ones are always safe."

"I'm sor-"

"Don't be." Rachel laughed quietly, "My dad's never really noticed me. Been seven years since I was taken and I haven't heard even a whisper of him coming to rescue me." Rachel looked Percy in the eyes and when she did that Percy could see the way the vibrant green had been dulled with her sadness. Percy felt empathy for this girl that he had just met, he may not know where he is or why but at least he has this friend to experience it with. "You have no idea why they want you, do you?" Rachel said incredulously, "You don't know what he wants to do to you."

"What?"

Rachel made a noise halfway between a huff and a snort. What is she on about? There was one thing that Percy really hated and that was when people made fun of the fact that they knew something he didn't know; In other words when people thought that Percy was dense or stupid. "I'm just saying a special beauty like you, that attracts a lot of attention. Maybe not the right kind. God knows what it did to my father, made him a demon."

"You don't like your father?"

"I resent him. Maybe if I actually met the man more than once a fortnight I probably would feel something for him. Or ya know, if I didn't have to join a two week waiting list anytime I wanted to say hello that might inspire some love for the guy."

"Two week waiting list?" Asked Percy who was once again not quite following.

"Yeah," Rachel elaborated," Two week waiting list. Dad always was one of the best at warlock spells, built his own mini empire because of it. Selling spells for individual clients, it took up literally all of his time." Rachel looked around the room. By now it was nearly empty of any wolves except for a few younger adult guards. "What I think," the warlock whispered,"Is that Kronos approached my father, asked him for some kind of spell. An unthinkable one. I remember way back, when dad came home - a rare time that I saw him - and he looked all disheveled, he started closing up shop. A week later we had one of the worst forest fires we've ever seen; a whole laboratory of ingredients were stolen."

"You think Kronos went ahead with whatever spell it was anyway?"

"Hell yeah. You wanna know how I know that? 'cuz four days later he took me. And this other kid. He needed us to do the spell for him the first time and now he needs me to do it again. This time the spell's on you."

The weight of those words had Percy believing that the silver was a lot more painful than it really was. "Whatever spell it is, it doesn't sound good."

"Damn right." Agreed Rachel.

"But we don't need to worry, Jason is gonna get me out of here and he'll help you too."

"You seriously can't be putting all you're hopes in some big-shot pack leader."

"Of course I can." But then again if he doesn't show up, well, it's about time I stop acting like a damsel in distress and get of my big butt.

"Atlas, our lookouts have heard rumors of a possible attack led by the Olympians."

"Those hopeful fools," laughed Atlas, "Okay lets give them something to fight, Bryce and Scylla you take the East corner of the base. Iapetus, you will secure the West corner. I'll defend the North corner whilst Ethan takes special care of Percy. And Octavian..."

"Yes sir." The blonde rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"You will take the South corner."

"But sir..." Octavian began wryly.

"What! " The second in command snapped.

"Well, it's just that this base is circular, there are no corners."

"Grgh! For god's sake just go to your positions!"

"Yes sir!" went the chorus of replies. Lets see how the Olympians fare against us.