I woke up shaking in a cave. I was a little wet because the ceiling was dripping.

Pause.

Okay, you're probably already confused. Like: Hey! I don't remember you passing out!

Well, the monster happened to whack my head against somebody else's, and looking next to me now, I discovered who that "somebody" was.

Tommy.

"This...is SO UNFAIR!" I screamed at the ceiling. My voice echoed around the cave and I stared at Tommy in disgust. He was still out cold.

I moved to get up, but then discovered that my legs were bound at the ankles and my arms bound at the wrist. "Shoot," I muttered, twisting around in my ropes.

I heard a groan beside me. Sighing inwardly, I turned as watched Tommy's eyes flutter open. "Oh, hi." He said thickly. I huffed and looked away, resolutely staring at the ceiling.

Tommy shuffled into a position where he was sitting up. "Something wrong?" He asked me.

I stared at him for a moment in complete disbelief before I began ranting heatedly to him.

"No! Nothing's wrong! We've only been taken to Hades knows where by Zeus knows what! Now we're tied up in a cave with nowhere to go! It's really not a big deal!"

Tommy shrugged. "Well, if you insist..." He muttered, laying back down and staring at the ceiling. A drop of water fell on his nose. He sniffed and tried to wipe it off with his bound hands, but it didn't work out.

Two more drops fell on his face. He grunted in annoyance. He shuffled and tried to sit up, but five more drops nailed his forehead.

"GAH! IT'S LIKE CHINESE WATER TORTURE!" He yelled, struggling to roll away.

I felt a drop hit my head. I sighed irritably an shook out my hair. Apparently, it had been wetter than I thought. I ended up spraying Tommy, which he was not too happy about.

"What the Underworld, Shaggy!?" He snapped at me. I cocked an eyebrow. "Did you just call me Shaggy?"
"Yes."
"Like, Shaggy and Scooby?"
"No. I mean yes, but haven't you ever heard of the singer?"

I stared at him blankly. Tommy widened his eyes. "You're kidding. Please tell me you're kidding."
"No, I'm not kidding."
"Wow...you have to hear his music."
"Is it good?"
"Well, my favorite song is actually more humorous."
"What's it called?"
"Mr. Bombastic."

Now it was my turn to widen my eyes. "No way." I said. Tommy nodded. "Are you serious?"

"Completely."

I shook my head. "I guess I'll have to look it up later...you know...if we ever GET THE HADES OUT OF HERE!"

I didn't mean to raise my voice. I was panicking, and having Tommy there wasn't exactly helping. I had mixed feelings about him.

And before you ask, not feelings like...like that! No. My mixed feelings were like this: I was glad I had him here because I would have another human being that I could talk to. Then I wouldn't go insane from loneliness. At the same time, I hated having him here, because he was incredibly annoying. Now that I think about it, this is a lose-lose situation. I will go insane either way.

Lucky me, right?

<^>

Time went by slowly. I didn't want to talk to Tommy, but he wanted to talk to me. Now, I know what you're thinking. Oh, but Bianca! Why don't you just ignore him? It can't be that hard!

Well, you've never been near Tommy. When that kid wants to talk to you, he will annoy you into talking to him. You may be screaming at him to shut up, but he's satisfied with that. Ten minutes later he'll try again.

Our conversation definitely wasn't civilized. I spent most of the time screaming at him to shut up so I could think of a way out of this mess.

The tenth time he tried to bother me I punched the ground (and regretted it half a second later). "Okay, you know what, Tommy?" I snapped, glaring at him and holding my wrist.

"What?" Tommy asked me innocently. "Why don't you just go on and tell me what you want to tell me, so I can think in peace?"

Tommy nodded. "Good plan, Shaggy."

I screwed up my face in disgust at my new nickname. I didn't appreciate it.

"Well, I wanted to say that I have something here that might help us. It's in my back pocket, and I can't get it out." Tommy informed me.

I stared at him, doing my best to process the level of complete stupidity he had just exposed to me. "You...what do you have that could possibly help us?" I asked.

"I have this little pin that can turn into a dagger. I keep it in my back pocket, and I can feel it there. I can't reach it though."

"So...Uh...you want me...to reach into your back pocket and...um...get this...pin?" I checked. Tommy nodded.

I...

Awkward...

But, if it was our chance out of this place, I guess I could try. Sighing nervously, I scooted close to Tommy and looked away. "Turn around." I told him.

Tommy obediently turned his bottom toward me. Gritting my teeth, I plunged my hand into his back pocket.

"What issssss ssssshe doing?" A voice whispered from a dark corner of the cave.

I froze. Tommy's body started to shake with laughter.

My cheeks reddened and I yanked my hands out of Tommy's back pocket. "It's not what it looks like!" I shouted instinctively, staring at the monsters before me.

Two snake ladies. I couldn't remember the name of them, my mind was too filled with awkward thoughts about how these two idiots had walked in at a really bad time.

Tommy was still shaking with laughter. The two snake ladies were staring at me in bewilderment. They probably thought I was one of those horrible girls that enjoyed shoving my hand down boy's back pockets.

I'm not, for your information.

"Bianca and Tommy, you're coming with ussssss." The first snake lady hissed. She slithered up to me and grabbed my by the wrists, then started dragging me away. Her friend did the same to Tommy.

I gasped. This isn't going to make any sense, in fact, I still don't understand it. But this is important.

Suddenly, instead of being in the cave, I was watching something. A girl as a boy were being dragged away by a Minotaur. With a jolt, I recognized them. It was Asha and Jack.

Asha's eyes were closed. Jack was staring at her, confused. The Minotaur took no notice.

Then, as quickly as it had happened, I was back in the cave.

"Are you okay, Bianca?" Tommy asked. I shook my head to clear it. "Yeah, I'm alright, Tommy. Just...um...thinking." I replied uneasily.

I couldn't tell anyone about what had just happened. I didn't even understand it. But I had seen Asha.

And something told me that she had seen me too.