The boat rocked back and forth, swaying dizzyingly across the Atlantic Waves. Thalia grace, a slight girl approaching 19 stood at the prow on a large British Warship. Her coat and medals gleaming, untouched by the sea spray and her black boots polished to the point of looking like metal. Despite the girl's clothing and posture she didn't seem like a captain of a ship. With her eyes a dark stormy, electric blue, and her hair wilder than the sea itself she looked more like a pirate then a ship Captain in her majesty's Navy. As the waves crashed against the ship's hull and rain came down lightly on the deck's surface all seemed calm, but Thalia Grace wasn't calm. Thalia was waiting, because she knew what happened to boats in the middle of the Atlantic Sea, especially her boats in the middle of the Atlantic sea. Even if no one else had caught on she had, and she knew it was only a matter of time before that very particular pirate crew showed up and attacked her boat.

"Captain," a voice said behind her and she was pulled out of her thoughts by a girl with curly blonde hair and stormy grey eyes. She turned to face the girl slowly, like turning her back on the ocean would make them appear.

"Yes, Annabeth?" she asked and the girl clearly took pride in being addressed by her first name by the captain.

"I have reports from Leo that all systems have been repaired. We should be fine to land in Canada soon," she said, her eyes gleaming. Thalia nodded with approval, glancing back out at sea, as if expecting them so suddenly appear before stalking off to her cabin, to discuss routes.

"Good, then It's time we decided where we want to doc," she said, Annabeth following close behind her. Thalia liked Annabeth's company, she was a knowledgeable navigator and her skills with a dagger weren't matched by anyone she knew, but the girl could be a bit... absorbed in her tasks so it was hard to get her attention.

"Right, were currently heading north, in hopes of avoiding the Americans, but that also means we're heading into Amazon territory so we must be on high alert," Annabeth began, but, as if on cue there was an explosion off to the side of the boat, shaking it much more violently then the waves. Annabeth went sprawling, but Thalia simply stood her ground, reaching for the decorative dagger at her belt. Ropes and snares latched onto the side of the boat and soon the boat was overrun with them. Pirates. A boy with wild black hair and even wilder green eyes tackled Annabeth to the ground as she tried to regain her footing. Octavian was dragged from the steering wheel in front of Thalia and two others rushed below deck to get anyone else, but none even approached Thalia and Thalia immediately knew which pirate crew was attacking her. She slipped her dagger back into it's sheath as the smoke from the blast dissipated and the other boat came into focus.

The boat was at least twice the size of their small supply vessel and much more ornately decorated with gold and purple details. The flag that flew above was a rose with a spear and torch crossed over it. Frank, Hazel, and Valdez were all deposited on deck just as an elegant figure dropped onto the deck. The girl had long black hair, braided down her back and she wore an over sized purple hat and coat her boots were black like Thalia's but old and scarred. Her skin was a warm caramel and her eyes black like midnight. She was tall and built like an amazon, most people would have been intimidated, some might've even peed their pants or backed away, but Thalia just smiled as the girl approached, both crews, British and Pirate, stared at the pair of girls.

"Thalia Grace, we meet again. On the high seas again, with two crews of people watching us and a bounty of booty in the bottom of your ship, again. We must stop meeting like this," She said, Thalia's crew looked shocked, but Reyna's simply smirked, having done this several times before. Thalia didn't respond, only stared at the Pirate captain before her. She had gotten even more attractive over the last two years, which Thalia would've thought impossible if she hadn't done it. She could feel the eyes of both crews on her, wondering what her next move would be. Her crew would expect her to attack, but Reyna's knew better then that.

"What? No warm words for an old friend?" asked the Pirate stepping forward so they were less than a foot apart. Reyna was now taller than Thalia, which made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"You look attractive as ever," she said simply and shamelessly. She'd learned a long time ago that pirates weren't good at social cues so you just had to be blunt. The pirates laughed, most of them looked about her and Reyna's age. 18 or 19, some a bit younger.

Reyna smirked, "I could say the same for you, but that uniform just doesn't suit you," Reyna said and Thalia fought down the burning pink color in her face. Rain carefully plastering her hair to her face as Reyna unsheathed her sword. "It's been a long time, Grace. I was beginning to think you'd gotten yourself thrown in prison."

"I was beginning to think you'd gotten yourself killed in another one of your stupid raids," she countered and the Pirate just laughed.

"Is that way of you saying you missed me Red coat?" She countered. Thalia narrowed her eyes.

"Is that your way of saying you missed me?" she repeated, lips curling into a smirk at the light blush that spread across the Pirate's face. Again her crew howled with laughter, while Thalia's now looked wildly confused. Annabeth managed to regain her voice from her initial shock.

"Captain permission to speak?" she asked softly and Thalia rose her eyebrows at Reyna. Daring her to tell her no, but the Pirate captain didn't look concerned.

"Granted," she said and Annabeth met her eyes, looking more curious than frightened. This was the girl's first voyage after all.

"Who are these pirates and why haven't you, er, we tried to attack and escape?" she asked, looking thoroughly confused and before Thalia could answer Reyna chimed in.

"These Pirates are the Romans, and I'm their captain, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Allreno, pirate queen. The reason you aren't trying to escape is simple. You can't." Thalia sighed and facepalmed. Reyna wasn't exactly... polite, and was rather blunt, meaning that there was no explanation.

"What she means is that she has the best of the best on her crew. The best fighter, to try to escape would be suicide." Thalia explained and Annabeth nodded in a, I majorly screwed up, kind of way.

"That and," Reyna walked over and draped an arm over Thalia's shoulder and to everyone's surprise didn't get it cut off because of that, "me and Thals go way back," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Let me guess, you attacked my ship because you wanted to see me?" Thalia asked the taller girl who shrugged.

"On the sea there are no rules. We are free to do as we wish, so if I want to plunder a ship for the heck of it, I will." was the answer she got from the Roman.

"I think you just enjoyed seeing the look on my face,"

"That too,"

"Well, I can't say I'm not glad to see you. At least this means you're alive,"

"We both know that isn't the only reason you're glad to see me," Reyna said, the girl's thick accent made Thalia's cheeks feel like they were on fire. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. The Pirate captain laughed, her face now unnaturally close to the British girl's. She felt her throat constricting and unconstricting, her cheeks a fiery red and eyes wide. "My offer still stands Thalia. As it will until the day I die, join us."

All of Thalia's crew sat gaping at their captain, surprised that is was even an option that she had been considering, but Thalia honestly didn't care what they thought. "You know I can't do that Reyna, you also know that I would if I could," she said for what felt like the millionth time. Reyna's eyes, usually full of mischief suddenly turned serious.

"Thalia have you looked in the mirror recently?" she asked and Thalia knew what she meant. The red coat, polished black boots, gleaming golden medals, and everything about her outfit was so unlike her she wanted to scream every time she saw a mirror and rip off the coat then chuck it in a fire with her medals still attached. "This isn't you. We both know it. Percy knows it, Piper knows it, Nico knows it, Will knows it, heck even the Stolls know it," All of her pirate comrades nodded to affirm their leader's words.

"I can't join you Reyna, look I only have-" she cut Thalia off.

"14 years left," she finished and Thalia was surprised slightly. "I've been counting the days Thalia. You have exactly 5,315 days left in Hera's service, and then what? She'll just give him back to you? She'll just be like 'oh yeah you've served me enough, you can have your brother back'?" she said, the look she was giving her was of disbelief. "No! She won't! She'll just enlist you again and make you keep working your back off until you die. She's never going to give him back Thalia, you know that. Please, don't waste your life away under the rule of an unjust queen. Join me, Thalia. Together we wouldn't have to wait a single year. We could go and break into the queen's castle and get him out in seconds. Please Thalia. I lost my sister already, don't make me lose you too."

Her words struck a chord deep within Thalia and for the first time seemed to truly see the pirate standing next to her on the boat. The Pirate with the sad dark eyes and the countless scars across her skin from battles. The Pirate that held herself with so much more confidence then she truly had. The Pirate that was slowly dying on the inside as the people she cared about slid through her fingers, away from her. Thalia, for the first time since the first encounter the pair had, truly considered her offer. A life of no rules and no restrictions. A life where all she had to worry about was what the next ship they plundered would be. A life where everyone already knew her flaws and accepted them. A life that gave her glimpses of the past and all the encounters she'd had with this ship and it's flamboyant crew.