A/N: Helloooo lovely readers! This is the first story on our account, but we hope to write more. Please don't get frustrated if the updates are inconsistent. We have lives too (believe it or not, seeing as we're on a fanfiction site...). Also, we're trying to update as often as possible, so the proofreading might not be completely comprehensive.

We appreciate every single review, follow, and favorite. As soon as we make it past the awkward characterization chapters, we'll start posting the good stuff. This first chapter might be a bit boring, but it'll get better, we promise.

Cheers,

C and K (the co-authors of this story)

Annabeth groaned in frustration as she untangled knot after knot in her waist-length curly blonde hair, swept every which way across her face by the wind off the ocean. She'd long debated chopping off her locks, but her father and sisters refused to let her do such an "ungodly deed". Then again, her sisters and herself were as different as night and day.

They were identical triplets, with ebony hair and eyes the brightest of blue. They were about as gorgeous as they were conceited and dull. Their beauty attracted many suitors from across the country, but many left after realizing how petty and, well... stupid the girls were.

Annabeth longed to have the beauty of her sisters, but chided herself for envying them. She was lucky to even be taken in by the Duke and his wife at all. They were kind to her and taught her how to act like a respectable woman. Had they not taken her in, she would've died on the streets many years ago.

The cold air bit at Annabeth's cheeks and numbed her fingers. Her plain royal blue dress offered no protection against the harsh conditions of sea travel. She'd been on the Orient a few times before, but didn't much care for sea travel. Annabeth's father, Duke Frederick, said that the Orient was the finest ship in the fleet, that it cut through the water like a knife through butter. The ships all felt the same to Annabeth, however, with the same rocking rhythm of the waves beating against the sides of the hull. She wasn't much of a seafarer. In fact, she hated all travel on the ocean, but her father insisted upon bringing her along. They had been sailing for nearly a fortnight.

From the crow's nest Annabeth heard a shout. "Ship on the horizon!"

Her heart quickened in her chest. What if they were pirates? Pirates haunted her dreams with their briny breath and scruffy beards and faces riddled with scars. Annabeth was terrified of pirates, even though she had never met any.

Calm down, fool, Annabeth thought to herself. It was probably just another merchant ship looking to trade before docking in port. Perhaps father could acquire a comb to put up this wretched hair, Annabeth thought.

She squinted at the distant ship, trying to make out any details, but without a telescope, it was difficult to see anything other than a dull brown blur.

Captain Percy Jackson stood in the crow's nest of his ship, the Neptune. His shirt clung tightly to his front, stuck there by the harsh winds that swept tiny drops of water into his face. Percy didn't mind.

Some would've gotten tired of it after a while; the tireless rhythm of life on the sea, the endless crash of wave after wave against the Neptune. But it never grew old to Percy. Every day brought a new challenge, a new adventure, a new…

…a new conquest, he thought to himself as his gaze fell upon a familiar shape on the horizon. It was plainly a ship, one of Duke Frederick's fleet, judging by the emblem on the sail. If he squinted, he could just barely make out the words "The Orient" inscribed on the hull. Duke Frederick's ship sailed towards his own at an alarming rate, and Percy couldn't help but smile slightly at the idea of a raid on one of the Duke's vessels. Abandoning his spot in the crow's nest, he clambered down one of the shrouds to the deck, sliding the last few feet down the loosely woven rope and landing clumsily on the perennially shifting deck. He stood up to his full height, felt the briny wind pull back his hair. Moments like these, with his feet planted firmly on the splintering deck, surveying the vast expanse of ocean before him, were when Percy felt most powerful. He allowed himself to catch his breath before yelling over his shoulder. "Nico! Grover! Wake the crew." He glared in disdain at the Duke's ship. "One of the Duke's fleet was foolish enough to trespass on our territory. And everyone knows these waters belong to us. Let's teach 'em a lesson, shall we?"

He only had to wait a matter of seconds before he heard the distinctive sound of his first mate, Grover Underwood, running towards him at full speed. He didn't have to turn around to know it was him; he recognized the dull click of Grover's peg leg against the deck. Below him, he could faintly make out the sounds of his crew waking up, yelling to each other, preparing for a fight.

Grover sidled up to him, a hopeful smirk plastered across his face. "It's one of Duke Frederick's finest schooners, Captain. And from what I can see, there may well be some of the royal family aboard. His daughters are some o'the finest wenches in the land…" Grover trailed off, starry-eyed. He'd always been something of a hopeless romantic. Percy, on the other hand, had never paid much interest to women. He just couldn't see the appeal. He'd decided long ago that love was for men much weaker than himself. However, he couldn't pass up the chance for fathomless treasure, which Duke Frederick was sure to have aboard his schooner. Plus, raiding the Duke's ship would be an opportunity to one-up the royal family, and in doing so, he'd show all the pretentious, snobby, upper-class mainlanders who was superior.

Percy was harshly snapped out of his reverie by the arrival of Tyson, his boatswain and (though he wouldn't admit it to most) half-brother. Tyson thundered out of one of the hatches, somehow managing to get tangled in a pile of fishing nets and promptly falling on his face. Percy turned away from him, torn between affection and embarrassment. His half-brother was devoted to him, and he'd saved Percy's life on more than one occasion. But still, he couldn't help but be glad that they didn't share the same surname, because if people knew that he was related to Tyson… well… his reputation would be even more sullied than it was now.

Tyson jumped to his feet, easily shaking the tangle of loose ropes off of his ankles. "I'm okay!" he exclaimed with the enthusiasm of a much younger boy. Tyson beamed up at his captain with his one good eye. (The other one was concealed beneath a threadbare eyepatch-no more than a shred of calico cloth, really-that looked like Tyson had made it himself.) Percy smiled stiffly back at him.

In Tyson's wake came Nico di Angelo, the youngest of the crew. He scowled at Grover and Tyson from beneath a scruffy maelstrom of spiky black hair, stiffened from months of seawater and sweat, but when he saw Percy his posture straightened and he gazed at his captain with a look of pure reverence. "Captain Jackson." Nico stated in a voice laced with a slight Italian accent. "What's this about the Duke's schooner?"

Percy gestured out towards the ship, and Nico whipped out a telescope from his waistband and squinted into the lens. "Aye" he murmured. "That's Frederick's. The Orient, it says. I've heard plenty about 'er. Heard she sails smoother than any ship you've ever seen." He gave a low whistle. "I can't say they're wrong. That's some fine craftsmanship." He moved the telescope lower. "And-hey, that's the royal seal on the hull. That mean's it's of some importance… say, you don't think the Duke's on that ship?" He sheathed his telescope, his eyes shining with boyish excitement.

Percy couldn't help but be hopeful, though he knew the chances of Duke Frederick sailing straight to him were nearly impossible. "Let's not get our hopes up, di Angelo. Wait…" Percy's excitement turned to confusion, laced with undertones of dread. "Why aren't they stopping?"

And indeed, the schooner was still fast approaching, its wake growing thinner and thinner as it neared the Neptune. Grover spoke from where he was stationed at the wheel. "D'you… d'you think they know that this is Captain Jackson's ship?"

It dawned on Percy that they weren't running up the Jolly Roger. "Our flag isn't up. We probably look like any merchant's ship." Percy chuckled at the thought. "And they're coming towards our starboard side. The ship's name is printed on the port. They wouldn't be able to see that it's the Neptune they're sailing towards. They probably think we're a bunch of commoners, and they're looking to trade for supplies or some such." Percy stopped to look back at the Orient, and a plan came to him, as sudden as a northern storm. "Alright, come about! . We're not just gonna attack these poor sods and get it over with. If we're gonna make the most of this raid, here's what we're gonna do..."

Oooooooh, suspense! Okay, not that much, but oh well. We're planning on writing some more interesting scenes in the next chapter, and it should get way more exciting within the next few chapters. Enjoy!

Reviews are free samples at Costco!

-C and K