IMPORTANT: I need a cover for this story! Please PM me!
Disclaimer: PJO y HoO no son mía. Put that in Google Translate. It's Spanish.
Ch 2
ANNABETH
"Drop anchor."
"Drop anchor!"
"Keep watch for merfolk."
"Stay on lookout for merfolk!"
"And ready the tanks."
"Ready the tanks!"
First mate Thalia Grace relayed everything I said back down to the crew. I drew a deep breath then looked out over the sea. We were finally over Atlantis. I spun on my heel and walked down the stairs, heading to the back of the ship. I passed Grover adjusting the tanks. He, Jason, Frank, Calypso, and Will were double checking everything.
"Annabeth, you okay?" Thalia was by my side.
I sighed. "I'm fine. It's just...nothing."
Thalia put her hand on my shoulder. "You can tell me." Thalia was more like a sister to me than a shipmate. We had grown up together, along with her brother, Jason.
"Luke wants a new shipment of merfolk in three weeks. Five merfolk, and it's hard enough to catch one," I confided. I not only worked for Luke, but I owed him my life. I would do anything for him. When I was seven, Luke found me alone and orphaned on the streets, and took me in. He raised me with Thalia and Jason, training us to be the perfect merfolk hunters. His work paid off normally, but we hadn't had any luck lately. Apparently, merfolk had become more wary.
Thalia furrowed her brow. "It'll take three weeks just to get back to shore, even with me and Jason putting wind in the sails."
"I know," I said gravely. "We need to catch five today." I walked up onto the quarter deck and scanned the ocean again. Nothing. I looked down, dejected. And gasped.
"Thalia!" I yelled. "I found five!"
Thalia smiled. "Merfolk! We found merfolk! Get the tanks ready! Weapons out! Be on guard!"
"Lou Ellen! Naomi! Nikki!" I called to the only three crew members who could use magic. "Get five iron nets and get ready to cast them!"
"Five?" Lou called back. "That's a lot!"
"I know!" I yelled. "Grover! Those tanks ready?"
"Not yet! I need five more minutes!" Grover said.
"You have three!" I turned around and leaned against the railing of the quarter deck, looking out at the rest of my ship. Beckendorf stood at the wheel, holding the ship steady. I waited until the clamor on the ship died down.
"We found the merfolk, Captain!" Lou called.
"Good. Ready the nets!" I yelled. It was go time. "Cast on my signal!" Here we go. "Cast!" Five iron nets sunk into the ocean, controlled by the magic of Lou Ellen and her siblings, searching for merfolk. Time to make Luke proud.
PERCY
Five nets. Made out of iron. And I was the first to notice them.
A net was descending on Leo. "Leo!" I yelled. I swam as fast as I could towards him, and shoved him out of the way. The net closed around me.
ANNABETH
"We got one!" Lou cried.
"Get the others! We need all five to make quota!" I yelled.
HAZEL
"Percy!" I screamed. I reached for my sword, then remembered. We all left our weapons in our rooms when we snuck out so they wouldn't make noise.
"Piper! Look out!" Leo cried. Piper shrieked as a net entangled Leo. Another net descended around her.
"Hazel!" Nico came barreling towards me, only to be caught by yet another net.
"Nico!" I cried. A net caught me. The nets started to head up towards the surface.
ANNABETH
Five nets rose out of the water, with a merperson in each of the nets.
"Drop them on deck!" I ordered. Lou and her siblings made the nets deposit each of the merfolk inside a circle that was lined with my crew members. They kept the nets hovering above their heads.
I watched the merpeople. They seemed to drag themselves closer to each other. Two of them had black tails. One was a mermaid, the other a merman. Brother and sister. Another had a pale pink tale and choppy brown hair. There was a merman with a red tail and an elvish face with a mess of curly brown hair. The last merperson, a merman, had wild black hair and a tail to match his sea green eyes that seemed to stare into your soul.
Without taking my eyes off of them. I shouted at Grover. "Are you ready yet?"
"Yes Captain!"
I opened my mouth to shout another order.
"Who are you?"
The merman with sea green eyes had shouted that question, taking me by surprise. I recovered as quickly as I could. "Introductions later," I snapped. "Get them to the tanks!"
Lou Ellen was the first to act. She made her nets grab the wrists of two merfolk and hoist them in the air. Her siblings quickly followed her example. The merfolk were all dangling by their wrists, being taken to the tanks by Lou and her siblings.
Jason, Grover, Calypso, Frank, and Will all stood ready to put the chains on the merfolk. I nodded to Lou and she dropped her merpeople into their individual tanks. They snapped a cuff around the end of their tails, and then chained their wrists to the wall behind them above their heads.
"Everything good?" I asked.
"We're all good, Captain," Jason replied.
The merfolk sat in individual tanks with enchanted water up to their waist. The tanks were just long enough for their tails to stretch out, and were as wide as an armchair. The water in the tanks was enchanted so that it always stayed the same temperature as the ocean, and never evaporated. Lou also enchanted the water so that it nulled their powers. Iron gags were locked over their mouths, preventing them from talking to each other.
I levelled my gaze with the one who spoke. "To answer your question, I am Annabeth Chase, captain of the Argo II. Might I inquire who you are?"
The merman shook his head spitefully.
Something on his head glinted in the sunlight. "Never mind. I don't need introductions to the infamous Percy Jackson."
I literally posted the last chapter five minutes ago and it already had been viewed! So, here's another chapter!
Leaving now! *knocks on wall twice* *wall disappears* *steps into what used to be a wall* *wall reappears*
