Chapter 2
So I'd managed to make to it to the beach before the alarms had been sounded.
Thankfully so far I'd only gotten a couple of odd looks, being shirtless and all, but that should be find. At least it would be if those people who'd seen me didn't know why the alarms were going off for at least a couple of minutes first.
I'd been praying to my dad, Poseidon, as I had run to the beach hoping that he'd answer me, that he'd see that I was trying to do the right thing even if i took… extreme measures to make sure my friends were safe.
Gods I hope that Annabeth will be okay.
Would she be okay after what Tantalus had done?
Could she be okay?
Whatever the case I was feeling less guilty about killing the camp activities director.
The beach was thankfully empty and while that would normally be unusual for early june but I guess with Tantalus in charge people were taking less time to relax and take in the rays on the beach.
I slowed to a walk as I reached the water line, there was nothing here.
No boat.
No submarine.
Not even a surfboard.
Dad hadn't pulled through as Annabeth had said and as I'd hoped. I was definitely gonna get smited by Zeus for this. I wouldn't be able to outrun the gods on land. My cardio was terrible!
Though they could also fly/teleport so I guess they don't need good cardio to catch me.
Maybe I could swim away? The sea was my, well my dad's, element; the gods wouldn't follow me there would they?
Probably not.
But sea monsters would become a problem. They'd become a very big problem very quickly.
Sea monsters are typically bigger than the monsters a halfblood would come across when traveling over land as they didn't have to support their own gigantic weight. This made them all the more dangerous. And while being a son of Poseidon would give me an advantage in water. They would also have the home turf advantage.
So maybe swimming wasn't a good idea.
I didn't want to fight the campers of camp half-blood, who rightly thought I was a murderer, so standing and fighting wasn't an option I wanted to entertain either.
I threw myself to my knees into the surf in one last ditch effort.
Gods I hoped this final pray would work.
So with my eyes closed and head bowed I began to attempt to talk to my dad.
Dad? If you're there, I need help. I need to escape from camp. I killed Tantalus because he was trying to rape Annabeth, I couldn't let him. I know it's wrong but it's all I could think of. I try to do the right thing and do you proud… I'm sorry if I never met your standards but I swear if you help me this once I will do everything I can to make you proud.
I hadn't gotten a reply.
No big booming voice in my head.
No choir of nymphs serenading my dad as he descended from the clouds.
Not even a glass bottle with a note washing to shore.
Knowing that my chances of survival had dropped faster than an eagle onto it's prey. I began to trudge away from the surf hoping that my cardio was good enough for me to get at least some distance away from camp half-blood before the gods came for me.
That was until an unusually large wave washed over the top of my sneakers.
This was odd for a number of reasons.
I was now at least more than a couple of feet away from where the waves had been reaching.
The tide was going out.
Waves don't suddenly get that much bigger.
I turned to see what had caused it and I'll admit I was surprised.
A boat was sitting just off of the seashore.
Like a massive fuck off boat.
A massive fuck off old timey boat.
LIke with sails, three massive sails.
And three decks of cannons. I thought they got rid of cannons a thousand years ago. And this boat had loads it. I'd counted 16 and it must have at least three times more on the one side I could see.
The boat was painted yellow and black and at the stern, the back in boat speak, was it's name.
HMS Victory.
It sort of clicked but I couldn't remember where it was from. It didn't look greek that was for sure and American boats had USS at the beginning.
Ah Ha! It was British, they had HMS. It stood for Her Majesty's Ship.
What was the difference between a boat and a ship anyway, I think I should know that. The whole being Poseidon's son thing and all.
None of this was really important though. The important thing was that there were no crew members. I could take it and escape.
"Thanks dad!" I shout to the air around me as I dive into the water.
I used my powers over the surrounding water to push me towards the Victory resulting in what would have been a world record time for a one hundred meter race if it had been timed. Though of course I wouldn't use my powers in a competition setting as it would be unethical and morally wrong. Though really I was just worried about the rant I'd be on the receiving end of from Annabeth.
That was if I would be able to go on land to compete in swimming competitions ever again.
Or if I would be able to see Annabeth again.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I hit the boat with my head.
And it hurt.
Like a lot.
It turns out that really old boats are made of hard materials.
I had to climb up a ladder that was built into the side of the ship. The rungs were small and slightly slippery making them hard to climb. Honestly it was a miracle I didn't fall back into the water. Once I'd gotten about half way up to the top deck I was able to clamber onto the rigging. The ropes were much easier to climb, not that I felt safe while climbing. No far from it. The rigging moved back and forth a surprising amount as I clambered higher towards the deck.
I managed to get two feet firmly onto the deck with only minimal stumbling as I dropped off of the rigging. This boating was going to be hard to get used to.
And then it hit me, the Victory is massive. It must have been at least two hundred feet in length and as I looked up it seemed it was just as tall!
How was I supposed to sail this beast of a boat without a crew?
"It is very large, isn't it?"
A voice had spoken from behind me. I spun around to see who it was.
"Lady Athena?" I blurted out before realising that that was probably insulting to my father's biggest rival. I dropped into a bow hoping to appease the warrior goddess: this wasn't someone I wanted to piss off.
"It has one hundred and four cannons spread over three gun decks, did you know that?" The goddess said, as if she were giving a tour at a museum instead of meeting with a murderer who's on the run from the Olympian gods. "Horatio always liked to have extra as a Vice Admiral, some might have called it excess but then this excess may have saved more than a couple of lives of the sailors under his command so it could be argued that it wasn't excessive at all."
I wasn't really sure what to say but my mouth came up with something before my brain could check if it was stupid.
"Welcome aboard HMS Victory, my Lady."
Gods I wanted to slap myself, Athena was literally just talking about some Admiral Vice or something: she's probably been on the bloody ship before and I was just celebrating not falling back into the water.
Thankfully she seemed to take it in good humour and smirked slightly, though her eyes looked wistful: maybe someone else had welcomed her aboard before?
"Thank you, Captain." I knew it was a joke but I did like the sound of that.
Captain Jackson
Captain Percy Jackson.
Yep definitely liked the sound of that.
Slowly coming back from my small day dream I'd saw that all humour and joy had left Athena's face.
"To business, Jackson." She said. "I don't like you." Well that was just rude, she hardly knew me! This was like the second time we'd met. Or at least the second time I'd known she was there. Thinking about it, I'd probably offended her at some point if I didn't know to watch myself with it. "I don't like your father." Still fairly rude but I guess they'd at least gotten to know each other fairly well over the millennia. "But you did my Annabeth, and by extension me, a great service by saving her from that despicable man."
"Annabeth's my fri…" I started saying but she cut me off, yep I'd definitely annoyed her at some point.
"And although I dislike you, I will reward you for this." Really she might be rubbing in the whole not liking me thing a bit much now. "Your father saw fit to grant you the HMS Victory." She commented as she surveyed the ship as if taking notes on what she'd have changed and improved if she'd been the one to design the Victory. "And I believe that it was a good gift for sea spawn like yourself, even one as uneducated about it's history as you." Really this was insulting, I'm not sure I liked this reward very much. "But it isn't enough for preserving my daughter purity."
She stopped talking, for how long I don't know but she continued her in depth look of the Victory, seemingly lost in thought.
"As historic as this ship is, it won't stand very long against monsters." She stated, nodding her head. It looked like she was agreeing with herself. Though I guess that begins to happen when you're the most intelligent person in the room, or maybe all the rooms in Athena's case: you can only get intelligent conversation with yourself.
Then she clicked her fingers and a flash of light blinded me temporarily.
When the spots in my eyes faded Athena announced.
"I've upgraded your ship."
She was now looking down on me and I had the feeling I should be groveling.
"Er… Thank you, Lady Athena." I managed to say but to be honest with you I wasn't completely sure on the correct amount of groveling to do when an Olympian goddess upgrades a boat you've sort of just claimed. "I'm very grateful for your help. How did you upgrade the ship exactly?"
I prayed to the gods that I wasn't be rude.
Wait!
If I was praying couldn't Athena hear me?
Well I can at least hope she saw I wasn't trying to be rude.
She'd raised an eyebrow. Yep she'd definitely heard me. But she didn't look mad so I guess something out there was looking out for me.
"I've made a number of upgrades to your ship, boy." Maybe she was a bit mad then. "The first being the Celestial Bronze frame work I've put within the original wooden timbers. This will give the Victory a more rigid hull allowing for greater speed as well as greater armour during any encounters you have with monsters or other… foes. Secondly, I've upgraded the cannons. They will now fire Celestial Bronze cannon balls as well as firing at voice command. I've also changed the colour scheme to the outside of the boat as this ship is no longer a part of the British Navy. The Victory is now sporting a completely black hull and masts. The sails are also predominantly black but I've taken the liberty to put a depiction of your father's trident on the main sail in an ocean blue. Next I added some scent masking protections. This will keep most monsters away from you while you travel but as you're a power half-blood some will still be able to track you. This will also become less effective with the more half-bloods you have on board. The last change I made to the Victory I made was to the figurehead, though I'll leave you to see that for yourself."
"Er, thank you Lady Athena." I still wasn't totally sure on the whole how much should I be thanking this all powerful deity. "I'm, er, most grateful for the changes you've made to the Victory." And to be honest I'd not been able to keep up with all of them. She'd mentioned the new paint job and my ADHD meant I'd got caught up with looking at the sails and not hear the rest of them only to zone back in to hear Athena mentioned that she wasn't going to tell me about the figurehead.
"I will take my leave now Perseus Jackson, do not let all these changes go to waste. I'm sure my daughter would be most disappointed in you if you died." Athena said before striding towards the side of the Victory. Just before she was about to take the step that had assumed would leave the goddess plunging towards the vast ocean below us, she turned. "A piece of advice. Plot a course south, Captain Jackson."
I was so busy grinning at my new sort of title I almost didn't turn away in time to avoid being vaporised by the goddess as she flashed away.
Ha, Athena just flashed me.
Hey guys
Sorry for the wait, had exams, a holiday and now a summer job getting in the way of writing more
Hope you enjoy this chapter, any feedback is welcome
An Average White Writer
