I hate math so much. It takes me like three hours to finish a 20 problem assignment because I'm just a slow thinker, so I only have Friday and Saturday to do something fun :(

Enjoy the chapter!~~

Percy

If there's anything that I can say about myself, it's that I'm not proud of who I am, or of what I've become. I'm a thief, a criminal. A pirate. I grew up on the streets. I was an orphan. But I found a new family. A family of other guys like me. There's Leo, our repair guy/builder/makeshift weapons guy who loves fire; Nico, the cunning ninja who is strong as a tiger but is young, small and very thin; and Frank, a big, strong guy with a heart of gold, but does the bad things that we do anyway. And we're all very young. All seventeen or eighteen, except for Nico, who is only fourteen.

The four of us have made our home in a cave in the outskirts of Sparta. It's pretty nice for a cave, but horrible for a standard residential house. We (by we, I mean mostly Leo) usually make our own furniture, but have to steal from the blacksmiths to get things like metal. For meat, we can just kill animals but for more luxurious things like bread and wine, we steal. We steal a lot of things, if you couldn't tell. Clothes, jewelry, food, golden drachmas and our most precious items, a map to Ogygia and our dog, Mrs. O'Leary. What? Criminals need a loving canine companion too. And you would think that the map was difficult to get, but it isn't, even though it was from all the way in Olympus in King Frederick's office. We searched around the boaders of the castle to find a spot where there were no guards, quickly swam through the moat, used our fancy climbing hooks to climb up the wall and jump into a window (and kill someone if we have to) and find our way into the office. The guards are all very arrogant and so they don't put much effort into our job. Especially this one particular guard (whose name I have learned from having to fight him so frequently), Luke. Whenever he wasn't on duty, he would go challenge other men to a joust or a horse race or something else he would win just so he could feel good about himself. He would also go around telling the city that the most beautiful girl in the world, Princess Annabeth, is in love with him and that they would get married and that he will become the new king of Olympus. I highly doubt it. I have actually met the princess myself. She is just as beautiful as everyone says. If not, even more beautiful. The princess is very smart, too. She knows very much about science and mathematics, as well as the news around the city and even some of the citizens. She even knows me, who doesn't even live in Olympus (people called our little group, The Half-Bloods and we are kind of famous).

One day, our little gang went through our route into the castle to steal their gold and food and we each went to separate rooms, which was dangerous, but that was the quickest way to steal as much as possible. We didn't assign each other specific rooms, but I just ended up in the princess's quarters.

"The princess's room, eh?" I say to myself while heading towards her giant wardrobe. "Annabeth, I hope you don't mind if I take some of your dresses and accessories. I need a makeover."

"Well, I do mind," a girl said.

My heart skipped a beat and I turned around to see the princess, herself. She was absolutely gorgeous, and not just because she just came out of her bathroom and was only in a corset.

"Well, good day, M'lady," I bow to her. "I was just leaving."

"Perseus Jackson is your name, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness. Although, I prefer to be called Percy."

"And I prefer to be called Annabeth."

"Okay, then, Annabeth. Not that I want you to, but I think you should put some clothes on, and if I were the princess, I would've called the guards by now."

"Those guards are slower than snails. Besides, you're kind of cute for someone lower than a peasant."

"Thank you, that's very flattering... I think."

"Well, since you can't stay in this castle forever, how about you help me put on a dress and I won't tell my father about you and your gang sneaking in."

"How about I get a kiss, a necklace expensive enough to let my friends and I live comfortably and we never come back here?"

"Then, I guess I'll have to get someone to kill you and your friends and you don't get the one in a million chance to touch me."

"Wow, you're not only beautiful, you're smart, too. I'll take your first offer. And I will be coming back, as I have many times."

So, I helped her with her dress and left, but not before stealing that kiss which I knew she wanted and one of her earrings. That is how I met the princess. That was a couple years ago, when I was sixteen, and we have been going back to the castle, but I haven't seen her since we've met.

Now, about that map... The past year, we've been working on a ship that can use fire for extra speed and is also cannonball-proof and fireproof. With Leo's excellent mind and our cooperation, it was done. We named it the Argo II (apparently there was already a first Argo) and it had the head of a dragon on the front, which Leo named Festus.

King Frederick's ship had a lot of people, and he was really putting a lot of trust into the captain because he's only 18 years old. He's the youngest to ever lead an expedition, especially one this huge. I think his name is Jason Grace and his older sister is Thalia Grace.

We've had a head start on the journey. We told our own king that we could make our country rich, even wealthier than Olympus if we found the Fleece. So the king gave us a crew that would respect us and agree to me being the captain, since I was the most knowledgeable of the ocean and the seas.

Four days into the journey and we've already been attacked by a ship full of female warriors. They were searching for the Fleece as well and they've killed five of our men, but we've caught two of them and are holding them hostage. They are both beautiful, but not as beautiful as Annabeth. Although, Frank and Leo are both already googly-eyed for one of them. And the other, she had a beautiful voice and almost persuaded us to let them go, but we fought against that pressure.

Later that night, I went to check on them to make sure they didn't escape somehow, even though we've tied up their hands, legs, everything. We've even put a gag on their mouths.

"So, how are you she-devils doing on this fine evening?" I ask them as I take the gags out.

"Let us go!" said the one with a pretty voice.

"You see, the point of us tying you up so so that you don't escape."

"We'll tell our leader to not attack your ship again," the one Leo and Frank like said.

"You two have names, right?"

"Of course! But why would we tell you?"

"It's called trying to get to know you. I don't want to make any enemies. Especially with a bunch of pretty girls like you."

"Well tying us up isn't a very good place to start," the pretty voice one pointed out.

"You know, you're right. Well, I'm Percy Jackson and-"

"We know who you are. I'm Piper, and I am going to kill you!"

"Hazel Levesque. And I'm not seeking bloodshed like Piper. Although, with you, things may not end well."

"Now release us so we can beat the living shit out of you!" Piper said.

"At least give us some food. I'm starving here," Hazel complained.

"Oh, the little warrior girls can't stand a little bit of hunger? Well, I'll tell you what. If you two will cook, clean, serve our men and pretty much be my assistants, I won't kill you here on the spot and when we see your little clan again, I'll let you go back, as long as we never have to see you again. How does that sound?" I say.

"That is the stupidest thing that I have ever fucking heard," Piper said.

"Well, unless you want to be killed..."

They stared at each other, like they were making nonverbal conversation.

"Fine," Hazel said. "Now untie us."

"In the morning," I say. "You two should sleep."