Finding out that Captain Chase had given me a shift five hours longer than the others, was annoying. Not surprising, but annoying. I should've known the moment she mentioned her not particularly liking my family and then deciding to keep me on her ship, that it would mean bad things. Asad found it incredibly humorous and I was very close to punching him in the face numerous times. It turned out that he was actually quite the cocky asshole.

Luckily I got to meet Leo Valdez, my other bunk mate later on in the night. He came staggering in at 2:00 in the morning, turned on the light and demanded that we celebrated my arrival. We were on the same shifts the next morning and I must say, Leo Valdez was one of the few, blessed people who doesn't seem to get a hangover. Or he's just really good at covering it up. Or he secretly doesn't drink.

So there we were, scrubbing the hallways of this gigantic ship and I couldn't help but think how much this sucked.

"Man, I had bigger dreams too. I'm a mechanic," Leo pointed to himself with a soap-covered thumb. "I have potential for this ship, but Captain Chase just needs to notice that."

He shrugged. "A few years of scrubbing, I'll be at the very top. Maybe even Captain."

"No offense, Leo, but…"

"None taken, Poseidon. A boy can dream," he scowled at me.

"I'd prefer if you call me Jackson. Poseidon sounds so… posh."

Leo wrinkled his nose. "It does. That's terrible."

Lunch on the Kolasi was good. Not bad, not amazing, but good. Today it was chicken breast, with potatoes and gravy, which was pretty standard for a hand-eaten, oily pirate meal. I was surprised though, when Captain Chase stepped out wearing a blue tunic and the same boots as yesterday, cut off a piece of chicken and returned to her chambers. Her hair was piled on the top of her head, secured with an Asian looking hair pin. Not your typical captain outfit, but I was starting to get used to the differences of this ship in comparison to others.

"Hooh! She's spicy," Leo grinned and popped a potato in his mouth. "You know what Jackson, I've always thought that Captain Chase looked strikingly like this girl I snagged once at a celebration… Hm, she was lovely."

I nodded, taking an awkward sip of my red wine.

"Damn… I think her name was Callie. Or Carrie?" he sat in complete silence for a good minute, with scrunched up eyebrows, staring into the stars. "Hm," he then shrugged. "Who cares? Hand me the whiskey, Jase?"

Jase was one of the guys from the other room. His proper name was Jason and I was pretty sure he hated me. All he did was glare at me, from morning to night and we hadn't even spoken one word together. He didn't seem like someone I wanted to hang out with.

"Cheer up, you idiot," Leo slapped the back of his head and Jason glared at him, but didn't say a word.

Leo leaned in, his mouth close to my ear. "He hates all newbies. He's been in corridor 30 for like four years now, it's insane. Everyone else he came here with have already been ranked up. Just ignore him and he'll ignore you."

"Um, okay."

"No, but seriously," I watched as gravy dribbled over Leo's lips, which he gushed down with a jug of alcohol. "He's insane in battle."

"So am I," I said, feeling a bit disappointed. I felt like I would never get to show how good I was and until I did that, no one would believe me.

"Sure," Leo nodded enthusiastically, but I could tell he didn't take me seriously. I huffed, grabbed a bottle of whiskey and excused myself from the lively dinner. To be honest, I wasn't really in the mood for lots of drunk pirates. I'd rather just be drunk by myself.

I walked up some stairs, until I reached the emergency boats. I stepped onto an empty, overturned bucket and hoisted myself into the boat. It was hanging at least five feet from the ground and swung dramatically, as I tried to get into a comfortable position.

So there I laid, staring up at the stars, taking an occasional sip of whiskey, with the calming sounds of waves and laughter lulling me to sleep.

When I woke up it was still night time. And I was freezing. The bottle was empty and I had a grogging headache. It took me a moment to realize where I was and it took me another couple of minutes of staring at the slowly sinking moon, before I was able to prop myself up on one elbow. The boat shook on its hinges, as I looked over the rim, down onto the deck. It looked empty and the sound of the rest of the crew was gone. Groaning, I realized what an idiot I had been – my shift probably started in a couple hours and I would have to work with an extreme hangover and aching back.

Carefully, I swung my legs over the side of the boat and jumped down, almost tripping over the bucket I had used to climb up earlier. Taking a few wobbly steps, I made my way to the dining table. It was completely empty and clean.

I rubbed my eyes with my hands and let my eyes focus on the lit up staircase, that led down to the corridors. The lantern hanging above the entrance kept flickering on and off. I glanced around, a little confused that there was no one working a night shift. I staggered towards the light and it was as though the longer I walked, the further away the lantern looked. It was shaking violently now, moving in zigzags before my eyes.

I stopped and slowly it waving in front of me. I stared at it as hard as I could and finally it came into focus. "Jesus Christ," I muttered.

Another step and everything started from the top. I closed my eyes and plopped down on the floor below me, cradling my head in my hand, rubbing my temples. Focusing on the sounds around me, I heard the waves crashing into the sides of the boat, the eek-eek of the lantern dangling on rusty hinges. My own teeth chattering. And then there was a song. It sounded almost haunting, a quiet lullaby, somewhere to my left.

My eyes snapped open and I slowly got to my feet, gripping onto the railing for support. My feet seemed to know the way, they followed the song, until it got louder. Finally I could hear every verse, every word and I realized that I recognized it.

Without meaning to I started humming along, as I shuffled forward. Finally she came into view. As beautiful and serene as I remembered her.

Blonde locks flew around her face, getting caught in her lashes and lips. Her eyes were wide open and she was staring out onto the waves. She must've been freezing, in her regular over-sized white shirt ensemble. I took another step and the floorboards creaked. Her head turned. I realized that there were trails of tears down her cheeks.

"Everyone has gone to bed," she muttered, taking a deep breath and turning away from me.

"I know," I slurred. "I fell asleep in the rescue boat."

She scrunched up her eyebrows. "You better not be drunk tomorrow."

"When is tomorrow?"

"A few hours."

"Don't you ever sleep?" I was very close to her now, I could smell her lemony scent. I stared down onto the waves, leaning further over the railing than I normally would. She placed a hand on my chest and pushed me back onto the deck. I hadn't noticed that my feet had left the ground.

"No one functions without sleep, Mr. Poseidon."

"Jackson."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't call me Mr. Poseidon. I'm," I winked at her and gave a cocky laugh. It was meant as a joke, but I don't think she found me particularly amusing. "Mister Jackson."

She shook her head and turned back to the waves. "You should go to bed, Mr. Jackson."

"Tell me your name."

"As you captain, I'm telling you to go to your quarters and sleep."

Her picture blurred and I stumbled. Then I leaned over the railing and vomited. When I was done I kept staring down at the water, not knowing what to do. I got the odd urge to cry. "Please tell me your name," I muttered. "Please."

"Why do you want to know it?" I was surprised by how kind her tone was. Even a bit sympathetic.

"Because… You're special."

I let my arm dangle over the ridge and felt the occasional spray of salt water. I realized that I had no control over what I was saying. Go to bed, Percy. Just leave. I turned my face, so that my cheek was laying on the cold metal and looked at her. She was looking down at me, with her steel grey eyes and her lips were puckered and they looked so nice and soft.

"Special?"

I nodded. "You're a female captain. And not only that you're the female captain of the most famous ship sailing the seven seas. You're impressive. And scary."

"Well, you need to be scary when you're a young female captain," she smiled carefully. I was surprised she hadn't thrown me off the ship yet.

"I'm sure everyone would listen to you even if you weren't scary."

"Why?"

"Because of your intensity. You're so intense."

She scrunched up her eyebrows and I felt nauseous again. My face was burning, but I couldn't feel my feet from the cold. Looking down at them, I realized they were bare. Why were my feet bare?

"What's your name?" I tried again.

"You don't have the right to know."

"Why?" I sounded like a four-year-old trying to find out why I wasn't getting the lollipop I wanted.

"A name is a very personal thing."

"No, it's not."

"Go to bed, Perseus."

"Percy."

"What?"

"My name is Percy."

She leaned against the railing and cocked her head to the side. "Percy Jackson?"

I nodded, grinning. "Yeah."

We stood in silence for a bit. Her tears had dried, but I didn't care about the reason why she had been crying. That was personal. I just wanted her name.

"I should probably head to bed," I said.

"Yeah. Probably," she sounded almost sad. My heart jumped.

"I could stay."

"I can manage on my own."

"I know."

She smiled. "Goodnight."

I took a step and although the world swayed, I managed to take another. "'Night."

Three steps later, I heard my name being called. "Percy?"

"Mm?"

"It's Annabeth."

"What?"

"My name."

I looked at her in silence. "Annabeth. It suits you."

She sent me a remorseful smile. I was still seeing her face in my mind, as I practically tumbled down the stairs to Corridor 30.