New, longer chapter. Why? because you guys are awesome! 27 reviews in 2 chapters... wow. I never thought i would get that when i posted this story.

I've decided to fall into a regular updating schedule for all three of my stories— i'll try to update all of them on saturday or sunday. What do you guys think? is one week too long to wait?

There are certain things a man should not be able to do. For example, a man should not be able to make a ladies heart leap with a single smile. A man should not be able to command a whole ship with ease. A man should not be able to control the elements.

And a man definitely should not be able to win a sword fight armed with a shield.

Percy hit the deck, staring at he with shock as I raised Riptide, prepared the deal the final blow that would end his life. His sea-green eyes looked into mine, and I felt a pang of remorse for the fearless captain. Then it was gone as I remembered how, mere moments ago, he had stood there and allowed his men to fire upon my ship.

I brought the sword down in a stab, aiming for his neck. Faster than my eye could follow, he rolled to the side, drew his shield and covered himself fully with it. Riptide bounced right off and embedded itself in the wooden deck of the ship. Percy swept out with his arm, catching the sword with the edge of his shield and twisting sharply. Riptide went sailing from my grasp and landed in the sea a hundred yards off the boat with a splash.

And then the rest of the crew were upon us. Jason was yelling orders at the top of his voice:

"Get him to the water! Bring down the sails! Stop the ship! Anyone who touches the girl will be strap to the rocks of Tallite and whipped to death!" He drew his sword and held it to my throat, barely contained anger threatening to break through on his face. Two guys— the dark-haired fighter and another, larger boy grabbed the limp body of Percy, lifted him up and threw him over the side of the ship.

I had to contain a laugh. I had nearly killed him, and they had finished the job for me! What kind of crew did that to their Captain? No matter how good of a swimmer Percy was, there was no way that he could survive in the water, weighed down by his armor and slowly dying from his wound.

Jason pressed his sword a little bit more, and I felt a trickle of blood snake down my throat. No doubt heeding Percy's orders, the pirates hadn't killed me yet, although several looked like they wanted to. I had at least twenty arrows pointed at me, along with an assortment of spears, pikes and other lethal weapons, not to mention Jason's sword at my throat. Fear shot through me, although I forced a calm, measured expression onto my face and was pleased as the pirates looked shocked at the fact I apparently had no fear at the moment.

"When I was six," Jason snarled, his voice carefully measures, each word lashing out at me like a whip. "I was commissioned under the command of the youngest, most promising Captain that the Greek world had ever seen, save great heroes like Hercules. When I joined that ship, I was bound by a sworn oath to the gods that I would obey my captain, no matter what. Percy is my captain now, and for some reason he has seen it fit to keep you alive. That oath is the one thing keeping you alive at this moment."

That gave me confidence; the fact that they couldn't kill me. I was sure in my abilities to escape from this situation, maybe not free but alive. Then a thought struck me: if Percy died, Jason would be freed from his oath and I would probably be dead in a second.

I should have thought this through more. I had just killed the captain, who was the one person keeping me alive right now. I mentally cursed my stupidity; I was suppose to be smart— the youngest ever graduate from Sea School, not some fast-acting dimwit.

It was fury, I rationalized. Fury from the sight of my ship being fired upon that had made me attack Percy. And then his crew had thrown him overboard… that I couldn't rationalize. I had no clue why they would do something like that, instead of pressing down on the wound to stem the bleeding, clean it out with alcohol and then stitching it up like I would have done. Obviously, they weren't capable of thinking like that.

"How much longer?" Nico asked from beside Jason. There was fury in his eyes, but there was also… amusement? Boredom? Something that definitely did not belong in someone's eyes after their captain got stabbed.

"A minute, maybe," Jason said. "He's getting kinda lazy these days, you know." I wondered what they were talking about. Suddenly, there was the sound of rushing water and the ship rocked a bit. I was scared Jason would accidentally stab me with his sword, but he was completely in control of the weapon. He had probably been wielding it his whole life.

The rushing water increased in volume and suddenly Percy was there, sailing over the railing the ship. He looked fine— wound healed, a bright gleam in his eyes and his shield slung over his back. Even now he had the nerve to look handsome.

I was completely shocked. He had survived… how? Just the drop should have killed him on impact, not to mention the sharks and waves and his wound. But here he was, looking as good as new. Better, even, as if the water had given him a make-over. My mind was scrambling for possible explanations, but I could come up with none, and I didn't like it. I hated being in the dark.

"Lower your sword, Jason," Percy commanded, coming to a smooth landing on the deck and drawing his shield. Jason looked mutinous, like he may attack Percy at any second, but he reluctantly pointed his weapon at the floor.

"She stabbed you, Perce," he grumbled. I took in this information; his closest friends called him Perce. He had close friends, something I could definitely use against him.

"How many times must I say this?" Percy sighed. "Look at her eyes."

"It doesn't mean for sure," Jason argued, and once again I was held in the dark.

"Yes, but do you really want to risk it if it does?" Percy retorted, and Jason pondered the question. Then with a smooth flick of his wrist, he brought the sword up, grazed my cheek just enough to draw blood and sheathed the weapon. Again, I was awed by their effortless control of weapons, and I could see why they were as lethal as they were. Percy rolled his eyes at Jason's actions but said nothing, instead holding out his arm.

"My sword," he told me, staring me right in the eye. There were several pirates closer to Riptide than I, but I could see why he was doing this. He was asserting his dominance over me by making me pick it up.

With blazing eyes, I reluctantly knelt down to pick up the sword, grasping it by the hilt and standing up again. I glowered at Percy, who held my gaze effortlessly— not scared, not even fazed. He certainly was something, I reflected as I handed him Riptide. He grabbed the blade, stepped back and flipped it, catching it by the hilt. I couldn't even register what happened next— a quick thrust, a lightning fast flick of the wrist and suddenly I was on my back with Riptide at my throat once again. Percy was looming over me, and he was in warrior form now. I held his gaze though, chin held high.

"You will explain your actions," he said slowly, pronunciation every word slowly and meaningfully. I rolled my eyes at the tone.

"I don't have to," I challenged. "You said yourself, you can't kill me." Percy's face twisted unpleasantly, and I smiled at my small victory.

"I never said that," he defended, and I sighed internally. From the corner of my eye I saw the rest of the pirates relaxing slightly— drawstrings let slack, swords lowered, spears dropping from their firing position.

"It was implied," I shot back, smirking. "Plus, you still haven't killed me even after I stabbed you, which suggests something is holding you back." Percy was at least slightly confused by this logic, but his mind went to probably the only concept he had a firm grasp on: violence.

"Take her to the brig," he ordered, sheathing Riptide. "Give her a loaf of bread and a bottle of water and make her stay the night, see if she still has her attitude the next morning."

Two boys stepped forwards— the bigger one from the forge and a slightly smaller boy, with one larger arm that suggested he was an archer. The grabbed me roughly by the arms and the archer kicked out my legs. I would have fallen had they not been holding me in place. As it was, I got dragged away, face burning from the humiliation while I tried to find my footing on the ground. Percy smirked at me the whole time, his eyes glinting with amusement and his smile taunting me: Bet you want to know how I survived, huh?

Brotherband

I was sitting in the brig— a square wooden room with no windows, two flickering torches that did almost nothing to illuminate the small space but filled the area with choking smoke, bronze bars and no place to sit on. So I sat on the floor.

I had been in the same position for a couple of hours now— back against the wall, knees tucked up to my chest, arms wrapped around my knees, squinting down the dark hallways— when a girl appeared on the stairs. She lit the first torch and the fire seemed to race along the walls and the roof in a controlled inferno, lighting up the hallways but creating almost now heat. I was suitably amazed by the engineering and made a mental note to fins out how it worked.

The girl smiled at me as she came closer. She had curly brown hair and gold eyes, dressed in battle armor with a huge Spatha over her back. She was on the small end and the weapon was almost four feet long, so I had to wonder how she used it. On the other hand, she carried it with such confidence I reminded myself not to underestimate her should we meet on a battlefield.

"I'm Hazel," she said, reaching the front of my cell and sinking down onto the ground so we could be level. I had the urge to stand up, just annoy her, but I held it back. Based on the way Percy had treated me so far, they at least deserved some form of civilized manners.

"Annabeth," I replied shortly, studying the sword on her back. It was a two-handed weapon, opposite of the one-handed swords most of the Greeks carried. It was clearly used for mounted fighting— the speed of a horse added with the weight of the sword would make it almost impossible to block.

Well… yesterday, I would have thought there was no warrior in the world that would be able to stop a strike like that. Now, having watched Percy wreak hell on my ship, I wasn't so convinced. It wasn't just his fighting style, it was how easily he used his weapons in battle. His blocks, his swings, his jabs— all of them were different to anything I had ever seen before.

"You don't need to look so grumpy," Hazel smiled, her gold eyes glinting in the light. "Percy may have locked you in the brig, but hey. You did stab him."

"For a good reason," I countered. "He fired upon my ship."

"Just like you would have done had our positions be reversed," Hazel smiled. "Percy thought of that trap, originally— setting up the ship to make us look like a Galleon, and then shooting you guys once you were in range."

"It was a cowardly trick," I spat, mildly impressed at the trap. They must have filled the ship up with air— no easy task itself. And then they could have to get rid of all the excess air to bring their ship down into battle position. Again, some very impressive mechanics on this ship.

"You say that," Hazel shot back. "And yet you used a pistol to kill an honorable Captain." She had a point, but I wasn't going to tell her that. Instead I sputtered out something about honor in survival, to which Hazel just smiled.

"Percy's not all that bad," she finally said, getting back to our original line of conversation. "He can be a bit dumb sometimes, but he really is sharp— especially when it comes to battle. And trust me, you do not wanna see him angry."

"I think it's too late for that," I answered glumly. "He was pretty mad when I stabbed him." Hazels eyes clouded, but she didn't change the subject.

"That was probably nothing," she told me gravely. "The time that they kidnapped Nico… I never saw someone stand up to a god like that."

"He fought a god and won?" I asked, awed. Hazel shook her head.

"He lost, badly," Hazel smiled ruefully. "But it gave us chance to get Nico back and escape, so it was still brave of him."

"What god?" I asked, curious. I had a mild knowledge on the Greek gods— Zeus and Athena, for example, but I was still in the dark for a lot of it. If I was going to beat the gods, I would need to know as much as I could.

"Morpheus, god of sleep," Hazel answered. "He had to fight in the water to stop from falling asleep, but Morpheus overcame him in the end. Still, it was pretty brave of him."

"You speak of the water as if it gives him strength," I stated, puzzled. Hazel adjusted her position and smiled, gold eyes twinkling. She seemed far too friendly for one of the pirates, and I wondered if this was some kind of trick. Get me to like them, and then kill me? But that didn't make sense. Why not just kill me now? Why go through the trouble of letting me drop my guard. I had seen Percy in battle and knew that if he wanted me dead, I wouldn't last a second against him.

"Percy's a son of Poseidon, god of the sea," Hazel answered me with a completely straight face. I had to hold back my laughter; the idea was completely ridiculous. A god having an affair with a mortal woman?

"And you believe that?" I retorted. Hazel looked me straight in the eye and there was no humor there, just dead seriousness, as if me understanding the gods existed was vitally important.

"Look at earlier today," Hazel countered. "You stabbed him in the stomach, a blow that should have been lethal. He was thrown into the water from the upper decks— a fall that should have been lethal as well— and minutes later he popped up good as new with no wound on his stomach and no signs of exhaustion on his face." I opened my mouth to argue but found I couldn't. My mind raced for an explanation, but for the fist time in my life, I could find none. There was simply no way that something like that could happen… unless magic was someone involved.

But God would never allow that. Only he was privileged to wield supreme powers, for only he was dutiful to use them responsibly. The thought of a mere mortal possessing such powers was simply ridiculous.

"I'll talk to Percy about letting you out of here," Hazel said, kicking the bars with her foot. "He's still a bit mad, but I can probably get through to him." She stood up to leave, but I called her back, a question at the edge of my mind.

"Yes, Annabeth?"

"You say that the gods exist…" I asked hesitantly. Hazel looked at me expectantly. "Who's your parent?"

"Hades, god of the underworld," Hazel smiled happily, and I found it hard to believe she was related to such a dark figure. The she turned and walked out, and I was left with my thoughts, a blank wooden wall and two slowly flickering torches.

Brotherband

I woke up the next morning with a stiff back and cramped muscles from sleeping curled up on the floor. Nico, the dark haired, pale skinned boy, was standing outside my cell. He had a small black shield slung over his back and was dressed in black and gold armor, with a pitch black blade dangling by his side. Did they always walk around in armor, or was something happening?

"Percy wants you on deck," he said shortly, pulling a set of keys off his belt and unlocking the brig. "You may be under his protection, but be warned. If you take any measures to harm the crew, you'll know the full wrath of Hades." The shadows bent at his will, covering the stairway and crawling along to floor towards me. It was freaky, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of showing him, so I walked out with my head held high.

When I reached the deck I saw a scene of utter chaos. Greeks were scrambling around, loading the ballista's and attaching armor. They all moved with such quick precision I had the feeling they had done this many times before.

On the horizon I could see another ship, and an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.

Percy was striding through the chaos, Greeks parting before him. He too was dressed for battle with armor, a shield, two spears and Riptide in his hand. He was calling out orders and a small, brown-skinned boy followed him, repeating them with a cone that projected his voice:

"Lower the sails!"

"LOWER THE SAILS!"

"Arm the ballista's!"

"ARM THE BALLISTA'S!"

"Archers at the ready!"

"ARCHERS AT THE READY!"

"Poseidon, to me!"

"POSEIDON, TO HIM!"

"Leo's an idiot!"

"LEO'S AN ID— I hate you, Perce."

And so on. The Greeks followed his every command, pairs of two preparing the massive ballista's for battle. Roughly thirty archers lined up on the port side, facing the new ship with their bows loaded. Percy saw me and started over, his silver armor glinting in the sunlight.

"So glad you could join us," he smiled. "I'm about to show you what happens when someone challenges the Greeks."

"That's a model five battle cruiser," I sneered, pointing out to the ship. I could tell by the four sails and the slim, sleek build. "They carry twenty cannons on each side. You don't stand a chance."

"And that's why your men lost," Percy smiled, before wheeling around and continuing to yell orders. After a moment, he turned back to Nico. "Go, cousin. Get her a shield and sword and stand by her the battle. Anyone kills her, bring them to me and pray for forgiveness."

Nico nodded gravely and raced off below decks. Percy stood by my side, sword in one had and helmet in the other. He gazed off to the other ship, his eyes narrowed in judgment. I tried not to notice how handsome and regal he looked, ready for battle with his armor on and the sea breeze blowing his hair to the side. I could believe he was a descendant from a Greek god— he was handsome enough to be one.

Stop that, I chided myself, blocking the thoughts. I couldn't afford to think like that, not when I needed to escape these pirates.

We neared the other ship, although we were still out of cannon range. I had no doubt as soon as we were within it, the Argo would be blasted to bits. And Percy said something that completely shocked me:

"Lower the ballista's! Prepare to fire!"

The order went up amongst the Greeks to a roar of approval. Swords were slammed against shields and spears were pounded against the deck as Nico raced back up to me, holding a medium-size round shield and short sword.

"You probably won't have to use it," he told me. "A thrust works best with that kind of sword, and the shield can cover your whole body in the event the enemy fires back."

I snorted, knowing that this shield would do nothing against a bullet, but put it on anyways. I gripped the sword and experimentally jabbed with it. Percy nodded in approval. Trying to take him by surprise, I slashed at him in a sword arc. Laughing, he brought his shield up to block before jabbing with Riptide. Barely knowing what I was doing, I brought my own shield up, deflected the blow and stepped forwards, thrusting at his chin. He bent back, dodging the blow and grabbing my arm as it came up. He was grinning.

"Not bad," he smiled. "You're a natural. Just don't hesitate and you'll be fine." I slung my shield over my back and crossed my arms.

"Those are my men out there," I argued. "You can't ask me to kill them." Percy shrugged.

"Suit yourself." Then he turned back towards the ship, which was nearly in cannon range, took a huge breath and bellowed a single word. "FIRE!"

A cheer went up as the ballista's fired, giant spears screaming across the water. Very few of them connected, but those that did had devastating consequences. They ripped through the hull near the waterline, causing the ship to tilt dangerously. And then I realized that only half the ballista's had fired.

"FIRE!"

The other half ripped of their shots with better aim this time. No sooner were they in the air did the other ship fire. I heard the boom of cannons and was about to tell Percy, but he was already on the deck with his shield raised above his head. I followed in suit, covering myself fully as the cannon balls connected, tearing through the hull of the ship but then stopping abruptly. A metal clang filled the air, and the boy who had been following Percy— Leo, I think— punched the air victoriously.

"Metal hull, baby!" he said joyfully. Percy smirked at him, before raising his sword, pointed at the other ship.

"ARCHERS!"

The air was filled with twangs as the thirty archers fired, reloaded, fired, reloaded and fired a third time within five seconds. Ninety arrows whistled through the air towards the ship with deadly accuracy. I felt sick as I watched men drop, but I knew the main show was yet to come. We were nearing the other ship quickly. I could now make out individual faces of terror and determination, guns raised.

And that one was aimed straight at my face.

The man fired and I reached for my shield, but I was too slow. I could almost see the bullet racing through the air, the little lead ball that would be my death. I couldn't believe this is how it would end— on a pirate ship, killed by my own men. It was almost ironic.

And then Percy was there, leaping into the air and bringing his shield down to block. The bullet pinged off, barely leaving a dent in his shield. He landed, drew one of his spears and hurled— an impossible throw. It sailed through the air and struck the man who had shot at me right between the eyes.

By that time, we were pulling up next to the ship. Bullets flew through the air and the Greeks hit the deck, covering themselves with their shields. Percy grinned at me and pulled on his helmet, covering everything but his eyes and cheeks. Then he grabbed Riptide, rolled to the side, stood up and charged.

It was like things were happening in slow motion. I saw Archers pop up at random times to shoot. I was aware of Jason and Nico charging as well. I saw Thalia fire three shots at once with her bow, hitting three men in the eyes. I saw all this, but my attention was focused on Percy, who was running across the deck at full speed. I was scared for him, because despite his skill, he was up against guns, and there was no way he could win.

He bolted across the wood deck, dodging bullets and yelling as he went. Someone fired and he brought his shield up, deflecting the bullet without missing a stride and vaulting the five-foot gap between the two ships as if it were nothing.

The man wants to die.

And then he was on the other ship, swinging his sword and causing utter havoc. With planned timing, the rest of the Greeks got up and charged, archers firing one last time before drawing swords and joining the charge. I stayed behind my shield, not trusting to run across the deck when the enemy still had guns. Percy was in the middle of the battle, a ring of seven or eight sword-wielding men surrounding him as he fought. He became a blur of silver and gold as he ducked, slashed and whirled, each clean flick of his sword ending another mans life.

When I realized no one was firing a gun anymore, I drew my sword, took a deep breath and rushed to the other boat, leaping over the gap and landing crouched. A privateer rushed me and I brought my sword up to block, before taking Percy's advice and jabbing out quickly, catching the man in the gut. He fell and I stared in horror as blood pooled on the deck around he, gathering at my shoes and running along cracks in the wood. I had just killed a man— run him through with my own sword. One of my own men, someone I may have sailed with and fought alongside had my life taken a different course. I would have happily stayed there all day, staring at the dead man in horror and thinking of ways to bring him back to life, but I quickly learned there was no time for that in battle. Another privateer attacked me with a thin sword, and I barely had time to block with my shield. In doing so, however, I stumbled back and fell flat on the ground. I scrambled to the feet, but lost my sword.

Guess who saved my life?

"Duck!" a voice yelled. Milliseconds later, a silver shield sailed over my head and caught my assailant in the chest, knocking him flat. Right after that, Riptide flashed through the air and embedded itself in the mans chest. I gawked as Percy leapt over me, grabbing Riptide and joining the fight, but this time without a shield. I was worried for him, but there was no reason to; without his shield, he was quicker on his feet and seemed to blur as he fought. I scrambled to my feet and picked up my sword, grasping my shield and preparing for an opponent. It seemed that they were becoming fewer and fewer though, as the pirates ran rampage on the ship. Percy was fighting two men at once, although he was grinning as he did it, one hand in his pocket and the other twirling Riptide lazily as he leaned against the sail. Jason and Nico had double-teamed a massive fighter that was using a massive battleaxe and even bigger sword to fight the two. Jason was fighting with a spear and a shield, where Nico was using his sword, shield gone.

And then disaster struck. The man swung his giant axe at Jason, who raised his shield to block, but the momentum of the swing sent Jason to his knees with the blade of the axe stuck three inches deep into his shield. He quickly scrambled away, slipping his arm out of the shield and turning to face his opponent, but it was too late. The hilt of the axe slammed into him, and Jason crumpled, leaving Nico by himself. The smaller boy seemed scared, but he made one last desperate lunge, a quick flick on his smaller sword someone blocking the mans massive one. He crashed into the giant but seemed to bounce off, stumbling back and losing his balance. His head hit the deck, and he was out cold.

Percy saw this and screamed. In a lightning-quick maneuver, he finished off both of his enemies and raced towards the man, who was standing in an execution stance over Nico, sword raised.

"Percy!" Thalia yelled, knocking out her own enemy and grabbing Percy's fallen shield. She tossed it through the air as the son of Poseidon looked up. It was a race against time; Percy was trying to reach the man before he could kill Nico. The whole ship seemed to catch their breath as the man started his downwards thrust that would run Nico through, no doubt penetrating his skull and killing the boy.

Percy won.

He grabbed his shield out of mid-air, dropped down and used the momentum of Thalia's throw to spin around, thrusting upwards and slamming the man in the chest. He went flying, crashing into the deck hard and losing his sword. Percy spun his shield, raised Riptide and started to advance.

Dun dun dun. I just love leaving cliff hangers :)

I wasn't really happy with that last part, but i wanted to get this chapter up for you guys. Nine pages! I think this is the longest chapter i've ever written for this website. Yay!

For anyone who reads Lost in Time, i should be updating today or tomorrow. Please, if you read that story, review it!

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