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Pirates – Chapter Ten (Bubbles)

Luke managed to rid everybody upstairs to eat on deck, except for Percy who stubbornly stayed.

"You got in a fight with Clarisse?" Luke asked angrily at me. He looked outraged and disappointed at the same time. "What were you thinking!"

"What do you mean?" Percy defended me. "Clarisse punched her in the face! It was Clarisse's fault, not Annabeth's!"

"Percy, stay out of it," Luke demanded, pushing him aside. "Why can't you obediently go up and eat like everyone else?"

"I want to stay with Annabeth," he crossed his arms, reminding me of a child, driving his attention to him.

They both had an icy aura around them as they glared dangerously at each other. Obviously, the conversation they had before wasn't very friendly.

"Look, can we just forget about it and make up a false story for them?" I hoped, breaking their staring contest. They now both paid absolute attention to me, which I found kind of intimidating.

I mean, icy blue eyes and curious green ones staring at you at the same time is pretty creepy if they stare hard enough.

Luke shook his head after a while. "They've already figured it out. I've told you to keep your identity hidden!"

"I'm sorry!" I apologized before Luke could continue with his scolding. "It was an accident!"

"The only solution is to have you and Clarisse walk the plank," Luke concluded without a second thought. It was as if this was his back-up plan if everyone found out my gender; as if he had this planned the entire time.

My eyes widened in horror. "W-walk the plank? Clarisse too?" I asked, obviously uncomfortable.

I mean, sure, Clarisse and I got into a fight. But that doesn't mean Clarisse deserves it too. And then there's another problem: my life line.

"Don't worry, Clarisse knows the basics of swimming; she's just not the best…" Luke muttered. "But she defied my orders to keep you hidden."

"Clarisse told you?" I asked again, surprised.

"No, I told Clarisse. She knew all this time?" Luke scowled. I shook my head furiously, and thankfully Luke didn't see through my lie.

"Plus, we're getting close to Olympus, so you'll be able to swim up to shore in no time," Luke says. I was about protest, but Luke stopped me. "No complaining. Just go with it. It's better than in the middle of nowhere. I'm going to go upstairs and tell everyone that you two will walk the plank, understood?"

Luke hurried off before I could reply after my shock, leaving me sickly pale. I quickly turned to Percy who stayed behind since he was best with waters. I needed help. "I can't swim," I said weakly.

Percy instantly figured out the problem. "You can't?" he panicked.

"Are you allowed to help me?" I asked hopefully.

"It's against the law to interfere with this kind of situation," Percy says. But when he saw my face drop, Percy quickly added, "But I hardly even follow them."

"You'll help?" I said.

Percy grinned and nodded. "But the problem is, I don't know what to do."

I bit my lip. "Consider this as your pop quiz for your powers," I said before I explained my plan to him.

Percy held my hands behind my back as if preventing me from running away; though it was pretty stupid since we're on a boat, and I can't swim.

As we walked up, everyone stared as if they were waiting for me. Clarisse was standing in front of the walking plank. She turned her head back to me with an apologetic face; I knew she didn't mean to punch me on purpose; she was blinded by anger at the moment. I nodded my head to her to show forgiveness.

She turned back and took a step onto the plank with a grimace.

"Faster!" Ethan hollered, and then faced me with a furious look. I peered over at his bandages. He must've been really pissed that I, a girl, knocked him unconscious.

Chris was too busy being worried about Clarisse to even notice me. Katie and Thalia looked down at their feet, not bearing to watch the scene.

When Clarisse was at the edge of the plank, she turned to our direction. "Ethan, you suck," were her last words before falling backwards, followed by a loud splash.

Percy pushed me forwards roughly for show. Nico had a bewildered look on his face as if he couldn't believe he had just asked a girl to help him with his problems before. I shrugged nonchalantly at him. Passing by Thalia and Katie, I smiled reassuringly at them. The Stolls pointed at me with a dumbstruck face; I glared at them. Beckendorf and Grover just looked somewhat nervous and worried about the situation whereas Pollux was a giggling freak. Chris was looking over the edge, trying to locate Clarisse; Luke gave me a stiff nod as if saying "Nice knowing you."

Taking a deep shaky breath, I walked onto the plank. Ethan, who thought it'd be funny, pushed Percy aside from behind me and shoved me forwards. I tripped but was able to grab hold of the edge of the plank, dangling in the air. Ethan stomped on my hands and twisted his foot, trying to get me to let go. I winced in pain.

"Hurry up and drop already. We don't need any of your stinking bad luck on this ship," Ethan said angrily.

I choked back a cry of pain. Luckily, Percy pulled Ethan back before my fingers lost grip. He gave me a comforting look, saying it was okay for me to drop telepathically.

Sucking in a breath, I tried to pry my fingers off, but I was too scared to. Do I doubt Percy? This is my life on the life here. I was afraid Percy couldn't do it. I looked down to see that Clarisse had already resurfaced. She looked as if she'd try to catch me if I fell. Looking back up at Percy, my eyes watered a bit; if Percy failed, what a stupid death this would be. He understood me and mouthed the words, "Trust me."

Problem was, do I?

However, I didn't need to let go of my hands willingly; Pollux's burp was so loud it frightened me, causing me release my hold. I tried my best to reach for the plank again, but it was too late; I was falling.

I shut my eyes tight, waiting for the impact. But, I didn't feel anything at all. The wind swishing past my ears stopped; everything went silent. Taking in the courage to open one of my eyes, I found myself underwater. An air bubble surrounded me protectively. I saw the ocean sand and fishes swimming past me.

It worked. How could I have doubted Percy in the first place?

I saw Clarisse's diving figure swimming towards me. The look on her face was priceless; she was so surprised that she almost released her breath she was holding.

I forced a smile to say I was okay. Apparently, Clarisse took it as a sign to invade my bubble. She swam as fast as she could, ramming her head towards it. All it did was let Clarisse through the bubble, and thankfully, it didn't pop.

"What the-?" Clarisse spluttered.

"It's fine," I said quickly. "Don't destroy this; you know I can't swim."

"H-How did you…?" she faltered.

"It wasn't me who did this," I murmured. Clarisse gave me a questioning look. "Never mind, I'll explain later."

We watched silently as the bubble began to move us towards land. Our direction shifted to a different direction than the shadow of the boat above us.

"The boat's going to the dock," Clarisse explained. "But where are we going?"

Instantly, an answer popped to my mind. "The beach…" I muttered. Percy and his mom used to live on a beach; maybe it reminds him of her. Plus, if we surfaced with the other pirates, they might try to kill us since we didn't drown. The beach was probably on the other side of the island; Percy must've thought it'd be safer there. I smiled to myself at how smart Percy could be at times.

We traveled through bubble for a while; probably about forty five minutes before the bubble began moving upwards, resurfacing. The bubble disappeared when our heads popped up, but the waves were helping us float and move towards the beach like I've predicted.

There weren't much people; just a few kids playing around with their parents, and a stranger trying to sell some sort of cloth.

"There are families here?" I asked.

"Yeah, most are ex-pirate; those who retired or walked the plank like us," Clarisse says. "Otherwise there are merchants or patrons. They settle here and create families."

I watched two kids playing making a sandcastle. I wished I spent my childhood life like that.

Nobody saw us when we touched land. I was dry, but Clarisse was still a bit soaked from her swim before. The stranger it seemed, was giving away free clothing; robes to be exact.

We approached the old man, deciding he was friendly. "Hello, young ladies," he greeted us. "Would you two like a free robe?"

He held up a ratty looking robe to our faces. It had a hood, perfect to hide our faces with.

Before Clarisse could refuse the offer, I spoke up. "Yes, thank you," I smiled, taking two. I handed Clarisse one as I shrugged one on.

The old man seemed happy. "I'm trying to promote my son's shop over at the market. He sells great equipment! You two could have a look at the accessories," he suggested.

"That'd be nice. I'll go over and check out the stuff he has when I have the time," I said politely. "Which shop is it?"

"It's the one by the fruit stand. I'm sure you'll recognize it immediately," he smiled.

I nodded. "We need to meet with someone here first; we'll go and look later, if that's fine with you."

"Yes, please!" the man nodded eagerly, glad that someone was going to his son's store. He trudged off, looking for other people.

Clarisse put on her robe. "Is this for disguising?" she asked.

"Yep, we need to hide from the others," I explained, missing my feathered hat. I put on the hood. "We don't want trouble."

Clarisse silently agreed and put her hood on too. "Who are we waiting for anyways?"

"Percy," I replied casually.

So yeah, short chapter. No edit. Happy Birthday, yeah?
Do you love the cliffie?

LOL, I had to end it there. Annnyways, I'm gonna make the brithday girl jealous by saying... I'M EATING A CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE. AH HA HAH. :D
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