Disclaimer: I still don't own PJO… *cries in a corner*

Revised: September 4th, 2015

Chapter IX

Ogygia

13 July 1812

36 Days

Mystery P.O.V

I watch as the king makes his way up the shore hesitantly. Just yesterday he found out his youngest children were taken and he has not even gotten his oldest back yet.

King Frederick stops on a rock and sits down, waiting for me to arrive. I take in his appearance: he is wearing brown trousers and a tan shirt with normal brown shoes. He is dressed in disguise as a commoner. I snort as I step out of the thick bushes. He rises when he sees me and his eyes widen.

"Octavian Simmons," he states. I nod and smile at him. I am wearing a purple toga like the Romans used to; after all, I am an augur. I'm practically royalty already and after today, I will be king.

"Yes, Your Majesty," I bow to him, but only slightly. Soon he will be bowing to me. "I know where Princess Annabeth and Prince Malcolm are, but I do not know the whereabouts of Prince Matthew and Prince Robert, Sire."

"So your captain did not take them?" he inquires.

"That I do not know," I examine my fingernails, feigning boredom. This angers King Frederick and I smirk on the inside. So far, so good. "Sire, I am a spy for my captain and I report back to his informant monthly; she is the one who relays information between us. I have heard no news of the captain taking the young princes, Sire, and if I did, I would have alerted you at once."

"Yet you did not alert me that my son and daughter would be taken," King Frederick raises an eyebrow.

"Ah, for that I apologize, Sire," I lower my eyes and bow my head slightly, pretending to be regretful. "I was not planning on helping your children escape, Your Majesty. It was only after they were taken that I made the decision. You see, this warrants the death penalty if my captain finds out, so I am risking everything to help you."

"And why do you want to help?" King Frederick raises one perfect eyebrow.

"Why, for a reward of course," I reply. If he was angry before, he is now irate.

"My children's safety means nothing to you?" he demands. Too late I realize my mistake, but I cannot back down now. I think quickly before coming up with a new plan: blackmail.

"No, Your Majesty," I reply, smirking. "I could tell my captain to kill them at any time because you will not pay the ransom."

"I do not believe you," he replies coldly. "You stated that you do not speak with your captain in person, but through an informant. He would not kill my children because you say so; I can see your bluff in your eyes. I believe this meeting is over with." And with that, he spins and stalks away, leaving me to wonder where my perfect plan went wrong…

Princess Andromeda

Same Day

Annabeth P.O.V

I am sitting with Malcolm in our cell, as usual, when Captain Perseus comes down. He looks terrible; his hair is messy and he looks as if he has not gotten any sleep. He glances over us, taking in our appearances.

"What do you want?" sneers Malcolm. He stands in front of me as if he can protect me. I am a better fighter than him and I know neither of us are a match for the captain.

"I mean you no harm," the captain begins. Malcolm snorts and I smack him upside the head. "I have my reasons for taking you, and now you must trust me." He sounds desperate and something inside me tells me I can trust him.

"What happened?" I ask before I can stop. Stop acting like you trust him Annabeth, I scold myself. Even though you do trust him, he does not need to know that.

"Come with me, please." He opens the door and we follow him up the deck to a room filled with people. He introduces his crew, the ones we have seen before, as I sit next to Piper. Malcolm sits next to Chris as we analyze the crew. They all look nervous and fidget in their seats. I see Will sitting next to the Latino, Leo, and he offers me a small smile.

"Percy," a tall, slim girl with frizzy red hair, freckled face, and green eyes enters the room and I note that she is the one who spoke. She is wearing a light blue dress and is followed by another girl. This girl looks like a goddess with her caramel hair, smelling of cinnamon, braided over one shoulder, dark almond-shaped eyes and a milky face that appears to be timeless. She is wearing a white dress that mirrors the one the redhead is wearing. The goddess looking girl sits next to the Latino, Leo, and pecks his cheek. The redhead stays in the doorway and appears nervous.

"Princess Annabeth, Prince Malcolm, these are Rachel and Calypso." Captain Percy introduces us before turning to the redhead. "What is the matter, Rachel?"

"I know who took them," the redhead replies.

"Sit down before you faint," the Italian girl, Bianca, orders. Rachel does as she suggests and Will hands her a cup of tea.

"We have not informed them yet," the captain tells Rachel before turning to us. "Princess Annabeth, Prince Malcolm, your younger brothers have been taken."

"What are you talking about?" Malcolm asks.

"Someone kidnapped Bobby and Matthew," Clarisse explains gently. Clarisse is rarely gentle, and when she is it's because she knows Malcolm or I are going to be or already are distraught.

"We believe that they were taken because we took you guys and they believed it would be easy to take your younger brothers," Thalia explains.

"That is not true," the other girl speaks up. She holds Leo's hand and bites her lip.

"Calypso, what happened?" Will inquires gently. I am surprised that he speaks up, but everyone else acts like its normal. I thought he was like a servant to them, but it appears he is more like family. Bianca is sitting next to him and has a hand on his shoulder, keeping him calm; he also seems relaxed now that he isn't in trouble.

"Kronos," the goddess like girl states simply. Captain Perseus swears under his breath and Thalia smacks the back of his head.

"Language Perseus," she warns.

"Who is Kronos?" I question.

"Do you know the story of how Olympus, Olympia, Atlantis, and Tartarus were formed?" Jason asks.

"Yes," I reply immediately. I love learning and this story always interested me. "The four kingdoms used to be one: Titania. However, when King Ouranos died one hundred years ago, he chose four successors. Those four successors created the four kingdoms and now, King Zeus, King Hades, King Poseidon, and my father, King Frederick, rule."

"Aye," Nico confirms. "But there is more to the story."

"King Ouranos actually had a son named Kronos who wished to take over Titania," Will explains. "However, Kronos was cruel and King Ouranos felt he would not be a fit ruler, so he instead chose successors."

"Kronos was livid," Hazel continues. "He formed an army who hide under the guise of pirates and wait for the right time to strike and take over."

"And this guy took our brothers?" I question. "But this was one hundred years ago; surely he must be dead." Captain Perseus shakes his head as Will answers.

"There are rumors that Kronos found a way to gain immortality," he explains.

"Kronos is dangerous," Rachel says simply. "He kills everyone he captures. He may kill your brothers."

"We have to do something," I insist.

"And we will," Bianca assures me. "That is why we brought you up here. You see, we only kidnapped you so we could find our family."

"What do you mean?" Malcolm asks her.

"Bianca, Thalia, Nico, Jason, and I were abandoned at an orphanage in Olympia," Captain Perseus answers. "You know that part; we formed our family and became pirates. However, most people wrongly assume we did that out of anger."

"No one trusts orphans," Frank speaks up. "They do not wish to hire us. Pirates earn more money than common workers. We are not just pirates."

"I do not know who my mother is," Will continues. "Neither does Katie or Calypso. Leo, Frank, and Hazel do not know who their fathers are. Captain, Jason, Bianca, Thalia, Nico, Grover, Travis, and Connor do not know either of their parents. The reason they became pirates, the reason I stay on the crew even though they have told me I may leave at any time, is because this money is going to hiring detectives to find out who our parents are."

"The money for the ransom," I say slowly after a few minutes of silence passes. "It is going towards this."

"We thought you may know something," Leo confesses. "We all wish to know who our parents are and we were hoping you may know something. It was ridiculous, but we were desperate. We all want closure."

"And Bobby and Matthew?" Malcolm asks.

"We know how important family is," Bianca replies. "We would all die for each other if we had to; we are family. None of us have anyone else."

"We have a proposition," Captain Perseus speaks up. "We will help you find your brothers if you become part of our crew. We need help if we are going to get them back; Kronos is ruthless, crazy, and dangerous. We will train you to fight and when you get your brothers back, we will let you go if you promise not to rat us out. We will not even take the ransom."

Malcolm and I look at each other and have a silent argument. Something is telling me to trust them; it is telling me that they will help. Malcolm does not trust them; I can see it in his eyes. After five minutes of silent arguing, he relents.

"Okay," I tell them. "We agree."

"Great," Bianca smiles. "Will, can you get some parchment, a quill pen, and ink?"

"There is more we have to tell you," Rachel speaks up as Will hurries to get what Bianca wants.

"What do you mean?" Captain Perseus frowns.

"Tyson told you about the note he found, correct?" When they all nod, she continues. "Apparently Octavian wrote it and met with King Frederick this morning. However, he was not acting alone. Tyson found this under his pillow." Rachel holds up a note which Captain Perseus takes. He frowns, squints, and frowns some more.

"Stupid cursive," he mutters. "Can someone else read it?"

"Did you say cursive?" Travis, or Connor I cannot tell them apart, asks.

"Yeah," at my questioning look, Captain Perseus elaborates. "We all have trouble reading and cursive makes it worse." Grover takes the note and reads it aloud:

Octavian,

I trust the meeting went well. Lord Kronos took Robert and Matthew tonight and soon we will be more powerful than ever. Queen Helen freaked out when she found out someone took her "precious babies" and fainted right there. King Zeus and Father are getting worried. Keep up the good work and keep me informed.

Lucas Castellan

"Luke?" I exclaim.

"He is your fiancé, correct?" Thalia asks.

"He is," I confirm.

"Apparently Lucas and Octavian are working for Kronos to help take over the four kingdoms," Calypso says. "I saw Octavian trying to blackmail King Frederick into giving him money to help his children escape on Ogygia; luckily His Majesty called him out on his bluff and left."

"Luke helped them kidnap my brothers?" I whisper.

"It will be okay Annabeth," Piper wraps an arm around my shoulders and I bury my face in her shoulder, crying silently.

"We will find them," Nico announces confidently. I truly hope the pirates know what they are doing. Will returns a minute later and gives me the parchment, quill, and ink at Bianca's request.

"Write a letter to your father," Thalia orders. I am too upset to argue that I am a princess and do not take orders from anyone and, instead, numbly do as she says. "Tell him you and Prince Malcolm are okay and that you are helping us find Prince Robert and Prince Matthew. Let them know we need no ransom and we will take care of you. Make sure you give them no clues as to who we are. Lucas already knows, but we believe he will not tell anyone" I nod and begin:

Father,

Malcolm and I are fine. The people who took us have treated us kindly and have made sure we are healthy. They know who took Bobby and Matthew, Father, and we are going with them to rescue them. We are safe, I promise, but we need to do this.

We made an agreement with the people who took us: they will help us rescue Bobby and Matthew and not demand a ransom as long as we obey their orders. We are doing this for Bobby and Matthew, Father. They are our little brothers and we must help them.

On other news, how is Helen doing? I do hope she is not too stressed over Bobby and Matthew's kidnapping. We will find them Father, but I beg of you to not pay any ransom demands for them. We have reason to believe the person who took them is looking to take over Olympus, Olympia, Tartarus, and Atlantis. Do not pay any ransom for them. Please Father.

Clarisse, Chris, Beckendorf, and Piper are taking very good care of us. Please let Silena know that Beckendorf is fine; she must be frantic. They have kept us safe and they are safe as well. I must go. We leave tomorrow to search for Bobby and Matthew and I must rest before the stressful day tomorrow.

I love you Father and I pray you do not worry too much,

Annabeth

"There you go," I hand the letter to Bianca who places it into an envelope and gives it to Will with orders to place it in the mail pile.

"Grover, come with me so we can set our course," Captain Perseus orders as he stands up. "Everyone else, take the time to rest. Will, set up a room for Princess Annabeth and Prince Malcolm near mine." We all nod and then leave. I head off to explore, needing time to myself.

Later that night

I stand on the deck by the railing looking at the stars. It is dark out and I can see my favorite constellations: Andromeda, Cancer, Hercules, and many more; my all time favorite is either Pegasus or Perseus.

"A penny for your thoughts?" I turn as Captain Perseus joins me on the railing.

"I doubt you wish to hear my thoughts," I murmur. I don't mean for the captain to hear me, but he obviously does as he hums in agreement.

"We will find your brothers, Princess," Captain Perseus promises.

"Annabeth," I blush at my outburst. "Please, call me Annabeth."

"Only if you call me Percy," he bargains. I stop and consider it; Percy isn't like I thought he would be. He's not arrogant and he clearly values his family.

"Percy," I test. "Thank you, Percy. I know it must not be easy to help us."

"Family is first," he answers. "Do you know about fatal flaws?"

"Yes," I nod. "In the stories, a fatal flaw is what will eventually kill off the hero. My fatal flaw is hubris, or pride."

"Well mine is loyalty," he tells me. "I will do anything for my family, my friends, or anyone else who is helping family. I never met my mom or dad and I do not know if they are alive or not; I value family because I never really had one."

"That is a nice fatal flaw to have," I say shyly. Percy turns to me and I look up at his mesmerizing sea green eyes. I never realized just how handsome the pirate captain is. He is near six feet tall, is tan, muscular, and has the most amazing eyes and jet black hair.

"Yeah, well, it has gotten me in loads of trouble with Thalia and Bianca when I risk my life to protect someone else," he chuckles. I laugh as well and we stand there for a moment, just relishing in each other's company.

"I suppose I best get to bed," I say softly, not wanting to leave. "Malcolm will have my head if I do not get enough sleep."

"May I accompany you?" Percy questions.

"Of course you may," I take his proffered arm and he walks with me down to the cabin that Will prepared for us earlier.

"Good night Annabeth," Percy says.

"Good night Percy," I tell him. We stand there for a few minutes before he turns to leave.

"Wait, Percy!" I call. He turns to me, an eyebrow raised questioningly. I take a step towards him, take a deep breath, and kiss him.