PPOV

I stared blankly at my best friend.

"Leo," I laughed. "Good one. You had me there for a second. Anyway, be serious. Have you seen him?"

"Who. Is. Jason!" he exasperated.

"That's it. We're over, Leo. Say goodbye to your friend since birth."

Leo immediately stood up when he felt me move even the slightest bit. He held my wrist, pulled me to sit beside him, and said, "I honestly don't know who this Jason guy is, but I won't let him break our friendship."

"Then tell the truth," I insisted.

"I am!"

Since I knew Leo even before I learned how to speak, I had to admit that I believed him. I knew him when he lied or even attempted to steal my Dad's fancy food. But of course, I had to make sure.

"You really don't remember him?" I asked, clinging to the tiniest hope I could think or find. Leo was still frustrated.

"I don't know him. I'm not even sure if he actually exists."

"You sure?" I asked, trying to remove the quiver in my voice. "I'm sure you can breeze through your sturdy mind and remember him. You know, Jason, the brother of Thalia? Jason, our best friend? Jason, with a feisty friend named Reyna? Jason, the one we went to an errand for Uncle Hermes with?"

"That's funny," Leo said. "I thought we did that with George."

"Who is George?"

"The dude with red hair and brown eyes," he said.

My eyes narrowed. "Oh? Does he have a twin?"

"George? Heck, yeah, he does! His name is Fred!"

"Look," I said, frustrated that I played along. "I don't wanna talk about George or Fred - but he dies, by the way - and the last thing I need to know is that I asked a ghost out."

"But I'm telling the truth," he insisted. "I don't know who Jason is. More or less, I don't think he's even...real."

I couldn't respond. I mean, what should I say? If I continued pestering Leo that Jason was real, we'd end up in circles. I admit that I almost believed in what Leo said. Almost.

The minute I opened my mouth, a loud horn blew. I checked to see where it came from, but I couldn't find the source. Leo's face turned chalky white, and his mouth was wide open. Puzzled, I looked at him.

"Leo?"

He pointed towards the sky.

And there it was. A large, wooden boat was soaring above the clouds. Quite frankly it creeped me out. The words, 'Princess Andromeda' were etched on the sides. Before my mind could completely register what in the world was happening, a ladder made of ropes emerged from the boat and fell down so that it was now in front of me and Leo.

I staggered a few steps behind. No way was I getting into a whole lot of trouble. I've had enough for a lifetime.

Leo moved forward and stared at it closely. My hands immediately jerked to his shoulders to pull him away, when a girly, yet very ugly scream, filled the whole place. A stout, old man in a small and tight black shirt jumped down. I looked at him in disbelief. Not only did he have an ugly scream, but he was pretty ugly himself.

"Ahoy, ye mates!" said he. "Am Captain Ginnywiggles' sidekick, Smithers!"

Me and my best friend continued gaping.

The man named Smithers continued. "In need of recruits, don't ya see? Young people are good for the job!" When he says 'are' it sounds like 'aaaarrghhhhh.' I thought those expressions pirates had were just made up.

Oh, I have a joke! Why did the parents not allow their children to watch pirated movies?

Because it was rated 'aaaarrghhhhh'!

Anyway, I said, "Sorry, mister Smithers. We're not cut out for the job. Besides, we're not interested."

"Yer not," he said. He then looked at Leo. "But he is."

"Him? No, I'm very sure he won't go."

"Won't you, boy?" Smithers asked, smiling while raising his eyebrows. He had a number of missing teeth.

Leo kept quiet, observing the weird fellow.

"Yer gonna come. The boys always do," Smithers said.

"He won't," I snapped.

Smithers was like a broken record. "The boy's gonna come! The boy's gonna come! I'll board you up!"

"C'mon, Leo. We're leaving."

"The boy's gonna come!"

"Shut it!"

"The boy's gonna come! The boy's gonna come!"

"Fine."

I literally snapped. "Didn't you hear him, Smithers? Leo, we're going!"

Leo looked at me as if I was crazy. "I told him I'm coming."

"You didn't."

"I did."

It took me awhile to process this information. "Shut. Up."

Smithers cackled. He took hold of Leo's arm and tugged at him, pushing him forward as if to urge him to climb up the boat. I grabbed Leo's other arm and pulled him away from the old geezer. It was a useless fight of tug-o-war considering the fact that Smithers was actually the same weight as that of two fat men.

I thought I was going to win, when Leo shoved his arm away from me. I stood agape. "Leo...?"

"Let me go! You think I'm no good, don't you?" he growled.

"What? No - "

"Just let me!" he said. He walked away from me and towards the rope ladder. He began to climb.

Smithers followed behind. I watched - still in shock - as they almost reached the top. Leo boarded the boat, and for the first time in years, I saw that determined look on his face. I've never seen him so...happy.

"No use in stopping him," I muttered. "I obviously can't let him go unprotected."

With one last look at my surroundings, I grabbed the ladder and climbed as well

~0~

I thought the interior of the boot would be shabby. But apparently, the joke was on me. There were numerous rooms: dining area, basketball court, plenty of guest rooms, arcades, etc. What made each room special? Well, the dining room's floor, high ceilings, and walls were carpeted red, it was a long room with a long table, and there was a grande chandelier hanging above.

Not convinced?

How about all of the guest rooms resembling a five-star suite?

I practically cried at its magnificence. It was a good thing I followed Leo here. Totally worth my time. Leo ignored my tears of joy and walked past me to examine the room closely. He looked close to tears as well.

"Work starts on the morrow," a voice interrupted. It was Smithers. He was grinning at us, probably thinking, First time these kids have seen somethin' fancy. "But yer supposed teh wear 'em - yer uniforms - now."

"Uniforms?" I asked, getting the copy of Wuthering Heights from the bookshelf.

Smithers nodded. "It's in each of yer closets."

I watched as Leo opened it and inserted his hand inside. From my peripheral view, Smithers left the room. Leo then produced from the wardrobe a baggy, blue and white striped shirt with puffed sleeves. It came with a matching black pirate hat.

"I may not be a fashion expert," he said, crinkling his nose. "But this is something no one would dare be caught in."

"I don't know. It looks pretty cute."

Leo tossed the uniform to me and said, "Go change. I'll be in my suite."

With that, he left the room. I immediately stood up and stripped off the red dress. I felt sticky, so I decided to take a shower instead. Bubble bath, I mean. After my heavenly shower I changed to my uniform. Lucky there were packs of new underwear and jeans. The shoes, though, were long, pointed boots.

Flipping the first few pages of Wuthering Heights, I flopped down on the couch and began to read. It was no use. I couldn't stop thinking of what became of Jason. It's just weird. He was with me yesterday. What in the world was happening?

My eyelids were about to close in exhaustion, when the stars in the night sky told me not to. I rushed over to the big window and looked outside. They were beautiful. I continued admiring the scenery, forgetting all of my troubles. I forgot about being tired, I forgot the page I was in in Wuthering Heights, I forgot about the slight jealousy I had with Drew being able to charm speak, and I even forgot about Jason.

Karma be damned.

But everything didn't last long. Just as I was to retreat from the window, a star bursted. I mean, like, really bursted. The blinding light seared through the windows that I had to cover my eyes. When it was all over, I looked at the star again and noticed it still somehow bursting. Its light was formed like a spotlight. I followed the direction, and spotted what it was pointing at: the bookshelf.

Cautiously, I walked towards it. The spotlight was very clear. It was directed at a very thick, old book with the title 'Rome.' As if in some action movie, my arms jerked forward and snatched the book. The pages were brown because of its old age. I scanned a few facts, but a part caught my attention.

"'Roman Mythology,'" was the headline. I began to read out loud. "'Traditional stories that pertain to ancient Rome's legendary origins. Roman religion was greatly influenced by the Grecian religion. Romans were eager to reinterpret the Greek deities into their own counterparts.'"

I skipped a few more texts. My eyes continued scrolling down until another grabbed my attention. "'Ceres, the goddess of agriculture' - oh, just like aunt Demeter! - 'Mars, the god of war.' Definitely Ares." More scrolling. "'Juno, the goddess of family. Neptune, the god of the sea.'"

"'Jupiter, the king of the gods and of the sky.'"

I definitely squealed. "It's just like my dear aunts and uncles! How accurate!"

Tired from all the information and whatnot, I put the book back, lay down on my comfy bed, and slept.

~0~

One would think the first job of a pirate was to force people down the plank or cut their hands off and live life with a hook. But no. It was much, much, worse.

We had to mop the floor while singing.

My bucket of soiled water splashed as the mop dived in. I removed it and continued mopping. Instead of singing, I committed myself to dancing Teach Me How To Dougie. It actually helped in pumping up the mood because soon enough, the others started dancing.

The sky was a perfect blue. Cumulus clouds were everywhere, and, despite the sunny sun, it was really windy. Once in a while I would glance down to check where we were, but all I could see was a landscape of green. We weren't too high up, but we were still in Olympus.

Leo nudged me. "Homesick?"

I nodded sheepishly.

"You shouldn't have followed me. You should have let me go."

"And leave you with all these people who might be crazy?" I asked, looking at him incredulously. "Leo, they could have chopped off your head last night and have eaten it if I didn't follow."

"That's just gross," he cringed.

"It could have happened."

Not much was said afterwards. We idly looked at our surroundings, thinking of random things that could pop in our heads. But apparently the only thing popping into this head of mine was Jason.

Where was he? Was he safe? Was there something wrong? Did some pirates chop his head off and eat it? Goodness, it did sound gross.

Just then I noticed someone very familiar from below. I peered closer and noticed the very pretty girl with black hair and dark or gray eyes. Reyna. It might be weird, but given the situation, I felt like I've seen an actual human being. I waved my arms and yelled, "Reyna! Reyna! Over here!"

She stopped walking and looked around her. Finding no source, she continued. I groaned in frustration. Leo, who was watching me, tapped my shoulders and pointed at a bundle of ropes just on the ledge of the boat-craft. It was the rope ladder.

I unhooked it and let go. The ladder dropped to the ground just in front of Reyna. She jumped in surprise and stepped back, the same way I did when I saw the ladder for the first time. Yup, she was definitely the only actual human being I've seen in a day. With no time to lose, I climbed down.

When I reached the bottom, Reyna kept staring at me. I gave her a grin, but all I ever got in return was an eyebrow raised. That's when I noticed that her eyes were bloodshot. I could tell she just cried.

"Reyna! I'm so glad to see you. I need to ask you something," I said.

She looked like she was glaring at me.

"Have you seen Jason?" I asked, looking for hope once more.

"Jason?" she asked, her features softening. "Well...no," she managed to choke out. "Haven't seen him the whole day yesterday or today." Reyna stopped and studied me. After a few minutes, she asked, "You noticed it?"

I nodded stiffly.

Reyna began to lose it. "I-I don't know what happened. We were just together. And when I looked for him yesterday, he-he was nowhere to be found. I looked everywhere. Thalia was away, too, and Iris message didn't work. He - Jason...was...gone."

"Same here," I was on the verge of crying. "That's why I, no, we need your help."

She waited.

"Come with me and let's find him." It was a decision I made early this morning. I was going to find him no matter what it takes. "I feel that something terrible has happened. I feel that he needs our help, too," Okay, I sounded crazy.

Reyna was deep in thought. Her dark or gray eyes looked as if she were thinking of different things at the same time, the same look Annabeth always had. She took a deep breath and stared at me once more. "Yes. I think the same way. I'll come with you."

When she agreed, all the pain I've been holding was subtracted by a little. It's good to have someone understand me.

"Thank you. Very much," I smiled a little.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go," she replied. Determination was all over her face. I didn't need to tell her that I was now a pirate. She took hold of the ladder and began climbing.

A/N: I'VE FINALLY UPDATED. WOOT WOOT.

I'm super duper sorry for letting you wait for, what, 3 or 4 months? I understand what you feel! But school's so hectic and all and I had writer's block before. Not now, don't worry.

So I may have put the part where Piper said she was jealous of Drew being able to charm speak. Well, to not make you confused, in my story Piper doesn't know she has godly powers. It's weird, but that's part of the plot. Her lack of knowledge about her powers and stuff play a vital role here.

Oh, and thank you so much to those who made 'My Abnormal Life' as their favorites. And I've received so many reviews about me updating or else they'll die or something. Well, I updated, so don't do anything to yourselves. But thank you so much for showing that you like this! It means a lot to me. :)

REVIEW. THAT'S ALL I EVER ASK.