A/N: See, I said I'd update more often! Thanks so much to everyone who's read!
"YOU WHAT?" Jason yelled behind me.
"Long story," I provided over my shoulder before looking back at Blackbeard and his three crew members. "So you got off Circe's island? I sort of assumed you'd gotten turned back into guinea pigs."
"Where's me vessel?" Blackbeard demanded, brandishing his sword in my face. Well, that's great.
"Well, it got destroyed by Polyphemus," I explained. "Sorry, I really…"
"ARGHHH!" Blackbeard lunged at me, and I ducked under his sword, popping back up to shove two of his crew members into each other.
"Hey, it was really all your sister's fault, don't blame me for it," I protested. Jason was engaged with the third crew member.
"Me sister?" Blackbeard paused mid chop-your-head-off swing.
"Half sister if you want to get all technical," I conceded. Jason slammed the third crew member with the butt of his sword and he landed on the deck with a thump.
"Who?" Jason asked.
"Why'd me sister destroy me vessel?" Blackbeard seemed distracted from wanting to kill me, which I took to be a good thing. "Is this that lass you were with?" Jason shot me a "what is this guy talking about" look.
"No, that's Annabeth. Clarisse got The Queen Anne's Revenge destroyed because she kept taunting Polyphemus." Blackbeard blinked, then seemed to process the information. Well, I guess no one accused children of Ares of being intelligent. However, I was a little worried he'd give up processing and just try to kill me again. A grunt brought my attention back to Jason, who had been seized by the two crewmen I knocked down. Man, I should have hit them harder.
"Got 'im Captain," one announced. Blackbeard snapped back to reality.
"Atta way lads!" he yelled. "Now we'll be a-taking the scallywag's vessel!"
"You're not taking the Argo II anywhere!" Leo exclaimed, running into the fight with a large hammer in his hand. "Let Jason go!"
"Stop there or you're mate here dies," Blackbeard replied, and Leo stopped a couple yards away.
"Listen," I piped up, hoping to defuse this situation. "Maybe we should…"
"Shut you're trap scallywag," the second crewmember told me. I frowned, concentrating on the water below us.
"Look," I snapped. "I failed to introduce myself last time. Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon." Four streams of water flowed up and became sphere hovering behind my head. "Let my friend go now."
"Lads, perhaps you…" Blackbeard started, his sword lowering slightly as his eyes widened. However, his ship mates didn't comply, so I blasted them both with two streams of water, sending them crashing into the side of the boat where they slumped unconscious. Blackbeard turned his head to look at his unconscious ship mates as Jason got back to his feet.
"Why didn't you do that to the witch?" he demanded, still clearly quite angry with Circe.
"Didn't have much control," I replied. "Practice makes perfect." Blackbeard looked confused again, but he sheathed his sword, which I took to be a good sign.
"I last saw ye a fortnight ago lad," Blackbeard commented. "How much practice have ye done?" I blinked. I know time travels differently in monstrous places, but three years to two weeks? Really? Was it possible to have luck this bad?
"I last saw you three years ago."
"Not sure where ye get ye time from lad," Blackbeard chuckled. "T'was two weeks."
"Um, guys, it's not that hard to tell the difference between three years and two weeks," Leo said. "After all…"
"Time travels differently in monstrous places," I provided. "Blackbeard's just left the Sea of Monsters."
"What's the…"
"The witch who imprisoned me and me matees lives there," Blackbeard explained.
"I'm still unclear," Leo asked. "Who's the dude with the beard dressed like a pirate from the 1700's?"
"Me be Blackbeard lad," Blackbeard replied. Leo blinked.
"Okay," he said. "Now, I can accept this whole Greek-gods thing. I've been pretty good with the monsters. I put up with the Gaea-wants-to-end-the-world-and-we-have-to-stop-her thing. But WHAT THE HADES IS BLACKBEARD DOING ON MY SHIP?"
"He's behaving himself now," I supplied. "Right Blackbeard?" He nodded. "So I don't shove him overboard and sink his boat."
"Again," Blackbeard grumbled. "But the lad did free me from the witch's spell."
"What witch?" Jason asked, looking between Blackbeard and me.
"Circe," I explained. "Though that credit really goes to Annabeth."
"Is that your blond lass?"
"Yes."
"A pretty lass," Blackbeard mused. "Now what're ye lads doing here?"
"We're going to Greece to stop Gaea from ending the world," Leo supplied.
"This be the Gaea from the old myths?" We all nodded. Blackbeard began to smile slightly.
"Well, me and me crew are no landlovers," he declared. I smiled slightly. Who knew pirates had a sense of humor? "We'll help ye get where you're going." Leo and Jason exchanged a look. "Though ye may need to teach us how to navigate our new vessel." I burst out laughing. So that's what they were doing in the middle of the ocean! Jason and Leo seemed to think I was insane.
"Uh, don't mind Percy," Leo offered. "I'll show you."
"Thank ye lad," Blackbeard said, walking back across the wooden plank to the yaht. "There be all these nobs and levers, and the ropes be missing…" Leo glanced at us before following.
"Percy," Jason asked slowly, which I assumed meant he was carefully maintaining his calm. "How exactly do you know Blackbeard?"
"When Annabeth and I went into the Sea of Monsters on our second quest, we accidently got captured by Circe, who turned me into a guinea pig. Annabeth rescued me by giving me one of Hermes' multi-vitamines, but she didn't know which guinea pig in the cage was me, so she just gave one to all of us. The rest of the guinea pigs turned out to be Blackbeard and his crew. Then Annabeth and I borrowed the Queen Anne's Revenge to go find Grover, but Polyphemus smashed it," I recounted quickly. Jason stared at me blankly. "Don't worry about it."