=Chris=
I have a gift with the ladies. The Stolls have always told me this. I can charm them, steal their hearts and get away with their most prized possessions. They always give me a challenge to work with, challenges were always good. They tested a thief's skill, kept us on our feet, gives us a thrill. "Chris," the name was purred into my left ear as an arm was wrapped around my shoulder. I was sitting in Mr. D's Drink and Dinner, a tavern in the hidden port called The Hydra. It was ran by the children of Dionysus and Demeter. The best foods and drinks were provided here. "Hows our favorite brother?" The pur hummed into my right ear as an arm wrapped around my waist.
"Getting drunk, what do you want?" I asked the brothers and identical grins were aimed at me.
"Pollux, three more if you don't mind." The brother to my left called and the bartender nodded before getting three mugs for them. "So Connor and I just ran into a few friends." Travis continued our conversation as Connor set out the pay on the counter for the barman. He took it after setting out the drinks.
"You know, our friends from the Huntress," I shivered at the name. The rumors surrounding them were terrifying. And the two brothers next to me knew exactly how to spread their tales.
"Where'd they return from this time?" I wondered.
"Sea of Monsters again." Travis commented grinning, "but that's a story for another time. We have a job for you." I picked up my mug and downed it, this was going to end in a headache for me. "We'll take that as a yes, wonderful."
"So, Percy recently got his hands on this treasure, an ancient spear said to have the power of electricity." Connor agreed. "We want it."
"But the problem is, it's in the hands of his right hand." Travis sighed. "A girl named Clarisse. She's the-"
"Daughter of Ares I know of her." I commented. The two shared a look.
"Well then you'll know of her reputation." Connor commented. "She's a fighter, she would never let anyone take from her and if they did she'd go for revenge."
"So what do you want me to do?" I demanded.
"Take her heart." Travis responded, a wicked grin on his lips.
"Break it." Connor agreed. "It's the only thing you can take from her,"
"Without her seeking revenge." Travis continued. "And while she's tending her broken heart,"
"We'll just borrow that spear of hers." Connor grinned at his brother. "And take it for a test run."
"You're both devil spawn." I told them, they chuckled. "Fine, what do I get out of it?" I demanded. They both set a bag in front of me, I checked inside each, golden coins were glistening up at me.
"You get one now," Connor told me. "There are five hundred coins in each bag. One when we get that spear." I picked up the bag and Travis took the other.
"You two will be the death of me." I told them.
"Dearest brother, you know us well." The said together before slipping into the background. I sighed taking out a gold coin and passing it over to Pollex.
"The strongest you've got." I told him, he took the coin, checked it before going to get me my drink.
ΩΔΩ=ΩΔΩ=ΩΔΩ=ΩΔΩ=ΩΔΩ
When I introduced myself to Percy and his crew, I offered my service for a voyage. I could provide information towards a treasure I had been looking into for a few months now, and Percy reluctantly agreed. He of course, was interested in Heracles's bow, I mean honestly who wouldn't want an artifact that belonged to the great hero. So naturally, after leaving port and waiting a few days (to make sure they wouldn't send me overboard) I gave them the information I knew and pinpointed the location of the rumor of it's current location to an island off the coast of Japan.
"We fight every Tuesday and Wednesday." Silena was telling me as I watched the two daughters of the war gods go after the captain. Thalia, currently up in the rafters was watching amused. "Well some of us, Clarisse started it. It keeps them in shape and prepared for an attack at all times." Leo who was the ship mechanic was sitting on the railing watching as Percy dodged and blocked attacks, he didn't advance towards the two girls. "It's Wednesday so Percy lets them win."
"Lets them?" I glanced at the beauty queen, she smiled.
"You'll see next Tuesday." She told me as Rachel walked up from below deck stretching and yawning. "He can take on the five of us no problem, it happens every few weeks. Clarisse makes sure that we're all in shape."
"So it's how you keep track of the days?" I mused. She nodded.
"Mondays we organize Thursday's event. Tuesdays and Wednesdays we fight, Thursdays are strategy days, we set up a sort of capture the flag game. You have to try and outwit the other team. Percy's team usually wins. Friday we all have dinner together. And the weekends are usually calm unless Clarisse calls us for practice and say's we're all too lazy."
"You all seem fairly close." I noted.
"Of course, we're family." She agreed, "we look out for one another. The others may not acknowledge it, or they'll tell you their repaying a debt to the sea prince, but don't let that fool you." She smiled.
"And you trust me…? I'm new I could betray you." I commented.
"Would you?" She wondered, then patted my shoulder. "We're no fools, you work with the Stolls, you're a thief and have your own reputation. Percy didn't just blindly let you join. He does his research before working with anybody, and we've worked with the Stolls before. Tricky as they may be, they're handy and get along well with our Prince. He trusts them."
"I still don't trust them and they're my brothers." I commented frowning at her. She smiled again before walking off, leaving me to steer the ship. Not that I needed too, Percy could control the thing. It was around dinner when I found myself face to face with the daughter of the war god. She glared at me, arms crossed over her chest as I tried to take a seat with my soup. "What?" I demanded.
"Who did they pay you to come after and why?" She demanded. I stared at her, maybe they did do the thing properly. I set my bowl down and looked at her, frowning.
"I'm here because I want the bow. Percy agreed to take me to get it as long as I paid." I told her. "No side quest."
"Don't bull shit me Rodreguez." She spat at me, "you're on a ship full of girls. Taking a trip that will last months, you're trying to get close to one of us. I know your reputation. You get close then steal, and you work for those pests the Stolls."
"They're my brothers, of course I've worked with them in the past." I commented. "Don't tell me you haven't worked with other children of Ares… or Mars for that matter." I rolled my eyes, "we're demigods it's what we do. Now can I eat dinner?" She continued to glare but let me sit and eat. I figured it would be tough to tackle this girl, but if she's going to keep up this attitude then it'll be downright impossible. There has to be a way through to her.
Naturally the first month gave me no breakthrough in the quest to steal Clarisse's heart. She had an iron grip on herself, which I assume was necessary for a child of war. Rule number one: don't show weakness. But I memorized her pattern, knew when it was best to approach her, after a victory or when she needed a sparring partner to blow off steam. Of course I couldn't keep my socialization to just her. She'd get suspicious, they all would. Especially Silena she the daughter of the love goddess, she could pick these things out. Reyna didn't mind my company, we exchanged good conversations and traded stories, she seemed quite interested in my short period of time in the Kings army. (It was for a job and didn't end well.) Rachel was friendly enough, she liked art so when we were together that's what we talked about. I'd tell her what I had stolen and offered to show her some of it when we got back.
"Don't you dare advance on that one." Leo had pulled me aside when he caught the two of us chatting. It was a bit more friendly than with the others, they hadn't warmed up to me as much as Rachel had. Percy happened to be walking up the stairs when he overheard our conversation.
"I wasn't…" I commented, I currently only had one target.
"Good, but don't think about it for future reference. Percy's over protective of her." Leo warned me.
"She his girlfriend?"
"I'm gay, actually." The voice startled me and I turned to look at the sea prince. "Rachel is the Oracle of Delphi. She's off limits to everyone."
"And you're over protective because…?" I wondered.
"When Clarisse and I found her, she was being molested and had nearly been raped." He answered and I could feel the blood draining from my face.
"Good reason," I muttered.
Leo was easy enough to get along with, he enjoyed building and all I had to do was ask about Festus and he would talk for hours about his dragon and how he would fix him. He hated serious talk and prefered to keep things light, comical. I understood that it's something I did as well. Silena was friendly, she seemed like the mother of the crew, keeping everyone fed and in high spirits. She seemed to have the best relationship with Clarisse, aside from Percy. But I wasn't sure of their friendship was healthy. Percy seemed to end up on the wrong side of the sword when he and Clarisse spoke. Thalia didn't pay too much attention to me. She mostly kept to the crows nest. Making sure the wind was in their favor. Which it always was. But when we did talk it was usually strategy for our Thursday games. She was quite intelligent, Percy said it was because her brother's in the military and she helped him train for it. And one of her best friends had been a child of Athena. Then there was Percy, who, no matter how hard I tried too, I couldn't sort out. His emotions seemed to switch with the sea, some days calm, others stormy. Though we had never once ran into a storm while traveling.
Last of all was Clarisse. It took a month for her to trust me enough to be alone in a room together, another month for her to hold a civil conversation with me and another month for her to feel at ease around me. I generally enjoyed her company. She was smart, a quick thinker and excellent strategist. She always beat me in a spar, no surprise there, and enjoyed a good practical joke every now and then. "So they took me to Egypt." I told her, we were sitting together in the dining hall though dinner had long since finished. "And Connor was telling me 'Don't worry. No one will suspect a thing.' But honestly who wouldn't worry when those two stuff you in a sarcophagus and shove you into the mouth of a pyramid?" She smiled trying not to laugh. "And Travis told me, 'no there won't be any monsters in there. It's a tomb.' So I'm taken into the tomb to steal as many riches as I could find, which I did. But I'm weaponless because they stole my sword and sent me to my death. Who would've thought that the mummies and long dead warriors sent to protect their pharaoh in the afterlife would come back to life?" She laughed.
"So you were weaponless and fought your way out?" She mused.
"No, I grabbed the nearest bag, shoved it full of goodies and high-tailed it out of there, a horde of zombies after my ass. Connor and Travis were waiting for me, playing a game of dice and naturally the first thing they asked was 'did you get it.' I could only snarl out a 'fuck you' before the horde caught up to us." I continued. "They were long gone and preparing the boat by the time I caught up. And we sailed, making it back to the Hydra in time for supper several weeks later. Our client wasn't happy that we didn't get the crown but was pleased enough with the collection of goodies we gave him. We split the prize and the remainder of the treasure we hid from our client, then parted ways like we usually do."
"Just another normal venture then." She nodded, I smiled.
"The next week their off spreading rumors of a mysterious ship rising from the depths of the ocean." I commented, "from then on the stories they spread are of the Huntress and her mysterious ventures and crew."
"Do you miss it?" She asked curiously. "Traveling the seas, living away from people and the stress of public appearances?"
"Public appearances at the Hydra? Are you kidding me? If you're not odd there then you get sent back to camp." She laughed, the sound sent a shiver down my spine. "Yeah, I do miss it sometimes." I told her, "I mean I love my job. Stealing getting drunk and having a home to return to after each job is nice, but it was never lonely at sea. There was always the crew, even if its members changed and sometimes we took my idiotic brothers with us. Being surrounded by people who had your back and you could call family was one of the perks of being apart of a crew."
"Why didn't you go back to it?" She wondered.
"The Andromeda changed." I responded. "The crew changed, Luke's ideas were becoming more and more wild." I continued and frowned. "Yeah, so we all wish that our godly parent would send us a sign, guide is somehow but to overthrow the gods? To bring back the Titans? It's suicide." I shook my head a bit. She rested her hand on top of mine and I looked at her.
"You could've found a new crew." She told me.
"I was in too deep with the thieving business before I thought about returning." I responded, she frowned.
"We are thieves in a sense." She noted, I smiled a little.
"I know. The thieves of the sea. But on land it's different." I commented, "the land doesn't change, it's the same day after day. No risk of storms destroying what's keeping you from the water, no sea monsters attacking or hurricanes."
"You could join our crew, we don't have those risks." She offered.
"You'd want me to stay?" I questioned.
"Not if you're going to be an ass," she rolled her eyes. I smirked and reached over tilting her chin up.
"You'll miss it if I stopped." I commented, her eyes narrowed and she pulled me into the kiss. Our relationship only improved from there. Which would be a good thing, if I wasn't falling head over heels for her. There were times in which I needed to remind myself that I was on a job, you don't fall for the target. That's not how it works. But Aphrodite seemed to have other plans for me. When finally getting to our destination acquiring the bow was easier than any of us planned and we were heading back to the Hydra. My time with Clarisse was limited and I found myself dreading the return, the betrayal I would put her through. We shared our first night together after getting the bow, after we continued to sleep together, dragging the nights out and sleeping late into the next day. This continued until the arrival to the Hydra.
"Stay with us." She repeated the words, she had been saying this for days and I was tempted by her offer. It was more tempting than the 500 gold coins the brothers had waiting for me. But I had already taken half the pay, I could give them the money back. Her chest was pressed into my back as I sat on the edge of her bed, my fingers were in my hair and the palms of my hands pressed to my forehead. My elbows resting on my knees. Her chin rested on my shoulder and her arms were wrapped around me. "You don't have to leave." She whispered.
"Clarisse I…"
"The Stolls asked you to steal my spear." She said softly and I felt myself tense with her words. "I'm not stupid Chris, I have my own informants."
"They didn't ask me to steal the spear." I mumbled, her arms tightened around me. "They said they'd take it after…"
"What was your job?" She asked.
"They…" I swallowed nervously, then took a deep breath. "They asked me to break your heart." I heard her breath hitch and she pulled away.
"What?" She demanded, we had been ported for several hours now. But neither of us had wanted to leave. Now all I could hope for was that she kicked me out. I gripped onto my hair, letting the pain numb my own feelings. "You're lying." She demanded, when I didn't give her a response she started screaming at me. I expected this. It always happens but why did it hurt so much this time? When she ordered me out of her room, I got up, gathered my clothes, dressed and left. I went to my small area on the boat and grabbed my things before racing above deck. It was raining, I was thankful for that. I entered the captain's cabin and found Percy talking with Silena.
"You're leaving." Percy said before I could speak. I set the bow on his desk.
"Keep it." I told him, my voice was emotionless as I added my fare for the trip and walked towards the door.
"You don't have to leave." Percy said. "You're a member of our crew now."
"I'd prefer it if I wasn't." I responded before leaving. The next few days were a blur, I refused the money from the Stolls and returned most of what they originally gave me. They of course didn't question it and left me to my piece. I drown myself in alcohol. Castor, Pollux's twin brother, taking me home most nights. Or helping me into a bed at the inn.
"You need to stop." He finally took the mug from me after Pollux went off to clean before the normal dinner company joined them. "You're a fucking mess and slopping up our dinner, it's bad for business."
"Your business doesn't change no matter who you have drinking himself dry here." I rolled my eyes.
"You're drying up our storage and running your treasure up faster than you're making it." He stated. "Drinking doesn't solve a broken heart."
"I don't have a-"
"Don't bull shit me Rodreguez." He glared. "Go to her, apologize, do what it takes to get her back."
"What's the point? It's my job. It's what I do and how I earn a living. So what if I break my own heart once or twice in the process, it's what I do to them." I snarled at him.
"Get a new job." He rolled his eyes at me.
"Seriously, you were happier when you live at sea." Pollux put in. "From our own observations you enjoyed it more then being a thief. Now suck up your pride and get your girl before her ship leaves you behind."
"How did you…?" My eyes fixed on a small pouch at his side, there was 'Hunt' stitched into it and looked to be filled with coins. How had I not noticed this before, he always has the same money pouch on him. Several people in the port have it. Clarisse's words resurfaced in my head.
I have my own Informants.
Of course, the Stolls even carry the stupid pouches around. Of course they wouldn't have told them of their plan. But they spread the rumors around, they always know the happenings of the Huntress and who else would tell them but a member of their crew? I caught Pollux's smirk before getting up and tossing some coins onto the counter. "Their leaving in fifteen minutes." He told me as I walked from the Inn. Naturally, I'd have to run to be there on time. And I wasn't exactly sober. The streets blurred together and people we walking on the walls but I was used to seeing strange things. I navigated my way as carefully as I could being drunk, only running into a few people. But when I reached the docks the ship was pulling out. Who knows when they'd port again. I sprinted down the nearly empty dock and did the first thing I could think of, jump for the ship. I didn't expect to land on the side, or for a hand to grip onto my arm.
"You're a moron Chris," I couldn't figure out which of the brothers was speaking, I've never been able to tell them apart.
"And you're a fucking ass, I plan on kicking it later." He chuckled.
"Don't worry, Percy's punishing us enough as it is." He started to pull me up. "You really need to lay off the alcohol."
"I'll get right on that." I growled, another hand grabbed onto my other arm and I was pulled up onto the deck. I sat there catching my breath for a few minutes.
"What'd you do? Run from the Inn?" Percy questioned. I looked up at him before nodding, he shook his head and helped me onto my feet. "Get him to a bed Connor."
"Yes sir," I was handed over and led down to the bunks.
Fingers combing through my hair woke me up hours later, I groaned and tried to bat the hand away. "You're an idiot." Clarisse told me, my eyes snapped open at once, she was hovering over me, my head laying in her lap.
"I'm sorry," the words rushed from my lips and she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah you better be, punk." I reached up and brushed my fingers against her cheek, then pushed her hair behind her ear. She took hold of my hand then bent down. "I swear to the gods if you ever pull anything like that again. I'll kill you."
"I'll never do that again." I promised her.
"Good." She stated, and a smile tugged at her lips before her lips pressed against mine.