Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan. I take no credit, and I do not mean to break any copyright rules. This is simply a work of fiction made for enjoyment. No money is being made.
Rating: T for dark themes and violence
Author's Note: This chapter is a direct continuation from the last one
Chapter 13
Percy and Annabeth are just returning to the docks when they hear the sound of battle.
An explosion rocks the entire ground and black smoke puffs into the air. Percy and Annabeth glance at each other before sprinting past the wharf and across the beach. At the very end of the harbor, where the Pax was anchored, a fire rages. Another ship unloads another round of canons even as they watch.
Percy cusses under his breath and they run across the dock, up the gangplank, and onto their burning ship.
Chaos reigns as his sailors run around, trying desperately to fire their own canons back. Beckendorf is busy, his fingers flying as he runs around and rigs his various weapons. He turns his head and covers his ears as a jar of Greek fire is shot out of a mini catapult. His aim is true and the jar explodes against a cannon on the opposite ship, which triggers a chain reaction from a few of the other cannons.
While Percy summons up a wave to douse out the fires on his ship, Annabeth gets a good look at the other ship. It's plated in metal, a crimson red flag and a gray flag with a boar and a spear flying from the mast. Annabeth has seen that flag before.
She grabs Percy's arm. "Those are Ares' colors!" she cries out.
"But that's not the Bloody Boar."
"So it's not his flagship, but it's definitely one of the ships from his fleet."
Annabeth runs to the edge of the deck and gets a better look at the ship. "The CSS Birmingham," she reads. "That sounds American." Her eyes travel to the figurehead, which is a skeletal horse. After their experience in the catacombs, Annabeth isn't thrilled.
A muscular pirate with a black sleeveless vest revealing their massive biceps comes charging out on the opposite deck. It's only when they start yelling orders that Annabeth realizes it's a she.
"Get your lazy bums to the canons! We're not done with these sea scum yet!"
Annabeth stares in shock at the female pirate. Unlike Hylla and Reyna, who were regal, cold, and beautiful, this girl is one hundred percent pirate. She cusses up a storm as she orders her sailors about, wears male clothing (and not adjusted to fit her size, like Annabeth - she wears straight up men's sizing), and has her hair pulled back in a traditional male style. She waves a spear around and has a thick sword hung from her belt. Her voice is deep and gruff, as if she's spent a lot of time yelling.
"Clarisse," Percy says, making the name sound like a swear.
"Who?" Annabeth asks. She doesn't recognize the girl, although she'd spent a week aboard Ares' ship.
"She's Ares' demigod daughter. I didn't know she had her own ship."
One of the sailors turns to look at them, and Annabeht realizes with a jolt that it's a skeleton. As she looks more closely at the crew members, she realizes they're all undead and in various stages of decomposition. All of them bear marks of their cause of death - bruised and twisted necks, jacked up bones, burnt skin, bullet holes, gaping sword slashes.
"Ares can control the dead, too?" Annabeth asks, a feeling of dread filling her. She's not sure what's worse - being surrounded by skeletons in a dark catacombs, or out on the open sea. At least in the catacombs, they felt like they belonged. Here, on the seas, she thought she was safe from that kind of threat.
"Only those who were on the losing side of a battle," Frank says, approaching behind them. He has his bow in his hand and his quiver strapped over his back. "Percy, I'm glad you're back. What took so long? I sent out some sailors to find you, but you seemed to have disappeared."
"Long story," Percy says. "Let's just say we've already had our fill of skeletons for the day. How long has Clarisse been here?"
"Not too long. You came just in time."
One of the cannons fire, and the deck railing on the opposite side of the ship explodes. One of their crew members screams as he's thrown overboard by the explosion. Percy reaches out and catches him with a wave that washes over the deck, depositing him safely back. Will rushes over and pulls him to the side before attending to his injuries.
Frank notches an arrow, lines it up with the hole the cannon had fired from, and looses. A second later, the entire cannon explodes, wood and metal falling to the water.
"Nice," Percy says.
"That was my last exploding arrow," Frank says ruefully. "I hope you have a better strategy than us taking potshots at each other until one of our ships sinks."
Percy digs in a trunk bolted down by the main mast, pulling out a white flag. He attaches it to a board and begins waving it in full view. Across the water, Annabeth can hear Clarisse shouting something not very nice and containing the word "coward".
A few minutes later, Clarisse and a dozen skeletal warriors are standing on the deck of the Pax, sneering in their direction.
"You just get wimpier every time I see you," she says, her lip curling up as she regards Percy. "And honestly, having trampy women on your ship?" Her eyes flicker to Annabeth.
Annabeth has been stretched far too thin today. Her heart hasn't stopped racing since the catacombs and she's only still standing because of the pure adrenaline pumping through her veins. She doesn't even think before whipping out her bronze knife and shoving into Clarisse's face.
"Call me trampy one more time," she hisses.
Clarisse laughs and glances down at the knife. "That's real cute, sweetheart. Now let the big kids talk."
Annabeth narrows her eyes but when Frank sets a hand on her shoulder, she lowers her weapon and takes a step back. The only reason she stands down is because she realizes that they're meeting under a truce - and killing someone under a flag of truce has to break at least a dozen codes, if not give her a go-straight-to-the-fields-of-punishment ticket for when she dies.
"What are you doing here, Clarisse?" Percy asks. He doesn't look scared of her, just tired.
"I'm here to pulverize you. You humiliated my father and everyone who flies his colors. I won't let you get away free from that."
Percy sighs. "If your father has a problem with me, why doesn't he just take it up with me himself?"
"Gods don't go after puny mortals. That's why they have demigod children."
"Yeah, to do their dirty work for them. That's just an excuse. I think your dad's scared of me. He didn't seem awfully eager to fight me in Tortuga, and I know he saw me in that tavern."
"Ares isn't a coward! He's the god of war! He's not scared of anyone, especially not some upstart boy who isn't even a real pirate! You're just an errand boy for the gods." Clarisse spits to the side. "What does it feel like, running every time a god calls for you? You're like an obedient dog. You act tough, but you're house trained."
Percy's eyes flash with anger. "I'm not the one who cowers to my father. At least I stood up to Ares and fought him! You just tremble at his feet and beg him for opportunities to prove yourself."
Clarisse's fingers wrap more tightly around her spear. "I don't cower in front of anyone, especially not you, Percy Jackson!" She suddenly flips the spear and stabs it at Percy. He takes a step back, but the shaft lights up with blue lightning and sends an electrical charge shooting out right at his chest. He's blasted right off the ship, the smell of singed hair left in his wake.
Clarisse glares at the rest of the assembled sailors. "Who's next?" she taunts, twirling her spear.
Everything breaks into chaos. Her skeletal warriors charge the Pax's crew. Percy appears a moment later, a wave of water lifting him into the air and then shooting him forward. He crashes into Clarisse and they tumble across the deck, punching at each other. Annabeth ducks to avoid getting beheaded by a skeletal pirate with a rusted sword and she stabs forward with her knife, but the blade slides right between his ribs without inflicting any damage.
She backs up and deflects his next blow with the side of her knife.
All around, battle rages. Annabeth continues trading blows with her skeletal opponent, finally slicing slideways through his midsection. His bones break apart and he collapses at her feet. She hasn't taken more than three steps to find the next opponent when she realizes that he's already reforming, his bones stacking back up again.
"Great," she mutters under her breath. So the undead can't die again. How are they supposed to defeat them?
As much as Nico has creeped her out, she really wishes he was here right now. They could use a ghost king right about now.
Percy and Clarisse's fight still rages across the main part of the deck. Percy doesn't make the mistake of getting electrocuted by her spear again. He wields Riptide against her spear, the metals ringing out as they clang together. Whenever skeletons try to approach him from the side or back, mini hurricanes swirl up and tear them apart. Unfortunately, as was the case with Annabeth's opponent, they don't stay down for more than a few seconds.
Beckendorf has a large hammer which he uses to smash the skeletons apart. Whenever a main bone, like a skull, hip bone, or femur is smashed to dust, it takes them a little longer to reform.
Will has his bow and arrow, but he's not a great shot, and most of his arrows do no more than knocking a bone out of place. He has better luck when he uses the wooden part as a club, which he swings at any that get too close.
Frank has run out of arrows and drops his bow, pulling out his golden spear instead. He swings it around, slashing skeleton warriors to the ground. When he kills them, they stay dead, but more and more are crossing over from the Birmingham and swarming the Pax. One man can't fight an entire army alone.
"I'll kill you, Jackson!" Clarisse screams over the din of battle. She stabs forward, her speartip jabbing into Percy's side. He winces, but after a wave crashes over the two of them, Annabeth can see that the wound is already healing. Clarisse wipes the water out of her eyes and glares at him.
"The sea is my element. You can't kill me here!" he yells back at her. "Surrender now, while I'm giving you the chance!"
"The sea may be your element, but war is mine! I'll never surrender to a punk like you!" Clarisse sweeps her spear at him, which he jumps back to avoid, and they continue fighting.
Annabeth trips over the hem of her dress and falls on her butt on the deck. The skeleton attacking her rips a rib from his chest and chucks it at her like a knife. She rolls to the side even as it thunks into the wood where her head had been a moment before.
"Not cool," she says, hoisting up her skirts and jumping to her feet.
Suddenly there's a deafening crack! and a shockwave goes through the entire ship, sending everyone stumbling back and reducing the skeletons to a pile of bones. Annabeth glances over and sees that Percy has cut straight through Clarisse's spear, the weapon releasing one last charge as it's destroyed.
He holds up a fist and brings it forward, slamming a wave straight into her chest. She falls on her butt, her stringy hair coming free of its bun and hanging in front of her eyes. Percy points his sword down at her.
"Do you surrender now?" he asks.
Clarisse glowers up at him from underneath her wet hair. "Children of Ares never surrender," she growls. She reaches into her boot and pulls out a knife, slashing it at Percy's knees. He jumps back and the fight resumes, the skeletons once again reassembling.
Annabeth's arms are tired from swinging her knife, and she feels completely depleted of energy. She and Percy had already been in one major confrontation today - is it too much to ask for only one battle with skeletons in any given afternoon?
The other sailors are also beginning to tire. Frank's spear swings are slower than before. Will is backed up to the cabin on the deck, trying to fend off three skeletons at once. The shaft of Beckendorf's handle is splintered on one end. The Pax itself groans as it lists to the side and back, the already weak boards creaking in protest.
If the skeletons would stay destroyed when they cut or crushed them up, they would have won long ago. As it is, Annabeth isn't even sure they can win.
Suddenly a figure stumbles out from the shadow of the mast. Annabeth blinks in surprise as none other than the son of Hades appears. He looks terrible, his eyes bloodshot and struggling to stay open, his arms shaking as he draws his strange black sword.
Another figure appears at his side - not a human, but a large black dog with red eyes and fangs. It snarls at a skeleton and then jumps on it, ripping its head off with its large jaws. The skeleton crumbles into dust and blows away with the wind.
Nico holds up his sword and begins chanting in Greek. At first nothing happens, but after Annabeth decapitates her skeleton opponent for the sixth time, it crumbles into dust instead of reforming. Nico may be too weary to control the skeletons himself - and after the stunt he pulled in the catacombs, controlling those hundreds of corpses and summoning his dead sister's ghost, Annabeth is shocked he can still even stand - but at least he's ensuring that they return to the Underworld.
The battle shifts almost instantly. Clarisse sees it and screams out in anger and frustration. She attacks Percy with a renewed interest, but Nico's arrival has boosted everyone's strength.
Soon all the skeletons are gone and only Clarisse remains, backed up against the railing of the ship. As much as Annabeth dislikes her, she's at least impressed at how fearless the daughter of Ares is, even surrounded by enemies with no hope of victory.
"You may have won this battle, Jackson, but it won't be our last," she threatens.
"My fight isn't with you, Clarisse. Tell your father to man up and fight me himself."
At the mention of her father, Clarisse blanches a little. Then her sneer returns. "That's such a classic you thing to do. You think that just because you saved Olympus once you order the gods around. I hate to break it to you, Jackson, but they don't care about you. None of them do. Not even you crusty, barnacle-covered father. They're just using you. This is all for nothing. You're going to die just like the rest of us and none of them will care."
"I know," Percy says, his expression turning sad. "But it's the same for you. Do you honestly think your father cares about you? The only reason he sent you after me was because he didn't know what else to do with you, and he thought it would be amusing to pitch us against each other. We're only feeding into their wishes when we fight."
"It's not like that," Clarisse argues.
"It's exactly like that. You don't have to pretend anymore. I know your father, and I know the gods."
The angry expression falls off of Clarisse's face, and for a moment Annabeth sees a lost girl - it's almost the same expression Nico had one his face after he spoke to Bianca.
"Whatever," Clarisse finally spits out. "Whatever you're going to do to me, get it over with."
Percy sheathes his sword. "I'm not going to do anything to you."
She blinks in surprise. "You're just...letting me go?"
"I don't kill other demigods. Not unless I have to. We already have enough things trying to kill us without being at each other's throats."
Clarisse hesitates, staring at him like she doesn't believe this is really happening. Then she shakes her head. "Don't think anything's changed, Jackson. You're wrong to be merciful. Next time I'll be back with even more cannons and warriors."
"I would expect nothing less."
Clarisse whistles and a skeletal horse, not unlike the figurehead, comes jumping off the deck of her ship. It runs across the water, vertically up the side of the Pax, and skids to a stop on the deck. It paws and snorts fire as Clarisse climbs aboard.
She digs her heels into the side and it shoots away. The Birmingham, now devoid of its skeletal crew, begins to sink, the water steaming and boiling where it disappears. Although the water is too shallow this close to shore for such a large ship to sink in, it still disappears completely.
Percy turns around just in time for the large black dog to jump on him. He falls back against the deck and the dog begins to lick his face in earnest.
"Alright, alright," Percy says, trying to shove away the slobbering face. "I missed you too, Mrs. O'Leary."
Once he frees himself from the dig he crosses the deck to Nico, who's slumped against the base of the mast. Will kneels beside him, offering a canteen of nectar and a block of ambrosia.
"You came back to help us," Percy says, not hiding the surprise in his voice.
"Yeah, well." Nico reaches up and scratches the back of his neck. His cheeks are pink. "Bianca told me I had to start using my powers for good. And Mrs. O'Leary wouldn't stop begging to see you again."
Percy scratches behind the dog's ears. The dog is so big he doesn't even have to lean down. "I didn't know you were watching out for her."
"She's a creature of the Underworld. Like me."
"But that doesn't mean you have to become part of the Underworld," Will admonishes, shoving a brick of ambrosia into his hands. "No more shadow travel for a week. You're literally fading into the shadows."
Nico looks embarrassed by all the attention. Annabeth is afraid he might disappear again just to get some space, so she steps forward and grabs the spotlight.
"What do we need to do to repair the ship?" she asks. "If I'm not mistaken, we need to set sail for the Straits of Messina if we want to get the pearl before anyone else."
Percy nods. "All hands on deck. Beckendorf is in charge of all repairs. Report to him for duty. We need to be setting sail by morning."
"Everyone except you," Will says, glancing up at Percy. "Just because you're not fading into shadows doesn't mean you haven't overworked yourself as well. Go take a nap."
"I'm not going to melt into sea foam," Percy complains. "They need my help with the ship."
Will raises an eyebrow. "Do you really want to test that theory?"
Percy disappears into his cabin without another word. Will turns his attention to Annabeth.
"Will you help me get Nico down to the infirmary? Then you need to take a nap, too. I don't know what happened with you, Percy, and Nico in Naples, but all three of you look on the verge of collapse."
Annabeth lifts one arm under Nico's and Will takes the other side. If Nico wasn't already passed out, Annabeth is sure he would be throwing a fit.
She doesn't realize how tired she is until they lay Nico down on one of the cots. As she straightens up, she stumbles a bit. Her mending calf cries out in pain, and she winces.
"You know, a nap doesn't sound like a bad idea," she says, unable to even make it to the door, let alone her room. She collapses on a cot and the last thing she sees before passing out is Will rolling his eyes.