Prologue
Annabeth Chase saw the waves, crashing up and down against the wooden hull of the ship. The Mediterranean was like an angry child throwing a temper tantrum and it doesn't seem like it's going to stop any time soon. Black storm clouds brewed up ahead. It was like Poseidon had a personal vendetta against this ship and its crew.
"All hands on deck!" a voice shouted.
She looked towards the source of the voice, confused. She saw a tall blonde boy, around 18, shouting and waving a golden sword around the place. A beautiful girl with choppy brown hair and a colorful braid stood next to him, spewing orders. Surprisingly, the crew obeyed her every word.
A tall Chinese boy rushed towards starboard, looking out towards something in the distance that was black and unwelcoming. Suddenly, he turned into a large eagle and soared out onto the crow's nest, perching there and looking around. A scrawny boy with rust colored skin and messy black hair rushed around, repairing leaking parts of the ship and fixing some mechanism on a table by a door, possibly a cabin.
"The astrolabe's broken!" he said, hitting it repeatedly with his fist. "We don't have another crystal either."
A girl with chocolate brown curls ran around the place, securing the ropes. Her golden eyes darted around, looking anything else to secure. She smiled when the Chinese boy, still as an eagle, looked down at her from the crow's nest.
"Where's Percy?" the girl with the choppy brown hair asked the blonde boy beside her.
"I don't know, Pipes. Haven't seen him since he dived off. He's a Son of Poseidon. He'll live in his home territory." he replied then shouted. "Secure the cargo! We can't let him have it!"
A sickly and pale boy, possibly the youngest on board glared at the blonde boy. "Why don't you stop shouting, Jason Grace, and start working? We're working our butts off here!"
"Quiet, di Angelo!" a female wearing a Roman cape shouted from the port side. "Otherwise, I'll set Aurum and Argentum on you." two dogs beside the woman growled, their gold and silvery-white fur bristling.
"Sheesh, Reyna. No need to be so defensive." the pale boy said, putting his hands up defensively. Then he simply melted into the shadows like it was completely normal and reappeared up in the poop of the ship.
Something struck from the port side, knocking Reyna off her feet. She quickly pushed herself up and drew her sword, ready to fight. Her brown eyes glittered anger and with a certain hunger. A hunger for blood. The force struck from the port side again and the ship lurched. The boy with the dark and messy curls groaned and marched over towards the table, pressing buttons and pulling levers. But he stopped as the ship lurched again and two pairs of silver eyes glowed from the stormy clouds above.
Give me the cargo. Said a disembodied voice. It was deep and foreboding, like it came from the depths of Tartarus. Give me the pendant. Only then will I let Perseus Jackson go.