A/N. Reviews!

"Cool story! Looking forward to the next chapter!" -PhantomFuryJP

Thank you! Sorry for the long wait, but life's been hectic, then I was writing for RotDA, but I finally got this out. Hope you like it.

"Inactive as always… Jk good chapters as always, except Zoe seems abot TOO eager but other than that all good shit" -perzoeOTP

Yeah, she just really wants to get away from her father and the marriage. Glad you enjoy it!

"Noice" -Guest

Thanks.

Now, onto the chapter.

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault

Chapter Six

Zoë sat on stage, disinterested in the night's festivities. She felt like a dead woman walking. She felt like she was sentenced to the guillotine, and the blade was hanging over her neck. Fuck the French.

Her death sentence was waltzing in the midst of the partygoers, dancing with a woman who was not so subtly flirting with him. She just wished that Orion would accept the woman's advances. With her luck, even if he did, it wouldn't change anything.

She took another sip of her wine and looked around. Her father was in discussion with another governor, some other elected official of a close by territory. If she was going to leave, this would be her perfect chance. Everyone who could stop her was distracted by something else.

She stood up and stepped off of the stage. She placed her wineglass on a table as she passed by. She was almost to the door when someone grabbed her from behind.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice said softly from behind. They turned her around, and she was met with the green eyes of her soon to be betrothed. "You can't leave yet, we still need to announce."

"I was just going to… go get some fresh air." She said. "Lots of people, I need some space." said Zoë.

"I'll walk with you." Orion said. He looped his arm in hers and opened the door for them.

Zoë turned her head away from him and grimaced. Her plan was falling apart. How was she going to escape Orion, and then rescue Percy before he gets hanged?

"Where to, love?" Orion asked.

Zoë internally groaned. She hated all of this with a passion. At least she got a choice. Where could she go where she could evade this man? Suddenly, she was facing it.

"The woods." She said. She had been going to the woods since she was young. She knew them better than she knew herself. She had a couple of weapons stored in hollow tree trunks, including a knife and a bow. Weapons she had taught herself to use. If things went sideways…

"I like that idea." Orion whispered in her ear.

She shivered, though for a different reason than Orion thought. She led them into the woods. The darkness of the night would deter many brave souls from the forest, but Zoë loved it even more. There was something ethereal when the moon was the only light in the night sky.

The sounds of crickets sounded throughout the forest, the only other sound except for the pair's footsteps.

It was just about when the trees' shadows were stretching across a clearing when Orion turned Zoë around and pinned her against a tree. Zoë looked fearful as Orion had hunger in his eyes. He licked his lips before kissing her forcefully. Zoë's lips remained closed as she struggled against him.

She raised her knee and nailed him in the balls. Orion stumbled back and held his nuts. She stepped forward and away from her assaulter.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" He yelled. He stared at her hatefully before pouncing on her.

She fell to the ground underneath him. He pinned her down and started to kiss down her neck. He grabbed the neckline of her dress and pulled down, revealing the corset underneath. He roughly grabbed her boob and continued to kiss her skin.

Zoë desperately tried to get out from underneath him, but he weighed twice her amount. She reached around them, trying to find something –anything– that she could use to fight him off. She tried to ignore the rhythmic thrusts Orion was making with his clothed hips.

Orion moved down to the lower part of her dress.

Zoë's hand grasped a rock. She closed her fingers around it and swung it at Orion's head. Orion howled in pain as he stopped his assault. Zoë pushed him off and got to her feet. She examined her handiwork, the stream of blood coming from the side of Orion's head.

She didn't stay around to talk. She turned heel and ran towards her house. The screams of a pained Orion echoed throughout the forest. Those screams were followed by more screams claiming that she was gonna pay.

Zoë tried to ignore them, focusing on just getting out. She saw the hollow tree trunk where she kept her knife. She stopped and reached into it. She pulled out the knife and started running again. She reached the tree line of the forest and noticed two curious things.

One, there was a figure on his knees in front of her house.

Two, the town was on fire.

LINE BREAK

Percy heard the pirates coming before he saw them. The sounds of cannon fire and screaming was quite hard to miss. It didn't help that he was on high alert, waiting for Zoë to free him. In fact, he had almost resigned himself to the fact that she went back on their deal when the door opened.

But instead of his savior, he was met with the rotten looks of a couple of men who had never seen the positive effects of a bath. Flies literally flew around them, like they were shit. Certainly smelled like it. One has a red beard, with matching stringy, red hair. The other had a blond beard, with the same hair to match. Red beard had the keys.

The pair of pirates walked down the row of cells, looking into each one. They walked past Percy, deeming him not what they were looking for. They actually went two cells down. Red beard unlocked the cell door, letting their comrade out.

They dropped the keys on the floor. The trio walked out of the prison, leaving everyone else behind.

Percy looked at the keys. He stuck his arm through the cell bars, but his arm wasn't long enough. The keys were too far. He pulled his arm back. He sighed and tried to think. The key was too far from his cell, closer to the other side.

He looked over to the cell in front of him. The man he had argued with earlier was sitting there, daydreaming. Percy banged on his cell door, disturbing the man from his stupor. The man looked at Percy.

"Hey, you can reach the key. Grab it, let yourself out, then let me out." Percy told him.

"Why would I let you out?" The boy said.

"Because you're going to be a wanted outlaw. Do you know what that means? That means laws don't apply to you. You're outside the law. Sounds great, right? No rules. But that also means you don't have laws to protect you. People can burn down you house, steal your stuff, beat you senseless. And they all have a right to. You're gonna need help, and I can provide that."

The boy seemed to think about it. "Fine. But you must help, and not leave me."

"I'd swear on God, but I don't really believe in him. Poseidon's more my speed."

"Swear on him then."

Percy raised his right hand. "I swear on Poseidon, I shall not leave you after you let me out. Lest Hades make me work upon his ship for one hundred years."

That seemed to satisfy the boy. He reached his arm through the bars of his cell door and tried to reach the keys. His fingers grasped the key ring. He struggled a little more, but his fingers enclosed around the ring. He pulled the keys into the cell.

The boy stood up and reached out of the cell bars. He put a key into the lock on the door. He turned it, only for nothing to happen. He took the key out and tried another one. Also didn't work. Tried another. It was his fifth try that worked.

The cell door swung open. The boy walked over to Percy's cell and unlocked it. Together, they walked out of the jail.

It was chaos outside. Fire had been set to the roofs of buildings. People were running around. Screams came from everywhere. Pirates were running around, pillaging everything.

"To the port!" Percy yelled. The boy nodded.

Together, they evaded pirates and panicking civilians. They had a couple of close calls, but eventually, they realized that they had no idea how to navigate town. They were lost. And as if that wasn't bad enough, they were facing a pirate with an ax.

"Give me everything you have." He said in a gruff voice.

"We just broke out of jail, we don't have anything." The boy said.

Wrong answer. Faster than a normal human could see, the pirate threw the ax. It landed in the middle of the boy's face. Right between the eyes. He fell backward, dead. Blood started to leak out onto the boy's face.

The pirate turned to Percy. "Now, everything you have."

Percy's mind was racing at a million thoughts a minute. Puzzle pieces of a plan were starting to come together. Slowly, he started to take off his shirt, exposing his scarred torso to the open air. He bent down and placed it on the floor. He swiftly grabbed the ax from the face of his companion and brandished it.

The pirate growled. Percy charged at him and swung at the pirate's chest. The pirate, not expecting the bravery, didn't move, earning him an ax to the chest. Percy pulled the ax from the pirate's body and lightly pushed him back.

Percy dropped the ax and walked over to his dead partner. He crouched down to pay respect. He closed the young boy's eyes and stood up, deciding that he had to move on. He picked up the ax and moved into town.

LINE BREAK

Percy ended up near a nice house. A large, white, mansion. There were some woods next to it.

Percy sighed and realized that he was hopelessly lost.

"Damn it!" He yelled.

Footsteps echoed from behind him. He turned around to see Zoë, wearing a dirty and torn dress.

"Oh, hey." He said.

"You're out." She said, simply.

"Yeah."

"Without my help."

"Yeah."

"Guess that means that the deal is off."

Percy stayed silent for a minute, before responding. "I mean, I still need a crew. Hard to pirate alone. And if you're still up for it, I don't think it can get any worse."

"So, where to?" She asked.

"The docks. We need a ship."

"Let's go then."

"Eager, huh?"

"When you've been stuck doing this shit for your entire life, you'll jump at any escape that presents itself."

"Well then, let's go."

LINE BREAK

The party was ruined. And Orion was pissed about it. Everything about the night was going to shit. He shouldn't have been clutching his crown jewels with a wounded pride to boot. He should have been on that stage, with his soon-to-be wife, announcing their engagement.

Then the explosions started, adding insult to injury. Everyone had rushed outside to see what was happening.

The sky was alight with flame and smoke. The sounds of screams from the town were heard, even though the house was on the outskirts of Othrys.

The governor approached Orion with a sword. "Orion."

Orion turned to Atlas Nightshade. "Sir?"

"This sword was supposed to be an engagement gift, presented in the public eye. I'm giving it to you now, so that you may confront whatever it is that is causing distress to this town."

"Me, sir?" Orion said, feigning uncertainty. Truth be told, he was desperate to let out some anger, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

"You are the Fleet Admiral of the British Navy, aren't you not?" Atlas asked. "I believe you are more than capable of handling this."

Orion straightened up. "I won't let you down."

"I trust you won't."

Orion took the sword and examined it. It was long and thin. A graceful blade. Deadly. The blade itself was black, with a silver handle. A green gem sat in the middle of the cross guard. Ornate designs on the handle depicted a sea monster in the ocean. Even with the design, the handle was super comfortable to hold. The blade was perfectly balanced. In writing, underneath the gem, was the word, Monsoon.

Orion put the blade in his belt and walked away from the crowd of people, venturing into the town. People ran around, terrified. One man dressed in seafaring clothes, wielding a cutlass, was chasing a woman. With one swift motion, Orion stabbed the pirate in the heart.

Orion didn't stop to make sure that the woman was fine. He kept on down the street, blade drawn, ready for any resistance he might meet. He encountered a couple of pirates along his way, each one was quickly dealt with.

Orion was enjoying the sword. It was quick and deadly. Sharp as a razor. He could hear the air splitting as he swung the blade.

Up ahead, a man was running with a woman, their hands together. It seemed like she was leading him. Orion rolled his eyes at the two he assumed to be lovers. Of course, the universe showed him what he was supposed to have, but didn't.

But as he looked at them longer, he realized, that girl was Zoë! Who the fuck was she leading, and where was she taking him? He studied the guy. He looked a lot like himself. Like the man could be his brother. There was something on the guy's wrist. A trident tattoo.

He chased after them. They were weaving through the terrified citizens. They kept getting in Orion's way. And as he fell back behind, they disappeared into the crowd.

He kept going the same direction that he saw them going. When he got through the crowd, he was at the docks. He scanned the shipyard and saw them heading towards a large ship with black sails. The man was leading them now.

With a start, he realized what was happening. The man was a pirate, and he was kidnapping the governor's daughter. Well, he wouldn't let that happen. And maybe, when he was done, she would submit to him.

He ran towards the pirate ship. But as he reached the ship, the gangplank fell away, falling into the water. Orion jumped from the wooden deck and tried to grab onto a hanging rope, but he missed, hit the side of the ship, and slid down, falling into the water. The ocean was freezing. He swam back to the dock and lifted himself out of the water.

He turned to the ship and watched as it sailed into the night sky.

"That pirate looked familiar." He muttered. "Where have I seen that tattoo before?"

LINE BREAK

The ship seemed to be alive. Percy was at the wheel, eyes set on the horizon. Zoë watched as he slowly turned the wheel, then back.

When they had reached the ship, and gotten aboard, there was a pirate guarding it. Percy, without hesitation, punched him and threw him overboard. He took control of the ship and raised the anchor. He pulled out of the docks and into the open sea.

It shouldn't have been possible for one lone man to do everything on the ship that he needed to. But it seemed like the ship responded to every command Percy gave it. The wood below them seemed to hum with life.

Percy wrapped a rope around the wheel and walked over to Zoë.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he sat next to her.

"I'm having a hard time believing it." She said softly. "I'm free."

Percy chuckled. "Yeah, I remember when I felt like that. It'll fade. It doesn't come without cost though." His face darkened.

"So, where are we going?"

"First, I have a friend in a small town. A camp really. He's been building me a ship for a while now, and I believe it's done. In return, he's going to be part of the crew. So we're gonna stop by there. Then, like I keep saying, I need a crew. And there's only one place to get a crew in a little bit of time."

"Where?"

Percy's face said that he didn't really like the place. "A pirate haven. Olympus."