Hello! I come with chapter 11 in between midterm exams (or finals, wherever you people are from?). I hope this can distract you for a few minutes, at least. As a university student who gets really stressed over exams (yes, I'm *such* a fun person to be around when finals/important exams are around), a little bit of advice: don't overdo yourself, take breaks, flunking a subject isn't as important as it seems while studying for it!

Now that's done, I wish you a happy reading! Hope you guys enjoy :)

PJO belongs to Rick.

Annabeth woke up at the first light of dawn. Dreams and nightmares had woken her up during a night when sleep had come with much difficulty.

Tossing and turning for a good quarter of hour, she decided enough was enough. She got up, dressed quickly and left to take a walk.

Percy had warned her to avoid walking alone in this... town.

"Try not to go out on your own," the Captain told them in a subdued tone after dinner. "You look too… high class. You'll get robbed, or worse, killed."

Annabeth was about to retort that she could do whatever she wanted, and needn't a pirate, of all things, to keep her safe. But she swallowed her pride. She saw Jason nod his head reluctantly, and thus, so did she.

Regardless, that had been the night before, and now, under the light of the waking sun, she thought herself perfectly capable of going around the block on her own. Hopefully.

Her doubts resulted unfounded, however. As soon as she laid a foot outside the motel, she found the captain leaning on the railing that faced the beach.

He looked restless, and tired. It was strange, he seemed to have aged overnight.

"What has you awake so early?" he asked calmly, with a small glance her way.

She shrugged and joined him, "What are you worried about?"

He kept facing the sea, but allowed himself a small smile.

"Nothing," he answered peacefully. "Nothing much."

She wondered why he'd lie to her. Of course, they'd known each other for a week at most, and the major part of it had been spent bickering and arguing like petty enemies.

She hoped that would change soon. Over the past few days she'd come to think better of the man standing next to her.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked.

Annabeth felt her cheeks warm against her will.

"Nothing," she smirked. "Nothing much."

"All right," he admitted lightly. "I had that one coming."

He hesitated for a second, then offered her his arm, "Let's take a walk."

"I thought you said this place was dangerous," she replied, imagining her mother's face if she found out her daughter was walking arm in arm with a pirate, unchaperoned.

He shook his head with good humour, "It is, if you're a little prince or a naïve duchess."

"Not for a fearsome pirate?"

He smiled but refrained from answering.

"I used to go on walks with my mother," he said softly, after a few minutes of wandering about. "Whenever I couldn't sleep, she'd get dressed and take me to the streets."

Annabeth didn't know where his sudden desire to share past experiences came from, but found herself wanting more. She felt curious about the childhood of pirates, particularly this one. A feeling like a small warm flame inside of her, edging her to listen to his every word.

"I was very little," he spoke with such fondness, Annabeth felt herself smiling. "My mother was... she is, a wonderful person. Always cheerful, optimistic. Even when times were rough she'd find something to be happy about."

"Some people have the ability to make others feel great, no matter what," she allowed herself to say.

He nodded, "I wish I saw more of her."

She knew a couple of days ago, had the Captain professed to miss his mother, she'd have made some cynical comment about it. She could still hear a part of her brain whispering, How about me? You took me away from my mother, without a care, without the slightest hesitation.

"You said the crew were allowed to visit their families once in a while," she reminded him.

He nodded solemnly, "They do, but my mother lives far, little business of ours brings us to those waters. I guess that's why my father chose to find a woman in that town. He could escape there every once in a while, no one would find him."

"I heard..." she stopped to think whether he'd find her question insensitive. Then resolved that even if he was acting nice he had indeed kidnapped her and thus sensitivities were not his privilege. "I heard you grew up in your boat..."

"Ship," he muttered, aggravated. "It's a ship."

She rolled her eyes a bit, "That you grew up in your ship, then. But if you were with your mother...?"

He sighted, "I decided to join my father when I was nine. My mother had finally left my previous step father, she had managed to find a decent job. She didn't need me around as much as before. I had always wanted to travel the seas."

"I bet that made your father proud," she offered. "He was also a… also fond of the sea, was he not?"

Percy smirked, "He was a pirate, you can say it."

She allowed herself a small smile, "All right, he was also a pirate. I do not know whether he was good or bad, but he must have surely rejoiced in your name having become known."

The young man swallowed, as if hesitating to reply with the first thing that popped into his mind, "I hope he was proud. Everything I did, ultimately I did for him. I didn't want to accept it at first."

Percy's factions changed into a melancholy grin, "My friend Grover -you've probably heard his name-, he always claimed that whatever I did to spite either of my uncles was to prove my father I was strong."

The duchess nodded empathically, "Jason sometimes did the same. It must run in the family."

She was afraid to mention his family. It seemed to be a sore subject most of the time, now, however, he was being so open about it.

Luckily, he took no offense, merely smiled.

"Do you miss your friend Grover?" she wondered. Then chastised herself inside her head, of course he missed his friend, what kind of silly question had that been?

"I do," he confirmed. "A lot, but he had his own path to follow. He wanted to go on a search, his whole life he had waited for this opportunity. I couldn't deny it to him. He's like a brother."

"Your genealogy is starting to become quite difficult to follow," she teased.

"And it's about to become even more so," he stated. "We're about to go talk to another relative of mine."

Annabeth's eyes widened, "Right now?"

He nodded.

"You should have said something before!" she chided. "I am not suitable to meet new people. And I thought you said your family wants us dead!"

Percy chuckled at her discomfort, "This woman won't care what you look like, nor, I hope, will she try to have us killed."

"She won't?"

"No," he assured her. "It's not her style to have people murdered, she usually does the dirty work herself. Never believed in letting others take the credit."

Annabeth huffed, "Great, just perfect."

Percy put a hand on the one she had taking hold of his arm.

"She doesn't like men," he said in a soothing undertone. "She thinks we're pointless except, perhaps, to allow the human race to survive. She likes smart people, which is why I just decided I'll be taking you."

"If that cheap compliment is supposed to placate me, Jackson, you clearly have much to learn about me," she scoffed.

He sighed, "Worth a try. She will like you more than me, though. She is a strong, independent woman who needs no significant other to lead her life. At least that's what she told her father when he wanted to marry her off."

"Who is her father?"

"Uncle Zeus, of course," Percy answered. "Isn't he always?"

She chuckled at his joke. Regardless of the first impression Jackson had offered of his… Annabeth thought for a second, cousin. His cousin. Or another one of his cousins, anyway. Whichever the case, anyone who could say that to King Zeus' face was all right by Annabeth's book.

"Let us go meet this woman, then," she said with as much enthusiasm as she could manage.

Next chapter they're meeting her, no worries. I just think Percy and Annabeth loving and trusting each other too much out of the blue is a tad hard to believe.

Any ideas, comments or corrections you can think of, do tell!

Have a lovely day,

-B