Chapter Eighteen

For a place with the reputation it had, the Sea of Monsters was surprisingly calm. No different than the regular sea outside. While the entrance had been nigh catastrophic, and Circe had been an actual witch, the actual sea itself, not too bad. It seemed to be even calmer than the normal sea. The water was still until the Argo II cut through it.

Things were going swimmingly. The heading was on course, they were making fantastic time, and Percy and Zoë had gone back to their previous friendship. All in all, Percy was enjoying life, it was all looking up.

The crew decided to have lunch on the deck all together. They hadn't really spent any time together besides the occasional meeting. They sat in a circle, their jerky and beans slowly being eaten as they ate. Slowly, the conversation turned to their stories.

"How much of your tale is real, Percy?" Frank asked.

"What exactly is my tale?" The captain asked, an eyebrow raised. "I wasn't aware I had a tale. Well, I know people know who I am, but I didn't know I had a 'tale'."

"Really? You don't know about your legend? Even I heard it, and I'm from Italy." Nico asked.

Percy shook his head. "I just said no." He turned to Zoë. "You knew who I was when we first met, do you know this legend?"

Zoë shrugged. "From what I read, almost all pirates looked up to you, but more like a mythological figure, not an actual person. They had your description and that was it."

"How the fuck?" He muttered.

"The tale goes," Frank started. "That you are the son of the very sea itself. Born of sea foam and waves. You could sail a ship from the moment you could reach the wheel. It says that you stole many treasures, even the heart of Davy Jones, overthrowing him and becoming captain of the Flying Dutchman, the very spirit himself. And so you sail the sea, a pirate for eternity, your own heart sealed away."

Percy began to laugh uncontrollably. "That… that is the most bullshit story I've ever heard." Once he calmed down, he started his own tale. "First off, I was not born from the sea. I knew my mom. She, she was the best." His good mood suddenly crumbled. Zoë reached over and covered his hand with hers. "For a while. She died. A boating accident. And so, I decided that I wouldn't let her death make me afraid of the ocean. I decided that I would become the best sailor ever, and master the sea.

"I joined the Navy as soon as I turned thirteen. As soon as I physically could. The first ship I was on sank a month after I joined. I prayed for Poseidon to protect me. I was the only one to survive the wreck. Hm. After that I sailed with the Navy for three years. That's where I met Luke. He was my captain. A couple years older than me. He taught me a lot. Eventually, we left the military, deserted it, actually. We sailed to Olympus and signed under Captain Apollo. Eventually, Apollo was killed, and his crew, including me, were taken into Ares' crew.

"He was a heartless bastard, so I led a mutiny against him. Luke was by my side, as was Ethan Nakumara and Alabaster Torrington. Together we fought off the rest of Ares' crew, banished Ares to a deserted island and sailed for a few more years, the four of us. Then they betrayed me, banished me to an island like we had Ares. I made my way to Port Othrys, where I was locked up. Zoë helped me escape, and together, we sailed to a camp, where we met up with Leo, and then we sailed to Olympus, where I met you all."

A beat of silence passed. "That wasn't nearly as cool as your legend." Nico said. Will playfully smacked his shoulder. "What?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Whatever man."

"You mentioned your mom, but nothing about your dad. What about him?" Grover asked.

The captain shrugged. "Never knew him. Left before I was born. Mom said he was a fisherman, sailed away one day. Lost at sea, she said. Bullshit, I say. I didn't think she wanted to admit that he left us."

No one replied. After a minute of silence, Percy turned to Grover. "What about you? What's your story?"

He shrugged. "Became a navigator, joined the Navy, like you. They treated me like shit, so I left."

Multiple hums came from the pirates. The Navy treating you like shit was such a common occurrence, it was kind of sad.

"Ended up at Olympus." Grover continued. "Found Percy, and here we are."

Small claps applauded his story.

"So, who's next?" Grover asked.

"Mine's kinda boring." Will said. "I just got tired of life and ran away. Ended up on Olympus then here."

"I was a second lieutenant in the Navy." Jason said. "Still got treated like shit. I got honorably discharged, and tried to live a normal life. It didn't work out. One night, at a tavern, I overheard a couple of pirates talking about life at sea, and I started to feel a little nostalgic. But I didn't want to go back to the Navy, so I went to Olympus. Met Percy, and signed on. So far, I don't regret it. You all certainly treat me better than the Navy did."

A round of applause. "Who's next?" Percy asked. He turned to Nico. "You said you're Italian, earlier?"

Nico nodded solemnly. "I was born in Venice. It's a city that's built basically on the water. You have to either walk over a bunch of bridges, or take a boat to get somewhere. My mother was a huge Catholic. They kicked me out, because of uh… reasons. So I boarded the first ship that left Italy. It took me to Puerto Rico. From there, I hopped around, learning how to fire a cannon and fight with a sword. Eventually, I ended up on Olympus where I met Percy, and here I am."

"I am—was, I was a slave." Beckendorf said. He looked down, a stormy look crossing his face. I'm a runaway. I worked on a plantation for Mr. Dare. After a while, I got tired of being abused, so I took a huge risk and ran away. They caught me. They lashed me, then tried to lynch me. But I weighed so much, I broke the rope. They assumed I learned my lesson after that. I ran away that night again. I secretly boarded a ship that was heading to Olympus. And like all you, saw Percy's ad and applied." he slowly looked up. He half thought he was going to get looks of anger but found none.

Percy reached over and put a hand on Beckendorf's shoulder. "I'm glad you ran away man."

"Me too." Grover added.

The rest of the crew voiced their own opinions, all ringing the same sentiment. No one said anything for a few minutes, just sitting and feeling the waves below them.

"I just wanted adventure." Frank said. "Nothing else to it. Tried the Navy, but y'know, it's the Navy." That got a couple of laughs, especially from the ones who had been in the British Navy.

"What about you, Zoë?" Jason asked. "You were with Percy before any of us. How'd you meet up with him?"

"Oh, um." Zoë shrank back.

"You don't have to say anything, if it makes you uncomfortable." Percy said.

She waved him off. "No, I'm just trying to figure out where to start. I guess, well, I'm the daughter of the Governor of Othrys. However, I didn't want that responsibility, so I ran away the first chance I got, which was Percy. Some stuff happened before that, but it's not that important." She paused. "Oh, well, it might be. I was due to be engaged to the Fleet Admiral of the Navy."

"Orion? You were going to marry that ass?" Jason asked, shocked.

"Not by choice!"

"You do realize that he's probably going to be looking for you?" Grover said.

"Percy brought that up right after we left."

"Huh. So we have the Fleet Admiral of the British navy, who a lot of us know of and hate, chasing us?"

"Most likely." Percy said.

"I feel like you should have mentioned that at some point." Nico said.

"It slipped my mind. Besides, how would He even know where we are? We're in the most dangerous part of the sea as well. I feel like we're as safe as we can be. From him, at least."

"I don't know Percy, that was kind of stupid, not letting us know." Grover said. He raised his hand as Percy was about to speak. "It's too late now, and I'm sure most of us would still follow you anyways out of spite for Orion. Just next time, give us some more details."

The rest of the crew hummed an agreement.

Suddenly, the ship came to an abrupt stop.

"The hell?" Percy asked. He looked overboard and froze. "Shit."

Coming out of the water was a large tentacle, reaching into the sky. One side was covered in suckers as large as Percy. The suckers were creme in color, and the smooth side was orange.

Below the waves was one large yellow eye. A dark shape sat even lower, taking the form of a large octopus.

"THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Leo yelled.

"A bitch!" Will yelled.

"Worse!" Percy stood up. "It's a Kraken."

A/N. I'm writing a pirate story and you thought I wasn't going to put a kraken in it? How does it feel to be wrong?

The only backstory I had planned was Beckendorf's. I made everyone else's up on the spot.

Also, a quick life update, I just got a job (McDonald's), and I start college in about a week and a half, so if updates slow or quicken, that's why.

Thoughts?