Percy put his heart into the chest, and closed it. He dropped to a knee, exhausted and in immense pain, when the woman materialized on the hand in front of him, wearing a gown that revealed an awful too much, but she was the most gorgeous woman Percy had ever laid eyes on. Hair darker than the night, matching her eyes, which had no white, just black. She walked up to the chest and held her hand on it, and Percy's body froze, unable to breathe. He tried to claw at his neck, but his arms wouldn't move. The woman removed her hand, and Percy gasped for air, falling on his stomach. He felt the skin on his chest squirm, and when he reached for his heart, the hole was no longer there, just the scars he'd given himself for cutting it out. Percy rolled over, and the woman was standing before him, holding the chest.
Thump-thump.
His heart beat in the chest, the sound painfully clear. Percy stared, wide-eyed at the locked metal chest, a sun engraved on one side, a moon on the other. The woman set the chest down, and held her hand out. A key appeared in it, a simple metal key that looked like it'd aged an eternity. She held it out, and Percy took it, rising to a kneel.
"Milady." he said, and the woman placed her hand on his shoulder.
"You are no longer mortal, Perseus. Your soul is bound to mine, and you shall reap the rewards for making the sacrifice." she spoke softly, her hand glowing a flaming white on Percy's shoulder. Percy wanted to cry in pain, but he bit back his tears, clenching his eyes closed. When the pain subsided, Percy reached for his shoulder, but there was nothing missing, she hadn't even burned through his shirt.
"What am I to do with the chest, milady?" Percy asked first.
"Your heart is yours to control, therefore it is yours to care for. Keeping your heart here would sever your soul from your body, killing you when you return to the mortal realm. You must keep it with you." She said. Percy rose, and instantly felt a growing strength. He looked around, and there was no more darkness. He saw the other six figures, the Ancient gods, all smiling down on him. He stared into each pair of eyes, seeing their true powers, and Percy didn't flinch.
"You are no longer bound by fate, Perseus Jackson, but instead bound by your duty to us, to each of us. Failure to fulfill your duty will result in an eternal punishment worse than any mortal can dream of, do you understand?"
"I understand milady." A mirror appeared before him suddenly, and Percy saw his back- he was completely shirtless all of the sudden, and Percy swore he heard Eros sigh. His back was marked- a wicked black tattoo stretching from the small of his back all the way to his shoulders and traps, symbols he didn't understand scattered throughout.
"You are marked by the All-Knowing, Perseus. Carrying our symbol and power in the mortal realm is your responsibility." the woman spoke again.
"All-Knowing?" the woman shot a small grin,
"I am the All-Knowing, mother to the Ancient Gods, the being who holds your fate in her hands, Perseus."
—-
Annabeth was surprised to get called back to Tortuga so hastily, but she complied nonetheless. Maybe Percy had thought about her advice.
"Or maybe he got himself killed." she found herself saying, as the council was in chaos over Percy's disappearance.
"Percy doesn't just die, Annabeth. Of us all, you should know this." Jason said at the head of the table, the chair opposite him empty. Leo had stormed in earlier screaming about Percy, his cloak in hand. He explained how he stumbled upon it, leading to some conspiracies from the pirates.
"Perhaps Jackson took a swim at night and ran into the Tortuga sharks, always possible."
"We would've seen a corpse." Leo noted. "This isn't normal, Captain Jason."
"English, perhaps?" Jason spoke. Nobody wanted to face the elephant in the room: the potential that Percy was now in the hands of the English.
"Aye, impossible. Me and my crew would've seen any English first line ships sailing into Tortuga, as we were positioned west." Annabeth spoke up, "unless our information was bad."
The room suddenly shook with a massive earthquake, bigger than Annabeth had ever felt before. There was a loud crash, and the windows of the chamber flew open. Annabeth stood, in shock, and rushed to the window, looking out over Tortuga's port.
No more than a mile off coast was a three-decker ship of the line, sails raised, sailing away from Tortuga, wearing colors she'd never seen before. Annabeth was quick to pull out her telescope.
"Chaos's Fury." the rear of the ship read.
"I've never heard of such ship." Jason mumbled. The eight other captains gathered at the window to see. The ship was no doubt the model of an English ship, but it looked built for Napoleon himself. "Get to your ships! We cannot let it get past the isle!" Jason commanded in an instant, and the captains ran, Jason included, but Annabeth stood behind, staring at the ship. A man stared back at her from the helm, a hat she recognized distinctly. She raised her telescope again, and stared into the sea-green eyes she'd come to love so much. When she lowered it, he was standing in front of him. Annabeth swiftly drew her sword.
"Percy!" she hammered, taking a step back. The man was deadfaced looking at her.
"Annabeth." his voice was almost a plead, as she saw emotions slowly bleed into place. "Can I trust you still?"
"What do you mean, Percy?" her blade was still ready for an attack from the pirate.
Percy slammed a chest she'd never seen before down on the table. "I need you to keep this." Annabeth lowered her sword slowly, looking at the chest.
"What is it?"
"You'll figure it out in time, but I need you to swear your life you'll tell nobody. Of it, or of me." Percy whispered. He took a step towards her, and her sword instantly raised again, but he moved it out of the way with his hand, before grabbing her offhand, leading it up his chest.
Her eyes stared desperately into his, waiting for any sort of explanation. He brought her hand up further, right onto his left pec. Annabeth looked into his eyes, silence filling the room.
Silence.
Annabeth gasped, feeling his chest. There was no beat.
"Percy…" her voice was a croak, as she stepped back from him, leaning back on the table.
"It's always been yours, Annabeth." his face morphed into the grin she fell in love with, "you were right. I am not meant to make swords for lesser men, I am meant for the seas."
"Percy, I cannot…" she trailed off, glancing wearily at the steel chest that sat next to her.
Thump-Thump.
The sound of it made her want to puke.
"I don't want it on my ship, and you're the only person it's ever fully belonged to."
"And you turned your back on me, so does it still belong to me?" Annabeth's hostility suddenly rose. "What if I choose to open the chest and stab your heart? Will you still love me then?"
Percy shook his head, "you will not open it. It is impossible without the key." Annabeth stared at the chest.
"Why do you want me to have it?"
"Like I said, I don't want it on my ship, and you're the only woman who's ever been brave enough to capture my heart. You're the only person in the world I'd trust it with." Annabeth glanced back and forth- Percy, the chest. Percy, the chest, before she caught the scene behind Percy- the ship that'd appeared slowly being engaged by the other Pirate lords.
"Your ship…" she mumbled, and Percy turned.
"They'll learn not to cross Chaos's Fury, just as the entire world will." he turned back to her, "Annabeth, I'm going back." She'd expected it, the ship and all, but him saying it almost broke her confidence.
Cannonfire in the distance. "I must go, Annabeth, but I will see you again." he grabbed her hand, dragging it to the chest, "Whatever you do, shoot it, burn it, keep it on your ship. I will always know where to find you." he said, turning to the window.
"Percy!" she said, stopping him, "I love you." she spoke quietly.
"I love you too." he said, as shadows enveloped him, and he disappeared. Annabeth stood wide-eyed.
—-
Leo's Festus's Flame was the first to engage the ship, which had started to move but Leo's ship had the momentum. Cannonfire rang out, the ship's gunports still closed. Festus did some damage to the Chaos's Fury, but nothing major.
"Reload the cannons! Prepare to board!" Leo said from the helm as the ship suddenly raised every gunport at once, each cannon had a man's head engraved around the barrel, an inhumane amount of teeth holding the cannon in place, the entire thing made out of clean bronze and iron. "Take cover!" Leo screamed, as the Chaos's Fury unleashed a broadside that would end any ship. Festus's Flame sustained major damage, the center mast barely hanging on.
"Raise the mast! Let it go! The others will engage!" Leo barked, worried for the state of his ship. Festus's movement halted as the Chaos's Fury picked up speed. Leo cursed, watching the monster of a ship pull away. Leo spotted the Athena's Heart and the Eyes of Olympus, Jason's ship, pulling up close. Leo barked an order, and the Festus threw up a signaling to the other two- do not engage.
—-
Percy reappeared at the helm of his ship, an army of shadows controlled by Erebus himself manning the ship to perfection. Percy hastily retreated into the captain's quarters where a map of the world as well as a map of the Caribbean were laid out. Percy followed the All-Knowing's instructions: light a candle, and say the prayer. He sat before the map.
Ah, you did it. Her voice rang clearly through his head. I can only be here whilst the candle is lit, so do not worry. I will not be in your head for eternity, Perseus.
"I hoped not."
Your work back in Tortuga was excellent. Festus's Flame is out of commission for a few months, and will throw the other Pirate Lords of the Caribbean off your trail. As for your move with the chest- we saw once we made you the offer that you'd do that, so do not worry. Eros approves.
Percy found himself breaking a smile. "Where am I going?" he asked.
Ares's Queen Anne's Revenge is currently docked just off of the Western Isle of Havana.
"The gulf. What am I to do?"
Send a message, do not kill him. Let him know he does not rule these seas anymore. The blood will be spilt when the Englishmen come.
—-
The council reconvened after Captain Leo's failure in combat with the mystery ship. For the first time, most of these captains had felt fear for the first time since their childhoods. Irrelevant discussions continued, but Annabeth sat silent, thinking about the chest that sat in her quarters.
"Annabeth?" Jason brought her back to the conversation, "do you still have the maps to Oceanus's cove?" Annabeth nodded weakly.
"I do. What would Oceanus's cove do for us here?"
"That's where the legendary Chiron lay retired, he's the only person in these seas who'd know anything about that." Jason said.
"That ship is not normal." Leo stood. "We got to broadside with it and there wasn't…" he shivered.
"Captain?" Reyna asked.
"There wasn't people manning it. The shadows lit the cannons, lowered the sails. There was not a soul on board." Annabeth swallowed her fear. She turned around to Thalia and whispered for her to retrieve the map to Oceanus's cove, her first mate rushing out of the chamber.
"It isn't English then." Frank declared. "My father told stories of a ship that wasn't manned by living people once, said a heartless captain, immortal until the shogunate found his heart, locked away, and destroyed it." Annabeth stopped her breath from catching, maintaining composure.
"Could this be something similar?" Jason asked.
"People who saw the ship said it came from the depths of the ocean. It didn't simply sail into port. They said her bow shot up from the ocean as if the undead had risen." Leo responded. Much to Annabeth's relief, Thalia returned with the map. Annabeth was fast to unscroll the map and lay it on the table.
"A three day's trip to Oceanus's cove. I suggest we don't arrive individually. Tortuga requires some sort of defense, from the ghost ship and from the English." Annabeth caught Jason's suspicious glance, "I suggest we either take two of the six-" Annabeth caught her words, looking over at the two empty chairs on the opposite end of the roundtable. "Five of us. Two boats would look like we're coming for blood. Chiron would not be fast to comply."
"I could travel with Captain Chase on the Athena, while the three of you work around Tortuga. I will leave the Zeus's Bolt in the hands of my first, the hunter Arcas." Jason declared, he posed it as an offer but it was a plan he was demanding of the council, "all in favor?"
A chorus of 'aye' rang out around the chamber, and the council was dismissed. Annabeth hung around after.
"She's not in the desert, Jason." Annabeth said quietly.
"What do you mean?" the man asked, studying the map in front of him.
"Piper isn't in the desert. I went there myself to find her, but she wasn't there."
"Perhaps she just didn't want to see you? The desert works in mysterious ways." Jason's voice was full of hope.
"You should've just told them three your real plan, it's wrong to lie to them like this." Jason's hand slapped the table, and Annabeth was unfazed. Thalia drew her sword behind her.
"If you want to talk about lying, how about you share what you so obviously know about the Chaos's Fury? You are never that quiet, council or not."
"Step down, brother." Thalia hissed. Jason removed himself from the aggressive position he was in, leaning back over the map.
"I wish I could tell you. But the reality is that while I may know something you don't, what I know isn't exactly clear."
—-
Jason had grown noticeably more anxious as the Athena's Heart sailed eastward for Oceanus's cove. A three day sail, the cove was home to the ancient Captain Chiron, as well as awfully nearby the Mariana Trench, the only entrance to the Desert, or the afterlife, as some people called it. The Captain's quarters were decorated with her triumphs- the blade of Boston, various treasures and rewards, but Annabeth flipped a compass between her fingers, the path of their journey marked loosely on the map. Jason just enjoyed his tea. He was English at heart, but thrown out by his family at a young age and taken in by the Captain Ares, who showed him how to become a ruthless, successful pirate. Jason sipped, taking the occasional glance at the female captain across from him. While he was dead-set on recovering Piper McLean, his wife and a fellow captain of the council, he could not deny Annabeth's beauty. Her looks and her wits, he understood why Percy had welcomed her in and fell in love with her. His eyes went from her to a chest that sat on a long table behind her. The marking that repeated across the chest was unfamiliar to him, a language he'd never seen before.
"What did you pillage for that chest there? I've never seen something like it before." Jason asked, and he noticed Annabeth grow weary.
"It wasn't a pillage." she answered quietly. Jason stood, trying to walk past it, but Annabeth's sword was quickly drawn, blocking his path.
"You do not want to go near that chest, Jason." He'd known Annabeth for well over fifteen years, but he'd never seen her this desperate. "The truth is not something you can handle."
"But you can?"
"He gave me that, and whether I accept it or not is…" she trailed off.
"Percy?" Jason's hand reached out, grabbing her shoulder. Annabeth's head snapped up and met his eyes.
"Captain!" a voice rang from behind the door. Annabeth brushed past Jason and opened the door, Thalia met on the other end. "There's a wreckage off the starboard bow, about five miles! Fresh, too." Annabeth frowned.
"Douse the lamps." she said, leaving the quarters. Jason stood alone in the room, staring down the chest.
You cannot handle the truth.
He shook his head, drawing his sword and swinging with all of his force at the chest. To his surprise, his blade snapped clean at the top of it. The chest almost let out a laugh at him. Jason huffed, turning on his heel and going to the helm.