"Do you fear death?" Percy's voice was quiet, staring into the face of the kneeling before him. The pirate nodded shakily. Percy stood. "You can either face the mast or you can tell me where Captain Ares is!" his voice rang over the ship, the twenty-man crew held to their knees.
"We don't know, sir." a young man spoke up. Percy walked over to the man, no older than twenty four, hair tied back, teeth clean Percy knelt down to the man's level, his sea-green eyes bore into the dark eyes of the prisoner.
"You are not one of them. What is your business here?" Percy asked, inspecting the man.
"I-I am Nico Di Angelo, I am a crewmate on the Queen, but Ares sent me here to oversee the retrieval."
"Of what?" Nico's jaw jittered in the cold.
"A letter, from the English. We didn't know until recently but he's been lying to everyone. He's the one who brought the English to the Caribbean." Percy's smirk grew.
"Take him to our brig." Percy said, and two humanoid shadows marched forward, and against Nico's screams, the night consumed them, and he was gone.
"Where have you seen Ares last?" Percy asked the now nineteen crew.
"King's Head. He wouldn't tell us where he was taking the Queen next." someone spoke up from the crowd.
"Ah, it appears I am too far west, then." he mumbled to himself. "The All-Knowing asks for souls, kill the rest of them." Percy announced, and the shadows that surrounded the crew drew their swords.
—-
Annabeth and Jason both had telescopes drawn, looking at the wreckage. The ship, a large galleon, had been split in half, and was previously on fire, but the water they'd taken on extinguished it. Annabeth watched as two figures she couldn't make out took ahold of a man and they disappeared.
"It's them." Jason muttered. "Shadows manned the guns. That's what Leo said."
Just like it'd happened in Tortuga, the man on the ship looked over at the dark Athena's Heart, making eye contact with Annabeth through her telescope. In an instant, he fell downwards, the railing covering where he'd gone.
"I cannot repay this favor you've done for me, Captain Annabeth." he spoke behind them. Instantly, there were three swords at his throat- Hers, Thalia's, and Jason's.
"A family reunion. How nice." his voice was evil.
"What are you doing out here?" Annabeth's voice was the opposite- a tremble. Percy's eyes lied to him, showing his love for her when his met hers, but he quickly looked to Jason.
"Captain Jason Grace." he spoke confidently, walking towards the drawn swords, "You're just who I need right now." he moved Jason's sword out of the guard and put his hand on his shoulder.
"What happened to you, Percy? Why'd we find your coat on a sloop, and you just appear now?" Percy smiled innocently at Jason's comment, brushing past them.
"Annabeth came to me the night of the council, days ago. She told me I am due for more than just a forgemaster in a pirate town, and she changed my mind on my retirement." Percy leaned over the deck of the ship, taking in a breath of the night breeze. He turned around, facing the three, he also noticed the rest of Annabeth's crew at the base of the stairs to his right.
"I think we must go to a more private place. We've drawn… quite the audience." he muttered. He raised an eyebrow at Annabeth, who nodded, and led them down to the captain's quarters.
"At ease, hunters. These men are of no threat." she called on her way down the stairs, and the crew dispersed, suspicious eyes laid on Percy. Annabeth led the two men into her quarters, and beckoned Thalia in. Percy walked to the roundtable in the center, examining the map.
"Oceanus's Cove." he said.
"There's a ship roaming the seas. A Chaos's Fury. We're going to seek out Chiron for any information." Jason saw Percy's smile twinge upwards.
"And the trench, too." Percy noticed the continuation of the path south of the cove.
"I can't help but hold out hope that she'd be kept in there, Percy." Jason's voice was pleading, "Do you know anything?"
"I know lots, Jason. Piper is kept in the desert, growing more mad by the day."
"How do you know?" Jason asked. "Annabeth said she'd gone herself to find her, but never saw anything." Percy's eyes flicked to the other captain, fixing herself tea.
"A mortal simply cannot enter the trench and find the person they're looking for. You need someone who knows how to find the person you seek." Percy said simply.
"And do you know that person?" Annabeth asked.
"I am that person." Percy replied, "The Athena was not simply made by men in a port. The legends said that it was supernatural, blessed by something not of this realm, and that it hadn't been seen in a decade when we set to find it." Percy ran a thumb across the wood of the captain's quarters.
"It was locked away in the desert." Jason said, "That's what the story said, you and ten other men dove deeper into the trench than anyone else, and entered the afterlife, recovering the Heart."
"A bit exaggerated, but yes. In order to capture the Athena, we had to enter the desert, but it is not a simple task, entering the afterlife." Percy kept inspecting the quarters.
"What is it you seek, Percy?" Thalia spoke.
"Something only your brother can give me, huntress." Jason made eye contact with Percy. "You're notorious for being the disciple of Captain Ares, aren't you?" Jason nodded.
"If you wish to retrieve the woman you love, you must forfeit someone equally as close to your heart, Jason." Percy walked closer to the man.
"What happened to you?" Jason hissed.
—-
I need a crew. Percy thought, staring down Captain Grace. If the Fury is to be manned, it cannot be by shadows.
Do you have any ideas, Perseus? The voice in his head spoke back, not often, only when he needed.
Men who must know how to man the strongest ship in the world. I need sailors. Dead sailors.
"Even if I told you, it wouldn't be a truth you'd believe, Jason." Percy sighed, "Simply put, someone wanted me to come back to the ocean, and I have." He turned around, and looked back over the map in the roundtable.
"I don't want a fight tonight, my friends. I think we can work out terms." He said, "you've got two and a half days left before you reach the Mariana trench, and from what I know, Ares resides somewhere in those isles." Percy turned back to Jason.
"Do you want to return Piper to the mortal world?" Percy asked.
"More than anything."
"Then sell out your mentor. He will not die, and nobody will know of your wrongdoing, just us in these quarters." Percy said, and Jason took a glance at the two women among them. His sister, whom he'd loved dearly, but trusted little, and Annabeth Chase, a friend of his for longer than he'd remember.
"Would you do the same for her?" Jason countered, pointing a wicked finger at Annabeth.
"Jason." she hissed.
"I wouldn't even consider the alternative. A world without."
"You two men are pathetic for negotiating like this." Annabeth hissed. "If you loved Piper, you wouldn't even think about protecting Ares. You have no need to rely on him anymore, Jason."
Jason's eyes shut, taking a deep breath, "He rests at King's Head for the night, but will travel to Catalonya in the morning. He'll be there for two days, selling various treasures." Jason reopened his eyes, looking up to Percy.
"How do I get Piper back?" he asked.
"I don't wish to deal in bad faith, so you'll get the opportunity to enter the trench, but not until we reach Oceanus's Cove." Jason drew his knife immediately, holding it at Percy's neck.
"What happened to the sword I forged for you? That should've been unbreakable." Jason slowly craned his head to the chest that sat on Annabeth's personal desk. Percy laughed.
"Ah, I see. Tried to break the unbreakable, as most men would."
"You're dealing in bad faith by not giving up the information." Jason hissed.
"No, he's not." Thalia spoke up. "I was there. A prisoner on the brig when Percy quested to retrieve Athena, and it is not just simple information, nor is it just a small task."
"Thank you, Thalia." Percy moved the shocked Jason's sword from his throat. "To enter the trench, you need a soul you're willing to sacrifice, and you need a crew with the balls to attempt it." Percy looked over Jason's shoulder to Annabeth. "The soul cannot be someone you have no attachment to, either. Whoever invokes the passage to the trench must be sacrificing someone they care for."
"You have one of the two, the other…" Percy looked back down to Jason, who scowled up at him.
"Ares." Jason spat.
"I wasn't going to suggest you kill your mentor in order to retrieve Piper, but that's much more entertaining." Percy chuckled, "Assuming your knowledge is correct, I suggest we retrieve Ares first. We can catch his ship en route to Catalonya, where we will capture Captain Ares."
"And the Queen?" Annabeth spoke.
"Seeing as it is your ship that will be defeating her, it is your decision to make regarding the Queen." Annabeth's smile grew wicked. "Do you have the hands to spare?" he continued.
"I think we can manage." Percy smiled at her.
"You're a wicked man now, Percy." Jason interrupted, "Whatever's been done to you, I hope you don't live to regret it." He spat, storming out of the quarters, leaving Percy alone with Annabeth and Thalia.
"Thalia, tell the crew that it is curfew, and to wake the night shift. I'll turn us to Ares' assumed path." Annabeth said to her first mate, and Thalia nodded, leaving them two alone. Annabeth walked up to Percy.
"I thought you would've lost the feeling of care for people like Jason with your heart." she spoke, running her hands up his chest. He kept his composure, as she unbuttoned his shirt, pulling slightly to her right, revealing the scar that ran down his left pec.
"I can still feel everything, Annabeth. I still live." he whispered, tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. He tried to keep his hand at her cheek, but she slapped it away.
"I won't let you do that. Not until you prove it to me." she whispered.
"I must ask, Annabeth, is it going to be a problem if I stay on the ship while we make the day's sail?" he asked.
"Where's your ship?"
"Close by, but I don't really want to let Jason know about…" he trailed off, and she nodded.
"I'll help you protect your secret." she said, "did you lie to Jason?"
"No. You need a soul to sacrifice in order for the Trench to open, and it is not a journey for the faint of heart." he sighed, "we should adjust course to meet Ares." He walked back over to the map.
"If Jason is right, we could meet Ares at sea tomorrow…" he drew a line between King's Head and Catalonya with his finger, "around noon, perhaps?" Annabeth nodded, checking her compass, and walked out of the quarters to the helm. Percy followed her. The top deck was quiet, outside the few eyes and deckhands keeping things peaceful, and the helm was empty. Annabeth manned the wheel, turning it just west, correcting course, while Percy just looked back over the rear railing. Annabeth joined him once she'd shifted the wheel.
"Was that wreckage we found your doing?" she asked, and Percy nodded. The wreckage was far in the distance, but the sea had no fog that night, allowing Annabeth to barely make out the split sinking vessel.
"It was one of Ares'. Tracked it down from Tortuga."
"I've never seen you hunt with such passion as you do for Ares, why?" she asked.
"My mission. I do the sea's bidding, and the sea wants Ares checked."
Annabeth shot him a look, "The sea wants Ares checked?" she asked in disbelief.
"I didn't ask questions, until one of the crewmates revealed that Ares was the one bringing English influence into the Caribbean. The ship was meant to retrieve and English letter for Ares, but they'll never return." he said, and Annabeth looked shocked.
"You didn't tell that to Jason?"
"Jason would've been broken had he known the man who… basically raised him, had gone against every thing he holds close to his heart." Percy explained.
"And your ship?" she said. Percy leaned over the railing a bit more, looking off to the left. He pointed off the ship, down into the sea. Annabeth leaned over next to him.
"I don't see it." she said.
"Look closer." he whispered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, still pointing out. "Look down." she lowered her view into the ocean, and the sight was terrifying. The same ship- Chaos's Fury, matched the Athena's Heart's pace, despite being completely submerged.
"How?" she asked, and Percy smiled at her.
"I told you, I do the sea's bidding."
—-
"The prisoner, as ordered sir." two men marched into large room overlooking english Port Elizabeth, a woman, covered in dirt and unclean, dressed in pirate's clothes in tow with them.
"Remove those cuffs, they won't be necessary." the Englishman spoke cleanly, a mocking superiority in his tone. The two men removed the cuffs from the woman's hands, and she rubbed her wrists.
"The East India Company has need of your services, Bianca Di Angelo." the officer spoke. "We wish for you to act as our agent in a business dealing with a… mutual friend of ours." he said, pouring her a glass of liquor. He offered it, but Bianca just scowled at the glass, and the man set it down.
"Who?" she asked.
"Captain Annabeth Chase, the notorious pirate in the Caribbean."
"I think friend severely understates your relationship with her, Lord Castellan." Bianca spat, and Luke Castellan smirked at her, turning away. "Why do you come to me for this?"
"I need something that only a friend of hers can retrieve, and you are in my custody, I see it as a win-win, Bianca." Luke took a sip of his drink.
"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked, and Luke opened a chest on his desk, pulling out a leather-sealed letter.
He shook it in the air for emphasis, "Letters of pardon." he said, turning back to Bianca. "You and your brother, Nico Di Angelo assisted in the escape of one of the most notorious criminals known to England, Perseus Jackson. If you agree to work with us and you do well with your job, you and your brother will be set free, recognized as uniform and legal citizens once more."
"And if I decline?"
"You'll simply spend another three years in our prison. Something I wouldn't consider enjoyable, something your brother certainly didn't." Luke's smirked at Bianca.
Bianca frowned, "What did Nico do?"
"We offered a similar contract to your brother, one he accepted. An informant within Captain Ares' crew, as we used the captain to prepare for our deployment into the Caribbean." Luke offered his hand, "let me show you something." Bianca took it, and Luke walked her out of his quarter, and down the hall to a balcony overlooking the port town. Port Elizabeth had grown mightily since she'd last seen it- three years, but she saw what Luke wanted her to.
A whole fleet of ships, at least two-dozen, all of the line, flooding Port Elizabeth's waters.
"The world is changing, Bianca. No longer are we blind to the piracy in the waters, as the hunters have become the hunted." Bianca swallowed fear looking out over the fleet.
"What is it you want of her?"
"A map. A map that leads to the resting places of all seven pirate lords in the Caribbean." Luke said simply, taking in the sight of his armada.
"You wish for the Caribbean's End? You don't need a map to find them." Bianca said, and Luke raised an eyebrow.
"Ah, but you forget… when I sail fifty ships into those waters, all seven of them will go running, and they will never come out. I want to harm them most, where it hurts." Luke smiled, "Bianca, do you want to do business?"
let me know if you like it or not:)