Join Us - A Pirate's Life is Best

Chapter 31 : Really? Another Reunion? ffs

Frank's POV

Frank wasn't quite sure what he expected whenever the pirates mentioned the camp, but he was sure he hadn't imagined what they'd sailed into.

The sheer size of the Islands had stunned him and left him wondering how no one ever found out about the place.

What he also hadn't expected was a centaur showing up, leading them to a house and then disappearing with Reyna. It was the first time Frank had ever seen a moment of fear glance across Reyna's face, leaving him wondering what that talk was about.

They'd spent a while at the camp, but Frank had lost track of time pretty much the moment they passed through the cave. 

Reyna and Chiron reappeared, both faces baring much more positive features than when they were last seen.

His old captain didn't seem to be in the mood to discuss what had happened either, quickly changing the topic, which had silently arisen. "So, we going to the bar or not?"

As they were about to leave, Chiron held up his hand, causing all pirates to freeze, and Reyna's crew followed quickly.

Frank wondered what was the problem, but Chiron didn't speak. He slowly walked towards Annabeth, with a questioning look in his eyes. "Do you have a brother, Annabeth?"

"Didn't you guys have a brother of mine in your crew?" Annabeth asked.

Chiron's face fell, not angry, but defeated. "Yes... Malcolm, such a good kid, but I don't mean him. I mean a fully biological brother."

Annabeth's face contorted slightly, though Frank couldn't tell if it was positive or negative. "I- no..." She trailed off, though a sad look appeared in her eyes.

"Very well. Off you go, but I must warn you, there might be a lot going on." Chiron warned, though his smile told Frank that that might not be a bad thing.

The group walked in silence for a while, before they arrived at a large hut that was much larger up close than what Frank had expected when he saw it from the ship.

A few dozen feet before the bar he noticed two figures leaving the bar. One had blond hair and was quite a bit taller than the other, who had green hair.

As they got closer, he noticed that the shorter person had two different coloured eyes, while the other had a familiar set of grey eyes. Suddenly, Chiron's question made sense.

Frank noticed Annabeth freeze up, and immediately knew that she recognised whoever that was.

"Magnus Chase!" The taller, blond figure froze, a look of fear gracing his features. Moments later, Annabeth charged. "You son of a-" Was all that was heard before she leapt towards him, tackling him to the ground.

The green haired person drew a garrotte seemingly from out of nowhere and looked ready to attack, but when they saw the pirate crew, they smiled and started laughing.

"How dare you let me think you were dead!" Annabeth yelled.

"I missed you too, cousin." The boy smiled, though he still looked slightly scared.

"Um, anyone care to enlighten us?" Percy sounded slightly jealous, which would have been hilarious to Frank, but after seeing the way he'd gotten mad at Jason, Frank was convinced to stay on his good side.

"This is my cousin, Magnus, except everyone at home thinks he's dead." Frank couldn't make out whether she sounded happy or angry or both.

"Y'know, when you told me you had a cousin who you really missed, I'd have thought that the reunion would be more lovey-dovey, Beantown." The green haired person laughed loudly. "I'm Alex, by the way. I'm Magnus' boyfriend, at least for today." He explained. "I'm gender fluid, so I might be a girl or a boy tomorrow, who knows."

"Alex is the coolest person in the Isles." Nico chuckled, walking over and giving him a side hug.

Annabeth turned to Alex, keeping a foot on Magnus' chest, obviously still mad at him. "Well, it's an honour to meet you, Alex." She said with a smile, holding out her hand.

"The honour is all mine." Alex replied with a chuckle, shaking Annabeth's hand. "Magnus has told me many stories about you."

"Yeah, speaking of which." Magnus said, his voice slightly wheezy. "As- as much as I'd love to catch up, we kinda have to get going." He coughed out.

"What? Again?" Annabeth sounded slightly annoyed.

"Yeah... as much as I'm enjoying this, we kinda have to stop my mom." Alex sighed.

"Your mom?" Frank asked.

"Yup, Loki's being a bitch again." Magnus smiled bitterly as he got to his feet, Annabeth having finally let him go.

The name sounded familiar to him, but Frank couldn't quite place it. Leo on the other hand, could. "I've heard stories about Loki, isn't he a dude? And isn't he a myth."

"I'll skip over the first question because I doubt you really want to hear it, but as for your second question, magic isn't supposed to exist either, is it?" Alex replied.

"Wait... magic exists?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah, the Isles kinda give you a new outlook on life, and what's real and fake. There's different forms of magic or powers on the different Islands." Thalia explained.

"You guys still have a lot to learn, but you'll figure it out." Magnus said.

"When we're done with Kronos, we'll tell you everything you need to know." Reyna promised.

"It's funny, isn't it?" Piper wondered aloud. "At least one island is always dealing with bullshit."

"You're not wrong." Percy chuckled.

"We'll talk when all this is over, I promise." Frank heard Magnus whisper to Annabeth, before hugging her quickly and disappearing out of sight moments later with Alex.

"Heh, you don't have a long lost twin brother of mine that I never knew about sitting around here anywhere, do you?" Leo joked.

"Oh please, as if we need another one of you." Calypso shook her head.

"You just wouldn't be able to handle two of me." Leo chuckled, leaving Calypso to turn away, blushing, while Frank almost laughed. Almost.

"Right, let's hope they have a table big enough for all of us in there." Travis said, moving towards the door.

"Oh please, you know this place, they have everything in here." Katie muttered as they walked up the few steps.

The doors swung open inwards and, once again, Frank couldn't believe what he saw.