A Pirates Life For Me

Chapter 10

Jason's POV

The ship was in absolute mayhem- crew-members rushing about trying to keep the ship afloat, cannons firing into the water in front of us sending up mountains of spray, debris from the broken mast littering the deck and the tattered sail floated through the air, catching the down-draft of wind and covering several pirates, enveloping them in darkness.

Reyna and I did our best to convey orders, but the noise made it hard to here and the ship rocked violently so it was almost impossible to stand still long enough to give a lengthy, strategic order.

"Jason, we have to get the ship away from Luke or we're going to sink." Reyna said to me, stumbling as the Argo leaned to the side and I reached out to steady her.

"Yes, I know," I replied as we headed below deck to check on the cannons. "We need to get word to the Andromeda."

Reyna shook her head. "There's no way Percy can help us if we're both being attacked, and you know that there's no chance of Luke leaving him out of this." She had a point. "Besides, even if we could get an Iris Message through, what if no one's there to pick it up?" Good point again.

I let out a huff, covering my ears like everyone else as we fired back at Luke's ships.

Sensing my distress, Reyna placed a hand on my shoulder and looked up at me with her obsidian eyes. "Don't worry Jason. Annabeth Chase is the daughter of Athena. She'll come up with a plan, we just have to hold out long enough for a signal from Percy, okay?"

I nodded. Athena was an infamous strategist, and if Annabeth was anything like her mother, then hopefully we'd be okay.

Come on, Percy. Give us the signal.

Annabeth's POV

Coming up with the plan was easy. Carrying it out, not so much. I need fog, or mist, and lots of it.

I sat in the captain's chambers with Percy, Grover, Beckendorf, Nico and this big girl called Clarisse, who was in charge of the weapons. I told them my plan, and explained all the technicalities and everything that could go wrong.

"But I think our biggest problem is the fog. A storm is brewing, and hopefully that would provide the cover, but I'm not sure we can hold out that long."

At that, a grin started spreading across Percy's face, his eyes lighting up. "I can take care of that." He said, glancing at Nico, who nodded in agreement.

I looked back and forth between the two, but neither of them looked like they were about to say anything more. I stole a glance at Grover and he shrugged. He didn't know what was happening either.

"Okay," I said uncertainly. "We carry out the plan when it gets dark."

Percy's POV

I stood at the bow of the Princess Andromeda.Luke's small fleet of ships were still within firing distance, but their merciless onslaught seemed to have slowed down; hopefully they were running out of ammunition by now. The Argowas still in good shape, and we'd informed Jason and Reyna about the plan so they'd be ready.

Revealing my secret was something that took a lot of courage. This wasn't like telling Annabeth about my mother, this was different. My crew might decide that I was some sort of monster, and who knew how they'd react- exile me, kill me, turn me in to Luke? But I had to. It would save everyone on both ships. And it was almost time.

The sun was creeping lower and lower, inching towards the horizon. A soft breeze was blowing about, which would help spread the fog, clouds were moving in like Annabeth had predicted, and they would provide extra cover. Everything was going according to plan.