violent delights, percy jackson

chapter one

"The boss isn't going to like that," Ethan said simply as he gave one last kick at the floorboards, before settling his eyes on the dirty blonde as she tucked stray piece of hair behind her right ear. Without thinking she placed her gloves into her back pocket as they were now covered in dust.

"Yeah well," Azalea started with a huff as she went and tugged at the stained end of her shirt, now a ugly topaz brown settled within it. The dust giving her side a hell of an itch at the unwanted texture. "Luke can shove it."

"Might I ask where I am shoving it?"

The sudden voice of their Captain and fellow half-blood, brought both of them to an immediate stand still as Azalea bit harshly on her tongue from saying anything more stupid. Ethan sent her a quick glare of 'now look what you've done.' The said captain was hardly a captain at all in the girls opinion, not being more than three years older than the two with cropped blonde hair and lightly tanned skin from his many months spent on the boat. The only thing noticeably authoritative about him being his ragged scar across the side of his face. It was what separates him from every other half-blood on the ship, even Ethan with his eyepatch. He was a warrior and he knows the price of loosing a fight.

"Luke!" Azalea exclaimed more in shock than fear, though she knew she should have been terrified at being caught bad mouthing her superior.

"You know, um," She stuttered out-loud, attempting to better the situation. Ethan stood their no making a sound, being the least bit helpful, as he just silently berated her further. She knew without even asking she was going to be getting an earful from him later.

"I hope," Luke cut off her stammering, "I'm not interrupting anything?"

He walked towards the two, his orange shirt with faded lettering being the only semblance of colour on his body. His sword was strapped to his waist in a simple fashion to their own though it's glint in the sun gave Azalea a small ounce of fear to settle in her stomach. It was half celestial bronze, half steel. Adept in killing both mortal and monster; a deadly combination for any demigod it came toe to toe with.

"Nothing at all," Ethan finally spoke as Azalea nodded along helpfully. The blonde boy gave a mischievous grin that at one point in her life Azalea thought to be charming, now a warning. "Just the standard monster babysitting duty."

"Good, good," He repeated good-naturedly, "I was hoping you could join me below deck?"

It was spoken like a question though his blue eyes gave the impression it to be a command. Azalea moved forward first to follow him towards the back doors of the room he had just walked through. Ethan was close behind her, his footsteps giving a loud clacking noise because of his clunky black boots.

"I hope our guests haven't been giving you too much trouble," Luke conversed simply as he lead them farther into the ship and far away from the places they were usually permitted. Most demigods were kept just above the bottom level that was filled with all the machinery that ran the place that was nicknamed the barracks. It was crowded to say the least and most didn't leave it unless to spar. Having been on ship a lot longer than most, Ethan and Azalea had gotten more comfortable around the monsters that were usually out for their throats. The monsters were confined to the lower deck and the far side of the ship unless they were Luke's lackeys of the month. The twin bears had lasted the longest and were likely in the room that the blonde boy was leading them too.

"No more than usual," Azalea answered after a while, as they turned a sharp right long past the stairwell to the barracks and towards the center of the ship. "Just the usual scrap and impatience to spill demigod blood."