Piper cautiously approached Lou Ellen. The two ships had kept a sort of unspoken truce, but she didn't put it past any of the other crew to attack her if she did something they didn't like.
"'Ello, if ye go' somethin' to say, say it." The girl said without looking up.
"I wanted to know if I could still take you up on that magic thing with the hair..." Piper muttered.
"Oh, Pipes. Didn' realize it'was you. Sure, what color ye wan'?"
"What color should I get?"
Lou smiled at her. "Well, who's yer parent?"
"Aphrodite." Piper muttered, her lips twitching down. She couldn't really help it, she just expected that people would think differently of her.
"Ye don't seem too excited 'bout that." Lou raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not." She shrugged. "She seems like the pushover of the gods. She's just interested in guys."
"Aw come on, love's more'n that!" Lou grabbed her by the arm and led her down into their ship. "I've got an idea that'll look great with ye, don' worry."
----------------------------------------
"We're going to need a way to contact each other quickly." Percy tapped his fingers on the table. "You can't easily call up an Iris Message... any ideas?"
"I may have an idea, but we'll need to test it out on deck." Nico said slowly.
"Well then let's go on deck." Percy stood.
"Grab a bottle. One you can cork. And a piece of parchment or something to serve as a note." Nico said.
Thalia ripped a piece of parchment off the corner of the map. "Done."
"Oi! If you're going to deface property, make it your own, thanks." Percy snapped. Thalia rolled her eyes at him.
"Well, let's get the bottle and test my theory." Nico said.
Percy led them to the galley, where he grabbed an empty bottle sitting in the corner. Then they headed abovedecks.
"Cap'n." Reyna nodded to Percy when he stepped out into the open.
"First Mate. How's the rabble doing?"
"Sherman's only gotten in two fights, both started by that La Rue girl. I broke them up. The others seem to be keeping to themselves, 'cept Piper. Ain't got a clue where she could be."
"Piper can take care of herself, don't worry about her." Percy chuckled, wondering if Piper had made a friend on Nico's ship.
Reyna nodded and went back to what she was doing, throwing a wooden carved disk to Valdez. The scrawny boy caught it and hurled it back with a whoop.
"Alright, let's see this theory of yours, Nico." Percy handed the dark haired teen the bottle and the paper.
Nico curled the paper up into a small scroll shape and stuffed it into the bottle. Popping the cork into the top, he moved to the bow and tossed the bottle in.
"Find it and make it move around the ship." He told Percy.
The son of Poseidon's eyes fluttered closed for a moment, then the bottle bobbing in the water began to move quite quickly, leaving a small wake. It circled the two ships and came to rest where they were, then shot up in the air and fell neatly into Percy's hand.
"I like it, but how will you get ahold of me if you need something?"
Nico held out his hand for the bottle and Percy handed it to him.
The son of Hades turned to his ship and bellowed, "Rodriguez! Look up and get ready to catch!"
The boy he addressed, who was leaning against the mast, did as he was told with a small, confused glance at his captain.
Nico stood so that the bottle was in his shadow, then tapped the top of it lightly.
The bottle dissolved into shadows and they turned to see Rodriguez catch it with a slightly surprised look on his face.
"What should I do with it, Cap?" He called.
"Toss it back here." Nico ordered.
Rodriguez pulled back his arm and hurled the bottle. The glass flew like it had been fired by a cannon and Percy caught it.
"He's got quite the arm."
"Yeah, muscle man. He's pretty into personal fitness, which is pretty strange, but I don't mind much. He pulls his weight on the ship." Nico shrugged.
"I'd imagine. A kid that size would put in quite a lot of effort." Percy eyed the large boy.
"Cap'n!"
"Yes?" All three big three kids on the deck turned at the sound of the girl's voice.
"Cap'n Jackson, sorry." Piper apologized. The three just stared at her for a moment.
Her hair was a surprise. It was completely pink and had been shaved short on one side. The rest of it was pulled into a braid that hung over her shoulder.
"Uh, oh yeah, what's going on, Piper?" Percy finally asked.
"I think I have a way to help the people who were bewitched." She spoke quickly, like there was a time limit on what she could do.
"Alright, let's go. Jason's closest." Percy started belowdecks. "How hard is this going to be?"
"Depending on how far gone he is? Very."
[A/N guys my wattpad is being annoying right now, which is why I haven't gotten certain stories updated for so long! I'm figuring it out, don't worry!]