Grover was given the task of showing the three new recruits around the ship, making sure they at least knew the basics. Beckendorf and Leo were settling in rather well, quickly warming up to Tyson and already planning what improvements they could make to the ship. Silena on the other hand was having some difficulties trying to process things. She'd stumble about with her luggage, looking around curiously and hesitantly, scrunching her nose up at the arrangements. Percy knew she wasn't being impolite, it was just a major change of scenery to what she was used to. Her fancy house and clothes and exquisite tastes were swapped for the life of a pirate. Annabeth figured this as well, and soon the General was offering Silena the captain's quarters (though the charts would have to stay). But to their surprise, the daughter of Aphrodite smiled sheepishly and shook her head, claiming if she was to get anywhere she'd have to get used to it.
Percy's headcount revealed that they were the first party to make it back to the ship. The Stolls were still missing, but nothing major had alerted them to any trouble. Will, Piper and Hazel hadn't returned either, but he was confident in thinking they could handle themselves. Besides, only a few minutes had gone by when Tyson gave a shout and pointed below at the citizens walking along the docks. Percy came over and spotted the three demigods parting from the crowd and walking up the gangplank, laughing and seemingly enjoying their time. Different sized satchels swung in their hands, and barrels of food had been rolled to the bottom of the gangplank.
"Someone else is going to have to roll those in," Piper commented when she reached earshot, "our hands are full."
"Then how did you get them here?" Percy asked.
"We had a couple of locals drop them off for us," Hazel said, and then disappeared into the hold with the others, more than likely dispensing of their day's items.
Percy tapped Tyson's shoulder for his attention. "Come on buddy. Looks like you and me have a job to do."
The barrels were heavy, but Tyson had no problem picking his up and walking it into the hold. However, Percy was inclined to roll his up the plank and across the deck, carefully edging it down the stairs. Once placed with the first, he went back up on the quarter deck and acted as spotter, waiting for the last crew members to arrive.
"Hey Percy," Leo said, bounding up the stairs to join him, "how much control do I have over the ship?"
Percy turned to look at him. "Depends on what you want to do."
"Well, there are a lot of things that could be improved. Imagine a ballista and cannons lining the side, and grappling hooks that fire automatically. Beckendorf and I can install a major defence system! I admit, the Blackjack was not built for such extremes, but if I just tweak a couple of things..."
The Captain chuckled at his enthusiasm, but Leo was right, his vessel wasn't built for that purpose at all.
"Nice gesture, but Blackjack was purely created for manoeuvring and quick getaways. Ask Beckendorf, he should know that. He did build this for me."
Leo rubbed his chin thoughtfully, spinning a wench in his other hand. "Okay, then what if-."
A loud bang reverberated around the ship, forcing Leo to stop suddenly. Percy's head whipped around, looking for the cause of commotion. If they were being attacked he'd have to get them out of there fast, whether it meant coming back for Travis and Connor at night. Fortunately it was nothing like that. A second later, he spotted Silena, Will, Piper, and Grover emerging from the hold covered in soot, coughing and waving a hand in front of their faces. Annabeth and Tyson had come from the captain's quarters, drawn out by the sound.
"What on Olympus?" Percy mumbled.
Silena looked up after wiping some of the debris off her face, shooting him an apologetic look.
"Charlie decided to bring one of his inventions along. Needless to say it exploded," she said.
Piper's nose scrunched up and she sneezed. "I am so not cleaning that up."
Percy felt Leo move beside him, walking to the front of the stairs. The son of Hephaestus was squinting down at the group, his mouth forming a small 'o'.
"Beauty Queen?" he said.
Percy watched in confusion as Piper's head spun around so fast he feared she'd get whiplash. Her eyes landed on Leo, and soon she was grinning from ear to ear.
"Leo!" She shouted gleefully. Leo laughed and jumped down the stairs, running towards Piper and sweeping her in a hug.
They started up a conversation that involved a lot of 'what are you doing here?' and 'why haven't you visited.' Leo insisted on using as much humour as possible.
Percy was still confused as he stood near the wheel. No one was given him an explanation (not that it was entirely important). In the corner of his eye he caught Annabeth approaching him.
"Does everybody know each other?" he exclaimed.
Annabeth focused back on the crew below. "They were childhood friends. From what I heard off Piper they were real close, until one day a band of criminals ransacked Leo's home and she never saw him again."
He grimaced. "That's cruel."
She nodded her head. "Well, at least they know what happened to each other now."
Percy was about to reply, but for some reason the docks became more chaotic. Pedestrians stopped what they were doing and looked in one direction, gulls flew off without a moment's notice. The whole crew of the Blackjack forgot about their previous engagements and listened.
Percy frowned and moved to the side of the boat, slightly hanging over the rail. Annabeth stayed where she was, but her heard was cocked to the side in question.
"Can you hear that?" she asked.
He listened intently, and sure enough two very familiar voices could be heard shouting in the distance.
Percy sighed. "The Stolls are back."
A moment later two sons of Hermes could be seen rounding a corner at high speed, nearly knocking over a fruit stand. They were red faced and breathing hard, but they didn't stop, and Percy soon found out why.
From the same corner came a burst of armed men in guard uniform, all shouting and aiming weapons at Connor and Travis. Someone even notched an arrow that just whizzed past Connor's ear. To make matters worse, when one saw where the brothers were running to, the guard noticed the ship. He notified his comrades, and soon they were picking up their pace.
Percy cursed and flew from his spot to the front of the quarter deck, shouting commands.
"Raise the gangplank! Lower the sails! Get this ship moving!"
Nobody needed to be told twice.
Tyson hoisted the gangplank up, nearly knocking a few people aside. Annabeth and Leo were already climbing the ropes to reach the sails, quickly untying them. At one stage Annabeth had to cut at the twine with her dagger. The rest of the crew focused on hanging two lengths of rope overboard, gripping them tight and positioning themselves for when the boys grabbed hold, ready to pull them up.
Percy looked back to where Connor and Travis were, and to his dismay there was no way they'd make it on time. The guards were catching up, and one had thrown his spear which landed right in front of Travis. This caused him to stumble and trip, rolling into a nearby florist stand. Connor stopped when he realised his brother wasn't with him, and went back to help him up.
"Damn it," Percy mumbled. He looked around wildly for a solution, but nothing came to mind. He only had a few seconds to help, but the situation was looking rather bleak.
"Percy!" Annabeth called from the mast, "the flowers!"
The flowers? What about them? We don't have time for gardening!
That's when it hit him.
Gardening....Gardner!
"Katie! Come with me!" He shouted, jumping over the rail onto the deck. The girl in question looked up in confusion and let her end of the rope go, but ran to Percy nonetheless.
With no gangplank down, his only option was to grab Katie around the waist and pull her overboard. Her scream was cut off as they hit the water, but she was stuttering and soaking once he created a jet to throw them on land. His aim was a little off, but under the circumstances it was still pretty good. They landed on their feet, Katie wobbling a bit, and then took off towards the sons of Hermes who'd regained their ground if only by an inch.
"Distract the guards, slow them down," Percy ordered the daughter of Demeter as they met up with the boys. She nodded her head and took off towards the flower stand, rummaging around the supplies.
"Aren't we glad to see you," Connor huffed as they caught up.
"I thought you weren't going to cause anything," the son of Poseidon said, pushing them along.
"Things got a little out of hand," said Travis, but now and then he'd keep looking back at Katie instead of focusing on reaching the ship.
"She will be fine, now go," Percy ordered as the three of them came to a stop at the side of the boat.
Connor and Travis jumped for a rope, successfully grabbing hold. Soon the crew aboard were pulling them up. Percy was about to join them, but an ear-splitting crack took him by surprise. He turned to where the sound came from, and what he saw was enough to make him shout with glee. Katie was running back towards the boat with a mischievous smile plastered on her face. Behind her, pure chaos encircled the guards. Thick vines erupted from the ground, encircling their arms and legs and hanging a couple upside down form their ankles. Other men were in combat with a poison ivy bush that was rapidly growing out of control. But his favourite had to be the guard that was trying to escape from the grip of a Venus Fly Trap. The carnivorous plant itself was quite content in just sitting there, mucking around with the guy like a toy.
"How did I do?" Katie asked once she was in speaking range. This close up Percy could see the toll it took on her. She was swaying from side to side, and her eyes were droopy, but that didn't hide her smile.
"That was terrific," he said and grabbed hold of her waist, "now hold on tight."
She abided and soon Percy was holding onto a rope, his crew having to haul the pair of them up. When they touched deck he handed Katie over to Silena and her to take the daughter of Demeter to the infirmary. She didn't make it a step before collapsing. However, what surprised most people was how Travis acted instantly, catching Katie before she hit the deck.
"I have her, now get us out of here," he ushered.
Percy needn't be told twice. Annabeth met him at the wheel, and before the guards could cut their way out of the entangling plants the both of them had the Blackjack sailing. They were hallway out of the bay before the screams of protest could be heard from shore, and it was only then did Percy decided to relax.
He slumped against the wheel and sighed, resting his head on his arm.
"That was too close," he commented.
"Connor had better have something newsworthy to report," Annabeth grumbled.
He straightened up and rubbed the back of his neck, stretching while doing so.
"We had better find out then. I will round up the crew on the deck shortly. About time we shared stories."
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[I felt bad for not being on lately, so here's another update]
What do you think Connor and Travis did to cause such commotion? Stay tuned to find out! ;D
Next chapter involves a lot more people, and only a couple more chappies until the fun finally starts. Who else do you expect to arrive? Really, the question should be, who else haven't I mentioned?
Also, If I were to write something else (PJO fanfiction), would you like to read it? Just something that I could work on and update between this. The Pirate of Greece will of course be my main priority, but if it takes me some time to update, will anything else hold your attention?
Vote in comments for:
[1] Percy Jackson/Harry Potter Au
[2] Heroes of Olympus at Goode Au
[3] A One Shot Collection (PJO/HOO)
[4] Heroes of Olympus Character Theme Songs
[5] One centred around Annabeth's death (Big plot twist!...well, hopefully)
[6] Or one where the gang are sent on another quest
[7] "You don't need to write anything else. I'm happy with this.]
I'd love to hear what you have to say!