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We'd won, of course. We sent those Bilge rats packing, though I'm not sure how far they'll make it on a battered ship.

But that ain't my problem.

My problem was the fact that my vessel decided to abandon me. I always knew my crew mates were traitors, they'd happily bounced onto blackjack without a care in the world.

My ship on the other hand...I'd built her myself, and now she decided that a small hole was enough to take her down. She'd weathered many a storm and travelled the sea without ever faltering, but apparently, a measly cannon was enough to sink it.

"I'd heard there was a sulking captain on board, but I didn't realise she wouldn't even say hi," a voice interrupted my mourning.

Rest in peace, Yankee, my ship. I'll miss ya dearly. I hope you're in the seas of heaven, floating atop the clouds.

More so, I hope you're ashamed of yourself.

How could ya let yourself be sunk like a depressed rock to a rat-like Octavian?

"Piper!" I grinned, turning to face my friend.

She stood before me with a quizzical look on her face, smirking slightly.

"Don't tell me you're mad at Yankee for falling," Piper asked, shaking her head, "Aye let that sea rover rest in peace, lassie."

"I've had her for 12 years, only for her to be bested by a measly cannon," I countered, "She should be embarrassed with her actions."

"Aye but I don't reckon you'd do well  with a hole in you either," she said, imitating  a cannon

"I have holes in me, and I'm alive and well," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

Piper choked, "Captain!" she stuttered, her eyes widening in disbelief.

I fought my smile, "My ears are pierced, aren't they? How'd you forget, Silena did both of ours at the same time."

"Huh..right," Piper grinned, matching my own.

A second later, we burst out laughing. And then I finally embraced her.

She was right, I'd been sulking the moment we'd gotten onto Blackjack. My mates ran to greet the crew, and I stayed back.

Being on this ship sent my mind into a tailspin, memories flooding in faster than I could comprehend.

Blackjack and Yankee were always special to me. They were the first ships Percy and I ever stole in our youth. Back then, we had nothing to our name except each other.

It was an exhilarating experience, and I'll never forget it. We'd stolen them from right under Queen Hera's nose and placed a target squarely on our backs.

Eventually, as we grew slightly older and had enough money, we managed to buy our own fleet and recruit our friends from the village to be our crewmates.

Gods....it seems so long ago. Almost 12 years have passed since we first set sail...

"I'm sorry for not greeting all of ya," I apologised as I moved away from Piper.

"It's alright," she smiled, "We figured it'd be hard for you to be back with us."

"Thank you," I sighed, leaning against the railing, watching the ocean's waves move in a shimmering synchrony.

"But I'm glad you're back, Cap," she said, moving beside me, "The crew and I were thinking we'd go to the pub soon when we hit land. You know, celebrate us getting back together."

I blinked, "Getting back together?"

"Aye," Piper nodded, looking slightly confused.

"Pipes, I can't so that," I buried my face in my hands, "I'll borrow one of your ships and leave...but I can't...we can't merge."

Back before the big incident which, I decided was the reason for my life to become worse than a dead rat covered in shit, we had a battalion, united under a single banner.

It was only nine months ago when our crew broke in half, when I left in a hurry, offering whoever was around me at the time a chance to join my new fleet. It was a hasty departure, though necessary for my own sanity

As much as I hate myself for separating my mates, and how much I missed each and every one of them daily, I can't go back to how things were.

I can't...I can't face him every single day. Im definitely not strong enough for that.

Piper sucked in a breath, whistling low, "You might need to tell the rest of the crew that. Captain already chartered a new course to town."

"No-"

"Would it be so bad?" Piper placed her hand on my shoulder, "Come on, I know you hate it this way, everyone does."

"Piper I can't-"

She paid me to heed, shrugging, looking kinda evil, "Either way, Captain Jackson has issued strict orders not to let your crew go anywhere. This ship is under his command,after all."

I swear to every God, my jaw dropped.

Why that scallywag...

Rage exploded within me in a fell swoop, and Piper took a step back. I took a deep breath, trying not to scream.

How dare he! After everything..everything I'd been through to get away from him, he had the audacity to claim me as a prisoner? On the ship I helped him loot?

I'm gonna swab the deck with Percy Jackson's corpse.

"By thunders will I make him pay," I cursed, my feet carrying me across the deck before I could even comprehend.

Piper didn't even bother to stop me, nor did either of the Stoll brothers after one look on my face.

I tripped on the hem of my gown as I ran to the captain's quarters. Since my previous set of clothes were damaged during the fight, I had to change into one of my matey's outfits. It was itchy but I can't complain.

"Open the door, Jackson!" I screamed, knocking on his door.

"Quite excited to see me, Chase?" his voice called back from the other side, sounding mighty amused.

It didn't help my anger dissipate

"Ooh, I will put you in irons myself!" I snapped, knocking harder.

"Unfortunately, I'm busy now, Chase. Come back later, and I'll let you put me in whatever your heart desires," he replied, quite calmly at my assault on his door.

"Like hell," I muttered, kicking open the door with a swell blow.

I'd stalked into the room with every intention of murder, but paused midway, my eyes taking in a sight that made my heart clench.

Percy sat by his desk, a roll of gauze in hand as he attempted to wrap up his wounds. He must have been knicked during the battle.

"Per...Jackson," my voice sounded soft, "whatever happened?"

Percy looked up, pushing the bandage aside. He always was a shoddy medic, "Nothing, Chase. I'm fine. I told ya I was busy," he replied with a sweep of bravado.

I frowned, stepping closer, "Tell me right now, Jackson. Or this parley will turn violent."

"I was injured," he said with a blank stare.

"How?"

"With a sword, I think. Could've been a cutlass," he watched me take another step towards him.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes, "I'm not staying with your fleet. Loan me a ship, I'll leave alone if I have to."

"Aye no," he averted my gaze, resuming his attempt to band-aid his cuts, "where will you even go?"

"I'll find Thalia and Luke," I shrugged, "Of course, I'll compensate you for your ship as well. My treasures and valuables were salvaged from Yankee.

He ignored my statement, "Even Thalia and Luke, don't know where Thalia and Luke are."

Percy flinched as he moved, dropping a roll of gauze. It rolled over to where I stood, a train of white in its wake as if it were a wedding aisle.

Any retort I had, died in my throat.

"Here, let me," I sighed, picking up the fabric and inching closer to him.

His eyes snapped back to mine and for a second, I couldn't breathe. All the anger I had began to dissipate, leaking away like a poisonous fog. It's like I was suddenly aware of where I was and who I was with.

His chest was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his face dusted with dirt and bruises, but when he locked eyes with me, I thought he had never looked more handsome.

"We should medicate it first, so it doesn't get infected," I said, averting my gaze as I moved closer.

Percy nodded, handing me a bottle of tonic, prepared by Will no doubt. I dabbed some onto a clean cloth.

Slowly, and carefully, I dabbed the cloth onto his chest. My fingertips brushed his bare skin, and my heart jolted awake. I felt his shift closer, the tips of his hair brushing my forehead. It was so painful that I couldn't move for a moment.

It had been so long since I was close to him, so long since I inhaled his ocean scent or seen the way his hair sweeps to the side. Heard his voice or seen his smile.

It might've played over and over in my dreams, but having him truly appear before me, in the flesh, was something I'd never thought I'd allow to happen again.

"If I knew all it took for you being close was me getting hurt, I'd have stabbed myself months ago," Percy chuckled, sucking in a tight breath as the ointment swept through his cut.

I bit the inside of my lip, keeping myself focused on the task at hand. I couldn't let him sway me, I couldn't let myself be caught up in his charms again.

He was my enemy. I had to remember that.

"You're an excellent swordsman, how did you manage to get hurt?" I questioned, adding a little more ointment to make it sting.

The only indication that Percy noticed was a little flinch.

"Er....I was distracted," he mumbled

"Distracted? By what?"

"Thoughts," he replied, running a hand through his hair within a distant grin.

"Aye well careful next time," I dabbed some more tonic onto the cloth

"Careful, almost seems like you care about me, Chase," he grinned, "Almost like-"

He cut off his words with a sharp inhale, grabbing onto my hand as a reflex, pressing it firmly against his shoulder.

I tried to pull my wrist back, but he kept it firmly in place, pulling me closer despite the obvious pain he was in, "I ain't letting you go, Chase," he promised with bated breath, "Remember how long it took for us to buy our fleet? We couldn't have done it alone."

I was so close to him, I could feel his warmth, and see the startling sea green of his eyes. My skin tingled where he held my wrist as if he had truly no intention of letting me go.

"You know it's safer to be with the rest of the fleet. Queen Hera's gonna be hunting you now that Octavian's being eaten by an octopus."

"No-"

"Yer crew decided for you, and so did I. Put your pride aside, and agree for once, won't ya lass?" he cooed, rubbing circles on my inner wrist.

He was right. By Thunder, he was right. And I hated it.

"Aye," I surrendered, "the crew seems happy."

"So am I," he smiled, letting go of my wrist.

I patched him up in silence, neither of us deigned to utter a single word, scared to break the buzz of electricity which surrounded us.

Why was I here, with him? Why was I helping him?

Being around him was like fighting a losing battle with my own, treacherous heart.

I needed my head. I needed to remind myself that I hated him, of why I hated him.

I almost sprinted out of his room when I was done, grounding myself outside his door.

No.

I will not fall for him again.

I will not let myself succumb to his smile.

I'm simply going to ignore his presence. He might be the captain of this ship, but he will not dictate my feelings.

I started at the horizon, watching the sun dip to meet the sea, painting the sky in vivid hues of orange.

"Cap! Come join us!" Clarisse called from somewhere across the ship.

I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Aye!" I affirmed, taking a deep breath. I wasn't going to waste my time worrying about this right now.

Instead, I had a long-awaited reunion with my hearties. And it was one of the best days of my life.

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Yo ho ho mateys! I suprised myself by actually finishing this chapter. So here you go! Suffer with me!

Any suggestions for the story? Anything you wanna see?

Also someone remind me to study please. Yell at me to do so, literally.

(Posted 30/3/24- 3:04am)

Stay tuned!!!
—-S