Percy Jackson Pirate AU

The Golden Fleece

Annabeth had never ran so fast.

Her legs propelled themselves forward with so much momentum she was scared they'd run off without her and leave her behind. Painfully, she forced air in and out of her lungs, having to make a conscious effort to breathe.

In one hand, she held onto the handle of her knife so tightly she thought that there would probably be a hand-shaped dent when she let go, and in the other, she held the Golden Fleece.

In the distance, she could see the pirate's boat docked at the edge of the island, rocking on the waves. Behind her, she could hear advancing thundering footsteps, and the occasional war cry. Definitely not her average Thursday.

She had managed, with the help of her invisibility cap, to acquire the Golden Fleece with hardly any trouble. Although, when Polyphemus had noticed his treasured Fleece was missing from its branch, he had burst into a fury, like a toddler having the a temper tantrum louder than a volcano's eruption. Her had had been knocked off when a crowd of carnivorous sheep - yes, carnivorous sheep - had backed into her. She had slain as many as she could, and managed to escape their field, but Polyphemus was close and closer on her heels, and she had a nasty wound on her upper arm.

She was gaining on the ship, but the cyclops was gaining on her quicker. She could hear him right behind her, and in a desperate panic, she called out to the ship in a scream.

She felt air rush past her head as Polyphemus swiped, now having a clear idea of where exactly she was. His poor vision was the only reason he had not smashed her to bits yet. But her luck was likely to run out.

Her knees buckled under the stress of so much running.

Annabeth's painful pants came out in vocal noises of despair. She hated this; feeling so weak. But there was nothing she could do. What could she do? The edges of her vision swam, unsteady and unfocused. Tears filled her eyes. She heard the WOOSH of the air as the cyclops raised his weapon. Her legs would not cooperate when she shouted at them to stand.

Polyphemus cried out just as Annabeth's lack of oxygen and fatigue gave way to unconsciousness.

***

Annabeth's arm ached badly, but it faded quickly as the ambrosia entered her body. It filled her like a warm drink on a cold day, comforting her body and making her feel full.

"I still don't understand how I'm alive," she asked to Percy, who was sitting at her side in the ship's infirmary, insisting on supplying her with ambrosia.

"Neither do I. Neither do any of us, to be honest," he replied, amusement in his voice behind the almost overwhelming gratitude that Annabeth was still alive.

"Explain again, please," Annabeth ordered. He'd already told her once, but her head was swimming and only just began to clear. The ambrosia worked quickly.

"You screamed. Frank shot Polyphemus in the eye. He disintegrated. It was amongst other things, of course, but that's the gist of it."

"That's... an impressive shot. How did it kill him though? He shouldn't be that vulnerable. Polyphemus, I mean."

"It worked because Frank is smarter than we give him credit for. He used some of the hydra blood from Jason's sword on his arrow."

"Like Heracles. Smart," Annabeth concluded. Her head was almost clear now, so, automatically, she began thinking ahead, thinking of her next steps.

"The Fleece. Wher-"

"Your room. Safely on your bed."

"Oh," she replied, standing up. Her head pounded with lightheadedness at first, but it eased after a moment. "Where is the ship headed?"

"Currently? Just the fastest route out of the Sea of Monsters. Man, I do not want to hang around here any longer than we have to. Besides, now we have the Fleece to look after. We don't want to entertain too many new monster attacks, you know, with a fabled Godly artifact on board," Percy explained. His grim expression told her just how fed up he was of the monsters. Annabeth neglected to think about how it was likely as equally aimed towards the Gods. Percy adjusted his hat.

"I'm... going to my room. I have a lot to think about. I should probably work out about what direction Camp is from here," she thought out loud.

"Don't worry about travel. We have you. Leo and I deal with all the navigation. We will get you straight into the Sound in only a matter of time."

"The Sound isn't anywhere near the Sea of Monsters," she pointed out.

"Everywhere is closer than it seems in the ocean when you're the son of some big-shot sea god."

"What?" That made no sense.

"Never mind. Just don't stress about the travel and navigation. Trust me. I know where Camp Half-Blood is." He said it with a strangely serious tone which made Annabeth look away.

"Okay," she said, wanting to avoid any further talk about the Gods or Camp. "See you at dinner, then." Having said that, she left the room for her bedroom, frowning with thought.

Percy's resentment of the Gods made her uncomfortable. Not because she didn't understand it. She completely, entirely understood it. If anything, the fact she understood it so clearly disturbed her the most. All of the pirates on board this ship had perfectly good reasons to have done what they did. That was Annabeth's issue with it. What if the Gods thought that she agreed and took it out on her? She didn't agree. Did she? It wasn't that she thought the Gods to be terrible people (Except from maybe Zeus. And Ares. Okay, maybe the list went on a little bit.) but they just weren't- Annabeth didn't know. She didn't want to know.

She forced her thoughts out of her mind (something she had gotten used to doing very frequently) as she pushed open her room door and closed it behind her. The wood was rough on her hands, but it felt familiar by now. For a moment, she felt a pang of loss about the place.

She hadn't been on this ship for very long at all, and she hardly knew anything, really, about the pirates. But that almost made it worse. These people she hardly knew made her feel less alone than she ever had at Camp. Of course, it wasn't like she was hated at Camp. Some people liked her. Some people didn't. She didn't really care. But with these pirates she felt a sense of friendship and belonging that she had only ever experienced with two people before.

Thalia and Luke.

And she had neither of them anymore.

Her thoughts were almost involuntarily halted when she saw the Fleece folded on her bed. Carefully, she sat down on her bed beside it and lifted it onto her lap. She had seen it before, obviously, when she had grabbed it from its branch, but she didn't get a proper look at it. That's hard to do when fearing for your life. Looking at it now, in the calm, gently rocking space of her room, she could properly admire it.

It looked like a fallen cloud spun from gold as though it were made by Rumpelstiltskin. Even in the dim lighting of the room, it shimmered beautifully. Annabeth could feel the nature magic oozing off the coat, thick like honey. It calmed all of her nerves instantly. It was clearly the very thing Camp needed to save Thalia's tree and protect the borders. And she had it, in her hands. Her quest was as good as completed. All she had to do now was wait.

Annabeth smiled.