Life of A Young Demigod: Book 2 (Percy Jackson Reader-Insert)

We Get Taken Captive by Ghosts

As the sun hit the center of the sky, I turned to Percy.

"So, you happen to know where we are by any chance?"

He frowned slightly. "How would I... wait. Chesapeake Bay. How do I..."

"Aquaman powers. Obviously."

"I really wish you'd stop calling me that..."

"Keep on wishing then, maybe it'll work eventually."

Suddenly, Annabeth pointed out towards the coast. A boat, presumably coast guard or something, was rapidly approaching us.

"We need to get out of here. Too many questions."

I nodded. "Cmon Aquaman, do your thing!"

Percy grumbled under his breath but focused, willing the current to carry us into the nearby mouth of a river.

As we landed and climbed ashore, Andromeda nudged me. "You might want to stop calling him that. I'm pretty sure he hates it."

I smirked slightly. "Where's the fun in just stopping? If it like actually bothers him a ton I will, but I'm pretty sure he's tougher than that. Anyways, he puts up with Annabeth's name for him."

"Yeah, only because he likes her."

I frowned. "He what? That's news to me..."

"Yeah, you took forever to realize I liked you too, I'm not surprised..."

"Hey, I'm only that oblivious when it comes to myself, thank you very much."

"Whatever you say..."

"Y/N! Andromeda!"

We spun around, Percy was motioning for us to follow. The other three had rushed over to a bush, and were moving the branches around. Soon enough, they revealed a rather weathered looking hut of some kind.

We rushed over and I raised an eyebrow at their discovery. "How'd you..."

"I made it. Back when I was on the run with..." Annabeth's voice trailed off. Everyone stayed silent for a moment, trying to think of what to say next. It was clear that the whole situation with Luke still weighed heavily on her. Eventually, I cleared my throat.

"Well, we should probably look for some food. Now that we're able to, I mean. I don't think Hermes gave us enough, frankly, and I'd rather save what he did until we're back at sea."

Annabeth nodded, glad to move beyond the earlier topic. "Any ideas?"

I frowned. "I think I saw a donut shop or something up that way, but..."

"Donuts!" Exclaimed Percy. "Great! Tyson, come on!"

Percy dragged Tyson off up the hill I had pointed towards and the three of us that were left got settled. At least as much as we could with the dust and dirt everywhere. After a moment of silence, I tapped Annabeth on the shoulder.

"Hey. About what you were saying earlier..."

"I don't want to talk about it."

I sighed, thinking for a moment. "I really think you should. It's been bothering you for like a year now. I won't make you, but..."

She broke into tears. "It's just... how could he... it's like..."

I turned to Andromeda, a bit shocked at Annabeth's rapid outburst. She quickly put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Listen, Annabeth." I said, pursing my lips. "I get it. He meant a lot to you. I can't imagine what it feels like to know him for years like you did, and then he just..." I trailed off for a moment. "But what he was back then doesn't change what he's become. Trust me, I wish we could just go back to how it was, but we can't. He's played his hand against ours. I'm more than happy to give him the opportunity to change his mind, but not at the cost of our own lives. I made that mistake before. I won't make it again. I can't make you do the same for yourself, but please, please, do it for us. We need to be able to trust you if it comes down to that."

She looked up at me, tears in her eyes. "I... alright. I promise."

"For what it's worth, part of me agrees with you. I saw him back on the boat. There was still something in him that held him back. But I can't rely on that part winning out. I just can't. Too many people I care about would suffer if I was wrong. Like it or not, and trust me, I very much do not like it, a war is coming. We have to act like it."

Suddenly, our talk was interrupted by loud stomping from the direction Percy and Tyson had went.

"Guys! Need a little help!"

I shot up. "That's Percy's voice. Come on."

We rushed out into the clearing. Tyson and Percy were rushing towards us, followed by...

"A damn Hydra? Seriously guys?" I said, dumbfounded. "Could you for once have run into one of the less deadly ones?"

Andromeda smacked my shoulder. "No time, come on."

I nodded. We quickly got into an inverted crescent formation and drew our weapons, Tyson settling on a nearby fallen tree branch. The Hydra approached, spewing acid from its many mouths.

"Alright guys, we need to..."

Swish!

One of the heads had made a move towards Percy, and he swiftly chopped it off. I quickly readied a bolt of fire, but I was too late. The head regrew, an extra head joining it this time.

"Come on dude! Seriously!?"

I didn't have time to be upset. We quickly separated, trying to make distance between us and the Hydra. I nearly got sprayed by acid a couple times, but I was thankfully able to take out two of the heads in the process, this time ready to burn the stumps to prevent them from multiplying. Unfortunately, the Hydra realized that I was the main threat, and turned towards the others. Before I could yell for them to make a run for it, we heard a slow, steady chugging noise from the river.

I frowned, looking down towards the sea. "What the..."

An absolutely ancient looking ironclad steamboat was making it's way towards us. A familiar voice cried out from the mast.

"Ready! FIRE!"

Suddenly, a dozen or so cannons let loose on the Hydra, sending it straight to Tartarus. I breathed a sigh of relief for a moment before realizing who the voice was. Sure enough, the ship lowered a small rowboat, and the last person I wanted to see rowed ashore. Clarisse.

"Well! Who do we have here! Prissy and his friends! Tantalus ordered you all killed on sight, you know?"

Percy sighed. "I kinda expected that. How'd you get that boat?"

Clarisse smirked. "You think your daddy is the only one with boats? The losing side on every war owes their souls to him. This here is the CSS Birmingham!"

I groaned. "A Confederate steamboat? Really Clarisse? You couldn't have gotten anything more... modern? Second World War Japanese battleship or something?"

Her face went red. "Quit it magic boy. The five of you are coming with me."

I sighed. "So we're hostages now?"

Clarisse smirked. "Guests. For now. Until I decide what to do with you. Come on now, chop chop!"

I frowned slightly, but nodded in agreement. Like it or not, this was our best option for transport. Worst case scenario, we could just escape. We climbed on board the rowboat, and made our way back to the ship.