A Pirate's Life For Me

He's Alive (Barely)

The ship was quiet that night. The crew of the Doriana was in mourning.

Nico had been unable to tell them if Percy was dead or alive. In the confusion of so many deaths, he had been blocking his death sense out so he could fight without a headache.

Reyna stood at the helm. Now that she was in charge, she had to be strong, she knew that much. But she was grieving too. She hoped the crew would give her some slack for that.

"Reyna?" Piper's voice carried, even though her voice had barely surpassed a whisper.

"Up here." Reyna called back quietly.

The daughter of Aphrodite joined her at the helm moments later.

"You're over-working yourself." Piper said.

"I'm fine."

"No you aren't. You're emotional and sleep deprived."

Reyna shook her head. "I can make it."

"I don't think so." Piper replied.

"Are you saying I'm inadequate?" Reyna's braid whipped behind her as she turned sharply to face Piper, keeping one hand on the wheel of the ship.

"No, I'm saying you're human." Piper crossed her arms. "I know you and Percy were more than friends, it's going to hurt to lose him. That's understandable. But you can't push your way through the days and pretend that you'll be fine. You'll emotionally exhaust yourself."

Reyna was silent, taking in her words.

"What do you suggest?"

"I'll wake up someone to take the helm, then we can sit by the front of the ship and talk. You can't let the emotions build up in here." Piper tapped Reyna's chest lightly. "They'll explode and take you with them."

"Fine." Reyna turned her attention back to steering. "Go wake up whoever you like."

Piper disappeared into the darkness that surrounded the ship. The sky was cloudy tonight, blocking out the light of the moon that should have easily lit the deck. 

Reyna scanned the sea again, hoping against all hope that she would see a figure moving towards the ship. But none appeared.

"Ye want me on the helm? Isn't Reyna doin' that?" Jason's voice floated up from the main deck.

"Yes. You're relieving her. Go." Piper replied.

The blond appeared to be floating as he made use of the ability his father gave him to reach the upper deck.

"'Lo, Reyna. I'm relievin' ye, apparently."

She nodded stiffly and stepped to the side so he could take over the wheel.

Once Jason was fully in control, keeping the ship steady as they sailed, Reyna joined Piper at the bow. The two of them sat down facing each other.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Piper asked.

Reyna started to shake her head no, then stopped herself.

"A little bit." She admitted.

Piper smiled. "You can go at your own pace. I won't rush you."

Reyna looked up at the night sky. "He was...more than a friend, but I think you knew that already."

"I could feel it." Piper nodded. "You were close."

"I always wanted us to be more than friends, but I didn't know what Percy wanted, so I didn't push him. We stayed close as we could, there was a lot of banter, but we were never courting, officially. I didn't make a move and neither did he. I suppose we were scared that the other would reject us."

The shadows near them darkened slightly as they talked, and Piper noticed it first.

"Di Angelo?" She asked.

After a moment of silence, he popped out. "I was waiting for a good moment to jump in." He explained.

Piper squinted at him suspiciously, but let it slide for the moment. "What do you need?"

"I just wanted you to know, I don't think Jackson's dead."

"How can you be sure?" Reyna asked.

"I can go check the Underworld. Not physically at the moment, but I did search it with my senses. He's not there."

-----------------------------

The girl was sitting on the beach with her knees pulled to her chest, watching the sunrise. She supposed she should feel happy with the warm rays shining down on her, but in her life, there wasn't much to be happy about.

Today could be the day. She reminded herself. Then she scoffed and spoke aloud. 

"Why would today be the day? I've been stuck here since that blasted Titan War. Heroes come and heroes go, but I have to stay here."

She looked up at the sky and screamed. "All because of you, Zeus! Curse you to Tartarus!" Thunder rumbled, but she wasn't struck down.

Feeling tears on her face, she wiped them away and pulled her cinnamon colored hair over her shoulder so she could braid it.

"I'll get out of here one day." She murmured to herself.

A groan from off to her left caught her off guard and made her jump.

"Hello?"

There was no answer, but she moved towards where the sound was anyway, wondering what had shown up on her little island.

It was a man. His clothes were ragged and he was bleeding several places, including some deep claw marks on his shoulders.

Calypso frowned and walked over to him, carefully picking him up. He had dark hair, but she couldn't tell if it was black or brown, since it was sopping wet and full of sand.

"Might as well fix you up." She murmured, carrying him back to her cave.

[A/N So a quick explanation of Percy's ship's name, since I realized I forgot to do that. It is NOT named after Dory! Doriana is a Greek name that is derived from the name of the Greek myth of Dorus. It means descendant of the sea or sea descendant of Dorus]