The Black Coral (Percico/Pernico)

Chapter Six: The Italian Armada

Nico was speechless. Leo and himself had been...captured? Rescued? He had no idea. All the prince really acknowledged at the moment was that the feared, notorious pirate, Perseus Jackson, was standing in front of him casually, as if he hadn't just sunken a ship the night before and most likely killed most of the people on it. But not Nico or Leo. That baffled the prince of Italy more than anything.

"What's wrong, Little King? Did the smoke take away your ability to speak?"

"O-of course not, I can speak fine," Nico told the captain.

"Perfect."

"Why did you save me?" Nico asked with an intense tone.

"Ah, cutting right to the chase?" Percy responded, tauntingly. "That's no fun."

"You are not answering my question," barked Nico, setting a cold glare on the pirate.

"Alright, alright." Percy swatted his hand in annoyance. "I liked the way you fought back there."

"What?" Nico asked, incredulity lining his voice. "But...I lost!"

"That may be so," Percy stated. "However, not many boys your age can fight like that, let alone royalty. You will be useful to our crew, especially in pillaging and combat with other pirates."

"What are you implying?" Nico inquired.

"I'm inviting you to join our crew on the Black Coral," Percy clarified. "So, what do you say?"

Nico pondered it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of the situation in his mind. The sailor's voice broke into his thoughts, his phrases repeating themselves like a mantra. "Nevertheless, they all have the same fate. For their necks to be tied up in a noose, hanging over the harbor. Pirates will all be killed at some point."

Despite the consequences, his thirst for adventure was great. He had only seen them for a night, and he already felt the anticipatory flashes of excitement, a taste of the adventure he had desired all of his life. However, it was just a single taste, and he desired more. He wanted to live incessant piles of stories that could be told to many future generations, written by his own actions, and he couldn't have that if he returned to Italy. He might never even have returned to that insanitary hellhole never again if he joined the crew.

He loved pirates, anyway. He valued them above mostly everything all his life. Even if he died the first day of being recruited onto the Black Coral, that would still be better than returning home to his father and living a lie. He could find another heir, quite easily. There were lots of able men more qualified to be the future ruler of Italy than he, anyway. He'd never have to return to that tree he was bound to by the cold shackles of obligation and coercion. He could write his own future, and that was all he wanted. Not to mention, the pirates and adventure were a bonus.

"Yes, I'll join your crew."

- - - - -

"I will not ask you again. Where is my son?!" King Hades harshly asked the sailors, who were on their knees on the white tile floor, presented in front of the terrifying King of Italy's throne.

"We don't know," one of them said. "He must've went down with the ship."

"Your one obligation was to bring him to England and back alive and to scare him out of wanting to explore the world!" the King shouted. "Execute them all."

The knights standing by the sailors' sides lifted off the ground by their underarms and began to drag them away, aiming for the dark, dirty dungeons of the castle.