The Black Coral (Percico/Pernico)

Chapter Seven: The Pirate Code

"Piper, you've outdone yourself once again," Percy complimented her after finishing his second bowl of stew that the whole crew deemed legendary.

"Thanks, Captain," Piper replied. "It would be better if you kept your fingers out of it when I'm preparing it, aye?"

Percy laughed. "I am simply taste-testing it. I might not know if it's going to be good or not, and I want to make sure that the rest of me crew isn't poisoned."

"Since when has my cooking been bad?" Piper asked him.

The rest of the crew agreed with her.

"She always gets the best ingredients," Annabeth said. "And with perfect ingredients, perfect amounts, and perfect preparation, there is Piper's perfect stew."

"She goes and selects the fish herself," Jason added.

"That is true," Piper told Percy.

"Alright, alright, maybe I want to try some before anyone else does." Percy grinned, which got him smacked playfully on the arm by the kaleidoscope-eyed girl.

"What do you mean she selects the fish herself?" Nico inquired. "Do you fish with a net, she determines the best ones, and you throw the rest out?"

"No, of course not," Piper told the prince. "That would take far too long and be too tedious."

"Then how do you select them yourself?" the confused prince questioned. "They would be rotten if you take them from cargo ships or other ships that you capture."

"I only use the freshest ingredients I can get ahold of," she replied.

"Your highness," the golden-eyed girl addressed. "Piper is a siren. She is able to breathe underwater."

"A siren?" Nico queried, incredulous. "Sirens don't exist, do they? They are only mythology, right?"

"Excuse me," Piper offendedly looked over at him. "I am a siren. We do exist, but most of us are concealed, hidden away until we need nourishment, like fish and other sea creatures. Humans, if we're lucky. I, myself, don't like to eat humans. They're dirty, and you never know where they've been. Like Percy, for example."

"I am not that dirty!" the captain defended. "I go for a swim in the ocean every other day, and it keeps me clean enough."

"Supposedly," Piper joked.

"Do sirens have the enchanting singing voice, like mythology says?" Nico asked her.

"Yes, but I don't like to use it," Piper told him. "My voice isn't too powerful, and it is a little painful. I can only charm one or two people at a time, sometimes it doesn't work at all. It's not worth the pain. I only use it in life-or-death situations."

"And how often are those?"

"Not as often as you think," Piper said. "Our crew is talented. We're all young, so we aren't taken seriously until our opponents have been pierced with a cutlass or a bullet."

"However, once in a while, we encounter a group of pirates that have heard of our skill, and one or two of us find themselves without a weapon," the golden-eyed girl said. "That is where Piper uses her voice and rescues them."

"I also am accustomed to using daggers, so that is useful as well," Piper added.

"That is impressive," Nico told her. "I have never gotten the hang of daggers, myself. I prefer swords."

"You are quite good with them, as well," Percy commented. "I might have lost if I had not complimented you. Me 'loyal crew' did not help me at all."