A Pirate's Life For Me

Princess Problem-Solving

Everyone turned to look at Annabeth. She rarely talked on the ship, communicating mostly in angry glares and grunts. The only person she talked to on a regular basis was Thalia.

"What do you mean?" Reyna said slowly, narrowing her eyes.

Annabeth shifted a little, not seeming to like all the attention she was suddenly getting. 'Too bad.' Reyna thought bitterly. 'You want to live on my- on our ship, you start contributing.'

"There's a man I know... a man who's cheated the Fates."

"How do you cheat a Fate?" Leo asked, frowning.

Annabeth shrugged, crossing her arms and looking at her feet. "Maybe if you made a deal that you would turn him over, the Fates would let both of you live."

Reyna glanced at Piper, who happened to be the closest to her at the moment. The daughter of Aphrodite shrugged, clearly unsure whether or not it would work.

"How would I find him?" She finally asked Annabeth.

"He lives in Athens."

"When you say 'in Athens'..." Thalia raised her eyebrows. "Do you mean where you lived?"

Annabeth nodded.

A couple of demigods on the deck exchanged confused glances. Annabeth's heritage was not common knowledge on Percy's ship.

"Alright, Princess." Reyna crossed her arms. "How would we get to him?"

"You return me, obviously."

"Finally got tired of hard tack and jerky?" One of the Stolls quipped.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No. I wouldn't be staying. But if you sailed into the harbor claiming to have rescued the lost heiress of Athens, you'd be given high honors and full access to the palace. They'll throw a party, you'll be given medals, riches, food, anything you'd like."

Reyna could see interests peaking around the circle that had slowly formed.

"And how do we know you're not going to pull some sort of double cross on us?"

"Do I seem like the kind of person who likes being cooped up in a stuffy palace with old men and women who want nothing more than to debate dusty notes from philosophers who were half-mad?"

Reyna sighed. "Let me think about it."

"You haven't got much time-"

"Shut up." She turned on her heel and marched down into the bottom of the ship.

No one followed her. Reyna walked down to Percy's room and pushed the door open quietly.

"No change." Will said quietly.

"I didn't expect much... could you give me a few minutes?"

He nodded and walked out of the room.

Reyna went to the bed and knelt next to it on the floor, taking Percy's limp hand. Could Annabeth really be the solution to her problem? Or would this just be another elaborate ploy that destroyed them in the end?

And the real question: if it was, did she really care? It was a chance to get the love of her life back, and the best ship captain she'd ever seen in her life back on the seas. Percy Jackson, might be Green Eyes, but he was also the man who had saved countless lives and changed many fates. He had destroyed evil men and women and brought better ones to power.

The world needed Percy Jackson.

"I'm doing this for you. For me. For everyone you've ever helped, and all the people you'll help in the future." She finally whispered before standing up. Percy didn't respond, but Reyna imagined she could see a small smile cross his face. She leaned over and kissed his forehead, then looked around the room.

Percy's tricorn was set on one of the chairs in the corner. Reyna swept her hair up into her hands and quickly wove it into a braid, then walked over and picked the hat up, tugging it down on her head. She buckled her sword-belt around her waist and inspected herself in the small looking glass.

She nodded, satisfied, and walked out into the deck again, tipping her chin up to meet the curious looks she got.

"Alright, Milady," it gave her a little bit of satisfaction to see Annabeth twitch in irritation every time she used some sarcastic term that matched her title. "Say we do follow your idea. How would we get to this man that you say is in the castle?"

"Before we go into all of that," Jason piped up suddenly.  "Would you be able to tell us who this man is?"

Annabeth nodded. "That's fair... you might know him, I'm not sure if his stories still circulate. He's a madman, in truth, but he's also the queen's closest advisor."

"Alright but what is his name?" Leo asked.

"Ladan Graeme."

[A/N ngl I almost named the guy they're talking about Fernicus Maleficus which is the name of the succulent on my makeshift bedside table lol]