All Aboard!

Chapter 18

Sailing through the Silver Sea was tough. They had a few near misses with rocks that jutted out of the water in random places and the water was much less calm. They sailed speedily as far as they could by day and slowed to a crawl at night so as not to miss the cave.
"Captain dead ahead! There is a dark mass that was definitely not there by day."
Leo leaned over the prow and saw that there was definitely something in front of them.
'I think that's far enough, I'd rather row out to it than risk damaging the ship. Nico, Piper, would you come with me?'
Piper nodded that she would and her and Jason readied the life raft. "Levesque and Zhang, steer the ship around the obstacle and drop anchor until our return.

"Gra-uh Jason? Could I perhaps have a quick word with you?"
Michael inclined his head to the side indicating that he wanted a private word with Jason. Jason followed him, 'Yeah Michael what's up?'
"This is rather uncomfortable but from what I have gathered you and Piper are quite close?"
Jason's cheeks were slightly pink when he replied. 'Uh well we're dating but its kinda new.'
"I didn't mean to pry. You see I have no family and since I have never known my mother I am not quite sure how to act around women that are not sailors."
Michael's face had turned a deep red and he wouldn't make eye contact.
'If it makes you feel any better I also didn't have a family for the longest time until my older sister found me one day.'
Jason gave Michael a gentle smile and he relaxed a little.
'Anyway Piper is great. She's smart and sweet and she seems to understand people's feelings even when they don't quite understand them themselves. She has a way of making you feel at home whenever you're with her.'

"This cave is really dark, kinda wish I had brought a torch with."
'Fear not, I know how to remedy the situation.'
Nico ripped the sleeves off his shirt and wrapped the torn fabric around the handle of one of the oars. He then pulled out a kindling box and lit the fabric.
'It will not burn for very long but it will give us a fair amount of light.' Nico walked ahead holding his torch high illuminating the whole tunnel. Piper bumped Leo's shoulder to get him to keep moving.
"Perv!"
She laughed and followed Nico along the tunnel. Leo regained the ability to move and ran after her calling out 'I'm not a perv! But side note have you ever seen arms like that?'
Before Piper could respond she and Leo bumped into a stationary Nico. They looked up to see that he was staring at a large gold disk mounted to the cave wall with a photograph and a note attached to it.
"Leo, isn't this Firebeard?"
Piper had pulled the photo off the wall and was showing it to Leo while Nico took the note. Leo paled.
"Leo, what seems to be the matter? Do you not recognise the people in the photo?"
'No. The problem is that I do. Yes Pipes that is Firebeard, and the pregnant lady next to him is my mom!'