Where You Go ― Jason Grace

xix. a dolphin pirate wake-up call

BEING JOLTED AWAKE by a half-dolphin throwing her over his shoulder was not the kind of wake-up call Ophelia appreciated, and she made sure to get her point across as best as she could. She kicked and screamed and generally caused as much of a ruckus as she could. 

She heard Jason yell, fighting back against their assailants, but the half-dolphin dealing with him aimed a swift elbow straight at Jason's temple, knocking him out cold.

Ophelia winced. Gods, how much more head trauma could he take?

Seeing Jason get knocked out made her fight harder against her own dolphin warrior, but it was no use. Her dagger and her compass were snatched up by a third half-dolphin and thrown into a sack no doubt full of more loot, and it didn't take long for the dolphin pirate to bind her hands and feet and throw her onto the deck with the rest of the Argo II crew.

Like Ophelia, Hazel and Piper were bound at their hands and feet. There was a gag in Piper's mouth to keep her from charmspeaking. Hedge was bound and laying with the rest of the pirates' loot. Leo was unconscious, laying by the helm with a nasty welt on his forehead. Percy and Annabeth were still standing and unbound, but the pirate's leader—who wore a golden mask with curved husks, grotesque features, and curly golden snake hair—had his sword out and aimed at Percy. Ophelia couldn't see Frank anywhere, which was either a good thing or a very, very bad thing.

"Excellent!" Gold Mask gloated. He directed his warriors to dump Jason by the crossbows, then examined Ophelia, Hazel, and Piper like they were Christmas presents.

"The boy is no use to me," he said. "But we have an understanding with the witch Circe. She will buy the women—either as slaves or trainees, depending on their skill."

"Get fucked," Ophelia snarled.

"Oh, don't worry, girl," the pirate cooed mockingly. "I made a deal with my sister—we'll get you to Rome unharmed. I just can't say you'll leave it that way." 

Ophelia's blood turned into ice water in her veins.

Gold Mask turned back to Percy and Annabeth. "And not you, either, lovely Annabeth."

Annabeth recoiled. "You are not taking me anywhere."

The golden warrior tutted. "Oh, sadly, Annabeth, you will not be staying with me. I would love that. But you and your friend Percy are spoken for as well. A certain goddess is paying a high bounty for your capture—alive, if possible, though she did not say you had to be unharmed."

At that moment, Piper caused a distraction. She wailed so loudly it could be heard through her gag. Then she fainted against the nearest guard, knocking him over. Hazel caught on and crumpled to the deck, kicking her legs and thrashing like she was having a fit.

Oh, this is what we're doing? Ophelia held in a sigh and followed her friends' examples, falling theatrically to the ground. She grappled at one of the dolphin warriors and brought him down with her.

Percy drew his sword and attacked Gold Mask. In better circumstances, it would have been entertaining to watch. Percy was known as one of the best swordsmen at Camp Half-Blood. Ophelia had never really seen him in action, but now that she was watching him fight Gold Mask with a vengeance, she had to say—she understood the hype.

But, whoever Gold Mask was, he was even better than Percy. The dolphin warriors just watched the fight, chattering and squeaking as they guarded the captives.

After a bit of back-and-forth, Percy feinted and thrust at the golden warrior's gut, but Gold Mask anticipated the move. He knocked Percy's sword out of his hand, and the weapon flew into the sea.