Maybe Next Time

Nico

Nico knew that as far as ships' storage areas go, this was a nice one, but that didn't mean he enjoyed his time sitting in puddles, hanging out with the rats and the bugs. He also knew that he'd been really lucky. The crew members, so far, had only used the boxes near the doors to the upper decks, so if he sat quietly, no one knew he was there. He knew his luck would run out... he just didn't expect today to be that day.

"What did Captain Jackson say he wanted again?" A gruff voice said from right outside the door. Nico took that as his cue to quickly and silently move to the back of the room and wait it out.

The doors swung open with a loud bang and the young boy forced himself not to flinch.

"He said there's a small, black box down here." A slightly higher but still quite manly voice replied, "Said if we open it, he'll feed us to the sharks."

"Gah! Do you see how many bloody boxes are down here? We'll have to search the entire room!"

When he heard this, Nico swore his heart stopped, Search the whole room? He was sure to be discovered. Holding his breath, he listened as the two men began moving around boxes near the front of the room. His heart was pounding so loud, he was surprised they didn't hear it.

Slowly, the men made their way towards Nico until the moment of truth arrived.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" The first man to discover him was a lot thinner than Nico expected. When the other man joined them, the young boy had to stifle a laugh. He looked like the pillsbury dough boy, complete with a too-small shirt that revealed part of his fat, hairy belly.

"A stowaway? Cap'n won't like this." The dough boy stated.

Nico's back was pressed against a box as he starred in fear at the two men. They were going to throw him overboard, he thought. His hand slowly slipped unnoticed to the handle of his sword. He was not going down without a fight.

With a slight war cry that sounded silly to his own ears, Nico launched himself forward, blade drawn. Surprised, his semi-captors stumbled back, and the boy sprinted away, up the stairs and away from the impending danger of discovery.

It Nico's brain a minute to catch up to what he had just done. He stood at the top of the stairs having just burst through the door, surrounding by fifty of Poseidon's best sailors.

"Let me go!" Nico struggled hopelessly against the bear of a man dragging him to the Captain's quarters. He had tried to fight, but was quickly disarmed and tied up. Bearman was tossing him around like he weighed next to nothing.

"No can do, kid. Stowaways aren't allowed on Prince Jackson's ship."

"I'm not a stowaway!" He protested, continuing to wiggle as he was carried up a flight of stairs. The man didn't like his movement so he slung Nico over his shoulder.

"If yee aren't a stowaway, then what are yee?"

"I am..." Nico searched his brain for what to say, "I am a friend! Yeah. Percy and-"

"Prince." The man corrected him. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Prince Percy and I used to hang out when we were little, before the kings started fighting." It wasn't technically a lie.

The man stopped mid-step and held Nico out in front of him so he could look at him. "Before the kings started fighting, eh? What palace are yee from?"

Crap,  Nico thought, the feuding kingdoms.

"I'm from Poseidon's." He lied, "I'm just saying we used to hang out before the kingdoms started fighting. I mean, he must've gotten pretty busy when it started, had to grow up a bit and stop playing around."

The man chuckled and slung the boy back over his shoulder, "We'll see 'bout that."

He continued up the stairs again, not in much of a hurry or so it seemed to Nico's stomach.

"Can I ask you something?" Nico asked to fill the silence.

"What?" He stopped outside the Captain's door.

"All your 'yee's and 'eh's. What's up with that? No one one speaks like that."

This statement didn't help Nico's cause at all for he was thrown harshly to the ground right at the feet of the Prince himself.