Chapter Text
The Roman navy ship had just left the dock of new Rome. The bright sun cast a glow that reflected off the ocean water. The water was oddly calm, much different from the reports that had been made to the praetor Reyna.
Octavian stood at the head of the ship, standing on the deck. His blonde hair shone in the sun, his piercing blue eyes staring ahead of him. Having been ordered by Reyna to oversee the inspection.
Many citizens of New Rome had reported harsh waves in the sea that could be seen by camp. Storms had brewed near the camp, yet none of them hit the camp straight on. Just flying past them and disappearing.
They had thought this was the work of monsters, a powerful one no less. The ship was well equipped and the strongest demigod soldiers were on it.
Octavian didn’t care, he was irritated having been dragged out of the temple for this. Having been in the middle of reading the entrails of a stuffed rabbit. This was a praetor’s job, not an augur’s. Yet Reyna was oh so busy he just had to go.
Sure Octavian liked having power and being in charge, but not when it was interrupting what he’d call a good afternoon. Maybe if they would actually give Octavian the role of praetor he wouldn’t complain this much about having to do this. He was fully capable of taking on the role of praetor, if not maybe even more than Reyna.
But nooooo, nobody bothered to vote for him. Thinking he was too manipulative and arrogant to lead the city. Octavian just wanted to roll his eyes at the idea. Manipulative and arrogant his ass….
“Sir, we’re far from the coast now. Yet there’s nothing,” one of the crew mates said as they walked towards Octavian
“Just wait, there’s got to be something. Anything, just to explain why there’s so many storms..” Octavian replied as he leaned against the deck railings
The wind breezed by, the smell of the sea filling Octavian’s nose. The mist from the waves hit his face, cooling him down from the harsh sun rays. He ran a hand through his hair, still frustrated his peaceful day had been interrupted.
It was weirdly quiet, the silence filled by the sound of waves crashing against the ship and birds chirping from above.
“Sir! look!” Octavian spun to see one of the soldiers pointing off in the western direction
Octavian’s eyes widened as he saw it, a ship. It wasn’t like any of the Romans navy ships. Large, dark wood, a huge black flag hung from its flag pole.The symbol was large, a thorny rose with vines coming from the sides. It covered the black flag in the white design.
It couldn’t be Romans, or Greeks even. That ship was something Octavian and never seen. He moved his hand to block the sun as he tried to get a better look. Narrowing his eyes, the image of the ship grew bigger. Octavian realized the ship was sailing right towards them.
“On guard! We don’t know if they’re friends or foes!” He ordered, the crew all scrambling to get into position
Demigods with their swords, spears, and bows. All of them stood near the edge of the ship, readying their weapons just in case.
The ship got even closer now, its speed catching up to the Romans. Now right beside the ship Octavian could see it was much bigger than the war ship. Having underestimated its size from a distance.
The ship was almost double the war ship’s size. Cannons lined the walls of the ship. Huge sails flowing in the wind. All of the demigods were stunned by its appearance. The ship casting a shadow onto Octavian’s boat and blocking the sun.
Then a sharp harpoon shot down, attaching itself onto the ship’s flooring. It created a large hole in the ground as it latched on. A long thick rope, big enough to walk on, now connected the two ships. A demigod had to jump out of the way so as not to get hit by it.
The sound of mischievous cheers and laughs came from above as a couple kids slid down the rope. All for them holding weapons and wide grins.
“Pirates! It’s pirates!” One of the demigods cried as the pirates invaded their ship
“Oh this is gonna be fun!” A Latino boy wearing a tool belt cackled as he jumped off the edge of the pirate ship, landing feet first on the Roman’s warship
The demigods charged first to defend their ship. Fighting off the pirates. The pirate crew was small, only 12 of them had come down. Octavian didn’t know if there was more still on the ship. He was just busy trying to not get sliced in two.
Dodging one of the pirate’s swords as he darted towards the other side of the ship. Then he saw it, a boy his age. The boy stood on the edge of the pirate’s ship. Wearing what could be described as a stereotypical pirate outfit. A long dark maroon trench coat, off black pants, combat boots. The boy also had a brown leather corset wrapped around his waist accompanied by a belt holding his sword.
The boy’s tanned skin glittered in the sunlight. Dark brown hair that faded to a bleach blond at the bottom, reaching further below the shoulders. Deep chocolate brown eyes that in the sun could be seen holding a slightly gold shimmer. A scar on the bridge of the nose and left cheek.
The sun behind him cast a shadow down onto the ship, making him look even taller and more intimidating. A sly smirk spread across the boy’s face as he surveyed the chaos his crew was causing.
The two made eye contact, brown eyes meeting blue. The boy tipped his black tricorn hat in Octavian’s direction with a wink before jumping down and joining the crew of pirates on the ship.
By the way the boy walked with such confidence and his head held high Octavian assumed he was the captain.
“My my my.. what do we have here?” The boy cackled with a mischievous tone
One for the demigods charged towards the boy. The captain immediately drew his long sword, flashing the blades against each other. The fight between the two were long over as the boy kicked the demigod in the stomach hard, sending them flying back and sprawled across the ground. They sat up slowly clutching their stomach, grunting from the impact and how hard the boy’s kicks were.
A couple of other demigods rushed to the injured’s side. Octavian was about to scoff- dramatic much. But he quickly shut his mouth as he saw the captain’s leg. Pure metal, the entire left leg gone from half the thigh down. Replaced with pure bronze metal. Octavian took back his words, it must’ve hurt to be kicked in the gut with the metal leg.
He was caught staring as the pirate captain took notice of him. The captain’s smirk growing wider yet made no effort to move towards Octavian.
The augur backed up, reaching for his dagger in his belt. Ready for whatever was going to be thrown at him. The familiar feeling of the cold dagger handle hit his palm but before he could draw out his weapon a hard object struck the back of his head. Right in a spot that caused him to black out instantly.