AMETHYST

I'll give them this, for a group of people that aren't exactly the brightest, the pirates certainly knew how to create a city.

The massive ship we were being held hostage on suddenly stopped after parking itself in a long dock of wooden floorboards. We were ushered out of the cabin and quickly traveled the length of the dock, making our way into the city.

Past the docks where the ship was stopped was where the housing and the traders market were located. Pirates walked in and out of homes and shops, most either drunk or acting like hooligans. At these trade markets, pirates handed golden coins and such to vendors who gave them a helping of fish, clothes, weapons, etc., all depending on the stands each pirate went to purchase supplies from.

Near the housing area was a jail, which was heavily guarded and was about three or four stories up. Two guards stood at the entrance of the prison, carrying spears in hand and scanning around the general vicinity of the premises. One of the guards saw us and smirked, turning to his fellow sentry and nodding with jubilance.

In the distance, a large castle loomed over the bustling city, two towers flanking the main structure and standing tall alongside the castle. The castle was about three stories tall and had a drawbridge that connected it to the main city. The castle was illuminated in an orange hue, the mostly metal makeup of the castle being lit up by the afternoon sun.

To the right of us and near the trading market was a ginormous colosseum, where loud sounds of cheers and chants filled the air. Inebriated commentators yelled incomprehensibly about what was going on in the stadium as I seriously questioned what exactly was happening inside the building.

A small facility was near the colosseum, with young pirates trained in their swordplay and gun usage in a closed off yard area. Counts going up to three were audible from the far side of the yard, subsequently followed with the sound of a gunshot, while on the other portion of the yard, swords clashed against one another, young pirates jousting each other for practice.

We were escorted across the drawbridge and inside the castle, and after climbing a few staircases and making a couple turns, the pirates opened up a pair of grand, golden doors. They then shoved us onto the ground, closing our mouths off with tape once again.

The room was fit for a king with its massive size and luxuries. The room had a king sized bed, a private bathroom, a weaponry cabin, golden throne, and a huge red-and-gold colored table.

"Blackbeard, we got these captives from our latest loot," the guy in dreadlocks explained. "What do ye want t' do with them?"

The man in the golden throne turned around, trying to make a dramatic entrance of some kind. He had a long flowy black beard, a tricorn hat, a thick red coat on top of a plain black shirt, and brown boots. He had a sword sheath in his belt and a pistol holster.

I recognized the man as Edward Teach, otherwise known as Blackbeard, a demigod son of Ares and one of the most famous and renowned pirates in all of Greek mythology. He was famous for looting and pillaging places east of the American Colonies and additionally operating around the West Indies and present-day Central America.

"Who are they and what loot did they 'ave?" Blackbeard asked.

"Well, we got some gold, some weaponry, and a flyin' ship. As fer them, they seem t' be powerful demigods," the dreadlock guy answered.

"Good," Blackbeard replied, getting up from his chair and instead circling around the room. "Flying ship, ye say?"

The dreadlock guy nodded. "There were some winged boosters near t' back of the ship-"

"Belay that," Blackbeard interrupted. "Young scallywag, wha' be yer name?"

He pointed to Alexander with his crooked sword.

Alexander gulped nervously. "Henry Benwich Senior."

"No it's not. Wha's yer real name?"

"Alexander."

Blackbeard smiled. "Alexander. Ye know wha'? I like this one. Send 'im t' the trainin' facility."

"What about the rest, cap'n?" a pirate asked.

Before Blackbeard could respond, Kai burst out of his ties in a fit of flames. The pirates surrounding him were sent flying backwards. He turned towards the one in dreadlocks, kicked his sword away, and then booted him in the face with his other foot.

He picked up a sword on the floor and took down five pirates in just a few seconds, a combination of the slippery marble floor and Kai's agility performing well against the pirates. One of the pirates raised his pistol and fired, but Kai sliced away his gun just in time and the bullet instead hit the ceiling.

However, before Kai could get too far, a large net caught his foot and dragged him on the ground. A group of pirates circled him, their swords to the back of his neck.

When I looked around the room, the signs weren't too good. Groups of unconscious pirates were on the floor with many cuts and bruises, vases and other valuable works of art had been broken, and various weaponry was scattered across the ground.

Blackbeard trudged his way over to Kai. I looked at my friends with concern as I tried shimmying my way out of my bonds to help out Kai.

To my surprise, Blackbeard laughed. "This one's got spirit. Send 'im t' the facility too. Go ahead and take the other two men with im'. The' rest can be locked up in the jail."

Before I could break out of my ties, we were escorted out of the castle and the pirates took us to the prison we had seen earlier. We passed by reception and hopped on an elevator, reaching the second floor where we were thrown into a wide prison cell near the front of the layout. They locked the doors behind us, gave us a crooked grin, and then left.

"Great," Rose muttered. "While Kai and the rest of the guys get the special treatment, us three are trapped in here."

"Seriously, what is wrong with that leader guy?" Geneva asked.

I recalled the tale of Edward Teach before speaking. "That 'leader guy' is Blackbeard. He's a son of Ares and a famous pirate. Before this entire pirate city was set up here, this island was home to C.C's Spa and Resort."

"What is that?" Rose asked.

"Basically, it was a beautiful island where Circe recruited young demigods and maidens to become magicians while men were turned into guinea pigs," I explained.

"But what does that have to do with Blackbeard?" Geneva asked.

"Blackbeard was a prisoner there. He was on a voyage a long time ago, and then he ran into Circe. He and his crew were then made into guinea pigs, having to suffer for eternity while the women who arrived at the island were given the opportunity of a lifetime, given the ability to do magic and get a pretty nice payday too. Then a few years ago, Percy Jackson and his girlfriend came to the resort, destroyed it, and set Blackbeard and his crew free."

Rose bit her lip. "That would explain why he dislikes women so much. Also, it probably explains why he liked Alexander instantly, being a son of Ares and all."

"If only this place was still the spa." Geneva sighed.

Our next door cellmates pressed their faces against our wall and made raspberries with their mouths.

Rose looked baffled. "Is it just me or does everyone here have a few screws loose?"

I shrugged. Pirates were a different type of special.

After about thirty minutes of waiting in the cell and being bored out of our minds, a guard slipped us a few bowls of rice, some soup, and drinks of old, expired milk. The guard made no effort in trying to stop our food from spilling either, as one of the bowls of rice fell face flat onto the dusty prison floor and some soup split as it slid across the floor.

As we tried to chug down our disgusting lunch, another guard came up to our cell and banged against it with his baton.

"Is that really necessary?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, it kinda is," the guard said. He lifted his guard helmet up a few inches, revealing his face.

"Oman?" I said, shocked.

The satyr nodded. "Listen, I don't have much time, but Kai, Alexander, and I are hatchin' a plan to get y'all out of here. Just take it easy and we'll come by to free y'all soon."

"Hold up, where are Kai and Alexander?" Geneva asked.

"They're in some training facility, learning how to be pirates. When they found out I was a satyr, they said I'd do better as a guard and assigned me here," Oman explained.

"What about Timmy?" I inquired.

"Apparently, he has to massage Blackbeard's feet. Probably the worst punishment of all."

"And you? How'd you get here?" I asked.

Oman shrugged. "They just brought me here, said that because they were understaffed, they needed some new guards, and made me promise to abide by their rule and not conspire with any of the inmates, all that useless stuff that I'm gonna end up going against when I free y'all!"

"Hey Fernsby, what are you doing there? We have to set up for outside time in fifteen minutes!" a guard yelled.

The three of us gave 'Fernsby' perplexed looks.

Oman shrugged and whispered to us, "Meet me during recess time."

He then waved goodbye to us and turned to speak to the guard. "Um, just tryin' to stop these folk. They were, uh, tryin' to dig a hole into the floor with their spoons."

"I see," the guard replied. "Well, I'll make a note to not give them spoons next time. Come on now."

Oman waved us goodbye before following the guard.

"Well, at least there's some glimmer of hope," Rose muttered. "Though it's going to be weird eating soup with our spoons."

"Okay, well, let's meet up with Oman during recess," I suggested. "Maybe he and the rest will have figured out a plan by then."

"Say, Geneva, have you considered shapeshifting into something like a squirrel, or something?" Rose asked.

Geneva's face, which had been one of boredom, quickly turned into one of shock after Rose's statement. "I hadn't even thought about that!"

"Well, you wanna go and give it a shot?"

Geneva nodded, took a deep breath, tensed up her body, and closed her eyes in concentration. After about three seconds of this, her body relaxed and she reopened her eyes, shaking her head. "Nope. Pretty sure these bonds have something to do with me not being able to shapeshift."

"Yeah, my magic's not working either," Rose added. "That's why I asked."

"It's okay, guys," I said, patting Geneva and Rose on the back. "For now, we just wait."

After about fifteen minutes, a bell rang and an announcement came on and said, "Captives, report t' the courtyard fer yer scheduled recess time."

The three of us were let out of our cell as we followed the large mass of prisoners to the courtyard. The courtyard was made out of stone slab and had a small gym as well as a couple tables and a basketball court. Guards surrounded every little square inch of the place, and the hard stone walls reached up to fifty-feet high.

We were freed from our shackles by admission officers at the front of the courtyard before being allowed in. Geneva, Rose, and I all moved near the back, waiting for further instruction from Oman.

"You sure I can't just, like, blast these guys aside?" Rose asked, shaking her wrists freely.

I shook my head. "You're telling me you'd be able to take down all of these guards at once? I also imagine they're ready for anything demigods have to throw at them, so I don't if that's the best strategy. Let's just wait for Oman's plan."

Rose reluctantly nodded at my advice as low and behold, Oman, rather slowly and discreetly, moved towards us from the guard area and lifted his cap a few inches upwards. Standing next to him was Timmy, whose face looked like that of a scrunched up baby's.

"Timmy, how'd you get here?" I asked.

Timmy growled. "Apparently, I massaged the captain's feet too hard so they sent me here. In all honesty, he got what he deserved. His feet smell terrible."

Rose stifled a laugh. "Now you're trying to help us escape?"

"Don't get too happy, Moon Girl," Timmy replied. "I just want to get out of this place alive. I only agreed because I'm sick of smelling that pirate's terrible feet and I don't want to stay here with these drunk, crazy people any longer than I have to."

"Whatever," Geneva said. "Anyways, do you guys have a plan yet?"

"We have a small draft of one," Oman said. "Here's the idea…"

-------------------------------------------

"That's... one crazy plan," Geneva observed.

I nodded in agreement. As someone who loved complex and well thought out plans with little risks or a reliance on luck, this one was a little too crazy and risky for my tastes.

"Well, it's the only idea we got," Timmy said. "For a population that insists on fervently going to bars and watching battle-to-the-death games essentially daily, the pirates seriously know how to guard their city."

Rose bit her lip. "Okay, we'll do it. Oman, get ready."

Oman took a quick glance over his shoulder and saw a guard coming over. He quickly adjusted his cap and turned to us.

"Cellmate 2020, if you complain about how bored you are one more time, I will make your life here hell, do you understand me?" Oman yelled.

Rose nodded quickly, trying to act as if she was scared.

The oncoming guard chuckled. "Man, I wouldn't want to be yelled at by that guy."

"Just doing my job, sir," Oman replied. "These prisoners need some discipline, I'll tell ya that."

"Preach, brother," the same guard said, patting Oman on the back as the two of them walked off to the basketball court like good ol' pals.

I turned to Timmy. "When do we put this plan into action?"

"Hoping all goes well, which it probably won't, we can begin in about thirty minutes," Timmy answered. "Kai and Alexander said they need half an hour to break away from their training, then the plan will start up."

The three of us nodded as Timmy turned and began walking in a different direction.

"Oh, and before I forget," Timmy said, stopping in his tracks and twisting around. "Take your weapons."

He handed the three of us our respective weapons as we pocketed our tools.

"Woah, how'd you get these back?" Rose asked.

"Well, I just kind of stole the whole loot bag when the pirate's back was turned," he answered, reaching into his pockets and pulling out a bundle of jewelry, our jewelry that had been stolen from us by the pirates.

We snatched our jewelry, and I asked, "It was that easy to steal from them?"

"As I mentioned earlier, most of these guys are drunk or plain braindead, so yes, it was that easy. Anyways, see you guys around."

The four of us went our separate ways as we positioned ourselves for the plan. For the next thirty minutes, we tried blending in with the other prisoners, like trying to watch basketball and yelling "Fight!" whenever two prisoners got in each other's faces.

That's when an announcement from inside the building came on. "Guards, get ready to put the prisoners back in their cells. Outside time ends in five minutes."

Oman looked towards Geneva, Rose, and I and nodded. It was time to begin our plan.

Phase one: start a riot, distract the oncoming guards, and lastly, enact phase two.

I came over to Lorenzo, a big, buff dude and whispered something in his ear. Rose went over to Jacob, another big and buff dude, and whispered something in his ears. Oman had given us the intel that these two were like best frenemies, so of course, we were gonna immediately use that to our advantage.

Lorenzo gasped. "Jacob said that about me?"

I nodded. Lorenzo stomped his way towards the basketball court, where Jacob was playing a game of horse with another inmate. Jacob looked ticked as he was tapping his feet on the ground rapidly and waiting for Lorenzo to come over.

"You said I'm bad at basketball?" Lorenzo screamed.

"You said I'm bad at soccer?" Jacob shot back.

The two men pressed their noses against each other before Lorenzo punched Jacob across the face. Before long, the entire courtyard had broken out into a series of fights, the chant, "Riot!", yelled a gajillion times spearheading the movement.

It was really easy to start a prison riot, wasn't it?

I looked towards Oman, who was near the exit of the courtyard. I nodded, and Oman entered inside the prison building.

Before long, two more guards, the same ones that had been blocking the front door of the prison, came over to help break up the fight. Geneva, Rose, Timmy, and I all sneakily walked inside the now vacant prison.

As we made our way to the front entrance of the prison, a voice yelled, "Stop!"

Behind us were a trio of guards, all carrying electric batons.

One of them saw Oman and gritted his teeth. "Fernsby! I shoulda known you'd betray me!"

"Sorry, fellas," Oman said. He pulled out his Taser. "I guess these guys really convinced me."

He shot at one of them, taking him down instantly. As one of them shot their gun, Rose snapped her fingers and the bullet slowed down in midair. She then sent the bullet back, hitting the guard's leg down. The other reached for his pistol, but I shot quicker, hitting him in the leg with an arrow before Geneva smacked him aside with a heavy boot to the face.

The five of us continued forward, trying to stay out of sight of any more guards.

Of course, we didn't. As we were about to exit, a group of six guards blocked our path, entering from the front and forcing us back.

"I'll give ye props fer makin' it this far, but 'tis where yer escape ends," one of them said.

The entire group of them lifted up electric batons.

Timmy reached into his pocket, pulled out a flask of some sort, and threw it at the floor next to the guards. The six of them began to tip over to the side, before collapsing on the ground. Apparently, they had been put to sleep since one of them started snoring.

Rose looked at Timmy, shocked. "Did you just-"

"Put a whole group of guards to sleep with one tiny flask? Yes," Timmy said.

His brows furrowed. I guess we must have been staring at him or something. "Why do you guys keep looking at me like that? I'm good with potions. It's a Hermes thing."

He was a kid of Hermes? Compared to some of the other children of Hermes I had met, he was a lot more normal and less crazy.

Timmy gasped and put his hand over his mouth, his eyes that of someone who just revealed some massive info.

"Calm down, Timmy," I said, trying to comfort him. "It's not that big of a deal."

The five of us continued forward, exiting the prison. I looked up towards the two towers next to the castle.

Phase two of our plan: pray to Olympus that Kai and Alexander were able to take down the watchtowers.

On the left side, Alexander snuck up behind the guy manning the tower and smacked him on the head with the butt-end of his axe.

On the right side however, Kai hadn't arrived at the top.

To make matters worse, the guy watching the right tower spotted me. I had been holding my gaze too long. He grabbed a walkie-talkie and began speaking into it.

He knew we had escaped.

I frantically turned to my friends. "Guys, we have a problem. The guy at the right tower spotted me and has now probably alerted the entire kingdom that we escaped."

"Well done, Amethyst," Timmy said. "Remind me again why Kai calls her the smart one?"

Rose glared at him. "Shut up, Timmy. Amethyst made a little mistake. We still have time to run to the ship and leave."

"But what about Kai? Now he's scaling the tower, unaware that his efforts are useless," Timmy shot back.

He was right.

"Kai's a smart guy," Rose said. "He'll find a way back. For now, we need to get to the ship as quickly as we can."

Timmy reluctantly nodded as the five of us headed towards the docks. Thankfully, the pirates hadn't done anything with our ship. The problem? There were four other ships all being cleaned and swept by pirates.

One of the pirates aboard a nearby ship spotted us and yelled, "Escaped inmates! Get them!"

All the pirates came streaming forward, running at us with their swords raised like mad men.

I brought out my bow and fired a few arrows, all of them hitting down one of the onrushing pirates. Meanwhile, Geneva and Rose took down some of the pirates with their sharp weapons, and Timmy was able to take one of the pirates' swords and was now locked into an intense sword fight with two pirates. Oman meanwhile, circled the fight and ran onto the BBB.

Soon enough, we were able to take down the pirates and made our way onto the ship. Alexander soon came into our sight, taking down five pirates with one slice of his axe. He then morphed his axe into his two shields and took down a few more, barreling his way towards the docks. Before long, he jumped onto the ship and joined me in shooting down some of the onrushing pirates with our bows.

Kai still hadn't escaped the tower.

"I'm going after Kai," I said after a minute, more or less, of waiting.

Rose pulled my arm back. "Amethyst, stop. We can't have two people be taken captive."

"Are you saying we should just leave and let Kai die here?" I asked.

"No, but it's not worth the effort to try and follow him," Rose replied. "Just calm down."

I tried to suppress my anger.

We had already lost Arthur, but Kai too? I couldn't handle that.

"Wait, Amethyst, look," Geneva said.

Near the prison area, Kai was surrounded by a mass of pirates. He faced each of them down, a fire vortex surrounding him as he fought. He took all of the pirates down within a few seconds, continuing forward. He took down bunches of pirates, as fire spread through the city. Residents of the city screamed in panic as the loud cheers from the stadium area quickly turned into cries of fear. The colosseum was lit aflame, as was the whole of the farmer's market and housing area. Officers from the prison worked to evacuate citizens as each and every house and side shop was lit aflame by Kai's rampant path to the ship. Inmates from inside the prison saw a massive opportunity to flee imprisonment and burst through the front as mayhem continued throughout.

Kai eventually made it onboard after experiencing some opposition from a mass of pirates, which is when I yelled, "Go, go!", at Oman.

Our ship moved its way out of the docking area and began sailing forwards.

"Dang nabbit!" Oman yelled. "They jammed the turbo boosters!"

"What does that mean?" I asked nervously.

"We're going to have to sail our way out until I can make some repairs," Oman replied. "We can't fly at all until we get those fixes."

"That's not our only problem," Rose said. She pointed behind us.

"By god's name," Kai muttered as he looked over the side. "That guy never quits."

A large pirate ship was sailing behind us, with Blackbeard at the front and wagging his sword around.