Chapter 1:

Flying Merman

Nico was wondering what the big-ass ship that was parked in his surface area was still doing there.

Don't get him wrong, he liked having it nearby, but he was starting to wonder why it hadn't sailed off yet. Usually every ship that came near Half-Blood City didn't stay longer than a day, anchoring for the night before moving off in the morning. But this boat, The Apollo, had been floating above the underwater metropolis for at least a week.

Only Nico and his friends bothered with it. They were intrigued by the human ship, swimming around it and peeking in the submerged portholes. Every time they looked there was something different in the rooms. One day, Nico's friend Percy had suggested they make a hole in one of the windows and go in for a proper explore. Percy's girlfriend, Annabeth, had told him he was a giant Seaweed Brain and that the boat would sink if they smashed a window in it.

For clarity reasons, Nico, Percy and Annabeth were both mermen and mermaid respectively.

Nico di Angelo, son of Hades – one of the Big Three who ruled Half-Blood City with his colleagues – was a beautiful merman by social standards. He was pale as moonlight with dark brown eyes and inky black hair that floated around his head in a dark halo. His head was ringed with a circlet of black pearls and grey metal, signifying him as a Prince of the Three. His tail, ear and elbow fins were as black as his hair and glittered like stolen onyx and silver whenever sunlight hit the scales. He was thin but muscly, as were all the mermen and maids that attended Chiron's Academy, where they were taught how to handle weapons, harness their powers, and went on quests to kill the monsters that threatened the city. They were educated in the language of humans.

Nico was technically only a merteen, having existed for just sixteen years. Percy and Annabeth were a year older at seventeen.

Percy's tail was as sea-green as his eyes and could easily blend in with the seaweed farms. He had messy black hair and a nice tan that made him beyond popular at the Academy. He was a son of Poseidon, another one of the Big Three, along with Hades and another merman named Zeus. He was funny and nice, but an idiot a lot of the time. That's why he and Annabeth were perfect for each other.

Annabeth was a pretty mermaid with a borderline grey/light blue tail and piercing grey eyes. Her hair was blond and curly and she was the smartest around after her mother, Athena. Once upon a time Nico had been envious of Annabeth because he had a crush on Percy, but he was past that now. Fancying someone of the same gender didn't matter to the residents of Half-Blood City, as each merman was able to reproduce just as well as mermaids. They were all gender-equal under the sea.

Nico, Percy and Annabeth were hanging around The Apollo again. They'd all just come back from a quest into the wider ocean and they'd been given three days off before they returned to the Academy. Their other friends were going to meet up with them later in New Rome, which was the shopping district.

"I want to have another look," Nico suddenly said. Percy and Annabeth glanced at him.

"Where?" Annabeth demanded. "In Percy's room? You know that's a bad idea."

"Hey!" Percy objected. He pouted at his girlfriend. Annabeth smirked at him and waved a hand, bubbles flying off her fingers.

"Where did you want to look, Nico," she repeated. Nico pointed up at the ship.

"At the surface," he replied. His cheeks blushed a light pink as he continued, "it's a lot prettier during the day."

Percy grinned at him and made a begging motion with his hands.

"Yes, yes, yes! Please, Annabeth!" He started swimming circles around the daughter of Athena and she crossed her arms.

"Mum says that the boat's a bad sign," she said. Nico groaned. He'd heard this before. Like, fifty times. "It's been anchored in the reef for over a week now and the people are getting suspicious."

"Of what. They're probably just those human soldier guys again," Nico argued. Annabeth shook her head.

"Or they're on the other end of the scale," she said. "They could be pirates."

"Well we wouldn't know, would we?" Nico retorted. "We've only ever been up to check it out at night!"

Annabeth sighed.

"They could be hunters," she said wearily. Percy's head was going back and forth between his girlfriend and his best friend and only now did he break in.

"Then they're a threat, right?" he asked. "And as heroes it's our duty to get rid of them."

"Percy, we're on leave," Annabeth reminded him.

"Fine then." Percy threw his hands up through the water. "Let's play Touch-Tail instead."

Nico wasn't ready to let go of the subject, but no merman, maid or teen could turn down a game of Touch-Tail. It was basically gang-up tag where you had to flick another player's tail to make them 'it'.

"Sure," Annabeth agreed. Nico nodded as his way of approving and he suddenly dove down and brushed his fingers against Percy's fins.

"You're up!" he crowed, before he started racing off. Percy howled in annoyance and sped off after him, his tail flapping madly to catch up. Nico smirked over his shoulder as Percy slowly started gaining on him.

Suddenly finding himself with a burst of speed, Nico felt the water shred over his body as he unexpectedly changed directions, heading for the surface. He'd gone far enough away from the ship so he couldn't be seen by the naked eye. Nico felt his head break through the top of the water, followed by his torso and then tail. The sea wind greeted him and he closed his eyes happily, drinking it in, before he started falling back to the water. Nico streamlined his body and dove hands-first into the ocean, shooting past Percy and laughing bubbles in his face.

Captain Will Solace of The Apollo lowered his eyeglass. A wide grin was spreading across his lips as he leant against the edge of the ship.

"They are here," he said aloud. His eyes were rooted on the spot where one of the most beautiful creatures he'd ever seen had erupted from the water.

"Jason!" he called over his shoulder, his gaze never leaving the spot. A tall, blond haired boy ran up beside him.

"Yeah, Will?" he asked. Will glanced at his first mate and beamed at him.

"I was right," he said. Jason's face broke into a grin. "Get Lou. We're going to catch ourselves a mermaid."

I FOUND A TITLE! With help from TridentTattoo and TheBookMouse. And I'm sorry for the crap summary.

Three things I have a weakness for is Pirates, mermaids, and Solangelo. So I thought 'hey, let's do all three!' Personally I'm excited.

And I also don't know what I'm doing.

Jasmine Out!