There is a darkness brewing on the blue waters of the high seas, sitting in the shadows and waiting for its proper moment to strike. Whispers about its return are murmured amongst the peasant folk and gossiped about in the nobility, but they are jus...
Sally Jackson pulled and tugged at Piper Mclean's hair, who was Sally's adoptive daughter, braiding her deep brown hair into a breathtaking braid. Piper's feathery and untamed hair was always quite the problem for Sally. Percy Jackson, Sally's birth child, was running around their small house, jumping on furniture and generally being his rowdy self.
"Percy, sit down, we need to leave in three minutes!" Sally called out, finishing of Piper's hair with a bow and placing a sweet kiss into her daughter's cheek. The eight-year-old Percy popped his head into the kitchen with a puckered out lip, his hair somehow messy and wild again. Sally scowled at her son's wild appearance and snatched a comb off the dirty kitchen counter. She held her son by the shoulders as she combed his wild black hair and readjusted his dark blue jerkin. Percy tan skin tone slightly clashed with the plain tunic and jerkin, but his black windswept hair and bright green and turquoise eyes seemed to simply make the effort of him fitting in impossible.
"Mom? Do I have to wear this stupid thing?" Piper asked, pulling at her plum-colored dress, slightly faded and small beads tangling around the high neckline, a white apron at her waist. It brought out her deep skin and complimented the reddish undertones, along with her multicolored eyes.
"Langauge Piper! And yes, we need to look good. And both of you are wearing your pins, right?" Sally asked, calling over her shoulder as she tucked the last of Percy's hair back. Percy and Piper sighed and walked over to the kitchen, snatching the small bronze pins off the dirty stone countertop. Percy helped Piper secure her pin into the biggest pleat of her hair, and Piper helped Percy pin the bronze button onto his pale tunic, on top of his blue jerkin. Sally tied up her dark hair into a bun behind her head, placing her own bronze pin into the top of the bun. There was no need for coats or outerwear, it was early morning in June, the cold just began to be chased away. Sophie saw her two children nervously waiting by the door, and she bent down, looking them both in their eyes.
"You both look gorgeous," She said warmly, placing her hands delicately on their cheeks.
"Why do we have to do this mom? Why can't we just buy food like the kids from the upper quarters?" Percy asked, Sally's thumb running over his cheek.
"It's not that simple baby."
"Why not?" Piper asked, her kaleidoscope colored eyes confused. Sally bit her lip, trying to find a way to explain things, but she just loosed a breath.
"It's just not. I'll explain when you two are older-"
"Percy is already eight! I'm seven! We hate doing this every year, please we want to stop." Piper begged. Sally's face was all sorts of conflicted, but the bells chimed in the distance, and Sally looked at her children with teary eyes.
"I'll get you two something afterward, maybe some pastries? It will be over before we know it!" Sally said encouragingly, but Piper and Percy huffed. They followed their mother out of the small apartment and down the stairs, carefully avoid a puddle of a wrenching stench. Other poor folks of Tortuga were walking in the same direction the small family of three were, giving them a nod. Piper clenched onto her mother's hand, also onto her brother's shoulder as they walked closer and closer to the bell tower.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
