Jay and the Golden Fleece

Chapter Seven – A Hopeless Battle

Rated T for violence, themes and minor language.

Disclaimer: I do not own COTT, but I down own my plot.

Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Yagami Neko who reminded me of the good ol' COTT days and also reminded me that I needed to update this story. :D

twiinklestar: I apologize immensely for the extremely slow update. Hopefully I will be able to make amends by doing a double update today :S That is if I my mom stops badgering me to do chores. This first chapter is going to be very short.

And of course, upon being rescued by his team, Jay being, well… Jay, had no time for fun and celebrations therefore orders were given for the ship immediately.

"Zetes, where do we sail?" he asked in a loud and clear voice.

"According to this map, we sail north." Zetes replied almost timidly as he traced a finger over an imaginary line on the scroll of paper.

"North it is. Rowers, get into your positions!" ordered Jay.

The shipmates groaned, exhausted after their battle with the giant but got into their positions nonetheless. They were still a bit hyped up from the previous adventure and couldn't help themselves from chatting animatedly with their companions. The endless chatter got louder and louder until Jay could hardly hear the faint beat of Orpheus's drum. He turned around, a look of determination on his face, and was just about to order everyone to focus on their rowing and less on their talking when Atlanta reached up and grabbed his wrist.

He looked down at her. Archie was asleep on her shoulder and his face still had a sea-foam green tint to it. Ironic that he should be feeling sick because of the sea yet his face was the same color.

"Come on Jay. Just let them be. We've all had an exciting day and wouldn't you rather them talk out their energy rather than beat it out of each other? I'm sure they'll quiet down eventually. If Archie can fall asleep to their racket then I'm sure you'll be fine to ignore it for a little while longer. Please Jay?"

Jay sighed and resentfully sat down beside Atlanta. "Fine. But if any one of them loses their beat and this ship goes down, I'm telling Archie that you're afraid of centipedes."

Atlanta's eyes widened. Punching him on the arm playfully she gasped, "You wouldn't! And it's not my fault! They have so many legs; it's repulsive!"

---

Two days of rowing went on like this until they came to the island of Pontus. Jay informed the men that they'd be taking a short break on the small island. Recalling the first time they tried to get the boat off of the shore, the brunette instructed the men to stop the boat a dozen meters from shore where the water was shoulder deep. As expected, Archie refused to swim to the land.

"Uh, uh - no way!" he protested.

"Oh come on Archie! It's just water. It's not like it's going to bite you or anything." Atlanta teased.

"The water itself may not, but the things inside of it sure will!" the purple haired teen argued back, determined to stay on the boat.

"Come on Archie! Don't be such a baby." Confronted Jay, also in a teasing manner.

"You're not hydrophobic." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Even if you do stay here, you can't stay here alone." Jay said, insisting that Archie get over his fear and come to land.

"Just watch me." Archie snarled.

"You need at least one companion and -" the leader tried to be reasonable.

"I'll stay with him." Volunteered Atlanta, cutting Jay off and switching sides in the battle.

"What if something happens?"

"We're prepared. We've been fighting against Cronus for the last two years or so now." They pointed out.

"Do you know where everything is?" Jay asked, desperate for a reason for them to come on land.

"Yes, the weapons are below the deck, first door to your right. Food is in the back room. Spare blankets are under your bed. The mop and bucket are in the closet beside the bathroom. Anything else?" Atlanta answered smartly.

"And you promise that if anything goes wrong, you'll both abandon ship and swim to land to notify me immediately?"

"Yes Jay!"

Jay looked back and forth between them. He really didn't want to leave them here by themselves. What if something happened? The leader knew he could trust them. Like they'd said, they'd been fighting Cronus for more than two years now. And he knew that they were the best tag team. That was why he had chosen them, wasn't it? He looked at their goofy, hopeful smiles and sighed.

"Okay. You guys can stay here. But make sure that if anything, anything at all goes wrong, you will tell me."

"Yes sir!" they saluted.

Archie gave Jay an immature 'ha-ha-in-your-face' grin and thanked Atlanta for joining him. Jay glared at the two.

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, "Just be careful." He added for good measure.

"Just be careful." Mocked the two friends.

Jay placed his hands on a nearby sail and whacked his head on it. 'Why, why, why do I even bother?' he asked himself despairingly.

Atlanta and Archie laughed at the pain that they were causing their leader, and also at the fact that he was banging his head on a pole.

---

Quickly, the men jumped off of the ship and swam to the land, where they found food, water, wood and…

twiinklestar: Wow! This chapter almost doubled in length. But it is still extremely short ): But I hope you guys liked it. I may or may not be able to post another chapter tonight because like I said, my mom keeps harassing me to clean XP

Archie: Ugh, moms.

twiinklestar: I know! Oh well… I guess I should go and start. Crap.