Stones (Lukercy)

Four

"Alright," Joe said, with a fish frown, "you aren't going anywhere near the surface again." Percy lowered his head, knowing he almost got them caught. But it wasn't his fault necessarily. The human needs a schedule. Not one where he just shows up whenever he pleases. That's not how things work.

"I said I was sorry," Percy let out weakly. "I thought he would come later."

"But what about the other humans?" Joe asked. If a fish could, Percy was sure that Joe would have rolled his eyes. Percy just shook his head.

"Have you ever thought that maybe I don't want to be half fish?" Percy asked, beginning to swim off. He sensed Joe trying to catch up with him, but Percy was faster. He swam deeper, not paying attention to where he was going. All he knew was that he needed to get away.

He needed to get away from everything. The surface, the humans, the fish, himself. It was all building on him in such a quick time frame. Percy knew that there'd be a time where he'd get curious and want to be a full human. His dad warned him about it a time or two, but always told him that it was impossible and he should just forget about it.

Maybe Poseidon was right. It probably was impossible to be anything but a merman. But it was cruel of Poseidon to put him so close to figuring out what it would be like to live on land.

Percy tucked into a dark cave after swimming deeper than the sun could reach. The dark is all he wanted at the moment.

He didn't want to hear the laughs of the people. He didn't want to argue with Joe anymore. He didn't want to wrote anything to the person. All he wanted was to be alone and think things over.

-----

It's been a few days since Percy has gone back. He's mostly been staying in the cave, sometimes talking to a stray fish. They were nicer than Joe made them out to be. Not one of them tried to attack him, but maybe that's just because of who he is. It was a common factor in the fish he meets. They only see him as the child of Poseidon, not as Percy.

With that thought, while laying in the cave after an encounter with an eel, he quickly swam back up to the surface, not caring who saw him.

When his head popped up, his eyes locked with someone else's. The other person had sandy blond hair and a scar running down his face and across his eye. Both boys gasped. The blond slowly walked closer than he was already to the dock. Percy swam closer. Neither boy knew what was going to happen as neither had ever had an experience like this. But what happens happens and it'll be what it is. Hopefully the outcome is good. If it's not, Percy could only imagine what Poseidon would do.