Previously...
"Oh Styx." I mutter under my breath as I turn round to see who it is.
Now...
Percy's POV
"Oh, hey Will." I say, rather awkwardly. Saying that Will looks shocked is an understatement.
"Well, now I have even more questions for you. Firstly, why did you take my memories away? Second, how can you speak underwater? And finally? How did that happen?" He asks, pointing at my tail.
"I took away your memories because you were hallucinating that you saw me speak underwater. The second question, I can't speak underwater- you were passing out and making things up that weren't actually real. And for the tail, last night was the full moon, as you know, and I was exploring Mako after work, and I fell down a hole that led to this pool. The next morning, I try to take a shower and, boom! I have a tail where my legs should be!" Well that wasn't entirely true, but it's how Cleo and her friends turned, so he'll probably believe it.
it more. I can tell him that my dad, the God of the seas turned me after I asked him too. "Wow, it feels good to share that with someone, and please keep this a secret. What if people find out about me? What would they do to me?" I really should be winning awards for this performance.
"Percy, you have to tell Cleo. You have to tell your mum." Will says to me.
"I can't, they'll never accept me like this. Please, just don't tell anyone. Keep this a secret."
"Fine, I'll keep it a secret, but you have to tell me how you can speak underwater first." He says. I knew it wouldn't be that easy to keep him quiet.
"I've already told you, I can't speak underwater. I tried earlier, and let's just say it didn't go well." Here's a quick tip about lying, add in an embarrassing detail, and people are more likely to believe the lie. He contemplates what I just said, but then hesitantly agrees. "How come you're not shocked about this? Aren't you surprised like I was that mermen exist? What if there are others out there?" I say, trying to have some fun.
"I am shocked, but I'm trying to look calm. I usually freak out about everything, and it's really embarrassing for me." He says, adding in an embarrassing detail. So he knows the trick too. He wasn't convincing enough when telling the lie.
"Thanks for keeping this a secret, and I know you're wondering how I took your memories, and I'll tell you, it was simple hypnotism. I'm quite new to it, so it wore off pretty soon. I told you that because I want you to trust me." I swim off out of the pool after I've said that, leaving Will alone in the Moon Pool. I vapour travel back to my room, and that exhausts me. I lay on my bed, thinking about the events that moving to Australia has brought on me and my family.
I am awoke from my thoughts by loud knocking and noises outside my door. It sounds like Cleo and her friends are trying to get into my room. It appears that mom heard them too, and I hear her say that they can't get in my room because only the people I let in are allowed, and that I'm out on Mako at the moment. I love my mom, she's literally a Goddess to any of the demigods, including myself.
The reason they can't get into my room is that Hazel put a kind of lock on it that only allows people to come in if I want them too. Hecate has been teaching her some more magic as if she was one of her own children, and this is one of the things she's figured out how to do.
"Perce, can I come in? I know you're there." My mom says.
"Sure, you can come in mom." I say. I have to make sure everything is as normal as possible if I don't want her to find out about me being a merman.
"How has everything been with us out here? I know you're missing camp. Annabeth and the rest of the demigods have to leave tomorrow, I just thought you should know." Mom says. She seems like she wants to tell me something, but she's too nervous to.
"Mom, what's wrong? Is there something you want to tell me?" I ask.
"No, everything's fine." She immediately protests.
"Mom, you can be honest with me, you know how much we've been through, and we've always had each other. You can tell me anything. Anything." I say.
"Well, the truth is, I never told you the real reason I wanted us to move to Australia." Cryptic. "The reason I brought us out here was to get away from the mythological world, but there's more to it. There's another reason other than our safety that I wanted to get away from the Gods and their problems. Oh, I've been stalling for a while now, haven't I?" She asks. I nod, and politely gesture for her to continue. "I'm pregnant, Percy."
I'm speechless for a second. I'm so happy for her! "I'm so happy for you and Paul! Do you know the gender? WHat are you going to call him/her?" I ask, quite excited.
"Percy, calm down. We don't know names or the gender yet, we're leaving it as a surprise."
"Ok, I'm fine with that. But, if it's a boy, can you call him Michael?"
"No, I'm not calling my son Michael Jackson-Blofis! And I think Paul would agree with me."
"So you told him then Sally?" I hear Paul's voice outside my door, "May I come in Percy?"
"Sure." I say. Paul opens my door and sits next to Mom. We have a genuinely nice family conversation, without any mention of the Gods, or mermaids. Just a normal family conversation for once.
AN-
Hello people! I just wanted to thank everyone for the 1.82k reads I've reached! I never even thought I would make it to 100, let alone almost 2000! This chapter has been published early to thank everyone that has made that happen.
Until next time!