Percy Jackson/Solangelo Oneshots

Mermaid AU (Pt.1)

Age Eight

Will Solace was a firm believer in mermaids. He'd sit at the window of his mother's beach house gazing at the ocean for hours hoping to catch a glimpse of a shinning tail. He had several books with mermaids and mermen and other beautiful, mystical creatures. He assumed, by eight years old, that he would have seen a mermaid already, but no matter how long he sat at the window he never saw the beautiful creatures. 

So, in an attempt to prove he was right, Will started walking down to a hidden cove by the beach house. Will always visited at low tide, early in the morning, because he had found a tunnel that opened into the cove, but it was filled with water at high tide. 

"Not too far, Will," his mother shouted as he ran down the sand, past the dock, and through the small tunnel opening in the rocky mounting. 

The cove was small with calm waves, warm sand, and a flat rock that rose out of the water. Will liked to sit on the rock, he could get there by walking, and once he reached the rock the water was up to his waist. 

The sun beat down on the rock and Will lay on his back his feet ankle-deep in the water.  The water rose to his shins as a wave passed and then lowered back down to his ankles. Will placed his towel over his head to block out the sun and the peace of the water started to lull him to sleep. 

In his daze, he felt the towel slip slightly. He grabbed it pulling it back over his face, but it slipped again and this time fell into the water. 

"Hey!" Will shouted as the waves carried the towel away from him and deeper out to sea. Will jumped into the water and started chasing after the towel until the water was up to the chest. He knew not to swim out any farther so he didn't and he returned to the rock in his wet swim trunks and t-shirt. He laid on his back again, breathing heavily, with an arm over this eyes. Hopefully, his mom wouldn't be mad about the missing towel. 

Splat

Will removed his arm and looked to his left. On the rock, sopping wet, was his missing towel.

"Wha-" Something grabbed his ankle pulling him off the rock and into the water. His head went under and he felt the weight on his ankle loosen so he could rise to his feet and above the water.  He coughed and spit trying to get rid of the saltwater in his mouth. He looked out at the water and jumped. 

A pair of dark eyes were watching him under a mop of black hair. The creature came closer and Will backed away until his back was against the rock. With the water up to his waist, he could run but he would never out-swim the creature. Will waited for a strange language to come out of the creature's mouth, but when its face rose out of the water, it said, "Your the thing that keeps coming here!" 

Will felt his jaw drop. 

"I'm not a thing!" he said indignantly. "I'm Will!" The creature moved smoothly around Will toward the soaking wet towel on the rock. Will watched as the creature poked it and recoiled. 

"Is it your companion?" 

"No," Will grabbed the towel and started squeezing the water from it, "It keeps me dry. It's called a towel." The creature watched in fascination as water dripped from the towel and into the ocean. 

"How does it keep you dry if it is wet?" Will opened his mouth to answer when the creature dove under the water and disappeared. Will gazed out at the ocean desperately looking for the creature. 

"Will!" He turned around and walked out around the rock to see his mom on the beach. 

"I'm here!" He walked to the shore with the towel as his mom sighed in relief. 

"Why are you all wet?" she asked. 

"I fell in, but I'm okay!" Will was about to tell his mom about the cool creature but she started talking. 

"Come home soon for lunch and let me take that towel." Will handed over the towel. His mom kissed his forehead. Will waited until she was gone to turn back to the water and wade out into the waves knee-deep. 

"Creature!" he called. "Creature!"

"Where's towel?" Will turned in joy to face the creature. It was closer to the shore, its bare belly resting on the sand and its wide eyes watching Will. The waves fell softly over its body and Will finally noticed it. 

A black and silver tail. Shinning scales, and a thin, almost clear fin with flecks of silver, another fin running the length of the tail. Will noticed the scales by the merman's elbows and the side of his belly and the gills on the merman's throat. 

"You're a mermaid," he said in disbelief. 

"I'm a what?" The merman's face screwed up in confusion. 

"A mermaid!"

"Is that what I am? I always saw you and creatures like you, but none like me." It was Will's turn to be confused. He had read enough books to know that mermaids don't travel alone.

"Don't you have a family?" The merman shook his head. His black hair fell in his face and Will noticed the scars on his hands as he pushed it away. 

"Where did you get those?" Will pointed at the scars. 

"Oh," the merman raised a hand in the air, "I don't remember." The boy's gaze turned sad and he buried his hands in the sand to hide them. Will walked a little closer until he could reach out and touch the merman. He sat in the shallow water and buried his feet in the sand next to the boy's hands. 

"If you don't have a family then I'll be your family," Will said with an innocence only an eight-year-old could possess. 

"I've never had a family," the young merman whispered as he stared at his buried hands. 

"Do you have a name?" Will said. 

"I'm Nico." 

"Now we're a family. Nico and Will."