Hello

Chapter 9

Percy dreams of the sea that night.

The noblewoman's song is stuck in his head and Percy sees himself floating in the ocean, lost and far away from both home and love. There is nothing but darkness around him, the water feels strangely cold on his skin and the waves roughen until their clashing tunes out the words of the song in the air.

The loneliness settles somewhere deep inside Percy, as does the feeling of being lost. He carries it with him when he wakes slowly much later, to a tank that is already half lit by the sun having risen above the dome. The shadows stopped their dancing and apart from the heavy feeling Percy carries with him now, nothing reminds of the night before.

When Percy swims out of the little cave he likes to hide in at night, it's unusually quiet around. Maybe his hearing or his concentration is off, but Percy is sure that he should be able to hear the visitors outside. Approaching the glass, Percy sees only shadows at first, but eventually the hallway outside his tank comes into view: empty.

For some reason, Percy is disappointed to see no one around, even more so because part of him had hoped for some children to play around with so he could fight his loneliness off. Confused, Percy rises to the surface.

The platform is as empty as always, but what irks Percy is that his island is just as barren. The crate holding his toys is gone and so are the few plants Jason had set out the week before. The doors are closed, locked surely, and Percy can see no sign that anyone has been here in the past few hours.

Something is wrong.

Once the thought has entered his mind, Percy finds himself unable to shake the uneasiness. He ducks back into the water, searching his tank, but even here, nothing is to be found. The fish he didn't eat last night are nowhere to be found, apart from the old wooden wreck and a few boulders, his tank is unusually empty.

He doesn't understand, unable to wrap his mind around anything but one thing: He is truly and utterly alone.

Percy is ripped out of his nightmare by a loud clink, followed by the sounds of a mother scolding their child. It doesn't make sense at first, Percy can't even make out where he is for a moment, until a fish swims by right in front of his nose.

Nothing quite makes sense, but this time Percy manages to shake his confusion on order to get up and make sure things are back to how they should be. He hears laughter and steps and tapping against the glass and when he swims toward the window separating his tank from the visitors, he comes face to face with a group of excitedly laughing teens.

Not alone.

As fast as he can, Percy rises to the surface, breaking through the water a little too fast to stop himself from jumping out a bit. The first glance he catches is of the door moving – opening or closing? – and when he pushes himself up to the edge of the island, he sees Jason lingering in the door.

"And here I thought you weren't talking to me today." Jason huffs a laugh and relief floods Percy. He isn't alone, not all by himself in a tank that will never feel like home, but instead with someone he cares for. Percy can't help himself, when Jason kneels down on the edge of the island, he pushes himself up even further and crushes Jason in a hug.

There's a surprised laugh, then a small wince and only the latter makes Percy loosen his grip ever so slightly. His face is buried in Jason's shirt nevertheless and he has no intention of letting go anytime soon. Anything not to let his nightmare become reality.

The next morning, Nico is early again. Percy has slept through his visit the day before – even though sleeping is putting it nicely with the kind of dreams he's been having – so when he swims up to greet Nico this time, Percy gives him the best apologetic smile.