Sea Green (Merman Percico)

Chapter One

Music played through the speakers of Nico's phone as he flipped through a graphic novel. A warm summer breeze flew through the open window of his bedroom. Nico would've just listened to the waves, but he needed something to block out the screaming kids.

His door suddenly opened and he looked up at his older sister Bianca. "Come on, we're going out. Persephone needs to get some stuff from the store."

"I don't want to go," Nico replied in a bored tone. He wasn't in the mood to leave the house, he planned to lay on his bed and relax for the whole day. School just ended a few days ago and he wanted to start the summer off right.

"Oh come on Nico." Hazel's curly head appeared beside Bianca. Hazel was younger than Nico by a year. While Nico and Bianca were born through their mother Maria (who died 10 years ago), Hazel was adopted after their father remarried to Persephone.

Nico loved Hazel, it was hard to believe she has only been a part of the family for two years.

"Sorry, I don't feel like it. You guys have fun."

Hazel looked disappointed while Bianca just rolled her eyes. "Are you going to leave the house at all?"

Nico shrugged, "I might go to the beach if you ask nicely."

Bianca raised an eyebrow, "or I could get Will up here to drag you out."

Will Solace was Nico's best friend. Will had a way of making Nico do anything he didn't want to do. Nico sighed, "I'll leave the house tomorrow, okay?"

Bianca didn't look satisfied, but she and Hazel left anyway.

Nico closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The usual smell of salt water filled his lungs. He would go to the beach... after his family left. But not just the beach. His favorite place in the whole world- a place by the current where no one goes off to due to the rocks.

Nico loves that place because it's quiet, no sound of people, just the waves hitting the slabs of rock.

After Nico finished the last few pages of his comic book, he slathered on a coat of sunscreen. Will always joked about how he was the whitest person in California.

Nico walked down stairs and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge before going outside.

The di Angelos live on the beach, meaning you walk out the front door and see soft white sand at your feet. Nico hated living in a place full of people taking a vacation, but it also had its advantages.

He looked around for anyone he knew, Will, Jason, Reyna, but saw no one. Exhaling, Nico made his way to the rocky cliff.

The sun was blaring and the waves were as blue as the sky. It was a beautiful day, a nice way to start the summer. The cliff was about 100 feet from his house, far enough on the left side of the beach for people to not come over as often.

Nico climbed over the rocks to a big flat one half way down. There were another three feet of rock until you get to the water. The waves were crashing roughly against the rocks like it was trying to pull them with it.

Nico dropped his water bottle, he sighed loudly as he picked it up. Before he sat down, a flash of movement caught his eye. Green, bright green, glimmering in the sun by the water. But it was gone before he could see any more.

Nico craned his neck but didn't see anything. He blinked, then shrugged it off. He sat down on the rock and laid back, his eyes were closed against the sun. He figured, possibly, laying out was better than being on his bed. Maybe next time he would skip the sunscreen for a tan.

The waves continued to crash into the rocks below, but the longer Nico listened to it, the stranger it became. He could hear the water becoming more restless, desperate even. It crashed against the land harder each time; a jagged nonsensical pattern he had never heard before.