Written for Tyson and Ella week. ENjoy! I don't own.
Sandcastle.
By Everyone's a Mortal.
Tyson was building a sand castle.
He loved doing that, packing the sand hard into itself, using water to make it moist when need be, and carving shapes into his project for design. It wasn't his best work, but it was still pretty good.
It was about five feet tall, a very small replica of Poseidon's castle. Nothing that would do his father proud, really.
That just made Tyson feel worse.
The young cyclops was already sad about his brother, Percy Jackson, and so a dinky sand castle (seriously, five feet tall? Where were his magic hands today?) didn't really help.
Tyson sat down on the sand, silently wondering why his father had let him come up to Camp Half-Blood. Everyone was being nice to him, sure, but he still felt sad without Percy around.
"Pretty."
Tyson froze, hands hidden in the sand, his one eye wide when he layed eye on the person who's spoken.
Well, half-person.
"Ella?" Tyson breathed out, his voice high pitched from happiness. He hadn't seen her in a while; it was a nice surprise. Behind Ella, Mrs O'Leary bounced around, sniffing the castle, careful not to knock it over.
"Oh!" Ella said, "Um. Hello. Hi. Bonjour. Howdy. Hola. Hey. How do you do-"
"Tyson good!" Tyson chirped, and motioned for her to sit down. She did so, timidly. He stole a glance at her, and was pleased. She looked even nicer than the last time he'd seen her. "Look nice." He commented.
Ella blushed.
Suddenly, a cool voice popped into the cyclops' head; "You charmer, you."
He put his head inbetween his knees and bit back tears. Ella fluttered nervously. "Tyson? What is wrong? Are you sad? Zeus once said sadness comes from-"
"Yes."
"Yes what?"
"Tyson sad."
Ella nodded, concerned.
Mrs O'Leary woofed.
"Why are you sad? It is not good to be sad. Many people die from sadness."
Tyson felt as if a block had hit him, and he wondered if Percy would die from sadness in Tartarus, or if the bad monsters would get to him first.
"My brother."
Ella ooohed. "Ah yes." She said. "Famous Perseus Jackson. Sixteen. Demigod. Son of Poseidon. Six feet tall. Green eyes. Brown-black hair. Dating Annabeth Chase. Hero. Legend. Leader."
Tyson looked up. "Big brother." He said.
Ella fluttered down to look at Tyson. "Y-yes." She said. "Most important part."
Tyson sniffled. Ella sat down next to him, thoughtful. "Ella likes Percy. Ella thinks Percy is a good fighter. Thinks Percy a good big brother, too. Ella thinks a lot, but Ella knows two things for sure."
The cyclops boy looked at her, "What?"
"That Percy Jackson always comes home." Ella said, her eyes bright and positive. "Always."
Mrs O'Leary howled in agreement, and Tyson smiled a real smile. He stood up and when Ella stood up, he hugged her.
When they pulled away, the harpy was blushing, but Tyson didn't take notice. "What was the second thing?" He asked.
Ella's blush deepened. "Not important." She whispered.
Tyson didn't push the issue further. Instead, he said, "Wanna swim?" and pointed to the ocean.
This is when things got strange. Ella stumbled backwards, and Tyson had to lunge to catch her. When they were righted, Ella was breathing hard. "I.. I cannot… Ella cannot swim." She mumbled, her feather drooping.
Tyson looked surprised.
"Ella does not like water."
Tyson nodded. "It's okay." he said. "Tyson and Ella can do other things together."
They locked eyes. "Like what?" Ella murmured.
Tyson thought for a moment.
"Sandcastle." He said.