"What's the matter, punk?" the first boy snickered, his tight lips departing in a malicious sneer. "Too scared? You wanna call for Mommy?"
Percy took a step backwards. The cool, almost surreal light of the aquarium reflected on the faces of the small boys, and what was meant to be the soothing music of the exhibition resounded in his ears like the clashing of cymbals. His green eyes darted across the dim room, searching for an exit. The group had moved on, but this particular set of boys apparently found it more interesting to scare him than to watch the flocks of fish. Well, he hoped the worry he felt did not appear too much on his face.
"Please," he tried, "I don't want any trouble."
The boys laughed. Percy wondered what types of parents they had, to start picking on kids at age nine. His thoughts went to his own Mom, the mirth in her eyes when he proudly stated his class was going on a field trip. He could almost see the disappointment she would try to hide when she learned that he had yet again messed up. Could almost smell Gabe's alcoholic breath as he bellowed to him about being a useless failure.
Light radiated from below as the fish swirled in the surrounding tanks. Their eyes seemed to glow as they watched the boys. Percy wasn't sure if the interested gazes pitied him or simply enjoyed the distraction.
Speaking of distractions, the tallest boy – Brice –had noticed Percy's momentary lack of attention and used it to lunge forward. Forcefully, he grabbed the boy's wrist. Percy could feel his bony hand digging in his flesh and cried out. You know the typical bully-cliché? With the one big, muscular alpha and the snickering followers watching? Well this wasn't it. Those boys were all skin and bones, and God was Percy afraid of them. Apart from one or two tough calls, he'd managed to avoid them for the entire half of the year. However he figured his record would be pretty much cancelled if he didn't do something fast.
"What do you want?" he asked, trying to sound like the superheroes he watched on the television. This type of situation never happened to them. They were never bullied on field trips. They were strong. They weren't scared little wimps.
Apparently his voice didn't sound that Superman-y, since Brice and Lucas just grinned. "What do you think, Lucas? Anything you want?"
Lucas took a menacing step forwards and Percy tried once again to writhe himself out of the bone-crushing grip on his wrist. In response, Brice took a hold of his other wrist and placed them behind his back. Powerless, Percy glared back.
"Nice cap you got there, punk. Mind if I take a look?" Without further notice he grabbed the blue headgear off, revealing Percy's black mop of hair. The boy could not help but gulp. This was one of his mom's presents that Gabe had not 'confiscated' already.
The boys whistled. "Well, that'll do. See ya, punk."
The next moments were a bit of a blur. He just remembered the intense feeling of disappointment, of I'm not good enough. He wasn't good enough and now his mom would be sad and Gabe would be angry and no! He couldn't let this happen!
He felt something nagging in the back of his mind. A presence of sorts, a new but familiar sense of home. Let me help, let me out. I can make them stop. And everything faded to blue as he let it out.
When he came to, he found a spluttering pair of boys lying on the ground, a drenched cap and pieces of broken glass. Fish jumped around them, gills opening and closing in search of breathable oxygen. Percy could only stare as Brice and Lucas moaned and glanced in horror at their hands, bloody from glass wounds. Did he do that? How?
Footsteps resounded in the blue hallway and Percy prepared for the inevitable. Sure enough, the teacher's furrowed brow and hard glare met his frightened eyes. Mr Brant's face slackened as he took in the scene before him. A young woman with an aquarium uniform arrived shortly after, panting heavily. The smiling cartoony dolphin on her shirt contrasted with her look of panic as she hurried to place the suffocating fish in the nearby tank. Her feet slushed in the water.
"Percy Jackson," the teacher whispered, "would you be as kind as to tell me what happened here?" The crescendo in his voice chilled Percy, and he stayed quiet, in acceptance of the consequences.
"Well?"
Percy shifted. "I honestly don't know, Mr Brant! I-"
"He attacked us!" Lucas' voice rang behind them. "He was threatening us and the tank suddenly broke and my hand is covered in blood and I want my mommy!" His lip wobbled and he looked with apprehension at Percy. And, the boy realised, it was actual, genuine fear. Not mocked fright to get the teacher's grace. But the grade school bully was truly afraid of him.
"I don't understand," the woman said, "he must've pulled the wrong lever or something."
Percy looked at his teacher, who was comforting a trembling Brice. "Mr Brant, I swear I didn't mean to-"
"Percy, you hurt your classmates. It doesn't matter if it was on purpose or not. Your clumsiness, or lack of attention resulted in two people bleeding. Do you understand?"
And, as Percy looked with despair and incomprehension at the destroyed tank, at the terrified boys and the ruined blue cap, he bent his head. "Yes, Mr. Brant."
A/N: So, um. First fic on the net. I feel like I'm sacrificing my soul to some monster or something. Sorry for the shortness of it all. Hope you enjoyed, because I kinda did. Don't forget to leave a review so I know if it was any good at all!