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yo it fucked up my format? And its already really late so I'm not gonna fix it also like I don't own anything and if you have questions/comments/concerns drop a line. This story is mainly percy/annabeth but with (hopefully) healthy doses of frank/hazel/Leo and Jason/Nico ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Percy frowned as he continued swimming circle after circle in his small tank, although large by most accounts, especially compared to the other fish tanks scattered along the walls, his tank felt miniscule compared to the endless expanses of the ocean where he could swim for miles upon miles and never have to change his direction once. The water was cold enough to feel comfortable on his tanned skin but too salty to be authentic. It left him with a bitter taste in his mouth and the fish always tasted slightly off.
For some reason, this day seemed to last longer than the others, but that could've just been his boredom talking. There weren't as many visitors as normal, he normally spent a large portion of his day making funny faces at the small children until they laughed. They reminded him of uglier versions of the guppies from the Principia where all the younglings were kept. But today he had only seen four, and one of them wouldn't even give him the barest trace of a grin, just started crying after a few minutes and his mother quickly rolled him out of the room.
Plus, Leo was gone for his checkup, the lucky fish. Every few weeks, or at least Percy assumed it was weeks, he'd stopped keeping track of time a while ago, each of the so-called 'exhibits' were given a thorough check up by Dr. Solace, which means they actually got a chance to hear about the outside world, seeing as Will was the only outsider willing to communicate with them.
Hazel gave a warning whistle and a click, much like a dolphin, to warn Percy to come back to the surface. Percy didn't even have to give half a flick of his tail before he was drifting on the surface level. The sun was setting but the few rays that still managed to push through the large floor to ceiling windows felt good on his deeply tanned skin. He floated on his back as he turned his attention to Hazel, his bright blue tail floating up in front of him, also trying to catch some of the fading daylight.
The purple finned mergirl was sitting on one of the few, small sunning rocks available, running her mocha fingers through her mostly dry hair, her glowing golden eyes met his sea green ones and she gave another quick whistle
"They're bringing Leo back" she said in the language of the Olympians, more specifically the dialect of the seas. Percy was glad she called him to the surface because that meant he'd get a chance to see the doctors sunny face.
Will was the only friend that the Olympians had on the staff. At least so far, sure, most of the other staff members were pretty friendly, but Will was the only one they could trust because he also was born on Olympus.
The big metal door on the side of the cage nearest the two merfolks was opened slowly with a beeping and creaking noise being the only forewarning and Leo, was wheeled in. He was strapped to a gurney, his fire red and orange tail was flopping loosely over one side and the straps looked almost painful as they rubbed against the sensitive skin on the boys chest but the curly haired boy was smiling away and chatting with the blond pushing the bed. There were cameras in the cage so Will knew he had to be careful.
"And then I said, no, you're the guppy!" Will looked down to hide a snort.
"C'mon, Leo, you're not telling that joke again, are you?" Hazel gave him a playfully disapproving look.
"When do you think he had time to learn any new ones?" Percy swam as close to the little island holding the two boys as he could. He dragged his heavy tail up onto the sand, splashing just a little bit more than necessary to get Will's shoes wet.
"Percy!" Percy smirked at the blond as he began to untie the smaller merboy. Once Leo was successfully untied, Will pulled the smaller boy up by his armpits and began to drag him back into the water. Both Hazel and Percy winced in sympathy, this was the worst part of the whole check-up.
Tails were heavy, they were essentially one giant muscle that was no good on land, but Will still did light years better than the other assistants who occasionally had tried to help out. But Leo still wound up with a few sand burns and pulled scales. His head disappeared underwater shortly, before he sprung back to the surface to spit a mouthful of water onto his doctor.
Will retaliated by splashing a handful of water in the other's face, which didn't have much of an effect as Leo ducked back under anyways. Will reached into a bucket on the gurney and pulled out a bag containing several live fish which he released into the water. Percy watched them swim away with a certain amount of disinterest. They wouldn't be that much fun to catch, there were only so many places in the tank that they could swim to.
"Next time bring cookies" Whistled Leo from a few meters away and Percy smiled.
"And make them blue!"
"Don't be silly, guys, he can't give us normal cookies, let alone blue ones. The director would never let him. But could you try and sneak us some clams, please?"
This also got both of the boys attention as they eagerly nodded and whistled their agreements.
"You guys sure are talkative today," Will smiled while glancing at one of the many cameras placed around their tank "But you were super cooperative so I'll see if I can get you a treat as a reward". All three of the mers knew that this was as close to a guarantee as they would be able to sneak out of the good doctor. Will smiled and waved one last time as he turned to roll the gurney out of the tank.
"Bye" Chorused the three and Will gave an inconspicuous good night whistle as he shut the door.
While the dialect of the seas wasn't his first language, it was similar enough to the sky dialect that the four could understand each other well enough and Percy and Hazel watched the door shut before rounding on Leo.
"Okay, spill, what's the gossip this week" Leo loved to bask in the attention as the other two demanded that he relay all the juiciest secrets that he himself had only just learned in the short trip through the cameras deaf and blind spots.
"So, remember when Annabeth took a flying jump at that asshole teen who wouldn't stop harassing her and Piper yesterday? Well somebody got him on tape falling over and spilling his drink in fright and now it's all over the web" Percy glanced over at the cage across the room from him and smiled at the two girls who were also chatting amiably together.
"And that new cleaner guy, you know the one"
"Dark hair, always listening to music, only works nights?" Leo nodded
"Will says he gets a super strong gay vibe off of him, might try hitting him up. He's certainly cute but not really my type"
"Back on topic, Leo. I know there's more. You looked like someone brought you a whole bag of seaweed when Will rolled you in, what aren't you telling us?"
"Oh, nothing…" He trailed off and Hazel gave him a playful slap on the shoulder. "Okay, so get this, I mean it's not exactly good news but it's definitely news. They caught another Olympian and they're going to be moving him in within the next week or so."
"What?"
"Who?"
Leo held up his hands in defense as he explained "I only know what Will knows, so that's not a lot. But he's avian" Percy felt a rush of two emotions at once. Disappointment that he wouldn't be getting a new tank mate, he loved Leo and Hazel with his whole heart but he'd like to talk to more than two, sometimes three people occasionally. But he also felt relief. This tank was originally only meant to house two of them, Leo and Percy having been captured at the same time so it's been a little cramped since adding a third member, no matter how small and lovable she was. He didn't know if they'd be able to deal with four mers in a tank this size.
"Do the girls know?" Percy nodded his head to the left to motion to the only other two Olympians who have been captured. These two were Avians, while the mers were adapted to the waters, the avians were meant for the skies. Piper and Annabeth were both sights to behold. They were clad in white dresses that their 'owner' Mr. D thought made them look more like the Angels he marketed them out to be.
Piper was a gorgeous avian with tanned skin and caramel hair, her eyes could never decide what color they wanted to be. Her Snow White dove wings stood out in shocking contrast against her sun kissed skin. Annabeth shared her tanned skin with her cage mate but that's where the similarities stopped.
Annabeth was built for power, all toned muscles and long limbs, her blonde hair was streaked with natural sun highlights and a smattering of freckles dotted across her nose. Percy knew because their cages used to be next to each other when they were first brought in and had to sit next to each other for hours upon hours and test after test. He also knew from this experience that she had shocking grey eyes and a dangerous wit to match. Her wings were the soft brown of a tawny owl and where Piper's were soft and gentle, hers were hard and sharp. Percy thought she was beautiful.
"No" Leo responded to the earlier question "Will asked me to tell them, but we have to wait until everyone is gone". Percy nodded and resumed swimming his circles, debating whether it was worth it to chase one of the fish down while waiting for the last few visitors to leave.
There were a lot of rules that came from Olympus, especially when it came to getting captured. Rule number one was don't be. Captured that is, until recently the humans hadn't even known that they existed. Sure, there had been myths, but the humans took them as just that. But Percy, and the four, now five, others had already broken that rule. But the other ones were as follows, don't let the humans know you can speak or communicate. This one was to avoid having to communicate with the humans and risk spilling any more secrets, as well as keeping Olympians as far removed as possible from the other species.
The other most important rule was No Shifting. Every Olympian was able to take a human form for as long as they pleased, and that is how most of them avoid being captured. That is unless you get tangled in a fishing net, like Percy and Leo, caught sleeping, like Piper, lured into and trapped in a sunken ship like Hazel, or shot down by a nearsighted hunter like Annabeth. But once a human sees you in your natural form, you cannot shift back. This was also for the safety of all the other Olympians who had already integrated into the human culture like Will.
Who knows what the humans would do if they knew Olympians lived among them. Especially with easy to tell sign like the scar like markings that appear in their human forms, across the back and shoulders for avians and up and around the legs and hips for merfolk. It would put too many of their kind at risk if the humans found out. They were already freaked out enough with their mere existence. Knowing how there were Olympians everywhere would probably cause major problems as well as severe violence. Humans couldn't even handle other humans if they had different skin colors. Percy shuddered to think of what could happen to Will and all the other Olympians out there.
The muted sound of the PA announcing that the exhibit would be closing in five minutes filtered its way through the water and into Percy's ears as he cornered one of the fish and then let it swim away to be chased again later in the night when it was more of a challenge. He pushed his way off the floor of his tank, waving bemusedly as the last few guests made their way to the exits. Soon, security guards would come through with their torches shining, making sure nobody was hiding under the benches or behind curtains before they locked up for the night and let the cleaning staff do their work.
This was Percy's favorite time of the day, the sun hadn't quite gone below the horizon and with all the windows on the west wall, he was treated to a magnificent view of the sun setting over the river that the exhibit backed up too. It reminded him of the times before he was captured when he and Leo used to swim up to the surface after ditching the royal guards, they would chat with the dolphins and occasionally with a group of avians on the side of the island of Olympus who also knew how to appreciate a good view.
Around the time the sun disappeared completely the LED lights would come on along the floorboards lighting up the whole center room in a gentle blue that would shift to purple and then red over time. Once those lights came on, Percy knew it was safe to rise back to the surface and whistle across the room.
With his head just above the surface, he was greeted with Leo and Hazel smiling at him as together they pushed themselves onto the island, trying to get as clear of a few as possible to see the other cage.
"Annabeth, Piper!" Percy had to whistle louder than normal as well as slower, making sure to separate his words. The avian dialect didn't have as many clicks and pops as the sea did so he had to be extra careful with that. Piper whistled back a hello, shortly followed by Annabeth's
"Guess what!" Leo was beaming, but it wasn't like the girls could see him from across the room in this lighting.
"I don't have time for guessing games" Annabeth was always direct to the point "what is it, Leo"
"You do too have time for guessing games" he huffed under his breath "it's not like she has somewhere else to be" Hazel gave him another smack on the shoulder but this one was accompanied by a small snort and a grin. Whistling loudly again, he announced "We're getting a new Olympian, more precisely you're getting a new Olympian"
"Another avian?" The three merfolk whistled the affirmative. There was a quick moment of chatter as the two in the cage spoke too quietly and too quickly for the others to understand.
"Did Will tell you?"
"Yeah, he should be arriving soon but Will doesn't know exactly when. They don't exactly tell the doctor everything. Just make sure he knows to be prepared for who he'll have to take care of"
"So definitely a boy though,"
"Yeah, Will was positive on that. Mr. D is 'psyched'" It was hard to convey sarcasm through whistling but Leo pulled it off pretty well "to finally have the "Whole Set"" All the Olympians gave sighs of annoyance at that.
Piper and Annabeth had just started to reply when a voice from down at the floor said
"Wait, you guys can talk to each other?" He was immediately hit with five pairs of panicked eyes, Piper flew to the far side of her cage in a flutter of white wings, Hazel and Leo both ducked guiltily under the water, leaving it to their leader to figure out how to handle this situation.
Percy recognized the man, just barely old enough to not be a boy anymore, as the night cleaner that Will had been talking about earlier. The one with the dark hair and eyes. He had one ear bud hanging out of his ears, his uniform was messy and he was holding a broom loosely in one hand, his other ear bud in the other. His face held a look of shock as he looked between the two cages. Easily catching on that he had seen something he probably shouldn't have.
"Don't worry," he said slowly, he made a big show of shaking his head and zipping his mouth closed, not sure if they could understand his words or not. Percy didn't know how that was supposed to help if he couldn't understand English. The movements just made the cleaner look a little bit off. He slowly put his other earbud back in his left ear and gestured as if telling them to continue. "I didn't see or hear anything. I won't tell anyone".
Percy shot a look across the room, hoping Annabeth would be able to read his face or body language in the low lighting. They could continue their conversation later. For now, Percy busied himself with what Hazel and Leo had already started. It was dinner time.