Chapter Text
Percy was excited.
School was almost over, it was rainy season (best season of all, it should be included in with the others), AND his mom had finally been able to convince Smelly Gabe to let them go to the aquarium!
They had borrowed the car, and while the car ride took almost an hour (forty-nine minutes but still!), Percy had been very entertained the whole time.
There were so many birds!
And some of them were huge! And looked like they were made of metal!
Percy had tried to point them out to his mom, but she probably didn’t hear him as the radio was turned up really loud and he could always tell her about it when they arrived.
Eventually, they arrived, and as soon as they were inside and got their wristbands, Percy immediately scampered over to where the sharks were, not realizing his mom had stopped to put the map in her purse and wasn't following him.
He had glanced at a digital map on one of the huge screens that looked like a giant phone, so he knew where he was vaguely going.
By the time he got to the shark tank, he hadn't even noticed he was alone.
There were a few other visitors mingling around, but they were mostly pointing at the sharks in amazement, not paying any attention to the little boy who was pressing his nose and hands up against the glass.
Seconds past, then minutes, and Percy still hadn't noticed he was alone without his mom.
Other visitors came and went, even a few employees, yet no one really looked at him twice.
It was like he was in a trance, only paying attention to the sharks, not even noticing the driver who entered the tank to feed the sharks and then left.
The only thing that was important was the sharks and nothing else.
He was only broken out of the maybe trance by a hand being placed on his shoulder.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" A voice asked, and Percy looked over and saw it was an employee who had spoken and placed a hand on his shoulder.
The employee looked like a normal person at first, but open a closer look, Percy could see that his skin had a tint of blue in it, his nails and ears were sharper than most peoples, and his long white beard was braided with beads that looked like pearls, shells and scales.
But the thing that was the most obvious—and kind of scary—thing was how there was a piece of cloth covering the man's eyes, and it was damp and soaked in this black liquid.
It took a few moments, but Percy eventually regained his composure, "Y-yeah, yeah they are. I especially like the blacktip reef sharks reef shark that's swimming against the bottom."
Percy pointed at the floor of tank, where a shark was lazily swimming and almost appeared to be sleeping.
“You don’t seem to be afraid of them?” The man asked, he himself seeming to be confused.
That made Percy look up in surprise, “Why would I? Even I know that sharks are basically just the sea version of puppies and only attack because they feel threatened or have mistaken you for seals or fish in murky waters!”
The man seemed stunned for a minute before recovering.
“Where is your mother, child?” He asked, and it was only then did Percy look and realize, that he was, in fact, alone without his mother.
And that made him panic, “I-I don’t know,” he sniffled.
The employee sighed and crouched down in front of Percy.
”How about this, you hold my hand while we go and find your mother?” The man said slowly, and when Percy nodded, stood up and extended his hand which Percy grabbed on to like a life line.