Dark Tides

There was a somewhat tense silence as Emily, Percy, and his mother sat at the table, calmly sipping their tea. Percy didn't even like tea, but drinking it gave him an excuse not to talk. Had he known Emily was coming, he'd at least have bothered to fix the leak in the roof, so there wasn't an overflowing bowl of rain water on the floor. Maybe it would've made the place seem a little less pitiful. Emily didn't seem to care as much as Percy thought she did. She was playing with Caesar, glancing up to look at them every now and then. It seemed to have occurred to her rather suddenly that this oddly dressed woman was indeed Percy's mother, and the better half of the people who raised him. Malina was the least tense of the bunch. She quietly examined the necklace Emily brought over. Eventually, Percy was the one to finally speak.

"Luke brought you here?" he asked. "How did that happen?"

"I got a little lost in The Smokes," Emily admitted. "His initial intentions didn't seem like he wanted to help me find my friend, but at least he didn't try to force me to do anything. He backed off as soon as I said your name."

"Did he really?" Percy grinned.

"You seem pleased," Emily said, lowering her teacup. "Who is he?"

"An old friend," Percy explained. "My childhood best friend, actually."

Malina made a disgusted sound, but Percy ignored it, like he always did when they were discussing Luke.

"He got lonely after his parents died," Percy continued. "No brothers or sisters. When Colt and I were very young, we'd go out and beg for money on the street. It worked for a little while, until Colt was too big for people to feel sympathetic for him. I continued to do it until I was about twelve years old. Anyways, Luke saw me begging alone, and he came to join me. We've been friends ever since. He's the king of staying out of trouble. That's what I like about him. If he knows it's a fight he'll lose, he has no shame in backing away."

Emily was smiling as he told his story, and he realized that there were very few things she knew about his life before she met him. He rarely talked about his childhood with everyone.

"You did this until you were twelve?" she asked. "I thought you said people weren't sympathetic when you were too big."

Much to Percy's embarrassment, Malina answered for him, her tone as calm and cool as always.

"Percy was about half the size of all the other children until he was about fourteen years old," she said. "And now he's twice their size."

"Oh, you were that tiny?" Emily grinned, lighting up. "I can't imagine..."

Malina held up a finger for her to wait, slowly getting back to her feet. Percy twitched a bit, but he knew his mother wouldn't want him helping her walk in the presence of a guest. She was too proud. She made her way to a trunk near the bed, gingerly opening it up and sitting on the floor in front of it, waving for Emily to come by. Emily finished off her tea and eagerly joined Malina by the trunk as she pulled some things out of it. Percy watched from where he was sitting, his face a violent shade of red from the embarrassment he knew was coming.

"This was Colt's shirt, but when he outgrew it, we gave it to Percy," she said, handing a small old shirt to Emily. "The sleeves hung far past his hands until he was nine or ten."

"But this is far smaller than a nine year old boy," Emily murmured as she looked it over with a smile, glancing at Percy, who was now hanging his head.

"Percy was always too small for his age," Malina said. "We worried about him for the longest time. And he was quiet, too. The other children would run around and he wouldn't be able to keep up, but when they lost him, they wouldn't even notice until much later because his quiet presence didn't make that much of a difference. His brother was much different. Colt was very outgoing. He was often a leader figure."

"Mum, please," Percy begged.

"Being shy isn't a bad thing," Malina told him, reaching into the trunk again and smiling fondly as she pulled another trinket out of the trunk. This one was a string with some random dried leave and sticks carved into it, which Emily gently held in her palms.

"When Percy was six years old, I taught him what the meaning of my charms were," she explained. "So he went out and made his own, and gave it to me. And he told me it 'makes your heart feel better' when you were upset. He was always a sweet boy. His father and I argued often. Nathaniel was the type of man to finish an argument. I always hated when my boys had to see that."

Percy lifted his head to see that his mother had a sort of sad, distant look on her face. She didn't bring Nathaniel up anymore, but the look she exchanged with Percy was a somewhat apologetic one. There were few things they never talked about, but Nathaniel was the biggest. Growing up, he'd beaten Percy and Colton to the point where they were on the verge of not being able to recover, simply because they didn't bring home enough money after begging on the streets all day long. Malina often jumped between her husband and her children, which often caused her to get hurt in the crossfire. Emily seemed to notice, looking down at the makeshift charm in her hand and running her fingers over it lightly before handing it back with the shirt to be tucked away in the trunk gently.

Percy took the opportunity to help his mother stand again, and return to her seat at the table. When she did so, she took Emily's tea cup and swirled it around, flipping it over a saucer. Emily watched eagerly while Percy sighed and shook his head.

"Must you do this?" he asked.

"Tell me, Emily," Malina said, ignoring her son and focusing her eyes on Emily while she waited for the leaves to settle in the saucer. "What did this man say to upset you so?"

Emily's smile disappeared and she shifted in her seat, looking down at her feet.

"He said a lot of terrible things. I'd hate to say them again out loud. Mostly, he said that he could help me change myself to marriage material. As if it were something I'd appreciate."

Percy's head snapped up, and his brow furrowed in concern and anger.

"Change? Change what? There's men out there who'd do anything for a woman like you," he argued.

"Rich girls are a dime a dozen," Emily muttered.

"I wasn't talking about your money."

Percy couldn't read the expression on Emily's face, but he couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed again for jumping like that so suddenly. His mother saved him by plucking the teacup again, examining the leaves left behind. Emily watched her, leaning in slightly.

"Well, Percy's right," Malina said with a smile. "I wouldn't change a thing about myself if I were you, love. I see a... Yes.. That's good..."

"What is it?" Emily asked, bouncing in her seat.

"There are many paths that will open before you," she said. "Not all will be wise to take, while others will lead to great fortune. But you will choose the right one. I know you will. Just remember that. Even if failure is staring you in the face."

"Can you teach me?" Emily asked.

Malina agreed, and the next hour or so was spent explaining readings to her, while Emily examined Percy's cup. She was slow, and needed a lot of help, but in the end she was able to give him the same fortune he was already well aware of. He'd received it many, many times. Eventually, he managed to convince Emily that it was time to put down the cup and go home before her parents began to worry. She reluctantly agreed, though she seemed intent on becoming a psychic on that point.

"If you ever have to see that man again," Malina said as Emily was saying her goodbyes, removing one of her many charms from around her neck and putting one in Emily's hand, closing her fingers around it, "This is for you. For calming, and for confidence. I'm sure you don't need help to know you're wonderful the way you are, but just in case, this will help remind you."

Emily grinned and nodded, hugging her tightly. Malina was far more accepting of these hugs than he son was, hugging the girl back. Percy could tell she'd taken a shine to Emily almost the moment she'd walked in. Emily eventually managed to convince herself it was time to go, while Percy followed her out to walk her home. It was eerily silent out, but Percy didn't mind all that much. He watched as Emily examined the charm in her hand with a bright smile as they walked.

"She's wonderful," she finally said.

"Yeah, she is," Percy agreed.

"No wonder you grew up to be such a fine man," she grinned.

Percy just smirked and shrugged, awkwardly running a hand through his shaggy overgrown hair.

"She did the best she could."