Rising Shadows

The worst thing Percy could do to anger Colt was cry. Even still, he couldn't stop. He had a horrible case of the hiccups because of it, and all Colt could do was stare at him with those icy blue eyes and shake his head in disappointment. He walked over and helped his younger brother off the ground, brushing the dirt off of Percy's clothes and the bloody scrapes on his knees. Percy just kept his hands cupping a small bundle, clutching it away from Colt and sniffling.

"What happened?" Colt asked.

Percy just wiped at his tears with the back of his sleeve and shook his head. Colt did a lot to protect his little brother from the older, meaner children, but Percy knew he would think that the fight was over something
"Who hit you?" Colt pressed.

Again, Percy shook his head.

"Just because all those kids think being bigger than you means they can hit you doesn't mean you should let them," Colt snapped. "If Papa sees you crying, he'll hit you even harder. Now are you going to tell me why those boys beat you?"

Percy was going to shake his head again, but decided against it. Colt was eleven years old, after all. He was practically a grown man. Reluctantly, Percy lowered his hands to show Colt was he was holding. It was a small, brown mouse with matted fur. And it was definitely dead.

"Th-they were going to kill it," Percy said, through hiccups. "So I grabbed it and t-tried to run away, but one of them pushed me and they started t-to hit m-me. And I fell on the mouse. Colt, I k-killed it!”

Percy was about to cry again, but the look Colt gave him made him shut up. Colt took the mouse from him, looking at the dead rodent in his hands.

“Percy, it’s just a mouse. It’s probably carrying all sorts of diseases,” Colt mumbled. "My brother, the six year old mouse murderer."

“But it never did anything wrong!” Percy frowned, his voice shaking.

“Neither did we, but our lives are still hell,” Colt argued. "Percy, you can't be sad about things like this. It was an accident. You didn't mean to kill it. People like us have to do things like this sometimes. You can't be sad about it, you know. If someone tries to kill you, you've got to kill them first."

"What?"

"You have to be really tough here, or you're going to die," Colt told him. "If those boys hit you, and you don't hit them back, they'll think it's okay to keep hitting you."

"But we can be arrested," Percy frowned. "We already steal a lot. I don't want to do more bad things."

"Well, sometimes we have to," Colt said firmly. "You want Mum to have enough food for all of us, don't you? That's why doing what we do is okay. We're doing it to make our parents happy. We just have to make sure not to get caught."

Colt sighed and looked at the mouse again, holding it in one hand and grabbing Percy with the other. Percy limped a bit as Colt dragged him over to the side where there was some dirt. He thrust the mouse into Percy’s hands and started digging a hole while Percy watched. Once he got a decent hole, he pointed to it and waited for Percy. Percy shuffled over and laid the mouse in the hole gently, pushing dirt over it and marking the grave with a little rock.

“Are you gonna say a few words?” Colt asked.

“He was a good mouse,” Percy nodded.

“That’s it?”

“Well, you said a few words, not a lot of words…”

"Yeah, but that's just something adults say that means... You know, never mind," Colt said, standing up. "Come on, let's go home before Mum comes looking for us. We don't want a repeat of last time. No more crying, alright?"

Percy sniffed and nodded, wiping at his eyes. He reached out to hold Colt's hand, but he flinched away at first. Then he saw that his little brother needed the comfort, and he held his hand to take him home.

“Percy?” he said.

“Huh?”

“Percy!”

“Percy!”

Percy was startled awake by the sound of someone calling his name, whipping around to try and make sense of his surroundings. Oh. A jail cell. That’s right. He’d almost rather have been six years old and living in the Smokes again. Almost. He fumbled to find the little disk in his pocket, lifting it up to see Emily’s face appeared in the glass. She seemed surprised and concerned when she could finally see him.

“Oh my, I woke you up, didn’t I?” she frowned. "Oh, I know you haven't been sleeping well. Go on, go back to sleep."

"No, I was awake," Percy lied, though his appearance clearly said otherwise.

"You look terrible," she whimpered. "What have they been feeding you? Are those the same clothes you were wearing when they took you? Haven't they let you wash? Have you made friends?"

"Emily, it's not your father's summer home by the sea. It's jail," he smirked.

"Right..."

"Anyways, how are you doing?" Percy asked, changing the subject so Emily wouldn't look so heartbroken.

"Well, we talked to her," Emily said. "She met with us after the show."

"Really?" Percy said, surprised. "And?"

Emily just looked uncomfortable.

"She refused to help, didn't she?" Percy sighed. "Like I said. I told you, she's insane and only cares about-"

"What did you do to her?" Emily interrupted.

"What did she tell you?" Percy frowned.

"It doesn't matter, I want to know what you have to say about it," she said sternly.

"Well, whatever she said, you'd take my word for it, right?" Percy said, a little glad Emily wasn't there in person at the moment because the look she was giving him through that little disc was enough to make him sweat.

"You know, I'm beginning to think that Catarina was the victim in this situation, not you," Emily said. "She hasn't told me anything, but your body language is telling me a lot. What did you do?"

"Well, I-"

Percy's head snapped up when he heard someone about to enter, quickly shoving the glass into his pocket and hearing Emily's voice fade away. One of the guards entered, stopping in front of Percy's cell.

"You have a visitor," he said.

"I'm allowed to have visitors?" Percy muttered.

"If the prisoners are worth letting in, yes," a third voice added.

A voice that Percy absolutely hated to hear. Seeing Gregory Harrington irritated Percy. Seeing him with a smug smile on his face made Percy's blood boil.

"Excuse us, would you?" Gregory said to the guard, who nodded and left as Gregory slipped some money into his hand.

"What do you want?" Percy grumbled, once they were alone.

"Well, I heard Emily was away, and since no one else loves you I thought you might like a visit," he said, casually strolling forward. "My, my. If I may be so bold, are you part gorilla? It hasn't been that long, but you've got at least a month's worth of hair growing on your face."

"At least I look like a man," Percy smirked. "How excited were you when you looked in the mirror this morning and saw that you finally grew your first chest hair?"

"You're so funny," Gregory said, clearly not amused. "But do you know what is funnier, dear Percy? The fact that you are currently behind bars for the crimes we all know you committed. And even funnier than that? Your wife will leave you for it before she even becomes your wife."

"What?" Percy frowned.

"Oh, didn't she tell you?" Gregory laughed. "See, she's gone off to search for who-knows-what, but it's clearly a lost cause. So, out of the goodness of my heart, I made her a little offer."

"Offer?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I reminded her of my family's influence, and how I could rather easily just get rid of the evidence. All the evidence."

"You set me up," Percy realized. "You're lucky these bars are holding me back, you snake. What did you tell Emily she needs to do?"

"Oh, nothing serious," Gregory shrugged, unfazed. "I'm doing her a favor, actually. You know she'll be much better off as my wife than yours."

"You're still at it, are you?" Percy growled, fists clenched around the bars now as if he wanted to pull them apart and lung. "When will you accept that you've lost?"

"I haven't," he smirked. "You're where you belong. On your way to the gallows."

"When I get out of here, you best watch your back Harrington," Percy warned. "You won't be able to walk away from this injury."

"If you get out of here, you won't be able to lay a finger on me without ending up right back," Gregory reminded him.

"I never said I'd be the one to do it."

For a moment, Gregory looked genuinely threatened. He stepped away and straightened out his coat, and looked as if he was about to say something else if someone hadn't walked in and interrupted. For the first time, he was glad to be walked in on by Teddy. Trailing behind him was Finnigan, who waved to Percy as Teddy stared Gregory down.

"You're not welcome here," he snapped. "Get out, before I call someone to remove you."

"Alright, Theodore, I hear you," Gregory chuckled, as if he was an old friend. "I think I've gotten my point across. Good day to you both."

Teddy watched Gregory go out the door as Finn bounced on the balls of his feet, as if he was ready to take Gregory in a fight at any minute. He just shook his head and gently put a hand on his apprentice’s shoulder to calm him down before turning his attention back to Percy.

“He tried to provoke you?” Teddy asked.

“He failed to,” Percy shrugged, leaving out the part where he definitely threatened Gregory’s life. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you’d ever be the one to visit me in jail.”

“Well, you are marrying my sister,” he pointed out. “She’d never forgive me if I just let you walk to the gallows. Besides, I thought I should let you know how chaotic things have been since this happened.”

“Chaotic?”

“We’re doing everything we can to clear your name, but it would seem Gregory has some strong evidence against you,” Teddy explained. “I’m trying, very, very hard not to let this bother me, since I promised Emily I’d trust her about you.”

“Thank you,” Percy nodded. “I think...”

“Anyways, Father has been driven mad trying to convince them to let you go,” Teddy told him. “I swear, he turned about as red as a tomato the way he yelled. And as of this morning, Edmund Triggs has been right along by him. It would seem that news travels fast. Scarlett found out. And let’s just say… she isn’t happy. You would think that a woman with a child who's nearly three years old would have her hands full, but she's ready to drop everything and come here, if she feels she needs to.”

“Scarlett found out?” Percy grimaced. “She’s not actually coming over here, is she?”

“She might,” Teddy shrugged. “We told her that Emily ran off to find a way to get you out, but she told us that if any of us stop making an effort, she’d come over here and personally beat us all. I don’t know how Ben can handle her.”

“No one does,” Percy sighed. “And have they had much luck?”

“Unfortunately not,” he admitted. “But we’re trying.”

“We’ll get you out!” Finn added confidently.

"I appreciate it," Percy nodded, reaching a hand through the bars to shake Teddy's hand.

They'd just barely touched when a guard yelled at them, and Percy pulled his hand back in. Teddy sighed, stepping back as well.

"Alright, alright," he said. "I'll leave. Have a... good.... day, Percy. I'll bring you news if there is any."

Percy wasn't exactly on the greatest terms with Emily's older brothers, yet he found himself sort of sad to see him go. It was his one connection to the outside world, and all he could do was sit there in his cell and let the chaos unfold. He looked across the room at Atticus, who'd obviously been watching it all, and noticed a small smile on his face.

"At least you'll die as a man with a family, Everett."