𝒕𝒘𝒐 :: wedding dress visions
and a potential opportunity
❛ sweetie he can't drown ❜

harlow laurier disliked going to bed, at a young age she was haunted by nightmares no mortal eight year old could fathom. like most demigods, visions plagued her consciousness while she was asleep. on today's menu, she dreamed she was in a humid cavern, dressed in heavy decorative celestial bronze armour with forfeit in her hands. her hair was unusually dead straight, yet it wasn't frizzy despite the climate.a figure in a revoltingly vulgar wedding dress stood before her, their face blurred by their veil. "oh! you're not percy!" they yelped and harlow scowled, even her strange dreams wanted percy fucking jackson over her. "no I'm not percy jackson,but i can take a message." harlow remarked, crossing her arms. "really? that would be grea-" harlow interrupted them and rolled her eyes "i was being sarcastic dumbass," she sighed "but yeah, why did you want him over me?" the figure, who was clearly masculine under the dress looked around furtively before whispering "tell him i don't have much time, he needs a quest!" harlow nodded and pretended she was writing it down "yep ok, and who should i say is leaving this message?" she batted her eyelashes annoyingly and the vision started to fade. " fuck...he's here! tell him its from grover underw-" and the dream faded completely.

harlow sat bolt upright with a start, breathing unevenly. she took in her surroundings, the familiar view out of the open window told her she was in the camp's infirmary. a calm breeze flowed through the building, contrasting the atmosphere of urgency that flooded the room. the cots around her were filled with burned campers, the apollo cabin working their asses off trying to tend to everyone. the room chattered with noise, a few people screaming in pain caused harlow toes to curl. a tall glass of what looked like maple syrup sat beside her bed, which harlow recognised as nectar - the drink of the gods. she gingerly took a few sips, then a gulp, soon enough she had drained the whole glass. the familiar taste of warm cinnamon buns made her feel all warm inside. but the feeling didn't last long. the memories of the bull's attack flew back to her and she swung her legs out if bed and started her short trek to the big house.

the camp looked fine at a first glance, the big house was still.. well, big and the strawberry fields still baked in the sun. but there was an air of danger now, you could tell something was wrong. instead of relaxing by the lake or playing volleyball in the sandpit (something harlow was fiercely competitive at) counsellors and saytr's stockpiled weapons in the tool shed. dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the wood. the forest looked sickly, the meadows grass a shade of pale yellow, and the fire marks on half blood hill stood out like ugly scars.

as harlow walked to the big house, she noticed how no one stopped to say hello, or said thank you for getting rid of the bulls. instead, people avoided her, it had been this way for a little over a year now. you could say that harlow laurier wasnt much of a people person, she was somewhat feared among campers, after all she could best anyone in combat if she really wanted to. but the main reason people feared her was probably because last year harlow had come to the conclusion that if she couldn't be liked then she would be feared. sure it sounds dramatic, but it was better this way. at least that was what harlow told herself.

the big house was a huge building with at least three or four stories, painted a sky blue, the wrap around porch looked worn down but loved. but today it looked empty, like a piece was missing. harlow found chiron in his apartment, listening to trashy 1960s lounge music (it really didnt do the decade any justice) while he packed his saddlebags. chiron was an old centuar, his scraggly beard needed to be combed and his christmas jumper collection deserved a special spot with hades. but from the waist down, he was also a white stallion."pony!" a voice yelled out from behind her, a voice harlow recognised.

she turned around in the doorway to see three infamous faces : annabeth chase, the fireball guy and percy jackson. chiron turned around, looking offended. "i beg your pardon?" annabeth pushed passed harlow and tackled the centaur in a hug. "chiron, whats happening?" her voice trembled, "you're not... leaving?" as much as harlow didnt like the blonde, her heart still felt heavy. chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kind smile. "hello, child. and percy! you've grown over the year!" he turned towards harlow and there was an unerving  look in his eye that made shivers run up and down her spine. " ah, harlow laurier im sure you'll want to stay for this as well.." it wasn't a question, so harlow stepped through the doorway. " clarisse said you were... you were..." percy mumbled, his dark hair dusted with ash. "fired." chirons eyes glinted with dark humour. "ah well, someone had to take the blame. lord zeus was most upset. the tree he'd created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! mr d had to punish someone."

harlow's blood boiled, one of her favourite teachers (ok ok, her only favourite) was being sent away because a pudgy god couldn't stand to form a single competant thought. "besides himself you mean," she muttered. percy nodded his head in agreement, which made her feel all prickly inside, she didn't want him to agree with her. "but this is crazy!" annabeth cried. "chiron, you couldn't have done anything to do with poisoning thalia's tree!" chiron continued to pack his bags, the awful music added a comical element to the situation, but no one was laughing. "nevertheless," he sighed, "some in olympus do not trust me now, given the circumstances."

"what circumstances?" percy asked. chiron's face darkened. he stuffed a latin-english dictionary into his saddlebag while frank sinatra music oozed from his boom box. harlow had almost forgotten about the bull guy, tyson? whatever his name was he definitely didn't act his age, his eye reminded harlow of a baby cow, so innocent and kind. he was staring at chiron in amazement. he whimpered nervously and shuffled closer "pony?" harlow struggled to hide her laugh with a cough, liking the baby cyclops more and more. chiron sniffed. "my dear young cyclops! i am a centaur!"

percy still looked lost, well more lost than usual."chiron," he said. "what about the tree? what happened?" the centaur's tail swished feverishly and he shook his head sadly. "the poison used on thalia's tree is something from the underworld, percy. things are stirring," his eyes flicked to harlow for a moment before he continued. "some venom even i have never seen. it must have come from the deepest pits of tartarus."

"then we know whose responsible, kro-"

"do not invoke the titan lord's name percy, especially not here, not now."

percy sighed aggressively, running a hand through his hair "but last summer he tried to cause a civil war on olympus! this has to be his idea! he'd get luke to do it, the traitor." harlow noticed how annabeth had visibly tensed at the mention of hermes's son.

"perhaps," chiron said. "but i fear i am being held responsible  because i did not prevent it and i cannot cure it... the tree only has a few weeks left unless..." this caught harlow's attention, her thirst for victory made her fingers twitch at the chance of a possible oppurtunity. "unless what?" she spoke up.

"no," chiron brushed it off. "a foolish thought. the whole valley is feeling the effects of the poison. the magical borders are deteriorating, camp itself is dying.only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, but it was lost centuries ago..."

"what is it?" harlow asked. "i'll go find it!" she saw how annabeth bristled at her choice of the word i . chiron shook his head "this is not something you can do alone, my child. after you summoned the nikai-"

"the nick what?"

"the nikai warriors, my child. your mothers force of etheral beings so rare and powerful i have never seen them in real life before today," chiron clicked his bag shut. "its a miracle you aren't vaporised right now, the nikai have only been summoned a handful of times before. i would advise that you avoid calling on them again, we wouldn't want you to turn to dust now would we?" he chortled, as if he were merely discussing a mild punishment instead of harlow's possible demise.

he finally clicked stop on his boom box, the awful music dying out leaving only the ticking of the grandfather clock as a source of sound. he turned around and looked at percy, resting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "percy, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. i told your mother i didn't want you to come back at all this summer, its much too dangerous." then why did he come back?  harlow thought, a scowl painted on her face. "But now you are here," chiron sighed "stay here, train hard, learn to fight..but do not leave."

"why?" percy asked. "i want to do something! i can't just let the borders fail! the whole camp will be over run by... by-"

"monsters." harlow quipped, tired of percy's angry stuttering. he scowled but nodded "yeah, what she said." he jerked his head in harlow's direction. anger erupted in the pit of her stomach but she bit her tongue and stayed quiet, she didn't want to ruin chiron's last day. "yes, i fear so. but you must not let yourself be baited into hasty action! this could be a trap by the titan lord. remember last summer, he almost took your life!" harlow was aware of the drama that had happened last summer, it was all anyone could talk about. percy jackson this, percy jackson that... yada yada yada it was getting boring. but kronos sparked a strange feeling inside harlow, sure she hated his immortal ass.. but there was something else. a kind of...respect for the titan lord, and that scared harlow more than she liked to admit.but then again, he had poisoned her home, which was a big no no in harlow's book. who else would stoop so low to poison thalia's tree, the only thing left of a true hero that had saved her friends?

harlow wasn't much of a crier, but she could be very emotional at times (marvel films tended to bring out the worst of them). annabeth however, was on the brink of a full blown meltdown as chiron brushed a stray tear from her cheek. he looked inbetween harlow and the blonde "stay with percy, my children," harlow scoffed in protest but chiron raised his hand to silence her. "keep him safe, remember the prophecy!" the last line was obviously directed at annabeth, as harlow had never heard the great prophecy (which totally sucked by the way) "we will." the girls said, one more eager than the other. "uh," percy said. "would this be the super dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you from telling me?" no one answered the idiotic boy's question. "right," he sighed. "just checking."

harlow suddenely realised the hard truth"wait, chiron..." her voice shook slightly. "is it true that you're only immortal when you're here, employed at camp? if thats true then you need a new contract man tha-" she tried to cover her moment of weakness with some light hearted humour but the centuar gave her a sad smile. it was true, chiron was at risk of dying if they didn't fix the tree soon, as well as the rest of camp halfblood. "swear upon the river styx that you will both try your best to protect percy from harm," he insisted. yet again, it wasn't a question, but harlow faltered. she wanted nothing to do with perfect percy fucking jackson and his weirdly perfect friends. "swear upon the river styx." he repeated.

"i-i swear upon the river styx," harlow mumbled along with annabeth, thunder rumbling in the distance ; sealing their fates. "very well," chiron said, more relaxed. "perhaps my name will be cleared and i shall return.until then, i shall visit my wild kingsmen in the everglades.its possible they know of some cure for the poisoned tree i have forgotten. in any event, i shall stay in exile until this matter is resolved...one way or another." annabeth stifled a sob, chiron patted her back awkwardly. "there now child, we must entrust your saftey to mr d andthe new activities director. we must hope...well, perhaps they won't destroy the camp as quickly as i fear." harlow smiled weakly at the old centaurs attempt at humour. "who is this tantalus guy, anyway?" percy crossed his arms. "and where does he get off taking your job?"

the conch horn blew across the valley, alerting harlow to the setting sun and her fellow campers assembling for dinner. "go," chiron said. "you will meet him in the pavilion. i will contact your mother , percy, and let her know you are safe.no doubt she'll be worried by now. just remember my warnings! you are in grave danger percy, do not think the titan lord has forgotten you." he turned to harlow, who was already edging towards the door, itching to escape her problems (not that she'd ever admit it). "and you, my child..remember what i told you, practice your powers...keep them in check and for gods sake try not to get kicked out of camp!" he smiled at the young girl, who could barely muster one back.with that, he clopped past harlow out of the apartment and down the hall. tyson pouted, calling after him "pony! don't go!" it suddenely hit harlow that she didn't bring up her strange vison to chiron. now it was too late, harlow's favourite teacher was gone, maybe for good.

the sun was setting behind the pavilion as campers filed in from their cabins. harlow ran off to join the back of the hermes line, lead by travis and connor stoll. no one congratulated her, no one asked why she hadn't had a shower or cleaned her armour. they just stood back and watched as she walked down the line. it didn't matter anyways, harlow was too wrapped up in her thoughts, repulsed at what she had just agreed to.the young girl from the bull attack stood beside the daughter of nike, and harlow noticed that her eyes looked like clusters of stars in the evening light. "so like, are you some valkyrie summoning badass or what?" melanie asked, her grey hoodie overwhelmed her gangly frame and had small marker drawings of profanities on the sleeve hems. harlow jumped slightly at the girls voice, wrapped up in her own thoughts "i think it was sickeningly cute how percy dragged you to the infirmary by your legs" morgan said, laughing. "is this what all romances are like?" she batted her eyelashes with fake wonder and harlow hit her hard on the arm. "shut up, jackson can go drown in the lake for all i care."

"sweetie he can't drown."

"shut up, you know what i mean."

harlow swung her arm over the younger girls shoulder and they walked into the pavilion together, unaware of how their lives would change this summer.

kathryn's corner (she still won't
shut up )
double update who is she????? 😫🖐🏻 anyways
i love melanie so much and harlow's dope powers
are gonna develop 🙌🙌 give me you're thoughts lol
see you next year 🥶 or not abshehhshwha 👹