i. nothing is going to change.

LONG BY THE TIME the vibrant glowing haze from the sun stretched through the glass of the bedside window, distorting between the loosely blowing curtains into the cabin with the intent of drawing any those still drenched in the essence of slumber to the land of the conscious, neither girls were inclined much to follow through. Their sleeping figures and wandering minds remained void to the world, soft snores and faces painted with a delicate stream of drool were hidden behind drapes that hung from the bed frame, untouched by the morning light.

That was, until that peace was ultimately shattered by a hand, drawing the drapes into a corner until the darkness that had once accumulated around the pair vanished. A groan of annoyance bore from Morgan's throat, whether from the sudden change in environment or the palm to the face from Andy as the girl shuffled subconsciously in attempts to bury her face in the pillow to run away from the light.

"Aw, they look so cute." Came a voice, albeit mockingly, as they stood over the bed, towering over Morgan. "Such a shame I have to ruin it."

Morgan blinked away the drowsiness from her eyes, glassy brown eyes drawing on the two girls in front of her. To her right sat a, somewhat small when compare to the other girls around her, girl who bore a mischievous grin that Morgan had long since became accustomed too. The orange of the camp shirt softened against the jade of her long sleeved undershirt, a color combination that was sure to have been approved ahead of time by a certain eye for fashion friend. Head adorned by an apricot colored hijab, the cotton fabric bringing out the dark olive tone of the skin of her face, along with the band-aid that wrapped around the bridge of her hooked nose. Probably from her last rough housing, that got out of hand, with one of her siblings at the Ares cabin.

But when had Priya Nasser ever been one to go down without a fight?

There was a snort, followed by a slight dip in the bed as another sat on the edge leaning against Andy's side. "Liar. But you seem to have found the courage to risk getting on Andy's bad side. You know how she gets when it comes to waking her up."

Tanned ivory skin and a soft smile drew from the other girl nearest to Andy, true to her patron the goddess of love and beauty, Aphroditite herself, Lea Xiao radiated a beauty that was almost otherworldly. Raven hair reaching just below her chin, styled to perfection without a strand out of place, and doe brown eyes that read with genuine warmth as she eyed the girl beside her, whose sleep gaze peered up at her.

"Lea?" Andy grumbled, voice still raked with sleep.

Lea, ignoring as Priya whine about her being chopped liver, nodded in response. "Good morning, sleepy head. As much as I would hate to wake you, Priya here stomach is calling to attention. You know how cranky she gets."

"Slander!" She paused, patting her growling stomach. "But, seriously, get your butts out of bed. I have to share food with the rest of the Ares cabin, I'm lucky if I even get scraps arriving late."

Morgan waved off her urging hands as she was nearly pushed out of the bed. "Okay, okay, we get it, you're hungry. So are we. Besides, Andy and I have to share a table with one of the biggest cabins, so we know a thing or too about leftovers."

"At the speed you're moving, I'd say otherwise." Priya muttered, only to yelp when a pillow hit her face.

Lea crawled down to the floor as Andy moved towards the edge of the top bunk, hands immediately reaching for the pillows on her bed. Grabbing the pair she placed them at the foot of the bed, stacked on one another. Turning back to the blankets, she pulled them forward until they were straightened and flat enough to where there hardly any lumps. Patting the sheets for extra measure, Andy carefully reached for the pillows.

"Lea, how does this look?" Andy glanced at the daughter of Aphroditite below. "Does it look straight enough?"

While the two girls conversed, Morgan shrugged on her shoes, dodging everytime Priya tried to hit her with a pillow in attempts to, as put, make her move faster.

"My sitto moves faster than you." She said before taking another lighthearted swing.

Morgan glanced at her bedside, at the black leather gloves sitting, waiting for her to take them in hand. Lightweight and breathable, yet the material was strong enough to withstand rough contact such as, for example, hurrying up the side of a rock wall to outrun a stream lava. "Hey, Lea, how far along are we?" She asked after reaching for the gloves, slipping on the pair one by one.

Lea paused, taking in how Andy, in a slight sluggish manner, made her way down from her bunk after arranging her bed to her liking three times. She watched as the girl paused for brief second, only to turn to her right with an open mouth as if she were getting ready to say something, but stopped. Shifting closer the wall, the curly haired girl rapped her knuckles against the wood all while humming something underneath her breath. Voice so soft and light that even when she strained, Lea still couldn't make out what she was saying.

"On the knocking part. Shouldn't be too long." Lea answered, moving around the bed until she stood in front of Morgan and Priya, who was no longer using the former's pillow as a bat. "Was it a rough night? Andy looks a little drained."

Before Morgan could respond Andy came into view, her stance seemingly less restless than a few minutes earlier.

"Ready to go?" She asked, eyes holding a bright gleam to them as her freckled cheeks pulled into a small smile.

Priya quickly jumped into action, racing to be at Andy's side, wrapping her arm around the girl's shoulder even though everyone knew that sooner or later her arm would get strained from the stretch. "Let's get going, I'm starving."

Andy tried to mutter an apology but was quickly shushed as Priya began to recant everything she had planned for the rest of the day, to how her mom kept checking in to make sure that she was taking care of herself- "Like I'm not old enough to know how to do so already." Priya would always say, but anyone could tell by the slight flush on her cheeks and her inability to look anyone in the eye that it was just her trying to uphold her rugged facade.

When the two were a far enough distance, Lea whispered. "It was a nightmare, wasn't it?"

Morgan ran a glove hand over the back of her neck. "Yeah, same old, same old."

"Maybe we should tell Chiron. Heck, maybe even Mr. D! Somebody." Lea sighed, her voice lowering back to its original octave as she watched Andy and Priya make their way towards the dining pavilion. "It could mean something."

"Almost every demigod dream does." Morgan mumbled before both dropped the conversation as they entered the pavilion, branching off to their respective tables dedicated to their cabins. The dining pavilion was framed in Greek columns on hill overlooking the sea. With no walls, sunlight filtered through and illuminated the area more than the lit torches during the day. In the center, a fire flickered from within a bronze brazier with smoke curling higher and higher into the air as campers lined in front, ready to toss in their offerings.

Priya jumped over the dining bench to gain a seat, not caring how her knees practically knocked into her older sister's, Clarisse, head even as the burly girl scowled at her. Stuffing a piece of bread in her mouth, she shrugged with fagant innocence. "What?" She mumbled.

Morgan and Andy would have nearly jumped had her senses not had tingle when a flurry of blonde appeared in the space before them. Curls the color of honey held back by a ponytail and eyes like a brewing storm, narrowed and holding many questions, could only belong to one and only Annabeth Chase, resident daughter of Athena.

"Annabeth," Andy announced happily, smiling at the girl's presence. The blonde in question who, upon noticing the curly haired girl's focus on her, allowed a small smile to pull from her lips. "How are you this morning?"

The blonde's eyes, while initially glazed with openness that many didn't get to receive from the girl, soon shifted to something more serious as her brows furrowed. Turning to look over her shoulder, she stared off towards the cabin twelve table, where it's occupants sat. Specifically a certain activities director.

"It'll be more eventful if some of my questions were answered."

Morgan and Andy shared a look before the former leaned forward, just enough to where the conversation could be shared just between the three of them. "Something you want to tell us? Did you learn anything new?"

Annabeth glared at the air, shaking her head. "Nothing. Everytime I ask him something about...about the prophecy, or what's happening with the gods that's putting him on edge, he hardly answers. Just dances around the question. Even when I ask him about this new demigod he's looking into."

"Do you think this new demigod could be a key in the prophecy?"

"I hope so." Annabeth exclaimed, running a hand through her curls in frustration. "All the other times were complete and utter disappointments. If, just this once, this new demigod could be our chance. Our answer to everything. Do you guys know what it could mean-"

"What what could mean?" A new voice interrupted, causing the trio to fall silent. Standing at the head of the table Harmony Kekoa, daughter of Demeter and head counselor of her cabin. Wavy black curls that appeared brown under the light of the sun and dark olive skin, her cheeks rose as a smirk pulled on her lips. Earthy brown eyes quirked with interest. "Well look how quiet you three got. Wanna fess up?"

None of the girls bothered to respond, seemingly more interested in the food in front of them.

"Huh," Harmony hummed, smirking growing wider. Then, in a flash, she pressed into Andy's back and held the younger girl to her side. Before Andy could pull away she burst into a fit of laughter as Harmony ran her fingers along her sides, asking in a joking rhetorical voice. "What are you three scheming about so early in the morning?"

Morgan ducked out of the way when the hands reached towards her, dodging all the feeble attempts.

"But whatever you three where talking about," Harmony began after stopping her tickling assault on Andy but kept the girl close to her side. "Make sure it's not something that'll get either of you three in trouble. I don't want anybody getting hurt or becoming an accessory. Got it?"

"Got it." The three girls agreed in unison.

With a final pinch goodbye, Harmony moved to walk away when a thought came to her mind, causing her to wheel back. "Oh, Andy, could you-"

"Yes." The girl in question agreed instantly before Harmony could even finish her question.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask." Harmony grumbled with a pout, only to realize that young girl had known exactly, and didn't necessarily need her to say it out loud.

Andy nodded to Morgan. "She wants me to make a blueberry pie for the Demeter cabin. They're having a little celebration for one of their cabin mates next week."

"Nice. Can I get a pie too?"

"What's there to celebrate for you?" Andy asked. "Besides, you know how to make a pie."

"Yeah, but I wanted you to make it."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the two, waving at Harmony as the girl headed back to her table, before trying to direct the conversation back to where it originally began. Especially before she got caught. "Okay, okay, back to the main point at hand. Do you guys know what, if it ends up being true, this new demigod could mean?"

The words bubbled from Morgan's lips before she could even move to say them. "A quest." Her stomach curled with an urge at the word, at the thought of a quest. "Maybe if that happens, everything here at camp could change."

A wide and hopeful smile itched on to Annabeth's face, her grey eyes growing even more wild as if the cogs in her mind were turning and spinning with ideas. Upon hearing her name called, she hurried along the conversation. "Tonight, we'll go to the Big House and get Chiron to talk to us. See how much he knows, and, hopefully, he'll tell us the truth."

"Three against one, can be very persuasive." Morgan smirked, eyes wide at the possibility of finally getting answers.

As the blonde left to return to her cabin's table, Andy spoke up from Morgan's left, shifting in her seat as her fingers ran over the end of her knife. "If what we say is true, about this new demigod, and a quest is offered...this could change a lot."

Morgan glanced over towards her friend, watching how her movements. Even without having to say it, Morgan could always read Andy like an open book just as the other could for her.

Reaching for her hand, Morgan moved to grasp Andy's twitching thumb around the edge of the knife. "There's nothing to worry about. Even if this new demigod is the key, it doesn't necessarily mean things are going to change- at least too drastically."

Andy eyed her suspiciously.

"And even if things do change, you know you got me and the others, ready to help if you need it." Morgan's voice was stern and set, as if the words she spoke were a promise that had already been made decades before and, one that had no intention of changing.

Nothing was going to change.