ii. something is coming.

THE DAY AT CAMP PROGRESSED as routine, campers circulating between their lists of chores that kept some in check when the aspect of godly heritage went to ther head, to leisure activities that ranged simple task of weaving and crafts making of arts so divine that could be hung amongst some of the greatest works of artist known to humankind to more aggressive, assertive acts that left sweat caking the lining of their skins and plastering their hairs to their hairline. The peace shatter cackles that could only be described as the Stoll brothers in their ever vexatious escapades, which surely be met in retaliation by the plummeting fist of a claret faced daughter of war or be transfixed by the grace of love's children all at once.

But Andy was not put at ease. Her hunched prescence resided in the glass and wooden structure of the Demeter cabin's greenhouse, the room itself ever shifting to accommodate the rapidly growing production of fauna which blossomed under the touch of the children of the harvest goddess as if they were her themselves. Plants gravitated towards them, every step they took would be followed by the direction of a leaf or petal. Andy had at times heard many remark how the plants themselves could speak to them, and them alone. And she was not see any other reason for it.

Hidden behind the lucrative abundance of almost any plant that grew in the world, buried in the earthly soil so rich that it could almost seem unreal, soft to the touch as it seeped its moisture in to the base of her palms. Under the large expanse that was the leaves of towering taro plants that acted as shading from the beating of the over head sunlight and the prying eyes that lurked at every turn, following her every move.

Hiding wasn't so bad, Andy regarded how the stream of light that painted across her view brought out the shades of jade and emeral, reflecting off the cool shaved down alabaster stone floor beneath her clothed thighs and blanketed shoulders. In some moments, it would be as close to being graced by the sun that she would get before it turned and set its course to set her a light like a match. She bore the marks of the sun's fury and, yet, basked in it all the same.
On a normal occurrences, tucked away from prying eyes of camp inhabitants, swarmed by the influx of fresh crisp air tanget with the sweet fragrances that had become accustomed to the Demeter cabin, she would have found comfort. Or maybe that comfort lied more in the presence of Harmony.

However, contrary to the normal quota she had attempted to manifest, this day seemed to be eager towards heading in the opposite path. Curling her frame around the stalk like taro stems, sheltering down the expanse space her body normally took to appear smaller than she actually was. Her left leg trembled as it tapped over the floor like the rhythm of marchers stepping as one. With little breaks in between. Her teeth collided over the skin just below her nail, pressing indentations that were sure to mark if she didn't let go. But it seemed so as Andy's eyes remained, unmoving as they traced over the small cracks in foundation that scattered across the wall like a spider's web.

The accumulation of thoughts that spiraled through the network paths of her brain were in disarray, rattling against the base of her skull as she faught to contain them that they appeared ready to break through the bone itself just to escape. Her temple pulsed with a slight ache like that of the bearing of a drum from words echoing in her head. Her own thoughts were confusing by themselves, but the ever present whispers of those around her were just as loud. She had wished they would quiet down, to droan out into the background and fade away into the void, but they never did. Sometimes she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs every word, every thought, every secret that had came to her and expell them for the world to hear.

But Andy couldn't allow that. Her mind was apart of her, and with it, so were the voices. It was not her place to know someone's deepest, darkest fear and desire all before a signal word of conversation was spoken between them. Those were private, not meant for her eyes or the eyes of others. They were buried down by their predecessor, and just as they had, she would do the same. Burying ever word deep within her under lock and key.

No matter how much it hurt.

She tried to quiet the tussle that had been transpiring images that haven't left her mind since last night, following her from the dawn to the day with an unrelenting grip. Her mind was so loud that she thought covering her ears would block out the sound, but how can one outrun their own mind? Andy wishes she could ignore the haunting figure, who's voice, earth shaking with each word, echoed prophecies of betrayal and bloodshed, that war was closer than anyone could expect. She wishes she could forget how harsh the grip that had latched around her ankle, had felt so real that she couldn't help stare at it for a hint of bruising, before she was dragged down into depths of unfamiliar darkness.

She wishes she could forget the pair of eyes that had stared back at her, narrowed with a sharpness that she had later defined of enragement and something else. Something so violent that it something cold fester underneath her skin. Those eyes looked so familiar, but no one she knew bore eyes the color of the sea.

The sound of footsteps didn't register through her ears. And against the better judgment of her senses as the hairs on her neck rose slightly, her reaction remained delayed until prescence made themselves known at her side. "You know, your face will get stuck if it stays like that."

"Really?" Andy thought.

Harmony let out a shrug, her shoulders purposely knocking against Andy's bony ones as she moved to recline backwards, stretching out her legs with a loud crack. "I don't know, nenek just says so." Her eyes traveled down towards Andy's fingers, where they were still locked between the teeth of her mouth. "And, at this point, she would have whacked you with the back of her hand for biting yourself like that."

Andy grunted in response but the words didn't travel through one ear and out another. She remembered Harmony's grandmother clear as the day the woman made a visit to the Kekoa household two weeks before the end of the school year. Her voice, loud as it cracked over the quietness of the house to its inhabitants, but soft all the same. Layered in the scent akin to flowers and a knowledge for things Andy, the small child she was, had no idea about. Andy grew to be curious of the woman whenever she spoke as, even with her little understanding of the language, she hung on to every word like a prayer. Harmony remarked many times that her grandmother could be very blunt, but Andy didn't really see it (probably because she didn't see the woman that much) as she had, except for when the back of her head was met with a gentle whack when she had been caught biting on her fingers.

In Harmony's grandmother's defense, Andy's little teeth had been sharp enough to pick through the skin and leave about spark of crimson mistaken for blood. Or maybe it had been. Her powers never had a set appearance back then. A drop of blood could be the birth of a mirage of darkness, slowly growing until her whole hand was surrounded in the indigo lochan. It had nearly sent Harmony's father over the edge and had he not been informed by Chiron over Iris messaging he would have driven her to the hospital.

Harmony reached forward, raising a finger to poke at the base of Andy's jaw. Trailing her finger down towards where the jaw meets the ear, pressing along the dent until a series of cries in dismay filled the air as Andy rolled on her side to avoid the older girl. "But I prefer my methods."

Andy gave off a note that could only be connotated as annoyance from the sharp glint in her eyes as she ran her fingers over the side of her jaw. "I hate it when you do that."

Harmony brushed off glare directed towards her and reached forward, her finger unfurling like the stem of a plant as it began to sprout out into different directions to set forth the bloom of new creation and grasped for Andy's nimble wrist that could fit in the enclosed palm of her hand without much of a struggle. Andy tried not to flinch. Her eyes tracked over the scarlet hued crescent marks dancing across the supple skin, which held a pinkish flush that had been a synonymous consequence of the continuous biting.

"It isn't as bad as other times. Maybe I caught you just in time, huh?" Harmony's voice was light as she tried to tail end the joke, but the downward twitch of her lips provided Andy enough clues to drawn an observation that the mood was anything but light hearted.

Andy wanted to pull her hand back, to hide them under the sleeves of her hoodie, which ever huge frame drowned her in fabric and, in her mind, was big enough to her mistakes and failures follow just the same. But as the image of deflation personified on Harmony's face was enough to make her reconsider. So Andy did the only thing she could think of that would provide the older girl some comfort. "I'm sorry."

She seemed to be saying that a lot lately.

Harmony shrugged softly, patting Andy's hand before letting it retreat under the cover of the baggie pockets that lined the end of the hoodie. As much as she tried to hide it, Andy could tell that the apology wasn't as easing as she had hoped. Neither was the fact that this conversation wasn't over.

"You want to tell me what's going on in that big brain of yours?"

Subconsciously, Andy patted the base of her temple, ignoring how her sleeve thumped over her eye. "It's not that big, average sized really."

This brought out a snort. "You know what I mean, manu liʻiliʻi." The word fell from her lips with ease. From it alone, a spark of hope that they could direct the conversation towards a different path, something that didn't provide her to think, long and hard, about an answer suitable for Harmony and her qualms. Even when a part of her knew it to be the opposite. But when Harmony shifted her head to peer over her shoulder, just through the gaps provided by the leaves, it became apparent to Andy that they weren't alone.

Bystanders whispered to one another, as if that would provide a layer of protection over their words and keep them unknown, peering under the thick leaves with cautious looks as they stood at a stretched out distance far between the pair. Andy traveled her gaze towards the flaura shrouded around them. Flowers once a spectating mosaic of colors were now tinged with inky purple veins that, while slow, crawled with an intent to consume the entire plant whole. Leaves from the neighboring trees rustled with a once nonexistent wind that shouldn't have been. Even without looking, Andy could see the spiderwebs of energy cracking across the canvas of her hands that matched with hovering objects littering around them.

She inhaled shakily, feeling her palms ache as something sharp began to pierce through the tawny skin. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't...I didn't mean to do this- any of it. I would never-"

Harmony jumped from her seat, rolling on the front of her calves so that they could bare her weight as she leaned over to envelope within the panicked space Andy had begun to weave. "Hey, hey, none of that." She said with a sterness that was gentle all the same. Hand locked around the smaller girl's shoulder, she kept her at bay as her brown eyes were narrowed into a stern scowl, unrelenting as was her grip. "Ignore them, all of it. They're in the background, just like everything else. The only thing here, right now, is you and me. Okay?"

Andy regarded her with a shaky jerk of her head, even though she knew that what she was being told was the complete opposite of reality. Her throat felt scratchy, as if she had eaten something that left shells in its wake and, now, she was suffering the consequences. Her palms began to collect moisture on the soft pads of skin, dampening the purchase of her hoodie sleeves as she vigorously tried to wipe them clean, to avail.

Harmony let her hands tangle within the spatter of curls that rested against the damp skin of Andy's forehead, the pads of her fingers weaving through the hair and palming into the base of her temple.

"We'll figure it out. But you have to calm down." Harmony pressured, urgent reassurance as she shot her siblings and the plants around them a hurried once over. Andy inhaled a choked breath, eyes downcast to avoid the chaos around her, a product of her own making. With another breath, the rustling of the leaves fell to a stand still, accompanied by the collect of thumps as objects that once hovered in the air succumbed to the laws of gravity. Inky indigo veins, that had once tried to devour the plants around them, began to recede until the flora returned back to its natural state. When the spiderweb trendils of energy damped to Harmony's liking, the older girl clutched Andy to her side, allowing her to cower her nose into her side.

"It's okay, everything is going to be just fine."

But Andy knew better. Something was coming. Whatever her dream had meant, the impact had read clear to a small voice in the back of her mind. Whatever was coming, or whoever, was not welcomed here. Nor would it hurt her home. She'd make sure of that, somehow. No matter what.

____________________________________

word count: 2701

author's note:

Whew, this was a long one. I've had this chapter update in the works for a while, but I just wasn't sure how to proceed with it. Until now, and I'm kind of happy with it. A lot is going on but it'll make sense later. But how did you like it? How do you feel about Andy and Harmony? How do you feel about the other characters so far?

Also, can we talk about how they casted Percy for the PJO show on Disney +? I'm so excited, and I think Walker will do an amazing job. However, with that being said, my fancast/headcanons for the original Riordanverse characters is different. In my head, I've always imagined Percy as poc, mainly either Latino or Afro Latino, but not sure which one to use in this story yet.

It's been stated before, but Harmony is Native Hawaiian and Indonesian. She calls Andy manu liʻiliʻi, which translates to "little bird" in Hawaiian (correct me if wrong), and calls her grandmother nenek. I was trying to see ways to refer to grandmother's in Indonesia, and this was a term that I found. If this is wrong, please correct me. For both. I am mostly relying on Google Translate, but if there are better apps/translators out there please share.

I hope you enjoyed this update, don't forget to leave a comment even if it's an emoji. Have a good day!