𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 :: barbecue and
an unexpected claiming
❛ the new guy fucking sucks ❜

hermes's cabin line was always the longest, as the cabin took in anyone that needed a roof over their head. his children were blessed with elfish features : upturned eyebrows, sarcastic smiles, and mischievous dimples. but there were a few odd ones out, the unclaimed. they stuck out like sore thumbs, varying from young kids to fully grown teenagers. harlow laurier wasn't one of them, but she still stuck out from the rest.her soft arched features and dark brown hair made her look like any other unclaimed camper, and was often mistaken for one. melanie cheung was an unclaimed demigod, and had been for six months now.

the girl had pulled harlow into a seat next to her, defiantly saying how she needed to socialise more. which was rich, coming from her. their duo used to be a trio, but there was an unspoken pact to never talk about her.

once all the cabins had slowly filed in, percy led tyson into the pavilion. conversations halted, people stopped and stared at the poor cyclops. tyson lifted a hand and waved at harlow, and she gladly waved back. he had proven his strength and saved her life, and she respected that more than whatever the rest of camp thought.

"who invited that?" someone whispered from the apollo table, earning the table a harsh glare from the daughter of nike. melanie pulled the older girl back to face their table "leave them alone, they've got arrows up their asses anyways," melanie muttered.

"well well well, if it isn't peter johnson...my millenium is complete." mr d drawled from the head table, his shirt distastefully blinding anyone near him.

percy clenched his fists in front of the god "percy jackson...sir."

mr d took a sip of his diet coke "yes well, like the young people say these days...whatever."

harlow didn't like the came director much, sure he was intimidating in his own way, but he was also a man child that struggled to see past his own egotistical needs. he was a pudgy middle aged man dressed in a similar outfit to a tourist in las vegas. harlow didn't know why he didn't just take another human form, but she guessed it was part of his punishment for running off with an off limits forest spirit.

tantalus sat next to him, his hair was badly cut, thin and lifeless, his skin was grey and pulled tight across his skull. he wore an orange jumpsuit with the number 0001 stamped onto the pocket. he had dark blue shadows under his eyes and dirty fingernails. harlow hadn't personally met the new activities director yet, but if the legends were true..she definitely didn't want to.

"this boy," mr d told him. "you need to watch, poseidon's son you know."

"ah," the prisoner droned. "that one."

it should've made harlow happy to see perfect percy jackson getting a rough time from their superiors. but instead, an unfamilar feelimg slushed around in her stomach, and it wasn't hunger.

"i am tantalus," he said, smiling coldly. "on special assignment here until my lord dionysus says otherwise.and you, perseus jackson, i do expect you to refrain from causing more trouble."

"trouble?"

dionysus snapped his fingers and a a newspaper materialised on the table. harlow couldn't read it from where she was sat, but from what she could guess it wasn't good. "yes trouble," tantalus said with satisfaction. "you caused plenty of it last summer i understand." melanie rolled her eyes, staring out at the horizon, anxious for dinner to start. harlow however, couldn't take her eyes off the interaction, two stubborn forces were clawing at each other for some sort of upper hand but there wasn't a clear winner in sight, yet.

a plate of lean cut barbecued chicken was set in front of harlow, but she could barely focus on its delicious smell as she walked over to the bronze brazier to make an offering to her mother, the goddess of victory. she thought about her promise to chiron, and her freaky new powers that she didn't know how to use. she scraped the best piece of meat in send me a sign, an opportunity, anything please. the smell of meadows and honey wafted through the air, harlow had no idea what this meant but she hoped it was good. she could hear the conversations at the head table getting more heated, so she steered left instead of right, taking the long way round past the table.

"come on tyson," percy grumbled.

"oh no," tantalus smiled cruely. "the monster stays here, we must decide what to do with it."

harlows felt as if hot prickly ants were crawling all over her, and she apruptly walked up next to percy with her plate in front of her. "him," she snapped "his name is tyson." the activities director raised an eyebrow. oh shit she gulped so much for staying out of his way. "tyson saved the camp," harlow insisted. suddenly, percy jackson seemed to have found his courage and added "he saved the camp from being burned down." thats literally what i just said harlow frowned at the boy.

"yes, daughter of nike," tantalus spat out the last part like it was an insult. "what a pity that would've been." dionysus and the prisoner snickered like old school friends, and it made harlow's fists clench around her plate. "leave us," tantalus ordered. "so we can decide this creatures fate." tyson whimpered, and harlow's heart melted. his big round eye looked at the two demigods with fear. but there wasn't much they could do, harlow didn't want to break her promise to chiron and get percy into more trouble by making a scene (though she really wanted to). harlow walked away first, her plate much colder than when she had left the table.

"whats going on?" melanie mumbled, her face slightly stained from her meal. "the new guy," harlow declared, jabbing to tantalus with her fork. "fucking sucks." she watched as tyson stood uncomfortably by the activities director, his attention focusing on his runaway burger.

the conch horn blew, signalling for everyone to be quiet, which was unusual because they normally didn't have announcements this late. "yes well," tantalus said when the talking died down. "another fine meal! or so im told.." he side eyed a plate of brisket, which slid down the table as he made a grab at it. harlow smiled smugly as she drank her milkshake, karma (or rather some god) was in her favour tonight.

"on my first night of...authority," he smiled cruely. "i would like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. over the course of the summer, i hope to tortu- i mean interact with each and every one of you...you all look good enough to eat." his fractured eyes glinted maliciously and harlow felt as if he were looking through her soul.

mr d clapped politely, followed by some half hearted applause from the saytrs behind him. tyson was still stood by the head table, and was shooting harlow a panicked look as he kept trying to scoot out of the camp's view but tantalus kept pulling him back. "and now for some changes!" tantalus grinned."i- we are bringing back the chariot races!"

murmurings broke out all over the pavilion in excitement and disbelief, harlow's fingers twitched in anticipation of a potential competition. "whats that?" melanie asked, though she didn't seem that interested. "i have absolutely no fucking idea," harlow smiled deviously, her canines sharp like a wolf. "but whatever it is, i want to win it."

"now i know," tantalus continued, raising his voice. "that these races were discontinued, after some...technical difficulties."

"i lost my leg in those races!" a girl in the dementer cabin shrieked.

"three fucking deaths!" someone hollered.

"and over twenty six mutilations!" a kid screamed.

"yes, yes!" tantalus said. "but i know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. golden laurels will be given to the winners every month, teams can register in the morning. the first race will be held in three days, we will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. oh , and did i mention that the winning cabin is exempt from from any chores in the month they win?"

suddenly, excited conversations were started everywhere, harlow's fingers twitched again. she had the impulse to compete again, a little nagging voice in her head screaming out WIN BITCH WIN and quite frankly, it was really annoying. melanie didn't seem to bothered, she was just blowing bubbles in her chocolate milkshake.

harlow never expected clarisse to object to such an opportunity. "but sir!" clarisse said. she looked nervous, rising from the ares table. some of the campers snickered at the sign on her back stating YOU MOO GIRL! and harlow would have laughed too, but the worry in clarisse's eyes sobered her up. "what about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots-"

"ah! The hero of the day," tantalus exclaimed. harlow's fists curled around her fork threateningly, glowering at the pale faced bitchboy. "brave clarisse, who single handedly bested the bronze bulls!"

clarisse blinked, then blushed. "I didn't-"

"and modest too," tantalus grinned. "not to worry my dear, this is a summer camp! we're here to enjoy ourselves, yes?"

harlow was pretty sure she had dented the fork at this point, and was ready to get up and throw some choice words in the new activities directors face. "he's not worth it," melanie mumbled. "I mean look at him, he looks like he plays fortnite to be down with the kids."

"and now," tantalus said, as several of clarisse's siblings pulled her back into her seat. "before we proceed to the campfire and sing along, one slight housekeeping issue. percy jackson and annabeth chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here." he waved his hand towards tyson.

The fork was definitely dented now, harlow was pissed. majority of the campers started giving percy uneasy looks and that should have made harlow happy, but she felt bad for tyson.

"now of course," he said. "cyclops's are known to be bloodthirsty monsters with very small brain capacity. under normal circumstances, i would release it into the woods for you all to hunt down with torches and pitchforks. but who knows? perhaps this cyclops is not as horrible as its brethren.until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I've thought about the stables, but in suppose that would make the horses nervous. hermes cabin, perhaps?"

harlow started to stand up, but travis (or was it connor?) pulled her down. she looked apologetically at the young cyclops, who looked close to tears. "come now," tantalus chided. "the monster may be able to do some menial chores. any suggestions as to where to kennel this beast?"

everyone gasped, harlow looked up from her plate to see a shining trident above tyson's head. the poor cyclops kept swatting and bobbing his head, making harlow's heart ache. there was no denying it, tyson was a son of poseidon, and percy jackson's brother.

there was a moment of awed silence. being claimed was a rare event, some demigods waited their whole lives in vain for a sign. harlow had been eternally grateful for her mother to claim her, but with no cabin to go to she wasn't really feeling the 'family love' per say. tantalus roared with laughter, "well, i think we know where to put the beast now. by the gods, i can see the family resemblence!" harlow and melanie didn't laugh along, it really wasn't that funny in the first place.

harlow looked at the poor cyclops, he was too mystified by the glowing symbol above his head to realise how people were making fun of him. It made harlow mad, no more than mad, infuriated. she was prepared to do anything to defend tysons honour. he was a good person - cyclops? whatever, he deserved to be treated like one.

kathryn's corner (someone hit
her over the head quickly)
wow look at me updating and everything
and i'm really living for harlow determination to give
tyson an equal chance at shit, i love the little cyclops so
much, anyways give me your thoughts or not i really don't mind
see you next year 🕺 or not hehehehehhehshahha 😫