004 : bitch birds and more
wedding dress chats
❛ you literally climbed a lava wall
after lunch, i think you can handle a little dye ❜

the next couple days should have been heaven for harlow, but surprisingly didn't enjoy watching percy jackson suffer. she had spent her time laying low, putting together a border patrol system with a few other kids and listening to melanie play bass in the arts and crafts cabin. she had consciously made an effort to debunk anyone talking bad about tyson, leaving an ares kid with a black eye and a dementer girl with her fake leg up a tree.

there had been no more wedding dress visions, thankfully. but there had been strange dreams of sheep utopias and something about golden yarn? whatever it was, it was keeping harlow up at night. she was starting to slack off in training, and it showed. tantalus had messed up her schedule on purpose, leaving her to do chores late into the night and shower slots at the worst times.

"hello? harlow are you listening to me?" melanie waved her hand out in front of her face. she blinked and was brought back to reality. "I said," she lifted two bottles of dye. "I'm gonna dye my hair in streaks this winter, and the stolls got me these two, so which one?" there was a hot pink and midnight blue bottle in her hands.

they were on melanies bunk above harlows. It had cutout feminist magazine sheets and cult film posters on the walls. there were a few polaroids of the two of them by the lake licking ice lollies. normally no one unclaimed in the hermes cabin decorated but considering that the two of them had been in the cabin for over three years (with the exception of harlow's brief stay in the ares cabin) and had been best friends ever since harlow accidentally tackled her into the creek during capture the flag. It only seemed fitting that they furnished their spaces.

"uh the blue, then phase to purple then pink." she said, flicking through an old sports magazine silena had given her after dinner. "where am i supposed to get purple dye?" melanie sighed, draping herself dramatically over her overstuffed huge ikea bear. "wouldn't the blue fade to purple?" harlow asked, not looking up from a pair running shorts she liked.

"do i really want to risk that?"

"you literally climbed a lava wall after lunch, i think your hair can handle a little dye."

melanie laughed and stared at the pink dye, "before she...left, she said she would dye her hair pink." harlow froze, it was the first time they had brought up her since, well since she left them. melanie's face was void of emotion, she stared at the bottles of dye and then at the empty space on her wall. It was a gap the size of a large polaroid was dark from where the sun hadn't touched it.

the mood had dropped drastically. "do you want to tal-" harlow was cut off by melanies curt "no." she sniffed, and wiped her eyes. harlow climbed down the ladder and slid into her sheets, not bothering to brush her teeth or wash up.it wasn't the first time melanie had shut everyone out for a few hours, she was entitled to it after all she'd been though. but not talking about it was going to make it worse.

harlow's wall was taped up with her favourite athletes and bands. there was a framed photo that took pride of place in the middle. It was her and her mother at church on easter morning (one of the only times they attended) harlow was wearing a sunshine yellow dress and her mother was a vision in a powder blue suit. it had been a rare moment of serenity for the two of them, the night before her mother's girlfriend had moved out for good and they were barely paying rent. but there was always easter, there was a family rule between the two of them. no matter where they were or what the situation was. they would get together, go to church and eat chocolate.

the last time they had done that was three years ago, when her mother had introduced her new partner. they were perfectly nice, but when they opened the door for harlow and brought her into a house she barely recognised anymore,  that was when she snapped.

she drifted off into a fitful sleep at some point in the night. she dreamed of easter baskets and bunnies chasing her, but then it shifted. suddenly she was in a living room, her living room. Its cozy interior was covered in unfamiliar shaded lamps and mismatched rugs, beanbags and a low driftwood coffee table. her mother and red sat on the low sofa, staring at papers with tears in their eyes. adoption papers she realised, and the huge green stamp told her all she needed to know.

her mother was moving on without her, with a new family. red got up from the sofa and walked over to the record machine. a slow happy song started playing, and they beckoned for her mother to join them. red's shag mullet, bold makeup and black overalls contrasted her mothers glossy lips and navy sundress. but, and harlow would never admit this, they actually looked perfect for each other. just as red began to twirl her mother around, the dream shifted again.

harlow was in a familiar cavern, but instead of armour she was in her pajamas. the wedding dress guy from before stared at her like she was a tv programme he'd been waiting for. he sighed in relief "thank gods you're here," he closed his eyes and winced like he was doing a really hard math problem. a vision of a familiar boy appeared beside her, percy jackson. "percy?" the wedding guy said. "please, i don't have much more strength to project both of you any better. You have to hear me!"

"I can hear you," percy said, eyeing harlow. "grover , whats going on?" from behind the boulder that harlow assumed was the door. "honeypie! are you done yet?"

grover flinched. he called out in falsetto, "not quite dearest! a few more days!"

"bah! hasn't it been two weeks yet?"

"n-no, dearest. just five days, that leaves twelve more to go!"

harlow scowled, she was bad at math but not that bad. apparently the monster was worse, because he was silent for a few moments. he was definitely awful at arithmetic because he said, "all right, but hurry! I want to SEE under that veil, heh heh heh."

harlow was repulsed, even if they were a monster they should have better manners and know how to respect someones boundaries, regardless of tradition.

grover turned back to them. "you both need to help me! no time! Im stuck in this cave, on an island in the sea."

"where?" percy said.

"I don't know exactly! I went to florida and turned left."

"that doesn't even make any sense!" harlow spluttered.

"Its a trap!" grover said. "It''s the reason no saytr has ever returned from this quest. he's a shepherd! and he has it. Its nature magic is so powerful it smells just like the great god pan! the saytrs come here thinking they've found pan, and they get trapped and eaten by polyphemus!"

"Poly-who?" percy asked. gods he's hopeless.

"the cyclops!" grover said, exasperated. "I almost got away. I made it all the way to st augustine."

"but he followed you," percy nodded. "and trapped you in a bridal boutique." harlow almost laughed, but it sounded like the truth. after all, he was wearing the dress as evidence.

"thats right," grover said. "my first empathy link must have worked then. look, this stupid dress is literally the only thing keeping me alive. He thinks i smell good, but i told him it was just a fancy goat scented perfume. thank fuck he can't see very well. his eye is still half blind from the last time someone poked it out! but soon he'll realise what i am. he's only giving two weeks to finish the bridal train, and he's getting impatient!"

harlow snorted in realisation, "wait a minute.the cyclops thinks you're-"

"yes!" grover wailed. "he thinks im some sexy lady cyclops and he wants to marry me! he's completely out of his mind! thinking i can only cook and clean, sexist bastard." he cried, his voice trembling with fear.

"I'll-" harlow corrected herself. "we'll come rescue you," she choked out.

"where are you?" percy asked.

"the sea of monsters of course!"

"the sea of what?"  yeah he's completely stupid.

"I told you! I don't know exactly where! and look, guys...um i'm really sorry about this," he turned to harlow. "I never intended to form an empathy link with you, but here we are i guess. our emotions are connected now and if i die.."

"don't tell me, we'll die too." percy cringed.

"oh, well, perhaps not. you might live for years in a vegetative state. but uh, it would be a lot better if you guys could get me out of here."

"honeypie!" the monster bellowed. "dinnertime! yummy yummy sheep meat!"

grover whimpered. "I have to go. hurry!"

"wait! you said 'it' was here. what?" harlow asked, her fingers twitching yet again. but grover's voice was already growing fainter. "sweet dreams! oh and uh don't let me die!"

the dream faded completely, and harlow lurched awake. she looked at the framed photo bitterly and shook off her sleepy daze, it was early morning and she was already covered in a cold sweat.

by the time the day had started, melanie was back to normal. well, as normal as she could be. it was the day of the chariot race, another event tantalus had banned harlow from, saying "her parentage is giving her an unfair advantage!" total bullshit in her opinion.

the morning of the race was hot and humid, and the two girls opted for tank tops instead of the thick orange t shirts that the camp gave out. fog covered the ground like sauna steam. millions of birds were roosting in the trees - fat grey and white pigeons, except they didn't coo like regular pigeons. they mad an ugly rattling metallic screech that hurt harlow's ears.

as harlow and melanie walked down to their seats, she took in the new architecture. It had been built on a grassy field between the archery range and the woods. hepaestus's cabin had used the bronze bulls, which (because of harlow) needed some rewiring but were completely tame, ploughed an oval track in a matter of minutes.

the rows of stone steps were for the spectators, where the two girls opted for the top, mostly to be away from tantalus and the people harlow had beaten up in tyson's honour, but also because it gave them a good view.

"right!" tantalus announced as the tams began to assemble. a naiad (who harlow recognised as river, one of the more wild water spirits) brought him a huge platter of pastries, which of course ran away. harlow felt the ants again, crawling over her. river was a passionate naiad that liked to play the bongos during sing alongs, and she never normally did anything for a man.

"you all know the rules. a quarter mile track, twice around to win. two horses per chariot, each team will have a driver and a fighter. weapons are allowed, and dirty tricks are expected. but try not to kill anyone!" harlow couldn't see tantalus's face but she guessed it was contorted into something patronising and devious. "any killing will result in harsh punishment. no s'mores at the campfire for a week! now ready your chariots!"

the procession of chariots was interesting, but harlow could barely focus on the display. she was thinking about her dream, and how percy had been trying to talk to her all morning. she had obviously walked away everytime, she didn't want to be seen fraternizing with the one person everyone knew she hated (yet she claimed to not care about what anyone thought). harlow was also avoiding him because she wanted to handle the situation on her own, after all the dream was probably some practical joke from the gods. but the gods were horrible with their humour, so that was doubtful.

the race had started, the birds were getting louder and louder. "I don't like this.."  melanie said, biting her chipped black finger nails. the birds were flapping their wings now, and taking flight. harlow gripped forfeit in her hand, the cube seemed to hum with power. they were spiralling in a huge tornado now, heading towards the track.  a pigeon dive bombed towards melanie,but harlow was faster. she clicked her cube and slashed the bird down with her sword.

she froze, visions of pigeon tornados and boomboxes flooded her mind, and a dark mass of feathers flying skyward. as quickly as the vision entered her brain, it left. "boomboxes..." she whispered, then realised what she needed to do. "mel!" she yelled over the squawking, trying to deflect the birds as they bit at her skin. Bad day to wear a tank top huh she thought. "I need to get to chirons apartment!" the younger girl nodded and started to clap her hands and do strange movements with he arms. "yoohoo! demon bitch birds! look at me, and all my exposed flesh!" she cooed, suggestively gesturing to her pale arms . she started to do a dance similar to the scene in the lion king, where the meerkat starts dancing as a diversion. the birds attacking harlow seemed to take more notice in melanie and took her as a main target and started to flap in her direction.

harlow took off running towards the big house, grateful for her speed more than ever. she could hear clarisse in the background. "you're running? the fight is here, cowards!" she turned for a split second, and saw the egotistical duo in all their glory : annabeth chase and percy fucking jackson.

she got to the music collection before them, and selected one of chiron's favourites (you know, for the vibes) and grabbed the boombox. she started to run again, but a pain in her chest resulted to jogging at mere mortal speeds. percy jackson and annabeth had pulled up outside. Without giving it a second thought, she  jumped into the back of percy's chariot next to annabeth, "well, lets go then dipshits, before these birds eat everyone."

down the track, the chariots were in flames. wounded campers ran in every direction and harlow prayed to the gods melanie wasn't one of them.  tantalus was no help at all, trying to grab runaway pastries and and throwing in the occasional "everything is under control! not to worry!"

they pulled up to the finish line, harlow got the boombox ready and hoped chiron hadn't taken the batteries with him. percy went to press play before harlow slapped his hand away. "i've got it." she growled and pressed play. chirons favourite - all time greatest hits of dean martin - started playing. harlow cringed as the air was filled with violins and a bunch of guys moaning creepily in italian.

the pigeons went nuts, flying in circles and running into each other trying to make the music go away. she was, essentially helping demon monster pigeons commit suicide, which was a nice thought. they abandoned the track together and flew skywards in a huge dark wave, just like harlow's vision.

annabeth signalled to the archers, where the apollo cabin had flawless aim over the clear target. within minutes, the ground was littered with dead bronze beaked pidgeon caracasses with the few survivors disappearing into the clouds.

harlow surveyed the damage, hopping out of the chariot and looked frantically for melanie in the wreckage. chariots were on fire, almost everyone was wounded and kids were screaming because their foam fingers had been pooped on.

"bravo!" tantalus said, but he wasn't looking at her. "we have our first winner!" he walked to the finish line and awarded the golden laurels for the race to a stunned looking clarisse. he turned to the three of them and smiled at harlow. "and now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted the race."

kathryn's corner (is anyone surprised
at her bullshit at this point)
lololololol here's another update for y'all
i love melanie so much fuck and i'm so excited
for the next chapter holy fuck anyways give me your thoughts
or whatever see you next year 🧞‍♀️ or not wgshsgwhhsha 🐓