Raging Seas [pjo au] || 1

πέντε

CHAPTER FIVE
( ACCEPTING A DANGEROUS QUEST )

THE THING WITH LITERALLY being a Princess was that normalcy kind of flew out the window the second anyone knew anything about it. That didn't even include the curse, the demigod thing, her gradually growing powers, etcetera, etcetera. When Camp Half-Blood first learned of the truth, the only one who seemed to be normal around her was Mr. D – even Chiron acted a bit differently for a few days. It took time for Arianna, Grant, Adelaide, and Oliver to get over their awestruck (Adelaide always swore she acted normal from the beginning, but Kali and Grant remember her almost bowing one time before she caught herself). Campers treated her with an odd amount of respect, or they just avoided her, or both.

At one point last summer she even heard a someone, just a couple years or so older than her, admit that they were scared to even train with Kali in case they accidentally hurt her.

"What if her parents find out?" she remembered them asking their friend, "I don't want to be cursed, or drown on land, or something! Or have, like, the entire ocean after me for hurting their lost Princess."

It was a whole thing last summer. Kali hated it. She tried not to even think about it. She didn't want others to be scared of her for who and what she was; she thought she was pretty nice most of the time, and she tried to be kind even when she was mad or upset. So when all of that seemed to have died down this year, she was immensely relieved.

At least until the hellhounds attacked and Poseidon claimed Percy.

A lot of them were back to being weirdly respectful. Others just gave them a wide berth. Some sent them wary looks, mostly during meals.

The attack had scared the entire camp, though no one mentioned it – around her and Percy, at least. Kali knew from Grant that multiple half-bloods were wondering who summoned them and were trying to figure out why, along with why they singled out two of one of the Big Three's children.

It was a blessing that none of her friends reverted back to how they acted at first during the previous summer. If anything, they got a bit protective. Adelaide glared at a couple of unclaimed kids who were poorly gossiping about Kali nearby during an arts and craft session. Arianna and Grant became openly more affectionate and casual, as if to say, "You won't get cursed by acting normal, idiots," and always seemed to be checking their surroundings as if another monster might pop up. Oliver pranked her at breakfast to try to liven the mood, and then did his best to try and befriend Percy. It was hard. Percy was awkward at best and currently upset at his situation, so the best Oliver got from him was a forced polite smile and short responses.

Points to Oliver for trying, though.

Kali might have to deal with others avoiding her and acting weird, but at least she had her friends in her corner. Even the naiads toned down their dramatics and acted more casual with her; they got a bit protective too, which didn't surprise her in the slightest. After all, like Artemis, they were protectors of young girls and were nurses of the young as well. Kali currently fit that description perfectly.

With that said, Percy didn't have all of that. It seemed as though the whole accidental isolation thing was worse for him. He did his training on his own with Luke now, and he just had Grover to hang out with. Even Annabeth stopped being around him as much, and after over hearing her mutterings about the gods and other things, Kali guessed she was just hyper focused on figuring out what was happening than anything else.

"Wanna hang out by the lake?" Kali asked from where she sat on the floor as she tied her high tops. "It'll just be with the naiads. They want to meet you properly."