Raging Seas [pjo au] || 1

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Percy didn't respond right away. "Uh. Aren't they, like, super flirty?"

Kali's head shot up. She looked at Percy, who laid on his bed. He frowned at the expression on her face.

"What?" he asked.

"Who told you that?" Kali asked, a bit bewildered.

Percy hesitated. "Um... Annabeth." It came out more like a question, and he cringed a little.

Kali shook her head. "Well, they're not. They're just super friendly and playful."

"Oh." He nodded slowly as if that was a hard thing to process.

She finished tying her shoes and strapped her dagger to her ankle, and then stood. "So," she started, and pointed with her thumb in the general direction the lake was, "Wanna go?" Kali hoped he would say yes. Not just because he would finally hang out with someone other than Grover, but because she wanted to get to know her brother better. And things have been insanely awkward between them. She wanted that to go away as soon as possible.

"No, sorry," he said. "Training was a lot today. I'm tired."

That was a good reason to say no, she knew. But still... Disappointment settled within her. She tried not to let it show. "Oh. Okay," she said. "See you at dinner, then."

Without another word, Kali turned and left the cabin. She crossed her arms as she stepped off the porch. It was a let down that she would be going to the lake by herself today, and that Percy wouldn't be joining her. If Arianna wasn't cleaning the stables she would ask her to join instead, maybe even Adelaide if she hadn't been strong armed by Clarisse into extra training. The naiads loved asking about their days, and messing with the boys on the rare instances Grant and Oliver tagged along. It was nice to just sit on the pier and spend time with the two worlds she was apart of. Other than getting to know Percy, she had hoped she would get to do the same thing with him.

Kali sighed, and continued her walk to the lake. Maybe another day, she thought.

+++

The following morning saw Kali sitting at one of the cabin's windows.

Last night she had another nightmare. The weird person had been there again – spoken her name so quietly she shouldn't have heard them at all. There were whisperings of something. Kali couldn't make it out no matter how hard she tried, and when she did the words got more jumbled and oddly louder in a way that felt like the earth was trying to move by itself. Everything else about it was almost the exact same as the previous time. Lana, the Kindly One shifting into Ralph, Naia and Makoa, getting sucked into quicksand and unable to move; the difference was that Percy and the hellhounds made appearances, too.

Kali had woken up at four a.m. with tears streaming down her face. Luckily the cabin hadn't flooded again. Now she sat at the window in a chair she had pulled up. Her cheek laid on her arms which rested on the windowsill, and her eyes were glued to the giant, dark storm that had started to roll in earlier. Off in the distance, a hazy curtain of rain got closer and closer with each passing minute.

Rustling disrupted her from her zoned out state. Without moving a lot, she glanced over and saw that Percy was awake. When he noticed her staring, he sat up. Kali couldn't help but notice he looked a bit shaken up.

"Morning," he mumbled.

"Morning," she repeated. "You okay?"

He did a one shoulders shrug as he rubbed his eyes. "I think so. Had a weird dream..." Percy dropped his hands and looked at her again. "Have you been awake long?"