▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY ▬▬▬

CHRIS RODRIGUEZ WAS GONE THE next morning. Nobody knew where he went or if he would even come back. Camp had never been more miserable. Sixteen campers were killed, but only fourteen bodies had been retrieved (some in pieces). Nine year old Tyler O'Sullivan, a son of Ares, and his older fifteen year old half-brother, Milo Pierce, were nowhere to be found but some campers saw them being swallowed by the drakon after witnessing them attempt an aerial attack.

The Apollo children suffered three losses. The upper half of Jamie Navarro's body was found near the edge of the forest. She was only ten. Twelve year olds Noah Redman and Stella Emerson died through blood loss after they were both swatted to the side and smashed against a tree. Both of their ribs broke and pierced an organ, leaving them to internally bleed while their siblings tried in vain to save them.

The Aphrodite kids lost their cabin counselor, sixteen year old Stephanie Murray. She got her leg chomped up by the drakon and was unable to run away before it tossed her to the side. Silena Beauregard was the second in command, which meant she'd have to step up to the role of counselor. They also lost ten year old Belle Gallagher, who was hiding inside the arts and crafts station when it was demolished. She was found buried underneath all the rubble, crushed to death.

The Demeter kids also lost their cabin counselor, fifteen year old Summer Perez. She was on border patrol at the time when the drakon appeared. It squeezed her to death when it wrapped itself around her and several others. One of them being Eloise Maddox, the Demeter kids' twelve year old half-sister. Because of the loss of their counselor, Katie Gardner would have to step in.

The Hephaestus kids lost their two of their siblings too. There was Natalie Carpenter, their eleven year old half-sister. She was one of the people on border patrol at the time and died through the drakon's bind. Lola Jorgensen, thirteen, was helping her siblings retrieve the catapult, but didn't make it out of the amphitheater on time. The drakon had swatted her with its tail and she had a nasty fall that killed her on impact.

The Hermes cabin suffered the most. Not only did they lose Alyssa Rodriguez, but several other unclaimed kids and a child of a minor god. Thirteen year old Ivan Reid was on border patrol when he died along with fourteen year old Andrew Clarence. They died never knowing who their godly parent was. Another unclaimed child was Isabelle Sawyer, she was fifteen and brought to camp a month ago. The drakon had ravaged her and her body was found in multiple pieces. Finn Grayson, fourteen, was a son of a Hypnos. He saw Silas Clover, the satyr who had brought him to camp four years ago, being chased by the drakon and did what any friend would do, made himself a distraction to give Silas time to escape. Unfortunately, the drakon caught up to him.

People were going through repairs and preparing for the funerals. Some were trying to find Chris. Esmerelda was one of them.

"It says he's nearby... Somewhere at the beach, but I've already checked," she frowned, looking down at her labrys. The runes on the blade glowed faintly as she pointed it towards the beach's direction. "Maybe... he's on the Sound? Do you think he took a boat or something?"

Ethan's expression hardened. "Just forget it, Essie."

"But—"

"—Essie," he said firmly. "I said forget it. Chris isn't important right now.

"But Alyssa..." She trailed off sadly.

"If he wants to miss his sister's funeral, then let him." He said. "He probably went to tell his mom what happened."

"He and Alyssa ran away for a reason," she pointed out. "I don't think he'd ever go back to her."

He shrugged. "Well, I'm sure he's fine wherever he is."

"But what if monsters find him?" She asked worriedly.

He snorted. "I don't think that'll be a problem." She opened her mouth to question him, but he cut her off. "Let's head back now. We still have to help make the shrouds, remember?"

They walked away, passing by the climbing wall which only had minimal damages. They passed by the amphitheater too and saw a bunch of Hephaestus kids repairing the damages to the stands. They caught a glimpse of Beckendorf at the very top. His face was shiny with sweat and he looked a bit distracted. Esmerelda had a feeling she knew why. He and his siblings were trying to retrieve the catapult when Lola was killed. He most likely saw it all happen too.

Esmerelda gulped and looked away from him.

All of my siblings are still alive, she thought, feeling relieved for that fact. She wouldn't know what to do if she lost any of them... They were too precious to her.

She glanced over at Ethan. As much as she cared for her siblings, she just knew she would be completely devastated if he had died. Terrible images of him being killed by the drakon attacked her head, and her eyes began to water at the idea of losing him.

He noticed it immediately and stopped walking. "What's wrong?" He asked in alarm. "Essie, I promise you Chris is okay—"

She shook her head and wiped her eyes. "Not that," she mumbled. "I'm glad you didn't die, Ethan."

Oh, he thought, the shock leaving his system. Esmerelda cared for him. Truly, genuinely cared for him. He thought about last night, how terrified and angry he felt when she volunteered to keep the drakon at bay. He didn't even hesitate to volunteer himself.

He understood her fears. He was glad she didn't die either.

She always wants to help, he thought. I thought for sure she'd be the bait. I'm glad she wasn't. But I was unbelievably scared when she chose to be the distraction.

Something in his chest tightened and he found himself fighting the urge to hold her hand or wipe her tears. He settled with admitting: "I'm glad you didn't die either. Really... really glad. I thought for sure I'd lose you when you volunteered to..." He lost his voice. "I don't want anything happening to you."

He thought she was going to say something sweet and meaningful, but she just sniffled loudly and wiped her runny nose.

"You okay now?" He asked her.

"Yeah. Sorry." She apologized. She felt a little embarrassed to be crying in front of him (again), but felt touched that he cared so much for her too.

"It's fine," he reassured her. "But maybe we shouldn't help out with the shrouds..." He didn't think neither of them were ready to see the bodies again. Not after everything.

"But we promised..." She said weakly.

"We'll help later," he told her. "For now let's just..." What could they do around here? Their home was ruined. And he knew neither of them were up for border patrol. "Let's help with the repairs." He decided. "Beckendorf looks out of it. We should help him out."

She nodded her head, and they turned and headed back to the amphitheater.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

It was December 31st, New Years Eve. Chris had yet to come back, and Esmerelda's tracking spell kept telling her that he was still on Long Island Sound. It made her wonder what he was doing out there. He was close to camp, but didn't bother returning even for when they had the funerals for the sixteen deceased campers—his sister being one of them.

What is he doing out there? She couldn't help but wonder. Did he take a boat and tried to go to Connecticut or New Jersey?

"Essie?" Someone called out to her.

She whirled around and saw Alabaster standing at the doorway of the armory. "Oh. Hey."

"What are you doing here?" He asked her, then noticed that she was trying to put on a breastplate armor. "Want some help with that?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Yes please."

As he helped her put the armor on, she asked him, "Have you tried looking for Chris?"

There was a brief pause. "Why are you asking?" He asked, rather than answering the question.

"I used the tracking spell, and it directed me to the Sound. Why do you think he's there? Do you think he's trying to go to Connecticut?"

He looked unsure of how to answer her. "I don't know," he replied tensely. "But we should just leave it alone, Essie. He'll be okay."

"His sister died."

"Essie."

She sighed in defeat. "Okay fine..." She and Chris weren't close friends, but something about him leaving the camp with no warning whatsoever concerned her a little. How could he just leave before his own sister's funeral? Where was he even going anyways? He was a demigod. There was a huge chance that he might not make the journey...

Alabaster finished helping her with her armor and stepped back. "You have border patrol, don't you?" He asked knowingly.

"Yeah," she said miserably. "It sucks. I was hoping I could watch the New Years Fireworks..."

"You'll be able to see them wherever you're stationed." He assured her. "Plus, I think Ethan's got patrol too. So you might be stationed with him."

That perked her up a little. "Really? That's great! I thought for sure I'd be stuck patrolling with Caleb Warring..."

Her brother scowled at the mention of him. Caleb was still causing problems with the Hermes cabin, but thankfully, he too busy grieving the loss of two siblings to be an asshole.

She parted ways and went straight to Thalia's Tree, where a group of ten armored campers were already at. Sherman Yang was in charge of the patrol group, which consisted of Dionysus' two sons, an unknown Athena camper, Katie from Demeter, the Stolls, Lyra, Caleb, and—much to her relief, Ethan.

Sherman nodded in acknowledgment when she joined the group.

"Good, we're all here. Listen up, 'cause I'll be telling you where you'll be station. Stolls, you're over at the end of the strawberry fields. Sonia and Katie, you take the west. Caster and Pollux, you're at the south. Ethan and Essie, you're guarding the Hill. Lyra and Caleb, you're in charge of the east side. I'll be going with you since you'll need to go through the forest. You all have the flares on you, right?" Sherman asked.

Everyone nodded and showed him the flares the Hephaestus cabin built. It shot out a large flare in the sky to show the user's location, but it also made a loud alarm noise to alert the whole camp of the danger. The Hephaestus cabin decided to make it ever since the Christmas Massacre (which is what everyone called it now) since the main reason for the attack and the deaths was because of how unprepared everyone was.

"Okay," Sherman said. "Looks like we're ready. Get to your stations, we'll be patrolling for the next three hours."

Everyone started jogging away, while Esmerelda and Ethan simply walked over to the tree since it was so close.

"Three hours... We'll miss the fireworks." She moped. "I heard the Hephaestus kids made new ones."

"You'll be fine," Ethan rolled his eyes. "We can see the fireworks from here—what are you doing?"

She gave him a confused look after removing her helmet. "What?"

"Put your helmet back on."

"No," she frowned. "You know I hate wearing that thing... It's heavy and it messes up my hair."

He gaped at her. "What are you, a daughter of Aphrodite? Put your helmet back on before you get hit or something!"

"Ethan," she whined. "I'll put it on once a monster shows up."

"You're putting it on now," he deadpanned.

"Ethan..."

"You're being ridiculous," he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You look ridiculous," she shot back. "Anyways, back to the conversation. What kind of fireworks do you think the Hephaestus cabin made?"

He gave up on trying to make her wear the helmet and shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe they can talk or something. Can you do that with magic?"

"Probably. If we can, then I haven't learned it yet." She replied. "By the way, I broke my wand..."

"Yeah, I figured when I saw a familiar broken stick on the ground back at the amphitheater... Can I still do magic?"

She snorted. "'Course I can. Watch." She bent down and picked up a fallen branch. "Avifors," she murmured, and it morphed into a small bird.

"Awwwww," she smiled at it. "It's actually kinda—AHHH!" The bird flew away, violently pecking her hand and nearly scratching her eyes out.

"That stupid bird! What the heck was that for?!" She fumed. She had half a mind to throw a knife at it.

"That," Ethan's voice was laced with sarcasm. "Was beautiful."

"Oh shut up," she huffed. "I swear it didn't happen the last time I tried that..."

"What did you even do?" Ethan asked, unable to hide the curiosity.

She beamed. "Transfiguration! That was our last lesson before break. The Avifors spell allows us to turn random objects into birds."

"Transfiguration... That's what you did with the swords two years ago, right?" He asked, a small grin forming over his face. "You should really do that more often... Hey, think you can try that out on a monster?"

She frowned. "I'm not sure... So far we've only turned objects into small animals, not the other way around. I'll find out later. I'm stressed enough in school as is."

"Have you dealt with Snake yet?" He asked.

She stifled a laugh. "You mean Snape?"

"Probably. You wizards have ridiculous names."

"Can't argue with that," she agreed. "I hope my surname's not as ridiculous. Anyways, Snape's a jerk as usual... I don't know why he hates me. It was so sudden too... I'd tell the headmaster about it, but something tells me nothing would be done. Plus, it would only make Snape even madder. I bet you he'd put poison in my potion and make me drink it."

He bristled at the thought. "Well someone's gotta do something about it! He can't just go around bullying kids. Didn't you say something about killing a teacher? Do it again!"

She widened her eyes. "Dude! I didn't kill her! I just... pushed her down the stairs with magic... And I can't do that in a magical school. They'd know it was me. Though... it is a bit tempting..."

"Make him screw up then," he told her, his eyes blazing. "Do something that'll set him off in public. Around a lot of teachers too. They'll have no choice but to punish him."

"And if they don't?"

"Then burn the whole school down."

"Ethan!" She scolded.

"What? I'm serious. I've been bullied by a teacher before and you have no idea how much I regret not setting the place ablaze." He shook his head in disappointment.

"I'm not an arsonist."

"Says the girl that set fire to a bunch of tests."

"Accidental magic!" She corrected. "It was accidental magic! Besides, without a wand... my flames are too weak..." She tried to do Incendio again, but was attacked by a bunch of smoke.

She coughed and waved it away. "See? I can't even make fire..."

"You did it last time," he pointed out, though he had to admit, it was a little weak...

"I was in danger. That motivated me."

"Seems to motivate you a lot."

"It motivates everyone," she shrugged.

They continued with their chat for the next hour, talking about Hogwarts, magic, and planning a training schedule for Ethan since he didn't know how to fight with knives. He also asked her to teach him how to throw, since she was best knife thrower camp had (a title Esmerelda was proud to have). Unfortunately, because her winter break was coming to an end, they'd have to reserve that training for her summer vacation.

Suddenly they heard a loud boom, and the two tensed up and prepared for a fight. But it wasn't a monster.

Esmerelda looked at the horizon and gasped. "Look! The fireworks have started! Happy News Years!"

"Wait a second..." Ethan's eyes widened. "Essie... The fireworks..."

She turned her attention back to the fireworks and fell silent. The fireworks were made into the faces of the fallen demigods. There was Tyler O'Sullivan, the youngest of the sixteen, then his older half-brother, Milo... then Jamie, and Belle, and so forth. It finally ended on the final face: Alyssa Rodriguez.

"I wonder if Chris can see from here..." She whispered.

Ethan, without looking away from the fireworks, said: "He can."

She didn't realize how certain he sounded when he said that.

After their three hour patrol, they met up with the next set of patrollers and informed the harpies of their identities (because the harpies were allowed to gobble up children who were out of curfew without permission). Esmerelda, Ethan, and Lyra quietly returned to their cabin and drifted off to sleep.

This time, Esmerelda didn't dream of her mother. Or of the dark pit and the evil voice. Instead, she was surrounded by tall trees and a night sky. The scenery was very familiar to her.

This is the woods in camp, she realized. Why am I dreaming of this place?

A figure suddenly materialized in front of her. From his side view profile, she immediately recognized him as Ethan. He was talking to someone, and judging by the spray gun he continuously kept pumping, he was speaking to them through Iris Message. She couldn't see who though. There was a tree obscuring her view and she couldn't move around to see around it.

She tried to call out his name, but she wasn't even sure of where her mouth was. She didn't exactly have a physical body at the moment.

"So it's true then?" Ethan said to the mystery person. "Chris made it to the ship safely?"

Chris? She repeated in her head. Chris Rodriguez? And what ship? How does he even know this? The whole camp had been worried about him—her included. If Ethan knew where he was... Why didn't he tell her? Or anyone?

"He's fine," she heard the mystery person confirm. They sounded familiar to her... But she couldn't put a name to the voice. "Well, as fine as he can be. He's emotional now. Grieving for his sister, and resenting him for not being able to save her. Did you know Chris even tried to pray to him? Bastard didn't bother to do anything..."

Pray? She questioned. So he's talking about a god... Is it Hermes?

She could see Ethan's jaw tighten. "What can you expect from an Olympian? They don't care about anything but themselves." He said bitterly, his voice laced with pure hate.

"How many others died?" The person asked.

"There were sixteen casualties." Ethan said softly.

"I'm sorry," they apologized, sounding genuine. "But you know it had to be done."

Much to her horror, Ethan bowed his head and said, "I know."

What? She struggled to move so she could see who exactly Ethan was talking to. They were an enemy, she knew that much. They couldn't be trusted, so what was Ethan doing talking to them? And saying things like that?! She tried to scream out his name, but nothing happened.

"And—" Whatever they were about to say was cut off by a loud splashing noise and several sounds of people screaming. "Gods dammit, Oreius! I told you you're not allowed out of the pool! Ugh, Agrius, get him out of there!"

Agrius and Oreius? Esmerelda was absolutely lost. She knew of their story. They were known as the 'bear twins'. Their mother, Polyphonte didn't want to marry, which insulted Aphrodite. Fearing the goddess' wrath, Polyphonte fled and joined the Hunters of Artemis, but Aphrodite found her anyways and made her fall in love with a bear. Which in turn, angered Artemis and out of disgust, kicked her out of the hunters and turned the animals against her. Then Polyphonte ran back to her father where she gave birth to the 'bear twins', cannibals who disrespected humans and gods alike.

If these were the real Agrius and Oreius, then what were they doing and why was the mystery person in league with them? And Ethan too...?

"Sorry about that," the person muttered. "Anyways, what's Essie's progress?"

Her mind went numb. Why... why were they asking about her?

"She's still shaken."

"You know that's not what I'm asking about, Ethan." Their voice noticeably hardened.

Ethan gulped. "I still need more time with her. I don't know what her stance is with all of this..."

"You don't know?" They repeated, sounding displeased.

"You said so yourself..." Ethan trailed off. "She respects them out of fear... She doesn't hate them. I don't know if I can convince her to join us."

Join what? She desperately wanted to know.

"Then try harder, Ethan. We need her here, so you better convince her well."

"Why exactly do you need her so much?" Ethan asked, looking less nervous now. "You never clarified what you needed her for."

"She's powerful," they chuckled. "At least, she will be. She'll be a great help here."

Ethan looked unconvinced. "I—"

"—Don't you want her to be safe, Ethan?" They interrupted. "Camp's not going to make it out at the rate it's going. She's on the losing side. At least with us she'll be safer. Happier too. She won't have to fear those monsters she's forced to worship anymore, Ethan. You can trust me on that."

Ethan seemed to ponder on his word, looking more and more convinced as the seconds went by.

"I'll do my best," Ethan promised. "I'll... I'll try to convince her. I just need more time..."

"Time isn't something either of you have right now," they said grimly.

Ethan winced. "I know that, but..."

The person sighed. "I'll try my best. Just don't fail me."

"I won't." Ethan nodded, then swiped the Iris Message away.

She woke up after that.

Couldn't have been real, she repeatedly thought, burying her face in her hands. It wasn't real, it wasn't real. It was just another nightmare to mess with me.

She turned her head to the right and her hopes sunk.

Ethan wasn't in his sleeping bag.

— author's note —

I put that gory description about the dead demigods with their ages at the beginning of the chapter to remind you all that the PJO series including HOO are basically all about ✨child soldiers✨ It always astounds me when I read The Last Olympian and remember that all the demigods who died were all literally kids. Harry Potter is sorta about child soldiers, but in Deathly Hallows, none of the students were actually prepared to fight the Death Eaters in Hogwarts, the battle only happened because the goddamn Carrows summoned Voldemort to Hogwarts, those fucking assholes.