▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY SIX ▬▬▬

A LOUD WAIL WAS HEARD from the Big House followed by the all the windows magically shattering. The Stoll brothers and Ethan all jumped away from the falling glass while Chiron merely flinched. Tantalus blinked in surprise and Dionysus rolled his eyes and left the room.
       
"They're gone, they're gone! I woke up and they were gone!" Esmerelda sobbed loudly into her hands. "They wouldn't join him, would they?! Chiron, what do I do?! I checked everywhere! They're all gone!"
       
"I'm sorry, child," Chiron said regretfully. "But if they did decide to side with Luke in this war then... there is nothing else that can be done."
       
She shook her head furiously. "No, no, no, I-I... I-I have to get them back!" She decided.
       
That was met with many disagreements.
       
"Too dangerous." Ethan shook his head.
       
"That's not a good idea," Travis said hastily.
       
"Are you crazy?!" Connor gaped at her.
       
"Ethan and Travis are right, Esmerelda," Chiron told her, ignoring Connor's 'hey, what about me?'. "We don't know where they could be and as you've said before, you were unable to track them down even with your locator spell. Someone powerful must be hiding them, meaning they've already reached Luke's army."
      
Esmerelda shook her head feebly. "T-they might not have joined him..." She argued weakly.
      
The Stolls and Chiron gave her a pitying stare while Ethan could no longer bear to look at her broken expression.
       
"I'm sorry, Esmerelda," Chiron told her gently. "But Hecate has been unresponsive on Olympus for quite some time now. They're already suspecting her of siding with the Titans, she is one of them after all. And if that is true, then she or the Titan Lord must have reached out to the rest of your siblings and persuaded them to join her."
       
"How would they even—" Travis began to ask, but stopped, his eyes widening in realization. "Dreams."
       
Chiron nodded grimly. "Lord Ares admitted—albeit accidentally—to Percy that he had been receiving dreams from Kronos.  I'm sure that's how he managed to get Luke and the other demigods to join his cause."
       
Connor paled. "Wait, so all the missing campers—Chris, Essie's siblings, and the unclaimed kids—they've all been getting dreams from him? That's why they've been looking like the walking dead lately?! I-I thought it was just from border patrol duty, n-not that!"
       
"And they've all gone to him?" Travis questioned. "It's really true?!"
      
"It's the most likely explanation," he answered. He then turned to Esmerelda, whose sobs have quieted down to hiccups. "Esmerelda, please tell me the truth: have you been receiving any dreams from Kronos lately?"
       
She opened her mouth to say 'no', but something terrible dawned on her. She had been dreaming of him, for three years now, she just hadn't realized it until now. That evil voice she kept hearing, the 'army' he talked about. It was Kronos. He wanted her to come to him, and now her siblings were apart of his army.
       
She was so stupid. This whole time... and it was him.
      
The color drained from her face. "Y-yes..." She shakily admitted. "Ev-ever since I ca-came to camp he's been talking to me...! But—but I didn't realize it until now—!"
       
"—AHAH!" Tantalus suddenly cried out, pointing accusingly at her. "So she admits it! We have a traitor in our midst, Chiron, I suggest we throw her into Tartarus!"
       
"W-what...?!" Esmerelda stepped back fearfully.
       
"Excuse me?!" Ethan roared.
       
"Shut up!" Travis glared at him.
       
"Here's a better idea: why don't you go back to Tartarus instead?" Connor suggested snidely.
       
Esmerelda turned to Chiron, looking close to bursting into another round of tears again. "I-I'm not—I swear I'm not—I'm not—! Please don't throw me there!"
       
Chiron placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Take deep breaths, Esmerelda, nobody is throwing you into Tartarus." He assured her before shooting a pointed look at Tantalus. The dead man grumbled profanity under his breath before stomping out of the Big House like a child who didn't get what he wanted.
       
"You must listen to me, Esmerelda," Chiron murmured, giving her a look of utmost seriousness. "You must never believe what the Titan Lord promises you. He is a very persuasive man, but all his promises are empty."
      
Ethan balled his fists at hearing that.
      
"He doesn't promise me anything," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "He just tells me to join him, says that we'll be to-together soon." She choked out. She shook her head furiously, "I don't want to join him, Chiron, I swear I don't!"
       
"I believe you, child, I do." Chiron said gently.
       
"Yeah, so do we!" Travis chimed in, giving her a comforting grin.
       
Connor nodded in agreement. "Yeah, joining the Titan Lord would be suicide! Everyone knows that!"
       
Her face started to crumble and the boys winced, knowing Connor had said something wrong.
       
"Oh, my siblings," she moaned in despair. "He's hurting them, isn't he?! Chiron, please, please, you have to let me get them back! They—they're not safe!"

       
"It's too late, Esmerelda," he told her, equally as despaired. "I'm sorry, but please stay in camp. Do not go to search for your siblings. Promise me."
       
She nodded her head, lips quivering. "I promise, Chiron..."
       
He gave her a smile laced with grief.
       
Ethan had to help walk her out of the Big House after that since she was still a little shaken. Meanwhile, the Stolls ran back to their cabin to inform everyone about what had happened. The rest of the camp was already awake and milling about by the time their conversation was over. A few glanced over questionably at Esmerelda's white face and red-rimmed eyes, but a shake of the head from Ethan was enough to keep them from prying.
       
He took her to the edge of the woods. It was completely empty save for the birds, giving Esmerelda the privacy she needed. The second she stopped walking, she broke down completely.
       
"No note, no warning, nothing!" She hugged herself, every inch of her shaking. "H-how could they ju—just leave, Ethan?! Why—why didn't they tell me?"
       
He bit the inside of his cheek, heart thumping wildly. "I..." He swallowed thickly. Seeing her so distraught was making it more painful for him to lie to her. "I don't know..." He mumbled pathetically, looking away from her.
       
He honestly felt like a coward. He knew exactly where her siblings were, they were on the Princess Andromeda with the rest of Luke's army, and they were perfectly safe. He wished he could tell her that—wished he could make her stop crying—but doing so would mean he would have to tell her everything.       
       
He would have to tell her that he was leaving too, and that he wanted her to come with him. That she should come with him.
       
But he couldn't do that. He feared that she would refuse. He knew she would. She was still loyal to the camp—loyal to the Olympians.
       
He needed more time. More time to persuade her to come with him.
       
(Or more time to spend with her before he ultimately left her too)
       
He let out a choked breath, and then realized that his eyes were starting to water. He tried to stop the tears from falling because there was no way he could cry now. The last time he cried was years ago when he realized that he was an unwanted leftover so that was justifiable, but this? Why did he deserve to cry over this? He wasn't the one being lied to, it was Essie. It wasn't okay for him to be crying, he didn't deserve to.
       
He dared to look at Essie's face—wet and flushed from sobbing—and it was like the dam had broke. Hastily, he covered his mouth before she could hear any of his choked sobs.
       
It was too late though. She had heard it. She looked up, lips trembling and eyes still brimming, and gasped when she saw his crumbling exterior. "Oh, Ethan! Don't cry, I'm sorry!" He and Alabaster had been getting close lately, so he was probably breaking down from the loss as well. How could she have been so blind to forget Ethan's feelings?
      
Oh, but she couldn't be more wrong. When Esmerelda brought him in for a hug, Ethan turned as stiff as stone. He wanted to push her away and yell that he didn't deserve any of her kindness because he knew where her siblings were. He knew, but he wouldn't tell her because he was too scared to.
      
She'd hate me. She would never join the Titans. He needed to come to terms with that, but he just couldn't. It hurt too much to do so.
      
He wished he could say they stood there embracing one another, but the hug only lasted for several seconds before the screams started coming.
       
Quickly they pulled away, pushing their feelings aside as they whirled around for the cause of the screams. And then they saw it: the camp was on fire.
       
"We're under attack," Esmerelda breathed out, unpinning her brooch to turn it into her trusty labrys.
       
"Shit," Ethan hissed, wiping her face with one arm while the free one yanked his earring out. His sword was in his hand in a matter of seconds. "Come on!"
      
They reached the hill, where two large bulls were wrecking havoc and setting trees on fire. Esmerelda had never seen a bull in real life, but she knew that these weren't just a pair of regular bulls. These bulls were about the size of elephants and they looked to be made out of bronze metal rather than tough flesh.
      
"Colchis Bulls?!" Ethan exclaimed in surprise, his mouth dropping. Esmerelda recognized the name right away. Colchis Bulls were made by the god Hephaestus, and he used the strongest bronze he could find in order to make them hard to damage (thanks Hephaestus). Not only that, the metal was burning hot and they could breathe fire.
       
"Uh... h-how do we kill them?" Esmerelda asked wearily, watching as about ten other heroes in full battle armor fought fruitlessly against the bulls.
       
Before Ethan could answer, one of the bulls managed to get passed Clarisse and was now charging directly for them. Ethan's eyes bugged out and without hesitation, he tackled Esmerelda out of the way. He heard a loud crack! and nearly choked on his spit. Had he broken her somehow?!
       
"Essie?!" He almost screamed in concern. He climbed off of her and began scanning her down for any jutting bones.
       
"I'm fine," she groaned, a little winded from the tackle. Her face fell. "I think I broke my wand though... again."
        
He sighed in relief and pulled her up by the hand. As she stood, she spotted something from over his shoulder and gasped. "It's Percy!"
       
"Yipee," Ethan said dryly, turning around in time to see Percy distract Clarisse long enough for a Colchis Bull to crash into her shield and send her flying back. As she landed on a burnt patch of grass, the bull ran passed her, blasting other heroes with its fiery breath.
      
The second bull—the one that nearly ran over Esmerelda and Ethan—made its return. Esmerelda racked her brain for a spell that could stop it, but the panic was causing her to come up blank. Without thinking, she sprinted for the bull, ignoring Ethan's shouts. Raising her labrys, she slammed it down at it's neck, where there was a slight opening in it's armor. She would've pressed downwards some more, but she was practically melting from the heat it was radiating with and quickly retracted her weapon just as Ethan yanked her away.
       
"Hot, hot, hot!" She whined, letting go of her labrys and waving her hands around to cool them off.
       
"It's the Colchis Bull, stupid, of course it's hot!" Ethan scolded, dragging her behind a tree.
       
"Hey, I at least did some damage!" She protested.
       
They suddenly heard Annabeth's voice shouting orders. "Heroes! Spread out to keep them distracted!"
       
Ethan cursed. Spreading out meant splitting up, and that was the last thing he wanted right now. Esmerelda wasn't exactly at a good state of mind at the moment, and he was worried she might attempt to pull off another suicidal move.
       
Nevertheless, before he could voice his worries, Esmerelda was already ditching him to a vacant spot on the hill. Bull number two went for her and she reacted by swiping her labrys at it's face, chopping off it's snout. She dove out of the way, complaining about the heat once more.
       
Clarisse joined in to help, spear raised. She threw it, impaling bull number two through the back leg. It fell limply, and was now running in slow motion, going in circles like a merry-go-round animal.
       
Ethan ran over to check on Esmerelda, who was slightly trembling from the adrenaline. Suddenly, they heard an unknown voice yell, "Percy needs help!"
       
The two snapped their heads around to see a huge boy diving between Percy and the first bull just in time for it to spew out a storm of flames. Esmerelda sucked in a breath as the fire enveloped the mystery kid, most likely frying him to death.
       
"Tyson!" Percy cried out, trying to stand but crumpling down from a sprained ankle.
       
When the fire died out, everyone was surprised to see the boy—Tyson—still standing. Not even his clothes were burnt. He was perfectly fine. A second later he screamed, "BAD COW!" before slamming his fists into the bull's face. There was a loud creak as the metal actually dented. He hit again and the bull folded in like aluminum foil.
       
"Down!" Tyson ordered, and the bull staggered before falling on its back, thoroughly defeated.
       
Ethan's jaw dropped, as did Clarisse's. Esmerelda would've laughed at their faces if she hadn't been making the same expression too. Clarisse recovered first, and immediately stormed over to Annabeth, Percy, and Tyson with rage radiating off of her.
       
"You—ruin—everything!" She shouted. "I had it under control!"
       
"Good to see you too, Clarisse." Annabeth grumbled.
       
The daughter of Ares let out an angered cry. "Don't ever, EVER, try saving me again!"
       
"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "You've got wounded campers."
       
Clarisse (sort of) calmed down at hearing that. "I'll be back," she growled before stomping off to check on everyone else.
       
Now that she was gone, Esmerelda felt it was safer to approach. She walked over to the trio with a small smile, trying to keep happy for their sake. "Welcome back you guys," she greeted them warmly before turning to look up (and up, and up) Tyson. "Thanks for hel—" She froze when she finally saw his face.
      
He had one eye. Like a Cyclops.
       
Ethan realized it too because he was instantly dragging her away from the monster. "Why the hell did you bring that thing here?!" He hissed at Annabeth, shooting wary looks at Tyson.
       
Percy looked personally offended but Annabeth spoke up before he could reply. "I had no choice," she explained tiredly. "He would've been able to help us out with the Colchis Bull situation."
       
"Oh." Esmerelda squeaked, looking weak-kneed.
       
"What are you guys talking about?" Percy frowned at the three.
       
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You still can't see it? Gods, Percy you're hopeless. Esmerelda, do you mind bringing Alabaster in here or maybe Lyra? Percy's too blinded by the Mist to see straight." She let out a huff of annoyance, then tensed up when she saw Esmerelda's eyes water rapidly. She turned white. "Uh..."
       
Esmerelda's lips started to quiver, and tears spilled out of her eyes as she released a heartbreaking cry. She sprinted off in the distance, leaving the three of them to stare after her in shock.
       
"Nice going," Ethan said scathingly.
       
Percy blinked in pure confusion. "Wha—what was that? What happened to Essie?"
       
Ethan flinched. "Her... siblings are gone." He answered, and that was all he said before he chased after her.
       
Percy and Annabeth turned to each other.
       
"How much did we miss out on?" He wondered aloud.
       
"Probably a lot," Annabeth said grimly.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡
       
Esmerelda had never felt so miserable before. Her siblings were gone, the camp was a mess, and she had broken her wand (again). The only good thing to happen today was at least nobody was killed from the Colchis Bulls attack. As she trudged back to the Dining Pavilion with Ethan in tow, she could feel the eyes of every other camper plastered on her back.
       
Everyone now knew that her siblings were gone. And no doubt, most of them had already guessed that they went off to join Luke's army of traitors. They were probably even making bets for when she would turn too.
       
Some people would give her looks of sympathy, but most of those only came from the Hermes cabin who woke up to her panicking about her missing siblings. Ethan and the Stolls were the ones to take her to the Big House to report what had happened while the rest of them stayed in the cabin to talk to themselves.
       
Just as expected, the second she reached the Hermes table, the kids there quieted down and glanced nervously at her. They could probably noticed her reddened eyes and the way she would shrink in to herself as she sat down. Nobody commented on it though.
       
They all got their dinner and sacrificed a portion of it to the gods. The second they started eating though, Tantalus ordered one of the satyrs to blow on the conch horn to make an announcement.
       
"Yes, well, another fine meal! Or so I am told." He said, his hand inching towards his plate as if the food wouldn't notice. His punishment in Tartarus was eternal starvation, but that wasn't all. He was forced to stand in a lake with a fruit tree growing over him. Whenever he wanted to drink, the water would dry away and whenever he wanted to eat, a strong wind would blow the fruits out of his reach. The punishment stayed with him even in the mortal realm, because as he reached out for the plate, the food shot itself to the other side of the table to avoid him.
       
It almost made Esmerelda crack a smile.
       
Tantalus snarled to himself before falsifying a smile in front of the audience. "And here on my first day of authority," he continued. "I'd like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat."
       
Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some half-hearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was there at the head table too, but he looked just as uncomfortable as the satyrs. He'd try to scoot away, but Tantalus would drag him back.
       
"And now some changes!" Tantalus exclaimed, giving everyone a smile that sent shivers down their spine. "We are reinstituting the chariot races!"
       
Murmurs broke out. The Ares campers were the only ones to look excited. Everyone else looked afraid or anxious. Or maybe both.
       
Tantalus had to raise his voice to be heard over all the noise. "Now I know, that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems."
       
"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations," Will Solace from the Apollo table stated.
       
Tantalus waved him off. "Yes, yes! But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team's cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?"
       
Esmerelda perked up a bit. No kitchen patrol? No stable cleaning? All for a whole month? That peaked her interest a bit, but then she realized how chaotic things would probably be and what if she threw up? She had the tendency to do that with fast and abrupt movements after all...
       
Alabaster would've been a better charioteer... She thought miserably.
       
Much to everyone's shock, Clarisse stood up to protest against it. "But sir! What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots—"
       
"—Ah, the hero of the day!" Tantalus exclaimed brightly, and she stopped talking. "Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls!"
       
She blushed—actually blushed—and tried to speak up, "Um, I didn't—"
       
"—And modest too!" He grinned. "Not to worry, my dear! This is a summer camp. We are here to enjoy ourselves, yes?"
       
"But the tree—"
       
"—And now," he interrupted as Clarisse's siblings pulled her back to 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." Tantalus pointed accusingly at Tyson.
       
Everyone turned to look at either Percy, Annabeth, or Tyson. While Esmerelda was glad that all the attention was off of her, she did feel bad for those three.
       
"Now, of course," he continued. "Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity. Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks. But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I've thought about the stables, but that will make the horses nervous. Hermes' cabin, possibly?"
       
Travis and Connor looked down at the table. Esmerelda bit her lip when she felt Percy's pleading gaze and willed herself to look away. Even though Percy trusted him, she just did not feel comfortable letting a Cyclops sleep at her cabin.
       
"Come now," Tantalus chided. "The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?"
       
Suddenly everybody gasped. Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. Esmerelda gaped up at the holographic image floating above Tyson's head. It was the same holographic image that appeared over Percy when he was claimed: a glowing green trident, the symbol of Poseidon.
       
Esmerelda had nearly forgotten. Cyclops were the offspring of nature spirits and Poseidon.
       
Unlike when Percy was claimed, Tantalus burst into laughter as did most campers.
       
"Well!" Tantalus guffawed. "I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"
       
"Poor Percy..." Esmerelda whispered, looking at the older boy's expression. He had gone numb with shock. She looked back at Tyson, who had just finished swatting the holographic image away and was now staring at the laughing campers in confusion.
       
He seemed almost... innocent.

— author's note —

Please do NOT get pissy with me for making Essie a 'crybaby' or 'weak', she's literally TWELVE!!! She just found out that one side of her family are full of crazy, murderous, fanatics and the next day, she literally lost the other side of her family, the one that she's the most closest to. On top of that, she's getting really intense and really frightening dreams from the Titan Lord of Time. There's also the fact that war is brewing and her camp is close being destroyed due to the weakening barriers. So yes, Essie's crying is very much understandable and justified.

An explanation for Ethan's feelings:

So as you all know, Ethan will ultimate betray the camp and join Luke's army (and then get thrown off fucking Olympus). He wants to bring Essie with him because:

1. They're best friends

2. He thinks the titans will win and he knows that all the kids that sided with Olympus are probs gonna get killed, and he doesn't want that to happen to her

3. The gods want her dead. They treated her unfairly. Essie doesn't deserve that, so when he hears Luke and Kronos promising him that Essie's gonna have a better life, he's all for getting her to join them. The only problem is that...

He knows deep down that she won't ever join the Titans, even for him. Sure she may not like the Olympians, but she's loyal to camp and loyal to her other friends from there. She's also deathly afraid of the gods since she knows how powerful they are and believes that all who sided against them are gonna die a cruel and horrible death.

This is why he's taking so long to ask her to join him, because he just knows she won't agree to it and once that's happened, everything between them will be over. He's exposed himself as a traitor, she won't join him, so now he'd have to leave and they would never see each other until the final battle.

Ethan doesn't want to lose Essie. But he knows it's going to happen anyways.