▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT ▬▬▬

CAMP WAS A DISASTER AFTER Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson left. The Ares cabin was (understandably) ticked off that their sister's quest was being interrupted while the Athena kids were arguing that the quest should've gone to Annabeth (and Percy by extension) in the first place. The rest of the camp had to deal with their fights for the next two weeks, and it didn't help that they were constantly being attacked by monsters too. Their latest attack came from a Draco Aionius, which burnt down the arts and crafts cabin.

The one thing that didn't burn down, was the Olympian Academics, a sort of tutoring-slash-school building*. Chiron had that place made long ago for the sake of the year-rounders since they didn't go to school. He insisted that it would be better to educate them in case they lived long enough to get to university, that way they wouldn't be too behind.

Despite Esmerelda being a student, Hogwarts didn't exactly teach core subjects like english, science, and mathematics so unfortunately, when Chiron found out about it, he made her take lessons at Olympian Academics. The place bored her to death. While everyone had to go there for Greek history lessons (the real history), the year-rounders were given additional work where they had to fill up work books for subjects depending on their grade.

The one building she hated... and it didn't burn down.

Anyways, everyone was miserable. The camp was getting ruined even more, Tantalus sucked so much that even Dionysus was starting to really hate him, and Thalia's Tree was still dying. At least tonight they'd be having cheeseburgers for dinner.

"I'm impressed, you know," Esmerelda commented as the Hermes cabin filed off to their table after sacrificing a portion of their food. "Your aim's been getting better and your landing your throws." She told Ethan, who was already scarfing down his food like a starved man.

"Think I'll be as good as you?" He asked, hiding the hopeful tone in his voice. It was no secret to everyone that Esmerelda was one of the best knife-throwers in camp. She rarely ever missed. Even Chiron was truly impressed.

She snorted. "You wish." She carefully brought her cheeseburger into her mouth, tucking the mandrake leaf under her tongue as she took a bite. This particular leaf had been in her mouth for a full week now, and she was determined to not swallow it or spit it out.

Their dinner suddenly came with a show when a large IM message appeared at the very front of the Dining Pavilion. Everyone immediately stopped talking as the message became clearer. There, they saw the oddest scene ever. It was Percy standing at what looked to be the deck of a cruise ship. Annabeth and Grover were there too, but they were being held by the necks by a bear man... Tyson was off to the side, being apprehended as well.

They were surrounded by an army of monsters and people wearing Greek armor. At the front of them was a young man with blonde hair. They only saw the back of his head, but once they heard him speak, they all knew who he was. It was Luke.

Beside her, Ethan sucked in a quick breath and dropped the cheeseburger he was holding.

Percy uncapped Riptide, and Luke sneered at him. "This is no time for heroics, Percy. Drop your puny little sword, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."

Esmerelda shuddered a bit. She had never heard Luke speak so callously before...

"Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?" Percy demanded, and Esmerelda immediately knew what he was planning. Percy was trying to clear Chiron's name by having the real culprit expose himself in front of everyone!

"I did, of course," Luke said impatiently. "I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus."

"Chiron had nothing to do with it?"

Luke let out a laugh. "Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts."

"You call it guts? Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?" Percy snapped.

Luke raised his sword. "You don't understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece ... once I was done with it."

Esmerelda's brows furrowed. Why would he just let the Fleece go like that? Other campers were wondering the same thing, and the Athena kids were quietly whispering theories to themselves.

"You were going to heal Kronos," Percy said. Esmerelda couldn't help the shiver that rolled down her spine at the mention of his name.

"Yes!" Luke cried out. "The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. But you haven't stopped us, Percy. You've only slowed us down a little."

"And so you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up—all to help Kronos destroy the gods." Percy repeated.

Luke gritted his teeth. "You know that! Why do you keep asking me?"

He smiled. "Because I want everybody in the audience to hear you."

"What audience?" There was a pause, and then Luke finally turned around as did the rest of his army. Esmerelda scanned the faces of the armed warriors, trying to see if her siblings were amongst them. Unfortunately, she couldn't see their faces clearly.

"Well," Dionysus said dryly. "Some unplanned dinner entertainment."

"Mr. D, you heard him," Percy spoke hastily. "You all heard Luke. The poisoning of the tree wasn't Chiron's fault."

Dionysus sighed. "I suppose not."

"The Iris-message could be a trick," Tantalus suggested, eyes glued to the cheeseburger on his plate. His hands were slowly reaching out for it.

"I fear not," Dionysus replied, looking at him in distaste. "It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games."

Tantalus didn't say anything. He had finally grabbed the cheeseburger. His eyes widened in amazement when he realized it didn't even try to escape his grasps. He looked close to tears as he cried out, "I got it!"

Dionysus smiled evilly. "We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus."

The look of pure joy was wiped off his face. "What? But—"

"—You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed."

"No! But—Nooooooooooo!"

He began to dissolve. Desperately, he tried to take a bite out of his cheeseburger, but it was too late. He had disappeared, and the cheeseburger fell back onto its plate. Everyone exploded into cheers.

There was a roar of anger, and everyone whipped their heads back to the Iris Message still displayed. Luke's expression was full of rage and it made his scar look scarier. He brought his sword up and slashed through. The Iris Message was over.

Understandably, the whole thing put everyone on edge. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson were clearly in trouble, and where had Clarisse gone? Some campers requested to go find them, but Dionysus waved them off while sipping on some diet coke.

Fortunately, they all returned somewhat safely the next night with Chiron and the Party Ponies, a bunch of centaurs that acted like fraternity brothers. Nobody paid them any mind when Clarisse walked up the hill with the Golden Fleece in her hands. Everyone crowded around Thalia's tree as she gently draped the fleece over the lowest bough.

The reaction was instantaneous. Esmerelda could literally feel the Fleece's magic working to heal the tree. A cool breeze rustled the branches and rippled through the grass all the way into the valley. Gradually, the needles on the pine tree started turning from brown to green. The poison was being expelled from it, slowly, but surely.

"It's working..." Someone mumbled.

Everyone cheered. The camp was saved, and soon enough the borders would be back up. In the meanwhile, Chiron ordered for 24/7 guard duty at the hilltop until he could find an appropriate monster to protect the Fleece. He said he'd place an ad in Olympus Weekly right away.

The camp was in full celebration mode. Marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolates were being passed around in the Amphitheater. Clarisse was being carried by her siblings, showing off the golden wreath that sat atop her head.

"Isn't this great?" Esmerelda said excitedly as she blew gently on her marshmallow before taking it out of the stick.

"Yeah," Ethan replied in a distant voice. His eyes were glancing over at the tall pine tree in the distance, as if waiting for something to happen.

"You okay?" She asked, making her s'mores.

He nodded, saying nothing else as he took a mouthful of his s'mores.

"Essie?" Someone spoke. She turned and saw Annabeth, Percy, and Tyson.

"Hey!" She greeted them brightly. "Welcome back. I'm glad that you guys are okay! You got us worried when you three sneaked out."

"Hello!" Tyson waved happily at her. "New friend?" He asked, looking at her innocently.

"Sure!" She said without hesitation. She felt a bit bad about her initial reaction to him, but now she knew better. Tyson had been a great help to their quest, and he wasn't blood thirsty like the other Cyclops.

"Essie," Annabeth repeated. "Can we talk to you? In private?"

Esmerelda blinked. Annabeth looked anxious, as did Percy, who couldn't look at her in the face for some reason.

"Sure...?" She said.

Percy patted Tyson on the shoulder. "Mind staying here for a while, big guy? Annabeth and I gotta talk with Essie for a bit."

Tyson nodded amicably. "I understand, Big Brother. I'll eat food while you are gone."

The three of them walked out of the Amphitheater where it was a lot more quiet. There were a few seconds of tense silence between them before Annabeth finally broke.

"We saw your siblings." She said.

Esmerelda's eyes widened. "You—did?!" She spluttered. "W-where?!"

Annabeth nudged Percy who looked up in alarm. "Er, well, uh, we saw one of them in an island at the Sea of Monsters."

"Percy!" Annabeth hissed. "You know that's not what I meant!"

He winced, and winced some more at Esmerelda's hopeful look. "An island? Were they okay? Why were they at the Sea of Monsters?"

"He meant Circe," Annabeth muttered, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. "Your immortal half-sister Circe. Long story short, we got dumped at her spa and resort island where she tried to offer me immortality and turned Percy into a guinea pig."

"I hate your sister, by the way." Percy mumbled, looking down in embarrassment.

Esmerelda smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about her. But... what about my other siblings? Y-you saw them too, right?"

He swallowed, unable to look at her in the eyes. "We did... They were... they were on the Princess Andromeda."

She frowned. "What—what's the Princess Andromeda?"

"Essie," Annabeth said softly. "It's a cruise ship where Luke's army lives."

Esmerelda felt herself go almost limp.

Percy shifted on his feet. "We saw your siblings when we were sneaking around the day we left. And then we were dragged back there and then the IM happened... well after that, your brother, Alabaster, sort of tried to kill me, but I blasted water at his face. He's okay though."

Esmerelda stopped listening after that. Her fears were confirmed now. Her siblings had truly gone to join Luke. It made the inside of her chest feel hollow. It was as if the world was crashing all over her. Her siblings were truly gone.

Other campers had lost their siblings as well, but they still had other siblings who stuck by them. All of Esmerelda's siblings were gone. She had never felt so abandoned before, not even when foster parent after foster parent would give up on her. This was her actual family. She was close to them even before she had been claimed as Hecate's daughter. And they all chose to side with Kronos and Luke. With the enemies.

"Hey, are you okay?" Percy asked her in concern.

Esmerelda looked back up at them and didn't bother to smile. They knew she wasn't okay, no use pretending she was. "Thank you for telling me this... I... I'm going to bed. I don't feel like celebrating much."

They nodded in understanding.

Numbly, she walked passed them and headed to cabin eleven. It was completely empty, which was no surprise since everyone was out partying at the Amphitheater. She quietly slipped into her sleeping bag and laid her head on the floor.

Percy's words kept echoing in her head. Alabaster had nearly to kill him. She tried to imagine that, her kind older brother raising his sword at Percy in hopes to harm him. She tried to imagine him standing side-by-side Luke and his army of monsters. Tried to imagine the rest of her siblings old and young doing that.

A small sob left her lips. Quickly, she covered her mouth and closed her eyes shut. She curled into herself as her body trembled. Her siblings were deep into this mess, or at least Alabaster was. Was there even a chance she could get them to come back? To switch sides before the gods deemed them unfaithful and killed them like she had seen them do with Merlin?

She let out a small yelp as the light bulbs in the cabin suddenly exploded. The cabin door flew opened right then and Ethan's voice was heard through the darkness. "Essie?!"

She sat up, rubbing her eyes frantically but Ethan could see through the moonlight that she had been crying. Her shaky voice also made it obvious.

"So-sorry," she whispered hoarsely. "The light bulbs broke... I didn't mean to..."

Through her night vision, she could see his face softened. "It's okay. Are you...?"

Instead of answering his question, she turned towards all the broken glass and whispered, "Reparo." Nothing happened. She sniffled and wiped her face with her sleeve. "I guess I still need my wand for that... I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Ethen told her in an uncharacteristically gentle voice. "I'm just gonna go grab a broom and clean up. You... don't move okay? You might step on the glass."

She nodded wordlessly and laid back down. The dream of Ethan's secret Iris Message flashed through her mind.

She wondered if he would leave her too.

She hoped he wouldn't.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

The next few days were somewhat brighter. Ethan didn't mention her little break down in the cabin and she was grateful for that.

Chiron decided to keep the chariot races going, urged everyone to play safely. After a few days of preparation, it was now time for the race to begin. People were a little antsy about since the last chariot race ended up in disaster, but Chiron's presence and the fact that the border's were up and running made everyone feel safer.

The contestants were climbing aboard their chariots now. The audience were shuffling quietly into the stands, and as Esmerelda sat down with Ethan she saw Tyson look around for a free spot.

She waved him over. "Tyson! You can come sit here!"

"What are you doing?!" Ethan shot her an incredulous look.

"Relax," she rolled her eyes. "Tyson's a huge sweetheart, don't worry."

He rose a brow, irate. "Oh a sweetheart, huh?"

She grinned at him, but didn't say anything as Tyson ambled over. She patted down the free seat next to her. "You can sit right here, Tyson."

"Thank you, Essie!" He exclaimed, plopping down. Ethan swore he felt the earth shake a bit. Tyson's single eye traveled over to him. "Friend?" He pointed.

She nodded. "Yep. This is my friend, Ethan. Ethan, say hi."

"Hi." He said in the dullest tone ever.

"Can I be a friend too?" Tyson pointed at himself, all adorable and precious and everything.

"Sure!" Esmerelda exclaimed.

He lit up like a Christmas tree.

"So Tyson," she began as Chiron readied his conch horn. "Why aren't you with Percy for the chariot race?"

He frowned and glanced at the sky. "I'm afraid the bad birds might come back. So I let Big Brother go with the pretty girl. But I gave him a shield! It's his watch!"

Ah, that was right. The Hephaestus cabin warmed up to him and Beckendorf was more than happy to show him to the forges. She wondered how good Tyson was at building stuff.

"Oooh, hopefully he uses it!" She said just as the horn blew.

The chariots shot down the track, and the fighting began. Clarisse was duking it out with the Stoll brothers who were trying to attack her chariot with javelins. Percy and Annabeth got ahead of both of them, but an Apollo camper threw a javelin directly at their wheel. Their chariot wobbled a bit, but kept going. Annabeth countered with her own javelin, and their chariot capsized.

Percy and Annabeth had finished the first lap and were now in the lead. The Hephaestus chariot got close enough for Beckendorf to release these cables to wrap around their back rail, causing their chariot to get dragged back while Beckendorf's were pulled forward. When Percy managed to cut the cords, Beckendorf then threw Greek fire at them before swiping at him with his sword.

Percy's hand went at his watch. When he pressed the button, the watch expanded until it turned into a shield.

"...Nice craftsmanship," Ethan admitted to Tyson, who beamed upon hearing it.

In the end, Percy and Annabeth won the race. As the crowd mobbed them, Annabeth had to yell over the noise. "Hold up! Listen! It wasn't just us! We couldn't have done it without somebody else! We couldn't have won this race or gotten the Fleece or saved Grover or anything! We owe our lives to Tyson, Percy's..." She trailed off.

"Brother!" Percy finished. "Tyson, my baby brother."

Tyson blushed as the crowd cheered for him. Annabeth kissed Percy on the cheek and the crowd cheered even louder after that.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

The camp was a lot warmer towards Tyson after that, but the next day he had to leave for the underwater Cyclops Forges in order to build more weapons for the incoming war. It was storming that night, but thankfully the borders were up so the camp was protected against the harsh weather.

The night was interrupted by a banging on the door. Everyone in cabin eleven woke up with a start. Thinking that another attack was happening, they quickly scrambled up to grab their weapons and armor. The door burst open and Pollux from cabin twelve was staring at them with eyes as wide as saucers.

"The tree," he panted. "The tree, it's—it's! You have to check it out!"

He didn't offer anything else other than that, and quickly bolted away. Ethan and Esmerelda looked at each other, before they burst out the cabin with everyone else. The rest of the camp was wide awake too, scrambling for Thalia's Tree wearing an odd mix of pajamas and armor. Esmerelda's stomach churned. Something big had happened. They gathered around the tree and Esmerelda could practically feel her heart pound in her chest.

There at the base of the tree was Annabeth, who was in charge of guarding the Fleece. She was kneeling over an unconscious girl who had short black hair and was wearing punk and goth styled clothes. Esmerelda had never seen her before, but for some reason, she had a feeling she knew the girl's name.

Percy arrived on Chiron. Everyone parted ways for them as they drew closer.

"It healed the tree," Chiron whispered, referring to the Fleece. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."

Annabeth had tears streaming down her face as she struggled to explain. "It... she...just suddenly there..."

Percy got off of Chiron's back and moved towards the girl, ignoring his cries to wait. He knelt by her side and placed a hand over her forehead. Just then, Grover arrived, panting heavily. "It's true... I can't believe..."

"She needs nectar and ambrosia." Percy ordered. Nobody moved.

He took her by the shoulders and lifted her in a sitting position. He looked at the crowd and yelled, "Come on! What's wrong with you people? Let's get her to the Big House!"

Again, nobody moved. Everyone stared stunned at the girl.

Finally, she woke up and took a shuddering breath. Esmerelda's breath hitched. Her eyes were a startling shade of blue. They reminded her of some of her sibling's, bright and bold, but her's were an electric blue.

She stared up at Percy, wide-eyed. "Who—"

"I'm Percy," he told her. "You're safe now."

"Strangest dream..." She mumbled.

"It's okay."

"Dying."

"No," he assured her. "You're okay. What's your name?"

"I am Thalia," the girl said. "Daughter of Zeus."

And then all hell broke loose.

— author's note —

* Soooo, Olympian Academics was created by me, it's not canon. I just added that there because I always wondered what sort of education year-rounders at Camp Half Blood would get... like, they can't just stay in camp forever. If they live long enough to adulthood, nobody's gonna wanna hire them if they lack proper education... And Hogwarts doesn't even have important subjects like math and shit (science, I can understand), like what if a kid there doesn't wanna work in the wizarding world??? What if they wanna further their education or get a muggle job??

So yeah I added the Olympian Academics for Essie's sake.

Book one's coming to a close! THE END IS CLOSER THEN EVER! 😈 😈 😈 😈Next chapter will feature just a little bit of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets