▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY ONE ▬▬▬

Lololol, I really enjoyed watching you guys simp and thirst over the characters in the previous chapter, your comments were fun to read 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

ESMERELDA LOOKED DOWN AT THE muggle newspaper Dumbledore had set on the table. The four house heads, Remus, and the Tonks family all peered down to look at it, but Esmerelda and Sirius just stared at it with pinched faces. They already knew what it was going to say.

So far, two states—Oregon and Idaho—had declared themselves as disaster areas since Typhon rose from Mount St. Helens, and many more states were bound to follow. He had already caused floods, earthquakes, and many more unspeakable damages in his warpath, and it would only continue once he reached Olympus.

The title of the article read 'Freak Storm System' but the picture it showed was anything but a freak storm. It was so much worse that that, but the mortals couldn't see it unless they were Clear Sighted—not that those who could see it were lucky.

Typhon was better described as a being of pure destruction. He was a colossal shadowy figure composed of dark clouds, gigantic enough to use the Empire State Building as a baseball bat. Through the shadows she could see pieces of monstrous figures, red-eyed serpent heads, leathery wings, clawed hands, et cetera. Just looking at a mere picture of him made Esmerelda feel like she would lose her mind, so she turned her head to survey everyone else's reactions.

They were all worried, of course. They had been so busy stressing out about the Tournament that when the news of the upcoming battle passed, they were completely caught off guard. She didn't think some of them understood how dire the stakes were right now, and didn't know she would break it down to them.

"That's Typhon," Esmerelda muttered, taking the article and flipping it over so nobody would have to see the photo. It seemed to ease a couple people up. "My friend, Percy, accidentally caused the eruption of Mount St. Helens and well... unfortunately, the eruption woke him up. He's making his way to New York right now, destroying everything in his path."

"Will he come here?" Professor McGonagall asked.

She shrugged. "I have no clue. His main goal is to get to Olympus, but I have no idea what he'll do after that."

"Will we—will we be safe?" Remus asked, swallowing thickly.

"It depends," Esmerelda pursed her lips. "If my side wins, then you guys will be fine. But if we lose... then everyone loses. And I mean everyone. The Underworld's been on high alert for a few weeks now. Even the dead are afraid."

"What happens if your side loses?" Tonks asked fearfully.

She grimaced. "Nothing good. It'll be like going back to the Golden Age, the age where the gods didn't exist and Kronos ruled."

Ted furrowed his brows. "Wait hold on, wasn't that a good time though? Humans were happy, everything was peaceful and whatnot."

She snorted and shook her head. "No, that's just cheap propaganda spread by Kronos," unfortunately, that propaganda had worked so well that every mortal believed the Golden Age was superior—even today. "More than half of the Titans hated mortals and looked down on them. Mortals were used as either slaves, cheap entertainment, or light snacks. All three in chronological order if you're unlucky. Trust me, you do not want to live through a second Golden Age."

There was a collective shiver throughout the room.

"But your mother created us, didn't she?" Professor Flitwick chimed in. "And she's siding with the Titan Lord. If everything goes bad, wouldn't she want to keep us safe?"

Another grimace. "Er... I don't know. While you're right in saying that she created the wizarding world, you also have to remember that she also abandoned it once her son was executed. She might not care what happens to you guys..."

The already tense atmosphere grew even more tense at her words.

She inhaled slowly while looking up at them. Dumbledore had fallen into a defeated sort of silence, which was eerie because she had never seen him look so hopeless before. The House Heads—Professor Sprout, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Snape—had gone pale while the Tonkses were clutching their daughter's hands tightly. Remus and Sirius glanced over at each other, their faces sullen.

"If things go south, then there's nothing you guys can do, I'm sorry." She said grimly. "You won't be able to fight back, especially if Hecate chooses not to help you."

"Then," Dumbledore began quietly. "It appears there's nothing we can do but hope you can win."

"What are you going to do now?" Ted asked her.

"War preparations," she answered stiffly. "We're planning on bombing the Princess Andromeda to lower their numbers." She tried not to think of her own loved ones on that ship before continuing. "Right now, I'm more concerned about getting Sirius somewhere safe."

Sirius blinked down at her. "Um, what? I'm not leaving you."

"I don't want you anywhere near the battlegrounds, Sirius," she frowned.

"Well I don't you anywhere near the battlegrounds either, but we can't all get what we want," he returned stubbornly.

Esmerelda regarded him with a steely gaze.

"We'll discuss this later," she said, looking and sounding more like an adult than a child.

Something akin to dread dropped to the bottom of Sirius' stomach as he looked at her. She was beginning to remind him more and more of Regulus—and not in a good way.

Because here was the thing, Sirius knew that trauma changed people; it twisted and bent them around until they were completely unrecognizable. He had seen it happen with his brother and now it was happening to his niece—two kids forced to grow up too fast, two kids losing their innocence and the light in their eyes.

Seeing what was happening to Esmerelda now... well, it was like watching Regulus slowly fall into darkness all over again.

(And it was painful reminder that he had just stood by to watch it all happen).

"Anything else you need to ask me?" She asked, looking around the table.

"I have a request actually," Dumbledore straightened up. "We need a headquarters for the Order of the Pheonix, a secret organization I founded to oppose Voldemort. I believe the Black ancestral home will be a good fit."

"The Black ancestral what now." She asked blankly, in the corner of her eyes she could see Snape scoffing at her.

"The house of our family," Sirius answered wearily. "It's got one of the best protection in all Britain. A good place for a headquarters. Only problem is that we need your permission to access the house."

She furrowed her brows. "My permission? Why can't—" And then she paused. Right. Sirius was disowned, and Regulus was placed as the heir. But her father was dead now, meaning the house technically belonged to her... Not that the Hogwarts staff really knew who her real father was.

"Headmaster, I don't understand why we need the child's permission if her father was already disowned," Snape drawled nastily. "Surely a different location would suit best for the headquarters."

"This child is trying to keep everyone in this world alive, so you should shut up before I decide your life isn't worth it." She snapped, her eyes glowing green. 

"Sirius here believes it should work," Dumbledore said quickly in order to appease the situation. "And we need a safe place as quick as possible. I'd like to reconstruct the Order and get to work despite the... outside issues," he decided it was better to say that than 'possible doom'.

"Well, what do I need to do?" She asked.

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Apparently, all she needed to do was walk into the house and personally invite them in since the protections around the place was blocking them out. The outside of Grimmauld Place looked identical to the apartment building in the Fields of Punishment, the only difference was the inside of the house.

There were no prison cells or tortured prisoners. Just a bunch of... decaying furniture. It basically looked like a Gothic styled mansion that had been left to rot away.

While the rest of the order were busy fortifying the house with even more protection spells, Esmerelda took the time to explore.

"Whoa... You lived here?" Esmerelda asked her uncle, trying to hide away her disgust and keep up a polite smile.

He wasn't looking at her though, too busy looking at the rotting walls of the house with a faraway look in his eyes. "Yes," he murmured. "Unfortunately. But this was never my home. My home belonged with the Potters. They took me in when I ran away."

Esmerelda looked away guiltily. Ever since finding out about her family's ancestral home, she actually thought of sending her uncle away to stay here while she went to war. But now that they were actually in the house... it would just be too cruel of her to force him to stay in a place he was clearly abused in.

I'll ask him to stay over at Remus' then, or aunt Andromeda's, she decided.

Just then, they both began to hear shuffling noises, followed by a croaky voice. She looked towards the other end of the hallway where she saw a small shadow approaching.

"Oh no," Sirius groaned aloud. "I can't believe he's still alive."

The figure turned around the corner, and Esmerelda's jaw dropped. It was a house elf, but it was the most oldest, shriveled-up looking house elf she had ever seen. He was tiny, with a bulbous, snout-like nose, bloodshot eyes like he spent his entire life crying, and had many folds of skin.

He sneered upon seeing them, "Kreacher sees that the blood traitor is back. Oh what will Kreacher's Mistress say when she sees her scum son return—" He cut himself off by gasping out loud—and nearly choking himself from the lack of air—the second he noticed Esmerelda.

Esmerelda already knew what was coming. It was the usual reaction every house elf had when they saw her, but Kreacher took it to a whole new level.

"Y-y-young Lady Esmerelda..." He croaked, his knees buckling. He fell to the floor, tears spilling down his watery red eyes. He lowered his head so low that his forehead was practically touching the dirty floors. "My lady, you've returned! Kreacher is—Kreacher has been waiting many years for my Lady Esmerelda to return to her home! Oh, Master Regulus would've been so happy now!"

Esmerelda could barely understand what he was saying since he was bawling so much, tears and snort running down his wrinkled face. She had no idea who this person was, but judging by his reaction, he must have known her when she was a baby.

"Uh," she said dumbly, glancing over to Sirius for help but even he looked shocked by the display of great respect.

He never ever bowed like this even when that bitch was still alive, Sirius marveled. And to make things even better, Kreacher addressed her as a 'Lady', which was a far higher title than a simple 'mistress'. He briefly wished his mother was alive to witness this moment, because he knew the bitch would've keeled over from the insult that a half-breed was given a higher standing compared to her.

"It's nice to see you again," Esmerelda smiled nervously. Her father had spoken fondly of Kreacher but he had failed to mention how... emotional he was.

He sniffled loudly, not lifting his head up yet. "K-Kreacher helped Master Regulus raise the young Lady when the Dark Lady delivered you. Kreacher is sorry that he could not save Master Regulus, but—but Kreacher tried—! He tried very hard!" He exclaimed before bursting into another round of tears.

Sirius' eyes narrowed in suspicion. He had always wondered how Kreacher knew Regulus had died, but was never given the chance to ask since he had other things to deal with (like trying to raise a baby Antichrist that was out to get him).

"Kreacher," he began in a low voice. "What do—"

"—Ungrateful runaway," Kreacher hissed, jumping to his feet to glare at him. "You have no right to stand in this house after failing to care for Lady Esmerelda!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the aforementioned girl said quickly, hoping to appease the situation before an argument could erupt. "Let's not fight. My uncle did whatever he could to take care of me. He was just never able to be there for the rest of my life because he was, um, wrongfully accused of a crime and sent away."

"Master Regulus will be so disappointed to hear the young Lady speak so highly of his rotten brother," Kreacher lamented.

"Damn, he really hates you, huh?" She muttered discreetly.

"He hated me first," Sirius muttered back, huffing.

She rolled her eyes before turning back to Kreacher. "Have you been... living here this entire time?"

"Yes," he sniffed, which was the answer she feared.

Grimmauld Place was, for lack of better words, uninhabitable. She honestly didn't think anyone could last a day in this place and it wasn't just because of all the cursed objects Sirius warned her about. It was downright filthy to the point where even the air was probably toxic.

She was pretty sure Kreacher could've easily cleaned it all with a snap of his fingers though, and the fact that he didn't left her pretty concerned for his mental well-being. Especially now that she could see the state of him... He looked a lot worse compared to the other house elves she had seen, and it wasn't just because of his age. Kreacher just looked... depressed, to be honest.

"Well, Kreacher, do you mind if a couple of... erm, friends stay here for a bit?" She asked. She may be the owner of the house, but Kreacher was the one who had been living here for years.

"Kreacher is honored that Lady Esmerelda asks for his permission," he croaked. "But it is not Kreacher's choice. Kreacher shall accept whatever his Lady chooses... Even if she chooses to invite mudbloods and blood traitors into her home..." He added the last part with a nasty sneer directed to the walls, as if he could see through them the other guests that were milling around.

Sirius started forward angrily. "Do not ever use that word in my presence, you filthy—"

"—Stop," Esmerelda said sternly before turning back to Kreacher. "Kreacher... I would really appreciate it if you didn't use that term. There's nothing wrong with muggle-borns and I think blood traitors are pretty cool."

Kreacher looked like he was about to cry again. "And now that ungrateful runaway has infected the young Lady's mind with lies! What would Master Regulus say?! What would my old, poor mistress do?!"

She winced when he started another fresh round of tears, his loud wailing echoing throughout the dark house.

Well, she thought sullenly. This isn't going to be easy...

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"I met Kreacher yesterday," Esmerelda chimed when she entered Regulus' cell.

He looked up from his latest book—How to Survive the End of the World: Preparing for Armageddon, Natural Disasters, Nuclear Strikes, the Zombie Apocalypse, and Every Other Threat to Human Life on Earth by Joye Bridal.

He tucked his book away and was just about to greet her until he saw the thing she was lugging around. It was a small, rectangular object, but that wasn't what caught his attention. It was the color. It was garishly red with golden accents, which was the obnoxious color combination of the Gryffindors. He was sickened just by seeing it.

"What," he could barely hide the disgust in his voice. "Is that?"

She blinked owlishly before glancing down at the thing in her arms. "Oh this?" She set it down on a table, beaming. "It's a mini fridge!"

"I don't eat," he told her blankly, and even if he could, he would request that she change the colors to something better. Like green and silver.

"It's not for you, it's for Harry," she giggled, then she opened the fridge. "See look."

Inside of it were glass vials full of a deep purple liwuid. There was probably a hundred of them all stuffed inside.

"What are those? Are those potions?" He asked curiously.

"Mmhmm. Dreamless sleep potions. I've been making a whole bunch for him 'cause I figured he'd need them after... well, after what happened to him in the tournament." She answered grimly.

Ever since the Third Task, Harry would have this haunted, tortured look in his eyes that Esmerelda was all too familiar with. His body had grown stiffer, his eyes tired yet always alert, and his skin growing paler in a pace that was too quick to be normal. Whatever had occurred in the graveyard had left him traumatized and just like every other demigod in camp, he was being left alone to handle it.

And frankly, it pissed her off. Harry had so many adult figures in his life, yet none of them were giving him the proper help he needed. Instead, he was just tossed back to the Durlselys who were no doubt mistreating him.

Gods, she wished she could do more for him, but war was just on the horizon and that would have to be dealt with first. The most she could do for him (for now) was brew as many dreamless sleep potions as she could since she knew he was probably having nightmares of whatever happened or worse, not sleeping at all.

She shut the refrigerator door and turned back to her father. "I'm planning on giving this to him in a few hours. Right now I want to... ask you something. It's pretty personal, and I understand you might not want to answer it..."

He rose a brow. "What is it?"

"It's about..." She swallowed nervously. "How you died."

He stilled.

She shrunk a little. "You don't have to answer though..."

"Why," he began carefully. "Do you ask?"

Another gulp. "I just... I wanted to know if it hurts..."

Realization flickered in Regulus' dead eyes and his unbeating heart ached for her. His daughter was about to go to war, and she was terrified. She could lose her life on the battlefield or her many loved ones—and she just wanted reassurance that it wouldn't be as painful as she believed it to be.

"My death wasn't pretty, dear, nor was it quick," he answered gently. "I was in this cold, dark cave. My only company was Kreacher, but I ordered him to leave me. I... I drank something, and it left me in this half-mad state. Voldemort's inferi were dragging me... that's where all these marks came from."

He showed her the marks on his wrists and ankles and other areas of skin.

"Inferi?" She asked. It sounded like some sort of creature, but the marks on his skin looked like they came from human beings.

"The undead," he told her grimly. "They dragged me to this lake and kept pulling me down... and down... and down... That was the painful part. Wanting to breath but not being able to... my lungs filling with water... And then I started to feel numb—that was when it began to hurt less. Everything got numb so quickly, and then I finally died. You see, it depends on how you die, but once the end comes near, the pain starts to disappear."

Once the end comes near, the pain starts to disappear.

The words kept echoing in her head even after she left the Underworld to find Harry.

She tried to distract herself from the thought of death by surveying her surroundings. She remembered Dumbledore mentioning something about Harry being guarded 24/7 (something that the boy was completely unaware of) and was pretty certain Dumbledore wouldn't appreciate her being here, but whatever.

Privet Drive looked like every normal suburban neighborhood, not that she was used to seeing them living in New York and all. Every house was uniform to each other, with a few little details that differentiated them from the other houses.

Ah, here it is, Number Four Privet Drive, Esmerelda stopped in front of the house. It looked just as normal as every other house, but the front garden was perfectly neat and their grass was trimmed. It actually looked like a pretty nice place, but appearances could be deceiving.

Readjusting the mini fridge in her arms, she walked up to the front door and knocked with her foot.

"In a minute!" Came a man's voice.

That must be his uncle Vernon.

The door swung open and a large man stood before he. He looked at her suspiciously. "Can I help you?"

She smiled, the Mist already doing it's work. "I want to see Harry Potter." She said as she stepped inside. There were two people in the living room, a woman who was probably 'Aunt Petunia' and a large boy that was probably his cousin Dudley.

Vernon immediately called out Harry's name. Harry filed down the stairs a look of utter confusion upon seeing her.

"Essie?" He said in complete disbelief. "What—what are you doing here?"

"I came to visit you!" She chirped with a smile.

"But how did you—" And then Harry paused, finally noticing the odd state his relatives were in. Petunia and Dudley were still sitting on the couch and Vernon was still standing in front of the doorway. All three of them wore blank faces as they stared at the empty space before them. It was unnerving.

Esmerelda's lips quirked up in amusement. "Don't worry about them," she said, waving a hand. It was like an instant command; the three Durselys began to move. Vernon was walking down the hallway to find his office, Petunia left for the kitchen, and Dudley headed upstairs to play his video games. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

She plopped down on the now vacant couch and patted the space beside her. "Come sit."

Still freaked out, Harry sat.

"I got you a little gift. Sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner." She said, handing him the mini fridge.

"Um," he blinked. "Why...?"

"Inside is about a hundred or so vials of Dreamless Sleep potions," she explained patiently. He still looked lost so she went straight to the point: "You've been having nightmares of what happened during the Third Task, haven't you?"

He opened his mouth to refute, but then looked away from her. "I... I haven't—"

"—It's nothing to be ashamed of," she told him soothingly. "You went through a horrible ordeal during the school year and now you're stuck living here. It's only natural you wouldn't be able to sleep after everything you've been through. This sort of thing... well, I've seen it happen a lot. Trust me, Harry, the Dreamless Sleep potions will help alleviate some of the pain."

He nodded his head and began to hold the gift a little tighter. "Thank you," he muttered gratefully, his eyes peering up at her.

She smiled in return. "I wanted to do more, but this was all I can do for now."

"Can you tell me what's been going on?" He asked her desperately. "About Voldemort or anything really? I've been sending letters to Hermione and Ron, but I'm not getting anything back and I've been reading the papers but nothing's being mentioned."

She frowned. "I don't know about the Daily Prophet since I haven't been reading them, but Hermione and Ron... ah, well, they got orders from Dumbledore to not send you any letters."

His jaw dropped. "What?"

"I don't understand it either," she muttered. "I've been dealing with... other things lately, so I've been out-of-the-loop too, I'm sorry. All I can tell you is that they haven't been ignoring you on purpose."

Aaaand Dumbledore's having people watch you 24/7, but there was no way she was going to tell him that. Harry would blow a gasket and well, an angry Harry was an irrational Harry. She would rather leave that for the Order to deal with, sorry.

"Great," he replied, sounding understandably bitter. She couldn't blame him. He had just gotten attacked by Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and now he was being left alone in an abusive household where he couldn't even contact his friends to keep his sanity intact. Yeah, she'd be pretty pissed too. "What about Sirius? Was he given that order too?"

She winced. "Yes, I'm... sorry about that too."

Her uncle wasn't exactly a good topic for her right now. Ever since that meeting at Hogwarts staff about the Second Titan War, they've been arguing. Sirius didn't want to leave New York and he was very adamant about that. Esmerelda, however, was equally adamant on getting him to leave somewhere safe. He had gotten furious with her suggestions to stay with either Remus or the Tonks family and she had gotten furious that he wanted to risk his life in the upcoming battle.

They weren't talking much anymore though... and she still hadn't been able to get him to leave. She didn't know how to relocate him without being forceful and the last thing she wanted to do was kick her uncle out of the country... She wanted him to just see reason and agree with her on this for once.

She was pretty sure she would lose her mind if Sirius got hurt—hell, she knew she'd lose it if any of her loved ones got hurt to be honest, but Sirius was the closest (mortal) family member she had aside from her late father. She already had Lou Ellen, Ethan, her siblings, and her friends to worry about during the nearing battle, she would prefer it if she didn't have to add her very mortal uncle to that list too.

She was broken out of her anxious thoughts by Harry's voice:

"Have you spoken to Cedric?"

A scowl crawled over her face at the mention of her old friend.

"No, and I don't plan to," she said tensely. She still couldn't believe how he could blatantly lie to everyone like that. Did he not understand the severity of the situation and how much he worsened it?

"Do you think he lied?" Harry couldn't help but ask. "I don't buy his 'amnesia' story. He wasn't hit that hard in the head..."

"I think he lied," she said truthfully. "I don't know why though... I mean, Voldemort rising back up to power is a pretty serious thing that he should've been honest about."

"I can't believe him," he muttered angrily. "Fuck Cedric. Fuck Fudge, fuck Rita Skeeter, fuck everyone—! I get that they're scared of Voldemort—hell they can't even say the bloody name without cowering!—but don't they see how bad this is?! We were throwing proof at Fudge and even Snape tried to help and he still—he still refused to believe it! He wouldn't even listen to Dumbledore! All because of the Daily Prophet and then Cedric comes and lies—!"

She reached out to grasp his shoulder and she could almost feel how stressed he was by everything.

"Your friends may not be able to contact you right now, but they are here for you, Harry, and you have many other loved ones who support you too. People might be against you now, but you still have them to rely on." She said softly. Her eyes took in his exhaustive state, the deep bags under his eyes and the painful stiffness of his shoulders. She retracted her hand away and pulled out a vial from the fridge. "Drink it. You deserve a rest. I'll make sure the Dursleys don't bother you."

He didn't even try to protest, which was a testament of how stressed he was.

He took the vial before glancing back at her. "Where will you go?"

"Back to New York," she answered. "I'll be... very busy during the summer so this may be the last you'll see of me." Maybe even forever, but she didn't like to dwell on that possibility. "I'll see you, Harry. Take care, okay?"

"I'll try my best," he mumbled, before gulping down the vial. The affects were almost instantaneous. His whole body slackened and he finally began to relax. They worked so well that she had to carry the mini fridge and help him back to his bedroom.

She tucked him in quietly like she would with any other slumbering child, before finally leaving the house.

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They were less than a week away from Percy's sixteenth birthday, and Esmerelda had never been so scared before. In fact, every camper's stress levels were at an all time high now. Sirius had yet to vacate the country, and Esmerelda was beginning to contemplate just charmspeaking the man into being compliant.

But she couldn't do that. Not to her uncle. She knew it would hurt him if she used that on him.

Silena must have noticed how distressed she was, because she immediately brought the younger girl to the Aphrodite Cabin for a relaxing spa day. Clarisse had been dragged in too.

Over the summer, she, Clarisse and Silena have formed a weird, closely-knit bond. It was awkward at first because Clarisse's half-brother, Caleb Warring, had been killed by Ethan during the Battle of the Labyrinth and well... pretty much almost everyone knew how close Esmerelda and Ethan were before he defected.

And dear gods if they knew how close they still were... She could already imagine the label 'traitor' being stamped onto her forehead.

"You sure this isn't guacamole?" Clarisse asked suspiciously after she sniffed the bowl that was full of what was going to be their face mask. "It smells like avocado."

"That's because it is avocado," Silena replied as she brought out a silicone brush. "It's going to give us a nourishing hydration."

"Can I eat it?" The daughter of Ares asked.

Esmerelda perked up. "Oh, I can Mist travel over to the nearest store to buy chips!"

The older girl nodded in approval. "Good idea."

Silena held the bowl protectively. "No, definitely not! It's supposed to nourish our skin! Now hold still...!"

She used the silicone brush to spread the avocado all over Clarisse's face. Thankfully, the rest of the Aphrodite kids were somewhere throughout camp and the whole cabin was empty, else the daughter of Ares wouldn't be in here in the first place. Nobody had ever seen her be so girly before and she would probably prefer that it'd stay that way.

"No! You can't eat it!" Silena scolded after seeing Clarisse's tongue dart out of her mouth to lick the face mask off her cheek. "I told you, it's supposed to nourish your skin! Don't you want to impress your boyfriend with your glowing face the next time you see him?" She teased as Esmerelda giggled.

"Shut up," Clarisse muttered, her cheeks pink. She had just started going out with Chris Rodriguez, the ex-traitor son of Hermes who had been temporarily locked up in the basement of the Big House after he kind of lost his mind in the Labyrinth (it was a long story).

"Essie, you're next." Silena said brightly, moving onto her now. Luckily for her, Esmerelda wasn't as fussy (or hungry) as Clarisse so she was able to apply the mask with ease.

"You and Chris are cute," Esmerelda smiled at the older girl.

She just scowled. "Yeah whatever. I still think he might have a screws loose to ask me out."

"I'm just surprised you didn't make him arm wrestle you or something," Esmerelda snorted. "Like, 'I'll go out on a date with you, but you have to beat me in a fight first' kind of thing."

"Totally should've done that though."

"No talking about fighting," Silena chided, finishing with her face. "This is supposed to be a relaxing spa day. We should be talking about, I dunno, boys or whatever."

"We were talking about boys," Clarisse pointed out.

"Fine, fine. Ooh! That just reminded me! I thought of the perfect ship name for Percy and Annabeth!" She said giddily. 

"Let's hear it!" Esmerelda beamed. 

"Uuuuugh," Clarisse groaned, rolling her eyes. 

"Okay, it's..." Silena let out a dramatic pause before announcing: "Percabeth!" 

"Awww," the younger demigod gushed. 

Meanwhile, Clarisse furrowed her brows. "Shouldn't it be pronounced 'Per-SA-beth' since his name's Percy?"

"Well yeah, but it didn't really sound cute," Silena shrugged. 

"I can't wait for those two to realize their feelings for each other," Esmerelda sighed. "Do you know how awkward it was for me and Grover back at the Labyrinth? Annabeth was totally jealous over Rachel—Percy's mortal friend who came to help us out—and he didn't even realize it!" 

"Prissy's a dumbass so it's to be expected," Clarisse snorted. "As for Princess, she's smart when it comes to logical thinking, but not so much about feelings." 

"It's soooo frustrating," Silena nodded in agreement. "Gods, I just want them to kiss already! And I better be there when I see it! My ship needs to happen!" 

"I bet you ten drachmas they get together next year," Clarisse smirked, purposely avoiding the chance that they might not even be alive the next year. "There's no way they're gonna realize their feelings anytime soon." 

Silena's eyes glinted. "Deal! I bet they'll be together right after the war! War always brings out the passion in people after all." 

"I'm siding with Silena!" Esmerelda exclaimed. "I know better than to bet against the daughter of Love when it comes to areas of their expertise!" 

Silena grinned triumphantly before moving on to the next topic, "So Essie, what about you? Got a guy in your life?"

Esmerelda nearly faltered. The first person to come to mind was Ethan, and she didn't want anyone to know about their previous meetings.

They'll brand me as a traitor, she thought worryingly.

"What about that Cormac fellow, hmm?" Silena added when she didn't say anything.

Clarisse snorted for two reasons; one, because of the ridiculous name, and two, because she had also been told about Esmerelda's little oopsies with the Yule Ball dates.

"Absolutely not," Esmerelda refuted. "I haven't spoken to him in months and thank gods for that. I had to use the Mist on him to get him to leave me alone after the dance."

"Usually a punch in the face is a good permanent solution," Clarisse advised.

"I'll remember that next time."

The three girls resumed gossiping (or in Clarisse's case, complaining) about other things while waiting for their masks to dry off. Just after they washed their faces clean, there was a knock on the door. 

The three girls froze.

"That better not be one of your siblings..." Clarisse muttered under her breath, already glancing over at the closest window as if scheming an escape attempt.

But it wasn't one of the Aphrodite kids.

"Silena?" The muffled voice said on the other side of the door. It was Beckendorf.

Said girl shot up to her feet. "Charlie? What is it?"

"Well..." He hesitated. "I finished the bombs. Percy and I... tomorrow we're gonna head on over to the Princess Andromeda."

Silena's skin had turn white with terror. "T-tomorrow?!" She turned to the girls. "I-I'm so sorry guys I have to go!"

Esmerelda and Clarisse glanced at each other tensely once the other girl was gone.

"So it's finally happening, huh...?" Clarisse drawled, leaning back on her elbows, but anyone could see how tense her shoulders became.

"I hope they'll be okay," Esmerelda muttered, and she wasn't just talking about Percy and Beckendorf.

Her mind went back to that deal she and Hera made—or more importantly, Hera's side of it. If her loved ones managed to stay alive by the end of the war, then they would be given amnesty. They would be able to come back to her... her broken little family would be whole again.

They just needed to stay alive...

Please, please just let them stay alive, she pleaded to whoever would be kind enough to listen to her.

— author's note —

Well... it's happening guys. Next chapter will be the start of The Last Olympian...

CLARISSE LA RUE
played by LINDSEY SHAW