▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER THIRTEEN ▬▬▬▬

QUESTION! How long are smut chapters supposed to be, word-wide??? I finished the forbidden tango (the chapter twenty you guys have been thirsting after) for the Church of Essie book and it's 4,000+ IS THAT ENOUGH???

"MOM, I'M SORRY... I KNOW you said to let father handle the problem, but I didn't listen. I went to the Underworld and... well, some things occurred. I honestly didn't mean to be gone for so long, I'm sorry. I... I also can't tell you what happened. You can't IM me either. Father paid Iris a hefty sum to keep people from trying to reach me. Said something about not wanting people to see where I'm at. I'm sorry. I can't tell you where I'm going, but just know that I'm okay. I don't know when I'll see you next, but hopefully it'll be soon... I don't know when you'll get this voicemail since I know Hogwarts doesn't have reception, but just please don't be mad at Ethan or the Stolls, okay? It wasn't their faults... Tell Ethan I'm sorry, too."

Another voice could be heard in the background. A girl's this time.

"Um, Nico?" She sounded apprehensive. "We're... we're here."

Nico gulped. "Okay. I have to go. I borrowed someone's phone so you won't be able to call me back. I promise to never pull something like this again. I'm sorry, mom. I love you."

And the voicemail ended after that.

Esmerelda let out a small sob once it finished. It was the last time she had heard from him before he disappeared two months ago. Ethan had Iris Messaged her in a panic, rambling about how Nico wasn't in his room or anywhere in the house and that there was some note he left detailing that he had done exactly what she had asked him not to do. He had found a way into the Underworld, and now he was gone.

It didn't help that her tracking spell had fizzled away the second she enchanted it, most likely the works of either Hades or her mother. Either way, she hated the both of them. She knew Hades had something to do with his disappearance, and he most likely had Nico swear to keep silent, which was why he had been so vague in the voicemail.

But the misfortunes didn't end once Nico disappeared. Everything seemed to grow worse after that. The next month after he disappeared, at the beginning of November, Zeus recalled all the gods and goddesses back to Olympus and closed it down, forbidding any and all contact with demigods and mortals.

Lou Ellen had told her all about it. Apparently Dionysus had suddenly been ordered back to Olympus, and when he didn't come back the next day, Pollux—his only surviving son—tried contacting him through prayers. Usually Dionysus would reply back through a dream, but the god had been oddly silent. A few days later, Chiron grimly announced that Zeus had closed off Olympus for an indefinite amount of time.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ethan said bitterly over a Friday night. He, Esmerelda, Travis, Connor, and Percy were all gathered around the Jason Voorhees coffee table with a box of stuffed crust pepperoni pizza set before them.

"What do you mean?" Esmerelda asked. She had been crying heavily that day, unable to recover from losing Nico so easily. Her grades were slipping too and the kids at school had been giving her weird looks, but she didn't care anymore.

"My mother told me what happened," he said darkly. "Zeus recalled the gods back to Olympus because of you." He jutted his chin towards Percy.

"Me?" Percy said. "What the fuck did I do?"

"Well, not really you, I guess. It's Zeus' fault entirely, but you're the reason why. Zeus is still paranoid and pissed off," he explained. "Because you refused immortality. He was offended. It also made him realize that the gods needed the demigods to win the war and well... he didn't quite like realizing that."

"That's so fucking dumb," Travis scoffed harshly. Ever since the closing happened, he had grown bitter and angry for understandable reasons. "We literally fought the war that they caused, and they retreat back to their comfy little palaces all because of Zeus' pettiness?"

"What did you expect?" Ethan sneered. "He's known for his pettiness.

Connor looked over at him, "You said your mom was the one who told you this," he pointed out. "But shouldn't she be in Olympus with the others?"

"Mom's a Primordial, she can do whatever she wants," he explained dryly. "Plus, when I asked her the same thing, she said 'fuck Zeus' stupid rules' so there's that."

"She sounds cool," Connor nodded. "Aside from, you know, the, uh, eye thing."

Ethan just shrugged as if to say 'water under the bridge'. He then sent a concerned look over to Esmerelda, who sat listlessly beside him. The plate in front of her was still empty.

"Hey, angel," he said softly. "Come on, you gotta eat something. The pizza's gonna get cold soon." He took the biggest slice he could find and placed it onto her plate, then nudged her gently to get her to eat.

Esmerelda sniffled a bit before slowly reaching out for her pizza. She took one small bite (if he could even call it that) before putting it back on her plate.

The Stolls turned away from her guiltily. They knew that it was mostly their fault that Nico was gone now, since they were the ones in charge of watching over him and all. Even worse, they hadn't even realized that day that he had been 'gone in the bathroom' for so long since they were so distracted by the video game. It was only until Ethan got home and asked for Nico did they realize their mistake.

Percy spared Esmerelda a worried glance before clearing his throat. "Well," he said. "At least they're still claiming their kids... But how long do you think this could last?"

"They're gods," Ethan replied in a dull tone that didn't hide his growing resentment. "Time is nothing to them. Zeus can close off Olympus for centuries if he wants."

It wasn't reassuring to hear, but it was the cold hard truth.

Percy finally reached for his pizza, though his hand was slightly trembling. "As long as another war doesn't come, then we'll be fine."

Several weeks had passed since that conversation, and still no change. Nico was still missing and Olympus was still closed off. Once the start of December hit, Esmerelda's grades had hit an all time low. It was bad enough that she had to be brought to Umbridge's office for a 'firm discussion'.

"Miss Black," Umbridge's lips curled up into a wickedly sweet smile. "Do you know why you've been sent here?"

"My grades are dropping," Esmerelda replied in a hollow tone.

"Yes," she said. Her hands were folded over her desk. "But it's not just that. You've been missing classes. Sometimes you would do nothing but stay in your dorm because, according to your roommates, you weren't 'feeling well'. You see, Miss Black, if you're not 'feeling well', then you ought to go to hospital wing to get all your ailments cured. Since you didn't do that, I believe you are faking your illness."

Esmerelda didn't say anything and just listlessly stared at her as if to await her punishment.

"As High Inquisitor, my job is to make sure every student follows the rules. Skipping schools and faking illnesses are against said rules, and judging by the many many days you have purposely missed, I will have to give you a severe punishment." Umbridge said with fake sympathy.

Esmerelda finally rose to her feet and Umbridge's smile slipped off her face.

"What are you doing?" She demanded. "I did not say you can leave! Sit back down right this instant or I'll—"

"—Or you'll what?" Esmerelda cut her off coldly, her features contorting to disdain. "Give me a magical quill to cut my hand open?"

Umbridge stilled, before a sadistic little smile crawled over her lips.

"Oh, you mean the Black Quill*," she simpered. "I wasn't aware you knew of it. Well then, Miss Black, what exactly do you plan to do with this information? Try to get me fired? Nobody in Britain would ever trust your word over the word of a well-respected Ministry worker."

"Get you fired?" Esmerelda smiled slightly. "That's too easy. Take the quill out."

Umbridge's face went black. Slowly, she reached into her purse and removed the inky black quill.

"Grab a piece of parchment," Esmerelda instructed next. "And write down 'I deserve this' over and over again until you pass out from the blood loss. If you're lucky, someone might come here and save you from dying. And if you do miraculously survive, then forget this conversation ever happened. Now get started."

Umbridge began to write on the parchment. She could see the words 'I deserve this' being painfully etched into her skin, her blood transferring down onto the paper as ink. If she made Umbridge write long enough, the scars may end up permanent, which was just what she deserved. 

After that, she walked back to her dorm room. Lunch was going on and she didn't have much of an appetite, so her room was entirely empty when she arrived. She crawled into bed and laid there, her eyes blearily taking in the pile of unopened letters on her nightstand.

Most of her letters were from Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Andromeda, and Ted, but she barely opened any of them. They were all the same anyways; always asking about her grades and the reports they had gotten from the Order members working at Hogwarts telling them that she had been skipping school.

A good majority of the letters, however, were from Sirius, which was hilarious since she thought he wanted nothing to do with her. He made it very clear since before school even started. Lately he only cared about the normal things—the things that didn't matter. Like what Ethan had pointed out, he hadn't cared that people were spreading false rumors about her or making her out to be a whore, he only cared about the person she was dating. And even now all he could care about were her grades and her skipping. He never asked why, never asked if she was okay, never cared.

"He wants a normal kid," Ethan had told her one day after she was recovering from Nico's voicemail. "He can't deal with the problems of caring for a child soldier so he's trying to mold you into his version of normalcy. That's why he never asks about the war or how you're feeling, it would mean he'd have to wake the fuck up and face reality."

Ethan was right. Sirius always talked about how he had failed to save his brother, and that she was turning out just like him. Seeing her as she was now—a traumatized child soldier with morals darker then his own—probably reminded him too much of that fact that he had failed a second time. And he couldn't handle that.

Esmerelda reached out for the letters and the second she touched them, they started to fade away from existence due to the eradication spell Flitwick had taught her class.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. It was Hannah.

"Essie?" The blonde whispered.

Esmerelda lazily turned to lock eyes with her.

"It's Cedric. He's over at the common room. He, um, he wants to speak to you, if you're alright with that."

...And she had just gotten in bed a few minutes ago. Great.

Heaving a sigh, she rose from bed.

"I'll be there," she mumbled, and Hannah nodded and left.

She was the only one dressed in pajamas when she went to the common room. Because people didn't know the definition of being discreet, her fellow Hufflepuffs were staring at her in a very obvious manner. She could hardly care less, and instead just continued walking until she found Cedric.

"What." She demanded flatly.

Cedric looked at her up and down, his brow crinkled in worry. "Come on," he said, jerking his head to the side.

She allowed Cedric to lead her away from the gaggle of students and out of the common room. They stopped right outside of the kitchens, where the hallway was empty.

"I haven't seen you in a months," he began. "You don't go to classes anymore, you don't even come down to eat. People in the DA have been asking about you."

"Oh," she snorted. "They're concerned about the school's biggest whore?"

His face fell. "Nobody thinks that anymore..."

"Nobody in the DA thinks that anymore," she corrected with a sneer. "And it doesn't matter. People still believed it. Is this all you want to talk to me about? My attendance? I already got this lecture from Umbridge, I don't need another one."

"We're worried about you," he said firmly. "Me, Harry, Hermione, Ron, the people from the DA. We rarely ever see you anymore. Even Professor Sprout's asked about you, but all your roommates say is that you're sick or something."

Yeah, sick and tired of all this bullshit, she thought.

Her son was gone, and his stupid father refused to tell her anything about it. The Underworld was on lockdown so she couldn't even visit her own father anymore. The gods have been recalled and Olympus was closed. Her relationship with her adult guardians were so strained now that they felt like strangers to her. And school was driving her mad with how stupid the students and professors could be. She was tempted to go around and just test her new spell on each of them, deadly results be damned.

But contrary to what Sirius believed, she wasn't a monster.

She forced herself to calm down, and said in a more... strained, but softer tone: "I'm sorry for worrying you guys. Some things have happened back to my friends in New York and I'm not taking it well. I just... need time."

She needed a lot of things actually, but she wasn't about to push all her issues onto him.

Cedric eyed her carefully, as if he was trying to decipher her lies.

"Right," he said slowly. "Do you... do you want to talk about it?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I'd really rather not. These issues are... personal." Plus, it wasn't as if he could understand them. There would be a lot of explaining to do first before she could start rambling about her problems. 

His shoulders sank. "Oh... Well... I guess I'll stop bothering you then..."

She nodded her head and walked away.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

One week later, on December 14th, Percy Jackson had gone missing.

That night, Esmerelda, Ethan, Travis, and Connor were back at the penthouse, circled around the Jason Voorhees table once more. It was a familiar scene, they had done this before when Nico went missing and a second time to discuss the sealing of Olympus, and now it was happening a third time. 

Except, Percy was gone.

Right now, they had Ethan's laptop opened on the coffee table, Annabeth's grief stricken face on the screen. She was all the way San Francisco and they were probably emitting a lot of signals for monsters to find by doing this, but hardly any of them cared enough. On the right side of the table was the hovering Iris Message showcasing the entire camp council.

"Nothing weird happened," Travis began to recall the previous day. "We went to school, battled some monsters, then went home. Percy was fine..."

Ethan nodded in agreement. "I talked to Mrs. Jackson, she confirmed that Percy went home after school yesterday too. But this morning... she couldn't find him anywhere in the apartment. She said that he was almost late to school, she went to his room to wake him up, but he was just gone. She and Paul have already filed a missing persons report on him."

"And Esmerelda?" Chiron turned to her. "You couldn't find him either?"

"No," she said quietly. "I tried tracking him down, but the spell just... it disappeared. It fizzed away. Just like what happened with Nico."

He pursed his lips. "The same issue that Lou Ellen had faced."

"I used everything in his cabin," Lou Ellen added, stress lines all over her face. "I even used the hairs I found on his bed. Nothing worked."

"What does that mean?" Annabeth asked the sisters desperately. "If the tracking spell fails. Does it mean he's... he's dead... or..."

The whole room fell silent.

"That... could be it," Esmerelda said carefully, and Annabeth's face fell to despair. "Or it could mean that someone doesn't want us to find him. They'd have to be strong enough to intercept the magic, though."

"So it's a god," Katie gulped. "Or a Titan."

"Or someone adept at magic," Esmerelda confirmed. But that was only if Percy was still alive.

She was lucky enough to get that voicemail from Nico to confirm that he was alive. If he hadn't sent that, she would've spent months thinking he was dead.

But now, the day was almost over and Percy had yet to send any of them a message if he was okay or not. There was still no word for him, and Esmerelda felt dread pool at the bottom of her stomach at what that could mean.

Connor looked nervously at Ethan. "Y-you don't think it could be Zeus, could it? I mean... you did say that he was pissed..."

"Zeus would never risk enraging his brother. Doing so would enact another war." Chiron stated grimly.

"That might as well be happening now," Nyssa pointed out shakily. "Have you guys seen the news? Water levels are rising rapidly, floods, hurricanes, even earthquakes. There's been a bunch of deadly tsunamis all over the world. Thousands of mortals dead. Lord Poseidon's pissed."

"No Olympian is foolish enough to kidnap Poseidon's son," Chiron stated.

"That still leaves out a hundred other gods," Annabeth said angrily. "Any one of them could've taken Percy for a number of reasons. Where's Grover? Have you asked him anything? They have an empathy link, he should have felt something...!"

"I'm sorry, Annabeth, but he didn't," Chiron said apologetically, knowing that Percy's disappearance was hitting her the hardest. "He hasn't sensed anything off from the empathy link, and was shocked when he was informed that he was missing. He already tried contacting him but... but nothing."

"Nothing?" She repeated.

"Nothing came up. It was as if the empathy link was gone."

"Gone? But that... that can't just happen!" She protested. "They've had that empathy link for years, it's too late for it to be removed! The only way for it to be gone is if... if..."

She didn't finish the sentence, but they already knew what she was going to say next. Her eyes started to water with realization. She covered her mouth and started to sob. Her cries seemed to chip down on everyone else's moods too.

"We don't know if he's dead," Esmerelda said weakly, understanding what she was feeling. "It's not 100% confirmed."

"Esmerelda is right," Chiron said. "If Percy was truly dead and the empathy link was removed, Grover would've felt it. But he hadn't even realized something was wrong until we told of the situation. There's a chance Percy is still alive."

Annabeth wiped her eyes with shaking hands, breathing heavily.

"I'm going to New York then," she rasped. "I'll go to camp. I'll start my search there."

He frowned. "Annabeth, you're parents—"

She shook her head. "—They'll understand. I have to go." She ended the video chat after that. Ethan reached out to close his laptop.

Chiron sighed. "I knew she would do this..."

"Chiron, what do we do?" Clarisse demanded. "I don't except that Prissy's dead, so someone definitely took him. Percy's the savior of Olympus—dude's got a lot of enemies."

"I know," he said solemnly. "We will continue looking for him. Has Rachel said anything?"

"No," Chris, who was the cabin counselor when the Stolls were gone, replied. "Last I saw her, she was still in her cave, trying to find answers."

Chiron took a deep breath. "Alright. Until we have more details, we will assume that Percy is still alive. I do not care how many resources we have to waste, I want every able camper available to search for him and spread the word. Contact your siblings who aren't at camp now. Someone inform Tyson as well to spread the word to his Cyclops brethren, though there is a chance Lord Poseidon has already informed him. Anything else to add?"

Nobody spoke.

"Then meeting adjourned."

Ethan reached out to swipe through the Iris Message.

Everything was just bad news after bad news. October, Nico ran away from home and was suddenly off in some undisclosed location. November, Zeus' petty ass resulted to him recalling all the gods back and closing Olympus off for an indefinite amount of time. And now December, Percy—the Savior of fucking Olympus—was missing.

Or dead. That was pretty likely. A lot of signs pointed to him being dead anyways.

Could the Fates just give us a fucking break? Ethan angrily thought to himself as he left the house to go pick up their dinner. None of them were in the mood for cooking and they were all tired out of their minds from looking all over New York for Percy. Ethan volunteered to go. At least it gave him a small distraction that was the disaster called their lives.

But then the phone call happened.

He didn't recognize the number, but he answered it anyways.

"Yeah?" He said gruffly as he weaved through the streets.

"Ethan?"

He froze, recognizing the voice immediately.

"Nico...?" He said softly, slowing to a stop. People in the streets shoved passed him but he didn't care.

"Ethan," Nico said quickly. "Is—is Essie—is my mom with you? Is she—"

"—YOU FUCKING BRAT!" Ethan roared into the phone, and several people jumped. "How fucking dare you disobey your mother and run away from home! You got us all worried sick, you shithead! Your ass is GROUNDED, you got that? GROUNDED!"

"I—"

"—Was your visit worth it?" He snapped, and the boy fell silent. "Huh? Did you get the answers you wanted? Was it worth making your mother miserable, stressing us out, making us worry about you?"

"You're... worried about me too?" Nico's voice was shaky.

Ethan closed his eye and let out a breath.

"Yes," he admitted. "Yes, I was worried. I know I don't show it but... ugh, I care about you, okay? I literally had a heart attack when I realized you were gone. You can't just... you can't just leave without saying a word. That stupid note you left doesn't count." He said weakly.

He could hear Nico gulping on the other other line, like he was trying to swallow back his emotions. He could understand the sentiment.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to make you guys so worried. I wasn't even planning on being gone for so long, but..."

"Tell me where you, right now," Ethan demanded. "I don't care what your stupid father says. You're coming back home."

"I can't," Nico said painfully. "That's why I called. I would've called my mom but I didn't know if she was in Hogwarts or not—"

"—She's here in New York," Ethan interrupted quickly. "Hold on, I'll run back home. Do not hang up."

He had never sprinted so fast before. He was pretty sure he hadn't ran this fast since the war. Unfortunate mortals were practically shoved out of the way, traffic on the street got worse thanks to him literally hopping over cars and running across while it was a green light, but at least he made it back to the penthouse.

He burst through the doors, startling Esmerelda, who was the only one in the living room.

She blinked, "Where's the food?"

"I forgot," whoops. "But Nico called." He pressed the speaker phone button.

Her eyes widened, and she quickly rose from the floor to stand beside him.

"Nico?" She called out hopefully.

"...Mom?" His reply was hesitant, like he was scared about something.

Esmerelda burst into tears, and Ethan awkwardly handed her a box of Kleenex from the coffee table.

"Why would you leave?" She sobbed. "You had me—had all of us so scared! I got your voicemail the night you left, but you haven't tried to contact any of us for months!"

"I'm sorry," he said in a small voice. "I... I had to be careful with communicating."

"What do you mean by that? Are you somewhere dangerous?" Ethan asked sternly.

"No, it's safe where I'm staying," Nico assured. "I just... I have to be careful. We're not really allowed to leave whenever we want, and I know people have been watching me. I just managed to slip away and find a payphone, but they'll start to notice I'm gone soon. I couldn't risk shadow traveling long distance either, anything could happen on the way." 

"Nico, that—that doesn't sound like you're somewhere safe. Why would they need to have you on constant watch?" Esmerelda asked, wiping her eyes with another tissue. "Can't you tell us anything about where you're at?"

"I can't," he replied guiltily.

It suddenly started to dawn on her. "You swore an oath of secrecy to your father, hadn't you?" Just like she had done with Hera.

The silence that followed her question was telling.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said, and she could hear him sigh in relief. She shared a knowing glance with Ethan. "Alright, we won't ask you anymore questions about what you're doing. But you're certain you're safe, right?"

"I am," he confirmed, and Esmerelda could feel a massive weight lift off her shoulders. In the corner of her eyes, she could see Ethan lean against the wall in relief as well.

"Have you heard about Percy?" She asked.

"What about Percy?" There was noticeable confusion laced in his voice.

She grimaced. "Um, well..."

"You've missed out on a lot," Ethan said, gently taking the phone from her. "A month after you left, Zeus called all the gods back to Olympus and sealed it off. We can't contact them anymore or go up to Olympus anymore. And now today, just this morning, Percy's gone missing."

"What?" He demanded.

Ethan snorted. "Now you know how we felt about you."

Esmerelda pinched his side. "Shush! Don't make him feel guilty!"

"He deserves it!" He hissed.

Another pinch. "Ow! Okay, fine," he grumbled.

He handed her the phone back.

"Percy's missing," she repeated. "Nobody can find him anywhere and we don't even know if he's alive—"

"—He's alive," he interrupted, his voice hard.

Her eyes widened. "Wait, you can—you can still sense him?"

"Yes. His soul is still somewhere here in the living world, so he's alive. I can't track him though, but I can at least sense that he's here." He explained.

"So he's not dead," Ethan drawled. "Camp will be happy to hear that."

"We'll tell Annabeth and the others about this," Esmerelda stated.

"Okay," Nico replied. "I'll try and look for him too, but..."

He didn't speak for a while. After a few seconds, they heard him curse.

"Nico!" Esmerelda gasped, she then shot Ethan a pointed look when she saw him smirk.

"Sorry," the boy apologized. "I have to go back. I've been gone for way too long now."

"Wait, when can you call us again? Or when can you come back?" She asked desperately.

"I don't know, I'm sorry," he said, genuinely pained. "I'll try and call you guys, but I'll probably contact Ethan first since he's more likely to be somewhere with service."

For the millionth time, Esmerelda cursed the fact that mortal magic interfered with technology.

"Okay," she said quickly. "Stay safe, Nico. I love you."

"I love you too..." Nico said softly. "I'll watch out for myself. And Ethan..."

Ethan rose a brow. "Yeah?"

"You better take care of my mom while I'm gone." He said sternly.

Ethan scoffed and was about to respond something like 'yeah, duh, 'course I will' until realization dawned on him: the brat wouldn't be around to cockblock him anymore.

A devious smirk crawled over his face. 

"Yeah," he said. "Don't worry, Nico, I'll take good care of your mom while you're gone."

Esmerelda gave him a lost look, which was to be expected. His girlfriend was just too innocent to understand any of his sexual references.

But Nico understood what he was implying the second those words left his mouth.

"No," he said, his voice running dry. He sounded horrified. "No, Ethan, you fucking bastard, don't you dare—"

"—Bye kid!" Ethan said cheerfully, pressing the end button.

"Ethan," she frowned at him. "You didn't have to hang up so rudely."

"It's fine, he was in a hurry to leave anyways," he shrugged, pocketing his phone back. "So... Nico's okay and Percy's alive..."

A relieved smile appeared on her lips as she collapsed on the hippo couch.

"Yeah," she breathed out as he collapsed beside her. "After three months of straight hell... we finally have some good news...! We should tell everyone soon."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, so... now what?"

Their stomachs growled and that was when Ethan realized that he had been so distracted by Nico's phone call that completely forgotten to pick up their order of Chinese food. Whoops.

He looked at her apologetically, "Um... sorry."

She shook her head with a giggle and leaned against him. "Don't worry about it. We can just order pizza."

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

At least Esmerelda's finally getting a break, Hecate thought to herself as she watched her eldest daughter cuddle with the son of Nemesis.

As happy as she was for her, she was still so stressed out by everything Zeus was putting them through. Ever since the Jackson kid went missing all he kept screaming about was 'where is Percy Jackson?!' this and 'where is Hera?!' that. It was all very annoying and she was beginning to get a godly migraine from it all.

You see, Zeus had a shit list, which was basically a list of people he hated. It was pretty long, long enough to wrap around the planet Earth several times at least, and Hecate was certain her name was somewhere near the top.

She was, of course, one of the many (emphasis on 'many') gods who betrayed him and sided with Kronos, so it was only natural she would have a decently high place on his shit list. Usually, she wouldn't care for such a thing, but now it was beginning to be a problem.

Zeus had recalled all the gods back to Olympus, and she had her own lovely little palace there that she hadn't occupied in the last several decades. But she didn't return, instead, she stayed in her personal palace down in the Underworld, a place where Zeus couldn't easily keep an eye on her. So now he was extra paranoid about her breaking his stupid rules and interacting with the gods and demigods. It didn't help that Hera, Percy Jackson, and the Roman Grace kid had gone missing.

She had to be more careful when watching over her children then. She couldn't risk letting anything slip, or showing herself before them even when she really wanted to.

Like now for instance:

She was in her throne room, watching over each of her kids as usual. Lou Ellen had the most peaceful life. Most of it just consisted of her doing the usual camp things (though she did seem pretty lonely without her elder sister around), and spending time with Mabel and the other Demeter kids.

Esmerelda had been depressive since Nico had gone missing, and her mood seemed to worsen as the next two months went by, but at least today, she had been given a reprieve. Nico had managed to contact her and Ethan, and the pair of them were currently relaxing together on the couch while informing everyone of the sort-of good news that Percy Jackson was still alive. It was pretty cute, in Hecate's opinion. Esmerelda, Ethan, and Nico honestly reminded her of a wholesome family unit.

As for Alabaster... Ever since the Thanatos had been kidnapped and the Doors of Death became uncontrollable, her eldest child had been struggling to survive in the mortal world. Monsters were coming at him faster than ever, and they were coming back twice as fast. Then there was the situation with Lamia...

Oh Lamia, she thought despondently. Her poor daughter had been cursed by Hera eons ago, and that resulted in her living her monstrous life in an eternal fit of rage and vengeance, placing a curse on every demigod in the world so monsters would hunt them down.

It was misplaced vengeance. Hera couldn't care less about demigods, so Lamia's curse really didn't effect her at all. She ought to get lessons on how to properly get revenge by Nemesis instead.

But anyways, Lamia hated demigods, even if they were her own siblings. She had dedicated several weeks on hunting Alabaster down, and Hecate didn't have the heart to help either of her kids kill each other. Instead, she resorted to helping Alabaster eternally trap Lamia instead.

The whole thing had taken a toll on her poor son, and he was currently resting at a motel. His newest Mist guardian, Dr. Howard Claymore was still inside the Mistform card. Hecate was just glad he finally wasn't alone anymore.

So that was three out of four children, all safe and sound (somewhat). Which left just Étienne to check on...

A dying noise bubbled in the back of her throat when she realized Étienne was lost in America. He had completed his training in the Wolf House a few weeks ago and was finally allowed to try and find Camp Jupiter on his own except... the poor boy was way off track.

How did he end up in New Mexico?! She internally shrieked, wanting to pull at her hair. He was literally two states away! For Chaos' sake, he was already in the designated state at the beginning, all he had to do was travel a couple miles north!

She contemplated on asking Esmerelda to assist him, but she would probably spit insults at her or use her for target practice. Plus, she already had her own problems to deal with and Hecate felt it was best not to add any more worries in her life. Lou Ellen didn't know of the Romans, so that was a no as well...

That only left Alabaster.

Hecate drummed her fingers against the arms of her throne thoughtfully.

Yes, Alabaster would have to do. He had been banished from Camp Half-Blood and the rest of the gods—or at least the Olympians—were no longer keeping an eye on him, believing that he would die out in the mortal world (a belief that always made her scoff. The Olympians were truly stupid to think she would leave her own kids to survive after she suffered so many losses). None of the gods would notice if he were to become aware of the Romans' existence and their Roman counterparts would never interfere with things.

So Alabaster would be the best bet.

She looked for him in her mind and saw that he was sleeping in some ransacked house in Keeseville, New York, and slipped into his dreams.

"Mother?" He blinked, looking around and realizing they were inside her palace. "Am... Am I dreaming?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "I apologize for interrupting your dreamless sleep, Alabaster. I know how tired you are after facing Lamia."

Realization sunk in his eyes. His body seemed to grow more tired by the second. "You need me to do something, don't you?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized once more. "But... this is quite important."

"What is it?"

She carefully explained the existence of Roman mythology, and that he had once worked alongside Roman demigods during the war without realizing it.

"Your own weapon is Roman," she added. "Imperial gold. That's a metal only the Romans used."

Alabaster was still staring at her, gobsmacked. "I-I don't understand... Why are you telling me this?"

"You have a brother," she explained quietly. "A Roman brother. He's the only Roman child I have, and I don't have any other living legacies either. Roman demigods have a different test then the Greeks. Before they reach Camp Jupiter, they must first train in the Wolf House. Your little brother, Étienne Rosier, survived the training and now he needs to find the camp by himself except... he's a little lost."

"Lost?" He echoed.

"Very lost," she corrected. "The camp is located in the Bay Area of California, I won't tell you more then that, but he somehow managed to go all the way to New Mexico."

He blinked. "That's... impressive."

She nodded. "I need you to help lead him to Camp Jupiter."

"Alright," he agreed easily, which was to be expected.

"But there's more you should know about him," she added carefully. "Étienne is... he's a wizard, just like your sister."

His face darkened. "That girl is no sister to me."

It always saddened her to hear him say that, especially since she knew it was all her fault. But she wouldn't press on that issue today.

"Étienne is fiercely fond of her," she warned him. "You must not speak ill of her. It will have serious repercussions, my son. He's quite... unstable, so tread carefully."

He pursed his lips, but nodded his head in acceptance.

"Good. Now, Étienne's magic is unstable. He lacks control, but he's more attuned to the dead, as my Roman counterpart, Trivia, is better known as the Queen of Ghosts. You've been practicing your umbrakinesis, haven't you?"

He frowned uncertainly. "Yes..."

"Can you shadow travel?"

He nodded. "Somewhat."

"Shadow travel to Carlsbad, New Mexico," she instructed. "He's somewhere in Normandy street, but he's asleep right now."

"Understood." He said.

"For now, you can rest," she told him. "And don't worry, I will be watching over you."

He nodded, and she waved her hand and disappeared from his dreams.

— author's note —

* I always thought Umbridge's quill was called the "blood quill" but I searched it up and apparently it's called the "black quill"??????

OOOOOOHHHHH MY GOOOOOOODDDDDDDD

This chapter was extremely hard for me to do, I had to delete scenes, rewrite them, and then rewrite the rewritten scenes and... ugh! 😤 There was a lot of MAJOR construction in this chapter that took me almost a whole week to finish up, I hope I didn't make it obvious. Some scenes might be choppy or they flowed wrong, or whatever, so I'm sorry if any of you noticed that.

The reason I kept changing everything was mainly because of Essie's emotions. I struggled so hard with writing it because I kept changing my mind on whether I should have her be downright miserable, or snappy, bitter and angry. In the end, I decided to do a little bit of both options. BUT then I also decided to add a few more scenes like the Nico one near the end because I really just couldn't bare to have her be so sad anymore you guys, omfg, I really just wanted to give the poor girl a break.

Like... Nico's already missing and so is Percy... That's gonna crush her. I had all these long, drawn out scenes about Essie being miserable and hating herself and I was just like 'I can't fucking do this to her anymore, she's been miserable FOR YEARS, I should give her a small break instead!!! 😭 😭 😭"

Soooo, I changed some scenes and replaced it with the scene where Nico managed to contact her and Ethan. He confirmed that he's okay, promised to try and contact them again (whenever he can, of course), and also told them that Percy was 100% alive, just missing somewhere. Thus, making her relieved and happy.

For once since I've started writing this series, I actually decided to replace an angsty, depressing scene, with a happy one... (you all are very welcome, by the way) It feels so weird being this merciful... It almost feels... nice...

Hmmm... should I be kinder to Essie in the later chapters??? 🤔 🤔 🤔

But anyways, all sides of the game are moving now. Nico's at Camp Jupiter being a sneaky boi, Jason will arrive in the Wilderness School in a few days, Percy's missing thanks to Hera, Alabaster defeated Lamia, and Hecate is having him watch over Étienne 😌

As for the HP side of the story, shit's about to go down soon too 😈

Ethan realizing Nico won't be able to cockblock him anymore and he gets to spend aalllll the time he wants with his cute lil gf: