▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY THREE ▬▬▬

I have good news everyone!!! Classes ended like nearly a month ago and my grades have  finally been finalized!!! I have all A's in my classes AND I even have a 112.77% in my Ancient Philosophy class thanks to all the times I did the extra credit short essay questions on the exams 🤓

Now... onto some bad news 😔 If you've read the author's note of my "Drew Tanaka & the Aphrodite Kids Deserve Better" rant in my guidebook, then you're probably aware that I made a major mistake in my plot which is why I took so long to update the previous chapter. 

It's a BIIIIIG mistake and I have to go through all 10+ drafted chapters and edit them. Sometimes I have to rewrite big chunks too and it's just been taking a lot of time for me to fix. So updates will be a little slower until I completely finish fixing my mistake ☹️

ON THE NIGHT OF NEW Years Eve, Esmerelda and Ethan had a date over at the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center. It was super hard to get a time slot around midnight, but with Ethan's help they were "lucky" enough to get one of the spots.

Neither of the two have ever ice skated before, so they were stumbling around for the first couple of minutes and hanging on to the railing for dear life until they finally got used to it.

"Essie, would you slow down, you're gonna fall," Ethan grumbled trying to catch up with her.

"Sorry," she called out. "It's kinda hard on these things..." She said, glancing down at the skates.

"They suck," he said flatly. "I can't believe we paid thirteen bucks for these shitty skates. The ice sucks too, it feels like I'm skating through gravel."

She had to agree with that. The ice rink wasn't exactly the most smoothest and she was pretty sure some of the skating shoes they were renting out were duck taped together... But that didn't matter much to her. The both of them had a day off, no classes to teach, no metals and supplies to retrieve, and no meetings to attend. Plus, it was New Years Eve, the perfect day for a date.

When Ethan finally caught up to her, he grasped her hand so he wouldn't lose her in the large crowd again.

"You wanna head back to that bakery we passed once this is over?" He asked eagerly, his stomach grumbling a little. They had dinner a few hours ago at this seafood place where they practically gorged themselves full, but when Ethan caught a glimpse of the oreo donuts they were serving at this one bakery, he was starving all over again.

"Oh yeah definitely," she replied. "We should probably bring a bunch of desserts for everyone else too, and maybe get an order ready so we got something to eat for the next meeting."

"Those meetings are useless," he rolled his eye. "It's always just about asking Leo how close the ship is to being built—which he already stated in the first meeting would take a couple of months—and then the rest of the meeting is just everyone moping about Percy."

"Aren't you worried about him?" Esmerelda asked.

"No," Ethan replied bluntly.

"But the Roman camp is pretty intense..." She pointed out.

"He'll be fine as long as they don't have him do basic math."

Ouch. It was a good thing the poor boy wasn't around to hear that.

"Well I'm worried about Nico," she admitted, sighing sadly. "He hasn't contacted us yet, and if he's at Camp Jupiter—which I'm sure he is—then he might not be treated nicely there..."

Ethan wasn't too concerned about that. He knew Nico could take care of himself. The brat spent months trying to ruin his life from concocting annoying schemes to even straight-up attempted murder. He'd be fine. The most the little shit would suffer through was that he no longer had his mommy to constantly baby him. Hah. Hopefully he'd learn to toughen up over there.

"If anyone tries to bully him, he'd bully them back," Ethan said bluntly. "Trust me, Essie, the demon spawn will be just fine."

"His birthday's coming up this month though," she continued to fret, looking miserable. "January 28. He'll be turning thirteen... I wanted to take him to Italy for his birthday party and bake him a nice cake and all that..."

Ethan winced upon hearing that. Sometime before Nico ran away, Esmerelda had excitedly told him about her plans on giving Nico a proper birthday party since the years before he had never gotten one.

Last year, he spent his birthday in the Underworld where Esmerelda was only able to give him a cupcake and some gelato before they immediately got back to work on trying to find a way to save the world. The year before that, he was roaming around the country for the same reason as before. And the year before that, he spent his birthday homeless. And the year before that... well, you get the point.

So yeah. His birthdays since leaving the Lotus Casino weren't exactly the greatest, so Ethan could understand why she would want to go all out for Nico's thirteenth birthday. Even he could admit that the kid deserved a decent birthday party.

"He'll call us," Ethan said firmly. "He'll try to sneak out of there to talk to us again like last time."

There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Yeah," she breathed out, looking a little happier now. "There's no way he wouldn't call us on his own birthday. I'm sure he wants to hear us wish him a happy birthday after all. Do you think the campers there will give him a birthday party too?"

From the description Jason gave them about Camp Jupiter, Ethan doubted it. But he said, "Maybe." since it would make her happy.

"With a cake?"

He shrugged. "Probably."

"What if they don't serve him any pasta on his own birthday?" She despaired. "Oh, I hope he's eating well there..."

Ethan snorted in amusement. As adorably worried as she looked right now, he knew Camp Jupiter was going to be in a lot of trouble if there was so much as a hair out of place on Nico's bratty little head. If Nico told her he was being mistreated, the Romans would probably go extinct that very same day.

(He knew Nico knew this too. So he wouldn't be surprised if that evil little goblin chose to tattle to his mother for even the slightest inconvenience, like if his sandwiches were untoasted and the crusts weren't cut off. Knowing Esmerelda, she would take that as a great offense and go crazy on the Romans. He'd probably enjoy watching it happen with some popcorn and a soda.)

"Kid's probably living off of Caesar salad at this point. You can ask him all about him when he calls us," he offered. "Now do you want me to twirl you?"

Naturally, she lit up at the idea. Fully assured that Nico was doing fine, she allowed herself to enjoy the rest of their date. Neither of them were professional ice skaters, but it was fun gliding around the ice with Ethan playfully twirling her like the other couples did. He even tried dipping her for a kiss but she ended up bursting into giggles when he nearly lost his balance.

Suddenly everyone around them stopped what they were doing and began to count. The couple looked up to see the building of One Times Square, where the ball drop was slowly approaching the bottom of the roof.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! ONE!" Everyone cheered, and Esmerelda clapped alongside them.

She looked up at Ethan with a smile on her face.

"Another year that we survived," she told him.

Something in his face shifted, as if he had realized the same thing as her. Demigods were known to never live for long, yet here they were now, two senior campers who survived a world-ending war. Being alive and being happy at this age, and after everything they went through—those sort of things were considered a miracle.

"Yeah," he smiled softly. "Let's hope we stay alive for this one too."

Then, he leaned down to kiss her as cheers and fireworks erupted all around them.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Things calmed down after the pair's New Years Eve date and the holiday seasons were over with. It was back to work for everyone, especially those were in charge of gathering supplies and building the Argo II. Esmerelda was one of the campers tasked with searching for more Celestial bronze and unfortunately, she was grouped with Piper.

Esmerelda was the only one who didn't see a problem with it.

"I'm grouped with Piper, Katie, Clarisse, and Miranda," she told Ethan as they cuddled up on his couch. "Piper's mood hasn't gotten any better, so I'm thinking maybe we can all go to the mall for some shopping to perk her up a little!"

It hadn't been that long since her loss against Drew, but Esmerelda had expected her to get over it by now. She was sure the girl was finally starting to fit in at camp—heck, she even saw her playing an odd game with the kids that consisted of letting them chase her around with knives while she pretended to be a monster or something like that! But apparently she was wrong because Piper still walked around the camp wearing a bitter scowl on her face. 

Shopping was the last thing Piper would enjoy, which was why Ethan was kind of tempted to tell her that it was a good idea. But a greater part of him knew Piper would only get snappy with her. He didn't want Esmerelda getting hurt because of the girl's envy, bitterness, and internalized misogyny.

"Piper doesn't seem like that the type to enjoy shopping," he said gently. "You guys are gonna be searching throughout the city, right? How about you get some dessert to eat at that one bakery we went to during our New Years Eve date."

She looked like she was about to start drooling just from the very mention of it. "Good idea...! Oooh, and I'll get you those oreo donuts you love so much!"

Now he was going to start drooling. "You're the best," he grinned, leaning down to peck her on the cheek. "Now you should get going. I'll see you after I'm done with my class."

"I'll get you a dozen donuts!" She promised before jumping up to her feet.

"And stick with Clarisse!" He called out to her as she headed for the door. He did not want her partnering up with Piper of all people. It was already bad enough they were in the same group again.

"Okay!" She called back before finally leaving the cabin.

A couple minutes later, he had to get ready to teach his class. He turned off the TV, got dressed in the proper workout clothes, and headed out as well. His annoying ass students were already waiting for him at the training area, and they immediately straightened up their backs once he entered their line of vision.

He had them do their usual exercises and stretched before getting down to business.

"Swords out and pair up. You'll be sparring and I'll be evaluating. Now go." He ordered and they all did as they were told.

Ethan watched them practice with a sense of pride. They had all improved since the beginning of their lessons, not just in skill, but in behavior too. They stopped bitching about how tough he was, the ruder campers stopped bothering the other kids, and even Clovis didn't doze off as much anymore—a feat that Ethan was certainly very impressed with.

This was excellent. They might actually have a chance to survive longer than a year.

He decided to tell them just that:

"You guys did great. You might not end up dead this year," he said with brutal honesty that they learned to get used to. "But you guys still suck at disarming. We'll go over that lesson again tomorrow and maybe some defensive techniques if we have any time."

As he spoke, he could spy a familiar blonde boy standing by at the side, as if waiting for him to finish up. He inwardly sighed in annoyance. What the hell did Jason want from him now?

"Class dismissed," he told them. The campers all filed out, rubbing their sore spots and stretching their arms out.

Ethan looked over at Jason as the boy approached him.

"Well?" He said. "What do you want?"

"We got off on the wrong foot," Jason began. "So I came here to apologize to you for that."

Ethan stared.

Jason shifted a little, growing more uncertain by the second. He couldn't believe he was actually doing this, but he might as well try to get along with him since Ethan's powers were... kind of freaking him out.

He couldn't exactly prove it, but he was 99% sure that he had done something to mess with their quest to save Hera.

Ethan must have cursed them with bad luck or something because a bunch of annoying things would happen to them throughout their quest. There was that one incident where a bird pooped on his head, then that time where he bent down to pick something up and his pants ripped (that part was so embarrassing for him, oh my gods). Piper suffered the brunt of it though; she nearly got ran over by a semi and she even tripped on thin air and landed face-down on dog poop.

There were other horrible instances for them, but you get the point.

But Leo? Leo got lucky. He found a twenty dollar bill on the ground, was the hundredth customer for this one smoothie place and got a free drink, got almost every single item in the vending machine when it malfunctioned, a nice old lady even called him a 'handsome young man' without even sparing him and Piper a glance, and so forth.

Totally not fair.

"I'm also not after your girlfriend," he added. "Really. Essie's cute—not that I'm after her or anything—but I don't like her that way—and I'm not saying she's unattractive or anything, but uh," he realized he was rambling and took a deep winced. "Sorry. Look, I'm not after your girlfriend, I just..."

"You think I'm some abusive asshole who's keeping her trapped in a relationship with me," Ethan said flatly, unimpressed.

"I... did," Jason admitted. It was kind of hard not to think that way, especially after finding out that Ethan had kidnapped her all those years ago... Plus, Ethan was terrifying. Nothing about him screamed 'boyfriend material'. He was more like the type of guy parents would shield their precious daughters from.

Almost every day he would find Ethan dragging Esmerelda away to his cabin and she wouldn't be seen for the next several hours, only coming out the morning after, with marks around her neck that he couldn't really see clearly and barely able to walk without looking like she was in pain. It worried Jason so much that he brought it up to one of her friends, the Stolls, who, er, explained to him what was really happening behind doors.

Now that was embarrassing but at least the truth was better than what he originally thought. Nevertheless, he still couldn't believe the two were actually together. He had no idea how two completely different people (one clearly violent and the other clearly sweet) could be in a relationship.

But nobody else seemed to think that. While campers were definitely scared of Ethan, nobody really thought of him and Esmerelda being together as 'weird' or 'concerning', even after the whole kidnapping issue. In fact, they were the most popular couple in camp—possibly even rivaling the famous 'Percabeth'.

And honestly... Jason can sort of see why. While the whole 'Ethan kidnapping his girlfriend' was certainly a great concern to him, he had seen the couple go about with their daily lives together and... they actually seemed pretty normal. With Esmerelda around, Ethan looked happier and softer, less 'I'll fucking kill you' and more 'I wanna fucking marry you'. Heck, he even saw the guy give her flowers. And it wasn't even a special holiday.

(Jason wondered if Percy was that good of a boyfriend towards Annabeth. If not, then he needed to up his boyfriend game because Ethan was beating him.)

But Jason considered himself a sharp guy. Even though they definitely were in love with each other (maybe a little too in love), he could see certain aspects of their relationship that wasn't exactly... healthy. He wasn't oblivious to how Ethan glared at any incoming camper as if they were a threat he was ready to gut, or how he how he always wanted to keep Esmerelda at his side and always under his gaze. Even Esmerelda had her problems, like how perfectly fine she was with every terrible thing Ethan would do. She wasn't blind to his faults, she knew that he was violent, rude, and callous, but she just didn't care. Or at least, she didn't care as much as she should.

"Our relationship's none of your concern," Ethan said coldly, his voice bringing him back to the moment. "I admit, before we got together I wasn't exactly the kindest to her, even when I wanted to be. But she's my number one priority from now on, got it?

Yeah Jason definitely got it. He gave him a nod of confirmation.

"And you're not gonna try and break us up, right? Because I'll fucking kill you if you try." He threatened.

"I won't," Jason said.

"Swear it," he demanded.

Jason paled a little, but then cleared his throat. "A-alright, I swear on—"

"—Dude I was just kidding," Ethan sighed.

"Oh thank gods."

"I can tell you're not into her," he continued. "I'm more concerned on you trying to, oh I don't know, 'save' Essie from me. But you already said you wouldn't, and hopefully you're not dumb enough to go back on your word, are you?"

"No." He said truthfully.

Ethan's lips curled up into a satisfied smile, but in Jason's opinion, he looked more sinister like that.

"I'm glad to hear that," Ethan replied, the smile still plastered on his face.

Just then, they heard someone call out, "Jason!"

They both turned, and Ethan's smile disappeared when he spotted Piper a few feet away from the training grounds. She didn't dare to get any closer, looking at the distance between them warily as if he had planted landmines all over the place for her to step on.

Good. She was taking his threat seriously. About time she grew some brain cells.

He turned back to Jason, who was motioning for to wait.

"You know," he began. "You shouldn't encourage her delusions."

Jason looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Her fake memories of the two of you dating? They're just that. They're fake, and she's clinging on to them. She didn't even want Essie to give her back her actual memories. You're not her boyfriend, Jason, you don't have to pretend to be just to make her feel better." Ethan told him seriously. "If you're uncomfortable with what she's doing, just tell her that."

Jason's shoulders slumped. Everything he was saying was absolutely true (though it was surprising that he didn't slip in an insult or two). Leo had his actual memories back, so the two of them were able to become friends naturally and genuinely without the fake memories holding them back, but Piper...

Throughout their entire quest to save Hera, Piper would sometimes forget that her memories were fake. She would tell him about certain things they had done together back at the Wilderness School and Jason would have to politely remind her that those never really happened and she would apologize with a sad laugh that made him feel guilty. But then she started trying to hold his hand, hugging him when he least expected it, kissing him, and whatnot.

It made him feel uncomfortable, but it also made him feel guilty. Not just because she would get sad whenever he reminded her of the truth, but because... lately, he had been seeing flashes of a girl in his mind. A regal looking girl, with tanned skin littered with battle scars that he could see himself caressing, and dark hair that always seemed to be tied in a braid. He would get flashes of themselves in battle, fighting side-by-side. He could even imagine her voice; deep, stern, and soft at times that it made his heart flutter.

He was certain of it now. He had someone he loved back at Camp Jupiter. And then Hera came, ripped him away from her and dumped him in a school bus holding hands with some other girl who had fake memories of him.

He was beginning to see why Ethan hated the gods so much (not that he condoned joining the Titan Army of course!).

"I've been trying," Jason mumbled, going back to the conversation in hand.

"Try harder." Ethan said bluntly.

He winced. "But what if she cries?"

"Video tape it."

"Dude, no!" Jason stared at him like he was crazy, but honestly, he should've expected that answer. "Can't you give me any better advice?"

"Fine, tell her you hate her and that she's a crazy bitch."

"No!" He exclaimed. "I don't want to be an asshole. I just—how would you break up with someone?"

"You're not even dating her, dumbass, this isn't a breakup at all." Ethan pointed out with a roll of his eye. "It's not that hard. Just tell her that she's creeping you out and to fuck off."

The younger boy sighed in defeat. "Never mind. I'll figure it out."

"Good. Now get rid of her, just seeing her breathing near me pisses me off," Ethan scowled, motioning him away with a shooing gesture.

Jason trudged away and Ethan watched the pair chat for a bit before finally leaving.

Finally, Ethan thought once Piper disappeared.

He grabbed all his things before heading out. If Piper was already back, then so would Esmerelda. He found her pretty easily. She was sitting at a table nearby the volleyball courts with Drew and Clarisse, a box of bakery sweets set in front of her.

Much to his satisfaction, she looked perfectly fine even after her trip with Piper. There was not a scratch on her face, nor a frown.

He took a seat beside her and greeted her with a kiss. "Hey."

She lit up. "Hey! I got your donuts! Here," she handed him one.

"Oh you're here," Drew smiled sweetly. "We were just talking about you."

Esmerelda turned red. "They're planning ways to keep us separated during next week's capture the flag game."

"What, why?" He asked through a mouthful of oreo donuts.

"Are you kidding?" Clarisse said flatly. "All of our cabins are on the same team. We cannot afford to lose because neither of you can keep your hands off of each other."

"Like last time," Drew sighed.

Esmerelda shrunk, her cheeks absolutely flaming at the mention of what happened in their last game of capture of flag.

"We're sorry," she said in a small voice.

"I'm not, it's that dude's fault for interrupting." Ethan scoffed. "Besides, he freaked out so much that he left the area without even grabbing the flag. Our team won because of us."

"Ethan!" She hissed. "You threatened to kill him!"

"He interrupted!"

"You two shouldn't have been doing any of that in the first place!" Clarisse snapped.

"We won, didn't we?" Ethan shot back.

"Well, yeah, but—"

"—Then you're welcome."

Drew let out a groan. "Forget it, they're insatiable."

"Hey, Ethan was the one who started it!" Esmerelda protested.

"Yes, and who finished it with me?" Ethan smirked teasingly.

She shoved another donut in his mouth, but he gladly took it.

The four of them argued back and forth until they finally came to an agreement: Ethan and Esmerelda would no longer be guarding but the flag, but they would be working together as a team to prevent the enemy team from getting closer to it. BUT, they would be grouped with three more demigods to keep them (or Ethan, really) in line.

After some careful planning, the group headed out to the dining pavilion for dinner and fell into line to dump some of their food into the bronze braziers. Right in front of them was Jason, Leo, and Piper. The last two seemed to be talking about something while Jason stood off, looking strangely constipated for some reason.

Ethan inwardly sighed. The dude still hadn't figured out how to tell her to fuck off. Shame.

Drew quietly scoffed beside them. "Oh not her again."

"She's still bitter over the loss?" Clarisse smirked.

"You cannot believe the nerve of that girl," she grumbled. "One of our brothers was putting on makeup and you know what that little bitch said? 'Oh my god, are you putting on makeup'?" She mimicked her voice terribly.

Esmerelda frowned, "What's wrong with him putting on makeup?"

"Exactly, there's nothing! But she is such a—"

"—Shut up for a second," Ethan interrupted, noticing Jason's stare.

Ethan glanced over at Piper, then gave the younger boy a disapproving look.

Jason gave him an exasperated look as if he was saying, 'I don't know how!'

Ethan just shook his head. 'Tell her you hate her,' he mouthed, very much aware that Esmerelda, Drew, and Clarisse were looking back and forth between them like this was a tennis match.

'I can't do that!' Jason mouthed back.

'Then do something!'

The blonde was about to reply only to nearly jumped ten feet in the air when Piper touched his shoulder.

"Jason?" She said. "Were you listening? I asked—"

"—I don't like you, Piper!" Jason blurted out without thinking.

The whole dining pavilion fell silent. Everyone was staring at them now.

Ethan gawked at him uncharacteristically before snorting into his hand, barely able to keep himself from breaking out into laughter.

Oh my gods, he thought, hiding a grin behind his hand. I didn't think he'd do this now!

"Ohhh shit," Leo quietly mumbled, shuffling away so he was cutting ahead of the line. Nobody really cared, too busy watching Jason and Piper.

Piper was very much aware of everyone's eyes on them, her face quickly burning up. "W-what are you doing, Jason?" She asked nervously, eyes wide with panic.

"I'm sorry!" Jason whispered in a hushed voice, but everyone had sharp ears anyways. "I didn't mean to—I just—I know you choose to keep those fake memories Hera gave you, but I'm sorry, Piper. I'm not your boyfriend, I never was, and I'm not comfortable with you acting like those memories actually happened. I-I think I might actually have a girlfriend back home—"

"—What?" Piper was horrified.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again, more calmer this time. "I just feel like you're living in some fantasy and it's, well..."

Ethan faked a cough, "Creeping you out." He supplied.

"Yeah," Jason agreed, only to pause. "Wait, no—"

"—I can't believe you're—" Piper cut herself off, shaking her head. "No... No, I can't take this...!"

She dumped her plate of food on the floor and stormed out of the dining pavilion, head bowed as everyone watched her go.

Nobody knew what to say. Esmerelda was still staring off in astonishment, Clarisse was biting back an amused smirk, and Drew looked like she had just been given an unlimited supply of designer clothes.

The silence was finally broken when Ethan walked up to Jason, wearing a proud grin on his face that terrified everyone in the vicinity.

"You did it, man," he said, slapping the boy on the shoulder. "Congrats. See? That wasn't so hard."

Jason just stared at him, mortified.

Ethan gave him another pat on the back. "Knew you could do it."

Chiron cleared his throat, a little wide-eyed from the scene he just witnessed. "Um, well, continue on to dinner everyone! Does anyone from the Aphrodite cabin wish to, er, look after Piper?"

Nobody moved.

He cleared his throat again, looking even more awkward than before. "Well, alright then. Uh, resume to dinner!"

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"I cannot believe you corrupted Jason."

"For the hundredth time, I did not corrupt Jason." Ethan rolled his eye. "He said those things on his own accord."

Esmerelda stared at him incredulously. "You literally just told me you gave him advice on how to dump Piper!"

He raised a finger. "First of all, nobody dumped anyone. They were never in an actual relationship, remember? And second of all, how am I at fault for 'corrupting him' when he was the one who came to me in the first place, huh? I'm innocent in this, Essie. And you can't argue with me either unless you're prepared to back up your arguments with—"

"—Oh stop it!" She rolled her eyes, throwing a pillow at his face.

The two of them were relaxing at the living room of his cabin now, last night's drama still fresh in their minds. It was fresh in everyone's minds actually. Piper was trying to hide from everyone while Jason was seen sticking around with Leo, helping him out with the Argo II.

Ethan snickered. "Oh gods, last night was just great. Dinner and a show."

"I can't believe you're finding entertainment through people's suffering." Esmerelda shook her head.

"Nobody's suffering—except for Piper, but who cares about her—Jason's perfectly fine." He said.

Esmerelda was about to reply until the sound of Ethan's phone ringing cut her off. She straightened up immediately. "Is that Nico? Check, check, check!"

"Okay, okay," he grumbled, glancing down at the screen. "Nope, it's some news station."

She fell back against the couch with a groan.

Her Christmas break was nearly over now, and once she was back in Hogwarts she wouldn't be able to answer any calls Nico would make since her school was so full of magic that her phone wouldn't work at all. She was hoping Nico knew her school schedule well enough to try and contact either of them before their breaks ended, but so far, nothing.

"What's the time zone difference between New York and San Francisco?" She asked.

"Three hours," he replied. "So it's around seven o'clock over there right now. I doubt the kid's even awake—"

Just then, his phone rang once more. He glanced down and realized it was an unknown number.

"Shit this might be him," he answered it quickly and put it on speaker phone. "Nico?"

Esmerelda waited with bated breath.

"Ethan?" Nico's familiar voice said. "Is—"

"—NICO!" Esmerelda cheered, nearly deafening her own boyfriend. "Oh, I'm so glad you called! Happy early thirteenth birthday! How are you? Is Camp Jupiter treating you alright? Do you have any friends? Is there any pasta? Are you guys planning a celebration?"

"I'm fine and they're—wait," Nico had to pause. Then he sounded shocked. "H-how did you know about...?!"

"We've known about the Romans for months now," Ethan droned. "We got a Roman dude, Jason, here. Apparently Hera took him and Percy to make a switch. Percy's over at Camp Jupiter, right?"

"No," now Nico sounded worried. "He's not here."

Esmerelda and Ethan glanced at each other.

"H-he's not?" Esmerelda asked. "Is he...?"

"He's alive," Nico confirmed. "But he's not here at Camp Jupiter."

"Maybe he's still trying to find his way there," Ethan figured. "He'll be fine. Percy's like a cockroach. Annoying and super hard to kill."

Esmerelda just let out a heavy sigh.

"We'll forget about Percy for now," she said. "Tell us what's happening, Nico! Are they being nice to you? Do they know that your birthday's coming up soon?"

"No, and I'm fine with it," he reassured her. "Really, mom, I'd rather they know as little about me as possible."

"Do they know that you're a Greek...?" She trailed off.

"Nope."

"Ah," she said. That was understandable.

"So how's camp treating you?" Ethan asked languidly. "I heard it's rough over there. Did they finally toughen you up and made you less of a needy brat?"

Esmerelda discreetly pinched his side for that, but he just grinned at her.

"I'm having a great fucking time," Nico replied, but Ethan could tell he was lying. "There's cool ghosts here and... and a war elephant and stuff."

"Sounds fun," he snorted.

"Nico watch your language!" Esmerelda scolded.

"Sorry," he apologized.

They then went on to talk about how they spent their holidays, with Ethan getting a little too detailed about their dates (but Esmerelda got him to shut up). For Nico, Camp Jupiter liked to celebrate Christmas and the New Years with feasts and festivals, where everyone was allowed to pig out regardless of how unhealthy the food was.

"How about you guys?" He asked once he finished. "Are you guys fine?"

"Oh we're more than fine, Nico," Ethan smirked. "And you don't have to worry about your mom. I've been taking great care of her just like I promised."

"Yeah!" Esmerelda chirped, not realizing what she was agreeing to. "Everything's fine on our end, Nico! We've just been so worried about you, being on enemy territory and all, and Jason's mentioned a couple of times how scary Camp Jupiter could be. Are sure you're safe there? Can't you leave and come back home?"

Nico was silent on the other end.

"Nico?" She blinked.

"Nico, it's not nice to leave your mother hanging," Ethan scolded in a joking manner, knowing exactly what had silenced the boy.

"I think..." Nico said weakly. "I think I have to go..."

Ethan inwardly snickered. The kid was probably going to cry to his pillow after this.

Esmerelda frowned, "Aww, okay. I guess it's still pretty early where you're at... Try and contact us soon, okay?"

"Yeah, and don't worry, Nico," Ethan said in a friendly tone. "I'll continue taking good care of your mom while you're gone."

Nico made a dying noise in the back of his throat before finally hanging up.

Esmerelda looked at the phone curiously. "I wonder what was wrong with him?"

"Probably sick," Ethan lied. "Poor thing."

"Oh no," she looked terribly worried about that. "I wish I could send him his favorite soup to make him feel better..."

"He's fine," Ethan assured, scooting closer to her. "Now come here..."

He leaned down, and just when their lips were about to touch, the door swung open.

Ethan pulled back and glowered at the intruder. "Who the Hades are you?!"

"I'm Damien White... newly claimed son of Nemesis..." The intruder said awkwardly, looking between him and Esmerelda.

Ethan was stuck between being annoyed and pleasantly surprised. Annoyed because he had been cockblocked yet again, and pleasantly surprised because he finally had a half-sibling to care for.

Esmerelda, on the other hand, was absolutely mortified. Not only were they caught about to kiss by some random camper, but that camper turned out to be Ethan's younger half-sibling. Her face felt hotter than ever and a small dying noise escaped her throat.

Ethan turned to her and his eye narrowed in warning, "Essie, don't—"

She Mist traveled away.

His shoulders slumped. Of course she would do that. He looked back at his new brother, a glare on his face.

"Now look what you've done," he grumbled in annoyance.

Damien could only stare helplessly at him.

With a sigh, Ethan heaved himself up from the couch and walked over to where the boy stood, looking him over. He was around thirteen years old, his cheeks were kinda chubby—the kind Esmerelda would adore pinching—eyes bright and not yet corrupted, and he was decked out in designer clothes. Definitely not fighter material, but hey, at least he made it to camp in one piece.

Something about his name was kind of familiar to him though. Damien White. He was pretty sure he heard it somewhere on the TV.

"I'm Ethan Nakamura," he introduced himself gruffly. "Head counselor of the Nemesis cabin. I'm your half-brother too. Did someone give you the tour and tell you about the gods and shit?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"Good," that meant he didn't have to. "Now get in here, but don't forget to take off your shoes—"

"—But—"

"—Take off your shoes or I chop your feet off. Your choice." He offered.

Damien took off his shoes before cautiously entering the cabin, looking around as if searching for traps.

"You're crazy," Damien grumbled, looking more irked and less nervous.

Ethan gave him a wry smile. "I know. Now before I give you the tour of this place, tell me: is your dad a lawyer?"

"Er, yeah..." He mumbled. "He's, um, Jamal White."

Jamal White. Ethan knew that name very well. He was a billionaire and one of the richest lawyers in the world. He had seen pictures of the guy—always seen wearing expensive sunglasses and crisps suits. It was a stark contrast to his own dad, a random civilian who got unjustly arrested and became a lowlife after being released. What the absolute fuck. His mom's standards for men were all over the place.

"Your dad a lawyer too?" Damien asked curiously.

He shook his head. "Nah. He's a convict. So anyways, let me show you to your room."

He showed him around the place and thankfully, the kid didn't talk much. He mostly responded in grunts and head nods, which Ethan could deal with.

Damien finally spoke up once he showed him his room. It wasn't his room technically, since he was supposed to share it with all the other children of Nemesis, except it was really just the two of them so far.

"Why do you get your own room?" Damien asked, looking around the many empty beds as if he was imagining how cramped the room was going to be.

"Because I'm the senior counselor." He replied.

"How do I get that role?"

"A duel to the death," Ethan lied.

Damien gave him a dry look. "You're lying."

His lips curled up in a smirk. "Oh good, you can detect lies too. I was hoping you weren't stupid. But you're right, sort of. You'd have to duel me, but it doesn't have to end in one of our deaths. It's not allowed unless you want your dessert privileges taken away."

Damien scowled. He looked pretty determined to get his own room, but there was no way that was gonna happen soon.

"You got any more questions?" Ethan asked.

"When's dinner?"

The older boy snorted. "In a couple hours. You'll know once you hear the horn. Now if that's all, I gotta go. Don't go to my room and don't break anything. Other than that, do whatever."

He left Damien to unpack his things and hurried out to the Hecate cabin. He knocked on the door and Lou Ellen responded on the first knock.

"What did you do?" She said accusingly. "She Mist traveled in here looking like she was gonna die of a heat stroke."

Ethan winced. "She just got a little embarrassed. My new half-brother walked in on us when I was about to kiss her and, well... you know how shy she can get."

Lou Ellen sighed and opened the door a little wider so she can go in. "She's upstairs in her room."

Ethan thanked her before stepping in and climbing up the stairs. Her room was pretty easy to find, since her door was literally painted purple.

He knocked. "Essie, can I come in?"

"Your brother's not with you, is he?" He heard her panicked voice.

"No."

The door magically opened and he walked in. Esmerelda was laying over her bed, looking miserable.

"It's not that bad," he tried to assure her. "At least we weren't fucking when he walked in."

She let out a groan. "That was so embarrassing... He was your little brother and I just—ugh... what a terrible first impression..."

"He didn't care anyways," he shrugged, sitting down at the edge of her bed. "He's already thirteen."

"That's almost the same age as Nico!"

"Oh come on, it's not that big of a deal. Kids these days are a lot more, uh, mature compared to the, um, forties. Kissing's nothing to them." He was just bullshitting her at this point. He wasn't a history geek after all.

Esmerelda looked up at him with uncertain eyes. "You're sure we didn't mentally scar your brother or anything?"

"Damien's fine," he said.

She sighed in relief. "Oh, that's good to hear. So what's he like? Is he nice? Scared? Nervous?"

"He wants to steal my job as counselor so he can have his own bedroom," he snorted. "But other than that he's fine. Oh, his dad's a famous lawyer by the way—Jamal White."

Esmerelda perked up, recognizing that name too from all the times she watched television with him.

"Isn't he... that lawyer we watched about on Netflix? In that documentary where he represented some Prime Minister in an asset concealment case?" She asked.

He nodded, "That's exactly the guy."

"So cool," she awed. Then she gave him a sweet smile. "You'll be just as amazing as him though, right?"

Pink dusted in his cheeks. "I-I dunno..."

Esmerelda's smile grew wider and she was about to say something else when Lou Ellen knocked on the door.

"Come in!" The older girl called out.

Lou Ellen opened the door, looking troubled. "Drew's outside. She said Annabeth and Chiron called for another meeting."

"What's wrong?" Esmerelda asked in concern. Meetings were pretty common nowadays, but they always talked about boring stuff. Nothing special. But the worried look on her sister's face was making her worried too.

"The meeting..." She trailed off. "It's about you."

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"You're one of the Nine," was the first thing Annabeth said to her when the meeting started.

"What?" Esmerelda and Ethan said in unison.

"It can't be," she argued. "I-I didn't participate in the quest, nor did Hera give me any visions."

"She's right," Piper was quick to agree. She hadn't been this outspoken since Jason very publicly 'dumped' her in front of the whole camp. "She hasn't done anything to warrant being one of the prophecy kids."

Annabeth shook her head. "She has actually. Hera herself basically said it."

"Annabeth..." Esmerelda trailed off weakly, shooting Ethan a half-terrified look. She wasn't liking where this conversation was going. "What are you talking about?"

"The fact that Hera didn't kill you when you made that deal with her says it all," she said logically. "We all know that Hera wouldn't hesitate to kill a demigod—especially one who was brave enough to try and barter with her. Yet she kept you alive and even agreed to your deal. You even said it yourself: Hera needs you, and this is what she needed you for. You're one of the Nine."

"Annabeth is right," Chiron spoke up, giving Esmerelda a sympathetic look. "Hera would never have agreed to your deal, and you never would have lived another night for challenging her like that."

"Rachel?" Esmerelda looked at the older girl with desperate eyes, begging for her to say that they were wrong, and that she had no place in that dreadful prophecy.

"I'm sorry, Essie," Rachel apologized. "I-I can't really tell who's part of the Nine. I just know that some are here in Camp Half-Blood while the rest are most likely at Camp Jupiter... But what Annabeth is saying makes sense. I think you really are part of the prophecy."

Esmerelda's heart was racing and she could do nothing but look around hopelessly. Everyone was staring at her in pity, save for Piper who was staring gobsmacked at Annabeth, Chiron, and Rachel.

She was one of the children of a prophecy again, except this time it was a Great Prophecy. And Great Prophecies always came with tragedy. She wondered if Percy felt the same thing as she was—hands shaking, blood rushing to her head, and a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"If Essie's part of that stupid prophecy then I better be a part of it too," Ethan said angrily, directing his glare over to Rachel as if daring her to deny him. "Well? Am I?"

Esmerelda snapped out of it, looking at Ethan with wide eyes. He wasn't going to let her go through this alone and for that, she was grateful and scared at the same time.

Rachel stared at him with a pinched expression. "I-I don't know. I can't tell, but... I know you're very important. Somehow. I don't know if that means you're one of the Nine but—"

"—I'll take it," Ethan interrupted, looking around the table with a dangerous gaze. "I'm going on that ship with her, got it?"

Nobody dared to challenge him.

"Well," Leo cracked a smile, wanting to cut through the oppressive atmosphere in the room. "I guess I better prepare another room on the Argo II."

"Don't bother," Ethan said. "Essie and I will share."

"Y-you got it, bro."

Esmerelda was more than happy when the meeting was over. The second she and Ethan reached to a secluded part of the camp, she buried her face into his chest and could feel her eyes watering.

"We're going to go through another war again, aren't we?" She whispered.

Ethan's shaky hand combed through her hair and the tears finally fell.

"I guess we're back on the front lines," he said grimly.

— author's note —

DAMIEN WHITE
played by CHOSEN JACOBS

(Damien White's a canon PJO character. He first shows up in TOA where he thought Meg was an actual fucking Communist because when Demeter claimed her, a sickle appeared over her head and he mistook it as the Communist symbol 😂)

Aaaaaand we'll be back to HP after this! Like I said, shit is going DOWN in the HP half now, so brace yourselves!

Also, remember my warning about a squished timeline? It's starting NOW.

(For those who forgot what that is, a squished timeline basically means that some events are gonna happen sooner than in canon. I had to do this in order to fit... certain evil plans I have in mind. Hope you don't mind!)