▬▬▬ CHAPTER THIRTY SIX ▬▬▬

marcahoran translated Aletheia in Spanish and just released it! So if there's any Spanish readers, go check it out! It's also in my Reading List too!

ETHAN KNEW HE MADE A mistake of falling asleep in the library after breakfast. He found himself back in the ruins again, except this time he didn't have to go looking around for Esmerelda. She was already in front of him.

She was tied up against the column again, but the gag was no longer in her mouth. Her state looked worse. There were bruises and dirt marks littering her skin, and her lip was split as if someone had punched her. Her eyes looked almost defeated as she stared up at him.

"What's taking you so long...?" She asked, her voice breaking.

Ethan didn't reply. Instead, he knelt down before her and untied her again, even though he knew she would just be bound once more in the next dream.

There was a lot of guilt building up within him, and the fact that he was suspicious of her made it hurt so much more. She looked just like Esmerelda, sounded, smelled, and felt just like her, yet he couldn't push away the thought that something wasn't right about this dream.

"Ethan..." She called out for him, looking at him hopelessly.

"I'm sorry," he finally said.

"Why aren't you here yet?" She asked him, her tone fearful for the future. "It's going to happen soon. They're going to sacrifice me. I don't have much time left. They told me that... that you haven't even moved." Something like resignation crossed her face. "You're not going to save me, are you?"

"Essie..." He trailed off guiltily, seeing the genuine pain in her eyes.

So what if it was a trap? There was a chance that this could be real. That this could be the real Esmerelda he was talking too.

If this really was her... His stomach clenched up with disgust at himself. For about a month now he had been getting the same dream over and over again, with her pleading for him to save her and he hadn't done a thing just because of a few suspicions. He was betraying her all over again.

He reached out to grasp her fragile hand, apologies ready to spill from his lips as well as the promise to save her until he felt it. 

The cold metal wrapped around her ring finger.

His body tensed up immediately, his hopes crashing down.

He looked mournfully at Esmerelda... and then stood up and stepped away from her.

"No," he said, and her face fell into despair. "No. I won't be saving you."

"E-Ethan?" The way she said his name was so painful, and the betrayal on her face hurt so much worse. He couldn't bare to look at her any longer so he turned away from her—and even then, the pain was still as bad.

"Enough of this Gaea," he said coldly. "If you want to talk to me, do it without the petty tricks."

"Ethan Nakamura," a disembodied voice crooned. Immediately, something shifted in the air of his dreams. The atmosphere became a hundred times more oppressive and the wind surrounding him was howling.

"This is the best you can do?" He scoffed. "Taunt me with dreams of my dead girlfriend? Nice try, but even Kronos did better than this."

"How did you know?" She asked curiously.

"The fake still has her ring on," he explained. "If she was really alive, then she wouldn't have it because I do. I removed it, along with her pin and bracelet, before her funeral."

"You are quite sharp," she commended. "It is a shame we are enemies... but we don't have to be. You are right that this Esmerelda is not the real one."

There was a particularly sharp gust of wind and the Esmerelda before him faded away like flower petals being carried into the air. Ethan watched it happen dreadfully, feeling like he was losing once more.

"But you can have her back again," Gaea continued. "I can guide her out of the Underworld, bring her back to life. All you have to do is join me."

Ethan wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. "Join you? You're the reason she's dead in the first place!"

"It was never meant to happen," she cooed, like a mother trying to console a distraught child. "I apologize for that, son of Nemesis. But if you join me, you can have her in your arms again, and no more tragedy will ever befall you."

If Gaea were physically here right now, he would've liked to punch her in the face, and he had experience with punching all-powerful beings. She could ask her son, Kronos, about that. 

(But oh wait, he was rotting in Tartarus.)

After having to deal with Kronos in the last war and realizing everything he had been told was a lie, he knew that he couldn't ever trust any gods, Titans, or primordial beings anymore no matter how good or tempting their promises sounded.

He had already been swayed by an evil deity before, he wasn't about to make the same mistake again.

"Get out of my dream," he said harshly, shaking with rage. He spun around trying to find her as his rage built up all around him. "Get out! GET—OUT!"

And suddenly everything turned into a blur. It was as if he was inside of a fast moving train and watching everything outside the window pass by him. He nearly stumbled back but the second he regained his footing, everything stopped and he was in an entirely different area.

He didn't know where he was, but he knew he wasn't in London since there was still some snow around the area.

"You did a good job of pushing her out," a familiar rough voice said.

He turned around and spotted Nemesis, his mother.

"You knew all along that Gaea's been giving me those dreams?" He scowled. "Why didn't you give me a heads up?"

"I'm not gonna hold your hand through every little thing, jackass," she snapped, sending him an equally as vicious scowl.

"If I fell for it, I would've been sent to a trap and possibly killed." He deadpanned.

"Oh you definitely would've been killed," she clarified without a hint of concern in her voice. "But again, not my problem. If you were dumb enough to fall for Gaea's offer, then that's on you. Besides, I knew you were too smart to be tricked again. I figured you'd realize something was up, and I was right."

Ethan wasn't even mildly hurt by her lack of concern, he knew early on that his mother didn't really give much of a shit about him unless he did something she approved of. He was more annoyed at the fact that she let him get drowned in those painful dreams of a fake Esmerelda without giving him so much as a warning.

"What is this place?" He asked, changing the subject. "I take it there's a reason you sent me here?"

"Shut up and take a look," she said, jutting her chin over his shoulder.

He turned around, and his heart nearly stopped.

"There!" Esmerelda exclaimed before ducking behind a tree. "That's the store!"

It was Esmerelda. The real one—he was certain of it now that Gaea wasn't around to manipulate his dreams. Unlike in his fake dreams, she looked perfectly fine, without a scratch on her face. She looked like an actual angel dressed in a little white dress that matched with the white bows on her hair. She didn't even looked affected by the cold weather, so she probably charmed the clothes with the heating charm like she always did. There was even a familiar cheery look on her face as she beamed at something he didn't bother to look at.

But what struck him the most was the fact that she was alive.

"I thought you wanted us to get to London as fast as possible," another voice said, and a boy stepped in beside her.

The beautiful moment was ruined right then and there.

WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?! Ethan wanted to screech, his eye wide with horror.

"Oh my gods," Nemesis rolled her eyes at his stupidity. "Look closer at him, dumbass. Doesn't he look familiar to you?"

Ethan glared at the boy, growing more murderous by the second. The guy would've been the perfect Disney prince charming if it weren't for the fact that he was scowling. He looked like the type of privileged rich boy who would sue you just for breathing near him. He had wavy black hair, and cold and calculating eyes that reminded him of the Athena kids. His face was angular but delicate at the same time, and...

...Wait a fucking second.

He looked between him and Esmerelda, seeing a huge resemblance between them, and that was when finally started to dawn on him. He had seen pictures of this kid before, back in Grimmauld Place—

"That's her dad," he uttered out, his jaw nearly dropping.

"Yep. And he hates your guts," Nemesis said, grinning. "I wouldn't be surprised if he were to see your face if I were to show myself to him."

Great. At least he had her mother's approval...

"So she brought him out of the Underworld," he was happy for her, but he could already imagine how badly his and Regulus' first meeting would be. "Any other relatives I should be aware of who hate me?"

"There's her uncle, but he's not dead. Don't worry, kid, her father's the only one she escaped the Underworld with. You should be more concerned of the wand he's got." Nemesis said.

"What do you mean? Mortal magic is weak against me," he furrowed his brows.

She snickered at his misfortune. "Hecate fashioned him a special sort of wand. One made out of Celestial bronze and blessed by her. He can now use his magic against anything from our world... including demigods like you. So if he were to shoot you with the Killing Curse..."

"I'd die right away," he finished, his blood running cold.

He knew what the Killing Curse was. If that green beam of light were to strike any part of your body, whether the area was lethal or not, you would die in a second. Initially, he hadn't been scared of it. He knew his body was resistant against it anyways, but now that Regulus was around... For the first time ever he was actually afraid of a wand-wielding mortal wizard.

"Ah, fuck," he cursed. He could see a lot of dodging and running away in his future.

"That store looks like something the lower class would flock to," Regulus sneered and Ethen was pulled back to their conversation. "Look at the sort of clothes they're even selling. You're telling me you actually want to wear them?"

Esmerelda's face fell. "But dad... I think they look cute. Look at the sweater on the window, it has a sheep on it."

Ethan had to admit, the sweater did look cute and Esmerelda would look absolutely adorable on it. But Regulus looked like the type to deck him and his kid out in classy, high-fashioned brands like Chanel, Kate Spade, or Elie Saab.

Wait. He glanced down at himself, feeling self-conscious just from seeing the two Blacks. All he had on right now was a faded t-shirt and a pair of old jeans. Regulus would hate him even more and see him as some sort of low-lived peasant slob. Did that mean he would have to change his style just to earn even the littlest amount of approval? Would he have to wear khakis and sweater vests? He felt like throwing up at the thought.

"Why are you even shopping for clothes?" Regulus asked. "Aren't we in a hurry?"

"I'm not the only one that needs to get changed," she said. "The police already gave a description of us and what we were wearing. Nobody's wearing dresses in this cold season, so I'd be spotted in an instant. I need to change to blend in more."

"Oh Merlin, I need to change too?" Regulus dipped his head back and groaned. "Esmerelda, I can't stand those hideous rags that store's selling. We should at least shop at Louis Vuitton or Dolce and Gabbana again."

Oh this dude is totally high maintenance, he thought with a grimace. Regulus was exactly the type of overly privileged person he would hate, except now he couldn't hate him because this was his no-longer-dead girlfriend's dad.

"Yeah, he's pretty snobby," Nemesis agreed, as if she heard his thoughts. "But I'm sure the two of you will learn to get along. You're both more similar than you think. He just needs to realize it, and he won't be out for your blood."

Ethan strongly doubted he shared any similarities with Regulus and sent his mother a doubtful look.

"Just trust me," she said. "Now... I know you wanna steal the nearest car and go to her—"

"—Where is she?" He demanded.

"But it's better to stay where you are." She finished. "Keep still alright? Oh, and how about you take a look at your voicemail for once?"

"What?" He stared at her in confusion.

"I'll let you wake up for now," she continued. "But I'll see you soon."

Nemesis disappeared and he finally woke up.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Esmerelda walked out of the store, beaming down at her newly acquired sheep sweater. Regulus exited after her, grumbling at his new attire of faded jeans, painfully faux cashmere sweater, and cheap jacket.

"Now can we get moving?" He said impatiently.

"Yeah, sure. Now all we gotta do is steal a car, preferably one with a GPS... Or maybe we can go on a bus or a train..." She was so distracted in admiring her new sweater that she hadn't even realized the group of cops rushing out of the hiding places and trying to restrain them.

"Wha—?!" Esmerelda had been caught by surprise when one of them grabbed her.

"Got you fuckers now," one of the cops snarled, grabbing Regulus' wrists and trying to handcuff him. Only to jump when he realized one wrist was missing.

"Holy shit," he spluttered. "His arm! It's really gone!"

"Hey!" Regulus barked, trying to yank himself free.

Esmerelda quickly brought her foot up and kicked the cop back so hard he was thrown against a street lamp. As for the one behind her, she simply knocked her head back to strike him in the chin before freeing herself.

"Run!" She shouted to her father, who was already bolting down the street with her.

"How'd they find us so quickly?!" He fumed. His question was followed by several flashes of blue light and the loud barrage of sirens as multiple police cars spurned to life to make chase.

"Someone must have spotted us and made a report," she replied, her eyes darting around. That was when she saw someone on the across the street walking back to his car—which was a shiny silver sedan. His car keys were out, his finger pressing on a button to unlock it.

"This way!" She told her father before cutting through the street.

"Give me your car keys!" She ordered the man, charmspeak laced in her voice. The man handed them over to her dazedly and she and her father rushed for his car.

They climbed in at the same time, her at the left side while her father climbing onto the right. That was when they both froze.

"Uh," Regulus said dumbly, staring down at the steering wheel that was on his side.

"Oh fuck, I forgot this was Europe," Esmerelda realized, remembering that the driver's seat would be on the right side of the car.

Too late to make any changes now. She quickly jammed the key into the ignition and exclaimed, "You're driving this time!"

"WHAT?!" He squawked, looking at her in terror. "I don't know how to drive this thing!"

"There's a first for everything! Just stomp on a pedal—"

Regulus stepped down on the closest pedal his foot they could find and the car went zooming forward into the car in front of it, causing yet another alarm to pierce the air.

"Okay, okay, you also need to move the wheel too," Esmerelda instructed, turning the wheel and moving them onto the center of the street.

"I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know what I'm doing," Regulus was nearly hyperventilating. His shoulders were noticeably stiff and he had a death grip on the wheel. His eyes couldn't stop glancing at the road in front of him to the rear view mirror where the cops were coming in close.

"We'll be fine—WATCH OUT FOR PEDESTRIANS!" She suddenly shrieked, yanking the wheel to the left to avoid the random lady on the street.

"Switch with me! I can't do this! Switch with me!"

"I can't, we're in the middle of the—THAT'S A RED LIGHT!"

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!" He yelled as he ran a red light, nearly panicking when a bunch of other cars starting coming at him on the sides. Esmerelda tried to direct him as best as she could, but he kept his foot pressed over the accelerator and the car was moving too fast for her to easily control.

Esmerelda made the mistake of glancing back. Several cars behind them had crashed into themselves in order to avoid them, which helped to block the cop cars off for a bit. They finally made it out of the shopping district and back onto the road, where there was more space to drive around without feeling too confined.

She was just about to let out a sigh of relief when Regulus suddenly let out a shrill scream. She snapped her head forward and nearly screamed as well when she saw the big truck driving their direction.

Quickly, she grabbed the wheel once more and turned to the left, crashing through the broken down guard rail and entering the left side of the road.

"I forgot the British drive on the left side of the road, I'm sorry!" She apologized profusely to her father, who looked like he was seconds away from passing out.

"HOW DO I STOP THIS THING?!" He roared, pale in the face.

"Dad, we're in the middle of the road—"

"—I WANT TO GET OUT!" He shouted. "GET ME OUT OF THIS BLOODY FUCKING DEATH TRAP RIGHT NOW OR—"

"—WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING ROAD!" She snapped at him, and she didn't know why her mind felt muddled by a sudden loathing for him. The anger she was feeling felt wrong, but she just couldn't push it away. "STOP BITCHING AT ME AND DRIVE THE FUCKING CAR ALREADY!"

He sent her a maddening glare, and the hate in his eyes felt unnatural too. "YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH, YOU STUPID GIRL!" He spat. "I'M SO SICK OF HOW YOU—"

Regulus suddenly fell silent, and at first, Esmerelda didn't know why until she registered the dark shadow looming over their heads. She looked out the window and saw nearby cars veering away from them. She looked behind them and saw the biggest pair of car wheels she had ever seen.

No fucking way, she thought. A monster truck?!

She slid her window down and struck her head out to get a better look. Her expression turned into pure awe at the beast before her.

The wheels were bigger than any other car on the road and the car itself was just as big. The front bumper was decorated with a bunch of skulls, some intact, and some badly damaged and full of cracks and chips. Surrounding the skulls was a border of more bones, phalanges by the looks of it. For some odd reason, she could see something shiny around the fingers, like they were wearing a bunch of rings.

The truck itself was just as unnaturally massive. It was painted a faded teal color with a bunch of red splashed on it that she hoped was just rust or chipped paint... Up on the roof was a row of lights that weren't being used. Esmerelda tried to take a look at who was driving, but the car was so tall that she couldn't see a thing.

She had never seen a monster truck in real life, but she was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be this huge. Was this even legal? She had a feeling it reached the height of incoming bridges, which wouldn't be a pretty scenario for anyone...

"What is it?" Regulus asked breathlessly, and when she didn't reply right away, he snapped at her. "Well?! What is it?!"

"A... a monster truck," she answered, blinking in astonishment.

"Monster?" His grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"No," she quickly replied. "It's a sort of car that... that's..." She trailed off to a stop, watching as the monster truck slowly drove over to the next lane to their right, and that was when she saw what was on the side of the car.

There was an advertisement on it. In big bold lettering were the words:

HARPER & PHIL

SPECIALIZING IN FAMILY LAW:

MARRIAGE, KIDS, AND DISPUTES

FAMILY: WHERE HATE BEGINS AND THE BLOODSHED NEVER ENDS

Next to the words was a picture of two men that looked like the love children of a viking and Duck Dynasty. They were both scarily buff, their muscles straining against the professional suits they were wearing. They were heavily bearded too, but one of them had long, untamable black hair while other had cropped, auburn hair (though that was equally as messy).

Harper and Phil... Esmerelda thought, dread sinking into her skin. Oh no...! Harpolykos and Phoetus—!

BOOM!

The monster truck suddenly exploded and a bunch of nearby cars abruptly veered away from it, some even crashing into each other and causing road disasters. Regulus didn't even need Esmerelda's guidance as he swerved around panicking vehicles to get away from the monster truck, but the monster truck actually drove after them.

That was when Esmerelda realized that it hadn't actually exploded, per se. It just burst into flames, which wasn't any better but it didn't seem like the truck was damaged. In fact, it looked like it had been done on purpose. Flames were shooting out from the tires, leaving scorch marks on the asphalt and making the car look a hundred times more menacing than before.

BOOM!

Both Blacks flinched, but it wasn't another explosion or burst of flames. The roof of the monster truck had been blasted off, revealing the passengers. It was the two lawyers on the ad, except they weren't dressed in professional suits anymore, but bloodied battle armor.

"Monsters?" Regulus asked knowingly.

"Worse," she said. "Giants."

Regulus glanced around at all the mirrors, as if expecting Hecate to magically appear in her own glamorous vehicle and save their asses. "Esmerelda, where's your mother?"

Esmerelda didn't have time to answer because suddenly there was a whizz sound buzzing in the air as if someone had revved up a chainsaw. Except, it was much worse than a chainsaw. Circular saw blades stuck out from the monster truck's hubcaps, and they were at the same height as their heads...

The driver—the auburn haired giant—let out a mad cackle before sharply moving the truck left, the blades coming at them.

Regulus stomped on the pedal and the car drove faster. Then, with his only hand, he reached out for his wand and cast the flame-freezing charm on the fire just as it got closer.

They narrowly avoided the blades, but it didn't mean their stolen car was spared. Both Blacks let out a terrified scream as the window behind Regulus shattered as the blades pushed through them, and the back of his headrest had been sliced open a few inches deep. It was good thing he was quick enough to cast the charm over the flames too, because he would've been roasted within seconds.

"WHERE IS YOUR MOTHER?!" Regulus shrieked.

"I DON'T KNOW!" She shrieked back.

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID SHE'D BE HERE WHEN YOU NEEDED HER!"

"MAYBE SHE'S BUSY?!"

In the middle of their screaming fest, it suddenly dawned on her what was happening. These random bouts of anger weren't normal. One of the giants, or maybe even both of them, were somehow able to induce it on them. It wasn't that surprising, considering they were the Banes of Hera and Hera was known as the goddess of family. Harpolykos and Phoetus were driving her and her father apart. 

Before she could tell him of the discovery, the monster trucked slammed into them again, and Regulus had to duck down to avoid the blade that successfully shattered through his window. Esmerelda ducked down too, luckily preventing herself from getting an unwanted haircut.

"Ah, shit," Esmerelda hissed under her breath as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"What are you doing?" Regulus asked sharply.

"I'm gonna deal with our giant problem," she said (and wow, it was a pun too!). "In the meanwhile, you drive as far away from them as you can. They're the reasons why we've been arguing. The longer we stay near them, the more we'll want to kill each other."

"You can't defeat any of them without the help of a god! Wait for a Hecate!"

"She's not here so what other choice is there?!" They couldn't just stay here like sitting ducks waiting to be slaughtered. She may not be able to kill them on her own, but she could at least do some sizable damage.

Quickly, she brushed the shards of glass off her lap and lowered down her window before climbing out of it.

She grasped the edges of the roof before slowly rising up to her feet and keeping herself balanced.

"She's puny, Harpolykos!" One of the giants—Phoetus—exclaimed, letting out an ugly laugh. "No wonder she was so easy for Clytius to kill!"

Harpolykos let out an equally as ugly laugh. "I was told that he stomped on you like a bug, daughter of Hecate! I wonder if the other demigods are as easy to kill as you. I heard our brother, Peloreus, had been sent out to get your lover, that Nemesis boy. Shame the two of you aren't married. Phoetus and I specialize in separating married couples as well."

He stuck his arm out and patted the side of the car where the ad was.

Esmerelda was seeing red at that point. She bent her knees and jumped up, tackling Harpolykos down. Since this monster truck seemed to come from America, Harpolykos was seated on the left side where the steering wheel was, and now that he had been distracted, the truck successfully veered away from her father.

The giants were about thirty feet tall—which was why their truck was so huge too—so Esmerelda managed to land on his shoulder, the force of her arrival causing him to bump heads with Phoetus.

She remembered what Hecate had told her. She had been so worried over the state of her friends back at the Ministry, that she had allowed herself to get distracted by them. She hadn't been able to think of a way to defeat the enemy or even fight back well enough. All she did was panic and beg for their safety.

She didn't think she could ever get rid of her fatal flaw so easily, but she at least trusted Regulus enough to take care of himself. The other mortals on the road though... She tried not to think too much about them, concentrating on the giants instead.

She glanced down at the saw blades sticking out of the hubcaps before curling her fingers up in a beckoning motion. All four blades glowed green and pried themselves out of the wheels, rising up into the air before enlarging in size.

She slashed her hand down and the blades flew down, embedding themselves into whatever opening it could find through the giants' armor and pinning them down into their seats.

Harpolykos let out a roar of pain and reached out for her, but she pushed herself onto his ear before climbing on top of his head and leaping on to the dashboard. She felt like Alice who had drunken a shrinking potion; everything was ten times larger than usual to suit the giants' size, so she had a lot of space to run around and fight whereas the giants were more confined.

Phoetus was the first to pry the blades off of his shoulders. He angrily tried to punch her, but she jumped to avoid the hit and he ended up hitting the radio instead, and the song switched to Lil Nas X's Montero (Call Me By Your Name).

"Hah! You missed!" She taunted after ducking down to avoid a swipe.

When Phoetus went for her again, she jumped on his hand and crossed the distance between his hand to his shoulder within seconds, grabbing the unused seatbelt before jumping down to the floor, using the enlargement charm as she went down. The seatbelt not only ended up becoming bigger, but longer too, and with a swish of her hand it tied itself around Phoetus' ankle.

She looked up at Phoetus, smiling innocently. "Hold on tight," she warned sweetly, before thrusting a hand out and shouting, "Depulso!"

Phoetus' body blew back like he had been shot out of a canon. He crashed through the back of the truck, tearing the wall down as his body collided onto the street, the seatbelt magically tied around his ankle causing him to be dragged behind the truck.

"YOU LITTLE RAT!" Harpolykos spat at her, and since he was a giant she had to dodge all his oversized saliva too, which was just gross.

The two blades digging into his body was slowly unlodging itself from his flesh, and he was soon going to gain his ability to move again. Over at the street, Phoetus was fighting through the serious road rash he was getting and trying to reach out for his tied-up ankle.

Okay mother, she thought. Any time now!

"Esmerelda!" She heard Regulus shout, his voice amplified by the sonorus charm. "The wand! Use it!"

What?

She climbed back onto the dashboard to look out, and immediately saw why he said that. The wand was glowing green, and it wasn't because of her. Hecate, at last, was helping her out.

"Throw it!" She shouted, knowing that he probably needed that one hand to stay on the steering wheel.

Regulus lobbed it into the air and—

—and Harpolykos caught it into his fist.

Esmerelda's eyes widened in horror. She had no idea how easily he could break through Celestial bronze, but she didn't want to find out. Before he could do anything, she set his beard on fire.

Harpolykos let out a panicked yelp and dropped the wand in order to pat the flames down. She stretched an arm out and the wand flew straight into her hand. She couldn't help but let out a victorious grin.

She pointed the glowing wand at Harpolykos, who just noticed what she had in her possession.

"Hold on," he said quickly, forgetting about his flaming beard.

"Why does Gaea need a sacrifice?" She asked him.

"Um, next question."

"Seriously?!"

He put his hands up. "Can't we discuss this like civilized people? Your boyfriend, that Ethan kid, he wants to be a lawyer right? If you let me go, I'll teach him everything I know about divorces!"

"He doesn't want to be a divorce lawyer," she rolled her eyes. "Now answer me! Why does Gaea need a sacrifice? And who is the last member of the Nine?"

His face fell into shock before a cruel smirk crawled over his lips. "Last? Ah, so none of you have figured it out yet, huh?"

She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I see that mother's trick is working," he mused, looking amused.

"What? What trick?" She demanded.

Instead of answering, he reached out for her as quick as lighting. She Mist traveled over to the empty space beside him before she could get caught, and his hand crashed into the radio and caused it to switch to yet another song. This time it was Olivia Rodrigo's Brutal.

She remembered Professor Flitwick's lesson about the eradication spell. Just aim it at the object you wanted to delete. He also mentioned that the spell wouldn't work on large objects, but with her mother's help, she had a feeling she would be exempt from that rule.

She aimed her wand at him as he looked around for her. Once he found her, it was already too late. He reached out to grab her once more, only for his fingers to fade away, followed by his hand, and then traveling up to his arm until finally, his whole body was disintegrated.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"Ethan...? It's me. Essie. I... I got out of the Underworld. I'm—I'm sorry for taking so long." Her voice ended up breaking at that part. "I miss you so much. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry, I know you must have been in a lot of pain... I never meant to—"

There was a small sobbing noise he could hear, and it made his heart clench with pain.

"I brought my dad out with me. We're here in England now, but we're going to Grimmauld Place. And Ethan, my mother told me that you're in danger, so meet me there, okay? Go to Grimmauld Place. We'll see each other then. Stay safe. I love you so much."

The voicemail ended after that, and Ethan was left alone again.

He had taken his mother's advice to listen through his voicemails. After a quick lunch, he left Grimmauld Place and walked over to a nearby park (because at least there his phone wouldn't malfunction). He had a bunch of missed calls and voicemails from Annabeth, Leo, and even Jason, but what caught his eye was the voicemail from an unknown caller.

He hadn't expected it to be from Esmerelda, but hearing her voice again felt like all the negativity had left his system. His anger, his pain, his defeat—all of it had been washed away the second he heard her say his name.

She's coming here to Grimmauld Place, he thought, feeling light again. Soon, he'd be able to see her.

He shoved his phone back into his pocket, his heart hammering away inside his chest. He hurried back to Grimmauld Place but on the way there, he passed by a motorcyclist who drove by. For a brief second, they looked at each other, and Ethan could vaguely spot the outline of a single large eye behind the visor of the helmet before the motorcyclist completely passed him.

Ah great. Trouble was already here.

The first thing he did when he entered Grimmauld Place was bark an order at the closest person: "Get everyone down here, now."

The one thing that made these people tolerable were how quick they were to do as they were told. In just a minute, everyone, including Kreacher, gathered in the foyer.

"Bad news: I just ran into a cyclops outside and I wouldn't be surprised if there were any more. So everyone stays in, alright? Do not go out." He warned them firmly, giving the trio a particularly stern look.

"There's monsters outside?" Mrs. Weasley gasped, grabbing a hold of the nearest child (which was Ginny).

"I just said that..." Ethan sighed. Seriously, why did they keep repeating things he just said? "Cyclopes are cannibalistic, alright? They like to eat demigods mostly, but they wouldn't mind having some mortals to eat too. That's why you all need to stay inside here no matter what—"

"—AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" A blood curdling scream pierced through the air and everyone tensed up, including Ethan. That voice... it sounded just like—

"Essie!" Harry exclaimed, the blood draining from his face.

"That can't be, she's—she's dead!" Hermione said, looking scared and confused.

But Harry didn't listen. He bolted for the door, but couldn't get passed it since Ethan was in the way.

"What did I just say?!" Ethan huffed, shoving the boy back. "It's not Essie, alright?!"

"That's her voice! I heard her scream—"

"—Cyclopes have the ability to mimic people's voices!" He snapped. "Now back the fuck up, and stop running into danger every goddamn time!"

Harry backed away, or was dragged back by a terrified Ron. Ethan huffed a second time before storming over to the nearest window and peeking out the curtain.

"Ah fuck," he cursed. 

There was a whole biker gang of outside right now. There were more than ten of them, and they were all cyclopes. They were driving around in a circle. Over at the side he could spy a couple of mortals watching the gang warily before backing off and making the wise decision to stay away. In the building across from them, he could see several people peeking through their windows too, looking understandably worried.

He thought back to Esmerelda's voicemail. She had warned him that he was in danger. So obviously, these monsters were here for him, but he had been expecting for Gaea to send a giant after him, not a biker gang of cyclopes.

He pulled away from the window and brandished his sword.

He sent the wizards a glare. "I'm gonna say this one last time: don't go outside."

And with that, he headed out the door to face the monsters.

The bikers stopped moving as he approached them. Ethan eyed them all critically, noting the spiked clubs they all had strapped to their backs.

"What do you want?" Ethan called out to them, getting straight to the point.

"Ah hah!" One of them cried out victoriously. "We tricked you! Your girlfriend isn't here and now we're gonna—"

"—I know she's not here, you idiot," he hissed in annoyance, and the cyclops deflated. "Are you here to try and kill me or what? Get to it already."

They looked at each other, lost.

"What do we do now?" One whispered.

"Can we kill him?"

"Aren't we supposed to wait for the big one?"

The big one? Ethan narrowed his eye in suspicion. So there's another one coming? Well, if that was the case, then he might as well get to work on lessening their numbers for the 'big one' came.

Without wasting another second, he lobbed off the head of the closest biker before whipping out his poisoned knife and throwing it straight into the chest of another.

"Ah! He's killing us! Get him!"

The cyclopes revved their engines and grabbed the clubs on their backs before speeding at him. It was a mess after that. Ethan spent the next couple of minutes dodging every motorcycle coming for him. It was almost like bullfighting, except in this case there were multiple blood thirsty animals trying to run at him rather than just one.

After managing to kill three more, they suddenly drove away and started to encircle him, their speeds increasing. At first Ethan had no idea what they were doing, until the dust started to rise all around him and obscure the monsters.

Ethan covered his mouth and nose to keep from inhaling the dust, and his single eye squinted as he looked around. What was their next move? Were they going to throw a club at him? He could still hear them driving around him, so surely they weren't dumb enough to risk hitting one of their own, were they?

...But then again, clyclopes weren't exactly known for being smart.

He heard a whizz sound coming towards him and quickly ducked down. There was a yelp as another cyclops ended up taking the damage instead.

Dumbass, he thought, when he heard a heavy body fall to the ground, followed by several more crashes as those guys ended up tripping over the fallen body. With less people driving around, the dust finally settled and Ethan used that chance to attack.

Well, that was until somebody decided to throw an entire fucking building at him.

He was just about to lift up his sword to swipe off a clyclops' head when he heard the sound of a building being demolished. But when he looked up, it was a lot worse than that. Over at the end of the street, an entire apartment building was being lifted up by three pairs of arms. Connected to those arms was a humongous giant wearing the most scandalous looking Greek chiton he had ever seen. He was pretty sure if the guy lifted the building any higher, the skirt would lift up and this whole neighborhood block was gonna be scarred for life.

After spending several seconds gawking at the monstrosity, it finally dawned on him that he was about to be crushed to death by 13-story high building.

"Shit!" He cursed, ditching the monsters and trying to high-tail it out of there. It was already too late, a massive shadow was already looming over him and—

—and suddenly he was riding on the back of a motorcycle and zipping through the streets.

"MOM?!" He exclaimed, recognizing the familiar red leather jacket and wild black hair.

Nemesis didn't reply and instead turned sharply to the left. Ethan was about to bark at her that they were about to crash onto the buildings, but instead the motorcycle actually started to scale the side of it.

He glanced downwards and saw the building-turned-projectile finally collide with the ground, killing the remaining members of the biker gang. Massive pieces of rubble flew everywhere, and through the dust, he could spy several crushed bodies—the unfortunate inhabitants of the apartment.

Nemesis let out a mad cackle before swooping down and returning to the street. She made a wild turn and stopped, so they were now facing the devastating destruction. As the dust cleared, he could see the menacing figure of the six-armed giant approaching them.

"That's Peloreus," Nemesis explained, looking more excited than scared. "Known as the many-armed giant. Back in first Gigantomachy, he used his arms and strength to lift up mountains and shit. He even used Mount Pelion as a weapon while fighting against the gods. Man, you should've seen the look on Zeus' faces when he realized he was gonna get flattened like a pancake. He almost looked as dumb as you."

"Thanks," Ethan said dryly. "So any idea on how to beat him?"

"Hold on," Nemesis craned her head back to give him a knowing smirk. "The rest of the party hasn't arrived yet."

Ethan scowled. "More monsters?"

"Nah. Turn around."

Ethan turned around. All he saw was the other end of the empty street. And then he sensed it. There's was a heavy vibration in the ground, like the beginning of an earthquake. 

And then came the horde of cars swerving to their direction.

Everything was out of control. Cars were crashing into each other or onto buildings and streetlamps, and then he finally saw why. Coming in from behind was a gigantic monster truck—the biggest one he'd ever seen. For some odd reason, the roof was completely blown off, leaving the riders visible. The first thing Ethan saw was the giant driving it, with one hand on the wheel and the other swatting a fly.

Except, it wasn't really a fly. As the disaster drew closer, Ethan finally saw the familiar figure of Esmerelda battling against him.

Nemesis' grin widened. "Here they are."

— author's note —

Did ya'll really think I was gonna write about them reuniting? Nah, you get that next chapter, for now you all have to wait 😂 😂

Anyways, Essie's fight with Hera's banes are boring, I know. Next chapter's fight won't be as intense(???) either in my opinion, but don't worry. Hera's Banes aren't the main Giant Essie will face. THAT fight will be more interesting (hopefully). I haven't thought of which Giant Ethan should face though since Nemesis didn't participate in the First Giant War (I think). I might have to make up my own Giant again for him...

Ethan once he gets his hands on Gaea:

Ethan when he meets Regulus and has to pretend to be a proper, definitely not horny, mentally sane boy:

From Kookiejemg:

(I COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT TIMOTHEE AND MACKENZIE PLAYED AS SIBLINGS IN INTERSTELLAR!)