▬▬▬ CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN ▬▬▬

Another 'reading the books' fanfic!

It's called "Reading Aletheia (With a Side of Crying Wizards)" by deomoon who's from Quotev. Go check it out!

ETHAN WOULD'VE BEEN FREAKING OUT about the massive flood of cars speeding to his direction without any control, but he was too busy watching Esmerelda punch the giant on the nose. Without even thinking, he hopped off of Nemesis' motocycle and came stumbling forward like an idiot.

It was only when he saw a particular silver sedan driving towards him did he finally snap out of it.

"Oh shit!" He cursed, diving to the side just as the car skidded to a stop over the place he once stood.

A familiar figure angrily got out of the car, closing the door with a harsh slam.

Of all the fucking people, he thought as he got up to his feet.

It was Regulus Black, Esmerelda's not-so-pleasant father. They haven't even exchanged any words and the guy was already trying to run him over. This was gonna be great.

"Uh, hello sir," he said awkwardly, as if there wasn't bloody mayhem going on all around him. He felt kind of weird calling him 'sir'. Of course, you were supposed to address your girlfriend's dad with respect, but Regulus was literally just a year older than him... Then again, he couldn't just address him as 'dude' or 'bro'.

"I was hoping to turn you into roadkill," Regulus sneered, and wow this first meeting wasn't going very well at all.

"Nice to meet you too."

"Did I give you permission to speak?" He snapped, and then pointed his wand at him. Ethan tensed up upon seeing the bronze wand that had been given Hecate's blessing. "Avada—"

"—REGULUS?!" A voice shrieked.

It was followed by another, much croaky voice, "MASTER REGULUS!"

Both boys turned to see Andromeda rushing towards them, using her wand to shield herself from debris and shoving through crowds of panicking mortals. Kreacher was speeding forward right next to her and behind them, other residents of Grimmauld Place were at the door, screaming for them to come back.

"MASTER REGULUS, YOU'RE BACK!" Kreacher wailed in relief, dropping to his knees and hugging Regulus' ankles. His face was full of snot, and he didn't hesitate to smother it all over his pant leg (not that the elf was aware of what he was doing).

"Kreacher?" Regulus gasped, his anger fading away. "Good Merlin, Kreacher, what have they done to you?! You look like you aged a hundred years!"

But Kreacher was too busy sobbing to answer clearly.

"It's you!" Andromeda gasped loudly, grasping Regulus by the shoulders and growing more faint by the second. "Oh my Merlin—oh my—oh my—you're alive—how—you haven't aged, and—"

"Andy!" Ted finally reached them. "You can't just run off, we need to stay—"

"—Ted, look! Look! It's him! It's Regulus!"

"We'll deal with that later, just get inside! Kreacher, you too!" Ted hissed, grabbing her arm and reaching out for Regulus too.

"What are you—unhand me!" Regulus tried to thrash about, but Ted was doing a good job of dragging him off while Kreacher stayed latched onto his leg

"It was nice meeting you, sir!" Ethan called out to him. Then he had to duck to avoid the spell thrown at his face. There was a loud BOOM sound behind him, like something had exploded.

Yeah that dude's out to kill me, he thought.

Once Ted managed to wrangle Andromeda and Regulus back into the house, Ethan turned his attention back to the catastrophe.

It was hard to describe how the pure destruction the street turned into. Half of it was blocked off thanks to the massive demolished pieces of the fallen apartment building. One one side of the street—the side he was at—cars were strewn everywhere. Some were overturned, some had crashed into each other or a wall, while some had collided into the rubble of the fallen building. He had no idea what was going on the other side, but he could see the upper parts of Peloreus already duking it out with Nemesis, who was driving through the air and landing on walls with her motorcycle.

Then his eyes landed on the monster truck. It had slammed right into the demolished building, flattening many cars that were in front of it no doubt. The whole thing was in flames, and as he got closer, he realized that the two passengers were no longer on it either. Instead, Esmerelda was on the ground, looking like she had thrown herself off the vehicle before it could crash.

He rushed up to her, dropping to his knees. "Essie!"

"I hit my head..." She whined quietly as he helped her sit up. When she opened her eyes and finally got a good look at him, she didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around him. "Ethan! Oh gods, I missed you so much!"

She was sobbing into his shoulder as she held him tightly. He was stunned speechless. He didn't think a moment like this would ever happen again ever since she died. Relief and joy swept through his body, and he could feel himself crying in response. He buried his face into her hair, ignoring the death and destruction that surrounded him and allowed himself to greedily seek out her warmth.

"I'm sorry," she said shakily once they pulled away. "You were right, I'm sorry—I should've—sh-should've listened—I'm so sorry, Ethan," she shook her head, tears streaming down her pale face. "I didn't mean to be gone for so long. I was—I—"

"—No, it's okay, I forgive you. Just—" There was just no way to accurately describe how it felt like she had ripped his heart out when she died and took it with her to the Underworld, no way to describe how all he had left since her death was a hollow chest that would occasionally be filled with unimaginable rage, and no way to describe how badly he wanted to break down and sob like a baby because she was alive again. He didn't think he had ever felt so much happiness before.

He could barely find the words to convey all that, so instead, he pulled her into a deep kiss.

"HEY!" Nemesis barked. They jumped away. "FOCUS ON THE BATTLE, YOU HORN-DOGS. YOU CAN FUCK LATER!"

"Oh my gods, mom!" He groaned in annoyance. Then he turned back to Esmerelda, pink in the face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said, also blushing from the interruption (and by his mother, no less). "We should go kill the giants now."

"You stick near me, okay?" He said as he helped her up. He didn't think he could let her out of his sight anymore. "And here, your weapons."

Her eyes went wide with joy when he handed her her trusty pin and charm bracelet. "You kept them! Oh! And you have my ring too!"

"Y-yeah," he admitted, his blush worsening. "I couldn't—"

"—WOULD YOU TWO STOP TALKING ALREADY?!" Nemesis snapped, evading one of Peloreus' six arms. She soared into the sky and landed on a lamppost before jumping back and smacking the giant on the head with her motorcycle. "IN CASE YOU TWO SHITS FORGOT, I CAN'T KILL THEM WITHOUT ONE OF YOU!"

"OH MY GODS, FINE!" Ethan screamed back.

They started to climb up the debris until they were given a huge reminder that there was still a second giant to worry about.

Phoetus appeared on the other side of the wrecked monster truck, golden dust sprinkling down his face from when Esmerelda ripped the steering wheel off the car to bludgeon him with it. The second he saw her, he let out a angry roar and flipped the monster truck at their direction.

Esmerelda grabbed Ethan's hand and quickly Mist traveled themselves on top of the debris that was dividing the street.

She had actually forgotten about Phoetus, whoops. After she killed Harpolykos with her dad's wand, the greenish glow disappeared and that was when she knew Hecate was no longer helping her out with the last giant (thanks, mom). So she resorted to a good old fashioned beating up until they crashed here—and now that she thought about it, she was pretty sure they were at the same street Grimmauld Place was located at...

Phoetus picked up a piece of rubble and was ready to lob it at him until he was struck in the face by a green streak of magic. He fell back to the ground, crushing all the cars and unfortunate mortals under him as dust circled his massive body.

"Sorry I'm late," a teenaged Hecate said with an annoyed sigh. "Hades was nagging at me. Now shall we defeat this pesky giant together, future son-in-law?"

Ethan blinked. "Wait, you want me to help you?"

"Usually I would prefer to fight by my daughter's side," she said. "But Phoetus is one of the Banes of Hera, and because of that, he is her opposite in many ways. Hera is a considered a goddess of family; she keeps families close whereas Phoetus..."

"Keeps them apart," Esmerelda finished knowingly. That must have explained what happened with her and Regulus back on the road. They were ready to kill each other because of the combined presence of Harpolykos and Phoetus.

"Exactly," Hecate nodded. "I was only able to help you with Harpolykos because I wasn't physically near you. And while I won't be as affected by Phoetus' abilities, you will. Once he gets to you, you'll end up wanting to fight me instead."

"I get it," Esmerelda turned to Ethan. "So you help my mom and I help yours?"

"Fine," he agreed, and both hopped off the wrecked building onto different sides of the street.

Nemesis noticed her and sped over to her direction, doing an impressive twirl with the back wheel until she was side-by-side with Esmerelda, who tried to ignore how her face would shift between Clytius and Pasiphaë's.

"So, you're gonna help me out huh?" She said, one brow quirked. "Alright then. You better impress me."

"Wanna rip his arms off before killing him?" Esmerelda asked, figuring that she must have shared the same blood lust as her son.

"Oh I like you," she purred darkly, her golden eyes glinting viciously the same way Ethan's would, revving her engine in excitement. "Alright. Let's torture this son of a bitch."

Esmerelda brandished Glimmer and set off for the giant just as Nemesis drove forward. She used her magic to bend the lampposts downwards to turn them into a makeshift staircase as she hopped on them to reach the lower levels of Peloreus' arms.

Peloreus swung his fist at her, only for Nemesis' whip to wrap around his wrist yank him forward, straightening his arm out like she was presenting it. Esmerelda used this chance to leap off the last lamppost and slice through the nice piece of flesh Nemesis so kindly offered her. Golden dust poured out of the wound as the severed half of his harm fell uselessly on the ground.

Before Esmerelda could hit the ground next, Nemesis caught her wrist with the whip and tossed her back into the air to sever the next arm too.

"Argh!" Peloreus cried out in pain before using his remaining four arms to lift up another building. He was about two more buildings away from reaching Grimmauld Place, and she knew she had to finish him off soon before he could use everyone inside as a weapon.

But she was kind of having a lot of fun fighting alongside Nemesis.

Esmerelda levitated a pair of lampposts before directing them towards Peloreus. They lodged themselves up his giant nostrils, bringing out a hearty cackle from the goddess of revenge.

"Do you think this is some sort of game?! Don't you dare make a fool out of me!" The giant seethed, not bothering to remove the lampposts and instead lifting up the apartment building from the ground. As he raised it over his head, a bunch of mortals came spilling through windows, doors, or balconies.

Esmerelda waved a hand over the ground, heavily layering it with a cushioning charm. The mortals—fortunately—didn't hit the ground with a sickening splat and bounced around instead as if they were in a bouncy house.

Peloreus let out a war cry before throwing the building at them. Esmerelda lifted an arm up and conjured the strongest shield she could muster while Nemesis barked at the mortals to get out of the way. Rubble clattered against the shield, causing cracks to appear. Once she was certain that all the mortals on their side of the street had fled, she released the shield and let all the debris shower over them.

Esmerelda had been so distracted with trying to avoid getting a nasty bonk to the head that she didn't see Peloreus swing a metal beam at her. She was barely even able to let out a sound before it slammed into her, sending her flying back into a pile of rubble.

It felt like she had been hit by a speeding train, and she was pretty sure her entire back was going to be bruised too from landing on a pile of sharp, jagged rocks and pipes. Had she been a mortal, she definitely would've broken every single bone in her body—or worse, died (again).

"Ow," she whimpered, feeling lightheaded. She got back up unsteadily, and through her blurry vision she saw Nemesis lashing at him with her whip.

She placed her hands over her head and whispered, "Episkey."

A cooling sensation washed over her head and the lightheaded feeling disappeared within seconds. Unfortunately, the aches and crippling pain were still there, but at least they were somewhat bearable.

She summoned her labrys back into her hand before jumping back into the fight.

Nemesis had already managed to rip out another one of his arms with just a harsh pull of her whip, leaving three more limbs left. Esmerelda took the other one down by Mist traveling over his shoulder and just slicing through his arm.

Peloreus tried to kick her once she landed, but she aimed a palm at his foot and shouted, "Deprimo*!"

The ground underneath his foot caved in like a sinkhole, dropping him down until his entire foot and calf disappeared. He started to fall into a kneeling position until Esmerelda blasted his entire leg off.

Peloreus fell forward, crashing harshly onto the ground, the cushioning charm no longer there to soften the blow.

Nemesis and Esmerelda stood before him, victorious.

"Four down, two more to go!" The demigod said excitedly.

Nemesis responded with a cackle. "Are you really all your dumb mother had to offer?" She jeered at the giant. "Your mom must hate you because it looks to me like she sent you out here to die."

With a heavy groan, Peloreus lifted his face up with his remaining two arms.

"Such confidence from someone who's been demoted to a minor goddess," he sneered. "You bring shame to all Primordial beings. Similarly to your mother," he spat at Esmerelda. "Once a great and mighty Titan, now seen as nothing more than a minor goddess. You are all pitiful."

Nemesis' expression turned into cold fury, and the shadows around the street started to churn with life. They were far more deadlier than her whip, each shade in the vicinity lashing out to wrap themselves around him like a dark menacing vine. They gripped his wrists and neck, forcing his body upright as he strained against them.

Esmerelda's body started to turn cold, as if she had died and turned into a ghost all over again. Nemesis was exuding a chilly atmosphere, but that wasn't all. She was reverberating with power. It was greater than a god's, greater than even a Titan's. There was a dark, menacing glow surrounding her, like she was going to slip into her true Primordial form—which would only spell disaster for everyone.

"Esmerelda," Nemesis said in a dangerously cool voice. "Finish him off."

She nodded. She enlarged her labrys before shooting it into the air. It sliced through his arm, before shooting back around him like a boomerang and slicing off the other one. Peloreus let out a cry of pain before covering it up with a deranged laugh.

"Kill me if you want!" He shouted, grinning widely. "But mother will bring us back again! There will be no end to us!"

Neither of them replied. The labrys shot towards him once more, as fast as a bullet, and pierced him straight through the chest. He finally dispersed into a massive cloud of golden dust.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Ethan had to fight back the urge to not stab Hecate.

He knew his anger towards her wasn't genuine. His feelings were being manipulated by Phoetus after all, but he just didn't know how this could happen. The family tree of the gods wasn't exactly easy to piece together (it was like an ongoing circle honestly), but he was pretty sure he had no close relation to her. They weren't family.

But Hecate was his girlfriend's mother, and like she had said before, he was technically her future son-in-law (and there was absolutely no way he and Esmerelda wouldn't get married to each other. They will have their happy ending and he was willingly to destroy anyone and anything to ensure that). So maybe that could be it. Maybe that was enough familial relation for Phoetus to control.

"It seems I underestimated his hold on you," Hecate murmured as she Mist traveled beside him, eyeing him critically.

It took all his willpower to not punch her in the face.

"Sorry," he grunted. They had only been fighting against Phoetus for about five minutes, and it was already going disastrously.

For the first minute or two, everything was okay. He had been hopping off of debris and walls in order to gain some height before trying to slice away whatever piece of giant flesh his sword could reach before he was falling again and needed to restart the process.

But then his mind became muddled. Instead of concentrating on trying to kill Phoetus, Hecate began to invade his mind. He thought about all the strife she had caused Esmerelda—from making her siblings join the Titan army which would ultimately lead to their deaths and the downfall of her and Alabaster's relationship, to the discovery that Hecate had treated Esmerelda as nothing more than a pawn, a pretty little present to be given away to Kronos.

It was only when he deflected one of Hecate's attacks on Phoetus and actually attempted to try and cut her head off did he finally realize what was happening to him.

"Are you trying to hold yourself back from killing me at this moment?" Hecate asked curiously.

"I really wanna strangle you right now, so yeah." He answered honestly.

He had a tight grip on his sword, trying to pretend that it was Hecate's neck that he was squeezing only to mentally slap himself because WHAT THE FUCK WAS HE DOING.

His head was garbled mess of 'stab Phoetus' this and 'stab Hecate' that and the occasional 'stop being angry and DON'T stab Hecate'. For once, he hated how easily it was for him to fall into a murderous rage. Phoetus must be having a field day using his own anger issues against him.

"Try not to attack me. In the meanwhile, I will trap him," Hecate decided to forget the whole 'trying to kill her' thing to focus on a plan of attack, which he was perfectly fine with. "And you will deliver the finishing death blow."

"Fine by me," he nodded.

Hecate turned her back to him to launch some sort of magical attack against Phoetus, but that was probably a big mistake because suddenly Ethan was running at her with his sword ready to turn her into a divine shish kebab.

But before his sword could touch her, he was suddenly sent flying back into the pile of rubble.

"Argh..." He groaned weakly. "Ow."

"Do I need to find another demigod to assist me?" Hecate called out to him, sounding very unperturbed as she telekinetically leveled a bunch of busted up cars to hurl at the giant.

"No!" Ethan said a little too aggressively. "I can do this."

He got up to his feet, Hecate watching him expressionlessly. For a second, he forgot all about his irrational anger as he locked eyes with her. The way Hecate looked at him reminded him of a scientist looking through a microscope. It was very calculating and clinical, and it didn't help that her face looked so similar to Esmerelda's in this current form.

And then she smiled, but even that looked rehearsed. "Keep your mind clear then, son of Nemesis. We have work to do."

Unlike his mother, who was bored from her immortal life and liked to draw out her opponent's suffering, Hecate wanted to deal with her issues quickly. She rose a hand, and at first Ethan had no idea what she was doing until he saw the incoming green glow heading towards them from the sky. They were power lines. They were no power lines anywhere nearby from what he knew, but she managed to summon a whole bunch of them to her side in an instant.

They wrapped around Phoetus and forced him face first into the ground. Ethan was nearly blinded by the multitude of bright sparks and flames that erupted around the giant's body. Usually something as simple as power lines wouldn't harm such a strong being, but Hecate must have enchanted their capabilities to really cause him harm because he could hear the giant howling pain through the electrical explosions.

"Go," Hecate ordered him. "Kill him now. I'll make sure you won't be harmed by the sparks or flames."

Ethan nodded and started to approach, until Phoetus said something that caused the both of them to pause.

"You've been tricked! You've been tricked! Let me go and I'll tell you the truth!"

"Trick?" Hecate echoed softly. "Oh. I remember your brother mentioning a trick to my daughter before. What is the trick?"

"Release me," Phoetus said.

"I'd rather not," she replied loftily. "Now I'll ask you this again: what is the trick?"

Ethan felt a cloud form in his mind. He suddenly felt his grip on the sword weaken, and he only snapped out of his weird daydream when it clattered loudly on the ground. He realized that Hecate was charmspeaking the answer out of the giant, and forced himself to stay focused.

"We have Hera fooled," Phoetus said in a dazed voice.

Hecate snorted. "Well that's not much of an accomplishment."

Ethan inwardly snickered, agreeing with her.

"How did you fool her?" She asked.

"We... we..." His voice sounded more unsure now, and his body looked tense. Then he started to twitch and that was when they knew he was fighting against the charmspeak.

Hecate turned to him. "Finish him off. There's no use charmspeaking him again."

He nodded in response and walked up to the giant who was already beginning to strain against his binding. The hazy look in his eyes were still there, but not for long.

Ethan jabbed his sword into the middle of Phoetus' forehead, and the giant disintegrated.

It was a pretty anti-climatic end, but he didn't care. They managed to get some information at least. Hera had somehow been tricked. About what, they didn't know yet, but they knew that whatever information Hera had could no longer be trusted.

There was the loud rumble of an engine and he turned his head just to see Nemesis leap over the demolished building and land just a few feet away from them, Esmerelda holding on to her from behind. They climbed off of the motorcycle and walked over to them.

Esmerelda eagerly scampered over to Ethan's side, and he was relieved to see that she was perfectly fine. Sort of. There was a lot of dirt, blood, and bruises on her skin, but she was beaming at him like the state of her injuries weren't bothering her at all.

She threw herself at him and he allowed himself to melt in her embrace, shooting his mother an irked look when she gagged in disgust. When they pulled away, Esmerelda latched herself on his arm rather than giving him any space, not that he was complaining.

"That fight was quite boring," Nemesis said and Hecate nodded in agreement. "But whatever. Ethan, I got something for you."

Ethan quirked a brow as Nemesis held out her trusty whip. It was pure black and he could sense the godly magic from within it.

He reached out, but before he could grab it, Nemesis suddenly retracted her hand back.

"It's not for sex," she added with a crude smirk.

"MOM!" Ethan shouted in disbelief. "Oh my fucking gods, just—" He snatched the whip, his face impossibly red.

(Esmerelda, though, looked like she could faint.)

Nemesis snickered at the couple's misfortune before getting back to business. "The whip's special, naturally. It grows in length and is impossibly strong. There's no breaking it. You'll need this for your journey, so take it and try not to die."

"Do I have to give up my other eye?" He asked dryly (but he was actually serious about this).

"No. Unless you're offering," she gave him a sickly sweet smile.

He scowled at her and wordlessly snatched the whip from her hand. The whip started to shift a second later, transforming from a cool, badass whip to...

"Are you fucking kidding me?" He deadpanned while Esmerelda giggled at his expense. He was now holding one of those rubbery slap-on watches. It was black with a cute cat at the center where the time was.

Nemesis shrugged. "I thought you'd like it."

"I don't."

"Well that's too bad."

"Esmerelda!" Hecate beamed, interrupting the mother-son banter. "You fought well. And I'm glad you and Regulus safely made it back here."

"Erm, thanks," she replied, still uncomfortable. "And... thank you for helping me with Harpolykos. I take it you'll be there when I face Clytius again?"

Hecate stilled. "Clytius?" She let out a small, forced laugh. "Why ever would you want to fight him again?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Nemesis lips curled up into a sharp smile. "She wants her vengeance. I can sense the hate in her. She's out for his and Pasiphaë's blood. Good girl. I would've been disappointed if you choose to wallow in your fears."

"Esmerelda—" Hecate began tightly, but was interrupted when another voice joined the conversation.

"That was wonderful," Hera applauded in all her regal glory. "Mothers fighting alongside their children and future in-laws. I've never been so moved at such a domestic scene."

"Hera," Esmerelda, Ethan, Hecate, and Nemesis said in unison with utmost displeasure.

"Don't you have a family to ruin?" Nemesis asked coldly. "A child to throw off a mountain? Or maybe a victim of your husband whose life you want to relentlessly torment?"

"Oh Nemesis, you know she has no time to do any of her favorite hobbies anymore," Hecate replied just as snidely. "She's too busy hiding away. Our poor queen, no longer welcomed at her grandiose home. What a pity."

Ethan and Esmerelda watched in sick amusement as Hera's prideful face faltered for a second. Watching their mothers bully one of the worst and most psychopathic Olympian goddesses was quite therapeutic for them. Esmerelda wished she had her phone on her so she could video tape this moment, a lot of kids back at camp would've found this satisfying too.

"What do you want, Hera?" Ethan asked, sounding just as ruthless as his mother.

"I only came here to congratulate you all on working together," she said loftily. "But I see I am not welcomed here."

You never are, Esmerelda thought.

"So you were watching us," she said instead, her tone growing more flatter by the second. "You watched us fight your banes the entire time and didn't bother to step in."

"She never does," Nemesis scoffed. "She only ever steps in when it comes to her husband's affairs."

"That is enough!" Hera's voice rose, her once 'calm' demeanor now completely shattered. "I won't be spoken to like this by some D-list goddesses—"

"—Hera you are the most hated goddess in the universe. If anyone's the D-lister, it's you, so just get to the point or leave," Nemesis snapped impatiently.

"I came with a message," she said coldly. "For your children. Ethan, Esmerelda, I have a job for you to do."

Of fucking course. The couple exchanged infuriated looks.

"In ten days, I will send you to Percy Jackson's location where I have hidden him," Hera began, and the teens tensed up. "Originally, I was going to have Esmerelda do this alone, but I felt that it would be more beneficial to have you two go together. I gave Jason Grace Piper McLean and Leo Valdez, so it's only fair I give Percy Jackson two companions as well."

"Where exactly are you sending us?" Esmerelda asked suspiciously.

"To the Wolf House, where Percy slumbers. He will awaken soon, without his memories, and I want you both to ensure that he survives the trials and makes it to Camp Jupiter alive."

"You want us to babysit him," Ethan said dryly, pure annoyance dripping from his lips.

She gave a dainty shrug. "Call it whatever you want. Just make sure the three of you make it out alive, and do not give him any indication that you share a past with him. His amnesia is crucial."

"Hera your plan has been compromised," Hecate told her seriously. "If you've been watching the fight, then you must have heard what Phoetus has said. You've been fooled. Whatever information you have can no longer be trusted."

"There's a chance you could be sending them to a death trap instead," Nemesis added, jutting her chin towards the two demigods.

But Hera, like many gods, was too arrogant to listen. Too prideful to accept the fact that she had been tricked.

So none of them were surprised when she said, "I have been carefully plotting this plan for decades. I have checked and double-checked and triple-checked and so forth. There is not a single flaw I could find, and everything I've discovered has come from a reliable source: me. I doubt I could ever fall for Gaea's trickery."

"You are the least reliable goddess I've ever met," Nemesis said bluntly.

Hera fumed. "My plan will continue and that is that! Esmerelda, Ethan, you have ten days to prepare so get ready and do not disappoint me."

She vanished in angry burst of peacock feathers, and the four of them were left glaring at the space she once occupied.

"I knew she wouldn't listen," Nemesis grumbled. "Her head's too far stuck up her ass, just like her shitty excuse of a husband."

"Esmerelda! Ethan!" They turned around to see Remus running towards them with the rest of the wizards following suit. Way at the back of the group was Regulus, who was trying to push back a fretting Kreacher.

"Well, I'm out," Nemesis said immediately upon seeing them. She walked over to her motorcycle to mount on it. "I'll see you later. Don't die."

And with that, she sped away, easily dodging all the bodies and rubble littering the street.

The rest of the wizards joined their little group, their jaws dropping at the sight of Hecate. Kreacher started shrieking madly with joy and even dropped down into a bow, his nose practically smushed against the dirty ground. Regulus, meanwhile, looked at his ex-lover with an expression full of disdain.

"Regulus, dear, hello!" Hecate greeted him, looking more bright thanks to her youthful appearance.

"Hecate."

Her smile dimmed.

"Mother," Esmerelda called out. "You've settled things with Hades, right? About... you know... dad's soul?"

"I... have it under control," she said, and Esmerelda didn't miss the way she hesitated. "We've come to an agreement.

Before she could ask what the 'agreement' was, she was cut off.

"You're—you're a goddess," Ron said dumbly.

"That's not—that's—you can't be—" Hermione was sputtering in disbelief.

"Oh my fellow creations," Hecate smiled warmly. "It's been a while since I've seen you all. I hope you didn't mind me temporarily messing with your magic, I was a bit... upset."

"No need to apologize, Hecate, we all know you don't really mean it," Regulus said snidely.

Her smile tightened and she swiftly turned her attention back to the demigods. "Well then, I'll get going. Esmerelda, Ethan, as much as I don't want you to—to—are you one of mine?" The question was directed to Harry.

"Uhwha?" He said dumbly.

Esmerelda bit back a snort. Harry had black hair and green eyes, so she could see why Hecate would mistake him as one of her kids. Though in her opinion, Harry's eyes weren't that cool to look at.

Hecate squinted at him and then reached out to poke his cheek. Whatever she was checking for wasn't there because her face turned into one of mild disgust. "Oh no. Definitely not mine. You're mortal."

Harry stared at her in pure bewilderment.

Hecate went back to ignoring him. "Now as I was saying, Esmereda, Ethan, as much as I don't want you to follow through whatever plan Hera as, I'm afraid you have no choice."

"That's nothing new," Ethan said bitterly.

"Just be careful." She continued on firmly. "Hera has been fooled somehow. It could mean anything. Her information could be wrong, her mind could've been meddled with, there are a many ways Hera could've been fooled."

"So don't trust her," Esmerelda supplied.

"Exactly. Her plan is now flawed thanks to this, so tread carefully. Now I must get going. I'm sure Hades is ready with another long lecture about leaving while on-duty," Hecate said with a sigh. "Goodbye."

She disappeared in a poor of green.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"How are you alive?!"

"For the millionth time," Regulus hissed at a stunned Remus. "The Doors of Death are opened, so Esmerelda took advantage of that and resurrected us both."

"But—but—"

"—Enough," Regulus shut his eyes, his hand reaching up to massage his temples. "We've explained everything to you already so will someone just tell us—"

"—Where's uncle Sirius?" Esmerelda finished for him.

The whole room went tense with silence. She frowned at the lack of answers and turned to Ethan for help.

"He's been arrested," he was straight-forward as ever. "After you died, Ministry workers arrived and took him and the remaining Death Eaters away. They think he's guilty for your death."

"What?!"

"His trial is on the fifteenth, I'll be his lawyer." He continued. "I was initially going to have Lou Ellen disguise me with the Mist, but you can help me out with that instead."

"They put him in back in Azkaban, didn't they?!" Esmerelda panicked. "We need to get him out—help him escape!"

"You can do that, but people won't stop looking for him. He will be known as a criminal for the rest of his life," Andromeda told her softly. "Plus, is your Mist strong enough to twist the minds of every wizard in the world?" She asked knowingly.

Her shoulders drooped before a hopeful look took over her face as she turned to Ethan. "You'll win his case then, right?"

"Of course I can," he answered just as Regulus scoffed in disgust.

"And I'm sure you're helping him out of the goodness of your heart, aren't you," he sneered.

Esmerelda's face fell. "Dad—"

"—You cannot trust him, Esmerelda," he said sternly before sending Ethan a scathing look. "You're a son of Nemesis, correct? I've read the stories about her. She never does anything for free. There is always a calculated reason why she does the things she does. A price."

The wizards in the room grew tense as the room was surrounded by an oppressive atmosphere. It was so bad that several of them were even reaching out for their wands while Mrs. Weasley stayed close to the kids.

Esmerelda looked like she was close to ripping her hair out. Her eyes were anxiously darting back and forth to her furious father and her... rather calm boyfriend.

Ethan regarded Regulus carefully. The guy was as sharp as a knife, so he would have to word his sentences carefully while making sure his expressions didn't slip.

"Contrary to popular belief, us demigods aren't completely similar to our godly parents," he said slowly. "Essie's nothing like her mother, is she? It's no different with me. I have my mother's powers, but I'm not an exact replica of her. I'm helping your brother because I want to. I knew she would be devastated if the uncle she loves so much were to be sent back to his hellhole. So I want to do whatever I can to win his case for her sake."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. He did want to get Sirius out of Azkaban, but it wasn't because he had good intentions.

Esmerelda rose to her feet before Regulus could respond. "I'm tired. And so is Ethan after that fight against the giants. Dad, I'm sure you're tired too. Kreacher, why don't you get him some tea?"

"Yes my lady," Kreacher said hurriedly.

Regulus watched as she proceeded to tug Ethan up from the couch. "Where are you two going?"

"To rest, dad," she sighed. "Enjoy your tea."

He rose to his feet. "Esmerelda—"

She Mist traveled away, taking Ethan with her.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

The two of them were relaxing in one of Grimmauld Place's grand bath tubs, the water colored a rosy red thanks to the bath bomb she dropped in. Esmerelda allowed herself to relax, her bare back meeting Ethan's chest as the colored water cooled her burning skin down. Ethan automatically placed his arms around her, wrapping them loosely around her neck and shoulders.

Everything just felt... so good now that she was back with him. Things had been so hectic since she died, from having to cover up for Charon's irresponsibility to busting her and her dad out of the Underworld, then there was the battle against the giants... She was just glad that she was finally given some time to be at peace.

"I'm sorry about my dad," she apologized with a grimace as she soaked her soapy hair in the water. "He can be... intense."

"Your dad hates me," Ethan murmured before pressing a sweet kiss on her shoulders. "How do you feel about eloping?"

She giggled, "There's no need for that. He'll learn to tolerate you soon, I'm sure of it."

Ethan highly doubted it. He remembered his mother telling him that he and Regulus were more alike then he thought, and Regulus just needed to see that in order for him to be accepted, but there was honestly nothing similar about them. Well, aside from the fact that they were both missing certain parts of their body. He was missing an eye while Regulus was missing his left forearm.

"It doesn't matter," he said quietly, not wanting to talk about Regulus any further. "Are you okay?"

His question was sudden, but she knew what he was asking about.

"I'm... as okay as I can be," she answered honestly, looking down at the shimmery water. "Dying was... a terrible experience. The afterlife was even worse. I was stuck covering for Charon back at the DOA, that's why I've been gone for so long. When Hades found out, he took me to the Underworld to get my judgement. I got Elysium."

His lips turned upwards to form a knowing smile. "I knew you would. You're an angel after all."

She let out a soft giggle when she felt him pepper the side of her face with loving kisses.

"I was scared that Hades wouldn't let me back out, but Hecate encouraged me to leave with my father. It was quite a fun journey," she inwardly snorted at her choice of words. "We were both desperate to come here, and I was so worried about you since my mother told me you were in danger... I tried to contact you, but you didn't get it..."

"I heard your voicemail," he muttered. "But that was only after my mom told me. Before that, Gaea's been trying to manipulate me with false dreams about you."

"What do you mean?" She asked worriedly.

His face darkened. "She made me think that you were alive, but had been kidnapped and taken to Athens. That's all the fake you kept telling me, to come to the Acropolis and save you. I never listened, even though it pained me. Something was just off about the dreams. Turns out I was right."

"I'm glad you didn't go," she breathed out. "That definitely sounds like a trap."

"It didn't matter either way. I was a disaster without you," he confessed shakily. "I was a fucking mess, you know that? Nico was distraught too but I didn't know how to help him since he was all the way on the other side of the fucking country, and I just kept feeling angry and empty at the same time. I turned out to be right... about everything, and I hated it so much."

Esmerelda could hear the pain in his voice and tried not to break down, but she could feel tears slipping from her eyes at the mention of Nico.

"I'm sorry," he held her tighter, the emotions bleeding out from him. "I never should have let you go. I should've made you stay. You're alive now, but you still suffered and I hate that it had to happen to you. I'm sorry."

Esmerelda turned so she could press a chaste kiss to his lips before resting the side of her face against his neck.

"Don't go blaming yourself for this," she whispered. "My death is nobody's fault but mine. You were right all along, I should've listened to you... and I shouldn't have let my fatal flaw take over me that night."

"This won't happen again," he promised. "You and I are sticking together. We're not going to get separated a second time. I won't let anyone take you away from me."

She let out a content sigh, kissing him on the neck before she melted into him. His embrace was still the same (even if it felt like his arms were hugging her tighter then usual) and his hands were still so warm (even if his nails dug a little too hard onto her skin).

He reached down to stroke her cheek, and that was when she caught a glimpse of offensive wounds scratched up on his hands, like someone had tried to fend him off.

But as she looked up to see the pure love in his gaze, she no longer felt the need to care.

(Even if something about that gaze seemed darker—more primal and desperate in a way)

( SURPRISE! )

I know the ending scene isn't smutty or suggestive in the slightest, but I still made a smut chapter anyways because I know some of you guys are thirsty after so many chapters of no smutty goodness! Give me a few minutes (or maybe an hour lol) and the smut chapter will be posted in the Church of Essie!

— author's note —

* Deprimo: "incantation of a charm used to blast holes in the ground. It was strong enough to shatter the floor of an entire room in a matter of seconds" (Harry Potter wiki)

Here's a youtube thing I made:

How Ethan will propose to Essie:

From M. Nevermind: