▬▬▬ CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ▬▬▬

Hope you guys enjoyed my rant 🌝✌️OH AND LOOK AT THE GIF I MADE ^ It's from the movie Over Drive and I had to use ezgif and... the explanation's kinda long, but I'll post a how-to in the guidebook later.

Also, I got an 104/100 on my Ted Bundy essay 🤓 I did the extra credit portion, but I got points docked off for formatting errors smh

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️

✨ FORBIDDEN TANGO! ✨

Wow, it's been such a long time since I did any forbidden tango 😳😳😳 It's been like what... *starts counting* TWENTY FUCKING CHAPTERS??!?!?!

👁👄👁

Okay uh, I actually wasn't expecting it to be so long ago... I'm so sorry for that, you guys 😅 but hey, we're back to it now at least!

Anyways, the forbidden tango happens at the very end of the chapter so once you thirsty hoes are done reading this whole thing, you can go straight to the Church of Essie to read about Essan having some... holy fun 😇🙏

ALSO I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE EXCITED ABOUT THE SMUT, BUT PLEASE MAKE IT TO THE VERY END OF THE CHAPTER!!!!

dites_boredom made a bunch of adorable picrews and you guys should see them! They're so cute 🥺🥺🥺

ANNABETH'S WORDS SCARED ESMERELDA SO bad that she had to stuff a slice of pizza into her mouth to calm her down.

Not that it actually worked, so she settled with trying to distract herself with the walls of the mess hall. Leo had really outdone himself with this particular room. The cupboard was lined with magic cups and plates from Camp Half-Blood, which would fill up with whatever food or drink you wanted on command. There was also a magical ice chest with canned drinks, perfect for picnics ashore. The chairs were cushy recliners with thousand-finger massage, built-in headphones, and sword and drink holders for all your demigod kicking-back needs.

It was amazing, but the walls were her favorite thing about the room. They were enchanted to show real-time footage from Camp Half-Blood so she could see the wonderful sights of the beach, the forest, the strawberry fields and so forth. It made her feel happy and homesick at the same time.

"Full power?" Frank echoed weakly, drawing her back to the not-so-pleasant conversation. "How—how is that even possible?"

"It's just a theory," Annabeth said with a forced calmness.

"But it makes sense," Ethan muttered darkly. "Why else would Gaea try so hard to get her hands on me and Essie compared to the rest of you guys?"

"Hold on," Piper protested. "My mother is older than the gods, isn't she? Gaea would be after me too."

"She's older than the Olympians, but not the Titans," Annabeth sighed, getting a little tired of Piper's individuality complex. The girl sounded a bit too eager to be targeted if it made her 'special'. "So Aphrodite is still young compared to Titans and Primordials."

"If it makes you feel better, you're the third most wanted," Ethan said bluntly. "You're Essie's backup if Gaea fails to get her, so congrats. Percy or Jason are probably mine."

"Or Frank," Percy chimed in.

Frank looked horrified. "What? Why me?"

"You're a son of Mars and a legacy of Poseidon," Percy reminded him. "You've got, like, bonus blood or whatever."

Ethan quirked a brow up as he turned to Frank, uncharacteristically sympathetic. "You're related to Percy? Man, that's sucks for you."

"Do you have water powers too?" Esmerelda asked eagerly, momentarily forgetting about all the doom and gloom.

"He can shapeshift into different animals," Hazel smiled. "It's amazing."

Frank blushed. "Guys...!"

Esmerelda started to chuckle, but suddenly gasped like she was remembering something.

"The third person!"

Everyone looked at her.

"What?" Jason blinked.

"I almost forgot about it, but I remembered it since we're talking about backups," she rambled. "My mom told me there were three people Gaea had her sights on: me, Ethan, and someone else she couldn't see, but she was certain that me and Ethan would still be her main targets. I think the third person could be an important backup."

Piper squared her shoulders. "That's me. It has to be me. Annabeth said it herself, my mother's the oldest out of all the Olympians."

"Congrats," Ethan said dryly.

Jason cleared his throat in order to prevent an argument from happening. "Regardless of who the third person could be, I suggest we all try to avoid getting captured. Essie and Ethan especially."

Esmerelda nodded in agreement, nibbling nervously on her pizza. Meanwhile, Ethan was staring at her like he was already strategizing ways to keep her locked up on the Argo II.

"But how do we figure it out?" Hazel spoke up. "The Mark of Athena, the twins, Ella's prophecy... how does it all fit together?"

Annabeth pressed her hands against the edge of the table. "Piper, you told Leo to set our course for Atlanta."

"Right," Piper said. "Bacchus told us we should seek out... what was his name?"

"Phorcys," Percy said.

"You know him?" Annabeth asked in surprise.

Percy shrugged. "I didn't recognize the name at first. Then Bacchus mentioned salt water, and it rang a bell. Phorcys is an old sea god from before my dad's time. Never met him, but supposedly he's a son of Gaea. I still don't understand what a sea god would be doing in Atlanta."

Leo snorted. "What's a wine god doing in Kansas? Gods are weird. Anyway, we should reach Atlanta by noon tomorrow, unless something else goes wrong."

"Don't even say that," Annabeth muttered. "It's getting late. We should all get some sleep."

"Wait," Piper said.

Everyone turned to her, and she withered under Ethan's menacing stare.

(In his defense, that was just his regular stare. His face was just naturally scary like that.)

"There's one last thing," she continued. "The eidolons—the possessing spirits. They're still here, in this room."

She went on to explain some Cherokee legends about spirits and how they sometimes stayed in the living world because they didn't even know they were dead. She figured there was a good chance that the eidolons were still around because no one told them to go away.

Finally Hazel exhaled. "Piper is right."

"How can you be sure?" Annabeth asked.

"I've met eidolons," Hazel said. "In the Underworld, when I was... you know."

Dead.

Esmerelda nodded along, giving her a sympathetic look while she sipped her water like she was saying 'I feel you, bro'.

"So..." Frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts might have invaded his scalp. "You think these things are lurking on the ship, or—"

"—Possibly lurking inside some of us," Piper said. "We don't know."

Jason clenched his fist. "If that's true—"

Ethan interrupted him with a yawn, like the thought of the ship being haunted was no biggie to him.

"Just let Essie deal with it and then we can go to bed," he suggested, slugging an arm over his girlfriend's shoulders. He had pushed their seats right next to each other so it was possible.

Esmerelda perked up. "Yeah, I can—"

"—No," Piper cut in, her lips pursed. "I should do it."

Ethan's hand reached up for his earring and Piper was about to take back her words until Esmerelda let out a happy exclamation:

"Oh, yes, that's a great idea," she beamed at the younger girl. "You plan on using your charmspeak to draw them away, right? Perfect, you can even get some practice in!"

Piper's lips turned downwards. "I don't need any practice."

Esmerelda blinked. "Oh, I wasn't trying to imply—"

Piper turned away from her rudely and took a deep breath, like listening her talk was aggravating. "Just listen, okay? Everybody listen."

She met their eyes, one person at a time.

"Eidolons," she said, using her charmspeak. "Raise your hands."

There was tense silence.

Leo laughed nervously. "Did you really think that was going to—?"

His voice died. His face went slack. He raised his hand.

Jason and Percy did the same. Their eyes had turned glassy and gold. Hazel caught her breath. Next to Leo, Frank scrambled out of his chair and put his back against the wall.

"Dude," Ethan stared at Frank in disappointment. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Just stab them."

Frank looked at him incredulously. "They're possessing our friends' bodies! If we stab them, we'd be hurting Jason, Leo, and Percy!"

He shrugged. "I'd stab them."

"Nobody is stabbing anyone," Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose before glancing at Piper. "Can you cure them?"

Piper nodded uncertainly before focusing on Leo.

"Are there more of you on this ship?" She asked.

"No," Leo said in a hollow voice. "The Earth Mother sent three. The strongest, the best. We will live again."

"Not here, you won't," Piper growled. "All three of you, listen carefully."

Jason and Percy turned toward her with their glowing gold eyes.

"You will leave those bodies," she commanded.

"No," Percy said.

Leo let out a soft hiss. "We must live."

Frank fumbled for his bow. "Mars Almighty, that's creepy! Get out of here, spirits! Leave our friends alone!"

Leo turned toward him. "You cannot command us, child of war. Your own life is fragile. Your soul could burn at any moment."

Esmerelda wasn't sure what that meant, but Frank staggered like he'd been punched in the gut. He drew an arrow, his hands shaking.

"I—I've faced down worse things than you. If you want a fight—"

"—Frank, don't." Hazel rose.

"Leave him alone," Esmerelda scolded the eidolons. "I hope you know that leaving the Underworld and possessing people's bodies is a direct breakage of Rule #13 of Orderly Ghostly Conduct and will result in the immediate punishment of being sewn into Hades' clothes!"

The three possessed hosts shivered in fear at the prospect of being trapped in Hades' underwear.

Hazel's jaw dropped. "Hold on, my father actually sews unruly spirits into his clothes?"

Esmerelda nodded.

Frank looked like he could faint.

"That is so gross," Ethan's face contorted into disgust. Then someone dawned on him. "Wait... Does Nico have spirits sewn into his clothes too? Do you?"

Esmerelda was affronted. "Of course not! Well actually... Hades did offer, but we said no."

"How do you know all this?!" Hazel asked.

"I work in the Underworld."

Frank and Hazel stared at her in horror. "You work in the Underworld?!" They cried out in unison, glancing between her and Ethan as if to say 'you work there and not him?!'.

Possessed!Jason drew his sword, seemingly desperate to avoid his fate as Hades' underwear.

"Stop!" Piper ordered, but her voice quavered.

Esmerelda bit her lip. She wanted to help, but she knew Piper needed to be the one to do this. She had little to no proper training and she needed as many chances as she could get to use her charmspeak.

"Listen to Piper." Hazel pointed at Jason's sword. The gold blade seemed to grow heavy in his hand. It clunked to the table and Jason sank back into his chair.

Percy growled in a very un-Percy-like way. "Daughter of Pluto, you may control gems and metals, but you do not control the dead."

Annabeth reached toward him as if to restrain him, but Hazel waved her off.

"Listen, eidolons," Hazel said sternly. "You do not belong here. I may not command you, but Piper does. Obey her."

"You will leave those bodies," Piper repeated, even more forcefully.

Jason's face tightened. His forehead beaded with sweat. "We—we will leave these bodies."

"You will vow on the River Styx never to return to this ship," Piper continued. "And never to possess any member of this crew."

Leo and Percy both hissed in protest.

"You will promise on the River Styx," she insisted.

There was a brief moment where they struggled against her orders, but then all three eidolons spoke in unison: "We promise on the River Styx."

Ethan inwardly sighed. Not only was this taking too long but Piper left way too many loopholes for the eidolons to use. She only told them to never come back to the ship and possess them, she said nothing about following them around or attacking them.

He would've pointed it out, but he didn't care enough to bother.

(Plus, he doubted she would take his advice anyways.)

"You are dead," Piper said.

"We are dead," they agreed.

"Now, leave."

Everyone expected to see the ghostly spirits float out of their body or something equally as amazing as what you'd see in movies. Unfortunately, what happened next was more anti-climatic instead.

All three boys slumped forward. Percy fell face-first into his pizza.

"Percy!" Annabeth grabbed him.

Piper and Hazel caught Jason's arms as he slipped out of his chair.

Leo wasn't so lucky. He fell toward Frank, who made no attempt to intercept him. Leo hit the floor.

"Ow!" He groaned.

"Are you all right?" Hazel asked.

Leo pulled himself up. He had a piece of spaghetti in the shape of a 3 stuck to his forehead. "Did it work?"

"It worked," Piper said, feeling pretty sure she was right. "I don't think they'll be back."

"You did it," Esmerelda grinned. "Congrats. You were great."

"Thanks," the younger girl said shortly before rising up from her seat, not even sparing her a glance. "It's late out. Jason, care to have some fresh air with me?"

Esmerleda blinked, feeling totally ignored. Ethan was shaking with rage beside her. Everyone else was watching the scene with interest unabashedly.

Jason winced at the offer. "Uh, I'd rather not. Thanks for helping us out there, Piper, but, uh, I'd, um, I gotta go to bed."

Ethan cringed. He couldn't bear to hear Jason's piss poor excuses. He was almost as bad as Esmerelda when it came to lying.

Terrible lying skills aside, he felt another wave of pity for the younger guy. Despite the fact that Jason had already publicly 'dumped' her in front of the entirety of Camp Half-Blood, she was still going after him. She wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

He watched silently as Jason excused himself from the mess hall, walking out of the room with quick strides to get as far away from her as possible, leaving Piper to stare after him in despair.

He shot Piper a scathing glare for getting up next, Esmerelda rising with him.

"We'll be going to bed too," he said. "Anyone know where we'll be sleeping?"

"I know where your rooms are, I can take you there," Hazel offered, standing up. "Just follow me."

Hazel led them away from the mess hall and rather than taking them directly to their rooms, she was kind enough to give them a basic tour of the Argo II beforehand, which the couple appreciated since they were sure to get lost from how massive the ship was.

The Argo II was designed like an ancient trireme, only twice as big. The first deck had one central corridor with crew cabins on either side (that was where their rooms were). On a normal trireme, most of the space would've been taken up with three rows of benches for a few hundred sweaty guys to do the manual labor, but Leo's oars were automated and retractable, so they took up very little room inside the hull. The ship's power came from the engine room on the second and lowest deck, which also housed sickbay, storage, and the stables.

"And over here is where our rooms are located," Hazel finished, taking them back to the first deck.

They walked down the central hallway where everyone's would be sleeping. Esmerelda could see little golden placards on each door with names written on them in Ancient Greek. Ethan noticed that Leo conveniently placed Jason's room far far away from Piper's. He was a real bro.

They kept walking further and further down the hallway. After passing by Coach Hedge's room, there didn't seem to be any more. Just an endless hallway, or that was what she thought. Finally, they reached the very end where a single door waited for them. The golden placard read: ESSAN.

"I don't know why Leo made your room so far away from ours," Hazel said with a small frown on her lips. "But here it is. It's, um, well, it's yours. You get to be... er, roommates, I guess..."

Hazel looked embarrassed and Esmerelda shared the sentiment. Only Ethan remained unfazed, and shamelessly so. There was a satisfied smirk on his face, and it only seemed to grow wider when he pushed the door opened.

Even though Esmerelda and Ethan weren't around to speak of what they wanted for their room, Leo knew them well enough to make a room that suited both of their interests.

The walls were a clean white and the floors were made of a dark wood color. There was a closet off to the side, which was hopefully full of their own clothes from camp. There was another door too, most likely a bathroom they could share. There was also a bookshelf that had Esmerelda's school textbooks of spells and books full of torture and law for Ethan.

At the far back of the room, instead of there being two beds... there was one. A huge, circular bed. Seeing it made Esmerelda turn red, especially when she caught Hazel's bug-eyed stare.

"Huh," Ethan mused, looking around and nodding to himself. "Leo wasn't kidding when he said he'd be giving us a huge bed. Let's hope he kept his promise about the soundproof walls."

Hazel slapped a hand over her mouth, absolutely scandalized. Nico had constantly ranted to her about how vile his stepdad was, but she didn't think he was this bad! Her 1940s mindset couldn't handle what her ears were hearing.

Esmerelda gasped, shooting poor Hazel a panicked look.

"Ethan!" She hissed, her face flushed scarlet.

Ethan blinked, then snapped his head back to Hazel so fast he nearly got whiplash. His lone eye widened slightly and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He seemed to have forgotten the girl was with them.

"I, uh," he winced. "Sorry."

She shook her head, desperate to forget everything that just came out from his mouth.

"It's fine," she squeaked, lying to herself.

She couldn't seem to look any of them in the eye anymore and instead distracted herself by looking around the room.

Esmerelda glared at her boyfriend. Great job, you pervert, her expression seemed to be saying. You mentally scarred her.

'I didn't mean to!' He mouthed back.

"It's really nice," Hazel complimented, looking over at the bookshelf. If she noticed the books about torture, she didn't comment on it. "Leo did a good job. He didn't know about Frank and I when he built this, so our rooms are kind of plain looking."

"You can always decorate it," Esmerelda chipped in, glad for the change of topic. "I can even help you too if you want. With magic and all that."

"Oh, no, no I wouldn't want to trouble you," Hazel assured. "After everything you and Ethan been through, you deserve some well-needed rest. I can always ask Frank for hel... oh." She suddenly stopped speaking, a soft sound coming from the back of her throat as something caught her attention.

She was staring at something on the nightstand, and for a horrified second Esmerelda and Ethan thought that Leo had put something inappropriate on there. But then Hazel stepped back and to their relief, all they saw was an innocent picture frame.

It was a picture of her, Ethan, and Nico back at the penthouse in New York. She remembered this moment clearly. It was a few days after the Second Titan War ended and the three of them were playing Mario Kart against each other. Esmerelda was just trying to have a fun time, but Ethan and Nico were being competitive jerks and screaming at one another.

The Stolls had been the ones who took the picture and she had the exact same one back in her room at the Hecate cabin. Lou Ellen must have given Leo a copy to put in here. How sweet of them.

"You two must miss him a lot," Hazel said, giving them a sad smile.

She stole another glance at the photo and wondered what it would be like to be living in that exact moment with them. Despite the fact that Nico was screaming his head off in the photo, she had never seen her brother act so lively before. It was a nice thing to witness, and she could see why Nico liked to talk about them so much.

"We know you miss him too," Ethan said, uncharacteristically soft for once.

There was a look of pain and desperation in his eye as he stared at Nico's face in the picture. It was almost as raw as Esmerelda's intense agony. Hazel felt like she was intruding on a personal moment, like she was a bystander watching two parents grieve the loss of their child.

"We'll get him back," Ethan continued, the softness in his face turning hard and cutting. "Don't worry Hazel, we'll get him back, and we're gonna kill the giants who took him, and Gaea will follow soon after."

Something curdled in her stomach. Fear. Ethan no longer looked like a grieving father, but something darker. She fidgeted nervously on the spot, growing uncomfortable by the coldness in his face until Esmerelda spoke up and it disappeared without a trace.

"I'm so sorry about everything, Hazel," Esmerelda said miserably, looking guilt-ridden. "Back when we were in Tartarus, Ethan stayed behind to protect us and I was left alone with Nico. I fell asleep, but when I woke up he was just... gone. I lost him. And when we found him... we lost him all over again..."

"That's not your fault," Hazel tried to tell her.

"It is, I'm supposed to be his mother, but..." A look of agony crossed over her face, and she shook her head. "Forget it. It's my fault, and I'm sorry for losing him. I swear, we'll get him back safe and sound."

"I know you will, we still have some time left," Hazel said, trying to think positively for all of their sakes. "I know we'll get him back, and it's not your fault either so you don't have to apologize. The two of you have known him longer than me, so I'm more concerned about your feelings. I'll be fine. Frank's been keeping me company, helping me stay strong and all."

Esmerelda perked up. "You and Frank, huh? You two have gotten really close lately."

Hazel could feel her face heat up. "Oh, uh, Frank and I, um, we got together during our quest to save Thanatos."

(And poor Percy had to be the third-wheel again.)

"You did?!" Esmerelda's face lit up with joy. "Oh that's amazing! I'm so happy for you two! You guys make such a cute couple, right Ethan?"

Ethan nodded in agreement. "You have good taste." Unlike Nico who used to be in love with Percy Jackson (ugh) when better demigods like Will Solace or his half-brother, Damien White, existed.

"How did it happen, if you don't mind me asking?" Esmerelda asked, eagerly taking the younger girl's hand and taking her to the bed where they could sit down and chat more comfortably.

Hazel stole a glance at Ethan, wondering if it was really okay to have a girl talk with him in the same room as them, but Esmerelda looked so much lighter than before unlike when they were talking about Nico's abduction. So she decided to keep talking in order to keep the good vibes alive.

Besides, Ethan had already kicked off his shoes and thrown himself on the bed behind them, showing that he was interested in the conversation.

"I've, um, kind of had a crush on him since we met at Camp Jupiter," Hazel began shyly, unable to help the smile blossoming on her face. "He's always really kind, sweet, and funny, and I guess Frank had a crush on me too because we kissed after we defeated the giant, Alcyoneus."

"Awww," Esmerelda squealed like a school girl. "You two remind me so much of me and Ethan!"

"Except I doubt Frank ever kidnapped her and locked her up in a dog cage," Ethan mumbled. "Or became a war criminal and joined the enemy side. I don't think he ever woke up two homicidal elder Titans either."

Hazel turned around to look at him. "Wait, you did what."

"Ignore him," Esmerelda waved him off, her sunny smile still plastered onto her face. "He's just been a bit moody lately."

"Of course I'm moody," he grumbled under his breath, turning his body around so he was facing the ceiling as he hugged a pillow against his chest. "We got shot at by cops and then held hostage by a crazy Satanic cult (they made good milkshakes though). Then we had to deal with stupid Piper and her terrible attitude."

Hazel winced. "About Piper..." She trailed off. "Has she always been... like that?"

She felt a little bad to be gossiping about a fellow crew mate, but she was just so comfortable around these two that she couldn't help but keep talking.

"What do you mean?" Esmerelda asked.

"Well..." She fidgeted nervously on her seat. "I notice that she makes Jason uncomfortable."

Despite Jason being the praetor of Camp Jupiter, she always knew him to be down to earth and more... what was the word people used these days? Chill? Yes, that was it. Jason was always 'chill'. He was calm, collected, friendly, and kind, all the traits for a good leader (but not particularly a Roman one). She had never seen him look uncertain with himself except for the times where he stumbled around like a dork whenever Reyna was concerned. That was cute, but how he acted around Piper was more concerning than cute.

"Piper told me that they used to date," she began. "But it doesn't seem that way. Jason said that they never did, and he's always trying to keep her away even though she doesn't listen. I don't get it. I thought he liked Reyna, but..."

"He does," Ethan assured. "Piper's just delusional."

"When Jason was kidnapped by Hera, she plopped him in a school bus with Piper and Leo and implanted fake memories in their heads. Leo thought they were friends, and they are now that they were able to create a genuine relationship, but Piper, um..." Esmerelda trailed off.

"Piper was given fake memories of them dating," Ethan stated bluntly. "And then all three of them came to camp and they were told the truth. Leo accepted it, Piper didn't. Little bitch refused to let Essie give her her real memories back and chose to cling on to the fake ones instead. She's desperate at this point, especially since Jason remembers everything now."

Hazel's eyes widened. "Oh, wow."

"Yeah," he said, scoffing. "Oh and she's got a bad case of internalized misogyny so I'd just stay away from her. She's a terrible influence."

"Ethan," Esmerelda sighed.

"What?" He turned to her. "You want her hanging around bad influences? I'm doing her a favor, and Nico would back me up on this!"

She shook her head in exasperation.

"Oh, since we're on the topic of Piper," he gave Hazel a shit-eating grin. "Wanna hear about the time Jason 'dumped' her delusional ass in front of the entirety of Camp Half-Blood?"

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Hazel was having the time of her life talking and gossiping with Nico's parents. In fact, she was enjoying spending time with them so much that she hadn't even realized how much time passed until someone knocked on the door.

"I'll open it," Ethan said, already hopping off of the bed with a yawn.

Hazel glanced at the clock on the wall and her eyes widened in alarm. It was almost midnight. She had been talking with Ethan and Esmerelda for nearly three hours now.

Ethan finally swung open the door.

It was Frank. The second the younger boy saw who standing in front of him, he shrunk on the spot.

"E-E-Ethan...!" Frank squeaked. "Hi..."

Ethan quirked a brow as if he didn't understand why he was reacting that way towards him.

"Hey?" He greeted back. "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh, erm," Frank cleared his throat nervously, but his voice still came off a little feeble. "I was just, uh, checking on Hazel. It's nearly midnight now and she wasn't in the room so I came to see if she was here..."

Ethan stared at him, frowning a little. "Oh," he said, his brows furrowing. "Are you two sleeping together?"

It was like Frank stopped breathing. All the color drained from his face.

"No!" He burst out. "No, sir, I would—I would never, sir, I swear—"

"—Dude," Ethan cut him off, giving him a weird and concerned look. "Why are you calling me 'sir'? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he lied.

Ethan didn't believe him in the slightest. "You look like you're about to piss yourself."

"I, uh—"

"—Frank!" Hazel suddenly exclaimed, hurrying over to the door.

Said boy looked like he could collapse from the relief once she reached them.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized, grimacing. "I lost track of time."

"No problem," Frank said quickly, occasionally shooting Ethan terrified glances. "I just came here to take you to your room. Which you are definitely not sharing with me. Because I have my own room. A good distance away from yours."

Ethan and Hazel stared at him, equally as lost.

"What's going on...?" Esmerelda wondered aloud, joining them at the doorway.

Frank jumped when he saw her.

"I -I was just checking on Hazel, ma'am!" He said in one breath, panic-stricken.

She blinked. "...Ma'am?"

Why did people keep calling her that? She wasn't old!

"Uh, I should get going, it's getting late anyways..." Hazel trailed off, unable to help the weird glances she would give her boyfriend.

Frank nodded stiffly before flashing Esmerelda and Ethan the most anxious smile they had ever seen. Then he and Hazel disappeared down the hall, his shoulders not loosening up in the slightest.

Esmerelda stared off at the distance, absolutely confused. "What the heck was that about?"

"Dunno," Ethan shrugged, equally as lost. "Maybe Frank had indigestion or something."

They stepped back into their room and he closed the door.

"Hazel's right though," Esmerelda said with a yawn. "It's getting late."

She opened the nice looking dresser Leo made for them and was relieved to find it full of their own clothes. Lou Ellen and Damien must have supplied it since they weren't around to do it. They had such awesome siblings.

They got dressed into their respective pajamas. Or, well, Esmerelda did. She changed into a loose shirt with shorts while Ethan just slid on some pajama pants while leaving his shirt off (not that she really minded).

Esmerelda settled into the bed first, her body immediately relaxing as she laid her back against the cloud-like mattress. A pleased sigh escaped her lips. It had been so long since she laid on an actual bed that she could almost fall asleep instantly.

(And the bed in the cult house didn't count because she was surrounded by crazy people who had a creepy fixation for her.)

Ethan was just about to join her until another knock came on the door.

He dipped his head back and groaned. "I'll get it..."

He walked towards the door and swung it open.

"I don't have any medicine for your stomach, Frank... oh," his face fell to displeasure when he saw was actually behind the door. "It's you. What do you want?"

Annabeth sent him a dry glare. "I know it's kind of late, but I came here to talk to Essie."

"Oh?" Esmerelda rose up from her spot on the bed. "What's up, Annabeth?"

"I don't wanna talk about it here with him around," Annabeth gave Ethan a distrusting look which he returned. "Can we step outside for a moment?"

Esmerelda was about to say 'sure', until Ethan spoke up before her.

"No."

Annabeth stared at her, and Ethan could feel Esmerelda's stare on his back.

But he was undeterred.

"If you wanna talk, you talk to both of us, and since I doubt you trust me enough to do that, you can forget about your little talk," he spat before slamming the door on her face.

"Ethan!" Esmerelda stood up from the bed. "What the hell was that for?!"

He turned around and walked towards, looking nonchalant as if he hadn't just done a super rude thing.

He shrugged. "What?"

"Wha—" She stared at him in bewilderment. "You slammed the door on her face! That was totally unnecessary! She just wanted to talk."

"To you," he clarified, his face darkening. "She wanted you to walk out of the room—to leave my side—for some stupid talk."

Her face went still at his words.

"And she still doesn't trust me, you know," he added, growing angry at the thought of Annabeth. "Out of everyone here, she hates me the most. She'll probably try to put the wrong thoughts in your head to get you to stop trusting me. She'll try to make you hate me and stay away."

"Annabeth wouldn't do that," she said firmly. "She's not our—your enemy. We're in the middle of a war, Ethan, she's smart enough to know that any in-fighting wouldn't help us defeat Gaea. Now step aside and let me out of the room. Something tells me Annabeth had something important to say."

"If she wants to talk, she can talk to the both of us," he said with a narrowed eye. "I don't want either of us to be away from each other, not after what we went through in that hellhole. I can't bear to be away from you."

But she could bear to be away from him, he realized. She would've left him behind and walked out with Annabeth without a second of hesitation had it not been for him intercepting. Why would she do that? Didn't she need him? Was he the only one suffering? Why couldn't she need him as much as he needed her?!

The thought was enough to drive him crazy. Well, crazier then he already was.

Esmerelda's face softened. "Oh, Ethan, I understand—"

"—Do you?" He said bitterly.

"Of course I do," she crooned, stepping forward to wrap her arms around him. She could feel how tense he was through her shirt. "I can't bear to be away from you either. I get how you feel."

"But you—"

She interrupted him, craning her neck up and bringing him down to a kiss. He could feel his complaints dissolve into moans as he gripped by the hips and pulled her closer.

She let out a breathy giggle against his lips before he forcefully parted her mouth open with his tongue. She ran her hand through his silky black hair and stumbled back, taking him with her.

Then she whirled around and gently pushed him on the bed before eagerly climbing onto his lap.

"You need me, right, baby?" He murmured, bucking his hips against hers without restraint.

"I need you," she replied, stroking him through his pants and making his breath hitch. "And I want you."

He buried his head in the crook of her neck and groaned, bucking desperately against her. He could see that her face was turning red and her eyes were growing hazy with desire, and knew what he had to do next.

He flipped them over and straddled her, his hands hastily removing his pajama pants and boxers as her greedily little hands reached out to touch him.

He gave her a wicked look. "Let's see how well Leo installed those soundproof walls."

— author's note —

(I wonder who the third person is... hmmm)

🤪separation anxiety🤪 Who would've thought Ethan would have it worse. I can't wait to fuck up Essan even more than I already have.

🥴🥴🥴

I'll see some of you guys over at the Church of Essie! As for the rest of you guys... uh, see you next chapter, I guess? Which will be updated... maybe soon... maybe... I don't really know 😅

This was... a disgustingly short chapter (in my standards) It only reaches at 6,400+ words and not my usual 6,500+ 🙁 I'm really sorry about that, so I'll try to make it up with a lot of memes that I hope you enjoy! The picrews are down there too!

Hazel being bombarded with all this Piper gossip from Ethan and Essie and not knowing wtf is going on:

Piper: *breathes*

Ethan:

Ethan when Annabeth came over:

From dites_boredom:

Essie (I love the halo):

Ethan (THE MIDDLE FINGER AEHFHEFG):

NICO MY BELOVED:

Ethan & Nico (Nico looks so babie and Ethan looks like he's giving him a gentle lecture about something asehfwh):

Essie & Ethan 💖💖💖:

ESSIE & NICO WHO ALSO LOOKS CUTE HERE:

dites_boredom these are so fucking good omfg 🥺💖