▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY TWO ▬▬▬

Chapter title was requested by the_dramatic_one!

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️

Forbidden tangoooooo!!! It starts at the very end, so once you're done reading all of this, you can go straight to the Church of Essie!

ETHAN COULD STILL HEAR THE echo of Esmerelda's screams even in his dreams, and even when he woke up, he could still hear them.

His awakening wasn't peaceful. His throat felt like it was ripping itself apart from how much he was screaming and his limbs were flailing every which-way. Suddenly he felt something constrict around him and at first he thought he was about to get dragged away by the tendrils again, until he heard a familiar voice shouting in his ear:

"Ethan! It's okay! You're okay!" Frank was saying. The younger boy literally had him wrapped up in a bear hug to restrain him.

Ethan's whole body was shaking from head to toe. "Where's Essie? Where's Essie?! Where is she?!"

He shook his head. "She's not here, she's back at the ship! Ethan, you need to listen to me: you're having a panic attack!"

Ethan's ears were ringing. She was back at the ship?! The same one that was getting assaulted by some gigantic shrimp monster?! He thought back to the last time he saw her; screaming and trying to reach out for him as the monster's tendrils drew closer to her. What if they had grabbed her and dragged her into the water? What if she drowned? Got crushed to death, or—

Suddenly his horrifying thoughts were cut off by a loud bark and a tongue licking at his face.

He blinked.

What?

He looked to the side, just now realizing that Frank was no longer trying to restrain him. Instead, the kid was gone, and sitting at his spot was now a golden retriever.

He stared at it, and the dog stared back. It had a really expressive face. It was almost human-like how the dog looked so sheepish and awkward.

"Frank?" He said dumbly.

Frank the dog barked in confirmation. He then shifted back into his human form, his face a hundred times more sheepish than before.

"You were panicking, and I didn't know what to do. The first thing that came to mind was 'therapy dog' so... yeah..." He finished, scratching the back of his head.

Ethan wasn't exactly feeling anything therapeutic from this, but he appreciated the sentiment.

"You're still really pale," Frank pointed out worryingly.

He shook his head dismissively, his mind stuck on one thing only.

"We need to get out of here," he began, unaware to how his heart rate started to pick up again. "The ship, it's still being attacked—everyone—Essie—"

He tried to rise up, but Frank grabbed him by the arm to stop him.

"Ethan," the younger boy said seriously. "You're shaking."

Ethan paused and looked down at his hands. His skin was so numb with fear that he hadn't even noticed how erratically his hands were trembling. He balled them into fists, his nails digging deep into the palms in order to replace that numbing sensation with pain in order to feel something.

Suddenly something furry nudged him, and Ethan turned to see Frank the golden retriever again. He rested his head against Ethan's lap, staring up at him with big brown eyes and making little whining noises. The soft texture of the dog's fur and the warmth he exuded with helped ground Ethan back to the real world.

Almost instinctively, he reached out to pet his head. Then his fingers started scratching at his fur the way he knew Esmerelda enjoyed, and soon enough, the dog's tail started wagging with excitement.

Ethan snorted with amusement before putting his hand down. He was no longer breathing as harshly anymore, and the feeling was rushing back to his hands.

"Are you okay now?" Frank asked anxiously after he some time passed. He was a human now, nervously tugging at the ends of his shirt. "I can, uh... I can do some breathing exercises with you, if you want?"

"I'm fine now," he said, and he really was. Or, well... he was somewhat better. He wasn't hyperventilating anymore at least and that was good enough for him. "How'd you know about that? The breathing exercises and all?"

Frank made a weak shrug, his face contorting into something bad as if he was remembering a terrible memory. "It was just... something I did a lot back at the Wolf House. Everything about that place scared me so bad, but I couldn't show it so when no one was looking I'd run to the forest and turn into something small like a mouse so nobody could hear me... you know, freak out. I would constantly tell myself to breathe and just pretend someone was with me so I wouldn't feel too alone."

Ethan pictured Frank, young and scared, trying not to show his fear as Lupa, bigger and more powerful, snarled and threatened him. He pictured him running into the forest and shifting into a small animal so nobody could hear as he cried.

Ethan's expression darkened. "That place sucks."

He let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah."

Silence fell afterwards, not that either of the boys minded. Frank looked far away, like he was thinking of something, and Ethan used that as a chance to survey his surroundings at last.

He hadn't realized it until now, but he was actually underwater. He had no idea how he was able to breathe with no air, but at this point, he honestly didn't give a shit. Other than that, they were stuck inside some cave that was about the size of a two-car garage. Phosphorescent moss covered the ceiling, bathing the room in a blue-and-green glow. The floor was a carpet of sea urchins, which would have been uncomfortable to walk on, but they were all floating. The only exit they had was blocked by a massive abalone shell, its surface glistening in pearl and rose and turquoise.

And just a few feet away from them was Leo. He was floating in the water, resembling a limp rag doll. He was completely knocked out, but didn't look badly injured.

He was about to ask what happened to him when Frank spoke up first.

"Are you really okay?" He blurted out.

Ethan looked at him, his brows furrowed.

"Ethan, you were..." Frank hesitated. "It was bad. Really bad. You were crying before I could wake you up and you were thrashing around so violently. I've never..."

Ethan tensed up, and Frank flinched, thinking he had asked the wrong thing.

"That sort of thing's never happened before, I swear," he mumbled. "It's just... Essie's gone, and the last thing I could remember was her screaming. This is our first time being apart from each other since we got out of..."

He couldn't finish the sentence, but Frank nodded to show he knew what he was going to say.

"That place ruined me," he admitted in a hollow voice, a slight tremble returning to his hands. "I've always been paranoid, but now... now I can't spend a minute away from her without getting all scared."

"Is she like that too?" Frank asked timidly.

He nodded silently. The separation anxiety was prevalent in both of them. Anyone could see it. The way Esmerelda would cling tightly to his arm or hand, the way she would ask him with her eyes to come with her every time she wanted to leave their shared room, or the way she would wake up and reach for him just to make sure he was still nearby.

But it wasn't equal. At least, he didn't think it was. It seemed like he had it worse than her because while he couldn't bear to be a foot away from her, she didn't seem to mind them being on opposite ends of the Argo II (as long as she didn't stay away for longer than fifteen minutes).

"We're like each other's weaknesses," Ethan breathed out, his shoulders slumping down.

He didn't know why he was spilling all of this to Frank—the poor kid certainly didn't deserve all the baggage he was dumping on him, but it just felt too good too finally talk about it.

Esmerelda had always been his weakness, but now it was so much worse. If anything happened to her—again—then he didn't think he could ever... ever—

"I know what that's like," Frank told him quietly. He looked like he was internally struggling with something. "I have this... this stupid piece of firewood and it's... well, um, it's my weakness. Literally."

Ethan stared at him.

Frank reddened. "It's this exchange Juno told my mom and grandmother about. She said I was too strong—that I had too many gifts so she tied my lifeline to a literal stick. If it burns out, I die with it."

Ethan's eye widened. "What? What sort of exchange is that? How is that even fair?!"

He shrugged. "I don't know what Juno was thinking."

"Why are you telling me this just now? Does anyone else know?"

He shook his head. "Only a few people. Hazel has my stick right now, I trusted her with it. And, well, I was really hesitant to tell you out of everyone 'cause... you know, balance is everything you stand for right? I thought you would've agreed with what Juno did..."

"Gross, no," Ethan crinkled his nose in disgust. "She's a piece of shit."

Frank winced.

"A-anyways," he cleared his throat, coming back to the original topic. "What I'm trying to say is, um... you... uh, shouldn't let your weakness control you?"

"..."

"Gods, I'm sorry, that was bad," Frank groaned. "I'm not good at this. I'm really not good at this. I'm sorry, Ethan, I was just trying to—"

"—No it's fine," he cut him off, unable to help but feel a little lighter due to Frank's efforts. "I get what you're trying to say."

And he really did. The problem was just... it wasn't that easy. He was already thinking about her. In a matter of seconds, Esmerelda was taking every inch of his mind. The look of terror on her face as he was dragged away, her echoing screams as he submerged into the water...

I could summon her to my side, he thought to himself. And ease all of my worries, but...

He looked around him at the underwater cave. The only reason the three of them were able to breathe in here was thanks to whatever enchantments had been cast on them. If he summoned her here, she'd drown in an instant. Unless she knew a spell that could prevent that, but he wasn't certain and he didn't want to risk it.

I can carve a message for her to tell her that I'm okay, and use the sensory scrying so she could read it, he decided. She must be worried sick.

His hand reached for his ankle where his knife should've been, but there was nothing there. His earring was gone too, and so was the cat watch around his wrist.

He stiffened. "Where are my weapons?"

Frank shook his head. "The fish-horses took everything away."

"The what?"

"Fish-horses," he repeated.

Ethan had no idea what he was talking about but before he could ask, Leo stirred awake.

"About time." Frank scowled.

Ethan quirked a brow. It was weird seeing such a face on the kid, he was always super friendly or super scared. He wondered what Leo did to make him dislike him so much.

Leo made a noise of surprise and floated in an upright. He looked at them in pure confusion.

Frank levitated nearby in meditation position. With his chubby face and his grumpy expression, he looked like a Buddha who'd achieved enlightenment and wasn't thrilled about it.

"Where are we?" Leo asked. "Where is everyone else?"

"Everyone?" Frank grumbled. "I don't know. As far as I can tell, it's just you, me, Ethan and Hazel down here. The fish-horse guys took Hazel about an hour ago, leaving us with you."

Ethan froze. "They took Hazel too?"

Frank grunted in confirmation. "Yeah. Shrimpzilla grabbed her and Leo while they were together."

Ethan blinked, realization dawning on him. He recognized that sort of tone he was using. It was the universal 'I'm a jealous boyfriend' tone. He knew it because he used it all the time.

Ohhh, he thought, recalling all the times he saw Leo and Hazel together while Frank stood off at the side fuming. So that's what's going on here.

Rather than responding to that, Leo patted his waist for his tool belt.

"They searched us," Frank said. "Took anything that could be a weapon."

"Who?" Leo demanded. "Who are these fish-horse—?"

"—Fish-horse guys," Frank clarified, which wasn't very clear. "They must have grabbed us when we fell in the ocean and dragged us... wherever this is."

"The shrimp monster." Leo said. "The Argo II—is the ship okay?"

"I don't know," Frank said darkly. "The others might be in trouble or hurt, or—or worse. But I guess you care more about your ship than your friends."

Leo cocked his head back. "What kind of stupid thing—?"

"Stop it," Ethan said sternly, looking at the both of them.

Both boys clamped their mouths shut.

Ethan gave them his signature glare. "This isn't the time or place to be fighting right now. I expected better from you both."

They had the decency to bow their heads down, but Ethan wasn't done with them.

"Frank, stop getting jealous all the time," he began.

Said boy's jaw dropped. "But... but you get jealous all the time!"

"My jealousy is perfectly necessary," he said shamelessly before turning to scold the next child. "And Leo, get your own girlfriend."

"It's not...!" Leo sputtered. "It's not like that!"

"Coach saw them holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes!" Frank tattled to Ethan. "What would you do if you saw someone doing that with Essie?!"

"I would kill that person," Ethan said seriously.

"Exactly!" Frank cried out, before registering his words. His eyes flew open. "Wait, no, hold on—"

"—You're encouraging him to kill me?!" Leo paled, scrambling up to his feet, only to end up floating back several inches.

"This is a serious matter," Ethan continued, his stern face never changing. He looked at the two boys like he was a referee about to witness a death match. "Frank, I understand it now. You're completely in the right here. Go ahead. Do what you must."

"WHAT?!" Leo squawked. "Hold on! Hold on, hold on! Wait! Time out! Let's just talked about this!"

Frank was still gawking at Ethan in shock, so Leo took this chance to fess up his sins.

"It's not what you think!" He continued, waving his arms around like crazy. "Hazel and I weren't holding hands—well, actually, we were, but not in the lovey-dovey way! She was showing me a flashback from her past, trying to figure out my connection with Sammy!"

Ethan's frown worsened. "Is this some sort of love square then?"

"NO!"

Frank cleared his throat. "Sammy was Hazel's boyfriend back in the forties."

"Ah."

Frank turned back to Leo, his face curious. "Did she... did you figure it out?"

"Yeah," Leo replied, sending wary glances at Ethan. "Well, sort of. We didn't get a chance to talk about it afterward because of Shrimpzilla, but Sammy was my great-grandfather."

He told them what they had seen. How Hazel had been sweet on his bisabuelo, a guy who had died when Leo was a baby. Leo hadn't made the connection before, but he had a vague memory of older family members calling his grandfather Sam Junior. Which meant Sam Senior was Sammy, Leo's great grandfather. At some point, Tía Callida—who was Hera because of course it fucking was—had talked with Sammy, consoling him and giving him a glimpse into the future, which meant that Hera had been shaping Leo's life generations before he was even born.

"Oh, man," Leo said when he had finished the story. "I don't feel so good. But I swear that's what we saw."

"Oh," Ethan relaxed. "Dude, you should've just said so."

Leo looked like he wanted to scream.

"Hazel... Hazel liked your great-grandfather?" Frank gaped. "That's why she likes you?"

"Frank, I know this is weird. Believe me. But I don't like Hazel—not that way. I'm not moving in on your girl."

Ethan nodded in approval at that.

Frank knit his eyebrows. "No?"

"Definitely not," Leo promised.

"Swear it on the River Styx," Ethan ordered, arms crossed.

Leo's eyes bugged out again. "What?!"

"What?" He shrugged. "That's what I had Jason do to make sure he wouldn't try and steal Essie away from me."

Frank looked as if his soul had been sucked out of his body. "You made him swear an oath for that?!" He squeaked.

"Well, I was just joking around with him back then," he said, and the boys relaxed. "But it's actually not a bad idea."

They stiffened again.

"It's fine," Frank said quickly, choosing to spare Leo. "I, uh, believe you, Leo. No need to swear anything."

Leo breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, man," he looked like he could hug the guy.

"Now that we got that issue settled with," Ethan said as if he wasn't the dude who escalated the whole issue in the first place. "We still got one other problem down: we're stuck here."

"Right..." Leo muttered in agreement. He looked around him. "We need to make a plan. How are we breathing? If we're under the ocean, shouldn't we be crushed by the water pressure?"

Frank shrugged. "Fish-horse magic, I guess. I remember the green guy touching my head with the point of a dagger. Then I could breathe."

Leo studied the abalone door. "Can you bust us out? Turn into a hammerhead shark or something?"

Frank shook his head glumly. "Best I can do is a dog... I don't know what else. Maybe they cursed me, or maybe I'm too messed up to focus on turning into something bigger."

Leo turned to the eldest one in the group. "Ethan?"

He rose a brow. "What makes you think I can open it?"

"Dunno, can't you like..." He motioned to him vaguely. "Channel all of your anger issues into physical strength and bust us out of here?"

"No."

He deflated. Well there went that idea.

"Hazel could be in trouble," Leo muttered. "We've got to get out of here."

He swam to the door and tried to open it, but nothing was working.

"I've already tried," Frank sighed. "Even if we get out, we have no weapons."

"Hmm..." Leo held up his hand. "I wonder."

He concentrated, and fire flickered over his fingers. His lips lifted up into a smile, but then the fire raced up his arm and over his body until he was completely shrouded in a thin veil of flame.

"Leo!" Frank flailed backward like he was falling off a bar stool. Instead of racing to Leo's aid, he hugged the wall to get as far away as possible.

Not like Ethan could do much either. He shot up to his feet, but he ended up floating backwards into a flip instead.

Gods dammit, he cursed, waving his arms until he was standing upright again. For once he was glad Esmerelda wasn't here to witness him make a fool out of himself.

By the time he managed to stand up, Leo already got his fire under control.

Frank stopped trying to merge with the cave wall. "You're... you're okay?"

"Yeah," Leo grumbled. "Thanks for the assist."

"I—I'm sorry." Frank looked horrified and ashamed with himself. Ethan remembered what he said about his lifeline, and understood the reaction. "I just... what happened?"

"Clever magic," Leo answered. "There's a thin layer of oxygen around us, like an extra skin. Must be self-regenerating. That's how we're breathing and staying dry. The oxygen gave the fire fuel—except the fire also suffocated me."

"I really don't..." Frank gulped. "I don't like that fire summoning you do." He started getting cozy with the wall again.

Leo started to laugh. "Man, I'm not going to attack you."

"Fire," Frank repeated, like that one word explained everything. His face was drained of color and his hands were shaking. He was a perfect copy of what Ethan looked like when he woke up in this cave.

Ethan could finally see why Frank had been so worried about him.

"Leo," he hissed under his breath. "Be a little more considerate, will you?"

Gods, he was almost tempted to throw his shoe at him for being so insensitive. Frank literally looked like he could faint.

Leo's face fell, making him look like a scolded child.

"Sorry I laughed," he said to Frank, and he meant it. "My mom died in a fire. I understand being afraid of it. Did, uh... did something like that happen with you?"

Frank seemed to be weighing how much to say. "My house... my grandmother's place. It burned down. But it's more than that..." He stared at the sea urchins on the floor. "Annabeth said I could trust the crew. Even you."

"Even me, huh?" Leo said awkwardly. "Wow, high praise."

"My weakness..." Frank started, like the words cut his mouth. "There's this piece of firewood—"

The abalone door rolled open.

Ethan whirled around to face who it was, his hand reaching out for the closest weapon, which ended up being a piece of seaweed. That was okay. It felt sturdy enough for him to strangle a person with.

When he saw who it was, he finally understood why Frank called their kidnappers 'fish-horses'.

From the waist up, the guy was more or less human—a thin, bare-chested man with a dagger in his belt and a band of seashells strapped across his chest like a bandolier. His skin was green, his beard scraggly brown, and his longish hair was tied back in a seaweed bandana. A pair of lobster claws stuck up from his head like horns, turning and snapping at random.

From the waist down, the guy was more complicated. He had the forelegs of a blue-green horse, sort of like a centaur, but toward the back, his horse body morphed into a long fishy tail about ten feet long, with a rainbow-colored, V-shaped tail fin.

"I am Bythos," said the green man. "I will interrogate Frank Zhang and Ethan Nakamura."

His voice was calm and firm, leaving no room for debate.

"Why did you capture us?" Leo demanded. "Where's Hazel?"

Bythos narrowed his eyes. His expression seemed to say: Did this tiny creature just talk to me?

"You, Leo Valdez, will go with my brother."

"Your brother?"

There was much larger figure was looming behind Bythos, with a shadow so wide, it filled the entire cave entrance.

Yes," Bythos said with a dry smile. "Try not to make Aphros mad."

He floated off to the side, allowing them to see just who Aphros was.

He was an almost exact replica of his brother, except he was blue instead of green and much, much bigger. He had Arnold-as-Terminator abs and arms, and a square, brutish head. A huge Conan-approved sword was strapped across his back. Even his hair was bigger—a massive globe of blue-black frizz so thick that his lobster-claw horns appeared to be drowning as they tried to swim their way to the surface

Ethan felt greatly offended. He and Frank were going to be interrogated by the smaller guy, but Leo got the jacked one? How did that make any sense?

Bythos and Aphros lead them through the path from the cave before finally splitting them up. Bythos started to lead Ethan and Frank away, and Ethan made sure to give Leo one last look that basically said, You ass better be on your best behavior.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Right after the explosion had happened, the monster had sunk into the deep and disappeared along with Frank, Leo, Hazel... and Ethan. And Esmerelda hadn't been able to save any of them.

Afterward, Annabeth, Coach Hedge, and Buford the table rushed around repairing things so that the ship wouldn't sink. Percy, despite being exhausted, searched the ocean for their missing friends. Jason, also exhausted, flew around the rigging like a blond Peter Pan, putting out fires from the second green explosion that had lit up the sky just above the mainmast. Piper was looking into Katoptris in order to find any answers.

And Esmerelda? Well, she was currently trashing the bedroom she and Ethan shared.

Not because she was having a mental breakdown or anything like that. She had a good reason for what she was doing, of course. For about an hour now, she had been searching fruitlessly for anything personal that belonged to her boyfriend so she could use it for the tracking spell.

But so far, nothing was suitable enough to activate it. She tried random shirts, law books that he liked, even pairs of his socks. Most of the stray pieces of hair she found belonged to hers, and if he did leave any strands, they were too short and small for her to find.

The first thing that she could think of that could help were his earring or poisoned knife, but those were currently somewhere in the ocean with him...

She pulled her head away from under the bed, unable to find anything useful.

Think! She screamed at herself. There has to be something he left behind here... Something he cherishes!

"You just can't do anything right," she heard Nico sneer at her from behind. "This is the second time you've lost someone. Gods, you're bad at keeping people safe."

She closed her eyes shut.

He's not real, she told herself, her nails digging into her palms so hard she was nearly drawing blood. Just ignore him.

"Actually," came a snide voice that automatically triggered her body to shiver in fear. "This is her, what was it? Twentieth time she's let someone die? She killed our siblings long before this, not to mention any other friends she had."

Alabaster's words cut deep. Deep enough to make her eyes water. Even then, she refused to turn around. She knew none of them were real. Just another hallucination, another figment of her nightmares that continued to haunt her after escaping from Tartarus.

Suddenly she could hear footsteps approaching her and her breath hitched.

They'renotrealthey'renotrealthey'renotreal—!

"You should've let me kill you," Alabaster whispered, his voice as sharp as a sword. He sounded so terrifyingly close, as if he was standing directly behind her. "Back up on Olympus, or back in the forest. Either way works. You and I both know how much you would've deserved it."

She couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Go away!" She cried out hoarsely, rising up to her feet and whirling around to face them.

But neither Nico or Alabaster were there. Instead, all she saw was Percy standing at the opened doorway.

Her eyes widened. "Percy! I—gods, I'm so sorry, I wasn't... um, I wasn't talking to you..." She finished lamely.

He blinked in response and looked around the room, trying to check if there was anyone else she could possibly be speaking to. He couldn't find anyone, and instead ended up surveying the damage she had made. The blankets were strewn on the floor, the pillows were haphazardly tossed at the center of the bed, drawers were left opened, and clothes were messily rummaged through.

When he finished looking around, he shot her a look of confusion.

Esmerelda's face felt hot and she quickly tried to change the subject. "W-what are you doing here, Percy? Did you find them?"

The expression on his face told her everything she needed to know.

"No, I..." He cleared his throat. "I couldn't find them. I looked everywhere. I didn't see any signs of our friends or the monster that took them..."

Her heart sank, but that only made her more desperate to use the tracking spell to hunt them down.

"Oh gods," she murmured in despair, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"I came here 'cause I wanted to ask if Ethan tried to contact you," Percy went on, stepping forward. He looked close to collapsing. It had only been a few hours since the battle at Fort Sumter, and he had yet to regain any of his energy from it.

She shook her head. "Nothing... Maybe he's just knocked out." She refused to believe that he, or any of them really, had drowned or been devoured by that massive monster.

For a brief second, she regretted never creating her sensory scrying spell to work both ways. Had she created it so that she could also see through another person's eyes whenever she wanted rather than waiting for them to activate it, she would've been able to witness what had happened to Ethan just as he was being taken away.

"Essie," Percy said hesitantly, drawing her away from her thoughts. When she looked up, she met his worried sea green eyes. "...Who were talking to?"

The color drained from her face. "W-what?" She uttered.

"About a minute ago, you told someone to 'go away', but... but there's nobody else here other than me, and you said it yourself that you weren't talking to me," he pointed out. His concern grew the paler her face became. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. No—I mean," she swallowed thickly. She couldn't lie to him. Percy was a goofball, but he wasn't dumb. "I'm sorry, Percy. I'm just... I guess Tartarus is finally catching up to me."

She told him about her dream of Nico, the cruel things he said, Ethan's reassurances that it wasn't real, and what happened just moments before he entered the room.

"I know they're not real," she told him urgently, feeling her blood turn cold with fear. "I know that. They're just... hard to ignore. I'm not crazy. It's—it's the stress of everything that's been going on. They'll stop once things calm down. I'm not crazy, Percy, I'm not."

"I don't think you're crazy," Percy said before she could panic any further. "Surviving Tartarus would fuck anyone up. No one would just get out of that unscathed. After the war... I used to see people. The dead campers, the dead enemies, the friends we used to know. I used to see them sometimes. I'd see their faces in the water, their reflection in the windows... even if it only lasted for a brief second, I'd see them and it would freak me out. I used to think I was crazy..."

"Did they ever stop?" Esmerelda asked.

He face turned grim. "They only stopped after Hera wiped my memories away. It didn't take long for them to come back after I started remembering things."

"I don't know if it's ever going to stop," he said honestly, sending her an empathetic look. "But I can tell you this: we're not crazy. We haven't lost our minds, just our innocence, and that's not our faults."

It's the gods', his eyes seemed to be telling her. And suddenly she wasn't looking at sea green eyes anymore, but clear blue ones that belonged to Luke Castellan. Percy had grown bitter and angry, and who could blame him? The gods ruined every life they touched, and their children weren't an exception to that.

"...This is never going to end, is it?" She asked him, and she wasn't just talking about the voices she would hear or the nightmares she had to endure. She meant this never ending cycle of fixing the gods' messes and ruining themselves in the process of it. It would never end, and she would never be able to escape from it.

Their lives were doomed the second they were born as a demigod.

"No," he answered. "The best we can do is deal with it, and keep whoever we have left safe."

After making sure she was okay, Percy finally left the room a few minutes later to give her time to herself. His words weren't very bright and happy, but they comforted her somewhat.

She wasn't crazy, the Fates just ruined her life so bad that it fucked her up. Yay!

Whoever we have left safe... That was what they were all trying to do, but things weren't looking up for any of them. Their friends were somewhere in the ocean, Camp Half-Blood was going to be attacked by Camp Jupiter, Étienne was on the run, and Nico was losing air.

Esmerelda let out a breath and looked down on her lap where her hands laid. Suddenly, they zeroed in on the ring in her finger and something clicked in her head.

Ethan had given her that promise ring. It may not have been his, but he had given it to her. She remembered all the times he would stroke the tanzanite gemstone, how he would kiss her on the knuckles with his lips just an inch away from it, and the many times he told her that he would replace it with a better one once they got married.

It was also the one thing that kept him from going to Greece after her death. She remembered him telling her about the dreams Gaea would try to trick him with, and how he tried to lure him away with a fake version of her. Ethan only managed to realize what was going on because the fake still had a ring on—whereas the real ring was with him at the time.

The ring had essentially saved him. Wouldn't that count as a personal connection?

It wouldn't hurt to try.

She lifted her hand up and stared down at the gleaming ring around her finger.

"Persequor vestigium," she said, hope laced in her voice.

She almost let out a victorious shout when the ring glowered green. A luminescent green line appeared and shot through the door.

She didn't hesitate to burst out of her room. Percy, who was just about to enter his own, jumped.

"Essie?"

"Ethan's alive! I can find him through the tracking spell! If I find him, I can probably find the others too!" She exclaimed. She felt so happy she could jump for joy.

His eyes widened. "What?! I'll help you—"

"—No," she shook her head. "You need your rest. I'll be right back, this won't take too long."

Because she was going to find them. And she was going to destroy anything that came in her way.

She didn't wait for Percy to say anything else. She ran down the hallway, up the steps, and into the deck. The green trail led her to the rails and went straight into the water.

She quickly cast the bubble-head charm over her head along with a heating charm to keep her warm, and jumped overboard.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Good news: The fish-horses weren't any danger. They were just cautious of them and their kidnapping was only going to be temporary. They were actually just a crew of campers instead, kind of like the demigods of Camp Half-Blood, these guys were the mer-heroes of Camp... something.

The bad news? The longer Ethan stayed here, the more agitated he became. He had no idea how long he and Frank had been here, roaming around the ocean while Bythos interrogated them (quite poorly, may he add), but he was going crazy.

He was pretty sure these people weren't going to kill them which was great and all, but it had been way too long since he had last seen Esmerelda and it was driving him nuts not knowing what had happened to her.

"Ethan!" Bythos called out to him.

He snapped his head up and realized that Bythos had finished teaching Frank how to shapeshift into certain sea creatures. Frank had been stuck in koi fish form for a while now.

"You didn't answer me when I first called you! Is your mind alright?"

"I'm worried about the ship," he told him honestly, wanting to get some answers. "And the people in it. Do you happen to know what happened after that monster attacked us?"

"Oh you mean the Skolopendra?" He said. "It withdrew after it got attacked by the Greek fire. I'm sure your friends are fine."

Ethan allowed himself to relax, but only a little bit.

Frank finally turned back into a human.

"Er, Bythos, I'm really grateful for the help and all, but I think it's around time we find Hazel and Leo and head on back. Our friends are probably really worried about us..." Frank suggested, also eager to get back to the ship.

Ethan nodded in agreement, a little too eagerly. "What he said. Thanks for showing us around Camp... um..."

"Camp __________." He made a sound that was a series of sonar pings and hisses.

"...Right."

Bythos finally took them to meet with Leo and Hazel. They were led to some underwater town full of merpeople who were busy training fiercely. Aphros met them on the way without Leo and at first, Ethan thought the kid pissed him off and got eaten, but Aphros showed them to the ridge where Leo and Hazel were already waiting.

"There you are!" Bythos called out.

The four of them floated over to the pair.

"You are free to go," Bythos said. He opened his saddlebags and returned their confiscated supplies. Ethan actually missed the stupid cat watch his mom gave him.

"Tell Percy Jackson not to worry," Aphros said. "We have understood your story about the imprisoned sea creatures in Atlanta. Keto and Phorcys must be stopped. We will send a quest of merheroes to defeat them and free their captives. Perhaps Cyrus?"

"Or Bill," Bythos offered.

"Yes! Bill would be perfect," Aphros agreed. "At any rate, we are grateful that Percy brought this to our attention."

"You should talk to him in person," Leo suggested. "I mean, son of Poseidon, and all."

Both fish-centaurs shook their heads solemnly.

"Sometimes it is best not to interact with Poseidon's brood," Aphros said. "We are friendly with the sea god, of course; but the politics of undersea deities is... complicated. And we value our independence. Nevertheless, tell Percy thank you. We will do what we can to speed you safely across the Atlantic without further interference fromKeto's monsters, but be warned: in the ancient sea, the Mare Nostrum, more dangers await."

Frank sighed. "Naturally."

Bythos clapped the big guy on the shoulder. "You will be fine, Frank Zhang. Keep practicing those sea life transformations. The koi fish is good, but try for a Portuguese man-of-war. Remember what I showed you. It's all in the breathing."

Frank looked mortally embarrassed.

"And Ethan!" Bythos turned to him next. "It's a shame you're not a merperson. You would've made a fine merhero! Like a betta fish! They're very aggressive! Just like you!"

"Thanks."

"And you, Hazel," Aphros said. "Come visit again, and bring that horse of yours! I know you are concerned about the time you lost, spending the night in our realm. You are worried about your brother, Nico..."

Hazel gripped her cavalry sword. "Is he—do you know where he is?"

Aphros shook his head. "Not exactly. But when you get closer, you should be able to sense his presence. Never fear! You must reach Rome the day after tomorrow if you are to save him, but there is still time. And you must save him."

"Yes," Bythos agreed. "He will be essential for your journey. I am not sure how, but I sense it is true."

Aphros planted his hand on Leo's shoulder. "As for you, Leo Valdez, stay close to Ethan, Esmerelda, Hazel, and Frank when you reach Rome. I sense they will face... ah, mechanical difficulties that only you can overcome."

"Mechanical difficulties?" Leo asked. 

Aphros smiled as if that was great news. "And I have gifts for you, the brave navigator of the Argo II!"

"I like to think of myself as captain," Leo said. "Or supreme commander."

"Brownies!" Aphros said proudly, shoving an old-fashioned picnic basket into Leo's arms. It was surrounded by a bubble of air, thankfully. "In this basket you will also find the recipe. Not too much butter! That's the trick. And I've given you a letter of introduction to Tiberinus, the god of the Tiber River. Once you reach Rome, your friend the daughter of Athena will need this."

"Annabeth..." Leo said. "Okay, but why?"

Bythos laughed. "She follows the Mark of Athena, doesn't she? Tiberinus can guide her in this quest. He's an ancient, proud god who can be... difficult; but letters of introduction are everything to Roman spirits. This will convince Tiberinus to help her. Hopefully."

"Hopefully," Leo repeated.

Before anyone could speak up next, the area was suddenly bombarded by a cacophony of war cries.

Everyone snapped their head to the direction of the noise.

"What is it?!" Frank asked, getting his weapon out. Leo, Hazel, and Ethan followed suit while Aphros and Bythos did the same.

The merpeople had formed a crowd, their weapons drawn at some threat Ethan couldn't see. They were all shouting too so he couldn't even hear what was going on. All he knew was that the merpeople were losing. And they were losing bad.

An invisible force was throwing them aside like ragdolls and suddenly he was seeing green. A lot of it.

Ethan's eye widened in realization.

"Essie," he said. "That's Essie."

"Essie?" Aphros asked. "What monster is that?"

"That's not a monster, that's my girlfriend! ESSIE!"

The last of the merhero line had been knocked down with Esmerelda barreling through them. Thankfully she wasn't really killing anyone, just very aggressively using her magic to hurl them out of her way.

When Esmerelda saw him, her face broke out into a wide smile.

"ETHAN!" She cried out, swimming faster to reach him. She basically threw herself at him, squeezing him into a tight hug before doing the same with Hazel, Leo, and Frank. "Gods, I've been so worried about you guys!"

"How'd you find us?!" Hazel asked in amazement.

Esmerelda pulled away from their hug, and that was when Ethan noticed that there was a bubble around her head that was giving her oxygen.

"I cast a tracking spell and I used Ethan's ring to lead me to him, which also led me to you guys!" She explained. She turned her attention to Aphros and Bythos, her hand going for her brooch.

"They're okay," Ethan assured her before she could attack them. "They were only checking to make sure we weren't a threat. They have no ties to the monster that attacked us."

Esmerelda's face turned a violent shade of red. Her eyes bugged out as she turned to the two ichthyocentaurs. "Oh my gods, for real?! I'm so sorry! I thought—I thought you were bad guys and... and..."

She trailed off, looking extremely embarrassed for attacking everyone. She kept glancing back and forth between them and the knocked over merpeople she left in her path of destruction. It was so cute in Ethan's opinion. Her face practically screamed 'I accidentally beat up a bunch of people? Oopsies!'. So precious.

Aphros stared at her, then back at his fallen heroes and grimaced. Ethan was certain he was probably going to up everyone's training regimen after this.

"Your concern is understandable," he said slowly before muttering, "At least you didn't kill anyone."

"I'm taking them back up the surface," she said in a voice that left room for no arguments.

Bythos nodded, obviously not wanting to disagree with her. "Right of course! You may go."

"Thank you for not killing them," she said as she squeezed Ethan and Hazel's hands, motioning for Frank and Leo to grab on too. "And I'm sorry for attacking your people. I won't bother you again. Goodbye!"

They were out of there in an instant, but when Ethan materialized, he realized she had taken them straight to their room and the other three were nowhere in sight.

"Where are—?"

"I dropped them off at the deck," Esmerelda answered quickly before wrapping her arms around him desperately. She was clinging onto him so tightly that he stumbled back and lightly hit the wall. "I thought that monster ate you! Or—or worse!"

He scoffed, rubbing her back through her shirt. "As if I'd let Shrimzilla do that. That'd be such a lame way to die."

"Ethan!"

"Sorry," he kissed her on the forehead to soothe her. "I'm glad you're okay, angel. I was scared too when I woke up and couldn't find you."

Rather than responding, she eagerly reached up to pepper his face with kisses. He could feel her hands gripping at his shirt and the way her chest pressed up against him even more in order to get closer.

He placed his hand on the back of her head and redirected her lips onto his before slipping his tongue into her mouth.

"I should get kidnapped more often if it leads to reunion sex," he breathed out, looking at her with an expression full of desire.

Her face turned red. "Wha—No! We can't just—! Everyone's probably waiting for us to join a meeting!"

His hand crept up under the fabric of her shorts, his fingers dangerously touching the bottom of her underwear.

"Don't act coy," he smirked. "You wouldn't have Mist traveled us here if you didn't want any 'alone time' together."

If it was possible, her face turned into an even brighter shade of red.

Rather than letting her speak, her grabbed her by the waist and bucked his hips against hers.

"Now," he whispered against her lips. "Show me how much you missed me."

— author's note —

I'M BACK!!! SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, LMAO I ENJOYED MY BREAK A LOT!

Ever since my last chapter, I've noticed some people getting confused so lemme ease everyone's concerns: I am NOT abandoning Wattpad or Quotev and moving to ao3. I am going to cross-post on all three sites, but the ao3 version of this series will be way behind since I just started posting a few chapters yesterday. I hope to catch up some day, but we'll see!

No memes this time, but I do have some fan stuff to show you!!! 😍

ESSIE FANART FROM DoodleDaDawg:

Also, here's a family photo from iliellacastra:

A COOL GIF FROM Ihatebananas:

From espielouloudi:

From -chxcolatte:

NOW YOU THIRSTY READERS CAN GO OVER TO THE CHURCH OF ESSIE!