The room wasn't cold.

How she knew, Emilia didn't know. She sensed nothing different. But Piper looked so sure, no one doubted her.

"Piper is right," said Hazel after a beat. "I've met eidolons. In the Underworld, when I was... you know."

"So..." Frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair nervously. "You think these things are lurking on the ship, or–"

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

"Could your charmspeak work on them again?" asked Emilia.

Piper nodded. "Yes. I think I can do this. Everybody listen." She looked around at them, making eye contact with one person at a time. "Eidolons. Raise your hands."

There was a tense silence where nothing happened. Leo laughed nervously. "Did you really think that was going to–?" His voice died, face suddenly slack. He raised his hand. Jason and Percy followed, their eyes all glassy and gold.

Hazel caught her breath. Next to Leo, Frank scrambled out of his chair and put his back against the wall. "Oh, gods," said Annabeth. "Can you... cure them?"

Though nervous, Piper focused on Leo, charmspeaking again, "Are there more of you on this ship?"

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

"Not here, you won't," growled Piper, annoyed. "All three of you, listen carefully." The boys turned to her. "You will leave these bodies."

"No," said Percy as Leo hissed, "We must live."

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

Emilia motioned for him to lower his bow as Leo turned to him and sneered, "You cannot command us, child of war. Your own life is fragile. Your soul could burn at any moment."

Frank staggered like he'd been punched in the gut. Emilia had to rip herself out of her chair to stop him from aiming the bow at Leo. "It's not them," she said sharply. "Shooting them isn't going to do anything."

Jason drew his sword. "Stop!" ordered Piper. When Jason didn't immediately lower his sword, Hazel reached out her hand, the gold blade clunking onto the table.

Percy sneered, "Daughter of Pluto, you may control gems and metals. You do not control the dead."

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

Piper gave it another try, speaking more forcefully, "You will leave these bodies."

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

"You will vow on the River Styx never to return to this ship," continued Piper, "and never to possess any member of this crew." She insisted again when Leo and Percy hissed in protest, "You will promise on the River Styx."

The three eidolons spoke in unison, "We promise on the River Styx."

"You are dead," said Piper.

"We are dead," they agreed.

"Now, leave." All three boys slumped forward. Annabeth rushed to sit Percy up, Piper and Hazel caught Jason as he slipped out of his chair, and Emilia barely bolted away from Frank to stop Leo from hitting the floor.

Leo flailed in her arms as he tried to get his bearings. "Did it work?"

"It worked," said Piper proudly. "I don't think they'll be back."

_

Once Emilia had made sure no one had any lasting injuries, she holed up in her cabin, four drachmas ready and her prism pointed toward the wall.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow," said Emilia. "Please accept my offering. Show me Evangelina Gonzalez in San Francisco."

She flipped the coin into the prism. The wall shimmered before it opened into a view of their living room. Her aunt was reading Cajas de Cartón. Emilia cleared her throat, and her aunt glanced up, a wide grin growing on her face as she saved her spot in the book and closed it. "Mi niña," she said. "¿Cómo estás?" (T: My girl. How are you?)

Emilia smiled, so glad to see her face. No need to worry her with unnecessary details about how the past few days had gone. "Bien, ¿y tú?" (T: Good, and you?)

Evangelina leaned forward excitedly. "Bien también. Yo ya cené, hice lentejas. ¿Ya comieron? ¿Estás lista para dormir?" (T: Good too. I already had dinner, I made lentils. Did you already eat? Are you ready to sleep?)

"En un ratito," said Emilia, shrugging her shoulders. "Quería ver cómo andas y te quería decir que vamos a ir a Roma." (T: In a bit. I wanted to see how you were doing and I wanted to tell you we're going to Rome.)

She clapped her hands. "A Roma, ¡qué emoción!" She paused and stammered, "Tu... puoi... praticare– non–eserciziare?" (T [Spanish]: To Rome, how exciting! [Italian]: You... can... practice– no– exercise?"

"Sí se puede decir como practicar," said Emilia. "Potrò praticare il mio italiano con la gente di Roma." (T [Spanish]: You can say it like practice. [Italian]: I will be able to practice my Italian with the people in Rome.)

Evangelina smiled. "My sweet girl, so talented. A ver, acércate." (T: Hold on, come closer.)

Emilia leaned forward. Her aunt made the sign of the cross over her. "Rezaré un rosario por ustedes. Que les vaya bien en Roma. No sé que van a encontrar pero espero que Dios y todos los dioses– sus papás– los cuiden." (T: I will pray a rosary for all of you. That all will go well in Rome. I don't know what you'll find there but I hope God and all the gods– your parents– will take care of you.)

"Thank you," said Emilia. "I appreciate it. It's um... well, it's not boding all that well but I'm hoping that we'll figure it out. We have managed when it was a smaller group. I think that we're a good bunch. Gods, you have no idea, Annabeth and Leo are so smart and Piper is so powerful with her words– you remember her mentioning the charmspeak. Jason and Percy are getting along... mostly swimmingly. Hazel and Frank are super nice, too. Coach Hedge has been a menace as usual."

Evangelina tilted her head. "Have you been staying up late talking to your girlfriend?"

"Not that late! He exaggerates. It wasn't that late."

She hesitated. "And have you spoken to... your mother?"

"I did. But I don't know if I'm making any progress. I saw her sister, Nemesis. My aunt on her side. She's not as cool as you." She winked, hoping to make her aunt less nervous. She'd told her about all her attempts to contact Eris but it never stopped her from feeling afraid that Eris would do something to Emilia. "I just have to wait and see. There are... a lot of reasons I need to make this work."

"This is too much of a burden on you," said Evangelina, perhaps unintentionally sharp. "Rhea should never have saddled this on you. If that woman is a Titaness, why can't she do anything? Why are you the one that needs to risk your safety?"

"I wish it were different," acknowledged Emilia. "I don't like it either. But I think it has to be me for... so many reasons. I'm Eris's daughter, I have a connection with her that no one else has. The only one that can convince Eris to let Gaea go is someone who... split off from another manipulative being that tried to use me in the same way. My path there was more difficult. I can convince her before she does something irreversible to us."

"I worry for you," said Evangelina. "You're still so young."

Emilia half-smiled. "I'm about half a year away from turning twenty-one. Hazel, gods, she's thirteen. The others are mostly fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen. It's not easy but I... accept this challenge. This burden. If it'll make a difference and if only I can shoulder it... then I'll do it."

"You are a hero, my dear. I admire that. I will always respect it. I'm so very proud of you no matter what. But just... don't let yourself become a martyr. Don't let them make you one."

"I'll try my best," she promised. "I swear." She hadn't meant to stress her aunt out. "If it's okay, I'd like to call my siblings before it gets too late."

Evangelina nodded, quickly wiping her eyes as if she'd started to tear up. "Yes, of course. They'll love to see you. Keep me updated, please. If all goes well in Rome, please, send me a sign. By when will you know?"

"July first, I think. If all goes well, by July second, I'll send you an Iris-message."

Her aunt nodded. "Good. Good... sleep well, mi niña. I love you."

"I love you too, tía." She blew her a kiss, and waited for her to blow one back before she swiped out her hand to end the Iris-message.

She took only a moment to collect herself before she started the new Iris-message, calling out Daniel's name. The wall seemed to darken more, lights flashing as Daniel and Alejandro sat together in front of the television playing a video game.

"Wait, wait, pause!" yelled Alejandro when he saw Emilia. He lowered the control. "Dude, pause."

"No offense, Emilia," said Daniel, still staring at the screen,"but we've been fighting this level of Super Mario Galaxy for an hour. We're about to–" He cursed when Alejandro exited out of the game. "She could have helped us!"

"Shh," said Emilia, trying her best to smile. "Are the girls asleep?"

"Oh, they're awake," said Alejandro with a grin, getting up and exiting the room.

Daniel sighed, half-smiling, "Sorry. We can't get Galaxy 2 until we finish this one and it's impossible."

"Oh, I remember. I still don't really understand that game. I prefer Mario Kart. More straightforward. How's your summer been?"

He shrugged. "Not bad. A lot nicer without school. Alejandro's saying he might want to go to Berkeley too. He says he won't do CivE like me... he thinks EECS sounds cooler."

Emilia snorted. "He's crazy. But to each their own. If this whole quest business is done before August, I might see if I can go there. We'll see, I'm still not sure. Would be nice to be there at the same time as you guys. I definitely don't want a major in the College of Engineering... I'll happily linger in Letters and Science near the cute buildings."

Alejandro returned with Xochitl and Blanca, both in pajamas. "Hi!" said Xochitl excitedly, sitting where Alex had been. "Are you still out there–" She stopped herself before she could say 'fighting monsters,' "Um, doing field work?"

"Yes," said Emilia, waving at Blanca, who rubbed her eyes tiredly. "A lot of big things coming up. We're going to be doing some... research... in Rome."

"Rome?" said Blanca, eyes temporarily as wide as saucers. "Wow... it looks so pretty on television... you have to send us pictures!"

"I'll try my best. What have you guys been up to?"

They told her about their summer projects. Xochitl was trying to learn to make sculptures using paper clips as wires to hold aluminum foil together, then layering paper mache before painting. Blanca was taking swimming classes and was considering joining a competitive team.

Alejandro and Daniel were happily 'rotting' in front of the television most of the time, but they'd done some volunteer work at their mother's school setting up crafts for its summer program and they'd agreed to help their father with a deep-cleaning of the shop in the coming weeks.

In the most careful way possible, Emilia explained the last few days. She added more details once Blanca got sleepy and decided to turn in for the night. Her siblings leaned forward eagerly as she explained what they'd seen and what might happen in Rome. The only things she left out were Rhea's words and Gaea's need for her to send her friends to the slaughter– they didn't need to hear that.

"Rescue mission in Rome," said Alejandro softly. "A city that might... implode somehow... if this doesn't go well."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Daniel, though he seemed to already know what the answer was. "I mean... even just to support you?"

"You guys support me enough just hearing me out," said Emilia encouragingly. "Promise. Just send good vibes in your head whenever you remember and I'm sure it'll be fine."

"She'll be okay," said Xochitl, trying to sound confident. "I mean, you're the best fighter in the crew, aren't you?"

Emilia tilted her head, lips pursed. "Uh... I don't know about that. Percy and Jason have both been training way longer than I have and Annabeth has wisdom on her side– it'd help her in any fight."

"You're still good with your spear. I bet you're the strongest in terms of raw power."

"Not sure about that, either. Percy is the strongest demigod I've ever seen or heard of. Kronos believed it and he almost became a god. Then Jason, then Hazel, then... probably Frank because he's a son of Mars and he can turn into any creature. Then Leo, then Piper, then Annabeth. I'm not sure where I fit there. Maybe above Frank and Leo but I'm not sure I can do more than Percy, Jason, and Hazel."

"You seem to be able to," said Alejandro honestly. "You just... choose not to. Your powers sound really scary. Xochitl is right... you'll be okay." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"I appreciate that," said Emilia. "If you guys believe in me, I'll believe in myself. I'm still making my rounds, so... I'll say goodnight here. I need to bother Pollux for a bit before I call Hylla."

Daniel wiggled his eyebrows. "Okay. Goodnight, Emilia. We'll see you when you're back."

She mimed the motion of a hug, the three of them mimicking her and pretending they were hugging her back. She cut through the Iris-message wearily. She was tired of missing them– missing these small moments. Maybe this burden was too much to bear.

Pollux knew she was exhausted from the moment he answered the Iris-message. "Damn," he said, "no offense but you look like you are struggling."

"A bit," she said, her smile lopsided. "Sorry I didn't call yesterday– Hedge cut my conversation with Hylla short and then I saw my mother."

He sat up. "You saw her? What happened?"

She told him everything Eris had said, followed by what Gaea and the eidolons had said. His brows furrowed in concern, fingers tapping carefully together. He didn't crack a smile even when she tried to make him laugh by mentioning Bacchus.

"So does that mean..." He hesitated. "Will you just... die when that loop is closed?"

"I don't know," admitted Emilia. "I really... really hope not. I don't want that to be my end, I don't want..." She felt her voice shaking, "I don't want to die. Gods, I used to think death could be freeing, I used to be unafraid. Now I really don't want to ever meet Death, at least not anytime soon. I want to be able to see my family all the time, I want more moments with you and our friends, with Hylla... why did this have to happen? I wasn't supposed to exist. Gaea made it happen and now she is going to try to use me no matter how much I try to resist. She could still kill me even if I fight back. Am I ever going to be free to just live my life?"

"It's not going to get to that point," said Pollux, though he sounded unsure. "There will be no sacrifice– you'll stop them before that can happen. Besides, your mother has to know about this... right? Gaea must have promised you'll be okay."

"Even if she did, she could just be lying. I'm not sure my mother realizes that. She's been manipulated as easily as I was. She was a kid herself, in her mind, I think... she didn't fully grow up. She was forced to have me and she keeps feeling like working with Gaea is the only way to have a family, to be wanted." She rubbed her eyes as she teared up unintentionally. "What if for a moment I just wanted to feel peace? What if I wanted to just chill for a few months without worrying my own mother will help lead me to my death? Does that not matter?"

"If you're feeling that she's responding to things like she was a young woman, too, maybe that's exactly how she feels and exactly why she can't see where you're coming from. She wants what you have– what you fought for."

When she didn't respond for a moment, he added, I think... you've already inspired her. She just has to decide if she's going to take the risks that you did. Maybe then she'll remember she's your mother and will protect you."

"Thanks, Pollux," said Emilia, trying to compose herself. "How are things with you and Krista? Still keeping up with the daily Iris-messages?"

He blushed. "Yeah, we are. Yesterday we planned that when my mom comes to Seattle to help me move into my dorm, we'll both go to dinner with Krista's mom and stepdad."

Emilia wiggled her eyebrows. "Meeting the parents, huh? It's getting serious."

"This sounds completely pathetic and I'll kill you if you tell anyone but– gods, Emilia, she's so wonderful."

Emilia tucked her hands under her head. "Tell me everything, no matter how pathetic."

He covered his face, sighing as if he was almost too embarrassed to continue. "Emilia, it's been like half a year and I'm so in love with her. I'm scared that I'm completely wrong 'cause I've never felt that way for anyone but I feel so whole with her– like, not that I was missing anything but more than myself, like one plus one is two... like I can be myself but also grow into a better version of myself. I just love hearing her talk... she's so smart. I could listen to it all day. If we had kids, they'd be so brilliant. She has this smile and these eyes that just make me feel so much better as soon as I get to see them. I still feel shy talking to her sometimes. She is so confident and passionate about everything she puts her mind to. She always succeeds simply because she plans just enough and never gets phased by change... she accepts things and it reminds me not to overthink."

"That's the cutest thing I've ever heard you say," said Emilia, placing her hand over her chest. "I wish Iris-messages had a recording feature."

"Shut up," said Pollux, still concealing his cheeks. "Even just talking about her, I want to smile and I feel myself turning red."

"Have you told her all of this?"

"I don't know how! She's so much braver than I am."

"Pollux, you've literally fought against a Titan army!"

"That was easier than telling her how deeply I feel for her. How do I know when it's the right moment? I don't want to startle her or say it when I shouldn't."

"I think you're the only one that's going to know when the 'right' moment is. You know her way better than I do but I am almost sure she'll react well... she probably feels the same and would admire you for being the first one to say something. She could be having the same dilemma. Maybe in the silence between a deep conversation you could just tell her how you feel, saying it all just as you did to me now. Look into her eyes and... let yourself speak from your heart."

"Do you feel the same with Hylla?"

"I'm still not sure what I fully feel. I don't know if I'm ready to call it 'love' yet. I care for her very much and I'm... starting to struggle picturing my life without her. She makes sense. She makes me feel safe and appreciated, she gives me a moment to forget I'm even a demigod. I could picture knowing her forever... having these complex conversations forever. The other day we debated over the difference between soul and consciousness– if it was the same, a subset of each other, or completely different. It came out of nowhere and I had so much fun with it."

Pollux winked. "You're not too far off from that point, then. Maybe you'll have a formal 'aha!' moment where you'll be certain because you see or hear her do something in particular. Or maybe it'll be like me... it crept up over time til it just realized that something was different." He half-smiled. "I wish Castor could have met Krista and gotten to know you. He would have been so much better at teaching you to fight with a sword." He changed the subject, "I'm happy for us, Emilia. What we have with Krista and Hylla. After everything, we deserve that."

He was right, as he usually was. Pollux somehow always knew what to say. In the rare moments he spoke of Castor, she was reminded of how much he'd endured. Somehow he'd still found it in himself to treat her with respect when most other people would've run the other way. He was the first of her friends to show her she deserved to be loved. She wouldn't have had the guts to pursue anything with Hylla if not for him– she wouldn't have even met her.

"Hey," said Emilia, waving her hand gently to draw his attention. "I know I don't say it often enough but I love you, Pollux. Thank you for being my first friend. No matter what happens to me, I won't have regretted a single moment that I got to feel appreciated by you. You helped me see that my life was worth living."

"Aw, Emilia, you're going to make me cry. Rude of you."

"Rude of you not to already be crying. My mere presence should induce a flood of tears."

"Oh, sorry, your Highness." He pretended to bow. "Let me just get that red carpet for you." He grinned. "Hey, I love you too, Emilia. Don't overthink things too much. With your mom and with Hylla. You'll know what to say... when to say it... just like you told me. They're lucky to have you. Now go see your girl, I still need to see mine."

"Goodnight, Pollux," she said, toying with the last drachma as he ended the Iris-message. She smiled to herself before flipping the drachma into the rainbow one last time, thinking of Hylla.

When Hylla answered, she was grinning ear to ear. "Finally!" she teased. "I was thinking you wouldn't get to me at all tonight. No crazy faun roaming around?"

"I've managed four calls and heard no peeps out of him," said Emilia. "But he might also be busy checking in on the several head injuries of the day. How are you?"

"Good. Just got off a call with Reyna, actually. Admittedly, we are getting along much better because of you."

"Oh? Because of me?"

"Yes. In seeing your courage with your own siblings, I've had a burst of the same thing and have been trying to mend my relationship with her as much as possible. You brighten my life so very much, Emilia."

Emilia blushed. "You brighten mine, too. Getting to talk to you is the highlight of my day, every single time. Okay, random question, if you had to pick between majoring in Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, which would you do?"

"Oh, definitely Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. I love suffering. Let me guess, Alex finally decided on his major?"

"Yep. My brothers are a bit too smart for me to understand. STEM is not my cup of tea. Though, I guess if I had to pick a major in STEM, it would probably be something like Mathematics."

"I can see that. I'd want to study Kinesiology, that sounds fun. But my true and most secret passion is Fashion Merchandising. Lately I've had trouble styling Hippolyta's Belt."

Emilia raised a brow. "You pull it off every single time I see you, no matter the outfit. It's like it was made for you. Each time you have it on, you look radiant and, okay, arguably, I don't know much about fashion so a lot of things look good to me, but I think your style works perfectly to incorporate it. No one can deny you are powerful."

Hylla struggled to speak for a moment. "Radiant? No one's ever called me that before."

"Oh. Well, I should've said it sooner. When I first met you, you radiated power all around. It was intimidatingly beautiful. It was pretty natural for me to want more of you."

She started to stammer again. "I'm not sure why your comments are leaving me more tongue-tied than usual."

Emilia wasn't sure why this was interesting to see, and even more interesting to explore. "Are they?" she asked, as innocently as she could. She never made it a habit of teasing Hylla about anything if she could help it because she wasn't all that fond of being teased herself. Something about this was different. "What do you mean?"

She was looking more flushed by the second. "Well, I don't know... I just feel more flustered than I usually do."

"And why is that?" pressed Emilia, daring to shoot her a wink and a smirk. "Were you missing me today?"

"I... well, I always am missing you." She covered her cheeks, as shy as Pollux had been when talking about Krista. "I'm a Queen, it still shocks me to find that I am so easily..." She trailed off.

"Easily what?" Emilia knew she was pushing it but seeing Hylla react like this was too intriguing of an opportunity to pass.

"You're torturing me," lamented Hylla, though she didn't sound upset by it. "It's a moment of weakness."

"You can always be weak around me, I don't mind," said Emilia genuinely. "I'll be there to catch you."

This apparently wasn't helping. Hylla's jaw went slack and she struggled to make eye contact. "What?" asked Emilia. "Was that the wrong thing to say?"

"Forgive me, my mind is in the gutter at this present moment."

She raised her eyebrows. "In the gutter?" Her smirk grew. "Hmm, so everything I'm saying is sending you to another train of thought? Interesting. I should try this more often. What prompted that?"

She wasn't sure Hylla would manage to explain it. "Okay," Hylla said, "Kinzie was asking if you and I had... done anything. I hadn't thought of that, honestly, and then I started to and it was all fine and simple until... I don't know, suddenly I was thinking about it right now."

"That's alright. You know, we can talk about that whenever you're ready to. I have no experience and well, I get flustered thinking about that sort of stuff too but I can be serious if you ever want to speak about expectations." She tried to tease again, shooting Hylla another wink, "I'm honored to have you thinking of me like that."

"Oh, stop it!" she complained half-heartedly. "I feel as though I turn into a pathetic slug around you. I feel safe enough to let go of control and I... I enjoy that feeling. Surrendering myself emotionally to another person in a way I never have before. I feel shame in admitting I wish to explore that further... in other contexts."

"Don't feel ashamed. That's not a bad thing. I'll explore anything you want with you. Whenever the time is right. I'll be open to anything and everything, Hylla, just know that."

She smiled shyly. "Thank you for being so calm about this. I really do miss you. I hope the quest is going well."

"I miss you too. It's alright but... I would really rather be in Seattle spending my days with you. Soon, I hope to get back to that."

"I'll wait for that eagerly," whispered Hylla. "I meant what I said before– I will wait for you. A thousand years, if I have to. I'm in this for the long run."