Cal was terrible company.

He'd at least been able to call upon the hotel's valet service to offer Leo a change of clothes and a chance to clean up. Not trusting him to be taken anywhere alone, Emilia accompanied, having the shadows carry the Festus suitcase since it was still too heavy to lug around.

"Oh, gods," said Emilia, irritated, as he started listing all the two-syllable words he knew once Leo had finally showered and received his freshly washed clothes. "If this keeps up, I might fall on my own spear."

"Did you get a look at her?" said Leo dreamily to himself as they walked back to the entrance hall. "She's like an ice princess."

Emilia side-eyed him, shrugging her shoulders. "She's beautiful, but she's probably more interested in killing you."

"That's what makes her so great!"

She made a face of disbelief. "Is that a quality people actually find attractive in each other?"

"It can be," said Leo. "A lot of people become ten times hotter when they have the ability to kill you."

"By those standards, I should be the hottest person alive," said Emilia under her breath. "I hate it here. I didn't know quests would be like this. Surrounded by brainless immortal demigods and this cold. I've always been very tolerant of cold weather but I've never been this far north. Nothing that we're doing makes sense and apparently, you can't cut your way to victory in quests."

"No offense," said Leo pensively, "but you're not really a team player."

"Trust me, I know," she admitted. "I'm not really used to working with other people. Team projects were never my strong suit. I like being given a part to work on and just... doing it. Or better yet, handling the whole project. Some people can be incompetent."

He tilted his head. "You also get mad pretty easily."

Emilia blinked at him enough times that his face reddened with embarrassment. "I'm sorry... why did we transition to insulting me?"

He held his hands up. "It's just an observation! It's a cool thing, trust me, 'cause you have no problem defending yourself. I wish I could do that. Would've been useful in a lot of instances."

She lowered herself to the floor, leaning against a wall. "Yeah, well, it drives everyone away, eventually. I'm still not the best at controlling it. I'm trying."

Everything had been sort of going fine. She did well enough with Will during their sessions and Pollux had spoken to her consistently for several months without criticisms. She wasn't sure she could count Percy and Annabeth in this experiment– they had to be nice if they meant to teach her anything. And in a sense that meant Will had to be nice too because it was in his job description. It meant only Pollux had tolerated her of his own volition for weeks on end. Maybe it wasn't much but surely it had to count for something.

"I get it," said Leo. "You're nice, you know, Piper was right. You clearly care enough to come on this quest. You're trying to fix things... right?"

"I ruined a lot of lives, Leo," said Emilia. "Charles Beckendorf died because of work I put in. Silena Beauregard, Castor Riboli, Lee Fletcher, Michael Yew, many others whose names I was never told. I have blood on my hands, a lot of it. I have to at least try to fix things, I have to at least work on the other side and try to stop the deaths this time."

"I don't know your story, but from what I was told, no one actually blames you for those things anymore."

She narrowed her eyes. "You're a very bad liar, Leo. You said Nyssa didn't say anything bad but I can tell when most people are being dishonest. What did she say?"

"Let me preface this by saying she didn't say you were a bad person. She just said... you were surrounded by bad energy. We're already cursed so we might as well steer clear of that."

She supposed that wasn't so bad. Leo tried to add quickly, "She still respected you as a person. She said that you're doing your best to cooperate. You have a chance to make friends here, Emilia, if you let yourself. We're a team now. You had my back earlier... mostly 'cause the Boreads were..."

"Boring bitches," she filled in.

"Yeah, that. But you wanted to keep us safe. That means something to us. We'll have your back if you let us. Trust me, I know it's not easy to let your guard down, but... it's also not easy to go on a quest like this. We're all confused. So... maybe we'll be less confused if we give teamwork a try?"

She tilted her head at him, stunned to hear such genuine words. "Sabes, me pareces buena persona. Puedes dar consejos buenos para alguien de tu edad, aunque aún pienso que necesitas aprender a mentir." (T: You know, you seem like a good person. You give good advice for someone your age, though I still think you need to learn how to lie.)

He smirked, gesturing to their heads. "Contigo es fácil ser buena persona porque estás más chaparra. Finalmente puedo decir que rebasé a alguien." (T: It's easy to be a good person with you because you're shorter. Finally I can say I'm taller.)

"Don't get too comfortable with that," Emilia said. "I could still have a growth spurt."

"Hey, I'm the one who's fifteen and still growing. If you look like that at nineteen... you're staying that way." He shrugged as she narrowed her eyes, shadows swirling around her face. "Where is your dad from, anyway? Born here, or in Mexico?"

"Mexico," she said. "He and my aunt were born in Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit but they were raised in Guadalajara, Jalisco and would only visit Nayarit during school breaks. My stepmom is from Comala, Colima. She went to Guadalajara for college, which is how she met my dad. Your mom?"

"According to what my mom could remember, my tatarabuelo was from Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes and moved to Louisiana when he was eighteen. My bisabuelo lived in New Orleans, I think, or Houston... she didn't know either of them all that well and she never got to visit Mexico. Did your dad come here before–?" (T: Great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather.)

"I showed up right as they were preparing to come to San Diego," Emilia said awkwardly. "Technically, I was 'born' in Guadalajara. They had to bring me along. My half-siblings were all born in San Diego. My stepmom absolutely hated me. I don't really blame her for being upset but... well, she took it too far. She wanted to give me an exorcism."

"My aunt probably wanted the same thing," admitted Leo. "She called me a diablo and turned the family against me. So... I got sent into foster care."

Emilia grimaced. "That's awful. My stepmom might've done the same thing if my aunt hadn't taken me in. My aunt... she did her best. I know she really tried, despite my dad dropping me on her lap and expecting her to take over something he never even asked for in the first place." She was silent for a moment, thinking. "I haven't seen her in two years."

"Maybe you could visit her sometime," said Leo. "If we don't get skewered."

She shrugged. "I'll consider it. Someday."

Why bother with those mere mortals? What did she ever do for you, really? Did she show you your power? Did she grant it to you? Did she ever once appreciate what you truly were?

She covered her ears, and Leo must have thought she was done having a conversation, because he went to put Festus out of suitcase mode and spend the rest of the time keeping him calm while Cal raved about pizza and hockey.

She was freezing even after layering up. By the time Jason and Piper came back, she was seeing her breath form thick clouds in front of her face. The girl from before led them down the stairs, and Leo almost immediately stopped what he was doing to look at her, combing his hair back and smiling. Emilia was sure his pupils would've taken the form of hearts if they could.

At the bottom step, the girl turned to Piper, "You have fooled my father, girl. But you have not fooled me. We are not done. And you, Jason Grace, I will see you as a statue in the throne room soon enough."

"Boreas is right," said Jason. "You're a spoiled kid. See you around, ice princess."

The girl's eyes flared pure white. She turned on her heel and began to storm up the stairs. About halfway, she turned into a blizzard and disappeared.

"Be careful," Zethes warned. "She never forgets an insult."

Cal grunted in agreement. "Bad sister."

"She's the goddess of snow," said Jason. "What's she going to do, throw snowballs at us?"

Leo whined in devastation. "What happened up there? You made her mad? Is she mad at me, too? Guys, that was my prom date!"

"I'm almost a thousand percent sure you can find someone better to go to prom with," said Emilia, motioning for Jason and Piper to be silent. Better to explain once they'd gotten out of there. "We best be on our way."

"Be careful, pretty girl," said Zethes, slinking close to Piper. "The winds between here and Chicago are bad-tempered. Many other evil things are stirring. I am sorry you will not be staying. You would make a lovely ice statue, in which I could check my reflection."

"Thanks," said Piper. "But I'd sooner play hockey with Cal."

Cal's eyes lit up. "Hockey?"

"Joking," said Piper. "And the storm winds aren't our worst problem, are they?"

"Oh, no," Zethes agreed. "Something else. Something worse."

"Worse," Cal echoed helpfully.

Piper flashed them a smile. "Can you tell me?" But this time the charmspeak had no effect. The Boreads shook their heads in unison, the hangar doors opening behind them to clear a path into the freezing, starry night.

"Ask Aeolus what is worse," said Zethes darkly. "He knows. Good luck."

Emilia narrowed her eyes, wondering why he wasn't lying about wishing them luck. "Don't get destroyed," said Cal, patting Leo on the shoulder. He reached for Emilia to do the same, but she had a mound of shadows form a barrier between his palm and her body. She darted around him to mount Festus. "Next time– hockey. Pizza."

"Come on, guys," said Jason, hoisting Piper up. "Let's go to Chicago and try not to get destroyed."

A lot of strange things had happened during their audience with Boreas. First, Piper had discovered that she spoke French. Apparently, since Aphrodite was love and French was 'the' language of love, she was naturally fluent. Emilia wasn't sure how anyone decided French– over the other Romance languages– would be the current overlord of romance, but she supposed it was nice to suddenly be fluent in something else.

(Emilia almost happily considered herself a polyglot. She was raised speaking English and Spanish, learned Italian in high school, and since discovering she was a demigod– despite a few hints from ancient texts in her classes– she learned she was fluent in Greek and fairly proficient in Latin if she put in the work. It would have made her Greek and Latin major in college so much easier. She supposed if Piper became her friend, maybe she could help her learn French. Then, the next one to tackle would be Portuguese.)

The girl that had led them out was a daughter of Boreas. Her name was Khione, and she was the goddess of snow, which Emilia swore had never even heard of until now. According to both Piper and Jason, it didn't seem like Boreas and Khione were on the best terms at the moment.

Boreas had flat-out admitted to them that Aeolus, god of the winds, wanted them dead. Aeolus had been upset after the defeat of Typhon last summer because it released a host of wild storm spirits that Aeolus had to track down and imprison on his own as he did the first time Typhon had risen and fallen. The gods, as usual, weren't helping and now Aeolus had decided to punish the demigods for it. He'd told the other wind gods that any demigods that came for their aid should no longer be tolerated, rather, crushed.

However, Aeolus had predicted a son of Zeus would seek Boreas's aid and as such, Boreas should listen to him before taking any step toward destruction. Boreas believed Coach Gleeson Hedge was still alive, and he also thought Zeus was a fool for thinking that the Great Stirring of monsters would end just because Kronos and the other titans were defeated. He predicted another battle yet to come, and the awakening of someone more terrible than any titan.

A horrible pit formed in Emilia's stomach as they relayed his words. Monsters no longer staying in Tartarus, souls no longer confined to Hades.

And you helped me with that, didn't you? As long as you live, you strengthen Tartarus, you anchor the monsters to this world. I fed off of your energy and now you know that the one who comes after me will do the same. Why else would you be on this quest?

Jason also seemed to think that his presence in the throne room had made Boreas 'schizophrenic.' Emilia had no idea what that was supposed to mean, until he said that Boreas had appeared temporarily in his Roman form, Aquilon, to say that Hera was playing a dangerous game, that she was the reason Olympus was closed, that she'd taken a terrible gamble, and that if she failed, the demigods would tear each other apart. Boreas/Aquilon had chosen to tell them that if they caught the storm spirits in Chicago, they could gain safe entrance to the court of Aeolus, who would be able to tell them where Hera was imprisoned. Supposedly, the one who controlled the winds in Chicago was a servant of this greater force.

"He didn't let us go out of kindness," finished Jason. "There was this cruel excitement in his eyes like... like he'd just placed a bet on a dogfight. It was unnerving. And Khione... she's bad news." He nudged Piper. "You were amazing."

Emilia couldn't see her, but she was sure she blushed. Out of nowhere, Piper spoke in French. Emilia only managed to make out 'know' and 'truth,' the rest making no sense. Jason was even more confused, "What'd you say?"

"I said I only talked to Boreas," she said convincingly, even though Emilia wasn't entirely sure that's what she heard. "It wasn't so amazing."

"Hey," insisted Jason. "You saved me from joining Khione's sub zero hero collection. I owe you one."

Leo nudged Emilia before she could ponder too much, beckoning her to pass back some sandwiches. "I still can't believe Khione," he said regrettably. "She looked so nice."

"Trust me, man," said Jason. "Snow may be pretty, but up close it's cold and nasty. We'll find you a better prom date."

He seemed to be upset enough that Festus could sense it, because the dragon let out a noise that sounded like an annoyed grumble. "I brought only one veggie sandwich," said Leo, offering for Emilia to give the cheese and avocado sandwich to Piper. "Sorry, if you were vegetarian... should've asked."

"I'm not fully," said Emilia. "Sort of, selectively. It's hard to be Mexican and vegetarian at the same time. I can't for the life of me say no to tacos, tortas, enchiladas, birria... I'll just pick and choose. Speaking of, Cal needs to try those things, he can't seriously be obsessed with just pizza. There are so many other delicious things in the world. As for hockey? I guess. I'd watch it, maybe. But soccer is the one that's fun. Just wait until summer of next year, the World Cup's in Africa. Best event in the world. Hockey can't compare. I heard Shakira's even doing a song for it."

Leo glanced at her over his shoulder. "I wouldn't have thought you to be a soccer fan."

"I like soccer," she said indignantly, which made Leo let out a laugh. "Just never played it 'cause it's a whole lot of teamwork I can't handle. I also hated being in the sun for hours at a time."

How you entertain these children. Does it please you to think they care about any aspect of your life? Do you think this makes you seem 'normal' to them? You have a power they can't even fathom. You could make them your servants if you were strong enough to. You won't find a family here. Be quiet, they don't wish to hear you. The only time they need to listen to you is when you give orders. Command them, don't join them. You were going to be Queen of Olympus and what are you now? Nothing.

She would've elaborated further on her actual enjoyment of soccer, but the voice made her go silent. It was right about one thing– they didn't want to hear her. They were probably just being nice about it, but it didn't mean she wasn't annoying them.

No one spoke after that. They flew to Chicago as the moon rose and stars turned overhead. Emilia couldn't fight the urge to sleep any longer. With the shadows helping her stay upright, she closed her eyes, hoping that Kronos wouldn't try to talk.

She hardly remembered her father's house in San Diego, the memories having faded after almost fifteen years away from it. Yet now it stood clear as ever, the same living room where she'd heard him and her stepmother arguing about sending her away.

The carpet was different. The couches were worn. The paintings on the walls had been replaced and there were far more plants than she remembered. She'd only just begun to consider the possibility that this was real when a figure moved into the living room. A boy about the same age as her, with a laptop covered in band stickers, propping himself up and turning on the television.

"Daniel," called a sickeningly familiar voice. Emilia stood still as her stepmother, much older than she remembered her, strode in with a stack of files. "These are all my students that received early acceptance. All the ones whose essays you graded. Felicidades, mijo, you got some of them into great schools!" (T: Congratulations, my son/my boy.)

"I didn't do that," said Daniel, not looking away from the television as he clicked on an episode of The Vampire Diaries. "Xochitl! I'm going to watch it, are you coming are not?"

His mother, Ximena, frowned at his response. "Oye, ¿un semestre en el colegio y ya se te olvidó que soy tu madre?" (T: Hey, one semester in college and you already forgot that I'm your mother?)

"I didn't forget anything," said Daniel dismissively. "I'm just being honest. They got the grades and put in the work. I just fixed up their essays."

"Mami," called another boy as a girl– Xochitl, probably– skidded into the room to sit next to Daniel. He greeted his mother much happier, while the two on the couch got to watching the show. The oldest, Daniel, must have been about eighteen, the second sixteen, and the girl about fourteen. "Tía Evangelina said she's not coming for Christmas. She's staying in SF with her new boyfriend."

"Good," said Ximena curtly. "Mejor que se quede allá." (T: Better that she stays over there.)

"Mami," said the boy with a sigh. "She cares about us, too. She's still our aunt. Papi wanted to see her, he'll be bummed out."

"He'll survive it," Ximena replied. "Where is Blanquita? Ya casi llega tu papá y no se ha bañado. Ya tenemos que ir a misa." She gestured to the television. "Y apaguen ese show, está bien feo. Puro matazón. Ya saben que no me gusta que vean cosas así." (T: Your dad is almost home and she hasn't showered. We need to go to church. And turn off that show, it's horrible. Just a bunch of killing. You guys know I don't like you watching things like that.)

"You don't let us watch anything fun!" complained Xochitl. "Mami, it's cool! Everybody at school has been watching it. Vampires are fascinating."

"I don't think any of that stuff is fascinating," said Ximena. "We come from witch towns where things like that actually happen. The devil appearing in the form of a floating donkey head, or riding on the back of a horse to follow you home. There was the story of Gorgonio, who could turn into a turkey to steal food from the rich to give to the poor, and he was shot in the middle of the night, only for the people to discover the next morning that the dead creature was no turkey at all, but a man. You don't play with the supernatural. You don't let it enter your life."

Alejandro reached over to nudge Xochitl, whose expression had dropped. "She's not serious, don't listen to her. Mami doesn't actually believe in any of that."

"Yes, she does," said Daniel, rolling his eyes. "Why do you think there are only four of us here?"

Silence. Emilia frowned, unsure if he meant her. Atlas had told her that her siblings didn't remember her. Daniel was only a year younger than her, but she assumed he and Alejandro hadn't been able to form good memories of her.

"What do you mean?" asked Xochitl, confused. "There are five, Blanca's just in her room."

"Not four people," corrected Daniel. "Four children." He narrowed his eyes at his mother. "You're going to tell me you don't remember?"

Ximena was defensive. "I don't know what you mean. A lo mejor el sacerdote tenía razón. No te hubiéramos mandado a Berkeley, te arruinaron tu cerebro." (T: Maybe the priest was right. We shouldn't have sent you to Berkeley, they ruined your brain.)

"What does that mean?" complained Xochitl. "Why does Berkeley ruin brains?"

Alejandro seemed unsure. "Didn't he say it was because Berkeley is really... liberal?" He held his hands up in surrender as his mother glared at him. "What? You know, we're only doing our sacraments because you and Papi want us to. We're not believers anymore."

"No, it has nothing to do with that," said Daniel. "Berkeley isn't to blame for me abandoning religion, Mami. You know, she was supposed to be there. I could've met her again. Why didn't you tell us she was dead?"

"Who's dead?" whined Xochitl. "Why is nobody telling me anything?"

Ximena drummed her fingers angrily on the counter. "You went to see your tía, didn't you?"

"Of course I did! She's right across the Bay!"

"She never said anything."

"I asked her not to. You and Papi never talk about it and I figured if I went to visit, she'd be there. But Tía Evangelina says she's been gone for two years. She said she died."

Alejandro held out his hand. "Wait. Wait. You're talking about her?"

Xochitl shut the television off. "Who do you mean?!"

"Our sister," said Daniel coldly. "The sister we don't have because Mami hated her."

Ximena was fuming. "Now is not the time to be having this conversation."

"You never talk about it! You'll tell us weird stories about Nayarit and Colima but you pretend Emilia never existed. I've been waiting for someone to tell me whether my memories are real or not but you always said it was something I imagined. Tía Evangelina told me the truth. She cried when she told me that you made her take Emilia to SF, you made us cut off all contact with her! That's why she never visits! She doesn't have a boyfriend, she just doesn't like you."

The door opened. Emilia's breath hitched when she saw her father, his tired eyes, dark hair and beard peppered with gray hairs. "Desde la calle se oye que andan gritando," he said sternly. "¿Qué bronca se cargan?" (T: I can hear from the street that you're yelling. What's the problem?)

"Tell me the truth," said Daniel, showing that on his laptop was a picture of Emilia with her Aunt Evangelina, taken at the start of her senior year. "Where is my sister and why isn't she here?"

Emilio glanced tiredly between his son and Ximena. From the hall emerged another girl, about eleven. "Papi!" she squealed, oblivious to the argument. "You're home!"

"Xochitl," demanded Ximena, "go and make sure your sister showers. I want everyone ready to go to church in an hour."

Xochitl complained, "But Mami–"

"Now."

Angrily, she trudged to Blanca, tugging her to the bathroom. Alejandro slowly sank down next to Daniel, who wasn't letting up.

"You don't remember being afraid of her?" asked Emilio cautiously. "You don't remember avoiding her? Do you remember the day Mami and I decided to send her away?"

"I wasn't afraid of her," said Daniel in disbelief. "I was afraid of you two. You argued all the time when we were all home. And then suddenly she wasn't here and neither was Tía Evangelina. No one visited, no one called, at least not when the rest of us were present. You'd say Tía Evangelina sent greetings but we wouldn't hear it from her. We just knew we had an aunt in San Francisco and that was that. And Mami would always say I had an imaginary friend I named Emilia but I didn't believe it as easily as Alex did. I remember her always playing alone, I remember her being fascinated when Xochitl was born."

"So you went to find your aunt," said Ximena, glancing at her husband. "Without anyone informing us."

"She didn't know I was going to go and see her. I just took the BART to SF one weekend. You'd once told me she went to the St. Peter's Catholic Church so I waited there all day Saturday until I saw her at the evening Spanish mass. She showed me her home and I saw all these pictures of Emilia. I saw her room. She told me you two didn't want her, that Mami hated her, so that's why she took her to SF. She lived there and then disappeared two years ago. She just wasn't there when my tía went to pick her up from school. She filed a missing person's report and for some reason, the police closed the case by the start of the next year. She didn't come back, not even in March when my tía received a letter saying she got into Berkeley. She was going to study Greek and Latin, did you know that? Did you know she was actually really smart? Did you know she had worked most of her teen years? Did you?"

They were all quiet. "She might've been at Berkeley, just a year ahead of me," said Daniel. "I might've had someone to look up to, someone to teach me what the hell I'm supposed to do in college. I don't even know her as a cousin. Mami, you're scared of all these things that don't exist and maybe it's because you know you did something wrong."

"That's not true!" said Ximena angrily. "That girl– you don't remember her, but she had the devil in her. She wasn't normal, she wasn't safe. She would've hurt you if she stayed. Yes, I believe in ghost stories, because I've seen demons with my own eyes and that girl was a demon. She was dropped on our doorstep in Guadalajara before we came here. And Papi still insists that he never cheated on me when we were engaged."

"Because I didn't," said Emilio at last. Exhausted, so exhausted. Emilia had never seen him look so tired. What did he do for work? What had the years done to him? Was it his own guilt or just age? "I swear, I never cheated. I will go to the grave affirming that. She just appeared with a note saying she was my child, that her name was Emilia. I couldn't leave her out there to die, I couldn't just give her away. I thought it could be a miracle, I thought it was some sort of test."

"But it wasn't," said Ximena. "It was a curse. We had to give her away."

"You chose to," accused Daniel. "Tía Evangelina says she wasn't mean, she wasn't scary. You decided she was, all because she wasn't your daughter."

"She wasn't anyone's daughter. She may have grown to look like your abuelita but she came without anyone wanting her."

Do you hear them?

It wasn't Kronos's voice. Emilia turned to look behind her, the scene in San Diego dissolving as she found herself behind the bleachers again. In the dirt was a face, a woman with her eyes closed.

If family is what you crave, you can have it, she crooned. You could have siblings who will cherish you. When have the gods done anything? Why do you care if Hera is released? Let her suffer, my little dark one. I brought you into this world to help me and my children. I will give you the reward my son failed to grant.

"Brought me into this world?" asked Emilia, confused. This couldn't be Eris. And what would her mother know of Hera's imprisonment? No, she had a bad feeling who this sleeping woman was, the same one Leo had seen...

Your mother used my strength to reach beyond Tartarus. My niece did me a great service, she gave me an anchor to hold onto. Since your birth, we've been able to call monsters more easily than ever. And your aunt took you to the most perfect place to see it done.

Her skin crawled as the earth rumbled, her body willed to sit and watch the grass tremor around the woman's face, like hair blown in the wind.

You can choose which way this Great Prophecy will lean, she whispered. What have heroes done for you? What has Olympus done? You, I made you because you won't easily be swayed by humanity. You think your inability to trust is a flaw... I see it as a gift.

The shaking grew stronger, and she had the sensation of dread, her stomach dropping like it did on roller coasters. Why? How was she doing this?

You don't need to bring any eight heroes together, the woman soothed. You can choose to return to your family. I can give them to you, just the way it should have been. There will be eight of you there. Your father, your aunt, your four siblings, you, even a stepmother who will love you with my influence. Choose, my dark one. Choose.

The air seemed to explode around her as the ground shook violently enough that she woke from her dream, no longer seated on the dragon, but being dropped back to the earth.