Being in the Underworld is honestly really calming. I've spent more time with my father than I thought I would, though Persephone and I would be very distant whenever she came during the winter. Once she tried turning me into a gerbil and put me in a box to give to some kindergartners as a gift. My father obviously found out and saved me before it could happen but let's say we aren't all that nice to each other when she comes.

It's been a year now since I called this place my home. I haven't heard from anyone at camp since then, which I expected. My father has taught me how to use more of my powers, which I found was pretty easy to master within those few months. The rest of those days I just sleep like a cat until someone drags me (or in Persephone's case, tangles me) out of bed and I have to be productive.

Today was one of those days. I was brushing the flowers and thorns out of my hair thanks to Persephone's last prank. My father was standing at my door, watching me fix my rats' nest of hair.

"You can't help being a little nicer to her?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

I rolled my eyes. "I was being nice to her."

"You called her an overdramatic bitch and said I deserved way better than her."

"Am I wrong?"

My father sighed before walking into my room and sitting on my bed. "She's your stepmother, she's gonna be in your life way more than often now and you need to accept that."

I finished taking the thorns out of my hair and grabbed a scrunchie. "Did you say the same thing to her?"

"Yes, I did."

"Good," I winced as a thorn I forgot to take out stabbed the back of my head. "She needs it. She's basically Lady Tremaine without Drizella and Anastasia to accompany her. But wait, that means she's the evil queen since she's always trying to kill me. All we need is a magic mirror and boom! A real-life Snow White."

My father said nothing. He just snapped his fingers and the remaining thorns disappeared as well as the ones I took out.

"Thanks," I said as I finally put my hair in a ponytail. "And just because she's my stepmother doesn't mean I have to be nice to her. You're not nice to Demeter."

I knew he didn't want to talk about Demeter, so he changed the subject. "You got a letter from camp."

I raised an eyebrow. "From who?"

"That wisdom girl, Annabeth."

I finally walked over to the bed and sat down. "Ah," I said. "So it's not from anyone else?"

My father shook his head. "No one else. Just her."

I huffed. "Logan's probably mad at me."

"Want me to kill him?"

"What? No!"

He shrugged. "Worth a shot."

I sighed. "I guess I can pop in for a little bit just to check in on things," I said as I got up. "and probably see if Logan is mad at me or not, which he probably is."

My father said nothing for a moment. "Wait here."

He then disappeared and reappeared moments later with a large box.

I looked at it for a moment. "What is this?"

"I just wanted to give you an early birthday gift."

I grabbed the box. "Yeah, four months early."

I looked at the box for a moment before pulling it open, revealing a sandy-yellow cat with black spots around its body. I gasped loudly.

"Oh! Questo gattino è così carino!" (oh! This kitten is so cute!) I screamed as I picked up the cat and held it in my arms. And yes my dad finally taught me how to speak Italian. It took months of begging for him to finally teach me but it was worth it.

"I remember you saying you wanted a bobcat last year," he told me. "It took a while but I got her."

"But this isn't a bobcat," I told him, scratching the cat behind the ears. "Looks like a regular cat to me."

"I know," he admitted. "She can change her size, so right now she's just a small house cat."

I sighed as the cat just attached itself to my shirt. "So I can take it to camp with me?"

My father nodded.

"Okay," I huffed before scratching the cat once more. "I'm gonna name you...Eris."

My father raised an eyebrow at my choice. "Eris?"

I shrugged. "She's the goddess of discord and is the most badass Greek goddess, and cats are petty so Eris."

Hades rolled his eyes. "I feel so loved right now."

I scoffed. "It's your fault for giving me a cat in the first place. I always wanted to name a cat Eris anyway, and this is the perfect time."

My father and I then got up and he teleported us to the throne room. I put Eris down as I hugged my father.

"Promise to Iris message me when you get there?" he asked.

"Dad," I groaned. "I promise."

"Good."

We finally separated and I went to pick Eris up to shadow travel to camp. Once I was there I was met with complete destruction. There was smoke and debris everywhere and people were tending to injured campers. I quickly put Eris down and ran to Clarisse, who was tending to one of the Hermes kids.

"What happened here?" I asked her. As we both lifted an arm around our shoulders.

"Colchis bulls," Clarisse grunted. "They destroyed the barrier and almost burned everything in sight."

I looked over to see a golden automaton that looked like it had taken too many hits to a wall.

"Shit," I muttered.

Clarisse scoffed. "Shit isn't even the least of what I would've said to summarize this."

I sighed as we sat the Hermes kid down in one of the infirmary beds and went to go get another when we bumped into Percy, Logan, Annabeth, and a random Cyclops. Percy was on the ground while Annabeth and the Cyclops were tending to him. Logan was wrapping a bandage around a Demeter kid who was on the verge of consciousness.

I looked at Clarisse. "What happened to him?"

"Bull attack," she answered. "Percy, if you can stand, get up, we have more people we need to bring to the infirmary."

Annabeth glared at Clarisse and noticed me beside her. Once she got Percy onto his feet, she ran to hug me.

"So glad you're here," she said as we separated. "But you could've gotten here sooner."

"Well, I didn't know this would happen," I said defensively. I then looked at the Cyclops, who for some reason was staring at me with awe. "And how did he get in here?"

Percy walked towards the Cyclops. "No time to talk," he said. "We have to talk to Chiron about what happened."

Clarisse huffed. "Chiron's not here," she told him. "We have a new activities director."

Percy looked at the Ares girl like she was crazy. "New Activities Director?" he asked. "What happened to Chiron?"

Clarisse grunted as she picked up another unconscious camper. She then motioned to the entrance. "That happened."

Percy looked over at Thalia's tree. I got one of Annabeth's letters earlier about the tree. Apparently, someone poisoned it, and Chiron's getting blamed for it.

I groaned as I helped Clarisse with the camper.

"You're right," I sighed. The Ares girl looked at me confused. "Shit really isn't the right word to describe all this."