AN: So, the next chapter is finally here. I hope you all enjoy it, quite a bit of Hades and Melinda in this chapter, though some is more suggested then shown. This story will actually have quite a bit for those two, but at the same time quite the semi-sad ending for them as well.

I'll probably only have about two or three, maybe four more chapters before we delve into Sea of Monsters, but I don't know. There may be more. The next chapter will be out as soon as I can get it written.

Enjoy every and thanks for all the reviews!


The Sea's Daughter: Sea of Monsters.

Chapter 2: Mind Over Matter.

The beginning of her weekend had run, well smoothly. Very smoothly, on Thursday she'd offered to walk with Percy to his new school, finding herself curious about it.

At first she was a bit concerned, especially when she met the first teacher.

She'd had some pretty far out there professors in her past, but none like the ones she saw at Meriwether. McGonagall would have taken one look at the staff and been aghast with horror.

Knowing her former professor she probably would have spent the rest of the day whipping the staff of Meriwether into shape as true teachers worth their paychecks.

If these people even got paid, she wasn't so sure.

But Percy seemed to have an easy enough time and they did do work – one of the teachers had been very insistent that she stay and observe her brother's classes for the day.

They seemed very interested in the fact she'd been a teacher aid at Yancy Academy for a while.

Seeing as she'd been able to help struggling students so well (despite the fact she'd told them she was as dyslexic and ADHD as her brother), they had offered her a job helping out in the classes.

She thought that was weird at first, seeing as she had no real credentials.

Chiron had used the mist when she'd begun at Yancy.

She'd told them she'd think about it, and had talked to Percy about it during lunch. He seemed to be surprised but happy, and told her she should go for it if she wanted the job.

It would give her something to do other then stay at home all day for the next few months.

So, at the end of the day she'd told the school yes and she would start on Friday, before the weekend.

On Friday she had the shock of her life.

A cyclops, in class, seeming as nervous as any new student might be.

Looking at Percy, who ironically sat beside the new student she noticed that when he looked at Tyson – the Cyclopes' name – that he seemed to see what everyone else saw.

She wasn't all that surprised.

He was newer to being a demigod and the mist, and the fact Percy never truly took time to really look at Tyson, it was no surprise he hadn't seen through the mist.

There was something about the demeanor of Tyson, and his size that made her realize he was a baby among his brethren. And that he meant no harm.

He showed no desire to eat anyone during the day and instead seemed to gravitate to Percy as his only friend or even to her with a problem.

By the end of the day she'd decided to keep it to herself. Percy would probably freak out and he needed to learn to see past the mist better and notice these sort of things for himself.

She couldn't always be there to point these things out.

Sally seemed to have the same idea when she'd told her after school that day.

Friday night she'd come home to find Hades sitting on her couch.

That had nearly scared her to death at first, turning on her living room light and suddenly seeing someone sitting on her couch waiting for her. Hades had actually had the nerve to laugh shortly.

He didn't stay long, but he did stay long enough to make plans with her for Saturday. So it was by default she'd venture to Virginia to see Annabeth on Sunday.

::Mistress, why must you always change clothes so often? I don't see anything wrong with the dark green dress you had on before.::

Sesha looked at Melinda, from her warming rock in the corner of the room, as if she were amused.

Melinda sighed as she zipped up the midnight blue petite lace border dip hem dress, something she'd bought recently. It went well with the leather boots she wore, and was casual enough for what was planned.

"Sorry Sesha," Melinda said as she smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles on her dress. "I just get nervous with dates, it's normal and I'm not used to normal. It's our second one as well, and the first didn't exactly end normally."

Sesha hissed her understanding.

::I believe you told me, your father and stepmother walked into the restaurant you were at, yes?:: she asked and Melinda flushed at the reminder.

"Yes," she said. "But this time we're going to the movies. I doubt we'll run into anyone we know there."

::I wish you luck than Mistress,:: Sesha said, and curled up on her warming rock more as Melinda finished getting ready.

Melinda smiled, and looked around for Helios who was sitting on his golden perch.

He'd grown quite a bit since May, but was still rather young. She had decided before long she'd begin using him for his purpose, to carry letters from her to her friends in England.

Fire calling was alright and a lot quicker but letters would save some time and money.

He would also help with letters between her and Camp should the need ever arise – though for that she'd have to make sure Helios couldn't be intercepted.

There were runes and spells she could use to stop anyone not meant to from reading them or seeing them, but that was in the future.

For now she needed to focus on the present.

Her thoughts were interrupted from a knock on the door and she smiled. Knowing it could only be Hades. She told her familiars a quick goodbye and grabbed her black coat on her way to open the door.

Hades stood outside expectantly, this time with a single dark red rose and she smiled and took the offered flower.

"Thank you," she said and leaned up to kiss him lightly in greeting.

"You're ready, I take it?" Hades inquired and she nodded, moving out the door and shutting it behind her.

"Yep," she said, "So what are we seeing?"

Hades looked at her, his dark eyes boring into her green ones.

"I don't exactly know mortal movies very well, I figured I'd let you decide," he said and she smiled.

"I'm not exactly up to date on muggle movies either, but I'm sure we can find something once we're there," she said, and grabbed his hand in hers once they'd exited the apartment building for the chilly night air.

Hades didn't attempt to pull his hand away, she was happy to notice, as they walked towards the closest movie theater.

xXx

::Mistress, you're going to be late if you don't get up,:: a hissing voice said from beside her the next morning and she groaned, turning over in her half asleep state.

::Go away Sesha,:: Melinda grumbled in her sleep, and she heard Helios hoot from his perch and Sesha hissed in frustration.

::Don't make me bite you, Mistress. You shouldn't have stayed up so late if you wished to get a good nights sleep. The blonde one will be expecting you by noon.::

Melinda turned over onto her back. Nearly squishing Sesha who slithered from the spot in time, and off the bed with a hiss of mutters she couldn't exactly make out.

Light filtered in from her bedroom window, through the curtains.

Melinda looked beside her to find a folded piece of paper on the pillow next to her, but otherwise the bed was empty.

She sighed, but she'd figured when she'd made her decision last night that he'd be gone before she woke up. He was a busy god after all, he couldn't stay just to see her wake up.

Sitting up, she pulled the sheet up to cover her bare torso and ran her free hand through her messy curls. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had gone on last night after they'd returned from a calm, and normal movie.

She'd invited him in, for some wine and to talk, and one thing led to another. The next thing she knew she was letting out a year of sexual frustration.

It had been about a year, in August she was pretty sure. The last time she'd had sex being the August before Bill and Fleur's wedding.

Needless to say after so long she was rather sore now.

Looking at her familiars she winced, barely remembering them leaving the room the night before when she and Hades had tumbled onto the bed.

::Did you have fun last night, Mistress?:: Sesha asked, her voice highly teasing and amused.

Like the snake was trying to get a reaction out of her and Melinda glared halfheartedly at her serpent familiar.

::Hush, Sesha,:: she hissed, threw her legs over the side of the bed and grabbed the letter off the pillow on her way up.

She grabbed a black t-shirt which said 'wild child' in big white letters on the front. A pair of skinny jeans and some underwear.

She then headed to the bathroom, stopping only to drop the sheet wrapped around her and throw it into the hamper.

Shutting the bathroom door behind her, she laid her clothes down on the toilet seat and turned on the shower. Letting the water warm up some, she stood at the sink and opened the letter Hades had left.

Melinda,

I apologize for leaving while you were asleep, I had to return to the underworld. Be safe while in Virginia, and good luck with your friend.

The letter was short and to the point. She got the impression Hades wasn't used to leaving letters for anyone.

She was pleasantly surprised he mentioned her trip to see Annabeth at all, and that he made it known he was concerned for her well being.

Closing the note she sat it behind the sink faucet and stepped into the welcoming shower.

About half a hour later she left the apartment, portkeying to Virginia, seeing as she didn't know anywhere in Virginia to Aparate too.

The Portkey set her only a few miles away from Annabeth's home. She made it there with relative ease, only asking directions once.

The home was moderately large and had a backyard that was big enough for kids to run around and play.

Annabeth had mentioned she had two younger twin brothers. Knocking on the door she waited, and wasn't all that surprised when a handsome, nearly middle aged man opened the door.

What did surprise her was his appearance. He looked a bit like Annabeth, blonde hair that was nearly the same color as Annabeth's and intense brown eyes.

She got the impression he'd be the perfect mad scientist type if the blow torch he had in his gloved hand was anything to go by.

"Uh...Mr. Chase?" she asked.

The man nodded and looked at her as if trying to figure out how she worked or who she was more likely.

"I am, are you here to see Annabeth?" he asked.

Melinda nodded.

"Yes, I'm – "

"Mel!" a familiar voice interrupted her.

Mr. Chase turned to see Annabeth jogging over, looking happy and relieved.

"Dad, this is my friend, and Percy's older half-sister, Melinda Potter," she said. "I told you she was coming."

Mr. Chase nodded.

"Right, I remember. She's the daughter of Poseidon, isn't it?"

Annabeth sighed, and nodded.

"Yes dad," she said. "You can interrogate her about the workings of being the daughter of the sea god later."

Mr. Chase looked a little down about that, but nodded at his daughters words, and allowed Annabeth to exit the front door to the porch where Melinda stood.

"Be safe, Annabeth," Mr. Chase said.

He turned, but not before nodding at Melinda, and shutting the door as he returned to wherever it was he'd been.

"Thanks for coming, Melinda," Annabeth said as she led Melinda into the backyard.

There was a small garden and bench in one area, and a small playground-like set up in the rest. It was a very homey, lived in feel to it.

Melinda nodded, smiling.

"My pleasure. I was worried, you letters began getting shorter and more..." she trailed off with her sentence.

Annabeth nodded, sitting down on the bench on the garden end and Melinda sat next to her.

"I guess I just got nostalgic. Even being away from camp, being back in Virginia, it brought back some the memories of when I was running around with Thalia and...Luke," Annabeth said, her voice stumbling over the latter name.

Melinda sighed.

"I can't really say I understand exactly what you're going through. My betrayals weren't like this, besides Wormtail and I was only a baby then. Tom was the only one close to this, and I didn't know him as long as you've known Luke. He wasn't even alive really, just a memory of a boy. A soul fragment."

Annabeth looked at her confused and she sighed.

"I can't remember if I've ever told you the back story of Lord Voldemort," Melinda said and Annabeth frowned.

"I don't think so, you said he was an evil wizard who started the war you ended in Hecate's magical world," Annabeth said. "I think it was mentioned in one of the books you gave me as well."

Melinda nodded.

"Well, he wasn't always called Lord Voldemort. Before he was an evil dark lord, he was just a kid, like you or Percy, or even me at one point in time," Melinda began.

"He was this Tom boy wasn't he?" Annabeth asked, her eyes holding a knowing look to them.

Like she had suddenly solved a puzzle.

"He was. Voldemort was born in 1926 as Tom Marvolo Riddle," Melinda began.

"His mother was a witch, but not very powerful. Merope Gaunt's magic had been stunted, I believe, through years of neglect and abuse her father and brother put her through. Then there was the obvious inbreeding in the Gaunt line, it was a miracle there weren't more squibs born into their family."

Melinda said this, knowing Annabeth would know what a squib was, she'd explained it to her before.

And unlike Percy, Annabeth had an easier time retaining the information, because she was the daughter of the wisdom goddess.

"Merope actually fell in love with a neighboring boy in the village, very rich one at that. Tom Riddle Sr. But he never gave her the time of day. Then, her brother and father were sent to prison for a while and she took the chance to charm Tom Riddle Sr."

"They fell in love?" Annabeth asked, almost hopeful that that was the case but Melinda shook her head.

"No, she used a love potion, one which is actually illegal because of people using it on others. Sometimes in order to get into old Pureblood families and steal the family name and fortunes for future generations. Eventually she became pregnant after they ran off and got married. Once she found out that news, she stopped giving him the potion and he left her."

Annabeth stared at her in horror.

"That's not right, if she was pregnant..." she trailed off, shaking her head.

Melinda nodded.

"I felt the same way, but he was a muggle, faced with the fact his wife was a witch and had used magic to make him love her. It wasn't right for her to deceive him like that. Yet, it wasn't right for him to leave her and his child, more so the child I suppose."

Annabeth nodded, agreeing with that.

"What happened to Merope and Tom?" Annabeth asked.

"Merope ran away, her father and brother were getting out of prison before long and she couldn't return home to them. She stopped using magic all together, blaming it for Tom leaving her I suppose. Or maybe the heartbreak severed her connection to any magic she had. Maybe she didn't have a wand. No one knows but Merope," Melinda said.

"Merope went into labor and had Tom at an orphanage in London, on December 31st, 1926. Tom Marvolo Riddle, named after his father, and grandfather. He grew up there, and he wasn't treated very well. WWII was during his time and it probably wasn't very safe. He was thought of a freak, seeing as he could do odd things."

Melinda shrugged.

"The point is, Tom grew up in a bad environment. He never learned what love was and he learned to resent it. It was weakness in his eyes and there was no room for weakness in the orphanage. When he found out he was a wizard, that he was special, he wanted, no needed to prove himself."

Melinda stopped for a second, and took a breath.

"Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly in a position being muggle raised to get far without proving himself. He did, and he fell into the wrong things too fast. He eventually became obsessed with never dying, like his mother had. He ripped his soul apart on his quest for immortality and became the monster, Lord Voldemort."

Annabeth blinked.

"Is Luke going to become like that?" she asked softly, and Melinda could see the tears brimming in Annabeth's down turned eyes.

"I didn't tell you that story to make you feel bad Annabeth. Tom and Luke have similarities, I'll admit, but they are completely different as well," Melinda said, and thought of what Luke had told her before he left.

How he had kissed her. Even though she didn't feel that sort of love for him, she now knew how deep his feelings for her ran.

"Luke knows love, he understands humanity in a way that Tom didn't," Melinda assured. "We'll try to reach him Annabeth, I swear."

Annabeth nodded and then looked thoughtful.

She turned and asked, "How did Tom betray you, Melinda? I thought you said he was born in 1926?"

Melinda sighed, and nodded.

"He was, but his method of immortality was severing his soul using magic and putting it into objects. His first was when he was around sixteen, and the object was his diary. He messed up though, put too much into the diary making it different from the rest. It was like that one Horcrux – what the item is called – was more sentient, had all those traits that Voldemort thought of as human weakness. The ability to love, to be human essentially. His humanity."

She brush some of her hair behind her ear as she continued.

"In my second year, Lucius Malfoy, a follower of Voldemort, put his diary into my stuff. I didn't know what it was and began writing in it. You know I keep a collection of diaries myself. To my surprise it began writing back. Tom was charming, he was nice and he understood me. We were alike in ways. We both lived at places we hated. We were both raised by muggles we detested, and we were Half-Bloods – though myself in the way we know."

Annabeth frowned.

"Something tells me you're about to tell me something I don't want to hear," she muttered and Melinda chuckled.

"Probably," she said and then began her story again.

"Soon, I began blacking out, and once I even woke up with blood and feathers covering me. I had no memory of what happened or how, and I got scared. Tom seemed to be keeping things from me, so I tried to get rid of the diary. Ginny, a friend of mine, found it and began writing in it. Later I found out that the diary had been housing the sixteen year old memory of Voldemort, Tom Riddle, and he'd been possessing me in order to reopen the chamber of secrets."

"Chamber of Secrets, I think I read about that in one of those books," Annabeth said, and then she frowned. "He possessed you?"

"You probably did, and yes," she replied.

"He was now using Ginny to return to life by taking her magic, life force, and basically soul. He used his influence in order to make me get rid of the diary so he didn't have to continue to take mine, ending in my death. He'd grown fond of me, fonder than he wanted too. In the end I destroyed the diary with a poisonous fang. So, his betrayal wasn't as blunt as Luke's, but it was just as painful because it was the first time and I thought he was my friend, and my first crush."

"And you couldn't save him," Annabeth said in realization, and Melinda smiled slightly.

"In a way I did. Hecate came to me that summer, before my third year, and had Tom with her. He explained how he botched the first attempt at a Horcrux and how my destroying the diary had given him, the chance to gain back perceptive of where he went wrong. I guess Tom and Voldemort, in the end were truly two different people."

"Does it get easier?" Annabeth asked.

"Losing people you love or care about?" Melinda asked. "No, not really. But it hurt less over time."

Annabeth nodded, blinking hard to force the her tears back.

"Logically though, what are our chances of Luke listening to us?" Annabeth suddenly asked, serious.

Melinda looked at her and laughed.

"You know, you remind me so much of Hermione at this age," Melinda said, smiling.

"Hermione?" Annabeth asked.

"My best friend, besides Ron and Neville. You've probably seen pictures of us together in the cabin. Hermione is the girl with bushy hair and intelligent brown eyes?" Melinda said, phrasing it sort of like a question.

Annabeth's eyes lit up.

"The one in the picture with you, a redhead and a brown haired boy? The one on your dresser?" she asked and Melinda nodded.

"Yes," she said. "She is a legacy of Athena, along with being a witch."

"She's related to me?" Annabeth asked, surprised. "She's a legacy, meaning one of her parents was a demigod of Athena?"

Melinda shook her head.

"No, not exactly. Hermione is Athena's great-great-great granddaughter, give or take a great. But she is as intelligent and wise as any child of Athena I've ever met," Melinda said.

"And if I know Hermione like I think I do, I figure she'd say something semi-cryptic like – mind over matter, or something along those lines."

"In other words, we won't know our chances until we see him next," Annabeth said.

Melinda nodded.

"Exactly."

"Thank you, Mel, for coming. It really helped. And maybe in the future I can meet your friends, and Hermione. It would be nice to meet someone other than my siblings that is related to Athena."

Melinda nodded and before she could speak she saw a female, not quite middle aged yet, step out the back door.

"Annabeth, lunch is ready. You and your friend come inside and eat," the woman called and Annabeth called back her acknowledgment.

"My stepmother," Annabeth said, as they stood and walked towards the house. "Um, you have time to stay and eat, right?"

Melinda nodded.

"I think I can spare another hour or two."

Annabeth nodded, grinned and the two entered the house together. The door shutting behind them.