The last of the three chapters I have ready to launch as a bare minimum is here, and hopefully it is better than the last one. I liked it a lot more at least.

I get to screw with Luke, world build based on fridge observations instead of linking things, and remix things properly. Enjoy and maybe you'll get a chapter 4.

Also a few quick bits: first Aphrodite and Ishtar are different gods. They are not aspects. In canon the 'lineage' related Zeus and Tyr or Sol (the Norse Goddess) and Helios are distinct from each other. Percy is just confused the way Magnus is confused on how both Odin and Zeus are in charge of the cosmos and Annabeth wondered where the 'border' between different ocean gods lies. I chose the Daughter of Hermes angle (where Apollo could indeed work) because I wanted her to end up in the B.I differently via expanding on Luke's power display, and as to witches the only ones I'd say would know about the Gods of the Human Realm would be Belos, and he may not depending on what his exact deal is. Even Eda probably isn't aware of what a Demigod is, as at min she's heard of some Egyptian gods but would have no reason to connect the dots there

CHAPTER 3

Anyone who looked at the two of them would not have guessed they were siblings. Demigods tended to share more subtle similarities than overt unless they happened to have the same mortal parent. Sometimes it was as distinct as the Athena kids all having her grey eyes, while the Ares kids all looked like a bunch of thugs.

She and Luke were no different. All they shared was a subtle bit of sneakiness in their expressions that made them the dread of teachers and law enforcement everywhere.

Luke Castellan was tall, blond, and had a build that was surpassed only by the children of Ares and Hephaestus. He had blue eyes, a sharp nose, and the scar that ran from his left eye to his chin he got from Ladon.

She, Lucera, was shorter, had dark hair, and was Latina. Her hair was a lot longer, her body a lot more lithe, and her eyes were brown.

She didn't bother to hide or run away from the traitor, so she fluttered down into plain sight, startling the other one with him.

"Still using winged shoes. How cute." Luke observed. She crossed her arms while keeping herself just an inch above the ground around her.

"They're functional. No reason to give up flight if you don't have to. Especially for something as dumb as throwing a kid into Tartarus." She recounted that story dryly.

Luke was dressed professionally: fancy shirt and pants, professional yet mobile. She was wearing a long jacket and a red beanie hat over her camp shirt and jeans. She was sure that if anyone looked at them they would not have been able to guess who had nearly started World War 3 last year and was plotting to end civilization as they knew it.

"That was to make things better. The gods need to go, and if by their own hands the better. Seeing as that didn't work we have to destroy them by any other means. You can't be so deluded that you'd defend them Lucera." He pressed.

"Your idea of a better world is restoring a cannibalistic tyrant. Pass."

"The world was better while the Gods were imprisoned. Look at everything in the world, at everything in our lives, and really ask yourself Lucera. Why are you on their side? Why do you want to protect them? They'll never protect us, they'll never be worth our loyalty and our sacrifices and our lives! There should be a better world, one without all of the crap we have now and have always had as long as they've ruled the world. They think of us as disposable pawns, but we can hurt them. Every time one of us leaves their service and joins Kronos they weaken and he grows stronger. As my sister you'd be well rewarded and appreciated with us in a way you'll never be with the gods!"

Luke was a charmer and a popular guy before he tried to kill a kid and nearly started a war among the gods. People loved him because he was a better warrior than the children of war gods, more handsome than the sons of Aphrodite, and less likely to steal your wallet than his brothers and sisters. If he wanted to do the 'God of Thieves and Liars' thing he'd do it subtly, and his few pranks were legendary.

She never liked big Mister Perfect before he stole the Master Bolt and she liked him even less now. His charms had no effect on her.

"Buzz off. I happen to like the parts of this world that aren't currently on fire or being run by monsters. If I ever get a desire to go run around and destroying stuff I'll just go to D.C and see what politicians are monsters or something. Sure most of them are probably just scum and not soulless demons but I'm sure at least five politicians I don't like would be dusted. Also what, replace Zeus with his father? I don't know how you think that would possibly be an improvement but you're clearly a dumbass so…"

Luke gave out a sigh that was half genuine and half acted as he pulled a sword out. Of course 'a sword' didn't quite describe the four foot long blade, half steel and half celestial bronze. A sword meant to kill people and monsters alike, a sword that should just be some edgy Ares kid's fantasy that no one would fulfill for them brought to life.

"You were always a stubborn one Lucera. It was always rather annoying. If you aren't with me…"

"…then you are my enemy? Yeah yeah Vader I get it. I'll be sticking to the high ground, don't overestimate your power."

She fluttered a foot higher into the air as Luke waved at his other to dart off. She reached into her jacket and pulled out her own weapon. Luke sneered at it.

"That's a bat Lucera."

She pointed it at him, the reddish coloring that she had requested for it not hiding the fact that her weapon was indeed a celestial bronze baseball bat.

"Yeah, I know. Beckendorf forged the thing for me as payment for a run a few months ago."

"You know who I am. I am the best swordsman the Camp has seen in centuries. I survived traveling the country without protection without formal training or proper gear half the time for five years. I can fight gods. And you want to fight me with a baseball bat?"

"I like practical utility. When I'm not crushing your head like a pumpkin, brother, I like to hit batting cages. Plus the mist always makes our swords look like bats anyway, I thought I'd give it a break."

Luke said nothing before lunging at her. She flew over his lunge before swinging her bat down, which he avoided with a quick movement before moving to thrust at her again. She flew over the attack with her shoes, avoiding it as she reached into her jacket and pulled out a shield to strap to her other arm.

Tricks of the Child of Hermes included storing stuff in space that seemed to defy logic and reason. Mostly because it did.

Their fight continued as it had before. She avoided his attacks with aerial mobility and he avoided her attacks with fast reaction time. She blocked a stab with her shield before swinging her bat at him, which he ducked out of the way from and thrust quickly at her again. She blocked it with her shield, and the dance continued.

Eventually Luke got a look in his eye. She only briefly saw it, but she never liked that look before. It always meant he saw something he could exploit. With a grin he thrust his sword right at her shield, quickly jabbing it up in a corner. The sound of tearing bands quickly followed, along with a rush of pain on her shield arm. Seconds later the shield, the straps of it broken, flew off her arm and into the side of a building.

"Mason always was bad on his shield grips. Good durability, but what's a shield you can't hold?" Luke quipped as he looked at her with a smug sneer.

"Are you going to keep trying to bash my brains with just that stupid bat now? You can't hit me with that weapon and bats leave you far too vulnerable."

Her arm stung from the shield's forced departure from her arm. It hurt like rope burn.

"Hey, at least my weapon isn't some edgelord dream come true. Plus you can use anything as a weapon. You and I had the same classes."

Luke rolled his eyes.

"I taught those classes."

"And I happen to remember that lesson where Chiron used that Bat'leth he borrowed for an improv defense demonstration."

"….That was stupid then and it was stupid now. I have a sword and you have a bat. You aren't going to hit me with it and I won't let you escape."

"And I'm going to bash your brains out. Because I remember plenty from the imrpov lessons. First rule of improv self-defense, surprise!"

Luke had noticed she was reaching into her jacket, and so was able to avoid the smoke bomb. He was supposed to though, as she had also grabbed something else and threw it at just the spot Luke had avoided the smoke to.

She couldn't remember the exact chemical composition of the stuff she had thrown, but she had the gist of what it would do if it got into someone's eyes.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

Painful irritation. Like pepper spray or something.

Flying over the smoke she saw Luke, the former Big Mister Perfect of Camp, traitor and attempted murderer of a kid. His eyes were shut and tears were trying to flush the irritant out of his eyes.

She grinned before flying right at him, her bat ready to smash him.

He blocked her with his sword, face racked with pain and irritation.

She flew out of his wild, for him, retaliatory swipe before flying to the side and swinging for his ribs. He blocked her again with his sword. Her blow shook the sword and Luke's arm from her strike.

Was Luke really doing the 'blind swordsman' thing?!

She swung at him again and again, coming at him at different angles each time. Each time he managed to block her bat, avoiding any harm to himself. Every time she got angrier and angrier with him.

The golden boy before he went traitor, the best swordsman in centuries, and the most admired guy there. Everyone in the Hermes Cabin being trapped in his shadows at everything but pranks, and only there because Luke didn't do it nearly as much (but when he did it was always a perfect job).

His last block before his eyes opened back up, shot red with irritation, pushed her back to the dust of the giant. She was ready to hit him with something more but seconds later he was on top of her and had her pinned to the ground. One hand pushed down hard on her stomach while the other held his sword against her neck.

"Because you are my little sister, I will give you one last chance. Join Kronos and renounce the gods, or you die. You have no other choice."

As if to prove his point he used his sword to knock her bat out of her hand, her bat rolling away.

"You know, I miss my Mami. I was always a bit of a problem child, but she loved me and I loved her back. I still miss her you know."

Luke looked at her in annoyance.

"Begging for your mother before death? Really?"

She grinned, despite the sadness that she felt in her eyes at the memories.

"I'm just saying, asshole, that I'm a bit of a mess. I could probably win the Camp bitch competition if Clarisse or Drew got eaten tomorrow if I really wanted to. But I can't say that my messes include mommy issues. That's something I have over you don't I?"

Luke never really talked about his mother, but she had seen just a few droplets of information that something there had gone horribly wrong. She wasn't sure what exactly it was, but she wanted to piss Luke off so…

Luke didn't say anything but pressed his sword into her neck to a point she felt some blood start to slip out. She grinned before swinging her other arm at Luke.

It was faster than he expected and she slugged him in the shoulder, sending him tumbling away as she darted for her bat and grabbed it.

"What?!" He questioned before his eyes darted to her non-bat arm. To the sticker she had slipped on just on her wrist.

Her body felt like it was alight with energy and power. It was like ambrosia, lighting her entire body with warmth and energy. She had no idea what the Hades it was, and the fact she probably just gave Luke some useful information if she didn't explode in a minute (and even if she did he'd probably think of something useful from it) didn't really bug her at the minute.

At this minute she wanted to bash his brains in.

Winged shoes still on she sped at Luke, who glowered at her as he moved to block her blow with his sword. She feinted from a blow before swinging at his side, which he blocked with his edgelord sword.

Her bat and his sword collided once more, though there was a difference this time. Red light flared up between the collisions of their weapons, shooting out from it like jagged bolts of lightning in all directions. The red energy, which smelled like ozone and a mixture of life and death, struck at everything. Walls were burned if struck, while a few weeds that had poked through grew wildly with some shoots blooming and others withering.

"What….!?" Luke questioned as he pressed his weapon forward, the crazy light show avoiding him by centimeters at best.

"It's your sticker and edgelord sword, why don't you tell me?!" She questioned as a bolt of energy struck her beanie and sent it flying into the sky in a smoldering wreck. She had more, but she noticed something that Luke hadn't. The sticker she had swiped was starting to hiss, like it was about to burn.

Thinking fast she reached into her jacket, Luke pushing her one-armed hold dangerously close to her face in the process, before she pulled out a flashbang. She flung it, closing her eyes.

Luke shielded his eyes from another blinding, and he slashed at something as it came his way. Though it was the now smoldering sticker.

She meanwhile had taken off into the air, flying straight to Camp and not looking back.

…

She was Eda the Owl Lady in the morning, even after some apple blood this was not her peak. But even then she realized that something was out of whack. Something was different, and something was not as it should be.

She had been so sure that her new house guest/mate/apprentice/minion/mystery/person to eat King and Hooty with when things went horribly wrong would have gotten up at a terrible hour jumping with joy at the idea of studying magics that none of them understood with the clear possibility of possibly hurting someone extensively.

That was how teenagers behaved in her day, and they didn't seem to be that different now in her experience.

So she opened the door to the room she had given the human, staff in hand, and promptly poked the prone body that lay in the bed.

"Hey Luz. Luz? You dead?"

The body groaned.

"Okay you aren't dead. So, um….not that I necessarily am unhappy you didn't break into my room and started jumping all over me for magic lessons, but that isn't how I expected a teenager to react in your situation. Heck I haven't known you for twenty-four hours and I am quite sure this is atypical behavior for you. So, what's up."

The body shuffled and spasmed like a half-away King, which only happened when he didn't sleep properly. Otherwise a single poke to the sternum with her staff got that lug up and at um.

"You ever try to fall asleep but you realize something so terrible you can't go to sleep." The girl asked as she snorted.

"Kid I'm closer to menopause than you are to diapers, I get that more than you know." also curses but she was on alien magic medication for that now and was fine outside of her burned skin.

"I really hadn't thought of it until when I was all alone, like really thought about it, but my mom is probably worried sick. I just...I never came home from school. She's probably worried out of her mind, and texting me like crazy. But my phone…" the girl paused, probably assuming she didn't know what a phone was.

"Kid I sell human junk for a living, I know what phones are. They are those things with the numbers you put up against your ear to talk via wires and electricity and stuff."

"...it doesn't have a signal, so I can't get them and she can't get any of mine. She must be so scared...and that isn't even the worst of it. I….I really stopped thinking about that after a while. After I was scared for a bit I was all 'flying shoes' and 'jailbreaks' and 'King is cute' and 'I have magic' and I completely forgot about that until I tried to go to sleep. Am I….am I a terrible person to have forgotten because of all of that?"

She really wanted to laugh and tell Luz she was asking the wrong person about morality. She was the most wanted witch in the Boiling Isles and a thief of some repute, so she was the last person to ask about how moral one was. But the girl didn't need a joke right now. She needed her to get on one of her well-worn knees in front of the teenage girl nest Luz had spun herself into over her stress and put a hand on the blanket coil she called her covers.

"Kid, a terrible person would fall asleep to that question without a care, or just never think of it at all. Of course before you even go into all that 'moral responsibility' stuff you should remember you are stuck here. You can't get back to her until you figure out how your powers work, and there is no need to think about the what ifs. You just need to remind yourself that you are Luz Noceda, the human girl with bizarre powers and Egyptian magic who is some amount of training and experimenting from getting home. You might go home today, or next year, but you won't do it by not sleeping. I don't get anything done by not sleeping and you don't either."

She felt a little nauseous talking like that, but it seemed to do the trick as the human girl, whose face did look like it hadn't slept a wink, managed to extract herself from her distress cocoon and look her right in the face, a tired and still stressed, but determined, look on her face. To that the older woman grinned.

"That a girl. Now shower so you don't scare the children and I might feed you before you go and earn your rent for the day."

Like a slowly rising King the human girl had a slow, but accelerating, range of emotions come across her face. Determination, irritation, excitement, 'can't I do something else but your work Eda', and finally worry.

"Wait, I set a prison on fire, and a bunch of guards. Won't I have a wanted poster?"

She patted the girl on her head.

"Nah, they don't know your name but know mine. You probably just gave me a fresh new zero, and be sure to bring a copy back if I did. Sorry kid, if you want to be an infamous outlaw you need to do something crazy that I'm not around for, but you should probably save your bounty hunting for when you know what you are doing and are getting a proper sleep schedule. Anyway make sure you lock the bathroom door or Hooty will sneak in. He's not attracted to bipeds but he will say hello when you least want him to, and beating him won't make him stop. He'll just be a grouch to you the rest of the day. Also don't use my special soaps, but King's shampoo is fair game."

...

'Earning her rent' was making deliveries, selling potions, and not getting eaten in the process. It was a task that took up the rest of the morning and a good chunk of the early afternoon, requiring her to get lunch with King who was sent with her by Eda.

It was monotonous but the sights of strange centaurs, a pair of twins who were both pretty attractive, and glob people was a good way for her not to dwell on her mom as much as she had last night. There was an odd feeling about the entire thing she couldn't quite shake though.

"Hey King, did this day feel like it was missing something."

Their sack was empty and they were on the sidewalk of a cobblestone street, or what was akin to a sidewalk. It didn't quite feel that way, but she was no architect so she was not getting the name of it right.

"Er, no. It's just a typical sales day for Eda's off-the books potion selling business. A bit more boring, seeing as we weren't chased by Potions Coven thugs."

"Who?" she questioned the cutie, her eyes darting around for any sign of any thugs. Were they atop the hill the street went up, hidden in the alleyways, or maybe the thug was reading the newspaper!

(Construction Coven delays continue: Glyphs and Grunts Gone. Murder not suspected as cause.)

Huh, 'Coven'.

King waved her question off, though just that one question. She was Luz Noceda, she could never run out of questions if she wanted to ask them.

"I mean you don't think it is just...weird...to go from a day of prison breaks and powers and book reports to just...selling potions. You aren't having any whiplash?"

"Luz, I'm a King, I do stuff like this all the time. One day I'm conquering the weak and the next day I'm serving Eda against my will. Stuff like that just happens. It's my amazing life, and your adequate life now."

She looked at her hand, the one not holding the emptied sack of potions. It still felt odd, like there was something missing from this day.

King sighed, shaking his skull-like head.

"Luz if you really want to make a aesop about it….I don't know I'll give you one off the top of my head if that'll make you feel better."

"King I don't need an aesop, I'm just…"

"Kindness and altruism get you nothing in the world. Only look out for yourself, it is the only way to live."

She looked at the furry demon with ill amusement.

"That's a terrible aesop King."

"Well you wanted an aesop, so I gave you the best one there is."

"..." she could think of a dozen better ones from any story she'd ever read or watched, but the sound of shouting and the spinning of wheels stopped her from speaking. Down the hilled street rolled an out of control cart, or perhaps a wheelbarrow. Whatever it was it was moving fast, had no on guiding it, and had a giant metal pot of something in it that could hurt someone if it flew off.

"Runaway abomination cart! Luz save yourself, remember the aesop!"

"Sorry King, but I'm writing my own friendship lesson today!" she declared as she reached into her bag and pulled out a notepad she had scribbled on.

She hadn't just spent last night wrapped in worry for what her mom was going though: she had also taken into account every detail that she had gotten out of Eda about what the magicians of the human world like herself could do to channel magic. One such way, the easiest, was with paper.

"STOPGA!"

And she had written a whole bunch of phrases down and was ready to see what happened when she pointed the notepad at something with the right page flipped to and she shouted the name out with intent to have something happen. .

"Stop ga?" King first didn't get what she was referencing.

Second was the cart froze in place, though unlike in the games she played the cart was slightly smoking from the spell being applied to it as it was slowly burning. The hissing steam slash smoke was a red haze.

Third was she felt like her stomach had become an outright burning pit, like she was starving. Her knees crumbled and she fell to her knees, hunger growling from the use of the innate magic.

She heard someone grab the cart, questioning why the metal pot looked a bit burnt as King shook his head.

"See Luz, that is why you should listen to my aesops instead of trying to make your own. Not only is that power of yours potentially dangerous to your health and the stability of the universe, or something, but you just burned through your energy again and we used our lunch budget…"

The sound of the cart being wheeled over to them interrupted King's attempt to prove himself right, and any attempt by him to cover his butt was stopped by the cart owner speaking up.

"Oh, did you use a time spell to stop my cart? I can't thank you enough, some jerk thought they were being funny after a terrible school day for the both of us.."

The owner of the cart was a girl about her name who sort of looked Asian, though she had no idea if ethnicity like that was even a thing here. She was a little plump, but she had lifted the cart in a way she doubted she could do with her weak nerd arms so it wasn't an out of shape plump, had dark hair, pointed ears like any witch she'd seen, and was wearing glasses and a black and pink uniform.

"No...problem." she gasped out in her current weakened state as the new girl looked at her in concern.

"Are you okay? Did the time spell take a lot of you…"

"Willow are you alright!? I tried to give Boscha a piece of our mind but….wait whose this and why is your Abomination pot burned?"

A younger boy than either her or Willow (she presumed) had run up to them. He had dark skin and a uniform like Willow's but blue. Was it gendered? He looked at the two of them in rapid succession.

(She had kept her hood up in case of any guards recognizing her. They couldn't see her ears).

"Whoa did she stop your cart, and slightly burn it? What sort of magic does that?"

Grumble

Her stomach growled as she blushed. The two students (?) looked at each other before nodding and looking at her with smiles.

"Thanks a bunch stranger. Can we get you something to eat as thanks for catching my cart for me?" Willow asked her kindly. Flashing a smile to King she nodded, getting up to her feet despite her wobbly knees.

"Thank you, I'd really appreciate it. By the way my name's Luz Noceda."

"Mine's Willow Park and this is Augustus Porter….."

With the girl lifting her heavy wheelbarrow with ease (at least she was sure it was heavy) the three walked off, talking to each other about this and that even as King yelled about his aesop as he scampered behind them.

…

"Seeing as you finished your work for me today, be free to have a bit of fun. I'm still looking through my library for anything useful, seeing as I collected a few books I kept out of my stand for a bit of reading on days I got really bored. Luz I found one about the 'Mayans', are they anything like Egypt?"

"Not really beyond pyramids." she wasn't entirely sure why King had a bird-phone hybrid, or why he had called Eda, but this conversation was happening as the three of them waited on food to be brought to them.

"Oh drat. Anyway have fun and don't do anything that I'd do. You aren't me so you'd actually suffer consequences for your actions." with that the phone bird flew off through a conveniently opened door and it was three kids and one sulking demon who was upset his aesop was wrong. Then their food, something that looked and smelled like pizza and didn't seem to have anything odd about it at first glance, arrived and she reflexively got ready to eat with a swing of her arms and polite behaviors learned from her mother.

Putting a napkin on her lap, not holding both the knife and fork in her hand at once, and removing her hood, which she only realized she did when the two treating witches gasped and were looking very intently at her ears. Her very round, very human ears.

"Your human. That's astounding, that's amazing, a human on the boiling isles, how'd you get here and did you really do magic!?" Willow babbled, hyper and chirpy

"A human is here, and they can use magic!? Have we been utterly wrong about everything this entire time!? What sort of president am I!?" Augustus wailed.

It took a few minutes to calm them down and she was amazed no one looked at them to see what the gossip was about, but it was also teenage chatter so perhaps witch adults knew to give it distance lest they get confused or terrified as human adults did.

"...So that's it. Kind of a bad one really, seeing as I don't know the answer myself."

Both of the witchlings (was that the term?) were looking at her in amazement despite the fact she didn't have a proper answer.

"That's amazing, I mean even if you didn't mean to do it it doesn't mean it's not amazing. I only do cool things when I'm not being graded on them." Willow said that in a way that made one briefly wonder if there was something beyond chipperness in her.

"I always questioned how humans managed to survive the relentless giraffe hordes and now I know. I have achieved enlightenment." Augustus said contently.

"Pretty sure we just figured we could do that by living in different places Gus, um can I call you Gus?"

"Yes! You may call be by my human nickname, and I shall embrace Gus with pride!"

She chuckled at his spirit, though she had a few questions of her own.

"I've only been here for about a day now, actually maybe more like twenty-three hours or something so basically a day, and I still am learning a lot about this place. Do you guys go to a magic school, or just a school where people can do magic but it's just a school? You guys look like you are wearing uniforms, guy and girl uniforms?"

The two looked at each other's uniforms, as if they only realized their colors could mean something like that.

"Huh, I never thought of that...but no. Colors mean what tracts you are studying at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. My blue means I'm studying the Illusion Tract."

"And I study Abominations, where I am miserable."

She wanted to ask why Willow was studying something that made her miserable and not, like, 'Monster Wrestling Tract' or something, where she quickly changed the subject.

"I'm surprised you guessed that so quickly. I thought humans don't believe they have magic, I mean you were surprised you could do a type of magic."

As much as she'd like to ask more about Willow's misery the subject was changed and she hadn't babbled about Harry Potter in ages so she couldn't fight the flow of conversation this time.

"Oh we don't but we actually tell fictional stories about magic all the time. One of the most famous stories in my world is actually about a school for witches and wizards, and it's still famous even after the writer kind of made herself really divisive. Some people said she was making stupid retcons before she started talking about her opinions of stuff but I think the retcon argument was overblow. Okay so the story's about a school called Hogwarts…"

What followed was a surprisingly interesting conversation of compare and contrast between a British woman's genre-shifting series and reality where parallels were surprising.

The three of them hung out for the rest of the day, and they had a fairly good time. She promised to see them again tomorrow after school if Eda agreed, and she was smiling the rest of the day even before Eda did in fact agree.

King was a bit grumpy; he'd have to be on 'common sense duty' for at least the next few days though.

...

"It is just so...so...so frustrating what they can get away with!"

Her name was Amity Blight. Youngest child of the prestigious Blight family. Top student at Hexside and best student in her classes, even the ones where everyone was able to do well in and not the Abominations track that people kept throwing the wrong people in and expecting it to go well.

Like Willow. What misery of Willow's that was not caused by her own actions since that birthday was on her fathers for making her take those classes. Abominations was prestigious because it was difficult. If it wasn't for them, or the Sortie Hat discovering a taste for flesh, Willow would be less miserable. She wouldn't have to make her more miserable either. They'd both be happier that way.

She worked hard, she was respected, and she was loved...by small children at the library. A few other people too, but the small children mostly.

When she was upset, there were very few places she could go. One was a little hideout she had in the library to study and read and not be bothered by anyone. Not the twins, not her 'friends', not her parents...

"...You might want to be more specific Mittens. The twins do a lot of things that can exasperate."

Even with a slight bit of annoyance at the use of that nickname she snuggled into the form that shared a quiet couch with her in Blight Manor. One of the few people she could trust, and one of the few she was sure loved her. Her eldest sister Amelia Blight.

They looked a lot alike: not as much as the twins looked alike but no one could ever think they weren't related. Amelia had her hair longer than she did, though shorter than Emira's. It was dyed the same color as hers, green to match with their twin siblings, but the longer length exposed more brown hair at her roots.

(In another time and place there were an Edric and Emira who had to dye their hair brown, if the books were true. Amity wasn't sure how she felt about that thought, or the time her parents had said that if there hadn't been twins there would just be two children whose names started with A. They had only said that once...)

Amelia wore a pink dress that was sweeter looking than anything she or Emira wore, but it was not to say her older sister lacked an edge. She was a Blight as well, a student at the top of her class. She was., however, always kind and understanding to her, and the only person she could complain like this to. Certainly not to her parents.

"The two of them they are just...just...they keep skipping class and doing stupid pranks! They aren't perfect but everyone seems to love them and I don't get why?! Why do people see their antics as fun? How are they able to still get grades as good as mine, if not sometimes better? Why didn't mother and father seem to care when I brought it up? Why did I think that would do anything..."

What she was saying didn't feel proper for a Blight. Blights were supposed to be better than this. Despite that fact Amelia stroked the top of her head comfortably.

"Well for most families you would talk to the parents about your siblings doing things like that and have something happen. That is how families are supposed to work..." Amelia let that point hang, an air of sadness to her as she said that.

A memory of a giggling and happy girl with two dads came to her mind, and she winced. Half-a-Witch she may be, but there were things Willow had that she never did. When she had to put an act up, that was something she could actually draw on to display spite that was almost genuine. Spite and envy.

"But on to the twins and their skipping class, you are feeling like they are somehow cheating right? Well...I know you hate it when it is the case, but it is a case where they are yet they aren't at the same time. One of the more advanced uses of Illusion Magic, especially around our age, is the creation of duplicates that are fully sentient and able to interact with the environment around them. Someone would have to genuinely check to see that they are not the real ones. A lot of students in the Illusion Track use those duplicates to take notes for them while they do other things. It's an unspoken rule that if you can do it, you are to and not be caught by the teachers. It demonstrates a proper mastery of your skills."

"I've never heard of that requirement." Amity murmured into her sister.

"It's not a rule written anywhere, but it is there. It's just unspoken."

"I hate rules like that." She never saw them until she all but got tangled up in them and was made a fool of, or yelled at by her parents. Often both.

Amelia patted her on the back.

"I know Mittens, I know."

"...Still...why do they have to pull pranks? Can't they just...study?"

"They do study, you are just seeing them blow off steam between studying and the classes they can't just use duplications to do for them. They work hard to get their grades just like you do. They just have more visible fun afterwards."

You mean they are allowed to have fun. She was to 'be friends' with those her parents chose in her spare time. Her fun was tied up with her studies (her 'extra credit' at the library) or social standing (Grudgby).

Edric and Emira frustrated her. They were troublemakers, mean, and annoying. They were happy, and free, and didn't have fake friends. She was jealous of Edric and Emira, not that she'd ever admit to anyone but herself and her diary.

"Being in two places at once feels like cheating though...if I could do that I could study and take notes at the same time..."

"Is it really cheating if it is an unspoken rule?" Amelia asked gently. She had no answer to that, or wanted to, so she just buried her face into her sister's side as the older girl stroked her gently like a cat.

...

It was an hour later and her baby sister was asleep against her side. She frowned at the gentle rise and fall of her chest. She worked too hard on her grades sometimes, and she didn't need to.

The creaking of a door heralded the poking in of a dark-green head. Emira.

"So, she tattled?"

She held her free fingers to her lip to convey they didn't wake her up. Emira nodded in agreement and she and her brother slipped in, quiet on their toes as to not wake their baby sister.

"She did, and I told her about the unspoken rule about duplicates taking notes."

"She didn't like it." Edric wasn't asking a question as she nodded.

"You know how she is about rules that aren't written down or told to anyone outright. It's frustration, that is what it is." Amelia mused as Emira kneeled down to look at the sleeping Amity right on eye level.

"So we frustrate her without even trying or breaking rules? I'm almost impressed with ourselves at that.

"She's going to gray before she graduates." Edric quipped as she rolled her eyes.

"Well mother has the solution to that. Can't be un-color coordinated after all." For all the twins could stress her sister out there was another pair that did it worse.

"...She likes her patterns too much. Also telling us 'if your illusions can't fool your little sister they can't be truly good' when Mittens complains to them. Not sure why she thinks she knows more about how our track works than someone who graduated from Abominations..." Emira grumbled as Amelia smiled.

"Tell you what, I'll ask her to try and give you two a bit more of a break if you agree to not provoke her. Like...illusion that lunch bag into something else next time, or don't leave messages in Boscha's hangout."

"...I thought I was doing a good thing there. She was grumbling about how Boscha hadn't paid her back those seven snails." Edric admitted, but seemed to be agreeable to that compromise.

They were the Blight children after all. They did need to help each other, as no one else would. At least until their parents choked on something.

"Well I'll let you know she did pay Amity back after you left that message, though Amity did have to get her a new pair of socks because your message ate her spare pair. Though I do have a question for you two. Seeing as you have free periods have you heard anything about the disappearances? I overheard Father talking about it with someone the other day and didn't get a chance to ask."

She had heard some rumblings, but she doubted her parents would give her a proper explanation about anything like that.

"Oh nothing much, except the cryptic language of 'serving The Titan's kin' they write on the wall before vanishing and people claiming they are getting strange dreams. They say they are going off to the human world to fight, but don't ask me what. That might just be a stupid rumor and they are just eaten, but there is a lack of any sign of blood. Also people say they've been seeing a human in Bonesborough."

"That sounds hard to believe. A human?"

Emira smiled.

"Well that's the funny thing, me and Ed have actually seen the human. She's a cute little thing too, and working with the Owl Lady. Bought a potion off her, she blushed, good fun all around. Come to think of it, the Owl Lady is always selling human stuff..."

A human in the Boiling Isles, strange disappearances of coven members, a spike in consultations for strange and terrible dreams...

"Well hopefully the last part is just because of a gas leak again. Anyway mind helping me get this Top Student to her bed. She has better pillows than me there."

Without waking her of course, a request the twins fortunately kept without being outright asked.

It was an hour later in her own bed that she fell asleep, and found herself in a vivid dream. She could smell the distant smell of sea salt and felt the rocking of waves, but it was not like the boiling sea. The air was cold and the room felt darker than it should be. Suddenly the room lit up in a blinding light, requiring her to cover her eyes. When the light dimmed enough to see, Amelia found herself staring at a sarcophagus, gold and decorated with terrible scenes. Cities burning, great monuments being torn down, and warriors armed with bows and swords and tridents being trodden by chariots without mercy. All the scenes were nightmarish and terrible and she moved to get away from it. However her legs wouldn't budge.

"Hello, Titan-spawn." A voice rose up from the golden coffin, a voice that sounded like scraping metal against stone and made her feel like the twins had just splashed with ice-cold water. She really hoped they'd do that in the next now!

"I am the king who ruled over your progenitor, the one you owe everything to. I have come to collect your debt to me."

End Chapter

Yes, now we have Beta Amity in the story with perhaps a slightly different angle. I like my Beta with a bit less arson and drug use myself. You might think that this means that Beta! Willow is next. I would like that, but I have no idea what to do with her. Willow would probably be a very different person with a sister around...thinking thinking thinking.

You all may be wondering where Adagast is? Well honestly I didn't like him that much so I ignored him. Beyond the lesson about chosen ones not really working with the Riordanverse at play in story with Luz having powers of her own this early plus the whole 'mom stress' not sure she needs that plot. I also want to do something else for episode 3 that requires an earlier first meeting.

Also I don't want to repeat everything needlessly.

Assume for all likelihood that Adagast either got eaten by something offscreen or traveled to the human world under Kronos's command and got killed by Jason Grace or something.

Anyway if I finish chapter 4 we'll meet Percy Jackson and go to Hexside with Luz for an actually sanctioned trip.