I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.

Chapter Fourteen: Chrysa's Worst Nightmare

Somehow, some way, Thalia's first semester back in school went relatively smoothly. Even with the help of the private tutors Chrysa had hired, she was still a couple of years behind her physical age in school, and several years behind her actual age. She was placed in the eighth grade alongside Annabeth and Percy, which was pretty good for someone who had dropped out of school to run away from home before the end of second grade. She had both Annabeth and Chrysa to help her with her schoolwork, and the scent-scrambling spells Chrysa had cast on all three demigod teenagers seemed to work to keep the monsters away.

Everything was going great…until Percy got a distress call from the satyr just before winter break began. He had immediately run up two flights of stairs and burst into Chrysa, Annabeth, and Thalia's shared apartment.

"Grover's in trouble," he exclaimed as all three looked up from their homework.

"Wait, I thought he was searching for Pan?" Thalia said, her nose scrunching up.

"No, after what happened with Polyphemus, the Council of Cloven Elders told him to spend a year as a keeper while he recovered from the 'trauma'," Annabeth replied. "Though it must be pretty serious if he's calling for backup."

"He's at a place called Westover Hall in Bar Harbor, Maine," Percy said. "He said that they're having a dance tomorrow night, and that would be the best chance to get them out without attracting attention from who – or what – ever it is that he's concerned about."

Chrysa sighed.

"All three of you, go pack. We leave tomorrow morning. Percy, ask for permission from your mother first. Tell her I'll be there and I'll try to have you back by Christmas. All of you make sure to pack for cold weather, slightly warmer weather, and battle. I have a feeling that this is going to get ugly quickly. And pack for quests as well. Just in case."

Less than twenty-four hours later, they were on the road to Bar Harbor, Maine. Chrysa had managed to not only enroll Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth in Westover Hall for the next semester, but she had also finagled an invitation for them to attend Westover Hall's annual end-of-term party while Chrysa spoke with the administration. It gave them a legitimate reason to be at Westover as well as allowed Chrysa to distract the administration while the younger three snooped around and found Grover and his charge.

"How did you manage that?" Percy asked in awe after Chrysa explained the plan while navigating the Manhattan streets.

"You'd be surprised what all you can get people to do when you're rich," Chrysa said drily. "I just threw the name 'Lady Amaranth Potter-Black' around, and the headmistress was much more amenable to my plans."

"We're not really attending next semester, are we?" Annabeth asked.

Chrysa scoffed.

"Of course not. You're attending for one day and one day only, and just to get Grover and the new person out of there. We're all powerful demigods who know about our heritage; we smell very obvious to monsters. I already took off the scent-scrambling spells. We should confuse whatever monster is there long enough to get the new person out, no matter how powerful they are."

It was an eight-hour drive from Manhattan to Bar Harbor. Due to an extremely liberal interpretation of traffic laws, Chrysa made it in six. Due to the time of year, and the miserable weather, it was already getting dark when they arrived.

Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside.

"Oh yeah. This'll be fun," she said drily.

"Don't get fingerprints on my windshield," Chrysa scolded mildly as she ran a critical eye over the military school. "This Porsche isn't being released to the general public for three more weeks."

Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. It was built entirely of black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking a large frosty forest on one side and the grey churning ocean on the other. All that was missing was a moat and portcullis.

"We'd better get inside," Annabeth said. "Grover will be waiting."

Thalia looked at the castle and shivered.

"You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."

"Nothing good," Percy replied, staring up at the dark towers.

"As much as I hate to leave my nice warm car, we do have to brave the snow if we want to help," Chrysa pointed out.

All four grudgingly made their way outside. The wind was strong enough to blow straight through Chrysa's coat and warming charms like icy daggers.

"I'm having flashbacks to Scottish winters," Chrysa muttered as they made their way to the large oak doors.

The doors groaned open, and they stepped into the entry hall in a swirl of snow.

"Whoa," Percy said.

The hall was probably impressive to the younger three; it was relatively large and had walls lined with battle flags and weapon displays.

Chrysa sniffed haughtily.

"This has nothing on Hogwarts."

"Yeah, well, not all of us spent seven years at boarding school in a literal ancient Scottish castle," Thalia griped.

"There's something here," Percy said quietly. His hand was lingering next to the pocket where he kept his ballpoint pen/sword, Riptide. Thalia was rubbing her silver shield bracelet.

"There's a fight coming," he continued.

Annabeth started to say, "I wonder where…" when the doors slammed shut behind them.

"Oo-kay," Percy mumbled. "Guess we'll stay awhile."

There was dance music echoing from the other end of the hall.

"That way, I guess," Chrysa said, gesturing forwards. "You three are supposed to be visiting the dance. I'm sure I'll find the principal eventually."

They had barely taken two steps before Chrysa felt the presence of two people approaching them from the shadows. Their footsteps were audible next, but it took several moments for the man and woman to step out of the shadows to intercept them.

Both had short grey hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. The woman had a wispy mustache, while the man was clean-shaven. Both walked stiffly, with military precision.

"Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"Visitors are not allowed at the dance!" the man exclaimed. "You shall be ee-jected!"

He had a strange accent that Chrysa could barely place – Farsi, maybe? He was tall, with a hawkish face. His nostrils flared when he spoke, and his eyes were two different colors – one brown, one blue – like an alley-cat's.

Chrysa stepped forward with a polite smile on her face.

"Hello, my name is Amaranth Potter-Black. I spoke on the phone with the headmistress – Mrs. Gottschalk? – about enrolling my sister and my two cousins here. She was kind enough to invite us to visit today, so that my sister and cousins could interact with the rest of the student body in a more relaxed setting while I tour the school. Where can I find Mrs. Gottschalk?"

"I am Mrs. Gottschalk," the woman said. "I apologize, Miss Potter-Black, for the inconvenience. The gymnasium is right through there, and that is where our students our congregating. Dr. Thorn and I will be happy to show you around the school."

Just then, there were more footsteps, and the satyr ran up, breathless.

"You made it!" he exclaimed. "You…"

He stopped short when he saw the teachers. "Oh, Mrs. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn. I, uh…"

"What is it, Mr. Underwood?" the man said. His tone made it clear that he detested Grover. "Do you know these students? How can you, when they've just arrived?"

"Grover attended school with my cousin Percy two years ago," Chrysa volunteered smoothly. "They became friends there. His father was the one to recommend Westover Hall to me for my wards. Mr. Underwood, why don't you show Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia to the gym while your teachers give me the tour of the school?"

All four children quickly left the area, with several "Yes, ma'ams" and "Yes, sirs" and a few salutes. Chrysa nearly rolled her eyes, but it was a military academy, after all.

As soon as they were safely ensconced in the gym, she turned her charming smile back to Mrs. Gottschalk and Dr. Thorn.

"Shall we?" she offered.

"I am supposed to be chaperoning ze dance," Dr. Thorn said.

"Are you sure, Malcolm?" Mrs. Gottschalk asked. "After all, Miss Potter-Black has already offered to make an extremely generous donation to our school. We wouldn't want one of our best sponsors to be disappointed, would we?"

"Of course not," Dr. Thorn said smoothly. "Just a brief check-in with the other chaperones, and then we'll be off."

The pair of teachers escorted Chrysa to another entrance to the gymnasium, where Dr. Thorn stepped inside for a brief moment while Mrs. Gottschalk explained the levels of physical education offered at Westover Hall and what facilities they had to accompany them. Chrysa hummed and nodded in the correct places without truly listening, a skill she had developed after attending several pureblood and Ministry balls.

Unfortunately, Dr. Thorn managed to bow out when his cell phone rang halfway through the tour, citing "urgent business". Chrysa growled inwardly as he walked out of sight, the phone to his ear, even as Mrs. Gottschalk continued rambling about the premier education offered by Westover teachers.

Chrysa only lasted five minutes after Thorn disappeared before whipping out her wand and putting the chatty headmistress to sleep. One quick memory-modification later, and Mrs. Gottschalk was convinced that she completed the tour and saw Chrysa out before heading back to her own quarters for a nightcap.

Chrysa hurriedly made her way back to the gymnasium, but when she arrived, she found Thalia, Annabeth, and the satyr looking around frantically.

"Chrysa!" her sister explained, running up to her. "Percy and the two demigods are gone! So's Dr. Thorn, and he's the monster!"

"I know," Chrysa said grimly. "I tried to keep him on the tour with me, but he managed to bow out a few minutes ago. I'm assuming he took the two demigods and Percy went after them?"

Thalia nodded.

"Probably got himself captured," Annabeth griped as she and the satyr joined them.

"Our priority is to get all three of them away from Dr. Thorn," Chrysa said calmly, pushing away the fear and anger that came with the revelation of Percy's stupidity. She was no stranger to these things. Emotions could be deadly if they came out at the wrong time. "Do you know what kind of monster he is?" she asked, directly the question towards the satyr.

He shook his head.

"No, but he's old, and powerful. Could you place his accent?"

"I think it was Farsi – Persian – but I'm not positive. Most of my travels have been in Europe and the US. But I'm definitely leaning towards Middle Eastern," Chrysa stated. "Unfortunately, I can't name any Middle Eastern monsters off the top of my head without drifting into Egyptian mythology, and that's a whole different ball game."

"Percy's contacting me," the satyr interrupted. "The empathy link I set up last summer…it's still active. He's pushing fear and danger through. I'm getting a few words – 'kidnapping', 'poisonous', and 'help'."

"He wouldn't be so panicked if they were still in the area. They're probably already outside," Chrysa deduced. "We have to move quickly. Grover, are you getting any sense of direction from Percy?"

The satyr closed his eyes for a moment, then pointed blindly.

"That's where the cliff is," Chrysa said in realization. "They've gone high-tech."

"What do you mean?" Thalia asked.

"They've either got a helicopter coming in, or Dr. Thorn can fly," Chrysa replied. "I'm leaning towards the former. Annabeth, get your cap on and get as close to Percy and the kids as you can. I'm going to need you to push them out of the way when we come in. Thorn's first instinct is going to be to go for them. Get them down, and then get ready to protect them. Grover, your job is to get the kids out of there. Them first, then Percy. Your priority is the kids. Even if someone took Percy's sword, he should have other weapons on him. Hopefully. Unless he's an idiot."

Thalia and Annabeth exchanged glances and then chorused, "He's an idiot."

Chrysa sighed good-naturedly.

"I know. He'll grow out of it."

She pulled out one of her celestial bronze knives and pressed it into Annabeth's hands.

"Try to get this to Percy. One weapon is better than none, even if he's more used to a sword than a knife. Riptide should have returned to his pocket by now, but just in case."

"Understood," Annabeth nodded, tucking the knife into her belt.

"Thalia, you're going to be the distraction. You've got your spear and shield. They're big. They're obvious. Use it. Keep the monster's attention. I'll be helping you for the most part, but I'm not as suited for big, obvious displays, so you'll take the lead," Chrysa instructed.

"Got it," Thalia said. She pulled the collapsible Mace canister from her back pocket and expanded it into a spear before tapping her silver bracelet to reveal the Aegis shield.

"We need to hurry," Chrysa said. "Come on."

She lead them swiftly out of the school and through a small stretch of woods to the cliff, her footsteps making no sound on the fallen snow. The tracks from the monster and demigod were obvious in the sea of white, so they knew they were going the right way.

"The tracks are fresh," she whispered. "Quickly now!"

They reached the cliff just as Percy said, "Luke. You work for Luke."

The three demigods had their backs to the cliff and were facing Dr. Thorn. Percy stood protectively in front of the other two. From their position, they could see the spiked tail Dr. Thorn had.

"Of course he's a manticore," Thalia groaned.

Chrysa nodded to Annabeth, who put her magical Yankees cap on her head and disappeared. Chrysa could see the slight indents in the snow where Annabeth stepped as she snuck towards Percy.

"You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson," Thorn said distastefully. "I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."

"The General?" Percy asked. "I mean, who's the General?"

Chrysa paled. 'The General' only referred to one person among the Titans. Kronos' right hand and premier enforcer.

Thorn did not answer Percy, instead looking towards the horizon.

"Ah, here we are. Your transportation."

Before she saw the searchlight, Chrysa could sense the movement of the helicopter as it moved across the bay toward the cliff. Slowly, the rhythmic chopping of helicopter blades became audible.

"Where are you taking us?" the male demigod asked. His terrified voice sounded somewhat familiar, but Chrysa attributed it to all the children in crisis she'd known.

"You should be honored, my boy," Thorn said. "You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls."

"They're not dolls! They're figurines!" the boy protested. "And you can take your great army and…"

"Now, now," Thorn cut him off warningly. "You will change your mind about joining us. And if you do not, well…there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."

"The Great what?" Percy asked.

It was wise of Percy to keep him talking. It gave Annabeth more time to sneak into place, and distracted Thorn so he didn't notice her. Not that Percy knew that, but it worked out anyway."

"The stirring of monsters," Dr. Thorn said with an evil smile. "The stirring of all the ancient things. The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Did you really think that it was just our Lord? All of the lost ones are awakening. The ancient Titans who once ruled the world. The lesser immortals who were forced out by younger deities. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all – the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!" he gloated triumphantly.

Annabeth chose that moment to dive into Percy and the demigods, forcing them to the ground. The manticore was taken by surprise, and his first volley of poisonous spikes flew over the four demigods' heads, falling over the cliff into the sea.

Thalia and Chrysa moved in on Thorn while Grover moved around the edge of the clearing towards the others.

"For Zeus!" Thalia yelled, moving in with her spear. She jabbed at Thorn's head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw, with long, nasty-looking claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as he slashed. Thalia managed to block the claws with Aegis, roll backward, and land on her feet.

Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia. She shielded herself with Aegis, but the force of the projectiles knocked her to the ground. He attempted to launch himself at her, but was blocked by Chrysa as she stepped into his way.

He snarled at her.

"Well, if it isn't Zeus's little poutana. Still spreading your legs to everyone daddy needs to apologize to?" he sneered at her.

"My father has never had any input on my sex life, and I prefer to keep it that way," Chrysa replied primly before smoothly dodging a slashing claw.

This would be difficult. The manticore was deadly at both close range and long. In order to avoid his poisonous spikes, she would need to be close enough to him that he couldn't fire without risking himself, but doing so would bring her within range of his lion's claws. She had no desire to be mauled or poisoned. Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts had been bad enough in her fourth year, and those were merely descendants of this creature. As the original creature, this one would be much deadlier.

Though speaking of Blast-Ended Skrewts, magic had been an effective deterrent against them…

Chrysa flipped her dagger into her left hand and twisted her right wrist to release her wand from its holster.

"Impedimenta!" she cast. The brilliant turquoise light shot out of her wand and hit the manticore, who was blasted backwards.

Thorn roared and began to change. His body grew larger as it morphed into that of a giant lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.

"A manticore!" Chrysa heard Annabeth exclaim from her position near the cliff. She risked a brief glance over to see Grover helping Annabeth up. Her Yankees cap was still on the ground.

"Who are you people?" the female demigod demanded, sounding somewhat hysterical. "And what is that?"

"A manticore?" the male demigod gasped. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"

Chrysa nearly snorted. She recognized what he was talking about from the time she'd spent playing with Nico. Apparently the young demigod was a fan of Mythomagic.

"Get down!" Annabeth yelled as the manticore turned suddenly. She knocked the new demigods to the ground while Percy knelt over them and activated the shield/wristwatch that Tyson had given him the previous summer. The thorns impacted the shield and forcibly dented the metal.

A second attack forced Grover to dive to the ground instead of getting the young demigods out of the way.

Thorn's third attack was launched at Chrysa, who barely had time to tap the black diamond on the tip of her lightning bolt bracelet, causing the shield to spiral outward in an explosion of Olympian silver.

"Yield!" the monster roared.

"Never!" Thalia yelled back from across the field. She charged the monster. Chrysa tried to aid her by sneaking up behind him while he was distracted by Thalia.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous noise, and a blinding light struck them both. Chrysa cried out in pain as the darkness was stripped away from her, staggering backwards into a snow drift. She couldn't see it, due to the shock of light, but she could sense the helicopter hovering in the air at the edge of the cliff. She heard the manticore swat Thalia away, and felt her weapons fly away from her as she fell into the snow.

"No!" Percy cried. Chrysa heard him run out – presumably to stand in front of her – as she desperately tried to blink the blindness from her eyes.

The manticore laughed.

"Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes."

Any answer they might have given was cut off by the clear call of a hunting horn blowing through the woods.

Chrysa resisted the urge to sag in relief as she forced herself to stand.

"No," Thorn said. "It cannot be…"

He was cut off by a streak of moonlight – which Chrysa assumed to be her blurred vision's interpretation of a silver arrow – that embedded itself in his shoulder. He staggered backward, wailing in agony.

"Curse you!" he cried.

Chrysa saw him launch blurs of black towards the woods, which were obvious against the white background of the snowy woods. Each black blur – she assumed they were his spikes – was intercepted by a silver streak midair.

The manticore pulled the silver arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. Percy's blurred figure swiped at him with his glowing bronze sword, but the manticore dodged and slammed his tail into Percy's shield, knocking him aside.

The Hunters emerged from the woods then, dressed in silver coats and jeans, all armed with bows.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried.

One of the taller figures stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall, with coppery colored skin and a silver circlet braided into her dark hair. As her vision finally cleared, Chrysa recognized her. Though Leuke was the one who was most familiar with Zoë Nightshade, Chrysa had taken the opportunity to speak with her niece when she had accompanied Artemis to Olympus.

"Permission to kill, my lady?" Zoë asked, eyes not leaving the manticore.

Chrysa's eyes quickly searched the rest of the group, immediately finding the auburn-haired form of her half-sister Artemis.

Thorn wailed, "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws!"

"Not so," Artemis replied. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked over to her lieutenant. "Zoë, permission granted."

The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, then I will have them dead!"

He leapt – but not towards Percy and Thalia, who stood before him. Instead, he leapt towards the young male demigod, who had been crawling away from the helicopter – which unfortunately put him far too close to the manticore.

"No!" the female demigod yelled, and she charged the monster. The bronze knife Chrysa had given to Annabeth was clutched in her fist.

Annabeth followed the girl, even as Chrysa moved to the boy's side and pulled him away from the battle.

"Get back, half-bloods!" Zoë said. "Get out of the line of fire!"

Neither girl was listening. The younger female demigod leapt onto the monster's back and drove her knife into its mane. Annabeth grabbed one of the manticore's flailing arms as it tried to dislodge the younger demigod and forced her own knife into its shoulder.

The monster howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing while Annabeth and the other demigod held on for dear life.

"Fire!" Zoë ordered.

"No!" Percy screamed.

The first of the Hunters' arrows caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. The manticore staggered backward, wailing, "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!"

Before anyone could react, the monster, Annabeth and the other demigod still on its back, leapt over the cliff and tumbled into darkness.

Chrysa distantly heard Percy yell, "Annabeth!" but it was far overshadowed by the boy in her arms shrieking, "Bianca!"

"Bianca?" Chrysa whispered in horror, a cold feeling of dread spreading through her heart.

She looked down at the boy she had pulled away from the fighting, the boy that she still had one arm wrapped around. She recognized those black silky curls, olive skin, and green, green eyes. She raised a trembling hand to his cheek.

"Nico?" she asked, her voice breaking.

Recognition flared in the young demigod's eyes as soon as her skin touched his.

"Mamma?"

Chrysa could only nod as she pulled her son – her son – into a crushing embrace, even as her eyes remained fixed on the cliff that her daughter had just disappeared from. She did not know what magic Kronos had engineered to provide Thorn with such a rapid escape route, but she knew that they were no longer there.

There were shadows under the cliff. Thorn and his unwitting passengers had left them as soon as they had entered.

Their reunion was cut off by the sound of gunfire from the helicopter. Chrysa instinctively pushed Nico to the ground and held her shield above him. Most of the Hunters scattered, but Artemis looked calmly up to the helicopter.

"Mortals," she announced, "are not allowed to witness my hunt."

She thrust out her hand, and the helicopter exploded into a flock of black ravens, which scattered into the night.

Chrysa sent her shield back to bracelet form and helped Nico to his feet, keeping him wrapped protectively into her side as the Hunters advanced on them, even though they were the furthest from the group.

Zoë stopped short when she saw Thalia. "You," she said with distaste.

"Zoë Nightshade," Thalia replied, her voice trembling with anger. "Perfect timing, as usual."

Zoë scanned the rest of them, eyes widening as she spotted Chrysa.

"Three half-bloods, a satyr, and Lady Chrysocomê, my lady," she reported to Artemis.

"Yes," the Huntress said. "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled. "You have to let us save her!"

Artemis turned to face Percy.

"I am sorry, Percy Jackson, but your friend is beyond help."

Percy tried to struggle to his feet, but two of the Hunters held him down.

"Let me go!" he demanded. "Who do you think you are?"

Zoë stepped forward as if to smack him.

"No," Artemis ordered. "I sense no disrespect, Zoë. He is simply distraught. He does not understand."

She looked directly at Percy.

"I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt," she announced.

"Um…okay," Percy stammered.

The satyr gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering.

"Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so…you're so…Wow!"

"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped. "We have other things to worry about! Annabeth is gone!"

"And Bianca with her," Chrysa said quietly, pulling Nico closer to her side.

"They were brave maidens," Artemis said. "If they can be found, I will find them."

"Then why won't you let us go look for her?" Percy asked desperately.

"They're gone, Percy," Chrysa said dully. "You would've sensed it if they'd hit the water. I would have sensed it. But they disappeared from midair. I don't know what kind of magic they were using, but they're gone."

Her arms tightened around her son.

Nico looked up at her. There were tears falling down his face.

"Mamma, what's going on? Who are these people? Why would that-that thing take Bianca?" he asked, his breath hitching.

Chrysa pressed a helpless kiss to the top of his head.

"I don't know why she was taken, tesoro. But I promise you that I will do everything in my power to find your sister. I swear it, tesoro," she said.

"Um…Chrysa?" the satyr asked, causing her to look up at the others, all of whom were staring at her. "How do you know Nico di Angelo?"

Chrysa glanced down at her son, then back up to the group. She shrugged helplessly.

"He's my son."

Artemis seemed to make a quick decision.

"Zoë, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."

"Yes, my lady."

"Chrysocomê, come with me. I would like to speak with you," the goddess said, her voice carefully neutral.

"What about me?" Nico asked in a small voice.

Artemis considered the boy.

"Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while…as a personal favor to me?"

The satyr nearly tripped over himself getting up.

"You bet! Come on, Nico!"

Before Nico could move, Chrysa stepped smoothly away from her son over to the satyr and grabbed the front of his coat, tugging his face close to hers.

"Listen closely and listen well, Grover Underwood. I do not like you. You know this. I have tentatively forgiven you for your failure to protect Thalia, given that she has survived her ordeal. However, you also know how very close to being fried you were when she was lost six years ago. If anything – anything – happens to Nico on your watch, there is nothing stopping me from turning you into chevon. Capisce?"

The satyr gulped and nodded furiously.

Chrysa released him and smiled coldly.

"Good."

She turned back to her son with a much warmer smile and carded her fingers through his hair.

"Nico, darling, stay with Grover. I won't be far away. Don't go into the woods. If you need me, I'll be right over there," she said, pointing towards the cliff.

"Alright, Mamma," the boy said hesitantly, before walking away with the satyr.