Reading Children Of Artemis: Seth Hunter Book 1

by AnimeRules4

17 demigods from 4 different futures go back in time to read stories about children of Artemis. Stories: When The Moon Series, Broken Bow, and Original Story. This story covers 'When The Moon Fades' by imaginexwriter9. Reading 'When The Moon Fades' begins chapter 5. Next Update planned: 5/2021

11. Reading: My Identical Twin

Sorry for the long wait!

This chapter is a bit of a long one so hopefully it makes up for it lol

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Chapter 11 - Reading Chapter 4: My Identical Twin

Zeus reappeared in the Throne room an hour and fifteen minutes after everyone left for break. After he attempted to speak to Hera, he decided to take some time to gather his thoughts and felt that the extra fifteen minutes wouldn't impact the reading too much.

"Need I remind you," Hades started, shifting about lazily on his makeshift throne, making Zeus startle slightly, "that you originally said an hour-long break."

Zeus cleared his throat before turning to his eldest brother. "I remember saying seventy-five minutes, brother."

Hades stared at Zeus unamused before turning back to Persephone. "As you were saying, dear?"

Persephone looked around the empty throne room before turning back to her husband. "Aphrodite kept asking if I was sure that none of the demigods were mine, it was very strange. Of course, I kept telling her otherwise but honestly, now she has me wondering."

Hades seemed frozen for a moment as if the thought had never even crossed his mind. The thought never had crossed Hades' mind. Of course, Persephone has had an affair or two during their marriage but the idea of her having a demigod had never been brought up.

"Well," Hades finally began. "Do you think one of them may be yours?"

Persephone looked at her husband in annoyance. "Did you hear the last thing I said?" At the blank look on Hades' face, Persephone closed her eyes and took a minute to breathe. "At first, the thought hadn't crossed my mind. Now I am not so sure."

Zeus looked around the throne room and huffed when he noticed no one else had arrived yet. With a snap of his fingers, a large rumble of thunder filled the sky, and one by one, the throne room was filled with flashes of golden light as more gods made their return.

Aphrodite looked around the room in mild disinterest. "Oh, the demigods aren't back yet?"

"Apollo, Hermes, and Ares aren't here either," Hestia noted in concern.

"Perhaps they went to find the demigods?" Demeter suggested.

Dionysus snorted at the thought. "I doubt it."

Zeus clenched his teeth and snapped his fingers once more, causing another rumble of thunder to sound. This time much louder.

Apollo, Hermes, and Ares all appeared in their thrones with a flash. Ares still had some glitter on him and looked murderous while both Apollo and Hermes supported new bruises on their face.

"What happened to you two?" Aphrodite asked in surprise.

"Your boyfriend." Apollo grimaced while Hermes seemed to be ecstatic.

Artemis looked at Hermes skeptically. "Why do you look so happy?"

"One of the brats is probably his," Dionysus grunted.

Zeus seemed torn between looking amused and angry as he surveyed the throne room once more. "Where are the demigods?" He demanded.

"I'm sure they will be here soon," Hera replied offhandedly.

Demeter seemed hesitant. "Perhaps we should look for them? Olympus is quite a large place, they may have gotten lost."

"Should someone check on them?" Hestia asked worriedly.

"We're not their babysitters!" Zeus adamantly reminded. "If they get lost then they can find their way back!"

Hera rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I'd rather someone just go and collect them. It would be faster than just waiting around for them."

A murmur of agreement passed through the throne room, causing Zeus' eye to twitch. "We will wait!" Zeus declared adamantly.

Before a retort could be made by any of the deities, the Throne Room doors crashed open and the group of demigods ran through, most of them out of breath.

"Sorry." Percy wheezed.

Thalia walked past her hunched-over cousin with a raised eyebrow before turning back to the gods with a sigh. "Yeah…sorry, we didn't mean to be late."

"We went a bit further from the throne room than I would have liked," Alessa added with an apologetic smile. "I hope we didn't cause an inconvenience."

Zeus narrowed his eyes at the group before inclining his head. "Hurry and take your seats, I want to get the reading underway."

Several deities rolled their eyes at Zeus' response while others, mainly Ares and Dionysus nodded their heads in agreement.

Feeling embarrassed, the demigods rushed back to their seats, except for Seth, Alessa, Luna, Clarisse, Nico, and Armani who casually strolled behind the rest.

"Who will be reading next?" Hera questioned disinterestedly from her throne.

The demigods all looked around at each other, silently echoing the Queen's question. Zeus huffed in annoyance and Armani nonchalantly shrugged.

"I guess that will be me." The caramel-haired boy replied.

Quickly getting the book passed to him, Armani flipped open to the next chapter before blinking in surprise.

"Huh." He muttered, causing Seth to look at him.

"Is there something wrong?" The auburn-haired boy asked as kindly as possible.

Armani blinked up from the book and chuckled slightly under his breath. "No." He answered. "I guess the possibility of the book being written in Ancient Greek just didn't cross my mind."

Katie turned to Armani startled. "Is it? I didn't even notice."

"It probably is second nature by now," Dove said. "I imagine it's the same for the rest of us."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at Armani. "All the books at camp are written in Ancient Greek, why would you assume this one wasn't?"

"It slipped my mind," Armani said.

"I do that all the time." Will chuckled. "It always confuses me when I switch books and suddenly the letters are moving."

Hera cleared her throat to regain the demigods' attention, especially since her husband was now turning a deep red in his anger. "Perhaps we should continue reading?"

"Continue?" Hermes muttered. "They haven't even started."

Aphrodite laughed softly at the embarrassed and slightly guilty looks on the demigod's faces, they just looked so adorable.

Twitching slightly in his seat, Armani returned his gaze to the book in his hands as the screens around the room blinked to life.

Chapter 4: My Identical Twin

"No kidding," Percy mumbled under his breath, glancing at the image of Seth and the unknown girl on screen.

Annabeth shot him a small glare, trying not to anger any of the deities who may be losing their patience with them.

It was like looking at a mirror.

"They look quite similar," Poseidon noted before risking a slight glance at his niece.

Artemis twitched, feeling several eyes on her but forcing her gaze to remain squarely on the screen before her.

Zoe glanced worriedly at her lady before refocusing her attention on what was being read.

Her dark auburn hair was long and smooth, held back only by a thin black hair band that reflected the light casted from the window, providing her an inhuman kind of glow against her light complexion.

"Inhuman, huh." Apollo chuckled while Luna bit her lip from grinning.

Seth merely rolled his eyes. Perhaps the wording of his thoughts was quite amusing in hindsight.

Her silver eyes were stern and somewhat perplexed as she glanced my way, as if she couldn't believe what she saw in me either-

It was as though we were twins.

"Yes, yes, you've established this already." Dionysus drawled, waving his hand in an attempt to move past this part of the story.

"The title hardly counts," Athena said.

"Besides the fact that we can quite obviously see that they look so similar." Dionysus continued. "He already stated it was like looking in a mirror. So it seems redundant to say any more on the topic."

Seth huffed. "Redundant?"

Athena narrowed her eyes at Dionysus. "It wasn't redundant. This is a book with only words on a page. The typical reader would not have the benefit of seeing the mentioned persons before them or have this TV provided. It was also clarifying why this young girl would be perplexed."

"Young girl?" Dionysus said in disbelief. "Please, that's obviously Artemis."

"Or her daughter." Ares chuckled, pleased with his joke as Artemis paled considerably. Her mind was going through an inner turmoil, which made her unable to voice her thoughts.

Meanwhile, the throne room fell into a deep silence while Seth found himself subjected to unwanted scrutiny from several deities and demigods.

"Daughter?" Thalia whispered in shock.

"What does this mean?" Apollo questioned, glancing towards Seth.

"Impossible." Zoe breathed.

"Maybe they're doppelgängers?" Nikki supplied hopefully.

Persephone turned to look at Artemis, ready to ask her about the possibility but noticed the fearful look in her eyes. A sudden realization overcame the goddess as she turned to glance at Seth.

"Oh," Persephone whispered.

Aphrodite clicked her tongue as she watched the room slowly become worked up once more. It seems the break wasn't nearly enough to calm everyone down. So much for playing the waiting game, although, one demigod's parentage being revealed didn't mean that all three would be.

"Perhaps." Aphrodite began, narrowing her eyes at Ares briefly. "We should wait until the book reveals something?"

Persephone glanced confusedly at Aphrodite before a spark of realization overcame her. Aphrodite already knew.

"Aphrodite is right." Hestia hurriedly agreed. "Appearance alone isn't enough to claim someone's parentage".

"Besides," Persephone began, "shouldn't we leave the parentage of the demigods unknown until whoever sired them is ready to reveal it?"

Zeus set his jaw before turning to look at Artemis. "Daughter?"

Artemis kept her eyes glued on the screen. "If the book doesn't reveal anything before we stop for the night, I shall voice my thoughts. As we previously agreed upon." The auburn-haired deity reminded.

Armani looked worriedly at the goddess before returning to the book when Zeus nodded his head.

Same auburn color hair, the same pair of silver eyes, and the same facial structure...the list could go on and on. I swore in my mind right then and there, that if I wasn't a guy, or if she wasn't a girl, then we would have looked identical.

"I hate to break it to you." Travis chuckled.

"But the two of you are identical." Connor grinned

Talk about creepy.

"It is pretty creepy," Clarisse muttered to Katie who nodded slightly.

"Hmm." Percy contemplated. "This is just strange, not creepy. Nico is the creepy one."

"Why did the book start talking about Nico?" Thalia asked in mock confusion.

"Hey!" The goth demigod shouted indignantly.

Again, I realized too late that I probably looked like an idiot.

"Most males do," Zoe said with a roll of her eye and a fleeting, hopeful glance at her Patron goddess.

Except for Armani, Seth, and a worried Apollo, all males in the room shouted indignantly at Zoe's comment. Thalia, Nikki, and Charlotte all nodded their heads with a chuckle while Luna smiled slightly.

Artemis, however, just kept staring blankly at the screen.

With my mouth slightly agape and Ms. Lewinsky and the new girl-what was her name?

"Really? You already forgot her name?" Thalia sighed exasperatedly. "She just told you."

"Actually," Ashlynn cut in. "Mrs. Lewinsky is the one that told him, the female doppelgänger did not."

Annabeth snorted good-naturedly. "Female doppelgänger? Really?"

Ashlynn sheepishly smiled. "I forgot her name."

Thalia groaned. "Then why- you know what? Actually, never mind."

Luna shook her head at Ashlynn's antics as Dove's brow twitched. "Pot," Dove said pointing at Ashlynn before turning to point at Thalia. "Kettle."

Ashlynn just beamed at Dove and Thalia as Charlotte grinned and Connor and Travis snickered.

Oh yeah, Giselle-

"At least the young man remembered fairly quickly." Demeter laughed.

"It's still poor manners to forget in the first place." Hera chided.

Poseidon turned with a raised eyebrow. "Since when do you care about Demigods having manners?"

"I would hope they would have manners, at least in the presence of Deities," Hera responded with a lift of her chin.

Hades snorted at the same time Dionysus let out a loud guffaw that caused a reprimanding look from his stepmother, which he ignored.

"Those brats never have manners," Dionysus stated, still chortling under his breath.

Hera turned an annoyed look to Zeus who simply cleared his throat and locked his gaze onto the screen.

Armani looked back and forth between the two deities in an attempt to figure out the best course of action before shrugging and continuing.

-expectantly waiting for a response, I pretty much screwed up on my usual first impressions.

"No." Clarisse muttered sarcastically "Whatever gave you that impression."

Seth huffed in annoyance. "I'm not living this down am I?"

"Nope." Travis grinned in amusement.

Will turned an exasperated look at the other two demigods. "Considering the circumstances, I think Seth could be forgiven for being a bit startled."

Armani nodded. "After all, it's not every day that you meet your twin."

"Yes it is," Apollo chimed in before turning and grinning in Artemis' direction, "and she's right over there."

Artemis sent a weak glare towards her brother before staring back at the screen. This was taking too long.

With the way things were going, Giselle would probably be thinking that this was my first time seeing a girl-

"Technically it is." Percy interrupted but added at Seth's blank stare. "A girl version of you at least."

Nico blinked at his cousin before shaking his head. "Hey, Perce?"

"Yea?"

"Just shut up." Nico sighed before continuing at Percy's offended look. "You're not wrong. Just not the time."

Percy huffed before turning back to the screen.

-which was definitely not cool.

"Um,"

Ares snorted. "Gaping at her like a fish was uncool but 'um' was?"

Seth's face turned slightly pink. He struggled in deciding to either defend his past self or say some less than flattering words at the war god, who was just itching for more conflict. Eventually, he found the right words to do both and said coolly. "Given your temperament and history of starting fights, I highly doubt you would react any better in a situation that required self-restraint."

Immediately, Armani and Luna both burst out laughing, while Artemis smiled slightly despite herself as Ares sputtered at the unexpected retort. Her two hunters, Thalia and Zoe, also chuckled slightly in response.

I started warily, but caught myself quickly. "I'm Seth Hunter. It's...nice meeting you." I said a little awkwardly while I held out my hand as a greeting, but Giselle paid no heed to it.

"Huh." Hermes started jokingly. "Looks and acts just like Artemis."

Said goddess gripped her throne slightly tighter and seemed to pale slightly.

"Dude." Apollo hissed weakly, a look of concern etched across his face.

"What?" Hermes asked indignantly. "It's true!"

Apollo rolled his eyes before shooting the messenger god, a look that screamed obviously, and gestured to his twin.

"What?" Hermes muttered in confusion before glancing at Artemis and his eyes widened as the implication registered in his mind. "Oh."

Hera sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose. "Oh for the love of- it's a child, not an illness."

"You would think a goddess of childbirth would be overjoyed about this," Ares mumbled before wincing at Hera's glare as Zoe's head snapped towards him, however, Hestia spoke before Zoe could say something.

"Just because she's a goddess of childbirth doesn't mean she needs to have children." Hestia chided softly. "Just like how, as the goddess of family, I don't need to have my own."

Percy nodded in understanding. "Since the Olympians are your family?"

Hestia glanced roundly at Percy, an amused smile on her face as Annabeth rubbed her brow in annoyance.

"Seaweed Brain, what she means is-!"

Percy interrupted. "I know what Lady Hestia means, and uh…."

Hestia chuckled slightly. "I know you mean well, and I also could have worded it better."

Instead, she just cocked her head slightly to the side, studying my expression with a blank look. So I let my hand drop, feeling very uncomfortable with her less than conspicuous gaze on me.

"It does seem like she's regarding him as one would an experiment," Athena mumbled, narrowing her eyes at the screen.

After a few moments of silence, Ms. Lewinsky decided to ease the tension.

"Good." Connor sighed.

"That's a relief." Travis nodded at the same time.

"I'm watching through a screen…" Connor started.

"...and even I could feel the tension." Travis finished.

"Do they always finish each other's sentences?" Charlotte asked hesitantly.

Nikki glanced at Charlotte before turning to the future demigods. "It is unsettling."

"That's just how the Stolls are," Will explained.

Katie grinned. "That's one way of putting it."

"How about you show her the rest of the house?" she said to me with a smile, "and even the outdoors?"

"Outdoors?" Percy asked, confused.

Luna stared at him incredulously. "Hunting? Nature?"

"Ooh," Percy muttered before blinking at Luna. "So we still don't know who Giselle…is?"

"Some of us have an idea," Armani answered. "Besides, there's definitely a connection, even if we haven't found out how."

"And we won't find out if we keep commenting on every line," Dove reminded with a glare.

I didn't smile back. Judging from her mute response and rudeness earlier, it was pretty clear to me that Giselle didn't want anything to do with me.

"Well…" Charlotte mumbled, catching everyone's attention. "Maybe she's just…shy?"

Annabeth replied, "It is possible, especially in a new, and probably terrifying, situation."

Dove groaned and threw her head back. "We're never going to finish this book."

Cassie raised an eyebrow. "It's a group of teenagers and young adults with ADHD….what did you expect?"

"To read a bunch of stories and hopefully create a better future?" Dove deadpanned.

"Someone gets it," Seth muttered in agreement.

Alessa snorted. "She's got a point."

Cassie glared at Alessa before rolling her eyes and playfully shoving Dove.

"Hey!" Dove protested.

"You know," Thea began softly, whispering to make sure no one else overheard, "I think it would be nice if the three of them were raised together."

Ashlynn hummed before correcting Thea. "Four. The four of them."

Cassie turned to Alessa with a thoughtful look on her face. "Hey, when do you think Archer will be showing up?"

Alessa let out a small hum before shrugging one shoulder. "Not sure. Hopefully, after the other three start getting along." Alessa nodded her head slightly in Seth and Luna's direction.

Dove snorted. "Archer wouldn't like how Seth's been acting."

Thea winced. "Luna hasn't been helping matters though."

"Agreed." Cassie nodded. "She's been instigating too."

"Hey!" Ashlynn muttered indignantly. "I doubt she means to. You know how protective she is."

Cassie glanced at the ceiling. "It would be nice to see them all get along, especially since Luna always wanted older brothers."

"That it would." Alessa agreed.

Armani stared at Cassie and Alessa with a small smile before briefly turning a thoughtful look towards Seth. Armani hummed before turning back to the reading.

So why should I be the tour guide? She could handle it herself, or maybe one of the younger kids could help her instead. I didn't really care, because for some odd reason, my instincts were telling me that this girl wasn't really what she seemed.

Clarisse snorted. "No really?"

"Hey, no need to be rude," Nikki frowned.

Clarisse simply rolled her eyes as Connor stood up with a notebook.

"You have good instincts." Hades noted before Connor cleared his throat.

"Alright." Connor started. "How many are betting on her being Seth's sister?"

Seth groaned. "Really, guys?" He questioned, glancing between the two Stolls. "Is this necessary?"

Travis met Seth's gaze sternly. "Hey, this is a good opportunity-!"

"...an opportunity to make money at my expense?" Seth reiterated sarcastically.

Travis laughed. "See? You totally get it!"

"One more time, who's betting on Seth's sister?" Connor asked again.

"One drachma." Will nodded with a raised hand.

"One?" Percy asked incredulously. "I'll bet three."

"Yeah well, not all of us have as much drachma as you," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

Travis grinned over at Annabeth. "Well Anniebeth, any bets?"

Annabeth glared at Travis. "I'll refrain."

Travis shook his head with mock regret. "That's one buzz kill."

Connor scribbled something on his notepad before glancing around the room. "Anyone else betting on Seth's sister?"

"I'll bet on that." Nico shrugged and Thea tentatively raised her hand as well.

"Really?" Katie asked exasperatedly. "You're going to encourage them?"

Travis gasped. "Why, Katie Kat? Are you not joining in the fun?"

Katie sent a slight glare at Travis before turning to stare at Thea with a raised eyebrow.

Thea smiled diminutively. "It sounds fun."

"You know what?" Hephaestus declared. "I'll join in on that as well- six drachma."

"Really?" Aphrodite questioned. "You're joining in on a demigods betting pool?"

Hephaestus summoned some metal in his hands and began to tinker. "Why not?"

Hermes stared thoughtfully at the screen before turning to look at Artemis. "Five drachma, it's Artemis."

"Why would Artemis be visiting a demigod?" Dionysus drawled. "Three drachma it's another demigod."

Artemis tuned out all the bets, but turned slightly, to glance at Seth but caught Armani's concerned eye instead.

Armani's silver eyes.

Quickly removing her gaze, as if shocked, Artemis glanced around the room.

"Can we continue reading," she said coolly, "or will everyone be wasting time with these bets?"

Aphrodite raised a perfectly manicured brow at the strange behavior, torn between annoyance or concern for the other goddess' behavior.

Seth glanced confusedly at Artemis before turning to look at Armani.

"That was weird," Armani stated.

"Any idea what that was about?" Seth asked.

"Not a clue," Armani mumbled thoughtfully.

"Maybe we should continue reading?" Luna urged.

Armani nodded as Seth considered Luna before turning back to the reading.

No one could look that ridiculously similar by chance. Somehow sensing what was going on in my head, Ms. Lewinsky gave me the look.

Now, now Seth, be polite.

"Yea Seth, be polite." Thalia teased.

Her eyes seemed to be indicating. I tried not to scowl. She slowly got up from the bed and out of the room, leaving the two of us alone. For the next minute and a half, we simply stared each other down until I couldn't take it anymore.

"I mean, I'm sure it's strange for her too." Katie supplied.

"Come on," I said, my tone a bit too rough to be considered polite.

"Seth!" Thalia exclaimed in mock indignation. "Mrs. Lewinsky just asked you to be polite."

"Technically, she didn't say anything," Seth grumbled.

Hestia smiled softly at Seth. "Yet you knew what she wanted."

"I suppose, I did." Seth agreed with a sigh.

I walked towards the door, "I could um, show you some of my… favorite spots?" I said a bit sheepishly.

"That's as good a place as any to start." Thea smiled.

For a moment there, I thought Giselle was just going to go deaf on me again,-

Clarisse snorted as Will grinned. "Starting to seem like she's another demigod."

"What makes you say that?" Athena asked with a raised brow.

"Seems like she has a short attention span," Will explained. "It's possible that she didn't hear because Seth doesn't have her full attention."

"Hm." Cassie hummed shortly while giving Luna a bombastic side-eye.

Luna startled slightly. "What?"

Dove clicked her tongue in annoyance before side-eyeing the floor.

Luna turned towards Dove with a disbelieving look. "Not you too."

Alessa giggled as Thea smiled slightly and Ashlynn whistled in false innocence. Luna narrowed her eyes at all of them before turning away with a huff.

"Traitors."

"If it makes you feel better, Ash is like ten times worse than you." Alessa giggled.

Luna just huffed and turned towards the screen.

"Is she pouting?" Seth asked Armani in disbelief.

"It's barely noticeable," Armani observed, amused. "But yes." With that, Armani returned to his reading.

-but instead, she gave me a slight nod, and followed me out of the room.

To sum it all up, I gave Giselle a brief tour of where the bedrooms were, who slept where, where the emergency equipment was stashed, and so forth. She gave me a silent acknowledgement every now and then, but I could tell that her mind was elsewhere.

"What do you like to do?" Giselle said suddenly, fixing her eyes towards me. I was somehow caught off guard from her abrupt question.

"I like to moon gaze." I said slowly, eying her for a reaction. She kept her face blank, but I could tell there was a hint of surprise. "It's a favorite pastime of mine. I usually spend most of my time on the roof for this reason."

A pause.

"I see," she mumbled somewhat to herself. I chose to ignore that comment, and continued to do what I'd been doing: my new-found (forced) duty as an escort.

"Hey," Aphrodite called softly towards Hestia who blinked at her confused. "As a virgin goddess, would it really be such a problem if you found out you had kids?"

Hestia considered Aphrodite questioningly, "Most likely, it would be a shock, however, I wouldn't call it a problem."

Aphrodite let out a hum as Alessa smiled with uncertainty.

As we descended down the stairs, I caught a glimpse of a 6 year old boy getting reacquainted with his new parents. I swallowed deeply, feeling envious. So there goes another one.

"Huh," Seth muttered under his breath. "So I did say that aloud."

Apparently, I unintentionally said that last part aloud, when Giselle turned to look at me strangely.

"Why yes, sir." Travis chuckled. "Yes, you did."

"So sad." Aphrodite sniffled.

Dove nodded in agreement. "It must be devastating, seeing all these younger kids get adopted and not you."

"Not as devastating as other situations." Seth glared in Aphrodite's direction.

Luna caught the look and glanced between the two for a moment. What did that mean?

I struggled to keep a neutral countenance. Thankfully, she didn't bother to question me.

Ms. Lewinsky had called us down to eat. I got the usual amount after all the little kids have gotten theirs, and settled down at my corner. Enjoying the meal in silence while all the other kids were chatting about noisily in the lounging room just across from where I was sitting. Giselle just stepped out of the kitchen with nothing but a cup of water. Noticing where I was, she decided to sit down right next to me. Sipping on her cup of water as I chewed on my food, an unbearable silence once again developed between the two of us.

"Water?" Will blinked. "Why isn't she eating?"

Connor shrugged. "Maybe she's a picky eater?"

"Maybe she is Lady Artemis?" Dove muttered.

"What makes you say that?" Katie questioned.

"Well, if you think about it, do deities need to eat?" Dove inquired. "They have ambrosia and nectar. The food of the gods, why would they eat mortal food?"

"They did eat food with us at dinner and breakfast." Alessa reminded.

"That's true." Cassie agreed. " I imagine only eating one thing for millennia can get boring."

"I'm pretty sure I heard someone say they can eat mortal food." Percy mused.

"Wouldn't it taste bland to them?" Seth asked.

Percy shrugged. "I don't know, maybe we can ask them later?"

Seth blinked at Percy. "If you're curious then go ahead, but I'm fine not knowing."

Annabeth looked thoughtful as Will spoke up. "Dove has a point. However, it could also be that she's simply a demigod who has no appetite due to something traumatic."

Clarisse sighed in annoyance. "Well if everyone keeps interrupting, we'll never find out."

Nico yawned slightly. "You haven't realized that yet?" Before shrugging at Clarisse's glare.

"Aren't you going to get anything to eat?" I asked her out of curiosity when I noticed her cup empty.

"I'm not hungry," Giselle said simply, looking at me with those uncanny silver eyes that I still wasn't used to seeing on someone else. "Why are you sitting here by yourself?"

"Yeah," Connor murmured. "Why are you sitting alone?"

Athena glanced annoyedly at Connor. "This has already been established."

Connor fumbled slightly over his words before Travis leaned over and whispered in his ear, trying not to anger the goddess.

"O-oh," Connor muttered before smiling sheepishly at Athena. "Sorry about that."

Katie blinked at Travis skeptically. "You remember and Connor doesn't?"

Travis grinned devilishly at Katie before whispering something in her ear that caused her to glare at him. "Why am I not surprised?" She asked dryly with a roll of her eyes.

"What?"

"Why are you not sitting with the others? They seem to be having a good time. Why don't you join them?" she reiterated, her eyes turning towards the commotion and then back at me.

Dionysus groaned in aggravation which caused several deities to roll their eyes.

"Who cares why the brat is sitting alone?" The wine god grumbled.

Apollo sighed in mild aggravation. "Dude, we get that you don't like demigods, but every time you talk it's something negative about demigods."

"I didn't realize that you were such a fan of demigods, Apollo." Dionysus deadpanned.

"I mean I don't hate on them like you do, and the ones here seem alright," Apollo said.

Percy let out a small noise. "I guess it makes sense that Apollo would be the deity standing up for us."

Clarisse shook her head slightly. "This is too weird for me."

"I know, right?" Will agreed.

"I'm more surprised he's showing his support so openly," Seth muttered.

"I…" I trailed off, unsure of how to answer. It was a simple question, yet I found myself incapable of answering it immediately. I could just tell her about my own concept of the cycle, but that would take too much explaining to do,

"The cycle?" Apollo questioned, confused.

"It was mentioned in the first chapter," Persephone reminded, "about the younger kids coming and going?"

Apollo remembered. "Oh, that cycle."

"How sad," Hestia muttered sympathetically.

"I suppose the concept is quite depressing," Hera agreed.

Demeter looked at Seth, who seemed uncomfortable with the current line of conversation. "Well," the goddess started. "I'm sure the story will be happier after he discovers Camp Half-Blood."

All demigods grimace slightly. "I wouldn't say happy is a word commonly used with demigods…." Annabeth muttered dismally.

Thalia let a bitter smile appear on her face as she threw an arm around Annabeth's shoulder. "Doesn't mean we can't make the most of it."

Annabeth laughed slightly at Thalia's remark. "Some more than others."

Katie snorted in amusement. "I wonder who that could be?" She asked sarcastically.

not to mention how personal it was to me.

"I can certainly understand not wanting to share something personal with someone I just met." Alessa agreed.

Cassie winced before nodding in agreement. "Some stuff is better off not shared."

"Those are completely different situations." Luna reminded.

"No, I agree with them." Thalia piped up. "Why should I tell other people my business?"

Percy glanced at his cousin. "I don't think that's what Luna means."

"Probably not," Thalia shrugged. "But it is a valid point."

"I'm not saying it's not," Percy said with a shake of his head. "Unfortunately, these books are most likely going to reveal more than anyone wants."

Giselle was someone I just met a few hours ago. Not exactly enough time to have me trust her.

"I prefer being alone." I said finally. It was a half truth. Very soon, I quickly finished what was left on my plate and got up to wash it in the sink. Giselle followed me soon after.

"Do you not like it here?" she said to me as I cleaned my plate.

"That's a bit..." Thea started.

"Nosey?" Thalia deadpanned.

Seth snorted at Thalia's comment, very much in agreement while Armani chuckled under his breath, and Luna grinned devilishly at the Lieutenant.

"What?" Thalia asked the teens in confusion.

"You'll see," Seth said offhandedly, causing a knot to form in the punk girl's stomach.

"Thalia's right," Clarisse said with a grimace. "Especially since they just met."

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Thalia smugly asked the daughter of Ares.

"No." Clarisse shut down immediately, but Thalia still had a smug look on her face.

I pretended that I didn't hear her.

Seth fidgeted slightly under the disapproving glare Hera sent him. It seemed some demigods didn't always have manners.

"That's not very nice." Hestia frowned. "At the very least, you should have told the poor girl you didn't want to talk."

Seth sighed, shaking his head. "Apologies, Lady Hestia. My past self wasn't the most socially adept when it came to prioritizing common etiquette over personal feelings."

I gestured for her cup, and as she handed it to me, I began washing that too. The scrubbing and rinsing could only do so much to break the eerie silence. Why was she suddenly asking me these personal questions? It was none of her business!

Unfortunately, that trick didn't seem to work. She just waited until I placed the plate and cup back into the cabinets, and repeated her question, only louder this time.

"All that's going to do is get him annoyed," Annabeth winced.

"Speaking from experience?" Dove grinned, causing Annabeth to roll her eyes with a small smile.

"I wasn't that bad," Annabeth responded.

Dove raised an eyebrow and turned to Clarisse who shrugged. "I have no idea what your Annabeth is like, but she's probably not as bad as ours."

"Hey!" Annabeth cried indignantly. "At least I'm sure their Clarisse is better than you."

"Actually," Cassie muttered slightly. "She might be worse…."

Percy paled at Cassie's words. "Worse?"

Will shuddered slightly. "Impossible."

Thalia grinned. "Oh, that sounds fun."

"Why are you asking me these questions?" I countered, my eyes slightly narrowed. This girl was too perceptive for her own good. I would have to remind her that two could play at this game. "Why is it… that you barely talked to me at all when we first met, and now you are trying to get all familiar with me?"

"I mean…you weren't talking much either." Nico pointed out.

"That was only when Mrs. Lewinsky was introducing us," Seth said, scowling. "I did most of the talking during the house tour, which was very much glossed over. I remember my throat going parched many times during that tour since Giselle didn't bother to be an active conversationalist. It's not easy to continue such a one-sided conversation, but of course, you all wouldn't know since this darn book practically skipped over that whole ordeal, and rushed to the end." He sounded a bit peeved and stared intensely at the book in Armani's hands for causing this misrepresentation.

"Huh, so that's how it was," Armani said, edging the book away from his annoyed half-brother and attempting to placate him, "I suppose the house tour wasn't interesting enough to be added in depth. Think about it though - these books are meant to be an overall summary of our lives, right? We'd be here forever if these pages documented every second of our past."

"It is what it is," Seth muttered, "at least I was present to provide a more accurate account."

My voice had a suspicious edge to it.

"I was only curious," she said softly.

"Curious about what?" I said impatiently, tired of all this-this pestering.

"I'm curious as to why..." Giselle said slowly, looking straight at me, "you have such a forlorn look in your eyes."

Luna stared unblinkingly at the screen, eyes darting across the frozen image of Seth, Giselle's words turning in her head. Armani was also staring at the screen, a feeling of unwarranted guilt blooming in his stomach.

'Apollo got you out.' Armani was reminded. 'but no one got him out.'

'That could have been Archer. That could have been me.' Luna mused bitterly. 'We would have had each other. He was alone.'

"Oh, he's not gonna react well to that." Apollo grimaced.

Hermes hummed in thought. "Judging by what we've seen so far, I'd say he would get defensive?"

"I'm sure that would be anyone's response," Aphrodite said.

"He's angry," Artemis whispered.

Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Hera raised an eyebrow. "Over an observation?"

"I don't think anyone would react well in that situation," Annabeth reassured.

"Clarisse would probably throw punches." Thalia nodded.

"And you wouldn't?" Luna asked in disbelief.

"Someone would probably hold her back," Clarisse grinned, causing Thalia to glare at her.

"And get electrocuted in the process," Will shivered at the thought. Hera's attention snapped over towards Will at that comment, before glancing over to Thalia with narrowed eyes.

Armani mulled over the topic before turning to Seth for confirmation. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Seth chuckled slightly. "My thoughts aren't that cheap." The other boy rolled his eyes. "Besides, you got the book. Read on if you're that curious."

"Well that's obvious," Armani deadpanned, "but I'm not asking about the Seth in the story - I'm asking about how the Seth I see in front of me is feeling now."

Hearing that, Seth finally regarded his half-brother with his full attention. "You brought up quite an interesting take, Armani. Since you asked so nicely, then I'll first admit that back then, I did think that Giselle was being a busybody, and I was more than upset at her for being so tactless and not considering my circumstances."

"And what about now?" Artemis suddenly cut in. Seth shared a look with Armani before addressing the Huntress directly.

"Now? I still think she was being a busybody," Seth started, which caused a few others to laugh slightly, "but I would not be upset or angry at her, if she were to ask such a thing again."

Artemis held her breath before asking, "Why?"

"Because I would know where she was coming from, and the reason why she would ask such a thing," Seth said vaguely, before motioning at Armani, "please continue reading. We're only just past the halfway point."

My heart almost literally stopped beating as I instantly widened my eyes at her. For a moment, I thought I misheard her, because no one, and I mean no one had ever said such a thing to me before.

"Really?" Luna asked with a raised brow. "Surely, they didn't all just assume you were happy."

Seth frowned. "I was happy."

All eyes were drawn towards the two demigods, watching the tension unfold like a ping pong match. Alessa shot Luna a warning look as Cassie narrowed her eyes at her cousin. Ashlynn shifted nervously beside Luna, wondering if she should say something to stop it.

Luna snorted in disbelief, a protective and bitter feeling taking over her mind as she couldn't help but say her true thoughts on the matter. "You were happy watching younger children get chosen by families? You were 'happy' to be left behind like a-!" Ashlynn elbowed Luna in the ribs and caused her to bite her tongue.

Armani stared at Luna in shock, not believing what he heard her just say. Seth narrowed his eyes at the sudden provocation and hissed, "Like a what?"

Luna stared fiercely at Seth for a minute before squeezing her eyes shut and taking a breath. 'Like an abandoned pup.' She thought morbidly before shaking her head and turning back towards Seth. "I forgot myself. I'm sorry. I misspoke and overstepped."

"A mistake you seem to favor repeating," Seth said coldly.

Luna closed her eyes again, gritting her teeth as she mentally scolded herself. She tried to take another deep breath but it didn't seem to be working. Why was it so hard to get along with Seth?

"She's….overly blunt," Cassie tried to explain, breaking Seth's line of thought. "At least, she's like that around people she's comfortable with-!"

"I don't need you speaking for me," Luna said through gritted teeth at the same time as Seth said, "That's not an excuse." Both Alessa and Cassie shot Luna a look and she huffed before staring unblinkingly back at the screen.

"Are these two going to keep clashing like this?" Hera mused with a sigh.

"Hopefully not," Zeus responded annoyed.

Demeter gave a disapproving look at the two demigods. "Why can't they get along?"

"Maybe they just don't know each other enough," Hestia said sadly.

"Seriously?" Armani asked Seth in disbelief.

"What's with that look, Armani? I did not start…whatever this is," Seth grumbled, waving a hand dismissively at the air, "but I will finish it if I must." He truly didn't understand why Luna had to keep pushing his buttons like this. Was she trying to get him to snap? He did not need this extra drama in front of such an audience.

Armani shook his head before giving a look of disapproval towards Luna, who seemed to shrink back into herself, feeling immensely guilty.

"Not cool." Armani scolded.

Luna crossed her arms before nodding dejectedly in agreement. "It was uncalled for." She agreed before she whispered. "This is hitting too close to home, I guess."

Armani blinked at her in surprise before muttering lowly. "Still not an excuse."

Seth, being one of the only two to hear the two, gritted his teeth. "Like she could understand. What does she know?"

Artemis looked between the three, trying to figure out what all this could mean. Even if they were her demigods, Armani and Luna were obviously not created the way expected. Perhaps she found a different way? But then why weren't they left with their mortal parent? Assuming, however unlikely, that they had one.

Behind a pillar, hidden from the rest, a shadowed figure ran a hand over his face in annoyance. 'Nice one.' He chastised mentally.

I was speechless. No retort, not a single defensive comment was able to form in my head. I couldn't say a thing. I didn't want to be backed into a corner like this.

"Backed into a corner?" Will asked hesitantly.

Annabeth frowned in concern, turning towards Seth for an answer, but he ignored her unspoken inquiry.

But this…this situation was unfamiliar to me. I had no idea how to act.

"You could deny it?" Percy suggested.

"Or just say you're tired," Katie added.

I hated the look she was giving me, the pity that was so apparent in her eyes.

"Is that pity?" Connor asked as he leaned further towards the screen, nearly falling off his seat.

Clarisse narrowed her eyes. "Maybe sad?"

"Or regret?" Percy asked.

Seth startled slightly before turning towards Percy and glancing back towards the screen. "Huh, would you look at that." He muttered too low for anyone to hear before turning back towards the other three with a deadpan. "Both of those things describe pity."

"Even so that doesn't mean it's directed towards you." Annabeth reasoned. "If she's another demigod or even mortal that could just be her reaction to her own situation."

Seth raised an eyebrow at Annabeth that seemed to speak words. There's no way Annabeth hasn't figured out who Giselle is yet.

Annabeth sighed with a nod of her head. "Ok yeah, it's most likely directed towards you." She relented.

"Or…" Dove began tentatively. "…a situation involving you..?"

Cassie hummed softly. "If she's who we think she is then most likely."

I clenched my teeth, seething. Who does this girl think she is? How dare she assume she knows better than me!

Hera looked unamused at the screen. "I highly doubt that was the purpose of that statement."

Hades nodded in agreement. "If she's new, then she could be trying to decide if she should do the same as you."

"You all made valid points. Yes, I was being unfair towards her," Seth admitted quietly, his eyes fixed on the screen. "I never liked having others pry into my business, and it's worse when it is a stranger doing so. I was…presumptuous and overly sensitive. It also didn't help that I was likely feeling…moody overseeing that other child get adopted over me. I jumped to conclusions and this was the result." He looked down at his lap, his tone rueful. "I know better now, should know better."

The kids were still in the lounging room, and I could hear them starting to get up and inevitably come to where Giselle and I were. Despite how angry I was, I couldn't make a scene, especially not in front of them.

"That's better control than some adults I know," Cassie remarked.

Percy's expression darkened at Cassie's comment, knowing all too well what she meant, before he smiled at Seth. "You really care about those kids, huh?"

Seth nodded, smiling briefly. "Yes, I do." A brief look of pain flashed on his face before he schooled his features. 'Or rather did,' he mentally corrected.

"You're like their older brother," Armani chuckled slightly.

"Yes," he confirmed, "that was how I upheld myself to be in their eyes. Blood-related or not."

With difficulty, I forcefully sucked it up and I only lowered my head slightly to tear my eyes away from her gaze, and I silently walked past her and headed towards the stairs, not once looking back.

"A lot better self-control than some adults," Luna agreed with a shake of her head.

Giselle remained where she was, feeling her lingering gaze on me before disappearing from her sight.

"She really seems interested in you," Poseidon noted.

"Or she feels bad about upsetting him," Aphrodite suggested.

I remained in my room for almost the entire rest of the day.

"Damn," Dove muttered, "and I thought Thea and Cass were introverts."

Both girls glared at the blonde as Thalia burst out laughing. "Looks like you're not alone, Nico!" Thalia teased.

Nico only glared at her before turning towards Will, who was trying to hide his amusement. "Ugh, not you too," Nico grumbled.

Call me a coward,

"Coward," Ares dared.

Seth rolled his eyes at the predictable response, ignoring the god completely when he noticed Katie looking at him and appearing troubled.

"You okay?" Katie questioned him.

"Are you asking about how I am now, or about the past me in the story?" Seth tried to clarify.

Katie raised a shoulder in a slight shrug. "Both?"

Seth thought about it. "I'm perfectly fine. This is my past, and while being reminded in this way is…not ideal, I've come to terms with it. As for how I was back then…well, I think what you see and have read so far is self-explanatory."

but I didn't want to face Giselle…

"Understandable," Luna noted, leaning on the palm of her hand.

"I doubt I would too." Armani agreed.

…especially after what she just said had such a noticeable impact on me. In fact, I didn't want to see anyone right now.

"Loners must stick together," Nico nodded sagely.

Percy frowned. "That makes no sense."

"Loners united." Thea agreed with a raised fist, causing Thalia to blink at the shy girl.

"You don't need to agree with him," Thalia pointed out.

Ms. Lewinsky must have gotten worried about where I was, and sent Nick (some 8 year old) to check up on me. I simply said I wasn't feeling too well, which wasn't exactly a lie.

"The best lies have a semblance of truth," Hermes said with a wink towards the demigods.

Hera glared at her stepson. "There's no need for you to teach demigods how to lie better."

Percy and Annabeth shared a knowing look, remembering their first quest, as Luna snickered slightly and the Stolls looked deeply offended.

It was such a shock as to how easily Giselle saw right through me. Even Ms. Lewinsky didn't and still hadn't figured out as much about me as what that girl said in a single sentence.

"Really?" Thalia asked incredulously.

"It is a little unbelievable…that a random girl knows more about you than the person that raised you." Will agreed.

Hera huffed slightly, before looking at Seth."You doubt the extent of a mother's observations about their child."

"Your guardian likely noticed more than she would let you believe," Hestia agreed sadly.

Seth nodded silently, his eyes downcast. You may be right.

I lied down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling while fumbling the golden drachma in my right hand. The coin was the only solid evidence that this morning's incident really did happen, which I still had trouble believing.

"At least you had some sort of evidence." Percy huffed, sending an annoyed glance at the screen. "They let me think I was going crazy for a month."

"A month?" Armani asked in surprise.

Percy nodded dejectedly. "I wouldn't be surprised if they all thought I was crazy, I kept asking about my demon Math teacher who no one could remember."

Armani whistled slightly in surprise. "That's rough, buddy."

I flipped the coin back and forth in front of my face, admiring the designs that were carved into the precious metal.

"Which one did you get?" Nico asked.

"What?" Seth replied.

"Which Drachma did they give you?" Nico clarified.

Seth paused momentarily. "Does that really matter? And can't you see which type it is on the screen?"

"It's hard to see," Nico grumbled.

Will smiled amusedly at his boyfriend before turning to Seth. "Nico's been collecting different drachma recently."

Annabeth blinked. "O-oh, so that's why you asked to trade drachmas the other day."

"You collect drachmas?" Seth asked Nico amusedly.

Clarisse shot Nico a look. "You traded those weird figurines for drachmas? That's kind of weird."

"No, it's not." Thea defended. "It's like how mortals collect coins."

Armani blinked at Thea. "You defend Nico a lot, don't you?"

Armani's statement caught both Hades and Persephone's attention as both deities turned to the brunette with looks of suspicion.

"We met at Camp." Thea nodded. "Nico was spending a lot of time alone and I decided to try talking to him. Eventually, it was almost like he became my brother, so I suppose I do defend him quite a bit."

Hades hadn't been paying too much attention to the demigods, other than Nico, and that was only when he thought Persephone wasn't paying attention. While she wouldn't make a fuss with everyone else around, he knew that she wouldn't be happy with him if Nico was all he focused on.

Not to mention how his brothers might react if they suspected that he had a demigod present.

Or Demeter.

Hades had to surprise a shiver at the thought of dealing with another rant.

The God of the Underworld, however, didn't forget his conversation with his wife during the very tail end of the break. Truly if one of the demigods were to be Persephone's demigod it could be any of the girls who helped cook the previous night. Katie and Thea though seemed closer to Nico than the other two. Admittedly, however, Katie didn't seem to be putting in as much effort to defend or speak to his son as Thea did.

Hades hummed slightly before turning to glance at Persephone. While his musings did hold some merit, there was no guarantee that if his wife did have a demigod they would get along with Nico. In fact, the more he considered the possibility, the more the idea seemed unlikely.

The possibility didn't escape him, but he still found it unlikely. It was possible that in the future he would end up having another demigod. But as of now, he had more of an incentive to not have another demigod than his brothers did.

Persephone, meanwhile, was a tad more suspicious than her husband. She stared skeptically at Thea, trying to see if there were any similarities between the demigod and her husband.

They had the same hair color, but so did four other demigods. Unfortunately, that also included her stepson. Theresa also has a similar eye color to Nico, although not the same shade and with specks of gold in them. While Persephone knew that hair or eye color wasn't a definitive factor, especially since deities could change their appearances, it was a common aspect that all her husband's demigods shared.

"Perhaps we should get back on track?" Artemis suggested. She wanted to find out if she was correct on her thoughts about Seth before admitting too much.

Armani nodded before turning to the book.

You'll always find us at Yancy Academy if you need me or Grover's assistance.

That was what Chiron had said, I reflected. What else did he say? Toss the coin into a rainbow? Easier said than done.

"It's easier than one would think," Hera noted.

"Agreed." Thalia nodded before stopping and turning to stare at Hera in horror while Cassie fought back a laugh and the demigods looked at Thalia in surprise.

Said goddess simply raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I just agreed with you," Thalia whispered painfully.

Hera looked mildly annoyed. "Yes, and?" The goddess demanded with narrowed eyes.

Thalia was too panicked to respond and continued to look at her stepmother in horror. She had to say something.

"Child, why would…" Hera trailed off as her eyes widened slightly as she stared at Thalia before they narrowed again. "I see." She instead said bitterly.

Both Poseidon and Hades looked at Hera in suspicion.

"N-no! T-there was just an incident that happened and-" Thalia was cut off.

"You see what?" Poseidon asked with a glare towards his younger brother. Did Zeus break their pact? Even after swearing on the Styx?

Hades looked ready to stand from his throne and fight Zeus but instead settled on asking Hera. "Is there a problem?"

Thalia's head snapped towards Percy and Nico in horror as Cassie cursed before sending a wide-eyed, pleading look towards the Queen of the gods that she ignored.

"It's nothing," Hera said after a moment, shocking Thalia even more as she turned to look at the two suspicious and angry brothers. "I suppose I'm just not young Thalia's favorite goddess." She pointedly ignored her husband's confused glance between the three and kept staring at Thalia. "There's no reason for concern."

Both Poseidon and Hades still looked suspicious but nodded at their sister's explanation.

Cassie sighed a breath of relief as Alessa grabbed her hand comfortingly. Cassie sent a grateful smile towards her cousin who simply nodded her head in response.

Thalia still felt panicked. "There really was an incident, see my younger brother-"

"It's fine, child." Hera cut her off.

"You have a younger brother?" Armani asked, shocked before turning towards Seth and Luna who both nodded at Armani's question.

"...Were we accidentally sent into a twilight zone…?" Nico asked in concern.

Thalia simply stared at Hera in shock before the goddess turned her gaze towards the screens, jaw set and fists clenched in anger.

Armani glanced at Thalia before continuing the reading.

How in the world was I supposed to create a rainbow, especially in this kind of weather?

"Glass, water, and a flashlight," Annabeth said simply.

"Or someone who can control water and generate light," Dove suggested.

"You think I would know anyone who could control water or generate light at this point in time?" Seth deadpanned, which caused Dove to become sheepish.

"O-or a CD!" Ashlynn added as the demigods turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "What?

"You mean a CD instead of glass?" Katie asked.

Ashlynn shook her head. "Nope! Just use the reflective side of a CD."

"How would that work?" Seth questioned, "Suppose the call goes through, wouldn't you need to constantly shift it to keep the rainbow consistent?"

"Well, yeah, I guess." Ashlynn shrugged. "I mean-!" Ashlynn was cut off by Seth's next question.

"What if you turn the CD the wrong way and cause the call to end suddenly? I also doubt the size of the screen would be sufficient." Seth debated.

"Oh! Well-!" Ashlynn tried to cut in.

"Also, tossing a coin in would further disrupt the reflective and refractive angles needed to generate-!"

"Well, it worked for me, okay!" Ashlynn exclaimed, the last rapid-fire technical question going over her head. "I was bored one day and wanted someone to talk to. I happened to have a spare CD nearby, and it worked! It did what it needed to do. I kept it propped up and used a steady stream of light that I left at a certain angle!"

Seth didn't seem convinced, and his stream of reasonable and logical questions even got Annabeth impressed. If she didn't know any better, she would have mistook Seth as one of her half-brothers.

"Huh," Will said instead of an actual response. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

Armani considered her response before nodding. "I understand it."

"Have you done it before?" Seth asked the younger teen.

"Not with a CD." Armani denied. "I don't make personal Iris Messages all the time, but sometimes I might call and bug…" he trailed off in thought, was it okay to name Thalia? Or would that lead to more questions? "...my aunt…" Armani decided with uncertainty before continuing, "out of boredom."

Seth raised an eyebrow. "Your aunt?"

Armani looked at Seth pointedly. "You know…" he replied and trailed off before glancing at the Big Three demigods with a flick of his eyes.

"Oh," Seth acknowledged quietly, and wondered: Was Armani close to the hunters too? Did he have any earlier disputes like he did?

Luna chuckled as she addressed Ashlynn. "I'm pretty sure you gave Percy a heart attack that day."

"Wait, what?" Percy asked in confusion as Thalia and Nico started laughing at his expense.

Ashlynn waved off Luna's comment. "He should have been more aware of his surroundings instead of focusing on video games."

Cassie looked mildly amused. "He was so focused on the video game because he was losing."

Alessa looked at Cassie in surprise. "You were there?"

"Dove and Thalia too." Cassie nodded.

Thalia stopped laughing abruptly. "Say what?"

Dove told Ashlynn. "Even if Dylan was absolutely killing it with his winning streak? I highly doubt that even if Percy wasn't so entranced by the game, that he would have reacted differently to you shouting his name directly behind him."

"Wow, not cool," Percy muttered glaring at Ashlynn.

"Dylan?" Annabeth questioned before turning towards Percy. "Do you know someone named Dylan?"

"Hm?" Percy asked, turning towards Annabeth. "No, I don't."

Alessa kept her gaze on Cassie, looking slightly confused. "Why would-?" she abruptly cut herself off as she realized why Thalia may have been at Percy's. "It was a family day, wasn't it."

Thea snorted. "That's one way to say absolute chaos."

Cassie rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Wait, wait," Thalia said with a shake of her head before turning to Cassie. "Why would I be at Percy's, and what does a family day have to do with it?"

"And why would it be absolute chaos?" Nico asked before turning to Will as if he knew the answer. Will simply shrugged as the couple turned to face Cassie.

Cassie opened her mouth to respond before she started slightly and looked unsure. "Damn." She muttered, unsure how to respond.

"Language." Hera admonished with narrowed eyes.

Cassie sighed before looking at the expectant deities and demigods before turning to face her cousins. Thea looked worried and Ashlynn was grinning at the mistake, happy that it wasn't her who messed up this time. Dove and Luna didn't look concerned and Alessa simply gave her a reassuring smile.

Seth looked between the group realizing that Cassie probably said something that she wasn't supposed to. He sighed with a shake of his head, these girls either needed to get their stories straight or stop being so secretive. Hopefully, Thea would discuss what he told her to the rest of the group.

Armani also realized that Cassie said something she wasn't supposed to and looked interested in how she was going to fix it or if she was simply going to tell everyone what she wasn't supposed to.

Cassie turned back to the others with a sigh. "My relationship with my mother was strained back then, so Ally's mom suggested we try to spend more time together." And try to have her bond with Thalia so maybe they wouldn't hate each other, Cassie thought.

"And why was I there?" Thalia stressed.

Because she's your stepmother and you were NICELY asked by your patron goddess, Cassie wanted to say, but instead settled for: "I needed someone to act as a buffer, and since you were free, you offered to take the jig."

Thalia blinked before raising an eyebrow. "I was free?"

"Yeah…your boss insisted you take off work for a mandatory leave of absence," Cassie said blandly, hoping that Thalia would get what she was implying.

Luna snorted as Thalia's jaw dropped. "W-what?" Thalia asked nervously.

Percy looked confused before glancing at the three hunters who were watching the conversation on equal parts intrigue and annoyance. "Thalia has a job in your time?"

Nico guffawed, clutching his middle in response as Annabeth smiled at him in a mix of fondness and exasperation. "Percy," Annabeth said before her eyes flickered at the hunters.

"Oh," Percy replied. "Oh."

"W-wait." Thalia echoed. "If I was gone, then who covered for me?"

Secretly, Seth wondered about that too, making sure to keep his head down and not stare at the girls from Timeline Three. Still, he could make a few educated guesses given what the girls have confirmed (and hid) about themselves. If Artemis had Thalia take time off from the hunters, then Luna is the most likely candidate to have stepped up. But didn't Luna mention having a significant other earlier? That should disqualify her from the task, right?

Luna grimaced as if sensing Seth's thoughts. Armani chuckled at the twisted expression on Luna's face as she tentatively raised her hand.

"What?" Thalia exclaimed. There was no way Luna was a hunter- she appeared too old to be!

Seth was also dumbfounded by this fact. This completely defied what he knew of the Hunters' way of life and their indoctrination! Did Artemis make an exception simply because Luna was her daughter? The favoritism was unreal.

Luna cleared her throat. "It wasn't for long, maybe a week or two." Luna clarified before she grimaced again. "I really….well, no offense, but I can't handle the stress it comes with or get a grasp on all the responsibilities that it entails. It's a load of responsibilities and pressure I don't need." Luna seemed to get a bit sad before she muttered. "And expectations that I'll never want or be able to live up to."

Armani frowned when he heard Luna's whisper, recognizing the similarities between his own thoughts once upon a time.

"There are parts I enjoy," Luna continued. "but I would sooner fight a hydra…than do what you do full time. Besides, I don't think your boss could stand seeing me all the time." Luna turned her head off to the side and quickly mumbled. "And I don't need her breathing down my neck."

Armani chuckled, concern taking a back seat before he picked the book back up.

I quickly snapped out of these suggestions as soon as I had them. Even if I did manage to create this Iris-Message, what did I plan to say? That I was having girl problems?

Armani looked amused. "That would go over well."

Thalia grinned at the prospect.

That this girl made me feel awful by saying insensitive things about me?

Zoe glowered at Seth. "Typical, fragile male ego."

Nikki nodded in agreement as Charlotte looked between Nikki and Zoe in uncertainty.

"Hey!" Percy shouted indignantly.

"Cut it out," Luna told the hunters sternly.

Zoe narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Not all males are like the ones you've been wronged by," Luna replied with a glare. "There's no need to treat all of them with hostility or talk down to them."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Zoe denied vehemently. "If you had seen-!"

"Don't know what I'm talking about?" Luna asked incredulously. "I think I know quite well what I'm talking about, thank you."

"If you had seen what some of those vile men have done-!" Zoe tried again but was cut off by Cassie.

"I think Luna knows quite well what you're talking about," Cassie said with a slight edge to her voice that caused Artemis to frown. "I do as well."

Hera looked at Cassie in confusion with her own small frown, an unsettling feeling looked over her, furthering her confusion.

"Then why do you still defend them?" Nikki asked in frustration.

"We're not defending them," Cassie said simply, causing the three hunters to look at her in confusion. "Actually, in fact, we hate them."

"But I thought-!" Charlotte asked as Luna cut her off.

"Those situations involved only a handful of men, not all of them," Luna explained, before looking Zoe in the eyes. "Besides, those situations have nothing to do with Seth." Seth blinked at Luna in confusion. "Seth has done nothing wrong. His on-screen counterpart simply got upset over a comment made by a nosy teen that anyone would have gotten upset by."

Artemis frowned at the screen at those words before turning to look at Seth contemplatively.

"Earlier you said you would not get upset if she were to say something like this again?" The goddess asked.

Seth turned towards the goddess. "Yes, I did."

Artemis nodded her head before turning back towards the screen. "Even so… she was quite insensitive with the way she approached the topic."

Seth started slightly as Zoe indignantly shouted "My Lady!"

"I believe we still have more to read?" Artemis asked Armani instead.

Armani nodded before turning back to the book.

I sooner go to hell than say that.

Charlotte and Nikki jolted slightly in shock as Zoe stewed in anger. Thalia, however, snickered at the thoughts, shooting Seth an amused look.

"Seriously?" Thalia asked good-naturedly.

"Oh my gods," Seth muttered, pressing both hands against his forehead, suffering from the melodrama of his younger self. Ugh, the absolute cringe almost pained him.

Armani couldn't help but snicker beside him. "Don't feel too bad. I'm sure we've all gone through this before."

Seth groaned, "Just keep reading."

I sat up rather abruptly from my bed, slipped on my sneakers that were lying near the door and grabbed my black coat as I placed the coin back into my jeans pocket. It was getting rather stuffy in here, and I desperately needed fresh air.

"Are you going for a walk?" Nico asked, confused.

Thea shook her head. "Somehow I doubt it."

After a few turns here and there, I found the window I was looking for,-

"Oh," Nico muttered.

-and easily opened the latch, hoping to find solitude at my beloved place on the roof.

Luna glanced towards Artemis before tilting her head towards Seth. "I'm guessing you weren't alone?"

"Nope," Seth answered simply before dismissing any further questions. "I'm sure the story is about to say such."

Luna's eyes flicked over Seth's facial expression and body language before nodding and returning to the screen.

Sadly however, that spot was currently occupied.

"Oh?" Cassie said wryly. "I wonder who on earth that could be."

"Who?" Ashlynn asked, causing Dove to facepalm.

"Giselle, she means Giselle." Dove muttered almost painfully. "How are you, my cousin?"

Ashlynn blinked before looking at Dove curiously. "Through Grandma A-!"

Luna's eyes widened in panic as she reached over and slammed her hand over Ashlynn's mouth, causing the girl to let out a muffled shout.

"Not our time!" She hissed.

Ashlynn blinked in confusion before her eyes widened in understanding.

Alessa sighed exasperatedly as Thea winced.

"We really need to go over what we can't tell and get our story straight," Thea muttered.

"Yes," Dove growled. "We do."

Luna shot Cassie a look and the brunette nodded.

"Next break," Cassie reassured.

"What are you doing here?" I said harshly, as I narrowed my eyes at the intruder.

"Intruder?" Percy questioned. "Aren't you both not supposed to be up there?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Giselle replied, sitting with her knees held together with her gloved hands. "I was here first."

"It doesn't matter who was here first," I snapped. What the heck? Did this girl have some handbook titled '101 ways of how to piss Seth Hunter off'?

"I don't think there's such a book." Annabeth laughed.

"I'm starting to think otherwise," Seth muttered looking over towards Luna, who just raised a brow at his statement.

"It might just be ingrained in my DNA." She shrugged.

Artemis jumped slightly, catching the double meaning and turning to look at Luna.

"Or it's just a girl thing," Armani shrugged.

"Or that." Luna nodded.

"Strange," Seth said. "Since you two are the only ones who seem to have this book."

Luna smirked good-naturedly. "How bizarre."

"Bizarre." Seth echoed with a deadpan.

"I've been here longer than you, so you have no right to-!"

Will winced. "I don't think that's the best way to word it."

"Perhaps I was being a bit…" Seth began, searching for the right words.

"Territorial?" the voice in his head suggested helpfully.

Seth grimaced slightly. "..unreasonable."

"Oh?" Giselle said amusingly. She raised an eyebrow. "Is this roof of yours perhaps licensed? Or does it have your name on it?"

Charlotte giggled slightly as Thalia smirked.

"I like her," Thalia decided with a nod of her head.

"That's hardly surprising," Seth muttered.

I glared at her.

"I didn't think so." she concluded, taking in my silence as an acknowledgement,

Both Stoll brothers snickered as Will and Katie turned towards Seth with smirks.

"but I certainly must say, this truly is the perfect place for moon gazing."

Glancing up briefly from the book to see the view on the screen in front of him, Armani let out a low whistle. "That is a good spot," Armani noted as Luna hummed in agreement.

Her face tilted up towards the cloudy gray sky as I begrudgingly decided to sit at least 5 feet away from her.

Zoe glared at Seth as Thalia burst out laughing and Nico snorted.

"You're acting like a five-year-old," Nico commented.

"What?" Thalia asked between breaths of air. "Does she have cooties?"

Luna quickly covered her mouth with a hand as she fought back a laugh. Did Thalia still not realize who Giselle was?

Armani grinned towards Thalia with similar thoughts as his half-sister. Her reaction would be amusing once Giselle's identity was revealed.

Meanwhile, Seth's smirk made Nico glance at his laughing cousin in a mixture of worry and amusement.

There was no way I was going to let her win another argument.

"Men." Nikki sighed, as Zoe grumbled under her breath while rolling her eyes.

Hermes nodded enthusiastically. "Nice self-preservation."

"More like ego preservation." Connor laughed.

We sat there in silence, enjoying the snowy white view from above.

"I'm sorry." Giselle suddenly murmured.

"At least she apologized." Katie smiled.

"Would she not?" Charlotte asked in confusion.

"We didn't have a chance to see how she reacted towards Seth running away." Alessa reasoned. "Most likely, she regretted it quickly."

I turned my head towards her in surprise. "I didn't even consider your feelings, and I may have said things that may have hurt you unintentionally, and for that…" she turned her face slightly to face me, her eyes looking sincere, "I apologize."

Apollo whistled lowly, causing everyone to turn towards him.

"Something you would like to share, Apollo?" Zeus asked with a raised brow.

Apollo laughed slightly in response. "No, father. I was just…surprised, by the genuine sincerity."

Poseidon turned towards Apollo curiously. "What's surprising? We don't know this girl that well."

Apollo's smile wavered. 'Yeah, no. It's pretty obvious to me that she's Artemis. What's surprising is how she gave such a sincere and quick apology to a boy she doesn't know." Apollo forced another laugh. "Yeah, I guess you're right, but she reminds me so much of someone I know that it surprised me."

Artemis glared at her twin. What was that supposed to mean? She apologized when she was wrong! Even if that was an extremely rare occurrence….the grinning idiot should be grateful she apologized at all!

There was a brief period of silence as I contemplated on what I should say.

"Perhaps a thank you would suffice?" Hera chastised. "Or an apology for how you acted?"

Seth fidgeted under the goddess' gaze. "I believe I did, Lady Hera."

Hera's gaze softened minutely before she nodded and turned back toward the screen.

I really hadn't expected that she would actually apologize, and to say so in such a manner and this soon! Then, I realized that it was because of her apology that made me comprehend what I had actually done…was wrong.

"Really?" Clarisse asked dryly. "It took her apology to make you realize that?"

"It certainly wasn't my best moment." Seth agreed.

She was only curious. Heck, she only asked me a simple two questions! And what did I do? Shoved her to the side, and made her feel guilty by staying in my room all day for no good reason. Just when I thought I couldn't be any more pathetic.

"It's not pathetic," Hestia said resolutely. "You are a teenager. You're still learning how to regulate your emotions."

She had slowly focused her attention on something else, until my answer turned her focus on me again.

"Or she just thinks you're ignoring her." Hermes shrugged.

"I highly doubt that." Athena deadpanned.

"You don't need to apologize." I said quietly, not really looking at her as I rested my head on my folded arms.

"Awkward~" Ashlynn sing-songed.

This was so awkward.

"Huh, I feel like that echoed somehow." Percy grinned.

"You didn't know, and I just…lashed out on you.

"It seemed more like you shut her out," Dove noted.

"Technically, when he showed up on the roof, he lashed out." Aphrodite pointed out.

Dove hummed in thought. "That is true."

"Yes, but he did have reason to." Hephaestus groused.

"No one is saying he didn't." Demeter placated. "However, he could have gone about it differently, as he pointed out earlier."

So in truth, I suppose I'm the one… who should be saying sorry."

Ares snorted at the scene on the screen. "This is too sappy, where's the action?"

Seth clenched his jaw. "I imagine," he began slowly, "that the next chapter should have plenty of action to your satisfaction."

Ares chuckled. "No amount of action is enough, punk."

I glanced at her briefly to see her reaction, and that was when I saw her smile.

She had her head slightly lowered, her eyes half closed as her auburn hair blew smoothly in the light wind with bits of snow swirling in the mix.

"You are even more mature than I realized," she said softly, still smiling.

"Huh," Hermes began. "Is it just me, or does she sound almost proud?"

"You noticed that too?" Percy asked.

Katie tilted her head. "I did too."

Hades looked between the three. "I believe you three might be imagining things."

"I'm not so sure," Athena mumbled thoughtfully.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I said questionably. I didn't know whether she said that as a compliment or as an insult, or even both.

"Just take it as a compliment." Thalia deadpanned.

Armani glanced at Seth in concern. "Why would you think that's an insult?"

"She could have meant that I didn't come off as mature," Seth responded.

"That's fair." Will agreed. "Especially considering the way you reacted towards her question."

"Let's go in now, Seth." she said as she got up and moved towards the edge. "It's getting cold."

"Aw, she cares!" Ashlynn exclaimed, causing Armani to grin and Luna to snort.

Artemis narrowed her eyes at the blonde while Seth shook his head at Ashlynn's exclamation and the other two's antics.

For once, I followed her without any complaints.

"What do you mean for once?" Travis asked. "You haven't followed her before?"

Katie groaned in annoyance. "No, but he wasn't happy about showing her around or during any of the previous interactions with her."

That night after dinner, all of the children gathered round the big table to celebrate my 13th birthday. After singing the usual 'Happy Birthday' song (much to my embarrassment),

Travis and Connor shared matching grins before turning slowly towards Seth, grins unwavering.

Oh, that's not good, the voice mused.

Seth eyed the Stolls suspiciously. "What are you doing?"

"Haaaaa-!" Travis started, causing Seth's eyes to widen.

"Don't even start-!"

"-appy Birthday to you~!" Travis sang.

"Happy Birthday to you~" Connor continued.

"Happy Birthday dear Sephy~" Both brothers finished. "Happy Birthday to yo-!"

"It's not my birthday," Seth interrupted, his face turning pink. "This is uncalled for." The Stolls only continued to sing the full song, making him roll his eyes by the end. "Gods, I hate you both."

"Nah, you love us," Connor snickered.

I blew out the 13 lit candles that surrounded the surface of my whip cream cake. As the cake was getting distributed, I noticed that Giselle was nowhere in sight.

"She doesn't seem to be the social type, does she?" Persephone noted.

"Perhaps she feels out of place?" Athena suggested with a subtle glance towards Artemis.

Aphrodite hummed in agreement. "She did only just arrive, the other children have been there long enough to somewhat get to know Seth. I wouldn't be surprised if she felt uncomfortable."

Still feeling guilty of what I'd done earlier, I picked up two plates of cake, and decided to go look for her.

"That was nice of you," Hestia said kindly to Seth.

"Thank you, Lady Hestia," Seth answered with a slight dip of his head.

"I'm guessing she was on the roof?" Percy asked.

Seth sighed. "It's rather obvious at this point." He nudged Armani to continue.

Guess where I found her?

"The roof," Nico deadpanned.

Percy shifted nervously with a laugh. "Yeah, it was pretty obvious."

"You know, you really shouldn't go on the roof that much,"

"For some reason, I get the impression that that's hypocritical of you to say," Thalia smirked.

I said, sitting down closer to her this time. "You might accidentally fall off."

Will snorted. "And you won't?"

Seth smirked at Will just before Armani read the next part.

"And you won't?" she said, her eyebrows raised.

Will turned scarlet as Nico laughed beside him.

"Now you know how that feels," Nico said.

I gave a small laugh.

"Of course not," I said a bit proudly, "I have good balance."

"Right," Clarisse muttered sarcastically. "That's the reason."

Thalia coughed in a way that sounded suspiciously like 'liar'.

"Sounds more like you're letting your ego do the talking," Zoe grumbled.

Thalia blinked at the Lieutenant with narrowed eyes. "You seem to be doing a lot more man-hating than usual."

Zoe huffed. "I have no idea what you speak of." She frowned at what she said and turned towards Thalia skeptically. "...do you know me personally?"

"I've met you at camp a few times," Thalia said.

Zoe's eyes narrowed. "Your claim suggests otherwise."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, I've been around you more than I would have liked."

"What does that mean?" Nikki asked.

Thalia opened her mouth to respond before she stopped. "Now that I think about it, I've never seen her before." Thalia thought while looking at Nikki before focusing on Charlotte, who sat beside her. "Actually, I don't recognize either of them. Not even from back when they tried to recruit me and Annabeth."

Luna glanced at Thalia in confusion before turning to look at the two hunters beside Zoe. "Why isn't she saying anything? Granted they're very different from normal, but as the lieutenant of the hunt, she should know that." Luna's eyes widened slightly as she stared at Charlotte and Nikki, unnoticed except by Artemis, Aphrodite, Athena, Seth, and Armani. "Unless she doesn't know them?"

"Um." Thalia stalled slightly before deciding the best way to answer the unfamiliar huntress. "I've always clashed heads with Zoe, and unfortunately due to certain circumstances, we were forced to spend more time together than either of us would have liked."

"Oh," Nikki mumbled before turning to Zoe with a considering look on her face.

Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at Luna. "What could cause that reaction?"

"Why would she…Luna…?" Artemis winced slightly, remembering the girl's name. It was practically revealing the girl's parentage. "…why would she look at them like that?"

Athena hummed slightly, resting her chin on the back of her hand with narrowed eyes. "Interesting."

Luna's head snapped towards Thalia. "I need to speak with her on break."

"Something's going on," Seth observed.

Armani's eyes glazed over Luna's face and traced her line of sight. "She probably realized Thalia doesn't recognize them."

"Didn't Thalia mention that before?" Seth reminded him.

"I imagine Luna was too busy panicking about angering a goddess to pay attention to that detail," Armani answered.

"What else is new," Seth muttered, causing Armani to snort.

Noticing her disbelief, I added sheepishly, "and a lot of practice."

"Sounds about right," Armani laughed.

"Did you fall a lot?" Katie asked in concern.

Seth thought about it before he admitted, "Yes."

"Did you break anything?" Percy wondered.

"I think I broke my arm once," Seth recalled.

Annabeth winced. "Isn't that a big deal? How are you so aloof about it?"

"It was a long time ago," Seth dismissed, "I heal quickly, and a broken arm isn't that big of a deal for demigods anyway."

I handed her a piece of cake. "You want one?"

Giselle shook her head, "That's nice of you, but I already ate. You can have it."

"I don't know about the rest of you," Percy started, "but I didn't see her eat on the monitor."

"It didn't show dinner," Alessa informed him. "It just showed the children singing and distributing the cake."

"Oh," Percy muttered. "That's weird, I could have sworn-!"

Cassie cut him off with an apologetic smile. "I think you were thinking about lunch. That was when Seth found her only drinking water."

Percy blinked in confusion. "Yeah, but-!"

"I'm sure the book is skipping through the redundant parts again," Seth said dryly. "Who cares about what we're eating all the time?"

"Suit yourself." I said. That meant more cake for me.

"I'm sure you were happy about that." Luna laughed.

Armani grinned towards Seth. "You did mention it was your favorite."

Seth coughed slightly to hide the slight pink on his face before he rolled his eyes at the two half-siblings. "Of course, whipped cream is the best thing ever."

Cassie shook her head vehemently. "I have to disagree with you there- it definitely has to be ice cream!"

Luna sighed. "Oh for the love of…both are great."

"Especially together!" Travis piped up causing Katie to hide a fond smile.

I sat down and began to eat my cake, enjoying the rich taste of whip cream in my mouth.

"Damn," Seth muttered. "Now I want some whipped cream."

Dove dropped her head on Luna's shoulder. "Saaame." Luna just rolled her eyes and patted Dove's head.

Oh man, I really got to thank Ms. Lewinsky later. Whip cream was like the bomb.

"Like the bomb?" Ashlynn snickered.

"What?" Seth asked.

Ashlynn just snickered some more, causing Alessa to roll her eyes. "It's nothing," Alessa reassured a confused Seth. "Probably just her laughing at generational differences."

Dove's face twisted. "Oh shit, I just realized that technically we're all different generations."

Annabeth glanced at Dove strangely. "Does that matter?"

"Not really." Thea shrugged before she glanced at Luna and Cassie. "Although…."

Luna sighed as Cassie just nodded.

"We're all kind of the same age in our timeline," Thea responded.

"What!?" Annabeth, Katie, and Will all yelled in shock.

"What?" Travis asked, confused.

"Is that important?" Percy asked Annabeth.

Zeus glanced at the demigods in contempt. "I hardly think so."

"How is it possible they were born six years later in your timeline?" Seth questioned.

"We're not really sure," Cassie answered. "There are certainly some theories but….nothing conclusive, unfortunately."

"That's really strange," Armani commented.

Annabeth looked thoughtful. "We were informed that some things may be altered."

Clarisse looked at Annabeth as if she had grown another head. "But our ages?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "It's really not that big of a deal, guys."

"Maybe for you," Will said urgently.

"ENOUGH!" Zeus shouted, causing the demigods to jump. "As I've stated before, you may discuss this on your break. If you did not discuss this on your previous break then that is your oversight."

The demigods all quieted down and turned back to the screens hesitantly with some glancing nervously near their godly parent or patron.

The sky had begun to darken as clouds began to gather around. Bits of snow swirled around gracefully as the winds finally died down.

"Oh, that's beautiful," Persephone breathed in awe, not used to the sight of falling snow.

Hades also seemed interested, while Demeter smiled softly at her daughter's amazement.

The full moon remained as bright as ever, and seeing it made me feel relaxed and forget everything around me.

Luna smiled, familiar with such a feeling as Armani nodded in agreement.

Artemis felt torn. On one hand, she was happy, but on the other, she felt her dread worsen.

There were no monsters out there.

"If only," Cassie muttered sadly.

Luna's face softened as she leaned closer towards the brunette in a silent show of comfort.

No satyrs, centaurs, demigods, or gods.

"Excuse me?" Zeus said narrowly.

"He simply means his worries are gone," Hera clarified.

It was only me and the surrounding beauty of nature and snow.

Luna sighed, looking fond. "I would like to go camping soon."

Alessa smiled coyly with a twinkle in her eyes. "Only if you let me tag along."

Luna scoffed. "Who else? Dove or Ash?"

Ashlynn's head snapped towards Luna in glee. "I can go?"

Dove grimaced slightly. "Yeah, no thanks."

Luna bit back her grin before turning towards Ashlynn. "Maybe next time, it's been a while since Ally and I went camping."

Ashlynn pouted as Armani regarded Luna hesitantly.

"If you want," Armani started, "I wouldn't mind going camping together. How about you, Seth?"

Seth did a double take before looking from Armani, and noticing Luna appearing…hopeful? "Well," he said slowly, "I'm not…opposed to camping, but there is a time and place for these things, and…quite frankly, now isn't it."

Luna's hopeful look seemed to wither at the rejection.

"Obviously, we can't go tonight," Alessa mused. "But since it looks like we will be here a while if Lord Zeus permits it and Lady Artemis as well, perhaps we could go camping 'during the break before the next book is read?"

Luna seemed to perk up at the suggestion and turned toward the two mentioned deities.

Artemis glanced at the hopeful-looking demigod and sighed slightly. "Perhaps." Artemis nodded. "If Father allows it and I'm not hunting." she agreed before adding sternly. I do, however, expect you to clean up after yourselves."

"We will see," Zeus grumbled. "Let us get through this book first."

I wish I could remain in that moment for eternity.

"Don't we all?" Armani mused.

I was interrupted from those blissful thoughts when Giselle spoke.

"Happy Birthday Seth" she said, a smile gracing her features. I stared at her for a moment.

And this time, I smiled back.

"Aww." Aphrodite cooed. "You two are bonding."

Artemis rolled her eyes before turning towards Armani, who she had a bad feeling mixed with dread that she tried to ignore.

"I would like to read next if that's alright," Artemis asked cooly.

"Oh." Armani blinked before he complied. "Sure, why not?"

Armani had just gotten up to walk the book over towards Artemis when Seth stopped him.

"Actually," Seth began, clenching his fists. "I strongly insist someone else read Chapter 5 and instead have Artemis read Chapter 6." Judging from the chapter titles he saw earlier, that scene was likely to take place there.

"Are you sure about that?" The voice asked Seth.

"I am."

"I doubt mother will be happy."

"She won't be, but having her read the chapter will help change how she went about the encounter, should it happen to repeat in this timeline."

"...and it has nothing to do with you wanting her to feel guilty?"

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't," Seth mused. "After all, if I'm being forced to relive it, then why can't she?"

"She won't have the full context," it reminded him. "All she will see is her actions from your perspective-!"

"That's more than enough," Seth thought back. "This opportunity is exactly why I chose to be in this vulnerable position in the first place."

Before the voice could continue, Artemis spoke up.

"Since you insist, I will choose to go along with it," she answered, though for some unknown reason, a part of her subconscious was urging her to reconsider.

"That answers that, but who's going to read Chapter 5?" Katie asked.

Seth took a deep breath to steel himself before he gestured his hand to Armani. "I'll do it."

Armani glanced at Seth hesitantly, noticing the way he prepared himself. "Are you sure?" He asked quietly.

Seth nodded before admitting, "It's what I'm here for. Besides, the worst part happens after," he whispered, his voice barely heard over the Stolls' and Ashlynn's side chatter. He also noticed the divine twins having a private conversation of their own.

Armani's eyes widened in realization, "So you set it up for…?"

Seth smiled ruefully. "We only got one chance, Armani, and I think doing this will give me my most desired ending. If it means upsetting her, then so be it."

"If you're sure," Armani relented with a sigh. "You're right though- she most definitely won't be happy." He shared a glance at Luna, who eventually caught on to his stare, after conversing with Cassie and Alessa.

Luna tilted her head slightly in question before Armani glanced in Seth's direction. With a nod of understanding, Luna whispered something to both girls before parroting it to Dove.

"What are they doing?" Seth wondered.

Armani watched the four girls curiously before turning his attention back towards Seth. "I don't think this version of her will accept this quietly," he warned before passing the book to Seth while grumbling, "especially if the reveal is anything like mine."

Seth narrowed his eyes after hearing those words before flipping the page to the next chapter.

---

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

The plan is to update before the New Year, but unfortunately, life gets in the way sometimes.

Also, if any of you read Luna's story, I plan on updating it soon. Hopefully, the update will consist of two chapters, but if not the second shouldn't be far behind.