𝐄𝐔𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐀 | Happiness, but better translated as "human flourishing"; to flourish by realizing one's ideal end or goal, by achieving the purpose of human life with excellence or virtue.
In Ancient Greek theater, a Greek tragedy is a play w...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
▬▬▬ CHAPTER THIRTY ONE ▬▬▬
IT FELT LIKE SIX YEARS of stress was being lifted from Esmerelda's shoulders as she descended down the elevator to the lobby of the Empire State Building. Her hand was still tightly clasped with Ethan's and her head was leaning against his shoulder.
There were still many things to deal with, like funeral preparations for her friends and siblings, workloads from Hades, and the rebuilding of the entire camp, but for once, she was allowing herself to relax and bask in this post-war happiness.
"Can't wait to take a nap," Ethan muttered. "You?"
"Same here," she hummed. "But I should probably tell my uncle that I'm okay."
Speaking of her uncle, he was probably still very upset with her about what she had done, but that was fine. He just didn't understand things yet. But she'd make him see reason and everything could be happy again.
The elevator dinged, and they all stepped out. Sally and Paul were arguing with the security guy who had returned to his post. The raised voices all stopped when they finally spotted Percy.
"Percy!" Sally cried out in relief, and the two adults rushed over to him.
Esmerelda smiled at the scene before calmly going over to the front desk to nab a piece of mint.
"Oh, give me some too," Ethan said.
She was about to hand him a piece when Nico suddenly ran in from the street, and his face told her that something was wrong.
She frowned. "Nico? What's wrong?" She asked nervously.
"It's Rachel," he replied. "I just ran into her down on 32nd Street."
Annabeth frowned. "What's she done this time?"
"It's where she's gone," Nico said. "I told her she would die if she tried, but she insisted. She just took Blackjack and—"
"—She took my pegasus?" Percy demanded.
Nico nodded. "She's heading to Half-Blood Hill. She said she had to get to camp."
The mint dropped from Esmerelda's hand.
"Camp?" She repeated faintly. She exchanged a panicked look with Percy. "She—she went to camp?"
"Oh no..." Percy breathed out. "We need to get to her."
"What? Why?" Annabeth asked.
But they didn't answer. Instead, they rushed out of the building.
The traffic was horrible. Everybody was out on the streets gawking at the war zone damage. Police sirens wailed on every block. There was no possibility of catching a cab, and the pegasi had flown away.
But Esmerelda saw a biker and his girlfriend park his motorcycle at the sidewalk and got an idea.
"Percy, will you guys be okay with finding a ride on your own?" She asked.
