As Taeyeon entered the camp, Jessica became increasingly aware of all the eyes on them. Several of the campers even called out Taeyeon’s name in reverent  greeting to which the brunette merely nodded in their direction. It was clear that Taeyeon was respected at camp. Jessica didn’t have to think hard to understand why. Being the daughter of Zeus guaranteed respect from the other campers. As a fellow daughter of the Big Three, Jessica understood this very well.

They approached an aged man in a wheelchair with brown hair and a beard. Strapped across his body was a bow. Jessica blinked before the wheelchair vanished in front of her eyes and realized that the man was not actually a man but a centaur.

“Welcome back, Taeyeon. We weren’t expecting you for another week,” the man greeted Taeyeon as she approached. “And this is?” he looked at Jessica.

Taeyeon turned to look at Jessica. “Jessica, this is Chiron, the activities director here at camp. Chiron, this is Jessica Jung. She, uh, is a demigod. I met her at school,” Taeyeon introduced the two.

Chiron gazed curiously at Jessica. Jessica could practically see the gears turning in his head. “My, what a coincidence,” he commented.

“Yeah, I was cornered by a small group of Keres, but Jessica saved me,” Taeyeon explained. Chiron continued to look at Jessica with a renewed sense of fascination.

“And may I ask, who is your godly parent, Jessica?” Chiron asked curiously. Jessica could tell he could sense her powers somewhat. The stronger the demigod, the stronger their scent, and Jessica knew from first hand experience that she stank. It wouldn’t surprise her if Chiron could smell her abilities.

“The ruler of the Underworld,” Jessica answered vaguely. She saw Chiron narrow his eyes slightly at her confession as he appraised her in a new light. He was suspicious, Jessica could tell and rightly so. After all, she had a feeling she shouldn’t be here.

“And I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how old are you, my child?” he asked albeit a bit hesitantly.

Jessica paused. She knew why he was asking. Demigods rarely went undetected in the mortal world past the age of twelve. The older they were, the stronger their scent, and the more likely they attracted monsters. Being a child of the Underworld, there should’ve been no way that she went undetected for nearly as old as she was. Which meant, she had survived through some other means besides Camp Half-Blood.

“I’m seventeen,” Jessica answered eventually knowing there wasn’t any way to avoid the questions. Besides, judging from the glint in Chiron’s eyes, she could tell he knew. His eyes flickered momentarily to her sleeved right arm, and Jessica knew she was right. Chiron had pieced together her vague answers about her father, her age, and the fact that she had never attended Camp Half-Blood before to come to the right conclusion.

Chiron nodded once. “Well, Jessica Jung, daughter of Hades, welcome to Camp Half-Blood.”

Jessica merely gave a half-hearted, almost awkward, shrug. “Thanks.”

Chiron returned his attention back to Taeyeon who had been watching the exchange with keen eyes. There was confusion clouding in her eyes, and it was clear that something was bothering her.

“Well, you mentioned a Keres attack. Mind telling me what happened?” Chiron asked.

Taeyeon went on to explain what had transpired while Jessica decided to zone out. Her ADHD mind was getting bored and instead she focused on taking in her surroundings - how big the camp was, where the cabins were located, where the fighting pits were located, where the exit was, where the campers ate etc. Her mind took every detail in. By the time Taeyeon was done explaining, Jessica had concocted seven different strategies to overtake the camp.

“What?” Jessica asked as soon as she realized the conversation had stopped and they were both now looking at her.

“Why don’t you two get settled in,” Chiron suggested. “Taeyeon, your cabin is exactly where you left it. As for you, Jessica, I’ll have Yoona you to the Hades cabin where you’ll be staying.”

Jessica could nearly hear the unspoken ‘for now’ in his tone.

“That’s okay, I can show her to her cabin,” Taeyeon cutted in. She turned towards Jessica. “Let’s go?” Jessica nodded and followed after Taeyeon.

Taeyeon pointed out all the cabins for her. The big one to no one’s surprise was the cabin meant for Zeus’ children. The slightly smaller one next to it that clearly looked abandoned belonged to Hera. When Taeyeon stopped in front of a black obsidian cabin with skulls hanging over the front door, Jessica was not impressed. Neither was she impressed by the coffin shaped beds that sat in the corner of the room. The shrine of bones didn’t exactly make a good impression either.

Taeyeon turned to look at her and shrugged with a look that said ‘yeah I know.’

“The cabin is new. We actually didn’t have a cabin for Hades until last summer after the, uh, Titan war,” Taeyeon coughed slightly.

“Just because I’m the child of the god of death does not mean I like sleeping a coffin or that I like being surrounded by things that remind me of death. I’m not a vampire, nor am I goth,” Jessica stated dryly.

Taeyeon winced. “Yeah, I know. But we never really had any Hades children before at Camp and we didn’t know what they would’ve liked so Seohyun just designed it to the best of her abilities with Hades’ throne room in mind. I think she did a relatively good job. But I would never be able to live in this.”

This made Jessica turn to stare at her with interest. “You’ve been to the Underworld then? You’ve met my dad?”

Taeyeon scoffed. “Yeah. It was during my first summer at camp too. My dad’s lightning bolt was stolen and he thought Hades had it. So we went to the Underworld to retrieve it.”

Jessica glared at Taeyeon. “My dad is not a thief. He would have never stolen the thunder bolt,” she stated firmly, feeling protective over her father. Though a small part of her mind reminded her that maybe Hades was different from Pluto and Hades may have stolen the bolt. Pluto wouldn’t have though. Jessica knew her father.

Taeyeon put her hands up in surrender. “I didn’t say he did. In fact, we found out later that Ares was the one to take it.”

Jessica looked satisfied with her explanation, so Taeyeon decided to leave while the blonde was still calm. “Anyways, feel free to redecorate it if you’d like. I’m sure Seohyun wouldn’t take too much offense over it. I’m gonna head back to my cabin now. Dinner is at six. Feel free to chill or explore until then.” Taeyeon bid the girl farewell, leaving Jessica alone in the dark, depressing cabin.

Jessica took one glance at the coffin shaped bed. “There is no way in Pluto that I am sleeping in that.’

Taeyeon pulled open the door to cabin one which she occupied alone and immediately plopped onto her bed. The room was exactly as she’d left it in the fall. Her spear was mounted on the wall across from her. Her shield was laying against the floor where she’d haphazardly thrown it. She even spotted her spare orange camp shirt by the foot of her dresser.

She laid still for a few minutes, just relishing in the fact that she was back at camp before standing up, grabbing her spear, and heading towards the training pits, wondering if anyone was up for some light sparring. After her encounter with the Keres which ended up with her needing to be saved, she needed to blow some steam off. Plus, training was the only thing that would get her mind of the mysterious blonde for now.

As she headed to the pits, she saw Yuri (daughter of Poseidon and a giant pain in her ) currently sparring with Hyoyeon who was a daughter of Ares and a master of all weapons.

“Mind if I join?” she asked as she neared them. They both stopped midway and looked at her.

Yuri smirked at her. “Feel like getting your kicked today, Ozone Breath?”

Taeyeon rolled her eyes. Yuri was still as insufferable as ever. The nickname was terrible. “Like you can beat me, Barnacle Head,” she shot back. Okay, so she wasn’t much better at nicknames.

“Hey, I’m still here, you know?” Hyoyeon snorts indignantly. “You Big Three children and your egos. Someone has to knock you back down.”

The three of them brandished their weapons and circled each other. Taeyeon gripped her spear, tightly with her right hand, and loosely with her left. Yuri was twirling her trusty sword playfully while Hyoyeon held her own sword steadily. They eyed each other down, daring for each other to make the first move.

Taeyeon tried to keep both of them in her sight. She felt a surge of anger and knew it was Hyoyeon’s doing. Ares kids always had an innate way of riling up their opponents in a fight. Luckily for her, Taeyeon was used to dealing with them.

Yuri striked first, though Taeyeon was expecting it. Children of Poseidon were like the ocean, always roaring with emotions. She sliced horizontally towards Taeyeon which she blocked easily with her spear. Hyoyeon took Yuri’s offense to her advantage and lunged for Taeyeon at the same time with the tip of her sword.

Taeyeon quickly pushed Yuri off  to meet Hyoyeon’s offense. She placed a well aimed kick at Hyoyeon’s ribs before turning and spearing at Yuri. Her spear nicked Yuri’s shoulder before the three of them jumped back, repositioning themselves.

It was clear from the way both of them kept their eyes on Taeyeon that this was not going to be a fair fight. They were both going to be gunning for her. Luckily for her, she had the advantage of distance.

She swung her spear, the dull end first. Hyoyeon ducked under while Yuri blocked it. Taeyeon quickly pulled the staff of the spea back, pivoting quickly on her toes before ing the pointy end of her spear three times in succession aiming at Yuri’s unguarded left arm, her slower left leg, and at Hyoyeon’s hip. The three continued to spar, unaware of the audience that had gathered around them.

There was a moment where Yuri had distracted her and Hyoyeon had aimed a well timed slice at her arm which she was too slow to dodge. Hyoyeon’s blade cut through skin and for the second time today, Taeyeon found herself bleeding in her arms. She cursed to herself quietly before deciding it was time to end it.

She whirled around and planted her spear into the ground, vaulting herself into the air. It caught Yuri by surprise and she was able to the kick the girl firmly in the chest before the girl could dodge or block. As Yuri flew to the ground, Taeyeon whirled around and flicked her spear, catching the hilt of Hyoyeon’s sword with the tip, effectively disarming her, leaving her defenseless.

“Yield,” Taeyeon demanded with a smirk, her spear tip centimeters from Hyoyeon’s throat.

Hyoyeon merely smirked back and Taeyeon knew Hyoyeon was watching Yuri sneak up on her. It would’ve worked but Taeyeon knew better than to forget about the daughter of Poseidon.

“Nice try,” she said before swerving her spear out, tripping Hyoyeon, and turning around in time to place the spear point right in front of Yuri’s face this time. Yuri’s sword was out but too far to reach Taeyeon.

“Both of you could’ve been dead by now. Yield,” Taeyeon stated once more, confidence ringing in her voice.

Yuri frowned, her stance deflating and dropped her arms to her side. “I yield,” she grumbled.

“Dammit,” Taeyeon heard Hyoyeon mutter from the ground behind her. “And here I thought we had you.”

Taeyeon merely smiled. “Maybe in a few more years.” She offered her hand which Hyoyeon took gratefully and pulled her to her feet.

“That was quite a fight.” Taeyeon looked up and saw nearly the entire camp watching them, including Chiron and Jessica. While everyone else looked amazed, Jessica’s eyes hold no awe. Instead they were calculating and studying as if she was imagining fighting Taeyeon in her head, exploiting weaknesses she’d found in her observation of the spar, coming up with different strategies and scenarios that ended up with her victory. Taeyeon fought back a shudder. Her gut instinct told her that she did not want to have the daughter of Hades as an enemy ever.

“Why don’t you three go hit the showers. Dinner is soon,” Chiron stated and as Taeyeon leaves she tries not to waver knowing Jessica’s watchful gaze was on her the entire time.

Dinner was mostly uneventful. Jessica slid most of her steak into the sacrificial fire and prayed briefly to Pluto. Chiron had stood up and made an announcement once everyone was seated. He introduced Jessica as the daughter of Hades, and the rest of the campers cheered, though some looked at Jessica warily. She didn’t blame them. She would’ve stared too. She was the first Hades child in nearly a century due to the pact that the Big Three made.

Jessica sat alone at the Hades table. Taeyeon sat alone at the Zeus table. There was chattering everywhere, but Jessica didn’t hear a