This is a cute lil one shot I made about a "what if" scenario. In this scenario, after breaking her dad out of the Underworld, Essie is immediately transported by Hera to the cave where Percy sleeps. Her memories are erased alongside his and after graduating from the Wolf House, they're quickly being pursued by the Gorgons... and Ethan.

Alternative summary: Ethan's yandere meter cracks

Tread carefully because this is a dark oneshot.

WARNINGS: Ethan, major character death, Ethan, noncon themes, Ethan, stalking, Ethan, voyeurism, Ethan, kidnapping, Ethan, drugging, Ethan, mentions of baby trapping at the end, aaaaand Ethan

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED :)

For all those people asking things like "I want Essie to break free of his abuse and just run away, can't u do that?" or "what if Essie realizes Ethan's crazy and leaves him?" or "when's essie gonna take off her rose colored glasses", here's what's gonna happen :)

This is my Thanksgiving present to you all! And for those who don't celebrate it, then consider it a random gift!

ESMERELDA HAD NO MEMORIES OF her life.

One day, she just woke up with this random dude called Percy (he was nice) in some creepy looking cave. They quickly learned that they were on the same page: no memories and strangely enough, no shoes either. Percy theorized that they had been taken to the evil lair of some foot fetishist, but thankfully, they were just taken to a broken down house full of disturbed children who were being led by an oversized wolf goddess.

Anyways, things didn't get any better after that. They spent months in that hellhole under the unforgiving gaze of Lupa, who trained and conditioned them alongside the other much younger children. Apparently, the gods existed too and she and Percy inherited some cool powers from their godly parent (not that they were allowed to use it though thanks to Lupa's stupid rules).

She was pretty sure the only thing keeping her sane was this one single memory she had. Or, well, it wasn't really a memory per se, but more like a piece of her past that she clung onto.

It was a name: Ethan. That was it. No last name either. She didn't know why, but that name alone left her feeling an intense emotion; a sort of longing and desperation that left her shaken. She tried to put a face to the name, but her mind would come up blank and her heart would be throbbing as if a thousand knives were stabbing into it.

Thinking about him hurt. She didn't know why, but she knew Percy didn't have that issue when he thought about that Annabeth girl. His lips would curl up into a smile any time he talked about her, whereas Esmerelda was left feeling like screaming and falling to her knees any time she thought about Ethan.

Long story short, the Wolf House wasn't fun for her. The only people that seemed to somewhat tolerate the harsh treatment were the legacies (who reminded Esmerelda way too much of brainwashed followers of a cult). Lupa didn't seem to enjoy their presence either and Esmerelda was certain Lupa was going to eat her for not being Roman enough, but miraculously, she was released alongside Percy.

That was how they got their next problem: trying to find Camp Jupiter.

She quickly realized that finding Camp Jupiter was the least of their problems though because she soon ran into another, more pressing issue: him.

She first met him at the Napa Bargain Mart after a Mist traveling incident. She and Percy had just purchased some supplies and were heading to the exits when they were stopped by a pair of gorgon sisters.

"Hi there!" The gorgon on the right beamed, holding a tray out. "Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners! Try some! They're free samples!"

Esmerelda was almost drooling as the cheesy smell wafted into her nose.

"Oooooh yes please!" She said eagerly, her hand reaching out to grab a wiener from the tray when suddenly—

SCHLICK!

It happened in an instant. The monster employee's entire right arm had been chopped off by a Celestial bronze sword, the same material as Percy's Riptide. The gorgon let out a cry of delirious pain while her sister shrieked in terror.

"I'll be taking this," a familiar voice muttered, followed by a hand reaching down to grab the severed arm.

Esmerelda's gaze trailed up and her mouth ended up forming into a little 'o'. She probably looked like an idiot, but she was too busy registering the fact that the hottest dude she had ever seen was standing before her.

No seriously. He was ridiculously good looking. The guy was tall with nice broad shoulders. His pitch black hair looked so silky that she wanted to reach out and comb her fingers through them. His brown eyes were dark, cold, and cutting—the kind of look you would expect to see just before you were brutally murdered—and there was an eyepatch over his left eye. Her gaze then traveled lower to his arms, and she was so glad that it was summer time because his arms were exposed and wow were his muscles really—

They locked eyes and she instantly panicked. The hot guy was looking at her now. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Why was he looking her up and down with that weird look on his face? Did she look terrible? Did she forget to comb her hair?! Maybe he caught her staring at him and was grossed out?! Oh gods she could die—

She was cut off from her thoughts by a quick nudge from Percy. He was gaping at her, his expression practically screaming 'are you seriously drooling over him NOW?!'.

Her face heated up some more and she quickly straightened herself out. Right. There was still the gorgon issue they had to deal with.

Actually, never mind. While she was too busy staring at the guy like an idiot, he had already disposed of the two monsters.

She fought the urge to slam her head into the nearest wall. She had never acted like this before. Her whole body felt so hot she was almost tempted to Mist travel to Antarctica to cool herself down and her heart was beating faster than it would when she was faced with danger. What was going on with her?

"Are you okay?" The guy asked, looking right at her as if Percy wasn't there.

"Yeah," she squeaked, feeling like dying. "Just fine. Th-thanks for the, um... for killing the monsters."

Oh my gods, I sound so stupid, Percy just take over! She sent her friend a pleading look, but he was staring at the arm the guy had taken.

"What do you need that for?" Percy asked curiously.

Rather than answering, he scanned the area and jerked his head to the side. "Too many mortals here. Let's talk outside."

His tone made it sound more like an order than a suggestion. Regardless of it, Esmerelda found herself following after him without a second's hesitation. Only stopping when she felt Percy stop her.

"Huh?" She blinked at him.

"Should we trust this guy?" He whispered. "I mean, he just came out of nowhere."

He had a point.

"He's probably a demigod like us," she assured. "Come on, I think we can trust him."

"I don't think so," Percy sounded apprehensive. "He might be a monster. I mean—Essie, didn't you see the way he looked at you? He barely even looked at me and the way he looked at you—it was creepy. He looked like he wanted to eat you."

(Percy had been right though. The guy was a monster, but not the type they were thinking of. If she had just listened—)

She gave him a funny look, almost wondering if he was joking. "What?" She said, laughing a little.

But Percy was serious. "I—"

"—Are you coming or not?" An annoyed voice interrupted him.

They both turned to see the guy waiting impatiently for them to follow, and Esmerelda started to feel the same apprehension Percy was. He was glaring at them. No wait, not at them. His glare was aimed at Percy's hand, which had wrapped itself around her arm. Then his eye trailed up and he gave Percy the darkest look Esmerelda had ever seen.

Percy got the memo. He slowly released her, but didn't make any move to stand farther.

"Who exactly are you?" Percy asked warily.

"Ethan Nakamura," he answered stiffly. "Son of Nemesis."

Esmerelda froze up. "E-Ethan?" She echoed, the same stabbing feeling reaching her heart. She felt like screaming, crying, and running away, but at the same time she wanted to run up to him and hold on to him forever.

The look he gave her made her shiver. "Yeah," he answered, trailing off like he was gauging her for a reaction. When she didn't do anything else, his lips flattened into disappointment. With a sigh, he turned away and gestured to them to follow.

"I'm not going to repeat myself a second time," he said gruffly. "Now get out here before I make you."

"Essie," Percy whispered lowly. "You need to Mist travel us out now."

"No," Esmerelda didn't know why, but she didn't want to disobey the stranger. Somehow, she knew nothing good would result in that. "Percy, we should go."

He looked at her incredulously, before analyzing her. "You know this dude, don't you? Is this the 'Ethan' guy you talked about?"

"I think so," she mumbled.

"Can we trust him?"

She didn't know how to answer that.

She was struggling to understand her emotions. She wanted to throw herself at Ethan and beg him to never let her go, but the rational side of her was screaming at her to run. There was just something dangerous about this guy, more dangerous than any of the monsters she and Percy had encountered.

In the end, they both followed Ethan outside of the bargain mart. He led them to the side of the building, which was empty and provided them some shade from the sun.

"You don't remember anything, do you?" Ethan asked them knowingly.

"How do you know that?" Percy asked suspiciously. "I don't remember seeing you from the Wolf House."

"I'm not from the Wolf House," he answered curtly. "I'm from camp."

"Camp Jupiter?" Esmerelda asked.

He turned to look at her, giving her full attention. He didn't answer her question, and instead lifted up the severed gorgon arm that was still dripping with blood.

"Drink the blood," he told her.

She blinked. "Um... excuse me?"

He rolled his eye. "Gods don't tell me Hera erased all the memories about your monster lessons too."

"Hera?" She was getting more and more confused by the minute. "You mean Juno?"

"No," he said bluntly. "For us, it's Hera. We're Greek demigods, not Roman."

They stared at him in bewilderment.

He heaved a sigh of annoyance and ran a hand through his hair. "This is taking too long. Just drink the blood already, would you? Blood from the right side of a gorgon heals, so drinking it would bring back your lost memories."

Now that got their attention.

Esmerelda stared at the arm in shock. Was he telling the truth? Beside her, Percy was wondering the same thing.

"How do we know we can trust you?" He asked.

"Because we know each other," Ethan replied, his voice hard. "We went to camp together before Hera kidnapped you both. I know everything about you," he was looking at Esmerelda when he said this, and she felt her stomach churn and her breath hitch. "Names, families, powers, personality, likes and dislikes..." His eyes trailed over to Percy, a glint in his eye. "And weaknesses."

Esmerelda felt like her throat had run dry. She didn't like this. She didn't like the way he looked at her. And she especially didn't like how his very presence made her emotions go crazy as if they were warring with each other. She didn't doubt him when he said they knew each other, but what she wanted to know was what they were to each other.

Were they friends? No, that couldn't be it. The pining and desperation wouldn't be this intense if he was just a friend. They had to have been lovers. But how? There was something so terribly off about this guy. He radiated with something dark and twisted. His aura was purely menacing. A part of her whispered that she shouldn't care, that she would be so much happier if she just pushed the alarm bells aside and willingly came to him, but her common sense was louder, it was screaming at her to run away, that this guy was nothing but bad news.

"I'm not taking that," she said shakily. She didn't know why, but the second those words left her mouth, she immediately regretted it. It was like she had just sealed her fate.

(She shouldn't have done that, she shouldn't have done that, she shouldn't have done that—)

The look Ethan gave her was like a punch to the gut. The cold exterior had melted away into shock, then hurt, anger, and betrayal. It was almost as if she had rejected him.

"You're not taking this?" He asked, disbelief written all over his face. "But—but why? You can get your memories back!"

His voice rose, and Esmerelda started to shrink.

"Hey," Percy said in a warning tone. "Calm down—"

"—You shut the fuck up Percy," Ethan barked. "This is your fault isn't it?"

His eyes widened in surprise at the accusation. "W-what?"

"You told her not to trust me," he seethed. "You put those thoughts in her head!"

The pair started to back away. Ethan's cold and menacing attitude was beginning to chip away, revealing something broken and unhinged. And the worst part was that despite the fear coursing through Esmerelda's veins, she felt like she expected this sort of reaction from him.

"I knew it. I fucking knew this would happen!" Ethan snarled under his breath. He looked at Esmerelda, his face wrought with desperation and pain. "Come here, angel. Please. I know you're not thinking straight—all this shit is messing with your head. I can help you, baby, so just listen to me—"

Percy pushed her behind him, his sword out. "You need to back off," he said in a hard voice. He was glaring at him, but inside, he was thoroughly shaken up. Ethan was worse than any monster he had ever faced. At least those guys were somewhat sane, but this guy was breaking apart at the seams.

"WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE STOP TAKING HER AWAY FROM ME?!" Ethan roared, brandishing his sword, his shoulders shaking with rage. "YOU back off, Percy! You and everyone else! You all fucking messed up her mind!"

Percy took another step back. "Ethan—"

Esmerelda grabbed his arm before he could finish and without another word, she Mist traveled themself away. The last thing she saw before the green mist enveloped them was the dark look on Ethan's face, promising that this wouldn't be the last time they saw each other.

They were thrown onto a cold street, a cool breeze greeting their skin.

"Gods..." Percy said shakily as he pushed himself off the ground. "Essie, who was that guy? Essie? Essie...?"

He turned around. She was still kneeling on the pavement, her hands holding herself up. Her face was unnaturally pale and she was shivering, but not from the cold.

You all fucking messed up her mind! He had said.

No, Esmerelda realized, feeling sick to her stomach. He was the one who messed up her mind.

She understood it now. Her conflicting emotions; the way she wanted to kiss him and run away from him at the same time. It was all him... and her.

The relationship they previously had wasn't full of pure love and goodness like she thought it was—that was just the naïve side of her that he had cultivated, the side he nourished so she would push away her rationale and love him back. Their real relationship was a twisted sort of love. It was dark and cruel, but he made her think it was all good and happy and she had tricked herself into thinking the same thing.

She felt a liquid travel up her throat and quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late. She opened her mouth and gagged as bile came spilling onto the ground, unable to hold it back.

"Holy shit!" Percy was at her side in an instant, pulling her hair back and looking at her in worry and panic.

"'M s-sorry," she sobbed, tears streaming down her face as she heaved once more.

"It's okay," he assured. "You're okay, Essie, you're okay."

But she shook her head. After this revelation, she didn't think she would ever be okay.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

After that day, Esmerelda became sick. She was racked with headaches, an upset stomach, low energy, nausea, and all kinds of horrible things she didn't think demigods would ever go through.

Percy was worried, and she could get why. Demigods rarely ever got sick. The godly blood running through veins was usually enough to keep them safe from even the worst illnesses. Their encounter with Ethan had caused her mind to fracture and both were certain that her poor mental health was the direct cause of her poor physical health.

Luckily for them, they weren't too far away from Camp Jupiter. Esmerelda ended up taking them to San Francisco and after using the Mist to get them free rooms in the Four Seasons Hotel, Percy told her that he felt that they were close to the Roman camp. Esmerelda would've agreed had she not been too busy hacking up her breakfast.

"Do you think you'll feel better tomorrow?" Percy asked her nervously as he gave her a few painkillers for her headache.

"It doesn't matter," she replied tiresomely. "We've been staying here for too long now. I want to get to camp before Ethan finds us."

His face softened. "Essie, we're all the way in San Francisco and we ditched him back in Napa. There's no way he's gonna be here. He wouldn't even know how to find us."

"But he found us at the store, remember?" She pointed out anxiously, her stress levels rising. "I don't wanna risk it, Percy. We have to leave tomorrow. Please."

"Fine," he sighed. "You rest up then. Knowing us, it's gonna be a long journey tomorrow."

Esmerelda nodded in agreement. Demigod luck certainly sucked. She popped the pills in her mouth and gulped down her water. Then, she settled as comfortably as she could in her bed, hoping that she would feel better the next morning.

The next morning came, and she did not feel any better, but she was determined to ignore it so she and Percy could get to Camp Jupiter.

"Dude, you look terrible," Percy said worryingly as he watched her crawl out of bed.

"I'll be fine," she said groggily, wiping her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Seven," he replied. "I'm gonna head down to the lobby and grab us some free breakfast."

"Kay," she nodded, dragging her feet to the bathroom. "I'll be in the shower."

Usually a nice warm shower would help her feel better, but not when she was like this. The longer she stood, the more lightheaded she got and the closer she felt to keeling over and vomiting. The water pouring over her head felt like hammers slamming into her skull and the smell of the soaps she used was nauseating.

Gods. She just wanted to get to Camp Jupiter already and maybe see a healer. Plus, there was no way Ethan could get her there, right?

After her shower, she wrapped a towel around her body and stepped into her room. To her joy, a plate of food was set on her night table, probably left there by Percy. Even better, it was a frittata, an Italian breakfast dish. How did Percy know she loved Italian food?

Nevertheless, she was hungry to try it out but first she needed to get dressed.

Her clothes were already laid out in the bed so she removed her towel and let the air hit her skin. As she reached out for her underwear, she couldn't help but feel as if someone was watching her.

She looked around. The window was covered by the curtains and her front door was locked. Nothing was amiss.

(Had she looked around sooner, she would've seen that the closet door had been left ajar before it quietly closed itself.)

Stop being so paranoid, she scolded herself as she slipped on her clothes. That's what got me so sick in the first place.

After using some magic to dry out her hair and style it the way she liked, she eagerly grabbed her breakfast and went over to the small table that overlooked the massive windows.

She pushed the curtain aside to allow sunlight in, but instead was met with flashing blue and red lights. She peered down. Outside of the hotel, she could see numerous police cars and an ambulance surrounding the parking lot. She could even see a body being wheeled in, but the blanket thrown over the face told her that the person was already dead.

Well alright then. Guess it wasn't such a good idea to open the curtains. She drew them back, deciding that artificial light would have to do.

She ate her breakfast, not eating too quickly or else her stomach would get upset with her again. As she took a sip of her ice cold water, she briefly wondered where Percy had gone. Did he go back to his room after dropping off her food? Or maybe he was at the arcade—he did mention wanting to try it out.

By the time she finished her meal, she was worried.

She rose to her feet and walked over to the door connecting her to Percy's room. "Percy, you there?" She asked, knocking on the surface.

No reply.

An icy feeling entered her stomach. She opened the door and stepped in.

Percy wasn't in there, but his things were. The bed was still unmade, his backpack was placed on a chair, and his panda pillow pet laid over the duvet.

But no Percy. And that was what made her worry.

"Percy?" She called out, hoping he was in the bathroom. It was empty too.

She retreated back to her room, feeling herself grow sick with worry. Percy wasn't anywhere in his room. Maybe he was just downstairs, playing at the arcade like he always wanted to. A horrible thought crossed her mind, what if it was a monster attack?

An unsure chuckle escaped her lips as she grasped the wall to keep herself balanced. There was no way. That couldn't be it. She had seen him fight. He was too strong, too powerful, to be defeated by some monsters. She had seen him fight numerous times before. He was practically invulnerable to an unnatural degree.

"Ugh..." She groaned as the sick feeling increased.

There was... something wrong.

She shouldn't be feeling like this. She felt weak, as if her energy had been drained. Her vision was growing fuzzier too. Her legs started to give out, making her slide down the wall and land on the floor. Was it her sickness getting to her again?

Her question was answered when the door to her closet opened and a familiar figure stepped out. Even with her vision getting blurrier, she automatically knew who it was.

"No..." She whispered weakly, feeling her eyes water.

Ethan approached her, his eye greedily taking her in. As he drew closer, she was able to catch sight of the blood that splattered his face and clothes. Her breathing grew harsher. Whose blood was that?

There was a sickeningly satisfied look on his face as he knelt before her.

"I was hoping the drugs would kick in faster while you were eating," he commented. "But this is okay too."

Her eyes widened, darting over to the finished plate and empty glass that was still set up on the table. He drugged her?

His hand reached out to cup her cheek, and she couldn't even move away from him.

"Shhh, don't cry," he cooed, his fingers wiping her tears away. "Everything's gonna be just fine now. I love you so much. I'm gonna bring you back home and take care of you."

She tried to move, but not even her fingers twitched. To her horror, black started to enter her vision and soon enough, she was unconscious.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Esmerelda felt herself go in and out of consciousness after that. She remembered catching a glimpse of Ethan setting her inside a car, his hand rubbing her thigh in a soothing manner, and his lips whispering words of reassurance before she blacked out again.

The moments of consciousness after that were even shorter. She remembered seeing him slide an expensive looking ring onto her finger, then she remembered looking out the window and realizing that they were no longer in San Francisco, and lastly, she remembered the feeling of him carrying her somewhere.

She opened her eyes, a familiar scent entering her nose. It made her feel so warm, safe, and loved, until she realized who it belonged to. Things started to become clearer now. She was inside an unfamiliar room, laying on a bed, her legs tangled with someone else's and her head resting against a hard, moving chest.

"I know you're awake," Ethan drawled.

She flinched and immediately tried to move away from him, but her movements were sluggish and her body felt heavy. Either the drugs were still affecting her or he had fed her another one while she was knocked out.

Strong arms moved to cage her against him. "Stop fighting," he sighed, pressing his lips against the top of her head. "This is where you belong. This is your place. With me. You used to understand that so well until that stupid goddess fucked with your head..."

"You're crazy," she hissed, wriggling around fruitlessly.

"Yeah," he agreed, shrugging. "But you never cared. You loved it. I know you still do. You just don't remember."

"Please let me go," she begged. "Please. Percy will be looking for me. Or—or my parents or—"

He snorted. "Babe, your dad's already aware of what I'm doing."

That was enough to momentarily get her to pause. "Huh?"

"Your dad, your mortal parent, Regulus Black," he told her. "You don't remember this, but you died, angel. You died and you were sent to the Underworld but thanks to the Doors of Death being opened, you were able to escape with your dad who was also dead. Unfortunately, you disappeared right after that and your dad managed to get to Grimmauld Place where I was staying. Long story short, we made a deal."

"A-a deal?" She said. She didn't know why, but the word 'deal' made her stiffen in fear.

He nodded, smirking. "Yep. Your dad was really desperate. I free his brother from prison and get you back and in return, he swore to accept me as your lover with no complaints."

"I don't... I don't understand..."

"Well, those weren't the exact words," he said uncaringly. "But whatever. He told me to do whatever it takes; whether I had to kill anyone who was in my way or force you to come home, he didn't care as long as he got his little girl back."

"My dad... told you to do this...?" She was horrified. She never knew who her mortal parent was, but to hear that her own father wanted this to happen was sickening.

"Yeah," his smirk widened. "That guy's crazier than me and that's saying something. He's seriously obsessed with you and your uncle, who by the way, I exonerated. You're welcome."

"Wait," she swallowed thickly. "Where's Percy?" She asked, fearing the answer.

"Probably in some morgue," he answered casually.

She went still. "W... what...?" She suddenly felt dizzy, like she might throw up again.

"I didn't really hate the guy," he went on. "He tried to make the gods do good for once, you know? But he was in the way so I just had to kill him. If it makes you feel better, he fought hard. He would've beaten me if I hadn't nullified his powers and stabbed him in his Achilles Heel."

She didn't understand a word of what he was saying. Her mind kept flashing back to the red and blue police lights and the body that was being wheeled off to the ambulance.

No, she thought. No, no, no, no.

"I'm sorry," he said, his words empty. "I know you were friends with him, but you didn't really need him so..." Another uncaring shrug.

She didn't know what happened after that. Something in her just snapped. She screamed until her throat went hoarse and thrashed around in his hold. She scratched him, bit him, clawed at him, kicked him, and begged him to let her go as tears flooded from her eyes.

She wanted this whole nightmare to end. She wanted to go back home—whatever that was—she wanted Percy to come back, she wanted him to have a happy ending with Annabeth, she wanted Ethan to not exist, she wanted to wake up and be safe and happy again.

"Essie!" Ethan yelled, and his voice snapped her back to her horrible reality. She found herself with her back to the headboard, Ethan towering over her with his hands grabbing her wrists.

"Let me go! Let me go!" She shrieked madly, trying to kick her legs around but it was futile under his weight. Her head was pounding but she didn't care. She tried to force herself to Mist travel away, but the drugs were too strong on her.

Either that, or he had nullified her powers like he had done with Percy. She didn't know which was worse.

"Seriously?" He groaned in annoyance. "You cared about that moron that much? Come on, I don't wanna talk about him. Let's talk about us, angel. Once you've calmed yourself down, I'm gonna give you your memories back, aren't you happy?"

"I hate you," she sobbed, shaking her head furiously. "I fucking HATE you! I hate you!" She tried to push him away, but gasped in pain when he tightened his hold on her wrists.

"You hate me, huh?" He said monotonously before he sent her a devilish smirk. He leaned in close, his lips dangerously hovering hers. "You're lying."

She shook her head in denial.

He chuckled, nipping at her earlobe. "You are," he practically sang. "I can tell when people lie to me, sweetheart. You may not have your memories of me, but you still love me."

She let out a loud wail, shaking her head harder.

He grabbed her by the chin and smashed his lips against hers, moaning against their kiss. She tried to turn her head away, but Ethan grasped her by the hair with his other hand and made her keep still.

"Gods," he groaned, rocking his hips against hers. She could feel something hard brush against her thighs and cried harder. "I love you," he murmured before slipping his tongue into her mouth.

His hand traveled down her body and sneaked into her shirt. To her shame, she could feel him leave a trail of goosebumps on her skin whenever he touched her.

He pulled away, a thin trail of saliva forming between their tongues and breaking apart just as quickly as it created.

Esmerelda was breathing heavily. Her whole body felt hot and her mind felt cloudy. She had no idea if it was because of the drugs, but she hoped it was.

He sat up, still trapping her underneath his body. He grabbed something from the nightstand. A vial with blood inside. Gorgon blood. The one thing that could bring her memories back. Memories that she no longer wanted. Not if it meant remembering him, or her father, or whatever fucked up things that happened in her past.

"Drink up," he said, uncapping the vial and pouring it down into his own mouth. Then he grabbed her by the face and pressed his lips against hers, pushing the blood down her throat. She ended up drinking it down against her will.

The second she swallowed it, a searing pain enveloped her body.

"Argh...!" She cried out in pain, throwing her head back against the headboard. White entered her vision and she could feel the unwanted memories forcefully invade her mind.

"Fucking finally," Ethan sighed in relief. "You won't get your memories back right away, but you will soon. In the meantime..."

He trailed off, his hands already undoing her shorts and removing her shirt until nothing was left of her. He hungrily took in every inch of her body, feeling his cock harden underneath his jeans.

"We can test out how much your body still remembers mine..." He purred, slipping off his shirt and yanking down his pants.

"N-no..." She whimpered, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Don't worry," he whispered, leaving hot kisses down the side of her neck. "I won't do anything you won't enjoy."

She could feel tears slide down her face, followed by his thumb gently wiping it away.

"Soon, your memories will be restored and I know you'll come back to loving me like you always did," he breathed out, positioning himself against her entrance. She tried to squirm away, but he grabbed her by the waist and kept her still.

His thumbs stroked her stomach lovingly, an idea coming to mind once he noticed how flat it was.

Even if she refused to love him back once her memories were returned, he still had other ways to bind her to him...

— author's note —

Other details about this oneshot:

- Since Percy and Essie haven't reached the Little Tiber yet, he still has his Achilles Heel in this one shot. Unfortunately for him, Ethan knew where it was since book four and was able to kill him.

- For those who didn't understand, that little ending scene was Ethan coming up with the idea of baby trapping her to bind her to him. Please DO NOT do that (don't do anything Ethan did here tbh)

- The mixed feelings Essie is experiencing is basically her love for Ethan vs her rationale. In the original book, her love for him wins over. She chooses the easier path which is to love him despite the red flags. And yes that is the EASIER and "good" end.

In here, Essie's memories of him are mostly gone. She has no recollection of any of her trauma that caused her to cling onto him and love him despite the horrible things he's done. Because of that, her rationale is a little stronger. She sees the red flags and takes them seriously. She chooses the harder path which is to NOT love him back and well... naturally, that doesn't end well.

Unfortunately there is just no happy ending for her. I know some of you guys want to see a happy ending where Essie realizes all the abuse she's been facing and breaks up with Ethan, but she's far too gone to come to that conclusion and even if she did miraculously gain some clarity, it wouldn't end well for her. Ethan would do whatever it takes to get her back. Any independence and freedom she gains would be short-lived because he would've snatched her away and "fixed" her

:)