| The Rising Moon: The Awakening of a Demi-Goddess |

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Nico was eating breakfast, his legs silently swinging as he chewed his omelet. His mind was unusually calm, for the most part. He silently watched as Annabeth grilled Leo about how reckless he had been for giving Celestial the new gloves, even though almost everyone had gotten over it.

"Now she can handle daggers! Knifes! Bows! She's less restricted than before!" Annabeth pointed out angrily. Nico felt a bit bad for her. She was one of the main brains of the squad, always doing the worrying and planning for everyone. Percy gave her a 'pwease calm down' look and squeezed her hand. She gave him a thankful glance and slowly sat down, taking in a deep breath. 

"Well, we can't risk taking it off to replace it with the original ones. Has anyone gotten anything out of her?" Annabeth asked hopefully. It was futile. They all knew that the beautiful white haired girl had an immunity to charmspea-

Wait. Did he just think...

beautiful? His face turned red and he quickly covered it, his eyes dilating rapidly. What was going on with him? She was a traitor! He quickly shook his head, clearing his absurd thoughts, and watched everyone give each other unsatisfied looks. It was pretty obvious they weren't going to be getting any answers out of her soon, unless they had a truth potion of some sort. 

Hazel was nervously holding a tray of food in her hands, ready to exit the dining hall. They had all decided to take turns to deliver Celestial food for the past couple of days, which was completely fine with Nico. She infuriated him, which made him even more angry. His emotions of her were so complicated.... gods, curse you Aphrodite, he thought bitterly. Leo raised his hand, his mouth stuffed with food.

"Actually, I do have a couple of leads that might be handy," He said nonchalantly, chugging his milk. All eyes immediately shifted to him, everyones interest perking up.

"Explain. Now." Annabeth was hungry for details. Nico himself was interested as well. Leo swallowed his food and started to tap his finger on the wooden table.

"Well, I was doing some research, as usual, and found a way to possibly kill two birds with one stone," He started, pulling out a map of USA from his magic toolbelt. Nico peered his head over, interested where this was going. 

"We're here, in Southeast Illinois, correct? Up here," He pointed to Pennsylvania, and continued. "Is where Meda's Mall was relocated. She has every single potion, including truth serums..." He trailed off, leaving Nico confused. Meda's Mall? Wasn't she a princess from an old myth? The one who had sought out revenge on Jason (The first) after he betrayed her and her family? Since when did she have a mall?

"Leo, are you out of your mind?! You know how powerful Meda is! We were barely able to escape her last time!" Piper was the first to speak up, slamming her hands on the table. Jason nodded as well, pushing up his glasses.

"Yeah. Her charmspeak is... a bit horrifying actually. Remember?" Jason added, twiddling with his thumbs. Frank gave them all a confused glance.

"Meda? As in the one from that old myth with Jason? The first, I mean," He gave Jason (the currant) a look of puzzledness. Piper then went on to explain their encounter with the sorceress a while ago, and how they had barely managed to escape her powerful magic. Nico shook his head slowly, already sensing the danger.

"It's way to risky, Leo. And just for a truth serum? There must be a way we can be more efficient," He said, twirling his spoon around. Leo grinned and spoke up.

"I said two birds with one stone, remember? See, here," He lowered his finger, pointing to Virginia. "I've been gathering tons of information. You know the bad guys? The demi-gods who are working with the Wraiths and Eris and blah blah blah?" An unspoken thought entered Nico's mind. You mean the people Celestial left us to be with? Yeah, what about them? Bitterness surged around him.

"Well, I did some digging around and found out something valuable. On January 6th, there's going to be a major event. No gods or goddesses, just demi-gods, by the way. All security and privacy will be deactivated, and everyone will have their guard down," He said slowly. Annabeth's eyes brightened.

"Oh my gods, that's perfect! We could probably make it to Virginia to the event and sneak in! But what exactly is the celebration?" she asked. Nico could already see the calculations sparking in her mind. Sneaking into an event full of their enemies? I don't really like the sound of that... 

"Well, I'm not exactly-"

"A masquerade ball," He heard a voice cooly reply at the entrance of the dining hall. They all quickly turned around and saw Celestial with her back against the arch, Hazel giving sheepish looks to everyone else. Jason wildly turned to Hazel.

"How long as she-"

"She only heard the last part, don't worry. You guys can fill me in later," Hazel reassured. A few uneasy glances were thrown, but they all trusted Hazel, and prayed that Celestial hadn't actually heard their plans to obtain the truth serum. Annabeth crossed her arms and glared at Celestial.

"And how exactly do you know this? You've been gone for like, what, a week? The event happens in a few days. How do you know-"

"That they didn't change the plans? Oh believe me, I would know. It's an absolute pain to to have to organize these events- you don't know the half of the abuse," She scoffed, bitterness in her tone. Nico couldn't help but notice her skin was paler than it was before, and she looked less healthy than she had been the day before. Percy frowned.

"Wait, you organize these events? It's a normal thing?" He asked. She ran her fingers through her hair and gave a tired. nod. Gods, she does look sick.

"More like supervise. Being the top- being in my rank- results in me having to watch over all of the other demi-gods. Mostly the children of Bacchus and Dionysus organize the party and their themes and whatnot; always persisting to make each party more glamorous and extravagant each time." she waved her hands, as if trying to gesture how pissed off she was. Her attitude is also more sour as well, he noted quietly. 

He could see Annabeth estimating their chances, trying to see if everything fit into place. Jason spoke up.

"Wait, the theme is masquerade, right? Meaning we could go in wearing masks and no one would question us?" He confirmed. Celestial nodded, her blue and green eyes glistening tiredly. Piper narrowed her eyes.

"Wait, why are you telling us? Don't you work with the enemy?" She asked, suspicious. For a moment, Nico thought he had been over reacting. A small grin appeared on Celestial face, before she washed it off, a tired and weary look replacing it.

"Honestly? I hate these parties so much- you don't even know. It'll be satisfying to see the Bacchus and Dionysus kids freak out about their party being ruined," Nico searched for a glimmer of playfulness or sarcasm, but it all seemed to had disappeared that moment. 

They all quickly went into a group huddle, whispering to each other if they should believe her. 

"I think we should. She seems to very much hate parties- so at least it's somewhat honest," Hazel commented. Jason gave her a doubtful look.

"Can we really trust her after what she did? Sure, she might hate parties, but would she really be willing to betray Eris and her minions?" The question hung in the air, and everyone turned to Annabeth. She was the brains of the squad. If anyone knew what to do, it would be her. Nico could see the conflict in her eyes as she picked her option.

"I think.. we should listen to her. Don't take anything for granted, but we can use her to get some information about this.. masquerade ball. Leo, do you think you could set a course for Virginia? And if possible; Pennsylvania afterwards?" She asked. Leo gave her a thumbs up and skirted up to the engine room, ready to chart the ship. Tension flowed in the room as they all slowly turned to Celestial, who had her eyes closed and her back leaned against the wall. She was unusually quiet, humming a soft melody that Nico couldn't make out.

"Okay Celestial," Annabeth said slowly.

"Let's crash a party,"