● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

SHE SCREAMED AS SHE FELL, WATCHING THE FACES OF HER FRIENDS SHRINK AWAY. something scraped her arm, tearing through and flesh, she heard an agonizing crack at her shoulder and she cried out in pain, her hands digging in the dirt to stop the scratching of dirt against the wound.

she stopped falling. polyphemus jumled, her legs still hanging in his hand. he landed beside the group, hold her upside-down in his hand, the blood trickling from the wound of her arms dripped down her broken femur, her breaths became uneven, her heard swam with agony. she could faintly make out her friends saying something.

"failed!" the cyclops howled merrily. "nobody failed! and i have wife!"

even in this state, andromeda made a disgusted expression at the thought. she hung from his hand for a few more moments, until he became preoccupied with parrying percy's blade and dropped her somewhere.

she hit the ground hard, injuring her already cracked arm. her vision blurred, and she blinked furiously. she saw a head of blonde hair crouch before her. annabeth muttered with worry, looking over her injuries. she tore off a part of her t-shirt, and cleaned the blood away delicately.

everytime her fingers touched the broken bone, andromeda yelped in pain. she was only partly conscious, but she could faintly hear people talking and blades clanging in the background. and a loud thud! echoed around the area.

she squinted her eyes open, and saw percy looking at her with worry. she wanted to reassure him, but she couldn't get the words out, the exhaustion and fatigue getting to her head. she couldn't feel her arm, the blood loss had made it go numb.

she heard him call her name over and over. and that seemed to be the only sound she could hear. him say her name. even as her consciousness faded, his voice echoed in her head. her brain went numb, blurring out anything and everything. . .

then some weight descended over her body, covering everything but her face. and instantly, her senses sharpened. her breaths evened. she became aware of the wound on her skin, of the dried blood on her arm. the exhaustion faded, the pain in her broken bone muffled.

she blinked her eyes open, trying to pull up her hand to shield herself from the sun, but she felt buried under the weight of whatever was on her. then she saw her friends' grim faces around her.

"is it my funeral?"

annabeth caught her in a hug, enveloping her in warmth. "hey, i'm alive. and unmarried, hopefully,"

annabeth chuckled as she withdrew, sniffing and nodding. the brunette smiled back, trying to sit up under the heavy weight.

"andromeda," percy said, "just lay still."

she didn't listen. she pulled herself into a seating position, and only then did she see the golden fleece layed upon her. the gash on her arm now sewing back together, her exhaustion had faded just a little, and the warmth had returned in her body.

"down!" she heard a voice, looking in the direction, she saw the least likely fellow she expected. "no, sheepies. this way! come here!"

they heeded him, but it was obvious they were getting impatient.

"am i hallucinating?" she squinted. "or is that tyson?"

"we have to go," percy said urgently. "our ship is. . ."

he trailed off, turning to tyson after some moments of thinking. they talked about something, and their voices were muffled in her head. she layed her head back, feeling tired. she sighed.

"you okay?" percy asked, softening his voice as he spoke to her.

andromeda shrugged, not having the will to face the glaring sun again.

"keep the fleece around you," annabeth instructed. "i don't think you're fully healed yet. can you stand?"

she tried, but in addition to her own drawbacks, the weight of the fleece was also the reason why she couldn't. "i can use my magic —"

"no." percy quickly said. "no magic. no standing. you're not fully healed yet and you're doing as we say."

she laughed weakly. "if i could lift my arm, jackson, i would give you a middle finger."

but his only concern was: "you can't lift your arm?"

she shook her head. "can't feel it. it's gone numb,"

clarisse dropped next to her and grabbed her hand by the elbow, which made her release a profanity.

"fracture," clarisse said. "they're mending, but we don't know how severely their broken,"

annabeth released a frustrated sigh. "we lost all the ambrosia, too. . ." she frown with guilt at her injured friend.

"how can you tell?"

clarisse glared at percy. "because i've broken a few bones, runt! i'll have to carry her."

andromeda had no energy to argue, she let clarisse pick her up and toss her over the shoulder. she closed her eyes, resting her head from fatigue. a yell sounded.

"incoming!"

andromeda only got a glimpse of tyson bounding down the path, the sheep about fifty yards behind, bleating in frustration as their cyclops friend ran away without feeding them. then clarisse turned.

"they won't follow us into the water," annabeth was saying. "all we have to do is swim for the ship."

"with andromeda like this?” clarisse protested.

"i told you," andromeda said, despite her desire to be lulled to sleep. "my magic —"

"no," percy said sharply, and if she could see him, she would give him the hardest glare ever. "we can do it, once we get to the ship, we're home free."

they almost made it, too. having just wading past the entrance to the ravine, when a tremendous roar sounded, and andromeda saw polyphemus, scraped up and bruised but still very much alive, his baby-blue wedding outfit in tatters, splashing toward us with a boulder in each hand.

"you'd think he'd run out of rocks," percy muttered.

"swim for it!" grover said.

andromeda tried to be of use, one hand hung onto clarisse while the other paddled in the water, but the weight of the now-soaked fleece was only maximizing, and her fracture might be healing, but it wasn't fully healed.

she could see percy and tyson conversing with polyphemus, but the water in her ears and the panic in her mind drowned out the conversation. they were almost to the ship with the fleece. annabeth yelled out to percy, urging him to speed up.

percy drew his sword, tyson beside him. polyphemus advanced carefully, limping but there was nothing wrong with him when he chucked his second boulder. tyson's fist blasted the rock to rubble just as percy dove to a side.

in a flash, the sea arose. percy rode a twenty-foot wave toward the cyclops and kicked him in the eye, leaping over his head as the water blasted him onto the beach.

"destroy you!" polyphemus spluttered. "fleece stealer!"

they yelled incoherently, polyphemus roared, ripped a tree out of the side of the cliff and smashed it where percy'd been standing a moment before.

grover caught her one arm, annabeth taking the other. they hauled andromeda onto the ship together.

"jackson, hurry up!" clarisse called.

"we need. . ." she struggled to speak, feeling like drifting away. "help them. . ."

"no, 'rome," annabeth said distastefully, shaking her head. "you're already in a bad condition. you're only helping yourself by getting some rest."

rest. rest sounded good. but not as good as the idea of percy and tyson safe from that monster. she wasn't passing out now. not again. she owed percy jackson a favour.

she watched from over the deck of the ship. watched as percy and tyson ran, currents carrying them forward. polyphemus walked forward thrashing his broken tree wildly.

an idea struck her. and she gathered all her energy, taking some from the fleece as well. it was a very strong supply, so she harnessed it all to take control of the tree in the cyclops's grasp, she made him hit himself in the eye with as much force as she would apply.

he fell back, groaning in pain as the waves around him chaotically arose, splattering his tattered tux. good thing he wouldn't need it anymore.

but celebrations were not to be declared yet. ofcourse, it was never going to be that easy.

"haha you big wimp!" clarisse called out to the fallen cyclops. "managed to hit yourself with your weapon!"

"clarisse. clarisse, no —" annabeth ushered.

clarisse didn't listen. "teach you to try and marry me, you big idiot!"

in a fit of rage, polyphemus threw a boulder that spectacularly hit the hull of the ship they were all on, driving them to sink into the ocean.

at this point, andromeda thought it would be kinder to let her die, after so many false hopes of being saved. but when had fate ever been kind? never. she felt herself sink into the water under the weight of the gooden wool, she was too tired to try and paddle up. so so tired. . .

her head broke through the water. she gasped for air, holding onto dear life for whatever surface was beneath her. she panted, catching her breath as she steadied her heartbeat. she coughed the water out of her lungs, opened her eyes.

the group of them were on hippocampi again. the shimmery water horses tore through the skyline, running on the crystalline water. andromeda sighed with relief, her head resting on the neck of her ride as she stroked his hair fondly.

"you didn't listen, did you?"

she turned behind sharply, seeing percy was riding behind her. "you did magic. with that tree."

"you're welcome, jackson."

he sighed, rubbed his tired eyes. andromeda frowned. she lifted the fleece.

"what are you doing?" percy exclaimed.

"relax," andromeda cooed, she'd only lifted it halfway up. she gestured to the spot the wool had cleared from. "go on,"

and she thought she saw percy blush a little, but she dismissed it. she was far too messed in the head to make sense of anything right now. percy ultimately layed his head beside her shoulder, his hand falling loosely at her waist. andromeda pushed the fleece on them again, it reached his ear while stopping at her shoulder.

"sleep, hero," she advised. "stop being a hero for a while,"

he laughed. "funny you should mention that, you couldn't stop being a savior on css birmingham?"

"again, you're welcome."

he shook his head. "you're an idiot. a complete idiot."

"i've been hanging around you too long."

"i hate you."

"touché,"

his hand tightened at her waist. he yawned again. "i missed you."

and again, andromeda thought she had made it up in her head. he'd said it so softly, so tenderly. it was barely audible. he was off to sleep shortly after that.

"i missed you," she said, so quietly that it mixed with the sound of of the waves. "too."

she yawned, feeling herself getting lost in a much needed sleep.

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

she hated demigod dreams. moreso when they were about things that happened in the past, rather than useful information of the present.

in this particular dream, she was in the hermes cabin, sitting on a bed, and facing a little girl who sat with her head between her knees, the moonlight pouring down on her.

luke sat up and shifted before her quietly, he layed a hand on her arm, and spoke so softly, andromeda had to lean in to listen.

"are you okay?"

the girl lifted her head, and andromeda's eyes momentarily went wide with shock. she was facing her ten-year-old self, who was crying hard, tears dripping off her chin.

"it hurts," was the only thing she said.

andromeda remembered this moment. this was after her first winter solstice on olympus. and so that injury her ten-year-old self was talking about. . .

"let me see," luke prompted.

the little girl shifted her position, craning up her neck with a muffled groan of pain. on her neck, were deep red marks of fingers enclosing over her throat. andromeda gulped remembering how painful they were to acquire, they had faded, but the lesson she got from them remained.

"fucking hell," luke sucked a breath through his teeth. he examined the bruises with delicate touches. "what did you say to make ares so mad?"

more tears leaked out of the little girl's eyes, she breathed unevenly. "the fact that he's strong doesn't nullify the fact that he's a complete fucking moron."

luke made a face. "yeah, that must've wounded his pride real nice."

"enough for him to fucking choke me? i'm ten years old!"

luke sighed, he pulled her head down to face him. and she studied the scar on his face. andromeda remembered that this incident was only a week after his quest, so the scar was still pretty new.

"you're a demigod," he shrugged. "when you're a demigod, the gods don't care if you're a kid. they'll still punish you for the smallest actions."

the little girl looked away, putting the side of her head on her knees. she sniffed. "i hate the gods."

and andromeda hadn't seen it then, but she now saw something pass over luke's face, he looked at her for a prolonged moment, then he gulped, blinked and looked at the moon out the window.

"i hate them, too," he agreed. "and i'm going to do something about it."

andromeda didn't recall him saying that, she supposed she had fallen asleep back then. but now as she saw it happen, she realized that luke had been corrupted from this moment. that all that talking of hating the gods had driven him to oppose them.

her heart sank a little, and she wondered how things would've been today if she never said that. then she closed her eyes to push away the thoughts. she couldn't feel guilty about luke. it would weaken her drastically. and she couldn't afford weaknesses.

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

she woke up to the soft sound of churning waves. she was starting to like the waters, they made her feel calm.

she sat up straight, the golden fleece falling around her shoulders. she felt much better, conscious and active. but that dream plagued her head like a disease.

"good morning," said percy from behind her.

"morning jackson. did you know you drool in your sleep?"

he blushed red.

andromeda laughed. "don't worry, it didn't get on me. mixed with the sea horse i guess," she stroked her hippocampus.

"sea horse?" percy chuckled.

"yeah, did you know they're technically your relatives?"

he glared at her. "you looked so much better with your mouth shut,"

"aw did you miss me?" andromeda grinned sheepishly.

percy rolled his eyes.

andromeda looked at the city skyline. in the distance, the sun was setting. a beachside highway could be seen lined with palm trees, storefronts glowing with red and blue neon, a harbor filled with sailboats and cruise ships.

"miami, i think," annabeth said, making andromeda flinch with surprise. "but the hippocampi are acting funny."

indeed they were. they had slowed down and were whinnying and swimming in circles, sniffing the water. they looked uncomfortable. one sneezed.

"this is as far as they'll take us," said percy. "too many humans. too much pollution. we'll have to swim to shore on our own."

with a heavy heart (and a heavy coat of wool on andromeda's shoulders) the group thanked the hippocampi for the ride. tyson cried a little. he hugged rainbow around the neck, gave him a soggy mango he must've picked up on the island, and said good-bye.

once they disappeared into the sea, the demigods swam for shore. the waves pushing them forward undoubtedly on percy's command. in no time they were back in the mortal world.

they wandered along the cruise line docks, pushing through crowds of people arriving for vacation, bustling porters with carts of luggage, taxi drivers yelling at each other in spanish and tried to cut in line for customers. if anybody noticed six kids dripping wet and looking like they'd just had a fight with a monster, they didn't let on.

"you actually got wet?" andromeda asked percy. "i thought water didn't like, affect you."

he shrugged. "i guess it doesn't if i do it consciously."

"what about at the st. louis arch?" andromeda crossed her arms.

"you weren't even there!" percy exclaimed, looking at annabeth, who smiled.

"we keep each other updated," annabeth affirmed. "speaking of which, i have so much to tell you just you wait."

"can't wait to hear it all," andromeda gave her friend a smile, adjusting the golden jacket atop her frame.

due to the mist, the fleece has transformed into a red-and-gold high scjool letter jacket with a large glittery omega on the pocket, tyson's single eye had also blurred, grover had put on his cap and sneakers.

annabeth sprinted and grabbed a copy of the miami herald. "june eighteenth!" she hissed. "we've been away from camp ten days!"

"that's impossible!" clarisse said.

andromeda cursed in ancient greek.

"thalia's tree must be almost dead," grover wailed. "we have to get the fleece back tonight."

clarisse slumped down on the pavement. "how are we supposed to do that? we're hundreds of miles away. no money. no ride. this is just like the oracle said. it's your fault, jackson! if you hadn't interfered—"

"percy's fault?" andromeda fumed. "clarisse, how can you say that? you are the biggest —"

"stop it!" annabeth intervened.

clarisse put her head in hands. andromeda glared her. truth be told, this quest was supposed to be clarisse's. they'd just meddled.

"clarisse," percy said, "what did the oracle tell you exactly?"

she looked up, and surprisingly, she inhaled deeply and recited her prophecy: "you shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone, you shall find what you seek and make it your own, but despair for your life entombed within stone, and fail without friends, to fly home alone."

"ouch," grover mumbled.

"very helpful, grover,"

"no," said percy. "no. . .wait a minute. i've got it."

he searched his pockets for something, which apparently he didn't find because he looked very disappointed when he pulled out a golden drachma. "does anybody have any cash?"

annabeth, grover and andromeda shook their heads morosely. clarisse pulled a wet confederate dollar from her pocket and sighed.

"cash?" tyson asked hesitantly. "like. . .green paper?"

"yeah."

"like the kind in duffel bags?"

"yeah, but we lost those bags days a-g-g—"

he stuttered to a halt as tyson rummaged in his saddle pack and pulled out the ziploc bag full of cash that hermes had included in their supplies.

"tyson!" andromeda's jaw had fallen. "how did you —"

"thought it was a feed bag for rainbow," he said. "found it floating in sea, but only paper inside. sorry."

he handed percy the cash, who ran to the curb and grabbed a taxi that was just letting out a family of cruise passengers.

"clarisse," he called. "come on. you're going to the airport. andromeda, give her the fleece."

clarisse's shock was only mildly surpassed by andromeda's as percy took the fleece jacket off her shoulders, tucked the cash into its pocket, and put it in clarisse's arms.

clarisse said, "you'd let me —"

"it's your quest," he said. "we only have enough money for one flight. besides, i can't travel by air. zeus would blast me into a million pieces. that's what the prophecy meant: you'd fail without friends, meaning you'd need our help, but you'd have to fly home alone. you have to get the fleece back safely."

aside from the suprise, andromeda was mildly impressed. annabeth was right in saying he had crazy idea that worked somehow.

clarisse — deciding percy meant what he said — jumped in the cab. "you can count on me. i won't fail."

"not failing would be good." the cab drifted out of the view, carrying the fleece on its way.

"percy," annabeth said, "that was so —"

"generous?" grover offered.

"insane," annabeth corrected. "you're betting the lives of everybody at camp that clarisse will get the fleece safely back by tonight?"

"it's her quest, she deserves a chance."

"percy is nice," tyson said.

"percy is too nice," annabeth grumbled.

percy grinned, turned to andromeda. "you okay?"

andromeda looked at him, confused. "what?"

"are you feeling okay? with the fleece gone and everything?"

"yeah," andromeda said, giving him a look. "yeah. i'm fine."

he nodded his head once, eyes studying her in a way that heated her face.

"we should get going." andromeda interrupted, turning to the rest of them. "we need to find another way home."

she saw a sword's point at percy's neck, just below his ear.

"hey, cousin," grinned luke. "welcome back to the states."

his thugs appeared on either of side of them. one grabbed annabeth and grover by their t-shirt collars. the other caught a hold of andromeda's neckline, then tried to grab tyson, but tyson knocked him into a pile of luggage and roared at luke.

"percy," luke said calmly, "tell your giant to back down or i'll have oreius bash your friends' heads together."

oreius grinned and raised annabeth and grover off the ground, kicking and screaming.

"what do you want, luke?" percy growled.

he smiled, the scar stretching on the side of his face, gestured toward the end of the dock, and andromeda noticed the biggest boat in port. the princess andromeda.

"why, percy," luke cooed, "i want to extend my hospitality, of course."

the bear twins herded them aboard luke's ship, threw them down on the aft deck in front of a swimming pool with sparkling fountains. a dozen of luke's assorted goons — dracaenae, laistrygonians, demigods in battle armor — had gathered to watch them get some hospitality.

"and so, the fleece," luke mused. "where is it?" he prodded percy's shirt with the tip of his sword.

andromeda bit back a comment, remembering all the times she said too many things without thinking.

"i won't repeat myself." luke warned. "where — is — the — fleece?"

"not here," percy revealed. "we sent it on ahead of us. you messed up."

andromeda widened her eyes, giving percy a silent scolding.

luke's eyes narrowed. "you're lying. you couldn't have. . .clarisse?"

percy nodded.

"you trusted. . .you gave. . ."

"really?" andromeda scoffed. "you want to talk about trust?"

"agrius!"

the bear giant flinched. "y-yes?"

"get below and prepare my steed. bring it to the deck. i need to fly to the miami airport, fast."

"but, boss —"

"do it!" luke screamed. "or i'll feed you to the drakon!"

the giant gulped and lumbered down the stairs.

luke paced in front of the swimming pool, cursing in ancient greek, gripping his sword so tight his knuckles turned white. the rest of his crew looked uneasy. maybe they'd never seen their boss so unhinged before. it was silent for a minute or two, save the stressed pacing.

but then, percy spoke up. "you've been toying with us all along, you wanted us to bring you the fleece and save you the trouble of getting it."

luke scowled. "of course, you idiot! and you've messed everything up!"

"traitor!" he dug his last gold drachma out of his pocket and threw it at luke. he dodged it effortlessly into the spray of rainbow-colored water.

andromeda made a sour face at him.

"you tricked all of us!" he yelled at luke. "even dionysus at camp half-blood!"

behind luke, the fountain began to shimmer, and andromeda's eyebrows unwinded into an expression of impressiveness. percy uncapped riptide.

luke just sneered. "this is no time for heroics, percy. drop your puny little sword, or i'll have you killed sooner rather than later."

"who poisoned thalia's tree, luke?"

"i did, of course, i already told you that. i used elder python venom, straight from the depths of tartarus."

"chiron had nothing to do with it?"

"ha! you know he would never do that. the old fool wouldn't have the guts."

andromeda grinned with pride and satisfaction.

"you call it guts? betraying your friends? endangering the whole camp?"

luke raised his sword. "you don’t understand the half of it. i was going to let you take the fleece. . .once i was done with it."

let him take the fleece? andromeda repeated in her head. a sentence that would need analyzing later, she decided as she met annabeth's gaze.

"you were going to heal kronos," percy continued.

"yes! the fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. but you haven't stopped us, percy. you've only slowed us down a little."

"and so you poisoned the tree, you betrayed thalia, you set us up — all to help kronos destroy the gods."

luke gritted his teeth. "you know that! why do you keep asking me?"

"because i want everybody in the audience to hear you."

"what audience?"

then his eyes narrowed. he looked behind him and his goons did the same. they gasped and stumbled back.

above the pool, shimmering in the rainbow mist, was an i-m vision of dionysus, tantalus, and the whole camp in the dining pavilion. they sat in stunned silence, watching the events unfold.

"say cheese fucker," andromeda grinned smugly.

"well," said dionysus dryly, "some unplanned dinner entertainment."

"mr. d, you heard him," percy said. "you all heard luke. the poisoning of the tree wasn't chiron's fault."

dionysus sighed. "i suppose not."

"the iris message could be a trick," tantalus suggested, attention on his cheeseburger he was trying to capture with both hands.

"i fear not," dionysus said, looking distastefully at tantalus. "it appears i shall have to reinstate chiron as activities director. i suppose i do miss the old horse's pinochle games."

tantalus grabbed the cheeseburger, lifting it from the plate, staring in amazement and cackling maniacally. "i got it!"

"we are no longer in need of your services, tantalus," dionysus announced.

tantalus freezed. "what? but —"

"you may return to the underworld. you are dismissed."

"no! but — nooooooooooo!"

as he dissolved, he clutched the cheeseburger, trying to bring it to his mouth. but he disappeared and the it fell back onto the plate. the campers exploded into cheering.

luke bellowed with rage as he slashed his sword through the fountain, and the i-m dissolved. he turned and gave percy a murderous look.

"kronos was right, percy. you're an unreliable weapon. you need to be replaced."

no one was sure what he meant, but they didn't have time to think about it. one of his men blew a whistle, and the deck doors flew open. a dozen more warriors poured out, surrounding them with the tips of their spears bristling.

luke smiled. "you'll never leave this boat alive."

percy took a look around them, and andromeda, produced sparks of magic at her fingertips as she awaited the time to attack.

but percy had other plans.

"one on one," he challenged luke. "what are you afraid of?"

luke curled his lip. the soldiers hesitated, awaiting his order. but just then, agrius entered the deck leading a pegasus, pure-black with wings like the bottomless night. it bucked and whinnied in frustration.

"sir!" agrius called, dodging a pegasus hoof. "your steed is ready!"

luke kept his eyes on him. "i told you last summer, percy, you can't bait me into a fight."

"and you keep avoiding one," percy noted. "scared your warriors will see you get your ass kicked by a thirteen-year-old?"

luke glanced at his men, trapped. if he backed down now, he would look weak. if he fought, he'd lose time chasing after clarisse.

"i'll kill you quickly," he decided, raising his weapon. backbiter was a foot longer than riptide. blade glinting with an evil gray-and-gold light where human steel melded with celestial bronze. luke whistled to one of his men, who threw him a round leather-and-bronze shield.

he grinned at percy wickedly.

"you can't fight him without a shield." andromeda seethed. "you already have so many advantages. give him something to even it out."

"sorry, andromeda," he shrugged. "you bring your own equipment to this party."

andromeda glared at him, then pulled percy aside. "come here,"

"what are you —"

"quiet, i need to concentrate."

she intertwined her hands, placed them together over a slab of wood. she put in all her energy and magic into her actions as the oak brown turned into shimmering copper. a breastplate.

percy moved to touch it. andromeda slapped his hand away.

"it's hot."

he looked back and forth between the two. "you made that? out of wood?"

she shrugged, carefully levitating the new breastplate in the air to cool it off. a moment later, he pulled it away and popped it on

"it's not anywhere near as dependable as the real thing." andromeda warned. "it's uneven and thin and —"

"it's fine." percy insisted. "it's. . .fine. thanks."

andromeda nodded. over and over, looking for anything she could improve. "don't die."

he smiled. "i'll try."

with a swift turn to luke, their battle began.

luke lunged and almost killed him on the first try. his sword going under his arm, clanking with the armor. percy jumped back, counterattacked with riptide, but luke slammed it away with his shield.

"my, percy," luke chided. "you're out of practice."

he came at him again with a swipe to the head. percy parried with a thrust. luke sidestepped.

now when luke lunged, percy jumped backward into the swimming pool. he spun underwater, creating a funnel cloud, and blasted out of the deep end, straight at luke's face. the force of the water knocked him down, spluttering and blinded. but he quickly rolled aside and got on his feet again.

percy attacked and sliced off the edge of his shield, but he was unfazed. luke crouched and jabbed at his legs. and in the urgency of the situation, andromeda tugged at her hand to save his legs from getting sliced. he looked straight at her, breathing a sigh.

luke turned to look, too, understanding at once her interference with the duel. he charged at her, sword brandished.

percy stepped in his path, his sword clanging with luke's. but it only too quick flick for him to disarm percy. his sword was out of his hand and luke's was against andromeda's neck as he cornered her at the deck.

"you never learn, do you?" he scoffed.

the blade etched deeper into her skin. andromeda gulped nervously.

whish!

a red-feathered arrow whizzed from before luke's face. he stepped back hurriedly.

another arrow came, landing before the black steed, who panicked, kicked agrius in the head and flew free over miami bay.

"brother!" oreius whined. but he was hit with another arrow. and the bear twins' bodies dissolve into smoke.

then erupted a wild chorus of war cries and hooves thundering against metal. a dozen centaurs charged out of the main stairwell.

"ponies!" tyson cried, delighted.

percy rushed before andromeda.

"it's fine," andromeda insisted, making sure her throat was unharmed.

percy frowned. "why did you do that?"

she rolled her eyes, looking around. "is it hard to believe i don't want you dead?"

all around them, chiron and other black arabian stallions with gold palomino coats, or orange-and-white spots like paint horses had arrived. some wore brightly colored t-shirts with day-glo letters that said party ponies; south florida chapter. some were armed with bows, or baseball bats, or paintball guns. looking like they had come to celebrate rather than attack.

but they did both. luke raised his sword to rally his troops, a centaur shot a custom-made arrow with a leather boxing glove on the end. it smacked luke in the face and sent him crashing into the swimming pool. his warriors scattered.

the party ponies let loose with their paintball guns. splattering luke's warriors in blue and yellow. they tried running, only to slip and fall.

chiron already had annabeth and grover on his back. he'd only just spotted the other two when luke crawled out of the pool. "attack, you fools."

somewhere down below deck, a large alarm bell thrummed.

reinforcements were coming. luke's warriors were getting over their surprise, coming at the centaurs with weapons drawn. tyson knocked half a dozen of them aside into miami bay. but more were coming up the stairs.

"withdraw, brethren!" chiron said.

"you won't get away with this, horse-man!" luke shouted, sword raised, but got smacked in the face with another boxing glove arrow, and sat down hard in a deck chair.

a palomino centaur hoisted percy and andromeda onto his back.

"dude, get your big friend!" said another.

"tyson!" percy yelled. "come on!"

he dropped two warriors he was about to tie into a knot and followed them. he jumped on an arabian centaur's back, who groaned, almost buckling under tyson's weight.

the centaurs galloped to the edge of the deck and jumped the guardrail, pummeling toward the docks, galloping off while whooping and yelling taunts at the princess andromeda on their way to the streets of downtown miami.

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

not me making a parallel about luke comforting andy about the wounds on her throat when she was ten and then referencing that incident as he held a sword to her neck at fourteen haha lmao