● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》______●

ANDROMEDA NEVER DID LIKE PARTIES. too many people doing too stupid things with too much confidence. but olympian parties felt more up her alley.

the nine muses cranked up the tunes, and andromeda realized the music was whatever you wanted it to be. pop and rap and rnb was all the same sound track. no arguments. no fights to change the radio station. just requests to turn it up.

dionysus went around growing refreshment stands out of the ground, and a beautiful woman walked with him arm in arm — his wife, ariadne. he looked happy for the first time. nectar and ambrosia overflowed from golden fountains. and between the nectar and the magic, she felt energy flow through her body freely for the first time in that week. grover trotted around with a full plate of tin cans and enchiladas, and his goblet was full of double-espresso latte, which he kept muttering over like an incantation: "pan! pan!"

gods kept coming over to congratulate them. thankfully, they had reduced themselves to human size, so they didn't accidentally trample partygoers under their feet.

andromeda tried to steer clear of the attention, but still, she was caught in a conversation with demeter, who told her all about how her mother had helped find persephone. andromeda knew the story, but she listened to be polite. that was until demeter left with complaints of her son-in-law, telling how much she missed her daughter in the winter.

she saw artemis in a corner, and she moved to approach her, but she was intercepted.

"where are you going?" percy asked her.

"artemis," she pointed to the goddess by the food table.

"oh," percy muttered like he was disappointed.

"what?" she asked him. "don't say nothing. you've made that excuse twice now."

percy shook his head. "don't mind it. go. do what you need to," and he walked away.

what the fuck? andromeda thought, looking at his retreating figure. she shook him out of her head and walked upto the moon goddess.

"i see you've made your choice," artemis said.

andromeda nodded. "and i choose not to join."

"i know that."

andromeda looked away.

"don't forget yourself," artemis told her. "don't lose yourself in the notion of love. if he loves you, he will love you even if you are half."

artemis was looking at a distance.

"he seems like a man that does."

andromeda followed her line of vision, and she saw percy entangled in apollo's pursuit of teaching him archery. she blushed.

"no, i'm not doing for him."

"i know that, too." artemis nodded. "but he is a contributing factor, is he not?"

andromeda couldn't lie to her, partly because she knew that artemis would see right through her. it was true, losing percy was one of the reasons she'd held back. but it wasn't just about losing him, she wouldn't be at camp, like annabeth said. she had a couple of good male friends, and it felt wrong to leave them. especially him.

"not in that way," andromeda muttered to save herself.

artemis only smiled.

"i didn't come here to tell you that, though." andromeda looked up at her. "i wanted to talk about atlas. what he said."

artemis surveyed her. "the savior's prophecy."

andromeda nodded. "what is that?"

artemis shook her head. "i only know what my brother speaks of it. and he knows little himself. after the great prophecy, the gods demanded another. a hope. a backup. and they asked the oracle. it speaks of a minor godling, and their role in the great prophecy."

"so they're linked?"

"in a way. the savior's prophecy is named because of it's purpose. to save olympus if the hero from the great prophecy is deviated. and yet. . .prophecies can only be known when they happen."

"and what is it?" andromeda asked.

artemis looked at her. "i do not know. i doubt many do. and i do not think it is you, but we may only know when the great prophecy is set in motion. they are co-dependent, you see. they exist in the same time. since kronos assums percy is the hero in the great prophecy, he naturally assums you — percy's closest friend and a minor godling — are the hero of the savior's prophecy."

andromeda looked down. artemis tilted up her chin. "beware, my girl. kronos will not harm the hero in the possibility that he might gain their support. but the savior. . .the savior will not be spared. there is no doubt the savior is to save olympus. and kronos will eliminate you if he suspects you."

andromeda nodded.

"you fatal flaw is doubt." artemis said softly. "you must not doubt yourself. indecision is lethal, especially for someone who saves people as you do. develop confidence. nuture courage. and your enemies will die as you blink."

andromeda liked the thought of that. blinking her enemies to death. she smiled.

"now go. i feel a set of eyes on us that are no doubt staring at you." artemis gave a polite smile.

she turned. and he was standing right there. and the music turned subtle, sweet. soft piano chords hung in the air. he smiled at her. and there were guitar strings added in the sound.

"you're staring, you know." andromeda informed as she walked toward him.

"this might just be the last time i see you." he gave a bittersweet smile.

andromeda was confused, but before she could even ask, percy said another thing.

"you're already glowing," he told her. "like the others. i guess you'll look like that forever now,"

andromeda tilted her head silently.

"don't suppose one dance will hurt, will it?" he asked sheepishly. "we never got a chance at westover hall. . ." he shrugged a shoulder, extending the palm of that hand.

"dancing is a dangerous game."

"i've faced danger."

she grinned and took his hand, putting the other one at her shoulder. his free hand rested delicately on her waist, and they danced as the music filled the space.

"what did you want to tell me earlier?" andromeda asked.

he looked solemn.

"was it nothing?" andromeda teased.

he smiled. "i'll miss you, you know, when you're gone."

"um," andromeda began. "where am i going, exactly?"

"with the other hunters? artemis and thalia?"

andromeda smiled. "you think i've joined them, don't you?"

his expression dropped. "haven't you?"

she shook her head. "sorry to disappoint,"

percy shook his head, laughing with relief. "i'm not disappointed."

"am i still glowing?"

he chuckled, nodded imperceptibly.

she looked him over, and she saw a detail that she had missed before. her fingers grazed a silver strand in his raven hair. "your hair. . .i'm sorry,"

he shook his head. "we match now," his eyes swooped over her gray hair.

andromeda smiled. "trauma bonding, am i right?"

"your mom doesn't like me," he said out of the blue.

"who told you that?" andromeda asked.

"she did. in my dream."

"she came to you in your dream?"

"yeah. . .one night on the quest i just looked at the full moon and. . .i thought of you. so i prayed to your mom for help. she came to me in my dream and told me that she was with the titans. she couldn't help me. she didn't even like me. but i think it was her at the hoover dam, saving me with the mist. it was so clouded, the skeletons couldn't even see me."

andromeda had no idea what he meant with the last bit, but she got the general idea.

"well, i don't like you either. so she has nothing to worry about,"

percy squinted at her. "can't be nice to me for more than five minutes, can you?"

"do you want me to pledge myself to artemis?"

"you're going to threaten me with that all the time now, aren't you?"

andromeda smiled sheepishly.

and just for a moment, nothing was wrong. there were no looming wars, no mysterious prophecies, no mortal danger. they could just exist as they were: children.

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

compared to mount olympus, manhattan was quiet. friday before christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on fifth avenue. argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up the four of them at the empire state building and ferried them back to camp through a light snowstorm. the long island expressway was almost deserted.

as they trudged back up half-blood hill to the pine tree where the golden fleece glittered, andromeda recognized thalia's absence. but she tried not to be sad, afterall, thalia was off with the hunters, where she wanted. she was happy.

chiron greeted them at the big house with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. grover went off with his satyr friends and suddenly, within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

the other three sat with chiron and some of the other senior campers — silena gave her a bone-crushing hug, beckendorf and the stoll brothers were also there. even clarisse from the ares cabin was there, looking very worn out. she had a new scar on her chin, and her curly brown hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.

"i got news," she mumbled uneasily. "bad news."

"i'll fill you in later," chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "the important thing is you have prevailed. and you saved andromeda and annabeth!"

andromeda smiled gratefully at him, he turned away. andromeda and annabeth shared a look. neither had a clue what what going on with percy.

"luke is alive," he said. "andromeda was right."

annabeth sat up. "how do you know?"

percy evidently held back from rolling his eyes at her interest. he told them how his dad had seen the princess andromeda in the sea after their battle. how luke was still alive.

a shred of hope bloomed in andromeda. luke was alive. there was next to none chance of him correcting his ways, but atleast there was a chance. and andromeda was willing to take it.

"well." andromeda shifted with energy in her chair. "if the final battle does come when our hero is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."

percy didn't seem to like that answer. he scoffed, gaze stone cold. andromeda averted her eyes from him, not wanting to focus on his weird behaviour.

chiron's expression was gloomy. sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he bore a look of wisdom and thought.

"two years may seem like a long time," he said. "but it is the blink of an eye. i still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, percy. but if you are, then the second titan war is almost upon us. kronos's first strike will be here."

"how do you know?" percy asked. "why would he care about camp?"

"because the gods use heroes as their tools," chiron said simply. "destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. luke's forces will come here. mortal, demigod, monstrous. . .we must be prepared. clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but —"

there was a knock on the door, and nico di angelo came huffing into the parlor, his cheeks bright red. he was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "hey! where's. . .where's my sister?"

dead silence. now that andromeda noticed, bianca was nowhere to be seen. she pondered, genuinely wondering where the new huntress could be.

one shall be lost in the land without rain. the line came back to her. andromeda remembered percy and the others going into a desert after his encounter with aphrodite. had something happened to bianca back then?

"hey, nico." percy got up from his chair. and that told andromeda all that she needed to know. bianca was gone. "let's take a walk, okay? we need to talk."

he followed percy out, looking around the room briefly just once before the door shut.

"meeting dismissed," chiron concluded.

the counselors dispersed, but clarisse remained seated.

"girls," chiron called. "a word, please?"

the two friends looked at each other for brief moments and shared concerned looks before they came to chiron.

"what's wrong?" andromeda asked, noticing the looks on their faces.

"my quest," clarisse said.

andromeda frowned. "your quest was wrong? as in, was it assigned wrong or did it go wrong?"

"you've been hanging too much around jackson," clarisse fixed her with unamused look.

"where did you go?" annabeth asked.

"to investigate," chiron answered simply. "it seems, the labyrinth has been relocated as well."

annabeth's eyes widened.

"great, so do we need to find the triwizard cup in there or something to defeat kronos?" andromeda rolled her eyes. she was in no mood for mysteries and riddles, it was either a straight answer or sarcasm. the latter seemed to be winning now.

"andromeda. . ." annabeth began. "he's talking about the labyrinth. the one daedalus built. in which ariadne was trapped. the string? the monsters?"

andromeda vaguely recalled luke saying something about it, but it was a matter discussed after his quest, so he did it very briefly and offhandedly. but andromeda remembered one thing.

"daedalus was icarus's father," andromeda recalled. "the guy with the wax wings."

annabeth nodded.

andromeda looked at clarisse. "and you found it's entrance?"

clarisse nodded. "one of them. i know there are more. and we need to seal all of them down before luke uses it."

"for transportation?"

"for anything," annabeth murmured. "there are pretty bad monsters in there, too, millenia old. really nasty. really powerful. if kronos got a hold of them. . ."

andromeda shuddered. it was so hard to defend luke in instances like this. she didn't even know why she suddenly wanted to so bad, since she gave annabeth such a hard time last summer for dwelling over him. but she felt like she owed it to save luke, now that she knew he needed saving at all. she felt like he could be saved if kronos' spell were to be lifted from him.

"we will shut them down." chiron declared. "now go. rest. you need it."

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

andromeda did not receive rest.

because barely an hour later, grover came to her in a frenzy and said it was an emergency. she went with him and they gathered by the edge of the firest with percy and annabeth. the former had some kind of statue in his hands.

percy began narrating. he said that he and nico walked as he told her how bianca was gone. how he tried to save her but she went to the giant on her own. and then she never returned.

and well, nico didn't take it well, as one would expect. he blamed percy for breaking his promise and refused to believe him. said it was a mistake to trust him. some kind of skeletons surrounded the two, and percy tried warding them off, but they wouldn't die.

the two of them survived as in a moment of fortune, the skeletons went up in flames. nico ran off into the woods.

"i don't blame the kid," andromeda shrugged. "you're not very empathetic,"

percy was too preoccupied with a trail of thought in his head to retort, which made her mildly concerned. he rarely ever dismissed the opportunity to comment on her comments.

he wordlessly showed them the statue in his head. "it was bianca's last gift to nico. the only statue missing from his collection."

it was a statue of hades, lord of the dead.

and andromeda's mind ran with thoughts. somehow, bianca's last gift and the incident with nico in the woods felt linked. she could sense magical interference in the tale, even if she hadn't experienced it. and it didn't seem right to her. . .

the four of them search the woods for hours, but there was no sign of nico di angelo.

"we have to tell chiron," annabeth said, out of breath.

"no," percy said.

the other three stared at him.

"um," grover said nervously, "what do you mean. . .no?

percy looked awkward. "we can't let anyone know. i don't think anyone realizes that nico is a —"

"a son of hades," andromeda deduced. and every thing clicked into place. the skeletons, the statur. "hero, do you have any idea how serious this is? even hades broke the oath! this is horrible!"

"i don't think so," percy said. "i don't think hades broke the oath."

"what?"

"he's their dad," percy began, "but bianca and nico have been out of commission for a long time, since even before world war ii."

"the lotus casino!" grover said, and he told te two girls about the conversations they'd had with bianca on the quest. "she and nico were stuck there for decades. they were born before the oath was made."

percy nodded.

"but how did they get out?" annabeth protested.

"i don't know," percy admitted. "bianca said a lawyer came and got them and drove them to westover hall. i don't know who that could've been, or why. maybe it's part of this great stirring thing. i don't think nico understands who he is. but we can't go telling anyone. not even chiron. if the olympians find out —"

"it might start them fighting among each other again," annabeth said. "that's the last thing we need."

grover looked worried. "but you can't hide things from the gods. not forever."

"i don't need forever," percy said. "iust two years. until i'm sixteen."

andromeda's blood ran cold. "but, percy, this means the prophecy might not be about you. it might be about nico. we have to —"

"no," he cut her off. "i choose the prophecy. it will be about me."

"why are you saying that?" annabeth yelled. "you want to be responsible for the whole world?"

"you can't let your flaw get the best of you, percy," andromeda told him. "think about it. personal loyalty is your flaw. and this. . .this is a dangerous thing to say,"

his gaze softened. "i know. but i can't let nico be in that danger, i owe that much to his sister. i. . .let them both down. i'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more."

"the poor kid who hates you and wants to see you dead," grover reminded me.

"maybe we can find him," he looked around. "we can convince him it's okay, hide him someplace safe."

annabeth shivered. "if luke gets hold of him —"

"luke won't," percy assured. "i'll make sure he's got other things to worry about. namely, me."

"percy. . ." andromeda trailed off.

her looked at her. like he had never before. it made her feel weird.

"yes?"

she stared at him, utterly awed by his nerve and accountability. his trust in people and his yearn for people to trust him. how many lengths he would cross — had crossed — for his loved ones. just how far he would go for them. with another lurch in her stomach, she realized she was one of those people now.

she looked away, separating her eyes from his deep and agonizingly beautiful ones. she inhaled sharply.

"nothing."

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

andromeda stood at half-blood hill with annabeth, who had her bags packed. she said she was going to try san fran, maybe keep an eye out for mount tamalpais. andromeda made her promise to contact everyday.

percy had already left, his mom had come to pick him up. sally jackson gave really good hugs. like, really good. andromeda wanted to melt into her arms as the woman held her and rocked them and whispered to her how glad she was that the girl was safe. percy really was his mother's son.

grover had left, too, he claimed he'd heard pan in his head while he sat playing tunes and drinking a shitton of coffee. the god of the wild only spoke three words to him. i await you. and that was enough for him to pack his bags and wave goodbye to the camp.

"hey, can you do something for me?" annabeth bent to unclasp her bag locks. she pulled out a pure white flower from within it, delicately holding it by the stem.

"for me?" andromeda teased with an exaggerated wink as she took the flower. it smelled like mint and sea breeze and mist.

"no," annabeth chuckled. "give — give that to evan, won't you?"

andromeda looked quizically at her. the girl blushed. andromeda's jaw dropped. "you like him."

"look," annabeth sighed. "i saw it on olympus and it smells a lot like chocolate and clean laundry and fresh flowers. it made me think of him." she shrugged.

andromeda smelled it again, but she could still only smell the ocean winds. a little hint of sweet candy in there, too, but mostly marine winds. she decided not to focus on that.

"it's okay to like him, y'know." she said. "he's a great guy. i'll put in a good word for you. play the wingwoman role,"

annabeth smiled. "i love you."

"i love you too."

a car honked by the foot of the hill.

"go. i'll see you tomorrow. don't forget to i-m."

"ofcourse," annabeth waved as she sat in the car and drove off.

andromeda kept smelling the flower on her way to the demeter cabin. she liked how it calmed her. the subtle salty scent soothed her senses. she smelled whiffs of it, savoring it's fragrance.

she didn't even need to reach demeter cabin to see evander. he was alredy looking for her when she found him by the forge, carrying a two headed spear in his hand.

"there you are," he sighed. "i've got something for you,"

"me too," andromeda said. she put the flower in his front pocket. "from annabeth. she plucked it from the gardens of olympus. for you."

evan smelled the flower, and smiled pleasantly. he twirled it around his finger despite the thorns. but he quickly snapped out of it and threw the object in his hand to her.

she caught it, looking over at it. the two tips were glinting celestial bronze, the shaft was a subtle brown metal, the rim a soft silver. there were three buttons in the middle.

she looked at evander. he nodded silently.

she pressed the top one. and the blades retracted. the spear shrunk into a dagger size, the openings closed with stone that would definetly hurt. she smiled elatedly and pressed the button below it. the tips protruded out again. she pressed the last, and the spear split in two equal parts. she laughed as she caught them before falling.

the split spear had three buttons on each of the parts, and andromeda knew they served the same purpose. she pushed the top button, and two more tips were pushed from the split ends. she chuckled in excitement.

"you can name it," evander said.

andromeda looked at the spears. she rejoint them there was only one thing the silver rims reminded her of. the moon. and the golden tips, they reminded her of a bow and arrow. there were intricate designs on the wood of the shaft, and andromeda placed her hand over the backside of the buttons. she closed her eyes in concentration, and drew them away.

σ
τ
ρ
ύ
χ
ν
ο
ς

"strýchnos?" evander asked.

andromeda smiled.

"nightshade."

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

this is one of my favourite chapters. the plot i have planned for andromeda....you guys are in for a WILD ride