● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

ANXIETY CLAWED AT ANDROMEDA'S HEART. obviously, she was happy for percy. but the idea of him taking immortality saddened her. they knew they wanted each other. and now that they had survived this war, they could have a chance.

"um. . .a god?"

but ofcourse he would choose immortality. who wouldn't? she wouldn't even blame him if he did. she just couldn't believe she would lose him. . .just like that.

zeus rolled his eyes. "a dimwitted god, apparently. but yes. with the consensus of the entire council, i can make you immortal. then i will have to put up with you forever."

"hmm," ares mused. "that means i can smash him to a pulp as often as i want, and he'll just keep coming back for more. i like this idea."

she kept her head down, unable to meet his eyes. if she looked at him, she might just lose all self-control and kiss him. and in front of the gods, that felt like a very inappropriate thing to do. so she adamantly looked at bessie, gazing at the water in the sphere longingly.

"i approve as well," athena said.

she did long for him. and yet he seemed to be the one thing she couldn't get. she'd managed to overpower so many obstacles, achieve so many milestones and harness so many powers. but percy jackson would be the one thing she longed for the most, and could never seem to get.

she steeled herself, preparing to take the blow of percy's final verdict. preparing for her heart to break into a tiny million pieces. maybe she would bedazzle his throne with the shards. . .

"no,"

the council was silent. the gods frowned at each other like they must have misheard. andromeda looked at annabeth, surely percy jackson didn't just turn down immortality, right?

"he was looking at you," annabeth shrugged, frowning to implicate no knowledge of his reasoning.

"no?" zeus echoed, his voicehad a rough edge. "you are. . .turning down our generous gift?"

"i'm honored and everything," percy consoled. "don't get me wrong. it's just. . .i've got a lot of life left to live. i'd hate to peak in my sophomore year."

andromeda gave laugh, utterly bewildered by his thought process. she met his eyes, and the way he looked at her, he didn't look like he regretted it at all.

"i do want a gift, though," percy added. "do you promise to grant my wish?"

zeus thought about this. "if it is within our power."

"it is," percy assured. "and it's not even difficult. but i need your promise on the river styx."

"what?" dionysus cried. "you don't trust us?"

"someone once told me," percy glanced at the lord of the dead, "you should always get a solemn oath."

hades shrugged. "guilty."

"very well!" zeus growled. "in the name of the council, we swear by the river styx to grant your reasonable request as long as it is within our power."

the other gods muttered assent. thunder boomed, shaking the throne room. the deal was made.

"from now on, i want to you properly recognize the children of the gods," percy ordered. "all the children. . .of all the gods."

the olympians shifted uncomfortably.

"percy," poseidon called, "what exactly do you mean?"

"kronos couldn't have risen if it hadn't been for a lot of demigods who felt abandoned by their parents, they felt angry, resentful, and unloved, and they had a good reason."

zeus's nostrils flared. "you dare accuse —"

but percy wasn't hearing him, he interrupted the king of gods to complete his demand.

"no more undetermined children," he decided. "i want you to promise to claim your children — all your demigod children — by the time they turn thirteen. they won't be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. i want them claimed and brought to camp so they can be trained right, and survive."

"now, wait just a moment," apollo said.

"and the other gods," percy continued, disregarding apollo. "hecate, nemesis, morpheus, janus, hebe — they all deserve a general amnesty and a place at camp half-blood. their children shouldn't be ignored. calypso and the other peaceful titan-kind should be pardoned too. and hades —"

"are you calling me a minor god?" hades bellowed.

"no, my lord," percy cleared quickly. "but your children should not be left out. they should have a cabin at camp. nico has proven that. no unclaimed demigods will be crammed into the hermes cabin anymore, wondering who their parents are. they'll have their own cabins, for all the gods. and no more pact of the big three. that didn't work anyway. you've got to stop trying to get rid of powerful demigods. we're going to train them and accept them instead. all children of the gods will be welcome and treated with respect. that is my wish."

zeus snorted. "is that all?"

and andromeda felt the need to seal his lips. she felt proud of percy. the fact that he put enough forethought into this to be able to present it in front of the gods, it made her smile. gods, she loved percy jackson.

"percy," poseidon said, "you ask much. you presume much."

"i hold you to your oath," percy reminded. "all of you."

usually, andromeda was often annoyed at his nerve. but now she saw it as bravery.

"the boy is correct." athena supported. "we have been unwise to ignore our children. it proved a strategic weakness in this war and almost caused our destruction. percy jackson, i have had my doubts about you, but perhaps i was mistaken. i move that we accept the boy's plan."

"humph," zeus scoffed. "being told what to do by a mere child. but i suppose. . ."

"all in favor," hermes began.

all the gods raised their hands.

"um, thanks," percy looked around.

he turned, but before he could leave, poseidon called, "honor guard!"

immediately the cyclopes came forward and made two lines from the thrones to the door — an aisle for me to walk through. they came to attention.

"all hail, perseus jackson," tyson announced. "hero of olympus. . .and my big brother!"

andromeda was radiating joy. she held percy's gaze as he returned, and she had to physically hold herself back from pressing her lips to his and wind her arms around his neck.

"not bad, seaweed brain," annabeth nodded in approval.

"not bad yourself, wise girl," percy returned. "architect of the gods is not a bad title,"

"neither is hero of olympus." annabeth added.

"but i think the best one," andromeda interjected. "is leader of the honour guard," she looked at tyson.

tyson blushed.

"i don't know," percy pulled her closer by the waist. "enchantress of the gods, savior of olympus, slayer of kronos, your record might just be the strongest."

andromeda gave him a smile. her heart sped up as she looked into his eyes.

"let's get down to the others," annabeth suggested, toying with the labyrinth bead on her necklace. andromeda knew she was itching to see evander.

they'd only begun making their way when percy stopped. "i'll meet you at the elevator." he said.

andromeda studied his face. she brushed her hand against his. "okay. we'll be waiting."

andromeda and annabeth stood by the elevator. nico met them there. he was smiling as he approached them.

"you look chipper," annabeth noted.

nico shrugged. "i am happy. for the first time in a while."

"please let me give you hug."

"you did on fifth avenue."

"but i didn't even get to savor it."

"no hugs." nico decided. "where's percy?"

she looked at the place they had last saw him in, and she found him talking to hermes at the fountain. she knew they must've been talking about luke.

"maybe i'll visit luke," nico drank some nectar. "i heard andy had to. . ."

she gulped, still remembering the very moment. "yeah, i did."

nico faced her. "it was very brave. i'm sure he won't mind."

andromeda didn't get to reply, hades showed up behind nico. he squinted at the two girls, then smiled at her saw annabeth.

"ah, you're the one in charge of rebuilding?"

andromeda and annabeth shared  a look. "yes, sir."

hades put an arm around her, and annabeth shivered. "good, good. listen, i was thinking of telling you a few places to put my statues. . ."

"ugh, dad," nico rolled his eyes. "leave her alone,"

and he followed his dad, trying to release annabeth from his grasp. andromeda chuckled as she watched the three.

looking around and watching celebreations in full swing, she realized she missed her mother. she didn't know why, but she wanted to celebrate with her. but she reminded herself that she was on the losing side, and who from the losing side celebrated the winning? she tried not to be too let down by that.

"andromeda evans," another someone called.

andromeda turned to find poseidon. standing with a casual grin. a hint of sea scent lingered around him, and the sensation made her feel pleasant. his sea green eyes filled her with comfort.

"that's me, sir." she confirmed.

"you have made a great sacrifice," poseidon stood beside her, picking her apart with his eyes.

andromeda didn't know what to say to that, so she just nodded. she felt rather small under the weight of his gaze. like oceans were weighing down her eyes. she couldn't meet his for too long. they felt too captivating. and she didn't want to stare, it seemed rude.

"i worried for you," poseidon sighed, turning his eyes on the small celebration.

"for me, my lord?" andromeda asked, looking in the same direction. "why?"

she could feel him tense up a little beside her. "there was a time we gods thoughts the hero would have to die in the process, for olympus to be saved."

"you estimated your son's death?" andromeda knew she might be teasing a line, but it didn't matter.

"we calculated every instance," poseidon's voice went low. "to make sense of the prophecies. one instance was that the hero would turn to the wrong side, and the savior would have to kill him in order to save the world."

andromeda didn't tell him that she had thought of that too. that it had taken up a good portion of her waking hours, too. she didn't think he needed to know.

"if it came down to that," he comtinued. "i don't think you could have done it."

andromeda watched percy talk to hermes. and while she agreed with poseidon, she couldn't be sure. she hadn't once thought she would have to — nor be able to — kill luke. but here they were today. the world had survived only because she murdered her brother.

"i don't know," andromeda said truthfully.

"maybe that's a good thing." poseidon turned to face her again. "sometimes it's good to not know. . .don't tell athena i said that, though."

she gave him a smile. "yeah, this is one time it would be really good for her to not know,"

poseidon laughed, a light chuckle that made her feel the sea breeze on her cheeks.

"i can understand my son's infatuation with you," poseidon smiled.

andromeda felt her heart skip a beat. she'd always heard people commenting on her likeness of him, but never his. that was new, and it was refreshing. or maybe that was the cool wind coming from poseidon.

percy began parting with hermes, and poseidon decided it was time to leave, too.

"i hope you keep each other happy," he finalized, then dissapeared into the crowd.

percy reached her, and annabeth came behind, dusting off her arms and muttering something.

"make my statue, says aphrodite." she mimicked with a grimace as she approached. "i want a shrine, okay apollo. a temple for me! dammit demeter, it would be good to have a monument to me, ofcourse, hades. i haven't even planned out the structure yet!" she stressed.

andromeda and percy shared a look, smiling.

"why are your sleeves scorching?" percy asked.

"apollo was excited," annabeth muttered. "now let's get down there." she stepped into the elevator hastily.

together they made our way down to the street level in complete silence. the music was awful. but they finally got into the lobby and found sally, paul and evander arguing with the bald security guy, who'd returned to his post.

"i'm telling you," my mom yelled, "we have to go up! my son —"

then she saw them and her eyes widened. "percy!"

she hugged her son tightly. evander came straight for annabeth and plucked her off the ground in a hug. andromeda just waved to paul.

"we saw the building lit up blue," sally said, letting go of percy. "but then you didn't come down. you went up hours ago!"

"she was getting a bit anxious," paul said drily.

"not just her," evander smiled at annabeth as the separated. he looked over at the other two. "good see you're alive,"

sally gave andromeda the next hug, and she embraced it, despite the woman practically breaking andromeda's ribs. sally jackson gave the best hugs.

"mr. blofis," annabeth said, "that was wicked sword work."

paul shrugged. "it seemed like the thing to do. but percy, is this really. . .i mean, this story about the six hundredth floor?"

"olympus," percy surmized. "yeah."

paul looked at the ceiling with a dreamy expression. "i'd like to see that."

"paul," sally chided. "it's not for mortals."

"why wouldn't they let you up?" annabeth asked.

"i didn't have an appointment," evander glared at the front desk.

"when i rebuild, i'm building a secret tunnel that allows free passage for emergencies."

evander looked down at her, wide-eyed. "when you what?"

annabeth grinned sheepishly. "long story."

"the important thing is we're safe." sally smiled at them. "all of us."

this felt like a moment of relaxation. they were okay. olympus was saved.

but, just then nico ran in from the street, a panicked expression spread across his face.

"it's rachel," he panted. "i just ran into her down on thirty-second street."

andromeda sat him down in a chair to breathe.

annabeth sighed. "what's she done now?"

"it's where she's gone," nico said. "i told her she would die if she tried, but she insisted. she just took blackjack and —"

"she took my pegasus?" percy demanded, clearing expressing his concern for his priority.

nico nodded. "she's heading to half-blood hill. she said she had to get to camp."

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

the only downside to the saving of the world, was the fact that traffic was back.

police officers stood at every corner, directing people and pushing vehicles. the traffic moved slower than the queue of dead people right now. but they were in an extremely time-sensitive situation. andromeda was not about to let rachel die after just saving the fucking world.

they were walking through traffic, because that seemed like the fastest route. the party ponies had disappeared, percy asked nico if he could summon some skeletal horses, but he was too tired.

they scrambled over the embankment to the shore, and percy let out a loud whistle. the water here in the river was pretty polluted, but a pod of hippocampi came to his call.

they whinnied unhappily, shaking the river muck from their manes.

"rainbow!" percy recognized. "how's it going, buddy?"

he neighed a complaint.

"yeah, i'm sorry," percy empathized. "but it's an emergency. we need to get to camp."

he snorted.

"tyson?" percy asked. "tyson is fine! i'm sorry he's not here. he's a big general now in the cyclops army."

a big celebratory neigh.

"yeah, i'm sure he'll still bring you apples. now, about that ride. . ."

in no time, the four of them were zipping up the east river faster than jet skis, under the throgs neck bridge, headed to long island sound. even with their speed, time seemed to pass in huge chunks until thei finally reached camp. they thanked the hippocampi and waded ashore, only to find argus waiting. he stood in the sand with his arms crossed, his hundred eyes glaring at us.

"is she here?" percy asked.

he nodded grimly.

"is she okay?" andromeda followed up.

argus shook his head.

they followed him up the trail. andromeda dished she had more time to appreciate camp. because camp finally looked like camp again: no burning buildings, no wounded fighters, the cabins bright in the sunshine, and the fields glittery with dew. but the place was mostly empty.

up at the big house, something was definitely wrong. green light was shooting out all the windows. a magical kind of mist swirled around the yard, it's aura overwhelming andromeda's senses. chiron lay on a horse-size stretcher by the volleyball pit, a bunch of satyrs standing around him. blackjack cantered nervously in the grass. he neighed when he saw percy.

rachel elizabeth dare stood at the bottom of the porch steps. her arms were raised like she was waiting for someone inside the house to throw her a ball.

"what's she doing?" annabeth demanded. "how did she get past the barriers?"

"she flew," one of the satyrs said, looking accusingly at blackjack. "right past the dragon, right through the magic boundaries."

"rachel!" percy called, but the satyrs stopped me when he tried to go any closer.

"percy, don't," chiron warned. he winced as he tried to move. his left arm was in a sling, his two back legs were in splints, and his head was wrapped in bandages. "you can't interrupt."

"i thought you explained things to her!"

"i did. and i invited her here."

they stared at him in disbelief. "you said you'd never let anyone try again! you said —"

"i know what i said, percy. but i was wrong. rachel had a vision about the curse of hades. she believes it may be lifted now. she convinced me she deserves a chance."

"and if the curse isn't lifted? if hades hasn't gotten to that yet, she'll go crazy!"

the mist swirled around rachel. she shivered like she was going into shock.

"hey!" he shouted. "stop!"

percy ran toward her, ignoring the satyrs. he got within ten feet and hit something, bouncing back and landing in the grass. andromeda moved forward to help him up, and rachel opened her eyes and turned. she looked like she was sleepwalking — like she could see him, but only in a dream.

"it's all right." her voice sounded far away. "this is why i've come."

"you'll be destroyed!"

she shook her head. "this is where i belong, percy. i finally understand why."

andromeda pulled him up, keeping a hand on him to balance his body.

the house rumbled. the door flew open and green light poured out. a warm musty smell of snakes spilled. mist curled into a hundred smoky serpents, slithering up the porch columns, curling around the house. then the oracle appeared in the doorway.

the withered mummy shuffled forward in her rainbow dress. her hair was falling out in clumps. her leathery skin was cracking like the seat of a worn-out bus. her glassy eyes stared blankly into space, but she was being drawn straight toward rachel.

rachel held out her arms. she didn't look scared.

"you've waited too long," rachel said. "but i'm here now."

the sun blazed more brightly. a man appeared above the porch, floating in the air — a blond dude in a white toga, with sunglasses and a cocky smile.

"apollo," andromeda recognized.

he winked at her but held up his finger to his lips.

"rachel elizabeth dare," he boomed. "you have the gift of prophecy. but it is also a curse. are you sure you want this?"

rachel nodded. "it's my destiny."

"do you accept the risks?"

"i do."

"then proceed," the god approved.

rachel closed her eyes. "i accept this role. i pledge myself to apollo, god of oracles. i open my eyes to the future and embrace the past. i accept the spirit of delphi, voice of the gods, speaker of riddles, seer of fate."

andromeda felt goosebumps ariase her skin as the mist thickened. the aura of mystery and the unknown only heightened as a green column of smoke in the shape of a python uncoiled from the mummy's mouth and slithered down the stairs, curling affectionately around rachel's feet. the oracle's mummy crumbled, falling away until it was nothing but a pile of dust in an old tie-dyed dress. mist enveloped rachel in a column.

for a moment rachel wasn't visible. then the smoke cleared.

rachel collapsed and curled into the fetal position. andromeda rushed forward to help, despite how queasy she felt, but apollo interjected, "stop! this is the most delicate part."

"what's going on?" percy demanded. "what do you mean?"

apollo studied rachel with concern. "either the spirit takes hold, or it doesn't."

"and if it doesn't?" andromeda asked.

"five syllables," apollo said, counting them on his fingers. "that would be real bad."

despite apollo's warning, she ran forward and knelt over rachel. the smell of the attic was gone. the mist sank into the ground and the green light faded. so did it's aura. andromeda could feel like lack of magic like a hole in the tank, a leak of water. she didn't know if that was suppose to be a good thing.

but rachel was still pale. she was barely breathing.

"rachel," andromeda called with worry.

her eyes fluttered open. she focused with difficulty. "andy."

andromeda sighed in relief. "are you okay?"

"ow." she pressed her hands to her temples. andromeda supported her as she sat up.

"rachel," nico breathed, "your life aura almost faded completely. i could see you dying."

"i'm all right," she murmured, swaying a little. "please, help me up. the visions — they're a little disorienting."

andromeda pulled her up, letting her lean on her for support as she stood up, rocking from dizziness. andromeda gripped her shoulders to steady her.

"are you sure you're okay?" percy asked.

apollo drifted down from the porch. "ladies and gentlemen, may i introduce the new oracle of delphi."

"you're kidding," annabeth said.

rachel managed a weak smile. "it's a little surprising to me too, but this is my fate. i saw it when i was in new york. i know why i was born with true sight. i was meant to become the oracle."

percy blinked. "you mean you can tell the future now?"

"rachel elizabeth dare," andromeda began. "you're officially the coolest person i know."

"not all the time," she admitted through an honest smile. "but there are visions, images, words in my mind. when someone asks me a question, i. . .oh no —"

"it's starting," apollo warned.

rachel doubled over like someone had punched her, andromeda held her fall. then she stood up straight and her eyes glowed serpent green.

when she spoke, her voice sounded tripled, a chorus with an echo.

"nine half-bloods shall answer the call.
to storm or fire, the world must fall.
past, present, and future blend into one,
a soul returned, and a soul gone.
an oath to keep with a final breath,
and foes bear arms to the doors of death."

at the last word, rachel collapsed.

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

yk after reading wrath of the triple goddess, i think about what if sally was accepted by hecate. would she have attempted to take over the oracle?? would she still have had percy? she would've gone insane, so would percy have sided with luke then? so thalia/nico would be the protagonist? it's such a fun rabbit hole.