𝙰𝙽𝙳𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙴𝙳𝙰 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝚆𝙽𝙴𝙳 𝙰𝚃 her appearance in the mirror.

"Silena, you do realize that he's 19 I'm 17," Andromeda pointed out, remembering the promise she had made to her mother.

"Yes, Chiron says it's fine," Silena said. "Now, what do you think?"

Andromeda looked at herself and nearly cried. Her hair had been delicately curled into a bun. Silena had done her makeup flawlessly, naturally, except for her lips, which had been painted a dark red.

Andromeda went to wipe her eyes, but Silena slapped her hand and carefully dabbed at Andromeda's eyes with a tissue.

"Don't ruin my masterpiece," Silena said with mock seriousness.

"Sorry," Andromeda laughed. She stood up and hugged Silena tightly, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now," Silena leaned back. "We have to find you a dress."

Andromeda pouted. "I don't wanna wear a dress."

"That sucks," Silena said. "You're wearing one."

Andromeda sighed. "Fine,"

Silena went through a wardrobe. She pulled out a dress too short for Andromeda's liking.

It was a green-blue that faded into white. The dress had spaghetti straps and was made to fit snugly to her torso.

"Silena," Andromeda wined.

Silena pushed Andromeda to the boys' side of the room. She checked to make sure there were no boys, then closed the curtain behind Andromeda.

"Change," Silena ordered.

Someone knocked on the door of the Aphrodite cabin.

Silena walked over to the door and opened it to find a very anxious Annabeth.

"Hey, Silena. Is Andromeda in here?" Annabeth asked. Silena nodded. "She's changing right now. Come on in."

A few minutes later Andromeda sighed loudly. "Do I have to wear this?"

"Yes," Silena said.

Andromeda sighed again, and stepped out from behind the curtain. "Tada." She did a little spin.

Annabeth smiled. "Annie, you look amazing." She hugged Andromeda tightly, then leaned back. "I got the quest."

Andromeda smiled. "Good Job!"

Annabeth sighed. "Yeah."

"What's wrong?" Andromeda asked.

"There's a 95% chance I'm going to die," Annabeth said softly. "Then I'll never get to see you again."

"You'll live. Honestly, Anna, if you're dead then we've all been dead for like 3 weeks," Andromeda reassured Annabeth.

Annabeth smiled. "Thanks." Andromeda nodded.

"Now go make Luke have a hard time controlling himself." Annabeth pushed Andromeda toward the door. Andromeda smiled. "Yeah, right. He's not that into me."

Annabeth and Silena both gave Andromeda a pointed look

"Wait!" Silena exclaimed. "You need a pair of heels!"

Annabeth laughed. "And that's my cue to leave." Annabeth ran out of the cabin after giving Andromeda another quick hug.

Silena half-ran to a trunk and pulled out a pair of blue-green short, ankle strap, block heels. She handed the heels to Andromeda.

Andromeda frowned. "I'm going to fall.

Silena laughed. "You'll be fine."

Andromeda sighed and put the heels on.

"If they were any taller, I'd fall," Andromeda said. Silena smiled. "I'm gonna make it my personal mission to fix that."

Andromeda shook her head and hugged the child of Aphrodite. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Now go," Silena pushed Andromeda toward the door.

Andromeda laughed and walked out of the cabin.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

        "𝙻𝚄𝙺𝙴," Andromeda called into the Hermes cabin.

"Yeah?" Luke looked up and his breath hitched in his throat. He stood up and walked over to her, sporting a button-up top and jeans.

"You look beautiful," Luke said softly.

Andromeda smiled. "Thanks." Andromeda straightened Luke's collar. "You look handsome."

Luke smiled. "Thank you." He lightly put his hands on her hips.

Andromeda looked up at him and smiled, "We should probably get going."

Luke smiled and grabbed Andromeda's hand.

Andromeda felt giddy inside. She couldn't believe that Chiron had actually agreed to her and Luke being together. Part of her felt guilty because her best friend had a crush on the guy she was kind of going out with and because she had promised her mother.

They stopped at the beach and Andromeda's smile grew.

She quickly took off her heels and ran to put her feet in the ocean.

"Luke, come over here." She waved for him to come to her.

Luke chuckled softly and walked out into the water after taking his tennis shoes off.

Andromeda grabbed his hand and pulled him in the water a bit further. She then wrapped her arms around his waist, her head resting on his chest.

They stood there like that for a few minutes enjoying each other's presence.

"I'm sorry," Luke muttered, "Last night I shouldn't have—"

Andromeda cut him off by putting her hand against his mouth, "You sound like you're confessing to a murder or something."

Luke smiled softly. Andromeda removed her hand from Luke's mouth.

She grabbed onto the collar of his shirt and pulled him down until his lips touched hers.

When Andromeda pulled away for a breath for a breath, she had a huge grin on her face.

"That should've been our first kiss," Luke said apologetically.

Andromeda shook her head, "I wouldn't change a thing."

Luke smiled and rested his forehead against hers.

Andromeda smiled, devilishly.

"Uh-oh," Luke muttered.

The next thing the son of Hermes knew, he was soaking wet from head to toe, due to Andromeda controlling the water.

"Hey," Luke complained. He backed up and splashed the brunette in front of him.

Andromeda laughed, "Not bad." Andromeda ran farther out into the ocean, dragging Luke with her. She went to pull Luke under but wasn't strong enough.

"Trust me, Luke," Andromeda begged softly. Luke looked at the water, then at Andromeda, "Okay."

Andromeda smiled and pulled him under.

Luke closed his eyes and held his breath. Andromeda focused to make an air bubble around the two. When finished, she rolled her eyes and tapped Luke on the shoulder. Luke opened his eyes, and watched Andrlmeda take a dramatic breath. Luke playfully rolled his eyes slowly, but took a breath nonetheless. When he realized he could breathe, Luke relaxed. Andromeda made a 'follow me' gesture, Luke nodded and followed Andromeda.

When they got to the ocean floor, Andrlmeda smiled, "You good?" her smile was replaced with a frown, "You're looking kinda pale."

Luke nodded.

"You can talk ya' know," Andromeda sat down on the ocean floor. Luke followed suit and stared at The Legacy of Olympus.

"What?" Andrlmeda smiled playfully, "Zeus got your tongue?"

Luke shook his head then gasped as he remembered, "I'm so, so sorry, I have to go give Percy something before he leaves."

"Okay I'll come too," Andromeda said Luke nodded and the two swam to the surface.

"Come on," Andromeda said.

"Aren't you gonna get your shoes?" Andromeda shook her head, "Why would I want to put those death traps," She pointed to her heels. Luke laughed, "Okay, I have to get something. from the cabin," Andromeda nodded, "Okay."

They ran to the Hermes cabin, the only sound being Andromeda hissing in pain every time she stepped on a rock

They stopped at the cabin, Andromeda at the doorway examining the soles of her feet and Luke getting a box from under his bed.

"What's in the box?" Andromeda asked.

"Flying shoes. Stole 'em from my dad." Luke shrugged. "Let's go."

They ran up the hill to the Big House with Andromeda complaining about her feet the entire way.

Luke took the shoes out of the box and ran up Half-Blood Hill, Andromeda not far behind the Son of Hermes.

Percy, Annabeth, Chiron, Grover, and Argus turned to look at the two.

"Hey," Luke panted out. "Glad I caught you."

Annabeth blushed, while Chiron looked between the two, noticing their tousled hair and clothes. Andromeda looked at the centaur in his wheelchair, shook her head at his assumption, then looked back toward Percy and Luke.

"Just wanted to say good luck. And I thought... um, maybe you could use these." Luke handed Percy the sneakers.

"Are those the ones from your dad?" Annabeth questioned. Luke nodded. "Maia!"

White bird wings sprouted out of the heels, which startled Percy so much, he dropped them. Andromeda laughed. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover said, in awe.

Luke put his arm around Andromeda's waist and smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..." his expression turned sad. Andromeda snuggled into Luke's side and grumbled, "So sad over a quest. What about me?"

Luke laughed. "I would take you with me."

"Okay." Andromeda's smile returned.

"Hey, man," Percy said, his cheeks a soft pink. "Thanks."

"Listen, Percy," Luke said uncomfortably. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just... kill some monsters for me."

"And me," Andromeda said. "And if you figure out who my dad is and meet him, kick his godly ass for me."

Luke and Percy shook hands, before the blonde patted Grover on the head between his horns, then hugged Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out. Luke stood at Thalia's Tree, letting Andromeda say her goodbyes.

She patted Percy's shoulder, and gave Grover a gentle hug. She walked over to Annabeth and hugged the daughter of Athena like her life depended on it.

"Don't die on me," Andromeda whispered. "Cause I might slip up and tell Luke that you like him if you're not back in two months."

Annabeth's eyes grew wide. "You wouldn't."

Andromeda let Annabeth go. "Watch me." She smiled at Annabeth before skipping back to Luke. Andromeda grabbed Luke's hand and dragged him down Half-Blood Hill.

Luke laughed. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Andromeda said cheekily.

After a few minutes of Andromeda dragging Luke, they arrived at a cave, partially in the ocean.

"What's this?" Luke asked. Andromeda smiled. "It's a place that no one else comes to." Luke nodded and replied, "Okay."

Andromeda dragged Luke into the cave and sat down on the ground, her feet in the ocean.

"C'mon." Andromeda patted the ground next to her. Luke smiled and sat down. Andromeda layed her head on Luke's shoulder and sighed.

PUBLISHED: may 24, 2025
EDITED: -