"Andromeda, why are you all of a sudden so interested in learning about the giants?" Chiron asked. I'd been so absorbed in searching the camp's library – one of the forbidden rooms in the Big House unless you were granted permission – that I bumped my head against the shelf, swearing under my breath even though it really hadn't hurt. Somehow I still had the Curse of Achilles, even as a goddess, which really didn't make sense to me, because now I really couldn't die. Oh well, I still stayed clear of my mortal point, just in case.
"Well, history tends to repeat itself, right?" I asked, absentmindedly rubbing the spot on the back of my head that had bumped against the shelf as I stooped down to pick up the books I'd dropped.
"Yes," Chiron agreed. "But only if we fail to learn from our mistakes."
"My case in point." I set my pile of books down onto an old, decrepit table, coughing as a cloud of dust flew into my face. God, my next goal at camp would be to clean this room if it took me a thousand years.
I picked up the copy of Mythology Through the Ages and flipped to the chapter following the first Titan war. Though the ink had faded considerably from the original printing, the writing was still legible enough to make out.
"'After the war with the dreadful Titans,'" I started to read, pointing to the paragraph I was looking at, "'there was a time of peace as the Olympians finally came to power. The original Olympians, the six children of Kronos, were now in charge of rebuilding the Earth as they sought fit. This included repairing the damages that came from the Titans as well as aiding the mortal race from completely dying out from the sudden shifts in the environment as other Titans went into hiding, disrupting the natural order.
"'However, this period of peace and reconstruction would not last long. Though it took several hundred years for the original Olympian council to expand from six to twelve (excluding Hades and Hestia), that was all the time needed for another more ancient and sinister force to stir, wanting nothing more than to revenge her fallen children.
"'And so the Earth Mother awoke from her millennia of slumber, finding solace not in her husband, whose murder she had orchestrated, but in the third eldest primordial, Tartarus. Together the two sired a new breed of monster, one more fearsome and crueler than the Titans ever were: the giants. There were twelve original giants, each one made to oppose an Olympian, and as they had children, those giants came to oppose other gods and goddesses as well.'"
Chiron then abruptly shut the book, his face ashen as he pulled it into his lap, tucking it beneath the blanket that covered his fake legs. "No more of that, child," he said, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. "We have just come out of a war against Father. Do you really believe the Earth Mother would want to strike again so soon?"
"I saw her during the war, Chiron," I said. "She killed me in a dream of mine after I refused to pledge my allegiance to her."
He swore in a mixture of Ancient Greek and Latin, seeming more unnerved than I'd ever seen him before. "This does not bode well, then. To kill a giant-"
"You need demigods and gods working together, I know."
Chiron shook his head in disbelief. "This will not go over well with Lord Zeus. But I must inform him of this threat, anyhow. It is imperative that we begin preparing immediately."
Just as he started to wheel himself out of the room, I caught onto the handles of the wheelchair, stopping Chiron. "Wait," I said, ignoring the look of concern flashing in my half-brother's brown eyes. "I don't want you to tell Percy or Annabeth about this yet."
"And why ever not? Annabeth is one of the smartest demigods at camp. If she has time to learn about this threat-"
"Chiron, I respect you a lot, you know that. But I need you to trust me on this. As much as we both know Annabeth's help would be invaluable, please remember that she's only sixteen and just came out of a war that ended with some of her friends dead. Not to mention that she and Percy only recently started dating, earning some well-deserved peace. Let them enjoy this time for as long as possible."
Chiron scratched at his beard, deep in thought. "Confound it all," he murmured, aggressively shelving the book back into the nearest empty space. "You are correct, Andromeda. We should give those two time to be teenagers. Gods knows they haven't been forced to grow up fast enough as it is."
"I'll tell them when this becomes a bigger threat," I promised, taking out the copy of Mythology Through the Ages again, shoving it deep into my bag. "But in the meantime, I'll do my own research. Plus, there's somewhere I've got to be."
Chiron raised an eyebrow. "And where would that be?"
"My cabin. I'm late for my date."
A wide smile broke out across Chiron's face. "I wasn't aware that you were seeing anyone, Andy. Who's the lucky boy?"
My face was redder than a ripe tomato. "Luke Castellan," I squeaked, apprehensively fiddling with the hem of my Camp Half-Blood shirt.
"Ah, a good boy, that one. He's extremely lucky to have you. Now, on you go, then! You mustn't keep him waiting!"
I said a meek goodbye to Chiron, my face still burning as I ran out of the Big House, ignoring as the Stoll brothers wolf-whistled at me. Those two were probably up to no good right now, but I couldn't really be bothered at the moment, because Luke was standing outside of cabin three completely dressed up while I was still in jeans and a t-shirt.
"I'll be just a sec," I told Luke, barging inside the cabin and immediately beginning to toss my clothes to the side. Thankfully, I'd had the foresight to leave my dress out on an empty bed, so I wasn't agonizing over what I was going to wear.
My dress was blue and white and went down just a little past my knees. It was also sleeveless, meaning that I threw on a white cardigan on seeing that it was chilly out, the feeling of fall coming into full effect now that we were in the end of November. And seeing that I was a goddess, I simply willed my hair into perfect ringlets as I laced up my blue Converse.
"You ready?" Luke asked through the door.
"Yup," I said not a moment later, opening the door and smiling at Luke. He was dressed in a blue polo, the shade of blue matching my dress, and khaki pants with light brown loafers. He'd gone so far as to gel his hair, and something told me that that had been Silena's doing (she was spending the weekend at camp with Beckendorf, because there was some project that he was working on here).
Luke licked his lips and opened his mouth several times, but no words ever came out. I just laughed at his expression before taking his hand into my own and shadow-traveling us to his favorite seafood place (sorry, Percy) by the beach.
We spent the rest of the night at the beach, our shoes long forgotten in the sand as we ran in and out of the water, splashing each other and laughing and generally having a good time. We even got to see some sea turtle eggs hatching, which I thought was super cool, and I knew Luke would never let me live down my excitement of that for the rest of my life.
"I'm so lucky to have you," Luke told me at one point, sleeking back his sopping wet hair so that it wasn't hanging in front of his eyes.
"And I'm so glad to have you."
Then we kissed under the moonlight, like something straight out of a rom-com, but of course something had to come along to ruin what would've been a perfect night.
0o0o
It wasn't until I was a hundred percent sure Luke wasn't going to try to sneak into my cabin tonight that I left, slinging my backpack over my shoulder as I returned to the Big House for the fifth time today. Chiron and Mr. D were waiting for me on the porch, their grim expressions made so much darker by the shadows cast on their faces from the flickering light overhead.
"I got your message," I said, holding up the note that had been on my bed as proof.
"So, you know what you are to do, then?" Chiron asked, his tail flickering nervously.
I sighed. "Unfortunately, I do." I handed Chiron an envelope of my own. "Make sure Luke gets this, yeah? And if he asks, tell him...tell him that I'm okay and that I'll be back as soon as possible."
"Enough with the sentiments, Andrew," Mr. D said irritably, clearly unhappy with having to be awake at such an ungodly hour. "Come on, before Father decides to punish all of us even more."
Mr. D placed a hand on my shoulder, and suddenly we were standing in the middle of the throne room. Mr. D gave one last annoyed grunt before stalking off to his throne, where he promptly put his head in his hand and immediately fell asleep, snoring softly as some of the grape vines wrapped around his chest, keeping him from falling out of his seat.
"Welcome back, Andromeda," Zeus said, his mouth set in a firm line as he stared at me. The rest of the throne room was vacant, save for Zeus, Hera, and the sleeping Dionysus. "I see that you have received my correspondence."
"I have," I said, doing my best to keep my annoyance hidden. All I wanted was to spend some more time with my boyfriend before having to fight in another war, but even as the goddess of time, I sincerely doubted time was on my side. "And if I could put in my two cents, I think that this decision is completely counterproductive, harmful even."
Zeus's eyes flashed dangerously. "I have my reasons for doing this, Andromeda, reasons that you could not even begin to comprehend."
"Oh, really?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "Try me."
Zeus turned to Hera for approval, to which she merely nodded, seeming like she was half-asleep as well from the way that she was still wearing her bunny slippers and didn't seem too concerned about it.
"As I'm sure you know, history tends to repeat itself, especially in cases like these. And if I'm right, then that means that a worse enemy is coming, one I'm hoping to postpone as long as possible." Zeus then grit his teeth. "But thanks to my blasted son's Oracle, this prophecy is coming to pass, and we have less time than I originally anticipated."
"Yeah, I know what's coming." I rummaged through my bag, pulled out Mythology Through the Ages, and threw it at Zeus. "Turn to page five hundred and seventy-two, second paragraph."
Both Zeus and Hera quickly skimmed the page. Hera merely raised an eyebrow, looking at her husband in an I-told-you-so sort of way, while Zeus had a vein bulging from his forehead, appearing like it was going to burst at any second.
"If this is truly coming to pass again, we must act," Hera argued. "We must not be caught off guard like last time."
"This book is rubbish," Zeus announced, tossing it aside, hitting Mr. D square in the chest. But the god was so sound asleep that he didn't even flinch. "No, my decision is final. I am closing the gates to Olympus. There shall be no contact between Olympus in the mortal world until Grandmother Dearest goes back to sleep, alongside those monstrosities of hers."
"That's preposterous!" Hera exclaimed the same time I yelled, "You're crazy!"
"Closing Olympus isn't going to do anything to force her back to sleep!" I argued, fed up with Zeus's paranoia. "All you'll be doing is playing right into her hands! She wants us to be afraid, unorganized, so when the time is right, she will kill us all one by one. If you want to stay up here, fine, but I will be down there fighting alongside my friends."
"You'll do nothing of the sort! I forbid it!" Zeus roared.
"You have no power to forbid me from doing anything, not anymore," I seethed. "Not since you made me a goddess, one who isn't restrained by the Ancient Laws. That means I am not bound to you or any of your poorly made decisions. I will not sit around and allow my friends to go up against these beasts like lambs to slaughter. Goodbye."
I vanished from the throne room positively fuming, wanting to get as far away from there as possible. But I guess I must've overshot the landing (I was still getting used to this apparition thing that gods did), because the next thing I knew, I was standing outside of a large mansion in the middle of the woods.
And while normally I would've just hopped into the nearest shadow, I heard the familiar sound of an arrow being shot from a bow, the sound of glass breaking shattering the silence of the forest. I walked towards the sound of the broken glass, stopping behind a bush and peering through the leaves.
Standing in front of me was a Chinese Canadian boy (only reason I knew I was in Canada was thanks to the flag waving above the roof of the house) of about fifteen-years-old, with a quiver slung over his shoulder and a bow in hand. He had set up glass plates, vases, and cups on red pedestals and was shooting at them, the arrow piercing straight through the center of whatever his target was.
I had a sneaking suspicion about the identity of this boy, which was confirmed when I heard an old lady yelling, "FAI ZHANG!" at the top of her lungs, stomping out of her house so fiercely that I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears. "Stop this ridiculous behavior. It is beneath you." Then she sighed exasperatedly and tucked a strand of her gray hair behind her ear. "Clean up this mess, Fai. Dinner is almost ready. Then you must prepare for your journey."
"Yes, Grandmother," he said begrudgingly, setting down his bow and quiver into a red wagon with the rest of the unbroken china.
I'd meant to visit Frank a long time ago, but somehow, I was never able to pull it off. So, seeing that this was the perfect opportunity to introduce myself to the Zhang family, I headed back for the front entrance of the house. But before I knocked, I waved a hand over my left forearm, revealing my now six lines underneath the omega. I even pulled out a letter I had from Jason for situations like these – talking to unaware demigods, I mean.
But as I finally went to knock, the door swung open, revealing the old lady who'd just been yelling at Frank minutes earlier. "Yes?" she asked impatiently, tapping her foot in annoyance. "How can I help you?"
"Hello, my name is Andy Collins, and I'm with the Twelfth Legion." I rolled up my sleeve, revealing the tattoo signifying my place in the legion. "I've come to discuss with you about your grandson."
Grandmother Zhang scowled and shut the door behind her. She then grabbed me by the arm, dragged me onto the other side of the porch, and pushed me down into a bench. She took a seat on the other side of a little table, which held some board games with everything written in Mandarin, so I had no idea what they were.
"Talk, girl," Grandmother demanded, her eyebrows so arched that they practically disappeared into her hair line. "Why is the legion interested in my grandson?"
"We were informed that he is coming of age, so I was sent to investigate the situation. Assuming that he is still unaware of the truth, I will leave if you wish, but if you would like him to come to Camp Jupiter, I shall escort him."
"Huh." Grandmother set her jaw. "Why is it that my grandson gets a guide when most don't? Don't take me for a blithering idiot, girl, just because I'm old doesn't make me senile."
"New policies, ma'am," I lied. "Ever since the monsters have somehow gained the ability to reform quickly after death, the praetors have been sending some of us as guides for potential members of the legion. The wolves should be arriving shortly as well, but seeing that I left earlier, I've gotten here first."
This seemed to convince Grandmother Zhang. Though she was still watching me out of the corner of her eye as she returned into her home, calling for Frank in a mixture of Mandarin and Canadian French. However, she eventually said, "Well, come in, girl. It's not going to do my grandson any good if you aren't well-fed for this journey."
Dinner was a quiet affair with the Zhang family, the silence only being disrupted once when Frank asked for me to pass him the salt shaker. Other than that, we ate in quietly, and I was staring down at my plate the entire time, wanting to avoid Grandmother's penetrating stare. Seriously, it was like she was trying to see into my soul.
About an hour later, the wolves arrived, howling from the front porch to grab our attention. "It's time to go," I told Frank gently, thanking Grandmother Zhang for her hospitality before standing up from the table, waiting for Frank by the front door.
Frank quickly tugged on another fleece, thermal pants, and his hiking/snow boots. He then hefted his pack, his bow, and his quiver before patting his chest, relieved when he felt the cloth surrounding the little stick of wood that was his lifeline.
"Goodbye, Grandmother," Frank said stiffly, appearing as if he wanted to give the older woman a hug, but judging from the severe look still on her face, he decided against it, choosing to merely nod at her instead.
"Goodbye, Fai," she said, to both of our surprises. She then ushered the two of us out of the house and shut the door behind us. And though I was pretty sure she was trying to inconspicuously spy on us, I could see her silvery hair through the front window, her hand resting against the window, as if she was reaching out to touch Frank.
"Ready?" I asked, petting the head of one of the wolves as it rubbed up against my leg, having recognized me.
"As I'll ever be, I guess," Frank said with a shrug, once again reaching into his jacket to touch his lifeline.
"Do you have any letters from your grandmother? As in, if she gave you some, do you have them with you?"
"I do."
"Great, then let's be on our way." I gave the wolf one final pet. "Okay, lead us," I instructed the wolves, and they took off towards the forest, their footprints breaking through the crisp snow on the ground.
"Where are we going?" Frank asked as we began to walk into the forest, trying to keep up with the wolves. "Do you know who my dad is? And if my dad's a god, does that mean I'm a demigod?"
"We're going to the Wolf House. No, I don't know who your dad is. Yes, that makes you a demigod." I shook off the snow that had landed in my hair before it could melt. "Any other questions?"
"What's your name, and who's your godly parent?"
"My name is Andy Collins, daughter of Saturn."
Frank looked at me weirdly. "I thought this place where we're going is only for demigods. Wasn't Saturn a Titan?"
"Camp Jupiter, which is your final destination, is a safe haven for all children of all immortals, as long as they swear to stay loyal to the gods and to the legion. I swore my allegiance to the gods, so despite my father, I'm still a member of the legion. Also, Camp Jupiter is home to legacies, the sons and daughters of demigods."
"Oh, that makes sense."
Frank fell silent after that. I merely brushed off some more snow off my clothes and trudged forward, hoping that Reyna and Jason would be able to understand why I was personally escorting a demigod to the Wolf House instead of letting him forge alone as tradition stated.
0o0o
It took Frank and me a good two weeks to get from his home in Canada to Sonoma, California – a trip that would've taken all of ten seconds if I'd been allowed to shadow-travel the two of us. But if Lupa had found out, she'd be even less inclined to accept Frank, despite the fact that she'd known that I tended to help kids reach the Wolf House for the past several years.
Once we got to Sonoma, and I saw the Wolf House, I stopped and told Frank, "This is as far as I go. If Lupa allows you to move on from this place, I shall see you again at Camp Jupiter. Good luck, Frank Zhang."
"Hey, Andy," Frank said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Thanks for everything. You were really helpful in making this trip."
I gave him a reassuring smile. "It was my pleasure. When you reach Camp Jupiter, we can have as many Q&A sessions as you'd like. And, if you really want, I could make those chicken quesadillas you liked so much."
Frank's stomach growled, and he turned pink. I just laughed and pulled an apple from my bag, pressing it into his hand. "Eat before you go in there," I advised, finding some packaged turkey jerky and tearing it open, tossing handfuls of jerky towards the wolves. "I hope to see you soon, Frank."
And with that, I took my leave, retreating back into the forest until I was far enough away from the Wolf House that I could disappear into the shadows, reappearing back at Camp Half-Blood. I'd stop by Camp Jupiter within the next two weeks, but seeing that it was just around the time that Percy was about to go missing, I wanted to be there for Annabeth.
Needless to say, I'd already warned Hera against the forced exchange between the two boys, offering to be the liaison that linked the two camps myself, but she was steadfast in her decision, no matter what I said. It seems that she was just as stubborn as Zeus at times, although her plan still worked the first time, so I guess if I could help lessen the impact of it, then that would be great.
Anyways, once I returned to Camp Half-Blood, I was met with someone tackling me into a hug. I blinked twice before recognizing the person to be Percy, a sad smile on my face as I hugged him just as fiercely, guessing that he had at most two more days until his disappearance. After all, he would meet up with Annabeth on Tuesday, and he'd go missing the following day.
And while I knew that he would be safer during those eight months than any other time in his life, I couldn't help but be upset by the fact that he'd never get that time back. Sure, I could manipulate time and all, but it's not the same thing knowing the future and reliving the past as getting to experience the present.
"Hey, squirt," I said, ruffling his hair, much to his annoyance. "Welcome back. Finally on break, huh?"
Percy nodded. "Thank the gods for that," he chuckled, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to make it neater. "I think all my brain cells have died after those semester exams. If I'm asked to do anything involving rational expressions in the next three weeks, I'm going to go drown myself."
"But you can't drown?"
"You know what I mean." He laughed again. "Hey, so do you know when Annabeth will get here?"
"I think she said she'd get here by Tuesday," I answered, biting my lip, nervously fidgeting with my bracelet. I looked down at the ground, unable to meet Percy's eyes. "From the last time I spoke to her, she's very excited to come back to camp."
"That's great," Percy said, sounding distracted. Then I felt his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern, his eyes shining with empathy. I looked away.
"I'm fine," I lied.
"Did Luke do something to hurt you? Because if he did, I swear to the gods-"
I managed a weak chuckle. "No, Luke hasn't done anything to me, Percy, but I appreciate your enthusiasm to kill my boyfriend."
"Oh. Then what's wrong?"
I bit my lip so hard, I drew blood. I swore as I hastily wiped the blood away, praying to God that Percy didn't notice that I bled gold ichor instead of red blood. I hadn't told anyone of my goddess status, and I didn't want to just yet. Not to mention that that shouldn't have happened, assuming I still had the Curse of Achilles at the moment.
Instead of answering his question, I said, "Make sure you spend as much time with your friends and family as you can. And call your mother every night, too."
Percy gave a nervous laugh. "You're scaring me there, Andy. You make it sound like I'm going to die."
I didn't answer.
"Wait, I'm going to die? Andy, what the Hades is going on?"
"You're not going to die," I said quietly, abetting that concern quickly. "But it's a suggestion I hope you take seriously."
Percy blanched, but before he could ask any more questions, I turned and ran away, doing my best to ignore the sound of my name being called as I headed for the forest. I didn't stop until I found the creek that marked the boundary line in capture the flag, sitting down by the banks, guilt bubbling up in my chest as I stared at the running water.
That had been much harder than I expected it to be, especially having noticed the unmistakable fear on Percy's face the longer that the conversation progressed. Seriously, this forced exchange was so unfair to everyone involved, in my opinion, but Hera had strongly opposed the idea of my being the link between the two camps, so I obeyed to avoid her wrath. As much as Hera was a thorn in the side at times, you didn't want to get on her bad side, goddess or not.
I spent my time by making friendship bracelets, finding comfort in the repetitive motion of weaving the strings together. By the time the signal for dinner sounded, I'd finished six bracelets, one for Luke, Nico, Will, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. I could've made more if I was doing generic fishtails or candy stripes or chevrons, but I'd added little personal details into all of them. For example, I weaved a gray owl into Annabeth's bracelet, resting on top of an orange and white striped design. Grover got a tree, Will a sun, Nico a skull, Luke a caduceus (which was damn near impossible to make), and Percy a trident.
At dinner, I gave Percy, Will, and Luke their bracelets, as Grover, Annabeth, and Nico hadn't arrived at camp yet. I knew I'd see Annabeth and Grover within the week, but I wasn't too sure about Nico, and I seriously doubted Hades would hold onto a friendship bracelet for his son, even if I'd been the one to make it.
After dinner, Luke walked me back to my cabin, the both of us deciding to sit on the stone steps and just talk instead of going to the amphitheater, where the Aphrodite and Apollo cabin were performing their renditions of Christmas songs, despite the fact that Christmas was still a good three weeks away.
"So," Luke said as he patted the spot besides him for me to sit. "What was that all about with Percy? He was pretty shaken up, you know. He asked me for drachmas and a prism so he could call his mom tonight."
"I had a dream," I said, drawing in a shuddery breath, a shiver running down my spine. "I saw Percy and Annabeth, the both of them so happy by the campfire. The next thing I know, Annabeth is crying and screaming for Percy, but he's nowhere to be found – not in his cabin, with his mom, or anywhere else on camp. She prayed to Athena for guidance, but Athena didn't answer, and neither did any other god, for that matter."
"Did you ever see what became of Percy?"
"No," I said, shaking my head miserably. "Do you see why I'm so adamant that he spends time with his loved ones?"
Luke nodded slowly. Then he reached over and pressed a chaste kiss onto my forehead, pulling me close into his embrace. I relaxed slightly, smelling the familiar scent of his body wash through his clothes, calming my fried nerves.
"He'll be fine, Andy," Luke reassured me. "It's going to take a lot more than a dream to kill Percy Jackson. You'll see."
Oh, Luke, I thought to myself. If only you knew what we were up against this time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, y'all, it's been a minute since I've last updated.
Sorry about the delay. Some crazy stuff has been going on in my life recently, so writing's had to take the back burner for a while.
Thank you all for being so incredibly patient.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading! :D