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Chapter Text

Andie stared up at the dark ceiling of her dorm room, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Was she going crazy? Maybe. Maybe she had finally cracked. An insane asylum at twelve years old…that might be a new record.

It had started at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a month ago.

The bus ride from Yancy Academy in Upstate New York to New York City was about three hours. Since they’d left at about five that morning, most of the students had slept for the first two- Andie included. By the time they’d arrived on the familiar streets of Manhattan, everyone was awake and energized, and ready to get off the damn bus.

Nancy Bobofit was no exception. 

Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, Andie’s kleptomaniac, redheaded archenemy had decided to spend her newfound energy on throwing peanut-butter-and-ketchup sandwiches at the back of her best friend’s head.

“I’m gonna kill her,” Andie muttered.

Grover sent her what she thought was supposed to be a calming smile. “It’s okay. I like peanut butter.”

He dodged another piece of Nancy’s lunch. Seriously, how did she even get that? The school sent bagged lunches in coolers.

“That’s it!” Andie started to get up, but Grover pulled her back into her seat.

“You’re already on probation,” he reminded her. “You know who’ll get blamed if anything happens.”

He held her stare, and after a few silent moments, Andie relented. She slumped in her seat with a huff.

They arrived at the Met fifteen minutes later, and twenty-eight kids stampeded off the bus, ready to stretch their limbs.

Mr. Brunner- their Latin teacher, and the reason for this particular field trip- headed up the tour in his motorized wheelchair. Andie and Grover wove between their classmates towards the front of the group, eager to be at the front near the one teacher they actually liked.

Maybe it was the fact that Mr. Brunner himself had an insane collection of Greco-Roman armor and weapons that he would bring into class, or maybe it was the fact that his class was the only one Andie actually understood, to some extent, but she constantly found herself interested in the stories Mr. Brunner would tell about Greek and Roman history, and their mythologies. As they followed him through the galleries, Andie couldn’t help but be amazed by just how old some of the pieces were.

Mr. Brunner gathered them around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a massive sphinx on top, and began telling them about how it was a grave marker, a stele for a girl about their age. Andie tried her hardest to listen to him talk about the stele’s detailing, but everyone around her was talking, and every time Andie told them to shut up, the only other chaperone on their trip, Mrs. Dodds, sent her a glare that would send the devil running.

Andie had never been sure exactly why the math teacher had hated Andie on sight, but she seemed to have some unprecedented grudge with her. The old lady was constantly giving Andie awful punishments for no reason. Once, Andie had asked a clarifying question about a formula breakdown, and Mrs. Dodds sentenced her to detention for ‘back talking’. It was total bullshit.

Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. Just as he was beginning to talk about the history of Greek funeral arts, Nancy snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and Andie turned around. “Will you shut the fuck up?”

It came out louder than she intended. The whole group laughed, and Mr. Brunner stopped mid-sentence.

“Miss Jackson,” he called. “Did you have a comment?”

Andie didn’t meet his eyes. Her face burned. “No, sir.”

The Latin teacher hummed and pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. “Perhaps you’ll tell us what this picture represents?”

She looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, as she actually recognized it. “That’s Kronos eating his kids.”

“Yes,” Mr. Brunner said, clearly not satisfied. “And he did this because?”

It was one of the few stories Andie knew. For whatever reason, it had always stuck with her. Maybe because what Kronos had done to his children was so unfathomable. Maybe because she shared part of her name with his wife. Either way, Andie’s blood always ran cold when they talked about it.

“Kronos was the king god,” Andie began. “And-“

“God?” Mr. Brunner asked.

“Titan,” she corrected herself. “And…and he’d heard a prophecy that said one of his kids would overthrow him, so he didn’t trust them. So, uh, Kronos ate them. But his wife, Rhea, hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat, instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked Kronos into puking up his brothers and sisters-“

Someone behind her squealed in disgust.

“-and so there was this big war between the gods and the Titans, and the gods won.”

Beside her, Grover sent her a small, proud smile. Several others in the group snickered. Behind her, Nancy mumbled to a friend, “Like we’re gonna use this in real life. Like it’s gonna ask us to explain how Kronos at his kids on a job application.”

“And why, Miss Jackson,” Mr. Brunner asked. “To paraphrase Miss Bobofit’s excellent question, does this matter in real life?”

“Busted,” Grover muttered.

“Shut up,” Nancy hissed, her face somehow a brighter red than her hair.

At least Nancy got caught, too. Mr. Brunner seemed to be the only one who ever heard her saying anything wrong. That may have added to the reason Andie like his class so much.

She thought about her teacher’s questions, and shrugged. “I’m not sure, sir.”

“I see.” Mr. Brunner looked disappointed, and Andie felt a little guilty. “Well, half credit, Miss Jackson. Zeus did, indeed, feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan’s stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it’s time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?”

Andie and Grover were about to follow the rest of the class as they trailed back through the museum, when Mr. Brunner called, “Miss Jackson.”

She knew it was coming. She told Grover she’d meet him outside, then turned back towards her teacher. “Sir?”

Mr. Brunner had this look that was immobilizing- intense, warm brown eyes that could’ve been a thousand years old and had seen everything.

“You must learn the answer to my question,” he told her.

Andie frowned. “About the Titans?”

“About real life. And how your studies apply to it.”

“Oh.”

“What you learn from me,” he said intensely, “is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Andie Jackson.”

Andie suppressed her temper. God, this guy pushed her so hard, and for what? As much as he was her favorite teacher, she had, somehow, also become his star student. But, despite her ADHD and her Dyslexia, and the fact that she was a C average student, Mr. Brunner expected her to be just as good as everyone else, if not better. 

She swallowed the lump in her throat and muttered something about trying harder. Mr. Brunner took one long, sad look at the stele, like he’d been at the girl’s funeral.

“Go join Grover outside for lunch, Andie,” he murmured softly.

Andie turned on her heel, and wove back through the exhibits toward the entrance. Grover was waiting for her at the top of the front stairs, and together they grabbed their lunches and joined the rest of their class on the steps.

Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than she’d ever seen over the city. Andie couldn’t help but notice it, mostly because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. They’d had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. At this point, a surprise hurricane wouldn’t be too out of the question.

No one else seemed to notice.

Andie and Grover sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. They figured maybe there was a small chance people wouldn’t know they were from that school- the school for loser freaks who had no chance of making it elsewhere.

“Detention?” Grover asked.

“Nah, not from Brunner,” she responded, taking a bite out of her sandwich. “I just wish he’d lay off me sometimes. I don’t know how he came to the conclusion that I’m some sort of fucking genius, or something.”

Grover didn’t say anything for a while. Then, just when Andie thought he was going to say something deep and so reassuringly Grover, he asked, “Can I have your apple?”

Andie huffed out a laugh and handed it over. She didn’t have much of an appetite, anyway.

As Grover crunched away, Andie watched the traffic running up and down the avenue and thought about her mom. Their little apartment was just a few blocks uptown from where they sat. Andie hadn’t seen her mom since Christmas Break, and wanted nothing more to head home and hug her mom. But she knew she’d be disappointed. Her mom would send her right back to Yancy, and remind her to at least try, even if Yancy was her sixth school in as many years, and Andie was almost inevitably going to get expelled, again. Andie couldn’t ever stand the sad look her mom would give her.

She shook her head, clearing any thoughts of her mother away. Being in the city wasn’t doing much for her homesickness. 

Just as Andie was finishing her sandwich, Nancy appeared in front of her with her nasty, snotty friends. She must’ve gotten tired of pickpocketing tourists, and had instead decided to dump her half-eaten lunch in Grover’s lap.

She grinned at Andie with her crooked teeth. “Oops.”

Finally, Andie’s temper boiled over. A wave roared in her ears.

She didn’t remember touching the redhead, but the next thing Andie knew, Nancy was on her ass in the fountain, completely drenched.

“Andie pushed me!”

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to them.

Andie distantly heard some of her classmates muttering something about the water, how it had grabbed Nancy, but she had no clue what they were talking about. All she knew was that she was in deep shit.

As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure that poor little angel baby Nancy was okay, she turned back on Andie. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if Andie had done something the math teacher had been waiting on all semester.

Andie felt her heart thudding in her chest as she stared Mrs. Dodds down. There was something in the woman’s eyes- some sort of hellish fire that made Andie’s hair stand up on end. 

She narrowed her eyes. “Come with me.”

“Wait!” Grover yelped. “It was me. I pushed her.”

Andie stared at her best friend, stunned. She couldn’t believe he was trying to cover for her. Mrs. Dodds terrified Grover.

The math teacher glared at him so hard, his whiskery chin trembled.

“I don’t think so, Mr. Underwood.”

“But-“

“You will stay. Here.”

Grover looked back at Andie desperately.

“It’s okay,” she said, squeezing his shoulder. “Thanks for trying.”

“Now, Miss Jackson,” Mrs. Dodds hissed.

Nancy Bobofit smirked. Andie sent her a withering glare- the worst one she could summon- then turned to face Mrs. Dodds.

But the teacher wasn’t standing where she had been a moment ago. Instead, she was at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently for Andie to follow. 

She knew part of her ADHD was that she would zone out, occasionally, or her brain would misinterpret things.

She wasn’t so sure that’s what was going on.

Andie followed Mrs. Dodds.

Half-way up the steps, she glanced back at Grover. He had gone pale, and was glancing back and forth between her and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted the Latin teacher to see what was going on.

Mr. Brunner, however, was sipping what looked like a thermos of tea under the umbrella of his little motorized cafe-table-wheelchair, completely absorbed in his novel.

She looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again, now inside the building at the end of the entrance hall.

At first, Andie thought she was going to be forced to by Nancy a new shirt at the gift shop, but then Mrs. Dodds lead her further into the museum. When she finally caught up, they were back in the Greek and Roman section.

Except for them, the gallery was empty.

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble statue of Perseus, holding up Medusa’s head. She was making a strange noise in the back of her throat, like growling

“You’ve been giving us problems, Miss Jackson,” she stated.

Andie swallowed. “Yes, ma’am.”

The teacher rolled her head, like she was stretching out kinks in her neck. “Did you really think you would get away with it?”

The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was pure evil.

‘She’s a teacher,’ Andie thought nervously. ‘It’s not like she’s going to hurt me.’

“I-I’ll try harder, ma’am,” Andie stuttered out.

Thunder shook the building. 

“We are not fools, Andromeda Jackson,” Mrs. Dodds growled. A shiver went up Andie’s spine at the use of her full name. More in how the woman said it, like she knew something about Andie that Andie didn’t know. “It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.”

Andie’s mouth went dry. She had no idea what the hell the woman was talking about.

“Well?” Mrs. Dodds demanded.

Andie shook her head. “Ma’am, I- I don’t…”

And then came the part where Andie thought she might have to get herself admitted to a psych ward.

The math teacher’s eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning in to talons. Her leather jacket melted into large, leathery wings. 

Suddenly, all of Andie’s jokes to Grover about Mrs. Dodds not being human were no longer jokes. She had turned into a shriveled hag with bat wings, claws, and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice Andie to ribbons.

What came next didn’t help.

Mr. Brunner, who’d been completely unaware of anything, happily reading his book in front of the museum ten seconds ago, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a ballpoint pen aloft.

“What ho, Andie!” he called, and tossed the pen through the air.

Mrs. Dodds lunged at her.

With a yelp, Andie dodged and felt talons whistled through the air next to her ear. She snatched the pen out of the air, but when it hit her hand, it was no longer a pen.

It was the same bronze sword that Mr. Brunner would always bring in on their tournament style review days.

Mrs. Dodds spun towards Andie with a murderous look in her eyes.

Andie’s knees had turned to jelly. Her hands trembled so bad, she nearly dropped the sword.

The demon-bat-teacher-lady snarled, “Die!” as she flew straight at Andie.

With an instinct Andie didn’t even know she had, she swung the sword. The metal blade hit the thing’s shoulder and passed clean through her body like a hot knife through butter.

Mrs. Dodds exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching Andie.

Andie blinked, and suddenly found herself alone. 

There was a ballpoint pen in her hand.

Mr. Brunner was gone, like he’d never been there in the first place.

Andie’s hands were still trembling. 

See what she meant about the whole straitjacket at twelve thing?

When she returned outside, it had started to rain.

Grover was sitting by the fountain holding a museum map over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing, now redundantly soaked from both the fountain and the rain, grumbling to her pack of friends.

“I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your ass,” she snapped when she saw Andie.

Andie frowned. “Who?”

“Our teacher, dumbass!”

“What the fuck are you blabbering about, now?”

Nancy just rolled her eyes and turned away, just as Grover joined Andie’s side. 

“Hey, where’s Mrs. Dodds?” she asked.

“Who?”

But he paused first, and wouldn’t look at Andie, so she figured he was fucking with her.

“Grover, I’m not fucking around,” she told him. “Something is really really fucking wrong.”

Thunder boomed overhead. Andie glanced around and spotted Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he never moved.

He looked up, a little distracted when Andie approached him. “Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Miss Jackson.”

Andie hadn’t even realized she’d still been holding it. She handed it back to him. “Sir, where is Mrs. Dodds?”

He stared at her blankly. “Who?”

“The other chaperone,” Andie said slowly. “Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher?”

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. “Andie, there is no Mrs. Dodd son this trip. As far as I’m aware, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling alright?”

Andie stared at the man in horror. This…this could not be real. But the way Mr. Brunner was looking at her, his usually kind brown eyes filled with worry and something that must’ve been pity…

Part of her wanted to flash him a grin, and say, “Got ya, Mr. Brunner! Just keeping you on your toes!”

But she couldn’t find it within herself to do it. Her mind was still reeling, her hands still shaking. Her blood thrummed in her body, like her adrenaline wouldn’t die down and she itched for another fight. For that sword in her hand. 

But there was no sword. No one remembered Mrs. Dodds.

Andie just sent her teacher a tight smile, and turned back towards the steps. She was pretty zoned out for the rest of the trip, only distantly coming to attention as a perky blonde woman- the apparent Mrs. Kerr- began to herd them all back onto the bus.

Which, probably, normally, wouldn’t have been a problem. Except it was a problem, because everyone was convinced that she had been their pre-algebra teacher since December, but Andie had never seen this lady before in her life.

This had to be some kind of sick, elaborate prank.

For the next few weeks, Andie would try to reference Mrs. Dodds, just to try and get someone to slip, but nothing worked.

After a while, Andie almost started believing that Mrs. Dodds never existed. 

The only outlier was Grover.

Grover was a terrible liar. Andie tried to get him to trip up a few times, but he seemed determined not to fess up. Even then, though, he would always hesitate before he claimed she didn’t exist. It wasn’t hard to tell he was lying.

Something had to have happened at the museum.

It got to the point where Andie started waking up almost nightly in a cold sweat, dreaming of demon-Mrs. Dodds.

The freak weather continued, and as the weather got worse, so did Andie’s mood.

She got into fights with both other students and some of her teachers, and her already not-great grades began to get even worse.

Finally, it inevitably got to the point where the headmaster made it clear that Andie would not be welcome back to Yancy Academy for the seventh grade. 

It left Andie with a bittersweet taste in her mouth. Sure, she wouldn’t miss the reminders of her demon math teachers, and yeah, she often got homesick and missed her mom, but Andie had actually kind of liked Yancy. She like the view from her dorm, and Mr. Brunner’s tournament days. She didn’t want to leave Grover, who had become the best friend Andie had ever had.

Six schools in six years. Her mom was going to be so disappointed. Andie hated it. Her mom deserved a far better daughter than Andie.

Maybe that wouldn’t even matter anymore, because that last night at Yancy had been the final straw that convinced Andie that she needed to find the nearest padded room and check herself in.

She just wanted a little help with studying for her exam, so, in a rare show of academic responsibility, Andie decided to go down to Mr. Brunner’s office to ask for some help.

When she got there, though, she froze. Apparently Grover had beat her there.

“-worried about Andie, sir,” came her best friend’s voice from her favorite teacher’s office.

Apparently Grover had beat her there to talk to their teacher about Andie.

Rude.

Andie inched closer.

“-alone this summer. I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know, too-“

Mr. Brunner cut Grover off, “We would only make matters worse by rushing her. We need the girl to mature more.”

“But she may not have time!” Grover protested. “The Summer Solstice deadline-“

“Will have to be resolved without her, Grover. Let her enjoy her ignorance while she still can.”

“Sir, she saw her…”

“Her imagination,” Mr. Brunner insisted. “The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince her of that.”

“Sir, I…I can’t fail my duties again,” Grover’s voice sounded hoarse. “You know what that would mean.”

“You have not failed, Grover,” Mr. Brunner responded gently. “I should have seen her for what she was. Now, let’s just worry about keeping Andie alive until next fall-“

Andie couldn’t listen anymore. Her heart pounded in her chest. She squeezed her textbook, trying to keep her hands from shaking as she made her way back to her dorm room. Her roommate was already asleep.

So there Andie lay in the darkness, trying to process what she had heard downstairs.

Grover and Mr. Brunner believed Andie was in danger. But why? Yancy Academy was full of kids from wealthy families. Troubled kids, sure, but troubled rich kids. Whoever wanted to hurt Andie had a plethora of better options. Andie was nobody from a family of nobodies. 

Why her?

These were the thoughts that Andie fell asleep to.

She didn’t sleep well, which showed as she took her Latin exam the next morning. Her dyslexia and ADHD didn’t help. Andie tried not to meet Mr. Brunner’s eyes as she turned her test in. As she left, Mr. Brunner called out for her to come back.

Andie’s heart dropped into her stomach. That couldn’t mean anything good.

“Andie don’t be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It’s…it’s for the best.”

He spoke gently and kindly, but the words still hurt. It was still embarrassing, especially since the other kids finishing the test could still hear him. Nancy Bobofit jutted her lower lip out in a mocking pout before she smirked.

Andie folded her hands behind her back, where Mr. Brunner couldn’t see, and flipped the red-head the bird.

“Okay, sir,” She mumbled to the teacher.

“I mean…” Mr. Brunner rocked his wheelchair back and forth like he was uncomfortable. “This isn’t the right place for you. It was only a matter of time.”

Behind her, Nancy choked on air, not-so-subtly trying to hide her laugh. Andie’s eyes stung and her throat constricted. Here was her favorite teacher, in front of the whole class, telling her she couldn’t handle it. All year he had been telling her he believed in her, yet here they were on the last day of school, and he was saying she was destined to get kicked out.

Andie clenched her trembling fist so hard she was pretty sure her nails drew blood from her palms. “Right.”

“No, no,” Mr. Brunner shook his head. “Oh, confound it all. What I’m trying to say…you’re not normal, Andie. That’s nothing to be-“

“Thanks,” Andie’s voice cracked as she blurted out the interruption. “Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.”

“Andie-“

Andie couldn’t hear him finish the rest of his sentence from where she disappeared down the hall. She returned to her dorm room to find half of it empty- her roommate had already cleared out. An hour later, Andie had shoved all of her clothes into her suitcase and was making her way out of the school.

She ran into a few of the nicer girls in their grade, who were giving each other tearful goodbyes, and talking about their vacation plans. One was going to a fashion show in Milan, one was spending a month on a cruise in the Caribbean, another was going on a world-wide art museum tour, starting with the Louvre. Andie thought it was sweet of them to even ask what she was going to be doing this summer, even if they didn’t quite know how to respond when Andie told them she was just going back to the city.

They had always been friendly toward Andie, despite the differences backgrounds, but Andie didn’t necessarily mind saying goodbye to them. She was, however, dreading saying goodbye to Grover.

She ran into her friend in the courtyard between the boys and girls dorms. Grover gave her a little wave as she approached.

“So, I suppose this is goodbye?” Andie asked.

Grover hummed and shrugged. “I guess so. How are you getting home? Is your mom coming to pick you up?”

Andie shook her head, “Nah, she’s working. I’m taking a bus.”

Grover flashed her a grin before pulling a piece of paper out of the pocket of his backpack. “I guess we can postpone the goodbyes, then, huh?”

Grover had booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same bus as Andie had. She laughed and looped an arm through his and they made their way to the Greyhound bus station.

Grover was jittery on the entire way to the station. It got worse when they got on the actual bus. During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It was only then that Andie realized that he was like this every single time they’d left Yancy, like he expected something bad to happen. Before today, she’d assumed it was because Grover was scared of getting teased, but there wasn’t anyone to tease him on the Greyhound.

Andie couldn’t stand it anymore. “Looking for Kindly Ones?”

Grover nearly jumped through the roof of the bus. “Wh-what do you mean?”

Andie confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam. 

Grover’s eye twitched. “How much did you hear?”

“Oh…”Andie shrugged one shoulder. “Not much. What’s the Summer Solstice deadline?”

Grover winced, and rambled out a few attempts at excuses. 

Andie cut him off. “Grover, you’re a really shitty liar.”

His ears turned pink. From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. “Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.”

Trying to make out the words in the fancy script on the card made her head spin, but she finally made out Grover’s name and, apparently, his address.

“What’s Half-“

Grover yelped and slapped a hand over her mouth. “Don’t say it aloud! That’s my…uh, my summer address.”

Andie’s heart sank. Of course Grover had a summer address. Her best friend was so down to earth that Andie forgot sometimes that his family might be just as rich as the others at Yancy.

“Okay,” Her response didn’t come out as casual as she was aiming for. “So, like, if I want to come to your mansion.”

Yeah, that sounded pretty bitter.

He nodded. “Or…or if you need me.”

“Why would I need you?”

She winced as soon as she said it. Wow, she really needed to work on her tone.

Grover blushed right down to his Adam’s apple. “Look, Andie, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you.”

Andie blinked at him. Once. Twice. Three times.

All year long she’d gotten in fights keeping bullies away from him. She’d lost sleep worrying that he’d get beaten up next year without her. And here he was acting like he was the one defending her.

“Grover,” She said slowly, “What exactly are you protecting me from?”

Grover didn’t get the chance to answer because at that moment a huge grinding, groaning noise came from under their feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and filled the entire bus with the stink of sulfur. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway. After a few minutes of clanking around the engine compartment, the driver announced that they’d all have to get off. Andie and Grover followed the crowd outside.

They were in the middle of the country, nothing special about it. The side they had pulled off onto consisted of maple trees and litter (which Andie could hear Grover grumbling about when he noticed it), while on the opposite side of the highway, sat an old-fashioned fruit stand.

There were no customers there, despite how delicious the food on sale looked. The only people were the women running the stand- three old ladies sitting in the shade of a maple tree, knitting a truly massive pair of socks. And by massive, she meant she could’ve worn one of them as a dress, if she wanted. The ladies on either side each knitted a sock, while the lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric blue yarn.

But that wasn’t even the weirdest part. The strange part was, that despite being four lanes of traffic and a crowd of people away, these three ancient looking ladies seemed to be looking directly at Andie. Like, full on eye contact.

Andie turned to Grover, about to make a joke, but he looked like he’d seen a ghost. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Grover? Hey, man-“

“Tell me they’re not looking at you. They are, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?”

“Not funny, Andie. Not funny at all.”

The duo watched as the lady in the middle took out a huge pair of shear-like, silver and gold scissors. Grover caught his breath and grabbed Andie’s wrist.

“We’re getting on the bus,” He told her urgently, tugging her with him.

“What?” Andie resisted. “It’s like a thousand degrees in there!”

“Come on!” He pried the door open and climbed inside, but Andie stayed back. The old ladies were still staring at her from across the road. The middle one cut the yarn, and Andie could’ve sworn she could hear the snip across four lanes of traffic.

The ladies on the ends balled up the socks.

The bus driver wrenched a massive chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment, and the bus shuddered and roared back to life. The passengers cheered alongside the driver before climbing back on board.

Andie felt feverish, as if she’d caught the flu. Grover didn’t look much better.

“Grover?”

“Yeah?”

“What are you not telling me?”

He swiped at his sweaty face with the back of his hand. “Andie, what did you see back at the fruit stand?”

“You mean the old ladies? What is it about them? They’re…they’re not like Mrs. Dodds, right?”

One look at Grover’s expression told Andie that whatever those ladies were, they were much worse than Mrs. Dodds.

“Just tell me what you saw.”

Andie recounted the ladies snipping the yarn.

Her friend closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers, almost like he was crossing himself, though it felt like something else- something older.

“You saw her snip the cord.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah. So?” But even as she said it, Andie knew it was a huge deal.

“This is not happening,” Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. “I don’t want this to be like…”

“Like what?”

“Always the sixth grade. They never make it past sixth…”

“Grover.” Andie’s voice hardened. Her best friend was really starting to scare her. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

He snapped his head back around to look at her so fast, Andie nearly jumped from her seat. “Let me walk you home from the bus station,” he demanded. “Promise me.”

“Yeah, okay. Is this…what is going on?” she asked.

He didn’t answer.

“Grover- that snipping of the yarn…does that mean somebody is going to die?”

She broke her promise.

That wasn’t usually Andie’s style, but Grover was scaring the shit out of her. The rest of their ride into the city, Grover kept looking at her mournfully, like he was already planning her funeral.

So yeah, the moment Grover broke for the bathroom, Andie bailed. She grabbed her suitcase and hailed the first taxi uptown.

She was ready to see her mom.

However, her mother wasn’t home from work, yet. Instead, when she stepped into their little apartment, Andie was greeted with the nauseating stench of stale beer, cigarettes, and body odor. Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The tv was blaring ESPN, and empty bags of chips and crushed beer cans littered the carpet.

“So, you’re home,” Gabe said around his cigar, not even bothering to look up from his hand.

“Where’s my mom?”

“Working. You got any cash?”

A standard conversation between them. And it was still pretty tame. Andie didn’t care that he didn’t care what she had been up to. She didn’t want him to. She hated the bastard, and had spent a lot of time over the years trying to convince her mother to leave him. He was a fat, ugly, misogynistic piece of shit who expected Andie to provide his gambling funds whenever she was home. He told her that was just “the way of the world”, and it was “their little secret”, meaning if she told her mom, he’d beat the living hell out of her.

“I don’t have any cash,” Andie told him.

Gabe raised an unimpressed eyebrow. He could sniff out money like a bloodhound. “You took a taxi from the bus station. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, they oughta carry their own weight. Am I right, Eddie?”

Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at Andie with a twinge of sympathy. “Come on, Gabe. The kid just got here.”

“Am I right?” Gabe growled.

Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys made a couple snarky, unsavory comments that didn’t bear repeating.

“Fine,” Andie said through gritted teeth. She dug out a wad of dollars from her backpack and threw the money on the table. “I hope you lose.”

“Your report card came in, you little smart ass!” Gabe shouted after her. “I wouldn’t act so snooty!”

Andie slammed the door to the room that was hers-but-not-really. As usual, it was filled with Gabe’s junk. He called it his study, but he didn’t study anything in there but old car magazines and his collection of Playboys. He loved to shove what little of Andie’s stuff she had in the closet, leave his muddy boots on her windowsill, and make the place reek worse than the rest of the apartment.

Andie dropped her stuff in the middle of the floor and collapsed on the bed. Home sweet home.

For once, she actually tried to focus on the nightmare that was Gabe Ugliano. At least it was a familiar horror, unlike everything Andie had experienced in the last month. She wished desperately for her mother to be there at that moment. Whenever she was in the same room as her mom, it was like all of her worries, all of her problems were gone, at least for a little bit.

For once, Andie got her wish. There was a soft knock sounded at the door, and her mom’s voice called to her from the other side. “Andie?”

Her mom opened the door, and Andie finally let herself relax. She took in her mother’s appearance- she hadn’t changed much since winter break. Andie didn’t look very much like her mother- her mom had long, kinky-curly, dark brown hair, and warm brown eyes, her features round and soft and kind. Andie, on the other hand, had messy, wavy, inky black hair that reached to just about an inch below her collar bone, and her eyes were a green color that Andie had never seen on anyone else. Andie did get a couple things from her mom, like the freckles that dotted across the bridges of their noses, and the bronze skin, full lips, and slightly angled eye shape that came with their Hawaiian-Brazilian heritage.

Her mother smiled at her, looking at Andie as if she could only see the good things about her…not that there were many.

“Oh, Andie!” Her mom hugged her tight. Andie returned the gesture wholeheartedly. “I can’t believe it! You’ve grown so much since Christmas!”

Andie closed her eyes and just let herself be held for a moment, breathing in the comforting scent of her mother. She smelled as she always did, especially right after she got home from working at the candy store- like chocolate and licorice and all the sweet things in the world. She’d brought Andie a bag of “free samples”, the way she always did when Andie came home. She’d also taken one look at Andie’s rat’s nest of a head, tutted, and rifled through Andie’s still-packed suitcase to find her hairbrush, before situating herself on the bed behind Andie.

It was nice to have someone else brush her hair. Occasionally, at school, her roommate would offer to do her hair for her, but Andie always declined. Her mom was the only other person Andie would let come anywhere near her hair. She wasn’t even that picky about how her hair looked. In fact, she wished she could be more picky about it. She just didn’t trust people with it.

That was all Gabe’s fault.

When she was a kid, Andie’s hair was much longer, like her mother’s, flowing down to about the middle of her back. She loved it. Her mom used to give her all kinds of fun hairstyles, weaving ribbons and flowers and clips into intricate braids and twists. After her mom married Gabe, he kept her busy, to the point where her mom wasn’t able to spend as much time doing Andie’s hair, anymore.

One morning, when Andie was nine, her mother had gone into work early- before Andie had even woken up. She’d tried to do her hair herself, but she hadn’t quite gotten the hang of braiding her hair on her own head. So, in a moment of brave desperation, she approached Gabe, slumped in his La-Z-Boy watching football highlights, and asked him if he could help. He sneered and cursed and grabbed her by the hair, dragging her to the kitchen. He pulled a pair of scissors from the drawer, and sawed several inches off, tossing the severed strands in the garbage. When Andie cried, he nicked the shell of her ear, and told her he didn’t want to hear her whining, and that they didn’t have the money to spend on her stupid hair stuff, anyway.

When her mom came home and saw what happened, Gabe told her that he'd found Andie in the kitchen, cutting her hair off because she was tired of having to try to do it herself. Andie was far too scared of him to tell her mother the truth. When her mom offered to take her to a hair stylist and have the choppy hair fixed, Andie adamantly refused, hugging herself and gripping her own arms to keep her hands from shaking. Her mom fixed the ends of her hair, herself, and it had been kept that short ever since.

So now, Andie sat on the edge of her bed, bracketed between her mom’s legs as she devoured blueberry sour strings, and enjoyed the light tugging and scratching of her mother’s fingers against her scalp as she braided Andie’s hair. As she weaved, her mom demanded to know everything Andie hadn’t put in her letters. She didn’t mention anything about the expulsion; didn’t seem to care. All she wanted to know was if she was okay. Was her princesa doing alright?

“ʻAe, makuahine,” Andie responded. Despite the teasingly exasperated tone, Andie had never been more glad to see her mom.

From the other room, Gabe hollered to her mom for bean dip. Andie gritted her teeth, and tried to ignore him. Her mom should’ve been married to a king, or a millionaire, not a deadbeat like Gabe.

For her mother’s sake, knowing how much she worried, Andie tried to sound upbeat about her last month at Yancy. No, she wasn’t too down about being expelled; she’d lasted almost the whole year, this time. She’d made some new friends, and had done pretty well in Latin. And no, the fights were not as bad as the headmaster had made them out to be. She’d liked Yancy, she really had.

Andie had nearly convinced herself of how good things had been. Until she got to the field trip at the museum…

“What?” Her mom asked, tying off the braid. She turned Andie to face her, her eyes staring right into Andie’s soul. “Did something scare you?”

“ʻAʻole, makuahine.”

Andie hated lying to her mother. She wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but, again, padded room at twelve.

Her mom pursed her lips. She knew Andie was holding back, but didn’t push. Instead, she grabbed Andie’s hand and gave it a small squeeze.

“I have a surprise for you,” she said. “We’re going to the beach.”

Andie’s eyes widened, and her heart skipped a beat. “Montauk?”

“Three nights, same cabin.”

Andie grinned- the first genuine smile she’d shown in a while. “When?”

Her mom returned the smile. “As soon as I get changed.”

Andie couldn’t believe it. They hadn’t been in two years, since Gabe said there wasn’t enough money.

Speak of the devil, Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, “Bean dip, Sally? Didn’t you fuckin’ hear me?”

Andie wanted to deck him, but she met her mom’s eyes, and accepted the deal she offered in silent conversation. Play nice, just until they were ready to leave.

“I was on my way, honey,” she told Gabe. “We were just talking about the trip.”

Gabe’s eyes got small. “The trip? You were serious about that?”

“I knew it,” Andie huffed. “He won’t let us go.”

“Of course he will,” her mom said evenly. “Your step-father is just worried about money. That’s all. Besides,” She added, “Gabriel won’t have to settle for bean dip. I’ll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works.”

Never let it be said that Sally Jackson didn’t know how to play a person like a goddammed fiddle.

Gabe softened a bit. “So this money for your trip…it comes out of your clothes budget, right?”

“Yes, honey,” Her mother responded.

“And you won’t take my car anywhere but there and back.”

“We’ll be very careful.”

Gabe scratched his double chin. “Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip…and maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game.”

‘Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot,’ Andie thought. ‘And make you sing soprano for a week.’ Her mother was not a servant, and Andie could not give less of a shit about his damn poker game.

But her mother shot her a warning look, and Andie stood down, even though she wanted to demand why she put up with this asshole. Why she cared about what he thought.

“I’m sorry,” Andie muttered. “I’m really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please, go back to it right now.”

Gabe’s eyes narrowed. Andie could practically see the smoke coming from his ears as his tiny brain tried to detect the sarcasm in her statement.

“Yeah, whatever,” he decided. He went back to his game.

Her mom let out a small breath of relief. “Thank you, Andie,” she said. “Once we get to Montauk, we’ll talk more about…whatever it is you’ve forgotten to tell me, okay?”

For a moment, her mom looked anxious, looking almost as haunted as Grover had on the Greyhound, and Andie couldn’t help but wonder if she should’ve told her about all the craziness that happened. But then, her smile returned, and Andie figured she was mistaken. Her mom kissed her forehead and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.

An hour later, they were loading into Gabe's Camaro, and two and a half hours after that, right as the sun was setting, they reached their cabin. It was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. The cabin itself was a tiny little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets, and spiders in the cabinets, and more often than not, the sea was too cold to swim in.

It was Andie’s favorite place in the world.

She had been going with her mom since she was a baby, and her mother always taken her because she’d been going long before that. She’d never told her explicitly, but Andie knew that the place was even more special to her mom than to Andie herself, because it was where she had met her dad.

As they climbed out of Gabe’s Camaro, Andie watched her mom’s face. She looked like the beautiful thirty-four years she was, rather than the older age she appeared, as the years of worry and work disappeared from her face.

They entered the cabin, opened all of its windows, and went through their usual cleaning routine. While it aired out, they walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to seagulls, and munched on all the blue candy that Andie hadn’t finished at the apartment or on the ride up.

Andie loved that her mom indulged in the blue food with her- the defiance and spite that came with the satisfaction of proving Gabe wrong. That, and keeping her maiden name rather than taking Gabe’s surname, reminded Andie where she got her rebellious streak from.

When it got dark, they made a fire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. Her mom told her stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. Andie loved listening to her mom tell stories- she was amazing at it. She had a natural talent for it. She knew her mom wanted to write books someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop, and Andie knew when she did, people would love them.

Eventually, Andie got up the nerve to ask about the same subject she always did when they traveled to Montauk- her father. Her mom’s eyes went all misty. Andie figured she would say the same things she always did, but Andie never got tired of hearing them.

“He was kind, Andie. Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too,” she sighed. “You’re a lot like him, actually. And you look like him, too. You have his black hair, you know. And his green eyes.”

Her mother smiled sadly as she fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. “I wish th-he could see you, Andie. He would be so proud.”

“What’s so great about an ADHD, dyslexic girl with a C average, who was kicked out of six schools in six years?” Andie couldn’t help grouching.

“Andromeda,” Her mom chastised, causing Andie to wince at the full name usage. She laid a hand on her forearm. “He would be proud of you.”

Andie swallowed around the lump in her throat. “How old was I?” She asked. “I mean, when he left?”

Andie’s mom stared into the flames. “He was only with me a few months, Andie. Just the summer before you were born, and then for a couple of weeks that winter. Right here at this beach. This cabin.”

“But…he knew me as a baby.”

“No, princesa. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born.”

Andie felt that wasn’t right in her very bones. She knew she had a memory of her father-a warm glow, a smile. But now, to be told that he had never even seen her…

It made her angry. Maybe it was stupid, but she resented her father for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry her mom. He’d left them, and now they were stuck with Smelly Gabe.

“Are you going to send me away again?” Andie’s voice came out smaller than she wanted it to. “To another boarding school?”

Her mom’s eyes closed, her eyebrows furrowing together.

“I don’t know, Rom.” Her voice was heavy. “I think…I think we’ll have to do something.”

“Because you don’t want me around?” Andie regretted the words as soon as they were out.

Her mom’s eyes filled with tears. She took Andie’s hand and squeezed it tight. “Oh, Andie, no. I-I have to, ku'u aloha. For your own good. I have to send you away.”

Her words reminded Andie of what Mr. Brunner had said- God, was it really only that morning?- that it was best for Andie to leave Yancy.

“Because I’m not normal,” Andie stated.

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing, Andie. But you don’t realize how important you are. I though Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you’d finally be safe.”

Andie’s heart fell into her stomach. “Safe from what?”

Her voice shook, and Andie couldn’t help but remember, not just Mrs. Dodds, but all the crazy, terrifying stuff that had been happening to her for years. The one-eyed man in a trench coat at the playground in the third grade; the snake Andie had strangled in her pre-k nap cot that had her mother screaming when she got picked up; every school she’d ever been to, something strange and creepy had happened that had forced her to move.

Andie was starting to doubt if telling her mother everything would end up with a psych eval, after all. At this point, the only thing holding her back was the strange feeling that confessing everything would cut their beach trip short, which Andie desperately didn’t want.

“I’ve tried to keep you as close to me as I could,” her mom said. “They told me that was a mistake. But there’s only one other option, Andie- the place your father wanted to send you. And I just…I just can’t stand to do it.”

“My father wanted me to go to a special school?”

“Not a school,” she said softly. “A summer camp.”

Andie’s head spun. Why would her dad- who didn’t bother sticking around long enough to see her born- talk to her mom about a summer camp? And if this camp was so important, why hadn’t she ever mentioned it before?

“I’m sorry, Rom,” Her mom said, seeing the look in her eyes. “But I can’t talk about it. I-I couldn’t send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good.”

“For good? But if it’s only a summer camp…” Andie’s voice trailed off.

Her mom turned toward the fire, and Andie knew that the questioning was over.

That night, Andie had a very vivid dream- more like a nightmare. It was storming something fierce on the beach, and two gorgeous animals- a white horse and a golden eagle- were trying to kill each other at the edge of the choppy surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse’s muzzle with it’s huge talons. The horse reared up, kicking and biting at the eagle’s wings. As they fought, a deep, monstrous voice rumbled somewhere deep beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder. To go in for the kill. 

Andie screamed for them to stop. She tried to run toward them. She had to stop them from killing each other, but it was like time had slowed down all around her. She knew she would be too late. She saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse’s wide eyes, and her heart dropped.

‘No!’ she screamed.

She woke with a start, only to find that it truly was storming outside, not unlike the one in her dream. With the next thunderclap, Andie’s mother bolted straight up, wide awake. “Hurricane.”

Andie knew it was crazy. Long Island never had hurricanes this early in the summer, and certainly not without being tracked by satellites as it should’ve moved up the coast. But, the ocean seemed to have forgotten. The strange weather striked, again.  Another grumble of thunder and-

No, it wasn’t thunder. It was some sort of distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that sent shivers down Andie’s back, and made the hairs on her arms stand on end.

Then, a much closer noise, something like footsteps in the sand, but more…hollow. A desperate voice- someone yelled, pounding on their cabin door.

Andie’s mother sprang out of her bed in her pajamas and threw open the lock.

Andie’s best friend stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain.

Except…it was Grover…but not…not exactly…Grover.

“Searching all night,” he gasped like he’d just run a marathon. “What were you thinking?!”

Andie’s mother looked at her with a face of pure terror. Except the dread in her face told Andie that she wasn’t scared of Grover, but of why Grover had come.

“Andie!” she shouted over the wind. “What happened at school? What didn’t you tell me?”

Andie couldn’t find her voice to respond, still staring at Grover, uncomprehending of what she was seeing.

“O Zeu kai alloi theoi!” Grover yelled. “It’s right behind me! Didn’t you tell her?”

Andie was too shocked to register that he’d just cursed in Ancient Greek, and she’d understood him perfectly. Too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten there by himself in the middle of the night. She couldn’t stop staring…

Her mom looked at her sternly and talked in a tone she’d never used before. “Andromeda. Tell me now!”

Andie distantly heard herself stammer something about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies at the fruit stand, and her mom stared at her, face gaunt and pale in the flashes of lightning. She grabbed her purse, tossed Andie her rain jacket, and ordered her and Grover into the car. Grover ran for the Camaro- except he wasn’t running. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters. And suddenly, everything about Grover- his story about a muscular disorder in his legs, and how he could run so fast, but limp when he walked- made so much sense to Andie.

Because her best friend had fucking hooves.

Chapter Text

“We’re almost there,” her mother was muttering in the drivers seat in front of Andie. “Another mile. Please. Please. Please.”

They were on their way to the summer camp that her mom had told her about earlier that evening. The one her father wanted to send her to. The one her mother didn’t want her to go to.

The car ride thus far had certainly been…interesting, if nothing else. The satyrs from Mr. Brunner’s stories were real, apparently. Her best friend was one of them. The old ladies at the fruit stand, Grover claimed, were the Fates, also from Mr. Brunner’s myths. Also real. And the cut string…

Mrs. Dodds was real, too (and Andie admittedly felt a little vindicated when Grover finally fessed up). He claimed he had to lie to her to keep her from...knowing too much? And attracting more monsters? Like the one that was chasing them now- that had been following them from Montauk.

Andie leaned forward in anticipation, as if that would make their destination arrive faster.

Her limbs went numb as she thought about what Grover had just said, that she was about to die, and she realized, Mrs. Dodds, with her talons and her fangs, was trying to kill her.

Talk about a delayed reaction.

What wasn’t delayed, however, was the hair raising on the back of her neck right before a blinding light flashed outside, and their car exploded. Andie remembered the strange feeling of being weightless, while also being strapped down- almost like being dragged through a pool by someone who was smaller than you. The next thing she knew, she was cursing and pulling her forehead off the back of the driver’s seat. It took her a moment to get her bearings, but she realized the car had been struck by lightning, and blasted off the road into a muddy ditch.

Andie could hear her mom shuffling around in front of her. Grover was slumped over, motionless, in the backseat beside her, blood trickling from his lip. Andie made a worried noise in the back of her throat as she shook her best friend’s furry hip, silently begging for him to be okay. She was mad at him for lying to her, but he was still her best friend, and she would not lose him.

Then he groaned something about food, and the tightness in her chest loosened.

“Andie,” her mother called, “we have to…” Her voice trailed off. Andie turned to see what had scared her mother. Something was coming towards them, lumbering through the rain. She couldn’t see much through the quick flashes of lighting, but whatever it was, it was big and bulky.

Andie’s fingers tingled with numbness as she swallowed, “Who-“

“Andie.” Her mother ordered. Her voice was low and urgent, deadly serious in a way Andie had never heard before. “Get out of the car.”

Neither of them could budge the doors on the driver’s side of the car, stuck in the mud as it was. Andie briefly considered an attempt to go through the hold in the roof, but the edges were sizzling and smoking, making that option a non-starter. Her mother ordered her out the passenger side.

“You have to run! Do you see that big tree?” Her mom asked. “That’s the property line. Get over that hill and you’ll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don’t look back. Yell for help. Don’t stop until you reach the door.”

“What?” Andie screeched in disbelief. “Are you crazy? You’re coming, too!”

Her mother’s expression told Andie everything she needed to know. Andie wouldn’t stand for it.

“Help me carry Grover,” Andie ordered. Normally, she would never talk to her mother like that, but she’d rather sound like a brat than abandon them.

The thing lumbering toward them got closer, making grunting, snorting noises. The closer he got, the bigger he looked, and Andie quickly realized that what she originally thought to be upraised hands…were horns.

“He doesn’t want us,” her mother refused. “He wants you. Besides, I can’t cross the property line.”

As if Andie wasn’t already angry enough. No, now she was pissed. She told her mother, once again, to help her with Grover, ignoring her protests as she shoved the rear passenger door open and dragged her best friend out. Grover was much lighter than Andie had expected, but even then, she wouldn’t have been able to get far with him if her mother hadn’t come to help. They dragged Grover between them, stumbling through waist-length grass towards the top of the hill.

They were about half way up, when Andie glanced back and got her first clear glance at the thing chasing them. It was nasty looking, with thick, muscled, well, everything, from its legs (wearing only whitey-tighties, which would’ve been hilarious, had it not been so terrifying), to its furry upper body and neck. The horns Andie had noticed earlier were dark and razor sharp, sitting on top of a massive furry head, consisting of beady black eyes and a snotty-nosed snout as long as Andie’s arm.

The worst part? Andie recognized the thing.

Which, she never should’ve been able to do. The thing standing in front of her was another myth from one of Mr. Brunner’s stories- it wasn’t real.

Yet here they were.

Andie’s mouth ran dry as she blinked at the thing through the wet hair plastered to her face. “That’s-“

“Pasiphaë’s son,” her mother interrupted quickly. “I wish I’d known how badly they want to kill you.”

Okay, they were definitely circling back to that comment, later. Right now, Andie had other problems.

“But he’s the Min-“

Her mother interrupted again, cautioning her not to say his name. “Names have power.”

They continued up the hill as it sniffled around the Camaro. Andie wondered why it even bothered- they were maybe fifty yards away.

“Food?” Grover moaned.

Andie shushed him. “Mom, what’s he doing? Doesn’t he see us?”

“His sight and hearing are terrible,” her mother explained quietly. “He goes by smell. But he’ll figure out where we are soon enough.”

Andie wondered if his hearing was as mad as her mom made it sound, because, as if on cue, the monster picked up Gabe’s Camaro by the torn roof, raised it above his head, and threw it down onto the road. It skidded across wet asphalt for about half a mile before the gas tank exploded.

Andie briefly remembered Gabe warning her not to get a scratch on his car.

Oops.

Oh well.

“Andie,” her mom began again. “When he sees us, he’ll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way- directly sideways. He can’t change directions very well once he’s charging. Do you understand?”

Andie was so confused. Not at the directions her mother had given her but- “How do you know all this?”

“I’ve been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me.”

“Keeping me near you? But-“

Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill. He’d found them.

And they were having a harder time getting to the tree at the top of the hill, now only a few yards away.

The bull-man closed in. They only had seconds.

Her mother, surely exhausted, shouldered Grover. “Go, Andie! Separate! Remember what I said!”

The idea of splitting up made Andie more anxious than she already was, but she knew her mother was right. It was their only chance. She sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on her. She caught the hatred in his black eyes, and a whiff of rotten meat before he lowered his head and charged, razor-sharp horns aimed straight at her chest.

Her logical side knew she could never outrun this thing, despite the fear in her stomach telling her to bolt. So, Andie held her ground, and at the last moment she jumped to the side.

Just as planned, the bull-man barreled straight past her. However, when it turned, it wasn’t toward Andie- it was toward Grover and her mom.

Andie looked over the crest of the hill that they’d made it to, and saw everything- the valley, the farmhouse- just as her mother had described. But it was easily half a mile away.

They’d never make it.

Especially now that her mother was slowly retreating down the side of the hill they’d just climbed, keeping the monster’s attention on her, rather than the still unconscious Grover.

“Run, Andie!” her mother called. “I can’t go any farther! Run!”

But the fear had finally caught up to Andie, and she stood, paralyzed, her feet seemingly sinking into the ground as the monster charged her mother. She tried to sidestep, the same way Andie had, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out, grabbed her by the neck, and lifted her in the air as she struggled and kicked.

“Mom!” Andie screamed.

Her mother caught her eyes, and managed to choke out one last word: “Go!”

Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fist around her mother, and she dissolved in a glittering gold light. A blinding flash and she was just…gone.

Anger replaced Andie’s fear. The same rush of energy that she’d gotten when Mrs. Dodds had grown talons back at the museum surged through her limbs. The bull-man turned towards Grover, sniffling at him like he was about to grab him and make him disappear, too.

Abso-fucking-lutely not.

Andie cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted insults at the monster to get his attention.

It worked.

The monster turned toward her, bellowing and shaking his fists. The idea Andie had, essentially cornering herself against the tree, wasn’t the greatest idea, but it was better than none at all.

Which, of course, meant it didn’t go anything like what she had planned.

The bull-man charged too fast, hands out to either side to grab her whichever way she dodged. The same instincts that had Andie swinging a sword at demon-Mrs. Dodds, the instincts Andie hadn’t known she had, kicked in.

Andie jumped straight up in the air, kicking off the creature’s head, twisting in mid-air, and landing on its neck. She didn’t have time to process however the hell she did that as the thing slammed its head into the tree, the impact shaking her vision and nearly knocking her teeth out. Andie held on tight to the thing’s horns as it unsuccessfully tried to shake her.

Grover, of course, chose that time to start groaning about food again. The bull-man wheeled toward him, getting ready to charge again. Rage fueled Andie, once again, like high-octane fuel. She wrapped both hands around one horn and pulled backward with every ounce of strength she had. The monster gave a surprise grunt before something snapped in Andie’s hands.

The bull-man screamed and flung Andie through the air. When she sat up, her vision was blurry, but in her hand, she held a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.

The monster charged.

Relying on her instincts, once again, Andie rolled to once side, coming up kneeling. As the monster stormed past, she drove the horn into its ribs. The thing bellowed as it started to disintegrate and crumble into yellow sand, the same way Mrs. Dodds had when that sword sliced through her.

Then it was over.

Andie reeled as she tried, and failed, to process what had just happened. The monster. Her mother.

She was weak and terrified and grieving, but Grover moaned in the grass again, and Andie needed to help him. She managed to haul him up and drag him down the hill, towards the farmhouse at the center of the valley. She knew she was crying and calling out, but she wasn’t sure to who. She refused to let go of Grover.

Her memories were fuzzy as she collapsed on the porch. Stern faces hovered above her- one, a familiar-looking bearded man, the other a cute boy, his curly, honey-blonde hair vaguely reminding Andie of the Greek statues and artwork she’d seen at MoMA.

It sounded muddled, like he was speaking under water, but Andie heard the boy say, “She’s the one. She must be.”

“Silence, Anthony,” the man said. “She’s still conscious. Bring her inside.”

Andie remembered scattered, weird dreams, and what may have not necessarily been dreams, but made no sense, anyway. She remembered a soft bed and being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, except it was pudding. The curly-haired blonde boy was the one feeding her, smirking as he scraped drips off of her chin with the spoon.

Andie briefly made eye contact with him, and he immediately asked, “What will happen at the summer solstice?”

Andie heard herself croak out a confused, whimper-like noise, and the boy continued to interrogate her, all the while looking around like someone would over-hear.

“I’m sorry,” Andie mumbled. “I don’t…mmph!”

The boy shoved pudding in her mouth as someone knocked on the door.

The next time she woke up, there was a different blonde guy in the room, keeping watch over her. Except he was much older and had eyes…well, everywhere. Like she said, she wasn’t sure what were dreams and what was real.

When she came around for good, she was lying in a deck chair on a porch. The view of the valley she had would’ve been amazing, especially as comfortable as the chair was, expect that her mouth felt like it had been attacked by bees, and every one of her teeth hurt.

“Hey,” she heard a familiar voice beside her. “How’re you feeling?”

Andie turned her head towards the voice, and relief flooded her chest when she saw Grover leaning up against the porch, cradling a shoe box. He looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in a week, but he was alive, and very much normal in his jeans, Converse, and orange t-shirt that read ‘CAMP HALF-BLOOD’. No goat boy in sight. Maybe Andie just had a wild nightmare, after all.

“Hey,” she croaked out.

“You saved my life,” Grover told her. “I…well, the least I could do…I went back to the hill. I thought you would want this.”

Reverently, he placed the box he was holding in her lap.

Inside was the horn she had torn off the monster in her nightmare.

No, it hadn’t been a nightmare, after all, had it?

“The Minotaur,” she stated flatly.

“Um, Andie, it isn’t a good idea-“

“That’s what they call him in the Greek myths, isn’t it?” She demanded. “The Minotaur. Half man, half bull.”

Grover shifted uncomfortably. “You’ve been out for two days. How much do you remember?”

Andie blinked back tears. “My mom. Is she really…”

She trailed off as Grover refused to meet her eye.

Andie stared across the meadow. Sunlight gleamed and glittered down on rolling hills, groves of trees, a winding stream, and acres of strawberries. Andie wished, again, that she could appreciate the view.

But it shouldn’t look like this. Her mother was gone. The world should be dark and cold.

Grover sniffled and moaned out an apology, stomping his foot so hard his shoe came off, revealing a hoof.

Well, that settles that.

Except that Andie could no longer find it in herself to care. She was an orphan. She’d have to live out on the streets, because there was no way in hell she was going back to Smelly Gabe.

Grover kept sniffling. Andie insisted it wasn’t his fault, but Grover wouldn’t hear it. Something about it being his job to protect her. Their argument died out when a wave of nausea hit Andie, and Grover handed her a tall glass of a delicious looking drink that sat on a table beside her.

She didn’t mean to, but she chugged the entire thing before coming up for air. It tasted like her mom’s blue chocolate chip cookies, settling something in Andie’s chest.

“How do you feel?” Grover asked when she finished.

“Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards.”

That got her a little quirk in the corner of Grover’s mouth. “Good, that’s good. I don’t think you could risk drinking anymore of that stuff.”

“What do you mean?”

Grover took the empty glass from her gingerly, like he was handling high-level explosives, and set it on the table. “C’mon. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting.”

Andie stood and followed Grover on wobbly legs, walking the porch that wrapped the perimeter of the farmhouse. She gripped the box with the horn tightly, refusing to let her painful souvenir go.

Andie caught her breath as they reached the opposite side of the porch, unable to process what she saw. The valley stretched probably close to a mile towards what Andie assumed was Long Island Sound. Buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture littered the valley, except they all looked brand new. Kids in orange t-shirts were also spread out, doing various activities- volleyball, archery, canoeing in a nearby lake, horseback riding.

At the end of the porch sat three people.

The first was the blonde boy who’d been feeding and interrogating her. He looked about Andie’s age, tall for his age, a couple inches taller than her, and much more athletic looking. He reminded Andie of some of the boys that played on the baseball or soccer teams at Yancy. With his deep tan and curly blonde hair, he looked like a stereotypical California guy would’ve looked like, except his eyes ruined the image. They were a startling grey, like storm clouds; pretty, though she knew most guys probably wouldn’t appreciate that description, but intimidating, too, like he was analyzing the best way to take her down in a fight.

Then, there was a portly looking man in an aggressively loud, tiger-patterned Hawaiian shirt. Andie was immediately on guard with him, as he looked like he would’ve fit right in at one of her step-father’s poker parties, though she got the impression he could out-gamble even Gabe.

“That’s Mr. D,” Grover told her quietly. “He’s the camp director, so be polite. The boy, that’s Anthony Chase. He’s just a camper, but he’s been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron…”

Andie looked over at the third person, whose back was to her. It took her a moment to recognize him, but when she finally did, her eyes widened.

“Mr. Brunner!”

Her former Latin teacher turned and smiled at her, a familiar mischievous glint in his eye.

“Ah, good, Andie,” he said. “Now we have four for pinochle.”

She was offered a chair next to Mr. D, who looked at her with bloodshot eyes and heaved a sigh. “Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don’t expect me to be glad to see you.”

“Uh, thanks.” Andie scooted a little farther away from him, eyeing him warily. She had lived with Gabe for most of her life. She was no stranger to alcoholics, and not only did he look like one, he reeked of it, too.

“Anthony?” Mr. Brunner called to the blonde boy.

He came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced them. “This young man nursed you back to health, Andie. Anthony, my boy, why don’t you go check on Andie’s bunk? We’ll be putting her in cabin eleven, for now.”

Anthony nodded. “Sure, Chiron.”

Those calculating grey eyes glanced at the Minotaur horn in her hands, then back at Andie.

“You drool when you sleep.”

Andie blinked, not at all expecting the comment.

Anthony turned on his heel and sprinted off down the lawn.

From there, Mr. Brunner launched into his explanation…as well as their game of pinochle.

His name wasn’t actually Mr. Brunner, it was Chiron, and he came to Yancy Academy after an urgent call from Grover, which, apparently, wasn’t something that happened often. Her mother was made aware that they were keeping an eye on Andie.

She remained confused. Why was she here? What was so important about her that Chiron-Brunner had to go to Yancy just to teach her?

Chiron gave her a sympathetic smile, and, between giving instructions on how to play their card game and Mr. D’s bitter, snarky, whiny comments, explained that the Greek gods- the very same ones that she had learned about in Latin class, the immortal gods of Olympus- were very much real, and very much still alive.

When Andie couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that these beings had been around for thousands of years, Chiron challenged her, asking her how she thought it would feel to be called a myth.

“What if I told you, Andromeda Jackson,” he asked, “that someday people would call you a myth, just created to explain how little girls can get over losing their mothers?”

Andie’s heart pounded in her ears. He was provoking her, for some reason. Trying to rile her up, to get her angry. She wouldn’t let him.

Mr. D seemed to take personal offense to her disbelief in gods. Andie couldn’t figure out why until, after an explanation from Chiron of why Mr. D was at the camp, Mr. D, himself, revealed that his father was Zeus.

Andie ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work there. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D was his master.

“You’re Dionysus,” Andie said. “The god of wine.”

Mr. D rolled his eyes. “What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the youth say, ‘No shit!’?”

Chiron sighed at the language, while Grover stuttered out his confirmation.

“Y-yes, Mr. D.”

“Then, no shit! Andie Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?”

“You’re a god.”

“Yes, child.”

“A god. You.”

He turned to look at Andie straight on, and she saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing her the tiniest bit of his true nature. She could see visions of his power, and she knew that if she pushed him, Mr. D would show her worse things. He could make that record of a padded room at age twelve a harsh, terrifying reality.

“Would you like to test me, child?” he asked quietly.

“No,” Andie answered, before immediately correcting. “No, sir.”

The fire died a little.

Chiron won the game.

Mr. D sighed in resignation, and rose from the table. Grover followed suit.

“I’m tired,” the god announced. “I believe I’ll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk again about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment.”

Grover gulped audibly, his face beaded with sweat. “Yes, sir.”

Mr. D turned back to Andie. “Cabin eleven, Andie Jackson. And mind your manners.”

He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably. Andie hoped he would be okay.

Chiron continued his explanation about Olympus and the gods, and Andie found out that they now resided in America. Western Civilization was not just a concept, but a living force. A force that is tied so closely to the gods that they couldn’t fade unless all of Western Civilization were obliterated. As the great power of the West moved, so did Olympus- from Greece to Rome, Germany, France, Spain, England, and now, the US.

Andie had trouble trying to process. Chiron saying ‘we’, like Andie was part of all of this, didn’t help matters.

“Who are you, Chiron? Who…who am I?”

Chiron smiled and shifted, as if he were about to get up form his wheelchair, though Andie knew that wasn’t possible.

“Who are you?” He mused. “Well, that’s the question we all want answered, isn’t it? But for now, we should get you to your bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s’mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate.”

And then he did rise from his wheelchair. Andie watched in a mixture of awe and confusion as he rose and the entire body of a horse emerged from what must have been some sort of magic container disguised as a wheelchair. A huge white stallion stood in front of her, except where its neck should be was the upper body of her Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse’s trunk.

“What a relief,” the centaur said. “I’d been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Andie Jackson. Let’s meet the other campers.”

Andie decided then and there that nothing would surprise her, anymore. She decided to enjoy the tour of the camp, instead. Well, as much as she could. Most of the campers they passed were older than her. One pointed to the minotaur horn she was carrying, while another whispered, “That’s her.”

Andie normally wasn’t shy, per se, but the way they stared at her made her uncomfortable, like they were expecting her to do a flip, or something.

As they made their way through the camp, Chiron explained about the strawberry business that helped fund the camp, and the woods that were apparently kept stocked with monsters and hosted capture-the-flag games where campers used real armor and weapons. He showed Andie the archery range, the amphitheater, the canoe lake, the stables, and the arena, and from a distance, pointed out the mess hall.

Andie watched a satyr trot by in his orange camp t-shirt, with nothing to cover his shaggy hindquarters. He was much bigger than Grover, she noticed. She wondered if Grover was still getting chewed out by Mr. D inside the farmhouse.

When she asked how much trouble Grover would get in, Chiron sighed and said he didn’t know. He told her that she was Grover’s second chance, and that, given the circumstances, Mr. D and the Council of Cloven elders would question whether or not there was any courage or success on Grover’s part. She also found out that, apparently, her best friend was twenty-eight. Satyrs, apparently, mature half as fast as humans. Grover had been the equivalent of a middle school student for six years.

Andie cringed, feeling bad for her friend, and more than a little bit guilty for getting him in trouble.

Andie wanted to know what had happened the first time, if she was his second chance. Chiron changed the subject, suggesting they move along. Andie wasn’t quite ready to let subject drop, however.

And then…an idea tugged at the back of her mind, triggered by something Chiron had said about her mother’s fate. A small, hopeful fire burned in her chest.

“Chiron,” she started carefully. “If the gods and Olympus and all that are real…”

“Yes, child?”

“Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?”

Chiron’s expression darkened.

“Yes, child.” He paused, as if he were choosing his words carefully. “There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now…until we know more…I would urge you to put that out of your mind.”

Andie cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean, ‘until we know more’?”

“Come, Andie. It’s time to show you the cabins.”

There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were, without a doubt, the most bizarre collection of buildings Andie had ever seen.

As they walked down the rows, Andie noticed that the only thing any of them had in common were that they all had some sort of weird columns around their porches, and large brass numbers above the doors- odds on the left, evens on the right. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops.

In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A young girl, maybe nine years old, was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick. Andie caught her eye, and the girl gave her a warm smile and a small nod of acknowledgement. Andie returned her smile and gave her a small wave.

Andie and Chiron reached the pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two. They stood tall, regal, and intimidating- big white marble boxes with heavy columns in the front. Cabin one was big and bulky, while cabin two seemed slimmer and more graceful.

“Zeus and Hera?” Andie guessed.

“Correct,” Chiron nodded.

“Their cabins look empty.”

“Several cabins are. That’s true. No one ever stays in cabin one or two.”

Okay, so each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. Twelve cabins, one for each Olympian. But why would some of them be empty?

Andie stopped in front of the first cabin on the left- cabin three.

Rather than standing high and mighty like cabin one, it was low, and solid. The walls looked like it had been ripped up straight from the bottom of the ocean floor, studded with seashells and coral. There were pillars that surrounded the porch, like with every cabin Andie had seen, though instead of white marble like Zeus and Hera’s cabin, these were slightly off white, with a barely noticeable iridescent sheen, like the pillars had been made from fused pearls. A couple of rope hammocks hung between some of the pillars around the porch.

Andie, unable to resist, peeked inside the doorway.

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that!” Chiron warned her.

Before he could pull her back, Andie caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunks with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, Andie was glad when Chiron put a hand on her shoulder and moved her along.

Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.

Andie kept pace with Chiron, trying to stay clear of his hooves.

“You said your name was Chiron,” she blurted, suddenly. “Are you really…”

He smiled down at her. “The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Heracles, and all that? Yes, Andie. I am.”

“But shouldn’t you be dead?”

Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. “I honestly don’t know about should be. The truth is, I can’t be dead. You see, eons ago, the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work that I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes for as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish…and I gave up much. But I’m still here, so I can only assume I’m still needed.”

Andie, personally, couldn’t see the appeal in being a teacher for millennia, but to each their own, she supposed.

“Doesn’t it get boring?”

Chiron shook his head. “No, no. Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring.”

“Why depressing?”

Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing, again. “Oh, look. Anthony is waiting for us.”

Sure enough, the blonde boy Andie had met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven. When they reached him, he looked over her critically, like he was still thinking about how much she drooled.

Andie couldn’t tell what he was reading. The letters looked, quite literally, Greek to her. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.

“Anthony,” Chiron greeted. “I have a masters’ archery class at noon. Would you take Andie from here?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Cabin eleven,” Chiron told her, gesturing toward the door. “Make yourself at home.”

Out of all the cabins Andie had seen, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, though it was in dire need of a pick-me-up. Over the doorway was one of those doctor’s symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. It took her a moment, but she recalled that it was called a caduceus.

Now, Andie was a New Yorker, through and through- she was more than used to crowded spaces. But this was over the top, even for her. Campers were packed inside like sardines. There weren’t even enough bunks for everyone, so most of the kids were spread out in sleeping bags on the floor, like the cabin was a Red Cross evacuation center.

The door was too low for Chiron to go in, but when the campers saw him, they all stood and bowed.

“Well, then,” Chiron said. “Good luck, Andie. I’ll see you at dinner.”

Andie felt a bit self-conscious, standing in the doorway looking at the other teenagers. She suddenly remembered that she had been unconscious for two days, after going through a truly awful experience, and likely looked far from her best. She ran a nervous hand through her tangled hair as the kids, no longer bowing, stared right back at her. This part, at least, was something she was familiar with. She’d been to enough new schools to know exactly what being sized up felt like.

“Well?” Anthony prompted. “Go on.”

Which, of course, meant that Andie tripped as she walked through the front door, making a total fool of herself. There were some snickers from the other campers, though no one said anything.

Anthony announced, “Andie Jackson, meet cabin eleven.”

“Regular or undetermined?” Someone called from the back.

Andie’s eyebrows furrowed together, unsure what to say. Anthony answered for her, “Undetermined.”

Everyone groaned.

A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. “Now, now, campers. That’s what we’re here for. Welcome, Andie. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there.”

The guy looked about nineteen, and though she knew he was way too old for her, he was noticeably, well, hot. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped, sandy colored hair and a charming smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different colored beads. He also had a scar, thick and white, that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash. Andie couldn’t decide if the scar was unsettling, or made him even more attractive.

“This is Luke,” Anthony said, and his voice sounded different, somehow. Andie glanced over and saw admiration and pride in his face. He looked over at her, and must’ve not liked her expression, because he suddenly looked annoyed. “He’s your counselor for now.”

“For now?” She asked.

“You’re undetermined,” Luke explained patiently. “They don’t know what cabin to put you in, so you’re here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers.”

“How long will I be here?” She asked.

“Good question,” Luke said. “Until you’re determined.”

“How long will that take?”

The campers all laughed.

“Come on,” Anthony grumbled. “I’ll show you the volleyball court.”

“I’ve already seen it.”

“Come on.”

He grabbed her arm and dragged her outside. Andie could hear the campers in cabin eleven laughing behind her.

When they were out of ear shot, Anthony whirled on her. “You have to do better than that, Jackson.”

Andie shook her head in disbelief. “What?”

He rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath, “I can’t believe I thought you were the one.”

Andie huffed, getting angry. “What the hell is your problem? All I know is that I killed some bull guy-“

“Don’t talk like that!” Anthony exclaimed. “You know how many kids at this camp wish they’d had your chance?”

“What, to get killed?”

“To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?”

Andie pressed her fingertips to her temples, shaking her head. “Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories…”

“Yes.”

“Then there’s only one.”

“Yes.”

“And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So…”

“Monsters don’t die, Andie. They can be killed, but they don’t die.”

“Oh, wow. Thank you. That cleared everything right up.”

“They don’t have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even a whole lifetime, if you’re lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form.”

Andie’s thoughts travel back to Mrs. Dodds. A lump formed in her throat. “You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword…” Her voice shook more than she wanted it to.

“The Fur…I mean, your math teacher. Yeah. She’s still out there. You just pissed her way off.”

Andie squinted at the boy. “How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?”

“You don't just drool, you also talk in your sleep,” He told her flatly.

Andie eyed him suspiciously for a moment. “You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades’ torturers, right?”

Anthony tensed up and glanced nervously down at the ground, like he expected it to open up and swallow him. “You shouldn’t call them by name, even here. We call them Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all.”

Andie rolled her eyes. “Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?” And before she could stop it, all of her questions came blurting out. “Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven anyway? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there.”

She gestured towards the first few cabins, and Anthony turned pale. He shook his head. “You don’t just choose a cabin, Andie. It depends on who your parents are…or…your parent.”

He stared at her, an expectant eyebrow raised, waiting for her to get it.

Andie stared back at him warily. “My mom is Sally Jackson,” her chin trembled a bit as she spoke. “She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to.”

Anthony’s intense stare softened a bit at her words, and he offered her a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry about your mom, Andie. But that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about your other parent. Your dad.”

“He’s dead,” Andie told him, fiddling with her fingers. “I never knew him.”

Anthony sighed. Clearly, he’d had this conversation before, with other kids. “Your father’s not dead, Andie.”

“How can you say that? You know him?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then how can you say-“

“Because I know you. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t one of us.”

Andie crossed her arms, glaring at the boy. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“No?” Anthony mirrored her stance, raising an eyebrow, clearly taking on her challenge. “I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them.”

Andie blinked. “How-“

“Diagnosed with dyslexia,” He continued, as if he didn’t hear her. “Probably ADHD, too.”

She tried to swallow her embarrassment. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Anthony relaxed his stance and softened the challenge in his voice. “Taken together, it’s almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That’s because your mind is hardwired for Ancient Greek. And the ADHD- you’re impulsive, can’t sit still in the classroom. Those are your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they’d keep you alive. Hell, they already have, twice now. As for the attention problems, that’s because you see to much, Andie. Not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal’s. Of course the teachers want you medicated- most of them are monsters. They don’t want you seeing them for what they really are.”

Andie studied him for a moment. “You sound like…you went through the same thing.”

“Most of the kids here did,” Anthony shrugged. “If you weren’t like us, you wouldn’t have survived the Minotaur, much less the nectar and ambrosia.”

At Andie’s confused look, he clarified, “The food and drink we were giving you to help you get better. That stuff would’ve killed a normal kid. It would’ve turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you’d be dead. Face it: You’re a half-blood.”

Andie’s mind reeled. She couldn’t even begin to process what all that meant.

Off to the side, a new, husky voice called out, “Well! A newbie!”

Andie looked over. A big, stringy-haired brunette girl she had noticed earlier in the ugly red cabin (cabin five, if she recalled correctly) was sauntering toward them. She had three other girls behind her, just as big and mean looking as her, all wearing camo jackets.

“Clarisse,” Anthony rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you go polish your spear, or something?”

“Sure, nerd boy,” the girl- Clarisse- grinned sharply. “So I can run you through with it Friday night.”

Anthony spat a few curses at her, and it took Andie a moment to realize that, despite it being in another language- in Ancient Greek- she understood it perfectly fine.

“You don’t stand a chance,” he snarled.

“We’ll pulverize you,” Clarisse rebutted, though her eye twitched, almost like she might be bluffing. She turned toward Andie.

“Who’s this little runt?”

“Andie Jackson,” Anthony introduced, sounding irritated, but resigned. “Meet Clarisse LaRue. Daughter of Ares.”

Andie cocked her head to the side. “Like, the war god?”

Clarisse sneered. “You got a problem with that?”

“No,” Andie stated with fake casualty. “It explains the bad smell.”

The older girl growled. “We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, princess.”

“You don’t have to call me that. Andie is just fine.”

“Whatever. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Anthony’s eyes widened, and he tried to stop her.

“Stay out of it, wise boy,” Clarisse snarled.

Anthony looked pained, but he did stay out of it, not that Andie really wanted his help. Hazing the new kid was not an unfamiliar concept to Andie. She had to earn her own rep. She handed Anthony the Minotaur horn, silently hyping herself up for a fight, but before she knew it, Clarisse had grabbed her by the neck and was dragging her toward a cinder-block building Andie just knew were the bathrooms.

She kicked and punched. She’d been in plenty of fights before, but none like this. At least, not at school. Clarisse had hands like iron, and as she dragged Andie into the bathroom, Andie was chanting silently in her head, trying to remind herself, Not Gabe, Not Gabe, Not Gabe…

Clarisse and her friends were all laughing, while Andie tried helplessly to find the strength she’d used to fight the Minotaur.

“Like she’s ‘Big Three Material’,” Clarisse mocked, pushing Andie toward one of the toilets. “Yeah, right. The Minotaur probably fell over laughing, she was so stupid looking.”

She caught a glimpse of Antony standing in the doorway, watching worriedly, a wince on his face.

Clarisse bent Andie’s head toward the toilet, and Andie had to fight not to vomit at the smell and make things even worse. She strained against Clarisse, determined not to go into the scummy water.

Then, a strange feeling Andie had never felt, before. She felt a tug in the pit of her stomach, and heard the plumbing rumble. Clarisse’s grip on her head loosened, and water shot out of the toilet, and over Andie’s head. She heard shrieking and angry shouting as more water shot out of the toilet. She turned to see what was happening, and felt the tug again. This time, water burst out of the sinks and showers, taking a few of the faucets with it. The water rushed toward Clarisse and her friends, flooding them out of the bathroom.

As soon as they were out the door, the tug in Andie’s gut loosened, and the water shut off just as quickly as it had started. The entire bathroom had flooded, and Anthony, who at some point had stepped inside, hadn’t been spared. He was soaking wet, water dripping from the curls that hung over his forehead into his eyes as he stared at Andie in shock.

Andie looked down and realized she was standing in the only dry spot in the entire room. Andie, herself, didn’t have a single drop of water on her. She stood, her legs shaky.

“H-how did you…” Anthony stammered out.

Andie shook her head, just as mystified as he was. “I don’t know.”

They made their way outside, finding not only a soaked Clarisse and her friends sprawled in the mud, but also a crowd of people that had gathered around to gawk.

Clarisse glared at Andie, hatred in her eyes. “You are dead, new girl. Totally dead.”

Keeping her mouth shut and letting insults go were never things Andie had been good at, so she smirked at the drenched older girl. “You want to gargle toilet water again, Clarisse? Shut the fuck up.”

Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her back to cabin five, the crowd making way in order to avoid her flailing feet.

Anthony continued to stare at Andie. She couldn’t quite read his expression.

“What?” Andie asked, a little defensively, and more than a little suspiciously. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking,” Anthony said slowly, a smirk creeping onto his face. “That I want you on my team for capture-the-flag.”

Chapter Text

Anthony showed her around the areas of camp that Chiron hadn’t quite gotten to, yet. Everywhere they went, kids pointed at her and whispered about toilet water. Or maybe, they were just staring at the still soaked Anthony.

Apparently, the rumor mill at Camp Half-Blood was quick moving.

When they finished they found themselves at the canoe lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.

“I’ve got training to do,” Anthony stated flatly. “Dinner’s at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall.”

He’d been notably irritated for the duration of the tour. Andie felt bad, since his bad mood was partly her fault. (Surely, Clarisse had to take some blame.)

“Anthony, I’m sorry about what happened in the bathroom,” she apologized.

The blonde boy huffed and shook his head, but didn’t answer.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Andie insisted. She realized, when Anthony lifted a skeptical eyebrow at her, that…it kind of was her fault. The plumbing had responded to her.

Gross.

“You need to talk to the Oracle,” Anthony told her after a moment.

“Who?”

“Not who. What. I’ll ask Chiron.”

Andie stared into the lake, wondering if everyone at this camp was allergic to giving her straight answers. She was sick of it, already.

“When can I go home?” she asked, her voice quiet.

Anthony frowned. “Don’t you get it, Andie? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us.”

“You mean mentally disturbed kids?” She asked, rolling her eyes.

“I mean not human. Not completely human, anyway. Half-human.”

Andie eyed the boy warily. “Half-human and half-what?”

“I think you know.”

Andie felt the newly familiar tug in her stomach and a tingly sensation in her limbs as she realized what Anthony was telling her.

“God,” she whispered. “Half-god.”

Anthony nodded. “Your father isn’t dead, Andie. He’s one of the Olympians.”

Andie rubbed her hands over her face. “That’s…that’s crazy.”

“Is it?” Anthony responded. “What’s the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they’ve changed their habits in the last few millennia?”

She wanted to insist that those stories were just myths before she remembered Chiron’s warning.

“So, if all the kids here are half-gods-“

“Demigods,” Anthony corrected. “That’s the official term. Or half-bloods.”

“Then who’s your dad?”

Anthony’s jaw clenched and his expression darkened. Apparently, Andie had touched a sore subject.

“My dad is a professor at West Point,” He grit out. “I haven’t seen him since I was a little kid. He teaches American history.”

Andie cocked her head to the side. “He’s human?”

He fixed her with a reprimanding look. “The gods aren’t the only ones who fall in love with mortals. The goddesses do it just as much.”

Andie held her hands up in a placating surrender. “Who’s your mom, then?”

“Cabin six.”

Andie blinked. “Meaning?”

Anthony straightened and lifted his chin, like he’d been challenged. “My mother is Athena. The Goddess of wisdom and battle.”

Okay, why not?

“And my dad?”

“Undetermined, like I told you before. Nobody knows.”

“Except my mother. She knew.”

“Maybe not, Andie. Gods don’t always reveal their identities.”

“My dad would have. He loved her.” Andie knew that for fact.

Despite her being so adamant, or maybe because of it, Anthony gave her a cautious look. He didn’t want to burst her bubble.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe he’ll send a sign,” He explained. “That’s the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his daughter. Sometimes it happens.”

“You mean sometimes it doesn’t?” Worry suddenly filled Andie’s chest.

Anthony absentmindedly knocked a knuckle on the pier’s railing. “The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don’t always…well, sometimes they don’t care about us, Andie. They ignore us.”

Remembering all those kids crammed in the Hermes cabin, Andie didn’t have a difficult time believing that.

“So I’m stuck here,” she concluded bitterly. “That’s it? For the rest of my life?”

Anthony went on to explain how living in the mortal world could be plausible for less powerful demigods, but for many, there were too many monsters that would catch their scent and hunt them down, so they stayed at camp, year round. Monsters could get inside the camp’s borders if summoned, but that usually just happened for practice fights and practical jokes.

Disturbingly hardcore pranksters, but whatever.

Other than that, the valley was sealed off from both monsters and mortals, alike.

“So…you’re a year rounder?” Andie asked.

Anthony nodded and pulled out a leather necklace from under the collar of his t-shirt. It looked the exact same as Luke’s with its five multi-colored beads, but Anthony’s also had what seemed like a college ring strung on it.

“I’ve been here since I was seven,” Anthony told her. “Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I’ve been here longer than most of the counselors, and half of them are in college.”

“Why did you come so young?”

Anthony’s face hardened. “None of your business.”

Right. Not friends, then. Time for a subject change.

“So…I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?”

“It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D or Chiron’s permission. But they wouldn’t give permission until the end of the summer session unless…”

“Unless…?” Andie gestured for him to go on.

“You were granted a quest,” Anthony finally answered. “But that hardly ever happens. The last time…” This time when his voice trailed off, Andie could tell from his tone that the last time hadn’t gone well.

“Back in the sick room, when you were feeding me that stuff-“

“Ambrosia.”

“Yeah. You said something about the summer solstice.”

Anthony’s shoulders tensed and his head whipped around to face her, urgency in his eyes. “So, you do know something?”

Andie winced. “Well…no.”

She told Anthony about the conversation she’d overheard between Chiron and Grover back at Yancy, hoping he would know what it meant.

He didn’t.

He did know, however, that something at Olympus was wrong. Apparently he, Luke, Clarisse, and some of the other year-rounders had been on a field trip over the winter (Olympus was in New York- something about the Empire State Building. Unnerving, but Andie decided to leave that subject where it was…for now), and since their visit the weather got weird, and the satyrs had been talking about something being stolen.

“When you came, I was hoping…well, Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares.” Anthony said when he finished his explanation. “And of course she’s got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something.”

Andie pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head, wishing she could tell him more.

“I’ve got to get a quest,” Anthony muttered to himself. “I’m not too young. If they would just tell me the problem…”

Andie got a sudden whiff of the mouth-watering scent of barbecue and her stomach growled in response. Anthony must’ve heard it, because he told her to go on, and that he’d meet up with her later. His eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought as he stared across the lake, his fingers trailing over the pier rail like he was tracing plans on a battle map as she walked away.

No one paid Andie any attention when she returned to cabin eleven, plopping down in her designated spot with her minotaur horn.

Well, nobody paid her any attention but Luke, who walked over and sat down beside her, smiling kindly.

“Found you a sleeping bag,” he told her. He handed her the bag still stuffed in its sack, as well as one of those cheap drawstring backpacks. “And here, stole you some toiletries.”

Unsure if the counselor was kidding about the stealing part, Andie took the bag with a small smile. “Thanks.”

“No prob,” Luke answered, leaning his head back against the wall. He swiveled his head to look at her. “Tough first day?”

Andie twisted and untwisted the string of the bag he’d given her around her fingers. “I don’t belong here. I don’t even believe in gods.”

Luke’s lips pressed into a thin line and he nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed. “That’s how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn’t get any better.”

Andie was surprised at the bitterness in his voice. Luke seemed like a sweet, easy going guy. He seemed like he could handle anything.

“So, your dad is Hermes?” She asked. She had noticed that he shared some similar characteristics with several of the other kids in the cabin- sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles- like a Hermes family resemblance.

The older boy pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and flipped it skillfully through long, strong fingers, before flicking the blade open and scraping the mud off of his sandal.

“Yep. Hermes.”

“The wing-footed messenger guy.”

“That’s him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves; anybody who uses the roads. That’s why you’re here, enjoying cabin eleven’s hospitality. Hermes isn’t picky about who he sponsors.”

The slightest sarcasm in his tone contributed to the bitterness Andie had heard in his voice earlier. She decided to assume that he hadn’t really meant to call her a nobody- not that he would’ve necessarily been wrong. He seemed to have a lot on his mind.

“Have you ever met your dad?” She asked.

“Once.”

He didn’t seemed too inclined to talk about it, so Andie didn’t feel too inclined to ask. She had already messed up today asking a potential new friend too many questions. She didn’t particularly feel like doing it again.

Luke looked up and flashed her the same charming smile he’d given her when Anthony introduced her to the cabin earlier that afternoon.

“Don’t worry about it, Andie. The campers here, they’re mostly good people. After all, we’re extended family, right? We take care of each other.”

He seemed to understand how lost and overwhelmed Andie felt, and she was beyond grateful for it. Luke was an older guy, a camp counselor, popular and attractive to boot, and rather than steering clear of the weird, uncool middle-schooler, he had gone out of his way to welcome her and actually help her.

If he noticed how red Andie’s face had become, he didn’t comment on it. Another thing she was grateful for.

She decided to ask her last big question-the one she hadn’t stopped thinking about all afternoon.

“Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being ‘Big Three’ material. Then Anthony…twice, he said I might be ‘the one’. He said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?”

Luke folded his knife and slipped it back into his pocket, sighing. “I fucking hate prophecies.”

“What do you mean?”

His face twitched around the scar. “Let’s just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn’t allowed any more quests. Anthony’s been dying to get out into the real world. He pestered Chiron so much he told him he already knew Anthony’s fate. He’d had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell him the whole thing, but he said Anthony wasn’t destined to go on a quest yet. He had to wait until…somebody special came to camp.”

“Somebody special?” Andie asked with a tilt of her head.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, kiddo,” Luke told her. “Anthony wants to believe every new camper who comes through is the omen he’s been waiting for. Now, come on, it’s dinner time.”

As soon as he said it, a horn blew in the distance. A conch horn. Luke stood up and offered her a hand, which she took. He pulled Andie up like she weighed nothing.

“Eleven, fall in!” the counselor yelled.

The whole cabin- about twenty in total- lined up in order of seniority. Two boys that were definitely brothers, maybe even twins, stood behind Luke at the front. It seemed like they were playing a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who got to be second or third. Andie stood dead last. They filed out into the courtyard along with all the rest of the campers from the other cabins. As they made their way up the hill to the pavilion, various naiads, nymphs, and satyrs fell in alongside them.

Andie estimated there were probably about a hundred campers total, plus few dozen of each of the nature spirits.

Cabin eleven’s table was way over crowded. Andie had to squeeze onto the edge of the bench, and half her butt was still hanging off.

She caught a glimpse of Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, two blonde boys who must’ve been Mr. D’s sons (the poor suckers), and several other satyrs. Anthony sat across the pavilion at table six, with half a dozen athletic-looking kids with the same serious grey eyes he had. Clarisse was nearby, apparently having forgotten about Andie, laughing and belching alongside her friends.

Chiron called a toast to the gods, and the nymphs began passing out dinner. Luke showed her how to use the magic glasses, and Andie drank a toast of blue cherry coke to her mother.

She’s not gone, Andie thought to herself. Not permanently, anyway. She’s in the Underworld. And if that’s a real place, then someday…

Luke handed her a platter of smoked brisket, and Andie loaded up her plate. Then, she noticed everyone getting up and heading for the fire that was in the center of the pavilion. Luke told her to follow, so she did.

As she got closer, she saw that everyone taking a portion from their meals and dropping it into the fire. The best slice of beef, the ripest strawberry- one of the boys that was at the front of the Hermes line walking in dropped in a pack of peanut M&Ms.

Luke bent down to murmur in her ear. “Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell.”

Andie looked at him, eyes wide. “You’re kidding.”

But the look on Luke’s face warned her to take this seriously. He approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes.

Andie was next.

She wished she knew which god to say.

Finally, she made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please.

A big piece of brisket was scraped into the fire.

After the meal, Mr. D announced that there was a capture-the-flag-game this Friday (Andie had heard it mentioned before- apparently they used real weapons? She supposed she would find out.), and then made an uninterested introduction for Andie to the entire camp, even calling her Alice Johnson, like he’d already forgotten her name.

Shortly thereafter, they were released to the campfire at the amphitheater, where the Apollo cabin led a sing along. There, she found herself squished between the two boys she had believed to be twins.

“A pleasure to meet you, Andie Jackson!” the one on her left greeted, slinging an arm around her shoulders. His brother copied his movement on the other side.

“My name is Travis Stoll,” the one on her left greeted with a grin. He poked his brother in the face with the hand that was hanging off Andie’s right shoulder. “This is my little brother, Connor.”

The boy on her right- Connor- let out a whine, “You’re only a year and three months older than me!”

“Still older!” Travis laughed.

“I thought you guys were twins!” Andie told them. The boys shook their heads as if they got that a lot. Apparently, Connor was twelve, the same age as Andie, and Travis was going on fourteen. When Andie asked, they told her they had been at camp for three years- year-rounders like Luke, Anthony, and Clarisse.

A funny thought suddenly occurred to her. Andie cocked her head to the side, a crooked smile on her face. “Wait, your last name is Stoll?”

“Yep!” The boys answered in unison.

“You’re sons of Hermes, right?”

“Yep!” They confirmed, again.

“So, your father is the god of thieves, and your last name is Stoll?”

Travis sighed dramatically, like it wasn’t the first time he’d heard it. “She’s a pun lover, Con,” he informed his brother mournfully, as if he hadn’t heard.

Connor nodded. “She’ll do, perfectly.”

Andie looked back and forth between the boys. “Uh, what?”

They leaned in.  “We heard what you did to Clarisse earlier,” Connor whispered conspiringly.

“Absolutely fucking hilarious,” Travis agreed.

“Okay…?” Andie wasn’t sure where they were going with this.

“Say, Andie,” Connor began, “We’ve been looking for…a fresh brain to pick…”

“And we think you are the perfect candidate,” Travis finished.

Andie narrowed her eyes. “About what?”

Travis pressed his fingertips together, like he was about to make a business deal. “What’s your stance on practical jokes?”

“Against any one in particular?”

The boys shrugged. “Clarisse, usually,” Travis told her. “The Demeter cabin is always fun to mess with.”

“Athena, too,” Connor chimed in. “Anthony is one of my best friends, but he’s so much fun to rile up.”

Andie felt a shit-eating grin split her face. “What did you guys have in mind?”

They began to plan quietly, trying not to let anyone overhear them, despite being in the middle of a crowd.

After a few minutes, a hand appeared over Andie’s shoulder from behind, holding a skewer with a marshmallow on it. Andie turned to look over her shoulder as she took it and saw Luke sitting behind her, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.

“Don’t let these two hooligans get you into too much trouble, Andie,” Luke laughed, reaching a hand to each of the Stoll brothers’ heads and ruffling their hair. They protested and shoved the older boy off.

“Not at all,” Andie responded, mustering up the most innocent face she could manage. Travis and Connor snickered on either side of her. Luke certainly didn’t believe them, but didn’t say anything.

Andie caught the lyrics to the current campfire song everyone was singing and scrunched her nose.

“What are they singing?” She asked.

The three sons of Hermes looked at her in surprise.

“Oh yeah! We gotta teach you the campfire songs!” Connor exclaimed. They suspended all prank planning for the moment, and Andie spent the rest of the night laughing with the trio of brothers, trying to learn the ridiculous songs.

Her good mood stayed with her after the campfire and back to the cabin, and her last thought before she fell asleep was that she could probably get used to this.

Through the rest of the week, Andie fell into a routine that quickly became her new normal.

She had Ancient Greek in the mornings with Anthony, where she found that Anthony had been right- reading Ancient Greek wasn’t much harder for her than reading English. Speaking about the gods and goddesses in present tense took a little more getting used to.

The afternoons were spent trying to find something Andie was good at.

It wasn’t easy.

She was shit with a bow and arrow, somehow managing to hit Chiron who was standing three feet behind her (he didn’t complain, which Andie had to respect).

The wood nymphs left her in the dust in foot-racing, which sucked, not that Andie envied that they’d had centuries of experience running from smitten gods.

Clarisse pulverized her every time Andie stepped out on the wrestling mat.

The only thing Andie really excelled at was canoeing, which was definitely not the sort of activity people expected from the kid who beat the Minotaur.

Andie knew the senior campers and counselors were watching her, trying to decide who her dad was, but they weren’t having an easy time of it. Luke told her that she might be a daughter of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none, but she got the feeling he was just trying to make her feel better. He really didn’t know what to make of her, either.

The longer she was at camp, the more she got used to her routine, and the more she liked it. The more she could also understand Luke’s bitterness and seeming resentment towards his father.

Despite her burnt offerings and her prayer, Andie got nothing.

The Thursday after Andie arrived at camp, she had her first sword fighting lesson. Everyone from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be their instructor.

They started with the basics. Andie didn’t do too bad- she understood what she was supposed to do, and her reflexes were pretty good.

The problem was, she couldn’t find a blade that felt right in her hands. They were all too heavy, too light, or too long. Luke tried his best to fix her up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for her.

They moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be Andie’s partner, since it was her first time.

“Good luck,” Travis called out. Andie couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic, or actually meant it. “Luke’s the best swordsman in the last three hundred years.”

“Maybe he’ll go easy on me,” Andie responded.

Travis shot her a look that said, ‘yeah, not likely’. Beside him, Connor winced sympathetically.

Very reassuring, boys.

Andie should’ve taken Travis’ warning a little more seriously.

By the time Luke called a break, Andie was bruised up and soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice cold water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, Andie did the same.

She instantly felt better. Strength surged in her arms, and suddenly her sword didn’t feel so awkward.

“Okay, everybody circle up!” Luke called out. “If Andie doesn’t mind, I want to give you a little demo.”

Andie took a deep breath as her cabinmates gathered around. Travis and Connor sent her two sets of sarcastic thumbs up. Andie responded with a glare.

Luke told everyone he was going to use a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy’s blade with the flat of your own sword so that they had no choice but to drop their weapon.

“This is difficult,” Luke stressed. “I’ve had it used against me. No laughing at Andie, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique.”

He demonstrated the move on her in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of her hand.

“Now in real time,” he said after Andie had retrieved her weapon. “We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Andie?”

Andie took a deep breath and nodded, and Luke came after her. Somehow, she managed to keep Luke at bay. Her senses opened up-she could see his attacks coming. She countered, stepped forward, and tried a thrust of her own. Luke deflected it easily, but Andie could see a change in his face. His eyes narrowed and he began to press her with more force.

The sword grew heavy in Andie’s hand. The balance wasn’t right. She knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took her down, so she figured, ‘aw, what the hell?’.

She tried the disarming maneuver.

And it worked.

She lowered her sword from where it pointed at Luke’s undefended chest. “Um…sorry.”

For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.

“Sorry?” The blonde's scarred face broke into a gorgeous grin. “By the gods, Andie, why are you sorry? Show me that again!”

She didn’t want to. Whatever that rush of energy was that she’d had was drained. But Luke insisted.

This time there was no contest. The moment their swords connected, Luke hit her hilt and sent her weapon skidding across the floor.

“Beginner’s luck?” Someone in the audience called after a long pause.

Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised Andie with an entirely new interest, and Andie hoped that no one mistook how red her face was for blushing, rather than having just worked out (because she wasn’t blushing, okay?).

“Maybe…” Luke said. “But I wonder what Andie could do with a balanced sword…”

Friday afternoon found Andie sitting at lake, slightly singed from her first climb up the lava wall, with a completely unsinged Grover, who had also climbed up the rock wall, but much more successfully than she. Damn goat hooves…

This was the first she’d actually gotten to talk to him since they had parted ways at the Big House on Andie’s first day.

They watched the naiads do their underwater basket weaving as they talked.

Grover told her that Mr. D had suspended judgement on his assignment, since he’d yet to either fail or succeed with Andie. She tried to assure him that he had lots of talents, and that of course she would want him along on a quest, if ever she was granted one. It only seemed to make him more miserable.

Instead, Andie caught him up on her activities of the week- the good and the bad. He laughed when she told him about her archery experience, and was duly impressed when she told him what had happened the day before in the arena. Finally, she asked him about the four empty cabins.

Grover explained that cabin eight belonged to Artemis, and the cabin was mostly honorary, and wasn’t used often. When Andie asked what he meant by that, he just sighed dreamily, and gazed at nothing with a dopey smile on his face.

Andie decided to snap him out of that and move on.

Hera’s was also honorary, apparently, since she didn’t ever have demigod children.

Therefore, when people said ‘the Big Three’, they meant Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. But Hades didn’t have a cabin here.

Apparently, he didn’t have a throne on Olympus, either.

“But Zeus and Poseidon- they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?” Andie asked.

Grover shifted uncomfortably. “Right after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn’t sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much damage. World War II…you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortals. They all swore on the River Styx.”

Thunder boomed.

“That’s the most serious oath you can make,” Andie said.

Grover nodded.

“And the brothers kept their word- no kids?”

Grover’s face darkened. “Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this tv starlet, and he just couldn’t help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia…well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he’s immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter.”

Andie felt a surge of anger for someone she never knew. “But that isn’t fair! It wasn’t the girl’s fault!”

Grover hesitated. “Andie, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn’t too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let some of the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her there with a couple of other half-bloods she’d befriended. They almost made it. They got to the top of that hill.”

He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where Andie had fought the Minotaur.

“All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a hoard of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn’t want to keep living like a hunted animal. The satyr didn’t want to leave her, but he couldn’t change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So, Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That’s why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill.”

Andie stared at the pine in the distance feeling hollow, and a little bit guilty. A girl her age had sacrificed herself to save her friends- had stood against a whole hoard of monsters to do it. Andie had killed the Minotaur, but lost her mother, all the same. She wondered, if she’d acted differently, if she could’ve saved her mom, instead.

“Grover,” she said, “have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?”

“Sometimes,” he replied. “Orpheus. Heracles. Houdini.”

“And…have they ever returned somebody from the dead?”

“No. Never. Orpheus came close…Andie, you’re not seriously thinking-“

“No,” Andie lied. “I was just wondering. So… a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?”

Grover studied her warily. He didn’t really believe she’d let the subject drop so easily. He humored her, though.

“Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools, try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He keeps an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems.”

“And you found me,” Andie said. “Chiron said you thought I might be something special.”

Andie didn’t know if it made her feel good that she might be special, or, after hearing Thalia’s story, if it scared her.

Grover looked like she’d just led him into a trap. “I didn’t…oh, listen, don’t think that. If you were…you know…you’d never ever be allowed on a quest, and I’d never get my license. You’re probably a child of Hermes. Or even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the goddess of revenge. Don’t worry, okay?”

Andie didn’t think he succeeded in convincing either of them.

That night, at dinner, there was much more excitement than usual.

It was finally time for capture-the-flag.

After the tables had been cleared, the conch horn sounded and everyone stood at their tables.

Campers yelled and cheered as Anthony and two of his siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a ten-foot long grey silk banner embroidered with a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, the same size, but a gaudy red and embroidered with a bloody spear and a boar’s head.

Andie turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, “Those are the flags?”

“Yeah.”

“Ares and Athena always lead the teams?”

“Not always,” he answered. “But often.”

“So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do- repaint the flag?”

Luke grinned- the same one Travis and Connor got on their faces when they were planning something. “You’ll see. First, we have to get one.”

“Whose side are we on?”

He gave Andie a sly look. “We’ve made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help.”

Chiron announced the teams- Athena, Apollo, and Hermes verses Ares, Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus.

The only ones Andie was truly worried about were the Hephaestus and Ares kids.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble and explained the rules before telling them to arm themselves. He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal.

“Whoa,” Andie breathed. “We’re really supposed to use these?”

Andie knew, theoretically, they played the game with actual weapons. Seeing it was something totally different. Luke looked at her like she was crazy.

“Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here- Chiron thought these would fit. You’ll be on border control.”

Andie wanted to know what Chiron thought ‘fit’ meant. As big as the shield she had been given was, she hoped no one seriously expected her to run fast. Her helmet, like all the helmets on Athena’s side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes.

Anthony yelled, “Blue team, forward!”

Everyone cheered and shook their swords, following Anthony down the path to the south woods. The red team taunted them as they headed off toward the north.

By some miracle, Andie managed to catch up with Anthony without falling flat on her face. “Hey.”

He kept marching.

“So, what’s the plan?” Andie continued. “Got any magic items you can loan me?”

Anthony’s hand drifted towards his pocket, like he was afraid she’d stolen something.

“Just watch Clarisse’s spear,” he advised. “You do not want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don’t worry. We’ll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?”

Andie shrugged as best as she could in her armor. “Border patrol. Whatever that means.”

“It’s easy,” Anthony said, giving Andie the feeling it would not, in fact, be easy. “Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me.” The smirk he gave her reminded her that he was pretty close to Luke, and was apparently, a good friend of Connor’s. “Athena always has a plan.”

Anthony pushed ahead, leaving Andie in the dust.

“Cool,” Andie muttered to herself. “So glad you wanted me on your team, Anthony.”

Anthony stationed her next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks before scattering with the rest of the team into the trees.

Standing there, alone, with her too-big equipment made Andie feel more than a little stupid. But…there was no way anyone would actually attack her…was there?

The conch horn blew in the distance, and several of her teammates from the Apollo cabin raced past her, graceful and silent, and disappeared into enemy territory. Andie huffed. Missing all the fun, as usual.

She could hear the tell-tale sound of fighting in the distance, shouting and swords clanging together, so Andie was surprised when she heard a low growling nearby. She raised her shield instinctively, a chill down her spine telling her she was being stalked. Whatever it was suddenly went silent and retreated, and Andie thought she was safe until five Ares kids exploded out of the underbrush, yelling defiantly and heading straight for Andie.

“Cream the brat!” Clarisse snarled, brandishing her weapon. Wow, Anthony really hadn’t been kidding. While her siblings held standard-issue bronze swords, Clarisse held a wicked looking five-foot-long spear, barbed at the tip and flickering with red light.

Andie had a choice- run or fight half of the Ares cabin.

It was an easy choice.

She managed to sidestep a couple of swings, but these guys weren’t that stupid. Andie was quickly surrounded, and Clarisse thrust her spear at her. Her shield deflected the point, but her arm suddenly tingled and went numb.

So that’s what Anthony had meant.

The damn spear was electric.

One of the Ares guy kicked her in the stomach, knocking the breath out of her, and she fell to her knees gasping for breath.

“Give her a haircut,” Clarisse said. “Grab her hair.”

No. Nononono- Andie felt a wave of nausea hit her, and suddenly, for just a moment, she wasn’t in the woods at Camp Half-Blood- she was in her apartment kitchen in Manhattan, surrounded by the stench of booze and nicotine. She swallowed down bile and took a deep breath (clean air, clean air, clean air), and rose shakily to her feet.

Andie raised her sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear. Sparks flew, and… yep, there went the feeling in Andie’s other arm.

“Oh, shit,” Clarisse scoffed. “I’m scared of this chick. Really scared.”

“The flag is that way,” Andie grit out. She tried to convince herself that her voice was shaking out of anger, not pain.

“Yeah,” one of Clarisse’s sibling said. “But see, we don’t care about the flag. We care about they little bitch who made our cabin look stupid.”

Andie scoffed. “You do that without my help.”

And okay, maybe not the smartest thing to say, but what can she say? She’s an ADHD, teenage, New Yorker. Discretion was not one of her virtues.

The Ares kids snarled and kept coming at her, pushing and pushing. Andie tried her best, she really did. But these guys had far more training than she had. One of them shoved her into the creek. They laughed at her as she landed with a splash, and Andie just knew she was done for.

Then something…weird happened. It was like the water woke up her senses- the same way it had when she poured it over her head at sword practice the day before.

Clarisse and her cabinmates followed Andie into the creek, ready to finish her off. They didn’t get the chance. It was like Andie knew exactly what to do.

She swung the flat of her sword into the first guy’s head and knocked his helmet clean off. He crumpled into the water. The next two stepped up, and Andie slammed her shield into the second guy, and used her sword to shear off the girl’s helmet plume. They both backed up quick.

The fourth guy didn’t look terribly excited to attack, but Clarisse approached instead, the tip of her spear crackling with electricity. As soon as she thrust, Andie caught the shaft between the edge of her shield and her sword, and snapped the spear like it was a twig.

Clarisse shrieked in anger. “Motherfucker! You little bitch!”

Before she could get any further, Andie slammed the butt of her sword between her eyes and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.

Cheers and elated screaming erupted from nearby, and Andie turned to see Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team’s banner lifted high. Travis and Connor flanked him, covering his retreat, followed by several Apollo kids fighting off members of the Hephaestus cabin. The Ares crew stood up cursing.

“A trick!” Clarisse snarled. “It was a trick!”

Everyone converged on Luke as he ran across the creek into friendly territory. The banner shimmered and turned to silver, and the boar and spear were replaced by a huge caduceus. Everyone on the blue team picked Luke up and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron emerged from the woods and blew the conch horn.

They’d won.

Andie laughed and was about to join the celebrations when Anthony’s voice, right next to her, said, “Not bad, hero.”

Andie looked, but there wasn’t anything there.  

“Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?” He asked. The air shimmered and he materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if he’d just taken it off his head.

Andie wasn’t really fazed by the fact that he had been invisible. She was far too angry and more than a little hurt by what she had just realized. She thought about the mischievous smirk he’d given her right before the game. And here, she thought they were on their way to becoming friends.

“You set me up,” she jabbed a finger into his chest. “You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out.”

Anthony shrugged, an unimpressed eyebrow raised. “I told you. Athena always, always has a plan.”

Andie huffed. “A plan to get me pulverized!”

Anthony actually reacted appropriately this time, with a small wince. “I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in but…” He gave Andie a small, approving smile. “You didn’t need my help.”

Then he noticed her wounded arm. His eyebrow furrowed and the smile fell away from his face. “How did you do that?”

“Sword cut,” Andie said, rolling her eyes. “How do you think?”

He shook his head rapidly and grabbed her elbow. “No, it was a sword cut. Look at it.”

The blood was gone, and the scratch was fading away to nothing, like it had never even happened.

“I-I don’t-“ Andie stammered, unable to finish her sentence.

Anthony’s eyes studied her, thinking hard. He looked down at her feet, at the creek and the remains of Clarisse’s spear. “Step out of the water, Andie.”

“Wha-“

His hand slid to her wrist and he pulled her, “Just do it.”

Andie stepped out of the creek and immediately felt like crashing, then and there. Her knees buckled and she started to collapse, but Anthony caught her and held her upright. (And if Andie hadn’t been so out of it, she may have blushed.)

Anthony let out an impressive string of curses in both English and Ancient Greek. “This is not good. I didn’t want…I assumed it would be Zeus…” he muttered.

Before Andie could ask what he meant, a howl ripped through the forest. Everyone was immediately on guard, weapons drawn. Even Chiron called out in Greek for his bow.

On the rocks just above them was an uncomprehendingly massive black hound, its glowing red eyes staring directly at Andie.

No one moved except Anthony, who shoved her behind him and told her to run.

The hound leapt over him, and just as it hit Andie, she stumbled backwards and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through her armor. She heard the thwack of bowstrings being released, and a cluster of arrows sprouted from the hound’s neck. The monster fell dead at her feet, melting into shadow.

Somehow, she was alive. Hurt and bleeding, but alive.

Chiron and Luke both made their way over, weapons in hand.

“Di immortals!” Anthony exclaimed, helping Andie up with a shaky hand. “That-that was a hellhound. How-“

“Someone summoned it,” Chiron answered. “Someone inside the camp.”

Anthony turned to look back at Andie. “You’re wounded. Andie, get back in the water.”

“I’m okay.”

He gave her a hard look. “No, you’re not. Chiron, watch this.”

Too tired to argue, Andie stepped back into the creek. The whole camp gathered around her. As soon as her foot hit the water, she could feel the cuts closing up. Some campers gasped.

Andie tried to apologize, but they weren’t looking at her wounds-everyone was looking above her head.

“Andie,” Anthony stammered out, for once, at a loss for words. “Uh..”

By the time she looked up, the sign was already fading, but she could still make out the holographic green glow of…a trident.

“Your father,” Anthony choked out. “This…this is really not good.”

“It is determined,” Chiron announced.

Andie’s heart thumped in her ears. “My father?”

All around her, campers started kneeling.

“Poseidon,” Chiron said. “Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Andromeda Jackson, Daughter of the Sea God.”

It took Andie all night to comprehend that.

Her father was Poseidon.

Poseidon.

Her dad.

That night was the last night she spent in the Hermes cabin. The next morning, she was moved into cabin three.

She was miserable.

Andie had just started to make friends- to feel accepted. Now no one-not even Connor or Travis- could even look her in the eye.

They avoided her.

They were scared of her.

It made Andie feel sick to her stomach.

Her sword lessons with Luke became one-on-one. He pushed her harder than ever, unafraid to bruise her up in the process. He told her she needed all the practice she could get. She was certainly getting much better very quickly, but it was still painful.

What also became painful was her Ancient Greek lessons with Anthony. Every time she said something, Anthony scowled like she had done something awful. After the lessons, he would bail as soon as possible, cursing under his breath. It hurt her more than she wanted to admit.

A few days after her claiming, a newspaper article was left dropped on the porch of her cabin.

GIRL AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT

The article included an interview with Gabe, and accused Andie of being a suspect in her own mother’s disappearance. At the bottom, was a description of them both and a contact number for the police.

Her dreams also got worse. Two men in white robes trimmed in blue and green fought on the beach, a storm roiling around them. Every time the clashed, thunder boomed, and waves erupted hundreds of feet tall.

Andie didn’t know why, but she felt she had to stop them. She shrieked and begged, but nothing worked.

The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, followed by a voice so deep, so evil, it turned Andie’s blood to ice.

Come down, little hero, the voice crooned. Come down!

The earth cracked and opened up beneath her.

When Andie woke up, she was sure she was falling.

It was dark outside, and thunder boomed in the distance. A storm really was brewing, then.

She heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold.

“Come in?”

It was Grover. Mr. D had finally summoned her to the Big House.

Grover looked nervous on their walk over- though Andie couldn’t tell if it was because of the summons or the storm- apparently, it wasn’t supposed to rain at camp.

They reached the porch of the Big House and found Chiron and Mr. D playing pinochle, looking not unlike they had on Andie’s first day. They played against invisible opponents- two sets of cards hovering in the air.

“Well, well,” Mr. D said, not looking up from his hand. “Our little celebrity.”

Andie, for once, kept her mouth shut.

“Come closer,” Mr. D said. “And don’t expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle Beard is your father.”

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, and Mr. D rolled his eyes. Grover flinched against the railing, and Chiron feigned interest in his cards.

“Tell me, daughter of the sea, how do you feel about dolphins? I’m thinking about turning you into one and sending you back to your father,” the wine god told her, grinning like he’d just told a gut-busting joke.

Andie continued to stare warily at him.

“Mr. D-“ Chiron warned.

“Oh, alright,” Mr. D relented. “There’s one more option. But it’s deadly foolishness.” Dionysus rose, and the invisible players’ cards dropped to the table. “I’m off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the girl is still here when I get back, I’ll turn her into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And Andromeda Jackson, if you’re at all smart, you’ll see that’s a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do.”

With that, the god snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Chiron gestured for Andie and Grover to sit.

“Tell me, Andie,” their teacher started. “What did you make of the hellhound?”

Andie swallowed the lump in her throat and squeezed her hands together. Just the name chilled her to her core. “It scared me,” she admitted. “If you hadn’t shot it, I’d be dead.”

“You’ll meet worse, Andie. Far worse, before you’re done.”

Andie blinked. “Done…with what?”

“Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?”

Andie glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.

“Uh, sir, you haven’t told me what it is, yet,” she answered.

Chiron grimaced. “Well, that’s the hard part. The details.”

The storm rumbled on. It had reached the edge of the beach. The sea rose up to meet it.

“Poseidon and Zeus,” Andie said, her mouth dry. “They’re fighting over something valuable…something that was stolen, aren’t they?”

Chiron and Grover exchanged looks. The centaur sat forward in his wheelchair. “How did you know that?”

Andie chewed on her bottom lip. “The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Anthony, and he’d overheard something about a thief. And…I’ve also been having these…dreams.”

“I knew it!” Grover exclaimed.

“Hush, satyr,” Chiron reprimanded.

“But it is her quest!” Grover’s eyes were wide and bright with excitement. “It must be!”

“Only the Oracle can determine.” Chiron ran a hand through his beard. “Nevertheless, Andie, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise- a lightning bolt.”

Andie let out a nervous, borderline hysterical laugh. “A what, now?”

Chiron gave her a warning look. “Do not take this lightly. This is not some tin-foil zig zag you’d see in a middle school play. I’m talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both sides with god-level explosives.”

“Oh.” Andie’s voice was small.

“Zeus’ master bolt. The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the Titanomachy, the bolt that sheared the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne. The master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers.”

“And its missing?”

“Stolen,” Chiron confirmed.

“By who?”

“By whom,” Chiron corrected. Teachers. “By you.”

Andie’s mouth fell open and she blinked disbelievingly at the centaur.

“At least,” Chiron held a hand up. “That’s what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual petty nonsense. Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing- taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god cannot usurp another god’s symbol of power directly- that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it.”

Andie shook her head. “But I didn’t-“

“Patience and listen, child,” Chiron chastised. “Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother’s lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. The only thing Zeus wasn’t sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now, Poseidon has openly claimed you as his daughter. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could have easily snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief.”

Andie was shaking, though she wasn’t sure if it was fear or anger. She was a lot of things- a thief was not one of them. “But I’ve never even been to Olympus! Zeus is-“

“I would not finish that sentence if I were you, child,” Chiron warned. “Perhaps Zeus is paranoid. Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus, before.” He looked at her expectantly, like she knew what he was talking about.

She realized, after a moment, she did remember the story from his Latin class at Yancy. Chiron nodded when he saw the realization on her face.

“Zeus has not trusted Poseidon since,” Chiron continued. “Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you’ve come along- the proverbial last straw.”

“But I’m just a kid!” Andie continued to protest. This was outrageous. She’d been blamed for a lot of things that weren’t her fault, in her life. Had gotten in trouble for stupid stuff that she didn’t do. But this…this took it to a whole new level.

“Andie,” Grover cut in, “if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took to not father any more mortal children who might be used as a weapon against you…wouldn’t that put a twist in your toga?”

Andie looked at Chiron pleadingly. “But I didn’t do anything. Poseidon- my dad- he didn’t really have this master bolt stolen, did her?”

Chiron sighed. “Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon’s style, but the Sea God is too proud to try and convince Zeus of that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That’s June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date. I had hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus’ temper. Now, neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war between the gods would look like, Andie?”

Images flashed in Andie’s mind. None of them pleasant.

“Bad?”

“Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water balloon fight.”

Andie shuddered. “Bad,” she repeated in a whisper.

“And you, Andie Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus’ wrath.”

Rain dropped out of the sky and into the valley. Zeus was punishing the camp because of her. It pissed her off to no end.

“So I have to find the stupid bolt and return it to Zeus,” Andie summarized.

Chiron spread his hands. “What better peace offering than to have the daughter of Poseidon return Zeus' property?”

“If Poseidon doesn’t have it, where is the thing?”

“I believe I know,” Chiron’s expression was grim. “Part of a prophecy I had years ago…well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of the Oracle.”

Andie narrowed her eyes at her teacher. “Why can’t you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?”

“Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge.”

Andie took a steadying breath. “Very reassuring Chiron, thank you.”

“You agree, then?”

Andie looked over at Grover, who nodded encouragingly. Easy for him. He’s not the one with a target on his head.

“Alright,” Andie agreed. “It’s better than being turned into a dolphin.”

“Then it’s time you consulted the Oracle,” Chiron said. “Go upstairs, Andie Jackson. To the attic. When you come back down, assuming you’re still sane, we will talk more.”

Chapter Text

A mummy lived in the attic of her summer camp.

Cool, cool, cool.

It spewed green smoke.

Wonderful. Lovely, even.

It spoke in cryptic, creepy rhymes.

What the fuck had her life become?

Andie took a breath in the upstairs hallway, steadying herself against the wall. When she had stopped shaking, she started to make her way back down the four stories of the Big House to the porch. As she descended, she thought about the lines the Oracle had delivered.

You shall go west and face the god who has turned.

You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned.

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.

And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.

Andie didn’t like the sound of that.

Chiron and Grover were waiting for her on the porch. When Chiron asked, she told him the prophecy.

Well…most of the prophecy. She couldn’t bring herself to confess those last two lines. How could she? The Oracle had just told her that she was destined to fail.

Chiron studied her, like he knew she was holding something back. He, thankfully, didn’t push her.

Andie was anxious to change topics.

“Okay, so where do I go? Who’s this god in the west?” she asked.

“Ah, think, Andie,” Chiron said. “If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?”

“Somebody else who wants to take over?” She guessed.

“Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken.”

Andie nodded slowly. “Hades.”

“The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility.”

A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover’s mouth. “Whoa, wait. Wh-what?”

“A Fury came after Andie,” Chiron reminded him. “She watched the young lady until she was sure of her identity, then tried to kill her. Furies obey only one lord: Hades.”

“Yes, but- but Hades hates all heroes,” Grover protested. “Especially if he’s found out that Andie is a daughter of Poseidon…”

“A hellhound got into the forest,” Chiron continued. “Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Andie to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before she can take on the quest.”

“Great,” Andie muttered, rolling her eyes. “That’s two major gods who want to kill me.”

“But a quest to…” Grover swallowed. “I mean, couldn’t the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine’s very nice, this time of year.”

“Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt,” Chiron insisted. “He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don’t pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead’s motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Andie must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth.”

Andie became more and more fired up with every word Chiron spoke. She wanted revenge. Not only had Hades tried to kill her three times now and killed her mother, but he also framed her and her dad for a crime they hadn’t committed.

She was more than ready to take him on.

Besides, if her mother was in the Underworld…

A small, still sane, part of her brain tried to remind her that she was a kid, and Hades a god.

She didn’t care.

Grover seemed to care, though. He was trembling and eating pinochle cards like potato chips.

Andie turned to Chiron. “Look, if we know it’s Hades, why can’t we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads.”

Chiron shook his head. “Suspecting and knowing are not the same. Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades- and I imagine Poseidon does- they couldn’t retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other’s territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they’re bold enough and strong enough to do it. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?”

“You’re saying I’m being used,” Andie realized.

“I’m saying it’s no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It’s a very risky gamble, but he’s in a desperate situation. He needs you.”

Andie wasn’t sure what to think about that. There were too many emotions swirling around inside her like a whirlpool. She wasn’t sure she could pick out which one she should feel- resentful, grateful, happy, or angry?

Andie tilted her head as she looked at Chiron. “You’ve known I was Poseidon’s daughter all along, haven’t you?”

“I’ve had my suspicions,” he responded. “As I said…I’ve spoken to the Oracle, too.”

So they were both holding back information, then.

“So, let me get this straight,” Andie held up both hands. “I’m supposed to go to the Underworld, confront the Lord of the Dead, find the most powerful weapon in the universe, and get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days.”

“I do believe that sums it up,” Chiron confirmed.

She looked at Grover, who was gnawing on the ace of hearts.

“Acadia National Park is fantastic, if you’ve never been,” he told her meekly. “You know? In Maine?”

“You don’t have to go,” Andie told him gently. “I can’t ask that of you.”

He shifted his hooves. “No…it’s just…satyrs and underground places…well…” Grover took a deep breath and shook his head, like he was trying to get something out of his hair. He gave her a determined look. “You saved my life, Andie. If…if you’re serious about wanting me along, I won’t let you down.”

Andie gave him a bright smile, blinking back tears. She was so relieved she wasn’t sure she’d be able to put it into words. She wasn’t sure what a satyr could do against the forces of the dead, but she felt better knowing that her best friend would be with her.

“So where do we go?” Andie asked Chiron. “The Oracle just said to go west.”

“The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it’s in America.”

“Where?”

Chiron looked surprised. “I thought that would’ve been obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles."

Andie tilted her head consideringly before nodding. “Yeah, you know what? That actually sounds about right. So, what, we just get on a plane-“

“No!” Grover shrieked. “Andie, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?”

“Uh…no?”

“Andie, think,” Chiron said. “You’re the daughter of the Sea God. Your father’s bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus’ domain. You would never come down alive.”

“Okay,” Andie’s voice was small. “So, I’ll travel overland.”

Chiron nodded. “Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept his help.”

“Well damn,” Andie deadpanned. “Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?”

The air shimmered behind Chiron, and Anthony became visible, stuffing his Yankees cap into his back pocket.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for a quest, Seaweed Brain,” the blonde told her, his face smug. “Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you’re going to save the world, I’m the best person to keep you from messing up.”

“If you do say so yourself,” Andie mocked. “I suppose you have a plan, Wise Guy?”

He levelled a judgmental stare at her. “Between that and the LA comment, you know, you could not possibly sound more like a stereotypical New Yorker.”

Andie crossed her arms. “You gotta problem with New Yorkers?”

Anthony rolled his eyes. “Do you want my help or not?”

Damn, he had her there.

“A trio,” Andie said. “That’ll work.”

“Excellent,” Chiron smiled at the group. “This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own. Now, there’s no time to waste! You all should get packing.”

An hour later, they were hiking up to the top of Half-Blood Hill, where Chiron sat waiting for them in his wheelchair. Argus stood beside him, ready to chauffeur them into the city.

Footsteps thudded behind them. Andie turned to see Luke running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

He flashed Andie that charming smile of his in greeting. She felt her face grow warm, despite herself. In her periphery, she saw Anthony glance at her and roll his eyes, scoffing under his breath.

“Glad I caught you!” Luke told her. “Just wanted to say good luck. And I thought… well, maybe you could use these.”

He handed Andie the sneakers before shouting, “Maia!”

White bird’s wings sprouted out of the heels, startling Andie so much, she dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

“Awesome!” Grover exclaimed.

Luke 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.

Andie didn’t know what to say. It warmed her heart that Luke had come to say goodbye. She was afraid, after everything, he’d come to resent her. But here he was, giving her a magic gift…and she thought she’d been blushing before.

“I…thank you, Luke,” Andie said.

He smiled at her. “Kill some monsters for me, ‘kay, kiddo?”

Luke leaned down to give her a quick hug (and no, Andie did not forget how to breathe for a second there, thank you). The son of Hermes pat Grover on his curly head between his horns, and turned to Anthony. The two studied each other for a moment, almost like they were memorizing what the other looked like.

Luke held out his hand like he was expecting Anthony to shake it. Anthony rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he was smiling. He brought his hand up and clapped it against Luke’s before both boys’ hands moved in a quick series of movements that Andie assumed was a special handshake of theirs.

She knew they were close, but she hadn’t realized they were that close.

“Get over here, Tiger,” Luke said, grabbing Anthony’s shoulder and pulling him into a tight hug.

Anthony groaned into the older boy’s shoulder as he hugged him back, “You haven’t called me that in years.”

Luke pulled back and ruffled the younger’s hair, laughing as he did so. “I think I’m gonna try and bring it back.”

Anthony shoved Luke’s hand off his head, “Not funny.”

“What’s the matter, Tiger? Embarrassed?” Luke teased. He glanced at Andie, then back at Anthony and winked at him. Anthony glared at him hard. Luke laughed it off, ruffling Anthony’s curls and wishing the group luck one last time before jogging back down the hill with a two fingered salute.

“I suppose that’s it for your soap opera send off?” Andie asked the blonde.

“Gah, remind me again why I want to go anywhere with you, Andie?” Anthony growled before stomping down the hill, trailed by Argus, to the camp’s SUV.

Andie picked up the flying shoes, a bad feeling sinking in the pit of her stomach. She looked at Chiron, who seemed to be thinking the same thing she was. If she couldn’t go up in a plane, what good were flying shoes?

“Hey Grover,” she mused. “You want a magic item?”

His eyes lit up. “Me?”

Soon enough, Grover was testing out his new kicks. Well, if flying sideways down the hill could be considered testing. Thankfully, he was headed toward Argus and Anthony, so they’d be able to give him a hand.

Andie was about to follow when Chiron caught her arm. “I should have trained you better, Andie,” he said. “If only I had more time. Heracles, Jason- they all got more training.”

“That’s okay,” Andie assured. “I just wish-“

She stopped herself. What was she going to say? She just wished her dad had given her a cool magic item, like everyone else? She’d sound like an entitled brat.

“What am I thinking?” Chiron cried suddenly. “I can’t let you get away without this!”

He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed to her. It wasn’t even one of those super nice fountain pens, just an ordinary cheap ballpoint with a removeable cap.

“Uh…thanks?”

“Andie, that’s a gift from your father. I’ve kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one.”

No way…

She remembered the field trip to the Met, when she’d vaporized Mrs. Dodds. Chiron had thrown her a pen that had turned into a sword. Could this be…?

Andie took off the cap, and half a second later, she held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in her hand.

“That sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into,” Chiron told her. “Its name is Anaklusmos.”

“’Riptide’,” Andie translated, starting at the blade in a quiet wonder.

Chiron explained to her how Celestial bronze worked- that it wouldn’t harm mortals, but could kill monsters. Oh, and the part about Andie being able to be killed by celestial or normal weapons was a nice little informational tidbit.

She also discovered that, despite her terrible habit of losing pens, she wouldn’t be able to lose Riptide. The sword was enchanted to always reappear in her pocket.

Very, very cool.

Andie pocketed the pen-sword.

The quest had really started to feel real.

Before she left, she had one last question for Chiron.

“When you say the gods are immortal…I mean, there was a time before them, right?”

There were, in fact, four ages, Chiron went on to inform her. Zeus’ rule, the age of Western Civilization, was the fifth. Before him, Kronos reigned, a time of darkness and savagery for mortals, despite propaganda calling it the ‘Golden Age’. Despite his opinion in the early years of Zeus’ reign, the King of Olympus eventually warmed to humans, and voila! Western Civilization was born.

Andie wondered aloud if it were possible that she could mess everything up. If she failed, would that mean the end of Western Civilization?

Chiron’s answer was an ominous, “No one knows,” followed by a nice, reassuring, “All we can do, child, is follow our destiny.”

He must’ve noticed how tense Andie was, because he then told her, “Relax. Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history.”

No pressure, then.

Argus drove them out of the countryside, and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be in the real world again, even after only two weeks at Camp Half-Blood. Andie wondered how weird it must’ve been for Anthony, who hadn’t left camp in five years.

“So far, so good,” She told Anthony, who was sitting right beside her. “Ten miles, and not a single monster.”

Anthony gave her an irritated look. “It’s bad luck to talk that way, Seaweed Brain.”

Andie stared at him for a beat before asking, “Remind me again- why do you hate me so much?”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Sure, and we’re all completely normal kids, too.”

Anthony tapped his fingers against the bill of his Yankees cap. “Look…we’re just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals.”

“Why?”

He sighed. “How many reasons do you want? One time, my mom caught Poseidon in Athena’s temple, which is insanely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god of Athens. Your dad created some bullshit saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her.”

“They must really like olives,” Andie mused.

“Oh, forget it.”

“Now, if she’d invented pizza- that I could understand.”

“I said, forget it!” Anthony snapped.

Connor had been right- it was fun to get Anthony riled up.

Then, the excuse Anthony had given her finally registered. We’re not supposed to get along.

“Well,” Andie stated. “I call bullshit.”

“I told you to forget it, Andie.”

“What? No, not on the Athens thing!”

Anthony looked at her like he was trying to figure out what planet she came from. “Then what the hell are you talking about?”

“You said we aren’t supposed to get along because our parents don’t like each other,” Andie clarified. “Which is complete and utter bullshit.”

“And why is that?” Anthony asked with a roll of his eyes.

“Look, I don’t know about you, but I judge people based on their own actions, not the actions of someone who they’re related to that I’ve never even met.”

Anthony looked at her skeptically before shaking his head slightly and turning to look out the window.

Andie decided to assume that meant she won that argument.

Traffic slowed them down in Queens. By the time they got into Manhattan, it was sunset and starting to rain. Argus dropped them off at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from her mom and Gabe’s apartment. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with Andie’s picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS GIRL?

Andie ripped it down before either of the boys could see it.

She thought about how close she was to her old apartment. On a normal day, her mom would be home from the candy store, by now. But this wasn’t a normal day. And Gabe was probably up there right now, playing poker, nowhere close to giving a damn.

Grover shouldered his backpack, gazing down the street in the direction Andie was looking. “You want to know why she married him, Andie?”

Andie stared at him incredulously. “What, can satyrs read minds or something?”

“Not your mind, just your emotions,” Grover shrugged. “You were thinking about your mom and stepdad, right?”

Andie nodded.

“Your mom married Gabe for you,” Grover told her. “You call him ‘Smelly’, but you’ve got no idea. The guy has this aura…nasty. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven’t been near him for two weeks.”

Andie made a bitter face. “Thanks. Where’s the nearest shower?”

“You should be grateful, Andie-“

“Grateful?!” Andie cut him off with a snarl. “Are you shitting me? Do you have any idea-“ She clamped her mouth shut with an audible click and inhaled shakily through her nose. Do you have any idea how much he’s hurt me? She wanted to ask. She had never actually told Grover, or anyone, including her mother, how much Gabe hurt her. How small and weak and insignificant he made her feel. How she was nothing more than his punching bag.

The look on Grover’s face told her he did, at least, have an inkling of suspicion. She looked away. Andie didn’t want his pity. He took one of her hands and gave a gentle squeeze.

“Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn’t lived with him every summer, you probably would’ve been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady.”

Protected from the mythological monsters by being subjected to the whims of a mortal one. Wasn’t that just her luck?

Andie felt her chin start to tremble. She didn’t respond to Grover not only because she thought she might start crying and screaming in rage, but also because Anthony was watching them out of the corner of his eye, and Andie got the sneaking suspicion he had overheard their conversation. She didn’t want him hearing any more. She didn’t need him thinking she was more pathetic than he already believed her to be.

Even then, she was glad both the boys were with her on this crazy quest, even if she also felt guilty that she hadn’t been a hundred percent straight with them on why she’d taken up the quest.

She didn’t actually give a damn about Zeus’ lightning bolt, or saving the world, or even helping her father out of trouble. Hell, the more she thought about it, the more she resented Poseidon for never visiting her, never helping her mom, never even sending a lousy child-support check.

Never whisking Andie and her mom away from Gabe.

He’d only claimed her because he needed a job done.

All Andie cared about was her mom. It had always just been her and her mom- the Jackson girls against the world. Hades had taken her unfairly, and Hades was going to give her back.

You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle’s voice whispered in her mind. And you will fail to save what matters most, in the end.

Andie refused to take that for an answer.

The rain continued to pour.

The bus continued to, well, not be there.

Anthony was clearly just as ADHD as any demigod, as the long they waited, the more restless he got. Andie wasn’t far behind him. They ended up starting a game of Hacky Sack with one of Grover’s apples. Anthony was pretty amazing- he could bounce the apple off of his knees, his elbow, his shoulder, whatever. Andie…didn’t actually do too bad, herself. And Grover…well, it’s hard to play Hacky Sack when one of the players…eats…the Hacky Sack…

It took Andie and Anthony a full ten minutes to recover from their hysterics.

Finally, the bus arrived. Which would’ve been great except that, as soon as they got in line to board, Grover got the jitters, sniffing the air like someone nearby was making cheese enchiladas. Andie was immediately on guard.

“What is it?” She asked lowly. Anthony tensed at her tone, scanning the area around them.

“I don’t know,” Grover muttered. “Maybe it’s nothing.”

Andie exchanged a look with Anthony. The way he clenched his jaw told her he had come to the same conclusion she did: Definitely not nothing.

Andie was relieved when they finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. They stowed their backpacks. Anthony kept slapping his Yankees cap against his thigh. As the last of the passengers got on, Anthony, somehow, got even more tense and clamped his hand down on Andie’s knee. “Andie.”

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She looked pretty normal until she tilted her head up, revealing glittery black eyes. Andie’s heart skipped a beat.

Mrs. Dodds.

Andie scrunched down into her seat.

Behind Mrs. Dodds, two more identical old ladies stepped onto the bus. The only way that Andie could tell any difference between the three of them was by the colors of their little crochet old lady hats. They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an ‘X’. It was causal enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.

The bus pulled out of the station, and they headed through the streets of Manhattan.

“She didn’t stay dead long,” Andie muttered, trying to keep her voice from quivering. “I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime.”

“I said if you’re lucky,” Anthony hissed. “You, obviously, are not.”

“All three of them,” Grover whimpered. “Di immortales!”

“It’s okay,” Anthony told them. Andie could see the gears turning in his head, thinking of a plan. “The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. Cool, cool. No problem, no problem, at all. We’ll just slip out the window.”

“They don’t open,” Grover moaned.

“A back exit?” The blonde asked.

“No exit,” Andie informed him. Even if there had been, it wouldn’t have helped. They were already headed for the Lincoln Tunnel.

“Shit.”

Nice confidence booster, Anthony, Andie thought to herself.

“They won’t attack us with witnesses around, will they?” She asked.

“Mortals don’t have good eyes,” the son of Athena reminded her. “Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist.”

“They’ll see three old ladies killing us, won’t they?” Andie hoped.

Anthony cocked his head as he thought about it. “Hard to say. But we can’t count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof…?”

As soon as he said it, they hit the Lincoln Tunnel and the bus went dark, save for the running lights down the aisle.

Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she were reading from a teleprompter, she announced to the whole bus, “I need to use the restroom.”

The other two sisters seconded, and then thirded her.

They all started coming down the aisle.

“I’ve got it,” Anthony whispered suddenly. “Andie, take my hat.”

“What?”

“You’re the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away.”

Andie shook her head rapidly. “But you guys-“

“There’s an outside chance they might not notice us,” Anthony insisted. “You’re a daughter of the Big Three. Your scent might be overpowering.”

“I can’t just leave you!”

“Don’t worry about us,” Grover told her. “Go.”

Anthony took one of her hands in one of his, and with his other hand pressed his hat into the hand he was holding. Andie’s hands trembled as her fingers closed around the fabric. She felt like a coward, but she put the Yankees cap on. When she looked down, her body wasn’t there, anymore.

She started creeping up the aisle, managing to get up several rows before having to duck into an empty seat just as the Furies passed. They stopped and looked right at her, sniffing. When they weren’t able to find anything, they moved on.

Andie had made it to the front of the bus, just as they were almost through the tunnel. The wailing and shrieking started just as Andie was about to hit the emergency stop button.

The Furies had shed their shriveled old lady disguises, and into their monstrous, leathery, gargoyle-bat forms, fiery whips in their hands. They had surrounded the boys, lashing their whips, hissing and demanding to know where something was.

The mortals were screaming. Andie wasn’t sure she wanted to know what exactly it was that they were seeing.

“She’s not here!” Anthony yelled. “She’s gone!”

The Furies raised their whips. Anthony drew his bronze knife, and Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack stash and prepared to throw it.

Andie was right next to the door. She was home free, she could’ve left. She wouldn’t abandon the boys, though. She had to do something. Her eyes caught the distracted driver.

Yeah, that’ll work.

Still invisible, Andie grabbed the wheel from the driver and jerked it. Everyone cried out as they were thrown into the side of the bus, including the Furies. She and the driver wrestled for the wheel, hitting the side of the Lincoln Tunnel just as they exited and careening towards the Hudson River.

So, of course, Andie rounded back to her original genius plan, and hit the emergency brake.

The bus hydroplaned hard, spinning and crashing through trees before it stopped and the doors flew open, allowing everyone to stampede off the bus. Rather than bolting out the door alongside them, and simply stepped aside and let them pass.

The Furies quickly regained their balance, lashing their whips at Anthony while he waved his knife and threw Ancient Greek insults at them. Grover added to the chaos by chucking tin cans.

Andie took of the invisible cap. “Hey!”

Well, if she wanted to get their attention, she’d certainly succeeded.

Mrs. Dodds stalked up the aisle while her sisters crawled across the tops of the seats on either side of her.

“Andromeda Jackson,” Mrs. Dodds growled in a nowhere-near-human voice. “You have offended the gods. You shall die.”

“I liked you better as a math teacher,” Andie responded.

The demon growled again. Anthony and Grover snuck up the aisle behind her, waiting for an opening. Andie took the pen out of her pocket and uncapped it.

The Furies hesitated. Mrs. Dodds clearly didn’t enjoy seeing Riptide again, after what had happened to her last time.

“Submit now,” she hissed. “And you will not suffer eternal torment.”

“Nice try,” Andie told her.

“Andie, look out!” Anthony shouted.

Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around Andie’s sword hand while the Furies on either side lunged at her. Despite her hand feeling like it was melting, she managed not to drop Riptide, holding off two of the Furies. She hilt slammed one, and slashed Riptide through the other, turning her to dust. Anthony got Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler’s hold and yanked her backwards while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands, yelping from the heat.

The spare Fury came at Andie, but was dealt with in a single bronze slash. Meanwhile, the boys had managed to get Mrs. Dodds tied up in her own whip.

“Zeus will destroy you!” the demon promised with a shriek. “Hades will have your soul!”

Andie cursed at her in Latin, though she wasn’t entirely sure where it came from. “Braccas meas vescimini!”

Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of Andie’s neck, reminiscent of the moment right before Gabe’s Camaro had been sent flying into a muddy ditch.

Well, that couldn’t possibly be a good sign.

“Get out!” Anthony yelled at her. “Now!”

Andie didn’t need any encouragement. They rushed outside and found the other passengers either wandering around in a daze, arguing with each other, or generally just panicking. A tourist with a camera snapped Andie’s photograph before she could recap her sword.

Grover halted suddenly, grabbing both Andie and Anthony’s elbow. “Our bags! We left our-“

He was cut off with the eardrum shattering sound of an explosion. Passengers ran for cover as lightning shredded a massive crater in the roof and the windows exploded in a rain of glass. An angry wail from inside gave Andie the impression that Mrs. Dodds was not yet dead.

“Run!” Anthony said. “She’s calling for reinforcements! It’s time to go!”

Andie didn’t particularly want to find out what reinforcements Anthony meant. She followed him into the woods. She thought about the last two buses she had been on- first the Fates, then the Furies?

Andie was never riding a Greyhound, again.

Chapter Text

They were three hours into their quest, and they were already lost in the woods.

In fucking New Jersey, nonetheless.

And that was just Andie’s luck, wasn’t it?

Next to her, Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. “Three Kindly Ones,” he was muttering. “All three at once.”

Andie was still in a slight state of shock herself, but Anthony kept pulling her and Grover along saying: “Come on! The farther we get, the better.”

“All of our money was back there,” Andie reminded him. “Our food and clothes. Everything.”

He shot her an unimpressed look over his shoulder. “Well, maybe if you hadn’t decided to jump into the fight-“

“What did you want me to do?” She hissed at the blonde. “Let you get killed?”

“You didn’t need to protect me, Andie. I would’ve been fine,” Anthony responded petulantly.

“Sliced like Wonder Bread,” Grover muttered under his breath. “But fine.”

“Shut up, goat boy,” Anthony said.

Grover continued to bray mournfully over his lost tin cans as the trio continued their muddy, cold trek through the forest. After a few minutes of silence, Anthony fell into line next to her.

“Look, I…” his voice faltered. “I really appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave.”

Andie shrugged, aiming for nonchalant, but not sure if she quite got there. “We’re a team, right?”

The son of Athena was quiet for a few more steps. “It’s just that if you died…well, aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean that the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world.”

“Ouch.”

Anthony shook his head, “I- sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yeah, you kind of did.”

“Andie-“

She cut him off with a small laugh, and she felt him relax beside her as he realized she was only teasing. The thunderstorm had finally let up around them, and they were far enough from the glow of the city that it was almost totally black around them. Andie couldn’t see anything of Anthony except the glint of his blonde hair.

“You haven’t left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?” she asked.

“Not really- only short field trips. My dad-“

“The history professor,” Andie remembered.

Anthony let out a long, slow exhale. “Yeah. It didn’t work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home.” His words were rushing out now, like he was afraid someone might try to stop him. “At camp you train and train. And that’s all cool, but the real world is where the monsters are. That’s where you learn whether you’re any good or not.”

Andie could hear the doubt lingering in his voice, though he hid it well. She bumped her shoulder lightly against his. “You know, you’re pretty good with that knife.”

“You think?”

She flashed him a smile, though she was pretty sure he couldn’t see it in the dark. “Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me.”

Anthony huffed out a quiet laugh and Andie’s smile widened, satisfied with her work.

“You know,” Anthony began again. “Maybe I should tell you…something funny back on the bus-“

A shrill noise stopped Anthony’s thought in it’s track, and a giant ass tree stopped Andie in hers. Apparently, Grover discovered that his reed pipes still worked, but rather than clearing a path, he’d actually created more obstacles. So now, Andie had a decent sized knot on her head, and was almost completely covered in mud. Anthony was stifling a laugh as he offered her a hand and helped her up from where she had fallen.

“Shut up,” she muttered to him.

“I have said nothing,” Anthony responded. She just rolled her eyes.

The next mile consisted of the trio tripping and cursing and generally being miserable, until, finally, Andie caught a whiff of fried, greasy food. The glow of a neon sign followed soon after. They kept walking, crossing a deserted two lane road, and approaching the source of the light and the smell. It wasn’t a fast food restaurant, the way Andie had hoped. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sold all the bizarre lawn décor and statues. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary.

Both Andie and Anthony had a difficult time trying to read the glowing, cursive sign, but Grover translated for them: “Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium.”

Andie followed the smell of cheeseburgers.

“Hey…” Grover warned, reaching a hand out as if to stop her.

“The lights are on inside,” Anthony said. He sounded just as hungry as Andie felt. “Maybe it’s open.”

“Snack bar,” Andie hummed wistfully.

“Snack bar,” he agreed.

“Are you two crazy?” Grover hissed. “This place is weird!”

The demigods both ignored him.

The front was a forest of statues- cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the reed pipes, which gave Grover the creeps. He bleated in alarm. “Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!”

They stopped outside the warehouse door.

“Don’t knock,” Grover pleaded. “I smell monsters.”

“Your nose is clogged up from the Furies,” Anthony reasoned. “All I smell is burgers. Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’m a vegetarian!”

“You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans,” Andie reminded him.

“Those are vegetables!” Grover defended. “Come on. Let’s leave. These statues are…looking at me.”

Then the door creaked open, and a woman stood in front of them, covered head to toe in a black gown and veil. All that showed were her elegant, warm brown hands, that made Andie believe she must have once been a beautiful lady. Her accent was vaguely Middle Eastern when she spoke, “Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?”

“They’re…um…” Anthony started to say.

“We’re orphans,” Andie cut in.

“Orphans?” the woman said. “But, my dears! Surely not!”

“We got separated from our caravan,” Andie said, laying on the big, innocent, pleading eyes. “Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten. Or, maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we’re lost…is that food I smell?”

“Oh, my dears,” the woman cooed. “You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight though to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area.”

They thanked her and went inside.

Anthony elbowed her in the ribs and muttered, “Circus caravan?”

“Always have a strategy, right?”

“Your head is absolutely full of kelp.”

The warehouse was filled with a variety of statues- different people wearing different clothes with different expressions on their faces. Andie didn’t linger long on any of them- she was far too busy thinking about food. The aroma was intoxicating. She didn’t notice Grover’s nervous whimpers, or the way the statues’ eyes seemed to follow them, or the fact that Aunty Em had locked the door behind them.

Andie was practically drooling by the time they found the dining area, and she was pretty sure Anthony wasn’t far behind her.

Aunty Em offered for them to sit down, and Anthony and Andie eagerly complied. Grover did so far more reluctantly.

"Um," Grover’s voice was nervous. “We don’t have any money, ma’am.”

Before Andie could jab him in the ribs, Aunty Em replied, “No, no children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat for such nice orphans.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Anthony said.

Aunty Em tensed, as if Anthony had offended her, but relaxed just as quickly. Must’ve just been Andie’s imagination- she’d had a very long day, after all.

“Quite alright, Anthony,” the woman hummed. “You have such beautiful grey eyes, child.”

Anthony’s mouth twitched, as if he didn’t appreciate his eyes being called ‘beautiful’. Boys. Andie didn’t even register that Aunty Em had called him by name, even though they had never introduced themselves.

Their hostess disappeared behind the counter and started cooking, and before they knew it, they had a feast of greasy hot food sitting in front of them.

Andie was halfway through her burger before she remembered to breathe, and Anthony chugged down his vanilla milkshake with similar gusto. Grover picked at the fries, eyeing the food tray’s waxed paper liner, but still seemed too anxious to eat. And that was a first.

“What’s that hissing noise?” Grover asked.

Andie and Anthony exchanged confused looks with each other, not hearing any anything.

Aunty Em complimented Grover on his hearing before assuring them that everything was fine. She didn’t eat anything, or take off her headdress, even to cook- she simply watched them as they finished their meal. A little unsettling to have someone staring at you without being able to see their face, but Andie didn’t think too much of it. She was feeling satisfied and a little sleepy with being full, so she decided to make small talk with their hostess.

Apparently, Aunty Em didn’t get much business in statuary on the abandoned road, despite statuary being so popular.

She sounded so sad about her business that Andie’s heart might’ve ached for her, but she was too distracted by the tingling she felt on the back of her neck, like someone else was watching her. Andie turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an easter basket. The detail was incredible- more than you would see on most garden statues. For a moment, Andie thought that Aunty Em should be selling her work for museums or cities rather than trailer park lawns.

Except that there was something…unsettling about the girl’s face. Her eyebrows were turned up and her mouth was parted in a small ‘o’, like she had seen something horrifying.

“Ah,” Aunty Em sighed sadly. “You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face.”

“You made all of these by yourself?” Andie asked.

“Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and now I am alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company.”

Andie gazed at her sadly, feeling sad for the woman. Across from her, Anthony set down the fry that he’d been about to eat. He sat forward and said, “Two sisters?”

“It’s a terrible story,” Aunty Em said. “Not one for children, really. You see, Anthony, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a…a boyfriend, you see, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She did something truly terrible. My sisters stayed by me, sharing my fortune for as long as they could, but eventually passed on. I have not seen them in many, many years. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price.”

Andie wasn’t sure what she meant, but she felt so bad for this woman. Who would want to hurt such a nice old lady? Andie was so drowsy she didn’t notice how tense Anthony had suddenly gotten.

“Andie?” he shook her to get her attention. “Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting.”

Andie looked at him, confused. Why did he sound so tense? Why was he suddenly so eager to leave?

Aunty Em looked at Andie. “You know, when I was young and beautiful, before the bad woman broke my boyfriend and I up, I dreamed of having a daughter.” The woman brushed her thumb just under Andie’s eyes, tracing the light splattering of freckles across her nose and cheekbones. Grover let out a small whimper, and Anthony gripped Andie’s wrist.

Aunty Em’s  tone was almost wistful, “I imagined she would have looked just as beautiful as you, my dear girl.”

Her gaze moved from Andie’s face, though her hand stayed.

“Such beautiful grey eyes,” Aunty Em hummed at Anthony, again. “My, yes, it has been a long time, indeed, since I’ve seen grey eyes like those.”

She reached out with her free hand as if to stroke Anthony’s cheek, as well, but he stood abruptly. “We really should go.”

“Yes!” Grover agreed, swallowing his wax paper and standing up. “The ringmaster is waiting! Right!”

Andie wasn’t sure why they were so eager to leave. Aunty Em was so sweet- why couldn’t they just stay here, a while?

“Please, dears,” Aunty Em pleaded. “I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won’t you at least sit for a pose?”

“A pose?” Anthony asked warily.

“For a photograph! I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children.”

Anthony shifted his weight from foot to foot, like he was ready to bolt. “I don’t think we can, ma’am. Come on, Andie-“

“Sure we can,” Andie interrupted, frowning. This woman had been so nice to them- had just fed them for free. Andie was beyond irritated that he was being so pushy and rude to her. She supposed that was just how middle school boys were. It didn’t make it okay, though. “It’s just a photo, Anthony. What’s the harm?”

Aunty Em held out her hand towards Andie, as if to say, ‘See? Listen to her.’

Anthony finally acquiesced, though reluctant. Aunty Em led the trio out the front door and into the garden of statues and directed them to a stone bench next to the stone satyr. She had Andie sit in the middle, with the boys on either side of her.

“Not much light for a photo,” Andie noted aloud.

“Oh, enough,” Aunty Em replied. “Enough for us to see each other, yes?”

“Where’s your camera?” Grover asked.

The woman didn’t answer, instead, taking a step back like she was framing the shot. “Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A nice, big smile?”

Grover glanced at the stone satyr next to him, mumbling something about his Uncle Ferdinand. Aunty Em called him back to attention- still with no camera in her hand. Anthony hissed out Andie’s name. Her instincts screamed at her to listen to him- she knew she should, but she just couldn’t make herself do anything. For once, Andie didn’t think it was her ADHD causing that, either.

“I will just be a moment,” Aunty Em told them. “You know, I can’t see you very well in this cursed veil…”

“Andie, something is wrong,” Anthony insisted.

“Wrong?” Aunty Em asked, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. “Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?”

“That is Uncle Ferdinand!” Grover gasped.

“Look away from her!” Anthony shouted. He whipped his Yankees cap onto his head and vanished. His invisible hands pushed Andie hard, shoving her into Grover and sending both of them toppling off of the bench.

Andie was on the ground, looking at Aunty Em’s sandaled feet. She could here the boys scrambling off in opposite directions, but Andie was too dazed to move.

Then, the strangest noise rasped above Andie. She moved her gaze upward to see Aunty Em’s hands, which had turned gnarled and had grown sharp bronze talons where her fingernails had been. She began to look higher, but somewhere off to her left, Anthony screamed, “No! Don’t!”

More rasping- the sound of tiny snakes right above her…right where Aunty Em’s head would be.

Andie could hear Grover shouting at her to run as he kick-started his flying shoes, but she couldn’t move. She was too busy trying to shake off the trance the old woman had put her in.

“Such a pity to destroy such a beautiful young face,” the woman cooed soothingly. “Stay with me, Andromeda. All you have to do is look up.”

Andie fought the urge to obey. Instead, she looked to one side and saw one of those glass spheres that people put in gardens- a gazing ball. She could see Aunty Em’s dark reflection in the orange glass; her headdress was gone, revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. For a moment, Andie thought something was stuck in the woman’s hair before she realized her hair was moving- writhing like serpents.

Aunty Em.

Aunty ‘M’.

How could she have been so fucking stupid?

Andie forced herself to think- how did Medusa die in the myth?

Andie let out a string of curses under her breath that would’ve made a sailor proud and her mother wash her mouth out with soap. Medusa had been asleep when she was attacked by Perseus. She certainly wasn’t asleep now- she could easily rake open Andie’s face with those talons if she wanted.

“The Grey-Eyed One did this to me, Andromeda,” Medusa said. She sounded nothing like a monster. “Anthony’s mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this.”

“Don’t listen to her!” Anthony’s voice shouted from somewhere in the sanctuary. “Run, Andie!”

“Silence!” Medusa snarled before her voice modulated back into a soothing purr. “You see why I must destroy the boy, Andromeda. Not only is he my enemy’s son, but a young man. And men? All they do is hurt and betray you, though you know this already. They are good for absolutely nothing. I shall crush his statue to dust. But you, dear Andromeda, I shall not have you suffer.”

“No,” Andie grit out. She tried to make her legs move.

“Do you really want to help the gods?” Medusa asked. “Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Andromeda? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain.”

“Andie!” Behind her, she could hear a buzzing sound. Grover shouted, “Duck!”

Sure enough, when Andie turned, Grover was flying in from her twelve o’clock, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone.

“Duck!” the satyr yelled again. “I’ll get her!”

That was all the motivation Andie needed. She knew his senses were good, but knowing Grover, he would still manage to miss and end up knocking Andie flat out. She dove to one side just before she heard a loud thwack!

At first, she assumed it was Grover hitting a tree, then Medusa roared with rage. Okay, maybe Andie should give her best friend a little more credit.

“You miserable satyr,” the monster snarled. “I’ll add you to my collection!”

“That was for Uncle Ferdinand!” Grover yelled back.

Andie scrambled away and hid in the sanctuary while Grover swooped in for another pass. Medusa raged and snarled at the satyr, her snake-hair hissing and spitting.

Right next to Andie, Anthony’s voice called her name.

And no, she did not yelp or nearly jump out her skin, thank you very much.

“Shit! Don’t do that!” Andie hissed.

Anthony took off his Yankees cap and became visible. “You have to cut her head off.”

“What? Are you crazy? We need to get out of here!”

“Medusa is a menace. She’s evil. I’d kill her myself, but…” Anthony trailed off and clenched his jaw, like his following admission physically pained him to say. “But you’ve got the better weapon. Besides, I’d never get close to her. She’d slice me to bits because of my mother. You-you’ve got a chance.”

Andie shook her head, bewildered. “What? I can’t-“

Anthony cut her off. “Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?”

He pointed to a pair of statue lovers, a man and a woman with their arms around each other, turned to stone by the monster. Anthony grabbed a green gazing ball from a nearby pedestal.

“A polished shield would be better,” he said, studying the sphere critically. “The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection’s size should be off by a factor of-“

“Would you speak English?!”

“I am!” He tossed Andie the glass ball. “Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly.”

“Hey, guys!” Grover called from somewhere above them. “I think she’s unconscious!”

Andie and Anthony flinched at Medusa’s enraged roar.

“Nevermind!” Grover corrected. He went in for another pass with the tree branch.

“Hurry,” Anthony told her. “Grover’s got a great nose, but eventually, he’ll crash.”

Andie took Riptide out of her back pocket and uncapped it. She followed the hissing and spitting sounds of Medusa’s hair. Her eyes remained locked on the gazing ball, so she would only see Medusa’s reflection. Andie had just caught a glimpse of the monster in the tinted green glass when Medusa made a grab for the stick in the hands of a low-flying Grover and pulled him off course. He tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a stone grizzly bear.

Medusa was about to lunge at him when Andie shouted for her attention. She advanced on the monster, which wasn’t easy with a sword in her right hand and a glass ball in her left. If Medusa charged, Andie would have a hard time defending herself.

But Medusa let her approach.

The closer she got, the more she could see the reflection of Medusa’s face. Andie couldn’t help but wonder if the sphere was distorting the image that much, or if the monster was really that ugly.

“You wouldn’t harm an old woman, Andromeda,” she crooned. “I know you wouldn’t.”

Andie hesitated, morbidly fascinated by, and unable to take her eyes off the harsh, terrifying face that reflected back at her.

From the cement grizzly, Grover groaned, “Andie, don’t listen to her!”

Medusa cackled. “Too late.”

She lunged at Andie with her talons.

Andie slashed up with her sword. She heard the sickening squelch of a head being disconnected from it’s body, then a hissing, windy noise- the sound of a monster disintegrating. Something fell to the ground next to her foot. It took all of her willpower not to look. She could feel warm ooze soaking into her shoe and sock, little dying snake heads tugging at her shoelaces.

“Oh, yuck,” Grover said. His eyes were still closed, but Andie had no doubt he could hear the thing gurgling and steaming. “Mega-yuck.”

Anthony came to stand beside her, his eyes fixed on the sky. He was holding Medusa’s black veil. “Don’t move,” he warned.

Very, very carefully, without looking down, he knelt and draped the monster’s head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping with green juice.

“Are you okay?” He asked Andie, his voice trembling.

“Yeah,” Andie decided, though her voice was hoarse and she felt like vomiting. “Why didn’t…why didn’t the head evaporate?”

“Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war,” Anthony said. “Same as your minotaur horn. But don’t unwrap the head. It can still petrify you.”

Grover moaned as he climbed down from the statue. He certainly had looked like he’d been in a fight with a welt on his forehead, his cap hanging off of one of his horns, and his fake feet having been knocked off of his hooves. The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head like he was a Looney Tunes character.

“The Red Baron,” Andie grinned, giving her best friend a fist bump. “Nice job, dude.”

He gave her a bashful grin. “That really was not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun.”

Grover snatched his shoes out of the air and Andie recapped her sword. Together, the trio stumbled back towards the warehouse.

They found some old plastic grocery bags behind the snack counter and double-wrapped Medusa’s head. It got plopped on the table where they’d eaten dinner, and they collapsed in the booths, too exhausted to speak.

Finally, Andie spoke up. “So, we have Athena to thank for this monster?”

Anthony shot her an irritated look. “Your dad, actually. Don’t you remember? Medusa was Poseidon’s girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother’s temple. That’s why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters, who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That’s why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She’s still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him.”

The daughter comment that Medusa had made suddenly made much more sense. She looked like the daughter Medusa dreamed of having with Andie’s dad. Andie’s face burned. “Oh, so now it’s my fault we met Medusa.”

Anthony straightened. In a terrible impression of Andie’s voice, he mocked: “’It’s just a photo, Anthony. What’s the harm?’”

“Forget it,” Andie snapped. “You’re impossible.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“You’re-“

“Hey!” Grover interrupted. “You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don’t even get migraines! What are we going to do with the head?”

Andie stared at the thing. She was angry. Not just with Anthony, or his mother, but with all the gods for this whole quest, of which they were half a day through and had already died way too fucking many times. At this rate, they’d never make it to LA alive, much less before the summer solstice.

What had Medusa said?

Do not be a pawn of the Olympians.

She stood abruptly. “I’ll be back.”

“Andie,“ Anthony called after her. “What are you-“

Andie searched the back of the warehouse until she found Medusa’s office. Her account books showed that her last several were all shipments to the Underworld, to decorate Hades and Persephone’s garden. One of the bills had the address of the Underworld on it- DOA Studios in West Hollywood, California. Andie pocketed the address.

In the cash register, she found twenty dollars, a few golden drachmas, and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express, each with a little leather bag attached for coins. She rummaged around the rest of the office until she found the right sized box.

She returned to the boys sitting at the booth, packed up Medusa’s head, and filled out a delivery slip:

THE GODS

MOUNT OLYMPUS

600^TH FLOOR

EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

NEW YORK, NY

WITH BEST WISHES,

ANDIE JACKSON

“They’re not going to like that,” Grover warned. “They’ll think you’re impertinent.”

Andie poured some golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as she closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a pop!

She flashed her friend a shark-like grin. “I am impertinent.”

She looked at Anthony, daring him to criticize. He didn’t say anything, seemingly resigned to the fact that Andie had a major talent for pissing off the gods. “Come on,” he muttered. “We need a new plan.”

The three scavenged food and blankets from the warehouse, and set up camp in the woods, about a hundred yards from the main road. They were obviously not the first teenagers to find the clearing, as it was littered with red solo cups, beer and soda cans, and fast food wrappers. It was pretty miserable. They didn’t dare light a fire to try and dry their clothes, wary of whatever else may find them after the already exhausting day they’d had.

They decided to sleep in shifts. Andie was still a little wired from their encounter with Medusa, so she volunteered to take the first watch. Anthony curled up on the blankets and was snoring softly almost as soon as his head hit the ground. Grover flew up to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared up at the night sky.

“Go ahead and sleep,” Andie urged softly. “I’ll wake you if there’s trouble.”

He nodded, but didn’t close his eyes. “It makes me sad, Rom.”

“What does? The fact that you signed up for this bullshit quest?”

“No. This makes me sad.” He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. “And the sky. You can’t even see the stars. They’ve polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr.”

“Oh, yeah,” Andie responded. She’d spent most of her life in Manhattan, so pollution was, well, normal, to her. Not that it made it okay, or anything, but it was just something that had always…been, for her. “I guess you’d be an environmentalist.”

Grover glared at her. “Only a human wouldn’t be. Your species is clogging up the world so fast…ah, never mind. It’s useless to lecture a human. At the rate things are going, I’ll never find Pan.”

Andie cocked her head. “Pam? Like the cooking spray?”

“Pan!” he cried indignantly. “P-A-N. The great god Pan! What do you think I want a searcher’s license for?”

A strange breeze blew though the clearing, temporarily overpowering the stink of trash and muck. It brought the smell of berries and wildflowers and clean rain-water, things that might’ve once been in the very woods where they sat. Suddenly, Andie was nostalgic for something she’d never known.

“Tell me about the search?” She asked.

Grover studied her warily for a moment, as if he were afraid she’d just been making fun of him. After a moment, he explained that Pan, the God of Wild Places had disappeared two thousand years prior. He told her about the sailor hearing the news of Pan’s death, and how the humans had pillaged and ruined Pan’s domain, ever since. He explained satyrs’ connection to the god, and how they refuse to believe he died, and have been searching the earth to find and wake him.

“And you want to be a searcher,” Andie stated.

“It’s my life’s dream,” Grover responded. “My father was a searcher. And my Uncle Ferdinand…the statue you saw back there-“

“Oh. Right. Grover, I’m so sorry.”

The satyr shook his head. “Uncle Ferdinand knew the risks. So did my dad. But I’ll succeed. I’ll be the first searcher to return alive.”

Andie blinked. “Hang on- the first?”

Grover took his reed pipes out of his pocket. “No searcher has ever come back. Once they set out, they disappear. They’re never seen alive again.”

“Not once? In two thousand years?”

“No.”

“And your dad? You have no idea what happened to him?”

“None.”

Andie’s heart ached for her best friend. Her mother was gone (for now, said the little voice in her brain), and she knew what happened to her, and it pained her every second. She couldn’t imagine her mother just…suddenly being gone, and having absolutely no clue as to what happened.

She shook her head in amazement. “But you still want to go. I mean, you really think you’ll be the one to find Pan?”

“I have to believe that, Andie. Every searcher does. It’s the only thing that keeps us from despair when we look at what humans have done to the world. I have to believe Pan can still be awakened.”

Andie didn’t think she’d ever related to her friend more than she did in this moment. They were both pursuing dreams that seemed hopeless.

“How are we going to get into the Underworld?” She asked him, sensing a lull in their previous topic of conversation. “I mean, what chance do we have against a god?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But back at Medusa’s, when you were searching her office? Anthony was telling me-“

“Oh, I forgot." Andie interrupted bitterly. "Anthony will have a plan all figured out.”

“Don’t be so hard on him, Andie. He’s had a tough life, but he’s one of the best people I know. After all, he forgave me…” Grover’s voice faltered.

“What do you mean?” Andie asked. “Forgave you for what?”

Suddenly, Grover was very interested in playing notes on his reed pipes. Andie felt a pit sinking into her stomach.

“Wait a minute,” she mused softly. “Your first keeper job was five years ago. Anthony has been at camp for five years. He wasn’t…I mean, your first assignment that went wrong-“

“I can’t talk about it,” Grover said, his voice cracking and his lip trembling. After a moment, he cleared his throat. “But as I was saying, back at Medusa’s, Anthony and I agreed that there’s something strange going on with this quest. Something isn’t what it seems.”

“Well, duh,” Andie rolled her eyes. “I’m getting blamed for stealing a thunderbolt that Hades took.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Grover responded. “The Fur- The Kindly Ones were sort of holding back. Like Mrs. Dodds back at Yancy…why did she wait so long to try to kill you? Then, on the bus, they just weren’t aggressive as they could’ve been.”

Andie looked at him incredulously. “They seemed plenty aggressive to me.”

Grover shook his head. “They were screeching at us: ‘Where is it? Where?’”

“Asking about me.”

“Maybe…but Anthony and I, we both got the feeling they weren’t asking about a person. They said ‘it’. They seemed to be asking about an object.”

“That…that doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know. But if we’ve misunderstood something about this quest, and we only have nine days to find the master bolt…” He looked at her like he was hoping for answers. She wished she had some to give him.

“I…I haven’t been straight with you,” Andie confessed. “I don’t care about the master bolt. I agreed to go to the Underworld so I could bring my mother back.”

Grover blew a soft note on his pipes. “I know that, Rom. But are you sure that’s the only reason?”

Andie gazed down at her fingers as she fidgeted with them. “I’m not doing it to help my father. He doesn’t care about me.” Saying it aloud made her eyes burn with unshed tears. She blinked them back. “I don’t care about him.”

She could feel Grover’s gaze on her from above. “Look, Andie, I’m not as smart as Anthony. I’m not as brave as you. But I’m pretty damn good at reading emotions. You’re glad your dad is alive. You feel good that he’s claimed you, and part of you wants to make him proud. That’s why you mailed Medusa’s head to Olympus. You wanted him to notice what you’d done.”

Andie scoffed, despite the fact that she felt raw and exposed. “Yeah? Well maybe satyr emotions work differently than human emotions. Because you’re wrong. I don’t care what he thinks.”

Grover pulled his feet up onto the tree branch. “Okay, Andie. Whatever.”

“Besides, I haven’t done anything worth bragging about. We barely got out of New York and we’re stuck here with no money and no way west. Which sucks for so many reason, not the least of which is that if I’m going to die, I sure as hell don’t intend on dying in fucking Jersey.”

Grover’s lips quirked a bit at the last comment as he gazed at the night sky, like he was thinking about that very problem. “How about I take first watch, huh? You get some sleep.”

Andie wanted to protest, but he started to play a soft and sweet Mozart melody, and before she knew it, she was drifting off to sleep.

Her dreams landed her in a dark cavern before a gaping pit. Spirits of the dead whispered warnings at her and tried to tug her back, but she felt compelled to walk forward to the very edge of the chasm.

Looking down made her dizzy.

The pit yawned so wide and was so completely black, Andie knew it had to be bottomless- or at the very least a very hard fall. She had a feeling that something was trying to rise form the abyss. Something huge and evil.

An amused voice echoed far down in the darkness, teasing her. ‘The little hero. Too weak, too young, but perhaps you’ll do.’

The voice felt ancient- cold and heavy and all consuming. ‘They have mislead you, girl. Barter with me. I will give you what you want.’

A shimmering gold image formed over the void- the last Andie had seen of her mother, her face distorted with pain, and her eyes pleading with Andie to go.

Andie tried to cry out, to reach for her mother, but her voice wouldn’t work. Cold laughter echoed from the chasm. An invisible force pulled her forward. It would drag her into the pit unless she stood firm.

‘Help me rise, girl.’ The voice sounded almost hungry. ‘Bring me the bolt. Strike a blow against the treacherous gods!’

The spirits of the dead whispered and hissed at her to wake as Andie realized the think in the pit wasn’t trying to pull her in, but was trying to use her to pull itself out.

Someone was shaking her.

Andie opened her eyes to daylight.

“Well,” Anthony said wryly. “Good morning, sleeping beauty.”

She was trembling from the dream, and could’ve sworn she could still feel that…thing’s grip on her.

“How long was I asleep?” She asked.

“Long enough for me to cook breakfast,” Anthony responded, tossing her a back of Nacho Cheese Doritos that they’d scavenged from Medusa’s snack bar. “And Grover went exploring. Look, he made a friend.”

Andie blinked, trying to figure out if she was still dreaming. Grover was sitting cross-legged on a blanket, something fuzzy in his lap. Something fuzzy, dirty, and unnaturally pink.

Was that a pink fucking poodle?

Said poodle yapped at her suspiciously. Grover said, “No, she’s not.”

Andie raised her eye brows. “Are you…talking to that thing?”

The poodle growled.

“This thing,” Grover warned. “Is our ticket west. Be nice to him.”

“You can talk to animals?”

Grover ignored the question, and introduced Andie and the poodle- Gladiola, apparently. Andie stared at Anthony, desperately hoping they were playing some kind of stupid prank, but he looked deadly serious.

“I’m not saying hello to a pink poodle,” she protested. “Forget it.”

“Andie,” Anthony said. “I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle.”

The poodle growled.

Andie said hello to the poodle.

Grover explained to Andie and Anthony how he’d met Gladiola in the woods, found out Gladiola had a reward posted for his return, and that Gladiola was willing to return to his family if it meant helping Grover.

“So we turn in Gladiola,” Anthony nodded, suddenly sounding like he was planning a capture-the-flag tactic. “We get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple.”

Andie winced. “Not another Greyhound.”

“Definitely not,” Anthony agreed. He pointed downhill, toward train tracks that she hadn’t been able to see last night in the dark. “There’s an Amtrack station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the west-bound train leaves at noon.”

So, they boarded the noon train out of New Jersey, and spend the next two days on the Amtrack train heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. They weren’t attacked once, but Andie didn’t relax. She felt like she was in a travelling display case, and that something was watching and waiting just for the right opportunity.

It didn’t help that she had to be mindful of keeping a low profile from mortals as well as monsters. Her name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. The Trenton Register-News showed the photo taken by the tourist as she and the boys had bolted off of the Greyhound. With the wild look in her eye, and Riptide looking like a bat, she looked like a deranged softball player. The picture was accompanied by a caption that described her as wanted not only for her mother’s disappearance, but for accosting old ladies and exploding a bus with two teenage accomplices.

It also stated that Gabe was offering a cash reward for information leading to her capture.

Because he just wanted to see her miserable- he didn’t give a damn about what had happened to her mother.

Anthony tried to assure her that the mortal police couldn’t find them, but he didn’t sound terribly convincing.

Andie spent much of her time alternating between pacing the length of the train and looking out windows. She spotted several things the mortals would never notice. Like the family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted lunch. The youngest, a little boy centaur about the size of a second grader on a pony, caught her eye and waved. Andie couldn’t help but smile and wave back. Later, toward the evening, she saw something move through the woods. For a moment, she could’ve sworn it was a lion, except that there were no native lions in the US, certainly not ones that were the size of an SUV and had golden fur.

Unfortunately, the trio couldn’t get berths in the sleeper car, so they dozed in their seats. Andie tried to avoid drooling in her sleep, since Anthony was right next to her…and especially since she somehow kept managing to roll her head onto his shoulder in her sleep.

At one point, Grover was snoozing across from the two demigods after he had kicked them both awake for the kajillionth time.

“So,” Anthony asked her, when it was clear neither of them were going back to sleep. “Who wants your help?”

“What do you mean?”

“When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, ‘I won’t help you.’ Who were you dreaming about?”

Andie was reluctant to say anything. But it was the second time she’d dreamed about the thing in the pit, and it bothered her. She told him about both of her dreams.

Anthony was quiet for a long time. “That doesn’t sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs.”

“He offered my mother in trade,” Andie murmured. “Who else could do that?”

“I guess…if he meant, ‘Help me rise from the Underworld.’ If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?”

Andie shook her head, shrugging helplessly. She thought about what Grover had told her, that the Furies on the bus seemed to have been looking for something.

Grover grunted in his sleep, as if he sensed Andie’s emotions, and turned his head, displacing his cap. Andie leaned forward and readjusted it to fit back over his horns. When she pulled back into her seat, Anthony spoke up again.

“Andie, you can’t barter with Hades. You know that, right? He’s deceitful, heartless, and greedy. I don’t care if his Kindly Ones weren’t as aggressive this time-“

Andie looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. “This time? You mean you’ve run into them before?”

His hand crept up to his necklace. He fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree- the first of his clay end-of-summer tokens. “Let’s just say I’ve got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can’t be tempted to make a deal for your mom.”

“What would you do if it was your dad?”

“That’s easy,” Anthony shrugged. “I’d leave him to rot.”

Andie started in her seat, and she looked at the blonde with wide eyes. “You’re not serious?”

Anthony’s grey eyes fixed on her. He wore the same expression he’d had in the woods at camp, the moment he drew his sword against the hellhound. “My dad’s resented me since the day I was born, Andie.” He told her. “He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn’t happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent.”

“But how…” Andie shook her head, mystified. “I mean, I guess you weren’t born in a hospital…”

“I appeared on my father’s doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You’d think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like maybe he’d some fucking photos, or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five, he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a ‘regular’ mortal wife, and had two ‘regular’ mortal kids, and tried to pretend like I didn’t exist.”

As Anthony told his story, Andie couldn’t help but wonder if all demigods had shitty lives in the mortal world.

“My mom married a…monster of a man,” Andie told him, a lump forming in her throat. “The most pathetic, disgusting kind of person.”

Anthony glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “I, uh, I heard you and Grover talking about it at the bus station.”

Andie nodded. “Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family.”

Anthony continued worrying at his necklace. He was pinching the gold college ring that hung with the beads. It occurred to Andie that the ring must be his father’s. She wondered why he wore it if he hated him so much.

“Your mom did it because she loved you,” Anthony said, his voice barely above a whisper. “She would do anything for you. My dad…he doesn’t care about me. His wife- my stepmom- treated me like a freak. She wouldn’t let me play with her sons. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened- you know, something with monsters- they would both look at me resentfully, like, ‘How dare you put our family at risk.’ Finally, I took the hint. I wasn’t wanted. I ran away.”

Andie gazed at him sadly. “How old were you?” She asked softly.

“Same age as when I started camp. Seven.”

“But…you couldn’t have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself.”

He gave her a sad smile. “Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway.”

Andie wanted to ask what happened, but Anthony seemed lost in sad memories. She placed her hand over the one of his that wasn’t fiddling with his necklace and gave it a firm squeeze. ‘I understand. I’m here if you want to talk about it.’

She wasn’t expecting him to respond, so she was surprisingly pleased when he gave her a small squeeze, in return. ‘I’m here, too.’

Chapter Text

Towards the end of their second day on the train, they passed over the Mississippi River and into St. Louis. Anthony craned his neck to see the Gateway Arch, which wasn’t hard to spot as it curved over the city.

“I want to do that,” he sighed.

“What?” Andie asked.

“Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Andie?”

“Only in pictures.”

Anthony nodded, determination glinting in his eye. “Someday, I’m going to see it in person. I’m going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that’ll last a thousand years.”

Andie laughed. “You? An architect?”

Andie couldn’t explain why, but she found the idea funny. Anthony was as ADHD as she was- she couldn’t imagine him trying to sit quietly and draw all day.

Anthony huffed indignantly. “Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention.”

Andie clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and stared out the window at the churning brown water of the Mississippi below.

“Sorry,” Anthony muttered.

Andie exhaled through her nose. “Can’t we work together a little?” she pleaded. “I mean, didn’t Poseidon and Athena ever cooperate?”

Anthony had to think about it. “I guess…the chariot,” he said tentatively. “My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete.”

She bumped her shoulder against his. “Then we can cooperate too, right?”

Anthony watched the Arch disappear behind a hotel. “I suppose,” he said at last.

The train pulled into an Amtrak station downtown. The intercom announced that they’d have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver.

Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, “Food.”

“Come one, goat boy,” Anthony called as he stood up. “Sightseeing.”

“Sightseeing?” the satyr groaned.

“The Gateway Arch,” Anthony replied. “This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?”

Andie and Grover exchanged looks. She wanted to say no, but she didn’t want them to split up either, and Anthony didn’t seem to be taking no for an answer.

Grover shrugged. “As long as there’s a snack bar without monsters.”

The arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day, the lines to get in weren’t that long. The trio threaded their way through the underground museum, looking at nineteenth-century wagons and artifacts, which wasn’t terribly exciting. Fortunately, Anthony kept telling them facts about how the Arch was built, and Grover kept passing Andie jellybeans, so it could’ve been a lot worse.

That didn’t mean Andie didn’t keep on her guard, something that was quickly becoming a habit. “You smell anything?” She murmured to Grover.

He gave a quick sniff, wrinkling his nose. “Underground,” he said distastefully. “Underground always smells like monsters. Probably doesn’t mean anything.”

But Andie couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong. They shouldn’t be there.

“Guys,” she ventured. “You know the gods’ symbols of power?”

Anthony had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but he looked over. “Yeah?”

“Well, Hade-“

Grover cleared his throat. “We’re in a public place…you mean our friend downstairs?”

“Er, yeah. Doesn’t he have a hat like Anthony’s?”

“You mean the Helm of Darkness,” Anthony nodded. “Yeah, that’s his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the Winter Solstice Council Meeting.”

Andie raised her eyebrows. “He was there?”

He nodded again. “It’s the only time he’s allowed to visit Olympus- the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful that my invisibility hat, if what I’ve heard is true…”

“It allows him to become darkness,” Grover confirmed, before explaining all the terrifying things the came along with the power the Helm has- becoming a shadow, unable to be detected in any way…it made Andie even more paranoid than she already was.

“Okay, so…how do we know he’s not here right now, watching us?” Andie asked.

The boys exchanged looks.

“We don’t,” Grover said.

“Oh, that makes me feel better,” Andie breathed. She glanced at the bag in Grover’s hand. “Got any blue jelly beans left?”

She’d almost gotten her jumpy nerves under control when she saw the tiny elevator car they were going to ride to the top of the Arch. Immediately, she knew she was in trouble. Any confined spaces smaller than a subway car made Andie nuts. Not only did she hate not having room to move anyway, but she’d had some particularly bad experiences with small spaces, specifically regarding spending extended amounts of time locked in hallway closets.

She shuddered, but followed the boys into the car.

They got shoehorned in with a very large woman and her pet Chihuahua. Andie wasn’t sure whether or not pets were actually allowed in the monument, but none of the rangers said anything about it, so Andie didn’t bother, either.

As if being in the enclosed space wasn’t enough, but as the elevator moved up the arch, it curved. Andie’s stomach wasn’t too happy about that.

“No parents?” the large woman asked them. She stared at them with beady eyes, and flashed them a smile filled with pointy, yellow teeth.

“They’re below,” Anthony told her with a tight smile. “Scared of heights.”

“Oh, the poor darlings.”

The Chihuahua growled, and the woman chastised him. The dog’s eyes were just as beady, and it’s teeth just as pointy and yellow as its owner. Andie knew there was a joke that went around that dogs looked like their owners, but she, personally, thought that this was going a little too far.

At the top of the Arch laid the observation deck. Rows of tiny windows looked out the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was fine, she supposed, but she was in a confined space six hundred feet in the air and she hated it. She was ready to go as soon as they stepped out of the elevator.

Anthony, on the other hand, seemed like he could’ve stayed for hours, talking about what he would’ve done differently in the Arch’s design. Thank the gods, the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.

As soon as that was announced, Andie grabbed the boys by the shoulders and steered them towards the exit. She loaded them into the elevator and was about to get in herself when she realized the car was already filled.

“Next car, ma’am,” the park ranger said.

“We’ll get out,” Anthony said. “We’ll wait with you.”

But that was going to mess everybody up and take even more time, so she declined and told them she’d meet them at the bottom.

The boys exchanged nervous looks, but let the elevator doors shut and disappeared down the ramp.

Now, Andie was left on the observation deck with the park ranger, a little boy and his parents, and the lady and her Chihuahua. Andie gave the lady an uneasy smile. The lady smiled back, her forked tongue flickering through her teeth.

Andie did a double take.

The Chihuahua took that as its cue to jump down and start yapping at Andie.

“Now, now, sonny,” the lady said. “Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here!”

The little boy giggled as he pointed at the dog. His parents pulled him back.

The Chihuahua bared its teeth at Andie, looking more like a rabid rat than a dog.

“Well, son,” the lady sighed. “If you insist.”

Andie’s limbs suddenly went cold. “Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?”

“Chimera, dear,” the lady corrected. “Not a Chihuahua. An easy mistake to make.”

She rolled up her sleeves, revealing scaly green arms. When she smiled, her teeth seemed even sharper and more fang-like. The pupils of her eyes had widened into sideways slits, like a reptile’s. The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew, the bark getting louder, becoming more and more like a roar.

The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back towards the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood paralyzed, gaping at the monster.

The Chimera was now so tall, its back touched the roof. It had the head of a lion, with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail.

Andie realized she hadn’t even uncapped her sword. Her hands were so numb, she wasn’t sure if she could. She was ten feet away from the Chimera’s bloody maw, and she knew that as soon as she moved, the creature would lunge.

The snake lady made a hissing noise that might have been laughter. “Be honored, Andromeda Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!”

All Andie could think was that that was a type of anteater.

Apparently, she had voiced that thought aloud.

Echidna howled and ranted in rage. “For that, Andromeda Jackson, my son shall destroy you!”

The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. Andie managed to leap aside and dodge the bite. She ended up next to the family and the ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors.

They were innocent, simply caught in the crossfire of Andie’s shitty luck. There was no way she’d let them get hurt. She uncapped her sword, ran to the other side of the deck, and shouted, “Hey, Chihuahua!”

The Chimera turned with surprising agility. Before she could swing her sword, it opened its mouth and shot a column of flame straight at Andie.

Andie dove through the explosion.

When she looked back at where she had been standing, she saw a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges.

Great, she thought. We just blowtorched a national monument.

The Chimera turned again, and Andie slashed at its neck.

That was her fatal mistake. Riptide bounced harmlessly off the Chimera’s collar, and as Andie tried to regain her balance, she was also trying to defend herself from fiery lion’s mouth. She totally forgot about the serpent-headed tail until she felt fangs sinking into her calf.

Her whole leg was on fire. Andie tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera’s mouth, but the serpent tail wrapped around her ankles and pulled her off balance. Her blade flew out of her hand, spinning out of the hole in the Arch, and down towards the Mississippi River.

She managed to get to her feet, but Andie knew she had lost. She was unarmed. She was poisoned. There was no way she was going to live long enough to find out if her sword would be able to return to her.

Andie backed into the hole in the wall. The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. Echidna cackled. “They just don’t make heroes like they used to, eh, son?”

The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish Andie off now that she was beaten.

She glanced at the park ranger and the family. The little boy was hiding behind his father’s legs, eyes wide and full of tears. Andie’s heart clenched. She had to protect these people. She couldn’t just lay down and die.

She tried to think, but her whole body was on fire, and her head was spinning.

Andie had no sword. She was facing a massive, fire-breathing monster and its mother.

And she was terrified.

There was no place left to go, so she stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below, the river glittered.

If she died, would the monsters go away? Would they leave the mortals alone?

“If you are the daughter of Poseidon,” Echidna hissed. “You would not fear water. Jump, Andromeda Jackson. Show me the water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline.”

Fat fucking chance, Andie thought. She knew that falling into water from a couple stories up was like falling onto asphalt. From the top of the Arch, she’d splatter on impact.

The Chimera’s mouth glowed red, heating up for another blast.

“You have no faith,” Echidna told her. “You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little coward. The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart.”

She was right- Andie was dying. With each passing second it became harder to breathe, and she could feel her heartbeat slowing down. Nobody could save her, not even the gods.

Andie backed up and looked down at the water. She recalled the warm glow of her father’s smile when she was a baby. He must have seen her. He must have visited her when she was in her crib.

She recalled the swirling green trident that appeared above her head the night Poseidon had claimed her as his daughter.

But this wasn’t the sea. The was the Mississippi, dead center of the US. There was no Sea God here.

“Die, faithless one,” Echidna rasped. The Chimera sent a column of flame toward Andie’s face.

“Father, help me,” Andie prayed.

She pivoted on the ball of her foot and jumped. Her clothes on fire, poison coursing through her veins, and she plummeted toward the river.

The world around her was a blur of colors as she fell, a disorienting roll of the sky and the ground, flickering across her vision like an old movie reel that wasn’t synced yet. She was so breathless she couldn’t even scream.

And then she hit the water, a whiteout of bubbles all around her, and she sank through the murk.

But she wasn’t in pain. The impact hadn’t hurt. Andie floated down slowly, settling soundlessly at the bottom. Massive catfish lurched away from her into the gloom of the silt and garbage that had swirled up around her.

It was then that Andie finally realized a few things- one, she had not been flattened into a pancake. Nor barbecued. She couldn’t even feel the Chimera poison in her veins, anymore. She was alive. Neat.

Second realization- she wasn’t wet. Sure, she could feel the chill of the water, and her clothes were no long flaming, but she was perfectly dry.

The strangest thing occurred to her last- she was breathing. Andie was underwater, and she was breathing as normally as she would on shore. She took several deep breaths, but breathing water felt no different than breathing air.

Out of everything that had happened to her in the last couple of weeks, this was by far the coolest. Despite her general situation, she could help but giggle with giddiness at the fact that she could breathe underwater. Five year old Andie playing mermaids on the beach at Montauk would absolutely loose her shit if she could see her future self, now.

Andie stood up, thigh-deep in mud. Her legs shook and her hands trembled as she remembered that she very much should be dead. It seemed like a miracle that she wasn’t. She imagined a woman’s voice that sounded heartachingly similar to her mother’s asking, ‘Andie, what do you say?’

“Um…thanks,” she stammered out. The water modulated her voice, making it sound a little deeper and older. “Thank you…Father.”

She got no response.

Why had Poseidon saved her? The more she thought about it, the more ashamed she felt. So she’d gotten lucky a few times before. But she’d never stood a chance against the Chimera. Those people in the Arch were probably toast. She hadn’t been able to protect them, she’d just run away like a coward. Andie was no hero. Maybe she should just stay down here and join the bottom feeders.

Above Andie, a riverboat’s paddlewheel churned the water, swirling the silt around.

There, not five feet in front of her, was Riptide, its gleaming bronze hilt sticking up in the mud.

She heard the woman’s voice again. ‘Andie, take the sword. Your father and I believe in you.’

This time, Andie knew her voice wasn’t in her head. She wasn’t imagining it. However, she couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from.

“Where are you?” she called aloud.

Then, through gloom, Andie saw her- a woman the color of the water floating just above the sword. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green just like her own.

Andie’s chin quivered, a lump forming in her throat. “Mãe?”

‘Not the one you seek, child’, the woman answered. ‘Though Sally Jackson’s fate is not as hopeless as you believe. Go to the beach in Santa Monica.’

“What?”

‘It is your father’s will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please, Andie, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for even my presence.’

“But…” Andie blinked back tears (could she cry underwater?). She was sure this woman was her mother, or a version of her, anyway. “Who…how did you-“

She had so many questions- so much to ask- but the words caught in her throat.

‘I cannot stay, my brave princess,’ the woman said. She reached out and Andie felt the current brush her face like a caress. ‘You must go to Santa Monica! And, Andromeda, do not trust the gifts.’

Her voice faded.

“Gifts? What gifts?” Andie called, reaching her hand out towards the woman. “Wait!”

The woman made one more attempt to speak, but the sound was gone. Her image melted away. If that woman was her mother, Andie had lost her, yet again.

She wanted to drown herself. Suddenly the concept of not being able to drown was far less fun.

Then she remembered what the woman had said: Your father and I believe in you. She didn’t know who this woman was, or why she included herself in her father’s assurances, but it felt soothing that she had this woman’s faith. It felt right, somehow. She’d also called Andie ‘my brave princess’- an endearment that her mom often called her. Andie wanted to know who this woman was- to Santa Monica, then. She’d get her answers there.

Andie steeled herself as she waded toward Riptide, grabbing it by the hilt, thinking about the situation on shore. Best case scenario, the mortal police would be arriving, trying to figure out who had blown a hole in the Arch. If they found Andie, they’d have questions. Questions she likely wouldn’t be able to easily explain away. Worst case scenario? The Chimera and Echidna might still be up there terrorizing people and waiting to finish Andie off. Gods, what if they had gone after Anthony and Grover?!

Andie capped her sword and slipped the ballpoint pen into her back pocket.

“Thank you, Father,” she said again to the dark water. She kicked up through the muck and swam for the surface.

A block away from where she pulled herself ashore, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Helicopters belonging to both the police and to various news outlets circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded Andie of Times Square on New Years Eve.

Nearby, a little girl cried out, “Mama! That girl just walked out of the river!”

“That’s nice, baby,” her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.

“But I think she’s a mermaid!”

“That’s nice, baby.”

A reporter was talking for the camera, explaining what little they had been told so far. Andie’s heart flooded with relief when she heard the reporter mention survivors. Maybe the ranger and the family had made it out safely. She hoped the boys were okay.

Andie pushed through the crowd, trying to keep her head down as she made her way around the police perimeter. Officers and reporters were everywhere, and from what Andie could gather, it seemed that she allegedly was to blame for what had happened on the observation deck.

She almost lost hope of ever finding Anthony and Grover when a familiar voice bleated, “Andiiiiee!!”

She turned and got tackled by Grover’s bear (goat?) hug. “We thought you’d gone to Hades the hard way!” the satyr cried.

Anthony stood behind him, trying and failing to look angry. He reached over and squeezed her shoulder, relief in his eyes. “We can’t leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?”

“I sort of…fell.” Andie said with a small shrug.

Anthony looked at her incredulously. “Andie! Six hundred and thirty feet?!”

Behind them, a cop called for the crowd to part for a couple of paramedics to make their way through, rolling a woman on a stretcher. Andie quickly realized she was the mother from the top of the Arch. The paramedic was trying to calm her as she babbled about what she’d seen on the observation deck.

“I’m not crazy!” She insisted. “This girl jumped out of the hole, and then the monster Chihuahua disappeared!” Her eyes landed on Andie. “There she is! That’s the girl!”

Andie sucked in a sharp breath as she turned, grabbing Anthony and Grover’s wrists, pulling them after her. They disappeared into the crowd.

“What’s going on?” Anthony demanded. “Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator? Andie, what happened up there?”

Andie explained the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, her high-dive act, and the underwater lady’s message.

“Whoa,” Grover breathed. “We gotta get you to Santa Monica! You can’t ignore a summons from your dad.”

Before Anthony could add his two-cents, they passed another reporter doing a news break. Andie almost stopped breathing when he said, “Andie Jackson. That’s right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the girl who may have caused this explosion fits the descriptions of a young lady wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the girl is believed to be travelling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Andie Jackson.”

The trio ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.

“We need to get outta town,” Andie panted. The boys agreed easily.

They managed to make it back to the Amtrak station without incident, boarding just seconds before the doors closed, bound for Denver.

It took them nearly another day to get to Denver. Andie was feeling pretty confident, considering they still had an entire week before the solstice, but she was too afraid to say anything in case she jinxed it. (Though, that would be pretty par for the course, with her luck.)

None of them had eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. They hadn’t showered since they had left camp four days earlier, and Andie had no doubt that was obvious.

Anthony wanted to contact Chiron, though Andie had no clue how they were going to manage that without phones. It took almost an hour of wandering around the dry heat until Anthony found what he was looking for.

Which was, apparently, a do-it-yourself car wash. They made their way to the farthest stall from the street, keeping their eyes open for patrol cars. Not only were they three teens hanging around a car wash with no car, but Andie also had a nationwide manhunt on her head.

They boys explained that, apparently, the rainbow goddess, Iris, would send messages not only for gods, but for demigods, as well, if they knew how to ask. Grover manned the spray gun and Anthony asked for Andie’s last drachma.

He raised the coin over his head. “O goddess, accept our offering.”

He threw the drachma into the misty rainbow and it disappeared in a golden shimmer.

“Half-Blood Hill,” Anthony requested.

For a moment, nothing happened.

The next, Andie was looking through the mist at the strawberry fields from the Big House porch, Long Island Sound in the distance. A familiar figure stood facing the meadow, a bronze sword in his hand.

“Luke!” Andie called.

He turned, eyes wide, before his scarred, handsome face broke into a wide grin. “Andie! Is that Anthony, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine,” Anthony responded with a reassuring smile. “Is Chiron there?”

“He’s down at the cabins.” The son of Hermes’ expression turned grim. “We’re having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover alright?”

“I’m right here!” Grover called. He moved the nozzle to the side and stepped into frame. “What kind of issues?”

Just as Luke was beginning to answer, a massive truck pulled into the next stall over, music and bass turned up so loud it was vibrating the pavement.

“Chiron had to- what’s that noise?!” Luke yelled.

“I got it!” Anthony shouted back. “Grover, come on!”

The satyr barely had time to hand the nozzle over to Andie before Anthony pulled him towards the next stall.

“Chiron had to break up a fight,” Luke shouted over the music. “Things are pretty tense here, Andie. Word leaked out about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. We’re not sure how- probably the same douche bag who summoned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It’s shaping up like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus.”

Andie was, quite frankly, incredibly shocked that Clarisse and her siblings would be backing her dad (and her, by proxy) for anything. In the seconds she took to process that bit of information, she heard Anthony and some guy arguing with each other before the thumping music decreased drastically.

“So what’s up with you guys?” Luke asked. “Chiron will be sorry he missed you.”

Andie told him…well, everything. Not only the adventures the group had endured so far, but about her dreams, too. It was so good to see Luke, and to talk to him- he was such a good listener, so easy to talk to, that Andie felt like she was back home at camp, sitting beside him while he comforted her about the craziness her life had become. She hadn’t even realized how long they had been talking until the beeper went off on the spray machine, indicating she only had a minute before the water shut off.

“I wish I could be there,” Luke said, an apologetic look on his face. “We can’t help much from here, I’m afraid, but listen…it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him.”

Andie shook her head, confused. “But Chiron said the gods can’t take each other’s magic items directly.”

“That’s true.” Luke nodded, troubled. “Still… Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak invisible into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You’d have to be invisible.”

They were both silent for a moment, and Andie could feel her throat closing up in panic at the implication. Finally, Luke seemed to realize what he’d said, and his eyes widened.

“Oh, hey,” he protested. “I didn’t mean Anthony. He and I have known each other forever. He would never…I mean, he’s like my little brother.”

His tone was comforting, and Andie was reminded of the interactions she’d seen between them, before. That calmed her down a bit, that Luke trusted Anthony so much. Andie offered the son of Hermes a tight smile and a brief nod. In the stall next to them, the music went silent before a man screamed in terror and the truck peeled out of the car wash, tires squealing.

“You’d better go see what that was,” Luke told her. He looked more amused than he did concerned, and it was nice to see him smiling again. “Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I’ll feel better if I know they’ve done you some good.”

“Oh! Yeah, of course!” Andie lied through her teeth. She hoped Luke couldn’t see the guilt on her face. “Yeah, they’ve really come in handy.”

Luke’s face brightened as he looked at her with excitement, flashing a charming grin that had Andie’s face burning. “Really? The magic adjusted them to your size, and everything?”

Before Andie could answer, the water shut off, and Luke’s image started to evaporate.

“Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver,” Luke called as his voice faded with his image. “And tell Grover it’ll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just-“

But then the mist was gone, taking Luke’s image with it. Andie was alone in the stall for a brief moment before the boys came stumbling around the corner, holding each other up as they tried to keep from collapsing with laughter. She wasn’t sure what expression her face held, but they stopped and sobered up when they saw it. Anthony’s smile faded.

“What happened, Andie? What did Luke say?”

‘The thief would have to be invisible,’ Luke’s voice echoed in the back of her mind.

“Not much,” Andie lied, swallowing down bile at the thought of being betrayed. “Come on, let’s find some dinner.”

It took them about ten minutes to find an old, 1950s style diner filled with families. The waitress that ended up taking their table seemed skeptical of three not-quite-teenagers sitting by themselves. But they were all ready to collapse from hunger, and Andie had to think up a sob story, fast.

Thankfully, she didn’t need to. A rumble shook the building as a truly massive motorcycle pulled up to the curb. And if the bike itself was intimidating, with it’s loud engine, gleaming red and black metal, and attached shotguns, then the guy on the bike was downright scary. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt, black jeans, and a black leather jacket, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. His eyes were covered by red wraparound shades, and his face was brutal, cruel, and wicked, and his black hair was cropped in a crew cut. He would’ve been sort of handsome, in a rugged sort of way, if his face hadn’t been covered in scars from what had to have been dozens of fights.

The strangest thing? He seemed familiar.

As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. Everyone rose, as if hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand, as if dismissing them, and they sat down and continued as if nothing had happened. Their waitress blinked before asking them once again if they had money to pay.

“It’s on me,” the biker said, sliding into their booth and crowding Anthony against the window. When the waitress seemed to want to protest, the biker pointed at her, and as if in a trance, she turned and made her way to the kitchen.

The biker stared Andie down. She couldn’t see his eyes behind his glasses, but all the worst things she’d felt recently- the anger, the resentment, the bitterness- boiled in her stomach.

She was ready to pick a fight, and at the moment, this asshole seemed like the best target.

He sent her a wicked grin. “So, you’re old Seaweed’s kid, huh?”

Andie didn’t feel any of the surprise or fear she should’ve felt at that comment, instead, dwelling on the massive desire to rip the guy’s head off.

“What’s it to you?” Andie raised her chin, meeting his stare.

Anthony’s eyes flashed her a warning. “Andie, this is-“

The biker raised his hand, and Anthony’s mouth shut with an audible click.

“S’okay,” the man said. “I don’t mind a little attitude. I certainly expect some from dear uncle’s newest little royal. Long as you remember who’s the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?”

That’s when she realized how, exactly, she recognized this guy. He had the same vicious sneer as kids from cabin five.

“You’re Clarisse’s dad,” she stated. “Ares, god of war.”

Ares grinned as he removed his shades. Where his eyes should’ve been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature explosions. “That’s right, brat. I heard you broke Clarisse’s spear.”

Andie raised an eyebrow. “She was asking for it.”

“Probably,” the god responded, shrugging one shoulder. “That’s cool. I don’t fight my kids’ fights, y’know? What I’m here for- well, I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you.”

He paused for a moment to allow the waitress to set down her food. She looked nervous as he handed her five golden drachma.

The War God pulled out his hunting knife and started cleaning his fingernails. “Problem, sweetheart?”

The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold. A fury rose up in Andie’s chest, and she snarled at the god.

“You can’t do that!” She told him. “You can’t just threaten people with a knife!”

Ares laughed. “You kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta! Don’t you carry a weapon, brat? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a favor.”

Andie studied him warily. “What favor could I do for a god?”

Apparently, she could fetch him his shield that he left behind on a date. Andie knew the man was a god, but honestly, the fucking audacity-

“Why don’t you go back and get it yourself?”

The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter.

“Why don’t I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don’t feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Andromeda Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?” He leaned forward, a smug grin tugging at the scars on his face. “Or will you prove yourself the spoiled little princess you are, only fighting when there’s a river around to dive into so your daddy can protect you.”

Andie wanted to fucking deck this guy, but somehow, she knew that was exactly what he wanted. Ares’ power was causing her anger- or maybe not causing it, but certainly amplifying it. It reminded her of Gabe, who would goad and goad, waiting for her to give him and excuse to beat the shit out of her. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“We’re not interested,” she stated through gritted teeth. “We’ve already got a quest.”

The images she saw in Ares eyes suddenly became sickening- filled with corpses and blood. “I know all about your quest, brat. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Artemis, Athena, and me, naturally- the ‘A’ Team, if you will. But if I couldn’t sniff out a weapon that powerful…” He trailed off, and it wasn’t hard to see the hunger and greed in his eyes.

“Well, if I couldn’t find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I’m the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath.”

“You told him Hades stole the bolt?”

The god shrugged. “Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest.”

“Thanks,” Andie deadpanned.

“Hey, I’m a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I’ll help you on your way. I’ll arrange a ride west for you and your friends.”

“We’re doing fine on our own.”

Ares barked out a laugh. “Yeah, right. No money, no wheels, no clue what you’re up against. Help me out, and I’ll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom.”

Andie tensed, and she narrowed her eyes at the god. “My mom?”

He grinned. “That got your attention. The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can’t miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride.”

There was something false, despite the threatening look on the Ares’ face. Andie wanted to ask more, but she blinked, and suddenly the god was gone. At first, she thought she may have imagined the entire interaction, but then she saw Anthony and Grover’s faces.

Andie was ready to get the hell out of Denver. Fuck Ares, fuck whatever information he claimed to have. They had more important shit to do. Anthony wouldn’t let it go, though.

“Why does he even need us?” Andie complained.

“Maybe it’s a problem that requires brains,” Anthony told her. “Ares has strength. That’s all he has. Even strength has to bow down to wisdom, sometimes.”

Which is how, even reluctantly, they ended up at an abandoned waterpark, just as the sun was setting. Andie’s lip curled at the sad and creepy sight she was presented with.

“If I had a boyfriend that took me to a place like this, I’d dump him immediately,” she stated, staring up at the barbed wire at the top of the perimeter fence.

“Andie,” Anthony warned, his eyes darting around nervously. “Be more respectful.”

She side-eyed the blonde. “Why? I thought you hated Ares.”

“He’s still a god,” he told her, before swallowing. “And is girlfriend is very temperamental.”

“Telling her how to handle relationships is…not a good idea,” Grover added.

“Why, does she get dumped a lot?”

“She’s Aphrodite,” Grover sighed dreamily. “Goddess of Love.”

Andie blinked. “I thought she was married to somebody. Hephaestus?”

“What’s your point?” he asked. Andie stared at him, appalled. She never understood how people could cheat on their partners- it wasn’t something she could ever fathom.

She could feel Anthony staring at her, too, and decided she needed to change the subject. “So, how do we get in?”

“Maia!” Grover’s shoes sprouted wings. He flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, then stumbled to a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans, as if he’d planned the whole thing. “You guys coming?”

Andie and Anthony had to climb the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbed wire for each other as they climbed over the top. Once in, the group began to wander.

There was something Andie just couldn’t get off her mind, though. “So, Ares and Aphrodite- they have a thing going on?”

“That’s three thousand year old gossip, Andie,” Anthony responded.

She shook her head, still confused about the whole cheating thing. “But what about Aphrodite’s husband?”

“Well, you know,” he said. “Hephaestus. The blacksmith. He was crippled when he was a  baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So, he’s not exactly handsome. Clever with his hands and all, but Aphrodite’s not all into brains and talent.”

Andie wondered if Anthony was aware of how annoyed he sounded that someone wouldn’t be interested in ‘brains and talent’.

She snorted and scrunched her nose in distaste. “Okay, but…bikers? Really?”

Anthony mirrored her snort, and shrugged, like he didn’t know why, either.

“Hephaestus knows?” she asked.

“Oh, sure. He caught them together once. And I do mean that literally, in a golden net. He invited all the gods to come laugh at them,” Anthony told her. Andie decided she couldn’t blame him. She’d be beyond pissed if she had a partner that constantly cheated on her, too.

“Hephaestus is always trying to embarrass them,” the son of Athena continued. “That’s why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like…”

He stopped, looking straight ahead. “Like that."

In front of the trio was an empty pool that Andie would’ve loved to skateboard. It was at least fifty yards across, and shaped like a bowl. Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side from them, a tunnel loomed, topped with a sign that read: ‘Thrill Ride O’ Love: This Is Not Your Parents’ Tunnel Of Love!’

Grover crept toward the edge. “Guys, look.”

Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little white hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares’ shield, a polished circle of bronze.

“This is too easy,” Andie marveled. “So we just walk down there and get it?”

Anthony ran a thumb along the base of the nearest Cupid statue. “There’s a Greek letter carved here,” he said. “Eta. I wonder…”

Grover reported that he didn’t smell any monsters, and Andie decided she would go and grab the shield. Grover offered to go with her, but she’d rather him stay at the top with the flying shoes for backup. Sure, Grover didn’t smell any monsters, but Andie still had a really bad feeling about this.

“Anthony, you come with me-“

“You’re joking, right?” Anthony scoffed, looking at her bewildered. His cheeks were bright red.

“What?” Andie asked, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“You want me to go with you on the…the Thrill Ride of Love? Not a chance!”

“We’re not going on the ride! We’re just gonna get the shield!” Andie exclaimed, though she could feel her cheeks burning now, too. Boys were such babies.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll get the stupid fucking thing, myself,” She told him. “Honestly,” she added under her breath.

But when Andie started down the side of the pool, Anthony was just a few steps behind, grumbling under his breath, all the while.

When they reached the boat, they saw the shield propped up on one of the seats next to a silky pink scarf. Andie picked up the scarf, barely getting a whiff of it’s perfume- rose, maybe- before Anthony snatched it out of her hand, holding an arm’s length away between his thumb and forefinger.

“Don’t touch that! It’s coated in magic!” he hissed.

“What?”

He glared at her as he slung his back pack off to stuff the scarf in. “Just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, so we can get out of here.”

They would’ve had better luck with the magic scarf. As soon as Andie touched the shield, her hand broke through something she thought, at first, was a cobweb. Then, she looked at a strand of it on her palm and saw it was some sort of filament, so fine it was almost invisible.

A trip wire.

“Wait,” Anthony called.

“A little too late,” she responded lowly.

“There’s another Greek letter on the side of the boat- another Eta. This is a trap.”

A skull vibrating grinding noise erupted all around them. Andie could barely hear Grover call out to them to warn them that the Cupid statues were moving. They fired their arrows across the pool, creating a huge golden asterisk. Then, smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between main strands, making a net.

“We have to get out!” Andie stated.

“No shit!”

Andie grabbed the shield and ran alongside Anthony, lamenting all the times she hadn’t listened to her teachers when they told her to stop trying to climb up the playground slides. Grover urged them on, attempting to hold open a section of the net for them, but whenever he touched it, the gold threads started to wrap around his hands.

The Cupids’ heads popped open to reveal cameras. Spotlights flashed on, nearly blinding them as a loudspeaker voice began a one minute count down, live to Olympus (whatever that meant).

“Hephaestus!” Anthony shouted. “I’m so fucking stupid! Eta is ‘H’. He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares. Now we’re going to be broadcasted live to Olympus and look like complete idiots!”

They’d almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic…things poured out.

Anthony let out a noise that sounded like someone was strangling a cat, stumbling back and rolling down the slope. Andie quickly scampered down the ramp after him.

It was an army of tiny metal spiders coming at them like a tsunami.

“Spiders!” Anthony cried out. “Sp-sp-aghh!”

Andie had never seen him like this before. Frozen from his spot on the ground, eyes wide in terror. They almost got overwhelmed by the spider robots before she pulled him up and dragged him back toward the boat.

The spiders surrounded them, flooding towards the center of the pool. Andie figured they probably weren’t programmed to kill, just corral and bite and general make them look stupid.

Then again, this was a trap for gods.

Andie and Anthony weren’t gods.

They climbed into the boat. Andie tried to get Anthony to help her kick them away, but he was completely paralyzed, and had started hyperventilating.

Thirty seconds and counting.

The spiders continued their assault, now spitting out strands of metal thread, trying to tie them down. Grover hovered about the pool in his flying sneakers, trying to pull the net loose, but it wouldn’t budge.

Andie forced herself to think.

The Tunnel of Love entrance was under the net. They could use it as an exit, except that it was blocked by a million robot spiders.

‘Water,’ she thought. ‘Where does the ride’s water come from?’

Then she spotted the huge pipes behind the mirrors, where the spiders had come from. And above the net, a glass-windowed control booth.

“Grover!” She yelled. “Get into that booth! Find the ‘on’ switch!”

“But-“

“Do it!”

It was a crazy hope, but it might’ve been their only chance. Andie had to get them out of there.

Grover slammed away at the buttons in the control booth as the loudspeaker announced five seconds. He looked at her hopelessly, raising his hands- he’d tried everything, nothing was happening.

Andie closed her eyes and thought about waves, rushing water, the Mississippi River. She felt a familiar tug in her gut, trying to imagine that she was dragging the ocean all the way to Denver.

The countdown hit zero, and water exploded out of the pipes, roaring into the pool and sweeping away the spiders. Andie yanked Anthony into the seat next to her and buckled him in just as the tidal wave hit their boat. They were soaked, but thankfully not capsized. The water whirled around them, spinning the boat and tearing apart the short-circuiting spiders.

Spotlights glared down on them- the show had begun.

However, all Andie could focus on was controlling the boat, willing it to ride the current and stay away from the wall. The boat seemed to respond. The tops of their heads had just brushed the net when the boat turned towards the tunnel and rocketed though into the darkness.

Andie and Anthony held on tight, both screaming as the boat shot curls and hugged corners and took sharp plunges past a bunch of cheesy romantic images.

Andie blinked and then they were launched out of the tunnel, barreling straight toward the exit.

Which would have been fine, probably, being a thrill ride and all that, except that it was a broken and abandoned thrill ride, and the Gates of Love that they should’ve ridden a ramp through was chained shut. Two boats had already been smashed against them.

“Unfasten your seat belt!” she yelled to Anthony.

“Are you insane?” he shouted back.

“Unless you want to get smashed to death!” Andie strapped Ares’ shield to her arm. “We’re going to have to jump for it.”

Anthony seemed to understand what Andie was planning. He gripped her hand as the gates drew closer.

“On my mark,” she told him.

“No! On my mark!”

“What?”

“Simple physics!” he yelled. “Force times the trajectory angle-“

“Fine!” Andie interrupted. “On your mark!”

He hesitated. Then hesitated again. Then he yelled, “Now!”

And he was absolutely right. If they’d have jumped when Andie thought they should’ve, they would’ve crashed into the gates. Anthony’s launch point gave them maximum lift.

Which…was maybe a little too much lift. The two demigods were thrown into the air, over the gates and the pool, and toward solid asphalt.

She and Anthony both cried out when something grabbed them from behind.

Grover had managed to grab each of them midair, and was trying to pull them out of a crash landing. Unfortunately, Andie and Anthony had all the momentum.

“You’re too heave!” Grover grunted. “We’re going down!”

Grover tried his best to slow the fall, but they still hit the ground pretty hard. They tumbled and rolled over each other. Andie still had the shield on her arm. When they managed to detangle themselves from each other, Andie looked back at the entrance pool of the ride. The Cupid statues were still filming, though the cameras and spotlights were now pointed straight at them.

“Show’s over!” Andie called with a mock dramatically exaggerated and mocking bow. It took every ounce of willpower to keep herself from flipping the cameras off. “Thank you! Good night!”

The Cupids returned back to their original positions, and the park returned back to its original creepy, dark state.

Andie was seething. She hated being teased. She hated being tricked. She already had enough experience handling mortal bullies who liked to pull that shit on her. She didn’t need godly bullies, too. She hefted the shield on her arm and turned towards her boys.

“I’ve got a few fucking choice words for Ares.”

Chapter Text

They found Ares waiting for them in the parking lot of the diner.

As they marched across the pavement, he flashed them a harsh grin. “Well, well. You didn’t get yourself killed.”

“You knew it was a trap,” Andie accused.

The war god’s grin widened. “Bet that ugly little brother of mine was surprised when he netted a couple of dumbass kids. You both looked great on tv, by the way.”

Andie’s lip curled as she shoved his shield at him, ready to be done with the god. “You’re an ass.”

She heard Anthony and Grover both catch their breath behind her. Ares grabbed the shield from her and slung it across his back.

“See that truck over there?” He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. “That’s your ride. Take you straight to LA, with one stop in Vegas.”

The sign on the back of the eighteen-wheeler, white words on a black background which was surprisingly easy on her dyslexia, stated that the truck was a zoo truck transporting live animals.

Andie stared flatly at Ares. “You’re kidding,” she deadpanned.

The god snapped his fingers and the back door of the truck unlatched. “Free ride west, little miss princess. Stop complaining. And here’s a little something for doing the job.”

Ares slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Andie. Inside were fresh supplies- clothes, money (both mortal and mythological), and Oreos.

Before Andie could sneer at the god and shove his backpack back at him, Grover jumped in and thanked the god of war, sending Andie an alarmed look.

Andie grit her teeth, caught between wanting to refuse to touch anything from Ares, and being aware that refusing something from a god was likely just asking for a smiting. She slung the backpack onto her shoulders, despite the anger caused by Ares’ presence clawing and scratching to be released.

She looked back toward the diner, whose crowd had dwindled. The waitress who’d served them dinner was watching their group nervously through the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt them. The woman dragged the cook out form the kitchen to see, muttering something to him. He nodded, held up a phone, and snapped a picture of them.

Andie was sure they’d be back on the news by midnight.

She turned back to Ares, straightening her back, raising her chin, and trying to keep her voice level. “You owe me one more thing. You promised me information about my mother.”

“You sure you can handle the news?” He kick-started his motorcycle. “She’s not dead.”

Andie’s mind reeled so hard it made her physically dizzy. Not dead. Not dead. Not-

But how?

“What do you mean?” Andie voice sounded muffled, like her ears were stuffed with cotton.

“I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That’s metamorphosis. Not death. She’s being kept.”

Andie dreaded the answer, but still, she asked, “Kept? Why?”

“You need to study war brat,” Ares told her with a wicked grin. “Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else.”

She worked her jaw. “Nobody’s controlling me.”

Ares threw his head back, laughing obnoxiously. “That so? See you around, kid.”

Andie’s nails bit into her palm as she balled her fists. “You’re pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues.”

Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed with harsh flickers. Andie could feel hot wind on her face and in her hair. “We’ll meet again, Andromeda Jackson. Next time you’re in a fight, watch your back.”

He revved his Harley and roared towards downtown Denver.

“That was not smart, Andie,” Anthony’s voice came from behind her.

“I don’t care,” She responded shortly, still glaring at Ares’ disappearing figure.

He grabbed her elbow and spun her around to look him in the face. His normally stormy, calculating grey eyes were bright with worry, and he kept his grip on her arm. “You don’t want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god.”

“Hey guys,” Grover called. “I hate to interrupt, but…” He jutted a thumb toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identical black coveralls, with white logos on their backs that matched the one on the semi-truck.

“If we’re taking the zoo express, we need to hurry,” Grover told them.

Andie didn’t like it, and one look at Anthony’s face told her he was wary of it, as well, but they had no better option. They darted across the street and climbed in the trailer, closing the door behind them.

And if Andie didn’t like the idea of their ride before they got in, she was outright appalled by it when she saw what was in the back of the truck. The glow of Riptide revealed a row of filthy cages, with even filthier animals crammed inside- a zebra, a male albino lion, and some sort of antelope.

The look on Grover’s face was downright murderous, and Andie was sure she and Anthony weren’t too far behind. The animals looked like they were starving, filthy, and terrified- they didn’t have proper food or water in their cages, and looked like someone had treated them as their personal garbage cans.

It was pathetic and heartbreaking, and Andie wished she could break the locks and let them free. But since they couldn’t, they did what they could, rearranging dinners and refilling water bowls. Grover promised the animals they’d help more in the morning, and the group settled in for the night.

Grover curled up on a turnip sack while Anthony slid to sit right beside Andie, fishing the Oreos out of the backpack. It was silent aside from the road noise and the occasional shifting of the animals in their cages.

Andie tried to cheer herself up from the events of the day by concentrating on the fact that they were halfway to Los Angeles. Halfway to their destination. It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn’t until the twenty-first. They had plenty of time.

On the other hand, Andie had absolutely no idea what to expect next. The way the gods kept toying with her, she had no way of accounting for anything. There weren’t cameras anywhere- at least as far as Andie was aware- but she had a sneaking suspicion her quest was being watched. She was nothing but a source of amusement for the gods.

And then there was the lingering thought she’d been having since the Arch- maybe Zeus actually wanted her to fail, if only so he could be rid of her.

“Hey,” Anthony’s voice broke the silence. “I’m sorry for freaking out on you earlier, Andie. Back at the water park.”

Andie shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly. “S’okay.”

“It’s just...” He winced and shuddered. “Spiders.”

“Because of the Arachne story,” Andie guessed. “She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?”

Anthony nodded. “Arachne’s children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there’s a spider within a mile of me, it’ll find me. I hate the damn things. Anyway, I owe you.”

She went to bump her shoulder against his, but they were already so close together it seemed like she was just leaning into him. “We’re a team, remember? Besides, Grover did all the fancy flying.”

Andie had thought the satyr was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, “I was pretty amazing, wasn’t I?”

Andie and Anthony laughed. He pulled apart an Oreo and offered her half. “And you?”

Andie blinked at him, halfway through scraping the icing off with her teeth. “Me?”

“You’re claustrophobic, aren’t you?”

Andie stared at him. His head was cocked to the side as he stared back.

“H-how did you know that?”

The blonde bit in the inside of his cheek. “The elevator in the Arch- you got really jittery. At first, I thought it was just an ADHD thing, but you looked really pale and anxious. And then, at the top, it’s like you were waiting the entire time for the ranger to say it was time to go.”

“Oh,” Was all that came out of Andie’s mouth. She pressed her lips together, unable to meet his eye. She didn’t think anyone had noticed. “Yeah, I don’t do well in small spaces.”

“You okay right now?” He asked.

Andie looked around the trailer and shrugged. “I can get up and walk around, if I need to,” she told him. “And transportation doesn’t usually bother me. Trains, buses, cars- I’m fine in all of those. It’s the really compact places that I don’t like. Elevators, small rooms, closets, stuff like that.” She bit her bottom lip, before adding in a hoarse whisper, “It’s even worse if they can be locked from the outside.”

Anthony tensed at the implication of her admission. The hand closest to her twitched before balling up into a fist. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him glaring at the opposite wall of the trailer, jaw clenched.

She could see Grover had tensed where he lay, as well, apparently still not asleep.

Anthony let out a long, low breath while Andie slouched further against the turnip sacks she was propped up against. She nibbled at the cookie in her hand. Thankfully, Anthony didn’t press, seeming to realize she didn’t want to talk about it, and changed the topic.

“In that Iris-Message…did Luke really say nothing?”

Andie continued nibbling on her cookie, contemplating how exactly she wanted to answer. The conversation had been bothering her all evening.

“Luke said you and he go way back,” she finally answered. “He also said Grover wouldn’t fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree.”

Andie couldn’t quite read their expressions in the dim light her sword provided.

Grover let out a mournful bray, and his voice trembled as he spoke. “I should’ve told you the truth from the beginning. I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn’t want me along.”

“You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus.”

He nodded, but didn’t say more.

“And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp…” Andie looked at Anthony. “That was you and Luke, wasn’t it?”

He put down his Oreo, uneaten, and cleared his throat. “You said it yourself, Andie, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn’t have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve, Luke was fourteen. They’d both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were…incredible fighters, even without formal training. We travelled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us.”

“I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp,” Grover sniffed. “Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don’t do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I just couldn’t leave Luke and Anthony by themselves. I thought…I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up to us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp, took too many wrong turns, got stalled for too long. If I’d not gotten us caught…if I’d just been a little quicker…”

“Stop it,” Anthony said sternly. “No one blames you. Thalia didn’t blame you, either.”

“She sacrificed herself to save us,” Grover whispered, his voice hoarse. “Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so.”

Andie stared at his figure incredulously. “Because you wouldn’t leave two other half-bloods behind? That’s not fair!” She exclaimed.

“Andie’s right,” Anthony said. He leaned into her just slightly. “I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don’t care what the Council says.”

Grover’s sniffling continued. “It’s just my luck. I’m the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the last century, Thalia and Andie.”

“You’re not lame,” Anthony insisted. “You’ve got more courage that any satyr I’ve ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I’m really glad you’re here right now, and I bet Andie is, too.” He nudged her foot with his, which was unnecessary, considering Andie agreed with him.

“He’s right,” Andie stated, shooting the blonde a look. “It’s not luck that you found Thalia and me, Grover. You’ve got the biggest heart of any satyr, ever. You’re a natural searcher. That’s why you’ll be the one who finds Pan.”

She heard a deep, satisfied sigh, and while she was waiting for her best friend to say something, his breathing got heavier. The sound quickly turned to snoring, and Andie realized he had fallen asleep.

“How does he do that?” She asked with a disbelieving shake of her head.

“I dunno,” Anthony responded. “But that was really nice, what you said to him.”

“I really meant it.”

“I know.”

For the next few miles they rode in silence, bumping along on the feed sacks. Anthony rubbed his necklace like he was developing a strategy.

“That pine tree bead,” Andie finally cut through the quiet. “Is that from your first year?”

He look down, startled, like he hadn’t realized what he was doing.

“Yeah,” he responded. “Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year’s beads. I’ve got Thalia’s pine, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress- now that was an insane summer…”

“And the college ring is your father’s?”

Anthony’s lip curled like he was about to snap at her, but he stopped himself. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Andie said gently.

“No…it’s…it’s okay.” He took a shaky breath. “My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn’t’ve gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her…but that’s a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, and said he loved and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him.”

Andie cocked her head to the side. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

Anthony shrugged. “Yeah, well…the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn’t want her sons put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn’t even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood.”

“D’you think you’ll ever try living with your dad again?”

Anthony snorted, but didn’t meet her eyes. “Please. I’m not into self-inflicted pain.”

“You shouldn’t give up,” she told him. “You should write him a letter, or something.”

“Appreciate the advice,” he said coldly. “But my father’s made his choice about who he wants to live with.”

They passed another few miles of silence.

“So if the gods fight,” Andie started quietly, “Will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?”

Anthony slid her the backpack Ares had given them before slouching down to use a feed sack as a pillow. He closed his eyes. “I don’t know what my mom will do. I just know I’ll fight next to you.”

Andie blinked. “Why?”

Anthony opened his eyes, meeting her shocked gaze with a raised eyebrow. “’Cause you’re my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?”

Andie was surprised by the declaration, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. Did she really think Anthony would fight against her in a war? She had hoped not, but she had never been truly sure. Sure, Andie thought they were friends, but until now, she hadn’t really been completely confident that Anthony had thought the same.

Thankfully, she didn’t need to think of a response, as Anthony had closed his eyes again, and fallen asleep.

When Andie finally managed to follow his lead, she dropped into a recurring nightmare of hers. She was being forced to take a standardized test while wearing a straitjacket- all the other kids had been dismissed, but the teachers kept goading Andie, asking if she was stupid.

Then, the dream strayed from the usual.

Andie looked over at the next desk and saw another girl, about Andie’s age, also wearing a straitjacket. She had black hair shaved into an undercut, the long top flopping over one side, unruly with faded blue dye at the ends. She wore dark eyeliner around her electric blue eyes, and freckles were dotted across her nose, not too unlike Andie’s, thought the other girl’s skin was much paler. Somehow, Andie knew exactly who she was- Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

She struggled against the straitjacket, glared at Andie in frustration and snapped, ‘Well, Seaweed Brain? One of us has to get out of here.’

Andie’s dream-self realized Thalia was right. ‘I’m going back to that cavern. I’m going to give Hades a piece of my mind.’

The straitjacket melted off of her and she fell through the floor into the room with the pit.

‘Andromeda Jackson,’ that cold, evil voice echoed from the chasm. ‘Yes, the exchange went well, I see.’

It took Andie a moment to realize the voice wasn’t addressing her.

‘And she suspects nothing?’ the voice asked.

A new voice- one that Andie almost recognized- answered at her shoulder. ‘Nothing, my lord. She is as ignorant as the rest.’

Andie looked over her shoulder, but no one was there. The speaker was invisible.

‘Deception upon deception,’ the thing in the pit mused aloud. ‘Excellent.’

‘Truly, my lord,’ the second voice responded. ‘You are well-named the Crooked One. But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly-‘

‘You?’ the monster sneered. ‘You have already shown your limits. You would have failed completely had I not intervened.’

‘But, my lord-‘

‘Peace, little servant. Our six months have bought us much. Zeus’ paranoia has grown. Poseidon has played his most desperate card. Now, we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands…but wait. She is here.’

‘What?’ the invisible servant suddenly sounded tense. ‘You summoned her, my lord?’

‘No.’ The full force of the monster’s attention was now pouring over her, freezing her in place. ‘Blast her father’s blood- she is too changeable. Too unpredictable. The girl has brought herself hither.’

‘Impossible!’ the servant cried.

‘For a weakling such as you, perhaps,’ the voice snarled. Then, its attention and it’s cold power turned back on Andie. ‘So…you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige.’

The scene changed.

Andie was now standing in a vast throne room with black marble walls and bronze floors. The throne stood empty, but it was made from human bones fused together. And at the foot of the dais…her mother. Her mother was frozen there in shimmering gold light, in the exact position she had been in when the Minotaur had taken her, her arm stretched out towards Andie.

Andie tried to get to her mother, but she couldn’t move. She looked at her reaching hand and found it withering to bones. All around her, skeletons melted out of the walls and began draping her in silk robes, crown her head with a laurel wreath that smoked with Chimera poison and burned into her scalp.

The evil voice’s laugh echoed through the chamber. ‘Hail the conquering hero!’

She woke with a gasp, accidentally backhanding Grover across the face in her startlement. Apparently, he’d been trying to shake her awake. Andie apologized profusely, but Grover waved her off, looking more worried about her, than anything.

“The truck’s stopped,” he told her. “We think they’re coming to check on the animals.”

“Hide!” Anthony hissed. Which was, ya know, easy for him, considering her could just turn invisible. She and Grover had to dive behind feed sacks and hope they looked like turnips. The trailer doors opened to reveal sunlight and heat and the noise of crowds and music.

The truckers griped at each other and taunted the animals. One of the truckers mocked the zebra, which they were apparently dropping off at this stop. Whoever was buying the zebra wasn’t going to let him live long.

The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, look straight at Andie. It made no sound, but clear as day, Andie heard it say, ‘Free me, milady. Please.’

She was too stunned to react. Thankfully, she didn’t have to, as a loud banging came from the side of the trailer. The truckers continued yelling and griping at each other in and out of the truck, and after a moment, both were outside cursing each other for being idiots.

A second later, Anthony appeared next to Andie. He must’ve been the one making the racket.

“This transport business can’t be legal,” he said in a low voice.

“No kidding!” Grover whispered. He paused, as if listening. “The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!”

The zebra’s voice confirmed the statement in her mind.

“We’ve got to free them!” Grover declared. Both boys looked at Andie, waiting for her lead.

Andie was too busy trying to figure out why she could hear the zebra talk, but not the lion. It seemed like a weird power. Then she remembered- horses. Anthony had mentioned that her father had created horses- and Chiron had referred to Poseidon as Lord of Horses when she got claimed. Was a zebra close enough to a horse?  Was that why she could understand it?

‘Open my cage, milady,’ the zebra said. ‘Please. I’ll be fine after that.’

She could hear the truckers still bickering outside, but she knew it wouldn’t last long. They’d be back here any minute. Andie grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra’s cage. The zebra burst out, then turned and bowed to her. ‘Thank you, milady.’

Grover held his hands up and said something to the zebra in whatever animal language he spoke, like a blessing.

Just as one of the truckers stuck his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leapt over him and into the streets. There was a lot of screaming and yelling, and the two truckers ran after the zebra, with cops running after them.

They repeated the action with the lion and the antelope.

As they took off into the streets, some of the tourists screamed, while most of them marveled and took pictures, like it was some sort of Las Vegas publicity stunt.

Grover assured both Andie and Anthony that they would be okay in the desert- he’d placed a satyr’s sanctuary on them, which meant they’d reach the wild safely.

Then, the trio stumbled out of the filthy truck and into the desert afternoon. Thankfully, despite the heat and their appearance, everyone was much too enthralled by the loosened animals than the dirty teenagers.

They passed the Monte Carlo and MGM, as well as pyramids, a pirate ship, and a mini Eiffel Tower. When the passed the replica of the Statue of Liberty, Andie couldn’t help feeling a little homesick, despite it being so small in comparison to the real thing.

Just as Andie was thinking about how nice it would be to get out of the heat for a few minutes, preferably with a meal, they took a turn and found themselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

The entrance was grand and shiny and gorgeous, but interestingly enough, people weren’t going in and out like they would at any other casino.

The doorman smiled at them. “Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?”

The last week or so, Andie had quickly become acclimated to being suspicious. She figured anyone might be a monster or a god. You could never tell. But this guy was normal. One look at him, and Andie could see that much.

They took him up on his offer.

Inside, they took a look around, and Grover summed it up with a well-placed, “Whoa.”

The whole lobby was like someone had crammed a giant game room and an amusement park into one building. A glass elevator rose up at least forty floors. Giant indoor waterslides, climbing walls, and bungee jumping bridges towered through the place, with virtual reality suits, various ball courts, and hundreds of video games scattered in between. And that’s just what was visible from the entrance.

There were a few other kids playing, that Andie could see, but not many. Waitresses and snack bars were everywhere, serving whatever kind of food you could think up.

A bellhop approached and greeted them. “Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here’s your room key.”

Andie tried to stammer out a protest, but the bellhop insisted- the bill was taken care of, don’t worry about any of it. He handed them another set of cards.

“Here are your LotusCash cards- they work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides.”

Andie thought there must’ve been some sort of mistake, but she took the card. “How much is on here?”

His eyebrows knit together. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, when does it run out of cash?”

He laughed. “Oh, you’re making a joke. Good one! Enjoy your stay!”

Andie exchanged looks with the boys, and they all shrugged simultaneously. They had come to the silent consensus of ‘yeah, fuck it.’

They took the elevator upstairs and checked out their room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. Everything about it screamed ‘luxury!’- from the down feather pillows, to the flatscreen tv, to the hot tub on the balcony. The view over the Strip was amazing, though Andie doubted they’d ever find time to look at the view with a room like this.

“Oh, gods,” Anthony groaned. “This place is…”

“Sweet,” Grover finished for him. “Absolutely sweet.”

There were clothes in her closet, and they were all Andie’s size. She frowned, thinking it was a little strange.

She threw Ares backpack in the trashcan. They wouldn’t be needing that anymore. When they left, she could just charge a new one at the hotel store.

Andie took a shower- and took her time taking a shower. It felt fantastic after not being clean in a week. She changed her clothes, stuffed herself with junk food, and came out feeling better than she had in a long time. In the back of her mind, some small problem kept nagging at her. She’d…had a dream? Yes, she needed to talk to her boys about…something. But she was sure it could wait.

She emerged into the living room to find the boys had also showered and changed clothes, and were now lounging on the couch. Grover ate a bag of potato chips- the chips and the bag- while Anthony cranked up National Geographic on the tv.

Andie plopped down beside the blonde. “All those stations, and you turn to NatGeo? Are you insane?”

Anthony shrugged. “It’s interesting.”

“I feel good,” Grover sighed. “I love this place.”

“So, what now?” Anthony asked.

Grover and Andie cracked identical grins, holding up their cash cards.

“Play time,” Andie said.

Now, Andie came from a relatively poor family. Splurging, for them, meant eating out at a fast food restaurant and renting a movie. A five-star Vegas hotel? Blew that out of the water and then some.

The group started out at a mini-golf course (which Anthony won, and Grover ate the score sheet) before they scattered in different directions to the rest of the games. Andie bopped around from bungee jumping, to VR laser-tag, to snowboarding on the artificial ski slope, to hitting the indoor skate-park, to the surfing wave-pool, and back again, hitting other games along the way. She saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reverse-hunter thing- where the deer go out and shoot the humans. She caught sight of Anthony playing trivia games and a huge 3D-build-your-own-city sim game, complete with holographic buildings.

Andie wasn’t sure when she first realized something was wrong.

It was probably when she noticed the guy standing next to her at the VR sharpshooter game. He was probably around thirteen, though she’d never seen a thirteen year old dressed in bell-bottom jeans and a skin-tight red t-shirt with black-piping, with hair blown out like he just stepped out of a salon.

They played a game of sharpshooters together and he said, “Groovy, man. Been here two weeks and the games keep getting better and better.”

‘Groovy?’ Andie thought to herself.

Later, while they were talking, Andie said something was ‘sick’, and he looked at her kind of startled, as if he’d never heard the word used that way, before.

He said his name was Darrin, but as soon as she started asking him questions, he got bored with her and started to go back to the computer screen.

“Hey, Darrin?” She called.

“What?”

“What year is it?”

He frowned at her. “In the game?”

“No. In real life.”

He had to think about it. “1977.”

“No,” Andie’s voice was tight. She was starting to get a little scared. “Really.”

“Hey, man, bad vibes. I got a game happening.”

He totally ignored her, after that.

Andie started talking to people, and she found it wasn’t easy. They were all glued to whatever it was they were doing. One guy told her it was 1985. An older girl told her it was 1993. They all claimed they hadn’t been in there very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn’t really know, and they didn’t care.

Then it occurred to her: how long had she been in there? It seemed like it was only a few hours, but was it?

She tried to remember why they were there. They were going to Los Angeles. They were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld. Her mother…for a scary second, Andie had trouble remembering her mother’s name. Sally. Sally Jackson. She had to find her. She had to stop Hades from causing World War III.

Andie turned to go find her boys, but had barely taken a step when she collided with someone. She stumbled back a bit, but whoever it was that ran into her was apparently smaller than she was, and ended up on the floor.

It was a boy, maybe ten years old, with dark, curly hair, and olive-toned skin. He wore a pressed white button up under a dark red sweater vest, with black shorts, knee-high black socks, and black dress boots. He stared up at her from his spot on the ground, wide dark brown, almost black eyes widened in shock. Trading cards and small figurines were scattered on the ground around him, as if he’d dropped them when he fell. Andie offered him a hand up and helped him pick up his toys.

Before she could say much more to him, a girl who must’ve been his sister, since they looked so much alike, darted up to them. She apologized to Andie profusely on behalf of her brother, her dark green eyes filled with guilt from under a forest-green jockey-cap, before turning to chastise him. Andie tried to tell her it was fine, but the girl had ushered her brother away while he whined about her mother-henning.

Andie blinked a couple of times in the siblings’ direction, filled with the strange urge to go after them and drag them out, too, but she tamped it down. She needed to find Anthony and Grover.

She found Anthony first, still building his city.

“Come on,” She told him. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

No response.

She shook him. “Anthony?”

He looked up, annoyed. “What?”

“We need to leave.”

“Leave? What are you talking about? I’ve just got the towers-“

“Anthony, this place is a trap!”

He didn’t respond until she shook him again. “What?”

“Listen! The Underworld! Our Quest!”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, Andie. Just a few more minutes.”

“Anthony, there are people here from 1977! Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay. Forever.”

“So?” He asked. “Can you imagine a better place?”

Andie grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the game. He glared and protested- loudly- but no one paid them any attention.

She whirled around, grabbed him by the shoulders, and made him look directly in her eyes. “Spiders.” She said simply. “Large, hairy spiders.”

That jarred him. His vision cleared. “Oh my gods,” he whispered in horror. “How long have we-“

“I don’t know, but we need to find Grover.”

They went searching and found him still playing Virtual Deer-Hunter.

“Grover!” They both shouted.

“Die, human!” He yelled in response. “Die, silly, polluting, nasty person!”

Andie called for him again, and he turned the plastic gun on her and started clicking, as if she were just another image from the screen.

She and Anthony looked at each other, nodded once, and together they took him by the arms and began dragging him away. His flying shoes sprang to life, trying to tug Grover back to the game while he protested.

The bellhop intercepted them, and tried to convince them to stay longer, offering them platinum cards. Anthony smacked Grover’s hand away when the satyr tried to reach for it.

The temptation to stay grew stronger and stronger as they got closer to the doors, but before she could give in, they burst through the doors of the Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day they’d gone into the casino, but the weather was all wrong. It had completely changed from sunny to storming, with heat lightning flashing out into the desert.

Ares backpack was slung over her shoulder, which was odd, because Andie was pretty sure she’d thrown it away in their hotel room. Unfortunately, she had other problems to worry about at the moment. She ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first- thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when they went in. Then, she noticed the date: June twentieth.

They had been in the Lotus Casino for five days.

They had only one day left until summer solstice. One day to complete their quest.

Andie couldn’t stop staring in shock at the newspaper, so Anthony took it upon himself to take it from her hands and lead her back to the street. He hailed them a taxi, and loaded them all in as if they actually had money, telling the driver, “Los Angeles, please.”

After a bit of debate between him and the cabbie on payment methods, Anthony handed the driver his LotusCash card, and the driver swiped it.

His cigar fell out of his mouth when an infinity symbol popped up next to the dollar sign. He looked back at the trio, eyes wide. “Where to in Los Angeles…uh, Your Majesty?”

Anthony raised an amused eyebrow at the man, though he sat up a little straighter. “The Santa Monica Pier,” he stated. “Get us there fast, and you can keep the change.”

The cab’s speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole way through the Mojave Desert.

Even as fast as he was going, they still had plenty of time to talk. Andie told the boys about her latest dream, but the details got sketchier the more she tried to remember. The Lotus Casino seemed to have short-circuited her memory. She couldn’t recall what the invisible servant’s voice sounded like, though she was sure it was somebody she knew. The servant had called the monster in the pit some sort of title…

Anthony suggested a few names, though none of them sounded right. Grover mention that the throne room she described sounded the same as other descriptions of Hades’ throne room.

Andie shook her head. “Something’s wrong. The throne room wasn’t the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit… I don’t know. It just didn’t feel like a god’s voice.”

Anthony’s eyes widened.

“What?” Andie asked.

“Oh…nothing. I was just- no. It has to be Hades. Maybe he sent this thief, this invisible person, to get the master bolt, and something went wrong-“

“Like what?”

“I-I don’t know,” he replied. “But if he stole Zeus’ symbol of power from Olympus, and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the bolt, or he lost it somehow. Either way, he failed to bring it to Hades. That’s what the voice said in your dream, right? That guy failed. That would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt.”

Andie got the feeling Anthony wasn’t convinced by his own argument, though she wasn’t entirely sure what was wrong with him. His usually tan complexion had turned pallid and nearly as grey as his eyes.

“But if I’d already retrieved the bolt,” Andie mused. “Why would I be travelling to the Underworld?”

“To threaten Hades,” Grover suggested. “To bribe or blackmail him into getting your mom back.”

Andie whistled, raising an impressed eyebrow at her best friend. “You have evil thoughts for a goat.”

“Why, thank you.”

She shook her head. “But the thing in the pit said it was waiting for two items. If the master bolt is one, what’s the other?”

Grover shook his head as well, clearly mystified.

Anthony was altering between not meeting her eyes, and looking at her as if he knew her next question, and was silently willing her not to ask it.

“You have an idea of what might be in that pit, don’t you?” She asked him. “I mean, if it isn’t Hades?”

“Andie…” His face twisted. “Let’s not talk about it. Because if it isn’t Hades…” He shuddered. “No. It has to be Hades.”

He said it as if Hades were a pretty decent option in comparison to whatever he thought was down there.

Andie got the feeling she was missing one simple, critical piece of information. Like the answer was right in the back of her mind, but her chaotic, ADHD brain wouldn’t let her access it. The more she thought about her quest, the more sure she was that confronting Hades wasn’t the real answer. There was something else going on.

Something far more dangerous than the Lord of the Dead.

The problem was: they were hurtling toward the Underworld at ninety-five miles and hour, betting that Hades had the master bolt. If they got there and found out they were wrong, they wouldn’t have time to correct themselves. The solstice deadline would pass and war would begin.

“The answer is in the Underworld,” Anthony assured her, like he could read her mind. “You saw the spirits of the dead, Andie. There’s only one place that could be. We’re doing the right thing.”

He tried to distract them by suggesting clever strategies for getting into the Land of the Dead, but it didn’t work too well. Andie’s heart wasn’t in it- there were just too many unknown factors.

They arrived at the beach in Santa Monica at sunset. It looked exactly they way California beaches do in movies, but smelled so much worse. Andie, Anthony, and Grover marched down past the pier, the homeless guys in the sand dunes, and the surfers pointing out towards the waves, and to the edge of the surf.

“What now?” Anthony asked.

The Pacific was turning gold in the setting sun. Andie’s heart ached as she thought about how long it had been since she’d stood on the beach at Montauk, on the opposite side of the country, looking out at a different sea.

How could there be one god who could control all of that? How could Andie be the daughter of someone powerful enough to control seventy percent of the earth’s surface?

She stepped into the surf.

Anthony lurched after her, though he stopped when the water was high enough to soak into his sneakers. “Andie? What are you doing?”

She didn’t answer, she just kept walking. The water rose to her waist, then to her chest.

Anthony continued to call after her. “You know how polluted that water is? There’s all kinds of toxic-“

Her head went under. Despite her discovery at the Arch, Andie’s first instinct was to hold her breath. It’s a hard habit to break, especially when the alternative is intentionally inhaling water. But, just like in the Mississippi, when Andie finally gasped for air, she could breathe normally.

As she walked down the shoals, she marveled at the fact that she could tell where everything was, despite not really being able to see through the murk. She could sense the rolling texture of the ocean floor, and the sand-dollar colonies dotting the sandbars. Most breathtaking of all, Andie could both see and sense the currents, warm and cold streams curling together.

Andie gasped as she felt something brush against her leg. She almost launched herself out of the water when she saw a mako shark sliding along the water beside her- it was about as long as she was tall.

But it wasn’t attacking. It was nuzzling her, heeling like a dog. Andie laughed in disbelief as she touched its dorsal fin. It bucked a little, as if inviting her to hold on tighter. She grinned and laughed with delight when she grabbed the shark’s fin with both hands and it took off, pulling her down into the darkness. The mako deposited Andie at the edge of the ocean proper, where the sand bank dropped off into a huge, pitch black chasm.

The surface shimmered maybe a hundred feet above. Andie marveled at how she was able to withstand the pressure, and wondered if there was a limit to how deep she could go.

Then something in the darkness below began to shimmer, growing bigger and brighter as it rose towards her. A familiar voice called out her name.

As the woman got closer, her shape became clearer. She had flowing black hair, topped with a silver crown, pieces of net situated in the gaps. Her dress was long, flowing, green silky fabric with pearls threaded in, and images of dolphins and seals playing in the surf were threaded throughout the skirt. Light flickered around her, illuminating her white-ish-blue skin. Her eyes were distractingly beautiful, swirling sea-greens and navy blues, and achingly familiar- they held a sense of nostalgia that Andie only felt in the memory of her father’s smile.

The woman dismounted her stallion-sized sea horse (which Andie, somehow, only just noticed), and allowed the animal to whisk off with the mako shark, playing what seemed to be a game of tag. The woman’s smile was comforting.

“You’ve come so far, Andie. Well done.”

Andie wasn’t quite sure what to do, so she bowed. “You’re the woman who spoke to me in the Mississippi.”

“Yes, princess. I am the eldest of the Nereids, a spirit of the sea. But more than that, I am the goddess of the sea. My name is Amphitrite.”

Despite being in the middle of the ocean, breathing in water, Andie’s mouth went dry. She knew that name. “You…you’re my father’s…wife…”

Her heart thundered in her chest. She remembered all the stories of jealous goddesses who cursed the bastard children of their cheating husbands. And here Andie was. Alone. With the queen of the sea.

She should’ve listened to Anthony and stayed on shore.

The woman- Amphitrite- hummed thoughtfully, the sound melodic. “I am. Though to you, and to my dear Sally, I was always Amphy.”

Andie’s face went slack, her mind reeling. “I…you…we…huh? You knew my mother?”

The corner of Amphitrite’s mouth quirked, almost mischievously. “Very well. I loved Sally just as your father did.”

Every time Andie thought this conversation couldn’t get any more shocking, the goddess dropped new information.

And the implications of that information wasn’t necessarily something Andie wanted to know the details of. But now, as she tried to remember…when she was very young, still a toddler, not even old enough for pre-school, there had been another woman that had hung around with her mother. Andie couldn’t remember much, besides the woman’s kind eyes, the love and adoration that Andie felt for the woman- on par with her love for her mother- and the heartbreak she felt when the woman stopped visiting.

Andie’s breath hitched, tears welling in her eyes as she stared at the woman who had been a second mother to her for the earliest years of her life.

But…she had left. Why had she left them?

Amphitrite gazed at her sadly, as if she knew exactly what Andie was thinking. She floated towards her slowly, a hesitant hand held in front of her like she wanted to pull Andie into a tight hug.

“I stayed with you and your mother for as long as I was able,” she murmured. Her voice was kind and warm, and Andie couldn’t help but melting at the sound. The hand that had been reached out towards Andie cupped her cheek, and she leaned into it. “You’ve grown so much. You look so much like them both.”

Andie choked down a sob as she launched herself into the goddess’ arms. Amphitrite responded immediately, wrapping her arms tightly around Andie. She didn’t realize how badly she needed a good hug- how badly she wanted to be held.

“Oh, my brave princess. My little pearl,” Amphitrite murmured into her hair. She pressed a kiss to the top of Andie’s head before Andie pulled away. The goddess continued to hold Andie’s hands.

“I am overjoyed at seeing you again,” Amphitrite told her. “We spent ten years watching over you from afar, hearing nothing but second hand messages…”

As the goddess trailed off, Andie remembered all the marine animals that would approach her and play with her at the beach at Montauk, alongside the reflections of smiling, waving women who looked not too unlike the goddess floating before her now. Like so many of the strange things in her life, Andie had never given those figures much thought before; now, she was learning that it was Poseidon and Amphitrite’s way of keeping up with her.

Poseidon.

Andie’s eyebrows furrowed, the corners of her mouth pulling into a frown. “Not that I am not glad to see you, but…why didn’t my father come with you? Why doesn’t he speak to me?”

A cold current rose out of the depths.

“Do not judge my husband too harshly, little pearl,” the goddess chastised. “He stands at the brink of an unwanted war. He has much to occupy his time. Besides, he is forbidden to help you directly. The gods may not show such favoritism.”

“Even to their own children?”

“Especially to them.”

Andie shook her head, strands of hair floating in front of her face. “You’re a goddess. And you’re here talking to me.”

Amphitrite smiled coyly. “I am but a messenger,” She said with faux innocence. “An indirect influence, so to speak. Which brings me to the other reason I am here, if not just to see my youngest after all these years. A warning, and a gift.”

Amphitrite let go of one of Andie’s hands. In a swirl of glowing green, she summoned three white pearls into her palm.

“You journey to Hades’ realm,” she stated, with a squeeze of the hand Andie was still holding. “Few mortals have ever done this and survived: Orpheus, who had great music skill; Heracles, who had great strength; Houdini, who could escape even the depths of Tartarus.”

“Okay, but…I don’t have any of that,” Andie told her.

“Ah, but you have something else, Andie. You have gifts you have only begun to know. The oracles have foretold a great and terrible future for you, should you survive to womanhood. Neither myself, nor Poseidon would have you die before your time. Therefore take these, and when you are in need, smash a pearl at your feet.”

“What will happen?”

“That depends on the need,” the goddess hummed. “But remember, Andie: the sea is nothing if not possessive. What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.”

Andie felt like there was more than one meaning to that, but so much had happened in the last ten minutes, she didn’t feel like unpacking that at the moment.

“What about the warning?” she asked instead.

Amphitrite’s eyes flickered with green light. “Go with what you heart tells you, or you will lose all. Hades feeds on doubt and hopelessness. He will trick you if he can, make you mistrust your own judgement. Once you are in his realm, he will never willingly let you leave. Keep faith. Best of luck, my brave princess.”

She summoned her seahorse, kissed Andie on the forehead and rode toward the void. Andie watched her as she became a speck of glowing green, and then the goddess of the seas was gone.

Andie wanted to follow her into the darkness. She wanted to see her father’s kingdom. She wanted to ask Amphitrite more about her relationship with her mother, and why she left.

But she looked up at the sunset darkening on the surface. Her friends were waiting, and they had so little time…

She kicked upward toward the shore.

When Andie reached the beach, her clothes dried instantly. She told the boys what had happened- well sort of, she simply said that her dad had sent a Nereid, not who it was, or what she was to Andie…she still needed to get some answers-and showed them the pearls.

Anthony grimaced. “No gift comes without a price.”

“They were free.”

“No,” he shook his head. “’There is no such thing as a free lunch.’ That’s an Ancient Greek saying that translated pretty well into English. There will be a price. You just wait.”

Andie wanted to believe he was wrong- this had come from someone who cared for Andie and her mother- or at least had at some point. She couldn’t believe that she would gift Andie anything maliciously.

With that happy thought, the trio turned their back on the sea.

Chapter Text

With some spare change from Ares’ backpack, they took the bus into West Hollywood. Andie showed the driver the Underworld address slip she’d taken from Medusa’s office, but he’d never heard of DOA Studios.

“You remind me of someone I saw on TV,” he told her. “You a child actor, or something?”

“Uh…I’m a stunt double…for a lot of child actors,” she stammered out.

“Oh! That explains it.”

They thanked him and got off at the next stop. They wandered for miles on foot, looking for DOA. Nobody seemed to know where it was. No one seemed to even have heard of it.

Twice they had to duck into alleys to avoid cop cars.

The trio was walking past an appliance store when Andie froze in front of it. A tv in the window was playing an interview with somebody who was nauseatingly familiar- Smelly Gabe. He was talking to Barbara Walters, as if he were some huge celebrity. She was interviewing him in their apartment, in the middle of a poker game, and there was a young blonde lady sitting next to him, patting his hand.

A fake tear glistened on his cheek. He was telling the anchor, “Honest, Ms. Walters, if it wasn’t for Sugar here, my grief counselor, I’d be a wreck. My stepdaughter took everything I cared about. My wife…my Camaro…I-I’m sorry. I have trouble talking about it.”

“There you have it, America,” Barbara Walters turned to the camera. “A man torn apart. An adolescent girl with serious issues. Let me show you, again, the last known photo of this troubled young fugitive, taken a week ago in Denver.”

The screen cut to a grainy shot of Andie, Anthony, and Grover standing outside the Colorado diner, talking to Ares.

“Who are the other children in this photo?” the hostess asked dramatically. “Who is the man with them? Is Andie Jackson a delinquent, a terrorist, or perhaps the brainwashed victim of a frightening new cult? When we come back, we chat with a leading child psychologist. Stay tuned, America.”

“C’mon,” Grover murmured gently to her. He and Anthony pulled her away before Andie could punch a hole in the appliance-store window.

It got dark, and suspicious-looking characters started making their way out onto the streets. Now, Andie was a New Yorker. She didn’t scare easily. But LA had a totally different feel from New York. Back home, everything was close. It didn’t matter how big the city was, you could get anywhere without getting lost. The street pattern and the subway made sense. There was a system to how things worked. A kid could be safe as long as they weren’t stupid.

LA wasn’t like that. It was spread out, chaotic, and hard to navigate. Andie didn’t know how they were ever going to find the entrance to the Underworld by the solstice, tomorrow.

Their little trio walked past gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers, who looked at them like they were trying to figure out if they were worth the trouble of mugging.

As they hurried past the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said, “Hey, sweetheart.”

Like an idiot, Andie stopped. Gods, she knew better. Why did she do that?

Before she knew it, they were surrounded. A gang of teenagers surrounded them. Six of them in all- the ironic part? They were all white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces. It reminded Andie of the kids at Yancy: rich assholes playing at being bad boys.

Instinctively, Andie uncapped Riptide.

When the sword appeared out of nowhere, the kids backed off, but their leader was either really stupid or really brave, because he continued toward Andie with a switchblade.

She made the mistake of swinging.

The kid yelped. But he must’ve been a hundred percent mortal because the blade passed harmlessly right through his chest. He looked down. “What the…”

Andie figured she had about three seconds before his shock turned to anger. “Run!” she shouted at Anthony and Grover.

They pushed a couple kids out of the way and raced down the street with no idea where they were going. They turned a sharp corner.

“There!” Anthony yelled.

Only one store on the block looked open, it’s windows glaring with neon. Andie didn’t take the time to try and figure out what the sign above the door said.

“Crusty’s Water Bed Palace?” Grover read aloud.

It didn’t sound like any place Andie would ever go except in an emergency. This definitely qualified as an emergency.

They burst through the doors, ran behind a water bed, and ducked. A split second later, the gang kids ran past outside.

“I think we lost ‘em,” Grover panted.

A voice behind them boomed, “Lost who?”

They all jumped.

Standing behind the group was a guy Andie would’ve sworn was just Slenderman that someone had slapped a face on. He was at least seven feet tall, completely bald, showing off his leathery, grey skin, and his cold, reptilian smile. He moved towards them slowly, but she got the feeling he could move fast if he needed to.

“I’m Crusty,” he said with a nasty yellow smile.

Andie resisted the urge to say, ‘Yes, you are.’

“Sorry to barge in,” Andie told him. “We were just, um, browsing.”

“You mean hiding from those no-good kids,” He grumbled. “They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a water bed?”

She was about to decline when the man put a huge paw on her shoulder and steered her deeper into the showroom, filled with water beds of every shape, pattern, and size.

“This is my most popular model.” Crusty spread his hands over a bed covered with black satin sheets, with built-in Lava Lamps on the headboard. The mattress vibrated, so it looked like oil-flavored Jell-O.

“Million-hand massage,” Crusty told them. “Go on, try it out. Shoot, take a nap, I don’t care. No business today, anyway.”

Andie pushed down a shudder. Even just by mortal standards, this guy was giving her the creeps. “Uh, I don’t think-“

“Million-hand massage!” Grover cried before diving in. “Oh, you guys! This is cool.”

“Hmm,” Crusty said, stroking his leathery chin. “Almost, almost.”

“Almost what?” Andie asked.

He looked at Anthony. “Do me a favor and try this one over here, son. Might fit.”

Anthony furrowed his brow. “But what-“

Crusty patted him reassuringly on the shoulder and led him over to the Safari Deluxe model with teakwood lions carved into the frame and a leopard-patterned comforter. When Anthony didn’t want to lie down, Crusty pushed him.

“Hey!” He protested.

Crusty snapped his fingers. “Ergo!”

Ropes sprang from the sides of the bed, lashing around Anthony, holding him to the mattress. Grover tried to get up, but ropes sprang from his satin bed, too, and lashed him down.

“N-not c-c-cool!” He yelled, his voice vibrating from the million-hand massage. “N-not co-ool at-t all!”

The giant looked at Anthony, then turned toward Andie and grinned. “Almost, damn it.”

Andie tried to step away, but his hand shot out and clamped around the back of her neck. Somehow, Andie managed to tense up even more at the action.

“Whoa, sweetheart,” Crusty laughed. “Don’t worry. We’ll find you one in a sec.”

“Let my friends go.”

“Oh, sure, I will. But I gotta make ‘em fit, first.”

“What do you mean?”

“All the beds are exactly six feet, see? Your friends are too short. Got to make them fit.”

Anthony and Grover kept struggling.

“Can’t stand imperfect measurements,” Crusty muttered. “Ergo!”

A new set of ropes leaped out from the tops and bottoms of the beds, wrapping around the boys’ ankles, then around their armpits. The ropes started tightening, pulling her boys from both ends.

“Don’t worry,” Crusty told Andie. “These are stretching jobs. Maybe three or four extra inches on their spines. They might even live. Now, why don’t we find a bed you like, huh?”

“Andie!” Grover yelled.

Andie’s mind was racing. She knew she couldn’t take on this giant water bed salesman alone. He would snap her neck before she ever got her sword out.

“Your real name’s not Crusty, is it?” She ventured.

“Legally, it’s Procrustes,” he admitted.

“The Stretcher,” she said. She remembered the story: the giant who’d tried to kill Theseus with excess hospitality on his way to Athens.

“Yeah,” the salesman said. “But who can pronounce Procrustes? Bad for business. Now ‘Crusty’, anybody can say that.”

“You’re right. It’s got a good ring to it.”

His eyes lit up. “You think so?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Andie nodded. “And the workmanship on these beds? Fabulous!”

He grinned hugely, but his fingers didn’t loosen on her neck. “I tell my customers that. Every time. Nobody bothers to look at the workmanship. How many built-in Lava Lamp headboards have you seen?”

“Not too many.”

“That’s right!”

“Andie!” Anthony yelled. “What are you doing?!”

“Don’t mind him,” she told Procrustes, dismissively waving her hand in her friend’s direction. “He’s impossible.”

The giant laughed. “All my customers are. Never six feet exactly. So inconsiderate. And then, they complain about the fitting!”

“What do you do if they’re taller than six feet?”

“Oh, that happens all the time. It’s a simple fix.”

He let go of her neck, but before she could react, he reached behind the sales counter and brought out a huge double-bladed brass axe. “I just center the object as best as I can, and lop off what ever hangs off either end.”

“Ah,” Andie said, swallowing down bile. “Sensible.”

“I’m so glad to come across an intelligent customer.”

The ropes were really stretching the boys, now.  Anthony was turning pale. Grover was making gurgling choking noises.

“So, Crusty…” Andie tried to keep her voice light. She glanced at the sales tag on the valentine-shaped Honeymoon Special. “Does this one really have dynamic stabilizers to stop wave motion?”

“Absolutely. Try it out.”

“Yeah, maybe I will. But would it work even for a big guy like you? No waves at all?”

“Guaranteed.”

“No way.”

“Way.”

“Show me.”

He sat down eagerly on the bed and patted the mattress. “No waves. See?”

Andie grinned sharply and snapped her fingers. “Ergo.”

Ropes lashed around Crusty and flattened him against the mattress.

“Hey!” he shouted.

“Center him just right,” Andie stated.

The ropes readjusted themselves at her command. Crusty’s whole head stuck out the top. His feet stuck out the bottom.

“No!” the giant cried out. “Wait! This was just a demo!”

Andie uncapped Riptide, twirling it once. “A few simple adjustments…”

She had no qualms about what she was about to do. If Crusty were human, she couldn’t hurt him anyway. If he were a monster, he deserved to be turned into dust for a while.

“You drive a hard bargain,” he told her. “I’ll give you thirty percent off on selected floor models!”

“I think I’ll start with the top.” She raised her sword.

“No money down! No interest for six months!”

She swung Riptide. Crusty stopped making offers.

Andie moved to cut the ropes on the other beds. Anthony and Grover got to their feet, groaning and wincing, and cursing Andie quite a bit.

“You look taller,” Andie said, failing to hide her smirk.

“Very funny,” Anthony glared. “Be faster, next time.”

Andie looked at the bulletin board behind Crusty’s sales desk. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, and another for the All-New Compendium of LA Area Monsters. Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA Recording Studios, offering commissions for heroes’ souls. DOA’s address was right underneath with a map.

“Come on,” she told the boys.

“Give us a minute,” Grover complained. “We were almost stretched to death!”

“Then you’re ready for the Underworld,” she said. “It’s only a block from here.

Ten minutes later, they stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.

Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.

Andie turned to her friends. “Okay. You remember the plan.”

“The plan,” Grover gulped. “Yeah. I love the plan.”

“What if the plan doesn’t work?” Anthony asked.

“Don’t think negative,” Andie responded.

“Right,” he muttered. “We’re entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn’t think negative.”

Andie took the pearls out of her pocket, the three milky spheres Amphitrite had given her in Santa Monica. They didn’t seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong.

Anthony put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Andie. You’re right, we’ll make it. It’ll be fine.”

He gave Grover a nudge.

“Oh, right!” the satyr chimed in. “We got this far. We’ll find the Master Bolt and save your mom. No problem.”

Andie looked at them both and felt really grateful. Only a few minutes prior, she’d nearly gotten them stretched to death, and now they were trying to be brave for her sake, trying to make her feel better.

She slipped the pearls back into her pocket. “Let’s go kick some Underworld ass.”

They walked inside the DOA Lobby.

Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel grey. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved or talked or did much of anything. Out of the corner of her eye, Andie could see them all just fine, but if she focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking…transparent. She could see right through their bodies.

The security guard’s desk was a raised podium, so they had to look up at him.

He was tall and elegant, with rich brown skin and bleach-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel underneath a silver nametag.

Andie read the nametag, blinked a couple of times, and looked up at the man in bewilderment. “Your name is Chiron?”

He leaned across the desk. She couldn’t see anything in his glasses except her own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, reminding Andie nauseatingly of Mrs. Dodds right before she would give her detention.

“What a precious young lady.” He had a strange accent- British, maybe, but also as if he’d learned English as a second language. “Tell me, love, do I look like a centaur?”

“N-no.”

“Sir,” he added smoothly.

“Sir.”

He pinched the nametag and ran his finger under the letters. “Can you read this, love? It says C-H-A-R-O-N. Say it with me: Care-on.”

“Charon.”

“Amazing! Now: Mr. Charon.”

“Mr. Charon,” Andie repeated. And then it clicked: The Ferryman.

“Well done.” He sat back. “I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?”

His question caught Andie in the stomach like a fastball. She looked at Anthony for support.

“We want to go to the Underworld,” he told him.

Charon’s mouth twitched. “Well, that’s refreshing.”

“It is?” Anthony asked.

“Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No ‘There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon.’” He looked the trio over. “How did you die, then?”

Andie nudged Grover. “Oh,” he squeaked. “Um…drowned…in the bathtub.”

“All three of you?” The Ferryman asked.

They nodded.

“Big bathtub.” Charon looked mildly impressed. “I don’t suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your credit card, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children…alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you’ll have to take a seat for a few centuries.”

“Oh, but we have coins.” Andie set three golden drachmas on the counter, part of the stash she’d found in Crusty’s office desk.

“Well, now…” Charon licked his lips. “Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas.  I haven’t seen these in…”

His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.

They were so close.

Then Charon looked at Andie. That cold stare behind his glasses seemed to bore a hold through her chest. “Here now,” he drawled. “You couldn’t read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, love?”

“No,” Andie replied. “I’m dead.”

Charon leaned forward and took a sniff. “You’re not dead. I should’ve known. You’re a godling.”

“We have to get to the Underworld,” Andie insisted.

Charon made a growling noise deep in his throat.

Immediately, all the people in the waiting room got up and started pacing, agitated, lighting cigarettes, running hands through hair, or checking their watches.

“Leave while you can,” Charon told them. “I’ll just take these and forget I ever saw you.”

He started to go for the coins, but Andie snatched them back.

“No service, no tip.” She tried to sound braver than she felt.

Charon growled again- a deep, blood-chilling sound. The spirits of the dead started pounding on the elevator doors.

“It’s a shame too,” Andie sighed. “We had more to offer.”

She held up the entire bag from Crusty’s stash. She took out a fistful of drachmas and let the coins spill through her fingers.

Charon’s growl changed into something more akin to lion’s purr. “Do you think I can be bought, godling? Eh…just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?”

“A lot,” Andie said simply. “I bet Hades doesn’t pay you well enough for such hard work.”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always, ‘Please don’t let me be dead’ or ‘Please let me across for free’. I haven’t had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?”

“You deserve better,” Andie agreed. “A little…appreciation. Respect. Good pay.”

With each word, she stacked another gold coin on the counter.

Charon glanced down at his silk Italian jacket, as if imagining himself in something even better. “I must say, love, you’re making some sense, now. Just a little.”

She stacked a few more coins. “I could mention a pay raise while I’m talking to Hades.”

The Ferryman sighed. “The boat’s almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off.”

He stood, scooped up their money, and prompted them to follow.

They pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at their clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things she couldn’t make out. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling about freeloaders.

They were escorted into the elevator, which was already crowded with the souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Andie pushed down the nausea and panic that swelled up at the idea of the elevator. Anthony leaned into her side, shooting her a concerned glance. She gave him a shaky nod, and he responded with a reassuring smile. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with them and pushed them back into the lobby.

“Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I’m gone,” he announced to the waiting room. “And if anyone moves the dial off my easy listening station again, I’ll make sure you’re here for another thousand years. Understand?”

He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and they started to descend.

“What happens to the spirits in the lobby?” Anthony asked.

“Nothing,” Charon replied.

“For how long?”

“Forever. Or until I’m feeling generous.”

“Oh.” Anthony pressed his lips into a thin line. “That’s…fair.”

Charon raised an eyebrow. “Whoever said death was fair, lad? Wait until it’s your turn. You’ll die soon enough, where you’re going.”

“We’ll get out alive,” Andie told him.

Charon barked out a laugh.

Andie suddenly got a dizzy feeling. They weren’t going down anymore, but forward. The air turned misty. The spirits around her started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into grey hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying.

Andie squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, Charon’s creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were gone. Where his eyes should’ve been were empty sockets- like Ares’ eyes, except Charon’s were totally dark, full of night and death and despair.

He saw her looking and said, “Well?”

“Nothing,” she managed.

For a moment, Andie thought he was grinning, but that wasn’t it. The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting her see straight through to her skull.

The floor kept swaying.

“I think I’m getting seasick,” Grover groaned.

When Andie blinked again, the elevator wasn’t an elevator anymore. They were standing on a wooden barge. Charon was poling them across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things- plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.

“The River Styx,” Anthony murmured. “It’s so…”

“Polluted,” Charon finished for him. “For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across- hopes, dreams, wished that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me.”

Mist curled off the filthy water. Above them, nearly lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison.

Panic closed up her throat. What was she doing here? These people around her…they were dead.

Anthony grabbed a hold of her hand, tangling his fingers in hers and squeezing tight. Andie squeezed right back, understanding how he felt. He wanted reassurance that somebody else was alive on this boat.

Andie found herself muttering a prayer, though she wasn’t quite sure who she was praying to. Down here, only one god mattered, and he was the one she had come to confront.

The shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as they could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones- the howl of a large animal.

“Old Three-Face is hungry,” Charon mused. His smiled tuned skeletal in the greenish light. “Bad luck for you, godlings.”

The bottom of their boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark, and Andie’s heart clenched as she watched. A woman holding a little girl’s hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than she was, shuffling silently along in his grey robe.

Charon spoke up, “I’d wish you luck, love, but there isn’t any down here. Mind you, don’t forget to mention my pay raise.”

He counted their golden coins into his pouch, then took up his pole. He warbled something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried the empty barge back across the river.

The trio followed the spirits up a well-worn path.

Andie wasn’t entirely sure what she was expecting the entrance to the Underworld to look like, but it certainly wasn’t a weird cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that read: ‘YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS’. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now, but Andie couldn’t see where it was coming from. She suspected it was the three-headed dog Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades’ door, but he was nowhere to be seen.

The dead queued up in three lines, two marked ‘ATTENDANT ON DUTY’, and one marked ‘EZ DEATH’. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.

“What do you figure?” Andie asked Anthony.

“The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields,” he said. “No contest. They don’t want to risk judgement from the court, because it might go against them.”

“There’s a court for dead people?”

“Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare- people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person needs a special reward- Elysium. Sometimes they decide on a punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they go to the Asphodel Fields.”

“And do what?

Grover was the one that responded, “Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever.”

“Harsh,” Andie commented.

“Not as harsh as that,” Grover muttered, gesturing with his chin. “Look.”

A couple of black-robed ghouls had pulled aside one spirit and were frisking him at the security desk. The face of the dead man looked vaguely familiar.

“He’s that preacher who made the news, remember?” Grover asked.

“Oh, yeah.” She did remember now. They’d seen him on tv a couple times at the Yancy Academy dorm common room. A corrupt preacher who’d been stealing money from charities and his church to spend on himself. He’d died in a police chase when his ‘Lamborghini for the Lord’ went off a cliff.

“What are they doing to him?” Andie asked.

“Special punishment from Hades,” Grover guessed. “The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur- the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him.”

The thought of the Furies made her shudder. Andie realized she was in their home territory now. Old Mrs. Dodds would be licking her lips with anticipation.

Andie frowned as a thought occurred to her. “But if he’s a preacher, and he believes in a different hell…”

Grover shrugged. “Who says he’s seeing this place the way we’re seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You’re very stubborn-er, persistent, that way.”

They got closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now, it shook the ground at her feet, but Andie still couldn’t see Cerberus.

Then, about fifty feet in front of them, the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster.

Andie hadn’t seen it before because it was half transparent. Until it moved, it blended with whatever was behind it. Only its eyes and teeth looked solid.

And it was staring straight at Andie.

Andie’s jaw hung open. All she could think to say was, “He’s a Rottweiler.”

She’d always imagined Cerberus as a big black mastiff. But he was obviously a purebred Rottweiler, except, of course, that he was twice the size of a woolly mammoth, mostly invisible, and had three heads.

The dead walked right up to him- no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his two front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.

“I’m starting to see him better,” Andie muttered. “Why is that.”

“I think…” Anthony moistened his lips. “I’m afraid it’s because we’re getting closer to being dead.”

The dog’s middle head craned toward them. It sniffed the air and growled.

“It can smell the living.” Andie’s voice was hoarse.

“But that’s okay,” Grover said, trembling to her left. “Because we have a plan.”

“Right,” Anthony responded at her right side. She’d never heard his voice sound quite so small. “A plan.”

They moved toward the monster.

The middle head snarled at them, then barked so loud Andie’s eyes rattled.

“Can you understand it?” Andie asked Grover.

“Oh, yeah,” he breathed. “I can understand it.”

“What’s it saying?”

“I don’t think humans have a four letter word that translates, exactly.”

Andie took the big stick out of her backpack- a bedpost she’d broken off Crusty’s Safari Deluxe floor model. She held it up, and tried to channel happy dog thoughts towards Cerberus- cute puppies, fire hydrants, bacon. She tried to smile like she wasn’t about to die.

“Hey, Big Guy,” she called up. “I bet they don’t play with you, much.”

Cerberus growled loudly.

“Good boy,” Andie said weakly.

She waved the stick. The dog’s middle head followed the movement. The other two heads trained their eyes on Andie, completely ignoring the spirits. She had Cerberus’ undivided attention.

She wasn’t sure that was a good thing.

“Fetch!” Andie through the stick into the gloom, a good, solid throw. She heard it splash into the River Styx.

Cerberus glared at her, unimpressed. His eyes were baleful and cold.

So much for the plan.

Cerberus was now making a new kind of growl, deeper down in his three throats.

“Um, Andie?” Grover called.

“Yeah?”

“Just thought you’d wanna know…”

“Yeah?”

“Cerberus? He’s saying we’ve got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that…well…he’s hungry.”

“Wait!” Anthony startled. He started rifling through his pack.

‘Uh-oh,’ Andie thought.

“Five seconds,” Grover reminded. “Do we run now?”

Anthony produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labeled ‘Waterland, Denver, CO’. Before Andie could stop him, he raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus.

“You see the ball?” He shouted. “You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!”

Cerberus looked as stunned as they were.

All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils flared.

“Sit!” Anthony commanded, again.

Andie’s heart thumped in her chest, sure that any moment, Anthony would become the world’s largest Milkbone dog biscuit.

But instead, Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who’d been passing underneath in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires.

“Good boy!” Anthony called. He threw Cerberus the ball.

He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

“Drop it!” Anthony ordered.

Cerberus’ heads stopped fighting and looked at him. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Anthony’s feet.

“Good boy.” He picked up the ball, ignoring the monster slobber all over it.

He turned towards Andie and Grover. “Go now, EZ DEATH line- it’s faster.”

Andie began to protest, “But-“

“Now!” He ordered in the same tone he was using on the dog.

She and Grover inched forward warily.

“Stay!” Anthony ordered the monster. “If you want the ball, stay!”

Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

“What about you?” Andie asked Anthony lowly as they passed him.

“I know what I’m doing, Andie,” he muttered. “At least, I’m pretty sure…”

Andie and Grover walked between the monsters legs.

Andie prayed that Anthony wouldn’t tell the dog to sit again.

They made it through.

“Good dog!” They heard Anthony call.

Between the monster’s legs, they could see him hold up the tattered red ball, and probably came to the same conclusion Andie did- if he rewarded Cerberus, there’d be nothing left for another trick.

He threw the ball anyway. The monster’s left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest.

While the monster was distracted, Anthony walked briskly under its belly and joined them at the metal detector.

“How did you do that?” Andie asked, amazed.

“Obedience school,” he said breathlessly, and Andie was surprised to see his eyes shining a bit. “When I was a kid, at my dad’s house, we had a Doberman…”

“Never mind that,” Grover said, tugging at Andie’s arm. “Come on!”

They were about to bolt through the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three mouths. Anthony stopped.

He turned to face the dog, who had done a one eighty to look at the trio.

Cerberus panted expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at his feet.

“Good boy,” Anthony said, but his voice sounded melancholy and uncertain. The monster’s heads turned sideways, as if worried about him.

“I’ll bring you another ball soon,” Anthony promised faintly. “Would you like that?”

The monster whimpered. Andie didn’t need to speak dog to know Cerberus was still waiting for the ball.

“Good dog. I’ll come visit you soon. I- I promise.” Anthony turned back to them. “Let’s go.”

Grover and Andie pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights. “Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!”

Cerberus started to bark.

They burst through EZ DEATH gate, which set even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld.

A few minutes later, they were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for back up from the Furies.

“Well, Andie,” Grover murmured. “What have we learned today?”

“That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?”

“No. We’ve learned that your plans really fucking bite!”

Andie wasn’t so sure about that. She thought maybe she and Anthony had both had the right idea. Even here in the Underworld, everybody- even monstrous, three-headed guard dogs- needed a little attention once in a while.

She thought about that as they waited for the ghouls to pass. She pretended not to see Anthony swipe at his eyes as he listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend.

It only lasted a few minutes. Once the security ghouls had passed, they stayed hunkered down for just a bit long to be sure they had truly moved along before crawling out of their hiding spot.

They found themselves in the Fields of Asphodel.

It was completely packed, reminding Andie of pictures and videos she’d seen of those giant music festivals, except there was no noise, no light, just whispers of ghosts milling around in the shadows. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees like the one they’d hid in- poplars, according to Grover-grew in sporadic clumps.

Andie, Anthony, and Grover tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls. Andie couldn’t help but look for familiar faces among the spirits of Asphodel, but the dead are hard to look at. Their faces shimmer. They all look slightly angry or confused. They will come up to you and speak, but their voices sound like chatter, like cats chittering at birds. Once they realize you can’t understand them, they frown and move away.

The dead aren’t scary, Andie had come to realize. They’re just sad.

It was kind of heartbreaking.

They crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read: ‘JUDGEMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION. Welcome, Newly Deceased!’

Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines. To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path towards the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the torture areas. Even from far away, Andie could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, or forced to run naked through cactus patches. She could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-sized figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top. There were worse forms of torture, too…so, so much worse.

The line coming from the right side of the judgement pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls- a gated community that seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history- Roman villas, medieval castles, and Victorian mansions… Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. Andie could hear laughter and smell incredible food cooking.

Elysium.

In the middle of the valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands, like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times had achieved Elysium. Immediately, Andie knew that’s where she wanted to go when she died.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Anthony said, like he was reading her thoughts. “That’s the place for heroes.”

But Andie thought of how few people there were in Elysium, how tiny it was compared to the Fields of Asphodel, or even the Fields of Punishment. So few people did good in their lives. It was depressing.

They left the judgement pavilion and moved deeper into Asphodel. It got darker. The colors faded from their clothes. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three dark batlike creatures: the Furies. Andie got the feeling they were waiting for them.

“I suppose it’s too late to turn back,” Grover said wistfully.

“We’ll be okay.” Andie tried to sound confident.

“Maybe we should search some of the other places first,” Grover suggested. “Like, Elysium, for instance.”

“C’mon, goat boy,” Anthony grabbed his arm.

Grover yelped. His sneakers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from Anthony. He landed flat on his back in the grass.

“Grover,” Anthony huffed. “Stop messing around.”

“But I didn’t-“

He yelped again. His shoes were flapping like crazy now. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from Andie and Anthony.

“Maia!” He yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect. “Maia, already! Nine-one-one! Help!”

Andie got over being stunned and made a grab for Grover’s hand, but it was too late. He was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled.

They ran after him.

Anthony shouted at him to untie his shoes, which was a smart idea, but apparently more difficult in practice when your shoes happen to be pulling you along feet first at full speed. Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn’t get close to the laces.

They kept after him, trying to keep in sight as he slipped between the legs of spirits who chattered at him in annoyance.

Andie was sure Grover was going to barrel straight through the gates of Hades’ palace, but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.

The slope got steeper. Grover picked up speed. The demigods had to full out sprint to keep up. The cavern walls narrowed on either side, and Andie realized they’d entered some kind of side tunnel. No black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above.

“Grover!” Andie’s shout echoed off the walls. “Hold onto something!”

“What?” He yelled back.

He was grabbing at gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down.

The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on Andie’s arms bristled. It smelled evil down there. It made her think of things she shouldn’t even know about- blood spilled on an ancient stone altar, the foul breath of a murderer.

Then, Andie saw what was ahead of them, and stopped dead in her tracks.

The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block.

Grover was sliding straight toward the edge.

“C’mon, Andie!” Anthony yelled, pulling her wrist.

“But that’s-“

“I know!” He shouted. “The place you described in your dream! But Grover’s going to fall if we don’t catch him!”

He was right, of course. Grover’s predicament got Andie moving again.

Her best friend was yelling, clawing at the ground, but the winged shoes kept dragging him toward the pit, and it didn’t look like they could possibly get to him in time.

What saved him were his hooves.

The sneakers had always been a bit loose, even with the fake feet. Grover had finally hit a big rock and the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness and down into the chasm. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but not nearly as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing onto the big rock and using it as an anchor.

He was ten feet from the edge of the pit when they caught him and hauled him back up the slope. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around them angrily, and kicked their heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin.

The group collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. Andie’s limbs felt like lead. Even her backpack seemed heavier, as if someone had filled it with bricks.

Grover was scratched up pretty bad. His hands were bleeding. His eyes had gone slit-pupiled, the way they did when he was terrified.

“I dunno know how…” he panted. “I didn’t…”

“Wait,” Andie said lowly. “Listen.”

She heard something- a whisper in the darkness.

Another few seconds and Anthony spoke up, “Andie, this place-“

“Shhhh.” Andie stood.

The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below them. Coming from the pit.

Grover sat up. “Wh-what’s that noise?”

Anthony heard it now, too. She could see it in his eyes. “Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus.”

Andie uncapped Anaklusmos.

The bronze sword gleamed in the darkness, and the evil voice seemed to falter, just for a moment, before resuming it’s chant. She could almost make out words now, ancient, ancient words, older even than Greek. As if…

“Magic,” Andie whispered.

“What have to get out of here,” Anthony urged.

Together, they dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. Andie’s legs wouldn’t move fast enough. Her backpack weighed her down. The voice got louder and angrier behind them, and they broke into a run.

Not a moment too soon.

A cold blast of wind pulled at their backs, as if the entire pit were inhaling. For a terrifying moment, Andie lost ground, her feet slipping in the gravel. If they’d been any closer to the edge, they would’ve been sucked in.

They kept struggling forward, and finally reached the end of the tunnel, where the cavern widened out in the Fields of Asphodel. The wind died. A wail of outrage echoed from deep in the tunnel. Something was not happy they’d gotten away.

“What was that?” Grover panted when they’d collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove. “One of Hades’ pets?”

Andie and Anthony exchanged looks. She could tell the son of Athena was nursing an idea, probably the same one he’d had during the taxi ride to LA, but he was too scared to share. That was enough to terrify Andie.

Andie capped her sword and slipped the pen into her back pocket. “Let’s keep going.” She looked at Grover. “Can you walk?”

He swallowed. “Yeah, sure. I never like those shoes, anyway.”

He tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling as bad as Andie and Anthony were. Whatever was in that pit was nobody’s pet. It was unspeakably old and powerful. She was almost relieved to turn her back on that tunnel and head toward the palace of Hades.

Almost.

When they got to the gates, the Furies were still circling the parapets, high in the gloom. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-bronze gates stood wide open. Up close, Andie saw that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some older, some more modern, but all of them looked as if they’d been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. She wondered if she was looking at prophecies that had come true.

Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden Andie had ever seen. Multi-colored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as her fist, clumps of raw diamonds. Standing randomly throughout the garden like frozen party guests were Medusa’s garden statues, all smiling grotesquely.

In the center of the garden was and orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blossoms neon bright in the dark. “The garden of Persephone,” Anthony said. “Keep moving.”

Andie understood why he wanted to keep moving. The tart smell of those pomegranates was almost overwhelming. She had a sudden desire to eat them, but she knew Persephone’s story. She pulled Grover away to keep him from picking a big juicy fruit.

They walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above.

Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some in tattered US military fatigues. They carried spears or muskets or automatic rifles. None of them bothered the trio, but their hollow sockets followed them as they walked down the hall, toward the big set of doors at the opposite end.

Two US Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at them, grenade launchers held across their chests.

Andie’s backpack weighed a ton now. She couldn’t figure out why. She wanted to open it to check if she had picked up a stray bowling ball, but this wasn’t the time.

“Well, boys,” Andie said. “I suppose we should…knock?”

A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside.

“I guess that means entrez-vous,” Anthony said.

The room inside looked just like it had in her dream, except this time the throne of Hades was occupied.

He was the third god she’d met, but the first who had really struck her as god-like.

He was at least ten feet tall, for starters, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was stark white, his hair shoulder length and jet black. He wasn’t obnoxiously bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.

Andie immediately felt like he should be giving the orders. He knew more than she did. He should be her master. Then, she told herself to snap out of it.

Hades’ aura was affecting her, just as Ares’ had. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures she’d seen of Hitler or Napoleon. Hades had the same intense eyes, the same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma.

“You are brave to come here, Daughter of Poseidon,” he said in an oily voice. “After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or, perhaps, you are simply very foolish.”

Numbness crept into Andie’s joints, tempting her to lie down and just…take a little nap at Hades’ feet. Curl up and sleep forever.

She fought the feeling and stepped forward. She knew what she had to say. “Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests.”

Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. The ADHD part of Andie wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get sewn into Hades’ underwear?

“Only two requests?” Hades asked. “Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet.”

Andie swallowed. This was going about as well as she feared.

She glanced at the empty, smaller throne next to Hades’. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. She wished Queen Persephone were here. Andie recalled something in the myths about how she would calm her husband’s moods. But it was summer. Of course, Persephone would be about in the world of light with her mother, Demeter.

Anthony cleared his throat and prodded her in the back.

“Lord Hades,” Andie started. “Look, sir, there can’t be a war among the gods. It would be…bad.”

“Really bad,” Grover added helpfully.

“Return Zeus’ Master Bolt to me,” Andie said. “Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus.”

Hades’ eyes grew dangerously bright. “You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?”

Andie glanced back at the boys. They looked as confused as she was.

“Um…Uncle, you keep saying ‘after what you’ve done’. What, exactly, have I done?”

The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.

Hades bellowed, “Do you think I want war, godling?”

Andie wanted to snark that the soldiers currently lining the walls didn’t exactly look like pacifists, but she managed to hold her tongue.

“You are the Lord of the Dead,” she said carefully. “A war would expand your kingdom, right?”

“A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?”

“Well…”

“Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone? How many subdivisions I’ve had to open?”

Andie opened her mouth to respond, but Hades was on a roll, now.

“More security ghouls,” he moaned. “Traffic problems at the judgement pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Andromeda Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!”

“Charon wants a pay raise,” Andie blurted out, just remembering the fact. As soon as she said it, she wished she could sew her mouth shut.

“Don’t get me started on Charon!” Hades yelled. “He’s been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I’ve got to handle them all, personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. No, godling. I need no help getting subjects! I did not ask for this war.”

“But you took Zeus’ Master Bolt.”

“Lies!” More rumbling. Hades rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goalpost. “Your father may fool Zeus, girl, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan.”

“His plan?”

“You were the thief on the winter solstice,” He growled. “Your father thought to keep you his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus. You took the Master Bolt and my Helm. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might’ve succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon’s thief, and I will have my Helm back!”

“But…” Anthony spoke up. I could tell his mind was going a million miles and hour. “Lord Hades, your Helm of Darkness is missing, too?”

“Do not play innocent with me, boy. You and the satyr have been helping this hero- coming here to threaten me in Poseidon’s name, no doubt- to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?”

“No!” Andie exclaimed. “Poseidon didn’t- I didn’t-“

“I have said nothing of the Helm’s disappearance,” Hades snarled. “Because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you.”

“You didn’t try to stop us? But-“

“Return my Helm now, or I will stop death,” Hades threatened. “That is my counterproposal. I will order Thanatos to leave his post. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Andromeda Jackson- your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades.”

The skeletal soldiers took one step forward, making their weapons ready.

At this point, Andie probably should’ve been terrified. The strange thing? She felt more offended than anything else. Very, very few things pissed her off more than being accused of something she didn’t do. She’d been getting a lot more of that than usual lately, and she was beyond over it.

“You as bad as Zeus,” she snarled. “You think I stole from you? That’s why you sent the Furies after me?”

“Of course,” Hades said.

“And the other monsters?”

Hades curled his lip. “I had nothing to do with them. I wanted no quick death for you- I wanted you brought before me alive so you might face every torture in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you enter my kingdom so easily?”

“Easily?”

“Return my property!”

“I. Don’t. Have it! I came for the Master Bolt.”

“Which you already possess!” Hades shouted. “You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could threaten me!”

“But I didn’t!”

“Open your pack, then.”

Andie’s heart sank into her stomach, a wave of horror washing over her. The weight in her backpack…it couldn’t be…

She slung it off her shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.

“Andie,” Anthony called in horror. “How-“

“I-I don’t know. I don’t understand.”

“You heroes are always the same,” Hades sneered. “Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus’ Master Bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now…my Helm. Where is it?”

Andie was speechless. She had no Helm. She had no idea how the Master Bolt had gotten into her backpack. She wanted to think Hades was pulling some kind of trick. Hades was the bad guy. But suddenly the world turned sideways. She realized she’d been played with. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had been set at each other’s throats by someone else, entirely. The Master Bolt had been in the backpack, and she’d gotten the backpack from…

“Ares…” she whispered in horror. ‘Don’t trust the gifts’, Amphy had told her. Fuck.

“Lord Hades, wait,” she said, louder now. “This is all a mistake.”

“A mistake?!” Hades roared.

The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master’s throne. The one with Mrs. Dodds’ face grinned at Andie eagerly and flicked her whip.

“There is no mistake,” Hades growled. “I know why you have come- I know the real reason you brought the Bolt. You came to bargain for her.”

Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of Andie, and there was her mother, frozen in a shower of gold, just as she was when the Minotaur began to squeeze her to death.

Andie couldn’t speak. She reached out to her mother, but the light was as hot as a bonfire.

“Yes,” Hades crooned with satisfaction. “I took her. I knew, Andromeda Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me, eventually. Return my helm, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change.”

She thought about the pearls in her pocket. Maybe they could get out of this. If she could just get her mom free…

“Ah, the pearls,” Hades said, and Andie’s blood froze. “Yes, my brother and sister-in-law, and their little tricks. Bring them forth, Andromeda Jackson.”

Her hand moved against her will and brought out the pearls.

“Only three,” Hades mused. “What a shame. You do realize each only protects a single person. Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms.”

Andie looked at Anthony and Grover. Their faces were grim.

“We were tricked,” she told them. “Set up.”

“Yes, but why?” Anthony asked. “And the voice in the pit-“

“I don’t know yet,” she said. “But I intend to ask.”

“Decide, girl!” Hades yelled.

“Andie.” Grover put his hand on her shoulder. “You can’t give him the Bolt.”

“I know.”

“Leave me here,” he said. “Use the third pearl on your mom.”

“No!”

“I’m a satyr,” Grover said. “We don’t have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won’t get me forever. I’ll just be reincarnated as a flower, or something. It’s the best way.”

“No.” Anthony drew his bronze knife. “You two go on. Grover, you have to protect Andie. You have to get your searcher’s license and start your quest for Pan. Get her mom out of here. I’ll cover you. I plan to go down fighting.”

“No way,” Grover insisted. “I’m your protector, too, Anthony. I’m staying behind.”

“Think again, goat boy.” Anthony glared.

“Stop it, both of you!” Andie felt like her heart was being ripped in two. These boys had both been with her through so much. She’d spent thousands of miles worried that she’d be betrayed by a friend, but these friends would never do that. They had done nothing but save Andie over and over, and now they wanted to sacrifice their lives for her mother.

“I know what to do,” Andie said quietly. “Take these.”

She placed a pearl in each of their palms.

Anthony looked at her with wide, fearful eyes. “Andie…”

She held the bottom of his hand and curled his fingers into his palm before giving him a small smile.

Andie turned and faced her mother. She desperately wanted to sacrifice herself and use the last pearl on her, but Andie knew what she would say. She’d never allow it. Andie had to get the Bolt back to Olympus and tell Zeus the truth. She had to stop the war. Her mother would never forgive Andie if she saved her instead.

Andie thought about the prophecy made at Camp Half-Blood, what seemed like a million years ago. ‘You will fail to save what matters most in the end.’

“Desculpe,” she whispered to her mother. “Eu voltarei, darei um jeito.”

The smug look on Hades’ face faded. “Godling…?”

“I’ll find your helm, Uncle,” she told him. “I’ll return it. Remember what I said about Charon’s pay raise.”

“Do not defy me-“

“And it wouldn’t hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls.”

“Andromeda Jackson, you will not-“

“Now, guys!” Andie shouted.

They smashed the pearls at their feet. For a scary moment, nothing happened. Hades called for his army to attack. Just as the Harpies lunged and the skeletons opened fire, the pearl fragments exploded with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. She was encased in a milky white sphere, which started to float of the ground.

The boys were right behind her. Spears and bullets ricocheted harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as they floated up. Hades yelled with such rage, the entire fortress shook.

“Look up!” Grover yelled. “We’re going to crash!”

Sure enough, they were racing straight for the stalactites, which Andie figured would pop their bubbles and skewer them.

“How do you control these things?” Anthony shouted.

“I don’t think you do!” Andie shrieked back.

They all screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and…nothing.

No…not nothing…they weren’t dead, Andie could still feel the racing sensation. They were rising through solid rock as easily as an air bubble in water. That was the power of the pearls, Andie realized. ‘What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.’

For a few moments, Andie couldn’t see anything outside the smooth walls of her sphere, then her peal broke through the ocean floor. Anthony and Grover, still in their own bubbles, kept pace with her as they soared upward through the water.

They exploded in the middle of Santa Monica Bay. Andie grabbed Grover and hauled him over to a buoy, before catching hold of Anthony and doing the same.

Somehow, Andie knew what time it was: early in the morning, June 21^st, the day of the summer solstice.

In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, alright, and it was Hades’ fault. He was probably sending an army of the dead after her at that very moment.

Somehow, that wasn’t her biggest problem.

She had to get to shore. She had to get Zeus’ Bolt back to Olympus.

Most of all, Andie had to have a serious conversation with the god who tricked her.

Chapter Text

When the Coast Guard boat appeared, Andie silently prayed they wouldn’t pick her up out of the water and find her perfectly dry, which would’ve raised some eyebrows. She willed herself, with relieving success, to get soaked. Anthony pulled off his shoes to hand to Grover- better the Coast Guard wonder why one of them was barefoot than why one of them had hooves.

For better or worse, the Guard was too busy to keep them for long, or to wonder how three kids in street clothes had gotten out into the middle of the bay. There was a disaster to mop up. Their radios were jammed with distress calls.

They got dropped off at the Santa Monica pier. They stumbled down the beach to the sight of a burning city. Andie stared at the city, but wasn't really seeing it. She felt like she’d just come back from the dead.

Which…was probably an accurate description, if she were being totally honest.

Her backpack was heavy with Zeus’ Master Bolt.

Her heart was even heavier from seeing her mother.

“I don’t believe it,” Anthony grit out.

“It was a trick,” Andie responded. She couldn’t quite pinpoint the emotion that was wavering her voice- Anger? Fear? Was it just the adrenaline? “A strategy worthy of Athena.”

“Hey,” the blonde warned.

Andie whirled on him, pinning him with a glare. “You get it, don’t you?”

Anthony dropped his eyes, his anger fading. “Yeah. I get it.”

“Well, I don’t!” Grover interrupted. “Would somebody-“

“Andie…” Anthony’s voice was tight. “I’m sorry about your mother. I’m so-“

“Please don’t,” Andie whispered. She couldn’t do this right now. If she tried to talk about it, she was going to start sobbing uncontrollably, and she didn’t want the boys to see her crying like a little kid.

“The prophecy was right,” She said instead. “’You shall go west and face the god who has turned.’ But the god wasn’t Hades. Hades didn’t want war among the Big Three. Someone else pulled off the theft. Someone stole Zeus’ Master Bolt, and Hades’ Helm, and framed me because I’m Poseidon’s kid. Poseidon will get blamed by both sides. By sundown today, there will be a three-way war. And I’ll have caused it.”

Grover shook his head, mystified. “But who would be that sneaky? Who would want war that bad?”

Andie stopped in her tracks, looking down the beach. “Shit, let me think.”

There he was, waiting for them, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its headlight turning the sand red.

“Hey, brat,” Ares greeted, seeming genuinely pleased to see her. “You were supposed to die.”

“You tricked me,” Andie snarled. “You stole the Helm and the Bolt.”

Ares grinned. “Well, now, I didn’t steal them personally. Gods taking each other’s symbols of power- that’s a big no-no. But you’re not the only hero in the world who can run errands.”

“Who did you use? Clarisse? She was there at the winter solstice.”

The idea seemed to amuse him. “Doesn’t matter. The point is, brat, you’re impeding the war effort. See, you’ve got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus’ Master Bolt, so Zeus’ll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this…”

From his pocket he took out a balaclava and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet.

“The Helm of Darkness,” Grover gasped.

“Exactly,” Ares said. “Now, where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn’t know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going.”

“But they’re your family!” Anthony protested.

Ares shrugged. “Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say.”

“You gave me the backpack in Denver,” Andie stated. “The Master Bolt was in there the whole time.”

“Yes and no,” Ares responded. “It’s probably too complicated for your little mortal brain to follow, but the backpack is the Master Bolt’s sheath, just morphed it a bit. The Bolt is connected to it, sort of like that sword you got, brat. It always returns to your pocket, right?”

Andie wasn’t sure how he knew that, but she assumed a god of war had to make it his business to know about weapons.

“Anyway,” the god continued. “I tinkered with the magic a bit, so the bolt would only return to the sheath once you reached the Underworld. You get close to Hades…bingo. You got mail. If you died along the way- no loss. I still had the weapon.”

“But why not just keep the Master Bolt for yourself?” Andie asked. “Why send it to Hades?”

Ares suddenly developed a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head. “Why didn’t I…yeah…with that kind of power…”

He held the trance for several long seconds. Andie exchanged nervous looks with Anthony.

Ares’ face cleared. “I didn’t want the trouble. Better to have you caught red-handed, holding the thing.”

“You’re lying,” Andie realized. She narrowed her eyes. “Sending the Bolt to the Underworld wasn’t your idea, was it?”

“Of course it was!” Smoke drifted up from his sunglasses, as if they were about to catch fire.

“You didn’t order the theft,” Andie guessed, shaking her head. “Someone else sent a hero to steal the two items. Then, when Zeus sent you to hunt him down, you caught the thief. But you didn’t turn them over to Zeus. Something convinced you to let them go. You kept the items until anther hero could come along and complete the delivery. That thing in the pit is ordering you around.”

“I am the god of war!” he bellowed. “I take orders from no one! I don’t have dreams!”

Andie hesitated. Interesting. “Who said anything about dreams?”

Ares looked agitated, but he tried to cover it with a smirk.

“Let’s get back to the problem at hand, brat. You’re alive. I can’t have you taking that Bolt to Olympus. You just might get those hardheaded bastards to listen to you. So I’ve got to kill you. Nothing personal.”

He snapped his fingers. The sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above Cabin Five back at Camp. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at her with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.

Andie stepped into the surf. “Fight me yourself, Ares.”

He laughed, but she could make out a little edge to his laughter…an uneasiness. “You’ve only got one talent, princess. Running away. You ran from the Chimera. You ran from the Underworld. You don’t have what it takes.”

“Scared?”

“In your adolescent, princess dreams.” But his sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. “No direct involvement. Sorry, brat. You’re not at my level.”

“Andie, run!” Anthony shouted.

The giant boar charged.

But Andie was done running.

From monsters.

From gods.

From…

As the boar rushed her, she uncapped her pen and side-stepped. Riptide appeared in her hands and she slashed upward. The boar’s severed right tusk fell at her feet, while the disoriented animal charged into the sea.

Andie thrust a hand out and concentrated hard, summoning a wave up from nowhere and engulfing the boar. The beast squealed once in terror before it was swallowed by the sea.

She turned back to Ares. “Are you gonna fight me now?” She taunted. “Or are you gonna hide behind another pet pig?”

Ares’ face was purple with rage. “Watch it, brat. I could turn you into-“

“A cockroach?” Andie cocked her head. “Ooh- or a tapeworm. Yeah, I’m sure. That’d save you from getting your godly ass whooped, wouldn’t it?”

Flames danced along the top of his glasses. “Oh, damn, you are really asking to be smashed into a shit-stain.”

“If I lose, turn me into anything you want. Take the Bolt. If I win, the Helm and the Bolt are mine and you have to get lost.”

Ares sneered.

He swung the baseball bat off his shoulder. “How would you like to get smashed? Classic or modern?”

Andie raised an eyebrow, and spun her sword at her side.

“That’s cool, dead girl,” he said. “Classic it is.”

The baseball bat changed into a huge, two-handed sword. The hold was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.

“Andie,” Anthony gripped her wrist. “Don’t do this. He’s a god.”

“He’s a coward,” she growled.

His eyebrows furrowed together as he frowned. “Wear this, at least. For luck.”

He took off his necklace, with his five years’ worth of camp beads and the ring from his father, and tied it around her neck. Despite the impatient god nearby ready to smash her to a pulp, he took the time to keep her hair from getting tangled in the knot of the cord.      

“Reconciliation,” he stated quietly. “Athena and Poseidon together.”

Her face felt more than a little warm and, as she prayed Anthony couldn’t tell, she gave him a smile. “Thanks.”

“And take this,” Grover added. He handed her a flattened tin can that he’d probably been saving in his pocket for a thousand miles. “The satyrs stand behind you.”

“Grover…I don’t know what to say.”

He gave her squeeze on the shoulder. She stuffed the tin can into her back pocket.

“You all done saying goodbye?” Ares came towards her, her black leather duster trailing behind him, and his sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. “I’ve been fighting for eternity, princess. My strength is unlimited and I can’t die. What have you got?”

‘A smaller ego,’ she thought, but managed not to voice aloud. She kept her feet in the surf, backing into the water up to her ankles. She thought back to what Anthony had said at the Denver diner so long ago: ‘Ares has strength. That’s all he has. Even strength has to bow down to wisdom, sometimes.’

He cleaved downward at her head, but she wasn’t there.

Andie’s body thought for her. The water seemed to push her into the air and she catapulted over him, slashing as she came down. But Ares was just as quick. He twisted, and the strike that should’ve caught him directly in the spine was deflected off the end of his sword hilt.

His grin was nearly as sharp as his sword. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

He slashed again and Andie was forced to jump onto dry land. She tried to sidestep, to get back to the water, but Ares seemed to know what she wanted. He outmaneuvered her, pressing so hard Andie had to put all her concentration on not getting sliced to pieces. She kept backing away from the surf, unable to find any openings to attack. His sword had a reach several feet longer than Anaklusmos.

‘Get in close,’ Luke had once told her, back in their one-on-one sword lessons. ‘When you’ve got the shorter blade, get in close.’

Andie stepped in with a thrust, but Ares was waiting for that. He knocked her blade out of her hands and kicked her in the chest. She went airborne for nearly thirty feet. Her back would’ve snapped if she hadn’t crashed into the soft sand of a dune.

“Andie!” Anthony yelled from afar. “Cops!”

But she was seeing double. Her chest felt like it had just been hit with a battering ram- it was a miracle her skeleton hadn’t caved in on impact- but she managed to get to her feet. She couldn’t look away from Ares for fear he’d slice her in half, but out of the corner of her eye she saw red lights flashing on the shoreline boulevard.

“There, officer!” Someone yelled. “See?”

A gruff voice replied, “Looks like that kid on tv…what the hell…”

“That guy’s armed,” Another cop noted. “Call for backup.”

Andie rolled to one side as Ares’ sword slashed the sand. She ran for her sword, scooped it up, and launched a swipe at Ares’ face, only to once again find her blade deflected.

Ares seemed to know exactly what she was going to do before she did it.

She stepped back toward the surf, forcing the god to follow.

“Admit it, brat,” Ares taunted. “You got no hope. I’m just toying with you.”

Andie’s senses were working overtime. She finally understood what Anthony had said about ADHD keeping you alive in battle. She was wide awake, noticing every little detail.

She could see where Ares was tensing. She could tell which way he would strike. At the same time, she was aware of Anthony and Grover, thirty feet to her left. She saw a second cop car pulling up, siren wailing. Spectators, people who had been wandering the streets because of the earthquake were starting to gather. Among the crowd, she thought she saw a few who were walking with the strange, trotting gait of disguised satyrs. There were shimmering forms of spirits, too, as if the dead had risen from Hades to watch the battle- though where most of them were the familiar grey, wandering shells of souls, she could’ve sworn there were a few that shimmered purple, and seemed to be looking on with much more awareness.

Andie heard the flap of leathery wings circling somewhere above.

More sirens.

Andie stepped farther into the water, but Ares was fast. The tip of his blade ripped her sleeve and grazed her arm.

A police officer on a megaphone ordered, “Drop the guns! Set them on the ground. Now!”

Guns?

She looked at Ares’ weapon, and it seemed to be flicking; sometimes it looked like a shotgun, sometimes a two-handed sword. Andie wasn’t sure what the mortals were seeing in her own hands, but she was pretty sure it wouldn’t make them like her.

Ares turned to glare at their spectators, which gave her a moment to breathe. There were five cop cars, now, and a line of officers crouched behind them, pistols trained at her and Ares.

“This is a private matter!” Ares bellowed. “Be gone!”

He swept his hand, and a wall of red flame rolled across the patrol cars. The police barely had time to dive for cover before their vehicles exploded. The crowd behind them scattered, screaming.

Ares roared with laughter. “Now, little hero. Let’s add you to the barbecue.”

He slashed. Andie deflected his blade. She got close enough to strike, and tried to fake him out with a feint, but her blow was knocked aside. The waves were hitting her in the back now. Ares was up to his thighs, wading in after her.

Andie felt the rhythm of the sea, the waves growing larger as the tide rolled in, and suddenly she had an idea.

‘Little waves,’ she thought. And the water behind her started to recede. She was holding back the tide by sheer force of will, but the tension was building, like a rubber band ready to snap.

Ares stalked forward, grinning confidently. Andie lowered her blade, as if she were too exhausted to go on.

‘Wait for it,’ she told the sea. The pressure was now nearly lifting her off her feet.

Ares raised his sword.

Andie released the tide and jumped, launching straight over Ares on a wave.

An eight foot wall of water smashed him full in the face, leaving him cursing and sputtering with a mouth full of seaweed. Andie landed behind him with a splash  and feinted toward his sword, but this time he was disoriented and didn’t anticipate the trick. She changed directions, lunging straight to the side and stabbed Riptide straight down into the water, sending the point through the god’s heel.

The roar that followed made Hades’ earthquake seem like nothing more than a loose floorboard. The very sea was blasted back from Ares, leaving a wet circle of sand fifty feet wide.

Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, flowed from a gash in the war god’s boot. The expression on his face was beyond hatred. It was pain. Shock. Complete disbelief that he’d been wounded.

He limped toward Andie, muttering Ancient Greek curses.

Something stopped him.

For a moment, Andie thought she may have had a concussion. Light faded. Sound and color drained away. A cold, heavy presence passed over the beach, slowing time, dropping the temperature to freezing, and making her feel like life was hopeless. Fighting was useless. None of this really mattered, so why was she even trying?

The darkness lifted.

Ares looked stunned.

Police cars were burning behind them. The crowd of spectators had fled. Anthony and Grover stood on the beach, in shock, watching the water flood back around Ares’ feet, his glowing golden ichor dissipating in the tide.

Ares lowered his sword.

“You have made an enemy, godling,” he growled at Andie. “You have sealed your fate. Every time you lift your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Andromeda Jackson. Beware.”

“Andie!” Anthony shouted. “Don’t look!”

She turned away as the god Ares revealed his true immortal form. Somehow, she knew that if she looked, she would disintegrate into ashes.

The light died.

When Andie looked back, Ares was gone. The tide rolled out to reveal Hades’ bronze Helm of Darkness. She picked it up and began to walk toward her friends.

But before she got there, she heard the flapping of leathery wings. Three evil-looking demon grandmothers with lace hats and fiery whips drifted down from the sky and landed in front of her.

The middle Fury, the one who had been Mrs. Dodds, stepped forward. Her fangs were bared, but for once, she didn’t look threatening. She looked more disappointed, as if she’d been planning to have Andie for supper, but had decided she might give her indigestion.

“We saw the whole thing,” the demon-bat-lady hissed. “So…it truly was not you?”

Andie tossed her the helmet, which she caught in surprise.

“Return that to Lord Hades,” Andie told her. “Tell him the truth. Tell him to call off the war.”

The Fury hesitated, then ran a forked tongue over her green, leathery lips. “Live well, Andromeda Jackson. Become a true hero. Because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again…”

She cackled, savoring the idea. Then, she and her sisters rose on their bats’ wings, fluttered into the smoke-filled sky, and disappeared.

Andie joined her boys, who were staring at her in amazement.

“Andie…” Grover breathed. “That was so incredibly…”

“Terrifying,” Anthony finished for him.

“Cool!” Grover corrected.

Andie didn’t feel terrified. She certainly didn’t feel cool. Really, she was just tired. She was so sore and completely drained of energy, she was pretty sure her next feat was going to be falling asleep standing up.

“Did you guys feel that…whatever it was?” she asked them.

They both nodded uneasily.

“Must’ve been the Furies overhead,” Grover suggested.

But Andie wasn’t so sure. Something had stopped Ares from killing her, and whatever could do that was a lot stronger than the Furies. She looked at Anthony, and an understanding passed between them. Andie knew now what was in that pit. What had spoken from the entrance of Tartarus.

She reclaimed her backpack from Grover and looked inside. The Master Bolt was still there. Such a small thing to almost cause World War III.

“We have to get back to New York,” Andie told them. “By tonight.”

“That’s impossible,” Anthony responded, shaking his head. “Unless we-“

“Fly,” she agreed.

The blonde stared at her. “Fly. Like, in an airplane. Which you were warned to never do, lest Zeus strike you out of the sky. And while carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?”

“Yep,” Andie chirped as she slung the backpack over her shoulder. “Pretty much exactly like that. Come on.”

For the first time, Andie really truly got to witness how warped a reality mortals lived in.

According to the LA News, the explosion at Santa Monica beach had been caused when a crazy kidnapper fired a shotgun at a police car. He accidentally hit a gas main that had ruptured during the earthquake.

Said crazy kidnapper (aka, Ares) was the same man who had abducted Andie and two adolescent boys in New York and brought them cross-country on a ten-day odyssey of terror.

Poor little Andie Jackson wasn’t an international criminal, after all. She’d caused a commotion on the Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from her captor. In hindsight, many witnesses even swore that they had seen the leather-clad man on the bus. The crazy man had caused the explosion in the St. Louis Arch. After all, no kid could’ve done that. A concerned waitress in Denver had seen the man threatening his abductees outside her diner, gotten her friend to take a picture, and notified the police.

Finally, brave Andie Jackson had stolen a gun from her captor in Los Angeles and had battle him shotgun-to-rifle on the beach. Police had arrived just in time. But in the spectacular explosion, five police cars had been destroyed and the captor had fled. No fatalities had occurred. Andie Jackson and her two friends were safely in police custody.

The reporters fed them this whole story. They just nodded and acted tearful and exhausted- which admittedly, wasn’t hard- and played victimized kids for the cameras.

“All I want,” Andie said, choking back her tears. “Is to see my loving stepfather again. Every time I saw him on tv, calling me a delinquent brat, I knew…somehow…that we would be okay. And I know he’ll want to reward each and every person in this beautiful city of Los Angeles with a free major appliance from his store. Here’s the phone number.”

The police and reporters were so moved that they passed around the hat and raised money for three tickets on the next plane to La Guardia Airport.

Andie knew there was no choice but to fly. She hoped Zeus would cut her some slack, considering she was she was trying to deliver his beloved Bolt. But it was still hard to force herself on board the flight.

Takeoff was a nightmare. Every spot of turbulence felt like she was about to get sent right back to her Uncle’s obsidian palace. Anthony tried to get her to unclench her hands from the armrests, but she remained white-knuckled until the plane touched down safely at La Guardia.

The local press was waiting for them outside security, but they managed to evade them thanks to Anthony, who lured them away in his invisible Yankees cap with a fake sighting.

Andie split from Anthony and Grover at the taxi stand.

“You guys need to get back to Camp,” she told them. “Let Chiron know what happened.”

Anthony raised an unamused brow. “You can help us tell him after we all get back to camp together.”

“We’ve come this far together,” Grover added. “We’re not splitting up, now.”

Andie shook her head, though her lungs constricted at the thought of splitting up after everything they’d been through together. “No, I…I was the one who got blamed for all this. I’m the one who needs to return the Bolt to Zeus. If something goes wrong…if the gods don’t believe me-“

“Then we’ll be there with you to have your back,” Anthony interrupted.

“Then you need to be able to tell Chiron and everyone else what all went down,” Andie corrected firmly. “He needs to hear it from the people that were actually there, and you need to tell him before anyone else can. We can’t let anyone twist the story.”

“We’re not letting you confront the King of the Gods alone, Andie.” Somehow, Anthony managed to sound both angry and panicked at the idea of Andie going up to Olympus by herself.

Andie took a deep breath, trying to tamp down the argument rising in her chest. She understood where he was coming from; he was worried, and just trying to look out for a friend. Andie would be doing the exact same thing if she were him. But gods, he was so fucking stubborn. She wondered how much it would take to out-stubborn him.

Grover grabbed one of her hands in both of his, staring at her with big, pleading eyes. “Nothing good happens when we split up. It’s like we told you in Hades’ palace, Andie- I’m your protector, and Anthony refuses to go down in any other way but a fight. We go together.”

Andie swallowed the lump in her throat, and gave him a watery smile. Her voice was hoarse, barely more than a whisper. “Not this time.”

“Andie…” Anthony’s voice was low in warning. She gave him the same admonishing look that her own mother had given her a thousand time before. Gods, her mother…

“I have this gut feeling that I need to finish this last part of the quest on my own,” she told her boys quietly. “Please.”

Grover and Anthony exchanged wary looks. After a silent moment, they both looked back at Andie. Grover’s small smile was reluctant, but understanding as he gave her hand a squeeze. Anthony’s expression looked like someone was holding a gun to his head and forcing him to answer through grit teeth, “Fine.”

“Thank you.”

She looked at Grover, who was watching her with watery eyes. With a soft smile, she pulled him into a hug, the satyr holding on to her just as tightly as she was him. After a moment, he pulled away, but kept her close enough to grip her shoulders.

“Be careful, Rom.”

“Me?” Andie asked with a forced smirk. “Always.”

Grover let out an incredulous bleat. She smiled at him again before turning to Anthony.

Andie reached out and hugged him, too. “It’s going to be fine,” she assured. Her voice cracked on the last word. So much for believing your own lie.

“Don’t jinx it,” Anthony muttered back in her ear. Andie pulled away from him, and lifted her hands to untie Anthony’s camp necklace that she still wore around her neck. Anthony reached out and caught her wrist, shaking his head.

“You can give it back to me when you get back to Camp, Seaweed Brain,” he told her. He left no room for argument. As if Andie not making it back to Camp was even an option. Her chest warmed at the confidence he had in her.

“You got it, Wise Guy,” she promised. He gave her a determined nod before stepping back and hailing a taxi.

Andie watched as they climbed into the car and disappeared into traffic, heading for Long Island.

With a deep breath, she hopped in a taxi of her own, and headed into Manhattan.

Thirty minutes later, she walked into the lobby of the Empire State Building.

She knew she must’ve looked like a homeless kid, with her tattered clothes and scraped up face. It probably didn’t help that she hadn’t slept in at least twenty-four hours.

Andie walked up to the guard at the front desk. “Six-hundredth floor, please.”

Whatever book he was reading must’ve been good, because the guard took a while to look up. “No such floor, sweetheart.”

“I need an audience with Zeus.”

He gave her a vacant smile. “Sorry?”

“You heard me.”

She was about to decide this guy was just a regular mortal, and she’d better run for it before he called the nearest asylum, when he said, “No appointment, no audience, sweetheart. Lord Zeus doesn’t see anyone unannounced.”

“Oh, I think he’ll make an exception.” Andie slipped off her backpack and unzipped the top.

The guard looked inside at the metal cylinder, seemingly not getting what it was for a few seconds. Then his face went pale. “That isn’t…”

“Oh, yes it is,” Andie promised. She cocked her head to the side. “You want me to take it out and-“

“No! No!” He scrambled out of his seat and fumbled around his desk for a key card before handing it to her. “Insert this in the security slot. Make sure nobody else is in the elevator with you.”

Andie did as he told her. As soon as the elevator doors closed, she slipped the key into the slot. The card disappeared and a new button appeared on the console, a red one that said ‘600’. She pressed it and waited.

And waited.

Her hands shook, though she couldn’t tell if it was from the uneasiness of being in the elevator, or the adrenaline rush at the idea of where she was headed.

The elevator finally dinged and the doors slid open. Andie stepped out and nearly had a fucking heart attack.

She was standing on a narrow stone walkway in the middle of the air. Below her was Manhattan, from the height of an airplane. In front of her, white marble steps wound up the spine of a cloud, into the sky. Andie’s eyes followed the stairway to its end, where her brain just...couldn’t accept what she was seeing.

It took several moments to convince herself that the sight before her was really there.

An entire city climbed up the snow-capped mountain side; marbled mansions and palaces gilded in gold and bronze glittered among smooth stone steps. Gardens bloomed along winding roads, with colorful open-aired markets, a stone amphitheater, a hippodrome, and a coliseum dotted throughout. It was an Ancient Greek city, except it wasn’t in ruins. It was new, and clean, and colorful, the way Athens must’ve looked thousands of years ago.

How was this place here? Just…floating over New York City like a billion-ton asteroid? How could something like this be anchored above the Empire State Building, in plain sight of millions of people, and not get noticed?

But here it was.

And here Andie was.

Her trip through Olympus was a daze. She absently noted the nymphs giggling in the gardens, and the nine muses gearing up for a concert, surrounded with what seemed to be minor gods and goddesses. Nobody seemed worried about an impending civil war. In fact, everybody seemed to be in a festive mood. Several of them turned to watch Andie pass, and whispered to themselves.

She climbed the main road, toward the biggest palace that gleamed at the peak of the mountain. It was a reverse copy of the palace in the Underworld. There, everything had been black and bronze. Here, everything glittered white, gold, and silver.

Andie realized that Hades must’ve built his palace to resemble this one. He wasn’t welcomed in Olympus except on the Winter Solstice, so he’d built his own Olympus underground. Despite her awful experience with him, she felt a little bad for her uncle. To be banished from this place seemed really unfair. It would make anybody bitter.

Steps led up to a central courtyard. Past that, the throne room.

If room was even the right word. Gods, she thought Grand Central Station was big, but it had nothing on this place. Massive columns rose to a domed ceiling hundreds of feet above her, which was gilded with moving constellations.

Twelve thrones, built for beings the size of Hades, just the bases standing at nearly double Andie’s height, were arranged in an inverted ‘U’, just like the cabins at Camp Half-Blood. An enormous fire crackled in the central hearth pit, the image of a young girl flickering in the flames. The thrones were empty except for two at the end: the head throne on the right, and the one to its immediate left.

Andie didn’t have to be told who the two gods were that were sitting there, waiting for her to approach. Her legs trembled as they carried her closer to them.

The gods were in giant human form, as Hades had been, but she could barely look at them without feeling like her skin was going to sizzle right off her bones.

Zeus, the King of the Gods, wore a dark blue pinstriped suit. He sat on a simple throne of solid platinum. He had a well-trimmed beard, marbled gray and black like a storm cloud. His face was proud and handsome and grim, his eyes a rainy blue-grey. As she got nearer to him, the air crackled and smelled of ozone.

The god sitting next to him with absolutely his brother, but he was dressed very differently. He reminded Andie of a stereotypical beach tourist. He wore Birkenstocks, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahama shirt patterned with coconuts and parrots. His skin was deeply tanned, his hands scarred like an old fisherman’s. His hair was the same shade of inky blue-black as Andie’s, and his face had the same brooding look that had always gotten herself branded a rebel. But his eyes, again the same swirling shades of sea-green as her own, were surrounded by sun-crinkles that told her he laughed a lot, too.

The whiff of the sea-breeze radiating off of him relaxed Andie, filling her with the overwhelming senses of home and belonging.

Poseidon’s throne was a deep-sea fisherman’s chair. It was the simple swivel kind, with a black leather seat and a built-in holster for a fishing pole. Instead of a pole, however, the holster held a bronze trident, flickering with green light around the tips.

The gods weren’t moving or speaking, but there was tension in the air, as if they’d just finished an argument.

Andie approached Poseidon’s throne and knelt at his feet. “Father.”

She dared not look up. Her heart was erratic, alternating between beating so fast she was pretty sure it was missing a few beats, and beating so hard, she could feel every thump against her ribcage. She could feel the sheer amount of power and energy emanating from the two gods. If she said the wrong thing, she had no doubt they would blast her into dust.

To her left, Zeus spoke, “Should you not address the master of this house first, girl?”

Andie kept her head down and waited.

“Peace, brother,” Poseidon finally said. His voice stirred her oldest memories: that warm glow she remembered as a baby; the sensation of this god’s hand on her forehead; the distant laughter of two women’s voices; a woman humming a tune that sounded unimaginably ancient. “The girl defers to her father. This is only right.”

“You still claim her, then?” Zeus sneered. “You claim this child whom you sired against our sacred oath?”

“I have admitted my wrongdoing,” Poseidon replied. “Now, I would hear her speak.”

A wrongdoing.

A lump formed in her throat, and she had to clench her jaw to keep it from quivering. Was that all Andie was? A fucking wrongdoing? The result of a god’s- two gods’- mistake?

“I have spared her once, already,” Zeus grumbled. “Daring to fly through my domain…pah! I should have blasted her out of the sky for her impudence!”

“And risk destroying your own Master Bolt?” Poseidon asked calmly. “Let us hear her out, brother.”

Zeus grumbled some more. “I shall listen,” he decided. “Then, I shall make up my mind whether or not to cast this girl down from Olympus.”

“Andromeda,” Poseidon called. “Look at me.”

Andie did, and she wasn’t sure what she saw in his face. It was completely neutral- no clear sign of love or approval. Nothing to encourage her. It was like looking at the ocean: some days, you could tell what mood it was in. Most days, though, it was unreadable. Mysterious.

She remembered Amphitrite mentioning that gods couldn’t play favorites, especially to their children, so maybe that’s what was going on- maybe that’s why he showed no emotion. But Andie didn’t really feel like that was the case. She got the feeling Poseidon didn’t really know what to think of her. He didn’t know whether he was happy to have Andie as a daughter or not. In a strange way, she was glad that Poseidon was so distant. If he’d tried to apologize, or told her he loved her, or even smiled, it would’ve felt fake. Like a human dad, making some lame excuse for not being around. For not even trying. Amphitrite may have been gone for most of her life, but at least she had tried.

Andie could live with Poseidon’s wariness. After all, she wasn’t sure about him yet, either.

“Address Lord Zeus, girl,” Poseidon told her. “Tell him your story.”

So Andie told her uncle everything, just as it had happened. She took out the metal cylinder, which began sparking in the Sky God’s presence, and laid it at his feet.

There was a long silence, broken only by the crackle of the hearth fire.

Zeus opened his palm. The Bolt flew into it. As he closed his fist, the metallic points flared with electricity until he was holding what looked more like the classic thunderbolt- a twenty-foot javelin of arcing, hissing energy that made strands of Andie’s hair rise.

“I sense the girl tells the truth,” Zeus muttered. “But that Ares would do such a thing…it is most unlike him.”

“He is proud and impulsive,” Poseidon commented. “It runs in the family.”

“Lord?” Andie asked.

“Yes?” They both answered in unison.

“Ares didn’t act alone. Someone else- something else- came up with the idea.”

She described her dreams, and the feeling she’d had on the beach, that momentary breath of evil that had seemed to stop the world, and made Ares back off from killing her.

“In the dreams,” Andie said, “the voice told me to bring the Bolt to the Underworld. Ares hinted that he’d been having dreams, too. I think he was being used, just as I was, to start a war.”

“You are accusing Hades, after all?” Zeus asked.

“No,” she answered. “I mean, Lord Zeus, I’ve been in the presence of Hades. This feeling on the beach was different. It was the same thing I felt when I got close to that pit. That was the entrance to Tartarus, wasn’t it? Something powerful and evil is stirring down there…something even older than the gods.”

And Andie knew exactly what she was implying. The same thing that she and Anthony had come to silently conclude on the beach. She knew the stories. She knew who was down there.

Poseidon and Zeus looked at each other. They had a quick, tense discussion in Ancient Greek. Andie was still new enough to speaking the language that she only caught one word: ‘Father’.

They did understand, then.

Poseidon made some kind of suggestion, but Zeus cut him off. Poseidon tried to argue, but Zeus held up his hand angrily. “We will speak of this no more,” he ordered. “I must go personally to  purify this thunderbolt in the waters of Lemnos, to remove the human taint from its metal.”

He rose and looked at Andie. His expression softened just a fraction of a degree. “You have done me a service, girl. Few heroes could have accomplished as much.”

“I had help, sir,” she told him. “Grover Underwood and Anthony Chase-“

“To show you my thanks, I shall spare your life. I do not trust you, Andromeda Jackson. I do not like what your arrival means for the future of Olympus. But for the sake of peace in the family, I shall let you live.”

“Um…thank you, sir.”

“Do not presume to fly again. Do not let me find you here when I return. Otherwise, you shall taste this Bolt, and it shall be your last sensation.”

Thunder shook the palace. With a blinding flash of lightning, Zeus was gone.

Andie was alone in the throne room with her father.

“Your uncle,” Poseidon sighed, “has always had a flair for dramatic exits. I think he would’ve done well as the god of theater.”

Andie didn’t reply. The silence between them was…well, uncomfortable, to say the least.

“Sir,” she finally spoke up. “What was in that pit?”

Poseidon regarded her for a silent moment. “You expect me to believe that you do not already know?”

“Kronos,” Andie answered. “The King of the Titans.”

Even in the throne room of Olympus, about as far away as you can get from Tartarus, the name Kronos darkened the room, made the heart fire seem not quite so warm on her back.

Poseidon gripped his trident. “In the First Titanomachy, Andie, Zeus cut our father Kronos into a thousand pieces, just as Kronos had done to his own father, Ouranos. Zeus cast Kronos’ remains into the darkest pit of Tartarus. The Titan army was scattered, their mountain fortress on Etna destroyed, their monstrous allies driven into the farthest corners of the earth. And yet, Titans cannot die any more than we gods can. Whatever is left of Kronos is still alive in some hideous way, still conscious in his eternal pain, yet still hungering for power.”

“He’s healing,” Andie said. “He’s coming back.”

Poseidon shook his head. “From time to time, over the eons, Kronos has stirred. He enters men’s nightmares and breathes evil thoughts. He wakens restless monsters from the depths. But to suggest he could rise from the Pit is another thing.”

“That’s what he intends, Father. That’s what he said.”

Poseidon was silent for a long time.

“Lord Zeus has closed discussion on this matter. He will not allow talk of Kronos. You have completed your quest, my dear. That is all you need to do.”

“But-“ Andie stopped herself, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Arguing would do no good. It would very possibly anger the only god she had on her side. “As…as you wish, Father.”

A faint smile played on his lips. “Obedience does not come naturally to you, does it?”

“No…sir.”

“I must take some blame for that, I suppose. The sea does not like to be restrained.”

“Does Amphitrite have anything to do with that, too?” Andie blurted. She immediately winced, biting her lip.

Her father’s faced softened. He rose to his full height and took up his trident before he shimmered and became the size of a regular man, standing directly in front of her.

“So, she did tell you, then,” he murmured.

“I met her at the beach in Santa Monica. She said she loved Mom, too. I don’t…” Andie trailed off, shaking her head. She still hadn’t wrapped her mind around this.

Poseidon nodded slowly, with a sympathetic smile and a sadness in his eyes. “She did. Amphitrite’s ichor flows through your veins the same way my own does. You are as much her daughter as you are mine or Sally’s.”

Andie blinked up at him. She nearly asked him how, but suddenly realized she didn’t particularly care for the details.

Poseidon placed a large, calloused hand on her shoulder, dipping his head to make sure he looked her in the eye. Gone was the soft expression he been wearing a moment prior. In its place, an expression of intensity and concern.

“Andromeda, listen carefully. No one can find out both Amphitrite and myself sired you. If they found out that you had…more than one god’s ichor…Zeus would want to kill you more than he already does. I am prepared to go to war for you, princess. You are a Child of the Sea, and it stands behind you, always. But let’s try not to instigate, hm?”

Andie nodded. “Yes, sir.”

The smile Poseidon gave her was small, but warm. Sympathetic, but not quite reassuring in the way Andie thought he meant it to be. “Speaking of your mother, I’m sure she’s desperate to lay eyes on you. You must go, princess.”

Andie blinked at him, her mouth agape. “My mother? What?”

“She has returned,” he confirmed. “You will find her at home. Hades sent her when you recovered his Helm. Even the Lord of Death repays his debts.”

Her heart, which had just sort of calmed down from her confrontation with Zeus, started thumping in her chest, once again. She couldn’t believe it. Hades just let her mother go so easily? After all that? “Do you…would you…”

Andie wanted to ask Poseidon if he would go with her to see her mom, but then she realized how ridiculous it was. The thought of loading the God of the Seas into a taxi and taking him to the Upper East Side was a bizarre one. Besides, if he’d wanted to see her mom all these years, he would’ve.

And then, of course, there was Smelly Gabe to think about.

Poseidon’s eyes filled with sadness. “When you return home, Andie, you must make an important choice. You will find a package in your room.”

“A package?”

“You will understand when you see it. No one can choose your path, Andie. You must decide.”

Andie nodded as if she knew exactly what he meant by that.

“Your mother, and Amphitrite would agree, is a queen among women,” Poseidon told her wistfully. “I had not met such a woman in a thousand years. It is not often a mortal attracts the attention of two gods. Still…I am sorry you were born, child. I have brought you a hero’s fate, and a hero’s fate is never happy. It is never anything but tragic.”

Andie swallowed around the lump of hurt and anger in her throat. It was one thing to be called a mistake by your dad- that was shitty enough. But for him to be straight up telling her that he wished she’d never been born?

“I don’t mind, Father.”

“Not yet, perhaps,” he said quietly. “Not yet. But it was an unforgivable mistake on my part.”

“I’ll leave you, then,” she said, schooling her expression into something neutral and bowing awkwardly. “I-I won’t bother you again.”

Andie made it all of five steps when he called, “Andromeda.”

Andie turned.

The sadness and sympathy in his eyes had been replaced with a fiery kind of pride. “You did well, Andromeda. Do not misunderstand me. Whatever else you do, know that you are mine. You are a true daughter of the Sea God.”

Andie didn’t trust herself to speak, so she simply nodded her head once, and left the throne room.

As she walked back through the city of the gods, conversations stopped. The muses paused their concert. People and satyrs and naiads all turned towards her, their faces filled with respect and gratitude, and as Andie passed, they knelt, as if she were some kind of hero.

Half an hour later found Andie staring at the front door of her mom’s apartment. She lifted a shaking finger and rang the doorbell, and suddenly her mother- her beautiful mother, smelling of peppermint and vanilla and licorice- was standing there. Andie caught a flash of weariness and worry on her mom’s face before it evaporated at the sight of Andie in front of her.

“Andie!” she cried, pulling Andie to her and crushing the air right out of her. Andie returned the favor as she buried her face in her mom’s shoulder, her hands shaking as they clutched the back of her mom’s shirt.

“Oh, thank goodness,” her mom murmured as she cradled the back of Andie’s head, pressing rapid kisses into her hair and temples. Andie could feel the wet drops from her tears falling onto her head. “Ah, minha garotinha.”

Andie spent a couple minutes in her mom’s embrace, soaking in the sights and sounds of her mother alive. She was reluctant to let her go, but knew she had to, eventually.

As she combed her fingers through Andie’s hair, her mother told her that she’d just appeared at the apartment that morning, scaring Gabe nearly to death. (‘If only’, Andie privately thought.) She didn’t remember anything since the Minotaur, and couldn’t believe it when Gabe told her Andie was a wanted criminal, traveling across the country, blowing up national monuments. She’d been going out of her mind with worry all day because she hadn’t heard the news. Gabe had forced her to go to work, saying she had a month’s salary to make up and she’d better get started.

Andie swallowed back her anger, fighting a snarl that threatened to creep up her face, before she told her own story.

She tried to make it sound less scary than it had been, but it wasn’t easy. She was just getting to the fight with Ares when Gabe’s voice interrupted from the living room.

“Hey Sally! That meat loaf done yet, or what?”

Her mom closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “He isn’t going to be happy to see you, Andie. The store got half a million phone calls today from Los Angeles…something about free appliances.”

“Hm. That’s sooo weird. I wonder how ever that could’ve happened.” Andie feigned nonchalance as she pursed her lips and made a dramatic show of not meeting her mom’s eye.

Her mom managed a weak smile. “Just don’t make him angrier, alright? Come on.”

Andie didn’t know why she felt so nervous walking into the apartment. In the last twenty-four hours alone, she’d screamed at the Lord of the Underworld, fought the god of War, and faced the King of the Gods who had wanted to smite her for merely existing. So why did she feel so scared of Gabe? She shouldn’t have, after all she’d seen and done in the last week and a half.

Then again, those were all mind-boggling powerful beings- their very existence commanded authority and respect. Gabe was a greasy, slimy, piece of shit human. He commanded no authority, so he cheated for it; he degraded Andie and he hurt Andie just to feel some semblance of power- she’d always known that. Gabe had gotten into Andie’s head; he knew how to make her feel small.

Andie took a look around the shithole the apartment had become. She was standing ankle-deep in garbage and dirty laundry. She couldn’t help but wonder if any of the neighbors had called complaining about the stench.

Gabe and three of his bastard alcoholic friends were playing poker at the table.

When Gabe saw Andie, his face turned brighter than the end of the cigar that dropped out of his mouth. “You got some nerve showing up here, you little bitch! I thought the police-“

“She’s not a fugitive, after all,” Her mom interjected with a nervous smile. “Isn’t that wonderful, Gabe?”

Gabe looked back and forth between them with a sneer. He didn’t seem to think Andie’s homecoming was so wonderful.

“Bad enough I had to give back your life insurance, Sally,” he growled. “Get me the phone. I’ll call the cops.”

“Gabe, no!”

He raised his eyebrows. “Did you just say ‘no’? You think I’m gonna put up with this brat again? I can still press charges for ruining my Camaro.”

He raised his hand and Andie and her mother both flinched hard.

They turned to share a wide-eyed exchange. It seemed they both realized something for the first time.

Gabe hit her mother. Andie didn’t know when, or how much. But she was sure he’d done it.

Andie shouldn’t have been surprised that Gabe hadn’t kept the promises he agreed to when she begged him not to hurt her mother- he could hurt Andie- punch her, kick her, lock her in the closet when he got sick of her- she usually deserved it, and she could hide it from her mother, but ‘Please,’ she’d always begged, ‘Please leave Mom out of it.’

Gods, she really should’ve known better.

She might as well have been staring Ares in the face with the white hot anger that filled her chest and tinged her vision red. She stalked towards Gabe, instinctively pulling her pen from her back pocket.

He just laughed. “What, brat? You gonna write on me? You touch me and you are going to jail forever, you understand?”

“Hey Gabe,” his friend Eddie interrupted, playing the nice guy, as usual. “She’s just a kid.”

Gabe looked at him resentfully. “Just a kid,” he mocked.

His other friends laughed like idiots.

“I’ll be nice to you, brat.” Gabe showed her his tobacco stained teeth. “I’ll give you five minutes to get your shit and clear out. After that, I call the police.”

“Gabe!” her mother pleaded.

“She ran away,” Gabe shouted at her. “Let her stay gone!”

Andie’s fists were clenched and shaking at her sides, itching to uncap Riptide. But even if she did, the blade wouldn’t hurt humans. And Gabe, by the loosest definition, was human.

Her mother took her arm. “Please, Andie. Come on. We’ll go to your room.”

Andie let herself get pulled away, her hands still trembling with rage.

As always, her room was filled with all of Gabe’s nasty shit. The sympathy flowers from someone who’d seen his Barbara Walters interview might’ve lightened up the place a little, if they hadn’t been mostly dead.

“Did he hurt you?” her mother asked lowly after she’d shut the door. Andie was silent, unable to even look her mother in the eye.

“Oh, querida,” her mom breathed as she swept her into another hug. “I’m so sorry. I never thought-“

“I though I was protecting you,” Andie whispered into her mom’s shoulder. Her mom startled and jerked back and cradled Andie’s face, staring her down with a look of steel.

“Andromeda, it is not your job to protect me. I’m your mother. That’s my job. I-“ she sighed. “I know I haven’t done the best job of it but-“

“You did what you could, Mãe.” Andie squeezed her mom’s hand. “It’s not your fault.”

Her mom gave her a small smile, but Andie could see in her eyes she was just being humored. She let it go, for now, and her mother turned to stare at the door, eyebrows furrowed.

“We’ll figure this out, Andie, I promise. We will make something work.”

Andie shook her head. “Mom, there is no figuring this out. Nothing will work out as long as Gabe’s here.”

She twisted at her fingers, not looking up to meet Andie’s eye. “I can…I’ll take you to work with me for the rest of the summer. In the fall, maybe there’s another boarding school-“

“Mom.”

Her shoulder slumped. Andie’s heart shattered at the sight of her mother looking so defeated.

“I’m trying, Andie. I just…I need some time.”

“Mom, you can leave him. Look I…Grover told me why you married him in the first place. We don’t need him anymore.”

She looked at Andie sadly, like she just realized Andie knew she married the asshole to protect her. “I wish it were that easy, Andie.”

A package appeared on Andie’s bed. At least, she could’ve sworn it hadn’t been there a second ago. It was a battered cardboard box about the right size to fit a basketball. There was a familiar address on the mailing slip that was written in Andie’s own handwriting, and signed with her own name.

Over the top in black marker, in a man’s clear, bold print, was the address of their apartment and the words: RETURN TO SENDER.

Suddenly, Andie understood what Poseidon had told her on Olympus.

A package. A decision.

‘Whatever else you do, know that you are mine. You are a true daughter of the Sea God.’

Andie looked at her mother. “It can be that easy.”

“What?”

“Mom, do you want Gabe gone? Just tell me. That piece of shit has been hurting you." Hurting us. "Do you want him gone, or not?”

She hesitated, then nodded almost imperceptibly. “Yes. Yes, Andie, I do. And I’m trying to get up my courage to tell him. But you can’t do this for me. You can’t solve my problems.”

Andie looked at the box.

She could solve her problem. Their problem. Andie wanted to slice that package open, plop it on the poker table, and take out what was inside. She could start her very own statue garden, right there in the living room.

‘That’s what a Greek hero would do in the stories,’ she thought. ‘That’s what Gabe deserves.’

Poseidon told her that a hero’s story always ends in tragedy.

But for as long as she can remember, Andie had already been suffering.

She wasn’t supposed to hurt mortals. But did it count if they had hurt her, first?

She’d been to the Underworld. She imagined Gabe’s soul in Asphodel, or the Fields of Punishment. Maybe it wasn’t fair.

But had it been fair that her mom had to marry Gabe in the first place? Had it been fair for him to hurt her? To hurt Andie?

“I can do it,” she told her mom. “One look inside this box, and he’ll never bother you again.”

She glanced at the package, and seemed to understand immediately. “No, Andie,” she said, stepping away. “You can’t.”

“You’re right,” Andie said, nodding. Andie…Andie couldn’t do it, could she? “It’s not my call.”

Her mom shook her head, pressing her fingertips to her forehead.

“Poseidon called you a queen among women. He said Amphitrite agreed. He said neither of them had met a woman like you in a thousand years.”

Her cheeks flushed. “Andie-“

“You deserve better than this, Mãe,” Andie insisted. “You should go to college, get your degree. You can write your novel, meet a nice guy maybe, live in a nice house. You don’t need to protect me anymore by staying with Gabe. Say the word, and he’s gone.”

She wiped a tear off her cheek. “You sound so much like your father,” she said. “Amphy would always laugh at his antics. He offered to stop the tide for me once. He offered to build me a palace at the bottom of the sea. He thought he could solve all my problems with a wave of his hand.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Her dark eyes seemed to search inside Andie’s very soul. She reached out to tuck a piece of Andie’s hair behind her ear. “I think you know, Andie. I think you’re enough like me to understand. If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself. I can’t let gods take care of me…or my daughter. I have to…find the courage on my own. Your quest has reminded me of that.”

They listened to the sound of poker chips and swearing, ESPN blaring from the living room tv.

Andie took a deep breath. “I’ll leave the box,” she said. “If he threatens you…”

She looked pale, but nodded. “Where will you go, Andie?”

“Back to Camp.”

“For the summer…or forever?”

“I guess that depends.”

Andie locked eyes with her mother, and sensed that they’d had an agreement. They would see how things stood at the end of the summer.

She kissed Andie’s forehead. “You’ll be a hero, Andie. You’ll be the greatest of all of them.”

Andie took one last look around her bedroom. She had a feeling she’d never see it again. She couldn’t say she was that upset about it. Then, she walked with her mother to the front door.

“Leaving so soon, brat?” Gabe sneered at her. “Good riddance.”

Andie tensed, one last piece of doubt twinging in her heart. How could she turn down the perfect chance to take revenge on him?

“Hey, Sally,” he yelled. “What about that meat loaf, huh?”

A sharp look of anger flared in her mother’s eyes, and Andie knew that she was making the right call. She was leaving her mother in good hands, after all. Her own.

“The meat loaf is coming right up, dear,” she called. “Meat loaf surprise.”

She looked at Andie, and winked.

The last thing Andie saw as the door closed was her mother staring at Gabe, as if she were contemplating how he would look as a garden statue.

Chapter Text

Argus was waiting at the top of Half-Blood Hill when Andie stepped out of the cab.

As she walked up to meet him, she couldn’t help but think of the last time she’d climbed up this hill- confused, terrified, angry, and soaking wet.

How could one month feel like a lifetime?

Her gaze caught on Thalia’s Pine at the top of the hill. Andie thought of the punk girl that had goaded and sassed her in her dreams, and the stories that Anthony and Grover had told about her. Thalia had died to protect her friends, and Andie had nearly followed in her footsteps plenty of times in the last couple of weeks.

Perhaps she was more like Thalia than she realized.

Argus smiled at Andie when she finally made her way to the crest of the hill, giving her a proud nod of approval. Below them, the day was in full swing as teenagers in orange t-shirts moved from activity to activity. The sun glittered across the waves of Long Island Sound as if her parents were welcoming Andie back, themselves.

A pang of fondness reverberated in Andie’s chest as she realized, amongst the chaos and the heartbreak, at some point in the last month, this place had gone from refuge to home .

Andie smiled up at Argus. “Did Anthony and Grover make it back okay?”

Argus nodded and pointed towards the Big House before gesturing at her to follow. He led her down to the mansion, and Andie was surprised to find that Chiron wasn’t on the porch. Instead, she was led inside and into the living room. In one corner, next to the fireplace, Mr. D looked half bored, slumped in a tacky wine-colored velvet armchair. On the other side of the fireplace sat Chiron in his wheelchair. Both were listening to Anthony and Grover, sitting on the couch, facing away from the doorway Andie stood in, tell the story of their quest.

“-and then we flew into La Guardia, and Andie insisted we split up,” Anthony finished. “She was worried that something would happen, and that Grover and I needed to make sure you got the story. We tried to convince her that we needed to stick together, but she wouldn’t listen. She said she had a gut feeling she needed to return the Bolt alone.”

Chiron rubbed at his beard, nodding slowly. “I see,” he hummed. His eyes flicked up to meet hers. “And were you successful, my dear?”

Anthony and Grover’s heads whipped around so fast, Andie thought they might break their necks. Grover bleated in surprise as Anthony shouted her name, both of them vaulting over the back of the couch and nearly tackling her into a group hug. She laughed as she slung an arm around each of their shoulders. None of them mentioned how dirty they were, or how disgusting they smelled as they pressed their heads together; Andie and Anthony didn’t even complain when Grover’s horns dug into their scalps. They were alive, and they were together.

“ We did it,” Anthony whispered excitedly.

Andie let out a relieved breath of a laugh, nodding quickly. They pulled away from the hug, but still kept close to each other. Andie got the feeling neither of the boys were willing to let her out of their sights any time soon.

She couldn’t find it in herself to mind.

Mr. D ruined their moment by opening his mouth. “Yes, yes, everyone is home. I take it since Father did not smite you, you have returned the Master Bolt to him, Alexis?”

Andie nodded. She sat down on the couch, shoulder to shoulder with Anthony and Grover. Picking off from where Anthony had ended, Andie told them about her meeting with Zeus and her father. A haunted look flickered in Chiron’s eyes as she told them that Zeus had closed the topic of Kronos. She mentioned that she had a brief conversation with Poseidon, though she didn’t go into specifics, except for-

“Your mom’s okay, then?” Grover asked when she explained what Poseidon told her about Hades keeping his word.

Andie swallowed thickly. “Yeah. She’s home. I went to see her before I came back here. She doesn’t remember anything after being taken by the Minotaur, but I summarized most of it.”

She could feel Anthony’s calculating stare burning holes in the side of her skull. She gave a minute shake of her head- she had a feeling he knew exactly what he was wondering about, and she didn’t want to talk about it. She hadn’t told Chiron or Mr. D about the package Poseidon had sent back to her apartment, and she wasn’t about to bring it up now.

“So, yeah,” Andie finished lamely. “I took a cab from my mom’s apartment, and here I am.”

Chiron studied them silently long enough that Andie was pretty sure Mr. D just…fell asleep. It was hard to tell with the god. Finally, he smiled at them warmly, crow’s feet crinkles pressed into the corners of his kind brown eyes. Eyes that were filled with unmistakably fierce pride. Andie’s heart warmed at the sight, more than it ever had when her father had spoken of his own pride. 

“Very well done, all of you,” he congratulated. “You have faced many obstacles and challenges- the likes of which most others would scarcely dare to oppose. You have completed your quest successfully, and have returned home safely. Now, return to your cabins, clean up, and get some rest. No doubt you are all exhausted, and we can’t have you falling asleep at your own celebration feast.”

Andie raised an eyebrow at the mention of a celebration feast. On either side of her, the boys exchanged excited, but tired grins. 

“Go on, then!” Chiron waved them off. 

The trio left the living room, trudging in comfortable silence down the hallway and to the porch. Luke was waiting for them on the stairs, and his face lit up in a grin when they emerged from inside. 

“I heard you guys were back!” He exclaimed, pulling Anthony into a tight hug. Fingers ran over the smaller blonde’s face, shoulders, and arms as the older pulled away and checked him for injuries.

“Are you alright?” Luke asked. Anthony made an indignant noise in the back of his throat as he swatted at Luke’s hands. 

“I’m fine , Luke,” he grumbled, though he did seem relieved to see the son of Hermes. 

Luke’s sharp blue eyes darted over to Andie, and he raised an eyebrow. “Andie?” 

She gave him a small smile. “I’m good.”

“Grover?”

Grover smiled and shot up two thumbs. Luke’s gaze flickered from person to person, like he couldn’t decide who to look at. Finally, he settled back on Andie.

“So...it’s over, then? The Bolt-”

“Is back with Zeus,” Andie confirmed. “Were you guys able to get the fighting figured out?”

The older blond shrugged a shoulder. “For the most part. There’s still definitely some tension, but they’ll get over it.”

Andie nodded, the exhaustion finally catching up to her. Luke seemed to notice and took a step back. “You guys reek, I hope you know that,” he teased. “You should probably hit the showers…and please, feel free to use up all the hot water we have. I’d rather take a cold shower than smell you.”

Andie made a pinched face, while Grover nodded almost mournfully beside her. Meanwhile, Anthony lunged toward Luke, who danced out of the way with a laugh. 

“C’mon, Tiger, I know I taught you better than that!” He taunted. While the two blonds wrestled, Andie turned to Grover.

“Where did that nickname even come from?” 

Grover looked like he was trying to suppress a smile. It wasn’t working. “Luke and Thalia gave it to him while they were on the road. I don’t know the full inside joke it came from, but I know it’s a play on, well, the shortened version of his name. Which, by the way, he hates .”

It took Andie a minute to figure out how Anthony’s name could be shortened. When the pieces finally clicked, she cackled. 

“Wait a minute… Tiger?! As in ‘Tony the’-?!”

Her exclamation was loud enough for Anthony to hear a few yards away, as Luke playfully challenged him to get out of a light chokehold. “ Grover !”

Luke and Grover joined Andie in her laughter. Anthony grumbled at them. Andie wiped away tears of laughter all the way back to her cabin.

They were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke, so of course everyone treated them like they were celebrities. 

After they’d cleaned up and taken quick naps, it was time for dinner. Andie arrived with the boys to the dining pavilion where, as Chiron had mentioned, there was a big feast that had been prepared in their honor. The centaur crowned them with laurel wreaths, and made a speech about their heroics, and that the looming conflict had been resolved. Then they feasted. Andie and her friends had even gotten to sit at the head table with Chiron and Mr. D for the feast. 

From there, they led a procession down to the bonfire, where they got to burn the burial shrouds their cabins had made for them in their absence. 

Anthony’s was stunning. Silver silk, expertly embroidered with white owls. Andie recalled that Athena was the goddess of weaving and crafts, and wondered if her kids were not only smart, but also inherently good at weaving. She thought about asking Anthony if he knew how to knit, but decided against it. Instead, she told him it was a shame not to bury him in the beautiful shroud his siblings had made for him. 

He shoved lightly at her shoulder and told her to shut up.

As the only Poseidon kid, Andie didn’t have any siblings, so the Ares cabin had volunteered to make her shroud. They’d taken an old bedsheet and painted smiley faces with X’d out eyes around the border, and the word LOSER painted across the middle.

It was really, really fun to burn.

When they finished burning the shrouds, the Apollo cabin passed out s’mores as they ramped everyone up for the sing-along. The head-counselor- Lee, she remembered from her unsavory archery classes- stood in front of the fire facing the crowd, bobbing his arms and hands like he was conducting a choir while his siblings played instruments alongside him. 

Andie was surrounded by not only Anthony and Grover, but also some of her old friends from the Hermes cabin, including Luke, the Stoll brothers, and Chris Rodriguez, who Andie had only talked to a few times, but seemed pretty friendly. Some of Anthony’s siblings surrounded them, too. Andie only caught the name of Malcolm, another blond, who seemed to not be much younger than Anthony. 

A few of Grover’s satyr buddies were admiring the brand-new searcher’s license he’d received from the Council of Cloven Elders. The council had called Grover’s performance on the quest, “Brave to the point of indigestion. Horns and whiskers above anything we’ve seen in the past.”

The only ones not in a party mood were Clarisse and the rest of the Ares cabin. Word of what happened with Andie and Ares must’ve gotten around, and their poisonous looks told Andie they’d never forgive her for the disgrace.

Andie was fine with that.

Even Dionysus’ welcome home speech, which Chiron seemed to have to talked him into making, wasn’t enough to dampen her spirits. “Yes, yes, so the little brat didn’t get herself killed, and now she’ll have an even bigger head. In other announcements, there will be no canoe races this Saturday…”

Despite her brief return earlier in the day, coming back to Cabin Three that night felt officially like coming home. It didn’t feel lonely anymore. That night, Andie lay awake and listened to the sea, knowing she had a father, and another mother (which she was still kind of coming to terms with) out there. Amphitrite had been so kind and happy to see her. As for her dad…maybe he wasn’t quite sure about Andie yet, maybe he hadn’t even wanted her born, but he was watching. And so far, he was proud of what she’d done.

The next morning, at breakfast, Chiron called for a counselor’s meeting, which, Andie remembered with a startling realization, included her now. On the way to the Big House, Andie fell into step alongside Anthony and Luke. 

“Any insight into what exactly we do at a counselor’s meeting?” She asked.

Anthony shrugged. “Mostly updates on camp activities. Sometimes updates on info we may need to know but other campers don’t. Stuff like that.”

“We haven’t had a meeting since the summer session officially started,” Luke added. “So this will be the first meeting we’ve had where everyone is at camp. I have a feeling, even though it’s kind of late, this will be a sort of head counselor orientation. I think around half of you are first year counselors.”

She looked at Anthony. “Is this your first year as a head counselor?”

He moved his head side-to-side in an ‘eh, kind of’ motion. “Since I’m a year-rounder, I became head counselor at the end of last summer. So, technically, this is my first full summer as a head counselor, but it’s nothing new to me.”

Andie nodded. She followed them into the Big House, and into what looked to be a game room lined with old 80s arcade games and checkers/chess tables. In the center of the room looked to be a pool/air hockey table combo, a foosball table, and a ping pong table. A couple of the other counselors were grabbing foldable chairs stacked against the walls on the other side of the room and setting them up around the ping pong table, so Andie followed suit. 

She ended up sitting between Anthony and a girl who looked a couple years older than Andie. The girl was one of the prettiest people Andie had ever seen. Her rich, dark brown hair was perfectly curled, and complimented her perfectly unblemished tan skin beautifully. Baby blue eyes sparkled with kindness as the girl turned to Andie, sending her a warm grin and stretching out a perfectly manicured hand.

“I’m Silena. Silena Beauregard, head counselor for Cabin Ten,” she introduced herself.

Andie shook her hand. “Cabin Ten…Aphrodite, right?”

The girl- Silena- beamed and nodded. “Goddess of love and beauty.”

“Nice to meet you,” Andie smiled. She couldn’t help it. Silena’s happy attitude seemed contagious. “I’m Andie Jackson. Daughter of Poseidon.”

Silena giggled. “Of course I know who you are! You’re practically a celebrity!” 

Andie felt her face grow warm at the attention, and Silena let out a squeaking noise. “Omigods, I just love your freckles! You are just so cute! ” 

Her blue eyes darted over Andie’s shoulder, with a gleam that told Andie that the older girl may be a little more mischievous than her bubbly personality let on. “Don’t you agree, Anthony?”

Anthony jolted in his seat. “I, um, uh-“

Andie didn’t dare turn to look at Anthony, for fear of her face actually catching fire. Silena giggled next to her. On Anthony’s other side, even Luke was snickering at Anthony’s spluttering. 

The daughter of Aphrodite looked back at Andie, curiosity now in her gaze. Her hand reached out and she brushed her fingers against the ends of Andie’s hair. Like a reflex, Andie flinched back, bumping against Anthony. He steadied her with a hand on her shoulder, and she could feel his concerned stare at the back of her head. 

Silena’s eyes widened. “Gods, sorry! I, um, your hair is so pretty, and I- gods, I totally should’ve asked, I’m sorry!”

Andie gave her a tight smile. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” 

Gods, why were her hands shaking? It was an innocent gesture!

“Totally unsolicited advice, and you absolutely don’t have to take it,” Silena began again with a nervous, but still somehow incredibly charming smile, “But I think your hair would be so stunning long.”

Andie agreed with her, but she couldn’t bring herself to voice it aloud. She also didn’t mention why she didn’t have it grown out. Her smile was small, but genuine, as she responded, “I’ll think about it.”

Silena beamed.

Andie’s eyes darted around the table as others chatted amongst themselves. The only people she recognized, or at least knew the names of, were Anthony, Luke, Clarisse, Lee Fletcher, and now, Silena. “So, who is everybody?” She asked. “I’ve only met a few people outside of the Hermes cabin.”

Anthony seemed to have deemed it safe to re-enter the conversation. He pointed to the two blonde boys Andie had seen sitting with Mr. D in the dining pavilion. “Those are Mr. D’s kids, Castor and Pollux Weimann. They’re twins, and Mr. D’s only kids, at least that we know of, so they’re both the head counselors for Cabin Twelve.”

He pointed to a tall girl with dark, curly hair, and brown skin a few tones darker than Andie’s own. “That’s Ella Whitley. Daughter of Demeter, head counselor for Cabin Four, at least until the end of the summer. She’s headed off to college this fall, so Katie Gardner will be taking over.”

Finally he turned to a big, dark-skinned African American guy, with muscles that would make any bully Andie had ever met cry for their mommies. Andie couldn’t tell if he was fifteen or twenty-one. “And this is-“

“Charles Beckendorf,” Silena interrupted with a dreamy sigh. “Son of Hephaestus.”

Anthony looked at the daughter of Aphrodite like she was crazy before shaking his head. “Uh, right. Charles Beckendorf, but everyone calls him by his last name. Head counselor for Cabin Nine, and the best weaponsmith at camp.”

“Got it…” Andie nodded slowly. “I think…”

Anthony bumped his shoulder against Andie’s. “You’ll get there, Seaweed Brain.”

Silena let out another squeak, pressing her hands against her cheeks. Her perfect white teeth bit into her lower lip as she grinned so widely Andie could barely see her eyes. It almost seemed like she was trying not to ruin a surprise.

Andie was curious to know what had gotten her so excited, but Chiron called everyone to attention, and the chatter died down.

“Welcome, everyone, to the first official camp counselor meeting of the summer. I know it is a bit late, but, well, things have been busy, haven’t they?”

Small chuckles tittered around the table. Several gazes fell on Andie and Anthony before quickly falling away.

“Now, I’d like to welcome all of our new counselors: Lee Fletcher, now head of Cabin Seven; Charles Beckendorf, head of Cabin Nine; Silena Beauregard, head of Cabin Ten; Anthony Chase, who has been head of Cabin Six for a few months now…” a few snorts sounded around the table, “...But is serving his first summer as head counselor; and Andie Jackson, head of Cabin Three. Now, for those of you who may be unfamiliar with the roles and responsibilities of head counselors here…”

The rest of the meeting was pretty much new-counselor-orientation. Chiron explained they, as head counselors, were responsible for giving new campers tours of the camp, helping develop and adjust schedules, teaching classes and activities (if qualified, which Andie was not, yet), delivering mail during mail call, and conducting weekly cabin inspections. 

Andie was…kind of excited to get started, if she were being totally honest. Sure, it was just her in the Poseidon cabin, but she’d never been involved in something like this. She was eager to see what it was going to be like.

Andie grunted as Luke’s sword clanged against hers, locking his hilt into Riptide’s. He bore all his strength into his strike, which was a lot more than Andie had, and she had to put all her concentration into keeping Luke’s blade away from her face. The older teen’s mouth was pulled into a thin line, a bead of sweat inching further and further away from his hairline. Blue eyes tracked every movement Andie made, which made her believe he was putting more effort into this than he originally led her to believe.

She spotted her opening when Luke shifted his weight ever so slightly, like he was about to take another step closer. She twisted underneath her own arm and under the connected hilts of their swords before pivoting around Luke to smack his shoulder blades with the flat of Riptide. 

He used his forward momentum to whirl back around to face her, a proud smirk gracing his features. 

“Very nice,” he praised, twirling his sword and settling back into his fighting stance. “Most people don’t know to watch for that kind of movement unless they’ve been fighting for years.”

He slashed downward at Andie, hard and fast. Andie jumped back to dodge the strike, and their dance began, again. The son of Hermes kept making wide arcs with his blade, keeping her at a distance. He shook his head, sweat soaked hair sticking to his forehead. 

Luke called out instructions, even as he continued his assault. “You have the shorter sword, Andie.” A jab towards the middle of her chest that she only barely deflected. “Get in close.” An upward slash that nearly took her arm off. “Unless you’re fighting a knife fighter like Anthony…” A strike towards her ankles. “...then you will almost always have the shorter blade. Staying outside of your range will only make it easier for your opponent to get you to do what they want you to.”

Get in close. Yeah, she could do that. 

She met his next strike, and slid Riptide along the blade of Luke’s longer sword, running alongside it. She pushed his sword into an arc away from his body, and planted a firm kick into his chest. 

Somehow, Luke seemed to be expecting that. He stepped back, and let Andie’s foot push him to the ground, where he kicked out his own leg and swept Andie’s out from under her. The impact her back made when she hit the ground knocked the breath out of her, but she only gave herself the few seconds it took for Luke to stand up and settle back into his stance before she scrambled back to her feet and readied herself again.

They circled each other, watching and waiting for the other to move first.

“Remember,” Luke spoke up. “Any fighting, including sword fighting, is not only about the strikes themselves.”

Andie shuffled half a foot forward.

“It’s about the body movement,” he continued. “The footwork. You can always tell what your opponent is going to do by watching three places. Their hips, their feet, and their eyes.”

He’d barely finished his sentence when he struck again. Andie tried to follow his instructions- watch your opponent, get in close- but she only barely managed to keep the older boy at bay. He was wearing her down.

“All of that, all at the same time, huh?” she panted. 

Luke chuckled. “That’s where the ADHD becomes a gift rather than a curse. Besides, you did it fantastically five minutes ago. It’s just like everything else. It takes practice.”

Andie lunged, but Luke caught the hilt of her blade on his own, and twisted. She groaned, recognizing the maneuver. Riptide fell out of her grip, but instead of clattering to the ground, Luke caught the handle. He held the two blades up in an uneven ‘X’ at Andie’s throat. 

She sighed. “Uncle.”

“Cousin, technically,” Luke joked with a grin. The arm holding his sword dropped to his side, while the other held Riptide back out to her. 

Andie accepted with a snort. She capped her sword and slipped it into her back pocket. Luke sheathed his, and sent her an approving look. 

“I think you might be a damn prodigy, Jackson,” he told her.

Andie blinked at him. “Very funny.”

“I’m serious, kid.”

“I’ve never been a prodigy at anything,” she scoffed.

Luke raised an eyebrow. “Kid, you’ve only been training for a month, barely , but you fight like you’ve been doing it for at least a year, if not longer. You’ve picked it up faster than anyone I’ve taught over the years, except maybe an Ares kid, but part of being an Ares kid is weapon proficiency, so that’s kind of irrelevant.”

They made their way out of the arena side by side. “Your technique is getting better everyday-”

“Practice,” Andie pointed out. She’d been in the arena with Luke every chance she got in the last week since she’d returned from her quest.

“-And your instincts are already top notch,” Luke continued like she hadn’t said anything. “You combine those two, and you’ll be a pro in no time.”

Andie shook her head but didn’t say anything, choosing to humor him for now. She knew she wasn’t bad at sword fighting per se, but she certainly didn’t think she was living up to the hype Luke was describing. Although something in her chest did warm at Luke’s praise, misguided as it may have been.

Luke stopped short in his tracks, grabbing Andie’s arm to hold her back. Just in time, too, as a blast of fire jet out of the doorway of the building they had been walking past. Shouting and laughter came from inside, and Andie stared wide-eyed at the boy who stumbled out of the doorway. He wore a leather apron, and thick gloves, and was tugging a pair of safety goggles down to hang around his neck. His face was covered in soot, save for around his eyes, the stench of burnt hair wafting from where the ends of his brown curls sizzled. 

“Sorry!” he cried with wide brown eyes. He looked to be about Andie’s age.

“It’s okay,” Andie said with a shake of her head. “Are you okay?”

The boy pinched the ends of his hair that were still smoking. “Yeah, totally fine. Still getting used to this. It’s so cool.”

“Andie, this is Jake Mason, newest addition to the Hephaestus cabin,” Luke introduced. “He arrived while you were on your quest.”

“Nice to meet you,” Andie greeted. 

“You too,” Jake nodded. He looked at his gloved hand. “I’d shake your hand, but…”

Andie laughed. “Don’t worry about it.”

Another head poked out of the door of what Andie had come to recognize as the forges. “Everyone alright out here?”

Beckendorf stepped fully out of the doorway, also covered in a leather apron, though, instead of goggles, a welding mask had been pushed atop his head. He tugged off his own leather gloves as he looked around. 

“You tryin’ to kill your new brother so soon, man?” Luke teased.

Beckendorf shrugged, suppressing a smile. “Eh, they gotta learn somehow.” He sent a teasing look in Jake’s direction. Jake didn’t say anything in response, just squared his shoulders and marched back into the forges, chin held high. The elder son of Hephaestus shook his head in amusement before turning back to Andie and Luke.

He held out a massive paw of a hand. “I know we technically met at the meeting the other day, but it’s nice to officially meet you, Andie.”

Andie laughed, and shook his hand, despite the fact that it dwarfed her own. “You, too. Is that a New York accent I hear?”

Beckendorf cocked his head. “Queens. You?”

“Manhattan.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Who’s your team?”

“Baseball?”

He nodded slowly.

A smirk stretching her lips. She knew where this was going. “Yankees.”

Beckendorf let out an exaggerated groan, dramatically clutching at his chest. “Hit me where it hurts, why don’t ya?”

“Of course you’re a Mets fan,” Andie teased with a shake of her head. “Just when I thought I could make a friend or two.”

“I suppose we’ll have to manage,” he replied forlornly. 

Andie sighed in dramatic agreement. “I suppose so. Unless you start dissing the Knicks, then we’ll have to fight to the death.”

The older boy shot her a betrayed look. “Blasphemy!”

“Well, at least we can agree on one thing.” Andie grinned and held out a fist. 

“That we can.” Beckendorf mirrored her grin, and obliged her fist bump.

Luke had been watching their interaction the entire time, one eyebrow arched.

“Right…” his voice trailed. “Anyway, I’ve gotta go. We’ve got archery.”

They waved as the son of Hermes jogged off. Andie gasped, suddenly remembering where it was she was supposed to go after her sparring session with Luke.

“Oh gods, what time is it?” she asked her new friend.

“Uh…” he looked down at his watch. “Almost three.”

“Shit. I’ve gotta go, too. It’s my day for mail call.”

Beckendorf made a small noise of understanding as Andie turned to take off for the Big House. He called out some unsavory things about the Yankees as she took off, and the only response Andie had was to flip him off over her shoulder. His laughter carried through the valley.

Andie reached the Big House just as her shift was supposed to start. Chiron directed her towards his office and the pile of envelopes sitting on his desk. After a few minutes of instructions, Chiron left her to her own devices. She divided the envelopes up- those directed to Chiron, those directed to Mr. D, and those directed to the campers. Thankfully, she was at least able to bundle the letters up by cabin number, courtesy of the camp roster hanging up next to Chiron’s desk.

One of the letters was written in handwriting that was intimately familiar to Andie. It was from her mom. Her heart beat in her chest, filling with happiness and maybe even a hint of hope. She slipped the envelope into her back pocket, deciding to read it later that night.

She left the two piles for Chiron and Mr. D on his desk, and tossed the rest in a box to carry to the cabins. Each bundle got dropped off at its respective cabin. The Hermes cabin, of course, had the largest bundle.

By the time Andie was getting settled in her cabin after that night’s campfire, she was nearly vibrating with anticipation.

She tore open the envelope as fast as she could without ripping the letter itself.

Olá meu coração,

I hope you’re doing alright. I hope camp is treating you well. It’s only been a week, and I miss you so much, but words cannot describe how remarkably proud I am of you. 

I know the last time we spoke was cut short. I wish we could’ve spoken longer, and that I could’ve explained more things I know you must have questions about. Hopefully, one way or another, I will be able to answer them soon. Speaking of the last time we saw each other, I believe it went a bit unspoken of whether or not you would be coming home for the school year. I think that may be more plausible than we were thinking a week ago.

We have a new chance at life, Andie. A new chance to start over. Gabe left suddenly. Mysteriously. It seems he has, in fact, disappeared off the face of the planet. I’ve reported him to the police, but I have a funny feeling they won’t be able to find him. He’s gone, Andie. He can’t hurt us anymore.

On a completely unrelated subject, I sold my first life-size concrete sculpture. I titled it ‘The Poker Player’. It went to a collector through an art gallery in Soho. The collector gave me so much money for it, I was able to put down a deposit on a new apartment, and even make a payment on my first semester’s tuition at NYU. Yes, I’ve decided to go back to school and get a degree in Creative Writing. Perhaps I’ll get to write those novels one day, after all. The Soho gallery keeps calling me, asking for more of my work. They call it “a huge step forward in super–ugly neorealism”, which is certainly an interesting way to describe something. 

But don’t worry. I’m done with sculptures. I’ve disposed of that box of tools you left me. It’s time to turn to writing. I think it suits me more, anyway.

I love you and miss you so much, princess. 

Love, Mom

P.S., Andie, I’ve found a good private school here in the city. I’ve put a deposit down to hold you a spot, in case you want to enroll for seventh grade. You could live at home. But if you want to go year-round at Camp, I’ll understand. The choice is yours.

When Andie finished, she read it again. And again. And again. Finally, she folded the note carefully and put it on her bedside table. A flurry of emotions roiled through her chest.

Gabe was gone. 

Gabe. Was. Gone. 

They didn’t have to deal with him anymore. It was just them, now, in a way…it hadn’t ever really been. Not truly. She let out a disbelieving laugh, tears springing to her eyes. 

Somehow, even after everything Andie had accomplished in the last month, this felt like the biggest obstacle she’d overcome. They were free .

On the other hand…did Andie want to go home? Her mother, of course, was the biggest factor. The only factor, really. Andie didn’t really care about going to school- she knew Camp Half-Blood had courses and curriculums for the year rounders to complete their education, and she wouldn’t have to worry about being the loser outcast kid. 

She imagined what it would be like, going to school with Anthony, Travis and Conner. Even Clarisse. 

Being able to train everyday would be amazing, and she knew Chiron would probably prefer that she did, if only for her safety. 

But staying at Half-Blood Hill would mean leaving her mom alone. Could she do that?

But she was safe here- she didn’t have to worry about being attacked by monsters. 

But her mom.

Andie sighed. She fell asleep silently debating herself.

That weekend, Andie stepped foot in the strawberry fields for the first time. 

She took a deep breath as Grover led her through the rows of ripening berries. She could smell the warm fruit, and even the soil beneath her feet. It smelled a lot like the whiff of wild nature she’d gotten when Grover had told her about Pan, sitting underneath a tree in New Jersey, what felt like eons ago, now. The sun shone on her skin, bright and warming her right to her bones. By some miracle, she wasn’t over heating, though she was pretty sure that had something to do with the whole ‘always a perfect temperature’ thing Camp Half-Blood had going on. 

Grover was explaining to her that, even though the Dionysus kids, Demeter kids, and satyrs could keep the fields in season for most of the year, late-June/early-July was still their main harvesting season. Sure enough, the fields were almost crowded with figures in orange, smattered with juice and soil.

Andie caught sight of Mr. D’s twins on the far side of the field along with several satyrs. She recognized Ella, too, talking to a small group of campers like she was instructing them a few rows away.

“Anyway,” Grover was saying, “Even if it is prime time for strawberry season without nature magic, we still give the strawberries a little push.”

He raised his reed pipes to his lips, and before Andie could stop him, trilled out a few shrill notes. Unfortunately for the girl kneeling a few feet away, Grover either put a little too much magic into his song, or his pipes were out of tune. Three berries she had been checking on swelled like balloons to nearly the size of baseballs before exploding all over her. 

She whipped her head around to glare at Grover with such speed her caramel-colored braid whacked her in the chin. 

“What are you doing?!” She hissed at the satyr.

Grover winced. “Uh, sorry. Just showing Andie, here, how we harvest the strawberries.”

The girl, who seemed about  Andie’s age, maybe a year older, raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Well harvesting doesn’t usually mean exploding.” She stood, wiping her hands on her pale yellow overalls. Much to Andie’s surprise, the other girl was even shorter than she was. “We usually leave that to the newer kids,” she told them, doing her head toward the group surrounding Ella. 

Her gaze moved from Grover to Andie. “I’m Katie, by the way. Daughter of Demeter.”

“Andie. Daughter of Poseidon.” The other girl’s name rang a bell. “You’re gonna be the new Head Counselor next summer, right?”

Katie’s chin lifted ever so slightly. “Sure am. Takin’ over from Ella. Gonna miss her, but she’s off to bigger and better things.” Her voice was a strange mixture of sadness and pride, with a hint of a southern accent.

Andie smiled at her. “I’m sure you’ll be great.”

Katie’s face broke into a grin, and she knelt down to pick a delicious looking strawberry out of the bucket at her feet before holding it out to Andie.

“You’ve probably had some at the dining pavilion,” the daughter of Demeter said with a smile. “But they’re even better straight off the vine.”

Andie took the strawberry and bit into it. Her eyes widened as the flavors hit her tongue. Katie smiled smugly and nodded while Grover let out a chuckle beside her. 

“I know, right?” Grover asked.

“And I thought the ones they served at the pavilion were amazing,” Andie muttered, finishing off the berry. Grover plucked the stem out of her fingers and popped in his mouth.

“Told you so,” Katie said with a smirk. She was quiet for a moment before her eyebrows furrowed, a slight frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Hey, you’re friends with the Stoll brothers, right?”

Andie cocked her head to the side at the subject change. She raised an eyebrow. “Um, yeah. Why?”

Katie’s mouth twisted. “Just…watch out for them. They’re absolute menaces.”

Andie recalled briefly Conner and Travis having mentioned that the Demeter cabin tended to be a target of their pranks. She guessed Katie didn’t find the jokes particularly funny.

“I can try and get them to lay off the Demeter Cabin, if you want,” she offered. 

“You would be a godsdamned miracle worker if you could,” Katie scoffed. “Those two idiots take being told they can’t do something as a challenge . They don’t listen to anyone.”

Andie couldn’t help but chuckle a little. That was a fair enough assessment, though she personally didn’t see the brothers causing that much harm. They were funny, and their pranks were mostly pretty funny. Andie didn’t mind them at all, and had already joined in on some of their shenanigans (they were currently gearing up for an amazing prank on Cabin Five), but Katie struck Andie as much more practical than herself. 

“I’ll see if I can at least get them to tone it down for you guys,” she promised. 

Katie gave her a small smile, though Andie wasn’t totally convinced the other girl quite believed her.

“Thanks, Andie,” she responded. She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “I should get back to work. Maybe I’ll see you at the beach tomorrow?” 

Andie nodded. “We’ll leave you to it,” she hooked her hand into the crook of Grover’s elbow and began to pull him out of the fields.

As they wandered away, Andie glanced at her friend. “Have you started packing yet?”

The satyr sighed and threw an arm around her shoulder. She did the same to him, though it was starting to become a sort of awkward stretch.

“Don’t have much to pack, really,” he told her. “My pipes, a couple extra sets of clothes, some tin cans…the usual.”

Andie nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. “You still planning on leaving tomorrow?” 

Grover seemed to sense her worry. Damn satyrs and their emotion reading. He stopped in his tracks, and pulled her into a tight hug. She couldn’t help but notice how much older he seemed to have gotten in the last couple of weeks. He could pass as a high schooler, now. Not only was he taller, but his goatee had gotten thicker, and he’d put on weight. His horns had grown at least an inch, and were now sticking out of his dark curls.

“I’m gonna be fine, you know,” he murmured in her ear.

She squeezed him a little tighter before releasing him completely. “Damn right you will. Bravest satyr, ever.”

Grover smiled, ducking his head. Andie nudged him with her elbow. “And if you turn out not to be fine, I’ll come find you.”

“I wouldn’t make promises you don’t know if you can keep, Rom,” he chastised.

Andie raised an eyebrow. “Who said anything about promises? That was a fucking threat, dude. If I don’t see you again, there will be consequences.”

Grover laughed, tossing his head back. The duo tossed their arms back over each other’s shoulders, continuing their trek back down towards the cabins.

“Hey, do you think Pan likes imploded strawberries?”

Grover just groaned and buried his face in his hands. 

The next day was the Fourth of July. The whole camp gathered at the beach for a fireworks display by Cabin Nine. Being Hephaestus’ kids, they weren’t going to settle for a few lame red-white-and-blue explosions. They’d anchored a barge offshore and loaded it with rockets the size of missiles. According to Anthony, who’d seen the show before, the blasts would be sequenced so tightly they’d look like frames of animation across the sky. The finale was supposed to be a couple of hundred-foot-tall Spartan warriors who would crackle to life above the ocean, fight a battle, and then explode into a million colors. 

As she and Anthony were spreading a picnic blanket, Grover showed up to bid them goodbye. Unlike the day before, he was now dressed for the mortal world in jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. His cap was pulled onto his head- he’d have to wear it all the time, now, if he wanted to pass as human.

“I’m off,” he told them with a watery smile. “I just came to say…well, y’know.”

Andie tried to feel happy for him. After all, it wasn’t everyday a satyr got permission to go look for the great god Pan, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was going to happen with Grover’s search. She had faith in him, no doubt, but it was hard to see him go-hard to say goodbye. Grover was her oldest friend, even if she’d only known him for a year.

Anthony pulled him into a hug. “Keep your fake feet on,” he advised. Grover rolled his eyes, but nodded.

“Where ya headed to first?” Andie asked.

“Kinda a secret,” the satyr responded, scuffing his feet in the sand and rubbing the back of his neck. “I wish you guys could come with me, but humans and Pan…”

“We understand,” Anthony assured. “You got enough tin cans for the trip?”

“Yeah.”

“And you remembered your reed pipes?” Andie reminded.

Grover looked back and forth between them, bewildered. “Gods, what are you two, my parents ?”

But he was laughing as he said it, so Andie figured he wasn’t actually too annoyed. He gripped his walking stick and slung a backpack over his shoulder, looking like any other hitchhiker you’d see on the highway. Andie couldn’t see any of the runty little boy she used to defend from bullies at Yancy. 

“Well,” Grover said with a deep breath, “Wish me luck.”

He pulled them in for one last group hug. As he pulled away and began to trudge back towards the dunes, Andie couldn’t help but call out, “Don’t forget, G-Man: consequences!”

“Consequences?” Anthony muttered beside her. Andie smirked.

“I threatened that if he turns out to not be fine, I would find him, and there would be consequences.”

Anthony titled his head like he was considering what she said, before giving a sharp nod.

“I’ll help her with the consequences!“ he shouted to the figure now standing at the top of the dunes.

Grover’s retreating silhouette waved them off without looking over his shoulder. “ Di immortales ! You guys really are my parents!”

Cheering erupted along the beachfront. They took it as their cue to take their seats on the blanket they had set out. Fireworks exploded to life: Heracles killing the Nemean Lion, Artemis chasing the boar, George Washington (a son of Athena, Andie had come to learn) crossing the Delaware. 

“We’ll see him again,” Anthony spoke suddenly. Andie tried to believe it, but that worry and sense of foreboding still bubbled in her chest. The fact that no searcher had come back in two thousand years…well, she tried not to think about it too much. Grover would be fine. He had to be. 

Compared to the rest of the summer, July passed in a blur.

When she wasn’t training in a class, she was training one-on-one with Luke. When she wasn’t with Luke, she was finishing up her Ancient Greek studies with Anthony (she had picked it up quick, almost fluent in speaking it now, though reading and writing was still kind of a pain), or occasionally even keeping up with her Latin studies via Chiron (who was weirdly interested in having Andie study it). When she wasn’t studying with Anthony or Chiron, she was devising new strategies for capture the flag and making alliances with other cabins to keep the flag out of Ares’ hands. She’d even finally managed to get to the top of the climbing wall for the first time without getting scorched by lava. 

From time to time, Andie would walk past the Big House, glance up at the attic windows, and think about the Oracle. She tried to convince herself that its prophecy had come to completion, but wariness still churned her stomach.

‘ You shall go west and face the god who has turned.’

The traitor god had turned out to be Ares, rather than Hades, but either way, she’d faced them both.

‘ You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned.’

Check. One Master Bolt delivered. One Helm of Darkness back on Hades’ oily head. 

‘ You shall be betrayed by one who called you a friend.’

That line…still didn’t sit quite well with Andie. She was pretty sure it was the main cause of her unease. Ares had pretended to be their friend, then betrayed them. Maybe that was what the Oracle had meant? But why would it dedicate two separate lines to Ares?

‘ And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end.’

Andie had failed to save her mom, but only because she’d let her save herself, which Andie knew was the right thing.

These thoughts struck Andie randomly from time to time, occasionally distracting her in the middle of activities. They lasted right up until the last night of summer session, which came all too quickly.

The campers all had one last meal together. They burned part of their dinner for the gods, and led the procession to the bonfire. There, the senior counselors awarded the end-of-summer beads.

Anthony handed Andie her own leather necklace, shooting her a proud smile as he did so. She hoped the firelight covered her blushing when she saw what her first bead was. She blinked up at him in shock, and her friend just nodded like, ‘ yes, this is really what was chosen.’

The bead was a dark blue-black, with a sea green trident shimmering in the center.

“The choice was unanimous,” Luke announced. “This bead commemorates the first Child of the Sea God in nearly a century, and the quest she undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!”

The entire camp got their feet and roared in ovation. Even the Ares cabin felt obliged to stand. Anthony’s siblings steered both him and Andie to the front to bask in the applause. 

“Was it really unanimous if not all the head counselors were there to vote on it?” She asked, leaning towards Anthony so he could hear her over the crowd.

He sent her a smirk, leaning towards her in return. “We wanted to surprise you.”

She scoffed and told herself the heat in her face was because of the fire they now stood in front of. “Yeah, well, consider me surprised.”

“Seriously though, what did you think the bead was going to be?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Andie shrugged. “I dunno,” she admitted. “Not me, though.”

Anthony’s brow furrowed together. “You saved the Camp, Andie. You stopped what would’ve been the next Trojan War, if not worse. Why shouldn’t we honor you?”

“You make it sound like I did it all myself,” Andie protested. “I’m not that special.”

Anthony sighed and shook his head. He didn’t say anything else, despite the fact that it seemed like he wanted to. Instead, he grabbed her by the wrist and raised their arms in the air like she’d just won a boxing match. The campers cheered even louder, and Andie couldn’t help but laugh. Anthony sent her a triumphant grin.

Andie wasn’t sure she’d ever felt as happy or as sad as she did in that moment. She’d finally found a family, people who cared about her and thought she’d done something right. 

And in the morning, most of them would be leaving for the year.

The next morning, she found a form letter on her bedside table. She knew Dionysus must have filled it out, because he stubbornly insisted on getting her name wrong.

Dear        Alice Johnson          ,

If you intend to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, you must inform the Big House by noon today. If you do not announce your intentions, we will assume you have vacated your cabin or died a horrible death. Cleaning harpies will begin work at sundown. They will be authorized to eat any unregistered campers.

Have a nice day!

Mr. D (Dionysus)

Camp Director, Olympian Council #12

That’s the thing about ADHD- deadlines just aren’t real until you’re staring one in the face. Summer was over, and Andie still hadn’t answered her mother or the camp about whether or not she’d be staying, 

Now she only had a few hours to decide.

The decision should’ve been easy. For the first time, Andie had the chance to live for an entire year with her mom, without Gabe. She had the chance to live at home and knock around the city in her free time. She remembered what Anthony had said so long ago at the beginning of their quest: ‘ The real world is where the monsters are. That’s where you learn if you’re any good or not.’

She thought about the fate of Thalia. She wondered how many monsters would attack her if she left Camp. If Andie stayed in one place for a whole school year, without Chiron or her friends to help her, would she and her mom even survive until next summer? 

Andie couldn’t think straight. Maybe some sword practice would clear her head.

The campgrounds were mostly deserted, shimmering in the August heat. All the campers were in their cabins packing up, or running around with brooms and mops, getting ready for final inspection. Argus was helping Silena and a few of her siblings haul their bags over the hill, where the Camp’s shuttle bus would be waiting to take them to the airport.

‘ Don’t think about leaving yet,’ Andie told herself. ‘ Just train.’

She arrived at the arena to discover that Luke had apparently had the same idea. His gym bag was plopped at the edge of the stage. He was working solo, whaling on battle dummies with a sword Andie had never seen before. It had to have been a regular steel sword, because it glinted a silvery-grey as he slashed the dummies’ heads right off, stabbing through their straw-stuffed guts. His orange counselor’s shirt was dripping with sweat, his expression so intense, Andie nearly believed his life was really in danger. She watched, fascinated, as the older boy disemboweled the whole row of dummies, hacking off limbs and basically reducing them to a pile of straw and armor.

Even though they were only dummies, Andie couldn’t help but be in awe of Luke’s skill. He was an incredible fighter, like he was born for it. It made her wonder, not for the first time, how he possibly could’ve failed at his quest.

Finally, he spotted her and stopped mid-swing. “Andie.”

Andie tugged at her fingers, suddenly nervous. Her face warmed. “I, um, sorry,” she stuttered out. “I just-“

“Hey, no worries,” he told her, lowering his sword. “Just getting some last minute practice in.”

“These dummies won’t be bothering anybody anytime soon,” she pointed out.

Luke shrugged, a slight smirk curling his lips. “We build new ones every summer.”

Now that his sword wasn’t whirling around, Andie could make out just how odd it was. The blade was two different types of metal- one edge bronze, the other steel.

Luke noticed her looking at it. “Oh, this? New toy. This is Backbiter.”

Andie’s eyebrows raised. “Backbiter?”

The blond turned the blade in the light so it glinted wickedly. “One side is Celestial Bronze. The other is tempered steel. Works on mortals and immortals both.”

She thought about what Chiron had told her when she started her quest- that a hero should never harm mortals unless absolutely necessary.

“I didn’t know they could make weapons like that.”

“ They probably can’t,” Luke agreed. “It’s one of a kind.”

He gave her a tiny smile, then slid the sword into its scabbard. “Listen, I was going to come looking for you. Whaddya say we go down to the woods one last time, look for something to fight?”

Andie wasn’t sure why she hesitated. The back of her scalp prickled, like her instincts were screaming ‘ DANGER!’ But this was Luke. Her friend, her instructor.

“You think it’s a good idea?” She asked. “I mean-“

“Aw, c’mon.” He rummaged in his gym bag and pulled out a six pack of Cokes. “Drinks are on me.”

She stared at the Cokes, wondering where the hell he’d gotten them. There were no regular mortal sodas at the camp stores. No way to smuggle them in unless you talked to a satyr, maybe.

Of course, the magic dinner goblets would fill with anything you want, but it just didn’t taste the same as the real deal.

Sugar and caffeine. Andie’s willpower was nonexistent.

“Sure,” she decided. “Why the fuck not?”

Luke let out a bark of laughter. “Attagirl.”

They walked down to the woods and kicked around for some kind of monster to fight, but it was too hot. All the monsters with any kind of sense must’ve been relaxing in their nice, cool caves.

They found a shady spot by the creek where Andie had broken Clarisse’s spear during her first capture the flag game. They sat on a big rock, drank their sodas, and watched the sunlight in the woods.

Andie tried to keep the sudden realization that she was hanging out in the woods, alone, with the hottest guy at Camp out of her mind. ‘ Knock it off, Jackson,’ she mentally chastised herself. ‘ He’s way too old for you.’

After a while, Luke spoke up. “You miss being on a quest?”

“With monsters attacking me every three feet? Are you shitting me?”

Luke raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I miss it,” Andie admitted with a roll of her eyes. “You?”

A shadow passed over his face, and suddenly the handsomeness she (and many of the other girls at Camp, okay? It wasn’t just her), usually associated him with was gone. He looked weary and angry. His sandy blond hair was grey in the sunlight. The scar on his face looked deeper than usual. Andie could easily imagine him as an old man.

“I’ve lived at Camp Half-Blood year-round since I was fourteen,” he told her. “Ever since Thalia…well, you know.”

The way he said her name made Andie wonder if Thalia was a little more than just a friend to him. 

“I trained, and I trained, and I trained. I never got to be a normal teenager, out there in the real world. Then they threw me one quest, and when I came back, it was like, ‘ okay, ride’s over, have a nice life ’.”

He crumpled his Coke can and threw it in the creek. Andie stared at him with wide eyes, shocked. One of the first things you learn at Camp Half-Blood is: Don’t litter. You’ll hear from the nymphs and naiads. They will get even and you won’t like how.

“The hell with laurel wreaths,” Luke spat. “I’m not going to end up like those dusty trophies in the Big House attic.”

Andie furrowed her eyebrows, a knot beginning to form in her stomach. “You make it sound like you’re leaving.”

Luke smiled, though it wasn’t his usual mirth filled, charming one. It was twisted and bone-chilling. “Oh, I’m leaving alright, Andie. I brought you down here to say goodbye.”

He snapped his fingers. A small fire burned a hole in the ground at her feet. Out crawled something glistening black, about the size of Andie’s hand. A scorpion.

She started to go for her pen.

“I wouldn’t,” Luke cautioned. “Pit Scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. Its stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You’ll be dead in sixty seconds.”

“Luke,” her voice shook. “What-“

It hit her like a fucking freight train.

‘ You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.’

“You,” she hissed.

He stood calmly and brushed off his jeans. The scorpion paid him no attention. It kept its beady black eyes on Andie, clamping its pincers as it crawled onto her shoe.

“I saw a lot out there in the world, Andie,” Luke said conversationally, like he wasn’t actively betraying her. “Didn’t you feel it- the darkness gathering, the monsters growing stronger? All the heroics- being pawns of the gods. They should've been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they’ve hung on, thanks to us half-bloods.”

Andie stared at him, slack jawed. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She wanted to believe this was just another crazy nightmare. 

“Luke…you’re talking about our parents ,” she said lowly.

He laughed harshly. “That’s supposed to make me love them? Their precious ‘Western Civilization’ is a disease , Andie. It’s killing the world. The only way to stop it is to burn it to the ground, start over with something more honest.”

She shook her head. “You’re as crazy as Ares.”

His eyes flared. “Ares is a fool. He never realized the true master he was serving. If I had time, sweetheart, I could explain. But I’m afraid you won’t live that long.”

The scorpion crawled up her leg.

There had to be a way out of this. She needed time to think.

“Kronos,” she murmured. “That’s who you serve.”

The air got colder. 

“You should be careful with names,” Luke warned. 

Andie ignored him. “Kronos got you to steal the Master Bolt and the Helm. He spoke to you in your dreams.”

Luke’s eye twitched. “He spoke to you, too, Andie. You should’ve listened.”

“He’s brainwashing you, Luke.”

“You’re wrong,” he said with a shake of his head. “He showed me that my talents are being wasted. You know what my quest was two years ago, kid? My father, Hermes, wanted me to steal a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides and return it to Olympus. After all the training I’d done, that was the bullshit he thought up.”

“That’s not an easy quest,” she reminded. “ Heracles did it.”

“Exactly,” he sneered. “Where’s the glory in repeating what others have done? All the gods know how to do is replay their past. My heart wasn’t in it. The dragon in the garden gave me this-” he pointed angrily at his scar. “-and when I came back, all I fucking got was pity . I wanted to pull Olympus down stone by stone right then, but I bided my time. I began to dream of Kronos. He convinced me to steal something worthwhile, something no hero had ever had the courage to take. When we went on that Winter Solstice field trip, while the other campers were asleep, I snuck into the throne room and took Zeus’ Master Bolt right from under his chair. Hades’ Helm of Darkness, too. You wouldn’t believe how damn easy it was. The Olympians are so fucking arrogant; they never dreamed someone would dare steal from them. Their security is shit. I was halfway across New Jersey before I heard the storms rumbling, and I knew they’d discovered my theft.”

The scorpion was sitting on Andie’s knee, now, staring at her with its glittering eyes. She tried to keep her voice level. “So, why didn’t you bring the items to Kronos?”

Luke’s smile wavered. “I…I got overconfident. Zeus sent out his sons and daughters to find the Bolt- the twins, Athena, my father. But it was Ares who caught me. I could’ve beaten him, but I wasn’t careful enough. He disarmed me, took the items of power, threatened to return them to Olympus and burn me alive. Then Kronos’ voice came to me and told me what to say. I put the idea in Ares’ head about a Great War between the gods. I said all he had to do was hide the items away for a while and watch the others fight. Ares got a wicked gleam in his eyes, and I knew he was hooked. He let me go, and I returned to Olympus before anyone even noticed I was gone.”

Luke drew his new sword. “Afterward the Lord of the Titans…he- he punished me with nightmares. I swore not to fail again. Back at Camp Half-Blood, in my dreams, I was told that a second hero would arrive- one who could be tricked into taking the Bolt and the Helm the rest of the way- from Ares down to Tartarus.”

“ You summoned that Hellhound that night in the forest.”

“We had to make Chiron think that Camp wasn’t safe for you so he would start you on your quest. We had to confirm his fears that Hades was after you. And it worked.”

“The flying shoes were cursed,” Andie realized. “They were supposed to drag me and the backpack into Tartarus.”

“And they would’ve, if you’d actually been wearing them. But you gave them to the satyr, which wasn’t part of the plan. Grover fucks up everything he touches. He even confused the curse.”

Andie could’ve broken his jaw for the insult to Grover alone. Luke looked down at the scorpion, which was now sitting on her thigh.

“You should’ve died in Tartarus, Andie. But don’t worry, I’ll leave you with my little friend here to set things right,”

“Thalia gave her life to save you,” she said through grit teeth. “And this is how you repay her?”

“Do not speak of Thalia!” He roared. “The gods let her die! That’s one of the many things they will pay for!”

Andie shook her head. “You’re being used , Luke. You and Ares both. Don’t listen to Kronos.”

“ I’ve been used?” Luke’s voice turned shrill. “Look in the fucking mirror, sweetheart. What has your dad ever done for you? Kronos will rise. You’ve only delayed his plans. He will cast the Olympians into Tartarus and drive humanity back to their caves. All except the strongest- the ones who serve him.”

“Because that’s such a glorious world to live in, right? Where people are either slaves, food, or hunted for sport?” She snarled. “Call off the bug, Luke. If you’re so strong, fight me yourself.”

Luke smiled. “Nice try, sweetheart. But I’m not Ares. You can’t bait me. My Lord is waiting, and he’s got plenty of quests for me to undertake.”

“Luke-“

“Goodbye, Andie. There’s a new Golden Age coming. You won’t be part of it.”

He slashed his sword in an arc and disappeared in a ripple of darkness. 

The scorpion lunged. 

Andie swatted it away and uncapped Riptide. The thing jumped at her and she sliced it in half.

She was about to congratulate herself until she looked down at her hand. Her palm has a huge red welt, oozing and smoking with yellow guck. It had stung her, after all.

Her ears pounded. Her vision went foggy. ‘ The water’ , she thought. ‘ It’ll heal me.’

She stumbled to the creek and submerged her hand, but nothing seemed to happen. The poison was too strong. Andie’s vision was going dark- she could barely stand up.

‘ Sixty seconds,’ Luke had told her.

She needed to get back to Camp. If Andie died out here, her corpse would be a monster’s dinner. No one would ever know what happened.

Her legs somehow felt simultaneously like lead and jelly. Her forehead was burning. She stumbled toward Camp, and the nymphs stirred from their trees.

“Help,” Andie croaked. “Please…”

Two of them took her arms, pulling her along. She remembered making it to the clearing, a fellow counselor shouting for help, a conch horn blowing.

Then everything went black.

Andie woke up with a drinking straw in her mouth. She was sipping something that tasted like liquid chocolate chip cookies. Nectar.

She opened her eyes.

She was propped up in a bed in the Big House infirmary, her right hand bandaged like a club. Argus stood guard in the corner. Anthony sat on the edge of her bed, holding her nectar glass and dabbing a washcloth on her forehead.

“Here we are again,” she mumbled.

“You idiot,” Anthony hissed, which is how Andie knew he was overjoyed to see her conscious. “You were green and turning grey when we found you. If it weren’t for Chiron’s healing…”

“Now, now,” Chiron’s voice came from somewhere in the room. “Andie’s constitution deserves some merit.”

It took Andie a moment to find him. He was sitting at the foot of her bed in human form, which is probably why it had taken her so long. He smiled, but his face looked weary and pale, the way it did back at Yancy when he’d been up all night grading Latin papers.

“How are you feeling?” The centaur asked.

Andie grimaced. “Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved,” she admitted. 

“Apt, considering that was Pit Scorpion venom. Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened.”

Andie’s eyes flickered to Anthony, dread settling like an anvil in her chest. If Andie thought she had been hurt by Luke’s betrayal…this would kill him.

Between sips of nectar, Andie told them the story. 

The room was quiet for a long time. 

Chiron studied Andie, his brow furrowed. Meanwhile, Anthony looked like he was running through and analyzing every single interaction he’d had with Luke in the last two years.

“I can’t believe Luke…” Anthony’s voice faltered. His expression turned angry and sad. “Yes. Yes, I can believe it. May the gods curse him…He was never the same after his quest.”

“This must be reported to Olympus,” Chiron muttered. “I will go at once.”

“Luke is out there right now,” Andie said. “I have to go after him.”

Chiron shook his head. “No, Andie. The gods-”

“Won’t even talk about Kronos,” Andie snapped. “Zeus declared the matter closed!”

“Andie, I know this is hard. But you must not rush out for vengeance. You aren’t ready.”

Defiance flared in her chest. Unfortunately, though, the part of Andie that suspected Chiron was right tamped it down. She was in no shape to be fighting, certainly not any time soon. One glimpse of her hand was proof enough of that. That didn’t mean she liked being benched.

“Chiron…” she spoke again. “Your prophecy from the Oracle…it was about Kronos, wasn’t it? Was I in it? And Anthony?”

Chiron glanced nervously at the ceiling. “Andie, it isn’t my place-”

“You’ve been ordered not to talk about it, haven’t you?” she demanded.

Her mentor’s eyes were sympathetic, but sad. “You will be a great hero, child. One of the best. I will do my best to prepare you. But if I’m right about the path ahead of you…”

Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the windows.

“Alright!” Chiron shouted. “Fine!”

He sighed in frustration. “The gods have their reasons, Andie. Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing.”

“We can’t just sit back and do nothing,” Andie insisted.

“ We will not sit back,” Chiron promised. “But you must be careful. Kronos wants you to come unraveled. He wants your life disrupted, your thoughts clouded with fear and anger. Do not give him what he wants. Train patiently. Your time will come.”

Andie’s face twisted. “Assuming I live that long.”

Chiron put his hand on her ankle. “You’ll have to trust me, Andie. You will live. But first, you must decide your path for the coming year. I cannot tell you the right choice…”

Andie had a feeling he had a pretty definite opinion- he wanted her to stay here, safe,and able to train, and it was taking all his willpower not to advise her. 

“But,” he continued. “You must decide whether to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round or return to the mortal world for the school year and be a summer camper. Think on that. When I get back from Olympus, you must tell me your decision.”

Andie wanted to protest. She had so many more questions she wanted to ask him. But his expression told her there could be no more discussion; he had said as much as he could.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” the centaur promised. “Argus will watch over you.”

He glanced at Anthony. “Oh, and my boy…whenever you’re ready, they’re here.”

“Who’s here?” Andie asked.

No one answered her.

Chiron rolled himself out of the room. She heard the wheels of his chair clunk carefully down the front steps, two at a time.

Anthony studied the ice in Andie’s drink. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked him.

“Nothing,” he replied, setting the glass on the table. “I…just took your advice about something. D’you…um…need anything?”

Andie shifted in her bed. “Yeah. Help me up. I wanna go outside.”

“Rom, that’s not a good idea.”

She slid her legs out of bed. Anthony caught her before she could crumple to the floor. A wave of nausea rolled over her.

“I told you-“

“I’m fine,” Andie insisted. She didn’t want to lay in bed helplessly while Luke was out there planning to destroy the world. She managed a step forward. Then another, still being mostly carried by Anthony. Argus followed them outside, though he kept his distance. 

By the time they reached the porch, Andie’s face was beaded with sweat. Her stomach was churning in and out of knots. But she had managed to make it all the way to the railing.

It was dusk. The camp looked completely deserted. The cabins were dark and the volleyball pit silent. No canoes cut across the surface of the lake. Beyond the woods and the strawberry fields, Long Island Sound glittered in the fading light of the sun.

“What are you going to do?” Came Anthony’s quiet voice from beside her. 

Andie shook her head. “I don’t know. I think…I’m pretty sure Chiron wants me to stay and train.”

“I think so, too.”

“But I don’t know if that’s what I want. I’d like to go back to the city, I think, but,” she glanced sideways at him. “That leaves you here stuck with, what, just Clarisse for company?”

“And the Stolls,” Anthony responded with a shrug. His thumb pressed against each of his fingers, popping each knuckle one at a time. He pressed his lips into a thin line before he sighed. “I’m going home for the year, Andie.”

She stared at him. “You mean, to your dad?”

He nodded toward the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Next to Thalia’s Pine Tree, at the very edge of Camp’s magical boundaries, a family stood silhouetted. A tall man, a woman, and two kids. They seemed to be waiting. 

“I wrote him a letter when we got back,” Anthony told her. “Just like you suggested. I told him…I was sorry. I’d come back home for the school year if he still wanted me. He wrote back immediately. We decided…we’d give it another try.”

“I mean, I don’t think you have anything to be sorry for, but either way…that took guts.”

He leveled an expectant look at her. “You won’t try anything stupid during the school year, will you? At least not without sending me an Iris-message?”

Andie managed a smile. “I won’t go looking for trouble. Though, I usually don’t have to.”

“When I get back next summer,” he said with determination, “We’ll hunt down Luke. We’ll ask for a quest, but if we don’t get approval, we’ll sneak out anyway. Agreed?”

“Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena.”

He held out his hand, and Andie shook it. Then, she decided that was stupid, and pulled him in for a hug.

“Take care, Seaweed Brain,” Anthony told her when he pulled away. “And keep your eyes open.”

“You too, Wise Guy.”

Andie watched her friend walk up the hill and join his family. Anthony gave his father an awkward hug before looking back at the valley one last time. He touched Thalia’s Pine, then allowed himself to be led over the crest and into the mortal world. 

For the first time at Camp, Andie felt truly alone. She looked out at the Sound, and she remembered what her father told her: ‘ The Sea does not like to be restrained.’

Andie made her decision.

She wondered if Poseidon and Amphitrite were watching, would they approve of her choice? 

“I’ll be back next summer,” she promised aloud. “I’ll survive until then. After all, I am your daughter.”

She turned to Argus. “Can you take me back to Cabin Three? I need to pack.”

Chapter Text

Andie’s nightmare started strangely…which was pretty on par for her, actually.

She was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town in the middle of the night, with a storm blowing in. Not only was the wind whipping through the nearby trees, bending them nearly to the ground, but Andie could feel the almost angry churning of the ocean nearby.

Somehow, she knew it was Florida, despite never having been.

Then, she heard hooves clattering against the pavement. She turned to see Grover running for his life. And boy, he was really hauling it. He had his fake shoes in his hand, the way he does when he needed to move fast. He was trying to get away from something.

Andie’s heart clenched. This was the first she’d seen her best friend in nearly a year, and he was in trouble. And she wasn’t actually there to help him.

Andie couldn’t see what was chasing her friend, but she could hear its bone-rattling growl as it muttered and cursed, and could see it’s shadowy figure as it loomed over Grover and the nearby shops.

‘Have to get away.’ Grover was muttering to himself as he ran. ‘Have to warn them!’

He whimpered as he dashed around the street corner and found himself at a dead end. There wasn’t anytime to back up, but a nearby shop door had been blown open in the storm, and he dove inside, hiding behind a rack of wedding dresses. The monster’s shadow passed in front of the shop.

Weirdly enough, Andie could smell the thing, which had never happened in her dreams, before. Needless to say, the thing reeked even worse than her bastard ex-step-father.

Grover trembled as the monster’s shadow passed on. After a beat of silence, he left out a relieved breath.

Then, the lightning flashed, the storefront exploded, and when she sat bolt upright in her bed, Andie could’ve sworn she heard the monster bellowing all the way from Manhattan.

But there was no storm, just morning sunlight streaming through her window. The bits of sunlight that shown through her sheer blue curtains turned parts of her room a glowing blue.

Andie could’ve sworn she saw a shadow flicker across the glass- a human-like shape. Then there was a knock on her door and her mom called that she was going to be late, and the shadow disappeared. Andie decided it must’ve been her imagination.

Her mom called out for her again, and Andie managed to respond groggily, and most likely incoherently. She grabbed Riptide- in pen form- out from under her pillow, and twirled it anxiously through her fingers. She thought about uncapping it- she hadn’t used it in so long- but a feeling she couldn’t quite describe held her back. 

Riptide was placed on her nightstand and Andie got ready as quickly as she could. She gave herself a quick look in the mirror after doing her hair- two French braids tied at the base of her skull just below either ear, the rest of her hair cascading over either shoulder in waves. She’d gotten better at doing her hair over the past year, especially since she’d started letting it grow longer, again. Where it had reached to just below her collarbone at the end of the summer, it now waved down to about her armpits.

All the while, she tried not to think about Grover or the shadow she’d seen that morning.

There’s no way it could’ve been real.

It didn’t stop her from praying to whichever deity was listening and willing to help that Grover was okay.

Andie took a deep breath and shook all the negative thoughts from her head, focusing on the day ahead. It was the last day of school, and it had been a really good year- she should’ve been excited. Not only had she managed to get through almost the entire year without getting expelled, but tomorrow she was off to Camp Half-Blood- her favorite place in the world.

It was going to be fine.

She doubled down on that sentiment when she got to the kitchen- her mom had made blue waffles and blue eggs for breakfast in honor of Andie’s last day of the seventh grade.

Andie ate at the kitchen table while her mom did the dishes, already dressed for work at the candy shop. As she had every morning in the months since she’d arrived back from Camp, Andie studied the new apartment, a warmth building in her chest, and distracting her from her dream, if only for a moment. The apartment her mom had found was a few blocks away from the old one, yet it felt like it could’ve been on Olympus for all it felt like it was another world.

It was a small two bedroom, but it didn’t ever feel cramped or crowded. Instead, it was warm and cozy and comforting, windows letting whatever minimal natural daylight New York, and constantly smelled of vanilla and coffee and cookies. Andie had been able to decorate her room with whatever she wanted, and she plastered a good portion of her walls with classic rock band posters, except above her desk, where she’d pinned a bunch of polaroids she and her mom had taken over the years. Just above Andie’s bed, she’d hung strings of shells that she’d collected from the beach at Montauk. Andie’s favorite part of her new room were the twinkling blue lights that she’d strung up where the walls meet the ceiling. And of course, the fact that the room was hers. Just hers. Gabe wasn’t around to take over and fuck it up whenever she wasn’t there.

Gods, Gabe.

When Andie had gotten home from Camp, the first thing she and her mom had done, after reassuring themselves that the other was okay and updating each other on the remainder of the summer that they hadn’t already talked about, was sit down and have what was the realest talk either of them had ever had with each other.

It wasn’t an easy talk.

Most of it was about Gabe. About what he’d put them through. Andie confessed to her mom that Gabe had been the one to forcefully cut her hair; she told her about the violence and the drunken threats and the degradation. The times he’d lock her in the hallway closet for hours on end while her mom was at work and he didn’t want to deal with her. She told her about the ultimatum he’d given her, that he wouldn’t hurt her mom if she didn’t say anything about the fact that he’d beat her.

In turn, her mom confessed that Gabe had made her a similar promise- that he’d promised not to hurt Andie if Sally would obey his every whim. She confessed that he’d hit her and shove her and yell at her, using her as a punching bag, and sometimes an ash tray- barely treating her like a human, much less his wife. There was a haunted look in her mom’s eyes when she suddenly cut herself short, unable to go further. Andie knew there was more her mom wasn’t saying, and she had a nauseating feeling it was something her mother would never tell her in a million years. Andie wasn’t naïve. She could guess well enough. It made her murderous, even though her mom had already…taken care of it.

When she angrily voiced that Poseidon should’ve been there, should’ve done something, Sally looked suddenly resigned.

“You know he couldn’t have, Andie,” she’d murmured softly.

So, they talked about her father, too. And her other mother.

Her mom explained how they’d actually met, and this time, Andie got the full picture. A twenty-two year old Sally Jackson, enjoying a break in Montauk after having dropped out of school to take care of her sick uncle. She’d only been in her little cabin for a week when she’d met a couple while strolling along the beach, collecting shells. They appeared to be only a few years older than Sally, herself, but there was something…different about them. Sally had already seen so many strange things in her life- unexplainable things- and she’d known as soon as she’d seen these two strangers that they were very much not human.

They had seemed delighted and intrigued when they realized that Sally had seen them for what they truly were. Gods- and not just any gods, the King and Queen of the Seas. And they had become just as enraptured with her as she had become with them. It quickly turned from fascination to friendship, and even quicker into love, and the three of them had spent the summer in the very same cabin Sally had been bringing Andie to all these years. She’d been heartbroken when the summer ended, and Sally inevitably had to return to the city. They wouldn’t be able to visit her in Manhattan- it was too close to the Empire State Building. To close to the paranoid King of the Gods.

So, none of them were thinking properly when they had reunited at the beach later that November. And nine months later, Andie had been born.

Poseidon had explained the oath he’d taken with his brothers. He’d explained how dangerous Andie’s life was going to be. Sally had told him in no uncertain terms that she didn’t care. She loved him, and she loved Amphy, and she loved the child that had become of that love, and she would do anything for them.

Sally then explained to her that Poseidon had come to visit Andie exactly once after she’d been born, but, in order to keep Andie safe, he couldn’t visit her any longer. The same couldn’t be said, however, for Amphitrite. “I made no such oath,” she had said. “And Zeus does not keep an eye on me in the same way he does his brothers.”

So, Amphitrite spent the next two years splitting her time between the sea and the city. But then, Andie started talking, and telling stories, and remembering names. She’d started noticing things not only about Amphy, but about the world around her…and not the mortal one. And in order to ensure that Andie wouldn’t accidentally reveal herself to the wrong being- be it a monster or a deity- Amphitrite had to return to Atlantis completely, and the Jackson girls had to live their mortals lives as best they could.

“So then you married Gabe,” Andie had muttered when her mother had finished. “To try and keep the monsters away for as long as possible.”

Sally had just nodded, guilt flooding her dark brown eyes. Andie reached over and grabbed her hand. “I don’t blame you, you know that, right?”

“Andie-“

“It’s no one’s fault but Gabe’s, mom,” she’d reiterated. “And he’s gone. We don’t have to deal with him anymore.”

Andie’s voice had choked as she’d said it- it was the first time she’d said it out loud. They held each other and cried that night- tears of relief and happiness for the chance to start anew, for no more secrets between them; tears of pain and anger and fear that they had been too scared to let out for nearly a decade; tears of mourning for the life they wished they could’ve lived. When the tears eventually ran dry, they ordered pizza and ice cream and spent the night watching her mom’s favorite movie musicals until they both crashed out on the couch, curled up next to each other.

They still had their bad days, complete with nightmares and looking over their shoulder, flinching at sudden noises that were just a bit too loud- Andie figured there wouldn’t come a day they would be rid of those days completely. But they were becoming less and less frequent over the months. They were getting better.

It helped that they didn’t have to be separated, anymore. Andie no longer had to be sent to boarding school to keep her safe from Gabe, or any monsters that might be roaming the city streets. She could stay home and be as normal a kid as possible, at least during the school year.

Which brought her to eating blue waffles and eggs on the last day of seventh grade.

Her mom looked over at her, and must’ve noticed that she wasn’t digging in the way she usually did, because she frowned. “Andie, are you alright?”

“Yeah…fine.”

But her mom had always been able to read her like an open book. She dried her hands on a dish towel and sat across from Andie. “School, or…?”

Andie chewed on her lower lip. “I think Grover’s in trouble,” she said, launching into a description of her dream.

“I wouldn’t be too worried, querida,” her mom said when Andie finished. “Grover is a big satyr, now. If there were a problem, I’m sure we would’ve heard from…from Camp…” Her mom suddenly seemed very tense.

Andie leaned forward. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” her mom responded, gesturing vaguely. “I’ll tell you what. This afternoon we’ll celebrate the end of school. I’ll take you and Tyson to Rockefeller Center- to that skateboard shop that you like.”

Andie got a little excited at that. She’d picked up skateboarding a couple of years ago and had fallen in love with it. She had a board that she used- a hand-me-down given to her from the super sweet teenage girl at the skatepark who had taught her, in the first place. However, it was well worn, and was starting to get to the point where Andie wouldn't be able to use it for much longer. Unfortunately, boards were kind of expensive, and between her mom’s night classes and Andie’s tuition, they couldn’t ever afford to do stuff like shop for a skateboard. 

However, something about her mom’s voice bothered her. She shook her head as she realized- “Hold on, I thought we were packing me for Camp, tonight.”

Her mom twisted her dishrag. “Ah, princesa, about that…I got a message from Chiron last night.”

Andie’s heart sank. Chiron wouldn’t call unless it was serious. “What did he say?”

“He thinks…well, he thinks it might not be safe for you to go to Camp just yet. We may have to postpone.”

Andie blinked at her mother, trying to decipher her words. “Postpone?” She demanded. “How could it not be safe?! It’s Camp!”

“I know, querida. But with the problems they’re having-“

Andie cut her off. “What problems?”

Her mom sighed. “Rom…I’m so sorry. I was hoping to talk to you about it this afternoon. I can’t explain it all now. I’m not even sure Chiron can. Everything happened so suddenly.”

Andie grit her teeth. How could she not go to Camp? Before she could ask any of her million questions, the kitchen clocked chimed the half-hour.

Her mom almost looked relieved. “Seven-thirty, querida. You should go. Tyson will be waiting.”

“But-“

“Andie, we’ll talk this afternoon. Go on to school.”

It was the last thing she wanted to do, but her mom had a warning look on her face, and Andie knew not to push. Not yet. Besides, she was right about her friend Tyson. She had to meet him at the subway station on time, or he’d get upset. He was scared of traveling underground, alone.

Andie gathered up her stuff, but halted in the doorway. “Mom, this problem at camp. Does it…could it have anything to do with my dream about Grover?”

She wouldn’t meet Andie’s eyes. “We’ll talk this afternoon, querida. I’ll explain…as much as I can.”

Andie nodded reluctantly and jogged downstairs to catch her train. Just before she entered the stairway to the subway, she once again could’ve sworn she saw a human-like shadow against the brick wall. Before she could look too hard, it rippled and vanished.

The rest of her day went normal, enough. She met up with Tyson, and rode with him the rest of the trip downtown to Meriwether Prep, already looking forward to the end of the day when she could get some answers.

Over the last few months, she’d come to like Meriwether Prep, funny enough. The teachers were pretty laid back, relatively speaking. Their dress code consisted of jeans and a t-shirt (for many of which meant old, faded tour shirts from rock concerts, which Andie could appreciate), and their optimism actually provided Andie with some semblance of hope that she could actually function in a school setting.

Unfortunately, their optimism, at times, could be a bit…well, relentless. Probably because most of their students were far, far from bright.

Listen, Andie may not have the best grades, but she had two learning disabilities. Most of those kids didn’t get to make that claim.

Besides, she may be impulsive, but at least Andie had some common sense. Again, a claim pretty much every other student couldn’t second.

Her first class was English, and their exam was a wild re-creation in the break yard of Lord of the Flies, which the entire middle school had to read that year. It pretty much played out exactly how one would’ve thought letting a bunch of middle-schoolers loose with no adult supervision would go- with incredibly violent games and activities, led by the school’s resident bully, Matt Sloan.

Matt was about as attractive as he was intelligent, which was to say not at all. He had beady dark eyes, and shaggy dark hair, and always dressed in expensive, but sloppy clothes, like he wanted everybody to see how little he cared about his family’s money. He had a chipped front tooth from the time he’d taken his daddy’s Porche for a joyride and run into a ‘PLEASE SLOW DOWN FOR CHILDREN’ sign. Unfortunately for Andie, none of this stopped him from hitting on her and playing ‘the nice guy’ at the beginning of the school year. When she rejected him, he immediately turned into an asshole, and spent the rest of the year alternating between bullying her and hitting on her.

Talk about getting mixed signals.

His offense at rejection only worsened when Andie befriended Tyson, who was a total sweetheart that the entire school treated like scum just because he was homeless, having been brought in essentially as a charity case to make everyone feel better about themselves. Andie was pretty much his only friend, which meant that Tyson was her only friend.

Tyson was the only homeless kid at Meriwether College Prep. As near as Andie and her mom could figure, he’d been abandoned by his parents when he was very young, probably because he was so…different. He was six-foot-three and built like the Abominable Snowman, but he was incredibly sensitive, and scared of just about everything. His face was kind of misshapen and brutal looking. Andie couldn’t tell what color his eyes were because she could never make herself look higher that his crooked teeth. His voice was deep, and his vocabulary limited, as he talked a lot like a little kid- Andie guessed it was because he’d never been to school before Meriwether. He wore tattered jeans, and a plaid flannel shirt with holes in it. He smelled like a New York City alleyway, because that’s where he lived, in a cardboard refrigerator box off 72^nd Street.

Andie’s mom had complained to the school a million times that they weren’t doing enough to help him. She’d called social services, but nothing ever seemed to happen. The social workers claimed Tyson didn’t exist. They swore up and down that they’d visited the alley she and Andie had described and couldn’t find him, though how they couldn’t find a giant kid living in a cardboard box, Andie didn’t know.

But she would take being friends with Tyson over dating Matt Sloan, any day.

Especially as Matt continued to try and hurt Tyson, seemingly trying to reach a quota of how many times he can make the big guy cry to finish out the year. That, however, had been a mistake.

Sloan had snuck up behind Tyson and tried to give him a wedgie, and Tyson panicked. He swatted Sloan away a little too hard. Sloan flew back about fifteen feet and got tangled in the little kids’ tire swing.

“You fucking freak!” Sloan yelled. “Why don’t you go back to your cardboard box?”

Tyson started sobbing. He sat down on the jungle gym so hard he bent the bar, and buried his head in his hands.

“Take it back, asshole!” Andie shouted.

Sloan just sneered at her. “Why do you event bother, Jackson? You might have friends or a boyfriend if you weren’t always sticking up for that freak.”

Andie balled up her fists, hoping her face wasn’t as red as it felt. “He’s not a freak. He’s just…”

She tried to think of the right thing to say, but Sloan wasn’t listening. He and his big ugly friends were too busy laughing. Andie wondered if it were her imagination, or if Sloan had more goons hanging around him than usual. She was used to seeing him with two or three buddies, but today he had, like, half a dozen more, and she was pretty sure she’d never seen them before.

“Just wait until PE, Jackson,” Sloan called. “Just you wait.”

Needless to say, everyone passed the English exam.

Andie had to promise to buy Tyson an extra peanut butter sandwich at lunch to get him to stop sobbing.

“I...I am a freak?” he asked through his sniffles.

“No,” Andie promised, gritting her teeth. “Matt Sloan is the freak.”

Tyson sniffled. “You are a good friend. Miss you next year if…if I can’t…”

His voice trembled, and she realized he didn’t know if he’d be invited back next year for the community service project. Andie wondered if the headmaster had even bothered talking to him about it.

“Don’t worry, big guy,” she managed with a tight smile. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”

Tyson gave her such a grateful look, Andie felt like a big liar. How could she promise a kid like him that anything would be fine?

Their next exam was science. Their teacher told them they had to mix chemicals until they succeeded in making something explode. Tyson was her lab partner. His hands were way too big for the tiny vials they were supposed to use. He accidentally knocked a tray of chemicals off the counter and made an orange mushroom cloud in the trash can.

After the lab had been evacuated and the hazardous waste removal squad had been called, their teacher had praised Andie and Tyson for being natural chemists. They were the only ones who had ever passed their exams in under thirty seconds.

Andie wasn’t sure if that was something to be praised, but she had basically just been handed a free ‘A’, so she wasn’t going to argue.

She was glad the morning had gone by so fast. With so much happening, it kept her from thinking about all her problems. Andie couldn’t stand the idea of something being wrong at Camp. Even worse, she couldn’t shake the memory of her nightmare. She had a terrible feeling Grover was in danger.

Di immortales, she had been mostly joking when she threatened Grover about coming to find him if something happened to him.

After lunch, she had social studies, where they were drawing longitude/latitude maps. Andie opened her notebook and stared at the photo inside.

It was a picture of Anthony on vacation in Washington, D.C. He was wearing jeans and a grey zip-up hoodie over a green t-shirt, his curly blonde hair peeking out from under a navy baseball cap worn backwards on his head. He stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial with his arms crossed looking incredibly smug, as if he’d designed the place, personally. Anthony had emailed Andie the picture after spring break, and Andie couldn’t help but looking at it every once in a while, as if to remind her that he- and everything they had experienced together- had been real.

Even if he would likely get obnoxious about knowing more than Andie (as he was apt to do), she wished Anthony were here. He would know what to make about her dream.

She was about to close her notebook when Matt Sloan reached over and ripped the photo out of the rings.

“Hey!” Andie protested, grabbing to try and take it back. Matt held it out of her reach as he studied it. He squinted at her.

“This the scrawny shit you rejected me for, Jackson?”

“Give it back, asshole!” She wanted to defend her friend, but she only barely managed to refrain from yelling out that Anthony was definitely not scrawny. Her ears felt hot.

Sloan handed the photo to his new buddies. Andie decided they must’ve been visiting, because they all had those sticker nametags with the weirdest names ever written on them. They snickered as they ripped up the photo (and Andie didn’t want to think about how much her heart clenched at that), and started making it into spit wads. 

Andie so badly wanted to tear Sloan and his buddies apart, but she was under strict orders from Chiron never to take her anger out on regular mortals.

They didn’t make it easy.

The bell rang.

As Andie and Tyson were leaving class, she heard a boy’s voice whisper her name. Andie looked around the locker area, but nobody was paying her any attention. Not that Andie was really expecting any one to. She was well aware of the fact that any boy who wasn’t abhorred by the fact that she was friends with Tyson was too scared of Matt Sloan to even attempt talking to her. (Apparently, he had declared that if he couldn’t date her, no one could, which was disturbing for far too many reasons for Andie to list out. Honestly. It was middle school, for Poseidon’s sake.)

Before she had time to consider whether or not she was imagining things, it was time for PE. A crowd of kids rushed the gym, carrying Andie and Tyson with them. The coach had declared a dodgeball free-for-all, and Matt Sloan had promised to pulverize her.

Once everyone had changed into their (ever so lovely, not at all horrifically embarrassing) gym uniforms, they gathered in the gym. The coach- Coach Nunley- was sitting at his desk reading Sports Illustrated and generally ignoring the students. As usual.

“Coach, can I be captain?” Sloan called out.

Coach Nunley grumbled something incoherent and waved him off. Sloan took that as a yes, grinning and taking charge of the picking. He made Andie the other team’s captain, not that it mattered, as all the jocks and popular kids moved over to Sloan’s side, as well as the group of visitors.

On Andie’s side, she had Tyson, Corey Bailer the computer geek, Lizzie Jones the environmentalist-bookworm, Raj Mandali the calculus whiz, Bethany Martin the conspiracy theorist, and half a dozen other kids who always got harassed by Sloan and his gang. Normally, Andie would’ve been fine with just her and Tyson, but the visitors on the other team gave her cause for doubt.

Matt Sloan spilled a cage full of balls in the middle of the gym.

“Scared,” Tyson mumbled. “Smell funny.”

Andie looked at him, eyebrows raised. “What smells funny?”

“Them.” Tyson pointed at Sloan’s new friends. “Smell funny.”

The visitors were cracking their knuckles, eyeing them like they wanted to eat them. Andie couldn’t help but wonder if they fed kids raw meat where they were from.

The game began when Sloan blew the coach’s whistle. Immediately, Andie’s team made themselves scarce, running for the exit, hiding behind the wall mat, or trying to make themselves as small as possible.

Andie got distracted by trying to make a plan with Tyson and almost immediately got hit in the gut, knocking the breath out of her. Tyson yelled for her to duck, and she rolled out of the way just in time to dodge a ball that probably would’ve taken her head off her shoulders. As it was, the ball hit the wall mat, causing Corey Bailer to yelp.

Andie rounded on them, furious. “Watch it! You could kill someone with that!”

The visitor that threw the ball- Joe Bob, his name tag read- grinned at her. “Oh, I do hope so, Andromeda Jackson. I sure do hope so!”

Andie’s heart leapt into her throat. No one called her Andromeda except for the people that knew her…and her enemies.

Tyson had said they smelled funny.

Monsters. Shit.

All around Matt Sloan, the visitors were growing in size. They were no longer kids, but eight foot tall giants with wild eyes, pointy teeth, and hairy arms tattooed with snakes and hula women and Valentine hearts.

Matt dropped his ball, cursing in surprise.

The other kids tried to make for the exit, screaming, but one of the giants threw a ball, nearly killing Raj, and hit the door, slamming it shut like magic. Raj and some of the others banged and jerked on the door, but couldn’t get it open.

“Let them go!” Andie yelled at the giants.

Their leader who called himself Joe Bob growled at her. “And lose our tasty morsels? No, Daughter of the Sea. We Laistrygonians aren’t just playing for your death. We want lunch!”

He waved his hand and summoned a new batch of dodgeballs, though these were bronze and on fire. Andie tried getting the coach’s attention, but he didn’t seem to notice anything awry. At this rate, Andie didn’t think anyone else realized they had genuine, man-eating, bloodthirsty monsters on their hands.

It was up to her, as always.

So, Andie played the most lethal game of dodgeball in her life, all while trying to protect her classmates.

Another giant, who called himself Skull Eater, threw his ball. Andie dove aside, just as the fiery bronze comet sailed past her shoulder.

“Corey!” She screamed. Tyson pulled him out from behind the exercise mat just as the ball exploded against it, blasting the mat to smoking shreds.

She tried to get them out the other exit, but the monsters sealed that one off, too. They also decided that the gym would look great with a crater in the floor.

Andie reached for Riptide, which she always kept in her back pocket before cursing herself. She was wearing running shorts. She had no pockets. Riptide was in her jeans in the girls’ locker room, all the way across the gym. And the giants had just sealed off the door to the locker rooms. Andie was completely defenseless.

Another fireball came hurtling toward Andie, but Tyson pushed her away. Even then, the explosion still sent her flying, head over heels. She found herself sprawled on the gym floor, dazed from smoke, her tie-dyed t-shirt peppered with sizzling holes. Just across the center line, two hungry giants were glaring down at her.

“Flesh!” The giants bellowed. “Hero flesh for lunch!”

“Andie needs help!” Tyson yelled, and he jumped right in front of her as they threw their balls.

“Tyson!” Andie shrieked. But it was too late.

Except that…Tyson had somehow managed to catch them both.

Andie did mention that they were bronze, on fire, and being hurled at about a zillion miles an hour, right?

Tyson sent the balls hurtling back towards their surprised owners who screamed as the bronze cannonballs exploded against their chest, taking the monsters along with.

“My brothers!” Joe Bob wailed. “You will pay for their destruction!”

Tyson swatted aside another fiery comet, which landed in the bleachers with a roaring explosion.

Sloan stood petrified in the middle of the gym. Her classmates were screaming, begging to be let out. Coach Nunley was unaware of anything going on.  Surely, the whole school could hear what was going on. The headmaster, the police, somebody would come and help them.

The remaining four giants hefted another volley of spheres, jeering for victory and a celebratory feast.

Andie knew they were all dead. Tyson couldn’t deflect all those balls at once. His hands had to be seriously burned from blocking the first volley. Without her sword…

She needed to get to Riptide. Andie’s brain chose that moment to have one of her brilliant, borderline suicidal ideas. She shouted at her teammates to move away from the locker room doors, and stood in front of them. Tyson batted two of the balls back towards their owners and blasted them to ashes.

That left two giants till standing.

She waited for one of the balls to get hurtled at her and dove aside at the last second, allowing the ball to hit and obliterate the locker room door.

The locker rooms exploded, sending various personal belonging scattered through the gym.

Well, that’s one way to pick a lock.

Tyson had taken out two of the giants while Andie had enacted her plan. The last giant standing was Joe Bob, who continued to attack Tyson, much to Andie’s dismay. He threw another ball that caught Tyson square in the chest, sending him sliding the length of the court and into the cinderblock wall that crumbled on top of him. She didn’t see how Tyson could possibly still be alive, but he only looked dazed. The bronze ball was smoking at his feet. Tyson tried to pick it up, but he fell back, stunned, into a pile of cinder blocks.

Joe Bob picked up another ball and aimed it at Tyson, as he gloated.

“Stop!” Andie shouted desperately. “It’s me you want!”

The giant grinned. “You wish to die first, young hero?”

She had to do something. Riptide had to be around here, somewhere. Then, she spotted her jeans in a smoking heap of clothes…right by the giant’s feet.

Fuck it. She charged.

The giant laughed and raised his arm. “My lunch approaches.”

Andie braced herself to die.

She didn’t get the chance.

The giant went rigid suddenly, his face going from gloating to shocked as he looked down at the bronze blade that was now protruding from his gut. He burst into green flames.

Standing in the smoke was Anthony. His face was grimy and scratched. He had a ragged backpack slung over his shoulder, his Yankees cap tucked into his back pocket, his bronze knife in his hand, and a wild look in his stormy grey eyes, like he’d just been chased a thousand miles by ghosts.

Despite her confusion, Andie grinned. She had never been more happy to see him.

Matt Sloan, who’d been standing there dumbfounded the whole time, finally came to his senses. He blinked at Anthony, as if he’d dimly recognized him from Andie’s notebook.

“That’s…that’s the dude…”

Andie heard a crack as Anthony punched him in the nose, knocking him flat. The look on his face wasn’t one Andie had seen from him before. “And you,” he snarled at Sloan, his voice low and dangerous. Again, not a tone Andie had ever heard from him. “Back the hell off of her.”

The gym was in flames. Kids were still running around screaming. Andie could hear sirens wailing and a garbled voice over the intercom. Through the windows of the exit doors, she could see the headmaster wrestling with the lock, a crowd of teachers piling up behind him.

“Anthony…” She stammered out. “How did you…how long have you…”

Anthony’s expression softened as he turned toward her. “Pretty much all morning,” he said apologetically as he sheathed his knife. “I’ve been trying to find a good time to talk to you, but you were never alone.”

Andie suddenly felt very, very warm. “The shadow I saw this morning- that was-“ Now, Andie knew she was blushing. “Oh my gods! You were looking in my bedroom window?!”

“There’s no time to explain!” He snapped, though he looked just as embarrassed as she felt. “I just didn’t want to-“

He was interrupted by a sudden cascade of adults pouring into the gym.

“Meet me outside,” Anthony told her. “And him.” He nodded toward Tyson, who was starting to stir against the wall. Anthony gave him a look of distaste that she didn’t quite understand. “You’d better bring him.”

Andie stared at her friend. “What?”

“No time!” Anthony hissed. “Hurry!”

He slapped his magic Yankees cap on his head and disappeared, leaving Andie with the mess.

Questions and accusations started flying from both adults and students. Andie knew she couldn’t tell anyone the truth, so she grabbed Riptide from her jeans, told Tyson to follow her, and leapt out of the building.

Anthony was waiting for them in an alley down Church Street. He pulled Andie and Tyson off the sidewalk just as a firetruck screamed past, heading for Meriwether Prep.

“Where did you find him?” the son of Athena demanded, pointing at Tyson.

And to think, Andie had just been thinking about how much she had missed Anthony, and how glad she was to see him.

But she’d also just been attacked by cannibal giants, from which Tyson had saved her life half a dozen times, and all Anthony could do was glare at him like he was the problem.

“He’s my friend,” Andie told him.

“Is he homeless?”

“The fuck does that have to do with anything? He can hear you, you know. Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Anthony looked surprised. “He can talk?”

“I talk,” Tyson confirmed. “You protect Andie. I like you.”

“What the fuck?” Anthony took a step back, staring at Tyson with a look of bewilderment.

Andie glared at him. She couldn’t believe he was being such a jackass! But instead of starting fight with Anthony, which, admittedly, was the last thing she wanted to do, she turned to examine Tyson’s hands. She was sure they must’ve been badly scorched by the flaming dodgeballs, but they looked fine- grimy and scarred, with dirty, chipped fingernails, sure- but they always looked like that.

“Tyson,” Andie breathed in disbelief. “Your hands aren’t even burned.”

“Of course not,” Anthony muttered. “I’m surprised the Laistrygonians had the balls to attack you with him around.”

Andie’s brow furrowed as she frowned at her friend. “Anthony, what are you talking about? Laistry-what?”

“Laistrygonians,” he answered plainly. “The monsters in the gym. They’re a race of giant cannibals who lived in the far north. Odysseus ran into them once-“

“They destroyed most of his ships,” Andie remembered, the story having clicked as soon as he mentioned Odysseus. “Odysseus’ ship was the last one, after that, right?”

Anthony raised an impressed eyebrow and nodded. “Yeah. Problem is, I’ve never seen them as far south as New York, before.”

Andie hummed. “Laistry- you know what, I can’t even say that. What do you call them in English? Or Portuguese? Or Hawaiian?”

He thought for a moment. “Canadians,” he decided. “Now come one, we have to get out of here.”

“The police’ll be after me.”

“Not the first time, is it?”

“Fuck you.”

“Andie, the cops are the least of our problems,” Anthony told her. “Have you been having the dreams?”

“The dreams…about Grover?”

Anthony’s face turned pale. “Grover? No, what about Grover?”

Andie recounted her dream to him. “Why? What were you dreaming about?”

His grey eyes were stormy, like his mind was racing a million miles an hour. “Camp,” he finally said. “Big trouble at Camp.”

Andie felt her face go slack, all the blood draining from it. “My mom was saying the same thing! She said Chiron called and told her to wait to bring me to Camp because of some problems. But what kind of trouble?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Anthony answered with a shake of his head. “But something is wrong. We have to get there right away. Monsters have been chasing me all the way from Virginia trying to stop me. Have you had a lot of attacks?”

Andie shook her head. Her mouth was dry. “None all year…until today.”

“None? But how…” His eyes drifted to Tyson. “Oh.”

“What do you mean, ‘oh’?” She demanded.

Tyson raised his hand like he was still in class. “Canadians in the gym called Andie something…Daughter of the Sea?”

Andie and Anthony exchanged looks. She didn’t know how she could explain, but Tyson deserved the truth after almost getting killed.

“Big guy,” she started slowly, trying to come up with the best way to explain. “You ever hear those old stories about the Greek gods? Like Zeus, Poseidon, Athena-“

“Yes,” Tyson answered.

“Well…those gods are still alive. They kind of follow Western Civilization around, living in the most influential countries. So, like right now, they’re in the US. And sometimes they have kids with mortals. Kids called half-bloods, or demigods.”

“Yes,” Tyson repeated, like he was still waiting for her to get to the point.

“Um, well, Anthony and I are demigods,” she told him. “We’re like…heroes-in-training. And whenever monsters pick up our scent, they attack us. That’s what those giants were in the gym. Monsters.”

“Yes.”

Andie stared at Tyson. He didn’t seem surprised or confused by what she was telling him, which surprised and confused her. “So…you believe me?”

Tyson nodded. “But you are…Daughter of the Sea?”

“Yeah,” she admitted. “My dad is Poseidon.”

She didn’t mention Amphitrite. No one knew- except herself and her parents- and Andie fully intended to heed her father’s warning and keep it that way. As much as it pained her to keep secrets from them, not even Grover, Anthony, or Chiron could know.

Tyson frowned. Now he looked confused. “But then…”

A siren wailed. A police car raced past their alley.

“We don’t have time for this,” Anthony spoke up. “We’ll talk in the taxi.”

“A taxi all the way to Camp isn’t cheap,” Andie reminded her friend.

“Just trust me, Seaweed Brain.”

Andie hesitated. “What about Tyson?”

She imagined escorting her giant friend into Camp Half-Blood. If he freaked out on a regular playground with regular bullies, how would he act at a training camp for demigods? On the other hand, the cops would definitely be looking for them.

“We can’t just leave him,” she decided. “He’ll be in trouble, too.”

“Yeah.” Anthony looked grim and irritated. “We definitely need to take him. Now come on.”

Andie hated the way he said that, as if Tyson were a disease they needed to get to the hospital, but she followed him down the alley. They wove their way through the backstreets and alleyways of downtown Manhattan, while a huge column of smoke billowed up from her school gymnasium.

Anthony stopped on the corner of Thomas and Trimble, fishing around in his backpack. “Gods, I hope I have one left,” he muttered under his breath.

He looked even worse than Andie had originally realized. Twigs and grass were tangled in matted, greasy blonde curls, as if he’d slept several nights out in the open. The slashes on the hems of his jeans looked suspiciously like claw marks. Andie tamped down the instinct to check him over and demand what all had happened to him.

Instead, she asked, “What are you looking for?”

All around them, sirens wailed. Andie figured it wouldn’t be long before more cops cruised by, looking for juvenile delinquent gym-bombers. No doubt Matt Sloan had given them a statement by now. He’d probably twisted the story around so that Andie and Tyson were the bloodthirst cannibals.

“Found one. Thank the gods.” Anthony pulled out a golden drachma.

Andie sent a deadpan stare at him. “New York taxi drivers won’t take that, Wise Guy.”

“Stêthi,” he shouted in Ancient Greek. Ô hárma diabolês!”

Andie immediately translated the Greek: ‘Stop, Chariot of Damnation!’

Which…didn’t exactly make Andie terribly excited about whatever Anthony’s plan was. He threw the coin into the street, but instead of clattering on the asphalt, the drachma sank right through and disappeared.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, just where the coin had fallen, the asphalt darkened. It melted into a rectangular pool about the size of a parking space- bubbling red liquid like blood. Then, a car erupted from the ooze.

It was definitely a taxi, but rather than the typical, bright yellow New York cabs, this one looked like it was quite literally woven out of smoke. It didn’t even look solid. There were words printed on the door, but Andie’s dyslexia made it hard for her to decipher.

The passenger window rolled down, and an old woman stuck her head out. She had a mop of grizzled hair covering her eyes, and she spoke in a weird mumbling way, like she’d just had a shot of Novocain. “Passage? Passage?”

“Three to Camp Half-Blood,” Anthony said. He opened the cab’s back door and gestured at Andie to get in, like this was all completely normal. At this point, Andie supposed, it probably might as well be.

“Ach!” the old woman screeched, pointing a bony finger at Tyson. “We don’t take his kind!”

What the fuck was up with people today?

“Extra pay,” Anthony promised. “Three more drachma on arrival.”

“Done!” the woman screamed.

Andie climbed reluctantly into the cab. Tyson squeezed into the middle, leaving Anthony to crawl in last. The interior was also smoky grey, but seemed more solid than Andie had originally given it credit for. There was no Plexiglass screen separating them from the old lady driving…wait. There wasn’t just one old lady. There were three, all crammed in the front seat, each with stringy hair covering their eyes, bony, gnarled hands, and a charcoal-colored sackcloth dress.

The one driving said, “Long Island! Out of metro fare bonus! Ha!”

She floored the accelerator, and Andie’s head slammed into the backrest. She looked down and found a large black chain instead of a seat belt. She decided she wasn’t that desperate. Yet.

The cab sped around the corner of West Broadway, and the grey lady in the middle screeched out a warning.

“Well, if you’d given me the eye, Tempest, I could see that!” the driver complained.

Give her the eye?

Andie didn’t have time to ask questions because the driver swerved to avoid oncoming traffic, ran over the curb with a jaw-rattling thump, and flew into the next block.

“Wasp!” the third lady said to the driver. “Give me the coin! I want to bite it!”

“You bit it last time, Anger!” cried the driver, whose name must’ve been Wasp. “It’s my turn!”

“Is not!” yelled Anger.

The middle one, Tempest, screamed for a red light, and Anger screamed to brake.

Instead, Wasp floored the accelerator and rode up on the curb, screeching around another corner, and knocking over a newspaper box. Andie’s stomach was left several blocks behind them.

“Excuse me,” Andie interrupted. “Um…can you see?”

“No!” Wasp. Y’know, the driver.

“No!” Tempest, in the middle.

“Of course!” Anger, sitting shotgun.

Andie sent a wide eyed look at Anthony. “They’re blind?” she hissed.

“Not completely,” Anthony responded. “They have an eye.”

“One eye?”

“Yeah.”

“Each?”

“No. One eye total.”

She stared at her best friend for a beat. Then, “Anthony, if we get out of this alive, remind me to strangle you.”

Anthony didn’t get the chance to respond, because, between them, Tyson groaned and grabbed the seat. “Not feeling so good.”

“Oh, no…” Andie muttered. She’d seen Tyson get carsick on school fieldtrips, and it was not something you wanted to be within fifty feet of. She rubbed his arm. “Hang in there, big guy. Anybody got a garbage bag, or something?”

The three grey ladies were too busy squabbling to pay her any attention. She looked over at Anthony, who was hanging on for dear life. When he saw her glaring at her, and likely remembering her threat, he shrugged.

“Hey, Grey Sisters Taxi is the fastest way to Camp,” he defended.

“Then why didn’t you take it from Virginia?”

“That’s outside their service area,” he said, like it should’ve been obvious. “They only serve Greater New York and surrounding communities.”

“We’ve had famous people in this cab!” Anger exclaimed. “Perseus! You remember him?”

“Don’t remind me!” Wasp wailed. “And we didn’t have a cab back then, you old bat! That was three thousand years ago!”

With that, they delved once again into arguing and screeching. Wasp swerved hard onto Delancy Street, squishing Andie between Tyson and the door. She punched the gas and they shot up the Williamsburg Bridge at seventy miles an hour.

The mention of Perseus jogged Andie’s memory- she knew his story better than most, given that she was named after his wife. ‘For luck,’ her mom had told her. ‘Perseus and Andromeda were one of the few people in Greek Mythology who actually got their happy ending.’ As an added bonus, her mom had made her middle name Rhea, after her godly grandmother. She hoped it would grant her some leniency when it came to Zeus and Hades’ anger at her existence- the Big Three were known Mama’s Boys, after all. Andie wasn’t optimistic about her luck, so far.

She recalled Perseus’ encounter with the Grey Sisters, looking for information on where to find Medusa. He’d stolen their shared eye and their tooth, threatening them for their sister’s whereabouts. When they’d finally given up the information, he tossed the eye and tooth into a lake. Apparently, they’d found them, since then.

The three sisters were fighting for real now, slapping each other as they grabbed at each other’s faces. Finally Anger, who had the advantage of sight, managed to yank the tooth out of Wasp’s mouth. This made Wasp so mad she swerved toward the edge of the bridge, shouting through her gums for Anger to give it back.

Tyson groaned and clutched his stomach.

“Uh, if anybody’s interested,” Andie piped up, “We’re going to die!”

“Don’t worry,” Anthony said, though his voice cracked and he sounded pretty worried. “The Graeae know what they’re doing. They’re really very wise.”

This this was coming from a son of Athena, but Andie wasn’t exactly reassured. They were skimming along the edge of a bridge a hundred and thirty feet above the East River.

“Yes, wise!” Anger grinned in the rearview mirror, showing off her newly acquired tooth. “We know things!”

“Every street in Manhattan!” Wasp bragged, still hitting her sister. “The capital of Nepal!”

“The location you seek!” Tempest added.

Immediately, her sisters pummeled her from either side, hissing at her to be quiet. “She didn’t even ask, yet!”

“What?” Andie asked. “What location? I’m not seeking any-“

“Nothing!” Tempest attempted to correct. “You’re right, girl. It’s nothing!”

“Tell me.”

“No!” They screamed in unison.

“The last time we told, it was horrible!” Tempest wailed.

“Eye tossed in a lake!” Anger agreed.

“Years to find it again!” Wasp moaned. “And speaking of that- give it back!”

“No!” Anger hollered.

“Eye!” Wasp shrieked. “Gimme!”

She wacked Anger on the back of the head. There was a sickening pop and something flew out of Anger’s face. She fumbled for it, trying to catch it, but she only managed to bat it with the back of her hand. The slimy green orb sailed over her shoulder and right into Andie’s lap.

Andie yelped and jumped so hard, her head hit the ceiling and the eyeball rolled away.

“I can’t see!” All the sisters yelled.

“Give me the eye!” Wasps wailed.

“Give her the eye!” Anthony yelled.

“I don’t have it!” Andie cried.

“There, by your foot!” Anthony pointed. “Don’t step on it! Get it!”

“I’m not picking that up!”

The taxi slammed against the guardrail and skidded along with a horrible grinding noise. The whole car shuddered, billowing grey smoke, as if it were about to dissolve from the strain.

“Going to be sick!” Tyson warned.

“Anthony!” Andie yelled. “Let Tyson use your backpack!”

“Are you crazy? Get the fucking eye!”

Wasp yanked the wheel, and the taxi swerved away from the rail. They hurtled down the bridge toward Brooklyn, going faster than any human taxi. The Grey Sisters screeched and pummeled each other and cried out for their eye.

At last, Andie steeled her nerves. She ripped off a chunk of her tie-dye gym shirt, which was already starting to fall apart from the burns, and used it to pick the eyeball off the floor. She tried her best not to gag.

“Nice girl!” Anger cried, as if she somehow knew Andie was the one who had picked it up. “Now give it back!”

She took a page out of Perseus’ book.

“Not until you explain,” Andie told her. “What were you talking about? The location I seek?”

“No time!” Tempest cried. “Accelerating!”

Andie looked out the window. Sure enough, trees and cars, and whole neighborhoods were now zipping by in a blur. They were already out of Brooklyn, heading through the middle of Long Island.

“Andie,” Anthony warned. “They can’t find our destination without the eye. We’ll just keep accelerating until we break into a million pieces.”

“They have to tell me,” Andie stated firmly. “Or I’ll open the window and throw the eye into oncoming traffic.”

“No!” the sisters wailed. “Too dangerous!”

“I’m rolling down the window…”

“Wait!” They screamed in unison. “30, 31, 75, 12!”

Andie took a beat to process before shaking her head. “What do you mean?” she demanded. “That makes no sense!”

“30, 31, 75, 12”! Anger wailed. “That’s all we can tell you. Now give us the eye! Almost to Camp!”

They were off the highway now, zipping through the countryside of northern Long Island. Andie could see Half-Blood Hill ahead of them, with Thalia’s Pine Tree at the crest.

“Andie!” Anthony barked her name like he was giving orders on a battlefield. “Give them the eye, now!”

This time, Andie didn’t argue, and threw the eye into Wasp’s lap. The old lady snatched it up, pushed her eye into her socket as easy as someone putting in a contact lens, and blinked. “Whoa!”

She slammed on the breaks. The taxi spun four or five times in a cloud of smoke and squealed to a halt in the middle of the farm road at the base of Half-Blood Hill.

Tyson let out a huge belch. “Better now.”

“Alright,” Andie told the Grey Sisters. “Now tell me what those numbers mean.”

“No time!” Anthony’s voice was breathless and bewildered as he opened his door. “We have to get out now.”

She was about to ask why, when she looked up to the top of the hill, and understood.

At the crest of the hill was a group of campers. And they were under attack.

Chapter Text

There were very, very few things in the world- both mythologically and mortally speaking- that Andie hated more than bulls. Blame it on the Minotaur, he didn’t exactly leave a great first impression. But as Andie hauled herself out of the smoky cab to stand shoulder to shoulder with Anthony, she saw something even worse than a bull.

Two. Fucking. Bulls.

And not just any regular old bulls- bronze ones the size of elephants. And even if that wasn’t bad enough? They breathed fire.

Naturally.

As soon as Andie closed the cab door behind her, the Grey Sisters peeled out, heading back to the city, where life was safer. They didn’t even wait for their extra three-drachma payment. So there Andie and her friends were- abandoned by three old ladies who fist fought each other over an eyeball and thought the lucky numbers that came from fortune cookies were places. Anthony had nothing but his backpack and knife, and Andie and Tyson were still in their burned-up tie-dyed gym clothes.

She really probably should be used to this, by now.

“Oh, shit,” Anthony breathed, looking at the battle raging on the hill.

The most worrying thing about the scene weren’t the bulls, themselves. Or even the ten heroes in full battle armor who were getting their asses kicked. No, the thing Andie was most worried about was that the bulls were ranging all over the hill, even around the backside of Thalia’s Pine.

It shouldn’t have been possible. The magical boundaries should’ve been stopping them. But here the bulls were, doing it anyway. 

One of the heroes’ voices echoed downhill, “Border patrol, to me!”

‘Border patrol?’ Andie thought to herself. ‘What border patrol?’

“It’s Clarisse,” Anthony stated, tapping the back of his hand against her arm. “Come on, we have to help her.”

Andie wanted to gag a little bit at the thought of rushing to Clarisse , of all peoples’, aid, but Anthony was right, she was in trouble. Her fellow warriors were scattering, running in panic as the bulls charged. The grass was burning in huge swathes around Thalia’s Pine. One hero screamed and batted at his helmet as he ran around in circles, trying to put out the blazing horse-hair plume on his head. Clarisse’s own armor was charred. She was fighting with a broken spear shaft, the other end embedded uselessly in the metal joint of one bull’s shoulder.

Andie uncapped her ballpoint pen. It shimmered as it grew until she held Anaklusmos in her hands. “Tyson, stay here. I don’t want you taking any more chances.”

“What? No!” Anthony looked at her like she was insane. “We need him.”

Andie mirrored his expression as she stared right back. “Dude, he’s mortal. He got lucky with the dodgeballs, but he can’t-”

“Andie, do you know what those are up there?” her friend interrupted. “The Colchis bulls, made by Hephaestus himself. We can’t fight them without Medea’s SPF 50,000. We’ll get burned to a crisp.”

“Medea’s what?”

Anthony rummaged through his backpack. “ Vlacas. I had a jar sitting on my sink at home. Why didn’t I bring it?”

Andie had learned a long time ago not to question Anthony too much. It only confused her more. She shook her head and held both her hands up. “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m not going to let Tyson get fried.”

“Andie-”

“Tyson, stay back.” She raised her sword and charged.

She could hear Tyson starting to protest behind her, but she was already bolting up the hill towards Clarisse, who was yelling at her patrol, trying to get them into phalanx formation. It was a good idea. The few who were listening lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, locking their shields to form an ox-hide-and-bronze wall, their spears bristling over the top like porcupine quills. 

Unfortunately, Clarisse could only muster up six campers. The other four were either injured or trying to put out their flaming helmets. Anthony ran toward them, trying to help. He taunted one of the bulls into chasing him, then turned invisible, completely confusing the monster. The other bull charged Clarisse’s line. 

Andie was halfway up the hill- not close enough to help. Clarisse hadn’t even seen her, yet.

The bull moved fatally fast for something so large. Its metal hide glinted blindingly in the sun, matched by fist-sized eyes made of rubies, and razor sharp horns of polished silver. When it opened its hinged mouth, a column of white-hot flame blasted out. 

“Hold the line!” Clarisse ordered. 

Andie could say whatever she wanted about Clarisse’s shitty attitude, but she had to hand it to the older girl- she was brave, and a wicked fighter, to boot. The daughter of Ares looked like she was born to wear Greek battle armor, but Andie didn’t see how even she could stand against that bull’s charge.

Unfortunately, at that moment, the other bull lost interest in trying to find Anthony. It turned, wheeling around behind Clarisse on her unprotected side.

“Behind you!” Andie shouted. “Look out!”

In hindsight, Andie shouldn’t have said anything, because all she did was startle the older girl. Bull Number One crashed into her shield, and the phalanx broke. Clarisse went flying backward and landed in a smoldering patch of grass. The bull charged past her, but not before blasting the other heroes with its fiery breath. Their shields melted right off their arms. They dropped their weapons and bolted as Bull Number Two closed in on Clarisse for the kill.

Andie lunged forward and grabbed Clarisse by the straps of her armor, dragging her out of the way just as Bull Number Two freight-trained past. She gave it a good swipe with Riptide and cut a huge gash in its flank, but the monster just creaked and groaned and kept going.

It hadn’t touched Andie, but she could feel the heat of its metal skin, hotter than a blazing wildfire. 

“Let me go!” Clarisse pummeled her hand. “Andie, damn you!”

She dropped the older girl in a heap next to the Pine and turned to face the bulls. They were on the inside slope of the hill now, the valley of Camp Half-Blood directly below them- the cabins, the arenas, the Big House- all of it at risk if these bulls got past them.

Anthony shouted orders to the other heroes, telling them to spread out and keep the bulls distracted.

Bull Number One ran a wide arc, making its way back toward Andie. As it passed the middle of the hill, where the invisible boundary line should’ve kept it out, it slowed down a little, as if it were struggling against a strong wind, but managed to break through and kept charging. Bull Number Two turned to face her, too, fire sputtering from the gash she’d cut in its side. She couldn’t tell if it felt any pain, but its ruby eyes seemed to glare at her like she’d just made things personal.

Andie couldn’t fight both bulls at the same time. She’d have to take down Number Two first, cut off its head before Number One charged back into range. Her arms already felt tired, and she was quickly realizing exactly how long it had been since she’d worked out with Riptide. 

She lunged, but Bull Two blew flames at her. She rolled aside as the air turned scorching around her, sucking all the oxygen out of her lungs. Her foot caught on something- a tree root, maybe- and pain shot up her leg. Still, she managed to slash Riptide and lop off part of the monster’s snout. It galloped away, wild and disoriented. Before Andie could feel too good about it, however, she tried to stand and her left leg buckled beneath her. Her ankle was sprained, maybe broken. 

Bull Number One charged straight toward her. No way could she crawl out of its path.

Anthony’s voice sounded up the hill, wild and desperate, “Tyson, help her!”

Somewhere nearer to her, toward the crest of the hill, Tyson wailed, “Can’t…get…through!”

Thunder shook the hillside. Suddenly, Tyson was there, barreling towards her, yelling, “Andie needs help!”

Before she could tell him no, he dove between Andie and the bull, just as it unleashed a nuclear firestorm.

Andie screamed for her friend as the blast swirled around him like a fiery tornado. She could only see the black silhouette of his body, but she knew with horrible certainty that her friend had just been turned into a pile of ashes. 

But when the fire died, Tyson was standing there, completely unharmed. Not even his clothes were scorched. The bull must have been as surprised as Andie was, because before it could unleash a second blast, Tyson balled his fists and slammed them into the bull’s face. “BAD COW!”

His fists made a crater where the bronze bull’s snout used to be. Two small columns of flames shot out of its ears. Tyson hit it again, and the bronze crumpled under his hands like aluminum foil. 

“Down!” Tyson yelled.

The bull staggered and fell on its back. Its legs moved feebly in the air, steam coming out of its ruined head in odd places. 

Anthony sprinted over to check on her. Her ankle throbbed and burned, but he handed her his nectar of canteen, and as soon as she downed a swig, she started to feel better. There was a burning smell that took Andie a moment to notice was her- the hair on her arms had been completely singed off. 

“The other bull?” She asked.

Anthony pointed downhill. Clarisse had taken care of Bad Cow Number Two. She’d impaled it through the back leg with a celestial bronze spear. Now, with its snout half gone and a huge gash in its side, it was trying to run in slow motion circles. 

Clarisse pulled off her helmet as she marched towards Andie and Anthony. A strand of her stringy, light brown hair was smoldering, but she didn’t seem to notice. “You. Ruin. Everything! ” She snarled at Andie. “I had it under control!”

Andie was too stunned to answer, staring at the daughter of Ares in bewilderment. Clarisse did realize that Andie had just saved her sorry ass, right? Next to her, Anthony grumbled, “Good to see you, too, Clarisse.”

Clarisse let out a frustrated yell. “Don’t ever, ever try saving me again!”

“ Clarisse ,” Anthony admonished. “You’ve got wounded campers.”

That sobered her up. Clarisse may be bloodthirsty and constantly itching for a fight, but she did care about the soldiers under her command. She growled that she’d be back before trudging off to assess the damage.

Andie turned her head to stare at Tyson. “You didn’t die.”

Tyson lowered his head like he was embarrassed. “I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you.”

“My fault,” Anthony told her. “I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you, or you would’ve died.”

“ Let him cross the line?” she asked. “But-”

“Andie,” he interrupted. “Have you ever looked at Tyson closely? I mean…in the face. Ignore the Mist and really look at him.”

Andie looked Tyson in the face. It wasn’t easy. She’d always had trouble looking directly at him, though she’d never quite understood why. She’d thought it was just because he always had peanut butter in his crooked teeth. She forced herself to focus at his big lumpy nose, then a little higher at his eyes. 

No… eye. Singular. One large, calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes and big tears trickling down his cheeks on either side.

“Tyson…” she stammered. “You’re a…”

“Cyclops,” Anthony offered. “A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn’t get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson’s one of the homeless orphans.”

“The what?”

“They’re in almost all the big cities,” Anthony said distastefully, his lip curled slightly. “They’re… mistakes, Rom. Children of nature spirits and gods…well, one god in particular, usually…and they don’t always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I dunno how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do.”

Andie shook her head, still processing. “But the fire. How-”

“He’s a cyclops.” Anthony paused, as if he were remembering something unpleasant. “They work the forges of the gods. They have to be immune to fire. That’s what I was trying to tell you.”

Andie wished she had more time to get over her shock and wonder how she’d never realized what Tyson was, before. But the whole side of the hill was burning. Wounded heroes needed attention. And there were still two banged up bronze bulls to dispose of.

Clarisse came back over, wiping the soot off her forehead. “Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what’s happened.”

Andie blinked. “Tantalus?”

“The activities director,” Clarisse stated impatiently. 

“ Chiron is the activities director. And where’s Argus? He’s head of security, he should be here.”

Clarisse worked her jaw, her face twisting into something sour. “Argus got fired. You two’ve been gone too long. Things are changing.”

Andie exchanged bewildered looks with Anthony, who, for once, seemed speechless. “But Chiron…he’s trained heroes for thousands of years. He can’t just be gone. What happened?”

“ That happened,” Clarisse snapped, whipping her arm out to point at Thalia’s Tree.

Beside her, Anthony made a noise like he’d been stabbed in the chest. Thalia’s Pine Tree- that protected the camp, that reinforced the magical borders, that had always stood healthy and tall and strong- was now yellow and withering. A huge pile of dead needles littered the base of the tree. In the center of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap.

A sliver of ice ran through her chest. Now she understood why the camp was in danger. The magical borders were failing because Thalia’s Tree was dying . Someone had poisoned it.

Andie swallowed hard before pushing herself to her feet. Her legs shook, but it was no longer from the injury. No, this was anger and adrenaline and an unrelenting need to know who and why . She turned to Anthony, still crouched on the ground, staring at the Pine. His face was pallid, and his lips pulled into a thin line as his grey eyes watered. She could’ve sworn she saw the slightest tremble in his chin.

Without a word, Andie extended a hand to him. He startled, like he just remembered she was there, staring at her hand blankly before accepting it and letting her pull him up.

They made their way over to the injured heroes- most of them, Andie noticed, from the Ares cabin, though there were a handful from Hermes, too. Andie, Anthony, and the rest of the uninjured helped haul the wounded to the top of the hill. As they made their way through Camp, the knot in Andie’s stomach tightened, and the tingling at the base of her skull grew stronger, telling her something drastic was about to change, and Andie wasn’t going to like it one bit.

On the surface, Camp didn’t look that different. The buildings and the strawberry fields were still exactly where they were supposed to be, doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing. 

But there was an air of danger, now. Anyone could tell that something was wrong. Instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counselors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods. The forest looked sickly, the grass in the meadow was pale yellow, and the fire marks on Half-Blood Hill stood out like ugly scars. 

Andie exchanged a look with Anthony, and she knew the same anger he had on his face was reflected on hers. Someone had messed with their safe haven. Their home .

As they made their way to the Big House, they passed by a lot of familiar faces- Beckendorf and Jake were toting swords to sharpen on the whetstones and grinding wheels. Travis and Connor darted in and out of cabins and work buildings, carrying messages. Lee and a couple other Apollo kids sat in the central green stringing bows and fletching arrows.

Nobody stopped to talk or greet them. Some did double takes when they saw Tyson, but most just continued grimly with their duties. Andie had been kicked out of enough military schools to know that’s exactly what Camp felt like, now. She hated it with every fiber of her being.

None of this seemed to matter with Tyson, though. In fact, he seemed enthralled by everything he saw on their stroll, constantly asking Andie to explain different buildings, from the pegasi stables, to the bathrooms, to the cabins.

He looked at Andie in awe as she answered each and every question, as short answers as they were. “You…have a cabin?”

“Number Three.” She pointed to her shell studded cabin, surrounded by pearlescent columns.

“You live with friends in the cabin?”

“No. No, just me.” She didn’t explain anymore. She didn’t really want to get into it right now. How was she supposed to explain to Tyson that the reason she was the only person in the cabin was because she wasn’t supposed to even exist ? 

When they got to the Big House, they stopped by the infirmary first, to drop off the injured campers. Micheal Yew, Lee’s second-in-command for Cabin Seven, was inside. Andie briefly recalled that he was head healer for the infirmary. He seemed to be explaining some stuff to a tan, freckled, blonde kid probably a year or two younger than Andie. She didn’t recognize him from last year, so she assumed he was new. They both startled when the group barged in, hauling four injured demigods with them. 

Michael snapped into action, immediately, telling them where to set the heroes down, and asking what exactly happened to them. The new kid’s wide, sky-blue eyes darted between the injured heroes and Tyson, still rooted in place.

“Will, I need a hand,” Michael called. The new kid- Will, apparently- immediately ran to his side, expression quickly morphing from bewildered to determined. “The rest of you- out.”

None of them argued, letting Michael take over. Clarisse and those of her warriors who were left trudged away from the Big House, back toward the cabins. Andie and Anthony led Tyson to the interior of the Big House.

They found Chiron in his apartment, in full centaur form, listening to his favorite 1960s lounge music while he packed his saddlebags. 

As soon as they saw him, Tyson froze. “Pony!” he cried in total rapture.

Chiron turned, looking offended. “I beg your pardon?”

Anthony ran up and hugged him. “Chiron, what’s going on? You’re not…leaving?” His voice shook. Andie couldn’t blame him. She was upset about him leaving, too, but Chiron was like a second father to the son of Athena.

Chiron ruffled his hair and gave him a kindly smile. “Hello, lad. And Andie, my goodness. You’ve grown over the year!” 

And she had, she knew. Andie had noticed earlier that she now stood at the same height as Anthony. But she hadn’t cared to point it out earlier, and she didn’t care to discuss it, now.

She swallowed. “Clarisse said you were…you were…”

“Fired,” Chiron’s eyes glinted with dark humor. “Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he’d created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone.”

“Besides himself, you mean,” Andie growled. Just the thought of the Camp Director sent her blood boiling.

“But this is crazy !” Anthony exclaimed. “Chiron, you couldn’t have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia’s tree!”

“Nevertheless,” Chiron sighed, “Some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances.”

Andie frowned, her brow furrowing. “What circumstances?”

Chiron’s face darkened. He stuffed a Latin-English dictionary into his saddlebag while the Frank Sinatra music oozed from his boombox.

Tyson was still staring at Chiron in amazement. He whimpered like he wanted to pat Chiron’s flank, but was afraid to come closer. “Pony?”

The centaur sniffed. “My dear young Cyclops! I am a centaur. ”

“Chiron,” Andie interrupted. “What about the tree? What happened?”

He shook his head sadly. “The poison used on Thalia’s Pine is something from the Underworld, Andie. Some venom even I have never seen. It must have come from a monster quite deep in the pits of Tartarus.”

“Then we know who’s responsible. Kro-”

“Do not invoke the Titan Lord’s name, Andie. Especially not here. Not now.”

“But last summer he tried to cause a civil war in Olympus!” Andie protested. “This has to be his idea. He’d get Luke to do it, that fucking traitor.”

“Perhaps,” Chiron said, though he gave her an admonishing look at her language. “But I fear I am being held responsible because I did not prevent it, and I cannot cure it. The tree only has a few weeks of life left unless…”

“Unless what?” Anthony asked desperately. 

“No,” Chiron shook his head. “A foolish thought. The whole valley is feeling the shock of the poison. The magical borders are deteriorating. The camp itself is dying. Only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, and it was lost centuries ago.”

“What is it?” Andie asked. “We’ll go find it!”

Chiron closed his saddlebag. He pressed the stop button on his boombox. Then he turned and rested his hand on Andie’s shoulder, looking her straight in the eyes. “Andromeda, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. I told your mother I did not want you to come here at all this summer. It’s much too dangerous. But now that you are here, stay here. Train hard. Hone your combat skills and your powers. But do. Not. Leave.”

“Why?” Andie demanded. How could he ask her to sit on her ass and do nothing? “I want to do something! I can’t just let the borders fail. The whole camp will be-”

“Overrun by monsters,” Chiron said. “Yes, I fear so. But you mustn’t let yourself be baited into hasty action! This could be a trap of the Titan Lord. Remember last summer. He nearly took your life ."

And okay, Chiron had a point, but it didn’t deter Andie from wanting to help. Not only that, but she wanted to make Kronos pay. Despite being overthrown, chopped into a million pieces, and cast into Tartarus, he hadn’t learned his lesson, and was still rearing to return and take revenge on Olympus. He couldn’t act on his own, but he was great at twisting the minds of mortals and gods to do his dirty work. The poisoning had to be his doing. Who else would be so low as to attack Thalia’s Pine Tree, the only thing left of a hero who’d given her life to save her friends. 

Anthony was shaking beside her, trying hard not to cry. Chiron laid a hand on the side of his face. “Stay with Andie, my boy,” he told her friend. “Keep her safe. The prophecy- remember it!”

Anthony nodded, swallowing tightly. “I- I will.”

“Uhm…Would this happen to be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you to tell me about?” Andie asked.

Nobody answered.

“Right,” she muttered. “Just checking.”

“Chiron…” Anthony began, “You told me the gods made you immortal only so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismiss you from Camp-”

“Swear you will do your best to keep Andie from danger,” Chiron insisted. “Swear on the River Styx.”

Andie wanted to tell the centaur that wasn’t fair to Anthony, to make him promise to keep her out of trouble. Trouble usually tended to find her , but Anthony was already making his oath before she even got the chance to protest.

“I swear it on the River Styx,” Anthony recited. Thunder rumbled outside.

“Very well,” Chiron said. He seemed to relax just a fraction. “Perhaps my name will be cleared and I shall return. Until then, I shall go visit my wild kinsmen in the Everglades. It’s possible they know of some cure for the poisoned tree that I have forgotten. In any event, I will stay in exile until this matter is resolved…one way or another."

Anthony took in a shuddering breath, blinking away tears, and Chiron patted his shoulder. “There, now, child. I must entrust your safety to Mr. D and the new activities director. We must hope…well, we must hope they won’t destroy the Camp as quickly as I fear.”

“Who is this Tantalus guy, anyway?” Andie demanded. “Where does he get off taking your job?”

A conch horn blew across the valley. She hadn’t realized how late it was, and now everyone was being summoned for dinner.

“Go,” Chiron said gently. “You will meet him at the pavilion. I will contact your mother, Andie, and let her know you’re safe. No doubt she’ll be worried by now. Just remember my warning! You are in grave danger. Do not think for a moment that the Titan Lord has forgotten you!”

With that ominous note, he clopped out of the apartment and down the hall. While Tyson called out for him not to leave, Andie realized she’d forgotten to tell Chiron her dream about Grover. Now it was too late. Andie swiped at the tears on her cheeks as she watched the best teacher she’d ever had leave, maybe for good.

Tyson started crying, almost as much as she and Anthony. Through her tears, she tried to tell them that things would be okay, but even she didn’t believe it.

They took a few minutes to compose themselves before leaving the Big House. The sun was setting behind the dining pavilion as the campers came up from their cabins and activities. The three of them stood in the shadow of a marble column and watched them file in. Anthony was still pretty shaken up, but he promised he’d talk to them later, and shot off to join his siblings, falling in line as head counselor in front of Malcolm.

Clarisse filed in next, leading the Ares cabin. She had one arm in a sling and a nasty looking gash on her cheek, but otherwise her encounter with the bronze bulls didn’t seem to have fazed her. Someone had taped a piece of paper to her back that said, ‘ You Moo, Girl!’ , but nobody in her cabin was bothering to tell her about it.

After Ares, came the Hephaestus Cabin, Beckendorf in the lead, followed by two more campers Andie only recognized in passing, and Jake bringing up the rear.

The other cabins filled in- Demeter, now led by Katie, having officially taken over from her sister; Apollo, led by Lee, Michael right behind him, and the new kid, Will, at the very back of the line of demigods that made up the second largest cabin; Aphrodite, led by Silena, who gave Andie a small smile and wave as she caught her eye, trailed by seven others; and Dionysus, which were just the twins, Castor and Pollux. 

Naiads came up from the canoe lake, and dryads melted out of the trees. From the meadow came a dozen satyrs, reminding Andie painfully of Grover.

After the satyrs filed in to dinner, the Hermes cabin brought up the rear- the most populated cabin, if only because they had all the unclaimed kids. Something twanged in Andie’s chest as she realized Travis and Connor were now the head counselors for Cabin Eleven. They looked a little uncomfortable at the very front of the line, like they were still not used to not being on the heels of a certain tall, blond brother of theirs. She felt the breath woosh out of her lungs as she wondered how they’d found out about Luke’s betrayal. She assumed Chiron told them sometime after Andie had left camp. She wanted to ask how they were doing, but it felt like kind of a dumb question- there was so much other stuff happening on top of Luke’s betrayal, she was pretty sure no one was doing particularly well.

As soon as the last camper had filed in, Andie led Tyson into the middle of the pavilion. Conversations faltered. Heads turned. “Who invited that ?” someone from the Apollo table murmured.

Andie glared in their general direction, but she couldn’t figure out who’d spoken.

From the head table, a familiar voice drawled, “Well, well, if it isn’t Alice Johnson. My millennium is complete.”

Andie grit her teeth. “ Andie Jackson …sir.”

Mr. D sipped his Diet Coke. “Yes. Well, as you young people say these days: Whatever. ”

He looked the same as he always did, in his leopard-print Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and sandals and socks, face blotchy and red, even though he was banned from drinking. Behind him, a nervous-looking satyr was peeling the skins off grapes and handing them to Mr. D one at a time. 

Fucking ridiculous.

Next to him, in Chiron’s usual spot, was someone Andie had never seen before- a pale, horribly thin man in a threadbare orange prisoner’s jumpsuit. The number over his pocket read 0001. He had bruise-like circles under his eyes, dirty fingernails, and badly cut, greasy grey hair. He stared at Andie, and his eyes put her on edge. He looked…fractured. Broken. Angry and frustrated and hungry all at the same time.

“This girl,” Dionysus told him, “you need to watch. Poseidon’s child, you know.”

“Ah!” the prisoner said, his voice raspy, like he needed some water. “That one.”

His tone made it obvious that he and Dionysus had already discussed her at length.

“I am Tantalus,” the prisoner said, smiling coldly. “On special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysis decides otherwise. And you, Andromeda Jackson, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble.”

Andie gave him an indignant look. “Trouble?” she demanded.

Dionysus snapped his fingers. A newspaper appeared on the table- the front page of that day’s New York Post . On it was Andie’s yearbook photo from Meriwether Prep. It was hard for her to make out the headline, but she had a decent enough guess as to what it said.

“Yes, trouble,” Tantalus crooned with obvious satisfaction. “You caused plenty of it last summer, I understand.”

Andie could only stare at him, fuming, brow furrowed, trying to figure out how this asshole’s brain worked. Like it was her fault the gods had almost gotten into a civil war?!

A satyr inched forward timidly and set a plate of barbecue in front of Tantalus. The new activities director licked his lips. He looked at his empty goblet and said, “Root beer. Barq’s special stock. 1967.”

The glass filled on command, as they do, and Tantalus hesitantly stretched out his hand, as if he were afraid the goblet was hot.

“Go on then, old fellow,” Dionysus said, a strange sparkle in his eyes. “Perhaps now it will work.”

Tantalus grabbed for the glass, but it scooted away before he could touch it. A few drops of soda spilled, and Tantalus tried to dab them up with his fingers, but the drops rolled away like quicksilver before he could touch them. He growled and turned toward the plate of barbecue. He picked up a fork and tried to stab a piece, but the plate skittered down the table and flew off the end, straight into the coals of the brazier.

“Dammit!” Tantalus muttered.

“Ah, well,” Dionysus’ voice dripped with faux sympathy. “Perhaps a few more days. Believe me, old chap, working at this camp will be torture enough. I’m sure your old curse will fade eventually.”

“Eventually,” muttered Tantalus as he stared forlornly at Mr. D’s own soda. “Do you have any idea how dry one’s throat gets after three thousand years?”

“You’re that spirit from the Fields of Punishment,” Andie realized. “The one who stands in the lake with the fruit tree hanging over you, but you can’t eat or drink.”

Tantalus sneered at her. “A real scholar, aren’t you, girl?”

“You must’ve done something really fucked up when you were alive.” She had to admit, she was kind of impressed. “What was it?”

Tantalus’ eyes narrowed. Behind him, the satyrs were shaking their heads vigorously, trying to warn her.

“I’ll be watching you, Andromeda Jackson,” Tantalus growled. “I don’t want any problems at my camp.”

“ Your camp already has problems, sir. ”

“Oh, go sit down, Johnson,” Dionysus sighed. “I believe that table over there is yours- the one where no one else ever wants to sit.”

Andie’s face was burning, but even she knew better than to talk back. Dionysus was an overgrown brat, but he was an immortal, super-powerful overgrown brat.

“C’mon, Tyson,” she called, turning to walk away.

“Oh, no,” Tantalus scoffed. “The monster stays here. We must decide what to do with it.”

“ Him, ” she snapped. “His name is Tyson.”

The new activities director raised an eyebrow. 

“Tyson saved the Camp,” Andie insisted. “He pounded those bronze bulls. Otherwise they would’ve burned down this whole place.”

“Yes,” Tantalus sighed. “And what a pity that would have been.”

Mr. D snickered.

“Leave us,” Tantalus ordered. “While we decide this creature’s fate.”

Tyson looked at Andie with fear in his one big eye, but she knew she couldn’t disobey a direct order from the Camp Directors. Not openly, anyway.

“I’ll be right over here, big guy,” she promised. “Don’t worry. We’ll find you a good place to sleep tonight.”

Tyson nodded. “I believe you. You are my friend.”

Which made Andie feel a helluva lot guiltier. 

She trudged over to the Poseidon table and slumped onto the bench. A wood nymph brought her a plate of pepperoni and olive pizza, but for once, she wasn’t hungry. It had been a long fucking day. She’d almost been killed twice, she’d managed to end her school year with a complete disaster, and on top of it all, Camp Half-Blood was in serious trouble and Chiron ordered her not to do anything about it.

She wasn’t feeling particularly thankful, but she took her dinner up to the bronze brazier and scraped part of it into the flames. 

“Poseidon,” she murmured. ‘And Amphitrite,’ she added silently. “Accept my offering.” ‘And send a little help while you’re at it…please.’

The smoke from the burning pizza changed into something fragrant- the scent of a clean sea breeze with wildflowers mixed in- but Andie had no idea if that meant either of her divine parents were listening. 

She returned to her seat thinking things couldn’t possibly get much worse, but then Tantalus had one of the satyrs blow the conch horn to get their attention for announcements.

“Yes, well,” Tantalus spoke, once the talking had died down. “Another fine meal! Or so I am told.”  

As he spoke, he inched his hand toward his refilled dinner plate, as if maybe the food wouldn’t notice what he was doing, but it did. It shot away down the table as soon as he got within six inches.

“And here on my first day of authority,” he continued, “I’d like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat .”

Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some half-hearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was still standing at the head table, looking uncomfortable, but every time he tried to scoot out of the limelight, Tantalus pulled him right back.

“And now some changes!” Tantalus gave them all a crooked smile. “We are reinstituting the chariot races!”

Murmuring broke out at all the tables- excitement, fear, disbelief. 

“Now I know,” Tantalus continued, raising his voice, “that these raises were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems.”

“Three deaths, and twenty-six mutilations!” Michael Yew called out.

“Yes, yes!” Tantalus waved him off. “But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this Camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team's cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?”

Everyone burst out in an explosion of excited conversation. Even Andie was buzzing in her seat. Was he serious?

Then, the last person Andie ever would have expected to object did so.

“But sir!” Clarisse said. She looked nervous, but she stood up to speak from the Ares table. Some of the campers snickered at the sign still on her back. “What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots-”

“Ah, the hero of the day!” Tantalus interrupted. “Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls!”

Clarisse blinked, then blushed. “Um, I didn’t-”

“And modest, too!” Tantalus grinned. “Not to worry, my dear! This is a summer camp. We are here to enjoy ourselves, yes?”

“But the tree-”

“And now,” Tantalus said, as several of Clarisse’s siblings pulled her back into her seat, “Before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Andie Jackson and Anthony Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here.”

He waved a hand at Tyson, and uneasy murmurs spread among the campers. A lot of sideways looks were sent Andie’s way. Anthony was pointedly avoiding looking at her. Andie was going to strangle Tantalus.

“Now, now,” the subject of Andie’s murder fantasies spoke again, “Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity. Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks. But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I’ve thought about the stables, but that will make the horses nervous. Hermes’ cabin, possibly?”

Silence at the Hermes table. Travis and Connor both developed sudden interests in the table cloth and their shoes. Andie couldn’t really blame them. Cabin Eleven was overcrowded on a good day- there was no way they’d be able to take in a six-foot-three Cyclops.

“Come, now,” Tantalus chided. “The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast may be kenneled?”

Suddenly, everybody gasped.

Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. All Andie could do was stare in disbelief as the brilliant green light that was about to change her life- a dazzling holographic image that appeared over Tyson’s head.

With a sickening twist in her stomach, she remembered what Anthony had said about Cyclopes: ‘They’re the children of nature spirits and gods…well, one god in particular, usually…’

Swirling over Tyson’s head was a glowing green trident- the same symbol that had appeared above her the day Poseidon had claimed her as his daughter.

There was a moment of awed silence.

Being claimed was a rare event. Some campers waited for it their entire lives. From what Andie could tell, the only other people, besides herself, that had been claimed in the last year were Jake and, at least she supposed, the new Apollo kid, Will. When Andie had been claimed last summer, everyone had reverently knelt. But now, they followed Tantalus’ lead, roaring with laughter.

“Well! I think we know where to put the beast, now! By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!”

Andie winced a little at the insult. The only people not laughing were Anthony and a few of her friends and fellow head counselors- the Stolls, Silena, Beckendorf, and Katie. Tyson didn’t seem to notice. He was too mystified, trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head. He was too innocent to understand how much they were making fun of him, how cruel people were. 

But Andie knew.

She had a new cabin mate. She had a monster for a half-brother.

The next few days were torture, just like Tantalus wanted.

Tyson moved into the Poseidon cabin, giggling to himself constantly, giddy with the discovery of his new sister. She’d tried to explain to him that it wasn’t that simple, but it was impossible. 

And Andie…as much as she liked the big guy, and as much as she hated to admit it, she couldn’t help feeling embarrassed. Ashamed. 

Her father, the all-powerful Poseidon, King of the Seas, had gotten moony-eyed for some nature spirit, and Tyson had been the result. Now, Andie had read the myths about the Cyclopes. She even remembered that they were often Poseidon’s children. But she never really processed that that technically made them… family. Not until she had Tyson living with her in the bunk across the room.

And, of course, there were the comments from the other campers. Suddenly, she wasn’t Andie Jackson, the hero who’d retrieved Zeus’ Master Bolt and prevented a civil war from breaking out. Now, she was Andie Jackson, the poor girl with the ugly monster for a brother.

“He’s not my real brother!” she protested whenever Tyson wasn’t around. “He’s more like…a half-brother on the monstrous side of the family. Like…a half-brother twice removed, or something.”

Nobody bought it. Andie wasn’t totally sure she did, either.

She was pissed at her dad. Was being his daughter some kind of joke? Maybe Amphitrite should’ve claimed Andie as her daughter. Then she could’ve avoided all this mess, and all the drama of being a Big Three kid.

Anthony tried to make her feel better. He suggested they team up for the chariot race to take their mind off their problems. Yeah, they were still worried sick about camp, and they hated Tantalus’ sorry starving guts, but they didn’t know what to do about it. Until they could come up with some brilliant plan to save Thalia’s Tree, they figured they might as well go along with the races. After all, Anthony’s mom invented the chariot, and Andie’s dad, pissed as she was at him at the moment, had created horses. Together, they would dominate that track.

Of course, their alliance didn’t last long.

One morning, she and Anthony were sitting by the canoe lake, sketching chariot designs, when a couple of the meaner girls from the Aphrodite cabin walked by. Andie noticed specifically they had chosen a moment when Silena was busy- teaching pegasus flying lessons, probably- to make a comment. Otherwise their Head Counselor- sweet, sweet Silena- would have absolutely torn into them for what they said next. 

“Ohmigods, hi!” one crooned. “We realized you probably didn’t pack much for camp. We were wondering if you needed to borrow any eyeliner for your eye.”

The other girl ‘tsked’ at her sister, lightly swatting her shoulder. “That’s Andie , silly. She’s the one with two eyes. Although, it is kind of hard to tell.”

Anthony grabbed Andie’s wrist to stop her from shooting to her feet and charging the girls, who were now strutting away and laughing. The first girl wiggled her fingers over her shoulder, and it took Andie a moment to realize she wasn’t mocking Andie, but waving at Anthony.

The blond rolled his eyes and grumbled, “Just ignore them, Andie. It isn’t your fault you have a monster for a brother.”

“He’s not my brother!” She snapped, jerking her arm free of his grip. “And he’s not a monster, either.”

Anthony’s eyebrows shot up. “Hey, don’t get pissy with me! And objectively, yes, he is a monster!”

“Well, you’re the one who gave him permission to enter Camp!”

“Because it was the only way to save your life! I mean…” He scoffed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Rom, I didn’t expect Poseidon to claim him. Cyclopes are the most deceitful, treacherous-"

“He is not!” Andie exclaimed, shooting to her feet. She put her hands on her hips and bent over him. “What the hell have you got against Cyclopes, anyway?”

Anthony’s ears turned pink as he glowered. Andie got the feeling there was something he wasn’t telling her- something bad.

“Just forget it,” he muttered. “Now, the axle for this chariot-”

Andie had long since lost interest in the chariot. “You’re treating him like he’s this horrible thing,” she accused. “He saved my life. Twice.”

Anthony threw down his pencil and stood nose to nose with her. “Then maybe you should design a chariot with him .”

“Maybe I should .”

“Fine!” 

“Fine!”

He stormed off, and left Andie seething and feeling even more miserable and lonely than before.

When she had finally calmed down enough to where she was pretty sure she wouldn’t bite someone’s head off if they simply looked at her weird, she continued through her normal schedule as best as she could. She didn’t speak to Anthony for the rest of the day.

Or the next.

Or the next.

Or for the rest of the week, for that matter.

Andie tried her best to keep her mind off her problems. Thankfully, she still had a couple friends that were willing to give her the time of day.

Silena gave Andie her first riding lesson on a pegasus. She explained that there was only one immortal winged horse named Pegasus, who still wandered free somewhere in the skies, but over the eons he’d sired a lot of children- none quite so fast or heroic, but all named after the first and greatest.

Usually, Andie tried to stay out of her uncle’s domain as much as possible. She had enough problems in her life, and he already hated her by default. But riding a winged horse felt different. Maybe because sure, they could fly, but her father had created horses in the first place, so maybe pegasi were sort of…neutral territory.

Flying on a pegasus was… amazing. The one she rode was named Guido, according to, well, Guido. She could understand the pegasi just as well as she had the zebra in the zoo trucks nearly…wow, nearly a year ago, now. Needless to say, Andie wasn’t the least bit surprised when Guido went galloping over treetops or chased a flock of seagulls into a cloud. It actually had her laughing and goading him on.

The problem was that Tyson wanted to ride the ‘chicken ponies’, too, but the pegasi got skittish whenever he approached. Andie told them telepathically that Tyson wouldn’t hurt them, but they didn’t seem to believe her. That made Tyson cry.

The only person who had no problem with Tyson was Beckendorf. Hephaestus, as the blacksmith god, had always worked with Cyclopes in his forges, so Beckendorf took Tyson down to the armory to teach him metalworking. He said he’d have Tyson crafting magic items like a master in no time. 

Gods, Andie was beyond thankful for Beckendorf.

Her sword fighting training that week was…less than stellar. Andie knew swordplay was her strength, and she’d heard people say she was the Camp’s best swordsmen in centuries…except for Luke. Luke, who had called her a prodigy, himself. Luke, who everyone seemed to always compare her to. Luke, who’d betrayed the Camp and had tried to kill her.

The comparison didn’t sit well with her.

And as for the training…don’t get her wrong, she liked the crew in the Apollo Cabin, but she really should’ve been sparring and testing herself against the Ares and Athena cabins. But it wasn’t like Andie got along well with Clarisse and her siblings, and she and Anthony weren’t exactly on speaking terms.

She went through the motions with the rest of her activities- archery, which sucked even more than usual without Chiron there to teach them; arts-and-crafts, where she abandoned a poor attempt at a marble bust of Poseidon; and obstacle training, where she managed to scale the climbing wall in full lava-and-earthquake mode.

The only new thing in her schedule was border patrol, which she had in the evenings. Even though Tantalus insisted they forget trying to defend and protect their Camp, Andie and the other senior campers and Head Counselors had quietly kept it up, working out a schedule in their free times.

Andie sat at the top of Half-Blood Hill and watched the dryads come and go, singing to the dying pine tree. Satyrs brought their reed pipes and played nature magic songs, and for a while the pine needles seemed to get fuller. The flowers on the hill smelled a little sweeter and the grass looked greener. But as soon as the music stopped, the sickness crept back into the air. The whole hill seemed to be infected, dying from the poison that had sunk into the tree’s roots.

The longer she sat there, the more she felt her anger rising in her chest. 

Luke had done this. She remembered his sly smile, the dragon-claw scar across his face. The lightning fast switch of his demeanor when he revealed himself as Kronos’ right hand man.

She opened the palm of her hand. The scar Luke had given her last summer was faint, but still there- a white asterisk-shaped wound where his Pit Scorpion had stung her. Andie wasn’t sure it would ever go away. 

Luke’s last words to her rang in her head, ‘Good-bye, Andie. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won’t be part of it.’

It was a long night.

At night, Andie had more dreams about Grover. Sometimes, she just heard snatches of his voice. Once, she heard him say, ‘It’s here.’ Another time, ‘He likes sheep.’

She thought about breaking her and Anthony’s angry silence and telling him about her dreams, but she would’ve felt stupid. He would’ve thought she was insane.

The night before the race, Andie and Tyson finished their chariot, and it was stunning. Tyson had made the metal parts in the armory’s forges, and Andie had sanded the wood and put the carriage together. It was turquoise and white, with wave designs on the sides and a trident painted on the front. After all that work, it seemed only fair that Tyson would be her second, though she knew the horses wouldn’t like it, and Tyson’s extra weight would slow them down.

As they were turning in for bed, Tyson asked, “Are you mad?”

Andie glanced over her shoulder at him, confused, before realizing she’d been scowling. She forced her face to relax. “Nah, I’m not mad,” she assured quietly as she climbed under her covers.

Tyson laid down in his own bunk and was quiet in the dark. His body was way too long for his bed. When he pulled up the covers, his feet stuck out the bottom. “I am a monster.”

Andie shook her head. “Don’t say that.”

“It is okay. I will be a good monster. Then you will not have to be mad.”

Her heart clenched, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. She stared at the abalone ceiling and felt like she was dying slowly, right alongside Thalia’s Tree. Her hands twisted and wrung her blanket.

“It’s just…I’ve never had a half-brother before. Or any sibling, really.” Andie tried to keep her voice from cracking. “It’s really different for me. And I’m worried about the Camp. And one of my best friends, Grover…he might be in trouble. I keep feeling like I should be doing something to help, but I don’t know what.”

Tyson didn’t respond.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “It’s not your fault. I’m mad at Poseidon. I feel like he’s trying to embarrass me, like he’s trying to compare us or something, and I don’t understand why.”

A deep rumbling noise came from across the room. Tyson was snoring.

She huffed out a small, slightly embarrassed laugh. “Good night, big guy.”

She curled on her side, back to Tyson, and closed her eyes, too.

In Andie’s dream, Grover was wearing a wedding dress.

The shape didn’t flatter him well. The bodice was too short, and the skirt was too long and the hem was caked with dried mud. The neckline kept falling off his shoulders. A tattered veil covered his face.

He was standing in a dank cave, lit only by torches. There was a cot in one corner and an antique loom in the other, a length of white cloth half woven on the frame. And he was staring right at Andie, like she was a Netflix screen that had just finished loading. 

“Thank the gods!” he yelped. “Can you hear me?”

Andie’s dream-self was slow to respond. She was still looking around, taking in the stalactite ceiling, the stench of sheep and goats, the growling and grumbling and bleating sounds that seemed to echo from behind a car sized boulder, which was the room’s only exit, as if there were a much larger cavern beyond it.

“Andie?” Grover called. “Please, I don’t have the strength to project any better. You have to hear me!”

“I hear you,” she finally managed to respond. “Grover, what the fuck is going on?”

From behind the boulder, a monstrous voice yelled, “Honeypie! Are you done yet?”

Grover flinched. He called out in falsetto, “Not quite, dearest! A few more days!”

“Gah! Hasn’t it been two weeks, yet?”

“N-no, dearest. Just five days. That leaves twelve more to go!”

The monster was silent, maybe trying to do the math. It was a little pathetic, even to Andie, especially when he responded, “Alright, but hurry! I want to see under that veil!”

He chuckled in a way that made Andie want to vomit just on principle.

Grover turned back to her. “Hey, so, remember when I left Camp and you threatened to come find me if I turned out to not be fine? Well, I’m very much not fine, and you need to come help me! There’s no time! I’m stuck in this cave. On an island in the sea.’

“There’s a lot of ‘ sea’ , Grover! Where are you?”

“I don’t know, exactly! I went to Florida and turned left.”

“What?” Andie shook her head. “How did you-”

“It’s a trap!” Grover hissed. “It’s the reason no satyr has ever returned from the quest. He’s a shepherd, Rom! And he has it. Its nature magic is so powerful it smells just like the great god Pan! The satyrs come here thinking they’ve found Pan, and they get trapped and eaten by Polyphemus!”

The name tugged at the back of her mind- she was sure she’d heard it before, but her dream-self was so sluggish, there was no way she’d be able to remember. “Poly-who?”

“The Cyclops!” Grover threw up his hands, exasperated. “I almost got away. I made it all the way to St. Augustine.”

“But he followed you,” Andie finished for him, recalling her first dream. “And trapped you in a bridal boutique.”

Grover snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “Yes! My first empathy link must’ve worked, then. Look, this bridal dress is the only thing keeping me alive. He thinks I smell good, but I told him it was just goat-scented perfume. Thank Tyche he can’t see very well. His eye is still half-blind from the last time someone poked it out. But soon he’ll realize what I am. He’s only giving me two weeks to finish the bridal train, and he’s getting impatient!”

Andie blinked once. Twice. “Wait a minute…this Cyclops things you’re-”

“Yes!” Grover wailed. “He thinks I’m a lady Cyclops and he wants to marry me!”

Under…literally any other circumstances, Andie would’ve fallen on her ass and pissed herself laughing, but Grover’s voice was dead serious. He was shaking with fear, and Andie wished she were, well, corporeal, so she could pull him in for a tight hug.

“I’ll come rescue you,” she promised. “You know I will. Where are you?”

“The Sea of Monsters, of course!”

“The Sea of what ?!”

“I told you! I don’t know exactly where! But Anthony…Anthony will have a better idea! And look, Andie…um, I’m really sorry about this, but this empathy link…well, I had no choice. Our emotions are connected now. If I die…”

“Lemme guess, I’ll die too.”

“Oh, well, perhaps not. You might live for years in a vegetative state. But, uh, it would be a lot better if you got me out of here.”

“Honeypie!” the monster bellowed. “Dinnertime! Yummy yummy sheep meat!”

Grover whimpered, his face tinged green. “I have to go. Hurry!”

“Wait! You said ‘it’ was here. What?”

But Grover’s voice was already growing fainter. “Sweet dreams. Don’t let me die!”

The dream faded and Andie woke with a start. A light breeze accompanied the pale blue light streaming in the window, but it was still silent outside. It was early morning. Tyson stood above her bed, staring down at her with his one big brown eye full of concern.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

A chill ran down Andie’s spine at the sound of his voice. Almost exactly the same voice she’d heard in her dream.

Chapter Text

The morning of the race was hot and humid. Fog lay low on the ground like sauna steam. Millions of birds were roosting in the trees- fat grey and white pigeons, except they didn’t coo like regular pigeons. They made an obnoxious metallic screeching sound, like breaks on a train track.

The racetrack had been built in a grassy field between the archery range and the woods. Hephaestus’ cabin had used the bronze bills, now completely tame thanks to their indented heads, to plow an oval track in a matter of minutes. There were rows of bleachers for spectators- Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all the campers who weren’t participating. Mr. D didn’t show, though that didn’t surprise Andie; she’d never seen him out of the Big House before ten o’clock.

“Right!” Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. As he spoke, his hand chased a chocolate eclair across the judge’s table. “You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track, twice around to win. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed, dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!”

Tantalus smiled like they were all naught children. Andie couldn’t help but wonder if he only mentioned that last part to say that he did. She highly doubted he particularly cared if anyone died. Hell, he’d probably applaud. 

“Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s’mores at the campfire for a whole week! Now, ready your chariots!”

Case in point.

Beckendorf led his second-in-command- a bulky girl, who looked a couple years older than her brother, and whose name Andie didn’t know- onto the track. They had a stunning ride made of bronze and iron- even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. There was not a doubt in Andie’s mind that their chariot had all kinds of mechanical traps and more fancy options than the godsdammed Batmobile.

The Ares chariot was blood red and pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. Clarisse and her fighter- Andie was pretty sure his name was Sherman- climbed aboard with a batch of javelins, spiked balls, caltrops, and a small armory of other nasty toys.

Apollo’s chariot was trim and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. Michael was driving, and Lee was their fighter, armed with a bow, though he’d promised not to shoot regular pointed arrows at the opposing drivers.

Hermes’ chariot was green and a bit run down, like it hadn’t been out of the garage in years. It didn’t look like much, but with the Stoll brothers manning it, Andie knew to expect only the dirtiest tricks from them.

That left two chariots: Anthony and Malcolm’s, and Andie and Tyson’s.

Before the race began, Andie tried to approach Anthony and tell him about her dream. She couldn’t shake it off, and without Chiron here, he was the only person she trusted to tell. The elder son of Athena perked up when she mentioned Grover, but when she told him what the satyr had said, his face closed off. Anthony narrowed his eyes at her, looking her up and down before giving her a small shake of his head.

“You’re trying to distract me,” he decided.

Andie blinked at him. “What? No, I’m not!”

“Sure,” he scoffed. “Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save the camp!”

“What do you mean?”

Anthony rolled his eyes and gave her a dismissive wave. “Go back to your chariot, Andie.”

“I’m not making this up!” She cried, smacking his hand out of the air. “He’s in trouble, Anthony!”

Anthony hesitated, studying her face. Andie could tell he was trying to decide whether or not to believe her. Sure, they were fighting, but did he really think Andie would be so petty as to bring not only the safety of the Camp, but even moreso, Grover’s life into it? She hoped he didn’t think that lowly of her. 

Finally, he sighed. “Andie, an empathy link is so hard to do. I mean, it’s more likely you really were dreaming.”

“And of all the dreams I’ve told you about, how many of them have been wrong?” she challenged. She could see the answer pop into his head immediately: none of them.

But she could still see the hesitation written all over his face. 

“The Oracle,” she pleaded. “We could consult the Oracle.”

Anthony frowned, his jaw clenching and his brows furrowing together. He knew how much the possessed corpse in the Big House attic had scared her. He knew she wouldn’t have suggested going back to see it if she wasn’t deadly serious.

He had barely opened his mouth to respond when the conch horn sounded. 

“Charioteers!” Tantalus called. “To your chariots!”

“We’ll talk later,” Anthony told her. The corners of his lips pulled into a smirk that made Andie think that they might just be okay. “After I win.”

As Andie was walking back to her own chariot, she noticed how many more pigeons were now in the trees, screeching their tiny bird lungs out, making the whole forest rustle. Nobody else seemed to be paying them much attention, but there was something about them that didn’t sit quite right with Andie. Their beaks glinted strangely. Their eyes seemed shinier than regular birds.

Tyson was having trouble getting their horses under control. 

‘He’s a monster, milady!’ They complained to her.

‘He’s a child of Poseidon,’ she told them. ‘Just like…well, just like me.’

‘No!’ They insisted. ‘Monster! Horse-eater! Not trusted.’

Andie sighed. It took quite a bit of bribery to convince them to let her harness them.

As she approached their chariot, Andie could feel her adrenaline start to kick in, and couldn’t stop the grin that stretched across her face. Greek chariots weren’t built for safety or comfort, they were built for speed. The open-back carriages were made of such a light wood that if anyone wiped out making the hairpin turns at either end of the track, they’d probably tip over and crush both the chariot and the people riding it. It was an even better rush than skateboarding, and even with everything going on, Andie couldn’t wait to get on the track.

She took the reins and maneuvered the chariot to the position at the starting line. She gave Tyson a ten-foot-pole and told him that his job was to push the other chariots away if they got too close, and to deflect anything their opponents might try to throw at them.

“No hitting ponies with the stick,” he insisted.

“No,” Andie agreed. “Or people, either, if you can help it. We’re gonna run a clean race. Just keep the distractions away and let me concentrate on driving.”

“We will win!” he beamed.

‘We are so going to lose,’ Andie thought to herself, despite her smile to Tyson. But she had to try. She wanted to show the others…well, she wasn’t sure what, exactly. That Tyson wasn’t such a bad guy? That she wasn’t ashamed of being seen with him in public? Maybe that they hadn’t hurt with all their jokes and name calling?

She wasn’t sure she would’ve believed her, either.

As the chariots lined up, more shiny-eyed pigeons gathered in the woods. They were screeching so loudly that the campers in the stands were starting to take notice, glancing nervously at the trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds. Tantalus didn’t seem concerned, though he did have to speak up to be heard over the noise.

“Charioteers!” He shouted. “Attend your mark!”

He waved a hand and the starting signal dropped. The chariots roared to life, jolting forward in a furious thunder of hooves. The crowd cheered.

Almost immediately, there was a loud, nasty cracking noise that ripped through the air. Andie looked back in time to see the Apollo chariot flip over. The Hermes chariot had rammed into it- maybe by mistake, but knowing the Stolls, probably not. Lee and Michael were thrown free, but their panicked horses dragged the golden chariot diagonally across the track. Travis and Conner laughed at their luck, but their amusement didn’t last long. The Apollo horses crashed into theirs, and the Hermes chariot flipped too, leaves a pile of broken wood, two swearing teenagers, and four rearing horses in the dust.

Two chariots down in the first twenty feet. Andie fucking loved this sport.

She turned her attention back to the front. She and Tyson were making good time, pulling ahead of Ares, but the Athena chariot was way ahead of them. Anthony was already making his turn around the first post. Malcolm, wielding his favored javelin, glasses glinting in the morning sun, grinned and waved at them, shouting, “See ya!”

The Hephaestus chariot was starting to gain on them, too.

Beckendorf pressed a button, and a panel slid open on the side of his chariot. “Sorry, Andie!”

Three sets of balls and chain shot strait towards their wheels, like bolas. They would’ve wrecked completely if Tyson hadn’t whacked them aside with a quick swipe of his pole. He gave the Hephaestus chariot a good shove and sent them skittering sideways while Andie flicked the reins, urging the horses to pull ahead.

“Nice work, Tyson!” she laughed over the wind.

“Birds!” he cried in response.

“What?”

They were whipping along so fast it was hard to hear or see anything, but Tyson pointed towards the woods, and she saw what he was talking about. The pigeons had risen from the trees. They were spiraling like a huge tornado, heading straight for the track.

‘No big deal,’ Andie told herself. ‘They’re just pigeons.’

She shifted her focus back to the race.

They made their first turn, the wheels creaking underneath them, the chariot threatening to tip, but they were now only ten feet behind Anthony. If she could just get a little closer, Tyson could use his pole…

Malcolm wasn’t smiling anymore. He pulled a javelin from his collection and took aim at Andie. He was about to throw when they heard the screaming. 

The pigeons were swarming- thousands of them dive-bombing the spectators in the stands, attacking the other chariots. Beckendorf was mobbed. His fighter tried to bat the birds away, but she couldn’t see anything. The chariot veered of course and plowed through the strawberry fields, the mechanical horses steaming.

In the Ares chariot, Clarisse barked an order to her fighter, who quickly threw a screen of camouflage netting over their basket. The birds swarmed around it, pecking and clawing at Sherman’s hands as he tried to hold up the net, but Clarisse just gritted her teeth and kept driving. The pigeons pecked uselessly at their empty eyes sockets and flew through their rib cages, but the stallions kept right on running.

The spectators weren’t so lucky. The birds were slashing at any bit of exposed flesh, driving everyone into a panic. Now that the birds were closer, it was clear they weren’t normal pigeons. Their eyes were beady and soulless. Their beaks were made of bronze, and judging from the yelps of the campers, they must’ve been razor sharp.

“Stymphalian birds!” Anthony yelled. He slowed down and pulled his chariot alongside Andie’s. “They’ll strip everyone to bones if we don’t drive them away!”

“Tyson,” Andie called. “We’re turning around.”

“Going the wrong way?” he asked.

“Always,” Andie grumbled, but she steered the chariot towards the stands. Anthony rode right next to her, calling heroes to arms, but she wasn’t sure anyone could hear him over the screeching of the birds and the general chaos.

Andie held her reins in one hand and managed to draw Riptide as a wave of birds dived at her face, their metal beaks snapping. She slashed them out of the air and they exploded into dust and feathers, but there were still millions of them left. One bit her right in the ass, and she yelped and nearly jumped out of the chariot.

Anthony wasn’t having much better luck. The closer they got to the stands, the thicker the cloud of birds became. 

Some of the spectators tried to fight back. The Athena campers were calling for shields. The archers from Apollo’s cabin brought out their bows and arrows, ready to slay the menaces, but with so many campers mixed in with the birds, it wasn’t safe to shoot.

“Too many!” Andie yelled to Anthony. “How do you get rid of them?”

He stabbed at a pigeon with his dagger. “Heracles used noise! Brass bells! He scared them away with the most horrible sound he could-“

The blond’s eyes got wide. “Rom…Chiron’s collection!”

Andie understood immediately. “You think it’ll work?”

He handed his brother the reins and leaped from his chariot into Andie’s in a smooth and easy motion that Andie couldn’t help but admire. “To the Big House! It’s our only chance.”

Clarisse had just pulled across the finish line, completely unopposed, and seemed to notice for the first time how lethal the bird problem was.

When she saw them driving away, she yelled, “You’re running?! The fight is here, cowards!” She drew her sword and charged for the stands.

Andie rolled her eyes at the older girl, and urged her horses into a gallop. The chariot rumbled through the strawberry fields, across the volleyball pit, and lurched to a halt in front of the Big House. She was right on Anthony’s heels as they ran inside, tearing down the hallway to Chiron’s apartment. 

His boom box was still on his nightstand. So were his favorite CDs. (For once, Andie was glad Chiron hadn’t discovered music streaming. Apparently, hoarding CDs did come in handy, after all.) She grabbed the most repulsive one she could find, while Anthony snatched up the boom box, and together they ran back outside. 

Down at the track, the chariots were in flames. Wounded campers ran in every direction, with birds shredding their clothes and pulling out their hair, while Tantalus chased breakfast pastries around the stands, calling out half-assed and utterly unconvincing assurances that everything was under control.

They pulled up to the finish line. Anthony got the boom box ready, and Andie prayed to whatever deity would listen that the batteries weren’t dead.

She pressed play and started up Chiron’s favorite- The All Time Greatest Hits of Dean Martin. The music that filled the air, Andie would’ve argued if the situation hadn’t been so dire, was probably worse than the screeching metal birds.

The demon pigeons went nuts. They started flying in circles, running into each other like they wanted to bash their own brains out- Andie couldn’t really blame them. As if of one mind, they abandoned the track altogether and flew skyward in a huge dark wave.

“Now!” Anthony barked. “Archers!”

With clear targets, Apollo’s archers had flawless aim. Most of them could nock five or six arrows at once. Within minutes, the ground was littered with dead bronze-beaked pigeons, and the survivors were a distant trail of smoke on the horizon.

Camp was saved, but the wreckage wasn’t pretty. Most of the chariots had been completely destroyed. Almost everyone, Andie and Anthony included, was wounded, bleeding from multiple bird pecks. Lee, Andie noticed, had recovered from his vicious wreck on the track, and was now kneeling next to a hyperventilating Will, whose bright blue eyes were locked on the fading cloud of birds.

“Bravo!” Tantalus called through the chaotic aftermath of the attack. But he wasn’t looking at Andie or Anthony. “We have our first winner!”

He walked to the finish line and awarded the golden laurels for the race to a stunned-looking Clarisse. Then, he turned and smiled at Andie. A smile that sent a shudder down her spine, and had Anthony stepping closer to her, stormy eyes locked on the resurrected spirit like he was a target. “And now,” Tantalus crooned. “To punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race.”

Anthony narrowed his eyes at the man. “We didn’t disrupt anything! The camp was attacked, if you hadn’t noticed.”

Tantalus scoffed. “Please. The birds were perfectly fine, minding their own business in the woods before the race started! They never would have attacked if you two and your…thing hadn’t disturbed them with your, quite frankly, horrendous chariot driving!”

Andie reeled back, like he’d physically slapped her. He…he had to be joking, right? She and Anthony had just saved his ass, and now he wanted to spin it like the attack was their fault?! How many fucking times…

Her shock quickly turned into a wave of anger. She was able to take two steps towards him before Anthony grabbed her wrist and halted her in her tracks. She swiveled her head to fix her glare at him, but he didn’t so much as blink. Instead, he fixed her with a warning look. She turned away from Anthony, and snarled back at Tantalus.

“Go chase a fucking donut, you pathetic fucking douche-bag!” she snapped. 

Anthony hid his laugh in a cough. Nearby, the Stolls, who had turned their wrecked chariot into a sanctuary away from the demon pigeons, snickered. Connor caught her eye and made a chef’s kiss motion. Beckendorf was biting his lip, shoulder shaking in silent laughter, as he gave Andie an approving nod. Even Clarisse looked mildly impressed, though her eyes still regarded Tantalus warily. 

And honestly…she was probably right to do so.

Because now, any sign of amusement, even if it had come from himself, had turned into an expression so flat and cold, Andie, for the first time, understood that he really had been a subject of her uncle’s realm. The very one she had visited barely a year before.

Anthony sobered up instantly, the hand still gripping her wrist pulling her nearly behind him as Tantalus stalked closer to them.

Andie was so fucking tired of this guy, though. She shook off Anthony’s hand, and moved to stand beside him, tilting her chin up, and matching Tantalus’ expression. He stared her down for so long, everyone had gone completely silent. All Andie could hear was the crashing of the waves against the beach- she was pretty sure they were getting stronger and stronger with each passing second.

“Kitchen patrol,” Tantalus finally spoke. “All three of you.”

Andie opened her mouth to protest, but Tantalus’ expression just got harsher. She was reminded of his punishment, and what she’d said to him when she first met him, ‘You must’ve done something really fucked up when you were alive.’ 

She was pretty sure she didn’t want to know.

“Now,” He growled. 

“Come on, Andie,” Anthony muttered beside her. She fixed the man with one last glare before following after the blond. Tyson was right behind her.

The three of them spent the entire afternoon scrubbing pots and platters in the underground kitchen with the cleaning harpies. The harpies, unfortunately, washed with lava instead of water, so she and Anthony had to wear asbestos gloves and aprons.

Tyson didn’t seem to mind. He plunged his bare hands right in and started scrubbing, but Andie and Anthony had to suffer through hours of hot, dangerous work, especially since there were tones of extra plates. Tantalus had ordered a special luncheon banquet to celebrate Clarisse’s victory- a full course meal featuring country fried Stymphalian death-bird. 

The only good thing about their punishment was that it gave her and Anthony a chance to talk- without the other getting pissy and storming off before they could actually clear the air. 

After listening to her dream about Grover again, Anthony looked like he might have been starting to believe her.

“If he’s really found it,” he murmured, “And if we could retrieve it-“

“Hold on,” Andie interrupted. “You act like this…whatever it is Grover found is the only thing in the world that could save the Camp. What is it?”

“I’ll give you a hint: what do you get when you skin a ram?”

Andie shrugged. “Fuckin’…messy? I dunno.”

He sighed. “A fleece, Rom. The coat of a ram is called a fleece. And if that ram happens to have golden wool-“

The plate Andie was washing slipped from her hands as she whipped her head around to stare at her friend. “The Golden Fleece. Are you serious?”

Anthony scrapped a plateful of death-bird bones into the lava. “You do know the story of Jason and the Argonauts, right?”

“Sure,” Andie smirked. “That movie with the old clay skeletons, right?”

Anthony rolled his eyes. “Gods, Andie, you are hopeless!”

“What?” she demanded, trying to suppress her laughter. He was still so easy to rile up. He sent a bewildered look at her, which quickly turned into flat unamusement when he realized she was messing with him. 

“Do you actually know the story?”

“Vaguely,” she conceded. 

“That’s all you had to say, Seaweed Brain.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. Anthony just shook his head.

“Okay, the real story of the Fleece: There were these two children of Zeus: Cadmus and Europa. They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that’s not important.”

“It was probably important to her.”

“Well, they named an entire continent after her, is that important enough for you?”

“Eh, I’ll take it.”

“The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That’s why Jason wanted the Fleece- well, part of the reason, anyway. There was also the whole rightful-king thing, but that’s…also not important. What is important is that the Fleece revitalizes any land where it’s placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution-“

A lump formed in Andie’s throat as she realized what Anthony was about to say. “It could cure Thalia’s Tree.”

He nodded. “And it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood. But Andie, the Fleece has been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck.”

“But Grover found it,” Andie responded. “He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece instead because they both radiate nature magic. It makes sense, Anthony! We can rescue him, and save the Camp at the same time. It’s perfect!”

Anthony hesitated, brows furrowed. “A little too perfect, don’t you think? What if it’s a trap?”

Andie shook her head. “Last year was a trap, and we didn’t even know it. We made do, then! At least this time we’ll know we’re walking into a trap, and can prep for it.”

“Last year, we walked into more than one trap, and came very, very close to failing.”

“We figured it out, in the end,” She sighed. “What choice do we have? Are you going to help me save Grover and the Camp, or not?”

Anthony glanced at Tyson, who’d lost interest in their conversation, and was happily making toy boats out of cups and spoons in the lava.

“Andie,” he muttered under his breath. “We’ll have to fight a Cyclops. Polyphemus, the worst of the Cyclopes. And there’s only one place his island could be- the Sea of Monsters.”

“Where’s that?”

He stared at her, bewildered and suspicious, like he was trying to figure out if she was messing with him, again. When she shook her head at him, he sighed. “The Sea of Monsters. The same sea Odysseus sailed through, and Jason, and Aeneas, and all the others.”

Now, it was Andie’s turn to look at Anthony like he was the slow one- it was a rare occurrence. Surely he didn’t think Andie’s geography was that bad? “You mean the Mediterranean?”

“No. Well, yes…but no.”

“Another straight answer from Anthony Chase. Thanks.”

“Look, Rom, the Sea of Monsters is the sea all heroes sail through on their adventures. It used to be in Mediterranean, yes, but like everything else it shifts locations with the central power of the West.”

“Like Mount Olympus being above the Empire State Building.” Andie nodded her understanding. “And the entrances to Hades being under LA.”

“Uh-huh.”

She frowned at him. “But a whole sea full of monsters- how could you hide something like that? Wouldn’t the mortals notice weird things happening…like ships getting eaten, and stuff?”

“Of course they notice,” Anthony shrugged. “They don’t understand, but they definitely know something is strange about that part of the ocean. The Sea of Monsters is off the east coast of the US now, just northeast of Florida. The mortals even have a name for it.”

“The Bermuda Triangle,” she stated.

“Exactly.”

Andie let that sink in. She supposed it wasn’t any stranger than anything else she’d learned since she’d arrived at Camp Half-Blood. “Okay…so at least we know where to look.”

“It’s still a huge area, Rom. Searching for one tiny island in monster-infested waters-“

“Hey, I’m the daughter of a the Sea God,” both of them, actually. “This is my home turf. How hard can it be?”

Anthony pressed his lips into a thin line. “We’ll have to talk to Tantalus, get approval for a quest. He’ll say no.”

“Not if we tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody. The whole camp will hear. They’ll pressure him. He won’t be able to refuse.”

“Maybe…” A little bit of hope crept into Anthony’s voice, the barest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “We’d better get these dishes done. Hand me the lava spray gun, would ya?”

That night at campfire, Lee led the sing-along, as usual. He and his siblings tried to get everybody’s spirits up, but it wasn’t easy after the bird attack. They all sat around sat around the amphitheater, singing half-heartedly and watching the bonfire blaze while the Apollo kids strummed their guitars and picked their lyres.

On a good night, Andie had seen the magical bonfire twenty feet high, bright purple, and so hot the whole front tow’s marshmallows burst into flames. Tonight, the fire was only five feet high, barely warm, and the flames were the color of lint.

Dionysus left early. After suffering through a few songs, he muttered something about how even pinochle with Chiron had been more exciting than this. Then he gave Tantalus a distasteful look and headed back toward the Big House. 

Was Mr. D…on their side? Andie shook the thought from her head.

When the last song was over, Tantalus’ voice echoed across the stones, “Well, that was lovely!”

He came forward with a toasted marshmallow on a stick and tried to pluck it off, almost too casually. But before he could touch it, the marshmallow flew off the stick. Tantalus made a wild grab for it, but the marshmallow committed suicide, diving straight into the flames. 

Andie would’ve done the same, honestly.

Tantalus turned back towards them, smiling coldly. “Now, then! Some announcements about tomorrow’s schedule.”

“Sir,” Andie spoke up before he could get started.

Tantalus’ eye twitched. “Our scullery maid has something to say?”

Some of the Ares campers snickered, but she wasn’t going to let them embarrass her into silence. Andie stood and look at Anthony. Thank the gods, he stood up with her.

“We have an idea to save the Camp,” Andie announced. 

Dead silence. Andie could tell she’d gotten everybody’s interest, because the campfire flared bright yellow. 

“Indeed,” Tantalus drawled blandly. “Well, if it has anything do with chariots-“

“The Golden Fleece,” she interrupted. “We know where it is.”

The flames burned orange. Before Tantalus could stop her, Andie blurted out her dream about Grover, and Polyphemus’ island. Anthony stepped in and reminded everyone what the Fleece could do. It sounded more convincing coming from him.

“The Fleece can save the Camp,” the son of Athena concluded. “We’re certain of it.”

“Nonsense,” Tantalus dismissed. “We don’t need saving.”

Everyone stared at him in complete silence until he started looking uncomfortable.

“Besides,” he added quickly. “The Sea of Monsters? That’s hardly an exact location. You wouldn’t even know where to look.”

“Yes, I would,” Andie stated.

Anthony leaned toward her and whispered, “You would?”

Andie nodded, because for some reason, it had just now clicked in her brain. So much had been happening since she got to Camp, she’d almost forgotten about the Grey Sisters and their ominous message. At the time, the information they’d given her had made no sense. But now…she was a child of the sea. Of course that was the kind of message they would give her.

“30, 31, 75, 12,” she recited.

“Ooookaaayy…” Tantalus drawled. “Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers.”

“They’re sailing coordinates,” Andie said. “Latitude and longitude- the Grey Sisters gave them to me when they brought us to Camp. They told me it was the ‘location I seek’.”

Something warmed in Andie’s chest when she looked over and Anthony, and saw his expression filled with impression and pride. “30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. She’s right! That’d be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!”

“Wait a damn minute-“ Tantalus tried to protest, but the campers drowned him out, taking up the chant.

“We need a quest! We need a quest!”

The flames rose higher. Andie joined in the chanting.

“It isn’t necessary!” Tantalus insisted.

“We need a quest! We need a quest!”

“Fine!” Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. “You brats want me to assign a quest?”

“Yes!”

“Very well,” he agreed. “I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to Camp. Or die trying.”

Andie beamed, her heart filled with excitement. She wasn’t going to let Tantalus scare her. She was going to save Grover and her home, and she would be damned if anything stopped her.

“I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!” Tantalus announced. “And choose two champions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious.”

Tantalus looked at both Andie and Anthony as if he wanted to flay them alive. “The champion should be one who has earned the Camp’s respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races, and courageous in the defense of the Camp. You shall lead this quest…Clarisse!”

The fire flickered a thousand different colors. Andie’s heart felt like a lead lump dropping into her stomach. The Ares cabin started stomping and cheering, chanting their Head Counselor’s name.

Clarisse stood up, looking stunned. Then she swallowed, and her chest filled with pride. “I accept the quest!”

“Wait!” Andie shouted. “Grover is my friend! The dream came to me!”

“Sit down!” yelled one of the Ares campers. “You had your chance last summer!” 

“Yeah, she just wants to be in the spotlight again!” another called.

Andie knew she had a pleading look on her face as she shook her head at Clarisse. Please, please, please… But the older girl just glared at her. 

“I accept the quest!” Clarisse repeated. “I, Clarisse LaRue, daughter of Ares, will save the Camp!”

The Ares campers cheered even louder. 

Anthony protested, and his siblings joined in. Everybody else started taking sides- shouting and arguing. Andie felt a large hand clamp onto her shoulder, and turned to see Beckendorf at her side, yelling obscenities at Clarisse. Katie was just a few feet in front of her with an even worse vocabulary than Beckendorf, and was flipping Clarisse off. She promptly got hit in the face with a half-melted marshmallow. Beside her, Silena sent a withering glare in the direction the marshmallow had come from, and began helping Katie clean it off. Meanwhile, Travis, seated several people away, swore before jumping to his feet and retaliating. It didn’t take long for Conner to join him. 

Andie thought it was about to turn into a full-fledged s’more war until Tantalus bellowed, “Silence, you insufferable little shits!”

His tone stunned even Andie. 

“Sit down!” He ordered. “And I will tell you a ghost story.”

Andie didn’t know what he was up to, but they all moved reluctantly back to their seats. The evil aura radiating from Tantalus was as strong as any monster she’d ever faced.

“Once upon a time, there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!” Tantalus put his hand on his chest, and Andie got the sneaking suspicion he was talking about himself.

“This king,” he said, “Was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe- just one little doggie bag, mind you- the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh, yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children just- like- you.”

He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, including Andie. She wasn’t able to suppress the way her lip curled.

“Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?” Tantalus asked softly. “Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment?” He invited the Olympians to a feast at he palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?”

No one dared answer. Andie felt sick to her stomach. The firelight glowed dark blue, reflecting evilly on Tantalus’ crooked face.

“Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife,” Tantalus croaked. “They did, indeed. But he’d had his moment of satisfaction, hadn’t he? His children never spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumor has it that the king’s spirit now dwells at this very Camp, waiting to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so…are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?”

Silence.

Tantalus nodded at Clarisse. “The Oracle, my dear. Go on.”

She shifted uncomfortable, like even she didn’t want the glory at the price of being Tantalus’ pet. “Sir-“

“Go!” he snarled.

Clarisse bowed awkwardly, and hurried off toward the Big House.

“What about you, Andromeda Jackson?” Tantalus asked. “No comments from the help?”

Andie matched his glare, but didn’t say anything. She refused to give him the satisfaction of punishing her again. But oh, he would get what he had coming to him.

“Good,” Tantalus growled. “And let me remind everyone- no one leaves this Camp without my permission. Anyone who tries…well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won’t come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well.”

With a wave of Tantalus’ hand, the fire was extinguished, and the campers trailed off towards their cabins in the dark.

Andie was silent the entire trek back to Cabin Three. Even when Anthony caught up to her, grabbing her elbow, and whispering in her ear, “We will figure something out, Rom,” all she could do was nod before tugging her arm out of his grip and walking away. 

As she brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas, she tried, and failed, to come up with a way to explain things to Tyson. He knew she was sad. He knew she wanted to go on a trip, and Tantalus wouldn’t let her.

“You will go anyway?” Tyson asked from his bunk as she sat on the edge of her own.

She pulled the covers into her lap. “I don’t know,” she admitted quietly. “It would be hard. Very hard.”

“I will help.”

“No. I- uh, I couldn’t ask you to do that, big guy. Too dangerous.”

Tyson looked down at the pieces of metal he was assembling in his lap- springs and gears and tiny wires. Beckendorf had given him some tools and spare parts, and now Tyson spent every night tinkering, though Andie wasn’t sure how his huge hands could handle such delicate little pieces.

“What are you building?” she asked.

Tyson didn’t answer. Instead, he made a whimpering noise in the back of his throat. “Anthony doesn’t like Cyclopes. You…don’t want me along?”

“Oh, that’s not it,” Andie said half-heartedly. “Anthony likes you, really.”

He had tears in the corners of his eye. Andie remembered that Grover, like all satyrs, could read human emotions. She wondered if Cyclopes had the same ability.

Tyson folded up his tinkering project in an oilcloth. He lay down on his bunk bed and hugged his bundle like a teddy bear. When he turned toward the wall, Andie could see the weird scars on his back, like somebody had plowed over him with a tractor. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen the scars, and she wondered, for the millionth time how he’d gotten hurt.

“Daddy always cared for m-me,” he sniffled. “Now…I think he was mean to have a Cyclops boy. I should not have been born.”

Andie’s heart ached in her chest. She knew that feeling intimately, but she couldn’t explain that to him. 

“Don’t talk that way!” she told him, instead. “Poseidon claimed you, didn’t he? So…he must have cared about you…a lot…”

Her voice trailed off as she realized she told him the very same thoughts she’d had just after she’d been claimed by her father last year. The thoughts she still had, sometimes. But…she understood, ultimately, why her father couldn’t do more for her. But Tyson…Tyson had lived for years on the streets of New York in a cardboard refrigerator box. How could Tyson possibly think that Poseidon had cared for him? What kind of dad let that happen to his kid, even if his kid was a monster?

“Tyson…” she sighed softly when she found her voice again. “Camp will be a good home for you. The others will get used to you. I promise.”

Tyson sighed. Andie waited for him to say something, and after a few moments, realized he was already asleep.

She lay back on her bed and tried to close her eyes, but her thoughts were moving about a zillion miles and hour, and if she were being totally honest…she was scared. She was afraid she might have another dream about Grover. If the empathy link was real…if something happened to Grover, would Andie ever wake up?

The full moon shone through her window. The sound of the surf rumbled and crashed in the distance. She could smell the warm scent of the strawberry fields, and heard the laughter of the dryads as they chased owls through the forest. But something felt wrong about the night- the sickness of Thalia’s tree, spreading across the valley. 

Could Clarisse actually save Half-Blood Hill? Andie personally thought she had better odds of winning Tantalus’ favor.

Andie shoved her blankets off before hauling herself out of bed, and changing into denim shorts and a t-shirt, and pulling on her trusty blue Vans. She grabbed a beach blanket and a six-pack of Coke from under her bunk (thank you, Travis Stoll). 

Much like the smuggled in Cokes, sneaking out after curfew was against the rules. If Andie got caught, she’d either be in massive trouble, or eaten by the harpies. But she needed to see the ocean. She always felt better there, her thoughts clearer. She left the cabin and headed for the beach.

She moved far enough down the beach from the path that she wouldn’t immediately be spotted by someone on it. She spread her blanket near the surf and popped open a can. Sugar and caffeine always calmed down her hyperactive brain, and she hummed contentedly. The moonlight glittering over the water, and Andie tried to decide what she could do to save the Camp, but she was only drawing blanks. She wished her dad would talk to her- give her advice or something. 

The sky was clear and starry, and Andie’s focus shifted to the constellations that her mom and Anthony had taught her- Sagittarius, Heracles, Corona Borealis- when somebody’s voice said beside her, “Beautiful, aren’t they?”

Andie nearly spat out her soda. 

Standing right next to her was a guy in running shorts and a New York City Marathon t-shirt. He had to be somewhere in his mid to late twenties, tall, slim, and fit, with curly, light brown hair, cornflower blue eyes, and a sly smile. He looked insanely familiar, but Andie couldn’t figure out where she’d seen him before.

Her first thought was that he must’ve been taking a midnight jog down the beach and strayed inside the Camp’s borders. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Regular mortals couldn’t enter the valley. Then again, with the tree’s magic weakening, maybe he’d managed to slip in. But in the middle of the night? And there wasn’t anything around except farmlands and state preserves. Where would this dude have jogged from?

“May I join you?” he asked. “I haven’t sat down in ages.”

Now, Andie…definitely knew better. Even if it wasn’t common sense, her mom had ingrained stranger danger- especially strange men- into her since Andie was old enough to understand…well, anything. She was supposed to leave, scream, whatever…but this guy acted so calm about the whole thing that Andie found it hard to be afraid. 

So she said, “Uh, sure.”

He smiled. “Your hospitality does you credit. Oh! And Coke! May I?”

The man sat at the other end of the blanket, popped open a soda, and took a swig. “Ah…that hits the spot. Peace and quiet at-“

A cell phone went off in his pocket. 

The jogger sighed. He pulled out his phone and Andie’s eyes went wide, because it glowed with a bluish light. The case’s edges, Andie realized with a start were shaped like snakes, and moving. If the guy noticed, he didn’t say anything. The phone lit up as he checked the notifications, and he cursed as he slid his thumb across the screen to answer.

“I’ve gotta take this, just a sec…” Then, into the phone, “Hello?”

He listened for a moment. The snakes writhed around the phone case, right next to his ear. 

“Yeah,” the jogger said. “Listen- I know, but…I don’t care if boundaries technically fall under my jurisdiction! Someone signed for the package so- yes, I know he doesn’t have any arms, but… Look, the package was delivered. The kid told me he asked her to sign for him, so I gave her the package. Once she signed for it, it was out of my hands. Wha- it’s not my fault he was built as just a pedestal and a bust- oh, never mind. Listen, just refer him to Eris in customer service. I gotta go.”

He hung up. “Sorry. Overnight express business is just booming, and no one’s ever happy with their delivery. Now, as I was saying-“

“You…you have snakes on your phone.”

“What? Oh, they don’t bite. Say hello, George and Martha!”

‘Hello, George and Martha,’ a raspy male voice said inside Andie’s head.

‘Don’t be sarcastic,’ said a female voice.

‘Why not?’ George demanded. ‘I do all the real work.’

“Oh, let’s not go into that again!” The jogger slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Now, where were we…ah, yes. Peace and quiet.”

He crossed his ankles, leaning back on his hands and looking up at the stars. “Been a long time since I’ve gotten to relax. Ever since the telegraph- rush, rush, rush. Do you have a favorite constellation, Andie?”

Andie was still curious about the tiny, green, talking snakes he’d just shoved into his jogging shorts, but she managed to respond, “Uh, I like Heracles.”

The man titled his head, looking at her curiously. “Why?”

“Well…” Andie inhaled deeply. “Because he had shitty luck. Even worse than mine. Makes me feel better.”

The jogger chuckled. “Most girls like him because he was strong and famous. You not interested in that?”

Andie sent him a strange look. “No.”

“You’re an interesting young lady. And so, what now?”

Andie knew immediately what he was asked. What did she intend to do about the Fleece?

Before she could answer, Martha the snake’s muffled voice came from his pocket: ‘I have Demeter on line two.’

“Not now,” the jogger said. “Tell her to leave a message.”

‘She’s not going to like that. The last time you put her off, all the flowers in the floral delivery division wilted.’

“Just tell her I’m in a meeting!” The jogger rolled his eyes. “Sorry again, Andie. You were saying…?”

“Um, who are you, exactly? And how do you know my name?”

“Haven’t you guessed by now, a smart girl like you?”

‘Show her!’ Martha pleaded. ‘I haven’t been full-size for months!’

‘Don’t listen to her!’ George retorted. ‘She just wants to show off!’

The man took out his phone. “Original form, please.”

The phone glowed a brilliant blue. It stretched into a three-foot-long wooden staff with wings sprouting out the top. George and Martha, now full-size green snakes, coiled together around the middle. It was a Caduceus, Andie realized. The Caduceus- the symbol of Cabin Eleven. The symbol of…

Her throat tightened as she realized who the jogger was.  He was the spitting image of Travis and Conner, but for whatever reason, they weren’t the ones she named.

“You’re Luke’s father,” Andie breathed. “Hermes.”

The god pursed his lips. He stuck his Caduceus in the sand like an umbrella pole. “’Luke’s father’. Normally, that’s not the first way people introduce me. God of thieves, yes. God of messengers, travelers, medicine, even boundaries, if they wish to be kind.”

‘God of thieves works,’ George said. 

‘Oh, don’t mind George.’ Martha flicked her tongue at Andie. ‘He’s just bitter because Hermes likes me best.’

‘He does not!’

‘Does too!’

“Behave, you two,” Hermes warned. “Or I’ll turn you back into a phone and put you on vibrate! Now, Andie, you still haven’t answered my question. What do you intend to do about the quest?”

Andie shook her head, confused. “I- I don’t have permission to go.”

“No, indeed. Will that stop you?”

“I want to go. I have to save Grover.”

Hermes smiled. “You know, I knew a boy once… oh, younger than you, by far. A mere baby, really.”

‘Oh, here we go again,’ George groaned. ‘Always talking about himself.’

‘Quiet!’ Martha snapped. ‘Do you want to get set on vibrate?’

Hermes ignored them. “One night, when this boy’s mother wasn’t watching, he sneaked out of their cave and stole some cattle that belonged to Apollo.”

“Did he get blasted into tiny pieces?” Andie asked, even though she knew the story. It was usually best to humor the gods, she’d learned. They tended to get to the point…eventually.

“Hmm, no. Actually, everything turned out quite well. To make up for his theft, the boy gave Apollo an instrument he’d invented- a lyre. Apollo was so enchanted with the music that he forgot all about being angry.”

Andie shrugged. “So what’s the moral?”

“The moral?” Hermes asked, sending her a bewildered look. “Rhea above, you act like it’s a fable. It’s a true story. Does truth have a moral?”

“Uhm…”

“How about this: stealing is not always bad.”

“I think my mom would strongly disagree with that moral.”

‘Rats are delicious,’ suggested George. 

‘What does that have to do with the story?’ Martha demanded.

‘Nothing, I’m just hungry.’

“I’ve got it,” Hermes perked up, with a snap of his fingers. “Young people don’t always do what they’re told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they can escape punishment! How’s that?”

Andie studied the god for a moment. “You’re saying I should go anyway. Even without permission.”

Hermes’ eyes twinkled. “Martha, may I have the first package, please?”

Martha opened her mouth…and kept opening it until it was wider around than Andie’s arm. She belched out a stainless steel canister- a tall lunch-box thermos with a black plastic top. The sides of the thermos were enameled with red and yellow Ancient Greek scenes- a hero killing a lion; a hero lifting of Cerberus; a hero holding a yellow apple near a tree…or was that a dragon?

“That’s Heracles,” Andie noted. “But how-“

“Never question a gift,” Hermes chided. “This is a collector’s item from Heracles Busts Heads. The first season.”

“Heracles Busts Heads?”

“Great show,” Hermes sighed. “Back before Heph-TV was all reality-programming. Of course, the thermos would be worth much more if I had the whole lunch box-“

‘Or if it hadn’t been in Martha’s mouth,’ George added.

‘I’ll get you for that,’ Martha began chasing him around the Caduceus. 

“Wait a minute, this is a gift?” Andie asked. 

“One of two,” Hermes nodded. “Go on, pick it up.”

Andie almost dropped it, because it was freezing on one side, and burning hot on the other. The weird thing was, when she turned the thermos, the side facing the ocean- north, currently- was always the cold side…

“It’s a compass!” She exclaimed. 

Hermes looked surprised. “Very clever. I never thought of that. I don’t think Odysseus did, either, come to think of it. Though, his packaging was a little different. But it’s intended use is a bit more dramatic. Uncap it, and you will release the winds from the four corners of the earth to speed you on your way. Not now! And please, when the time comes, only unscrew the lid a tiny bit. The winds are a bit like me- always restless. Should all four escape at once…ah, but I’m sure you’ll be careful, right?”

Andie nodded slowly. Then something he said about Odysseus clicked in her brain, and she remember what happened when he had possession of the winds. “I won’t have to try and stay awake to keep other people from opening it, right? You haven’t secretly told anyone it’s treasure?”

Hermes tossed his head back and laughed. “You do know your stories. I haven’t told any one it’s treasure, you don’t have to worry about that. Unless someone really wants that collector’s item. As for the first question…well, that depends entirely on whether or not you trust your questmates, now, doesn’t it?”

Anthony, who she’d ask to come with her without hesitation, she trusted implicitly. Clarisse though…well, that was even if they ended up on the quest with Clarisse. 

“Now, for my second gift,” Hermes’ voice interrupted her thoughts. “George?”

‘She’s touching me,’ George complained as he and Martha slithered around the pole. 

“She’s always touching you,” Hermes said, exasperated. “You’re intertwined. And if you don’t stop that, you’ll get knotted again!”

The snakes stopped wrestling. George unhinged his jaw and coughed up a little plastic bottle filled with chewable vitamins.

“You’re kidding,” Andie said. “Are those Minotaur shaped?”

Hermes picked up the bottle and rattled it. “The lemon ones, yes. The grape ones are Furies, I think. Or are they Hydras? At any rate, these are potent. Don’t take one unless you really really need it.”

“And how will I know if I really really need it? What are these?”

“Didn’t we just establish that you knew your old stories pretty well?”

Andie stared up at him, still confused.

“You’ll know when the time comes, believe me. And they’re…vitamins, just like the bottle says. Though, you may also call it…divine intervention. A preferred outcome. Simply speaking, it’s everything you need to…feel yourself again.”

He tossed her the bottle.

“Um, thanks,” she muttered. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked back up at him. “Lord Hermes, why are you helping me?”

He gave her a melancholy smile. “Perhaps because I hope that you can save many people on this quest, Andie. Not just your friend Grover.”

Andie blinked at him. Once. Twice. “You don’t mean…Luke?”

Hermes didn’t answer.

“Look,” Andie sighed. “Lord Hermes, I mean thank you, and everything, honestly, but you might as well take back your gifts. Luke can’t be saved. Even if I could find him…he told me he wanted to tear down Olympus stone by stone. He betrayed everybody he knew- everyone who loved him. He…he hates you especially.”

Hermes gazed up at the stars. “My dear young cousin, if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the eons, it’s that you can’t give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn’t matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don’t appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet-“

“You invented the Internet?”

‘It was my idea,’ Martha chimed in. 

‘Rats are delicious,’ George supplied.

“It was my idea!” Hermes exclaimed. “I mean, the Internet, not the rats. But that’s not the point. Andie, do you understand what I’m saying about family?”

“I- I’m not sure.”

Hermes gave her a sad smile, and nodded slightly. “You will someday.” He stood and brushed the sand off his legs. “In the meantime, I must be going.”

‘You have sixty calls to return,’ Martha told him.

‘And one thousand-thirty-eight emails,’ George added. ‘Not counting the offers for online discount ambrosia.’

“And you, Andie,” Hermes looked back at her. “Have a shorter deadline than you realize to complete your quest. Your friends should be coming right about…now.”

Andie heard Anthony calling her name from the sand dunes. Tyson, too, was shouting from a little bit farther away.

“I hope I packed well for you,” Hermes said. “I do have some experience with travel.”

He snapped his fingers and three yellow duffel bags appeared at her feet. “Waterproof, of course. If you ask nicely, your father should be able to help you reach the ship.”

Andie cocked her head to the side. “Ship?”

Hermes pointed. Sure enough, a big cruise ship was cutting across Long Island Sound, its white and gold lights glowing against the dark water.

“Wait,” Andie called. “I don’t understand any of this. I haven’t even agreed to go!”

“I’d make up your mind in the next, oh, five minutes or so, if I were you,” Hermes advised. “That’s when the harpies’ll come to eat you. Now, good night, cousin, and dare I say it? May the gods go with you.”

He opened his hand and the Caduceus flew into it.

‘Good luck,’ Martha called to her.

‘Bring me back a rat,’ George said.

The Caduceus changed back into a phone, and Hermes slipped it into his pocket. He jogged off down the beach. Twenty paces away, he shimmered and vanished, leaving Andie alone with a thermos, chewable vitamins, and five minutes to make an impossible decision.

She stared at the waves until Anthony and Tyson found her. 

“What’s going on?” Anthony’s eyes were wild as he looked her up and down, like he was checking her over for injuries. “I heard you calling for help!”

“Me too!” Tyson confirmed. “Heard you yell, ‘bad things are attacking!’”

“I didn’t call you guys,” Andie said, rubbing her hands over her face. “I’m fine.”

“But then who…” Anthony noticed the three yellow duffel bags, then the thermos, and the bottle of vitamins she was holding. “What-“

“Just listen,” Andie told him. “We don’t have much time.”

She told them about her conversation with Hermes. By the time she was finished, they could hear screeching in the distance- patrol harpies picking up their scent.

“Andie, we have to do the quest,” Anthony said. 

“We’ll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I’m an expert at getting expelled.”

“So?” Anthony let out a breathy laugh, but the humor that was supposed to have been in it was replaced with a tinge of desperation. “If we fail, there won’t be any Camp to come back to.”

Andie’s breath hitched at the reminder. “Yeah, but you promised Chiron-“

“I promised I’d keep you from danger,” Anthony finished for her. “I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them-“

“I want to go,” Tyson interrupted.

“No!” Anthony’s voice sounded close to panic. “I mean…Rom, c’mon. You know that’s impossible.”

She wondered, again, why her friend had such a grudge against Cyclopes. She wished he would just talk to her about it. 

Anthony and Tyson both looked at Andie, waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, the cruise ship was getting farther and farther away. 

Part of her didn’t want Tyson along. She’d spent nearly the last week in close quarters with the guy, getting made fun of by other campers and embarrassed a million times a day, constantly reminded that she was related to him. She needed some space from him, and she wanted to be able to well and truly clear the air with Anthony regarding…everything that had happened in the last week. She couldn’t do that with Tyson around.

Plus…she really didn’t know how much help he’d be, or how she’d keep him safe. Sure, he was strong, buy Tyson was a little kid in Cyclops terms, maybe seven or eight years old, mentally. Andie could see him freaking out and starting to cry while trying to sneak past a monster, or something. He’d get them all killed.

On the other hand, the sound of the harpies was getting closer…

“We can’t leave him,” Andie decided. “Tantalus will punish him for us being gone.”

“Andie,” Anthony said slowly…and almost too calm, like he was really trying to keep a lid on it. “We’re going to Polyphemus’ island! Polyphemus is an s-i-k…a c-y-k…” He grit his teeth and worked his jaw before taking a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fists. As smart as he was, Anthony was dyslexic, too. They could’ve been there all night while he tried to spell Cyclops. “You know what I mean!”

“Tyson can go if he wants to,” Andie insisted, suddenly feeling weirdly like her mom.

Tyson clapped his hands. “Want to!”

Anthony glared at her, but she could tell he knew she wasn’t going to change her mind. Or maybe he just knew they didn’t have time to argue.

“Alright,” he finally agreed. “How do we get to that ship?”

“Hermes said my father would help.”

“Well then, Seaweed Brain? What’re you waiting for?”

Andie had always had a hard time calling on her father- or praying, or whatever, but she stepped into the waves.

“Um, Dad?” she called. “Hi, how are you?”

“Andie!” Anthony hissed. “We’re in a hurry!”

“We need your help,” she called a little louder. “We need to get to that ship, like, before we become midnight snacks for harpies, so…”

At first, nothing happened. Waves crashed against the shore like normal. The harpies sounded like they were right behind the sand dunes. Then, about a hundred yards out to sea, three white lines appeared on the surface. They moved fast towards the shore, like claws ripping through the ocean. As they neared the beach, the surf burst apart and the heads of three opalescent stallions reared out of the waves.

Tyson caught his breath. “Fish ponies!”

He was right. As the creatures pulled themselves onto the sand, Andie saw that they were only horses in the front; their back halves were silvery fish bodies, with glistening scales and rainbow tails.

“Hippocampi!” Anthony breathed. “They’re beautiful.”

The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled at Anthony’s curls. 

“We’ll admire them later,” Andie said, though she, too, was entranced, stroking the muzzle of one, who nudged closer and closer to her, trying to get more attention. “C’mon.”

“There!” A voice screeched behind them. “Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!”

Five of them were fluttering over the top of the dunes- plump little hags with pinched faces and talons and feathery wings too small for their bodies. They weren’t very fast, thank the gods, but they were vicious.

“Tyson!” Andie called. “Grab a duffel bag!”

He was still staring at the hippocampi with his mouth hanging open. 

“Tyson!”

“Uh?”

“Come on!”

With Anthony’s help, she got him moving. They gathered the bags and mounted their steeds. Poseidon must have known that Tyson was one of the passengers, because one hippocampus was much larger than the other two- just right for carrying a Cyclops.

“Hyah!” Her hippocampus turned and plunged into the waves. Anthony and Tyson’s followed right behind. 

The harpies cursed at them, wailing for their snacks to come back, but the hippocampi raced over the water, fast as jet skis. The harpies fell behind, and soon the shore of Camp Half-Blood was nothing but a dark smudge on the horizon. 

Andie wondered if she’d ever get to see the place again. Unfortunately at that moment, she had other problems.

The cruise ship was now looming in front of them- their ride toward Florida and the Sea of Monsters.

Chapter Text

Riding the hippocampus was even easier than riding a pegasus. They zipped along with the wind in their faces, speeding through the waves so smoothly Andie hardly needed to hold on at all.

As they got closer to the ship, Andie realized just how massive it was- she might as well have been looking directly up at the Empire State Building. The white hull was at least five stories tall, topped with another dozen levels of decks with brightly lit balconies and portholes- Andie was pretty sure the colorful glow coming from the very top was a water park. The ship’s name was painted just above the bow line in black letters that were taller than Andie was, lit with a spotlight. It took Andie a few moments to decipher it, and when she did, she felt the blood drain from her face as her stomach heaved.

PRINCESS ANDROMEDA

It…it had to be a coincidence, right? If not…maybe it was the sign Andie was looking for from her godly parents. All three of her parents had called her ‘princess’ at some point, maybe this was Poseidon and Amphitrite’s way of telling her they were looking out for her.

Attached to the bow of the ship was huge masthead- a three-story tall woman wearing a white Green chiton, sculpted to look as if she were chained to the front of the ship. She was young and beautiful, with flowing black hair, but her expression was one of absolute terror.

So…maybe she was wrong about the well-wishes from her family. Though, why anyone would want a screaming princess on the front of their vacation ship, Andie had no clue.

She exchanged wide-eyed looks with Anthony, who looked just as pale as Andie felt. His lips pressed into a thin line, his grey eyes filled with worry. Andie gave him a nervous smile and nodded toward the ship. The blond’s expression hardened as he seemed to focus back in on their mission.

“How do we get aboard?” Anthony shouted over the noise of the waves.

Andie didn’t get the chance to answer, as the hippocampi seemed to know exactly what they needed. They skimmed along the starboard side of the ship, rising easily through its huge wake, and pulled up next to a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull.

“Go ahead,” Andie told Anthony.

He slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and grabbed the bottom rung. Once he’d hoisted himself onto the ladder, his hippocampus whinnied a farewell and dove under the water. Anthony began to climb. She let him get a few rungs up before she followed.

Finally, it was just Tyson in the water. His hippocampus was treating him to all kinds of outrageous flips and tricks, that Andie wished she had time to be jealous of. Tyson was laughing so hysterically, the sound echoed up the side of the ship.

“Tyson, shh!” she called as loud as she could without alerting anyone to their presence. “C’mon, big guy!”

“Can’t we take rainbow?” he asked, his smile fading.

Andie stared at him, brows furrowed. “Rainbow?”

The hippocampus whinnied as if he liked his new name. Above her, Anthony looked over her shoulder and sent her a bewildered look. Andie couldn’t do much more than shrug, and she glanced back down at Tyson.

“Um…we have to go,” she told him. “Rainbow…well, he can’t climb ladders.”

Tyson sniffled. He buried his face in the hippocampus’ mane. “I will miss you, Rainbow!”

The hippocampus made a neighing sound that Andie could’ve sworn was crying.

“Maybe we’ll see him again,” she suggested.

“Oh, please!” Tyson perked up immediately. “Tomorrow!”

Andie didn’t make any promises, but she finally convinced Tyson to say his farewells and grab hold of the ladder. With a final sad whinny, Rainbow the hippocampus did a back-flip and dove into the sea.

The ladder led to the first deck that was actually open, bright yellow lifeboats lining the edge. Running around the perimeter of the ship was a jogging track, but nobody seemed to be using it. They found a small cove outfitted with plush couches and chairs, again, with no one in sight. Near the sitting area was a set of locked double doors, which Anthony managed to pry open with his knife, and a fair amount of cursing in Ancient Greek.

Andie figured, despite there being no one on the outer deck, that once they got inside, they’d have to sneak around, given their stowaway status. But after checking a few corridors and peering over a balcony into a huge central promenade with closed shops and restaurants, she began to realize there was no one to hide from. Sure, it was the middle of the night, but they were surrounded by at least four different types of bars and a karaoke lounge, and they didn’t see a soul. They walked half the length of the ship, past forty or fifty cabin doors, and heard no sound behind any of them.

“It’s a ghost ship,” Andie murmured.

“No,” Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag. “Bad smell.”

Anthony frowned. “I don’t smell anything.”

“Cyclopes are like satyrs,” Andie told him. “They can smell monsters. Isn’t that right, Tyson?”

He nodded nervously. Now that they were away from Camp Half-Blood, the Mist had distorted his face again. Unless Andie concentrated really hard, it seemed that he had two eyes instead of one.

“Okay,” Anthony said. “So what, exactly, do you smell?”

“Something bad,” Tyson answered.

“Great,” Anthony grumbled, flashing Andie an irritated look. “That clears it up.”

They climbed several flights of stairs and emerged outside again on the water park deck. There were rows of empty deck chairs and a bar closed off with a chain curtain. The water slides above them shone in bright pinks and greens and oranges, but it didn’t sound like any water was running through them. The water in the swimming pool glowed an eerie, almost toxic blue-green, sloshing back and forth from the motion of the ship.

Above them fore and aft were more levels- a climbing wall, a mini-golf course, a revolving restaurant, but still no sign of life.

And yet…Andie sensed something familiar. Something dangerous. She got the feeling that if she weren’t so tired and burned out on adrenaline from their long night, she might be able to put a name to what was wrong.

“We need a hiding place,” Andie decided. “Somewhere safe to sleep.”

“Sleep,” Anthony agreed wearily.

They explored a few more corridors until they found an empty suit on the ninth level. The door was open, which struck Andie as strange. There was a basket of chocolate goodies on the table, and iced-down bottle of sparkling cider on the nightstand, and a mint on the pillow with a hand-written not that read, ‘Enjoy Your Cruise!"

They opened their duffel bags for the first time and found that Hermes really had thought of everything- extra clothes, toiletries, camp rations, a Ziploc bag full of cash, a leather pouch full of golden drachmas. He’d even managed to pack Tyson’s oilcloth with his tools and metal bits, and Anthony’s invisibility Yankees cap, which made them both feel a lot better.

“I’ll bunk next door,” Anthony said. “You two don’t eat or drink anything.”

Andie’s brows turned up. “You think this place is enchanted?”

He frowned. “I dunno. Something isn’t right. Just…be careful.”

“You, too.”

They all locked their doors.

Tyson crashed on the couch. He tinkered for a few minutes on his metalworking project, which he still wouldn’t show Andie- but soon enough he was yawning. He wrapped up his oilcloth and passed out.

Andie lay on the bed and stared out the porthole. She thought she heard voices out in the hallway, like whispering, but she knew she was just hearing things. They’d walked all over the ship and had seen nobody. But the voices kept her awake. They reminded her of her trip to the Underworld- the way the spirits of the dead sounded as they drifted past.

Finally, her weariness got the best of her. She fell asleep…

…and had her worst dream yet.

Andie was standing in a cavern at the edge of an enormous pit. She knew the place too well.

The entrance to Tartarus.

And she recognized the cold laugh that echoed from the darkness below.

‘If it isn’t the young hero.’ The voice was like a knife scraping across stone. ‘On her way to another great victory.’

Andie wanted to shout at Kronos to leave her alone. She wanted to draw Riptide and strike him down. But she couldn’t move. And even if she could, how could she kill something that had already been destroyed? Chopped to pieces and cast into eternal darkness?

‘Don’t let me stop you,’ The Titan Lord said. ‘Perhaps this time, when you fail, you’ll wonder if it’s worthwhile slaving away for the gods. How exactly has your father shown his appreciation lately?’

His laughter filled the cabin, so loud that Andie’s vision blurred. When it finally refocused, she was in a different cave- Grover’s bedroom prison in the Cyclops’ layer.

Grover was sitting at the loom in his soiled wedding dress, madly unraveling the threads of the unfinished bridal train.

“Honeypie!” The monster shouted from behind the boulder. Grover yelped and began weaving the threads back together.

The room shook as the boulder was pushed aside. Looming in the doorway was a Cyclops so huge he made Tyson look like a Barbie doll. He had jagged yellow teeth, and hands that were bigger than Andie was. He must’ve been at least fifteen feet tall, but the most startling thing was his enormous milky eye, scarred and webbed with cataracts. If he wasn’t completely blind, he had to be pretty damn close.

“What are you doing?” The monster demanded.

“Nothing!” Grover replied in his falsetto voice. “Just weaving my bridal train, as you can see.”

The Cyclops stuck one hand into the room and groped around until he found the loom. He pawed at the cloth. “It hasn’t gotten any longer!”

“Oh, um, yes it has, dearest! See? I’ve added at least an inch.”

“Too many delays!” The monster bellowed. Then he sniffed the air. “You smell good! Like goats!”

Grover forced a weak giggle. “Do you like it? It’s Eau de Chèvre. I wore it just for you.”

The Cyclops hummed and bared his pointed teeth. “Good enough to eat!”

“Oh, you’re such a flirt!”

“No more delays!”

“But dear, I’m not done!”

“Tomorrow!”

“No, no. Ten more days!”

“Five!”

“Oh, well, seven then. If you insist.”

“Seven! That is less than five, right?”

“Certainly. Oh, yes.”

The monster grumbled, still not happy with his deal, but he left grover to his weaving and rolled the boulder back into place.

Grover closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, trying to calm his nerves.

“Hurry, Andie,” he muttered. “Please, please, please!”

Andie woke to a ship’s whistle and a voice on the intercom- some dude with an Australian accent who sounded way too happy.

“Good morning passengers, this is your captain speaking! We’ll be at sea all day today. Excellent weather for the poolside mambo part! Don’t forget million-dollar bingo in the Kraken Lounge at one o’clock, and for out special guests, disemboweling practice on the promenade!”

Andie bolted upright, her hair messy and falling into her face. She spat a strand out of her mouth. “What did he say?”

Tyson groaned, still half asleep. He was lying face down on the couch, his feet so far over the edge they were in the bathroom. “The happy man said…bowling practice?"

Andie hoped he was right, but then there was an urgent knock on the suite’s interior door. Anthony stuck his head in, his blond curls sticking up at wild angles. “Disemboweling practice?”

“Shit, I was hoping I’d misheard that,” Andie groaned, flopping back her pillows.

“Get dressed,” Anthony ordered, as he backed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

A few minutes later, all of them were dressed and venturing out into the ship.

Where the found other people. Where the hell had all these people come from?! A dozen senior citizens were heading to breakfast. A dad was taking his kids to the pool for a morning swim. Crew members in crisp white uniforms strolled the deck, tipping their hats to the passengers.

Nobody asked who they were. Nobody so much as even glanced at them. Something was very very wrong.

As the family of swimmers passed by, the dad told his kids, “We are on a cruise. We are having fun.”

“Yes,” his three kids replied in unison, their expressions blank. “We are having a blast. We will swim in the pool.”

They wandered off.

“Good morning,” A crew member greeted them, his eyes glazed. “We are all enjoying ourselves about the Princess Andromeda. Have a nice day.”

He, too, drifted away.

“Andie, this is weird,” Anthony whispered.

“No shit,” Andie muttered back. “They’re like NPCs, or something.”

He grabbed her wrist. “Seaweed Brain, they’re in some kind of trance…”

Then they passed what looked like an all-you-can-eat buffet, and they saw their first monster. A hellhound stood in the buffet line, it’s front paws up on the warming bar, and its muzzle buried in the scrambled eggs. It must’ve been young, because it was small compared to most- no bigger than a grizzly bear.

Andie’s blood ran cold, remembering the much, much larger one that had attacked her the day she got claimed.

The one Luke had sicced on her.

The weird thing was, a middle-aged couple stood in the buffet-line right behind the devil dog, patiently waiting their turn for the eggs. They didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

“Not hungry anymore,” Tyson murmured.

Before Andie or Anthony could reply, a reptilian voice came from down the corridor, “Sssssix more joined yesssterday.”

Anthony, who was still holding onto Andie’s wrist, yanked her into the nearest hiding place- the women’s room- and all three of them ducked inside.

Something- or more like two somethings- slithered past the bathroom door, making sounds like sandpaper against the carped.

“Yesss,” A second reptilian voice said. “He drawsss them. Sssoon we will be ssstrong.”

The things slithered into the cafeteria with a cold hissing that might’ve been snake laughter.

Anthony looked at her. “We have to get out of here.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to be in the girl’s bathroom?”

The tips of his ears turned pink, even as he glared at her. “I mean the ship, Andie! We have to get off the ship.”

“Smells bad,” Tyson agreed. “And dogs eat all the eggs. Anthony is right. We must leave the bathroom and the ship.”

Andie shuddered. It wasn’t like she disagreed- she didn’t like being on a monster infested ship, either- but if Anthony and Tyson were actually agreeing on something, Andie didn’t really have much room to argue.

Then she heard another voice outside- one that chilled her to the bone, worse than any monster’s.

“-only a matter of time. Don’t push me, Agrius!”

It was Luke, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Andie would never be able to forget his voice.

“I’m not pushing you!” Another guy growled. His voice was deeper and even angrier than Luke’s. “I’m just saying, if this gamble doesn’t pay off-“

“It’ll pay off,” Luke snapped. “They’ll take the bait, and then Olympus is ours for the taking. Now, come, we’ve got to get to the admiralty suite and check on the casket.”

Their voices receded down the corridor.

Tyson whimpered. “Leave now?”

Andie looked at Anthony, with an eyebrow raised. When he returned her gaze, his eyes were filled with a steely resolve. They agreed, then.

“We can’t” Andie told Tyson aloud.

“We have to find out what Luke is up to,” Anthony finished for her. “And if possible, we’re gonna beat his ass, bind him in chains, and drag him to Mount Olympus.”

“You got a plan, Wise Guy?”

Anthony slipped his cap out of his back pocket. “I’ll go alone, since I can go invisible.”

Andie shook her head. “No way. It’s too dangerous. This isn’t our turf, and we’re surrounded by monsters. We shouldn’t split up.”

“They’ll spot you-“

“And they’ll scent you!”

They stared each other down for a silent moment. Tyson looked nervously between them.

“Either we all go,” Andie finally spoke. “Or nobody goes.”

“Nobody!” Tyson voted. “Please?”

“Fine,” Anthony grumbled. “We’ll all go.”

Tyson whimpered. Andie laid a hand on his forearm. “Deep breath, Big Guy. We’ll be fine.”

Anthony cracked the door to the hallway open and peeked through, before deeming it safe and creeping out the door. Andie followed right behind him, and Tyson brought up the rear, chewing nervously on his fingernails.

They stopped at their cabin long enough to gather their stuff, figuring whatever happened, they would not be staying another night aboard the NPC-monster cruise ship. Andie made sure Riptide was in her pocket, and the vitamins and thermos from Hermes were at the top of her bag. She didn’t want Tyson to carry everything, but he insisted, and Anthony told her not to worry about it. Tyson could carry three full duffel bags over his shoulder as easily as Andie could carry a backpack.

They snuck through the corridors, following the ships directional signs toward the admiralty suite. Anthony scouted ahead invisibly. They hid whenever someone passed by, but most of the people they saw were glassy-eyed NPC passengers.

As they climbed up the stairs to deck thirteen, where the admiralty suite was supposed to be, Anthony hissed, “Hide!” and shoved them into a supply closet.

Andie heard a couple guys coming down the hall.

“You see that Aethiopian drakon in the cargo hold?” One of them asked.

The other laughed. “Yeah, it’s fuckin’ awesome!”

Anthony was still invisible, but he squeezed her arm hard. Andie got the feeling she should’ve known the second guy’s voice, but she couldn’t place from where.

“I hear they got two more coming,” the familiar voice said. “They keep arriving at this rate? Oh man, no contest!”

The voices faded down the corridor.

“That was Chris Rodriguez!” Anthony took off his cap and made himself visible again. “You remember- from Cabin Eleven.”

Andie vaguely recalled the older boy- a big Hispanic kid who was a couple years older than her. He was one of the undetermined campers that got stuck in Cabin Eleven. It didn’t go unnoticed to her that he and Luke had always seemed to be good friends, and now he was on this boat with Luke. Now that she was thinking about it, Andie realized she hadn’t seen Chris at Camp this summer.

“What’s another half-blood doing here?” she asked.

Anthony shook his head, his jaw clenched, and his brow drawn low over his stormy grey eyes. She could see about eight thousand possible scenarios running through his head. She got the feeling non of them were pleasant.

They kept creeping down the corridor. Andie didn’t need maps anymore to know she was getting close to Luke. She could sense something cold and unpleasant, the same thing she’d felt close to Tartarus that chilled her to the bone and sat ever lurking- watching and listening in the back of her mind. The presence of evil.

“Andie.” Anthony stopped suddenly. “Look.”

He stood in front of a glass wall looking down into the multi-story canyon that ran through the middle of the ship. At the bottom was the Promenade, but that’s not what had caught Anthony’s attention.

A group of monsters had assembled in front of the candy store: a dozen Laistrygonian giants, two hellhounds, and a handful of even stranger creatures- humanoid females with twin serpent tails instead of legs.

“Scythian Dracaenae,” Anthony whispered. “Dragon women.”

‘An accurate description,’ Andie thought to herself.

The monsters made a semicircle around a young guy in Greek armor who was hacking away on a straw dummy. A lump formed in her throat, and she had to grab onto Anthony’s hand to keep her own from shaking in rage when she realized the dummy was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. As they watched, the guy in the armor stabbed the dummy through its straw belly and ripped upward. Straw flew everywhere. The monsters cheered and howled.

Anthony stepped away from the window, pulling Andie with him. His face was ashen, and Andie couldn’t imagine hers was any better.

“C’mon,” she told him, tugging on his hand, and trying to sound braver than she felt. “The sooner we find Luke, the better.”

At the end of the hallway were double oak doors that looked like they probably lead somewhere important. When they were thirty feet away, Tyson stopped. “Voices inside.”

“You can hear that far?” she asked.

Tyson closed his eye like he was concentrating hard. Then his voice changed, becoming a husky approximation of Luke’s, “-the prophecy ourselves. The fools won’t know which way to turn.”

Before Andie could react, Tyson’s voice changed again, becoming deeper and gruffer, like the other guy they’d heard talking to Luke outside the buffet. “You really think the old horseman is gone for good?”

Tyson laughed Luke’s laugh. “They can’t trust him. Not with the skeletons in his closet. The poisoning of the tree was the final straw.”

Anthony flinched and shivered. “Knock it off, Tyson! How do you do that? It’s fucking creepy.”

Tyson opened his eye and looked puzzled. “Just listening.”

“Keep going,” Andie urged, shooting a confused look in Anthony’s direction. The blond just rolled his eyes, his arms crossing in front of his chest.  “What are they saying?”

Tyson closed his eye again.

He hissed in the gruff man’s voice, “Quiet!”

Then, whispering in Luke’s voice, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Tyson said in the gruff voice. “Right outside.”

“Shit,” Anthony hissed.

Too late, Andie realized what was happening. She just had time to tell her friends to run when the doors of the stateroom burst open and there was Luke, flanked by two hairy giants armed with javelins, their bronze tips aimed right at their chests.

“Well,” Luke crooned with a crooked grin. “If it isn’t my two favorite cousins. Come right in.”

They were ushered inside the stateroom by the two giants.

Huge windows curved along the back wall, looking out over the stern of the ship. Green sea and blue sky stretched all the way to the horizon. A Persian rug covered the floor. Two plush sofas occupied the middle of the room, with a canopied bed in one corner and a mahogany dining table in the other. The table was loaded with delicious looking food that made Andie’s stomach grumble.

Right. She hadn’t had breakfast. She was kind of glad of it, though, because the sight at the back of the room made her want to vomit.

Just in front of the windows sat a velvet dais, a ten-foot-long golden casket laying atop it. A sarcophagus, engraved with Ancient Greek scenes of cities in flames and heroes dying morbid, bloody deaths. Despite the sunlight streaming thought the windows, the casket made the whole room feel cold.

“Well,” Luke said, spreading his arms proudly. “A little nicer than Cabin Eleven, huh?”

He’d changed since last summer. Instead of board shorts and a t-shirt, he wore a white, short-sleeved linen button down, khaki pants, and a pair of stark white sneakers. His sandy blond hair, which used to be so unruly, was now clipped short.

As much as Andie hated him, it would be a lot easier to hate him a lot more if he didn’t look like a fucking male-model.

Except the scar still ruined it, just a little, which gave Andie some sense of vindication. Her eyes shifted from Luke to the sofa next to him, where his magical sword, Backbiter was propped up.

“Sit,” he told them. He waved his hand and three dining chairs scooted themselves into the center of the room.

None of them sat.

Luke’s large friends were still pointing their javelins at them. They looked like twins, but they certainly weren’t human. They stood about eight feet tall, for one thing, and wore only blue jeans- probably because their enormous chests were already shag-carpeted with thick brown fur. They had claws for fingernails, feet like paws. Their noses were snoutlike, and their teeth were all pointed canines.

“Where are my manners?” Luke hummed. “These are my assistants, Agrius and Oreius. Perhaps you’ve heard of them.”

Andie said nothing. Despite the javelins pointed at her, it wasn’t the bear twins who scared her.

She’d imagined meeting Luke again countless times since he’d tried to kill her. She’d pictured herself standing up to him, challenging him to a duel. But now that they were face-to-face, Andie could barely stop her hand from shaking. Her right hand, with the Pit Scorpion scar that would never go away, flexed at the memory.

“You don’t know Agrius and Oreius’ story?” Luke asked. “Their mother…well, it’s sad, really. Aphrodite ordered the young woman to fall in love. She refused, and ran to Artemis for help. Artemis let her join her hunters, but Aphrodite got her revenge. She bewitched the young woman into falling in love with a bear. When Artemis found out, she abandoned the she abandoned the girl in disgust.”

Luke shook his head and sent them a knowing look. “Typical of the gods, wouldn’t you say? They fight with one another and the poor humans get caught in the middle. You know that personally, though, don’t you, Andie?”

She glared at him asking that question, like he wasn’t the one who started that fight in the first place. He shrugged.

“Anyway, the girl’s twin sons here, Agrius and Oreius, have no love for Olympus. They like half-bloods well enough, though…”

“For lunch,” Agrius growled. He, apparently, was the owner of the gruff voice. His brother, Oreius cackled, licking his fur-lined lips. He kept laughing like he was having an asthmatic fit until both Luke and Agrius stared at him.

“Shut up, you idiot!” Agrius snarled. “Go punish yourself!”

Oreius whimpered. He trudged over to the corner of the room, slumped onto a stool, and banged his forehead against the dining table, making the silver plates rattle.

Luke acted like this was totally normal behavior. He made himself comfortable on the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table. One of his annoying charming smiles graced his face as he looked Andie over. Anthony shifted beside her, and Luke’s eyes flickered to him, a smug smirk replacing the smile momentarily before his gaze moved back to Andie, and the borderline-flirty expression returned.

“Well, Andie, we let you survive another year. I hope you appreciated it. How’s your mom? How’s school?”

“You poisoned Thalia’s Tree.”

Luke sighed. “Straight to the point, eh? Okay, sure. I poisoned the tree. So what?”

“How could you?!” Anthony sounded so angry, Andie thought he’d explode. “Thalia was our best friend! Our family! She died to save your life! Our lives! How could you fucking dishonor her-“

“I didn’t dishonor her!” Luke snapped. “The gods dishonored her, Anthony! If Thalia were alive, she’d be on my side.”

“Liar!”

“If you knew what was coming, you’d understand-“

“I understand you want to destroy the Camp!” he yelled. “My home! You’re a monstrous, traitorous piece of shit!”

Luke shook his head, looking so hurt, Andie almost believed he actually cared. “The gods have blinded you. Can’t you imagine a world without them, Anthony? What good is that ancient history you study? Three thousand years of baggage. The West is rotten to the core. It has to be destroyed. Join me, little brother. We can start the world anew. We could use your intelligence, Anthony.”

“Because you have none of your own!”

Luke cocked his head to the side. “Would you join if she did?”

“She would never. She’s a far better person than you ever were.”

Luke’s eyes studied Andie briefly, and it took her a moment to realize they were talking about Andie. She would’ve blushed at Anthony’s faith in her if she hadn’t been so horrified at the thought of joining Luke.

The traitor’s eyes narrowed back at Anthony. “I know you, Anthony. You deserve better than tagging along on some hopeless quest to save the Camp. Half-Blood Hill will be overrun with monsters within the month. The heroes who survive will have no choice by to join us or be hunted to extinction. You really want to be on a losing team…with company like this?”

Luke pointed at Tyson.

“Hey!” Andie barked.

“Traveling with a Cyclops,” Luke chided. “Talk about dishonoring Thalia’s memory! I’m surprised at you, Anthony. You of all people-“

“Shut it!” he shouted.

Andie didn’t know what Luke was talking about, but Anthony ducked his head like he was ashamed, his breath shaking like he was about to cry.

“Leave him alone,” Andie growled. “And leave Tyson out of this.”

Luke laughed. “Oh, yeah, I heard. Your father claimed him.”

Andie must have looked surprised, because Luke smiled. “Yes, Andie, I know all about that. And about your plan to find the Fleece. What were those coordinates, again… 30, 31, 75, 12? You see, I still have friends at Camp who keep me posted.”

She felt her heart drop into her stomach. “Spies, you mean.”

He shrugged. “How many insults from your father can you stand, sweetheart? You think he’s grateful to you? You think Poseidon cares for you any more than he cares for this monster?”

Tyson clenched his fists and made a rumbling sound down in his throat.

Luke just chuckled. “The gods are so using you, Andie. Their little errand girl. It doesn’t have to be like that. You could join us- both of you. Protect each other. Protect the people you care about. You won’t be kept in the dark, with us. Do you have any idea what’s in store for you if you reach your sixteenth birthday? Has Chiron even told you the prophecy?”

She wanted to get in Luke’s face and tell him off, but, as usual, he knew just how to throw her completely off balance.

‘Sixteenth birthday?’ Andie knew Chiron had received a prophecy from the Oracle many years ago. She knew part of it was about her. But if she reached her sixteenth birthday? She didn’t like the sound of that.

“I don’t need you to tell me how to protect people. And I know what I need to know,” she managed to push out. “Like who my enemies are.”

“Then you’re a damn fool.”

Tyson smashed the nearest dining chair to splinters. “Andie is not a fool!”

Before she could stop him, he charged Luke. His fists came down toward Luke’s head- a double overhead blow that would’ve knocked a hole in titanium- but the bear twins intercepted. They each caught one of Tyson’s arms and stopped him cold. They pushed him back and Tyson stumbled. He fell to the carpet so hard the deck shook.

“Too bad, Cyclops,” Luke sighed. “Looks like my grizzly friends are more than a match for your strength. Maybe I should let them-“

“Luke,” Andie cut in. No way in hell was she about to let him threaten Tyson. He wanted to play the emotional manipulation game, fine. She’d play. “Listen to me. Your father sent us.”

His face darkened, turning the color of pepperoni. “Don’t. Even. Mention him.”

“He told us to take this boat,” Andie continued. “I thought it was just for a ride, but he sent us here to find you. He told me he won’t give up on you, no matter how angry you are.”

“Angry?!” Luke roared. “Give up on me? He fucking abandoned me, Andie! I want Olympus destroyed! You tell Hermes it’s going to happen, too. Each time a half-blood joins us, the Olympians grow weaker, and we grow stronger. He grows stronger.”

Luke pointed to the golden sarcophagus. The box made her gut churn, but she was determined not to show her discomfort with it.

“So?” she demanded. “What’s so special…”

It registered, all at once, what might be inside the sarcophagus. The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees, and Andie felt the blood drain from her face.

“Shit, you don’t mean-“

“He is re-forming,” Luke told her. “Little by little, we’re calling his life force out of the Pit. With every recruit who pledges our cause, another small piece appears-“

“That’s disgusting!” Anthony snarled.

Luke sneered right back at him. “Your mother was born from Zeus’ split skull, Anthony. I wouldn’t talk. Soon there will be enough of the Titan Lord so that we can make him whole again. We will piece together a new body for him, a work worthy of the forges of Hephaestus.”

“You’re fucking batshit,” Anthony growled.

“Join us and you’ll be rewarded. We have powerful friends, sponsors rich enough to buy us this cruise ship, and much more. Andie, your mother will never have to work again. You can buy her a mansion. You can have power, fame- whatever you want. Anthony, you can realize your dream of becoming an architect. You can build a monument to last a thousand years. A temple to the lords of the next age!”

“You can join your master in the Pit,” Anthony snarled.

Luke sighed. “A shame.”

He picked up something that looked like a remote and pressed a red button. Within seconds, the stateroom door opened and two uniformed crew members entered, armed with nightsticks. They had the same glassy-eyed look as the other mortals on the boat, but Andie had a feeling that wouldn’t make them any less dangerous in a fight.

“Ah, good. Security,” Luke called. “I’m afraid we have some stowaways.”

“Yes, sir,” they answered dreamily.

Luke turned to Oreius. “It’s time to feed the Aethiopian drakon. Take these fools below and show them how it’s done.”

Oreius grinned and laughed like a brainless cartoon character.

“Let me go, too,” Agrius grumbled. “My brother is worthless. That Cyclops-“

“Is no threat,” Luke waved him off. He glanced back at the golden casket, as if something were troubling him. “Agrius, stay here. We have important matters to discuss.”

“But-“

“Oreius, don’t fail me. Stay in the hold to make sure the drakon is properly fed.”

Oreius prodded them with his javelin, herding them out of the stateroom, followed by the two human security guards.

As she walked down the corridor with Oreius’ javelin poking her in the back, Andie thought about what Luke had said- that the bear twins together were a match for Tyson’s strength. Bit maybe separately…

They exited the corridor amidships and walked across an open deck that the jogging track lined with lifeboats wrapped around. Andie knew the ship will enough by now to realize this would be their last look at sunlight. Once they got to the other side, they’d take the elevator down into the hold, and that would be it.

She looked at Tyson. “Now.”

Thank the gods, he understood. He turned and smacked Oreius thirty feet backward into the swimming pool, right into the middle of the NPC tourist family.

“Ah!” the kids yelled in unison. “We are not having a blast in the pool!”

One of the security guards drew his nightstick, but Anthony knocked the wind out of him with a perfectly executed roundhouse kick. The other guard ran for the nearest alarm box.

“Stop him!” Anthony yelled, but it was too late.

Just before Andie crashed a deck chair over his head, he hit the alarm. Red lights flashed. Sirens blared.

“Lifeboat!” She shouted.

They bolted for the nearest one.

By the time they got the cover off, monsters and more security men were swarming the deck, pushing aside tourists and waiters with trays of fruity drinks. A guy in Greek armor drew his sword and charged, but slipped in a pile of piña colada. Laistrygonian archers assembled on the deck above them, notching arrows into their enormous bows.

“How do you launch this thing?” Anthony yelled.

A hellhound leaped at Andie, but Tyson slammed it aside with a fire extinguisher.

“Get in!” She ordered. She uncapped Riptide and slashed the first volley of arrows out of the air. Any second they would be overwhelmed. The lifeboat was hanging over the side of the ship, high above the water. The boys were having no luck with the release pulley.

Andie jumped in beside them.

“Hold on!” she cried, and she cut the ropes.

A shower of arrows whistled over their heads as they free-fell towards the ocean.

“Thermos!” Andie shrieked over the wind hurtling past their ears.

“What?!” Anthony must’ve though she’d lost her mind. He was holding on to the boat straps for dear life, his hair flying straight up like he’d been electrocuted.

But Tyson understood. He managed to open her duffel and take out Hermes’ magical thermos without losing his grip on it or the boat.

All of them flinched and cursed as arrow and javelins whistled past them.

Andie grabbed onto the thermos and hoped she had this plan right. “Hang on!”

“I am hanging on!” Anthony yelled.

“Tighter!”

Andie hooked her feet under the boats inflatable bench, and as Tyson grabbed she and Anthony by the backs of their shirts, she gave the thermos cap a quarter turn.

Instantly, a white sheet of wind jetted out of the thermos and propelled them sideways, turning their downward plummet into a forty-five-degree crash landing. The wind seemed to laugh as it shot from the thermos, like it was glad to be free. As they hit the ocean, they bumped across the surface, skipping like a stone, then they were whizzing along like a speed boat, salt spray in their faces and nothing but sea ahead.

Andie heard a wail of outrage from the ship behind them, but they were already out of weapon range. The Princess Andromeda faded to the size of a white toy boat in the distance.

She didn’t let herself relax until the cruise ship had disappeared over the horizon. Anthony fixed a determined look at her.

“We need to tell someone what Luke’s planning,” he stated.

Andie nodded, then shrugged helplessly. “Who, though? You heard Luke- there’s spies at Camp. And with everything going on with Tantalus…”

Anthony pressed his lips together and sat silently for a few moments. Just when Andie thought he had decided to leave it for now, he perked up.

“There is one person who we know is innocent, and who isn’t at Camp right now.”

Andie’s eyes widened. “Chiron!”

Anthony grinned at her while he fished out a drachma. The wind from the thermos stirred up a nice sea spray that made a rainbow in the sunlight- perfect for an Iris-Message- but their connection was still poor. Anthony threw his golden drachma into the mist and prayed for the rainbow goddess to show them Chiron. His face appeared alright, but if Andie didn’t know any better, she could’ve sworn he was at a rave.

They told him about sneaking away from Camp, and Luke and the Princess Andromeda, and the golden box for Kronos’ remains, but between the noise on his end and the rushing wind and water on theirs, Andie wasn’t sure how much he heard.

“Andie,” Chiron yelled. “You have to watch out for-“

His voice was drowned out by hooping and hollering behind him.

“What?” she shouted back.

“Curse my relatives!” Chiron ducked as a plate flew over his head and shattered somewhere out of sight. “Anthony, you shouldn’t have let Andie leave Camp! But if you do get the Fleece-“

“Yeah, baby!” somebody behind Chiron yelled. The music got cranked up, subwoofers so loud it made their boat vibrate.

“-Miami,” Chiron was shouting. “I’ll try to keep watch-“

Their misty screen smashed apart like someone on the other side had thrown a bottle at it, and Chiron was gone.

An hour later they spotted land- a long stretch of beach lined with high-rise hotels. The water became crowded with fishing boats and tankers. A coast guard cruiser passed on their starboard side, then turned like it wanted a second look. Andie guess it wasn’t every day they see a yellow lifeboat with no engine going a hundred knots an hour, manned by three kids.

“That’s Virginia Beach!” Anthony noticed as they approached the shoreline. “Oh my gods, how did the Princess Andromeda travel so far overnight? That’s like-“

“Five hundred and thirty nautical miles,” Andie finished for him.

His head whipped around to give her a wide-eyed stare. “How did you know that?”

Andie shrugged. “I- I’m not sure.”

Anthony thought for a moment, studying her the same way she’d seen him study battle plans. “Rom, what’s our position?”

“36 degrees, 44 minutes north, 76 degrees, 2 minutes west,” Andie recited immediately. She shook her head. “What the hell? How did I know that?”

“Because of your dad,” Anthony guessed, an impressed grin creeping onto his face. “You have perfect bearings at sea. That is so cool.”

Andie wrinkled her nose. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She didn’t love the idea of being a human GPS. Before she could comment on it, Tyson tapped her shoulder.

“Other boat is coming.”

Andie looked back. The coast guard vessel was definitely gaining on them, now. Its lights were flashing and it was gaining speed.

“We can’t let them catch us,” Andie muttered. “They’ll ask too many questions.”

“Keep going into Chesapeake Bay,” Anthony told her, pointing in the general direction he wanted her to follow. “I know a place we can hide.”

Andie didn’t ask what he mean, or how he knew the area so well. She risked loosening the thermos cap a little more, and a fresh burst of wind sent them rocketing around the northern tip of Virginia Beach into Chesapeake Bay. The coast guard ship fell further and further behind. They didn’t slow down until the shores of the bay narrowed on either side, and Andie realized they’d entered the mouth of a river.

She could feel the change from salt water to fresh water. Suddenly she was tired and frazzled, like she was coming down off a sugar high. She was so disoriented, she lost track of where she was and which way to steer the boat. Luckily, Anthony had a hand on her shoulder as he directed her.

“There,” he said. “Past that sandbar.”

They veered into a swampy area choked with marsh grass. Andie beached the lifeboat at the foot of a giant cypress. Vine-covered trees loomed above them. Insects chirped in the woods. The air was muggy and hot, and steam curled off the river.

Basically, it wasn’t Manhattan, and Andie wanted to leave immediately.

“C’mon, it’s just down the bank,” Anthony told her, tugging at her elbow.

“What is?” she asked.

“Just follow.” He hauled a duffel bag over his shoulder. “And we’d better cover the boat. We don’t want to draw attention.

After burying the lifeboat with branches, Andie and Tyson followed Anthony along the shore, their feet sinking in red mud. Andie’s heart skipped about seven beats when a thick snake slithered past her shoe and disappeared into the grass.

“Not a good place,” Tyson noted. He swatted at the mosquitoes that were forming a buffet line on his arm. Andie grunted her agreement.

After another few minutes of hiking and tromping, Anthony stopped short. “Here.”

All Andie saw was a patch of brambles. Then Anthony moved aside a woven circle of branches, like a door, and Andie realized she was looking into a camouflaged shelter.

The inside was big enough for three, even with Tyson being the third. The walls were woven from plant material, but seemed pretty watertight. Stacked in the corner was all the supplies camping ever required- sleeping bags, blankets, an ice chest, and a kerosene lamp. There were demigod provisions, too- bronze javelin tips, a quiver full of arrows, and extra sword, and a box of ambrosia. The place smelled musty, like it had been vacant for a long time.

“A half-blood hideout.” Andie looked at Anthony in awe. “You made this place?”

“Thalia and I,” he confirmed quietly. “…and Luke.”

It shouldn’t have bothered Andie as much as it did. She knew Thalia and Luke had taken care of Anthony when he was little. She knew the three of them had been runaways together, hiding from monsters, surviving on their own before Grover found them and tried to get them to Camp Half-Blood. But whenever Anthony talked about the time he’d spent with him…Andie felt…well, she wasn’t sure, entirely. Uncomfortable?

No. That wasn’t the right word. It wasn’t discomfort that boiled in her stomach and chest, sent her pulse thundering through her fingertips, or made her want to scowl at the thought of Anthony with them.

The word she was looking for was jealous.

She shook the idea from her head. It was an insane thought.

“So…” Andie began. It didn’t come out as casual as she wanted it to. “You don’t think Luke will look for us here?”

Anthony shook his head. “We made a dozen safe houses like this. I doubt Luke even remembers where they are.” He let out a breathy, humorless laugh. “Or cares.”

He threw himself down on the blankets and started going through his duffel bag. Andie knew Anthony well enough by now to recognize his brooding silence and tense shoulders as a sign that he didn’t want to talk.

Maybe he would open up if it were just Andie.

“Hey, Tyson,” she called. “Would you mind scouting around outside? Like, look for a wilderness convenience store, or something?”

“Convenience store?”

“Yeah, for snacks. Powdered donuts or something.”

“Powdered donuts,” Tyson repeated earnestly. “I will look for powdered donuts in the wilderness.” He headed outside and began to call for donuts like they were lost dogs.

Once he was gone, Andie sat down across from Anthony. “Hey, I’m…I’m sorry about, y’know, seeing Luke.”

“It’s not your fault,” he said quietly, unsheathing his knife and beginning to clean the blade with a rag. He sighed. “It was the first time I’d seen him since…”

‘Since he revealed himself to be a rat-bastard traitor,’ Andie finished silently. ‘Since he tried to murder me.’

“He let us go too easily,” she said instead.

This entire time, she’d hoped she’d been imagining it. He had an entire cruise ship full of monsters and, apparently, demigods- and they were able to get away, just like that? It was suspicious, and Anthony confirmed her thoughts by nodding.

“I was thinking the same thing,” he told her. “What we overheard him say about a gamble, and ‘they’ll take the bait’…I think he was talking about us.”

Andie’s eyes furrowed together. “The Fleece is the bait? Or Grover?”

He studied the edge of his knife. “I dunno, Rom. Maybe he wants the Fleece for himself. Maybe he’s hoping we’ll do that hard work and then he can steal it from us. I just can’t believe he would poison her tree.”

“What did he mean,” Andie asked, “That Thalia would’ve been on his side?”

“He’s wrong.”

She gnawed on her bottom lip. “You don’t sound sure.”

Anthony’s head snapped up to glare at her, and for a moment, Andie started to wish she hadn’t asked him about this while he was actively polishing his knife.

“Andie, you know who you remind me of most? Thalia. You guys are so damn alike, it’s scary. I mean, either you would’ve been best friends, or you would’ve strangled each other.”

Andie raised an eyebrow. “Let’s go with best friends.”

“Yes, Thalia got angry with her dad sometimes,” he told her. “So do you. Would you turn against Olympus because of that?”

She stared at the quiver of arrows in the corner. “No.”

“Okay, then. Neither would she. Luke. Is. Wrong.” On the last word, Anthony stabbed his knife into the dirt.

Andie wanted to ask him about the prophecy Luke had mentioned and what it had to do with her sixteenth birthday. But she had a feeling Anthony wouldn’t tell her. Chiron had made it abundantly clear that Andie wasn’t allowed to hear it until the gods decided otherwise.

“So, what did Luke mean about Cyclopes?” she asked. “He said you of all people-“

“I know what he said,” Anthony snapped, before shaking his head and sighing and looking at her apologetically. “He…he was talking about the real reason Thalia died.”

Andie waited, not sure what to say. Should she comfort him? Should she ask him more? Should she change the subject altogether? Before she could decide, Anthony drew a shaky breath, and kept talking.

“You can never trust a Cyclops, Andie. Six-and-a-half years ago, on the night Grover was leading us to Half-Blood Hill-“

He was interrupted when the door of the hut creaked open. Tyson crawled in.

“Powdered donuts!” He exclaimed proudly, holding up a pastry box.

Andie and Anthony exchanged bewildered looks before turning to stare at Tyson. “Where did you get that? We’re in the middle of the wilderness. There’s nothing around for-“

“Fifty feet,” Tyson said. “Monster Donut shop- just over the hill!”

“Show us,” Anthony ordered, ripping his knife out of the dirt and sheathing it.

“Come, I will show you Monster Donuts!”

She and Anthony followed Tyson out of the safe house and down a path in the woods that Tyson seemed to have created when he had tromped through to get the donuts. They saw the gleam of the lights a dozen feet before they saw the building itself.

They crouched behind a tree, staring at the donut shop in the middle of the woods. It looked brand new- gleaming lights, infrastructure, and everything, but there was nothing else around, and no cars in the parking lot. They could see one employee reading a magazine behind the cash register, but that was it.

“This is bad,” Anthony muttered, his shoulder pressing into hers. “This shouldn’t be here. It’s wrong.”

“What?” Andie asked. “It’s a donut shop.”

He shushed her. Andie rolled her eyes. “Why are we whispering? Tyson went in a bought a dozen. Nothing happened to him.”

“He’s a monster.”

Andie barely managed to hold back a laugh. Was he being serious, right now? “Oh, c’mon, Anthony. Monster Donut doesn’t mean monsters! It’s a chain. We’ve got them in New York!”

“A chain,” he agreed. “And you don’t think it’s strange that one appeared immediately after you told Tyson to get donuts? Right here in the middle of the woods?”

Andie thought about it for a moment. Sure, it did seem a little weird, but donut shops weren’t exactly high on her list of sinister forces.

“It could be a nest,” Anthony explained.

Tyson whimpered. She doubted he understood what Anthony was saying any better than she did, but the blond’s tone was making him nervous. He’d plowed though half a dozen donuts from his box, and was getting powdered sugar all over his face.

“A nest for what?” Andie asked.

“Haven’t you ever wondered how franchise stores pop up so fast?” Anthony asked. “One day there’s nothing, and then the next day- boom, Spirit Halloween, or McDonalds, or whatever is open and ready for business.”

“I mean, Spirit Halloweens are kind of just…like that.”

“Andie, some of the chains multiply so fast because all their locations are magically linked to the life force of a monster. Some children of Hermes figured out how to do it in the fifties. They breed-“

He froze.

“What?” Andie demanded. “They breed what?”

“No. Sudden. Moves.” Anthony told her like his life depended on it. “Very slowly, turn around.”

Then she heard it: a scraping noise, like something large dragging its belly through the leaves.

She turned and saw a rhino-size think moving through the shadows of the trees. It was hissing, its front half writing a all different directions. Andie couldn’t understand what she was seeing at first. Then, she realized the thing had multiple necks- at least seven, each topped with a hissing reptilian head. Its skin was leathery, and under each neck it wore a plastic Monster Donut bib.

Andie grabbed Riptide out of her back pocket, but Anthony locked eyes with her- a silent warning. ‘Not yet.’

She understood. A lot of monsters have terrible eyesight. It was possible that the Hydra might just pass them by. But if she uncapped her sword now, the bronze glow would certainly get its attention.

They waited.

The Hydra was only a few feet away. It seemed to be sniffing the ground and the trees like it was hunting for something. Then, Andie noticed that two of the heads were ripping apart a piece of yellow canvas- one of their duffel bags. The thing had already been to their campsite. It was following their scent.

Andie’s heart thundered against her ribcage. She’d seen a stuffed Hydra head trophy at Camp before, but that did nothing to prepare her for the real thing. Each head was diamond-shaped, like a snake’s, but the mouths were lined with jagged rows of sharklike teeth.

Tyson was trembling. He stepped back and accidentally snapped a twig. Immediately, all seven heads turned towards their trio and hissed.

“Scatter!” Anthony barked. He dove to the right. Andie rolled to the left.

One of the Hydra heads spat an arc of green liquid that shot past her shoulder and splashed against an elm. The trunk smoked and bean to disintegrate the whole tree toppled straight toward Tyson, who still hadn’t moved, petrified by the monster that was now right in front of him.

“Tyson!” Andie ran full speed at him, using all of her momentum and strength to tackle him. She barely managed, knocking him aside just as the Hydra lunged and the tree crashed on top of two of its heads.

The Hydra stumbled backward, yanking its heads free, then wailing in outrage at the fallen tree. All seven heads shot acid, and the elm melted into a steaming pool of muck.

“Move!” She told Tyson. She ran to one side and uncapped Riptide, hoping to draw the monster’s attention.

For better or worse, it worked.

As soon as her glowing blade appeared, the Hydra whipped toward it with all its heads, hissing and baring its teeth.

The good news: Tyson was momentarily out of danger. The bad news: Andie was about to be melted into a puddle of goo.

One of the heads snapped at her experimentally. Reflexively and without thinking, Andie swung her sword.

“No!” Anthony yelled.

Too late. Andie sliced the Hydra’s head clean off. It rolled away into the grass, leaving a flailing stump, which immediately began to swell like a balloon.

Oh. Right. That was, like, one of the most famous monster fighting rules- do not cut off a Hydra head. Oops.

In a matter of seconds the wounded neck split into two, each of which grew a full-size head. Now, she was looking at an eight-headed Hydra.

“Andie!” Anthony scolded. “You just opened another Monster Donut shop somewhere!”

She dodged a spray of acid. “I’m about to fucking die, and you’re worried about that? How the hell do we kill it?”

“Fire!” Anthony called. “We have to have fire!”

As soon as he said that, Andie remembered the rest of the story. The Hydra’s heads would only stop multiplying if they burned the stumps before they regrew. That’s what Heracles had done, anyway. But they had no fire.

Andie backed up toward the river. The Hydra followed.

Anthony moved in on her left and tried to distract one of the heads, parrying its teeth with his dagger, but another head swung sideways like a club and knocked him into the muck.

“No hitting my friends!” Tyson charged in, putting himself between Anthony and the Hydra. As the son of Athena got to his feet, Tyson started smashing at the monster heads with his fists so fast his motions blurred. But even Tyson couldn’t fend off the Hydra forever.

They kept inching backward, dodging acid splashes and deflecting snapping heads without cutting them off, but Andie knew they were only postponing their deaths. Eventually they would slip up and the thing would have its lunch.

Then, Andie heard a strange chugging sound that she at first thought was her heartbeat. It was so powerful it made the riverbank shake.

“What’s that noise?” Anthony shouted, keeping his eyes on the Hydra.

“Steam engine,” Tyson responded.

“What?” Andie ducked as the Hydra spat acid over her head.

Then, from the river behind them, a familiar female voice shouted, “There! Prepare the thirty-two pounder!”

Andie didn’t dare look away from the Hydra, though it may not have mattered either way. If that was who she thought it was behind them, she figured they now had enemies on two fronts.

A gravelly male voice called, “They’re too close, m’lady!”

“Damn the heroes!” the girl said. “Full steam ahead!”

“Aye, m’lady.”

“Fire at will, Captain.”

Anthony understood what was happening a split second before Andie died. He yelled for them to hit the dirt, and they dove for the ground as an earth shattering explosion echoed from the river. There was a flash of light, a column of smoke, and the Hydra exploded right in front of them, showering them with nasty green slime that vaporized as soon as it hit, the way monster guts tend to do.

“Ugh!” Anthony shouted.

“Steamship!” yelled Tyson.

Andie stood, coughing from the cloud of gunpowder smoke that was rolling across the banks.

Chugging toward them down the river was the strangest ship Andie had ever seen. It rode low in the water like a submarine, its deck plated with iron. In the middle was a trapezoid casemate with slats on each side for cannons. A flag waved from the top- a wild boar and spear on a bloodred field. Lining the dock were zombies in grey uniforms- dead soldiers with shimmering faces that only partially covered their skulls, like the ghouls Andie had seen in the Underworld guarding Hades’ palace.

Based off their uniforms, Andie knew it was a Civil War-era ship. She could just make out the name along the prow in moss-covered letters: CSS Birmingham.

And standing next to the smoking cannon that had almost killed them, wearing full Greek battle armor, was Clarisse LaRue.

“Fucking losers,” she sneered. “But I suppose I have to rescue you. Come aboard.”

Chapter Text

“You two are in so much trouble,” Clarisse greeted as they stepped onto the boat. 

“Well, someone has to get shit done around here,” Anthony muttered. 

The daughter of Ares sneered. “’Sfar as I’m concerned, the only shit you’re getting done around here is getting yourselves killed. You’re welcome, by the way. Now, how ‘bout a tour?”

None of them wanted a tour, but they followed Clarisse, anyway, through dark rooms overcrowded with dead sailors. She took them through the coal bunker, the boilers and engine, which huffed and groaned like it would explode any minute, and the pilothouse. When she showed them the powder magazine and gunnery, Clarisse’s eyes glazed over, the grin on her face a weird, slightly terrifying mixture of dreamy and bloodthirsty. All the guns and artillery on board were specially refitted to fire celestial bronze cannonballs.

Everywhere they went, dead Confederate sailors stared at them, their ghostly bearded faces shimmering over their skulls. Anthony looked a little weirded out when they approved of him after he told them he was from Virginia. They were interested in Andie, too, because her last name was Jackson- like the Southern general. The idea made her uncomfortable, so she ruined it by telling them she was from New York. They all hissed and muttered curses about Yankees, and Andie couldn’t help the smug smirk that quirked on her lips.

Tyson was terrified of them. All through the tour, he insisted Andie hold his hand and kept right on Anthony’s heels, which the blond didn’t seem too thrilled about. 

Finally, they were escorted to dinner. The CSS Birmingham captain’s quarters were about the size of a walk-in closet, but still much bigger than any other room on board. The table was set with white linen and china. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, and Dr. Peppers were served by skeletal crewman. Andie didn’t want to eat anything served by ghosts, but she hadn’t eaten anything since dinner at Camp the night before- di immortales, was it really only last night?- and hunger overruled her fear.

“Tantalus expelled you for eternity,” Clarisse informed them smugly. “Mr. D said that if any of you show your face at Camp again, he’ll turn you into squirrels and run you over with his SUV.”

“Did they give you this ship?” Andie asked. 

“Course not. My father did.”

“Ares?”

The nearly permanent sneer that Clarisse wore on her face once again made an appearance. “You think your daddy is the only one with sea power, Princess? The spirits on the losing side of every war owe a tribute to Ares. That’s their curse for being defeated. I prayed to my father for a naval transport and here it is. These guys will do anything I tell them. Won’t you, Captain?”

The captain stood behind her looking stiff and angry. His glowing green eyes fixed Andie with a hungry stare. “If it means an end to this infernal war, ma’am, peace at last, we’ll do anything. Destroy anyone.”

Clarisse smiled. “Destroy anyone. I like that.”

Tyson gulped.

“Clarisse,” Anthony interrupted. “Luke might be after the Fleece, too. We saw him. He’s got the coordinates and he’s heading south. He has a cruise ship full of monsters-“

“Good! I’ll blow him out of the water.”

Anthony shook his head. “You don’t understand. We have to combine forces. Let us help you-“

“No!” Clarisse pounded a fist on the table. “This is my quest, smartass! Finally I get to be the hero, and you two will not steal my chance!”

“Where are your siblings?” It was a question that had been echoing through Andie’s mind since they boarded the ship. “You were allowed to take two questmates with you, weren’t you?”

“They didn’t…I let them stay behind. To protect the Camp.”

“You mean even your own brothers and sisters wouldn’t help you?”

“Fuck off, Princess! I don’t need them! Or you!”

“Clarisse,” Andie pushed. “Tantalus is using you. He doesn’t give a shit about the Camp, and you know it. He’d love to see it destroyed. He’s setting you up to fail.”

“No! I don’t care what the Oracle said-“ she cut herself off.

“What?” Andie asked. “What did the Oracle tell you?”

“Nothing.” The older girl’s ears turned pink. “All you need to know is that I’m finishing this quest and you’re not helping. On the other hand, I can’t let you go…”

“So, we’re prisoners?” Anthony asked.

“Guests. For now.” Clarisse propped her boots up on the white linen tablecloth and popped open another Dr. Pepper. “Captain, take them below. Assign them hammocks on the berth deck. If they don’t mind their manners, show them how we deal with enemy spies.”

The captain led them below deck to a room lined with rows of hammocks. All of them were empty. The dead didn’t need to sleep, Andie supposed, and Clarisse had probably commandeered the captain’s bedchamber for herself. Tyson picked the largest hammock he could find, near the back of the boat, and began tinkering with his metal scraps. Andie and Anthony tossed their duffel bags under two hammocks next to each other and swung themselves into their beds for the night. 

“On a quest with Clarisse,” Andie muttered, scooching down low into her hammock and curling into her side. 

“This fucking sucks,” Anthony finished her thought for her. He turned onto his side to face her. Andie had to pull the side of the hammock down a bit to meet his eye.

“What do we do now?” she asked through a yawn.

His lips pressed into a thin line. “We’ll figure it out in the morning. Get some sleep.”

“Yeah, you too. Night, Anthony.”

“Night, Rom.”

The dream came as soon as she fell asleep. 

Grover was sitting at his loom, desperately unraveling his wedding train, when the boulder rolled aside and the Cyclops bellowed, “Aha!”

Grover yelped. “Dear! I didn’t- you were so quiet!”

“Unraveling!” Polyphemus roared. “So that’s the problem!”

Grover tried to stutter out his protests, but Polyphemus grabbed him around the waist and half-carried, half-dragged him through the tunnels of the cave. Her best friend struggled to keep his high heels on his hooves. His veil kept tilting on his head, threatening to come off. 

The Cyclops pulled him into a warehouse-size cavern decorated with sheep junk. There was a wool-covered recliner and a wool-backed tv, crude bookshelves loaded with sheep collectibles- sheep-shaped coffee mugs, plaster figurines, board games, picture books and action figures. The floor was littered with piles of sheep bones, and other bones that didn’t look exactly like sheep- the bones of satyrs who’d come to the island looking for Pan.

Polyphemus set Grover down only long enough to move another huge boulder. Daylight streamed into the cave, and Grover whimpered with longing at the fresh air. He was dragged outside to a hilltop overlooking the most beautiful island Andie had ever seen.

It was shaped like a saddle that had been cut in half. There were lush green hills on either side and a wide valley in the middle, split by a deep chasm that was spanned by a rope bridge. Beautiful streams rolled to the edge of the canyon and dropped off in rainbow-colored waterfalls. Parrots fluttered in the trees. Flowers bloomed on the bushes. Hundreds of sheep gazed in the meadows, their wool glinting strangely like copper and silver coins. 

And at the center of the island, right next to the rope bridge, was an enormous twisted oak tree with something glittering in the lowest bough. 

The Golden Fleece.

Even in a dream, Andie could feel its power radiating across the island, making the grass greener, the flowers more beautiful. She could almost smell the nature magic at work- she couldn’t imagine how powerful the scent must be for a satyr.

Grover whimpered.

“Yes,” Polyphemus said proudly. “See over there? Fleece is the prize of my collection! Stole it from heroes long ago, and ever since- free food! Satyrs come from all over the world, like moths to flame. Satyrs good eating! And now-“

Polyphemus scooped up a wicked set of bronze shears. Grover yelped, but the Cyclops just picked up the nearest sheep like it was a stuffed animal and shaved off its wool. He handed a fluffy mass of it to Grover.

“Put that on the spinning wheel!” he said proudly. “Magic. Cannot be unraveled.”

“Oh…well…”

“Poor Honeypie!” Polyphemus grinned. “Bad weaver. Haha! Not to worry. That thread will solve problem. Finish wedding train by tomorrow!”

“Isn’t that…thoughtful of you!”

Polyphemus chuckled almost…shyly. 

“But- but dear,” Grover gulped. “What if someone were to rescue- I mean attack this island?”

Grover looked straight at Andie, and she knew he was asking for her benefit. 

“What would keep them from marching right up here to your cave?”

“Wifey scared! So cute! Not to worry. Polyphemus has state-of-the-art security system. Have to get through my pets.”

“Pets?”

Grover looked across the island, but there was nothing to see except sheep grazing peacefully in the meadow.

“And then,” Polyphemus growled. “They would have to get through me.”

He pounded his fist against the nearest rock, which cracked and split in half. “Now, come! Back to cave.”

Grover looked about ready to cry- so close to freedom, but so hopelessly far. Tears welled in his eyes as the boulder door rolled shit, sealing him once again in the stinky torch-lit dankness of the Cyclops’ cave.

Andie woke to alarm bells ringing throughout the ship.

“All hands on deck!” The Captain’s gravelly voice barked. “Find Lady Clarisse! Where is that girl?”

Then, his ghostly face appeared above her. “Get up, Yankee. Your friends are already above. We are approaching the entrance.”

“The entrance to what?”

He gave her a skeletal smile. “The Sea of Monsters, of course.”

And then he strode above deck, barking orders. 

Andie hauled herself out of her hammock. She stuffed her few belongings that had survived the Hydra into a sailors canvas knapsack and slung it over her shoulder. She had a sneaking suspicion that one way or another, she would not be spending another night aboard the CSS Birmingham.