Chapter Text
Andromeda Solace never asked to be a half blood. But, when the world seems hell bent on destroying her, all she could really do about it is go on. On the morning that started a chain of events that would eventually turn her life upside down, she was rudely awoken by her best friend, Percy Jackson, two hours before her alarm was meant to go off and practically dragged to see her camp director, Chiron.
Sighing, Andromeda knocked on the door of the big house. Percy sent her a cheeky smile. "I'm going back to sleep, Andy. Have fun on your date."
Andromeda sent a glare in Percy's direction, muttering obscene curses as he skipped away giggling back to his cabin.
She turned towards the big house and knocked on the door as she walked in. "Hello?"
"Ah, Ms. Solace," said Chiron. "I'm glad that you've finally arrived. Please, take a seat." Chiron gestured towards a big sofa that looked inviting after years of being worn down.
The warm light of the fireplace filled the room with a soothing ambience. The sound of Chiron's wheelchair moving back and forth as he gathered some papers acted almost like a white noise machine, tempting Andromeda to sleep. Even Seymour the leopard head slept contendedly above the glowing embers of the fireplace as the arcade machines in the corner of the room softly beeped. Andromeda stiffled a yawn and wanted to simply collapse on the couch and sleep until at least the sun began to rise. Instead, she fought the urge and obeyed Chiron's directions.
"Whats up, Chiron?" Andromeda shot a tired grin at the centaur, plopping down on to the sofa.
Chiron sighed. "I understand that it is well before dawn, but a situation arised and we need your help."
"Sir, I get that emergencies can come up but seriously? At four in the morning? Why didn't you just brief me yesterday?"
"I had hoped that we wouldn't need you for this mission, but I've only delayed the inevitable."
Andromeda groaned and let her head fall back. "Alright fine, you win." She stretched her limbs, making a few of her bones crack as well. Chiron cringed at the sound. "What's the mission?"
"I'm not sure if you've met before, but you'll be accompanying Gleeson Hedge to escort two demigods back to camp. You see, we originally thought there to be only one, but we've recently learned of the other," Chiron said. "That and, Gleeson can be a little... unstable."
"Unstable?"
"Violent."
"When do I leave?" Andromeda asked.
"Right now," Chiron replied.
"What? Right now?" Andromeda sat up straight. She groaned. "It's so early, though."
"The sooner you arrive, the better," Chiron explained. "And, seeing as the journey is long, it's better you leave now."
Andromeda groaned again. "Where am I going?"
Chiron rolled closer to Andromeda. "Have you ever been to Nevada?"
°•▪︎/☆\▪︎•°
The sun had just begun to peak over half blood hill when Andromeda climbed it, ready for her long journey to the 'Wilderness School" with a suitcase and backpack in hand. Percy and her brother, Will, were already waiting for her, wanting to say goodbye before sending her off on her mission. Will tapped his foot and looked at his wrist, pretending to check a watch and rolled his eyes. "Took you long enough, Andy. If you can't show up on time to leave for the quest, maybe you shouldn't be going at all."
Andromeda sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time since she woke up. "You're not my mom, Will."
"I know, I'm not. If I was, I would've taught you to be more punctual."
"Hey!" Andromeda slapped Will's arm. "Our mom HAS taught me how to be punctual, I simply don't care enough to do so."
"Gods, where did we go wrong?" Percy looked up to the sky and wiped away a fake tear.
Andromeda bit back a snarky remark and opted instead to start walking towards the van that she could see waiting for her on the road beyond the hill.
"WAIT!" Percy grabbed her backpack, making Andromeda stumble backwards and almost fall. He turned her around and grabbed her on the shoulder. "Promise me you'll stay safe?"
Andromeda nearly scoffed and left again, when she met her brothers' and best friends' eyes and saw the genuine worry that they both held for her. Her gaze softened as she took Percy's hand in hers and squeezed them. "I promise, Percy. I'll kick monster ass and make you proud."
Percy chuckled and squeezed Andromedas' hands back before letting them go to ruffle her hair. "Go on, kiddo."
"You sound like a grandpa," Andromeda rolled her eyes. She pulled Percy in for a hug and could have sworn she saw him blush for a milisecond. "I love you Perseus."
"I love you too, Romi."
"Nobody loves William," Will muttered under his breath, pouting. Percy and Andromeda shared a look before tackling Will on to the grass, rolling around and just barely missing the edge of the hill before Will called for surrender.
They pulled apart and shared laughs as Andromeda began making her way down to the van, not knowing that this may very well be the last time they'd all be together for over a year.
°•▪︎/☆\▪︎•°
The ride over to Nevada was long and seemingly never ending. It didn't help, of course, that "Coach Hedge" (as he insisted to be called) was constantly complaining about the fact that he now had to babysit Andromeda and that 'he's perfectly capable of handling himself'. Thirty six hours in the van passed by soon enough, though, and Andromeda nearly cried out of relief when she finally saw the school gates appear.
"Alright, kid," Gleeson grunted. "I'll see you in two days."
Andromeda tilted her head in confusion. "I thought we were doing this assignment together?"
"It'd look pretty suspicious if the both of us arrive the same day, much less the same van wouldn't it?" Andromeda shrugged in agreement. "Now listen up, cupcake. You're going to be alone for a few days which means you have to follow my rules."
Andromeda let out an exasperrated sigh, already used to the goats odd personality. "What rules?"
"FIRST RULE! NO KISSING BOYS." Gleeson began, suddenly raising his voice which caused Andy to flinch in shock. "I DO NOT WANT ANY BABY DEMIGODS RUNNING AROUND WHEN I GET BACK, GOT IT?"
"How long do you think pregnancies last-"
"RULE TWO, NO DYING. IF YOU SEE A MONSTER, WAIT FOR ME TO COME BACK SO I CAN KILL IT TO DEATH." Coach took a deep breath. "RULE THREE-"
"GLEESON!" Andromeda cut him off. "I managed to survive a literal war against a titan, I think I'll be fine for a few days in a school."
"IM NOT DONE YET, CUPCAKE-"
"BYE, HEDGE!" She lept out of the van, slamming the car door in the satyrs' face. As quickly as she could, Andromeda grabbed her suitcase from the back, said goodbye to Argus (who had driven the coach and her to the school) and ran over to the school gates, where she met with her school guide, ending up on a long and tiring tour of the school before she finally wound up at her dorm room after the guide had left.
She knocked on the door three times. While waiting, she heard a bunch of random noises as though someone was doing a rush job to clean a junkyard, when the door finally opened to reveal a girl her age.
The girl was really pretty- as though she could be the daughter of a Goddess. Her eyes swirled with all colours of the rainbow and were set in a perfectly symmmetrical face. Her choppy dark brown hair and baggy pajamas only added to her beauty. The girl stuck her hand out for a handshake. "Hey!" said the girl. "My names Piper. I'm the roomate!"
"Oh, hey Piper!" Andromeda took her hand and shook it. "I'm Andromeda, but you can call me Andy. Or Romi. Or anything, really. Sorry, am I rambling? I ramble when I get nervous."
Piper chuckled at the sight of the flustered girl in front of her. "Don't worry about it, I have a friend I feel like you might get along with. Come on in!"
Piper opened the door wide enough for Andromeda to pass through, taking the suitcase from Andys' hand as she set it in a corner of the room.
The room itself was spacious enough. Two twin beds layed next to eachother, separated by a night stand to the right the entrance. Next to that was a cozy little sitting area and some windows covered by blinds. Although the room seemed relatively clean for a teenage girl, Andromeda could still see traces of the rush-cleaning job that she had heard through the door earlier with piles of books dumped on to chairs and clothes pushed up against the wall. Small trunks layed at the feet of the beds acting as storage space for the girls.
It was then that Andromeda made the mistake of not asking which bed was hers before sitting down.
As soon as she began lowering herself, Piper shouted "NO- WAIT!" but it was too late. Andromeda had sat on the bed and was soon enough covered with what seemed like a hundred mechanical cockroaches, slithering about and playing the song "Oops I Did It Again" by Britney Spears before they scuttered to the floor and arranged themselves to form the word "GOTCHA!".
Andromeda let out high pitched screams that could only be mistaken for the whistle of a kettle, trying her very best (but failing) to brush any remaining roaches off of her.
"VALDEZ!" Piper screamed. "I KNOW YOU'RE HERE SOMEWHERE. COME OUT, COWARD!"
The room was dead silent for about five seconds until the trunk at the foot of what was meant to be Andromedas' bed began rattling. Finally, the lid of the trunk popped open to reveal a small Latino boy with elf ears, curly hair and a mischievous but nervous grin. He wore batman costume pajamas- the kind that had padding to make a fake eight pack. He stood up, brushing his pants off as he did.
"I TOLD you to lay off the pranks today, I have a new room mate!" Piper huffed.
"Was that today?" The boy rubbed his neck nervously. He stepped out of the trunk and began gathering the little robots. "Sorry, time flies when you have a brilliant mind and brilliant-er pranks."
Piper sighed, but quickly face palmed as she saw Andromedas' confused expression. "Andy, this is Leo Valdez. The friend I mentioned you might get along with earlier. Leo, this is Andromeda."
Leo and Andromeda met eyes and just as quickly looked away with a slight red tinging their cheeks. "Um yeah, cool... cool name," Leo muttered.
Andromeda glanced down towards Leo who had just finished picking up the remnants of his latest prank. "What's up with the roaches?"
"Oh! Sorry about that," Leo said, standing up. "I just like messing with Piper a lot."
"Two days ago it was exploding rubber ducks," Piper chimed in. "You don't have to worry about that though, right Leo?"
Leo made a big show of gulping. "Yes sir, Piper commander sir!"
Piper rolled her eyes. "Okay, out you go! Let- sorry what's your last name?" She asked Andromeda.
"Solace," Andromeda replied.
"Right. Let Solace here settle in."
"But- but I want to be one of the girls too," Leo pouted. Piper ignored him, however, and began puhing him out.
"Um, if it's alright with Piper, I really don't mind Leo sticking around," Andromeda said.
Although she didn't mind hanging out with Leo, she had other motives for getting to know the both of them. There definitely wasn't anything 'mortal' about the way Pipers' eyes were multicoloured, or the way Leo managed to program and create those metallic roaches. Never one to forget her assignment, Andromeda continued. "I mean like, as long as you don't attack me with robots again, I think we should be fine?"
"To be fair, those roaches were meant for Piper not you," Leo said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"That doesn't make it better, Leo," Piper said, secretely relieved that she had not been the one to be attacked. "I don't think you realize how tiring it is to have to check every corner of my room before I go to sleep now."
"I like to think of my inventions as a welcome spontaniety in your life," Leo shrugged.
"I'll 'spontaniously' watch the light leave your eyes if you don't quit it," Piper grumbled, walking away to the bathroom.
When the bathroom door closed, Leo and Andromeda sat on the floor in front of the beds, an awkward silence surrounding them for about 20 seconds before Leo decided to break it. "So, um, what brings you round these parts?"
"Oh you know, the usual..." Andromeda said trailing off. In all honestly, Andromeda hadn't thought of an excuse as to why she had to be at the Wilderness School. She had spent the entire car ride over blocking out the sounds of Gleeson berrating her for one thing or the other. Leo looked at her expectantly. "...Court order?"
"Damn, what'd you do?"
"Nothing much, just um. I stole a few small things, I guess."
"Oh, so like Piper then," Leo said. "She got in for stealing a Mercedes. Or was it a BMW? Says the guy just handed it over after she asked, but I call bullshit."
"Huh, interesting." Andromeda frowned. Nope, definitely nothing mortal about that. "And what about you?"
"Ran away bunch. No one knows how to handle me, Leo Valdez: Bad Boy Supreme," he said, flexing his bicep muscles that weren't really there. He put his arms down and suddenly looked shy. "Um, would you like to give it a try?"
"Excuse me?"
"OKAY, CUTTING IN!" Piper said, bursting through the bathroom door carrying a basket full of face masks and nail polish. Piper grinned. "Who wants face masks?"
°•▪︎/☆\▪︎•°
An entire semester passed by soon enough and Andromeda had only gotten closer with Piper and Leo. The six months she was there only cemented in her belief that Leo and Piper were demigods. That, and the fact that Hedge could sense them immediately. But, she took solace in ignoring the satyrs' existence when she could. Three days before a school trip to the grand canyon, Andromeda was called into Gleesons' office.
The office was small, cramped and smelled of sweat and Gatorade. A rack filled with various sport equipment lined the back of the room. Hedge sat behind a desk on an old red office chair.
"Whats up, Doc?" Andromeda asked, grinning. But her playful demeanor quickly dropped when she saw how serious and stressed the coach looked. She took a seat on the stood across Hedge.
"It's Percy Jackson," the coach said grimly. "He's missing."
"What?" Andromeda asked, not really understanding what was happening.
"His friend, that Chase girl, went to look for him this morning, but it looked like he's been gone all night. I've just been told to stay alert."
"Coach, is this a prank? This is a really bad prank if it is one cause if it is a joke then I'd have to slap you or something cause-"
"Kiddo, no it's not. I'm sorry," Gleeson reached over and held her shoulder as best as he could. "You've been given the all-clear to head back to camp and help with the search. Go, find Jackson. Argus is waiting outside."
All Andromeda could hear as she ran back to her room was a ringing in her ears. She ignored Piper and Leo's confused questions as she stuffed her belongings in her suitcase and backpacks, and ignored their shouts as she ran out the school to the white van awaiting her. She could only think of the 36 hours she would have to endure on her way back to camp- her way back to Percy.