Andromeda Jackson

Andy

After telling Annabeth about my conversation with Poseidon, she's quiet for a good while. I woke her up to tell her, sitting on the steps of the Athena cabin. The early morning sunlight is reflecting off of the sound, reminding me of the moon last night.

"So he was taken by...a god?" She asks.

I shrug. "That's what he said. But he wouldn't tell me who. He insisted that me going on this quest would be important to finding him."

Annabeth sucks her teeth. "Well, it's a good thing you're going then."

I touch the trident on my necklace. "Yeah, I guess so."

She gives me a knowing look. "I promise, I'll find a way to let you know if I find him. But right now, it sounds like the best thing you can do for him is go on this quest and rescue Hera."

I sigh. I don't want to be a part of the eight demigods in the prophecy. I feel like I've done enough already. I spent the last four years of my life building up to the Battle of Manhattan. I fought Kronos. I fought Hyperion. I held up the sky. I saw Pan, the Lord of the Wild, fade out of existence. I'm over it all. I want to be a normal demigod having my normal little demigod adventures. I want to train other demigods and go to school the best I can and retire quietly.

"We should go get Jason." Annabeth decides.

"Good idea."

Together, we walk toward Zeus's cabin. The other campers are just starting to wake up. I spent most of my night out on the beach so I didn't sleep, but I don't feel tired. Instead, I start to feel a certain sense of hopefulness. Maybe it's something in the air, or the way the sun is shining. But I'm feeling more than ready to go on this quest and find my brother.

We walk up the steps to Zeus's cabin. As always, I wait at the door.

Annabeth steps in fearlessly. Even from my spot at the entrance, I can see Jason is looking at Thalia's old photographs.

"That's Thalia." Annabeth tells him.

Jasosn turns.

"She's the other child of Zeus who lived here." I call from the doorway. "She didn't live here long. Sorry. We should've knocked."

"It's fine," Jason says. "Not like I think of this place as home."

Jason examines Annabeth and I for a moment. We're both dressed for travel. I'd gotten ready before the sun even came up.

Annabeth has a winter coat over her camp clothes, her knife at her belt, and a backpack across her shoulder.

Meanwhile, all I have is a windbreaker and a similar backpack. I'd thought I looked pretty cool before I left my cabin, but beside Annabeth, I look seriously underprepared.

"Don't suppose you've changed your mind about coming with us?" Jason asks Annabeth.

She shakes her head, then glances over at me. "You've got a good team already. I'm off to look for Percy."

Jason is clearly worried. He fiddles with the photo in his hands nervously.

"Hey, you'll do fine." Annabeth promises. "Something tells me this isn't your first quest. Besides, you've got Andy with you. She's been on tons of quests."

Jason looks over at me. "You can come in, you know."

"Oh, no I can't." I scoff. "It's insulting enough to Zeus that I even exist. Last thing I need is to step into his cabin and eat voltage."

Jason blinks at me in confusion. "Um, what?"

I give him a wink. "I'll explain on the quest. I get the feeling we'll have plenty of time to chat."