Andy Jackson: Child of Land & Sea

Distractions Decisions

Act V — Walking On Water

Part II — I'm down to one last hope and I hope it's you. Though, kid, you're not exactly a dream come true.

After breakfast, Andy followed Anthony while he inspected the cabins. He started at the Poseidon cabin where Andy proclaimed she deserved a four out of five, after all she'd just returned to camp and didn't really have time to mess things up yet.

He made a face. "You're being generous," he said pointing at some clothes she had left on the ground.

"Yeah, well... I did make the bed! It's gotta count for something. I never make my bed!"

He considered. "Three out of five," he decided. "Because I like you."

Andy rolled her eyes but knew better than to argue.

The Aphrodite cabin got five out of five, obviously. "Great job as usual, Silena," Anthony told her. She nodded listlessly. The wall behind her bed was decorated with pictures of Beckendorf.

As they crossed the commons area, a fight broke out between the Ares and Apollo cabins. Anthony sighed and ignored them.

"What are they fighting about?" Andy finally asked.

Anthony scribbled on his inspection scroll, giving both cabins a one out of five. "That flying chariot," he said. Andy looked up and saw some Apollo campers armed with firebombs flying over the Ares cabin in a chariot pulled by two pegasi. "They captured it in a raid in Philadelphia last week. Some of Luke's demigods were there with that flying chariot. The Apollo cabin seized it during the battle, but the Ares cabin led the raid. So they've been fighting about who gets it ever since."

"But... We're fighting for our lives," Andy mumbled watching them fight, "and they're just—"

"They'll get over it," Anthony shrugged. "Clarisse will come to her senses."

"When did she ever have any sense?"

They kept walking. Demeter got a four. Hephaestus got a three. They probably should've gotten lower, but with Beckendorf being gone, Anthony cut them some slack. Hermes got a two, which was no surprise.

Finally they got to Athena's cabin, which was orderly and clean as usual. Only Anthony's bunk was messy, covered in papers, and his silver laptop was still running. Malcolm, the second-in-command, suppressed a smile. "Yeah, um... we cleaned everything else. Didn't know if it was safe to touch your things."

"Oh my." Andy grinned. "Would you look at that... I'd say four out of five," she told Anthony. "Because I like you."

"Cute," he mumbled and started cleaning up his bunk. He shuffled his papers—mostly drawings of buildings and a bunch of handwritten notes. "What happened to Beckendorf," he started saying, "this whole thing... It makes you think about what's important. About losing people who are important."

Andy sat on the bed crushing some papers. Every time Beckendorf was mentioned, she felt short of breath. "I know."

"Andy..." he was trying to save his notes. "Do you mind...?"

She wasn't even listening. "Is everything cool with your family?"

He glanced at her surprised and nodded. He sat on the ground in front of her. "My dad wanted to take me to Greece this summer," he said wistfully. "I've always wanted to see—"

"The Parthenon."

Anthony smiled. "Yes."

"Maybe one day. If Olympus don't fall," she mumbled.