Zack's PoV.

I ran after Andy when she ran out. Somehow she was faster than me. By the time I got to the docks where she went she was already gone and I had no way of knowing where she went. I couldn't even follow her. She was gone. I've known her long enough to know that she wasn't coming back. Not for a while. Slowly, I made my way back to the mess hall, trying to ignore the feeling that this was my fault. Annabeth had found her way there too and was now being yelled at by Poseidon. When I got closer I knew the reason why.

"You told them about Percy!" the god yelled at the goddess.

"She had the right to know." Annabeth told him firmly. "Keeping her from who she is would only have made it worse. You should know that. Percy was the same way."

"Don't talk about my son like I didn't know him." Poseidon growled.

"Even so, it seems you don't even know your own daughter."

"What is that supposed to mean."

"What I mean is that even with everything you do to protect her there was never anything you could do. She is a free spirit. She would have snuck out whether or not we try to stop her. The sea cannot be restrained, or have you forgotten that." Silence filled the hall.

"Annabeth?" she turned to look at me. "Don't you have any idea where she would go?" I asked my voice slightly creaking, hopefully no one would notice.

"She's left, then?" she asked and I could only nod. "No, I do not."

"Wait, what do you...?" Poseidon started but I didn't let him finish.

"Andy's gone." I couldn't take being there anymore and I left to be by myself. The only place I could think to go was Andy's room. Looking around at the few things she had I realized how much she put into life here. I sat on her bed and tried not to feel her absence but it wasn't going so well. I felt the tears run down my face and I fell apart. Not real manly but I couldn't help it. Andy was my best friend. Even though I'm act mean to her she always managed to make me feel happy. Now she's gone and it felt as though a piece of me went with her.

When the tears finally stopped it was close to midnight and I felt drained. Everything was quiet and I could hear the breeze in the leaves outside. I didn't feel like moving so I stayed curled up where I was. The sound of the rustling leaves eventually lulled me to sleep. I dreamed about Andy. She was in a clearing of some kind, it was too dark to tell much of anything, and I could hear her sobs. All I wanted was to run to her and comfort her but I couldn't in a dream.

In the morning I was shaken awake. At first I thought it was one of the gods but when I could see properly I could see it was just one of my closest friends.

"Hey, Kevin." I greeted the son of Conner.

"How are you holding up?" he asked. He was the only one that knew how much I liked Andy and knew that I still did.

"Terribly. I feel like it's my fault she's gone." I mumbled.

"No it's not, Zack." He tried to reassure.

"I was the one that told the council that she has been sneaking out for a while now. If I hadn't they would have just believe that that was her first time. Then they wouldn't have felt the need to up the punishment and result in her running away." I could feel the tears coming again.

"You did what you thought was necessary to keep her safe. I know how much she means to you Zack." He paused a moment. "I have to get to training. Your father and lord Poseidon were going to come and 'talk' with you but I managed to talk them out of it by telling them that you'll be making yourself more miserable then any punishment he could give you. Piper backed me up, no feelings go unnoticed by her." He paused again. "Anyway they also gave you the morning off but they're having a meeting right after lunch and they wanted me to make sure you're there. After that it's back to regular activities."

"What time is it?"

"Almost lunch time. I'll let you get ready. See you in the mess hall." He put his hand on my shoulder for a moment before he got up and left. I stayed there for a few more minutes before sitting up. Taking one more look around the room I knew that I wasn't going to be my regular self today or ever until I saw the daughter of Poseidon again. By the time I was all cleaned up and mentally prepared for the meeting, it was lunch time. I wasn't feeling very hungry, even though I hadn't eaten since yesterday. So I just went and sat down next to Kevin, waiting for the meeting. It soon came and I didn't pay attention to any of it. I knew that was going to come back to bite me later but I didn't care about that at the moment. Afterwards, instead of going to my regular schedule I went up to the library.

Annabeth wasn't there but I did leave the meeting before she did. There on the chair where Andy sat two days before was the book she had been reading. I picked it up and opened to the first page and started reading. The funny thing, the more I read of it the less I wanted to put it down. I was so involved in the story that it wasn't until it was ripped out of my hands that I noticed someone had been trying to get my attention for the past few minutes.

"This isn't like you, Zack." Hannah, a daughter of piper, said. A few more of my friends stood behind her. "Maybe that sea witch really has corrupted you."

"Go away, Hannah." I grumbled to her.

"Seriously, Zack." Kyle, a son of Hephaestus, spoke up. "Since when did you hang out in the library and read books?"

"Since now."

"Why are you even reading this thing? It looks like it's going to fall apart any minute." Hannah said holding it out at arm's length but still out of my reach.

"That's because it's over a thousand years old and if Annabeth sees you mishandling her books she's going to be angry." I told them.

"You didn't answer my question." She said and started flipping through the pages.

"Andy was reading it two days ago. Now give it back." I reach out for the book but she held it away from me.

"You make no sense, Zack. First you get together with the witch, then dump her not long after, you're mean to her, and now you're starting to act like her. It doesn't add up." One of my other friends said but I wasn't listening to who said it. Instead I jumped up and grabbed the book before Hannah could pull it away again, then ran out of the library. I really hoped Annabeth wouldn't be angry with me taking the book. I got back to Andy's room and lock the door behind me. About an hour later Kevin came and found me. His father is the god of thieves so he can easily unlock a door, but how he managed to get in without me noticing I would most likely never know. One minute I was by myself and the next he was sitting next to me. Hmmm, must be the curse of books.

He didn't say anything to me for a while. I was grateful for that. Finally he handed me a simple leather bound book. I looked up at him confused. He gestured for me to open it. Setting aside the book I had been reading I opened the one he handed to me. On the top of the first page was a date written; Jan 18, 3638. Below it was a messy child's scrawl. At first I didn't understand what it was until I noticed a name in the middle of the page: Andy.

"I found that earlier when you disappeared after the meeting. I thought that you came back here. The corner was sticking out from under her bed. I only read the first few pages. After that I thought that it was too privet for me to read." He explained at my confusion. "I thought it would do you more good than me." Then he got up and left but I called out to him as he started to close the door behind himself.

"Thank you, Kevin." I said and he smiled faintly at me, then he was gone. I stared at the journal in front of me, wondering if I should read it. Finally, curiosity won out and I started reading the first page. It's really hard to read her messy writing but I managed.

Um, hi I guess. I don't know how this is supposed to work but I'll try. Annabeth gave this to me a few months ago to write in but this is my first time. I think I'll call you Friend. I don't have many of those. Zack pushed me off the docks today. I don't even know how to swim. I thought I was going to die! Then I realized that I was able to breath underwater. He panicked when I didn't come back up. So he ran and got my dad. By then I managed to figure out how to swim. At least somewhat. They were both happy that I was ok. But both of us still got in trouble because we weren't even supposed to be on the docks in the first place.

I smiled at the memory of that day. We were both six at the time. We were so much closer then.

"What happened to us, Andy?" I asked the empty air. I flipped to the next entry.

April 1, 3638

According to lords Conner and Travis today is what used to be known as April Fool's day. It's a day to prank people. I decided I would prank Zack. Unfortunately Dad caught me before I could do it. I'm grounded now. I don't know how though since we're in the trees.

I chuckled at the entry. Andy always was a little slow but she did have a good sense of humor when she wasn't mad at you. I continued reading the entries and several of the made me smile. A few of them focused on Lord Poseidon. Those ones were interesting to read. Andy really did care about her father and the rules he had in place for her to keep her safe. It was only when she became of age to start training with the rest of us that she didn't want to fallow them. Fighting was one of the only things that she looked forward to when we were younger. I knew it devastated her when she was told she wasn't allowed to learn.

Another entry talked about a book called 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and how she wanted to see what it was like out in the ocean. Apparently she asked her father if he could take her to go see; he told her no. That was the first time she snuck out. The date on the top of the page read: Nov. 9, 3641. She had just turned ten the day before. She only went out a few hundred yards before getting scared and coming back.

A week after that she tried again and took some bright colored cloth to mark some of the trees so she could find her way back easier. That night she only went a few hundred yards past the point she stopped at the time before. She also realized that time that she could see under water as well and didn't even get wet unless she wanted to.

It was at that entry that I decided to stop for the night and get some rest. My dreams that night were about all the good times I had with Andy when we were little. I hated it when I woke up. For more reason than one, mainly because I was greeted with the sight of a goddess when I did.