"He's nowhere near camp." Coral whined. Every time the pegasus had said that, Andy had retorted that they needed to keep looking. But it had been hours, and the sun was due any minute now. She sighed. Nico was long gone from the Long Island Sound. And if she left camp again, she wasn't sure Mr. D would let her off so easy this time. She would just have to wait until a search party was sent out. No more tears brimmed in her eyes, for she couldn't cry any longer. All night, while searching for Nico, she'd cried. Mourning Bianca, worry for Percy in this prophecy, and crushing, overwhelming fear for Nico had caused all her tears to dry up.
"Fine, let's go back. Thanks Coral."
"Thank the Gods." She heard Coral say, and they got back at dawn. Andy fixed up Coral's stall and headed to the Poseidon cabin to crash, already asleep when her head hit the pillow. She woke at noon, and rushed to the Big House to see if Chiron or anyone else was there so she could tell them about Nico's disappearance, but no one was there. She'd just missed lunch, and all the campers were down by the sword's arena and such for their activities. Even the dining pavilion was empty.
"There you are!" she heard from the entranceway behind her. She spun around to see Castor and Pollux there, grinning. "You slept until now? Rough night huh?" they questioned her but Andy didn't even get to answer before her stomach rumbled. The twins laughed. "C'mon," they told her, walking to kitchen, "let's get you some lunch. We can custom-make the juice!"
"Apple juice." She demanded and the twins agreed. "Sounds great then, thanks." Andy smiled. The day slipped away from them. The three of them just clicked. They exchanged life stories and enjoyed the empty dining pavilion.
"How is it that we befriended a ten year old?" Castor laughed and Andy joined in, forgetting all about Nico if only for a few hours.
"Well, it's about dinnertime. We should clean up before anyone notices we took this food." Pollux said, getting up.
"Should we take a walk after that then? I'm not hungry for dinner." Andy suggested.
"Andromeda, you're not sick of us yet?" they joked and Andy shook her head.
"Nah, c'mon." she raced towards the cabins in the brisk air, knowing they'd follow. Night fell and they were stargazing, all bundled up in their winter clothes, when she distinctly heard her name being called.
"Uh-oh." Andy sat up. Percy raced towards them and practically fell to his knees to crush him to her. He breathed a sigh of relief and Andy could see it in the cold weather.
"I let you sleep in, and I get back from searching with Annabeth and Grover for Nico to find out that no one's seen you all day! I thought you'd left camp on foot to find him or something!"
"Sorry Percy. I was with-" she genuinely felt bad, and for someone to care about her well-being like this, to care if she went missing, was new for her. Her social worker would most likely just be bothered by more paperwork, but Percy seemed ready to sound the alarms.
"Dionysus' kids, yeah." He turned to them. "Thank you for keeping her safe today." The twins shrugged like it hadn't been a bother for them, which was true.
"Gods, we have to pack! Argus agreed to take us into Manhattan tonight." He stood up.
Andy rose to her feet as she asked, "Wait, Percy, for what?" He was walking to the cabin now and Andy turned to Castor and Pollux. "I had fun today. I'll see you around!"
"See ya!" the boys waved, and she ran after Percy. She got inside their cabin, the sea breeze soothing and relaxing her, but not Percy, who was shoving his things into his luggage.
"Percy, where are you going?" she sputtered and he looked at her simply.
"It's Christmas Eve tomorrow." And then it clicked for her.
"You live in New York with your mom…Well, see you when you get back. Merry Christmas and all that." She collapsed onto her bed, staring at the ceiling.
"What are you talking about? Start packing." Percy told her, and she sat up so fast, if she was in a bunk bed, she would have smacked her forehead on the upper bunk. "You mean…I'm going too?"
"Of course, unless you want the cabin to yourself until the end of June." He raised an eyebrow and the thought of being alone again made her jerkily shake her head. He laughed and continued packing. Andy hadn't unpacked yet, so her things were still packed, but Percy's bag looked like a disaster.
"Let me help." Andy offered and helped refold his shirts and such. Then, when they were both ready, they headed out the door and over to Half-Blood Hill where Argus waited. Andy wondered if she'd come back next week, or in two days. She was a guest at his home, and nothing more. The camp stayed open all year for people like her who had no home to return to. Percy was so incredibly lucky. His mom seemed so nice. And she was. Percy led her up to the apartment and upon opening the door, spotted Andy and stooped down to her level and asked, "And who is this sweet little girl? Good thing I've prepared a big Christmas dinner." And just like that, she was accepted, no questions asked. Sally served some blue cookies to the kids and Andy didn't question it, because it tasted amazing anyway, but Percy explained the inside joke to her, knowing Andy was simply masking her confusion.
"So Andy, where do you live?" Sally asked politely to make small talk.
"Up and down the East Coast. Never stay in one place too long. Drives my social worker up the wall." Andy shrugged.
"Social worker?" Sally turned to Percy, concerned.
"My mom died when I was really little. I've spent the past eight years going from place to place. I'm originally from Florida though." Andy said nonchalantly.
"How old are you Andromeda?" Sally asked.
"Ten." Andy replied. Sally already Andy was Percy's sister, obvious due to the eyes and the connection between their names. And she knew Percy had some ulterior motive in bringing Andy home with him . The girl had no home. And Andy was only ten. After dinner, Sally put Andy to watch television in the living room while she and Percy did the dishes.
"Percy, she's an orphan." Sally whispered sadly. "And she's your sister. I know why you brought her here, but it's too dangerous to have two Poseidon kids under the same roof."
"Mom, I only did it so she could meet you." Percy promised. Sally sighed. "I'll call her social worker."
"Mom, if she gets taken away again-" Percy started, but Sally silenced him by cutting him off.
"Well then, there's only one other option left." She turned to her son and Percy caught the look in her eye and grinned knowingly.
Andy walked in moments later and took the home phone to call someone. "Here." She held it out glumly. "My social worker probably thinks I've died or something sometime in the past week. Better fill her in and say I tried running away again. I expect she'll be here by Christmas Day."
Sally hesitantly took the phone and pressed it to her ear to hear the click.
"Hello?"
"Yes I'm calling about Andromeda-"
"Andy Prince, yes." Sighed the social worker. "Where'd she run off to this time?"
"Well, she's made her way to Manhattan. My son found her and she gave us your number."
"New York? How did she manage that? Well, I'll be on the next flight to J.F.K. I'll take her off your hands and-"
"Actually, I'd like you to bring some paperwork with you." Sally walked out of the room, into her bedroom, and shut the door behind her.
"Well, it's been fun Percy." Andy sighed, playing with her ring again.
"It has Andy Prince." He grinned at her. "C'mon, let's go watch some Rankin-Bass Christmas specials."
A day passed and Andy found herself loving Percy's home more and more with every passing second. Percy set up cookies and milk for Santa, and Andy was grinning from ear to ear. She'd never gotten to do this normal stuff before. She looked out the window to see snow falling and turned back to Percy who was observing her quietly. She ran to him then, hugging him around his torso, thanking him for all he'd done for her over the past week. She had found her Perseus after all.
And just like that, it was Christmas Day. Andy woke from the spot on Percy's bed where he'd laid her last night after she'd fallen asleep during the Polar Express. The doorbell rang and Andy hurried into the living room in her pajamas to find her social worker and the Jacksons gathered there together. "I'll go get my stuff." Andy muttered.
"Andy, you won't have to do that." Her social worker called after her and Andy turned back to them, surprised. Her social worker continued. "It's a long process, but you're not going to have to leave."
"What process?" Andy asked and Sally smiled.
"The adoption process, of course. Would you like to be a Jackson?"
Tears welled up in Andy's eyes and she nodded hastily. Andromeda Prince-Jackson. She'd be Percy's sister at camp and in the real world too. She'd have a home. She'd have Sally for a mom.
"I get to live here?" she asked dubiously, her voice quiet.
Percy grinned. "There's a small spare room. Easily big enough to be converted into a bedroom."
"Merry Christmas to me." Andy told herself and ran to the Jacksons, smiling through her tears. No present could compare to this. She'd have a mom now. And she'd found a brother. She threw her arms around them both, sobbing with gratitude, and the two Jacksons hugged her back. Every single part of the situation made Andy happier than she'd ever been in her entire life. And well, maybe it was her Christmas miracle.
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