Commotion, there was much commotion in the palace following the terrifying events at the festivities; the aged Queen Cassiopeia was left to lie in her bed, dying by every second as her strength ebbed away more and more. The city was now under threat in the hands of a fearsome titan, to which the Princess had been ordered to be sacrificed. The Kraken was indeed a fearsome creature and 'beast' was not the right word to describe it; it was a creation of the Titans themselves during their imprisonment in Tartarus, where it grew for a whole millennium. The Kraken was the ultimate weapon and last of the Titans and it had been locked in Tartarus until a day would when one would need the use of the most powerful weapon and that day would soon arrive. But the goddess of wisdom had much faith in her demigod half-brother and she was certain he could destroy the beast, but was he?

"What is in the Stygian Gardens?" Cepheus asked.

"The Stygian Witches my lord; they are three blind witches with knowledge that knows no bounds," replied his advisor, "If the goddess of wisdom is right, then that is where we will find the answer. But the journey is perilous. Even if we find them; even if they show us a way to defeat the Kraken, we may not live to exploit their advice."

"Why not?" the King asked.

"They have a craving for human flesh human," the adviser replied.

"Sire, we need to get the Princess out of the city now," Draco said upon hearing the advisor's answer, "I'll find a place to hide her."

"You can't hide from Hera," Perseus explained with a bitter voice.

"So says the bastard son of a god," the advisor spat at him.

The bitterness in Perseus' tone of voice showed on his face at the advisor's title for him; there were feelings he had to express.

"An innocent young woman has been put to death on the orders of a god," he said as bitterly as he could, "I promised my mother that one day, I would take my rightful place here in Argos; restore the kingdom. I know I cannot go against her wishes and I cannot let one innocent life be sacrificed to save the lives of others. I am prepared to help; I'll set out to the Stygian Gardens, I'll find the three witches and I'll destroy the Kraken."

So he was certain he could kill the Kraken; he was determined to find the weapon needed to destroy the beast and save Andromeda. She was his motive for wanting to set out on the quest, but so was his mother for he knew she would never want her kingdom destroyed and he had a promise to keep to her.

"Do you know what the Kraken is?" Draco asked when he saw Perseus' ambition, "The Kraken is the end of us; a colossal, elemental beast. It doesn't think, it doesn't feel; even the gods fear it and you, you are going to kill it?"

"Don't come; I don't need your help," Perseus said.

"Of course not; you are the son of Zeus, but we are warriors," Draco replied.

"Stop," a third voice had joined the conversation; it was Andromeda, "No one should have to go anywhere; no one should have to die for me."

Perseus acknowledged that she was putting others before herself, but he could not bear for her to die; he walked closer to her.

"You shouldn't have to die for anyone; someone's going to have to take a stand," he gently told her, before turning back to the others, "We'll set out tomorrow; make sure your men are well prepared."

"Oh they will be," Draco assured him.

The demigod had accepted to set out on a dangerous quest to find a way to destroy the Kraken; Cepheus was overcome with joy and he wanted Perseus to know his gratitude.

"Thank you Perseus!" he gasped, "For the love of my kingdom, thank you!"

However, Perseus did not want the king's gratitude and there was a simple reason to why; he felt Cepheus and everyone should know.

"I'm not doing this for you; I'm doing it for her," he told the King, directing to Andromeda.

Cepheus was acknowledging Perseus' true feelings for his daughter; they came even more to light when Perseus walked to Andromeda again and held her hand in his.

"I will not let you die for the sake of others when there is a way to save us all; no one will die, except for the Kraken," he assured her.

She heard what he was promising, but she was too overcome with worry to let him set on something so life threatening; her tears were overpowering her and she could not control her despair. She could not bear to stay in the room any longer; she released her hand from Perseus' hold and fled from the room in distress, her cries could be heard as she ran.

"Andromeda!" Perseus called after her as she fled, but she did not respond to him.

The Princess's chamber was not very silent that night as Selene lit up the sky with her many, many brothers and sisters; Andromeda was seated on her bed and could only shed tears of sorrow for the possible death of the man she loved. She was prepared to die for the sake of others, but Perseus was not prepared for her to make such a sacrifice; she was all he had in his life now and was not willing to lose her to death too after the death of his mother and his foster family. He searched for her, but knew where to find her; she heard the doors of her chamber opening and turned to look at who was entering, it was Perseus as she suspected. He closed the doors behind him when he saw the sadness on her face; he wanted to be alone with her and uninterrupted. Andromeda gave him a sign to join her; he saw the sign in her eyes as he looked at her and was soon seated next to her. There was silence, but only for a moment.

"I'm so afraid for you," she said through her tears.

"We're all afraid," he said as he wiped her tears away with his finger, "but I'm more afraid for you if I don't go."

"If I am to die to protect my people, I will accept it for I cannot bear to cost you your life when so many others have already lost theirs."

Andromeda assured this to him, but he had something to assure her.

"But you're not the cause of lives being lost."

"No one should have to die for me," she insisted.

"Andromeda, do not let your heart stop you from believing that I can do this," he told her, "I will take on this quest and I'm doing it for you."

"Then I will come with you," she pleaded.

"No, no it's too dangerous," Perseus told her, "you have to stay here; it's safer for you."

She wanted to go with him so she could be with him, but she felt her heart break when he said what he did; she became more determined to stop him from leaving her.

"But what if the quest is more dangerous than you imagine and you do not succeed?" she suggested, "What if it will be all for nothing?"

"I will succeed; you must have faith in me, no matter how afraid you are," he told her with such certainty.

She looked upon his face and let herself think of how she would miss him when he was gone; she had found a man who had won her heart and she could not bear for her heart to be broken by his death.

"So little time together, so little time," she said as she touched his face; he looked on at her with such love in his eyes.

"I promise you I will return safely; I will destroy the Kraken, I will save you and Argos and when I do, I will marry you."

A promise had been made and this was not one he was prepared to break, nor was it one she could refuse. But words were not spoken once this promise was made for instead, it was sealed, sealed with a kiss; a kiss that would become more throughout that night. Perseus did not let his lips leave Andromeda's nor did she want him to break away from her; they only parted as their clothes were slipped off them and Perseus lay Andromeda on the bed, holding her close as she held onto him with the urge of not wanting him to let go flowing through her. The night passed with their intimacy; their love making could have lasted for longer if Selene chose not to set, allowing this night to last forever. That was the lovers' only wish as they explored a territory of each other neither of them had known before; they had never known this kind of love and intimacy until that moment as they declared and showed the true nature of their feelings for one another in this physical and loving way that joined them through body and soul.

Selene reigned for the night as she always did, but the time came for her set until the next night would fall. She fell from the sky and awoke Eos so she could bring forth a new day and herald Helios as he rose into the sky for his turn to reign again. His rays lit the earth below him and they soon beamed into the chamber of Andromeda, where the Princess was still asleep in the arms of Perseus. The rays hit Perseus' face and he felt the heat against his cheek; he stirred and opened his eyes, it was the morning of the next day, the day when he would set out on his quest. But he remembered he was not alone as he looked upon the divine beauty he was holding in his arms who was still asleep; she looked so beautiful, so peaceful that he could not find it in him to wake her. He gently released her from his hold without disturbing her; once free, he stroked her face and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. This was his way of saying goodbye. He climbed quietly out of the bed, grabbed his clothing and armour and quietly dressed himself before leaving the room; Andromeda was still asleep. Perseus walked through the palace he had come to know until he reached the place, or at least one of the places that belonged to the soldiers. They were choosing and preparing their weapons and other equipment so they were ready for their journey; Draco was among them and Perseus could only join in the preparations, no matter how much they did not wish for him to be a part of this quest.

In the chamber of the sleeping Princess, she would be sleeping no more as she stirred; she moved her hand and felt nothing beside her apart from silk. She opened her eyes and gasped when she saw that Perseus was gone; she suddenly remembered what was to happen on that day and she could not let him go without seeing him one more time. She quickly emerged from her bed to dress her naked body so she could rush outside before it was too late. She ran unaware that the soldiers were prepared to leave; they were gathered in the front courtyard, weapons and armour all at the ready. They were to walk through the gates of the palace, through the streets and out of the city, but their beginning was interrupted by the arrival of the princess; she had reached them just in time. She was looking at Perseus and he knew what she was saying; he walked away from the soldiers so he could join her one more time. Her forming tears in her eyes were visible; she gazed at him and he at her for a moment before words were spoken.

"Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?" she asked him.

"I didn't want to wake you," he replied.

Andromeda was holding something in her hand; it was something of hers that she wanted to give him.

"Take this with you so you won't forget me," she said as she put it around his neck, "it's a token of my undying love."

It was one of her many necklaces, but this one was her most favoured and that is why she was giving it to the man who had promised to marry her. Never had Perseus such a gift from the heart; it did indeed charm him.

"Thank you, but I need nothing to remember you by," he told her.

That may have been a fact, but he could not refuse it for it meant he had something of her wherever he went; he promised himself it would never leave his neck. She may have asked him if he was leaving without saying goodbye, but to say the word was much too sorrowful; there was a better way to bid farewell to one another. A tear fell from Andromeda's eye, so Perseus touched her face and wiped it away; it did not stop there for that was when they said goodbye in the best way they could. Their goodbye was in the form of one more kiss, a sight that the soldiers found difficult to take a liking to, especially Draco; he tried to step forward and intervene, only to be stopped by his friend Solon, who had to make him see that there was no point, for the Princess had given her heart to the demigod. The kiss came to an end and the lovers were silent as they looked into each other's eyes for a moment; it was another way of them bidding farewell as they held hands. Perseus had to let his hand slip away from Andromeda's as he was forced to walk away and re-join the soldiers; he re-joined them but before leaving the palace grounds, there was one more deed to be done; he turned back to face the Princess again and this is for the last time before he left to set on the quest to save her. They exchanged gazes again and the deed that he had to do was done, but it was one where words were spoken.

"I love you Andromeda."

His final deed brought some happiness to her and she smiled, but she was still holding grief in her heart over his departure. He smiled at her and his back was shown to her again; he was walking out of the palace grounds with the soldiers as she watched. The people of the city were begging the soldiers to not leave them; they thought they could save them and that is they were pleading with them to stay in Argos, but they were ignored. The soldiers could not stay and neither could Perseus; if they were to save Argos and Andromeda, this was what had to be done.