Jason and Nico decided to visit Dalmatia to see some ghosts. Piper wasn't invited along for this strange quest, and neither was Andy for that matter, but she snuck off after the boys anyway, thinking the Big Three kids together could be an advantage. When Jason took Nico along on a little flying spree though, that was a pain. It wasn't Venice where she could hop on the canal and just go around until she found them. No, she had to fight her way through the crowds here, asking for directions, hoping people understood English.

"I can't imagine how weird that must be, coming from another time." She heard Jason say when she finally caught up, and she immediately quieted her footsteps to spy.

"No, you can't." Nico said, hurt. The years Nico has lost at the Lotus Hotel, all for a prophecy that ended up being about Percy…Andy wanted to reach out to Nico, but she held herself back. The boys headed underground, and Andy hurried after them, making sure to stay out of their line of sight. She followed them until a god showed up, and his words plunged a knife straight into Andy's heart.

"The one you love most…plunged into Tartarus, and still you will not allow the truth?"

Nico's most beloved person…wasn't her? She was so fixated on that, she barely noticed the boys had evaporated into thin air until that god, Favonius, appeared in front of her. "You've got it bad." He shook his head, with Andy shocked into silence. "You can turn back now, or I can transport you to where the boys went. But you won't like the outcome of what you'll find. You obviously can't handle what you've already heard. And some things are better left unknown."

"Did you do something to them? You don't know what I can't handle. Knowledge is power anyway. Take me to them. If you've done something to hurt them-"

"Don't pull your gun, I'll transport you. But don't say I didn't' warn you."

Andy felt like throwing up afterwards, being the wind was not a pleasant experience.

"Nico!" she heard Jason cry out and she immediately peeked around the corner when Favonius had dropped her off, to see Nico, his face tight with pain. The voice toying with the boys was Cupid, and Nico told Cupid that it was him Cupid wanted and to leave Jason out of it.

"Poor Nico di Angelo…" Cupid seemed to laugh at him.

"I've been to Tartarus and back. You don't scare me." Nico called out.

"I scare you very much. Be honest." Cupid told Nico.

"What does this guy want from you?" Jason asked the son of Hades.

"Tell him. Tell him you are a coward, afraid of yourself and your feelings. Tell him the reason you ran from Camp Half-Blood and why you are always alone."

Nico screamed then and Andy scrambled forward, before remembering she was eavesdropping, and she hid again.

"Will you hide among the dead, as you always do?" Cupid teased. Darkness rolled off in waves from Nico, and scared for him, Andy began to inch a tad bit closer when the darkness hit her and she collapsed. She saw images of herself and Nico, him teaching her Mythomagic, seeing for the first time how obvious her crush on him was from the very start, and how oblivious Nico had been. Then the image shifted to the night when everything changed a few months later, on that cliff, Percy shielding the di Angelos and Andy from Dr. Thorn. Then, Andy saw Percy promising Nico to keep Bianca safe if he watched out for Andy in return. Nico's feelings overwhelmed Andy. He had seen Percy as a true hero. T was Mythomagic brought to life. Suddenly, Percy was telling Nico that Bianca was dead, and Nico had unleashed his power, but still refused to hurt Percy, and he ran. Scenes in the Labyrinth, all the way to Percy falling into Tartarus flashed through her eyes, all from Nico's perspective.

And it dawned on her by how she was seen in these visions, that Nico didn't feel the same way about her that she did for him. He'd tried, but she'd always be that friend, and she'd especially always be Percy Jackson's little sister.

"I left Camp Half-Blood because of love." Nico whispered, and Andy's knees buckled as she stood. Favonius had been right. Some things were better left not known.

"And so you run away again. From your friends, from yourself." Cupid chided.

"I don't have friends! I left Camp because I don't belong! I never will!"

"Leave him alone, Cupid." Jason muttered.

"I wasn't in love with Annabeth." Nico's voice was broken glass. Jason caught on faster than Andy did.

"You were jealous of her. But what about Andy?" Jason asked.

Nico sighed and Andy stood in the corner, hidden from sight, not sure if she could listen to anymore. "I hated myself. I hated Percy Jackson. She looks so much like him…she looked up to him with wide eyes, because he was her savior. He still is. She'd do anything for her brother. She liked me, and I tried…I just couldn't return her feelings. I wish I could, I've tried so many times to, but I can't. I run away because I'm scared. And because Andy deserves some happiness, I can't take that away. If I stuck around for too long, she'd catch on. I can only pretend for so long. If she knew…" he swallowed and Andy felt her heart shattering into a million pieces. "I promised Percy I'd protect her, and that's what I'm doing. I had a crush on Percy. That's the big secret."

That was the final nail in the coffin. Tears streamed silently down Andy's face as Cupid said, "I wouldn't say love always makes you happy. Sometimes it makes you incredibly sad."

Nico and Jason shadow-traveled out of there, leaving Andy there alone to weep, coming out from her hiding place.

"Love hurts, I know." Cupid sounded from behind her and Andy immediately went on her guard. She tried to retort, but no words came out, and her gun clattered noisily to the marble floor.

"Sometimes it's better being ignorant about love." Cupid told her gently and she tried to tell him to get away but it came out sounding like a croak.

"I want to go home." She finally managed and Cupid replied. "But which home? Camp Half-Blood? New York? Florida? That ship? No matter your path, you will lose your loved ones somehow, someway."

"I need to get back to ship. I'm not supposed to be here." She rasped, her heart, her mind, both numb from aching.

"Very well. 'll have Favonius transport you. But be prepare to lose the people you love most along your journey, Andromeda Prince-Jackson." He touched her forehead and she saw faces flash by- Pollux, Percy, Nico, Connor, Travis, Bianca, Luke, Sally, her biological mom, Leo, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Annabeth, and Frank. People she cared about. People she'd lost, and people soon to lose.

Next thing she knew, she was in Percy's room on the Argo II. And Gaea was back.

"So you saw it. Just how far Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo have both fallen. Percy has been hit by every curse ever made against him, and he'll die very soon. Cupid showed you all you have to lose. I could take away the pain of losing so many. Even the losses of your most loved. Does it pain you to know Nico's heart never really belonged to you?"

"Shut up Gaea. What will it take for you to get out of my head?" she asked quietly, afraid, regressing into the shy little girl she'd been before she'd met Percy.

"Andromeda, darling, but I can erase your pain. I can even bring back your mother when I rule. All you need to do is join me."

Andy knew Gaea was evil. Obviously. But she couldn't say she wasn't tempted. Andy didn't want to ache anymore. Her whole life had been a giant tragedy, one bad thing happening after another. She felt a tug somewhere in her mind, pulling her towards Gaea's offer.

"This is predestined, isn't it? Joining you? It's my fate. You've been telling me for months I'd pick your side…"

"But yet you tried to run. Stop, and accept it. I can make all the bad things disappear. Percy's death, Nico's betrayal…nothing will hurt you again. Join me, and I will make sure you are never left behind, never neglected, never ignored, ever again. You will never know the feeling of crushing, overwhelming loneliness that you have always felt. Join. Me."

A part of Andy screamed at her, telling it was a grave mistake, and that Percy would be fine, just like he always ended up being. But she'd always done the so-called right thing and was always burned it seemed. Gaea knew how to make her tic. And suddenly, the answer was clear.

"I'm in."

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