"Nico, you're tired. You can't shadow travel right now." Andy sighed. They had almost fallen into a volcano. It was thanks to Reyna that they'd crashed into the ancient ruins of Pompeii instead. He'd collapsed afterwards, and had needed unicorn draught. Not even ambrosia would have helped him, that's how bad it was. And it frightened her.
"And—" he began but she pressed a finger to his lips.
"Sleep." She barked. He didn't need a second urging. He was snoring within minutes. Andy watched him as Hedge and Reyna talked a few yards away. She smiled softly. She could see the Mythomagic-loving little boy she'd fallen for four years ago in that peaceful, resting face. "I thought you were gone forever." She murmured. Glad to see there was still a trace left behind.
Andy was too scared to fall asleep herself. That was when Gaea appeared to her—in her dreams. And she didn't want to start hearing about her missions to sabotage her friends. Though, she was not the only one with secrets.
Arriving in Puerto Rico opened the door to many of those—small ones, such as Nico's zombie chauffeur, to big ones, such as Reyna's patricide. And Gaea saw an opening and took it.
"They don't trust you. They're hiding more. Find out their weaknesses and snuff them out before they utterly betray you." She hissed in Andy's head.
"Well, look what I've found." She heard aloud. She spun around to see a brash-looking guy sporting a Roman camp tattoo and purple shirt.
"Bryce." Reyna growled. A lackey to Octavian.
"What a pretty asset you're dragging around these days." Bryce said, looking at Andy. "It was so easy to find you guys. Pluto's kid reeks of death and the saltwater smell was distinguishable from miles away. No wonder the monsters always destroy the Big Three kids—they smell so bad!" Bryce looked ready to high five himself for saying such a terrible joke.
"Nico, take Andy and flee! I'll fight him." Reyna said, stepping in front. Andy looked to her ex, and saw how badly he was smoking. Another jump so soon between the Pompeii and Puerto Rico stops… Nico surely wouldn't survive this next one.
"I'll fight him." Andy offered.
Bryce laughed. "Leave this to the Romans, weakling."
Then, without warning, a wave of pain and suffering was released upon the whole scene. Nico. Andy never fell over from the pain, but looked over to see him chanting something. Thirty seconds later, Bryce was dead and Nico was unconscious.
"Nico!" Andy screamed and ran to him, ignoring the lingering ache in her sides. She pulled her mouth into a grimace as she dropped to her knees at his side. Unicorn draught, nectar...it was barely enough. He was practically comatose for days.
"You can take a break, Andy. Get some sleep." Reyna offered after 30 hours or so.
Andy shook her head as she sat beside Nico's makeshift bed, watching him. "I need to be here when he wakes up. I can't leave him." Inside, an inner voice, partly Gaea and partly herself, was telling her not to trust Reyna, the Roman, with her best friend's life. "He'll wake up. He has to." She whispered to herself. Reyna put a hand on her shoulder. "I got this, don't worry. You're no use to the team half-dead because of sleep deprivation."
The daughter of Poseidon shook off the praetor's grip on her. "I said I'm fine." She thought Reyna would take the hint, back off, and go away. Much to her surprise, Reyna sat down beside her. Andy looked away, too ashamed to let the older girl see her face.
"I know how it feels. To love someone so much, it kills you. To lose yourself in attempting to care for them. And then you slightly resent them, because they never seem to care as much. I know you're worried about him."
Andy fixed her gaze on Nico. All she could hear was Gaea's threats echoing in her head. She couldn't trust Reyna, this was an attempt to unlock the key to Andy's weaknesses. So, she lied.
She stood up and faced away from the group as she spoke. "You don't know me. Nico is not like Jason in the way of their relationships with us."
"And-"
"Admit it," Andy spat, turning her head to glare at the Roman. "You look at me and see a pathetic version of yourself. You look at me and cannot see Andromeda Prince; you just see Percy Jackson's little sister."
"I-"
"You want to watch him so badly? Fine. But when I come back, you better be ready to get out of my way, because that boy there has been my best friend longer than either of us met any demigods or knew who we really were. And you're right—I'm worried about him. And I will tear down anyone who tries to separate us. Where you're wrong—he would go to the moon and back for me as well. We are not the kiddie versions of you and Jason, so shut up, and let me do what I'm good at—being there for the people I love most."
Andy took off for the nearest beach to walk into the ocean and clear her head.
"Excellent work." She heard Gaea say.
"Not now." Andy sighed. "Just leave me in piece for one night."
Reyna apologized the next morning, and Andy politely accepted it. "Our differences can simmer in the back of our minds for now. What's important is getting the statue to camp, and Nico waking up."
He eventually did. But not until the day before the attack on the camp.
"You're not shadow traveling again. We need to find another way. I won't lose you." Andy argued with Nico, who was struggling to get up and prepare to move again.
"Andy, we wasted so much time. There's no other way!" he shot back.
Then, something amazing happened in the middle of the argument. Pegasus came to the rescue.
"Wow, the original Pegasus!" Andy got up, starstruck, leaving Nico behind, completely forgetting what she'd been about to retort. "What an honor!" she cried, running to the creature.
The horse whinnied. "Guys, Pegasus is going to take us to camp!" Andy exclaimed. Gaea was strangely silent. Andy took it as a bad sign, but smiled at the prospect of getting to camp on-time without losing her friend. Other horses joined them…including Blackjack (who ended up taking Reyna).
Upon arrival, they were greeted by Tyson and Ella. They were busy talking down the Romans from fighting. Meanwhile, Andy went off in search of Blackjack and Reyna. She swore she heard him whinny in the distance, by the beach. The horse was gravely injured, and she sprinted over, thinking only of Percy's face if she would have to tell him that his pegasus had died. Reyna meanwhile, faced off against Orion. Andy paid no attention to Reyna, sure the girl could handle it herself. But she needed to help the horse.
Then, Gaea roared after the long silence. She had never ordered Andy around, only planting seeds of doubt within the girl's mind...until now. "Go fight, be my double agent. Kill both sides, make it look real. Otherwise I'll have Orion focus his attention on you instead. And I'll have him break that animal like a twig."
"I can't find any nectar for Blackjack." Andy cried, ignoring Gaea.
"NOW." Gaea thundered, and Andy twitched as she lost control of her own body. She ceased to weep and stood, heading into the battlefield, abandoning the horse and Reyna. Anyone in her way—Greek or Roman—she shot them down with her gun. Whether the shots were fatal or not, she didn't know. She just kept going, like a tank.
"Andy, there you are! Nico said you disappeared once you guys got here. You're not hurt, are you?" she heard someone call to her. Percy. It was Percy. And his windswept hair was tousled and his face looked like it had seen better days. But that wasn't the issue. The issue was that he was coming her way.
She could barely speak, but she managed to widen her eyes and shout, "Stay away Percy. I don't want to hurt you." Her arms moved robotically, she held her gun in her hands tighter than she'd ever held her mom's hand at the aquarium as a baby. Tighter than she had ever grasped the remote control when she and Percy fought over it.
He stepped closer. "Andy, you're my baby sister. As if I'm going to leave you unprotected in the middle of this mess. Gaea could be anywhere, we need to stick together."
Andy shakily raised her gun, tears streaming down her face. "I don't want to hurt you." She sobbed. "I just got you back from Tartarus."
His eyes widened. "Andy, what—" he began, but he never finished the sentence. Andy screamed in pain, a shot went off, and the gun dropped from her hands to the ground. "Andromeda!" Percy yelled, pulling out Riptide. He stabbed the Roman that had caught Andy off-guard and caught Andy as she wobbled and fell to the grassy ground. Then, just above their heads, an explosion went off. "Leo!" the Poseidon kids could hear Jason wail from yards away.
Percy looked back down at his sister. Leo may be injured or worse, but right now, he needed to save her. He picked her up and began to run towards the infirmary, hoping Will Solace would be there with nectar and ambrosia.
"Percy." Andy moaned, a weak lump of flesh in his arms. "I'm sorry." She croaked. "Gaea—"
"Not now. Explain when you're better. I understand." He promised. She smiled, and drowsily mentioned napping, but Percy shook her awake every time. "You're not dying on me. Not today."
Next thing she knew, she was lying in a cot in the infirmary. She sat up to see Nico and Will sitting close by. There were no more pounding headaches, no more dreams of Gaea she realized. So that meant…
"Andy, you're awake." Nico smiled. Then his face fell.
"You have to tell her," Will murmured.
"Tell me what?" Andy asked, sitting up weakly, grimacing at the pain she still felt in her abdomen. Oh god, was Percy alright? Had she hurt him? It was all foggy.
The boys looked at each other before Nico sat down beside her and said, "Leo is dead."
Everything was suddenly a world away from Andy; the voices were background noise. All the explanations meant nothing. He sacrificed himself, killed Gaea, blah blah…but he was gone. Leo was gone.
Andy would sit in Blackjack's stable as she got better. The two, both wounded, both hurt, were united in their pain. The Romans were friendly now, so what? Nico came to camp regularly now…which was nice, but not enough to hurt the ache of losing her other friend. Percy found her there one evening.
"I had a feeling you'd be here." He said as he settled down on the hay beside her.
She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I thought you were getting ready to go to the Roman camp with Annabeth?"
"I came to check on you. I'm not going anywhere so long as you still need me."
"Percy, I don't—" she began to roll her eyes but he stopped her.
"We all still miss Leo. What I'm saying is, you're not alone. No matter what Gaea told you. You're not."
"Guess I can't get rid of you that easily, huh?"
"Nope." Percy smirked.
"Damn, and I was so looking forward to not having to share the remote control." Andy grinned.
The pair laughed. "Promise me you won't ever leave like Leo did." Andy whispered.
Percy looked towards his sister. "Promise."
"Now, is your stomach okay? Those bullets are the best, you know. I'm pretty proud of that gun." She said, touching her necklace.
"It was just a graze. Nothing major. I'm just glad you're okay." He grinned. "Mom would've killed me if I came home without you."
The pair then watched the sunset from the stable windows, united in the fact that they would always have each other. No matter what. Andy looked at him, knowing she had found her family. She had found her home. So, she closed her eyes as she laid her head on her brother's shoulder, and smiled.
A/N: This is rushed, but I forgot about it all year what with college apps and grad and stuff, but it was going to eat away at me if I never finished it. So here's the conclusion to Andy's story. I hope you liked it!
