Chapter 14: I Value Friendship More Than Advice

(Andi)

I couldn't believe Zoë didn't want Peter to go on the quest with us! Her reasoning was total tommyrot! If Nico and Grover were allowed to go, why couldn't Peter?!

Instead, Bianca had been chosen. Peter was worth a zillion Biancas. Even Thalia was worth at least ten Biancas. Drew was worth like five Biancas and a half and Grover…

Maybe a Bianca and a third?

What about Nico? It was hard to say. Nico might not like the comparison. He was definitely worth more than a Peter but less than a Luke.

I frowned.

Was there a big enough number in the universe to quantify how many Biancas added up to a Luke? Maybe, if I converted Biancas into Peters, I would come up with a suitable number. How many Peters did it take to make a Luke? A few thousand or maybe just a few hundred. I did like Peter, but…

"Are you even listening, Andromeda?"

I looked up and saw Chiron piercing me with his gaze. He had been talking to me for over 16 minutes and we were now walking around the beach.

"I'm sorry, Chiron," I apologized contritely. "I got a little distracted."

"That won't do, Andromeda. You must focus," he advised sagely.

I nodded and tried my best to look sorry. It was hard because I didn't want to be here. During the meeting, I had wanted to protest Zoë's choice, but stupid Mr. D. had stopped me from speaking up like he often did.[1] And then, after the meeting, when Peter skedaddled swifter than a common swift, Chiron had stopped me from skedaddling after him.[2]

Apparently, Chiron had some very valuable advice he needed to impart to me right now. The advice was so valuable that it had taken him more than a kilosecond to explain it and I was growing antsy.[3]

Chiron sighed, sagely. "Very well, I will try to summarize," he summarized sagely, "I understand you miss Luke, but you can't let that dictate your every action."

I blinked. I hadn't been thinking about Luke. I had been thinking about Peter and how he compared to Luke which was totally different of course.

"I can see you do not comprehend me."

"I don't," I admitted confusedly. It wasn't like Chiron to talk about Luke. The two had been close before I came to camp, but nowadays the centaur acted like Luke didn't exist.

Chiron sighed again and I knew I had disappointed him. I felt bad as Chiron advised, wisely, "Peter Johnson may one day be a great hero, but he is not Luke."

"I know," I said, knowingly. Obviously, one Peter was not enough, but how many Peters would it take? Probably several hundred. Like maybe 694 Peters? Or no, 832? Perhaps 777.6? Though maybe I shouldn't use decimals. That just tangled an already…

"Do you, Andromeda?" Chiron eyed me, sagely.

I nodded. Though I had lost track of the question. Quantifying the value of my friends was really hard.[4] Chiron wouldn't understand. I didn't think he had many friends.

"Good," he approved, wisely. "Because Mr. D. and I have been worried about you."

My eyebrows came together. "Mr. D? Worried? About me?" He didn't even call me by the right name. He was one of the few people I knew who might be worth less than a Bianca.

"Well, not in so many words," Chiron amended sagely, "but yes. With the great prophecy coming, all the gods are watching you closely. It is my hope that you will be ready when the time comes. That is why I have permitted you to go on quest after quest."

I nodded. He had said as much last summer before Luke had disappeared.[5]

"And it is also why you must be careful about the friends you choose, especially with this quest. It is of a delicate nature and Zoë and Bianca will need to have the best campers around them to help them succeed in recovering Artemis. Do you understand?"

"Of course," I said, decisively. Although I was friendly with all the boys at camp. I didn't try to be close friends with every guy who wrote me a love letter. There were way too many.

Nico and I were good friends of course. Grover was one of Luke's best friends so he was allowed to be in my presence.[6] And Peter…well he was the son of Poseidon. I liked him despite his rough ways and his many, many faults and he needed me more than anyone, even Grover.

"I am glad you understand," Chiron said as he gave me an enigmatic sage smile. "I may not always understand prophecies like some of my brothers, but I am sure you are meant for greatness Andromeda." [7]

I smiled back at him. I had made him happy.

"Now, I have given you much to contemplate before your quest tomorrow. I will leave you to it," he said and he galloped away, sagely.[8]

I watched him go and was about to leave the beach myself when I heard a sound.

"MooooOooo?"

I turned and was surprised to see a familiar face in the water.

"Oliver?" [9]

The cute sea-cow with its large eyes and gentle features looked up at me.

"How did you get here? Did you swim all this way just to see me?" I cooed.

"MOooo. MooOOoo."

"It's good to see you too," I cooed again as I reached out and petted its smooth skin.

Oliver closed his eyes and mooed some more.

As I petted the cutie patootie, I thought long and hard about what Chiron said.

I did miss Luke.

A lot.

More than a Luke's worth of Biancas.

There was a constant ache in my chest because of his absence. Every day I searched for him and yet I had found diddly-squat after all these months. If I thought this quest would help me find him, that wouldn't be a distraction.

It would be the bees' knees!

But we were going to find Artemis and Luke wasn't Artemis. And a single Peter certainly didn't equal a Luke. So, as with a lot of invaluable advice, Chiron's made less sense than a silver dollar.

At least I understood Chiron's other piece of sage advice about friends. It was important to go questing with people with experience and people who you could trust. Thus, it was clear as crystal what needed to happen.

Chiron had literally told me that he wanted me to add Peter to the quest without telling me to do it, by saying stuff like Peter would probably be a great hero one day and that great heroes like me and Peter needed to go on quests. So, that meant I needed to kick Grover out of our group. After Bianca, who I couldn't get rid of, Grover was the weakest link.

It was such a relief.

Peter would be a lot more useful than Grover. Peter actually spent his time training and he wasn't always messing up, pretending to understand emotions, or getting himself captured and forcing his friends to risk life and limb to save him.[10] Plus, between me, Nico, and Peter, we'd have a kid from each of the Big Three on this quest.[11]

Together we would be worth a bazillion Biancas.

I smiled. "Me and my friends are going to save a goddess," I told the sea-cow.

"Mooo?"

"I know! I'm full of beans just thinking about it," I said, excitedly. "We're going to have the bestest time ever![12] I can't wait to tell Peter the good news."

I patted the cutie pie and said, "I'll see you later, Oliver. I've got to go."

Oliver seemed to understand because he mooed a goodbye as I ran towards camp. I had the biggest smile on my face. It was finally time to get rid of Grover.

Footnotes

[1] This must have happened 'off screen'. We didn't hear a word from Andi or Mr. D. during that meeting but Peter was understandably pretty distracted.

[2] A common swift is a type of bird. It can fly faster than 68 mph or 110 km/h.

[3] One kilosecond is 1000 seconds or 16 minutes and 40 seconds.

[4] How many Peters does it take to make a Castellan called Luke? The world may never know.

But seriously, don't try to quantify the value of your friends in terms of Biancas, Peters, or any other measurement.

[5] In the Sea of Monsters fic, when Thalia had complained about Andi getting yet another quest, Chiron had told Thalia that Andi was special and destined for greatness and thus she deserved and required more quests than Thalia. After that, Thalia had challenged Andi to a duel for the quest which Thalia predictably lost.

[6] And so, Andi finally admits it. Grover is really Luke's best friend (after Annabeth) and that is why Andi keeps the satyr around. Lord knows it's not because Andi likes him.

[7] Mars is bright tonight.

[8] Chiron is so wise and knowing that he even moves sagely…I guess?

[9] Oliver aka Bessie showed up in the Sea of Monsters fic. He saved Andi and Nico from the sirens.

[10] Grover did mess up a lot in the Lightning Thief fic. Most notably: He almost got Andi killed before she got to camp. He told Andi to trust Aphrodite and Annabeth. He cockblocked Andi multiple times as she tried to romance Luke. He also had to be dragged out of the Lotus Hotel and then he wanted to kick Nico and Bianca out of the group because they smelled like death. And finally, he was held hostage by Aphrodite during the big confrontation at the end. As for the kidnapping, she's talking about Sea of Monsters though the hostage situation from Lightning Thief could also work. The middle accusation is trickier. It might just be untrue, although it could also be a reference to the fact that if Grover could sense emotions, he should have picked up on Andi's dislike of him a long time ago. However, despite their empathy link, Grover hasn't noticed a thing.

[11] I suspect she intentionally forgot Bianca.

[12] Considering what happened last quest, Andi's optimism might seem out of place. Personally, I think she's just trying to psych herself up.