Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson books, characters, series, movies, or anything else you may recognize.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It's A Trap

Andee dug around in her bag, taking out her dagger and bow and arrows. She also took out a label with the Camp's address and she slicked it onto her bag. She dropped a few drachmas onto it and it disappeared, being sent to camp.

"It's my signal for Annabeth to call Val and let her know what's going on," Andee explained. "I don't need everything in my bag anyways – it's just extra weight."

I helped her onto the back of Blackjack behind Beckendorf before hopping up myself, wrapping my arms around her midsection. Blackjack circled higher and higher, the beach below us becoming a speck as we flew into the sky. By the time we spotted the Princess Andromeda, it was already getting dark. The Princess Andromeda was a huge cruise ship lit up with yellow and white. The only thing that separated it from a normal, mortal cruise ship was the figurehead – a dark-haired girl in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains and looking horrified at whatever was about to attack her. That was the original Andromeda.

"I hate what he named the boat," Andee said, a shiver running down her spine as she held my hands a little tighter. "It's just adding insult to injury." I hated this ship too – I had almost died on it twice already, and now it was heading towards my home to destroy it.

"You both know what to do?" Beckendorf shouted over the wind, looking back at us. We both nodded. There wouldn't be a lot of time to do what we needed to, and in the best case scenario we got in, planted the bombs, jumped off the boat and got a quarter mile away before detonating. That was if everything went according to plan, but whenever I was involved, the plan never went smoothly.

"Blackjack, set us down on the lowest stern deck," I told the black Pegasus.

Gotcha, boss, Blackjack said as he started descending. Man I hate seeing that boat.

Luke and his cronies had enslaved Blackjack and several other pegasi on the Princess Andromeda, but Annabeth and I had freed them a few years ago.

"Don't wait for us," I also told the Pegasus.

But boss –

"Trust me," I said. "We'll get ourselves out."

Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat. The wind whistled in my ears as we flew down and I saw the boat was full of dracaenae, hellhounds, giants and telekhines patrolling the upper decks of the boat. No one raised the alarm, so no one must've seen us.

I climbed off, feeling a little queasy as I have Andee my hand to help her off. I knew she didn't need the help, but I liked doing it anyways.

Blackjack bid us farewell and wished us good luck before zooming off into the night. As I reached into my pocket for Riptide, I noticed Beckendorf take out a piece of paper. When it was unfolded, I saw it was a picture of Silena. They must've said their goodbyes earlier, but I could understand wanting to see her face before going into this.

I looked at Andee and her mind must have been going a mile per minute, because she has completely zoned out. "Hey," I said softly and she looked up, attempting to smile but failing. "You okay?"

"This boat just gives me a bad feeling," Andee said quietly. I knew she was lying. There was something else bothering her, but I didn't know what it was. Chances were that even if I pressed her, she still wouldn't tell me.

She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug and I hugged her back, the warmth of her body spreading through my own. I took in everything about her, savoring every little quirky detail, just in case something happened to me. "Please be careful," Andee whispered, her voice cracking a little. She pulled back a little so she could press her lips t mine in a soft kiss.

"You're going to make it back to camp," I said seriously, looking in her eyes. "We're all going to make it back to camp."

She nodded and Beckendorf said, "Let's go blow Kronos all the way back to last Tuesday."

Beckendorf led the way down a narrow corridor that had a service stairwell at the end of it. I heard voices above us and immediately recognized them as telekhines. One of them was telling his buddies he smelled half-blood, which made all three of us freeze. Its companions told him that was ridiculous and that every other time he had smelled half-blood, it had been all sorts of snacks. As they continued to argue, Andee put a finger to her lips, signaling for us to be as quiet as possible before pointing to the stairs and then pointing down.

Beckendorf and I nodded before the three of us headed downstairs. I was careful to walk on the balls of my feet to make sure my sneakers didn't squeak as I walked. Once we had gone down two flights of stairs, the arguing voices faded. We were all relieved by that.

We came to a metal hatch and Beckendorf turned around and mouthed 'engine room' and pointed to the lock. That was one of the things Andee was perfectly suited for. She walked over and wrapped her free hand around the lock, melting it into a pool of silver on the ground. She slowly opened the door, not making a sound.

As the door opened, I saw rows upon rows of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churning and humming, pressure gauges and computer terminals lining the opposite wall. A telekhine was hunched over one of the consoles but was so involved in whatever he was doing that he didn't seem to notice our presence.

Andee padded in behind it and when she was a couple feet away, the creature tensed. It suddenly leapt towards the alarm, but Andee was a lot faster. She grabbed it by the collar of its shirt and threw it to the ground, slicing its neck with her dagger. It exploded into a pile of golden dust.

"That was violent," I said and Andee rolled her eyes at me before we all started unloading the jars of Greek fire from Beckendorf's bag. When Andee was sure neither of us were going to spontaneously combust, she moved over to the doorway to stand guard and keep an eye on the time. Beckendorf and I duck-taped the jars to the consoles and the turbines. The room became extremely hot, extremely fast, and the only one who wasn't drenched in sweat or at all affected by the heat was Andee. She looked just as good and put together as she had when we had first gotten on the boat.

Everyone froze when we heard feet pounding on the metal steps above us, meaning some of Kronos' lackeys were coming down to the engines. We all looked at each other in panic and I was the one to ask the question on all of our minds. "How long?"

"Too long," Beckendorf said. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. I need ten more minutes, at the very least."

"Well, we've got maybe a few seconds," Andee said. "Quick change – Charles, you keep working on the charges and finish as soon as possible. Percy and I will lead them as far away from here as possible. Meet us at the rendezvous point as soon as you're done."

"You're not going up there," I said to Andee. "It's too risky. If he's there –"

"If he's there, we improvise. This is too important to mess up because of me," Andee said. "We're going up there, and we're going to be a distraction. Together. You're not going up there without me."

I sighed. There was no point wasting any more time arguing – I knew there was no way Andee would budge on this. Our plan had been to get in and out without getting spotted, and now we had to improvise. I did not like improvising. "Wish us luck," I said to Beckendorf.

"Good luck," Beckendorf said, and he sounded just as grave as I had. That was always comforting.

"Let's go," Andee said, grabbing my hand and closing the door behind us as we ran away from the engine room. We sprinted up the stairs, running into a group of about a dozen telekhines. We immediately started slicing through them, making an unspoken agreement to leave one. That way he could raise the alarm and follow us, rather than go to the engine room.

We reached deck six and kept running until we got to the promenade deck which was like a giant shopping mall taking up the entire middle of the ship. We balked slightly when she saw that in the middle of the courtyard there was a giant crab with pincers longer than my entire body standing in the fountain. Its black beady eyes glared at me like it knew exactly who I was.

"I'll distract it, you kill it. Preferably before it kills me and I have to regenerate, please," Andee said. Before I could stop her, she charged ahead singing 'Under the Sea' at the top of her lungs to get its attention. I shook my head a little at my crazy girlfriend and followed her, lunging at the crap and trying to run Riptide through it. That…didn't work. It was like the thing was made out of metal.

"There! Intruders!"

"Percy!" Andee yelled sternly as she did some sort of crab dance around the deck, getting the crab to follow her. I seriously wondered what went through her mind at times.

I suddenly remembered something Paul had told me when we'd gone crabbing at my cabin. To kill a crab, you had to stab it in the chink in its armor, which was right in the middle of their stomachs.

I looked at the fountain and felt a pulling sensation in my stomach. Within seconds the fountain exploded, spraying water everywhere. I went charging towards the crab, screaming at the top of my lungs before sliding under it like a baseball player sliding to home base and thrusted Riptide into the chink.

The monster crab shuddered and hissed before its eyes dissolved. The shell turned bright red and soon the entire thing evaporated, leaving just a husk of a shell.

Andee ran over to me, kind of resembling a drowned rat as she wrung out her soaking hair and gave me a dirty look. "Sorry," I said sheepishly. I had forgotten that she didn't automatically dry when it was dark out.

We ran to the nearest set of stairs and as we ran, Andee seemed to notice that I wasn't carrying Riptide anymore, so she handed over her dagger. "I can't leave you without a weapon," I said, trying to give it back to her.

"I am a weapon," Andee said and I gave her a look. "Take it – I still have my bow and arrows." She reached behind her and unhooked her bow from her body. It shimmered for a moment before changing into a crossbow. I wrapped my hands around the hilt of the dagger, having to remind myself that it was much smaller than a sword.

When we got to deck eight, we ran into a couple of dracaenae, who immediately recognized us. They exchanged smiles before one said, "What isss thisssss? A prize for Kronosssss?"

"Screw that," Andee muttered before shooting one in the heart with an arrow, immediately dissolving it into dust. I tried to use the dagger to stab the other, but it didn't get all the way through, so we had to keep running.

"Get them!"

An arrow whizzed past me and got stuck in the mahogany-paneled wall behind us. It was so close that I actually felt it fly past my hair. Andee immediately turned and shot the shooter with one of her own arrows, but she didn't miss like he had.

We had to keep moving up to keep them away from Beckendorf. As we went up yet another stairwell, a kid charged down sluggishly, as if he had just woken up. His armor was half on and he drew his sword, yelling "Kronos!" He sounded more scared than angry, and he must've only been about twelve years old, younger than I was when I first found out I was a half-blood.

Andee threw him up against the wall, elbowing him in the stomach before holding her crossbow to his neck. "Andee!" I yelled at her.

She ignored me. "Are you willing to die for this cause?" she demanded. The kid quivered. "Are you?"

"N-no," he stuttered, probably scared out of his mind.

"Then get as far away from this boat as you can and bring any other demigods who might feel the same as you," she said. "Get off the boat and pray to the gods for forgiveness. Do you understand me?"

He nodded and Andee shoved him down the stairs to get him on his way.

We ran past the cafeteria and burst onto the main deck, just off port bow. The sky was pure black now, and the swimming pool was glowing between two glass towers with balconies and a restaurant deck. The whole upper deck was eerily deserted. We needed to get to the other side to get to the helipad where we would jump into the sea, detonating the explosives from a quarter mile away.

"You're late, Percy," Luke said, standing on the balcony above us in jeans, a white t-shirt and flip flops. He looked like an average college student – or, he would if not for his solid gold eyes.

Andee cursed loudly and shut her eyes at the same time I slapped my hands over her eyes, just to be extra sure they were protected. I held her as close to me as I could because I needed to protect her. He was not going to take her from me. "We've been expecting the two of you for days now. Come bow before me."

"Screw you," Andee spat at him. Actually, she didn't say 'screw'. It was a much nastier word that I didn't care to repeat.

Laistrygonians appeared on both sides of the swimming pool like they had been waiting for this, all of them holding spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke and hellhounds leapt down from the opposite balcony and snarled at us. Andee jolted and I held her even tighter.

I knew right away that this had been a trap. There was no way we could be in this position unless they had known we were coming. And honestly, I was terrified. A part of me reminded myself that I was going to have to fight him eventually, so why not now?

"Come forward if you dare," Luke said. The crowd of monsters parted like the Red Sea.

"I'll be okay," she whispered, taking a few steps behind me, keeping a hand on my beck. That way no one would be able to attack either of us from behind, and she was less likely to look at Luke. Some part of me hoped she still had her eyes closed and as talented as she was, I knew she wasn't willing to take the chance of someone attacking one of us because her eyes were closed.

I walked towards Luke and I felt Riptide return to my pocket. I took it out and unsheathed it, handing Andee's dagger back to her. We immediately started fighting, Andee taking on every other monster on the shop while I dealt with the most powerful one – Kronos.

As I charged towards him, I suddenly felt like I was running in slow motion. The monsters surrounding him laughed and I knew Kronos was doing something to me. I had to fight back. I had to do something. I summoned the ocean, feeling that same pulling sensation behind my naval like I had before. The whole boat lurched sideways as four thousand gallons of salt water came flooding out of the swimming pool and doused everyone on the deck. Luckily, it had gotten me out of the spell just like I had hoped.

I charged and my sword immediately met his in battle. He swung and I could only deflect it. I remember when I was on one of my quests that a telekhine had said that the blade could sever your soul with just one touch. I couldn't let that happen, so when he swung the scythe at me, I deflected it as best as I could, but it still grazed my arm. It really shouldn't have hurt that much, but it felt like my arm was going to fall off. I had to switch Riptide to my left hand. I tried uselessly to strike him again, but my sword bounced of him as if he were made of titanium. Or he was a crab in disguise. I doubted that last option, though.

"A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay," Kronos laughed.

My vision started to blur from the force of the impact. "Luke had a big head, but at least it was his head."

"Such a shame to kill you before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I'm going to destroy Olympus."

"Too bad this boat isn't getting anywhere near Manhattan," Andee said, her eyes closed as she let flames appear in her hands.

"Now now, Andromeda," he said. She tensed when he said her full name. There were very few people in the world who were told what her name really was, and Kronos and Luke definitely weren't among Andee's confidantes. "Not only will you kill everyone on the boat, but you'll kill your boyfriend and your little friend with the explosives." He paused and her flames diminished when she fully comprehended what he had said. He had Beckendorf. Andee moved backwards until her back was right against mine, her free arm hooking around my stomach. I laced my fingers with hers, relishing the feeling.

"Percy, you're hurt," Andee said quietly, and before I could say anything, she started whispering an Ancient Greek song and the pain in my arm started to fade.

Her grip on my hand loosened a little. "Stay with me, Glow Worm. I need you."

I felt her nod and she squeezed my hand.

"Nakamura!"

Ethan Nakamura walked out, followed by two giants that were restraining Beckendorf. Charles had a black eye and cuts all over his body.

"Success, my lord. We found him just as we were told." Beckendorf met my eyes and glanced down at his hand. I looked down and saw that he still had his watch.

He still had his watch.

His watch was the detonator.

"We found him amidships trying to sneak in to the engine room."

"Are you certain he didn't set the explosives?"

"Er…he was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives," Ethan said nervously.

I had to hold back my smile when I realized that Beckendorf had fooled them. When he realized that he was going to be captured, he turned around to make it look like he was going the other way. That meant that the Greek fire might still be primed.

"Open his bag." One of the giants ripped open Beckendorf's bag and a dozen cans of peaches came tumbling out. Kronos wasn't nearly as cocky now. "Did you, perhaps, capture this demigod near the galley?"

"Um –"

"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"

Ethan bolted in the opposite direction, and I wasn't sure if he was actually going to check the engine room or if he was going to find somewhere to hide. Either way, someone would go down there and disarm out bombs. I looked at Beckendorf and tried to mentally ask how long it would take to detonate the bombs. He made a circular shape with his thumb and index finger. The timer had no delay.

"You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson," Kronos said as if he were hosting a dinner party with bad catering staff. "But it doesn't matter. We have you and Andromeda now. We've known you were coming for weeks."

"He has a spy at camp," Andee said slowly as Kronos revealed a silver bracelet with a scythe charm on it to me. She couldn't see it but she understood what he meant. The charm must have been a communication device at camp.

"You can't count on friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way," Kronos said. That wasn't true. True friends were always there for you, no matter what. That was what friends were all about, and Luke had that with Annabeth and Thalia. And he would have had it with me. "Now drop your sword and come bow before me or your friend dies."

One of the giants had a hand around Beckendorf's neck. I could feel Andee nod her head against me and suddenly I was confused. Why was she nodding? What was going on?

When Beckendorf started to bring his hand up to his watch, I knew in an instant what he was doing but couldn't stop him. Andee had grabbed me and forced me towards the edge of the boat. I managed to throw my sword at Kronos as we ran.

"I love you so much, Percy Jackson. You have to end this," Andee said, kissing me. "I love you."

"I love you too, Andee, let's go." Just as I jumped off the boat, someone shot an arrow and hit me in the thigh. Andee was just as protective as her loved ones as I was, so she spun around to confront the attacker. She couldn't be hurt by fire anyways.

Her body went stone still and I realized why she had said what she said.

"Andee! ANDEE!" I shouted, but she didn't acknowledge me. She lowered her crossbow, her dagger still tucked into the back of her shorts. She started walking towards Kronos and when I saw the color of her eyes, I felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest. They were pure gold.

The boat exploded in a giant fireball of green flame, and before I could try to get back on board to get Andee back, I passed out.