A/N: Today the PJO TV show premieres so as promised here's another chapter of Sue's Curse!
42 = I'm Cursed[1]
(Andromeda)
Peter, Zoë, and Bianca were chitchatting up front while I sat on the back of the giant golden bird, gripping the hilt of the shiny majestic sword that had cost me so much and trying not to crumple the letter in my other hand.
When I invited Peter on this quest, I had promised him that it would be just the thing to heal what ailed him, that it would cheer him right up, increase his self-worth, and that we'd become even closer and he'd bond with other people too and to top it all off, I had vowed it would be the funest, most fulfilling, most spinetinglingly thrilling thing Peter had ever done.
That had all happened.
Peter had matured into someone more confident and content, him, Zoë, and even Bianca had all banded together, escaped T.R.A.S.H, completed Grover's one noble aspiration to find Pan, and had become friends while I had been side-questing. And those triumphs were just the bottom scoops of vanilla, strawberry, and peach pecan on the sundae of progress. The pinnacle flavor, the 80% Cocoa Chocolate Coffee Coconut Carmel Swirl, was that Peter claimed that he wanted to be friends with me.
It started with him actually sincerely adultly thanking me…for lending him my bracelet. He called it:
The best gift and weapon he had ever received from a comrade.
I offered Peter Orange Nectarine Cumin Pie and Peter had returned all the filling to me with a side of Sorry Honey Mango Licorice Sesame Sherbet saying he couldn't possibly accept more when he was already so full from what was supposed to be a temporary Cupid's Box of Chocolates.[2]
Wasn't that sweller than a zeppelin?[3]
Everyone else but Bianca believed it was. When she had complained about me getting Harpe and a set of silver and gold daggers from Peter, Peter had defended me and told her not to be jealous of his apology/friend-making weapon gifts to me. And Bianca had actually listened to him like a properly trained miss. And Zoë had praised them both for their teamwork and said it boded well for their new recruit's hunter career, that new recruit, being Peter, or Hunter as they called him now.
But the reaffirmation of Peter's other new friendships was still only sprinkles and sauce.
The festively fermented berries, cherries, and peaches on top that brought the whole sundae together had to be the personal letter in my hand:[4]
…
Hey Andi,
I asked Peter to give you this cause there's stuff that I can't say in person, like how I know where Luke is.
No joke.
Pan told me.
But if you want to know you have to pinky promise Peter that you'll carefully read this whole letter but not tell him why you're promising. Once you're done with this part of my message, you can then ask him for the second part on Luke.
Did you do it?
I know you pride yourself in keeping promises and Maple says there's an 83% chance this tactic will be successful based on your character profile. That's like a B so I'm going to assume you did it.
So first off, I just want to say that for the longest time, I totally thought I was in love with you, Andi. You were my definition of beauty and perfection. Whenever I saw Aphrodite, she looked just like you. Having a crush on you made me do a lot of things I'm not proud of. I knew you were trying to get closer to Luke, that Nico was a good kid, that any of the other guys offering to teach you would be a better mentor for you than Annabeth, and that Peter would probably blame you if I left his stuff behind. I played dumb and lied to everyone through all of it because I was jealous and kept hoping if I got rid of my rivals that you'd choose me.
Before I met you, I never would have done anything so mean and selfish.
Like ever.
Compared to a lot of heroes, I might not be the bravest or like the most noble guy, but for a satyr, I was pretty good, honest. I even had an on-and-off girlfriend, but then I met you and you changed me like you change every guy you meet.
You have to understand I wanted you to like me so badly.
When all my plans failed and we finished our first quest and you didn't want to talk to me anymore, I couldn't bear it. I left to look for Pan. I always felt at my most normal when I focused on him, so I hoped questing for Pan full-time would fill the hole in my heart that you made.
It did help at first, but I got captured and the temptation to contact you through an empathy link was too strong. I got all excited at the idea. I didn't even consider trying to set one up with Luke or what might happen to me once the link was open. I really thought I was doing the right thing.
But if I was in love with you before, then I don't even know what to call my feelings after the empathy link was active. The word obsession doesn't cover it. You weren't a person to me anymore. You became someone that I needed to look up to, praise, and admire. You made all my other loyalties take a second and third seat and any resistance to my affection on your part just made me want you even more.
As a side note, you should really get rid of your fan club when you get home before they go full-cult. Some of the meetings have been pretty wild and not in a good way.
So yeah, my point is that you never knew the real Grover Underwood. He basically died the second I met you and any trace of him vanished when our empathy link was made, but that's okay because I'm better now. I don't exactly know what you did after you left me in Wyoming to chase after Peter's stuff, but Maple tells me that the feelings caused by your side quest were so unpleasant that she was finally able to convince me to break the empathy link!
With it gone and you so far away and Pan so close, I was able to think for myself for the first time in years. I immediately did something kind of dumb which is why everyone had to come rescue me, but the important bit is that now I'm free!
I don't love you anymore, Andi, and I hope I never will again, but I know I shouldn't hate you for the years you stole from my life. I know Luke wouldn't want that and Maple postulates that there's a 96% chance that Aphrodite's curse on you might extend to all types of love, so it was never going to work.
I've seen firsthand that you're not capable of having a normal relationship with another person. You warp everyone around you so that they either love you or hate you and I don't need that in my life. I don't need or want you in my life.
That's almost everything I wanted to say, but in case you skimmed over everything else, I need you to pay attention to this:
Andromeda Sunshine, for the reasons above, I never want to see you again.
Just leave me alone and let me be happy.
Your ex-admirer,
G-Man Grover
Last of the Underwood Line
Follower of the Artisan Formerly Known as Pan
P.S.
I wasn't lying. I do know where Luke is. It's pretty common knowledge, but it's better for everyone and I mean Luke too if you never find him, so there is no second part.
[5] "Miss Sunshine, I know you vowed to me with your small finger that you would finish reading your letter in solitude, so I am loathe to interrupt you," Peter began. "However, we have reached San Francisco. With the Mountain of Despair near enough to be home to our shadows, Zoë has deemed it prudent to hold a strategy meeting on top of the head of our winged steed so that we can hatch a plan before we retire for the day."
My fingers curled and uncurled around the sword and the letter.
"Miss Sunshine, are you well?" Peter inquired.
"Everything is just swell," I claimed before I stood up. While I went over to the bag that still had Peter's original clothes and traded the letter for an ambrosia square, I added, "I think I understand you better than ever."
"I…see…" Peter replied slowly.
I curtsied to change into my armor, clutching Harpe and an ambrosia square tight and keeping my eyes on the bag. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you when I had the chance, Peter," I began in a quiet voice. "All you ever wanted was for me to leave you alone and I just didn't get it. I get it now though, so you don't have to lie to me." I looked up into Peter's newly stormless unfazed eyes and said the truth, "You were right that night you pushed me away. We're not fucking friends. We will never be friends."
"Sunshine?" Peter's eyes narrowed.
I moved away from him to the edge of the bird.
"What are you doing?" he asked, confused.
"I'm trying to say goodbye. Aux dieux, Peter Johnson," were my last words to him before I stuffed the entire ambrosia square in my mouth and jumped off the bird.[6]
Sometime later, the ground cracked around me as I slammed into it. Because of the armor and ambrosia, I was in better shape. I stood up tall, holding Harpe aloft so that the light of dawn sparkled off it and dispelled the mist around me.[7] I was a morning star in a meadow of dusk crowned with a tree of bronze wrapped in a giant hydra serpent dragon of gold.[8]
"You should not be here!" a quadruplet of girly voices whined as I strode towards Ladon and the bronze tree of golden apples. "It is not sunset!"[9]
I didn't care.
I didn't care when Ladon lifted its many sleepy heads and opened its many eyes and hissed its many tongues at me.
"Go back!" the voices cried, "You cannot—!"
Ladon lashed out at me, but I didn't care about that either. I didn't even bother to dodge. I just kept walking. Its fangs were no match for my armor. Its mouth clung to my non-dominant arm and I sliced off its head.
More heads came at me.
None of them could stop me.
Dragon parts rained from the sky and blood-drenched the flowered earth thanks to my majestic armor and sword.
I finished Ladon off with a jab through the heart and because Harpe was so sharp, it went clean through the tree as well.
"What have you done?" the voices wailed.
I didn't answer. I didn't care. I retrieved my blade and moved past the voices and the apple tree, climbing up the hill to the edge of the sky to get this over with.
"…meda, you would…e…late…n…early," the goddess complained softly because not even the people I rescued wanted me around.
"I got tired of waiting," I shot at her. "Still am. So: Come on, Atlas!" I shouted. "Show yourself!"
"Impatient demigoddess," a deep male voice said from behind me. "You…"
I whirled around to catalogue the giant muscley man in his suit and dark hair. He wasn't my type. He probably wasn't anyone's type.
I didn't care about that either.
It didn't matter.
I curtsied back into my wedding dress, swung my sword back into a bouquet, and stopped holding back.
"What are you doing?" Zoë's, Bianca's, and Peter's boss demanded girlaly. That's how I knew it was working. That and the blush on Atlas's face.
I took a step towards my target and then hit him with a heart-stopping smile.
Atlas stumbled back and I advanced on him. Before he knew what was happening, I was hugging him tight. "You love me," I proclaimed.
"Wh-wh-what?" he stammered, hugging me back. "Don't be…r-ridiculous! I am Atlas, the general of the—!"
His words died after I gave him a silencing squeeze. Next, I growled, "I like Big Strong Men, especially if they can lift up the sky."
"You do?" he breathed. "I do that!"
"Show me," I commanded.
I let go of Atlas. Following closely behind him, I let him shove his grand-niece aside so that he could be the big strong man that I claimed I wanted.
"See!" Atlas cried out.
I nodded in approval and then I left him, his grand-niece, his daughters, and their dead dragon behind.
Footnotes
[1] 42 happens to be the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything according to the book series: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Thus here, I think Andromeda is saying her being cursed is the answer to her life, the universe, and everything.
[2] Apparently, Peter doesn't like Orange Nectarine Cumin Pie which is a call back to Chapter 28. Also, can we all agree that honey-mango-licorice-sesame sherbet sounds pretty weird? Anyway, I assume honey mango represents the gold and licorice sesame represents the silver. As for the Cupid's box of chocolates, I think it's a reference to Andromeda's watch having multiple weapons.
[3] A zeppelin is a type of blimp airship. Think steampunk blimps, the Fire Nation airships in Avatar the Last Airbender, or the Hindenburg. It was invented by Ferdinand von Zeppelin.
[4] Maraschino cherries aka the bright red cherries you see in drinks and on ice cream sundaes are usually candied in sugar and alcohol. The traditional alcohol used is Luxardo Maraschino liqueur. I assume Andromeda's metaphor includes berries and peaches being candied in a similar manner.
[5] This letter…oomphf! So yeah, I've been actively maintaining the idea that Grover was a lovestruck goof in these footnotes because I didn't want to spoil this big reveal. And I'm not sorry because Damn Grover is indeed telling us how 'he really feels'. Besides my reaction, the only thing I thought I'd explain is that the Artisan Formerly Known as Pan is probably a reference to the Artist Formerly Known as Prince.
[6] Aux dieux is French. It means "to Gods". This is similar to Adieu which means "to god" and is a type of farewell in French. When I googled around, I saw that Adieu was often said in a somber context to someone a person didn't think they'd see again. Basically, it means: See you in heaven. An ominous thing to say for one who can't fly anymore.
[7] I wonder if this is Andromeda's advanced mist lessons coming into the story. Though there are other explanations, more on this later.
[8] More artistic license. The tree of golden apples is usually just…tree colored with the famous golden apples as fruit.
[9] According to Zoë in PJO Titan's Curse, the Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset and one can only enter their garden as day changes to night. Here it looks like the nymphs are unable to manifest because it is not sunset. As for why Andromeda can get in, more on this later.
A/N: Well, well, well...
Between the letter from Grover upending the status quo as a certain diety predicted, us getting an explanation of this fic's title, Andromeda single-handedly laying waste to what was the final battle in the canon, the callback to chapter 28, and even more special Andi using the words of Peter's explicit rejection from chapter 15, this chapter has to be a favorite of mine and it is. I know some of you have questions and some of you have A LOT of questions. Be rest assured that this was not the finale of Sue's Curse. Also, know that next chapter we finally get to check in with Peter again and see what he's been up to. The upcoming arc is what I would call the climax arc. It will at last be time to get some questions answered.
Thank you for going on this crazy ride with me thus far. I've enjoyed seeing how many people have been reading, following, and favoriting this story. And I have loved getting reviews from you guys. It makes the process so much more meaningful. I know this story hasn't always been easy, smooth, or even a comprehensible read, but I hope that it's been fun and interesting and that all of you will tune in next year to discover how this ride ends.
Happy Holidays and a New Year!
See you in 2024!
annbe11