Over the next few days, I basically became Percy's shadow, trying to spend as much time with him until he'd be stolen away by Hera, which would be within the next eight hours. I knew he thought I was smothering him, but he didn't try to push me away once he saw the look on my face, remembering the warning I'd given him earlier.

Annabeth didn't seem to mind my company, either, as long as I wasn't staring at the two whenever they kissed, which seemed to be a handful of times every hour. It wasn't full out kissing, sometimes being forehead or cheek kisses, but there was the occasional real kiss, the one that most people don't appreciate being interrupted by others.

"What book is that?" Annabeth asked me after lunch, having found me hunched over Mythology Through the Ages at one of the picnic tables in front of the cabins. I placed a bookmark on the page I was on and handed it to Annabeth, allowing for her to skim the table of contents.

"Interesting," she said, running her fingers against the intricate designs on the spine, flipping to the chapter on the Titans. "Wow, these pictures are really accurate. I wonder who the illustrator is."

"No clue," I said with a shrug. "I don't even know the author. But after seeing how accurate the information was in the Titan and Olympians sections, I decided to read the rest of the book. Doesn't hurt to learn more about the messes that exist in the world."

Annabeth pursed her lips together as she turned to the large section labeled Ancient Greek Heroes. "Do you mind if I borrow this book after you?" she asked, her eyes never looking up from the page as she began to read the story of Achilles.

"Not at all. I think you'd enjoy it, actually."

"You two are crazy," Percy said, shaking his head in exasperation, though he was still smiling. "I can't imagine reading a book that big for fun. That thing is easily, what, a thousand pages long?"

"It's actually fifteen-hundred pages long," I replied, checking the number on the last page of the book.

"That's fifteen-hundred pages longer than it needs to be. Not to mention, the size of the print would be murder on our eyesight, what with us being dyslexic and all."

Annabeth winced. "You're right, Percy. I was only skimming the page, and my head already hurts from the letters floating around. But that won't stop me from reading it, not if it'll give me the chance to learn something new about the gods."

Percy sighed. "I'll make sure to have a ton of Tylenol on hand once you're in possession of the book."

Annabeth smiled and pressed a kiss onto his cheek. "That's so sweet."

"Alright, you two," I said in amusement, unable to hide the smile on my face. "I'm going down to the beach with Luke. I'll see you guys at the campfire tonight."

They waved goodbye as I packed up my things. As I stowed my book away in my bag, I turned the star brooch three times to the right, hearing the soft click of a lock sliding into place before quickly turning it back into a charm. Usually, I didn't lock my bag, but seeing that I couldn't afford for my book to fall into the wrong hands, it was finally time that I started using higher security measures.

Once again, Luke and I spent the rest of the day at the beach, splashing around in the frigid water, laughing as what started as splashing each other turned out into a full out soaker war. At one point, the Stoll brothers and some other Hermes kids showed up with water guns, and all hell broke loose as freezing streams of salt water were shot every which way.

I didn't have a water gun, instead using my own powers, which Luke said was cheating. "Nah," Connor Stoll had said before shooting Nelson Randolph in the neck, causing the younger boy to squirm as the cold water trickled down his shirt. "All's fair in love and war!"

"Traitor!" Luke yelled at his younger brother as I dropped a massive salt water bubble over his head, completely dousing him from head to toe. I had to bite back a laugh from the amount of seaweed that was now covering Luke, giving him the appearance of a swamp monster.

Instead of getting angry, Luke merely swept the seaweed out of his hair and face, allowing for him to look somewhat more normal. "Oh, you're going to pay for that," he chuckled darkly, and I yelped, turning to run away from my boyfriend.

Eventually Luke caught up to me, and I cringed as I felt the squelch of the seaweed squishing against my skin.

"Ha!" he laughed victoriously. "How's it feel to be covered in seaweed?"

"Not fun," I laughed, pulling off some seaweed from my shirt. "Can you believe that some people actually pay for seaweed wraps in spas?"

"The only thing that should be wrapped in seaweed is sushi," Luke said, shaking his head back and forth like a dog, flinging the seaweed out of his hair and onto the sand. I helped him get the rest of the seaweed off, until all that was left was excessive amounts of salt clinging to his skin.

"Come on," I said, grabbing Luke's hand and dragging him back towards the cabins. Though he tried to hide it from me, I noticed a near imperceptible grimace on his face. Still, seeing that we were both so happy at the moment, I decided I'd ask about it later. "We should get changed for the campfire tonight."

"Do you really want to go to the campfire tonight?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "I haven't seen you go to a campfire since the end of the summer session."

Subconsciously, I began to twist my newest clay bead between my fingers, feeling the carvings of all the names of the fallen demigods from the war against my father. "I have a bad feeling about tonight's campfire," I said. "This may be my last chance to do something about it."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out."

And with that, I rushed into cabin three to get dressed for the campfire, which would be the last time I saw Percy for the next eight months.

"Andromeda, wake up," I heard someone hiss, aggressively shaking my shoulders.

I gasped as I opened my eyes, instinctively clutching at my bracelet as I almost summoned a weapon, only relaxing once I saw that it was only Hera. She was dressed in a very mortal-like fashion: a plain white t-shirt and jeans and black sneakers. She'd even done her hair differently – instead of her famous plaited strands, her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail. If it weren't for her eyes or the ring on her finger, Hera could've easily passed off as a mortal woman if you didn't really know her.

"What's going on?" I asked through a yawn, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"The exchange is happening tonight," she explained, gesturing towards Percy, who was so sound asleep that he was unaware of the fact that he was practically face first in a puddle of his own drool. "It must be tonight."

"What do you need me for?" I yawned again but got out of bed anyways, blindly shoving on my sneakers and throwing on a sweatshirt over my old pajama shirt.

"I need you to make the exchange."

"What?" I whisper yelled, suddenly much more awake. "This was your plan!"

Hera scowled. "I'm aware of that, but at the moment, I'm much more occupied with Jason Grace than Perseus Jackson. I need you to move Perseus to the special room in my palace. You know exactly the one I speak of."

I felt all the blood drain from my face. "But isn't Olympus closed? Surely the other gods would notice-"

"Not that palace, Andromeda. The one in the north, where no one would dare to look for Perseus Jackson."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "A-As you wish."

"And one other thing." Hera fished something out from her pockets and handed me a little vial, no bigger than my pinkie. "Drain Perseus of his memories and place them in here. I wish for you to keep them safe until the time is right."

I silently took the vial and placed it within the pocket of my sweatshirt. Then, Hera having vanished by now, I walked to Percy's bunk, my body shaking violently as I clamped my hand around his wrist, whispering, "Immobiles," waiting until he was fully frozen in time.

After checking that the enchantment was working, I shadow-traveled us to Hera's secret palace in Ottawa, Canada, which was hidden by so much Mist that not even Boreas himself would be able to see the place unless Hera wanted him to. The only reason I knew that this palace existed was because of the many times I had to talk Hera out of killing Thalia and Jason Grace, and Ottawa had been isolated enough that no one questioned rumbling in the mountains, probably brushing off Hera's anger as an avalanche.

I moved Percy into the parlor, which Hera had transformed into a cozy den, full of warm, fuzzy blankets, the air smelling of freshly baked cookies. Seeing that I'd only just woken up myself, the urge to fall asleep in one of the plush seats was extremely tempting, but I still had a job to do, even if I seriously detested it.

Hera had also brought a bed into the parlor, placing it near the ever-burning fireplace, the warmth permeating through the room, preventing any of the chilly air from the outside from staying cold for long. I tucked Percy into bed, draping the softest, fuzziest blanket over him before finally placing my hands on either side of his head, draining his mind of all his memories.

Once I'd gotten all of Percy's memories into the vial Hera gave me, I tucked it away into my bag, setting it next to my mythology book. The nausea quickly set in from how upset I was, my dinner threatening to make an appearance as I saw how rigid Percy's body was from my enchantment, almost as if he were a corpse. It didn't help matters that he seemed to have paled considerably from having his memory wiped, appearing whiter than the snow outside.

"Goodbye, squirt," I said, forcing myself to finally get up to head back to camp. I pressed a kiss to his forehead and ruffled his hair a final time before vanishing into the shadows, returning to cabin three before anyone could notice that I'd disappeared.

The next morning was one of the worst of my life, second only to the morning of Cleo's death.

I'd shown up to breakfast the next day looking like a zombie, dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep. After I came back from Canada, I couldn't fall asleep, shame and guilt eating at me from the inside out as I stared at the wooden panels of the bunk above mine, my thoughts racing at a million miles an hour.

To make matters worse, it was painfully obvious that Percy wasn't with me, as we were the only two that sat at Poseidon's table, and he was never late for breakfast. Seriously, that boy could eat as much as a satyr and still be in perfect shape, but that's from always training and trying not to die.

I ignored Luke and Will's questions as I sat down at the table, drinking at least four mugs of coffee while only pushing around my toast and eggs, too queasy to even consider eating anything. But I still managed a few bites of my eggs to placate Will before getting up, wanting to sit by the hearth, where I knew Hestia would be, even if Zeus had closed Olympus.

I didn't get far, however, before Annabeth called my name, forcing me to face her.

Annabeth's worry was palpable, concern visible on every feature of her face as she looked me up and down. "Good morning," she said politely, before immediately asking, "Is Percy okay? He missed breakfast, which we both know is weird for him."

"I think he just overslept," I said. "Come on. Let's go wake him up."

That seemed to calm Annabeth down just a tad, but the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach only grew as we got closer to cabin three. I seriously doubted she would take the disappearance of her boyfriend very well.

Annabeth walked into the cabin before I did, turning her expectant gaze towards Percy's unmade bed. Drool still remained on his pillow, his shoes still at the foot of his bed, and his clothes from last night still piled into a messy heap on the floor.

"Where is he?" she asked, moving to make Percy's bed, though she was unwilling to touch the drool-soaked pillow.

"Maybe he went to the bathroom?" I stifled a yawn. "I really don't know, Annabeth. He was here when I went to breakfast."

"Why didn't you wake him up?"

"He was having nightmares last night and got very little sleep. So I promised to stay up until he fell asleep, which was around five in the morning. Breakfast is usually at seven-thirty, so I decided to let him sleep when he didn't wake up with the conch shell. Worst case scenario, I always have food with me, so he still would've gotten breakfast if he woke up before lunch."

Annabeth nodded grimly. "Could you ask Luke or Will to check the bathroom for Percy? I'm going to go look for him. He would've come to say good morning to me by now, if he was awake."

"I'll definitely ask them. If something changes, let me know, okay?"

"Of course." She pursed her lips before leaving the cabin.

As for me, I sank back into my bed, clutching a pillow as I stared into the corner, watching the salt water fountain bubble happily, casting a soft green glow amongst all the shadows. Even the hippocampi mobile hanging from the ceiling wasn't enough to raise my spirits – actually, they only made me more upset as I remembered how hurt Tyson would be because of Percy's disappearance.

I don't know how long I was staring at the fountain until I eventually nodded off, feeling my head slump against my chest. The only reason I knew I was dreaming was thanks to the fact that I was looking into the face of my mother, whom I hadn't seen since she ran away from her burning home.

She sported a nasty gash that ran from the base of her ear to corner of her lips; scorch marks littered her clothing; her hair was patchy in spots, as if someone had aggressively been trying to expose her scalp. The cloak she had over her shoulders was shredded at the bottom, but she didn't seem to mind. In her hand, she held her sword, her cerulean blue eyes scanning the horizon as she grit her teeth, anticipating an incoming attack.

"I don't have a lot of time, Andy," Salina told me softly, though her body was wound up tighter than a compressed spring. "Those interdimensional monsters I warned you about all those years ago have caught up to us, and they want us dead for bringing you here."

"How can I help?" I asked, cringing as I turned just in time to watch Taurus decapitate something that looked like a mixture of the slimiest snake and the nastiest hellhound in existence. Black blood spewed in his face, causing him to swear in a language that I didn't understand.

"Your job," Salina said sternly, placing a steady hand on one of my shoulders. "They're just upset, but once everything is righted, they will flee. Fulfill your mission here, Andy, and we will be just fine."

"But I won't be done for at least another year or two! Surely there must be something-"

Salina gave me a crooked smile. "Ye of little faith. We'll manage, daughter, just as we have for the last nine years." She then pulled me into a quick but extremely comforting hug, planting a kiss on my forehead before she said, "And one other thing. Don't feel guilty about what you did to Percy. That was destined by the Fates eons ago. You just happened to be the conduit."

"Lovely," I muttered. "Wait, when will I see you again?"

"I do not know. But I will always be with you whenever you make a wish. Don't forget that."

Salina then shoved me to the ground, yelling in defiance as she swept her sword in a downward arc, cutting down what looked like a stick bug but a hundred times larger with jagged thorns on the end of his spindly legs, narrowly evading the second leg from spearing her through the thigh.

I watched as Salina snapped her fingers, causing me to jerk awake, groaning as my neck audibly popped from the awkward position I'd been in. I quickly shoved on my shoes before running back outside, where the entire camp shouted cries of, "Percy! Percy!" searching in every nook and cranny for the son of Poseidon.

At one point, I even saw Clarisse dragging Chris around, muttering, "I swear to the gods if I find Prissy, I'm going to kick him into next week for worrying Annabeth like this."

"I thought you weren't friends?" Chris asked, narrowly avoiding being body slammed into a Nemesis kid from how aggressively Clarisse was dragging him.

"That's what that punk thinks," Clarisse grunted, before delving into the forest, her boyfriend in one hand, her spear in the other.

Not wanting to look suspicious myself, I began on my own fruitless search, diving into both the lake and the beach, asking the naiads, hippocampi, mermaids, fish, and other aquatic life forms if they'd seen Percy, to which they all responded by shaking their heads no.

As the sun quickly began setting, Annabeth grew increasingly distraught, hunched over maps of the camp and sending campers in every direction to search.

"But what about the dragon?" Miranda Gardiner from Demeter asked. "How can we get to any of these places if we're gonna be burned to a crisp?"

"Jake, any news on the dragon?" Annabeth asked, her voice heavy with exhaustion as she turned to the head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin. Jake had become head counselor after Beckendorf left with Silena to go to college, and ever since the semester started, they hadn't come back.

"We've set a bunch of traps around the forest. We're hoping those will work."

"Yes, because a sentient metal dragon will simply waltz into a vat motor oil on its own accord," Jessica Green from Ares sneered. She struck the ground with the butt of her spear. "Someone needs to go in there and kill that damn automaton before one of us gets killed."

"Oh, are you volunteering?" Jake spat, his face red with anger. "Be my guest! If Beckendorf was unable to deactivate the dragon in the last three months, what makes you think that we can do it in three days?!" Jake stopped yelling, his anger morphing to sadness almost instantaneously. "The only person who could ever control the dragon was James, and he's dead. So unless you know of some way to perform necromancy, pits of motor oil is all we have as of now."

No one responded to Jake's comments, the reminder of James's death still fresh despite the fact that he'd died four months ago.

"I'll take the forest," I volunteered, breaking the silence. "I'm fireproof, so even if the dragon tried to burn me to ashes, I wouldn't be hurt. Where do you need me to go, Annabeth?"

She sighed in relief. "By the Myrmekes' hill. It's up by that grove of old singing trees, the ones that sound like ghost voices."

"I'll go with you," Luke declared, shoving past the rest of the campers and standing next to me. "We should use the buddy system from here on out. We don't know if Percy's disappearance was a onetime thing, or if someone else is next."

I nodded in agreement. "Report to Chiron who your buddy is, and check in with him every few hours. We don't need more campers to go missing at a time like this."

"You have your orders," Annabeth said, still sounding like a commander of an army despite the fact that anyone could see from the way she held herself that she was about to crumble at any moment. "Go!"

The rest of the campers scattered as they returned to their searches, while Luke and I stayed behind, watching as Annabeth sniffed quietly as she folded up the map of Camp Half-Blood. She turned to us, her eyes glazed over with unshed tears.

I merely held out my arms towards her, and she sank into my embrace, her body trembling as she sobbed into my shoulder. I didn't say anything, just letting her release her emotions as I gently rubbed circles into her back.

"Oh, gods," she cried, unable to hide her concern. "He wouldn't have left so abruptly without telling someone. Where could he be?"

"I don't know," I said, sounding as miserable as I felt, knowing that I was lying to a girl who was practically my sister. "But I'll tell you what – I'm going to go investigate up on Olympus to see if anyone knows what's going on."

"Isn't Olympus closed?" Luke asked, flinching when I shot him a scathing glare. Now was not the time to be the bearer of bad news.

"Yes, it is," I answered, "for demigods, that is."

Annabeth sniffed and pulled away. "But you're a demigod, Andy, aren't you?"

I fiddled with a strand of my hair. "Well…not exactly. Remember when Zeus tried to fry me?"

"Yes," Luke growled. "And I was ready to shove my sword so far up his-"

"Luke!" Annabeth exclaimed, gently swatting at his arm.

"Anyways," I continued, "the gods thought I didn't die, because I had the Curse of Achilles. But instead of just surviving the blast and moving on with my life, Zeus made me a goddess."

Annabeth scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "I thought Zeus forbade you from ever becoming immortal?"

"He did." I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't know why he changed his mind, but now I'm stuck with immortality, and he won't take it back. But seeing that I'm a goddess, I can still get in and out of Olympus, even though Zeus says it's closed to the public."

"That's great!" Luke said. "That way we can still get news even if Zeus is too stubborn to tell us. You're amazing, Andy!"

After what Luke did next, I was seriously considering kicking him in the shins for being so forgetful. He kissed me right on the lips for a few moments too long to be considered a peck, completely forgetting the fact that Annabeth was literally no more than two feet away from us, her eyes welling up with tears again.

I pushed Luke off, scowling at him as Annabeth started crying again, wrapping her arms tightly around her chest, like she was trying to prevent herself from falling apart. I stepped back, knowing that a hug from me was not what she needed at the moment.

"We'll find him, Annabeth," I said.

"Gods, I hope so," she muttered, drying her tears. "I-I think I'm going to IM Sally. She deserves to know." Then the daughter of Athena took off towards cabin six, her cries still loud enough to be heard as she fled.

Hi all!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

And I also finished the Tyrant's Tomb, so if anyone needs to rant about what happened, feel free to PM me!

Have a great day!