chapter ninety-one

─── brooke is competing with me for worst year ever

𝔒ne minute, I was in the forest near Camp Half-Blood, the next, I was being plunged into darkness. I could only feel Mrs. O'Leary's fur and her dog collar, that I was clinging onto for dear life.

The next minute, I was somewhere else. Brooke lived on a farm. It was beautiful, full of rolling fields of crops with a large farm house in the centre of it. It was a huge priority, my mind being blown if I was perfectly honest. I was used to the tightness of New York apartments, how cramped everything could be, and here, it was all spread out. Someone was watching me from the porch and I tilted my head.

I could recognise Brooke anywhere even if I hadn't seen her in a while.

Nico appeared right next to me, stumbling as I caught him with practiced ease. He'd been scaring me and Luke with that for a few months now, appearing through the shadows, so we'd gotten used to grabbing the back of his shirt before he could faceplan.

"I'm okay." Nico whined.

"Sit and sleep." I shoot back, knowing what he was like.

"I think-"

"No you don't." I corrected. "Let me and Brooke talk, you sit and sleep."

Nico doesn't protest much after that, slumping down by a snoring Mrs. O'Leary and passing out almost immediately. I'm not too worried about either of them getting kidnapped, trusting the safety of Brooke's family farm. If it was Luke that would be a different story, he'd definitely be kidnapped.

I had a theory that he was robbing banks to get money out whenever he needed to, having never seen my boyfriend do any paid work ever but then I suppose, looking after Eleven and not killing any of his siblings was horrific work, so he deserved it.

"Romy..." Brooke called as I approached. Her arms are folded across her chest, defensive and I take Riptide out, turning it into sword form and stabbing it into the ground. She untenses at that. "What you doing here?"

"Came to see my friend. Why are you tense?"

"I'm not sure, my brother might have resurrected a Titan Lord, but what do I know?" Brooke snarked back as I hum in agreement. "You got Nico with you?"

"Yeah, he's like a feral cat. Tried to come and go as he pleased and then I passed him over to my mom and he now has a curfew." Brooke snickers. "She likes having him in the house and you know, thought I'd do my uncle a favour considering he lets me take Cerberus out every now and then. He needs to sleep, he'll be around in an hour or so."

"You want something to eat? Drink?"

"If you're offering, sure." I smile at her. She hands be a glass of juice and brings some crisps out as we sit back outside on the porch. I can see Nico and my dog's sleeping form from here, so I'm not worried. "I haven't seen you in a bit, Brooke. Was a bit worried if Luke didn't tell me that you were alright."

"Luke's a good friend, and an annoyingly good tracker. I hadn't told anyone where I lived for a reason and then, lo and behold, I had a message from one Luke Castellan." Brooke and I chuckle at that.

"I'm convinced sometimes that he microchips me."

"No, he just has a sense of when you're up to something and then finds you."

I laugh again, tilting my head back. We go silent for a moment.

"Why are you here, Romy? Not that I don't appreciate you checking in but there's bigger things going on." She mutters, watching me. I sigh.

"I'm going to die next week." I tell her, shrugging my shoulders. She freezes. "I've finally read that all important prophecy that they hid from me and my soul is being reaped."

"How are you-"

"Feeling? Shit unsurprisingly." I kiss my teeth. "But everything's in order, done the will, talked to my mom, Luke's upset but I've made sure there's things for him in place, Annabeth is just sad and Grover doesn't know because I haven't seen him."

"You might not die, Romy. Prophecies are fickle things."

"I fought Puck, Kronos, I don't know." I leant forward, licking my lips as I turned to her. "He cut me once and it felt like my entire leg was amputated. I could barely last a minute and I'm supposed to fight him. I hit him with my sword and nothing happened, it didn't even make a mark. Almost nicked Riptide."

Both of us go silent.

"When did he last visit you?"

"He hasn't."

"Don't lie." I turn to her, seeing the way her body curls in, her muscles tense and a frown appears. "When did Puck last visit you?"

"Last year, after I-after he fell." Brooke sighed. "He came to tell me that I hadn't killed him and I know I should have told you guys, but then I'd have to explain how relieved I was that I hadn't killed my brother despite knowing that he was evil and that, even when he came to my doorstep, I didn't fight him."

"We wouldn't have held it against you."

"My mother's joined him. Hecate." Brooke tried to draw a rune in the air, but it fizzled out. I'd seen her fight with runes, seen the pure power that it gave off. "I'm on a temporary ban from magic. I'm useless, can't even produce a light rune let alone anything of any substantial power. They didn't want to take the risk that I would fight."

"You still can fight with a weapon."

"I'm not fighting, not in this war." Brooke caught my eyes. "I know you're going to say I'm a coward for not fighting, but how am I supposed to fight my family? I raised my brother, and I'm expected to sit there and fight him or watch as he kills you or you kill him? What kind of sister am I? What kind of person would I be? I'm not cut out for that."

"I wouldn't hold that against you. You're not a coward, I think it's brave, if I'm honest." I squeeze her hand. "To choose to not fight is just as brave a choice as choosing to fight. It's your decision and for that, I'm glad that you've made it. Did he-Did Puck ask you for anything?"

"My blessing. Didn't say what for, just that he needed my blessing." Brooke sighed. "It was my final farewell in a sense, to give him that and hope I never saw him again."

Brooke might have just inadvertently helped Puck defeat us but I wouldn't tell her that. Somethings were better left a secret.

"Thanks, Brooke. Hopefully I'll see you again. If not, Luke will message you, I'm sure. Keep an eye on him for me?"

"Of course. Good luck, Romy." I hug her tightly, squeezing her before grabbing Riptide and heading back to where I'd last left the other two. When I find them, they're joined by a campfire and a small girl, about eight. Now, this wasn't my first rodeo, so I knew that this was most likely a goddess and from the hearth, this was Hestia. I bowed my head on approach.

"My Lady."

"Sit down, Andromeda Jackson. Would you like some dinner?" I accept even though I'm not hungry, and a picnic appeared at the edge of the fire. Mrs O'Leary was chewing on a large treat and Nico was waiting, watching for what I did. I slid some of the beef into the fire, muttering a prayer for my father and the gods, before looking back up.

"As tender of the flame, I get a share of every sacrifice, you know." Hestia explained, as I nod. We eat for a moment, before Nico looks up.

"My lady, why aren't you with the other Olympians, fighting Typhon?"

"I'm not much for fighting, like your friend there. Besides, someone has to keep the home fires burning whilst the others are away." Hestia explained and it made me hum. I looked back at Brooke's home before taking Hestia's words properly into account.

"You're guarding New York?"

"Guard may be too strong a word. But, if you ever need a warm place to sit and a home cooked meal, you are welcome to visit. Now, eat." Nico and I were never two to not eat, so we both scarfed our food in a matter of seconds. "Did you have a good visit with Brooke?"

"It is always good to see a friend."

"You are disappointed in her decision not to fight." I see no point in lying to the god, feeling Nico's eyes on me.

"A little." I sigh. "We need all the soldiers that we can get and she's a good fighter but I understand her reasoning and in the end, it's her choice. I can't force her to fight her brother. That wouldn't be fair."

"But will you follow Puck's path? Seek the same powers?"

"We have no choice, my Lady. It's the only way Romy stands a chance." Nico set his plate down.

Hestia hummed, opening her hand as the fire roared and shot in the air, before dying down to normal in a matter of seconds. I could only hope that she hadn't singed my eyebrows off in the process. I didn't look good with no eyebrows, speaking from experience.

"Not all powers are spectacular." Hestia looked up at me. "Sometimes the hardest power to master is the power of yielding. Do you believe me?"

"Yes." I didn't mention that if I yielded in this fight, there would be no gods or hearth for her to protect. As much as I hated Nico's idea, I knew that it was the only way to win despite how much Luke and my mom would hate it.

"You are a good hero, Andromeda Jackson. Not too proud. I like that. But, you have much to learn." Hestia explained, watching me. It was weird hearing this from an eight year old, but better than taking directions from a poodle in our first quest "When Dionysus was made a god, I gave up my throne for him. It was the only way to avoid a civil war among the gods."

"It unbalanced the council." I vaguely remembered that from school. "There were seven gods and five godesses."

"It was the best solution, not a perfect one. Now I tend the fire. I fade slowly into the background. No one will ever write epic poems about the deeds of Hestia." She shrugs. "But that is no matter. I keep the peace. I yield when necessary. Can you do this?"

I know what my answer should be. I could yield when necessary, to keep the peace, but one part of me knows that's not true. I know that I can be petty and slightly spiteful, so asking if I would yield to keep the peace in situations is going to most likely be a no. Instead, I just say:

"I don't understand." She studies me, as if thinking that I'm lying but I have mastered the confused face and pull it now.

"Perhaps...Will you continue your quest?"

"Is this why you're here, to warn me not to go?" I counter.

"I am here because when all else fails, when all the other mighty gods have gone off to war, I am all that is left." Hestia pointed out. "Home. Hearth. I am the last Olympian. You must remember me when you face your final decision."

I don't like the way she said that.

"I have to continue, my lady." I shrug. "It's the only way to stop him."

"Very well. I cannot be of much assistance beyond what I have already told you." Hestia nods. "But, since you sacrificed to me, I can return you to your own hearth. I will see you again, Andromeda, on Olympus."

The goddess waved her hand and everything faded.

∘☽༓☾∘

When I open my eyes, I'm in my moms apartment. Nico and I are sitting on the couch. Mrs O'Leary is on my mom's table and my mom is staring at me like it's my fault. I curse internally before calling my dog away, who scrabbles down, destroying one of my mom's puzzles in the process as I try not to meet her eye.

"Why is there a dog in my apartment, Andromeda?"

"She's well trained?" Paul is hovering behind her, eyes wide as he looks at the large hellhound and then back to me. "Hi Paul."

"It's true? All the talk about monsters and demigods, it's true." I nod and he slumps onto a chair. I knew that he hadn't believed me when I told him, most likely thinking that I had an overactive imagination from my mother. Now, the hellhound in the living room was confirmation. "This is amazing!"

"Great, but you may not be so excited when you hear what's happening." I tell my mom and Paul about Typhon, and the gods, and the battle that was sure to come. Then I tell her Nico's plans, only looking at her and ignoring everyone else in the room.

I'm not sure what she sees at the moment. I see my mother, looking a little older and more weary than I had seen her, her hair tied back and in a blue flannel robe. I'm not sure what she sees when she looks at me. Do I still look like the seventeen year old that she sent to camp for that first time? I'm sure I don't. I know there's a little scar above my eyebrow, my hair is longer and less curly than it had been, and now, I spend most of my time in workout gear, always ready to be dragged somewhere or other to fight. Does she look at me and see her daughter or does she see someone that she doesn't know?

"Dree, it's dangerous, even by your standards, it's dangerous."

"I know."

"You could die." She points out.

"If I don't, everyone dies." I sigh, shrugging my shoulders. "It's better to take the chance. We don't stand a chance against an invasion, mom, and there'll be an invasion. We only have twenty odd soldiers over 18, everyone else is younger. I can't-"

I stop myself.

"An invasion of New York? Is that even possible?" I'd forgotten that Paul was there if I was honest. "How do we not see the monsters?"

"I don't know but the Mist is strong. Typhon is trampling across the country right now and humans think he's a storm system." I shake my head. Nico is sitting beside me quietly, like he doesn't want to be there.

"Does Luke know?" Mom looks up.

"No because he'd say no. He'd say there's another way, but there isn't so, he doesn't know." I shake my head. "He can tell me off afterwards instead."

"He won't like that."

"I don't have a choice."

"Sally." Nico cuts us off. He's been living with my mom for months so has got used to calling her by her first name. "Romy needs your blessing. The process has to start that way. You have to be willing to let your child take this wish."

"You want me to bless this?" Mom turns to me, shaking her head. "It's crazy. Dree, please"

"Mom, I can't do it without you."

"And if your survive this...this process?"

"Then I go to war, like I've always told you." I stand up, rolling my shoulders as I know that we'll be leaving soon. "Me against Kronos. One lives, one dies."

"You're my daughter, my only daughter." Mom stands up, her hand on my cheek and for a moment, I'm seven again and she's comforting me. "I can't-"

"Mom if you don't, I die the moment Kronos comes near me. I need a fighting chance. I won't do this without your blessing but-" I'd done everything with my mom, since I was a kid. It was always me and her against the world, I'd never had anyone else. The thought of dying and leaving her was heart wrenching, and I hated every moment of it. "Please, mom."

"Andromeda, I give you my blessing." There was no magic glow, nothing but Nico nods all the same. It's time to go. "One thing, if you...if you survive this fight with Kronos, send me a sign. Something, something blue or a flag or a flare."

"Of course, mom." I smile sadly at her. She gives me one last hug and I try not to feel like I was saying goodbye. She's crying and I stay strong, shaking Paul's hand as I whistle for Mrs. O'Leary. "Sorry baby, shadow travel time again. Where to? Big Sur?"

"No need. There's a closer entrance to the Underworld."

Hiya,

So, this is just a lot of goodbyes and little conversations and Andromeda's changing and I'm liking it, she's becoming a little more, idk how to explain it. Also, Luke is defo gonna try and kill her after this, but that'll be fun.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx