TO THE PEOPLE I HURT.
━━━━━━ drama club

Andromeda usually prided herself on her self control, but the Hunters had officially managed to get on her last nerve by the end of dinner.

They had been name calling and arguing with Andromeda and her siblings all day, making jabs that cut a little too deep, and the four of them were on the verge of throwing a very Un-Aphrodite like tantrum right in the middle of the Dining Pavilion.

"Heard you guys were joining in for capture the flag, what are you planning on doing? Braiding your teams hair?" Phoebe asked as she passed by their table. Everyone knew all the Hunters were on edge after the news that something had happened to Artemis, but they had decided to channel it into other fights until they had permission to leave camp. Andromeda had felt sorry for them that morning, knowing all they wanted to do was pack up and go search for the goddess, but by that afternoon she was ready to throw all ladylike mannerisms aside, and break one of their noses.

Andromeda thought she had gotten used to comments like that. Constantly being called weak and useless could lose its bitter hurt after awhile, but the Hunters always had a way to burrow into her skin just a little too far, so she hardly blamed herself for finally losing it.

Silena, Drew, and Matt all had their fists clenched from the taunt, but Andromeda decided after spending the day keeping her mouth shut, that maybe it was about time to show just how weak a daughter of Aphrodite could be. "Sorry, Phoebe. We speak fluent French, not Whale. Do you have another form you could talk to us in?"

The girl went bright red at her comment, and struggled to find a comeback. A few other Hunters saw her and decided to come over to defend her, Zoë being one of them. The small group drew the attention of most demigods at the other tables, all itching to see yet another fight between Cabin Ten and the Hunters.

"Be quiet. Phoebe said nothing not truthful," Zoë replied for the girl. "Would thou wish to braid our hair before the game?"

Andromeda glared at the girl. It took her three seconds to decide that she didn't care what the consequences were, she would put Zoë Nightshade in her place. "Why don't you all just piss off, Zoë? Careful not to. . . trip, on your way out."

The dark haired girl gave her a strange look, before turning to lead Phoebe out of the Dining Pavilion. It took just a few moments before Zoë Nightshade, the lieutenant of the Hunters, tripped over her own feet and knocked down many other Hunters on her way to the floor. A few strangled cries left them as they fell to a heap on the hard floor, and the entire pavilion erupted in laughter at the sight of the always graceful Hunters laying in a tangled mess. Zoë immediately stood in rage as she marched right back up to Andromeda. The girl was the oldest out of the group, and most likely the only one who knew what had happened.

"Thou shall keep thy witch mouth shut in front of me!" She spat out. Andromeda's siblings stood up next to her, sending a message for the girl to back off.

"Damn, Zoë, just admit you took a spill. No need to get angry at Andy about it," Silena mocked. Of course the Hunter knew the truth, along with her siblings, but no one else had been close enough to really catch Andromeda in the act, so she just smiled innocently along with her siblings, shooing away the rest of the Hunters as they picked themselves off the ground.

"Alright, shows over everyone. Make your way to the woods for capture the flag!" Chiron yelled over the loud cheers and applause. The Stoll brothers both high-fived her on the way out, even without anyone seeing what she had done, they were still proud of her insult, and Andromeda couldn't stop the smirk from appearing on her lips.

"That was amazing, Andy!" Drew said with a laugh. "I would've made her punch herself in the face, but that turned out to be way better."

Matt and Silena agreed with Drew, Matt slinging an arm over her shoulder. "What I would do to be able to have yours and Drew's ability," he sighed out. "Now who's up for completely stomping them in capture the flag?"

"Me." The three girls said at once before bursting into laughter again.

As they reached the clearing, they saw everyone already geared up, and with a few complaints, they got around to putting on their own armor.

"Gods, why can't they get better looking helmets? I don't want to look stupid while we win," Drew grumbled as she took in the ugly looking helmet with a blue mohawk on top.

"I don't even care," Silena admitted as she strapped on the chest plate she was given. "I'll show them 'love is worthless,' I'll pulverize them!"

Andromeda chuckled at her sister, happy to see her care about something other then her hair or makeup. It took a minute for her to try and strap on her own chest plate, and when she finished she realized it didn't look right and sighed, undoing it.

"How do I do this without breaking a nail?" Drew whispered. "I just painted them!"

Andromeda couldn't offer any help, because truthfully, they really didn't join in for capture the flag a lot. Sure, they had all their own lessons with either archery or other specialty weapons, but they didn't participate in things like this where they actually had to armor up, and so the girl just shrugged before looking around for someone to help them that hopefully wouldn't be too mean about it.

Catching sight of a boy with dark hair, she quickly called out to him. "Percy, hey!"

The boy turned around, already wearing a look of confusion and Gods, she really needed to start talking to him more so he wasn't so startled and confused every time she called out to him. She expected some comments or looks from her siblings, but they knew when to be discreet and turned their attention elsewhere, Andromeda practically sighed in relief. The last thing she needed was them to act suspicious enough for Percy to notice.

"Hey, what's up?" Percy asked when he reached her. He was already in his armor, and Andromeda had to take a second to appreciate how much better he looked in it now compared to four years ago when he first came to camp. The twelve year old boy no longer drowned in the huge gear, and now stood at 6'3, a whole head taller then the girl. Looking at him up this close was enough to ground her teeth together, because does he really need to look this good without even trying? She wanted to blurt out so many things like When did your jawline start looking like that? or Why does the ocean smell so much better on you than I remember? or You would look really good with a nose piercing. But she didn't, because that wouldn't be subtle, and Andromeda had to walk a very thin line before she could really start flirting with him to avoid overwhelming the boy, or coming off suspicious to others.

"Could you, uh," she trailed off, before glancing down at her unstrapped armor. She sent him a look that she begged for him to understand because after how good she felt during dinner, the last thing she wanted to do was admit she didn't know how to do something so simple, just like everyone expected.

"Oh, sure," he replied. Percy stepped closer a little awkwardly, but grabbed onto the chest plate to make sure it was in the right place before starting to work on the leather straps around her shoulders. Andromeda could feel him almost vibrating behind her and had to gather all her willpower to not laugh at him. He really was not used to being around any girls other than Annabeth, and Andromeda almost pitied him from how awkward he was being. The girl slightly winced when a piece of her hair got tangled as he tightened the straps, and he instantly tensed behind her. "Oh my Gods, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

Andromeda rolled her eyes before she slightly smiled. "My hair just got twisted. It's fine, Percy."

The boy slowly untangled the piece of hair that got trapped, and made sure to sweep all of it over her shoulder when he tightened the other one. "Um, there you go," Percy told her, taking a step away from her again.

Andromeda smiled at him in thanks, watching a small blush rise on his cheeks before he not to discretely tried to turn his attention anywhere else, quickly finding Nico di Angelo, who looked a little too excited to be holding a sword that was about as tall as him. Thalia Grace had taken it upon herself to help both Drew and Matt, while Silena was getting her armor checked by Beckendorf.

That bitch, Andromeda thought, still finding it unfair that she gave herself a boy that already had a crush on her, while she was stuck with Percy.

"Heroes!" Chiron yelled out. "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team— Camp Half-blood, shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis— red team, shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please. All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"

"No promises on the no maiming," Silena whispered as we followed Thalia to where our flag was. Worst part was, I had no doubt Silena meant it.

We decided to put our flag on top of Zeus' fist, which really was just a pile of rocks, but Andromeda figured it was a good enough spot if the Hunters would have to climb to get to it. "Hey, Nico. Wanna join me, Beckendorf, and the Stolls on defense?" Percy asked the young boy. Nico seemed super excited about this, but everyone knew Percy had only asked to try and keep him out of the major fighting, which always ended up with someone bedridden in the infirmary, but no one commented on it, not wanting to ruin the boys spirits.

"We'll send out a decoy to the left. Silena, you lead that," Thalia told the team.

"Got it," she replied with a smirk. Most likely thinking about the maiming and pulverizing she had in mind.

"Take Laurel and Jason. They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise," Thalia said, and everyone nodded in agreement. Andromeda decided she really didn't want to get too close to any of the fighting after her stunt earlier on, so she informed Thalia she wanted to help with defense.

"That's fine, Andy. Anything to add, Percy?" She asked.

"Um, yeah. Keep sharp on defense. We've got four guards, two scouts. That's not much for a big forest. I'll be rowing. Yell if you need help," he added. Andromeda tried not to laugh at how unsure of himself he sounded. It was strange to see the way he was without Annabeth, and Andromeda hoped if anything came out of this game she started, maybe she could help him gain his own confidence without relying on the blonde haired girl.

"And don't leave your post!" Thalia said.

"Unless you see a golden opportunity," Percy interrupted.

Thalia scowled heavily at him, and it was obvious to the rest of the team that these two as co-captains probably wasn't the best idea. "Just don't leave your post."

"Right," Percy started again. "Unless—"

"Percy!" Thalia spat in anger, before she reached out to grab his arm, which inevitable gave the boy a huge electric shock. Percy winced and ripped his arm away from her, noticeably not happy. "Sorry," the girl said. Andromeda could tell she didn't really mean it though. "Now, is everybody clear?"

At the tone in the dark haired girls voice, everyone scattered into their designated groups. Silena, with two boys from the Hephaestus cabin, disappeared into the woods as they prepared to be the distraction. Matt and Drew left with Thalia and the three boys from the Ares cabin as they darted into the woods, only to the right in hopes to take the Hunters by surprise. Andromeda sighed as she leaned on Zeus' fist, glancing down to the Celestial Bronze bracelet she wore. The girl had never been one to fight with a sword, and she had sweet talked one of the Hephaestus demigods to make her a special bracelet that turned itself into a whip, not caring when other people told her the weapon wasn't as practical as a bow, or dagger. The girl hardly listened to any of them, because she felt comfortable with the weapon, and so she let it slide down her wrist and watched it slowly transform into a long golden whip.

"Woah!" A voice yelled from next to her. "That's so cool! Where do I get one?"

Andromeda glanced over to see Nico di Angelo struggling to climb the rocks behind her, and shook her head in laughter at how excited he was at everything Camp Half-blood had to offer. "Afraid this is the only one in the camp," Andromeda replied to the boy. His helmet tilted to the side as it attempted to slip off his head that was way too small. Nico looked put out from her answer, so the girl turned toward him with a smile. "But hey, if you help us win, maybe I'll let you borrow it sometime."

Nico nodded eagerly, fumbling with his helmet as it tried to slip off again, but smiled bright once he got it into place. A small laugh sounded above the two of them, and Percy was looking down at them from the top of the rocks, seemingly just as amused by the kid. "You sure you can handle a whip, Nico? They're pretty hard weapons to master," Percy asked.

"I could do it," the boy groaned as he lifted himself up toward where Percy was standing. "Just need practice. What's happening?"

Percy had his eyes trained on the forest from the high vantage point, and Andromeda didn't like the look on his face, knowing he was concentrating way too hard to not be making some sort of plan. The older boy glanced to the side and called out to Beckendorf, who was guarding with both of the Stoll brothers. "Can you guys hold the fort?"

Beckendorf snorted, obviously not impressed at the lack of Hunters attempting to get the flag so far. "Of course."

"I'm going in," Percy informed as he climbed back down the rocks.

Andromeda rolled her eyes because of course he was just going to ignore everything Thalia told them. "Well," Andromeda started. "If we're all gonna her chewed out by Thalia for letting you leave your post, I might as well get a hit or two on some Hunters. Maybe break Phoebe's nose if I'm lucky."

She ran towards the woods with Percy in front of her, hearing the boys cheers from behind them. It didn't take long for both of them to break into a full sprint, and Percy not so subtly looked behind him briefly, as if shocked that a daughter of Aphrodite could keep up with him.

"Yes, Percy," Andromeda spat out as they sprinted. "Pretty girls know how to run too."

The boy didn't respond, but Andromeda knew he was blushing, and that was good enough for her. Quickly jumping over the creek into enemy territory, it was easy to spot the Hunters silver flag being guarded by Bianca di Angelo. Andromeda was shocked that the Hunters had left her alone as she was the newest Hunter among their ranks, but she decided to take it as another sign of good luck at the startled girls face when she caught sight of them running toward her.

They were moving so fast, even if they were trying to stop, which they weren't, the two of them would've knocked the poor girl to the ground. Percy's shoulder had slammed into her so hard she went sprawling into the snow, and Andromeda laughed in pure joy at the sight.

"Sorry!" He yelled toward the girl, and again, Andromeda knew he wasn't, and she wasn't either. It wasn't a secret that the girl had accepted the offer to become a Hunter the first chance she got, even knowing that it meant abandoning her little brother, and remembering the sweet boy drowning in his huge helmet back at their flag had Andromeda glaring at the girl, hoping her fall hurt like Hades. Percy grabbed the flag and both of them took off back toward the creek, Andromeda was laughing like crazy because they might actually get away with this, but Bianca managed to yell for help and an arrow shot straight toward them. The brown haired girl reacted so fast she was surprised at herself, her golden whip coiled around the arrow just as it was about to hit Percy, and she yanked her arm to the side and let the arrow fly somewhere into the brush.

"How did you do that?" Percy yelled in amazement.

Andromeda smiled, finally feeling useful, but it was quickly wiped off her face as another arrow was shot at them, much lower this time, and the girl was unable to catch it before it lodged into the bark on the tree right in front of them, activating the trip wire that was attached to it, causing both her and Percy to face plant into the snow. The girl had landed right on top of him, and she quickly apologized as she struggled to pull herself up again.

"Percy! Andromeda!" Thalia yelled from the left of them. "What are you doing?"

Another arrow was shot at Thalia's feet before she could grab the flag from them, a yellow cloud of smoke billowing around the demigods that smelt something awful that Andromeda could not even describe. Her eyes burned and all of them started coughing and gagging, her and Percy getting the worst of it from their place on the ground. Andromeda was on the verge of throwing up before she felt two hands grab her arms and pull her further out of the smoke.

"No fair!" Thalia gasped out. "Fart arrows are unsportsmanlike!"

Andromeda had to agree with the daughter of Zeus because she could feel the tears coming out of her eyes, making her mascara run down her face. She had no doubt she looked like a coughing choking crying raccoon, and that was something a daughter of Aphrodite should never look like. It took a few moments to place the hands on her arms as Percy's as he started dragging her again, Andromeda grabbing the flag from the ground, and the both of them started running. The creek was only a few yards away, and if they could just reach it they would win the game, but the Fates must hate her because as Andromeda blocked a few more arrows from hitting either of them, she faintly saw Nico and Beckendorf running down toward the creek from the other side, but it was obvious they weren't coming to greet them and were chasing after someone.

"No!" Percy yelled out as both of them caught sight of Zoë Nightshade running away with their flag in her hands, crossing the creek just before they reached it, and slammed into them for good measure as they sprawled into the snow, Andromeda landing on top of Percy once again. The girl sighed in annoyance, tearing her helmet off and sliding off the boy and landing right beside him, not bothering to get up.

Before she could even be annoyed at their defense, Chiron rode into the clearing with both the Stoll brothers on his back, sporting some nasty whacks on the head, and two arrows sticking out of Connor Stoll's helmet. "The Hunters win!" Chiron announced. "For the fifty-sixth time in a row..."

Andromeda was so exhausted she only managed to roll her eyes and slam her forehead into Percy's shoulder, not caring the boy was still wearing his armor, or that it hurt. He had thrown his helmet off too, sweat gathered on his forehead and eyes storming.

"Perseus Jackson!" Thalia yelled as she came toward them. "Andromeda Finch! What in the name of the Gods were you thinking?" The girl still smelt terrible from the arrow, and everyone could see just how angry she was when blue sparks started flickering around her armor, hand clenched around her shield Aegis.

Andromeda could feel Percy tense from under her, and he immediately moved her softly away from his shoulder before standing up, his own hands clenched into fists. "We got the flag, Thalia!" He shouted back at the girl, somehow not flinching away from the girls shield like everyone else. "We saw a chance and took it!"

"I was at their base!" Thalia shouted. "But the flag was gone. If you hadn't butted in, especially only with a daughter of Aphrodite as your backup, we would've won!"

"Hey! Don't talk down to Andromeda like that, she was blocking all the arrows that the Hunters were shooting at us. She's not useless, and she's also not deaf and is right here!" Percy spat at the girl, and Andromeda could feel herself tearing up because no one had ever said anything like that. And yeah, sure, the arrow thing was cool, but she still didn't feel all that worthy of Percy's words. She cursed at herself, annoyed that he always had to be such a nice person. Why couldn't he be a dick? All of this would be so much easier. "Not to mention you had way too many on you!"

"Oh, so it's my fault?" Thalia asked with a glare.

"I didn't say that," Percy shot back.

"Agh!" Thalia yelled, pushing Percy back. A loud shock echoed around the clearing, and Andromeda cried out as the boy flew backwards ten feet before landing in the creek. All the hair on the girls body was sticking up from how close she was to the shock, her ears rang as she heard faint gasps coming from the campers, and laughs coming from the Hunters.

Thalia instantly paled, realizing what she had done. "Sorry!" She gasped out. "I didn't mean to—"

Andromeda had never seen Percy look as angry as he did right now. There was something in his eyes that didn't fit well with his naturally dopey smile and sarcastic attitude, and it didn't surprise her when he swung his arm out, producing a huge wave that hit Thalia so hard she stumbled back, spitting out water as it doused her. "Yeah," Percy growled. "I didn't mean to, either."

"Enough," Chiron ordered.

Thalia ignored their instructor, holding out her spear toward Percy. "You want some, Seaweed Brain?"

At Thalia's words, Andromeda finally picked herself up from the ground, not believing that Thalia would really go as far as to use the nickname that Annabeth gave him, not when she was still missing. From the look in Percy's eyes, the girl knew that had upset him even more, and that he was a lot more hurt than he was letting on about Annabeth's disappearance. "Bring it on, Pinecone Face!" Percy shouted.

He had raised his own sword Riptide, but before he could defend himself Thalia yelled out, lightning coming down from the sky, hitting her spear like a lightning rod, before she slammed it into Percy's chest. Andromeda gasped along with everyone else, before she glared at the girl. "Stop it!" She screamed, her words hitting Thalia so hard she collapsed to the ground, breaking the electric current.

"Thalia, that is enough!" Chiron ordered.

There was a harsh smell of burning, and Andromeda stumbled over to where Percy sat on the ground, clothes steaming and burnt at the edges, but before she could attempt to help him up, he got to his feet on his own, willing the entire creek behind him to rise. Andromeda stood there, eyes wide, mouth gaping open, as hundreds of gallons of water swirled up in a massive icy funnel cloud. Everyone had seen the boy use his powers, but nothing like this. The girl had no doubt that if he hurled this at Thalia, he would hurt her really, really badly.

"Percy!" Chiron pleaded.

The dark haired girl was still on the ground, dazed from the order Andromeda had given her, and the girl was worried she would have to stop Percy as well, but something seemed to distract him because he lowered his arms, causing all the water to crash back into the creekbed, soaking anyone standing close. Andromeda glanced to where his eyes were trained, and squinted at the sight of something walking toward them, covered in green mist.

"This is impossible," Chiron muttered. "It... She has never left the attic. Never."

As the figure stepped closer, it became clear to everyone that it was the Oracle, causing everyone to stir in uneasiness, not understanding what could be so important that it made her leave the attic. No one dared move, and when her voice hissed in the girls head, she couldn't stop her hands from clutching at her ears.

I am the spirit of Delphi, the voice said. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.

The Oracle seemed to look straight in Andromeda's direction, or maybe it was Percy's, before she turned toward Zoë Nightshade. Approach, Seeker, and ask.

Zoë swallowed uneasily. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened wide, green mist pouring out. Unconsciously, Andromeda took a small step closer to Percy, shivering as the bitter cold hit her now soaked clothes, not liking the images that showed itself in the mist— one image of a mountain, one a girl standing at a barren peak. It looked to be Artemis, and she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. The goddess was kneeling, hands raised to try and fend off an attack, and she looked to be in pain. Andromeda was more than absolutely sure that she did not want to hear what prophecy would follow that.

Six shall go west to the goddess in chains,
One shall be lost in the land without rain,
The bane of Olympus shows the trail,
Campers and Hunters combined prevail,
One shall be crushed from their own game,
Not to be redeemed until they take their blame,
The Titan's curse must two withstand,
And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

Then, as if the green mist was never there, it retreated back into the Oracle's mouth, before she sat down on a rock by the creek, and became so still Andromeda wondered if she had ever moved at all.

this chapter ended up being
much smoother than the first
and i'm a lot happier with it.

also check the changes i made
to the prophecy to fit the plot,
ahhhh i'm so excited!!

uwu to percy sticking
up for andy we are here for
them yes we are.