07 | the flick of death

                                    

                                          
LUCKILY, ANNABETH HAD HEARD ABOUT A TEMPLE OF ATHENA NOT FAR FROM WHERE THEY WERE, so the group was off to find it. andromeda had her hand gripping her bow, carefully watching their backs as they walked. 
directly in front of her, was grover, who kept turning around and glancing back at the girl. he didn't look it, but grover was 24 years old. 
old enough to recognize that what andromeda went through back there was, rough, to say the least. and here she was continuing on like nothing ever happened. 
however, he wasn't very subtle about his worrying. 
after at least the tenth time andromeda noticed him turn around and look at her, she rolled her eyes with a huff. "alright, out with it, underwood." 
grover's eyes widened, the confrontation taking him by surprise. "what do you mean?" 
andromeda raised her eyebrows. "you obviously have something to say." she said. "so, out with it." 
grover sighed, slowing so andromeda could catch up with him. once she did, he stared up at her for a moment. "are you..." he started. "are you alright?" 
andromeda looked down at him, her expression blank. "well, i watched my father die, and basically just had to relive it, so, not fantastic." 
grover sighed. "andie, i'm serious." 
andromeda chuckled, waving him off. "honestly, i'm mostly embarrassed." she admitted. "i'm supposed to take care of you guys, not the other way around." 
grover shrugged. "that was kind of an anomaly of a situation." he reminded the girl. "i mean, what are the chances?" 
andromeda nodded. "that's just how terrible my luck is, right?" 
grover, ever the awkward satyr, hesitated before finally broaching the subject that truly weighed on his mind. "andie, uh, about what echidna said – you being afraid of surviving. what did she mean by that?"
the girl sighed, and her gaze flickered forward — her eyes avoiding grover's. "don't worry, it's not a cry for help or anything." she assured him. "it's more about the pressure." she explained, making sure percy and annabeth were far enough ahead to be out of earshot before continuing. "thalia sacrificed herself for you, for luke, for annabeth, the same way my father sacrificed himself for me, and now we're carrying the weight of their sacrifices." she reminded him. "doesn't it ever feel like you need to prove yourself?"
grover nodded, actually understanding exactly what she meant. "like, you can't just live ordinarily anymore." he said. "you have to make their sacrifice worth it." 
andromeda let out another sigh. "echidna was right." she admitted. "dying is easy. surviving is hard." 
the two walked in silence for a short while, both carrying a determination to avenge those that they'd lost — that had given their lives for them. 
finally, grover opened his mouth again to speak again, trying to find the right words. "do you — " he started, before sighing. "do you think echidna's the one who..." he trailed off, as if he couldn't bear to finish the thought. 
but andromeda knew what he was asking. "i don't know, grover." she admitted. "i've been wrong so many times before." 
just as the conversation was getting too heavy for either one of them to bear anymore, annabeth and percy let out a loud laugh ahead of them, making grover and andromeda freeze.