Percy had seen glimpses of a small girl his whole life. She only ever appeared for a second, just long enough for Percy to notice. She always looked the same. About eight years old, she wore a sky-blue dress that faded into white down by her knees, floaty and ethereal. Her eyes were also blue, the kind that matched the still waters of the Long Island Sound. Her hair was shoulder length and dark, highlighting her pale complexion. Of course, a normal person would have thought they were going mad but Percy was a demigod, a non-threatening girl appearing randomly wasn't really very high on his problem list.
That was until he started noticing a pattern. The girl appeared at the darkest moments of his life, when he was most afraid. He had seen her when his mother had been taken by the Minotaur and when he had lost Annabeth over the cliff with Luke. He saw her again when he shared the weight of the sky with Annabeth. Percy was always too distraught (or too tired) to catch the girl and she disappeared so quickly that he only ever managed a glance before she was gone, dissipating into the air as if Percy had dreamt her. For a short time, he thought he had.
In the lead up to the War for Olympus, he had seen her more and more. She was there in the Mount St Helen's when he had faced the telekhines as Annabeth escaped. Percy was extremely creeped out. Was this girl working for Kronos? Was she some sort of spy doing reconnaissance on him?
He asked around to see if anyone else had seen her but they hadn't. Finally he went to Chiron, the wise centaur had been around forever! He had to know something! But he too drew a blank.
Then, at the Big House, he saw her again. They had just read Percy the great prophecy, the short paragraph that mapped out the saving or destruction of the world. And it was all about him. For a second, Percy refused to understand the six short lines spoken by the Oracle all those years ago. He resisted acknowledging that what is written will come to pass.
"A single choice will end his days." he muttered.
My end. I'm going to die. He thought.
Then: Okay.
And with that Percy accepted his future, his destiny, his death.
Suddenly she appeared behind Annabeth. Percy glimpsed her shiny black hair and turned to face her.
"HEY YOU!" he shouted as the girl turned and started to walk away. Annabeth and the other counsellors started muttering "Who is he talking to?"
"Percy.. what..?" Annabeth started, but Percy was too busy running after the girl. He grabbed her arm just as she crossed the threshold and spun her to face him.
"Who are you?" he yelled at her as her blue eyes fixed on him. Gasps erupted from the campers behind him as it was clear the girl had materialised.
"Not here, Perseus Jackson." The girl said, her voice melodious but serious. She touched his upper arm and they appeared in the Poseidon Cabin on the other side of camp.
"Woah" Percy said, his head spinning from the goddess-travel. It was clear now that she was a goddess not a monster. Monsters can't teleport like that. Only children of Hades can shadow-travel but this girl radiated her own power like an aura.
"Who are you?" Percy repeated, softer this time, as he faced her.
"Sit please Perseus." she said gently, offering him his own bed to sit on before perching herself. "My name is Agape, Perseus Jackson."
"Don't..erm..take this the wrong way, but I've never heard of you."
To his surprise, Agape smiled. It was a sweet wistful smile that lit up her whole face. She looked young, maybe about eight years old, although Percy recognised the ancient being underneath the youthful exterior. "Ah, yes. But I bet you've heard of my brother Eros? He's always stealing the limelight. You may call him Cupid as well? He had a famous love story once. Him and oh, whatshername.. Psyche! That was it! The Great Poets had terrible trouble trying to rhyme that one!" she chuckled merrily as Percy stared in dumbstruck awe.
"You're Ero's sister?" he said slowly.
"Yes Perseus. There are four of us, although Eros is the most flamboyant. I guess that was comes with being desire personified. I have another brother, Philos and a sister, Storge."
"Righttt.." muttered Percy, unsure and slightly afraid of what Ero's sister would want with him and why she'd been following him all this time.
Agape sighed at the confusion on his face. "Our mother is Aphrodite, naturally, and our father is.. well we don't know. It might be a nature spirit or perhaps even the first human man. There were several rumours none of which Mother has denied, it makes for a very confusing family tree" Agape smiled, humour apparent in her eyes. When Percy stared at her blankly, she coughed slightly before continuing.
"Anyway, we are all minor gods and goddesses, raised on high to sit at the foot of our Mother's throne. We all represent an aspect of love. Eros, of course, is sexual love and desire; the one you see at every Valentine's day date. Philos depicts the love of objects or qualities; he mostly hangs around on the internet nowadays, joining in fan chatrooms to "I looooove this" with the fangirls." Again Agape sighed exasperatedly a slight smile on her lips. "Storge is the love for one's family. My sister goes to every family gathering across the world. She's usually that weird old lady in the corner that no one remembers being related to."
Agape's blue eyes shone as chuckled quietly. It was clear that unlike the rest of the Olympian gods, the siblings actually genuinely cared for and loved each other. Maybe it helped being love personified.
"..and you?" Percy asked when Agape stopped talking.
"I am the youngest of the four. I am a representation of the selfless love of a stranger."
"I don't understand" Percy admitted.
"I am the kind of love that causes people to give blood, or shelter the homeless or help a person in need with great risk to themselves. I am the kind of love that causes one person to die for another."
Percy stared at the beautiful goddess carefully. "That's why, isn't it?" he spoke finally. "Why you've been popping up everywhere! Every time someone has risked their life for another."
"No Percy. I am revealed to you when you have risked your life for another. You can only see me when you display your love for another by putting yourself at risk. The reason you notice me so much is because of the frequency of you doing just that. "Most people I visit maybe once, before a particularly heroic death, like Bianca di Angelo's. Demigods..maybe three or four times; risk kind of comes with the package."
Agape smiled softly.
"But you Perseus, I have never visited a person on earth as many times as you. That's why you couldn't find out anything about me from others. They hardly ever notice me, or if they do, they die soon after. "
"Why did you appear just now then? I wasn't at risk in any way."
"Percy, you had just accepted the greatest burden, dying for others. To give your life for another is the greatest display of love there is!"
"So it's gonna happen? I have to die for the world to be saved?" said Percy bluntly. He had accepted his fate but part of him clung to the hope of keeping his life.
"Not necessarily Percy." Agape frowned thoughtfully. "Prophecy is a tricky business, I doubt even Apollo can tell you the exact outcome. The fact that you were willing time die is enough to summon me to you." Agape's pale blue eyes raised from her clasped hands and fixed on Percy's. He felt the power again radiating from her, a warmth settled over him.
"I wanted to thank you Percy. Many lives have been altered, saved, because of your actions. You can forgive yourself for Bianca's death. She died heroically, with great love in her heart. I know she has forgiven you. Now you must forgive yourself." "Good luck Perseus. I'm sure we will meet again." Agape stated. And then she was gone.
Hey Ladies and Gents,
This is my first Percy Jackson fanfiction, I hope you enjoyed it!
I've had it knocking around on my hard drive for a while actually and I thought it was about time I actually posted it!
Don't forget to review if you can, seriously, those things make me ridiculously happy
Anna xx
(Agape, Storge, Philos and Eros are all Greek words for love denoting different aspects of the whole. I just imagined them as gods and goddesses and wrote a story with them.)
Btw I don't own Percy, Annabeth, Chiron, Percy's mum or Camp Half Blood. All credit goes to Rick Riordan and his brain. (And the thousand year old civilisation that invented the myths for us to play with)