Where else could we start?

Chapter 1: Aphrodite's old beach house.

The goddess of love has a tendency to... change. Her physical appearance is constantly shifting, and she appears differently to different people. Becoming increasingly beautiful, learning how to make different people jealous.

But there is something about the Old Lands that makes this difficult. Standing on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, looking out over the water, Aphrodite felt the pull of her roots. With the conquest of the giants by that cute little ruffian, Percy Jackson, and his band of friends, the Mediterranean wasn't quite as off-limits as it had once been. But it was still just as old, just as dangerous, just as... Primal. The body of water Aphrodite stood before was where she had come from. The blood of Oranos, shed by his son Kronos, mixed with this water, had created a divine essence from which Aphrodite was born.

So basically, this lake was her mom.

Something, (maybe mama lake,) was trying to make Aphrodite stay solid, concrete. Make her pick a form. So she let herself settle, and then looked down. She gasped, then laughed to herself. The bronze skin, the orange tee and blue jeans, the dark hair, braided with a white eagle's feather...

The spitting image of Piper McLean laughed softly. "Lucky for me," she said quietly, "I have a gorgeous daughter. Now, where am I?" Aphrodite had no idea what she was doing here in the middle of the night, but she didn't mind surprises as much as some of the other gods.

The girl who was a goddess turned. And gasped out loud. Again. OK, this really wasn't possible.

Aphrodite was standing in the moonlight in front of her old seaside home. This was where she had lived thousands of years ago, when Psyche had come to her, begging forgiveness for betraying the trust of Eros, Psyche's husband, and Aphrodite's (adopted,) son. This place had disappeared years ago, however. Even if the building had stayed, it would have to be thousands of years old. This home looked brand new.

A ball of pretty pink fire exploded into the hand that belonged to Piper. Aphrodite smirked. "Whoever is messing around with me is about to regret it."

Using the fireball to light her path, she picked her way through the sand of the beach to the house. It looked deserted. No lights on. No noise inside. She tried the door. Unlocked.

She let herself into her old house, looking at the 300 B.C. style kitchen. They didn't make them like that any more. Pity.

Admiring her daughter's reflection in the bronze mirror on the wall, Aphrodite suddenly heard something. There was someone else in the house. Aphrodite walked down the hall on quiet feet towards the noise. She could feel Piper's body was in peak fighting condition, and was grateful. She could see the light of a fire in Eros's old room, and a shadow moving. She heard the noise again, almost like a quiet whimper of pain. She slipped into the room.

It was like going back in time. Weeping with his back to Aphrodite was a teenager, about Piper's height, in a white toga, with feathery wings stretching from exposed shoulders. Like her son...

But this figure was not Eros.

Rather than pale, he had a good tan, and rather than white dove wings, these wings were metallic gold, shining like the S-

Like the Sun.

Was it possible?

The wings on the teenager's back became a bright gold quiver, then a yellow travel bag. The toga became a white hoodie and khaki shorts. The boy turned and pulled back his hood.

"Hiya, beauty queen."

Only one god had the guts to call Aphrodite that. Aphrodite gazed in wonder.

"Apo-"

The child Sun god held up a quick had for silence, then pointed a finger in the sky. "Dad doesn't know I'm here." The names of the gods tended to call godly attention, especially when spoken by other gods.

"But- but-" Aphrodite ran her hands through Piper's hair. "This is impossible. Ze- the Big guy turned you back to human form! As punishment after the War with Gaea! You run a guitar shop in Utah! You can't-"

Apollo took a seat by the fire and gestured for Aphrodite to sit as well. "Something's happened." he began, stretching his hands to the flames, as if the Sun god were cold. "Dad's turned me into a human a couple of times before, as punishment. Both times I've never had any godly power 'til Dad gave it back. But Delphi wasn't closed then. This time is different. Someone's been messing around with fate, and Delphi has thrown off the serpent long enough for me to tell you how to set things right. Otherwise, the Fates' plan won't come to pass. And I don't fancy seeing the Fates angry."

The very thought made Aphrodite shudder. "What's going to happen?"

The reflection of the hearth danced in Apollo's eyes. He thought for a moment before answering. "One of the demigods from Gaea's War is going to die. Very soon. None of them are fated to die for the next few decades. Frank Zhang will- was going to be the first to pass. But even he has much fuel to burn. This death will be much sooner. It will mean chaos if it is not stopped."

Aphrodite sat rigid, scared. "But... A," she was hesitant in her question. "Not my daughter?"

Apollo smiled, his eyes red from crying. "No, beauty queen. Not Piper."

Now Aphrodite was really confused. "But then... why call me here?"

Apollo turned serious. He stretched his fingers towards the flames, and an image began to take shape. At first just a shadow, but slowly, slowly coming into focus. "Because it's your fault, beauty queen. You're the one who messed with fate."

The shape came into full form, a demigod, doomed to die, smiling, unknowing. Aphrodite stared in horror. "No-"

"You've killed Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano."

Reyna's form stood in the fire, flickering, and then disappearing.

Normally, the death of a demigod wouldn't be that tragic or serious to Aphrodite. Maybe it was because she was in her daughter's form. Or maybe it was because she genuinely liked the girl. Reyna had been through a lot, and she deserved a long, happy life. For whatever reason, Aphrodite was shocked. She gaped at Apollo. "How did I... I never wanted to... when? How?"

Apollo stood, shaking his head sadly. "You should have left seeing the future to the Oracles, gorgeous. You crushed her hope, and now she can't be saved unless you fix the damage you caused."

Aphrodite thought back to when she had last seen Reyna in person. She gave a start. "The Battery?"

"You were dead wrong, Afro. You overlooked one detail. The one everyone always overlooked. He must be in Camp Jupiter before it is too late."

Thunder rumbled outside.

Terror gripped Apollo, his wings reappearing, shining brighter. "Hurry! Save her! You have to wake him up!"

And in a burst of golden fire, the Sun god was gone.

Aphrodite sat in silence for a while, thinking hard. Could this really be her fault? Was Apollo full of it? The Sun god might have been prone to tricks. That much was true. But there was one lesson you could learn looking back on ancient history, one absolute.

Delphi was never wrong.

Aphrodite was an immortal goddess. She wasn't supposed to worry herself with the lives of mortals. They lived, they died, the end. Yawn. But something new was filling Aphrodite. She felt an absence of apathy. Suddenly, she cared what happened to Reyna. Plenty of people called the goddess of love shallow, or inconsequential. Aphrodite was well aware of this. Maybe it was time she proved them wrong.

She would save Reyna Ramirez Arellano. She would fix her mistake. The questions was...

What was her mistake?

The goddess disintegrated into a violet mist that spiraled into nothing. Her essence flew to Mount Olympus, faster than sound.

And on the shores of the Adriatic, a house on the seashore crumbled into white sand. And a thunder cloud rolled on, scowling.