Present Day…

"Leo, I'm going to kill you!" Piper McLean yelled as her finger pulled at the mass of hair and metal that was knotted together just above her right ear.

Leo's latest flying invention - a small helicopter-like contraption that was no larger than the average demigod's palm - had crashed into her head and had quickly become tangled, its small blades winding itself around her chocolate brown hair. She winced as she blindly tried to free the contraption. The miniature helicopter only managed to become more firmly trapped. The engine of the machine made a small wheezing noise in her ear before clunking out.

The other demigod rushed over, shooting Piper an apologetic look. "Sorry, I thought that I had finally managed to get all of the kinks out," he said, eyeing the contraption thoughtfully.

Leo pushed his curly black mop of hair out of his face with an oil-stained hand. The blue jeans and orange tee-shirts that he regularly wore were constantly covered in grease and grime, and tonight was no exception. Even at seventeen, he was still only five foot six, although Piper was sure that his unruly hair gave him at least an extra two inches in height.

"Not yet," Piper said, not unkindly.

"I can build a flying war ship but I can't get a stupid toy helicopter to work," Leo grumbled, annoyed and frustrated. He stepped forward and pushed Piper's fingers out of the way and began to try free his contraption. It was quite difficult, considering that her braided hair had easily knotted.

After a few minutes, and with only a few yelps from Piper when Leo tugged on a piece of hair too harshly, the little machine was finally free. It laid motionless and crumpled in Leo's open palm. With an unsatisfied sigh, he shoved the pieces of metal into one of the pockets of his magical tool belt.

Piper couldn't recall a time where the belt wasn't safely fastened around his skinny waist. She wondered if he even went to bed with it on. It wouldn't surprise her.

"Sorry about that," he apologised again, giving her a rueful smile.

"It's okay." Piper's hands reached up to touch the right side of her head which was slightly tender from all of the pulling and yanking. "As long as I don't have a bald patch we're fine."

Leo pretended to carefully inspect her hair for chunks that were missing. "Nope, you're all good."

"Good for what?" Jason asked as he walked over to the two.

The fire that sat behind him in the center of the cabins outlined his tall, strong figure in a golden glow, highlighting his short blonde hair. His bright blue eyes regarded the two of them warmly, his handsome face open and relaxed. Just like every time Piper saw him, her heart beat faster and her stomach did a little happy dance. He was almost so gorgeous it hurt…and he was all hers.

Over a year and a half ago when the Earth Mother, Gaia, had been defeated and Olympus had been saved once again, all of the campers had been faced with a choice: they could either live at New Rome or Camp Half-Blood. It was no surprise to anyone when Percy and Annabeth had decided chosen to move to the Roman camp where they could live together as well as finally attend college.

Piper, on the other hand, didn't want to leave. Camp Half-Blood was her home; this was where her family was. She had also been terrified that Jason would chose to return to Camp Jupiter. When he told her that he wanted to stay, Piper could have wept with joy. Along with the two of them and Leo, Hazel and Frank had also chosen to live at Camp Half-Blood.

"Just checking Pipes for early signs of hair loss," Leo quipped, causing Piper to grin and roll her eyes.

Jason raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by his best friend's answer. "I heard that the Fates knit terrific wigs."

Piper swatted at him arm jokingly. "I'm not going bald. Leo's latest invention just tried to rip my hair out," she said, sending Leo a mock glare.

Leo raised his hands up, palms out. "In my defence, I yelled out for everyone to duck. You just weren't quick enough."

Jason laughed. "Last time you yelled 'duck', you burnt Samantha Elling's hair off," he pointed out. "Chiron was so pissed at you."

"Oh, come on," Leo groaned, covering his face with his hands. He vividly remembered the three hour long lecture the centaur had given him about the safe handling of blow torches after the incident. Also, he had been banned from the forge and Bunker 9 for three weeks as punishment. Three whole weeks. Leo would have rather cut his left hand off. The wait had been pure agony. "That was ages ago."

"It was last month," Piper said.

"This morning, I found a snake in my undies drawer. A snake! Any guesses who might have put it there?" he asked sarcastically, already knowing the answer.

"She's still upset," Piper tried to reason, referring to the still murderous Samantha.

"She broke my nose afterwards. We're even," Leo complained. His pride was still slightly wounded at having been beat up by a girl, and a tiny one at that. That daughter of Ares may be a little thing but she sure packed one hell of a punch. Samantha also had a temper that revelled her father's.

"Not to her, I'm afraid. Because of you, she now has the same haircut as Jason. I would have broken your nose." Piper said to her dense friend. She loved Leo, she really did, but sometimes he could be completely clueless, especially when it came to the opposite sex. He would find it much easier to chat-up one of his machines than an actual girl.

"Hey!" both Jason and Leo exclaimed simultaneously.

"There's nothing wrong with my haircut," Jason grumbled.

"You'd really hit me?" Leo asked, taken aback.

Piper couldn't help but laugh at both of their shocked and slightly offended faces. "First off," she started, looking at her boyfriend, "Jason, I love your hair…just not on a girl. And, Leo, I imagine that you would want to deck me too if I set fire to Bunker 9."

Leo's eyebrows pulled together as he thought about what she was saying. He imagined Piper going on a murderous rampage in Bunker 9 with the blow torch he had accidently used on Samantha. He pictured Piper igniting the priceless blueprints that he had discovered, the thousands of ideas and inventions that lied scattered around the room.

"You're right," he concluded seriously. "I would want to murder you."

Piper cracked a smile, feeling triumphant at getting her point across. "Exactly. What you did to Sam is the equivalent of her burner down Bunker 9 to you."

An amused formed on Jason's lips as he looked at Leo. His eyes glinted with mischief. "I'm pretty sure that Samantha likes you," he said.

Leo's dark eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Jason couldn't be serious! "What?! There is no was in Hades that this psycho chick likes me. She hates me!"

Piper's grin rivalled her boyfriend's. "You know what they say: treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen."

"Treat 'em mean?" he repeated in shock. "She's trying to kill me!"

His two closest friends only continued to grin wickedly at him.

Leo shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. His brain hurt from thinking about girls and their confusing tendencies. Why couldn't they be simple like machines? Leo understood machines; he didn't, however, understand girls. He often wished that they came with an instruction manual…or at least an off switch. It would make life much simpler. He could simply push 'pause', the girl would freeze, and Leo would have time to figure out what to say or do next. But this creation continued to not exist. He mentally put it on the top of his 'To Invent' list.

"Look -"

Jason's words were cut off when a deafening bang sounded directly behind the trio, causing them all to jump in shock. They whirled around quickly, along with all of the other camper who were standing around, talking after dinner. Pink clouds surrounded them like a thick fog, engulfing all of the surrounding cabins.

The scent of overpowering perfume hit Leo smack-bang in the face. His eyes watered and the back of his throat became dry. He had always hated the smell. Call him crazy, but he would have much preferred the newcomer to smell like engine fuel than vanilla and pearl extract.

As the rosy vapour began to thin and vanish, retreating along the ground, his eyes widened as he saw a tall woman standing in the middle of the bonfire. The tongues of fire licked at her skin but she stood unmoving, clearly unaffected by the blistering heat. Her dark brown hair fell to her thin waist in spiralling curls and her golden eyes scanned the crowd of campers. A gold wreath wrested on top of her head, catching the light of the flames. The dark colour of her skin contrasted greatly against her white ancient-Greek-style robe. She was poised and beautiful in an otherworldly way.

Leo recognised her instantly: it was Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love.

What in Hades is she doing at Camp Half-Blood, Leo thought.

Her piercing eyes finally stilled. For a moment, Leo thought that the Goddess was staring at him. That was, until she spoke.

"Piper McLean," she called out, her musical voice echoing around the camp.

Beside Leo, the daughter of Aphrodite froze instantly, her eyes widening in shock. Jason quickly moved closer to his girlfriend, standing slightly in front of her, resembling an old school knight in shining army.

"Mother," Piper breathed out, her voice no louder than a whisper.

Aphrodite walked forward, gracefully stepping out of the bonfire, her eyes focused on her daughter. Black ash dirtied her sandal-clad feet. Other than that, the goddess appeared unaffected by the fire she had appeared in only moments ago. The other camper moved out of the way, making a clear path for the goddess. There expressions ranged from surprise to confusion to downright astonishment.

Piper sidestepped around Jason as Aphrodite approached the trio. She felt silly being shielded from the goddess. It was her mother after all, and it wasn't as though Aphrodite couldn't see her.

"What are you doing here, Mum?" she asked, confused. Her eyebrows furrowed together.

Aphrodite hadn't appeared to Piper in over thirteen months. There had been no Iris messages; no visiting her in her dreams; no stopping by the camp on her way past. There had been no contact whatsoever between the mother and daughter. It wasn't only Piper that the goddess had been apparently avoiding. Aphrodite had managed to distance herself from all of her children.

Although she would never admit it, Piper was quietly thankful. Nine times out of ten, the gods appearing to their children only ensured one thing: trouble. And Piper had had enough of that to last her a lifetime.

The Goddess of Love raised a manicured eyebrow. "You don't want me here?" she asked. Her words were innocent but Piper could see the underlying warning in them. Aphrodite's hard gaze said: If you show me one ounce of disrespect, child, you will regret it.

Piper flushed. "Sorry, that came out wrong," she rushed on to say, not wishing to anger her mother. "It's just a surprise to see you."

"Hmm," was all Aphrodite replied, her lips pursing.

She looked around at the campers who in turn stared at her in shock. It had been a long time since a God had visited Camp Half-Blood. With the war against Gaia over and Olympus safe once again, there had been no need. Everything had lapsed back into normality…or as normal as things could ever be when demigods were involved.

Aphrodite's eyes travelled back to her daughter. "I need to talk," she looked between the three young demigods, her expression serious, "with all of you."

Her grave features had Piper's heart sinking. For the first time since the war, her mother looked tired and stressed. Although her hair and make-up was done perfectly and she was dressed beautifully, there was something about the goddess that seemed off. At least to Piper.

Piper nodded nervously. She could feel the eyes of the other campers on her and it made her feel uncomfortable, like she had a large spotlight shining down on her. "Okay."

Her mother nodded curtly. She looked like she was going to say something but cut herself off, casting a quick glance at the demigods that were all within earshot. "I'll see you at the Big House," she said instead.

Without warning, the goddess exploded in a blast of pink scented clouds. Piper, Jason and Leo all jumped back in shock, coughing as the strong fumes tickled their noses and burnt their sinuses.

Leo waved his hand in front of his face, swatting away the vapours. "What the heck was that all about?"

Jason glanced worriedly at Piper, a bad feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. "I don't know, but I don't think it's anything good."

"When is it ever with the gods," Piper muttered, feeling slightly uneasy after the grim look her mother had cast her.

Leo huffed and ran a hand though his inky-black curls, causing them to stand up wildly at the front. It made him look even more like the mad inventor that he was. "Why do the gods only stop by when they have bad news? Why can't they just pop in and say 'Hey, Son, great job with that invention' or 'I really liked the way you beheaded that monster last week'? But no! It is always to tell us that the world is ending or that we need to go on some impossible quest that will most likely get us all killed! It's rubbish!"

Overhead, lightning illuminate the sky with a violent crack and thunder rumbled loudly. Leo instantly froze and paled visibly. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he realised his mistake at voicing his thoughts aloud in the open.

"Jeez, Leo," Jason admonished, glancing up at the sky quickly, as though he was afraid that he was going to be electrocuted at any moment. "Could you say that any louder?"

Leo thought that Jason shouldn't be the one worried. Lightning couldn't exactly harm him, being the son of Jupiter and all.

He looked up to the sky apologetically. "Sorry, Zeus," Leo mumbled quickly, terrified that the god was about to smite him for his tactless comments. It wasn't exactly wise to anger the gods, especially when one was waiting for them in the Big House.

"Come on," Piper said anxiously.

She wasn't in any rush to see her mother. In fact, she would rather escape into the woods and face whatever monster may be lurking in there than have to hear the bad news that Aphrodite obviously had for her. But, considering that Leo have just managed to piss off the ruler of Olympus, she decided that going to her mother was safer than standing out in the open. Her mum wasn't about to electrocute her or her friends. At least she didn't think so.

Please leave a review and tell me what you think of the story so far! And as for the person who asked me if I had already uploaded this: yes, I did but it accidentally got deleted.