"Your eagerness to see me, Mr. D." She said with forced civility. "Can only be matched by the intensity of my desire to interact with you."

She turned slowly to face him, and it felt like her eyes were being personally offended by his wardrobe selections. He was wearing a leopard (not faux) fur suit with a purple tie. His eyes looked slightly less bloodshot than normal, and they currently held an expression of utmost annoyance.

"Charming, as ever." He said distastefully. "Come. Let me get you some nectar."

"What do you really want, Mr. D?" Annabeth cut in wearily. "Since it's all the same for you, I'd rather we skip the small talk."

Before she could object, Mr. D reached out a finger and touched her cheek. Annabeth was so shocked it took her a minute to see what he held on the point of his index finger: a single, glistening tear, one Annabeth had missed when she had wiped her face.

Mr. D studied the tear, looking more intent than Annabeth had ever seen him.

"I wiped hundreds of these tears off my wife's face." He said, half to himself. "Ariadne, you know. Disobeyed her father to help the hero Theseus survive the labyrinth, and after she gave him the string, he promised to marry her."

Mr. D laughed humorlessly. "Of course, how was she to know that by 'marry her,' Theseus meant 'drop her off on an island the first chance he got.'"

Mr. D let the tear fall from one finger to another. "It broke her heart. That's where I found her. I mended her heart and made her my immortal queen on Olympus."

"Yeah, a queen you love so much that you chased that wood nymph?" Annabeth replied heartlessly.

Mr. D shot her a poisonous glare. "I make one harmless mistake, and I never live it down. Zeus sires a demigod that could raze Olympus, but everyone loves him." He sighed. "Nevertheless, I showed Ariadne more kindness than Theseus ever did. He just dropped her off once he was finished using her. She was nothing to him, just a means for him to get out of the labyrinth."

"Percy didn't use me." Annabeth said quietly.

Mr. D continued as if he hadn't heard her. "I told your friend Peter this story years ago, when he rode off to rescue you from Atlas. I told him this is why I hate demigods, because for all their high-and-mighty talk about being better than the gods, they always wind up just like us in the end. They always break the hearts of those they loved. Peter said he would be different." Mr. D stared at her with his penetrating purple eyes. "I was foolish to almost believe him. He just proved me right."

Annabeth felt her blood boil, or maybe it was just the hot tears wanting to spill from her eyes. Despite all he'd done to her, Annabeth still felt compelled to defend Percy.

"It wasn't his fault." She said. "The gods gave him immortality, and he would have been an idiot to refuse. Zeus would have killed him."

The adrenaline in her veins propelled her to continue, as if Mr. D really cared about her situation. She knew he didn't, but she couldn't talk to anyone else.

"I wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with. It's half my own doing-"

Mr. D. smirked. "You think I didn't hear all this from Ariadne in the beginning? 'Oh, Theseus was destined for greater things; he couldn't be held back by little old me! I should have been nicer to him, cared for him more.'" Mr. D was now positively spitting. "But after a while Ariadne came to terms with the plain and simple fact that Theseus ABANDONED HER on his quest for glory. After all she'd done. That's what heroes do. They take what they need and leave a windstorm of pain in their wake."

"Percy didn't owe me anything!" She cried out. She was aware that some people were giving the pair of them funny looks, but she didn't care.

Mr. D rolled his eyes. "We both know that's a lie. How many times did you save his life? You took a knife for him, Annabel. Don't tell me he didn't owe you anything. Don't tell me you didn't hate seeing him with that Rebecca. Don't tell me you yourself didn't turn down immortality for him. Don't tell me you didn't love him."

Mr. D took a breath before finishing. "And don't tell me he didn't break your heart when he didn't choose to stay with you."

Annabeth felt dead inside. "Why the hell are you telling me all this? Just to rub it in?" She asked, hearing her voice as if she were underwater. Drowning. "'Oh, look at the stupid daughter of Athena, she thought he actually cared for her! This seems like a perfect opportunity to glorify gods and deplore demigods, all the while reminding her that her very genetics made it so she never had a shot.'" Her own words shattered the delicate glass wall blocking her emotions. She was recklessly broken, and shards of her would impale themselves in Mr. D if he weren't careful.

Mr. D considered her. "I'm telling you this because I want you to know I'm sorry. You deserved more."

Revulsion welled up in her at the thought of being pitied by Mr. D, of all people. Drunk, bitter, pathetic Mr. D.

"I don't need your sympathy, Mr. D." She said in a deadly low voice.

Mr. D looked at her mockingly. "Annabel-"

"ANNABETH." She screamed, so loudly that everyone within a 10-foot radius stopped what they were doing and stared. Annabeth breathed heavily, and she said with as much contempt as possible, "My name is Annabeth."

And for the third time that night, she shouldered past someone and walked without direction, hoping that walking would keep her from dwelling on the contents of the past conversation.

"Annabeth!" Annabeth looked up and saw Piper hurrying toward her. She groaned internally. This was a huge throne room; how did everyone keep finding her?

Piper reached her, panting slightly. "Annabeth." Annabeth braced herself for more Percy Talk. Because apparently that was all anyone had to say to her.

"Did you know about a thing called Aphrodite's Chosen?" Piper finished accusatorially.

Annabeth, caught off guard, took a moment to respond. "I've never heard of it. Why?"

Piper sighed exasperatedly. "Evidently, it's something Aphrodite does every so often at these celebrations. She puts together a power point-"

"Like, Microsoft?" Annabeth asked dubiously. "Is that a thing?"

Piper threw up her hands in surrender. "I don't know, but that's not the point. Aphrodite puts together this slideshow with pictures of all the 'eligible,'" She used air quotes around the term. "Maidens at the dance. Apparently, the picture she uses of you is a snapshot of the time when you're your 'prettiest.'" More air quotes. "Then, a 'random' committee of immortal guys votes on who's the 'prettiest.'" Piper was positively fuming by now. "And she's going to do it tonight."

Annabeth looked at Piper blankly. "I don't see why this is a big deal. You're with Jason."

Piper sighed with obvious impatience. "We're not technically together, and I doubt Mom would spare me the 'fun.' Anyway, it's not me I'm worried about. It's you."

Annabeth actually snorted. "Look, if you think I'm gonna win this little pageant thing or whatever-"

"Yes, I do." Piper said flatly. "Look, Annabeth, you're gorgeous-"

"I'm not half as pretty as the minor goddesses!" Annabeth protested.

Piper waved her hands impatiently. "Of course you are! Plus, you don't understand how this thing works for Mom. It's a way for her to play matchmaker."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked warily.

"The winner of the contest gets to dance with any guy Aphrodite chooses. Now, normally, people would be excited about having the goddess of love set them up. But I know my mom." Piper said bitterly. "She gets a kick out heartache."

Annabeth felt the temperature in the room drop. "Oh, gods-"

"Yeah." Piper said angrily. "Once I heard about it, I ran to come find you. You need to leave."

"Piper, I honestly think you have too much confidence in my face-"

"That doesn't matter! Look, I'm trying to save you the humiliation of having to dance with him. Cause that's the kind of thing Mom would love to see."

Annabeth paused for half a second before consenting. "Okay. I'll see you at camp then. Have fun tonight."

"I'll walk you out. Distract any suitors Mom might send to try and stop you."

Annabeth didn't even have the willpower to protest. He heart had been torn out, beaten, and crushed tonight. The least Piper could do was escort her out of this personal hell.

So of course, their travel to the exit was not uninterrupted. There was only one person who could make Annabeth's night worse. Big Brown Eyes.