HUNTRESS OF THE SEA

CHAPTER TEN

Disclaimer: I in no way own anything recognizable from Twilight or the Percy Jackson series.

::: ::: :::

It had taken Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie to hold Carlisle back from ripping the door off its hinges. Once he heard Bella making her way to the bathroom, Carlisle had nearly plowed Jacob down to stop her. Esme had to calm him down by saying that Bella was sensible and would not put herself at risk. She still held his hand, hoping that her touch would keep him calm and rational.

When the water turned off, Carlisle started bouncing his leg.

"Bella knows what she's doing," Esme said in her soothing voice.

"She's injured," Carlisle protested. "I have to help her."

"She's injured more than we can ever know," Esme replied. Carlisle immediately stopped trying to get into the other room, his thoughts clearing.

Alice let out a sob. "We damaged her," she squeaked.

Edward, who had started pacing the room, agreed. "I should never have left her. I should have stayed. She would still be safe then."

Rosalie rolled her eyes, not for the hundredth time. "Look," she said sharply, commanding everyone's attention. Edward still continued pacing. "You can say that it's our fault that she's so reserved –"

"Got that right," Jacob grumbled.

Rosalie sent him a growl. "But even if we hadn't have left, she would still be part Greek and a part of this mythological world. And we probably wouldn't know about it. Which means that Bella was lying to us the whole time we knew her, and after we trusted her with our biggest secret."

"She's not wrong," Jasper says. Everyone looks at him incredulously, but he only shrugs his shoulders. "How do we know that Bella would have ever told us? We let her into our lives, but she obviously never let us into hers."

The room falls silent. Edward stops his pacing and falls onto the couch, nearly bouncing Seth right off. With a groan, Edward lets his head fall into his hands.

"You sure know how to kick a girl when she's already down-"

Edward and Seth both jump off the couch. They back away to the part of the room that is opposite of the small table, which isn't very far since they're all crowded into a cheap hotel.

Seated at the table is the most beautiful woman any of them had ever seen. Overall, she was wearing a tight fitting red dress, black heels, and her hair was framing her beautiful face in loose curls. If you asked each of the vampires and wolves individually however, their answers would all be different as to how they perceived parts of the woman.

Her beautiful face smirks. "- and after she saved your sorry butts."

Rosalie – who saw the epitome of blond bombshell with piercing bright blue eyes, and a face with flawless makeup – was the first to speak up. "Who are you?" she managed to get out, but only barely. The woman was mesmerizing.

The woman clicks her tongue in indignation. "You do not know? All you monsters are the same." She stands up and gives the group of vampires and werewolves a dramatic curtsey. "I am the Greek goddess Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love."

Emmett's jaw practically unhinges. "Whoa, seriously?"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

Emmett quickly shakes his head.

Aphrodite smiles sweetly. Emmett – who is seeing someone reminiscent of Rosalie, but also the eyes of a girl he had a crush on when he was human – sighs happily at the small gesture.

"Are you looking for Bella?" Esme asks.

Aphrodite hardly spares her a glance, instead inspecting her nails. "If I was looking for Isabella, I would have gone straight to her."

"Oh."

A mirror appears in front of Aphrodite. "She has obviously told you nothing of who she is." Aphrodite picks at her hair, fixing a piece so that it's perfect. "However, I am here for matters other than to give you all a lesson on Greek mythology. This quest will be going nowhere fast if you do not make amends with Isabella." The mirror disappears, Aphrodite satisfied for the time being with her appearance.

"But we've tried," Edward protests. Aphrodite faces him, her beautiful chocolate eyes flashing in danger.

"You have said you were sorry with as much honesty as one would expect a vampire to have. In order to repair what you have broken, you have to get her to open up. To let you see the side of her that she obviously never trusted you with."

"If she didn't trust us before we left," reasons Jasper. "Then how do you expect us to get her to open up to us now?"

Aphrodite, who has Alice's eyes but Maria's face shape, waves her hand dismissively. "Let me handle that. Only know that this will be your last chance to beg for forgiveness."

Everyone nods their head.

The sound of the shower turns off and everyone turns around to glance at the wall of the next room. When they turn back around, Aphrodite has gone, leaving no sign that she was ever there.

::: ::: :::

BPOV

I could say that since Nico came to my rescue, things got a lot easier. That with him around the Cullen's and werewolves bothered me less. And that I finally was around someone that I knew and knew who I really was.

But I would be lying.

We were currently trumping around some tiny town that no one has ever heard of. The only thing I was sure of was that we were between Seattle and New York. I was tired and irritated. And honestly, I was about to abandon the mission if I had to hear one more question about my past and how I got mixed up with the Gods and Goddesses.

"Bella," Nico whined, drawing out my name. "Where are we?"

Tired, I just shrugged my shoulders. Nico let out a groan and stomped ahead of us. I watched him go with a faint smile of amusement. Sometimes I forget that he's still just a kid at heart.

The Cullen's started whispering behind me. They still hadn't figured out that I could hear things that humans couldn't. Maybe I would tell them. And then I smiled, because I wasn't going to tell them anything about who I was. I didn't care what they were furiously talking about though so instead I said, "I'll go get him," and then I took off after Nico. No one tried to follow me; which should have been my first clue.

Everything had gone to hell as soon as I had stepped out of that infernal hotel room. Carlisle had immediately jumped in front of me, yammering questions off at a mile a minute about my health and safety. He had seen it as irresponsible that I had taken a shower with my bad leg. It would have been amusing if it wasn't so damned annoying. Who was he to tell me how to take care of myself? He had no right. Once he finished giving the lecture of his existence, I simply raised my eyebrow and proceeded to walk past him.

"Isabella," he warned, turning to face me.

"Something wrong?" I called over my shoulder.

I turned around in time to watch as his face turned to shock. Because he had just seen that my leg was fine. Where there was once blood and badly damaged tissue, there was now nothing. The smallest of scars - the ambrosia and nectar could only do so much - to show that I was indeed injured at one point within the last twenty four hours.

By the time we had managed to find a car, a minivan courtesy of the Cullen's, I had made my first mistake.

:::

"It's just not possible for a person to heal that fast," Carlisle said. He had been insistent that I was still hurt. I was sure that in his mind he was turning over every fact that he had learned as a doctor. And being a vampire who could never age, I was sure that was a lot of facts to be running through.

"There's barely even a scar," Rosalie grumbled. I sent her a sharp glare, but she simply returned the favor.

"How is it possible?" Carlisle said again. At this point, no one even bothered answering him. The only way he was going to find the answer was through me, Nico, or anyone else of Greek descent. They had already figured out that I wasn't telling anything. And Nico had been as tight lipped as I had, though I suspect it was because he was dealing with the vampires thoughts in his head. Every once in a while he would wince and then I would give the smallest of blushes. Try as I might, when that happened my eyes would wonder over to Edward, who was of course watching me. I felt bad for Nico.

"Bella," Carlisle pleaded. I stopped, causing the whole group to stop as well. "Tell me, how is it possible for a person to heal so quickly?"

I rolled my eyes, tired of his questions. "Demigods have their ways."

Too late, I realized my mistake.

"You-you're a demigod?" Alice gasped.

:::

"Nico!" I shouted, breaking into a jog to catch up to him. For a kid who looked like death, he sure was a fast walker.

I watched him round a corner, confused as to where he was going. He was moving like a kid on a mission. Or like he had to really use the bathroom.

"Nic –" I rounded the same corner he disappeared around and stopped. "-O." Before me was an alleyway that came to an abrupt dead end. And Nico was no longer in sight. I could feel myself start to panic. This particular alleyway was pretty well lit by the sun for such a gloomy day. Not to mention that Nico himself said he was still too tired to shadow travel.

"Nico!" I yelled.

Somebody laughed. "Hello, Isabella. Such a pleasant surprise to see you here." Her tone told me it was anything but a surprise. And knowing her, it was most definitely not going to be a pleasant conversation.

"Aphrodite," I mumbled. Begrudgingly I turned to my right and found Aphrodite herself sitting at a dainty, white circular table. She had a delicate tea set in front of her, and though we were in the middle of a dead end alleyway, the air around her screamed beauty. She sat there putting a spoonful of sugar into her tea and mixing it in.

She smiled; a big beautiful smile that I knew only meant trouble for me. "It's not ladylike to mumble, Isabella."

I rolled my eyes.

She clucked her tongue, her eyes narrowing in the slightest at me.

"What do you want, Aphrodite?" I said, not in the mood for her games.

She brought a hand up to her mouth. "Why do children of Artemis always assume I want something?"

"Because you only show up to ruin our lives."

Aphrodite eyed me. "If I only had time to fix your attitude-"

I almost growled at her.

"-but I don't." She waved her hand at the seat across from her, raising the teacup to her mouth.

"I'm good standing," I said. In an attempt to show my defiance, I crossed my arms.

Aphrodite tsked. "I was not asking." She sent me a steely glare that sent tingles down my spine. Against my better judgment, I slunk forward and plopped myself onto the chair, knowing how much she hated that kind of poise.

Sure enough, she wrinkled her nose, but held her tongue. She stole another sip of her tea. "I need you to open up to the others, about everything. If they have a question, you need to honestly answer it."

"No!" I yelled, slamming my hands on the table. I half rose out of the seat. "They don't deserve to get to know me!"

Aphrodite had the good sense to avoid eye contact with me. She whipped up a mirror and proceeded to fix her already perfect hair. "If you fail, a dear sister of mine will be heartbroken that one of her lieutenants failed a quest that she bestowed upon them. "

My mouth moved, no words coming out. I slumped back onto the chair, the fight immediately gone from me. I couldn't fail Lady Artemis. Aphrodite could always being playing one of her games with me to get me to do what she wants, but what if she wasn't? I couldn't take that risk. I couldn't disappoint Lady Artemis.

My hands rubbed my temples, my eyes squeezing shut. I wished there were another way. "Fine," I sighed.

I could sense Aphrodite's smile. It made me want to punch something. "Oh how wonderful!" she trilled. "You'll feel much better once you complete this task."

"I doubt it," I said, still too annoyed to look at the goddess.

Aphrodite scrapped the chair against the ground as she got up, but my hands still covered my face. Her heels clacked across the cement as she walked towards me, but I still did not budge. "Be grateful, Isabella. I have already helped you more than I normally would on this quest."

It took me a second to process, but then I gasped, "What?" and finally looked at the goddess of love. Or I would have, if she was still there. Where she once was, there was now nothing to give any hint that a goddess had been standing there just a second ago. I looked down to find that I was sitting on a crate.

"Hey, Bella!" Seth waved at me from the end of the alleyway. "You better get back there."

"Why?" I cautiously asked, slowing my walk just barely.

Seth scuffed his shoe against the cement. "I think the Cullen's might be overwhelming the new kid."

"What?" It's bad enough that the Cullen's are even talking to Nico, but with him able to read their minds? He must feel like he's slowly losing his mind. I pick up my pace, breaking into a slow jog. Seth catches up to me and together we run back towards the group.

::: ::: :::

"Are we stopping again?" Rosalie sighed.

I literally had to force myself not to snap at her. My hands clench the steering wheel in anger and I put the van into park sharper than I normally would.

I had been too late. By the time Seth and I had made it back to the group, Nico had taken off. He had shadow traveled out of there, leaving me to wish that I could do the same. The vampires bombarded me with questions about who Nico was and how he was able to walk into a wall and not be harmed. I might have snapped and started yelling at them. Honestly, I hardly remember what I said. I only knew that Nico had left while he had half his normal energy and it was their fault.

By some miracle we had made it all the way to a small town in Montana called Anaconda. It had everything I needed; gas, a diner, and a motel. Rosalie still managed to complain my ear off.

Without a word, I get out of the van – making sure to slam my door – and go inside the motel lobby to get a room. I had learned the hard way that there would be no getting more than one room. The first time I had gotten two rooms, the Cullen's and the wolves had simply made their way into the room I was in. They claimed it was to make sure I was safe. I was sure it was to make sure that I didn't disappear. Either way, it was creepy. And out of my control, apparently. Just another thing to resent them for.

"Bella, you have to talk to us at some point," Alice said. They follow me to our assigned room, making sure to keep out of sight of the lobby. Eleven people walking into a single room just makes us look like cheap skates.

"We are very sorry that your friend left. We really were just trying to get to know him," Carlisle adds.

I jam the key into the doorknob. "What about Nico screamed 'get to know me'?"

"But you can't blame us for his leaving. He could have just told us to leave him alone."

I laughed. The door swung open so hard that it smacked against the wall. "Because you people listen so well to someone saying leave them alone."

The room is generic. Two beds, a small television, and a bathroom. The Cullen's might hate it, but it made me feel better. Seth pushes the others aside and runs for one of the beds. With a flying leap, he flops onto the thing. Leah rolls her eyes at her brother, but goes to join him on the bed. Everyone else places themselves somewhere in the room. Jacob lies down on the floor between the two beds.

I busy myself with getting ready for bed. Somebody turns on the television, but the only channel we get is the news. Immediately, I know that the war is upon us. We all sit there watching of the strange events occurring.

"Oh my gods," I say.

"Is-is a god causing that?" Seth asks. I can hear the fear in his voice, though he hides it fairly well.

Slowly I shake my head. "No, not a god, but a titan."

"Which one?"

I have to steady myself, take a deep breath. "Oceanus." I watch as the waters churn with anger, tidal waves rising and falling, waves crashing one right after the other. The others don't see it. All they see is a storm brewing. I see something much bigger going on beneath that surface. As much as I try not to, as much as I wish it wouldn't happen, a tear escapes and makes its way down my face. I feel everyone surround me, one of them even rubbing my back, but I can't muster the fighting energy to stop them, to yell at them.

"What's wrong, Bella?"

Aphrodite wanted me to tell them about who I was, for the good of the quest. And now seems to be that time.

Because I didn't have the other hunters there to comfort me as I watched Oceanus fight the man I called father – Poseidon.

::: ::: :::

This update is for MissVioletRed; whose review made me smile because I do the same thing with school and fanfic. Haha, twins.

Howdy – doo.

I have two tests (midterms) within the next week and a half. This may be my last chapter until the middle of November. Sucks, I know.

Tried to make this one longer. Did I succeed? And tried to speed up the timeline a little. Another success?

Thanks a bunch for all the reviews you guys sent! I loved 'em. And thanks to the birthday wishes! It was a good day.

See you in Nov!

Don't forget to leave a review letting me know what you think! I really need it.