Perspective of Jessica

I thought that Max had gotten his good looks from his mother, being that she was the goddess of beauty and all. But after seeing his father, I wasn't so sure.

He was a tall, slender, well groomed man. In his suit and tie, it looked like he had just gotten out of a meeting at work. His brown hair was fashioned so that it curved elegantly to the side, and his facial hair was left so that it was about a centimeter long. He closely resembled Max, except he was a mid-40s man, and Max was a teenager. If I could look thirty years into the future, this is what Max would look like, except slightly more attractive. I mean, that kid has legit beauty in his genes.

Max's dad raised his hands at his side, saying something happily in French and walking towards them. Max responded with more French gibberish, and the two engaged in a father-son hug.

After they broke off of each other, Max turned to us. "Pére, these are my friends, Tanner and Jessica, but you already know Tanner." He said, motioning to me and Tanner. "And this is Shane."

Shane rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"Bonjour!" Said Max's dad. "I am Alexandre! Or Mr. Le Toux, I don't really care."

For someone who lived in France and Montreal for most of his life, his English was incredible. It was probably even better than Max's.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Le Toux." I said, trying my hardest to say his last name right. "And thank you so much for letting us stay at your house for tonight, we really appreciate it."

"It's my pleasure, Jessica." Alexandre froze for a second, glancing at his son before looking back at me. "Er, can I call you Jess?"

What was it with French people and wanting to call me Jess. First Max, and now his father. What? Is Jessica some evil French villain or something? Why does it strike a nerve with these people?

"Yeah, sure, Jess it fine." I nodded, a bit confused.

"Anyways." He continued. "Let's get going, it's about to be rush hour, so I want to beat traffic."

Throughout most of the car ride, we had to listen to Max and his father talk back and forth in French, obviously not having been together in a while. I had completely stopped paying attention when Alexandre started to speak in English.

"So." He said. "Demigods? Who are you parents?"

"Ares." Said Shane, nudging my side to get my attention again.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry, my mom is Athena." I said sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah. Those ones.." He said, leaning towards Max and whispering something in French, probably you have to re-teach me Greek mythology. "How's your father, Tanner?"

"Oh, you know, he's good." Tanner shrugged. "He doesn't talk to me much, but he's got a lot of stuff on his plate."

"So." I butted in. "How did you meet Aphrodite, Alexandre?"

"Well..." He thought for a second. "I went to America for a business trip. After a few days there, I met the most beautiful woman, and I fell in love. We did some things-"

"Dad, no, stop." Max interrupted and put his face in his palm.

"Anyways." Alexandre continued. "Before I was about to leave for home, she told me who she was. Naturally I was shocked, but I had to say goodbye. After getting home, she would visit me frequently, until Max here was born. Afterwards, she told me that she loved me, but had to go do godly business."

"I've heard that story probably one hundred times." Max said with a sigh.

"I've even heard it before." Tanner added.

"Well, it's a good story! So get used to it!" Alexandre said with a laugh, as the car made its way through Montreal.

His house was nice, but simple. It was in a plain Canadian suburb, surrounded by other houses that looked quite similar. He hadn't said anything about a wife, so I guess he never quite moved on from Aphrodite. He managed to keep his place perfectly clean all by himself. He gave us a quick tour, and showed us all to our rooms. Apparently, Max never lived here, so none of the rooms were filled with embarrassing toys and pictures from when he was younger, which made me slightly sad. His house, for some reason, had four guest rooms, and one room that he used.

"Now that you've seen everything, please settle down in your rooms. I'll go get dinner ready. Come out whenever you're ready!" Alexandre said, walking off for the kitchen.

Once he was gone, I turned to Max. "Gotta say, Max. Your dad is awesome. What happened with you?"

"Shut up." He said with a chuckle, going inside of his room.

I said a few things to Tanner and Shane, leaving them to go inside my room. I put my bag on the floor, immediately jumping on the bed for a quick nap.

Max's dad could cook

He made some kind of steak with some kind of rice, which sounded pretty simple, but it was the most incredible thing I've ever tasted. No wonder he got a goddess to fall in love with him.

Dinner was pretty much just Max and his dad catching up, with a few discussions about what they've been up to. They were obviously very close, so I don't see how both of them could live in different countries so far away from each other, especially since Max wasn't even an adult yet.

After dinner, Alexandre announced that he was going to bed. He let us watch TV or use his computer or whatever we really wanted, but made sure that we were asleep by midnight. We all agreed, and he left us all alone.

I used to time to research more Greek mythology. Max did a pretty good job on the train, but he didn't get into specifics. I wanted to do more research on my mother; her friends, her family, her stories, even her enemies. It was weird for me to discover that she was my mother, especially since I knew nothing about her.

Once I had felt like I'd gotten enough information, I decided to head to bed, I walked past Max's door, seeing him sitting on his bed with his face in his hands.

"Max?" I said, walking through the doorway and raising an eyebrow. "You okay?"

He raised his head, and it looked pretty obvious that he had been crying. For the first time, Max didn't look attractive or strong, as he always did. He looked troubled, almost like a completely different person. "Huh? Oh, no just.. Go to bed, I'm fine."

I frowned, closing the door quietly behind me. "No, you're not. Tell me what's wrong."

He sighed, sliding his hand through his hair. "Well, um, you know how I always flinch when I hear you name? Or just, look uncomfortable when I say it?"

I thought for a second, before nodded. "Yeah.. Your dad did the same thing.. What's that all about?"

"Well..." He sighed deeply, wiping a tear from his eye. "You see, about 2 years ago, I went on this quest.. With Tanner and.. My girlfriend at the time... Jessica."

He told me everything. How they met. How he spent the next two years trying to impress her. How she finally caved, and they had a picnic on the beach. He said that he paid of a few Hephaestus kids to light off fireworks, trying to make it more romantic. How they kissed that night, and how that lead to two years of dating. He frequently had to stop, taking a break as if the memories pained him. Then he got to the quest, and that's when the love story turned into a Shakespeare tragedy. He talked about her death, his injury. He pulled up the back of his shirt, showing me the long scar that stretched from his shoulder blade to his lower spine. He then told me about the two and a half years that followed. Going in and out of therapy, going through depression, refusing to leave his cabin. He told me about how much he loved her, and how much she meant to him. His dad even had to take him from camp for a few months because he needed to be away from things for awhile. It was probably the saddest thing I've ever heard.

I couldn't help it, my eyes started to water, and tears ran down my cheeks. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to say. This kid, who I thought was perfect in every way, just poured his deepest, saddest thoughts out to me.

"I would give anything to have traded spots with her that day.." He said, looking down at the floor, tears dripping off his face and hitting the carpet.

I had no other ideas, so I just hugged him, not wanting to let him go. He barely even reacted, almost as if his body was limp in my embrace.

"I'm so sorry... About all of that... I just... I just... I don't know what to say..." I said to him, still clutching his body.

"It's not your fault..." He said. "The reason I wasn't too happy about going on this quest wasn't because it predicted me to die... It's because I haven't been on a quest since that day, and I don't want anyone else dying.."

"I'm sorry for asking you to come then." I said, letting go of him and looking at the floor.

"No, I want to be here." He said sternly, looking at me. "I figured that if I couldn't save one Jessica, I could save another. Now please, go to bed Jess. I'll be alright, I usually cry at night anyways, real attractive, huh?"

I managed a slight laugh, leaning on and kissing him on the cheek before standing up and walking towards the door. "Goodnight, Maximilian. I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep well."