And with that the beast sprinted to full speed, heading for Markos's cabin, Markos tried to keep his mind off of what had happened over the past few days but he couldn't forget, his ADHD brain was running overtime. His body still ached and burned with pain but mostly he couldn't help but think of those blue eyes and the pain he saw in them when he told her she couldn't come to finish the quest and for a child of Athena that was worse than dying in battle, the girl who looked for answers in the depths of Hades being forced to abandon a quest by him and Percy.

The sun was setting low in the sky, dusk had taken hold lighting everything in an orange glow, the familiar pine smell hit his nose, he was almost home. The beast stared to slow as they neared the final destination, eventually he slowed to a stop and there in front of them was his dusty little cabin. He dismounted and dropped down to the ground, stumbling slightly on his bad side, he cursed under his breath.

"Thank you friend" he leant against the heavily breathing beast, his body was warm. Markos stood straight and watched as the beast disappeared into the woods, he took a deep breath and stepped towards the cabin but stopped short, there was something not quite right about his cabin, the door was open, he grabbed his sword immediately ready for anything.

"You won't need that Markos"

Markos spun around at the voice, the oversweet fragrance hitting his senses as he looked over at the goddess of love

"Not again, haven't I done enough for you Aphrodite" Markos huffed putting away his sword, the goddess just smiled at him but it wasn't her normal, seductive grin, this one almost looked genuine.

"I understand your frustration towards me Markos" she said softly "First I want to thank you for finding your father, you took a great risk in accepting the quest"

"Is that why you are here? To thank me?" he asked

"And to tell you something Markos"

He waited for her to continue

"My actions were not for you Markos, well not directly… I did it to show someone that they still had true feelings for another, I am the goddess of love after all and I want people to realise their feelings for one another" she moved towards him "I need you to be open about your feelings Markos, I know you have been through hell but the only way to heal is to know how to love and let yourself be loved"

Markos stayed quiet not quiet knowing what the goddess was on about

"Markos… fight for your happiness, like Paris and Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships, they fought for their love"

"They also destroyed Troy and killed countless people" Markos interjected "Some people are not supposed to live happily ever after"

The goddess chuckled slightly "Markos I'm talking about love and passion, there is no such thing as a happy ending, trust me on that have been alive for eons, everything ends Markos, that's why you have to live the most while you can"

Markos looked down at his hands "I don't deserve her, not after what I have done"

The light touch of Aphrodite's hand came down on his shoulder "You are the son of the fearless Ares, so why are you afraid? Be brave"

And with that she was gone the familiar pink dust vanishing with her.

Markos stood there for a moment he stared at the space where the goddess had disappeared, why was he scared? But he knew the answer already, he was afraid of hurting her again, he had killed his past two loves, even if he did bring one of them back. He sighed, at this moment he didn't want to think about anything, he just wanted to lay down, he didn't need sleep but at the present moment he felt like he could sleep for days. He entered his cabin, ignoring the open door, believing it to be Aphrodite's presence, he went straight to the cupboard and opened it finding his last piece of ambrosia, he ate it greedily before the creaking floor boards made him spin around and charge the intruder, she kicked him back catching his fractured ribs causing Markos to fall, he looked up ready to attack again but faltered when he saw who's fist was flying towards his face, his head snapped back as her fist connected with his face. Annabeth came forward to attack again, her eyes filled with anger and sadness