Excited for you guys to read this chapter!

I do not own PJO/HOO.

…..

Meraki ~ the soul, creativity, or love you put into something, the essence of yourself that is put into your work.

…..

I knew I recognized Aphrodite from somewhere, though it was a few minutes before the realization came to me.

As we followed the goddess, men (and some women) walking past, stopped to turn and stare at the beautiful woman leading four confused teenagers down the sidewalk. I leaned over to Alek who was walking next to me.

"Um- did you know Gal Gadot was actually Aphrodite?"

The son of Ares gave me a sideways glance, with an eyebrow raised. "That's who you see?"

The way he said it made it sound like he wasn't seeing the same thing.

"You mean she doesn't look like the actress?"

He shook his head. "Aphrodite tends to take on an appearance similar to whoever you love the most."

I wrinkled my nose, as we continued our trek through the bustling streets of Minneapolis. I guess it made sense that Aphrodite would only appear to me as a random actress I had crushed on for a little bit. Never in my life had I ever been able to say that I truly loved someone.

I turned back to Alek. "Who do you see?"

He hesitated to answer, but it ended up not mattering anyways, as Aphrodite made a sudden change of direction, and she walked right through the door to a beauty salon. The four of us followed behind her quickly, and we made our way through a large room full of ladies gossiping while they had their hair or makeup done. None of them gave any of us so much as a glance, even though I was pretty sure I was dripping blood on the floor.

Aphrodite led us towards the back, where she eventually came to a door that said, 'Salon Personnel Only'. She opened it without hesitation, and then beckoned us through. The room we found ourselves in was quite a sight. Rows of dresses on hangers lined every wall, and several mirrors were dotted about, no doubt for examining one's apparel.

It was at this point, that the goddess of love turned to face us.

"Well, how do you all feel?"

We all blinked, and exchanged awkward glances with each other.

"Uh- gah, what?" I said, stuttering. It was at that moment that I began to process just how amazingly beautiful Aphrodite really was.

The goddess chuckled. "I know you must be so happy to see me. Undoubtedly surprised as well. I get that a lot." She then snapped her fingers, and pointed towards Alek and Erica. "You two- follow me." She moved to another door hidden near the back of the room, and opened it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alek and Erica give each other horrified looks. Erica's seemed more so than Alek's, but neither of them looked particularly happy about the request. Slowly, they moved to the door, and soon disappeared through it.

"I'll be back for you in a moment," Aphrodite remarked, and then she closed the door behind her.

That left Carolyn and I alone once again.

Removed from the presence of the goddess, I suddenly became aware of the pain in my shoulder again, and groaned out loud.

"Your shoulder," Carolyn yelped, and she managed to catch me just before I collapsed, bracing my body against hers. "You need to sit down." She led me to one of the chairs in the room, and helped me into it.

"Ambrosia," I said, "There's some in my backpack."

She retrieved the miracle food, and while I nibbled on a loaf of it, she tried to examine my shoulder.

"You're losing a lot of blood. At this rate, you'll pass out soon."

"Hmmph," I replied.

Carolyn was silent for a moment, as she stood at my side and stared at my bleeding shoulder. "Take off your shirt," She finally commanded.

I whipped my head around to look at up her, a frightening expression on my face. She wasn't fazed.

"We need to stop the bleeding. At least until the ambrosia starts to take effect. Your shirt's already covered in blood, and a little more won't hurt it."

As I continued to glare up at her, she rolled her eyes. "Don't be a baby. Just do it already."

Resigning myself with a sigh of regret, I began the painful process of removing my shirt. It took a little work, and some help from Carolyn to get my shirt off my bad shoulder, but we eventually managed to rid me of my top half of clothing.

There I sat, in the back room of a salon, half-naked, with blood spewing out of my shoulder, while a girl I had only met the day before used my shirt to stop the bleeding. Honestly, a fantastic day so far.

"This cut is deep," Carolyn said casually, "I'm no expert on ambrosia, but I doubt even it will be able to heal this thing quickly." She carefully ran her fingers around the edges of the wound, sending shocking signals through my spine.

I turned my head away so she wouldn't see, but it was too late, and I could just hear the smirk creeping up on her face, as she unconcernedly remarked, "You're blushing."

"No, I'm not." My tone was meant to sound confident, but unfortunately it did not.

"Then why are you turning red?"

"Because it hurts."

She didn't reply immediately, but I could tell she was rolling her eyes. "Boys are such babies sometimes. You want me to kiss your shoulder to make it feel better?"

As if the moment couldn't have gotten worse, I felt my cheeks begin to boil. This led to a pretty big laughing fit on the part of Carolyn.

"Seriously, how have you lost this much blood, and you're still able to blush so much?"

"Must be the ambrosia," I replied, pure annoyance in my voice.

"First time shirtless in front of a girl?"

"Can we stop with this already?"

"Fine." I felt her remove my shirt momentarily to peek at my shoulder. "It looks like the bleeding has finally stopped."

"Good, then can you grab me a new shirt from my bag?"

After cleaning any excess dried blood off my shoulder, I was just finishing getting my new shirt on, when the door at the back of the room swung open, and Aphrodite appeared. Alek and Erica walked out of the room, seeming almost like Zombies. They looked like deer in the headlights.

As the two of them moved to join Carolyn and myself, I could tell that something was off with them. They refused to meet each other's eyes, and though they stood next to one another, they seemed to also be trying to get away from the other person as quickly as possible.

"Luke."

I heard my name called, and I snapped up to see Aphrodite staring at me.

"It's your turn," She said, a glimmering smile on her face.

I was terrified, but I also felt compelled to follow her, as I made my way towards the door.

The sound of the door clicking shut behind me almost made my heart stop altogether. I took a quick glance around the room. It looked like a small, but cozy office. A desk sat in one corner of the room, with a couple small couches in the opposite corner. The office was exquisitely decorated, much like I would expect from a beauty salon.

Aphrodite moved to sit on one of the couches, and she beckoned me to take residence on the other one.

"I must say," She remarked, interlocking her fingers together across her knee, "I'm so happy to finally meet you, Luke. You can't imagine how long I've been looking forward to this day."

I swallowed. "You are?"

"Oh yes! It's been such a bore since your parents disappeared, and the things I've had to entertain myself with since then- so dull. Like... The Bachelor? How lame is that? That's not real love!"

She reached over to a desk beside the couch, and grabbed a small mirror off of it. Holding the mirror up to her face, she began checking herself in it.

"It's such a shame that Athena had to go and hide you away all those years. Oh, how I would have loved to get my hands on you sooner- it would have made your love life that much more interesting."

Some choice words of hers caught my attention. "Excuse me- did you say, 'my love life'?"

She waved her hand in the air dismissively. "Oh, no worries my dear. We can still make this work. Some drastic measures will have to be taken, but rest assured, your love life will be quite fun to watch."

"What are you talking about?"

Aphrodite, or Gal Gadot maybe, placed the mirror back down on the desk, and returned her attention to me. "You know who I am, don't you?"

"Uh- you're the goddess of love?"

She nodded her head. "Well, there's your answer. I'm talking about love."

A spurt of sass came out. "Then why are you talking to me?"

The goddess laughed genuinely. "You really are your parent's child, aren't you?"

There it was again, that pain in my chest, tearing me apart from the inside. I winced, and brought my hand up to my chest.

"So you have been feeling it then?" Aphrodite asked out of the blue.

My eyes widened, and I looked up to meet her gaze. "You know?"

She responded with a soft smile. "One of the effects of being a product of one of my greatest achievements. You're a part of two people, Luke. A symbol of a connection that, according to history, should never have happened."

I started to tremble, and my hands began to shake. "What do you mean? Why is this happening to me? What is happening to me?" My tone was full of differing emotions; fear, uncertainty, disbelief.

"Your two halves, Athena and Poseidon- they're at war within you."

"At war? How?"

Aphrodite looked at me somewhat sympathetically. In a manner of speaking, it made her look less godlike, and more human. "It's your identity, Luke. One you haven't accepted. And until you do truly accept it, your identity will be split into two, and will be rivals with one another, just as Athena and Poseidon were before."

I sat in stunned silence for a minute, my mouth gaping wide. The goddess in front of me seemed perfectly content to let me process for a moment, as she fiddled with her nails.

When my brain finally decided to start working again, I stuttered. "Wha-what… What do I do?"

Aphrodite raised an eyebrow.

"How do I fix this?" I amended, leaning forward, earnest attention being given to what she said now.

She shook her head amusingly. "Oh, I'm afraid I can't tell you that. That's something you have to figure out on your own."

Where have I heard that before? I thought sarcastically to myself.

"What you said earlier," I spoke up, grabbing Aphrodite's attention, "About me being a product of one of your biggest achievements? That was referring to… "

The goddess nodded her head, answering my question without me even having to finish it. "Your parents."

I raised an eyebrow, ignoring the pain flaring up in my chest again. "They're an achievement?"

"Well- not exactly, but I like to pretend so."

"Why?"

"How do you think all the great couples of history came to be?" She asked, as if it all should have been obvious to me. "I orchestrated all the best love stories you've heard about. From Paris and Helen, to Cleopatra and Marc Antony, to Bonnie and Clyde… and then of course, your parents."

Now let me tell you, hearing my parents being mentioned with the likes of Paris and Helen of Troy, along with those other historical figures, was probably the strangest experience I had ever felt.

"Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase," Aphrodite continued, speaking their names proudly, as if they were martyrs for the cause. "Probably one of my most favorite stories of all, and one of my best works. Definitely top three for sure."

"Wait," I said, holding up my hands, "What do you means 'works'? You didn't… force them to fall in love with each other, did you?"

Though my question was directed towards my parents, I was more concerned about whether or not Aphrodite would end up forcing me to love someone.

The goddess laughed loudly. "Oh no, my dear boy. I don't force anyone to do or feel anything."

"Then why do you say you're responsible for all those stories?"

She took a deep breath, and sighed, as she seemingly reminisced on her past work. "It's kind of hard to explain. I can see why you would have trouble understanding. Your mother did too- Athena and her rationale and whatnot. But the thing about love is, none of it is rational."

Aphrodite readjusted herself in her seat, sitting up straighter that before, if that were even possible. "My husband, Hephaestus, actually has a pretty good analogy for it. Imagine, if you will, the relationship between two people as a car."

I blinked, thinking about her odd start to an analogy.

"Now what makes the car go?"

"The engine," I replied without hesitation.

"Exactly. And just as the engine makes the car go, so love makes the relationship go. Therefore, you can think of love as the engine to a relationship."

I nodded my head, showing I understood so far.

"Now, think of me as a turbocharger. Without the turbocharger, a car will still go, and get to wherever it's headed, but the journey will not be nearly as exciting. While I am not necessary for love to happen, I do make it more fun, and more interesting, and in such a way that I actually make the relationship stronger, and more powerful."

I stared at Aphrodite with a confused expression. "So what you're saying is?"

"Love is the engine, I am the turbocharger," She summed up. "I did not force any of those people to love each other, especially not your parents. But I did make their journey getting to that point more interesting, and in doing so, strengthened their bond."

She then flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder nonchalantly, and crossed one leg over the other. "Of course, you've been learning about this already, haven't you? Through your dreams."

My eyes widened once again, and I lurched forward. "You know about my dreams too?"

The goddess shrugged her shoulders. "Of course. Who do you think has been sending them to you?"

Honestly, at this point, I wasn't even surprised anymore. "But why?"

"As soon as Athena and Poseidon claimed you, I knew you would need to start learning a little bit of your history. I sent that first dream as soon as you fainted."

"Okay- but why?"

Aphrodite looked at me with a pointed face, her lips straight and firm. "If you don't figure out how to stop your identity from tearing itself, it will be catastrophic for you. In order to do that, you will need to know how the rift was bridged in the first place. How the second chariot came to be."

Silence filled the room for a few moments. I would have found it awkward if my mind weren't so jumbled with information and feelings, such that I couldn't focus on anything else.

"I'm afraid our time here is up, Luke." Aphrodite rose up from her seat, and was about to move towards the door, when I called out.

"Wait!"

She stopped, and turned to face me.

"What did you do to Alek and Erica?"

Her face changed, and it seemingly got darker, though it still glowed with power. "Ah, yes. I'm afraid I did what had to be done."

Her words dropped an anvil in my stomach, and my fists clenched. Rising from my seat, I pointed a finger at the goddess. "What did you do?"

"There was no point in her keeping the secret any longer, Luke."

My jaw fell, and with my worst fears confirmed, I collapsed back onto the couch. "How-how could you? You had no right to do that!"

"It had to be done- "

"No it didn't! It was her secret to tell!"

Aphrodite was silent for a moment, until I felt her take a few steps towards me. "Listen Luke. If I hadn't told Erica's secret, Alek would never have known. She would never have told him."

I bit my lip, and turned to glare at the goddess, though I'm pretty sure it looked less intimidating and more pathetic. "Even if that's true, it wasn't your place to say."

"You may be right," She admitted surprisingly, "But trust me when I say that this is for the best."

"How so?"

She glanced down at me for a second, once again managing to look almost like a human and less like a goddess. "Erica is trying to fill a void in her heart, Luke. One that appeared when she lost her family." Aphrodite began walking slowly around the room, one foot stepping gracefully in front of the other. "The thing about voids, Luke, is that you have to fill them with the right things."

"So how does spilling her feelings towards Alek fix anything?"

"It doesn't," She replied, "At least, not yet. Left to her own devices, Erica would never have admitted her feelings to Alek. And so, nothing would have ever changed, for better or for worse. I merely provided the catalyst for that change to happen."

"When you say for better or for worse- you mean?"

"I can't say what will happen between them, if that's what you're asking. Maybe they'll start to grow closer, maybe not. Either way, though she may not feel this way, this was the best thing for Erica."

I shook my head, and covered my face with my hands. "I don't understand."

I could still hear Aphrodite walking about the room, as she replied calmly, in a soft voice.

"The daughter of Hermes would never have admitted her feelings, and as such, would never have been able to move on. Now, she will have that opportunity to possibly find something to fill that void; whether it be Alek, or something else."

Lifting my head out of my hands, I looked up to see the goddess standing in front of me, and looking down with an understanding smile. She no longer looked like Gal Gadot, but instead like more of a motherly figure, one I couldn't properly describe.

"So it all depends on Alek, then?" I asked.

She nodded her head. "Ah yes, the son of Ares. Such a sweet boy, I must say. I can see why he developed feelings for my granddaughter… love and war have always gone hand in hand, you know?" She then turned to glance at the clock on the wall, and shook her head. "I'm afraid you really must be your way now."

Aphrodite then herded me off the couch, and towards the door. Upon reentering the large room, I saw that Alek and Erica were standing awkwardly on opposite sides of Carolyn, who just looked as confused as ever.

"You kids ready to go?" The goddess of love asked, catching their attention.

I could see all three of their faces focus in on me, a range of emotions etched on their countenances. Concern, intrigue, and most notably, relief.

"We don't have a car," Alek said suddenly.

"Tsk tsk," Aphrodite said, "Not to worry, my dear. I have already made preparations." She waved her hand about, and out of thin air, produced four tickets, handing them all to me. "I will transport you all to North Dakota. There, you will find a bus station. In the morning, a bus will arrive that will take you all to Seattle."

"Seattle?" Erica exclaimed, "We can't go to Seattle! We have to get to Alaska."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to make a detour," The goddess said. "Believe me, it is a necessary one." She then turned to look at me directly, and placed a soft hand on my shoulder. "There you will find a seer. He goes by the name of Tiresias. He will be able to help you find your parents."

As odd as it was for me to think, I realized that Aphrodite, up to this point, had probably been the most helpful of all the Olympians. Well, at least logistically wise. She had also proven to be rather irritating in other ways.

"Now then, off you go!" She waved her hand in the air, and the entire room began to glow.

….

When the glowing finally stopped, the four of us found ourselves in a large open prairie. A little ways off in the distance, I could faintly see what I assumed was the bus stop Aphrodite had been referring to.

I wasn't sure why, but the sun was already starting to get low, and our light was fading fast.

Alek, who had been avoiding eye contact with Erica profusely, was the first to speak up. "Well then, guess we better set up camp."