12. The Mirror of Peirasmos

3rd person pov,

At Olympus,

The moon shone brightly in the sky. The stars twinkled in peace yet there was a certain goddess of love receiving gruesome visions and unfamiliar regrets. She paced in her majestic chambers, worriedly. Not many knew this side of her. Her family expected her to be vain, beautiful, and a heartbreaker. So that is the image they saw of her.

But inside, she cared for those few, those individuals or relationships that worm their way into her heart and stay for eternity.

She had blessed Percy knowing that he is powerful and with the blessings of five more gods, he might as well be as powerful as Typhon. She did not think much of it at the time bit she had been having visions of him. Visions filled with destruction and rage.

The only reason, she has not acted on it more is that she doesn't know who this person is. If he is working against them or to help them. She could sense the persuasion in the vision since charm speak is one of her powers.

The goddess abruptly stopped pacing and headed out in Olympus towards the Hearth. There she saw the shadows of a young girl looking in the fire. Her eyes showed kindness and hope. The young-looking goddess sensed her friend's frenzy and worry. She patted the spot beside and gestured for her to sit.

Aphrodite's nerves calmed a bit when she sat in front of the fire. She often came here when she was restless. Hestia was perhaps the only one who did not judge her too harshly at first glance. She always came to her when she felt like she needed advice.

Hestia noticed her friend's distress. "Aphrodite, why are you so worried tonight?" The love goddess indeed seemed very worried. She shadows under her eyes and a permanent frown on her forehead.

" I-I have been having some disturbing visions. The sender of these visions is unknown but I could sense persuasion in them much like my powers. Whoever this is, wants me to regret favouring Percy." Aphrodite struggled to get the right words. " I do not know if they are only trying to warn me of impending doom or are a foe of Olympus trying to turn me against our hero."

Hestia was shocked but she was glad that Aphrodite came to her for advice before making up her mind. Her head churned with this new piece of information. She had a theory, it may be a long shot because fates know that she is not Athena yet Athena had failed to notice Percy's innocence so, that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

She voiced these thoughts out to Aphrodite. "What if this force is what convinced the other gods and the campers against Percy. You did say that you could sense the power of persuasion," she pointed out. "Though it is curious that I have not had any such visions or thoughts," she mused.

Aphrodite mulled over this idea. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. It would certainly explain the other's sudden change in opinions about him. But who would have such a power or object that could impact the thoughts of someone so heavily?

The only ones that even have the charm speak are her daughters, Drew and Piper. Yet Drew is only a demigod, her charm speak wears off after a while and is not this intense. Percy is one of Piper's closest friends and she would never betray him. After all, she is one of the few who still believe in him. That only left her and ...

A thought struck Aphrodite and she suddenly stood and exclaimed, "It seems I have to give my son a visit." Hestia looked on in confusion as Aphrodite flashed away leaving behind a trail of rose petals.

Aphrodite flashed to Eros's palace in the clouds. She walked ahead with purpose and determination. The venti and other beings looked at her in curiosity but none stopped her. She threw open the door and walked in. The palace was beautiful inside just as much if not even more than its exterior. It had long majestic pillars. The walls were filled with mirrors. The mirrors showed the lives of couples. They showed happiness and heartbreaks. Further up the hall, stood a beautiful man. The man of your dreams. The one you lust after the most. He had small pure white wings on his back.

Eros turned from one of the mirrors and greeted his mother. "Hello, mother. What brings you to my gorgeous abode. You haven't been here in decades."

Aphrodite's expression softened. "Son, it is true. It's been too long," she said fondly. "But I'm afraid this is not a social visit. Have you seen the state my favourite couple is in now?"

Eros' eyes glazed over in remembrance. "Yes, it was unfortunate. I don't understand what the Athena spawn was thinking when she broke up with the sea spawn and kissed that Area's kid," he said in disgust.

"So, it wasn't you're doing?" she inquired. He frowned and said, "No, absolutely not." He then mumbled something incoherently. "The campers and most of the Council has turned against Perseus. I have started to have visions trying to persuade me to turn against him as well." She continued, noticing that Eros had now gone considerably pale, "I think the campers and the gods have also had such dreams and visions that led them to believe he was a traitor or was going to betray them in the future."

Aphrodite, then looked him straight in the eyes and questioned, "Do you know of anyone or anything that can do such a thing?"

Eros shifted his feet nervously. "There is something that could make such a thing happen though it has only worked at a smaller scale before. It wasn't used on such a large of people before," he confessed. Aphrodite raised an eyebrow in confusion.

He clarified, "My mirror. The mirror of Peirasmos."

"I use it to influence couples and people in love to make certain decisions. It works on mortals, half-bloods, and even gods. What you described sounds like it's doing but on a much larger scale. Someone has to be using it and giving it more power to be used this way," he explained.

Aphrodite agreed that this might be the object used but there was still a huge doubt in her mind. "If this mirror is yours then how could someone else be using it without you know who they are?"

Eros' head looked down in shame. "I may have...lost it a while ago on one of my endeavours."

Aphrodite sighed tiredly at her son's carelessness. She pinched the bridge of her nose and asked, " How does this mirror work?"

"The mirror can let me enter a person's mind and influence a certain thought. For example, if some part of you didn't trust a person completely, I can influence that part and increase your doubt of said person. That would possibly lead to other emotions like hate or mistrust if an act or rumour set you off the edge. The mirror won't affect the ones that wholeheartedly and believe in the person though. It cannot create emotions. It only influences emotions. So, the ones who were affected by the mirror's magic will have some blame so as to why they did certain acts," Eros explained.

Aphrodite nodded in understanding. "Thank you, son. Goodbye for now and take better care of your things," she warned and then flashed back to Olympus behind Hestia who was tending to the hearth.

She explained everything Eros told her to Hestia. "We should inform this to the Council," Hestia said.

"Yes, yes but it can wait till morning. I do need my beauty sleep, after all." Aphrodite winked at Hestia and then headed towards her chambers.