Despite everything that had been going on between Thalia and I the past couple days, Aphrodite was the last person I thought I'd see. Since I discovered that I was a demigod years ago, one thing I had learned was that a direct visit or encounter with a god was rarely a good thing. I could tell that Aphrodite could feel my apprehension about seeing her. I began to try connecting the dots about Thalia's behavior and my responses, but that was hard to do with the giddy aura that the goddess of love radiated.

"I've really put you and Zeus's daughter in quite the situation, haven't I?" She began "I haven't seen anything like this amongst demigods in years. I can't even contain my smile! What a tragic, romantic tale. A huntress of Artemis risking everything to be with the son of her father's rival. Then losing all she has, immortality, her friends and even her relationship with her father. And then you being torn between her and Annabeth. Isn't in beautiful, Percy?"

I didn't know if I wanted to slap her in the face or just walk away in shock and disgust. Fortunately for my own sake I decided to not do either. "What are you talking about? All of this was you?" I started to get angry and raise my voice "This is how you repay the people who save your butts from that titans?!"

Aphrodite looked mildly insulted, as if I had told her that her nails didn't match her jacket (though they did).

"Percy, you've got it all wrong. There are some things that you should know. Thalia…"

"I can't believe you would put one of your stupid spells on Thalia just so you could be relieved from your boredom!" I interrupted. I knew interrupting a god was a big no-no, but at this point I really didn't care. I took a step back as Aphrodite's eyes became as bright an intense as the summer sun. Her eyes then softened and she smirked, as if she knew a big secret.

"You demigods are so impatient! Don't you want to know why Thalia has been acting as if she was one of my daughters?"

I thought the answer was quite obvious, but I didn't want to push Aphrodite and risk getting incinerated.

"There is much that you do not know about love, Percy. Even I, the goddess of love can still be surprised and learn about its dual nature. Love can help make us do amazingly heroic acts, but it can also lead and entice us to commit horrible and sometimes impulsive things, things our normal selves would never even fathom on their own. Your… special friend…Thalia, has experienced both of these. For you.

"There were many reasons why Thalia decided to join the hunters of Artemis when she did. She did an excellent job making it seem like her choice was all about avoiding the prophecy. Although part of her decision was to do just that, it was only the tip of the iceberg. Do you see where I am going with this? You must be smarter than you look! The real reason why she became a hunter was because she was madly in love with you! The only thing that kept here from you was her best friend Annabeth. Thalia was always yelling at you, getting in your face, and being aggressive towards you because she knew she could never be with you."

"I don't believe you." Was all I could say.

"I think you do Percy. As you think about it – and more importantly, as you feel it, the more Thalia's feelings for you come together and make sense. As a hunter, she knew she would be kept busy following that silly maiden goddess around so that she wouldn't have time to think and fantasize about a life together with you. She also knew that you would age and she wouldn't, and as the years went by the two of you would slowly but surely move more distant from one another." She let out a dreamy sigh. "Isn't that just so romantic?"

I was pretty sure the goddess of love didn't know what romantic actually meant. Her face glowed as I continued processing everything she has told me. "So… why did Thalia tell me how she felt? Her plan to mike it impossible to be with me didn't really work."

"Now you're getting somewhere! Her plan didn't work. Containing love usually doesn't. I wasn't supposed to tell you this but… I like making things more interesting. Thalia Grace came to me… or rather summoned me a couple weeks ago. She poured out her heart and soul to me about how much she love you. Nearly brought a tear to my eye." Aphrodite paused for a moment with wistful eyes as if she was reliving the conversation between her and Thalia. "Anyways, she tells me that she would do anything for just a chance to be with you. She said she'd do anything I wanted just for a chance. Can you believe that? Well, I was so moved by her story that I agreed to help her. Though I made Thalia promise something big in return for my help."

The way Aphrodite said that last sentence made chills run down my spine and my palms sweat despite the cold winter weather.

"And 'by giving her a chance' you mean putting some spell on me to all of a sudden magically be attracted to her? That's why I kissed her and have been thinking about leaving Annabeth! How could you do something so twisted and wrong? This isn't love at all." My fists were clenched. I was pretty sure I looked angrier than Ares ever had. I was about to keep going off when I noticed Aphrodite was looking at me as if I was an abandoned puppy.

"As I've said, there is much you don't know about love. Love doesn't necessarily know between right and wrong. Love is just that, love. There are rules and laws that even we gods have to follow and violating these laws would plunge our world into chaos. One such law is that we cannot force anyone to do anything. We can influence, persuade, bribe, threat, brutally maim and so on, but we can't force. In regards to love, there has to be something there in the first place to work with. For Thalia, well that was easy. You on the other hand… it was difficult but lets just say that your actions speak quite for themselves."

"So you're telling me that I have these strong feelings for Thalia all by myself?"

"I believe you can answer that yourself. Love isn't what we logically think about as much as is what we feel. When is the last time you have truly sat down and searched your heart, Percy? The heart contains many secrets and mysteries the mind could never come close to comprehending. Can you feel it inside your heart that you are happy with Annabeth, or do you just think you are happy with her? Is she truly in love with you? I know a certain daughter of Zeus who is. I see you still have many questions, but my time with you has long since expired."

She let out a little squeal of excitement. "I always love a good love triangle! They are so entertaining. Remember Percy, search your heart. We'll be anxiously watching to see what you do. Goodbye!"

I looked away as Aphrodite began to shine and then disappear. As quickly as it had started, my time with the goddess of love was over.

I had fun writing this chapter because it made me think what love is to me and how it can really influence us. Thanks for reading!