A/N: More! It took a little longer than usual, but I think the chapter is longer than usual, so it all evens out. Look for notes at the end. I think I have a lot of justifing to do...
Jess: Thanks! I didn't want to go all sad-heavy-angst-romance-STUFF and the theme of the show is way too fun to forget. I'm not a rabid shipper of any romance couple in particular, and I won't diss you for liking something I don't. And I agree that strict adherance to the source material can get boring as all bloody Hades. So...uh...Thanks for the compliments, and for being so rambly and humorous...I liked that.
Finn Mac Cool: You caught me. I did lift that from "Bedazzled." I didn't think anyone would notice that...but think of it as an homage. Thanks for the compliments...I figured that I'd better have at least one chapter with Mandy being Mandyish...You know, manipulating people to her own ends. And I came up with the "ditch" joke all by myself. Thanks for noticing!
Biskuits: Eh...potato, patato. Thanks for the ego boost, though. And lookie! Here's more of my nonsense right below da fancy hi-tech border! (Right down there...down...down...See it? Good.)
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The Goddess of Love lounged on an elaborate bench in a white marble hall supported by intricate columns. She was the traditional picture of perfection and appeal: flowing golden hair, crystal blue eyes, a flawless complexion, certain other aspects best left to the imagination...
She was also bored out of her mind. Even with immortal patience, solitare was getting real old, real fast. She was about to set up yet another losing hand when the sound of a dimensional tear startled her. She looked up just in time to see a figure step out of the rift and into her hall.
Whatever she might have expected to see, it certainly wasn't the blonde teenage girl who was suddenly standing among the traditional Greek pillars. Her pink dress and slight frame made her look childish at first glance, but the impression was negated by the sheer intensity of her stony expression and dark eyes. Perhaps she might be described as "pretty," if one were inclined to such things, but that didn't explain her appearance in goddess's hall. Brushing at the bangs escaping her headband, the stranger spoke first.
"You're Aphrodite?"
"Yes...Who are you, and how did you get here?" Aphrodite asked, entirely taken aback at the suddenappearance of a mortal.
"My name is Mandy," she offered in an off-hand manner, and if she didn't care to say more. "Eris sent me here.'
"Eris?" The name equated with immediate suspicion to the goddess, as it did to most beings with a modicrum of sense. "What does she want?"
"From you? Nothing. From me...Well, that's a different story. I convinced her to send me here."
"Oh, really...How did you manage to do that?" Aphrodite's tone was distinctly patronizing, the effect of the all-too-common superiority complex immortals tend to develop.
Mandy stiffened slightly at the remark, but played her hand with trademark dead-pan clarity to the best advantage she could garner.
"You might describe it as an exchange of favors. She takes me here and back, and I return her little toy." She held up the Apple to clarify her point.
"Is that-"
"Yes."
Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. Well that was...unexpected. She knew the power of the golden artifact perhaps a little too well, and the fact that this...kid...was holding it so casually proved this mortal was not one to be trifled with.
"So why do you want to see me?" she asked plainly, dropping the condecending tone she often adopted.
"I have a...problem in your area of expertise," Mandy said evasively.
"And...?"
"I need to stop being in love with someone."
"Stop loving someone?" the goddess repeated. That was...rather unusual. Mortals tended to clamor for companionship, not seek to nullify it. Then again, this girl who had bested the avatar of Chaos at her own game did not seem to fall under the catagory of what could be defined as "normal."
"Yes." Impatience was starting to creep into Mandy's tone. "Name your price, as long as it doesn't involve enslavement, soul-stealing, or smiling."
"It may be possible...But what are your circumstances? Who do you love?"
Mandy stated her secret plainly and quietly, going for as little effect as possible.
"I am in love with...the Grim Reaper."
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Aphrodite gave the girl a sidelong glance. "Exactly what is your story, child?
"Got an hour or three?"
"All of eternity."
That's a point." She sighed before assuming the well-worn task of explaing her situation.
"It started about six years ago..."
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Meanwhile, back in Endsville, Grim suddenly got the impression that something was off. So strong and inexplicable was the feeling that it entirely interrupted his concentration on the B-movie horror flick playing on television. He puzzled over it for a moment as an actress screamed and swooned. Then it hit him as randomly as it had come.
"Hey...Where's Mandy?" he asked Billy, who was sitting beside him on the couch, picking at a loose thread in the upholstry. "I haven't seen her all day."
"I dunno," Billy replied distractedly, the majority of his brain functions concentrated on his task. "School?"
"It's summer vacation, you ninny,"Grim informed him acidly, annoyed but not surprised by the sheer intesity of the boy's stupidity. Billy, for his part, just continued to pull at the thread.
"Maybe the shoe elves took her?" he supplied as the arm of the couch fell off. "Never trust elves..." His tone darkened uncharctoristically for a second, then instantly reverted to sunny ignorance.
Grim glared at the useless teenager for a moment, then shrugged to himself and put unresolved issue out of mind. On the TV screen, a lone tentacle moved slowly, menacingly, out of the shadows...
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"...And that's about all there is to tell," she finished blandly.
The goddess had listened intently and without interruption, resting her chin in her hands as she leaned forward on the bench. She was hard-pressed to recall a more intriguing story from all the annals of misty-eyed nostalgia from the past.
Aphrodite remaind silent for a long moment, intense concentration evident on her face. Fianlly, she sighed regretfully and shook her head.
"Look, I'd love to help, but-"
"You can't." Mandy finished flatly.
"I'm sorry, but gods just aren't as powerful as we used to be. Look at Eris. Moonlighting among mortals, untying shoelaces and dropping dishes...and she's the avatar of one of the most fearsome elements in the mortal world. Do you really think love has any real value anymore? The bestI can do is make elementry school kids develop crushes on Valentine's Day. If it were just simple infatuation, I could give you a placebo zap and let your own mind do the rest, but what you have is the highest degree, the kind of emotion I couldn't even change in the days of power. There's really nothing I can do for you."
"I see," the teenager droned in response to the goddess' speech. As usual, her black gaze and dead tone gave no clue to the thoughts spinning like gears through her mind. "Will you just zap me home then?"
"Certainly." Aphrodite opened a rift in space/time with a deft gesture of her hand.
"I...truly am sorry, mortal," she repeated by way of parting. Mandy shrugged the apology off, stepping over to the glowing portal.
"I guess love really does conquer all," she mused dryly to the goddessas she felt the familiar rush and pull of dimensional travel, then added to the adage as she dissappered:
"Whether you want it to or not."
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A/N: For some reason, this was one of the hardest chapters to write. Things just wouldn't flow. Part of the problem was that I had written certain parts a few weeks ago, and then I tried to blend the whole thing together...with mixed results, I think. Every part has been rewritten at least three times (except for the little "meanwhile" break, which popped into my head almost fully formed) and the more I pick at it, the more issues I have with it. Plus, the stupid website cut me off twice while I was posting the freaking thing! I'm hoping thht the third times the charm...
I'm something of a mythology buff, which comes through here a bit. Anyone else who knows anything about Greek myths will notice that my portrayal of Aph is fairly off-base, but hey...It's my fic. I can do whatever I want! (Insert evil laughter here)
Sorry about the delay. Forces beyond my control culminated against me.
Demi
