PERI'S POV

Oh my fucking goooooooods~!

I know I wanted to stretch my legs a bit, but damn! We've been walking for hours, and my feet are killing me. But Bonnabelle just kept making her slow, meandering pace up and down every street.

We stopped at the beach for quite some time, and though I had lived in California for the better part of eight years, due to the crippling confinement of St. Mary's, I'd never been to the beach before today. Gotta say, it was pretty lack luster. There was tons of this gross brown stuff piled up all along the shore that Bonnabelle informed me was 'seaweed'. It was so humid that my clothes began sticking to my body. The air was so thick, I could probably slice it up something fierce with a sword.

That is, if my powers had been working.

See, the worst part about this so called 'beach' was the scent. It was rank, like sewage and cheese to me, and it clogged my nose like nothing else. I didn't even know my powers were linked to my senses before today. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't even conjure a
golden spoon while we were on our trek. Perfect. Just perfect.

So if this ghost tries to pick a fight with us, I'm completely defenseless.

These thoughts kept running through my head as I flicked my wrist again. Nothing. I growled in annoyance.

Piper chuckled. "Peri, it's fine. The three of us have weapons, so if the ghost is feelin' a little froggy and decides to jump, we can handle it."

I pursed my lips. I was 90% convinced that every child of Venus had like zero fighting skills whatsoever.

"What is we're ambushed?" I argued. "What if the Romans come?"

"Psh! Romans, schmomans!"

"Hey," Hazel warned. "Don't underestimate children of Rome. They've got numbers on their side."

I snorted. Oh, so she could be faithful to her precious Romans, but not to Frank.

Piper grinned. "The Romans have numbers on their side? Well, we've got-" Piper completely froze up, and I almost ran into her.

"Oi, what gives?"

Her kaleidoscope eyes were huge, and her mouth was sealed in a tight line.

Hazel smirked. "Exactly. What do you have? Noth-"

"Piper!" Bonnabelle shook her shoulders roughly, but all it did was make her push herself free from the blonde's grasp. As if in a trance, Piper walked across the street toward the edge of the seawall, narrowly avoiding a horse-drawn carriage.

"So you're just gonna ditch us like that then, eh Pipes?" I called, scowling.

"We'd better follow her," Hazel said.

By the time we'd caught up to her, I realized why she'd gone so quickly. There, a few yards away from us, a shimmering white figure floated on the water in the distinct shape of a woman. I squinted at the ghost, but it blazed too brightly to make out details. Then the apparition floated up the seawall and stopped in front of us. The glow faded.

Piper glared at it like the sight offended her. "It is her," she grumbled.

I gasped. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful in an indescribable way. Her features seemed to shift from those of one glorious movie star to another. Her hair changed from long, straight blond to big, red curls. But the most striking feature were her eyes. They were blue, but not shockingly so like Jason's - hers were a pale, light, feathery blue that made me feel like I was staring into a peaceful sky. Like if this gorgeous woman looked at you, everything would be okay.

The woman was dressed like a Southern belle, just as described. Her gown had a low-cut bodice of pink silk and a three-tiered hoop skirt with white scalloped lace. She wore tall white silk gloves, and held a feathered pink-and-white fan to her chest.

My ego shrunk to the size of a pea in a matter of seconds just by looking at her. I was inferior. Everything about her seemed calculated to make me feel inadequate: the easy grace with which she wore her dress, the perfect yet understated makeup, the way she radiated feminine charm that no man could possibly resist.

But I mean, how could I compare with the goddess of beauty herself?

"Aphrodite," Bonnabelle said.

"Venus?" Hazel asked in amazement.

"Mom," Piper said, with absolutely no enthusiasm.

"Whoa," I breathed.

"Girls! Come here!" The goddess spread her arms like she wanted a group hug.

Grinning stupidly, I started towards her. Gods, she was so pretty I just couldn't even fathom-

It's just charmspeak.

I stopped short and crossed my arms, angry with myself for have fallen for such a thing.

Venus flashed me a knowing smile. "Ah, Anastasios always was weak to my, ahem, feminine wiles."

Oh. So I'm highly susceptible to charmspeak because my Pops was a skirt chaser, AND I've got no powers while we're parked in this place. Wonderful.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Piper demanded.

Aphrodite didn't even flinch. "Aww, Piper, I'm so happy to see you, hun! I see you're still wearing your hair in that atrocious style. . Ah, well!"

Piper silently fumed, and I wondered if she was going to lunge at her own mother. However, Bonnabelle cut in.

"Aphrodite, was there something important you had to tell us?" She asked, choosing her words carefully. "I mean, the gods aren't supposed to be communicating with us, so I just assumed-"

"Oh, right!" Venus beamed. "War is coming. Bloodshed is inevitable! So there's really only one thing to do!" It was creepy how cheery she sounded saying such words.

"Uh. . . one thing to do?" Bonnabelle ventured, "And that is?"

"Why, have tea and chat, obviously! Come with me!"