PLEASE READ! Well readers, here it is, the final chapter of the first story arc of Son of Tartarus. which means that from here on out the plot is up in the air. Which means that I need your help to decide on what it will be. and to do that I've posted a poll on my profile with three choices the winner will be the one I'll do for the next arc. PLEASE NOTE: if I don't find out which one to do the story WILL BE on hold until i figure out which one I'll use so please GO VOTE! I want your feedback!

Chapter 20: Aphrodite gives me advice

After my trial in Olympian court I was brought back to Camp Half Blood, where I went around thanking everyone who put in a good word for me with the gods, every single one. I was absolutely over the moon at this point. Though having to be under Camp-Arrest sucked, but it wasn't an entirely bad thing.

I now spent my days mainly focusing on recovering my strength and also healing my remaining wounds, which had been made easier thanks to Reyna and her Amazon healing juice.

But besides all that, there was something that was really bothering me; during my trial Aphrodite said she wanted to spare me because her match making senses were tingling. I still had no idea what that meant, but I had a feeling it had something to do with me and Reyna.

Currently I was doing my regular workout routine in the colosseum. But I also changed things up, I added in doing jogging laps around the colosseum and also adding in several other exercises that the Aries cabin and Reyna showed me (dragonflies, dynamic planks, etc.). I did this everyday for three hours a day like clockwork.

I just got finished up with my last set of dragonflies as I saw Percy coming up towards me with a towel and a bottle of Gatorade, which was my favorite flavor, Glacial Cherry. I smiled as I caught both as he tossed them to me.

"Thanks Perc." I said as I dried my face and hair and drank some Gatorade. Percy chuckled as we both sat down on a bench. I set the bottle next to me as I rolled Suppressor across my wrist a few times.

"Something on your mind?" Percy asked.

"Just, thinking about all that's happened, I found out I have an evil little brother, my dad possessed my body and tried to hurt those I care about, I got crucified in a junkyard." I told him as I looked at him. "And to top it all off I had to go to godly court and apparently the goddess of love has her eye on my love life."

Percy whistled. "Yep, that's a lot alright." He then pulled out a ballpoint pen I immediately recognized as his sword Riptide. "I know the feeling."

I looked at my own weapon as I then looked up at the sky, my mind then drifted to something that has been on my mind ever since my talk with Reyna on Robin's boat. "Hey Percy?" I asked. He looked at me in question. "When you first realized you had a crush on Annabeth, how did you feel?"

As soon as Percy heard this, his drink must have went down the wrong canal because he then started to choke on it and cough. "What?! Why're you asking me that?"

"I just wanna know." Was all I told him. He then went quiet for a few seconds before he decided to answer my question.

"Well I remember we didn't get along at first. Then we started becoming really close friends, but then after that I slowly started thinking about her during every waking moment, wanting to make sure she was okay, wanting to protect her, heck I even dream of her a lot." He explained. "As for how I felt? Flustered was one word to use, another would be nervous, happy, and like my heart was doing a tap dance."

This all sinked into my head as I nodded. "Okay, Thanks for telling me." He then got up and took another swig of his drink.

"No problem, I hope that helps with whatever you were thinking about." Percy smiled as he left. "Later."

"Later." I replied. I took another chug of my drink, when all of a sudden a huge flash of light appeared right in front of me. I nearly fell over the bench as I almost jumped out of my skin. "Holy shit!" I yelled as I almost dropped my drink.

As the glow subsided I saw that there was a woman standing in front of me, a very hot woman I might add. In terms of height she around 5'10", will sun kissed skin, flowing black/blue hair, angelic and goddess-like features, a narrow waist, wide hips with matching smooth thighs, a heart shaped ass and eyes that looked like they were made of some high Grade obsidian crystals, and don't even get me started on her rac-I stopped myself as I shook my head, which made me notice that she was wearing a red satin dress and some matching pump sandals.

I shook my head again to get my brain together as I looked at her. "Uh hi." I said nervously, scratching the back of my neck as I stood up. "Can I help you with something?"

The woman smiled at me and it made me blush. That's when I realized just exactly what made me feel so flustered, she was making herself look like an older version of Reyna! The hair, eyes, even the bone structure was the same. She continued to smile before speaking. "Actually, I was hoping I could help you." She said.

After I managed to wrap my head around who this chick was, the only goddess that could easily change her appearance as easily as she does he clothes. "Aphrodite." I said as I stood up from the bench. I crossed my arms and tried my best to use my suppression powers to resist the effects of her power. "What are you doing here?"

The goddess looked confused as she looked at me. Gods why did I think Reyna looked so cute when she was confused?! "Isn't it obvious? I'm here to help you with your endeavor to win the heart of that Hunter of Artemis you like so much."

I immediately did a spit take as soon as she said that. "What?! Why?!" I asked in shock, I met her eyes as she gave me an amused look, then started filing her nails.

"It's simple." She told me. "I'm the goddess of love, it's my job to nurture budding romances when I see them, and I also take a particular interest in those romances that really strike my fancy."

I honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing, not only did she know I was crushing on Reyna, but now she wanted to help?! Didn't she know I was already in hot water with Artemis at this point? I decided to make my thoughts known to the love goddess. "Uh...you do realize that Artemis would probably hunt me down if I tried, right?" I asked.

She waved her hand dismissively at that in a haughty manner. "Oh don't you worry about her I know how to handle that wild bitch." She then looked at me in question. "Hold on, does this mean Miss Ramírez didn't tell you about the prophecy I gave her?"

"Prophecy?" I asked.

"I gave her a prophecy as my Roman counterpart Venus, I told her that someone would come along and heal her broken heart. I also told her that it didn't necessarily have to be a Demigod, so it could be filled by anything." She explained, a hand on her left hip. "And I think a Demiprimordial like you would fit the role perfectly."

I was genuinely surprised that this was the case, why has this never come up? I shook my head, that didn't matter right now. I thought for a minute or two before I decided to speak. "And you're here to help with that?"

Aphrodite nodded. "That's right."

"But what if I don't have a crush on her?" I asked.

"Nonsense. You show all the signs." She said.

"Which are?" I questioned.

"Do you find yourself thinking about her every waking moment?" She asked. "Do you often find that other women can't compare to her? Do you feel your face burn and heart race when you talk to her or about her? Do you dream about her?" She was then quiet before she added. "Do you constantly want to protect her, even if she can protect herself?"

I nodded at all of those points, I hated to admit it, but I wasn't just crushing on Reyna, but I had apparently straight up fallen head over heels in love with her! I fell back on the bench as I put my face in my hands. "Oh gods...I am in love with her!"

The goddess gave me a knowing look. "Told you i knew. Now listen up, this is very important." She spent the next ten minutes giving me advice on how I should tell Reyna how I felt, and after that, she left me alone after disappearing in a flash of light.

I slowly got up as I took a few deep breaths. I walked out of the colosseum and started walking towards the lake, I sat down as I tried to calm myself, I was sitting there as I heard someone come up to me. I looked and saw it was Chiron.

"Nigel." The centaur said.

"Hey Chiron." I said as he laid his horse body down next to me. I sighed and turned to face him as I leaned back. "I've decided on something."

"What might that be?" He asked.

I looked at the lake and smiled. "Today I'm gonna tell Reyna how I feel about her." Chiron looked at me and I could tell he was surprised because his look said 'are you serious'? "And before you say anything yes I'm sure. And apparently I'm getting help from up there." I pointed to the sky as the centaur nodded knowingly, seemingly understanding what I was saying now.

"Well if you're getting help from Aphrodite I don't think I have much room to add anything." He said as he got up. "Though I will say this, good luck."

"Thanks Chiron." I smiled. I got up and started looking for Reyna, waving at my friends as I passed them, I rounded a corner as I saw her practicing with her sword spear, she slashed open a sand bag while spinning and then transforming it into a spear on a dime and thrusted it into another bag. I was amazed at how she was with it.

Reyna had been spending a lot of time here since Jason went back to Camp Jupiter to do some digging into my little brother Lazarus. She says it's to keep an eye on me for Artemis and the other gods, but given that she usually used a joking tone when she said this, I assumed she was just kidding.

I came up to her as she noticed I was coming. "Hey, you busy?" I asked her as she put away her spear.

"No, I was just finishing up." She told me. "You need something?"

I tapped my foot as I crossed my arms nervously. "No, I was...actually hoping to talk to you about something that's been bothering me for awhile now."

The Amazon walked up to me and stood there in front of me. "What is it?" She asked, her own arms folded.

I looked to the side as I gave a slight sigh. "You know how I told you that I've never really gotten along with other people my age right?"

"Yes." She nodded, seemingly confused as to where I was going with this.

"Well that kinda all changed when I got here. Once I got to camp, I actually started making friends, a lot of friends in fact." I told her as I met her gaze. "You being one of them, and I'm grateful for that."

She blushed ever so slightly at that, gesturing for me to continue. "Go on." She told me.

"When we first met, I'll admit I did come off as a bit of an ass, but once I actually got to know you, I actually found that we had a few things in common." I continued. "Then I actually realized that I actually kinda liked you. That feeling only continued to grow as time went on." She was surprised when I said this as I added. "And after all that's happened, I've finally realized what that means to me."

She turned to face me as she seemed to realize what I was saying. "Wait, Do you mean…?" We both looked at each other, and I was putting on my extremely serious face as I grasped her hand tightly.

"Reyna I-" that's when she cut me off by beating right to the punch by the best, and first, kiss I ever had in my entire life. I could feel my arms instinctively wrap around her waist as she wrapped hers around my neck. We stayed like that for a few seconds before separating and she gave me a knowing smirk.

"You talk too much, you know that Jager?" She joked.

"And you're all action and no thought Ramírez." I countered, which only made us laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. "But Seriously, I really do like you. No, I love you." I told her.

"Me too." The girl smiled, then waves of silver energy coursed over her body before it shattered. She sighed. "Well, looks like that's the end of it."

"The end of what?" I asked before I remembered her vow. "Oh...sorry."

The Amazon smiled as she shook her head. "No, it's alright, Lady Artemis knew I'd eventually fall in love with someone, so it won't upset her too much…hopefully."

"Yeah." I chuckled. "Hopefully." I held her hand for a minute before we both saw a silver stag staring at us from a clump of trees. "Is that…?"

Reyna nodded. "The stag the Hunters are after."

"Oh boy…" was all I could say, something told me that this was going to be a very long week.