The chase had been long. Even after leaving the train and going ever further westwards, Percy found him and his companions continually hunted, followed all the way to New Mexico. While they could hold their own fairly well against the skeletal warriors that had pursued them across the United States, they could not dispel them – that is, bar Bianca's strange ability – leaving them endlessly fight until they, not the skeletons, dropped from exhaustion.
Their savior came from the wild. When they had finally been found by the General's minions at a small town in New Mexico, the Erymanthian Boar, a gift of mythological proportions, saved them, throwing away the skeletons and transporting them fast enough to get some good distance between the party of demigods and Hunters and the monsters that followed.
Where they ended up was a strange, oddly-lively town in the middle of the desert. If Percy had learned one thing over three years of being a demigod, strange meant bad. Or, at the very least, some powerful being was manipulating the situation.
His suspicions were confirmed when he found the tip of Ares' sword at his throat, said God of War grinning from the open back door of a limo that had pulled up out of nowhere in the middle of small, bustling yet deserted town.
"Not so fast now, huh punk," Ares grunted, smirking.
"Ares," Percy snarled. Around him, his companions readied their respective weapons, ready to fight even the God of War if they had to.
"At ease, peeps." Ares snapped his fingers and everyone's weapons slipped out of their hands like the hilts and grips had been covered in butter. "This is a friendly meeting."
He turned back around to face Percy, poking his blade into the demigod's throat just deep enough to draw the tiniest amount of blood, but not enough to do much more. "Of course, I'd like to take your head as a trophy, but the lady wants to talk to you, and it's best not to keep her waiting. Well, that, and it's not proper to behead enemies in front of a lady." Ares cruelly grinned at that.
"What lady?" Thalia said, scowling at the god.
"Oh, I don't think she wants to see the rest of you. Particularly them." He gestured to both Hunters. Turning back to Percy, Ares grabbed the son of Poseidon by the back of his collar. "Get inside punk," the god said, throwing Percy into the limo. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving as I am." With that, the door slammed closed.
Percy's jaw dropped the moment he saw her. Any words of protest died in his throat, leaving him utterly speechless with his eyes wide open.
The woman in front of him sat daintily in the soft leather seat, holding a small glass of champagne. She wore a deep red dress that accented her every curve to a degree even the world's finest supermodels could not match. Her face was absolutely beautiful, perfect in every way: just the right amount of makeup, gorgeous bright eyes, and a smile that could end wars.
The thing is, Percy had trouble focusing on her. Every time he honed in a certain aspect of her appearance, it shifted. Her eye color, her hair color or style, and more all constantly changed, yet meshed together to stay static. She was more beautiful than any human ever, but as Percy sat there, awed by the presence of the goddess of love, he felt an inkling of unease. She was not human, and the unceasing perfection of her appearance brought an eeriness to her that made Percy want to fling open the limo door and run away.
Finally, she turned to fully face Percy, a wide and bright smile on her face. For a split-second, Percy swore that he could see Annabeth – gray eyes, blonde hair – but as soon as he saw her, the woman's hair shortened, turning a dark black even as her eyes turned into an electric blue. That form lingered for a few seconds, but like the others, it changed once more, shifting into another attractive look.
"Ah, there you are, Percy," the goddess spoke, her voice flowing like fine silk. "I am Aphrodite."
"Uh, ah."
She smiled. "Aren't you so adorable," Aphrodite whispered, her voice playful and childish. If Percy had been any more cognizant, he could've been mad, but as it was, the demigod could barely string together two words. She put down her glass of champagne. "Here, hold this."
The goddess handed Percy a plate-like mirror, and he took it without thought, holding it up as Aphrodite touched up her lipstick, fixing an unnoticeable issue.
"Do you know why you are here?" she suddenly said, putting the lipstick away and looking right at Percy.
Percy blinked a few times, squeezing his eyes shut to try and force his mind to work, before pinching himself.
"I… I don't know," Percy uttered, barely managing to speak.
"Oh dear, still in denial?" she crooned. Outside, Ares audibly laughed, and the thought that the god of war could hear everything inside made Percy angry. The anger cut through the fog in his mind like a hot knife through butter, focusing his thoughts like a laser beam.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Percy gritted out, acting more confident than he felt. He was, after all, sandwiched between two members of the Greek pantheon. If worst came to worst, it'd end quickly and decidedly not in Percy's favor.
"Well, why are you on this quest?" Aphrodite leaned back, crossing her legs and resting her head on one hand.
"Artemis has been captured!"
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Artemis. Such a hopeless case. You would think that if they were going to kidnap a goddess, she would at least be breathtakingly beautiful. I pity the poor dears who have to imprison Artemis of all people. How drab!"
"But she was chasing a monster," Percy protested. "A really bad monster. We have to find it!"
Aphrodite gently prodded Percy with one manicured finger to hold the mirror higher – he had forgotten that it was even in his hands. She dabbed at her mascara to fix some nonexistent problem, sighing as she did so.
"Always some monster. But my dear Percy, that is why everyone else is on this quest. I'm more interested in you."
Percy's heart pounded as he finally understood what the goddess was trying to get at. He didn't want to answer – he didn't want to play this game with her – but one look from her drew the answer straight out of Percy's mind. "Annabeth's in trouble."
"Exactly!" Aphrodite smiled and clapped her hands. For a second, she once again had short black hair and electrifying blue eyes, but a blink later they had transformed into the blonde hair and gray eyes they were before.
"I have to help her..." Percy whispered. "I've been having these dreams-"
"Ah, you even dream about her! That's so cute!"
"No! I mean, that's not what I meant."
Aphrodite tsked and leaned closer in. "Percy, I'm on your side. I'm the only reason you're even here right now."
Percy stared at her. "What?"
"The poisoned T-shirt the Stolls gave Phoebe? Did you really think that was a coincidence? Sending Blackjack to find you and sneak you out of camp? These things don't just happen on their own, you know." Aphrodite leaned back again to inspect one of her red nails.
"You did all that?"
"Of course! I mean, really, how boring are these Hunters? Some monster to kill, blah, blah. Saving Artemis. Let her stay lost, I say. But a quest for true love-"
"Wait, I never said this was-"
"Oh dear, you don't need to say it. You know Annabeth was on the verge of joining the Hunters?"
"I'm not sure wha-"
"She was about to throw her life away. You can save her from that fate! It's so romantic! Now listen, Percy," Aphrodite leaned in again, like she was sharing some sort of secret with the increasingly-annoyed demigod. "The Hunters are you enemies. Let them handle this monster and Artemis mess. None of that is important. You just need to concentrate on finding and saving Annabeth."
"Do you know where she is?"
Aphrodite waved her hand in mild irritation. "No, no, I'll leave the details to you. But just know, it's been ages since we've had a good tragic love story."
Percy looked taken aback. "Woah, I've never said anything about love. And wait, tragic?"
"Love conquers all," Aphrodite solemnly said, her eyes slightly misting. "Look at Helen and Paris; did they let anything come between them?"
"Didn't they start the Trojan War and get thousands killed?"
Aphrodite waved her hand again, as if she were flinging away Percy's argument. "Pfft. That's not the point. Follow your heart."
"But… I don't know where it's going. My heart, I mean."
Aphrodite turned and beamed a full smile at me again, complete with stormy gray eyes and curly blonde hair. Yet, that image flickered, her hair once again shortening and darkening as her eyes brightened in color to a vibrant blue. Percy unconsciously flinched at the change, taking in her newfound appearance. Aphrodite frowned, her eyes narrowing, before she tensed up: her appearance changed back to the blonde and gray.
"Not knowing is half the fun," Aphrodite whispered, but her voice was now more tense and irritated than before. "Exquisitely painful, isn't it? Not being sure who loves you and who you love?" At this, she looked ready to spit at Percy, her eyes glaring even as they intensely flickered between the two distinct colors. "Oh, you kids! It's so cute I'm going to cry." She looked less about to cry and more about to scream.
"Please don't."
"Oh, and don't worry," she continued, her voice taking on a new, hard edge. "I'm not going to let this be easy for you. No, I have some wonderful surprises in store. Anguish. Indecision. Just you wait. Your future awaits you, and you'll have to choose."
She paused. "Oh, and be careful in my husband's territory. It can be very dangerous." She leaned back and turned away.
"Wait, why?" But instead of any forthcoming reply, the limo's door opened and Ares grabbed Percy's shoulder, pulling him out of the vehicle and back into the desert night. His audience with the goddess of love was over.
"You're lucky, punk," Ares snarled, pushing Percy away. "Be grateful."
"For what?"
"For us being so nice. If it were up to me-"
"So why haven't you killed me?" Percy snapped back. He realized that it was probably not a good idea to piss off the god of war, but Ares always had a direct line to igniting Percy's anger.
Ares snorted. "You're too hot to touch now, kid. Every god and goddess on Olympus is watching you. Plus, word on the street is that you're about to touch off the biggest war since the thirties, and I'm not willing to let that chance go. And even if those weren't factors, Aphrodite seems to think you're some kind of soap opera star. Killing you would make me look bad with her."
Percy clenched his fists. "Why wait? I beat you once. How's that ankle?"
Ares shook his head with a humorless grin on his face. "Not bad, punk. But you can't beat me at taunting. I'll start the fight when I'm ready, on my terms. Until then… get lost." He snapped his fingers and Percy fell to the ground, disoriented in a cloud of red dust. When the cloud finally settled, the limo was gone, as was the small town. Instead, the five companions found themselves in a junkyard that stretched as far as they could see.
"Ugh…" Percy groaned, lying on the ground.
"What did Aphrodite want with you?" Bianca asked, looking around for an exit to the mysterious (read: deadly) junkyard.
"Oh, um, I'm not sure," Percy lied, hiding most of the truth from his friends. "She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard."
Zoë frowned, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "The goddess of love would not make a trip all the way out here," she gestured around to emphasize her point, "just to say that. Be vigilant, Percy. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."
"For once, I agree with Zoë," Thalia muttered. "You can't trust Aphrodite." She knelt down and extended a hand to the still-downed son of Poseidon.
Percy rolled over accept the helping hand when he froze. He stared straight at Thalia, at her eyes, her hair, her features, and taking it all in.
It was the same eyes, hair, and features that had fought for dominance on Aphrodite's appearance.
Percy squeezed his eyes shut, thinking hard about the implications. Aphrodite had shown him who he thought was beautiful; that meant a flicker of actresses here and there, and whatnot.
There were two dominant forms. Aphrodite had clearly preferred gray eyes and curly blonde hair – Annabeth's features, Percy realized with a chill. But they had conflicted with another set. And as Percy stared into Thalia's eyes, he realized that it was those same eyes that had nearly overpowered Aphrodite's intentions.
Yet, on Thalia, it was different. Aphrodite had looked perfect, too perfect in fact. It was eerie and alien, an appearance that looked as beautiful as it did inhuman. Thalia, on the other hand, was very human, and she was not perfect; still, to Percy, she was, if he were to now admit it, beautiful.
And it went deeper than that. As he had gotten to know her, he had only found a steadfast friend, a faithful ally, a constant companion, and a fierce fighter. All of those were things he valued highly, and all of those were qualities she possessed in spades. Her attractive appearance was equaled only by her power, bravery, and loyalty – things that went beyond skin-deep.
She was absolutely magnificent. If Percy had to make a judgement call, he would say that Thalia's beauty exceeded Aphrodite's, inside and out.
He stared into those electric blue eyes, barely able to contain this newfound torrent of emotion even as he accepted her waiting hand and was pulled to his feet.
He could not deny it.
The truth.
He was in love with Thalia Grace.
Aphrodite scowled as the limousine sped across the desert, moving faster than any mortal vehicle could hope to travel. Beside her, Ares snored in his sleep, like the pig he was. Still, he was more capable than her husband, so he had his use. She nursed her glass of champagne – her second since leaving the group of demigods – as she reflected on what had just happened.
That was not what she had expected. From all she had heard, Percy and Annabeth were basically a thing. Yet, that was clearly not the case. It had been many eons since she had felt such a lack of control over her own form. It was designed to subtly shift into whatever those around her thought of as attractive, but she could still force herself to keep a form. Except for then.
It scared her. Percy had little to no feelings for his blonde friend, even as much as she had prodded him into that direction. Instead, her form kept changing into Zeus' daughter's form, of all people. Infuriating! Ignoring the fact that Thalia Grace was hardly princess-like compared to Annabeth Chase, and that it would not be nearly as good a romance, this was potentially disastrous for the son of Poseidon. She could only imagine Zeus' reaction to such news, and she knew that all of Olympus would shake and rumble under the weight of such a revelation.
Aphrodite grinned, a cruel smirk that didn't suit her face or beauty.
Percy Jackson would know the pain of defying the destiny of love.
A/N: I think this is probably going to be the new standard length, or somewhere around this range. As this story progresses, I find it more necessary to flesh out the scenes, even if that means that I'm sometimes just rehashing canon. This one was somewhat like canon, though there are obvious changes and additions that make it distinctly different. There will be less timeskips between chapters until they are basically continuous from chapter to chapter, more like a regular story.
Anyway, expect updates every Monday, 9:40 AM ET, and don't forget to review, follow, and favorite!