6: Grown cupid gives me a mutated arrow

I woke up to someone screaming.

For a terrible second, I thought the shrill sound had escaped from my own throat. Then I realized it had come from outside. Rubbing my eyes, I briefly slipped into a pair of faded jeans and threw on my orange camp shirt before running off to see what was going on.

As soon as I stepped out of my cabin, I was like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. The sky was an endless ocean of clear blue without a speck of white cloud. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I had always been apprehensive about the sky but after last night's pitch darkness, I couldn't help but fully appreciate the open air sweetly filling my lungs. For a moment, I forgot all about the reason why I had rushed out of my cabin in the first place and stood rooted to the ground, grinning like an idiot.

You will taste the poison of my waters. Soon.

I shivered as I remembered the words of the coughing voice. What kind of water was so poisoned that a son of the sea god couldn't control it?

"Percy! Percy! You've got to see this."

A pang of guilt hit me as I instantly recognized the voice. Annabeth.

I remembered how angry she was last night. After the traumatic dream, yesterday was a fuzzy mess but I could clearly recall her screaming at the goddess of love, the one who was supposedly responsible for this whole tangled chaos. Now, her face seemed to have forgotten last night's events and her eyes even seemed to sparkle with excitement. My constricted heart relaxed a little.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked, wondering what could be the source of her exhilaration. Then I remembered what had woken me up this morning. "Did someone scream?"

"I screamed, dummy," she said, a strange gleam of pride in her stormy eyes. Without answering my first question, she smiled a toothy grin and grabbed my wrist-not my hand, I took quick notice. Then she began to put on speed like a small child running to a candy shop. Wordlessly, I trailed behind her until we reached our destination.

We stood should-to-shoulder in front of the big house. I felt a tingle creeping down my arm.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Annabeth said impatiently. "Let's go meet him."

"Him?" My question hung in the air as she dragged me into the building.

The man that faced me in the big house was someone I had least expected. He was tall, lean with toned limbs, and had beautiful fair skin that seemed to radiate. On his head were lovely golden locks that grazed his shoulders. Everything about him seemed to sparkle as if he was made out of rare gems. And then there was his face-I just couldn't put his facial features into words. His clear blue eyes, his rosy cheeks, his pink lips... they were the mere definition of beautiful. Like if you looked up "beautiful" in the dictionary, then you would find the picture of the gorgeous man in front of me.

Gorgeous man? I couldn't believe what I was thinking. Feeling quite embarrassed, I shook my head to bring myself back to reality. "Eros?" I guessed.

The perfect creature in front of me smiled and some part of me felt like it was melting like ice cream under the sun. "Hello, Percy Jackson."

This had to be Eros. There was no other male god that could fill someone up with such a lovely sensation. But I had seen Eros before; in fact, I had seen him only last night, a small little cherub holding a bow and a quiver of arrows. So who was this grown man in front of me?

"I am Eros," he said as if he read my mind. He showed me his bow and arrows slung on his muscular shoulders.

I blinked. "But you're so-"

"Grown up?" Eros finished my question with annoyance in his voice. He rolled his eyes. "Everyone only sees me as this little baby with wings flying around next to my mother. Nobody remembers that I'm a big boy now."

"Big boy? But last night..."

"Please!" he yelled, flinging his arms in the air. "My mother doesn't want me in my grown form because she knows that I'm more beautiful-" His sentence was cut short and he grimaced as if his mother had heard. "Oh, fine. It's 'cause I'm so rebellious. Just because she didn't like that girl, Psyche..."

"Psyche?" I had to ask, utterly confused.

Annabeth stared blankly at the grown version of the god love. "Psyche was Eros's wife that Aphrodite really disliked. But... that's a Roman tale."

Eros rolled his eyes again. "Oh, please, I didn't marry Psyche. She was beautiful, yes, but not as beautiful as I. I just take a little interest in the girl, just playing around with her 'cause she was conceited enough to say love did not exist. Naturally, Mother gets all jealous and bullies her."

The way the god talked was so arrogant and haughty. Suddenly, I didn't care how beautiful he was, I just wanted him to go back to his baby form and shut up.

"So... What are you doing here?"

He stared at me. "Oh, yes. Right. I told this girl-" he pointed to Annabeth as if she was an insignificant bug "-to go fetch you."

"Why?" I asked, still confused.

The god glowered at me. "Are you a dimwit, Percy Jackson? Of course, to give you details about your quest."

I blinked. Somehow I found it surprising that a grownup version of Cupid was able to give me any useful advice.

"Anyway," he continued, flicking his glamorous locks back, "so you first must gather your crew and go find Nemesis."

"Nemesis?" It was Annabeth who spoke aloud. "The goddess of revenge? That Nemesis?"

Eros shot her a frustrated look. "Are you deaf, girl? Yes, I said Nemesis. She is the goddess of revenge, but also the goddess of balance and justice. She is quite a scary old woman but I understand she doesn't have much love for this world. She doesn't like me either, says I am an assistant of Fortuna, but oh, please. Love does not always bring good fortune." He winked in Annabeth's direction.

I still didn't understand what Nemesis had to do with anything but I had a feeling that Eros wasn't keen on elaborating. Instead, I asked, "Where can I find her?"

He nodded at my hand and a strange looking arrow sharpened on both sides appeared. One tip seemed to be dipped in gold, the other made out of lead. "My gift shall guide you."

I looked at the weird-looking arrow. It looked like a mistake, a mutation. It definitely didn't look like it would prove useful to me in any way. Maybe I was supposed to stay someone?

However, Eros seemed very satisfied with himself and shook his shoulders, materializing a pair of pearl white wings. As the narcissistic god got ready to dissolve in front of our eyes, Annabeth took a breath and spoke up.

"Um, Lord Eros, what is going to happen to Percy?"

For the first time, the beautiful god looked closely at my ex-girlfriend. He smiled sadly, which was still undoubtedly dazzling. "Being shot too many times has turned the blessing of love into a curse. The ability to love is a gift and he will lose it if he doesn't succeed on his quest. Love is the foundation of not only romance but also friendship and loyalty. He won't be able to trust anyone but himself if he remains the way he is now."

Annabeth looked stunned but remained quiet. I didn't really understand how that would be possible... Would I truly be able to stop loving my family and friends because of a few stupid arrows?

But then again... I found myself gazing at Annabeth then shook my head.

"A week from yesterday. You have six days to complete your quest and make your final decision. If I were you, I'd quickly gather the lucky five and go find Nemesis now."

With that, Eros glowed a golden light, making me avert my eyes. In a split of a second, he was gone, leaving me only with a mutated arrow in my hand.

Hey guys! Hoped you guys liked this chapter! I feel like the story's finally shaping up... I got a crazy quest in mind (poor Percy lol)! Well, of course, feel free to point out mistakes, suggest plots, etc. 'cause reviews help sooo much! Coming up: Who will be the five on the quest? How (and why?) will Nemesis help Percy? Stay in tune! Love your faces~