AN: WHOOOOHOOOOO! School was cancelled for tomorrow, too! You know what that means? MORE TIME TO WRITE! :D :D :D Anyways, here's the second of three promised chapters. I promise to get the third chapter written and published by tomorrow at the latest. I know that I said I would get three out by the end of today, but hey, stuff happens. Bear with me. :3 So now, without further ado, here's the third chapter of The Goddess Search! Enjoy!

Chapter 3

I stood on the front steps of the manor and looked over the young woman before me.

She seemed to be the age of a college student, meaning late teens or early twenties. I could see that she had a rich olive tone that suggested a Hispanic background, with long, dark brown hair and cinnamon brown eyes. She had a curvy figure that was dressed in simple clothing- faded jeans and a simple white camisole. She seemed to possess an air of confidence and ease.

Immediately after she was introduced, she extended her hand towards me in an offered handshake. "Call me Marcie." She said simply.

"Nice to meet you, Marcie. I'm-" I began.

"-Kate, right? I heard Eric address you. It's cool to meet you." She nodded before turning to Eric. "This place is sick. Just how big is it?" She asked, wide-eyed.

Eric chuckled nervously. "It's… uh… pretty big." He said.

"When was it built? How was it built?" She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Were the people who built this place slaves? Because I totally can't crash in a place that was made using slave labor." She said.

I straightened my shoulders a bit, put off a little by her attitude. "The manor was built by the finest craftsmen in the world. I assure you, they were all paid quite well for their services. No slave labor was used." I said.

Marcella's eyes flashed to meet mine, an unspoken challenge in them. "Well, that's good." She said. "Anyways, I'm here for the test thing, right?" She asked.

"Correct." I said. "You're here to see if you have the potential to fill the open position on the Council of Olympians."

"You mean the Council of 'The dozen or so people who think that they can do whatever they want just because they're more privileged than some people'? Oh, gee, that sounds fun." Marcella rolled her eyes. "When I meet this council, I'll have a few choice words for them, such as 'Where do you all play a part in helping end world hunger?' or 'Why don't you all ever step in and end senseless wars before they kill millions of innocent people?' or how about 'Where were you all last year when those natural disasters destroyed thousands of cities and killed millions of people? Yeah, some 'Council'," She said.

I had heard enough. "We saved your lives last year. Where were we, you ask? We were risking our very existences to fight the most powerful being in the universe in order to save you all. I know how many people died. I know. I met them all. I had to see each and every last one of them go off to their afterlives. Don't you dare assume that we don't care. Some of the members on the council may care less than others, but in the end we all played a part in helping to preserve humanity." I huffed, breathing heavily. It was then that I realized exactly what I had just said.

"Y-you're a member of the council?" Marcella asked. "But… you're a maid."

Well, so much for the 'incognito council member' thing. I thought bitterly. "I am a member of the council. My name is Kate, Wife of Henry and Queen of the Underworld, and I have already decided that even without going through the test, you have failed." I turned to Eric. "Wipe her memory and take her home."

I turned around and strode back into the manor, walking over to the portal and closing my eyes tight as I was whisked away to the Underworld. After shaking off the sick feeling that came with traveling with the portal, I strode up to the castle and flung open the doors, marching angrily to the throne room. I flung open the throne room doors and skulked over to my throne, collapsing into it and released an exasperated sigh. I turned my head slightly to see Henry sitting on his throne beside me, a questioning look in his eyes. I knew that he had sensed me long before I had entered the throne room, so he wasn't surprised by my sudden appearance.

"Kate?" He asked. "I thought you were conducting the test." He didn't sound surprised or irritated; just confused.

I groaned and rolled my eyes, letting out another sigh. "She failed." I said.

This seemed to actually surprise Henry. "So soon?" He asked.

I nodded. "I could tell from the start that she'd piss everyone off, especially Walter. And even though I'd love to see him tear out his hair in frustration with the girl, she annoyed me, too. She was just full of herself and her opinions."

Henry sat in thought, his mouth set in a pensive frown. "Perhaps next time Eros should be instructed to research the female he believes should be tested before bringing her to the manor." He said.

"You think?" I said sarcastically. "I mean really, I-"

Kate. Eros's voice came through to me.

Yeah? I thought back, sounding snappier than I meant to.

I'm sorry. I screwed up. He said. I could sense from his tone that he was really beating himself up about it. I guess I just saw her and got too excited. I was just eager for this whole thing to be resolved.

I know, Eros. I am, too. But if there's one thing I've learned through all of this, it's that patience is a virtue. I know it's a pain to actually implement that virtue into our lives, but what else can we do? I thought.

You're right, Kate. Next time I'll be more careful, he promised.

I know you will. Be patient, Eros. You'll know when the right girl comes along. I thought encouragingly. Trial and Error, that's what I'd like to think that all of this is.

Trial and Error? I guess that's one way to think of it. Alright, I'm going to get back to searching. I'll report to you soon, he thought.

Alright. Good luck, I thought before the connection was severed. I turned to Henry, who was waiting patiently for my mental conversation to end. Speaking of unwavering patience… I thought to myself as I smiled at Henry. "Sorry about that," I apologized, to which he merely nodded.

"I am assuming that your conversation was with a remorseful Eros," he said.

"You guessed it," I said. "He promised to do better next time."

"By 'do better', you mean to say that he is going to learn more about the selected female than her name?" Henry asked.

I laughed for a moment before giving him a playfully scolding look. "Cut Eros some slack. At least he tried." I said.

Henry's face remained relatively expressionless. "Perhaps he tried too hard. His eagerness to finish his task clouded his judgement." He said.

I shrugged. "Yeah, that's true, but hey, it's a learning experience. He's learned that he can't just pick the first girl he sees to take the test. The right girl isn't going to just suddenly appear-" I snapped my fingers for emphasis "-like that."

"Agreed," Henry said. He stood and held his hand out to me, leading me out of the throne room and down the hallways to our wing of the castle. "It would seem that since you won't be overseeing any test anytime soon, we have more time together." He told me.

I nodded, smiling at the thought. "It seems that there is a bright side to this situation, after all," I said. "I don't know how long it will be until Eros finds another girl, but I plan on making every moment between now and then count."

AN: Mwah ha ha ha. I know, I know, you all were expecting Marcella to stick around for a bit and be tested. Too bad! I like to keep things going. X3 We're probably going to do a time skip here pretty soon, so be prepared! Also, if any of you have suggestions for girls to be tested, comment the name, age, physical and personality description of your OC. I will do a random selection to see whose character will be featured in the story! Don't forget to point out any instances you may find in which there may be OOCness, spelling or grammatical errors. R&R and Stay tuned! :)