The Sun beat down, while waves lapped along the beach. Seagulls cried and swooped around, looking for their lunch. I laid down on a beach chair, refreshing my tan and drinking a Strawberry Daquiri. 'Ah...' was my only coherent thought. After an intense day of travel, it was nice to wind down and relax. My sisters and I had just arrived in Indonesia yesterday, and we still had a day to go until the Eclispe, so some of us were taking advantage of the whole opposite season thing. No one was thinking about the hike we would have to take into the mountains tomorrow. Well, maybe Thaila was. But most of the girls were at the beach with me, showing off our perfect immortal bodies. My outfit consisted of a black bikini top and silver/gray Hollister shorts. Of course, with 8 girls that were beautiful in every way, we were getting some looks. But none of us even noticed there were boys. Or girls who were insanely jealous, for that matter. But one girl was different. She looked at us like she knew something was different better. I soon got disgruntled by it and talked to my sister, Penny, about her.
"Oh, shes probably a half-blood who doesn't know it yet." She said, and then glanced at my shocked face. "You don't suppose the Gods stick to one continent, right?" I just nodded, still shocked. "Don't tell her though," Penny warned. "Even in Indonesia, there's monsters."
After awhile, we got bored of the beach, so we retired to our rented condo. It was tucked in a valley, surronded by a jungle. When we got back, I decided to show off a bit with my whole Daughter of Aphrodite skills. The girls were all up on the roof, soaking up more rays, so I brought my huge suitcase up there and scattered all my clothes about.
"Nicole, what are you up to?" questioned Phoebe. I shushed her and concentrated on my first article of clothing, a babydoll tank top in a soft shade of blue. When I turned my gazed upon it, the color leaked and faded until it was a light shade of silver. I then commenced to turn all of my clothes into various shades of silver, black, or white. When I finished, I collasped into an open chair.
"Whew! Hard work!" I exclaimed, then looked at all the raised eyebrows around me."What?" I continued.
"What the heck was that?" practically screamed.
"Well, haven't you guys ever wondered why Aphrodite Girls clothes are always the perfect size, color, and fit? We can alter them. But shh, its a very well-kept secret." I ordered.
No one would relax or say anything, so I pointedly continued. "Were not as hopeless as everyone thinks. We just have different skills than fighting, thinking, or playing with water or lightning."
Finally, Lily pipped "Can you do mine!?"
That seemed to settle everyone. After all, everything they knew about Aphrodite Girls had just changed. Everyone suddenly started talking.
"What else can you do?", "Mine too?!", " Its so hard to find good clothes!", "Wow!", and "Mine first!"
I covered my ears and demanded "One at a time, please!" After I said that, I pointed to Lily. "Go get your suitcase." I said, and she trotted off. I then directed my responses toward my other sisters. "Well, you've seen that we can change others appearances, and change ours. But that takes alot of power and emotion. Usually, well never do it to someone unless they've really ticked me off. I guess Silena was really mad." I joked half-heartedly, then continued. "With the whole makeup thing, we'll go into a store and be able to find our perfect shade immediatly. It's kind of hard to explain, but the color we want sort-of glows a bit. You know, calls to us. Also, whenever we go to the store and are carrying the special card Mom gave all of us, we don't have to pay for anything. And then theres the clothes. Oh, and makeup sorta sticks to us. It wont come off until we want it too. And we don't have to exercise to stay fit. It's an Aphrodite metabolism." I finished, a bit out of breath.
My sisters continued to look at me, until Lily came up dragging her little secondhand suitcase. I put my hand on it and it glimmered, the dust brushing off and the colors brightening, until it looked brand new. Poor thing, being one of the many Daughters of Hermes. I knew a bombardment of inquiries were coming, so I took out Lily's clothes and got started.
"Phew! That's the last!" I admitted, settling back in my chair. Thanks to me, the Hunter's of Artemis now had a new and refreshed wardrobe. Everyone was jubiliant, but I was pooped. There was still something I wanted to do, though, so I heaved myself out of my chair, interrupting the girls comparing their clothes. "Hey, im going for a walk." I said, and they all nodded. I skipped downstairs, changed, and was out the door without doing anything to my hair or putting on a stitch of makeup. I was pretty proud of myself.
With my ipod on, I padded through the jungle. I simply followed the dirt paths, going with the flow. I was as comfortable as ever in a girl version of a muscle shirt, were you cut the sleeves off and down the sides. The shirt was black, and had a white cami under it, paired with silver basketball shorts. I jut wandered around, my ipod drowning out the world and my thoughts with Chase Coy. I didn't even notice my surrondings until I was in the most beautiful little meadow I had ever seen. A waterfall cascaded down dark, smooth rocks. Exotic plants popped up all around me. Trees leaned in, casting shade around the whole place. And in the middle of it was an incredibly beautiful woman. She looked like an older version of me. I think I even saw a bird fly into a tree while gazing at her. Only she looked furious. "M-mother!" I stuttered out, unable to form a coherent response. My mom! Here! In Indonesia! 'How convenient!' drifted through my head, until I was thrown to my knees.
"Daughter!" Aphrodite spat out, the anger in her eyes unfathomable. "How nice to see you." She snarled at me. I met her gaze, but didn't flinch. It was she that looked away first, just to review my clothes. "Look at you! Your outfit, your face, your HAIR!" She continued, with so much contempt in her voice, it was scary.
"Have I done something?" I asked, then mentally smacked myself.
"Oh, no, just making me the laughingstock of Olympus, that's all. HOW DARE YOU!" She shrieked, and I could practically see her foaming at the mouth.
"I am happy, mother! Does that mean nothing to you!?" I shouted right back.
"Oh, your happy!? Your happy that you went behind your entire family!? That you BETRAYED us?!"
"No, mother. I am happy that I have found a place that welcomes me, designer clothes or not." I said in the coldest voice I could manage.
Her face immediatly softened, and it was like I could see her changing tactics. "Nicole, dear, you were happy with your real family. They loved you. They made you beautiful. Break your vow, dear. Come home to Mommy." Aphrodite pleaded. I could see tears forming, and it broke my heart. A little voice in the back of my head whispered 'What could it hurt? You can get any guy you want, Nicole. You can have anything with them.' I attempted to shake it off, but when I opened my eyes, there was a guy there. And he was so hot, I think the water started boiling. A tree might of exploded. He was tan, his arms bulky and muscular. He had a 6 pack of washboard abs. His hair was darker than the blackest night, with the slightest curl to them. And I thought I saw a dimple flash at me. And he was there in front of me, in just boxers, practically begging me to come to him. It didn't help that he started to speak.
"Nicole, come to me, I want you and only you." He said in a voice that had a hint of a british accent. His eyes flashed at me, the lightest blue/green possible. And his scent, possibly the most intoxicating thing ever. With just a whiff of it, I took a half step towards him, thinking 'Wait until the girls hear about this one.'. 'But wait,' the still reasonable part of my head flickered, 'your sisters are the Hunters. You made a promise. You can't let her win!' I shook my head again, like a dog trying to rid its ears of water. Artemis? Aphrodite? The guy took a step closer to me, so that we were within arms length of each other. I raised my hand halfway, straining for him. He took it and pulled my against him. His solid, warm body enveloped mine.
'This is it.' My mind thought. I was too far under. His arms were around me, keeping me safe. I looked up through my eyelashes at him, but saw something different. He was still there, smiling at me, holding me, but his hair was the color of cornsilk, and his eyes we the exact color of Eric's. And suddenly, his arms we not holding, but constricting. His eyes were not warm and inviting, but cold and lifeless. His scent was not sweet and luxurious, but the smell of burning flesh. I broke away from him and staggered a few feet back. "Nicole, what's wrong?" He questioned, then smiled. His teeth were not straight and dazzling white, like they were before, but crooked and the color of mucus. I think I even saw a maggot crawl between them. With a shudder, I turned towards my mother.
"I am no more your family than he is real. You've lost, Aphrodite." I demanded, then turned on my heel and strode away.
Her last words still ring in my head. "You're a Disgrace!"
A/N: Ahh, this chapter was so fun to write. Thank you so much to my reviewers! I never imagined anyone would want to read this. The song for this chapter is Big City Dreams by nevershoutnever! Thank you! And please check out my other story, Calypso. It's not your average story at all.