"I want to help." Aphrodite said sternly to Ares. The two were sitting in a white stretch limo. Ares was in the driver's seat and Aphrodite sat in the back redoing her always perfect makeup.
"Why do you want to help?" Ares grunted. He didn't see why they needed to help Poseidon's twerp and his friends. If the two of them helped, it'd bring Athena closer to winning.
"Because I was the one who came up with this game and it wouldn't make sense if I didn't play my own game." Aphrodite snapped. "Besides, you don't have to talk to Poseidon's kid; there are plenty of other children."
Ares knew there was no stopping Aphrodite once she put her mind to it. He had no choice but to give in. "Fine." was all he said. With that, he placed the key in the ignition and set the car on autopilot and off they went. Ares moved back to were Aphrodite sat.
A large white limo came to a quick stop just in front of where Bianca and Percy were talking. The kids stared in confusion as the buff god Ares stepped out of the back of the car, sword in hand, and went straight at Percy. Percy gasped and backed away slowly. Ares knife was pressed against his chin. Zoë and Bianca grabbed there bow and arrows and pointed them at the god.
"At ease, people." Ares said. He snapped his fingers and the girls weapons fell out of their hands. "I'm here on friendly terms. Although, I'd love to have your head." With that, Ares drove his sword a little bit farther under Percy's chin. Aphrodite coughed from were she sat in the limo.
"Ares..." Percy grumbled.
"Then again, I never behead my enemies in front of a lady." Ares added quickly.
"Lady? What lady?" Thalia asked.
Ares turned his head towards where Thalia stood. So the rumors were true, Zeus' kid was back. Another chess piece in the playing field.
"I heard you were back." He said. Ares took his sword away from Percy's chin and turned to face Thalia. "Thalia, daughter of Zeus. You're not hanging out with very good company."
"I can pick who I hang out with." Thalia snapped. "What's your business anyways, Ares? And who's in the car?"
Ares was enjoying the attention he was getting from the group of kids. He smiled before answering. "I doubt that she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." Ares pointed at Zoë and Bianca. "Why don't you go get some tacos? It'll only take Jackson a few minutes."
"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares." Zoë said.
"And the taco place is closed." Grover said in a just audible whisper. He didn't want to anger the war god.
"Demigods are always so picky." Ares thought to himself. Ares snapped his fingers and the store blazed to life. The closed sign switched to open and the smell of tacos filled the air. "You were saying, goat boy?"
"Go on guys, I'll handle this." Percy told his group. His attempt at sounding confident failed.
"You heard the boy." Ares said. "He's big and strong. He can take care of himself."
Zoë, Bianca, Thalia and Grover reluctantly left for the taco restaurant. While that happened, Ares glared at Percy and proceeded to open the limousine door as if he were a chauffeur.
"Get inside punk." Ares said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."
Percy slowly entered the limo. His jaw dropped when he saw Aphrodite. She was wearing a beautiful, long, red satin gown. Her hair was blond and extremely curly. Percy tried to speak but he couldn't form the words. Aphrodite patiently waited for him to collect himself. She smiled before saying "There you are, Percy. I am the goddess Aphrodite." Percy sat in the seat across from her.
"Um... uh... gah." Was all he'd managed to say. Aphrodite smiled again.
"Aren't you sweet? Hold this please." She handed Percy a huge polished mirror.
"Sooo, do you know why I'm here?" Aphrodite asked as she dabbed her lipstick.
Percy was failing at forming complete sentences. He sat in the seat for a moment before pinching himself to snap out of it. "I... I don't know?" he managed to ask.
"Oh dear... still in denial?" She said understandingly. Ares, who was still standing outside the limo, had heard everything. He began to laugh. The kid was really oblivious; even he had known that Percy was annoyed about losing his blond friend. Ares laughter brought Percy out of his stupor. He was beginning to get mad.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Percy said. He was finally forming complete sentences.
"Well," Aphrodite mused, "why are you on this quest?"
"Artemis has been captured!"
"Artemis? Puh-lease. She's the most hopeless case I've ever seen. Besides, if they were going to kidnap a goddess, they would've picked a much prettier goddess. Someone who is breathtakingly beautiful, someone like me. Don't you think? I feel so bad for the poor dears who have imprisoned Artemis. She's soooo boring." Aphrodite ranted.
"She was chasing after a bad monster. We need to find it." Percy protested.
"Could lift my mirror up a bit?" Aphrodite asked. She had just noticed a little bit of mascara that was missing off the corner of her eye. Percy lifted the mirror up. "Always some monster... but Percy, the others is on this quest to find her. I'm more interested in why you're on this quest."
Percy slowly looked up at Aphrodite. He didn't really want to answer, but the words came out anyways. "Annabeth is in trouble."
Aphrodite beamed. The boy had finally figured out his feelings. "Exactly!"
"I have to help her. I keep having these dreams." Percy continued.
"You're dreaming about her? That's soo cute!" Aphrodite's smile grew larger.
"NO!... I.. not like that-that's not what I meant." Percy stuttered.
Aphrodite made a tsking noise. She hated how oblivious boys were to their feelings. "Percy, I'm on your side."
"What do you mean you're on my side?" Percy asked.
"Do you honestly think I care about saving Artemis? I'm more interested in your quest, a quest for true love."
"Hey... I never said-"
"You don't need to say it. I'm sure you're aware that Annabeth was close to joining the Hunters."
"I wasn't sure-"
"She was about to throw her life away! No contact with boys... ever. I know that you don't want that to happen. You can save her from that life!" Aphrodite said.
"Oh... umm... well-"
"You can put the mirror down," Aphrodite ordered. Her reflection looked great. "I look fine." With that, Percy put down the mirror. His arms were extremely sore.
"Listen now Percy." Aphrodite said. "The hunters are your enemies. Forget about them, Artemis, and the monster. They're unimportant. You need to focus on finding and saving Annabeth."
"Do you know where she is?" Percy asked.
Aphrodite waved her hand around. "No, I'm leaving the details to you. Besides, its been ages since we've had a good tragic love story."
Tragic? Percy thought. He shook his head before saying "Wait a minute. I never said anything about love. And what's up with tragic?"
"Love conquers all," Aphrodite promised. A glint was just visible in her eye. Her face was sincere. "Look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything come between them?"
Percy thought for a moment. "Didn't they start the Trojan War, causing thousands of people to die?"
"Pffft. That's not the point. Follow your heart."
"But... I don't know where my heart is going."
"Not knowing is half the fun!" Aphrodite said. "Painful isn't it? Not being sure of who you love and who loves you. It's so cute. I'm going to cry."
"Don't do that." Percy said. He didn't need to see the beautiful goddess cry.
"And don't worry. I'm not going to make this easy and boring for you. I have some wonderful surprises in store for you. Anguish. Indecision. Oh, you wait."
"Oh no, that's okay. You don't need to go to any trouble."
"You're so cute. I wish that all my daughters could break the heart of a boy as nice as you." Aphrodite's eyes began to tear up. "Now, you'd best go. And be careful in my husband's territory. Don't take anything. His is soo fussy about his trinkets and trash."
"What?" Percy asked. Husband… what husband? Percy thought for a moment before he spoke again. "You mean Hephaestus?"
The car door opened before Aphrodite could reply. Ares pulled Percy out of the car and back into the desert.
"You're lucky punk." Ares said as he pushed Percy away from the car. "Be grateful."
"What should I be grateful for?"
"That we're being so nice. If it was up to me-"
"So why haven't you killed me yet?" Percy shot back. He realized his mistake after he spoke but he honestly didn't care. Ares always caused him to feel angry.
"I would love to kill you." Ares said. "But there have been rumors. Word on Olympus is that you might start the biggest war on Olympus. I don't want to risk messing that up. And Aphrodite thinks you're some kind of soap opera star or something. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my promise. One of these days, you're going to need your sword to fight and you will feel the wrath of Ares."
Percy balled his fists. "Why should I wait? I beat you once. How's your ankle?"
Ares grinned crookedly. "Not bad, punk. You've got nothing on the master of taunts. I'll fight when I'm good and ready. Until then... Get lost." Ares snapped his fingers, the world did a three-sixty spin, and a cloud of red dust appeared. When the dust disappeared, Percy and his friends were standing in the middle of the junkyard. The taco restaurant was gone and the limousine was nowhere in sight.
The two gods reappeared in the throne room of Olympus. They were greeted by an extremely happy Hermes, a semi-depressed Apollo, and an angry Athena.
"Anguish, indecision?" Athena asked. Anger hinted in her voice. "What were you going on about?"
"I wasn't talking about your daughter. I was talking about the boy." Aphrodite answered.
"Anything you do to him will affect my daughter somehow."
"I can't guarantee anything."
"Gods! You're so annoying!" Athena almost screamed. She stormed out of the throne room.
Hermes was smiling. "Well then... What are you planning on doing with the duo anyway?"
"Why would I tell you?" Aphrodite asked. She knew better than to trust Hermes.
"And what about my sister being unimportant?" Apollo asked. "I think she is very important. Even if we don't always get along."
"Then why haven't you been helping her?" Ares asked as he sat down is his throne.
"Because the kids have that stupid quest. And dad has that rule."
"You already broke that rule." Aphrodite stated.
"Technically, Fred broke the rule." Hermes said. Apollo smiled. He and Hermes had been on the best of terms since Zeus forced them to befriend each other after the many cow related incidents.
"Yeah, he did."
"Why are you two smiling so much?" Aphrodite asked.
"No reason." They said in unison. They didn't need her to know about the prank they had come up with.
"You two are weird." Aphrodite sat down in her chair. She pulled out her list and her pink pen with a feather attached to it. She checked off Ares name. When she went to check off her name, Hermes quietly snapped his fingers. A loud crack was heard throughout the room, followed by a shriek of pain and laughter.
"Ow! I broke my nail." Aphrodite screamed as she looked at what was left of her once long finger nail. "I was actually growing it out without speeding up time or anything. Now I'm going to need to re-grow it. And I can't speak to Zeus about it because he was all like 'no calling about broken nails and such.'
She glared at Hermes and Apollo before leaving the room. Ares just stood there, unsure of whether or not he wanted to laugh with the guys or go make sure that Aphrodite was okay.
