Alright, next chapter's up! Enjoy, mi amigos!

(and by the way, I don't own PJO)

December 21, 2005. Above New York City, New York. Mount Olympus.

"I-I think I owe you a dance," Percy said, a nervous smile on his face as he held a tentative arm out towards me. I took it with a moment's hesitation and we started to slowly dance. It definitely wasn't as awkward as last time, and somehow I managed to ignore his clumsy feet occasionally stumbling against mine and actually enjoy myself. Percy was really too sweet for his own good. Inviting me to dance, rescuing me from a deranged Titan, holding the sky for me- you know, considerate stuff like that. I stared past his green eyes to the small gray streak in his hair, thinking about the price he had paid to save my life. Why had he done it? Why had he ran away to go on a quest when wasn't even allowed? I thought he was a complete lunatic at first, before I realized that I would have done the same exact thing in his place. Because that's what friends are for, right?

Right. But I wasn't exactly sure what we were these days. Sometimes I was so annoyed with him I wanted his slit his throat right then and there, and other days I'd merely look at him and my stomach would do tumbling routines. It was this curious, bubbly feeling that made my tongue tie and my palms grow sweaty. I'd had similar symptoms around Luke, before Kronos ruined him.

Luke. Just thinking about that blue-eyed son of Hermes these days opened a chasm in my chest. I'd been so sure of my feelings for him before, but these days, I wasn't so sure. My life was a riddle, an unsolvable riddle worthy of the trickiest sphinx to ever be spawned from Tartarus. I sighed, a little more loudly than I'd intended, and Percy gave me a concerned glance.

"Annabeth," he said softly, and my breath stuttered once or twice.

"Sorry," I said, brushing a grayed hair from my face. "My mind's in a different place today."

His eyes studied my face with care. "And where is that?"

"Mount Tam," I said in a whisper, replaying the horrible scene over and over in my head like a broken record.

"I'd do it all again," he admitted. I raised an eyebrow. "It's true. Annabeth, if something had happened to you, I'd-I-d-," his grip on my shoulder tightened to the point of extreme discomfort.

"Percy! It's all right. We're okay now."

He let out a shaky breath, releasing his hard hold on me. "Yeah. Gods, this winter break has really sucked."

"You can say that again," I said. "But hey- this is our party! We can at least try to enjoy ourselves."

"Good plan," he smiled, and we danced in comfortable silence for a few minutes. A gentle tap on my shoulder brought me back down to earth. I turned around to see the goddess of love standing behind me.

"Aphrodite!" I said in surprise, but it came out more as a squawk.

"Annabeth," she nodded, smiling serenely. "Percy, do you think I can borrow your date for a minute or two?"

Percy's face reddened, and I'm sure mine had too. "She's not my date," he muttered, looking at his shoes, and Aphrodite just rolled her eyes. "Denial. First sign of a crush," she clucked, and gestured for me to follow her through the crowd.

Help me, I mouthed over my shoulder as she dragged me away, and Percy simply chuckled sympathetically as the goddess lead me towards the throne room.

Once we made it there, she clapped her hands twice and a pink plastic chair appeared with a pop!

"Please, take a seat," she said, sinking in to her velvety throne across from me. "Now Annabeth," she began, "do you know what this is?" She pulled a long, pink arrow from a fluffy bin beside her and held it up for me to see.

"Um, an arrow?"

"This is not just any arrow!" Aphrodite insisted. "My dear, this is an infatuation arrow!"

"I'm not sure I'm familiar with the term," I said slowly.

"This is an arrow I utilize to make a person fall deeply in love with another. Long-term effects. The love is completely real, but it is not naturally caused," she explained, turning it in her hands fondly.

"Um, okay," I said, not sure exactly where she was going with this.

Aphrodite reached into her bin again and pulled out a purple arrow. "This one is another handy tool of mine- a crush arrow. Temporary effects. I use this to test out the compatibility of two people and see if they could share a substantial relationship. The feelings are simulated." She put it away and gingerly picked up a short red arrow.

"And this is a special little arrow of mine. It is used in relationships where love has already occurred naturally, but the flame needs to be fanned a little. I like to refer to this little one as the push arrow," she gushed with shining eyes. "The feelings are already there, the spark just needs a little bit of encouragement!"

"Thats...great," I managed to say. I was actually starting to worry about the mental health of this goddess.

"Oh yes," Aphrodite beamed. "But you know what? These arrows can only be used once," she said leaning forward in her chair as she stressed each word. I had a vague memory of when Roy had mentioned something about an arrow when he had delivered that ridiculous letter last summer. Could Aphrodite possibly mean- that she had- no. No, that wasn't possible.

"Annabeth," she said, eyes pleading. "Try and remember." She stood up, clapping her hands once, and the small chair disappeared from under me. I collapsed into a heap on the stone floor, speechless. The goddess had already descended the stairs exiting the room, and I could hear the clip-clopping of her high heels fading into the distance. What in Hades had just happened?

I could hear someone pounding up the stairs like an elephant so I quickly stood up before I made an idiot out of myself. Percy appeared at the top of the steps, breathing heavily.

"There you are!" he panted. "I was looking all over!"

"Yeah," I said, still slightly dazed. "That was weird."

"Aphrodite came on a little strong, huh?" he chuckled. "She tends to have that effect on people."

"Definitely- Wait! How did you know that?" Percy's eyes widened for a moment and he started talking quickly.

"Oh- well she seems like that kind of person- not that I would know or anything- it's not like I've really talked to her before- just being the goddess of love and all I would assume- you know-,"

"Percy?" I asked, trying to stifle my laughter. "Have you and the goddess of love had a chat before?"

"Me?" he laughed. "Psht, why would she want to talk to me? Psht. Why did she even want to talk to you?"

He had me now. But I wouldn't let him off that easily. "Percy, you're changing the subject. She's talked to you before, hasn't she?"

Percy shifted his feet uneasily. "No," he said with a brave attempt to keep a straight face.

"You're a horrible liar," I said as I brushed past him, making my way back to the food tables. It seems my riddle of a life had yet another twist to it: what did Aphrodite want with us?

And the plot thickens...

Don't worry, I'll be updating soon. Review and tell me how you liked it!