CHAPTER TWO

My shoulders tensed at the sound of her name. I had heard stories about this goddess. During breaks in between my training sessions, Percy's fiancee, Annabeth Chase, had hung out with me. We had walked around camp, sharing stories. Mostly, it was Annabeth talking, telling about the quests she had shared with Percy. Annabeth intrigued me. As a daughter of the goddess Athena, Annabeth had struck me as a cold person upon our first meeting. With her storm-gray eyes that seemed to pierce a person's soul, she had seemed very judgmental. Only later did I learn that as a child of Athena, she was always sizing people up. It was just a part of who she was. After I had been claimed and found out to be Percy's half-sister, she had made a effort to connect with me, which I had accepted gratefully. What with Tamara leaving for the Kane Mansion, I had felt very alone. Percy had made time for me when he could, but he was mostly training demigods in the sword arena. So Annabeth had spent time with me. During one of her stories, Annabeth had brought up Aphrodite. Apparently, Aphrodite had caused a lot of trouble for her and Percy, back when they were fifteen and sixteen years old. Aphrodite had put other people in their lives and what seemed like insurmountable obstacles between the two, hindering Percy and Annabeth from becoming a couple. Then, once they had become a couple, Percy had been taken away, much like what had happened to Tamara and I. Though it had been the goddess Hera who had taken Percy, Annabeth still felt as though Aphrodite had had some part in it.

And now, here the was the goddess, telling Tamara and I she was interested in our lives.

Not good.

"Aphrodite," Tamara asked. "what do you want?"

Aphrodite laughed lightly and walked over to us. "So defensive, Tamara Hope."

"Well, yeah. I get wary when a goddess is interested in my life," Tamara said coldly.

"But both of your stories are so interesting!" Aphrodite said brightly.

I gritted my teeth, Annabeth's warning echoing inside my head.

Don't mess with Aphrodite. She makes things a lot harder than they need to be.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Well, dear, I've been watching both of you for a while now. Such pretty girls. Although, Tamara, if you wore some eyeshadow it would make your eyes pop out more. And Tina, dear, you really should wear aqua-blue more. It really compliments your skin."

I shook my head at her advice. "We don't want your help, Aphrodite. I've heard stories about you."

Aphrodite sighed, like this disappointed her. "Annabeth has told you things about me, hasn't she?"

I nodded.

"Well, while they are all true, they really do make wonderful stories. I mean, it's pretty romantic how Percy jumped into Tartarus just to be with Annabeth, don't you think?"

"Percy did what?" Tamara asked, aghast.

"I know, right?" Aphrodite said. "Isn't that the most romantic thing ever?"

"Well, it sounds kind of stupid to me," Tamara said. "I would have just pulled Annabeth up with me and. . . ."

"But what kind of story would that have been?" Aphrodite asked, shocked. "It's so sweet that he was willing to die for her!"

I exchanged a look with Tamara and rolled my eyes. This goddess was crazy!

"Anyways," Aphrodite said. "as I was saying, I'm interested in both of you. Tamara, honey, Ben is such a good match for you! He's absolutely gorgeous! And, Tina, you and Archer look so cute together! It brings tears to my eyes when I think about it."

Tears did indeed filled Aphrodite's eyes and she blinked them away.

"Did you have something to do with their disappearance?" Tamara questioned.

"Oh, heavens no!" Aphrodite said. "That was all that goddess Isis's doing, with the help of Dakota. By the way, Tamara, I actually had Dakota picked out for you first. Didn't you know how good the two of you looked together?"

Tamara started glowing. I quickly backed away from her. This sign usually led to her avatar forming and from there it was very hard to calm her down.

"Oh, don't get all worked up, dear!" Aphrodite said. "I still approve of you and Ben."

"Come on, Tina. We're wasting our time here," Tamara growled. She turned to walk away, and I was going to follow her, when Aphrodite said, "Oh, I wouldn't leave quite yet."

"And why is that?" Tamara asked.

"Because I know the general location of where Ben and Archer are being kept," Aphrodite said with a sly voice.

Tamara and I whirled around to look at her.

"You know where they are?" I asked.

"Well, of course! I am a goddess after all!"

"If you're a goddess," Tamara said. "then why didn't you and the other gods go save Zeus yourselves?"

"Because, that's a job for demigods!" Aphrodite said. "And besides, you two bonded with the boys so much during that quest!"

I balled my fist. "We could have bonded just as much while not going on the quest," I said.

Aphrodite snapped her head to look at me and Tamara. She smiled tightly. "Girls, I've been patient with the two of you, but I'm reaching my breaking point. Now, if you want to know the details as to where your boys are, you'll keep your mouths shut."

Tamara opened her mouth to say something, but then shut it. Aphrodite looked between the two of us and nodded,

"Right, that's better. Now, I'll only give you two this information if you promise me something."

Tamara and I exchanged a look.

"What's that?" I asked.

"You girls have to do this alone."

"What do you mean?" Tamara asked. "Do what alone?"

"Ah ah ah, you promise me, and then I'll tell you. Do we have a deal?"

Tamara and I yet again looked at each other. What was Aphrodite up to? Did we really want to agree to something when we didn't know what we were walking into? Then again, if Aphrodite had even a shred of information, we wanted to hear about it. If this was the way to get it, then we were going to do it.

"Okay," I said. "we promise."

"Excellent!" Aphrodite said. "Now, Isis is keeping Ben and Archer deep within the jungles of Puerto Rico."

I felt like I had been punched in the gut. Puerto Rico? Really? Isis had taken my boyfriend and Ben to my homeland?

Tamara looked at me with a puzzled expression, but Aphrodite nodded.

"Yes, Tina. Archer and Ben are being kept there. You may have to retrace some of your steps to find them. And, that letter Zeus gave you might be helpful."

"Tina, what is she talking about?" Tamara asked.

Her words went in one ear and out the other. I couldn't register anything. Keeping the boys near my home was like a insult. In the back of my mind, I swore I could hear Isis's cold laughter.

"It's nothing," I said dismissively.

Tamara stared at me, giving me a we-will-talk-later-and-you-will-spill look.

"Now, let's see," Aphrodite said thoughtfully. She tilted her head like she was running through a mental list. "You girls will need money, food, clothes. . . . We'll have to leave a letter to Chiron of course."

I looked at Aphrodite. "Um—what are you taking about? We'll just go tell Chiron ourselves."

Aphrodite waved her finger at me. "Mm, no. You run off and tell Chiron, and he won't let the two of you go unless a boy went with you. And that would ruin the story!"

"What story?" Tamara asked.

"Why, yours and Tina's! Don't you see how romantic it will be when the two of you go rescue the boys? Of course, I'll have to throw some complications in there for fun."

I felt my face heat with anger. "Wait, you're doing this so we can entertain you? Like a TV show?"

"Exactly! You and Tamara will be the talk of Olympus!"

Tamara next to me contained a scream. In her hand, a ball of fire appeared, and it burned brightly. The flame's light illuminated Aphrodite's face. The goddess smiled sweetly and blew at the flame. It went out.

"Now, daughter of Horus, there won't be any of that. You wanted information on dear sweet Ben, and this is what it is. You just have to accept it on my terms."

"Aphrodite, this is crazy," I said. "I don't want to be rude, but you're making a TV show out of our lives. I mean, I know there are reality TV shows, but even those shows have directors telling the people what to do."

"Daughter of Poseidon, may I remind you that I am a goddess?" she asked. Aphrodite's eyes turned a golden color and they glowed.

I stared back at her, testing the goddess. Finally, she sighed and her anger died away.

"Now, the two of you must be off as soon as possible. I hope you like what I picked out for you. I'm pretty sure I've given you everything you need."

Tamara looked alarmed. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"Why, giving you a little transportation. I'm sure you've done this before. Have a safe trip!" Aphrodite smiled sweetly and snapped her fingers.

My vision went white and I felt like my stomach had dropped out of my body. I felt like I was on a roller coaster that had just started its descent down a steep drop. Then, out of nowhere, I found myself falling through the night sky to an ocean below. Next to me, Tamara was screaming. I didn't catch what she said, but I was pretty sure she was saying something mean about the goddess.

The cold wind blew my hair back as we plummeted to the sea below us. I thought in my head, I hate Aphrodite.

We crashed into the the warm ocean and I had to catch myself from holding my breath. I didn't need to, since I could breathe underwater. However, the first time I had tried using that power, I had nearly drowned myself. Percy had had to pull me out of the water and do CPR, but after several more tries, I had finally managed to breathe underwater. I was still nervous about it though. What if I forgot how to do it? I mean, it came naturally to me, but if I panicked, I could accidentally drown myself.

I looked around in the dark water and saw Tamara. She was slowly sinking to the sandy bottom. I swam to her and put her arm around my shoulders. Then I willed the currents to push us to shore. We collapsed onto the beach. I gasped, taking in deep breaths of fresh air. Next to me, Tamara started coughing up water.

"I," she gasped. "am slapping that goddess next time I see her."

In my mind, I agreed with her. What was Aphrodite thinking, sending us to Puerto Rico without telling Chiron and making us promise we were going to rescue the boys ourselves? That goddess was seriously crazy.

I looked around. The beach around us was empty, except for right ahead of us. Standing there all cheerful, like the goddess herself, was a bright pink umbrella that stood out even in the night's darkness. Etched in white on the umbrella was a huge heart. Tamara and I looked at each other and slowly got to our feet. The umbrella could only be for us.

We trudged to the umbrella and collapsed under it. I felt my eyes closing and I had only enough time to hope Aphrodite was going to protect us through the night before I blacked out.