Chapter 3: The Sunrise

For the first time in what seemed like forever my mind felt at ease. I took a deep breath as the calm break of the waves reached my ears.

I was deep in thought when I heard footsteps behind me. They sounded urgent and approached me quickly. I spun around and reached in my pocket for my sword Riptide, uncapped the pen, and pulled it out. I hesitated for a moment as the figure came closer. I thought about attacking but reasoned that there were probably no monsters in the camp. It had to have been a camper. Or a god. I hoped it wasn't a god.

"Percy?"

The voice sounded familiar. I sheathed my sword and started walking towards her.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked as we met each other on the beach.

"I could ask you the same question." Was her reply. She paused, looked down and furrowed her eyebrows. "I thought you were in danger or something. I woke up and felt like you were in trouble, and I just had this feeling that you would be here."

I nodded in understanding. We demigods tend to get these oddly specific hunches that something bad might happen to us or the people we love. We learn to not really questions them and just follow along. It tends to save our lives.

Our eyes met. Her intense blue eyes looked stunning in the waning moonlight. We gazed into each other in silence. Thalia slightly opened her mouth a couple times as if she wanted to tell me something but as many times as she did that her mouth closed almost instantly. I didn't blame her. I didn't really know what to say either. She didn't seem sick anymore but the bottom of her eyes looked darker than normal. And it wasn't just because it was dark outside. Had she been crying? Not sleeping? Both?

"My life hasn't been this messed up since I first ran away from home." She began. We made our way back to where I was sitting. Thalia sat close next to me; our shoulders were touching.

"After you and Annabeth left the infirmary, my father came to me in person. He's never appeared to me before, but he came and got mad at me for what I had done. He couldn't stand the thought of one of his own daughters liking a son of Poseidon, much less being with one. He couldn't believe I would break the oath I took when I became a huntress. He was just so angry at me. He told me I wouldn't see him again for a long, long time. I tried yelling back at him but he was ruthless. It took me a couple hours to recover from all the power and energy he radiated." None of us were eager to talk. I could tell Thalia was struggling to tell me what had happened. I didn't want to pry and make anything worse. For what seemed like a long time we were content to just sit in each other's company.

"And that wasn't even the worse part." She shifted her gaze from the black ocean to me. "When I was feeling better, I went back to the Artemis cabin where all the other hunters were at. As soon as I walked in Artemis herself appeared in front of me and all the hunters. She went off on me even worse than my father. She made an example out of me in front of everybody. The hunters looked so disgusted and betrayed. Artemis told them that they would pack up and leave immediately. Without me. I've been in Zeus's cabin ever since."

We sat in silence for a while longer. The only thing we could hear was each other's silent breathing and the gentle waves. Thalia shivered a little and came closer to me.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm not sure. I could probably manage by myself out in the real world, but I would probably attract a lot more monsters than what I would like. Staying at camp for a while could be nice. On the other hand, staying here would raise a lot of questions. It would feel awkward. I'm kinda taking it all in still. It's a lot. You've been staring at me an awful lot, what are you thinking?"

I blushed. I hadn't realized it, but I guess I had been staring into Thalia's eyes for a lot longer than I thought I was. We had been sitting close together for so long that the sun was beginning to rise. The black ocean began turning grey. The stars began to fade away as the sun gradually peaked over the horizon. I was able to see Thalia's intense blue eyes even clearer. Despite the gloomy situation Thalia now found herself in, I felt a false sense of optimism.

"Why are you smiling seaweed brain?" I stopped looking at her eyes.

"I think you should stay here for a while." I responded. "At least until you have thought some more about what you're going to do now."

"I don't think that's the greatest idea. I think I need some distance. I don't really feel like being around anyone right now. Except you. Maybe you could come with me? We might attract a lot more monsters, but I think we would be better together."

The way she said the last couple words made me think she meant more than just surviving outside of camp. By now the sun was peaking over the horizon. The grey ocean was turning a deep blue.

"I would like that Thal, I would. Its just…"

"Annabeth?"

"Yes. I mean, no. I mean… there's other things too like…" I tried to think of something to say but nothing came to mind.

"I shouldn't have put you in this spot. I don't know why I did what I did. I know you're happy with Annabeth and that she is so happy with you. I hate that I could come between you two. What I told you was all true. But I thought I had been able to move on and block those feelings like a dam. I guess I just couldn't hold it in anymore. The reason why we came to camp in the first place was so I could see you. I tried to distract myself so we wouldn't come, but it was like an itch. I was able to convince Artemis and the other hunters to come here. And, well… one thing led to another." She looked down and buried her head in her hands.

I put my arm around her. We stayed like that for a few moments. Our eyes met again. Thalia's were filled with longing. I could feel my impulsiveness acting up again. She really was gorgeous. We started to lean in closer and closer. Our lips were inches away when Thalia abruptly got up. She looked hurt and confused.

"I should get going back to the Zeus's cabin. The other campers are probably starting to get up. I really don't want to be seen right now." She started walking away. After a couple steps she turned back to me. I was still sitting down wondering what had just happened. "Thanks for listening to me, Percy. You should think about coming with me. Wherever I end up going."

I nodded. "I care about you a lot Thalia."

"I know." She mustered up a little smirk as she made her way back to the cabins.

I waited a few moments after Thalia had left to get up and walk back to my cabin. Thalia had told me a lot and it was a lot for me to process. All of it had happened so suddenly. I felt blindsided. I couldn't think straight. When I was by myself looking out over the ocean not even an hour ago, I felt good and confident. Now? As confused as I ever was.

I got up from my spot. The ocean sparkled with the weak winter light coming from the sun. It felt quiet. I looked towards camp and then back at the ocean. Part of me just wanted to walk into the surf and never come out again. I sighed as I headed towards the cabins. My heart stopped when I saw near the forest a few hundred feet from me a figure that was looking directly at me. I reached for my pocket out of habit and changed courses to meet the figure. As I got closer I noticed long blonde hair flowing from the feminine figure. A rush of anxiousness overcame me. I wasn't ready to face Annabeth yet. She might notice something was different. Maybe she saw me sitting next to Thalia.

I was now a couple feet from the figure. I was relieved when I found out that it wasn't Annabeth. But I also had a feeling that Annabeth would have been a hundred times better than the person who was standing before me. She was beautiful. Long, flowy hair. Perfect makeup with red lipstick and dark eyeliner. A slender but strong build. Fair skin. She was wearing furry winter boots and jeans with a pink winter jacket. As I was approaching her from the ocean, I felt more and more giddy for no reason. Thoughts of Annabeth raced through my mind. I also thought about my kiss with Thalia. I had only felt this influence one time before. I looked with dread as the woman greeted me.

It was Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

Despite everything that had been going on between Thalia and I the past couple days, Aphrodite was the last person I thought I'd see. Since I discovered that I was a demigod years ago, one thing I had learned was that a direct visit or encounter with a god was rarely a good thing. I could tell that Aphrodite could feel my apprehension about seeing her. I began to try connecting the dots about Thalia's behavior and my responses, but that was hard to do with the giddy aura that the goddess of love radiated.

"I've really put you and Zeus's daughter in quite the situation, haven't I?" She began "I haven't seen anything like this amongst demigods in years. I can't even contain my smile! What a tragic, romantic tale. A huntress of Artemis risking everything to be with the son of her father's rival. Then losing all she has, immortality, her friends and even her relationship with her father. And then you being torn between her and Annabeth. Isn't in beautiful, Percy?"

I didn't know if I wanted to slap her in the face or just walk away in shock and disgust. Fortunately for my own sake I decided not to do either. "What are you talking about? All of this was you?" I started to get angry and raise my voice "This is how you repay the people who save your butts from the titans?!"

Aphrodite looked mildly insulted, as if I had told her that her nails didn't match her jacket (though they did).

"Percy, you've got it all wrong. There are some things that you should know. Thalia…"

"I can't believe you would put one of your stupid spells on Thalia just so you could be relieved from your boredom!" I interrupted. I knew interrupting a god was a big no-no, but at this point I really didn't care. I took a step back as Aphrodite's eyes became as bright an intense as the summer sun. Her eyes then softened and she smirked, as if she knew a big secret.

"You demigods are so impatient! Don't you want to know why Thalia has been acting as if she was one of my daughters?"

I thought the answer was quite obvious, but I didn't want to push Aphrodite and risk getting incinerated.

"There is much that you do not know about love, Percy. Even I, the goddess of love, can still be surprised and learn about its dual nature. Love can help make us do amazingly heroic acts, but it can also lead and entice us to commit horrible and sometimes impulsive things, things our normal selves would never even fathom on their own. Your… special friend…Thalia, has experienced both of these. For you.

"There were many reasons why Thalia decided to join the hunters of Artemis when she did. She did an excellent job making it seem like her choice was all about avoiding the prophecy. Although part of her decision was to do just that, it was only the tip of the iceberg. Do you see where I am going with this? You must be smarter than you look! The real reason why she became a hunter was because she was madly in love with you! The only thing that kept here from you was her best friend Annabeth. Thalia was always yelling at you, getting in your face, and being aggressive towards you because she knew she could never be with you."

"I don't believe you." Was all I could say.

"I think you do Percy. As you think about it – and more importantly, as you feel it, the more Thalia's feelings for you come together and make sense. As a hunter, she knew she would be kept busy following that silly maiden goddess around so that she wouldn't have time to think and fantasize about a life together with you. She also knew that you would age and she wouldn't, and as the years went by the two of you would slowly but surely move more distant from one another." She let out a dreamy sigh. "Isn't that just so romantic?"

I was pretty sure the goddess of love didn't know what romantic actually meant. Her face glowed as I continued processing everything she has told me. "So… why did Thalia tell me how she felt? Her plan to mike it impossible to be with me didn't really work."

"Now you're getting somewhere! Her plan didn't work. Containing love usually doesn't. I wasn't supposed to tell you this but… I like making things more interesting. Thalia Grace came to me… or rather summoned me a couple weeks ago. She poured out her heart and soul to me about how much she love you. Nearly brought a tear to my eye." Aphrodite paused for a moment with wistful eyes as if she was reliving the conversation between her and Thalia. "Anyways, she tells me that she would do anything for just a chance to be with you. She said she'd do anything I wanted just for a chance. Can you believe that? Well, I was so moved by her story that I agreed to help her. Though I made Thalia promise something big in return for my help."

The way Aphrodite said that last sentence made chills run down my spine and my palms sweat despite the cold winter weather.

"And 'by giving her a chance' you mean putting some spell on me to all of a sudden magically be attracted to her? That's why I kissed her and have been thinking about leaving Annabeth! How could you do something so twisted and wrong? This isn't love at all." My fists were clenched. I was pretty sure I looked angrier than Ares ever had. I was about to keep going off when I noticed Aphrodite was looking at me as if I was an abandoned puppy.

"As I've said, there is much you don't know about love. Love doesn't necessarily know between right and wrong. Love is just that, love. There are rules and laws that even we gods have to follow and violating these laws would plunge our world into chaos. One such law is that we cannot force anyone to do anything. We can influence, persuade, bribe, threat, brutally maim and so on, but we can't force. In regards to love, there has to be something there in the first place to work with. For Thalia, well that was easy. You on the other hand… it was difficult but lets just say that your actions speak quite for themselves."

"So you're telling me that I have these strong feelings for Thalia all by myself?"

"I believe you can answer that yourself. Love isn't what we logically think about as much as is what we feel. When is the last time you have truly sat down and searched your heart, Percy? The heart contains many secrets and mysteries the mind could never come close to comprehending. Can you feel it inside your heart that you are happy with Annabeth, or do you just think you are happy with her? Is she truly in love with you? I know a certain daughter of Zeus who is. I see you still have many questions, but my time with you has long since expired."

She let out a little squeal of excitement. "I always love a good love triangle! They are so entertaining. Remember Percy, search your heart. We'll be anxiously watching to see what you do. Goodbye!"

I looked away as Aphrodite began to shine and then disappear. As quickly as it had started, my time with the goddess of love was over.

Thank you for reading! I have some great ideas for future chapters of this story that I'm excited to write!