The trip back to Mr. C's Hotel and Casino was rather uneventful. After informing Holly that the Minotaur was gone, the trio hailed a cab and made the journey through heavy traffic. The three also took the opportunity to nap.

They arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon. The summer sun bearing down upon the city with a vengeance. Making their way into the hotel, Zoe spotted the clerk who gave them a concerned look, but waved at them. Zoe waved back as they made their way to the cafe where Venus had told them she'd be. Still seated at the same table as in the morning, Aphrodite, not Venus, sat with a cup of tea and a bagel. She was now dressed in a deep blue, ankle length dress with high heels. The goddess spotted the questers and gave them a bright smile. "Why, hello children," she greeted in a sweet tone. "How went the fight? Looks like you went through a bit of trouble Zoe."

The three glanced at the daughter of Perseus' clothes, still caked in dirt with bits of grass hanging off her. The girl looked at her friends before shrugging and ushering them into the booth. "It was definitely an experience," Zoe told the love goddess. "We fought the Minotaur."

Aphrodite's eyes widened slightly. "Well. That was certainly not what I was expecting. Still, that beast shouldn't have been much of a challenge for ones as skilled as you three." She conjured a small plate of ambrosia and three glasses half filled with nectar. The trio took their fill of the godly food, feeling much more energized.

"It was..." Liam trailed off, tapping on the table. "Different than we were expecting."

Karina snorted. "Yeah like, as big and powerful as a cyclops, different." She waved down a waitress who made her way over.

The goddess raised an eyebrow at the three, her kaleidoscope eyes settling on a forest green. "Oh? Sounds like you have quite the story." She propped her chin on her open palm. "Do tell."

Zoe glanced between her friends before sighing. She told Aphrodite everything that had happened since they left the taxi. As the story went on, Zoe began fiddling with her braid which had gotten out of wack during the fight. She paused briefly when the waitress arrived and took their orders. At the conclusion of her story, Aphrodite gave them a critical eye. "Can I see this silver drachma?" Reluctance crossed Zoe's face as she pulled the item from her back pocket. She handed the coin over to the goddess tentatively.

Aphrodite examined the drachma closely, flipping it in her fingers multiple times and rubbing at it. Zoe was sure she saw concern flash across the goddess's eyes. Aphrodite seemed to shimmer again, her features becoming sharper, more regal, before shimmering back once more. The goddess clutched her head, eyes squinting in discomfort. She returned the coin to Zoe, a frown out of place on her gorgeous face. "That," she paused, "should not be possible. That issue was dealt with during the Giants War. To think it would show up with that monster." The concern Zoe had once seen came back in full force. "Percy must be found quickly. If these forces are at work..." she trailed off.

"What are you talking about?" Zoe asked, tossing her braid behind her. "What forces? What omen? What does a random coin found from a monster have to do with Dad?"

Aphrodite glared at the young girl, forest green eyes turning a dark red. "It is not my story to tell. When you rescue your father, you may ask him what that coin means." Zoe's face turned red as her fists clenched, tired of her questions about her father being given the run around.

"Okay," Liam interjected, placing a hand on her fist. "We did your task. What can you tell us?" Zoe took a deep breath, giving Liam a nod in appreciation. The waitress arrived, dropping off four teas and a plate of mozzarella sticks. Liam and Zoe each took a drink and a stick, Karina began stuffing her face with the mozzarella sticks.

Aphrodite's eyes moved to the boy seemingly skinning him alive. Then a bright, wide smile broke across her face and she batted her eyelashes at him. "What do you want to know?"

Zoe fought the urge to roll her eyes at the goddess as she heard Liam sputter. "Why was Dad here? And where did he go after?"

"Oh well that's easy, sweetheart," Aphrodite said, waving a hand dismissively. "He came here to sample the skills of yours truly," she claimed nonchalantly. Karina choked on a stick, Liam coughed loudly as tea entered his lungs, and Zoe's eyes bulged from their sockets before anger quickly took over.

"You lie," she said through clenched teeth. "My father wouldn't do that."

Zoe swatted Karina in the back, dislodging the mozzarella stick. "Thanks," the young girl said.

Aphrodite's flawless face was pierced with a smirk. "And why is that my dear? He has been oh so lonely since the Second Giant's War. Every now and then he just needs to come and relieve his urges." The smirk turned into a grin as the goddess observed the girl's anger growing.

"That's not true," Zoe said, anger and a little apprehension in her voice. "He's not the kind of person who would do that."

The goddess seem to look at the girl with almost pity. "Aw, poor girl, does that not match your image of a perfect father? Tell me, if he isn't spending his time with me, who could he be spending his time with?" She removed her lipstick from a purse she conjured. "Reyna maybe? No, that ship sailed almost a decade and a half ago. I guess your mother would be a good answer, but how long did they really know each other?"

That stopped Zoe in her tracks. "W-what? What are you talking about. What does Reyna have to do with this?"

Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. "You've had to notice it. Right?" Seeing Zoe's confused expression, the love goddess sighed. "The long looks they've given each other? The time they've spent together, both with and without you? The way the dear consul reacted after finding out Percy was missing?" She looked between the three, each with equal confusion written across their faces. "Oh boy, I didn't think I would have to be the one explaining this."

Zoe shook her head. "Dad and Reyna aren't together. They are just friends."

"Honey," Aphrodite said, clearly fighting a laugh. "You don't choose to raise the child of a 'friend.' Especially when that 'friend' was the best chance at love you will ever have and then have something like a child dropped in your face."

"Are you saying," Karina interrupted. "That the reason Reyna raised Zoe was because she loved Percy?"

"Not loved," Aphrodite answered. "Love. Her feelings for him have never died, they may never to be honest."

"What's stopping them from getting together?" Asked Zoe, again fiddling with her braid.

The goddess gave her a sad smile. "Why, you my dear."

Surprise dominated Zoe's body. "What are you talking about?" She looked between her friends. "Why would I be the reason they don't get together? I have been praying they get together my whole life."

"Think about it dear," Aphrodite explained. "Imagine you spent over a century pining for a man who is to caught up in his grief to notice. Imagine you finally managed to break through that grief and start to piece him back together. Imagine you were just on the verge of your dream of being together becoming a reality." She paused, looking at each of the three carefully. "Now imagine that man showing up on your door with an infant. Imagine the pain you would feel as you experience the worst betrayal of your existence," she paused again, wiping the smallest of tears from her eye. "That is why they are not together. They had their chance, but Percy screwed it up. It may have been a moment of weakness but I fear that the chances of them coming together after that is nearly nonexistent. The fact that she agreed to raise you speaks volume of Reyna's character and her love, however painful, for Percy."

Zoe slumped back into the booth, hand coming to cup her mouth. "I-I..." she couldn't get the words out. Her two friends sat besides her sat, eyes wide, and in a stunned silence.

"Aw," Aphrodite cooed. "The mighty daughter of Perseus is too stunned to speak. How does it feel that your the reason you father and mother figure will never be the big happy family you hoped for?" Tears began to pool in Zoe's eyes.

Seeing Zoe's reaction, Liam felt a great anger rise within him. He turned to the goddess, electricity arcing between his fingers. "Leave her alone," said the son of Zeus through clenched teeth. "There is no reason to go in on her like that. This was something she should have learned from Reyna and Percy. Not you."

Aphrodite pinned Liam to the booth with her glare. "Watch your tone boy," the goddess scolded, her voice layered with charmspeak. Liam's mouth clamped shut, but his eyes burned with anger. Aphrodite then smiled at the boy, fishing into her purse. "Here," she handed him a small mirror. "Be a good little boy and hold this while I adjust my makeup." Liam took the mirror without question and held it for her.

Zoe clenched her fists and growled, a deep animalistic noise that permeated the cafe. The daughter of Perseus felt a strong tug in her gut. "Let. Him. Go," she said, the effort to not tear the goddess apart clear in her voice. Aphrodite finished her eyelashes and gave the girl a smug look. Zoe's dark green eyes lit up, the irises swirling with a barely contained power. "Now," she yelled, slamming her fist into the table and snapping it in half. The tug in her gut became painful and the hotel began trembling as an earthquake shook the peninsula. Zoe stood before the goddess, the remnants of the table disintegrating below her. The tug in her gut reached a fever pitch of pain before she was blinded by a golden light.

She felt...everything. A hurricane forming in the Atlantic Ocean. A tsunami making its way to Japan. A wild fire beginning in the plains of California. The earthquake currently rocking Florida. The table below her disintegrating. She felt the power those forces created. She felt a soldier courageously sacrificing himself for his team half a world away. Her two friends beside her. The goddess before her. A warship arming for conflict. She felt all of this and more before she came back within herself. The golden light vanished and she collapsed into the booth behind her.

Her two friends grabbed her shoulders, preventing her from falling forward. "Zoe," Karina shouted at her as she shook the girl's shoulder. "Zoe are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Wh-what happened?" Zoe asked, her eyes wide and unfocused.

Karina shared a look with Liam. "You stood up but then you just kinda locked up. You stood there for a couple minutes because collapsing. What happened?"

"I-I don't know," Zoe answered, sitting up and rubbing her head which felt like she just had a chisel hammered into it. She noticed that everyone else in the cage was standing or sitting still. Their eyes glazed over and bodies relaxed, like they were unaware of the world around them. "I just...I don't know. It felt like I could feel...everything."

Liam looked at her, eyes scrunched in confusion. "What does that even mea-."

"Divinity is a powerful experience," Aphrodite interrupted. The three kids head's shot to the goddess.

"Are you saying that Zoe became a goddess?" asked Liam, looking even more confused.

Aphrodite scoffed. "Of course not. She is still very much a demigod." She waved her hand and conjured a new table between them. "But the line between a half-blood and a god is thinner than those like Zeus are willing to admit. And sometimes, demigods are capable of things beyond reason."

A mask of concern covered Zoe's face. "It felt like...like I was more connected with my fathers domains than ever before. Like I held the power."

"Hmm," the goddess hummed. "You are certainly an interesting one Zoe Jackson. I wonder what secrets you hold." She glanced out the window, noting the sun's position. She snapped her fingers and all of the patrons and staff went about their business. "It's getting late, so we shall sadly finish this up." The three sat a little straighter, well, as much as Zoe could muster. Aphrodite leaned back agains the booth, conjuring a cup of nectar and took a sip. "I was actually joking about why Percy came to see me. I have been trying to sleep with him for over one hundred and forty years and he hasn't cracked yet. Incredibly strong willed that man. It's enough to make a girl swoon."

Anger returned to Zoe's features. "So all of that was for what? To get a rise out of me? You tell me I'm the reason for Percy and Reyna not being together just to get me angry?"

Aphrodite smirked at her. "I had a suspicion about you which you answered. But I did not lie about those two, just the reason Percy came here." She took another sip. "But now I've had my fun. And you three need your rest. Percy arrived here asking for my help. He received a dream."

"Gods can dream?" asked Liam.

"Not dream as you do," the goddess answered. "More like, see things that interact with their domains."

"So," Zoe said. "What did he see?" The waitress came back and gave them new drinks.

Aphrodite smiled at the girl. "Miami, fresh after the hurricane blew through. He felt something draining the energy created by the damage to the city. He felt a being of immense power imposing it's will upon his dream. There were flashes of conflict, death, and destruction. And...a blonde."

"A blonde?" Liam commented, eyebrow raised. "That's...oddly random."

"Quite," Aphrodite said. "So he came to me asking if I had noticed any form of non mortal actions. I informed him that there was a presence in the city that I haven't felt in millennia, but it was gone northward towards New England before I could examine it further. And that was the last I saw him."

"That's it?" Zoe asked in disbelief. "We went through all of that for this?" She shared a look with her two friends. "Reyna had already told me that they were looking northeast. Why would Amphitrite send us here when she could have given us the same information?"

"Follows Destruction's golden trail," Karina recited, the three others turning towards her. "We were suppose to be sent here. This is where Percy's path started and so will ours."

Zoe frowned, frustration clouding her eyes. "But why? What was so important about us coming here?" Karina could only give her a shrug.

"Prophecies are not meant to be understood immediately," Aphrodite explained. "They give you a vague idea and let you figure it out from there. You might not even figure out the meaning once you complete the quest. It could take months or years before a line becomes clear. So do not fret my dears, all will become clear." She stood up from the table and adjusted her hair. "I have arranged for you three to spend the night here in the hotel. Simply ask the receptionist for the keys to your room. Do find your father quickly. Going so long without seeing Percy's gorgeous face has been so trying," she mocked despair, placing the back of her hand to her forehead and leaning back. Without another word, the goddess walked out of the hotel before vanishing in a cloud of rose petals.

The three teenagers looked at each other before shrugging and exiting the booth. Once out Zoe stumbled and fell to her knees. Liam rushed to her side. "Zoe, are you okay?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. I just feel exhausted. Like my muscles are running on fumes."

"Here," Liam said, as he lifted her arm over his shoulder and hauled her up. "Use me as support."

The two began following Karina to the front desk, with Zoe being forced to lean heavily on Liam. If Liam was capable of noticing, he would have seen the heavy blush creeping up the girl's neck. As they approached the desk, Karina turned towards them holding a card. "Wha'da you know, this is one of the few hotels left with keycards. Almost like the place was built for us. We are room 834 by the way."

"Just tell me they have an elevator," Zoe commented.

Karina cringed. "Yes but you're not going to like it."