Aphrodite laid stomach down on some clouds with her feet swaying joyfully in the air. Her elbows propped up a pair of vintage opera binoculars, which she used to watch a particular couple.

One of them she knew very well, and the other was a person that she could not get a good look on.

They weren't officially a couple, but it would happen soon enough. They were soulmates! It had to happen one day or another, and she would be here watching.

No, she wasn't a stalker.

Aphrodite could never.

She was an enthusiast. An enthusiast of love~~

Something special about this specific pair of binoculars were that they could see the favorability between two people, measured in numbers.

From negative one hundred to one hundred.

Negative one hundred meaning that they cannot live without the other being dead, essentially life-or-death enemies, and one hundred meaning love that transcends death.

But, that wasn't all. They allowed her to spy on Artemis undetected.

Crafted

Her eyes blinked a few time in confusion.

The number above the man was a normal twenty two. But, the number above the woman displayed 0/100.

That can't be right.

Fractions aren't supposed to show up.

Aphrodite pulled out a small cloth to clean the lens of the binoculars.

She cleaned them until she felt satisfied, not that they were dirty to begin with, but Aphrodite did it anyways.

The number that displayed above the man was fine, but she did not know what 0/100 meant.

She pulled out a small piece of paper that resembled a small instruction card.

"The number above displays how the other person views them. Disclaimer: Numbers displayed may or may not be representative of true feelings. Fabian's Opticals gauges personality type, life-or-death reaction, current relationship, estimated relationship projection, along with other factors to determine favorability."

Aphrodite brushed over the latter section of the disclaimer.

There was also a graph that described the level of favorability, but other than that there was nothing else.

Strange.

That can't be all of it.

Flipping the card around proved fruitless as it was blank.

A frown appeared on her face.

That's definitely not right.

There is no way.

In the tiniest corner of her eyes, Aphrodite spotted a tiny peel coming from the card.

She snorted in a manner that said "I knew it!".

The film came off like peeling off the film of a flat screen TV.

It was absolutely satisfying.

Underneath the disclaimer was extremely small text.

She couldn't even read it with her eyes squinted. They were microscopic even to a god.

She did have a pair of reading glasses, but she was hesitant on using them.

They made her look absolutely hideous. The glasses she had looked like the ones that old people pull out when you show them something on your phone.

They made her look a granny.

There was no way she was going to use them.

No way!

...

She decided to use them.

Aphrodite grumbled under her breath.

"This better be worth it."

It read, "Works for 99.99% of people. A fraction does not represent a disfunction."

In an even smaller text, it read, "No refunds."

A hint of rage washed over her as the hands gripping the binoculars began to ball into a fist. Realizing that she almost crushed them, Aphrodite hastily stopped her actions.

Seeing the fine condition it was still in, she sighed in relief.

She had spent a large amount of money for these, and if she broke them it would've been a depressing day for her.

Since they were not "faulty", does it mean both or does it depend on the day of the week, or what's going on.

Perhaps it was like a progress bar.

But, love that transcends death literally meant that he would die for Artemis. So how would that work if it was also at zero?

Would it mean that he felt neutral towards her, but he would die for her?

How strange...

But also.

Wasn't twenty two pretty high?

She knew Artemis's personality.

There was no chance that she would ever approach a male by herself. She must've grown a liking to him.

The card read that a ten meant "Physical Attraction".

Twenty was "Trust".

Suddenly, the zero above Artemis began flickering, causing her to lean in to get a better look.

Nothing seemed to be happening, but all of a sudden the zero began changing rapidly.

It jumped to one, two, five, four, ten, eleven, ten, twelve, ten, then dropped back to zero.

After that, it did not budge from zero.

Aphrodite inspected the item in her hand.

She was sure that this one was defective.

T-T

His mistress sat alone with her legs laid sideways, silently gazing at the moon.

The previous auburn hair was nowhere to be seen and transformed into a mesmerizing silver, illuminated by the moon's soft light, accentuating her beauty.

Today, she wore a toga, which surprised him because he had never seen her wear one before. Usually, she would wear her casual hunting outfit.

The scene entrancing him for a brief moment, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness emitting from her. It caused his heart to throb once for her unknown affliction. He decided to call out for her as it felt disrespectful to watch her from a distance.

"Mistress?"

She did not turn to look at him.

"It's quite cold out."

He was worried that his mistress might be cold, considering that the toga revealed her shoulders and the fact that he felt chilly wearing only two layers of clothing.

The toga she was wearing didn't look like the warmest thing in the world.

After a moment, she answered, "I'm fine," without looking.

Even though she said that, Percy did not feel any less uncomfortable with her toga. It was cold out, and it was his job to look after her.

Percy summoned a fur-lined jacket and gently placed it on top of her.

Her shoulders flinched, and she craned her neck to look up at him.

She looked at him quizzically.

Does he know that she didn't feel cold? This much was nothing to a god.

His lashes trembled slightly. Just by the look of it, she could tell that he was cold. His hand covered the lower half of his face, not that she could see much of it anyways.

The most she could make out were the vague silhouettes of his facial features, except for his eyes.

His eyes were clear as day.

Demigods had a variety of eye colors depending on who their godly parent was, even from them Perseus's eyes were admittedly unique.

"Just to make sure," he justified.

Artemis noticed their close proximity. Their distance allowed her to clearly see his concern in the depths of his eyes.

Eyes did not tell lies.

Also, it was the only thing she could realistically see from his face.

The absence of any other emotion disturbed her greatly.

It conflicted what she had believed about males.

Males were supposed to be arrogant, violent, lustful. Creatures of sin.

But, the goddess could not refute the evidence in front of her face.

Perhaps noticing a shift in atmosphere, he asked if there was something wrong.

His eyes reflected a curious innocence that added to her inner turmoil.

"Have you eaten, yet?"

She was too preoccupied to think about his question and answered truthfully with a, "No, I haven't eaten anything today."

She was also too occupied to notice his startled expression and abrupt departure.

When Artemis came back to her senses, she was sipping from a bowl of soup.

Her fifth bowl, in fact.

For the first time she could remember, her stomach felt full to the brim, completely satisfied.

She held her hand over her mouth to hide herself licking her lips.

Perseus didn't see as he was focused on stirring the pot.

The scent was fabulous, seductively enticing to the nose.

It reminded Artemis of her mother's cooking.

On several occasions, Leto would be cooking when she visited. Even though they did not have to eat, Artemis joined her regardless.

It was nice. The warmth of her and her mother, together sharing a meal.

The corner of her lips edged on a smile.

Before long, the area was swarmed with hunters, curious about the smell.

The quiet ambience transformed to that of a holiday dinner.

Loud and rambunctious.

But especially joyous.

"Mistress, are you happy?"

Artemis looked around.

There were hunters fighting for seconds while Perseus was trying to pacify them.

Trying was used very loosely as he looked completely helpless.

Hunters sprawled around chatting and giggling.

There was even a small shooting competition that erupted out of nowhere.

How could she not feel happy right now?

So, Artemis answered with a simple, "Mhm."