"Mnnnh."
Percy's eyelashes trembled slightly as he drifted between the lines of slumber and consciousness.
His body was feeling abnormally hot, so he instinctively ripped away the bundle of heat that covered him.
For some reason, his lips felt strangely wet and extremely sensitive.
Processing this information was too much for his current state of mind, so he licked his own lips, giving himself a sense of solace that he was the reason why they were like that.
His arms fumbled around, patting his nearby surroundings which was a combination of unfamiliar textures of fabric and cloths, seemingly searching for something or someone.
Upon feeling something cold, Percy quickly pulled himself towards it, rubbing himself against it just like how a cat would rub itself owner leg, and lowering his body temperature to a satisfying degree.
A refreshing scent entered his nostrils.
It was reminiscent of a pine tree forest in the wintertime, particularly reminding him of the times that he and Artemis were hunting in the cold with his constant runny nose since he hadn't yet adapted to the piercing cold of winter.
His lips curved into a smile as the picture of them together floated into his mind.
In his drowsy state, he managed to catch a glimpse of his surroundings before the heaviness of sleep weighed on his eyelids, forcing them shut.
Through his barely open eyelids, he could make out a room, which was mostly dark and dimly lit by an ambient orange, and a vague shadow looming over him, which surprisingly didn't make him jolt awake like he would to a normal foreign shadow.
It didn't feel distinctly necessary to do so at this point in time.
It didn't feel hostile to him.
In fact, it felt the opposite.
It felt safe.
Safe...
Although, the true nature of this "shadow" and its motives were not clear to him.
He shouldn't entrust his body to this shadow.
He didn't know who it was.
It could be an illusion of the enemy pretending to comfort him.
Yeah.
He should.. figure out his surroundings... first...
Don't fall back...
Asleep...
Yet...
But.
It felt...
Nice and cold..
A soothing chill, enveloping his heated body.
It felt nice.
Did he have to find out...?
He probably should..
...
He really should...
His training taught him to be alert at all times.
So, he had to figure out..
But...?
...
Although he thought that, his body did something different. It yearned for more, curling further into the embrace of the shadow.
...
It's so comfy...
He didn't want to stop just yet..
It should be alright if he did this for a little...
Only for a little bit...
For a little.
Then, he would figure out what the identity of this shadow was.
Yeah...
Just a little more...
Just-
A few-..
More minutes.
..
Two.. minutes?
Two. . .
Minutes...
Before..
He...
Warmth...
It felt really warm..
His consciousness began to slip away again.
Before he realized, his arms had wrapped themselves around this human-sized source of heat as if it was the most natural thing in the world, which was strange because it was cold moments before.
The shadow flinched slightly, as if taken by surprise, but didn't do anything beyond that. It was something that Percy hardly noticed as he was busy getting as comfortable as he possibly could, which was pressing himself against this human-sized radiator.
"Are you still asleep?"
Percy was not in his right mind, constantly dipping into the land of dreams, so his response was more like a groan.
"You're cute when you're like this..."
What Percy heard was an incoherent jumble of nonsense, but for some reason made him smile a little bit.
At this point, there was only a thread of consciousness left, holding on for dear life.
Whatever the shadow did to them, he would have no choice, but to allow it since he was no longer in control.
The shadow gently moved him into a more comfortable position, and then their hand took his chin...
It was raised upwards at an angle in a familiar position, but what purpose such motion resulted in escaped his mind at this very moment.
He couldn't remember and he particularly didn't care for it.
It was then that something sweet touched his lips.
..
Soft..
...
Really soft..
..
Tastes...
.
Good.
.
His body..
..
Entrust..
..
Should be ok...
.
If its..
..
You..
.
After those fleeting thoughts, his body slumped unconscious as Percy succumbed to sleep.
T-T
What should be the first place a god should go when it comes to matters of love?
Naturally, it would be a temple of Aphrodite, which also happened to be a place that Apollo had just set his foot in.
If his sister had fallen in love with someone, then Aphrodite must've played a part in it.
It didn't make sense otherwise.
If it was the sister he knew, she would've never, never fallen in love with a man.
Artemis, though, had never taken him seriously, like he was the younger brother, saying whatever he felt like, which was strange since he was the older one.
Regardless, the underlying issue at hand was that Apollo was against Artemis falling in love.
Reason being was that he didn't want his sister to get hurt.
Gods, much like mortals, were vulnerable to being mentally hurt, which can cause severe psychological damage.
That Perseus guy, as suspicious as Apollo was about him, didn't look like the type of guy to hurt her.
Even then? Was there a sense of resistance?
Love, as good of a thing as it was, it could be a source of extreme pain.
The god had experienced it first-hand many times before.
Yet, at the same time, he understood love when he saw it.
Apollo could just tell from the eyes.
The eyes, some considered, to be a window of the soul.
And that man.. Seemed to be in love with his sister.
But, he couldn't help himself from feeling that it wasn't right.
Something told him that his sister, as attached to this man as she was, was not supposed to end up with him, if anyone at all.
Admittedly, it felt wrong of him to think that way, since it sounded like he didn't want Artemis to be happy, which was absolutely not the case.
He felt an obligation as the older brother to protect her from men who'd take advantage of her.
And somehow, before he knew it, Artemis had already found someone to love.
All of his efforts to protect his sister vanished into thin air the moment she brought that man into his office.
Was he annoyed?
Most certainly.
Apollo scratched his head.
He decided.
Now was not the time to be brooding over this.
What's done is done.
He had to find out how this happened to give himself some peace of mind, else this would be the only thing stuck in his mind.
A pink mist appeared in front of him, transforming into the shape of a person.
That person was naturally Aphrodite.
"What brings the legendary god of the sun to my temple?" Her lips curled into a seductive smile, momentarily distracting Apollo.
"I would like to add exceedingly handsome to that," Apollo's nose pointed up at the sky as he ran his hand through his wavy blonde hair.
That demeanor, however, only lasted for a split second, before he turned serious.
"About Artemis."
The love goddess gave him a knowing smile, innocently asking, "What about Artemis? Surely, you aren't coming here on her behalf? I'm sure she would love some advice about charming men."
"You did something to her didn't you?"
His blue eyes felt like they would pierce through her if she told a lie.
Aphrodite, who was unaffected by this "threat", shrugged, "What could I possibly do to that woman, who'd rather die than to fall in love?"
Her response was so nonchalant and plausible as if she had no idea about Artemis being in love that he could've fallen for it.
However...
Her face was too flushed.
Now while other people might interpreted it as Aphrodite being her usual pervert self, a normal Aphrodite wouldn't be so in ecstasy that she'd forget that she was in front of somebody else.
Aphrodite was simply put a pervert, but not an exhibitionist.
She wasn't exactly naked, but it couldn't be said that she was completely clothed as well. It was on an ambiguous line between the two.
"Eyes up here big boy~" Aphrodite playfully teased.
"I know what a woman's body looks like, but I appreciate the sentiment," he flashed a brilliant smile that could blind mortals.
"So unfun," she pouted.
"Let's take this seriously, shall we?"
"Alright."
Clothes immediately appeared on her.
A tight-fitting navy suit that hardly did anything to hide her voluptuous body with skirt, high-heels, and stockings.
Her appearance was like an intentionally seductive secretary, making him frown.
"What? Is this not allowed either? ... What- a booorish man. Those poor women... I wonder what they see in you," Aphrodite lamented.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing~! I was saying that you look good today~"
Pink mist surrounded her body, indicating that she was changing her clothes, but Apollo paid her no mind and walked past her like she was invisible.
"Someone's a little uptight today. Fine then. Speak. What did you want to find out?"
Apollo spun around, facing her.
"Like I said. Artemis. What did you do? Back then, that piece of hair wasn't used for a "bonding" ritual was it.
"What did I do? Hardly anything," Aphrodite rolled her eyes, "You're making such a big deal out of nothing."
"No, you did something. What did you do?"
"So quick to throw accusations, the two of you are truly twins."
His blue eyes glowed menacingly similar to how Artemis would look if she got angry.
"She asked the exact same thing. And the only thing I can say is that I did not do whatever you believe I did," the love goddess let out a tired breath, "All I get is slander, and quite frankly its getting rather old."
Aphrodite made a sitting motion, making a luxurious sofa appear perfectly beneath her.
"Now, then is there anything else, you want to know?"
"There is. How? How is it possible?"
Apollo seemed rather desperate to get a definitive answer, which unfortunately even she couldn't answer.
Aphrodite thought for a moment, selecting her words carefully.
Her tone was solemn, which was completely unlike Aphrodite, that made him perk his ears and listen.
"Once, every few centuries, there comes a fated pair. A pair, you could say, that they were destined for each other. Soulmates, as mortals believe, are simply when they think they have met their most ideal partner, which in many cases they usually aren't soulmates. People tend to believe in things that they hope to be true. The soulmate is the perfect incarnation of everything the other person desires and needs. which it is difficult to satisfy everything since more often than not desires change- like, that," Aphrodite snapped her fingers as a demonstration.
"It just so happens that this phenomenon occurs most commonly between mortals. A soulmate between mortals is an inevitability, since there is a ever growing number of them."
For true soulmates between demigods, gods, or any being in or above the divine realm. How could, lets just say a mortal. How could a mortal possibly satisfy all the needs of a god? Or a god to another god?
can say for certain that this is not the true "soulmate" because the natural laws