A/N: I don't do a lot of these, but I wanted to do one now just to say thank you for the warm reception this story has received. I read all of your comments and I sincerely appreciate both the compliments and the sincere feedback. You guys legitimately help me make this story better, so thank you.
There will be no chapter posted next week. Do not worry! Regular drops will resume the second week of January. :) Enjoy!
Percy hadn't realized just how fucked his mind really was until he laid eyes on Olympus.
Aphrodite's flash to the floating mountain was smooth as silk. Were it not for his vision telling him otherwise, Percy probably wouldn't have known they had moved at all. Suddenly the sun looked a lot closer and the sky was a different color, but that was about it. Even the temperature stayed pretty much the same.
Sally hadn't taken the trip quite as well as her son. Percy's mother had taken a couple unsteady steps before plopping down on a convenient marble bench a few feet away. Her face was a bit green. When Percy turned to make sure Sally was alright, he instead got his first look at the fortress of the gods.
Behind his mother's form rose a great palace, the antithesis to the titan stronghold above San Francisco that Percy remembered so clearly. Black was mirrored with white, silver with gold. The structure was equally as grand and imposing from the outside. Its high domed ceilings and rising towers were otherworldly in construction, impossibly complex and beautiful. Columns and statues ringed the exterior like they had never gone out of style. It all somehow managed to only be the second most impressive thing in Percy's field of vision.
Aphrodite had placed them on some sort of almond-shaped outdoor balcony next to the palace at the very top of the legendary home of the gods. Honestly, the sky bearer could see why she had. The view over the edge was incredible.
"Woah." Percy didn't even realize the word had slipped out at first. His feet took him to the edge unconsciously.
It was almost like Percy was back on Othrys again, seeing the tops of a thick cloud bank far below with nothing but blue overhead. The fluffy white things blocked out everything underneath Olympus from horizon to horizon. It was nostalgic, in a not so pleasant way, but still undeniably breathtaking. Being so far up in the sky called to something deep in Percy's core, a part of him that would forever be tied to the dais and The Burden.
Percy used the view to distract himself from a growing tumbling sensation in his stomach. The city that sprawled out over the edge of the terrace banister was as picturesque as the beach they had left, although the individual elements had changed. White sand and marble cliffs were replaced by winding cobblestone roads and sprawling Greek villas. Instead of crashing teal waves the man's eyes were now met by the sight of thousands of orange tegula tile roofs and impeccably maintained outdoor spaces.
The whole city was built in a great spiral that rose with the mountain, the structures set in sequence following the curve. Such construction allowed some houses to rise almost a hundred feet directly over the backdoor neighbors. Were it not for the white marble walls that encased each property, falling off the edge would have been a real danger.
A stone-paved road followed the innermost portion of the spiral, wide enough for three or four cars side by side. Percy spotted none. Instead, tiny human-shaped figures milled about on foot, often in groups that gained and shed members with regularity. There must have been tens of thousands of them with dozens of different shapes and sizes and colors. Honestly, Percy was shocked there were so many people living on the mountain at all. The city was alive and teeming.
Percy couldn't even see the bottom of the floating mountain. There was only a gradually thickening mist that cut off his sight a few levels down. Near the edge of his perception the houses were smaller, in the way that a millionaire's beach house had less square footage than their mansion. On the lower tiers of the spiral, large Mediterranean-style houses were stacked past the road and toward the edge. Each contained their own exterior lawns, gardens, and usually a wing or two for guests.
The residences were lumped in small pods separated by common spaces. Percy spotted green parks, cobblestone squares, and even a large amphitheater or two. It was strange, the way that modern technology seemed to infest the traditional Greek atmosphere. Two levels below he could see a movie theater next to a gladiatorial fighting pit. One more step down from that there was a shopping mall kiddy-corner from an honest-to-gods blacksmith.
Percy could spot power lines hopping between structures. The oddly human add-ons even came complete with their complementary roosting of birds, though Percy suspected they weren't ordinary pigeons. That was primarily because of their sheer size - even from far above Percy could see how distended the arcing black lines had become. Some were pushed so low the avians were practically sitting on the roofs instead.
Still, it was the homes near the top of the mountain that bordered on truly ridiculous. Even here, what must have been hundreds of feet above the city, some of the more lavish properties would have boggled mortal minds. 'Opulent' was an understatement.
These were veritable palaces made of gold and silver surrounded by thirty foot columns with great statues standing between them. Each mansion was inlaid into vast tracks of perfectly maintained land. There were pools the size of city blocks framed by structures with enough rooms to sleep a hundred people. One property even had a thick wooded forest behind the main structure that was several dozen acres deep.
The worst part was that Percy recognized it all.
"Impressive, isn't it mon coeur?" Oblivious to the sinking in Percy's gut, Aphrodite stepped to his side. "It's a miracle it survived the war so unscathed, even with the council's full protection. One of many, dearest. Most places were not so lucky."
That last line drew a wince from Percy. He could still only imagine the extent of the damage the war between Gods and Titans must have caused. The urge for answers was itching under his skin. There was a new momentum in the air, a growing push away from the The Burden and towards something looming just over the horizon.
When the goddess turned to face him, her expression was more stunning than the view. Percy watched it morph from introspective to excited in a heartbeat. It was like a child getting ready to share their favorite toy. "Why, if you look just down and to the left you can see my very own palace-"
"I know."
Aphrodite blinked once. "Pardon?"
Percy wasn't sure who was more surprised by his interruption. Still, once he had called it out his body was suddenly moving on autopilot. Dimly, the sky bearer raised a finger to point to one particularly large villa one ring below. It was most unique for its coloration, the roof a pinkish hue instead of the standard burnt orange. Built with two curving wings off either side of the entrance, each side of the structure was long enough to wrap around and nearly meet in the back. Contained at the center of the property was a massive tiled courtyard.
"That's your house." Percy's finger drifted to the front of the property where there was a tall marble fountain ringed by bushes. The thing was clearly the centerpiece of the front lawn, with the tan pathway cutting between the grass wrapping around it in a full circle. "There's a bust at the top made by Jean-Antoine Houdon. He gave it to you as thanks for making him famous."
Percy could still picture the day it was installed. In his memory there were a host of dim shadows using an industrial-age crane to lift the four-foot marble sculpture into place. It had been warm that day too. The water had been shut off to not interfere with the installation. He could see the sun in the sky, feel it on his skin. The man knew that if he turned around the great mahogany doors to the foyer would greet him.
He knew because her voice had told him so.
Reality warped, clashing with story in Percy's head. The rooftops below blended and snapped between the two realities, the road twisting and warping. Some moments the power lines were absent. In others the number of houses had been cut in half. Then the son of Poseidon would blink and the discrepancies were gone again. The man was seeing double, one eye in the present while the other was somewhere else entirely.
The sky bearer could feel Aphrodite looking at him. Her smooth, cascading hair was swaying in a wind he couldn't feel. The ashen-haired man's finger moved slowly, out of his control, towards another great villa. The property boasted what looked to be the most expansive backyard garden ever conceived.
"That's where aunt Demeter lives." In front of Percy the endless rows of plants were blooming in spring and flower petals blew across the sky. "Apollo played a prank on her once by making the hedge maze grow with no exit and confusing infinite loops." He could still feel the brush of the ferns through his fingers and hear the party in the distance. Was it his own laughter coming out of his mouth?
"Percy . . ." A small hand laid itself on one of his shoulders. The man started - he hadn't even noticed his mom approaching. "Come on, let's go take a breather." Sally's expression was heavy with tension.
"What?" Percy blinked, discovering that he was unsteady on his feet only when he stumbled in place. "Why?" He didn't like the expression on his mother's face. She was looking at him like he was crazy.
"You're just confused, son." Her voice was gentle. "You need to sit down."
"No." Percy insisted, shying away a bit. He blinked a few furious times, looking back over the balcony. The rush of information in his head hadn't abated, the ghosts still present. He could name the owner of each house on Aphrodite's block from memory. He had been inside every single one. "Just- I just need a minute. Please." He was breathing heavily. His mother hesitantly acquiesced.
"What do you see?" Aphrodite's voice was gentle. There was a worried crease between her eyebrows when the sky bearer glanced over.
"I'm not sure." Percy went to shake his hands to get the feeling back in his fingers. He was only able to get a couple of motions in before the strange fatigue forced him to lean back onto the marble balcony. "I . . . I know things I don't think I'm supposed to." The son of Poseidon couldn't stop blinking his eyes. The constant ghosting of his vision was nauseating.
"Like what?" His mother asked, taking up her own spot on her son's opposite side. The woman looked from side to side before turning back to him.
Percy swallowed, the words welling up in his throat and spilling over without his consent. "There's an open air market two rings down." The man settled for motioning around with his chin. The first target was a patch of bright green in between a dense set of residences. "A wood nymph there sells the best pastries." Percy could taste the green-haired woman's strawberry tart on his tongue.
"And there?" Percy twisted his head around to view the other side of the mountain. His eyes landed on a wide stone building more squat than those surrounding it. "Maron, a minor god, mixes cocktails at that bar." How many times had he ordered something in that dim interior? There was a painting of Dionysus over the entrance. His gaze moved to the taller structure just to the left. "See that? That's the busiest club in the city."
It used to have been a clothing store. He had bought a dress there once. Or had he? Was it just described to him or had it been real? There were so many more moments, so many more memories just bursting at the tip of his tongue.
"Percy." His mother's strained voice cut through the haze. There was a grasping at his fingers. "Relax your hands for me, baby."
Percy's head snapped down. He hadn't even realized he was gripping the marble hard enough for his knuckles to lose all color. It took significant effort to pry them open - when he did, streams of white powder rained between his fingers. There were two identical fist-sized chunks taken out of the railing. He hadn't even noticed. There was a wind streaming across the balcony, strong enough to have the bottom of his shirt whipping against his stomach. He hadn't noticed that either.
"Oh." It was the only word Percy could find. When he looked up, Aphrodite's face was the most stricken thing he had ever seen. "Mom, I-" Percy suddenly felt a growing need to throw up. He shoved it back down. The air on the balcony had grown violent, the pressure in his gut painful. "You were right. I should sit down."
He felt his mother take a grasp of one arm. Her relatively diminutive stature didn't deter the woman from bodily dragging Percy across the terrace and helping him onto the same bench she had previously been using. With each step the sky bearer the vibration in his bones grew ten times more violent. The ground was moving strangely underneath the man's feet. Both he and the terrace seemed on the verge of shaking apart.
"I don't know what's happening." Percy gasped to his mother, fisting his hands into his pants to stop their shaking. "Something's wrong with me, mom."
Sally ignored his words. Instead, she guided Percy's face to her shoulder. He felt her arms wrapping around his torso before she started to gently rock them both back and forth on her knees.
"Perseus." The sky bearer hadn't even noticed Aphrodite following them, her footsteps more than silent in the growing gale. "You're having another panic attack, my love." The goddess' tone was delicate as butterfly wings. She tentatively took the space on the bench directly beside Percy, dark auburn hair wreathing about her lovely face. "Just breathe with us, Perseus. Breathe. Lentement, maintenant." Her eyes were morose.
Percy didn't remember snatching Aphrodite's hand, nor pressing her palm desperately to one wet cheek. He did recall that the goddess didn't resist, instead grasping his knee with the other and using the pad of her thumb to wipe away his tears. The warmth, the solid reality of her touch was astonishingly calming.
"Thank you." He whispered to her. His mother was still rocking his shoulders back and forth. Percy could feel her pressing kisses to the top of his curly ashen hair.
Aphrodite's face was sad, heart-breakingly so. "I don't deserve your thanks, Perseus. Especially not for this." Percy closed his eyes so he didn't have to see the pain contained underneath.
For several minutes, there in the arms of his mother and a goddess, the son of Poseidon knit his composure back together again. The wind died down into just a breeze and then eventually to nothing at all. His own green glow, once so bright Percy could still see it through his closed eyelids, dimmed back to a more normal vibrancy. Eventually the real hand on his face fell next to Aphrodite's other on his thigh, though a ghostly twin remained.
It took much longer than he liked but eventually the son of Poseidon was able to lift his head without threatening to come apart at the seams. Percy's eyes were greeted with a cheerful blue sky and beaming sun that now felt so wholly out of place. What he hadn't expected to encounter was his mother and the goddess of love locked in a strange staring contest.
The two women were watching each other carefully, though neither relinquished their respective hold on Percy. It was a strangely . . . familiar action. The man found himself questioning just how well the two knew each other. Instead of interrupting the odd moment, Percy decided to survey the damage his latest loss of control had caused.
There was a lot. He couldn't help another wince.
The artfully decorated terrace had been thrown into disarray - the surrounding juniper trees all bent strangely towards the bench, as if they had been pulled inwards and nearly from their roots all at once. The marble flagstones in the floor had shifted, some as much as an inch or two higher or lower than the surrounding soil. A few had been pushed into each other, pitching their sides up or down like miniature tectonic plates. The railing had gained a new fine dust coating, as well as a pile of disturbed gravel and other small rocks stacked up at its base. The various low-lying shrubs that lined the path might as well have just gone three rounds with a tornado.
"We need to delay this." Percy started at hearing Sally's stern voice right in his ear. When the man pulled back from his mother's shoulder, there were almost sparks flying between her and the Olympian. "Percy is in no condition to go through some . . . some sort of tribunal." The woman's tone dared anyone, god or otherwise, to disagree. "That was his second attack in as many hours. I'm no psychologist but that can't be healthy. My son needs rest. He needs to heal."
"I know. Were it up to me, Perseus would have all that and more." Percy had to give Aphrodite credit for not caving under his mother's gaze. "But there are things in motion that are out of even the council's control. With the war just behind us there is far too much yet undecided, still too many pieces of the puzzle without their place." There was a great weariness to her voice. "Every moment that we delay only adds one more before he can be back at the palace and resting. Only there, where he belongs, can we care for him properly. Il ne mérite rien de moins."
The object of the conversation froze in his seat. Percy had almost missed the latter half of Aphrodite's argument by the fact that the goddess was openly planning on him sleeping in her house.
"It's not even been a day." Percy had never heard his mother plead before, not with anyone. Her grip on his back was tight, frazzled and uncertain. "He's had just a couple of hours awake. Can't it wait until tomorrow?"
Aphrodite's answering smile was half grimace. "After talking with your ex-lover, mademoiselle Jackson, do you honestly believe that?" The two held their locked gazes for a few seconds more.
"It's okay, mom."
Percy's voice apparently surprised both women. Their faces instantly snapped towards him. The sky bearer swallowed. Such a combination of gazes would have had anyone sweating. Still, he pushed forward.
"This needs to happen." The man chose to meet his mother's eyes. The depth of worry in her expression was immense. The soul-searching lasted for several long moments. Eventually Percy felt Sally deflate in his arms with a great sigh.
"I still don't like it." The woman grumbled.
"Nor I." There was a tangible loss of warmth when Aphrodite's real hands lifted from Percy's leg. "Mais c'est nécessaire - It is necessary." The personification of beauty went to move away, possibly to stand, when she was jerked to a halt. When the Olympian glanced down, her eyes widened rapidly.
Percy withdrew the hand that had snagged her sleeve. The sky bearer had been so, so careful to be gentle. It wasn't hard to imagine his new bulk miscalculating and trying to rip the goddess' arm straight off. Even if such a thing would have been impossible, it still sounded extraordinarily painful.
The son of Poseidon had ended up gripping the pink fabric with nothing more than the knuckles of his index and middle finger. It was the first time that Percy had willfully initiated contact with Aphrodite. The importance of that fact was lost on neither of them. When the goddess' head moved up to meet his gaze, her regal features were dusted with a deep pink blush.
"It would help," Percy began, his voice low. "If we knew what we were getting into." Their eyes locked together. Percy made sure to hold his ground against her swirling gaze. "I said we'd talk after. I think we should talk now."
Aphrodite swallowed heavily. After a tense moment she slowly settled back down on the bench, ears flushed. Percy felt his mother start, as if she just remembered how none of her questions from the beach had actually been answered. When the woman turned her head towards the goddess her face was pinched in displeasure.
"What's happening to me?" Percy couldn't help how desperate the question sounded.
"Oh, my love. I-" Aphrodite's raspberry-chocolate gaze became a painted picture of guilt.
"Please. I need to know." The sky bearer wasn't taking no for an answer this time. He made sure it was showing in his face.
The goddess' mouth struggled open and closed before finding any words. "It seems that this is all my fault." She finally spoke. "I have made a great miscalculation, an error now foolishly compounded. J'étais bête." Her tone was unexpectedly harsh, sharp spears pointed only in one direction - inward.
"It's not too late." Percy wasn't sure why he rushed to speak. "Tell me." He caught a glimpse of his mother's stern expression out of the corner of his eye. "Tell us." Sally lifted her chin in agreement, arms tight around his torso.
"Of course, mon cher. You're right." The goddess visibly pulled herself together. "See how much I need you, love?" She made a choked sound that was almost a laugh. "Less than a week apart and I've fallen back into old and undesirable habits. Typique."
"Not the best apology I've ever heard." The sky bearer heard Sally darkly mutter the words under her breath.
Aphrodite took a deep breath, hiding her flinch. The love deity's warm hand found the top of one of Percy's own on the bench. "Besides what you may already suspect-" A vision of golden blood dripping down his palm flashed across Percy's eyes. "-I see now that there is more." When the goddess' met his gaze her eyes still welled up half-way. "I hesitate to bring up bad memories, my love, but . . . how much of the last year do you remember?" Aphrodite's gaze searched his own.
Percy shook his head. "Not much." He answered, the words stinging even to admit.
"I feared as much." The personification of beauty swiped at her face with her free thumb, as if trying to keep the moisture in her eyes locked away. Its ghostly twin did the same across Percy's cheekbones. "Each time we spoke, I could sense that something was wrong. So horribly wrong. I pushed and pushed to rescue you before it was too late." Despite Aphrodite's best efforts, one tear slipped out. "I was too slow."
Percy shook his head, taken aback at the goddess' outpouring of emotion. "You weren't the problem." His memory conjured a silver glow surrounding a head of bright red hair. "You saved me." The man leaned forward to emphasize his words.
Aphrodite was unconvinced. "Too weak, then." The goddess turned away, dropping her raised hand into her lap. The other remained atop Percy's. "I was at a loss as to what to do. Each day I found less of you remaining. C'était terrifiant."
Percy grimaced, not liking the bitter taste of truth her words inspired. He didn't need a reminder. The sky bearer could still acutely remember the sensation of unraveling from the inside out, the feeling of himself slowly dying. Even just the memory was harrowing.
Percy felt the lay of his palm on the bench shift, interrupting his rumination. When the man glanced down, he discovered that Aphrodite was absently playing with his fingers. Rolling them in between her own, tapping on the tops like piano keys. Each point of contact sent lightning through his veins.
"There was but one thing I could find to plug the gaps." Aphrodite's voice was almost inaudible. "In my haste, it seems I may have done more harm than good." She still wasn't looking at him. It was her avoidance that tipped Percy off.
"The stories." He realized. The man's head began to spin.
On Percy's other side his mother had a blank expression. It looked like the woman had been hit by a train, one of the mental and emotional variety. It Inspired another wince from her son. This hadn't been the way he had been hoping Sally would learn about his imprisonment. Honestly, Percy had been partially hoping she would never learn of it at all. It wasn't her burden to bear.
"My memories." Aphrodite clarified bitterly. "A hundred years, a thousand years, a lifetime's worth."
"What do you mean? What exactly is wrong?" Sally finally spoke up, several degrees louder than Percy had been expecting. His mother sat still as the grave, face nearly motionless. "How can we fix it?"
The love deity grimaced, face heavy with remorse. "I fear that Perseus' mind is even more fractured than I had anticipated." Sally's eyes widened ever further, frightened. "The extent of the damage is impossible to measure at the current moment. I-" There was another rare moment of hesitation. "I am not sure it can be fixed. Not without reopening wounds only just beginning to heal." Finally, her morose expression turned to something more determined. She met Percy's mother's eyes. "All the reason to make haste with this meeting. Le plus vite sera le mieux."
In his seat between the two women, Percy was still processing the last few minutes. It felt like he was swaying from side to side, but his eyes told him he wasn't moving at all. There was a swirling vortex in his stomach. The feeling of Aphrodite's hand on his own was the only thing anchoring him to reality.
His whole life, sans his mother, had been completely altered without him being any the wiser. His very past, ripped and replaced and sewn into place right under his nose. Percy didn't have siblings, not really. No uncles or an overbearing father figure or anyone else. There had been no birthday parties, no garden pranks. Not any that he had experienced, anyway.
It was only the entire lifetime of memory in his head that told him that he did, that he had. The sky bearer knew them, even by name now that Aphrodite's origins were clear. He had laughed with them, ate with them, fought with them. Loved them, even, in a strange and detached sort of way.
None of it was real.
When they looked at him, all Aphrodite's family would see would be a stranger. And he was a stranger, wasn't he? He didn't really know them, not at all like his brain was convinced he did. What a horrible truth. All of a sudden Percy found that missed not having the answers he once sought - if all of them were this damning, perhaps ignorance was bliss.
"Oh, Percy." A tight hug from his mother brought the man back to some semblance of reality. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." It wasn't. "I'll be okay." He was lying.
"Keeping you in the dark was a . . . mistake. My mistake." It looked like the words took a great deal of effort for Aphrodite to push out. "Pardonne-moi- Forgive me." She ducked her head.
"I forgive you." The words came from Percy's mouth without his consent. A second later he realized he meant them, somehow. "Just, tell me next time. Please." The man interrupted the goddess' nervous movement of her fingers by gripping her hand tightly to emphasize his point. He wanted to be able to trust her, damnit. He wanted it so badly it scared him.
The sky bearer felt his mother huff in exasperation into his side before pulling away. Percy only realized Sally had still been on her knees when she half-stood to drop onto the bench on his other side.
"I'm not as good of a person as Percy." The elder Jackson's voice was low, hands fisted into her jeans. "You'll have to earn it from me." Sally's blazing blue eyes were more than a match for Aphrodite's own. "Dumb love-struck boy." Percy heard her grumble the last words to herself.
The phrase had some heat creeping up his neck, the sensation a welcome distraction from the fact that his whole world had just been upended. Again.
Percy wasn't sure anyone could nod more resolutely than Aphrodite did at that moment. It was like watching a whole new person emerge from underneath the goddess' mask, one just a bit different. Slightly better, slightly more human. That flame of sincerity the man had admired so much while under The Burden was back again. It was a beautiful sight.
"Perhaps I can provide something to make up for my failure. If it is information that you desire, then I can provide." The hint of self-deprecation in Aphrodite's words wasn't as well hidden as Percy suspected she thought it was. "I realize that it is a poor excuse, but l will admit that I had hoped to shield you from this, mon rêve."
Her gaze drifted over one of Percy's shoulders to the palace behind his back. Sally's face echoed the motion, but her son resisted - the man kept his attention square on the love deity's face.
"Shield me from what?" Percy's eyes narrowed. His voice had come out a bit tense, not sure whether to be flattered or offended. He was leaning towards the latter.
"Politics." Sally spoke the word with no subtle hint of dread. When Percy glanced over, his mother looked like she had swallowed a lemon.
"Oui." Aphrodite's answering sigh was long-suffering. "Politics." The goddess shifted her hips on the bench a bit. Oh boy. Her looking to get comfortable did not bode well. "Do you remember, Perseus, that first day we spoke while you were imprisoned?" The love deity asked, a bit hesitant.
Percy nodded. It was one of his best memories, one of the ones he was sure was real. He was glad he hadn't lost it. Aphrodite seemed to unwind a bit in relief beneath her mask.
"Bien. I told you then that the war brought about change, a portion of it good." The personification of beauty tipped her head to one side, the ends of her hair falling low enough to nearly brush the ground. "Much of that change occurred here, on Olympus. The war forced father's hand on many things." Her fingers resumed their little idle dance with his own. "Once he realized the war couldn't be won on his terms, he was . . . convinced to look for other solutions."
"The dissolution of the monarchy." Percy guessed, a couple more of the puzzle pieces slotting together in his head.
"Vous avez raison- you would be correct." Aphrodite looked a bit proud for a moment before her face fell again. "The act was a bid to get his brothers back on the council. It worked, but such a monumental shift opened the door for other Olympians to improve their own stature."
"Wait." Percy didn't know how the goddess' hand had ended up beneath his own on the bench, but he gently pressed on the top of her knuckles to ask for a turn. "What do you mean, 'back on the council'? What about Poseidon?" The sky bearer turned a bit to his mother. Sally was watching him acutely.
"Things were bad, Percy." The elder Jackson's sad eyes revealed how much of an understatement that was. "No one could decide what to do." Much of the vitriol from the beach was gone. It had been long suffocated by a wet blanket of bitter nostalgia, tense stress, and cold acceptance.
"While the war on the surface raged, another was fought beneath the seas. The latter was equally épouvantable- terrible." Aphrodite's voice turned Percy's attention back her way. "Olympus had already decided on where to commit its resources when your father eventually appealed for aid. Poseidon was forced to decide which would be his priority." Her expression was somber. "The battle above that might save his son? Or the battle below that might doom his people." It was here where the goddess set her jaw, eyes glinting like sharpened obsidian.
"He chose wrong."
Percy nearly snatched his hand away. "You can't be serious." He couldn't resist the urge to look back at his mother. Sally's face was steeped in equal parts regret and determination. He felt his jaw drop. "You expected him to pick me?" The man's brain couldn't fathom the idea.
"Of course I did!" Percy hadn't expected his mother's snapping reply, nor the wetness that flooded her eyes. One of her hands grabbed his arm. "And I was right! Maybe if he had committed, if he had been quicker, you wouldn't-" Sally's chest heaved a couple of times. "You're my son, his son. I at least expected him to stay on the council and try, damnit, not run away." The woman angrily wiped at her face with a palm. "He was convinced he could do it all by himself right up until everything fell apart. He has no one to blame but himself."
Percy's mouth gaped open and shut, blindsided.
"I chose you, mon coeur." Aphrodite's hushed voice reeled the sky bearer's attention back her way. The goddess' face was open and worshipful once again. "That's how we came together, me and your mother. That common goal." The goddess' grip on his hand was tight. "I tried to plead reason, you understand, but he would not hear it."
"That's why he doesn't like you." Percy breathed out. Everything was starting to make sense all at once. "He thinks you turned mom against him." The man knew it was the truth. His mind's implanted understanding of the sea deity told him as much.
"Oui." Aphrodite nodded. "Your father is a prideful god beneath his exterior. We all are." The goddess spoke as if admitting some great personal fault. "The war merely stripped through the human veneer to the true base underneath. For some more than others, mon amour." She flipped their joined hands once again, lightly dragging her nails across his open palm. "The prospect of another Olympian touching what he sees as his angers him, even if the things he covet belong to him no longer." The love deity's gaze had moved to Sally with those words. It gradually migrated back to Percy. "To see me so close to you as well only fuels a fire already burning in desperation, I suspect."
"Desperation?" The question flew from Percy's mouth before he could stop it.
"He needs you Percy." Aphrodite answered with a revenant expression. "More than perhaps he needs anything else. In that, at least, we are aligned." The goddess' words were picking up speed just like they had so many times during her stories. "The war in Atlantis nearly destroyed his kingdom. Your father tapped his domains until there was nothing left to give, stretched himself too thin. He triumphed once he returned to the council, but only with great assistance."
The love deity's eyes flashed pink. "This leaves Poseidon vulnérable - he knows it, father knows it, and the council knows it." She shook her head. "If your father can elevate you to an important position on Olympus he might assume that he is securing another vote in his favor, thereby shoring up his weakened position. If not?"
Aphrodite shrugged slightly, silently answering her own question. "He is not alone in this regard. The addition to the council of so many that my father has mistreated in the past overrides his block's majority vote. They slip further from his influence day by day. Some crave tranquillité or relaxation while others seek increased power." Aphrodite shook her head again, dark hair tumbling prettily. "Hades sits alone, a neutral third-party looking to play king-maker with every split decision. He plays them all against each other to his own ends. C'est intelligent, but it means the lines in the sand are ever shifting on the council floor."
"Great." Percy couldn't help the urge to bring his other hand around to massage his forehead. It didn't help the building, migraine-worthy headache. "I dropped into the world's messiest power struggle. Just my luck." The entire scenario was all just so familiar, so real like he had lived through it a dozen times already.
His mother started a bit, before a snort escaped her nose. When Percy glanced over she looked equal parts mortified by the noise and like she was fighting back joy. "It's good to hear you joke again." Sally eventually admitted, ducking a bit.
Her words held her son up short. She was right - it had felt good. Percy shot her a small smile, one which his mother returned. Perhaps not as much of him was lost as he had feared.
"The obvious events of The Great Prophecy may have not come to pass." Aphrodite spoke back up, drawing Percy's focus once again. She had swapped the lay of their hands when he wasn't paying attention, trapping the tips of his fingers beneath her own. "But the truth beneath them remains. The fate of Olympus rests with you, mon rêve. Just as it always has." Her tone was more prayer than conversational. "This very meeting may well decide the course of the next thousand years."
"No pressure." Percy grimaced. Against his will his back slumped, as if the weight of The Burden had settled onto his shoulders. It certainly felt that way.
"You can do this, Percy." The man felt his mother's arms wrap around his stomach in a warm side-hug. "We'll help you."
"Indeed." Percy couldn't help the way his hands reached out for Aphrodite as she finally stood from the bench. Her fingers trailed across his own in a parting goodbye. "You have allies in this, Perseus. More than you may expect, je crois." Her eyes were determined. "I plan to be a better one from this moment on."
As the Olympian looked down and smiled at Percy, a single sunbeam fell from the sky to strike at just the perfect angle to set her skin literally glowing. Pink glitter sparkled in Aphrodite's hair and across her high cheeks, leading Percy's eyes on a captivating trail down her slender neck, between her breasts, and beneath her sundress.
He nearly forgot how to breathe.
"Well, come on. Guess we shouldn't drag this out." Sally interrupted her son's awestruck moment by standing, brushing off her pant legs as she did so. The dirt stains on her knees refused to yield. The elder Jackson gave it up with a frustrated huff. "It's not the worst I've ever looked in front of the gods," Percy heard her grumble under her breath. Percy filed that away into his 'ask later' folder.
The sky bearer briefly considered digging for the story now just to procrastinate, but his mother shot him a look that said she knew exactly what he was thinking. With a sheepish duck of his head Percy rose to his feet. The son of Poseidon took a moment to prepare, acutely aware of Aphrodite's gaze on his back and her aura on his skin. He grounded himself by taking stock of the feeling of the sun on his face and the air in his lungs.
If he was honest with himself, Percy still felt shaky. It was like he was standing on a moving bed of sand. Every second he didn't pay attention his feet sank downward and he was almost knee-deep already. Was this truly the foundation on which to lay the future of Olympus?
He didn't think so.
"Ready, my silver fox?" Aphrodite asked. Her hypnotizing eyes were glued to his own as Percy turned to face her. He heard his mother's exasperated huff at the affectionate nickname.
"No." The man answered honestly. "Don't really have a choice, though." Percy shrugged.
There were a couple of supportive pats on his arm courtesy. "Don't worry. I'll be right there with you." The look his mother gave as she looked up at Percy was steadfast. It made the wrinkles on the older woman's forehead more pronounced.
"Thanks, mom." Percy had to fight off the desire to hug her again. If he did, he might have lost his nerve.
Aphrodite's musical voice interrupted the moment. "I fear that this is where I must leave you, mon cher." The goddess looked genuinely apologetic, the corners of her lips tugged down sharply. "If the stage is to be set properly, I cannot accompany you inside." Sally's questioning eyebrow raise was copied by her son. The Olympian merely shook her head a little. "The extent of my failings has been laid bare to me. It is an error that demands correction." Her eyes flared a bright pink. "As you are entering, I will be doing my best to prendre le contrôle- seize the reins, so to speak."
"That's not ominous at all." Percy huffed.
His small bit of humor earned another surprised snort from his mother. "You learn to live with it," Sally chipped in with another arm pat that had the woman's hand reaching above her own shoulder. She seemed immensely pleased with each successive quip, like a bit of the weight on her face was released each time.
Percy was glad.
Aphrodite shook her head, the tension on her face giving way to a stunning smile. "You Jacksons, so charming." She giggled to herself, the sound chiming like distant bells. "I suppose the hour is nigh, then. Simply follow the hallway from the entrance behind you." The goddess motioned over Percy's shoulder with a flawless hand. "It should lead you straight into the throne room. C'est simple."
Aphrodite paused then, making sure to maintain direct eye contact with Percy for several long seconds. Her long hair waved elegantly in a slight breeze that had picked up once again.
"Perseus." The goddess' solemn use of his name had Percy standing at attention. "What happens in the council chamber may shake you. Non, I expect it will shock you beyond words."
The sky bearer was trapped once again in a swirl of chocolate, roses, and tantalizing tan skin. Every word hit his ribcage like a physical blow.
"Allegiances may be questioned. Facts long hidden shall be revealed. I only ask one thing of you, mon idée fixe." Percy hadn't even noticed the goddess had stepped so close until he could feel her breath on his face. The son of Poseidon couldn't look away, not with that enchanting visage so close.
"Yes?" The word took effort to push out. Percy's eyes kept dipping to that pair of full, red lips.
"I ask no more than I have time and time again." The man found his chin lifted by a single finger as the goddess forced their gazes back together. He was a prisoner to her will. "I ask for the one thing I do not deserve, and yet you have gifted me many times over."
Percy hadn't inhaled since the conversation had started. "What do you need?"
"Can you trust me, my love?" Such a simple question when spoken so plainly. Percy could feel a literal mountain of meaning behind it. "Even now, knowing what you do?" Her eyes flicked between his own.
"Yes." Percy meant it. He wasn't sure how.
When the goddess's eyelids lowered and she leaned in close, Percy was dead sure Aphrodite was going to kiss him. He was also dead sure that such an act would have made him explode.
Perhaps it was a good thing then that the Olympian simply dipped her chin to lean her forehead against his chest. Still, the feeling of those gorgeous auburn locks on his neck made Percy see stars. The man's arms naturally fell back upon the goddess' waist, just as they had back on the beach.
His movement left the pair in a slightly distant, yet no less intimate embrace. Despite Aphrodite's physical hands being trapped between them, Percy acutely felt a second set wrap around his lower back. His vision was tinted pink.
"Thank you, Perseus. Merci." Aphrodite's reply was muffled against the sky bearer's collarbones. "That means everything to me. Truly, your patience knows no bounds." The goddess was half choked up by her own emotions.
"Of course." His words came out soft. "I owe you." Percy knew that at least was still true.
"Arrête ça. You don't." Aphrodite's voice was firm. There was a pause, neither of them moving an inch. "Any last questions, dearest?" Percy held back a smirk above the goddess' hair at the sound of the Olympian clearly stalling. For perhaps the first time he felt that if he asked, he would receive an actual answer.
"Yeah, actually." Percy swallowed, closing his eyes. "You know she is going to be inside." His tone dropped an anxious murmur no matter how the son of Poseidon tried to hide it.
"Oui. It is inevitable." The love deity confirmed into his chest. "She is a respected council member and a daughter of Zeus. She fought in the war, and fought well. Those facts remain unchanged, no matter how egregious her past transgressions." The world outside of the two of them might as well have ceased to exist.
"I don't think I can look at her." Percy confessed. His throat was tight. "I don't know what will happen."
There were three beings at fault for the sky bearer's current state. One was trapped under The Burden in Percy's place. One was missing. The third was just inside, waiting for him. Her shadow loomed over his back like a specter of death.
The truth was that Percy was tired. Tired, and on the edge of his string. Everything he possessed had been burnt up, used completely in the last few hours. The man had no more self control left to give.
"Then don't." Aphrodite's answer surprised Percy. As she drew away a bit, he could only blink at her. The son of Poseidon was greeted with the most beautiful of the smiles that the female Olympian could provide - the small one seemingly reserved just for him.
"There's only one place your eyes need to be, my love." Percy felt a single finger alight on the underside of his chin once again. Even a touch as light as a feather had his body completely frozen in time. Aphrodite's eyes were pink bonfires of power.
"On me."