Not much left.
Thanks for all the reviews! Seeing appreciation with words means a lot to me. And especially to PenofThePeople, that review really touched me. Had to reply through a PM, I didn't think answering it here would make it justice. But really, thank you!
She had a terrible headache.
Outside, a storm was being cast down upon the earth, relentless, lightning bolts blasted across the sky.
Sometimes storms like these just happen. Not every storm had to be the ire of Zeus, Poseidon, Kymopoleia, Thalia Grace...
Or Percy Jackson.
But Aphrodite was still worried. She didn't doubt he still had the fire in him to conjure such a storm, thus why she was confronted with concern. The Fates weren't happy with her, that much was clear. They were mostly impartial, of course, but now it had been years of violating the one rule gods had to follow. They could do anything else, except stay for too long with mortals.
And Aphrodite broke that rule. Even if the self-imposed months of distance between the two had been implemented as a way to make things smoother, it clearly hasn't quite worked in their favor. Not enough that it would make a difference.
Her head didn't ache as much as her heart did.
...
A day later, he wasn't at his cabin.
...
Aphrodite glared daggers at her lover, who fell to the couch with anger burning in his sea-green eyes. However, he refused to meet her gaze, which only infuriated her further.
"Talk now." She demanded. Right now, she didn't care if she sounded just like another authoritarian god. She had been shocked at what she found.
"What do you want me to say?" His voice wasn't focused, his eyes were clouded... confirmation enough that he wasn't sober.
"That you're sorry!" Aphrodite hated to raise her voice with him, she never did. "You passed out all of a sudden not two weeks ago. What if I wasn't home?! What if you started to bleed out, thinking you're alone, and I couldn't do anything?!"
"I wouldn't-"
"Don't tell me you're strong, Perseus." She interrupted him. "You're not young anymore. And you heard Apollo. Your divinity is almost like a cancer to your mortality. Your body is becoming weak. You can't do this."
"I've never been good at following orders." He infuriatingly answered.
"Do you think it's about that?" She shorted the distance between the two. "Do you honestly think It's about what I want as a god?" Aphrodite tried to contain the urge to slap the drunkenness away from him.
"I didn't say th-"
"Please, STOP WITH THE EXCUSES." It wasn't fitting for her to lose control, but it was already hard enough. "It's not hard for you alone. How do you think I'm coping?!"
Percy narrowed his eyes. "You had thousands of children."
"None from you." Aphrodite sat by his side, holding his left hand. "She was the fruit of our love. Because I love you. I cared for her, even if not like you did."
"Of course. You're a god, after all."
She sighed. "Is that all I am to you? Another cold and bloodthirsty Olympian?"
"Our love's foundation was a lie." The words hit her heart like an arrow. "I forgave you despite that. But I didn't forget it."
"It doesn't matter now, does it?" More than ever, she noticed the wrinkles and signs of old age on his face and how she tried to emulate it in her own appearance. "It still doesn't justify you drinking all night."
"You say like I was a party, not even being able to stand."
"You're under medical care!" She was truly exasperated now. "Listen to what I'm saying."
"Look," He leaned forward. "If this is about drinking, fine, I'll stop. If only to make you calm down."
"Percy, please, stop saying such things." Her tone was now closer to begging than ever. "I worry about you because I love you. Stop acting like this. Amanda's death was terrible... but this doesn't justify you being angry at everything and lashing out at me."
"Why do you try?" He suddenly asked.
"What?" She replied, confused.
"Why do you try to act like a person?" Percy once more aimed for her heart. "You could simply," He closed and opened his hands, making an explosion noise. "And the problem is resolved.
Her lower lip trembled. "I... I will be back in the morning. Please, go to sleep."
She didn't wait for his answer, flashing away from the cabin, giving him only a second to close his eyes. Even if he was drunk, he would remember to do that.
For the rest of the night, she wept as much as the clouds poured rain.
...
"Come in." She could see that even standing was difficult for him, signaled further by a flinch as he opened the door. They quickly walked to the couch, sitting like they had done the night before. The smell of the food she brought that was now resting on the table was intoxicating even to her, but it wasn't like she was a lot hungry.
"I'm sorry." That was the first thing he said. "I shou-"
"Don't." Aphrodite had regained her composure fully after she wept for minutes which felt like hours after she returned to her palace. She wasn't a four-thousand-year-old goddess for nothing. "You were angry, not sober, and I expected too much from you."
Now it was his turn to flinch at her words. She expected to acquire satisfaction from his discomfort, but none came.
"I lashed out when I shouldn't have. I... I didn't mean those words."
Aphrodite sighed heavily. "I know you didn't. But you still said them. I can't erase that."
"So what?" Percy leaned forward, letting her have a good look at his face. The wrinkles and signs of old age were colossal, though he never lost his charm. He looked old, older than he actually was, but it wasn't detrimental to his appearance.
It almost made her chuckle that she tried to emulate his old age, by appearing as an older version of her Jessica appearance. But it was nothing more than makeup. Although... Perhaps just as well if she chose to appear as young and vibrant. If she truly wanted to look her age, she would appear as a pile of dust.
"I know you're sorry. But I want you to do better. And not just say you will."
Percy swallowed. "I... I'll quit drinking."
"I hope so. For your sake." Aphrodite rubbed her eyes. "Could you order something? I do not feel like cooking."
"I can prepare someth-"
"Absolutely not." She interrupted him again. "You aren't making any effort today."
He looked at her with a mix of amusement and confusion. "You can always conjure food."
"It's fake. We discussed this more than once. I want to feel real with you."
"Do you still do?" He asked.
"Yes." Her answer came in a heartbeat.
...
The movie they were watching had become secondary on their priority list. Hell, if anything it only served as a light source. They had other priorities.
"Yes..." She hissed, pulling him closer to her neck. "I long for your touch..."
"No more waiting then..."
"Yes, no more." Aphrodite agreed. "Make me feel alive..."
...
"I don't feel so alive," Percy said twenty-seven minutes later, panting heavily.
"I'm sorry." Aphrodite apologized with a snicker. "I forgot your condition was quite poor."
"I still lasted half an hour." He pointed.
"It pales in comparison to that November afternoon."
Percy smiled as he remembered said day. "I truly peaked there, didn't I?"
"Of course."
...
Weeks flew by.
And she clenched her stomach, trying not to puke over her mattress.
...
"..."
...
Never before had she felt more fake.
At his age, a mortal woman would most certainly not be able to conceive a child.
But she was no mortal woman. Her body functioned just as it did as always.
And it seemed he was still quite capable of having offspring.
Despair consumed her heart when she remembered Apollo's warning.
...
"What is it?" Perceptive, as always, Percy asked. He had noticed her angst as soon as she entered the cabin.
"Something has happened."
He knew it had to be something serious for the goddess to act like this. "What is it?"
"I'm pregnant..."
...
"Percy!" Estelle smiled widely and took her brother in a tight hug. "How have you been?!"
"I've been holding on since we last talked." He smiled, although there wasn't much humor in his grin. "I was hoping we could talk?"
"Of course!" Estelle invited him into her apartment. She lived here alone, ever since their mother had passed away a few years back. Percy had been sad... though not devastated. Was it because he had mourned Sally when he was only twelve?
Maybe it came with the age, accepting death for what it was.
"Do you want some water? Soda? I even bought the ingredients for Mom's blue chip cookies, I just still have no idea how to make them as good as she did-"
"Just water will do." Percy sat at one of the seats in the living room. "How have you been doing?"
"Fine, really," Estelle answered, her brown eyes flashing. "It's been pretty quiet, I already told you, I expected teaching to be more intense."
"I know you make an excellent teacher." And that wasn't a lie. "I remembered how you pretty much taught Amanda how to read. I was pretty hopeless with my dyslexia."
His sister smiled sadly at the mention of her niece. "Is this about her? Did you need to vent? You know I'm always here if you need it-"
"No, it's... it isn't that." He grimaced. "You're very familiar with who I'm entangled with."
Estelle chuckled lightly despite her concerned stare that was identical to the one Mother would give him ever since he was a toddler. "Yes. The goddess of love."
"Precisely." Percy drank from the water Estelle had brought from the kitchen. "I... I made a mistake."
"What was that mistake?" She questioned. "Don't tell me it was hooking up with her in the first place. You've been having this fling for like, forty years?"
"More or less." Percy coursed a hand through his hair. "I... She is pregnant."
Estelle's jaw dropped to the floor. "You're joking."
"No." His own jaw clenched. "It's a bit of a problem. Not because the kid is going to have an old father, but... his voice faltered."
"Because of what?" Estelle inquired, her concern only growing.
"Because they might not have a father at all." He blurted. "I've been told my divinity is like... eating my mortality away. You know I don't want to become fully immortal. Now, I'm faced with a choice of either watching my child from afar as a god... if they even let me do that... or not living to see the end of it."
"By eating your mortality..." Estelle said after a few seconds of processing his words. "You mean...?"
"I have a few years before my body begins to shut down." He grimly stated. "Then, I don't know."
"Oh, Percy..." Estelle covered her mouth, her shock very apparent. "What then?"
"I... I came to ask you... If you would at least be willing to be someone he or she could trust." Percy said. "I don't think living with you will be the best idea since they will be a half-blood... But if they need something..."
"Percy, please." Estelle leaned forward. "I'm their aunt. Even if they are not born... I already love them. And I'll take care of them like it's my kid."
"Thank you." Percy brought his hand to her shoulder. "It means the world to me."
His sister smiled widely, trying to comfort him. "I'm always here for you. And for my niece or nephew next."
He returned the smile.
...
"A girl." The fact that Artemis had agreed to help deliver their child was surprising enough. The first time around with Amanda, it had only been her and Hebe. This time, the goddess of childbirth herself was assisting, and she was now holding a shouting baby in her teenage arms.
"Finally..." Aphrodite sighed heavily. She didn't remember it being this painful. Had it been so long? "Percy..." She turned towards her lover, who had a weird look on his face. Thought beneath it all, she could see genuine joy. "You were the one choosing her name."
For a moment, he was silent, pondering heavily it seemed. But his eyes became focused when it looked like he found an answer.
"Melanie."
...
Aphrodite held little Melanie in her arms. The girl had traces of raven hair growing on her head, while her eyes were ever-changing orbs like that of Amanda. Melanie tried to reach for her with her little arms, making the goddess smile.
"It's a curious name." She mused. "Like always, I take it you had a motive?"
"It was more about you." He began explaining.
"Me?" Aphrodite asked, puzzled. "Why's that?"
"Melainis." Now it all made sense. "Your dark side. If anything, you can say she represents a good part of that. The fact you chose to begin our story with a double life..."
"But it was worth it after all," Aphrodite spoke without hesitation. "I only regret lying to you."
"I know you do." More often than not he had the moral high ground, on the contrary of what had transpired months ago. "Like I said before, could you blame me for being skeptical of gods?"
The goddess only sighed. "I hate that you're right."
...
Winter Solstice was quiet. Not literally, of course. The music had been blasting, with some people making out, drinking, others simply dancing. Her eyes wandered towards a young couple. They were half-bloods, it seemed. Aphrodite never really took notes on Camp Half-Blood's inhabitants since the demigods from the Great Prophecy's time grew up.
But the boy was a son of Zeus, of course, he was. Those electric blue eyes meant more than he could ever understand. Aphrodite had vaguely heard about a quest, and she imagined this boy was behind it. Now, he and the girl, which Aphrodite couldn't make out as her divine parent, were dancing wildly, vividly, relishing in each other's company.
She felt the passion between the two. Beginning to blossom into love.
Oh, the youth.
What had Aphrodite done in her youth, even if she was immortal?
Wandering in the seas and being claimed by her husband?
"How did you become so thoughtful?" A familiar voice spoke from her side.
"My love for Percy made me realize many things. He is certainly an influence." She answered Athena, who had quite the pondering look on her face herself.
"Hermes told me once that, the day the Titanomachy ended, that Perseus told him that gods could change."
"Did you believe it?" Aphrodite questioned.
"I wouldn't, if someone had told me that, on such a fateful day." Athena drank from her glass. "But after Apollo... and you too..."
"How do you think I've changed?" She found herself blurting the question.
"In more subtle ways than Apollo." Athena elaborated. "It's more of a slight change of heart, than a complete 180. I never imagined chatting with you before, for thousands of years."
"Neither did I." Aphrodite smiled sadly, and the goddess of wisdom was sure to notice it.
"How is Perseus? His absence has been noted by most."
"Taking care of Melanie," Aphrodite said. "I miss him. Being with him made me realize how much time can be cruel to mortals."
"Indeed. They seem to do so much, in a few years or decades..." Athena trailed off. "I have never been mortal, I will never quite understand that, as much as I am thrilled to know."
"Everyone has something that gets them off on, right?" Aphrodite teased, causing the grey-eyed goddess to glare daggers at her.
"Anyway," Athena continued, ignoring Aphrodite, though the goddess of love saw a small flicker of amusement. "You've been with her for the better of thirty-ish years. You missed his youth, mostly because-"
"He was entangled with your daughter." Aphrodite didn't quite know how to feel about Annabeth Chase. In the beginning, it was something that they couldn't run away from. She had been Percy's best friend, closest confidant, and first love. He couldn't go five minutes without mentioning her. But she had faded from memory as the years flew by. "It is sort of my fault."
"You were the one who kept pushing them together." Athena chided. "Against my wishes, that of most of the Olympian council..."
"It was fun at the time." Aphrodite mused, although there were no fond memories of Percy and Annabeth together for her. "But I am glad they broke up."
"I was at the time as well. For obvious reasons." The other goddess proclaimed. "I never got eye to eye with Perseus. I never made it easy, too. But... to be honest, I think I am glad now for almost the same reason as you."
"Hm?" Aphrodite was truly puzzled now.
"I am glad you two have been able to find love together, Aphrodite," Athena explained. "He has grown into an honorable man, he left his flaws of adolescence far behind him. And you aren't hopeless, you showed that much. You two deserve to love each other." She got up from her seat. "Try and enjoy the last years with him. He would never become immortal, we know that much. So, try to make more memories for you to remember when he finally reaches for Elysium."
The goddess of wisdom began to walk away.
"Athena!" Aphrodite called, and the grey-eyed deity turned on her heels again.
"Thank you." She blurted out. "For being a friend."
Athena only smirked. "You too, Aphrodite."
And the smile Aphrodite returned was anything but sad.