Aphrodite saw the interaction between the god of war and the heroine of Olympus, she wasn't pleased how her friend treated the younger woman but she found herself intrigued by the pair. There was a common misconception that Ares and herself were in a romantic relationship which hasn't been true for several hundred years, yes in their earlier years they did have a brief relationship which was over exaggerated by mortals. Yet that was all it was, they had a brief thing but ultimately was gone as fast as it had come, she had learned to accept her marriage to Hephaestus after a while she even found that he was her soul mate. Since then they have had a decent marriage obviously they had their flings with mortals but that never bothered either of them. Ares was just a good friend of the love goddess, there was nothing else between them. She watched as he left the room leaving Percy standing there her face turning as red as a tomato before she to left.
Aphrodite followed Ares desperate to understand the nagging feeling that she had in her mind. There was something going on with her friend and she wanted, no needed to know what it was. "Ares,"she called out as her perfect shoes hit the steps that were outside the throne room, he was already on the path at the bottom of the stairs walking towards the direction of his temple. If Aphrodite squinted her eyes she would see Percy going in the opposite direction towards the elevator. Ares stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixing on his friend who was coming towards him, "Aphrodite, what can I do for you?"
"What is going on with you?" she asked, getting straight to the point.
"What do you mean,"
"You were such a jerk to jackson,"
"No I wasn't,"
"Oh really,"
Ares paused for a moment, his eyes showing regret which Aphrodite had not expected whatsoever, yet as soon as it appeared the look vanished. "Why should I care about that little punk anyway,"
"I think you care a lot more than you are letting on." she sighed as she walked away leaving the stunned god standing there alone in the streets of Olympus.
A few weeks later*
Once Percy had arrived at camp everyone applauded her. There were celebrations galore for a good few days but Percy couldn't wait to get home to her mother. That was where she had been for the past few weeks, her mother was surprised when she told her that she declined immortality again. She was even more surprised by what Zeus had said. It had been a topic of discussion for several days. Neither could figure out why Zeus made such an offer but Sally being her usual self, told her daughter to do what made her happy. Which brings us to today, percy is lounging on her bed trying to take a nap, her mother and new stepfather paul had both gone out for the day and percy took this opportunity to take some well deserved rest. For some reason she couldn't, her eyes refused to close and allow her that wish. It took her three hours to finally give up and walk out into the living room. Strangely she also felt the need to think about Ares and why he was always so cold towards her, she toyed with the notion that he did so as he was remembering that she at the mer age of twelve beat him in a fight. His ego must seriously have been battered if he was still bitter about that even after all these years. But still she felt there was something off that she couldn't quite place. She had made it not even three steps out of her room when a knock at the door caught her attention. Curious Percy walked over and opened the door only to be hit with dust that sent her crashing to the ground. The last thing she heard was a deep voice say, " I always get what I want."
Hours later Percy awoke to the feeling of a plush bed beneath her. The cushions were soft as clouds ,the covers were elegant and dainty, the canopy bed looked as though it had been plated in gold. A large window with curtains that reached from ceiling to floor allowed a small breeze into the room, those windows were doors that led to a balcony, a full length mirror stood close to the dresser that looked like it had been made from the finest wood dipped in gold. Despite the room's elegant design Percy felt panicked, she wasn't in any place she recognised, some rational part of her mind said she was on Olympus but she couldn't be. She was with her mothers there was no way she was on olympus. The person at the door, she couldn't get a look at their face but they must have brought her here. Slowly, Percy placed her feet upon the ground only to be hit with cold, she was wearing socks when she had opened the door back at her mothers home but now she was barefoot and wearing, wearing something she didn't recognise. Scrying out of the bed Percy nearly fell given how high from the ground it was to look at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a nightgown of sorts, one she could imagine the goddesses of Olympus wearing or hell even just women of ancient Greece in general. It was a cream color that draped over her body reaching just above her ankles, a v- neck collar that was lined with delicate golden ribbon much like the sleeves and a thin belt at her waist. Her hands ran over the dress, she didn't hate it she quite liked it granted she would rather it have some blue in it or even some red. Wait, hang on. Red. Percy never thought of adding red to her clothes so why did she think red would suit her.
"You look beautiful child," came a female voice. Percy spun round looking for someone to be standing behind her but she saw nothing. "I'm here," said the voice.
She turned to look at the mirror standing in front of it was a woman but she didn't look solid, she looked more of a ghost than anything. "T… th.. thank you." stuttered Percy.
"What's your name dear?"
"Persephone but everyone calls me Percy."
"Ahh I see."
"Why am I here?" percy asked her voice rising without her releasing it, "how did i get this dress?"
The woman didn't speak for a moment then what she said made percy panic more. "A place you will never leave, like many before you."
"What."
"You are not the first, the others didn't meet their expectations so they never left."
"What! Who! I…. i….dont know what you are talking about, what expectations? what others?" Percy's voice continued to rise as he panic grew.
"Shhh child don't raise your voice,"
Percy took a deep breath and calmed herself as the woman sat on the bed patting it for Percy to next to her.
"I suppose you truly know nothing of what is going on then,"
Percy shook her head.
"Tell me Persephone who are you,"
"I've told you,"
"No you have told me your name not who you are, for me to tell you I need to know who you are if you can be trusted."
Taking a large breath Percy looked at teh woman and began talking keeping her voice low, after the woman shushing her earlier she really didn't want to be loud again. She learned that if someone tells you to be quiet you be quiet.
"My name is Persephone Jackson, I am the daughter of Sally Jackson and Poseidon, god of the sea, earthquakes, storms, and horses."
The woman's eyes grew wide but she nodded.
"Now please tell me what's going on. I just want to go home. My mother will be worried and my father well i don't think anyone wants him to get mad. Please tell me about the others. The others before me."
Ares was training with the other war gods and goddesses when he felt a sharp stabbing in his chest. "What's wrong, Ares finally got too old to beat us in a fight?" one god called out.
"In your dreams," chuckled the olympian as he stood up again rubbing his chest getting back into his fighting stance. What could have caused it?
Author note*
Thank you so much for reading this story so far. I would love to read what you all think of it so please leave some reviews or comments on what you think. Also I am very much open to writing tips and suggestions for where this story goes.
I hope you have a wonderful day.