Marcus sat in his usual hiding place, the foliage of the branches around him shielding him from prying eyes. Strumming the guitar that had somehow survived his trip to the Underworld, he cast his mind back on the events of the past few days.

Chiron had been furious, insistent that some punishment be leveled against Marcus the second he stepped off the Greyhound back at Camp. It was only once Phil stepped in and explained that Marcus' instincts had been right, and that on top of finding Chastity, he had been instrumental in securing not just one or two, but four different artifacts in his mission that Chiron's rage had subsided, but he had still banished Marcus from the debriefing, instead ordering him to his cabin for the evening. Marcus couldn't help but flinch at the memory of his words.

"I swear by the River Styx Marcus, if you try to sneak out of this camp again while this meeting is happening I will hunt you down myself and drag you back in chains."

It was harsh, but Marcus understood the mentality. He had proven himself untrustworthy in the past few days, and even if his instincts had been correct, he had abandoned his Camp. Even now, Hunter's fate was being decided as the Ares Cabin stood guard over him, and Marcus was barred from having a say.

"Athena would be furious." He muttered to himself, adjusting his tuning of the guitar. But even as the words left his lips, he wasn't sure they were true. Athena may have seemed harsh, against taking unwarranted risks, but he had also had a sense that she would have agreed with his decision, though perhaps not the reasons behind it. He had gambled one life for another, the chance to save Chastity against his own, and he had won. For what felt like the first time since this whole war began, they had successfully struck back against the N.O.s.

With the thought of Chastity, his frown returned. He strummed thoughtlessly on the guitar, now perfectly tuned, not even realizing as he did so he was playing the same tune he had played to enter the Underworld in the first place.

What to do…

He knew now where Chastity's newfound strength seemed to be coming from. She was drawing power from a God, but whereas he had assumed it had been her mother, he saw now that Chastity was drawing power from her half brother.

Eros.

Just the thought of his name burned in Marcus' mind, his hatred for the God filling his heart. Eros was the reason this whole war was happening. It had been his "test" that had caused Kelly's death. It was their hatred of him that had forced Hunter, Alicia, and Aaron to abandon camp. And now Chastity was channeling his power. Not for the first time since the Underworld, Marcus cast his mind back over their time there.

The thought of Chastity's lips against his…

Shaking his head, Marcus focused his thoughts on what mattered more. Every time he had lost himself in the emotion, every time he had acted like some love struck fool, Chastity's aura had been glowing. Eros' power to have emotion overcome reason had been influencing him.

"So, you kept up your practice after all."

Marcus glanced down, surprised to see Chastity gazing up at him, her hands clasped behind her back, much in the same way Aphrodite would. Or perhaps, Aphrodite does it because Chastity would, to put me at ease.

"You could say that." Marcus replied, guarded.

Chastity frowned up at him. "Are you really going to make me strain my neck to look at you, or are you going to come down here?"

Marcus sighed, dropping down to land beside Chastity. He turned away from her, putting his new guitar back in its solid case. "How did the meeting go?"

"You mean, what's going to happen to Hunter?"

Marcus nodded.

"He's going to be kept prisoner here. What, did you think we'd just let him go? After all the trouble he's caused?" Chastity sighed. "He seemed almost content when Chiron told him. Said he didn't care, the Camp wouldn't be around much longer anyway, and it put him close enough to stab you in the back when you least expected it."

"Sounds like a charming interaction."

"Marcus, will you please look at me."

Marcus sighed, turning around to be face to face with Chastity, their first time truly alone together since the Underworld. Marcus had to admit, she looked beautiful in the moonlight, her hair shining and her eyes piercing through him.

"We need to talk." She said.

"I would say so." Marcus crossed his arms, leaning back against the tree.

"Look, we both let things get.. a little out of hand in the Underworld…" Chastity began, for once seeming unsure of herself. "But… Gods, why is this so hard?"

"I'm assuming not in the fun way?" Marcus asked with a straight face.

"Ha ha." Chastity said sarcastically. "Look, I don't know what came over you down there, or me for that matter, but-"

"Eros." Marcus said simply.

Chastity froze.

"Eros is what came over us, Chastity. Are you really telling me you don't realize that? Of course, his aura wouldn't have affected us if there wasn't already an attraction between us, but come on…" Marcus took a deep breath, his calming techniques that he learned under Athena being put to the test.

"How did you…?"

"The arrow." Marcus grit his teeth. "Your new aura. Your new power. You didn't think I'd put two and two together?"

Chastity recovered, shaking her head. "Okay, yeah. My brother's been helping me. What of it? You're not the only one who can be favored by one of the Gods, Marcus. Since Mom seemed so interested in you, Eros was willing to help me. What's so wrong with-"

"Wrong?! Chastity, everything is wrong with that!" Marcus exploded. "If he's been on your side, why hasn't he shown himself around the rest of us? He only shows up when you're alone, right? Does that seem like something that a God with all our best interests in mind would do?"

"You're one to talk." Chastity scoffed. "You've apparently had my Mom on speed dial this whole time, and not once has she shown herself to me."

"Chastity." Marcus took a deep breath. "All Aphrodite ever wants to talk to me about is you. To protect you. That you're her blessing to us."

All of a sudden it clicked, the final puzzle piece Marcus hadn't noticed finally falling into place. The world around him froze, and in his mind's eye, Marcus could see the web of events as he knew them spread out before him, a game board with pieces finally clicking into place. In that moment, he could swear he saw Athena with him, gazing down at the same board he was and nodding her approval.

"Gods above… that's it."

"What's it? Marcus I swear…"

"Chastity, you're Aphrodite's blessing to me. To all of us. You're-"

Chastity looked at him, disbelief at what she was hearing written plainly across her face. "Look, I don't know where this sudden infatuation with me is coming from, but-"

"Gods, will you just listen-"

"No Marcus, you listen. I'm happy. I finally had given up on you, and now you decide to notice me? Want me? You can't just change your mind because you see me happy with somebody else!"

"What? Chastity that's not-"

"And this thing with Eros? He hasn't done anything but help me. He's made me strong, given me training, sent me on quests-"

"He's the one who sent you to the Underworld, isn't he?" Marcus asked, his tone suddenly calm and quiet. He could see the pieces moving along the board of war in his mind, the movement and manipulation…

"Marcus-"

"He told you the Lyre would come back with you to the surface." Marcus met Chastity's eyes and saw the truth. Angry as she was with him, her eyes still couldn't lie to him.

"He made a mistake-" Chastity began.

"He lied."

"He wouldn't lie to me! He's not-"

"Not me? Chastity, the entire reason we're in this mess is because of him!" Marcus finally couldn't hold it in anymore.

"The Gods aren't to blame."

Aphrodite had told him. Maddie had told him. And maybe they were right. Not all Gods were to blame. But he knew one that was.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Aaron hates the Gods because of him." Marcus felt a weight lifted off his shoulders, his final secret being revealed. "Because it was Eros' test that made him kill Kelly. That set him on this path."

Chastity looked at him, stunned. "He… Eros never said…"

"Of course he didn't." Marcus replied. "You wouldn't have listened to him if he had."

Marcus and Chastity stood in silence for a long moment, their eyes locked. All secrets finally revealed. And in that moment, they both knew the truth.

"And after all I've done for you both. You couldn't just play along?"

A chill ran through Marcus as the voice came out of the night air. Eros! A sudden darkness surrounded them both.

"Eros is up to his old tricks."

"Your hate for me gave you power." Eros' voice came through the darkness. "I gave you what you wanted. I unlocked your hidden feelings. Why couldn't you just play along."

A force hit him in the chest, driving him back. How far he would have flown, Marcus couldn't guess, but his trajectory slammed him into the tree behind him.

Again with the trees to the back. Marcus couldn't help the thought, ignoring his pain.

"Eros! Stop!" Chastity's voice called out in the darkness.

"Don't get me started on you!" His voice replied. "All you had to do was get the lyre. I told you explicitly what to do! Get the Lyre, and end your spell." Marcus was tempted to pull his pocket watch from his pocket, but knew it would be hopeless. In this darkness, he was just as likely to attack Chastity as he was Eros.

I won't repeat Aaron's mistakes.

"The lyre would have been left behind." Marcus said in response, walking forward with a confidence he didn't feel. "Chastity was only there in spirit. She couldn't have possibly brought it back to her body by ending her spell could she?"

Another force struck Marcus' shoulder from above, forcing him to his knees.

"Shut up, boy!" Eros' voice was petulant, that of a child caught in the act of causing trouble. Emotion over Reason. "You half-bloods! Why can't you ever just do as you're told! I gave you the tools. I convinced Nyx to show you the truth. I gave you the plan. Gave you the power. I stirred your hearts to take those vital steps. And still you manage to fuck it all up!"

"If I had come back without the lyre…" Chastity's voice came from Marcus' left, and he got to his feet, moving towards it.

"You were supposed to end your spell!" Marcus heard Chastity cry out in pain as Eros turned on his sister. "Marcus was supposed to be caught! Everything was perfect! The lyre would have been left, outside of Hades' traps. Anybody could have grabbed it!"

"Anybody like the New Olympians." Marcus finished the thought aloud.

It all made sense. Eros had been working with his emotions, ever since he had used the Nyx Message for the first time. Even before then. It had been a trap. Phillip's instincts were right. Marcus' mental board of war showed him the series of events in stunning detail, so much so that the weight of them nearly brought him to his knees. He saw Eros' manipulation of Chastity, her powers leaking his aura and allowing him to influence Marcus' own attraction towards her. Having her feign death and enter the Underworld, Marcus' new feelings forcing him to follow. Tricking her to leave the Lyre, a truly powerful artifact, outside Hades' protection, and abandoning Marcus in the process to the New Olympians hiding in the Underworld, affecting the morale of his group, perhaps even causing more schisms…

Strategically, it was almost perfect.

Marcus expected another blow from Eros and threw his arms up to protect himself. What he hadn't expected was a soft touch on his shoulder.

"I do wish you'd stop using that term, my Marcus."

As quickly as the darkness had appeared, it dispersed. Marcus blinked, the sudden light of the moon shockingly bright after the darkness they had just been in, and turned to the figure beside him.

Aphrodite.

The Goddess stood beside him, her resemblance to Chastity even clearer now that the two stood side by side.

"Mom..?" Chastity gasped out.

"Oh come on!" Eros cried out. Turning his head to Eros' voice, Marcus saw him perched on the tree above them for all the world appearing as a fallen angel. "Mother, I-"

"Silence." Aphrodite cut him off, and for the first time, Marcus saw true wrath of the Goddess of Love and Beauty. He saw now why people fighting for love were the fiercest. He couldn't deny that Aphrodite reminded him of nothing more than Chastity during their arguments. Though if Chastity ever looked at me like that, I'd probably run in terror. "I have watched long enough. Allowed you to manipulate and alter the paths set before these half-bloods, my chosen, long enough. The time for waiting has passed. You've revealed where you truly stand, Eros, and now the might of Olympus will put you in your place!"

Aphrodite turned to Chastity, mother to daughter, and graced her with a beautiful smile before gently cupping her cheek with her hand.

"Now, my precious daughter," She said tenderly. "Why don't we show this man what happens when you try to manipulate Chastity Montgomery, Love's Champion?"

Marcus watched in awe as Chastity started to glow with power, her aura becoming clear, no longer clouded by the twisted nature of Eros. He watched as her eyes started changing before his eyes, shifting from an emerald green, to a lovely chocolate brown, the brightest and clearest blue, and more besides, each shade more beautiful than the last.

Chastity turned her attention to Eros, reaching her hand outward towards him.

"I'll be taking back what's mine, asshole."

With a lurch, Eros was dragged forward out of the tree, flapping his wings strongly to try and stay airborne. For a moment, Marcus thought Chastity might be pulling Eros himself, but he quickly realized the truth.

In the darkness, Eros had stolen Chastity's Lyre.

Now he was being dragged into the light, and she was reclaiming what was hers.

With an exasperated cry, the lyre was ripped from Eros grasp and it flew into Chastity's own. As she brought it up to begin to play, Eros landed, backing away.

"I… I… Dammit!" Eros wrapped himself in his wings, starting to glow with the heat of as thousand suns.

"Look away!" Aphrodite cried in warning.

Just in time, Marcus realized what was happening. Eros was changing to his true godly form, one that no mortal would be able to survive gazing upon. Quickly, Marcus threw his arm across his eyes, blocking the view of the God escaping from their combined might, his parting words blazing in the air.

"Your place on Olympus will be mine, Mother!"

With a crash and a bright flash of light, Eros disappeared, leaving Marcus standing beside his cabin with the Goddess and her daughter.

Stepping forward, Aphrodite turned and fixed them both with a soft smile.

"Well now, that was exciting wasn't it?" She said with a small laugh.

"Mom… I…" Marcus had never seen Chastity this nervous, though he could guess at the reason. She had fallen for Eros' schemes, turned her back on the Goddess that had truly wanted the best for her and for her to find her own way into her power. His own recent struggles all too clear in his mind, he reached over and gently took her hand, giving it a single squeeze. There was no romance in that gesture, only the love shared between two who cared for each other deeply. Chastity turned to meet his gaze, and he saw the same feelings reflected there. The attraction between the two was still there, probably always would be, but they both knew where they stood. Together, but separate.

"Now, my sweet Marcus." Aphrodite said, her smile widening at the sight of the two of them. "I would like a moment alone with my daughter and Champion. It seems we'll have much to discuss."

Marcus nodded, giving Chastity's hand one final squeeze before letting go and watching the pair walk away, mother and daughter, both radiant and beautiful as the sun began to rise over the horizon.