Chapter 11: Los Angeles
"Lady Aphrodite to what do I owe the pleasure?"
The smile she made was perfect... her steps without anything to pick on... Now I knew... Now I knew how she could make so much chaos by just simply showing herself in Mythology... However, the most damage she did was when she fell in love with someone... First was Nerites whom she turned into a seashell, Adonis her biggest love, then Ares, even Poseidon at some point...
No wonder Amphitrite hates her... first she basically kills her brother, then she makes Poseidon cheat on her and leave two kids as well...
Like every Olympian, this girl spells trouble from every pore but... she is in my opinion the most troublesome.
"So it is true" she starts now only a few steps in front of me, her form that of a 12 years old girl " As Dionysus said you can really recognize gods at first sight... that is a useful trait... however how a mortal has it is extremely curious," she told her head trying to act cute... a real wolf in sheep's clothing. I was able to retain my usual calm after a while of being exposed, noticing my will to resist her my brain and body work in tandem to learn from this experience and change to better themselves... I now knew how Dehaka felt... It also helped that she never raised actively her charm but kept it passive otherwise I would have turned into an idiot pretty fucken fast.
"Chiron was saying the same thing... he actually is of the idea that I am really a Demigod... Not the best of deductions from him.." I say with a small smile, trying to make some small talk
"Mmh" she smirks a bit seductively "And why would that be such a weird notion? you are strong, smart... a perfect child of Athena... A child that maybe she does not want to acknowledge." Ah... she is really good... nice tactic... trying to make me emotionally unstable with baseless hypothesis, before probably providing me emotional support, whatever my response is she wins the information war. If she finds my reaction to be calm then she knows I am actually someone to take into consideration, if not she probably loses any interest in me (no girl likes a male to pity) and probably gains a nice chess piece for free.
If I find all those fanfic authors portraying her as a stupid quack I am going to kill them...
"The truth is extremely simple to reach Milady, I am most certainly mortal since I do not have daddy or mommy issues because my parent had better things to do than to take their time and raise me," I answer cheekily with a small laugh as if making a small joke... after all delivery is key
I could see her perfect smile twitch a bit before regaining her composure
"Certainly not a child of Athena then... No Athena's offspring would ever make a joke like that" she says
"A bit boring aren't they? Those guys would even bring a book about architecture even at a Rave" I say shaking my head in mock disappointment
She giggles a bit as if she found that funny... she didn't, it wasn't even my intention in the first place. She probably did it because she knows that when a girl laughs at a guy's joke they tend to deepen their self-esteem, which makes them act with more confidence and take the reins of the convo. I did not want that, I wanted to go to hug Percy and tell him I am fine... I have no doubt he is feeling down right now. However right now... I am in no position to displease the goddess
"Shall we take it to someplace else? I do not feel the exit of a Hospital to be that romantic" She then glanced at me with a raised eyebrow from head to toe "But first, let me change... that" a perfect suit appeared at her will on my body and my hair became immediately perfectly styled... well... I guess gods have it easy even when it comes to changing clothes... I'm jelly af...
Looking at the nearest window I started checking myself out after a few seconds I turn towards her and with a genuine smile I say "Thank you, Lady Aphrodite, they are perfect" I always liked suits... a guilty pleasure of mine, so I was genuinely thankful "Might I keep them for another occasion like this?" hinting that if she wanted to bother me again for another date she could, just an excuse to have these to be honest... The less I saw her, the less trouble coming my way.
She smiles getting the fake hint I put on the table "Sure, make sure to wear it next time we meet" every micro-movement she makes with her head her body... is perfect... sadly... not enough to make me fall... I do not like easy to anger jewels that will just leave me to raise kids and completely forget of my existence after.. I was getting more and more used to her passive charms...
"Let's go then" in a flash she closes the distance between us, I was kinda expecting that, do not ask me why however I could not help but flinch... she really likes to surprise, then in a puff of pink smoke we disappear finding ourselves in a big bar.
"This is a nice place..." I offhandedly comment
"Isn't it? It is called Lux... Ah! That's the owner, Lucifer Morningstar, playing at the piano... We would normally need a reservation but... I can make quick work of that"
I was scared shitless... Lucifer? Fucking... Morningstar? Tell me it is a coincidence please. But the girl who came to take us to the table is still suspiciously familiar
I could not take my eyes off her, her aura is faint but I could still feel it, Lucifer was either too strong for me to notice or was completely human... not gonna lie... after looking at the girl I knew... he is everything but human... Well don't know don't care... ignorance is bliss blablablabla don't know anything (A/N there won't be a story about the Christian pantheon anytime soon do not worry, it was just a little teaser, and come on... Los Angeles... I had to do it)
"Here is your table," the girl was looking at me like I was a nice piece of meat to grill... please... no...
"Thanks," says Aphrodite
"Thanks, Mazikeen," I tell the girl
The girl stops and looks at me with narrowed eyes before glancing at the goddess and walking away... I never saw any of that
"You know her?" she asks surprised
"No not really" I tell her with a smile looking at her eyes to get the point across
Now she was quiet and so was I she took found me, brought me here, I now had to make the first move, if she also started speaking right now I would probably see her as really easy and lose interest...
Point is... there was no interest in the first place... so... I never started.
Even after Maze brought our drinks I said nothing, it appears Aphrodite comes here often so everything is put on her account and she pays whenever a really famous guest it seems... I was actually enjoying Lucifer's performance, his piano skills are on fucking point.
"He is good isn't he, I wonder what made him open a nightclub?" Starts Aphrodite annoyed that a mortal was fine with not interacting with her, but that just made capturing him that much more exciting... if Tom heard this he would probably start crying...
"Well, what can I say... Even the Devil needs his beauty vacation..." I grin
After giggling she adds "His name does indeed remind you of the Christian Devil doesn't he?"
Maze was looking murderously at me, but I never saw any of that...
We drank and talked a lot that night... I was somehow allowed to drink and her as well even with her 13 years old form... wtf is this place problem, giving drinks to minors... not that I am complaining anyway, probably the most making us look older?. She is a good talker and when she noticed that everything she said is always listened to attentively and that there was never a judgmental expression or words, she became even bolder and started narrating her best Myths, all while asking for my opinion or my personal experiences... We also talked a lot about Gossip. She tried to badmouth Lady Artemis whom she has a slight hate for since she never acknowledged Love, but I rudely stopped her in her tracks, offhandedly telling her that I actually respected the goddess a lot... She did not really like it, to be opposed in her beliefs,tia but she, this once, decided not to ruin her fun date because of the Goddess of the Hunt.
Although I would never admit it it was fun knowing the goddess, although it came clear that I held no interest since I never made a move on her even after she was drunk and basically leaning of me, I could just defend myself if ever asked that it was out of respect for the goddess... She is trouble I tell you... not really worth a one-night stand...
The Lux was now almost empty, I was finishing my drink with a sleeping Goddess leaning on my shoulder... my body can tolerate alcohol very well it seems, probably still thanks to Chaos buff? Gotta love the couple...
I finished my drink, took Aphrodite in a princess carry, and went towards the exit maze leaning on a stool was looking at me with narrowed eyes. I looked towards best girl and simply said with my smile(tm) "Thank you for the drinks they were honestly the best I have ever had"
"She just smiled wryly, she has never been one to say thanks... probably thinking about how the fuck did a Demoness end up making drinks in a nightclub
With her eyes boring a hole through my skull I left the place pretty satisfied.
After a while of walking, Goddes still asleep a figure apparated in from of me
His biker style making him extremely recognizable...
" Lord Ares... are you here to take her back?" I ask him with fake slight hostility
He raises his eyebrow "And if I were?" he asks with a huge grin
"Then you better take her quickly, everyone is looking at me as if I am crazy holding a sleeping girl in my arms in the middle of the night," I say with an equally large grin.
He takes her and flashes away just after saying saying "you are not dead because you never touched her... but remember that next time you try something funny you can kiss goodbye to the rest of your body"
"I would like to keep my body intact please"
I noticed three days passed since the fall, all of them needed to heal myself... and I was still not completely fine but... I still had to move on... Thank God the beast did not cut me as deeply as I thought
Now... onto Las Vegas to meet with the gang... Gods they will be so surprised.
///
Meanwhile on Olympus
The goddess of the hunt missed everything of the quest up until now... as if her instinct told her to avoid seeing the good things a male could accomplish, and to only look at the bad stuff he is forced to do if he wants to keep his head...
She was now livid, only her Athena and Hestia were present.
She had to look at a stupid male getting swayed by the most hateful goddess on the planet... Two things she hated in one picture.
She was curious because the boy always thanked her for some reason, and let's be real... A boy doesn't just sacrifice foot to the goddess famous for turning males into jackalopes.
"Stupid males... they cannot resist their instincts can't they"
Hestia always ready to defend her family, and campers being part of it immediately responded
"Not like he can say no to a goddess who could kill him in a fit of anger... remember Nerites?" that effectively shut her up, now slightly less annoyed
"The boy is smart... Let's see how he plays this out" Athena was really curious, the boy surprised her multiple times with his logic, not something a 12 years old should possess. Nothing crazy mind you but still...
"They were switching between the Lotus Casino and the Lux but the most interesting stuff was now on the Lux.
"Always the same tactic... talk it out then drink till he feels safe enough to make a move... Disgusting... "
"I... I do not think he is interested though..." the comment made by Athena surprised the other two
"Oh please... like a male will pass an opportunity to do it with a goddess, if he does however I will personally hunt him down... He dared, after all, to sacrifice something to me..." she was gripping her throne tightly. Not that she cared about the mortal but her hate for both those figures was really that overwhelming
....
It all ended, the mortal did nothing, Ares came a good half an hour later, he had all the time if he wanted to do something... Athena's approval rose a bit, While Artemis... she was dumbfounded
"He actually did nothing... Well u would expect no less from a male that dares to sacrifice to me" she tried reasoning but she still could not believe could say no to the goddess of love this smoothly. He never offended her once, always respectful even after he heard all the stuff she did but most importantly he even defended her when Aphrodite started badmouthing her, she was grateful but would never admit it...
Her respect for the mortal rose a bit... at least enough to allow him to keep sacrificing stuff to her... What did you expect... she is the man-hating goddess for a reason.
(A/N 2371 words, basically a filler, but still good enough to lay the groundwork)
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