Blessings from Khaos

|I'll Hold You In My Heart, Until I Can Hold You In My Arms|

"Why am I remembering that?"

Aphrodítē smiled. "Because you are my daughter, Aeri. And well, Apóllōn's champion, but I'm the more important one of course." She winked as she walked around, her daughter following her around dutifully. "Either way, my little dove, you can see it because of your ability to speak things into existence. You always have always seen things much more vividly than others. If you so willed it, those simple times with your friends can happened again. Unfortunately—" The goddess gestured around the department store. "You have other trials to face, first. There will be many other enemies, some that may not even affect you. Alongside the fact that, the Doors of Death have opened."

"Matêr Pantôn. She's letting the dead back into the world. She was invoked when offerings were made to the dead."

"You're a smart one, Drew." Aphrodítē winked at her. "Mmm. And not just any dead. The worst, the most powerful, the ones most likely to hate the gods."

"The monsters are coming back from Tartara the same way," Drew guessed. "That's why they don't stay disintegrated."

"Ναί. Their patron, as they call her, has a special relationship with Tartarus, the spirit of the pit." Aphrodítē held up a gold sequined top. "Όχι... this would make me look ridiculous."

Drew eyed it. "You can make it work, of course. You can't look anything but perfect. But it doesn't fit the aura you give off right now."

"You're sweet," Aphrodítē said. "Beauty is about finding the right fit, the most natural fit. To be perfect, you have to feel perfect about yourself —avoid trying to be something you're not. Or well, someone. For a goddess, that's especially hard. We can change so easily."

"Silena was perfect," Drew's voice quavered. "Everyone thought so."

Aphrodite's gaze became distant; no doubt thinking of her daughter that was resting in Elysium at the moment. "Ναί ... Silena. Oh, she was amazing. So caring, healing, compassionate, nurturing, idealistic. Yet she had so much sadness inside. She was named after the moon goddess, Selḗnē. Beautiful, but there was a darkness to her that none could see. She was my moonbeam."

"And me?"

"My sunshine."

"Is it because of Apollo being my patron?"

"Of course not." Aphrodítē sounded offended. "You are my child. You burn so brightly, Drew. A guiding light to most that can warm any that come across you, but you have a fierce rage in your heart that can burn all that you swear vengeance upon. He chose you on his own against my better wishes at that." She shook her head, turning to a clothes rack and holding out a beautiful chocolate brown sweater dress. "I am of the sea and the sky, Drew. The possibilities that I see are endless as I learn from Eros Protogeneia, who overcomes the mind and wise counsels of all gods and all men within them. And you, my darling daughter, you see just as much as I. You remind me very much of Percy."

"Do you know where he is?"

"You know," her Mother smiled. "You've seen it before. Ask your friend Jason—lovely boy, by the way. His poor mother was destroyed when she found out she'd fallen in love with Ζεύς. Which brings me to an important matter ..." She opened her hand, showing Drew a blood red vial—a simple test tube with a cork stopper. "Ναί, this is one of Mēdeia's kinder mixtures. You will give this to Jason."

"What? Why? Why not give it to Ethan?"

Aphrodítē smiled a bit sadly. "Love is a healing thing in itself. Ethan will survive. I assure you of that. And a small word of advice, my sweet, is that well... I know you have struggled with forgiving him for his actions and wondering if things would ever be well between the two of you again." She walked over to her daughter, grasping her hands. "My Drewdrop, no one can truly give you an answer for this but your partner. When he looks at you as if you were the sun itself then you'll know. The love cannot be destroyed even if the trust is fractured. They only way it won't work is if neither of you work for it. You two are suppose to be two halves of a whole. If you two are not bettering each other and making spiritual connections that's unbendable then you do not need to be together. Your inner you. Your spirit will let you know if its not right. It will drain you dry. Only the two of you can make that decision don't confuse toxicity for love." She brushed a few strands of her hair from her face. "But my dear, if you don't heal what you, you'll bleed on people who didn't cut you. His actions alongside your sister have hurt you deeply. Take this chance, my love, to realize that the world was not out to get you and become the sibling that Anthony had been to you."