𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀, percy jackson

07. we take a short detour

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜
chapter seven: we take a short detour

[a/n]: enjoy the chapter! don't be silent; please share your thoughts because i love to hear them!!
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━━━ WHAT DID IT MEAN TO be an Aphrodite kid? That was the question that had been plaguing Isabel's mind ever since she arrived at Camp Half-Blood. She'd been told it was to be alluring, flirtatious, beautiful, but to also be headstrong and cunning. Isabel possessed none of those traits. Aphrodite children were supposed to be attractive and beguiling, and Isabel could simply not flirt for the life of her.

Sometimes, she even questioned whether or not she even was an Aphrodite child. She wasn't beautiful, or at least, she hadn't been told that enough to be convinced of it. Something just didn't feel right about the organization of attributes on her face, like an assortment of random jigsaw puzzles that could have been lovely had it been placed with its rightful owner.

And who could she even talk to about this? Not Annabeth, not even her dearest friend. Because Annabeth was the most lovely, beautiful being Isabel had ever met. Birthed by Athena but blessed by Aphrodite.

When Annabeth cried -- which she hardly ever did -- she shed tears of Ichor, further proof to Isabel that she was more godly than mortal, that she belonged more on Mount Olympus with all the other heavenly beings than she did on Earth with Isabel.

But, Isabel decided, despite her running mind, she could not afford to be selfish, especially not under the strange circumstances she was in currently. She had been involved in countless strange situations. Gods, she attended a camp at which a half-horse, half-man creature was deemed ordinary!

But never had she expected to find herself sitting in front of a plate of burgers at a diner, chatting it up with Ares, the god of war.

"So your quest," Ares began, sighing ruefully as if he pitied them. Isabel sat back in the plush leather seat and crossed her arms, already displeased with this boisterous figure, "is going to fail. Ask me how I know."

"It isn't going to fail," Percy said defensively, looking at his friends for approval. Isabel nodded as an act of solidarity, which he briefly smiled at.

Ares remained unperturbed by Percy's annoyance, and rather scoffed. "Sure, it is. For starters..." Ares held up his cellphone, which displayed a video of a brunet man with a mustache.

"Percy was always troubled," the man on the newscast said. Isabel looked to Percy for confirmation, and he just slumped and rolled his eyes. "But I never thought he was capable of something like this."

"Who-- Who's that?" Grover questioned nervously. They could not have random figures in the media disrupting their quest. That would make this a hell of a lot harder.

"My stepdad," Percy said shortly before returning his gaze to the video. "What's he doing?"

"Wait for it," Ares said, clearly amused and unbothered by Percy's discomfort.

"...had something to do with your wife's disappearance?" the interviewer inquired.

"A kid that messed up?" Percy's stepdad said tearfully, something Isabel was sure was all an act. Clearly, Percy had no affinity for his stepdad, so she would trust him. "What wouldn't he do?"

"What?" Percy spat, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. He looked like he wanted to reach through the screen and strangle his stepdad.

"Is this guy fucking with us right now?" Isabel echoed Percy's sentiment, leaning forward like if she strained her eyes enough, she would end up seeing something else.