Avengers: Percy Screws Everything Up (Percy Jackson/ Avengers fanfic) ~

Therapy With a goddess

This chapter goes to @Scorpi02 for being the first voter that I saw on my list!

I stood at the door, standing awkwardly in the hallway. I knocked again, no answer.

I began to worry, I was at my mother's apartment, sure, I hadn't visited her in sometime (three years, give or take). But we'd stayed in somewhat contact, I'd called or Iris Messaged or did something else to allow her to know that I was still alive.

Yes, I felt terribly guilty but, what could I do? SHIELD training required no contact of the outside world until completed.

I slid the spare key out of my pocket and shoved it violently into the keyhole, my worry escalating. I rushed in, taking note of the musty stink that hung in the air. "Mum?" My voice grew frantic as I checked the hallway, the rooms. I was about to give up when I rushed into the kitchen. At the barstool, sat a woman, she had blonde hair that cascaded over her shoulder.

I froze, my blood running cold, then I became angry and hostile. "Aphrodite." I spat. My hands curled. She spun around on the chair, looking under her eyelashes at me innocently. She was in her usual attire; makeup, glamorous clothes, hair that came off a shampoo add. The problem was; she held the slightest resemblance to Annabeth and Agent 33; the way her blonde hair curled, the shape of her chin and eyes. It made me uncomfortable, but most of all, it made me sad.

"Hello Perseus." She beamed, stroking a bouquet of roses that were sitting on the bench. They were wilted, but at her touch, reddened and became healthy again, full bloom. I tried not to stare, goddesses, with the exception of Aphrodite, didn't like staring. Instead, I glared.

"What do you want?" I scowled, "where is my mother?"

Aphrodite pretended like she was insulted, then her face broke into a grin. "I sent her on a little holiday to Paris, because getting married in Paris." With a soft giggle, she clapped her hands delicately and then sighed contently. "All on me, of course."

I felt the blood drain out of my face, again. "Married?" I whispered, I knew it was going to happen eventually, but... I never thought that I'd drifted this far away.

"Yes... Well I'm not here to talk about your mother's status, I'm here for something much more important... And that would be your girlfriend, rather deceased girlfriend." Surprisingly, Aphrodite didn't speak with bitterness or scorn, but her voice sounded wistful and full of regret. I felt compelled to sit by her at the stool and pat her back soothingly. "What a waste. Such a beautiful ship, and such good fanart too..." Suddenly, I really wanted to back away from the goddess and jump out the nearest window. Ships? What fanart?

"Uh, Aphrodite?" I clicked my fingers a couple of times to get her attention back. She blinked. "Annabeth? Remember?"

"Yes, that's right, I came to inform you that your girlfriend is no longer in the Underworld," I felt like I'd been sucker punched in the gut by a flaming, bronze ball. Annabeth was alive, well, not exactly dead, she was uh, undead. "...none of the gods know where she disappeared off to or what's happened with her soul and they're all in such a frilly! Zeus is angry at Athena for somehow managing to do it because it's her daughter and her most brilliant mortal strategist or whatever, Athena is angry at Zeus for being mad at her, Hades for sucking at his job and me."

I knew I was going to regret the question as soon as I asked it, but I did anyway. "Why is Athena angry at you?"

"Well she thinks that my obsessive/compulsive ships are going a bit too far and that I got a hero to draw Annabeth's soul out of the Underworld! Like, and I said back, how do you even expect me to be that strategic? Like, if I had the brains to do something like that. Then Apollo is still at Camp Half-Blood, like honestly..." She went off on her rant as I processed the information. Annabeth was not in the Underworld. The gods were blaming one another (and probably me if I were still in contact) and Aphrodite was still ranting about ships in my Mother's kitchen while she was apparently getting married in Paris. Thanks guys.

"So why are you telling me?" I asked Aphrodite, interrupting her rant.

"Well, not only has Zeus revoked my Olympic Nails and Hails unlimited membership until I figure this out," Aphrodite spoke as if this was a legitimate problem, losing her Olympic Nails and Hails Card. She clasped her hands together. "But imagine that, a ship crossing realms, until death do us part and even then so! Oh that has to be a part of your vows when you get married." Aphrodite's words were like salt in a wound, we weren't getting married, Annabeth was dead. However, Aphrodite's words did spark a little flame of hope, let's just hope it wasn't burning on Frank's wood.

"A clue, I need a clue, something to guide me, since there aren't any prophecies around anymore." I grumbled slowly.

Aphrodite pouted, "Apollo is working on that." I raised my eyebrow in a 'is this really helping right now?' look and she sighed exaggeratedly. "Underworld, Hades will give you the relevant info, something about a really obscure river in the outback that'll help you find her, I don't know! Hades does! And that is the only time I'm going to say those words."

"And the deadline?" I asked, there's always a deadline.

"Well that's the thing about souls that weren't properly released from the Underworld, they begin to fade, it's when their essence just floats apart after being exposed to too much of the living world. She'll either need to find her body or form a new one?"

"Form a new one?" I asked slowly, finding her old one wasn't an option, she went out the way every hero goes; the traditional campfire shrouding.

"I don't know!" Aphrodite cried almost exasperatedly. "Go ask Hades, he'll know."

Thunder rolled in the distance, a familiar sound, it made my stomach churn with a weird mix of nostalgia and sickness. That sound meant gods, gods meant demigods, demigods meant Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter and where those things were, were Annabeth.

Aphrodite got up off of her chair, throwing her hair off of her shoulder. They way she looked down at me, painfully reminded of Annabeth. I closed my eyes, leaning against the doorframe. You're going to find her, even if it tears you a part.

"Well, that's my queue, Zeus is so testy these days, and I'm sure my love is waiting for me. The fate of your love and my Olympic Nails and Hails membership lays on your shoulders." Without warning, she beamed another smile, I sensed a godly form coming on.

"Hey Aphrodite?" She perked up. "She was my fiancé, not my girlfriend."

Aphrodite's mouth dropped open in a combination of horror and shock as she reverted to her godly form. Before I disintegrated, I turned away, chuckling to myself. Looks like Aphrodite isn't the best in the business.

When she was gone, the apartment seemed emptier, quieter. There was room for my thoughts and suddenly the realisation of what Aphrodite had told me weighted down and I sunk to the floor.

Well here's your update, I wasn't sure where I was going with this until I had a dream last night. It was so weird, we (my family, the Avengers and some of my friends) were looking for this mysterious bridge because it held magical properties and my parents were nerds about old archeological stuff. So we're diving into the shallow water to look for stuff and my sister dived in but got hit by a falling piece of the bridge and drowned. I pulled her body out and started freaking out, so I didn't CPR for four hours while everyone tried to tell me that she was gone. When I woke up, the events got muddled and suddenly I had an idea for where the book was to go.

So, we have a conflict for Percy's side, but we need one for the Avenger's. If anyone has anything, please tell or share ideas or weird little scenes that you'd like, please comment or PM me.

Last chapter you guys voted most for roses! So that's what you got. With that in mind...

Father or Son?