Home Is Where The Heart(h) Is

Chapter 4: A Nightly Friendship

Chapter 4: A Nightly Friendship

Aelia, or Hestia, swept her hand over the fire. "This is where I assume my true self, where I am not taken over by Aphrodite. Only at night, by the hearth, is where I can be myself." she fixed her black irises on Percy. "You are the only one who can see me, Perseus."

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Think. What made you different from the rest yesterday?" Hestia said knowingly.

"Um..." Percy did think about it for a moment, before the answer came to him in a fleeting moment. "I didn't fall for Aphrodite's charms? But...how did you know, if Aphrodite takes over? So if that's the case, is Aelia you, or Aphrodite?"

"I know you wouldn't do that, Perseus. You are very...interesting. As for your second question, Aelia is me, Aphrodite simply...ah, likes to intrude."

"Who did this to you?" Percy questioned, feeling slightly angry at whoever did this, even if Hestia looked completely adjusted to her new limited form.

"The Giants, of course. They seek to cause chaos in the camp with Aphrodite. If everything goes according to their plan, a civil war will break out. It will be the Trojan War repeated. With no demigods to help the gods, the giants will be undefeatable, and Olympus will fall."

"Why include you in their plan? I mean, if Aphrodite could cause a war, you don't really need to be in...this." Percy gestured at her.

At this, Hestia frowned. "For that, I'm not sure. Maybe when they captured me, something went wrong, and they had to put me in this form." She looked at her hands for a moment, before continuing, "At any rate, Perseus, you will have to stop all of this from happening."

"Alone?" Percy said, a pang of hurt striking him as he thought about Annabeth. He had yet to make it up to her. "What about the gods?"

She shook her head. "The gods will not help. When they scanned Aelia earlier, they saw no trace of me. They will not believe you. I fear someone is clouding their minds...corrupting their judgement. I don't know what..." she didn't finish the sentence.

"Can you tell them?"

"I cannot. The minute I leave the hearth, this hearth, I will be taken over by Aphrodite."

"You make her sound like she's evil."

Hestia's eyes flashed. "I'm afraid she may be. Her motives are simple. Spread her domain of love: The Giants' love, or desire, to see Olympus fall; the demigods...it is quite self-explanatory. She is almost like Ares – they both would start a war, even if the war would destroy the world. Perhaps that is why they like each other."

Hearing this, Percy's opinion of Aphrodite changed quite a bit. Aphrodite could be helpful, but sometimes downright ruthless.

Percy exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding for a while. "What do I need to do now?"

Strangely, Percy thought he saw her cheeks flush, but it was hard to tell in the darkness. "About that...I need your help. See, every night, I will come here, but I will remember nothing about the conversation we had. Even today, I will not remember anything the next day. So..."

"You want me to help you remember?"

She nodded meekly. "I just have this feeling, like I'll recover from my condition if I remember my old self."

Percy was slightly taken aback at her request, but he responded, "Yeah, I don't mind." She smiled slightly. "Thank you, I can also give you some advice."

"Yeah..." Percy stifled a yawn, but he couldn't deny his fatigue. "I should leave now. See you tomorrow?"

She nodded and Percy started to take his leave, but he stopped suddenly and asked, "How do you know I won't just make something up?"