𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄,
𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖
❛ curse Aphrodite and her
love for tortured love ❜
𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀, "𝕾o then Tantalus saw me laughing at Percy telling him to go chase a donut and sentenced me to join them in the kitchens," Aurora pouted as she sorted through her blueprints on her bed. "I have to wash dishes with lava, Dad. Lava!"
A voice came through her phone, "Bribe someone else to do it."
Aurora paused and rose an eyebrow, "Really?"
"I'll give you the money."
A loud smack could be heard over the phone followed by her father groaning, "Ow!"
"This is your punishment, Rory," a new voice came from her phone: Pepper. "I know it sucks and it's not fair, but that's how the world is. You can't pay someone else to do it for you. It's not—"
"I actually have to disagree. If you have the money, why not use it?"
"Tony, no."
"I'm just saying it'll be a great learning opportunity when she decides to take over Stark Industries."
"By teaching her how to bribe?!"
"That wouldn't be the word I use," he pauses for a bit. "I'm teaching her a valuable lesson on mutual benefit. She'll be a great CEO in no time."
A knock was heard throughout the room before the young stark could retort.
"Who is that? Is that a boy? It better not be that jackson kid"
Rolling her eyes, Aurora ventured towards her pretty pink door. Maybe out of sheer luck or the God's merely toying with her for their mere amusement, stood outside her door was the raven-haired boy in question with Annabeth stood next to him with her eyebrows raised.
"Sorry, dad. I have to go."
"It was him wasn't i—"
BEEP!
Annabeth's eyebrows skyrocketed, "Did you just hang up on Tony Stark?"
Aurora dismissively waved her hand and followed them out of her room, "I hung up on my dad. He'll get over it."
Percy nudged her with his shoulder as they exited the Aphrodite cabin. The tension, Aurora never realized was on him, returned in the form of his shoulders the second they exited the soothing scent of Aurora's humble abode. The curiosity of what his most alluring scent could be was overwhelming to her, but she chose not to ask.
"Any new information on Elysium?" he inquired.
Aurora frowned, "Nope."
"That sucks."
Annabeth shot a glare over Aurora's shoulder to the raven haired boy, "I'm sure you'll find something, Rory," They walked passed the showers and toilets before settling in the mess hall with Percy still grumbling about their punishment.
The way Tantalus saw it, the Stymphalian birds had simply been minding their own business in the woods and would not have attacked if Annabeth and Percy hadn't disturbed them with their bad chariot driving.
The way Aurora saw it, Tantalus was full of the crap tasting baloney she begrudgingly scarfed down that one time she was six and Happy had decided to make her breakfast. The fried pork looked almost identical to Tantalus' face, so much so, Aurora wanted to poor lava over his head.
. . . And when she began scrubbing, the urge was growing worse. Especially with the never ending pile of dishes they had.
"I'll call Nate just for the hell of it," she growled as she scrubbed away. "That'll show that idiot"
"You think he'd actually help?"
"More like burn Tantalus to a crisp."
"That doesn't sound too bad."
Aurora blinked at him.
"Ocean eyes, no."
Aurora, however, glanced down at the pile of dishes and slowly but surely the urge to agree began to grow.
Tantalus had ordered a special luncheon banquet to celebrate Clarisse's chariot victory-a full-course meal featuring country-fried Stymphalian death-bird and sure enough didn't invite Aurora.
It placed a sour flavor on her tongue with an even more horrendous aftertaste.
The only good thing about their punishment was that it gave Aurora, Annabeth, and Percy a common enemy and lots of time to talk. After listening to Percy's dream about Grover again, Annabeth -who didn't really believe him to begin with- looked like his words were beginning to sway her.
"If he's really found it," Annabeth murmured. her grey eyes locking with Aurora's, and for a mere moment it seemed like they were in a full blown telepathic conversation: like their minds coming together to form a single thought. Something that slightly annoyed Percy, especially when a slight smile overcame Aurora's face.
"Brainiac, We'd still need a backup plan."
"Of course, but imagine if we can retrieve it Rory."
"Hold on," Percy said interrupting the two. "You two act like this . . . whatever-it-is Grover found is the only thing in the world that could save the camp."
Aurora rolled her eyes as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow bone. The heat they were in close proximity to, now hitting them like bricks, "I wouldn't say it was the only thing."
Percy knew the look on her face. It was the same look he'd seen countless of times when she was in the midst of inventing something, with her mind whirring miles a minute scouring in the depths of her knowledge to create something no other would be able to come close to conceive. The look was all too familiar to him, as it was the look that he most admired.
"You're planning something," he pointed out. "What is it?"
Aurora slowly placed the dishes in her hands down and narrowed her eyes at Percy, "What makes you think that?"
Aurora's only response was Percy's aura flaring a pretty magenta, before settling back to its original pink.
She decided not to question it.
"What grover found," Percy slightly coughed regaining his composure. "What is it?"
"I'll give you a hint," Annabeth began. "What do you get when you skin a ram?"
"Messy?"
"Not exactly, ocean eyes. You get a fleece, and if that ram you skin just so happens to have golden wool-"
"The Golden Fleece. Are you guys serious?"
Aurora rose her eyebrows as she paused from scrapping food from a plate, "You do know the story of Jason and the Argonauts?"
"Yeah," Percy said. "That old movie with the clay skeletons."
Aurora glanced at Annabeth with her lips pursed as if asking, do you want to explain it to him or should I?
Annabeth shook her head and sighed, "That isn't it. Just listen. The real story of the Fleece: there were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important."
"It was probably important to her."
Aurora giggled, but it wasn't until Annabeth sent her a glare that she innocently continued her scrubbing.
Annabeth sighed, "The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution-"
"It could cure Thalia's tree."
"It could do so much more than that, ocean eyes," Aurora said. "Think about it. Something all that powerful could leave camp completely secure for future generations."
"But Rory, Percy, the Fleece has been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck."
"Grover found it," Percy said. "He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece instead because they both radiate nature magic. It makes sense, guys. We can rescue him and save the camp at the same time. It's perfect!"
Annabeth hesitated. "A little too perfect, don't you think? What if it's a trap?"
Aurora pursed her lips. She too beloved it was too good to be true, but she'd risk it. Too many lives were at stake, including that of Thalia's tree, "Annabeth, honestly, I'm willing to take that risk. The Golden Fleece is exactly what we need to help camp, besides Grover's in trouble. I'm not leaving him to someone like Polyphemus."
Percy turned to Annabeth now, glad that Aurora was agreeing, "Are you going to help us rescue Grover or not?"
She glanced at Tyson, who'd lost interest in their conversation and was happily making toy boats out of cups and spoons in the lava.
"Percy," she said under her breath, "we'll have to fight a Cyclops. Polyphemus, the worst of the Cyclopes. And there's only one place his island could be. The Sea of Monsters."
"Where's that?"
Annabeth stared at Percy like she thought he was playing dumb. Aurora didn't look surprised. "The Sea of Monsters. The same sea Odysseus sailed through, and Jason, and Aeneas, and all the others."
"You mean the Mediterranean?"
"Sort of?"
"Another straight answer. Thanks."
"Look, ocean eyes, the Sea of Monsters is the sea all heroes sail through on their adventures. It used to be in the Mediterranean, yes. But like everything else, it shifts locations as the West's center of power shifts."
"Like Mount Olympus being above the Empire State Building," Percy said. "And Hades being under Los Angeles."
"Yes," Annabeth butted in. "That's what I said."
"But a whole sea full of monsters-how could you hide something like that? Wouldn't the mortals notice weird things happening . . . like, ships getting eaten and stuff?"
"Of course they notice. They don't understand, but they know something is strange about that part of the ocean. The Sea of Monsters is off the east coast of the U.S. now, just northeast of Florida. The mortals even have a name for it."
"The Bermuda Triangle?"
"Exactly."
"Okay . . . so at least we know where to look."
"Ocean eyes, it'll be dangerous. We'll be looking for one tiny island in a hug-"
"Hey, I'm the son of the sea god. This is my home turf. How hard can it be?"
Annabeth knit her eyebrows. "We'll have to talk to Tantalus, and get approval for a quest. He'll say no."
"Not if we tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody. The whole camp will hear. They'll pressure him. He won't be able to refuse."
Aurora shook her head. "If you're doing it at the campfire, you'll have to do it without me."
Percy turned to Aurora. "So, you are planning something."
"Something is an understatement," Annabeth said.
"Well, what Is it?"
"Something that could possibly damn me to more lava dishwashing."
Later that night, after the campfire and a long afternoon of preparations. Aurora, with excitement in her bones, rushed to the Poseidon cabin, a spring in her step at what was to come. Her mind more than excited to give her second home a worthy chance to fight back. To save as many as she could, especially if the quest was given the go-ahead.
When she reached the teal-colored doors, she rushed to rasp her knuckles against them. A cheeky grin plastered on her face when the door opened revealing the boy she was looking for.
"Hey, ocean eyes," she smirked. "Ready for an adventure?"
Aurora didn't wait for him to answer and immediately turned around to walk towards Half-blood hill, "Come on, Jackson!" Aurora looked over her shoulder, the moonlight glistening on her skin. Lightening the dirt stains on her face. "Everyone should be there already."
"Everyone?" The poor boy looked utterly confused, almost like a sea otter, she thought. "What's going on?"
Aurora continued walking past the big house, quietly enough not to make any sound to alarm Tantalus. Percy followed along, after the campfire the last thing he needed was to be called the camp's dishwasher again.
"We needed a backup plan, right?" she said. "So I created one. While we're looking for the fleece, camp will be protected you'll see. Speaking of, how'd it go at the campfire?"
"It was a total bust," Percy grumbled. They were nearing the top of half-blood hill. "He gave the quest to Clarisse."
Aurora rolled her eyes a mischievous smile now on her lips, "We knew this was a possibility, but that doesn't mean it should stop us."
Percy began to understand what she was getting at. Whether approved or not, they would surely make a plan to leave and scour the deep sea for the fleece themselves.
"Definitely not."
When they reached half-blood hill, the sight of dozens of campers all mingling around came as a surprise to Percy. Surely, the Harpies could hear them? It was way past curfew for any of them to be out, and the last thing he needed was to be harpy food.
After all the stress he'd been through today, he didn't think he'd taste any good.
"Oi! Science girl!" Kaiya's voice filtered through the group, causing a various amount of campers to shush at them as if they were in a library. No one wanted to deal with Tantalus or harpies. "What are we looking at?! I'm losing plenty of beauty sleep for this."
"And do you need it." One of the Ares campers spoke up.
Surprisingly, Clarisse shot her sibling a glare, "Shut it, Greta. Now's not the time."
Percy whispered to Aurora, "How'd you manage that?"
Aurora furrowed her eyebrows, she too was confused at the exchange, "I have no idea."
The more you look at your surroundings the more you notice the various amount of campers, not only was Aurora surprised that the Ares cabin actually accepted her invitation, but she was also astounded at how many campers actually showed up. About a third of the camp came to witness her demonstration, and she wasn't sure whether she should be proud or pressured
She took a quick glance at the Athena cabin, whom had Annabeth at the front and center with her gray eyes reflecting in the moonlight. Stood next to them was the Hephaestus cabin. Beckendorf and his siblings stood idly by, seeing as they were the cabin that helped her install her new system, she knew they were excited to see how it was active.
Clarisse turned to her, "Can we hurry this up?, Stark, I have a quest to prepare for."
Aurora took a deep breath, "Right," she pulled out a small mechanical device and carefully ran her thumb over the bright red button. "Time to light her up."
She pressed her thumb over the red button and with a mechanical whirl a blue holographic shield began to appear around camp, and from their view, it lit up their world. From all sides, it began to grow slowly morphing into a dome around camp. The blue light pulsing and fitting together like atoms looking for their counterparts to create millions of molecules in the dark sky.
"That's sick," She heard from her right. Followed by the campers all murmuring to themselves in amazement. The blue light reflection now in their eyes.
Within a minute the dome was fully complete, it released another pulse solidifying its energy before fading away and revealing the moon and its stars.
"That," Aurora pointed up that the place the dome once was. "Is Beta II, while Pe-" she coughed to regain her composure. "While Clarisse embarks on the quest to retrieve the fleece, this" she gestured to the sky. "Will keep camp safe."
"How are you so sure?"
"I made it."
While everyone was still reveling in what they saw, Aurora sidled up next to Percy, "What do you think, ocean eyes? Like my backup plan?"
"If I was a monster, I definitely wouldn't."
Aurora grinned at that, "I'm glad you think so, that's what I was going for."
There was a moment of silence that they basked in.
Percy turned to her, his ocean eyes drawing her in, "That was sick! Aurora. You definitely give your dad a run for his money."
The compliment made her heart do this weird pitter-pattern effect and made her turn her head to hide the small smile rising on her lips. Her cheeks decided to ignore her brain and burn a pretty pink too.
What in Aphrodite's sake was going on with her? And when did these reactions begin?
When she turned to look at him again, she noticed he was already looking at her with his aura pulsing that pretty magenta again. But, she didn't get a good chance to observe it again as it once again faded back to its pink.
Curse Aphrodite for making her feelings so irrevocably confusing.
— NAT TALKS !!
IM BACKKKK! so sorry for being gone for
so long. I've been doing school and I'm store
manager at a store now 😭 but my goal
is to finish this book by the fall. so let's
see how that goes 😭
anyways, how are you guys liking this
story so far?
don't be afraid to tell me your honest
opinions! <3
❛ allure me. ❜ ༢ ͎۪۫ ༊*·˚ ╱
❪ the prodigy, 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 book. ❫
༢ ͎۪۫ ༊ ❛ ©CELESTIALAPHRODITE 2023. ❜ ¨. ༢ ͎۪۫ ｡𖤐
❪ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 ❫ ©CELESTIALAPHRODITE, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅.