When he saw her, his jaw dropped.
He forgot his name, who he was and how to function properly - something that had happened before whenever Cressida made a flirty comment or kissed his cheek, frankly it happened the first time she happened to smile at him- it was not a feeling he was unfamiliar with.
She was wearing a red satin dress and her hair was curled in a cascade of ringlets. Her face was the most beautiful he'd ever seen: perfect makeup, dazzling eyes, a smile that would've lit up the dark side of the moon.
But her image seemed to keep changing. For a second he thought it was an actress he had a crush on in fifth grade, and then he thought...it jarred him, when the woman's eyes turned purple and her hair black and she looked like Cressida before it changed again as fast as it appeared.
"Ah, there you are, Percy," the goddess said. "I am Aphrodite."
Percy made an unintelligible sound that made him sound like a Neanderthal.
She smiled. "Aren't you sweet. Hold this, please."
She handed him a polished mirror the size of a dinner plate and had him hold it up for her. She leaned forward and dabbed at her lipstick, though nothing appeared wrong with it. "Do you know why you're here?" she asked, and Percy pinched his arm, hard.
"I... I don't know," he managed.
"Oh, dear," Aphrodite said. "Still in denial?"
Outside the car, Ares laughed. Percy had a feeling that he could hear every word he said and the idea of that and of him being outside, alone with Cressida made Percy rather angry which was good because it helped clear his head. He glanced at the window, unable to see Ares from where he was probably leaning on the limo, but he could see Cressida. She'd taken his advice and put in her earphones, but just one, keeping the other out in order to be vigilant. She seemed angry, her eyes darker than normal, but that was probably a given seeing as she was with Ares. But with her long hair blowing in the wind, she looked as if she was back on Circe's island...in fact, she looked even more beautiful than she had back then because this time, she looked more like herself.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said quickly, returning his eyes to the goddess.
"Well then, why are you on this quest?"
"Artemis has been captured!"
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Oh, Artemis. Please. Talk about a hopeless case. I mean, if they were going to kidnap a goddess, she should be breathtakingly beautiful, don't you think? I pity the poor dears who have to imprison Artemis. Bor-ring!"
"But she was chasing a monster," he protested. "A really, really bad monster. We have to find it!"
"Always some monster. But, my dear Percy, that is why the others are on this quest. I'm more interested in you," Aphrodite said as she made him lift the mirror a little higher so she could dab at her mascara.
"Annabeth is in trouble," Percy said.
"Closer, but no," Aphrodite replied, still staring into the mirror.
"But she's in trouble! I've been having these dreams! And Cressida's lines of the prophecy-"
"Exactly!" Aphrodite beamed and Percy was even more confused than before as she gestured for him to keep going.
"She's going to get hurt and I won't let her and -"
"Oh, what a gentleman. That's so cute!" she swooned and Percy grew even more nervous as his heart began to pound.
"No! I mean... that's not what I meant."
She made a tsk tsk sound. "Percy, I'm on your side. I'm the reason you're here, after all."
He stared at her, more blankly than before. "What?"
"The idea Cressida got that made her stay behind, the poisoned shirt the Stoll brothers gave Phoebe and then a near identical one that they and Cressida's brothers gave to Catherine. Did you think that was an accident?" she said. "Sending Blackjack to find you and Cressida? Helping you sneak out of the camp?"
"You did that?!"
"Of course! Because, really, how boring these Hunters are! A quest for some monster, blah blah blah. Saving Artemis. Let her stay lost, I say. But a quest for true love –"
"Wait a second, I never said –"
"Oh, my dear. You don't need to say it. Do you know how close Cressida is to joining the Hunters?" she wondered and Percy's eyes widened. "The conversation she had with that huntress at the coffee shop swayed her. And if Annabeth joins, all the more reason for her to as well."
"But she said she hadn't decided yet!" Percy blushed.
"She's going to throw her life away! And you, my dear, you can save her from that. You can give her a reason to stay. It's so romantic!"
Percy was at a loss for words. "Uh..."
"Oh, put the mirror down," Aphrodite ordered. "I look fine."
Percy hadn't realised that he was still holding it, the second he put it down his arms grew insanely sore.
"Now listen, Percy," Aphrodite said. "The Hunters are your enemies. Forget them and Artemis and the monster. That's not important. You just concentrate on finding Annabeth and protecting Cressida."
He swallowed nervously. "Do you know where she is?"
Aphrodite waved her hand irritably. "No, no. I leave the details to you. But it's been ages since we've had a good tragic love story."
"Whoa, first of all, I never said anything about love. And second, what's up with tragic?"
"Cressida Lynn mentioned love to your pegasus because love conquers all," Aphrodite promised and while Percy's cheeks were flaming, his heart beat even faster in confusion at what Cressida could have possibly said to Blackjack that Blackjack didn't tell him. "Look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything come between them?"
"Didn't they start the Trojan War and get thousands of people killed?"
"Pfft. That's not the point. Follow your heart."
"But... I don't know where it's going. My heart, I mean."
She smiled sympathetically.
"Not knowing is half the fun," Aphrodite said. "Exquisitely painful, isn't it? Not being sure who you love and who loves you? Oh, you kids! It's so cute I'm going to cry."
"No, no," Percy said anxiously, not even wanting to imagine the trouble he'd be in if he made her cry after the trouble he got in for making Cressida cry. "Don't do that."
"And don't worry," she said. "I'm not going to let this be easy and boring for you. No, I have some wonderful surprises in store. Anguish. Indecision. Oh, you just wait."
"That's really okay,' Percy told her. "Don't go to any trouble."
"You're so cute. I wish all my daughters could break the heart of a boy as nice as you." Aphrodite's eyes were tearing up. "Now, you'd better go. And do be careful in my husband's territory, Percy. Don't take anything. He is awfully fussy about his trinkets and trash."
"What?" Percy asked. "You mean Hephaestus?"
But the car door opened, and Ares grabbed his shoulder, pulling him out of the car and back into the desert night. And Percy's audience with the goddess of love was over as he was shoved back into Cressida who once again caught him as he stumbled.
"You're lucky, punk," Ares said as Cressida steadied him, her hands on his arm and chest, her iPod back in her jacket pocket.
"Are you ok?" she asked, noticing how red his face was and how fast his heart was beating under her palm.
"Fine," he murmured, avoiding all eye contact.
"Be grateful," Ares interrupted, bringing back Percy's anger.
"For what?" he snapped.
"That we're being so nice. If it was up to me –"
"So why haven't you killed me?" Percy asked recklessly and he was even more surprised when Cressida didn't reprimand him for doing something that he knew was stupid. She just kept her grip on his wrist as her vengeful eyes never left Ares.
Ares seemed amused before he nodded, like Percy had finally said something intelligent.
"Your little girlfriend asked me the same question, and seriously, I'd love to kill you," he said, Percy going even redder if it was possible. "But, see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is that you might start the biggest war in history. I can't risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodite thinks you two are some kinda soap-opera stars or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her. But don't worry. I haven't forgotten my promise. Some day soon, kid – real soon – you're going to raise your sword to fight, and you're going to remember the wrath of Ares."
Percy balled his fists, but Cressida spoke first, drawing her spear as she spun it, ending with it tucked behind her shoulder as she stood in front of him. "Figures you'd depend on a curse to win your battles. You're a coward, under Kronos' control or not, because Zeus knows you'd lose in a fair fight."
His jaw seemed to twitch. "You don't fight fair either. You said so, yourself," he said, and Cressida smirked.
"Which is why a match between us would be fair. Or are you afraid like the coward you are?"
Ares grinned crookedly, but his eyes were angry. Cressida had struck a nerve.
"You're good," he admitted. "Much better than he is, but you still got nothing on the master of taunts. I'll start the fight when I'm good and ready. Until then... Get lost."
He snapped his fingers and the world began to spin in a cloud of red as the two demigods fell to the ground.
And when the dust cleared, the limo was gone, the road, the taco restaurant and the whole town of Gila Claw was gone as they lay in the middle of the junkyard, everyone else standing around them as they were surrounded by mountains of scrap metal.
Cressida turned to Percy from where she lay. "What exactly happened in that limo?"