19 days until the war.
I sat in my tent and looked at the wraps on my left forearm.
Percy.
Percy, my half-brother, was the one behind this... He's the one that waged war on Camp Ops.
Will.
Will, my... My boyfriend, might have helped him.
Chiron.
Chiron, the kind centaur who ran Camp Half Blood, ought to have been trying to stop Percy.
Carrie.
Carrie, the boy I love, has forgotten me and I'm sure he won't be remembering me anytime soon, or ever.
Me.
Neptuna?
No.
I'm not Neptuna.
I'm Courtney.
And it's all my fault this war has been started.
No, child, it is mine. Aphrodite's voice suddenly spoke in my head. It was my idea to erase your memory and send you to Camp Ops, along with the other gods approval.
"Why?" I whispered. "Why would you do that?"
I knew that if you and the boy Carrie were to end up together it must be done.
"...Thank you, lady Aphrodite, but you should have stopped me from going out with Will first..."
That was not my doing, child. That was the work of Venus.
"Could you not have stopped her?"
No, Aphrodite sighed in my head. Alas, I could not. She is my perfect opposite.
Yes I am. Spoke another voice who must've been Venus. I must say I have been trying to penetrate the boy's defences for a very long time now.
Now that we worked together it went much quicker.
"Wait, so—"
Yes, because of you we were able to make him feel. Because of you he can feel pain. Because of you innocent demigods will be slaughtered. Venus laughed.
Those are not because of her! Aphrodite spoke, those are the mistakes of the gods!
The gods make no mistakes! Venus hissed.
The two love goddesses started screaming at each other, and finally I had enough.
"Stop it!"
The two goddesses fell silent.
Jupiter would be on my side. Snarled Venus.
Apollo would be on my side. Countered Aphrodite.
Don't you dare talk about that puny sun god in my presence! If he doesn't grow up soon then he'll get that punishment again, like the old days.
We all know that but who cares!
"What punishment?" I questioned.
Where Zeus would turn him Mortal. Aphrodite quickly explained.
And we all know where he would go crawling after that happens.
Right back to his son that he never appreciates. I can't think of any olympian Greek or Roman that wouldn't do anything to have the boy that has so far defied Zeus three times... and counting!
True.
Did you hear about what Zeus is planning?
Of course, everyone's trying to make sure it's fool-proof before he makes it happen.
"What? What plan?"
Sorry, we can't tell, you'll see it happen once the war is over, if you survive. Once Camp Ops see that you're from both of the other camps you better run and pray.
"They wouldn't... attack me, right?"
What do you think? You saw what Alivia did, and she actually knew you!
And with that both voices went silent. I tried to call them back but it had no effect.
"Want some breakfast?" Natalie peeked her head into my tent.
"Uh, sure, have you ever met your godly parent?" I asked.
She sat down next to me and took in a deep breath, "A few times, why?"
"I just had a thought... do you think Carrie's ever met Apollo?"
"He has but they have never spoken before."
"Why do you guys train so hard at Camp Ops?"
"There are different reasons but the biggest one is to prove ourselves to our parents. The more powerful the parent, the harder you train."
"That doesn't make sense, why does Carrie train so hard then? Apollo isn't very powerful."
"It depends more on how you look at it. The sun is pretty much the reason for all existence." She got up, shrugged and exited my tent.
After a few moments of thinking I realised, though Apollo isn't the most powerful god he's the hardest to please. The only thing that pleases him is himself.
Unless you're at Camp Half Blood. There kids are pleasing Apollo left and right, at Camp Ops Apollo is never pleased.
I decided right then and there the next time I saw Apollo I would either have an extremely heated conversation with him or I would punch him for being a complete idiot. God or not.