The door of the limo opened right next to Percy. Before he could step away, the point of a sword touched his throat, causing a thin trail of blood to trickle down his neck. Seeing that, Sylvia instinctively shot an arrow at the place his assailant's eye should be.

Then she saw who he was. He didn't even look at her as he caught the arrow and snapped it in between two of his fingers. He smiled cruelly at Percy. "Not so fast now, are ya, punk?"

He was a big "man" with a crew cut, a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, a white muscle shirt, and combat boots. Wraparound shades hid his eyes, but Sylvia knew what was behind those glasses--hollow sockets filled with flames.

Sylvia grinned at Clarisse's dad, lowering her bow.

"Ares," Percy growled.

The war god glanced at the group, shooting a grin right back at Sylvia. "At ease, people."

He snapped his fingers, and everyone's weapons fell to the ground. He threw the arrow back at Sylvia, completely new. She nodded her thanks and put it in her quiver.

I cannot believe you two get along, Fawkes remarked. 

Ever since Clarisse and I had to contact him about getting the warship for our quest last summer and he saw me punch Alan in the face for bothering us during the Iris Message, he's liked me, Sylvia told her.

"This is a friendly meeting." Ares dug the point of his blade a little farther under Percy's chin. Sylvia didn't understand why that made her gut twist a bit. She was probably just jealous that she didn't get to attack him herself. "Of course, I'd like to take your head for a trophy and see Sylvia explode with envy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

"What lady?" Thalia asked, echoing Sylvia's thoughts.

Ares looked over at her. "Well, well. I heard you were back." He glanced at Sylvia, or, rather, her shoulder. "You too, Fawkes."

Fawkes bowed her head. Lord Ares, I am...honored...to be in your presence.

"Quite some shade," Ares chuckled. He quickly became disinterested in the phoenix and turned back to Thalia, lowering his sword and pushing Percy onto the ground. Sylvia frowned at him for a moment.

Wow, his weird war god energy really is making me irritable, if I'm this jealous of him getting to hurt Percy.

"Thalia, daughter of Zeus," Ares mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company. Except Sylvia, of course. She's the only cool one out of all of you."

Sylvia smirked and Percy gaped at her. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised you're friends with him," he muttered.

"What's your business, Ares?" Thalia asked. "Who's in the car?"

Ares smiled, enjoying the attention and snapping his fingers again as Lux tried to pick up their crossbow. The child of Apollo retreated behind Sylvia, though not before giving him a glare that seemed to surprise everyone. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoe and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? It'll only take Percy and Sylvia a few minutes each."

"We will not leave them alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoe said.

"Oh, come on," Sylvia told them. "We'll be fine. Well, I'll be fine. With Percy being stuck between me and Ares, I'm not so sure he'll survive."

Ares high-fived her.

"Besides," Grover managed, "the taco place is closed."

Ares clapped his hands together. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign switched to OPEN. "You were saying, goat boy?"

"Go on," Percy told them, obviously about to piss his pants from fear. "I'll handle him...them," he added, scowling at Sylvia. She flipped him off in return.

"You heard the boy," Ares said. "He's big and strong."

Sylvia snorted.

"He's got things under control."

Sylvia's friends reluctantly headed over to the taco restaurant, Lux still shooting daggers at the god.

"You too, Fawkes." Ares told the phoenix.

Fawkes sighed, said something to him that Sylvia didn't quite catch and was probably more foul than anything she'd ever said herself, and flew to Lux.

Ares regarded Percy with loathing then opened the limousine door like a chauffeur.

"Get inside, punk," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am." He shoved Percy into the vehicle and shut the door.

~~~

"So...you watch any good movies lately?" Ares asked Sylvia.

"Do you have any idea how to talk to teenagers without just threatening them?" Sylvia questioned.

"No," Ares admitted.

"Same."

The pair stood in silence for a bit, Sylvia wishing she could be murdering Percy instead of waiting for him to talk to some lady.

Some lady with Ares...

"Shit, Aphrodite's in there, isn't she?"

Ares nodded at her. "You're much smarter than Fish-for-Brains."

"I mean, that isn't much of an accomplishment," Sylvia pointed out.

"A truer word has never been spoken." Ares sharpened a dagger on his jacket. "Why are you wasting your life on saving the world when you could literally post a single rap battle between you and one of your famous half-siblings on literally any content platform, win, and make millions?"

Sylvia thought about that for a moment. "I dunno. I guess it's too easy. Saving everyone on this sorry Earth is at least a bit of a challenge."

"Good answer."

"Is Aphrodite going to interrogate me about my non-existent romantic relationships?" Sylvia asked him.

"You don't have a girlfriend?" Ares asked her, looking shocked when she shook her head. "Wait, so you aren't lesbian?"

"Nah, I'm pan."

He looked Sylvia up and down (IN A PG WAY) for a moment, then nodded to himself. "Makes sense. You aren't dating anyone, though?"

"I wish." Sylvia felt a pang of guilt as she realized she was just standing around, doing nothing, instead of trying to find Annabeth.

"But Aph is always talking about you--nevermind."

Sylvia decided not to think about that or what it meant for too long. She didn't really have to, as the door opened, a very obviously blushing Percy walking out. He was avoiding eye contact with Sylvia, which she took as a sign of weakness. He tried to walk toward the taco place, but Ares grabbed the collar of his shirt and tugged him back. "She wants to talk to you again after this," he told him, smirking and grabbing two more daggers out of a pocket.

For some reason, this really irked Sylvia. "Leave him alive for me later, won't you? You can't just have all the fun."

Ares sighed. "Fine."

Sylvia entered the limousine--which was starting to faintly smell like roses--not really sure what to expect. 

When she saw her, Sylvia's jaw dropped.

She forgot her name. She forgot the quest. She forgot where she was. She forgot how to speak in complete sentences. It was the most incapacitating case of gay panic she'd ever had.

She was wearing a red satin dress and her hair was curled in a cascade of light blue ringlets. Her eyes were the prettiest shade of green Sylvia had ever seen, and her makeup was absolutely stunning. When she smiled, it looked exactly like Annabeth's expression whenever she talked about architecture.

"Sylvia Melody Fléche La Rue," Aphrodite said in a sweet French accent. Sylvia had always hated her name because of how long it was, but the way the goddess said it made her proud of it. "I am Aphrodite, as I'm sure you have figured out already."

Sylvia knew for a fact that her ability to speak hadn't returned to her yet, so she just nodded.

"Aren't you sweet. Here, your makeup has started to fade. Let me do it for you." Aphrodite took out a mascara wand and Sylvia held herself perfectly still as the goddess began to do her eyelashes. "Are you looking for more natural, or sweet, or what?"

"J-just natural," Sylvia managed, looking anywhere but at the love goddess. "Please," she quickly added.

"Do you know why you're here?" Aphrodite asked. She moved to do Sylvia's lipstick.

Sylvia, you stupid queer, pull it together, she told herself sternly.

"I...I don't know," Sylvia managed. "Is it...Annabeth?" She whispered the last word.

"Oh, dear." Aphrodite said. "I'd forgotten about that." She snapped her fingers, and Sylvia felt something in her change. "I had you like her after watching Twilight, you see. That movie always makes me want to spruce up love lives. You should be good now."

"What do you mean by 'good?'" Sylvia questioned.

"Well, honey, I did you a favour. You don't have feelings for her anymore! Isn't it wonderful?" Aphrodite beamed.

I...how..what?

"O-oh...thank you?" Sylvia really wasn't sure how to react to that. Of course, she'd hated her crush on Annabeth, but, at the same time, she really didn't like the idea of her feelings just...being forced away.

Aphrodite switched to blush, dabbing some on Sylvia's cheeks. "I'm sure everyone will enjoy watching your love life grow from now on!"

"Wait...what?" Sylvia's brow furrowed. "But I thought you just..."

Huh? Sylvia was so confused.

"I got rid of those feelings, yes. But not the other feelings." Aphrodite grabbed an eyeshadow brush. "Hmm...which colour?"

"What other feelings?" Sylvia didn't like the idea of having a crush on anyone else. It made her feel sick to her stomach.

"Oh, you'll figure it out." Aphrodite smiled. "I think this shade is the closest to your skin colour, so we'll go with that." She closed Sylvia's eyelid gently and swished the brush around for a moment. "I'm not allowed to say much, anyways. But it's been ages since we've had a good tragic love story, so I can't wait!"

"Whoa, first of all, I have never romantically loved anyone. And second, what do you mean by tragic?" The sick feeling in Sylvia's stomach was beginning to grow.

"Love conquers all," Aphrodite promised, moving to Sylvia's other eye. "Look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything come between them?"

"I mean, they started the Trojan War and got thousands of people killed..." Sylvia pointed out.

"Pfft. That's not the point. Follow your heart."

"But...I don't know where my heart is going."

Aphrodite smiled sympathetically as she began to dab concealer that was somehow the exact tan shade as Sylvia's skin. "Percy said the same thing, dear. You'll both figure it out eventually. Plus, not knowing is half the fun. 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."

"Don't do that." Sylvia wasn't really sure if she meant it. 

"And don't worry." Aphrodite pat Sylvia's head. "I'm not going to let this be easy and boring for you. No, I have some wonderful surprises in store. Anguish. Betrayal. Indecision. Oh, you just wait."

"That's really okay," Sylvia rushed. "Don't go to any trouble."

"You're so cute. I wish you were my own daughter."

Sylvia blinked at her. That was...actually the nicest thing she'd ever heard from anyone. Don't cry, she thought. Please, gods, don't cry.

"Now, you'd better go," Aphrodite told her. "And do be careful in my husband's territory, Sylvia. Don't take anything. He is awfully fussy about his trinkets and trash."

"Hephaestus?" Sylvia asked.

Aphrodite merely hugged her and whispered her goodbyes. "Oh, wait, I almost forgot!" The goddess perked up. "You need to see the final result!" She pulled out an ornate hand mirror and showed Sylvia her reflection.

Sylvia couldn't even tell there was makeup on her face. She'd forgotten how drop-dead gorgeous she was. Even her golden hair and emerald eyes seemed brighter than before. "Thank you so much," she murmured, in complete awe.

"It'll stay like that for about a week or two," Aphrodite promised.

Sylvia barely heard her as she opened the limousine door, got out, and shut it.

Percy stared at her with a weird expression on his face. He must've been arguing with Ares the entire time, because his cheeks were bright red.

"Oh, there's been a change of plans." Ares smirked at Percy, as if he knew something Sylvia didn't. "Aphrodite doesn't feel the need to talk to both of you at the same time now. Bye, Sylvia! Don't forget to kill this jackass for me!"

"Of course." Sylvia grinned. 

Ares snapped his fingers and the world did a three-sixty, spinning in a cloud of red dust. 

Sylvia fell on the ground, or possibly on Percy. She wasn't entirely sure. When the dust cleared, she realized it was Percy. They both scrambled away from each other and stood up, Percy still having that weird face.

The limousine was gone. Actually, the entire town and road were gone. Sylvia, her friends, and Percy were standing in the middle of the junkyard, mountains of scrap metal stretched out in every direction.

"That's not ominous at all," Sylvia remarked.

Word count: 2.1k (seems to always be that somehow)

Two updates within 24 hrs :0

I cannot believe it

Also sorta edited

QOTD: If Aphrodite offered to give you a makeover, what would you say?

A: YES YES YES YES YES

Anygays, drink water and eat

Cya<33

~Aspen