The apartment was amazing. Aphrodite said it was on 4 Mosbesimi Ave, a penthouse on an offshoot somewhere near Manhattan. It's especially amazing because it's one of the most expensive apartments I've ever been in. I'm getting weird flashbacks to that one time Marty Darwin threw a party in his dad's Brooklyn loft, except my apartment with Aphrodite easily blows that one out of the water.
It must've cost an arm and a leg, though...
Look, I'm from around here—I'm pretty sure I grew up a couple of streets over, so I know how much money you need to drop for a high-end place like this. Beyond that, Aphrodite went all out and got the penthouse, too, so she must've dropped a lot of bills here.
At the same time, though, my dad and aunt had mentioned that money didn't matter much to immortals. Eh, I still appreciated the effort she must've gone through.
Her bedroom was the only thing on the second floor, and the stairs were some of those invisible string stairs, where they were just slabs of wood being suspended in the air. For all I know, they're actually being suspended in the air by her magic.
She excitedly led me down the stairs, dragging me over to the living room. The living room was probably the size of me and my mom's entire old apartment and decked out with different paintings and potted plants. There was a gigantic glass door leading to a balcony, and the balcony could see all the way up to Times Square.
I even saw the Hilton that I stayed in once upon a time when my mom and I were tossed out of our very first apartment. A part of me wondered if Zeus was pissed off that I was so high in the air. There's no way I'm high enough for him to strike me down, right? This isn't airplane height!
The couch looked comfy, too. It was one of those big L-shaped ones, with cupholders and completely motorized reclining. The TV, much like Triton's, was way bigger than any of the ones I'd ever personally seen, and Aphrodite somehow set up a complete surround sound system.
There was a kitchen somewhere near the entrance of the door, and from what I could tell, it looked pretty sleek—not that I cared, really. I couldn't tell you the last time I actually cooked for myself. At camp, well, we had the nymphs and spirits, at Atlantis I had the royal cooks, and on my own, I had [Food Generation] so I never really had to worry about it.
"So, you said you wanted to catch a movie?" I grinned at the excited look on her face. "Well, lucky for you, I know the perfect place…"
"So…run me through it again," I said with a small smile on my face as Aphrodite and I walked through Central Park. We just caught a matinee. I think Aphrodite thought I said manatee because she looked really confused and a bit put out when we sat down at the movies—she brought an umbrella, too, for some reason—but it was actually pretty fun.
We saw Wrath of Man and I absolutely loved it. It was one of those tough-guy movies—your standard cold and mysterious character working at a dangerous job and kicking ass. In the movie, the guy worked for a cash truck company responsible for moving hundreds of millions of dollars around Los Angeles each week; my bread and butter.
Also, the lead was Jason Statham, of course. Who else would play the part? He's like the king of tough guys. I've been watching him since I was a little kid. I loved it to pieces. The plot was a bit standard, but the effects and everything were amazing, and I was pretty comfortable with Aphrodite snuggling up on my arm. Thank Zeus for those comfy chairs, right?
It was a bit funny, though, because Aphrodite had no idea how the special effects worked, so every time there was an explosion or fight of some sort, she yelped and jumped as if it was real.
After, though, we decided to go on a walk and meet the rest of my family—wow that feels weird to say—at a restaurant for lunch. Aphrodite assured me it was going to be a surprise.
We had some time to burn though, so we continued our little date into Central Park, and I was walking through it with her by my side.
Man, the last time I was here, it was with my sixth-grade class—that bench over there? Yeah, Grover tripped over a stick in front of it and stumbled onto it, knocking over a homeless guy. Said homeless guy chased him around for, like, ten minutes after. I didn't stop laughing the whole time. I miss that dude.
I'll have to make it a point to drop by Camp today—I want to catch up with Malcolm and Annabeth, too. Oh, uh, and Piper. We haven't really talked since the whole rock-climbing thing, but I have caught her shooting me dirty looks. I mean, hey, second place isn't bad! Since I left, like, a few days later, she was probably treated like the winner anyway! A win-win.
"You're awfully dense sometimes, Percy," Aphrodite complained, shadows falling over her face. The sun hung high in the air, and some of the rays broke through the gigantic tree line. It felt kind of weird to see the sun after so long, but eh, who am I to complain? "Persephone does indeed love Hades, but she's forced to go live with her mom because her mom loves her. Well, and she loves her mom, but it's more of a power struggle thing. It's easier for Hades and Demeter to agree to sharing her like that rather than fighting."
"So, she splits time between the both of them to avoid that sort of conflict?"
Aphrodite hummed, "Yeah. Well, for broad strokes purposes, sure. It's a bit more difficult to explain in its entirety, but I think you sort of get the idea."
"And that's my uncle's kid. My uncle and aunt. They…" I poked my two index fingers together. "It's best not to think about such things," Aphrodite warned, her face gaining a serious look. For a moment, Aphrodite reminded me that she was an ageless, immortal entity, not just a cute girl. "I'm sure you've realized this already, but a lot of immortals have done things that are less than stellar."
"Yeah…they have," I agreed, thinking back to the story of Medusa. A bitter taste settled in my mouth. "Do immortals ever, I don't know, change?"
"Well, sure we do. As the heart of civilization moves, not only do we follow it, but we gain qualities of the place it goes," She gave me a knowing look. "That's why, when Greece was the epicenter of our power, we embodied the characteristics present in their society. We were immoral at times, focused on power and prestige, and used our abilities to meddle in mortal affairs. There's a reason there are so many myths around those times, and a severe lack of them now.
"Many gods did things they'd soon regret, even outright condemn in some cases. Of course, that's not to give anyone a free pass, just another factor to take into consideration."
That kind of took some of the wind out of my sails for making them pay for those things, so to speak, but not all of it. Heart of civilization or not, there were some things that the gods did that I don't think I'd ever be able to look past.
"Is…is that something that bothers you a lot?" Aphrodite continued, her perfectly groomed eyebrows knitting together at the pensive look on my face. She tugged my hand a bit. "I know you have questions."
"Not now," I smiled at her, pushing away my thoughts for now. It's a nice day, I have a pretty girl by my side—there's no reason to get all depressed. "I'm more focused on you and me right now. Did you have fun at the movie?"
Her cheeks took on a golden flush. "Yeah. I did. I didn't think I would, honestly. That movie seemed…not to my taste."
I laughed. "Yeah, I thought so too, but it was the only matinee for some reason, and you did say you wanted to meet everyone for dinner."
"Well, I did say I'd be there, and I figured you'd want to see them too," Aphrodite fired back, her smooth fingertips tapping my knuckles. "Your mom and Hestia miss you, you know. Your mother only has one son, and Hestia's grown rather fond of you."
"That's fair," I frowned. I guess in this bull rush to get stronger and stuff, I kind of forgot to well, consider everyone else's feelings.
The prophecy is kind of fucking up my ability to do that, though. I mean, I guess this sort of thing is debatable, but having a timer on my life sort of makes everyone else's problems fade away…like come on, do you really think I care about stupid stuff like camp contests and dumb stuff like dances when I'm literally going to die soon?
I mean, yeah, I care about my family and stuff, but my dad walked into my mind with a weed whacker and slashed all of my dreams and expectations. How the hell am I supposed to live with the knowledge that a single choice I make will either doom everyone I love or save them? And, either way, I'll kick the bucket at the end of it.
I'm worried, okay! Why the hell else do you think I'm trying so hard to get strong so fast? Why do you think I'm trying my hardest to get powerful? I need to beat this prophecy, man, I can't die!
I was broken out of my thoughts as a flock of birds flew by me. I took in a few deep breaths- when did I even start breathing heavily?
Okay, I know. I'm sorry. That was uncalled for and unfair. Zeus, why am I even thinking these kinds of thoughts? My life is finally looking up—I have no reason to worry so much, or be so angry, right?
"Hey," Aphrodite said softly, looking at me with a worried smile. "Don't think too much, okay? You said were focused on me, right?"
I managed a smile. "Yeah, I am. Sorry, I don't really know what happened right there."
"Percy," Aphrodite stressed, placing a hand on my shoulder. "This is new, yes, but I'm here for you. Now isn't the time, but eventually, you can open up to me. Now come on, we're getting late."
"Okay," I said, smiling back at her. "You're right. Thank you."
"Of course," Aphrodite's eyes crinkled, "Anyway. Like I was saying, their deal is part of a larger problem some immortals have with sharing…"