Against My Will

1 | Ambushed by the Love Goddess

Nico was taking his daily walk through the forest of Camp Half Blood. It was the only time he could truly soak in the air, getting at least an hour of clarity and time to think. Usually he thought about how irrelevant everyone was to the existence of the universe and morbid things like that, but at least they were true, genuine thoughts.

That's when pink fog began to flood the ground at his feet, swirling around him. Oh gods. That couldn't be good. Nico's expression hardened as he unsheathed his sword and got into a ready position.

"Show yourself!" Nico demanded.

"Gladly," A voice giggled. Nico recognized the voice immediately. Aphrodite. The goddess constantly found joy in messing with his love life, and he had naturally grown sick of her.

"Aphrodite," Nico spat the name like it was poison on his tongue.

The pink fog cleared to reveal Aphrodite standing before Nico in all her "glory." She somehow managed to stun even Nico with her appearance, and he was gay. Nico blinked, quickly shaking the feeling off as he glared at Aphrodite.

"What are you doing here?" Nico growled, pointing his sword at the love goddess.

"Oh please, put your sword away," Aphrodite waved her hand absentmindedly, casually using charmspeak and forcing Nico to oblige, sheathing his sword.

"You didn't answer my question," Nico said, "Why. Are. You. Here?"

"That's not a way to greet the very woman that's about to help you in so many ways, now is it?" Aphrodite said, making a pouty face.

"What?" Nico blinked.

Aphrodite smirked at his confusion, continuing. "I just wanted to bestow a gift upon you, for all your gracious work. I mean, you were a hero in both wars, and you never got so much as a thank you! We both know you don't get the appreciation you deserve."

Nico frowned. "What are you talking about? Lots of people thanked me. And my friends' appreciation is all I need, more than I need," Nico explained.

"And you think they're actually genuine about it?" Aphrodite laughed as if the entire notion was somehow ridiculous. "Not to mention the dreaded relationship you're in right now, such a toxic one."

"You mean with Will?" Nico furrowed his eyebrows. His confusion quickly turned to anger. "Look, Aphrodite, you should really check your sources again. Will and I are incredibly happy together, and we love each other very much."

"I don't need to 'check my sources' on love, Nico, I am love," Aphrodite chuckled, "I have the latest status on everything!"

"Well your 'status' is incorrect," Nico growled, "Now leave. Whatever your gift is, I don't want it."

Nico spun around and began to storm around, when Aphrdoite's next words suddenly froze him in his tracks. "What about Percy?" Those three simple words sent a shiver down Nico's spine.

Nico grit his teeth. He had come out to Percy only a month ago, and it was still a touchy subject, even though he was completely over him. "Yeah, what about Percy?" Nico couldn't help himself from saying.

"I know you're still in love with him, Nico. It doesn't take me being the almighty goddess of love to see that," Aphrodite said.

"Oh my gods, shut up," Nico hissed, "I'm completely over Percy and you know that, what's the point of coming down here just to state lies?"

Aphrodite ignored him, continuing. "That's what I'm gifting upon you actually, dear Nico. Percy," Nico could hear the sickening, twisted grin in Aphrodite's words.

"You're gifting me... Percy?" Nico frowned. "You really are a psycho! I... I refuse to accept your 'gift!' Read my lips! I am freaking in love with William Solace!"

"Well if you're going to be this ungrateful, I guess I'll just have to take matters into my own hands!" Aphrodite shouted. Despite her usual giddy tone, she sounded terrifying now. She was the goddess of love, and she was going to destroy Nico.

She snapped her fingers, and Nico doubled over in pain, moaning in agony. "What... are you... doing... to me?" Nico choked out, before letting out another scream of pain.

Aphrodite just smirked, watching it all unfold. "I think you underestimated me, Nico. I tried to be gracious but you paid me back with being an ungrateful little brat. So I'm going to do what I should have done much, much longer ago," Aphrodite said, letting out a giddy giggle.

"...evil," Nico said through grit teeth.

"Say what you must, in just a few moments you'll never think like that again," Aphrodite said.

Suddenly, it stopped. The pain immediately just... disappeared. Nico's eyes flashed bright pink before returning to their normal obsidian color. He stood up to face Aphrodite with a smile, bowing. "Thank you for your gifts, Aphrodite. I gratefully accept," He said.

"Go have some fun," Aphrdoite smirked.

Thanks for reading the first chapter! I'd just like to say that full credit goes to LonleyDarkLord for inspiring this story. Her book 'Spellbound' as a matter of fact. You should all go check both that and all of her other books out, they're amazing!

Also, I don't know how frequent updates on this will be, but I will try to update as often as I can.