madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-Hell. Her own personal hell-

She blinked rapidly, trying to calm her breathing. Teqi looked down, patting at her clothing, everything was intact. Her guts weren't spilling out over a snowy mountain side, she wasn't in an infirmary, but she was whole. Her friends. Oh gods, did they get off the bridge? Jason and maybe Thalia could fly, so they would be ok. They just had to get to Aelius's place, Thalia would have to go with her hunters because she was on the wrong side of the bridge. Teqi dug through her pockets desperately, she didn't have a coin.

She wasn't going to be able to go across the river to get to the underworld. She was going to be stuck here. You might wonder why Teqi was so nochalont about being dead, apart from the fact that she was in shock, she had realised something.

She was going to see Tony again.

The thought spurred her on, and she looked around at her surroundings. All she could see was a misty haze, this looked more like heaven than the underworld. There was a silhouette of something in the distance, so she made her way cautiously towards it, and soon enough she was standing in a garden of roses. They seemed to grow out of the white mist, or maybe it was clouds that she was standing on. The thing she had seen was actually a Gazebo. It was painted a dark green, and had ivy growing around it.

This was not the underworld. Someone was sitting on one of the cushioned seats, and when they turned around, Teqi stepped back. This was not Hades. The woman, a brunette lady with hard brown eyes and a golden tiara that matched the staff she was holding, smiled at her, though it didn't soften her eyes.

"You are not dead. Don't worry demigod."

Teqi nearly dropped to her knees. She tried to hold back the sob forming in her throat, and blinked. The woman only smiled at her, and patted one of the seats. Teqi sat down, this lady didn't look like a monster, but it turned out Teqi wasn't dead, so she could be hurt.

"Young one, you have come so far. The gods are proud of you."

Teqi narrowed her eyes, who was this woman? Obviously, she was immortal, she had a golden glow about her, sort of like the hunters, but why on earth would the gods be proud of her? She was only a side character that killed a few monsters and demigods in the background while everyone else went on the quests.

"You are so important to the great prophecy, you will alter the outcomes, for good or for worse. That will depend on whether you follow my advice. I have a plan in progress, this is the only way that the prophecy will come through, but. I need, your help." The woman finished quietly, obviously ashamed to need a demigods help, which must make her a goddess.

"I don't even know who you are! And why should I help you?" Teqi retorted quickly, she was quite worried about altering the outcomes of anything, but she was already making 'the outcome worse' because she wasn't a hunter, so what's the worst a little demigod could do against whatever they were fighting?

"I am a goddess, young one, and why you should help me? I can give you what you desire..." she trailed off, smirking slightly. This woman was arrogant, but it would be a very bad idea to punch whoever this goddess was in the face. Teqi just shifted slightly, balling her fists.

"And what would that be?" The goddess didn't seem to like her tone, but she ignored Teqi's rudeness and continued on.

"I can make him fall in love with you."

Teqi just sat there in shock. That was not what she was expecting, and boy was this conversation moving fast. The goddess just smiled at her smugly, which infuriated her even more. This obviously wasn't Aphrodite, so what on earth was this woman on about? Forcefully having someone love her was the opposite of what she wanted, even if it hurt that he didn't like her. And the fact that kissing someone was her biggest desire made her want to laugh. If she looked in the Mirror of Erised she certainly wasn't going to see an orgy.