Runaway Goddess

Chapter 17- Aphrodite

     I steadied my breathing. Going against my father and his army was hard enough, but trying to defeat a god alone, was way harder than I had anticipated.

     Apollo stood in front of me, sword in hand. That just makes me feel worse I thought, shifting my weight to my other side. He can barely hold a sword, yet he can fight better than me!

     Apollo lunged at me, and I barely dogged. "Nice, Aphrodite." He said, sliding to a stop. "But you're gonna have to do a lot more than just doge if you want to beat me."

     "I'm trying," I grunted, raising my sword and hitting his. "It's not easy when you're the goddess of love and not archery." I deflected his hit with my shield found an open spot in the middle of his stomach and lunged at him. Apollo saw me away and put his sword horizontally to my neck, the sword touching my skin.

     "Almost, Aphrodite," He said chuckling. "Almost."

     "Oh really?" I said and pointed to my sword. Apollo looked down and noticed my sword touching his back. Apollo smiled at me. "Good job," He removed his sword and sheathed it. I did the same.

     "Quite the fight there you two," Poseidon said, coming into the room. "Apollo, that was much better than previous fights, but getting cocky isn't going to get you anywhere in a fight except getting your face punched a few more times." Poseidon turned to me. "That was excellent Aphrodite! Make sure to watch for blind spots as well as defend yourself."

     He smiled and left the training hall of the Underwater palace. Apollo gave me a pout. "Why does he always praise you and get on to me?" He asked, taking off his armor and placing it in his cubby. "It ain't fair." He sighed and placed his sword on a rack on top of his cubby.

     "It's just because he cares for you," I told him, also putting my stuff away. "He's just harder on you because you're the one that needs more help." I stuck out my tongue and he rolled his eyes. His golden blonde hair covered his eyes, not allowing me to see his entire face.

     He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. His hair glistened in the sunlight.

     "Listen I think you're ok to leave if you want to. I know it's been forever since you got a break from all of this fighting." He paused. "I know someone's waiting for you."

     He winked at me. He started to make his way out of the room. "Go get him, Aphrodite." He smiled turned back and left. I caught myself smiling for the longest time ever. After all this time, I haven't really taken a deep moment to think of everything that was going on in my life. Of course, I thought of him 24/7 and it hurt every time I couldn't see him throughout the whole war but now. Now I have my chance to meet him. It feels weird but amazing all at the same time. I hope he didn't forget about me and I hope he hasn't changed his feelings about me. I thought. I feel anxious to meet him. What if he found someone else? No, he wouldn't. I'm just overthinking all of this.

     Now is my chance.