Rising Storm (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Alex

My eyes flutter open. Was I dead? Nico Di Angelo was standing above me which meant absolutely nothing considering the underworld was practically his vacation home. Considering that I know I wasn’t on Circe’s island, and Nico was the only person I could see, my hopes of being alive were slim.

“Am I dead?” I ask aloud. Nico turned.

“Undetermined.” That was reassuring. My memory was fuzzy, but I know that I told Leo that I loved him. Oh gods, why the hell did do that? Yes, I guess I really do love him. He was funny, and has stuck by me and believed in me even when he shouldn’t have.  He believed in me, even when I wasn’t me. And now? Everybody loses. Nico held out his hand and helped me up. “The gods are waiting.” Gods? With an s? There are multiple of them that are waiting for me?

I glance over at the double doors standing not too far away.  I don’t know where we were. It was cold, and dead, and dark with fog curling at our feet. I took a deep breath and adjusted my crown. (Ya, that’s right, I’m still was wearing it.) I swung open the doors and marched inside. There were three doors. Three gods? I looked at Nico but he just shrugged. I looked over at the doors again. There was only one way to find out…

I pushed through the first door, and I got blasted in the face with icey air, and the doors shut behind me, leaving Nico in the other room. “The ultimate sacrifice.” It was Aphrodite of course. I can’t stand her. “Dying to protect the one you love most? It’s the ultimate sacrifice, and the ultimate sadness. Imagne Le’s broken heart right now.” She sighed. “How romantic.” I knit my eyebrows. This girl has got to be kidding me. How can she possibly call that romance?

“You can’t possibly be the goddess of love if you think that.” I spat. She raised an eyebrow.

“No, no dearie. I think that BECAUSE I’m the goddess of love.” Personally, I would let you live. I never wanted Hecate to rule the world. I always knew you would fall in love with Leo. It’s even more of a reason why he is so important in this world of demigods and monsters. I was the one made you two meet a couple of years ago. I thought I could avoid war, but no such luck. Hecate knows what I have been trying to do and has kept me on her watch ever since.”

“And why would you want to try to help me?” She rolled her eyes.

“If Circe ruled the world, it would be a land without love, and then I would be useless and bored all the time. I was made for love! Do you think it was a coincidence that Leo just happened to be walking passed when you first came to camp, or that Chiron told you that your name was Tempest, or that Leo found you when you tried to escape? Remember when you were starting to be able to use your magic? That was because you were starting to break the curse. I was the one who told Arabeya the secret of breaking the curse so that she could tell Leo.” That whole rule on how to break the curse was confusing. Leo said that I had to kill them, but if I was Circe, I would have, which would have broken the curse. “Oh please. They lied about that. That’s not how you break the curse.”

“Then how?” I demand.

“Love. You have to fall in love of course. Duh.” My mouth dropped open.

“So… Leo knew, and he was trying to make me fall in love with him?” You have got to be kidding me. Aphrodite shrugged.

“I think a smarter approached would have been to get you a puppy or something, but he doesn’t seem to like making life easy.” I frown.

“So, all this time, Leo never ACTUALLY loved me, he was just pretending so I could fall in love with him and save the world?” I tried to suppress the anger, but waved it off as if I was insane.

“What, are you kidding me? Oh no. He’s hopelessly in love with you. Always has, always will.”

“Always?”

“Always.” She stated flatly.