Daughter of Hera

Chapter 10

Dedicated to @heradaughter1997

Raven's POV

I left Nico in my cabin, taking care to exit while keeping the door half closed so Piper, Hazel and Annabeth couldn't see inside because I really wasn't in the mood for rumours.

"We're so sorry" Hazel said as soon as I had cleared the door frame

"Really, really sorry, it wasn't fair of us to judge you" Piper put in

"After all, the godly family tree is Really messed up, we should've expected something like this" Annabeth concluded

"It's ok, I wouldn't have believed it either"

"Good, now lets over to the canoe lake..."

"Not so fast girls"

Annabeth, Hazel and I all turned around and Piper groaned.

"She's behind me isn't she?"

"Yep" and it was true, standing behind us was Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty.

Piper muttered something uncomplimentary under her breath.

"Now now dears, I simply had to meet darling Raven. Ohh such a lovely story, I mean love life, I mean girl" Aphordite had the grace to look slightly embarrassed.

"Shopping again?" Hazel asked

"Of course dear, Raven's mother's issued a challenge after all"

I groaned "All she said was that it wasn't fair you got all the fun"

"Well I'm going to show you just how fun shopping can be"

We all groaned Aphrodite waved her hands and we found ourselves in a Pairs department store.

"I'm so sorry guys, she does this every time" Piper whispered, obviously embarrassed and by annoyed at her mother.

"It's not your fault, my mother's the one who's at fault. One offhand comment, Just One!"

Hazel and Annabeth laughed.

"Come come girls, I have some interesting things to show you"

And Aphrodite dragged us over to racks of dresses.

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By about noon we had had enough shopping. We had walked from store to store and were carrying heavy bags loaded with gowns, perfumes, makeup and goodness knows what else. Aphrodite simply hadn't taken no for an answer.

The positive side though, was that the other girls and I had bonded and were well on our way to becoming fast friends.

Aphrodite started to drag us towards another shop when my mother appeared.

"You've had your fun Aphrodite, now it's my turn"

"As you wish Queen Hera, but I bet they'll prefer my idea of shopping over yours"

We all groaned at the idea of more shopping and Aphrodite smirked. She vanished, taking our bags with her.

Hera turned to face us and was confronted by a Very angry Annabeth.

"How could you..." and so began a very long tirade that I swear entered every language known to man, or Annabeth- which was probably the same thing.

Hera looked stunned and soon Hazel and Piper had to restrain Annabeth while I tried to convince Hera not to turn her into a peacock.

"It's not her fault, she just really missed Percy" I tried to explain but was cut off by a long stream of cussing from Annabeth.

"Wow she's worse than Blackjack and Arion combined" Hazel said, seemingly in awe

"Wash your mouth out Annabeth"

"Well" said Hera once we managed to calm Annabeth "In light of that I think I should delegate my position as guide, here" Hera snapped her fingers and we found ourselves in the Amazon Headquarters "Hylla?"

"Yes my lady?" Said Queen Hylla, stepping down off her throne

"Give these girls the Royal Shopping Experience, my shout"

Hera disappeared, leaving Piper, Hazel, Annabeth and I alone with Queen Hylla.

"Hi, I'm Raven" I said to diffuse the tension

"Piper"

"Annabeth"

"And you've already met me, I'm Hazel"

Hylla nodded, taking all this in her stride.

"Does she, ugh, do this often?"

"Yeah she does, every now and then she gets into a competition with Aphrodite, well anyway..."

"Please no more shopping" We all whined

"Oh don't worry, I'll think you'll enjoy this" Hylla told us, flagging down a forklift and hopping aboard. We followed her example and the forklift sped off, Hylla pointing out major features and Annabeth occasionally asking about the structure of the building, roof, shelve space maximisation etc etc.

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Soon we found that Hylla was right, Hera's idea of shopping was so much better than Aphrodite's. We were given a tour of the Amazon facility and were shown rows after rows of the most amazing inventions. There were dresses with light bronze chain mail concealed by fabric, heels built for running, necklace slingshots, homing beacon earrings and a barrage of other ways to conceal weapons and defences about your person. We tried on our favourites and ended up with a variety of selections.

Piper got a light pink strapless dress that was held in place by concealed celestial bronze plate armour and complemented her skin beautifully. Annabeth got a sea blue dress that had only one strap, coming off her right shoulder. This strap didn't really hold the dress in place but instead served as padding so a shield could be worn without chafing. Hazel, the olden day girl she is, chose a loose fitting, ankle length golden bronze dress that concealed full Roman battle armour.

"Come in Raven!"

"Yeah you need a dress too"

"What about this one?" Piper asked, motioning to a short, curve hugging orange dress.

"It's not got any concealed armour or anything" Annabeth argued

"So? She'd look gorgeous in it"

"What about this one?" Hazel said, holding up a white Ancient Greek style dress that was fireproof.

"No, white would clash horribly with her pale complexion"

"Can't take the Aphrodite out of you, can we?" I jested

"Here Raven" Hylla had returned with the most gorgeous dress I had ever seen. It was black, curve emphasising, covered with thousands of hidden pockets and, the tag assured us, indestructible.

"Try it on, try it on" the others cried.

I rushed over to the change rooms and slipped into the most comfortable dress I have ever worn.

I walked out of the change rooms and Piper squealed.

"Raven you look amazing!"

"Dam amazing" Annabeth expanded

"Schist you look amazing" Hazel said

Hylla laughed and slipped a Raven feather cloak about my shoulders.

"You look like a true Amazon Raven" she said with pride

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"That was the best day shopping I've ever had in my life" Hazel admitted

"Well for something Hera organised it wasn't to bad"

"Oh come off it Annabeth, you loved it"

"Shh" Piper whispered "Mum might hear you"

"So what's the story?" I asked

"We couldn't pick which was better" Annabeth said

"Agreed" we all said in unison.