The Lost Goddess

Trouble

APHRODITE

Aphrodite kissed the mortal she'd met for the last time.

"I'll be back lovely," she said

But she wouldn't be.

Aphrodite did not feel bad about abandoning her clueless lover. She was using him anyway. For a greater cause.

Aphrodite didn't care that she'd broken the heart of some poor man. She needed a resource more valuable than anything from him.

She needed babies.

ATHENA

Things were falling apart. Even more so than usual.

Athena was nervous, something she hadn't been in, well, a month, in light of recent events.

Hecate stood rigid in front of Athena's throne, giving her information about a secret the two had pushed aside for millennia.

"Her powers are manifesting," Hecate rasped, weak from using so much magic.

"She's become far stronger. The death of Gaea's physical form allowed her physical form to take shape. With Gaea it would have been too much power. Now that she's gone it will be balanced. The fates will allow it."

Athena kept a straight face. This was a worst case scenario, but she was a warrior.

"Do you think that she'll be likely to come to Olympus?"

Hecate nodded, trying to open a portal to see where the abomination was.

"What can she do? Is she as strong as Gaea?"

Hecate launched into a coughing fit.

Athena was annoyed. Shouldn't the goddess of magic be able to use as much as she pleases?

She wanted to keep her here until she was assured of the location and strength of the threat, but overworking Hecate would create an enemy, not an ally, and that was the opposite of what she needed, especially in a situation that so few immortals knew about

Hecate wheezed until she murmured out a

"Please excuse me, Lady Athena."

And walked over to the hearth in the center of the throne room, placing her hands into the fire, replenishing her power.

"I've gone to the fates," Hecate said after a the color had returned to her cheeks,
"About what lies ahead. They say we need the help of demigods. Specifically the children of myself, you, Aphrodite, and... Hestia."

At the sound of her name, the goddess Hestia appeared next to her hearth as a 10 year old, wrapped up in her signature brown dress and head scarf.

"I was mentioned."

Hecate looked at a loss for words, and Athena shifted uncomfortably.

"You don't happen to have any children, do you?" Athena questioned.

A smiled covered Hestia's face.

"A common misconception. Although I am a maiden goddess, once a popular building project I see fit is made, it develops a soul, and manifests into a demigod, since I am the goddess of architecture."

Athena frowned down at her, thinking about the Statue of Liberty, the Pyramids, and the Eiffel Tower.

"Do you have any living children?"

Hestia nodded.

"The child of myself and the new World Trade Center just had a third birthday."

"Children twelve and older?"

Hestia placed a thoughtful hand under her chin and situated herself on the edge of her hearth.

"The twins from the Petronas Towers are eighteen. May I ask why you want to know about my children? Nobody ever asks."

Athena stepped down from her throne to stand next to Hestia.

"Annabeth prayed to me for knowledge if there were any goddesses or gods with children she was forgetting. She's so thoughtful."

Hestia bought it.

"Oh that's wonderful. I quite like that Annabeth."

ANNABETH

Pressure. Every second of every day all Annabeth felt was pressure.

Pressure from all the jealousy and competition from the other Athena kids, pressure from the gods to finish building Olympus, pressure from Jason for architecture for the new shrines, pressure from Percy...

It was eating her alive.

Annabeth hadn't been easy to find over the last few weeks. She'd been hiding out from everything. It wasn't a usual thing for her to do, but lately it was like her abilities to handle stress had completely evaporated.

She couldn't even sleep at night without help.

"It's unhealthy Annabeth, you'll get addicted"

"This isn't for everyone, it can be dangerous"

"I'm not supposed to be giving you this but since you really need it.."

Clovis, a Hypnos kid, had been giving Annabeth the hook up.

It was a small little blue plant that grew on the banks of the Lethe. The Hypnos cabin was loaded with it.

"It's called Drathm," Clovis had told her the first time she'd come.

"Knocks you right out. No dreams, nothing. You'll have a peaceful sleep. But remember it's a drug, I'm only giving it to you this once."

That's what he'd said five days ago.

Now she was sitting on her bunk, shivering and sweating, a complete mess.

"Annabeth?"

It was Percy, walking through the doors of the cabin to her.

"Where've you been?" he asked, seating himself down on the side of her bed.

"I looked everywhere for you. We gotta go to New Rome and talk about the shrines with Jason. He's been hounding me all morning man, I guess he just want to get it done."

Annabeth uncurled herself and discreetly wiped the cold sweat from her arms.

"I'm not feeling so hot Percy. I think I should stay inside today."

This, as she would later realize, was not the best thing to say.

Percy flipped out.

"Do you need someone from the Apollo cabin? You want some water? Let me get you some soup."

Percy was the fussiest guy she'd ever met, and she usually loved the attention he showed her, but now she wasn't in the mood.

"I-I uh, don't um.. wait what?"

Her train of thought crashed.

Percy got a good look at her and then left.

Annabeth may have been going through a "withdrawal" (she wasn't addicted, she couldn't be) but she was still an Athena kid. She ceased Percy's absence as an opportunity to go back to sleep.

He returned with Will Solace and Nico Di Angelo.