Banished

27

Third PoV

"These conditions are terrible for my hair!" Aphrodite whined. "It'll take weeks for it to get back to normal when we get back to Olympus."

"You look the same," Percy remarked, surveying the inhospitable land. "Besides, it's not like anyone here is going to care."

"I don't suppose I'll be able to convince you to sleep with me?" She asked hopefully, looking back over at him.

"Not a chance," he replied. "I am totally and completely loyal to Artemis."

"What is it with you liking her anyway?" The love goddess asked. "She's not into sex, you don't share a history, and you don't share many common interests."

"Maybe not," the young god agreed. "But she's an incredible person. I don't doubt that we'll have sex eventually, but it'll take time for her to become comfortable with the concept and I'm willing to wait as long as it takes."

"Enough about me," he continued, noticing a massive increase in the number of mutated monsters in the area. "What's with you? Why did you come on this mission anyway?"

"It wasn't my choice," Aphrodite responded. "Zeus sent me down as
punishment because I slept with some of the nymphs he had been eyeing."

Percy held in his thoughts on her sex life and pulled out his map. "Okay, so we've noticed a sharp increase in mutated monsters moving from sector seven to sector eight. It wouldn't make sense for whoever is modifying the monsters to be near the edges of Tartarus, so I think we're looking for an area closer to the centre where monsters often reform."

She shrugged. "The sooner we're out of here the better."

He sighed inwardly and scanned over the map again. "Alright. I think we should head toward sector 34. If it's not there, it will probably be in one of the neighbouring sectors."

"Sector 34?" The goddess repeated, finally taking interest in the mission. "Isn't that near where Athena said to store parts of the Titans and Giants?"

The god looked through the old notes, blowing out air through his mouth while looking for the information. "Yep. The cut-up pieces of the hearts of three Titans and the cut up pieces of the brains of five Giants."

"They couldn't be the reason all this is going on, could they?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Doubtful. Unless, by some strange phenomenon, the pieces of these Titans and Giants came together with the reforming parts of monsters and formed a horrid creature, there's no way this could happen."

Percy snorted when she threw him a concerned look. "Alright, say some beast of a creature comes to exist this way. We beeline it out of Tartarus, get Hades to seal all the exits, and Athena comes up with a plan to kill it."

"It's getting late, Percy," Aphrodite remarked.

"So?" He asked. "It's not like we're going to die if we don't stop to rest."

"You're right, we won't die," she replied. "But our godly stamina isn't going to last nearly as long down here and if we end up getting caught by a monster, we need to be prepared to fight hundreds of them."

The god sighed and looked around the land. "Alright, there's a small cave up ahead. Monsters aren't forming in this area, so it should be clear of monsters."

They both wished they had worn better shoes.

All the walking was already affecting how their feet felt.

It took nearly half an hour for them to reach the cave they planned on camping in for the night.

Of course, Percy's speculation was incorrect.

The cave was most definitely not clear of monsters.