The Ambassador of Athena

I woke up and shot out of bed. My heart was racing and I was sweating all over my body. The eyes of the guy in the tuxedo made me freak out when I just thought about them. I sat down in the bed again and looked out of my panoramic windows. The sun just started to rise in the east, so I guessed it must be around 6 in the morning. I tried to sleep for a few more minutes, but I couldn’t find a comfortable spot in the bed. After a while I gave up and got myself a coffee from the kitchen. I got dressed and packed my backpack: A bottle of water, chips, a new T-shirt, underwear, my old knife from the scouts, a survival guide; short, everything I expected we could need on a journey like this. When I was about to leave the house I saw a brown package on the drawer next to the door. It was the package Athena sent me and I have totally forgotten about. I grabbed it and stuffed it into my backpack before I closed the door behind me. I wandered through the empty camp, enjoying the early morning sun. No camper was around, only a few satyrs wandered through the strawberry fields and nodded when they saw me. I liked the camp, it was exactly the kind of summer camp I always wanted to go to. If I survived this quest, which was, according to the prophecy, very unlikely, I would ask Chiron if I could stay and work here, maybe as a teacher for monsterology or something like that. I sat down in the sun in front of the dining pavilion, dreaming about how my life would continue. I could keep my house here at New Athens, becoming a counsellor at camp, working together with campers, sitting by the campfire, singing songs, training, spending my life here. I could ask Rachel out on a date, she is pretty and nice. Maybe I had a future here… My thoughts were interrupted when someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked: “Who’re you?” When I turned around I saw a small girl, around 5 years old, with red pigtails and freckles all over her face. The only thing that made her special was her skin colour, a bright, light green. “Hello” I said and smiled. “I am Florian.” Her green eyes looked curious when she said slowly: “Flo-ri-an. That’s a strange name.” I laughed and nodded. “Maybe that’s because I am from across the ocean.” The girl laid her head to the side and stared at me, her eyes wide open. “Uncle Gleeson was across the ocean once.” She said after a while. “He said they have really tasty forks and tin cans there.” I was confused, but before I could ask her what that should mean a voice called from the distance: “Clover, where are you?” The girl looked alarmed and ducked behind my back. “My father!” she whispered. I wondered what all that was about, but I played along and set up a faked smile when a satyr came up the hill. “Where are you, sweetie?” he called “Mommy is looking for you to try the new dress she made for you.” He looked around, and when he spotted me he walked towards me. “Hey, have you seen my daughter?” he asked me “She’s around 4 feet tall, red hair, green eyes, green skin, sometimes pretty annoying and asks a lot of questions?” I laughed. “No, I think I haven’t seen her.” I said and winked at him. Behind my back the girl, Clover, giggled, and the satyr smiled. “I wonder where she could be. I guess if I can’t find her I have to give these delicious, fresh strawberries to someone else.” He pulled out a bag with the fruits from somewhere out of his cargo pants and sighed. “Do you want them?” he asked me and winked. “Hey, I am here Daddy!” the girl behind my back shouted and jumped in front of me. She grabbed the strawberries and sat down between us. “Oh, there you are sweetie.” The satyr-daddy said and sat down too. “Would you mind to share the strawberries?” The girl looked up, strawberry stains all over her face, and nodded. She handed me a few berries and gave some to her dad too. “That’s nice of you to share with the man who covered you.” He said and looked at me. “He’s from across the ocean.” Clover said between two berries. “He has a strange name, Flo-ri-…” she frowned and tried to remember. Her dad helped her out. “Florian. He is the new guy at camp, the one everyone is talking about.” He looked at me and said: “By the way, I am Grover, nice to meet you personally.” I raised an eyebrow and asked him: “Seriously? You are THE Grover? The enchilada-munching, kickass satyr that helped Percy with his quests? Percy told me about his adventures yesterday, and you played an important role in them.” Grover laughed. “I agree, I am enchilada-munching, and sometimes I am definitely kickass.” Clover nodded proudly. “My dad is the most kickass dad that ever existed.” she said. Grover looked at her and smiled. He patted her on the shoulder and said: “Well, then I think I should take my even more kickass daughter to her kickass mother to finally make her try the new dress she made for her so she looks good when she kicks ass.” Clover sighed and stood up. “Good girl.” Grover said and rose. “Say good-bye to Uncle Flo, he will go and save the world today.” The girl stared at me, her mouth wide open. “Cool. If I am big I will save the world too. And I will get a great great celebration dinner too when I come back.” Grover picked her up and hugged her tight. “Yeah, you will. But first…” “The dress.” “Yeah, the dress.” When he turned around to leave he looked at me a last time and said: “Good luck with your quest. Don’t forget, the oracle can be misinterpreted. What I learned from sticking around with Percy all those years is that in the end you decided your fate yourself.” One hour later I was sitting in the waiting room of La Guardia Airport and still thought about what Grover has told me. When we boarded the plane to Denver I snapped out of my thoughts, only to return to them as soon as we took off. Jessy and Johanna sat on the other side of the plane at the window and obviously had a great time; at least they were talking and laughing the whole time since we left camp. I found an empty seat in the back of the plane and made myself comfortable. It was a 4 hour flight to Denver, so I decided to take a nap since I woke up at sunset. I had the same nightmares I had over years, all circling around Johanna: Her funeral, her dead, twisted body; her finding someone else, being happy with that person, founding a family with him; she making fun of me, hating me, humiliating me; short, all my worst nightmares. Usually I woke up after them, and usually I wasn’t aware during the dreams, but this time I found myself in a dark room with a single door after the last scene. I opened the door and found myself in a restaurant I knew from somewhere. I walked down the row of empty tables till I found a card on one of them that read: ‘Café d’ Amour’. Now I remember from where I knew the place: It was the restaurant my parents dragged me to when we visited Paris last year. It was the number one spot for romantic dinners in the city of love. At a table looking over the Champs du Mars, the wide open space in front of the Eiffel tower, sat a woman with one of those hats the ladies wore in the golden twenties. I had no doubt about whom this lady was. “Aphrodite I assume.” I said and sat down at her table. The women looked up from the card she was reading and smiled at me. She was gorgeous, blue eyes, blonde hair, she definitely reminded me of Johanna. “What makes you think that I am Aphrodite?” she asked me with a faint smile. “First of all, you brought me to the probably the most romantic spot in the world, second you wear a pink dress with hearts on it, and third, you look exactly like the person I once loved.” The lady shook her head slowly and said: “Wrong tense my dear. Not loved, love.” I flinched, but the woman continued. “But you are right, I am Aphrodite, goddess of love, and I invited you here to meet you.” I laughed sharply before asking: “Why would the goddess of love want to meet me?” Aphrodite smiled and snapped her fingers. A cup of tea and biscuits appeared in front of her, served in white china with roses on it. “Sweetie, I’ve been watching for years, seeing all the girls that fell for you crushing at the wreck of your first and last love and relationship. I always thought that one of them could get through and touch your heart, but no one could break through the shell you created out of hate, misery and grudges. You thought you would never find someone new to love, that you would not attract any attention of pretty girls, but that was only your point of view. If you would have seen you from the eyes of the girls you rejected you would think different. You were so buried in grief and pain that you didn’t see the obvious. The obvious is that you are a good-looking, nice and polite young man. Don’t say anything, I know you don’t see yourself that way, but some people do. I hoped that Athena would be the literal battleship to blast your shell off, but even she could not manage to break through. You resisted the persuasions of a goddess, and that makes you interesting to me.” My face hardened. “It seems that I am a wanted man among gods.” I said coldly. “But you only see the entertaining side of my life, living it was harder, believe me. You gods have no clue about us mortals, even after 3000 years of messing around with our lives.” I knew that I walked a thin line, but I didn’t care, I was furious at that time. I jumped up and threw over my chair. “It’s nice to meet you, Lady Aphrodite, but I’ve already gotten enough gods that think I am something special and a hero, but I am not. Athena messed with me and my life, and I certainly don’t need the goddess of love to join the party. I’ve had enough troubles with love for the rest of my life, thank you.” Aphrodite watched me calmly and sipped her tea. “Normally I would blast you to bits for just saying such things. But I am one of the more understanding gods, and I understand why you won’t see me at all after all Athena did to you. I resemble the positive side of love, the warm feelings, the love itself. I am on your side, you know. At first I didn’t pay any attention to your messy love life after the breakup, even Athena forcing it. I saw you fighting for her over and over again, for years, not being able to move on or give her up. I thought about your situation and think you deserve the love you want, and I got the feeling you will get it.” I was stunned. “But…” I stuttered. “When, who, why?” Aphrodite smiled at me. “I can’t tell you,” she admitted “but I can tell you it has to get worse before it gets better. You have to be very strong, but if you stand through it you will be rewarded.” I was confused, but stayed calm. “Thank you for this meeting, Mylady.” Aphrodite smiled. “You are a polite and handsome young man; I can see why Athena fell for you. Good bye” The dream dissolved, and I woke up to the announcement: “Dear passengers, we will now start our descent to Denver.”

Notes

Sorry it took me so long to write this chapter, I was thinking about stopping this whole thing, and I still am.
I hope you like it though, the part that Aphrodite was saying was written by a good friend of mine, I will give her the credit of either ruining or improving my story.
Please let me know what you think, I am starving for your feedback, so comment, comment, comment!