In Shadowed Eyes

Even the Gods can show sympathy, however unwelcome their blessings may be. When Aphrodite, a goddess born of sea and foam, grants a blessing to another child of the ocean, she irrevocably alters the prophecy. Because when Percy Jackson looks across the Lotus Hotel and Casino and meets the wide, dark eyes of a Son of Death, everything changes. Percy x Nico

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Aphrodite checked her reflection constantly.

This was less narcissistic than one would imagine. She was the Goddess of Love and Beauty, her every feature reminiscent of the viewer's true loved ones, romantic or not. Where one man might see golden blonde curls and baby blue eyes and another olive-toned skin and an arched brow, all would agree that her allure was peerless. She exuded charm and beauty regardless of her appearance and while that may be comforting in some manners, it was devastating in others.

The one infuriating aspect of her life that Aphrodite could never accept was that she did not know her own face. Her features were less binding than the waves, less distinct than the foam. Every time she faced a mirror, someone different would look back at her. The thick eyelashes of one daughter, the bronze tan of a former lover, and the lush painted lips of Hestia stared back at her today. Beautiful, yes, but alien and painful to be the mirror of everyone's identity other than your own.

Not that it was not useful. Aphrodite had a rule where if one man's features appeared in ten reflections, she would make him her lover. It was easy to understand your own heart when the mirror had it written out for you.

This was not the main reason that she would check her appearance though. She had some control over the features she could take and when she imagined a particular individual and evoked her power, another face would stare back at her. Through her domain, Aphrodite could discern the potential for love any two people would have, regardless of space and time, and possibly lend a hand to the lovers.

It was not something so trite as finding soulmates, no! The idea of one individual amongst billions being the ideal physical, mental, and emotional counterpart to you was horrifying; the likelihood of finding said individual depressing. There were gradients of potential though and some people were objectively better matched for one another than others. Even if they did occasionally need her help.

The Goddess of Love was toying with the idea of lending a hand once again. She had no desire to be involved in this lightning thief business, of course, and she rather disliked war, however many tragic love stories it inspired. Nonetheless, there was a… sympathy in her for Perseus Jackson, a demigod that her own lover had scorned a day before. He was a child of the ocean much like herself and a potential candidate for a prophecy that made many of the Olympians nervous.

Aphrodite considered the implications of intervening in that one prophecy. It's not like the other Olympians were being very proactive about the matter; preferring to either ignore it or insist that each possible candidate be killed. (One demigod would undoubtedly slip by and where would they be then?) No one would expect her to take a stance. Her work would be done before they noticed her meddling.

Aphrodite knew the others considered her to be amongst the weakest and least influential of the gods. Perhaps that was true from a purely martial point of view, but love had a power of its own. It was why demigods fought; why heroes risked their lives to fulfill their goals. Love made Odysseus sail the seas for a decade's time to return to Ithaca. Love made Daedalus jump out of the tower, Ariadne betray her father, and Hercules beg for repentance. It was a husband's love that brought Menelaus to Troy and a brother's love that brought Agamemnon there. It was a mother's love that gave Achilles his impenetrable defense and love that inspired so many other heroes.

Love could be tragic, painful, and devastating but it could also bring strength, hope, and faith. It was the bonds that heroes made with one another that would give them the support they needed to complete their quests. Otherwise, they tended to take too much on themselves and falter under their burdens. Uncle Poseidon's son seemed very much to be an archetypal hero.

'Thrown into a new world without any guidance and placed into a controversy due to the dangers that he could possibly cause from attributes that he never asked for,' Aphrodite thought dryly. Now didn't that sound familiar?

Her mind made, the Goddess of Love gracefully glided to an ornate silver mirror on her vanity table. Picking up a pink pearl comb, she gently ran it through her current brown ringlets, each curl shifting to the black of a raven's wing. Her face rounded with youth, a mischievous quirk of her lips and sharply furrowed brows. Dominating her face were breathtaking sea green eyes that shifted between blue and green as the light hit it.

A shadowy appearance formed in the mirror. A shock of bright red hair appeared and faded just as quickly. Pale skin lit by the moonlight and brown eyes melted back. There was familiar stormy grey and dark blonde that Aphrodite thought would be the end. Then this too rippled back into a blur. The Goddess of Love merely sat by patiently.

The final image froze on the mirror, static and complete. Aphrodite's lips lifted into a smile.

'Terrible fashion sense but that face is simply too adorable! Not to mention the tumultuous love story those two will have,' Aphrodite giggled. She raised her hand and decisively clicked her fingers. Far below her, in the mortal realm, a hazy pink light swept through the skin of a tired boy sleeping in an animal truck. 'You're welcome Perseus Jackson.'

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If Percy Jackson knew that he was the sudden recipient of a blessing from the Goddess of Love, than his first thought would not have been to thank her. Actually, none of his thoughts would have been to thank her as he would have been emphatically trying to convince her to stop 'helping' him. He may have even gone so far as to actively insult her to remove said blessing because the last thing Percy wanted was yet another aspect of his controlled by the Gods. He was twelve years old and had just lost his mother! How was he supposed to even think about romance at a time like that?

This is merely conjecture though as Percy Jackson did not know about the blessing. He didn't even notice that anything was different about himself (though it he bothered to look closely, he would find that his skin was cleaner than before and he had stopped smelling like zebra). The Son of Poseidon was too busy staring at the grandeur of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

"Ah, a party of three!" The receptionist greeted them with a wide smile, as though they were royalty rather than a group of vagabond demigods, "I have your cards right here."

"C-cards?" Grover asked nervously, eyeing the sleek rectangle of silver, "But we don't have any money…"

"No problem," the man persisted, "Everything's already been paid for. Fifth floor, first suite!"

"Er, yeah, thanks!" Percy quickly snatched the card away, "We'll go up there then."

"Feel free to eat from the complimentary food bar," the receptionist added, "And don't spend too much time there! There are fifteen new installations in our arcade now!"

"Why did you say 'yes' Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth hissed, once they had moved out of hearing, "We don't have any money to pay for this."

"We need somewhere to rest," the dark-haired boy argued, "Let's fit shower, dinner, and sleep in first and then we can leave."

Any complaints the demigods may have had were stopped once Grover opened their suite. The room Percy entered was positively palatial, bigger than his apartment, and with a bed dominated by almost ridiculously plush pillows. There were three bedrooms following color themes of blue (Percy), green (Grover), and red (Annabeth, begrudgingly) and a bathroom big enough to hold its own sauna. TVs were mounted on the walls, alongside computers and the latest video games, and there was a fully stocked fridge in the attached kitchenette. There was even a living room with a wall-to-wall aquarium.

"I call the first shower!" Annabeth squealed, once she saw that the closets were filled with clothes that perfectly fit their size.

"Lays potato chips!" Grover headed directly to the kitchen.

Percy was about to head towards the video games when he stumbled over the thick carpeting. 'There are better games at the arcade.' The receptionist did say something about new installations, didn't he? 'I can get something to eat there too.' Grover didn't look like he was going to share those chips and besides Percy wanted something more filling to eat. 'My shirt is ripped.' He should change then.

Once his torn orange Camp Half-Blood shirt had been replaced with a dark blue polo- not normally to his taste but he found it strangely appealing now- Percy headed out the door. The rest of the hotel was as amazing as his room and there was a glass elevator to take him down to the arcade floor. When he reached it, his feet moved past the first person shooter games he normally preferred to a quieter area of the room. There weren't many people around.

'What are these? Card games?' Percy looked around, puzzled. 'I haven't seen any of these before. They look boring. And you need more than one person to play.'

There was something inside of him that urged him forward though. He had tried so many new things in this quest. What was one more? Besides that kid over there looked like he was having fun. Maybe two years younger than him, with shaggy black hair hanging down and pale olive skin from the back of his arms. The kid was facing away from him and appeared to be intently studying something on the table. He looked almost too focused for Percy to interrupt him.

'Maybe he could teach me to play.' The voice whispered again, a breathless sort of whisper that slipped out of the demigod's grasp whenever he tried to focus on it. Yes, that kid looked like he knew how to play those games. Maybe he would show Percy.

The dark-haired Son of Poseidon tentatively stepped forward and raised his hand. He placed it on the boy's shoulder, unknowingly causing a feeling like static electricity brushing over the kid's neck.

The boy jerked around in surprise. His hand fell off the shoulder. Wide dark eyes stared back at him. And the Son of Poseidon's entire axis shifted. "Hey, I'm Percy."

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