Expendable Gender

Aeneas, who wasn't really a Greek, was the only son of Aphrodite who really mattered.

Even though he was born to witness Troy burn, he would survive, escape, and lead the refuges to safety.

Later he would be responsible for the founding of the Roman Empire, which mercilessly subjugated Greece and most of the known world.

But that didn't really matter, because Mitchell was sure he wasn't destined to be great like Aeneas.

Mitchell knew as soon as he went to Camp and saw that it had a climbing wall with lava pouring down the side that he wouldn't have what it took to be heroic like his most famous half-brother.

Well, most famous demigod half-brother. Eros trumped all other sons of Aphrodite when it came to being a marketable celebrity, to the point where some believed he was older than her and more powerful.

But that didn't really matter, because he still thought Mom was the most powerful.

He was a son of Aphrodite, and was claimed by her just in time for the war. Before that, he had to room with the rest of the Hermes cabin with the other unclaimed… although, there wasn't as many since a lot of them deserted…

Not that Mitchell thought about that at the time, he was always busy. He was a bit of a neat-freak, always tidy but the Cabin always was filthy, so it was always a bit of a small war to be waged against him and the growing clutter in Hermes' cabin.

Sweeping, dusting, airing out the sheets, trying to tell everyone else to keep their friggin' hands off his stuff-!

But that didn't really matter, because he was claimed just before the war started.

And it was great. Really, Mitchell had always hoped he was a son of Aphrodite, so there was some explanation for why he was… the way he was.

He wasn't smart enough to be a son of Athena, and hardly paid attention in his lessons. Instead he found that he was always focusing on girls and sometimes boys (he wouldn't tell a soul!) like Lee Fletcher pulling back his bow during archery and how all the muscles in his torso just flexed... or how Annabeth Chase sometimes sucked on a stray hair (ew) when she was deep in thought (actually kinda sexy)… or when Katie Gardner would bend over when picking strawberries from the fields and the top of her underwear was visible just for a minute. Yeah, a lot more interesting than learning Ancient Greek!

He wasn't strong enough (or insanely violent enough) to be a son of Ares, and he wasn't a good fighter at all. Not only did he get queasy at the sight of blood, but he was always sure that if he went on a Quest he would mess it up somehow. Still, there is a limit to how much pushing a guy can take (especially when the Neanderthals in the Ares cabin ruined ANOTHER new shirt) and he swears that he'll do his absolute best when called to action.

But that really didn't matter, because being a son of Aphrodite means no one expects anything from you.

He can't build things, even though he never really tried, because he's certain that one swing of a hammer will end with his fingers getting smashed and his nails broken down the middle and everyone laughing at him.

Drew tells him that swinging stuff and heavy lifting should be left to the lesser people, by which she means the ugly, and Mitchell starts to agree.

Of course, Mitchell always thought of it as meaning the Ares cabin, with sneering faces throwing spears and swinging swords. Later he found out that Drew meant… well, everyone who wasn't them.

Silena tells him… told him that they could be more, and she acted like it too. She rode a Pegasus well, she was a great archer, and she wove shrouds and tapestries during Arts & Crafts. She was beautiful and kind, skilled and brave, showing that the children of Aphrodite could be heroic.

But that really didn't matter, because she turned out to be a traitor.

She had been spying for Luke.

Luke was a son of Hermes, and Hermes was always known to be able to talk people into anything.

Apparently, Luke was able to talk his sister into helping Kronos.

Because he was handsome, and it turns out that was all the children of Aphrodite cared about, wasn't it?

I wouldn't be so bad if she didn't have a boyfriend, but she DID. And Beckendorf was cool.

He was helpful, thoughtful, strong and brave, and it didn't matter if he was the son of Hephaestus. It wasn't like everyone in their Cabin was ugly… dirty and sweaty, yeah, but Mitchell didn't care about that so much, it was actually a good look on some of them. He wasn't ashamed to admit he stared when Nyssa hammered out a new shield and took off the leather apron and she had sweated right through her shirt so he could see she didn't wear a bra..!

… Wait, the POINT was that Silena was all about love and loving… and she had a boyfriend who she was supposed to care about and not see someone like Luke…

Mitchell hated Luke, and never even met him.

But she was sorry, wasn't she? Silena died a hero.

But that didn't really matter, he missed his sister and stuff like honor and glory didn't bring her back.

When he did arrive, one of the youngest people fighting at Manhattan, he was terrified out of his mind.

He ended up doing pretty much exactly what all the Ares children said he would do if he had to fight, throwing up and knees knocking together.

He prayed, actually prayed to mom, that he didn't end up wetting his pants. It was the most frightening moment of his life, and people were dying (like Michael Yew whose body was never found, and of course Silena who died ugly from acid burns).

All he could think about was how he didn't want to pee his pants… even by the standards of a son of Aphrodite, he really was pitiful.

And then SHE came with reinforcements… it was love.

Yes, Mitchell fell in love, like, all the time. Kind of his curse, his fatal flaw, his 'missing of the mark', but this was different. She was poised, and confident, and strong, and she laughed as she rallied everyone to position.

Sure she didn't dress very well, but she had a wonderful figure and gorgeous skin and beautiful eyes, and it helped with Mitchell's fantasy. Typical fantasy that always came up when he saw a girl in casual wear or uniform, like a cross between Cinderella or James Bond, where the same girl would be in evening wear and he'd be in his tux and they would stare and smile and laugh while they danced with one another.

And then, staring in one another's eyes, they'd lean in. Overcoming hesitations and obstacles to bring themselves together…

… Well, it didn't happen yet, but maybe it will. Mitchell always hopes and prays that it will.

But that didn't really matter, because Thalia Grace was a Hunter of Artemis.

When they went back to Camp, he made sure that he made friends quickly with his new siblings, made sure they'd feel beautiful. A few of them weren't, just saying.

Lacy, sad to say, had to get some work done with her horrid complexion and if her smile didn't shine like a Colgate commercial when those braces came off… well, heads should roll.

She was still the only sister that felt like… well, a sister. Silena was always a figure who was respected and looked to as an example of what should be. The best of them all, Mitchell wasn't shy to say.

… That she died didn't… it wouldn't change that… right?

Either way, he tried to be the best big brother to the newbies.

But that didn't really matter, because Drew was a horrid tyrant who just happened to have charm-speak.

The Shoes of Shame.

Garbage Duty.

Resurrecting the Rite of Passage.

Drew was by far one of the worst things to happen to the cabin since Disco-Fridays. Just… such a bitch!

And then Piper came along and Mitchell thought (if she did something with her hair and lost the layers) that she wouldn't be so bad.

She went on a quest!

She challenged Drew!

She… okay, she said Jason was 'hers even if he didn't know it yet'… which was kinda creepy but hey, no more Drew!

… Although, Drew had more experience. Drew was the next oldest. Drew had… sorta fought in the War, about as much as he did. She trained and had charmspeak and probably should've gone on that quest if they were logical…

… Hey! Love wasn't logical, so that worked just…

… Piper was no Drew, at least.

But that didn't really matter, because she was no Silena either.

Mitchell didn't know his place at Camp Halfblood, and he was sure that he would be out of place at the Roman Camp if he went there.

His days were mostly filled with gossip, working out, making sure his hair was styled right, updating his blog, and trying not to die in the training.

At school, he was pretty cut, but that didn't really do much good when he was too short for basketball and football was just… such an Ares sport.

He found a good spot at the school-paper though, and he was very good at it. Even got numbers regularly from the cheerleading squad or the drama club divas whenever he found an excuse to talk to them after taking their pictures!

But at Camp… he could always pretend to be a hero, right? More James Bond than Jason and the Argonauts, because why would you want to be a Greek tragedy when you could be 007?

In his dreams, he tasted chardonnay, made one-liners before killing monsters, had gadgets that the Hephaestus cabin wouldn't ever let him touch, and Thalia Grace wore stiletto heels from Gucci with her a strapless evening gown, and when she let him take it off her she had nothing on but a black-lace push-up bra from Victoria Secret's spring catalogue and a .22 pistol strapped to her thigh—

… So that's why Clovis always nodded at him when he was awake!

… EEEW.

He could do some things useful though. He helped his sisters stitch sails for the Argo II, and mended the bellows for the Hephaestus cabin (Nyssa smiled at him and he winked at her, it was real smooth) and he was great with camouflage during Capture the Flag because... yeah, he knew his way around makeup.

So he wasn't completely useless.

He wasn't great. He wasn't desirable.

The girls went for Percy, or Jason. They went for Leo, the mecha-dragon tamer. They went for buff guys like Mark or Sherman (Ares meat-heads!) or for smart guys like Malcolm or Will.

At least he wasn't the Stolls. Those guys would never get laid, let alone find true love.

… Mitchell at least could hope to get laid. He had that much to look forward to, eventually, with… someone.

Maybe things would be different if he was a daughter of Aphrodite and not a son of Aphrodite. The daughters tended to get a little more notice, a little more worth placed on them. Guys flocked to his sisters, but girls never flocked to him or his brothers.

He wasn't ugly, or useless. He wasn't.

But that didn't really matter; the real problem was he was the expendable gender, as the Hunters put it.

Mitchell no longer prayed to his mother for strength not to wet his pants.

He still prayed whenever the Hunters of Artemis visited, though he'd deny it, because he just wanted to be noticed.

Noticed and appreciated.

He really wanted to be special. He thought being part Olympian god would fix that.

It didn't.

But that didn't really matter; as unlikely as it was, despite all the obstacles in his way, he had faith that his mother would come through, and that he'd be brave enough to rise to the occasion when a hero needed.

... someday.

I do believe that Riordan would have benefited from including a son of Aphrodite in a larger role. Maybe they would've had some interesting POV's. But that doesn't really matter, because I don't own his genius.

Hope you all enjoyed!