She does something unexpected

I smell it before I see it. A powerful scent whaffs through the room from behind me. The fragrance of flowers and vanilla and everything nice replaces the musk of sex I have created. I turn around to where it is the strongest and see her. The her. Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. She looks like every girl I've ever had a hard-on for. She looks like Drew and Annabeth and Piper and a whole bunch of celebrities and a whole bunch of porn stars but also her own unique beauty that shines through all of that. When people talk about an unobtainable standard, they clearly don't mean for her.

“Well, starstruck, are we?” She says. It's only then that I noticed my jaw has dropped. I try to snap it back into place but I feel it moving like molasses.

“It's normal for me to—” I start. She silences me with a finger.

“Uh-uh-uh,” She wags her finger an inch from my face. I instinctively take a whiff. I'm left speechless at the idea that she could touch me if she wanted. “None of that. Gods, you would get yourself killed mighty quick if I didn't come down here, huh?” She puts her hands on her hips. “Now let's lay some ground rules.”

“Uhhhh,” I think fast and get on one knee while I stare downwards, not meeting her gaze. “Lady Aphrodite, it's not what it looks like.”

“Ooo, lying to a god.” She winces. “Strike two. You're lucky you're cute. Now shut up and let me talk.” I nod my head viciously. “Mortals always think they can get one over on us, especially demigods. The fact of the matter is kid, half the magic items you see were either created by a god or by a mortal with an epiphany from a god. If a silly trinket found in an attic could truly work on us, godly wars wouldn't be a once in a lifetime event. They would be Tuesdays.” For a split second I almost apologize but then I remember she told me to shut up. I just swallow my words harshly and let her continue. She steps around me and approaches Drew on the bed, tracking her hand across the sheets. My eyes follow her but I don't get up. “We're actually all in a stir watching what you've been doing. Half of the Olympians are in a tizzy about it, the other half delighted. It's a regular Trojan War out there.” I silently dread what side she's on. “Luckily, that typically means none of us can get involved, lest we anger the other side.” She reaches up and grabs the panty gag out of Drew's mouth. “Now what do you have to say, dear?”

“Mother, thank the gods you're here. Please untie me and smite this bastard.” Drew says.

“And that's enough of that,” Aphrodite pushes the gag back into Drew's mouth without a second thought. “You really don't know how to fend for yourself, now do you? Even when you call a goddess you start barking orders. Your beauty might get you some places, but honey, no one is a better beauty than me.” She taps Drew's forehead a couple times. “Get that through your thick skull.” She then turns back to me. She shrugs her hands before slapping her thighs like she's annoyed. “Get up. If I wanted you to kneel I would have said so.” I shuffle to my feet.

“Lady Aphrodite, I am so sorry about what I have done.” I still don't meet her gaze. “I have no idea what came over me. I—”

“Yes you do,” She says.

“Pardon?” I ask, trembling.

“I don't repeat myself. You knew what came over you. Hubris, power, pride and lust. If I were Zeus you'd already be some newfangled form of insect that poetically fits your crime.” She shakes her hand towards me like she's waving me off. “You're just lucky I land on the side of Olympians that are amused with your antics.”

“Huh?” Drew says through the gag. She stares at her mother, puzzled. Aphrodite turns her head to her.

“Oh yes deary. That Annabeth girl has always been too stuck up for my taste, and you have been quite the handful. First, you ruined the goodwill my cabin had earned during the Titan War by being stuck up and superficial. Then you almost doom the entire planet by trying to hitch yourself onto Jason's quest. And not to mention you're just generally wasting your talent. I mean, how much more experience at charmspeaking did you have over Piper before she kicked you to the curb? Face it honey, you're just not hero material.” She turns back to me. “The best thing you've done is call me to your aid. With the gods at an impasse, only being directly invoked would allow any of us to intervene, and that's generally difficult when the Jewels of Athens make everything unnoticeable.” My eyes go wide at the mention of the earrings’ proper name. Aphrodite notices. “Yes. You see, that's the other half of why I'm so amused at this whole shebang. The jewels are the goddess of civilization’s gift to mankind. The embodiment of the rules and norms required to let society run smoothly concentrated such that the wearer can literally warp them to suit their desires. The idea was that a truly just enough hero to earn them could cut through red tape and, for lack of a better term, get shit done. An escape valve for the bureaucracy that so often stifles real change. Daddy's favorite’s most powerful trinket not only falling into the hands of a lowly demigod with not a quest to his name, but being used for so much debauchery so quickly that the situation so clearly fell under my domain, is delicious **** for all the times she's considered herself better than me.” My nose scrunches up at the comment that I'm a “lowly demigod” just because I don't care about dying for the glory of a dad I've never met. She turns back to Drew. “No I'm not here to save you.” Now back to me. “I'm here to have some fun.” She smiles devilishly.

She opens her arms out wide and an invisible **** knocks me off my feet and onto my ass on the floor. I slowly back away as I use my hands to backwards crawl without taking my eyes off her. She raises her head towards the sky and her eyes start glowing bright white.

“I, Aphrodite Cytherea,” Her voice booms like thunder. “Goddess of love, lust, passion, pleasure, beauty, and sexuality, declare this,” She moves her head back down and looks directly at me. I almost shit myself. “Trevor Miller, son of Hermes and Serena, to be under my protection. Let anyone who dare stand against him face my wrath as daughter of Ouranos, most primal of the Olympians, so I swear on the River Styx. He shall be blessed with my gifts to mark his standing.”

She steadily moves her arm towards me with her fingers curled and outreached. She flicks her hand and hot white jagged lines of light blast from her fingertips directly at me. I brace for oblivion. They hit me with a flash and a moment later it's all over.

“Stand, Trevor Miller,” Aphrodite says calmly as she approaches like nothing happened. “Stand and claim your prize.” She outreaches a hand towards me. I swiftly take it, anything to be able to touch such living beauty.

“What,” I stumble over my words. “What happened?” She just smirks.

“I gave you my gifts,” She turns around and starts walking back towards Drew. “You now have **** stamina, even for a demigod, you got buffed from your typical 7.8 out of 10 looks to a rocking 9.3.” I look down and stare at my body. She's right. Being a demigod I was already pretty athletic, but I never honed my skills. Now all the calluses from sword training are gone and I can feel the absence of the fat that I had; replaced by the presence of even stronger muscles. “This comes with strength and agility almost on par with those of the Curse of Achilles. Not that you're much of a fighter.” She turns and winks at me. “No you won't need to do that. Especially now that you have the gifts of my domain. You are powered by sex and pleasure. Essentially as long as you're getting down and dirty you will never tire and neither will anyone you are with. Unless you want them to of course. And lastly, you are the final owner of these earrings. At least until you die. No one can steal them and no one mortal will desire to. And anyone more powerful than that will have to deal with me. Oh, and monsters can't track you anymore. That comes with being under my protection. They'll actually actively avoid you and anyone that has the stench of you, if it's fresh enough at least. Now,” she turns towards Drew and bends down to lean into her ear. “I promised anyone who stood against him would face my wrath, and you little missy not only struggled and fought him, but even dared to use charmspeak on the poor boy. So let's make sure that never happens again.”

Aphrodite raises an outstretched palm in front of Drew's face and makes a pulling motion. Pink steam comes out of Drew's pores and especially out of her gagged mouth and gets pulled into Aphrodite's open palm, where it dissolves into nothing.

“And next,” Aphrodite continues. “A mark of your treachery.”

Aphrodite puts her other hand on Drew's neck. Drew starts thrashing and moving. Her eyes go wide and her mouth seems to want to scream in pain, yet absolutely nothing comes out. Her legs kick and kick and kick. This continues for several seconds before Aphrodite pulls away. She stands up.

“You have just felt the equivalent pain of if Trevor constantly reapplied that hickey every day for the rest of your life. As such it will stay there until you pass from this mortal coil, and even as you embark on the next one. It will throb with pain as if it were fresh forever. A permanent reminder.” Her voice is still and cold, all the passion drained from it. “Finally, you know the world as it truly is. No matter how Trevor changes you or the universe around you too, you will know, deeply and truly, what is amiss. As this means the right jewel doesn't work on you, instead that power does something else. You must obey Trevor's every word. To the spirit and the letter. You will never try to find a way out of it and will never act against him. A true ****.” She turns around and walks back towards me.

“Lady Aphrodite, thank you. How can I ever repay you?” I ask, in shock of what just transpired.

“First, you can stop calling me lady. I'm only a couple millennia older than you.” She says. “And second, you can follow this one rule: Don't. Be. Boring.” She taps my nose with each word and I get weak in the knees at her touch. “Give us a show up on Olympus and it will all be worth it.” She smiles. “And maybe keep a special eye out there for the demigods I'm not particularly fond of.”

I just stare in awe of her beauty. Not a word passes through my lips. I eventually blink and right as I open my eyes she's gone.