Dancing with Death

Can You Feel the Love Tonight

"So, the girls are going to the battery and the boys are going to the museum." Annabeth recapped.

"Not me." Percy countered. "I'm going to the harbor. Maybe I can get some information from the mermaids, or nyads, or whatever I find there."

Annabeth nodded, squeezing his hand.

"Coming in for a landing." Leo warned as they lowered to the ground.

Eliza glanced at the sky as they descended the gangplank. "Looks like your Buford decoy is working, for now."

Leo shrugged. "Sometimes my genius is beyond understanding."

"Right." She drew out the word sarcastically, rolling her eyes and following Hazel off the ship and away from the boys.

She glanced back at Jason and muttered a quick blessing. "Gods be with you."
       * * *
"Do we just... walk around and hope they show up?" Eliza scanned the area, but didn't see any sign of a ghost.

Piper looked just as frustrated. The sun was quickly dipping towards the horizon. "I guess."

"There." Hazel pointed to where a faintly glowing figure had appeared among the trees.

They shared a look and walked towards the apparition.

Piper tensed and froze a few feet shy of the lithe figure. "No way."

It took Eliza a minute to make the connection, sighing when the pieces clicked together. "Aphrodite."

The goddess turned with a lavish. "Hello girls."

"Mother." Piper almost growled. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just love Charlestown, the atmosphere, the architecture, the history. And they call Paris the city of love." The goddess flashed a perfect smile. "Come. The tea's getting cold."

"Tea?" Hazel asked.

"Yes." Aphrodite waved away the question as if it were ridiculous. "We can't get all the girls together and not have a tea party, now can we."

Lost for words, the other girls looked to Annabeth, but she was just as lost as the others. With no other options, they followed the goddess of Love to a gazebo near the center of the park.

When they were all seated at the finely-decorated table, Aphrodite poured herself a cup of tea and eyed each of the girls in turn. Her smile fell when she locked eyes with Eliza. "What are you doing here? You're love life is hardly interesting, in that I mean... you don't have one."

Eliza clenched her fists. She didn't care that she wasn't the girl every guy doted on, but she wasn't about to be talked down to by the prissy little goddess of love. "It's better than yours, whore."

A fire sparked in the goddess' eyes as the others stared at the two. The tension in the air was tangible. The goddess of love and the daughter of Proserpine glared intensely at each other, seeming to test the other's will. (Annabeth noted later that it looked like they were having an intense telepathic argument.)

Finally, Aphrodite broke the hateful staring contest. "No matter. You may think you know what I am, τέρας, but you don't." As suddenly as her anger had come, it vanished, replaced by her flawless smile, but Eliza could still see a spark of hatred in her eyes.

Eliza tuned out most of the conversation. The goddess wouldn't stop talking about the other girls' love lives and it was annoyingly sappy, not to mention useless. She muttered a short prayer of Thanks as they finally hurried away from the gazebo. How Piper could deal with having Aphrodite as her mother, Eliza would never know, but she now had new found respect for the girl. Her mom was awful.
* * *
They were almost to the ship when Octavian and two other legionnaires cut them off. The soldiers refused to listen as Annabeth explained what had happened with the eidolons and Piper couldn't use her charmspeak because they'd put wax in their ears.

Eliza felt her fingers curling into fists and the roots beneath the ground tensing, ready to burst through the pavement.

Before anyone could react, Annabeth chucked her knife into the harbor.

Octavian was so caught off guard it took him a minute to process what had happened. He broke down laughing. "You didn't have to throw it away."

Annabeth only smirked.

Eliza relaxed and she felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth as she remembered where Percy had gone.

Right on cue, a massive wave erupted from the harbor and washed over Octavian and the legionnaires, pulling them weapons and all into the harbor.

Percy appeared before them, completely dry of course. He couldn't stop his smile as the Romans struggled to swim in their heavy armor. He met Annabeth's gaze. "Don't worry. I've got the water oscillating under their feet. They won't sink completely."

Annabeth nodded her approval. "Come on. We need to get back to the Argo II. The map's at Fort Sumter."
* * *
Piper sent an Iris message to the boys and Annabeth piloted the Argo II, flying towards Fort Sumter.

The other boys appeared over the city, Jason flying solo and a large bird, Frank, carrying a terrified Leo.

The Romans seized their chance and attacked the vulnerable demigods.

Hedge tried to help the effort by blasting flaming ballista at the airborne legionnaires, but he only succeeded in knocking the boys from the sky.

"Hedge!" Eliza raced to the side of the ship and watched the boys fall. Slowing her breaths, she threw out her hand. A thick vine sprouted from her palm and lengthened, twisting and growing towards Jason. She caught him just shy of the water and nearly fell overboard.

When everyone was onboard, they landed at one of the docks around the island and Annabeth raced into the fortress. "Defend the ship!"

Eliza turned to face the oncoming Romans. Thorned blades formed in her hands and a smirk spread across her face. "Gladly."

A/N
Tada!!!!!
Sorry for the irregularity this week, but we got my uncle's house done!!!! It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. 😏
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know I did. 😁
See you later.
-Cheshire