OH, CHÉRIE!¹ percy jackson

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IVY COULD hear a lovely humming, a soft and dreamy tune. the feel of someone tenderly running their hands through her hair almost made her want to drift into subconsciousness once again.

"what–" she croaked, forcing her eyes open.

"oh, there you are!" the familiar voice of her mother said.

the brunette sat up confused. she was in a limousine, looking out the window she could see they were going at a fast pace. her clothes were gone and she was only wearing a silk bathrobe. aphrodite beside her, smiling patiently. ivy realized she had been laying down in her mother's lap.

"mother," ivy said, bowing her head slightly.

aphrodite smiled, she looked gorgeous. the goddess was wearing a red strappy silk dress that hugged her curves perfectly. her features shifted rapidly as they always did, although this time they settled just as fast. she had a deep tan, sun spots littered her shoulders. wavy black hair flowed down her back, slightly messy but still endearing. she also had beautiful sea-green eyes, pink full lips, defined face features, and a straight nose.

"my baby!" her mother said, hugging ivy so fast she wasn't able to hug back. "i've been dying to talk to you ever since you finally realized you liked percy!"

ivy blinked, just then noticing that the features her mother wore were percy's. "why?" she said, pushing down her blush. ivy hadn't known percy had freckles on his shoulders, she hasn't seen him shirtless long or close enough to point them out. "i mean, it's just a little crush. and he definitely isn't the first person i've crushed on."

aphrodite rolled her eyes. "uhu, little crush. it'll do for now, i suppose," she waved dismissively.

the brunette looked down at herself, she was still very naked apart from the bathrobe. "mom, what did you do with my clothes?"

"oh!" aphrodite clapped her hands twice, a pink ipad appeared in front of her. "i'm giving you an outfit, darling. you've gotten so beautiful these past few months, and i'm not the only one that thinks so."

"huh?"

the goddess giggled but didn't answer, tapping away on the ipad screen. "so, do you feel any different?"

ivy knitted her eyebrows. "what do you mean?"

"well, do you feel your temperature back to normal?"

ivy hadn't noticed until her mother pointed it out. she didn't feel the constant burning temperature inside of her, and she could actually feel the cold coming from the air conditioner.

"it is," she said, looking down at her hand. "does this mean i'm in control now? like i had a really-dramatic-marvel-movie-power-breakthrough?"

aphrodite laughed. "yes, you could say that. pink or black?"

"black."

her mom gasped, smiling down at the ipad before shutting it off. "now, we need to get talking about what i actually needed to talk about. we are getting close to your drop off point."

ivy nodded in interest, although she couldn't think of a reason for her mother to talk to her in person.

"we both know why you're on this quest," aphrodite started. "but do you know why percy is on this quest?"