Fatal Flaw: Empathy (Nico di Angelo)

Chapter Fourteen

"Aletha!" Aphrodite gathered me up in an ambitious hug. She was pretty much a Carbon Copy of Mom right now, probably because she wanted to make it easier for me to understand. The tears were flying from my eyes like waterfalls, and Percy looked like he was going to have a panic attack.

"Why is she crying? Why are you crying Aletha?" He seemed worried. Jin, who has muscles, held Percy away, and tried knocking sense into him.

"Gods Damn it, Percy, can't you see she's having a moment?" Jin dragged him away, and smiled to me apologetically as he tugged Percy our of the cabin. "Yeesh! Quit scratching, are you a cat?"

I smiled at them contentlu before looking back at... my Grandma. Who was really really pretty. "I believe you needed to talk to me, Aletha?"

I nodded, and beckoned for her to follow me into the water.

"You want me to go in Poseidon's realm? I haven't been there in a while. Not since," Aphrodite took a shuddering Breath. "Not for a long time."

I held her hand and pulled her in with me to the water. Instantly, when I touched her hand, I felt a pang of unbelievable pain. The throbbing of each wave sent shocks through my body, and I let go. Immediately I lost my balance, the aftershock of emotion still flowing within me.

"Aletha!" She used her powers to help me up. "I don't think you were ready for that godly contact. I should've known, I'm sorry!"

I stood up, but continued to beckon her to the water. This time Aphrodite followed me in to the water, and I made a bubble around us by lightly humming. "I was wondering why you didn't speak. You have a lovely voice, from what I remember, Aletha."

"My lady," I bowed a bit. "I took an oath to not use my voice in front of people on purpose. The last time I used my vocal powers, I had a field day with wrecking Annabeth's ears, changing the brightness of the sun, and healing Annabeth's ears." I didn't mention Nico.

"Is She the only person you healed?" Aphrodite with a knowing glint in her eye. "And don't call me my lady, it's weird. Twenty First century, girl! You can call me Nana."

"Isn't that a bit weird considering that you don't technically age?" I questioned, classical in the randomness of the question.

"Isn't it a bit odd that you're technically three fourths of a goddess?"

"Huh?" I said, frazzled by the completely off topic sentence, which wasn't said by me.

"Huh? What? No! Who else did you heal, Aletha?" She demanded girlishly. "You need to tell your Nana these things!"

"Nana," I tested. Aphrodite looked like she flowed even more than usual. The smile on her face grew to the point that her eyes shut, but it wasn't fake, it was just a very nice smile. "I healed Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades. It's really an odd story, actually. I can speak to him."

"Oh? Do tell, darling."

And immediately I was rushed into my Aphrodite-genes and started telling her in full detail without even taking so much as a single breath into my lungs. She gasped and she smiled and we talked for what felt like fifteen full minutes before either of us took a breath.

"Well, then. That's quite the story you have there, my granddaughter. Have I ever told you how much I shipped Percy with Annabeth? I hadn't seen anything more shippable than them in centuries. I thought I was going to have to wait a century more! But, wowie, what a gem! Someone should write a fanfiction about you two!" Aphrodite cheered, and I facepalmed. I shook my head, immediately dismissing the thought. I'm fairly certain Nico has a thing for Percy, though, that was most people at camp.

"So, Nana, It's been bothering me: why Empathy? What even is Empathy?"

"Empathy is what I blessed you with. You can understand how people feel. In the same way that they feel it. So just now, you felt what I was feeling, but since I'm a goddess and you're only demigoddess, you couldn't handle much of it. If trained, you could take down a titan merely by calming it down.

"Many of my children have long since forgotten about this gift that comes with love. And so none of them received it. Your mother had it, too. As of now, I believe Jin has these powers, but won't tell anyone." She sighed. "People forget the true beauty of love belongs not in any of the feelings of one person, but in the communication of feelings. It's the connection that makes love so beautiful."

I nodded my head. I understood. Love wasn't necessarily romantic but it seemed to connect everyone with someone who would help them through something. "I think I get it, Nana. I love you. Thank you for being here." She smiled and looked at me smiling.

"I should go to your aunts and uncles and let them know who you are to them and to me. That should get a lot of the boys off your tail, huh?" Nana/Aphrodite winked and the pink sparkles that left her eyes enveloped her body before shooting back to the cabin.

I popped the bubble, and swam around for a bit. When I finally reached the shore, I was greeted with a gloriously warm hug. And another. And another. AND ANOTHER.

Soon enough I was covered in the entire Aphrodite Cabin. The one hugging me closest and the first one to hug me was none other than Jin.

I smiled and looked to Percy, who seemed a bit sad but smiled anyway. As soon as I was released by the cabin, the intense warm feeling growing in me cooled. And I ran over to hug Percy, and Jin wrapped us both in a hug. To this day, that is still one of the best feelings I've felt from everyone.