#Lo Aphrodite will always have a special place in my heart

[callmealexis]

This took like 1 or 2 months to finish this and honestly it wasn't a waste of time. Idk which LO character to make an edit of next lol.

[mysticstorytime]

Definitely recommend you listening to the linked song while reading this one. :)

“Hot damn,” he’s circling you with his compliments. You let him get a good look twirling and posing. “You look absolutely stunning,” he pretends to burn his hand on your hip as he reaches for you.

“Always the gentleman,” you giggle letting Keigo wrap his arm around you and guide you into the restaurant. He kisses your neck gently briefly whispering in your ear how delicious you looked. Suppressing the knot your stomach immediately tied, you push his face away.

“If you behave, just this once, you might even get a bite,” you bite the air at him. He pretends to flinch returning to your side. In your banter, you didn’t notice the host opening the doors to you and Keigo. He gestures for you both to proceed to your reserved table.

“Milady,” Keigo extends his arm to you walking you to the table he specifically chose.

“Wow,” the restaurant felt more like a dining hall. The lights were huge, ornate and far too beautiful. From the simple yet elegant decor to the attentive staff, something had to be up.

“For you,” he pulls out your chair smiling to himself. He couldn’t get his mind off how stunning you looked and that smile... he almost cleared the restaurant to take you right on the table...but not tonight. Not yet.

“Thank you,” lifting your dress, you sit letting him push the chair in for you.

“So what’s the occasion? You get me out here all dolled up for you and no clue what for.”

“Well,” he couldn’t stop grinning to bother pretending to be smooth, “we’ve been together so long I wanted to do something special. For you. For us,” he reached across the table to hold your hand. The warmth was always a comfort to him and he longed for it as soon as he lost it.

“Oh,” the flush of your cheeks didn’t stand a chance in the glimmer from the lights.

“I’ve got three gifts for you tonight, but first, we should eat. You’re gonna need your energy.” Two waitstaff immediately appeared nestling your plates in between one another dropping glasses, silverware, and plates alike.

“Oh, thank you so much,” they nodded and as quickly as they appeared, exited.

The meal proceeded in the sweetest way. He had thought of everything you liked and it was prepared the way you wanted. The small talk, albeit normal, was so much more special. Your heart thudded in your chest excited for the next gift, but even more so that he wanted to give you so much. The treat of the night didn’t stop at the suit he had donned for the night nor the restaurant he reserved, not the compliments and not even the tender way he smiled at you across the table. His hand didn’t leave yours the whole meal like he was afraid if he let go, you’d float away.

The food was done and small talk had dissipated to a silence indicative of the next stage.

“Alright, song bird,” he stands dusting off crumbs, “first gift.” His grin was so proud you couldn't hide the excitement. He walked up to the stage next to your table, grabbed the mic, and looked out to the vacant audience.

“Ladies and gentletables, I hope you’ve enjoyed your evening of food and festivities, but there is a main event I’d like to present to you,” he turns to you, locking his gleaming eyes on yours. The world melted away with his words...with his attention.

“This is for you, baby bird,” he clears his throat and begins a soft tune. The piano picks up in the background, but the sound existed only for Keigo’s voice to carry it. His voice took on a deep and smooth melody that wrapped you in silk and memories. The nights you had spent in each other's company and the days you spent longing for those nights flooded your consciousness, eventually seizing your heart. The song spilled promises you had only whispered and made them tangible in your tears. You hadn’t even noticed the guitar until the wetness on your cheeks brought you to reality. Before you know it, the melody had ended.

He stepped down from the stairs, walking towards you with the brightest smile you’d ever seen. He was hiding something under that grin of his and sure enough he pulled out a box from his suit.

“Baby, I adore you and every time I get to see you is like the first time I saw you. My heart is on fire and I just want to fly with you,” his immediately unfurled two big beautiful ruby wings flapping gently around you, “I want every day of my life to be like this moment...like that moment,” the tears were streaming down your cheeks but his smile held back his own, “will you BEEP BEEP BEEP!”

“What’d you say?” You laugh through the confusion. You hadn’t heard a word he had said.

“I lo-,” EEEEEEEEEEE

His mouth...his words...it was a noise. A familiar noise….almost like an….alarm.

---------

Your eyes snap open to the blurry picture of your ceiling taking the place of a date night that’d never happened. To your left, a man was stirred awake turning to face you. His eyes were the same yellow and his smile was still genuine, but why were they so different from the man you knew a minute ago?

“Hey,” he kissed your forehead, but it didn't have the same spark, “what’d you dream about?” He smiles at you rubbing your cheek with his palm. His eyes seemed mildly concerned, but for the most part, you knew it was short lived and shallow.

“Nothing special,” you could almost cry, “hey...when are you going to tell her...about us?” You asked this question before so many times only to be met with the same outcome. The same answer. The same feeling.

He stops rubbing your cheek, withdrawing his hand. His face had changed to that same cold and frustrated expression every time you brought it up. It was inconvenient. Being a secret was never the plan, but being the other woman wasn’t either.

“Why do you always ask that? It’s almost like you don’t want me here,” he kisses your forehead and gets up retrieving his clothes from the floor and assembling them on himself.

“You know that’s not what I mean,” you sit up, covering yourself with your blanket. He always did this. Made a joke. Gave you a kiss. Promised he’d do it. Rinse and repeat.

“Look, song bird, everything will work out so you don’t need to worry your pretty little head, ok?” He grabbed his shoes in one hand and took your face in his other. “You know how I feel about you.” His kiss was warm...and empty.

He always knew how to look so genuine and just what to say. Sometimes you forget where he goes during the day or that he only manifests at night. As the door closed and you heard the lock click, you wonder what’d happen if you told his wife what he’d been doing for all this time. Wonder what his friends would say. What would he do to you? The ending was always the same though; you’d never see him again. He’d never hum that sweet song that’d make aphrodite envious of the love you never really had. Your bed would either be bigger in his absence or occupied with your thoughts. His wings would never hold you and his hands wouldn’t ground you in a place only he and you knew.

Reality was so bitter.

[brittysaucefanfic]

A Fate Unclaimed

Part 16

(First)(Previous)(Next)(AU 1)(AU 2)(AO3)

They didn't even get to tour the city when they reached Los Angeles. Which, yes, they're on a bit of a time crunch, but still. Lance had been hoping for a little R&R before jumping into the quest. Shiro was the fearless leader though, so they went straight to the door to hell.

Conveniently, the door was located in the DOA Recording Studios. Which, if you ask Lance, and no one did, is a very strange place for the door that leads to the Underworld. It should be in somewhere more appropriate, somewhere dark and full of misery. Like at the White House.

"So, what next?" Pidge asks as they head down the street to the DOA building. She's rubbing her eyes, evidence that she was just woken up from a nap. They had to ditch the van because traffic was almost as bad New York City. Almost. At least here it's warm, and they have beaches. Lance would kill to swim at a beach where the water isn’t deathly cold, and/or disgustingly polluted.

"Do we just walk up to Charon, say we need to talk to Hades, then pop in like we're just saying hello?" Pidge continues when no one answers her immediately.

"Guess so." Keith says. They lapse into silence, too wary for monsters to be chatty. Not even Lance feels like talking, and that's saying something. They finally reach the doors to the building, and just as Lance goes to open the door a voice calls out behind him.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you, Hades is in a bad mood right now." They all spin around, and for some reason Lance is both relieved and anxious to be at the back of the group. In front of them, seemingly blending in with the shadows of the buildings, is a woman. A gorgeous woman.

She has long black hair with gold streaks, curling at her hips. She's wearing a black leather jacket, ripped skinny jeans, and a pair of black, knee high, studded leather boots. She's smoking a cigarette, and Lance watches as she takes a long drag and then throws it. He almost expects it to land on one of passing pedestrians, who are all swarming around them like they know exactly what Lance and his friends are.

But the cigarette vanishes in a cloud of shadows.

Lance swallows as the woman steps from the wall, his focus zeroing in on her. She only has to take a step closer for Lance's vision to flash in gold. It's rare that it happens, but Lance has seen it enough to know exactly what it means, without the means to explain how he does.

The woman is a demigod, a powerful one.

He snaps out of the brief trance to notice that he had shoved his way to the front of the group. Keith and Shiro are already discreetly branding their celestial bronze weapons. The woman steps up to Lance, sizes him up, and Lance is intimidated by the fact that she's actually taller than him.

"Who the hell are you?" Keith demands, but Lance and the woman both ignore him. She steps away at last with a smile as she slips off her sunglasses. Lance locks eyes with mismatched eyes. One is black as night, the other inhumanly golden.

"The names Macaria, and you probably don't know me, but I'm here to help." She says. Her voice is smooth, like velvet. It’s not a high pitch, but it isn’t low either. No accent, no special design of her voice or face to give away where she comes from. 

Shiro edges forward, his sword low at his side, closest to the building walls. 

“Why should we believe you aren’t a threat?” He says. Macaria smiles, and it’s sharp, forcing Lance to fight to keep focused. He feels drawn to her, and it’s familiar. He’s drawn to her like he’s drawn to Shiro, like he’s drawn to Allura. What do these three people have in common to draw him in so easily?

Macaria ignores Shiro, turning back to Lance. He swallows when her eyes are on him, the background starting to fade, but he fights it. He isn’t sure what in the Gods’ names he’s fighting against, but it feels wrong. Like he shouldn’t fight it. Is this the Charmspeak Romelle refuses to use? Is this Macaria woman a daughter of Aphrodite?

“Tell me child,” She says, and her voice snaps him out of the spiral he’s falling into. “Have you seen my golden glow?” Lance’s heart feels like it stops beating. He shouldn’t know what this stranger is referring to, but he does. Like being summoned from his deepest soul, the gold flashes again, but it lasts a moment longer. Lance witnesses the speckles of black and white as they weave around Macaria. 

She smiles, and the flash is over.

“I see. Why don’t you tell your lovely friends to stop threatening me, and I can tell you what the glow means?” Macaria says.

His body starts a war with itself. A third of him wants to fight her, to get rid of the threat posed in front of his friends. A third of him wants to follow her, get answers he’s wanted for years. The last one, the one with a quiet whisper in the back of his head, just wants him to turn tail and run for the hills. 

But the ‘glow’ as Macaria calls it, he needs to understand.

Ever since he was a child, he would get flashes of color. It was even rarer back then, because it was before his adoption, and before he knew of his godly roots. Most of the time it only happened around new, but aware demigods, and was always just a flash of muted gold. 

He’s searched for reasons why ever since he realized that no one else saw what he sees. 

Macaria seems to recognize the struggle in Lance’s mind, and she sighs. She slips her sunglasses back on and gives a sharp scowl. Lance is too preoccupied to notice the faint trails of shadows around her feet.

“Fine, let’s do this the hard way then.”

Suddenly the shadows surge around him, and Lance barely has time to gasp before the scenery falls away. Before it does, just on the edge of total darkness, an arm wraps around his waist. Then he, and whoever is holding on, are falling into darkness.

******

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