Percy Jackson: The Cursed Hunter

A/N: My god, do y'all have a story (novel, manga, manhwa) wherein you just remember it from time to time for no apparent reason and it hits you in the heart like a fucking isekai truck? Welp, for some reason, I remembered that story of mine today and now I'm so fucking sad. It hurts, it fucking hurts, and for no goddamn reason too and I hate it. Hopefully, writing this takes my mind off of it.

On a note for the chapter, it's really split into two parts, and you can consider each part a mini chapters. Basically a compilation of Aphrodite's various thoughts.

---

I had loved many times before.

From the moment of my inception to the present, I had loved, loved, and loved some more.

Men, women, animals, statues, monsters, and everything in between.

I had loved all such beings before.

Yet, was what I had done with them truly acts of "love?"

Ahhhh, my head hurt, thinking about such things.

Here I was though, contemplating my growing strength over my domain, strength that had stagnated billions of years ago.

'So what is, "love?"'

I first thought back to Narcissus, who had been the most beautiful specimen in the world at the time.

Yes, my hear had fluttered whilst looking at him, and yes, I desired him.

But was any of it truly love? Or was it the same fluttering of the heart and the same desire as when I see pretty dresses that I want to posses whilst open window shopping?

My second thought was of Adonis.

Oh, how much I had loved the man.

He was perfect, more perfect than any other being that I had met before, ever.

His body truly was the epitome of all male bodies, in the end, causing Ares to become jealous wherein he had turned into his boar form and had gored him to death.

And yes, I had held his body, as I let his blood run down my arms, but did I ever feel anything as his soul crossed the river with Charon?

No.

Thus, I concluded that it had merely been lust, not love.

My third thought was obviously of Ares, and all the other gods I had hooked up with before.

Some of the pleasures I had felt when I was in bed with them were some of the greatest pleasures I had felt in my life, hence why I used to visit him at least once a week.

Yet, after getting to know Shalom, all these pleasures... seemed so fragile?

The touch of his skin on mine, the notes of his voice in my ear, the mere scent of him around the house had washed away all those memories.

With him, I lived in the present, constantly looking forward to what the next day could bring.

Sure, it wasn't a romantic "love" that I had with him, no, it was something different.

Maybe, just maybe, for the first time in my life, I was feeling the love that friends had for one another.

'A platonic love...'

It hadn't been something I desired, it hadn't been something I craved, heck, I hadn't ever believed in it because one of the two always ended up turning gay if they were the same sex (leading to oh so wonderful stories of heartbreak) or they had fallen for each other if they were of the opposing sexes.

I couldn't deny though, those cases that I had watched had turned out that way probably because of my influence now that I looked back on it.

Anyways, here I was, completely contradicting my past self.

I desired being around him and I craved his company, but not because of carnal pleasures.

No, his smile, hearing his voice, bantering with him, spending time with him...

All those things made me indescribably... happy?

It was an alien feeling, yet one that I didn't reject at the same time.

Hades, my control over my domain was growing!

I was honestly excited, ecstatic even.

I couldn't wait for him to show me more versions of "love" than the one I had known for so long.

'And I probably should stop meddling and trying to push best friends together...'

~~~

The Beginning of Their Second Year of Cohabitation:

'I really do miss the old days.' I grumbled in my head.

Nowadays, it seemed like we were spending no time together, as he locked himself up in his room attempting something that he wouldn't tell me about.

"I'll tell you about it if it works."

Those had been his literal last words to me before a complete ghosting on his part for a good week by now.

Like, I knew he was still alive, because I always found the plates of food I left outside his door empty every morning once I had woken up, but still.

'Man, I really am getting desperate, no?'

I honestly... just missed it.

In the beginning, it had been just like this actually.

We had barely seen each other, all because of his irrational fear of me being a shotacon.

Yet, the longer I stuck by his side, the faster he warmed up to me.

When he had been "training" (or whatever you could call just sitting there for hours on end), I had sat right there in the room with him.

When he had been reading books in the library, I had been there reading my own books right across the table from him.

When he had been eating a meal, I had persistently timed my own meals to coincide with his (it did help that I was just following him around).

I did have to admit that I had been following him around due to less than savory intentions, but they really had changed.

The silence that had hung over us had never really been weird at all.

Sure, most of the time, it was because he was so focused on something that he didn't even register that I was there with him.

But it wasn't awkward for me either as I really did enjoy studying him and his actions.

And, day after day had just passed like that, as my intentions for him began to slip further and further away from my consciousness until they eventually disappeared.

Then, I had continued to do it, just out of curiosity...

...okay, maybe I had wanted to get to him in some way. I had viewed him as a sort of challenge I would say, now that I was reminiscing on things.

Everything changed though, the day that we had had an actual conversation with each other.

We hadn't even realized that it was past midnight by the end of that first conversation.

Soon, the days following had been filled with the sounds of our chattering and laughter...

...and eventually, the comfortable silence that always fell when we read books sitting on opposite sides of the window-coach (I don't know what it's called, but you know what I mean, right?) in my room, our legs intertwined within the other's.

Here I was though, stuck back in the empty, lonely silence that had followed me for days on end before I had met Shalom.

Sigh...

It honestly gnawed at me, and I begin to always feel as if something was missing.

But were these really feelings that a good friend should have?

I honestly didn't know, but I couldn't help but feel as if something was currently missing from my life.

Thus, there I was, sitting at our dinner table, my chin supported by my hand as I glumly stared at the clock, agonizingly being... tortured, as each second passed.

When was he going to come out of his stupid room?!

I stood up indignantly, hell-bent on slamming that door of his open...

...but I soon slumped back into my chair, my arm coming over my face to shield my eyes from the blinding lights.

Sure, it was I who had put in the most effort into starting this relationship of ours.

Yet it was him who had held this relationship in place, and who had taught me the concept of "forgiveness." (The true concept of it, rather than the magnanimous "forgiveness" that I had been used to.)

Now, it was my turn once more, as I waited for him here, day after day after day...

These relationships... no, sincere relationships really did require so much effort, no?

But, people formed them- indulged in them, for what reason?

...Perhaps it was a reason to "love" that I now had the privilege of experiencing for the first time.

It was only a few hours later that I realized three things,

I didn't covet Shalom.

I didn't lust after Shalom.

And, all I knew was that, once he died, and I found myself living on due to my immortal life...

All these memories and emotions I had built up in the span of this first year with him.

As I stood there before his grave,

...

Ah...

I would probably cry.

...for many more years following his death.

---

A/N: The second half of the chapter was inspired by this manga page, just think of Shalom as having the same personality as the girl whilst Aphrodite is the boy.

Also, would y'all prefer me describing the process Shalom went through to create his domain, or should I just, you know, have him have it? Either way, I don't think the suspension of disbelief would be too far, considering it is a domain. So either he'll just showcase it in a (hopefully) hype chapter in the future or I make it easier to believe in by writing a chapter about it real soon.

Also, romance is prolly gonna start next chapter, depends on what my consultant says.

(Pst, you can be a beta reader too if you just comment your discord tag!)

Lmao, cy'all tomorrow.