Hunter looked at her in shock. “Wait…I need Aphrodite’s blessing to defeat…whatever this is?” He asked in slight disbelief. She shrugged.
“Face that helped Melanion, blah blah blah. That’s my mom. She gave Melanion golden apples to distract Atalanta in a footrace. When he won he got her hand in marriage.” She said with a bright smile. Hunter stared at her for a second before laughing.
“Arabella, I could kiss you.” He said with a chuckle. She blushed a little before smiling back.
“I’ll wait.” She said with a devious smile. Hunter’s eyes widened as his cheeks turned pink.
“Uh…I uh…Thanks.” He said nervously. “Wait, so where do we find her.” Arabella sighed.
“I think she said something about Las Vegas. I’d start there.” She said with a nod. “Look for places all about lust and love.” She said, flashing Hunter a smile and a wink. Hunter swallowed uncomfortably.
“Uh…Thanks for the advice. I’ll do that.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I’ll talk to you later, Arabella.” He said before swiping his hand through the image. He ran back to their camp and found Kyle and Marina sleeping soundly in each other’s arms. He chuckled to himself before walking to his spot, sitting up against a fallen tree. He leaned his head back and, in a few moments, fell asleep.
He woke up before Marina and Kyle with a stiff neck and back. He had fallen asleep in less comfortable places before. This was odd. He had woken up with the sensation of dreaming, but he didn’t remember it. He stood up with a wince and stretched. He sat down on the tree and sighed. “Vegas.” He said with a sigh. After a few more minutes, he walked over to Kyle and Marina and found them making out. “Oh my gods. Really?” They looked up in mild surprise before smiling.
“What? We didn’t know you were up, yet.” Kyle said with a chuckle.
“Besides, we aren’t going anywhere until we figure out the next line of the prophecy.” Marina said as she stood up and fixed her shirt. “Unless, you’ve got it all figured out, Hunter.” She said with a defiant smile. Hunter took a deep breath.
“As a matter of fact,” He said with a grin. “I do. We need to go too Vegas. Go to Vegas and we’ll find Aphrodite.” Marina and Kyle looked in surprise.
“And where did we learn this little tidbit of information?” Kyle said with narrowed eyes. Hunter took a deep breath as he thought of an excuse. He would probably get teased to no end for a late night iris message with a daughter of Aphrodite.
“It’s called reading, Kyle. You should try it sometime.” He said with a chuckle. “Atalanta, fill Kyle in would you?” He pointed to Marina who looked in slight surprise before clearing her throat.
“Oh, uh…Atalanta. She was a huntress who promised to not be wed.” She said with a nod. “But uh…There were suitors and one of them, Melanion, won and received her hand in marriage. Right?” Hunter nodded.
“And how did he win?” He said with a smirk.
“Well, he was given the golden apples, which distracted Atalanta-“
“Proof that girls are attracted to shiny objects.” Kyle said with a nod. Marina smacked his arm before continuing.
“Aphrodite gave her the apples.” She said with a sigh. “That still doesn’t explain why we need to go Las Vegas.” Hunter looked at her with a ‘why must you look a gift horse in the mouth’ look.
“It’s the city of love.” He said finally.
“That’s Paris.”
“Okay, it’s the American city of love.”
“That’s New Orleans. Or Philadelphia.”
“Okay, fine. It has an Eiffel tower. Does that work? Now, can we go?” He said slightly frustrated. Marina shrugged.
“Fine, don’t get your panties in a twist.” She said with a chuckle. “Let’s get going, then.” She said with a smile. The three of them walked toward the pegasi and Hunter turned to see Marina’s smile drop. “Do we have to? Can’t was just walk? OH! OH! We have to walk! They’ll see us! On our flying horses!” She said desperately. Kyle put an arm around her and kissed her forehead.
“Babe, it’s Vegas.” He said with a shrug. “10 percent of the people will see it and think nothing of it. Another 10 percent will see it and think it was all in their head. Everyone else, probably sees crazier stuff on a daily basis.” He said with a chuckle. “Now, mount up. Let’s get home before dinner, shall we?” The three of them, one more reluctantly than the others, mounted onto their pegasi and took off toward Vegas. Hunter estimated that they were somewhere near Indiana, when they left. They had left early so it was in the midafternoon when they arrived. They landed in front of a homeless man who screamed and ran off.
“Should we hide them?” Marina asked nervously. Hunter thought for a second.
“No, we’ll be okay. We just won’t fly. Is that okay, Ulysses?” Hunter said patting his mount between the ears. “Now, you can show off your wonderful equestrian ability, Marina.” He said quietly.
“Maybe, I will.” She said with a defiant smile. She maneuvered Jimmy and was trotting circles around them. She smiled and let out a defiant, “Ha!”
“Let’s get going, then.” Hunter said as he kicked Ulysses into a walk, through the circle Marina had formed. “We need to look for stuff with love or lust or hearts or something…Aphrodite-y.” Hunter said as they turned a corner to see dozens and dozens of signs with hearts.
“’This Little Chapel o’ Mine.’ ‘Best Little Chapel.’ With a cop car parked out front.” Kyle said with a chuckle. “’A Hunk o’ Burnin’ love church.’ What… ‘Chapel of Love.’ I feel like this is going to be a long day, guys.”