All's Fair In Love And War

And Then There Were 19

Venus and Cupid lined us up very carefully, girls on one side of the platform and boys on the other."How does this work?" Drew asked.

"Well, each of the band members have 6 votes. They work together to decide who picks who, which may result in Hazel giving girls their roses since there are two boys and one girl participating. Then, the other three in the group have one vote that they take together. That way, only one person leaves every week."

"What do you mean roses?"

"Each band member gets roses of a certain color. White for the three not participating, black for Nico, dark orange for Leo and a light golden color for Hazel."

"Cameras rolling in two minutes!" A satyr galloped past, a partially eaten tin can hanging from his mouth as he held tightly to a sheaf of papers.

"Don't lose those, Grover!" Cupid shouted after him.

"Yessir!"

"Alright, here come the bachelors." Venus cooed.

Piper and Jason came in first, holding hands. Piper was in a dark pink dress with black shoes, and Jason's tie matched the tone of his girlfriend's skirt.

Leo was in an obnoxious orange suit that he somehow pulled off. I could see black suspenders with flames on them and his shoes were also decaled. His hair was left in it's curly mess. I assumed that it couldn't be tamed.

Thalia, it seemed, had absolutely refused to dress up. She was in ripped black jeans and high tops, with a shirt that had a severed Barbie head on it. A leather jacket fit snugly over the strange top.

Nico looked rather uncomfortable in his black suit. His tie was loose and messy, which seemed to match the personality I'd seen over the past two days.

Hazel looked gorgeous. She was in a grey dress that had a sweetheart neckline and rhinestones along the bodice. Her hair was pulled into a bun with a small rhinestoned flower holding it in place.

"And rolling in 3...2..." Grover flashed a thumbs up at Venus, who shot the camera a megawatt smile and began to speak.

"Hello deities of Olympus and wherever else you lovely ones are viewing this from! This is the first multiple celeb installment of Love and War!"

Cue studio audience being turned on by the kid at the soundboard.

"Tonight the Rattling Bones will decide on the first member of our charismatic group of diverse choices that will leave us."

She never said permanently. This woman reminded me of the kind who would switch things up at the last minute.

"You know them all, thanks to the biography we got from all of them. Done by their family and friends, it's closer to accuracy than most self-done submissions would be."

I blinked in surprise. Did Hylla fill it out? Lady Circe?

"And now we'll begin! The first rose to be given is the group rose. Jason shall present it."

Jason stepped forward and accepted the white rose from Cupid. I didn't see any vases so I assumed the god had made the thing himself and would produce the rest throughout the elimination.

"Calypso, nymph of the island of Ogygia." He handed her the rose.

"Thank you." The girl responded demurely.

"Now, Hazel shall present her roses." Venus announced.

The wild-haired girl accepted a bundle of six gold hued roses. 

"Nico and I chose our six together, so we each have roses for a few of each others." She said softly.

"Go on." Venus shooed her onward kindly.

Hazel went to the group of men first. She plucked a rose from the bundle. 

"Frank Zhang, son of Mars."

The burly Chinese boy took the rose, his cheeks tinting red.

"Drew Tanaka, daughter of Aphrodite." Nico chose her? I guess, they're only allowed to get rid of one person at a time.

"Octavian Barbour, legacy of Apollo."

"Gwen Sepulveda, daughter of Arcus."

"Michael Yew, son of Apollo."

"Castor Duval, son of Dionysus."

Hazel handed off the last rose and moved back to the rest of the band.

"Leo Valdez shall present his roses now."

Cupid produced a bouquet of fiery orange buds that the boy took eagerly.

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." He winked at her.

"Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite." Another wink. This kid thought he was that cool, huh?

"Lou Ellen, daughter of Hecate."

"Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus." His half brother? Either this dude was really screwed up or Hazel didn't have enough roses.

"Travis and Conner Stoll, sons of Hermes." He handed off the last two roses.

Now it was Nico's turn. His roses were pitch black and they actually looked kind of cool.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare, clear sighted mortal."

"Bianca di Angelo, daughter of Hades."

"He can do that?" The girl asked protestingly. "I'm his full blooded sister!"

"Have you considered he was choosing for Leo?" Venus asked slyly. I made a face at her tone.

"Continue, Nico."

"Malcolm Younger, son of Athena."

"Will Solace, son of Apollo." Nico refused to meet the blond boy's eyes as he handed the rose over.

"Lee Fletcher, son of Apollo."

Nico turned to us girls again. Only Phoebe and I were left.

"Good luck." She whispered to me as he walked forward.

"Same to you." I whispered back.

"We're down to the last rose. Choose wisely, Nico." Venus said softly.

"I choose..." He looked down, almost as if he was thinking it through again.

Phoebe took a nervous breath.

"I choose Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona."

[A/N one down! The voting process is really complicated so I'm just gonna let y'all figure it out]