orenda [leo valdez]

xvi. Museum of Love

Kira was beginning to hate passing out.

She looked around. She was standing in some sort of museum, but they were pictures of her life, and they were moving. The walls were white, connected by thick white columns.

Moving closer, they were all her and Leo.

The closest one to her was her and Leo on the couch, back at King Midas' mansion, when they had almost kissed. It was a short video on loop, just Kira reaching forward and wrapping him in a hug as he cried.

"Isn't it beautiful?" A woman cried. "That's one of my favorites."

Kira turned, bewildered that her memories were on display.

The woman was changing forms, but it settled on a woman with short, curly hair, bronzed skin, and swirling chocolate eyes.

"Aphrodite?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"Ding, ding, ding!" She clapped. "That's me!"

"Where am I, ma'am?" She asked politely, looking around the room.

"Oh, this is my Museum of Love. I have a room for all my favorites. Jason and Pipers is next door, then we have Percy and Annabeth, and Orpheus and Eurydice-"

She took a breath. "Oh dear, I got off track again."

Kira stared at her.

Aphordite was gorgeous, but Kira felt herself thinking of Leo. Leo was even more perfect.

Kira looked back, at the memory, watching it on replay before moving to the next one.

"Where did you get these?"  Kira whispered. 

"I keep an eye on one of my favorite couples," Aphrodite stated, moving to watch one of the memories. 

There was one of her falling asleep on the bus with him to the Grand Canyon, one of when Leo gave his Christmas present to her back at Wilderness school, a metal bracelet he had made that she still wore to this day. There was the memory of them meeting, them goofing off in history class, Leo defending her against Isabel.

There was more recent ones, her denying the Hunters of Artemis to be with him, them falling asleep on each other on Festus, Leo sitting on the beach with her helping her accept her parentage.

Hundreds of memories were hung up on the walls, overwhelming Kira.

She didn't realize she was crying until she faced Ahprodite again.

"Oh, hun," She soothingly. "Don't cry. I haven't shown you my favorite one!"

She showed her to the corner of the room, bigger then the rest.

This one was just a picture.

Kira and Leo were sitting by the fire, moments before Laycaon had come and attacked them. It was when they were joking around, and both of them were laughing joyously.

"Why am I here?" She croaked. Coming here only reminded her that she didn't have a chance with him.

"This is just a reminder," The goddess said. "Of what you are fighting for,"

Kira was speechless, but the goddess didn't seem the notice. Waving her hand over the picture, she produced a smaller copy, no bigger then a 8x10, of the same photo.

"Don't lose it," Aphrodite winked.

"Wait!" She cried, remembering the outside world.