A/N: Okay, okay, I know its another story and that I really need to finish some of my others, but I really do work better with more than one project on a go at one time and I really, really wanted to write this after a conversation I was having with Ingradera the other day. Anyway, here is the new story and I hope you enjoy it.
All around him were children though they did not seem the same as those happy kids he was used to in the streets of New York. No, these kids were harder, grimmer with a glint in their eyes that made them seem like soldiers though the youngest could only have been about 7 years old. All of them, without exception, were decked out in an old form of armour that glittered in various shades of gold and bronze in the predawn light, though the faces of the assembled children could barely be seen and, although they all seemed to be setting about their own tasks, an air of tension hung around them and it was enough to make him on edge.
After several long moments of this, the atmosphere changed and they all turned to a couple that had obviously just exited from the only tent on the plane and a hushed silence filled the air as the crowd waited for them to speak. Unnoticed by the others, he made his way to the front where he could make out the faces of the new arrivals.
The first was a girl, around 17 in age with golden ringlets to her waist and grey eyes that looked to have seen too much. Her fair skin tone could barely be made out through the blanket of bruises and cuts upon her arms and what part of her face was visible through her helmet though she stood firm beside her partner. She was tall and lean, but he stood a head taller and had the muscles of a soldier.
Noticing the crowd assembled before him, the boy sighed and shifted slightly so that his helmet could be seen propped against his hip with one arm, with the other, he brushed raven hair from eyes as deep as the ocean and it was obvious to all that he was hiding a great pain. All together, the couple did not look entirely sane though the children seemed to look to the two of them as leaders. Sighing once again, the boy shifted to face the troupes, for that is all they could be classed as.
"Heroes, we will not lie to you… our situation is bad, nearly all of you are already exhausted and our enemy is barely straining itself, but this is not the end. We came here for one purpose and that hasn't changed, nor has our resolve. We will stay, and we will fight, we will show them the true might of Olympus. We will not back down. If we fight today, if we fight in the way that we know in our hearts that we can, our names will be remembered forever more with those of our ancestors. We will stand proud in the eyes of future generations and I tell you this now… we will fight this evil with every breath left in our bodies and we will win. But for now, if we die, we die with honour knowing that we have earned out place in the Elysium fields amongst our family and that is something that no one can take way from us. Now however, you must rest, we attack at dawn!"
There was a great cheer at the end of his speech which saw the couple back into the tent were he could just about make out the figures of several more people before the fabric flap fell shut behind them. To him the speech had been unsettling and confusing, but to the amassed army it seemed to work as a beacon of hope that eased some of the fear in their hearts. Quietly and with precision, they made there way back to their prior positions returning to their activities or settling down to sleep for a sort while. It was true, what the boy had said, they all seemed to be on the edge of their limit and not one could he see that did not have an injury, minor or not.
Using the sparse amount of time before what was sure to be a drawn out battle, he walked amongst the ranks that he had found the minute that he had begun looking for them. This army seemed to have been made up of several different races, though that was nothing new to the soldier, but many of them seemed similar in the way they acted or the tone of voice they used, to him it was obvious that they had all seen far too much and it saddened him. For children to know such pain was a terrible crime yet they seemed to shoulder it without any sense that such a thing was out of the ordinary giving him the impression that death was all too familiar with these people.
Once, not long after the first couple arrived he saw another approach some of the soldiers off to the left, talking to them in hushed voices before hurrying back to the tent. This time the pair appeared to be siblings, the boy with short cut blond hair and proud features which he shared with his younger sister. He noticed that, although these people seemed to be the commanders of this operation, he had yet to see one that was over 19.
Before long however, what seemed to be the entire population of the tent emerged to stand in a line about 9 people long, the youngest in there being a 12 year old girl with a stern face, yet another thing which made his heart break.
Together this group rallied the forces, calling names and chants that resounded from the mountain side from which they camped, often chanting in what seemed to be Latin or a language unknown to him. Once everyone was on their feet, weapons drawn and alert for the attack, the two boys that he had seen earlier stepped forwards together and crossed their swords in a symbol of unity and calling out in the two different languages at the same time. This had obviously been the sign they had all been waiting for as, at that moment, they charged forward with a yell as loud as thunder, rushing down the slope and off to battle.
Steve Rodgers jerked awake in his bed shivering madly as sweat glistened on his limbs, illuminated by a flash of lightning that filled the whole room. Glancing over at the glow in the dark clock on the wall, he groaned, it was only 4 in the morning, but there was no way that he could sleep again after that dream. Flopping back down onto his covers, he waited for his heart rate to slow before, reluctantly, heading towards his closet.
Checking his reflection in the floor length mirror, the soldier grimaced. His skin was too pale and his eyes were wide as a spooked rabbits, sighing, he reached for some clothes and pulled them on, slamming the door shut so that he would no longer have to look at the disturbing image.
Once dressed, he meandered towards the living room of Stark's penthouse, where they would all gather in the morning, thinking of flicking through some of the shows on T.V until he found one that would distract him, but no sooner had he lowered himself onto the luxurious sofa did he hear the sound of movement outside.
Instantly, his reflexes kicked in and he rolled up onto his feet, stepping cautiously up to the curtains that lead to the balcony trying to sneak up on the potential threat, but stopping when he spotted the crimson cape of his comrade.
"I take it you couldn't sleep either than Thor?"
With these words he stepped out into the open air, moving to stand beside his friend who was staring out into the lashing rain with n uncharacteristic look of nervousness on his face. So deep was he in his own thoughts that the words of the super soldier made him jump and grip his hammer tighter before recognising an ally and relaxing back into his former stance.
"You have remarkably good senses." He finally replied, "To awake with unease on such a night."
Steve leaned against the barrier, staring up into the cloud covered sky, taking deep breaths of the night air to calm his nerves before he replied, unsure of whether or not he really wanted an answer to his question.
"What do you mean 'on such a night' what is happening?"
The demigod sighed, shifting uneasily in the darkness, looking like he wished to be somewhere else but had been forced to remain in place. He remained silent for so long that the soldier almost gave up on getting an answer and turned back to the sleeping city but, when it finally came, the words were little more than a whisper.
"The air is in turmoil and a battle is brewing, tonight is the night that the whole thing ends, for good or for evil."
Those words seemed to charge the air, making the Captain's heart race once again and causing his mouth to dry out though that did not prevent him from asking the next question.
"Should we be worried?"
"It is not our fight."
"Yes, but should we be worried?"
When the giant turned to look his friend in the eyes, Steve noticed a great sadness that he had never seen there before.
"We should all be worried, for the fate of the earth hangs in the balance and a single sword could sway the tide of this war. But there is nothing we can do now but wait, and see what news the morning shall bring."
A/N: there you go, I hope you enjoyed it and don't be afraid to leave a review… please?