Acheron Parthenopeaus paused at the doorway to study the twins for a moment before he entered.
Both men easily stood 6'6", the two were identical copies except for their short hair and tattoos, both of which changed over time. Currently, Phobos had hair of dark brown with streaks of red and his arms were covered with tribal tattoos from his shoulders to his wrists. Deimos on the other hand, he liked to look more off putting. His hair was black with blue streaks, which framed the two lightning tattoos that ran from his tear ducts, down his cheeks and to his jaw line. Acheron assumed it was meant to intimidate. Yet, it did not intimidate him in the slightest.
He was there to see Deimos, however, Phobos was still with him. Acheron was not sure if he wanted to have this discussion with Deimos in front of Phobos.
Of course, either could technically work for his needs, he only dared discuss any of this with one person, and Deimos's personality was a better match for this particular project.
Listening to Deimos's laugh echo through the room, Phobos stood up and walked away from his brother with his back toward Acheron. Perhaps this would time out well?
Watching Phobos leave in his aggravation had lightened Deimos's mood. There was a part of him that still wanted Phobos to return to the game. However, he had to admit that he was probably not in the best mental place to focus on a game of chess at the moment. Besides, he could feel Acheron at the door. Play time was over.
"So, what brings you to see me Ash?" Deimos said the words as he still watched the door that Phobos had stormed out of, then turned to look at the Atlantean deity with a raised eyebrow.
Without moving his head, Acheron glanced around the room again and down the hall that he had entered from to make sure no one else was around. "I have a small favor to ask." His voice was low and showed no emotion.
Deimos was surprised. This had to be juicy to get Acheron himself to ask him for a favor under obvious secrecy. Deimos grin widened and his eyes flickered at the fun that was sure to be coming his way.
Acheron was used to keeping things very close to the chest. He had sworn oaths and vows to not divulge any secrets from the Dark Hunters or Artemis. Then there was his own complicated life that he did not share much of. Yet, he needed to know answers. There was something going on with Artemis. She was keeping a very close eye on a young human military officer. Not only was the action out of character for Artemis, but she was desperately trying to keep it a secret. That worried him even more.
It was possible that she was hoping that this soldier would become a new Dark Hunter, an immortal soldier tasked to hunt the monsters that pray on humanity at night. However, usually, she only approached them after hearing the sounds of their most agonizing cries of pain and desperation to make her offer. In that moment of grief, betrayal and death, did she offer the most skilled hunters and soldiers the option of immortality. Of course, that option came at a heavy price. Yet, when someone is at their lowest and most agonizing point in life, what would they do for that 24 hour promise to seek your revenge without consequences on them?
As the more or less official leader of the Dark Hunters, he understood why many of his brethren chose the immortality. However, it is not a choice he would ever wish for another soul to make. And since Artemis does not really care too much about her Dark Hunters, it is very rare for her to show any interest at all. If this soldier is someone that Artemis wants as a Dark Hunter, they would be the would have to be quite unique to garner her interest before they die. The most problematic part of it all was that Noir appeared to also be showing interest in the human as well.
More troubling still, was that he was learning all of this through other sources. Zakar was the person that notified him of Noir's interest in the human. How he found out, Ash did not ask. Yet, for some reason, he could not locate this soldier and could not make any kind of connection to learn about them. As the final fate, Acheron was mostly omniscient. The only people and futures that he could not see where those that tied closely in with his own.
He need to know what was going on and why. Why couldn't he see anything? Everything about this uncertainty carries a weight of deep concern.
Walking through the corridors toward Deimos's room, the two men moved quietly, without talking. Deimos was curious about the secrecy of this visit, but understood that Acheron was hesitant to discuss it in public. But, once the doors closed…
"I need you to enter the dreams of a soldier." Acheron said in a dead pan voice.
"Ok then" Deimos eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"
"If you are not willing, then I will go." He turned to leave the room.
"But now you've gone and got me all curious about it! What the hell is going on?"
Lying was really the only option. Acheron could not share his concerns about Artemis. Yet, Deimos needed to know what to look for. "I think there is someone who might make for a good Dark Hunter. I want you to test their mettle for me. To get into their dreams, judge them, test them, scare the shit out of them."
Deimos burst out into a roar of laughter. "I should be offended that you are asking me to walk into dreams like I am a Oneroi or something. But, I have to say, you caught me on a good day, making men piss their pants sounds like a lot of fun at the moment."
"There is one more thing." Deimos eyed him quietly. "I want to go with you."
"This human must be something special to have you want to check up on him. I have never known you to test humans out before they become Dark Hunters. Not even the more recent additions like Ramsey." Acheron did not respond. "Alright then, should we go to the Hall of Mirrors?"
"Is there a way we can skip that part?"
"Seriously under the radar then." Deimos tilted his head in contemplation and scratched at the stubble on his chin. "Here is the issue that I see. I don't know this man. I don't know what he looks like, his name, or what he is in the middle of doing at this moment. It is difficult to jump into a dream when they are not actually dreaming."
Acheron hoped this would work. Alexion was only able to gather the tiniest fragments of information to help Acheron get there. Yet, as dream walking was not one of his gifts, he needed the extra juice. "They are going to start dreaming in just a few seconds. Can I lead you?"
Now how in the hell does Ash know that? With a sigh, "Oh what the hell, just don't get us lost Atlantean." They sat down, Deimos grabbed Acheron's shoulder and they slid into a dream. Deimos only hoped it was the correct one.
The rain was pelting down around them in the darkness while lightning strikes hit in a concentrated area in front of the two deities. AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" blared around them while the human shape was illuminated by repeated lightning strikes to the heart. They remained hidden to the person dreaming as they watched.
The screams reverberated around the space of the dream. Deimos just looked at Acheron, no emotions traced across his features.
Deimos was not yet sure if there was much for him to do. A nightmare of being hit by lightening repeatedly does not leave a lot of room for other terrors. Yet, as the thought crossed his mind, he heard the screams come together in rage.
A hand tightened and grabbed a hold of one of the lightening bolts as it sliced toward the human's chest. With a twist of the wrist, the bolt was hurled back up to the sky where it broke apart and all the lightening stopped. The body fell to the mud below.
Deimos's mouth dropped open in shock at the sheer control displayed. Never in all of his ten thousand years of being able to mess with human minds to plant the dread and terror that he was known for, had he seen anything like it.
An arm extended from the ground and made a small swipe of the hand, to which the rain stopped and moonlight flooded the scene. Then, the sounds of a feminine voice screamed out at the sky above…
"I fucking hate electrocution!" The woman kicked her legs in fury, like a toddler having a tantrum.
Looking at Acheron, "A woman!" Acheron only showed the slightest of smirks pulling at his lips. "You want me to terrorize a woman!"
Only then did Acheron turn to look at Deimos. "She is a military officer, a trained soldier. You must see her that way. Not as a woman that needs your protection. That is the point of testing her."
With that, he returned to survey the scene before him. The music had lowered in volume some and switched to a Linkin Park song. They appeared to be standing on a hill, looking over a field with grass reaching up to the calf, a few scattered bushes around. Nothing more descriptive in the moonlight of it. The woman just laid sprawled out in the mud, slowing her breathing from the previous attacks.
They heard rustling from the darkened bushes a few feet from where the woman lie, regaining her senses. She rolled to her stomach, crouched, and with another flick of her hand, brightened the moonlight a bit while simultaneously making the entire field around them as dry as if it had not been raining moments before. She stood slowly showing her to be around 5 foot 10 inches with a well defined shape and long black hair pulled in a pony tale. She was wearing combat regulation black pants and boots with a tight razor back tank top that exposed her midriff. Dear Aphrodite, what a sight. Then, two demons climbed out of the bushes.
Deimos moved to help her, when Acheron stopped him. "Let her try first."
"What have we here?" The first demon sneered. "Noir is dying to know why no one came back after visiting your dreams."
"Sonofa… Ash, I owe Noir, and I won't leave a woman at his mercy." Yet, Acheron just grabbed Deimos's arm to stop him.
The woman did not have time to even respond to the questioning tone of the demon when they both attacked. The music in the dream once again changed and amped up as though she had her own personal play list. Five Finger Death Punch, not a bad choice. She materialized two short swords, one for each hand. The demons were good. But, she was better. She cut down the first, who sneered in pain. The second nearly grabbed her arm as she spun out of his reach and thrust a sword deep into his chest, yet he did not die. That provided enough time for the first to regain his feet and attack once again.
Her moves where controlled, precise, and fast. Many people dream that they are great warriors and fighters. However, their skills are still always their own. Their dreams just orchestrate the fight to give the person a feeling of winning with skill. No one can pretend to move with this level of skill. The woman was very well trained. She had learned from her attempts to stop their attacks and finally took the head off of one of the bastards.
However, the last demon had started to back away to consider his next plan. The woman reached up to the air where another lightening bolt ran down to her hand. She grabbed at it, the pain of the raw power, etched on her face, yet she did not let go. Instead, she pulled at it until it bent fluidly and lashed out to catch the remaining demon around the waist like a whip and rip him in two.
Deimos's eyes widened at the sight. Damn, what a woman.
Acheron finally tilted his head toward Deimos and asked "Have you ever heard of such a thing?"
Deimos just shook his head, no. Even the best of the dream gods and Dolophoni had never done anything like that. Not that he was aware of anyway. And this woman was supposedly human?
Suddenly a massive wall of water began to fall from the sky to drown all below. All that could be heard was the woman's scream, "Let me sleep!"
