PART I.


Chapter 1.

Ray of Darkness


"These woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
― Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.


Reyna was walking through the woods, careful to step aside every little branch or dead leaf that might give away her position, imitated by her cohort behind her. It's been an hour since Jason had come to see her in her office, panting and sweating, informing her that a group of monsters was at the door of New Rome. So here she was, and here they were, ready to fight and protect what was theirs.

As soon as she passed the edge of the woods, she knew something was wrong even though she couldn't exactly tell what. It was a feeling, one that tightened your chest and made it hard to breathe; one that made you hair rise on your arms and at the back of your neck. She couldn't help feeling that she was being watched so she kept looking everywhere, examining every tree, every branch and every form but there was no one here except her and her soldiers. But she couldn't erase this unconformable thought that an evil presence was lurking somewhere in those woods and was observing them from the shadows. Despite all this, she kept walking.

After a few minutes, shouts were heard from a few meters of the group. Voices rose in the silence and the Praetor recognized humans voices and words as well as roars so unhuman she had to suppress a shiver. And just when she started turning to her soldiers to give them orders, the silence was back again. But this one was different. It fell like thunder, dangerous and sudden, leaving a heavy atmosphere. She held her breath, afraid that someone would hear it, and turned again to look in front of her. And her heart stopped at the sight of what was coming toward her. No monster or army but a dark wave made of shadows and smoke, so fast she didn't have the chance to move a single muscle.

She found herself swallowed by darkness before she could take another breath. The dark was so absolute she couldn't even see her hands in front of her or the tree on her left. She still could hear the breathing of her cohort, and she prayed no one was harmed. She couldn't risk asking them if they were all right, not while they could be surrounded by enemies. She had no idea what was going on, but she knew that it was nothing good. She tried to walk, her arms outstretched in front of her to avoid bumping into a tree, or a monster. But the darkness was everywhere, and it seemed to be seeping into her, slowly and dangerously.

She realized too late that her foot had bumped into something on the ground and she fell, face first on the ground. She tried to not make any noise so the monsters wouldn't be able to locate her, even though she was pretty sure they couldn't see no more than she could. She turned around, trying to touch the thing she had tripped on. She felt smooth hair underneath her fingers, and definitely a head with a nose and an open mouth. And it was wet. She didn't need light to know that it was blood. She stifled a scream when she felt another one a meter away. And another one. All the bodies were definitely humans but large and tall, still and lifeless. Whoever had done this, he had made sure they had known what real pain was before exhaling their last breath.

After what felt like an eternity, the sun reappeared above her, slowly but it was such a relief that she didn't care. She watched the light coming back and lighting her cohort's faces, full of anxiety and apprehension. She savoured the warmth on her skin. It was like coming out of a nightmare, coming out of the Underworld. Then her eyes looked down. She heard someone scream but she wasn't sure if it was her or another girl from her cohort. Dozens of corpses were lying on the floor that was now a pool of blood and dust. It was an awful sight to see, and just like that, she was back in that nightmare.

She wondered who - or what - could have done this. Could have done this much damage in so little time. It seemed like minutes away when Reyna had heard the loud voices disturbing the calm of the woods and interrupting the songs of the birds. She tried to look around, searching for a clue, for anything really that might help her understand.

And that's when she saw him.

At first she thought that it was just another body. Then that she was hallucinating. That the wave of darkness might have destroyed the little sanity she had left.

But even after blinking three, five and eight times he was still there. Lying on his side and looking so alien.

A golden crown with rubies and diamonds, who must have been neatly screwed on his black hair minutes before, was now on the ground, bloody and muddy resting at his side. He looked dead with his pale skin as if it had never known the warmth of the sun, his eyes closed and the lifeless shape of his body. He looked so dead that she thought for a minute or two that he actually was.

She made a step toward him then another one but he didn't move a single muscle. He was entirely dressed in black, with gold on his coat and fur all around its collar. She then realized that he was hurt, a circle of blood on his black shirt slowly seeping into the ground and the dead leaves. She walked to him, still nervous and still careful, repeating, almost chanting to be careful, that he might not be dead and he might kill her the second her stretched hand touched him. But nothing happened. She checked his pulse, letting her cold fingers rest at the side of his neck. His skin was hot, too hot, and his pulse too fast under it. Her eyes travelled up to his face to search for other bruises. His face was all hard and sharp angles, with violence written all over its features. He was handsome in a dangerous way as others were cute with dimples or chubby cheeks. She stopped, her body hovering over his harmed one and she felt the eyes of her cohort behind her, all looking at the teenager laying on the cold hard ground. She heard the whispers but took no interesting in them. How stupid it was to remark beauty in such situation.

"Reyna?" The voice startled her and she turned around to face Hazel, her eyes wide and worried. "Who is he?"

"I don't know Hazel. I have no single idea."

She turned back to take a long look at his body, wondering what she was supposed to do now. But if he was here, if he was the only one still alive, he must know what had happened here and if he dared lying, her dogs could still eat him alive.

"Frank, Jacob, would you please take him?" She asked to the two boys, known for their strength and muscles even though one of them had the face of a baby, "we will heal him at camp and interrogate him there."

But things didn't go as she thought they would. The wounded young man never woke up from his deep sleep. The sons of Apollon made him drink nectar to heal his wounds but after two days, the mysterious man was still sound asleep. At first she stayed beside his bed, hoping that his eyes would open but no such thing happened in more than forty-eight hours. So she went back to her usual life, training and ruling the camp.

Everyone had heard about the sleeping boy dressed in black, and suppositions were going fast: that he was a son of Pluto since resemblances with Nico could be noticed; same pale skin and same dark clothes, or that he was some kind of disguised monster or a king because of his golden crown. But none sounded plausible. He didn't have Nico's aura, his was darker and more powerful, scarier even. He had the blood of a god in his veins, that much was known thanks to the nectar that healed his wounds. But no one had any idea who his parent could be. Logic would say Pluto, Lord of the Underworld but he inspired violence like Mars' child could, and power like Jason, son of Jupiter. He was an enigma that Reyna had to solve. The sooner the better.

The sun was already hiding at the horizon when she entered the infirmary, her eyes immediately moving toward the bed where he was lying, his eyes still closed. She sat cross-legged on the chair beside his bed and watched as his eyes moved behind his eyelids. She sighed in defeat and started to sharpen her blade, the sound relaxing her. Her head snap up when she saw him moving. His fingers were grabbing the sheet and she immediately put her sword away and moved closer to him. She wanted so bad to see his eyes opening that she thought for a second that they were. That he was awake and that he would answer all the questions which she was dying to find answers to. But his eyes remained closed, and she waited for a couple of minutes, her heart beating so fast that it threatened to explode in her chest. But then his hand relaxed and it was as if nothing had happened at all. He was back in his deep sleep.

"Reyna I–" the voice stopped abruptly, and she recognized it as Nico's. He had been away for a long time, doing the Gods knows what, and even before Reyna brought the wounded man to camp, so obviously he had no idea who he was and what he was doing here. "What in Tartarus…" He stopped in the middle of his sentence again and stepped forward. Reyna met his eyes and she saw mixed feelings there: recognition, fear and curiosity. "What is he doing here?"

"You know who he is?" She asked hastily, hoping to finally have some answers.

"Oh we all do from where I come from. He's the Prince of Chaos's Kingdom, his heir and grandson. Son of Nyx, goddess of Night and Erebus, god of Darkness and King of a part of the Underworld." Nico seemed to be reciting a lesson learned a long time ago.

Reyna realized she wasn't dealing with a simple demigod but with a God. A son of two primordial deities and the heir to Chaos's Kingdom. She realized that maybe, just maybe, it had been a mistake to bring him to camp.

"If you had had one single idea who he was and what he was capable of, you would have never brought him here." Nico seemed to read her thoughts and she nodded at his words.

She could feel the power radiated by the god, it seemed to hit her like a warm and overwhelming wave. But there was something else underneath that feeling. Maybe fear, maybe apprehension. Or maybe something totally different. She understood now why none of them could guess who his parent could be. But this was her camp. Her house. And she wouldn't - couldn't - let herself be afraid of a guest. God or not. On the other hand, she could admit that something about him was intriguing, captivating.

"Where did you find him?"

"In the woods," she answered absently, "he's been harmed by enemies and we brought him here to heal him."

"Well you should bring him back where you find him. He's a threat to the entire camp." He exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Hell…" he muttered and looked at the Prince.

She knew deep down that the Prince would stay here until he was able to decide himself if he wanted to leave or stay. Moreover, he was a god and it wouldn't be a wise decision to leave him in the woods to bleed out when she could have helped him. And Reyna was the queen of wise decisions. "I will keep him here until he wakes up. Until then, no one touches him. Get it?"

"You're making a mistake Reyna."

"Maybe I am. But I take this decision entirely on my responsibility. If something happens, it will be my fault. As I said, until he's unconscious, no one lay a finger on him." This was a warning, almost a threat but Nico was smart enough to know when to back off. His silence was enough for Reyna. "Good. Now, what did you come here for?"

"I heard about what happened in the woods and I wanted to talk to you about it. But I have my answer now."

"What do you mean?"

"He did this." He nodded to the sleeping Prince, "one of his many powers."

It seemed so obvious now. Only a god could do such things; demigods or monsters had no abilities like this one. Only a god could summon a wave of darkness to kill his enemies. She looked at Nico, his pale face and dark circles under his eyes, and realized that he was just as scared for her as he was for the rest of the camp. When Reyna had met Nico, she had pushed away the opinions of others and got to know the son of Pluto, realizing that he was nothing like she expected him to be. Sure he liked to be alone most of his time and was different from all her friends, but different wasn't always a bad thing. And with time, Nico learned to appreciate her presence, which was more than she could have ever hoped for.

"You fear him." It wasn't really a question, more of a statement. The fear was written on every inch of his face and in his eyes.

"You should too." He simply replied, his eyes still glued to the Prince's face. "You will learn to once he wakes up."

"I've done nothing to offense him or hurt him. I believe that he has no reason to harm me or the camp." Reyna was obviously trying to convince herself, to be as rational as possible. Nothing will happen if no wrong is done to the Prince.

"See," he turned to look at her, black meeting black, "that's where you're wrong. As the son of Pluto I know how he's like. I met his father a couple of times and some told me that his son was ten times worse. You have no idea what that means, but I do. The Prince is no man. He's only darkness." He breathed rapidly as if the oxygen was running out his lungs, "he knows no boundaries and has no sense of right and wrong. He will kill you if he wants to. End of the story."

"Then I guess I will have to see it by myself."

The chilly air of the night made her shiver as she walked through the quiet New Rome, the need of the comfort of her bed and the warmth of her room making her legs speed up. But once under her blanket, sleep seemed such a distant thing, such an abstract concept. Her thoughts wander over the Prince, his hand gripping the sheet, the unknown colour of his eyes and the shape of his body on dead leaves. She thought about the wave of darkness in the woods and the one surrounding her in her bedroom. And strangely, she wasn't afraid now and she hadn't been afraid then. She wondered how the wave of darkness had killed the monsters and demigods in the woods and yet had done no harm to her and her cohort. Maybe the wave answered its summoner's commands only and at that moment, the Prince had only wanted to eliminate his enemies and not everyone else present in the woods. She had so many questions and no one to answer them. Maybe Nico could help her.

She stared at the darkness surrounding her, breathing it, caressing it with her fingers. It felt so strange and yet so good. It felt as if the darkness was alive around her, watching her, calling for her. The darkness wanted her awake and somewhere else. Somewhere that wasn't the Praetor's house. Without realizing it, she was up and her feet were moving under her. She knew where she was going, she just had no idea why.

When she entered the infirmary, his body was still lying on the bed but when she stepped forward, she became aware that the Prince's eyes were open. Blue and green swimming with black, was all she could see. It was beautiful and yet so unnatural. Nothing about him was. He looked too good to be true; to be human. His eyes rested on her face with clear distrust and violence like a storm ready to swallow you whole. She wanted to speak but the words died in her throat as his eyes travelled up and down her body. They were so cold and calculating that it made the hair on the back of her neck rise up. She felt so fragile under his gaze, like a little girl being in a giant's company. She desperately wanted to say something, to break the heavy silence compressing her body and making her brain buzz.

"Daughter of Bellona." He simply said, his voice cold like ice. "You answered me, I see."

She shuddered at the thought that he might have been the one to make her walk to the infirmary. "Why am I here?"

"I called you. And you came."

She thought about the way the darkness had felt alive, calling for her and she suppressed a shiver. Maybe this was one of his many other powers. He sat up and if his body hurt in any way, he didn't show it a single second. He was deadly handsome but in a dangerous way, the one that leaves you speechless. Realizing that the Prince was waiting for a reply, she sat on the chair beside him and she felt his gaze following her every step and movement. It was like his eyes were digging a hole in her chest.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, mostly because she wanted to know about his recovery but also to show him her trustworthiness, her intentions. No need to make him angry.

"You're the one who brought me here, aren't you?" He answered, avoiding her question. She couldn't stand his gaze, it seemed to look for her every secret, her every wrongdoing, her soul deep inside her.

"I have. But you must believe me when I say it was only for the best intentions that you were brought and healed here." Damn, this conversation felt like a dance with fire, with Death. One wrong word and the dance was over.

"Oh I know. Otherwise your little city would only be ashes as we speak." She said nothing at that, reminding herself to be as polite as possible. This was the Prince of Chaos's Kingdom seating in front of her. And as if he could feel her uneasiness and the battle raging inside her skull, he smiled a little and she saw victory and mockery in the gesture. "But I guess I should thank you for bringing me here and healing me, even though I would have been fine on my own."

"I don't doubt it. Especially after what you did in the woods." She could still feel the blood on her fingers, see the broken bodies on the floor.

"I did what I had to." His glare intensified, almost too much for Reyna to stare back. "You demigods protect yourself every day by killing monsters. Isn't that the same thing I did?" He said in a cool and flat voice.

"You killed demigods," she reminded him, her tone accusing but she could still hear the uncertainty underneath. Be polite. Be respectful. But it was as if the Prince was playing with her.

"Never said I didn't."

"Why would you do that? And why your wave of darkness didn't hurt any of my men?" She stopped herself, the questions appearing by dozens in her mind.

"Reyna," he replied, her name pronounced carefully as if he was tasting the feel of it on his tongue, "I only harm those who plan to harm me first. Those soldiers you found dead in the woods were coming for you. All of you. You are lucky that they did not have the best intentions towards me."

"Wait," her tone betraying the apprehension she felt in her chest, "what do you mean, coming for us all?"

"A war is coming Praetor. And you will have to be ready for it."

In the morning, she woke up in her bed, her feet dirty and the memory of the Prince's voice still echoing in her mind. She thought about the way they had talked for hours after his announcement of a war coming. He had told her everything he knew, from who to how the attack would take place. She couldn't believe that a goddess as old as their world wanted to eliminate them all. She had to warn her city, had to prepare herself and her army for what was coming.

So she met the Prince at the infirmary, where he was still sitting on the bed and brought him out on New Rome's streets where the wind swam in his dark hair and made him dark cloak float around him. They walked side by side, with no sound except for the chatter of the demigods and the screams of little kids around them, toward the auditorium where they were waited.

She noticed the menacing glare he offered to anyone who dared looking at him for too long. She also noticed the way everyone whispered when he walked by them and the way they moved out of his way when he was too close, as if they feared his touch might turn them into ashes. Reyna became more and more annoyed, thinking that all these people were making fools of the Romans who should not fear anyone or anything. And here they were, frightened and openly showing it. She understood the influence the Prince had on people, she was aware of it since she was scared of him too, but she had the decency of hiding it. Pride, that's what it was called. If the Prince thought anything about the Romans and their behaviours, he said nothing about it which Reyna was grateful for. She had no idea how she would have reacted if he had insulted her people.

Multiple times, her eyes wander over him, with his crown on his head and his black cape floating behind him. She found similarities between his cape and her own, except for the way it was tied around his neck with fur, from fox or wolf she couldn't tell, protecting the skin there from the cold and a golden half-moon symbol resting on his chest like a necklace. The velvet it was made of seemed so rich that it made her cape look like garbage. It covered his strong arms and barely touched the ground, hiding the dark sword at his hip. She turned away, aware that she was staring.

Once arrived at the building, they entered and when the doors opened and the two stepped in, every pair of eyes turned to look at them. Both didn't seem to mind, as if they were accustomed to this type of entrances. They walked down the stairs, the gazes of every person in the room following them as they made their way to the front where a table and two chairs were, one of them occupied by Jason who was looking at them warily. Reyna stopped in front of the table, the Prince beside her and Jason came to her other side.

"Romans." She spoke loudly so everyone could hear her, even the ones in the far back of the full room. "Today, I have someone special to present you. This is the Prince of Chaos's Kingdom, his heir and grandson. He's here today to warn us about a war coming." Whispers erupted between the Romans, and people stared at the Prince with worry and anger. "Silence!" She yelled but her voice was drowned in all the noise. She looked at every face, every emotion written on them, and found herself embarrassed by the lack of authority she held over her own people.

She felt the Prince's gaze on her like a heavy weight in her chest, and she fought not to meet it. He would have recognized the embarrassment and the annoyance in her dark eyes. He would have mocked it. But as the thought passed her mind, shadows gathered in every corner of the room and soon enough, they took flight and turned over the Romans' heads. The silence fell once more and Reyna couldn't help but smile and this time, she met his green eyes where no mockery was. Some soldiers screamed in surprise while others took out their weapons, a reflex earned after years of training.

"Can we continue now, gentlemen?" Asked Reyna with sarcasm obvious and a bit menacing.

"About three days ago," the Prince started when the attention was back on the three "I was ordered to come up on Earth to meet Gaia's forces, the goddess of Earth." He paused for a second, as if he waited for everyone to register the news, "she is waking and gathering an army at the exact moment we're speaking. Her army asked me to join their cause: to eradicate demigods' from the Earth, overthrow the Gods and take over Olympus. Soon they will be twice more than your entire army." He glanced at Reyna and continued, "that's why I'm here today. To help you win this war."