Planet: Earth
Sector: 1
Date: March 6th, 2515
-Allistar POV-
As the rest of the Angels went off to do Chaos knows what, the leaders and I walked to our cabin. I inclined my head and the doors swung open, revealing a stone path that snaked through rows of simple, white brick houses. Each house held twenty Angels so there were three hundred houses in our mini city. The leaders and I stayed in the house at the end of the path on top of a hill. It was smaller than the rest of the houses seeing as how it only needed to hold seven people. Each Angel shared a room with another and had their own bathroom. There were two kitchens in each house, and an entertainment room for the downtime our army often had.
The Angels had told me on more than one occasion that standard military barracks would have sufficed, but I loved my army and I wanted them to be comfortable. Many Angels were people I had saved from various situations. I had saved some from bounty hunters, others from corrupt governments, others from homicidal ex-boyfriends, and I had forged a bond with each and every member. It was important to me that they feel at home even if we were on the opposite side of the universe.
My friends and I made our way to our house basking in the light of the sun I had created to light up our city. I had spent weeks perfecting this star. It was a striking dark blue color that shone beautifully. I had always loved the color blue so I thought, "why not make my own blue star?" I named it Elpis, after the spirt of hope. Inferno thought it was corny but I didn't mind, I thought it the name fit perfectly.
Reaching my chambers, each of us pressed our wrist armor and we were then standing in a circle with various expressions on our faces. The moment our armor disappeared, Aurora walked over to me and hugged me suddenly. It was totally a sisterly hug obviously, but she knew what I was going through and wanted to comfort me. The other leaders had understanding on their faces as I began to cry softy.
When I was Allistar, I was militaristic, I was disciplined, and I did not show weakness. As Percy though, my heart was still broken. The armor was in a way meant to protect me from enemies, but also to help me cope with the fact that I missed camp and the campers more than I could put into words. And I still longed desperately to be accepted by them. Five hundred years had done a lot for me, but I was still in love with Annabeth.
There was no way I would ever cry in front of anybody except the people in this room and Chaos. Aurora backed up and smiled at me as I half-heartedly smiled back and wiped my tears. Luke walked up and clapped me on the shoulder, telling me without words that he was there for me. The rest of them just stood there with me as I gathered my thought, and took the needed time to build myself back up so that I could continue. The people with me were the best of friends. They knew there was nothing they could say that would make me feel better, they were simply there, and that was the best thing they could have done to help.
After about five minutes of crying, thinking, and pulling myself back together, I looked up and felt better. I said to all of them,
"You six are my best friends, if any one of you were taken it would be a tragic loss. I hope to Chaos that I will spend forever with you all."
Silena had been crying as well, seeing me that vulnerable had affected her. The seven of us were bond in more than friendship, when one of us hurt, we all hurt. There was a physical feeling when a brother or sister was in pain. Silena had always been the kindest and most compassionate of us, and when one of us hurt, she was usually right there with them.
Beckendorf wrapped his arm around her, comforting her. It made me happy to see that my friends had found others that completed them. Beckendorf and Silena had been together since before they died. Leo and Calypso had apparently met on Ogygia after Leo died and had grown very close. And Luke and Aurora would never admit it, but I knew they had fancied each other for decades.
"Percy you are our leader. More than that you are a brother, we would follow you to the ends of existence," said Aurora.
I had met Aurora twenty two years after being taken by Chaos. I found her during a recon mission on the planet Gorgum in sector 2. She was lying in a street half dead…
-Flashback-
-Allistar POV-
I'm sick of this place. It smells of feces, the air is foul with decay, and I want to go home. The only comfort I can take is that I have only one more target to interrogate then I can leave this armpit of a planet.
Jumping down from the building I was perched atop, I started running through the streets to get to my location. My journey led me through the red light sector, and after passing a particularly dark alley, I smelled bodily fluids. Being the protector of the universe, I had to see if I could help in any way.
Lurking in the shadows of the alley, I looked for any victims. Half way down the alley, I saw a woman lying face down on the ground. She had been raped, I could tell from the overwhelming smell of blood and semen. I could hear her heartbeat but it was struggling. It would beat than drown out, as if it were working as hard as it possibly could to circulate her blood. She was unconscious as well. My heart was broken for her. I couldn't just leave her to die. It was a cold, rainy night and she must have been freezing because her clothes were ripped and almost all of her skin was showing. I made a bubble surrounding the two of us and willed the temperature to be a comfortable seventy give degrees, at least she would be dry and warm now. I reached under her and carefully turned her over, when I did I almost started weeping.
Both eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Her cheeks were swelling and whoever had done this had had cut her jaw open. I gasped out loud and looked down, needing a moment to collect myself. When I did I put my hand on her chest and passed the smallest amount of electricity into her, which woke her up, barely though. She opened one bruised eye and breathed out in pain. She looked at me and said with a raspy, pleading voice,
"Please… please leave me alone. I am ashamed, please look away."
I would do no such thing, I was going to save her. She would smile again, I promised myself that she would have a new life. I also decided that I didn't want to deal with the interrogation so I pressed a button on my armor that would notify Slade that he needed to take over. He would know I was not in danger, just that something else had come up. I looked down at the girl and said,
"I will not. Tell me my dear, what is your name?
She looked confused as If she couldn't remember, after ten seconds of silence she answered,
"Aurora"
What a beautiful name. Chaos did not force me to come with him, he gave me a choice, so I would follow in his example and offer this poor woman a choice. I said,
"Aurora, I can save you. I can give you a new life you can't even imagine. I will protect you and you will never have to fear again. But I need you to tell me to save you. I cannot save you without your permission. Tell me, do you wish for a painless passing, or a new life."
Her open eye looked through me as if imagining living again, imagined being safe, she feebly answered,
'I don't want to die, I am afraid to die. Please save me, please protect me."
A single tear slid down my cheek as I smiled and said back,
"You will be happy again Aurora."
-End Flashback-
-Back at the Chaos cabin-
Aurora looked at me, smiled, and said,
"You saved me Percy. You looked at my broken body and saw beauty and hope. I see you now despairing and unsure. I know you will make the right decision and you will rise above this pain"
I felt one hundred percent better at this point. Back to my usual self, I smiled and spread my arms out. It was cheesy, it was childish, but it was one of the best group hugs I had ever had.
Calypso, ever the one to get things done asked,
"What do you plan on accomplishing at the meeting tonight Percy?"
I answered,
"I plan on explaining everything regarding the war to all of our allies so that we are all on the same page. I want to discuss logistics, training, and plans for the future. As a secondary objective, I want to see my father."
The other leaders nodded, understanding my desire to see how Poseidon was doing. We all figured he took my exile hard, and I wished to see what has happened on Olympus since I'd last been there.
I had one other thing to ask them. So I asked them all,
"I wish to speak to Annabeth."
Silena, Aurora, Beckendorf, and Calypso all smiled, knowing that I needed closure. Leo and Luke however looked surprised. Leo said,
"Percy are you sure? Do you plan on telling her who you are?"
"I don't know yet. I want to, if she is indeed despairing due to my apparent death, I need her to know that I am alive. Maybe she can move on after she is made aware that I am alive," I replied.
"Or maybe she will want to be with you again," offered Silena.
I smiled and looked down. Leave it to the daughter of Aphrodite to be giddy over the prospect of lost love. Either way Annabeth and Allistar needed to talk. I would decide if Annabeth and Percy needed to talk during the conversation.
I wanted my friends to relax so raising my head I said,
"Alright my friends, I love you all. Go have fun and relax. Please be at the field tonight ready to fly to Olympus. Dismissed."
