Chapter 14: The Meeting

Colt didn't waste time, he was too excited to meet the master of puppets. I didn't know what to expect, I don't think Colt did either. Usually he was in control of every situation, now he wasn't. I always figured that that's why he wanted to get to him so fast. He moved through camp unseen. Everyone knew his face and everyone knew that he wasn't supposed to be walking around camp. The wind felt cool in his face. Colt was happy to be outside, if it was me I would have been happy. Not about the way we got out…but being out hell yeah. I had tried to stay strong and ignore the fact that they had locked me up. But I was in a cage and now Colt got me out. I didn't know if I should thank him or hate him. I didn't mind being out of the cage. For some reason I had accepted it but freedom was a valuable thing. I hated the way Colt broke out though. I hated to see Grace hurt. She was a friend but it was also because she was so innocent. She didn't know the kind of pain I had been through and I would die a happy man if she never had to.

Colt found Maximus soon. He was standing against some tree with a dead body next to him. The body had one cut right through the jugular vein. It was a quick and easy kill. Colt, being the master of torture and lasting kills…was unimpressed.
"I didn't know you were such an amateur Maxi." Colt mocked. "A quick and easy kill, what don't you have the guts to make it last?"
"Not all of us enjoy this as much as you do Colt."
"Whine whine whine." Colt said. He wasn't impressed by Maximus at all. "You truly are a mere puppet."
"Call me what you wish Colt. You're just a sick little psychopath with no purpose in this world. In the end you'll go straight to the fields just like every murderous scum bag out there in the mortal world. While I'll be something much more than that."
"Sorry mate, you've been sorely misled. The puppet never gets anything but a stab in the back once the master takes over the world. Did you never see the movies?"
"I don't care about the movies." Colt wasn't impressed…but Maximus scared the shit out of me. He seemed without emotion or care about anyone including himself. "They're lies and stupid."
"Lies indeed. In the movies the good guy always wins…you and I both know that the good guy doesn't really win…sometimes they survive, but they never win." Colt smiled wickedly.
"Truly…that smile isn't fooling anyone boy. I can't believe he even has an interest in you. You're nothing but a freak that should be kept in a cage."
"And you're a useless puppet, go figure." I figured Max was sick of the pointless talk. He drew his sword and was ready for an attack.
"Come on then Colt. Let's do this. I can't be bothered to wait for him while you talk your nonsense. I might as well kill you right now and show you why I'm more than a puppet, but you're nothing more than a fool with a too big ego." Colt drew Shadow-edge. The only thing that was needed for the fight to kick off was someone attacking…neither of them got the chance.
"I see you two have acquainted with each other." A man said. It was him…no doubt. He wore casual clothes now, A black shirt with dark blue jeans and pure black trainers. His face looked a little older too, but with the same bloodthirsty red eyes.
"My lord." Maximus said as he bowed down.
"Michael…it's good to finally meet you." The man ignored Maximus. He didn't care about his slave obviously. Yet he seemed to have an interest in Colt and I. That…and he still called us Michael…a name we hadn't gone by in a while now.
"You know my old name…but I still don't know yours."
"Phthonos." The god smiled. Phthonos, a minor god. He was quite a sight. He looked like a teenager but he was probably older than all the demigods at camp combined. Standing near him made everything feel different. He changed the way you feel. Most gods did that and given Phthonos was a god of an emotion, that emotion became extremely powerful near Phthonos.
"God of Jealousy, Malice and ill-will. Can't say I heard much about you."
"Ask your friend Luke about Eric and trust me he'll tell you some interesting stories.
"My lord." Maximus spoke. "I would like to ask why you wanted to talk to him. He's obviously mad…he lacks the finesse to help us."
"Shut it Maximus." Phthonos said calmly but still, you wanted to do what he said. It didn't matter if he acted angry or not…you were afraid of the repercussions if you denied his wishes. "You've made quite some enemies Michael. Maximus right here, half of camp half-blood…and of course there's a few gods on Olympus that would love to see Hades claim you. Hades himself isn't too fond of you. You give him too much paperwork…he's grown so lazy over the years." Phthonos seemed…bored. As if he wanted some excitement. And my guess was that he didn't think a roller coasters was very exciting. He was probably waiting for some extreme chaos to happen…and Colt would help him get it.
"Enough of the pointless talk Phthonos…what is it you want." Even towards someone far more powerful than himself Colt didn't show any respect. But Phthonos needed him, so he could afford it.
"It's quite simple Michael. There is something I desire but it's locked away. Recently I thought I had acquired the key but it's a copy. There are others with these kinds of copies."
"And you want me to get them." Colt said. It was an easy guess.
"Yes indeed. I would do it myself but the people holding them are mortal. I can't hurt them unless they attack me." It was one of the most ancient rules. A god couldn't harm a mortal being unless it was in defence. "You and Maximus can And someone else." Phthonos said. "You might remember him, he did try to kill you." There was only one person who went through Colt's head. The only person Phthonos could be describing.
"Samael." Colt said. The person Colt and I truly hated. Whether it was Colt or me in control. The next time we met Samael we would die, or he would. "So you were the one he talked about. The man with the plan."
"Indeed." Phthonos said.
"So who do I kill?" Colt didn't need persuasion to do this task. A god on his side, a form of competition against Samael and being able to kill people, his kind of party.
"You're not killing anybody!" A fourth voice spoke. A girl with black hair and dark eyes popped out of the bushes. Jeni Carter, daughter of Hades. Her eyes were pointed straight at Colt, so did the point of the arrow she was holding.
"Angel? I should have known it was you. Jake told me about you, why didn't I see?"
"What was that love?" Colt asked. Everyone was surprised with that. "What exactly did titan boy tell you about me?"
"That you're a sick killer, and that I had to send you to my father."
"When did he tell you that? He's been dead for months." Phthonos asked. He seemed to be as surprised as Colt was even though he was pleasantly surprised. He wore a smile on his face, this was interesting to him.
"He was also the son of Prometheus." The girl had a point. Again though this proved that Jake saw much more than just the near future.
"Oh really, so very interesting. Either way girl…you have no involvement in this." Phthonos said. This girl didn't interest him one bit.
"Want me to deal with her?" Maximus spoke. He had been quiet for a while. I wondered if he had always been the quiet type or if he was made this way. Colt wondered when you would get the first chance to kill him.
"Maxi you couldn't deal with someone who was already dying. Don't even both trying." Colt drew his sword he hadn't even gotten ready to lunge before Jeni let go of her arrow. I don't know if it was luck, skill or destiny that made Colt fast enough to dodge the arrow speeding towards him. The arrow missed him by a hair and hit Phthonos right in the shoulder. Phthonos looked at the arrow. He didn't seem very impressed. That's when he looked up at Jeni, his blood thirsty eyes looked straight at her while his lips curled into a smile. She had just gave him permission to do anything he wanted to her. Jeni just allowed Phthonos to hurt her in any way he chose. Nd Phthonos had some really good ways to hurt someone.
"Don't worry about this one you two. She's mine." She would have screamed if she still had a tongue. He didn't even touch her. With a wave of his hand he stripped off a piece of her skin. She was being skinned alive limb by limb. Where the skin had been pulled off Jeni bled. Colt watched her being tormented with pleasure while Maximus looked at her with an emotionless stare. Once all the skin was ripped from her body she bled to death. Another horrible death, I wondered how many more camp half-blood could take. "Where were we again?"

I woke up cold and alone in the woods. Colt probably didn't want to fall asleep but had anyway. He was still human…physically anyway. He had to sleep, eat, drink. He had…normal thoughts. At least I think he did. I always wondered if he was truly insane. Having two personalities the mortals would have locked me up in a room with soft walls but were we truly insane. I always imagined the insane to be incapable of rational thoughts. I knew I could be rational. And I believed that it was sadism, not insanity, that drove Colt to do the things he did. He was a true socio-path though. Even if he didn't want to kill he couldn't possibly cope in a normal life. I knew that I could…I was the side of Michael that could and I would be able to now but Colt was just too…weird. If he wasn't capable of scaring anyone (mostly me) to death he would probably be branded the weird outsider within ten minutes. As my thoughts about Colt continued I wondered if this homicidal maniac act was a way to hide his insecurities. I remembered that Michael used to fight because he was good at it but also because it made him look strong and powerful even though he wasn't. Did Colt do the same? The more I thought about it the more I wondered if I knew more about him than I thought. Of course…what I knew of him didn't matter once I heard him speak in my head.
"Wakey wakey sunshine." He sounded as cruel and cold as ever. Every word he spoke made me doubt my theories. "They're coming…might want to run or hide. It doesn't really look good." I hadn't opened my eyes. I knew Colt had taken over. There was no wind in my cell. I was outside, and I wasn't the one that left. And since Colt had been out…I knew someone had died. "Don't be such a whiny bitch and open your eyes." I slowly pulled open my eye lids. The bright sun blinded me for a few seconds, once my eyes settled I saw her. She was more mutilated than any corpse I had ever seen. He skin didn't seem to be cut but ripped open everywhere. Parts of her body had been skinned, and guessing by the blood she was still alive while it happened. Skinning a dead body isn't half the bloody mess as skinning a live person. Her tongue and eyes were cut. A mockery that Colt usually used…of course I believed this was Colt's work. I didn't remember Phthonos, or Maximus being in the woods. I didn't remember the deal Colt made with the god of malice. But I saw Jeni Carter's dead body, and I chose for the most logical explanation.
"Angel what did you do?" It was Grace. I didn't remember what Colt had done to her. But when I saw the bandages on her head I could put two and two together.
"Do you know who that is?" Luke spoke. He was there too…of course. "Do you have anyone idea who her father is?" I knew the answer. And I understood why they were so shocked about it. After all her dad was one of the generally most disliked gods out there
"Hades."

Was I scared of the lord of the underworld? Not really. I didn't think he would come after me or hunt me down. I was more afraid of what horrible punishment he would think of for me after death. Probably the worst torture he could think of. After all I killed his daughter, or so I believed. I was in the cage again. I had gotten back in willingly. Again I remembered why I was in there. I was too dangerous to be left outside of it. Luke and Grace understood that it wasn't me that killed Jeni but it had gotten harder and harder for them to trust me. I tried to remember everything about that day. Nothing about it seemed to make sense. All I could get from the depths of my mind was a name of sorts. Phthonos. I wondered if it was the man in the tuxedo, and the more I wondered the more certain I got. It didn't really help though. I never heard of someone named Phthonos. I never really learned a lot of the Greek mythology. But I knew someone who did.
"Luke…who's Phthonos?" Luke had come down to give me my lunch. He seemed a bit more cheery than he did the day before. But when I said the name…his face turned grim. He knew the name…and he didn't like it.
"Where did you get that name?" Luke asked. He glared at me, flames of anger were burning in his eyes.
"It's the only thing I remember from yesterday. I tried to remember everything but the only thing I get is that name."
"Phthonos…" Luke stopped. Something was bothering him, he knew Phthonos. He had met him and it wasn't a nice meeting. "Phthonos is a god. A minor one but feared by those who know him. He's the god of malice, ill-will, jealousy." As Luke started talking…I started remembering. Colt met Phthonos in the woods. He appeared in his late teens, early twenties maybe. And his piercing red eyes. Also I remembered that Phthonos was a god…and that I knew that. Colt knew that. Why didn't I remember it while Colt did? "More so he's pretty much known as the boogeyman for demigods. Over the years he's killed a lot of mortals…and quite a few demigods. The last one was a friend of mine. Eric Shan, son of Zelus."
"There's something else, it's about Maximus." I told him about the dream I had. About this son of Phthonos that was talked about as if he was the bringer of apocalypse. And Maximus being Phthonos' servant. I still barely remembered what happened in the woods. Not what was said or what happened to Jeni exactly. But I was there, and so were Maximus and master.
"You saw this in a dream?" Luke asked me.
"Yeah. I know that sounds nuts but…"
"You're demigod, dreaming about things that are true isn't nuts at all. We do it all the time. We see the past, present or future in our dreams. Usually it's not a nice dream, and even more often it is of extreme importance."
"So you believe me?" Yes…I was truly amazed that he did.
"I do…I never really trusted Maximus. That's exactly why I wanted to keep an eye on him."
"You seemed like such good buddies."
"What you thought Colt was the only one who knows how to act? He got a little too involved in the important stuff happening. Especially you."
"Luke…I'm unclaimed…do you think?"
"That you're Phthonos' son? It's possible. I don't know any sons of Phthonos' so it is possible that it's you."
"Great." I said sarcastically. It seemed to fit. Sadly it fitted. Phthonos and Colt seemed like the same person only god and demigod. But son of Phthonos...that's not a title I would ever use with pride.
"Anyway. I should let you out of that cage." Luke said.
"Why?"
"You don't want to be there when we get a hold of Maximus?" After Luke spoke my lips curled into a cheeky smile.
"I'd love to."