A touch impulsive but powerful, a chapter that I think was needed to be seen.
"Wow." Aaron watched a thin veil of white Mist gathered around his fingertips. "Chiron you bastard, this is amazing."
Tunring down, Aaron looked at the thin journal that Chrion had filled out for him before he left, filled with ideas on controlling magic and the Mist which Aaron could now control. It was hard, mindsplitting work, but he could do it. The Journal made a point of casting smaller illusions, gathering the Mist into a cloud to get a better feel for it. It mentioned that many only ever manage to cast wide spread illusions that worked with the views of the victim in mind where as a true master could make you see anything. Aaron was far from a master, due to his low power and lack of divine blood he couldn't fully generate the Mist just take advantage of what was naturally in the air. Camp was filled to the brim with Mist, only it was innactive due to no one casting an illusion and a general truth and acceptiance of the supernatural that rendered the Mist obsolete.
There were a great many things that one could do with the Mist that he was eager to try. Teleportation, casting mass illusions, controling Mist heavy areas, creating physical objects, altering memories and reality on a small scale... all sorts of amazing things. Still, Aaron, as a beginner, started with the basics and that was drawing the Mist into a physical space to get a feel for it.
It was honestly amazing to even try messing with it on a small scale, pure magic made physical. Aaron wondered what these tiny fragments could do... and so he let it bled onto his hands, changing the color from pasty white to a deep tan... and yet he saw the white skin beneath the Illusion like the two images were superimposing over each other. He guessed it was his ability to see both that allowed him to not be fooled and overtaken by his illusion. It gave him a headache though, maintaining it and so he released the lock on the magic and it faded away, leaving him pasty and white as was his normal.
"Sweet, I can cast minor glamours for now... but in the future who knows what I can master?"
Excited, Aaron lay back on his bed and just allowed his mind to wonder.
There was so much to think about, life had become hard again. Thalia's tree was poisoned, Percy was on a quest with some good people including sweet Bryce, Tantalus was still in the land of the living. It was just a clustercluck of irritations and annoyances that he would have to deal with. He had rarely felt so helpless...
" Wait, there is one more thing." He didn't sit up, instead he grabbed the talisman around his throat and closed his eyes. "Aperire et loqui ei!" A spell, another one he made up, clicked off of his tongue. He was getting good at that, making up spell without aid from others. Instantly he felt the power from within the Talisman, the smell of ozone filling his room as Mist exploded into life around him. Within that Mist swirled a from, that of a girl. It was hard to see at first but soon she became visible, her face beautiful and hawkish, the face of a Greek Goddess dressed in punk clothing. "Hello, Thalia."
She smiled at him, her expression almost predatory. "Who are you?" She asked, her tone demanding and powerful, a ruthlessness that sent literal sparks through the cloud of Mist conjured by her presence. "How did I get here?"
"That was my fault, sort of, I was trying to heal the tree formed by your father from your body but I ended up taking your soul. It's more complicated then that but for the moment that is all you need to know. You were imprisoned in my talisman."
She frowned. "Who's your divine parent?"
"I don't have one, I am mortal. I only recently gained my own power, my own magic. Actually it was cause of you that I managed to do that."
"Why endanger yourself by joining this crap filled world of ours?"
Aaron smiled. "It gave me the power to make something of my life, anything really. I gave myself a chance and as I have proven it was all I needed to make myself an actual future that matters. I have done a lot besides learning magic. I made a shrine to the Sea Spirits and Gods, to Persephone and Hades-"
"Hades, you would worship Hades after what he did to me?" She growled, her tone filled with hate. The Cloud of Mist thickened and darkened, filling with her unbrideled hate and pain. ""I wasn't just turned into a tree, I was torn apart, piece by piece into nothing! I was twelve!'"
"And you were a threat, a danger. Blame your father if you must, I do. Hades is the only one to complete his oath, to not give in and have children when they were all forced to swear to not have kids. You lot were considered too dangerous for mankind and they banned making you. Your father knew this and made a child anyway. Blame him for your suffering, long as I imagine it was."
She frowned, but her growl subsided. "I... I didn't know that. It explains a lot really... wait, no, I think Grover explained that to me, at least a little. It is hard to remember somethings, time is strange since I have been a tree."
"I can't even imagine..." The strain of holding the spell suddenly lurched within Aaron, making him shudder. "I can't hold the spell much longer. We need to say our goodbyes."
She sighed and nodded. "Don't forget me... and can you show me to Annabeth soon or Luke? I miss them?"
"I'll... I'll try." He couldn't bring himself to tell her about Luke... not just yet. One more sigh escaped her lips and she faded away, the Mist following her as she returned to the Talisman leaving the room devoid of power once more. Aaron collapsed, sighing and ignoring the pounding headache the started to form in his head. "That was fun and enlightening... I hope I can save her soon, I don't know how much longer her mind could handle being like that. The strain of being so isolated cannot be good for her... I need to reunite her with some form, less she go entirely insane..."
"""
That night Aaron had a dream, which was odd since he normally never remembered his dreams even with Magic. He recognized it instantly as Astral projection only he realized that there was not a familar god taking hold of his soul and it wasn't his own soul that moving him. Some other force had take holding of him and was moving him away. He was terrified, naturally, but quietly so as to not piss off whomever had that grip on his soul.
He went flying, blurring over the Lake, rushing faster and faster across the ocean itself until finally he landed where a massive ship was. It wasn't familiar but he could sense, even in his dream state, a rush of energy around it. Monsters galore were living on this thing, as were demigods and something else... something primal, powerful and terrifiying. The air around the ship was thick with Mist, gathering in response to the mystical presence aboard it.
"What are you trying to show me?" Aaron asked the presence holding him.
It responded by thrusting him towards the ship, past the metal and into a large stately room. There were Huge windows curved along the back wall, looking out over the stern of the ship. Green sea and blue sky stretched all the way to the horizon. A Persian rug covered the floor. Two plush sofas occupied the middle of the room, with a canopied bed in one corner and a mahogany dining table in the other. The table was loaded with food-pizza boxes, bottles of soda, and a stack of roast beef sandwiches on a silver platter.
However, Aaron wanted to scream. His every practical earned sense screamed as he saw something so utterly terrifying that it defied explanation. On a velvet dais at the back of the room lay a ten-foot-long golden casket. A sarcophagus, engraved with Ancient Greek scenes of cities in flames and heroes dying grisly deaths. Despite the sunlight streaming through the windows, the casket made the whole room feel cold. To a normal person that's all there was, but to a magic wielder there was so much more. An infinite number of runes wrapped around it in the Mist, runes for power, solidarity, control, sacrifice. Runes so old Aaron couldn't read them at all, but he could sense they invoked primal powers and a great deal of misery. They fed on evil and pain and he saw things, deep in his minds eyes, such a man being sacrificed on an altar, a family being aged to the point they turned to ash and so many other awful things.
"What is this monstrosity?"
Then he heard a voice, a wicked, cruel voice that gratted like a knife on rock. "Monstrosity? This is a genius of magic, I thought one such as you would admire it's work?" Then it laughed, a horrible sound that sent waves of terror down Aaron's spine.
"What do you want?" Aaron asked, his tone respectful but equally terrified.
A sound, the door opening behind him, drew his attention to where he saw Luke and Alabaster standing and looking at him with a satisfied look. They both radiated power, they were strong demigods, but that power waned when they walked into the room, as if the Sarcophagus was draining the power just by being near them.
"Oh, he's here." Alabaster said. " I wondered if Our Lord would summon him. Hello, Aaron." He waved his hand and Aaron felt himself becoming visible."
Now able to see him, Luke smirked. "He is here, now I wonder why?"
The Sarcophogus laughed once more. "He could be the key to my freedom. He did something even I could not do and removed Thalia's soul from the tree and through such a trial he changed the fabric of his soul and gained magic. His power is not to be understated. He could heal me so much faster, revive me with his new understanding of magic and the soul, something even you lack Alabaster."
Both boys looked baffled, a little hurt too. However Luke stepped forward. "You pulled our Thalia?"
Aaron wanted to lie, but the power of Kronos, for that was what was in the Coffin, shot through him like ice. "Yes... I did. I just spoke to her too, drew her out of my talisman... she is with me at all times." He cursed, turning and scowling at the coffin but not running his mouth.
Luke looked pained. "You can talk... talk to her."
Alabaster looked fascinated. " It takes great pain to gain your own magic, you must have really suffered... I wonder what happened... My lord, do you know?"
"I do... the boy channeled the power of the Spirits of Asphodel who betrayed him and forced him into the afterlife. He was a dead soul for a time, and fought his way back out of sheer willpower. He is one to be feared, weaker then a demigod but a true power in his own right. He may lack your experiance but in terms of skill he may have surpassed most of your fellow witches in terms of understanding magic."
"Really... he was always talented but this... that is a rarity. I am sort of proud." Alabaster actually looked proud, not a hint of jealousy or rage or pain in his eyes. Actual pride that lifted Aaron higher the he cared to admit.
Aaron sighed, he really had no grudge against Alabaster. He even understood why he left and fought him, he could not feel betrayal or anger... " What do you want?"
"Freedom, child. You could come up with a ritual to free me so much faster, and why not? I have seen what you have done for the ungrateful gods. Your skill and diplomacy has strengthened the barrier, your actions have made the children of Aphrodite into an actually dangerous force, your work has allied many to your cause but for what? To ally yourself with gods that fear your rise, to demigods that envy your relations to the gods that barely respect you? No... you are worth more. Come, serve me, and rise as high as your power, skill, intelligence and ability allows. You could become one of my direct servants, my right hands. You are worthy of it..."
Alabaster stepped forward, a sad look on his face. "Please, I don't want to fight you anymore. Your my friend, even now. Your my most accomplished student, and I would be honored to fight at your side. We can overthrow the divine mafia that demand our worship and love but give nothing else. We are worth so much more, you are worth so much more. The mortals need a representative and you can be that."
It was tempting, Aaron could not deny. Pride and strength warred with fear and a realization of Kronos' almost innate evil. The Crooked one was famous for his lies, he knew this and yet... it was so gtempting...
And so he said the only thing he could safely say. "Give me time, this is a big offer and it... I... I am not sure."
Kronos laughed more. "I can allow that... leave, go to your camp, reveal what was said to you, it does not matter... but swear your oath to me one day and give me the power to rise and you will be accepted into our ranks. Now... dream deep of what could be and what you may lose without me."
The world went black and Aaron fell into the realm of dreams, where he saw everything he ever wanted... power, strength and purpose without constant fear of being destroyed for shinning to bright...
It was glorious...
"""
"Are you sure?" Aaron didn't want to tell Mr. D how amazing the offer had made him feel but he told the entire story to the God of Wine. From summoning Thalia to speaking to Kronos and his offer. The man seemed pained to hear how much it meant to him, how he liked feeling important but he knew it was better to be honest in this case. "I cannot say I am shocked, you are a scarily potent witch."
Aaron frowned. "I am not even as strong as a demigod, I would still put my raw power at that of a Deminymph, a weak one."
Mr. D smiled sadly. " It is not your power but your skill, determination and intelligence that makes you potent. You understand magic now, you know it enough to use it without a teacher. Your casting a binding spell on Tantalus or summong Thalia's spirit is proof of that. You understand the dead too, the spirit and necromancy. You are a rarity that could blossom into being a scarily powerful being. I give you a few months until you could rival a demigod, I give you two years before you rival your brother's power as they are now. You have insane potentail. You could easily become fully immortal on your own, which yes has happened and does happen to powerful Witches. There are a few rushing about from all ages in history."
That got to Aaron. "I didn't know that, you really think I could accomplish all that?"
"I know you can... Listen I cannot tell you what to do, I want to demand you stay with us but I am not blind to our cruelty and abuse. I may act childish and cruel to many but I was human at one point. I remember the evils of the gods, the corruption of power is a great thing. In part that is why I like you, you make me feel human again. Less likely to abuse my might. So, while my mind is still focused on that part of who I was, I give you this advise. Make your choice based on what is right, not what gives you the best chance. If you think they are right, go to them. If you know we are right, go with us. Figure out what you can live in and deal with that. That is all I can do for you."
Aaron nodded and looked at his feet. "Either way, I hope I make the right choice. So much could depend on me either way... sigh..."
Dionysius reached out and grabbed his hand, an understanding washed through them both. "You are my friend, so I hope you do the same. Personally I am hoping you become immortal so we can be friends for a long while... but until then, stay alive and within power and we will see what happens."
"That is the best I can do I guess."
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a great chapter that I am very proud of.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.