Chapter Six: Let the Battle Begin
Aion's POV
He had died a little inside, if that were actually possible.
That was the only thought he could think, being among his supposed 'friends' from his past life.
"Aion?" His wife asked, concerned.
Fine; he was fine. He would appear calm, collected, controlled- and that was only the C's. He wouldn't lose his cool; not now. He smiled a little in return. "I'm fine," he said. "Besides, we're only here to complete the mission. Not-"
Her voice sounded clear in the air: "Lord Chaos's soldiers, are you going to join us for lunch?"
Just the sound of her voice... This certain female... Allowed his demeanor to turn colder. He gritted his teeth, making sure it was one hundred percent negligible, by all means. "Yes, daughter of Athena."
She frowned. "How did you know? Are you the leader or something?"
The corners of his mouth tilted upward- not in a nice way, though. It was his way of saying, get out of my face. I'm terribly superior to you. "Something like that."
Aion could see by her body language, she wasn't quite sure with his simple answer. Those familiar gears turned in her head.
Ah, stop, he chided himself. What did he see in her? Nothing, absolutely nothing. The goddess Aphrodite had clearly played a role in his past life; he had been smitten. It was all her blame in their relationship.
His family and Luke made their way to the pavilion, streaming with scattered campers and nearby, the group of Hunters.
Yet he kept walking. No, he wasn't interested in the food; he had eaten a big breakfast back at Headquarters. He also didn't feel like getting that massive wave of attention all over again. Everyone stared at them like they would kill someone if they weren't careful. Only mortals could think that. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
He walked straight to where the cabins stood. Nothing had changed in this camp, not even a bit. The same cabins were in their old, designated places.
Aion walked past Cabin Three. No, he didn't belong there, either. Not after what had happened... He owed Lord Chaos his life for joining the force.
He settled upon an empty patch of grass, hugged comfortably by the monster replete forest.
This is good. Not too shabby. I like it.
"Here," Aion said.
The three people behind him understood what he meant. Artemis joined Zoë on her left, Aion on Zoë's other side, and Luke next to Aion. They stood in a straight line, and closed their eyes, concentrating.
Their voices joined into one as they spoke a spell in an ancient tongue long forgotten, even to the gods. It wasn't particularly Ancient Greek, what flowed out of their mouths, but it worked great magic.
The atmosphere around them grew dark, like midnight. It was hazy, as if Ancient Greek fire was burning. In front of them, the ebony darkness gathered into a swirling vortex.
The four spoke the final words, and the vortex evaporated. An obsidian cabin emerged right before their eyes. It wasn't like the others, not at all. To begin with, it was bigger than the rest. It radiated a misty, black aura. Several windows ran along the sides, each tinted down to the darkest color tone available. Stars, black holes, and comets shot through the sides of the cabin, as if the whole building was alive. The roof was of a single complex design, which reminded Aion of those ancient Chinese pagodas.
This was Chaos's cabin.
The doors slid open and Aion walked in. The interior was... Well, dark. The walls: dark. The casual living room furniture: dark. Even the roaring fire that warmed the whole room: a pure ebony.
Aion quite liked it.
He walked in to find twenty-four soldiers in the room, some spread out on the couches, some standing. Chaos's cabin was probably designed like that. So if the door was left open for some odd reason unheard of, the whole building would seem empty from the outside. Nice security.
"Soldiers, line up." Behind him, Luke ordered.
The soldiers hurried from their previous position, and into their designated places, making a perfect rectangle: four groups of six. Aion might have praised his friend Luke, but that squad had been his, before he took the title of Leader. He smiled.
Aion knew every soldier's strengths and weaknesses. They seemed limited in number, but they were terribly skilled. A harsh laugh would escape Gaea's lips before they would defeat her and her aiding allies. Then he could go back to Headquarters and never lay his eyes onto Camp Half-Blood again.
"Thinking about murder, Aion?" Luke asked, jolting him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, your murder, in fact."
Luke imitated a shocked expression. "I'm hurt, Aion. What a great friend you are."
Aion laughed. "I'm an awesome friend, thanks for asking."
"Aion!" Zoë called. "You won't believe this."
Aion exited the cabin, looking for his wife. Zoë had been right; he didn't believe it. Monsters of all kinds hid in the trees, shimmering transparent as if they couldn't decide whether to stay invisible or solid. There was a trail of alabaster monster dust laying in piles on the ground, leading into the forest. Aion immediately knew Zoë had fought her way through.
"Oh my Chaos," Luke breathed.
Oh my Chaos indeed. When he had first joined Chaos, Aion would have looked at this situation, and fled. But now, this was standard practice, like his training arena. Aion raised his knives. "Contest; like old times?" He asked, eyeing his first target, a drakon slithering among the trees.
"You're on."
Aion raced toward his first target, decapicitating it. He didn't pause, driving his knives into the back of an unsuspecting dracaena. Then another.
He made sure he was quiet in his movements, so others wouldn't hear him. He sliced through hellhound after hellhound, making his way through the forest. A group of empousa here, legion of harpies there. He left no survivors, monster dust in his wake. He felt... At peace, sending the monsters back to Tartarus, their rightful place. It reminded him of the good times; the many years he spent being sent out on missions to get rid of a dangerous enemy or two. He felt free.
Aion finally sliced through the last hellhound, putting his knives back into the scabbards at his belt. He glanced back at where he came from, a faint bright light through the ebony trees. The more he thought about it, the more right it seemed. Those monsters couldn't have fought like that. A leader had to have commanded them. Plus, monsters weren't supposed to be a transparent white in color, another sign.
"Come out; stop hiding!" he yelled.
Silence was the only answer. The dark mysteriousness of the forest grew into an ebony. Trees rustled, a harsh wind picking up. There was a female voice, a single thought. Radiating pure power, it released four words into the gentle atmosphere:
Let the battle begin.