I was pacing. Nervously.

I had opened a portal back to Planet Chaos, and we had all cleaned up in our council clothes.

We all had to dress nicely.

I hated it.

They were like Roman Senate Meetings. Or Olympian Council Meetings. Except worse.

Since I was 'heir to Chaos' apparently my appearance mattered. They kept calling me 'prince of the Universe'.

Next person who called me that was going to find out what shadowfire tasted like.

But I still cleaned up, though reluctantly.

So now I was standing in my room on Planet Chaos, in black slacks and a button up white shirt with my black cloak buttoned around my shoulders, hood down.

Chaos seemed so nervous. What could make the creator of the universe nervous? Whatever it was, it terrified me.

My door swung open, and I stopped mid-pace.

Sparky stood in my doorway, in a plain black dress. Her cloak was clipped around her shoulders, though her hood was down.

She raised an eyebrow at my pacing.

"You know we have, like, a minute before we have to portal to the council room, right?" She asked.

We all had an eerily accurate sense of time. Now that I concentrated, I could tell that it was exactly 3:49 a.m. Less than a minute from when Chaos had told us to portal to the council room.

I cursed.

Sparky rolled her eyes and we hurried out of the room, our cloaks fluttering behind us.

We reached the others, in one of the sitting rooms not far from our bedrooms, in less than ten seconds. They were all dressed similarly.

Reyna scowled at me and produced a comb from thin air.

She was dressed in a black, floor length dress with a silver trim, her cloaks hood down.

"You really need to learn how to use a comb. And just so you know, as soon as we get back, I am cutting your hair. Why did you let it get this long?" Reyna asked exasperatedly and started attacking my hair with the comb so hard I winced.

"Well, I haven't exactly had time to go see a barber, Reyna." I protested.

I heard laughter, and looked back to the rest of them.

Sparky was doubled over in laughter, Shadow had his hand over his mouth to hide his suppressed laughter, and Siren was laughing so hard he was crying and his laughs were silent.

"You're... like an old... married couple..." Siren remarked.

"We are not!" Reyna and I said in sync, with twin scowls.

"The Prince of the Universe is finally defeated by a girl with a comb." Sparky said and took a shuddering breath.

I frowned and batted Reyna's hand away. Her comb disappeared into an inky black mist, which vanished almost instantly.

"Oh, shut up. I'm opening the portal now. Just get into formation and pull your hoods up." I commanded.

They complied, shuffling into a V formation behind me. I waved my hand and a swirling black portal popped into reality in front of us.

I was about to step through when Reyna grabbed the back of my cloak.

She spun me around and pulled my hood up, and I realized I had forgotten. She looked me over once, then kissed me quickly.

"Perfect. Now go! We're going to be late." She said and gave me a push in the portal's direction. I turned and stepped through.

**********************

We appeared in a blindingly white marble room.

Nine fourteen foot tall chairs made of marble sat in a semi circle in the center of the room.

Chaos sat in the very center throne, looking grim.

Around him sat the other eight primordials.

There was Ananke- dressed in black and white. Primordial of fate or inevitability, wife to Chronos.

There was Chronos- dressed in gold with his white hair and beard. His face was withered but kind. Primordial of Time.

Tartarus, whom I had somewhat forgiven, was absent, as always.

Erebus was dressed in black robes that seemed to swirl with never ending dark. Fitting, as he was pitch-black darkness personified. Husband to Nyx.

Pontus was the oceans, lakes, and rivers, and was dressed in blue robes that, at closer inspection, were made of running water.

Ather reminded me of Apollo. Not only in his appearance, which was modern jeans and a golden button up that was unbuttoned near the top, but also in the fact that he was stupidly childish. He was the primordial of heaven and light, and husband to Hemera.

Hemera had a soft glow about her, almost motherly. Her dress rippled with sunlight and pale blue and white splotches, which I had learned were clouds. She was the Goddess of daylight.

Nyx was dressed in black robes that was dotted with flashes of silver, which were real stars. She was primordial of night.

They watched us all as we stepped out of the portal.

Then, Ather snickered, and I cursed him for his next words.

"The Prince of The Universe not wearing his crown?" Ather said with mock surprise.

I flipped him off.

I hated that crown. It was a heavy, black thing that was emblazoned with gems and jewels that were probably worth more than I had ever cared to imagine.

Chaos shot me a look. It wasn't for flipping Ather off, though.

"How many times have I told you to wear your crown to formal occasions, Archangel?" Chaos asked, deadly calm.

I said nothing.

Chaos' snapped his fingers and the heavy crown materialized on my head.

"Wear the crown." He commanded.

"But-"

"Wear the crown or I will meld it to your head." Chaos said, and I got the feeling he was dead serious.

"I'll wear the crown." I muttered.

"Good. Moving on to other matters, I have grave news." He intoned.

We all waited until he spoke again, though when he did, my blood ran cold.

"I am sending you to Earth. More precisely, to the aid and protection of the demigods." Chaos stated.

I felt Reyna stiffen beside me. She took my hand, and it was like she drew strength from it.

"I apologize in advance, Archangel and Dilexisti." Chaos said with a sympathetic expression.

Since none of us could reveal our true identities, Reyna was 'Dilexisti'.

It was a bit of a running joke between us. Considering that 'Dilexisti' meant, 'loved'. We had often joked that it was love that brought her back, and eventually it became what we called her in public. It was so corny, but it never failed to make us smile.

But now it just seemed somber. We were going back to earth, back to so many bittersweet memories. There were many good times, but also the fact that everyone thought we were dead. And we couldn't even reveal our true identities.

My expression tight, I sighed.

"Go on." I said tiredly.

"I would not send you back there if I had any other choice. You are all like children to me." Chaos said sympathetically.

I thought about what I would have thought of today four hundred years ago. I wondered what I would have said if someone had told me then that the Creator of The Universe would have said that I was like a child to him, that I was his heir, that I was the shadowfire user, that I would have wings, and that I would be dating Reyna.

I probably would have called a physiologist.

But here we were.

"What is this thing of grave importance, Chaos?" Erebus asked, voice booming.

Chaos sighed.

"My sister, Order, has awakened again." Chaos said, and immediately chaos (lowercase C) insumed.