<>------<> Midnight <>------<>

Nero didn’t sleep that night.

I only knew because his footsteps sounded from the room next to mine. They padded lightly in circles for hours on end, until the repetitive rhythm finally drifted me off to an uneasy sleep.

Our home in Moonhaven was heavily enchanted to ward out dreams and nightmares that usually haunted a demigod’s sleep. I visioned it like a giant dream catcher surrounding the city; a spider web like net that trapped the dreams before they reached the desired person. But on the rare occasion, a dream would slip through ward to torment us.

I dreamt of my old home; Camp Half-Blood. In the years since we’d been gone, it had grown in size. All the old buildings were exactly how we left them, but a whole new wing had been added to the cabins. As the dream moved closer, I could see Romans symbols above the doorways.

The Big Three cabins were completely empty with dust coating the window frames and spider webs growing in the corners. The enchanted torches still flamed high in front of the Hades cabin. All three were silent and felt lonely.

At camp, it was late night. A few satyr guards roamed through the fields, around the Big House, near the cabins, but the campers were all sound asleep. Overhead, the full moon glistened nearly as bright as the sun, casting hallow shadows across the camp.

The dream blew me into the Big House where seven people sat around a table clustered with war maps, notes and diagrams. The room was dimly lit with one hanging light, leaving the people in shadow.

‘We don’t know what we’re up against,’ a girl announced. In the dim light, her blonde hair lost its entire colour, but I recognized her condescending tone.

Annabeth continued, ‘We don’t have enough campers.’

A man in a wheel chair lowered his head, ‘I know that, my dear. But what other choice do we have.’

I recognized Chiron’s voice immediately. I studied each of the others carefully; Piper, Frank Leo and Reyna. The final girl was a mystery to me, with cinnamon coloured hair, soft brown eyes and an aura of sadness.

‘When we spoke with the gods,’ the girl piped up. ‘They told us reinforcements are on their way.’

‘Reinforcements?’ Reyna asked, her tone questioning and distrustful. ‘All the Greeks and Romans are here. What reinforcements are there?’

The girl shrugged helplessly and leaned into Leo who put a comforting arm around her.

‘Will these reinforcements really help us, though?’ Piper asked, frowning at a map of camp. ‘I mean, what if they turn on us?’

‘Is that likely?’ Frank said cautiously. ‘We don’t need any more traitors.’

Unbeknown to the seven talking around the table, I bit my lip. I listened in on their conversation, gathering any information I could before my subconsciousness swept me away.

‘I don’t know any more than what I’m told,’ Chiron admitted wearily. ‘All that I do know for sure is that the gods are losing power. They are getting weaker by the day, brought down by an unknown force that we must conquer before it conquers us. The enemy is strong, and we don’t have enough campers to overtake it. I have been assured that these reinforcements are of high standard and are protectors of the universe.’

‘Protects of the universe,’ Leo repeated in a kind of trance. ‘So they won’t harm us.’

‘I didn’t say that,’ Chiron said.

‘They are dangerous,’ the girl stressed clearly. ‘They will attack if provoked, just like a wild animal. They are dangerous and powerful.’

It didn’t take long for me to work out who these reinforcements were. I sighed tiredly. Nero would not be pleased to find out he was right all along; we were returning to earth.

The dream faded in a swirl of black smoke like all dreams caught inside the enchanted ward. As I settled back into a more peaceful sleep, I wondered.

Should I tell the others? Nero might back out before we got there. On the other hand, one he and Aeras had ever taken the time to learn how to fly the ship. One of them would have to know where we were going, and the others would need to know everything we’re up against.

I made my decision. I would tell Aeras so he would know where to go, and together we would tell the others when we were closer to earth.

The rest of my night was filled with fitful sleep and blurry images of my past life. They floated before my eyes like pictures out of a 3D movie; they looked like they were within reach, but when you tried to grab them, the illusion fell into place and you were left a little disappointed.

When morning finally came and the bright white sun rose on Aurae, I couldn’t be more relieved. I put on my silver armour made from the unique metal known as deckras. Deckras was only found on Aurae’s neighbouring planet, Pasengine, in the silver mining town.

I pulled a black cloak around my shoulders, manoeuvring my wings so they poked out the custom designed hole in the back. I hated the cloak and the way it always got in the way of my wings, but Father made each of us wear one because of the hoods they came with.

Leaving the hood down for now, I left my room and headed straight to the Mess Hall. As I predicted, Nero, Aeras, Arrow and Destiny were already there. The other four were dressed identically in startling silver armour and black cloaks like mine.

‘Big day,’ Destiny said from the kitchen. She didn’t look to see who it was, but she didn’t need to.

‘Yeah,’ I agreed, ‘another assignment.’

‘First one in a long time,’ Aeras mumbled into a cup.

Arrow sighed and hit him over the head with a book, ‘Really, Aeras, chocolate milk right before a mission?’

Aeras slipped down his chair guiltily, ‘I was thirsty.’

‘You know, flavoured milk makes you thirstier,’ Nero said quietly.

I watched Nero closely as I sat down at the table next to him and Aeras. Destiny hummed cheerfully as she buttered a plate of toast made with fresh bread. Arrow gave up trying to tidy the coffee table and collapsed down at the dining table with a big huff.

‘Here you go,’ Destiny smiled, carrying a plate topped high with breakfast.  ‘Dig in!’

The toast didn’t stand a chance against five hungry children of Chaos. As they ate, they discussed the new mission. Nero stayed rather silent, which wasn’t like him.

‘I talked to Father last night,’ Aeras said, taking another bite of his toast. ‘He said that we should get about a week to earn the trust and respect before he sends the rest of the Sorrows.’

‘Wait, we get backup?’ Arrow complained. ‘We can handle this!’

‘Not according to Father,’ Aeras shook his head. ‘He said we’ll need the whole force.’

‘We’re limited to our powers,’ Destiny pointed out. ‘We may need the others and their abilities.’

‘Wait, where are the others?’ I frowned.

It was strange that I hadn’t noticed at first, but the Mess Hall was usually filled this time of day; the twins fighting over the TV remote, Kiralee pranking everyone, Henry and Abraham getting into trouble, normal family kind of things.

‘They’re in the open training room,’ Arrow said, pointing out the door with a spoon. I didn’t quite understand why she needed a spoon to eat toast. ‘Father got them all up early.’

‘So, they’ve had breakfast?’ I asked.

Arrow nodded, ‘I ran into Holly on the way here. She said Father woke them all up before dawn.’

Aeras chuckled, ‘Sometimes its good being the leaders.’

‘And sometimes it’s not,’ Nero whispered under his breath, so soft I was sure I’d misheard.

‘Well,’ Destiny brushed a crumb from the corner of her mouth. ‘We should get going. Father said we should leave soon.’

‘But where are we going?’ I knew, of course. But I wanted to see if Father had told the others.

Destiny locked eyes with me, her golden pupils dancing like fire; dangerous and beautiful.

‘Father said you would know,’ she told me.

I was suddenly uncomfortable as my four siblings stared at me with intense scrutiny. Nero’s eyes narrowed, making him look angry and very scary. I hadn’t seen him like that since we’d left Earth.

And now we were going back.

‘I don’t know,’ I managed to stutter. ‘Maybe. Let’s get to the ship first.’

Aeras shook us all into action with a slap of wind across the face. Arrow hit him on the head as she went past.

The five of us marched in single file to the Hanger where our ship would be waiting for us, hopefully stocked with food, water, weapons and any other supplies we might need. Nero silently led the way with Arrow and Destiny close behind in deep conversation. I hung back with Aeras and told him about my dream.

‘Back to Earth,’ Aeras muttered. ‘Nero won’t be happy. I can’t say I’m looking forward to it either.’

‘None of us are,’ I confirmed grimly. ‘None of us want to go back their again. But none of us wants to defy Father either.’

Aeras chuckled lightly, ‘Well, for Nero that’s always debateable.’

‘Sure is.’

We walked through Moonhaven just as the city started to wake up. With the sun still low in the sky, not many people were out and about. In the Town Square, citizens were setting up their merchandise for the daily markets. The air was filled with mixed smells of flowers, chips and chocolate. Bright splotches of colour burst from every direction with banners and flags and so many other eye catching decorations beckoning to passing people.

‘Midnight!’

 I identified the owner of the voice immediately as my friend Elmo, local woodworker and son of Hermes. He waved to me from his stall, showing off all his latest goods.

‘I have a new contraption,’ he called happily. ‘It would be great if you could stop by the shop and try it out.’

I smiled, ‘I would love to, Elmo. But my brothers and sisters and I have a new mission in the Atreus galaxy.’

‘Of course, of course,’ he waved again as I took off after the others. ‘Good luck!’

I darted around a stall selling handmade blankets and pinched a chocolate off a nearby table, tossing the owner a gold chip, the currency of Moonhaven.

‘Hurry up, Midnight,’ Aeras yelled from amidst the crowd.

I found the others with a quick sweep around the square. They sat around the centre fountain looking bored and exasperated. Nero was playing with the water, twisting it into strange shapes before letting it fall.  He wore a faint smile that I figured was the last one we would see until we returned to Aurae.

‘What were you doing?’ Arrow asked with her arms folded across her chest.

I froze, my mouth full of deliciously half-melted chocolate, ‘Uh, nothing?’

It came out as more of a question than a response. Arrow rolled her eyes and sauntered off through the streets, tossing a simple, ‘Whatever,’ over her shoulder as she went. As Aeras, Destiny and I stared at her retreated figure, Nero splashed the water up and back into the fountain one last time.

‘We better get going,’ he said, a bitter edge to his tone.

He walked after Arrow, his pace brisk and stiff. Aeras, Destiny and I followed a little behind, letting our brother have some space.

‘I’m worried about him,’ Destiny whispered so only the two of us could hear.

‘We’re all worried about him,’ Aeras said sadly. ‘But there isn’t much we can do.’

‘He’s drawn himself into a shell,’ Destiny mumbled, more to herself than them. ‘Just like last time.’

Neither of us needed to ask what she meant by that. She was obviously referring to our week on the streets, our week of hell before Father saved us.

We hurried after Arrow and Nero who stopped at the gates of the Hanger to let us catch up. Together, the five of us walked in with our heads held high. As the leaders of the Sorrows, we were expected to act with fairness and superiority. None of us liked it much, but no one said being a child of the creator was easy.

‘Hello!’

The five of us smiled as Edwin and his wife Lucinda met us at the door. Edwin was a large man with short hair the colour of sand and a smile big enough to swallow the world. His wife was a tall, tin woman with sparkling blue eyes and a warm demeanour. The two of them managed the Hanger and stayed in an above apartment along with their three children, Cecil, Julian and Eliza.

‘Good morning, Master Edwin,’ Nero greeted formally with a short bow. ‘Is the ship ready?’

Edwin returned the bow, ‘It is, Sire. We filled it just this morning. It should have enough to take you to the other end of the galaxies.’

‘Hopefully we won’t be going that far,’ Destiny said with a smile.

Edwin laughed heartily, ‘Hopefully not. Everyone in Moonhaven likes you all right where you are. The five of you are quite popular.’

I felt a warmth creep up my cheeks, and a quick glance at the others told me they were also blushing furiously.

‘Thank you for your service, Master Edwin and Mistress Lucinda,’ Arrow curtsied politely. ‘But we really must be going now.’

‘Certainly,’ Edwin exclaimed. ‘Right this way.’

As we followed him through the halls, his wife swatted him lightly on the shoulder, laughing at his folly. I personally enjoyed the company of Edwin and his family, and I knew the others did too.

‘We polished the WG especially,’ Edwin grinned as he stepped aside at the entrance to hanger one.

The ship was white, blue and ellipse shaped with a large cockpit in the front. The huge glass screen revealed two navy seats in front of an enormous panel with countless glowing buttons. The rest of the ship was taken with what I knew to be a sickbay and a cabin with two bunks and a single bed which we usually shared around.

On the outside, painted in gold, were the letters WG with the words Wonder Glider printed carefully underneath. The whole ship shone with a brilliant glowing light.

It was the ship reserved just for the five of us.

Aeras nodded appreciatively, ‘You did a good job, Master Edwin.’

‘The kids helped,’ Lucinda said before her husband could respond. ‘He can’t take all the credit how.’

Edwin pouted, ‘I’m teaching Julian how to run everything. He wants to take over when I’m too old. Says it’s his right because he’s the oldest.’

I chuckled as we loaded onto the WG. Aeras and Arrow headed straight for the cockpit where they got to work immediately with the controls. Nero, Destiny and I stood at the open hatch, waving goodbye, until the door closed with a sound like a fridge door.

Nero walked off instantly. Destiny and I followed him to the cabin. We all stood around in a strange, intense silence as the ship lifted from the ground and zoomed out of the hanger, leaving Edwin and Lucinda behind. Nero stared out the window, watching as Moonhaven got smaller and smaller, and the palace turned into a silver blob no bigger than a pea.

Soon, the whole planet was nothing more than a tennis ball sized mass of green grassy meadows and crystal blue seas.

As we watched, the surface of the ocean rippled and splashed, visible from even our great height. Enormous waves crashed down on the shores like Aurae itself was waving goodbye.

Nero sunk down on a bunk. He looked at me with eyes consumed with bitterness and gloom.  

‘You know where we’re going,’ he accused half-heartedly. ‘You know we’re going to Earth.’

I didn’t bother trying to deny it. The gaze which Nero had locked on me was filled with none of the anger I had expected, but more sadness and weariness. I had no doubt that Aeras would tell Arrow, so I updated Nero and Destiny on my dream.

As I went on, Destiny’s face got paler and paler. Nero simply stared out the window at Aurae fading and growing smaller in the distance. The blank on his face never wavered, but I knew the intelligence that lurked behind those sea green eyes. In the past, Nero was always a little silly, carefree and not-so-smart. But ten thousand years of bitter memories had changed everything, for all of us.

‘The gods are getting weaker,’ Destiny murmured once I was finished. ‘Who or what has the power to do that?’

I shook my head in disbelief, ‘That was a joke, right? Chaos, us; I’m sure we aren’t the only ones, because none of us would have done it.’

‘Not so sure about that,’ Nero mumbled.

Destiny sighed, ‘The other gods stood up for us, Nero. It was only our parents.’

‘They are no parents of mine,’ Nero spat as he jumped up, ferocity in his eyes like I’d never seen before.

In less than a second, he had gone from a calm sadness to a crazed anger. Fury built up inside him like a hurricane waiting to be unleashed unto the world. His sea green eyes darkened and flashed like an ocean storm.

‘They betrayed me!’ he roared. He balled his fists like he wanted to punch something. ‘They turned everyone on me, on us! They are the reason we had to leave Earth. We would be dead if not for Chaos. Poseidon is not my father! Zeus and Hades are no better!’

With the last word, he collapsed back on the bunk with a harsh sob, all energy spent on being angry. Destiny bottom lip trembled, a single silent tear rolling down her cheek, glistening like the diamonds she was once cursed to raise.

Slowly and carefully, I sat down next to Nero on the bed. Years on Aurae had made us the same height, but it was still weird when I didn’t have to look up, as if my body remembered that I was supposed to be younger.

Nero cried unashamedly into my shoulder as Destiny sat on his other side and rubbed his back. Once upon a time, I would’ve felt extremely awkward. But now, old feelings were in the past. Now we were closer than brothers.

‘Anger is understandable,’ I said quietly, unsure if he heard me through his raking sobs. 'We're returning to the place of betrayal, returning to help the betrayers.'

Destiny smiled sadly, ‘There’s a saying I once heard. It said, “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” That’s something I live by.’

I frowned, ‘Didn’t Buddha say that?’

Destiny glared at me, ‘Well, I haven’t met Buddha, so I don’t know.’

‘I hope we don’t meet Buddha,’ I muttered. ‘We’ve got enough problems without another crazy god after us.’

Nero gave a watery chuckle. It was a sad, lonely sound, but better than no sound at all.

‘Actually, I don’t think Buddha was a god,’ Destiny mused. ‘I think he was a kind of deity, or maybe a man bent on achieving perfection.’

I think my mouth was hanging open, ‘How and why would you even know that?’

Her eyes suddenly lost their sparkle, gaining a shadow behind them.

‘Frank,’ she said in barely a whisper. ‘His grandmother had a lot of that stuff.’

That kind of ended our conversation. The three of us just sat there, huddled together on the bunk in the small cabin at the rear of WG. Aeras and Arrow didn’t come in at any time, so I guess they knew to leave Nero be.

None of us spoke the rest of the way. We watched planets and stars whip by through the small circular window, blinding lights bursting before our eyes as the Wonder Glider flew faster than the speed of light. Once we waved at another ship keeping pace with the WG as we headed to Earth.

All too soon, the WG began to slow down. Upon looking out the window yet again, I recognized Pluto, having been there before. We had reached the Atreus galaxy.

‘Nero,’ I said softly. ‘We’re here.’

He didn’t get up, he didn’t even look up. He just sighed resignedly, like he was coming to terms with his fate, a fate he always knew was coming but faced with nothing short of regret.

‘Come on, guys,’ Destiny tried for a smile. Her smiles usually instilled everyone with confidence and determination, but not this time. ‘We should get to the cockpit. Aeras and Arrow will be wondering where we got to.’

‘They know we wouldn’t just jump out of the ship,’ I pointed out as we headed down the corridor to the cockpit. ‘We learnt our lesson the first time.’

The motion activated, sliding door opened with a hiss as we approached, letting us into the blinding white cockpit. I always said like the room smelt like burning tires, but no one seemed to agree with me.

Aeras was at the wheel, being one of two who knew how to drive a spaceship. Arrow was fiddling with levers and buttons, clicking and pushing, a look of immense concentration on her face. She flicked a switch and the radio came on. Not your regular radio, but the intergalactic radio. I recognized a song by someone from the Amina galaxy. I never understood the lyrics, them having been in an entirely different language.

‘Nearly there?’ Destiny asked Aeras, forgetting to announce her presence.

Aeras nearly jumped a foot in the air. He jerked the wheel so hard to the right, we started heading for Africa instead of America. Then he righted himself and steered back on course. He heaved a huge panicked sigh.

‘Comets of Chaos, Destiny, don’t do that,’ he said shakily. Arrow laughed.

‘Sorry,’ Destiny said, turning a little pink. ‘Are we nearly there?’

Aeras nodded, still a little wary, ‘We should be there in about three minutes or so.’

‘Where are we headed?’ Nero questioned. The anger behind his eyes was well hidden, but still there, masked behind a thicker wall of sadness. ‘Olympus?’

‘No,’ Aeras said slowly. ‘I’ve set course for Camp Half-Blood. And before you say anything, I don’t want to go there either. But Olympus is too risky a place to land. We can accomplish more at camp.’

Nero clenched his jaw like he wanted to argue, but the logic was too faultless to fight against.

‘They’ll recognize us,’ Nero pointed out, desperate to find a flaw in the plan ‘They’ll throw us out before we can say Chaos.’

‘We have our hoods,’ Arrow said, gesturing to her own. ‘And we’re powerful enough to keep people from asking questions. They won’t pry too much when they find out who we are.’

I grinned. They certainly wouldn’t.

‘Landing,’ Aeras announced suddenly, ‘in three; two; one.’

Arrow pushed several buttons at once, Aeras steered carefully, and the WG came to a standstill with a gentle bump. Through the tinted glass screen, I recognized the familiar strawberry fields spreading out in all directions.

We were at Camp Half-Blood.

There was a sharp rapping sound like someone knocking on metal. With a single glance like we’d read each other’s minds, we drew our hoods over our head, masking our identities. Barely the lower halves of our faces were visible. We got up as one and headed for the hatch that hissed open with the touch of a button.

Staring up at the Wonder Glider with mixed looks of disbelief and awe were Annabeth, Frank, Piper, Reyna, Leo and the mystery girl. Their eyes were locked on our ship, but soon switched to us as the hatch opened.

The five of us stood in a line, black and silver hoods drawn up with full silver armour underneath. Our cloaks swirled and danced around our feet though there was no wind. I suspect that was Aeras’ doing. Behind us, our wings shone as bright as the sun; silver, gold, black, white and crystal blue.

‘Who-who are you?’ Annabeth managed. The blonde, grey eyed girl seemed at more of a loss for words than a daughter of Athena had any right to be.

‘Who are we,’ Arrow repeated, toying with the words in her mouth as if they amused her. They amused me.

Arrow glanced at the rest of us. My siblings and I exchanged looks as best we could with our faces hidden. But we’d been tighter than ever the past ten thousand years; we had no need to see each other’s expressions.

‘Who are we,’ Arrow said yet again with a tone that implied laughter.

We all stood a little straighter, and the ferocity we displayed was enough to spark fear into the eyes of the six demigods gathered before us. Destiny took a small step forward so she was still in line with us, yet also in front. A smile stretched itself across the lower half of her face.

‘We are the Archangels.’

 ~*~

And that's chapter four. I was worried I wouldn't update on time, but its still Sunday (for me anyway), so I'm good. The winner of this chapters dedication is Love_Vs_Hope because of their wonderful comment. Thank you! Remember, dedication goes to my favourite comment every time. Like always please vote, comment and follow. Thanks for reading and until next week, this is TripleM signing off! :)
~MissMythoMagic