Dark-Hair, Sea Eyes

10

Percy could feel the horses' anxiety in his sleep. They spoke amongst themselves in hushed voices as the ground trembled. But the voice of Chaos was what really woke him up.

"Perseus, I'm here," Percy sat up, alert. "Hurry up, this planet is to be destroyed. Get to a roof-- is that a horse?" Chaos asked as Arion leaned down to Percy.

Brother, there is war. The horse said, stumping his hooves and shaking his mane anxiously. There was a thud on the doors of the stalls and dark, red liquid cascaded from under the door.

"I'm in the stables. The horses are coming with us," Percy said. Chaos looked at him strangely, almost greedily, and it creeped Percy out. "Of course, the horses will come with us. I'll handle that, but you and your ponies will have to make a run for it," Chaos said.

Percy looked around. There were elders and foals in the stalls, but they were still in shape and would be able to keep up with the rest of the horses.

Percy nodded and swiped his hand through the message. "You got that, Arion?'' Percy asked. The horse shook his mane. "I will make sure everyone else is ready,'' he said.

Percy stood to his feet, and walked to the stall doors, opening one to look outside. It was surprisingly bright, probably morning still, and Percy could see everything perfectly.

This makes... little sense.

Percy didn't know many people who launched a full-scale attack in broad daylight, and the number of soldiers Chaos has brought was small, not the number you'd bring to take over an entire planet. There were only three who stood behind Chaos. One of them was the scrawny man Percy had seen before, still bound by chains, forcing him down. Percy knew him as Zeus, but he didn't recognize the other two. On either side of him was an angel, both with chains connected to them in the same fashion as Zeus.

"The gods. They've returned," Arion said, shock in his voice as he looked over Percy's shoulder. The three didn't move, they kept their places behind Chaos who held the end of their chains like a leash for three dogs.

"Who are they?" Percy asked. There was a body, or more like a mass of flesh, against the stall doors, the face ripped beyond recognition. There were other bodies, Percy noticed, lying on the ground but they looked unwounded as if they'd just laid down for a nap.

Percy saw a group of eight charge Chaos, and they died in two different ways-- four of them died screaming with their skin peeling, scratching off their faces before they died by falling upon their own weapons, and the other four just froze and dropped to the ground, again looking as if they'd fallen asleep but had just forgotten to breathe.

''The woman is a Ker... but on our earth, they couldn't kill. They're daemons, spirits that feast off of those who've died violently, but this one can kill them. I suppose she's not really killing them, though, as they are killing themselves." Arion explained.

"Thanatos is the god of peaceful death. Both of them have displayed their abilities, but not Zeus. He's done nothing with the wind, the sky, or the lightning, which are his domains. Why's he here?" Arion wondered.

Percy heard the galloping of a horse, speeding towards the stables.

"You! You did this!" Percy heard.

It was Reyna on the back of Escieros,  running towards him. The pegasus had a bloody wing, but it still ran as she urged him to get to Percy.

Arion ran forward, probably seeing the murderous rage in her eyes, and met the horse with astounding speed, closing the distance between them almost instantly.