The War Against Chaos (Completed)

Chapter 10

(AN/Hi! I'm an idiot and forgot to say this earlier, but Trials of Apollo does not exist in the universe of this story. I do like the books, but it just kind of messes up some of my story. So...yeah)
     "Be careful, alright?" my mom says, crushing me in a hug. I nod, pulling my backpack over my shoulders. I give my dad a hug as well before running out the door. I meet up with Leah and August at Thalia's tree. I sling my arms around their shoulders, and together we walk through the barrier. I feel a chill go down my spine. Of course, I've been outside of camp before, but this is the first time where I don't know if I will return. The same Pegasus as before flies through the barrier after us, landing next to Leah.
    She pulls an apple out of her pocket and feeds it to the Pegasus, "Good boy, Lochus."
    "So we just go on Lochus?" August questions.
    She nods, "Should take about an hour."
    August frowns, "Doesn't that seem too easy?"
    "I mean, according to Eris, it'll be really hard to fight the monster. We definitely deserve to get there easily." We all get on the Lochus and he shoots up into the sky. As Leah said, it only takes about an hour before Lochus comes to a stop in a patch of grass, surrounded by bundles of trees.
     "Do you think this is it?" I ask, following Leah off of him.
     Leah rubs Lochus's head, "I think so, Pegasi are very smart."
     I tap my foot on the ground, "So...what do we do now?"
     August looks around, "Do you think it already left?"
     I sit down on the grassy floor, "Should we just wait and see?"
     ***********
    Note: Don't have three kids with ADHD wait around in an empty forest for 3 hours. From experience, I will say that it is not fun.
    Leah is lying on her back, looking up at the trees. We tried talking for a little but that wore out after the first hour.
    She stands up, brushing the dirt off of her shorts, "We should try to find it."
    I stand up as well, "Yeah, I'll go see if I can find any signs of it."
   "I'll go over there," August says, pointing towards some of the trees. Leah whispers something to them before August walks off. I go off in the opposite direction, but I don't leave. I know that they're going to be talking, so I crouch down in a bush where I get a perfect view. I see August disappear behind the trees, and I realize that maybe they aren't going to talk. My back is turned when I hear Leah say, "You." I turn around and see her holding her sword. Standing next to her is a woman in a white dress, splattered with blood.
     The woman smiles, flashing her blood stained teeth, "You don't sound happy to see me."
     "Am I supposed to? You're going to kill us."
     "Not necessarily."
      Leah lowers her sword, "What?"
      "I know you're tired of being underestimated for being a child of Aphrodite. Everyone will know your power if you join me."
     Leah backs away, "What?"
     "Join me, my dear. You could work for the great goddess Eris. Everyone would fear you. Your sister was a spy, and you could be too."
     "My sister didn't want to be one, and I don't want to either."
     Eris glares at her, "You'll regret this." With that she disappears into a cloud of smoke, leaving Leah coughing. After a minute I decide I should talk to her. I'm about to emerge from the bushes when August approaches her.
     August smiles at her, "So...what did you want to talk about?"
     Leah reaches into her pocket and pulls out two bracelets, "My mom created these a little before the Second Titan War. In our cabin, there's a bigger version of this, the Aphrodite Pendant. Every time an Aphrodite camper comes out as dating someone, their initials are added to it. Bronze means dating, gold means married, and they disappear if they break up."
     August leans down to look at them, "S+C is in silver, what does that mean?"
     Leah looks at it sadly, "If someone in the relationship dies, their name turns silver. That's Silena and Beckendorf. Anyway, I found these in my pocket, and they have our initials on it. Which I guess means all of my siblings know that we're dating." She puts one of the bracelets on her wrist and the other one on August's.
     Before I can stop myself, I squeal, "That's so cute!" I immediately put my hand over my mouth and dive back down.
     Leah rolls her eyes, "We heard you, you know."
     I sheepishly crawl out, "Sorry...but when I heard you talking I had to listen cause y'all were so cute last night and-"
     August frowns, "Last night?!"
     I look down, "Yeah...I found you down by the water." Leah looks at me and I can tell what she's thinking. She knows that I heard her conversation with Eris. I give her a little nod and she smiles at me.
     It's quickly replaced by a look of worry when we hear a rustling coming from the trees. We jump up, holding our swords. And then I see it, the glowing, silver eyes.