Wow. Almost  a year since I lasted posted in this book. Oops? Anyway! Enjoy this chapter! More should coming soon as I have the next seven or so chapters planned out. Sorry it took so long!

-Camp Half-Blood woods, Earth; a few moments after Kosmos and Kasey went into the woods-

~Kasey's Point of View~

I huffed out a breath as I followed hurriedly after the mysterious assassin that came with Chaos' Army.

Eleven years old and I still haven't hit my growth spurt yet. I was always the smallest of my peers. It never bothered me until now as I tried to keep up with the person I have wanted to talk to since they arrived.

My step mother used to tell me that I had a way of knowing if someone was hurting. It started with plants. I always knew when a plant needed something. It made sense as my mother is Demeter. However, I soon was able to tell if something was wrong with animals. And by the time I was eight I could tell when someone was hurting physically or emotionally.

Ever since I saw Kosmos at Half-Blood Hill I could see that he was hurting. Both physically and emotionally.

"Are you going to stop any time soon?" I huffed out, stopping to catch my breath.

Surprisingly, the assassin did stop walking and turned to face me. "Why are you following me?" His voice came out flat with no emotions, but something told me he was curious.

I puffed out my cheeks as I thought about how to respond. "Because you seemed lonely." I settled for a half-truth.

"That doesn't explain why you're following me."

"I told you, you seemed lonely. And now?" I moved closer to stand in front of him. "Now, you aren't alone." I stated with a grin.

His head tilted to the side. "You said I was lonely, not alone."

Busted. "Okay, so you're both. You're alone and lonely." I pouted. "There's deep pain in you and it doesn't seem like anyone knows you real well. Nyke seems like he's nice enough to you."

There was a moment of silence as we both stared at each other.

I heard a quiet sigh. "You sound like Chaos..." The words were spoken under the breath, but I heard it nonetheless.

I grinned again, bouncing on my heels. "Does that mean Nyke's your best friend?" I asked, ignoring his previous words.

"No." Came the clipped response.

"Oh." My shoulders sagged as my bouncing stopped. "Then who is your best friend?"

"I didn't think you were a child of Athena."

I gaped. Was that his way of deflecting? "Do you normally provoke others in an attempt at dodging unwanted questions?"

He tensed, looking away from me. "Do you normally psychoanalyze people you just met?"

Frowning, I looked down. "Only when I think things are bad. You aren't the only person I've approached with my fears before. I have a way of knowing when someone is hurting." I looked at the covered assassin. "I thought that the camp counselors were hurting really badly until I saw you on Half-Blood Hill. You seem...defeated."

As my words echoed through the trees, I continued to stare at him. I don't know what I was looking for. He's an assassin, they're trained to not emotion...right?

Kosmos suddenly laughed, startling me. "I'm sorry. I'm not used to anyone other than Chaos reading me. And even Chaos doesn't outright say anything."

His voice sounded as it had before, but the way he laughed. It sounded choked and broken. "Do you need a hug?" I blurted out without thinking.

He didn't speak for a minute. It made me fidget as I didn't know what to expect from him.

"You're a daughter of Demeter, correct?"

The sudden unrelated question threw me off. "Uh, yes?"

He laughed a little at my answer. I gaped as it was a normal laugh. Quiet and short, but a normal laugh. "You seem more like a daughter of Athena or even a child of Apollo. Or a child of Aphrodite."

"Huh?"

He huffed, amused. "It's a compliment. You have a lot of empathy. You are also very mature for your age."

I blinked. "Oh. Thank you."

"As for your question, I would rather you not hug me. I don't do physical touch."

"Because of your work or because someone had hurt you in the past?" Today is the day where my mouth decides to speak before my brain can stop and process what I want to say.

"You don't have much of a filter."

I gasped, falling to my knees in horror. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Kosmos, Sir!"

I wonder if this is how I'm going to die. In the woods at camp by the hands of an assassin that I angered due to my big mouth not knowing when to stop. Maybe I should run now? No, because there's no doubt he can catch up to me. So, running isn't an option.

"Xander." What?

"What?" I looked up, perplexed.

He huffed a small laugh. "My name. It's Xander. You don't have to call me Kosmos as it's my assassin name and I'm not here as an assassin."

I stared at him blankly. "That's a normal name."

He tilted his head to the side again. "Were you expecting something different?"

"Well, Chaos is the creator of the universe, right? That doesn't mean you're human?" I asked, confused.

"No, you're right. However, I'm half human." He casually stated as if it didn't shatter my brain.

"You're half-human?" He nodded. "And half-alien?"

"No, half-god."

I choked on my breath. "What?"

"I'm half-human and half-god. Specifically, half greek god."

-Back to Nyke and Hesper's conversation-

~Hesper's Point of View~

Nyke trusted Kosmos. Why, though? More importantly, "Do you even know who he is?"

The Head Commander scratched the back of his head. "Well, no." He waved his hands around. "But he's Chaos' assassin. Would Chaos have someone close to him that he doesn't trust?"

"No." I paused, trying to figure out how to say what I needed to say. "How do we know he isn't using Chaos? And don't you think something is odd with Chaos' Army? With how us leaders were recruited as leaders before we became soldiers?"

Nyke took a step back. "Are you saying you don't trust Chaos?"

I swallowed. "No, I'm asking if I'm not the only one who finds Chaos' Army to be...strange. When I was asked to join the army I didn't think I would be a unit leader right away. Did you know when you joined?"

He sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. "No. I didn't know until Chaos announced to everyone that I was the Head Commander of the army." He laughed, bitterly. "If he had, I would have said no."

I frowned, wondering what I would have done if I had known what my position would have been. "I think you make an excellent commander."

"Huh? Did you, the one who hated and still dislikes males, just compliment me?"

"What? No! I was merely stating the army would still be disorganized without your efforts." My face was getting as I realized what I had done.

Nyke doubled over laughing.

"Shut up!" I yelled, moving to hit him. The Head Commander kept laughing as he dodged away from me. "I wouldn't dare to compliment a male."

"Then I guess you don't see me as only a male." He grabbed my wrists. "I see you as a friend as well, Hesper."

I blushed more as I heard his soft words.

Oh, I'm sorry, My Lady. It seems as if I have found more males that are worthy of my friendship.

"I don't regret joining Chaos' Army. I do regret that we don't truly know who each other are."

Nyke sighed, letting go of me and stepping back. "I regret that as well. However, it gives me a second chance. I'm not proud of my past and a part of me is grateful that we don't know each other's stories."

I wanted to argue against those words, but I couldn't bring myself to. Maybe I was wrong? I don't recognize the voice that spoke to me on Half-Blood Hill. I can't trust someone I don't know.

And the man that's standing in front of me saying that we should head back to the others is someone I do trust. Because we might know each other's real names, we have fought side by side too many times to not be able to trust the other. 

And that is the end of chapter eight. I know it was short, but that's all that I wanted to include in this chapter. Although, you did learn of Kosmos' name. I didn't think Kasey (an OC) would have such a big role in the plot, but it looks like she's staying. 

Well, I really hope you enjoyed that chapter after almost a year of nothing (sorry again about that). I should have more chapters out this week as I'm off work this week and I have plan to not do much aside from writing. 

Although being without running water is a little annoying. 

Anyway, I will be back later!

Thank you for reading!

~MsPenguingirl1234. 

Published: August 8th, 2022.