Nevermore [Phobos]

[blake]

Okay, so he was anything but the cool type of person. Well, not in the literal sense, as his dad was Lord of Winter, but that wasn’t the same thing. He-… ah, forget it. He just wasn’t the social, Mr. Popularity sort. Not that it bothered him usually. But it made this place nearly torturous. He was stuck here with only his brothers and all of about two people that had, for some reason beyond his knowledge, decided they wanted to talk to him. Yeah, paradise. And there were the sword fighting lessons he was awful at, the greek mythology he just couldn’t seem to remember, the ‘fun’ little activities that were a lot less ‘fun’ when you learned that was real lava coming out of the rock wall. Yes, paradise indeed. The only things he was good at were archery running. Some hero stuff.

That was why Blake Aileron was out for a while. By himself, of course. It was nice to just walk and think. He’d heard the woods were stocked with monsters for the more ambitious fighters, but this was the third time he’d wandered out here on break and had, at least thus far, found nothing. So why not test fate one more time. It was, after all, a pretty nice place to go, as long as it was still daylight. So, armed with one of the swords he hardly knew how to use anyway, he dove deeper into the woods, following the sound of the creek. Okay, so the sword was pretty useless, but at least he’d been practicing his control on the wind. He’d managed to freeze water, and really tick off his brothers (especially Nathan and Zack who preferred warm weather). So he wasn’t completely defenseless.

[Phobos]

Success. Infiltration of Camp Half-Blood was underway. Not that it would take much for him to enter the place. He just needed to be sure he wasn’t recognized. The only few who knew him here were Wine Dude, the horse and a few others. Phobos assumed no Demi-gods here knew his face. The only ones who did were his siblings and Percy Jackson. His fist clenched at the thought of Percy. He knew where he had to get the brat in order to ensure his victory. But that would come later. Phobos didn’t want to go straight to the source. He was going to have fun on his way.

He wondered how Apate was doing. He hadn’t contacted her since sending her to the dumb camp. One Goddess on his side. Now, maybe he could turn a few Demi-gods. Oh how sweet that would feel. The gods needed their bastard offspring and if Phobos could do what Kronos did and turn them against the Gods, well that would be awesome. Phobos promised he would succeed where Kronos had failed; he was going to see the fall of the Gods and the destruction of the people on Earth. And while basking in his glory, Phobos would soak in the rays of their fears that would shine on him like the rays of a million suns. Poetic.

Phobos had only just set foot in the grounds, well appeared in the grounds when he saw a young Demi off by his lonesome Phobos observed him for a minute hidden in the brush. It was his lucky day. With an evil smile Phobos approached the boy from behind. When he was close enough Phobos let the smirk drop. He eyed the sword only for a second. Phobos wasn’t afraid of this kid there wasn’t anything he could do to him.

“You shouldn’t be out here all alone. People might get worried and come looking for you.”

[blake]

The woods were so nice and calm. A little warm for his taste, but hey. It was June, so what did one expect. It was nice to just walk though. Blake held his sword up where he could look at the polished surface and blew on it. Tiny crack-like lines zig-zagged across the surface, gleaming white against the bronze. Sure, cooling the metal enough that it frosted over in this heat was likely not the best thing for it, but still. It was good practice. And it was fun. He ran his hand over the frost, which managed to at least wipe it away despite the fact that his body temperature was a good few degrees lower than the average person.

He let the sword fall back to his side, just as a voice came from just behind him. Careful not to swing the sword or anything, despite the fact that it nearly made him jump out of his skin, he turned to face the newcomer. “Oh… u-um… I wasn’t planning on being gone long. It’s break anyway. Just… getting practice. Thanks for your concern though…” He had no idea who the guy was, though that was no surprise. He looked about the same age as Blake though. Right… he really needed to work on social skills. “I’m Blake, by the way. Blake Aileron. What’s your name?”

[Phobos]

Phobos could fear the nervousness in the boy’s presence. He sighed and licked his lips smiling at the awkwardness in the boy’s voice. It was easy to tell this kid didn’t have much interaction with other at camp. Rather a disappointment, Phobos was so hoping to pick off a kid who had deep ties to others. Then again if one demi-god died the others would freak no matter what. Phobos recalled back a few years when that Son of Hermes was killed. He harbored Kronos and still the stupid members of Camp Half-Blood honored him. Good or evil, Demi-Gods will mourn the loss of one of their own. Fantastic.


“That’s me. Concerned for other.” Phobos kept his red eyes toward the ground. He readjusted his leather jacket. He debated about telling this Blake kid his name or not. It would be so much fun drawing this out more, but Phobos kind of wanted to get to the point. He tilted his head up at Blake a cruel smiling forming on his face. His eyes stayed an even shade of red, though they looked like fire burned in them. With a slight chuckle Phobos took a step toward the demi-god.

“I have a few names that people know me by. But the one you may recognize is Phobos. It’s were phobia comes from, my greatest achievement to date. Well, besides making an example of demi-gods. I bet you can’t guess what I’m the God of.” There was joy in his eyes. Phobos didn’t even care if others tried to come to rescue of this kid. He would take them out too. He was having a blast, and he hadn’t even collected the fear of this kid yet. Maybe it was time to speed things along.

“Let’s get to the point of this shall we Blake? That sword you have there isn’t going to do anything to me and we both know it. I know you weren’t planning on being gone long, and well I don’t plan on staying here long. Though I’m afraid that one of us is going to have to break their plans.” His eyes flickered ruby red, “And it’s not going to be me.”

Phobos’ eye glowed bright and hungrily Phobos licked his lips preparing himself for the fear to over take the boy.

[blake]

This guy was officially getting creepier and creepier by the moment. Blake wasn’t one to judge people, but this guy was sort of doing it for him. His chuckle was eerie, and Blake didn’t like him coming any closer. At all. He took a step back. “Um…yeah.” The guy’s smile wasn’t all that encouraging either… And that was before he introduced himself. ‘Phobos’ wouldn’t have done Blake a whole lot of good, until he made the connection to phobias. That was one thing he knew alright. He had one himself. And the fact that this guy, Phobos, was a god! “Um… make an example…?”

His eyes were beyond creepy too. Blake took another couple steps back. He was seriously starting to wish he’s taken Zack up on that offer of making bead-flowers before canoeing. “Wait… what do you mean?… what are you doing?” That was the last thing he managed to say before the visions took over.

It was dark, so dark. And air was… no, wait. The air wasn’t there at all. That was the first thing he noticed that was so horribly, terrifyingly wrong. Being the son of a wind god, he drew his strength from the wind. And, well, being mortal, he sort of needed that air… to, well, live. That was when he realized the second thing: he was being pushed from all sides as if… as if be was underground. He tried to force his way out, pushing in all directions, only to find he was firmly and definitely underground. And then, as though he had hit some trigger, he began dropping downward. It seemed ages before the solid stone gave way and he plunged into… water. There were no bubbles or anything, like some underground sea completely devoid of air. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t do anything. His abilities were useless without air to move in the first place. He would die here, seemingly hundreds of feet below the surface… with absolutely no way out...

[Phobos]

This was totally worth coming to Camp Half-Blood for. The fear in this kids voice sent Phobos’ ichor pumping harder. It was exhilarating. Phobos stared through the boy and scene that appeared in his mind was so much sweeter than any nector in Olympus. He let feeling of hopelessness from Blake wash over him. It sent Phobos on such an extreme high he wasn’t sure he would be able to come down. Phobos finally broke his stare with the kid. He looked away, his eye turning back to their normal deep shade of ruby. Such an ironic fear that it made Phobos laugh. It started out slow and deep and turned into a high-pitched cackle. This fear was so precious and so full of options that Phobos felt the need to act. Still on a high adrenaline rush from the fear of this young demi-god Phobos made a split decision. It would start here. He stopped himself and turned serious turning back to Blake.

“Thank you Blake.” He said in a casual voice. “I understand how hard that must have been for you. After all, our fears often control poor mortals such as yourself. It’s sad really. You all should embrace the fear, give into it. It’ll be less painful in the long run.” His fingers clasped together. “You see, Blake, fear is what makes our hearts pump faster when all of the lights go out. It’s natural and everyone has a fear. I’m just here to help people realize their fear. And now that you have seen it, I want you to live it.”

Phobos’ hands separated. “You’ll be the first example of many. Be proud.” Phobos raised his hands and thought of Blake’s fear. A tunnel of wind surrounded Blake and began to spin around the boy. The faster the wind spun the more the oxygen was sucked from the center. A cruel smile crept onto Phobos’ face. How poetic this ending would be.“EMBRACE YOUR FEAR!” He shouted above the roar of the wind.

[blake]

Blake was sure this would be the last thing he saw. The last terrifying thing he ever saw. A manifestation of his claustrophobia in the worst kind of way. And then it stopped. With a gasping breath, he realized he was standing back (or still?) in the forest at Camp Half-Blood. And, unfortunately, so was Phobos. What had the god just done? How had he known what Blake was afraid of? And, even more so, how had he made it seem so real? Blake half expected his clothing to be drenched.

He took another couple steps back, raising his sword despite its probable uselessness, when Phobos laughed. He wasn’t sure if the laugh was more fitting for an insane asylum or an Alfred Hitchcock film; maybe both. What scared him most, though, was when Phobos stopped. Blake flinched when the god looked back at him, wanting anything but to return to that crushing nightmarish vision. Luckily it didn’t come. He hardly listened to the god’s monologue, instead trying to think of some way, any way to get out.

That was about when things went really, really wrong. Blake had just enough time to throw his own hands up, trying anything he could to reverse the wind. Maybe he could slow it down, stop it. If this creepy god was causing it, it couldn’t be good. It worked, at first. The air temperature started to drop around him, though whether that was from his own powers or this weird guy’s he didn’t know. Not that he really felt it too much anyway; he liked the cold to be honest. It was starting to get hard to breathe and his head was spinning a little. He could tell something was drastically wrong.

Then he realized it: the air was being sucked right out. He couldn’t hold on to this much longer, and definitely couldn’t fight off a god. Maybe a distraction… he could hold out a little longer and try to get away. He paused in trying to hold back the winds and instead focused on sending a gust of icy air like a brick wall straight at the cruel god. Shaking from the effort and not caring if it worked or not, he put everything he could into stopping the wind again, if only for a second. Only problem he hadn’t counted on was how much his little distraction took out of him. Combined with the air the pause in shielding himself had more or less sucked straight out of his lungs, and the loss of energy, Blake collapsed, unconscious.

[Phobos]

he feeds on F E A R he feeds on P A I N
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
he rules with fear deceiver of H O P E S

Phobos chuckled darkly as he watched the boy slowly begin to die. It was ironic and poetic that this demi-god should go this way. He smirked at the kid as he tried to stop the wind and save his pathetic half-blood life. Not that it was worth anything. Lost in the sheer pleasure of watching Blake die Phobos didn’t see the attack coming. A sharp blast of icy wind hit him in the chest causing him to stagger back a step or two. The wind weakened for a second when Phobos tried to comprehend what had happened. When he realized the kid had tried to attacked him he only caused the vortex to spin faster.

“You little puke!” He grumbled.

When Blake fell to the ground Phobos ceased and stared in silence at the body. He blinked and walked over silent and used his foot to turn the demi-god over.

“Fear is in every living thing Blake. It’s a natural occurrence and what kind of God would I be if I allowed every one in this world go through life without feeling their heart race almost completely out of their chest. I know I am talking in circles and repeating myself, but you see no one understands me or what I am trying to accomplish. Showing people what they fear isn’t enough. How many can say they lived their greatest fear?” Phobos crouched down and watched the unconscious demi-god for a moment before sly grin stretched his face. “Well, you won’t be saying anything now. But I think you get the idea.”

Phobos snorted, “That was stupid trying to save yourself.” he lifted Blake into the air by the collar of his shirt. He sneered at demi-god imagining himself snapping the kids neck like a twig. It would be simple. Phobos smirked and shook his head. “You know what, it’s almost time for someone to come and find your body.” Phobos, still holding Blake poofed in a cloud of yellow smoke only to reappear a few seconds later next to the creek. He stood at the bank glancing down at the water.

“You’ll get a great funeral, a shroud for the son of Boreas. People will mourn you for a while, then they’ll forget you even existed. You would think that would be everyone’s fear, the fear of being forgotten. Cause you will be Blake, end of story.” Phobos knelt down and shoved Blake face first into the rushing stream. A sadistic look plastered on his face the entire time.

[blake]

If there is anything that can get one’s attention and snap whatever consciousness remains back to the forefront, it’s a sudden face full of icy water. Especially when said icy water doesn’t just splash away. Blake immediately started awake as his face submerged - having missed everything that had happened between him falling to the ground and this point - and did the only natural thing: struggle. The air around him picked up, though not enough to help any, just to make further evidence of his fruitless efforts. A few leaves stirred, frost forming on their ridges, but that was about the extent of it.

He held his breath as long as he could. Water rushed around his face until he was forced to squeeze his eyes closed. His lungs burned, screaming for air. Then he could hold it no longer. The unforgiving water rushed into his mouth instead of the air his mind had been falsely hoping for. It was sharp, cold, cruel. That whole thing about one’s life flashing before one’s eyes? Yeah, it didn’t happen. It was just pain and water. No air, no pretty light. Just unforgiving, merciless pain.

Within a minute his body went completely limp.

[Phobos]

he feeds on F E A R he feeds on P A I N
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
he rules with fear deceiver of H O P E S

Phobos held Blake under as he struggled. The struggling was the absolute fun part. He smiled as the boy succumbed to his greatest fear. When the wind picked up slightly with an icy edge to it Phobos hardly flinched. He tilted his head to the side as he held Blake effortlessly. He shushed the demi-god as his arms and legs kicked about.

“It’ll all be over soon Blake. No need to worry, no need to fear.” Phobos had a dark glint to his eyes. For a second Phobos imagined he was holding Percy Jackson in Blake’s place. Blake’s body had gone limp about two minutes back, Phobos was too busy picturing the death of the son of Poseidon. Slowly he lifted Blake from the creek and stared at pale dead face. After a few seconds Phobos smiled. He stood up and tossed the body of Blake Aieron aside letting it crash to the ground. Walking over Phobos kept his arms behind his back. He examined the corpse once more to make sure the boy was dead. And he was.

Phobos turned away from the body and began to walk away. He stopped and turned on the spot. “Thank you Blake, you cooperation was greatly appreciated.” Phobos cleared his throat and raised his voice as so it echoed through the forest and into the camp. "And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor, shall be lifted--nevermore!" He chuckled again before disappearing in a puff of yellow smoke.