Betrayal

Aiden sat, slumped in the chair of the bar. After the incident with Alice, he was...sorta heartbroken. He stopped thinking clearly. He began to blame everyone for everything. Evander for being Alice's boyfriend, Alice for not mentioning her status with Evan, his dad for making him an orphan...and especially his mom, who left him and his dad.

"Kid! You orderin'?" asked the bartender for the tenth time.

"Fine..." Aiden moaned. "Something strong."

"Beer? Or purple wine?" he offered.

"Whisky."

"Kid, you look like you're 18, but I don't think you can..."

"WHISKY." he repeated, gritting his teeth.

"Fine, fine. I ain't your papa."

When the glass of whisky was served, he held it near his mouth. But he didn't bother drinking it. He knew that if he drank he would pass out instantaneously, yet, he was waiting for the right moment to do so.

A woman sat down next to the young man who looked far too young to be drinking in a bar. She had a hat on that covered her hair, and her collar was up enough that it obscured some of her face. "Coors." Was all that the woman said to the bar tender when he nodded to her. She was silent for a few seconds, then looked over at the young man at the bar. "You look like you don't know how to drink that. I take it you aren't used to whisky? I would recommend a beer instead."

"No. I can handle this thing." he lied to her, and himself. He knew he couldn't. But depressed people do stupid things. "The girl I dated--who was a real life version of Harley Quinn and The Joker combined--was in a goddamn relationship with someone else. And that was just bloody depressing." he recounted, without even being aware of it. Then he tilted his head toward the woman. "Who are you?"

The woman accepted the beer from the bartender with a nod, but she didn't look at the young man asking her questions. "Let's just say for now I'm a friend, shall we? Pretty rough break up, I take it. Though, dating the Joker is always that risk. Of course, all demigods end up being unstable, don't they? Just like their celestial parents."

Aiden didn't even shift his eyebrows. "Yeah. Though, not all. Just some." he nodded. "So--" he turned his full attention to her. "Monster or demigod?" he asked. "Probably a demigod, eh? Anyway, nice meetin ya. The name's Aiden."

"Oh, I've had people describe me as a monster before, but then, that's all a matter of opinion, isn't it? Satyrs are, by definition, monsters, but never described as such. Serial killers are humans, but described often as monsters. Politicians too. And the gods, on the gods, who have done many monstrous things, horrible and despicable things and should be called monsters, are instead called gods and worshipped and feared." The woman took a sip of her beer.

"Aiden, I like how you aren't afraid of the possibility of me being a monster. Would you like the opportunity to help devastate the gods?"

"Erm--devastate. As in--cause them destruction? Are you telling me you want to wage war against the most powerful beings on the planet?" he said. "I'm in." Aiden said unhesitantly.

The woman laughed heartily and patted Aiden on the back hard. "You got balls, kid. Yes, I mean to wage war on the most powerful beings on earth. Not directly, mind you, me against a god is suicidal. In fact, I believe the Titans and the Giants proved rather effectively that attacking the gods themselves is not the right plan."

Now the woman lowered her voice and moved closer to the son of Aphrodite. "But it wasn't the gods that won those wars, was it? No, it was the demigods. The gods are useless without demigods following them and doing their bidding. My goal is to disarm the gods, remove their soldiers from the battlefield. Whether by logic and reason...or by force."

"Basic logic states that without demigods the gods would diminish instantaneously. The gods never won those battles. They simply took the credit from us. They are useless without their powers." Aiden said. "So, correct me if I'm wrong: you want to wipe out the demigods. Once you're done the gods will lose one of their anchors. Prime anchors. And will be easier to eliminate. Eh, sounds like a great plan. I mean it. Though, if I were you, I would carry a pack of C4 Greek firebombs, sneak into Olympus and strap it to their thrones. Bam. Thrones gone equal to them fading."

He thought about the woman's offer. He was going to slaughter everyone he considered friends. Astrid, Alice, Sawyer, et cetera. But he was betrayed by at least three thirds of them.

So he was giving them betrayal in return.

"I'm still joining. I ain't got nothing to lose anymore."

"Wipe or turn to our side, yes. You seem rather eager to join, to kill friends and family." The woman observed with a serious tone to her voice. She pulled out a disposable flip phone and handed it to him. "Lear would be happy to have you on the team. But I'll warn you now, I have eyes and ears inside of Camp. Both camps. I will find out if you betray this trust, and I will not hesitate to kill you in the most painful and unpleasant manner I can conceive."

"Lear...Lear..." he muttered, snapping his fingers. "Wasn't that the one who killed Ariadne Hawthorne?" he said eagerly, looking at the phone. Aiden turned toward the woman. "So--I bet Lear is on the line?" he asked, snatching the flip phone. "Hallo, may I ask who am I speaking to on this bloody phone?" he spoke into the phone in his fake British accent.