A Few Minutes Earlier
Damon walked with a slightly more relaxed expression after that small conversation with the children of Hephaestus.
It had been… relaxing..... Before leaving, he had asked them for a book on Greek mythology. Conveniently, they had one, which spared him the need to go to Athena's cabin for now.
That said, so far, he had enjoyed his stay at camp, but that did not mean he was truly at ease. He had a feeling things were about to take an unpleasant turn the moment he started reading that book.
He did not know if he would be able to control himself. Part of that was because of the wolves. Since they were his sacred animals, some of his senses had been enhanced. He could enter a trance where he let himself be carried by his animal instincts, something that had been extremely difficult to control, especially when he took his wolf form.
The best way to explain it was like looking through a hole, unable to control your own body. And the worst part was that it was addictive. As if his body demanded that he surrender to those instincts.
Putting those thoughts aside, he entered a clearing to read a little of the Greek mythology book. He had already decided to take a more active stance in solving all the shit surrounding his world.
But before he could open it, he noticed Iris's portal forming again.
Damon frowned.
The truth was that the portal would be completely undetectable, impossible to feel or see for all demigods and other mythological beings. They would only know about it if Iris herself wanted them to.
Too bad Damon was not a demigod or a normal mythological being.
Time to start, he told himself mentally, being heard by the nine bijuu residing inside his body.
He began to raise his divine power, but only to the point where no one would notice it, not even Iris herself or the observers, who did not notice that her portal was being modified by the blond so it would no longer be possible for her to show this to the Olympians.
In truth, it was only Zeus who was forcing her to constantly show the champion of Chaos, waiting for the smallest chance to sentence him to death for being a "danger to Olympus."
…In truth, he only feared losing his throne.
"Iris," the blond's lonely voice was heard as he stared fixedly in the direction of the portal.
The named woman jumped from her seat at the unexpected sound of the blond's voice calling her through the portal.
After getting over her surprise, only curiosity showed on her beautiful face.
The portal began forming again, closer to Damon.
It did not take long for him to see Iris's face through it.
A beautiful woman with a delicate face, full lips, a fine nose, and a small mole beneath her left eye that only increased her beauty with that tiny imperfection on her face.
Her golden blond hair fell like a waterfall, with thin eyebrows the same color as her hair.
But what caught his attention the most were her eyes, adorned with long lashes.
Eyes that seemed to change color depending on how the light hit them, shifting between red, blue, purple, pink, yellow…
"Ohh~" she said with a seductive voice. "What does the champion of Chaos want from me?" she asked, leaning her face slightly closer to the portal, expectant of the blond's words.
"A deal," Damon replied, making the rainbow goddess raise her eyebrows slightly.
Iris said nothing, waiting for Damon to tell her what he wanted from her.
"Stop showing all my movements to Olympus."
She finally heard what the blond wanted, causing her eyebrows to rise completely this time.
He knew this whole time? Iris thought, only to mentally smack herself seconds later.
Obviously. He had just done it right now.
The moment she realized the blond had known from the beginning that he was being watched, she could not help the shiver that ran down her spine.
She had been fully confident that her portal would be undetectable to anyone who was not one of the twelve Olympians or beings superior to them.
But now came this strange blond, and now, not only did he know they had been constantly watching him, he wanted something from her.
This was starting to worry her.
She observed her portal with her power, just in case it was some mistake she had made.
She doubted it, but you never knew.
Then she realized something was suppressing it, preventing her from showing this to Olympus.
Not only to Olympus. She could not create another portal, nor could she close the one connecting her to the blond.
That told her he was more than he was actually showing. He was capable of controlling one of the powers tied to her domain.
She tried to find a more logical explanation for all of this… she had certainly underestimated the blond. Not only had she underestimated him, the entire Olympus was underestimating him.
Now she could understand why Chaos had claimed him as her champion…
Or could Lady Chaos be the one controlling the portals? she tried to reason mentally.
Meanwhile, Damon tilted his head slightly, observing Iris's beautiful face. She had a faint frown, lost in her thoughts.
When he was about to speak, he was interrupted by the rainbow goddess.
"I can't do that," she said in a serious tone, losing the seductive tone she had used at first. "We don't know who you are, what you want, or why someone like Lady Chaos chose you as her champion. And let's say almost all beings connected to Gaea have always maintained an aggressive attitude toward Olympus."
She ended by staring seriously at the blond's face through the portal, not looking away, trying to show she was not joking.
"I don't know if this is still done nowadays," Damon thought, making the bijuu grow interested, expectant of the next words from the whiskered blond.
"I swear by the River Styx that I do not intend to harm Olympus," Damon said with the same seriousness as her, not taking his eyes off Iris's.
She would be lying if she said she had not expected a similar oath from Damon.
What she had not expected was the conviction in his voice.
She felt as if she believed him even before he swore by the River Styx.
But Iris was not the type to make the same mistake twice. She liked to think she was smarter than that. She had already underestimated Damon once, and she would not do it twice.
That was why her quick mind began thinking about why he would swear something to gain her credibility, especially an oath that would follow him for the rest of his days.
So she reached a conclusion.
He is not afraid of dying, or he is immortal, she thought before looking at the blond.
It was not the first time an immortal being had sworn by the River Styx and failed to keep their word… and unfortunately, it would not be the last.
On the other hand, Damon, aware of Iris's thoughts, had a different idea.
Does she not know the oath? the blond thought.
"What is that oath?" Son Goku asked, since he was the bijuu with the strongest sense of honor, and an oath was the living image of honor… if it was fulfilled, of course.
"Something my brothers and I swore the first time we went to Tartarus," Damon replied. "We swore before the river that we would win the war against the Titans, even if it cost us our lives."
After that, I heard that other sons and daughters of Titans, along with beings like nymphs, Cyclopes, naiads, and others, used the same oath, giving their lives in exchange if they failed to keep their word.
"An almost meaningless oath, since all of you are immortal," Kurama commented.
"Well, losing that war was the same as dying. Our dreams, our determination, our freedom, and our hope would die," the blond thought in response to Kurama. "If we had lost that war, death would have been something we would have wished for."
He finished with a bitter tone, receiving no further comments from the bijuu.
It did not take long for him to feel Matatabi's warm chakra wrapping around his entire body, embracing him. He gave a small smile, understanding it as the two-tailed cat's way of comforting him.
Damon returned to the matter he still had pending with the beautiful rainbow goddess, who had remained silent.
If she does not remember or is not convinced, I'll have to go further. There is no way she does not know this one, he thought.
"I swear by Chaos, creator of all, that I do not wish to harm Olympus."
The moment she processed what the blond had said, Iris could not help but open her eyes wide and step away from the portal in front of her.
She had never expected this.
Never in her long life had she seen someone swear before her by Lady Chaos, and she had never expected to.
Now she truly did not know what to think.
>>>>>>>