The Runaway Rebels- Book 1

Chapter Two: The Cave Of Chaos

Now, before I continue the story, I think it would help to tell you how the three Goddesses ever ended up crashing through the roof of my house in the first place eh?

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By the time Pandora was allowed out on her own, she was already causing trouble, she was fighting and disrespecting any Deity who dared to insult her and even those who didn't, lashing out at the smallest of things. 

Of course, the only thing this meant for Pandora was further isolation from anyone and everyone who saw these incidents, something which surely couldn't be a weakness?

Something that, surely, was only preventing more pain later on?

Regardless, Dawn had never got involved in any of the incidents, never even witnessed any of them first hand, until one day, at one of the meetings, Pandora had lunged suddenly towards Freya's son after he suggested that Pandora was too dangerous to be allowed in 'regular' Meetings. As Pandora was about to strike, she found her blow blocked by Dawn, who stood protectively in front of Freya's son, facing Pandora defiantly. And it was then that Pandora rushed out of the room, hiding her face, and leaving a trail of flickering flames in her wake.

Dawn knew she had to do something about the prophecy eventually, whether she liked it or not.

She could hardly ignore it.

So, against all reluctant inclinations, Dawn wanted to find Pandora, and try and reason with her above all. 

Armed with little more than her own self-determination and steady head, The Goddess of Light had been stopped by her father on the beginning of her journey. Vulcan and Aphrodite wished her good luck of course, but the former also gave the Goddess some advice.

Someone who could help her.

The Goddess of Chaos, who, Vulcan said, should be quite the help finding a way to get to Pandora.

Mostly thanks to the fact that after the theft of Kronos' Tomb, Ace had earned herself quite the reputation as a brilliant little thief and a wickedly tricky trickster. 

After all, by this point, Ace had proven time and again that she was perfectly capable of carrying out some impressive, if morally questionable, acts and heists, showing many of the oldest Deities that underestimating her could be a huge mistake. 

Dawn didn't know Ace, in anything more than name, but she trusted her father, even if she was having slight doubts about his judgement when it came to this recommendation.

So after this, The Goddess of Light got ready to set off. 

Ready to find The Goddess of Chaos. 

Then, just as she was about to leave, Dawn's mother Aphrodite rushed in, with a warning that yet another new prophecy had just been unearthed - the last of the three - which said:

Even the power of two will be tested through and through.

So, with that, and the weight of the world on her shoulders, Dawn headed through to the Bifrost (the Rainbow Bridge connecting the Nine Realms), heading through the portal leading to the Norse Mountains.

When the Goddess finally emerged in the snowy landscapes of the Norse Mountains, Dawn found the Cave she was looking for at the bottom of the middle Mountain  and headed towards the mouth of the large structure. 

Upon entering, a second of eerie silence  greeted The Goddess of Light before she spoke uncertainly into what appeared to be endless darkness. 

"Eh, excuse me I'm looking for the Goddess of Chaos, I-" Dawn was cut off at this point by a cheeky voice ringing through the darkness. 

"That's me, the name's Ace, Goddess of Chaos, at your service!" 

Then out of nowhere the Cave was transformed into a magnificent place lit by many different lamps, little ones, large ones, bright ones, dim ones, all kinds of lamps. On top of this, the Cave was strewn with all sorts of weird and wonderful things like books, chests and all manner of chairs from hard wooden ones to beanbags and plush velvet armchairs. And of course, in the middle of it all Ace was sitting on a stone chair covered in cushions. 

A perch which really rather resembled some kind of unconventional throne.

Then, The Goddess of Chaos stood up and grinned, teleporting to Dawn's side in a bright shower of daffodil sparks. 

"Hey! Sorry if I scared you there Dawn. It is Dawn isn't it?" asked Ace, her words stumbling over each other in her excitement as Dawn nodded looking stunned. 

"Well Dawn, welcome to my Cave of Chaos," Ace said, her eyes glinting with glee, her smile brighter than the brightest blue sky.

In spite of herself, Dawn couldn't help but stare at Ace.

Not least because of her bright beaming grin but also her jet black hair which stuck right up in an impressive quiff- all short and scruffy, her deep midnight blue eyes and her pale face, dotted with constellations of freckles. 

All of this, however, was not what Dawn was concentrating on at this precise moment in time. Instead The Goddess of Light was staring, awed, at Ace's outfit. 

She had never seen anything quite so mismatched. 

Ace was wearing a battered old boater hat with 3 different types of feathers sticking out the left side of the yellow ribbon slipped round the black hat. One was a fiery red feather that flickered like dancing flames (the feather of a Phoenix), a beautiful peacock feather and a strange golden feather whose plumage was glittering in an eerie way. 

Then, on top of this, she also had a pair of worn black boots, black and yellow dungarees along with a bright yellow shirt, and to top ALL of this off she was wearing a pair of fingerless leather gloves and a black and yellow bowtie that sat a slightly crooked angle round her shirt collar.

"Wow... you look... err... interesting," Dawn said, feeling her face flush as she did, unsure how to start the conversation. 

Ace smiled gleefully at her, laughing at the Goddess' nerves before she teleported back into the darker parts of the Cave, quick as a wink picking up a patched jacket that had been laying down on a pile of shimmering treasure. 

Then suddenly, she was back at Dawn's side, chuckling slightly as she spoke,

"Yeah, your reaction pretty much sums up what most of your traditional types think when they meet me. So, you ready?" the Goddess asked in an excitably fast voice. 

Dawn shook her head a little as she turned round to respond to Ace. "Wait! Ready for what?" 

At this, Ace turned back to Dawn with an incredulous smile on her pale face. 

"What do you think? To go play hide and seek! To go save the world remember? No wonder your parents wanted a babysitter for you if you're going to get distracted by the slightest little thing," teased Ace, a boundless bright grin on her face as she spoke. 

As a look of comprehension began to spread across Dawn's face it quickly became marred by a look of indignant outrage,

"I don't need a babysitter! Anyway, who wouldn't be 'a little distracted' after seeing all this! Right, let's get going, my father said you know how we can get to the Underworld without, well..."

"Dying? Yeah, don't worry about it, we'll get there," Ace said, casually grinning at Dawn who couldn't help grinning back as Ace's infectious glee took over her worries. 

As the two Goddesses walked to the mouth of the Cave and, without even turning round Ace closed her eyes, she opened them a second later to reveal a vibrant yellow that had taken over the pools of deep blue as she clicked her fingers and the Cave morphed into the appearance of a typical cave, painting an impressed look on Dawn's face. 

Grinning at The Goddess of Light's reaction, Ace handed her the coat, speaking as she did, "You'll want this." 

A surprised expression of thanks escaped Dawn's mouth before the two Goddesses gave each other one final look, Dawn pulling Ace's coat round her shoulders and Ace turning her bow tie back to its customary skewwhiff angle, the two setting off to find Pandora and quite possibly, save the Realms.