Strangely, the woman frowned. "Sadly, I have leave. I've been gone for too long, brother is waiting for me."
"Uh… wait, who are you?" I asked.
The woman smiled at me. "We will talk soon Perseus Jackson, but it is not the right moment for that now. Farewell."
And then she vanished without a trace. She didn't flash and disappear. She just vanished in front of me, as if she was just a holographic image of her. I shook my head to clear my head. I grabbed the nearest glass of water and drank it gratefully. My body felt refreshed as the saltwater entered the system. The person who summoned me must've done his research.
One thing I noticed, my body felt very clean. As if, I had just taken a bath a while ago. My clothes were still the same but they smelt fresh from the laundry. Somebody must've stripped me and cleaned me.
I walked over a wooden work desk. It had a note attached to it; naturally I plucked it and read it. The letters were in ancient Greek. My dyslexia making it possible to read the letter, it came from a man named Chaos. I frowned and sat at the chair and pondered on that name. I remembered Chiron teaching me about Chaos a few years ago. He was, I think, the one who created everything?
In the beginning there was Chaos as a primeval state of existence. Chaos was the primal emptiness. A dark, silent, formless and infinite oddity with no trace of life.
Yes, I remember. He's the father or mother of the personified gods and goddesses.
I blinked and the letter changed instantly. It read:
Perseus Jackson,
As you now know, I am Chaos. The creator himself. I am in no hurry to see you, therefore, if you find yourself ready to talk to me. Go out of the room, someone will escort you to my room.
The letter ended there. I placed down the letter on the table and sighed. I really don't understand why this god Chaos wants to talk to me. Maybe it's those cliché stories where the hero joins the bad side and be one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Of course, I rarely read books and stories so maybe that kind of book isn't so plentiful. I stayed there for a few minutes, inhaling the fresh air and making time pass by staring at the window.
Chaos took me in here for a reason. He wanted to talk to me about something… but what exactly? Was he here to thank me for saving the world? Nah, I doubt it. I really wasn't that anxious or excited to meet him. I know for sure that they aren't going to kill me. They've clean me very well and I'm strangely fed, the feeling inside my gut told me so. They wouldn't waste resources if they didn't want to either help me, or persuade me.
Time passed and I stood up, feeling ready to talk to this man. I turned the doorknob and a maid was waiting for me. The maid had an eye patch on her left eye but the right was working and it was colored light brown. She had strangely dark red hair and pasty white skin.
"Good morning, sir," she said and bowed to me respectfully. "Lord Chaos is right this way, please."
She turned around and I followed. "Where is this place?" I asked her.
"Lord Chaos will tell you that."
"What's your name?"
"Dianne."
And we walked in silence. We passed by several maids cleaning the mansion and butlers hanging out at the garden. I saw some children playing around outside, all of different ethnicities. We passed by the kitchen, an aromatic scent of steak wafted in the air. It reminded the smell of foods, burning at the brazier. It reminded me of Camp Half-Blood. It painfully reminded me of Annabeth.
I bumped into Dianne as she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She fell forward and I managed to grab her waist. She was surprisingly light.
"Uh…" Dianne said. "You can let go now."
I let go of her. "Sorry about that."
Dianne nodded. "I-it's nothing to be sorry about," she stammered.
Followed by a short awkward silence.
My ADHD kicked in. "You're surprisingly light."
"This is Lord Chaos's room," she stated. Instinctively, I looked at the door. It was plain and made of hard wood. Hard to imagine that the creator is inside that room. I stepped forward and entered the room, Dianne leaving me. When I entered, I was amazed. The room was completely plain. No carpet, no paintings. It was quite smaller than the room that I came to and the ceiling hung low, just a few feet above my head. In the middle of the room was a desk, with a man facing away from me.
"Perseus Jackson?" the man asked, his chair not turning around to face me.
"Yes, that's me."
"Come," he invited. "Take a seat."
I obediently obeyed.
And several minutes passed in silence.
And I waited
Now that's strange. It really is. I have a really serious ADHD. It's the reason why I'm good at sword fighting, it's because I have heightened senses, due to the ADHD.
"Aren't you going to ask me something?"
"I think it would be best if you started."
The man softly sighed. "Very well."
And the man turned…
"You look like a girl," I said.
Chaos looked like a female. He was slim and had long fingers. He had short black hair and… please don't tell anyone else, had a pretty face.
SNAP!
The desk was obliterated before I could blink. The air around where the desk was vibrated from the sheer energy that Chaos showed, his hand, which looked like a female's, literally hummed in energy.
"Damn you mortals! Why did you make me as a female?" he screamed
…
Wait, did he say make?
That doesn't make sense. I thought that he existed at the creation; shouldn't his gender be specified back then?
"I know what you're thinking," Chaos said. His voice still deep. "But humans are stronger than you think. You can literally change the god's form if you have enough willpower."
"…what?"
Chaos rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Never mind."
I nodded and waited for him.
"You may question why you are here," Chaos stated. "You must be wondering where you are, how I took you here and what's my gender is."
"That's some of the things that I need to know."
Chaos nodded. "Typical."
"So there have been others like me, who have come to you this way," I deduced.
Chaos stared at me intently. "How did you know?"
"You said typical, you usually don't say that when it hasn't happened to you. Tell me, is what I'm saying to you right now, typical?"
Chaos shook his head. "No. This is the reason why I summoned you here."
"Because I'm unique?" I again deduced.
Chaos chuckled lightly. "Exactly! Perseus Jackson let me be blunt to you. Be one of my soldiers. Be my right-hand man. Perseus Jackson, I have seen you since you were born. I have seen you from every step. From your first quest to the battle of Manhattan. You have defeated the Titan Kronos; you have persuaded your father to help the Olympians in defeating Typhon, the father of monsters. And the most unique thing about you, the Mark of Achilles is with you and stays with you for the rest of your life."
I had already made a decision. "Thank you for the praise but-"
"And to decline the wish of being a god, for the sake of humanity. Such an amazing act of a hero."
"Thank you for the praise," I repeated. "But I don't-"
"But what have the people done to repay you?"
My mind forgot the answer I was about to give. "What?" I asked.
Chaos smirked. "They've repaid you by humiliating you, ostracizing you and hurting you."
I closed my eyes, the feeling of calmness leaving me body. It was replaced by the feeling of resentment, anger… regret.
"Don't you regret your decision, Perseus Jackson?" Chaos asked. "Deep in your heart, you wanted to be a god and be an immortal! But you turned it down in favor of your ex-girlfriend, Annabeth. What does she show for gratitude? Going with another man."
I grit my teeth and clasped the sides of the chair, the wood cracking under my grip. Chaos knows me. He knew that I wanted to be a god and live as an immortal. The greatest wish, offered to me by Zeus himself but I turned it down because of Annabeth.
"Join me Perseus Jackson, I can train you! Your strength will be compared to that of a god! And you will live as an immortal!"
My mind raced. Should I accept the offer? What would Annabeth think?
No. I don't need Annabeth. Chaos was right. Annabeth left me. And now she will never be mine. I don't need her anymore.
For the first time in my life, nothing was in my way to reach godhood. Not even my mother.
That, or Chaos is really a good persuader.
"I'm in," I replied.
"Excellent. Now if you want to proceed", he continued and pulled out a thin red book. "It's a contract. Don't worry, all it says it that you'll take full responsibility for your actions."
The book opened on itself and a pen materialized beside it. I looked at the contract.
I Perseus Jackson give my word that I will take full responsibility for the consequences of my decisions.
I signed it and the book closed on itself. Chaos took it and held the book, like a long lost teddy bear.
He looks so cute.
…
Man, I'm confused right now.
"And so it begins…" he stated and the book disappeared. Chaos smiled at me. "Now, what are the questions you would like to ask?"
"I still don't know why I'm here."
Chaos shrugged. "You're here simply because I'm recruiting you. My soldiers are kind of incompetent since there are no wars around. They all think if they join my army, I'll be having wars left and right. Kind of stupid actually."
"Where am I actually? This place is nice. And how did you bring me here."
"America and transportation. Anything else?"
"Plenty. Will I immediately be your right-hand man?"
"Of course. Not. There are many people who want to be my right-hand man or woman. People always want power, always remember that."
I nodded. I thought deeply for a very important answer. I beamed as I found that question inside my head.
"Last question."
"Finally."
"What's your gender?"
BOOM!
I clutched my chest as Chaos punched me. Hard.
"That was only a flick," Chaos stated.
I slowly removed my hand from my chest, it had trace amount of blood on it.
My body felt pain. My body was injured.
It shouldn't be possible but it is. I stared at Chaos in amazement… and fear. He wouldn't kill me… yet. He still finds me useful; I could be his right-hand man. He wouldn't waste his time on me if he were to kill me now; it would be wasteful and stupid on his part.
"Well then," I coughed. "What was your gender during the creation?"
Please don't punch me again.
Chaos sighed and swiveled on his chair. "At first, I was genderless-"
"So you're bi." I nodded. "I understand-"
"No you fool!" Chaos shouted. "I didn't have a gender back then!"
"But now you're a female because?"
"When humans started to have religion, they thought of me as a female when in fact I was genderless."
"But you wanted to be male instead?"
"Yeah, it's because being a male signify strength, you know."
"But women signify knowledge, beauty and… temptress."
Just like Annabeth. Damn! Why does my thought always go to her?
"Hmm… I never thought of it that way." Chaos reclined in his- nah. Let's call him, her from now on.
"Trust me; you're really the icon for women. You are persuasive, intelligent and beautiful."
Chaos laughed, an amused one. "If you want to suck up to me to rise in the ranks, it's going to get harder."
I shrugged. "I always like challenges. Bring it on, woman," I challenged
On that day, I had a new life.
And it was the best decision ever.
