[ AN: Of course, it takes more than a little lightning bolt to kill Perseus Jackson. Enjoy the chapter! And no, I'm not Rick Riordan. ]

Chapter 3: The Champions

Percy's eyes struggled open. He was lying somewhere, in a field. A field of delicate white flowers. It brought back memories of a plant called moonlace, the flowers a lonely girl had given him so many years ago. But strangely, there was no moon in the sky above here, only a bright white light. He blinked. The sky was white?

He blinked again. A head of long, curly hair stood over him. Gray eyes stared back at him. "Annabeth?" he whispered. But no, this girl's hair was brown. And so was her skin. She was...from India? Those eyes, though gray, were nothing like Annabeth's. They were the cool, indifferent blue-gray of steel.

"So they weren't lying about your loyalty, huh?" the girl asked, grinning. "Back from the dead, and the first thing you think of is her."

His vision slowly widened, and he saw a circle of people around him, dressed in dark colors, the girl before him included. And they were all armed. Instinctively, he rolled to his feet and Riptide sprang to life before him.

The girl right in front of him backed away, twirling her...trident? "Whoa, relax, Seaweed Brain! Nobody's going to hurt you!"

A boy with long golden hair walked up beside her, holding a warhammer defensively. "Besides, you think we'd be foolish enough to take you on? With Chaos' blessing, you'd take all six of us down in seconds! Relax. You're safe now."

Percy was still tense, shocked that the girl had called him Seaweed Brain. "How do you know who I am?"

"Because I told them," a voice behind him said. He wheeled around and came face to face with a being that seemed to be made of pure darkness, her skin speckled with stars and galaxies.

"You..." And for some reason, the name came naturally to him. He knew who this was. The raw power radiating from her skin seemed familiar, almost comforting. "Lady Chaos." He tried to bow quickly.

Chaos laughed. "You're smarter than they give you credit for. No need to bow to me! You're my favorite grandson! Well, specifically, I'd be your great-great-grandma, but it's easier to just call you grandson, don't you think? And don't you dare call me Granny! Just Chaos is fine."

Percy was having a bit of trouble processing everything, especially with the speed at which Chaos talked. "Okay. Wait." Percy's eyes widened. "Favorite grandson?"

"Of course," said Chaos. "I've been watching you for a long time, Perseus. You are the greatest hero to ever live. You have only one flaw, but you're so amazing that you even make that look good! Ha, loyalty! Who ever heard of that being a flaw? You are the definition of the word hero."

Percy's face grew red. "I'm not much of a hero. I'm just doing what I can."

At this, the ring of people around him burst into laughter. "This is what I like about you, Percy," said Granny Chaos. "So modest!"

Gods, no, I'm starting to think of her as my grandma! thought Percy. Wait, what if she can read my thoughts? ... He tried to change the subject.

"Thanks, by the way. For listening to my wish. And for saving my life afterward."

"No problem," said Chaos. "Although, right now, you're technically dead, you know that?"

"Yeah, I figured," said Percy. "I can't feel my toes. Now, can I get an explanation? What's going on? Where am I? Who are these people? What is Chaos'—your—blessing?"

"Slow down!" said Chaos. "I may be the Creator of the Universe, but even I have a limit to how fast I can talk." Percy found that difficult to believe. "Anyway, I have all of Creation to take care of. I'll talk to you later."

"When?"

"Soon." Her eyes grew dark and serious. "We need to talk, you know. I'm sorry for everything that happened. It wasn't supposed to happen like that, and I owe you a true explanation. But for now, I'll leave the easy explaining to them." She gestured at the ring of people, then gave Percy a quick hug and disappeared in a flash of darkness.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Granny," Percy muttered. "I'm glad we got, what, five minutes of quality time together?"

The golden-haired boy chuckled. "She's always busy. She'll be home for dinner."

"Dinner?" asked Percy. "Where are we?"

"Good question to start with," said the curly-haired girl. "We are currently in Star Realm. Look down."

Reluctantly, Percy looked down at what he had thought was a field of white flowers. And then something in his vision shifted, and he yelped. The girl laughed. He was staring down at Earth. The ground below him seemed to be there and not there at the same time, and each white flower suddenly became a star.

"We're...standing in the stars?" gulped Percy.

"Yeah, it's a shocker to everybody on their first night," said the golden-haired boy. "Just don't look down. It's a long drop." He held out a hand. "I'm Erik, by the way. Son of Thor."

Percy returned the handshake, and then his eyes widened. "Son of Thor?"

"Yeah, as in the Norse god Thor." Erik pointed to the girl. "This is Shanti, a partial incarnation of Durga."

"A...what?"

Shanti laughed. "It's complicated. I'll explain on the way."

"The way to what?" asked Percy. And then he saw it, the palace of pure darkness that seemed to take up the entire left side of his vision. How did I miss that earlier? "Oh."

Everyone laughed. Shanti waved a hand elaborately. "Welcome, Percy, to your new home. Chaos' palace, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way."

"What?" said Percy. "That shouldn't be possible. A black hole is her palace? Even as dumb as I am, I know the universe has laws of physics, right?"

"Eh, what are a couple rules to the Creator of the Universe?" asked Shanti.

Percy facepalmed. "Good point. So, anyway, you owe me an explanation."

"Right," said Erik. He gestured for the others to come up. There were six of them in total, dressed in black clothes and armor that seemed to be of all different styles and time periods.

Percy himself was still wearing his Greek-style armor, but now it was pitch-black, speckled with stars like Chaos' own skin. To his sudden astonishment, Riptide was no longer bronze, but a bright, blinding orange-white, like the surface of the sun.

"Wait, first, what happened to my sword?" asked Percy.

"Oh, Riptide, you mean?" said Erik. "Now that you're actually standing among the stars, the Celestial bronze has reverted to its true form."

"And where exactly are we? I understand that it's the Star Realm, or whatever, but what exactly is a realm?"

"There are many realms, like worlds," said Shanti. "As many as Chaos imagines there to be, and because of that, there are as many pantheons and gods and mythologies as Chaos wants there to be. Of course, there is only one Earth, one mortal world, but there are thousands of layers to the universe, like layers of a cake."

"And we're in the highest layer?" asked Percy.

"One of the highest," Erik replied. "We are in Chaos' home realm, the Star Realm. The only layer higher than this is the Void, and trust me, you do not want to go there."

"Okay," said Percy. "I think I get it. And you all are?"

"We are the Six Champions of Chaos," said Shanti. "Well, Seven Champions, seeing as you're here now. You're kind of being volunteered—"

"More like voluntold," said Erik under his breath.

Shanti shot him a glare. "Fine, a better word might be, recruited to be our leader."

"Wait, wait, wait." said Percy. "What? Who are you guys?"

"Percy, you need to pay attention. We are the Champions of Chaos. We defend the universe. And I do mean the whole universe."

"And you're forcing me to join you guys?" protested Percy. "Is that what Chaos contacted me about in a dream? I'm kinda rethinking whether I should take this job offer..."

"At this point, you don't really have much of a choice," said Erik. "You're supposed to be dead. The only thing keeping your soul 'alive' and out of your Greek Underworld is the blessing of Chaos. It granted you immortality, and returned your soul to your physical body, and it gave you some...other powers, which you will soon discover for yourself."

"Blessing of Chaos, huh? You mean the darkness that helped me defeat Gaea? It felt similar to Chaos', whatever you call it, aura."

"Exactly," beamed Shanti. "You really are smarter than you look."

"Hey!" said Percy indignantly. "I have feelings, you know! Now, if I'm being forced—sorry, volunteered—to join you, at least introduce yourselves."

They all shared a look, as if silently conversing. Eventually, Shanti nodded. "Well, of course, I'm Shanti." She twirled her trident. "I'm not really what you'd call a demigod, Hindu gods don't always work like that. I'm more like...an avatar, a human shell, housing a fragment of the soul of a god. I am an avatar of Durga, the goddess of warriors. I'm actually one of the most powerful goddesses in the Hindu pantheon. But currently, I'm supposed to be dead, Chaos recruited me like you. I'm Champion of Love."

"I only got like half of that...you talk almost as fast as Chaos," said Percy. "Wait. Champion of Love? You guys have domains? Like gods?"

"Well, sort of," replied Shanti. "We each have one quality that Chaos has deemed a core quality of life, or the Good. We also have cool individual powers, but I'll let you figure that out on your own." She winked. "Less explaining for me that way. Erik?"

The son of Thor leaned on his hammer like a cane. "I'm Erik, as you already know. Champion of Courage, by the way. And no, this isn't my father's hammer. It's a replica made by Chaos. I'm my father's only demigod son, so I'm kind of unique. Hanu?"

"Of course," said a dark-haired, chocolate-skinned young man, holding a golden mace. "I'm Hanuman, or just Hanu, Champion of Honor. Son of the Hindu god of the wind, Vayu. Strongest man alive—well, sort of man."

And then Percy noticed the tail. A really long tail. "Are you...a monkey?"

Hanu sighed. "To put it simply, yes. Sort of man. Strongest monkey-man alive."

Percy grinned. "You know, there's a Greek demigod who'd probably give you a run for your money. Not as friendly as you though."

"Who, Heracles?" asked Hanu. "I arm-wrestled him two thousand years ago! It caused an earthquake in Israel, apparently. Same day some important guy died there."

"Alright, enough with the saloon tales, you big ape," said another girl, smacking him playfully with a staff. She seemed familiar. She was very beautiful, in a strange, eerie way. She had dark blue eyes, the color of deep ocean. "I'm Lev. Leviathan, Champion of Grace. As in, kindness. You should know me, son of the sea."

"I feel like I do," said Percy. "But you must be from another mythology."

"Judaism," she replied. "This is my human form. I'm a sea monster, the very first one Chaos created. It's great to finally meet you!"

The next one was a dark-skinned man, lean and tall. Coiled in his hands was a whip, which on closer inspection, seemed to be made with intertwined strands of...silk? "I go by many names," he said with a grin. "If you need any advice—especially on the ladies—ask me anytime! Most call me Anansi, spider spirit, trickster king, Champion of Wisdom, wisest man alive, in fact."

"Self-proclaimed," Shanti muttered behind his back. "I swear, his ego has only grown over the centuries."

Percy turned to the last person, a woman wearing a wolf mask and light armor. He blinked. Greek armor. He stared at the bow in her hands. She stared at Riptide in his. Slowly, she took off her mask.

Percy was shocked speechless. "Zoe?"

She gave a small smile. "Good to see you again, Perseus."

There was a long moment of silence. Suddenly, Zoe closed the distance and embraced him. Percy stood shocked for a moment before returning the hug.

As Zoe stepped back, she ruffled his hair. There was a strange glint in her eyes, as if she was about to cry. "You've grown so much, Percy."

"I'll always be the same dumb boy you used to know."

"Man," she corrected. "You are a Champion now. By my eyes, you are the only male worthy of being called a man among us. Hanu would count as well, but sadly, he's a monkey. Erik is too stubborn, and Anansi is a spider and a flirt."

Percy laughed. "It's good to see you, too, Zoe. How are you here?"

"Well, I learned that this Star Realm, it's actually Ouranos' kingdom," said Zoe. "The moment before I died, Chaos appeared to me in a dream and asked me if I would join her army, an army of the stars, to continue to defend the world I love. And I said yes. My constellation is here," she pointed to a patch of flowers in the distance with a glowing sign that said The Huntress.

"What are you Champion of?" asked Percy.

"I'm the Champion of Sacrifice. Selflessness."

Percy smiled. "That fits you well." He paused. "Wait, then what am I?"

They all gathered around him. "You," said Zoe, "are the Champion of Humanity."

The silence returned. "Humanity?" he asked quietly.

"Humanity," confirmed Shanti. "Everything that makes us human. The heart of the Good. You are all of us combined, and so much more."

There was a moment of silence. Then Percy waved at everyone. "Let's go, you guys. Explain on the way. I'm hungry, and as long as I get free buffet meals, I'll take whatever job you need me to."

They all laughed.

"And I need to find Chaos," Percy added.

"What for?" asked Erik.

"I need to find out how to get back." They all stared at him. "No, I'm not kidding. I promised Annabeth."

"Percy," Zoe began slowly. "Do you remember what happened? Before you...died?"

And suddenly, he remembered everything. The horror, the hurt, the betrayal. The pain of electrocution. He shivered. They'd kill me again, or I'd be an outcast.

"I can't go back, can I? Not yet."

And then he realized something. Here, fighting for Chaos, he might have a fresh start.

"I don't really want to go back, do I?"

[ AN: Finally, things are moving along nicely. ]