[ AN: So this chapter is light, and basically full of introductions and reunions and dialogue. Enjoy! ]

Chapter 4: The Army

[ In Chaos' palace, during dinner, the night Percy arrives... ]

Percy stared at his unit, the group he was going to command in Chaos' army. It was not the group itself that surprised him. It was the face at the very front. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Bianca?"

She ran up and hugged the life out of him. "Percy! I knew you'd make it here someday!"

"Bianca—can't—breathe"

She relaxed a bit, but didn't let him go. "Thank you," she whispered. "For keeping him safe."

Percy knew who he was. Nico. Yet another person he had left behind on Earth.

He returned the hug. "I still broke my promise to him. To keep you safe."

She smiled sadly. "Yeah. You did. But it's okay. I've been watching from up here, and I think you've made up for all your faults by saving the world and everything. By the way, the gods are going to grant Nico immortality tonight. And the rest of the Seven."

"You can see them from here? How?"

"Chaos will show you how."

Bianca led him away from the other six Champions, who each went to eat at their own tables. Percy and Bianca went to a table on the far end of the enormous hall. A group of warriors greeted him, all in their teens or early twenties.

"Is it just me, or did everyone here die young?" whispered Percy.

"Most of them did," said Bianca sadly. "But Chaos lets us change our ages and appearances if we want to. Most change to their late teens. Makes them feel strong, with a bit of the freedom of youth."

"Did you change your age?" asked Percy. "You definitely look older now."

"Yeah," she replied. "I chose sixteen. I never got the chance to live that far, you know? I thought it would be nice to know how it felt."

"Oh." Percy was unsure what to say. "So...can I change my age, too?"

Bianca giggled. "Why would you want to? You're pretty much at your prime, Percy."

He suddenly felt very self-conscious. She was staring at him with a strange smile. He gazed at himself, and realized Bianca was right. He was at his best, nearly eighteen, young and lean and muscular, and he didn't mind staying that way. He was, after all, going to be the commander of an army of superpowered immortal teens just like him.

Percy's gaze wandered around his table, judging the soldiers. All of them had seen battle. Percy could see it in their eyes, their iron wills. But all of them had a softer side, too. A human side, which was evident in their wide smiles...and the shadows and lines on their faces. All of them were heroes, and all of them had experienced pain. Percy wondered how he could read their expressions so well, and then he realized. It was the same expression he saw every time he looked in the mirror.

They were just like him, he realized. Broken heroes.

"So," began Percy, clearing his throat. At this, the entire mess hall quieted. Seriously? thought Percy. Is my voice that commanding? Or just loud?

He could feel hundreds of pairs of eyes on him. He decided to address the whole army at once. "According to the other Champions, I've been...ahem, volunteered to be your leader, or general, or something like that." He could almost hear Shanti snickering somewhere. "A few of you already know me, but to those of you who don't, my name is Percy. Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon."

The whole hall erupted in gasps, and then whispers. Percy continued uncertainly. "So I'm guessing you must have heard of me, at least. I'd love to get to know you all, but right now, I'm hungry, so introductions after dinner would be best. And by the way, it seems that there are at least two hundred of you, so I apologize if I forget your name. My brain tends to shut down during dinnertime." Everyone laughed. "Other than that, I don't know what else to say. I'm not really thrilled to be here, but I guess if the universe needs me...well, yeah. Thanks." Everyone clapped at his half-baked speech, which made Percy blush in embarrassment.

"Very inspiring," said Bianca dryly, leading him to the head of his table.

He took the seat hesitantly, while Bianca took the seat directly to his right. Food immediately appeared before him, exactly what he was thinking about—steak, blue cookies, blue ice cream, and blue coke.

Bianca shook her head disapprovingly. "Gods, Percy. Ever heard of eating healthy?" Her own meal appeared before her, and they began to eat while talking, over the backdrop of the conversation throughout the table.

"Are you like my second-in-command or something?" asked Percy.

"Yeah," she replied. "Lieutenant of the Swordsmen." It was then that Percy noticed that every single warrior of his unit wore swords. From shortswords to broadswords to scimitars to katanas to the occasional Egyptian khopesh, his group seemed to be a mix of every long blade in history.

"But you were a Hunter of Artemis, an archer, right?" said Percy.

Bianca shrugged. "I was, until I discovered this beauty in Chaos' armory." She drew a black shortsword halfway out of its sheath. Percy was almost blinded by the pure darkness that it seemed to give off. "Eclipse, forged from Chaos' own darkness. She kind of grew on me. We have a mutual understanding, she's very friendly."

"She?" asked Percy. "You talk to your sword?"

"You don't talk to Riptide?" asked Bianca.

"Riptide and I don't really need words to get along," said Percy. "We're more of the actions speak louder type."

Bianca laughed. "I could tell. Now, you should probably get to know your unit, because tomorrow you're probably going to be eating with the Champions. Chaos is gone today, she's probably busy, but she'll be back."

"Oh, speaking of Chaos, I need to talk to her."

"What for?"

"About her. I need a way to contact Annabeth."

Bianca stared at his face as she realized what he meant. "You really love her. Annabeth."

He nodded. Bianca sighed. "There's no way back to the truly living," she said. "Even when we go down to Earth to fight, to stop evil, we're nothing but spirits. The living can see us, and talk to us, but they can't touch us. But Chaos says there will be a day when we can return to the mortal world, with new bodies. A day when the skies will fall. It's coming soon. Can you wait that long?"

He exhaled slowly. "If I have to, I'll wait. I know she will. Annabeth will wait for me."

Percy spent the rest of the night meeting every member of his unit, thirty in all. When they finished dinner, the unit led him to their wing of the palace, where they slept—because apparently there was day and night in Star Realm, white sky, black sky. Long after they had all fallen asleep Percy wandered the palace, bumping into a few people and eventually finding his way out to the star fields.

He walked over to The Huntress, and sat crosslegged on the ground, staring down. The sensation, familiar by now, washed over him. The ground became transparent, and below him he saw Earth. He saw his home. He sat and stared for a long time, trying to hold back the tears.

After a while, Bianca and Zoe found him. They sat on either side of him, Bianca leaning on his shoulder, Zoe loosely holding his hand, while he sobbed silently.

Chaos found him there, and shooed off Zoe and Bianca. She held out a hand. Percy accepted it, and she raised him to his feet. She led him in a casual stroll around the star fields, pointing out different things. On the other side of the star fields was Ouranos' palace, a solid sky-blue, which seemed tiny in comparison to Chaos' own palace. All around were other buildings, where the ancient sky spirits and the spirits of the constellations lived. Far in the distance was a vast ocean.

Eventually, she led him to what seemed like a gardening shed in the middle of the star fields, where she picked up a shovel and a packet of glowing seeds. She brought him to a small bare patch of ground and handed him both.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked.

"Plant your own constellation," she replied. So Percy set to work, not quite sure what he was doing, digging holes and planting seeds in no apparent pattern. When he was done, he stepped back, and Chaos snapped her fingers.

Suddenly, a whole patch of the white flowers sprang to life. When he looked closer, he could see the stars beneath the flowers. And though he was awful at constellations, with this one, he could almost envision the glowing lines connecting the dots. He knew what it was. It was a man holding a sword.

And just like that, Chaos snapped her fingers and a sign appeared. The Swordsman.

"Step into your constellation," she said.

"Why?" asked Percy.

"You wanted to see her, didn't you? The stars will be your eyes."

So he stepped into the flower patch that was his constellation, trying not to trample any flowers. He looked down, and thought of Annabeth. To his surprise, he saw a vision, like the demigod dreams he sometimes had.

He saw Annabeth in the throne room, with his other friends, being granted immortality. He saw her ask the gods for a request on his behalf. More reforms, exactly as he would have asked, continuing the work that he had begun.

He wanted to call her name. He could feel it, burning on his tongue.

"You can watch her from here," said Chaos. "But you cannot speak to her."

Percy stepped back from the stars. "Why am I here, Chaos? I want to be there, with her."

"I was just about to ask you that," she replied. "Why are you here? Why are you still alive? My blessing is much like Achilles' Curse. You must have a tether, Percy. Something keeping you in one piece, something keeping your soul from fading away."

Percy thought, then took a deep breath. "Loyalty. That's why I'm still alive. Loyalty to her, and to all of mankind. Because I don't care what the Olympians did to me. Earth is my home, and if humanity needs me, I'm here for them. Isn't that why you recruited me?"

Chaos gave a wide smile, and Percy could almost feel the power radiating from her like a supernova. "Exactly. This is why they need you, Percy. Because you'll be there for them, when everything else fails."

"Why would they need me when they have you?"

Chaos sighed. "Judgement Day is coming, Percy. When the skies start falling, I can't be around to handle every threat."

"Judgement Day?"

"I'll explain everything. But promise me, Percy, that you will hear me out. I don't want you to feel like I'm using you as a pawn. Believe me, if I could, I would never involve you, or the rest of my army, or anyone, in this coming war. I would have preferred to fight this enemy alone."

"What coming war? Who is this enemy?"

Chaos sighed again, then looked him in the eyes. Percy suddenly wondered how old she really was.

"My brother."