[ AN: Hey, y'all, I know I should update on a regular schedule, but to be honest I just write when I feel like it. Hope that doesn't annoy you too much. And now, for a chapter I've been dying to write. Enjoy! ]
Chapter 8: The First Mission
[ Star Realm, right after Percy's birthday party... ]
Star Realm had oceans. Vast, bottomless oceans. They were actually pockets of "deep space," empty space, which Chaos liked to envision as water. Because of that, Star Realm had something else, as well. Beaches.
Because Star Realm was technically Ouranos' realm, the beings that lived there were his subjects, and they enjoyed the beaches. Percy had never known that sky spirits enjoyed building sand castles. Although Percy wondered if the beaches were actually sand, or really nebulae or something.
Slowly, the blue sky faded into red and gold as his birthday came to an end. He had never seen such a spectacular sunset before, and he probably never would have on Earth.
The thought of his homeworld only depressed him further. He stared out at the deep blue water, watched the waves lick between his toes, smelled the salt in the breeze. In the back of his head, some tiny voice screamed that it was all an illusion, that it was a fake reality that Chaos had imagined up for him.
Then he remembered that all realities were ones that Chaos had imagined up. What exactly was reality, anyway?
He sighed. He needed to go back to Earth. He didn't particularly want to, because he hadn't left on the best of terms, but he needed to see his home again.
"You will," said a soft voice.
Lev. One of her abilities was mind-reading, and she often read into people without their permission. Percy didn't mind. It was probably just second-nature for her, like his spacetime instincts were for him. Besides, Leviathan was too kind to hurt anyone. She was the leader of the Healers.
"I know it's difficult," she continued. "To stare out at this false ocean. I know. I miss my home, too. True, deep ocean. I can wade into these waters, but I can't swim far, because Chaos prevents it. This isn't ocean, it's deep space. I would freeze to death in the cold void out there." Lev paused. "But I promise you, soon, we will go back. Your first mission to the Greek realm is coming soon, in a few years. We need to save Artemis."
His eyes went wide. "Save Artemis?"
"From Tartarus, when she reforms in a decade or so, which will only be a few years for us here. We'll break in and save her, then bring her back to the mortal world. But for that, you need to be ready. You need to be trained. Odds are, Tartarus himself will be working with Order, and we'll have to defeat him to get Artemis out."
"We being?"
"Us, the Champions. Don't worry, we'd never let you jump in there alone. We'll never abandon you." There was a darkness in her sea-blue eyes that seemed to speak for itself. She knew what it felt like.
"You're a lot like me, aren't you?" asked Percy.
Lev snorted, very uncharacteristically. "Like you? No. I was born a sea monster. It didn't matter that I tried to help people. They saw me as a monster. They repaid my kindness with pain. So I stopped interacting with them, minding my own business. Then one day, a hero came along and killed me."
"Who killed you?"
"All the mythologies are more connected than you think, Percy. Think for a moment. What is your namesake famous for?"
"My namesake? You mean, Perseus?" Percy's eyes widened. "Oh. No way."
Tears began to pool in Lev's eyes. "Yes, I was that monster. The one that Perseus killed. The Greeks called me Cetus. The Jews called me Leviathan. The only reason I attacked Andromeda was because of Poseidon, your father. He had a stupid argument with Cassiopeia, and he wanted to destroy her city, so he broke the Ancient Laws, and used his power to capture me. He brought me to the Greek realm, because he wanted to unleash a monster that no Greek hero could defeat. Of course, it didn't matter in the end. The original Perseus killed me, with Medusa's head. Nobody ever knew my side of the story."
Percy didn't know what to say. He put an arm around her and held her, while she fought back tears. "Do you know why I told you all that, Percy?" she asked. "Because we're family now. Not like your Olympians. We, all of Chaos' army, we are a family bonded by loyalty." She pointed to the Earth beneath them. "Loyalty to them. Humanity. You know why I want to go back? For a second chance, to change my name. To show people that I am more than just a monster."
Percy got to his feet and helped her up. "You've already shown us that, Lev." He poked her forehead. "Although, you are a monster. You're about to make a poor, defenseless boy like me cry from your sad stories."
She slapped him. "Perseus Jackson! You really know how to ruin a moment, don't you?"
He laughed and began to walk back toward Chaos' palace. "Annabeth used to say that, too, all the time."
Later that night, Percy went to Chaos and requested two things. One, to keep up the illusion of the blue sky and the sun, because it was doing wonders for everyone's morale. Two, to give Lev an ocean-sized swimming pool.
[ Star Realm, 1 month D.P. ]
"Percy, Chaos wants you at Central," came Leviathan's voice in his head.
It still made him jump sometimes, how suddenly Lev could contact him telepathically, but it didn't scare him. Lev was too kind to ever use that power to harm anyone. She was leader of the Healers, after all.
Percy marveled again at how wisely Chaos had gifted the Champions their powers. Each Champion had many unique abilities, and he was only beginning to scratch the surface of his own.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and held a hand up to Shanti. "I have to go."
She frowned. "But we were just starting to figure out your spacetime prescience ability!"
"Chaos wants you here, too, Shanti," called Lev's mental voice.
Shanti growled. "Argh, fine, tell the old lady we're on our way."
Percy could almost imagine Chaos rolling her eyes. After cleaning up the training ground, they returned to the castle and traversed the winding hallways, finally reaching the throne hall, the biggest room in the entire palace. Lit by glowing star lamps and held up by glossy black marble pillars, the walls of the throne room showed engravings of the entire history of the universe, from the moment Chaos was born from nothing, to the present day. In the middle of the hall was Chaos' throne, a pitch black leather recliner.
Percy and Shanti walked past the comfy throne and into the door at the back of the hall, stepping into the second most important room in the palace. Central Command, as Chaos called it, or just Central.
Soldiers from the army wandered about, running various errands and keeping watch on various screens of light that displayed every important or magically significant place on the planet. At the center of it all was the Ring, the instant teleportation system Chaos used to transport units to various realms.
Chaos was standing in front of the Ring, glaring at him impatiently. Beside her was Erik, Anansi, and Bianca.
"You called for me, Granny?" asked Percy. He was the only one who could get away with calling her that, and they both knew it.
"Seriously?" asked Chaos as soon as Percy was within earshot. "Your first mission, and you're late? I should fire you, Commander."
Percy grinned sheepishly. "I didn't mean to—" He froze. "Wait. What did you say? No way. Don't tell me you actually said it!" He began bouncing up and down like a little kid. "Finally, a mission! You know how long I've been waiting for this?"
"A month, we know," muttered Shanti.
"My first mission!" Percy repeated, completely ignoring her.
Chaos rolled her eyes at him. "Don't get too excited, kid. It's a recon mission, to the base of the Yggdrasil, the Norse world tree. Just to check out what's going on there, nothing more. We don't want to draw any attention, got it? I'm looking at you, Percy."
Percy frowned at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I know your reputation, Percy Jackson," Chaos said dryly. "Accidental volcano eruptions, exploding cruise ships. You're a walking disaster. So on this mission, keep your mouth shut and follow the others' lead. Understand? Now get to work. I've briefed Bianca. She'll fill you in on the way."
Percy's grin widened. "I get to use the Ring, right?"
Chaos groaned. "Keep him under control, will you?"
Bianca, Erik, Anansi, and Shanti all simultaneously saluted her. She nodded and began to walk away. "Good luck, all of you."
They stepped into the Ring, which was really a descriptive name. It was a huge ring of pure starmetal, the basis of Celestial bronze. A group of Mages, Anansi's soldiers, began to pour magical energy into it, activating various enchantments engraved onto the surface. Percy wasn't surprised when the air began to darken.
Bianca smiled. "Percy, you do the honors. Imagine a place. An enormous tree, the root and strength of all nine Norse realms. One with the lifeblood of the universe. An aspect of Chaos herself. The Worldtree, Yggdrasil."
Percy imagined exactly what Bianca had told him, and he could see it clearly, in his mind's eye. And then everything faded away in a flash of blinding darkness.
[ Back on Earth... ]
Annabeth hated sleep.
They took him from you.
It always came in the dead of night, this soothing voice. It whispered the truth to her, the truth she knew, but would never even dream of thinking about in broad daylight. The truth was that the gods were evil.
They killed Percy for something he didn't do. They were afraid of him. Because everything he said, even the cruel things, everything he said was true.
They had evidence! she would scream back. He killed a goddess! He took the punishment willingly! There was nothing I could do!
No, said the voice. There was something. There still is something you can do. You have that famed intelligence, don't you? Use it. Tear down the gods. Teach them what it feels like to be crushed under someone else's boot, like the demigods they treat as tools. You have the ability and the wisdom to fix this. You can do better than them.
For some reason, some hidden part of Annabeth's soul agreed.
[ AN: I know, I'm evil. I'm putting Annabeth's will to the test. Will she turn to the dark (I mean light) side? We'll find out soon... ]