Percy's POV
I woke up on an unfamiliar bed. It seemed to be floating in space. Wait, scratch that, it was floating in space. The darkness around me was illuminated by various stars, all which I might of heard from Annabeth, but, honestly, I don't remember a single name, much less all that mumbo jumbo from science. This definitely is not part of any space thing I know of. And, when in the world did I learn to breath in space? Heck, how was there even air in space?I heard voices whisper, maybe Hades and Persephone? Maybe they put me in some weird room? I sat up, only to wince, and my hand flew to my chest.
"Hello, Perseus. It seems you woke,"A man with a deep, rich voice spoke out of the blue. I jumped, only to shield my eyes against the bright, purple glow. The glow disappeared, and unveiled a man with obsidian black eyes, which shone with relief. His outfit consisted of a black cloak, dark, dark blue boots, and a black sweater with jeans. Out of habit, I firmly said,
"Not Perseus. Just Percy."Then, changing the subject, I asked,"Who are you?"
The man chuckled,"My boy, I am Order. Creator."
"Oh hey there!," I numbly said. I realized,"Wait a sec. I thought Chaos is the creator!"
"Oh yes. My dear brother gets all the credit,"He spoke dryly, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.
"I created the universe,"He started."My brother Chaos got jealous, and took over forcefully. He and his Primordial children plotted to overthrow me. And so they did. He managed somehow to manipulate everyone to believe he was the creator. Nobody remembers a thing about me. I have faded time and time, only to be resurrected by my cursed brother,"He snorted.
(Don't worry, Order won't be good for long.)
"I thought that once you fade, you can't come back?" I questioned, finally making use of the ramblings Annabeth had spoken to me.
"Actually, I have no idea how. It just seems my brother possesses that power,"He shrugged. This was making my brain go overload. Okay, so Chaos is not the creator. There is a way to resurrect gods who fade. The Primordials have once worked together...
"What do you do now? Just wander around?"I asked. He chuckled.
"Well, I do live on a planet, in a solar system with twelve planets, all abnormal. And, they are special in some way. They all have their purposes. The weirdest coincidence is each planet seems to take after one of the Olympians.,"He mused. "And I do have a castle there with an army."
"That's nice. Is it peaceful?" I know that was a stupid question. He probably was at war with Chaos everyday.
"Heavens, no. The civilians on the other planets often get into disputes with other galaxies. They come very close to galactic wars. So no, not at all peaceful."He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Why am I here?" I asked out of the blue.
"Oh, that,"He shifted uncomfortably. " I was going to ask, if, um, you could join my army. As second-in-command." I shocked, to say the very least. I debated, and decided it didn't seem bad.
"Okay, I'll come with you,"I said, and the look on Order's face was priceless.
"Y-You agreed so fast!"He stuttered.
"I can't help it,"I muttered."My brain doesn't like working so much!"
"Then you've decided. We'll take a few hours to get there. We could get there in a matter of seconds, but I want you to see our solar system," He explained.
I was somehow levitated by Order, and we just somehow...floated past solar system after solar system. Order kept muttering "Not this one, Not this one,"Until we passed a star...though it looked more like a flaming giant boulder more then three times of...Zeus...wait, no, Jupiter. "Here!"He announced. I looked around. There were twelve planets, just like he said, and each one did seem to represent an Olympian.
"I live on that one,"He said, pointing to one that looked identical to Earth, minus the water."It's called Quercus,"He continued. I've never heard of a word like that...
"Must be a shame, I don't see any beaches,"I said, hoping he would explain. It sucks to not be able to go to the beach.
"Lucky for us, the civilians on Eldoris allow us to use their beach,"He said, pointing to a planet which was covered in blue, and had a tiny speck of something which I assumed was an island. It was right next to Demeter, and there was a...machine which resembled a ski lift connecting both planets. Eldoris...
"'Eldoris' means of the sea in Greek, doesn't it?"I roughly translated.
" Next to the sun is Pyralis. Those civilians help us a lot during wars. They supply us with weapons, and often, they start factories. Most of the weapons are hand-made, though," Gesturing to a fiery red planet off to our far right. Pyralis...It means of fire...
"How do they survive?"I asked."It must be really hot!"
"Remember, they aren't human," He chuckled. "They are in terms, similar to humans. They do speak an understandable language, first of all. But, they are very hairy, and always slouch. Their face is that of a human, but they have horns, which end the list. They tie a piece of cloth around their waist, serving as clothes."He snorted. "My brother just had to make them a human face. I originally made them a bull's face, and made them cousins of the Minotaur. Chaos, that brat, created their face so horrible, they look like someone slapped a sticker of a face on them. You do not want to see them."He said, and I stood there, er, floated there, laughing my head off.
"What's that planet? It looks like peacocks invaded the planet!"I pointed to a planet that seemed to have patterns of peacocks everywhere.
"That planet is called Pavo. In a way, yes, peacocks invaded the planet. Only girls live there. They have pet peacocks, and make dresses out of the feathers. The feathers can hold poison like a vial, so you do not want to get on their dark side. They could kill you with one drop of that type of poison,"He said darkly, and I couldn't help but shudder. At least he didn't say they hated male..." Oh, and, they hate males,"Order added. Just when I thought they would be nice...Gods, the Fates are so mean.
"Pavo...Peacocks?"
"Yep,"He confirmed.
"That reminds me, which one is the one that is similar to Zeus's powers?"I asked. Order pointed to a planet that was covered with... what I'm assuming are thunderstorms. There were cables pointing out, and cups of...water flying out? "This one's pretty weird. What's with all those cables and flying cups?"I asked Order.
"It's name is Astrapi, translating to electricity. The cables are for electricity, they mainly send it to Pyralis, because they use up tons of electricity everyday. The thunderstorms are how they get all that excess electricity. As for the cups, their water is known to be the most fresh, so they send them out to others,"He explained.
"Who's 'they'?" I questioned.
"The rain children. You'd expect adults to do all this work, but only children live on that planet. They are known for making the rain pour even faster, and often live in the rain. It's like they're taking an eternal shower, thus known as the rain children,"He answered.
"Uh, the bright pink one's Aphrodite's...planet, am I correct?"I cautiously asked.
"Yes. It's name is Philia...You do not want to go there. It's full of shopping malls, fashion stores..."He trailed off, looking at the planet in horror. I shivered, knowing that Pavo's...girls probably go there.
"I can understand about the name for that planet...Deep friendship. Wouldn't want Aphrodite's girls' to go crazy..."
"You totally hit the mark,"He said.
"Then how about that grey planet over there?"I asked, already knowing it was Athena's planet.
"It's called Chikako. The civilians are... the ones who make all the battle plans. Nearly every house is a library itself,"He looked at it awkwardly. Okay, I am totally not going there. First of all, Annabeth. Ironically, the planet just had to be translated as 'child of wisdom'. The planet would remind me too much of her. I don't even know how I managed to say her name. Second, I have no interest whatsoever to learn. So, I would prefer not to go there.
"That's Helia. It's basically the planet were everyone is tanned and everyday is sunny. Apollo-ish,"Order pointed at a green planet-where in the world is it still green when it never rains?-giving off a yellow glow. I looked over, and it indeed looked like it had been shined on for...as long as this planet was created.
" Of the sun?That the translation, right?Where's Hermes's planet?"I asked.
"Oh, you mean Talaria?It's over there,"He said, jabbing a finger at a planet which had...shoes flying with newspapers?
"It seems...abnormal,"I scratched the back of my head. I mean, the planet was practically named flying shoes!
"Yes, it is,"he agreed."It is the news station of the solar system. Funny, eh?Just like Hermes."
"Is that...a planet covered with blood?"I squinted at it.
He just chuckled, and said,
"My dear boy, have you ever heard of a chemical called 'iron oxide'?" Hm,I may have heard it some while ago...
"Uh...maybe,"I answered, it sounding more like a question.
"This planet indeed has a bit blood mixed in, but it's main red color comes from iron oxide. This is a planets known for its battlefields. Although no life is found on that planet, everyone knows this planet, and often come here to fight, it also has a relatively smooth land, although there is a plateau here and there,"He rambled on and on about all that science-y stuff, and found out that there seemed to be only wasteland, staring at it.
"What's its name?"I asked.
"Aimatochsyia,"He answered.
"Bloodshed,"I translated.
"That over there is Aysun,"He said, pointing to a planet which seemed just like the moon, except bigger, and there... seemed to be people."It has the water of immortality, and people go there often." Next to this weird planet, there was a floating sign that said,
FAVORITE OF ORDER
He noticed me staring at it, and said,
"Ah, I like Vinun. It has the best wine, and best scenery. I often go there to rest. Want to go there?"
"Uh, I'm underage. But, I'll still go. I just won't drink wine," I refused to drink wine, and probably never will.
We descended slowly, and landed with a slight thud.
I was amazed. There were endless rows of grapevines, as far as the eye could see. The sweet morning air was spread all over this...vineyard. You could just see the wine making itself. The ripe, purple grapes hung everywhere, and at last, tearing my eyes off, Order led me slowly to a stone table.
"There are stone tables like this in the vineyard. When a grape falls, it will sink into the ground, where it will be carried to be made into wine,"He explained.
"I thought grapes don't really fall at all,"I quizzically stated.
"These grapes are enchanted to do so,"He said with a low chuckle. At that moment, a bottle of wine appeared with a poof.
"AACK!" I yelped and fell off my stone stool. Order, however, calmly picked up the bottle, uncorked it magically, and drank straight from the bottle.
"The wine appears on a table when it is done,"He explained, before he would be too drunk to do so. He, surprisingly, put down the bottle after a few swigs, and said,"Let's get going. We have a lot of things to do,"And so, we left the heavenly vineyard.