Disclaimer: Not mine.

I am on Charon's boat. Again. The last time we were here we were trying to rescue my mother. The thought made me want to start crying. Again.

I'm dead, by the way. If you hadn't already guessed. And do you know what I want most right now? For Charon to stop moaning about not being paid enough to buy those Italian designer suits. Seriously. He won't stop whining. I don't remember him being this chatty last time.

I felt like yelling, "You think you got it bad? You weren't just tortured and killed FOR NO REASON!"

But if I did that he'd probably leave me to rot on the mortal side of the river, so I kept quiet. For now.

I stared out at the river. If I listened closely I could hear souls screaming in that water. It was all too easy to imagine myself as one of them.

Suddenly, Charon yelped and tumbled sideways, narrowly avoiding being shoved over the side. I looked back at him, and the source of his surprise was immediately obvious. I reached for Riptide but soon realized that I didn't have it. I lost it when Poseidon disowned me, not long after announcing all my so called crimes to the camp. Tears formed in my eyes but I worked hard to push the memories away and after a moment, I succeeded. Accepting that I had no weapon, I prepared myself as best as I could for the unexpected visitor.

A man stepped through the portal. I thought that he was dressed all in black at first, but then I saw the galaxies shimmering and spinning on his robes. He looks like he is in his mid twenties with hair as black as the utter emptiness of space. His eyes are black at first glance, but when I looked again I could see stars in their depths. They are amazing, seeming to contain every possible emotion. I saw that happiness, regret, sympathy and resolve are the main emotions right now though.

"Hello, Perseus. How are you?"

"Uh." I said. Brilliant. Only I could think of that one.

"I am Chaos. Creator of the universe. And it would be my pleasure to offer you a job."

"A job?" I asked, disbelieving. The Creator of the universe wanted to offer me a job?

"Yes. You see I have found that often heroes all across the universe are cast aside or betrayed once their task is done. I then find them, and offer them a place in my army. They usually accept. So you see, you would be among those who understand what you are going through, even if you didn't tell them the specifics."

"You want me to serve in you army." It makes about as much sense as anything else that has happened in the last twenty four hours or so, I suppose.

"Oh goodness me no. You have such a problem with authority thanks to the nature of the sea, you serving under anyone would never work out. No, I want you to command my army."

"Huh." I just stared. I mean, this isn't exactly an everyday occurrence.

"As commander, you would give orders to the entire army. You would travel all over the universe, fighting evil and saving innocents. Not all that different from what you were doing before, but on a much larger scale."

I waited to be able to string together a reasonably intelligent sentence before trying to speak. "Why do you want me?"

"Because you are brave, selfless, loyal, forgiving, a good fighter, you have a reasonable moral compass, and you are a natural leader. Anyone would be lucky to have you as commander. Now, will you accept? I would normally give you time to think it over, but I'm on a tight schedule."

I found my voice again. "I accept."

Chaos beamed at me. Literally, beamed. I could see the suns in his eyes doing happy twirls. "In that case, lets go. Lots to do." He turned and stepped though the portal. I took a deep breath and plunged in after the Lord and Creator of the Universe.

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I apologize for the formatting problems. I am fixing it as soon as possible.

Till next time, Shib.