Chapter 1

Suddenly, Percy sat up and found himself in an unfamiliar room. He couldn't remember how he had gotten there or why he would be there. He quickly scanned the room. It was empty, save for the rickety cot on which he was sitting and an open door at the other end. Keeping his hand on Riptide in his pocket, Percy walked out of the door. The door opened up into a long, narrow hallway that had only one other exit, another door at the far end of the hallway. There was nothing and no one else in the hallway, which was weird because Percy assumed he'd been captured by someone or other; however if there were no guards or even locks on the doors, then where was he really?

Percy walked down the hallway, drawing Riptide in pen form as he went. As he stepped across the threshold of the door, he prepared for an attack- his whole body tensing as he unconsciously lifted his pen. When he walked in, however, he was faced not with the hordes of monsters that he was expecting but rather with a figure sitting at a desk. Confused, Percy lowered his arm but kept it protectively in front of him.

"Ah, I've been waiting for you to wake up," the figure said, looking up at him. "I have a proposition for you, should you choose to accept it."

"Well, would you mind explaining what it is?"

The figure sighed. "Unfortunately, I cannot. Once you accept, I shall explain everything, however."

"Great, I love being kept in the dark. Why would I ever need to know anyone's plans? Nah, let's just leave Percy to suffer the consequences- he doesn't have anything to contribute anyway." Glaring at the figure, he asked, "Well, am I at least allowed to know who you are?"

The figure smiled warmly, "Yes, you may. I am Chaos."

Percy blinked, a jolt of fear going through him as he realized that he was speaking to the creator, the primordial of all. The feeling, however, soon passed.

"So… are you male or female?"

Chaos let out a low laugh. "I began my existence long before there was a name for such things and my existence will continue long after they are gone. I have no need to trifle with such frivolous matters."

Percy raised his eyebrows, "But like… 'him' or 'her'?"

"As I just said, neither; however, if it makes you more comfortable, you may refer to me as 'he' since that is the natural default for most languages."

Percy had been bouncing his leg as he stood facing Chaos but now began pacing the room. "So about this job thing… what can you tell me?"

Chaos took a deep breath and told Percy that all he could share at this point was that he wouldn't be able to return to camp. Percy hesitated a moment, running over what that would mean for him. Annabeth, his Wise Girl, was gone and everything around camp reminded him of her. Maybe if he took this job… maybe he could see the world for her, the way she'd always dreamed of doing.

"Can I travel?" Percy asked bluntly.

"Yes, you may. You can travel wherever you'd like a majority of the time."

"I'll do it."

Chaos explained what exactly he was asking of Percy. He explained that he has four lieutenants, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn and that Percy would be fulfilling the role of Winter. All he was to know about the other lieutenants was that they were all just as recently filled. As Winter, Percy was now in charge of everything relating to Winter.

"Just to make this clear," Chaos grinned, "your 'seasons' were named after my lieutenants, not the other way around." Chaos then finished explaining that he was now in charge of all winter storms, of maintaining the cold, and controlling the winds. Essentially, Percy gathered that he is now in charge of maintaining the winter as he knows it. In order to do these things, Percy would also be receiving a series of additional powers. According to Chaos, these powers would not cancel out the ones that he received from Poseidon but rather they would supplement and highlight them. Chaos walked up to Percy, tapped him on the head, and the whole world went dark.

When he woke up, Percy was in a room very similar to the one he woke up in last. Experiencing a sense of deja vu, Percy sat up and immediately grabbed his head. Groaning, he stood up and looked directly into the mirror that was at the foot of the bed. Percy gasped. In the mirror was...well Percy wasn't entirely sure who it was, he just knew that it wasn't him. The person in the mirror had hair so white it looked tinged with blue and his eyes were a blue so icy that it nearly hurt to look at them. He was a little bit taller than Percy and paler. As he approached the mirror, however, Percy realized that the person moved with him in the mirror. But it couldn't be….

"Ah. You're awake." Chaos walked in and looked at Percy looking at himself in the mirror. "I had hoped to catch you before this but it seems I'm a little late"

"You think?"

"Well, no matter. I'm sure you've noticed the… changes your body has experienced? I may have forgotten to mention that yesterday-"

"Yeah, really."

"As I was saying," Chaos continued, fixing Percy with a glare, "in addition to taking a little while to fully set in, it may or may not also have an effect on your appearance, although I must say that I have found there to usually be an effect, the only question is whether it's minimal or not. Clearly, yours was not minimal; however, it could have been much worse. You know, Summer's transformation was fairly drastic- you mightn't even be able to recognize- well enough about that anyway. Moving forward, this is your room, You're welcome to decorate it however you like but keep in mind that you probably will not be here very often. Most times, you will be off doing your own thing, especially since you really only have to work for a quarter of the year. As far as your duties, you'll be in charge of creating the winter season and helping half-bloods make it to someplace safe during the winter. You'll work in collaboration with the other seasons, though I wouldn't be surprised if you never actually saw each other. Additionally, you'll fight alongside my armies whenever I deem it necessary, though that will only happen rarely."

Here, Chaos paused for a moment. "There was something else I needed to say… It was rather important too… Ah, yes! How you will be able to do that. Well, my power is currently settling in your body but once it does that, it will be yours to control. They will build on the powers that you already possess. Soon, you'll be able to control water, especially in all of its cold forms (snow, ice, frost, etc.) though not exclusively and freezing winds. I suggest practicing with those as soon as possible in order to avoid any sort of accidental snow storms in the future. Good luck!"

And with that, Chaos left Percy to his thoughts.