Prologue: Chaos

I don't own Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan does.

This story is inspired by Kevin 1984's Son of Chaos.

Story Summary:

After the Second Giant War Percy's friends turned their back on him and the Gods banished him. Meanwhile one diabolical Creator of the Universe Chaos seized the opportunity and formulated a master plan of his, with Percy at the centre of it. Chaos offers Percy his help to get the justice he vowed, thus Percy is thrust into his newest and yet craziest quest: To relive his life as the son of Chaos, and bring Olympus down its knees. But his second chance is far from his imagination. His worst enemies know exactly who he is, making things infinitely more difficult for Percy, and they aren't the only ones after him. Percy is wanted by beings so powerful even Chaos himself fears. Olympus wanting him dead becomes the least of Percy's concerns when he discovers that Chaos isn't who he thinks he is either. Percy Jackson now knows only one thing for certain: Trust no one.

It's over, Percy thought.

He could never quite believe what had happened to him. He was their hero, the savior of Olympus, the sole reason Olympus remained to exist.

Gods are cruel, Chiron told him once. Percy thought he understood, that he knew the extent of the Gods' cruelty and ruthlessness, but he was wrong.

He had never been so certain about anything else in the world, that the Gods are good in their nature, and the world would be better at their hands, but no. As Zeus mocked him, he is just an ignorant boy, foolish enough to believe that the immortals cared for him, for them.

How can people who love each other more than anything else in the world hurt themselves so much?

Percy glanced down at himself. His orange Camp Half-Blood shirt was ripped apart and burnt some hours ago, the fabrics of his jeans were torn and cut, stained by blood, his own blood and monsters' golden ichor. His long hair was tangled and messy, mixed with ichor of monsters. Bloodshot filled his dull and hopeless sea green eyes. Shadows were visible under his swollen eyes and a mixture of different emotions was written all over his face: sadness, hopelessness, exhaustion and pain. There was a large, horrifying gash across his chest, the bleeding barely stopped. Two of his ribs had snapped, and it would have hurt like Hades, but Percy barely felt it. His right hand, still holding Anaklusmos, was covered by blood, bruises and cuts. His left arm was broken, useless, not even able to hold a shield anymore. He looked filthy. Surely a bath would be nice, but Tartarus doesn't provide bathing service, or anything to ease the suffering Percy was enduring, in fact.

He looked around him, fire was burning, everywhere. The only thing he could see was burning rocks, dry ground, black smoke and blood.

Being in Tartarus is the definition of pain. Walking is painful, fighting is painful, even breathing is painful. In Tartarus, being alive is painful, death would have been a relief, the relief which is a luxury to Percy.

He can't die, not yet at least.

Death would mean an escape from this blasted life, an end to all the pain has been inflicted upon him. Percy has been good to Hades, the Lord of Dead would make sure he spends the rest of the eternity in Elysium, being with his loved ones again.

But he must stay alive, stay strong, and fight, for those who had chosen to stand by him, to make sure, those who had died for him, did not die in vain. He has to have revenge, make those who wronged him face justice.

There are people still out there, fighting in his name. He will stay alive, until the end.

Shadows descended as a massive Hellhound lunged at him. Percy struck like a cobra, in one swift motion he was standing in front of the Hellhound, Anaklusmos raised in his right hand, cutting the beast clean in half gracefully.

A Cyclops charged at Percy with its enormous Celestial Bronze club raised, but a silver arrow sunk deeply into its lone eye, stopping the Cyclops dead on its track, before the monster bust into a pile of golden dusts.

Percy turned to see a small, female figure stumbling forward, nearly dropping to the ground. Percy rushed toward the figure as quickly as his broken limbs would allow him to. He caught her shoulders just in time to stop her from falling, her face nearly slamming onto his.

"Zoë," Percy whispered gently into her ear, "are you alright? Where are the others?"

Zoë looked up, pain and exhaustion were the only two things Percy could read in her volcanic black eyes, perhaps a small hint of hope as well. A small cut was visible on her cheekbone and her left eye was bruised badly. A deep, horrifying cut ran across her thigh and a fresh wound was visible on her shoulder, just a bit left to her neck. Her long black hair was ragged and too, stained with blood, no longer silk. Her right hand was shaking violently and her silver hunting bow almost slipped out of her grasp. Her silver quiver was still strapped onto her back, but empty. She had been scavenging arrows from dusts of destroyed monsters, where she'd put them. Both her hunting knives were gone, lost or melted by Hellish Fire, the only other weapon she had left was a small silver dagger she'd concealed in her boots. Her once beautiful face now looked filthy stained with blood.

"There," Zoë said weakly as she pointed out a shaking finger. Her voice was shaken and barely a whisper, there is only little energy left in her body and Percy doubted if she could survive another monster attack. "Silena and Beckendorf are right behind me. A few Hellhounds ambushed us, they said they'd catch up."

Suddenly, Percy leaned towards her. Zoë was both too surprised and too tired to do anything as Percy reached inside her right boot and pulled the silver dagger out in one swift motion. He hurled the blade across the field, the dagger flew passed Zoë in a graceful arc as it struck into the skull of a dragon. The creature gave one high pitched scream as fire erupt from its mouth. The dragon exploded into a pile of golden dusts while the fire consumed the dagger sunk in its skull.

"There goes my last piece of weapon." Zoë muttered as the dragon disintegrated.

Another Cyclops appeared out of the shadows of Tartarus. It charged at the dual with a loud battle cry, but it ended abruptly when the tip of a short blade poured out of its chest. The Cyclops' lone eye looked down at its chest in disbelief as a heavy broad sword swung at its neck with dead accuracy. A brief moment later, the Cyclops' head rolled off its shoulder soundlessly while the monster bust into golden dusts.

"Sorry we are late." Silena muttered as she retracted her short blade and wiped the Cyclops' golden ichor at her sleeve. Normally she'd be horrified at the thought of wiping monster blood with her fancy looking clothes, but it really made no difference after what must have been an eternity in Tartarus. It was torn and filthy anyway. Small cuts and bruises was visible everywhere on her arms and legs, but other than that, she sustained no serious injury. Silena looked the finest among all for of them. Her shirt was torn and fabrics of her jeans were ripped apart, but her natural gifts as a daughter of the Goddess of Beauty made her look beautiful and graceful even in the pit. Her long brown hair was drew back elegantly. Her blue eyes was still shining with hope as smiled at Percy and Zoë optimistically.

A second later, she was joined by a large African-American boy, his tall figure looked tired and craving for rest, but his shape was not nearly as bad as Percy's nor Zoë's. His right hand held a massive Celestial Bronze sword, while his other hand squeezed Silena's reassuringly.

Exhaustion was written all over Beckendorf's face. His muscles still tensed from the previous fighting and sprinting, while the scowl never left his forehead. A cut ran from his jawline down to collarbone, but it was starting to faint to a scar. His shirt was torn apart and his bare chest was covered in ichor. His black hair, like Percy's and Zoë's, was ragged and stained with golden ichor. His brown eyes, although filled with tiredness, were fierce and determined. Both of his hand were covered by his own blood.

Silena drew a Celestial Bronze dagger from her belt and held it out to Zoë, "Here, it's not much, but it's the only thing I have left."

Zoë nodded gratefully as she took the dagger from Silena. She weighed the dagger in her grasp before sheathing it, "I never thought I'd say this to a daughter of Aphrodite, but thanks."

"So," Beckendorf cleared his throat, "How long until we can reach those doors?"

"The Doors of Death are at the heart of Tartarus," Percy said thoughtfully, "where the rivers of the Underworld meet. I'd say we are a day or two away on foot."

The four of them have been killing their way through Tartarus for almost a week now, and each one of them is at the edge of their limits. Percy and Zoë both looked ready to collapse and stay unconscious for the next seventy-two hours, while Beckendorf and Silena were only a little better.

"Percy…" Zoë whispered, her voice was shaken. Color had left her face and her entire body seemed to be shaking. Zoë was in the worst shape of them all. A Dracanea drove a dagger into the back of her stomach a few days ago. She had lost a lot of blood, nearly killing her. It is a miracle that Zoë is still on her feet, although Percy suspected she won't be for much longer.

Percy's gaze followed the direction Zoë's finger was pointing at, and he paled. Monsters, countless monsters poured into their sight. Cohorts of Centaurs, legions of Cyclops, packs of Hellhounds, dozens of Dracaneas, half a dozen Drakons, even a few Hydras. Leading them, was the Titan Koios.

Percy swore loudly as he uncapped Anaklusmos. Zoë, still leaning on Percy, barely managed drew her dagger without dropping it. Silena unsheathed her short blade and Beckendorf raised his heavy broad sword.

"We are not getting out of this, are we?" Beckendorf asked as he grabbed the last jar of Greek Fire he carried and threw it into the ranks of the monsters. Green flames erupted from the crowd of monsters, consuming several Cyclops as the flames burned in the rank of monsters. Koios waved his hand, and the flames condensed to a pile of ice before shattering to pieces.

Percy shook his head sadly, "If the Twelfth Legion is here? Maybe. The four of us? No."

"Percy, you can't give up yet…" Silena started, but Percy cut her off abruptly.

"Nobody is giving up here, Silena. We will fight until the last of us standing, but let's be realistic about it. Zoë can't even walk and I'm barely standing. We are down to the last piece of weapon and there are what? A thousand monsters and a Titan? Even if we survive this and manage to get back to the mortal world through the Doors of Death, then what?"

"Well… There are still demigods out there who supported you. There are several Gods on the council too. I thought…" It took Silena several moments to come up a response to Percy's question, and even when she did, she was cut off again.

"There is no resistance Silena, it's over. Rachel is dead, Katie is dead, Connor is dead, Travis is dead. Only twenty or so, no more than thirty demigods are still fighting out there, but how long can they last before the Gods, or the monsters the Gods send, get to them? Besides, the second we set a foot on Earth, Zeus will blast us to pieces."

Percy paused. He took a long moment to look at his companions, trying to memorize every detail of their face. The colors of their hair, the emotions in their eyes, the shapes of their cheekbones, and expressions on their faces. Silena's long, silky brown hair, the permanent scowl on Beckendorf's face, and Zoë's volcanic black eyes.

"Thank you," Percy said sincerely, a look of acceptance was on his face. "for staying by my side to this far."

Then, the first wave of monsters crashed into the rank of the four demigods. Percy turned and drove his blade into the heart of a Hellhound. He yanked his blade out and sliced it at another charging Hellhound, cutting its head clean off. Zoë, fighting alongside Percy back to back, marveled her dagger with great skills, cutting down Hellhounds while Percy finished them off with his long blade.

Beckendorf wielded his long, heavy broad sword, beheading Hellhounds with surprising swiftness while Silena stood close to him, stabbing and slashing with her short blade.

The Hellhounds pushed the demigods back quickly. Percy and Zoë fell back, regrouping with Silena and Beckendorf twenty feet behind where they just stood as the Cyclops joined the charging Hellhounds with their massive Celestial Bronze clubs raised.

"Is everybody alright?" Percy asked quickly while readying his sword for another wave of monsters, "Yes?"

Both Silena and Beckendorf nodded, but Zoë gave no response.

"Zoë?" Percy muttered while turning his head to look at the former huntress. She had collapsed on the ground, barely keeping herself in a sitting position while her right hand covered her stomach. Color was draining from her cheek quickly while Percy hurried beside her. He removed Zoë's hand from her stomach gently, and gasped. A large wound has been cut open by a Hellhound's craws, blood was pouring out horrifyingly fast.

Percy was too shocked to do anything when a Hellhound materialized out of the shadows and charged at him. A blur of bronze flew across the poisonous air of Tartarus, piercing into the Hellhound's skull. Percy's gaze followed the bronze blur a moment later. A Celestial Bronze dagger struck into the skull of the Hellhound as the beast bust into a pile of golden dusts. Zoë's right hand was raised, shaking violently as it fell back onto the ground. Her color was horrifyingly pale, her lips had gone purple and redness had started to claim her sclera.

"No." Percy whispered desperately, but Zoë's eyes only opened for a brief moment before closing again.

"This doesn't have to be this way, you know." An ancient, powerful voice came from a distance. Percy's head jerked up. Time seemed to have been frozen, literally. Silena's and Beckendorf's eyes darted around the place in confusion, clearly they heard the voice too. The tip of the a Dracanea's spear was merely inches away from Percy's back, sending shivers down his spine involuntarily. Had it been another second, the spear would have severed his spine and pierced through his heart at the same time.

"Who are you?" Percy demanded, "Show yourself!"

Darkness descended, an immense amount of power exploded, pushing Percy back. A vortex appeared as a strong current of wind blew. Everything, every piece of rock, every drop of water, every flame of fire was sucked into the portal. Then, the vortex exploded. Everything that had been sucked in exploded back into the pit.

When the explosive wave died down, a tall man stood in where the centre of the explosion had been. He was dressed in black leather jacket, black sweater, black jeans and a pair of black leather shoes. A pair of sunglasses blocked his eyes from Percy's sight. His hair was neat and black as ink,

"Well," the man said, extending his arms sideways slightly, "you asked, now I'm here."

"Who are you?" Percy asked again, his grasp on Anaklusmos tightened subconsciously.

The man chuckled, "Name's Chaos, you know, the dude who created the Universe. You might have heard of me before."

"Why would the creator be interested in a few demigods?" Percy asked, his grasp on Anaklusmos was still strong as iron.

"You know what," Chaos said, "this is the first time I've ever gotten that reaction. Usually people would just freak out or start gravelling at my feet."

Percy raised an eyebrow.

Chaos waved his hands and the next thing Percy knew, he found himself sitting on a couch in a large, but plain what must be a guest room.

Chaos stood beside a couch opposite to him, looking at Percy with both amusement and curiosity.

"Your life has been a pretty interesting one to watch, you know," Chaos said, settling himself down on the couch with his legs crossed in a comfortable position, in contrast to Percy, whose muscles were tensed and eyes were locked on Chaos', "believe or not, an eternal life tends to get boring from time to time, which is where you come in. I set my eyes on a few demigods, interesting little things, you demigods are, so interesting. You, in particular. I have to admit, I haven't taken such an interest in a godling for nearly fifty years."

"Well, I'm flattered and all," Percy said with a hint of edge in his voice, his eyes distrustful and cold, "but as you already know, I don't have all day, and my guess is, neither do you. You immortals are always busy with, whatever you do everyday."

"And what might be so urgent that you'd rather attend to instead of spending some quality time with everyone's favorite creator?" Chaos asked with a raised eyebrow. He seemed genuinely curious, though Percy could tell Chaos' curiosity wasn't directed at his answer, rather something else.

"I need to get back to my friends."

"Why? To die? Do you really have a death wish so badly godling?" Chaos said, this time his voice was laced with a thin layer of interest, and maybe the slightest amusement hidden beneath it, but it vanished as soon as it came. Percy looked at Chaos, he has met many immortals with various personalities, some rather… peculiar. But none of them were anything like Chaos, Percy couldn't read anything under Chaos' brilliant smile, maybe it was genuine, or maybe it was hypocritical. Chaos was an abyss of cold darkness, nothing but hollowness for Percy to read. Percy knew what the Gods were the first time he met them, but he couldn't figure out Chaos no matter how hard he'd look at Chaos' ageless, angular face.

"No. To fight, like I always do." Percy said firmly, his gaze boring into Chaos' in challenge.

"With what? Four godlings against an army of monsters and a powerful Titan?" This time, Chaos didn't bother to hide his amusement, "I knew you were some of the biggest idiots I've ever seen, but I didn't assume you would be this much of a lunatic."

"I've had worse." Percy's tone was hard and cold, his eyes were two gleaming daggers, piercing into Chaos' skull sharply, but Chaos didn't even acknowledge Percy's glare sharp against his skin, much less flinching, "And I've lived to talk about them."

"Here is what's going to happen, if I send you back to that pit now. You and your friends are all going to die, rather painfully, I'm afraid. The huntress was the first. She could barely speak, I suppose death was the humane thing to give her. An arrow cracked her skull open, which I find ironic since the very monsters she spent thousands of years hunting killed her with the very weapon she used to hunt those monsters. Then the forge boy. A few Giants smashed him to pieces until you couldn't even make out his face from what's left of him. After him the Aphrodite girl. She's quite beautiful, your friend, and it looks like I'm not the only one who thinks so. Let's just say that the Cyclops didn't kill her, at least not until she literally couldn't be of any use to them anymore. At last, you. Now that's the interesting part. Koios tortured you for years, for fun of course. You know how it can get a bit lonely down there in Tartarus. You were lucky enough to trick a brainless Cyclops into killing you, ending your misery once for all." This time, Chaos' voice was flat and emotionless, simply reciting with no interpretation to the words slipping from his tongue. His eyes, for the first time during the conversation, were fixed on Percy voidance of any clue which might indicate what he was really thinking.

"Did… Did my father mourn for me?" Percy asked, his voice shaken. Now he looked vulnerable, a small boy who has had a wonderful life with everything he'd ever dreamed for. A group of close, understanding friends, loving and caring parents and a beautiful girlfriend who he loved with all his soul. Then his beautiful dream was shattered, forcing him to confront the cruel reality. He felt so cold, so lonely. He was abandoned and betrayed, crushing his heart in ways it could never heal again. He was so vulnerable, so wide open for taunts, mocks, filling the empty gap inside him with haunting torments. Yet, that hollow in his heart was filled by something else.

"I know that feeling, I've seen that look before, thousands of times, on my own face." Chaos' voice was unbelievably gentle, the touch of his right hand on Percy's shoulder was soft and warm, strangely comforting and reassuring, "You must be wondering about me. I created the Universe, but the truth is, I am not the first being in existence. I too, was created. I had a father and a brother. The perfect family, you might call it. I, much like yourself, was betrayed by the very ones I loved the most. They abandoned me, banished me from my home, our home, the pure lands of eternity and the grand city of platinum and diamond. I was left to die, like the whining crying boy they thought I was. But I knew I couldn't die. I wanted justice, I wanted to make them regret what they did to me. That's how the Universe, your Universe came to be." There was a dangerous edge at Chaos voice when he spoke those words, raw emotions, pure rage blazing like fire of Heaven. Chaos was glowing, and for a moment Percy thought if he was going to lose it and unleash his godly form, consuming his body with golden flames.

"My apologies, I didn't realize I am still… emotionally compromised so easily whenever I talk about it." Chaos said, his voice was flat and slippery again, but his face showed a hint of sincerity, "As for the answer to your question, Mr. Jackson, no, Poseidon did not mourn for you. In fact, he threw a feast he heard the news, even Zeus was invited."

"Why are you telling me this? Why should I even trust you? You immortals are all liars, I'm done trusting your words." Percy snapped sharply, his two orbs were wild green storms boring into Chaos' cold, gleaming black orbs. Somehow, he was on his feet, glaring down at Chaos, who seemed generally untouched.

"Well… If you are not going to trust me, Mr. Jackson, trust this. Believe or not, I want what you want. We have a common enemy, Olympus. The Gods have wronged me before as well. My divine assistance was the key to their defeat of the mad Titan Kronos and my daughter Gaea. However, they ate their words. Instead of delivering what they promised when asking my help, they severed all ties connecting Earth and the Void, blocking my powers to interfere their affairs. I want justice as much as you do. For millennia, I have watched as Olympus wrongfully abused their power, but I could not intervene. Now, my chance has came. You are the only hope to make the Gods pay for the injustice they have done. If you don't trust me, then trust my rage, for nobody in this Universe wants to burn down Olympus as much as I do." Fury and disgust were hanging on the edge of Chaos' voice, black fire burning in his eyes. He looked like an avenging demon, cursing furiously at the one who sent him to burn in Hell. Chaos was on his feet too, moving in a silent and graceful manner, standing toe to toe with Percy, his black eyes staring into Percy's, daring him to look away or back down.

"Now," Chaos said, his voice was strong and stern, offering a hand to Percy, "will you join me?"

"How do you suggest we do that? In case you haven't noticed, you are trapped here, and Zeus will fry me with his lightning the second I set a foot on Earth." Percy's voice was dipped in his usual sarcasm, though most of it was directed at himself, instead of Chaos.

"You let me worry about that," Chaos grinned devilishly, his voice low and dark, "I've got a plan, as I always do. Now, will you join me?"

"Only if you agree to my terms." Percy insisted, "I want my friends who are still trapped in the pit join this plan of yours, whatever it is, and I want Hestia to know that I'm alive and well."

"Consider it done." Chaos replied, outstretching his right hand to Percy, this time, Percy took it firmly.

"Whatever your plan is, it'd better be a damn good one."

"Good," Chaos said cheerfully with a brilliant smile stretched across his mouth, "Now, my end of the bargain."

Chaos snapped his fingers and Beckendorf, Silena and Zoë materialized in a dark light, looking dazed and dull.

This is a rewritten version of my previous story. To my dear readers, I have returned and I'll be updating daily for the next few days. Expect long chapters, more characters, more twists, more plots and more suspense from now on. Pairing is still Perlia, at this stage Annabeth will be paired with Luke, Jason and Piper, Frank and Hazel, Leo and Calypso.

Thank you for reading and constructive criticism is most welcomed!