Light in the Water

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Third-Person POV

Elysium is a beautiful place. Despite the fact that it's in the underworld, it is beautiful. It was a whole city, constantly expanding and changing to fit the wants and needs of the dead who reside there. As such, this has created a messy, but beautiful city, with buildings seen all throughout the ages.

There were straw huts from the times before the birth of Jesus, medieval houses from medieval England, and modern-day luxury lofts strewn all over the place, to name a few. There were young children playing in the parks, ancient soldiers sparring in the arenas, and couples going on dates.

It was the perfect place to live, no responsibilities, no expectations, just pure bliss.

Or so everyone thought.

Percy POV

I was in Elysium. Literally.

I had died a long time ago, in the fight with Gaia, and had made it into Elysium with my lovely girlfriend.

Over the years, all of my friends and family have died (from old age, thankfully), and while a few have chosen rebirth, most have stayed in Elysium throughout the ages.

As of this moment, I was chilling on the couch in my loft with Annabeth leaning on my shoulder. Around me were some friends and family. Hazel and Frank were cuddling with each other on a beanbag. Leo and Calypso (long story) were laying down on the carpet, arguing (read: flirting) in alternating languages that they both spoke. Jason and Piper had chosen rebirth, trying to be heroes in their next life to achieve the Isles of the Blest. My little sister, Estelle was laying on my lap, sleeping, while I was stroking her hair.

Yes, I have a little sister. Shortly after I died, mom found out that she was pregnant. You can guess the rest of the story.

It was awkward at first. Mom had told Estelle about who I really was, and, as you can guess, she had idolized me as some sort of god. It took a long time to make her see that I was like her, human.

It probably helped that Annabeth had so many embarrassing stories about me that she couldn't resist telling my sister about.

All of us here were happy, taking a long-deserved break from the responsibilities we had on the surface.

Of course, even in death, I can't seem to catch a break.

My hand that was stroking Estelle's hair started to tingle. Frowning, I looked down at it, and I gasped in shock. It was slowly disintegrating, just like how the people did in Avengers: Infinity Wars when Thanos snapped them (Yes, I love Marvel). I got up in alarm, surprising all of the people I was with. Their looks of confusion quickly turned into looks of horror as the disintegration spread.

My head started to feel fuzzy, and my vision started to go black, as I collapsed onto the floor. All of my friends rushed to me, yelling for help, but no help arrived.

It pained me to see the broken look on Annabeth's face and the tears streaming down Estelle's face, but I couldn't do anything.

My vision faded to black, the last thing I saw was my friends' concerned faces, and I said the only thing on my mind.

"I love you all."

Insert line thing from ffnet

"Guardian? Guardian! Eyes up, Guardian," I heard a voice call out. The voice sounded masculine, but strange, as if it was electronic. I opened my eyes and located the source of the voice. I was a floating orb thing, like a little drone.

"Ah, good, you're awake, Guardian

I most certainly did not scream like a little girl.

"Woah, woah, calm down, Guardian," the thing said, the metal plates around the orb were rotating as it spoke.

I took a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart, and I spoke, this time in a calmer tone of voice, still laced with slight panic.

"What are you?" I asked the thing.

"I am your ghost," it replied.

I gave it a confused look.

"I don't think I look like that."

"No no no, not ghost as in the apparition of a dead person which is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image. I mean ghost as in a simple being created by the Traveler, with the sole purpose of finding and helping you Guardians wield the light to fight the darkness."

I probably irritated him by interrupting its explanation of what a 'ghost' is with my questions as to whether or not it is Wikipedia.

Its explanation still left me with more unanswered questions, and it seems like it saw that I was still clueless too.

"This is going to take a while, uh..." it trailed off, expecting a name from me.

"Uh, Percy," I reply, a bit uneasy at giving my name to a robot, "Percy Jackson."

"Percy, huh?" it replied in what seemed like shock, "Well, Percy, you've been dead for a long time now. How about I bring you back up to speed, huh?"

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The sun was setting over the horizon by the time my ghost was done with its explanation, and I sat down on the ground, trying to process it all.

I was in the future without Annabeth.

Humanity was pushed back, off our own planet.

The gods had revealed themselves and sacrificed themselves to keep the mortals alive during 'The Collapse'.

The last one surprised me more than anything. I didn't expect the gods to reveal themselves, much less sacrifice themselves for beings they thought were beneath them.

"I know what you're thinking," my ghost said.

I chuckled bitterly before replying.

"So you're connected to my thoughts now?"

"No," it said, in a softer tone, "I've watched as other ghosts have these conversations with their Guardians. You're missing someone who was important to you."

Surprised, I turned to it, as she continued.

"While there's no guarantee, maybe, just maybe, another ghost will find them and bring them back."

I looked over the horizon, thinking about what she said. Annabeth was still out there. If I can be brought back, then she would too. She is too good to not be brought back. It may take a long time, but I had to have faith that she'll come back to me. I had to.

"Alright", I replied, "So I just have to do the same thing that I spent the past 17 years of my life doing?"

It seemed to tilt up and down, so I assumed that it nodded and sighed.

I thought about the civilians in the Last City that it talked about. People who want to live their lives normally. I couldn't leave them alone, even if there was a whole army protecting them.

"Okay," I said, "Let's get to the Last City. Got a ship?"

Uh..." it began, and I could swear if it had a human face, it would be giving me a sheepish look.

"I don't have a ship, but I know where we can salvage one?" it said, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

Mentally cursing myself for having the worst luck possible, even in another life, I looked at my ghost in the orb.

"Let me guess, we have to fight our way to it?"

"Maybe," it said.

"Okay," I said tiredly, "Let's get the ship and get to the Last City."