The Undead's Decision (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: Reflections

(Percy's POV)

"Percy"

A sudden voice whispered in my head. I jerked my head up from my food and swivelled my head around the dining hall. I noticed a few people sitting at a table not far from mine, chatting with each other, however, I did not see anyone who seemed to be the source of the voice. I pushed the thought to the back of my head and resumed my meal, letting myself daydream again. After all, it seemed that it is all I did nowadays.

Start Flashback

I recalled the priceless look on Charon's face when I walked into his lobby in front of the River Styx. Remembering my first quest with Annabeth and Grover, I smiled when he had asked me whether it was a bathtub again. As we slowly sailed down the Styx, I heard him mention something about a pay raise that he had gotten, but my mind was elsewhere. Thoughts about camp and home flooded my head, about my friends, my mother and whether she had found out she would not see me again, but most importantly, my dear Annabeth.

I felt the tears brimming in my eyes, threatening to burst out. We had it all planned out. Starting next fall, both of us were about to begin college in New York. Annabeth was planning to study architecture at Columbia and I had hoped to get into the marine biology course at NYU. Evening walks in Central Park, sipping Frappuccino's from a nearby Starbuck's, or weekend dates at the Coney Island amusement park, making out at the top of the Ferris wheel, and then ending it off with a classic New York crust pizza at a local deli.

It was ironical, actually, that I was sailing on the River Styx as I had these thoughts, considering that the River Styx is the scrapheap of human miseries. The river is full to the brim with lost hopes and dreams, as well as wishes that never came true. The river seemed to be taunting me as I looked at my reflection on the water, knowing that my life in the overworld was now as improbable as me controlling the Styx. I was jarred from my thoughts as the boat shuddered to a stop in front of a colossal Parthenon-like structure, supported by towering marble pillars, etched with Greek and Latin symbols. A circular dais had been erected at the centre of the polished, granite floor, surrounded by a circular spectator stand. At the centre of the dais stood a rectangular wooden fence, and in front of it, three empty mahogany chairs.

The Judgement Pavilion.

I slowly trailed into the massive pavilion and stepped onto the dais. As soon as my foot touched the platform, three shimmering figures appeared on the chairs, the judges, holding serious expressions on their ghostly faces. While Thomas Jefferson and William Shakespeare were still at their original chairs, the third one was occupied by a new face, one that seemed familiar but I could not identify. I recalled that Minos had been replaced after the Labyrinth fiasco. Suddenly, I realised that the stands were full of spirits, both old and young. Dazed from the incessant chatter among the spectators, I turned back to the judges, in time to see Jefferson open his mouth to speak.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen once again. We are gathered here to decide the fate of Percy Jackson...", his voice fading as soon as he said my name, his attention diverted from the scroll in his hands to me. The conversations abruptly died down as everyone turned their heads towards me in shock.

After a long uncomfortable silence, I heard Shakespeare get up from his chair and walk over to me.

"Percy Jackson, how is this possible? We predicted your passing would occur a long time for now." He looked at me with such disbelief as though I was an unsolvable mystery just being solved.

"His report states that the cause of his death is confidential and only Hades would be able to reveal that information to us when the time he deems fit comes.", the third judge announced, after scanning the scroll. When I looked back at him, I realised that it was Daedalus, or as we better knew him as Quintus. He did not look back at me with the same recognition, then I remembered Nico saying something about judges being washed in the River Lethe before their duty, in order to prevent any older connections, influence the judging.