Percy Dies

Piper McLean

We entered through the Door of Orpheus after Annabeth convinced me that a little bit of charm speak weaved into my singing would do the trick. It only took a verse from Knockin' On Heaven's Door for the monumental obsidian door to swing upon. Ironic.

We each took turns forming a three-fingered claw gesture over our hearts and pushing outwards. Hopefully, that would prevent us from getting attacked on the way to meeting Percy.

The three of us entered the Underworld cautiously - Annabeth was leading the pack while Reyna paced alongside me. After the ritual, Annabeth and Reyna approached me to form a group of three, with a plan to visit Percy in the Underworld. I wasn't entirely sure of what the plan entailed, but I would never turn down an opportunity to see him again. If the opportunity arose, I might even be able to see Jason too.

As of late, I had been having visions of him in a familiar mansion. It reeked of grandeur, with fancy chandeliers in every room. However, the structure of the house was strikingly similar to my old mansion. I wondered whether it was of any significance, or perhaps just a coincidence. My thoughts were interrupted as Annabeth suddenly stopped in front of me without warning, causing me to almost collide into her.

Ahead of her was a large chasm with no bottom in sight. Everything past 20 metres deep was completely pitch black, and the gloomy atmosphere of the Underworld did not help lift my spirits.

Annabeth hastily fished out a pair of glasses from her backpack and fitted them on.

"Ever since I lost Daedalus' Laptop, I've been pissed off," she explained dejectedly. "I begged and begged the Gods to grant me access to it again until Hephaestus finally caved. He didn't give me what I wanted, but something similar."

She continued explaining about the glasses in great detail; they allowed 3D projections to appear in front of objects to show their proportions and architecture. These projections were only visible to the user, who could further alter the object to their desire. Annabeth also recently discovered that the lens' thickness adjusted its size perfectly in accordance to the user, and that it possessed thermal imaging and ultraviolet light capabilities.

She led us along the edge of the chasm to a small broken granite bridge, which looked like it once extended to the other side of the chasm. With a simple tap on her glasses, small rocks began rising from out of the abyss to connect the bridge to the other end.

"Are you sure it's safe to cross it?" Reyna asked.

"Yeah, is there like, super glue holding the rocks together?" I added, not entirely agreeing with the notion that these glasses were foolproof.

She simply rolled her eyes before tenderly walking across the bridge. Reyna crept carefully behind her, and I brought up the rear of the group. In no time, we were walking on solid, non-made-in-ten-seconds ground again.

After about an hour of traversing rocky terrain and the occasional slaying of monsters, we reached what appeared to be our destination. Ahead of us stood a simple white bungalow, two stories in height. It looked absurdly out of place, surrounded by darkness. Yet, the house looked oddly clean, as if it had an aura surrounding it that provided it with protection.

Before we could ask any questions, Annabeth held a finger up to her lips and gestured for us to follow her silently. We crept to the back of the bungalow and entered through a large wooden door that was left ajar.

The house was decorated with white furniture and lit with white light. Everything was bone white; it even felt like the whiteness was seeping into me. I looked around in confusion at the others, but they didn't seem to have noticed what was going on.

"This is where we have to stay for two days before continuing our journey. This house was built by Iapetus, as a haven from the monsters of Tartarus. Two days would allow us to pass through to Elysium even though we're mortals." Annabeth explained, taking a seat on a white sofa in the living room.

"Can do," Reyna said, before slumping onto a bed in one of the bedrooms.

Two days later

By this time, our bodies were enveloped in a white aura. We continued our trek to Elysium, taking short breaks whenever necessary. The journey was not all that arduous, but the anticipation of finally seeing Percy again was gnawing at my ribs.

I missed him. Ever since he passed, things just felt different. The camp itself had some sort of negative aura around it. No monsters had attempted any sort of attack on the camp in weeks. It was as if the spawn of Hades themselves were too afraid to approach the body of Perseus Jackson, the man who had slain the Titans.

Once we reached the Gates of Elysium, we simply walked through to the other side. Our bodies instantly dimmed to about half their initial brightness. I assumed that when we left, the aura would disappear completely.

We walked across the long, winding bridge to the island. It was beautiful: clear skies, warm but dry weather, and an ever-constant cooling breeze. The streets were furnished with garden beds and flora of every species, bringing colour and life to the place.

It just dawned upon me that I might see Jason here. Was he even aware of Percy's death? I mean, he should be right? I'm sure Percy would have had some kind of grand entrance. Maybe I would even have the opportunity to see them both.

We walked until Annabeth eventually stopped babbling about the architecture and design flaws of Elysium. It could only be Annabeth that would be able to identify flaws in the most perfect of places. Reyna and I rolled our eyes every time Annabeth would stop just to point out an imperfection.

We stopped at an ordinary looking mansion, which Annabeth told us was Percy's house. Ordinary in the sense that it did not stand out amongst the other mansions, not that a mansion would be ordinary.

"This is it? We're finally going to see him again?" asked Reyna, her excitement visible for all to see.

"This is it," replied Annabeth. "I hope so."