Nina wasn't scared as she rode Charon's boat. There was actually a sense of comfort, of completeness, when she handed over her coin. All her brothers, sisters, and friends had already gone down in the last few days, but that was fine with her. After all, she needed time.

She knew she was dead, and remembered thoroughly how she had departed the mortal world. She drank the cup filled with poison at dinner, because she was a child of the big three, a daughter of Zeus.

It was crazy for her to try and understand why this was better than letting the great prophecy come to pass. Why kill your own children to save your legacy if it means destroying it too? You can't prevent or change a prophecy once it's given, so they're only making it worse. Victor, her older brother, became terribly bitter about it and quite angry with the gods in his final hours. Joyce, the oldest daughter of Poseidon, wanted to play capture the flag with all the gods who voted to off us. Grace, head counselor of Athena, found it unjust. Even Anita, the leader of the losing side and daughter of Hades, wept for her fate, for their fate.

Nina didn't cry for herself or for the others. She cried in Charon's lobby for all the half bloods who took their lives to be in Elysium with their loves and best friends. That's why Nina didn't get on the first day, she felt like the stragglers deserved the chance to catch up.

She sighed when the boat reached the underworld, the three paths and the three headed dog in front of her. She smiled and waved at the poor creature, if she had a ball or something she'd play with him but she didn't.

The express way to boredom, wondering the fields with no memory, was right in front of her. Nina didn't want that, and the Fields of Asphodel were the reason she waited coming down for so long.

She wasn't like Victor, Joyce, Grace, or Anita. Hades, she wasn't even like her best friend Peter, his father is Hades and he saw combat for a few years. Nina had never left Camp Half Blood since she was left there as an infant, the place was her whole world. Nina had helped with the war effort as best as she could with in the borders of camp, but she never was deployed for two reasons.

The first was that WWII ended. Therefore, no war means no battles which means no need for soldiers. The second is that the camp had an age restriction. No camper could go into battle, no matter how many years they've been there, until they were sixteen. Nina was nine the day she died, her tenth birthday a month away.

She knew she didn't have a chance at Elysium, but she had to try. So Nina didn't go in the Asphodel, she went off to be judged. There was a small line of people who clearly weren't demigods and maybe a clear sighted mortal because the man was freaking out.

After what felt like forever, it was Nina's turn to be judged. When she entered, she saw three golden masked men. This is it, the last step. Then the man to the right spoke.

"Well, she has a good heart. Treated others with respect and helped out as best she could."

The man on the left scoffed.

"She also went against rules like seeking in and out of the ant hill alone, being in the attic, going against Chiron's wishes, do I need to go on?"

"She's nine and being in the attic isn't the same as trespassing."

"For her it is, due to her age and what she's done in her life time."

The mask in the middle finally speaks. "Don't you mean this life time."

She looks up him with a look of confusion. "You mean this isn't my first life?"

The man on the right smiles. "After a few thousand years you think new souls are common? No Nina, most have lived at least twice."

The man on the left looks at her like he's realizing something for the first time. "Well, that's not the case with you." Nina raises an eyebrow. "You're soul is ancient, dating back to right after Zeus declared humans to be split, probably attached to your soul mate in the underworld."

Nina tries not to let this effect, but she blushes brightly. "So soul mates are real? Did I ever find mine again?"

The man on the right sighs. "Nina, that can be discussed another time. What matters is getting you into the afterlife you earned."

The man on the left glares at him. "This is her 21st life and there's no way she'd be able to handle the others-"

"I'll do it."

The man in the middle smirks at my out burst. "You realize you have to live through or watch 3 defining memories from all those lives, death, and this one included for this to work. If you had earned Elysium or the Fields of Punishment we could just look through them, but that's not your case."

Nina gulps, she can do this. "My answer stays the same."

The man in the middle looks at his comrades. "I'll take her to my palace so this won't back everything up. Maybe get Peter or my wife prepare a space for her to sleep."

The man comes down, takes her hand, and then she's standing in a throne room. Nina quickly bows her head. "Lord Hades."

Hades waves me off. "Don't start half blood. Now I need you to drink this." He held out something that looked like oil and Nina gagged. "I assure you it's not poison, but it will make you sleep."

She nodded and took the oil drink and downed the whole glass. Nina started to feel dizzy and sleep come over her. She dropped the glass and tumbled to the floor with wolf howls and the wind carrying her off to her first life.