All I could feel was pain, a deep, searing pain in the small of my back. It was worse than anything I had felt before except maybe my time in the Styx, but the difference was hard to distinguish.

My legs collapsed and I landed face up in the snow. It was a soft landing and helped to ease the pain a bit. I was in a clearing surrounded by a thick pine forest on all sides, all covered in a layer of snow a foot thick in some places. It made it almost picturesque, typical of a winter night. Everything a glowing silver-white contrasting with the deep ebony of the night sky, peppered with the pinpricks of light provided by the stars.

But it was all slowly dissolving into nothing until all that was left were the stars, not even the pain remained. But even they slowly started to fade, the last thing my living eyes saw was a constellation. The Huntress. Then all turned to black.

Betrayed. That was all I could think of. How could they do that to me? How could she do that to me? After all I had done for them! Enough! Don't think about what happened. Concentrate on the present, that is what matters now. Surrounded by the dead, pieced by their blank stares. How did I get here? Stop! A few steps forward into a studio, through the elevator doors down into the abyss. All the while trying to forget the past. Everything is blurry, passing in a flash. Queuing in a line; walking through fields; into a white city. Where am I? The answer comes in an instant: The Elysian Fields.

Still in a blur, greeted by old friends. Questions without answers. A new way of life, a new routine, a new home. Time passes, nothing changes, all within a short time.

A routine, a cycle, a replay of events. Until I see her. It breaks the routine, slows time down and brings everything into a sharp focus. For she is one of few who can understand, who knows what it was like.

She steps forward, nothing matters, she is all I can see. I match her movements slowly drawing closer, ever closer. And then:

"Percy?" a quiet whisper, barely heard, but it changes everything. I understood. Tears slowly made their way down my face, before I knew it I was engulfed in a pair of beautiful arms.

"It's ok," no 'what happened', no 'why are you here', just 'it's ok'. I could finally let it out, after days of build up it was all I could do to keep myself standing.

"Who?" was it. I knew what she was asking. Casting my mind back I could see her face, framed in princess curls. I shut my eyes, scrunched up my face. That was all she needed.

"Her?" A simple nod, I felt her lithe body stiffen, start to shake, her arms tightening, her chin digging into my shoulder.

"It's ok," Now receding, I could see. She understood, she knows what it's like; we have both suffered the same fate.

She looks up, topaz meets emerald, and a connection appears. Slight movements from both sides, lips meet, nothing matters. Memories disappear, old feelings fade, I am finally happy.