Prologue
He noticed the buildings in Elysium far before he heard the laughter and music. Every single architectural style Annabeth gushed about was visible, and Luke found himself recalling the names of a few of her favorites. As he drew closer, he realized that every single person there looked happier and more alive than almost anyone he knew before his death. The entire community looked so peaceful and beyond beautiful, and the boy knew he could stay there forever. If he just opened the golden gates, his life could truly end, and he would truly understand the concept of eternal bliss. He could see Charles, Silena, Zoƫ, and all the other people his actions had helped to kill. Then, he feared, the eternal bliss would become eternal guilt because maybe he hadn't really reached Elysium after all. Maybe he didn't deserve a huge reward yet. Maybe he still needed to prove himself, and his death just provided him with a new opportunity, one without the luring of Kronos, the never-ending need to please both sides of a war, or divine intervention.
Despite the allure of the paradise, Luke couldn't help but look beyond it, over the small body of water separating it from an island. Next to Hades' palace, it was the most spectacular place in the Underworld, the place the greatest heroes chose. The Isles of the Blest. Hercules, Achilles, and all the other people he had read about in stories when he was a young child, before he knew the reality of the so-called "myths", resided there. It wasn't gated, like Elysium, and it contained wonders so amazing that they were simply unearthly: rivers and waterfalls were colorful, trees were bigger than the California redwoods, and a bright sunlight shone down constantly on everything. Some people referred to it as the place where the sun never set, which Luke decided was appropriate.
The boy could barely even fathom how anyone could reach Elysium three times, when for him, achieving it once was almost impossible. However, he also knew that he didn't fully deserve it for a life in which he almost let the Titan Lord come to power, was responsible for the loss of thousands of lives, and was known as a traitor and a liar until the very end. All he really did by killing himself was stop an event he was the cause of. He knew exactly what he needed to do in order to truly feel closure after the events in his life: Live and achieve Elysium three more times, as his first life didn't seem successful enough for a reward. Luke decided to take a chance at an extra three lives for everyone he had hurt: Thalia, Annabeth, Chiron, his parents, and every other person who had been affected by his actions.
As he made his way back to the Judgment Pavilion, he thought of the words he said to Annabeth, "Think..rebirth. Try for three times. Isles of the Blest." He knew these words would be true, and he knew this time around, every promise would be kept.
