Before they had arranged anything, Charlie kind of floated about his home. His parents and sisters couldn't hear or see him and he couldn't do anything to make his presence known. He hated seeing them crying and miserable every second of every day.

Jessica was the only one who felt the need to do something. She marched straight into the Valdez residence, made them all tea and coffee and started ordering them about.

"He can't stay in there forever!" She exclaimed firmly. Her eyes were red as well, but she was putting on a brave face and organising her foster daughter and her family. It took Charlie a few seconds to figure out that by 'in there', Jessica had meant the morgue.

He had been there when they took his body away. Louisa and Leo had to be restrained, Louisa screaming obscenities with tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks. Leo didn't say anything, fighting viciously and looking ready to burn anything and anyone that took his son from him.

Jessica ordered them all to sit at the dining room table. Charlie sat in his chair as well and stared around at them all. Louisa and his sisters looked constantly on the edge of tears, their eyes red and puffy with dark shadows under them. Leo hadn't spoken since that day. They all stared at the table surface noncommittally. Jessica had a different nervous habit- she talked.

She set a plate of biscuits in front of them. "He'd want bright colours, wouldn't he? Reds, oranges and yellows- no black, he'd hate that. Who do we invite?" And she went on and on, arranging the… the funeral for an hour or more- Charlie couldn't keep track of time other than the sky lightening and darkening outside of the window.

From the sound of it, he was going to have a good funeral. There would be lots of bright colours and chocolate cake and all his favourite music. His coffin- a white one that would have flames and his name on it- would be pulled on a Pegasus-drawn carriage. All the flowers would be blue, green, red, orange, yellow and white. A list of guests had been drawn up as well- the kids and teachers from school, his closest friends and their parents, his family, close family friends or partners and their children… the list seemed to go on.

At some point, he saw his mother put her head in her hands and she started crying yet again. She was up and away in seconds, Leo hurrying after her.

Charlie curiously went after them while Jessica did her best to console Elsie and Alokia. Louisa was sobbing into Leo's chest and he held her tightly, as if scared of losing her too. Her fingers were curled into his T-shirt. Charlie saw tears glistening as they fell freely from his father's eyes and he would do anything to help, if he could.

He wasn't sure how long they stood like that, but it was Louisa's choked words that stabbed at him:

"We ain't meant ta have a son, are we?"

The funeral itself was, despite the depression and grief thick in the air, fantastic. Charlie flew about above their heads, shouting assurances desperately.

"I'm here! Stop crying, I'm here!" He landed in front of a few people and tried to hug them or grab their hand- anything- but he just passed right through them.

He gave up when the service started. He flew up and sat in the rafters of the small church his parents had chosen- something about burying him next to the others. He still didn't know what they meant by that.

Ghosts could cry, apparently.

He started paying attention when Joe walked up to the podium with bits of paper in his trembling hands. Joe's parents weren't here and there was a tension in his shoulders that seemed to host more than just his best friend's death.

Joe adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat, wiping at his eyes with one hand and staring miserably down at the paper in his other.

"Charlie… was probably one of the craziest people you would ever meet. But he was also the most lovable and he was forever smiling and making others smile. He always said that a smile could change someone's day for the better and he set about to do just that- make people's lives better. He bought the best out in everybody, even Kevin." A rumble of laughter followed this. Charlie saw his old nemesis in the third row. "Well, tried to bring the best out in Kevin and it must have worked as he's here." Joe cleared his throat and it was obvious he was trying to keep his emotions in check. "Charlie was such an inspirational person. This last month… we didn't know he was… he was…" Joe skipped that word, "but he just insisted that the whole school did something for charity, like the play. We had so many people joining in and it was just great that Charlie had managed to get everyone together like that…" Joe's voice hitched and his eyes shone with tears. "There… there aren't… enough words… to say how… how much I'll miss him. How much we'll all miss him…" He bowed his head, tears flowing as he scrunched up the paper and stepped down from the podium, returning solemnly to his seat. Charlie floated down and sat next to him. Joe didn't even notice.

Kevin was the next one up.

"I… I didn't always see eye to eye with… with Charlie… he offered a truce after telling us about the play. I'm glad I shook hands with them. I didn't know I wouldn't… get another chance to do that." He looked at Louisa and Leo. Louisa had clearly spaced out, staring at the white coffin with fire patterns on it with dull, wide and lifeless eyes. Charlie moved through people and benches and sat next to her and his father. His sisters sat on his left, Alokia openly sobbing into a wad of tissues while Elsie sat there, stony-faced and crying silently.

Kevin cleared his throat and hurriedly continued in a small voice, his eyes fixed on the base of the microphone. "Wherever he is now, I… just hope he's happy and that… that he's got somebody to annoy…" He stepped down, wringing his hands. Charlie watched him as he walked back. Kevin didn't meet anyone's gaze once, his eyes glued to the floor.

Sage was the next one- the last one. Nobody else seemed able to go and stand up there.

Her hair had simply been pulled back into a ponytail with a red hair band. She wore an orange T-shirt and jeans. They all wore armbands with Charlie's name stitched in to it, all of varying colours from the theme colours.

"I tried to kill Charlie on a daily basis. That was pretty obvious." She sniffled, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I loved him really though. That annoying little brother you could never get rid of." Theo and Callum protested feebly. Sage gave them a watery smile. "I remember when I first met Charlie. He was so tiny." She held her hands up, less than a foot apart. "I was absolutely fascinated. He was so adorable, but then he turned into a little monster. We all loved him for it, though. A Leo in the making. He always stole my books or interrupted me when I was reading. Probably for food or entertainment- you know how short his attention span was. What I loved most though was that… that childish excitement at everything. He could get on with everyone, everything was a golden opportunity. He was never negative, always smiling and… and laughing and being a… a complete goof." Her voice cracked. "He was my… my best friend and… and my mortal enemy, I guess. As much as I tried to kill him… he was there. Like a boomerang- you could throw him away, but he'd always come back." She dissolved into tears then. "I'm sorry…" She mumbled, rushing down and back to her chair. Percy greeted her with open arms and let her cry on his shoulder.

He had never worn red before.

Charlie stood at his headstone, with his parents. Louisa and Leo knelt side-by-side, crying into each other's arms. Elsie and Alokia were a short distance away, Elsie hugging her sister tightly as Alokia sobbed into her shoulder.

The others had headed to the wake about fifteen minutes ago, giving the family time to themselves.

It had really hit home when Charlie watched his own coffin being carried out by his uncle, Tobias, Max and his father. Charlie was almost as tearful as his family as the dirt was piled on top and the flowers were placed.

He wasn't crying so much for himself and the life that he would never live.

He was crying for his family and friends that would have to live without him. He hated seeing them hurt and crying for something that he couldn't fix.

Sniffing and wiping at his eyes, Charlie had plans to head home with them, but everything went cloudy and darkened. He panicked at first, scrabbling towards where his parents had been, but he nearly collided with Hades instead.

"Can't you do anything?!" He cried.

"I'm sorry, Charlie." And for once, the lord of the dead genuinely was.

Hades sighed, smoothing his robe of tortured souls. "There… there are some… people that I'm sure your parents would want you to meet. After that, you can decide to spend eternity with Hephaestus or in Elysium."

"Elysium? Why? I… I haven't done anything."

"You've bought happiness to everyone who has ever known you." He paused. "Strange to say, even myself."

"Really?" Hades inclined his head, resting his hand awkwardly on Charlie's shoulder.

"Come." He insisted kindly. Charlie had never pictured the god of the Underworld to ever be so kind.

They walked a short distance. Charlie could hear the screams from the Fields of Punishment, the cackles of the Furies and the drones from the Fields of Asphodel. He didn't see anything though, as if Hades was hiding it all from him.

Elysium wasn't far. Waiting at the gates were four figures Charlie didn't recognise.

Who are they, do you think?