Here's the next chapter, hopefully it's fulfilling enough of a send off for some of the characters even if they weren't featured that much in my story. It's kinda cute, so hope you peeps like it.

Also, just being curious, I was kinda wondering if some of you would mind if I changed the story name? I don't have much against the current one, but it's a little long and I'm wondering if it's off putting. Not too big of a deal if I don't change it, but if I shortened it to something like… I don't know… Suicidal Solitude, would that be a nuisance? Not saying that's what I would change it to, but it would be an option.

If you have other suggestions, like my suggestion, or don't want me to change it, feedback is appreciated.

Enjoy the chapter, we're getting closer to the end, but we are by no means done.

Chapter 28: He Wanted to Live

"Rebirth?" Percy repeated, attempting to process the mere definition of the word as he began to realize just exactly what Annabeth meant.

The daughter of Athena smiled sadly and nodded guiltily. Percy's stare went straight through Annabeth as he zoned out into a deep thought, questions and confusion running wildly around his head. His mouth was slightly agape, and his eyebrows were knit together as he attempted to dissect what should've been a fairly straightforward statement.

"All of you?" Percy asked, repeating Annabeth's words once again. And still, Annabeth just nodded as she attempted to analyze Percy's reaction.

Internally, Percy wanted to scream and yell at gods know what. He didn't know what to feel or how to react, his stuttering pile of a mess an indication of his conflict. How were you supposed to react when practically your best friend says that they're leaving again, this time for good?

"Why?" Percy practically whispered. He subconsciously twisted the ring of initials on his right hand, feeling the cold metal under his ginger touch.

A few years back, Percy had ventured inside Elysium with the help of Nico in search of some of his other friends, to which the son of Hades had informed him that most had also gone for rebirth. He had explained that a lot of demigods that had died heroically over the two wars and the quests in between had gone for rebirth, most shooting for the Isles of the Blest. Everyone knew that in order to be permitted into the heaven of the Underworld, one had to reach Elysium three times and therefore go for rebirth at least twice, which was one of the hardest feats one could accomplish. But hey, apparently a ton of demigods were competitive.

"Percy, you have to understand. This isn't because of you." Annabeth said softly. "It's just… living in Elysium's become unfulfilling."

"Unfulfilling?" Percy repeated. It was as if he was in some sort of trance at the moment, forced to repeat whatever Annabeth said.

"Don't get me wrong, Elysium's wonderful. It's just that…" Annabeth trailed off, searching for the right words.

"You have nothing to do." Percy finished. Annabeth nodded slowly.

"There's nothing to accomplish, and I miss having a purpose. Here, I just feel… aimless." Annabeth said. "And the others agree, we just don't feel whole here."

"Am I not enough?" Percy whispered, blurting out the words before he could stop him from saying such selfish thoughts. He knew that wasn't what this was about, but he couldn't help feeling like he wasn't enough for his friends, for Annabeth. It was a selfish thought, one that he immediately regretted, but it didn't help his feeling of helplessness.

"No!" Annabeth's voice rose, startling Percy out of his zone. She took a deep breath before speaking more softly, "No, Seaweed Brain. Never think you're not enough." Percy nodded mindlessly, his mind still racing over his ex-girlfriend's words.

"I understand." Percy said finally after a moment of silence between the two. Annabeth's face fell in sadness.

"Percy…" Annabeth started.

"No, I understand." Percy cut Annabeth off, more assertive of himself this time. "Seriously Wise Girl, I understand." Annabeth saw Percy's genuine expression and she smiled at the man. It was weird, how Annabeth hadn't aged in a half decade while Percy had managed to grow a subtle and short beard in his early-twenties.

"You were more than enough, Percy." Annabeth said confidently, in the tone that Percy immediately recognized from years of knowing the girl in front of him. It was the tone that Annabeth used to put her foot down on a subject, in a statement that was non-disputable for Percy to simply accept as fact. He didn't mind it, as most of the time it was for Percy's own good. "Anyways, this isn't all bad. There's an upside to this."

"I thought I was supposed to be the optimistic one?" Percy asked, his mood lightening even though the fact that many of his friends were permanently leaving still rested above him like a storm waiting to strike.

"I'm being serious, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said, albeit with a small smile on her face. "This way, you don't have an excuse."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, genuinely confused.

"You don't have to worry about us, about me." Annabeth said with a smile. "Go live your life. Have fun. Make new friends. Fall in love."

Annabeth smiled, and Percy could tell that she was sad, that she was hurting just having to solidify the notion that Percy would find someone else. But he could also see that Annabeth wanted this for him, with all her heart and soul.

"Annabeth…" Percy sighed. A quick peck on the lips shut him right up, something that Percy had never experienced and was undecided on if he would ever want another one.

"For me, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth. "Otherwise I'll haunt you for the rest of your days."

Percy sighed, a smile resting on his otherwise fond expression. It was rather stupid how vulnerable and weak he would become at the simple use of a nickname. Though, in fairness, he was pretty sure it was the same for Annabeth.

"Fine. I'll try." Percy relented. He smiled despite himself, knowing that he would obey Annabeth's "dying wish" even if she asked for him to jump off a cliff. Or was it a "birthing wish"?

"Thank the gods!" a yell from the staircase behind the two startled the demigods, causing both to whip around to determine the source of such a sudden noise.

"Leo?" Percy asked, rubbing his eyes as if he was seeing things. He whipped back to look at Annabeth, who shrugged and grinned as the mischievous mechanic hopped down the staircase with two other boys in tow. "I thought you said they were asleep?"

"Don't look at me!" Annabeth said, her hands raised in an innocent gesture while her smile only grew wider. Percy's gaze snapped onto Leo, Jason, and Frank, all of whom sheepishly smirked at their own antics.

"Yeah, sorry." Frank patted his chest, gesturing that he was at fault. "I couldn't sleep and I woke up the other two once I heard you guys talking."

Percy sighed and shook his head. What was he going to do once these four were gone, but this time never able to come back? The bond they had formed with all that time on the Argo II was something one truly couldn't replicate. They had told stories to each other, shared moments together, had become a family together. And now, four of the seven would be gone, for good.

"Alright, this isn't a funeral, let's have some fun, huh?" Leo suggested with a smile full of mirth. Percy knew he should've been on the verge of tears, should've been in grief and sorrow for the eventual loss of his friends who had already died, but the contagious attitude and wide smiles of the people around him made him act differently.

"Well, what do you want to do, seeing as you guys are the ones being birthed." Percy said with a smile. Leo wrinkled his nose in disgust at how Percy had phrased that.

"Don't ever say that again." Leo said, his nose still wrinkled. His expression instantly brightened, however, and his ear-to-ear smile made Percy chuckle. "Board games?"

Percy nearly dry-heaved at the proposal.

"You want to play board games on my last visit here?" Percy asked. Leo shrugged.

"I'm fine with that." Jason said, grinning just as wide as Leo.

"Nuh uh. Nope. You guys might still be children, but I'm an adult now and I am not playing Monopoly with my last moments with you guys." Percy shook his head determinedly. This seemed to only make the other four more excited about the prospect.

"It doesn't have to be Monopoly." Frank said. "We have a lot of options in the upstairs closet. We get bored sometimes."

"Really?" Percy asked in disbelief. He turned to Annabeth, who smirked and nodded, a mischievous and confident smirk that Percy knew all too well having made its way onto her face.

"You guys are so going down."

"Hey! That's cheating!" Leo whined, causing a ghost of a smile to appear on Nico's pale complexion. After the proposal of playing board games had been set in stone, Annabeth had sent Percy to fetch off the son and daughter of Hades, which came as a surprise to them when he said that instead of leaving they would be playing games like Clue and Monopoly.

It made playing all the more fun by simply having Nico and Hazel right alongside them, even if they were on the quieter side. Actually, Hazel was less reserved than usual. She had already become less shy during the years after the Giant War, but it seemed like she seemed her most comfortable with the crew of the Argo II (most of it, anyways).

With how much fun they were having, Percy was beginning to wonder why he had been frequently visiting his friends in the Underworld without having more fun. Seriously, most of his visits had been just to talk and catch up and joke around a little bit, but playing board games was something that was more akin to their sailing days on the Argo II.

"Leo, that's how the game works." Jason said calmly, shaking his head at Leo's misunderstanding of Scrabble. Leo groaned in annoyance at how Nico was able to branch off of his word.

"This is stupid, anways. Why are we playing a word game when all of us have dyslexia?" Leo asked as Annabeth began to empty just about her whole rack of letters.

"Because…" Annabeth carefully set the letters onto the board, creating a word that Percy had no chance of understanding even if he could see it properly. "It's fun, and you all suck."

Leo scoffed, faking offense, while the others sported wide smiles and stifled laughter. Percy smiled sadly, his eyes showing more than his entire expression of how he truly felt about the people around him. He would miss them, but he would also miss the times like this. Moments of solidarity and tranquility where everything but his friends were tuned out, nothing else but the moment mattering.

He could persist with himself being alone in a cabin beside a lake, surviving off hunted meat and gathered fruits. He could survive with annual meetings on Olympus and perhaps monthly visits to Camp Half-Blood and the Hunt. He could endure being alone the rest of his life with the occasional interaction here and there. But could he live?

If he truly thought about it, he didn't think so.

He may have survived living by himself on Purgatory, but he didn't live, not by any margin. And he wanted to live, he recognized that now.

"Percy, stop staring at Annabeth." Jason said, causing Percy to blush even though he was zoned out in his own world.

"I wasn't staring." Percy muttered. "No offense, Annabeth." she smiled at this, amused at how stupidly polite Percy could get in situations that just made him look socially awkward at times.

"Why would I take offense to that?" Annabeth asked, knowing it would just make Percy more flustered. He just became too cute for her to not do it.

"Well… I don't know…" Percy scratched the back of his neck in confusion. "Cause I made it sound like I didn't want to look at you?"

"Is that a question?" Annabeth asked, her smile growing. Percy didn't seem to notice, however, and continued to stumble and stutter.

"No?" Percy offered, making Annabeth finally relent and laugh at Percy's expense. He looked up from his lap and his cheeks tinted red. "I hate you."

"You love me." Annabeth challenged, staring Percy down with a smirk on her face. Percy eventually sighed, and nodded.

"Yeah, I do." Percy said. He smiled, knowing already that he was going to miss such trivial interactions with Annabeth. But not just her, from everyone. He loved Leo's weird spontaneousness and odd jokes. He cherished Frank's kindness and clumsiness. He was going to miss Jason's sincerity and their friendly rivalry as sons of Zeus and Poseidon.

Even though he knew what it would take for him to live once more, he would allow himself some time to not grief, but remember and cherish the moments with a select few that he would never get to experience again.

"You're staring again, Percy." Frank chimed in, earning a quick glare from the son of Poseidon before his face relaxed once more into a state of bliss.

"I know." Percy said this time, his gaze returning to Annabeth. She smiled, and he had to seriously resist the urge to swoop her up into his arms and hug her until the day he died, and maybe after that as well.

"Can we get back to the game!?" Leo asked, interrupting the staring contest Percy and Annabeth had engaged in.

"I thought you hated it, Leo?" Nico asked with a smug smirk. Leo scrunched his nose and shook his head.

"I don't hate it. I just think it's unfair that we have a daughter of Athena playing with a bunch of dyslexia kids in a word game." Leo said.

"Wait, I'm not a kid!" Percy interrupted, breaking off his stare with Annabeth to smile at Leo. "And neither are Nico or Hazel!"

"Blah blah blah." Leo said, mocking Percy with a wave. "Doesn't change the fact that it's not fair."

"Leo, I'm dyslexic too, you know." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but you know some stupid magic to help with it. All of us are idiots and can't read!" Leo waved his arms about in a helpless gesture.

"Speak for yourself!" Hazel cried, squinting at the Scrabble board before them and meticulously placing a handful of letters on the board. "There, beat that!"

Percy squinted at what Hazel and set onto the board, but he was pretty sure that it read BRYU, and he didn't think that was a word.

"Nice, Hazel!" Annabeth smiled widely and high-fived the only other girl in the room. Percy was beginning to suspect that they were teaming up on the other gender. "That's actually pretty good."

"That's not even a real word!" Jason complained, narrowing his eyes at the word and furiously rubbing his pupils as if the word would reveal itself.

"Jason," Annabeth sighed, shaking her head, "how is that not a real word?"

"Sorcery, witchcraft I tell you!" Leo yelled, pointing an accusing finger and waving it wildly between Hazel and Annabeth. Percy, Jason, and Frank burst out laughing at the angry and scandalized faces of the two girls, not being able to contain themselves as they both looked ready to murder the already deceased son of Hephaestus.

"Hey, Perce." Nico nudged Percy from beside him, steadying Percy after his fit of joy. The son of Hades tapped his wrist, and Percy looked at his watch only to sigh sadly.

Even though Hades allowed Percy to visit whenever he wanted, he didn't have unlimited time to venture the Underworld, and so his visits were limited to a couple hours at most. It was a sad reality, but Percy knew that it was about time to leave, for good this time.

Percy bit his lip in anxiousness, and surveyed the friends that surrounded him.

He would miss this, but he knew that already.

His friends would be leaving him, and this time there would be no afterlife for him to visit them in. No Elysium for him to stop by and have a chat with them. They would be gone, reborn as different people with no recollection of Percy.

And somehow, Percy knew he would be okay with it.

Definitely not tomorrow, and probably not the next day, but Percy knew that eventually, he would accept the fact that they were forever gone.

After a round of sad goodbyes filled with tears and bro-hugs and a long-lasting embrace between daughter of Athena and son of Poseidon, Percy finally managed to leave Elysium with Hazel and Nico by his side.

It was hard, he wouldn't deny that. He had told himself that he understood why he would never see them again, and he did, but that didn't make it any easier to say goodbye one last time. The hugs were longer than normal, the goodbyes more drawn out, everything done in an effort to drag out their lasat moments together for as long as possible.

He looked back a few times, he would admit it (okay, maybe more than a few times), but he had been able to leave Elysium and find himself in the palace of the Underworld with Hades directly in front of him.

Hades had explained earlier that he wanted to inform him of something, and so Percy obliged.

"Perseus." Hades greeted, seated at his pitch black throne as he shifted uncomfortably, almost like he was nervous. "As you know, I wanted to tell you something before you departed."

"Yes, milord." Percy nodded his head in an acute bow. He disliked many gods, but Hades was far from one of them.

"No need for that, Percy." Hades waved. He cleared his throat and lifted himself up in his chair, shifting his weight a few times. "I feel like I owe you. For what you have done for my namesake and my family, I see you as someone that should be paid in full, and you know I'm an honorable person."

"You don't owe me, Hades." Percy shook his head. Hades waved him off once more.

"Nonsense." Hades said. "You simply allowing me to be placed on the council is enough for me to owe you, and you have done much more for my family than just that."

"Still, you don't have to pay me... or anything. I didn't do everything just to be recognized or paid." Percy said. Even the notion of having participated in the wars for money or other payment was enough to make him grimace.

"Nevertheless, I feel like I must pay my debt, and I have a hunch that you won't mind the information I have for you."

"Information?" Percy perked up. He still didn't think Hades owed him anything, but information was a better payment than drachmas if he insisted.

"Yes, would you like information?" Hades asked with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk. Percy shrugged.

"I mean… if you insist on paying me in some way, I guess information would be best." Percy said. Hades nodded, as if he already knew what Percy's answer would be.

"Well then, it has come to my attention that this upcoming threat is something I can help prevent, or something I can fuel." Hades said carefully, choosing his words wisely. "The person you search for attempted to sway me to their side in hopes to tip the scales of power, but I informed them that it is a decision that I must make given time."

"What?" Percy asked, processing the outpour of information. He perked up in realization and asked, "So, you know who it is?"

"Sadly, I do not." Hades shook his head. "They were mindful of their anonymity and identity, but they did let slip what their goal is."

"And?" Percy knew his impatience was getting him in danger of disrespecting the god, but he felt like his reaction was appropriate.

Hades sighed, as if he hated the words that would eventually spew out of his mouth.

"They seek retribution. They have other gods, other Olympians on their side, and they wish to overthrow Zeus for the leadership of Olympus and western civilization."

So someone asked curiously if there would be lemons in this story, and I'm honestly undecided about that. I don't have anything against lemons, this story is rated T but could be changed to M, and writing them would be interesting, but I would only do it if a majority of my readers actually want it. So I'll probably do a poll on my account to see if you guys want lemons or not, Idk. If the reviews are flooded with yeses or no's I'll probably just not put up a poll.

Anyways, sort of a fun chapter, hope you guys enjoyed. As always give feedback please, and here are the review responses!

Holl0w Dan: I've been seeing a lot of people wanting all three of them together, so if I have a nice idea I'll probably do an alternate ending.

Mark Andrew: For the rebirth, the character's will basically just be out of the story from now on, I'm not trying to have an infant version of Annabeth pop up out of nowhere. Yeah, the other wolves were kinda otherwise occupied, and for the Apollo lie detector thing, I didn't want an easy cop-out. I'm not too sure if his "knowing when anyone is telling the truth" thing is canon (let me know if it is), but I don't think it was too necessary in the situation even if he does have the power.

Percy: Slow is literally the definition of this story lol. I feel like the character development goes at a snail's pace, but it's not supposed to switch on and off like a light, so that's how I write it!

parallaxyt: Not too much angst in the chapter, honestly got all the stuff out of the way in the beginning and moved on to more things relating to plot and character development, so hope you didn't mind. And also don't worry, I already know exactly who's betraying who, so I'm not going to switch anything up on you lmao.

MasterTrident: Yeah, it is kinda devastating, but with the way I've been writing Percy's development I felt as if he would also be understanding in the end. Let me know if you think differently, honestly curious if my character development's been accurate, as that's a main part of this story.

Theseus-Theo: Hey, honestly, don't listen to anything I say. Sometimes I'm just trying to play devil's advocate and maybe or maybe not throw you readers off the scent (I swear, sometimes you guys can be too smart for your own good).

KitKathy520: Yup, anything's possible at this point! And yeah, I feel like the rebirth wasn't too surprising to a lot of people, but I'm fine with that considering it's not supposed to be the biggest reveal in this story. There are plenty more cliff hangers and plenty more major decisions to come, don't worry.

LostVoidKing: Damn, always nice to be complimented so passionately. Thank you, truly, and I hope I don't disappoint you too much once the end result is revealed.

Warped12: Put sort of a response at the end of this chapter if you didn't see it, but if not, I'm undecided. And I thought it would just be funny to have Percy as a virgin, and kinda makes sense lol.

Jontybh: Well, they did kiss, but nothing too long-lasting or mind-breaking I hope. Just something that I felt both characters needed to find true closure. Hope it felt right for you as a reader as well.

Gibson1014: Yeah, you're spot on with the whole rebirth situation. And trust me, the Aphrodite-Percy relationship is just as fun to write even if it was an entirely unexpected component of this story lol.

ALRIGHT, I HAVE DECIDED TO GIVE YOU ALL ANOTHER CLUE!

I'm bored, and I want to kill you guys with anticipation, so here's another clue to who the mystery person behind everything is…

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the person is…

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a woman

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:)