[Chapter I]

Luke sighed as he glanced at his semi-transparent hands. Where they had once been a flush tan filled with rushing blood, they were now a cold, almost glowing blue. There was no blood, no skin, no bone. He existed without those things.

Because Luke Castellan had been dead for a very long time.

He had at first been shocked at the very thought of being dead. He knew that he had died, and he had known that he was going to die the minute Percy looked him in the eyes with eyes that had been, oh so scared.

'But how?' His mind had persisted. He had long since been put off on questioning the way of the Gods. And how things simply did not make sense in their world. How does his brain function with no muscles? How is he even thinking?

For a time these though's plagued, Luke. So deep in his thoughts, he did not think to question any of the other souls that stood in line with him. They all had glazed eyes, and some even had drool dripping from the sides of their chins.

'They must have drunk from the river of Lethe' Luke had once remembered. 'But didn't I drink from the river as well?'

But that slow creep did not cause him to panic for a very long time. After all, he did remember much of anything.

What he did remember was that he was dead. He had died a traitor, to the demi-gods, the gods, the mortals, the titans. He betrayed each and every one of them.

And there had been a time from before, 'There had been a before?' His mind lazily stored that recollection away for later. When he had felt such deep sorrow, and had been so, so sorry. He had been so sorry he had felt his heart lurch and the need to just scream-

But those feelings soon passed away into apathy. After all, what use was regret when he would spend a century standing in line bored. Because he was, he was bored out of his mind. There was simply nothing to do, but think, and wait, and stand, and think. All-day every day.

Why was there a need for the fields of punishment when they made everyone wait in line?

And so yes, Luke had looked down at his Semi-Transparent hands, and after a long, long time of thought, his thought's only his thoughts, with no one else to talk to. It had been only him-

He had felt like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and so yes he had initially been sad that he was dead, but he accepted it. But oh, he could never get over the chill. You remember what chill is? 'Alaska, I remember Alaska and Kronos, it was the only place where you could be free from the Gods, Go there, go to Alaska-'

Luke didn't remember why he had gone to Alaska, or when, or how or what he had received. It had been important, he knew.

But he remembered the chill of cold. He remembered what cold felt like 'He couldn't remember what warmth felt like' It felt like now. The overwhelming feeling that one has when you have no body to warm you. No inner strength. No blood in his veins.

He couldn't remember what a hug was, but he knew that it felt warm.

'Percy,' Luke thought of the younger boy, or well had he had been younger than him. 'He still is, I'm still older than him, it's just that I haven't aged since my death'

He had heard from the newly dead of Percy the son of Poseidon. They were usually more active than the older ghosts and had new information to spread. He had also heard of tales about Percy's new friends, Leo, Hazel, Frank. Were some names that he could recall.

They had been granted Godship, and they hadn't even bothered to check up on him. He knew, oh, he knew that Percy's friends did not have to, they didn't even know him. But Percy whose greatest flaw was Loyalty didn't even check up on the man who died for him. And Annabeth and Thalia.

His hands clench in an unknown habit. 'Reflex' Thought Luke, He remembered all those times when he had to hold his tongue and clench his hands. Digging into the palm of his hands until it drew blood.

And he had been so, so, so very angry-

But now, he didn't even remember what he had been angry about. He couldn't even remember what anger felt like.

Perhaps this was the god's revenge. Make Luke suffer in boredom while he waited to be Judged guilty. He knew he was, everyone did. They all knew what he did. He caused them pain and strife, suffering and discomfort, 'Hey this is fun let's see how long he could go', Horror and terror, Rage and- He was bored again.

He couldn't remember when this sense of calm had come over him. At the time it had been unnerving but now it was normal. He was still bored, so bored out of his mind- But was never restless, 'Ha, a ghost with unfinished business' He was at peace.

Luke looked down at his transparent hands, He felt like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Yes he was sad that he was dead, but he accepted the fact long ago. All that negative energy that had arrived with him, yeah, that was all gone. It had faded as he became more and more accepting of his situation.

And the fact that he would never even be able to leave his place in line.

"Luke." He had thought, "Luke is that you?"

Wait, he was confused, did he not think that?

He somehow felt someone tap his shoulder, and when he looked at the person in question he was greeted to an unfamiliar face. It was the face of a man with a muscular build, like that of an Olympian. 'He was slim enough to be a runner' Luke mused, the man had a mess of curly black hair, curled around his pointy ears giving him an almost innocent and childish appearance even though Luke knew the man had to be at least a couple of decades older than he was.

What caught his gaze was the man's eyes. They were a stark and clear blue, filled with concern. And they were the color of his transparent body.

"Luke, who's Luke?" He asked as if confused. When the man's face darkened, and his lips twisted into that of an ugly and sad frown, Luke smiled. 'Ha, his first prank in years and he pranked him good!'

"I'm just joshing you," Luke said easily, "Wait, do they even still use joshing up above, do they even speak English?"

The man only rolled his eyes, "That was a very mean joke that you just pulled, and yes Luke, they still use English. It hasn't been that long you know."

"Do I?" Luke questioned the man seriously.

"Anyways I've been looking for you for ages. Why did you move so far away from the entrance? You know that's where I go the most. I am the messenger, and I do guide souls to the Underworld."

"Oh, you do?" Luke asked, "I wish you had told me sooner, and then I wouldn't have had to wait in this stinking line all the time. It's so boring."

"You do know that you can just leave the line right?" The man asked him as if questioning his mental health.

"You can, oh wait, yeah you can but I didn't want to lose my place you know."

"Luke, some of the souls here haven't moved for centuries, they wouldn't care if someone left or cut the line. They're so far gone that they don't even notice anymore."

"Oh," Luke said.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke up once more. "I'm sorry, who are you again?"

I HAVE AWOKEN. I am finally coming back to this story after so long. I've had time to mature and grow as a person and I hope that my writing reflects that. I wanted to keep the first 2 chapters that I had initially posted before posting this newly remastered version.

I wanted to write more about Luke's time in the Underworld instead of it just being a 'peaceful' time in his life. I also wanted his dad to be more involved. He is Hermes the guider of souls and as such there should be nothing strange about him hanging out with his dead son.

Speaking of dead, two years of complete silence and a blast from the past was enough to raise me from the dead. Who's to say necromancy isn't real or moral?

Yay to motivation.