Percy Jackson was dead. He stared down at the fields of Elysium, reflecting on his life.
After the giant war, Percy went to college in New Rome with Annabeth. His achievements at college were very unremarkable. Annabeth, however, became one of the most distinguished students in the college's entire history.
After college, good things happened. Percy proposed to Annabeth and married her. Leo came back with Calypso. Percy managed to convince Zeus to let off Dionysus's punishment, much to Dionysus and the camp's delight. Percy became the camp director after Dionysus left. The campers in both camps were thriving.
No more great prophecies came to Percy. No more heavy burdens were on his heart. Percy was finally able to achieve the most normal life for a demigod. There were still monster attacks, but they eventually stopped being a threat. His life was great.
Percy eventually died, and it was to old age. He managed to live up to his name by not having his life end in tragedy.
However, when he was nearing the end of his life, Percy realized something strange. He realized that he often reminisced about his adventures when he was younger. Those adventures were life-threatening, burdensome, scary, painful, having a high possibility of the world ending, and something he would choose to never re-live.
However, as Percy got older and his life more peaceful, he discovered another quality. A quality that Percy never imagined he would ever think. That good quality in the ocean of bad experiences in his adventures was that they were THRILLING.
…
A party was going on celebrating the hero of Olympus. All of Percy's friends and family who had died before him and didn't go to rebirth were there. Percy got in touch with all of them. They talked about random things as well as life in Elysium.
Standing around Percy was most of the seven and Calypso. The mood was very lighthearted even though everyone there was dead. That was because everyone there lived a very fulfilling life before being sent to Elysium. From what Percy heard, Elysium was also very fun.
"It's crazy to think that that you could've been immortal and never gone here," Frank chuckled.
"You know I couldn't have done that," Percy said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"We know all about it, loverboy. If Annabeth had the same offer, you definitely would have said yes immediately," Leo mocked, raising a round of chuckles.
Percy blushed. "That's probably true, but if the offer was was to happen during the other half of my life, I think I would have turned it down. I don't know. I just feel that I would get bored of the same life going on for eternity."
Everybody except Calypso was confused at what Percy said. It wasn't for a while until Piper caught on to what Percy was implying. "You're going to rebirth!" She blurted out.
"Yeah. Both me and Annabeth decided that this is what we wanted to do. After this party is over, I'm going to do it." Percy said.
Jason raised his eyebrow. "Perce, you said with Annabeth, so why can't you stay here with us until she gets here?"
Percy immediately shook his head. "If I stay here too long, I may end up never going to rebirth. I just want to try out a new life with a new experience. Sure, I will forget about everything and everyone in my past life, but that's not going to stop me. Annabeth and I both want to do this. She will certainly understand it if I get a headstart on her."
After seeing his passionate expression, the seven and Calypso realized that they couldn't stop Percy.
Hazel smiled, "Don't worry about it, Percy. We will support whatever decision you make, but now that we know that this is the last time we will ever see you, I'm afraid that this party will have to go on for a while longer."
Percy Chuckled, "That's fine with me."
Percy continued talking with them and other people for hours on end until the party was getting late.
At the end of the party, Percy found his mom and Paul.
"Hi," Percy awkwardly said while looking at his shoes.
"Percy, what's wrong? Why have you been avoiding us?" Sally said in her usual supporting and caring way. There was a hint of anxiety in her tone.
"It's just, well, I'm going to rebirth, mom. I know I should have told you earlier. It's just that it's hardest to say goodbye to you. I can't help but feel guilty," Percy said with a pained voice.
After hearing that, Sally felt relieved. She hugged Percy. "Don't worry, Percy. You should know that I support your decision, but, " Sally looked up at him and grinned. "You won't say no to your favorite blue cookies before you go, right?"
Paul smiled brightly at Percy. "You'll be surprised at how good they taste now with the highest quality ingredients from Elysium!"
"... okay!"
...
Percy looked down below at the still waters of the Lethe. Unlike the other rivers of the underworld, the Lethe had no rapids. It gave the impression that someone could sink into it and be gone forever.
Summoning up some final courage and resolution, Percy strode down towards the river. Up close, the rapids of the river looked even more daunting. One more step and Percy would forget everything. How could he not feel nervous now that he was here?
Percy shook his head in amusement. Never would he have thought that he would one day willingly erase his memory after he lost it before. One more step and he would be reborn.
"Goodbye, everybody," Percy mumbled to himself. Summoning up his spirits, Percy was about to step into the running waters of the Lethe when he felt a hand clasp onto his shoulder, stopping him. Bewildered, Percy turned around to see Hades? And who was next to him?
"Uhhh," Percy said like an idiot. He didn't understand why the lord of the underworld pulled him away from the Lethe. The man standing next to Hades confused Percy even more. The man looked like an ordinary person and was wearing plain clothes. He could not have looked plainer. Hades, however, had sweat drops the size of beans on his forehead. Naturally, Percy was terrified of the 'normal' person standing next to Hades.
Hades awkwardly cleared his throat. "Save it. I couldn't care less about your choice in rebirth. The only reason I stopped you is because, well because," Hades looked so nervous that even a falling leaf would be able to startle him. "Because Lo-lord Chaos would like to give you an invitation.
"What!" Percy blurted out.
Chaos had a bemused expression on his face. He decided to get to the point as to why he was here. "Perseus Jackson, I would like to thank you."
Percy, however, thought it was some sort of sick joke. He considered if he would get snapped out of existence by sneezing the wrong way. Chaos sighed at Percy's fear. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you, kid. I'm giving you an invitation. I know how you are mainly going to rebirth because you want to feel a sense of adventure again."
"Since you have provided good entertainment for me, I thought I might give you that adventure in the fullest sense. After all, regular rebirth might just get your life with a boring office job. You don't want that do you?"
Not waiting for Percy's answer, Chaos continued. "So how about this. How about I send you to a new world that's rife with adventure. That way, you get what you want, and I get some more good entertainment in the upcoming years."
While listening, Percy's face changed from fear to shock, and then it finally rested on complete bewilderment.
Am I an entertainment source? So Chaos just watches my life like it's some sort of sitcom show and wants to air another season. Also, there's a multiverse?! This situation is too weird. Still, this is also a great opportunity!
Gulping down his fright, Percy finally asked, "What about Annabeth? I can't just go off to another world without her knowing. I'd like to try this out, but Annabeth and I are a team. Whatever we do, we both have to agree to it."
Chaos was silent for a while before he responded, "I could give the same choice to her when she comes here after she dies. Is that okay?"
Percy could not help his growing curiosity to Chaos's nonchalance unbefitting for the nature of a God and could not help but ask, "Why are you doing so much for free?"
"Well, I have nothing to lose and so much to gain from this, so why wouldn't I do this? When you were alive, I couldn't offer you this because then I would be interfering in the realm of mortals. Now that you have died, this is not a problem anymore. Also, sending you to another world is just a snap of my fingers."
Standing in front of the most powerful being in the world, Percy could only accept his logic.
After thinking for a while, Percy gave his answer. "I'm up for this, but you have to understand that I don't the type of adventure I had before where the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I just want a pure unrestrained adventure."
Chaos laughed, "Do you think I didn't know that. Of course, I did! Don't worry; this will be the adventure of a lifetime. so what do you think?"
"... Sure!"
Chaos snapped his fingers, and Percy blacked out.
(A/N) Bold text appears to show the thoughts of a character.
