Good news!
I no longer don't know what to do with this, and
so you can all look forward to frequent updates as usual!
Also, I'm super sorry that I forgot to thank the people who
wished me a happy birthday, so thank you now :)
Characters are not mine, except Penelope.
Enjoy and leave a little comment with your opinion ;)
Oh, and I'm going to go see Catching Fire tomorrow, and I'm suuuper excited!

Note: I revised a little in this chapter, with some help of the amazing AnnabethChase23!

Chapter sixty-two: The First Decision
~Penelope's POV~

Dying twice within a week must be some sort of record, Penelope thought as she stood in front of Cerebus. But it wasn't a bitter thought, on the contrary, she felt oddly relieved and calm as they slowly shuffled forward, waiting for their turn to be judged.
Maybe dying once already had taken the nerves, but Penelope thought it had probably more to do with the boy who was standing right beside her, his hand entwined with hers.
She still felt a stab of guilt when she thought about the fact that Leo had died because he came looking for her, but she also knew that nothing could have stopped him from choosing that path.
And Pen was grateful for it.
"What're you thinking about?" Leo asked, and his voice sounded oddly clear compared to the soft mutterings of the ghosts around them. Somehow herself and Leo hadn't faded as much, Penelope
thought or maybe that was simply her imagination and they were just as translucent and grey as the rest of the crowd.
"Thinking how lucky I am to have you here" she smiled up at him, and he smiled back, squeezing her hand.
Then a brief look of worry passed over his face.
"What's wrong?" Pen asked.
"I'm just worried about the others" Leo confessed. "I hope they'll be okay."
Penelope nodded. "I hope so too. But I've a feeling they will be. We bought them time, Leo, and I
would bet all the drachmas in the world that they managed to save Percy and Annabeth."
She tried to reassure him, and maybe she succeeded a little for he looked a bit less concerned.
"You're right." His eyes gazed towards the end of the line, and Penelope followed them.
"What do you think will happen to us?" she whispered, a little anxiously.
Leo laughed. "Tartarus probably."
"Leo!"
"Sorry, just kidding. Honestly Pen, I don't know about me but you'll definitely get Elysium. You've
never done anything wrong in your life."
This, far from reassuring Penelope, only made her a little mad.
"Of course you'll get Elysium, how could you not? But me? Leo, I never even lived a full life! How do they want to judge me on that? That would be completely unfair compared to the others. What if-" she faltered, as a horrible thought occurred to her.
"What if what?" Leo asked, his voice lower.
Penelope stared ahead, suddenly not eager at all to reach the end of the line.
"What if they punish me for existing? What if they don't let me in? I shouldn't be here, after all."
The fear she felt was real, and Leo seemed to understand this, for he put his arms around her
and rested his head on top of hers. He must have grown in the past month to be able to do this.
"Pen, please don't talk like that. It's not your fault your here, and if they have a problem with it, they'll be hearing from me. We sacrificed ourselves to save the world, so I think we should be okay. As long as we're not separated."
His words, although comforting, didn't altogether make Penelope's fear go away, but she didn't say anything and leaned into him instead.
It was weird that she could still feel him like this, but maybe that was simply because they were both the same kind of ghostly form, which Pen noticed had started to get more translucent.
"We're becoming see-through" she noted, looking down at them, Leo following her gaze.
"Yeah. Look, it's almost our turn."
Penelope glanced up to see only two people, one very old man and a small child (this made her heart wrench) standing in front of them.
Just as the child went in, and Leo and Penelope stepped forward, something happened however.
An odd, glowing light appeared in front of them, and a beautiful creature materialised from it.
Startled, Penelope looked around to check if anyone else was seeing this, but if they did, none of the
ghosts around them reacted.
Leo stared openly at the glowing thing. Penelope couldn't quite decide if it was male or female, young or old, but it was definitely more beautiful than anything she'd ever seen.
"Who are you?" she whispered, and the spirit's head turned towards her.
"I am a friend." it said, and its voice was clear and soft. "The son of Hephaestus has seen me before."
Penelope turned to Leo. "You have?"
He himself looked stunned, but nodded slowly. "Yeah, I..I think. You're who helped me in Lagina.
The peri."
Pen didn't understand anything anymore. "The per- what? And what did you need help with in Lagina?" she asked Leo, who looked at the ground, something like shame in his face.
The creature however did not heed this and spoke again "Yes, Leo Valdez. I am a peri, and I have come to give you advice: Do not chose Elysium, nor rebirth."
"What?!" both Penelope and Leo said at the same time, their eyes wide. Why would their supposed friend tell them not to go for the best options the underworld had to offer?
The spirit wasn't fazed. "If you decide not to spend your afterlife in the part of the underworld which offers peace and tranquility, but chose the fields of Asphodel instead, there might be a chance of something happening."
"Er, what?" Leo intelligently asked.
Penelope was so taken aback at the appearance of the perthingy, all she could get out was "But..but don't you spend the rest of eternity roaming the fields,
lost in confusion and lamenting the life you had which you can't even remember?"
The spirit nodded. "Yes. And it is highly probable that this is what will happen to you, but there is an extremely thing chance that it won't.
I wish you luck. I am released."
And with that, the glowing form disappeared, with a sigh like wind through a tree, leaving two startled demigods behind.
"It was joking right?" Penelope asked, still stunned. Leo was staring at the place where the peri had vanished.
"What...what do you think it meant?" Leo asked, his voice shaking. Penelope shook her head.
"I don't know. It didn't make any sense at all. Something will happen, that sounds like.." she trailed off, not wanting to voice it, but
Leo cried out "Like the others might save us!"
Penelope softly put a hand on his arm. "Leo, that's not possible."
"I saved you!"
"Yes, but that was different. My whole existence is different. The others can't just march into the underworld and get us, that's against the most ancient rules."
"Nico did it with Hazel."
Penelope sighed, wishing the peri had never awoken this pointless hope in Leo.
"It wasn't her destiny to be dead down here. But I'm afraid it is ours, Leo. We can't change that."
She felt horrible extinguishing the shining in his eyes like this, but she knew that letting him go on hoping would be even more torture.
Slowly, Leo's excited look faded, and his whole posture drooped.
"Yeah, you're right I guess. But what if something will happen, though? Maybe it's not us coming back to life, maybe it's something else. What if we don't chose Elysium?"
The idea was mad, and Penelope was about to tell Leo this when Leo's name was called by an invisible voice, and a door appeared before them, probably leading into the judging room.
Leo hesitated, obviously reluctant to let Pen behind.
She squeezed his hand. "It's okay. I'll meet you on the other side."
Leo managed a little grin at the joke, but his expression became serious again quickly.
"Listen, Pen. Please think about this. I know what I will choose, and I couldn't bare to leave you alone. So please think about it. Promise me."
Numbly, Pen nodded, and watched Leo walk through the door which closed behind him soundlessly and disappeared.
He's going to do it, she realised. He's going to renounce Elysium and rebirth, and chose an endless emotionless existence in the fields of Asphodel.
When the passage reappeared before her and her name was called out, Penelope was still too shocked to form a decision for herself.
With a hiss, the doors closed behind her, locking her in.
This is it.