He was already in the Underworld, checking in on Cerberus, when he felt it. A familiar soul had entered through the gates. Nico threw the bone for his three-headed mutt and hurried to the banks of the Styx, looking for Charon's boat. It stood out from the bleak landscape, plowing through the dirty waters of the river and beaching on Nico's side. A glowing spirit nodded at Charon's hooded figure and looked around the banks of the river, settling on Nico.

Nico watched the spirit approach, grimacing when he recognized its face.

Jason nervously pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, Nico. Fancy seeing you down here, huh?"

"No," Nico said, shaking his head vehemently. "Not fancy. I'm going to close my eyes and when I open them, you better not to be standing in front of me, Grace."

He closed his eyes, squeezed, and slowly opened them. Jason still stood in front of him, sheepishly staring at his glowing feet. Nico growled.

"What happened to you, Jason?"

"Same old thing: fighting evil, saving the world." Jason shrugged. "Apollo got away with Piper and Meg. That's all that's important."

"Apollo? What were you doing with Apollo?" Nico pulled out his sword and doodled in the crushed glass of the banks.

"Long story, DiAngelo."

"You have eternity to tell me since you're dead now."

Jason's face twisted into a guilty grimace. He didn't remember Nico being so blunt, but it had been a few months since they'd last seen each other.

Nico looked away from his cartoon illustration of Cerberus. "So? Are you going to tell me?"

"No. You'll find out when you get back up there. I have a line to spend eternity in." Jason tried to walk through Nico, realizing after he bounced off that maybe a son of the Hades was on the same plane as a spirit in the Underworld.

"You're not waiting. Follow me." Nico grabbed Jason's ghostly arm and dragged him past the long queue of people to the Hall of Judgement, where the judges were just finishing a review.

The spirit in front of them muttered dazedly and was escorted to the Fields of Asphodel. Nico stepped forward, shoving Jason in front of the judges.

"Send him to Elysium," he ordered, one hand on his sword, a death glare fixed on the judges.

"I'm sorry, sir, we have to judge the spirit fairly," the middle one said. "Step forward, boy."

"You'll find that he's a hero. He died a hero. He deserves to spend his afterlife in Elysium."

"Step forward, boy," he repeated.

"I'm telling you—"

Jason placed a ghostly hand on Nico's shoulder. "I'll be judged like everyone else, Nico. It's fair."

Jason stepped up onto a raised dais, squaring his shoulders and raising himself up to look like the leader he was. Another judge waved a hand and a monitor began playing all of Jason's memories. It started with Lupa finding him and raising him as one of her cubs, teaching him how to fight and fend for himself before sending him off to camp. He arrived with several monsters trailing after him, frightening him and nearly killing his lupine escort. When he crossed the little Tiber and entered the camp, he was taken to the Fifth Cohort, stashed away with 'losers' and 'freaks.' The memories followed him through training and finally learning who his father was, gaining respect for himself and his fellow soldiers in the Fifth after winning the War Games with them. The judges watched him fight Titans and giants and eventually settle into a somewhat normal existence before dying trying to protect his friends.

The judges spoke with each other about what they'd seen in one of the quickest discussions Nico had ever witnessed about a soul.

"You've done much, Jason Grace."

"Yes, you've saved many people more than once."

"You've promised a lot of people a lot of things."

"And you've followed through on almost all of them."

"You've changed the mind of a god."

"You are a hero, Jason Grace, and for that we grant you Elysium."

Okay, so this isn't the last one, I promise, but it feels like the end to me. I still have several people I want to write about, like Annabeth and Percy, but the internet has told me they find out in Magnus Chase and the Ship of the Dead (where Percy makes a surprise appearance, yay!) and I plan on reading it as soon as I've left the emotional blender Rick put me through when he harmed Jason like that. I don't know when that's going to be, but hopefully soon.

Thanks for reading, you guys!

Love,

The Duchess