A/N - Sorry for the extreme delay, readers. I promise I'll try my best to update sooner! Anyway, a slightly longer chapter for you all!

I followed Lee Fletcher silently. I was overwhelmed with sudden emotions – mostly fear. A small part of my mind noticed the beautiful, marble roads on which I was walking. There were tall trees, their leaves dancing in the breeze, on either side of the roads. That was funny – I had not thought that trees could grow in the Underworld. But then, this was Elysium!

Ah, that was another thing I thought about. How was I in Elysium? It had to be a mistake. I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve a mansion. I didn't deserve luxuries. I didn't deserve Charlie. I didn't deserve a 'happily ever after'…

Just then, Lee stopped drifting. Taken by surprise, I almost crashed into him, but manoeuvred myself out of the way.

Lee chuckled, "Yeah, drifting is one more thing that takes some getting used to!"

"Are we here?" I asked, in a low voice.

"Yes," he replied, and pointed towards a huge bungalow nestled between two hills.

I gasped in wonder, and Lee chuckled again. Seriously, I was beginning to get annoyed with all that chuckling.

I ignored him and moved forward as fast as I could.

There was a driveway of sorts, leading up one of the hills. Gold tiles adorned the marble structure here and there. The road glinted in the sunlight, making it look as if the white and gold colours were dancing together in the light. But I still didn't understand why the road was there.

Why make roads at all, when you're not going to walk on them? I thought.

"Everything in Elysium is about decoration. We all have everything we want." Lee answered my thought casually.

I whipped around to turn towards him, surprised.

Before I could ask him how he knew what I was thinking about, he chuckled (again) and replied, "Everyone asks the same question when they're in Elysium for the first time."

I turned back again, and made my way up the hill.

I was in the waiting room of the bungalow. I had been surprised to know that the place even had a waiting room. Charlie was a very simple person, which is why I was in a state of shock right now.

Lee had shown me the various rooms of the bungalow – no, it was a palace.

The place was breathtakingly beautiful. There were almost a hundred rooms, all tastefully decorated and furnished. There were rooms for almost every purpose you could imagine. The dining room, the kitchen, the bedrooms, the music room, the patio, the T.V. room, the storerooms, the laboratory, the library…

Why, there was even an 'afternoon nap' room!

I had marvelled at the expensive décor and the antique-looking furniture. But somehow, I couldn't digest that Charles Beckendorf lived here.

Knowing him, he would have been satisfied with a hut, as long as it had a room to work on his inventions and space to keep his spare parts. This palace, though, seemed more like something I would prefer. In fact, I loved the whole bungalow. It was fit for a child of Aphrodite.

Presently, Lee came in through the door to Charlie's living quarters.

"He's working in the forge. He'll be out in a sec. I haven't told him you're here – just that someone important is here to see him. I wonder how surprised he'll be to see you!"

He was grinning a ghostly grin (though I doubt anyone could look non-ghostly in the Underworld) and snapping his fingers continually.

After a minute or so, the noise began to irritate me, and I snapped, "Why don't you stop making that noise?"

"Very irritable, are we?" he asked, still grinning goofily.

I sighed and gave it up. Elysium must have done something to Lee. I remembered him as a very nice boy, ready to help anyone, anytime.

Or maybe it had done something to me – I was usually very bubbly and cheerful, and an undying optimist.

Until Castellan had come along. He had ruined my life, and now he was out there ruining the world. I just prayed that Percy Jackson would defeat him. But of course, Kronos was the bigger threat by far. Maybe if Kronos was killed, Luke would die too.

A smile fought its way onto my face. It would be nice to that Luke Castellan reduced to his knees, begging Minos for a lesser punishment. For he would definitely be sent to the Fields of Punishment. That lying manipulator deserved nothing less.

I was thinking about the various punishments I would give Luke if I could – drowning in a river of despair and loneliness, dying over and over again by falling off a cliff and more. I was actually quite surprised myself. I hadn't known I was quite so capable of viciousness.

Just then, the door to the room opened once more. I looked up immediately, and my heart leapt to see that it was Charlie.

He looked just as he had before he… went away. The same handsome features, the same twinkling eyes, the same goofy grin and the same kind human (or ghost) faced me as he entered.

"Silena!" he said, a wondrous expression on his face.

He started towards me, but stopped awkwardly.

"You're dead…" he said, looking at the ground.

"Yes, I am, Charlie."

As soon as I said his name, he looked into my eyes. The emotion in them was so strong that I could almost drown in their depths. And that was one sea I would be overjoyed to drown in, again and again.

Snap out of it, I told myself. It's not like you're here to stay. Tell him the story, and leave. He deserves at least that much.

"Well, I'm sorry. But don't worry, I'm here for you. I always will be," Charlie said, still not breaking eye contact with me.

If I'd been alive, tears would have welled in my eyes at once. But I was dead. So I just looked away, not being able to look at him any longer.

A hurt expression came on his face at once and he said, "Of course, if you don't want to be with me, I'll – "

I cut him off at once, "No. It's nothing like that, Charlie. But I can't stay."

"Why not? We'll have this whole palace to ourselves. And we'll be happy."

I blinked, suddenly realising that the entire bungalow was made for me. The colours, the decorations… they had all been made to suit my tastes. Charlie had been waiting for me.

"Are you mad at me, Silena? I'm sorry I had to leave you, but the war – "

"No, no, no! It's nothing like that, Charlie. It's not about you. It's… it's all my fault!"

"What?"

"This… this war, your… death, everything's my fault. I… I betrayed the Camp."

"What are you saying, Silena?" Charlie was looking at me, confused and afraid.

I steeled myself, took a deep breath and spoke, "I betrayed all of you. I was the spy. I worked with Luke, and…"

I trailed off, not being able to continue any more. I turned my head, so I wouldn't have to look at Charlie's face, which would certainly be filled with anger now.

"I… I don't understand, Silena! Why would you do that? Did Kronos hypnotise you or something?"

When I didn't reply, he drifted towards me and sat down.

I turned towards him slowly.

"Tell me. Tell me, Silena. What happened? I'm here to listen."

So I did. I told him everything. I poured out my feelings, my anguish, and my grief – everything that had been haunting me for a long time.

And he listened, silently.

Even after I finished my story, he sat without saying a word.

I couldn't face him anymore. Why wasn't he angry? Why wasn't he yelling at me, telling me I deserved the Fields of Punishment? Why wasn't he saying anything?

Trying to hide my expression, I got up. I walked to the door, and turned back one last time, "I'm sorry. For everything."

And then I left. I walked slowly out the gates of the bungalow. And then I couldn't help it. I broke down. There were no tears – I was, after all, a ghost – but there was plenty of shaking and sobbing. I curled up into a ball, and tried to stop myself, but I couldn't.

So I got up, and still shaking, I ran down the driveway and out to the road. I kept running and didn't stop until I was well and thoroughly lost.

And then I realised, a cruel sense of humour shining through, that not only was my body (or ghost-y translucence) lost, but my soul was too.

A/N - So, how did you like this? Was it too sappy? Don't worry, the sappiness level will be reduced considerably in the next chapter (unless you don't want it to be).

For those of you who want to know - the story will probably be five or six chapters long...

And please, please review! Reviewing makes the author happy, and a happy author means an early chapter. If I get ten reviews for this chapter, I'll post the next chapter tomorrow! Promise!

And I just wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time, for reading this story. You're all wonderful, thank you for reading this!

Review!