AN: What's up everybody, I'm back with another chapter. I hope you like it! As always, leave a review when you're done. The more reviews you leave, the more motivated I am to write. I know there a lot of ghost viewers out there; make yourselves known!

Chapter 3: Percy Gets a Life Lesson from Death

After Percy and Thanatos entered Elysium, they walked down a broad road straight into a small town that looked completely fake. Stone castles and marble temples stood side by side with modern mansions built out of glass and steel. Cobblestone roads connected everything together, and the roads were full of people bustling about.

The people were just as varied as the buildings, dressed in everything from ancient Greek robes to jeans and t-shirts. No one paid a second glance to Percy or his companion; it was obvious that Death was not an uncommon sight in the Underworld. Percy's only perceptions of Elysium were based solely off of the glimpses he had caught of it when he was 12, so he wasn't sure what to expect other than nice houses and barbecues. He had also expected everyone to be in the best of moods, but it was quite obvious that not everyone was happy with their current situation.

"Thanatos, why do some people look so unhappy?" Percy asked. "This is supposed to be paradise."

Thanatos thought for a moment before answering. "People can get bored down here. Eventually, they can run out of new things to do." He looked like he was about to say something else, but apparently decided against it.

Percy noticed Thanatos's hesitation, but decided not to bring it up. "Well, if they're sick of life down here, why don't they choose to be reborn? That would get them out until the end of their next life."

"Not everyone is like you, Percy." Thanatos said with a slight smile. "You could be reborn a dozen times and achieve Elysium in every one of them, but many people barely made it into Elysium, and don't want to take the chance of not making it back in their next life." Thanatos paused for a moment before he took Percy's arm and led him down a few blocks and sat down on a bench with him. On the other side of the street was a small café that looked like it belonged in Paris. Sitting at the table were two people Percy immediately recognized.

Thanatos gestured to the couple laughing and enjoying each other's company. "Your friend Charles Beckendorf is like you: he is a true hero at heart, and would certainly achieve Elysium with every rebirth. Silena, on the other hand," he said, gesturing to the girl, "very nearly ended up in Asphodel. The judges were split down the middle on her, and they asked me to break the tie. I let her in as much as a reward for him as for her own life. She will likely never choose to be reborn, because she knows that she will probably not be admitted again."

Percy looked at the way Charles and Silena looked at each other, and a pang of jealousy shot through his heart; this was what he had wanted with Annabeth, but that life was gone. Nonetheless, he was glad to see two of his old friends receive the happy ending they both deserved, "Thank you, Thanatos. They're both important to me, and I'm glad that they're happy."

"She's one of the lucky ones," Thanatos added, "because she has him. They love each other, and so they are happy to remain here together. Not everyone is so lucky; many people are bored of their lives here, but even more are tormented by the memories of their loved ones languishing in Asphodel, or even worse, suffering in The Fields of Punishment. Some choose rebirth as an escape from the memories of the people they will never see again, while others linger here, hoping to one day be reunited with their loved ones." Thanatos paused for almost a full minute, staring at nothing in particular before he spoke again. "Life before death can be painful," he said thoughtfully, "but life after death is often crueler than anything that came before."

Percy felt the throbbing in his heart: the dull ache of betrayal, and understood what Thanatos was saying. The painful memories were shouting at him to be reborn immediately, but then he thought of his mom and all his other friends at Camp Half-Blood who he would never see again if he was reborn. While he was thinking, Thanatos pulled his black iPad out of the air and looked at the screen for a few seconds before it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"Well, that's all the time I have for you today, Percy." Thanatos stood up, fished in the pockets of his robes for a couple seconds, and pulled out a small bronze key, which he tossed to Percy. "Have someone show you where your house is. I think you'll like it." Thanatos winked at Percy and then disappeared from sight in a flash of smoke.

Percy didn't know what else to do, so he decided to crash Charles and Silena's date. He walked nonchalantly over to the café and pulled a chair up to their table. "Hey guys," he said casually, "fancy seeing you here."

AN: I still don't know whether I'll only follow Percy in the Underworld for now, or whether I'll also keep tabs on what's going on up on the surface. If you want to know what's going on up on Olympus, let me know in the reviews and I might make that happen. Also, this is still going to be Percy/Zoe, so I'll probably be bringing in Zoe in the next chapter or two. As always, if you liked it, I would appreciate a review, and if you didn't like it, I would really appreciate a review! I want all the feedback I can get.