The funny thing is, dying on Nico's sword didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. Don't get me wrong – it hurt a heck of a lot. More than anything else had ever hurt in my life. But it just didn't feel like I guessed I thought it would, when I'd thought about dying. (Because when you're a half-blood like me, it's pretty much a given that you've thought long and hard about dying at least once or twice in your life.)

Well, okay. First let me back up a bit, to the part where I agreed to trade my life for Nico's.

I turned back around and looked Hades right in the eyes. "Swear it, then. On the River Styx." I wasn't going to let him get away with reneging on his end of the bargain. If he was lying, I swore I would find a way to remember enough to march right back down here and do something about it.

The god of death held up his hands as if to placate me. "I swear to you, Perseus Jackson, that if you take that sword up and kill yourself on it then I will set my son Nico free. His free will and his life will be restored, and he may leave if he so chooses. I swear this on the River Styx." He looked at me. "Does that satisfy you?"

I felt like I had a horde of angry butterflies in my stomach. I was pretty sure I was scared out of my wits. I felt like everything was suddenly moving too fast. But I tried not to show any of that on my face as I nodded and said, "Yeah. That's fine."

Hades returned my nod. Then his eyes fell on Nico's sword, which was still on the ground behind me. "Then I believe you owe me something."

My arms and legs felt heavy as I turned and walked over to the sword. I picked it up in a hand that felt almost numb. I looked at the black blade for a minute, and then up at Nico. I was standing almost directly in front of him now.

Even though he couldn't see me, I smiled as bravely as I could. "Hey, Nico," I whispered, "please don't be mad, okay? Just… don't get yourself killed again. It's all up to you now." Part of me wanted to kiss him again, but the rest of me knew that he wouldn't even notice. And somehow I just couldn't do it again in front of Hades.

I turned back around and looked at the god, standing there tall and dark at the other end of the tower. He was watching me quietly, his face unreadable and his eyes cold. Well, I thought, this was it. I guessed it wasn't the worst way I could've gone. At least it had been my choice.

Trying to keep my hands as steady as I could, I knelt on the ground. I braced the hilt against the stone and placed the point of the sword over my heart. If I was going to do this, it was going to be as quick as possible. Through the heart was the fastest way I could think of to die.

I knelt there with the point resting over my chest for what felt like eternity, though it was only a couple of seconds in reality. My mind was racing almost out of control. I thought about how there was so much I'd wanted to do. But it was okay now, I told myself. Everything would be okay. And then I shoved myself forward.

A hot, tight feeling of pain stabbed up my chest and spread through my body. I slumped over the sword as all my strength went out of me in a rush. I felt something hot and sticky and thick slide over my hands as blood started to run down the sword. My blood.

I did my best not to cry out – I didn't want to give Hades the satisfaction, even though I couldn't even look up to see him anymore. My vision was starting to narrow to the stone directly in front of me. I swear I could actually feel my heart stopping as the sword got in the way and prevented it from beating any more.

Then I heard a voice behind me. "What… Percy?"

I couldn't turn around. Instead I kind of fell over onto my side, which I couldn't really feel very well anyway. The stone was already slick and warm with my blood, but I was getting colder by the second. I was getting so cold that the pain wasn't even all that painful anymore.

"Percy!"

There were footsteps – real footsteps! – behind me and hands were grabbing at me, pulling me up. Nico's face filled my field of view. It was Nico's face the way it should be, expressive and under his own control. Not blank and unresponsive, even though he looked pretty anguished just now. I suddenly wanted to make him feel better. I wanted to make him understand.

Hey, I tried to say, like there was nothing wrong, but all I could get out was something that sounded like, "He –" My lungs weren't really working anymore. But right about then was when things stopped hurting completely. I wasn't in pain anymore and I wasn't cold. I wasn't anything, and it was the nicest feeling in the world.

And then I realized I was dead.

It's a pretty weird thing, to realize you're dead. It's really a liberating feeling – suddenly nothing matters to you and nothing seems important. I could feel my body lying there on the stone, with Nico's sword still through my heart and my blood pooling underneath me and soaking into my clothes. But none of it mattered anymore. None of it was my concern.

My eyes were still open and I could see what was going on, though it seemed like I was looking through wax paper. Things weren't quite in focus. Nico had gotten up, laying my body back down on the stone. His back was turned and I could hear his voice – he was screaming something at Hades but I couldn't make out the words. It sounded like I was underwater. I could tell he was talking but I couldn't hear what he was saying.

The two of them argued for a while. Then I saw the dark smudge that was Hades turn on his heel and leave. The figure left in front of me stood there for a moment, and then he turned back around to face me. He looked suddenly surprised and I realized that I wasn't lying on the ground anymore. I was upright, looking him in the face. His features were hard to make out through the wax-paper-filter on my vision.

He looked down. Dimly curious, I looked down too. I had no feet – my body became transparent and kind of disappeared off into nothingness somewhere below my knees. There was a dark stain spreading across the stone beneath me, and a black sword was lying in the middle of it. Nothing else.

I didn't much care about any of that, though. All I really cared about was that I was dead and that nothing else could really affect me now. It was a strange sense of calm. It blanketed my thoughts and emotions just like being wrapped in a physical blanket. I was safe here. Nothing could hurt or touch me again. I knew that I had something that I'd left undone but I couldn't remember what it was. There was a sense of regret that ate away at my calm, but it wasn't strong enough to make me want to do anything. It was just kind of annoying.

Maybe the person standing in front of me wanted to hear about it. I opened my mouth to complain to him about whatever it was that I hadn't done, but he was faster and spoke first.

"Percy," Nico said, and suddenly his voice was clear. It was like the filters were yanked off my ears and eyes and suddenly I recognized him and wondered how I could have forgotten, even for a second, who he was. His face looked weird, I thought, and for a minute I couldn't figure out why.

Then I realized it was because he was crying.

"Percy," he said again, and even though his eyes were wet his voice didn't waver at all. "I know you can think straight if I will it. Can you understand me?"

I nodded. "Nico – " I wasn't sure what I could say.

"Tell me everything," he said. His voice was commanding, and the command spread through every fiber of my being until I didn't have a choice. I had to answer him. So I did.

Talking about things isn't so hard when you're a ghost. So I started at the beginning and just kept going until I got to the end. Partway through, Nico had picked up his sword. He'd stared at it like it was something he hated with all his soul, but he'd cleaned it on the sleeve of his coat and kept on listening as I talked the whole time.

Finally I stopped, having gotten to the part where I'd, well, died. He knew the rest. By that point Nico was staring at me and he was quiet for a couple of minutes afterward. I wasn't sure what to feel or how much of it I even felt. Talking to Nico like this, I felt a lot more emotionally connected to my life than I had before he'd somehow commanded me to pay attention. But it still was only a partial connection – as long as he needed me to, I could think like the old Percy Jackson. But as soon as he stopped paying attention I knew I wouldn't care anymore.

"Percy," Nico said slowly, "tell me again what my father swore to you. In his words exactly."

I told him. Nico was silent for another couple of minutes, until –

"… Oh, gods, Percy!" he exclaimed, as his face lit up. "You said Persephone came to you?"

I nodded.

"And she gave you a pomegranate to eat, right? And you ate it."

I nodded again.

"Well, what you said – Annabeth was right. Fuck, Percy – this means – Percy, we have to get out of here." Suddenly Nico was talking so fast he was nearly tripping over his words. "You said you came in through an underwater trench?" I nodded a third time. "Can you take me there? Now?"

It was that same commanding tone of voice. I had no choice but to listen to him and obey. "Yeah," I said. "I can."

"Then do it."

So I did. I led Nico down the stairs and out of Hades' palace. We didn't talk – he just followed me as I half-walked, half floated silently back the way I'd come. I'm not sure how I remembered where I'd come from, but the commanding tone of Nico's voice had pretty much put me on autopilot. Something in me wanted to look back at him as we walked, to try and explain. But I couldn't think of the right words to say and I didn't know what good it would do anyway.

I tried to think about what he'd said – how Annabeth had been right about something that had to do with the pomegranate. That seemed like such a long time ago now. But I still didn't know how it was going to do me much good. I'd promised Hades myself for Nico. I didn't think he was just going to let us both walk out of here.

It turns out I was right. We were approaching the place where I'd arrived in the Underworld when I heard Hades' voice.

"Stop."

Behind me I sensed Nico stop and turn around. I followed in time to see him raise his sword in a defensive stance. Before us stood the towering form of Hades. "I believe," the god said, looking straight at me, "that you have something of mine."

Nico glanced at me too before looking back at his father. His face was set and determined. "No," he said defiantly, "I don't."

Hades actually looked a little bemused – one eyebrow rose as he looked down at his son. "I'm afraid you're mistaken," he said, and swept a hand in my direction. "He belongs to me. We had a deal. I've kept my end of it and I expect him to keep his. You will not interfere."

"He has kept it," Nico said steadily. "He told me the deal you swore to him. You swore that if he killed himself, you would set me free. Nothing more."

Hades' face grew grim, like he didn't like where he thought this conversation might be going. I still wasn't sure what Nico meant, but I had a feeling I was about to find out. "And he has. He is dead. He belongs to me now."

"No, he doesn't," Nico said calmly, though he remained on guard with the sword raised. "His soul is tied to the living world. The bargain you made has been fulfilled, but you can't keep him here."

Hades' expression went from unhappy to angry. It didn't bother me too much since I was already dead, but I did suddenly feel a pang of worry for Nico. It wasn't a good idea to make Hades mad and besides, I didn't know what he meant. I was a spirit and that meant I fell under Hades' power. What did Nico mean when he said that Hades couldn't keep me here?

"And just how is his soul tied to the living world?" Hades wanted to know, glaring at me now. I could only look blankly back at him.

Nico answered for me. "Because Persephone gave him a pomegranate to eat before he came here."

Hades whipped around and stared at Nico again, the anger on his face transforming all the way to fury now. "Persephone!" he said, and I could see the air around him start to shimmer like it does over the asphalt of a street on a really hot day. The god of death was angrier than I'd ever seen him before. Nico didn't waver. Hades turned again to look at me, his eyes glowing like two red-hot coals. "Is this true?" he hissed.

I nodded. "Yes."

Silence fell. Hades continued to fume, but he didn't say anything for a long time. Nico didn't move – his sword remained at the ready. I just floated there, only sort of sure as to what was going on. It obviously had to do with my eating the pomegranate before I left on my quest. It had tied my soul to the living world somwhow… so that meant Hades really didn't have any power over me? I began to actually feel something – hope. Hope that we might both get out of this alive. Hope that we could win.

"I will speak with Persephone when I see her next," Hades finally said. His voice was quiet and dark and just barely controlled. "I will not be made a fool of, Percy Jackson." He strode up to me and looked down, towering above my head. "You may go back to the living world today, but everyone comes back to me in the end. And I never forget anything. You'd best remember that."

Then, with a sound like a muffled thunderclap, he was gone. Nico stood tensed for a minute longer before he slumped, the sword's point dropping until it was resting on the ground. He looked over at me. He looked tired. But he also looked triumphant.

And I realized I was starting to feel much better. Much more like myself – we were close to the edge of the Underworld, closest to where it touched the world of the living. It was like I could feel something draining away from me, but instead of making me weaker, it was actually making me stronger. I looked down at Nico and finally knew what it was I had left unfinished.

"Come on, Nico," I said, taking his hand and turning to go. "Let's go home."