I opened the curtains and looked around at the streets of Elysium again. Apart from the bright lights and everything you could ever ask for, the place was pretty boring.

What use is a water park or a bowling alley if you don't have friends to enjoy it with? The only companion I had was Nico, who occasionally checked in with me and updated me on my friends' lives. Even my neighbours avoided me, but I was completely content with that. Seeing other couples made me feel even lonelier, so I tended to stay home unless I was hungry.

Today, I decided to stay in. I didn't feel particularly hungry, nor did I feel like doing some exercise. I was just going to do the usual; practice sword-fighting against a dummy, read a book, watch some Netflix and surf the Web. Unfortunately, my plans got cut short due to a knock at my door.

The only person who ever visited me was Nico, so I hurried down to greet him. As I swung open the door, two black-haired men greeted me.

One of them was Nico, who I quickly wrapped into a hug. As for the other person, it took me some time to work out who they were.

He had unkempt jet-black hair and sea-green eyes. Percy. But, there was something wrong with him.

His eyes were not only green, they were bloodshot red too. They no longer shone with brightness but kept darting around, as if he was lost. His hair looked singed, and he reeked of smoke. When his eyes finally settled on me, he did not flinch. In fact, he seemed to be looking past me, into the house.

"Bro, how did Nico manage to bring you here? How's everything?" I asked. Clearly, Nico must have asked for a favour from Hades in order to allow Percy to visit me.

I reached forward to give him a hug but he flinched. Nico stepped in between us and placed his palms on my chest.

"Listen, you may not like what you are about to hear," he started. "Percy died. I wasn't there when he died so I don't know how it happened, but it did. I sensed his death and accompanied him here. I think his killer had some liquid from the River Lithe, because he has no idea how to do anything. He can barely walk, he doesn't speak and he doesn't even remember either of us."

Just like that, my spirits were crushed. It felt like I had died again. It was already bad knowing that your best friend had died and left his soulmate behind, but it was worse that he was unable to remember her nor myself.

I waved a hand in front of his face, hoping for him to crack his trademark smile and tell us it was all a practical joke. I kept waving. It never happened. The empty husk of my best friend simply stared straight ahead.

It was cruel. How could one of the strongest demigods in history be reduced to this?

I always expected things to turn out different. After each of us passed on, I had hoped that we would gather here to spend eternity together. We would live in the same house, talk to each other everyday, maybe even try for the Isles of the Blest as a group. I knew that we would make it.

I wondered how the others felt about his passing, or if they even knew he died. Would Jupiter show a sliver of mercy and restore his memory? I doubted it. I bet Dad didn't even care about Percy's disappearance. He was probably happy about it.

Either way, I quickly ushered the both of them into my living room. Percy waited until I invited him to sit before he plopped down onto the couch. It seemed that perhaps, he had some memories locked away in the deep recesses of his mind. Annabeth always mentioned how polite Percy was, thanks to great parenting from Sally.

Oh Gods. Sally. I hoped she found peace and moved on.

Nico snapped me out of my thoughts. "Okay, we've got to find a way to restore his memory. Apollo once mentioned the River of Memory, Mnemosyne. Maybe we could sneak him into the underworld, or bring some liquid back here to give it to him."

As I looked into Percy's eyes, I realised something. He no longer carried around his burdens, pains and struggles of always being hunted. Being one of, if not the most powerful demigods in history, he always had to have his friends' and family's back. For once, he looked strangely at ease.

"What if...what if this is all that happens. What if it doesn't work and Percy remains like this forever?" I asked. It hurt me to say, but it was how I felt. Knowing the Fates, this was the endgame for Percy. Not all stories had a good ending.

Nevertheless, Nico insisted that he would try his best. He grabbed Percy by the shoulders and promised him that he would go to the ends of the earth to avenge his death and make things right. Percy simply stared at Nico, probably wondering why a stranger was screaming at him.

Tears streamed down Nico's face as he received no reaction from Percy. I had a feeling he finally realised the futility of the situation. He whispered a quick goodbye to Percy, kissing him on the forehead. Then, he dissipated into the shadows, hoping to find a miracle to save his friend.

That just left Percy with me. We sat there for a good minute or two in silence, waiting just in case Nico came back.

When it was clear that he was going to be gone for a while, I cleared my throat and looked at Percy.

"Well, this is going to be a bittersweet moment. Hi, your name is Percy, Percy Jackson. I'm a good friend of yours, Jason Grace. We spent a lot of time together, back when we were alive. Blink twice if you understand me."

He blinked once, and I hesitated. For that split moment, I believed that things could get better. They would get better.

Then, he turned away from me and looked out of the window, moving onto the next thing that interested him.

I sighed. I was right.

Not all stories had good endings.