Big thanks to screamkiller, who favorited and followed both me and my story!

Thanks to cod7guy for faving and following! ^-^ also aw what .-. you skipped it?! how dare you! xP it's fine. Thanks for reading it this time, I'm glad you like it! ^-^

Also, thanks to Thunderskyt and dyurik19 for following and fav'ing

And, last but not least, thanks to Dawnmoon76 for following, and poseidonera333 for reviewing~

The Loss of a Hero: Chapter Twenty-Three

Percy POV

I woke up to a sunny sky and the smell of the sand and water surrounding me. I breathed in deeply, enjoying the scent. I smiled, closing my eyes, and let the sun warm my face.

A cold splash of water hit me, and I sputtered, opening my eyes. "Who- what the heck?!"

"'Ey, lazy butt, wake up!" A figure in jean shorts and a light blue t-shirt was standing before me.

I groaned. "Morning, Chloe."

She threw the bucket aside. "Um, afternoon, actually! Since you were asleep, I couldn't hear none of your thoughts, so I had no idea where you coulda been."

With a flick of my mind, I threw the water she'd dumped on me back at her. "Hey!" she shouted.

I chuckled. "Serves you right!" I got up, brushing sand off my pants. "What's up?"

She glared at me as she wrung out the bottom of her shirt as best as she could without taking it off. I laughed and pulled the water out of her clothes, throwing it into the ocean. "There, happy?"

Chloe huffed. "Well, I wanted to know when you wanted to go to the Council today. Remember?"

I groaned. "Yeah, yeah. Ugh, this is going to be fun."

"What? What's wrong with it?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, bringing you, duh!"

"And why would that be a problem?" She looked at me harshly.

"Once again, duh, you're sort of, like, alive. Not a Shadow Person. The Council might have a problem with you being there."

"Hah. Tough. I'm gonna be there whether they like it or not." She crossed her arms.

I chuckled. "Alright, whatever. You free now?"

She nodded. "Hold on, lemme go get Kairi." She raised her arms, and vanished in a swirl of Mist.

I shook my head. "Geez, guess she's serious. Ah, well, I guess that the Council will probably be wondering where I am, anyway. They're probably wanting this back, too," I said, pulling the LifeStone out from under my shirt, where it hung from its chain. In the short time that I'd held on to it, I'd developed a bit of a connection with it. Nothing that I would ever think about, usually, but I could almost feel like… it liked me. I laughed. It was possible, since the stone held the essence of every fallen Shadow Person.

A swirl of white Mist, and Chloe and Kairi stood in front of me. "You ready?" Chloe asked.

"Yup." I nodded. We joined hands, and I concentrated, picturing the hallway just outside the Council Room, and pulled all three of us toward it. A rush of darkness, and we were there. Quickly, I changed my form back to my regular appearance. I knocked on the door, waited three seconds, then opened it. The Council members all sat at regular intervals along the table, curved the same way as the walls of the round room. "I am Perseus Jackson, Shadow Warrior, with Shadow Singer Kairi, and …Living person, Chloe."

A few mutters were heard around the table at the mention of Chloe, but they let it pass.

"Permission to address the council?" I asked.

"Permission granted," said the Council member in the center of the table.

"Thank you," I said.

I gave them a report of everything that had happened with Nico, and of the dark force that possessed him. A few gasps were heard at that, followed by a lot of whispering, before I was able to continue. I spoke of how we subdued Nico, and how we were only able to do it through immense help from Chloe. The glares that were occasionally directed at her disappeared instantly, replaced by small, apologetic smiles.

As I concluded my report, one of the Council members asked, "Why did you not address yourself as an Elite?"

I sighed. "Much of my power was drained before I reached you – I believe that the force targeted the strongest Shadow People first, to render those in power, and those with the highest ability to combat it, powerless, or if it could, it would drive them to nothingness. As one of the Elites, I was targeted by the strongest draining force, and without this LifeStone, I would have become dust. All that considered, I believe that if I were to be scanned now, I would register as simply a Warrior, without the Elite status."

"We are sorry for your loss," replied the Council member.

Some of the Council members were whispering together, and one of them whispered to the one in the center, who listened a few moments, then nodded. "Perseus, could you give us about a half-hour? We need to discuss what you have told us."

"Yes," I replied, "But first, I have a question."

"Then, ask it."

I looked at Chloe and Kairi, who nodded. "Alright, is it possible to prepare a living person in such a way that when they die, they will without fail, or with little chance of failure, become a Shadow Person?"

I saw several looks exchanged. "And why would you ask such a question?"

I sighed. "My girlfriend is slowly declining from my death, and Kairi has been siphoning off her hurt, but it continues to grow. We wondered if possibly, if she wanted to, we could turn her into a Shadow Person."

A minute or two of whispers passed then the center Council member looked at me. "We will consider this request. As of currently, we do not have the information on hand. If we decide to answer your request, the information will be searched for, and if it exists, we will share it with you."

I nodded. "Thank you."

"Are there any further requests?"

"No, that's all. We will leave you now."

We turned and walked out the silver double doors, closing them behind us. I sighed. "Ugh, talking so formally is annoying."

"You looked like you were enjoying yourself," Kairi noted.

I shrugged. "Well, it's something different, talking like that."

"It made my head hurt, for sure," Chloe complained.

I chuckled. "We're gonna have to do that again, as soon as they come and get us."

She groaned, and Kairi and I laughed. I noted a water fountain a ways down the hall, and pulled the water out, forming it into three comfy chairs, which we sat on and waited, wondering, behind the doors.

End of Chapter 23

Sorry I've been offline a while, guys! I just started being a Youtuber! Yesterday, my friend suggested it, and today, I made a few videos! Nothing amazing, just two rambles and a Q&A, but if you want to check it out, search for Ben IsExtremelyConfused, and you'll find my new channel ^-^

So, the votes are in! (like, all six or seven of them) The pairing for Percy has been decided, so I'm closing that poll, partly because I set it up and it was rather useless .-. anyway! Go ahead and keep leaving non-percy pairings in reviews if you wish. And don't forget, if you PM me some ideas, I may consider them to use in the story!

Read and review!

~Ben