Please read the author's note at the end. Enjoy guys!

Chapter Thirty

Annabeth let out a scream and sprinted toward Percy, her friends quickly following. She knelt down beside him and tried to stop the bleeding, but the flow only continued. Luke knelt on Percy's other side and felt for his pulse. Gone.

"Annabeth, he's gone," Luke said.

"No, he's not!" she screamed.

"Annabeth, you have to let him go," she heard Jason say from behind her.

She threw her head on his chest and again, listened for his heartbeat. Not one pulse. "No," she whispered. Then the sobbing began, soaking the gladiator's body in tears. Her chest heaved as she cried. Eventually, the events of the day caught up to her and exhaustion took her, her last sight being the body of Percy being lifted on the hands of the Praetorians as Luke carried her.

It was warm. The breeze was fresh and carried the smell of olives. The sun shone brightly on the path and the green hedges that lined the drive. Up the road, the house could be seen. Dirt crunched under his feet as he made his way up the pathway. His seagreen eyes reflected the sunshine and at the top of the slope, he could see four figures. Two tall ones and two slightly shorter ones. "Percy." It sounded like a whisper, and yet, he knew they were calling for him. The question was whether he wanted to go to them or not. He longed to join them, but something held him back.

"You are at the crossroads."

He turned to look at a woman decked in white. He couldn't make out her face but somehow he knew she was very beautiful. She raised an arm and gestured to the four figures by the house. "You could go to them if you like," she told him. "They wait for you. An eternal rest of love, comfort, and home."

The fields beckoned him and he wanted to take this woman's offer, yet the urge still held him. "And if I don't want to?" he asked.

"You could return to your life. Mortals await you. Love, as well as hardship. But should you return, know that this," she gestured to the world about him. "And more may be given as well as a chance at a new life. So what is your choice? To stay, or return?"

Returning sounded like a risk yet he knew it was the right decision. He would see paradise again. "I will return," he answered. Somehow, he knew the woman was smiling.

"Very well," she said, raising a hand.

"Wait." She paused at his voice.

"Yes?"

"If I return, will I remember this?"

She shook her head. "No, it will be like a dream. Now go. They wait for you." And the world grew foggy and the light began to grow brighter and her voice became fainter. Yet he swore he heard her say, "Farewell Perseus. Elysium waits for you."

The light blinded him. Am I in Heaven? he thought. Nah, I was just in Heaven.

Then it struck him. He had just died and come back. Annabeth's going to kill me.

"Hello?" he called out. He lifted his head and looked around. He was on a marble table, covered in a purple shroud with a golden wreath on his head. "What the heck?" he said, lifting the wreath off his head. He stood up and removed the the shroud but quickly covered himself again. He was stark naked underneath. He blushed tied the shroud like a towel around his waist but it kept slipping so he was forced to hold it up with one hand.

He heard sounds coming from out of the room and he ventured toward them. He exited the room and found himself in a hallway where 5 people sat sobbing. He raised an eyebrow and tapped the nearest one on the shoulder. "Uh, excuse me, but would you happen to have an extra toga?"

The person lifted their head and Percy found himself staring into the eyes of Nico. "Percy?!" he screamed.

The heads of the other four shot up and they screamed.

Percy knit his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

"IT'S A GHOST!" Nico shouted. Three of the other four began screaming right along with him until a smack shut Nico up.

"You idiot! He's not dead! As you can see it's the powder they put on his face!"

Percy turned to the speaker to see Thalia glaring at Nico who was rubbing the back of his head. "Hey guys! The banshee's right, I'm not dead," Percy grinned.

Where Percy was white, Thalia's face turned deep shade of red that was borderlining the color of Percy's shroud. "Banshee?! I'm going to send you back to the grave you motherf-"

Luke quickly covered Thalia's mouth. "Thalia, there's children about!" he said, shooting a glance at Nico and Jason, who glared at the older blonde. "Now let's all act civil and get Percy some clothes before he makes an old lady faint," regarding Percy's current shroud/ towel skirt, causing Percy to blush.

10 minutes and a toga later, Percy was wondering where Piper and Annabeth were.

The recently laughing faces of the five saddened.

"Annabeth's mourning and Piper, as her sister, accompanied her to comfort her," Luke answered.

"Where are they?" Percy asked.

"Last I saw they were at the fountains," Luke replied, and Percy took off running.

In the hallway that opened into the fountain courtyard, Percy nearly plowed down Piper.

He just barely avoided sending her to the floor and her eyes widened at the sight of him, his toga disheveled and his face still as white as a ghost. Before she could scream however, Percy covered her mouth. "Hey Pipes, I'm not dead. Where's Annabeth?"

Piper flicked her eyes in the direction she had come from and Percy smiled in thanks, running into the courtyard and leaving a very confused, yet joyful Piper alone in the hallway.

As Percy ran, the sun began to filter into the hallway. From the hallway, he could see her, sitting alone on the rim of the fountain, her blonde curls shining in the sunlight.

He slowed to a jog and finally a walk as he entered the courtyard. At the sound of footsteps, Annabeth looked up and she couldn't believe what she saw. Grinning a lopsided grin, his face as pale as corpse and his toga hanging off his shoulder at an odd angle, Percy was walking toward her, his eyes shining. He sat next to her and Annabeth regarded him with widened eyes. After a moment of stillness, she tentatively reached out to him, gently touching his cheek, as if checking to see whether he was real. Then she slapped him.

"Ow, I come back from the dead and you slap me?" Percy protested.

Annabeth smirked. "Just checking to see if you were real." Then she slapped him again. "That's for being a Seaweed Brain," and finally she grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss. Gasping for breath, she finished with a smile, "and that's for being my Seaweed Brain."

And it was pretty much the best kiss Percy had ever had.

Epilogue

A republic. Rome has been returned to its birthright. On the backs of slaves and generals, Rome was born. Perseus was a both. Amazing wasn't it, how the bastard son of the Emperor could be both general and slave. Slave to the arena. Yet he conquered. He did what others had failed to do. Spartacus had tried and failed. Perseus restored what Rome was always meant to be, a republic ruled by the people.

The road was rocky, especially after the destruction the tyrants had caused it, but Perseus was there to guide them, and at his side, Annabeth, to guide him, as well as his friends. Perseus worked everyday, and as the consul of Rome, he raised a family where Annabeth bore him a son and a daughter, Marcus and Bianca. Life was good to the 7 and their families. Not a day went by where Perseus didn't smile. His life was his paradise and when he died, he knew what Elysium would like. As long as Annabeth and his family was there, he would never stop smiling. Why shouldn't he? The wishes of his father were fulfilled and when his time came, his family would be waiting with open arms.

And that is definitely something to smile about.

Author's Note: THE END! Wow, I can't believe I finished that. Sorry about the epilogue, it was kind of sucky but, oh well. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing all through this story guys. You truly rock, as a new author, it's been a privilege to have you guys. Thanks again!

IMPORTANT: Also, I have some new story ideas that I want to run by you. I'm probably going to do all of them eventually but which one should I start with first?

1. Takes place in WWII. Annabeth Chase is an agent of the Austrian Resistance. When she is captured by the Nazi's, who would have thought she would fall in love with one? (Percabeth)

2. Annabeth and Hermione wake up alone except for each other without memory. Where are they? Harry and Percy are determined to find out. (Percabeth and Harmony) Note: I've never read or seen the Maze Runner so...

3. Annabeth is tortured by the past, only it's not her past. When a certain green eyed man joins the agency, what will happen to these images? And what does it have to do with Ancient Greece?

Think about it and review please! Thanks again guys!

-MaximusNightshade8