Title: Contentment

Main Characters: Nico di Angelo and Patricia Maters, my OC

Status: Sequel to 'One In Thousands'.

Hola, amigos. OMFG. 8 reviews? That's amazing. And for one chapter!

I wasn't planning on making a sequel to 'One In Thousands', but here we go.

This was mainly inspired by . , but I'd like to thank everyone else who shared their opinion with me!

I hope you enjoy. :)

Was it possible to fall in love when you're dead? Apparently, yes. And Patricia Maters was your evidence.

Only a mere ghost girl who had died in the 1800's, Patty had spent a total of 136 years standing in the fields of Asphodel.

Approximately nine months ago, in human time, she had met Nico di Angelo. It was love at first sight. For her, at least.

If Nico di Angelo hadn't shown up to bring his half- sister Hazel back to life, Patty might have spent the next 200 years standing in one spot trying to recall the events of her previous life.

But, alas, that was not meant to be, for, in fact, the son of Hades HAD waltzed into her life and Patty HAD fallen in love with him.

When Nico occasionally visited the Underworld, Patty kept her eyes glued to him, making sure she had visualised every single detail about his appearance so that she could recall his image when she yearned for individual attention and mutual love.

She noticed things about him that may have seemed normal but were extra special to her, for he was alive and here. Sharing the same, well, Underworld, as her.

Patty sometimes wanted to die for good. None of this eternity- of- boredom and discontentment- crap.

She wanted a peaceful oblivion of numbness, for her memory to be completely wiped. Not all the pain of trying to remember, of the memories being there but just out of reach.

Same as Nico. He was always there. But impossible to reach. Just like when Patty was alive, and she would climb trees to pick apples. The best ones were always hanging, just out of her reach. And the one time she took the plunge and actually reached out to get one, she really did take the plunge. Broke her leg. Was confined to a bed for weeks. And she had then developed a fear of heights, and was too afraid to ever try again.

The Nico situation was exactly the same. What if she actually approached him? And admitted her feelings? And got rejected? Then she would have to live (can you live once you've died?) for eternity with the humiliation and misery.

But if she never tried, how could she learn? How could she solidify her feelings for him?

Patty was aimlessly wondering, her eyes straining to see into the distance, the faint lilac haze in the distance making it impossible to make out the horizon.

A nearby group of ghosts chattered in an indecipherable language that only the dead could decipher.

Even the son of Hades couldn't understand when his people tried to communicate with him.

What seemed like weeks passed in the blink of an eye. When you've got eternity, the weeks, days, and hours seem to become one huge, dark void of misery and regret for what she could have been.

Patty sometimes wondered what she would have been if she had lived to a ripe old age. If she would have gotten married, had children, grandchildren, even. The only bonus that she got from dying young was that she didn't get to see her parents die.

To see them age, become part of the living dead. Patty shuddered involuntarily.

Just then, a bloodcurdling scream echoed through Hell. Every head whipped towards the direction the terrified voice came from.

A blond girl was stumbling across the Fields of Asphodel in a drunken manner, like she had downed too much of the cider Patty's father had always stowed in his bottom bedside draw, hidden from her mother's view.

A dark haired boy, perhaps a bit older than Patty, was frantically following her.

Only when the girl stumbled and fell, only a hundred yards from where Patty stood rooted to the spot, could our ghost clearly see that the girl was not dead- she was very much alive. In the Underworld, which did not make any sense. And then Patty noticed the nasty wounds.

She was bleeding heavily from multiple places; her collar bone was crooked. The girl lay still, seemingly lifeless. The boy came to a stop before her unmoving body, tears making clean tracks down his dirt- ridden face, his shoulders shaking with violent sobs. He rolled the girl's body over.

Patty gave an audible gasp. The girl's face was clawed to bits- her left cheek was ragged, bloody. Only a monster from the pits of Tartarus could have done that. The boy wasn't in any better shape, his body bruised and bloody, his right arm in a strange kind of sling.

Patty could now hear his sobs. Loud, shuddering. The girl moaned softly and opened her eyes. Patty tried to move closer without seeming conspicuous. "Percy," she groaned, then hiccupped multiples times. Her chest convulsed terribly. Her ragged face scrunched up in pain.

Just then a shadow popped out of nowhere, right on top of Patty. The shadow became a living, breathing, black haired boy. Nico di Angelo. Patty's nonexistent heart stopped.

Their eyes met for a hundredth of a second, then he was stuttering apologies, and running uncoordinatedly towards the boy and the girl.

"Percy!" Nico screamed. "Annabeth!" Nico fell to his knees before the girl, Annabeth.

"Annabeth," Nico sobbed. The girl's physical life was blurring- she was now in limbo, the blank place somewhere between life and death. She was edging towards death. Patty could feel her physical pain- every single ghost could feel the girl's pain, her screaming conscience.

Some unseen force was sucking any life in the Underworld out of all the ghosts, transmitting it into the girl's slowly dying body. Perhaps the girl's godly parent?

Percy, the dark haired boy, buried his head in the girl's hair. Even from where she was standing, Patty could hear his heart- wrenching, soft spoken words. The whole Underworld had become deathly silent.

"Annabeth." Percy whispered. "I love you. So much." Annabeth grasped his hand weakly. Then her spirit left her body. She visibly slumped. Percy continued to clutch desperately at her lifeless hand, as though it were his only lifeline. A cold radiated over the Underworld. Patty shivered.

Percy collapsed over the body. Nico was openly crying, his hand stroking Annabeth's limp, pale arm.

"Annabeth." Percy cried. "No! You're not dead. Not dead." Percy's voice became weaker, like it was just sinking in that she wasn't coming back. "No. She's not dead." Percy looked at Nico with a wild light in his sea green eyes. "Annabeth Chase can't just.." his voice broke. "…die…"

Nico looked at Percy with empathetic sympathy in his eyes. "She's gone, Percy. Gone…"

Both boys started sobbing.

Patty lost her shyness. She drifted over to the pair of sorrowful boys. "Nico." She whispered.

He didn't pay any heed to her.

"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades," she said, a bit louder. He lifted his head. His dark eyes were red rimmed, bloodshot, his face puffy and so full of sorrow that Patty felt she might cry herself.

"Miss?" he asked, his voice croaky.

"I- I-," Patty stopped, then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for your loss. So, so sorry. Every one of us feels your pain." Patty bowed deeply, met his eyes, then turned and walked away.

Percy erupted into another fit of crying. He didn't seem able to do anything but express his deep pain for the girl's death.

Patty felt a burst of sympathy well up inside her. Is this what her parents had felt when she had died?

It was only then that Patty realised that her parents would be dead. They would be standing in the Fields, just like her. Would they remember each other? Would they remember her?

Patty looked once again at Percy balling his eyes out over his girlfriend's lifeless body.

A wild idea popped into her head.

She started the long journey towards the Gates of Elysium. A job had to be done.

Patrica Maters died as an ordinary girl. She spent 136 years standing in one spot trying to remember her life. She was an ordinary ghost. One of thousands. Not important.

But she felt it was her duty to welcome a certain newly deceased person to the Underworld. She had felt the warm shroud of a soul- deep love leave the Underworld, leaving only ruthless, merciless, steely and unforgiving cold. She had felt Percy's pain, so deep and sharp that even those standing near him had felt it.

Just as Patricia arrived at the Gates, a ghost was entering. She had an uncertain gait to her walk, like she was disorientated and wondering where she was. Patricia could remember feeling exactly the same way when she entered through Gates much like that over a century ago. The ghost stopped just a few metres from where Patricia was standing.

Striding purposefully forward, Patricia said, "Annabeth Chase?"

Annabeth turned. "That's my name," she said in a daze.

"Annabeth, do you know where you are?"

"I'm dead. In Elysium." Just then, Annabeth seemed to snap out of her daze. She whipped around to Patricia in a sudden panic. "Oh gods. I'm dead. Not alive any more."

"That's right." Patricia felt sorry for the panicked girl.

"Where's Percy?" Annabeth asked, stopping suddenly.

Patricia took a deep breath. "You'll be glad."

Annabeth looked at her.

"He's alive. Miserable. But alive."

Annabeth put her head in her hands. "Yes," she said in a strange voice. She lifted her head. Tears were threatening to spill over in her grey eyes. "He'll grow old without me. Probably move on. Marry someone else. Because I died without him. No," Annabeth shook her head. Patricia was afraid that the blond was losing her mind with worry. "He'll mourn me. But he'll eventually get over it. Eventully. Maybe." That's when Annabeth fell to the ground at Patty's feet. "I love him. Always have, always will. I have to find him. Have to_"

"Annabeth!"

"Percy? Is that you? Thank god. I knew you wouldn't let me die alone."

"No, Annabeth." Suddenly Nico di Angelo was there, speaking urgently to her. "Listen, we don't have much time."

And, just like that, Annabeth was sober. Patricia stepped back, for once hoping Nico wouldn't notice her. He did. And he nodded at her, evidently remembering the timid ghost who had offered her condolences. "Nico di Angelo. Percy's cousin. Why am I here?"

"Not important. Well, it is, but… Agh! Never mind. Just listen." Nico lowered his voice. "I've broken the laws. I've brought Percy here. Just for a little bit. So that you two could have a proper good bye. You didn't exactly die very prettily."

"Does anyone, really?"

Nico, ignoring Annabeth's comment, whistled an eerie tune, and suddenly Percy was there. He and Annabeth stared into each other's eyes. Patricia didn't think that the world could get any quieter.

Percy and Annabeth came together then, and it was then that Patty saw the soft grey glow and the two- the blessing of Death that enabled a living being to physically touch a ghost.

The two kissed with passion, and Patty felt she couldn't tear her eyes away, though she felt the couple had every right to some privacy.

Patty backed away, slowly. She turned around, poised to run.

"Wait." Somebody said.

Patty turned. She couldn't disobey that voice.

"Yes, my Lord?" she asked timidly, her hands starting to shake.

Nico laughed. "I'm not a Lord. I'm just my father's son."

"But that's what makes you a Lord. I cannot disrespect you." Patty didn't know where the sudden formalities were coming from. She hadn't wanted to act like she was so inferior to him. Alas, that was just the way she handled nerve- rending situations like this.

"I didn't call you over to discuss my apparent Lordship. I wanted you to ask you a small favour."

"Yes… Lord?"

"Drop, the Lord thing, already! Just call me Nico."

"I'm sorry… Nico." Patty's insides felt warm and bubbly. How had she become so lucky? For Nico to speak directly to her? Her?

"Don't worry 'bout it."

"What is this 'small favour'?"

"Before I tell you, you have to agree. It's not hard. Not anything big. Just really, really important to me."

Patty thought over the pros and cons. Small favour. Important to Nico. She was won over straight away.

"I agree. Now what?" she asked, eager to hear his request.

Nico glanced over at Percy and Annabeth. Percy was cradling her head in his hands, whispering something to her. Annabeth had tears running down her cheeks. Patty, not wanting to intrude on the moment, looked away.

"You know, it's not such a small favour… I mean, it could change the rest of your… er, life after death?"

"Just spit it out!" Patty said impatiently. Then her cheeks flushed. "I mean, my Lord."

Nico cracked a smile that made Patty go weak at the knees. "I can grant you an eternity to Elysium." Patty perked up immediately. An eternity in Elysium? Sweet. "On one condition." Patty immediately sobered. What if this condition was impossible? No, Nico wasn't one to be cruel. Was he?

"What is this… condition?" Patty clenched her fists, waiting for him to say something like 'go to my father's castle and pick out his favourite pair of socks.'

"Keep an eye on Annabeth. I swear she went a bit loopy down in Tartarus."

"Deal." Patty said, not even hesitating. Nico stuck out his hand, a polite way to seal a deal.

Patty grasped his hand. His grip was warm and firm as they shook.

Afterwards, Nico smiled. "What's your name, since you seem to know mine very well?"

"I'm Patricia Maters. Known as Patty to my friends."

"Okay… Patty."

Patty couldn't help the grin that spread across her cheek bones at that.

"I'll see you around, eh?" Nico asked, backing away into the shadows.

Patty stared after him, then turned back to Percy and Annabeth. Percy was gone. Annabeth was on the ground, her head buried in the soft, moist dirt, so very, very different to the hard, dry, trodden soil of Asphodel.

"Annabeth," Patty said in a soft voice. "Please look at me."

Annabeth looked up. "What do you want?"

Patty stared into the girl's beautiful, grey eyes. "I want you to know that Percy loves you with all his heart. And I know that you love him, but you have to let him go. He has to fight the war. He has to win. And to win, he has to stay alive. Please understand." Patty pleaded.

Annabeth stared at Patty for a little while longer, scrutinizing her. "You have lost your heart as well. You have also shed many tears."

Patty felt herself wanting to share her story with Annabeth.

"I have shed many a tear for one boy. In fact, he's actually your boyfriend's cousin…"

Annabeth had settled down on the soft grass to listen to Patty's love story. By the time Patty was finished, she was snoring lightly. Patty stared up at the stars. Stars which she hadn't seen in so long. And she was sure she saw a boy in the stars. A boy with eyes as black as the midnight blue backdrop and skin white and pale as the sand on the shores of one of Elysium's many beaches.

Patty pretended not to notice when a warm tear ran down her cheek, plopped to the ground and soaked into the rich soil of Elysium.

For once, she was content.

Alright, alright. I admit it: I cried. Yes, that's how lame I am.

But I don't care because OMG! Over 2500 words! Holy Hades! Longest chapter I've EVER written!

So, I hope you liked it. Personally, it's my favourite story.

But that's just me.

Once again, I'd like to thank all of those wonderful people who reviewed on the first chapter. Sorry about the wait.

Constructive criticism is always welcome, though I don't support flames. Feel free to check out my other PJO stories. I think I might be adding a Hunger Games one as well, soon. I just finished the series, and I thought the last book, Mockingjay, SUCKED, no offense to you HG addicts.

I just want to put some scenes in which I think should have happened.

I'm done my rant now. I promise.

So, yeah.

Out :P