Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One of the perks of Elysium was, well, leaving.

Not that too many people knew about it. Elysium was the kind of place that most people didn’t want to leave. Jason understood why. It was perfect. Relaxing. Exactly what anyone needed at any given moment. No stress, no pain, no fear…

Great. It was totally great. Though, maybe, admittedly, a little strange for him.

As he said, Elysium was lovely! Absolutely incredible. Jason wouldn’t dare question the design of such a place. But, if he was being honest with himself, it was a tad uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to a lifestyle of luxury and acceptance. Jason was raised to be a problem-solver. A leader. Always striving for more, for better, for something.

But there was none of that in Elysium.

So, yeah, sometimes Jason left.

He was allowed to, of course. He had asked permission and made sure everyone knew he was taking advantage of his right to venture out. He had even spoken to Pluto himself on the matter, who looked somewhat amused Jason had asked.

“Sometimes I forget the respect I am due,” the god had told him as Jason wordlessly knelt at his feet, waiting for a response. “I am surrounded by such defiance day in and day out. Go forth, child. Leave as you wish. Just know you eventually must return.”

And so Jason was here. At Goode High School watching his sister absently tap her pencil against a desk as a teacher went over some history lesson that she clearly wasn’t paying attention to. Nico was wandering around somewhere, but luckily he didn’t have any classes with Thalia. Jason was pretty sure Nico would be able to see him, and for some odd reason, he didn’t quite feel ready for that.

“Miss. Grace?” Thalia looked up from her percussion ambitions to smile at the teacher, who was eying her with some disapproval. “Could you answer who the first emperor of Rome was?”

“Augustus,” Jason said automatically.

Thalia only smiled back. “Someone dead?” she asked innocently. A few people snorted, and Jason shot his sister an indignant look. “A man, definitely,” Thalia said, leaning back in her seat. “Someone privileged and entitled… I guess I’m not narrowing it down, am I?” she asked, giving a wicked smile. The teacher gave her a stern look. “I feel like they were all named Octavian or Julius,” she added offhandedly.

“Thalia,” Jason said, wishing he could nudge her.

“The answer is Augustus,” the teacher said sharply and flipped a page in her book. Thalia raised her hand, making Jason sigh. A few kids smirked, all moving to the edges of their seats. “Yes, Miss. Grace?”

“Could you tell me Augustus’s full name?” she asked, and Jason could see the teacher die a little inside.

A beat of silence followed.

“Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus,” she finally answered.

Thalia’s smile widened. “Thank you. Was he known as anything else?” The innocence dripping off her tongue told Jason she already knew the answer.

The teacher swallowed and smoothed out the pages of her book. “Octavian,” she said stiffly.

Thalia drummed on the desk in victory. “Aha! Two for two!” she said, and a couple kids laughed as Jason smiled a little to himself at her ridiculousness.

“You would have never survived at Camp Jupiter,” he said, unable to keep the fondness out of his voice. Though, maybe she actually would have thrived. Jason had failed every single time he attempted to change things at camp. Maybe his sister’s carefree attitude would have been what was needed to push things forward.

Then again, he thought about how his comrades glued themselves to tradition and customs and figured she would more than likely get thrown into a bag with a weasel before they ever discovered her parentage.

“You know, you could really change things at Camp Half-Blood,” he told her. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t respond. “People listen and respect you. The Greeks are open to change. You could-” he began and then stopped.

Why was he putting pressure on someone who couldn’t even hear him? Stupid.

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair to look around at the bored faces in the classroom. Suddenly, he wanted to scream. He wouldn’t. Even as a ghost, he had more composure than that. But still. Something cold caught in his non-existent chest and bubbled up like it might foam out of his non-existent mouth.

“You know, she already fulfilled a leadership position with Artemis,” a voice said. To him. A voice responded to him. Jason. A dead person. Someone could hear him.

Instincts took over and Jason moved to ready himself for a fight. Could ghosts have a second death? A post-death? An injury? Something?

“Let her mess around for a bit,” the mystery voice said.

Jason studied the classroom. A boy, who Jason had thought was a TA at first, met his eyes and smiled. At him. This person could see him.

“You’re dead,” Jason said.

The boy shrugged, his hair a sandy blonde and features full of sharp angles. He looked familiar in a way that Jason couldn’t really pinpoint. “So are you,” he said, and gave Jason a mischievous smile. “I thought Romans were supposed to stay put unless told otherwise.” Before Jason could respond, he leaned forward. “But I’m pretty sure I saw you also hanging around that Aphrodite girl the other week. And the Hephaestus kid the week before that. You really have trouble staying still.” Jason narrowed his eyes. “Is this your plan for all of eternity?” the mystery boy asked, looking almost amused at Jason’s wandering. “Sneaking out of Elysium and haunting your loved ones?”

Jason turned, refusing to let himself get riled up. Instead, he glanced over at where Thalia began to make a paper airplane and then looked back at his apparent stalker.

“I didn’t sneak out,” he said. “I have permission from Pluto to leave as I wish. It is my right as a spirit of Elysium.”

The boy clicked his tongue. “I see,” he said and looked at Thalia with a sad sort of smile. “And how is that going?” Jason didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. He didn’t know who this was - if it was a god, spirit, or something else entirely. “Do you know who I am?” the stranger asked as if reading his mind.

Jason ignored him. It was time to go. He wouldn’t enjoy his time with Thalia if he was being harassed for the entirety of it. Could he visit Piper again? Or would this guy follow him there too?

Just as he stepped away, the boy laughed. “Luke Castellan,” he called. “If you were wondering.”

The name almost made Jason falter. Almost.

He had heard of Luke before. Whispers from his time at Camp Half-Blood. Luke Castellan, the traitor who led the war for Saturn. The demigod who betrayed his friends, his family, his people. Romans would have flayed him alive for such a betrayal.

He also was someone who, inexplicably, had been important to his sister.

Slowly, he turned back around. Now that Jason knew who he was talking to, he could see why people commented how Luke shared a resemblance to both himself and Octavian. If Jason had grown to be his age, they could have passed for brothers even more than Thalia and he did.

“The Titan supporter?” Jason asked coolly. Luke raised an eyebrow. “I was told you were going for rebirth.”

At that, Luke’s smile wavered. “Maybe I will,” he said. “That’s the nice thing about eternity, you know. You have time to make big decisions.”

Uh-huh. Jason gave him one last appraising look. “Glad I can finally put a face to the name,” he said.

“I OBJECT!” Thalia suddenly yelled, making everyone jump. Jason did a double-take. What had he missed? “I refuse to ignore the most important part of this story,” she said, gesturing to the board. Jason turned to try and read what had gotten her riled up, but even in death, his dyslexia was a menace, stirring up the letters in disarray.

“I- and what is that?” the teacher asked, genuinely taken aback by Thalia’s passion that had randomly appeared from nowhere. “And please raise your hand.” Thalia raised her hand. Jason was almost positive this poor woman wasn’t being paid enough to put up with this. “Yes, Miss. Grace, go ahead.”

Thalia put her elbow on the desk, pointing her thumb and index finger together with an air of stoicism she leaned forward. “You’re telling me that these babies just sucked on Lupa’s tits and that wasn’t weird?”

“Oh my gods,” Jason muttered as Luke gave a delighted laugh. “Have some respect-”

“I don’t think it’s that weird,” a boy from the other end of the room shrugged. “We drink cow milk. What’s so different about wolf milk?”

“Eh,” another girl said. “But we don’t drink the milk directly from the cow’s udders-”

“They were babies. What were they supposed to do?”

“We’re getting off-topic,” the teacher interrupted quickly. “What we need to remember is that scholars have little evidence that Romulus and Remus were even real,” she said, clapping her hands together. “Perhaps the question we should be asking is why there is such a prevalence of brothers murdering brothers across religions. Think Cain and Abel or Set and Osiris.”

“I’m going to stick with my question,” Thalia said and then held up a finger. “Or, I’d like to ask a better one. If humans really have an Oedipus complex as Freud suggested, then would Romulus have been into wolves?” She held up her hands.

A murmur went over the room.

“Freud was totally discredited, though-”

“Now, wait. She said if…”

“This actually explains the origin of furries.”

“Miss. Grace,” the teacher said flatly. She pointed toward the door.

Thalia rolled her eyes, giving her classmates a two-fingered salute before grabbing her books. “Don’t be a brick in the wall, kids,” she said. “Question everything. Authority is a scam.” She paused to look back at the teacher. “Don’t tell Mr. Blofis about this,” she said and then shut the door.

Luke gave an approving nod. “You know, once when we were on the run she bit a guy at a gas station while I pickpocketed him.” He gave a long-suffering sigh. “Gods, I miss her.”

Jason didn’t know what to say to that.

“I have to go,” he decided, stepping out of the classroom. He considered following his sister but figured Luke might also do that, so he went the opposite way, unsure of his way.

At least that was a familiar thing about the afterlife. Wandering aimlessly seemed to be what he had done while alive too. Never quite belonging, but playing his part well enough that nobody ever questioned anything. Jason often considered himself something of a chameleon. He responded to the situation, and it left his sense of identity flimsy at best. Everything came with an… opposing force of sorts.

For example:

• Roman (but he kind of preferred the Greeks)
• Son of Jupiter (whom he both loved and hated in equal parts)
• Brother of Thalia Grace (even if everyone else seemed to think of Percy Jackson as more of her sibling than him)
• Praetor (for about two months)
• Piper’s ex-boyfriend (except most of their relationship was based on a lie)

The list could go on. He always seemed to be just shy of whatever he was meant to be. Even now. He was meant to be dead. And for whatever reason, he felt an ever greater pull to the land of the living. The complication and chaos of it seemed to still his spirit… Just for a bit.

Shaking his head, he stepped down, letting himself fall through the ground until the world went dark around him.

“Welcome back, Son of Jupiter.”

Jason gave a polite nod to whoever greeted him. If he was honest, he wasn’t sure who it was. Everyone here seemed to know him, despite him being unable to keep up with the hundreds of thousands of souls that paraded around these parts.

The best way to describe Elysium was a large ring surrounding a soft, ethereal ball of light. If one were to walk around the ring in a complete circle, you’d go through several ornate archways that would lead into a different segment of Elysium. While some areas were designed as bustling, modern cities, others held the familiar look of the Roman Empire or were filled with medieval architecture. Jason had even come across magical realms or underwater palaces. More were said to be added each day, all working to fulfill any desire at any given moment.

But if one were to walk directly into the ball of light in the center, you’d find the original Elysium fields. It was where everyone popped up once they were relegated here and where most souls tended to meet for any group gatherings and such. It was a large, lavish field with towering mountains, awe-inspiring waterfalls, and clouds that felt like they had been plucked directly from cotton fields and hung into the sky.

Jason found when he wasn’t in the living world, he preferred to spend his time here. None of the more designed and personal heavens seemed right for him. At least here he could wait and see if any of his friends or family appeared.

“You look very gloomy, praetor.”

“I wasn’t even praetor when you died, Dakota,” Jason said, looking up to see a familiar face looking down at him. “You should show Hazel and Frank more respect.”

“Ooh, gloomy and moody. Aren’t I in for a treat?” Dakota snorted and sat down next to Jason on the bank of a reflective lake. He could see a few figures in a rowboat, laughing. Silena Beauregard, probably. Jason had met her during his first week here. She was a Greek demigod who had died in the first war. A daughter of Aphrodite, who Piper often heard about in her cabin. Jason had been quick to befriend her, desperate to find people who reminded him of home.

Silena wasn’t much like Piper, but she was kind all the same.

“How are you settling in?” Jason asked. Dakota hadn’t died long after Jason had, but he also couldn’t remember checking in on Dakota since his arrival. Inwardly, he scolded himself for being so cold to someone who had once been his responsibility to look after.

“This place is awesome,” Dakota said, leaning back. “Endless Kool-aid, comfy rooms, really cool people. Have you met Patroclus yet? Boy, he’s an amazing storyteller. And Achilles? Such a cool dude. You know, neither of them will ever try for the Isle of Blessed because they’re worried they wouldn’t be able to find one another in the mortal world.” Dakota shook his head. “We love an ancient gay power couple.”

Jason thought to Nico. Maybe he should say hi. See how he’s doing. But Nico hadn’t summoned him… maybe he didn’t want to see Jason. Maybe he was angry with him for dying.

“How’s your sister?” Dakota asked and Jason tore his eyes away from the lake to look at him in surprise. “Oh, come on. It’s no secret you head to the mortal world. If it isn’t for your sister, it’s probably for Reyna or that Aphrodite girl.”

“Piper,” Jason corrected. Dakota nodded. “I’ve… visited them all. Reyna is a hunter of Artemis now,” he said and swallowed. “Piper is dating a girl named Shel. Thalia is in school.” Dakota nodded. “Um. Leo has these new foster moms who seem to be really good for him.” Jason wiped his hands on his knees. “Gwen is in college-”

“Who haven’t you seen?” Dakota interrupted.

Jason ran a hand through his hair, doing some calculations. “Nico and Hazel,” he finally admitted. The only ones who might be able to see him if he decided to snoop. Dakota let out a low whistle. “You don’t miss living at all?” Jason asked, looking him up and down. “You… don’t feel cheated?”

“Cheated?” Dakota repeated and then shrugged. “No. I had a good life. It ended. Now, I’m having a good time here.”

Right. Jason bit his lip. He had also had a successful life. Now, it ended… but was it a good time here?

“I just feel like I didn’t do something important,” Jason admitted, rubbing his neck.

Dakota gave a very serious nod. “Ah, right. Because leading Camp Jupiter, slaying the Trojan Sea Monster, getting my dad’s leopard back, toppling the throne of Saturn, defeating Krios, destroying Mount Othrys, getting kidnapped and dragged into another war, uniting the Greeks and Romans, and fighting alongside Apollo were just minor errands.”

Jason shoved him lightly. “No, like… I did important things, but there was something else I didn’t do.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.”

“I think you did it all, Jason,” Dakota said, clapping his arm. “Anyone who says you didn’t do enough, clearly doesn’t know you.”

Right. Totally. Jason smiled weakly as he nodded.

“Want to play freeze tag?” Dakota asked, and Jason raised an eyebrow. “A couple of the old demigods started a competition centuries ago and it’s still going,” he said. “Though be aware, Theseus totally cheats. And this girl, Vera from the Zeus cabin, will set all sorts of traps.”

Huh. Jason had never really thought about it, but he would have siblings here, wouldn’t he? After all, until the Big Three kids were banned his father would have had plenty of children. He wondered how many of them there were.

“No thanks,” Jason said anyway. “I want to sit here for a bit.”

Dakota frowned at him, but still got up, giving him a reassuring tap as he jogged off toward where a bunch of people were laughing with playful screams and dodging one another. Jason looked back over the lake. He could see the outline of the Isle of Blessed in the distance. Sighing, he fell onto his back.

He could sleep, technically. If he wanted to. He also didn’t have to sleep if he didn’t want to. The truth was he wasn’t sure which one was more appealing.

“What is wrong with me?” he whispered before jolting back up. That was it. He needed a project. Something to fix. He couldn’t be in a world where everything was perfect. That meant the only thing wrong in that world was him. And while Jason didn’t parade around thinking he was a gift to the universe, he also prided himself on not being trouble.

Jason was honest and genuine and kept his promises and…and…he was supposed to help people. How was he supposed to help people down here?

Scrambling up, he walked up toward the exit again. Not to the living world, but the Underworld. The other part of it. You know, the non-Elysium part. Pluto’s palace to be more precise.

Perhaps it was Jason’s fondness for Nico or his general disdain for unfair treatment, but Pluto had always been his favorite uncle. While he was alive, he had given Pluto more than the average share of worship, feeling as though the god had been getting the raw end of the deal quite a few times. After all, it had always made sense to Jason to favor Pluto. He knew from a very young age that he’d die and probably spend more time in the Underworld than he ever would in life. In some ways, Pluto was more of a king than his father was in that regard.

Now, as Jason walked through the throne room to see the eerie resemblance to Olympus, his ghostly heart ached a little again. Pluto may be technically part of the council now, but gods knew it took a fight to get him there.

“My lord,” Jason said, putting a knee down and lowering his head.

Pluto glanced up from his throne, having been pouring over various forms to peer over at him in utter confusion. “Jason Grace,” he said. “You needn’t tell me of your return.”

“No, my lord,” Jason said, still keeping his head down. “I come with a request.” Pluto put his pages down, an air of exasperation filling the room. “I remember Nico telling me you were overwhelmed with your duties here. I wondered if I could be of any assistance.”

A pause followed.

“Rise, child,” Pluto said. Jason did, putting his hands behind his back. Pluto looked him up and down, a crease appearing between his brows. “You have been offered Elysium,” he said. Jason nodded. “Is it not to your satisfaction?” His tone sounded irritable. Luckily, Jason spent his life as a diplomat, working through endless compromises and presiding over various qualms.

“It’s perfect, uncle.” Pluto raised a brow. “But, in truth, it feels unbecoming for me to accept such generosity in your domain while offering nothing in return. My deeds in the living world did not serve you. And yet it is your home where I reside. I hope to be of use.”

Wordlessly, Pluto leaned against the arm over his throne, placing a finger over his lips as he studied Jason carefully. Several long, uncomfortable minutes passed.

After some time in which Jason was sure he wouldn't get his answer, Pluto turned to one of his skeleton attendants. “I’m having trouble keeping up these days. Do we consider this psychologically sound or not?” The skeletons glanced at him before chattering. “If Nico and Hazel are supposed to be like this, then I should be more concerned, no?”

More chattering. Jason wondered offhandedly if one of those was his skeleton. Huh. That was disturbing to think about.

“Ah, you’re right. Jupiter and Juno surely did a number on the boy."

Jason gave an indignant look. "Respectfully, my king, Jupiter and Juno were fine patrons," he said. Perfect? Absolutely not. But Jason couldn't argue with the results. He had lived a productive, heroic life.

Pluto looked at him. Jason stared right back.

"I would question that, but I don't think eternity has equipped me for whatever your psyche holds," Pluto said and turned back to the skeletons, who continued their chattering. "It's true. The mortal Paul Blofis himself has said my children are doing well. I should not worry about them so.” Again, more chattering. “Well, I assume the Jackson whelp taught him how to pray. But my understanding is this Blofis character gives very honest feedback on the state of one’s children.”

Jason awkwardly cleared his throat. Pluto glanced back at him. “Very well,” he said and tapped the arms of his throne. “I suppose there is one thing you may do for me if you are so inclined.”

Oh, thank gods. Jason offered a polite smile in return. Pluto stood up, gesturing him to follow into one of the adjoining rooms behind the throne. Jason slipped by the skeletons (he would be able to tell if one was him, right? Right) to jog after him.

“Thank you-” Jason began only to be cut off by Pluto launching into an explanation.

“Someone has been stealing from me,” he said, and Jason raised his brows. Okay. That was a big deal. He was surprised he hadn’t enlisted a living hero for that. “Or rather, a spirit has the nerve to steal from me.” The door shut behind them, leading into a long, dreary corridor. “As I’m sure you know, I have a storage of items specifically for ghosts that enables them to better interact with the living world.”

Jason… hadn’t known that actually. But he knew better than to say so.

“Why would you need them to interact with the living world?” he asked instead.

Pluto gave a long-suffering sigh as they turned a corner. “Your mortal souls are very finicky creatures. I offer what I can, but occasionally souls can only be soothed by closure. In such cases, I grant them certain permissions to attempt to find that closure. You, for example, may enter the world of the living.”

Jason nodded slowly. Sure, sure. He followed.

“For others, if they continue to struggle, I allow them the opportunity to do more.” Pluto tapped a stone, and the wall pulled away, revealing what looked to be the world’s most glittery room. Jason’s eyes widened as he stepped inside, taking in what he could only describe as the inside of a bedazzled cavern. Pluto plucked an emerald from the ceiling and handed it to him. “These take me many centuries to curate. Their spiritual properties allow ghosts to interact with the living world. Touch things. Be heard. Even possess on the rare occasion. Due to their rarity, I do not offer them often. Only when necessary.”

“And some are missing?” Jason deduced, rolling the emerald between his fingers. It was amazing to feel something again. The sharpness of the jewel almost sent a shiver up his spine.

“Indeed,” Pluto said darkly. “Only a spirit would benefit from this, so I assume only a spirit would have stolen it. Find me this wayward ghost, and you shall have…” He paused, trailing off. “I suppose you asked for this, didn’t you?” he frowned. Jason shrugged. “Very well, then you shall, perhaps, be given another task to assist me.”

Neat. Jason placed the gem in his pocket.

“Thank you, my lord,” he said, bowing his head. “I will not disappoint you.”

Pluto only waved him away.

Chapter Text

If Jason had hoped for a challenge on this quest… he didn’t get one.

In fact, he hadn’t even gotten a chance to really put his quest cap on. His first step had been to visit Camp Half-Blood, where he hoped the familiarity and free spirits would allow him to brainstorm his next move only to find the most unhinged level of audacity to stare him directly in the face.

Audacity, fun fact, came from the Latin word audacitas, which means boldness.

And in Jason’s humble opinion, taking one of Pluto’s stolen jewels and using it to put various weapons in jello was… bold.

“What are you doing?” Jason asked, frowning as none other than Luke Castellan glanced up from the mess he was making. One of Pluto’s jewels was pinned to the center of his chest like a decorative tattoo, glowing slightly as Luke very carefully placed a huge shield encased in green jello down in the middle of the armory. “You stole Pluto’s jewels?” he asked, unable to compute that this supposed adult potentially angered an almighty god to put weapons in jello.

“Get your toga out of a twist,” Luke snorted, dusting off his hands. If he was surprised to see Jason, he certainly didn't show it. If anything, it felt like he had been waiting for him. “It’s fun. Watch.” He stepped back and Jason pursed his lips, turning to see a few campers rushing over to grab their shields for Capture the Flag. Upon entering the armory everyone froze.

“TRAVIS!” one girl screamed, making everyone clap their hands over their ears. “Ooh, you and Connor are in for it-”

“What did we do?” a voice asked and one of the Stoll brothers popped his head in. “We didn’t- what?" Travis looked around in utter bewilderment. Luke smiled a little. “How?” he whispered. “Who is doing this?”

The girl crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you going to gaslight me now?”

“I’m so serious, Katie. This wasn’t us.”

“A likely story, Stoll.”

“For real! Ask Connor.”

“He’s going to lie to me too!”

“We didn’t do it!”

“Is… this what you wanted to happen?” Jason asked uncertainly, turning to where Luke had perched himself on the windowsill, watching the interaction with a fondness that Jason didn’t expect to see on him given… you know. The stories.

“Pretty much. Just wait,” Luke said as the group began to file out, all moaning and groaning as they threatened to tell Chiron.

The Stoll brothers stepped further inside the armory, eyes narrowed as they looked at one another and then the jello-fied weapons suspiciously.

“It has to be Cecil, right?”

“Or a ghost.”

“It isn’t a ghost, Connor! If anything, it’s poltergeist, which is different.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. But if it was the same, then why would they make another word for it?”

“Have you ever even heard of synonyms?”

“Whatever,” Travis said, throwing up his hands. “Look, we can’t take credit for someone else’s work. This genius son of a bitch is going to dirty our good name. We have to think of something better. Smarter. Unexpected. Dangerous, even,” he said, pacing.

Connor clicked his tongue. “Follow Percy Jackson around with a Mariachi band?”

Travis snapped his fingers. “Perfect.” He high-fived his brother. “Let us go forth and put our poor, fellow prankster in his place!”

Jason wished he knew what was happening.

“Percy is in New Rome,” Luke reminded them gently, but of course nobody but Jason heard.

Taking a deep breath, he turned, examining Luke with wary eyes. He had never heard that this guy was a prankster of any sort. He had always been described to Jason as a cool older brother who sort of beguiled you into joining the titans. He wouldn’t have expected him to be… this.

“Look,” Jason began, because he also wasn’t a monster. Pluto might be looking to punish whoever took those jewels and despite his on-the-floor opinion of this guy, a prank wasn’t worth all that. “If you give me the rest of the jewels, I can just tell Pluto I found them and you can head back to Elysium. No harm, no foul.”

Luke tilted his head. The sunlight went through him, catching in an odd way that Jason could still make out the scar that went over his eye. “That is a kind offer,” he said, then lifted one of the few un-jello-fied swords and absently swirled it around. “You’re Jason Grace, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Thalia’s little brother?”

“Is that a problem?”

Luke shrugged. “Nah,” he said, standing up. “She just never told me she had a brother. It stings a little - I thought we knew everything about each other - but I also get it.” The jewel in the center of Luke’s chest dimmed, and the sword in his hand suddenly dropped through his hand, clattering on the floor. Luke stared at it, deadpanned. “...these things don’t last long,” he muttered.

“You really took them just to pull a prank?” Jason asked, unable to wrap his head around such a thing.

Luke laughed. “Of course not. I need them for lots of things. And it’s a way for me to spend time with my brothers even if they don’t know,” he added, a note of wistfulness at the end.

Jason wanted to point out that these were the very same brothers he went to war with but decided he wouldn’t bring that up right now.

“Up for a walk?” Luke asked - as if he and Jason were old friends. Jason hesitated. “Humor me,” he added. “And I’ll come quietly.”

Well, that was something. Jason wasn’t sure if spirits could fight one another here, so convincing Luke to be agreeable seemed like the best path forward. Awkwardly, he stepped around the piles of jello, mainly out of habit rather than need. Luke had no such qualms and moved directly through the wall.

Outside looked warm. Jason couldn’t tell, but spring had led to blooming flowers and sunlight streaming through trees. Jason imagined it was warm. The leaves rattling told him there might have even been a breeze. He sighed, surprised by how much he wanted to feel the wind.

“Is there something you miss most?” Luke asked, appearing next to him. Jason glanced at him but didn’t answer. “Probably a sucky question to ask. Hard to decide between the people, the senses, being heard…” He trailed off, eyes roaming over the camp.

“Does it get easier?” Jason asked, unable to help himself. He wished he didn’t feel the need to, but Luke felt like the only person who had voiced what had been rolling in his head since entering Elysium.

Luke kept walking along the treeline of camp, lips pursed. “Not if you compare everything to living,” he finally said. Right. Jason nodded to himself. “Did you have much of a chance to do that?”

“Do what?”

“Live,” Luke said, tucking his hands into his pockets.

Jason snorted. “Yeah. Fought monsters. Fought titans. Fought giants. Was part of a prophecy.”

“That sounds more like a no.”

“I- it’s better than having accomplished nothing,” Jason said, a little defensively. “I led Camp Jupiter. I made an impact. That counts for something.”

Luke raised his hands in feigned surrender. “It absolutely does,” he agreed. Jason narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Have a favorite color?” A what? What kind of question was that? Jason stared at him. “I didn’t have one when I was alive either,” Luke said when no answer came. “There are a lot of things I never found out about myself.” He frowned, brows coming together. Then shrugged. “I think I like red,” he decided.

Jason didn’t quite understand the importance of a favorite color, but something about it seemed to hold weight for Luke. As he dissected that, he took a few steps forward, not paying attention to the onslaught of campers racing by.

“Watch it-” Luke’s arm shot up, blocking Jason’s chest as the kids stumbled past them, dropping their swords so they could dive into the nearby lake to swim. Jason looked down, inches away from Luke shielding him as if he might get trampled by this tiny army of children. “Right. We’re ghosts.” Luke snorted and lowered his arm. “Sorry, force of habit.”

“No worries,” Jason told him. “Are you ready to go back?”

Luke gave an incredulous look. “Are you?” he asked, seemingly insulted for some reason. He looked at the swords on the ground and a smile crept on his face. “Were you any good?” he asked before Jason could answer his first question.

Jason looked at the swords he was gesturing at. “I was decent.”

“Ah. Humility. You were good,” Luke said, and from seemingly nowhere brought out a leather bag. “Care for a spar?”

Luke opened the bag, showing the glittering jewels piled inside. He held out his hands as a silent, come on, man. Like, honestly? Did he seriously want to spar using the jewels that Jason was trying to return to Pluto? The guy had some next-level gall.

“No,” he said.

Luke gave him a knowing look. “I’m sure Hades gave you one of these before sending you to find the ones I have,” he said, shaking the bag. “Just use that.”

“They weren’t meant for us.”

“Of course, they're meant for us,” Luke scoffed. “They’re to help those who can’t transition into death, right? Well, if you’re here and not in Elysium…” He held out his arms.

Jason could see why this guy was such a problem for the Greeks. Every word out of his mouth seemed reasonable. Jason took out the emerald Pluto had given him and Luke waited. Not taunting him with being right. Just patient. Like an older brother waiting for him to reach the right conclusion because obviously Jason would see his way.

“You said that if I humored you then you would come quietly,” Jason reminded him.

Luke nodded. “I did, I did… Did you know Hermes was the god of trickery?” he asked. Jason gave him a look. “Fine. What if I said one sword fight is part of humoring me?”

“It sounds like you can do this all day.”

“All eternity, really,” Luke agreed and then plucked out a jewel from the bag before tossing the rest at Jason. He caught the string, a little surprised that he could despite having touched the jewels earlier. “Here. Some collateral.”

Well… Jason looked down at the bag in one hand and then at the emerald in the other. He supposed, if pressed, he could admit he missed sword fighting. And he probably could go into the Elysium and find a little area where he’d be able to fight to his heart’s content, but somehow it wasn’t the same. Swallowing, he looked up at Luke.

“One fight,” he said and Luke nodded. “How do you-?”

“Press is directly into the center of your chest,” Luke said, holding up the ruby he had kept and demonstrating by placing the jewel over his sternum. Jason warily mimicked the movement, trying to decide if he trusted this random Greek enough to-

It was warm.

Jason almost stumbled as the sun hit his skin, wind lightly taking away the heat as he felt the ground harden beneath his feet. He looked down at his hands, realizing they were trembling.

“Do you need to sit?” Luke asked cautiously. Jason opened and closed his mouth. He could taste the air. Had air always had a taste? He couldn’t remember. Maybe he just hadn’t noticed it as much when he was alive. “It can be really overwhelming the first time.”

Jason did end up sitting. Or more so just flopping onto the ground. His hand ran over the grass. Not Elysium grass. Real grass. Against his will, the sharp pang of tears pressed behind his eyes. He quickly blinked it away.

“Can anyone see us?” he asked, voice coming out a little shaky. How could anyone not see them? Jason felt as though he was fully alive again – but Luke shook his head.

“Two jewels would probably let others see us, but not one.” He sat across from Jason, patiently waiting. “The shock will wear off in a couple of minutes,” he added, also absently running his hands over the grass.

The Romans would be horrified to see Jason so thrown by this. He was a little horrified at himself. He should have just collected his emotions and moved on with the spar. Ideally, he would have disarmed Luke in a matter of seconds and then brought him to the Underworld within the hour. Easy.

But that wasn’t the case and Jason kind of felt…

“Is this what drugs are like?” he blurted out before he could help himself.

Luke blinked. “Is this-? No,” he said, a little amused. “Have you taken drugs?” Jason shook his head. “I can’t decide if that’s surprising or not.”

“Do I look like someone who does drugs?”

Luke’s smile widened. “Maybe,” he decided. “No offense, but you seem kind of like a puzzle piece that can fit into any jigsaw.”

Jason made a face at him. “That’s beautiful. Do you write poetry?”

“Ooh,” Luke said, chuckling. “So you snap back.”

Jason might have given him a terse reply if it weren’t for the snapping of twigs as a figure emerged from the treeline a few feet away. Jason and Luke whipped around to see Annabeth Chase herself do a quick spin, tapping her finger over her lip as she studied the area.

Luke’s interest in Jason dissipated immediately. “You’re supposed to be in school,” he said as if Annabeth could hear him. She paused near where Jason was sitting, looking off toward the lake and then back towards the trees. “Why aren’t you in school?” Luke stood up. “Did a monster bother you at Berkeley? Is something going on at New Rome?”

Slipping off her backpack, Annabeth pulled out a spray bottle and misted the area before throwing a drachma in as a rainbow hit the droplets.

“Percy Jackson, New Rome.”

“Is this his fault?” Luke muttered. Jason leaned back on his elbows, taking the time to relish in the smell of campfire and pine. “If you two broke up, he should be leaving school. Not you.”

“There she is,” Percy’s voice said and Luke crossed his arms over his chest, looking suspicious as Percy’s face appeared in the mist. “How was the trip?”

“I ran into an empousa, but otherwise relatively uneventful,” Annabeth said and stepped back. “What do you think? Is this the place?” Percy looked around before nodding. “Give me more than that, Seaweed Brain.”

“I like it.”

“You’re useless,” Annabeth informed him. “I should have called Grover.”

“Oh my gods,” Percy said dramatically. “I don’t even know what the monument is going to look like. How am I supposed to know if it’ll look good?” He pouted and Annabeth raised an eyebrow that immediately made him smile instead. Jason almost wanted to roll his eyes.

“Your mom had an interesting idea,” Annabeth said, holding up her hands in two Ls like she was looking through a camera. “Apparently in New York, there was this sculpture that matched one in Dublin? And they both had live video so it was like a portal.”

“I remember that… they closed it down,” Percy said. “Everyone in America kept messing with it and doing all this inappropriate behavior.”

“Well, yeah, it was in New York. New Yorkers are animals.”

“I’m a New Yorker.”

“My point exactly,” Annabeth agreed and Percy stuck his tongue at her. “Argus can probably watch it on our side to make sure nobody messes with it. And I’m sure Terminus would love to guard it for Camp Jupiter,” she added.

Percy hummed. “I like it,” he said, running his hand through his hair. He was flipping Riptide around his fingers in its pen form, a leather notebook pushed off to the side. “If there was a way we could hear each other, it'd make communication easier too.”

Annabeth’s face brightened at that. “True,” she murmured. She took a deep breath and nodded. “This is a big project.”

“You redesigned Olympus,” Percy reminded her. Then reconsidered. “Actually, you’re right. This one is more important. You’re getting graded on this one.”

Annabeth gave a dramatic gasp. “Perseus Jackson, how dare you give grades that sort of weight? As if that’s an accurate measurement of self-worth, intelligence, or contribution to this world?”

Percy nodded as he dropped his pen to instead grab a granola bar. “Yeah, that’s crazy,” he agreed, nonplussed. At Annabeth’s laugh, he smiled. “Seriously, though. Even if this is a school assignment, it’s going to be a huge deal. An official, long-standing monument that Greeks and Romans are united.”

Annabeth nodded, her smile slowly disappearing. “Paul suggested a memorial,” she murmured.

Oh, that was nice. Maybe? Jason wasn’t sure how he felt about a memorial. Would he be included? Probably. Camp Jupiter would make sure of that. And while that was very nice he was loved and appreciated… something about it made his skin crawl. He wasn’t sure why. Surely he had worked hard enough to deserve it. But…

“That would be good too,” Percy said gently. Annabeth bit her lip. “But it isn’t a big deal if you don’t want to do that.”

Luke nodded along with Percy fiercely. "It's your project," he told her. "Besides, memorials are overdone. This portal thing is cooler."

From somewhere in the distance, someone laughed. The sound made Annabeth wince. “I feel like I should be honoring those who have fallen,” she murmured.

“Annabeth,” Percy said, doing that weird shift he did. Jason hated the shift. He had noticed it often when he was alive. How Percy could be a silly goofball one moment and an intimidating warrior the next. And then, almost unexpectedly, he could turn into someone wise and thoughtful.

The switches themselves had never once bothered Jason. After all, he could adapt too (as Luke so kindly pointed out). No, what bothered Jason was the depth. No matter what shift Percy did, it was undeniably him. No mask. No pretend. He was just…. Genuine.

And gods that pissed Jason off for a reason he couldn’t quite explain, nor could he let anyone see. Perhaps it was a genetic trait from their fathers. Percy’s shift went deep into the sea, the water churning right down to the bottom, but Jason’s shift remained in various weathers that only covered the sky.

“What?” Annabeth murmured, nonplussed by the shift. No doubt she was used to it. It was probably something she even liked about him.

“You have to remember that Paul doesn’t really see our world,” Percy reminded her. “We have to live in a memorial. The Hermes cabin is the same one Luke lived in.” At his name, Luke looked between them, expression wary. “Thalia’s tree is the place she fought those monsters on. We go back to the same places where we met and lost people constantly. None of us really escape that. You are totally justified in not wanting to build a memorial, and I promise you with everything I know about my stepfather, Paul is not going to want you to build something that would make you upset. He would be horrified to know he’s brought you to this point.”

Annabeth gave a short laugh. “Don’t tell him,” she said and hugged herself as she spun around again. “I do like the portal idea… I’ll ask Thalia what she thinks,” she added. Percy’s mouth dropped, outright offended. “Because I love you both equally and value your opinions.”

“....equally?” Percy said dryly. “Really?” Annabeth gave him a look. “Alright, sure. Just remember who battles spiders for you. And I highly recommend telling Grace to relay this idea to Thalia,” he said pointing at her. “I’ve discovered that’s the best way to get her to listen.”

Annabeth gave him a suspicious look. “Grace can barely talk?”

“Well, Annabeth, sometimes you have to hold her up and talk for her like she’s a puppet,” Percy said, as if this was obvious and Annabeth was a fool for not knowing this. “My gods. Have you never manipulated anyone using a baby before?”

“Is this how you convince Medusa to make you burgers when you watch Estelle?”

“That’s my business. Focus on your architectural designs that will create world peace, please.”

Laughing, Annabeth swiped the message away before Percy could continue harassing her. Luke stood there, watching her with an expression Jason couldn’t quite read. As Annabeth kept walking around, making notes and measuring the randomest things, he smiled.

“I’m proud of you,” he told her. And somehow, Jason knew from the cadence of the words and the lilt of his voice that Luke had told her this many times. Perhaps every single day since he died. Eventually, Annabeth gathered her things and walked away, leaving Luke to stare after her. “That’s my sister,” he added when he circled back to where he was sitting.

Hm. Jason wanted to ask if he considered Thalia his sister too. He wasn’t sure he wanted that answer - either a yes or a no would annoy him in different ways. Peering over (or rather through) Luke’s shoulder, Jason made sure the kids were all still swimming in the lake before shakily standing up to move toward the abandoned swords.

“Ready to spar?” he asked.

Luke stretched his arms before nodding, shaking himself out as if he really had muscles and a body to attend to. He dipped down and snatched a sword up, leaving Jason to wonder if someone walking by would just see a floating sword or if the weapons would go invisible at their touch… Definitely the former. He hoped they didn’t scare anyone.

“So,” Luke began as Jason reached down and grabbed the handle. It was a Greek sword - longer than his own had been - but he could wield it just fine. The familiar weight in his hand made him smile. “Mind if I pick your brain a bit?”

Jason readied his stance. “On?”

Luke’s eyes scanned him up and down, something calculating under his gaze. “The Romans,” he mused. “I spent a lot of time at Camp Half-Blood after I died. I heard about you and the rest.” He took a small step to the left and Jason went to the right. “But I find it interesting I never encountered any of you in the Titan War.”

“We had no traitors,” Jason said sharply. “Why would you?”

Luke gave an experimental jab. Jason deflected. For some reason, Luke beamed.

“You all must live happy lives then,” he said. Jason bit his tongue. “Or have harsh punishments, I suppose. Perhaps both?”

Jason struck next. The clang of the metal sent a trill up his arm. And despite not having any muscle, the muscle memory kicked in. Block. Parry. Jab. Counter. Strike.

Unfortunately, the murmurs of Luke’s skill were far from exaggerated. He met each of Jason’s blows with ease, moving in that fanciful Greek way that Jason both admired and sighed at. He barely seemed focused on the fight - instead entirely devoted to interrogating Jason on every detail of Roman life. As if he might be reborn and immediately cause an uprising in New Rome.

“So, the kids fight… and the adults don’t?” he asked flatly.

“They’re retired,” Jason corrected.

“But they’re in like, what? Their twenties? Thirties?”

“I guess.”

“So that’s not retirement,” Luke said. “I think I get it now. Why would you be angry at the gods? Most of your shitty parents are stuffing their faces next door.”

“Be respectful,” Jason said sharply, blocking another hit. “They already fought-”

“So? It sounds like most of you are descendants and not actual demigods. That means a chunk of your army has parents who do nothing while their kids go off to New York to attempt to kill a camp of other kids under the orders of some random lunatic nobody likes?”

….well, when he put it like that it sounded kind of bad. Jason had never interacted much with New Rome adults if he was honest. His father was a god. It never really occurred to him that his comrades had families who he had never seen. And Jason had never had a family outside of the legion to register that as strange.

“You need to stop wavering,” Luke said and went to disarm him. Jason jumped back. “Pick an attack and stick with it.”

Jason’s grip on his sword tightened. “You say that like you’re winning.” And suddenly a sword was in Jason’s chest. He looked down, baffled by the move. It left Luke completely vulnerable with Jason’s sword still in hand, able to jab him in the throat. If they were both alive, then they would both kill each other. “Nobody would-” he began and Luke shook his head.

“Yes, they would. Winning doesn’t matter if you're dead. And sometimes your opponent’s goal isn’t to win. It’s just to make sure you're dead.” He pulled the sword out. “But I’d wager you found that out the hard way.”

Jason stiffened at that. A moment flashed before him - meeting Lester’s eyes as he yelled at him and Piper to go. A brief plea for a god to for once remember a promise. And… pain. Pain he both expected and didn’t. Jason had known there was a chance he’d die. Expected it even. He’d also thought there was a chance he wouldn't. Maybe he thought he’d be taken hostage. Saved. That an army of saviors would appear, his father, Juno, something.

After all, his ending hadn't been too different to Thalia fighting on that hill before she got turned into a tree all those years ago. Was it so far-fetched to think he might be preserved in some way? That, somehow, he could go against a prophecy and fate, and simply exist until his friends came and brought him back?

Apparently, it was far-fetched. Because then he was in a hall, waiting for his soul to be judged.

“Fine,” he said and stepped back so the sword was out of him. “Not sure what use that wisdom is now, though.” Luke merely threw the sword to the side. The jewel in his chest was beginning to dim again. When Jason looked down, his was too, the glowing green fading until his sword slipped through his hand to the ground. “Right. Ready to head back?”

And, look, even if Luke didn’t go back to Elysium with him, it was fine. Jason had the jewels and that was all that he needed-

Where did the jewels go? Jason spun around, the leather pouch absent from where he had hooked it on his ghostly belt loop.

“Is Mercury also the god of thieves?” Luke asked and when Jason glanced up, he felt a zing of annoyance flood through him. Luke swung the pouch around his hand by the strings. “I also stole your dad’s bolt once,” he added. “And Hades’s helm. These gems aren’t really a challenge.”

…this guy sucked.

“Didn’t you cause enough problems when you were alive?” Jason asked. From somewhere in the background a mariachi band started playing. Luke looked over his shoulder, almost like he was curious as to who Travis and Connor decided to follow when they realized Percy wasn’t there. Jason took the opportunity to lunge forward only for Luke to hop back.

Okay. Fine. Totally fine. Diplomat face. Jason had dealt with far more annoying people than this and kept his composure. He had dealt with Octavian.

“You know, for all your criticism of everyone in New Rome, you aren’t so different,” he said, giving a heavy, disappointed sigh. Luke tilted his head. “You’re supposed to be the adult here, and somehow I’m cleaning up your mess. Shouldn’t you be aiming higher than that?”

Nevermind that Jason had volunteered for this job. Luke didn’t need to know that.

“Wow,” Luke said. “That’s… profound.”

“I’m being very serious.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Luke agreed, stepping back. “Tell you what - if you can tell me what you’re favorite color is, then I’ll give you one.”

“You’ll give me one?”

“One more than you had before.”

“No, I- wait,” he added when Luke stepped away again. Jason knew from his own ghostly abilities that you could just pop up in other places. If this jackass zapped away, who knows when Jason could track him down again. He needed to buy time. “Purple. My favorite color is Purple.”

Luke narrowed his eyes. “...why?” he asked.

What kind of question was that?

“For, you know, the Romans,” Jason said helplessly.

This - somehow - was the wrong answer. The wrong answer for a question about his favorite color. Jason gave the wrong answer about his own favorite color, apparently.

“No,” Luke said, because, once again, Jason had somehow messed this up. “That’s a terrible answer. I’m not counting that.”

“You’re not counting-? Okay, okay,” Jason said when he stepped back again. Gods, why did he sound so frazzled? One conversation with this man and all his sense of decorum flit off into the wind. “Fine. Blue. Or, orange, I guess.”

“Now you’re just naming colors!”

Jason had heard more productive conversations between ten-year-olds. “You-” he began, trying to find a pocket of patience for the conversation. Before he could finish, Luke vanished, the gems with him. Jason ran a hand over his mouth, utterly baffled. “Oh my gods,” he muttered. “Oh my gods. Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods-”

Pluto was so not giving him another quest after this.

He also officially hated Luke Castellan.

Chapter Text

Jason liked rules.

Before everyone boos him offstage, let him explain. He didn’t always agree with rules, but that was a different problem. If you didn’t agree with the rules, you changed them. You advocated for better. Because rules were meant to provide guidance and structure. They protected people and if they didn’t do that, then they were bad rules and you needed to find different ones.

So, yeah, while rules could be annoying, it was important to learn them. And in this specific situation, Jason needed to understand ghost rules. Alas, there was one person who could help him with that.

“I will not fail you again.”

Pluto barely seemed to register the words as he sat on his throne. A line of spirits went out the door as Jason stood off to the side, pleading his case in between spirits coming to appeal their complaints to Pluto in person.

“I still do not understand why you felt the need to update me,” Pluto said as he waved a spirit away. “Would you like to abandon this task? I would not hold ill will if you choose to-”

“No!” Jason said quickly. Pluto closed his eyes. “My lord,” he added quickly. “I… had actually hoped for more information. About the spirit realm.”

Pluto rubbed his temple. “Go on,” he muttered and gestured the next spirit forward.

One would think that Jason would be met with a little more enthusiasm given the fact he was trying to solve a problem for this god, but sure. Maybe he just had to prove himself. After all, he had just told Pluto he had failed his first attempt at getting the jewels back.

“In Elysium, I can touch other spirits. What happens if I touch them in the living world? Without the jewels, I mean. Are there consequences if I do? Is there a way to hurt them? Subdue them?”

Pluto held up a finger as the next spirit approached him to discuss whatever their plight was. After a couple moments of hushed conversation, he returned his attention to Jason.

“Am I to understand that you know who is stealing my jewels?”

Jason put his hands behind his back. “If… possible, my lord, I’d rather keep the details to myself for now. Simply to ensure I do not cause you strife by bringing you incomplete information.”

Pluto rolled his eyes, which Jason found a little rude, but okay. “Interacting with other spirits is often an act of intention. You may touch them if you intend to. If not? You will go through them. This extends somewhat to the rest of the world. You may sit in a chair if you intend to, but if not? You go through it. For bigger, more significant actions outside of things like walls and chairs, you’ll need the jewels. Does this answer your question?”

Jason nodded. “Yes, my lord. Just one more. If I intend to subdue another spirit in the living world-?”

“I’ll be quite honest, demigod. I have no answer for that. Most spirits are quite content with the afterlives they are given. Those who are not don’t tend to discuss their daily activities with me.” Pluto gave him a pointed look before gesturing the next spirit forward.

Well, then. Jason was just trying to help. Trying not to look like this conversation hurt his feelings (because he wasn't that sensitive), he gave a deep bow and turned away.

“Jason.”

Oh, that was weird. His name on Pluto’s lips felt like a different language. Despite the fact he was named after an ancient hero, Jason wasn’t sure it had ever been said by a deity without 'Grace' behind it. In fact, he was pretty sure the first Jason’s name was technically Iason or something like that.

Either way, he turned, a little stunned at being addressed as something other than his full name or by a title of some sort.

“My lord?” he asked.

Pluto gave him a calculating look. “If you wish to continue down this path, you may. I will not stop you. But if you need some sort of indicator that you are allowed to rest, then know I, myself, think you are worthy of your place in Elysium. You have done enough, child.”

Something caught in Jason’s throat. That… should make him feel better, right? It should.

It didn’t.

“I feel like I didn’t do something,” he said, and then, thinking of Luke’s ridiculous question, he shook his head. “I don’t know my favorite color.”

If Pluto thought this was a strange comment, he didn’t show it. The poor guy probably thought everything about mortals was confusing. In fact, Jason could see him making an internal note to ask Nico and Hazel what their favorite colors were the moment it left Jason’s mouth.

“You didn’t do something?” Pluto repeated. Jason nodded. “Very well. Then go do it.”

“I don’t know what-”

“Goodbye, Jason Grace,” Pluto said dramatically. “Do not bother me unless you have something of importance to say.”

…sure. Jason gave another bow before slipping out of the Underworld.

So Luke Castellan stole the jewels. Typical. A bad guy in life, a bad guy in death. Jason had done some recon in the Elysium when he was in the Underworld. Silena Beauregard had known Luke as well as other Titan supporters who had perished in the war. Jason hadn't been impressed by the additional stories he had learned.

Would finding him be hard? He could be anywhere. Moving up into the world of the living, Jason tried to decide where he should search first - or where he even wanted to go.

Part of him yearned for Piper in these moments. Or Reyna. Or Leo. Jason considered going to find them but also knew he risked hurting his own feelings if he did (again, not sensitive, it was fine).

And… listen. Jason didn’t want anyone to be sad about his death. He wanted his friends and family to live good, happy, long lives. But sometimes when he visited them… well, it was a little startling to see how quickly they had adjusted to life without him.

What was it Luke had called him? A puzzle piece that could fit into any jigsaw.

And maybe… maybe Jason had made an impact on the world. But there was a cold, dawning realization that he might not have made an impact on any people. The thought was a little lonely.

He needed to see Thalia.

Taking a deep breath, he redirected himself to Goode High School. His sister had known Luke the best, after all. Maybe she would unknowingly drop some insight that could help him. Shaking off his wayward thoughts, Jason looked up to find the arched entrance to the school.

What time was it? Would she be at lunch or in history again? Maybe English-

“What in the name of the gods are you doing here?”

Dear gods. Nico. Jason's heart stuttered, a little concerned why Nico's voice seemed so indignant. Was he upset? Jason had been trying to stay away unless summoned. Cautiously, he turned around. One cursory at the side of the brick walls confirmed it had been Nico di Angelo’s voice he had heard. A second one revealed it had not been Jason he had been speaking to.

Diana stood a few feet away, a few rocks in hand from where she must have been tossing pebbles at the window that Nico was now sticking his head out of. Jason quickly stepped into the bushes, reasonably certain a goddess of any domain would probably be able to see him.

“I need to talk to you!” she called up to Nico, which was… confusing. Jason had only known Nico for a short period of time, but he had always seemed cold when Diana’s Greek form was mentioned. And Diana had never been one to seek out heroes like this - especially male heroes.

Nico looked over his shoulder and then back down. “My class is about to start!”

“I think my father has Grindr.”

…what?

A long pause followed. Jason had no idea how to respond to that. Diana’s father was, well, also his father. Did Jupiter have Grindr? No. Well. Maybe his Greek form did. No. Well. Jason ran a hand over his face.

Why was Diana talking to Nico about this? The guy was a teenager born in the 1920s and only recently came out of the closet. There was no way he even knew what-

“I’ll be right down,” Nico said solemnly.

Oh, that was a plot twist. Jason hoped things were going okay with Will.

And maybe it was worth revealing himself to deconstruct whatever was going on here, but for the sake of his sanity and tackling one problem at a time, he opted to instead continue to look for Thalia.

Ducking out of the bushes, he stumbled through the front door, careful to move to the opposite side of the building that Nico was on to avoid running into him.

Finding Thalia didn’t take too long. She was the only one in lunchtime detention. Not that it seemed to be much of a detention with how she was chatting to a poor Paul Blofis. They were sitting in an empty classroom that had a big red DO NOT DISTURB sign over the door. Paul sat at the teacher’s desk with his hands folded in front of his face as Thalia ate a peanut butter sandwich with her feet on the desk she was sitting at.

“No, no,” she was saying. “So if Romulus was a furry-” Paul buried his face in his hands. “You know the myths are real now, Paul! Don’t be a coward and tell Nico to summon Romulus so we can get answers. Percy agrees with me, right?”

A phone on Paul’s desk crackled. “...why did you call me?” Percy’s voice replied.

Jason rolled his eyes, taking a seat at the far end of the room.

“Because I asked Nico to summon Romulus yesterday and he said no,” Thalia said sagely. “And I need backup. I was thinking Paul is good at making PowerPoints, so he could pitch in there-”

“Why would Nico be convinced with a PowerPoint?” Percy’s voice interrupted.

Thalia bristled. “Because it powers your good points, Jack-ass-son. It’s literally in the name of the product.”

A huff sounded on the other end of the phone.

“You know, I think it is actually kind of amazing how despite having transformed back into a person years ago, you still managed to retain the intelligence of a tree-”

“Do not,” Paul interrupted. “Start this up again.”

Silence. Thalia glared at the phone. Jason could feel Percy glaring back over the line.

“...has Annabeth talked to you about her sculpture project?” Percy asked, completely changing the subject. Thalia looked vaguely annoyed, but Jason knew she wasn’t going to avoid talking about literally anything Annabeth-related. He sighed, putting his chin in his hand. It had been a complete longshot to come here and think that Thalia would drop lore on Luke of all people. She most likely hated him too now. How could she not? He was-

A glittering jewel on Paul’s desk caught Jason’s eye.

He was here?

“You’re kidding,” Jason muttered, standing up to cross the room and - yep. Jason picked up a topaz jewel that rolled through his fingers. Luke had been here. He was probably still here. Taunting him! Jason pressed his tongue to the side of his cheek, trying to temper his annoyance. After all, this should be considered a step forward.

“If it’s a portal, then we should be able to actually travel through it-” Thalia was saying as Jason stepped back out the door to look down the hall.

“Oh, hello there.”

The son of bitch was just waiting for him.

“Luke,” Jason greeted coldly. Luke smiled, lifting a hand like a 40-year-old dad acknowledging his neighbor as he mowed a lawn. “Is this a game to you?” he asked, lifting up the topaz jewel.

Luke held out his hands. “It’s just a peace offering,” he said. “You seemed kind of frustrated the last time we talked.”

“Did I?” Jason muttered. “Well, I’ve spoken to Pluto, and have not revealed you as the thief… yet. I want to give you one more chance to avoid making things worse for yourself.” Luke looked away as if he was trying to hide a smile. “What?” Jason asked, throwing up a hand.

“No. I… Yes. Understood. This is my last chance before you tell on me.”

Jason closed his eyes. “Is this your plan? To patronize me in hopes that I don’t reveal you?”

“How is it patronizing?” Luke snorted. “I just was under the impression your job entailed a little more than just telling Hades that I took something from him.” He shrugged. “Again.”

Jason pursed his lips. Was he for real? “You don’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation.” He took a step forward and surprisingly Luke didn’t move away. “You getting Elysium was a privilege that could be easily revoked. The fact you got in at all is astounding considering the damage you did while you were alive. Damage you don’t even seem to regret, by the way.”

That got a reaction. The impish look on Luke’s face froze in place, giving way to something darker behind his eyes.

“Is that what you’ve heard?” he asked. Jason jutted out his chin. “Tell me, then. If you know much. Tell me what exactly you think-”

“You manipulated Silena Beauregard,” Jason said, not needing any time to prepare his accusations. “You swayed a young, impressionable girl to join the side of the Titans right before you poisoned my sister’s tree,” he spat, moving closer. Luke pulled his shoulders back, meeting his gaze. “A girl who, when she didn’t want to work for you anymore, you started blackmailing and threatening to hurt her boyfriend. You’re also the reason that Annabeth who you just called your sister had to carry the sky on her shoulders when she was thirteen. You realized a 12-year-old was the son of Poseidon and immediately plotted against him, giving him a gift you knew would drag him to Tartarus. Like, genuinely, you, as an 18-year-old, tried to get a preteen dragged into Tartarus. You had a sword specifically made to hurt both immortals and mortals because... I don't even know why. Probably some sad backstory that you'll use to justify anything evil you do.” Jason took another step. “Should I go on or are you going to pretend that I don’t know what I’m talking about?”

Luke’s eyes flicked him up and down. “Hm,” he said. “Maybe you share some resemblance with Thalia after all.”

If only Luke was born a Roman… Lupa would have eaten him alive. Literally, if Jason was lucky.

“Give me the jewels,” Jason said, holding out his hand. When Luke didn’t move, he poked him in the chest. Just to show he could. Luke looked down at his finger and then lifted his eyes up. If he was surprised Jason could touch him, he didn't show it. “Please,” Jason added.

Luke pushed his hand down. “No.”

“No?”

“No,” Luke said and nodded to the topaz in Jason’s other hand. “I gave you one.”

“I want them all.”

“Too bad.”

“Don’t make me take them from you,” Jason warned. “I was a praetor among the Romans and am the son of Jupiter. Death cannot keep me from abandoning my duties and morals as life seemed to have made you abandon yours.”

Luke scoffed. “Wow,” he muttered. “Percy must have loved you.”

A spurt of annoyance touched Jason and he shoved him. “Don’t act like you two were friends.”

“And you were?” Luke snapped back. It was nice to see Jason had gotten under his skin - even if it was just a little. “Look, if you want me to sit here and defend my past actions, I won’t. I don’t know why I got into Elysium either. The only reason I told Annabeth otherwise was so she wouldn’t freak out that I was dying in front of her. I expected the Fields of Asphodel at best. And now-” he began and then cut himself off, took a breath, and held up the leather bag of jewels. “You’re not getting these.”

Jason reached for the bag. Luke held it back.

Fine. The hard way it was then.

Jason pulled back a fist just as Luke brought out a jewel from the bag and slammed it into his chest. The certainty of the action actually made Jason pause.

“How’s that going to help you?” he began. What a waste of-

Luke reached to the side and a loud trill went through the air, lights flashing above.

The son of a bitch pulled the fire alarm.

Jason turned to tackle Luke to the ground just as the first door opened and students all piled out. He turned to locate Luke again, but as more people piled into the hallway, he couldn’t make out his stupid face.

Fine. He'd regroup. Jason could think strategically. Moving against the wave of kids all ignoring their teachers' pleas to stay calm, Jason raced up the stairs. It didn’t take long for him to get to the top - quickly locating the roof access point. He really hoped he could still use his powers as a ghost. Otherwise, this might be awkward.

Dashing to the edge of the building, he looked out over the crowd. He could see a firetruck rounding the corner, sirens wailing. A few people were trying to defend themselves from accusations of pulling the alarm and- yes. There he was. Jason could make out a figure running through the crowd (literally). That was a ghost which meant Jason had found his target.

Backing up, he rolled his shoulders back.

This wouldn’t hurt, right? He was literally already dead. It was fine. Taking a deep breath, he raced forward. Sensation was a little weird as a ghost. He had heard from people who had lost limbs that they had ‘phantom pains’ which was essentially your brain making up a sense for a limb that was no longer there. Actual phantoms worked similarly. Even without a physical body, his emotions could still sometimes make it feel like his heart raced or muscles tensed.

It also made his stomach drop when he realized he wasn’t flying and instead falling at a very rapid speed toward the ground. This was why Jason liked knowing the rules. He should have conferred with Pluto about this before attempting to jump off a building.

The Good News: It looked like he had jumped far enough to reach Luke.

The Bad News: Right as Jason was about to land, he could have sworn he heard someone say, “Is that Luke Castellan?”

Cue Jason falling from the sky to tackle him. Luckily, there was no crunch of broken bones like there would have been if he were alive. Unluckily, he did land into Luke with the intention of tackling him so… yeah. They knocked into each other pretty hard and that phantom pain felt like… well, like he had just landed on someone.

“What the fuck?” Luke managed as he crumpled under Jason’s weight.

“Give me the bag!” Jason yelled, crawling over him to try and pin his hand down.

“What is wrong with you?!”

“I’m on a quest!”

“You’re dead!”

“And you’re a thief!”

“Get off, you gremlin!”

“Jason?”

...oh no. Jason froze. Luke’s hand was pressed against the side of his face, the bag held out of reach from where he was sprawled out on the ground. Jason was practically straddling him, all decorum lost the moment he realized his powers weren’t going to work as planned. Hating himself and the situation he had stupidly gotten himself into, he turned to find Nico and Diana staring at them.

And, as if matters couldn’t get any worse, Thalia whipped her head from a few feet away. Even among the throes of students all evacuating the building, Luke and Jason couldn’t seem to hide.

“Jason?” Thalia asked sharply. “Nico, did you say- Artemis?” She blinked at where Diana was standing. “I… my lady,” she said, frowning. “What are you doing here?”

Diana smiled warmly at Thalia. “Hello, sister,” she said. “Our father is on Grindr.”

Thalia only took a moment to register that. “That makes sense,” she said and immediately moved on. “Nico, did you say Jason’s name? Did you summon him?” A few baffled students glanced their way at the conversation, but nobody bothered to intervene as Nico stared at where Luke and Jason were both frozen in place.

“Uh…” he said. “Not… exactly…”

“The traitor Luke Castellan is also here,” Diana said helpfully.

Luke groaned and shoved Jason off of him. “Tell Thalia I’m sorry-” he began only for Thalia to unknowingly interrupt.

“Luke and Jason know each other?” she asked and crossed her arms over her chest. “That… huh.” She tilted her head. “That’s kind of nice, actually. I wouldn’t have thought they would get along.” Jason and Luke looked at one another. “Why are they here? Why are you here?” she asked, redirecting her question at the last second.

“Um,” Jason began and looked at Luke, who didn’t seem to know what to do. “I missed you?” he tried, which wasn’t really a lie.

Nico gave them a bewildered look. “Jason says he missed you,” he relayed slowly.

Luke shifted, looking away. “Tell her I’ll stay away from Jason,” he added quickly. “We ran into one another by mistake and I… It won’t happen again.”

“The traitor says he will not bother your brother,” Diana said. “I assume he understands the pain and plights his actions have caused you and is aware you have not forgiven him.”

“....yes, thank you. That’s very helpful,” Luke muttered.

Thalia swallowed. “You and I never got to say goodbye, did we?” she murmured. Luke grimaced. “I don’t hate you, Luke. I’m glad I can tell you that.”

…well, she could hate him a little bit in Jason’s opinion.

“It actually makes me feel better to know you’re looking out for one another,” Thalia continued. Oh, gods no. “I didn’t even know you could leave Elysium.” She crossed her arms over her chest, eyes contemplative. “Look, we’re probably going to have to go inside soon, but maybe you can visit this weekend? And Nico could help translate for a bit?”

Jason wished he could say he knew his sister well… but he didn’t. All he knew was this cautiously hopeful tone in her voice didn’t match the bold and rebellious version of Thalia he knew. A gentle reminder that despite her bravado, she was young and also in pain.

“Okay,” he said immediately.

“Jason says yes,” Nico said and Thalia smiled.

“And Luke?” she asked, voice going a tad sterner. Luke pursed his lips. “You owe me, Castellan,” she added darkly.

Luke looked at the sky before exhaling slowly. “Yes,” he said, voice strained. “Of course, I’ll go.”

“And Luke says he’ll go too,” Nico relayed. Thalia smiled a little. “Thank you for volunteering me for this task,” he added to her. She gave him a taunting smile before turning to where the students had begun to file back inside now that the firefighters had confirmed there was no fire. Nico watched her leave before turning to look at Jason. “What?” he asked.

“I- it’s a long story,” Jason said helplessly. Nico stared at him. “How are you? When did… you two become friends?” he asked, gesturing to him and Diana.

The pair looked at one another. “Since my dad threatened your eternal soul, basically,” Nico said and turned to Diana. “When did my dad threaten his eternal soul?”

Wait, what?

Diana shrugged. “Early December? So perhaps our alliance began in mid-December?” she suggested. Nico nodded.

“...great,” Jason said. He kind of wanted to know more about Pluto and his eternal soul, but Jason also knew he needed to prioritize. “So, you’re doing okay? Where’s Will?”

Honestly, Nico looked fairly good all things considered. For once, the shadows under his eyes weren’t as pronounced and he even seemed to have gained a bit of weight. Jason hoped whatever good streak he seemed to be on was a permanent one.

“Good. Will’s in Texas. We’re doing well. Do I get any explanation on what this is?” he asked, gesturing between him and Luke. Silence. “Okay… maybe I can get one this weekend then.” He turned to go and Jason opened his mouth - wanting to ask why Nico hadn’t summoned him. Wanting to apologize for dying. Wanting to say a thousand things, but he couldn’t find the words in time. “Oh,” Nico turned back around. “Am I supposed to keep telling Thalia you like each other?” he asked. “Or do we acknowledge you two were fistfighting randomly in our schoolyard?”

Right. Jason rubbed the back of his neck. He looked over at Luke. Gods, this guy really was something. Still, Thalia seemed so genuinely touched by the idea they got along.

“We… do… like… each… other…” he managed.

Nico nodded. “Right,” he said. “Okay, well. I miss you, I guess. Excited to see you later. Very confused about how your journey in the afterlife is going, but it sounds like we’ll catch up more soon.” He looked over at Diana, leaving Jason to reel a little at how open that first part of the sentence was. For Nico, anyway. “Could you bring Will by this weekend too?”

“Do I look like a chauffeur?” she asked flatly and then disappeared. Throwing up a hand, Nico gave another grumbled goodbye before also heading back into the building.

Jason and Luke stood in silence.

“....so,” Luke finally said. “Are you still planning to tell on me?”

Why did Jason’s quests only go this wrong when the Greeks were involved?

Chapter Text

That night, Jason didn’t return to Elysium. With the weekend around the corner, it didn’t make sense to stick around Thalia like some sort of stalker, so he drifted, trying to decide what to do as he avoided the afterlife.

And, as per usual, he wandered.

He wandered to Leo. To Piper. To Frank. To Percy, even.

And with each wandering, he began to… sink.

There was no better way to describe it. Like quicksand, each step made him feel lower into some trap he couldn’t see. Moving felt like more effort, and his thoughts soured until he found himself sitting on the branch of a large tree, watching Reyna laughing with her fellow hunters over breakfast. Immortality suited her, he found. She seemed happy. Really happy. Happier than perhaps he had ever seen her.

“I think I’m angry at you,” he said suddenly.

Reyna didn’t respond. She didn’t hear him. But Jason touched his chest as if the realization of the feeling was trickling through him.

He was angry at Reyna. Really angry, actually.

“Why did you choose immortality?” he asked, dropping from the tree to the ground. “I die, and you suddenly decide you want to live forever?” He held out his hands as Reyna began walking to her tent, with Jason unknowingly following behind. “Some members of the hunt live for thousands of years before they're killed. Thousands. What? Are you expecting me to wait that long before seeing you again? Am I supposed to put any plans of being reborn on hold? Do you just not care?” Reyna hummed under her breath, and Jason’s throat felt unnaturally tight. “You didn’t ask Nico to summon me - or Hazel.”

And Jason knew this wasn’t a fair conversation. It wasn’t even a conversation. Reyna couldn’t hear. Couldn’t defend herself. Jason had no right to be angry at her for having a perfectly healthy reaction to death.

And, once again, Jason wanted his friends to be happy. What sort of awful, selfish person hoped to be mourned forever?

But…immortality? That stung. That stung a lot.

He closed his eyes. “Thalia wants to talk to me,” he said. Reyna started working on her usual braid for the day. “I think. I don’t actually know if she does. She’s just going through her own stuff at the moment, and I’m baggage. The brother she failed. The brother she never got to know. I mean, does anyone miss me, or do they just want closure?”

After all, how could they miss him? Jason was a ghost long before he ever died.

A puzzle piece that could fit into any jigsaw.

The irony of it was that Leo once confessed he felt like something of a seventh wheel in the last prophecy. And maybe everyone was paired up romantically, but honestly? Leo and Piper’s friendship had been real. More so than his fake memories with either of them. And despite the fact they had grown to care for each other beyond that, the foundation seemed to have made a difference when push came to shove.

Which was fine. Understandable. He’d never be angry with them for that. They were his friends, even if the beginning had been murky.

But Reyna? Reyna and he had that foundation. Or so he thought.

“You’re a bad friend,” he told her coldly. “I’m pretty sure I hate you, actually. I mean, how could-”

Someone cleared their throat.

Guess who?

Luke stood to the side, leaning against one of the trees as Reyna ducked into her tent. He was watching Jason with pursed lips, expression guarded and thoughtful. Gods, Jason hated him.

“Are you ready?” he finally asked, and Jason stared back blankly. Ready? Ready for what? “It’s Saturday. They’re waiting for us.” His brows furrowed in something that Jason might have even considered concern if it was on someone who wasn’t potentially a sociopath.

Saturday? Was it actually Saturday?

How long had Jason been here? Perhaps death warped his sense of time. Maybe he had just been that lost in thought. Closing his eyes, he gave a terse nod. Right. He took a step forward, but before he could punt himself back to New York, Luke’s hand shot out.

He tensed - ready for a fight, but Luke only grabbed his arm to turn him back around.

“Go fix that first,” he said.

Jason pulled his arm away. “What-?”

“Go fix that,” Luke repeated, gesturing to where Reyna had popped back out of her tent, now changed and ready for the day. “I highly doubt you really hate her.”

Oh, come on.

“She can’t even hear me,” Jason said darkly. “And maybe I do hate her a little right now. Maybe I’m allowed to,” he added, feeling himself get riled up in a way that Jason hadn’t accepted of himself before. “You should be able to hate people who hurt you.”

He looked at Luke pointedly when he said that last part. It was Jason’s attempt at being mean. It wasn’t something he’d ever been particularly good at, but he’d give it a try if it meant putting Luke in his place. After all, Luke had hurt plenty of people - and he should know they were allowed to hate him for it.

But Luke didn’t look ashamed. If anything, he seemed… well, contemplative. His eyes flicked to Reyna and then back to Jason. “Do you want to hate her? Does she deserve it?” he asked.

Jason stared. He didn’t know how to answer either of those questions.

Luke gave him a knowing look. “Listen, as someone who has been on both sides of this, nip it bud now. Bitterness like that gets easier to feel every single time you let yourself get away with that.” Jason pressed his tongue to the side of his cheek, and Luke’s expression flickered. “It’s hard to…” he trailed off, expression drifting further away. “It’s hard to figure out the line between putting your foot down and stomping on someone. But it’s worth trying to figure out while you still have the clarity to do so.”

Reyna knelt beside Aurum, smiling as she patted the automaton on its head. A lump caught in Jason’s throat. For a moment, he remembered them sitting in the grass, both pouring over Latin texts about Diocletian with a plate of brownies between them.

It was such a small thing, but it honestly was one of his clearest memories.

“I don’t hate you,” he murmured quietly. “But I wish I felt like you missed me like I miss you.”

Without saying another word, he shoved Luke away from him. There was a buzzing in his head. Briefly, he wondered if the person he hated was himself before he stepped away from Reyna and toward Thalia.

The area around him changed in the blink of an eye. The trees turned into buildings. The sky went from a pure blue to a murky gray. And his sister was speaking sternly to a pair of toddlers.

“Right. Let’s go through this again,” she said, sitting on the steps in front of a brownstone apartment entrance. The kids - who might have only been around two years old - were sitting in two little pop-up toddler seats near the door, looking at Thalia with utter adoration. “Who is this?” She held up her phone, which had a selfie of herself on it.

“Thal!” one of the girls said, clapping her hands. Thalia pointed at her in approval. She held it to the other one, who said something that Jason couldn’t make out, but Thalia seemed to understand.

“I’ll take it,” she said and then flicked the screen so a photo of Percy showed up. “And who is this?”

“PERCY!” one of the little girls yelled.

Thalia clicked her tongue. “Close, but no. This is Captain Poopyhead, remember? His old name was Percy, but we don’t call him that anymore.”

The two little girls looked at one another before bursting into giggles.

“Grace grew,” Luke noted as he appeared next to him.

Jason nodded absently. “Estelle is almost three now, right?”

“Just about.”

Jason hummed. Neither commented on how the other knew their names or ages. It was generally accepted that both had been lurking around the world of the living to just know these things. Jason was honestly surprised they hadn’t run into one another sooner.

Grace picked up a blue bottle of bubbles and started trying to open it. Jason watched her with an odd stuffiness in his chest. She was around his age when he had been dropped off at the Wolf House. It was kind of bizarre to make that connection. She was so little. Had he really been that young when his life as a demigod started?

“NICO!” Thalia shouted. “ARE THEY HERE YET?!”

The door opened. Nico scowled at the sun, looking as if he had planned on spending his Saturday curled up in bed as he communed with the dead only to be dragged out at Thalia’s insistence.

“Sally made breakfast,” he informed her flatly and then looked up. Jason waved. “Oh, hey,” he said, moodiness momentarily retreating. “Yes, they’re here.”

Thalia’s head snapped up. She snagged Grace up so fast that Jason was genuinely worried for that child’s neck integrity.

“Jason!” she said, holding up Grace like Simba from The Lion King. “We have a sister!”

Grace waved the bubble stick in the air, sending the syrup spraying everywhere.

“I know,” Jason told her, vaguely amused. “I saw you with her a few months ago.”

Nico frowned at that. “He says he knows… How often do you come out here?” he asked, tilting his head.

“I’m allowed to leave Elysium,” Jason said defensively and jerked his head to Luke. “He leaves too. All the time, apparently. I’ve never even seen him there.”

“I don’t think I’ve technically been in Elysium since I first woke up,” Luke added thoughtfully. Huh. Jason glanced at him, a little curious as to what that was all about, but Thalia was already talking again, insisting everyone come inside.

Estelle stood up, waddling to the front door before looking at Nico with big, serious eyes. “Hello, Grumpy Pants,” she greeted. Nico looked down at her and then to where Thalia was still holding Grace.

“Good girl, Estelle,” she said, holding out her hand. Estelle beamed and took her hand to be led inside.

“Do you both technically live here?” Luke asked as he climbed the stairs.

Nico ran a hand through his hair. “Sally and Paul helped us get the apartment above theirs for the school year,” he said. “It has a couple of extra rooms for whatever Hunters are attending Goode.”

“Monsters don’t bother you?” Jason asked. He hadn’t actually visited Thalia here often. Anytime he did, he figured she was visiting Sally and Paul. He hadn’t given much thought to the logistics of how Thalia and Nico were attending school.

Nico gestured them inside. “Hazel and Frank used New Rome funds to buy the apartment, which means, technically, it is entitled to the same protection Camp Jupiter is.” Jason raised his brows. The camp was okay with that? Nico gave a wicked grin. “Hazel was a little scary about it. Nobody dared to argue with her.”

Right. Good. Jason swallowed, wondering if he would be able to make that sort of impact as if he was still praetor. Probably not.

“Cool,” he managed and stepped inside. Sally and Paul’s apartment was on the fourth floor, and with no elevator, they all just awkwardly clambered up the stairs.

“LUKE AND JASON ARE HERE!” Thalia shouted when they finally reached the front door. She put Grace down before jumping onto the couch. She looked at Nico expectantly. Nico rolled his eyes before looking over at them.

“Tell Sally and Paul thank you for having us?” Luke suggested warily. A commotion came from one of the back rooms before Paul poked his head out, looking vaguely disgruntled.

“I still don’t know how to host spirits,” he said, voice distressed. “But we’re so happy you’re here.”

“Can they smell?” Sally asked, walking into the room. “I can make cookies-”

“Is it mean to make cookies if they can’t eat them?” Paul whispered.

Sally frowned. “I could light a candle?” she said instead. “Lavender? Jason is from California, right? Maybe something seaside?”

“Uh…” Jason began, suddenly unsure if he could smell. “Yes, please. Thank you,” he went with just so they could feel included.

“Luke likes lemon,” Thalia suggested as Nico opened his mouth to respond.

“I’m okay, thank you,” Luke said quickly.

A moment of silence went by.

“...uh, they decided the beach one is good,” Nico finally said, giving them a baffled glance. Sally and Paul both nodded before turning to one another, trying to remember where they put their spare candles. Nico sat in one of the empty armchairs. “Right. So-”

“How did you guys even meet?” Thalia asked, sitting up. “And what’s Elysium like? Are you happy there? Nobody’s bothering you, right?”

Wow. Jason kind of hated this.

Which was weird because he wanted to talk to Thalia. This just felt… overwhelming. She was clearly so excited and Jason couldn’t find the words to reassure her he was doing okay. He also wasn't convinced it was Jason that she was excited to speak to.

“We were both checking up on you and ran into one another,” Luke jumped in as Jason tried to find a response. “Elysium basically can turn into whatever makes you happiest, so it’s designed to make sure we’re having a good time. The only people bothering us are each other,” he said lightly.

Nico looked between them before slowly relaying this all back to Thalia.

“Checking up on me?” Thalia asked dryly. She threw her arm over the back of the couch, looking vaguely annoyed. “I’m literally fine. Don’t stalk me when you have the happiest place in the world available to you.” Jason looked down at his hands. “I’m not a child and neither of you are going to be those depressing ghosts who deprive themselves to look after the living.”

“...Thalia,” Nico murmured. “I’m sure they just missed you.”

Luke shifted, jaw clenching a little as he looked over at Thalia. “Can she and I talk about… the war?” he asked quietly. Nico gave him a wary look. “I just want to clear the air with her. I know she’s still mad at me about it.”

“Luke wants to talk about the war,” Nico said, and Thalia pursed her lips. “He says he knows you’re still upset about it.”

“Did you get that impression when I kicked you off a cliff?” she asked, and Luke smiled a little.

“Eh, I might have brought your father into it. It’s understandable.”

“I wish you would have come to me instead of Annabeth when you started having second thoughts,” Thalia murmured. “We could have fixed things.”

“You were a hunter. There was no way I was getting you alone.”

Should Jason even be here? It didn’t seem like they even needed Nico to translate. That was just how well they knew one another. Jason stood up, absently walking around the apartment. Thalia and Nico would be too caught up with Luke to notice, probably.

Trying to distract himself, he looked at the family photos, stepping over wayward toys and concluding he could smell a little bit. Before he could decide what the smell was, some clacking of glass caught his attention.

“Maybe Cliffside Sea Spray?” Sally asked, holding up a candle as Paul continued to look through a rather impressive cabinet of scented candles in the corner of a home office. About six were already taken out, all sprawled around as they tried to find whatever scent they were looking for.

“Works for me - do you know much about these two?” Paul asked absently as he began to put the rest back. “Luke and Jason?”

Sally sighed, rolling the candle between her hands. “I never met Luke in person, but I heard quite a bit about him. Jason…” she hesitated. “Percy mentioned him occasionally, but I never met him either.”

Paul shut the cabinet doors. “And is it…. normal?” he asked warily. “For ghosts to pop up like this?” Sally shook her head. Paul pursed his lips. “So what? The gods don’t take care of kids in the afterlife either?”

“Nico said they both got Elysium,” Sally murmured. Paul held up a hand. “I’m not sure. I don’t think we should interrogate Nico or Hazel about it, though. They shouldn’t be responsible for their father’s work.”

“...you’re right,” Paul muttered, running a hand over his face. “I just can’t imagine. Like, your kid is already dead. The thought of them being lost in the world as a ghost is horrible. Are Hermes and Jupiter not concerned?” Sally gave him a look. “Fine, what about their mortal parents? Thalia never talks about Beryl, but I know she’s dead. Luke’s mom…?”

“Alive,” Sally said. “You’ve met her. That’s whose house we clean in Connecticut.”

Paul did a double-take. “May?” he repeated, horrified. “The woman we bring meals for? I thought she was a senile relative of Annabeth’s!”

Sally shook her head. “No, I mean… Annabeth started taking care of her after Luke died, but when Percy went missing, I told her I’d take over and after a while, it made more sense to take that off of her.” She paused. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I never explained that to you properly-”

Paul shook his head, waving her away. “Sweetheart, I can barely keep up with this side of our life. There’s a good chance you told me and it completely got lost among the other horrifying things I’ve learned.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, and Sally walked over to kiss his cheek. “You don’t think there’s more of them out there, do you?” he asked. “Just… a bunch of demigod kids wandering around, unable to enjoy heaven for whatever reason?”

Sally put two hands on Paul’s face. “If there is, then it is my turn to cause problems with the gods. Not yours.”

Paul smiled, hands touching her wrists. “Ah. Alas, it’s too risky for you to be the one communing with the gods. You already got one to fall in love with you. I simply cannot take the risk of the rest of them following suit.” Sally tilted her head back to laugh. “I mean, I’m fairly confident you would choose me over, say, Apollo, but I’m not sure I can compete with the Muses… or Hephaestus.”

“Why are you concerned about Hephaestus?”

Paul grabbed Sally’s hands, face stoic as he looked deeply into her eyes. “...I still haven’t fixed the hole in the wall of our guest room,” he whispered. Sally snorted. “I’ve been hoping Leo would stop by-”

“Paul!”

“I thought he could teach me!”

“Leave that child alone,” Sally said, shoving him away. “I already fixed it.”

Paul blinked at that. Without a word, he darted out of the room. Sally chuckled as she dug into a drawer beneath the cabinets to bring out a match. A few seconds later, Paul reappeared.

“I promise, I bring something to this marriage-” he began and Sally laughed as she lightly shoved him to the side to deliver the candle. Jason watched them go before looking around the office. A computer sat in the corner on a desk while a couch was pushed next to the cabinets and side table a few feet away.

Maybe he should leave. He felt oddly sick. It sounded like Thalia wanted him in Elysium anyway…

“Jason?” He turned to find Nico in the doorway. “Grace wants Thalia to play with her, so we have about thirty minutes before I get dragged back to translate some more.” He stepped further into the room, and Jason wondered why he didn't just summon them for Thalia and the others to see. Was it a politeness thing to avoid controlling Luke and Jason? Or was he trying to keep from using his powers unless necessary? “Are you okay?”

This was a terrible question. Jason had never liked anyone asking him that. Still, he forced a smile on his face.

“Yes.”

Nico hummed. “You know, I could order you to be honest with me,” he said. Oh, it was like that, then? Nico smiled weakly and moved to sit on the couch. “But I’m not that much like my father,” he said and patted the cushion next to him. “Seriously, though. What’s going on? Why are you here?”

Jason’s temper spiked. “Sorry,” he said shortly. “I didn’t realize how annoying my presence would be-”

“No,” Nico cut in sharply. “But if something is wrong with Elysium then my father should know about it. It’s his job to make you happy.”

Jason hadn’t really thought about it like that… And he wasn’t going to now. “I’m going to go back to Elysium,” he promised. “I just need to get these jewels from Luke first.” At Nico’s look of confusion, Jason jumped into the tale, explaining how Luke had stolen a bunch of his father’s important jewels and what really went down when they confronted one another.

Nico stayed silent.

“I…see…” he said awkwardly. “Um. Jason." His voice went a little soft. “Those jewels are called Recollection Stones.” Jason shrugged. Okay. Cool. Nico hesitated again. “They’re actually pretty common. Persephone summons them a lot for her garden.”

Oh.

Jason felt his face heat up, which was kind of annoying considering there was no blood to reach his face. “So, your dad just gave me busywork?” he clarified. “And it didn’t really matter that Luke had taken any of those jewels?” Nico bit his lip. “Right. I’m an idiot-”

“Look, my dad doesn’t know how to handle mortals well. I’m sure he just wanted to give you a quick action item to complete so you can rest easier-”

“But I couldn’t do it,” Jason pointed out as he stood up. “I’m just annoying him. And you, apparently. And Thalia.”

“That’s not true.”

“Really? Because all I keep hearing is everyone wanting me to go back to the Underworld,” Jason pointed out. He paced the length of the room. “Do none of you really want to see me?”

“Jason,” Nico said, looking genuinely taken aback. He’d probably never heard Jason speak this way before. Had he talked like this before? He wasn’t sure. “Of course, we do. Thalia is thrilled she can talk to you but-”

“But it’s fine because she has Percy,” Jason interrupted. Nico fell silent. “Do you know that after the Giant War, the only reason she spent time with me was because Juno kept her from visiting Percy?”

“I think was more complicated than that-”

“No, it’s fine. My mother isn’t too different.” Thalia would die if she heard him say that. It might have been the most hurtful thing he'd ever said. But Jason didn’t remember Beryl. At all. Whoever she had and hadn’t been didn’t matter because the only impact she had on Jason’s life was abandoning him. “For years, I thought I did something wrong for my mom to leave me. That I was… a badly behaved kid or too much trouble. So I did the opposite. I followed every. Single. Rule. I did what I was supposed to!” Jason’s voice rose a little bit, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like Thalia could hear him. “But now, it’s abundantly clear to me that following rules doesn’t matter. I mean… I’m here with Luke. The guy who broke every rule. And she wants to talk to him just as much as she wants to talk to me? At least, with Percy, I could tell myself he’s a good person. But Luke?” he asked, throwing up a hand. “The only thing I can reassure myself about this is that Thalia and everyone else are just like my mother. I didn’t do anything wrong to get left behind, but I… I don’t know!” he shouted.

Nico ran his palms over his knees.

“Can you please sit back down?” he asked. Jason looked down at him. He kind of wanted to cry. When was the last time he cried? Had he ever cried? Gods, he wasn’t sure what even happened in his life now.

Jason sat.

Nico reached over and then seemed to remember he couldn’t touch Jason. “At school, I’m part of this… uh, they call it a GSA club. Gender Sexuality Alliance,” he explained. Jason nodded slowly. “I’m still figuring out a lot of it, but during one of our conversations, I talked about the first time I came out and… well, obviously I had to change some details, but I shared the basics. One of my friends asked if I had been able to choose how I came out, what it would have looked like.”

Despite Jason's breakdown, hearing Nico refer to anyone as a friend made his heart a little warm.

Nico looked thoughtful for a couple of seconds before smiling weakly. “I’ve thought of at least ten different scenarios, but I’ll tell you what. You’re in all of them.” Jason’s head snapped up. “Honestly, if anyone else had been with me that day… I don’t think I would have made it out of there. And if I were to do it all over again, I’d want you to be the first person that found out.” Nico turned to face him fully. “This whole thing has been a rough road for me, but because of you, I wasn’t alone for most of it. And it… kills me that you’ve clearly felt abandoned because you did the opposite for me that day. And I don’t know if I ever properly thanked you for it.” He paused. “So, um, thank you.”

Jason buried his face in his hands. “At least I did something good for someone,” he whispered.

“You did a lot of good things for a lot of people. Is that what’s freaking you out? You don’t think you helped anyone?” Jason ran his fingers over his face, subtly clawing at his eyes as he forced himself to look up again. “That’s ridiculous - and, Jason. I don’t think that’s the problem.”

“What’s the problem then?”

“You,” Nico said flatly. “The fact you don’t want to be in Elysium tells me you don’t know what you want. It’s designed to make you happy, but if you don’t know what makes you happy, then how can it possibly hold your interest?” He got up, circling Jason so he was in front of him. “My dad went about it the wrong way, but I think he was trying to help give you more time to figure things out for yourself.”

Was he flattered or embarrassed that a god looked at him so pitifully? Another question to add to the concerningly long list.

“Thank you, Nico,” he muttered.

“And as far as Thalia goes,” Nico continued. “The more I get to know her, the more I realize what a mess she is. Don’t be too hard on her.” Jason wanted to ask what that meant, but Nico had already moved towards the door. “Speaking of which, if you need more time, I can do some pretend translation before you have to talk to her.”

“You don’t think I’m terrible for not wanting to?”

Nico smiled wryly. “Bianca didn’t know much of herself either. Consider me very sympathetic to your cause,” he said and vanished before Jason could respond.

Huh.

Jason’s mouth felt dry. He stood, unsure of what to do next. Maybe leave? Try Elysium again? Confront Pluto? He walked out of the room, trying to decide when he heard hushed whispers from down the hall. He walked over to see Paul rocking Estelle to sleep as Sally picked up some toys and readied the crib for her nap.

“-think it’s worth considering,” Paul mused. “Percy called me about Annabeth’s project.”

“The portal?” Sally asked, taking a sleepy Estelle from Paul and gently putting her down into the bed.

“Yes, he was saying I shouldn’t push the memorial idea too much, which was very understandable, but it also made me realize that these kids aren’t mourned in the mortal world at all. Like, you and I have no insight into how many kids have died. We just hear about it.”

“Do you want to make a memorial?”

“Not exactly,” Paul said, thoughtfully, turning on the little crib mobile so a song played. “What would you say if I got a grave plot somewhere? Something so that mortal parents can go and mourn kids since they don’t have access to Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter.”

Sally crossed her arms over her chest. “That would be really good for May,” she murmured. “Maybe even the kids.”

“You think?”

“Percy’s right that they’re surrounded by a memorial, but it’s not like they can lay flowers at cabins,” she said sadly. “And the newer kids shouldn’t feel like they are surrounded by a grave.” She looked at Estelle sleeping. “Having a specific place to mourn might be helpful. Maybe after Jason leaves we can run it by Thalia. See how she feels about it. Maybe find out what Jason’s favorite flowers were or something.”

Jason spun back around. Without a word, he walked back into the living room where Grace was asleep on Thalia’s lap. Luke looked vaguely bewildered by Nico pretending to translate a conversation between Jason and Thalia.

“Hi,” he said when he saw Jason enter the room. “What’s going on?”

Jason didn’t answer. Instead, he spied the leather bag of jewels sitting on the floor by Luke and reached for it. Luke went to stop him, but Jason just smacked his hand away, grabbed one, and then left. Nico gave him a quick side eye but didn’t call him out.

Still silent, Jason re-entered the office, slamming the jewel in the center of his chest before sitting in front of the computer. To his relief, a tingly finger went over his fingers a second later. The smell of the sea - which had been faint - now came at full blast along with the gentle blow of the heater from the radiator off to the side.

Taking a deep breath, Jason opened a tab and began typing.

He had about three minutes of peace.

“I have questions,” Luke began, entering the room. When he saw Jason at the computer, he raised an eyebrow. “And now I have more questions,” he decided, settling on the couch as he tried to peer at the screen. “What are you doing?”

Jason remained poised and calm. “Sally and Paul are talking about making a grave for demigods.” Luke shrugged. “They want to know what my favorite flowers are.”

Luke raised his eyebrows. “...neat.”

And the tentative tranquility that had taken over Jason shattered. He slammed the desk, making Luke jump at the sudden bout of anger.

“I don’t have any!” Jason shouted. “So I’m taking a quiz to find out what flower I am.”

Silence.

Luke leaned over his shoulder to look at the computer. “A tulip,” he finally said. “Congratulations.”

“I think I hate tulips,” Jason muttered. “I think I hate myself.” Luke blinked a few times. “Like, tulips are kind of the worst, you know? Roses are classic but always romantic. Daisies are for happy, sunny people. But a tulip?”

Luke opened and closed his mouth a few times. “I… like tulips…?”

“Of course you do!” Jason said venomously. “Everyone just loves tulips!”

“Is there alcohol in this house that I don’t know about?"

“It’s a lot of pressure to be a tulip,” Jason muttered. “All the little kids learn to draw them in art class and they’re brightly colored and they have to be perfect all the time.” Luke very slowly leaned over to turn off the computer. “You know what I want to be? A weed.”

“A weed?”

“I want to be a weed!” Jason shouted. “God damnit!” And without any warning, he burst into tears.

Fun fact: turns out ghosts could cry. The more you know.

“Whoa,” Luke said. “Alright. It sounds like you were due to a breakdown of some sort.” Jason cried harder. He couldn’t even pinpoint what had brought him to the tipping point. Nico’s words should have reassured him to an extent, but he felt a tad like someone had killed him again.

“I just need to go for rebirth,” Jason breathed out, voice shaking. “I- I just need to start over. I can’t… It’s too late, right? It’s too late for me. I’m dead. I need to just try again. I-”

Luke got off the couch, kneeling next to him. “Hey.” He spun Jason’s chair around so he was forced to face him. “I’m going to tell you something and I need you to stop your afterlife crisis to listen to me, alright?” Jason closed his eyes but nodded. “Shortly after I died, I did go to the River Lethe. I had every intention of being reborn right then and there.” A few beats went by and Luke ran a hand over his face. “But someone was waiting for me.”

Jason opened his eyes to frown. “Who?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Luke said, perhaps a tad too quickly. “What matters is that person asked me what my favorite color was.” He held out his hands. “I didn’t have an answer. More questions came. The more I was asked, the more I realized I… couldn’t answer any of them. Not one. I didn’t even know my favorite flower,” he said, jerking his chin to the computer. “I lost a lot of pieces of myself while I was alive. Figuratively. Literally. In life, I started wanting to do the right thing, but… at the end of it all…” He trailed off, biting his lower lip. “I gave up everything I was with the idea that it would help-” He threw up a hand. “-people. The people I loved. But what started out as good intentions led me to hurt people I was trying to protect. It led me here.” He gestured around himself.

Jason waited. Luke seemed to be trying to find words he had never said out loud before. It comforted him a little. Jason had a feeling he had important words he hadn’t known he was destined to say too.

“I think,” Luke said slowly. Purposely. “That everyone has something to offer the world. And when we offer a piece of ourselves, the world should give us a piece in return. That’s how we grow.” Luke swallowed and looked down. “I won’t sit here and tell you I didn’t hurt people because I did. I made mistakes. I made bad choices. I regret many of them… but I don’t think I regret sacrificing all those pieces of myself if that’s what it took for change to happen.” He shrugged. “But now? I want the world to give me pieces back - to replace the ones I gave up.” He smiled a little. “Gods know if I actually deserve it, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to walk into the River Lethe without knowing who I am outside of a shadow over Camp Half-Blood.” He brought out the leather bag and shook it. “Can you?”

Jason went to wipe away his tears only to feel something push against his fingers. His glasses. For such a long portion of his life, he hadn’t worn any. He kind of forgot that he had toward the end. Curiously, he pulled them away from his face, wondering if he could take them off.

He could. The world went blurrier. He put them back on. Luke stared back at him.

“...you know, those aren’t actually valuable, right?” he asked, nodding to the bag in Luke’s hand.

Luke glanced at it. “Good,” he said. “We can get more.” He nudged Jason’s leg. “Maybe visit a flower field? I hear the Netherlands has amazing tulips.”

Jason snorted and rubbed his forehead. Gods, he was an idiot. He looked back at the computer.

Well… maybe it wasn’t quite a quest for Pluto, but technically, he could still call it a quest.

He turned back to Luke and grabbed the bag.

Chapter Text

Jason went back to Elysium.

Just to collect himself. After all, he felt a bit… spinny. He was accepting help from Luke Castellan? It was disgraceful. This entire thing was pathetic at best. He needed a moment to pull himself together before skipping off into the sunset with a titan traitor.

So, here he was, in a bathroom of all places.

As a ghost, he couldn’t really waltz into any bathroom and see himself in a mirror. He had to be here. In the afterlife. Wanting to see himself. Maybe it was the reminder he had glasses or something else entirely, but Jason felt the need to study himself in a way he hadn’t before.

The bathroom Elysium conjured up for him was bare, with beige walls and plain appliances. The mirror over the sink was barely bigger than a notebook, making him lean forward to study himself with more precision.

It wasn’t like Jason didn’t know what he looked like. He knew his face. The scar on his lip. The color of his eyes. The shade of his hair.

It was just… a little surreal in some ways. Like, this was him. The only version of him he could see. It felt existential in a way. He no longer had a body, technically, but the only way he could interpret himself was through flesh and bones that were rotting somewhere in the ground.

It made his face feel almost blurry. Thalia had freckles. Did he? He couldn’t really remember… and it was hard to decide if the person in the mirror was him or a fading memory.

What did Nico see when he saw Jason? Or Dakota? Were there pieces of himself they saw that Jason didn’t? Pieces he hadn’t bothered to study too closely?

Sighing, he hung his head down, trying and failing to get a grip. It was embarrassing enough that he had to tell Luke he needed to head to the Underworld for a little existentialism. It would be even more embarrassing if he couldn’t find the courage to come back.

Also, was it worth confronting Pluto while he was here? Probably not. Definitely not. Maybe.

Before he could decide, a rhythmic tap sounded on the door, and Jason turned, bracing himself for Luke to pop in and demand to know what was taking so long.

“Oh, there you are!” Silena Beauregard swung open the door, smiling prettily as she spied Jason. She took a step inside, glancing around at the bathroom in subtle bafflement. No doubt she was wondering why the hell the Elysium - a place that could create the happiest scenarios imaginable - had turned into a bathroom specifically for him. “...that is so smart,” she whispered, catching Jason off-guard. “I’ve been looking at my reflection in a lake like an idiot.” She pushed him aside to tilt her head in the mirror. She beamed, blowing herself a quick kiss before spinning back to Jason. “Did you see Piper?”

Right. Jason smiled weakly. “Um, briefly-”

“Are you going to see her again?” Silena asked, grabbing his hands. “If you do, you need to tell me what shoes she has on.”

“Why is it so important for me to tell you all of my ex-girlfriend’s outfits?” Jason asked warily. Piper would be beside herself if she knew Jason had been watching her at all - and spying on her outfits for her long-dead sister? Oh, she’d be pissed.

Silena gave a dramatic sigh. “I didn’t get to meet my sister when I was alive,” she pouted. “This is how I get to know her! And know how she’s doing. Like, the fact she’s taking care of her hair now? Huge. Huge, step. I’m so proud of her.” Silena clapped her hands together, sincerely looking touched by Piper’s development in her sense of style and self-care.

“You could also visit her,” Jason pointed out gently.

Silena rolled her eyes. “I’m in Elysium,” she said dryly. “I have no interest in leaving to go back to that world - even for a bit.” She shivered slightly. “But if you are so determined to return, then I might as well get a report.” She pushed her index finger against his chest - then smiled at him, eyes warm and inviting. “Are you going back?” Jason nodded. Silena looked vaguely perplexed by that before shrugging and pointing at him. “Tell me about the shoes.”

And as she turned away, Jason felt something in his throat tighten.

“I’m going to meet Luke.”

Silena froze.

“Luke… Castellan?” she asked, looking over her shoulder. Jason nodded once. “You are leaving Elysium to meet Luke, who has also left Elysium?” She turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. When Jason’s eyes flickered down, she exhaled slowly. “Whatever he’s promised you, it’s not worth it.” She took a step back toward him. “He’s manipulative, Jason. I’m sure he wants something in return for whatever you’re doing together.”

“It’s nothing like that,” Jason promised. Silena didn’t look convinced. “Really. It just feels like something you should know.”

Silena pressed a hand against her chest, lips pursed as she mulled over that over.

“Well,” she finally said. “I certainly can’t stop you. I just hope you know that you can’t trust him.”

And Jason did know that. He really did. And yet, when Silena went to leave again, he called her back.

“Nobody seems to agree about him,” he said. Silena tilted her head. “I’ve heard people say nothing he does can make up for what he did. I’ve heard others say he meant well but got lost. I’ve even heard other people say he was right.” He held out his hands. “Do you think…?” he trailed off, not even sure what he was asking.

What Jason needed to hear was that no, obviously, under no circumstances would Luke be considered anything but a monster for the role he played in the Titan War. Silena seemed like the right person to tell him that.

She didn’t.

“When you see him, tell him I said hello,” was all she offered before leaving the room.

Big yikes. Jason glanced back at the mirror one more time before dragging his feet out to the world above.

Luke was waiting for him at Camp Half-Blood, sitting behind the Hermes cabin as he watched Travis and Connor both trying desperately to figure out who had put stinkbombs in their cabin as the rest of the Hermes kids threw around accusations like some kind of legal drama.

“I got you something,” he said when Jason approached him. A glowing opal sat in his chest, allowing him to hold out a paperback book. Wordlessly, Jason reached for the bag of gems on the floor and put one in his chest so he could grab it.

“What Makes You Tick?” he read out, sitting cross-legged on the ground beside him. “Is this a self-help book?” he asked.

Luke shrugged. “And?”

“Isn’t that sort of sad?”

Luke narrowed his eyes. “I’m sorry, are you under the impression that you do not need any help?”

“Well, no-”

“Would you like me to solve these problems for you?”

“Not really-”

“Would you like Pluto to solve these problems for you?”

“No-”

“So you want to help yourself?”

“Okay, I get it-”

“Nah, I’m finishing this,” Luke informed him. “Do you know how to help yourself?” Jason scowled at him. Luke raised an eyebrow. “Do you?”

“….no.”

Luke shoved the book against his chest. “I have a book that can help you,” he said. “It asks questions, and you think about the answer. Flip to a random page. Try one.”

Alrighty then. Jason opened the book. “How often do you masturbate?” he read out dryly. Wordlessly, Luke reached out and flipped it to a different page. “Have you ever been guilty of tax evasion?” He looked up at Luke. “What kind of book is this?” Luke sighed and turned the page again. “List three things you’d like to do before you die.”

“You have to be doing this on purpose,” Luke muttered and snatched the book back. He flipped to another page, read it, and then shoved it back in Jason’s face.

“Can you cook?” Jason read and then felt his face brighten. “I can, actually!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I don’t know how people can’t. You just…follow the instructions.”

Luke smiled a little, somehow amused by that answer. “You do seem to excel at following instructions,” he said. Jason scowled in return. “What do you like to cook?”

A pause.

Well. Jason kind of just made things. He wasn’t sure he ever thought about the enjoyment aspect. Now that he thought about it, even when going out to eat with friends, he hadn’t really considered his favorite foods based on enjoyment. Everyone liked burgers, so his favorite food was burgers. Everyone liked brownies, so his favorite dessert was brownies. It just made things simpler. He was a diplomat at heart.

…huh.

Perhaps Luke saw the growing panic on his face because he gave a stoic nod. “We have a long way to go,” he said and clapped Jason’s knee. “Luckily, I get to choose what we do first, and I want to ride a rollercoaster.”

Why did everything out of this man’s mouth require Jason to wonder if he had an auditory processing disorder?

“A….rollercoaster?” Jason repeated. Luke looked at him expectantly. “Now?”

“Did we have something else to do?”

“I thought we were picking out my favorite flower?”

Luke clicked his tongue. “That’s a long-term goal, my friend. You can’t just pick a favorite flower on a whim. But a rollercoaster? That’s a quick yes or no answer.” He stood up, dusting himself off. “You can keep the book here. This has been my secret spot since I first got to camp.” Jason looked over to see a large, flat stone in the garden of the Hermes cabin had been moved, revealing a hole underneath. He looked in, seeing a pile of trinkets.

“Why…?”

“I wasn’t the only child of thieves in that cabin,” Luke said indignantly. “And I had valuable items to protect.” Right. Jason reached in and pulled out a plushie rabbit. Luke crossed his arms over his chest and stared back. Jason raised eyebrows. “I’ve had Fuzzington since I ran away when I was nine years old. I refuse to be ashamed of him.”

“Nor should you be,” Jason amended. “I’m just confused on why you stabbed his eyes out…?” He held up the stuffed rabbit, whose button eyes were horrifyingly missing. One had a bandaid that had lost stickiness over the years, peeling off to reveal the stuffing underneath.

Luke bit his lip, looking a little abashed. “I didn’t want him to see the monsters.”

“Oh my god, dude. That’s messed up.”

“No way,” Luke said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “The kid who grew up to join the Titans was messed up? That’s crazy. Who would have guessed? Insane. Wild. Breathtaking. Your power of observation was what I sorely needed back then, Jason Grace.”

“Ha,” Jason sneered back and threw the book into the hole before moving the rock back over it. “Alright. Rollercoaster it is. Have you really never ridden one?”

“Have you?”

“No, but I flew on a giant metal dragon, so that kind of counts.”

“It doesn’t,” Luke said and reached out to grab Jason. Within seconds, they were tumbling, color flashing around them until the splatters of light dimmed into a wall of gray. Jason blinked a few times, trying to decide if they had somehow ended up in prison before registering that the bars of metal in front were actually the most monstrous building he’d ever seen. No, not building. That was- “Steel Vengeance.” Luke rubbed his hands together.

Oh, hell no.

“You want to ride that?” Jason asked, trying to register that this was a rollercoaster and not a fancy execution ride. “Why?”

Luke frowned. “...you aren’t scared of heights too, are you? I swear, Thalia stood in my way of rollercoasters for years. I won’t let another Grace keep me away from this dream.”

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. “How is this going to work? We’re ghosts. This thing is going to fling us through the restraints and into space.”

Luke narrowed his eyes. He seemed unsure what to do with someone reasonable around him. Jason supposed that the guy had been around other Greeks his entire life. As chaotic as Jason found Luke, the truth of the matter was that for the Greeks… this guy had once been considered the voice of reason.

Terrifying.

“I doubt it,” Luke amended. “Besides, even if that did happen, what’s the worst outcome? Death?” Luke crossed his arms before his brows furrowed together. “What would happen if we went to space?” he asked. Jason opened his mouth to snap back at him, but… that was actually a good question.

“We can travel around earth. Could we travel to space?” Jason asked and then shivered. “What if we got stuck there?”

“We could see other planets.”

“Yeah, but do we even know how durable souls actually are? What if the sun burns us into nothing?”

“I would want to see Mercury, I think.”

“The poisonous gases could vaporize us on the spot.”

“Mainly to see if my dad is there. Do you think gods go to their planets?”

“How would we move? Would we just float around?”

“I would trash his planet, probably.”

“You are the most annoying person I have ever met,” Jason muttered and stormed off in the direction of the line.

Luke followed, still talking out loud about what adventures he’d get up to as a space ghost. “Are you seriously going to wait in line?” he asked, amused as Jason walked between walls of wooden frames with metal grates in the center. “You didn’t even choose the fast lane.”

“You wanted this experience. At least do it right.”

“Right would be stuffing my face with cotton candy before getting on and throwing it all up,” Luke said wistfully. Jason ignored him. “...do you want to know something stupid?” he began. Jason looked over his shoulder to give an acknowledging glare. “I asked Kronos if he’d go on a rollercoaster.”

Jason stopped walking. There was no way he wasn’t going to get more information on that.

“You… asked the king of the Titans if he’d go on a rollercoaster?”

Luke shrugged. “Well, yeah, he was going to take over the world. I wanted to know if I was going to get a chance to ride one after he was in charge.” Jason stared at him. Luke stared back. “He said he would.”

“Wow.” Jason shook his head. “I thought you were eighteen when you left camp to join the Titans?” Luke gave a meager shrug. “You asked him that as a full-fledged adult?”

Luke groaned dramatically before shoving Jason aside. “He was literally in my head half the time. I didn’t have the ability to filter my thoughts. Besides, it was fun to think of things we’d be able to do with Kronos in charge. Rollercoaster rides with Annabeth. Concerts with Thalia. Laser tag with Travis and Connor.” He smiled a little to himself. “Alabaster was convinced his mother would open a school like Hogwarts for demigods, and we’d all argue about what the houses would be.”

Jason slowly started walking again, processing all of that. “You really thought it would go like that?”

Luke moved through some metal separators but stopped behind where the last people in line were waiting. “For a while, yeah. Obviously, towards the end…” He trailed off and then shoved his hands in his pockets. “It wasn’t like I assumed Kronos would turn everything into Candyland. I just figured he’d make the world safe for people like us, and then we’d be able to live the lives mortals all seemed to.”

Jason thought briefly again to the adults in New Rome. He pushed it away.

“The reason why people called Saturn’s rule the Golden Age was because that was before Pandora’s Box was opened. It was golden because there was no real evil yet.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “...thank you, Jason. This is incredibly helpful now that I am dead and the war is finished.”

Jason smiled sarcastically in return. “You’re welcome,” he said sweetly and moved up with the line.

“But also, there was evil because people were cutting off penises and eating one another left and right. So…” He held out his hands. “And I would argue the Olympians have done more heinous things.”

“You would still argue that?”

“Are they still doing heinous things?” Luke asked. Jason paused. Well…

“Saturn wasn’t the solution.”

“Yes, I was wrong about that,” Luke murmured and then inched up to peer over the line of people at where the next riders were getting on the rollercoaster. “How are we going to make sure two seats are empty?”

Jason shrugged. “I’d just figured we’d sit in someone.”

“No. That’s rude.”

“I don’t understand your moral compass.”

“Neither do I sometimes,” Luke sighed. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” And with that, he darted through the lines of people… because that somehow wasn’t rude. Shaking his head, Jason took in the rollercoaster with some skepticism. He didn’t quite see the appeal of an adrenaline rush when his entire life had been just that, but whatever. Next time, he’d pick the thing they’d do, and it would be much more interesting. Like. Jason could try crochet… or crystal meth. Something new, you know?

A few seconds later, Luke returned, seemingly pleased with himself.

“You got us seats?” Jason greeted, and Luke grabbed his arm to pull him through the crowd.

“Better. I got us the entire thing,” he said, practically shoving Jason into the cart.

Sure enough, a crowd of disappointed people all murmured as the ride operators muttered to one another.

“Did you break the ride?” Jason asked as Luke hopped in, strapping himself in. He glanced over at Jason before irritably gesturing for him to do the same. If the ride operators noticed two seats buckling themselves, they didn’t freak out about it.

“No. I just messed with the controls a bit, so they’ll do a test ride to make sure it isn’t broken.” Luke settled into his seat. “This is going to be great.”

From the crackling intercom, someone announced they’d need to run the ride a few times without any passengers before continuing to let people on. A loud groan went over the crowd, and despite the fact nobody knew this was their fault, Jason cringed with embarrassment. One woman threw her hands up and got out of line.

There was no way this ride was worth all of this.

Then they shot off.

Look. Right. Okay. Jason wasn’t about to say Luke was right or anything, but…

Rollercoasters were kind of awesome.

It was all the fun of, say, flying on Festus, but with none of the downfall. Nobody was trying to kill you. The ride was perfectly safe (especially for him). It went the perfect speed and dipped at the perfect height and did a little twirl, spin thing.

“I want to do it again,” Jason said the second the ride jolted to a slower pace. He looked over, fully expecting to find Luke reveling in the ecstasy of this marvelous invention, only to find the other ghost completely stoney-faced, a thousand-yard stare in his eyes as he looked directly ahead.

“....again?” he asked warily.

“You didn’t think it was fun?” Jason asked, a little disappointed that Luke hadn’t been as thrilled by the experience.

A pause. “You would tell me if we were in the Fields of Punishment, right?” Luke asked. Wow. Jason scowled at him. “...we can do it again,” he muttered, wrinkling his nose as the operators came back into view. Luke almost looked like he hoped that they’d start letting people on again, but a man just shrugged and pressed a button.

“Try raising your hands,” Jason told him as the rollercoaster began to click upwards. “It makes you feel like you’re falling.”

“No,” Luke said solemnly.

“Seriously, it’s fun.”

“No.”

“This was your thing! Why don’t you like it?” Jason complained as they neared the top.

Luke’s fingers gripped the bar in front of the ride. “It’s a self-discovery activity. Me figuring out I don’t like it is still a- fuck!” he shouted as the ride darted down. Jason raised his hands and laughed. “Fuck, fuck, fuck-”

“WOOO!” Jason called and hit Luke’s arm. “TRY CLOSING YOUR EYES!”

“FUCK OFF!”

Jason couldn’t wait to tell Silena that Luke’s scream was potentially way more shrill than hers.

He had been half tempted to tease him when the rollercoaster slowed down, only to realize the seat next to him was concerningly empty.

…that wasn’t good.

“Luke?” he called, scrambling off. The crowd cheered as the operators began to move the line forward. “Oh my gods. Did you really go to space?” he muttered, looking up. Nah, Jason had fallen off the school before. There was no way gravity didn’t work in this situation. “LUKE!”

He jumped over the exit ramp, only to do a double-take when he heard a groan.

“Here.”

Oh, look at that. He landed in a pile of trash. Jason put his hands in his pockets and walked up to see Luke’s ghostly form half in a metal trash bin with birds pecking through him.

“What happened to you?”

Luke sighed, getting up with a small wince. “I wanted to get off the ride, and suddenly I went through the restraints,” he glared up at the coaster. “Bitch,” he said venomously.

Jason tilted his head. “Did you call the rollercoaster a bitch?”

“Do you need hearing aids too, four-eyes?”

“Whoa,” Jason said, biting back a laugh. “Looks like someone is taking the Oscar the Grouch cosplay a little too seriously over there.” Luke closed his eyes, and Jason couldn’t help but snort at his own joke. “Get it? Because you’re in the trash-”

“Very witty, thank you,” Luke sighed and stretched his arm. “Alright. Rollercoasters? Yes, for you. No, for me.” He shuddered slightly. “Your turn. What do you want to do?” he asked, giving the rollercoaster another dirty look.

Oh. Right. Jason kind of forgot he had a turn. He considered his options, thinking back to one of the book’s initial questions: list three things you’d like to do before you die.

What were three things Jason had wished he had done? He tapped his fingers against his arm, thinking through potential options before giving a slow nod. “What about-”

“You’re not doing crystal meth,” Luke interrupted.

Jason reeled back. “How did you-?”

“Because, I was a camp counselor for years, and all the idiots who didn’t know what crystal meth was, wanted to do crystal meth.”

Jason huffed, trying not to look affronted by that. “I know what it is,” he said, and Luke looked at him. “It’s a drug.”

“And how do you do crystal meth, Jason?”

….well, it wasn’t like they had proper drug education at Camp Jupiter. He desperately raked his brain from what he had picked up from music and movies.

“You fill up a spoon with meth to crystalize it-”

“Everything about that is wrong. Pick something else.”

Fine. Crochet, it was.

And that was how the next few days went. Jason had never done such a random conglomeration of things before.

• Crochet - fun. Jason liked it.
• Chess - terrible, hated it, Luke won every single time.
• Rock Climbing - eh, it was fine. Reminded him of quests.

Museums? Undecided.

“I don’t get it,” Jason said as he looked at a huge vending machine looming over a single Coke beside it. He hadn’t realized it was even part of the exhibition until he saw Luke staring at it with the strangest look of recognition on his face. “Can we go back to the other section? I want to read more about sky burials instead of art.”

It was a little ironic, but Jason found himself immersed at the different ways people got rid of corpses. It was a little too late for him, but a sky burial kind of sounded cool. You just left your body on a mountaintop, and nature took care of the rest. It decomposed to help the earth and feed the birds and other animals… Jason kind of liked that in a morbid way. It seemed better than being kept in a box underground.

At Camp Jupiter, people got cremated. He probably got cremated, too, actually. Jason realized with a jolt he actually wasn’t sure. Had his body been found? Was it burned? Lost? Maybe he did end up feeding some of the animals after all.

“Go ahead,” Luke said, not tearing his eyes away. “I want to look a little longer.”

Jason glanced at the Coke can and then forced himself to be perceptive because, like, that was important, probably. After all, Jason had never been given the opportunity to think all that abstractedly. He should give it a try.

“....capitalism,” he said solemnly. Luke looked at him. “Nevermind.”

“Try thinking of the vending machine as Jupiter,” Luke told him. Ah. Jason glanced at the exhibit again only to feel… something.

For the first time in a while, Jason thought about his father.

And, hell, even when he was alive, he never paid Jupiter all that much mind. His father was more of a title than a father. A label, of sorts. It defined him in a way that actually never let Jason wonder who he was beyond that.

A peaceful few minutes followed.

“I never wanted a dad,” Jason said suddenly. “At least, I didn’t… think I did. I think if Jupiter didn’t exist, having a father wouldn’t have even crossed my mind. I never needed one.” Luke didn’t say anything. “Do you think he thought of me as a son?” Jason asked quietly. “Or was I just something he owned? Like a bolt or a cloud?” At that, Luke’s eyes pulled away from the Coke to give Jason a startled look. “What?” he asked, a little defensively. “I mean, he gave me to Juno. And it never really bothered me before to be… traded like currency or whatever. But…”

A few people brushed by the exhibit, unknowingly walking through them to see the exhibit closer. Luke didn’t move, though. He was looking at Jason as if he had just hit him.

“I’m glad we never met when we were alive,” Luke finally said. Without another word, he clapped Jason’s shoulder and turned away.

Jason gave the vending machine one last look before darting after him.

Chapter Text

Of all the demigods, Jason felt he was perhaps the most level-headed of the bunch. Even Annabeth and her famed intelligence had a streak of madness given that she was the reason half of Percy’s madman ideas worked.

At any rate, Jason felt he was allowed a few nonsensical, ridiculous, and completely inappropriate asks.

And this was undoubtedly one of them.

“I don’t follow.”

Like, Jason would have never entertained this while he was alive. Ever. Even now, he questioned his sanity in standing before the literal king of the Underworld and making the request that had just left his mouth.

But here he was… and damnit. He was committed.

“Animals die,” he said, and Pluto stood, mouth agape at where he sat at a huge wooden desk in a black office towards the back of his palace. It had taken Jason a good hour to find him and eventually, he had to accept the help of one of the skeleton servants, but alas. Here he was. “And I’m assuming they have souls that also enter your domain. I would like to take one to the land of the living with me.”

Pluto gently set down whatever paperwork he was working on to fold his hands together, staring at Jason with the utmost astonishment.

“Child, are you asking me if you can have a pet?”

Jason met his eyes, refusing to be bullied out of this. “I’ve discovered I like cats recently,” he said. Pluto wordlessly buried his face into his hands. “And while I understand I could have all the companions I could ever want in Elysium, I have taken to leaving-”

“Yes, with my gems. I’m aware.”

“Which are not as valuable as you made out to be, my lord.”

“And so that gave you the right to steal them?” Pluto asked dryly. Jason pursed his lips. He was pretty sure that Pluto literally did not care, but wasn’t about to argue about it. “Child, souls of animals don’t stay long here. They are reborn almost immediately.”

Jason stood and waited.

Pluto slapped the desk. “By the love of- I am a god. A busy god. Worshipped and feared. You understand this, yes?” Jason nodded. “And you think it appropriate to make this request of me?”

Jason shook his head solemnly. “No, sir,” he said. “But Charon wasn’t giving me answers.”

And honestly, Jason felt a little bad. He was even a tad embarrassed but his desperate want of a ghost cat kind of outweighed that.

Pluto pinched the bridge of his nose, using a free hand to gesture him away. It appeared he’d give Jason no answers either. Honestly. Maybe he’d have Hazel try to summon him one. Nico had been unsuccessful in this endeavor, but with her magic, it might work.

Just as he turned, ready to take his losses, Pluto cleared his throat. When Jason looked back, the god’s eyes were still closed, fingers trying to squeeze the annoyance out of his head. Muttering something under his breath, he gave a small sigh.

“If you are to be near an animal as it dies, you may be able to grab its spirit before it enters my domain and is reborn.”

Pluto really was Jason’s absolute favorite god.

“Thank you, my lord,” he said earnestly, giving the lowest bow he could muster. Pluto just waved him away, picking up his paperwork with another subtle sigh. Jason might have been more ashamed if he wasn’t so pleased with the development.

The only unfortunate part of this plan was that Jason would have to walk around looking for a dying cat… like a psychopath.

Good thing he knew an actual psychopath who might be willing to do the job for him.

“I like the Beatles.”

Luke flipped a page in the book he was reading, a new bag of gems beside him in his usual spot near the Hermes cabin. “They are excellent creatures,” he said absently and Jason rolled his eyes.

“The band,” he said, and Luke looked up. “I’m discovering my musical taste. We should go to a music festival at some point,” Jason added thoughtfully. “I also like Frank Sinatra.”

“You would have been an excellent old man,” Luke said, snapping his book shut.

Jason rolled his eyes again. “I also want a cat,” he said. Luke raised his brows. “Pluto says if I take a cat’s soul as it dies, I can keep the spirit with me. Could you get me one?”

Luke tossed his book into the hole near the Hermes cabin. “...why?” he asked.

“I don’t want to see a cat die!”

“And I do?!”

“Um, you didn’t seem to mind children dying so-”

“My gods,” Luke groaned, tilting his head back. Jason crossed his arms over his chest. As much as he was growing to like Luke, he refused to let go of the crimes he committed in the past. Jason owed that to Silena and the others surely. “The fact you can exhaust a literal ghost is insane. I hope you know that.” Luke stood up, kicking the rock over the hole of trinkets. “I’m going solo tonight. Will you be okay on your own?”

…hey. Jason opened his mouth, registering the betrayal. Luke looked at him expectantly. As if he weren’t randomly ditching Jason with no explanation. It left a sour taste in his mouth - anxiety building as Jason quickly cataloged their recent conversations to figure out what he had done wrong.

After all, Luke never seemed truly angry at Jason for holding him accountable for his past mistakes. He seemed to accept that was part of the repentance or whatever. Could Jason have done something else to upset him? Did Luke not want to be around him anymore? Gods, he must think Jason still had no identity or maybe he was discovering he didn’t like the identity he was finding-

“What are you doing?” Jason asked, interrupting his own thoughts. Maybe Luke just wanted to play chess or something and knew Jaosn would rather die again than play another game.

“Heading off to a casino,” he said and Jason held out his hands. “Which you need to be over eighteen to do. And then I want to try alcohol… which you have to be over twenty-one to do.”

Oh, this was rich.

“Seriously?” Jason asked. “Now you’re going to follow the rules? I’m literally dead. Laws don’t apply to me.”

“Touchy,” Luke said and stretched his arms over his head. “I just thought Mr. Goody Good would be uncomfortable breaking rules.” Jason pursed his lips. A little, maybe, but he had also been trying to push himself to try and think more logically about rules.

Laws were meant to protect you. Jason was dead. Protection was a bit of a moot point.

“How do you drink alcohol as a ghost?” Jason asked, trying to think about how that would work. No matter how many gems they used, they couldn’t get an actual body. Luke looked away, and Jason felt a sliver of suspicion. “...hello?” he asked, reaching out to nudge him.

“Possession, typically,” Luke said - way too quickly.

Jason’s mouth dropped. “Possession?” he repeated. “As in another human being?”

“Don’t be annoying about this.”

“I’m sorry, did you enjoy it when Saturn possessed you?”

“That is so far from the same thing-”

“You’re stealing someone else's body and filling it with alcohol! That’s sketchy, Luke.”

Luke groaned and flopped back on the ground theatrically. “Ghosts do it all the time,” he said and Jason spluttered, utterly horrified. “Remember when you wanted to do crystal meth?”

“I would have not wanted to the moment I realized possession was involved!” he said and stood up, shaking his head. “No. You can’t do it. I forbid it.”

Luke looked up at him. “You forbid it?” he laughed and Jason glared. “Jason. You aren’t a praetor here. And I’m twenty-three. You are sixteen.”

“You’re not acting twenty-three,” Jason seethed.

Unbelievable. Unbelievable. He paced, trying to find the upper hand. Typically, people just sort of… did what Jason said. He wasn’t used to arguing all that much unless Reyna, Annabeth Chase, or Percy Jackson were involved.

Luke only seemed amused by Jason’s impending breakdown. Again. Always. Why was he always so amused by Jason? Like Jason was some sort of toddler he could dismiss. You know what? This guy was condescending. That was the word. A hundred percent.

“What if you hurt the body you’re possessing?” Jason pointed out. “What if you die in the body you possess? What happens then? Have you thought this through at all?”

“I have, thank you,” Luke said, standing up. “You know, you’re kind of the mom friend.”

Jason was going to kill him.

“Fine. It’s like that, is it?” he asked. Luke gave a meager shrug and turned away. “I can get to Olympus, you know. Your father would probably be interested to know about this.”

Jason really wasn’t helping the accusations of mom friend, was he?

Luke spun back around, facing morphing from teasing to outright indignance. A second later, his eyes flashed, ire simmering beneath the surface. Jason knew it was risky to bring Mercury’s name into this. He had heard on multiple occasions that Luke’s relationship with his father had been… not great. Alas, Jason didn’t have many cards up his sleeve.

“Are you serious?” Luke asked flatly. Jason crossed his arms over his chest and Luke pressed his tongue against his cheek in annoyance. “Okay. I mean, go ahead. And tell your father hi while you’re there. If he recognizes you.”

“Don’t use that against me. I’m not you.”

Luke grimaced. “No,” he agreed. “You’re so much worse.”

“The hell does that mean?” Jason asked, voice rising.

Luke didn’t even need a second to gather his thoughts as he took a step forward to point a finger at Jason. “That you were a victim who played a hero your entire life, and it’s exhausting to watch you do it in the afterlife.”

Oh. Okay then. Jason slapped Luke’s hand down.

“At least I’m not a hero who played a victim my entire life!” he said, now pointing his own finger at Luke’s chest. “You had the influence and tools to do something good, but instead you just-”

“I just what?” Luke cut off. “I’m sorry, why don’t you tell me what you would have done, Jason. I am just so curious. Would you have asked the gods very nicely to pay attention? Would you have prayed? Would you have done a quest to make them so, so proud of you?” Jason inhaled sharply, looking away. “What was I meant to do?”

And Jason didn’t have an answer. Not really. Because the truth of the matter was the only reason the gods were forced to change was because of Luke’s actions. Percy got to conveniently play the hero - the middleman of sorts - but if Luke hadn’t done what he did, then Percy wouldn’t have been able to do what he did.

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted quietly. “But you did it the wrong way.”

Luke nodded, giving a wry smile as he absently touched the scar over his eye. “I did it the wrong way,” he agreed darkly. “I agree. But guess what? So did you.”

And with that, he spun around, leaving Jason to mull that over with a sinking heart.

“Fuck you,” he muttered to the space Luke had vanished from. “I- I tried!” he hissed, but it felt a little pathetic. “Fine.” He spun around. At Camp Jupiter, Jason would have rarely needed to follow through on threats. He’d more often than not offer forgiveness once his opponent realized they were outmatched.

But on the rare occasion that someone pushed hard enough against him? Sure. Jason would follow through on a goddamn threat.

So, yeah, he went to Olympus to tell on Luke to Mercury. Sue him.

It only took two steps before he entered the unfamiliar room of marbled floors and mile-high columns. Jason had seen brief glimmers of Olympus - enough to know the general idea of what it looked like.

It was… nice.

It had all the flourishes of fine gold trim and luxurious plants. The clouds clung to the various buildings and the path was made of glittering stones.

Yeah. It was nice.

But if Jason was honest, he found it a little… derivative.

It looked like Pluto’s throne room. It looked like Diocletian’s palace in its prime. It looked like Camp Jupiter. All things that Jason knew came after it, but-

He looked over his shoulder, almost certain that Percy Jackson would rise from the ground to start screaming that Annabeth designed this version of Olympus and he better like it.

And, look, the architecture was lovely. The part that left Jason wanting was the blandness of the rest of it. Since spending time with Luke, he had taken to exploring more of the cabins in Camp Half-Blood. While alive, Jason had slept in a marbled, bare cabin, but the rest?

You could see people in them. Pictures on the wall. Notes on mirrors. Clutter and colors and hobbies in the corners. Jason could know who the occupants of the cabin were without having even met them. It was something he had begun to yearn for - a small room with a Queen size bed (not a Twin for once) and painted walls with photos and a desk and a bookshelf (he was going to try and read historical fiction soon) and his lacrosse gear in the corner. Maybe he’d have some posters (probably of someone cool like Diocletian or Hank Green) or random knick-knacks from quests (he still had a talon from when he’d found Brachus’s leopard that he used as a good luck charm) or some snacks stuffed in the corner (there were grapes that taste like cotton candy, apparently, and Jason needed that ASAP).

Sighing, Jason dragged his feet, wishing he could make a noise against the floor as he walked. Would Mercury even be here? And how would he react to Jason storming up and saying his son was being a complete problem… again.

Maybe this was a dumb idea-

“I said no, Hera!”

Jason paused. The voice rumbled over the empty throne room he was walking through, echoing from one of the hallways situation in the back. Curiously, Jason looked off to the side, trying to determine if it was, in fact, his father’s voice or if someone else had the gall to yell at Juno.

A crash sounded and Jason inched to the side, warily peeking through the labyrinth of hallways, all dimly lit by torches on either side.

“Why?!” Juno’s voice echoed, practically a shriek against the cold floors. Jason hesitated and then moved down the hallway. “She is in need of a mother-”

“Grace's mother is alive and well!” the second voice hissed. Jason leaned forward, peering into the arched entrance to a large room with no ceiling. It looked as magnificently bland as the rest with pillars and fine furniture and a bed that had no business being that large. “And the girl is left in Thalia's care-”

“A teenager,” Juno said. Jason could see her, hair pinned up in tight curls with a tiara nestled on her head. “If not her, then I’m owed the next-”

“You think you are owed something?!”

“For the blatant disrespect of both me and our vows of marriage?” Juno snapped, skirts twisting as she spun around. “Yes. Yes!” she shouted, her voice cracking on the second word. “I am tired of being angry, my husband. I cannot fix you. I cannot punish you for the pain you cause me. The least you could do is allow me some reprieve-”

“By stealing my children?” Jason could see Jupiter now, sipping nectar with icy blue eyes watching his wife move around, an aura of displeasure filling the room. “First, you make them suffer, and now you aim to nurture them?”

Juno swallowed, face flicking through various emotions as she looked down at the ground. “I… I have realized, now, there are better ways.” She shook her head. “If not yours, then perhaps another. There are so many demigods abandoned, surely one could be under my protection.”

Jupiter rolled his eyes. “All demigods are to be claimed as decreed by the Jackson boy.” He took another sip of his nectar. “Perhaps if you had found this kindness any number of years ago, we could have avoided a war.”

Juno scoffed. “You wouldn’t have allowed it then, either,” she said bitterly. “You’d accuse me of trying to use them to rebel against you.” She sat at the edge of the bed. “I’m not saying it isn’t a selfish wish, Zeus. I am saying that…” Her voice broke. “That little boy didn’t get to grow up. And I feel-” She clutched at her chest. “I failed him. I don’t think I’ve ever failed like this before, husband. I’ve never… I’ve never been able to.” Her eyes squeezed shut. “My children were born as gods. I’ve never seen the allure of humanity until Jason. I swear, I could do it right this time. I know now that the mortals are more than I thought. I even regret my actions towards Thalia Grace. I-”

Jason’s skin prickled. Jason. Him. She was talking about him.

“I treated him as a weapon,” Juno whispered. “A prized pet to play the games the rest of you play with your children, but when I heard his final cry…” She touched her throat. “I made a mistake. Let me be the patron of another demigod child, please. I need to do right in his honor.”

Jupiter swirled his goblet, the nectar sloshing over the side. “Given the trouble you’ve given these demigods, I don’t think it is a good idea, wife. Find your repentance elsewhere.” And with that, he stood up.

Juno looked up at the sky above. “Is that the voice of a just king speaking or a husband who uses my crown as a collar?” she whispered.

Jupiter placed his goblet down on a table as he left the room. “Both,” he said, flatly and his eyes brushed over Jason as he stepped out of the arched entrance. “Tend to your duties,” he snapped and continued walking.

Jason stared after him, a little dumbstruck. Had his father actually not recognized him? He stared, utterly flabbergasted. He had never had much in the way of expectation of his father but… well, a certain awareness of him, perhaps. Or did Jason cease to exist the moment his mortal body vanished?

He looked back to Juno, but she had disappeared.

“I don’t often agree with our father,” a voice said. Jason looked back up. “But I don’t think giving children to my stepmother is the wisest choice, either.”

A small part of Jason hoped it would be Apollo. It wasn’t. Despite having not met this particular god before, he knew exactly who this was.

“Lord Mercury,” he said, smiling wryly. “Hello.”

Mercury hummed, phone buzzing. He slipped it off, glanced at some messages, and then put it on silent. It was easy to find the resemblance between him and Luke. It was probably why Jason knew who he was so quickly.

“Jason Grace,” Mercury said, walking on the opposite side of the entrance, across from Jason. He leaned against the wall. “I would think a hero of your stature would be in Elysium.”

Jason ran a hand over his face. “So I keep hearing,” he murmured. Mercury smiled politely. “I actually came to talk to you.”

“Oh?”

“About your son.”

“I have quite a few.”

“Luke.”

Mercury nodded. “Yes, that does seem to be the one most wish to speak to me about,” he murmured.

Now would be the point that Jason would spill the beans that Luke was out in a casino somewhere doing questionable things via possession. He opened his mouth - intending to do just that - but what came out was:

“Did you love him?”

Mercury didn’t seem surprised by that question. He lifted a hand and two snakes curled around his wrist, both eying Jason as if they wanted to speak, but knew they shouldn’t with that tension in the air.

“Yes,” Mercury said. Strangely enough, Jason believed him.

“Did my father love me?”

An awkward moment passed. “I’d imagine so.” Jason didn’t believe him.

“And if he didn’t… why did I turn out as I did? And Luke like that?”

Mercury grimaced and the snakes quickly slithered out of sight, apparently not interested in witnessing Jason’s soul get blasted to pieces.

“Structure, most likely,” Mercury surprisingly answered. Jason tilted his head. “Luke lived amongst chaos and a life that he had no control over. You had order. Perhaps far more than was good for any child. And then the illusion of control.”

Right. Jason looked back into the room where Jupiter and Juno had been arguing.

“Did Juno love me?” he asked quietly.

“She believes so, yes.”

“But did she?”

Mercury pursed his lips. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her love to know,” he admitted.

Hm.

“I didn’t really make a life for myself,” Jason said slowly. “Except for going with the whims of the gods.” Mercury waited. “I also didn’t make mistakes often - if at all.” Still, nothing. “If I’m honest, I feel like a human more in death than I did in life. That’s in part to your son.” This time, Jason didn’t pause for a response. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest and continued. “I find myself at odds with…” He wrung his hands together. “His decisions.”

Mercury scoffed. “Aren’t we all,” he mused. He looked Jason up and down. “He’s doing something now that you don’t approve of?” he guessed, and Jason flushed. He felt a little like a tattletale, which… yeah, no. That was exactly what he was doing. “Come,” Mercury said, jerking his head.

Jason hesitated and then followed down the hallway after him.

Eventually, they approached a small room, tucked away in twists and turns of the palace. In it, was… well, a globe. It was embedded in the floor with stairs leading down to it. Mercury absently brushed it with his hand as he walked by, causing it to spin so that Australia was now visible instead of Europe.

“What is this?” Jason asked, peering down.

Mercury shrugged. “One of Annabeth Chase’s designs. She considered it for our throne room. The world in the center and our thrones surrounding it.” He looked down at the globe and shook his head. “But perhaps she didn’t like the reminder of who runs things and scrapped it. Athena, however, was fond of the idea and kept it in a separate, smaller area. She did that with a few of her daughter’s designs, though I can promise you Annabeth doesn’t know.”

“Why?”

Mercury chuckled, taking off the leather satchel over his shoulder and tossing it to the side. “Athena knows her children," he said, lounging in the same way Luke would by the Hermes cabin. "If she shows approval, then suddenly Annabeth would not be designing for her vision, but for her mother’s. It is a hard line to toe - creating something for yourself without letting the approval of others get in the way.” He sat down on one of the steps. “Life is very much the same.”

Jason also sat. The world glowed between them. “And you’re here to tell me that Luke and myself are on opposite ends of that approval spectrum?” he guessed.

Mercury clicked his tongue. “I suppose you can be,” he mused. “My son’s life was, without question, a tragedy. So was yours. Most heroes suffer that fate.” He absently ran his finger over the step next to him. “I found myself furious at Annabeth Chase for a time. Luke had once come to her for help - when he realized Kronos wasn’t quite the master he envisioned. She rebuked him.”

Jason had never been particularly close with Annabeth. In a way, she was just another person who was closer to Thalia than he got to be in life. Still, Jason respected the hell out of her. Enough to know whatever she did to Luke was more than justified.

“She probably thought it was a trap.”

Mercury nodded. “She did,” he said quietly. “...it wasn’t. Alas, it was fair of her to pull away. Strong, even. The memory of it haunts me, but I suppose I cannot blame her. Not anymore.” Jason looked up, noting the stained glass panels above them, trimmed in gold. They seemed to shift at their conversation, recreations of Annabeth and Luke standing across from one another in colorful forms.

“I feel stuck,” he announced.

Mercury nodded. “Unsurprising.”

“Everyone has been pointing out how… tragic, my life was. And I’ve been trying to use that fact to inspire me to get on a different path. I know the life I’ve been living has been unfair, but I don’t want to use the injustice of what I’ve been through to entitle myself to something I am not deserving of.” He thought of Juno, heart clenching a bit.

In many ways, he felt a tad like he was just rehashing the same stuff over and over again. Yes, he was a victim of the gods. Yes, he was even a victim of Rome. Yes, he was a tragic hero who would only be known for his feats, and not as a person.

But what now? Jason might get all of his answers to who he was - is - but then what?

Mercury looked at him. “And Luke?” he asked.

Jason felt a trill of annoyance run through him. “We might be friends,” he admitted. “But he’s infuriating and I don’t like some of what he does. Am I a bad person for associating with him? I can’t even decide if he’s a good person. Like, yes, his motivations are understandable. Why he did those things, makes total sense, but… how he did it. The people he hurt and the lengths he went to… It makes me feel gross for wanting to be his friend.”

Jason waited for Mercury to get offended. He kind of wanted Mercury to get offended.

He didn’t.

“Unfortunately, little brother, humans are quite like gods in their mistakes. Some are unforgivable. Some are not. But what I’ve noticed, is for someone like Luke, what matters is accepting you will not get a second chance with some people, and being better for those who give you that. For someone like you, Jason, you need to decide if you are going to give that second chance. And if you are, actually give it. The world has convinced humans and gods alike that we are due to owe and pay for everything. But as a messenger? A traveler?” Mercury smiled a little. “I believe life is about giving and creating. Perhaps death can be like that, too. If one is lucky enough.”

Jason looked at the world between them. Maybe.

When he looked up, Mercury was gone. All gods lacked the ability to say goodbye, apparently. Rude.

Jason stood up, the words little brother ringing in his ears. It occurred to him that despite Jupiter’s many children, Jason had never had a brother before. The gods had never been present for him until recently.

“...is Luke my nephew?” he asked the empty room.

Oh, he’d totally be using that.

When Jason found Luke again, it actually wasn’t a casino. A note had been left at their usual spot by the Hermes cabin with an address on the rock covering their trinkets. Jason had assumed it would take him to Vegas, but when he arrived it was to ungodly bright lights and the largest crowd Jason had ever seen.

“Finally.”

Luke was sat on the ground by a gate next to a stern security guard who was checking tickets to the line of teenagers and adults all with large water bottles and light up bracelets.

“What is this?” Jason asked, redirecting himself to Luke. “Why-?” He froze.

No. No way. It was happening.

In front of Luke was a black cat, absently trying to play with a blade of grass. It took several swipes but its paw just went through, which meant… “Is that a ghost cat?!” Jason fell to his knees and the cat looked up at him with impossibly big green eyes. “Oh my gods, it's a ghost cat,” he said.

Luke snorted, watching with a shake of his head. “Weren’t you raised by wolves?”

“I was. And they told me that cats were mean and obnoxious, but that’s not true, is it?” Jason told the cat, lightly bopping its nose. The cat reared back, clearly affronted. As a peace offering, Jason offered his fingers to which he was given a hesitant sniff in return. “How did you find her?”

It was totally a her. Jason just knew.

A dark look passed Luke’s face. “People suck,” was all he said. Maybe it was better that Jason didn’t know.

“Did you already go to the casino?”

“Never made it,” Luke admitted dryly. Jason tilted his head. “I… let enough bratty teenagers down, if I’m honest.” His foot nudged Jason’s knee and he smiled. “I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t tell on you,” he said in return. Luke rolled his eyes. “I did go to Olympus.” Luke's expression went eerily blank, tensing as he tapped his fingers across his knee. “Met your dad. He’s a very solemn guy.”

“Is he?”

“You don’t know?”

“I started a war over not really knowing, remember?” Luke scoffed. “But from the little I've seen, and the rumors, he’s typically a happy, fun guy.” Hm. Jason made a couple of kissy noises at the cat, who had grabbed Jason’s hand between its paws to examine him more closely. “So if you didn’t tell on me, what did you talk about?”

Jason looked up, thoughtful as he watched people continue entering the mysterious gated area. Music played so loud it shook the ground. Whatever it was, it seemed like a great place to use the gems. The smells would be amazing here.

“Some stuff I agreed with. Some stuff I didn’t,” Jason decided. “Would you ever go back to Elysium?” he asked, not wanting to get into the specifics with Luke. After all, he couldn't decide if Mercury's words were actually helpful.

Luke tapped the ground, trying to get the cat to leave Jason alone and come over to him. “With Charlie and the other kids who hate my guts? No.”

“What if they wanted you there?” Jason asked, also tapping his fingers to persuade the cat not to leave him.

“Why would they want me there?”

“I’m plotting over here, work with me.”

The cat looked between them, clearly annoyed by all the beck and calling because it hissed and darted away to chase a bee zipping past. Fair enough, honestly.

Luke watched, running a hand over the back of his neck. “Maybe. Don’t go bothering them about me, Jason-”

“I also want to meet your mom.”

“I- what?” Luke asked.

“Sally and Paul said she’s still alive,” Jason informed him. Luke flinched. “And I want to see my mom. My mortal mom. She’s in the Underworld somewhere, I think. Would you come with me?”

“If you want me to…?”

“We also haven’t found my favorite flower, yet,” Jason reminded him. At that, Luke sighed. “And a music festival. I want to do that.”

“Yeah, Jason. I know. Look around.”

…huh. Would you look at that? Suddenly the security and oddly dressed attendees made sense.

Scooping up the cat, who surprisingly allowed such a thing despite her failure in obtaining the bee, Jason walked through the gate past security to see a huge stage out in the middle of the field. Stands stood off in the corner with various merch and concessions. Oh, hell yeah.

“And,” Luke began, appearing next to him. “If you’re feeling incredibly brave there are some potheads over there. Totally safe. They are already high. You just possess them and chill for an hour and then pop out. Nobody is hurt,” he said flatly.

Jason glanced in the direction where that very… earthy smell was coming from.

"...what if they die?"

"You can't overdose on weed, Jason. Besides, there are medics here and they have friends looking after them."

"Will they freak out that I'm there?"

"No, they're high."

"What if I can't get out?"

"I'll pull you out."

Jason mulled over his other ethical considerations. He supposed if he wasn't actually controlling anything. He'd just be a passenger, really. And if the person wouldn't notice...

“I’ve never possessed anyone before,” he told Luke, eyes narrowed. “Have you? Nevermind. Don’t answer that.” He looked back at where a group was all passing something between them, giggling at something. “I thought I wasn’t old enough for such a thing?” he added with an accusatory look.

The cat, who was rapidly becoming a staunch ally, meowed in agreement.

“Thank you, Anastassia,” he said.

Luke gave an indignant frown. “Yeah, I’m being chill about it. You’re welcome. Did you call that cat Anastassia?” he asked.

A few people walked through them, some already dancing despite the fact no song was playing.

“Anastassia Vermont,” Jason said. Luke looked like he was trying not to laugh. “I saw those photos of Vermont, remember? I want to go." Vermont did look gorgeous with the greenery hiking trails. Jason very much wanted to visit. "I also think the name Anastassia sounds pretty.” He held the cat closer. “If I find a better name, I’ll consider it, but Anastassia Vermont is very classy.”

If Luke had any opinions on that, he didn’t give them, instead just handing Jason a few gems as the crowd as everyone began to scream incoherently.

Consensus: Music festivals were… very overwhelming. Thalia would love it. Jason was ready to leave after two songs. People were loud and after he took the gems, he could feel the sweaty people against him and the itchy grass against his ankles.

Weed? Fun. Good. Jason had been a little hesitant at first, but his first possession included him entering the body of a guy named Trent, who had some insane thoughts about peanut butter cookies. When Jason popped out an hour later, he had decided that absolutely nothing Mercury told him compared to the wisdom of Trent's mind. If only he could remember it...

But yeah. He'd totally do it again.

“I have to wait a few months,” he told Luke seriously as they waited for the next band to come up. “I don’t want to be a pothead.”

“What would the D.A.R.E. program think?” Luke agreed and nudged him. “Hey, you might get to hear the Beatles.” Jason looked around. He was fairly certain that since two of the members were now dead the Beatles didn’t perform anymore, but… maybe he was wrong? Somehow? Were the ghosts of John Lennon and George Harrison somehow here? “It’s a cover band,” Luke shouted, leaning in to be heard over the cheering. “They don’t play their own songs.”

Sure enough, the group of men who came out immediately launched into Bohemian Rhapsody by Queens. It wasn’t the Beatles, but Jason certainly wasn’t mad about it. Now that he had chilled out with Trent, he found the festival not as overwhelming. Especially with his brand new ghost cat, brushing against him, batting at his shoes.

This would have been so fun to do with Leo and Piper, actually. As Jason lay on the grass that didn’t seem all that itchy anymore, he looked over to the left, noting a trio in their late teens all wildly dancing ridiculously offbeat. For a moment, Jason genuinely felt a longing for something that could have been.

He could have had more.

The music went quiet. A few people murmured excitedly until one singer came directly up to the mic. He took a deep breath as the lights dimmed across the field.

“Hey Jude…”

Jason’s eyes widened. A tambourine began to chime. The pianist sat, fingers expertly drifting over the keys.

“Come on,” Luke said, pulling Jason up. “It’s one of your songs.”

His song. Jason liked having a song. The crowd all put their phones into the air, waving them back and forth. Luke threw an arm over his shoulders, swaying back and forth with the beat. And, despite the chaos of it all, Jason was kind of happy he wasn’t possessing anyone right now. It felt kind of nice to enjoy this as… him. Even if he was dead.

“Take a sad song and make it better…”

Jason placed a hand up to his mouth and started shouting the lyrics out. Luke looked over to grin at him. Jason was about to feel like an idiot when the rest of the crowd also started up.

“NAH, NAH, NAH!” Luke shouted. Jason laughed, jumping in. They separated to both do their air guitars as they continued hopping around, somehow breathless despite not needing to breathe as they kept yelling out the lyrics.

“HEY JUDE-”

“NAH, NAH, NAH!”

“Heyyyyy-”

“Make it, Jude!”

Again, his ghost cat batted at his leg, and Jason knelt down to pick her up. He half-expected her to want to be put back down immediately, but upon seeing the bright lights, she paused, looking absolutely enchanted by the air vibrating and the group singing along.

She must like the Beatles too.

Maybe Jason wouldn’t name her Anastassia Vermont, after all. Jude seemed like a better fit anyway.

Chapter Text

“I think I joined a cult.”

Luke looked over from where he was lying out in the sun, a gem in his chest glistening as he soaked up the sunlight. A few seconds of silence passed as he seemed to consider Jason’s words before he finally nodded.

“Another?”

Ugh. This guy.

Jason glared. “New Rome wasn’t a cult,” he muttered. Luke hummed. “Come off it. Saturn’s army was more of a cult than Camp Jupiter.” Luke gave an infuriating click of his tongue at that. “Like, literally the definition of a cult is that you worship some guy and manipulate people.”

“Are you referring to Kronos as just some guy?” Luke snorted. At Jason’s glare, he rolled his eyes. “If that’s how you define a cult, then pretty much everything is a cult,” he argued. “Camp Half-Blood worships gods, and the gods manipulate kids to go on quests and fight wars. Cult.”

“But doesn’t a cult like… just worship one thing?”

Luke sat up, wrinkling his nose. Jude hopped onto his leg, batting his face a few times as Luke pushed her off. Rude. Jason opened up his arms, and the cat trotted over to him, purring as he curled into his chest.

“No,” Luke finally said. “I think that’s just more common because it is easier to manipulate people if you consolidate power. Like, if I started a cult, I wouldn’t want other people to be worshipped and mess up my plans.”

“By the sound of it, a teenager who can talk to fish messes up your plans.” Luke flipped him off. “But not the point. I found a bunch of roaming ghosts,” he said. Luke frowned. “Well… five of them,” Jason amended. “That’s where I was last week. I was hanging out with them and I didn’t think much of it, but upon further reflection, they might be a cult.” Luke just stared at him. “They’re really nice! I just… I don’t know. Cults aren’t typically good things, so I’m kind of conflicted.”

“What were you even doing with them?” Luke asked, sounding a bit mystified. At that, Jason brightened, gently removing Jude from his lap to scramble up and show off the skill his new friends had taught him. Luke lifted his hand to shield the sun from his eyes as he looked up at where Jason got in position. “The fuck are you doing?”

“A cartwheel.”

“That’s not a cartwheel.”

“It literally is. I put my hands up-”

“Just because you narrate it doesn’t make it right.”

“-and I lean to the side.”

“Why are you trying to do this?”

“The cult taught me!” Jason said impatiently. At that, Luke bit his lip, clearly trying to hide a smile. “Shut up.”

“How do you not know how to do a cartwheel, Jason?” Luke asked. The gem in his chest faded, and he lowered his hand, no longer bothered by the sun in his eyes. “You fought monsters.”

“Who is out there doing cartwheels when they fight monsters?” Jason threw back. He leaned over, hoping to make his point while doing a beautifully executed cartwheel, but he more or less just put his hands on the ground and hopped. If he were alive, his glasses would have fallen off, but luckily, death saved him from such embarrassment. He looked over and saw Luke watching, unimpressed. “Okay, well maybe I need some practice…”

Luke got up, dusting himself off. In truth, Jason wouldn’t have been wandering about to find any ghostly cult if it weren’t for Luke disappearing so often and so suddenly. At first, Jason worried he was doing something sketchy again, but the one time he followed him, it was to learn Luke was actually going back to Elysium. It was strange. Really, strange, but Jason decided it was best to leave it alone for now. After all, he could have his own adventures.

“So where did you meet this cult?” Luke asked, glancing around the spot they had claimed in Central Park. Jason suspected Percy and Annabeth were probably due for a date here, which Luke planned on supervising in his ghostly sort of way, but either there had been a change of plans or Jason’s cult reveal was more interesting.

“Boston,” Jason said. “Want to meet them?”

He hoped Luke said yes. It was a thrill to meet new people right now. People who didn’t know him as a Son of Jupiter or a Roman hero. He was Jason. Jason had a cool ghost cat and played lacrosse. Not once did anyone in this little cult ask about parentage or grand feats of victory. Instead, they discussed what sort of books they liked, and Jason actually had an answer that wasn’t the biography of Julius Caesar.

Granted, it had taken some time to get any of those conversations going, but that was probably just what it was like to meet new people.

“They aren’t all teenagers, right?” Luke asked, rubbing his temple as if he had been cursed as a babysitter instead of the guy who convinced kids to fight gods.

But that was a different argument. “Nope. Edgar is a full-fledged adult,” Jason informed him. “So is María. I’m not sure about River. He kind of seems like your age, so… an adult by technicality.”

Luke shrugged. “Okay. To Boston we go.”

Good. Jason beamed. Part of him was a little curious to see Luke interact with new people. In the same way Jason’s reputation tended to precede him, the same could be said of Luke. He’d be curious to see how he’d interact with people who didn’t know him or his legacy. Everyone called him charming. Jason supposed he could see it, but he was also very aware of what Luke had done to offset that.

“Awesome,” Jason told him. “Just know they take a bit of time to warm up to you. I had to bother them for a few days before anyone would really hold a conversation with me.”

Maybe they weren’t a cult after all. Didn’t cults want to talk to lots of strangers? Jason certainly had to work to get anyone there to teach him how to do that cartwheel… and that was after attempting a good chunk of other conversations.

Scooping up Jude, he grabbed Luke’s arm to haul him through the folds of the world. Now that Jason had been a ghost a little longer, he was beginning to actually see what he was traveling through. Before, it felt like he just sank into the ground and popped up where he was supposed to be. But now? If he tilted his head and squinted, he could see ripples across the air like a blanket, pulling them wherever they needed to go.

Sure enough, when he stepped out, he could see the folds of air flap behind him, leaving him under some clouds by a harbor. Luke appeared next to him, putting his hands in his pockets just as a cry came out somewhere to their left.

“HEY!” a girl called out, waving at the end of a dock. “Look who came back!”

“Hi!” Jason called back. The girl jogged up, running through a few tourists as she approached them. Percy would kill him if he heard him say this, but Jason thought Boston looked quite a bit like New York with its towering buildings next to a huge source of water. Though perhaps cleaner. “This is Luke,” Jason told the girl as she slowed down to greet them. “He’s the other ghost I was telling you about. Luke, this is Evelyn!” Jason introduced.

Evelyn smiled, holding out her hand with a bright smile. As far as he could tell, she was from the 1900s with a collared dress with plaid patterns that fell to her knees. Her hair was short, clipped back with black curls around her ears, and eyes a dark green.

“Hi, Luke,” she greeted when he shook her hand. “Come on over. The others are this way.”

Peering over her shoulder, Jason could see four other ghostly figures looming by the water. None of them turned at their approach, all watching the water with wildly different expressions.

“All these years,” one of the ghosts sighed as they walked up. “And Boston still remains empty in mind and poisoned in heart.” The words were said wistfully with the touch of a mustache.

Luke did a double-take. “Wait,” he said. “Are you Edgar Allan Poe?” He turned to Jason. “You did not tell me Edgar Allan Poe was part of the cult.”

“Luke!”

“Cult?” Evelyn asked at the same time, snorting as she at the edge of the dock, her legs disappearing into the water without so much as a ripple.

Edgar turned, eyes narrowing. “Edgar Allan Poe is dead, sir. His corpse, beneath stone, rotted into bone that will give way into sand. Kept from feeding the earth by a box meant to honor, when it instead of traps,” he said distastefully. Luke’s brows raised. “Now, I am just Edgar. Free from the past and future.”

Luke nodded slowly. “Alright,” he said, and turned to the other two. “And you three are…?”

“María,” an older woman said, sitting cross-legged on the dock. Her white hair was braided over her shoulder and tumbling down to the ground. She wore plain threads of a dress that made it hard to decide what time period she was from. She gave Luke a gummy smile. “Welcome, young one. Come sit. This is Little Man,” she said, nodding to where a tiny 10-year-old was hiding behind her. “And that’s River.”

Luke looked over at the bank as if expecting the water to also be introduced, only to stare down at the ground to see a young man between María and Evelyn.

“You know what’s fucked?” River asked, lying there in his bell-bottom jeans and unbuttoned shirt. “If we drank human milk instead of animal milk, we could employ so many women. Nobody would be homeless.”

“He’s high,” Evelyn informed Luke helpfully.

“I’m solving an economic crisis,” River muttered.

Luke looked in between them all before slowly glancing at Jason. A subtle, really? Played in his eyes before, almost too suddenly, his expression shifted completely. “Well,” he began, crossing his arms over his chest. “If this is a land of poisoned hearts and empty minds, I feel compelled to ask why you’re all here.”

“We do not wish to reside in Elysium.”

“Of course, but why this particular area? Or have we been led here by some mysterious force?” he asked, looking at María.

Her lips tugged upwards, almost like she had been waiting for someone to finally point this out.

“You are perceptive, young one,” she smiled. “Yes, we have been led here. By the water.”

“The water,” Luke said, and his eyes flicked to Evelyn. He looked her up and down once. “I bet. Do any of you have specific ties to water?” Luke asked. Evelyn’s brows raised, but she didn’t answer, instead looking vaguely amused. Jason frowned. Within two breaths, Luke seemed to have identified something that Jason had missed. He frowned, a little annoyed that he had made such quick headway with his new friends.

“I drowned,” Little Man offered quietly. Jason did a double-take, a little horrified by such a casual reveal. Little Man’s head popped out from behind María, his eyes big and dark. “Right over there. María found me.” He clutched María from behind, burying his face into her back.

Luke looked out into the water, a frown touching his lips. “Where were your parents?” he asked, sitting down across from María. When Little Man didn’t respond, Luke leaned back, head tilted to the sky. “I almost drowned once,” he said casually. “In the bathtub. My mom was washing my hair when she just… pushed me underneath.”

“What?” Jason asked. He hadn’t heard this story before. And over the past few weeks, he had heard quite a few. Mainly of Luke’s time with Thalia and Annabeth. Some of his days with the titans. His mother was rarely mentioned, though. Jason only knew the basics about her.

“On purpose?” Little Man asked, peeking back out.

Luke shrugged. “She snapped out of it eventually,” he said. “But it was very scary. I’d imagine you would have been scared, too.”

Little Man swallowed before looking at the water distastefully. “It was cold,” he said. “Then really hot. It burned.” A few minutes of silence went by. “My mama didn’t push me under. I just fell. She screamed really loud.” He put his head against María’s shoulder. “I miss her.”

Jason’s throat tightened. He wanted to hug him, but that was ridiculous… or was it? He thought of all the Roman children entering Camp Jupiter. Most sensitivity had been trained out of them. The idea of Jason hugging one of his soldiers seemed laughable.

But…

The idea of Little Man being a soldier seemed equally laughable. Was that what children looked like without armor and weapons? Without branded arms? He thought again to Estelle and Grace and how those toddlers who would have been already sent to Lupa if they were deemed worthy of a Roman title.

Jude brushed up against his leg, and Jason realized idly that he wasn’t actually sure how he’d go about giving a hug if needed. Did he ask? He should probably ask. And then… what? Little Man would hug first? Or would Jason move first? How long was an appropriate time?

Maybe his life had lacked affection for so long that he wasn’t sure how to do something as simple as a hug. He thought desperately to Leo, realizing with a sinking heart that he had been responsible for most - if not all - affection between them. Jason was kind, of course. But he had been kind to most people.

Leo knew he had been special to Jason, right? He knew he had been his best friend?

Did Reyna? Was that why she chose immortality? Did everything important to Jason not know simply because he hadn’t shown it while he was alive? He had saved lives, helped people, done what was right… But that was what was expected of him.

“Jason?”

Jason jerked his head up, realizing that everyone was staring at him.

“Um,” he began, swallowing hard. Absently, he knelt down to pick up Jude, holding her close. He half expected her to try and wiggle out of his arms, but he might have sensed his panic because she just purred against his chest. “Sorry, what?”

“Evelyn was asking if you had a tie to water,” Luke said. “Little Man died in it, María was born in it…” He looked at María skeptically, but she just smiled. “Edgar wrote a lot about it, and Evelyn…” Luke clicked his tongue. “Well, if I didn’t know better, I’d say her father was something of an ocean-man himself.”

Evelyn chuckled, and Jason realized with a start that she looked a little like Percy. Was she…? No. Now, wasn’t the time.

“I, uh,” Jason began, trying to get his mind back into the current conversation. “I guess I… died on it too. I was on a boat,” he said slowly.

“I commanded a boat,” Luke tacked on helpfully. “Does this mean we’re accepted into the…” He paused, giving Jason a subtle side-eye. “...group?”

Everyone laughed. Luke also smiled, like he somehow got the joke, which was baffling because Jason thought the comment was supposed to be an inside joke with him on the cult stuff. Only with them all laughing, he felt a little like Luke had somehow made some sort of quip with everyone else instead.

“No,” Evelyn said. “Edgar here has specific rules for joining.” Edgar nodded, and from behind him, Evelyn stuck out her tongue.

Luke looked at Edgar with barely concealed fascination. “I would have never thought to see someone like you bound by rules,” he mused. “I thought believers were happy and doubters were wise?” Edgar’s eyes brightened. “But I suppose whatever mind said that is rotting in a box under stone.”

Jason bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t decide what about all of this was annoying him, but something definitely was. And he was almost certain that whatever the answer was would make him sound childish. It might have to do with the fact that the last time he ran into this so-called cult, it had been filled with Little Man and Jason doing cartwheels while Evelyn cheered them on. And now everybody seemed to want to discuss water with Luke for whatever reason.

But fine. Sure. Jason would play along and figure out how to join the cult.

“Less of rules and more of proving oneself,” Edgar mused. “A writer who does not write cannot be truly called a writer, no?” he asked. Luke shrugged. “Every ghost has their own ghost tying them to their past. Confront that ghost and you may join our ranks.”

Jason looked at María, who smiled at him. Little Man gave a quick nod over her shoulder. Okay… That seemed like a tall order. So many things tied Jason to his past. Lupa. Piper. Reyna. Camp Jupiter. Juno. Camp Half-Blood. Was he supposed to somehow pick one thing?

“Okay,” Jason said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him. Luke tilted his head. “I’ll go do that now.”

A beat of silence followed.

“Oh,” Evelyn frowned. “You don’t need to-”

“I’ll come back when I’m finished,” Jason told her with a polite smile. He turned back, walking away from the group with just that sentence. Part of him was caught off-guard by his own words. It was as if a second part of himself had taken over - someone who intrinsically knew the answer for what he needed to do. Maybe that was the other Jason. The one who took on any quest offered to him, no matter what form it took.

“Jason!” Luke’s voice called, and a second later, someone grabbed his arm. “Jason, where are you going?” he asked. Jason pulled himself free, sighing. “You’re not seriously trying to join them, right? Like, they seem cool, but keep in mind Edgar Allan Poe married his thirteen-year-old cousin, so… you know. At least one of them is not an aspirational figurehead.” Groaning, Jason turned around. “What is the problem?”

“Why did they like you?” he bit out, leaving Luke to blink. “What the hell?”

“Gods forbid,” Luke agreed. “Most people like me.” He paused. “When they don’t know the specifics of… my past politics…” He winced. “Not the point. How is that bothering you?”

Jason ran a hand over his mouth. “I don’t know. I never cared too much about being liked before.” A beat of silence followed. Luke waited. “But… why don’t they?”

“They do?” Luke said, brows furrowing together. “What makes you think they don’t-?”

“They clearly like you more!” Jason argued. “I’ve been talking to them all week and they haven’t told me how to join the group.”

“I mean… I asked. Did you ask?”

“No! They’re a cult!” Jason snapped at him. He knew, logically, that nothing he was saying was really adding up. In fact, there was no real evidence that anyone liked Luke more than him, other than that they had been slightly more engaged with him. That was literally it. “Whatever. But if I go on this quest-”

“No,” Luke cut in. “No, bud. You don’t do quests for people to like you.”

“It worked while I was alive.”

“Jason, come on,” Luke sighed as Jason turned around to continue marching down to the Underworld. The folds reappeared, and this time Jason dove into them, hoping to lose Luke in the chaos.

Tragically, he did not.

“Believe it or not, this is actually a good thing!” Luke continued, barreling after him. “Before, it wouldn’t bother you if you were liked because it wasn’t actually you they were disliking. Now, it hurts a little more because you know yourself better. It should be celebrated! Yay!”

“Right,” Jason muttered. “Coming from someone who apparently everyone likes.”

“I don’t know if you’ve done a recent poll,” Luke pointed out dryly. “But most people, including you at times, do not like me.” He shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets. “Might have to do with the Titan War, but who’s to say?” Glancing around, Luke took in their surroundings, the darkness. The trees. The silence. “Are we in the Fields of Asphodel?” he said slowly.

Jason nodded. He actually preferred the name Asphodel Meadows. It fit better somehow. There was a softness to this area of the Underworld that didn’t fit anywhere else. The grass was soft, a few tiny flowers peaking out, and trees with orange leaves filled several gaps. Among them, souls stood. Staring. Waiting.

Sometimes, he thought this place might be more peaceful than even Elysium. There was something about it… something… final. This felt like what death should truly be. Ignoring Luke’s growing concern, he weaved through the trees, not really sure what he was looking for. There were too many souls down here to locate who he really wanted to find.

“You know they drink from the River Lethe,” Luke told him gently. “Nobody here really remembers who they are.”

Jason shrugged. He would still try. After all, people said that, but Hazel remembered her life. Nico remembered his past despite drinking from the River Lethe. Jason was inclined to believe the River Lethe and lotus flowers were made up of the same thing. Memories were deprioritized, but they were there all the same.

Jude scurried up a tree, which seemed to be as good a plan as any, so Jason also grabbed a branch and moved up.

“Dude,” Luke complained, but Jason paid him no mind as he climbed higher, surveying all the souls below.

He wondered if…

“Beryl Grace?” he called. Nothing. His eyes moved over the sea of death before the barest twitch came from his left. He paused. “Mom?” he asked, and this time several flickers went over the souls. Yes. That was perhaps too broad. “Beryl Grace!” he said again. Another flicker. Jumping down from the tree, he kept calling her name, eyes fixed on the flickering soul. “Beryl Grace!” he yelled, and as he approached, he could see a young woman staring off into the distance. “...mom?” he tried again, inching closer.

While several other souls flickered at the name, the woman remained unmoved. “Beryl,” he tried, and this time another flicker. Well, then. He pursed his lips, walking up to study her closely.

He had seen his mother before.

In fact, it wasn’t quite hard to find her. All he had to do was search her name on any computer or dig through magazines. In those glammed-up shots, her head was always tilted back, her hair in the big curls of the eighties, and eyes smeared with purple eyeshadow. She’d always be caught in some sort of half smile, eyes bright and knowing about something even you didn’t know.

As a child of Jupiter, Jason really hadn’t given his mother a second thought for most of his life. People only talked about his father. And he wasn’t really sure what exactly he thought - that people only had one parent? Or maybe he just never really thought to question it. For the longest time, it just… didn’t matter.

Until one day, he did wonder. He sat there, thinking of his sister. His sister who he had the smallest memory of, and it occurred to him that, well, she could be with his mother. Which meant they had a mother. Of course they did. How silly of him never to let it cross his mind before?

And so he searched. First, his own name, which led to reports of a starlet’s little boy gone missing. From there, it was easy to find out who his family was… though not so much their fates.

Sometimes, when Jason was alone with Piper, he thought about asking her about it. Her father was a movie star. Was it possible that Jason’s life might have been similar to hers if he had stayed with his mortal family?

Right now, Beryl Grace didn’t look like a television star. Her blonde hair was unstyled, face free of makeup, and expression blank. She was beautiful, but it was hard to reconcile the version of his mother he had known from the screen to the one right in front of him.

“Beryl Grace,” he said again, and this time, her eyes flicked to him. “Do you know who I am?” he asked, though it was more of a formality. Never in a million years would he expect her to recognize him.

And sure enough, her brows furrowed as she looked around, confusion hinting at her expression.

“Where…?” she began and blinked several times, rubbing her forehead. From behind Jason, Luke stepped up, staying silent as they both waited.

“You’re in the Field of Asophodel,” Jason told her. “Do you remember being sentenced here?”

Beryl’s expression flickered. “Yes,” she said slowly and looked around. “Who are you?”

He was taller than her. It was strange to look down at her face when he couldn’t ever remember looking up at it.

“Jason,” he said. She nodded politely. “Your son.”

At that, she blinked, a glimmer of uncertainty touching her face before shaking her head. “Juno’s son,” she corrected quietly. Jason pursed his lips. Oh. Beryl reached out, and involuntarily, he stepped back. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, still looking distant.

If Jason had any reservations about this confrontation, they were gone now.

“Thalia told me you were an awful mother,” he tried. At Thalia’s name, Beryl rubbed her forehead like trying to knead away a headache. “You were a drunk and violent. Abusive.” He waited for her to deny it. “All you did in life was stupid shit to try and attract my father.” Again, Beryl said nothing. “Why did you give me to Juno?”

At that, Beryl scoffed. “Is it really a crime to give a mother her child back?”

Jason swallowed. “I was your child,” he said quietly.

Beryl grimaced. “No,” she disagreed. “Your father gave you her favorite hero’s name. He did not wish for me to be your mother. If he had, he might have fulfilled my desire to visit Olympus - or keep my beauty eternal.” She sighed, and Jason’s fingers twitched, trying to keep the overwhelming feeling of rejection at bay. “I wanted peace for my daughter. The only way to do that was to give Juno her son back.”

“Your son,” Jason corrected.

“Did you want me to be your mother?” Beryl asked, sounding genuinely curious.

It was a good question, honestly. Life with Beryl sounded torturous. Why should he mourn any sort of relationship with her? Thalia never even spoke of her with prodding. And yet… Jason still couldn’t help but feel the hurt he had been trying to ignore all his life come bubbling back to the surface.

“No,” he admitted quietly. “I just wanted to be… wanted. With no attachments.”

Sure, Juno wanted him, but more as payment. It wasn’t until his death that she considered him valuable as a person. Maybe she loved him, but in the way a child loved their favorite toy.

Beryl stared at him. Despite her literally being a spirit, there was a soullessness about her gaze.

Jason met it. He wasn’t afraid. He had met monsters and faced down gods and titans and giants. But… maybe something akin to fear flooded through him as he suddenly came across a worrying thought. That maybe, without the frills of his parentage and mask as a perfect hero, he was not enough.

“Goodbye,” he said and turned, brushing past an eerily quiet Luke. Beryl didn’t call after him. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what he had hoped to get from this. Pushing his way through the Field of Asphodel, he stumbled over to the River Styx, collapsing on his knees. He didn’t need to breathe, but somehow gasped for air all the same.

“I told you this was stupid,” Luke’s voice came. Jude hissed at him, which Jason appreciated. A hand touched his shoulder. “You are seriously overthinking this. Giving up a baby says more about her than you.”

“I guess,” Jason agreed solemnly. When he said nothing else, Luke sighed and sat down on the bank next to him. “Are you anything like your mother?” he asked.

“No idea,” Luke said. “She wasn’t the most mentally stable after trying to become the Oracle of Delphi.” Jason turned to him to stare. “I like to think I wasn’t much like my father either.” He paused. “You don’t have to be like your parents, you know.”

“I know.”

“Then why the breakdown?”

Jason shrugged. He tried to find the words. Couldn’t. Then tried again. Nothing.

Luke bit his lip, watching him before suddenly straightening up.

“Come on,” he said, standing. He held his hand out, and Jason looked at it warily. “We’re going to do something stupid and potentially very needed.” Gods, why? Jason inwardly groaned. No. He didn’t want to do anything stupid. Wordlessly, he flopped on his back. A loud purr sounded as Jude came over to lightly tap his nose. “Come on,” Luke sang. “Come on, come on.”

“No.”

“You can come willingly, or I can drag you.”

“I’ll scream.”

“Who the fuck is going to care?” Luke asked and grabbed his ankle. “Come on-”

“Fine!” Jason snapped, wiggling out of his grip. “Gods. Fine. You’re such a pain. Fine.” He stood up, throwing up his hands. This felt like a temper tantrum, but maybe one he was entitled to. Luke rolled his eyes, gesturing for him to follow.

At first, Jason thought he would lead him back to camp or something, but they stayed in the Underworld. Back to Elysium, actually. Jason was curious as to what that could possibly mean, but Luke didn’t stop walking. He didn’t go through the archways that would lead them into a different area. He didn’t even call for anyone to meet them. Instead, he went into the center… and still kept walking.

“We can’t go past the water,” Jason reminded him when they reached the shore. He pointed out to the islands in the middle. “That’s where the Isles of the Blessed are, remember?”

Luke rubbed his hands together. “Oh, I remember,” he said and stepped into the water. “That’s where we’re going.”

…oh. Huh. Jason looked out over the rolling waves and then to where Luke was already wading out.

“No,” Jason said.

Luke turned. “Yes.”

“No,” Jason threw back. “Why would we go there? And we aren’t allowed!”

“I thought you were trying to rethink your relationship with rules,” Luke pointed out. Jason groaned. “We won’t stay there. I just think it’s a good idea to talk to some people who we know have lived multiple lives successfully.”

Jason stared. This was ridiculous. Everything Luke did was ridiculous.

“It’s just a visit,” Luke needled. “If someone asks us to leave, we will.”

Jason kind of doubted they could even get there. Surely there was some magical protection to keep them from entering the isles, right? He looked over at where Jude was blinking up at him slowly.

…sure. Fine. Whatever.

“We’re not swimming there,” Jason muttered, pointing to where a rowboat had miraculously appeared. “Elysium gives you what you want, remember?” he asked, the implied idiot at the end. Luke only shrugged, instead diving into the water to swim over to the boat in a few strokes. Picking up Jude, Jason walked onto a dock that suddenly appeared to also board.

For the most part, the ride was silent. Neither even needed to row, the water surprisingly leading them exactly where they wanted to go. Was this actually a common thing? Did people randomly visit the Isle of the Blessed, and Jason just… didn’t know about it?

What was even stranger about the whole thing is that the closer they got, the quieter the Isles became. From afar, the islands always seemed like a constant party – filled with music and bright lights coming from the beach. But the closer they got… the quieter everything became.

Maybe it was a relaxation day or something?

Biting his lip, Jason glanced at Luke. “What do you think is there?” he asked as they started to approach the rocky shore. “Elysium gives you whatever you want. What could be better?”

An ironic thing for someone who couldn’t seem to stay in Elysium to ask. Nevertheless, Luke seemed just as mystified. By now, there was no sound. No music. No laughter. Nothing.

Slowly, they got out, Jason waiting for someone to pop out and ask what they were doing.

But there was nobody. Only sand and empty beach chairs beneath lush trees.

“What the hell?” Luke mumbled. “HELLO!” he shouted. An echo sounded, but no response. He looked at Jason, eyes vaguely baffled, but neither asked the question out loud. They both knew the answer.

Nobody was here.

The Isle of the Blessed was empty.

Chapter Text

Ironically, the Isle of the Blessed looked haunted.

In fact, it kind of looked like an abandoned city in one of those dystopian movies that Piper liked. It had an overgrowth of plants on the sides of buildings, all of which were broken and filled with debris. A welcome sign stood rusted overhead, and there were missing cobblestones in the walkway from the shore to what had probably once been the center of the island.

“....it must be like Harry Potter,” Jason decided. At Luke’s curious look, Jason shrugged. “Hogwarts looks like a dangerous, abandoned castle to muggles. Maybe we see this place in ruins because we don’t belong here,” he suggested.

Personally, he thought this was a very rational line of reasoning. But Luke stared at him like he had grown three or four extra heads.

“You read fantasy books?” he asked, sounding absolutely mystified. Oh. That.

Jason grimaced. “I tried,” he admitted. “But it isn’t as interesting when magic really exists, and I’m a ghost, so… Definitely prefer SciFi.” At that, he felt himself brightened. “Do you know about Dune?”

“When could you have possibly read all of Dune? Isn’t that like six novels that are all long?”

“I’m only on the second book, calm down. Turns out that I’m a fast reader-”

“You skimmed.”

“Did not!”

“You read the entire series of Harry Potter and started Dune since we first met?”

“I fought giants. I can read a few books,” Jason muttered, ignoring Luke’s slightly disbelieving stare. “Just because I’m not Annabeth doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy-”

“Annabeth is more of a non-fiction person.”

“Oh my God, you’re so annoying!” Jason broke, throwing his hands up. “Can we focus on the creepy island, please?”

At that, Luke looked around, hands on his hips as he took in what appeared to be an elaborate garden on one side of them and rows of buildings on the other. He shielded his hand from the fake sun, looking over at a cliff near the edge of the island.

“There,” he pointed. Jason followed his finger to the tip-top. “That’s where we need to go.”

Jason did not want to go up to the cliff.

Unfortunately, the one thing he had discovered about Luke was that he was unfailingly stubborn, whether that be in leading a revolt against the gods or getting Jason to climb a hill.

“We could just, you know, appear up there,” Jason said as Luke led the way through the debris and overgrown path. “Because we’re ghosts. We can do that. Have you forgotten we can do that?” he asked, a little petulantly. Jude mewed in agreement, running between Jason’s legs. He probably would have tripped if he hadn’t gone through her.

“If you wanted to do things the ghost way, you would have stayed in Elysium!” Luke called back, hopping over a log. Jason made a face at his back before stomping after him.

He wasn’t really too mad, though. The movement brought back memories of being alive, tramping through various goop and wilderness on quests.

“You know,” Jason said, running a finger over one of the trees. “Reyna and I once escaped a monster by pretending to be Jupiter and Juno. We said we were turned into mortals and would be very angry after we returned to godhood if attacked.” Luke turned to look back at him incredulously. “We were so sure we were about to get struck from above. It was awful,” he snorted. “Reyna was all like, my mortal name means queen. Obviously, I am Juno in disguise, you imbecile."

“What monster was dumb enough to buy that?”

Jason laughed, the ridiculousness of it all settling into his chest. At the time, everything had seemed so serious. “Some cyclops. He was so old that I’m not sure if we tricked him or he was just tired of us.”

“And what was your Jupiter impression?” Luke asked.

Jason’s face burned a little, but he held strong, remembering Reyna’s face when he first whipped out his impossibly deep voice and puffed out his chest at fourteen years old.

“I am the god of the skies. Have you seen a beautiful woman here?” he asked, and Luke choked on the air. A rather impressive feat for a ghost, honestly. “Or a beautiful man? Or a beautiful bird, perhaps? A beautiful cow, even?”

“Stop. You did not do that.”

“I had nothing else to go on!” Jason defended. “I read so many myths about my father, and a good chunk of them were him being… you know. Out there. Looking for beautiful things.” He kicked a twig to the side. “You want to know something weird? I’m pretty sure Percy has met my dad more times than I have.”

It was a bewildering thought, actually. Jason’s entire identity had been centered on who his father was, but, somehow, a Greek son of Poseidon might have interacted with him more.

Luke only shrugged. “That’s not weird. I think Percy has met everyone’s godly parents more than their actual children.”

Hm. Jason supposed that was true. They walked a few more feet before another question left Jason’s mouth involuntarily.

“Do you think I’m boring?”

Luke stopped walking. “What?” he asked. “Where on earth did that come from?”

Where did that come from? Perhaps it was the thought of Percy - the one person Jason felt constantly short of - that sparked it. Everyone’s first choice. He had never thought of himself as being jealous of Percy, but now that the question entered his mind…

Jason squinted up the hill where the trees were finally starting to break. Sighing, he looked back at Luke, shifting a little. “Well,” he began, trying to find the right words. “I didn’t know a lot about myself when I was alive. I know stuff about myself now. But… I can’t tell if it’s… interesting.” Luke tilted his head. “Like, is it boring that I like the Beatles? Or that I fought Krios?”

People never thought Percy was boring. But also, Percy just had one of those personalities. The shifting one. He was funny and serious and capable and so many things at once. And for so long, Jason had just been a few things.

“You’ll always be interesting to the right people,” Luke said, which felt a bit like a cop out answer, but Jason supposed he’ll take it.

“I guess,” he mused and took his final steps up towards the ledge of the cliff.

He had to hand it to Luke… the view was beautiful. The ocean stretched as far as the sky went, making the Underworld seem like it lasted forever with its own sky and sea that may even rival the real thing. Lifting a finger, Jason let a butterfly land on him, bouncing from his hand to his nose before fluttering off again.

Snorting, Jason lowered his hand only to find Luke inching closer to the edge. If they were alive, he would be freaking out about Luke being so close to falling. As it was, he kind of wanted to pull him back anyway.

“I’M SCARED!” Luke suddenly shouted. Jason jerked back, looking around for the source of whatever caused that outburst. But nothing was attacking them. The waves simply crashed on the rocks below, and the smell of tree sap grew stronger. “I’M WORRIED IF I’M REBORN I’LL MAKE MISTAKES THAT WILL HURT PEOPLE AGAIN! I’M WORRIED I WON’T BE A GOOD PERSON!”

What in the…?

“Luke?” Jason asked, rapidly trying to remember how manias worked and if there was a ghost doctor he could take Luke to if he was starting to become one.

“AND PEANUT BUTTER IS ACTUALLY SUPER GROSS!” Luke also yelled, which seemed a little unnecessary, but Luke nodded to himself as if he had been waiting to get that one off his chest. Turning, he grinned at where Jason was just standing there, stunned, before holding out his arms. “Go ahead,” he said, jerking his head out. “Shout. Scream. Say whatever you want.”

Oh. Okay. They were doing a, uh, self-love thing or something.

Shifting forward, Jason took Luke’s place and ledge and… stood there.

“What am I supposed to-?”

“Whatever you want,” Luke said. “Try for something you haven’t said out loud before.”

Right. Something he hadn’t said out loud before. Of course.

Cool. Totally.

“Um,” Jason began, rubbing the back of his neck. “Hi, I’m Jason.”

“It isn’t a support group, kid.”

“Let me do it my way,” Jason complained over his shoulder and took a huffy breath as he tried to refocus. Looking down at the waves below, he tried to imagine a crowd of people. His father. Hera. Reyna. Thalia. Piper. Leo. Percy. Hazel. Nico. Annabeth. Frank. Everyone who had known him. Everyone he had known.

“I don’t like being in charge,” Jason finally said. Not yelling. Yelling felt dumb. “I feel like I have to be. Because people expect me to be. Because my dad is. Because I’m unfortunately good at it.” From beside him, Luke nodded. “And… you know, this kind of sucks. IT SUCKS!” Okay, maybe the yelling wasn’t that dumb. “Because I get to learn stuff about me now, but I’m dead now. That sucks! I want to do this when I’m alive. I want to grow up! I mean, I never even really fell in love! With anyone!” He held out his hands. “Not one person. I thought I loved Piper, but it was all based on fake memories, and I’m not even sure if that counts. She didn’t seem to think it did, which is why she broke up with me.”

The wind picked up, and Jason suddenly felt a thousand things tumbling out at once.

“And you know what else?” Jason added. “I love cheeseburgers! And that feels stupid because everyone likes cheeseburgers, but oh my gods, they were amazing. I’m not sure anyone knows how much I loved them. And I want to eat them again! Alive. I want to go to concerts alive. I want to make friends alive. I want to listen to music alive. I want to pet my cat alive. I’m tired of doing these things dead. I want to be alive!” he screamed. “WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME?!”

The last sentence bounced over the waves below, echoing.

Almost unexpectedly, Jason felt his throat tighten.

“I want to be alive,” he whispered, and took a long breath. His knees felt surprisingly weak. Weak enough that they collapsed, leaving him to kneel as the reality of it all slipped onto his shoulders. “I swear… I would do it right if I came back…”

A hand touched his arm. Jason didn’t turn to it.

“You didn’t do it wrong-”

“But I did,” Jason cut in, a little breathlessly. “Was I even alive when the rest of me was?”

The sound of rocks grinding under someone’s feet came, making Jason almost feel like he might be alive on this tiny island. Alas, Luke sat down, and the mere image of him shattered the illusion.

They sat there for a few minutes, the silence eating Jason from the inside out. When Luke spoke again, it was low and serious.

“I want you to listen to me, okay?” he said. Jason glanced over at him. Luke’s eyes were fixed on the sea, fingers tapping against his knee. “I should be ready for rebirth by now. In some ways, I am, but honestly?” Luke sighed. “I’m struggling a little. Because…” he trailed off, eyes flicking down to his hands wringing around one another. “I’ve spent all this time learning who I am. My favorite food. Favorite color. The music I like. My dreams. My hopes. But what I haven’t been able to do is reconcile that knowledge with who I was.” Luke shook his head. “Like, yeah, maybe I know I like museums now, but that doesn’t erase that I had Kronos inhabit my body. That was still me. Maybe not the me I wanted to be, or would have been if things had been different, but I can’t pretend it wasn’t.” He nudged Jason. “Just like you can’t pretend you weren’t who you were.”

“What are you saying?”

Luke smiled weakly, finally turning to look at him. “That you like cats and the Beatles and cheeseburgers, apparently. But you also fought a Trojan sea monster and were a praetor.” Jason swallowed. “You were who you needed to be to survive… and even if it wasn’t who you should have been, you can’t forget him either. Your past choices matter. And the choices people made to mold you into who you were and who you are now? Those matter too. Don’t dismiss the life you did live because you didn’t get everything you wanted out of it. Okay?”

And something about that was… comforting. It eased the wiggling in his chest. The one that whispered he was just a weapon. A pawn of the gods. Perhaps he had been those things, but also, it wasn't like Jason hadn’t had a choice either. He had stood by his people. Protected others. Saved lives.

He had lived a good life. Just not a full one.

“It sounds like you’re thinking about ditching me for good soon,” Jason said. Luke’s lips quirked up. “Do you think you’re ready for rebirth?”

He tried to make it sound casual. Unconcerned. But in the back of his head, he kept thinking of Beryl. Of all of those still alive who were moving on without him. As selfish as it was, the idea of Luke leaving made him feel a little sick. He wasn’t ready to be alone again.

“...hm,” Luke mused, leaning back. “Well, I do want to see what Annabeth plans to do with that project she’s working on,” he said. “And I haven’t quite made all the amends I should… though I highly doubt Silena is ever going to forgive me.” His head tilted up at the sky. “I’d maybe like to see my mother again before I go. So, you know, I might hang out a little longer. Death isn’t so bad.”

Relief flooded through Jason’s chest. “I still wish I was alive,” he admitted, and Luke grimaced.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Yeah, I know.” Dusting off his hands, Luke stood up and offered him a hand. “Come on. I know where we should go next.”

Jason reached up, accepting the help with narrowed eyes. “You know, I’m starting to think you’ve maybe been here before.”

Leave it to Luke Castellan to manipulate him into some random area of the Underworld. Typical.

“What? Me? No!” Luke gasped, giving Jason a wicked grin. “I am not a rule breaker. Not once.” At Jason’s raised eyebrow, he laughed. “So, you know how I said I tried for rebirth and got turned away?” he asked, leading them back down the hill. Apparently, they were walking again. “Well, I got mad and decided to swim here.”

“...uh-huh,” Jason said, unimpressed. “Were there people here back then?”

Luke shook his head. “No. Just one. Bianca di Angelo,” he said. Jason almost jumped at the name. Nico’s sister. He hadn’t met her. She had died far before him and Nico ever became friends, though she was a haunting name that was often whispered in their circles. According to Nico, she had chosen rebirth in order to try for the Isles of the Blessed.

But why would she do that if she had already been there? Did she see something they didn’t?

“What was she like?” Jason couldn’t help but ask as they continued slipping through the dirt back down over the rocks.

Luke pursed his lips. “Lonely,” he finally decided. “She was exploring the Underworld and came here.” He twirled a pretend sword in front of him. “We found something that I think you’ll like.”

That was a bit ominous. Jason wanted to ask for more details, but he also had a feeling that Luke wouldn’t give him any. He’d have to wait to see this surprise in its full glory.

When they finally arrived at the bottom of the cliff, Luke took him back through the town’s center, where a small castle stood. It was also falling apart, the tower desecrated and vines bursting through the stone walls. Luke wasted no time yanking the rusted handle. It groaned at the sudden use, hinges grinding enough so that when Luke let go, the door didn’t bother to swing back shut.

“You aren’t planning to trap me in here, are you?” Jason muttered as he stepped in. Immediately, torches lit on either side, leading them down a long corridor. Hundreds of languages were painted over the walls. Jason didn’t recognize most, but the Latin words near the front caught his eye.

Museum of Past Lives.

“...what is this?” he asked, running his fingers over the black paint.

Luke only grinned, pulling his arm until the room opened up, revealing an uncharacteristically white room for a castle. Lines of mirrors were set up with red carpets laid out between them.

“Come on,” Luke said, grabbing Jason’s arm to pull him into one of the mirrors. Their shoes echoed over the squeaky floor, making Jason wonder who the hell did the maintenance of this place when the rest of the island was in shambles. “There is someone I’d like you to meet. Or many someones!” Luke stepped away, centering himself in front of the mirror.

For a moment, nothing happened, and Jason was left to wonder if maybe Luke had lost his mind after all.

Then, inexplicably, a stranger showed up in the mirror. Dark eyes. Curly hair. He wore a military outfit of some sort, giving them both a wave. ​​In front of them, a plaque glimmered, the blank gold plating changing to a carved name.

Elliott Snyder

1904-1963

Jason stared. Other mirrors lit up, showing the same man in various ages, like a carousel of memories. One showed Elliott getting married to a woman at a courthouse. Another showed Eliott playing with a wooden horse as a child. A few items shimmered in the room - birth certificates and old shoes and various trinkets.

“I…” Jason began, floored. “Is that you?” he asked, turning to Luke.

His grin widened. “Yeah,” he said. “Apparently, people at the Isle of the Blessed can see all the lives they’ve lived. Look.” He swiped the mirror a few times, and Elliott disappeared, instead replaced by a much younger boy with freckles and red hair.

Thomas Baker

1659-1669

“I guess I died young in that one,” Luke mused as the mirrors flashed again. This time, there was much less, but still, memories all flashed before them. Playing in a field. Helping prepare food. And ultimately lying in a makeshift bed, sweating and pale. “Cool, right?” Luke asked. “Bianca and I sat here for a while going through everything.”

Jason swallowed, touching one of the mirrors. He wanted to shove Luke out of the way, a need to know his own past swimming in his throat, but he forced some patience.

“What were her past lives?” he asked, thinking again of Nico. That would be something he might want to know.

Luke shrugged. “She only had two. I have like… a dozen. But hers was a priestess in Ancient Greece who ended up getting sacrificed. Her second life was a little girl executed for witchcraft.”

“Gods,” Jason said, frowning. “She died young every single time?”

“Maybe the fourth time is the charm,” Luke grimaced. “She told me that Hades said he’d hope to give her a better life for her third one. That he had actually handpicked her soul to be his child. Apparently, she was one of his favorite souls.”

Jason pursed his lips. “And Nico? How did Nico become his son?”

The answer didn’t really matter, but Jason couldn’t help feeling protective nevertheless.

“Chance, maybe,” Luke said. “I don’t really know what his past lives were. I’m sure Bianca asked.”

Right. Jason looked over, and Luke stepped back, gesturing for him to take his place in front of the mirror. A burst of excitement filled his stomach. Honestly, he could spend days here, learning about past lives. He wondered if he had children - if he ever got to grow old. Maybe there were people still alive who were descended from one of his past selves.

He practically slid over to Luke’s spot, positioning himself in front of the mirror.

“How do I start it?” he asked, straightening himself up. Luke opened his mouth and then frowned. “What? What do I need to do?” he asked, but his own reflection only stared back at him. “Hello? It isn’t working.”

“Um,” Luke began, brows furrowing. “I’m actually… not sure. Did I break it?”

Jason was about to start groaning when someone else spoke.

“No. It is simply that you have no past lives. Overpopulation is an issue these days,” the new voice said. Luke and Jason both jumped. Almost involuntarily, guilt rose into Jason’s chest, upset at himself for breaking the rules. By the time he forced it away, his long-dead heart began to instead pound with panic to see a very irritable god standing by them.

Shit.

“Lord Pluto,” Jason greeted. The god folded his hands together in front of him. “We were just-”

“My brother refuses to address the insanity of human creation these days,” Pluto mused, stepping further into the room. Luke watched, shoulders stiff as he moved to the side, ready to react to any sudden movement. “More humans means more souls, which means more deaths, which means, eventually, my kingdom becomes even more burdened. Nevermind that humans are prone to swinging on pendulums. Soon enough, there will be some event to bring their numbers back down, and endless souls will be stuck here with me.” He sighed, rubbing his temple. “But I suppose if my brother does not see the issue, then he will not address it.”

…oh.

“So,” Jason said, glancing at the mirror. “I’m a new soul? That’s why I don’t have any past lives?” Pluto nodded, and Jason felt his shoulders fall, disappointment trilling over him. “Ah,” he said, shifting. “Where do new souls come from then?”

At that, Pluto tilted his head, looking almost amused by the question. “How should I know? Gods do not live.”

Something about the way he said that made Jason almost grateful to be a ghost.

Pluto waved his hand. Instantly, the mirrors in the room darkened, the museum closing in on itself. “Now, it is my turn for questions. What are two souls who have been given Elysium doing in the Isle of the Blessed?”

Luke and Jason exchanged looks.

“That’s your question?” Luke asked, and Jason would have thrown something at him if he had anything nearby. “You don’t care about this place being…” He gestured around vaguely.

Pluto only raised a brow. “I am aware it is empty,” he said calmly.

Silence followed. If they were hoping to be offered an explanation, then that was a false hope. Pluto did not seem interested in elaborating more.

“I guess we were wondering why it was empty,” Luke tried, and Pluto tilted his head. He didn’t quite seem puzzled, but there was something in his eyes that told Jason that even he couldn’t comprehend the answer beyond a certain point.

“Because,” he said slowly - purposefully. “Nobody wishes to be here.” Jason frowned. “Trust me, I have tried to make it appealing, but while I might not understand human nature, I do accept it.” Pluto raised his hand, and the museum melted away, leaving them back on the beaches of the Isle with Elysium outlined across the waters. “Elysium is designed for eternal happiness. Perfection. If that cannot sate one’s desire, then nothing I can create can. It took me many years to see, but if souls wish for something beyond Elysium, then what they truly want is life. Yes, heroes have made it to these islands, but they only stay for a short while before inevitably asking to be reborn.” Pluto shrugged. “It is the way of your kind. Humans aren’t destined for death. They are destined to live. Whether you answer that call now or further in time is up to you.”

From beside him, Luke swallowed, eyes drifting out to Elysium and then back to the emptiness of the Isle.

“I apologize, my lord,” Jason said, bowing his head. “I… we should not have traveled here uninvited-”

“No,” Pluto agreed. “But at least someone is getting some use of it,” he mused, and jerked his head. “Now come. I did not travel here to act surprised that both of you have disobeyed more of my rules."

Luke and Jason exchanged looks. Pluto seemed calm enough, but Jason didn't quite trust the words. Was this the tipping point? Would they both be sent to the Field of Punishment? Confined to the Underworld?

"Why... did you come to get us, my lord?" Jason asked. He leaned down to scoop up Jude, who had reappeared with an entitled meow and insistent pawing at Jason's leg.

Pluto didn't even spare the cat a look as a staircase formed, leading to the clouds above them. Pluto took the first step and gave an exasperated sigh.

"The Blofis man," he said, which led to even more questions in the back of Jason's mind. "He has done something that my son insists you both see.”