"But it's true!" The boy cried, gesticulating wildly.

The girl studied him intently, raking a hand through her spiky black hair.

"I don't believe it... Annabeth would never—" She growled and stamped a foot defiantly. When she acted like this, Nico could see how alike she was to her mother. Although Thalia would doubtlessly vehemently dispute it, her mother's melodramatic starlet persona came out in her when she was angry.

Nico watched wordlessly as Thalia readjusted her leather jacket, curling her fingers into fists. Electricity crackled on the fingertips and the ends of her hair. Then she shut her electric blue eyes, let the static in her body die out.

"You have to understand, Nico. It can't be true-" She was so stubborn.

"It is true," interrupted the boy. Thalia fixed him with a stern look and then loosed a deep breath.

Nico continued on. "It's not her fault. Annabeth still loves Percy... in her heart. It's just- he's painful. And Elysium works to soothe such pains away. That's why she's..." His voice wavered and he looked away, unable to continue.

"Forgetting him," completed Thalia.

"Yeah."

Nico hadn't known who else to turn to. He'd been avoiding Percy ever since the son of Poseidon had cornered him, cursed Nico's name and, ironically, damned him to the pits of Tartarus for his refusal to bring Annabeth back. Percy didn't understand the sheer power of a binding oath. Of course Nico did feel the temptation to flout the rules imposed upon him by his father, and gods, he loved Annabeth (platonically) too. But he had sworn on the River Styx not to ever, under any circumstances, disobey the rules of the dead.

And yet, Percy didn't get it. Nico wasn't quite sure if Percy was even sane anymore. It was understandable that the boy was suffering melancholy but, as Nico's mind persisted, surely Percy should be happy that Annabeth had been accepted into paradise.

He'd explained to Percy that his girlfriend was happy. She met up with Zaha Hadid every week to discuss architectural innovation, she spent afternoons tinkering with Nikola Tesla and mornings sketching out elaborate designs for improved jets with Leonardo da Vinci. He'd even seen her having lunch with Hypatia of Alexandria, the 4th century Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. Nico conveyed these experiences to his friend, constantly reassuring the boy of Annabeth's joy, but Percy did not care. In his mind, Annabeth was unhappy now that she was dead and, more importantly, without him.

But that was only partly true. Nico could sense Annabeth's feelings for Percy. And although a part of her was filled with sorrow, it waned with each passing day. The power of paradise alleviated the ache of her broken heart, fed her some kind of figurative salve that eased away all thoughts of Percy. Nico had personally witnessed Annabeth stumble over Percy's name several times -actually forgetting who her boyfriend was- when she was talking to Luke.

Luke. That was another thing. Annabeth's happiness had come to depend on her first love. On her first night in Elysium, Annabeth had attended a barbecue with Luke and some of the other fallen heroes who had made it to paradise. The child of death had watched from afar as the deceased gathered together, raising a toast to their newest addition.

The white picket fence of the house had gleamed as if freshly waxed and the air rippled with the faintest trace of a breeze and the full scent of hydrangea blossoms. Nico had been reminded of that slice of time every August, when the heat stopped feeling so stifling, and cicada calls rang out shrilly, accompanying the discordant sounds of faraway garden parties and outdoor barbecues, signalling that imminent departure to the long sultry days of summer. After the party, Nico had watched, his muscles tensed as Annabeth and Luke watched a movie together. It was black-and-white, old fashioned, and it played on a large outdoor screen, like one of those drive-in cinemas. Except there had been no cars. Only Annabeth and Luke as they shared a paper box of popcorn, sprawled out on a picnic blanket as they basked in the purple glow of night.

Nico knew, from one of Percy's long tirades, that ambrosia tasted like popcorn to Annabeth, that it was a food that gave her solace and reminded her of movie nights with her father and her cousin. And it seemed to work, for when Nico watched the girl, she had been happy... so happy. She had laughed at all the right parts of the movie and although her eyes shined slightly at the sad bits, her tears didn't spill over, and instead, she leaned closer into Luke's embrace. When the film had ended, Annabeth had drawn herself closer to Luke and Nico had flinched, terrified that she would kiss him but at the last second, she drew away, a flicker of confusion reflected upon her face as the light of the slowly rattling projector cast a silvery glow across her face.

Over the course of the following weeks, that confusion had diminished. Annabeth no longer flinched away from Luke's close embrace, his touch, nor his kisses. Once, when Nico had visited Percy in Montauk where the sun of the sea god had retreated, Percy had raged at his friend. Cried and screamed that they were enemies if Nico wouldn't bring Annabeth back. This was the Percy he feared, the Percy he'd always been grateful to have on his side during battle. But now that they were on opposite sides, Nico, the son of the god of death, was terrified. Percy had thrown a wave at Nico and kept him beneath the tumultuous surface of the sea. It was a strange experience feeling his own lifeline start to fade away, hear the beats of his heart slow down until they almost stopped. Nico knew, in that moment, that if he hadn't shadow-travelled away, then Percy would have killed him.

After that, Nico had felt a kind of incandescent rage. Annabeth was his friend too! And Nico was bound to immortal law not to bring her back. He'd wanted to hurt Percy then. The great Perseus Jackson didn't understand the importance of keeping one's word. He'd been born as a result of his father breaking the oath of the Big Three. Nico, on the contrary, was not; he understood the true importance of a promise. And so, in his fury at his friend, he'd wanted to break his heart even more. He wanted to twist the blade just a little bit more. He had considered telling Percy all about Annabeth and Luke. Gods, Percy didn't even yet know that Luke was still in Elysium. Nico recalled how he felt when he was 'young and impressionable', crushing on Percy. The way that the son of the sea god had recoiled in horror when he'd discovered the truth. In that moment, all those years ago, Percy had not known what if felt like to be brokenhearted. Well now he did. And Nico felt repulsed by himself, disgusted by the way his mind flipped to revenge. Percy was grieving. It was understandable that he was upset and angry and murderous. He'd heard that the boy had sought out a whole field of Cerastes, the ram-horned spineless serpents, and had spent hours slaughtering each and everyone of them, the day after Annabeth's passing. Nico understood that in his refusal to steal Annabeth back to the land of the living, he had appeared a traitor to Percy, as bad as the rest of the monsters the demigods faced, and so he tried to empathise. But he couldn't help thinking about how Annabeth was happy in the afterlife.

He thought of their stolen moments he saw, the ones that made him feel sick, like he was some kind of voyeur intruding upon their privacy. He saw the stolen kisses between Luke and Annabeth, beneath the boughs of the willow tree Nico had sat in. She didn't mean it, of course, and Nico was sure that when Percy died, in time, Annabeth would return to her boyfriend, all misdemeanours forgotten. And the past mistakes would be erased. There wouldn't be anything to forgive in the blankness of the memories when Percy was accepted into Elysium. Annabeth would forget what she'd done, and Luke would forget too. Their minds would be wiped and the only person to remember would be Nico. And perhaps Thalia.

He hadn't known who to tell. There was no way in Tartarus he was going to tell Percy, and he didn't want to tell Will about his voyeurism, and so Thalia, being one of the first demigods he was ever acquainted with, and another member of that ever-so-exclusive Big Three club, had been an immediate choice for a confidante. He swallowed nervously as he divulged what went on in the Underworld and cringed when he told Thalia that Annabeth hadn't returned to her house in days, spending night after night in Luke's house. In Luke's room, and most probably his bed, too. Thalia's entire body had crackled with electricity when Nico told her that and a sudden burst of thunder had boomed overhead. But what could he do? He had to tell somebody. He'd heard rumours that Percy had been debating venturing into the Underworld to drag her out of the doors of death.

When the heavens had opened and rain had spilled out of the sky in heavy drops, Nico had almost regretted spilling the truth to the daughter of Zeus, slightly anxious that she'd be furious with him for the rest of eternity but when he finally met her eyes, he realised that she wasn't angry; she was sad. Tears had filled her eyes, brimming over the edge and trailing down her cheeks. But Thalia didn't cry? She never cried? Nico wasn't sure what to do to comfort her, and had hesitantly wrapped her in a hug. The sobs came out in little bursts and Nico vaguely wondered if she was crying just for Percy. He'd heard rumours that Thalia had loved Luke too, that she had harboured a crush for the son of Hermes which had gone bitter after his betrayal. But Nico couldn't help wondering if maybe she still held a hope that she'd join him in paradise and that one day they'd be there together. Reunited as a family.

As Nico held Thalia in his arms, his mind spun. He imagined the cogs in one of Leo's machines, turning mechanically, whirring noisily. There was a solution to this quagmire. But it would take many decades to accomplish, and perhaps even centuries on Thalia's part- unless she was careless. And it would have to occur naturally; any meddling would unquestionably result in damnation. The worst part was that Nico could not tell anybody as any inkling of what was going on in his mind would most certainly destroy the entire thing.

He took a deep breath and patted Thalia's back, unsure if he was doing it right. Will hugged him all the time. Nico imagined the way his boyfriend held him and tried to translate that feeling to Thalia. The girl sniffled slightly and Nico thought about the only discernible solution to the problem. If Percy died, then he and Annabeth would surely be reunited. All past conflict and disconnection would be eradicated. Percabeth forever! He imagined Frank saying that and Hazel cheering on in that cute way of hers. Nico nodded subconsciously at that. Then, after many decades or even centuries, when Thalia died, she and Luke would be reunited. Thaluke forever? He didn't know what their ship name was, then felt irritated with himself. Will was into these ship names not him. He was getting too into this persona of Will - he really did miss his boyfriend. He gently pulled back from Thalia's touch but kept his arms around her shoulders and pondered the various scenarios for a few moments more.

Of course there were about a million other permutations and combinations of events which would alter the happily-ever-afters of his demigod friends but he couldn't bring himself to think about that right now. He was distracted by her touch. She had suddenly gone rigid.

"Grover!"

"What?" Nico turned to see the satyr rapidly approaching them. His eyebrows were knitted together in fear and he called across the space between them but the sound was whipped away by the wind.

"Did he say Percy?" Thalia started jogging towards her friend and Nico followed. But something was off. Then he felt it, so distinctly it was almost as if he had been shot. Grover, on the other hand, sounded like he had literally been shot, as if a bullet were embedding itself in his heart. The satyr suddenly crouched down, emitting a single mournful wail. Thalia shot Nico a look of confusion and fear and her breath hitched when she saw his startled expression.

"Nico! What is it?" She didn't want to know the answer. Looking between them, Thalia made the connection.

Grover's empathy link connected him with Percy. And Nico, the son of Hades, kept tabs on all his friends. He, himself, had told Thalia of the ache he felt when Annabeth had left the earth.

The boy imagined the dots connecting in Thalia's mind, like a trail drawn through the stars, creating another constellation of a deceased demigod. His throat was parched, dry but he swallowed nonetheless and faced the girl. He felt that saying it would make it real, and suddenly doubted himself. Maybe it wasn't true? But Grover's moans of pain, his vicious melancholic cries were still going.

Nico took a breath, feeling the oxygen trace a path into his lungs and then he let the words spill out.

"Percy Jackson is dead."

~ ~ ~

♛ IMPORTANT NEWS AT END ♛

How did you feel about this chapter?? Please let me know because I am so utterly interested to hear what my readers think!

I know Lukabeth isn't really a popular ship but I have always loved Luke and thought he deserved his own happily ever after ! Also, *fun fact*, I've literally been planning this fanfic for years. Like, guys, since the end of primary school, I've had this kinda vague thought in my head about Annabeth dying and Luke being in Elysium still - and I'm about to go off to university!!! Such a crazy long time to be mentally planning a fic, am I right?

Anyways, hope you enjoyed. I was honestly so proud of the way I worded that sultry end of summer scene w the outdoor movie and popcorn. Please let me know what you thought of that.

ANYWAYS, ONTO THE EXCITING NEWS

~~~

♛♛♛

Guys guys, I have exciting news! Soooo, as you may know the very next chapter was supposed to be the final chapter of this story. EVER.

HOWEVER, I was persuaded to change it - the og ending was very depressing n it even made me a lil sad- and soooo I have already written a few more chapters n have kinda teased out an entire story line so yay! This story is continuing!!

♛ BUT WAIT. Sooooo, I have decided that to celebrate the continuation of this story, I will post an extra chapter THIS Sunday IF my other story gets to 200 votes. ♛

(Otherwise you'll have to wait an  e n t i r e  week for the next chapter... *ahem* the chapter which was going to be the actual exodus!

It's full of the most utterly pivotal plot points and it overflows with the heartbreak I alluded to previously, as well as a (literally and figuratively) killer twist...

Can you wait an entire week for it or would you rather have it by Sunday?? (And remember Australian Sundays come before American Sundays so if you're abroad, you might receive it a lil earlier than expected!!)

It would make me soooo happy if you guys could please check out my other book! It's an original story that I spent sooo long on n I mean, you get to read a gorgeous tome AND receive a new Elysium chapter within three days... Win/Win right?? Also sidenote, I'd really appreciate genuine reads n comments not just mindless votes please.)

So please go read n comment n hopefully I'll see you guys back here Sunday, lamenting over the devastation that happens in the would-be final chapter!!