CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
FINLEY                      BRIGGS

Finn thought the living world was miserable, but the Underworld was so much worse. She was bored almost instantly.

See, Finn was dead. She wasn't surprised she was dead. She was surprised she died this early, but she wasn't surprised she had actually ended up dying.

Gaea had said it herself. Finn was born to die—she didn't have a purpose outside of that. She tried making life count by drinking and partying and joking around with her friends, but none of that would've actually helped her out in the long run. She was born a Roman, and she died a Roman, and it was nothing more than that.

Sure, Finn was a little disappointed she was never able to turn around everyone's thoughts of her. Not only did she die a Roman, but also lazy, a nuisance, drunk, unserious, insane, a murderer, a disgrace, a humiliation, a lunatic, crazy, mad. Finley Briggs didn't even die Finley Briggs, in the end. She did not die a good person. She did not die sober. She did not die better. She was pretty sure she was more upset about that than anything.

(Although, dying at the will of her own gun was a close second. That was pretty aggravating.)

Finn didn't really want to be so spiteful in death, but it was the only emotion she found herself feeling. She didn't know why she expected not to feel anything in the Underworld. That certainly wasn't the case right now. She was dead, and she was bitter.

Finn died for a camp that had never even loved her. She died for Camp Jupiter and at the hands of Camp Jupiter. It just didn't seem fair—not when she hadn't even wanted to be at Camp Jupiter in the first place. If only the wolves hadn't found her. If only her mom hadn't killed herself. If only Finn had control of her insanity curse.

Born a Roman, die a Roman sounded more like born a tragedy, die a tragedy.

The desolate thoughts of hers were only made more desolate by all the dead souls riding along the river with her. They didn't speak, and if they did, it was sad and pitiful shit that made Finn want to hit them with something even more sad and pitiful. Oh, you died of natural causes? That must've been hard. I was shot in the neck by my own legion with my own gun!

Finn probably wasn't going anywhere good with thoughts like that. She couldn't help wondering where she would end up after her judgment.

There wasn't that big of a chance she'd end up in Elysium, even less of a chance for Isles of the Blest. What good had she done to deserve that? Try and win back an eagle then fail? Yeah, she was a real hero.

Still, Finn felt a little bit sad at that. She sort of wanted to be there. If she was, there was a chance her mom was there, too. Finn could tell Isla Briggs how truly sorry she was.

Did guilt even matter in the Underworld? Would anyone care? Or would they just take one look at Finn and know, like everyone else did, that she wasn't worth anything good?

The Fields of Punishment seemed more realistic of an option. The Fields of Asphodel, if she was lucky. 

(Hopefully, her death being on the Feast of Fortuna would bring her some good luck.)

Finn also thought about the friends she'd just left behind. Percy had thrown himself into a battle of over a hundred Roman soldiers so that he could try to protect Finn. Frank had sacrificed the flame of his life to free Death from his chains. Hazel had chosen to single-handedly battle the bane of Pluto, a giant of her own creation. Those were heroes who deserved Elysium. Finn had no doubt in her mind they'd successfully save Thanatos.

Hold up a damn second.

Thanatos. Death. Chains.

Finn had totally forgotten why she actually died—It only just dawned on her now what the quest had been for. The Doors of Death were open, and no one was policing them.

Right now, death wasn't permanent.

Or, it wasn't permanent, if Percy, Hazel, and Frank hadn't freed Thanatos yet.

Just one more minute, Finn begged. Keep him chained for one more minute.

It didn't hit Finn until now how terribly devastated she was by the thought of dying. By the thought of it all ending now, when she was still so young. When she had yet to be Finley Briggs. When she had yet to be a good person. When she had yet to be sober. When she had yet to be better.

Finn wanted all of those things for herself. She might not deserve another chance, but she sure wanted one.

And what was stopping her?

The boat was nearing the other end of the River Styx, and from what Finn could see, the Doors of Death were right there. At least, she assumed they were. It looked more like an elevator, framed in Stygian Iron, with black and silver doors etched with art deco designs. No one was in front of them. Thanatos wasn't in front of them.

Finn remembered what Gwen had said: I turned around and the exit door was open. So I just... I just left.

The boat docked. Thanatos was still absent.

The boat started unloading. Thanatos was still absent.

Finn wasn't proud of this, but she shoved and pushed over all the slow corpses ahead of her. They were moving with zero purpose—well, they were dead, so they didn't really have purpose—and Finn couldn't afford that right now. She couldn't stick around and follow typical, death protocol.

Finn's mind was clear for once. She used that to her advantage.

Finn bolted for the open doors, the Underworld behind her, and she didn't stop once.

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The moment Finn was awake, she began coughing profusely.

It took her a moment to realize why. There was water lodged in her throat, blocking her airways, and she was pretty close to dying a second time, only shortly after the first.

"Finley!"

Her ears sounded muffled. Everything was buzzing. She was still coughing desperately—Someone held her hand, pulled her to sit up, and patted her back with the other hand. Her whole body was freezing. For some reason, she was drenched in icy water.

Whoever was hitting her back actually helped with the choking. The water dislodged from her throat, but Finn still let out a couple of wheezy coughs after the fact. Her free hand grasped for her throat. There was a phantom tingling there, as if the Imperial gold bullet was still killing her quickly.

But there was no more wound. There was no more blood.

She finally opened her eyes. The color came back to her face.

"That fucking sucked," she rasped. "Where are we?"

Percy hit her. Hard. "Dude! You died on us!"

"Hit me like that again, and I will again." Finn rubbed her shoulder, wincing. "Seriously. What happened after I died?"

"Oh, no. No. You're not casually slipping that in." Percy was glaring at her fiercely. "'So, what happened after I died that one time? You know, casually.' Fuck you, Finley!"

The anger was concern that was so poorly-hidden it actually made Finn feel bad. She didn't really think that her death would've affected anyone, but she supposed Percy had been trying to keep her safe. Maybe he was upset because he failed his task. There wasn't many other reasons she could think of.

"I didn't do it on purpose," Finn defended.

She let go of his hand, because she couldn't handle the thought of someone touching her right now. He was too close. Why was everyone always too close?

"Fuck. You."

"Okay, I get it!" Finn said. "I'm sorry I was shot by a bullet from my own gun. Are you happy now?"

Percy scoffed. "I can't believe you."

"Percy, please. Can you just—" Finn looked around, trying to gather her surroundings. She didn't know much, except that she was soaking wet from freezing water of arctic temperatures. "What happened? Where are we? Where's Frank and Hazel?"

He stared at her for longer, as if trying to decide if he actually did want her dead again or not. Finn figured his decision was to keep her alive, because he just closed his eyes and sighed to calm himself. He stared at Finn's pitiful figure, curled up, soaking, and shivering.

Percy waved his hand, and suddenly all the icy water drenching Finn just drowned out of her. She was left completely dry, in the same way Percy was.

Finn glared at him. "Were you able to do that the whole time?"

"I wanted to make you suffer for a little bit," he admitted.

She threw up her middle finger.

"Whatever," Percy said. "Frank ended up freeing Thanatos—after you came to life, though. Well, I think. Your pulse was there, but you were still unconscious. I couldn't leave you there. Or the eagle."

Percy nodded to his left, and Finn finally moved her gaze from him. Just as he'd said, the legion's eagle was right in their possession. Finn hadn't lost it.

"Alcyoneus was about to beat Hazel, so I told Frank to go help her," he continued. "Then—dude, I don't know. It was crazy. He turned into an eagle. And then he turned into a bear."

Finn blinked. "He... What?"

"I swear," Percy promised. "I couldn't believe my eyes. But that may have just been the hundred legionnaires trying to kill you. Again."

"I feel so loved," she mumbled sarcastically.

Percy snorted, though it wasn't very humorous. "They backed us up on the glacier. I couldn't fight them, carry you, and the eagle all at once. So I kind of... you know, I ruptured the glacier."

"You ruptured the entire glacier?"

"Going backward was the only direction I could go!"

"So you ruptured the entire glacier?"

Percy shoved her. "I was under a lot of pressure, okay? I thought you were done for. So we fell off the edge—hence you being soaked in ice water."

The more Percy told her, the more incredulous the story became.

"You—We fell...? How far did we fall? How did we survive?"

"Why do you have no faith in me, Finnegan?" Percy asked, snarky in a way that made Finn want to shoot him in the neck. "Son of Poseidon thing. As long as I land in water, I'm pretty sure I can fall from any height and be fine."

Finn hummed. "We should test that theory. I can push you off of Mount Everest."

"Funny," Percy deadpanned. "Anyways, I don't know what happened to Frank and Hazel. I hope they're okay."

"Yeah."

"I want to strangle Frank, though," he claimed. "He can shapeshift into animals! Dad didn't give me that gift."

"Only the ability to be the most powerful demigod of your age," Finn agreed sarcastically.

"Exactly, I—" Percy paused, processing what she said. "Shut up."

Finn smiled, an expression so genuine she tried hiding her mouth behind her knees that she had pulled up to her chin. Percy grinned softly, too. Neither of them acknowledged this.

"I also grabbed your gun, by the way," Percy broke the moment by pulling Finn's weapon from his back pocket. "If you keep losing it, I'm stealing it from you."

She took it from him, but his words didn't earn him gratitude. "Touch my gun again, and I'm stealing your girlfriend from you. Don't try me, Jackson."

"I would make you suffocate on the water in your own body," Percy said. He sounded serious.

"Chill out, loverboy," Finn rolled her eyes. She started getting up, but her limbs were fatigued. All the anger flushed out of Percy in an instant as he lurched forward in immense concern.

"Do you need he—"

Finn swatted his hands away. She covered up her embarrassment with annoyance. "I'm fine," she snapped. "I'm pretty I can stand up on my own."

Percy caught this cover-up, so he left her alone and instead got up himself.

Finn's entire body felt wobbly, and still so cold, but she refused to admit that she needed assistance in standing up. If Finn could cheat death, she should be able to do simple shit like gravity. It shouldn't be hard for her.

Not long after they were properly upright, Hazel and Frank ran up to them.

"Finley!" Frank shouted, just like Percy had earlier.

"Hey," Finn said, like they were just meeting for lunch.

Hazel didn't stop running. She launched herself at Finn and threw her arms around her in a hug. Finn stumbled back at the sudden force for a moment, gasping in surprise. Hazel was the last person Finn had ever expected to hug her. It actually took a minute before she even snapped out of it to hug Hazel back.

"Uh, nice to see you too," Finn awkwardly patted Hazel's back.

"You're alive!" Frank marveled. "And Percy! So are you!"

Percy frowned. "The fall? That was nothing. I fell twice that far from the St. Louis Arch."

"You did what?" Hazel asked, finally pulling away from Finn. Though, she still gave Finn a look that said, Scare me like that one more time, and I'll end you. She'd been getting that look a lot recently.

"Never mind. The important thing was I didn't drown."

"So the prophecy was incomplete!" Hazel grinned. "And Finley didn't die! Or—well, she didn't stay dead, at least."

Finn and Percy shrugged. The latter was still looking at Frank like he was miffed. "I got a bone to pick with you, Zhang. You can turn into an eagle? And a bear?"

"And an elephant," Hazel said proudly.

"An eagle, a bear, and an elephant," Finn summarized, like it was the start of a freaky movie plot. "Are you serious? The one time I die, and I miss Frank being cool?"

Frank shuffled his feet. "Um... yeah. Periclymenus, my ancestor, the Argonaut—he could change shape. He passed down the ability."

"And he got that gift from Poseidon," Percy said. "That's completely unfair. I can't turn into animals."

"Dude, we talked about this," Finn shook her head.

"Unfair?" Frank stared at him. "You can breathe underwater and blow up glaciers and summon freaking hurricanes—and it's unfair that I can be a bird?"

Percy finally considered the logic. "Okay. I guess you got a point."

"Now we can say that Frank's going beast mode—"

"Just shut up, Finley," Frank said. "Please."

Finn cracked a smile.

"If you guys are done," Hazel said, "we need to go. Camp Jupiter is under attack. They could use that golden eagle."

Percy nodded. "One thing first, though. Hazel, there's about a ton of Imperial gold weapons and armor at the bottom of the bay now, plus a really nice chariot. I'm betting that stuff could come in handy..."

It took them a long time—too long— but they all knew those weapons could make the difference between victory and defeat if they got them back to camp in time.

Hazel used her abilities to levitate some items from the bottom of the sea. Percy swam down and brought up more. Even Frank helped by turning into a seal, which was kind of cool, though Finn claimed his breath smelled like fish—She didn't do any work, with the insistence that "she just died so she shouldn't have to do manual labor in the cold." Her friends were too tired to argue.

It took all of Percy, Hazel, and Frank to raise the chariot, but finally they'd managed to haul everything ashore to a black sand beach near the base of the glacier. They couldn't fit everything in the chariot, but they used a rope of Frank's to strap down most of the gold weapons and the best pieces of armor.

"It looks like Santa's sleigh," Frank said. "Can Arion even pull that much?"

Arion huffed.

"Hazel," Percy said, "I am seriously going to wash your horse's mouth with soap. He says, yes, he can pull it, but he needs food."

Hazel picked up an old Roman dagger, a pugio. It was bent and dull, so it wouldn't be much good in a fight, but it looked like solid Imperial gold.

"Here you go, Arion," she said. "High-performance fuel."

The horse took the dagger in his teeth and chewed it like an apple. Finn made a silent oath never to put her hand near that horse's mouth.

"I'm not doubting Arion's strength," Frank said carefully, "but will the chariot hold up? The last one—"

"This one has Imperial gold wheels and axle," Percy said. "It should hold."

"If not," Hazel said, "this is going to be a short trip. But we're out of time. Come on!"

Finn, Percy, and Frank climbed into the chariot. Hazel swung up onto Arion's back.

"Giddyup!" she yelled.

The horse's sonic boom echoed across the bay. They sped south, avalanches tumbling down the mountains as they passed.

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BAILEY YAPS...

That would've been hilarious if I'd written this entire act building up Finley's character just to kill her that quickly

But she's not dead! Yay

At least not this time

Unfortunately though this is her last POV for a bit :( We still love you girl

Percy and Finley are the siblings ever like I really can't get enough of them. You're my brother but your eyes are cold you're my sister but your womb is bare I bet our mother would be proud of you 

Anyways "Finn died for a camp that had never even loved her. She died for Camp Jupiter and at the hands of Camp Jupiter."