A/N: The Anthesteria festival actually happens around January/February/March but since we're rounding Halloween and All Soul's Day anyway, thought I'd post this now. Now while the original festival is a three-part celebration, the first two actually focus on wine and merrymaking (since it is a Dionysus-centered feast) so allow me my creative license for a bit and right after you can hate on me for bastardizing the whole thing. :D

-x- The Hallowed Even -x-

Percy didn't expect it to happen like this. Rather, he didn't expect it to happen at all. But it was happening. The dying rush of his pulse told him so; as did the tender swipe of a thumb against the drying tears upon his cheek.

Percy told himself that he just wanted to get some closure. This whole thing was an attempt to settle all those 'what-if's and 'what-could-have-been's.

He didn't realize how much it would hurt to say goodbye a second time.

-x-

His morning started normally enough. Breakfast with his mom and stepdad was followed by that weekly IM from Tyson before he headed off to school. Lunch was spent rushing off to the deli store one block away just so he could share the brief hour with Annabeth who attended a nearby school. The badly hidden anxiety lurking behind her bright eyes should have been his first sign but Percy didn't think it was anything too important; after everything that they've been through together he knew she wasn't the type to keep anything vaguely important from him. So when Athena's daughter grumbled about her rude classmates and unfair teachers, Percy was only too happy with ease her worry away with a cup of her favorite frozen yogurt. Annabeth told him she had a group project to lead after school and Percy accepted her excuse without question.

The rest of his afternoon went by without action, the droning spell shattered only at the very end when a sleek silver envelope turned up inside his locker.

There was no return address but the stamp decorated with winged sandals told him enough. At the back of his mind, Percy started wondering what quest he was going to get today. The envelope wasn't sealed; inside it was a crisply folded sheet of bond paper.

Hello, Percy! It began. I do hope you're doing fine. Now that I'm done with the niceties, I'd like to apologize for this letter.

Percy raised a brow. Yeah, Hermes totally has another favor to ask of him.

I understand that you are most likely busy with your down time after saving the world's collective behinds once again. This is a selfish request, I assure you, but I like to think that this will help you as much as it would help him.

Him? A frown pulled on Percy's lips. There were so many 'him's in the world, how could the god expect him to know who – and then the answer came. Of course. Who else would Hermes talk to him about? Instantly, Percy's insides started churning in an unpleasant manner but read on.

I don't know if you're aware but today is the last day of the Anthesteria. It is a long-upheld Greek festival designed much like the Western All Soul's Day tradition; only a lot better, if I do say so myself.

Percy fought the urge to roll his eyes, anticipation mixing with dread as he reached the half-way point of the paper.

It is the one night of the year where the dead return to the land of the living and celebrate the feast with their loved ones.

Percy's pretty sure he just stopped breathing. The only things he's aware of are the cold emptiness inside his chest and the white-knuckled grip with which he's holding the letter. The pristine sheet was suddenly lined with creases, its legibly printed letters blurring as though Percy was looking at it through a fish eye lens.

"Mr. Jackson, are you feeling ill?" A concerned teacher had stopped in front of him, her ebony eyes peering over the gold frame of her spectacles.

Percy breathed deeply to steady himself, flashing the best nonchalant smile that he could muster to his English teacher. "I'm perfectly fine, ma'am."

Maroon-colored lips pursed together, the lines of her aged face drawing taut but in the end she shrugged it off. Her heels clacked down the tiled hallway, muffling off as she made a detour through an adjacent hallway.

Slumping against his locker, Percy stuffed the letter and envelope into his bag. He fished out his cellphone and hit speed dial but the other end wasn't picking up. No matter how many times he redialed the automated voice told him that the other phone was unattended until finally there was just the grating noise of a hung-up call. Why wasn't Annabeth answering?

Disgruntled and more than a little agitated now, Percy decided he needed back-up. Looking around, he found very few students lingering the halls – most of them had gone on to attend after-school club meetings. He felt around the pockets of his bag until he unearthed a gleaming gold coin.

The men's room smelled strongly of detergent, the reflective quality of the tiles were a testament to some janitor's recently concluded work. Percy checked the place for any sign of anyone else before he locked the door. Late afternoon sun slipped in through the slats of the air vents and it was pretty easy to direct a spray of water from the nearby sink to create a rainbow where the face of a satyr soon emerged.

"Percy!" came the excited bleat of his best friend. He was in a woodland setting with bushes of flowering berries all around. "How are ya?"

"I…" Percy suddenly didn't want to displace the obvious happiness on his best friend's features. Except the sole reason he called in the first place was to try and get relieved of some of the weight dumped on his chest; even though the more reasonable side of his brain told him it's not fair to shift the burden to his unwitting best friend.

Grover's face was filled with concern when it took too long for him to reply. "Is it Annabeth? Did you two fight?"

His throat tightened at the assumption. Percy wanted to dispel it but the fear of blurting out the truth consumed him.

The lack of reply left Grover to continue. "You know, Percy, we do have that trusty old empathy link so I can kind of read your mood… This one tells me 'heartache' and maybe things look bad now but you should take it from me, it's all going to be fine in the en–"

"It's Luke."

-x-

"Why are you IM-ing me, seaweed brain?" One brow rose into the mess she called bangs as a teasing smile lifted the corner of her lips. She was leaning against a tree trunk, the silver of her uniform catching the moonlight.

Percy mumbled his reply, eyes vainly trying not to meet the electric blue pair.

The dark-haired girl on the other side of the Iris Message huffed, pulling her woolen jacket closer. "It's nearly midnight over here, genius, so speak up."

"Do you know anything about the Anthesteria?" The moment he said it, Percy knew he should not have done so.

Thalia's easy-going expression was suddenly alert and calculating. She cocked her head to one side, "Matter of fact, I do know about it. It ends tonight."

Scratching the back of his neck, Percy nodded in reply. Thalia's tone already held enough suspicion; he didn't know how he could breach the topic without, well, causing damage (quote, unquote). In all honesty, he called her because he had thought of asking for her permission – which, right now kind of sounds very, very stupid. So instead, he pressed for details about the festival, trying to sound casually curious.

The daughter of Zeus gave him a pointed look. "People leave food out with a card bearing the name of the deceased, Hermes delivers the dead from Hades, they spend midnight 'til dawn wandering the living world, they go back to being dead." Thalia crossed her arms and moved away from the tree to scrunch up her nose at him. "Now tell me what your real question is."

Percy gripped the sink tighter. "Are you… gonna call on Luke…?"

Thalia's expression didn't change, though it did freeze for maybe half a second. Then her gloved hand wiped down her face, muffling a groan. When her youthful face was revealed again, a more collected mien was upon it. Her lips formed a testy smile. "What part of 'I'm-in-an-all-girl-group-strictly-no-boys-allowed' is not clear to you?"

"But–"

"Percy. Listen." Thalia held out a palm to stop him. "Luke's betrayal and all the pain that came with it is past me now. He was corrupted by a Titan but he proved to be the real hero in the end. He had saved us all and I've forgiven him. I've moved on."

He was sure the huntress didn't intend for that last part to sting but Percy felt that pang of hurt go through him.

"Now, if there was ever the chance that I could talk to him I would grab it in an instant," Thalia continued. "But the Anthesteria is not that chance. Not for my situation. Do you understand?"

Percy managed a nod, earning a smile in response.

"Good." Thalia's pose relaxed again and for a brief second her bright eyes flitted to the heavens. "And besides, I'm expecting a different visitor tonight."

-x-

Sally smiled bemusedly as her son insisted on waiting with her. The tray was illuminated with a red-orange glow, garnering the right amount of heat to cook the dollops of batter spread evenly across the metal surface.

Percy bit on a bar of unused chocolate, grinning with the sense of accomplishment. He offered the bar to his mother but Sally politely declined.

"So tell me again about this festival thing and why I shouldn't be mad at having you stay up way over reasonable hours?"

A pout came over Percy's lips. "It's like All Souls Day only a bit more… well, realistically supernatural... and Greek, if that makes sense. We're supposed to leave some food out and then the dead turn up and we can… spend some time with them. Not in the totally-creepy-way, mom." He added quickly at seeing the raised brow on her. "Just, you know… it's like catching up with a relative who's gone abroad."

"Except that 'abroad' is actually 'land of the dead'," Sally humored her son. "Okay, I kind of understand, but why are we making chocolate-chip cookies? Who is she? Or he? Or it…?"

"It's a he," replied Percy. "And cookies are his favorite food… I think."

Sally laughed and started clearing their work station. "Is he an important guy?"

Her words held no insinuation but Percy felt sparks start up deep in his chest. "He's a great hero," he confirmed, piling the bowls and mixing spoons into the sink.

"Ah." Tap water rinsed the utensils as mother and son worked in companionable silence cleaning up until the oven chimed.

When the clock struck eleven, Sally kissed Percy on the cheek good night. She segued to her husband's study on the way to bed, dragging out a bashful-looking Paul Blofis with neon highlighter marks on his chin. Paul waved goodnight to Percy who was carefully setting the sitting room coffee table.

The plate of cookies had cooled off and was now good enough to eat. Tucked underneath the plate was a torn piece of paper from one of his notebooks bearing the name of his desired guest. A pitcher of Kool-Aid was chilling inside the refrigerator and Percy decided it would be better to keep it in there until Luke arrived.

As the first five minutes of waiting ticked by, Percy adjusted to the ringing silence broken only by the sound of traffic coming from the streets below. He thought of turning on the TV to pass time but he reminded himself of his mom and stepdad trying to get some sleep, ending the idea immediately. Looking around, Percy was starting to get conscious of what Luke would think about the place – the photos on the wall, the potted plants at the corner, the furniture, the wallpaper…

Percy buried his face into his hands. "What am I doing?" he asked the empty room. It was still only 11:07 pm. His bare feet fidgeted against the cool carpet and his whole body froze at the sudden thought that passed. What the hell was he wearing?

The board shorts were a little too tight, not to mention a bit frayed at the edges. A suspicious dark stain marked the collar of his t-shirt with the Ghostbusters logo stretched over his chest. The marshmallow ghost and the red slashed ring around it was cracked in places; the colors were ultimately faded from being in the wash so many times. Considering the… state… of his expected guest for the night, Percy thought the shirt was a bit of an overkill.

Grumbling at his unforeseen plight, Percy headed to his room to change. It wasn't really some occasion to get dressed up for, he reminded himself as he picked comfortably worn-out jeans that didn't require a belt to keep them on his hips. He went through his collection of tops a bit longer, trying to find something that didn't entirely scream out how fussy he was in picking it. A collared shirt always held some sort of formality, a tell-tale sign of wanting to appear impressing or just plain serious. Then again, if it was a polo shirt it would speak of sensible casualness. Except for the fact that he was just in his house, meaning a good old t-shirt will do. But would the design even matter?

Three t-shirts were laid out on the bed and Percy mentally groaned at how stupid he was being. He lay back and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. This whole day has been too stressful and that was saying a lot considering he'd spent a good deal of his time on quests that required him being on the alert for monsters for days, sometimes weeks. He huffed, relaxing over the unmade sheets. Just a little break. He needed a little break before all hell breaks loose (hopefully not literally).

-x-

Green eyes snapped open. His bedroom was submerged in darkness with only a sliver of light coming past the drawn curtains; he was pretty sure he left the light on. With a sudden rush, everything came back to him.

Percy scrambled to sit up, grabbing the nearest shirt he could get his hands on and wresting it onto himself. He got up and checked the zip of his pants before running as quietly as he could back to the apartment's main room. The sound of quiet humming, however, stopped him in his tracks just a few feet short from breaching his destination.

It was an unfamiliar song, probably not even a song at all but merely a string of notes thrown together. "I would've woken you up," a man's voice broke the tune. "But you were kind of lying there half-naked." It was an unfamiliar song but with an achingly familiar voice.

Luke.

The name failed to roll off his tongue but it echoed ceaselessly in his mind, digging up memories and every emotion he'd ever felt for the guy.

"I'm here," Luke confirmed and suddenly Percy couldn't stand being in the dark anymore. He stepped up and found a very solid-looking figure reclining on the sitting room sofa. He looked exactly the same as the day when Percy last saw him. The room was dimly lit by the streetlights and the moon and stars; everything was colored in a grayish-blue tone.

"You came," Percy breathed, berating himself inwardly the second the words left him because they were so freaking obvious.

A grin parted Luke's lips, showing a hint of teeth. "You called me," he replied as though it was the answer to everything. He straightened up, putting his arm across the back rest and gesturing with his other hand to the plate atop the coffee table. "I hope you don't mind but I had a few bites."

"Not at all." Percy gave an awkward offhand shrug, the urge to move forward overcoming him. "I – I prepared drinks, too, let me just–" He ran over to the kitchen, extremely conscious of Luke's gaze following him. He decided to get two glasses along with the pitcher. Moving back to the sitting room, he noticed Luke sitting farther along the sofa, giving him enough space to occupy. Percy hesitated only for a fraction of a second before settling beside the blond. He poured the red liquid that smelled of strawberries, holding out the filled glass to the other demigod.

"Thanks." Luke's fingers brushed his hand when he took the drink. Percy was momentarily stunned at how real it felt. Green eyes darted to the sofa seat. Sure enough, the cushions sunk around Luke's form as though he actually weighed something.

"If you're expecting me to phase through solid objects, you're out of luck."

Percy started, unaware he'd been staring too long. He met Luke's eyes and they glinted with amusement directed at him. "I wasn't… it's just that… isn't that what souls are supposed to do?"

Luke chuckled, setting down his drinking glass. "You watch too many TV shows." He turned so his whole body was facing Percy. "Souls are projections of the human form, yes. Now while it's true that the most familiar type is the translucent phasing-through-the-walls one, souls that are strong enough can sometimes form corporeal identities. It takes a hell lot of practice and concentration, I tell you."

"Oh," was all that Percy could say. He put down the pitcher, eyes taking a glance at the clock as he did so; 1:14 am. The silence stretched until it was downright uncomfortable. Shifting in his seat and choosing to stare at the plate of cookies, Percy tried not to sound so nervous. "So…"

"How's life treating you?" Luke beat him to the question. An unassuming nudge on the knee prodded him to answer. Looking up, he saw the usual confident front on Luke.

Percy tried on a casual smile. "It's nice to get a break from the whole saving-the-world business."

"Really? Not attempting a three-peat some time soon?" Luke grinned, picking out a cookie. "You could eat some, too, you know." When Percy obliged and bit into one, Luke continued. "I have a running bet with Silena downstairs that you're bound to get your own statue on Olympus if you saved the world from destruction enough times."

"I doubt that's how things work," Percy laughed a little. "How is Silena, anyway? And all the other guys down th – I mean… you know…"

Luke nodded in understanding. "There's nothing to complain about, really; Elysium being the good place and all. Silena's up here by the way, we were buddies during the seminar and the trip out."

"Seminar?"

"You know, that whole lecture session on how this whole Anthesteria thing works," Luke shrugged. "Dad explained all the dos and don'ts and yadda yadda."

Luke made the whole thing sound like a field trip and Percy couldn't help but relax at the easy conversation. "So who's Silena visiting? And why isn't she with Beckendorf?"

"I think you know who." Luke took a bite of his snack, swallowing before adding, "And I think you know why as well."

The answer didn't come immediately. For a few seconds Percy scrunched up his face in thought, going through a list of the Aphrodite kids Silena might want to visit but he got it in the end; it wasn't a sibling that Silena wanted to see. Luke laughed softly at what he dubbed as Percy's 'Eureka' face.

"Silena had left a lot of unanswered questions when she died," Luke confided. "She told me she wanted to have some closure; she wanted both of them to come to terms with it… because it's not easy, you know, being dead for a year and still having ties to the living."

Their conversation's sudden turn stunned Percy. Blue eyes deep with shadows pinned him in place, he was pretty sure Luke could read everything on his face right now. Every unspoken word, every guilty thought, everything. Percy clenched his hands, bunching denim fabric over his knees. "Luke…"

"Why did you call for me?" Luke asked, voice low and somber.

"I wanted to see you." The confession rolled past his lips without his bidding. Percy couldn't take it back, he didn't want to; it was true. He needed to see Luke. He needed to – "I have to tell you. I couldn't – ever since you – all along, I–"

"Percy." Solid hands covered his own. Luke had moved closer, his large hands were smoothing Percy's fists into spreading out. "Easy there, kid. Breathe." Then in an undertone Luke huffed, "Probably not the best advice coming from a dead guy."

In spite of himself, Percy found a chuckle or two bubbling from his throat. Luke's head ducked low and he grinned at Percy. He relaxed, leaning back against the sofa as Luke worked on his fingers one by one. From half-lidded eyes, Percy watched Luke's effort at straightening out his hands, laying every digit over his denim-covered lap. As Luke made to pull away, Percy sprung to action and grabbed the blond's wrist.

Luke didn't say a word, watching with quiet intensity as Percy slid their palms together.

The calloused hand was the same. Rough from its expert handling of the sword, strong with the muscles of an indomitable leader, solid like… like he wasn't actually just a soul visiting from the land of the dead. Percy clamped his mouth shut, keeping back a choke that threatened to escape. Luke's hand was pliant, responding meekly to every press as though testing the waters.

Fingers lined up together, Luke felt the warmth of Percy's skin. He didn't have body heat of his own anymore so it was delightful to have the smaller hand press so close to his own. Shorter fingers tucked themselves in the spaces between his and Luke gently folded his own fingers over the back of Percy's palm.

They were holding hands, actually holding hands with laced fingers and everything. Percy didn't know whether to start laughing or crying. In the end he did neither, merely squeezing the larger hand whose hold tightened accordingly. "I'm an idiot," he finally spoke, breaking the silence that had settled over them.

"Tell me something I don't know," Luke murmured, turning their entwined hands left and right with fascination.

Percy watched as Luke moved their hands towards his own lap, using his other hand to cover the back of Percy's hand. Luke's thumb brushed against his skin, going so far as his wrist before retreating back and busying itself with his knuckles. When Luke's face finally came up, Percy saw the sadness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Luke whispered.

"I'm sorry, too."

Luke shook his head. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"Yes I do," Percy began in a low voice, shame lacing every word, "Even if I keep trying to avoid it, every time I kiss her, I see myself kissing someone else… you."

The strong shoulders slumped at the confession. Luke's side met with the sofa's backrest, his head reclined over the top edge. Murky eyes met the equally distraught pair from the younger demigod. Their clasped hands fell into the small space of the sofa between them.

"If I had known you before, if I had known you better…" Percy's voice trailed off.

"I knew you for two months and I already knew you were a threat to me," Luke told him. "Not just in the whole we're on opposite sides of a war thing; although, now that I think about it, maybe that had a little something to do with this." He flicked his eyes to their hands before catching Percy's gaze again. "I've always pined after things that I felt were denied to me."

A brief smile surfaced on his lips. "It hurt to lose you."

"Kronos was going to burn my body to ashes with his transformation." Luke's bitter tone was oddly soft. "I wouldn't have survived either way."

"I wanted to kiss you that night." Percy shrugged to appear aloof but the blush on his cheeks told the truth. "A nagging voice in my head told me it was my last – my only chance, to let you know."

"You didn't take it."

"Yeah…" A chuckle covered up the self-consciousness seeping into him as their conversation went to intimate territories. "I didn't know if… Well, I thought it would be rude and kind of… I'll be kind of taking advantage of you if I did that then."

A huge breath of air accompanied Luke's empty laugh, his head turning to face the ceiling. "You really are too nice."

Silence reigned for a handful of seconds until Percy's quiet voice broke through. "If you were given a chance… would you kiss me?"

Eyes squeezed shut, Luke felt the tension of the hand entwined with his own. "I don't think I should."

"I'm sorry I asked."

Turning to face the other, Luke found a thin smile on Percy's lips and a barrage of apologies swimming in his eyes. "Percy–"

"Can we just talk?" The dark-haired teen interrupted him, a haphazardly thrown together attempt at nonchalance marring his young face.

Luke gave up. "What about?"

"Anything…" Percy reached for the coffee table and held a cookie to Luke.

-x-

"You can sleep, you know," Luke murmured, nudging the teen whose head rested on his shoulder. The flare of the muted TV lit up Percy's dozy expression, Luke found the crinkled pout adorable.

"Shut up," Percy muttered. "I'm just resting my eyes from your stupid face."

Chuckling, Luke finished the last of the Kool-Aid, deferring his eyes to the cartoon showing in the wee hours of the morning. "You just missed the part where the kid wakes up and it's all in her head." His grin broadened when short fingernails dug into the back of his hand.

"Quit trying to ruin my childhood." Percy opened his eyes to shoot a halfhearted glare at the blond.

"Old habits die hard," Luke said. When Percy said nothing in reply, he resumed watching the TV. When the credits rolled, the teenager beside him shifted. The clock on the wall read 4:56 am.

"Hey, I just thought of something…"

Taking the remote and flipping through channels, Luke's focus was more on finding a decent show, "Tell me."

Percy bit down on his bottom lip, unsure if he could make his words sound less accusing. "That time," he absently dragged the pads of his fingers across Luke's knuckles. "You said you were going to try for rebirth…"

"Ah…" Luke lowered the remote and inclined his head back. A brief pout sealed his lips as he organized his thoughts. "I guess it's what you'd have expected of me, hurrying to take a dip in the Lethe and get my ass reborn but…" Luke paused, considering. All the while, Percy's eyes bore deeper into him. "The second I got into Elysium, I started asking around for the place and found one heck of a line down there. I got to the end of the queue, deciding to be patient and all even though a slug would've gotten to the front of the line before me at the rate it was going."

Confusion wrinkled Percy's brow. "But Bianca – Nico di Angelo's sister, she's already reborn."

Luke hummed in thought. "Maybe she got special privilege being a kid of the King of the Underworld…"

Percy nodded. "Okay… so what happened to you?"

"My dad found me." A mellow smile rose to Luke's lips. "He told me about this Anthesteria… He said that if I could wait for a few months, I can tie up loose ends properly. I didn't believe him at first but, well, here I am."

"That can't be everything," Percy frowned at him, tugging at Luke's hand and demanding for a better explanation.

"What do you want to hear?" Luke teased. "That I felt the undeterred connection passing through life and death? That destiny led me down the right path? That my instinct knew, one way or another, that someone up here was waiting for me?"

A dull flare warmed Percy's cheeks. "That was pathetic, Luke."

"I'll tell Silena you said that."

"No you won't."

"Uh, yeah, I will."

"You're just bluffing."

"Oh really?"

"Really."

Their faces had come closer during the playful banter and now that they've run out of words to say, it was the proximity that spoke for them. Time seemed to pause for that one second when Luke's gaze traveled south from lively green eyes. Percy's lashes followed the descent, touching down on his pink-tinted cheeks as he felt the other's attention move towards his lips. For that one second, all sound were vacuumed out and a split-second of decision was handed to them.

A gentle squeeze of his hand brought Percy's eyes fluttering open only to find that Luke hadn't moved away. He'd never been this close to Luke before, never had those too-blue eyes focused on him with such intensity.

"This isn't fair," murmured Luke.

"Nothing is ever fair," Percy retorted in the same subdued tone. "Not for us."

"See, Percy, that's the thing." Luke tilted his head the slightest bit so they were eye to eye. "There was never an us." No word existed for the look that crossed Percy's face when he said that, the sudden absence of warm breaths against his lips almost made him take it back. Almost. "I'll be leaving in an hour, Percy, let's stay off the depressing topics. Agree?"

Percy bowed his head, berating himself for having lost track of time. His eyelids were heavy and he was already sure he wasn't going to school that day, still, he had to – Every thought stopped when Luke started pulling his hand away.

Tension stiffened the smaller hand as he slid his palm away from it. Luke managed to free his hand but his touches still lingered, smoothing out the crooked digits and moving closer inch by slightest inch. With their sides pressed close, Percy leaned into him, his unruly mop of ebony hair cushioning his head against Luke's shoulder. When Percy appeared relaxed enough, Luke threw an arm over the backrest, just barely brushing against Percy's shoulders.

"Are you really going to try for rebirth now?" Percy picked up their conversation in light, careful tones.

Settling more comfortably against the cushions and the teenager squeezed in beside him, Luke made a vague noise of affirmation. "Can't see why not… Now, hypothetically speaking, you end up dead and in Elysium – would you go for a rebirth?"

"I assume that's going to be after a lifetime of having monsters chasing me for a quick snack?" Percy asked, eyes not really focused on the flashing colors from the TV screen.

Luke chuckled. "Sure, why not?"

"Well…" Percy inhaled, tasting the artificial air on his tongue, smelling nothing but himself and remnant aromas from the snacks on the coffee table. "You're basically asking me if I'd want another go at the 'having the whole world rests on my shoulders' thing…"

"I'm going for it," Luke reminded him in what could've been a chipper tone if it was louder. "Only way to get to the Isles of the Blessed."

"You were always an overachiever," Percy murmured happily.

"That's certainly one way to call it," Luke agreed. "Though I'd much rather prefer being called 'the best'."

"Oh please," Percy snorted. "Everyone knows that you are exactly that."

"Was," Luke corrected him offhandedly.

Percy froze but chose not to honor the blond's statement. He knew that. He knew that Luke wasn't really here, he's been dead for almost a year now. The only reason Luke was sitting in this room talking to him was because of that soul festival. Drumming his fingers against his legs to the beat of an unknown tune, Percy found his reply. "I think I'll sit around Elysium for a while when – if I get there."

"What do you mean 'if'," Luke playfully nudged the younger demigod. "Of course you're getting in there."

"We can't say for sure," Percy replied in the same brighter tone. "And I think whoever's judging people down there take arrogance into account. You know, with the whole good moral character and stuff."

"Because they would really deny the kid who's saved the world two times, and counting, from getting into Elysium. Yeah, I can see that happening."

Even if he couldn't see his face, Percy felt Luke's beaming grin and the son of Poseidon allowed quiet laughter to escape him. "Do you instantly get reborn, then? Like, once you get through the whole ordeal, do you pop up in the living world as a new baby already? Or is there something of a waiting line?"

"I'll have to check back with you on that," Luke answered. His free hand found the remote and started moving up to the higher channels. "Why are these stations even here, I mean, who actually watches them?"

Percy just shrugged. When Luke reached the hundreds, he finally turned the TV off and both of them were reacquainted with the motley purple hues of the departing night.

"If I do get born instantly, you do realize I'd have no memory of my past life?" Luke's voice replaced the dying buzz of the TV's static.

"I know."

"There's fifty-fifty chance of me being a demigod."

"I know."

"And that, out of everywhere in this world, I might not even be born in the US."

"… I know."

"Probabilities suck."

"Yeah."

A car horn blared from the streets below as the neon and fluorescent lights blinked off in anticipation of the glorious sun. An alarm clock started ringing from the apartment next door. Percy's hand settled on Luke's leg, just above his knee. Luke's arm slid down the sofa to rest loosely around Percy's waist.

Luke leaned against the head on his shoulder. "Thanks for staying up with me." The words were murmured into ebony hair, the brush of lips against the scalp sending unknown rushes of emotion all over the teen.

Bursts of heat ignited behind his eyes and Percy closed them in anticipation of the wetness that was bound to go through. His chest tightened and the stuttering inhale he just took signaled the beginning of the end. "Thanks for… for everything."

"Except maybe for the fact that I'm making you skip school," Luke grinned, thumb quietly stroking the t-shirt over Percy's hip. "Though I can't really sympathize with that, and surprisingly I'm not exactly sorry."

"You didn't make me skip school," Percy pointed out, smiling in spite of himself.

"But I'm the reason why you'll be spending the rest of the day passed out."

"You're the reason for a lot of things, Luke." Percy drew his hand away from Luke's leg. Turning his body, he fitted himself more snugly against Luke's side, bringing his arms around the taller one's middle. "A lot of them were pretty good."

"Including the way your heart's running a mile a minute," Luke observed in an unreadable tone. He felt the first drop soak through his shirt.

"Especially that."

The luminous transition of colors would've been a wonderful sight if Percy had paid attention. As it was, he'd kept his eyes closed and his arms tight around the departed soul beside him. Gentle strokes went down his back as the same tune from the darkest part of the morning came forth once again. Luke hummed the notes as he rested his head against Percy's temple, downy lashes touching his cheek empty of the tears he'd wanted to shed.

From the far horizon, the first ray of gold broke through hues of orange and red-violet.

-x-

A/N: You can happily end it here. Or you can choose your ending. Bear in mind that whatever's written in one ending does not bear any weight on the other.

Trick or Treat~