I am a terrible person. It's been many months, but I hope you'll forgive me and enjoy the chapter. Sorry for lots of Typos/OOCness. Happy 2014!

Annabeth POV

Days passed by and not once did I ever see Percy. It was scaring me.

Correction: I was already scared. I was becoming disturbed.

Every night, I was alone in my strange, clean room. I found out more each hour about what being a hero entailed. This room that I had could conjure up anything that I needed. If I knew that I needed a hot meal or a TV, I just closed my eyes and it appeared. If I needed a change of clothes, it was done before I could even decide what to wear that day.

My room decorated itself according to what I wanted. The day after I arrived, I awoke to find my room resembling Percy's cabin back at Camp Half-Blood. Everything was the same, even the smell. I'd been dreaming about it.

I'd screamed at that point, falling off of the bed that Percy slept on and onto the ground. I'd been hyperventilating and freaked out beyond compare. After I'd calmed down and before I forced the room to change into something less painful, I'd realized that the only thing that was missing, apart from Percy, were all the pictures and little things that he'd collected over the years.

Even Elysium couldn't replicate what had once been.

Every night I'd fall asleep with to nightmares, which probably wasn't supposed to happen, but I didn't care.

"Percy!" I shrieked on more than one occasion, waking up in this still foreign room.

Another scary part of Elysium was my own body. Before dying and even while I'd trekked through the Underworld, I'd been covered in scars and pimples and little annoyances that just wouldn't seem to go away, no matter how much the Aphrodite kids had helped me.

Now, I was free of all blemishes. My hair was shiny and healthy. Those few crooked teeth in my mouth had straightened. I was tone and fit, ready to fight some monsters. But no, you weren't supposed to do things like that in Elysium, because according to mythology and textbooks, it was paradise.

The times I didn't think about Percy, I thought about that poor girl who had been beaten and dragged away. She said that Elysium was a lie and maybe it was. If Elysium was this serenity, then Percy would've shown up in my room, but he still hadn't.

Some days I would just sit for hours and wonder whatever became of the girl.

Yawning, I woke up again. Another day, another destiny.

I decided that I actually wanted to leave. I wanted to get out of my small room that had confined me for that past who knows how long. It was time for me to get out. Maybe Percy was out there somewhere. Maybe he'd just been hung up at some place, being all heroic as usual.

My gut told me to start counting my losses.

"Okay, I want to leave," I said aloud. "The only question is. . . how do I?"

Even as I said those words, my simple nightshirt turned into jean shorts and a Pink Floyd shirt, my hair was up in a ponytail, and a door had materialized not five feet from my bed.

"Easier than I thought," I whispered to myself, and test the handle. It was unlocked. Wishing I had my knife with me, I opened the door.

Immediately, that bright sun that always annoyed me from my bathroom window struck me right in the face. I blinked several times, trying to see, but it was nearly impossible. I needed to get out more, seriously. For a minute, I just tried to ignore the waves of vertigo. I leaned against the door frame and gulped.

The second thing that hit me: laughter.

There was so much of it that it was crazy. I had a huge urge to cover my ears just so I could block it out. Everyone here was happy. They were probably with friends and loved ones that had died too. They all had died heroes. What had I died as? A girl defenseless, against hordes of monsters.

When my vision finally cleared, I just blinked some more at the scene in front of me. I was at the beach.

Of all places, I had opened the door to sunshine, laughter, and the crisp, blue ocean, vast in front of me with gentle little waves lapping at the shoreline. Little kids who had probably died too were running around, playing with one another while people my age and older lounged on the beach, getting sun and talking.

I ran back into my little room and slammed my door shut.

I slid down to the ground with my back against the door, my head between my knees and my fingers practically yanking off all of my hair. I was breathing way too fast and I felt light headed. I crawled on my hands and knees over to the bathroom and knelt in front of the toilet again.

This was too much for me.

I didn't leave my little room until another week had passed. I hated myself for not being brave, and I had to get outside. I had to go see if anyone knew where Percy was. Maybe he just hadn't appeared near me. Maybe he hadn't had time to come looking for me. Maybe the girl had been crazy.

If I spent another second in my freakish room, I was going to lose my mind.

I stepped outside and ignored the giant ocean next to me. I began to walk at a brisk pace, keeping my head up but not really looking at where I was going. Apparently, my little home was in a series of townhouses. I had neighbors.

Someday I'd say hello.

I had no idea where I was going and I wasn't about to ask a random person for directions. I had no idea what they would think of me. Why should I even care? I didn't know these people. There were so many of them here that it wouldn't make any sort of difference.

Maybe they would have some sort of directory building, or a leader or something that could help me. Maybe they had some place that I could Google Percy's whereabouts. Someone had to know about him.

Suddenly, that small part of me that was in denial that Percy wasn't here in Elysium took over my entire body. Percy was a hero. Yeah, maybe the system was corrupt or something, like that girl had said, but Percy of all people deserved to be in paradise and even if he had been. . . placed somewhere else, he would've managed to get there.

So maybe he hadn't walked there with me, but that meant nothing.

I was in complete denial about everything as I stormed through paradise. For some reason, I expected to actually see someone that I knew, but that didn't happen. I did notice a lot of demigods, though. They jst had that godly aura around them. Some of them would spar here and there, or use their powers to make flowers grow or small rain storms happen.

One girl waved at me from her little bench beside a townhouse. She was clipping at the potted plants. "How're you, daughter of Athena?" She stared at the pot and petunias began to grow here and there. She was a demigod. She was a daughter of Demeter, or perhaps Ceres.

I bolted.

"See you around!" she called after me and I refused to say a word.

I'm not sure how long I ran around, but I didn't seem to get out of breath as easily. Oh, that's right—I was dead. I had to keep the painful reminder close to my heart. It was crazy, because here, I felt almost alive again.

Gulping and feeling nauseous from the wafting smell of pizza, I collapsed on the ground in a small park. The grass beneath my body was as soft as velvet. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head and form some sort of plan.

I got nothing.

And I was super duper lost.

"Where the hell am I?" I wondered aloud, and then I looked up again, not directly at the sky but off into the distance. My heart stopped again, right then and there. I was dead, all over the ground, just a pile of mush.

The voices of the people running around in glee faded away until I was the only person n Elysium. But there was no way that this was possible. I had to be asleep.

There were skyscrapers in the distance, tall and golden, the architecture taken straight from my old laptop that I had lost while I was in Tartarus. These buildings had been taken from my dreams, not nightmares, and constructed into a great city in the distance. It was far away, miles and miles. It would take me all day to walk there.

The buildings were infused with precious gems and white marble that gleamed into my eyes, even from that distance. The rooftops had gardens, and I could literally see the plants overflowing from them. The air felt warmer, less foreign suddenly, and everything was tinged in a setting sun's orange glow.

Were Sirens singing to me?

This had been my version of a perfect world. The kind that I had wanted to rebuild. The kind that few knew about—Percy being one of them.

I felt like I was thirteen all over again, jumping off of the ship and swimming toward the island filled with bones. I had seen this though—Percy had later told me what it actually looked like—and it had been too good to pass up. The Sirens had sung to me, promising false things.

I shot to my feet and turned around, really expecting to see Athena, my father, and Luke behind me on a picnic blanket, ready to have dinner.

But no, they weren't there. My dad was hopefully still alive, Athena was immortal, and Luke. . . well, there was a chance he could be in Elysium, but he had said before he died that he was going to try for rebirth. He was probably already gone by now.

"C'mon, Annabeth, get a grip," I muttered. "You need to find Percy."

Not a single fiber in me, however, wanted to leave the park. I was still staring up at the skyscrapers that had come straight from my dreams, and as the sun set and everyone began heading back into their homes, laughing and singing songs in languages of all sorts, I just remained staring at the skyline.

Before I knew it, it was dark outside and a bright moon shined overhead. I knew that I needed to head 'home', wherever that was, but I was transfixed. I managed to push myself away from the ground and I looked around.

I had no idea where I was supposed to go. Staring at buildings hadn't given me any sort of epiphany.

"It's not like there's a curfew here," I said. "No harpies to catch me out of bed."

One way went uphill and one way went down, so I decided to head down, remembering that my house was by the ocean and the ocean wouldn't be up on a hill. Maybe Percy would be down there too, waiting for me.

Jeez, Wise Girl, you took your time, he'd say. I smiled briefly before heading on.

With night had come a cold breeze, which was nice in contrast to how hot it had been all day. It took me a while however, as I was lost in thoughts of Percy and us being together, to realize that I was the only soul on the street. In fact, it was eerily quiet. There wasn't an electrical hum, or the buzzing of insects, or even a couple in love on a midnight stroll.

I was utterly alone. Not just emotionally but really physically.

Despite the fact I was in paradise, I found that freaky. They were all inside of their homes and they weren't about to come out. I thought that Elysium was supposed to be a 24/7 party.

I came upon a rather shady area, where the overgrown canopy of tree limbs blocked off all light that the moon produced. This area continued for some time, and I was glad that it was a straight path, or I'd otherwise would've probably tripped over something. I wondered if you could get hurt in Elysium.

What made me stop walking was the scream.

It was a males, unidentifiable, and it sent a chill into my bones and stopped me right where I was in the middle of the street. It was gleeful. The sound was as if the man was being tortured. It was like a knife had been slammed into his gut and twisted round and round. It went on for about twenty seconds straight before dissolving into hushed cries.

I heard blows of fists against bones and cracks that sent shivers down my back. I got a horrible flash from the girl back on the path to Elysium. I wanted to help whoever this was, but I didn't know who they were and I couldn't move.

What was going on?

"PLEASE!" the man sobbed. His voice sounded broken and close. "Please! I didn't do anything wrong. I don't know anything! Please don't hurt me! PLEASE! I'm begging y—"

He was cut off by another scream full of pain, and I had no idea what these people were doing to him. "Shut up," yelled a voice ringing with authority. But the screams did not end. Instead they were getting even closer to me, and I needed to act soon or I'd be caught. I'd end up like this poor man. I had nothing to defend myself with and I couldn't move.

I felt like I was going to get sick.

Some hero I was.

Someone whispered in my ear, "Whatever you do, do not scream," and I was yanked back off of the path into the trees.

A hand clapped around my waist and another around my mouth, and I struggled against the strong grip. Who the hell was holding onto me and what were they doing? I had officially begun to freak out. I swung my arms and kicked my legs, but it was no use. I was hurled down onto the grass and held there, and a voice telling me to stay quiet.

It was a guy.

"Stop struggling Annie, or you'll give both of us away, and we'll end up like that guy."

Annie? Who. . .

The voice was so familiar that I actually followed his instructions. But no one called me Annie anymore. I'd never liked that nickname and I'd had a habit for kicking those people who dared call me that. This person knew who I was and I knew that he was familiar in some way. I just needed to see his face to match the voice.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" the guy was still screaming, but his voice sounded blocked a little by blood. My suspicions were confirmed. You could be hurt in Elysium. "Where are you taking me? Why are you taking me away! Please! I have family here; I have to be with them."

His pleads went on and on, but the mystery man and I didn't move until the voices had carried off into the distance. Only then did he grab my hand and pull me forward. After a bit of walking, in which neither of us talked, we did reach a clearing in which we were back on the road and the moon was shining over us.

I gasped at the man's face.

"I wish I could say that I'm glad to see you here, Annabeth," said Luke Castellan, "but I'm afraid that'd be a lie."

I launched myself at him in a giant hug and he hugged my back tightly. I wanted to cry but the tears refused to come out. It was Luke. He'd been my first crush but more of a brother to me than anything. He had betrayed us but died a hero. He was here now. He hadn't gone to be reborn.

I hadn't realized how much I'd missed him.

His hair was still sandy and his eyes twinkled, but he looked very sad and happy at the same time. He was wearing a white button down and tan cargo pants. He looked older, with the startings of a beard on his face. His smile looked like it actually hurt. He tried to pull back to look me in the face, or maybe to explain what was going on, or maybe to ask questions, but he wasn't getting away that easily.

Luke was here.

There was someone here that I knew.

"Luke, why are you here?" I asked, refusing to let him go. "I thought you said you were going to try for the Isles of the Blest."

"I wanted to wait for you to get here so that I could see you one last time, actually," he admitted. "I was hoping I would have to wait longer than this. Annabeth, why are you. . . how did you . . . are you okay?"

"No, I'm not," I told him. "But I'm so glad that you're here. How did you find me, and what was happening with that guy? Why were the hurting him and dragging him out of here? We're in Elysium for crying out loud. This is supposed to be paradise, isn't it? And can you—"

"Stay calm and keep your voice down, Annabeth. We need to get you off of the streets." He started walking me along at a brisk pace that I struggled to keep up with. "There's not much I can tell you, 'cause there's not much that I really know. But they post sheets of people who are new to Elysium, and I saw your name on the list, so I came to find you."

I nodded, urging him to continue, and still trying to get over the fact that Luke was talking to me.

"That guy isn't the first one to be taken in the middle of the night. He won't be the last. Apparently, there are people in Elysium that are supposed to be in Punishment or something like that. It's insane. I don't know how they even got here in the first place, but if they haven't threatened us, then I don't see why they should even leave."

"Shouldn't we go and help him?"

"How, Annabeth? I don't see a weapon on you and I don't have any with me. And if we're seen fighting people, we'll just be sent to Punishment too, and you do not want that. I've heard rumors from people about what goes on there, and it's horrific."

"So they're just going to take him to the Fields of Punishment?"

"I think so, but I don't know for sure. It still is paradise, really it is, but maybe the system in corrupt. Maybe some things went wrong with the judges and people ended up in the wrong places. Maybe there's an uprising conspiring. I really don't know."

"Wait. You said they posted sheets of new arrivals."

"Annabeth, we're talking about—"

"You DID, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Was Percy's name on there? Can you please tell me? I have no where he is, because I haven't been able to find him and we were separated before."

"Percy died?"

"YES!"

"Annabeth, slow down. Tell me how you died. How did he die? Did you two die together?" Taking a deep breath, I fired off all of the details and everything I remembered leading up to this point. I was talking so fast that I wasn't even sure that Luke understood a single word that I was saying, but he seemed to follow along.

"I didn't see him on the list—" Luke began to say.

"What?! What do you mean?" My heart collapsed. I was going to have a heart attack. I started to freak out. Percy wasn't in Elysium. Luke was confirming everything that I'd thought. Oh gods, this was not good at all.

"But I skimmed the list really quickly," Luke rushed to say. "How about I take a look again tomorrow and I'll tell you what I see, okay? I'm sure that Percy's here. I'm positive, actually. Don't jump to any conclusions."

We walked in silence for a while, as I was still trying to wrap my head around everything that was happening here. Luke was here. Luke had 'saved' me.

What would've happened if those people that had been dragging that guy away caught me watching? I was sure it was nothing good.

Luke stopped. "This is your apartment, no?"

So far as I knew, it was. But I had more things to talk to him about. I wanted to ask him about the skyscrapers that had been stolen right from my journals. I wanted to know more about this guy and the others like him. "Luke, how will I find you? I haven't seen you in so long. . . I need to talk to you more about this. I still have—"

"Annabeth please, I'll come find you tomorrow, I promise. But we don't want to end up like that guy. Stay inside during the nighttime. Don't leave. Be wise, Annie. You're the daughter of Athena for a reason."

Luke gave me a hug and just ran away.

I hadn't realized how long I'd been out, because just as I turned the doorknob to my apartment, the sun began to rise, turning the sky beautiful colors. I recognized the ocean to be close by. There was no Percy out there. Luke was still here. I was hopelessly confused and couldn't draw any sort of conclusion as to what was going on.

A corrupt system? Uprisings? Torture?

People started to migrate outside, laughing and happy, oblivious to the fact that there had been torture on the streets only hours before.

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