Apparently, I'm Dead

Chapter Thirty-Seven

ANNABETH

I'm in the Library again.

I've been in and out of the library for the past few weeks, ever since Nico told me that Percy was dead but he wasn't in Elysium with me. I didn't know what to look for at first. The possibility that he was in the Isles of the Blessed crossed my mind multiple times. The possibility of other afterlives intrigued me, so I started to do some research. Then Nico confirmed my guess, and that narrowed down my search quite a lot.

Can I just gush over the Library for a minute? It's absolutely beautiful. It's filled with arches and atriums, and covered wall-to-wall with books on every subject imaginable. Actually, scratch that. During my search for information on where Percy could possibly be, I found novels and books on things I had never imagined existing, like an entire book on this underground cathedral in Columbia made of salt. It's utterly fascinating, and if I spent all of my afterlife in this building, I don't think I could read all the books. But I've gone off-topic now.

After Nico gave me that clarifying information, I've been reading books on Norse mythology, specifically Valhalla and how to get there. That Seaweed Brain will need all the help he can get if my research is right, which it usually is. Apparently, einherji– that's what the books call the people in Valhalla– have to constantly train to save the world, and knowing Percy, he's probably already caught up in some plot to end the universe again. And how will he do that with no one to help him?

"Annabeth!" The door to the library bursts open and Silena rushes in. "Annabeth, where are you?"

I furrow my brow. I should be visible from the door of the library. "Right here," I call, not looking up from my book and a particularly vivid picture of a giant snake called Jormungand or Jormungandr.

"Annabeth," Silena sighs exasperatedly. She pushes aside the giant stack of books that was apparently hiding me from the exit. "Have you been anywhere other than the Library for the past three days?"

"Sure I have," I scoff. "Yesterday, I went to..." I trail off, wracking my head for the last time I actually left the Library. "Okay, not yesterday, but the day before that..."

Silena raises a skeptical eyebrow and my resistance crumbles.

"Okay, fine, maybe I haven't left in a while. But I need to figure out a way to get Percy back! We know where he is, it's just a matter of going there to get him back."

Silena smirks. "We actually have quite a big lead on that. Follow me." She turns around too quickly to see her face and walks away.

"What?" I cry. "You have a lead? Silena, what is it?"

"You'll have to wait and see!" she sings.

"Silena..." I say slowly, starting to get an idea of what the lead could be. "Silena! Is it what I think it is?"

She hums innocently and just keeps walking somewhere. I rush to catch up with her. "What is it? Is it what I think it is?"

We arrive at what is basically the welcoming area of Elysium, and Silena sweeps a hand towards a raven-haired boy facing away from us. "See for yourself."

My breath is coming in short bursts as I rush towards the maybe-probably-hopefully-Percy. He turns around as he hears my approaching footsteps, and a smile lights up his blue-green eyes. "Annabeth," he breathes.

"Percy!" I crash into him, knocking him back a few steps.

He laughs airily. "Hey there, Wise Girl. I see you missed me as much as I missed you."

"My gods, Percy! How did you get here from the Norse place? Did you have to save the world again?"

He grins cheekily. "Just a little bit."

I slap him on the arm playfully. "You can't save the world 'a little bit.' That's not how it works, you know."

"Says you," he retorts. His brow furrows as he realizes something. "How did you know I was in Valhalla?"

"Nico told her that he couldn't sense you in Elysium or anywhere else in the Underworld, and then your mom got mad at your dad and forced him to tell her where you were, and then Nico came and told all of us in Elysium."

Silena smirks. "She's been in and out of the Library for at least a week now, looking for ways to get you back."

Percy blushes. "Thanks, Annabeth." Then he abruptly frowns and starts ranting at me. "Have you been eating and sleeping? Have you been spending all of your time trying to find me while you were in literal paradise? Annabeth, we talked about this. You have to take care of yourself and-"

"Oh, shut up, you big softy." I interrupt him with a kiss. He melts into me as if he hadn't just been scolding me. "You are such a hypocrite," I whisper against his lips. "You would be doing the exact same thing in my place."

He pulls away, an eyebrow raised. "You think I'd be in the Library instead of doing stuff? You know how dyslexic I am."

I ignore him as a thought comes to me. "How did you get back? Did you-"

"It involves me saving the world again. After I did that, I was given a reward. So now I'm allowed to go between both." He beams proudly at me.

"Percy, that's amazing!" I cry. "Can you imagine how many famous people there must be in Valhalla? Do you know how much knowledge that afterlife holds?"

He smirks. "And that's not even the best part." He holds out his hand, an obvious signal for me to take it, which I do. He smiles at Silena. "Good to see you, Silena. Tell everyone else we'll be back soon."

She nods, then winks at me. "Have fun!"

Percy closes his eyes and squeezes my hand, and we dissipate into mist. Let me tell you, this method of travel is not extraordinarily comfortable or enjoyable. It kind of makes me want to throw up. But what happens when we arrive makes up for it.

"Annabeth," Percy says, "meet some of the rest of the saving the world crew."

A hijabi girl and a person who's wearing some sort of pink and green smorgasbord are standing in the middle of the hunting lodge we ended up in. They look at each other, then at me, then at Percy with eerily similar timing. "Is this her?" the androgynous one asks.

Percy smiles excitedly. "Yeah! This is Annabeth. Annabeth, this is Sam and Alex. Alex, what pronouns are you using today?"

"She/Her," responds the green and pink one.

I already like these two. I don't know why, but I feel like they've been good friends to Percy.

"Has she met him yet?" Sam asks.

"No," Percy answers as a door to the hunting lodge opens. We turn to see a blond-haired guy walk in. "But she's about to."

I'm confused, until the guy looks up and I can see his face. Then I can no longer breathe. "What? Percy, how-"

"Hi Annabeth," says Magnus. "Long time no see!"

FIN

Thank you,

ATOTALMUSICALNERD