Second Chances: Another Wrong Move

Prologue

**Percy Jackson**
Two Years Later
Location: Elysium

"Does this place seem emptier to any of you?" Luke Castellan tilted his head, looking at the small group of people that had formed around us. "I feel like there are people missing."

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that I was allowed in Elysium. I haven't been paying much attention to my surroundings," I laughed, grinning at the son of Hermes. "If you really think Elysium looks emptier, I'll believe you."

Luke chuckled, his eyes scanning over our friends again: Ethan Nakamura, Lee Fletcher, Connor Stoll, Michael Yew, Silena Beauregard, and Charles Beckendorf. There had been plenty of trust issues surrounding us at first, but we had finally managed to put our loyalty differences aside. It had made the Underworld a much more enjoyable place.

"I think it is," he said, eyebrows furrowing slightly. "There are normally people everywhere. I don't remember there being so much space."

I finally forced myself to really look around, taking in my surroundings. It was easy to see what Luke meant. He watched me stand up.

"I'm going to go see if I can figure out what's going on," I looked at the older son of Hermes. "I'll come back in time for movie night."

The entire group nodded, the only protest coming from Luke. I gave him a soft smile before walking away. We had come really close despite all the things he had done to me and my old friends. It had taken a while to let myself near him, but we had become as close as brothers in the end. It was a relief to have someone around that understood what it was like to only be trusted a little.

As I thought about Luke, I almost didn't notice a line of people walking up to a specific spot - the entrance to Elysium. I had to do a double take when I did. The crowd of people seemed to be trying to fit through a single door, fighting their way through it.

I wondered if Hades knew what was going on. He'd have fixed it by now, right? Once the dead walked through the door, they were just disappearing. I couldn't have even told you where they ended up when they walked through.

In an attempt to investigate, I looked around for the god of the Underworld before walking up to join the large crowd sneaking through. Those who had heard rumors or had seen me fight during the Titan War glanced at me nervously, making a path to let me pass.

"What's going on?" I asked after a moment, looking at an older gentleman that seemed enthralled by the door.

"They're saying its a way to go home!" he said excitedly, bouncing in a youthful way that seemed to hide the fact that he had had to of died when he was at least seventy.

"What do you-" I watched him run through it quickly before he let me finish my question. I turned to another person standing beside me. "What did he mean 'it's a way to go home'?"

She looked at me like I was stupid. "This is the exit of Elysium. It's opening right in front of Tartarus. If you pass through the Tartarus side, you'll rejoin the world of the living."

The only thought that went through my head when she spoke those words was I could see my mom. Without much thought, I shoved my way through. It took me a second to adjust to the darkness of the pit which made me want to freeze up and hide after all I had been through there. But when I opened my eyes, I could easily see the doors she had been talking about.

I slowly walked up to them and peered inside. The entryway of my mom's apartment was way too familiar to me, and I suddenly didn't feel so afraid anymore. I ran straight into the living room before everything went black.

**Sally Jackson**

"Paul?" I called when I heard a loud thud, my eyebrows furrowing softly. "Was that you?"

He poked his head into the doorway and frowned. "I was about to ask you the same question."

We both looked at one another, eyebrows knitted with concern. Paul Blofis grabbed his phone, hands at the ready to dial 9-1-1. I grabbed a high heal from the chest near my bed and followed him into the living room.

The last thing I expected was to see the body of my dead son. I ran forward, tears springing in my eyes as I fell to my knees. I forced two fingers upon his neck and tried to find a pulse, scooping him up in my arms when I found one. The sudden sobs that wracked my body caused him to stir, and his familiar green eyes stared directly into my mine.

"I-I... where am I? Who are you guys...?"

He didn't remember. He didn't remember anything.

10/26/18