I shakily lifted the loop around my neck as I silently sobbed. This was the only way. The only way to escape the pain. The pain would be over if I did this. Yes. That would be better. Nobody cared about me anymore. My dad had disowned me. Annabeth had left me for my half brother Jack, who was also the person Poseidon had disowned me for. All my friends had left me for him. Chiron ignored me, and my mom was dead because of a sickness no one had noticed until it was too late.

I was truly, and utterly alone.

But maybe, just maybe in the after life I would finally get some peace. I stood up on the branch, and looked down as tears rolled down my face. I decided to say a poem I heard before I decided to end it all. " If anyone will listen,
to what I'm about to say,
please understand the hurt I feel,
And how I got this way.

Left behind in darkness,
wedged between walls of ice,
I pray that someone hears me,
friend, foe, or even Jesus Christ.

Isolated in my fears,
caught between truth and the lies.
Will someone hear me screaming,
Or hear my desperate, pleading cries?

I don't believe in loving,
or having a caring friend,
because the second that you trust them,
is the second that they bend.

So In this hallow heart of mine,
Is a ivy of envy that's staring to twine,
and sprout the weeds of guilt,
That slowly began to quilt,

Over my hatred that began to grow,
Over my soul's ocean to ever flow,
Which to that I began to fall,
and to which I lost it all.

I'm sorry for the people I've hurt,
With this death I have presented,
But seeing what this could've been,
There's nothing that could've been prevented." I blinked, then jumped.

For half a second I was free falling, but the then thing I knew was a 'SNAP!', then darkness. I sighed, then rubbed my neck. Suddenly I was in a dimly lit room with a giant podium looming over me. I stared at the judges of the souls, with a broken look in my eyes. One of the judges spoke, but I was too sad to notice who. "Perseus Jackson-" Before he could finish, a booming voice echoed throughout the room. "Bring him to me!" I looked up in confusion, Hades? What was he doing here? Or rather, his voice?

I was about to say something, when suddenly I was grabbed by two skeleton guards and engulfed in a dark shadow. When the shadow disappeared, me and the skeletons stood in Hades thrown room. They bowed, then left in their own shadows. Without looking up, I knelt down slowly. "Lord Hades." I heard the god sigh. "Rise Perseus." I did and looked at him sadly. Only when I blinked did I notice the small trembling figure to the left of his throne. "Nico?" I said curiously. He wasn't part of the reason I had killed myself at all. So why was he here?

When I said his name, he looked at me and I gasped slightly. He had bags underneath his eyes and tears running down his face. But he also looked, bigger. More tall and muscular. He started to walk to me, but ended up running in the end. When he reached me, he flung himself at me. Engulfing me in a hug. I awkwardly put my arms around his shaking figure, still having no idea what was happening. "You idiot! H-how could you do t-that?" Sobbed Nico. I looked down at him sadly. "I'm sorry."

He pulled away. "I spent a year looking for you!" He pointed a finger at me as he sobbed. I blinked. "A year? But didn't I just-" "Time passes differently down here." My head snapped to Hades. I had almost forgotten he was here. I bowed my head, "I didn't know. My apologies Lord Hades." I heard him sigh again. "Look up boy." I slowly did. "Nico has convinced me to do something for you. Since you saved the gods and the world twice." I blinked in shock. Was Hades being nice for once?

Hades grunted. "I'm going to bring you back to life Perseus. But your gonna be different." I averted my eyes from his. "What do you mean?" He shook his head. Was it me or was he acting stressed out? "I can't help it. Technically I'm giving you my blessing, so your going to have a more... Hades-like personality. " I nodded. I didn't mind that much. I just hoped I didn't have to so Annabeth again.

Hades once again brought me out of my thoughts. "Perseus, I must warn you though. My family will want your help once they realize how powerful you've become." Before I could ask what he meant, everything went black and the last thing I saw where the concerned eyes of Nico.