Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.
Was it too much to ask for no one to die that year? Was it too much too much to ask for a long and bountiful life? It happened annually. A beautiful, handmade shroud would represent one camper that was either lost in action, or lay beneath the cloth. Hungry flames would lick at the edges of the fabric as the remaining campers looked on somberly. One moment of silence was all that was allowed before again being thrown into the midst of the ongoing war. Day after day, night after night, heroes rose, and campers were razed to the ground by howling demons from the depths of Tartarus.
Some days it grew increasingly difficult to watch as his campers laughed the next day. Did they not realize that they could be next? It could be one of them below the shroud and in the midst of that damned fire. No, they were all mortal beings, living life to the fullest with no thought of the morrow.
But he thought of it; every day he would watch and train and teach, and every day he would morn. Others, he would rejoice when a new hero was discovered, but not long after, he would come up that hill and take note of one less child racing up to begin his summer.
No, the gods had never told him that it would be easy, being immortal. They had never warned him about the repercussions of attachment. How much it would tear him apart inside as he laughed and fathered them only to regard them mournfully when they lay motionless on a stretcher.
In the days he had considered himself young, he recalled Dionysus, who was once his pupil, asking him a question he would keep with him the rest of his days.
"Chiron,will it ever stop hurting?"
"Will what, Child?"
"Watching someone you love die, will it ever stop hurting?"
He had paused and looked up from fletching his arrows to scrutinize the young god's face.
"In time, the pain goes away and you can move on. You and I will see generations of men and women pass by, while we remain the same. We can not avoid contact with them indefinitely. It is an issue that, as much as I would wish to answer for you, I can not guarantee that the feeling will ever pass. But I can almost promise that you will not remember every face that you meet. Only those who make a lasting impression on you will be carried on in your memory forever."
Chiron had paused here, rubbed his beard thoughtfully, then continued softly. "Forgetting them, I'm afraid would be an affront to those you recall, however. Those you love, I believe, deserve a lasting place in your heat."
If he could go back in time, he would have told the god, 'Yes, it does hurt and no, the feeling will never go away.'
Even as he observed the other gods cope in all unique ways, he knew that there was no way to alienate oneself from the human race completely. All one could do was carry on and remember those who had come before.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. It came on me one evening on what it would be like to be immortal. As I pondered it, it suddenly seemed incredibly depressing.
Don't forget to review. Critical reviews are heartily accepted and praise is always welcome. I know what I've written so far has been short, but I promise, the next thing to go up will be longer... I hope.
Thanks for reading,
CP