Prologue: Peace
-Percy-
Five years. It has been almost five years since the day I arrived at this camp. I was a scared twelve-year-old boy with no understanding of what was going on or what this world was. The idea of a myth being real back then was the furthest place from reality you could get. Funny to think it's my only truth now. Someday, will we be myths too?
The long war with Gaea had ended, and I was practically seventeen, while Annabeth had already turned seventeen. I had too many words to describe Annabeth. She is so amazing in every way it feels impossible to explain it in words. I looked at the beach as the tide gently rolled onto the shore.
In a world where you constantly must fight for your life, downtime seems like the greatest vacation you could ever take. That's how it's felt these past few weeks. After defeating Gaea, they told us, demigods, we could accept partial immortality when we were eighteen. My thoughts on the idea are mixed. Not being able to age might seem like a dream for the people, but for me, it just seems like an eternity of waiting. Waiting for that one attack you didn't see coming to hit you. Finally getting to see those who didn't have immortality down in Elysium.
The wars have messed me up more than I'd like to admit to the others. I could still feel great and have lots of fun with my friends, but when I'm alone, I feel unusually sad. I feel like all I can do is think about issues I don't even need to be thinking about.
A crab washed up on the beach upside down, unable to move. I used the water to gently lift the crab back onto its legs. I couldn't help but smile as it shuffled back into the sea. I wish there was someone who could pick me up at times like this.
I turned around and walked back to my cabin. I shouldn't even be up at a time like this, but I had special privileges in the new camp, anyway. After the giant war against Gaea, Camp Half-Blood made peace with Camp Jupiter and merged camps. Everyone helped build massive cabins and even houses for the new demigods who might just live through their teens.
My hand settled on the cold doorknob of my cabin. I slowly pushed the door open, careful not to make a sound. My eyes settled on the boy fast asleep on the bottom bunk. My brother Kyle arrived at camp shortly after the war ended. Like me, he has messy black hair he's too lazy to comb and sea green eyes. We could probably switch places if it weren't for the fact he's only fourteen.
He is like me in most ways, funny, nice, loyal, and loves all his friends. He hates my puns, but I will definitely work on changing that. I'm happy he came when the wars were mostly behind us, and we could all take it easy and have a good time.
I quietly shut the door and climbed up onto my bunk. As long as we're together. How could I forget? That hell messed me up way more than anything else. I stayed up days on edge to avoid the nightmares that came from sleeping. The worst thing about the nightmares is that they make no sense. I keep having a recurring one, where me and a hooded figure are standing in a broken down corridor. It wasn't the grand hall on Olympus, I would know Annabeth's design by heart. None of the other person's features were clear, and in no time the dream would fade into nothing.
My vision blurred and I let out a soft sigh. I guess I really am tired. I wonder how the others are doing down in Esliyum. I wonder if they're happy with the way things turned out. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift into the realm of Morpheus.