15 years after the Giant war
The new Golden age as it had been dubbed saw some of the most peaceful times gods and demigods alike had seen.
A few weeks months after the rewards ceremony on Olympus, the Gods had seemingly decided to unite Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood, stating that the divide between the two camps had been going on for too long and the recent war had shown that they can work in conjunction with each other.
Many of the older demigods were surprised at the turnaround of the Olympians, suddenly caring for the welfare of the children, but dismissed any underlying motive.
The new camp, aptly named Camp Olympus Created a turning point in the lives of demigods. The Olympians had created not only a camp for demigods to train and live, but also created an entire city similar to New Rome but on a much larger scale. Full-blown communities blossomed with many minor immortals, nymphs and satyrs also deciding to take refuge within the new city. A beautiful blend of Roman, Greek and modern architecture left many in awe of the city, which may have been expected as it was designed by Athena herself.
The central point of the Camp was the most sacred part of the camp. The hall of heroes, houses tales of the greatest demigods alive; from ancient Greek tales, roman adventures and the modern age of heroes. Bronze busts of various heroes lined the hall, and before the end the largest statue was dedicated to one hero in particular. All other monuments pale in comparison to the one of Percy Jackson, with a large list of his various feats, titles and accolades detailed on a plaque below. Despite being the largest and most intricate statue, the most notable aspect was a large brazier of fire burning underneath. Since the formation of the camp the inhabitants had taken it upon themselves to create new traditions for campers, one of these was that all new campers attended the hall to learn of the various feats of other heroes whilst paying their respects to the ones that had fallen in various wars. After doing these new campers were encouraged to attend Percy's Statue before burning an offering to him in hopes that he would bless them with the life that all demigods desired and the happy ending he and his namesake had also achieved.
Even after all this time the questions behind the legend's godhood remained unanswered, his domains were never revealed and gods refused to speak up on his whereabouts, yet this did not dampen the reverence his name held upon the new generation of demigods.
Jackson, Wyoming, USA
Perseus Jackson strode through the streets of Jackson, smiling at passers-by that recognised him. The years had been kind to Percy, who was now at the ripe old age of 32, His frame considerably fuller compared to the lithe build he once had as a teenager. His face weather to the elements, with crinkles starting to form around his eyes, looking all the part of a son of a sea god.
He stopped walking as he reached his destination, a small building which he promptly entered, as he walked in, he was greeted by the receptionist at the desk
"Hey Percy, Dr Fir is free to feel to walk straight in" she smiled warmly to Percy, who gratefully smiled and before he could thank her, he broke into a violent fit of coughing
"Sorry about that not been too well recently " He croaked to her as his eyes started to water before he managed to gain composure and walk into the room beyond the reception. The room in question had 2 sofas facing each other with one person already occupying one. The person in question was a woman, who seemed effortlessly regal and gave off an aura of comfort yet with an edge which kept people almost nervous around her. Percy promptly flopped himself onto the other sofa relaxing down immediately.
"Perseus, a pleasure as always" smiled Dr Fir and she took out a small notepad and pen before looking questioningly at the man. who simply chuckled before replying
"At this point, I think you call me Perseus on purpose to antagonise me" he gave the Dr his signature grin, as she gave him back a small smile.
"Well, I guess you will never know will you" as she winked at him before writing a small note in the journal, before enquiring" You're getting worse you know, I could hear it from here" whilst looking at Percy expectantly, who sighed as the jovial spirit he had been in previously evaporated from the room. He looked away from the Dr, instead choosing to gaze out of the window before breaking the short silence by replying
" I can manage it, and it's hardly as bad as your making it out to be, I've seen a few doctors but they can't seem to find anything " as he removed his gaze from the window and directly addressing Dr Fir, who simply tutted and shook her head
"Perseus, we have worked on this for years you know exactly who you could call and they would be able to solve this instantly, not looking for help and struggling by yourself is not noble. If anything, it's a weakness" bluntly stated to the demigod, whose eyes dangerously flared, his breathing becoming heavy. Despite this Dr Fir simply tilted her head before continuing to jot notes down and without raising her head from her notes,
"You can get as angry as you like Perseus, but you know deep down I am right. We may have battled the biggest hurdle in Annabeth but you cannot continue this petty grudge to sate your pride." The moment the words slipped out of her mouth it looked like she almost regretted it as the man in front of her stiffened as if she had a blade to his throat. Percy glared at the Dr, his piercing green eyes swirling with untapped power almost driving themselves into her soul, before dropping his head
"Your right, but you know that doesn't give you an excuse to bring her up like that." He said softly, before standing up from the sofa walking behind the sofa being launching into a rant
" I'm content with my life here, Get to teach, I have friends, I can do whatever I want without being told what to do or having my life manipulat-"
Percy suddenly started coughing, his chest heaving from the onslaught that he was experiencing, as the episode started to calm down, he held a finger up to Dr Fir to indicate to wait for him, as the coughing began to ease but before he had managed to recover, he stumbled grabbing the sofa for balance.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." He managed to splutter out as he slowed down his breathing trying to get his breath back he looked across to Dr Fir giving him a concerned look.
After regaining his breath, he took a seat on the sofa, relaxing as he first had when he came into the room, before looking at the woman in front of him.
Silence fell upon the both of them as Percy started to think about what to say next, the Dr waited patiently for him, it stayed this way for a long time before he broke the silence
" I just wanted to have a normal life, a family, friends. I just... I don't know anymore it's been so long" he sighed looking more tired than he had in a long time.
"It has been a long time Perseus since you immersed yourself properly with your friends, and a quick hello every year or so does not count as immersing." As Percy scoffed at the statement, she stared at him meaningfully before continuing,
" Ultimately, what I'm trying to prevent for yourself, is that the longer the time passes the more you will regret not spending time with your actual friends and family."
Following what Dr Fir had said, the two had stayed in silence for a long period with the demigod deep in thought. This continued for a while before their time was up, where they bade each other farewell and Percy left the building.
In the following weeks after the meeting life continued as it always had for Percy, teaching classes for swimming and some general physical education for the children he taught.
Standing on the side of the pool Percy was watching as his team trained for the upcoming National Finals, unsurprisingly his was favourites to win by some margin after wiping the floor with other teams in the previous tournaments.
"Come on guys, we've gone over the techniques a thousand times the speed will come after you've mastered the stroke, we know this" He shouted out around the pool as the team did lap after laps of the pool. As he analysed how each member performed, noting it down on a notebook he was holding, he was about to shout out more instructions to the team for their training before something got caught in his throat. Before breaking out in a cough, which racked his chest with a deep unhealthy creak as he broke out into a coughing fit. Before blood gushed out his mouth staining his notebook and soaking the floor as he continued to cough causing more blood to leak out. The team swimming and some spectators took notice causing them to stop and a couple to approach the incapacitated coach. As some students came over to him concern over their faces,
"Coach are you okay? Do we need to call someone" One of the people who approached asked him?
Percy held up a finger to the student to indicate to him to wait as he tried to recover his breath, they waited as he slowed and started to stop coughing before taking a deep breath. His face was visibly ashen compared to normal before he smiled at all the concerned students around him.
" Thanks, guys, I'm all okay don't worry though I think that's a good time to call it for today's training session" he spoke softly as the rest of the team started to get out of the pool as Percy sat deep in thought for a couple of minutes before looking down at the stained red notebook which shimmered over the page, he sighed as he walked over to a storeroom to clean up the mess he had left around the pool. Before continuing to a couple more classes.
The day continued fairly normally as Percy continued home before going to back his house. It was nothing special by any means but he called it home. It was a moderate-sized cabin, fairly isolated from the rest of the town giving him all the privacy he could need and allowing him to train and hunt in peace. Beside the house was a lake, which allowed him to enjoy the tranquillity of the water around him, he often used the lake when he was feeling stressed going to the bottom of the lake to collect his thoughts surrounded by his natural element. He quickly navigated his house, finding his bed before flopping onto it and promptly going to sleep, this is where the dreams started.