Prologue

They say that tragedy accompanies all heroes from the time they are born.

They say that the path of a hero is a jagged one, broken enough to break their minds, hearts, and souls.

They say that heroes are bound to a short life filled with agony and fear. With the constant pain of having everything they love ripped away from them, and fear of falling long before achieving vengeance.

They say that the moment heroes are born, The Fates arrange their marriage to death; a fate in and of itself typical for a mortal; if not for the fact that death commonly comes for a hero before they turn twenty in designs gruesome enough to be unfathomable.

Percy

I looked up into the night sky, the soft sound of waves lapping against the shores slowing my racing mind. I closed my eyes, letting a small sigh escape my lips.

It had been two years since I defeated Kronos. One year since the battle against Gaea. Two months since Annabeth and I decided to part ways.

I mean, I say that it was a mutual agreement but… I'd say I mutually agree now, at least.

I suppose it surprised people a little bit to know that I didn't explode into a rage of anger or sadness when I found out she'd decided that things weren't working out the best for the both of us. It also came as a shock to them when I remained in Camp Half Blood for the past two months and kept a cordial relationship with her.

I mean I knew that I am half a God, but I didn't expect people to assume I would react exactly like my father!

I chuckled to myself at that thought.

Of course, I'm bitter, angry, hurt and utterly confused; but there was just too much love between us for me to lash out at her for deciding to leave me.

I, myself, can't completely understand it either. I guess there was constantly so much pressure on the both of us to support each other as the Heroes of Olympus that we strayed too much from being boyfriend and girlfriend and settled at emotional supporters.

Perhaps that's why I couldn't bring myself to stop being close to her. Or maybe I'm still so deeply in love with her that I'm searching for any excuse to stay close to her, hoping one day she'd come back to me…

I sighed once more, shaking my head as I continued to lay on the sandy shore.

For the first time since I was twelve, there was no quest and no rampant emotional, near death adventure to occupy my mind. I had always longed for peace and the taste of this quiet, almost mortal life, had been marred by the pain of Annabeth leaving. With all this time to myself, I was left with no way to deal with these emotions; or at the very least, the way that had grown natural to me.

I had trained every day, dusk to dawn but found no reprieve. I took Blackjack and flew as far as I could and came back just as empty as I left. I took the time to make new friends in camp, focusing my energy on others as much as I could, but there was no fulfilment.

I trained new campers, I smiled and laughed with my friends, but on the inside I was hollow.

I could see the pitying gazes of those who knew me the longest, the constant inner turmoil swirled even when my green eyes met theirs. Though I was fond of their feigned ignorance of my plight, the moments when Chiron would just place his hand on my shoulder and not say a word for a moment or two was the response that I appreciated the most. No pitying eyes, no words to try to break me out of my despair, just a moment of silent understanding and consolation.

I opened my eyes slightly, gazing at the twinkling stars in the night sky. I smiled softly at the constellation of Zoë before pulling myself up onto my feet.

There was no way I was going to remain like this. I knew nothing was working right now, but there must be a time when happiness could find me like it used to. I refuse to give up on that thought.

I slipped my hand into the pocket of my blue jeans, pulling Riptide out and squeezing the pen tightly in my hand.

There had to be more for me than to just waddle in emotions. There must be something.

I decided to return to my cabin to sleep.

Tomorrow would be the day I took the first step at my new attempt at pulling myself back together.

A/N: One thing I regret about this, is not making notes after completing each chapter. It's the night before I post this and, as I read through it, I can't help the bittersweet memories that pop up from the inspiration for this chapter and story.

This chapter was really short, so I'll post another today. I might even post a few more chapters throughout the week to make up for their length and the length of time I've been on hiatus.

I can't quite describe how excited I am to finally be putting this project out to the world. Love it, hate it, have no feelings for it at all, thank you for taking the time to read it and decide that.

I hope everything is going great for you whenever you read this, and I'll see you at the next update.
-ZedricSOZ