The Son of Vulcan | ✓

V

Percy

Percy hadn't wanted to hang up. He made Hazel, Reyna, and Frank promise to visit or talk again soon, and he hung up.

Everyone crashed in his cabin.

Since there were only six bunks, and one was his, they all kind of had to squish in. Piper and Jason attempted to share a bunk, and it worked out okay...at first. They ended up splitting up for more room. Leo and Calypso, who he had noticed were completely inseparable, shared a bunk and fell right asleep. Nico curled up in his own bunk, and he smiled in his sleep. Percy was happy to see that.

He and Annabeth took his bunk. She squished between the wall and him and fell asleep fast, a content smile tugging at her lips. Percy thought it was completely adorable, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. My Wise Girl, he thought with a smile.

Unlike the others, Percy couldn't sleep.

He'd been suffering from some sort of insomnia since the end of their journey as the Seven, his only relief coming from when he was so exhausted he thought he'd drop dead and would collapse on his bed. He'd be out for a solid twelve hours, wake up refreshed, and then wouldn't sleep for another three days. It was a tiring cycle, but it was one Percy couldn't break. He wouldn't have been able to, anyway. His head was buzzing, and he was very awake.

He slipped out of bed and wrote a short note for the others so they wouldn't worry when they awoke. Then, he snuck out of his cabin and walked, determined to watch the sun rise over the Long Island Sound.

When he reached the beach, he kicked off his shoes and let his bare feet sink into the cool sand. He picked his way down to the shoreline and dropped down, sitting and watching the tide roll in. It was oddly relaxing, but Percy was still wound tight.

Percy could feel the end coming like a tidal wave crashing over him. Not the end of his life--that, he knew, would not come for many years. No, this was a different kind of end--the beginning of a new age, a new era. A new part of his life. The end of one chapter and beginning of another.

Gone, he knew, were the days of Percy Jackson, one of the Seven in the prophecy and the one that took down Kronos (or so everyone thought). Percy felt that that phase of his life was ending as surely as he would have felt the ending of a beloved novel or movie. He felt its approach like a slow death.

It was a bittersweet feeling. Percy was glad, on one hand, that he would no longer suffer at the hands of the titans or Gaea. He wouldn't be on the front lines of any heavenly wars anytime soon (he hoped). But at the same time, he would miss the thrill of quests, the feeling of accomplishment it brought when everyone succeeded and survived. The approach of autumn meant school and no Camp Half-Blood. And after he graduated, he and Annabeth would go to New Rome. He didn't even know if he'd ever return to camp. Some part of him told him that after he left, he wasn't meant to go back.

His throat was thick with what he assumed were tears, but he didn't feel like crying. There had been enough tears shed in the past month. He didn't need any more sadness for a long while.

Percy almost wished he could be like Jason--the pontifex maximus, going back and forth between camps constantly in order to appease the gods. Jason, he decided, was lucky. Jason could have both camps. He wouldn't ever have to give them both up, because it was his job.

Percy watched the sun rise, watched the sky turned gray and pink and blue. And he decided that he wouldn't let it be the end if he didn't want it to be. It would be the end for him. But not for Nico, not for this other girl, not for Jason or Piper or Leo. Not for Frank or Hazel or even Reyna. It was the beginning for some, the middle for others. An end for him was no true end. And it wouldn't be an end, not even after he died. He would have a legacy, he knew. He would live on.

As the sun rose, Percy found himself completely at peace knowing that his time as a hero had ended. He didn't look up, but he knew that above him, the stars and black of night were fading from view. It was a new dawn. A new day. A new beginning.

Percy decided that he liked beginnings.