Burning Embers

by Acaeria

A/N: Hi, welcome to my fan-fic, Burning Embers! The title is still subject to change, if someone can find anything better. Well, I just hope you enjoy and all that.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, or Heroes of Olympus. That honour is bestowed to Mr Rick Riordan, who, I think we can all agree, is master of cliffhangers.

Full Summery: The war is over. Gaia is defeated and the two camps are at peace at last. All loose ends are tied up- well, except for one. Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, was left in Tartarus and presumed dead.

However, when Rachel gives a prophecy and falls into a coma, the camps know only Leo can save them now. As the gods perish, the remaining seven plus Nico set off to the underworld, hoping to find their saviour.

However, upon finding Leo they realise he isn't the same as they had last seen him; he's quieter, more hesitant. Not to mention suicidal. Yet he saw something down in Tartarus, something that could save them all. When the time comes, and Olympus will either fall or be saved, will Leo tell? Will he even care anymore?

Chapter One

[Jason]

As he stood on the central green, Jason didn't feel such a stranger anymore.

When he'd first come to Camp Half-Blood, he'd felt as if this place was dangerous, as if he didn't belong- and he didn't, not really. His home was at Camp Jupiter, but being at the Greek Camp didn't bother him so much. After all, he was only visiting.

"Jason!" a voice screeched, and suddenly a slim figure barrelled into him. Next thing he knew, he was being kissed, and he was kissing back. When the kiss ended, he looked down to see his girlfriend Piper grinning at him. "I'm so glad you're here!" she said, her eyes blazing with happiness. "I've missed you so much! Frank and Hazel, too! Gods, it feels like it's been years!"

"You're rambling, Pipes," he told her in amusement, finally letting her step away from his embrace. She was practically dancing with happiness. "Besides, Annabeth and Percy are always here."

"I know, I know," she sighed. "But they're older than us and I- well, I don't know. They've been getting closer and closer since the war ended, and they have hardly any time to spend with me." The happy smile was replaced with a frown. "I just isn't the same here, not without… him." Jason felt his spirits sink. He didn't want to think about that. It always reminded him of how much of a failure he was. How he couldn't stop his best friend from willingly walking to his death.

"Don't mention it," he told her, choking back tears. "I don't want to think about him today. I came to spend the day with my girlfriend, not…" He trailed away, unable to say anything else. Piper nodded, taking a breath and brushing away a tear.

"You're right," she agreed, smiling. "Let's not think about that now. Come on, do you wanna have a picnic?"

"Sure," Jason agreed with a smile. "Sounds like fun." Piper nodded, back to her cheerful bouncing state once more.

"Come on then!" She took his hand and led him away from the cluster of cabins, which he still found bizarre. At Camp Jupiter, you were separated due to Cohort, but here it depended entirely on your godly parent. Some campers had a cabin to themselves (such as Percy, when his half-brother Tyson wasn't around). Jason wasn't sure if it was lucky or not. After all, when he had stayed in Cabin Number One several months ago, it had felt… unnatural. Especially with hippy Zeus watching him all the time.

Piper led him into the woods, where she dropped his hand and simply settled for letting him follow her. They passed a rock known as Zeus's fist, and a clearing where a satyr and a nymph were making out. Piper pulled a face. It amused Jason that Piper, the head councillor of the Aphrodite cabin, was a tomboy, unlike all her siblings. Then again, it was these things that made him love her.

Finally, they reached a clearing beside a small waterfall that flooded into the creek downstream. A picnic blanket was already spread out, with a basket lying on top. Jason could smell the wonderful aroma of food coming from it. As he stopped to stand beside Piper, he pulled her into a one-handed hug.

"You did this?" he asked, his lips just above her hair. She looked up, blowing her choppy hair out of the way.

"Well, I asked my cabinmates and charmspoke a couple of nymphs into helping, but yeah, let's say I did this." He chuckled and let her go, and together they sat down. Piper opened the basket and spread out the food, and Jason took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the moment. The food all looked amazing, all shaped and designed and the deserts were coloured lightly. However, he also paid attention to the way the golden sunlight filtered through the trees, illuminating the top of Piper's head and making her dark locks appear auburn. Like always, she was dressed down, in a pair of scruffy jeans and old Hello Kitty tank top. She looked up at him, her kaleidoscopic eyes glimmering with amusement.

"Well?" she said, trying to hide her laughter, and failing. "Are you just going to stare at me all day or are you going to eat?"

Allowing himself an amused chuckle, Jason helped himself to the food. It tasted just as good as it looked, if not even better. Eventually, they finished, and Jason sat back, allowing Piper to cuddle against him. He wrapped his arms around her and they sat for a while, thinking.

"You know what this reminds me of?" she asked. When Jason shook his head, she continued, "It reminds me of your birthday, the kalends of July. When we had that picnic in Rome." She sighed. "That was before everything went haywire."

"Piper, don't," he choked. He didn't want to talk about this. In all the four months since they'd returned home from their quest, they'd agreed not to speak of any of it. Of course, Jason knew they'd have to face it one day, but he didn't want that day to be today.

"No, Jason," Piper said, shaking her head. She raised one arm and tilted his chin so he was looking straight at her. Gods, she's beautiful, Jason thought. "We need to talk about this." Her eyes filled with tears. "I don't want to either, Jason, but we need to accept the truth." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and continued. "We have to realise… it happened. It happened, and we can't go back. Nothing will ever fix our mistakes. Percy and Annabeth really fell into Tartarus. Gaia almost rose. And, Leo…" Here the tears spilled, and her voice shook, but that didn't mar her beauty. No, she looked even prettier for it, if it was possible. She took another deep, halting breath and continued, her voice cracking. "Leo knew the risks. He knew what he was doing, and we knew we couldn't stop him. He walked willingly through those doors, knowing exactly what was on the other side. He sacrificed himself for us." Now, Jason could feel the tears burn his own eyes, and Piper's shoulders started to heave. "Jason…" she whispered. "Jason, Leo's dead." Then she fell into a fit of crying, burying her face in Jason's shoulder. Jason let his own tears spill, resting his head on hers. He had no idea how long they sat there- an hour? Two?- yet when they stopped, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off Jason's shoulders.

"Come on," Piper whispered, brushing the tears away from his eyes. "Let's… Let's go back to camp." Jason nodded, reaching out to wipe the tears from his girlfriend's face. They left the picnic stuff where it was ("I'll charmspeak the satyrs into doing me a favour," Piper told him) and set off back to camp. On the way, they passed a caramel-haired nymph singing to herself as she planted white flowers. Jason thought it was odd. When they reached the central green, they could see the campfire blazing.

"Will you stay the night?" Piper begged him suddenly. "Please?"

Jason knew he couldn't stay; Reyna was expecting him home for the senate meeting tomorrow. However, as he looked at Piper's tearstained face, he knew he couldn't refuse.

"Sure, Pipes," he replied softly. "Sure."

"JASON!"

"Wah- Whoa!" Jason groaned, picking himself up off the floor and glared at the Iris Message where Reyna was smirking angrily at him. He could hear Hazel laughing in the background.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"The senate meeting starts in an hour and you're still there!" Reyna snapped. The amused smirk had faded as quickly as it had come. Jason frowned.

"What do you mean- Styx!" he yelped. "Gods, Reyna, I'm so sorry, Piper asked me to stay and I forgot-"

"Never mind," Reyna said with a sigh. "I know you haven't seen your girlfriend in a while, Jason, it's perfectly natural to want to spend time with her."

"Yeah," Hazel agreed, appearing behind Reyna. She was dressed in her Camp Jupiter t-shirt and riding clothes, with her centurion's badge pinned in her hair. She had gotten the rank after Dakota had been crippled fighting against Cyclopes in the war. "How is Beauty Queen, anyway? What about Percy and Annabeth?"

"Piper's great," Jason replied, pulling his Camp Jupiter t-shirt on over his head as he spoke. "She's still upset about everything… but aren't we all? As for Percy and Annabeth… I haven't seen them. I'll tell them you said hi?"

"Sure," Hazel agreed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Then, she stilled for a moment, before yelling, "Coming!" She turned back to Jason. "Gotta go, Frank wants me."

"Have fun, Haze," Jason replied with a wave. Hazel went walking off, disappearing from view. Jason could hear the slam of a door closing.

"Anyway, I'll let you go then?" Reyna asked. Jason nodded. "Okay. Be back by Friday, alright? Also, if anything happens whilst you're there- if you get roped in for a quest or anything like that- IM me, okay?"

"Sure," Jason agreed. "Why? Do you think something's going to happen?" Reyna shook her head, frowning as if trying to dislodge an unwelcome thought.

"No, it's just this feeling I have." She sighed. "Bye, Jason." With that, the IM dissipated, becoming droplets of mist on the floor. Jason felt his insides go cold. Reyna had a feeling? Last time she'd pulled him aside to tell him she had a bad feeling, he'd been abducted by Juno and had his memories wiped. Whatever Reyna's feeling was about, he knew it wasn't going to be good.

He wandered up to the dining pavilion. Percy and Annabeth were sat at the Nep- Poseidon table, talking together in hushed voices. Jason winced as he saw the scars on their skin. Even though it hadn't been his fault, Jason still felt bad for them falling into Tartarus. He shook his head. No, he wasn't going to think of that place. Thinking of Tartarus always brought Leo to mind.

"Hazel says hi," he told them as he passed the table. The two of them looked up, startled.

"Jason!" Percy says with a familiar grin. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"I came yesterday," Jason replied with a laugh, taking a seat at the Jup- Zeus table, which was right next to theirs. A moment later, Piper came to join him, bringing her breakfast with her.

"Hey, Jason!" she greeted. Then, she twisted around to speak to Percy and Annabeth. "Hi guys!" She turned back to Jason. He grinned, taking a bite of his toast.

"Hazel says hi," he told her. Piper's eyes lit up, like they always did when she was happy.

"Oh, you spoke to Hazel? When did-" She cut herself off, gasping and clasping her hands to her mouth. "Oh, gods, the senate meeting!" she gasped. "Jason, I'm so sorry, I didn't think-"

He cut her off with a laugh. "Don't mention it Pipes, I spoke to Reyna and she gave me until Friday to stay here. So, I guess you're stuck with me."

Piper smiled. "That's good." At that moment, her bagel was snatched from her hands by a grinning Annabeth Chase. Piper glared at her. "Oh, I'll get you back for that, Owl Head," she teased, leaping up and grabbing Annabeth's eggs. Satisfied, the two girls sat down with each other's breakfast and began to eat. Jason shook his head.

"I still have no idea why you do that," he said with a laugh. Over Piper's shoulder, Jason spotted Rachel chatting with Percy and Annabeth. Then, suddenly, she swooned. His eyes widened. "Piper, what's going on with Rachel?"

Piper twisted around just in time to see Percy jump up and grab her before the mortal girl fell to the ground. Green mist began to wreathe around her, and she didn't move at all. Her eyes were closed, and she opened her mouth to speak, more foul smoke billowing out. By now, the entire camp had fallen silent, fixed on Rachel in Percy's arms.

"When all threats are gone (or so it seems) a ritual happens in the dark," Rachel stated, her voice strange and raspy. Jason felt a shudder travel down his spine. This is unnatural, he thought. The green fog had almost completely screened Rachel and Percy from view.

"An ancient beast will be sacrificed to the gods' life-spark

The walls of Olympus come tumbling down

The king of prophesy gives up his crown

Only one knows where the answers can be found

The son of the fire god, trapped deep underground

Seven shall set forth to the place where the shadows lie

Only seven shall survive

When all prophesy is gone and Olympus is unable to raise

The world shall drown in the final blaze."

Then the green smoke cleared, revealing an unnerved Percy and a half-asleep Rachel. The girl's eyes were open halfway.

"Listen," she croaked. "I don't have much time. That was the next Great Prophecy. The gods are dying…" She coughed. Campers gasped, several leaping to their feet. Jason had seen Rachel issue a prophecy before, but she hadn't been like this… weak, as if she were dying. The blood in Jason's veins turned to ice. What had Reyna said? No, it's just this feeling I have. Jason knew that something was about to go very wrong. Likewise, he knew that he wouldn't be home by Friday. Sorry, Reyna, he thought.

"The seven are needed again," Rachel continued. "I-I can't help. The gods are dying, and so are prophecies. I wont awake until the Olympians are either saved or destroyed." Her eyes fluttered closed. "You're on your own this time. If you fail… Well, you heard. 'The world shall drown in the final blaze.' Go. G-Go. Save the world again. I…" If Jason didn't know better, he'd say the oracle was crying. "I believe in you…" Then her body sagged in Percy's arms, and her breathing slowed. Percy seemed panicked.

"Rachel!" he cried, struggling to hold her up. "Rachel, Rachel answer me!"

"Percy," interrupted a voice, and every eye in the clearing turned to see Chiron the centre. "You heard Miss Dare. The gods are dying, and if the gods die, so will the Spirit of Delphi. The quest in question is not only for the life of the gods, but also of our oracle." He looked grave. "If someone would be good enough to carry Miss Dare to the cave, I believe a Council is in order." Then, the centaur turned to look directly at Jason. "And, Mr Grace, if you would be kind enough to Iris Message our friends at Camp Jupiter, as well as Nico di Angelo, I fear they have a part to play in this also."

A/N: I apologise if anyone is OoC, I'm new at this. Also, Piper, why must you monologue and make me cry?

Oh, and to anyone who's reading this, you see that little button that says 'review'? I'd really appreciate it if you pressed it. Not that I'm threatening you or anything (that'll come later...)