Heyy. I have this short one shot for all of you guys! I finished The Blood of Olympus last night, and I really wanted a concise ending to help me, and of course others, feel better about the ending. If any of you are reading my other PJO story, don't worry. I think I'm going to continue it and finish it, I just haven't really had the time. (*hint* there may be a new chapter up today) Please drop a review!
So here it is! Enjoy!
Warning: If you haven't finished The Blood of Olympus, then I would advise you to not read this one shot: it was spoilers.
Jason and Piper climbed back down the ladder into cabin one. Silence hung in the air, the silence that should've been filled with a corny joke from their best friend. But Leo was dead. They would never hear one of his jokes again.
Hand in hand, they went to the pavilion for breakfast. Parting ways, Piper went to the Aphrodite table and Jason went to sit at the vacant Zeus table. Nico slid into the seat across from Jason.
"Hey, man," Nico said. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay I guess. It still hurts," Jason replied.
"Yeah, I felt that way after Bianca..."
"You don't have to talk about it," Jason hurriedly said. "I understand."
"No!" Nico protested. "I have to... have to tell you." Nico was fighting for the right words. "When Bianca died, part of me died with her. I was lost; she was the only connection to our mother I had left. She was the last part of my past. Her death affected me more than anything else; more than finding out I was the son of Hades.
"I blamed Percy for putting her in danger, but in truth, she risked her life for all of us. Percy didn't tell her to go stop that robot, she decided to do that. She knew that when in danger, the Hunters became mortal; she knew the possibility of death was real. And yet she lept into harm's way for us.
"I can see that Leo's death has affected you in the same way. The expression in your eyes is of sadness, of lost. You miss him, and so does Piper. But you can't blame Leo for sacrificing himself. He wanted to defeat Gaea. He knew what the prophecy was saying. He knew one of the seven would die. He chose to take the matter into his own hands so the people he loved most would survive. He did that for you, Jason, and he did it for Piper. Don't let Leo's sacrifice be in vain; honor him, don't mourn him," Nico finished, standing up. "I'm going to see Will. Think about what I said." He left, leaving Jason alone with his thoughts.
Jason sat there, looking after the son of Hades. No one had had the guts in the past few days to tell Jason anything like that. He thought everyone would walk on glass around him, that no one would confront him. But Nico had guts, he told Jason to suck it up and get over Leo, but he didn't say forget Leo. Leo would always be a force in Jason's life, just like Percy, and Rome, and Greece; he just wouldn't be present for the rest of it.
Jason stood up, and walked out of the pavilion without eating anything. Piper was too busy stirring her cereal glumly to notice Jason leave, but that was okay with him. He wanted to be alone for a bit. Jason walked to Bunker 9, where he knew he could find Leo's workshop.
Jason snuck in after a couple of Hephaestus kids. He quickly made his way to Leo's workshop, hoping none of the other kids would notice what he was doing. Jason paused at the door, steadying himself for what lay beyond that door. Taking a deep breath, Jason pushed open the door slowly.
Papers were strewn all over; drafts for the Argo II were on the floor and bulletin board, drafts for capulets and bastille on the workbench, and other for things Jason couldn't identify, but could tell they were important to Leo.
Tears sprang to Jason's eyes, and he wiped them away. He closed the door and walked around the room slowly. The workshop was going to be cleaned out, so new Hephaestus kids could use it when they got to camp; Leo's work would just become a memory, just like that kid, Beckendorf, who died in the Second Titan War.
Jason almost panicked when this realization came over him. Leo couldn't just become a memory. He couldn't be forgotten except for when the story of the Giant War was told to younger campers. Jason looked around, trying to find the best draft, or picture, or something he could take for him and Piper to have. Jason searched the room, looking under all the drafts and the loose parts Leo had strewn across the workbench. Jason pushed aside another first draft of the Agro II to find a picture frame.
The picture was of the three of them after they has completed their first quest. Jason and Piper were standing with their arms around each other, smiling politely at the camera. Leo was kneeling in front of them, his forearms resting on his right knee, his hands dimly flickering from the fire licking his finger tips. He had that goofy grin on his face, letting you know that he was cool with life.
Jason knew how much this picture had met to Leo; it was the first picture of the three of them that they all remembered and that actually happened. Nothing at the Wilderness School counted because those were all false memories planted by Hera. Leo was the only one with the copy; he didn't want it to get lost in the Aphrodite cabin or forgotten in Zeus's.
Jason picked up the frame, and held it close. This would be the last remaining thing of Leo's Jason and Piper would have. This picture back when they took life one quest at a time, when the prophecy didn't scare them as much as it did when they were aboard the Argo II. Jason quickly slipped the photo frame behind his back and crept out of Bunker 9.
At least now Jason and Piper had a picture of their trio, and no matter what happened to the remaining two, Leo would always be with them.
Leo felt bad for letting his friends believe he was dead. Well, he had died, but thanks the the Physician's cure, he was okay. He was better than okay- Calypso was holding onto his waist as they rode to who knows where. Festus was damaged, but it was nothing Leo couldn't fix.
"Is everything okay?" Calypso asked, picking up on Leo's quietness.
"Yeah, I guess. I just... I Feel bad for letting my friends believe I am dead. I only did that to come get you, but it... it still hurts. They don't know that I have come to get you. Hazel and Frank knew I kept the Physician's cure, but they think I died and that there was no one there to give it to me," Leo confided. "It was an awful thing to pull, but I had to rescue you."
"That doesn't mean you had to die and then come back to life and not tell them," Calypso chided. "But what you did was the only thing you could do; to rescue me without them knowing you had to die and administer the Physician's cure yourself. Yeah, it was a dumb move, but you will soon be reunited with them. You can explain everything then."
Leo silently nodded. Calypso was right, there was no other way Leo could've gotten her within a reasonable time if he had decided to live- the camp had to be fixed, people had the be healed, dead had to be buried. There would've been no time to come to Ogygia.
"I missed you, Leo," Calypso said, hugging him tighter. "I sat on the beach every day since you left, waiting for you to return."
"And I had one of my friends draw a sketch of you so I could have a piece of you," Leo said, trying not to let his voice crack. "It was hard for me to stay cool, what with Frank and Hazel, Piper and Jason, Percy and Annabeth. I was the only one without someone there for me to confide in as they confided in each other. Sure, I told Hazel and Frank about my plan, but that's not the same. They had someone there at the battle they wanted to protect."
"You had me," Calypso said, burying her head into Leo's shoulder. "The memory of your promise had to have kept you grounded."
"Yeah, but there was also the possibility I would still be dead and not have the Physician's cure given to me at the right time."
"But it was, and here we are, flying away from Ogygia toward a new life for the two of us," Calypso soothed. "We are together again."
Leo smiled "Yeah."
Festus creaked, letting Leo know they would have to land soon, otherwise they might not be able to make it back to Camp Half-Blood.
"Okay buddy, as soon as we hit the mainland, we'll land and I'll take a look at you," Leo said, mentally kicking himself for not checking Festus out when they landed on Ogygia. Leo prayed to his father, asking for help getting to the mainland without falling out of the sky.
"Are you sure your metal dragon can make it to land? He seems to be in bad shape," Calypso asked worriedly.
"Oh yeah, Festus is strong; he was once the figurehead of my ship after he was destroyed a few months before," Leo said. "He can pull us through." Festus creaked in agreement.
"Okay, Leo. I trust you," Calypso responded, hugging Leo tighter. Leo smiled again, and spurred Festus higher.
Calypso and Leo would make it to the mainland, no matter how damaged Festus was. Leo would fix Festus as best as he could, and the three of them would fly back to Camp Half-Blood where they would be reunited with Jason, Piper, Annabeth, Percy, and hopefully Frank and Hazel. Hopefully none of them tried to kill him when they returned.
"I love you," Calypso whispered. "You are unlike any other hero who has showed up on my island. You are the only one who has made a lasting impression and who actually kept your promise to get me off the island."
Leo was shocked. No one had told him that, not since his mother died in the workshop. Piper and Jason were the closest he had to family, but they weren't big on saying they loved him. The Hephaestus kids were like distant cousins you knew, but didn't really know. They were a constant force in his life, but they never really gave him much attention; Leo was too busy working on the Argo II. But Calypso, she had helped him through this last week, he had gone through with his plan because of her. She was the only person he felt so connected with, the only person who promised to wait for him. She was the only one who had kept her promise.
"I love you too," Leo responded, twisting around to give Calypso a kiss on the cheek. "Let's get to the mainland so we can get back to Camp Half-Blood as fast as possible."
"I'd like that, new places to see," Calypso said, smiling brightly.
So that's that! I hope you liked it! Please check out my other stories if you would like. I hope you have a great day/ night.
Please review!
Happy reading! :)
