A short fic set in an alternate dimension where Leo Valdez dies trying to kill Gaea (but fails), and the seven go into hiding with the remaining demigods. The gods are all but gone.
She saw him fall.
Fall like a leaf in autumn, crumple to the ground and lie unmoving. She saw the flames flying, licking the sky. Fading into ashes as he turned into dust. Saw his body soar from a thousand miles away, alone on an island.
She felt him die.
She felt him die, felt his soul leave his body for the Elysium. Felt him abandon her like he said he never would.
Leo Valdez. You had the nerve to die?
And you, Gaea. The nerve of you. Killed him? Alright.
She could do much worse.
She had no one, nothing. Just a loose collection of wind, the memory of heroes that would never be hers, and a soot-covered angel that would never fly again.
They say that those who have nothing to lose are the most dangerous. That those who are filled only with anger and revenge on mind are those who will show no mercy to those who wronged them.
They were right.
She learned vast amounts in a year, taught herself to kill, to attack, to show no mercy. Wreaked havoc upon an empty field, tearing up dirt and bringing gusts of water down with her sorcery. Bursts of power tore from her body, her screams echoing across empty space, never to be heard by anyone, ever. She assimilated everything she could on an island on her own and sought to leave that island. When no raft came, she built up her own magic and flew off the island, never to return.
She came to civilization and found the world in ruins, and the Seven in hiding along with most of the demigods. Gaea stood victorious at the apex of destruction, and Death reigned over all.
Her vengeance came swiftly, sweetly. A single caramel fleck of dust, a mere spot, brought the sky down on the queen of Earth, lifted her up and ripped the life away from her. The heavens crashed down, the sky met the earth, and Chaos delighted in her luck.
And she brought everything back, put it all back like a puzzle, connecting the pieces and making them whole again.
Gaea fell.
She fell, and so did her conqueror. Mother Nature fell and dissipated into nothingness, the perfect example of a fallen deity.
Calypso fell to Earth a human and nothing else. A human who died saving those her loved one loved.
Died because she couldn't bear to see them being hurt anymore.
Died to save them all.
Died for love.