Hey guys, this fic is dedicated to the one and only RandiconNinja9 because she is the one who actually came up with this idea. Hats off to you(though I don't wear them. Those things can get scratchy)
They were going to fall.
They were going to fall and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Because they were hanging off the precipice. Leo by his fingernails with Nico clutching his feet.
They were so far beyond saving that not for the life of him could Leo understand why the others were still there, gawping as if they could somehow help. As if they could, by some miracle, pull them up when they couldn't possibly reach them, even they made a human chain.
It was a lost cause and Leo knew it. And he would bet Nico knew too.
Everything had gone horribly wrong when the spider web had caught on to Annabeth. Everything had gone wronger when Nico had tried to cut it.
Of course, Nico couldn't have known Leo would go after him.
He couldn't have known he was going to die if he tried to save Annabeth.
Leo knew that.
Leo also knew that if di Angelo went down that hell hole, he would go down with him.
Leo also knew that he was giving all his friends false hope by holding on to the ledge.
So he let go.
And as he clung on to the son of Hades like a lifeline, he knew that this was how it was all supposed to end for them.
The third line of the prophecy kept playing in his head .
An oath to keep with the final breath.
He knew what he had told Nico when they had gotten him out of the jar.
"I promise I will never let anyone hurt you again, Nico di Angelo. Never."
This was how they were always meant to be.
This was how the Fates had intended them to die.
This was how they were meant to go down.
Holding on to each other.
In each other's arms.
Hearing each other breath.
Together.
That was his last thought as everything went black.
And for once, Leo Valdez had nothing to smile about.