"There they are!" Jason yelled. Leo risked a glance over his shoulder. Jason was right. Right there, standing boldly, were the Doors of Death, right within the temple.
Leo remembered the deal he had struck with Nico. If Nico was somehow unavailable, Leo would close the Doors.
Lobbing a fireball at a monster, he searched for the familiar head of black hair. Leo and Nico had become very good friends. They were both outcasts in their own ways, the odd ones out, but two odd numbers make an even. Nico hated Leo sometimes, and sometimes Leo was scared of Nico. But their friendship worked like that. They comforted each other, and their pasts were similar enough that they were like brothers.
There. Nico was passed out. Leo cursed. Nico had been weak, but insisted on joining them to the temple. Leo's demeanor became a lot more serious once he realized that it was now upon his shoulders to close the Doors.
The group of demigods finished off the small army of monsters and dashed into the temple before any more could come. Leo dragged Nico in, and Frank slammed the temple doors shut.
"Now what?" Hazel asked.
"We wait for Percy and Annabeth." Frank answered, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. They sat for a while. Nico's breathing was returning to normal. Hades must realize he's here, Leo thought, gazing at Nico, and is healing him.
The sound of footsteps caused the demigods to shoot up, taking out their weapons. The walking sounds turned the corner, revealing Percy and Annabeth. They didn't look too good.
Percy's arm was bent the wrong way, he was covered in bruises, he had multiple gashes, and he was limping a little. Annabeth's ankle hadn't healed (in fact, it looked worse), and she was just as heavily injured as Percy. Annabeth was leaning heavily on Percy as they limped to their friends.
"Percy! Annabeth!" Piper cried, rushing forward. The group surrounded the two.
Leo, however, snuck around them. He went into Tartarus, and started dragging one of the doors closed. The doors were huge, and heavy, so it took Leo a while, but he did it. The door closed with a slam, catching the other demigods' attention. Leo was dragging the other door closed.
"Leo?" Percy asked, eyes wide.
"I made a promise. With Nico." Leo grunted. "If he couldn't close the Doors, I would."
An oath to keep with a final breath.
"Leo, you can't!" Piper said, tears pouring out of her eyes.
"Well, you guys can't either." Leo said. The door was almost closed now. "You need each other. And I can't break up a relationship of one of my friends like that.
"Percy." Leo said, dead serious. "You have to close the other doors. And get them to camp. Besides, you were a leader for both camps at one point, right? They'll listen to you.
"The rest of you guys should help out." Leo smiled grimly. "Oh, and tell Nico he snores."
The demigods were crying, all of them. Percy nodded. "Got it, Leo. Be careful."
Leo smiled. "Careful was never my strong point." He waved.
The Doors closed. The 'BAM' that shook the room woke Nico, who sat upright.
"What, who.." He paused when he saw the crying demigods and the doors closed from the inside. A gear clicked into place. "No..."
"Leo.."
With Leo...
Leo could hear the monsters approaching. He made a snap decision.
Setting his finger of fire, he focused hard enough to make it white-hot. He dragged it along the crack where the doors met, sufficiently welding them so they could never open again.
Leo pulled out a flaming 5-pound hammer from his belt. He faced the oncoming tsunami of monsters. He took a deep breath and steeled himself.
Soon, he was surrounded.