The explosion rocked Hazel to her core. When she saw Festus descend, she knew what Leo was planning. Only her and Frank knew, and they didn't stop him. Hazel had thrown herself headlong into the battle, trying to push the thought of Leo sacrificing himself to kill Gaea out of her mind. For a time, it worked. Her and Arion rode through the crowds, taking down enemies before they even knew she was there. She hated to admit it, but it felt good, in a way. Cathartic.
Then the sky burst into flames. It was an unignorable sign that Leo's plan had worked—or at least part of it had. He told Hazel and Frank that he planned to bring Gaea into the sky and explode himself. He figured he had the best chance of survival out of anyone, considering his resistance to fire. If that didn't work, Hazel had helped him trick Piper and take the Physician's Cure for himself.
Gods, Piper. Over the past couple of weeks, she and Hazel had gotten a lot closer, which Hazel loved. Hazel never had many friends, being the daughter of Pluto, and never any female friends. Hazel hoped that after their quest was done, she would be able to stay in touch with all her friends from the Argo II, but specifically Piper. Sometimes she needed to talk to a friend, and she never felt judged or nervous with Piper.
When they had been training, the two would just talk as if the world wasn't relying on them. Hazel told her about how weird it was adjusting to the modern world, and Piper talked to her about her confusion and ongoing wrestling match with her false memories of Jason. Hazel even told Piper about her brief experiences with Jason before he was mind-wiped and sent to the Wilderness School, which Piper seemed to appreciate. Hazel got the sense Jason didn't like to talk much about his life before meeting Piper and Leo. As much as they had already bonded, Hazel felt like it was on the cusp of even more, and she had been looking forward to building up their friendship over more time. If Piper felt betrayed and Hazel had messed it all up, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.
As the sky burned, Hazel held her breath. She tried to reach out with her senses to see if her friends had survived, which was tough, considering she was surrounded by death. She sighed a breath of relief when she saw Jason and Piper falling, and quickly getting scooped up by eagles, but she couldn't feel Leo. Or rather, she could feel that he had died.
Hazel didn't know how to feel. A sharp pain stabbed at her heart as she tried, again and again, to see if Leo was alive. She hoped he was somehow able to take the Physician's Cure, and she would feel his presence again, but after feeling out for the seventh time, she knew in her heart that he was gone. "No, no, no," she murmured to herself. Arion nickered as if to ask if she was alright. She wasn't.
Instinctively, instead of focusing her senses on the death around her, she reached out and detected all the precious metal nearby. There was a lot of it, most of it weapons from fallen monsters and demigods. She reached out, and within moments, bronze and gold knives, swords, axes, and various other armaments starting swirling around her and Arion. She figured she probably had about fifteen different weapons rotating around her, like moons around a planet. Arion whined apprehensively like he was worried about her and getting cut. In response, Hazel silently slipped off the saddle and touched the ground. Her cloud of weapons followed her. She knew her powers would exhaust her before long, but she didn't care. Her body was basically on autopilot at this point.
She saw a nearby squadron of monsters eying her, and before they had a chance to react, Hazel raised her spatha and rushed them. She didn't even need to swing her sword. The weapons around her responded to her thoughts and began swirling and slashing through the monsters. It took mere seconds for them to be a cloud of dust.
Hazel kept charging on and moved right through another group of monsters. Then another one. And another. She didn't know how many she had been through at this point. She didn't even know how long she had been doing it. Had she been fighting for minutes? Hours? Days? Hazel didn't know. Had she been yelling? Her throat was coarse, but she didn't remember opening her mouth. Then again, she didn't remember what kind of monster she killed last. She felt like she back in Asphodel, existing in a purgatory, conscious and aware, but also having no power to leave or change anything. She simply was. This was her life now.
She had never felt so angry and so helpless. During her time in the mortal world, there had always been something she could do. Gaea forced her to raise her son? Hazel sank him. Amazons imprisoned Percy and Frank? Hazel freed them. A giant and a sorceress were guarding the Doors of Death and were going to kill her friends? Hazel practiced with the Mist and beat them.
But now, Leo was gone, and she had helped him fool their friends. She couldn't do anything to change that. She was so unsure about everything, and for one scary moment, she wondered if it would be best to live in this state rather than face the uncertainty of the future. As soon as that thought crossed her mind, a soft voice called out, "Hazel?"
Hazel looked over and saw Frank, his armour torn to shreds, and his sword sheathed. "Hazel, the battle's over. We won," he said gently as he slowly approached her.
Suddenly, all of Hazel's exhaustion caught up to her. The weapons around her hit the ground with a klank. Her spatha slipped from her hand as her arms turned numb. She fell to her knees and tried to cry out in pain, but she was too tired. Frank quickly came to her side and wrapped his massive arms around her. "Hey, it's all going to be okay."
He said it, so sincerely, she couldn't help but believe him. No matter what happened next, they had each other. "L—" she tried to say, but she simply didn't have the energy.
Frank put his hand on her cheek and said, "I know." His voice was soft, as if he spoke too quickly or too forcefully, it would break. If anyone did know what she was going through, it was Frank. When did he get so good at controlling his emotions? She was so jealous, but also thankful he was there for her.
She finally had the strength to look up and walking towards them, she was sure she saw Leo, with his goofy smile and elvish features. There was no way he was alive. Was she so tired she was hallucinating? Was the Mist making her see what she wanted to see? She blinked, and the image of Leo was replaced with the form of her brother, Nico di Angelo.
She and Frank both looked at the son of Hades. He locked eyes with Hazel, and an understanding passed between them. They both felt Leo die. Nico's eyes fell to the ground, and Hazel saw his lips move, but she couldn't hear his words. Frank must have because he started to cry. His sobs were so quiet, Nico probably couldn't even hear. But Hazel did, and she couldn't stop herself from sobbing.