A/N: I don't know what I was thinking. This is really sad. I wrote it because I wanted to explore what might have happened had the gods been a bit more threatened by our favorite demigods. Coming up with this was hard.
This does diverge from canon after a bit. Frank still has his wood and is still cursed by Juno, though I heard that he loses the curse in Tyrant's Tomb. I didn't read it though, Burning Maze turned me away from that series for a while.
Okay, now I'm rambling a bit.
Anyway, Happy Reading as always! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HOO.
They won.
After weeks and months of preparation, fighting, and tears, they have beaten Gaea. And that night, they all sit under Thalia's tree and look at the stars, so happy, so alive, and it's just peaceful. They talk about their plans for the future, and at that moment, they feel unstoppable.
In the end, Hazel will say they should have known.
The gods are anything but merciful, and if seven demigods can take down the earth goddess, then who's to say they can't destroy the rest of them.
They lose Jason first.
He was roped into a quest to help Apollo retain his godhood. They needed to fight Caligula. Jason knew they were coming. Knew that he was going to embark on this final quest. Piper was there too. They both knew- Jason accepted it more- that one of them was going to die. One of them wouldn't make it out alive. It didn't matter. They went anyway.
The worst part was that Jason knew it would be him from the beginning.
If you seek out the emperor, one of you will die.
And the one to die was Jason.
Piper was hysterical. She and Jason may have broken up, but anyone could see they still cared for each other. And when Hazel saw the coffin for the first time, realizing Jason was in there, she had felt a mixture of anger at the gods and horror that he had been taken from them so soon. She told the remaining demigods of the last prophecy, and although they didn't all make it to the funeral, they gathered together and mourned at Camp-Half-Blood.
Everyone is grief-stricken. This wasn't supposed to happen. They were going to be happy, to live their lives in peace. They stand around Jason's shroud, none of them saying a word as they honor their friend. The only one who isn't crying is Percy, who looks deep in thought, his green eyes calculating as if forming a plan.
Hazel meets them, and he shakes his head, almost imperceptibly, as if to tell her don't worry about me.
She doesn't.
Not even three months later, they lose Piper too. The mortal newspapers say that it was a mugging gone wrong. Five people had come up to her as she was walking back to her apartment from a date. She hadn't made it.
Half-bloods knew better.
It was Empousi. Five of them, armed with charmspeak and swords. Piper was a skilled fighter, but these ones came after her with a vengeance. The words "in the name of Gaea" were written on a note folded in her pocket.
It was horrible. Just as some life was coming back to her, she had lost all of it.
Everyone was in absolute shock. So soon after Jason, and again, everyone except Percy sobs at the funeral. He looks more angry than sad if anything, standing at Piper's shroud with a hard look on his face, fists clenched. Annabeth's looking at him in concern, whispering to him. He murmurs back, and the look on her face is one of horror and realization.
That night, Hazel sees him sitting on the dock alone, staring out at the water ahead.
Hazel hesitantly walks up next to him.
"I'm worried," He murmurs softly. Hazel says nothing at first, sitting down beside him. They listen to the waves on the shore and look at the stars reflecting on the lake.
"About what?" Hazel finally asks. Percy doesn't look at her, but he says, in a voice that she can barely hear,
"The gods. They don't care." Hazel frowns and stares at him.
"You think that they did this on purpose?"
"Two of the most powerful demigods of this generation have been killed within the year, Hazel. It can't be a coincidence." Hazel feels a churning in her stomach, and knows without a doubt that he's right.
A year passes before the next tragedy strikes.
This time, it's Leo.
He and Calypso were taking a tour of the world. Leo was taking her anywhere she desired. They were prepared to live happily ever after, prepared to start a life together.
And then the venti came. Dozens of them. They never even stood a chance. For some reason, Calypso lived. She hasn't spoken a word since. New campers are starting to think she's mute. And she is, but it's by choice. The funeral is awful, and now only four of the seven demigods of the prophecy are left.
It can't be a coincidence
Percy's words from a year ago are swimming to her consciousness, and it's with anxiety in her heart that she travels to the place where Leo and Calypso had crash-landed. The wreckage of the bronze dragon Festus is littered around the crash site, and Hazel stands in the middle of it. The charged air, full of electricity confirms her suspicions. She barely notices the celestial bronze moving toward her as fury overtakes her heart and threatens to spill out.
It can't be a coincidence
The conversation she overhears a month later between Percy and Annabeth makes her want to cry.
"They're picking us off one by one, aren't they?" Annabeth whispers as the four remaining demigods sit in the Praetor's quarters at Camp Jupiter. Evidently, she thinks Frank and Hazel are asleep, because Annabeth is speaking in a vulnerable, scared voice, something she doesn't ever show to anyone.
"Yeah. They are," Percy whispers back. Annabeth is silent for a moment before she asks,
"Who do you think it will be?" After a heavy, dark silence, Percy finally responds in a strained voice.
"I don't know," he says, "But I don't care. I won't let anyone else die."
"Except for you," Annabeth says in a small voice. "You won't hesitate to die for one of us." They don't speak for a long time, and Hazel thinks they've fallen asleep when Annabeth speaks again. "You promised me, Percy. You said we'd stay together."
Percy doesn't reply.
It's cruel how quickly the next incident happens.
A wave of monsters is attacking Camp Jupiter. What for, no one knows, but Hazel, Frank, Percy, and Annabeth all know that this is it. Either all will make it out alive, or only three. Percy is determined, certain that they will live. So they fight. For a moment, they appear to be okay, and Hazel feels slightly relieved.
That is, until she sees a bronze dagger sail in Annabeth's direction. And she feels a sense of dread as she realizes who is going to leave them next.
She's wrong.
When Percy catches sight of the dagger, a strangled cry exits his lips, and he throws himself in front of it.
It catches him right in the chest.
Hazel has seen grief before. She saw Piper having a meltdown after Jason's death. Witnessed Percy struggle to get his memory back. She's spoken to the wounded after battles, watching people try to cling to their lives for their loved ones. As a praetor, she's had to deliver condolences to families for fallen soldiers of New Rome. Yes, Hazel has seen grief.
But nothing can compare to the scream that comes from Annabeth's lips. Had she not seen it, Hazel would never believe Annabeth could make such a sound.
She drops to her knees next to Percy, who is breathing heavily, crimson blood pooling on his chest.
Hazel watches helplessly as Annabeth tries to staunch the blood, but she knows it's no use. If the gods don't want him to be healed, he won't be. Percy seems to realize this and reaches to grab her wrist. Their eyes meet, and although Hazel can't understand what they're saying, she knows it's personal.
So she tears her eyes away from the scene to see the monsters retreating. Blood pounds in her ears as thoughts whirl in her head. They've accomplished their mission, she thinks.
Annabeth screams Percy's name again, and then pleads over and over again,
"Stay with me, stay with me, stay with me."
But the pleadings are fruitless.
Percy Jackson dies a hero.
That comforts some people. The funeral is combined of both camps, and Annabeth speaks, barely managing to get through without breaking into sobs.
But after, Hazel can never look at Annabeth the same way again. It's as if she has lost part of her soul. She tries to move on, she really does, but anyone can see the tortured, broken look that resides in her eyes.
And then there were three.
Frank is the next one to die.
They were on a quest. Stuck in a freezing ice cavern. There was no way out, and it was sooner or later that they would freeze to death. There was absolutely nothing they could do.
But Frank wasn't going to let Hazel die.
So he got out his firewood and lit it, trying to keep her warm. And oh, she tried to stop him. She begged and begged for him to stop, but he kept it burning. The words he said to her plague her every day.
It was only a matter of time Hazel; this was going to happen anyway. But I do get to choose how I die. And I like my choice.
They spent the rest of the time holding each other, the firelight of Frank's lifeline keeping them warm. Hazel eventually fell asleep, and when she woke up, she lay on a cot in the hospital. Immediately, she had asked about Frank. The look Lavinia and Dakota gave her let her know exactly what happened.
Hazel forgets every morning, expecting him to be there to greet her with a chocolate chip muffin and a smile. It breaks her heart, and she misses him so badly it hurts. Dakota is the new Praetor, and even though most end up dating or getting together, he has the grace not to expect anything from her.
Hazel pushes along, and when she and Annabeth meet again, they mourn not just Frank, but everyone else.
I like my choice, he had said.
Hazel didn't.
Annabeth is next.
Five demigods all live in the same building, and Annabeth was supposed to get them to Camp Half-blood. Coach Hedge went as well. It was routine, they'd done it a hundred times before.
This time it fails.
They were almost to the border, but the Minotaur had been chasing them. The younger demigods made it across with Hedge.
Annabeth didn't.
Hazel feels the death two thousand miles away in New Rome. She feels a crushing sadness as she realizes she's the only one left.
Hazel had never seen Chiron so horribly sad. Not even when Percy had died. The funeral is solemn and awful. Thalia Grace is there, and just cries and cries and cries. And Hazel can't take it anymore. She leaves the funeral and hides in the Hades cabin for hours, and Nico is the one who finally finds her, huddled up in the corner.
He comforts her, and she doesn't know when death will come for her, but it will come, and soon. Nico seems to know exactly what she's thinking.
"I won't let you die," he says firmly. "I've lost enough family already."
Hazel doesn't have the heart to tell him that if the gods want her dead, then there's really nothing he can do for her.
When death finally does come for her, she's coming back from Camp Half-Blood. Hazel resists. She stares at the monsters in front of her and fights, but it's her against three hellhounds, and she knows she won't survive this encounter.
She manages to kill the first hound, but when she turns, Pluto himself is standing before her. They look at each other, and Hazel feels so much anger for this god, for allowing this to happen. For allowing the gods to kill her best friends.
"You're going to kill me now?" She asks, trying to be brave. Her father looks at her, wearing a neutral expression.
"No. I'm here to give you a choice," He says carefully. Hazel scoffs, folding her arms.
"A choice," she echoes angrily. "You and the rest of the gods didn't give anyone else a choice." When he doesn't reply, she closes her eyes, and asks. "Why are you doing this?" Pluto sighs.
"In truth, my dear, I never wanted to. Most of us didn't. But Zeus... paranoid. The seven of you took down the most formidable enemy. Who's to say you won't destroy the rest of them."
"We weren't," Hazel chokes out, opening her eyes. "You know we wouldn't. We all had so much to live for. Jason, Piper, Leo, Percy, Annabeth." "And Frank." The lord of the underworld bows his head. In shame or acknowledgment, Hazel doesn't know.
"I'm sorry," He says. "Truly, I am." Anger bubbles up inside her, and she raises her voice to a shout as she says.
"No you're not! None of you are, or else my friends would still be alive!" There was silence after Hazel's outburst, and she was certain that she had signed her death warrant then and there.
"It doesn't matter anymore," Pluto says softly after a long moment. "They're all gone. There's nothing you can do for them now. You can't change their destinies." Pluto opens the ground, and the remaining hellhounds fall through. He meets her eyes. "but you can choose yours."
"What?" Hazel asks wearily.
"As you may recall, I came here to offer you a choice." Pluto frowns, taking out his sword.
"What choice?" Hazel backs away, fully prepared to fight the king of the underworld if need be. She'll lose, of course, but she'll go down fighting. Everyone else did.
"You can stay here, and run. The gods on Olympus will keep trying to kill you whether you like it or not. It will be painful." Hazel doesn't move.
"Or?"
"Or I can transport you to the underworld myself. End your life in an instant. You will be dead, yes, but avoid the painful way the others will inflict upon you."
Hazel lowers her sword in surprise.
She's tempted. A peaceful death would be nice. And if she were honest with herself, she knows that she really doesn't want to feel pain. Hazel is on the brink of accepting her father's proposal when she thinks of her friends. Of everyone in Elysium waiting for her, who all died horrible, painful, deaths. She knows they all suffered. How they all went down fighting.
Yes, Hazel doesn't want to be in pain. But she's a fighter. She won't give in just yet. She can't. What kind of demigod would she be if she did nothing? All her friends suffered death, and she would too.
Pluto's face fills with sadness, as if he knows exactly what she's thinking.
"Very well, my daughter," he says. "I see. You may get as far as Camp Jupiter's borders, so your fellow Romans know what happened to you."
And he's gone.
True to his word, her father protects her until she reaches the borders. In the end, a pack of gorgons get her. In the end, Hazel will say they all should have known.
The gods are anything but merciful.
So she closes her eyes, and when she opens them, she smiles for the first time in ages.
Fitting that the daughter of Pluto feels whole in death.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. I've been trying to work on this for a while, so I hope it's to your liking.
Also: I wrote this in a way to make their deaths a little underwhelming, specifically to show that even though the seven was powerful, they aren't invincible. And Zeus is the worst imo, so that's why I chose him as this instigator. in my mind, I think that most of the gods are not onboard with killing off the seven, but they sort of complied in order to avoid a "war" with Zeus. The rest were just afraid, so they offered their support.
Also, I don't know if any of you caught this, but Percy's death was meant to reflect Annabeth taking the knife for him in TLO... the only difference is that he dies.
Oops, I'm rambling again.
Comments/Reviews are always appreciated!
Thanks for reading! :)