A/N at the end of the chapter.
I don't own PJO/HoO

Chapter forty-six: A Fate Fulfilled
~Leo's POV~

Leo had decided that Rome was not going on his top ten favourite vacation spots list.
First, Hazel, Frank and himself had been trapped and almost killed again by Eidolons, making Leo have to break open that damned fortune cookie in order to use the Archimedes sphere. Every time he thought of the sacrifice he would have to pay, his hands trembled.
But no, that hadn't been enough bad luck for one day! After barely escaping Gaia's clutches, and rescuing the others from the Colosseum, the freaking ship had to stop working.
Leo had no idea how it had happened, but they'd barely flown out of the arena, when Festus' lights had shut down, the oars had stopped moving and the engine room ground slowly to a halt.
He'd barely managed to crash land in a nearby park, luckily not hitting any tourists in the process.
And now here they were, broken down, with Annabeth still missing, an unconscious Nico di Angelo

on their hands and no idea why their only method of transportation had broken.
Leo was furious and scared, though he didn't want to admit that to the others. The truth was, only
something powerfully magical could have had this effect on the Argo II, and Leo really didn't want to find out what it was.
The others all had panicked looks on their faces as well, all except Nico, who was asleep, and Penelope, who seemed oddly calm.
"It's no use!" Leo cried, kicking the engine in frustration. "It won't work."
"We have to get Annabeth!" Percy said, his voice shaking. Leo felt really sorry for him, but there was simply nothing they could do.
"We'll have to go on foot. We can walk through the park and then get a cab" Jason said, trying to be reasonable. Piper seemed distraught, but nodded and Frank gripped his bow in a resolute way.
Only Hazel hesitated, looking anxiously at the Roman skyline.
"I should stay with Nico" she said "make sure he's well."
"You can't stay here on your own!" Frank immediately argued, but Hazel laid a calming hand on his arm.
"Coach Hedge will stay with me. Won't you, Coach?"
The satyr looked a little crestfallen at missing the "fun" yet again, but nodded anyway.
"Okay. We'll come back when we've...gotten Annabeth" Percy said, obviously itching to get going.
Leo noticed that the air around Percy seemed oddly humid, as if a storm were brewing where he was standing. He's getting more powerful Leo realised. Percy was projecting his feelings outwards without even realising it, which was kinda impressive, but also scary as hell.
Leo could only hope Percy would never direct that at him.
"Right. Let's go." Leo said, and Frank, Piper, Jason, Percy, himself and Penelope set off into the park.
"Leo?" Penelope said, catching up with him. Her face had a very odd look about it, the same calm from before, as if she knew something that nobody else did.
"Hey. You okay?" he asked, and Pen smiled. Was it his imagination or was there another emotion hiding behind the smile. Sadness?
"I'm okay." she said, earnestly. "Listen, there's something you should know..." her voice trailed off and Leo got the feeling she was trying to say something really important.
"What is it?" he asked, searching Penelope's face for a hint of what she was about to tell him.
"I...I found out some stuff. When I went to talk to Circe." Leo slapped his forehead. He'd completely forgotten to ask Pen about her encounter with the witch, he'd been so focused on everything else.
Pen smiled, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking "Hey, don't worry about it."
"Okay. Sorry. Tell me everything."
"Well, Circe told me about two prophecies, that were made ages ago. And all of them concern Percy."
Leo wondered where she was going with this. He knew of the two prophecies, they were common
stories at camp. "Yes?"
"She told me about a third prophecy that was made. About a curse." Penelope's voice shook, an infinitesimal amount.
"What curse?" Leo asked, his gut twisting. He didn't like curses, not one bit.
"Here" Penelope handed him a black scroll. "Read this. Not now, later." she said when Leo made to open it. "There's no time now."
What was she getting at? Leo was now sure he could see sadness in her face, but also determination.

The expression scared him like hell.
"What are you trying to say, Pen?"
She met his gaze, and her bright turquoise eyes seemed to penetrate him like always.
"Circe said that this was the reason for my existence. I didn't understand, but she said something about my necklace being a symbol of an alliance between my mother and another god. And then,
while Percy and Jason were fighting the giants" here she paused, drawing a little breath.
All of a sudden, Leo felt like he didn't want to hear the rest. He didn't want to know what Penelope had discovered. But she was already continuing, her tone steady and quiet.
"Nico heard the rest of the second Great Prophecy. The part concerning me."
This surprised Leo. He'd often wondered about the rest of that prophecy, and how it would affect
them. But now he was about to hear it, he wasn't so sure he wanted to. Yet he knew that this was
important, that he had to listen to Pen, for her sake.
"What did it say?"
Penelope opened her mouth to answer, but before she could speak another word, the whole world turned dark.
"What the-" Leo said, turning his head to look for the others up front. What he saw made his blood freeze in his veins.
There, before them, was a man, but he was unlike any man Leo had ever seen. His skin was pure
black, laced with veins of fiery orange. He wore a hood, and linen trousers, but his chest was bare.
In one hand he carried a whip, in the other a blade, curved like a crescent moon.
His eyes were completely white, like milk, but with a blueish tinge that made Leo's skin crawl.
The darkness around them was radiating off this man, or spirit or whatever, in thick curly waves.
They seemed to suck all light, all happiness from their surroundings, leaving only doom and depression. Leo could feel hope leaving him, draining out like water through a leak. His life was meaningless. His death was inevitable. Stop, he told himself. Those aren't your thoughts!
He tried to fight of the wisps of smoke curling around his ankles, rooting him to the spot, but it was no use. His brain went foggy, but he could still see Piper, Jason and Frank also fighting the smoky ropes.
"Leo!" Penelope whispered, and her clear voice cut through the darkness like fire. The horrible feeling cleared from his head a little, and he looked at Penelope, who was standing at his side, her face not fearful, but set with determination.
She met his gaze, her eyes shining like beacons of hope, and before he could say anything, she pulled him to her and kissed him. It wasn't a good kiss. It was the way you kiss people when you're saying goodbye.
"Pen, what-"
But suddenly the man before them spoke, his voice echoing like a thousand dying moans.
You have fought valiantly, heroes. it said, and Leo realised that the spirit wasn't moving his mouth.
But now the journey ends for one of you. Step forward, Percy Jackson.
What? Leo didn't understand anything anymore. What did the man mean, the journey ended here?
Before him, a figure stepped in front of the hooded spirit, a figure with black hair and a bronze blade in his hand. Percy! Leo tried to shout for Percy to run, but his voice was drowned in the thick black air around them.
What was going on?
"Who are you and what do you want from us?" Percy's voice suddenly cut through the mist.
I am Moros, hero. I have come to drive you to your fate. Your time has come.
Dimly, Leo could see Percy holding out his hand, and Leo knew he was about to conjure a hurricane. He braced himself for the force, yet nothing happened.
Instead of fighting the guy calling himself Moros, Percy suddenly sank to his knees, clutching his side. "What...what are you doing?" he called, as Riptide fell from his grasp.
Moros laughed, and it echoed a thousand times around them, cold and void of pity.
It is not me withdrawing your powers, Percy Jackson. That is the doing of my sisters, the Moirai. Or, as you call them, the Fates.
Percy had staggered back to his feet, his sword in his hand again. "What do you mean, the Fates are withdrawing my power?" He asked, and took a swipe at Moros. But the blade cut straight through him, as if he was as solid as the mist he generated.
You cannot hurt me with a blade, hero. My only weakness is your strength, but that won't help you now. Die, Percy Jackson, succumb to the curse of the Fates.
Moros stretched his hand out, and Percy yelled in pain.
Leo felt helpless, he couldn't move, he couldn't fight this dark mist. Percy was about to die and there was nothing he could do about it.
Suddenly, there was a yell from somewhere to Percy's right, and Leo saw Penelope charge at Moros, her hands alight with purple flames.
For a moment Leo thought she would succeed, but Moros made a flicking motion with his hand and a spike, made of the black smoke, shot straight at Penelope, hitting her square in the chest.
"No!" Leo yelled, his voice stronger. He watched as Penelope sank to the floor, but to his relief her eyes were still open.
I do not know who you are, foolish girl. Moros said, an evil smile on his face but your attempts will fail. I only came for the Jackson boy, but perhaps I shall drive you to your doom as well.
Leo watched in terror as Moros raised his hand, and a black sword appeared in it. It was wickedly sharp and glinted like ink. He raised it high above his head, but then hesitated, unsure whom to kill first. And that's when it all happened too quickly.
Leo saw Penelope grab her throat, and for a moment he thought she was suffocating, but the next second he realised she had wrenched her necklace from her neck.
"Percy!" she yelled, and threw the necklace at the son of Poseidon, who caught it in one hand.
"What?" he said, weakly, confusion obvious on his face.
"I give it to you freely, so you may draw strength from it!" Penelope shouted, and Leo could hear tears in her voice. What was she saying, and why was she speaking in that weird, medieval way?
For a moment Percy didn't seem to know what to do either, but then his expression changed.
The necklace began to glow, and transform and Percy stood up, a glowing ball of water in his hand,
radiating the power of the sea. Without hesitation, he aimed at Moros and sent it straight at the demon's heart, yelling something Leo couldn't understand, but which made his whole body vibrate anyway.
What?! No! Impossible! Moros cried in astonishment, before vanishing in a shower of black dust.
Instantly, Leo felt his body break free, and he was able to move again.
Without thinking of anything else, he ran over to where Penelope was now lying.
He sank down onto the ground next to her, grabbing her shoulders.
"Pen! Can you hear me?!" Leo shouted, tears coming to his eyes. He didn't know what had happened, but a dreadful feeling spread inside him. Penelope's eyes were closed, and her skin seemed oddly white, almost glowing.
"Wake up" Leo cried, shaking her shoulders. "Wake up"
Slowly, she opened her eyes. They focused on Leo's face, and her lips turned into a smile.
"Leo." she whispered, but her voice was faint.
"What...what's happening to you?" Leo asked, fear making his voice shake.
"This is my destiny, Leo." Pen said, and she sounded a thousand years old. "I was never supposed to be alive. I was only created as a resource, a backup. And now it's gone.."
Leo couldn't grasp what she was saying. He couldn't accept what he knew was about to happen.
"No, no, that's not right. Of course you are supposed to be alive. We need you. I need you."
Penelope smiled again, and a single tear ran down her cheek. She lifted her hand to Leo's face, and touched his cheek, but her skin wasn't as warm or as solid as it usually was.
"They were wrong." she whispered.
"Who?" Leo asked his own voice barely audible, chocked with fear.
"Everybody. They thought Percy was the reason I am alive. But I know that's not true. Not anymore."
Please, don't talk like that. Please don't.
"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Leo Valdez."
Her eyes closed, and Leo cried out "No!", grasping at her, to no avail.
Penelope's body had started to grow faint, her whole being becoming see-through, fading away. "No, Pen! Stay here! You have to stay here!"
He tried to hold onto her, but his hands went straight through her body.
The last thing he saw of her was her face, brimmed with dark hair, a smile playing around her lips.
"I love you" she whispered, before there was a soft flash of light and the ground before him was empty.
Leo sat there, tears cascading down his face, not responding to the others, who were standing around him. There was no way he could get up, or face the world.
He would never move again.
Penelope was dead.
Leo was alone.

Okay, so before you kill me, let me say this was really
sad for me to write as well.
I mean, Penelope's my OC, my baby.
The next chapter will explain everything if you haven't understood it yet.
I hope that, even though this was a very sad chapter, you enjoyed reading it.
Please tell me what you think!
And "The Light in the Sky" isn't finished yet, so keep a look out for
the next update!
Love you all xxx