Nevermore
Inspiration: I bet Leo will be the one to close the Doors of Death from the inside since Nemesis told him he will be alone forever. Always the seventh wheel. In Boy, come on!" Piper cried out as another wave of rocks showered on the group of eight demigods. ~hannahcambell11
The six has finally found the entrance to Tartarus under Nico diAngelo's guidance, and after a short while fighting off the constantly regenerating monsters, they finally found a half-conscious Annabeth and a very tired Percy Jackson fighting off the Minotaur, again. Frank had turned into a dragon, and seared the Minotaur, loincloth and all, into oblivion. Only then was Percy allowed a little break as Nico summoned some skeletons to carry Annabeth back on Argo II.
Now that the rescue mission was success, the eight were hurrying back as the cave was about to crumble on them. The eight hurried out of the Doors of Death and looked back, several monsters still trailing behind.
"It's not working!" Nico shouted, frustrated as he failed to close the Doors. Hazel was at his sides, holding her older half brother as he concentrated again. The Earth shook, but nothing came out of it.
"Oh no." Leo muttered quietly to himself. He knew what was going on—after all, Nemesis did tell him that he would be alone forever. He understood that someone must stay inside to close the door—that has to be done. The six understood the principal of the mission before they set out to rescue Percy and Annabeth, although they never settled on whom to sacrifice.
He had to do it. He finally understood. This was Leo's destiny all along.
Leo lit both of his hands on fire. He looked at the tired couple who just came out of Tartarus, to the still-exhausted Nico diAngelo, to Hazel and Frank who were grasping each other, and his best friends—Piper and Jason Grace who were still miserable from Coach Gleeson's loss, and he knew that it was time.
"You guys go. I'll… I'll stay and take care of those." He looked at his hands, and directed his inquiring eyes to Piper. "I trust that you know how to captain the ship, Beauty Quenn. Just don't crash my baby."
"But Leo—" Piper tried to protest.
"It's alright. You look after her, Superman." Leo looked at Jason, who merely nodded in response.
"And Frank, you look after Hazel. Promise me." Leo gulped, unable to look at Hazel Levesque in the eyes. Too painful. Others were starting to catch on, but none of them made an offer to trade with Leo. They knew that they were selfish, but they couldn't help it. They have someone else to live for, too.
"Percy." Leo sighed, "I know you don't like me, but I really didn't want to offend you for anything. Really! I just… I'm sorry." Leo said to a very confused Percy, still not understanding what was actually happening.
"Do you understand what you must do on the other side, Leo?" Nico asked, gritting his teeth as he tried to block the monsters by shaking parts of the Underworld. "I've got to stay on this side of the Door to close it, and you… Well. Try not to let any monsters go through here."
"I won't." Leo said, determined to do all his can to let his friends escape as safely as possible. He scanned everyone for the one last time, trying to memorize all their faces.
"Goodbye. I'll… I'll see you all again in Elysium." He was close to the rocky entrance, rocks still falling and threatening to cover everything in its path. Leo looked at Hazel briefly, tears threatening to pour out of her eyes.
"I… I love you." He mouthed to her, and the last thing he saw before the rocks buried the entrance was her beautiful, beautiful golden eyes.
...Ouch. You can tell how 'well' I'm faring recently. Reviews would be nice. Following me on tumblr would be nice, too. (The url is of course, Nobody426).