Hanging in the tree
Bad end
If there was any day that was just as sad, calypso didn't remember. The day he died was the worst day she could have imagined. Of course, the Romans gave the Greeks a few weeks to grieve his death and do a proper burial. The funeral had an open casket, which didn't help anything. When calypso first walked up to the casket, the first detail she noticed was the rope burn. Around his neck was embedded with markings of when he was inevitably hung. The second thing she noticed was the unhappy look he had held. No more smiles. No more jokes. This time he really did die. It wasn't one of those times he was just joking about it. This was the end. The end of leo Valdez.
For hazel, the funeral was nice and everything went well. Leo's dad had showed up briefly to show tears had spilled from his eyes and into his beard. However, the fact of Leo's death seemed off to her. Not that it was faked, it just felt wrong. Leo shouldn't have died so young. Hazel had died once. It wasn't something she was looking forward to repeating. Everyone dies, but he shouldn't have. There was so much more he could have done. So much more she knew for a fact that he wanted to do but never got to. Rebuilding festus, rebuilding the Argo 2, putting up shop with calypso. That's what was off. Leo didn't get to finish his bucket list.
In the end, there were no more tears frank could have cried. He was dry. All out of tears. The service for leo was perfect and looked wonderful. There was only one thing that could make it better. Leo. He was what made everyone happy in times of grief. He was pretty sure they would have cremated him, but, you know, even in death fire didn't burn him. The kid was a freaking miracle. Was. Not anymore. He couldn't creat any more. In that casket, Leo's hands remained still. No more energy to fill them. That was wrong. The hyperactive kid was freaking vibrating whenever he was alive. But now, leo had no more movements left to make.
They had joked on the Argo 2 about how the only time they would see leo sit still was when he was dead. It seemed funny then, and leo told the joke. Yeah, that didn't help anything. Jason could only sit there and watch as Reyna, who only just realized that what leo did was unintentional, read off something to memorize in time of death. Especially Leo's death. In the mist of of death, there is one to get life. Leo died so more could live. So no one had to fight. Our lives are built off of the success of the dead. Leo had found Archimedes last scrolls and works. And the Argo's engine was a new type completely that all Hephestus and Vulcan kids marveled at. It was a new piece of technology that was far to advanced for its time. The engine had no catalyst. How fitting. Leo's death had been the inhibitor of war, just as his machine used an inhibitor to move.
Her mother once told her that all is fair in love and war. How did this fit? Calypso waited and waited for thousands of years for a hero who had the guts to defy the gods and save her. Now that she had finally found that, it was almost instantly taken away from her. All of this for war. One of the things her mother said she loved. Only then did piper wonder if her mother actually had anyone close to her die because of war. Probably not. Most of her time before the ceremony was consoling calypso who had had cried for days, telling piper of how stupid she was. Telling her how she didn't get to say goodbye. Crying because she never told him that she loved him.
Percy was never really close to the boy, but in the end, leo had built a bridge between the two. Percy considered himself an impenetrable force who strived on luck of the draw and a somewhat level head. Leo, however, was the one to whip such insolence from his mind. Percy wasn't a fortress. Leo brought that out. Percy wasn't a grown man. Leo saw his childish side. Percy was afraid of losing what was precious. Leo taught him about a metaphorical mask. Leo had brought his mind forth naked before his eyes, only for him to teach him how to bury it deeper. Now the only thing Percy was burying was leo.
Annabeth knew leo was smart. She admired that about him. He never really showed what was true, and deep down annabeth saw this. One night, Leo's smile cracked at dinner. No one saw this but her. Leo had excused himself from the room and headed down to the engine room. He hadn't even started to eat. Annabeth, out of curiosity, headed after him half way through dinner. Upon arriving at the door she heard clangs of metal on metal. Slowly she opened the door just a crack. There stood leo. Bashing a random piece of metal against a wall. On his face was the apparent look of anger and hate. After he had finished, he leaned up against the wall and slid to the floor slowly, placed his head in his hands and cried. Annabeth was about to leave when he look up and caught her eye. He looked so sad. So broken. Looking back on the incident, she regretted closing the door on him.
Nike sat in the corner of the room, out of the way of the actual funeral. Why was she here? Well, she had made an unlikely friend in him. when they had captured her, Leo had visited her every day and talked with her. Even after she told him what he needed to know. He had fed her, even though there was no possible way for her to starve. She might have been the most comfortable hostage in history. She even had a makeshift bed. Who does this? Who is this nice to a person who had for told there death? No one human. In the end, she was cut free, but she stayed next to him in the fight of the Giants. He shot the ballista while she flung all of his greek Fire over the side. A nice little prank to play on her friend, who at the time was laughing and shouting at her. In all her immortal life, Nike had never really made any friends. She just didn't have time to. You know, being victorious and all. But when they hung him, she regretted. This didn't count as a victory. This counted as madness.
After the funeral, they went to bury there dear friend. This was one of the only times it had rained at camp half blood. Actually, it was the only time. It took several hours for the graveyard to be left. But the last people to leave was his friends. Each of them had read his tombstone over and over again. The message was beautiful and would always hold meaning in there hearts.
On the tombstone it read, ' here lies hope. Hope for a better future. Hope for friendship. Hope for unity through the people. here lies proof that not all die in vain. Our lives are built on those of the dead. Build on this death, for one day, we will all be here, hoping, praying, and begging for a better tomorrow.'