𝐂œ𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬é𝐬 [Percy Jackson]

176

The next day, there weren't many answers.

After the explosion, Hadrian and Jason – free-falling and unconscious – were plucked out of the sky by giant eagles and brought to safety, but Leo did not reappear. The entire Hephaestus cabin scoured the valley, finding bits and pieces of the Argo II's broken hull, but no sign of Festus the dragon or his master. 

All the monsters had been destroyed or scattered. Greek and Roman casualties were heavy, but not nearly as bad as they might have been. Overnight, the satyrs and nymphs disappeared into the woods for a convocation of the Cloven Elders. In the morning, Grover Underwood reappeared to announce that they could not sense the Earth Mother's presence. Nature was more or less back to normal.

 Apparently, Jason, Hadrian and Leo's plan had worked. Gaia had been separated from her source of power, charmed to sleep and then atomized in the combined explosion of Leo's fire and the comet (which turned out to be Octavian). 

An immortal could never die, but now Gaia would be like her husband, Ouranos. The earth would continue to function as normal, just as the sky did, but Gaia was now so dispersed and powerless that she could never again form a consciousness. At least, that was the hope...

Octavian would be remembered for saving Rome by hurling himself into the sky in a fiery ball of death. But it was Leo Valdez who had made the real sacrifice. 

The victory celebration at camp was muted, due to grief – not just for Leo but also for the many others who had died in battle. Shrouded demigods, both Greek and Roman, were burned at the campfire. When Chiron asked Nico di Angelo to oversee the burial rites, Hadrian had given the younger boy a small smile and a pat on the back. 

He looked surprised at being included, though Hadrian couldn't tell why. And as he walked past Hadrian, he smiled back. 

Still, Hadrian felt like he couldn't breathe right, like he was still at a loss for oxygen, hundreds of feet in the air. The only thing that made everything seem worth it was the fact that Percy was there. 

Percy was alive. That's all that mattered. Gaia could have won and Hadrian wouldn't have cared as long as Percy was alive and well. Even after a day, he still had a few bruises and cuts, but he grinned that Percy Jackson grin and Hadrian let himself hope that things would eventually turn out okay. 

The hardest part was after honoring the dead, when Nico and the six demigods from the Argo II met on the porch of the Big House. Jason hung his head, even his glasses lost in shadow. "We should have been there at the end. We could've helped Leo." 

Guilt festered and clawed onto Hadrian's throat from the inside. Friend after friend he'd lost. How many more could he afford to lose? Maybe he really was a bad luck charm. Things went wrong around him, like he was cursed- rotten to the core. 

"It's not right" He grit through his teeth, "All that work getting the physician's cure, and for what?"

 Hazel broke down crying. "Hads, where's the cure? Bring it out."

Bewildered, Hadrian reached into his belt pouch. He produced the chamois-cloth package, but when he unfolded the cloth it was empty. All eyes turned to Hazel. 

"How?" Annabeth asked. 

Frank put his arm around Hazel. "In Delos, Leo pulled the two of us aside. He pleaded with us to help him." 

Through her tears, Hazel explained how she had switched the physician's cure for an illusion – a trick of the Mist – so that Leo could keep the real vial. Frank told them about Leo's plan to destroy a weakened Gaia with one massive fiery explosion. After talking with Nike and Apollo, Leo had been certain that such an explosion would kill any mortal within a quarter of a mile, so he knew he would have to get far away from everyone.