The Veiled Legacy | PJO - Book Two

eighteen

CELEBRATIONS

The next day, there weren't many answers.
After the explosion, Piper 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 IIs 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, Piper 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 Leos fire and Octavian's man-made comet.

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, and Chiron asked Ariana and Nico to oversee the burial rites.

Ariana politely declined, too full of grief to comprehend anything.

Nico agreed immediately. He was grateful for the opportunity to honour the dead. Even the hundreds of spectators didn't bother him.

The hardest part was afterwards, when Nico and the seven remaining demigods from the Argo II met on the porch of the Big House.

Ariana stood next to Percy and Nico, her head looking down at the floor. She had lost count of how many times she had cried since she heard the news that Leo Valdez was dead.

She wished she had been there to protect him, she wished she got to say one thing to him, that she loved him even if he didn't love her. Even if he was head over heels in love with Calypso.

They never even got to have their conversation that Leo promised her.

Jason hung his head, even his glasses lost in shadow. "We should have been there at the end. We could ve helped Leo."

"I should've told him." Ariana sobbed, bringing her head into Percy's shoulder making it wet.

She felt Percy drawing circles on her back, in an attempt to reassure her.

"It's not right." Piper agreed, wiping away her tears. "All that work getting the physician's cure, for nothing!"

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

Bewildered, Piper reached into her belt pouch. She produced the chamois-cloth package, but when she unfolded the cloth it was empty.
All eyes turned to Hazel.

"How?" Annabeth asked.

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