You'll Learn to Love Me (Leo Valdez x OC)

Chapter 84: Sincerely, Laylana

I am combining like four chapters into one plus my own writings so this is gonna be a long one. My average word count was between 2k and 4k words, for context... This chapter is over 10k. This is gonna be super emotional and therefore I am so sorry (no I'm not).

Nico felt it the moment it happened. He let Octavion cut the release rope to his onager and got launched into the sky. Nico had thought it was the right decision at the time, but when he felt his older sister's death the moment the explosion happened, he dropped to the ground in regret. He knew she was bound to die, he felt death near her the moment he saw her. But he didn't expect to find himself in this situation, where he immediately began to blame himself for it. His chest tightened in pain, and his ears began to ring loudly. Will was at his side instantly.

"Nico? What's wrong?"

"Laylana..." Nico mumbled, tears brimming in his eyes. "She..."

"No... no, she can't-" Will looked back at the fireball that had just exploded in the sky. "Nico, don't tell me she's gone."

"I felt her death, Will! Where are the others?" Nico blinked back the tears as he stumbled to his feet and raced towards the beach, watching three eagles drop Piper, Jason and Leo, all unconscious, onto the sand. No sign of Laylana. The rest of the Argo II crew gathered around them, having seen the three falling from the sky, as Will rushed to the unconscious demigods to check on them.

"Nico..." Hazel's voice broke as she called for her brother. When his eyes shifted to her, he knew that she also knew, whether she felt it or just knew from his expression. She didn't know what to say. Neither did he. Especially when Percy pushed through them.

"Where is she? Where is Laylana?" He demanded.

"Percy..." Hazel started, quietly.

"No, where is she?" Percy looked pissed. More angry than when Laylana was injured last summer in the infirmary. Piper was the first one to wake up, gasping as she shot up to a seated position. She looked around frantically, and her eyes softened when she spotted Leo and Jason. But then they shifted back to looking worried when she realized Laylana wasn't there.

"Where is Lana?" She asked.

"That's what I was going to ask you." Percy's expression shifted to be softer as he looked at Piper.

"But... Leo was going to stay," Piper choked on her words. "If he's here... Then..."

"No..." Frank muttered. The poor guy was on the verge of tears as a look of realization came across all their faces. Annabeth let out a loud gasp as she covered her mouth with her hand, collapsing to the ground with a sob.

"No. No! NO!" Percy shouted as he too collapsed onto his knees. "She can't be. SHE'S NOT GONE!"

"Her body. We can still find her body, right?" Annabeth cried desperately.

"Annabeth... there's no way. It would take a miracle for her body to survive that explosion." Frank's voice was hushed as he spoke. That only made people cry harder. Percy had his face buried in his hands as he sobbed, occasionally calling Laylana's name over and over again. Annabeth stumbled over shortly after and enveloped him in a hug, pulling him close to her.

It didn't take much longer for Leo and Jason to wake up. Jason's eyes darted around, looking confused as his eyes landed on Leo, who was still dazed and didn't 100% realize that he was in fact not dead. It wasn't until Leo's eyes widened and darted around the group, noting the missing person among them that Jason realized what had happened.

"Leo..." Piper started.

"She pushed me..." Leo muttered. "She wasn't... it was supposed to be me up there."