Seeing Death After Life (HoO Leo fic)

Chapter 1: Solitude Comes (For a Little While)

LEO NEEDED TO LAND.

The damage in Festus's underbelly was worse than he thought. Minutes later, he found an isolated island in the middle of the ocean.

The island was filled with lush forests and a large shoreline ran at the edges of the island. Leo decided this was the best place to land. In his descent, he started yelling loud against the forces of wind blowing on his face.

After his rather abrupt landing, he stood up to take in his environment. There were large trees covering the sky, there was no animal in sight, and there didn't seem to be anyone here. Whether that meant good or bad, it didn't matter to Leo.

Satisfied with the OK atmosphere, he took a look at Festus's underbelly. As expected, it was black with soot and signs of destruction underneath the bronze plates of the dragon's body.

Leo unscrewed a few plates and what he saw wasn't a great sight.

Festus needed new parts. Fast.

Leo looked around in uncertainty, frowning. He grumbled in frustration; how the heck could he get parts for a bronze dragon in a deserted island?

He then decided to venture into the forest, hoping his fortunes lie deep in the trees.

He told Festus to stay near the shore in case the place was too dangerous. Festus whirred a complaint about parting with Leo, but he told Festus not to worry too much. The dragon stopped complaining, but he still looked concerned.

In Leo's mind, the sooner he could get the parts he needed, the sooner he could fly.

"I need to see my friends." Leo thought. "But first things first, I have to get to HER first."

Calypso...

He shook his head for a bit, now quite determined to find his way through the dense clearing.

For about an hour, things were quiet. Leo looked a tad dirtier and a lot grumpier. There wasn't any progress, as he expected. He had hoped to find something, anything that can help him fix Festus.

Leo decided to he could fly Festus once more if his options wouldn't become better until he heard screaming.

Quickly, Leo went to the source of the scream.

Seconds later, he stumbled across a girl his age being attacked by karpoi, evil grain spirits.

Thinking quickly, Leo utilized his flames and threw them at the monsters. He thought that was gonna do the trick.

He forgot that he was in a forest filled with large, dry trees.

"You're making it worse!" The girl screamed. "You killed the monsters, and I'm thankful, but was it a good idea to USE FIRE?!"

Leo slapped himself mentally; what the heck was he thinking?

The fires were starting to spread and he did the only thing he could.

He prayed to Percy's dad.

"Poseidon, I know we aren't close or anything, but can you do something about this fire? Make it rain? I'll make it up to you, big guy. I promise."

Clouds overhead became thicker and soon enough, water did come. It wasn't strong, but it did stop the fires, so Leo was thankful. He decided to find a way to make a sacrifice to Poseidon AFTER they get out of the forest.

But first things first, he looked at the girl and sighed when she saw her seem to fume a bit.

"Hey, it's a mission success, alright? Valdez has saved the day!"

"Pfft. Mortal men become stupider every generation." The girl said. "I am Makaria, daughter of Hades and Persephone. I am the goddess of peaceful deaths."

Leo blinked. This was a goddess? Then again, she DID appear in a deserted island filled with evil grain spirits and she did so unscathed. And about her being the daughter of Hades...

He could see the resemblance between her and Nico, but unlike him she had jet black hair, a quite healthier look, and she wore a black mourning dress that signifies that her matters lied with death.

But then, he thought about something.

"Wait, if you were a goddess, why couldn't you deal with those monsters yourself? Or maybe teleport elsewhere?"

Makaria wasn't afraid to voice her annoyance. "Well, I'm not exactly what you'd call powerful. Sure I can teleport, but I was startled. Even then, if I were to teleport, it would take a bit of time and I would've been swarmed already."

Leo then asked, "Why were you even here in the first place?"

Makaria shook her head and asked him the same thing.

Leo decided to tell her the story of his bronze dragon needing parts.

"If you can help me in any way, It'd be really cool."

Makaria replied, "I'll help you. But in exchange, you'll accompany me to a few of my destinations, are these terms alright with you?"

Leo, seeing this was currently his best option, decided to nod.

Makaria then stomped her foot on the ground, large bronze ores came up from the ground.

Leo let out a small scream of awe, and soon started with making the parts he needed. He took the parts from his magical tool belt and in an hour, he had already gotten the parts he needed.

He decided to take the parts back to the shoreline with Makaria.

Festus creaked a happy tune when he saw Leo come out of the forest. He saw that Leo brought him parts and rolled on his back  so Leo could put them on.

"There, big guy. We can fly high again!" Leo exclaimed rather joyously. "Thanks, Makaria, it wouldn't have been possible without you."

Makaria smiled genuinely, seeing Leo and Festus so happy together. They didn't look like master and servant, they looked like brothers.

"Your end of the bargain, Valdez?" She said.

"... Right." Leo said. "Festus, we're going on a trip with a goddess of the dead!"

He then asked Makaria what exactly they were supposed to do.

"We'll be visiting places where peaceful death happened. It's part of my job to see them as they leave this world happily."

"Alrighty then!" Leo bowed, mocking what a servant does. "Where's our first stop, m'lady?"

But in his head, he smiled.

One step closer to seeing you, Calypso... Just you wait a bit longer...

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On the next chapter:
Our hero, Leo ventures with the goddess Makaria on the weirdest quest he's ever had.
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AN.
Leo meets the minor goddess, Makaria. I got her from Percy Jackson's Greek Gods. She's the daughter of Hades and Persephone, and she's gonna be a major character here.

Give me your opinions and I hope you'll love this story.