Finding Leo

Chapter 1: Leo Is Back

oof yes it's gone finally: the intro i wrote an eternity ago that makes me want to die. enjoy the story, and i guess i'll use my old slogan: keep calm and stay weird!
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Hazel's POV

It was over. We won.

But none of us were happy. Because Leo was gone.

We were sitting at the top of Half-Blood Hill, the six of us, plus Nico and Reyna. It was three days after the war, and the two camps were united. Camp Jupiter would be leaving tomorrow. But now, just before dinner, the rest of the demigods were celebrating our victory.

We had participated in the festivities, acted happy, overjoyed, excited. And of course, a few times we were. But the group, the whole camp, wasn't the same without Repair Boy. It was too quiet, and nothing had been set on fire for a whole seventy-two hours.

We were all wearing masks covering our real emotions. Just like Leo. That one time on the Argo II when I showed him my memories of Sammy, I saw a bit of his memories as well. How he always told himself to act happy, like nothing was wrong. How "humor was a good way to hide the pain". I didn't tell him I saw this, though. But it kept me up at night thinking. It still does, sometimes.

I was leaning on Frank's shoulder, Annabeth was sitting with Piper, and Percy and Jason were awkwardly about a foot away from each other. Reyna was standing, leaning on Thalia's tree, and Nico was next to me. We were all holding back tears.

I was the first one to break. I began sobbing, and soon Piper and Annabeth were, too. Percy and Jason still looked fine, but I could see right through their strong expressions. Frank held me closer, and Nico left, probably to check one last time to see if Leo was alive. Our hopes weren't too high, though.

Then, Annabeth rubbed her eyes, puffy from crying, and spoke. "Look, guys, crying and mourning isn't going to bring him back."

"Annabeth's right," Percy said, " Leo would want us to be happy we won, not sad because he's gone."

We were silent at that for a while, our lost friend's name hanging in the air. Then Reyna spoke up. "I'd better get the Romans ready, tell them to start packing for our departure tomorrow." She turned, and began to walk, but after a moment she looked back again. "About your friend, I'm sorry. I'm didn't know him well, but I am certain now that he did not fire on Camp Jupiter consciously." Then she left, walking towards the party at the dining pavilion.

Now it was just the six of us. I was still silently crying and now it was my turn to say something, the obvious statement. "I miss him," I mumbled into Frank's ear. "I guess I never knew how great he was until he's gone."

Suddenly, Jason shot into the air. Literally. He stood up with so much force that he hovered about two feet off of the ground, before setting down again. "It's my fault!" He yelled to no one in particular. "I could've stopped him! He didn't have to stop Gaea alone! Why did he make me and Piper leave?" He still seemed to be screaming at no one, but Piper stood up and went over to him.

"Jason, there's nothing we could've done. And like Annabeth said, being upset and blaming ourselves won't make him come back." I could tell Piper put an ounce of charmspeak into her words, and Jason nodded. We all sat down again, but this time closer to each other. We sat in a straight line, overlooking the sunset. No one said anything for a long time. Then, just when I was about to blame myself, I heard something.

I stood up, listening. "Hazel, what's wrong?" Asked Frank. I shushed him, still listening.

"Do you guys hear that?" I whispered.