DIVINE » l. valdez

xxxx

❝ you got a lonesome road to walk. ❞

The next day was the hardest. 

The entire Hephaestus cabin had scoured the valley, finding bits and pieces of the Argo II's broken hull, but no sign of Festus or Leo.

Hina felt like shattered glass, broken beyond repair. She'd worked tirelessly searching with the Hephaestus cabins despite the protests from her friends.

It was the small shred of hope that hurt the most. Part of Hina thought if she searched long enough, hard enough, she would find Leo, and he'd laugh at her for being so dramatic, then whisk her away to somewhere safe. That never happened.

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.

Although immortal, Gaea was dispersed and powerless, unable to ever wake again.

Octavian would be remembered for saving Rome through launching himself as a human projectile, but Leo was the real hero, who sacrificed himself to save the world.

Hina's return was bleak, bringing more burden to the grieving camp. Shrouded demigods, both Greek and Roman, were burned at the campfire, a continuation of the ceremony that she had disrupted the previous day.

Hina felt numb watching Nico honor the fallen demigods, the names of people she once knew, or never got the chance to know weighing heavily on everyone's hearts.

Afterwards, the seven survivors of the Great Prophecy gathered at the Big House with Nico di Angelo. 

Hina could only she her friends through blurred tears as she clutched one of the few pieces of the Argo II she had found in the search. The wood splintered her hands, but she didn't care.

Jason hung his head, "We should have been there at the end. We could've helped Leo."

Piper agreed wiping her tears with one hand, while she gave Hina a half hug with the other. "It's not right. 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. "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 Gaea 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.

Hina was shaking uncontrollably, her lungs felt squished inside her, begging for air.

"He wanted to do it alone," Frank said. "He thought there would be a slim chance that he, a son of Hephaestus, could survive the fire, but if anyone was with him ... He said that Hazel and I, being Roman, would understand about sacrifice. But he knew the rest of you would never allow it."

Everyone looked furious, but the longer Hazel and Frank talked the harder it was to stay angry. Seeing Frank's broken eyes was enough apology needed for Hina in that moment. The plan was- insane, sneaky, annoying, recklessly noble, it was Leo Valdez all wrapped up with a sinister bow on top.