The Blood of Olympus - Sense Leo

“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.”

At first the others looked angry, like they wanted to scream and throw things. But as Frank and Hazel talked, the group’s rage seemed to dissipate. It was hard to be mad at Frank and Hazel when they were both crying. Also...the plan sounded exactly like the sneaky, twisted, ridiculously annoying and noble sort of thing Leo Valdez would do.

Finally Piper let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh. “If he were here right now, I would kill him. How was he planning to take the cure? He was alone!”

“Maybe he found a way,” Percy said. “This is Leo we’re talking about. He might come back any minute. Then we can take turns strangling him.”

Nico and Hazel exchanged looks. They both knew better, but they said nothing.

[...]

“No,” Nico said. “Getting a second life is one thing. Making it a better life, that’s the trick.”

As soon as he said it, Nico realized he could’ve been talking about himself. He decided not to bring that up.

Hazel sighed. “A second life. I just wish...”

She didn’t need to finish her thought. For the past two days, Leo’s disappearance had hovered like a cloud over the whole camp. Hazel and Nico had been reluctant to join the speculation about what had happened to him.

“You felt his death, didn’t you?” Hazel’s eyes were watery. Her voice was small.

“Yeah,” Nico admitted. “But I don’t know, Hazel. Something about it was...different.”

“He couldn’t have taken the physician’s cure. Nothing could have survived that explosion. I thought...I thought I was helping Leo. I messed up.”

“No. It is not your fault.” But Nico wasn’t quite so ready to forgive himself. He’d spent the last forty-eight hours replaying the scene with Octavian at the catapult, wondering if he’d done the wrong thing. Perhaps the explosive power of that projectile had helped destroy Gaea. Or perhaps it had unnecessarily cost Leo Valdez his life.

“I just wish he hadn’t died alone,” Hazel murmured. “There was no one with him, no one to give him that cure. There’s not even a body to bury....”

Her voice broke. Nico put his arm around her.

He held her as she wept. Eventually she fell asleep from exhaustion. Nico tucked her into his own bed and kissed her forehead. Then he went to the shrine of Hades in the corner—a little table decorated with bones and jewels.

[...]

“They’re gods,” Nico said. “That’s their nature.”

“Maybe, but I can try to make it better. I guess Leo would say I’m acting like a mechanic, doing preventative maintenance.”

Nico sensed Jason’s sorrow like an oncoming storm. “You know, you couldn’t have stopped Leo. There’s nothing you could have done differently. He knew what had to happen.”

“I—I guess. I don’t suppose you can tell if he’s still—”

“He’s gone,” Nico said. “I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I sensed his death.”

Jason stared into the distance.

Nico felt guilty for squashing his hopes. He was almost tempted to mention his own doubts...what a different sensation Leo’s death had given him, as if Leo’s soul had invented its own way into the Underworld, something that involved lots of gears, levers, and steam-powered pistons.

Nevertheless, Nico was sure Leo Valdez had died. And death was death. It wouldn’t be fair to give Jason false expectations.


- The Blood of Olympus, Chapters 54, 55, and 56