Myth Mashup (A Percy Jackson, Magnus Chase, and Kane Chronicles crossover)

Chapter 15: Piper's POV

I found Leo sitting on the floor in the corner of the kitchen. His arms were wrapped around his knees, and his eyes were vacant, but brimming with tears.

He didn't even register that I was there. He just kept staring into space.

I silently walked over to where he was sitting, and lowered myself onto the ground next to him. I immediately stretched out my arms and pulled his body close to mine, hugging him as tight as I could.

I felt all his muscles give out and relax, and the tears he was holding back overflowed. He started uncontrollably shaking and sobbing, burrowing his head into my shoulder. I just squeezed him tighter.

I had never seen Leo like this before. The version of himself that he constantly projected outwardly to the world was all confidence, coolness, and unwavering firmness. I felt horribly ashamed that I had never even stopped to think about how he might be feeling under his facade of humor and jokes. All this time, I had always thought that he just stayed positive, and never saw the severity of the situation.

Not once did I stop to think about his feelings.

Not once did I try to see what was underneath his projection.

Not once did I try to uncover my best friend's insecurities about himself.

That scared me the most. As much as I liked to think of myself as an empath, in tune with everyone's emotions and subtle quirks, I never saw what Leo had been hiding.

As he cried into my shoulder, I started to get teared up too. Part of it was because I was so disappointed in myself. Part of it was for Leo's pain that he never bothered to tell anyone about. Part of it was for Jason.

Soon we were both crying into each other's shoulders. In between gasps of breaths, I thought about Leo's past. I don't think I had ever truly comprehended how terrible his childhood had been, growing up in Hollywood and all.

His mom had died in a machine shop fire, started by Gaea, when he was only a little kid. Gaea then proceeded to gaslight Leo into thinking that he had started the fire, and that it was all his fault. A kid, believing that he was the cause of his mother's death. What a nightmare.

Then he had been in and out of abusive foster homes for years, never once being accepted or welcomed. I wondered if that was why he always seemed to fool around in every situation. Maybe that was the only way he knew had to deal with rejection. Finally, he was sent to the Wilderness School, where he met me and Jason. But then both of us realized that our entire relationship with Jason had all been a lie - a trick of the Mist.

Learning that Jason had never actually been my boyfriend had been really hard on me. Nevertheless, I had tried and tried to make it work, make it seem like we were a real couple with actual history together. And sure, by the end of our quest, we did have history, and had gone through a lot together. But... it didn't matter. 

Our relationship still felt fake, fabricated. Which was why I broke up with him. But, a part of me wondered if I had broken his heart by doing just that. And even though I had severed the romantic bond between us, Jason didn't even hesitate to sacrifice himself. He knew that one of us would die. And Jason, stupid Jason, wouldn't even think of letting me die. If he had just told me about the prophecy, if he had just let me help him, if he had just let me be the hero for once, he might still be alive.

I started crying a little harder.

My thoughts drifted back to Leo. Aboard the Argo II, people took him for granted. He wasn't big or strong like Jason, Percy, or Frank - but he was clever. Still, people didn't respect him like they did Annabeth, who was known for her genius level IQ. Without Leo's skill with machines, we wouldn't even have a mode of transportation.