The Lost Heroine (Heroes of Olympus/Kane Chronicles crossover) [2016]

Chapter 21: Calypso

FOR A TERRIFYING SECOND, I THOUGHT LEO WAS GOING TO DO IT. Then he shook his head. "No way in Tartarus am I going to join you!" he yelled.

Khione had a murderous look on her face. "So be it, Valdez," she snapped. "I was wrong in trusting you. At least now I can make sure you can't cause any more trouble." She stepped forward and clasped his wrist with her snow-white fingers. I screamed. "LEO!"

Too late. Where Khione's hand and Leo's wrist connected, his skin turned whitish-blue. The color spread through his entire body, until he was nothing but an icy statue.

"YOU--" Jason swore at Khione. Piper screamed-- she'd somehow managed to get her gag off. She wailed Leo's name. Annabeth grabbed her new dagger and charged at the snow goddess. I barely noticed any of it.

I ran toward the statue that was once the boy I loved and grabbed his shoulders. "LEO!" I yelled again. "Leo!" My voice broke. He was dead, he was gone. I had let him get killed. It was my fault.

My eyes filled with tears. He couldn't be gone. He wouldn't give up so quickly. He was Bad Boy Supreme.

I remembered the first time I'd seen him, when he'd landed on my island with a makeshift helicopter, covered with ashes. I'd thought he was an annoying idiot, but once I'd gotten to know him he'd been a loving, sweet boy. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't.

But I knew that it would have been too good to be true. The tears froze on my cheeks as I threw my arms around his statue. The ice was so cold it burned through my gloves, but I didn't care. Nothing mattered except for the fact that the boy I loved was gone forever.

Jason broke away from the fight and slashed his gladius through Piper's bonds. Piper instantly ran to Leo.

"Leo!" she yelled. "Leo!"

"It's too late!" I sobbed. "He's gone!"

"He can't be gone!" she insisted. "He's got to be alive!" Something in her voice told me there was hope. 

The fight was going badly. No one had any magic except Khione. Annabeth was slashing madly with her dagger. Jason was using his gladius. Percy was fighting with Riptide. No one was going anywhere. I wanted to stay by Leo's side, but at the same time I wanted to serve Khione justice for killing my boyfriend. I charged at her, drawing my dagger.

"You traitorous scumbag!" I screamed. She shot a blast of icy wind at me, which I dodged. She threw another blast at Annabeth. With a start, I realized that I could still use my magic. I threw up a magic barrier. She kept pushing with her ice magic, and eventually my barrier collapsed. She lashed out at Annabeth instantly.

"NO!" Percy roared. I tried to put up another shield, but my magic was wearing off and Khione was too fast. She clamped Annabeth's shoulders with her hands. Annabeth froze-- literally. Percy's yell of anguish cut into me like a knife as Annabeth's body became solid ice.

Percy charged forward, shoving Khione aside with his bare hands, and fell to his knees beside her statue. I put my head down and sobbed into my hands. My boyfriend and one of my best friends were both turned into ice, and there was still one more to come.

I thought about the fifth and sixth lines of the prophecy. I knew who the last person would be. I glanced miserably at Carter and Sadie, fighting side-by-side.

Khione went for Percy next. I put up another shield. A spark inside me had ignited. It was anger and hatred at Khione, and determination to bring her to justice. It was grief that Leo had been turned into ice. But most of all, it was love for Leo, Annabeth, Percy, Piper, Jason, everyone there. I was not going to let any more of my friends become ice statues. Maybe there was a way to reverse the magic. Maybe Leo was alive after all. The thought gave me fresh hope and strength. I took a deep breath and charged into battle.

Sadie was fighting with her staff. She threw it on the ground and it became a white leopard. Khione stepped backward, and shot ice at it, but the leopard dodged the ice and charged at Khione. Khione sent a mini-blizzard at the wildcat. The leopard screamed, if leopards could scream, and turned into a broken staff. Sadie pressed the tyet on her bracelet and it grew into a sword, and she continued fighting. Meanwhile, Carter summoned a falcon warrior. Jaz was trying to cast a spell on Annabeth and Leo, trying to turn them back, but her magic wasn't working either. Walt was fiddling with a wax figurine. I had no idea what he was doing. Piper was using her dagger against the wolves. I ran to help her, since she was still in bad shape.

"Calypso, are you okay?" she yelled, once she saw me.

I swatted a wolf away from her with my dagger. "No! Not at all!" The words tore at my throat. I pulled off my gloves and handed them to her. She shook her head and gave them back.

"I'm so sorry," she said. Her raw cheeks were streaked with frozen tears. "I shouldn't have let myself get kidnapped. I should have been able to fight by myself. If I'd stood up for myself, Annabeth and Leo--" Her voice broke and she shook her head. 

"It's not your fault," I said, my own voice wavering. "He-- he could still be alive." But I didn't know if I believed it. 

"Maybe." I heard the doubt in her voice. I knew what she was thinking.

"The prophecy," I guessed. "You think they're the ones getting left behind?" The thought made me sick, imagining Leo as an ice statue, alone in this frozen wasteland. 

"The last Great Prophecy talked about a 'final breath', and Leo still survived," Piper said hopefully. Then her shoulders slumped. "But he doesn't have the physicians' cure this time. Thalia turned into ice and back, but that was because Hera showed her true form. I-- I don't know. I'm sorry, Calypso." She defeated the last wolf, then hugged me. My eyes filled with tears again.

"Are you guys okay?" Jason yelled, breaking away from the fight again. There were tears on his cheeks as well. 

"My best friend and her boyfriend just got turned into an ice statue!" Piper retorted. "How 'okay' can we possibly be?"

"Sorry, stupid question." He ran to Piper and hugged her. "Gods, Pipes, you're shivering like crazy!" He unzipped his blue jacket and wrapped it around her.

"Don't you dare," she protested, but he zipped the jacket up.

"For once, your charmspeak doesn't work on me," he said, giving her a quick kiss. I turned away, my eyes stinging. I wanted Leo back so badly, but I didn't know if it would ever happen.

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Gods, that was hard to write. I'm so evil. Who else do you think is going to get turned to ice?