Metal Bender (Legend of Korra Heroes of Olympus Crossover)

CHPT10: Lost & Found

"The Fates maybe?" Frank suggested.

"Oh no," Percy yelped. "They won't help. It's more likely they'll throw a monster at us or make us Fate socks."

"Okay?" Hazel said unsurely. "Maybe Lady Hecate can help."

"I doubt it," Jason sighed. "This sucks! We barely won the first time and now it seems we didn't really win after all! How do you beat someone who you couldn't beat the first time and escaped without you noticing!"

"There's gotta be a way..." I stroked Leo's hair gently. We had laid him out the floor of the cave while we brain stormed. This was hard.

"I know this isn't going to be a popular idea," Annabeth began nervously. "But if we can't get Gaia out of Leo... if you kill the host, the virus will die..."

"NO!"

"Absolutely not!"

"We just got him back!"

"Are you crazy?!"

"How could you say that!"

"I don't like it either guys!" Annabeth yelled over our outrage. "But we can't let Gaia go free. Believe me, killing Leo is the last thing I want, but if it is a choice between another apocalypse or killing Leo, I'm afraid we don't have a lot of options."

"N-no," I said shakily. "Y-you don't k-know that would w-work." I swallowed hard not wanting to agree with our team strategist. Was Leo worth the world? Of course he was! But was that what he'd want. I don't want to lose him again. The Leo from five years ago would never agree with my selfish wants. He'd proved as much by sacrificing himself. "O-only i-if we have n-no... choice."

"Piper," Jason gasped. "You can't be serious!"

"I don't like it Jason!" I snapped. "But Leo himself proved he thought the world was worth dying for five years ago! I don't want to kill my friend, but Annabeth is right. If there is no other option... we may have to do something we will regret, eternally."

Tears clouded my eyes as I brushed some dirt from my sleeping friend's face. The face of a boy who could make you laugh like no one else could, the face of a boy who'd come with us on some of the most dangerous journeys and faced some of the greatest hardships known to demigod kind, the face of a boy who'd been there for me at a school in the middle of nowhere when I'd felt alone, rejected and lost. I loved him almost as dear as I love Jason. In a different way, obviously, but I still do love him. If it came to killing him, I would never sleep peacefully again. Just thinking about having to kill my best friend was enough to make me sick, but I knew if he was in his right mind, he'd tell me I was doing the right thing then make some joke about something inappropriate in the moment to make me laugh, if only a little.

Suddenly from the mouth of the cave Festus began bugling and shooting fire into the air! We ran outside in a rush to see what was wrong. What met us was surprising: nothing. There was nothing there. No one there. We were totally alone. Bare mountain side and empty skies stretched as far as we could see. Jason flew about some and found no one, but Festus continued. Hazel and Nico scoured the ground, above and below, but Festus continued. Percy even searched the snow, there was nothing and no one. Festus wouldn't stop.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked no one in particular. "Festus! Festus! Festus stop! We're safe, there's no one here."

"Festus!" Jason flew as close to the dragon's fiery maw as he dared. "Come on buddy, nothing's wrong."

"I could douse him?"Percy suggested. "Maybe he  just needs to be snapped out of it."

"Like a malfunction?" Hazel asked.

"Where's Leo when you need him," Frank sighed.

"Oh no Leo!" I turned and ran into the cave. "We left him-"

Leo was standing hands clamped over his ears, eyes glowing green, and a really pissed off expression spread across his face. I almost didn't recognize him.

"Leo," I said firmly. "Listen to my voice."

"No," Leo snarled. "I don't know what you are trying to prove, but so far you are making me hate you."

"Leo this isn't you," I pleaded. "Just let me-"

"NO!" Leo's voice echoed. "I AM NOT A CHILD! STOP ACTING LIKE I DON'T HAVE A CLUE! I KNOW SHE'S IN ME! SHE'S BEEN THERE THE WHOLE TIME AND YES IT TOOK SOME WORK TO GET USED TO HER, BUT I NEED HER!"

"Listen to yourself Leo," Jason pleaded. "This is not you. You would never kill some one-"

"THIS IS WAR JASON," Leo's voice continued to echo just as Gaia's had. "PEOPLE DIE IN WAR. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M FIGHTING FOR?"

"Killing is never okay-" I tried.

"YOU ARE BLIND AND ENTITLED PIPER," Leo snapped. "YOU HAVE RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS AND YOU NEVER CONSIDER WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO BE OTHERWISE."

"What does that-"

"METAL DYNASTY!" Leo's voice made my ears ring with its strength. "THEY ARE TRYING TO STOP THE EARTH KINGDOM FROM BECOMING A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM. THEY ARE CLINGING TO AN OLD WAY WHICH HAS BEEN OUT GROWN BY THE NEW GENERATION. WOO IS TRYING FOR A BETTER WORLD! BUT YOU HAD TO DISTRACT ME AND TAKE ME AWAY FROM THE CAPITOL AND NOW WUN IS ON THE THRONE AND BA SING SE IS LOST! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT WILL BE NOW FOR WOO TO INSTALL A DEMOCRACY OVER A RULING MONARCHY? IT WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE ALL BECAUSE YOU THOUGH IT WAS, WHAT? IMMORAL FOR ME TO KILL IN A WAR! WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR? A BOY WHO CAN'T MAKE HIS OWN CHOICES? A CHILD! I'M SICK OF YOU! ALL OF YOU! YOU HAVE NO PERSPECTIVE!"

With that Leo folded his arms across his chest and dropped into the earth. He was gone leaving us shocked in an empty cave. On the ledge outside Festus had settled down and was quiet, contentedly curled in a ball. I understood now. He'd been distracting us.

Korra's POV:

The air nomads had split into several groups, some going to the exit point of the escape tunnels from Ba Sing Se, some to the air temple for reinforcements to meet in Republic city, some to Zao Fu for reinforcements, some to the other nations to ask for aid, and some to Republic City itself to break the news of the fall of Ba Sing Se. I was furious. How dare they. Those those supposed friends of Leo's! I couldn't blame Leo for this. When he'd known them, they were loyal and good and willing to lay down their lives to save the world. The stories he'd told about them showed this so clearly, but now? They betrayed all our trust. They betrayed Leo. Without explanation, they'd turned on us with all their awesome power. Leo had fought hard, but it wasn't enough.

We flew towards the mountains in the direction a Dai Li guard had said he saw Festus go. Tensen had let us borrow one of the flying bison since our ride got hijacked. They were going to pay for this! Suddenly from a far off valley I heard a great bellow. Then I saw flame over a mountain peak very far off to our right. I urged the bison in it's direction. Ten minutes after it began it stopped.

"No, Festus keep roaring," I begged quietly."Where are you?"

CRACK!

The valley below us rung with the noise. Looking down, we saw the mountain side had split open and staggering from the opening-

"Leo!" Asami cried.

We circled. The bison had barely landed when we hoped off, rushing to our friend. We embraced his shaking frame. Tears streamed down his face. Physically he was fine, this was a pain of the heart. The only thing we could do was hold our friend as the grief of betrayal exploded from his eyes.

We found you.