❝ 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.
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."
Everyone seemed to relax at that thought, but Hina had wiped her tears away to study Nico and Hazel. The look they exchanged felt like the final nail in Hina's coffin.
They knew he hadn't survived.
From that point on, Hina was numb. Despite the summer heat, she was freezing.
The second day after her return, Hina holed up in the infirmary with Will. Her half-brother had told her of how he witnessed Octavian's death and how powerless he was against it. Even if Octavian was the worst demigod to ever exist, Hina hugged Will a little longer than normal.
He had to do the one thing Apollo kids could never do, let someone die.
They worked together in silence, patching up demigods, making sure the other was never alone for too long.
By evening, the general mood had improved somewhat. The diving hall was crammed full of demigods, the Greeks and Romans mingling like they had been friends for life. In the atmosphere, Hina felt out of place.
Hedge roamed around the demigods, proudly showing off his baby boy and saying, "Hey, you want to meet Chuck? This is my boy, Chuck!"
The Aphrodite and Athena girls alike cooed over the feisty little satyr baby, who waved his pudgy fists, kicked his tiny hooves and bleated, "Baaaa! Baaaa!"
Clarisse, who had been named the baby's godmother, trailed behind the coach like a bodyguard and occasionally muttered, "All right, all right. Give the kid some space."
The only time Chuck left Coach Hedge's hands was when he found Hina, sitting at the edge of the Apollo table. He handed off little Chuck to Clarisse, who hovered nearby and wrapped Hina in his arms.
It was enough to shock Hina out of her trance. She hugged him back, letting out a small sob. "I miss him."
"I know, kid," Hedge replied mournfully, once again shocking Hina with his vulnerability. The old Hedge would have kicked Hina's butt if she caught him misty eyed, but now, everything had changed.
After losing Leo the first time, Hina and the satyr had come to an agreement, at the end of the day, they were both protectors.
At announcement time, Chiron stepped forward and raised his goblet.
"Out of every tragedy," he said, "comes new strength. Today, we thank the gods for this victory. To the gods!"
The demigods all joined the toast, but their enthusiasm seemed muted. Hina could hear the doubt in their voices, why thank the gods when they had abandoned them to do their dirty work?
Then Chiron said, "And to new friends!"
"TO NEW FRIENDS!"
Hundreds of demigod voices echoed across the hills.
Later that night at the campfire, Hina stared into the sky, her eyes settling on one of her many made up constellations- the mechanic. Now, it shone too brightly, as if even the stars knew what had been lost.
Everyone else kept glancing into the tapestry of night sky as if expecting Leo to make a dramatic come back.
After a few songs, Reyna and Frank were called to the front. They got a thunderous round of applause from both the Greeks and Romans. Up on Half-Blood Hill, the Athena Parthenos glowed more brightly in moonlight, as if to signal: These kids are all right.
"Tomorrow," Reyna said, "we Romans must return home. We appreciate your hospitality, especially since we almost killed you –"
"You almost got killed," Annabeth corrected.
"Whatever, Chase."
The crowd let out a low "ooooooh" and began laughing, shoving one another. It was like a scene fresh from a movie, and despite the heavy weight on Hina's heart, she gave a small smile.
"Anyway," Frank took over, "Reyna and I agree this marks a new era of friendship between the camps."
Reyna clapped him on the back. "That's right. For hundreds of years, the gods tried to separate us to keep us from fighting. But there's a better kind of peace – cooperation."
Piper stood up from the audience. "Are you sure your mom is a war goddess?"
"Yes, McLean," Reyna said. "I still intend to fight a lot of battles. But from now on we fight together!"
That got a big cheer.
Zhang raised his hand for quiet. "You'll all be welcome at Camp Jupiter. We've come to an agreement with Chiron: a free exchange between the camps – weekend visits, training programs and, of course, emergency aid in times of need –"
"And parties?" asked Dakota.
"Hear, hear!" said Conner Stoll.
Reyna spread her arms. "That goes without saying. We Romans invented parties."
Another big Oooohhhhhhhh!
"So thank you," Reyna concluded. "All of you. We could've chosen hatred and war. Instead we found acceptance and friendship."
Then she did something unexpected, she walked up to Nico, who was standing to one side in the shadows, as usual. She grabbed his hand and pulled him gently into the firelight.
"We had one home," she said. "Now we have two."
She gave Nico a big hug and the crowd roared with approval.
Afterwards, Frank gave Hina a tight bearhug, making her promise to visit when she had the chance.
"I'm so proud of you, you're going to be the best praetor New Rome could ask for," Hina whispered, trying to will her eyes from tearing up.
"He wanted me to tell you, it's not your fault, it's just how it had to be."
Hearing those words, Hina held onto Frank a little tighter. She wanted to scream and hit him for keeping everything secret from her, but she couldn't find it in herself.
Hina felt guilty, but she avoided saying goodbye to Hazel. The knowing look in her eyes when they talked about Leo coming back had haunted Hina since.
Time seemed to trudge on without Hina. Soon, the Romans were gone, leaving camp feeling somehow far emptier and everyone had gone back to semi-normal.
New campers arrived, others left for the school year.
Slowly, her friends healed, physically and emotionally. Of course, they still hurt, they'd see something to remind them of what was lost and Hina could see the pain in their eyes. But for her, it never went away.
She had called that day she woke up on the bus beside Leo her new beginning, and now every memory that made her Hina was with him.
Even Will had gotten better, the memory of Octavian only a thought that would float by every now and then, he had found support in Nico di Angelo. Although, the pair was unlikely and a little unnerving to Hina, she was happy Will had found someone to keep him smiling.
Piper and Jason were constantly moving, travelling between camp and New Rome to fulfill Jason's promise to honor all gods no matter how minor.
Annabeth was helping Percy work to catch up on school so they could graduate and attend college together.
Just like that, the eight demigods were scattered. Each caught up in their lives full of new challenges.
And once again, Hina Ito was alone.