Chapter 7 Worry Pt. 4

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All of these chaotic and jumbled thoughts as well as more rushed through her mind for the next few days after Leo's death. And she could feel his death. It hurt. So much. Death wasn't an absence of someone, it was a cold dark feeling, sometimes painful. But it hurt even more when Piper came to her to confirm his death. Hazel was forced to give in when Piper charmspoke (charmspake? Charmspeaked?). Then they cried. But the anger and hurt boiled over when they were forbidden from searching for Leo in the underworld, though Hades might've been right. They would've spent too much time there.

So she, like the rest of the kids in the camps, mourned a great hero's sacrifice. She was very torn to help make the bead. On one hand she would fully accept he was gone, but on the other keep him with her. So she did. She didn't care how drained she got, only that she got enough materials for the Vulcan, Hephaestus, Athena, and other children of the gods to make the beads. She wasn't from camp half-blood, but she adopted the necklace tradition as well as the branding of New Rome. Everyone was depressed, definitely, and she spent nights crying her eyes out until her throat was raw and red.

Until Leo came back. Then she was anything but depressed. Angry, joyous, surprised, annoyed, yes, but not sad. She was one of the harsher people during his best-up session, but Piper took the cake.

Back was the bubbly, happy, brilliant, stupid, annoying-ish fire hazard. He came back in standard Leo fashion, annoying everyone while hyping them up to no end. He was the joy and life of the party everyone at camp had missed. It was one of Hazels favorite parts about him. He always cheered people up when they were down.

She remembered how after Percy and Annabeth fell, Leo tried cheering everyone up whenever he could. Hazel had seen them fall. Other than Nico, she was closest. Leo gave them words of encouragement everyday. He made gifts and food for everyone when they were to depressed to make it or grab it themselves.

"They'll get out of there, I know it. They have been through metaphorical hell already. What's literal hell have on them? Don't cry. You still have us. We love you. Now come here. I made your favorite, it's not ambrosia, but I've been told my foods been a blessing. Eat up. I'll be repairing the hull."

She and the rest of the crew were so grateful for all he did, without them, they would have lost all hope. When he died they lost a lot of hope, and it was her fault. But he brought it back, thanked her for keeping the secret, and comforted her when she cried. He was their boat of joy and light in the stormy sea of hopelessness and depression.

Which was why she was worried. One time after a hard day of training at camp Jupiter and a fight with Frank she wanted to talk to someone to cheer her up. She had already tried Piper, but she was dealing with her cabin, and she knew that Percy and Annabeth were on a date. So she decided to try to IM Leo.

She went to the bathhouse, careful to be in a private area in case anyone else actually needed to use it to bathe. She blushed and cringed at the thought. She still wasn't used to this stuff, no matter how long she spent in this time.

She pulled out a flashlight to create the rainbow, and then a denarri, hoping that Fleecy would accept them just like drachma and tossed it into the mist. "Iris, or Fleecy, whoever's shift it is, uh, hi. Please accept this, and do me a solid. Please show me Leo Valdez at camp half blood."

She could almost hear a chuckle come from the mist before it turned into an image of the Bunker at the camp. She could see all the scrap and metal scattered around the room, the bronze pipes leading to other rooms holding who knows what, and an angry Leo sitting over a desk.

"Just get through this Leo! Just get your dumb head into the game and work on this! Your stupid self has already wasted an hour moving at a snails pace while thinking about useless depressing sh*t. No one cares. That's final. Okay? Stop worrying, and get working."

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