Impossible to Return

Tears and an Unexpected Friend

As the dawning realization crashed down on Hazel Levesque's shoulders, she struggled to stay on her feet.

Her friends were her friends no more. They were done. They had split up. They had all gone separate ways, willing to live separate lives. Except for Hazel. She didn't want to be separated.

Hazel was about to break, but she couldn't do it in front of all the prying eyes.

She started to run, not conscious of where her feet were taking her. She passed Terra Silver, one of the girls in her dormitory, who was snickering and whispering with Samantha Xentha, the other girl in their dormitory. She could see the smug smile on their faces and rushed past them before Samantha could open her mouth to give a snide remark.

Blood rushed in her ears and Hazel's feet pounded on the hard cement until they passed onto prickly, dying grass. The wind was fierce, and Hazel's curly hair was blown into her face. She forced it behind her ear and didn't stop running. Running away from what just happened.

No one was outside, because no one wanted to face the bitter cold rolling in, signifying the start of winter. Gone were the days of sun and humid temperatures, on were the waves of snow and chill.

When her legs were sore and breaths became laboured, she stopped. Her legs buckled and she collapsed on to her knees, not feeling the grass cutting through her nylons and scratching her soft skin.

The weight of the rumours, lies and mistrust fell onto her being. The accusations, the names called, they all flew around her head tauntingly like an annoying song you couldn't chase out of your head no matter how much you wanted to. Hazel breathed heavily and tears fell from her eyes onto the grass that was becoming a pain. But she didn't mind, it hurt much less than the stab of what had just happened.

Her friends... they were no longer the seven. The seven demigods of the prophecy, destined to save the world. The demigods of both Roman and Greek parentage. The demigods who against all the odds, would come together and befriend one another. Brave, heroic, smart, strong, the friends who stopped the giants and then sent Gaea back to sleep. Her friends.

Nico technically wasn't one of them, he just joined later, but he was her brother who had saved her from the Fields of Asphodel. Without him, she would still be aimlessly wandering around, wondering what her life could've been if her mother hadn't been manipulated by Gaea. Nico might never have been part of the prophecy as one of the seven, but he still helped in more ways than one.

Leo was the actual seventh member. The fire who broke the cage, the one that sacrificed himself for the world.

Leo.

Hazel choked on her tears. Would've this happened if Leo was here? No. He would've held them together. His jokes and mischief. His nicknames and spirit. The glue. The seventh wheel. Repair Boy. Leo Valdez Bad Boy Supreme.

Hazel looked at her forearm and a slight smile found its way to her face through her tears at a memory. Team Leo for the win.......

Leo always made everyone laugh. He could fix anything, and he probably could fix this. He'd whip out a few tools, make a few jokes, and everything would be okay.

But he was gone. Disappeared. No trace.

Hazel could feel he wasn't dead, but she wasn't sure if that was hope or her Daughter-of-Pluto instincts kicking in. Of course, everything in her being hoped it was the latter. Hazel didn't know if she could bare the feeling of him being gone.

At first Hazel had only seen Leo as Sammy. They looked so alike—curly hair and eyes that twinkled with mischief that made you double-check your wallet was still in your back pocket.