"Leo was dead. He knew with absolute certainty. . . He felt like every cell in his body has exploded. . .He couldn't move. He couldn't see or hear. He could only feel pain. . .  thinking maybe this was his eternal punishment." - Leo Valdez, Blood of Olympus (by Rick Riordan), Page 497

Leo stood in the middle of the room. His mind was buzzing dully, and his fingers twitched at his sides. He let out a shaky breath, listening to the silence that surrounded him. He couldn't hear anything, just as he hoped would happen if he entered this room. 

He was alone, completely alone.

Leo closed his eyes, feeling his eyelids grow heavy and sting with unshed tears. His hands went ablaze as he relaxed, not that he cared. Leo subconsciously hoped that the fire would burn his flesh. Letting the Latino teen feel the pain he had felt before he was resurrected. Let him feel the sickening, painful grips of death. 

Resurrected. What a weird word. A harsh, disappointing word. 

Leo swallowed the saliva gathering in the sides of his mouth. A frown plastered on his lips as he opened his eyes. "I'm— I-I—" Leo couldn't bring himself to speak. Tears starting to leak out of the corners of his eyes as he choked down a sob. He looked down to see his pants burning, patting the fire out as his hands grew cold.

He moved the blackened, burned fabric to reveal his skin. His skin was perfectly clear. It wasn't blistering or charred. He ran his fingers over it, gaining a - what Piper could consider stupid -idea.  He pressed his fingers against his skin, then lit them aflame. "Burn." He demanded. 

Nothing happened.

Leo cursed and removed his hands. With a long sigh, Leo glanced at his hands. "I crave it." he whimpered to himself. "I crave the feeling I was deprived when I woke up 7 months ago." He continued, speaking to himself as if he was the only interesting conversationalist in the world.

"That's kind of messed up." A voice spoke from the corner. Leo's eyes widened in alarm and his body went taut. He turned fiercely and made eye-contact with Nico di Angelo. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion, his mouth suddenly feeling dry. "Nico...?" Nico nodded as the dark-haired son of Hades came out of the shadows of the room Leo has locked himself into.

"You just admitted some pretty dark Schist." Nico commented hesitantly, the Italian walking towards Leo. Leo shrunk back and flinched as Nico put a hand on his shoulder. "I was joking." Leo lied, throwing out a harsh laugh. Forcing himself to smile. 

Nico shook his head. "Didn't seem like it." He argued softly, Nico taking his hand off of Leo. Leo avoided his eyes and tried to stop the shaking in his fingers. "You can tell me anything, no one believes the emo-son-of-death kid anyway." Nico suggested in a gentle tone. Leo let out a pant and felt a hot tear go down his cheek. He wiped it harshly with the back of his wrist.

"I wasn't able to move when I died. I wasn't able to hear anything, see the world around me." Leo spoke, his haunted voice carrying throughout the room and echoing off the walls. Nico listened as Leo explained how it felt to be dead. "It's peaceful. Painful and mysterious. I saw things though." Nico shot Leo a questioing look. Leo looked down at his feet, eyeing the floor intensely. "Even if I couldn't see the world around me, I could see what was happening. What happens to the souls who don't make it into the good place." 

Leo continued with flashes of memories clawing at his mind. "I saw your dad briefly." he informed Nico.

"Also, I saw flashes. Flashes of dark colors and flames. They burned me alive it seemed, continuously as I screamed. Well, I think I screamed. I opened my mouth a lot, letting hot air exit my lungs as they seemed to die out before I could get a chance to hear them." Nico felt dread build up in his stomach.

"I was on fire. Burning everywhere. At least that's what it felt like. Painfully melting a my screams of agony seem to satisfy them to no end. . .But it was only me. I was alone, and my vision was darkening. I felt as if I was poured into lava, and weirdly, calm" Leo chuckled darkly. "It burned my eyes. Whatever it was, illusion, reality, hell." Taking a breath, Leo further added to his story.

"It was chaos," 

"But it was beautiful." Nico finished for him, shivering as Leo nodded. "Sometimes," The son of Heaphetus admitted, "I crave it more than I crave living."