ALL RIGHTS TO THE CHARACTERS (except Celeste, she's mine) BELONG TO RICK RIORDAN!!! I DO NOT OWN THE PJO/HoO OR THE KANE CHRONICLES SERIES!!!

Chapter 16 - Celeste

Leo immediately fell limp in Celeste's arms and she carried him far away from the others.

She hated leaving them, but she had to do this, she had to end this war.

Percy wouldn't listen to her and the others would think she was insane.

It had to be Leo.

She was going to make him kill her.

She would do it herself of course, but her clone had gotten into her head somehow. She was preventing her from killing herself and sapping her strength to even be able to do it.

In fact, even as she carried Leo, she felt faint and stumbled constantly.

Finally, she decided she was far enough and placed Leo gently on the ground.

A flash of Walt, the magician boy, went through her mind.

Celeste blinked and rubbed her eyes, willing the image to disappear. Her clone was playing tricks on her. She knew what Celeste was up to.

"Celeste...do you really want to die? Do you really want to go the Fields of Punishment for all eternity?" Her clone's voice echoed through her mind.

"You don't know that! Shut up!" Celeste screamed out loud.

Leo shifted on the ground, moaning but still remaining unconscious.

"Celeste..." Her clone whispered in her mind again.

"SHUT. UP!!" Celeste's screamed.

Rain immediately began to pour down in sheets.

Leo was soaked in seconds and jolted up from the cold water being unexpectedly splashed on his face.

Celeste, however, remained completely dry.

"Leo, thank the gods. Are you okay?" Celeste asked, kneeling beside him.

He quickly smacked her hand away as she reached to help him up. A hurt look crossed Celeste's face.

"What's wrong with you!?" Leo shouted, stumbling to his feet. "You knocked me unconscious!"

"I'm sorry! I had to! This is important Leo! I need you to kill me!" Celeste protested.

Leo froze and turned pale. "What!?"

"Kill me. It'll end this. All of this. I'll die and the clone will die next."

"How do you know she'll die? What if she lied about the bond between you two? That way you could kill yourself and then she could rule the world without you as a threat! Did you think about that!?" Leo asked.

Celeste sighed. "She's not lying, Leo. She's part of my soul. Kill her and I die and vice-versa. Trust me."

Celeste pulled out an ivory dagger and handed it to Leo.

Leo pushed it away. "No, Celeste. I'm not going to kill you."

"Why not!?" Celeste whined.

"Because I love you!" Leo cried. Celeste felt warm tears at the brim of her eyes. "I love you, and sticking a dagger through you will be like sticking a dagger through myself. How could you possibly think that I would be perfectly okay with killing you!?"

"I trust you! You understand me so well! Percy's way too overprotective and the others would've thought I was crazy. I thought you would do it for me!" Celeste yelled, tears finally spilling now.

Leo wrapped his rain-soaked arms around her and pressed his forehead to hers. He warmed her in the cold weather as he pressed his lips to hers.

When he pulled back, he wiped her tears with his thumb delicately, being gentle with her fragile feelings.

"Nothing will ever convince me to kill you Celeste. No matter what is at stake, I just want you." Leo murmured.

Celeste sniffled and the rain began to lighten.

"I just-I don't want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt or dying. Especially not my friends and family." Celeste whispered.

"Everything will be fine Celeste. You have to believe me, killing yourself is not the answer. We'll find a way to fix this. Don't worry." Leo said with a smile.

Celeste brushed her lips across his for reassurance and then smiled, making all the rain disappear altogether.

"Now let's find the others." Leo said.

Celeste nodded and they turned to walk.

They had barely made it a few feet when Celeste's clone stood in front of them, a smirk on her face.

They both froze.

Celeste's clone had Walt's shirt collar grasped in her fingers as she dragged him behind her.

Scrapes, bruises, and blood were all over the magician boy's body and face.

Celeste gasped and saw the spirals of darkness curling around him.

His eyes were sunken and almost completely black and his skin was crumbling and darkening as if the darkness was sucking away his very essence, or even his very soul.

Leo launched himself at the clone but she snapped her fingers and Leo collapsed beside Walt. Immediately, he looked in the same condition as Walt.

"Leo!" Celeste screamed.

Celeste's clone smiled devilishly.

"Now dear, you'll come with me, and I'll spare your little boyfriend over here." The clone said.

Celeste hesitated and then said, "And Walt." She saw Walt flicker in and out between himself and another boy she didn't recognize.

The clone shook her head. "No can do. It's either the Hephaestus boy or neither of them."

Celeste closed her eyes and sighed.

"Fine. Leave Leo alone." Celeste spat.

The clone smiled again. "Wonderful."

She snapped her fingers again and Leo disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Celeste turned beet red in anger. She lashed out at her clone but felt her leg kicked out from under her. She crumpled to the ground.

"YOU PROMISED!" Celeste screamed, tears threatening to overflow. She blinked twice to keep them in.

"Oh be quiet. He's completely unharmed. I sent him back to those little friends of yours. They're of no interest to me. They'll just die along with the rest of the world. Well...I might save a few for enslavement." Celeste's clone laughed to herself.

"You're sick." Celeste spat.

"Well, I'm you." Her clone smiled.

Celeste blinked, realizing her clone was right.

"Now come dear, we have some world domination to begin." Her clone said.

The sound of her clone's snapping fingers reverberated through Celeste's ears as a strange darkness swirled into her vision and she fell into pure agony.

She lost time of how long she was screaming.