Disclaimer: I own whoever you don't recognize. I don't own any songs involved either.
A/N: Characters may seem OOC. I apologize about that. Please don't flame me.
"Lean on me," The campers sang. "When you're not strong and I'll be your friend. I'll help you carry on."
The fire crackled with life as Rosie played around with it. She had picked up a stick and was now poking and prodding the flames. She moved her foot just as a spark flew out of the fire.
"Rosie, please be careful." Eloise said from a safe distance behind her. "I don't want you to burn yourself."
"I'll be careful." Rosie watched a spark fly off of her stick.
"Hey Rosie, can I talk to you?" Katie asked.
"Sure, go ahead."
"In private please."
"Oh, okay." Rosie tossed her stick into the fire. "Luke, I'll be right back."
"Hurry back." Luke told her.
Rosie smiled. "I'll try." She followed Katie to where the campers wouldn't be able eavesdrop on them.
Katie turned to Rosie. "I saw that you were upset earlier. What happened?"
Rosie let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. She was glad it was just a question like that. "It was Annabeth. She said that there weren't many Goths here." She exhaled softly. "I must have done something bad if she said it."
"Oh Rosie, Annabeth is like that to all new campers. She's actually quite nice once she overcomes what she guessed about you." Katie shifted her feet awkwardly. "What makes you think you did something wrong?"
Rosie shrugged. "Why else would she say that to me?"
Katie placed a gentle hand on Rosie's shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong. Don't let anyone make you think otherwise." She paused, trying to think of how to phrase her next question. "Eloise mentioned that you're sensitive. Why's that?"
Rosie hesitated. "Something happened when I was little that still haunts me to this day."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Maybe later, can we go back to the campfire?"
"Sure."
The two girls walked back to the campfire. Rosie liked Katie and vice versa. Rosie knew that Katie meant well when she asked her last two questions. Rosie just wasn't comfortable sharing what happened to her.
"Wait," Katie grabbed Rosie's arm and stopped walking.
"Yes?" Rosie looked at Katie in confusion.
"What can you tell me about Travis?" Katie was nervous but she really wanted to know.
Rosie shrugged. "What do you want to know?"
"I want to know-" Katie was cut off as she and Rosie fell.
Rosie looked around and saw that she and Katie were in a tunnel. She grabbed Katie's arm and took her to the end.
"Where are we?" Katie asked.
"We'll find out soon enough." Rosie replied.
The girls emerged to see a small room. It was too dark for Katie's taste but Rosie like it. Rosie looked around and knew right away where she and Katie were. Two dogs were sleeping nearby. Rosie noticed that the dogs were pure black.
Rosie looked at Katie and said, "I know where we are." She looked at the dogs.
"Persephone!" a voice boomed.
"We have to get out of here." Rosie whispered to Katie. She recognized the voice and it gave her chills to hear it in person.
"Persephone," Hades roared. "Don't ignore me when I'm calling you!"
"Where are we?" Katie asked. "I don't like this one bit."
"Just please come." Rosie grabbed Katie's hand. "I don't want them to find us." She pulled Katie out of the room. "Va bene, calmati. Ci andrà tutto bene." She said that mainly to herself to try to keep calm. (A/N: Alright, calm down. We'll be fine)
"Is that Italian you're speaking in?" Katie asked.
Rosie nodded and kept moving. She noticed that everything seemed to be floating. She stopped at the edge of a cliff and looked around. 'How did dad get me back last time?' she asked herself. She raised her hand, thinking back to Chicago.
At that moment, a ferryman rowed up to the girls. He had pale skin, black eyes and was wearing all black with his hood up. Rosie recognized him as Charon, the ferryman of the Underworld.
"Who are you?" he asked. "You're not dead."
Katie grabbed Rosie's upper arm. "I don't like this. How did we get to the Underworld? I don't like it here."
Rosie shrugged. "I don't know. I like it here though, it's very homey." She looked at the ferryman. "Charon, I'm -"
"I know who you are, Miss Rosie." Charon interuppted. He fixed his gaze on Katie.
"Katie Gardner," Katie managed to say. "Daughter of Demeter."
"We came here by accident and wish to leave." Rosie said then yawned. "I'm exhausted."
"How are you exhausted?" Katie asked.
"I don't know. Traveling in the shadows makes me tired." Rosie dug through her pockets and found some gold coins, much to her surprise. She held them out to Charon. "Please take us back."
Charon examined the coins and said, "Get in."
Rosie got in and nodded at Katie, who was hesitating. "It's okay." Rosie told her. "Charon won't hurt us."
Katie looked at Charon but got into the boat. She watched a dead body float by. She knew that Rosie, being Hades' daughter, most likely loved the Underworld. Katie, on the other hand, wasn't a big fan of the Underworld.
HCHCHC
"Don't you think Rosie and Luke's relationship is moving a little too fast?" Nolan asked Eloise. "They've only known each other for about two days."
"A little." Eloise admitted. "But I'm sure that Luke will take good care of Rosie."
"I hope so."
"I'm sure he will." Lenny added.
"Where are we now?" a voice asked.
Eloise identified Katie's voice and wondered what Katie was talking about. 'She and Rosie surely couldn't have gone that far away.' She thought to herself.
"I don't know." Rosie's said. "With our luck, anywhere in the world. "Caronte?" She appeared at the edge of the circle with Katie. "Siamo tornati! Urrà!" (A/N: Charon? We're back! Huzzah!)
Campers stared at Rosie and Katie as they appeared. Some looked confused at the language Rosie was speaking in.
"That was awful!" Katie exclaimed. "Never again!"
"It wasn't that bad." Rosie said.
"Not to you but it was to me."
"I'm so tired now. I think I'm going to go to bed."
Curiosity reached its peak as Eloise heard the conversation. She watched Rosie find Luke and hugged him. Eloise smiled at the large smile on Rosie's face.
"Where did you go?" Luke asked.
"Long story." Rosie yawned. "I'm really tired."
"Let's go to bed." Luke took Rosie's hand.
Something fell out of Rosie's sweatshirt pocket as the two walked away. It landed in the dirt with a soft thud. After seeing that Rosie didn't feel it fall out, Eloise went over to the object.
"Hey Rosie!" Eloise called as she bent down to pick the object up. Pain flashed through her finger tips. "Ouch!" she cried out. She pulled her sleeve over her hand and picked up what she saw to be a piece of broken glass. 'Wait, there wasn't any blood dripping down her arms.' She realized.
"Something wrong?" Lenny asked.
"Oh, nothing's wrong." Eloise stood up. "I need to talk to Chiron for a moment."
"He's over there." Lenny nodded his head in Chiron's direction.
As Eloise walked towards Chiron, she remembered something that she and Rosie had talked about months ago.
Flashback:
"Rosalie, I thought you stopped that." Eloise said while holding a pair of scissors away from her friend.
"I have." Rosie replied. "You just never know when you'll need it in self defense."
"What do you mean? We live in a rural area."
"You never know when something bad might happen."
"I suppose." Eloise handed the scissors back. "You may keep these if, and only if, you don't use them when you don't need to. Please promise me."
"I promise."
End flashback
"Hello Eloise." Chiron said, breaking Eloise out of her thoughts.
"Hi Chiron." Eloise said back. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"It's about Rosie." Eloise held out the glass. "This fell out of her pocket. She used to cut herself but I'm sure she hasn't in the past few months."
"Have you seen any blood or scars on her arms?"
"She never scars herself. She doesn't cut too deep. She would only cut if she thought she did something bad." Eloise shifted her weight in her feet. "I think that her being around Luke helps too. She seems very happy around him. Earlier, Annabeth said something to Rosie that made her upset. I'm pretty sure that Luke stopped her from cutting her arm."
Chiron smiled. "That's good to hear. Remember, you can come to me anytime if you want to talk. Let Rosie know that too."
"Thanks, I will." Eloise smiled. She walked back towards Lenny and Nolan.
"Eloise!" Katie said. She grabbed Eloise's arm. "Do you know Rosie speaks Italian?"
"Yes, that's her first language." Eloise nodded. "She was born in Italy." She couldn't hold her curiosity in much longer. "Where did you two go?"
"I don't know how but it was the Underworld."
"The Underworld?" Eloise was confused. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Here's what happened." Katie launched into her story of her and Rosie's adventure.
A/N: I know that's not the best ending to a chapter. Trust me, the ending to this fanfic will really be something. I can't wait to start working on the sequel. Next chapter, Rosie and Eloise meet Percy and play their first game of Capture the Flag. Plus, Rosie sees Hades again for the first time in years. This will be exciting.