radoddish- welllll...:D
SEASBLU- hahah i love your comments!
"Funny how now you guys appreciate my knitting."
Piper rolled her eyes. "Shut up and put your hat on, Rosie."
Two days out to sea from Split, gray clouds had swallowed the sky. Waves had turned choppy, unresponsive to Rosie's controls. A chill had settled over the entire ship, hence the need for winter coats and Rosie's knitting.
"It's the scepter," Nico muttered, glancing at the scepter in his hand. Nico looked wildly out of place with the purple hat he begrudgingly wore. "It has to be."
Something had happened with Jason and Nico retrieving the scepter at Diocletian's palace. Both Jason and Nico had been nervous and jumpy- but wouldn't say why.
The entire crew was gathered on the quarterdeck, bundled up and shivering as the ship rocked violently. Rosie kept thinking of the children of Mother Earth, how they had warned them that Gaea was coming.
Hazel winced. "Need to-" she broke off with a gag, reminding Rosie of her tendency to get seasick.
"Yeah, go," Nico said, kissing her cheek. That surprised Rosie- Nico was hardly the affectionate type.
"I'll walk you down," Frank offered, slinging an arm around Hazel and helping her to the stairs.
As they disappeared from view, Nico brushed some ice off his coat. "I...I should put the scepter away. I mean, if it's causing the weather problem…"
"Right," Jason said, nodding. "Go."
Nico shot a nervous look at the rest of them, like he was afraid of what they would say once he left. Rosie defensively crossed her arms- she didn't get what Nico's problem was.
Leo sighed, pulling a screwdriver out of his belt as Nico left. "So much for the big meeting. Looks like it's just us again."
Just us again.
She looked at her three best friends, feeling a rush of emotion pass through her. Their first quest was only seven months ago, and yet it felt like years had passed.
She glanced over at Piper, who was looking out at the sea with a worried look in her eyes. Piper was more confident, no doubt; no longer was she the girl who refused to raise her hand in class. She recognized her completely for what she was: a force to be reckoned with.
This quest had aged Jason a thousand years- his blonde hair had gone from a neat, crisp buzz cut to long and shaggy, in desperate need of a haircut. His eyes, once clear and with an overwhelming sense of calmness, were pained. Rosie knew this quest had been hard on him- his identity had been completely brought into question. But she wasn't worried- she knew he would figure it out.
And Leo…well, she already knew about Leo.
She looked at Leo, who was tapping his fingers against the ship's railing distractedly. That had to be one of her favorite sounds in the whole world- Leo tapping out Morse code.
She listened intently, wanting to know what he was tapping.
R- that was definitely an R.
O.
No-it couldn't be. Did he even realize what he was tapping?
She smiled to herself as it hit her.
He was tapping out her name.
Tonight. She'd talk to him tonight. It was time.
"We're almost to Epirus," Jason said, distracting Rosie from her moment of revelation. "Another day or so, if Nico's directions are right- what are you smiling about?"
It took a moment for her to realize Jason was talking to her. She quickly bit her lip, shaking her head.
"Nothing- I just love freezing my ass out here with you guys."
Leo shook his head. "Weirdo," he decided, giving her an odd look.
"Guys," Piper cut in suddenly. "I've been thinking a lot about the prophecy."
Those words were enough to take away another ten degrees. Leo stopped tapping, as Jason and Rosie exchanged nervous looks.
"Um…" Leo hesitated. "Good things I hope?"
Piper was avoiding looking at any of them. "In Katoptris," she started. "I keep seeing that giant Clytius- the guy wrapped in shadows. I know we said his weakness is fire, but… everytime I see him, he snuffs out flames wherever he goes. Any kind of light just gets sucked into his cloud of darkness."
Leo threw his head back with a laugh. "Hey, just like Nico! Any chance they're related?"
Jason scowled. "Come on, man, cut Nico some slack."
Leo threw a questioning look at Piper and Rosie, and Rosie found herself drawing back in confusion. Since when did Jason defend Nico?
"What were you saying, Piper?" Jason continued tensely.
"Um...right. I was...I was just thinking about fire. I mean, we expect Leo to beat this giant because...he's so...um-"
"Hot?" Leo suggested with a grin.
"Perfectly flammable?" Rosie cut in.
"That line from the prophecy bothers me," Piper muttered. "To storm or fire the world must fall."
"Let me guess," Leo piped in. "You're going to say I'm fire. And that Jason is storm."
Piper nodded, although hesitantly.
Rosie could sense she was worried- something was bothering her. "So, what, Piper? Do you think one of them will endanger the quest...or destroy the world?"
"I...I think we've been reading that line wrong," Piper said. "The world...the Earth. In Greek, the word for that is…"
"Gaea," Jason finished quietly. "You mean, to storm or fire Gaea must fall?"
"Oh!' A wide grin appeared on Leo's face. "That's even better, then, right? Because then she could be defeated by either me or Jason!"
"That's not all, guys," Piper said quietly. She looked straight at Rosie. "Do you remember what Enceladus called you? On Mount Diablo?"
"Pipes?" Rosie asked. "What are you-" She broke off with a soft gasp. "Oh."
"What?" Leo's head whipped between the two of them. "What did he call you?"
Jason's face fell. "Earthshaker," he muttered quietly. "He called Rosie the Earthshaker."
"So...so what?" Leo asked in a shaky tone. "You think one of us is going to kill Freckles? Or that we're going to pitted against one another?"
"Or that one of us will kill Gaea," Jason said miserably. "And the other will die."
"Guys, come on," Rosie pleaded. No way was she going to tell them they were most likely on the right track. "We have no idea what the prophecy means, there's no point in driving ourselves crazy trying to figure it out."
"She's right," Piper said halfheartedly. "We don't know what it means. Heroes always get into trouble trying to thwart prophecies, anyways."
"Yeah," Leo muttered sarcastically. "We'd hate to get in trouble-we have it so good right now!"
"You know what I mean," Piper said, rolling her eyes. "You two might even not even be related to the storm and fire part."
That was another thing nagging Rosie- what if she was the storm? Or Percy?
After a pause, Piper continued, "I mean, I hope I'm wrong. But the whole quest started with us and I have a feeling it'll end with us, too- for better or worse."
"Hey," Jason said, nudging her. "Personally, I like us."
"Agreed!" Leo exclaimed. "Us is my favorite people."
Rosie couldn't help but smile at her friends. "We make a pretty good team, Pipes."
Piper smiled uneasily. A second however, her face drained of color as her smile disappeared. Rosie drew back at the look of fear on her face. "Leo, sound the alarm."
Rosie frowned at the sound of Piper's charmspeak, watching as Leo scrambled to punch the alarm.
Leo frowned as nothing happened. "Uh, I think it's disconnected. Festus shut down-gimme me a second to turn the system back on."
Piper looked panicked. "We don't have a second! Fire- we need vials of Greek fire. Jason, call some winds- warm, southerly ones!"
Rosie and Jason exchanged worried looks. Rosie shot forward, grabbing onto Piper's wrists. "Piper, what's going on? What are you-"
"It's her!" Piper screeched in fire, grabbing her dagger. "She's back! We have to-"
Before Piper could finish, the ship listed to port. The temperature dropped even more, sails crackling with ice.
Jason drew his sword quickly, but not before a spray of ice particles swept over him, freezing him in place. Rosie yelped, seeing his shocked, frozen expression.
For a brief moment, Rosie and Leo glanced at each other, both frozen in place by shock.
"Leo! Flames, now!" Piper commanded.
Leo flicked his right hand, but to no avail- wind swirled around him, dousing his fire. He looked at his hand in confusion, glancing back at Rosie.
Leo's eyes went wide. "Rosie, watch out!" he yelled, leaping forward and giving her a hard shove.
It happened so fast, almost too fast for her to process.
She fell back with a yell, feeling a harsh, cold spray of ice.
She looked up, just to see Leo getting blasted in the chest with a wave of ice. She watched in shock as Leo tumbled over the ship's railing and out of view….Leo was gone.
"Leo!" she screamed, aware of Piper's mouth dropping in horror.
Rosie began forward, only to hear a familiar, chilling female voice. "Not so fast, ma chère."
Rosie felt the ice creep up her body, watching helplessly as Piper screamed.
