guest- ooh i feel for everyone in school rn that sucks! so much better switching classes and thank you:)
SEASBLU- i mean i'd be down for it
radoddish- no...it will not...
AyeraeW- ITS HAPPENING
Piper kept up her singing, even in the dark, musty tunnels beneath Athens.
"I don't like this place," Annabeth murmured behind Rosie. "It reminds me of when I was underneath Rome."
"It's okay," Percy comforted. "It'll be okay."
They passed through stone chambers littered with bones. They climbed slopes so steep and slippery it felt impossible to keep their footing.
She felt her heart pound harder and harder, the deep they went in. Eventually, she realized there was a heartbeat- and it wasn't her own.
I wake.
Rosie stopped suddenly, causing Annabeth to bump into her. Piper's singing became weaker, a bit wary.
"I'm sorry," Rosie apologized. "It's just-"
"That's not good," Annabeth said, frowning.
"It's like Tartarus," Percy said, his voice slightly strained. "You remember...his heartbeat. When he-"
"Stop," Annabeth said sharply.
"I'm sorry."
They came to a dead end, a single passageway a few feet above their heads.
Kekrops paused. As he was standing in front of Rosie, his face became...stony. He stopped swaying to Piper's voice.
Piper noticed this, and stopped singing, glancing at the king with a worried expression. "Kekrops? Are you…-?"
"That passageway leads straight into the heart of the Parthenon," he said, his face hardening. "It's surrounded by the giants and monsters."
"And you're going to help us clear a path?" Piper pressed. "Right?"
"I…" The king winced, his face contorted in pain. "The heartbeat….it's too strong."
The snake guards behind him hissed, holding out their spears. Piper looked at their rest of their group, the fear evident on their faces. She was losing control of him/
Percy lifted his sword. "Now, everyone just calm down…"
"Attack."
The two guards leapt towards them, quickly being intercepted by Percy's sword. Annabeth drew her dagger, jumping next to him.
"No!" Piper shouted. "Percy, you and Rosie have to go into the Parthenon!"
"We're not splitting up!" Rosie argued.
"Trust me!" Piper said, yanking Percy back. "You two go! Annabeth and I will disable the onagers!"
"No!"
"But-"
"We'll be right behind you!" Piper shouted, quickly swiping at one of the guards. "Go!"
Rosie grabbed Percy's hand, dragging him to be right beneath the passageway to the Parthenon.
"Give me a boost," she said, over the noise of swords clanging and yells.
Percy complied, boosting Rosie up enough to pull herself into the passageway. She quickly turned, leaning over the edge and giving Percy her hand.
Together, the two of them ran, not looking back.
Her shoes squeaked on the floor of Parthenon. A single altar stood at the other side of the room. She took in the sight of the crumbling temple around her, not sure why she and Percy were the only ones in the temple. Even with that, all she could hear was the subtle ba-boom of Gaea's heartbeat.
"Percy?" she called out.
She found him looking at a statue of Athena, almost transfixed by it.
"Hm? Sorry, I was just…" He trailed off.
"Why are we the only ones in here?"
Percy gulped. "Do you hear that? From outside?"
She paused, straining to make out what Percy was talking about. And then...she could hear it. The chanting, coming from the outside.
"Giants," Percy said with a gulp. "They have us surrounded."
"Why aren't they here? Shouldn't...I don't know, shouldn't we be surrounded and fighting for our lives right now?"
"It does seem weird, doesn't it?"
Rosie looked around nervously. "Maybe we should go back for Annabeth and Piper. Maybe-"
"No need to do that, heroes."
Rosie and Percy spun around, weapons drawn.
One look at the owner of that voice, and she was transported.
She heard a noise, something that sounded like slithering. A shadow appeared- the silhouette of a woman. Slowly, she emerged into the light.
Her face was beautiful- she could've been a Queen, for all Rosie knew. She had long flowing brown hair, and pale, fair skin. But, she was missing eyes- she realized with a shudder that she just had slits.
As she continued into the light, she quickly realized she wasn't truly human. Her legs weren't there- instead, she had a green tail of scales. A serpent's tail. As the woman smiled, Rosie flinched at the sight of crocodile teeth, teeth that matched perfectly with her lizard-like claws.
"Ah, yes." The women smiled. "Hera's little heroes."
The woman circled them, slightly hissing as she did.
"Aha!" Leo whispered to himself, pulling out a wire cutter from the tool belt.
"Don't bother, Leo Valdez," the woman hissed. "It won't work. So long as you're in that net, none of your powers work."
Leo's wire cutters slipped from his fingers.
"Who are you?" Jason demanded, struggling to turn his head toward her.
The women stopped in front of the net, smiling up at Jason. "Jason Grace. Son of Zeus. I'd recognize that smile anywhere."
Jason faltered. "How-how do you know me? Or my dad?"
The woman sighed longingly. "Oh, you really are handsome. I'll be sorry to eat your flesh."
The gears in Rosie's mind started to turn: serpent lady. Knows Zeus. Devours Flesh. Amail- the letters rearranged themselves to form a name Rosie didn't want to hear, a terrifying story Piper had told her what seemed to be a million years ago.
"Oh god."
Jason looked at her concerned. "What? What is it?"
"Lamia," Rosie said. "You're Lamia."
Then, Coach's warning popped into her head: She's coming.
Lamia jeered at her, as Rosie's knees swayed dangerously beneath her. "Well, Rosemary. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Percy protectively stood in front of her, narrowing his eyes at Lamia. "Who are you?"
Lamia gave Percy an amused look. "Another child of Poseidon, adorable. Why, Perseus, I find it offensive that you even ask who I am...your sister and I go way back, after all."
"Percy..." Rosie croaked out. She couldn't get out of the slaughterhouse in her head, the crumbling building, the revelation about Max…
"You're outnumbered," Percy snapped. "So, whatever you have planned for us here...forget it."
Lamia slithered around the two of them, laughing. "It does appear that way, doesn't it? But, as I'm sure Rosemary could tell you, I'm a fan of smoke and mirrors."
Lamia suddenly disappeared, and Rosie grabbed onto Percy's arm with a scared whimper.
Percy's head turned wildly, looking for Lamia. "What...where did she-"
"Percy," she said urgently. "That's Lamia, we have to get out of here-"
"Who is she?" Percy asked. "God, you're shaking, Ro, what happened?"
The words tumbled out of her a mile a minute, almost nonsensical. "She can manipulate the mist, Percy. She's going to use that against us, we'll be helpless-"
"Lamia? Didn't you defeat her, Ro?"
"It almost killed me."
"But you know how to control the Mist now. Your powers are stronger than ever this time. As long as you can remain in control, we can do this-"
"I don't think I can!"
Ten Lamias appeared, forming a circle around Percy and Rosie. Rosie shook her head, pushing the image away. She reminded herself that it was just a manipulation of the mist. Lamia, the real Lamia, was standing in front of the two of them, smirking.
Percy, however, didn't have the luxury of shaking the image away. He winced, a hand flying up to his temple.
"Which-" He gritted out painfully. "Which one is she?"
"Straight ahead," she said, steering Percy forward.
Percy stumbled ahead, sword about to swipe into Lamia. Just as his sword was about to connect, Lamia disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Percy fell onto his face.
"Percy!" Rosie cried, rushing to his side.
He rolled on, groaning. "Where is she?"
She looked around. "I...I don't see her."
They stood, back to back, searching.
"There!" Percy yelled, rushing forward.
Lamia hardly batted an eye, simply flicking her hand towards her brother.
Percy's sword fell to the ground with a loud clang, his hands flying up to his ears as he began to scream.
"Stop doing that to him!" Rosie screamed to Lamia.
She ran over, jumping onto Lamia's back. Lamia grunted, perhaps not used to a physical fight. She thrashed underneath Rosie. Her hands, which felt like talons, reached up to her shoulder, throwing her off.
She fell onto the stone floor with a hard thud, moaning and clutching her shoulder in pain.
"You're going to regret that, Rosemary Reiger."
"Rosie!"
A figure was standing over her, and as she propped herself up, she had to do everything she could to remind herself that it wasn't real.
Max stood over her with a smile. It wasn't six-year-old Max, however; it was Max at the age he would've been now...ten. He looked exactly the same but...taller.
"Come on," He said, holding a hand out. "Mom says dinner's ready."
Not real not real not real-
She got up, pushing the image away, still aware of Percy's screams.
"You…" Rosie trailed off, taking a deep breath. "You can't hurt me. I know it's not real."
"Now, now, Rosemary, that's never stopped me before."
Lamia was taunting her, no doubt….pushing her to the edge. It was almost like she wanted to.
She could feel the rumbling in her core, something within her ready to burst.
The ruins were going to topple down around them.
She ran to the other side of the room, wanting to distance herself from Percy as much as could.
"Going somewhere?" Lamia chided, slithering in view.
The floor beneath her was rumbling...it was the beginning of an earthquake.
"Why don't you kill us already?" Rosie asked. "We know we're the sacrifices, why don't you get it over with?"
"Can't I have some fun?" Lamia asked, smiling cruelly. "It's not everyday you get to watch the son and daughter of Poseidon die-it's an honor that Mother Earth put me in charge of."
Percy suddenly stood, his hands frozen at his side. He was glaring at her.
"And besides," Lamia said. "Who said I had to do the killing?"
She realized all too late what was happening.
It didn't register until Percy was charging towards her with his sword.