radoddish- I like the way you're thinking...somewhat ;) stay tuned

SwedishMerlinFan- aw that's so sweet thank you! I'm glad you enjoy Rosie so much, that means alot

AyeraeW- Thank you, that means the world! I like making Rosie have strong relationships with everyone in the story.

Their friends stared back at them, hands clasped behind their backs as they knelt on the floor of the ship.

"The time has come," they repeated in tandem.

"Jason Grace," Piper spoke.

"Nico DiAngelo," Hazel said.

"Rosie Reiger," It was Coach speaking now.

"The three of you, and only the three of you, shall report to Auster's palace immediately," Frank spoke ominously.

"It is time," the four of them spoke in tandem again.

As soon as the words were out of their mouth, the four of them fell forward simultaneously, hitting the ground with one solid thud.

Jason rushed forward to Piper, as Nico and Rosie kept their distance behind him.

Frank sat up with a groggy moan, rubbing his forehead. "What...what happened?" He looked in confusion at the group that had assembled.

Coach winced, holding his head. "Pan Pipes, this migraine! I don't usually get migraines like this unless I have, like, fifteen espressos…"

"Jason?" Piper asked, confused.

Jason glanced back at Rosie and Nico. "That couldn't have been from Auster," he muttered to them.

"What couldn't have been from Auster?" Hazel asked.

As Jason explained what happened, Rosie couldn't help but feel a wave of dread. Jason was right; that message had to be a trap. Jason hadn't heard from the king of the southern venti yet. Also, why would Rosie and Nico need to be involved in that?

"It has to be those kids," Nico said, as if he could read her thoughts.

"What, those Mother Earth children?" Piper asked with raised eyebrows.

Jason sighed. "I think you're right, Nico." He helped Piper up, as Nico and Rosie followed his lead to help the others. "I think they're trying to lure us into something."

"But why?" Frank asked. "It's not like we have the astrolabe- Leo has that."

"My guess?" Jason said. "They're trying to throw as many obstacles as they can before we reach the House of Hades- they know we're getting there. But the question is…" He looked over at Rosie and Nico. "Do we go?"

"I'm totally not making that decision again," Rosie said, reminded of Nico's outburst at her the last time they went into something that was essentially a trap.

Nico paused, a thoughtful look on his face. His face hardened. "I'm ready- I'll be waiting for you two by the ladder." With that, he parted from the group, stalking off into the darkness.

"Note- never wake up Nico when he's sleeping," Coach murmured.

Jason sighed. "Let's just say...Nico wants his time with us to be over as soon as possible."

Funny-Rosie felt the same way when it came to Nico.

Hazel frowned, glancing at Jason and Rosie with a worried look. "Are you sure you guys want to go into a trap? Again?"

"I have a feeling that might be the only way I get to meet with the king," Jason groaned. "Maybe they've gotten to him- I don't know." He looked at Rosie. "Be ready in five?"

Rosie nodded, despite absolutely not wanting to see any of these kids again- or worse, having another Gaea encounter.

Before the three of them embarked, Piper tapped Rosie on the shoulder, pulling her off to the side.

"Can we talk for a sec?" she requested in a low voice.

"What's up?" Rosie asked, worried by her friend's tone. She didn't sound like Piper did normally; something was off.

Piper reddened. "This is a little weird but…" She trailed off with a sigh. "I know you've been stressed lately, and not really the same...but, uh-"

"What is it?"

Piper took a deep breath before continuing, as if she were mustering the courage to say something. "It's just...Hazel told me you ran off to Jason's room last night. And...she didn't say anything about you coming out."

Rosie felt like throwing up. "Ew, what, you think something happened?" The ridiculousness of it almost made Rosie want to laugh out loud.

"No!" Piper said quickly, a deep flush in her cheeks. "I just...I don't want to be caught off guard- never again." It was then that Rosie realized how much Piper had been affected by her encounter with Khione. She seemed so riddled with panic and fear. "I need to know that you haven't told Jason about Calla."

"What?"

"Come on, Rosie, I know Jason's always been the one you talk to about stuff." Not always- the image of the restaurant flashed darkly in her mind, something only Piper knew the extent of. "More than me or even Leo. I just feel like you're avoiding us, and maybe…" she sighed. "Sharing stuff we promised not to talk about."

"God, Piper, no. I haven't told him anything Grant said about Calla..or anything like that." She scoffed. "Am I allowed to go to him when I need help?"

"Of course!"

"We agreed to not tell him about Calla, why would I go back on that?" Rosie snapped. It was her idea after all to not tell him- why would she lie about that?

"I didn't say you would!" Piper said quickly, her eyes widening. "Rosie, I just- you're so different now. I don't know what you're thinking anymore! I know you were traumatized by Percy and Annabeth but-"

"Stay out of my business Piper."

With those piercing words, Rosie walked away, blinking quickly to prevent any tears from coming.

"Ready?" Jason asked as she walked over to him and Nico.

She smiled tightly at him. "Let's do it."

The three of them, after being flown down by Jason, approached the palace with caution, aware that they might be walking into a trap. The wind palace towered above them, glistening even in the pitch dark. Rosie wished Leo was with them, illuminating the way for them. The closer they got, the breezier it got- chills of the night seemed to be immersing them into the world of the Southern Venti.

Jason appeared to be on high alert, his eyes scanning the surrounding areas. Nico shuffled besides her, sulking like a predator on its way to devour its prey.

"How are we supposed to get in?" She asked, frowning at the gate.

Nico stopped suddenly, a surprised look on his face. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Rosie asked, not hearing anything over the shrill sound of the wind.

"Hearing would require silence, Rosie," Nico said harshly.

Jason sighed, probably feeling like he was babysitting the two of them. "Nico, come on-"

"Just listen."

The two of them shut up, straining to hear what Nico was talking about. Just when she was about to complain about not hearing anything, she heard them.

Whispers.

Human voices speaking softly in the air, as if being carried by the wind. She couldn't make out what they were saying: all of the voices were jumbled. She only seemed to catch bits and pieces of sentences.

Demigods

Son of Death

The Eight

Jason frowned. "That's..weird. I wonder why-"

Jason Grace.

"Oh shit, they know you," Rosie said to Jason, shivering as she wrapped her arms closer to her body.

"Um...hi?" Jason said to the night sky, an unsure look on his face. "That's...me."

"You don't sound too confident, dude." Rosie observed with a shaky laugh.

"Well-"

The king is very pleased you came. He'll see you now.

The gate of the palace swung open, a breeze rushing towards them.

Nico frowned. "That was unusually easy."

"Trap," Rosie reminded them. "Remember, it's a trap." She glanced at Jason. "Right, Jason?"

Jason hesitated. "Maybe...maybe not? Maybe the king just wanted to do this on his own terms." He glanced at the palace. "I'll go in- you two stay out here for back-up."

"Jason!" Rosie said, horrified that the plan to be cautious and stick together had just been thrown out the window.

Jason sighed, throwing his hands up in surrender. "We want to keep moving, don't we?"

"Of course," Nico cut in. "We're close to Percy."

"And Annabeth," Jason replied sharply, shooting Nico an unreadable look.

"We don't know if it's safe in there," she pointed out.

"I can control the wind, Rosie- it has to be me. You two can cover me from here." He paused. "You want Leo back, don't you?"

She glanced at the ground, hoping neither of them could see her blush in the dark. "Yeah," she muttered. "Whatever- just be careful."

"I promise I will be."

Rosie watched as he disappeared into the palace, the gates closing behind him. She sighed, knowing she was now stuck with her least favorite person.

Nico seemed to have no interest in interacting with her. He plopped down on the ground, hands clasped as he focused his eyes on the palace. She followed suit, sitting away from him, facing the ship. She hated how far away it was- with the ballista still damaged, there's no way they could help them on the ground. Not to mention, it'd be useless if they couldn't use Jason's flying powers to quickly get help.

"You know," she finally spoke after a few minutes of agonizing silence. "You don't have to automatically oppose me on every issue."

"I can't help it if you're wrong most of the time," Nico shot back darkly.

"God," Rosie managed to get out, completely annoyed. "I get it, Nico- I'm not Percy. I know you would've gladly pushed me into Tartarus in place of him but...I'm here. Get over it."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Rosie, I never said-"

"Jokes on you, actually, because I would've taken his place." She felt oddly defensive, perhaps the wind giving her more courage than was appropriate.

"Poor Rosie Reiger, everyone. The little martyr who's been through so much."

Rosie turned to him with a cold look. "Hey-"

"Let's just say I've had enough of the situations you've gotten us into."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she barked.

"Forget it," he replied.

"No, really, tell me."

"Rosie, shut up for a second."

"Please, Nico, I'm dying to know," she said sarcastically.

Nico sat up quickly, his eyes wide with fear. "Shut up!" he gasped. "The whispers...they're gone."

She paused, realizing the air had gone deathly still. "That's...what does that mean?" she whispered, afraid to move.

"I don't know."

"Nico-"

Now, now, children- is that any way to get along?

Nico and Rosie stood, back to back, aware of the single voice that had been haunting them the entirety of this trip- Gaea.

The ground beneath them split open, and Rosie gasped as a skeletal hand shot out, grasping her ankle. Nico jumped back, eyes huge in alarm.

"Spartoi!" he cried, as more skeletons began slowly clambering out of the ground, out of the darkness. Rosie kicked the one attached to her ankle, backing up to join Nico.

"We have to get back to the ship!" Nico yelled.

"Not without Jason!" Rosie exclaimed, whipping her dagger out. "Use Diocletian's scepter!"

Nico scowled. "I left it on the ship."

"What?!"

"For safekeeping," he gritted out.

"How's that working out now?" She yelled angrily, as droves of spartoi were rising out of the ground, approaching them.

The two of them split, fighting off the skeleton warriors as best as they could with the dim lighting they had. Rosie finally saw the Son of Hades at work- despite not having the scepter (and it being clear the spartoi were under Gaea's rule) , he was making the spartoi dissolve into dust with a simple snap of his fingers. A whole other layer of why she was terrified of him was revealed- he was extremely powerful.

Rosie tried her best to ward off the warriors, but it was hard to do without her powers being their maximum strength. She summoned all the strength she had, unable to make a spring or any kind of water source appear. She had to rely on hand-to-hand combat, slashing away at warriors, bones littering the ground.

It's laughable how weak you are.

She ignored Gaea's voice in her head, pushing through, slashing away angrily.

Her vision blurred, and her head began throbbing. She winced, her dagger falling out of her hand.

You think you've gotten good at Mist control?

With a scream, Rosie fell to her knees.

"Rosie?" Nico yelled over the sounds of battle.

She couldn't see Nico anymore. The scene in front of her was dissolving, a different image coming up.

Six-year-old Rosie smiled, her front tooth missing. Rosie couldn't believe she was ever that young, that carefree- messy brown curls and a love for footie pajamas.

Oh god- Gaea was in her head, flipping through her memories. She strained her eyes, seeing a fading Nico's eyes grow wide, as she realized he could see everything.

Her smile didn't dip until she saw her Mom. She realized her mom was crying, her face red and splotchy.

"Mom?"

"He's gone, Rosie. He's never coming back."

She realized she was talking about her dad- her absolute best friend at that point. She remembered how disappointed she was. How she waited for him for so long, naively believing he would return.

The scene changed, and suddenly Rosie was hearing Max's screams as he drowned, the sound of water rushing in her ears. She could feel Max's pain as if it were her own.

"Nico!" She screamed, no clue if he could even hear her- just trying so hard to break out of her memories.

The entire restaurant shook, dust raining down as customers screamed in terror. She ran, ran so fast from the pain and destruction she had caused.

"Rosie! Snap out of it!"

Nico appeared for a second, only to be replaced by the drakon that was there the night she made the restaurant collapse.

She couldn't stop- her entire life flashed before her eyes: Mom and Buzz, Max, being alone and on the run, Hera, Wilderness, Piper, their quests. Leo- so much Leo. The happy glimpses would only last for a second, quickly being replaced by something terrible that Rosie did- she was a monster.

Someone grabbed her hand.

And suddenly she wasn't seeing her own memories.

She saw a beautiful Italian woman, smiling down at her. Her eyes- those were Nico's eyes. She could see young Nico being tugged along by an older sister. Rosie searched for her name….Bianca.

The scene shifted, a hotel lit on flames, Zeus looming over it. Rosie's stomach dropped, seeing Bianca and Nico flee, both of them crying. Had Zeus tried to kill them, like how he ordered her Dad to kill Max?

A bright colorful casino flashed by before being replaced by Percy. Rosie struggled, not knowing if this were her own memory or Nico's. Percy's lips were forming words- what were they? Bianca...something about Bianca.

Bianca's dead.

Rosie could feel Nico's grief, mixing with her own feelings of sadness and grief over Max. The pain was too much- whatever Gaea was doing, it was working. She felt her strength, whatever little she had left, depleting.

Somewhere, Nico wailed, the memory of Percy disappearing. The hazy image of the wind palace reappeared, as Rosie realized he had let go of her hand. The skeleton warriors persisted, continuing to come out of the earth. They were everywhere, ready to drag them into god-knows-where.

They were outnumbered- and weak. Rosie could hear Nico groaning in pain besides her, as she was made aware of the bruises and cuts on her body, as warriors continued to climb all over her.

Was this Gaea's plan, then? Just finish them off once and for all right now?

She lamely attempted to conjure something one more time, to no avail. Nico's groans of pain were getting louder.

How cruel that their friends in the ship weren't even aware they were dying.

And then, off in the distance, she heard it.

The sound of a horse's neigh.