radoddish- you know it!

Cchang3- not to worry, that gets resolved in this chapter. I appreciate you asking about it, as I know that arc probably wasn't the easiest to get through.

SEASBLU- haha thank you so much! bad words are very useful and descriptive lol

AyeraeW- yup, time for some bonding!

"Karey," She croaked out, as her limbs were being tugged at. It didn't matter that Nico was on the verge of losing consciousness and couldn't hear her- Karey was coming. She knew it in her heart.

"Nico," she struggled to get the words out. "Help is coming."

The sounds of hooves galloping were coming closer. Emerging out of the darkness was Karey, the horse that had been there for Rosie when she needed help the most. He had helped her, Jason, Leo, Coach, and Piper on Mount Diablo. She had never been so happy to see Karey, the horse with the dark eyes and black-and-white coat.

Rosie!

Karey was right next to them, lifting up his hind legs and crushing the warriors, bones flying everywhere.

Get on! Karey's urgent, commanding tone had given her the last bit of strength she was searching for.

Rosie grabbed Nico, finally free from the warriors, mustering all the strength she had.

Nico's eyes opened, focusing on her.

"Please," she muttered to him. "Please get up, Nico."

Nico's eyes focused on Karey, widening. Finally, he seemed to understand. The two of them clung to one another for support, wavering unsteadily as they rose.

Karey was strong in his movements, stomping warriors to pieces, neighing fiercely. Rosie felt a surge of love for the horse as Karey knelt, allowing for them to mount.

She didn't understand- warriors were still coming out of the earth, hoards of them. Karey began to gallop away from the groups, the two of them clutching on for dear life.

The warriors cried out loudly- they had no problem showing how upset they were.

The ground below exploded, dirt covering the three of them. Bony hands reached up from the ground, snaking around Karey's legs.

Ahhh!

Karey fell, Rosie and Nico tumbling off him. Rosie grunted as her body hit the ground, aware of being sprayed with something. She looked down at her clothes, which were now covered in blood.

She snapped her head up, realizing in horror that Karey had been stabbed. He laid on the ground, bleeding.

"No!" She cried, leaping in forward.

Rosie….I'm sorry.

Karey's fur was matted with blood, the wound deep. He was shaking uncontrollably.

Rosie knelt by his side. She wasn't sure how, but somehow Nico had regained enough strength to fight off more of the warriors.

She touched Karey's fur, crying. "You're okay," she said, hoping this would bring it into existence. "You're okay."

Leave, Rosie- get out of here.

"I'm not going anywhere," she whispered, somehow feeling like she was thirteen again.

As she touched another hand to Karey, she was again transported into memories. She saw her father, giving Karey a pat.

"My daughter's out there. She's thirteen and all alone. I'm trusting you to help her."

It didn't stop there- Rosie could suddenly see all of her father's actions, all in instances where she was unaware of his presence. Manipulating her mother into screaming at Rosie, leading to her running away after Max's death. Using the Mist to carefully conceal the places she hid when she was on the run. Cracking the glass done she was trapped in with Frank and Percy back at Atlanta. Sending Karey into the middle of this bloodshed. She could now feel his watchful gaze, seeing her every movement.

This didn't touch her or make her all warm and fuzzy inside. It angered her, as she was suddenly aware of how much he had seen and intervened. He had been carefully crafting movements in her life, and yet, did no such thing for Max or Percy. And now, Karey was lying under her- dead. Simply a puppet in her father's puppeteer world.

Nico quickly rushed to her side, the cries of warriors in the distance, but approaching.

He grabbed her shoulder, shaking her. "Rosie, please, let's get out of here. I'm sorry but he's gone."

"No."

"What?"

"He can't do this to me."

"What? Who are you talking about?"

"He can't do this to me again!"

"Rosie-"

She stood up, shaking with anger, fists clenched at her side. She could see her father's face in her mind.

"I know you can hear me." She didn't recognize the voice coming out of her mouth. Her voice was coated in a low, dangerous anger. "I know...I know you're out there- watching me."

"Rosie, please..." Nico softly begged. His hands went up to his eyes, as if he didn't want to look at her.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" The guttural, hysterical scream came out of her mouth- she didn't recognize the sound of her own voice. "You have taken everything- EVERYTHING- from me." Her voice broke on the last word.

Rosie flung herself down to her knees, letting out a wail of pure anguish. Something in her broke, and the ground began to rumble.

She heard Nico yelp as the world began to shake, the cries of warriors falling into the earth. She felt everything drain out of her as the earth shook violence, the ground swallowing the soldiers whole.

The rumbling was back, and she knew with no doubt, as her vision started to go, that it was the strongest she had ever conjured.

It was dawn, and she hadn't spoken. Nico was sitting behind her, no doubt waiting.

Rosie was curled up in a ball, feeling absolutely exhausted...but smiling. Springs had erupted by her feet.

Her powers were back. Finally, she had felt something- the numbness inside of her had worn away. The anger towards her father and in losing Karey had awoken something inside of her.

Tears came too, as she softly brushed them away, replaying the memories displayed by Gaea in her head.

"Pretty ugly, huh?" She finally spoke.

"Me or you?" He replied.

Rosie smirked at him. "Touché," she decided. She sat up, facing Nico- who looked just as bad as she probably did.

Her eyes fell onto Karey's still body, and sighed. Nico followed her gaze.

"I'm sorry about your horse," he said, frowning. "They don't usually like me- horses, I mean. But...that was a kind horse."

"Yeah," she said, nodding, finally looking away from him- it was too painful. "He was." She hesitated, wanting to ask Nico about Bianca. However, was she even entitled to? It's not like either of them asked for their memories to be displayed- they had been violated.

"Did Zeus kill your mom?" she blurted out. Way to be tactful, Rosie.

"He tried to kill my entire family," Nico said flatly, adjusting his skull ring. "My father just happened to save me and my sister."

Rosie found it ironic that the Hades, the "God of Death", seemed to be the most merciful of the Big Three: he had not only saved Nico and Bianca, but had spared Hazel.

"Do you ever wonder about their train of thought?" she asked. "I mean, I can relate to the whole Zeus-trying-to-kill-everyone. But do you ever wonder why we've made it this far?"

Nico didn't say anything, making Rosie even more nervous.

"I mean," she continued to blabber on, a steady stream of nerves flowing from her. "My dad- Poseidon- he's been there, even though I've felt so disconnected from him my entire life. He's just been watching silently….almost...protecting me. But I look at Max-" She felt her cheeks flush. "My brother...who, um- well, you saw that. I look at him, how he was tossed away, and I look at Percy, who's now in Tartarus-" Her voice cracked on the last one, and she drew her knees up to her chest. "And I've done things, bad things, and I don't if I deserve to be here in their places."

"I don't think the restaurant is that big of a deal," Nico muttered.

"What?" Rosie snapped. "How could you say that? People died-"

"And you don't think I get death? Or being ashamed of a part of myself?" Nico asked, shaking his head. "What happened at the restaurant...your aura should be nothing but the presence of death."

"Gee, thanks."

"Let me finish, Rosie. Despite everything...that was shown," he started, shifting uncomfortably. "I don't sense any of that coming from you. There's nothing but life coming from you."

She didn't say anything- words had left, just like her strength.

"When my sister died…" Nico trailed off, clearing her throat. "When Bianca died, I was angry at Percy- unbelievably angry. It was misdirected, sure, but I hated him for it. It wasn't just something in the back of my head- it was consuming. My hatred fueled me."

She understood this- god knows she misdirected anger at Percy for being alive instead of her brother, even if it hadn't made sense. When something unexplainable happens, sometimes the only way you can cope with it is shifting the blame on someone.

"I tend to hold a grudge," Nico said.

Rosie snorted. "Are you me?" she whispered in a soft, joking tone.

Surprisingly, the song of Hades cracked a small smile at her. "Explains why I want to strangle you half of the time." Nico paused, his face deep in thought. "I had to forgive Percy...it was a hard thing to do. I had to swallow some pride, in a sense."

Her father's face appeared in her mind. "I'm not sure if I can do that yet," she admitted, thinking of her own trials.

Forgiveness wasn't a one-time deal- she knew that. It was an ongoing process- letting go seemed out of her grasp.

"That's not even the hardest part. You know what the hardest part was? Forgiving myself."

Rosie felt herself exhale. His words weren't just referring to Max- Percy and Annabeth appeared in her mind. Suddenly, she knew she wasn't the only one experiencing the guilt. The agony of letting them fall- not just their friends, but their siblings, pawns caught in the crossfire of the gods' bidding. Forgiving themselves for being the ones to survive to this day.

"Are you saying we hold grudges against ourselves?" She asked with a smirk.

Nico's eyes glinted. "Something like that," he agreed.

"Are you still holding one?"

Nico nodded. "All the time. The way I see it...we didn't ask for this life. God, who would? But we're doing the best we can with it….we shouldn't allow them to make us feel guilty for surviving. We've all had our restaurant moments...it's just the way we were born- I'm still trying to be okay with that."

The whispers had returned, dancing in the air. Rosie smiled, comforted by the sound. The whispers comforted them, told them things- Jason was safe, and in the process of getting them help.

"I think this is the most I've heard you speak," Rosie laughed.

Nico nodded, a slight smirk on his face. "Shame it took a bunch of spartoi for that to happen. Should we try to go inside and help Jason?"

Morning was coming. Rosie couldn't peel her eyes away from it.

"Do you think we can just sit here for a while?" she asked. "I...I can't remember the last time I watched sunrise." It was one of those she took for granted, assuming it would always be there. Come August, however, she wasn't sure how true that would be.

Nico gulped, his face softening. "Yeah, Rosie. I'd like that."