replies to reviews are long today, so they're at the end of the chapter! thanks for all the feedback on the last chapter y'all!

She didn't know what was going on- was she hallucinating? No way could that be her father. But… he was there: sea green eyes, black hair, tan skin, obnoxious Hawaiian shirt, and trident in hand. She could feel his light touch, the smell of sea salt wavering off of him.

"I've got you, Rosie." The voice she hadn't heard in ten years, but remember so well, came back to her. She had secretly dreamed of this moment, but hadn't exactly expected it to happen this way.

Someone was sobbing. "Help her," a voice said, shaky and upset. "Please, help her." Was that Percy?

Her father was pouring something on her- was it water? She felt a sharp pain on her stomach, and then...her vision returned. She could hear clearly. Her eyes flickered down to her stomach...which was almost healed.

Someone collided into her, arms wrapping around her and sobbing. It was Percy, clutching her.

"You almost died," he got out, clearly in shock. "You almost died."

It was a reminder that she had been teetering on the edge of death. She had felt herself fading. There was no doubt in her mind that her father had done something that messed with the nature of this quest.

"Give her some space, Percy."

Percy complied, stepping away and off to the side. She was stuck face-to-face with Poseidon, god of storms and earthquakes….her father.

"I don't understand, Dad," Percy said, shaking his head. "Why are you here? How-"

Her father didn't lift his eyes from Rosie's face. Rosie looked down at the floor, ashamed. How closely had she escaped death?

Her father had saved her- yet another sign of his hypocrisy.

"The gods have been healed," he answered. That meant Coach, Reyna, and Nico had succeeded: The Athena Parthenos was at camp, uniting the essence of the gods. "Right outside this temple is a raging battle between the giants and what I believe is your crew. You cannot defeat them without us." He paused. "Rosie, are you ready?"

"Hey, can you give me a second?" she snapped. "Kinda getting over the whole I-almost-died-thing."

She made it clear that things hadn't changed between them, that they weren't magically a tight-knit father and daughter pair.

Her father frowned, opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, but deciding against it. He crossed his arms, annoyed. "Take your time."

So many unsaid things.

Rosie rolled her eyes, seeing how Percy looked awkward and out of place.

"Sooo," Percy trailed off with a nervous laugh. "Family, huh?"

Rosie hopped off the altar, her father's voodoo magic leaving her feeling completely fine.

"I'm ready," she said. "Let's just get this over with it."

"Rosie-" her father started.

"I really...don't want to talk to you. I have nothing to say."

"I've never known you to be speechless," her father quipped, a smile dancing on his face.

A flash of anger went through her...how could he possibly joke around with her?

Her father's face hardened, as he turned away from her.

"Well, then!" Percy clapped his hands together. "Hate to be a buzzkill, but the world is currently falling apart outside, so why don't we-"

"Do you remember the fair?" She blurted out. Giants be damned- she deserved a thirty second conversation.

Her father turned back towards her, a pained expression in his eyes. "The fair?"

"Yeah," she said. "Every summer back at home there was a fair. You took me the summer I was five. Every other year I've gone with my Mom or Buzz, but not that year...you took me."

"Your mother and Buzz are good people," he said softly. She tried not to focus on the fact that he used the present tense. He was the reason she didn't have either of those people in her life anymore.

"We went on everything. I'm pretty sure I made us go on the Ferris wheel until I puked."

Percy placed a hand on her shoulder, a comforting squeeze.

"And at the end of the night," she continued. "You got me this huge thing of cotton candy- disgustingly huge. But I dropped it and I cried, and you carried me the entire way home."

Her father said nothing.

"Do you remember?" She prodded again harshly.

"Yes, Rosie," He said gently. "I remember."

"You know, you didn't even get a chance to know Max," she said. Her father's face crumpled at the mention of Max. She glanced over her shoulder at Percy. "You don't even know Percy, not really."

"Ro-" Percy started gently.

"We have POWWOWs and talk and listen to music together. No matter how angry I ever get with you, one of the few good things you've done is give me my brothers." She paused. "But it's a real shame you're missing out on some great people."

"I hope one day you can understand why I did the things I did." Her father said it so calmly she wanted to explode right then and there.

She shook her head. "I don't think I ever will."

"It was all out of a place of love. I protect my children in any way I can."

"Yeah," she said coldly. "You sure do." She gestured for Percy to follow her. "Come on, we have some giants to fight."

She first heard Nike when she stepped outside, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"VICTORY TO THE GODS!" she cackled, riding along Zeus' chariot. Zeus was being tugged by four wind horses, a huge lightning bolt in his hand.

Jason appeared from behind the chariot, grinning as he saw Rosie and Percy leave the temple, Poseidon lingering behind them.

"Welcome to the party!" he shouted. "Jump on in!"

"Focus, Jason!" Zeus snapped over the sounds of battle. Rosie and Jason exchanged eye rolls, as Jason followed his father into battle with Porphyrion.

"Do you see Annabeth?" Percy asked Rosie.

"Ah, she's just over there, kicking ass," Rosie said nonchalantly, pointing.

Annabeth was fighting Enceladus- and by the looks of it, she was winning. She was backed up by a woman with dark hair and golden armor-Athena. The two backed Enceladus into a corner, the giant toppling over some ruins and disappearing out of view.

An entire swarm of giants was run over by an elephant barreling through them, the god Ares whooping and hollering from on top of him. Nothing like some father and son battle bonding.

Hazel was running through the ruins on Arion's back, using the Mist to her advantage, such as disappearing whenever a giant got close. Hecate appeared occasionally, cackling and throwing hexes towards the giants. She didn't see Hades, but the ground seemed to open up and swallow giants whole.

She spotted Piper, and felt like beaming with pride. Piper was going head-to-head in swordplay with Periboia. Her mother, Aphrodite, floated on a cloud around her, showering her best friend with rose petals.

"Yes, my dear! Hit her harder!" She chanted melodically.

Leo was skyborne, running around the ship like a madman. He whooped cheerfully as he dropped hammers on gods' heads, and blew their loincloths with his torch. Burly Hephaestus stood behind him at the helm, desperately trying to keep the ship afloat.

Her father twirled his trident. "Look," he said, pointing with it. "Ah, tweedle dee and tweedle dum."

He was referring to Otis and Ephialtes, both of whom were currently barrelling towards the three of them.

"You okay enough to fight?" Percy asked her, taking out his sword.

"As long as the old man can keep up," she said, giving her father a side-eye.

Inexplicably, her father almost laughed.

"I'll have you know, Rosemary, I've been doing this a long time!" He ran forward, leading their charge.

Rosie didn't hesitate to blast Otis in the face with a powerful stream of water. Otis clawed at his face, wailing. Percy quickly engaged Ephialtes in swordplay, stabbing and weaving through the giant's legs.

Her father shook his trident, and suddenly, it became a fire hose, spraying Otis so forcefully he fell onto his butt.

Rosie nodded in approval. "The water pressure on your shower must be insane."

"Want to finish him off?" he asked.

Rosie pretended to be unsure. "Oh, I don't know, I probably shouldn't…" She gave a lazy flick of her hand, the ground swallowing Otis up.

"Watch your back, son!" Poseidon yelled, joining Percy in battle with Ephialtes.

Rosie joined the two of them….Ephialtes didn't stand a chance. Percy and Rosie kept getting closer to him, spraying water and causing him to lose balance with a shaky ground beneath him.

"That's it!" Their father cheered from behind them. "You got it, keep going!"

Percy sliced through his leg, the giant wailing in pain.

"You're almost there…" their father said.

A final blast from the two of them caused Ephialtes to kneel over, disintegrating.

Percy lifted Rosie off the ground, twirling her around. "We did it!"

Rosie turned, ready to give some sassy remark to her father.

But Poseidon was gone.

Percy frowned, glancing around the Acropolis. The battle was dying down...they were winning. "Where….where did he go?"

The only remnants of the giants were heaps of ashes, a few spears, and a smoldering pile of dreadlocks.

Piper was the first one to reach her, knocking into her body, arms wrapping around her as Rosie staggered.

"We were ambushed," she said tearfully. "I..I was so worried about you two, we tried so hard to get back to you guys-"

"I'm okay," she whispered, hugging Piper back tightly. A few stray tears ran down her face.

"Where's your dad?"

Shit- more tears. "He left, Pipes."

"Oh, Rosie," Piper said, sniffling. "I'm sorry."

"Now, now, girls, don't cry!" Aphrodite chided, still floating on her cloud. "Keep those faces pretty!"

"I may punch your mother," Rosie muttered tiredly.

Percy had reached Annabeth, kissing her deeply. Athena stood behind them, a disapproving look on her face.

"Look," Piper said, grabbing Rosie's attention again. "Leo."

Leo had climbed back up to the ruined temple, his face covered in soot and his clothes smoldering. He was looking up at where the ship was anchored. It was barely in one piece. She knew how heartbroken he was.

"I'll go talk to him," she volunteered.

Her path was quickly cut off by Hephaestus, who clapped Leo on the back, hopefully giving him some encouragement. He led Leo back to the group, Leo not meeting anyone's eyes.

She got a good look at some of the other gods she wasn't aware were there: Apollo, Artemis, Hera, Demeter, Hermes. Everyone was there, it seemed like- even the three Fates. None of them seemed to be in a good mood...that was, except Ares. He was pantomiming gutting an enemy while Frank listened, his expression polite but somewhat queasy.

"Brethren," Zeus spoke in a booming tone, the gods in a semicircle around him. "We are healed, thanks to the work of these demigods. The Athena Parthenos, which once stood in the Parthenon, now stands at Camp Half-Blood. It has united our offspring, and thus our own essences."

"Is Coach Hedge okay?" Rosie spoke up, getting nervous looks from her friends. "Reyna and Nico?"

Zeus narrowed his eyes at her, probably wishing he could blast her into pieces with one of his lightning bolts.

"Where, exactly, did my brother go?" Zeus asked coldly.

"We don't know," Percy quickly interjected, shooting a nervous look at Rosie. "He left without saying anything."

"I'll be watching him closely, no doubt. That extends to you two."

"Yeah, we already know that," Rosie said.

Zeus' eyes flashed murderously, and Rosie had the urge to duck. She noticed all of the gods looking at her, some shaking their heads at her stupidity, while others...looked impressed.

He turned to Jason, frowning. "Be careful who you befriend, son."

"She's a great friend, dad," Jason said angrily, standing up straighter. Rosie felt a flash of pride...Jason was strong enough to stand up to his father. He seemed to be giving Rosie a run for her money as to who could piss off Zeus more. "I'm not going to let you take away anymore of my friends."

Zeus scowled, turning away from his son. "Your friends succeeded in their mission," he said. "As of this moment, they are alive. Whether or not they are okay-"

"There is still work to be done," Hera interrupted. It really was a reunion of all Rosie's favorite gods. "But my heroes..you have triumphed over the giants as I knew you would. My plan succeeded beautifully."

Zeus turned towards his wife, thunder shaking the ruins. "Hera, do not dare take credit! You have caused at least as many problems as you fixed!"

"Husband, surely you see now, this was the only way."

Hera versus Zeus? Now that was a fight she was willing to pay to see.

"There is never only one way!" Zeus snapped. "That is why there are three Fates, not one! Is this not so?"

"Please, husband," Hera said, shooting him an uneasy smile. "I only did what I-"

"Silence!" Zeus boomed. "You disobeyed my orders. Nevertheless...I recognize that you acted with honest intentions. The valor of these even heroes has proven that you were not entirely without wisdom. Apollo, however...come here, my son."

Apollo inched forward, looking more like one of them, rather than the gods. He was wearing jeans and a Camp t-shirt, with tousled blond hair and blue eyes. He looked...well, terrified.

The Fates surrounded Zeus, raising their withered hands.

"Twice you have defied me," Zeus said coldly.

"My-My lord-" Apollo sputtered out nervously.

"You neglected your duties. You fell to flattery and vanity. You encouraged your descendant Octavian to follow his dangerous path, and you prematurely revealed a prophecy that may destroy us all."

"But-"

"Enough! We will speak of your punishment later. For now, you will wait on Olympus."

Zeus flicked his hand, turning Apollo into a cloud of glitter. The Fates swirled around him, dissolving into air, and the glittery whirlwind shot out into the sky.

She felt bad about Apollo...Zeus seemed to give unbearably hard punishments. Nevertheless, she pushed it away...not her problem.

"What's going to happen to him?" Jason asked, concerned.

"It is not your concern," Zeus growled. "We have other problems to address."

"Father," Jason pressed. "I'm going to honor all the gods...we made a promise to Kymopoleia that once this war is over, none of the gods would be without shrines at the camp."

"Kym who?"

"Our sister," Rosie piped in. Zeus turned to her with a glare, and Rosie rolled her eyes. "Sir."

"So unpredictable, then," Zeus said coldly.

"The point," Jason said, quickly jumping. "Is that blaming each other isn't going to solve anything. That's how Romans and Greeks got divided in the first place. Apollo...wasn't the problem. To punish him for Gaea waking would be...um, unwise."

Zeus' nostrils flared. "Before the assembled gods...you call me unwise." There seemed to be a deadly electric charge to the air.

Rosie was ready to jump in for Jason's defense. She wasn't the only one...all her friends stood, waiting.

Artemis stepped forward. "Father, this hero has fought long and hard for our cause. His nerves are frayed. We should take that into account. Surely we have more pressing issues."

Jason shot the goddess a grateful look.

"Gaea," Annabeth interjected quickly. "She's awake."

"Indeed," Zeus said. "The blood of Olympus was spilled. She is fully conscious at your camp. The worst is yet to come."

Rosie turned to Percy, shaking her head. "See, this is what you get for stabbing me."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "You stabbed Rosie?"

"How do you think I feel?" Percy complained. "I get a little nosebleed and I wake up the entire earth? Talk about a bummer."

"Why is Gaea back at camp, though?" Leo asked.

"She's the earth," Percy emphasized. "She can, like, pop up anywhere. She told us she was gonna do this...literally the first thing on her to-do list was destroying our camp."

"Your Majesty?" Frank asked nervously. "Can't you, um, just pop over there with us? You guys have chariots and magic powers and whatnot."

"Great idea, Frank!" Hazel said. "We defeated the giants together in two seconds. We can-"

"No," Zeus said flatly.

"No?" Jason asked. "But, father-"

"It's the problem with prophecies," Zeus growled. "When Apollo allowed the Prophecy of Eight to be spoken, and when Hera took it upon herself to interpret the words, the Fates wove the future in such a way that it had only so many possible outcomes, so many solutions. You eight are destined to defeat Gaea- we cannot."

"What's the point of being gods if you have to rely on puny mortals to do your bidding?" Piper asked.

Rosie felt like waving poms-poms, and cheering her friend on.

The gods exchanged dark looks. Aphrodite, however, laughed gently and kissed Piper. "My dear Piper, we have been asking that same question for eons! It is what binds us together, keeps us eternal. We need you mortals as much as you need us."

"But, um, how can we get to camp?" Frank asked. "It took us months to reach Greece."

"Winds," Jason said suddenly. He looked over at his father. "Father, can't you unleash the winds to send our ship back?"

"I could slap you back to Long Island," Zeus said flatly.

Jason blinked. "Um. Was that a joke, or a threat, or-"

"I meant it quite literally. I could slap your ship back to Camp Half-Blood. The force, however…"

Hephaestus shook his head. "My boy Leo built a good ship, but it won't sustain that kind of stress. It would break apart as soon as it arrived, maybe sooner."

Leo straightened his tool belt. "The Argo II can make it. It only has to stay in one piece long enough to get us back home. Once there, we can abandon ship."

"Dangerous," Hephasetus warned. "Perhaps fatal."

Nike twirled a laurel wreath on her finger. "Victory is always dangerous. Often, it requires sacrifices. Leo Valdez and I have discussed this on length."

Leo's eyes met hers, and she had the urge to grab his hand, and run away from all of this.

"What's she talking about, Leo?" Annabeth asked.

Leo shrugged. "Beats me. Doesn't matter. We can do this, guys. We have to do this."

She felt dread wash over her. Zeus was probably right: the worst was yet to come.

She hadn't expected to survive the sacrifice.

Now what?

guest- dun dun DUNNNN

SwedishMerlinFan- HAHA i appreciate it...killing rosie would take some balls that idk if i have!

all about hope- grammar is overrated!

raddoddish- she look pretty good for a dead bitch

GoddessSupernatural- haha i like cliffhangers i'm evil like that! and oh noo! think of it this way, when you get back you'll have the rest of the story to catch up on!

guest (2)- thank you so much! your comment means so much to me, i'm glad you were moved

AyeraeW- omg do not bring up allegiant i am not over that !

LovelyAstorxia- thank you for reading, i appreciate it! and yay for an account that's awesome! i'm so glad this story has given you something to do in your free time

frythnttcs- thank you for following for so long, that means alot to me!