"When you say a slight issue," she started, staring at the glowing gateway located a few feet away from her and Apollo. "Does that have anything to do with the scary, ominous glowing ahead?"
Apollo sighed. "Everything to do with it, I'm afraid."
"And you're going in there?" She asked with raised eyebrows.
"Unfortunately, yes." Apollo winced. His eyes traveled down to Rosie's waist, where Leo's belt was. "What is that?"
"Nothing," she said quickly, using her sweatshirt to cover the belt.
"Right. Well- I'll be off." Apollo paused, giving Rosie a hopeful look. "Unless perhaps you want to go instead?"
She rolled her eyes. "Get going. I'll take care of the others."
Apollo nodded, and with one final nervous glance, he dashed into the grove ahead.
There were five others in their comatose state: Cecil, Ellis, Miranda, Austin, and Kayla. She realized Austin and Kayla must have gone missing after she did.
All of them were slowly coming to, looking down at the gauzy white bandage-like coverings on them from head to toe.
"What the hell, Reiger?" Ellis snapped. "What's going on?"
"Gotta say, Ellis, I'm not getting the vibe that I'm the first person you want to see when you wake up from a coma." She grabbed Kayla's hand, helping her up from the ground.
Miranda's face fell, and Rosie followed her gaze to….dryads, lying limp on the ground. Something terrible had indeed happened here.
"I think I'm just going to…" Miranda trailed off, walking over to the spot. She threw herself down to her knees, sobbing into her hands.
"Is Dad okay?" Austin asked, grabbing Rosie's arm. "Was he here?"
"Dad?" Cecil croaked out. "I'm sorry, do you mean-"
"Apollo," Kayla said. "Our dad is here."
"Apollo?" Cecil and Ellis said in unison.
"Again," Ellis said, looking back at Rosie. "What's going on?"
"Ask him yourself," she muttered, seeing the figure of Apollo reappear.
Apollo nervously approached, giving a timid wave.
"Hello all," he said with a nervous chuckle. "You're looking well."
Miranda sniffled, heading back to the group.
"Those voices I heard…" she began. "From the grove. That was an Oracle? The trees can give prophecies?"
Caves of blue.
Strike the hue.
…Westward, burning.
Pages turning.
…Indiana.
Ripe banana.
Happiness approaches.
Serpents and commotions.
The one of the oceans.
Rosie shuddered, pushing the words away. There was an underlying implication to those words now- they could be related to Leo.
Could, she reminded herself. She couldn't let herself get carried away- maybe, just maybe the tool belt being returned to her meant nothing.
Apollo hesitated. "Perhaps."
"May I see-"
"No," Apollo cut her off quickly. "Not until we understand it better."
"I don't get it," Ellis grumbled, flicking off a piece of bandage off his arm. "You're the real Apollo? You look like you're going through puberty."
Apollo blushed fiercely, fidgeting nervously. "It's a long story."
"Oh god…" Kayla held her stomach, as if she was suddenly sick. "I heard Meg's voice before- I thought it was a dream. Is she-? I mean, is she alright?"
Rosie glanced at Apollo, who looked like he was two seconds away from breaking down into tears.
Where was Meg?
"She's...alive," Apollo managed to get out. "She just...had to leave."
"What?" Kayla questioned. "Why?"
"Nero," Apollo said timidly. "She went after Nero."
"I'm sorry," Austin said with a look of disbelief on his face. "When you say Nero-"
"Tell us," Rosie interjected. "The spark notes version, preferably."
"There's this company," Apollo explained, wringing his hands together. "Triumvirate Holdings. It's...controlling the oracles, blocking prophecies. That's how you were all brought here...the Grove manipulated you all, because of this company. The leader….the leader of the company is Nero."
"Roman emperor," Cecil said with a low whistle.
"Meg and Nero have a….er, complicated relationship." Apollo paused, his face suddenly becoming scared. "Oh gods- the Colossus."
"Colossus?" Miranda asked. "Like, the Colossus of Rhodes?"
"No," he replied. "The Colossus of Nero."
"Um...what exactly is that?" Rosie asked.
"Replica of Nero that stood outside the amphitheater in Rome," Ellis explained. "Right, Apollo?"
"Afraid so," he confirmed. "At this very moment, Nero is trying to destroy your camp. The Colossus...the Colossus is his weapon."
Austin's eyes grew wide. "You mean a giant statue is going to stomp camp into the ground? Wasn't the statue destroyed decades ago?"
"Supposedly, so was the Athena Parthenos," Rosie reminded them darkly. "And we all know where it is right now."
The others fell silent, glancing awkwardly at the ground. Moments like these reminded her that she was a pariah, that the grief made her stick out like a sore thumb. Being on that quest had branded her- she was that demigod.
Finally, Austin broke the silence.
"But...won't the statue protect us? I mean, isn't that its purpose?"
Apollo shook his head. "Normally, yes. But the statue draws its powers in numbers, and your camp is...well, Uh-"
"Empty right now," Kayla finished knowingly.
"Nero's statue is also twice the size of the Athena Parthenos," Apollo supplied.
Rosie rolled his eyes. "Thanks, that's helpful," she said sarcastically.
"We have to go then," Ellis said urgently. "Camp needs our help."
Austin looked over at Apollo. "How do we get out of here?"
"Can any of you fly?" Apollo offered weakly.
The six of them exchanged looks, each shaking their head.
"Well then...I think there's a way, but I'll need everyone's help."
"Of course," Austin said fiercely, looking determined. "We're ready to fight."
"Er, I don't actually need you to fight," Apollo said. "I need you to lay down a beat."
Apollo was extremely unimpressed with Rosie's beatboxing ability, or lack thereof. She was immediately pulled from her role, being put in the back of the group despite her protests.
Instead, she was tasked with clapping along as Apollo launched into his own singing. She wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, but figured she had seen weirder things in her time as a demigod.
Suspiciously, Apollo had warned them to keep going until the song was over, no matter what happened.
She was just about to break this rule when the ground exploded, ginormous ants scurrying out.
One was clearly the leader, a mother ant. She was bigger than the others, more intimidating. She led the brigade forward, stopping in front of Apollo.
"Mama," he said. "We need a ride."
After one pause, the ant wrapped its antennae around Apollo, chucking him. After a girlish squeal from Apollo, he clumsily lumbered to grab the queen's neck.
"Join me!" He managed to croak out. "It's perfectly safe!"
Rosie wasn't so sure, but nonetheless, didn't protest as one of the ants scooped her up, placing her on its back. A moment later, Austin joined her.
As the ant sped through the forest, Austin clutched onto her for dear life.
"I'm questioning all of our judgments to continually follow Apollo's lead!" Austin yelled in a panicked tone, ducking to avoid an overhead branch.
"Hey, he's your dad, not mine!" Rosie replied.
"Fair enough! Hey, who do you think would win in a fight- the Statue of Liberty or the Colossus of Nero?"
Rosie laughed, the mental image of the Statue of Liberty brandishing her torch as a weapon in her head.
"I don't know," she said, still laughing. "I think it would depend on-"
The laugh quickly died as they entered the clearing into camp, as the bronze hundred-foot statue loomed above them.
"Nero," Rosie said after a gulp. "Definitely the Colossus of Nero."
She could hear the campers' screams, as they ran around, clutching weapons. She spotted Nico and Will floundering in the lake, a capsized canoe nearby.
Chiron galloped by, sending a fleet of arrows into Nero's direction. The automaton hardly seemed fazed by these, merely swatting the arrows away.
"Arrows!" Chrion demanded. "I need more arrows!"
Rachel Elizabeth Dare stumbled into view, carrying about half a dozen arrows as she ran to supply Chiron.
The ant swerved dangerously to avoid the Colossus, as the statue brought down a rudder towards the dining hall. Rosie watched as the blade bounced off the dining hall, no damage Parthenos was working some of its magic, at least.
Rosie dismounted the ant, who scurried off nervously. She scanned the viewing, seeing that Apollo was in panicked discussion with Kayla.
"Oh, I'm gonna kill you!" An angry, soaked Nico appeared, waving his finger at Rosie threateningly. "You-you- are like a very skitterish puppy that needs a leash!"
Will appeared behind him, shooting Rosie a sheepish smile. "That's his way of saying we missed you."
"-You got everyone in a fuss-" Nico continued angrily. "Got Percy involved-"
"You know, I went missing too," Austin complained.
"Percy?" Rosie's vision came back to her. "My brother's here?"
"Yeah, he's suntanning right now," Nico snapped sarcastically. "Do you not see that automaton, Rosie? Of course he's here!"
"But where-"
"Dad!" Will interrupted, as Apollo and the rest of the captured demigods had joined their group now. "What's the plan?"
BOOM. The statue was getting closer to them, the earth shaking with every step it took.
"Now, I may not be a god, but I'm thinking we want to get out of that thing's way," Rosie muttered.
"Yes!" Apollo exclaimed. "That kind of intelligence is why you were in the Eight!"
"Isn't there a control valve on its ankle?" Ellis asked. "If we can open it-"
"No," Apollo cut off. "You're thinking of Talos. This is not Talos."
She knew who could've destroyed the statue-Leo could've.
She felt the belt around her waist digging into her skin. Maybe, just maybe, she could-
"Then what?" Nico asked, jolting her back to the present.
Apollo suddenly yelped, making everyone jump.
"What is this?" Kayla asked, grabbing his arm.
"Will, Kayla, Austin," Apollo said. "Come with me."
"And Nico," Nico jumped in. "I have a doctor's note."
"Well, and me too," Rosie said stubbornly. "We all know what happened last time Nico and I were separated."
"Fine, whatever!" Apollo barked impatiently. "Ellis, Cecil, Miranda- do whatever you can to keep that thing's attention."
A bronze foot hovered about them, darkening the sand with its shadow.
"Now!" Apollo yelled. "Scatter!"
Ellis, Cecil, and Miranda understood their assignment well. As soon as they all scattered in opposite directions, they started screaming insults and waving their arms at the Colossus.
"What now?" Rosie yelled over to Apollo.
He pointed at the statue's kneecaps, where a Pegasi-led chariot was currently circling. Rosie recognized one of the pegasi as Keaton, the pegasus she had chickened out of riding so many times.
"That chariot! We need to commandeer it!"
"How?" Kayla asked.
Nico suddenly grabbed Rosie's hand, prompting her to believe that maybe, he was serious about keeping her on a leash.
It made sense, however, as she was suddenly plunged into darkness. When she came to, she was in said chariot with an unconscious Nico and queasy-looking Will.
"I'll never get used to that," Will said with a moan, holding his stomach.
Rosie? Keaton looked back at her with confusion in his eyes. When did you get here?
"Hold on, boys," she instructed. "We're going for a ride."
"Hmmmph," came from Nico, who apparently wasn't unconscious.
It was easier to see the efforts of the campers when in the sky. She could see Connor Stoll and Harley, both carrying blowtorches aimed at the automaton. CJ was sporadically disappearing and reappearing. She could see the huddled figures of Kayla, Apollo, and Austin. Percy, however, was still nowhere to be found.
The chariot veered dangerously as Rosie gripped the reins. Will cursed, propping up Nico, whose eyes were hardly open.
"Have you done this before?" Will asked.
"What makes you think I haven't?" She said with false bravado as they narrowly avoided colliding with the statue.
"Move over," Will instructed, brushing past her gently.
Will was decidely much better at steering the chariot than she was, but there was no way she was going to admit that.
Will pulled them in for a landing gracefully, landing next to Apollo, Kayla, and Austin. Rosie and Will each took one of Nico's arms, helping him off the chariot.
"I'm fine," Nico insisted, pushing them off.
"You guys go," Will told them. "The chariot is only meant to hold three anyways, and after that shadow travel, Nico is going to pass out any minute."
"No, I'm not," Nico complained. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he fell over. Will scooped him up easily, beckoning Rosie to follow.
"Come on! We'll go get the Lord of Darkness some Gatorade!"
They only managed to get a few feet before someone crashed into Rosie, hugging her tightly.
Rosie gasped, all of the wind knocked out of her.
"You asshole!" It was Nyssa, wrapping her arms tighter. "We were so worried-"
"Ribs-" Rosie choked out.
"I thought we'd never see you again!"
"Ribs."
"Right." Nyssa let go with a small smile. "I just thought-" Her face suddenly dropped in fear, as her eyes fixated on something. "What is that?"
Shit. Leo's belt was still wrapped around her waist.
"Um-"
"When did you become Bob the Builder?" Will asked, a layer of tension hiding underneath the humor in his voice.
"Is that...is that Leo's?" Nyssa asked in a strained voice.
"Rosie, what's going on?" Will asked.
She couldn't believe they wanted to talk about this now, of all times. She nervously fidgeted with the belt, unsure of how to break this to her friends.
"I know this is going to sound….strange. But I think- see the thing is-"
"I thought we were better," Nyssa jumped in. "I thought...I thought we were moving past this."
Rosie frowned. "Moving past this? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Now, wait-" Will started with a nervous chuckle.
"Where's the belt from, Rosie?" Nyssa asked in an unhappy tone.
"Automaton," She said nerovusly, pointing up at the statue still stomping through camp. "Giant, Nyssa-and-Will stomping automaton-"
"Hey, bronze butt!"
The sound of a new voice made the three of them simultaneously shut up, turning towards its source.
She felt a smile form on her face.
Her big brother had arrived.
