"you could be the king, but watch the queen conquer"
-
Rosalyn Carter is the daughter of Aphrodite and the last thing Percy expected to find at Camp Half-Blood.
But he wouldn't want to fight deadly battles with anyone else.
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Medusa's reflection in the glass ball was distorted by the green swirls, and Percy thought he was more afraid of her this way.
"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't."
At the boy's hesitation, Rosalyn yelled, "Don't listen to her!"
Medusa cackled, "Too late." She lunged for him with her talons. Dropping the glass ball, Percy slashed his sword through the air.
The sickening sound of Riptide connecting with the gorgon was followed by a hiss. Something fell to the ground at his feel and warm ooze soaked his socks.
"Oh, yuck," Grover said. His eyes were closed still, but he couldn't bear the sounds of Medusa's head dying.
"Don't move," Annabeth ordered, coming up beside them with the black veil previously covering the head. Very, very carefully, she draped the cloth over the head. "Is everyone okay?" The blonde girl asked, her voice small.
Percy cleared his throat and said, "Yeah. Why didn't... why didn't the head evaporate?"
"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war. Same as your Minotaur horn, but don't unwrap it. It can still petrify you."
Grover moaned loudly, and Annabeth jumped at the sound of Rosalyn's voice. While Grover sported a welt on his forehead, Rosalyn had a two thin cuts down the side of her chin that looked a lot like they'd come from snake fangs.
Aside from the cuts and a few scrapes, Rosie seemed fine. She wasn't dazed like the other two demigods.
"How did you know?" Percy asked. He wasn't sure what else to say, so he didn't elaborate but no one needed him to. The statue garden around them was silent as they awaited an answer.
"Children of Aphrodite cannot be charmed," Rosie said, looking at her feet.
Annabeth looked mortified at the idea of being bested by the daughter of love and beauty, yet there wasn't a trace of smugness in Rosie's voice. If anything, the girl suddenly seemed bashful.
"We're good for more than makeovers and matchmaking in Cabin 10."
Before any of them could comment, she'd turned and walked back toward the door to the warehouse. When they followed her, Rosalyn was pulling plastic sacks from behind the counter. She held one out without meeting their eyes, and Annabeth placed the head delicately inside.
It took all of five minutes for an argument to breakout between Percy and Annabeth. Grover and Rosalyn shared a tired look, doing their best to ignore the pissing contest their companions were engaging in. They both collapsed onto a stool.
"Forget it. You're impossible."
"You're insufferable."
"You're-"
"Hey!" Rosie snapped, standing up. "We have bigger problems right now. Shut up for a second, so I can think!"
Percy's head whipped in the direction of the redhead with her face in her hands. The frustration he felt for the gods and for the quest dissolved.
Since arriving at Camp Half-Blood, Percy felt in over his head. Between losing his mother and learning the truth about his father, a quest was the last thing he needed.
He knew he was making a mess of it, but Rosie was right there every time. She came with him on this quest to save Olympus and stop a war, but she was doing nothing more than babysitting him.
"I'll be back," Percy said, getting up and walking toward the back of the warehouse. Rifling through Medusa's office, he found a box.
Grover looked over the boy's shoulder as he taped up the box and wrote:
The Gods Mount Olympus 600th Floor, Empire State Building New York, NY
With best wishes, PERCY JACKSON
"They're not going to like that. They'll think you're impertinent," Grover warned.
"I am impertinent," Percy huffed. He looked to Rosie, waiting for her to object. She simply raised a brow at him, and he took that as permission.
The package floated off the table and disappeared after a handful of golden drachmas was poured into the pouch of the packing slip.
"Come on," Annabeth muttered. "We need a new plan."
-
That night, they camped in the woods about a hundred yards from the main road. Rosie quickly vetoed any idea of starting a fire, producing blankets and snacks from the bag on her back.
"I swiped these from Aunty Em's. They should work for now," Rosie sighed.
Percy volunteered to take the first shift of watch, and Annabeth was asleep in minutes. Rosalyn took longer, her instincts screaming at her to stay awake, but she eventually fell asleep too. Grover propped himself up against a tree and stared up into the sky.
"So what really happened with you and Rosalyn?"
"What?" Percy startled.
Grover eyed him, "You never said how you two know each other."
"Percy, you should really answer the poor girl's letters," Sally sighed. Her eyes were sad as she watched her son thumb through the mail.
"I can't, mom. Rosie's better off without me messing her life up."
Delicately, Sally began, "She's your best friend, honey."
Throwing the third letter this month from the girl into the trash, Percy left the room. On his way out, he muttered, "Not anymore."
Grover waited patiently as Percy seemed to be lost in thought. Shaking his head, the son of Poseidon looked toward where Rosalyn slept on the hard ground.
"I had just been kicked out of another school... the one I met Rosie at."
He swallowed, feeling his chest tighten up at the memory.
"I never said goodbye."
If Grover was judging him, he didn't voice it. The silence was actually suffocating, Percy came to realize quickly.
"She has every reason to hate me, right?" He asked miserably.
"Listen, Percy," Grover started. "Most of the campers have families that they spend the year with. Rosalyn's a year-round camper. Her mom's a goddess. Her dad left her at the property line when she was little and never looked back."
And then he abandoned her. Grover didn't say that, but Percy heard it clear as day. Rosalyn had no one outside of camp but him, and he let her down.
"How about I take first watch, huh? You get some sleep," Grover insisted.
Whatever protests the boy might've had faded after a few bars of Mozart from Grover's pipes.
