DON'T BLAME ME! (p. jackson) (#2) (ON HOLD)

- eight

ROSE KNEW FEAR, BUT THIS WAS DIFFERENT.

waves of terror crashed over her. her joints turned to jelly. her heart refused to beat. her vision went in and out of focus.

her worst memories crowded her mind– percy and jason fighting to the death in kansas while piper and rose could only watch; the four of them drowning in the nymphaeum in rome.

being there.

paralyzed, she watched as the giant raised his sledgehammer to smash them flat. at the last moment, piper leaped to one side, tackling rose.

the hammer cracked the floor, peppering rose's back with stone shrapnel.

the giant chuckled. "oh, that wasn't fair!"

he hefted his sledgehammer again.

"rose, get up!" piper helped her to her feet. she pulled her towards the far end of the room, but rose moved sluggishly, her eyes wide and unfocused.

piper understood why. the temple was amplifying their personal fears. piper had seen some horrible things, but it was nothing compared to what rose had experienced. having flashbacks of tartarus, enhanced and compounded with all her other bad memories, her mind wouldn't be able to cope. she might literally go insane.

"i'm here," piper promised, filling her voice with reassurance. "we will get out of this."

to rose, piper was hazy. flashbacks of tartarus flickered in and out. her throat tasted like firewater again. her ankle throbbed. she could swear she heard small bob meowing.

"piper, it's not real, right?" rose said, grasping piper's hand.

"no," piper promised. "whatever you're seeing, i promise it's not real. rose, i need you to trust me."

"a– a plan," rose stammered. "i go left. you go right. if we—"

"rose, no plans."

"w-what?"

"no plans. just follow me!"

the giant swung his hammer, but they dodged it easily. piper leaped forward and slashed her sword across the back of the giant's knee. as the giant bellowed in outrage, piper pulled rose into the nearest tunnel. immediately they were engulfed in total darkness.

"fools!" the giant roared somewhere behind them. "that is the wrong way!"

"keep moving." piper held tight to rose's hand. "it's fine. come on."

"no, piper, this is so bad," rose said. her tears had evolved into an anxiety attack. "we need to find a way out."

"i know you're scared," piper said. "i have no idea what exactly you're feeling or seeing right now, but as long as i have all my limbs attached, i'm not going to let anything hurt you. i need you to trust me."

"it's like the house of night," rose said. "we should close our eyes."

"no!" piper said. "keep them open. we can't try to hide."

the giant's voice came from somewhere in front of them. "lost forever. swallowed by the darkness."

rose froze, forcing piper to stop, too.

"why did we just plunge in?" rose cried. "we're lost. we did what he wanted us to! we should have bided our time, talked to the enemy, figured out a plan. that always works!"

"rose, i never ignore your advice." piper kept her voice soothing. "but this time i have to. we can't defeat this place with reason. you can't think your way out of your emotions."