Camp Half Blood: Magic and Vice

Chapter 19

Will's POV:

Rose needs help. Gods, I love her I really do. But this isn't Rose. This isn't the Rose I knew when we first met. This isn't the Rose that was with me at the lake. This isn't the Rose who needed me to keep her warm at night. There is only me who can see whats right and what's wrong and actually has some sort of power to do something. I know what I have to do, but I need help. But before that, I need to speak to Rose. I need to see if there's a chance she could still be in there and that there might be something that can be done to bring all of her back completely.

I fiddled with the bracelet on my hand as I made my way to the kitchen. Hopefully I could make some food and sit down with Rose to try and talk to her. Tonight while I slept, I'd be able to contact Damien and inform him of what was going on. I almost lost my balance taking a corner when someone grabbed my hand. "Rose?"

"Hey, what's this?" She asked, looking at the bracelet. "It's cute, where'd you get it." She smiled warmly at me. I cleared my throat, still startled.

"Oh, uh yeah, I uh... I just found it. I-I must have had it lying around somewhere." Rose gave me a questioning glance.

"You okay, Will?" She put her hand softly on my face. I instinctively melted into her touch. I lightly shook the millions of thoughts swarming through my head to try to get myself back on track. "You know, it actually looks kinda familiar..." she trailed in a whisper, now looking at the bracelet again.

"I... hey I was gonna make some food. Do you uh... maybe Uhm... Wanna have dinner with me?" She looked back up to me and giggled, rolling her eyes.

"Of course, you goof. You're my boyfriend, Will. You don't have to be nervous asking me to have dinner with you." She stepped closer to me. I reached me hand towards her pulling her closer by her pants belt loop. She bit her lip.

"I know... I just... you always make me nervous, beautiful." I said quietly. I don't think I've ever been that smooth in my life. I could feel my face heat up, so maybe I wasn't being as smooth as I thought I was.

"Will... I don't think I've ever heard you talk to me like that before. I... I like it." She smiled at me, pecking my lips a few times. I could feel her smile which made me smile too. She gave me one more kiss on the cheek before turning to leave. "Hey, let me know when you wanna have that dinner, okay? I'll be doing my last training session with Olthen, so you know where to find me!" She smiled wildly and then started walking away. Worry washed over me.

I took a turn and was in the kitchen. Thankfully, Vex was there. I needed to speak to her. I definitely needed Damien's help and everyone else's who made it to the Camp, but I knew that wouldn't be enough. Especially because Rose was the most powerful one here and Olthen knew that. And she was practically wrapped around his finger right now. And no matter what Rose feels for me, I had a feeling whatever Olthen did made her overwhelmingly more loyal to him. And now with all of this extra training that Olthen has devoted solely to Rose, she was going to be unstoppable in a matter of days. I needed Vex, Sienna, and Maddox. With all of us together, we'd have a fighting chance. "Vex?"

I walked up nervously towards her. She was at the fridge, looking for something to eat. "Hey, Will!" She said happily. She quickly glanced at me and did a double take after seeing the expression on my face. "Hey, what's going on?" She closed the fridge and turned to me.

"I need your help with something." I said quickly and quietly. She looked at me a moment before nodding and motioning for me to follow her. I'm so glad she knew me this well. We made it to Sienna's room and she closed the door behind us. Sienna wasn't there, so I assumed she was most likely with Maddox either hunting or training.

"So what's up?" She asked staying calm. Vex always had a knack for staying calm no matter the situation. I admired that about her. I envied that...

"I have a plan." I said, I was trying to gather my thoughts, but there was too much to explain and I wasn't sure where to start.

"Okay, that's good. A plan for what?" She smiled, slightly confused.

"Sorry. Well, what Olthen did to Rose. It was... it was nice at first. It was really nice but... over time she's become so much different. She's not herself. She's not the person she used to be she... she's not the person I fell in love with anymore, Vex. I know what I have to do to get her help, but it's going to be near impossible without help. I'm planning on trying to talk to her over dinner tonight to maybe... maybe see if she's still in there. I don't know how but I... I need to try. After that is where you come in." Vex hung on every word. She took a second to take everything in.

"Okay. What do you need me to do?" She said simply.

"I'm gonna get in touch with Damien, you know Shadow's boyfriend? I'm gonna tell him what's been going on. Everything... and I'm gonna tell him to bring everyone to stop Olthen.... to... to save Rose. I know you love Olthen and I love him too. So so much... but even the things he does to try and make up for what he's done wrong ends up... well wrong... he always has ulterior motives, Vex. I need you to help me stop him and save Rose so that we can have a chance at saving him too. This camp Rose came from have resources that can deal with Olthen and-and make him who he used to be. I-I know they can..."

"Hey, Will..." Vex put her arm on my shoulder, looking at me solemnly. I had gotten pretty worked up. This all has gone too far and nobody knows what Olthen's grand scheme is... "I... I want to help. I do... and I've seen that side of Olthen you're talking about. The one you want to bring back for good. I want that to be permanent more than anything and I just..." she sighed. Vex looked stressed for once. "Listen, if you say this camp can help him, I'll try anything. He has this plan... to bring his father back from the dead. From the underworld. It... it's not good, Will. I've tried to talk him out of it, I have. But he won't budge... he won't! I don't know what to do... maybe you're right..." I was shocked that this is what Olthen had been planning. I don't think I'd ever be able to guess that. Olthen spoke about his father a lot when we were younger, idolizing him. After he died, which I was sure when exactly that was, he tapered off on all talk of him. I looked up, hopeful, though, after Vex started to give in to helping me. I sighed, relief and fear and a million other emotions washing through me. After a minute of silence, Vex spoke again. She had been deep in thought. "So, how are you gonna get in touch with Damian?

"I have this bracelet Rose must have lost in my room. She didn't even recognize it when she saw it earlier which is... concerning. Nevertheless, it can get me in touch with Damian when I go to sleep tonight." I had spoken a lot to Vex about things of the past. I told her about my friends, how much I missed them, and more... she was a shoulder to cry on when I thought I had lost everything. She was there for me. I  held my wrist out to show her the bracelet I was referring to. I looked at her, and her face contorted, confused. I looked down... the bracelet was gone. I looked at my other wrist to see if I was mistaken about where I ad placed it, and it wasn't there either. I was panicked. "Shit." I left the room, tracing my steps. I heard Vex follow me close behind.

"Will?" She asked, I continued to scan the floors frantically. "Will." She said forcefully. I immediately stopped and looked at her.

"I can't believe it's gone... I-" I stopped myself. I could feel the blood drain from my face. "Rose."

"She knew..." Vex whispered.

"She took it... she took it to Olthen."