QUINTUS PULLED PERCY AND ROSE ASIDE AS THE COUNCIL BROKE UP.
"I have a bad feeling about this," he told them.
Mrs. O'Leary came over, wagging her tail happily. She dropped her shield at Percy's feet, and he threw it for her. Quintus watched her romp after it. Rose remembered what Juniper had said about him scouting out the maze. Rose didn't trust him, but when he looked at her, she saw real concern in his eyes.
"I don't like the idea of you going down there," he said. "Any of you. But if you must, I want you to remember something. The Labyrinth exists to fool you. It will distract you. That's dangerous for half-bloods. We are easily distracted."
"You've been in there?" Percy asked.
"Long ago." His voice was ragged. "I barely escaped with my life. Most who enter aren't that lucky. Keep your minds on what matters most. If you can do that, you might find the way. And here, I wanted to give you guys something."
He handed them each a little silver tube. It was so cold Rose almost dropped it.
"A whistle?" Percy asked.
"A dog whistle," Quintus said. "For Mrs. O'Leary."
"Um, thanks, but—"
"How will it work in the maze? I'm not a hundred percent certain it will—"
"Then why bother giving it to us?" Rose asked.
Quintus gritted his teeth. "Not the point. Mrs. O'Leary is a hellhound. She can appear when called, no matter how far away she is. I'd feel better knowing you guys had these. If you really need help, use it; but be careful, the whistle is made of Stygian ice."
"What?" Percy asked.
"From the River Styx. Very hard to craft. Very delicate. It cannot melt, but it will shatter when you blow it, so you can only use it once."
"Thanks," Rose said. She shoved it in her pocket, promising herself that she would never use it, then walked off to her cabin.
As long as Percy been at camp, he'd never been inside the Aphrodite cabin.
It was a nice building, made of wood that sparkled a light shade of pink when hit by the sun, with sheer white curtains and the Venus symbol carved over the door. Percy vaguely remembered Rose saying that Silena had let her paint the inside of the carving pink, but the paint had washed away over the years.
"Hello?" he called inside.
Nobody answered. He stepped in and caught his breath. He'd seen pictures of the inside on Rose's social media, but it was nothing like seeing it in person.
The bunks were evenly separated against two of the walls. Empty spaces hung pride flags and fashion sketches and photographs from disposable cameras. There was a trap door on the floor. Sun catchers hung from the ceiling. Despite the extensive amount of bunks, only nine of them were clearly being used. Several of them had name tags, but Percy had spent enough time with Rose and her siblings which belonged to who.
Rose stood in the back of the room, the trunk at the foot of her bunk open, flipping through the pages of a leather bound book. It was clear she didn't plan on sticking around long. She was dressed in nothing but a bikini and a shirt Percy had gotten her. A trait she shared with the Apollo cabin— an extensive love for sunbathing. During the summer, if you couldn't find Rose in her cabin, you could almost always find her on the beach or playing a pickup soccer game under the sun.
"Knock, knock?" Percy said.
She turned with a start. "Oh... hi. Didn't hear you."
"Aren't we supposed to use our trunks for clothes?" Percy asked.
She gestured absentmindedly at the trap door. "Makeup and clothes go in the basement."
When she didn't say anything else, Percy asked, "You okay?"
She frowned at the book in her hands. "Just trying to do some last minute research. Daedalus's Labyrinth is so huge. None of the stories agree about anything. The maps just lead from nowhere to nowhere."
She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
For as long as Percy had been at camp, Rose and Annabeth had been practically inseparable. They came as a pair. Where one went, the other typically followed. At first, he'd thought they were sisters. They never asked before sharing clothes, books, or food and drinks. It was always a given that the other would say yes. They had a countless amount of inside jokes, and regularly spent the night in the other's cabin. Last summer, in the Sea of Monsters, Annabeth had missed Rose so much that it brought her to the point of tears. She'd made him promise to keep it a secret when she said she loved Rose more than some of her own siblings. Percy had seen how much of a toll it had taken on Rose last winter when Annabeth was missing. Percy could see their love for each other in little acts, and he could tell that it was killing Rose to not know how to help Annabeth.
"We'll figure it out," he promised.
Percy hated to be mean, but Rose really did look awful. Her dark hair had been pulled up, but was falling out of her ponytail like snagged threads. She was wearing the wolf shirt he'd gotten her as a joke for Christmas, which she'd been wearing since the day after they arrived at camp. There was a fresh cut on her upper lip, where she'd been cut with a sword during practice. Her eye bags were more visible than usual, and she had clearly been crying within the last hour.
"Annabeth's wanted to lead a quest since she was seven," she said. "I don't want to let her down, but all of this shit about the Labyrinth so stressful. I know I said I knew plenty about it, but..."
"You're going to be fine. I know it."
She looked at him gratefully, but then stared down at all the books and scrolls she'd pulled from the shelves. "I'm worried, Percy. I'm having anxiety attacks and I haven't even gone into the maze yet. Lacy's acting like she's never going to see me again. There's something I could try, but even Connor thinks it's a bad idea."
"Well, what is it?"
"We've got this... dagger in the weapons shed. It belonged to Helen of Troy, and sometimes when you look at the blade, it'll show you glimpses of the future. Last time I looked in it was right before you guys went to the Sea of Monsters, because I was worried about Grover, and I had nightmares for a week."
Then, she did something that really surprised Percy. She put her arms out for a hug.
Rose was a pretty physical person. She regularly held hands and hugged her friends. For some reason, she seemed to shy away from it with Percy. He'd never taken offense to it. He was more of an acts of service type of guy anyway.
Percy said nothing, and pulled her in. He was warm. Rose's skin tingled where his arms wrapped around her. She didn't want to let go.
Percy could feel her heartbeat through her shirt. She smelled like apples and perfume. Her chin pressed into the crook of his neck.
Behind them, somebody cleared their throat. It was Connor Stoll.
"Um, sorry," he said. "I was wondering if you wanted to go tanning, but..."
Rose stepped back and rubbed one of her eyes. "It's fine, don't worry. I was about to go down anyway. Let me get my shoes and I'll meet you there, okay?"
He nodded and left.
She pulled a ring of keys from her pocket and unlocked the basement door as Percy said, "I'll see you later, yeah?"
She nodded. As he went to leave, she called, "Percy, wait."
He turned, his eyebrows raised.
"Don't go looking for that knife. I mean it."
He stuck his pinky out. "I promise."
As she hooked her pinky around his, she smiled, for the first time in what was probably days, and that made it all the worthwhile.
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Fanfiction- in which the son of poseidon and daughter of aphrodite fall for each other. (ttc-tlo) - copyright 2021 kurtkunkles - wattys 2022 contestant - undergoing editing RANKINGS- #9 in apollo #14 in greek #45 in annabeth #4 in greekmythology #17 in percy...