conqueror • percy jackson

20.

The feast was more than Rosalyn expected, though they were the first campers to publicly return from a quest since Luke brought Annabeth to camp.

They were all adorned in laurel wreaths and made to lead a processional to the bonfire. Each of their cabins had made a burial shroud in their absences for them to ceremonially burn.

Since Percy had no cabin mates, so Clarisse volunteered the Ares cabin to make Percy's. It was an old bedsheet with smiley faces painted on it, but they all had X's over the eyes. It also had the word LOSER in the center.

Rosie scolded Clarisse for it, which made Percy feel a little better.

The Aphrodite cabin made Rosalyn a beautiful shroud out of gold silk. There were red roses embroidered around the edges done by her older sister, Jenna. Rosie was shocked to see her back at camp.

"I went to college for one semester, and you got yourself roped into a major quest?"

Spinning around, Rosie's eyes widened and a grin split her face.

"Jenna!"

Rosalyn tackled her big sister in a hug, before leading her excitedly toward Cabin 10.

"Tell me everything," Jenna demanded.

She really didn't want to burn it, but Rosie tossed hers right after Percy. For the feast, they were allowed to intermingle. Cabins weren't restricted to their own tables for the first time in all of Rosalyn's years at camp.

"Sit with me?" Percy asked shyly.

Rosie winked and pushed past him.

"As if I'm going to miss the chance to sit at a Big Three table!"

It was a great night. They'd made it back from the Underworld alive and stopped a war. All of them.

"Cheers!" Rosie giggled, clinking her cup against Percy's.

The boy smiled back at her, and they tucked into their meals.

-

Following the feast, Chiron asked Rosalyn to have a word in the Big House.

Most times, this meant Chiron needed Rosalyn to run an errand for him. While she hoped this wasn't the case, because she really wanted to rest... she also had a bad feeling this wasn't the case.

The door closed behind her, and she waded into the stuffy room.

"I want to share something with you."

Rosalyn cautiously lowers herself into one of the chairs at the table and waits for Chiron to continue. He simply slides a piece of paper across the table.

Her eyes scan the words scrawled across what looks like a page from Chiron's journal.

"Chiron," Rosalyn whispered. "This is a prophecy."

"Yes," he nodded, his eyes trained intently on her face.

Looking up with trembling hands, she reads aloud, "Threads of rose and sea."

Grief passed over Chiron's face, and Rosalyn knew that she came to the correct conclusion. Chiron was sharing a prophecy with her, because it's her prophecy.

"When interpreting a prophecy, one can never be certain of its meaning until it has come to pass; however, I have little doubt the first line refers to the threads of fate."

The centaur paused. Rosalyn simply raised one of her ginger brows and earned a sigh in return.

"Your thread and Percy's thread."

Rosalyn nodded slowly, feeling her throat tighten.

Threads of rose and sea will be crossed. One half-blood must shoulder the cost. The name spoken in blood is resolute. The war will be won after the final salute.

"This sounds a lot like one of us is going to die," Rosalyn says.

Chiron hummed sadly, "Yes, it does."

"What do I do?"

At the sound of her voice breaking, Chiron looks away. Rosalyn and Chiron have a long history. She was sent to camp so young, and the centaur as well as raised her.

Now he was watching her fight tears in the face of what sounds like a death sentence.

"Prophecies cannot be prevented," Chiron sighs. "I thought you deserved to know, nonetheless."

"They can be manipulated."

Chiron's eyes jump back to the small girl, startled at the determination in her voice. She had a hard look on her wet face.

"Percy can't know about this."

Chiron was taken aback as he said, "I agree, but—"

"One half-blood must shoulder the cost. I will be the one," Rosie declares. Her hands swipe harshly over her cheeks, removing any trace of tears. "If one of us is going to die for this war, I will make it be me."

"Don't be rash, my girl," Chiron chastised. "I told you because of your temperance, not to have you sacrifice yourself. Words of prophecy are often metaphorical."

Rosalyn shakes her head and stands to her feet, promising, "I will do whatever I have to do, Chiron."

Knowing there is no way to dissuade the girl, Chiron watches her go in silence. Rosalyn appreciates that.

The sun is setting low as she walks back to her cabin. Her stomach feels like it's full of lead.

A war is coming.

Chiron was right when he said prophecies were made up of metaphors, but Rosalyn could feel it in her bones. Something terrible is going to happen.

"Poseidon, Aphrodite, Hades, whoever is listening..." she prayed into the night. "Whatever the price, let him live. If one of us has to die, I will do it... but let him live."

The sound of a door opening startled Rosalyn, capturing her attention.

"There you are!" Jenna smiled. "Want me to braid your hair before bed?"

Rosalyn smiled at her sister and nodded wordlessly. The sounds of happy chatter from her cabin filled her heart with a bitter sweetness.

"Ooh, me first!"

At the sound of her other sister Silena's voice, Rosalyn walked faster.

"I just came back from a quest to the Underworld, Lena! I so get to go first!"