Ataraxia [BTS au | Heroes of Olympus]

35

Their welcoming committee was a flock of wild, hungry harpies who attacked the ship. Hosoek blasted them into clouds of dust and feathers.

The Greek landscape below was just as inhospitable. The hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all shimmering in the hazy air. The sun beat down as if trying to hammer thecountryside into a Celestial bronze shield. Even from a hundred feet up, he could hear the drone of cicadas buzzing in the trees – a sleepy, otherworldly sound that made his eyes heavy.

Sweat trickled down his neck. After being frozen below deck by that crazy snow goddess, he had thought he would never feel warm again, but now the back of his shirt was soaked.

"Hot and steamy!" Hosoek grinned from over the starboard. "Makes me homesick for Houston! All we need now are some giant mosquitoes, and it'll feel just like the Gulf Coast!"

"Thanks a lot, Hosoek," Yoongi grumbled. "We'll probably get attacked by Ancient Greek mosquito monsters now."

"There!" Jungkook's voice made him look up at him. Jungkook was perched atop the foremast. He pointed towards a glittering green river snaking through the hills a kilometre away."Manoeuvre us that way. We're close to the temple. Very close."

As if to prove his point, black lightning ripped through the sky, leaving dark spots before his eyes and making the hairs on his arms stand up. The others could see it too now up close.

Namjoon strapped on his sword belt. "Everyone, arm yourself. Yoongi, get us close, but don't land – no more contact with the ground than necessary. Jin, Taehyung, get the mooring ropes."

"On it!" Jin said. Jin gave Namjoon a peck on the cheek and ran to help.

"Hey, guys!" Hosoek called from the bow. "Better get over here. You need to see this."

They'd found the source of the dark lightning. The Argo II hovered directly over the river. A few hundred metres away at the top of the nearest hill stood a cluster of ruins. They didn't look like much – just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings – but, from somewhere within the ruins, tendrils of black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from its cave. 

As he watched, a bolt of dark energy ripped through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape.

"The Necromanteion," Jungkook said. "The House of Hades."

He steadied himself at the rail. He supposed it was too late to suggest turning back. He was starting to feel nostalgic about the monsters he'd fought all on his way.

Jin hugged his arms. "I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"

"I wouldn't," Jungkook said. "That's the River Acheron."

Namjoon squinted in the sunlight. "I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld."

"It is," Jungkook said. "But its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows underground, straight into the realm of Hades. Landing a demigod ship on those waters –"

"Yeah, let's stay up here," Yoongi decided. "I don't want any zombie water on my hull."

Half a kilometre downstream, some fishing boats were puttering along. He guessed they didn't know or care about the history of this river. Must be nice, being a regular mortal.

Namjoon clapped him on the shoulder, then looked at each one of them in the eye. "Everyone let's get to the ruins. Time to crash Gaia's party."

Despite the midday heat and the raging storm of death energy, a group of tourists was climbing over the ruins. Fortunately there weren't many and they didn't give the demigods a second look. He was starting to stop worrying too much about getting noticed now.