Ataraxia [BTS au | Heroes of Olympus]

43

His dad used to say that being in the airport didn’t count as visiting a city. He felt the same way about sewers.

From the port to the Acropolis, he didn’t see anything of Athens except dark, putrid tunnels. The snake men led them through an iron storm grate at the docks, straight into their underground lair, which smelled of rotting fish, mould and snakeskin.

The atmosphere made it hard to sing about summertime and cotton and easy living, but he kept it up. If he stopped for longer than a minute or two, Kekrops and his guards started hissing and looking angry.

"I don’t like this place," Namjoon said as he slipped his hand into his.  He felt bad for the son of Poseidon.

His voice echoed through the tunnels. As they travelled further into the lair, more snake people gathered to hear him. Soon they had a procession following behind them – dozens of gemini all swaying and slithering.

They passed through crude stone chambers littered with bones. They climbed slopes so steep and slippery it was nearly impossible to keep their footing. At one point, they passed a warm cave the size of a gymnasium filled with snake eggs, their tops covered with a layer of silver filaments like slimy Christmas tinsel.

More and more snake people joined their procession. Slithering behind him, they sounded like an army of football players shuffling with sandpaper on their cleats.

He wondered how many gemini lived down here. Hundreds, maybe thousands.

He thought he heard his own heartbeat echoing through the corridors, getting louder and louder the deeper they went. Then he realized the persistent boom ba-boom was all around them, resonating
through the stone and the air.

I wake. A woman’s voice, as clear as his singing.

Jimin froze. "Oh, that’s not good."

The voice of Gaia spoke again, louder: At last.

His singing wavered. Fear washed over him. He let the fear burn inside him like fuel, making his voice even stronger. He sang for the snake people, for his friends’ safety. Why not for Gaia, too?

Finally they reached the top of a steep slope, where the path ended in a curtain of green goo. Kekrops faced the demigods. "Beyond this camouflage is the Acropolis. You must remain here. I will check that your way is clear."

"Wait." He turned to address the crowd of gemini. "There is only death above. You will be safer in the tunnels. Hurry back. Forget you saw us. Protect yourselves."

The fear in his voice channelled perfectly with the charmspeak. The snake people, even the guards, turned and slithered into the darkness, leaving only the king.

"Kekrops," he said, "you’re planning to betray us as soon as you step through that goo."

"Yes," he agreed. "I will alert the giants. They will destroy you." Then he hissed. "Why did I tell you that?"

"Listen to the heartbeat of Gaia," he urged. "You can sense her rage, can’t you?"

Kekrops wavered. The end of his staff glowed dimly. "I can, yes. She is angry."

"She’ll destroy everything," Piper said "She’ll reduce the Acropolis to a smoking crater. Athens – your city – will be utterly destroyed, your people along with it. You believe me, don’t you?"

"I – I do."

"Whatever hatred you have for humans, for demigods, for Athena, we are the only chance to stop Gaia. So you will not betray us. For your own sake, and your people, you will scout the territory and make sure the way is clear. You will say nothing to the giants. Then you will return."

"That is … what I’ll do." Kekrops disappeared through the membrane of goo.

Namjoon shook his head in amazement. "Jin, that was incredible."

"We’ll see if it works." Jin sat down on the cool stone floor, dragging Namjoon with him. He figured he might as well rest while he could.

Jimin too squatted next to him. Jimin handed him a canteen of water.
Until he took a drink, he hadn’t realized how dry his throat was. "Thanks."

Jimi  nodded. "You think the charm will last?"

"I’m not sure," he admitted. "If Kekrops comes back in two minutes with an army of giants, then no."

"This is really happening isn't it?" Jimin asked distracted. He turned to look at him. "Just months ago, I was just freak kid with ADHD, thinking how unfair life was to me that I had go through this cruel world alone. That's I was not normal like the other kids. And now I am here. Fighting monsters and giants just to be alive."

He opened his mouth but he didn't knew what to say to the boy.

"Actually this is better I think. That I have some purpose in life. I met you guys and that has been the most happiest I have ever been since my mother died. Even when we fight monsters, the fact that you guys are there beside me means a lot for me. Just please don't die out there."

He took Jimin's hand. "We are going to win this war. Even if I die don't let that a reason for you to be sad." He said serious as Namjoon froze next to him. "This is our life. And we live it to find that little things that makes us happy and makes us want to live for it. You are a fighter and you will not give up." He was not charm speaking. These were just the words he had kept repeating to himself when he had found himself in the middle of Greek gods and monsters. The words made Jimin release a long sigh and he nodded at him with a watery smile.