there must be more than this provincial life.
[ percy jackson x original character ]
[ book three in the belle series ]
[ the mark of athena, the house of hades, & the blood of olympus ]
[ bonus: the lost hero, the hidden oracle, the ship of the dea...
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𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖎𝖙𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊-𝖘𝖊𝖕𝖙: BELLE IS REALLY TIRED OF THE UNDERGROUND
★ 。／｜＼。★
AFTER THE LABYRINTH, Tartarus, and the Temple of Fear and Panic, Belle wasn't exactly excited to be back underground. It made her feel unsafe and claustrophobic. Although she had learned to try and accept her fear instead of letting it consume her, her Tartarus memories still managed to chill her down to her bones every time she went underground. And those ones weren't exactly comforting.
There had been no view of Athens since they left the port to go to the Acropolis. All Belle saw was dark tunnels that had a putrid smell inside of them. The snake men had led them through an iron storm grate at the docks which brought them to their underground lair, which smelled of rotting fish, mold, and snakeskin. Piper continued to sing a song about summertime (though Belle couldn't see how, the atmosphere definitely didn't match up with the idea of easing living.) Maybe it was the fact that if she stopped singing for about a minute Kekrops and his guards began to hiss and look angry. The longer Piper sang, the more happy the snake people were.
"I don't like this place," Annabeth murmured. "Reminds me of when I was underneath Rome."
Kekrops hissed with laughter. "Our domain is much older. Much, much older."
Belle's hand nervously found Percy's. In her right hand she held Sunflower tightly. Both Percy's hand and the green hilt of her sword was enough to keep her grounded as they continued to venture through the underground. Piper's voice echoed throughout the tunnels. As they travelled further into the lair, more snake people gathered to hear her song. Soon enough, dozens of Gemini were all swaying and slithering behind them.
There wasn't much she could do, so Belle took this opportunity to think. This was really it. The entire quest had led up to this one very moment — going to Greece. Belle remembered back in Kansas, which somehow felt like a million years ago, how Gaea had first revealed she needed the blood of both a boy and a girl Demigod in order to wake. And yet here they were in the very place the Giants wanted to wake the Earth Mother, which was also the old ruins where the rivalry between Poseidon and Athena began. Despite that, two of their children had become best friends and were now venturing to those ruins together. Belle could feel worry for Percy and Annabeth rising within her. She knew if — Gods forbid — if Gaea somehow happened to wake, she would want the two of them.
Belle would do everything in her power to not let that happen. Percy was the love of her life and Annabeth was pretty much her sister. If anything happened to them . . . no. She couldn't let her thoughts turn dark again. After Tartarus, she had enough with those horrible thoughts. Belle had to believe everything would turn out okay. Sure, something would go wrong, there was no doubt about it — but just like the Prophecy said, the world must fall.
