―✧―

"𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒," 𝐏𝐈𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃.

immediately, percy and i were by her side.

piper was supposed to be on watch while the rest of us got geared up, so if she was calling us, something was up.

turns out that something, was snake people.

"oh, great," percy said. "dracaenae."

i narrowed my eyes, "nah, they don't look it. dracaenae have two serpent trunks for legs. these guys only have one."

"you're right," percy said. "these look more human on top, too. not all scaly and green and stuff. so do we talk or fight?"

i waited, trying to see what these snake dudes were up to.

the snake man in the middle held his head high. his face was chiselled and bronze, his eyes black as basalt, his curly dark hair glistening with oil. his upper body rippled with muscles, covered only by a greek chlamys — a white wool cloak loosely wrapped and pinned at the shoulder. from the waist down, his body was one giant serpent trunk — about eight feet of green tail undulating behind him as he moved.

in one hand he carried a staff topped with a glowing green jewel. in his other, he carried a platter covered with a silver dome, like a main course for a fancy dinner.

the two guys behind him appeared to be guards. they wore bronze breastplates and elaborate helmets topped with horsehair bristles. their spears were tipped with green stone points. their oval shields were emblazoned with a large greek letter k — kappa.

they stopped a few yards from the argo ii. the leader looked up and studied the demigods. his expression was intense but inscrutable. he might have been angry or worried or terribly in need of a restroom.

"permission to come aboard." his raspy voice made me on edge.

"who are you?" i asked.

he fixed his dark eyes on me. "i am kekrops, the first and eternal king of athens. i would welcome you to my city." he held up the covered platter, "also, i brought a bundt cake."

piper narrowed her eyes at him, but spoke to me, "a trick?"

"probably," i agreed.

"at least he brought dessert." percy smiled down at the snake guys, "welcome aboard!"

kekrops agreed to leave his guards above deck with buford the table, who ordered them to drop and give him twenty push-ups. the guards seemed to take this as a challenge.

meanwhile, the king of athens was invited to the mess hall for a 'get to know you' meeting.

"please take a seat," jason offered.

kekrops wrinkled his nose. "snake people do not sit."

"please remain standing," leo said. he cut the cake and stuffed a piece in his mouth before i could warn him it might be poisoned, or inedible for mortals, or just plain bad.

"dang!" he grinned. "snake people know how to make bundt cake. kind of orangey, with a hint of honey. needs a glass of milk."

"snake people do not drink milk," kekrops said. "we are lactose-intolerant reptiles."

"me, too!" frank said. "i mean... lactose intolerant. not a reptile. though i can be a reptile sometimes—"

"anyway," hazel interrupted, "king kekrops, what brings you here? how did you know we'd arrived?"

"i know everything that happens in athens," kekrops said. "i was the city's founder, its first king, born of the earth. i am the one who judged the dispute between athena and poseidon, and chose athena to be the patron of the city."

i thought about his sentence 'born of the earth', wondering the meaning behind it.

"no hard feelings, though," percy muttered.

annabeth elbowed him. "i've heard of you, kekrops. you were the first to offer sacrifices to athena. you built her first shrine on the acropolis."

"correct," kekrops sounded bitter, like he regretted his decision. "my people were the original athenians — the gemini."

"like your zodiac sign?" percy asked. "i'm a leo."

"no, stupid," leo said. "i'm a leo. you're a percy."

"you guys are impossible," i muttered. "he means gemini like doubled — half man, half snake. that's what his people are called. he's a geminus, singular."

"yes," kekrops nodded. "millennia ago, we were driven underground by the two-legged humans, but i know the ways of the city better than any. i came to warn you. if you try to approach the acropolis aboveground, you will be destroyed."

jason stopped nibbling his cake. "you mean... by you?"

"by porphyrion's armies," said the snake king. "the acropolis is ringed with great siege weapons — onagers."

"more onagers?" frank protested. "did they have a sale on them or something?"

"the cyclopes," hazel guessed. "they're supplying both octavian and the giants."

percy grunted. "like we needed more proof that octavian is on the wrong side."

"that is not the only threat," kekrops warned. "the air is filled with storm spirits and gryphons. all roads to the acropolis are patrolled by the earthborn."

frank drummed his fingers on the bundt cake cover. "so, what, we should just give up? we've come too far for that."

"i offer you an alternative," said kekrops. "underground passage to the acropolis. for the sake of athena, for the sake of the gods, i will help you."

i felt like eidolons were back on the ship.

the way the snake man spoke, his words... there was a double meaning behind everything. his words were going one way, but his tone another.

i shared a look with piper and theo, and they too, seemed to feel it. maybe it was an aphrodite kid thing?

"what's the catch?" i asked.

kekrops turned those inscrutable dark eyes on me. "only a small party of demigods — no more than three — could pass undetected by the giants. otherwise your scent would give you away. but our underground passages could lead you straight into the ruins of the acropolis. once there, you could disable the siege weapons by stealth and allow the rest of your crew to approach. with luck, you could take the giants by surprise. you might be able to disrupt their ceremony."

"ceremony?" leo asked. "oh... like, to wake gaia."

"even now it has begun," kekrops warned. "can you not feel the earth trembling? we, the gemini, are your best chance."

his words were sincere, but his tone — it was eager, hungry.

percy looked around the table. "any objections?"

"just a few," jason said. "we're on the enemy's doorstep. we're being asked to split up. isn't that how people get killed in horror movies?"

"also," percy said, "gaia wants us to reach the parthenon. she wants our blood to water the stones and all that other psycho garbage. won't we be playing right into her hands?"

i locked eyes with piper and theo, the three of us coming to a conclusion. piper gave me a look, trying to assure me that she had a plan. i nodded.

she began to sing.

an older song, summertime. her melodic voice filled the room. it was amplified with charmspeak, and i let my powers flow in the air, making her voice even more mesmerizing.

everyone listened, transfixed. she finished the first verse. no one spoke for a count of five.

"wow," leo muttered.

"that was beautiful," annabeth agreed.

piper kept the snake king's gaze. "what are your real intentions?"

"to deceive you," he said in a trance, still swaying. "we hope to lead you into the tunnels and destroy you."

"why?" piper asked.

"the earth mother has promised us great rewards. if we spill your blood under the parthenon, that will be sufficient to complete her awakening."

"but you serve athena," piper said. "you founded her city."

kekrops made a low hiss. "and in return the goddess abandoned me. athena replaced me with a two-legged human king. she drove my daughters mad. they leaped to their deaths from the cliffs of the acropolis. the original athenians, the gemini, were driven underground and forgotten. athena, the goddess of wisdom, turned her back on us, but wisdom comes from the earth as well. we are, first and last, the children of gaia. the earth mother has promised us a place in the sun of the upperworld."

"gaia is lying," piper said. "she intends to destroy the upper world, not give it to anyone."

kekrops bared his fangs. "then we will be no worse off than we were under the treacherous gods!"

he raised his staff, but piper launched into another verse of the song.

the snake king's arms went limp. his eyes glassed over.

piper sang a few more lines, before asking, "the giants' defences, the underground passage to the acropolis — how much of what you told us is true?"

"all of it," kekrops said. "the acropolis is heavily defended, just as i described. any approach aboveground would be impossible."

"so you could guide us through your tunnels," piper said. "that's also true?"

kekrops frowned. "yes..."

"and if you ordered your people not to attack us," she said, "they would obey?"

"yes, but..." kekrops shuddered. "yes, they would obey. three of you at most could go without attracting the attention of the giants.'

annabeth's eyes darkened. "piper, we'd be crazy to try it. he'll kill us at the first opportunity."

"yes," the snake king agreed. "only this girl's music controls me. i hate it. please, sing some more."

piper gave him another verse.

leo got into the act. he picked up a couple of spoons and made them do high kicks on the tabletop until annabeth slapped his arm.

"i should go," hazel said, "if it's underground."

"never," kekrops said. "a child of the underworld? my people would find your presence revolting. no charming music would keep them from slaying you."

hazel swallowed. "or i could stay here."

piper met my gaze, a silent question in her eyes.

"i'll go," i answered that question. "piper needs to keep him in line, but it's good to have a backup. besides, i've been told i'm decent at fighting."

"who said you're only decent?" leo sat forward, rolling his sleeves. "i'll fight them."

'do not,' theo mouthed from behind his boyfriend.

piper nodded her appreciation in my direction.

"i'll come too then," percy said. 

"that's what gaia wants," annabeth muttered. "a boy and a girl. specifically you two."

"but it's also a pretty logical choice," i said. "some of the oldest shrines are dedicated to poseidon. it would mask percy's scent. kerkops, isn't that right?"

"yes," the snake king admitted. "his... scent would be difficult to discern. the ruins always radiate the power of the sea god."

"i still hate the idea of splitting up," jason muttered.

"but it's our best shot," i told him. 

it was probably our only shot.

athens wasn't as nice from the sewers.

from the port to the acropolis, i didn't see anything of of the city except dark, putrid tunnels. the snake men led us through an iron storm grate at the docks, straight into their underground lair, which smelled of rotting fish, mold and snakeskin.

piper looked down, but she kept her singing up and i continued to amplify the magic in her voice. if she stopped for more than a few minutes, the snake people began to hiss.

i shivered, slipping my hand into percy's. he squeezed it quickly, assuring me that it was going to be okay.

piper's voice echoed through the tunnels. as we travelled further into the lair, more snake people gathered to hear her. soon we had a procession following behind us — dozens of gemini all swaying and slithering.

i rubbed my hands together, allowing more energy to power piper's voice.

we passed through crude stone chambers littered with bones. we climbed slopes so steep and slippery it was nearly impossible to keep our footing. at one point, we 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 the procession. slithering behind us, they sounded like an army of football players shuffling with sandpaper on their cleats.

i wondered how many gemini lived down here. hundreds, maybe thousands.

for a second, i thought i could hear my hear beating so loudly it seemed to echo through me.  then, i realized it wasn't me, it was around us — resonating through the stone and the air.

i wake. a woman's voice, as clear as piper's singing.

we froze.

"that's not good," i murmured, trying to keep the flashbacks at bay.

"it's like tartarus," percy said, sounding like he was trying to hold his own memories away. "his heartbeat... when he appeared—"

"don't," i shook my head. "not — not now."

"sorry."

in the light of his sword, percy's face was like a large firefly — a hovering, momentary smudge of brightness in the dark.

the voice of gaia spoke again, louder: at last.

piper's singing wavered for a second.

"use your emotions," i told her, knowing exactly what she was feeling.

the fear, the panic — it was an emotion, and it would only make her charmspeak stronger. to suppress those emotions wouldn't cause her charmspeak to work the same way.

piper nodded, picking her singing up again. her voice channeled all the emotions she felt, fueling it, making it stronger.

finally we 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." piper 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 her voice channeled perfectly with the charmspeak. the snake people, even the guards, turned and slithered into the darkness, leaving only the king.

"kekrops," piper addressed him, "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," piper 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.

i smiled at my sister, taking a seat on the cool stone floor, "that was really smart of you. reminding him of his people. he may be arrogant, but he's a good king — and every good king puts his people first."

piper shrugged a little, sitting next to me, "i just did what i expected you would've done. a little bit of logic mixed with emotions can go a long way."

percy handed piper a canteen of water.

"thanks."

percy nodded. "you think the charm will last?"

"i'm not sure," piper admitted. "if kekrops comes back in two minutes with an army of giants, then no."

"don't do that," i warned her. "one of the biggest problems with charmspeak is doubting yourself. the second you doubt your ability, that's the second it'll all fall apart."

the heartbeat of gaia echoed through the floor. 

i kept my eyes open, forcing myself to appreciate this moment right here. percy and piper were next to me, we were about to stop gaia. we weren't in tartarus anymore.

maybe it was because percy was next to me, but the heartbeat stopped reminding me of tartarus, and shifted to the malibu waters. every morning, spending the mornings in the workshop with my dad, before pepper kicked us out and forced us to go get some sun. we'd spend the afternoon at the beach, making sandcastles and playing mermaids, until one of us got hungry. then we went out to eat, only to return and sneak back into the workshop — until pepper kicked us out again the next day.

i rubbed the dove necklace around my neck, wondering what my dad was doing now. whether he and bruce were in the lab, working on some cool, new science project. or whether he was on a mission to bother the crap outta happy.

i looked down at the dove necklace, remembering the battle of new york. fighting in that was a totally different experience — especially since the mist didn't cover any of it up. having the mortals aware of what was happening, it was just one of the many factors that i had to adjust to.

i hadn't worn my dove necklace — which would transform into my suit — for majority of the quest, because this wasn't an avengers problem. but for today, i wanted to keep it close. 

in case things went wrong, i wanted something to remind me of my family.

"do you guys ever think about your families?" piper asked suddenly.

i blinked, wondering to myself whether i'd said any of that out loud.

percy's gaze became unfocused. his lower lip quivered, "my mom... i — i haven't even seen her since hera made me disappear. i called her from alaska. i gave coach hedge some letters to deliver to her. i..." his voice broke. "she's all i've got. her and my stepdad, paul."

"and tyson," i reminded him. "and grover. and—"

"yeah, of course," percy gave me a grateful smile. "thanks."

"what about you riles?" piper asked. "how's your dad?"

"i've talked to him a couple of times throughout the quest," i told her. "after the whole arc reactor thing, he was scared to let me go. i — sometimes i think it's a good thing he's not into mythology that much, that he doesn't know what tartarus really is. if he knew where i was, i think he'd actually fly down to save me." i shrugged to myself, "i've talked to happy and uncle rhodes once or twice, pepper too. but yeah, i think about them a lot."

at the top of the tunnel, the green membrane rippled.

the three of us grabbed our weapons and rose, prepared for a flood of monsters.

but kekrops emerged alone.

"the way is clear," he said. "but you must hurry. the ceremony is almost complete."

REY WRITES!

thanks for reading!!

the first meeting with the gemini was
so fckn chaotic, i loved it haha

thoughts?

comments?

headcanons?

theories?