Chapter Text
“Gods, Doyeon, can you please stay still?” Mingi groaned, massaging his temple off from the migraine he was suffering from. His co-centurion ignored him, and instead continued to frantically pace, mumbling words that Mingi was sure was Italian.
Groaning, he jumped down from Hannibal, and held Doyeon in place. “Stop it, it’s not like someone died and even Hannibal is getting dizzy—”
“Nicolai,” Doyeon murmured, freezing in place. “It’s Nicolai."
Mingi stared at Doyeon, confused, and was about to ask what she meant by that but was stopped when a large monstrous creature appeared between them. He immediately reached for his arrows and was about to attack when Doyeon kneeled on the ground, hand immediately reaching for the monster.
“Are you out of your mind?” Mingi hissed, pulling Doyeon’s hand away. The daughter of Pluto glared at him and pulled her hand, reaching for the monstrous creature that was billowing with black smoke as it laid unconscious on the ground. “Kim Doyeon, I swear—”
“It’s Mrs. O’Leary,” Doyeon snapped, pushing her powers out. “Nicolai’s companion.”
Mingi stared at the creature who was now looking more and more like a gigantic dog rather than some monster, then glanced back at Doyeon.
And then it hit him.
The creature was a hellhound and the Nicolai that Doyeon had been blabbing about was . . .
“Nicolai . . . do you mean Jonghyun . . ? your twin brother?” Mingi wasn’t close with Doyeon’s brother because the ambassador of Pluto was often not around. And when he was, he would just stick with Doyeon. Though Mingi had a feeling that maybe it was because he was always with Taeyong, the second praetor in their camp, because when he wasn’t with him, Doyeon’s twin brother would approach him. Talk to him about random things, like their shared affinity on the game Mythomagic, and would even advise him on battle techniques.
Mingi once asked Doyeon about that, if his brother and the praetor had some mishap before, since he often saw Taeyong watching the ambassador as if he was torn between approaching him or not. Doyeon laughed at him back then and even told him that his imagination was going wild yet again.
Mingi beg to differ though. He was sure that his imagination wasn’t running ‘wild’ and that Doyeon was lying to him. He saw the same kind of look on the ambassador’s face whenever he saw Taeyong. Though unlike the praetor, Jonghyun would often look at Taeyong melancholically, and at times, even guilty - as if he had done something so bad.
“Yes, it’s my twin brother.” Doyeon answered, stirring Mingi away from his thoughts. He glanced back at Doyeon and saw that she was shaking, her hands were clenched into fists as if she was in deep pain.
Mingi wanted to ask what exactly was the matter, but by the look on her face, that screamed: fear, he already had a feeling that Doyeon’s brother was in immediate danger. He kneeled down and held Doyeon’s hand. “Do you know where he is?”
“I don’t. I-I can’t sense him much and all I get are flickers.” Doyeon bit her lip, stopping herself from crying. She looked up at Mingi and gripped his hand. “Nicolai—Jonghyun, has always been good at masking himself, and I’m scared that I would fully sense him when he’s . . .”
“It’s okay, I’m sure he’s okay,” he murmured, pulling Doyeon in his arms and rubbing circles on her back. He let his co-centurion cry on his shoulders and continued rubbing her back as he formulated a plan. Doyeon said that Jonghyun was masking himself - meaning, the ambassador might have planned this in advance that so his sister wouldn’t be able to locate him. But then, why did he send his hellhound here? Exactly at the gates of New Rome as if he was sure that Doyeon would be here?
Mingi glanced down on the hellhound that was looking normal - well, as normal as any sleeping gigantic dog on earth - and noticed that there’s a piece of paper wrapped around it’s collar. He reached down, plucking the paper, and paled when he read its contents.
It’s unfolding, Nicoletta. Stay in camp. I’ll bring the Champion there before dawn.
-Nicolai
The Champion.
Mingi remembered overhearing the two siblings arguing about this. It was just before they headed to Mount Othrys to fight off the titan Krios and his army of demigods and dracanae. He remembered hiding behind the column in their barracks as the siblings continued their hushed fight. It was one sided though, with Doyeon angrily telling her brother not to go and instead, to fight with them; while Jonghyun, on the other hand, remained stoic, and just stared far ahead - that is until Taeyong appeared.
“Why are you so fixated on making me stay here? Even without me, you have a legion of powerful demigods and legacies, and that’s not even counting you, another powerful demigod.” The ambassador stated, staring at the Praetor’s back before he faced his sister with an angry expression. “And if that’s not enough for you, let me remind you that you have the Champion here, the son of Jupiter, himself.”
“Doyeon,” Mingi murmured, putting two and two together. “Is Taeyong the champion?” He felt Doyeon turn rigid in his arms and he took that as confirmation. Good. Now all they needed to do was find out how to locate their missing praetor - which was quite hard. They had been relentlessly searching for the praetor for weeks using their abilities and even with the help of Doyeon's ability on sensing metals - like Taeyong’s IVLIVS or his gladius - they still couldn’t find a trace of him.
It was as if Taeyong didn’t exist in the first place.
Or maybe, they’ve just been searching for him blindly and haven't really used the most of their abilities because they’re scared to find out the truth.
That their praetor was gone and would never return.
But if that’s really the case, then Doyeon would have known and she would have told them. Unless . . .
“Doyeon, you’re not keeping secrets from me, right?” He asked, glancing down at Doyeon. He slightly pulled away and stared straight to his best friend who was looking anywhere but him.
“Like . . ?”
Of course, she was. He already had a feeling about that. Mingi tried not to feel betrayed by that. “Like for example, our missing praetor’s death.” He saw a relief pass by Doyeon’s face before she shook her head.
“No, he’s still alive, and I would feel it if he’s gone.” Doyeon answered, looking straight at Mingi and confused where he was going with this. “But why are you suddenly asking?”
Mingi pursed his lips in thought. Doyeon could sense when her brother’s life was in danger, and he was sure she could she sense others as well.
“I think I have an idea how to find your brother.” Doyeon stared blankly at him, then nodded for him to continue. He smiled at Doyeon reassuringly and gave her the ambassador’s letter. “I saw that on the hellhound’s collar. You know what that means, right?”
The color on Doyeon’s face drained as she read her brother’s message. Mingi watched in silence, squeezing Doyeon’s hand every now and then reassuringly before his best friend looked up at him. It was a painful sight - seeing the look of anguish and fear in Doyeon’s face, that even if he wanted to ask what the letter truly means, and the most important fact: what the hell was unfolding, he remained mum, and instead focused on the matter at hand.
“Let’s deal with the other things later, Doyeon-ah. First, you need to track our praetor. Can you sense his life aura?”
Doyeon closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. Mingi knew that Doyeon never liked this ability of hers. She once told him that using it was like searching for a needle in a torned haystack. Meaning, it was hard, and at the same time - painful, as she would feel the pain of whoever life force she’ll come through once she opened her senses.
Mingi also remembered how Doyeon was so bitter about it. Because apparently, her brother doesn’t suffer like her when he was using that ability. Mingi curiously asked why it was like that, noticing that even when the two were twins - their abilities were somehow different. That Doyeon’s powers and abilities were more of geokinesis and magic; while her twin brother’s forte was necromancy and umbrakinesis.
Doyeon shrugged and answered him back then that she didn’t know. But now, Mingi had a feeling that it was one of her secrets. He always knew that Doyeon had a lot of secrets, hell, not only her, but her brother as well. They carried it everyday like a backpack, and with each passing time, Mingi noticed how it was getting heavier and heavier, and taking a toll on them.
Mingi hoped that one day, he could help lessen that. That Doyeon would trust him and unload the burden that she was carrying. After all, Doyeon was his best friend. She was the first demigod who welcomed him and never looked down on him for being such a weakling. She stood with him and held his hand when everyone laughed and mocked him on how he was still unclaimed and being ignored by his godly father. And for that, Mingi had always been thankful for having a friend like Doyeon, and will always be grateful for her. To the point that he was willing to do anything to help her.
“I found him,” Doyeon muttered, gripping his hand tight. “But it’s not good. Taeyong . . . he’s dying.” Doyeon paused, feeling their praetor’s pain. Mingi squeezed her hand and nodded. “And not only that, something powerful is around him, worse than death itself.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Doyeon looked at him frantically and shook her head. “No, you can’t. You need to stay here or else—”
“I don’t care, Doyeon-ah,” he said, standing up. He saw something whooshed on the shadows far away, and Mingi knew that their ride would arrive in a matter of seconds. “I’ll be going wherever you are going, and I think our company will say the same thing.”
And as if on cue, Arion, the immortal equine, the son of the gods Ceres and Neptune arrived, scaring the shit out of Hannibal.
Arion neighed indignantly at the horrified camp elephant, and Mingi didn’t need to know equine language to understand what Arion said.
Knowing Arion and his pompous attitude, he knew it was mocking Hannibal.
He smiled softly at Doyeon and pulled her to stand. “Let’s go Doyeon-ah, I have a bad feeling we’re running on a limited time.”
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