Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s a Monday, which should have been Jeongguk’s first clue that the day was going to go anything but swimmingly. 

“You’re late!” Is the first thing Jeongguk hears when he’s startled awake, the loud slap of a hand waking him up as his father smacks the back of his thigh. Jeongguk groans and rubs his leg gently, eyes still crusted over with rheum and sleep. 

“Why do you do that,” he grumbles, pulling himself out of bed. With a quick check of his phone, Jeongguk finds out that he is, in fact, late, and hurries to get dressed so he makes it to class on time. It’s the first day of senior year, he doesn’t want to make the teachers hate him already. 

Dressed in a pair of dirty jeans and a wrinkled shirt, Jeongguk makes his way to the kitchen, where his mom is throwing together lunch for his little sister. Hani is sitting at the island, a bottle of nail varnish in front of her as she carefully colors her fingers pink. Jeongguk reaches for a piece of bacon on her plate, only to be stopped when the dog, some ugly, mangy thing Hani picked up off the side of the road, bites his leg. 

“Get off me, stupid mutt.” Jeongguk says, jerking his leg in an attempt to dislodge the dog from his pant leg. Hani gasps and nearly drops her brush, covered in polish, into her breakfast. She immediately ducks down and pulls the dog up by it’s collar — diamond studded, fancier than anything Jeongguk has received his whole life — and squishes its cheek against her own. 

“Do not talk to Moose like that. You’ll hurt his feelings.” Hani says, and Jeongguk rolls his eyes before grabbing the bacon off Hani’s plate while the beast is preoccupied. Jeongguk turns to his mother, who looks at him a little sadly before her face morphs back into the stoic look she always has –  unless she’s at the beach, then she’ll smile and look a little wistful, as if remembering time gone by. 

“You’re going to be late, Jeongguk. Better head out — and no disruptions!” His mother calls after him, as Jeongguk walks towards the front door. Jeongguk looks at her and winks, flipping his keys around his pointer finger. 

“No disruptions.” 

“This is a prime example of a disruption, Jeongguk.” His mother says as they sit in the waiting area of the main office. Jeongguk is slumped over in his chair, holding an icepack to his eye while his father talks to the principal and the parents of the boy Jeongguk punched. 

“It’s not my fault.” Jeongguk grumbles, staring out the window. Outside the sky is cloudy and overcast, strange weather for San Diego this time of year. Normally it’s sunny and blistering hot without hope of shade, but the clouds are rolling quickly across the sky, as if there’s an impending thunderstorm. “He started it.” 

“Are you in fifth grade? I swear, sometimes Hani shows more maturity than you, Jeongguk. Punching someone over a place in the lunch line? It’s juvenile, Jeongguk, that’s what it is. I thought you were better than that.” 

“Call it want you want, Mom, but it’s the principle. Bullying a freshman, knowing that, as a bulky, meat-headed,” Jeongguk is interrupted when his mother softly scolds, Jeongguk!, but he continues, “senior, that he has no chance— that’s what I call juvenile. I was just standing up for the kid.” 

“My Jeonggukie,” his mother says softly, resting a palm on the side of Jeongguk’s face, “always standing up for the underdog. It’s honorable, and selfless, but sometimes I wish you’d think about yourself more. About your education more.” 

Jeongguk blushes, probably because his mother hasn’t called him Jeonggukie since he was seven. An air of comfortability and peace falls over them, like a warm blanket or nice hug, but the moment is ruined as soon as his father steps out of the principal’s office, jaw clenched so hard Jeongguk can see his incisors through his skin. 

“You’re suspended for a week. But don’t think that this means you can sit at home all day doing nothing, boy. We’ll finish this at home. Come on.” Jeongguk follows his father out of the office, his mother trailing behind them. As Jeongguk veers off towards his car, his father grabs onto his arm, nearly tripping him and making him eat asphalt. 

“What?” Jeongguk spits, nerves and anger melding into an uncomfortable lump at the bottom of his stomach. Jeongguk’s mother flinches at his tone, and he wants to turn around and apologize, but he doesn’t want to lose the staring contest he and his father are having. 

“Give your mother your keys, she’ll drive your car home. I want to talk to you, man-to-man.” His father says, and the look in his eyes tells Jeongguk that he doesn’t have an option, and that arguing with him would only make matters worse. Jeongguk yanks his arm out of his father’s grip and shoves it into his pocket, pulling out his car keys a second later. The keys shine in the midday sun, the small dolphin charm among his keys catching the light and glinting softly. 

“Here,” Jeongguk says, handing his mother the keys. She looks apprehensive, like she doesn’t want to leave him and his dad alone, but Jeongguk smiles at her as best he can while nerves wage war in his stomach. He winks, “don’t scratch her.” 

His mother smiles softly and winks back, “wouldn’t dream of it.” Then she turns and walks towards Jeongguk’s car, leaving Jeongguk alone with his father, who stalks towards his own car without a word. Jeongguk follows him, hands pushed deep in his pockets as he fidgets uncomfortably. They pull out of the parking lot without a sound, Jeongguk staring out of his window while his dad glares out of the front windshield. 

There’s a cough that breaks the silence, and then, “you got any idea how ungrateful you are, boy?” Jeongguk’s head snaps in the direction of his father, who’s eyes are still glued to the road. Jeongguk opens his mouth to retaliate, but his dad isn’t finished. “I have done nothing but care for you, make sure you have a roof over your head, food in that wise-ass mouth of yours; I even buy you a car, and what do I get in return? Calls from the school about how you’ve caused another disruption.” 

“It wasn’t my fault, he was picking on that freshman kid, I couldn’t let it slide—“ 

“Well I can’t let this slide either, Jeongguk, there needs to be serious punishment for your actions—“ 

“My actions were completely justified!” Jeongguk yells, slamming his hands down on the dashboard. Just then, the sky opens up and it begins to rain. Jeongguk groans and flops back in his seat, holding his hands over his face. “How come you never punish Hani, huh? She does bad stuff all the time, like she cut that girl’s hair last year for calling Moose ugly, and she told her teacher to pull the rod out of her ass that one time. You never punish her for anything.” 

“I don’t punish Hani because she’s my daughter,” Jeongguk’s father says, squinting to see through the rain beating against the windshield. It’s coming down so hard that Jeongguk can hardly see the car in front of them. 

“I’m your son! Doesn’t that deserve some kind special treatment, too?” Jeongguk asks, glaring at his father as he drives down the road. Jeongguk’s dad looks at him for a second before turing back to the road. The air around them falls eerily silent as Jeongguk waits for his father’s reply.

“You’re not my son.” He says calmly, and Jeongguk splutters, looking at his father, confused. 

“That doesn’t make any sense… you’re lying.” Jeongguk says, and his father glances at him again, just as lighting flashes across the sky. Jeongguk can’t see the road ahead of them, much less the cars on each side of them, and he silently prays that his father will turn his eyes back to the road. 

“Think about it, Jeongguk. Your hair is dark brown, nearly black. Hani and I both are blond. You look nothing like me, and only some parts of you resemble your mother. You’re not mine. I can’t believe it took my telling you for you to realize you’re not even a part of this family.” Jeongguk’s father finally turns his gaze back to the road, leaving Jeongguk to silently soak in what he’s just been told. 

“So you just… lied to me, then?” Jeongguk asks, his sadness being replaced with anger. He never cared for his father anyway, at least now he knows he isn’t the same flesh and blood as the man next to him. “What good did that do you, huh, Dad? What’s the use of lying to me, calling me your son for so long, despite you absolutely despising my whole existence?” 

“It’s what your mother wanted. She wanted us to feel like a family.” Jeongguk’s father says, and Jeongguk scoffs. He turns his head towards the window, where the rain is beating loudly against the glass. 

“Stop the car.” Jeongguk says, placing a hand on the door handle. 

“Are you crazy? Jeongguk we’re not finished—“ 

“Stop the car!” Jeongguk shouts, angrily undoing his seatbelt and pulling up his hood. “I need some time to think. Tell mom I’ll be back later.” His dad stops in the middle of the road, cars honking and drivers swearing as they swerve around him. Jeongguk gets out of the car and slams the door before zipping up his jacket and walking off the road, headed to god knows where. 

He’s still fuming hours later, after the rain has stopped and the sun has started to set. Jeongguk wanders the streets of downtown San Diego, unknowing of how far he’s walked, or how long he’s been walking. He hasn’t checked his phone since he left his dad’s car on the middle of the highway. As the sky grows darker, Jeongguk looks for a place to rest, somewhere he can sit down and maybe eat. 

Jeongguk turns down another side street, and at the end of the road there’s a sign that reads, OPEN 24 HOURS, with the ‘s’ hanging onto the rest of the sign precariously. He’s making his way towards it when Jeongguk hears, “hey, kid,” from one of the alleyways off the street. 

Like an idiot, he stops and looks, and in three seconds flat he’s surrounded on each side by three boys that look about his age. Fat, white kids with gold chains around their necks and their pants hanging low. Jeongguk sighs and pushes his sleeves up, ready to fight. He’s not quite sure if he’ll be able to take all of them at once, but judging by the fact that only one is advancing towards him, he should be okay. 

“Look, Eminem, I don’t have any money on me, go mug someone else.” Jeongguk says, and the boy who was previously walking towards him stopped and lifted his fat chin to the air before cackling wildly, like a witch at her cauldron. 

“I’m not here for your money, Jeon Jeongguk, I’m here for your life.” The boy says, and as he laughs the other two boys grab Jeongguk by the shoulders, their grip nearly crushing his bones as they shove him against the wall of a building. Jeongguk hisses in pain as he looks up at the boy who cackles like a witch. 

“How do you know my name?” Jeongguk asks, tugging experimentally at the grip on his shoulders. The boys’ meaty hands only clamps down harder, and Jeongguk bites his tongue to keep himself from crying out. 

“Do you know about the gods, Jeon Jeongguk?” The boy asks, and Jeongguk huffs in confusion. He’s never been big on school, much less history, and the only God he can think of is, well, God, and Jesus and all that jazz. 

“I’m a Christian.” Jeongguk replies, and the boy cackles once more. This time, his two henchmen join in, and Jeongguk feels like he’s being held hostage by a pack of hyenas. After the three of them have sobered up, the boy that isn’t holding him down slowly starts to take off his gold chains, and Jeongguk has to stop himself from asking if this is all some kind of weird porn intro; really, where’s the camera? 

“Well your God can’t save you anymore, Jeon Jeongguk.” The boy says, and as he yanks off his shirt, underneath are not the rolls of fat like Jeongguk was suspecting, but rather pale, leathery skin and a pair of equally as leathery and pale breasts. 

“You’re a girl?” Is the first thing Jeongguk thinks to ask, even as a pair of bat wings unfold into the air, making the boy — the thing take up most of the alleyway. Jeongguk’s jaw drops.

“I’m a fury, you imbecile!” The thing shrieks, and the grips on Jeongguk’s shoulders release as the boys next to him turn into furies, too. Jeongguk reaches down and pinches himself hard on his arm, hoping that maybe all of this is a terrible nightmare and he’ll wake up soon. 

The furies close in around Jeongguk, leathery wings creating a barrier around him, shielding him from the public eye. Jeongguk usually isn’t one to just lay down and die, but he’s completely defenseless aside from his fists, and the way the furies are flicking their forked tongues at him doesn’t make him feel confident in his only weapons. 

“Maybe we can strike up a deal! My mom works at a pharmacy, you let me live, and I can get you free skin cream! To take care of your wrinkles!” Jeongguk says, flinching at a wing smacks him across the face. 

“No one makes deals with the goddess of vengeance, Jeongguk.” One of the furies say, and Jeongguk feels a stone settle in his stomach; there’s no way he’s going to survive this. 

As one of the furies lunge at him, Jeongguk dives and rolls in the direction of the diner, hoping that someone will see that he’s being attacked by a crazy bat-human and save him. Jeongguk briefly wonders if anyone would have gone to see Batman if he looked like that, but then there’s claws digging into his back and the thought is gone. 

The fury starts to lift him off the ground, Jeongguk yelling as the fury's talons sink into his flesh and muscles, but they don’t get very far before the fury is squawking indignantly and being dragged back towards the ground. It lets go of Jeongguk in an attempt to save itself, and Jeongguk falls to the ground, landing with a heavy thud, right on his stomach. 

Jeongguk rolls over to see another boy, and for a minute he’s afraid it’s a fourth fury, come to help tear him apart, but then he sees a long vine wrapped around the boy’s arm, the other end coiled tightly around one furies wings, slowly covering the rest of it’s body. His other hand is pressed to the ground, his palm glowing as tree roots begin to crawl across the ground, and as the other two furies being to walk towards him, wings flared and teeth bared, they trip over the tree roots. As soon as the furies hit the ground the roots wrap around them, leaving them trapped in a bark-y embrace. 

“New definition of tree hugger.” Jeongguk mumbles. The boy laughs, and as he does so he clenches his hands. The vine and the tree roots respond, contracting quickly, and the furies explode into gold mist as they’re squeezed to death. “Holy hell.” 

The boy laughs again and makes his way over to Jeongguk, gently wiping his hands on his pants. As he leans down to help Jeongguk up, he says, “Holy Hades, you mean.” 

Jeongguk grabs onto the boy's hand and being to pull himself up, but shouts and drops back to the ground when a searing pain shoots up his shoulder and arm before taking over his back as well. “Oh right.” The boy says, then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small vile of golden liquid. Jeongguk is reminded of the mist the furies exploded in to, and his stomach flips. 

“Drink this, you'll feel better.” Jeongguk takes the vile hesitantly, not fully trusting the boy not to kill him. The stranger seems to sense his doubtfulness, because he puts his hands on his hips and sighs.

“Do you really think I'd kill you after saving your life? Drink up, stupid.” The boy says, then he plops onto the ground and beings to pick the dirt from his toenails. 

“You don't wear shoes?” Jeongguk asks, then he drinks the whole vile in one go, and he's surprised by the taste – chocolate. Melted chocolate, like a candy bar that spent all day in his pocket.  

“They interfere with my powers. I feel like I work better without them.” Jeongguk nods and hands the empty vile back to the stranger, feeling like he could fight ten furies if they came back. 

“So you're like, a wizard? Or something?” Jeongguk asks, pulling his sweatshirt sleeves over his hands. The stranger looks at him oddly, light hair flopping into his eyes. 

“They told me you'd take some time to warm up, but they never told me you were stupid.” The boy mutters. 

“Hey!–” 

“How much did your mom tell you, Jeongguk? About your dad?" The stranger asks, and Jeongguk feels a lump form in his throat at the mention of his mother. 

“Nothing. I didn't know my 'dad' wasn't my dad until a few hours ago.” Jeongguk shrugs, and the boy is looking at him so intensely Jeongguk wishes he'd go back to picking at his toes. 

“That explains ... so much. Come on, you're probably hungry. Let's talk in the diner, I want a milkshake.” The boy hauls Jeongguk to his feet and pats him on the back. Jeongguk flinches, thinking that the stranger's hand would go straight into the wounds left by the furies, but it doesn't hurt, and Jeongguk reaches his own hand up, sweeping it gently across his shoulder blades; the gashes are gone.

Jeongguk follows the stranger into the diner in a sort of haze. Something about the situation feels completely impossible; it should be impossible, but here he is, twenty minutes after being impaled in the back by a rabid bat-human, completely healed and fine. 

As they walk into the diner, Jeongguk pulls his hands into his hoodie and prays that there aren't anymore monsters waiting for them. 

“Don't you worry, Jeon Jeongguk.” The stranger says as they slide into a booth. “Soon enough we'll be back at Camp Half-Blood and you'll be safe and sound.” 

“Camp…?” Jeongguk trails off as a waitress walks up to their table, pen in hand. She looks annoyed, like she can't be bothered serving two teenage boys this late into the night. 

“So, we'll have–” 

The boy is cut off when the waitress points her pen at him lackadaisically. “No shoes, no service.” She says, and the stranger frowns before lifting his leg and flopping his foot on the table, showing off his shoe. The bottoms are wooden, the tops a dark green that Jeongguk knows has to be tightly entwined vines. The waitress's eyes widen somewhat before she pulls out a notepad to take their order. 

“Right, as I was saying, we'll have two cheeseburgers, a side of fries, I want a strawberry milkshake and Jeongguk will have a Coke with no ice – right, Jeongguk? Because the melted ice makes the drink taste watered down? I know I'm right, don't bother verifying that.” The stranger rattles off, never breaking eye contact with the waitress. She nods and then scurries away, leaving Jeongguk alone with the stranger – a stalker, by the sounds of it. 

“How do you know so much about me?” Jeongguk asks, picking nervously at his placemat. 

“Don't be silly, Jeongguk. It's just basic information; as your Protector,” 

“My who?” Jeongguk asks, and the stranger rolls his eyes. 

“If you'd let me finish,” the stranger says. “Anyways, as your Protector, it's my job to know stuff about you, Jeongguk, and to make sure you get safely to Camp Half-Blood. I also have to figure out who your dad is, but that comes later. They used to use Satyrs for these type of missions, you see, but unless they’re very well trained, they’re not as powerful as us demigods. So Dionysus, the camp director, started using demigods. He probably hopes that we’ll die trying to recruit so he doesn’t have to deal with us anymore—” 

“Who are you?” Jeongguk asks, and the waitress comes back with their food. She waits patiently by the table as the stranger fishes money out of his pockets – two one dollar bills and a silver coin. “What are those?” 

To Jeongguk's surprise, the waitress takes the silver piece, and even promises the boy sitting across from him free refills on his milkshake. 

“I'm Kim Taehyung, your Protector, and those are drachmas. They're Greek silver pieces.” Taehyung says, and Jeongguk nods along, trying to look like he understands. Instead of asking all the questions sitting on the tip of his tongue, but instead he shoves about half of his burger in his mouth and chews slowly.  

“Don't worry, Jeongguk,” Taehyung leans across the table and pats the back of Jeongguk's hand, as if he can sense the utter chaos of Jeongguk's mind. “We'll get you to Camp Half-Blood in no time, then it'll all become clear. You just have to have patience.” 

Camp Half-Blood. Jeongguk mulls the name over in his mind. 

Half-Blood what? 

Chapter Text

The only thing Jeongguk has taken out of his experience with Taehyung is that he’s hiding something. At first, Taehyung seemed to be a fountain of knowledge, telling Jeongguk all about the furies, and where they come from, but when Jeongguk had asked as to why demons of the Underworld were chasing him, Taehyung fell mute.

Another instance was after Taehyung told him that they’d have to trek across the country, back to New York, Jeongguk casually suggested just taking a plane, to which Taehyung had gasped — nearly choking himself on his own spit — and proceeded to tell Jeongguk that flying was a terrible idea, yet declined to explain why.

Which is why Jeongguk is completely confused when Taehyung takes them to an airport, and pays for two tickets for the next flight to Australia.

“What are you doing?” Jeongguk asks, grabbing Taehyung’s arm and tugging him away from the baggage line. Taehyung looks at him, confused, and Jeongguk sighs. “I thought you said we couldn’t fly? And why did you get tickets to Australia? I thought we had to go to New York.”

Taehyung laughs, and Jeongguk can’t help but think that Taehyung is mocking him a little bit. “We’re not flying, dummy, especially not to Australia, that’s a death wish; we’re going down under — which I guess is also kind of a death wish, but we should be fine.”

“Should be?” Jeongguk asks, and Taehyung nods his head happily, as if he hadn’t just told Jeongguk that they could possible not be fine. “What do you mean ‘down under?’”

“The Underworld, Jeongguk, get with the program.” Taehyung says, rolling his eyes. Jeongguk stares at him, because even though he’s been with Taehyung for three days, the boy has yet to drop the whole, ‘you’re probably a demigod and that’s why you’ve never met your dad lol’ schtick. Jeongguk, frankly, is tired. He’s not sure what happened that night in alleyway, but he refuses to believe that demons from the Underworld tried to kill him, and that some plant-wielding wizard boy rescued him. “Now come on, we’ll miss the boat and I have business to do.”

“Boat? We’re in an aipor—“ Jeongguk is cut off when Taehyung sighs and grabs his ear before dragging him along, past bag check and all of the boarding gates. Taehyung only stops when they reach the end of the airport, no more gates in sight and only a door in front of them. On it there’s a sign that reads: JANITORS CLOSET. “Taehyung, that’s a janitors closet not some portal to the Underworld stop fucking arou—“

“Shut up, Jeongguk, don’t piss off the ferryman.” Taehyung whispers from the side of his mouth. Jeongguk rolls his eyes and Taehyung leads him into the cramped closet, walls lined with rolls of toilet paper and cleaning supplies. “Watch out.” Taehyung says, and then he shoves the supplies off the shelves, leaving Jeongguk to have to try and duck out of the way. He steps backwards to avoid a falling bottle of bleach, and jams his foot into a mop bucket — still full of sudsy water.

“Ah, gross.” He mutters pulling his foot out of the bucket. He looks up to see Taehyung tapping away on a screen, much like on of those ‘self check-in’ stations in the main airport, except on the screen there’s only two options: dead and death wish. Taehyung taps the side that says dead and shoves their tickets into the reader. Just then the wall pulls back to reveal a lobby, full of people as they all wait for… something; Jeongguk isn’t sure what, but they’re all facing in the same direction.

“Keep your head down, don’t look at them. If they try to talk to you, ignore it.” Taehyung whispers, then he moves through the crowd like a football player, head down as he stampedes through the crowd, uncaring if he bumps into anyone or not. Jeongguk tries to do the same, but a little boy stops dead in front of him as he tries to get through, and Jeongguk can’t help but frown at him as he takes in the boy’s tear stained cheeks, and his tattered teddy bear.

“Have you see my mom?” The boy asks, and Jeongguk shakes his head sadly. The boy nods solemnly, as if he used to getting that kind of answer, no matter who he asks. Jeongguk opens his mouth to apologize, but then the boy walks straight through him and disappears. Jeongguk’s body convulses with shivers, his blood turning ice cold from where the boy passed through it.

“Jeongguk!” Taehyung yells lifting up an arm and waving him on. Jeongguk nods at him and drops his head before running through the crowd like Taehyung did, trying to ignore the stinging coldness that creeps into his body each time he bumps into someone. As soon as he’s safely standing next to Taehyung at the lobby counter, Taehyung slides a few of the drachmas onto the counter and gives a look to the man behind it. “This is Jeongguk. That should be enough to grant him access, just this once.”

“I don’t know, Taehyung, my Lord won't be very happy—“

“You mean Lord Hades?” Jeongguk asks, and the ground underneath them rumbles and Jeongguk nearly topples over by the force. Taehyung looks exasperated, and the man behind the counter looks terrified, but Jeongguk isn’t sure what he did wrong.

“Names are very powerful, Jeongguk. Shut up, okay?” Taehyung says, falsely sweet. Jeongguk nods, pretends to zip his lips and throw away the key, and Taehyung turns back towards the man behind the counter, sighing. “I can’t leave him up here — unless you want to deal with his disrespectful ass. He’s unclaimed, he doesn’t know anything.”

The man behind the counter hurriedly scoops the drachmas into his pocket and guides them towards the boat. Taehyung grins at Jeongguk and motions for him to follow. Jeongguk looks down as he pushes past all the spirits and onto the boat, some of the spirits trying to grab onto his shirt, begging him to take them with him.

When Jeongguk gets on the boat he immediately sits down and hugs his knees, and Taehyung smiles at him, a little sadly, as he reaches down and runs his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair. Jeongguk can’t imagine how greasy and nasty his hair feels, but he leans into Taehyung’s touch all the same; he hasn’t had his hair pet since he was little — when everything was normal. “It gets easier,” Taehyung whispers, and Jeongguk doesn’t want to ask how he knows.

When the boat stops, Taehyung helps Jeongguk to his feet and leads him down a dark path, lined with rocks and torches. Jeongguk gets a cheesy haunted house vibe from the whole set up, but doesn’t say it aloud for fear of another earthquake that could send him tumbling off the narrow path and into the dark abyss below them. Eventually they come across three lines — two for a place called ‘Asphodel Fields’ and one more for a place called ‘Iudicium.’

“Asphodel Fields…” Jeongguk mutters to himself; he remembers this from school. “That’s where the dead go, right? So what’s the other line for?”

“The other line is for Judgement. You stand in front of three judges; Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aiakos, and they decide if you did enough good in your life to deserve reward — kind of like a test. If you pass, you go to Elysium Fields, and if you don’t, well… you end up like Sisyphus — eternal punishment.” Taehyung explains, then he moves into the Asphodel Fields line and digs his toes into the coal black dirt underneath them.

“Sisyphus is that guy who has to roll the rock up the hill for all eternity, right?” Jeongguk asks, and Taehyung nods. He looks up the line, which is moving pretty fast for being made up entirely of dead people.

“Yeah, my aunt says that sometimes, you can hear his cries of frustration all the way from Elysium.” Taehyung says. Jeongguk stays silent, watching as the spirits around him interact with each other. In front of them are a mother and daughter, holding hands as they wait to get into Asphodel Fields. Jeongguk can see the burns on both of their faces and he shudders. Across from them, in the judgment line, spirits are nervously wringing their hands together as they listen to the person in the room screaming, I’m a good person! You can’t do this to me!

“Jeongguk.” Taehyung says softly, pulling at his elbow. Jeongguk nods and follows him along, mostly in a daze. If this is what the afterlife is like, Jeongguk wants nothing to do with it.

As they get closer to the front of the line, Jeongguk thinks about the ‘death wish’ button on the kiosk that brought him here. When he asks Taehyung about it, he gets very quite for a second before saying softly, “it’s for the suicide cases. People who need to go, but don’t know how. The button sends you straight to judgement, where they kill you and judge you. Most everyone goes to Asphodel Fields or Tartarus.”

“Oh,” Jeongguk says quietly. He doesn’t have much time to dwell on the fact before the kids in front of him is yelling ‘puppy!’ and Jeongguk looks up to see a giant, three headed dog staring down at him, three tongues licking three sets of lips simultaneously as six eyes focus on Jeongguk. “Holy Hades.”

“Hey!” Taehyung says, grinning as he slaps Jeongguk’s back. “You’re getting the hang of it!” Taehyung then turns to the dog and whistles, and Jeongguk wants to ask him if he's fucking crazy, but the dog doesn’t lunge for him, instead it sits and starts to wag it’s tail, sending spirits flying across the cavern. The dog’s three giant tongues loll out of all of its mouths and lick Taehyung, covering him in dog spit. “Hey, buddy!”

“Why isn’t it eating you?” Jeongguk asks, reaching up to pet the dog on one of it’s noses. The dogs growls at him and Jeongguk jumps back, holding his hands to his chest. Taehyung laughs and nuzzles his nose against the dog’s, while the dog continues to lick him happily.

“I have a way with Cerberus here, he loves me.” Taehyung says. The dogs pants in agreement, tail wagging wildly as Taehyung scratches behind its ears. “Such a good boy, such a good boy!”

Jeongguk stands awkwardly to the side as Taehyung has a reunion with Cerberus, letting souls past him as they drift dismally into Asphodel Fields. Eventually, Taehyung smacks a wet kiss onto each of Cerberus’ heads and waves goodbye, covered in dog slobber. When he rejoins Jeongguk in the line, he’s grinning happily, as if he’s just won the lottery instead of being licked and accosted by a monster dog.

“Well, lets get to it, we haven’t got all day.” Taehyung says, as if Jeongguk had been the one holding them up. Jeongguk follows Taehyung into Asphodel Fields, and Jeongguk immediately feels a sense of loneliness and sadness fill him, holding him down like an elephant on his chest. “Think happy thoughts, Jeongguk, don’t let it take hold of you.”

Jeongguk doesn’t know how Taehyung stays happy in situations like this, so he keeps his eyes and mind trained on Taehyung as the boy leads him past groups of spirits. Taehyung chats the whole time, about how the fields wouldn’t be so bad if Hades offered the spirits something to do for all eternity, or if the spirits took more incentive to talk to each other and make friends. Jeongguk focuses on Taehyung’s skin and hair most of the time, wondering how he still looks so bright and lively, even in the Land of the Dead. Jeongguk can’t help but think that Taehyung is really pretty, and that he shouldn’t be down here among death and sadness, but rather, up on earth surrounded by sunshine and singing birds.

“We’re here!” Taehyung says as they reach an obsidian staircase. Jeongguk follows the stairs up and up and up, until his eyes land on a black castle, so dark he could hardly see it against the dreary background of the Underworld. “I have to do something really quick, then we’ll go talk to Lord Hades and be on our way.”

“You make it sound so easy — ‘oh, just gonna take a jaunt up to a palace of a god, no big fucking deal.’” Jeongguk mocks, rolling his eyes as Taehyung giggles. Jeongguk follows Taehyung to the garden of Persephone, and Jeongguk is surprised to see some of the plants and fruit wilting.

“During the summer, no one is down here to take care of the garden. Not even a god made life form can survive in the Underworld without proper care, and we all know that Hades couldn’t give two shits about some flowers and pomegranates.” Taehyung explains as he drags his hand across the leaves of a sunflower. The color immediately returns to the plant, much more vibrant than before. “Hades asked me to come down here once and a while during the summer months and make sure that Persephone’s flowers don’t die. In return, he does me a favor.”

“A favor?” Jeongguk asks, watching as Taehyung slowly restores life to the garden. Taehyung nods and shoves a finger deep into the dirt next to a particularly dead-looking butterfly bush.

“Sometimes, you have to get to the roots if they're too far gone.” Taehyung says softly, and Jeongguk watches as the plant regains color, slowly life flows from the bottom of the bush, all the way to the top. Flowers bloom and buds appear, and when Taehyung takes his hand out of the dirt, he smiles happily. “But yeah, a favor. Usually I ask to see my parents. They’re in Elysium, thankfully, but this time around I’m going ask for help to get you to camp. Come with me, Hades is waiting.”

The inside of the palace is… something else. Jeongguk can see beasts lurking in the shadows, probably hell hounds for if someone steps out of line. Jeongguk follows quietly behind Taehyung, who isn’t paying the monster any mind as he confidently strides up to Hades’ thrown. The Lord of the Underworld is lounging in his throne, one leg tossed over the arm rest of the gigantic chair as he swirls blood red wine in his glass.

“You know,” says Hades, “I don’t particularly care for wine, but it irks Dionysus, which brings me joy. I see you’ve brought a friend with you, godling.” Hades seems to purr, voice a low rumble that makes Jeongguk’s stomach flip. Taehyung, however, nods confidently and moves closer to the throne.

“Lord Hades, usually I’d ask you to grant me access to see my parents, however, I need to get this boy to camp — I need your help.” Taehyung says. Jeongguk half expects Taehyung to lay on the ground and bow, but he doesn’t, instead Taehyung stands strongly in place, looking at Hades fiercely.

“I’m already so generous, godling. Allowing you to see your parents, making sure you end up back on earth alive, yet you dare ask me for more?” A fire lights behind Hades’ eyes, and Jeongguk tugs on Taehyung’s sleeves, silently begging him to come on, because he’s too young to be incinerated by the god of death. Taehyung, however, doesn’t budge, and Hades sighs. “Let me see him.”

Taehyung reaches for Jeongguk’s arm and pulls him to stand in between him and Hades. Jeongguk feels his temper flaring, and when Hades makes eye contact with him, Jeongguk feels the need to punch something.

“You’re undetermined then, godling? Just another teenager with daddy issues, I take it.” Hades says. Jeongguk bristles and Taehyung lays a comforting hand on his shoulder. Hades laughs mirthfully and Jeongguk shudders. “You’re no son of mine, at least. If that helps you on your way. A child of mine would have been able to defend themselves against three of my weakest furies.”

As if on cue, three furies drift into the throne room and land gently around the room, one sitting delicately on the back of Hades’ chair, while the other two rest on the floor next to him. Hades reaches a hand down and pats one of them on the head; the fury grumbles, moans something about being the goddess of vengeance, dammit but Hades pays her no mind.

“I think you’ll find that three against one isn’t exactly a fair fight, dude.” Jeongguk narrows his eyes at Hades stubbornly, but then a fire lights in Hades’ eyes and Jeongguk cowers backwards. “I mean. uh— yeah totally. Totally not your kid, uh- Lord Hades… Sir.”

Hades chuckles and leans forward on his throne, disrupting the fury that had been leaning against his shoulder. Hades reaches down and holds onto Jeongguk’s chin, turning his head from side to side, as if examining him.

“I can help you,” Hades says, then he snaps his fingers and a toy car and sword keychain fall into Jeongguk’s hand. “Just add water. Now, get out of my face.” Hades winks and then snaps his finger again, and Jeongguk thinks he’s going to throw up at he rockets towards the ceiling — towards the ground, really — and he squeezes his eyes shut as he quickly approaches the ceiling.

When Jeongguk opens his eyes, he’s standing in a cramped supply closet, his foot submerged in a mop bucket full of water and soap. Taehyung is on the ground next to him, toilet paper unraveled and cascading down his head like a hood. Jeongguk huffs out a great breath and slowly breathes in. His body feels numb, like he’s submerged himself in ice for a dangerous amount of time. He doesn’t feel fully alive.

“Well, it could have gone worse, really.” Taehyung says as he picks himself up off the floor. Jeongguk pulls his foot out of the mop bucket and shakes his leg, trying to get the sloshy feeling out of his shoe. “Anyways, lets get out of here.”

On the other side of the closet door, people are milling about like nothing strange has happened — like the two boys that just slipped out of the supply closet hadn’t just visited the Underworld. Jeongguk treads carefully, unsure as to whether he should be looking over his shoulder, fearing for monster attacks, or if he should try to remain calm so he doesn’t look like a nutcase to the general public. Taehyung must notice his skittishness, because he grabs Jeongguk by the arm, mutters a quiet, “c’mon, big baby,” and pulls him through the airport.

When they make it outside (mishaps with monsters and mortals alike avoided), Taehyung holds out his hand and looks expectantly at Jeongguk’s clenched fist, where he’s holding tightly onto the toy car and keychain. Jeongguk drops the items into Taehyung’s palm, happy to be rid of them. The fact that the gifts came from the Lord of death himself doesn’t sit well with Jeongguk.

“Just add water…” Taehyung mumbles, turning the trinkets over in his hands. He looks up at Jeongguk, who shrugs noncommittally, and sighs. “Hades is a tricky man — nearly as bad as Hermes. I guess we’ll just have to find a beach, there’s probably one nearby and—“

Taehyung is cut off by the familiar sound of Jeongguk’s ringtone. Jeongguk quickly fishes his phone out of his pocket, and looks at the caller ID. The screen flashes Jeongguk a picture of his mom, and Jeongguk is so relieved he feels like he could cry. The longest he’s ever been away from his mom was a week, while he was staying with his aunt in Los Angeles, but even then he’d been able to call her every night. Although he’s only been away from home for three days, with only Taehyung’s incessant chatter to keep him company, he feels like he’s going insane.

As Jeongguk slides his finger across the screen, Taehyung shrieks and grabs his phone — and chucks it down the road. The phone shatters into pieces and Jeongguk turns on Taehyung, eyes murderous. Taehyung seems unfazed, aside from the rapidly growing weeds sprouting out the ground and wrapping comfortingly around his ankles. Like hugs, just from plants instead of people.

“Monsters can track phones, Jeongguk. We can’t risk you having your cell on you — especially now that we’ve been in the Underworld. It’s just not safe.” Jeongguk is about to reply, to tell Taehyung that his mom was calling him, but Taehyung speaks again before he can. “I know it was your mom, Jeongguk, but think about it. If the monsters can find you, they can find whomever called you, too. The difference being that your mom is defenseless against monsters; at least you have me.”

“I don’t need your protection, Taehyung. I’m not a kid.” Jeongguk says, gritting his teeth together harshly. Taehyung seems unimpressed, resting a hand on his hip as he asks,

“I’m sorry, were we not in the same alleyway?” Jeongguk’s ears tint red, and Taehyung sighs. He lays a comforting hand on Jeongguk’s shoulder. “Look, I know what it’s like to not be able to talk to your parents, I get what you’re feeling, but to keep your mom safe, you can’t have any contact. Well, at least until we get to camp. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”

Jeongguk nods, and he’s reminded of something that’s been bothering him since he and Taehyung’s little excursion through the literal pits of Hell. “Taehyung, you said that your parents… they’re in Elysium. Why?”

Taehyung seems to freeze for a second, before he smiles halfheartedly and spins the sword keychain on his finger. “Let’s go find a beach, yeah?” Then he walks off, leaving a confused Jeongguk to trail behind him.

They walk silently; Taehyung is staring out at the road, cars are speeding past, while Jeongguk is watching Taehyung closely, because the other boy looks as if he’s about to walk into traffic — Jeongguk doesn’t actually expect him to.

“What are you doing!?” Jeongguk yells as Taehyung steps into the street. Taehyung turns back and waves at him, a ‘c’mon, bonehead,’ kind of gesture, before continuing to cross the road in front of the cars. Miraculously, Taehyung makes it to the other side without behind smashed, and Jeongguk can only pray that he has the same luck as he walks onto the road. Cars swerve around him, honking as they graze the extra fabric of Jeongguk’s sweatshirt, or the back of his pants. “Why didn’t you wait until the road was clear?!”

“Because we don’t have time, Jeongguk.” Taehyung says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Jeongguk sighs, trying to slow his heartbeat, as he follows Taehyung down a path divided from the sidewalk. The trail slowly turns from grass to sand, and before he knows it, Jeongguk is standing on a beach. He looks up, senses tingling, and he feels better than he has any other time in the past week and a half. “And also, because the beach was just on the other side of the road.”

“I see that now, thanks.” Jeongguk rolls his eyes and Taehyung winks at him before pulling the toy car out of his pocket. Jeongguk looks between Taehyung’s palm and the sea, contemplating whether it’d be a better idea to bring the sea to the car, or carry the car to the sea. Taehyung makes that decision for him, however, when he lifts the toy car over his head and chucks it into the water.

Nothing happens for a minute, and Jeongguk silently curses Hades in his mind, but then the ground starts rumbling, and the waves began to get choppy. Jeongguk and Taehyung shared a look as the sea started to part, and both dove to the side just in time for a white jeep to come flying out of the water, a skeleton behind the wheel, cackling wildly.

“I should have known,” Taehyung says as he wiped sand of his shirt. “Hades’ gifts always include just a bit of trickery, and I can’t help here, it’s not my domain.”

“What do you mean?” Jeongguk asks. He dives into the sand again to avoid being run over.

“I work with the earth; dirt and grass and stuff, not sand and water. That’s more—“ Taehyung cuts himself off as he stares at Jeongguk, a look of pure disbelief on his face. “Of course! Jeongguk, stay here, I’m going to go back up the path, where the grass stops. I can work from there — take this!”

Jeongguk catches the sword keychain as Taehyung scurries away without explaining. Jeongguk stands there, in the middle of the beach holding a useless keychain, dumbly as he waits for Taehyung to do something. Jeongguk goes to follow after him, but before he can move, the skeleton hits him with the car, sending him flying backwards. He lands on the tideline, and Jeongguk groans as he rubs his hand gently along his tailbone. The tide rushes in and out, as if excited, and Jeongguk wishes it would just stop, because his jeans are getting soaked. Jeongguk stays sitting in the sand for a moment, watching the skeleton terrorize the terrain and waiting for Taehyung to do something about it, when he realizes that the air around him is quiet — all except for the skeleton’s heinous cackling. Jeongguk turns around — and the sea had stopped moving. No movement at all, not even small ripples from fish.

“Weird…” Jeongguk mumbles, and he turns back around. He stands up and dusts the sand off his pants when suddenly two thick vines fly across the sky and weave themselves into the Jeep’s wheels, effectively stopping its movement. The skeleton chauffeur yells angrily and begins to hack at the plants, when another vine crawls up the side of the car and ties the skeleton’s hands together.

Jeongguk, because he hates feeling useless, rushes forward and pulls the monster out of the car. The skeleton starts flailing its legs wildly, its boney toes and sharp joints leaving cuts and scrapes all along Jeongguk’s arms, and even leaves a big hole in Jeongguk’s jeans. Jeongguk wraps his arms around the skeleton’s neck and yanks upward, effectively dislocating the skull from the rest of the body. The body evaporates, just like the furies did, and Jeongguk is left alone on an eerily quite beach, holding a skull.

Jeongguk shouts and drops the head, expecting it to also turn to vapor, but the skull just plops into the sand and stares up at him mockingly. Jeongguk bends over and picks the head up carefully, as if he expects it to bite him, and throws it into the car. It rolls over a few times until it lands on the floor.

“You did it!” Taehyung yells as he runs back onto the beach. He looks wild, hair sticking up completely on one side, and one of his shirt sleeves is ripped clean off. He must notice Jeongguk’s staring, because Taehyung laughs as he smooths his hair down. “Sometimes I have to really strain to get my power to work over long distances; it results in a bit of chaos most of the time.”

Jeongguk nods and watches as Taehyung jumps into the passenger side of the Jeep. Jeongguk stays in the sand, and Taehyung leans out the window to yell at him: “you comin’ or what? We’ve been on this journey for three days and are still in San Diego. If we don’t get a move on, Chiron will kill me.”

“Chi… who?” Jeongguk asks as he starts up the car. He drives off the beach and back onto the road, heading north towards Los Angeles. “You mean that unicorn from all the greek myths?”

“Unicorn!!” Taehyung yells, doubled over as he laughs. Jeongguk’s ear tint red as he listens to Taehyung laugh at him. If it didn’t sound so nice, maybe Jeongguk would have punched him, but Jeongguk hasn’t laughed in a long time, and Taehyung’s giggling is making him laugh, so he doesn’t mind being on the losing end of a joke. “I can’t believe—“ Taehyung sucks in a huge gulp of breath, his face red and eyes shining. “I can’t believe you called Chiron a unicorn! The kids back at camp are going to think that’s just hysterical. No, Jeongguk, Chiron is a centaur; half man, half horse. A unicorn is just a regular old horse with a horn on its forehead — no magical value at all, despite what mainstream media thinks. Really, they’re pretty lame.”

“And why is he going to kill you?” Jeongguk asks. Taehyung shifts uncomfortably, like he’s afraid of being on the losing end of the joke this time around.

“Uh, well… you see, Jeongguk, I was supposed to have you back to Camp a few months ago.” Taehyung says. Jeongguk snaps his head towards Taehyung so quickly that he runs a red light. Completely ignoring the angry car horns being blared at him, he looks at Taehyung expectantly, waiting for him to explain. “There have been a few demigods sent out to find you, Jeongguk, but you move around too much. It’s like someone knew we were trying to find you and every time we got close to finding you… you vanished.”

“Anyways,” Taehyung says, smiling at Jeongguk. “I’ve got you now, nothing else will go wrong, and we’ll be at camp in no time. Turn left up here.”

Jeongguk flips on the turn signal, but he can’t help but doubt as to if nothing else will go wrong.

Chapter Text

Jeongguk should have known that nothing else will go wrong was a big fat lie. As they cross the state border into Nebraska, the Jeep sputters to a stop and dies in the middle of the road. Jeongguk curses and looks at Taehyung, who’s peacefully sleeping against the door, cuddling the skull in his arms like a teddy bear. Jeongguk hates to wake him up, seeing as neither of them having slept very much in the past six days, but he needs help if he’s going to get their car to the side of the road.

“Taehyung…” Jeongguk mumbles, shaking Taehyung’s shoulder lightly. Over their time together, Jeongguk has learned that Taehyung sleeps like the dead, and sometimes the only way to wake him up is by dragging him out of the hotel they’re staying at and throw him into the pool. (It’s only happened once, back in Utah, but Taehyung is still holding a grudge.) “Tae, wake up, the car died.”

Taehyung giggles in his sleep and clutches the skull closer to him. “Funny… ‘cause it’s an Underworld car. So funny, Jeonggukie.” Jeongguk’s ears tint red and he blinks hard, trying not to think about the last time he’d seen his mother… ”My little Jeonggukie.”

Jeongguk coughs and shake’s Taehyung’s shoulder again. “No, Tae, I mean like really dead. No more gas; we can’t get anywhere.” At that, Taehyung opens one eye, as if to check to see if he’s still dreaming, and groans.

“Shit…” Taehyung says, rubbing his eyes as he sits up. He startles when he sees the skull in his hands, and immediately drops it onto the floor. “Guess we’ll have to abandon ship, then.”

“What do you mean?” Jeongguk asks as Taehyung scoops up all their things — the skull, some drachmas, a few paper dollars they’d found in a hotel room — and shoves them into a bag. “Can’t we just shove this thing to a gas station and then get on our way?”

“No,” Taehyung says. He leans across Jeongguk’s lap and pulls the keys out of the ignition. The sword keychain Hades had given them hangs from the keyring, and Taehyung pulls it off before holding it out to Jeongguk. “It’s a death mobile, it runs on the souls of mortals.”

“Death mobile.” Jeongguk deadpans, and Taehyung nods. “Hades has all of entirety to come up with a clever name and he settles on Death Mobile? Weak.” Taehyung rolls his eyes and jumps out of the car, Jeongguk not too far behind him. The night is dark, but the moon is bright, and Jeongguk doesn’t have much trouble following Taehyung as he walks. Taehyung makes sure the warn him of any sticks or rocks on the side of the road, sometimes even grabs his hand to steer him clear of debris and orange cones.

“Isn’t Nebraska home to mountain lions and bobcats and stuff?” Taehyung asks quietly. He’s stopped walking and Jeongguk bumps into his back.

“Yeah?” Jeongguk answers, confused. He never paid any kind of attention in school, mostly relied on the internet and kids around him to help him pass his classes. He wonders how senior year is going for the people in his class. It can’t be more interesting than how he’s spent his first week of senior year. “I don’t know, actually; why are you asking?”

“Uh, no reason.” Taehyung says, then a small patch of flowers blossom at his feet like they usually do when he’s nervous. “Let’s just find a hotel for tonight and then catch a bus or something tomorrow morning. We’ll figure it out.”

They keep walking until they come across a motel with a flickering sign and dead trees out front. Taehyung looks upset by the landscape and Jeongguk pats his shoulder sympathetically. Jeongguk tells Taehyung that, if they have time in the morning, he can bring a few trees back to life before they hit the road. Taehyung seems to brighten up at that, walking into the motel with a smile on his face.

“Hello, ma’am?” Taehyung asks, pulling two drachmas out of his pocket. He lays them on the counter as the woman turns around. “Can we have a room? Just one night.”

“I can’t accept whatever those are, boy, find somewhere else to—“ the woman stops, her eyes glazing over while Taehyung stares at her intensely. After a minute, she smiles at the both of them and takes the drachmas off the counter, depositing them in the cash drawer. She hands Taehyung a keycard. “To your left, eight doors down. Enjoy your stay, boys.”

“How odd…” Jeongguk says as Taehyung leads them to their room. “It was like she was possessed by a demon. But like… a nice demon that gives us a place to sleep and free breakfast.”

“Possessed?” Taehyung repeats as he opens the door. “Hardly possessed, I just manipulated the Mist. Tomorrow after we leave she’ll realize she let us stay here using currency that technically doesn’t exist, but for now we’ll be fine.”

Jeongguk kicks off his shoes and flops onto the only bed in the room. “Mist?” He asks. Taehyung joins him on the bed and shoves a pillow under his head.

“You really don’t know anything, do you?” Taehyung muses, and Jeongguk punches his leg. “Ouch! Yeah, the Mist. It’s what keeps the godly world hidden from the mortals. Obscures their vision; makes it so they can’t see the monsters.”

Jeongguk nods, then rolls on his side and cradles his head in his hand as he looks at Taehyung. “Tell me about the gods.”

“Well, of course there’s the three brothers, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades — who you already know about. Zeus is the god of the sky; that’s why we can’t just fly to camp. You’re undetermined, and any demigod that flies but isn’t one of his children… well, watch out. Poseidon is the Sea God, so salt water oceans and things of the sort are his domain, that’s why I couldn’t do anything at the beach while on sand; it’s not my place. His kids like to swim, I guess… I don’t know, I’ve never met one.” Taehyung says. He looks down at Jeongguk, to see if he’s paying attention, but Jeongguk feels more awake than he has in all their time together. One of these men, one of the gods, is his father.

“There’s Hera, but she doesn’t have any children because she’s a maiden. Same with Artemis, she’s Goddess of the Hunt and has sworn off men forever. Apollo, Artemis’ brother, and the Sun God, has a few kids at camp, and they’re really good at archery. The Ares kids — Ares is the war god — they’re mostly just… angry. Then of course, there’s Hephaestus, his kids spend a lot of their time tinkering and making cool weapons and things for the camp. My friend Namjoon, he’s a son of Hephaestus. Everyone at first thought he was Athena’s kid because he’s so smart, but one day a little ball of fire popped up over his head. The funny thing is, is that his first time in the forges, he dropped an anvil on his foot. He seems to be a little clumsy to be the son of god that works in dangerous, fiery places.” Taehyung stops to catch his breath, and Jeongguk rolls onto his back. None of those people seem like someone who would be his parent. He doesn’t have any of those special skills, and he definitely isn’t clumsy enough to drop an anvil on his foot.

“Hermes is the messenger god, but also the god of thieves, so you have to be careful around his kids. My first year at camp I wrapped a roll of cling film around my waist every morning to keep them from picking out of my pockets. Then there’s Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle. Her kids are good at chess… like, crazy good at chess. Dionysus is the wine god, he only has a few kids, and most of the time they’re gambling as to who will win sword battles, or who will be the first to die on the obstacle course. Demeter is the goddess of harvest, her kids help our gardens grow; and then of course there’s Aphrodite, goddess of love. All of her kids are charming and insanely beautiful.”

“So you’re Aphrodite’s son, then?” Jeongguk asks, looking up at the ceiling. For a while Taehyung doesn’t answer, and when Jeongguk turns to look at him, he’s blushing.

“No… uh,” Taehyung splutters, pushing his hair away from his face. “I’m not.”

“Huh,” Jeongguk says, “could’a fooled me.”

Taehyung blushes again and suddenly becomes very interested in a string hanging off of his sleeve. “I’m actually the son of two demigods — my mom was a daughter of Zeus, and my dad was a son of Demeter, hence the plant thing.”

“That makes sense.” Jeongguk says; then he rolls over and rests his chin on Taehyung’s knee. “What about the Zeus part? Why haven’t you shocked anyone to death? Why don’t you have hair like Albert Einstein?”

“Well, because I’m not descended directly from the gods, my powers aren’t as strong as say, yours will be, because my powers are passed down through generations. I’ve never actually been able to work the ‘Zeus’ half of me. But I’m fine with being able to bring plants back to life.”

“Wait so when you were talking about your aunt being able to hear Sisyphus’ cries of frustration… you were talking about—“

“Persephone, yeah. My dad’s half sister. The first time I asked Hades to see my parents, he wasn’t going to let me until Persephone told him that he’s taken too many children from their parents and that the boy deserves to see his family, Hades. Don’t act like you don’t miss being a part of Mount Olympus, and then he let me see them. Still does, even if Persephone isn’t there to glare at him. She’s pretty cool.” Taehyung says. He’s got a dreamy look on his face, and Jeongguk feels a surge of jealously flare inside of him. Taehyung knows his parents. He knows his grandparents, and his aunt. Taehyung has a family, and Jeongguk has nothing.

Jeongguk reaches next to the bed and yanks on the lamp cord, leaving them enveloped in darkness.

In the morning, Jeongguk is still a little bitter over being undetermined, so he doesn’t bother telling Taehyung that his hair is a mess and that’s theres bits of breakfast stuck in his teeth. Taehyung chatters on like normal as they walk towards town, either because he hasn’t picked up on Jeongguk’s sour mood, or because he just doesn’t care.

When they get to town, Jeongguk is surprised to see people milling about, shopping or heading to work. They haven’t come in contact with many people since they left San Diego, and being surrounded by mortals unknowing of the godly world seems… almost unnatural.

“Something isn’t right.” Taehyung says, and Jeongguk rolls his eyes, annoyed. Nothing is ever right when you’re a demigod, apparently. Jeongguk ignores Taehyung when he stops in the middle of the road, Jeongguk too busy making a beeline for the bus station. The sooner he gets to New York, the better. Maybe he can have Chiron put some kind of ‘godly hoopla’ on him to hide his powers so life can go back to normal. “Jeongguk, wait, we can’t get on the bus, there’s something wrong—“

“What, Taehyung? Is there going to be another monster?” Jeongguk asks, and the sarcasm must sail right over Taehyung’s head, because he nods.

“I think we’re being followed, Jeongguk. Last night I felt… a presence, we can’t get on the bus. We’d be leaving the mortals defenseless against the monster, or monsters.” Taehyung says. He’s worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, and if Jeongguk we’re so annoyed he may have actually listened to Taehyung. Instead, he rolls his eyes and gets on the bus just as the driver begins to pull away from the curb, leaving Taehyung alone in the street.

Jeongguk flops into a seat and tells himself not to look back, but his skin starts crawling and his stomach flips with guilt. When he glances over his shoulder, he expects to see Taehyung with his fist in the air, cursing him, but instead he sees Taehyung with both hands in the air, yelling at something Jeongguk can’t see. Shooting out of his seat, Jeongguk runs to the back of the bus for a better look. Standing across the square from Taehyung is a mountain lion — with a serpent tail. Out of it’s neck sprouts not one, but two, heads, all of different animals; a lion and a goat, one of the two breathing fire — Taehyung is having a standoff with a chimera.

“Stop the bus!” Jeongguk yells, running back up the aisle. The driver doesn’t hear him, and Jeongguk grabs the drivers shoulder and spins him around. “Stop the—“ Jeongguk chokes when he sees the drivers eyes — or lack thereof, because where the man’s eyes should be, there are hundreds of tiny snakes, hissing and flicking their tongues at Jeongguk.

“Typhon.” Jeongguk mutters to himself. Typhon stands from his seat and advances towards Jeongguk, who cowers backwards. He doesn’t have a weapon, his father hasn’t claimed him, and he ditched Taehyung, who now has to fight the chimera on his own. Jeongguk’s stomach overturns. He’s going to die. The bus is still driving, cruising down the road as if someone is behind the wheel.

“Yes, little half-blood, it is I, Typhon.” Typhon says, and if Jeongguk hadn’t been so scared, he would have asked Typhon why he talks like every cliche bad guy in a movie. “I’ve come to kill you, Jeon Jeongguk, and since you have no way to defeat me, any last words?”

Jeongguk’s mind is working a million miles an hour, trying to remember the story of Typhon. He’s supposedly the father of all monsters, born from the earth after Hera planted his egg to birth someone to overthrow Zeus. Zeus had only been able to beat him with like… a billion lighting bolts. Jeongguk checks his pockets, only to find that he’s about a billion lighting bolts short of getting to live.

“I guess not…” Typhon says at Jeongguk’s silence, and his head begins to morph into more snakes, until there’s no semblance of any solid skull, just a coil of serpents, all hissing angrily. Two blood red eyes are staring at Jeongguk, looking murderous.

“Hera turned you in.” Jeongguk says, trying to stall. He falls backwards into a seat, next to a woman who looks absolutely terrified. He’s not sure what she thinks is going on, since the Mist distorts her view, but it can’t be pretty. Jeongguk notices that her purse is falling open, and inside there’s a pack of cigarettes and a zippo lighter. “You thought she’d take you in — you could rule the world together.”

“I have Echidna, my wife; I don’t need Hera.” Typhon spits the name as if it’s acid on his tongue. He advances towards Jeongguk again, and he quickly steals the cigarettes and the lighter from the stranger’s purse.

“You never loved Echidna.” Jeongguk says, as he lights the first cigarette. He throws it under the seat. The woman next to him looks at him like he’s absolutely nuts, and he prays that she won’t say anything. The bus starts to veer, as if Typhon’s agitation is causing it to go off course. “You were bound to her, buried in the mud together. She mothered you six beasts, six hideous creatures, but who can blame them when they have a father of… your countenance.”

Six more cigarettes have hit the bus floor, and the bus shutters and fishtails towards the side of the road as Typhon yells, snakes hissing wildly and throwing themselves around, agitated.

“The bus is going to blow when we run into something.” The stranger next to Jeongguk says. Jeongguk nods. “Is that what you’re going for? An explosion? Because the eight innocent people on this bus shouldn’t die.”

Jeongguk stills. He hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t—“

“Never mind, I’ll take care of it. Some of you heroes just don’t think.” The stranger says. Jeongguk turns in his seat, and sure enough, the other passengers on the bus are gone.

“How?—“ Jeongguk begins to ask, but then the stranger is gone, too. The only thing left in her seat is the lighter and the cigarettes, along with a note that reads: Remember, Jeon Jeongguk, smoking kills the environment and pollutes the air, in loopy handwriting. Jeongguk quickly lights the rest of the cigarettes and stands up, trying not to flinch when the ashes land on his fingers. He looks past Typhon, and notices that they’re barreling towards a bridge without signs of stopping. Jeongguk quickly changes his plan — he can’t burn Typhon to death, and he doesn’t have lighting bolts, but he does, however, have a river and a few power lines overhead. It’ll have to do.

Typhon laughs, “are you planning to burn me to death, godling? As if a few tiny tobacco sticks could hurt me.” Typhon boasts, and Jeongguk looks past him, out the windshield. He throws the cigarettes towards the back of the bus, to the gas tank.

“A few cigarettes might not kill you, Typhon, but this might.” Jeongguk runs past Typhon and shoves him down into a seat, just as the bus crashes into a power line. The line falls onto the bus, pushing the bus towards a ravine. The end of the bus falls towards the water, and Jeongguk hurriedly runs to the front so he doesn’t weigh down the bus and make it plummet. Typhon stirs, rocking the bus as he tries to dislodge himself from behind the bus seat. Typhon makes his way up the aisle, snakes hissing angrily, and Jeongguk can feel the bus leveling out. He needs to get Typhon back to the end of the bus.

Jeongguk moves forward, nearing the drivers seat, and the bus totters precariously. The severed power lines zap above them, and Jeongguk makes a split second decision. He jumps into the drivers seat, puts the bus in reverse, and punches the gas. As the bus starts rolling towards the water, taking Typhon and the power lines with it, Jeongguk kicks the windshield and slides down the front of the bus, onto the road.

When he turns around, he sees the bus disappearing into the ravine, and then he hears Typhon’s yell of pain as he gets electrocuted, just like he did in the story — except this time, he was killed by an eighteen year old boy and not the God of the Sky.

“Not too bad, if I do say so myself.” Jeongguk says. He frowns as he thinks about his encounter with the stranger. The cigarette thing hadn’t worked exactly how he planned, but Typhon is dead, so Jeongguk’s happy. He stands up and dusts himself off, but when he tries to walk back towards town, a shooting pain flows through his ankle and Jeongguk falls back down onto the pavement.

Jeongguk stands back up and makes his way back towards town, hobbling awkwardly, but determined to make it back to town and make sure Taehyung is all right. He isn’t sure what he was thinking, leaving behind his only protecter — his only friend.

As he reaches town, Jeongguk hears the sound of people yelling, and even worse, the sound of Taehyung screaming in fear — or at least, screaming in something. Jeongguk hobbles quicker, his ankle almost forgotten as he’s filled with fear. If Taehyung gets hurt… If Taehyung dies, trying to defend a whole city by himself when Jeongguk could have been there to help… Jeongguk doesn’t think he could ever forgive himself.

When Jeongguk enters the square, he sees numerous people with shotguns at the ready, one zoo van and another animal containment unit as they all stand ready to attack the chimera. In front of them is Taehyung, holding what looks to be a gigantic stick. Taehyung lifts it over his head, ready to strike, and the chimera opens it’s mouth. Taehyung is going to turn himself into a human barbecue if Jeongguk doesn’t do something.

“Don’t!” Jeongguk yells, and Taehyung turns, accidentally swiping the chimera in it’s maw. The beast growls angrily and Jeongguk panics. “Throw the stick! Throw it!”

“It’s not a dog!” Taehyung yells, but he throws the stick anyways, leaving him defenseless. The chimera doesn’t even glance at the stick as it flies past him, and Taehyung looks at Jeongguk, his eyes screaming, told you it wouldn’t work.

“Hey ugly!” Jeongguk yells. The chimera turns to him, eyes aglow with fury.

“Jeongguk, what are you doing?” Taehyung asks, stepping closer. Jeongguk stops him by putting his hand up, but doesn’t take his eyes off the chimera.

“I just met your father, lovely guy, really.” Jeongguk says, then he points down the road, at the fallen power lines and remains of the bus. Jeongguk dips his hand into his pocket, praying that the lighter is still there. He’s not sure if lighting something that breathes fire, on fire, will do anything, but he has to try. “Now, unless you want to join him, I suggest you get your fury butt on it’s merry little way.”

“Jeongguk, I don’t think—“ Taehyung starts to say, but the lion’s mouth opens and the chimera roars. As the lion’s mouth opens as wide as it can, Jeongguk flips on the zippo lighter and throws it as hard as he can into the lion’s mouth. The lion chokes and splutters, and when it tries to breathe fire at Jeongguk, it explodes into a cloud of gold dust. “How—?”

“I have no idea.” Jeongguk answers truthfully, and now that the adrenaline has rushed out of him, he collapses onto the ground, exhausted. Taehyung hurries over to him and lays a hand on his forehead. “I’m fine, little dizzy, but fighting the god of all monsters will do that to a person.”

“Father of all monsters,” Taehyung corrects quietly, pulling what looks like a piece of chocolate out of their bag. “He can’t be a god, because he himself is a monster. Eat this.”

Jeongguk shoves the chocolate in his mouth, but when it hits his tongue, it isn’t chocolate. It tastes like warm honey, right from the hive. “Whatever he is, I killed him. I think; I’m not actually sure, but he’s not chasing us anymore, so that’s good.”

“You know this wouldn’t have happened if you wouldn’t have run off.” Taehyung says as he wipes blood from Jeongguk’s forehead. “You’re kind of stupid, you know that?” Jeongguk nods, and Taehyung grins at him. “Now, let’s try and get at least to Illinois without getting attacked, okay?”

“Not my fault,” Jeongguk says tiredly as Taehyung hauls him to his feet. Taehyung laughs brightly, and it almost makes Jeongguk feel like he hasn’t spent the last hour fighting monsters that aren’t even supposed to be real. It makes him feel relaxed, almost like they’re just two friends, traveling across country and cracking jokes and sharing a bed no matter where they stop because Taehyung feels bad about manipulating mortals in the first place, the least he can do is take a crappy room; not traveling across the country, running from monsters and trying to find Jeongguk’s god parent.

Jeongguk laughs along with Taehyung, and he feels good.

“Totally your fault.”

Chapter Text

“Welcome to the windy city, Jeongguk.” Taehyung says happily as he helps Jeongguk out of the bus.

After the incident with Typhon, Jeongguk didn’t want to get on another bus, but Taehyung had made him after explaining that it was their only means of transportation. Jeongguk had been tense for the first hour of their trip, until Taehyung had started running his fingers though Jeongguk’s hair and quickly lulled him to sleep.

Now, they’re standing in a bus depot in Chicago, Jeongguk nervously scanning the area for monsters while Taehyung stares at a map, quietly murmuring to himself. When Taehyung straightens up, he smiles at Jeongguk and holds out his arm. “If you’ll follow me, Jeon Jeongguk, we can start our tour of Zeus’ favorite city.”

“Why is Chicago Zeus’ favorite city?” Jeongguk asks. He feels calmer, knowing that at least one of the major gods won’t try to blow them up while they’re here. Especially since Zeus is technically Taehyung’s grandfather, so being blown up by the sky god would feel almost like a betrayal — although Jeongguk can’t imagine anyone wanting to blow Taehyung up of any reason at all.

“It’s the windy city, Jeongguk. Zeus had a tiny meltdown here when the gods first came to America, and now the city is burdened with uncontrollable winds based on Zeus’ mood. Seeing as Zeus is always agitated…” A particularly strong gust of wind starts just then, and Taehyung has to duck to avoid being hit in the face with a flying newspaper. Taehyung giggles, “Sorry grandpa.”

“That makes sense. I guess I never thought about the gods’ connection to the world…” Jeongguk says. Taehyung nods and leads them across the street, towards Millennium Park.

“Chicago, despite being inherently Zeus’, is a spot where all the gods can kind of… come together, without being on Mount Olympus. Millennium Park represents Demeter, my grandma. The aquarium, Poseidon; Union Station, Hermes; the Graceland Cemetery, Hades; all the museums, Natural History, Science and Industry, even the children museums, those are for Athena. Even Dionysus, the old grump, has a few wineries. Aside from Camp Half-Blood, it’s probably the safest place for a demigod to be.” Taehyung says.

Jeongguk looks around in amazement, at the towering buildings all around them that look just like— “They look like the Parthenon.” Jeongguk says, and Taehyung smiles at him.

“That’s right — all modeled after the Parthenon built for Athena in ancient Greece. It’s funny how mortals are so quick to cast aside any idea of more than one god, but then model their buildings and culture after ours.” Taehyung says. Jeongguk remembers his first encounter with the furies, when he told them he was Christian as an attempt to get them to leave him alone. It feels like so long ago.

As Taehyung leads Jeongguk through Millennium Park, he discreetly ran his hands over every dead flower to bring it back to life. Jeongguk has flashbacks to the woman he met on the bus, the one that told him that smoking kills the planet, and he has an epiphany. “I think I met your grandma on the bus.”

Taehyung looks over at Jeongguk quizzically. “You were asleep the whole time.” Taehyung says, as if Jeongguk needs a reminder. He’d woken up to Taehyung shaking him gently and patting his cheek, murmuring something about sunshine. When Jeongguk had lifted his head, Taehyung had giggled and nonchalantly wiped Jeongguk’s drool off his shoulder and lead him off the bus.

Jeongguk’s ears tinge red as he thinks about the memory. “No, uh — I mean the one that I uh, put in the river. There was a woman in the seat I was sitting in, she’s the one that gave me the lighter. She got all the people off the bus so they didn’t get hurt, then left me a note that said smoking kills.”

Taehyung frowns. “She’s never come to visit me before.”

“Probably because you’ve never been close to killing eight innocent mortals. You should be glad she hasn’t visited you, it means you’re doing something right.” Jeongguk says, patting Taehyung’s arm. Taehyung smiles, and Jeongguk thinks that the whole world brightens a few notches, like the sun is growing closer to earth, or maybe that it’s standing right in front of him. Flowers sprout and bloom at Taehyung’s feet.

“Thanks.” Taehyung says, then he takes Jeongguk’s hand and drags him towards the bean in the center of Millennium Park. There’s aren’t many people around, and so when they get under the bean, Taehyung lays down on the ground and pulls on Jeongguk’s pant leg until he joins him. “My parents used to bring me to Chicago all the time. They told me all about the famous demigods that lived here.”

“Famous demigods?” Jeongguk asks. He laughs when Taehyung pulls a face at himself, and pulls a face himself, sticking his tongue out as his reflection. Taehyung giggles and Jeongguk smiles at him.

“Yeah, you know Al Capone, right? Famous gangster? He was a demigod, all the biggest criminals are.”

“No way.” Jeongguk says, turning his head to look at Taehyung. Taehyung nods enthusiastically. “But he was a criminal mastermind, king of bootlegging and prostitution. He couldn’t have been a demigod… why didn’t his godly parent stop him?”

Taehyung’s eyes turn sad, and Jeongguk frowns. “He was undetermined. A lot of undetermined demigods turn to violence and crime, because they’re mad at their godly parent for ruining their life, so to say. They’re mad that they can’t be normal, and that the person that made them prone to isolation and monster attacks doesn’t want them.”

Jeongguk falls quiet. He hasn’t been claimed by his dad, he doesn’t know if he ever will be. Will he turn into a bad guy? Someone responsible for the deaths and hardships of innocent people?

Jeongguk feels a hand slip into his. “You don’t have to be like that, Jeongguk. Even if you don’t get claimed. As long as you’re brave and honest, the gods will help you and they’ll never steer you wrong. That’s what my mother used to tell me, back when I was first trying to tap into the powers my grandpa should have passed down to me. Even though I couldn’t electrocute people, or toast my own bread, I knew that the gods would never steer me wrong, and if I’m not meant to be a walking ball of static, then so be it.”

Taehyung holds his hand up. A small flower sprouts out of his palm, a sunflower. He reaches down and tucks it behind Jeongguk’s ear. Jeongguk must have dust or something in his eyes because he’s blinking rather hard, and Jeongguk reaches up and rubs the heels of his palms against his eyes a few times. Taehyung smiles at him before turning back to examining himself in the stainless steal covering of the bean.

“You said—“ Jeongguk’s voice cracks and he coughs. “You said that all big criminals are demigods? Like who?”

“Oh you know, the big criminals, like Jeffrey Dahmer, Jack the Ripper, Donald Trump.” Taehyung says, and Jeongguk cringes. He can’t imagine huge criminals and business CEO’s having the power to possibly incinerate people if they wanted to. “Come on, there’s more city to see and plenty of daylight left.”

Taehyung takes Jeongguk’s hand immediately, and Jeongguk finds himself wondering why. When they’d gotten off the bus, Taehyung had held his hand, but that was only so he didn’t fall over. And after that, it was so he didn’t get lost. Now… Jeongguk doesn’t know. Part of him wonders if he should pull away, keep his distance, just in case; another part of him wants to hold Taehyung’s hand and never let go.

“Want to see something cool, Gukkie?” Taehyung asks, and Jeongguk notices his nicknames are getting shorter and shorter. It’s endearing; Jeongguk smiles and nods. Taehyung guides him towards the bus station. Jeongguk grips Taehyung’s hand a little tighter when they board, and takes extra care to make eye contact with the driver. No snakes. Jeongguk follows Taehyung to a seat. Taehyung lets Jeongguk sit by the window, and as they drive down the coast, Taehyung points out everything he recognizes — the Chicago history museum, Lake Michigan, a few odd trees that Taehyung gets excited about; Jeongguk doesn’t know why, but he figures it’s because his grandmother is the goddess of plants.

“Okay, we have to get off at the next stop—“

“Can I press the button?” Jeongguk asks, staring up at the red doorbell looking button that would alert the driver to stop. Taehyung giggles and nods, and Jeongguk excitedly reaches up and hits the button. As a kid, his favorite part of public transportation was the button-hitting. Some things never change.

“Okay, so we may not be able to get in this place, because Chiron told me to spend the mortal money on important things only, but I also think that Chiron knows I don’t really listen to him, so,” Taehyung grins, and Jeongguk has to hold back a giggle. Jeongguk has a feeling Taehyung never really listens to anyone.

Jeongguk walks beside Taehyung as they walk towards a glass building, labeled Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Taehyung pays their way in and leads Jeongguk past what looks like a bunch of classrooms with kids inside, until they reach a huge glass sanctuary scattered with benches and tables. Taehyung waits outside the door until the family that is in the sanctuary leaves, then he turns and looks at Jeongguk with a smile on his face.

“You ready?” Taehyung asks, Jeongguk nods. “Just… don’t scream. You’ll scare them.” Jeongguk is confused, but before he can ask any questions, Taehyung pushes the door open and leads him inside the sanctuary.

As soon as the door closes behind them, hundreds of butterflies leave their bushes and hover in the air just above their heads. Most of them land on Taehyung, taking up every inch of him except his face, and Jeongguk is too busy wishing he had a camera that he doesn’t notice the few that choose to land on him, taking purchase in his hair and on his shoulders. When a butterfly goes to land on Jeongguk’s nose, however, he jumps, sending all the butterflies into a frenzy.

“Oops, sorry.” Jeongguk says sheepishly, watching as the butterflies go back to their bushes or old fruit. Taehyung laughs and pats Jeongguk’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. At least you didn’t scream. One time, I came here with my parents, and the butterflies started to land on me and my dad. Mom took pictures, but as soon as one tried to land on her hand, she screamed and swatted it away. That was the first time my dad ever taught me how to bring something back to life.” Taehyung says wistfully.

“But butterflies aren’t… they aren’t plants.” Jeongguk says, and Taehyung shrugs. As if to prove his point, he walks over to a cocoon and touches it lightly with the tip of his finger. The cocoon shakes, and soon enough it splits open, and a monarch butterfly flies out of it.

“Never question the gods, Jeongguk.” Taehyung says, holding out his finger for the butterfly. It bypasses him and heads straight for Jeongguk, who holds his breath as the butterfly lands gently on his nose. Taehyung giggles and sighs wistfully. “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a demigod.”

Jeongguk raises his eyebrows. He’s afraid to breathe, or else he would actually ask his question instead of contorting his face like a constipated baby. Taehyung laughs. “Because I would so take a picture with my phone right now. I’d probably set it as my home screen.”

Jeongguk blushes despite himself and goes cross-eyed, trying to watch the butterfly. It scuttles down his nose, and when it gets too close to his nostril, Jeongguk has barely any time to feel regret before he sneezes. The butterfly quickly flies away, a little lopsided, and Jeongguk frowns. “Sorry, little buddy.”

“He’ll be okay. Want to go down to the water?” Taehyung asks, and Jeongguk nods. They leave the museum, and Jeongguk wonders if it was really worth the money to pay to get in, but Taehyung looks happy enough, so Jeongguk doesn’t question it. Instead, he slips his hand into Taehyung’s and tries not to blush when Taehyung looks at him quizzically.

“In case I get lost.” Jeongguk says, and Taehyung nods, unconvinced. “Or if I fall. And uh, die.”

Taehyung laughs and tugs Jeongguk along. “All right, Guk, but try not to fall and die, okay?” Jeongguk nods happily and follows Taehyung down the road so they can find a path to the shore. When they find one, Taehyung quickly pulls him down to the sand, where a few people are laying out, sunbathing. Jeongguk wonders how it feels to be that relaxed when a monster could attack them at any given time.

“They are probably hotels not too far from here, so we can stay here awhile and then go find someplace to stay for the night. Sound good? Then catch a bus to Indiana in the morning?” Taehyung suggests, and Jeongguk nods, not really listening, as he flops into the sand. He knows that it will be hard to get out of his clothes later on, but the sand is warm and Jeongguk’s feet are tired — can you blame him?

Taehyung sits down next to him and rolls up his pant legs. Jeongguk watches Taehyung stare out into the horizon, watches the sun reflect off his tan skin and the wind blow through his hair. Jeongguk can’t help but think how all of it is so terribly cliche — yet he finds that he doesn’t really mind.

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk asks quietly, staring up at the sky. Taehyung looks back at him, but Jeongguk keeps his eyes trained on the birds flying overhead. “Do you think I’ll ever get claimed?”

“Jeongguk…” Taehyung says quietly, resting his hand on one of Jeongguk’s knees. He sounds sympathetic, but Jeongguk doesn’t want sympathy — he wants the truth.

“No need to… don’t sugar coat it, okay? Just tell me, honestly, do you think I’ll ever be recognized by my dad?”

“It’s… it’s hard to say,” says Taehyung quietly. Jeongguk huffs out a breath of air. “Some kids don’t, like we talked about earlier, and some kids do. Some parents just take longer; they wait for the right moment to let their kid know they’re watching out for them.”

“You didn’t have to be claimed.” Jeongguk says, watching as a seagull flies over them and lands near them on the beach. It seems to look right at the two of them.

“You’re right.” Taehyung replies. He sighs and lays down in the sand next to Jeongguk. Taehyung puts his head on Jeongguk’s chest and gently pushes Jeongguk’s knees down, so he can see the water. “Just don’t worry about it, Jeongguk. Your dad will come around, I’m sure of it. Just give him time.”

“We get attacked in nearly every city we stop in.” Jeongguk says, and he can feel Taehyung laugh lightly, can feel his breath on his stomach. “I’m not sure how much time I’ve got left.”

“It is a wonder you’ve lasted this long.” Taehyung says, like it’s supposed to be comforting. “Usually around twelve, the monsters start to hunt out demigods. But you’ve lasted a whole eighteen years outside of Camp Half-Blood’s barriers. That’s quite the feat.”

“It probably has something to do with all the moving around I did.” Jeongguk says, and Taehyung looks up at him as if he wants to ask Jeongguk something — but doesn’t. “Or maybe, I’m not a demigod at all and this one really fucked up acid trip.”

Taehyung laughs, and the worry lines between his eyebrows disappear. “If only, Jeongguk, if only.”

Chapter Text

Jeongguk is standing on a boat, in the middle of the ocean.

“Hello?” He calls, moving from his spot behind the wheel, out of the captain’s chambers and onto the deck. No one yells back, and after a quick search of the ship, Jeongguk realizes he’s alone. “Taehyung?”

“Jeongguk!” Taehyung yells, and Jeongguk spins around to see Taehyung floating in the middle of the ocean, currents periodically pulling him under the water and holding him there. Jeongguk panics as the current begins to drag Taehyung towards a group of rocks.

“I’m coming!” Jeongguk yells, and he hurriedly looks around the ship for something, anything, to pull Taehyung out of the water. The life saver would just get pulled out to sea; if Jeongguk just hopped into the water with no plan, they’d both be toast… Jeongguk passes a bunch of life rafts attached to the back of the ship, and hurriedly cuts one loose before jumping over the side of the ship, into the ugly yellow boat.

Taehyung is only about fifty feet away, but the current is rough and Jeongguk’s the only one paddling. Every once in a while, if Taehyung could get his head above water, he’d spit out a mouthful of water and yell, “Jeonggukie!”

Jeongguk furiously paddles through the water, throwing the oars aside when he decides they’re not pushing him through the currents fast enough. Taehyung continues to be thrown about the sea, bobbing on the surface of the water and then being dragged under again. Each time he surfaces, Taehyung spits out mouthfuls of water and tries to call out Jeongguk’s name.

As Jeongguk nears Taehyung, the currents seem to calm just enough for Jeongguk to get a grip on Taehyung’s arm before starting back up again. The tide pulls Taehyung down, and nearly has Jeongguk falling off the raft after him, but Jeongguk loops his arms under Taehyung’s armpits and hauls him upwards.

Jeongguk doesn’t realize he’s crying until he pulls Taehyung into the raft and quickly hugs him to his chest. Taehyung looks pale, and Jeongguk doesn’t know if it’s from lack of oxygen or over hydration. Eventually Taehyung’s eyes flutter open, and he brings a cold hand up to hold Jeongguk’s cheek.

“Ah, cute little Jeongguk would do anything to save his precious Taehyung.” Taehyung says, and Jeongguk furrows his eyebrows. Taehyung isn’t speaking in his voice anymore, but rather, seems to be imitating a woman.

“What?” Jeongguk asks, and slowly, Taehyung’s hair beings to grow out, his shirt disappears, and his legs turn into a long tail. Jeongguk is holding a mermaid. “I don’t— I don’t understand. Taehyung—?”

Jeongguk looks up, and the boat is gone. The siren yanks his face back down; her nails pierce through his skin. “It was a valiant effort, young hero. Too bad your Taehyung won’t come save you now, Jeongguk.”

“I don’t understand,” Jeongguk splutters, trying to pull away from Taehyung— the siren, but she has a hold on the back of his head, dragging him nearer and nearer to her gaping mouth. Jeongguk struggles against her, but to no avail.

“Stop writhing so much, Jeongguk, and it will be less painful.” She chides, but Jeongguk continues to pull back against her piercing nails and intoxicating voice. “Ah, such a disobedient little thing you are, Jeongguk—“

“Jeongguk!”

Jeongguk sits up in bed, so quickly that his neck and back crack painfully. Taehyung is kneeling next to him, his hand holding Jeongguk’s chin. Jeongguk is drenched in a cold sweat, his bangs sticking uncomfortably to his forehead. He looks at Taehyung, who’s staring back at him, confused.

“Can you swim?” Jeongguk asks, and Taehyung’s eyebrows furrow.

“I wake up to you screaming my name in the most unsettling way possible, and the first thing out of your mouth is, ‘can you swim?’ What, no, ‘wow, Taehyung, I’m so glad you’re alive and not being brutally murdered to death’ because that’s what it sounded like!”

“You… you weren’t dying.” Jeongguk explains, voice rough from lack of use — unless screaming counts, apparently. “You were drowning, and then you were fine, and then you… you were a mermaid? It’s all… it’s very confusing.”

“A mermaid.” Taehyung deadpans, letting go of Jeongguk’s face. Taehyung crawls back into the bed and sits down next to Jeongguk. “You had a dream that I was a mermaid.”

Jeongguk flops back onto the bed and covers his face with his hands. He wants to go back to bed. “I had a dream that you were in the middle of the ocean, drowning, and when I saved you — you’re welcome by the way — you turned into a mermaid and then told me it was a pity that I went to all the work to save you, Taehyung, but you — not really you, uh. The mermaid told me that it was a shame Taehyung wouldn’t be around to save me.”

“Oh,” Taehyung says, and Jeongguk’s surprised to find out that Taehyung looks like he actually understood something that came out of Jeongguk’s mouth. “You had a dream that I was a siren — or, well, a siren was me. I guess it’s a good thing you woke up before I ate you, right?”

Jeongguk glares at Taehyung out of the corner of his eye, but Taehyung is grinning happily at him, so Jeongguk can’t stay mad. He pulls the blanket over his head to hide the beginnings of a smile. Taehyung pats Jeongguk’s bare thigh, and Jeongguk stills. Taehyung had suggested just sleeping in boxers, because their clothes were full of sand, but Jeongguk had forgotten exactly how bare he was until just now.

“C’mon,” Taehyung says cheerfully, as if Jeongguk isn’t having a crisis, “Only a few more states to pass through, and we’re home-free. We can get to Indianapolis by bus, and then we’ll have to find a ride. Maybe hop in the back of semi or something.”

“That doesn’t sound safe.” Jeongguk says, but he crawls out of the bed anyway and walks into the bathroom to get his pants. There are two white shirts on the counter, laid out to dry after being hosed down in the shower to get rid of the sand, and Jeongguk picks them both up to see which one is bigger; that one should be his.

“Jeonggukie, will you throw me my shirt?” Taehyung calls from the other room. Jeongguk pops his head out the door to find Taehyung lacing up a pair of converse Jeongguk had made him buy after he realized that Taehyung not only didn’t like shoes, but hadn’t brought a single pair to wear as they traveled back across the country.

“Yeah, one second.” Jeongguk says. He holds both the shirts up by the collars and one is just a little longer than the other. Jeongguk takes it and throws it to Taehyung. Taehyung smiles at him and Jeongguk slips on the other shirt. It hugs his arms a little snuggly, but when he looks at Taehyung, who’s trying to get the collar of the tee shirt to stop falling past his collar bones, Jeongguk forgets about the fact that he probably won’t be able to hold his arms above his head.

Taehyung frowns before he gives up on the shirt, and then looks up and smiles at Jeongguk. “You ready?”

“I suppose. Promise you won’t kill me?” Jeongguk jokes, and Taehyung laughs, a huge box grin covering his face.

“No promises. If I turn into a mermaid, will you take me to the ocean and let me be free?”

Jeongguk grins, “no promises.”

Jeongguk feels like they’ve been on the bus for an eternity. Taehyung is asleep on his shoulder, so he has no one to entertain him, and the only other people left on the bus are three old women. They’re all crowded into the same two-seat aisle, and one of them is holding a string, while the other two stare blatantly at Jeongguk. The one on the right flicks her eyes down to Taehyung, and Jeongguk tightens his hold around Taehyung’s waist. Something about the three ladies gives Jeongguk the creeps. When Jeongguk glances at them again, one of the women is holding a pair of big, rusty scissors, and Jeongguk wonders how she got them on the bus. The woman makes eye contact with Jeongguk, flickers her gaze to Taehyung once more, and then cuts the string.

As the string falls into two pieces on her lap, Jeongguk feels like he just swallowed an anvil with the way his stomach drops and rolls over. Taehyung, who’d been asleep since they boarded the bus in Chicago, wakes up and shakes Jeongguk’s arm gently.

“You okay?” Taehyung asks, and Jeongguk realizes he’s been staring out at nothing — the women have disappeared.

“Yeah, I—“ Jeongguk has a bad vibe from the women, but keeps his worries to himself. He smiles down at Taehyung. “I’m good. How’d you sleep?”

“It would have been better if I didn’t have a rock for a pillow; gosh, Jeongguk how much do you work out?” Taehyung asks, angrily poking at Jeongguk’s bicep. Taehyung’s pout makes Jeongguk forget all about the ladies with the string.

“Until recently, I worked out everyday.” Jeongguk says, and Taehyung blows a raspberry, unimpressed.

“That’s lame. You’re just like Seokjin; he works out all the time, too. Being a son of Aphrodite, he has to maintain his figure. At least that’s what he tells me all the time.” Taehyung smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Jeongguk wonders if he misses home. Taehyung leans over Jeongguk’s body in order to look outside. The sun is setting, and Jeongguk hopes that they can get off the bus and to a hotel before it’s dark as pitch outside.

“Just a few hours more, I’d assume. Normal transit is only supposed to take about three, but nothing ever quite goes our way, does it, Jeonggukie?” Taehyung asks, smiling as he slides back into his seat. Jeongguk shakes his head — Taehyung is right. Nothing ever seems to go their way.

The bus hits a pothole, and Taehyung jumps, holding tightly to Jeongguk’s arm for stability. “If they do that again I might pee.” Taehyung glances over to Jeongguk, who has his nose wrinkled in disgust. “Just a little bit. Like a baby pee.”

“Please shut up,” Jeongguk says. Taehyung smiles and starts to hum to himself, and Jeongguk closes his eyes. “Wake me up when it’s time to get off, ‘kay?”

“Okay!” Taehyung says happily, and Jeongguk grins at him one last time before falling asleep.

“Wake up, wake up!” Taehyung shouts in Jeongguk’s ear, and Jeongguk startles as Taehyung pulls him out of his seat. “We’re at the last possible stop. I tried to let you rest for as long as you had the chance. We’re in Indianapolis now — only thirteen hours from camp!”

“Great.” mumbles Jeongguk. He’s still half asleep, barely standing upright as Taehyung drags him off the bus and into the street. The bus peels away from the stop, leaving them alone in the night at a random bus stop in Indianapolis. “Lets find somewhere to stay, yeah?”

“Good plan.” Taehyung agrees, then he takes Jeongguk’s hand and leads him down the road. Taehyung talks while Jeongguk stumbles along, eyes half closed as he tries to wake himself up. Jeongguk bumps into someone, and when he turns around to apologize, he realizes it’s a sign that reads: WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? HAVE YOUR PALM READ TO FIND OUT! (we also do tarot cards)

Taehyung must see what he’s looking at, because suddenly he’s squealing happily and yanking on Jeongguk’s arm. “Oh, Jeongguk, Jeonggukie, we have to. I’ve always wanted to have my palm read, it’ll be fun, c’mon, c’mon.” Taehyung tries to pull Jeongguk into the building, but Jeongguk doesn’t budge. Something doesn’t feel right — Jeongguk thinks back to the three ladies on the bus. “It’ll be fine, Jeongguk, have a little faith. The gypsies are very close to us demigods.”

Jeongguk hesitates. “But what if—“

“Chill out, Jeongguk. We’ll be fine. Would you feel better if we went in one at a time?” Taehyung suggests, slipping his hand away from Jeongguk’s arm. Jeongguk immediately grabs ahold of Taehyung’s bicep.

“That is a horrible idea. Let’s just go together — but make it quick, all right?” Jeongguk says, but Taehyung isn’t listening, he’s too excited to get his palm read by a ‘real professional,’ a real professional, Jeonggukie.

Jeongguk walks behind Taehyung as he travels deeper into the building. Taehyung pushes back curtain after curtain, until he’s met with an old woman, her head wrapped in a purple scarf. There’s tarot cards in front of her already, as if she could sense the two of them coming.

“Hi!” Taehyung greets, taking a seat on the green poof chair on the floor. It was basically just a pillow on the floor, but Jeongguk knows that it’s probably some fancy fortune telling chair. Jeongguk leans against the wall, and the curtains shutter closed. Weird. “I’m Taehyung, I want—“

“I know, young boy, I saw you coming.” The woman says. Taehyung shivers as she speaks, and Jeongguk has to force himself not to do the same. Something about this place still doesn’t feel right. “Give me your hand, Madam Phoba will read your palm for you.”

Taehyung happily lays his hand on the table, and Jeongguk looks around the room. Nailed to the curtains are random pictures — spiders, the sea, syringes, even a birds eye view from the top of a building. Jeongguk turns back to Taehyung, who is staring intently at Madam Phoba, who in turn, is staring intently at Taehyung’s hand.

“What do you see?” Taehyung whispers, and if Jeongguk isn’t mistaken, he’d say that Taehyung sounds scared.

“Ah, young one, your biggest fear — it cannot be helped.” Madam Phoba says, and Taehyung gulps. “The fear of failure, it is not something someone can over by just trying. You must succeed in something great. I assume… that is why your friend is here?”

Madam Phoba looks at Jeongguk, and Jeongguk stares back at her harshly. He sees something roll over in her eyes, something dark — evil. Jeongguk stiffens. They need to get out of the building right now. Jeongguk looks back at the walls; they’re all phobias — arachnophobia, aquaphobia, aichmophobia, acrophobia. Madam phoba — Madam Phobia.

“Yeah, I have to get him to New York.” Taehyung supplies, and Jeongguk wants to tape his mouth shut. He needs time to figure out what’s going on. There’s no greek god of fear… “Jeonggukie, wanna have your palm read?”

Jeongguk shakes his head. They need to get out. “No, I’m fine—“

“Aw, come on, Jeonggukie” Madam Phoba says, and Jeongguk shivers. The endearment doesn’t sound anything less than sinister coming from her. “Let me read your hand, no charge.” Jeongguk makes the mistake of looking at Taehyung, who’s pouting and pleading at Jeongguk with his eyes.

“Fine.” Jeongguk says. He sits down next to Taehyung on a poof and sticks out his hand towards Madam Phoba. His heart is racing, and the fortune teller can probably feel it as her fingers grace over his pulse. Her fingernails scratch his vein and Jeongguk sucks in a panicked breath.

Madam Phoba makes a disappointed clucking sound with her tongue. Jeongguk would compare her to a sad chicken if he weren’t so scared. His brain is working a million miles a minute, going through all the gods in his head, trying to figure out which one is sitting across from him, gripping his hand just a little too tightly. “What a pitiful fear, Jeon Jeongguk. However, with this one — I can help.” Madam Phoba’s grin turns signature, and she lifts up one of her hands. Just as she snaps her fingers, Jeongguk turns to Taehyung and yells,

“Run!”

Taehyung gets up so fast he overturns his stool, but as he pushes through the curtains, they wrap around his body and hold him against the wall, near the photographs. Madam Phoba’s nails are piercing the skin of his wrist, and Jeongguk can only watch as the photos come alive. First, it’s the spider photo, and hundred of spiders of all types crawl out of the frame and towards Taehyung, who tries to cower away from them, but can’t move.

Jeongguk turns to Madam Phoba, who’s smiling at him gruesomely. “Time to face your fear, Jeon Jeongguk.” Then Madam Phoba starts to morph and change, until an old lady is no longer holding onto Jeongguk’s wrist, but rather a tall man with bulging muscles and an ugly looking face. Jeongguk recognizes him immediately. Son of Aphrodite and Ares — Phobos, the personification of fear itself.

Chapter Text

Jeongguk’s blood runs cold as Phobos looks at him, his grimy nails leaving indents in Jeongguk’s skin and making him bleed. Against the wall, Taehyung is attempting to step on all the spiders before they crawl on him, but quite a few have made it up his pant legs and onto his hands.

Jeongguk turns his head, and as calmly as he can, says to Taehyung, “stay calm, Tae. Remember to breathe. If you’re not afraid of them, they’ll leave you alone.” Taehyung nods, but Jeongguk can see the fear in his eyes as Taehyung tries to control his breathing. He stops stomping and they spiders begin to take advantage, crawling up Taehyung’s legs and arms and settling around his shoulders.

“Are you going to save him, Jeongguk?” Phobos asks mockingly, and Jeongguk glares at him. Phobos looks smug, as if he knows something Jeongguk doesn’t. Then Phobos’ eyes flick over to Taehyung, and suddenly there’s a kind of sick joy in his eyes that turns Jeongguk’s stomach. “Maybe I can take care of both your fears at once, hm? Make Taehyung fail his mission… while leaving you completely helpless…”

Across the room, one of the curtains begins to shake before whipping out and grabbing onto Jeongguk’s arm. Another curtain takes hold of his other arm, stretching Jeongguk apart, leaving his arms spread wide and chest bared. Jeongguk struggles to keep his balance, the curtains tugging him from side to side as they coil around his arms and move closer to his shoulders. Across from him, Taehyung looks mildly confused, but doesn’t seem to notice the spiders moving from his shoulders to on top of his head.

“What would you do, Jeongguk…” Phobos starts, walking behind Jeongguk and pressing one of his long nails to Jeongguk’s throat. “If I tortured your friend here, and made you watch?”

“Let him go.” Jeongguk says, trying to keep his voice steady. He pulls against the curtain when Phobos sidles up next to Taehyung. Jeongguk watches helplessly as Phobos drags a finger nail down Taehyung’s face, making the older boy pale considerably. Jeongguk makes a move to help, but every time he moves his arms, the curtains wind tighter and pull his arms a little more out of socket. Phobos presses a dirty fingernail to Taehyung’s cheek, dragging it down until it rests on Taehyung’s collarbone, leaving an ugly red mark in it’s wake. “Don’t hurt him.”

“I’m not afraid of you.” Says Taehyung, and Phobos cackles. He presses his nail into Taehyung’s neck and Taehyung screams, as if he’s being burned.

“Stop! Stop hurting him!” Jeongguk yells, pulling harshly on his confines. The curtains tug on him harder. Phobos pulls away from Taehyung, and Taehyung’s head drops, as if he’s exhausted. There’s a burn mark on his neck.

The room is deathly silent as Taehyung stands there, unmoving, his chest heaving. Jeongguk wants to help, but the curtains are wound so tightly around his arms that they’re starting to go numb from lack of circulation. Phobos reaches his dirty finger towards Taehyung again, but is cut off when Taehyung coughs and jerks away from him.

“Fine,” Taehyung whispers, his voice rough. “I am afraid of you, I’m afraid of a lot of things — failure, and being abandoned, and venus flytraps — but you can’t use them to hurt me! I’m bigger than my fears.” Taehyung says. Jeongguk stares at him in awe, but Phobos looks less impressed. Angry, even.

“You’re a smart one, demigod. I’ll have to dispose of you quickly.” Phobos says, and Jeongguk is about to scream out, focus the attention back on him, but when Phobos touches Taehyung — nothing happens. Taehyung looks shocked, but then a look of recognition falls over his face.

“Jeongguk, your biggest fear.” He says, and Phobos slams his big hand over Taehyung’s mouth.

“I don’t- I don’t understand.” Jeongguk mumbles. What about his biggest fear? He’d rather keep that all locked up, no one needs to know but him — or, well, him and Phobos. Jeongguk is staring at his shoes, trying to figure out what Taehyung means, when he hears a scream of anguish from Phobos.

Jeongguk looks up, and Phobos is holding his hand tenderly. “Did you bite him?”

“Yes!” Taehyung yells, exasperated. “But Jeongguk, listen to me. He’s feeding on your distress — accept whatever it is you’re afraid of and he can’t hurt you. You have to confess your deepest fear.”

Jeongguk gapes at Taehyung. “I-I can’t,” says Jeongguk, pitifully.

“What do you mean ‘you can’t?’ Jeongguk, you have to try.” Taehyung pleads, but Jeongguk just shakes his head. He can’t — not with Taehyung right there, watching him, listening to him.

“He means,” says Phobos, and Jeongguk chokes as a razor sharp fingernail slips across his neck. “that he can’t. Isn’t that right, Jeonggukie?”

“Don’t call me that.” Jeongguk says futilely, and Phobos laughs at him. Phobos presses a finger to Jeongguk’s skin. It’s shockingly cold. Suddenly, Jeongguk is filled with fear; horrors of war, death, failure, even irrational fears like fruit flies or mismatched socks flood his brain and stop his ability to think. He can hear himself screaming, but doesn’t register it — he's terrified.

Suddenly there’s wind rippling through the room, a tinge of saltiness to it and Jeongguk looks over to see both the aquaphobia and acrophobia pictures have come to life, the picture of the see producing a steady stream of water while the acrophobia picture causes the wind that burns Jeongguk’s eyes and whips his hair into his face. Jeongguk drops his head and closes his eyes, but it only makes matters worse.

Jeongguk can hear Taehyung yelling at him, there’s something panicked and urgent about his tone. Jeongguk looks up, tries to see past the car crashes and helplessness, and really try to hear what Taehyung is telling him. All he can hear is garbled yelling, but Jeongguk registers that Taehyung is crying, and Jeongguk just wants him to be okay.

“You have to come to terms, Jeongguk!” Taehyung yells over the wind, straining against the curtains keeping him from Jeongguk. “You have to dig deep! Use your fear and use it as a weapon instead of a burden!” Taehyung chokes out, but Jeongguk can’t seem to stop screaming long enough to get any of his own words out.

His vision starts to blacken around the edges, and Jeongguk realizes that Phobos isn’t killing him directly. He’s filling Jeongguk with so much fear that he can’t function — he’ll die from his own terror before Phobos could finish him off with anything physically lethal. Jeongguk shakes his head, trying to get rid of the fears of the outside, and public speaking, and using the bathroom — gross.

“I’m Jeon Jeongguk,” Jeongguk whispers, and he can hear Taehyung yelling words of encouragement at him. Jeongguk cuts off when he sees a picture of someone yelling at him whip across the back of his eyelids, and he whimpers slightly. Taehyung drops his voice to something more soothing, and Jeongguk continues. “I- I’m afraid of dying, and buses and of never finding my father — my real father.”

Jeongguk thinks that’s enough, thinks it’s over, but Phobos cackles again and the ice cold burning sensation in his neck and veins persists. “Your biggest fear, Jeongguk. Come on, you know what it is, just… just tell me.” Taehyung says softly.

Jeongguk looks up, and he can see that Taehyung is still crying. Jeongguk is crying too, he can feel it, but he doesn’t acknowledge it. Jeongguk drops his head. Taehyung lets out a shout of terror, of panic, begging, pleading Jeongguk to admit to himself that— “I’m afraid of losing you. Of losing Taehyung. And being left by myself.”

All the chaos in Jeongguk’s mind stops, all the fear leaves him, and Phobos yells angrily before disappearing in a cloud of gold mist. The wind stops, the curtains around Jeongguk’s arms slacken, and Jeongguk falls to the ground, having lost the only thing that was holding him up. The spiders disappear from Taehyung’s shoulders and body, then the curtains fall away. The water from the picture of the sea stops flowing and soaks into the carpet and walls. Taehyung runs to Jeongguk and immediately scoops the boy up into his arms.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Taehyung chants into Jeongguk’s ear. Jeongguk’s shaking, and he’s cold all over. He can feel the ice burn on his neck, proof that he’d faced fear in the face and won. Maybe one day he’ll look at the burn mark and be proud. Right now he wants to curl into a ball and cry. “You did good, you face your fear, Jeongguk, you beat it.”

Jeongguk doesn’t think so, he doesn’t feel like be’s beaten anything, but he also feels like he’s going to fall apart if he breathes too hard, so he can’t really trust his own judgement.

They sit like that for a while, Jeongguk sitting in Taehyung’s lap, even though he doesn’t fit, until Jeongguk stops shaking. Taehyung gives him some of the gold liquid like he did the night Jeongguk got attacked by the furies. “Nectar,” Taehyung says as he hands a small vile to Jeongguk. “The healing drink of the gods. If you were mortal, it would kill you.”

Jeongguk feels better after he drinks it, but as he stands up his legs still wobble. Taehyung seems to be okay, despite also being exposed to the horrors of whatever Phobos had shown him. As Jeongguk finds his footing, he immediately wraps his arms back around Taehyung and hugs him tightly.

“You saved my life.” Jeongguk says truthfully, and Taehyung blushes.

“It was um, uh, no big deal.” Taehyung says. Then he grabs a blanket draped over one of the decorative couches and slings it around Jeongguk’s shoulders. Jeongguk smiles at him appreciatively, and Taehyung holds out his hand. Jeongguk takes it, and as Taehyung tries to lead him outside, his heart beats faster and his throat seems to close. Jeongguk’s knees lock up and he's stiffens, until he’s standing, petrified, in the doorway of the building.

“Jeongguk? Come on?” Taehyung says, his voice as a questioning lilt to it as he pulls on Jeongguk’s hand. Jeongguk looks at him and Taehyung sees the panic in his eyes. Taehyung makes a face of understanding. “I see. Phobos really fucked with you, didn’t he? Well look — I’m outside, and I’m fine, look I’m even going to walk away-“

Taehyung lets go of Jeongguk’s hand and starts down the steps. Jeongguk feels worse now that Taehyung isn’t beside him, like his body is trying to decide if the outside or being without Taehyung is scarier, while the rational part of his brain is screaming at him that he’s fine and the fear is just in his head.

“This is so dumb!” Jeongguk yells, but he still can’t bring himself to move. There’s a vice nagging at the back of Jeongguk’s brain, reminding him of all the germs outside and all the bugs and the allergens. Taehyung smiles at him, kind of lopsided and somewhat sympathetic, and Jeongguk wants to scream. “I’m not afraid.”

“Then why don’t you prove it?” Taehyung asks, and Jeongguk looks at him, eyes narrowed. Taehyung raises his eyebrows, challenging, and Jeongguk forces himself to step down onto the first step. His heartbeat picks up and he wraps the blanket tighter around himself. When he makes it halfway down the steps, Taehyung calls out, quietly, “Just a few more, you’re doing great.”

Jeongguk decides that he’s done with being afraid of the stairs and jumps down the last three, and he stumbles when he hits the sidewalk. Taehyung catches him before he face plants into the concrete. “Thanks,” says Jeongguk. Taehyung smiles at him and leads him over to a parking lot, a single car parked in the ‘employee of the month’ spot.

“I don’t think Phobos will be needing that, do you?” Taehyung asks, amusement swimming in his eyes. Jeongguk laughs lightly and shakes his head. “Great. I think we just found our ride to Pennsylvania.”

“Pennsylvania?” Jeongguk asks. He eyes the car wearily. Fear is churning in his gut, but he’s determined to stamp it out and just get in the damn car. “I thought we were staying here tonight?”

“After that?” Taehyung points to the building, looking appalled. “No way in hell. Come on, get in the car — I’ll drive.”

Jeongguk takes a deep breath and shuffles towards the car. Getting in the car isn’t so bad, but once Taehyung starts up the engine and turns the radio on, Jeongguk’s blood starts pumping and he feels cold as ice. Taehyung must notice, because he takes one hand off the wheel and tucks it into Jeongguk’s palm.

“Just a few hours, Jeongguk. And we’ll drive mostly through the night, which means less traffic. Don’t worry I’ll keep you safe.” Taehyung says. He backs out of the parking lot and Jeongguk closes his eyes, trying to push down his newly acquired fear. Jeongguk hopes all of his new phobias will leave sometime soon — he can’t spend his whole life being too afraid to live. “I’m not going to leave you alone.”

“I know.”

Chapter Text

Jeongguk wakes up as they cross the border into Pennsylvania. He hopes they stop soon; not only is he feeling a little carsick, Jeongguk has to piss.

“Tae?” Jeongguk asks quietly, looking up from where he’d curled into his door. He’s still holding Taehyung’s hand, which is a little embarrassing. “Are we stopping soon?”

“Just a little longer; I want to get to Philadelphia, also known as the City Of Brotherly Love, then we can stop. Promise.” Taehyung says, and Jeongguk nods. Taehyung squeezes Jeongguk’s hand and looks momentarily from the road to Jeongguk. He smiles. “Go back to sleep, Guk.”

Jeongguk does.

When Jeongguk wakes again, he’s laying in a hotel bed, covers swaddled around him like embalming gauze. He looks to the side and sees Taehyung asleep next to him, hair a mess on top of his head and mouth wide open as he drools onto the pillow. Taehyung doesn’t have any blankets covering him, and after a great struggle with his blanket cocoon, Jeongguk gets it loose enough to where he can throw part of the blanket over Taehyung’s body.

Jeongguk, having slept the whole car ride, and for however long they’ve been in the hotel, isn’t tired, and takes time to stare at the ceiling and tries to not think. (Which fails miserably, of course.) Jeongguk’s mind wanders to his family, to his mother and sort-of father and his kind-of sister, even to the ugly rat dog that never let him eat breakfast in peace. Part of him misses them terribly, misses being smacked awake and being forced to eat his cereal with a dog attached to his leg. The other half of him is glad he’s here, in Philadelphia, with a boy he met merely two weeks ago and is some how so close to that his biggest fear is losing him.

Jeongguk looks over at Taehyung, who’s rolled onto his stomach and is snoring louder than his evil dog ever did. It’s kind of endearing, the way Taehyung’s hideous snoring breaks the peaceful silence of their hotel room. Jeongguk shakes his head and wonders when he became so soft. His dad would have his head if he knew Jeongguk has become so mushy — being in the military made his dad forget that humans have emotions other than hate and bloodlust.

Jeongguk sighs. Thinking about his dad… hurts. So many years he has been lied to, but even then it didn’t actually surprise him that much when his dad had told him Jeongguk’s not his biologically. There has always been something off about their relationship, Jeongguk just didn’t know it included not being related by blood.

“You’re thinking too hard.” Jeongguk jumps when he hears Taehyung’s soft voice from beside him. Jeongguk looks over to see Taehyung smiling sleepily at him, and Jeongguk has to hold back his laughter when he sees the pillow creases on the side of Taehyung’s face. Paired with the birds nest hair, he looks like a mess. Taehyung sighs and rolls onto his back. “What’re you thinking about?”

“My family.” Jeongguk answers, and Taehyung jerks his head to look at him, as if he was expecting Jeongguk to lie, or to brush it off as nothing. “I was just thinking about how they’re doing. My mom is probably worried. My dad… probably not so much.”

“I’m sure he misses you, Jeongguk. He raised you, right? There has to be some love in his heart for you.” Taehyung says. Jeongguk shrugs and Taehyung frowns at him.

“Tae, he’s in the military. He’s turned stony. I don’t think he knows any emotion except stoic and angry.” Jeongguk sighs and pulls the covers up to his chin. He doesn’t really want to talk about it anymore, but Taehyung looks intrigued, so he knows the conversation isn’t over.

“Did you say military?” Taehyung asks. When Jeongguk nods, Taehyung sits up in bed and rips the covers off. Jeongguk adverts his gaze when he sees that Taehyung is just in his boxers. “I have to contact Chiron right now. I can’t believe — all this time, of course.”

“All this time what?” Jeongguk asks, sitting up in bed himself. Taehyung is digging through their bag, throws the skull and a few mortal dollars over his shoulder before he pulls a few drachmas out of the bottom of the sack. “Of course, what?” Jeongguk reaches out and grabs Taehyung’s arm to stop him, but when he makes contact, Jeongguk’s arm buzzes with electricity and he yanks his hand back.

“Ow, Tae, you just shocked me.” Jeongguk says. Taehyung turns around to apologize, but before he can, Jeongguk springs out of the bed and hits Taehyung’s arm excitedly. “You just shocked me!”

“I don’t understand — ow, stop hitting me!” Taehyung says, then he pushes Jeongguk’s hand away, sending another shock up Jeongguk’s arm. Jeongguk’s eyes are alight with pride and it takes a second for Taehyung to catch on, but when he does, he drops the drachma and grabs onto Jeongguk’s biceps. “I just shocked you!”

“I know! Do it again!” Jeongguk says, holding his arm out. Taehyung happily complies, sending a small shockwave up Jeongguk’s arm, making his fingers tingle. Jeongguk smiles. “See, I knew you’d be able to do the Zeus thing, you just have to—“

Jeongguk is cut off when Taehyung kisses him. Jeongguk’s mind short circuits. He takes a step backwards, but Taehyung follows him, and Jeongguk has to put his hands on Taehyung’s hips to steady himself. Jeongguk quickly tries to gain his bearings, but it’s hard when Taehyung is kissing him. On the mouth. Taehyung’s actual lips are touching his actual lips.

Taehyung pulls back and slaps a hand to his mouth. “Sorry!” He says into his palm, and when Taehyung realizes Jeongguk probably can’t understand him, he pulls his hand away from his mouth and plays nervously with the hem of his boxers. “Sorry! I-I don’t know what happened, I got- I got excited I guess. I’m, uh, um, gah.”

“It’s okay.” Jeongguk says, his mouth working on autopilot. His brain is still malfunctioning, but obviously Jeongguk’s limbs don’t care that he’s freaking the fuck out, because suddenly his hands are on Taehyung’s hips again and Jeongguk isn’t sure how they got there. “It’s really okay. Super fine.”

Taehyung turns about nineteen shades of red and he looks up at Jeongguk through his bangs, as if he’s trying to hide behind his hair. “Are you sure? Because like, if you’re uncomfortable I can go sleep in the bathtub, no big deal, just give me a pillow and I’ll be fine, uh—“

Jeongguk leans down and kisses Taehyung again, just to get him to stop blabbering long enough for Jeongguk to get a sentence in. “It’s super fine. So fine, in fact, that I won’t make you sleep in the bathtub if you do it again.” Jeongguk mutters against Taehyung’s mouth. Taehyung laughs and wraps his arms around Jeongguk’s neck, pulling him down again for a another kiss. Taehyung starts to walk (read: stumble) backwards, Jeongguk holding onto the small of his back so Taehyung doesn’t fall and kill himself, until his knees hit the bed and he falls back onto the mattress.

“Oh, careful,” Jeongguk mutters, carefully pushing Taehyung’s head away from his little puddle of drool. Taehyung laughs and pulls a pillow over the damp spot before letting his head settle on it. His hair, although still knotted and generally a mess, fans out around his face, and Jeongguk’s doesn’t know if Taehyung looks like an angel, or if he’s just biased. Jeongguk sticks with the former.

Taehyung squirms under Jeongguk and covers his face with his hands. “Stop looking at me like that.”

Jeongguk pulls Taehyung’s hands away and smiles down at him. “Like what?” Taehyung rolls his eyes, but he’s blushing hard, and Jeongguk laughs before leaning down and kissing him again, pressing his body against Taehyung’s. Jeongguk is suddenly aware that Taehyung is in his boxers while he himself is fully clothed, but he tries not to think about it, even when Taehyung pulls at the back of his shirt.

“Take this off, Jeon Jeongguk or so help me gods—“ Taehyung starts, and Jeongguk quickly pulls off his shirt before he starts thinking about the gods — one of them being his own father — while he’s pressed up against a boy, half naked. Jeongguk leans back down to kiss Taehyung, but instead Taehyung connects his lips to Jeongguk’s neck, gently kissing over the marks there from Phobos. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Jeongguk breathes, struggling to hold himself up any longer. He carefully lowers himself fully onto Taehyung and cages Taehyung’s head with his arms. “Not your fault.”

“Kinda my fault.” Taehyung replies. He kisses down Jeongguk’s neck and collarbones, across his chest and then back up to his throat, where he sucks gently on Jeongguk’s adams apple. “If I hadn’t found you, you might be happier.”

Jeongguk tilts his head and nudges Taehyung’s chin up with his nose. Jeongguk’s reconnects their lips and sighs into Taehyung’s mouth, “this is the happiest I’ve ever been.” Taehyung makes a sound that Jeongguk can’t quite describe, but it makes his heart stutter and his stomach flip — in a good way. Not like the way Phobos’ creepy fingernails had.

Taehyung goes back to littering Jeongguk’s upper chest with marks as Jeongguk tries his best not to make any embarrassing noises, but a small whine escapes him when Taehyung’s lips ghost over his nipple.

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk chokes out, his breath catching in his throat. Taehyung hums in acknowledgment and Jeongguk tries to catch his breath. “I’m… uh,”

“Hard? I know. I can feel it.” Taehyung says, and Jeongguk blushes. Taehyung looks up, and Jeongguk notices that his lips are red and swollen. Taehyung smiles up at him and kisses Jeongguk’s shoulder innocently. “We can stop, if you want to. It’s up to you — if you say no, I won’t even make you sleep in the bathtub.”

Jeongguk laughs and the tension in his arms gives, and Jeongguk lands on Taehyung’s chest with a thump. Taehyung’s hands immediately find the nape of Jeongguk’s neck and he starts running his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair. Jeongguk sighs when his crotch rubs on Taehyung’s thigh, and he ruts his hips up once and groans at the friction.

“So, keep going?” Taehyung asks, and Jeongguk nods, continuing to rub himself on Taehyung’s thigh. “Wait — take off your pants or you’ll give me a rash or something.” Jeongguk laughs and kicks off his pants, leaving him in just his underwear. Suddenly he feels very self conscious, despite not being completely bare. Taehyung seems to notice this, however, and flips them over so Jeongguk’s semi-hidden in the mess of blankets and pillows.

Taehyung grinds down on Jeongguk’s dick and Jeongguk gasps, grabbing onto Taehyung’s ass for something to hold on to. Taehyung leans down and kisses Jeongguk, softly groaning into his mouth as Jeongguk’s kneads his asscheeks in his palms. Taehyung goes back to assaulting Jeongguk’s chest, leaving dark marks on his collarbones and dragging his tongue over Jeongguk’s nipples just to hear him gasp.

“Tae,” Jeongguk groans as Taehyung moves his hips faster. Jeongguk’s reaching his climax embarrassingly fast, probably because this is the first time he’s gone father than a heated make out in a closet at a party, but he doesn’t want to come just by Taehyung rubbing their dicks together. “Do, um- do, your hand- you know, uh, ah-“

“I know,” Taehyung laughs, and then he scoots off the bed, leaving Jeongguk cold and confused.

“What are you doing?” Jeongguk asks, pulling some of the blanket around his shoulders. He’s gone from being overheated and sweating to terribly cold in two seconds flat. Despite missing the body heat, he is, however, enjoying the few of Taehyung’s ass as he bends over to pull something out of their bag.

“Just looking for the— oh, here he is!” Taehyung holds up a half used bottle of lube triumphantly, like he’s just pulled Excalibur out of the rock.

“Why do you have that?” Jeongguk asks, holding out his arms in Taehyung’s direction. Taehyung shrugs and crawls back into Jeongguk’s lap.

“What else was I supposed to do while I traveled the country trying to find you?” Taehyung pops the lube open and pours a little bit of his onto his fingers while Jeongguk stares at him incredulously. “What? Why are you making that face?”

“You brought lube on your trip across the country but you didn’t bring shoes?” Taehyung nods and Jeongguk shakes his head. “You’re crazy.”

“I prefer the term prepared. Now shut up, despite your sudden interrogation of my priorities, I’m still aroused, surprisingly.” And before Jeongguk can say anything, Taehyung’s kissing him and pulling down his underwear simultaneously. Jeongguk’s cock hits his stomach and he keens, grinding up against Taehyung’s thigh. Taehyung hits his thigh lightly to get him to stop squirming, and Jeongguk groans into the pillow as he waits for Taehyung to take off his own boxers.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” Jeongguk mutters, pushing his hips up slightly to meet Taehyung’s. Taehyung mutters something that sounds a lot like ‘so needy,’ but Jeongguk doesn’t have time to ponder it before Taehyung’s hand wraps around both of their cocks and he starts stroking upward quickly. Jeongguk holds onto Taehyung’s shoulders and Taehyung kisses him, slips his tongue into Jeongguk’s mouth when Jeongguk gasps out a moan. Taehyung runs his thumb over Jeongguk’s slit and Jeongguk jerks. He wraps his legs instinctively around Taehyung’s waist, pulling him closer. Jeongguk feels the familiar pool of heat gathering in his stomach. “Tae, Tae I’m really close.”

“Yeah,” Taehyung says. He’s panting on Jeongguk’s face, and it should be gross, but Jeongguk doesn’t mind very much. Not when he can look down and see his cock pressed up against Taehyung’s and watch how they slip in and out of Taehyung’s hand with ease. Jeongguk’s pushes his hips up to meet Taehyung’s hand and Taehyung groans, biting down gently on Jeongguk’s shoulder. “Oh my g—“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” Jeongguk says, thrusting his hips up into Taehyung’s hand. Taehyung laughs and then laves his tongue over Jeongguk’s nipple, making Jeongguk whine lowly from the back of his throat. One of Jeongguk’s hands move from Taehyung’s shoulder to the back of his head, and Jeongguk yanks hard on his hair, trying to ground himself. In response, Taehyung bites down on Jeongguk’s nipple, and Jeongguk shouts as he comes all over Taehyung’s hand. Taehyung orgasms right after him, and some of his come lands on Jeongguk’s stomach.

Jeongguk falls back against the pillows, not having realized he was tensing so hard, and Taehyung flops onto the bed next to him. Both of them are breathing heavily, Jeongguk’s hand still knotted in Taehyung’s hair, and the come on Taehyung’s hand slowly drying. Taehyung rolls over and kisses Jeongguk’s cheek. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to get a towel.”

“We should shower,” Jeongguk calls after Taehyung, but he doesn’t make any effort to move. Taehyung snorts unattractively and wipes his hands on one of the fluffy hotel towels before running it briefly over Jeongguk’s stomach. Then Taehyung crawls back into bed next to him and throws the blankets over their legs. Jeongguk immediately puts his head on Taehyung’s chest and an arm around his waist, trying to pull Taehyung as close to him as he can.

They’re silent for a while, Taehyung carding his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair while Jeongguk drifts in an out of sleep. Eventually, Taehyung says quietly, “Did you actually mean that?”

Jeongguk looks up at Taehyung, who’s looking away from him, staring at the wall as if it interests him deeply. “Mean what?”

Taehyung coughs awkwardly and briefly makes eye contact with Jeongguk before going back to staring at the wall. “That you’re afraid of losing me. Did you mean that or were you just fucking around?”

Jeongguk puts his head back on Taehyung’s chest, just above his heart, and begins to draw aimless lines on Taehyung’s bicep. “Of course I meant it. I didn’t want to admit it because it’s embarrassing, but you’re like… the only friend I’ve ever had. And you keep me from dying nearly every other day. Of course I’m afraid to lose you.” Jeongguk thinks back to what Taehyung had said he was afraid of — abandonment, failure, and venus flytraps. “Tae… are you afraid of abandonment because…?”

“Because of my parents? Yeah. They didn’t mean to leave me, it’s not like I was left on my own to fend for myself or anything.” Jeongguk wonders if Taehyung is going to continue, or if they’ll just leave the conversation at that, but then Taehyung takes a deep breath, like he’s steeling himself. “My parents died trying to get me to Camp Half-Blood. We were almost to New York, sleeping in a tent because I thought it would be cool, when I heard what sounded like my mom calling for me. I was only six, I didn’t know any better; I crawled out of the tent and got lost in the woods.”

Jeongguk gently entwines his fingers with Taehyung’s, a soft reminder that he’s there, he’s real and alive, and that Taehyung isn’t alone. “Do you know what the Crocotta is, Jeongguk? He’s this beast… this creature with the body of a deer, a lions neck, cloven hooves, in it’s mouth there’s just boney ridges instead of teeth. It can imitate any human voice and calls men by name, so that, when they get close enough, the Crocotta can eat whomever comes near it. I think that it was hoping for my dad to come out, but he didn’t hear.”

Jeongguk can’t imagine having to face monsters at that young of an age, especially alone and in the dark. He tightens his hold on Taehyung’s hands. “When my parents found out I was gone, they came looking for me. The Crocotta called to them with my voice, making it sound like I was lost and panicked when really, I was hiding behind a tree, watching the Crocotta lure my parents into its trap. There was nothing I could do.”

“When my parents found it, they immediately drew their weapons, but—“ Taehyung takes a deep shuttering breath and Jeongguk wants to tell him it’s okay, that he can stop, but Taehyung continues before he gets the chance. “Crocotta’s can’t be killed with anything made of steel.”

“No,” Jeongguk says, and Taehyung laughs dryly, pushing his fingers through Jeongguk’s bangs.

“Yeah. Most demigod swords are made of celestial bronze, but we were traveling from Maine to New York, so Mom didn’t think we would need them. Mom brought a shield disguised as a bracelet and Dad brought his bow and arrows, but that was it. When they noticed that it wasn’t me in the clearing, they didn’t have enough time to get away before- before—“

“It’s okay,” Jeongguk says, sitting up so he can hug Taehyung tightly. Taehyung rests his forehead on Jeongguk’s shoulder, his chest heaving with withheld sobs. Jeongguk runs his fingers through Taehyung’s hair and down his back, trying to calm him. When Taehyung pulls away, his eyes are glassy.

“Chiron found me at our campsite, four days after what happened. I hadn’t eaten or slept, and he took me the rest of the way to camp with me on his back. I spent two weeks in the infirmary and haven’t left camp since — well, until I was quested to come find you. I can’t fail them, Jeongguk, I have to get you to safety, if not for you, for them.”

“How far are we from New York?” Jeongguk asks, and Taehyung sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Like an hour and a half, maybe? But so much could still go wrong. I still haven't forgiven myself with getting so caught up in the idea of having my palm read that we, you more than me, almost got killed.” Taehyung says. Jeongguk looks at him and tilts his head to the side, coy.

“But something good came out of it, no?” Pointing to the marks on his chest, Jeongguk winks. Taehyung blushes and pushes Jeongguk’s shoulder, making him laugh. Jeongguk wraps his arms back around Taehyung, puling their chest together. “Don’t worry, Tae, it’s less than two hours. I don’t think you and I could even mess that up.”

“You’d be surprised.” Taehyung mutters, and Jeongguk presses the tips of his fingers to Taehyung’s cheeks, lifting them up into a smile. Taehyung’s pout returns after Jeongguk takes his fingers away. “I’m sorry. I probably just ruined your first pillow talk experience by talking about my dead parents.”

“It’s okay, I brought it up. But let’s try to be optimistic, yeah? We can both shower and then hit the road. We’ll be at Camp Half-Blood before noon.” Jeongguk pulls the blankets away from Taehyung and pats his ass lightly, all the previous sorrow and heaviness leaving the air between them. “Go shower. Don’t use all the hot water.”

Taehyung rolls off the bed and walks to the bathroom. Jeongguk leans back onto the pillows when he hears the water start, full ready to listen to Taehyung sing like he always does in the shower, but Taehyung’s head pops out of the doorway and Jeongguk turns to him, confused. “What do you want, Tae?”

“Y’know, we’d get on the road faster and save hot water if you joined me.” Taehyung says, winking cheekily at Jeongguk. Jeongguk rolls his eyes, but finds himself crawling out of the bed anyway while Taehyung giggles in the doorway.

“You’re insufferable.” Jeongguk says, but there’s no real bite to his words at he shuts the bathroom door behind him, leaving him alone with just the sound of Taehyung’s giggles and the beating of water against the walls of the shower.

Chapter Text

They’re driving up the coast of New Jersey, towards the Long Island Sound, when Taehyung leans over the center console and grabs Jeongguk’s hand. They’re close to Camp Half-Blood, Jeongguk can feel it. He wonders if Taehyung can too, and that’s why he’s holding onto him so tightly. Taehyung is so close to completely his quest — to proving to himself that he’s not a failure.

Jeongguk holds onto Taehyung’s hand while Taehyung stares out the window, looking out over the sea with a look of content on his face. The beach is filled with people, mortals who are out enjoying the sunny day, and Jeongguk grins to himself. “Want to make a pit stop?”

Taehyung turns to Jeongguk, eyes alight with adventure and excitement, but the flame fizzles out as Taehyung’s eyes flick over Jeongguk’s neck, where the burn mark still resides. Taehyung’s has faded away, but it seems as if Jeongguk will have his scar forever. Jeongguk notices Taehyung’s hesitance and squeezes his hand gently.

“We’re only like, ten minutes from camp, Tae.” Jeongguk says quietly, looking quickly between Taehyung and the road. “If anything goes wrong, we’re close enough to just run the rest of the way there. We’ll be okay.”

Taehyung opens his mouth to refuse, to say that they just need to get to camp, but then he sees a snow cone stand out of the corner of his eye, and he begins to shout out when he sees available parking spaces. Jeongguk laughs as he parks, Taehyung bent over the console into the backseat to get mortal money out of their bag. The skull rolls out of the bag and onto the floor, making Taehyung shiver. He can’t wait to get rid of it once they get to camp.

“Come on, come on,” Taehyung urges, grabbing Jeongguk’s hand and pulling him towards the snow cone stand. The small trailer is set up near the water, and there are children playing in the waves as their parents pay for their overpriced shaved ice. Jeongguk’s reminded of his dream, and nonchalantly puts himself between Taehyung and the water. As they walk, the water runs over Jeongguk’s shoes, but when the tide recedes, his shoes aren’t wet.

Taehyung pulls ahead, paying for his snow cone before he realizes Jeongguk isn’t beside him, but standing knee deep in water, watching as it curves and flows around him, leaving him dry. Jeongguk stares in wonder at his own legs, before looking up to make eye contact with Taehyung. Jeongguk points to himself, his face portraying the question: are you seeing this too? Taehyung almost drops his snow cone.

“Poseidon!” Taehyung yells, catching the attention of some of the people passing by. Jeongguk’s jaw drops, but he looks unconvinced. Taehyung points to the water, making Jeongguk look down again at where his pants are completely dry. “Your dad, Jeongguk! It’s Poseidon!”

Taehyung claps happily and Jeongguk starts to make his way out of the water. As Jeongguk walks to shore, Taehyung feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns around and is met with a man, a least five inches taller that him, with a military haircut and a nasty scowl on his face. “Uh—“

“Dad?” Taehyung hears from behind him, and he turns back around to face Jeongguk, who’s looking past him, right at the stranger. Taehyung quickly moves to stand next to Jeongguk, holding his snow cone so tightly that the paper rips and it falls all over his hand and the ground. A dog appears from behind the stranger and starts licking the sand at Taehyung’s feet. “Moose? What- why are you here?”

Jeongguk’s dad snaps his fingers and the mangy looking dog retreats. Taehyung looks around the beach and notices that people are packing up their things and leaving, staring at the sky, which is turning a foreboding blackish color. Lighting cracks across the sky and Taehyung jumps.

“So, you figured it out then, I suppose?” Jeongguk’s dad asks, and for a brief second, his eyes flash two different colors. Taehyung gasps and Jeongguk stiffens. Thunder rumbles above them and wind begins to whip across the land, making the waves crash harsher and birds caw in distress.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jeongguk says, moving to put himself between of his dad and Taehyung. Jeongguk feels something tickling his arm, and when he looks down, there’s a small vine trying to wrap around his elbow. Jeongguk nearly smiles.

“Don’t play dumb with me, boy, we both know who you are, son of the Sea God.” Jeongguk’s dad paces back and forth, as if he’s a lion on the prowl. He makes eye contact with Taehyung. “If not for him,” his dad spits the word like acid. “We could leave the issue quietly. But I’m afraid I have to kill you.”

In the blink of an eye, Jeongguk’s dad is no longer standing in front of him, but rather, a lion with his dad’s head. A scorpion tail flicks menacingly behind him, and two bat wings sprout out of it’s back. Hani’s dog, Moose, is no longer an ugly rat dog, but is now a Rottweiler with two heads, both foaming at the mouth and snapping viciously.

“Manitcore.” Jeongguk hears Taehyung say. “Orthrus. Brother of Cerberus. You deal with your dad, I’ll deal with your dog.” Then Taehyung dashes across the sand, towards Jeongguk’s dad. His dad lets out a sound that rattles Jeongguk’s bones, and turns around so quick that Jeongguk has no time to warn Taehyung before he’s smacked in the chest with the scorpion tail. Taehyung flies through the air and lands in the sand. He doesn’t move.

“No!” Jeongguk yells, running towards Taehyung, but then Moose is in front of him, snapping his jaws and growling. Jeongguk backs up until he can feel the waves lapping at the back of his heels. Jeongguk looks at his dad, who is advancing slowly, looking like he has all the time in the world. “What do you want with me?!”

His dad laughs, but it sounds more like an evil rumble coming from deep in the earth. Jeongguk falls backward when his dad swats at him with a giant paw. “You’re a kid of one of the Big Three, Jeongguk, I can’t possibly let you live. Don’t take it personally.” Jeongguk digs around in his pockets for something, anything to defend himself with. He feels the sword in the bottom of his pocket, the one that Hades gave him after Taehyung brought Persephone’s plants back to life. What was it that he said? Just add water. Jeongguk closes his eyes and wills the water to cover him instead of avoid him.

“I don’t get it— you joined the military so we’d move around all the time. Other demigods couldn’t find me,” Jeongguk says. He feels his pocket grow heavier, and he carefully slips the keychain out of his pocket and into the water. “Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?”

“It is very rare that someone of your power doesn’t realize the weapon that lies inside.” Jeongguk’s dad says, flicking his tail ominously. “I wished to bring you to our side — the side of the monsters. You would have been a wonderful asset, Jeongguk. A young, powerful, half-blood that didn’t know the extent of his own power. You would have been putty in our hands, Jeongguk — one of our best fighters; if you hadn’t gone and run away that day, maybe things could have been different, but alas.”

Jeongguk yells and dunks himself under the water as his dad flings a barb at him. It lands in the water next to Jeongguk, and he watches as a dark purple liquid — poison — seeps into the water and flows away. Jeongguk the looks down to the sword in his hand. It’s shining gold, and Jeongguk thinks that this must be what celestial bronze looks like. Jeongguk turns it over in his hands, and has barely enough time to grip it tight enough before he’s yanked out of the water by a huge mouth.

“Enough hiding, Jeongguk!” His dad yells, then throws him in the air like a cat would with a mouse. As Jeongguk starts to fall back down, his dad opens his huge maw, ready to bite him to pieces.

“Oh holy Hades,” Jeongguk says, and the the earth rumbles, making the manticore loses its footing. Jeongguk falls into the sand next to his dad’s paws and rolls away, back towards the ocean. The sea seems to come out farther onto the sand and engulf him, pulling Jeongguk into it’s depths as the waves recede. Jeongguk sucks in a deep breath — then promptly chokes on it as he realizes he can breathe underwater. Fucking cool.

Jeongguk feels the waves starting to push him back towards the shore, and soon enough he’s back on the sand with his dad standing overtop of him. Jeongguk panics and thrusts his sword upwards, straight into the manticore’s stomach. Bright gold blood rushes out of him and onto Jeongguk’s face and chest. Jeongguk’s dad roars in pain and slashes at Jeongguk with his scorpion tail, one of the barbs ripping through Jeongguk’s pants and into his skin. Jeongguk crawls out from under his dad and runs towards the sea, but his dad snatches him with his claws and drags him through the sand.

Off to the side, Moose is standing guard in front of Taehyung; who still hasn’t moved. Jeongguk feels panic bubble in his chest. Jeongguk reaches back with his sword and slashes aimlessly, hoping to make contact with any part of the manticore. He cuts into his dad’s leg, and when he pulls back, Jeongguk dashes towards the sea, willing it to meet him halfway. The waves spring out of the water and cover him, pulling him back into the water.

Think, Jeongguk, think. Jeongguk tells himself. His leg is throbbing with poison, but his dad is already injured and one more well-aimed blow should kill him. Jeongguk shivers, not completely comfortable with killing someone who had raised him, but then he remembers Taehyung, laying lifeless on the beach, and his heart fills with hatred. The sea responds to him, waves crashing on the shore and reaching dangerous heights. Jeongguk’s not sure if there’s ever been tsunami in New Jersey, but there might be one tonight.

I need to be overtop of him, Jeongguk thinks, and the sea responds to him, lifting him up and carrying him over the shore. His dad looks up at him, growling, and swipes his paw at the air angrily. One of his claws scrape against Jeongguk’s cheek, slicing it open. Jeongguk poises his sword, thinks drop, and then he’s hurtling towards the sand, sword tip down, and he plunges the edge right into his dad’s back.

The sword goes right through him, cutting the manticore in half. His dad screams in anguish and then disappears, like every other monster, into a cloud of golden dust. Jeongguk is breathing heavily, looking down at the sword in his hands in awe. The storm above him rages on, wind whipping his hair into his face. The sea seems to be more at ease now that Jeongguk isn’t fighting, but the waves still hit the shore harshly.

Jeongguk hears a growl coming from beside him, and he lackadaisically runs his swords in between Moose’s two heads; he too disappears. Father away, Jeongguk sees Taehyung flat on his back, still having not moved from where he landed. Beside him is a woman with long dark hair braided with gold. Her dress flows behind her, but she doesn’t seem too troubled by the wind.

Jeongguk makes his way over to them, noticing for the first time that the gash in his leg is gone. He reaches up to his cheek, which is no longer bleeding, but he can feel a small indent where his dad had cut him.

“Jeon Jeongguk,” the woman says as Jeongguk approaches. He feels like he should bow or something, so he does. The woman laughs, “no need for that, young hero. Stand tall.” Jeongguk straightens up, and he notices that the woman is running her hand above Taehyung’s body, rose petals falling from her palms onto his form.

“Demeter,” Jeongguk breathes. The woman nods, and when Jeongguk looks at her, there are tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. Jeongguk looks back to Taehyung, whom he thought was just knocked out, but he can see the purplish hue to his skin, the absence of a rise and fall of his chest. Jeongguk falls to his knees. “No. No, no, no, no, no.”

“I am sorry, young hero, there is nothing I can do for him now.” Demeter says, and Jeongguk watches in horror as flowers spring up around Taehyung’s body, even through the sand. Jeongguk chokes back a sob as he looks up at the goddess.

“Please,” he begs, holding onto Taehyung’s shoulders. “Please you have to help him, you have to. He can’t- he can’t- you can’t let him die. Please.” There are tears running freely down Jeongguk’s face now as he hugs Taehyung’s lifeless body to his chest. He can’t believe it. Both of their worst fears are coming true — but Jeongguk has to live with his.

Jeongguk feels a hand on his back and he lifts his face from Taehyung face to look at Demeter, who has a tear running down her face. “Jeongguk, you must let him go. He is with his family now.”

“He promised not to leave me alone!” Jeongguk yells, and his heart rattles in his chest. Demeter merely nods as Jeongguk cries. “Fuck you, fuck all of this. You— you got him killed. If he wasn’t a half-blood this never would have happened.”

Demeter sighs and looks at Jeongguk painfully. “My child—“

“He can’t die!” Jeongguk says. He picks Taehyung up and takes him to the ocean, which is churning as Jeongguk cries. Jeongguk puts Taehyung in the water, gently dousing him until he’s covered. If the water can heal him, maybe it can heal Taehyung, too. “Oh come on, please Tae. Please, you can’t leave me.”

Jeongguk drops his head onto Taehyung’s chest and cries, holding onto Taehyung’s shoulders. Part of his knows it’s no use, Taehyung’s dead and he can’t bring him back, but the more irrational part of him continues to drown Taehyung’s already dead body in an attempt to bring him back.

“Jeongguk, listen to me,” comes Demeter’s soft voice. Jeongguk looks up and the goddess holds his face. “You mustn’t interfere with death. It is a very dangerous thing. However, I myself have had to deal with Hades. I believe there is someone you must speak with.”

***

“Persephone.” Jeongguk says, catching the attention of the woman standing in her garden. She turns around and Jeongguk’s breath escapes him. No wonder Hades kidnapped her. Jeongguk shakes his head. He has business to attend to. “Persephone I need your help.”

“This is about Taehyung, isn’t it?” Persephone asks, sitting down on one of the benches in her garden. She motions for Jeongguk to join her. When Jeongguk nods, Persephone sighs. “My husband… he is not one to do favors for just any hero.”

“Please,” Jeongguk says, and he has to bite his lip to keep himself from crying. “I need him back. He can’t be-“ Jeongguk covers his face with his hands and Persephone looks at him sadly.

“I will see what I can do, Jeongguk, but Hades is not one to bargain. Wait here, and do not eat anything.” Jeongguk nods, he knows the legend, and Persephone disappears into Hades’ palace. Jeongguk looks around at the plants, remembering the time when Taehyung had walked amongst them, bringing the drooping flowers back to life and laughing gleefully as he dirtied his hands with soil and filth.

Jeongguk doesn’t know how long he sits alone in the garden, but suddenly there is someone beside him, a low voice saying, “You have a lot of nerve, Jeon Jeongguk, asking me to spare the life of someone who has already accepted death.”

Jeongguk turns to Hades, who is staring at him darkly. Jeongguk takes a step back, intimated. “You have done much for me, puny hero. You banished the manticore, the chimera, even Phobos, to the depths of Tartarus. Typhon even shook in fear when matched against you. You are stronger than you know, Jeongguk.”

“Uh, thanks—?”

“However, I am afraid I cannot bring your boyfriend back— not without a cost, of course.” Hades says. Jeongguk steels himself, hand on his sword. Hades laughs, and, with a flick of his hands, sends Jeongguk’s sword sailing across the garden. It lodges itself in the dirt at the base of a tree. “You will not be fighting anything, I am afraid. In order to get your beloved beau back, Jeongguk, you will have to be taken to stand in front of my Judges. If you pass, you return to earth with Taehyung and will be escorted to Camp Half-Blood by two of my finest men:” out of the shadows appear what looks to be like two war generals. Jeongguk swears one of them is George Washington. “If you fail, however, both you and your special friend will spend forever with me, helping guard the palace. Do you take my offer, Jeon Jeongguk?”

“Yeah,” Jeongguk says without hesitation. “I mean, um. Yes, Lord Hades. Sir.” Hades smiles, amused. Then, with a swish of his long coat, he begins down a path towards the Judges. Jeongguk tries to remember what Taehyung told him about them; King Minos, Aiakos… and another one, Jeongguk can’t pronounce it so he never bothered to remember. He remembers Cerberus, who Jeongguk can hear barking as they get nearer to the entrance to the Underworld.

The spirits cower at the sight of Hades, and Jeongguk follows closely behind as Hades struts in front of the judges. The three men immediately straighten up in their seats — King Minos has to lower his feet from the armrest of his throne. “Lord Hades, what brings you here?”

“Jeongguk?” Jeongguk snaps his head towards the direction of the voice, and at the front of the judgement line he sees Taehyung’s ghost, staring at him in horror. “What are you doing down here? You need to get to camp!”

Jeongguk doesn’t get a chance to answer, because Hades grabs his shoulders and harshly sets him in front of the Judges. The three men look at him, unimpressed. “This is Jeon Jeongguk. He wishes to bring your next trial, Kim Taehyung, back to life after his dad so brutally murdered him.” Jeongguk stiffens, and he can practically hear the smile in Hades’ voice. Jeongguk hears Taehyung gasp and Jeongguk looks over at him, smiling a little lopsidedly. “In order to bring our boy Taehyung here back, he needs to pass your test. Please, weigh this young boy’s deeds.”

Hades steps back, leaving Jeongguk alone on a dais in the middle of the room. Minos smiles wickedly at him, and Jeongguk swallows roughly. “So, Jeon Jeongguk, you have done many heroic things as of late, but let’s look back a little further in history, yeah?”

Everything around Jeongguk suddenly turns black and it’s as if he’s in a screening room, watching his own life. There’s a clip of Hani’s first birthday, and Jeongguk winces as he watches himself shove her face into her cake. Next, his freshman homecoming appears and Jeongguk watches himself spike the punch. Jeongguk relives his entire life in just a few short seconds — his first girlfriend, his first boyfriend, his fist fight the first day of senior year. Jeongguk blushes when he and Taehyung both pop up, Jeongguk yelling you shocked me! and then he has to watch everything that ensued.

Eventually the screen goes dark, after Jeongguk has to relive his reaction to Taehyung’s death, has to watch as he drags Taehyung’s body towards the sea and tries to bring him back. When everything is light again, Jeongguk sees Taehyung off to the side, crying, and can even see that Hades isn’t sporting his cocky smirk any longer.

The judges all look at each other for a long time, long enough that Jeongguk starts doubting himself, starts thinking back to all the mildly bad things he’d done throughout his life. Spiking punch and covering people in icing weren’t bad enough to keep him in the Underworld forever, right?

“All right,” King Minos says, adjusting himself in his seat. Jeongguk holds his breath, nervously fiddling with the bottom of his shirt. “We’re sorry to say this, but,” Jeongguk drops his head, covering his eyes with his hands. He can hear Taehyung’s sob of despair from the corner. “You will not be getting two more guards this time, Lord Hades. The boy has been nothing less than a hero his whole life, despite his penchant for getting into trouble.”

Jeongguk’s head snaps up and he looks at Hades, who nods solemnly. “Very well. You would have made a great guard dog, Jeongguk. Now, both of you get away from me. I don’t want to see you until next summer.”

Suddenly Jeongguk is back on the beach, hunched over Taehyung’s body as waves roll over the both of them. Jeongguk pulls back, taking Taehyung with him, and Taehyung splutters back to life, coughing up water and sand into his lap. Taehyung wipes his mouth and then looks up at Jeongguk, who is stunned silent.

“You’re alive.” Jeongguk says, and Taehyung nods mutely, mouth open and wet hair plastered to his forehead. “You’re alive.” Jeongguk repeats, then he leans down and smashes his mouth against Taehyung’s, teeth clanking together painfully. Taehyung wraps one arm around Jeongguk’s neck and tangles his other hand in Jeongguk’s hair. When Jeongguk pulls back to breathe, he rests his forehead against Taehyung’s and hugs him tightly. “I thought you were gone. I thought I’d lost you forever.”

“I’m sorry.” Taehyung says quietly, and Jeongguk smacks Taehyung’s chest gently.

“Don’t apologize. Just don’t die again.”

“I don’t plan on it.” Taehyung says, and Taehyung leans up to kiss Jeongguk again, but a cough breaks them apart. Standing above them are the two war generals Jeongguk saw in Persephone’s garden. One of them is definitely George Washington.

“We are here to escort you safely to Camp Half-Blood, wishes of Lord Hades.” Ghost Washington says. Jeongguk nods and helps Taehyung to his feet. The other ghost hands Jeongguk his sword, and when Jeongguk touches it, it turns back into a harmless keychain. Jeongguk holds Taehyung’s hand as the two of them, plus their ghost body guards, walk back to the car. Jeongguk goes to get in the drivers seat, but Ghost Washington beats him to it by melting through the door and behind the wheel.

Jeongguk opens the door for Taehyung and he crawls into the middle seat so Jeongguk can follow him. “I assume you know where camp is?” Taehyung starts to ask, but before he can finish his sentence, Ghost Washington is pulling out into the road, driving over the concrete median, and heading towards camp.

Jeongguk holds onto the headrest for dear life. “If I had known we were going to die going to camp anyways, maybe I would have just killed myself after you died.”

Taehyung laughs quietly, but it’s subdued. “Thank you,” Taehyung says, entwining his fingers with Jeongguk’s. “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“Yes I did.” says Jeongguk, looking over at Taehyung. “I couldn’t just let you die, Tae. You- you’re… I couldn’t let you die, okay?” Jeongguk shakes Taehyung hands, trying to prove his point without words. Taehyung nods and tips forward and kisses him gently.

“I would have done the same thing.” Taehyung says. He runs his thumb over Jeongguk’s cheekbone and over his new scar, courtesy of his father. Taehyung’s hand reaches the scar on his neck and he smiles goofily. “You’re a little bit beat up, huh?”

“Just a bit.” Jeongguk smiles and Taehyung laughs. Taehyung leans his head on Jeongguk’s shoulder, and Jeongguk thinks back to all the times Taehyung had fallen asleep on him taking public transit. He remembers the three old women with the string, and hesitantly asks Taehyung if he knew them.

Taehyung’s head jerks off of Jeongguk’s shoulder. “You saw the Fates?” Taehyung asks, “you saw the Fates and didn’t tell me!” Taehyung punctuates his sentence with a punch to Jeongguk’s shoulder.

“Ow! And of course I didn’t tell you, I didn’t know what they were and after they cut the string they just… vanished. I thought I’d been hallucinating.” Jeongguk says. He leans back against his seat and sighs. “I guess if I would have told you we could have avoided this whole ordeal. It must have been your string.”

“Obviously it was my string. I’m the one who died.” Taehyung says, flicking Jeongguk’s forehead. “Sometimes I wonder how you lasted so long, Jeongguk. You don’t know about the Fates, or the Underworld, hell, you couldn’t even recognize a siren.”

“Siren?” Jeongguk asks.

“Yeah, they’re these creatures that are supposed to tell you of your hearts greatest desire to lure you to them, and then they eat you.” Taehyung says. He looks over at Jeongguk, who’s looking at him blankly, obviously not making the connection. “Your dream, doofus.”

“My dream!” Jeongguk yells, as if he came up with the idea. After his epiphany, Jeongguk blushes. “So you already knew I was obsessed with you before Phobos. Gods, why am I so embarrassing?”

Taehyung giggles and leans towards Jeongguk, dropping a quick kiss to the corner of Jeongguk’s mouth. “Don’t worry, I was flattered.” Jeongguk rolls his eyes and leans forward again, when the car makes an abrupt stop, and Jeongguk has to grab onto Taehyung’s shoulders to keep him from launching through the windshield.

“Camp Half-Blood.” Says Ghost Washington, and Taehyung smiles politely at the two ghosts before grabbing their bag and slipping out of the car. Jeongguk exits behind him, and Taehyung holds out his hand. Jeongguk takes it and Taehyung leads him to the top of a hill which overlooks a small valley. Situated at the bottom of the hill are twelve cabins, a few squares of strawberries, a lake, and even basketball courts. There’s a patio off to one side, where it seems everyone is gathered. All of them are staring in rapt attention at the same person — a centaur, who’s standing at the front of the patio. Jeongguk guesses that’s Chiron.

“Well, Jeonggukie.” Taehyung says, smiling over at Jeongguk. Jeongguk smiles back and tightens his grip in Taehyung’s. “Welcome to Camp Half-Blood.”