THE HEALER| Heroes of Olympus

n i n e

My dad used to say that being in the airport didn't count as visiting a city. I felt the same way about sewers.

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

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

I honestly didn't know how I was keeping this up. 

I was in the dark surrounded by snake people. My two irrational fears thanks to my wonderful father Apollo.

"I don't like this place," Annabeth murmured. "Reminds me of when I was underneath Rome."

Kekrops hissed with laughter. "Our domain is much older. Much, much older."

Annabeth slipped her hand into Percy's, which made me feel downhearted. I wished Jasper were with me. Heck, I'd even settle for Leo, I'd grown close to him over the past few days... though maybe I wouldn't have held his hand. Leo's hands tended to burst into flames when he was nervous.

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

Just keep singing, I told myself. Don't worry about the creepy snake people behind you

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

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

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

Why did every Greek myth have to deal with snakes? I thought miserably. 

I thought I heard her own heartbeat echoing through the corridors, getting louder and louder the deeper they went. Then I realized the persistent boom ba-boom was all around them, resonating through the stone and the air.I wake. A woman's voice, as clear as my singing.

Annabeth froze. "Oh, that's not good."

"It's like Tartarus," Percy said, his voice edgy. "You remember ... his heartbeat. When he appeared–"

"Don't," Annabeth said. "Just don't."

"Sorry." In the light of his sword, Percy's face was like a large firefly – a hovering, momentary smudge of brightness in the dark.

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

My singing wavered.

Fear washed over me, but after all that I'd been through this summer. Fear was a constant thing. I let it turn into adrenaline.  I felt the fear burn inside me like fuel, making my voice even stronger. I sang for the snake people, for her friends' safety. Why not for Gaia, too?

Finally we reached the top of a steep slope, where the path ended in a curtain of green goo.

Kekrops faced the demigods. "Beyond this camouflage is the Acropolis. You must remain here. I will check that your way is clear."