‘What’s the catch?’ she asked.
Kekrops turned those inscrutable dark eyes on her. ‘Only a small party of demigods – no more than three – could pass undetected by the giants. Otherwise your scent would give you away. But our underground passages could lead you straight into the ruins of the Acropolis. Once there, you could disable the siege weapons by stealth and allow the rest of your crew to approach. With luck, you could take the giants by surprise. You might be able to disrupt their ceremony.’
‘Ceremony?’ Leo asked. ‘Oh … like, to wake Gaia.’
‘Even now it has begun,’ Kekrops warned. ‘Can you not feel the earth trembling? We, the gemini, are your best chance.’
Piper heard eagerness in his voice – almost hunger.
Percy looked around the table. ‘Any objections?’
‘Just a few,’ Jason said. ‘We’re on the enemy’s doorstep. We’re being asked to split up. Isn’t that how people get killed in horror movies?’
‘Also,’ Percy said, ‘Gaia wants us to reach the Parthenon. She wants our blood to water the stones and all that other psycho garbage. Won’t we be playing right into her hands?’
Annabeth caught Piper’s eye. She asked a silent question: What’s your feeling?
Piper still wasn’t used to that – the way Annabeth looked to her for advice now. Ever since Sparta, they’d learned that they could tackle problems together from two different sides. Annabeth saw the logical thing, the tactical move. Piper had gut reactions that were anything but logical. Together, they either solved the problem twice as fast, or they hopelessly confused each other.
Kekrops’s offer made sense. At least, it sounded like the least suicidal option. But Piper was certain the snake king was hiding his true intentions. She just didn’t know how to prove it …
Then she remembered something her father had told her years ago: You were named Piper because Grandpa Tom thought you would have a powerful voice. You would learn all the Cherokee songs, even the song of the snakes.
A myth from a totally different culture, yet here she was, facing the king of the snake people.
She began to sing: ‘Summertime’, one of her dad’s favourites.
Kekrops stared at her in wonder. He began to sway.
At first Piper was self-conscious, singing in front of all her friends and a snake guy. Her dad had always told her she had a good voice, but she didn’t like to draw attention to herself. She didn’t even like to participate at campfire sing-alongs. Now her words filled the mess hall. Everyone listened, transfixed.
She finished the first verse. No one spoke for a count of five.
‘Pipes,’ Jason said, ‘I had no idea.’
‘That was beautiful,’ Leo agreed. ‘Maybe not … you know, Calypso beautiful, but still …’
Piper kept the snake king’s gaze. ‘What are your real intentions?’
‘To deceive you,’ he said in a trance, still swaying. ‘We hope to lead you into the tunnels and destroy you.’
‘Why?’ Piper asked.
‘The Earth Mother has promised us great rewards. If we spill your blood under the Parthenon, that will be sufficient to complete her awakening.’
‘But you serve Athena,’ Piper said. ‘You founded her city.’
Kekrops made a low hiss. ‘And in return the goddess abandoned me. Athena replaced me with a two-legged human king. She drove my daughters mad. They leaped to their deaths from the cliffs of the Acropolis. The original Athenians, the gemini, were driven underground and forgotten. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, turned her back on us, but wisdom comes from the earth as well. We are, first and last, the children of Gaia. The Earth Mother has promised us a place in the sun of the upper world.’
‘Gaia is lying,’ Piper said. ‘She intends to destroy the upper world, not give it to anyone.’
Kekrops bared his fangs. ‘Then we will be no worse off than we were under the treacherous gods!’
He raised his staff, but Piper launched into another verse of ‘Summertime’.
The snake king’s arms went limp. His eyes glassed over.
Piper sang a few more lines, then she risked another question: ‘The giants’ defences, the underground passage to the Acropolis – how much of what you told us is true?’
‘All of it,’ Kekrops said. ‘The Acropolis is heavily defended, just as I described. Any approach aboveground would be impossible.’
‘So you could guide us through your tunnels,’ Piper said. ‘That’s also true?’
Kekrops frowned. ‘Yes …’
‘And if you ordered your people not to attack us,’ she said, ‘they would obey?’
‘Yes, but …’ Kekrops shuddered. ‘Yes, they would obey. Three of you at most could go without attracting the attention of the giants.’
Annabeth’s eyes darkened. ‘Piper, we’d be crazy to try it. He’ll kill us at the first opportunity.’
‘Yes,’ the snake king agreed. ‘Only this girl’s music controls me. I hate it. Please, sing some more.’
Piper gave him another verse.
Leo got into the act. He picked up a couple of spoons and made them do high kicks on the tabletop until Hazel slapped his arm.
‘I should go,’ Hazel said, ‘if it’s underground.’
‘Never,’ Kekrops said. ‘A child of the Underworld? My people would find your presence revolting. No charming music would keep them from slaying you.’
Hazel swallowed. ‘Or I could stay here.’
‘Me and Percy,’ Annabeth suggested.
‘Um …’ Percy raised his hand. ‘Just gonna throw this out here again. That’s exactly what Gaia wants – you and me, our blood watering the stones, et cetera.’
‘I know.’ Annabeth’s expression was grim. ‘But it’s the most logical choice. The oldest shrines on the Acropolis are dedicated to Poseidon and Athena. Kekrops, wouldn’t that mask our approach?’
‘Yes,’ the snake king admitted. ‘Your … your scent would be difficult to discern. The ruins always radiate the power of those two gods.’
‘And me,’ Piper said at the end of her song. ‘You’ll need me to keep our friend here in line.’
Jason squeezed her hand. ‘I still hate the idea of splitting up.’
‘But it’s our best shot,’ Frank said. ‘The three of them sneak in and disable the onagers, cause a distraction. Then the rest of us fly in with ballistae blazing.’
‘Yes,’ Kekrops said, ‘that plan could work. If I do not kill you first.’
‘I’ve got an idea,’ Annabeth said. ‘Frank, Hazel, Leo … let’s talk. Piper, can you keep our friend musically incapacitated?’
Piper started a different song: ‘Happy Trails’, a silly tune her dad used to sing to her whenever they left Oklahoma to return to L.A. Annabeth, Leo, Frank and Hazel left to talk strategy.
‘Well.’ Percy rose and offered his hand to Jason. ‘Until we meet again at the Acropolis, bro. I’ll be the one killing giants.’
XLII
Piper
PIPER’S DAD USED TO SAY that being in the airport didn’t count as visiting a city. Piper felt the same way about sewers.
From the port to the Acropolis, she 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 cotton and easy living, but Piper kept it up. If she stopped for longer than a minute or two, Kekrops and his guards started hissing and looking angry.
‘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 Piper feel downhearted. She wished Jason were with her. Heck, she’d even settle for Leo … though maybe she wouldn’t have held his hand. Leo’s hands tended to burst into flames when he was nervous.
Piper’s voice echoed through the tunnels. As they travelled further into the lair, more snake people gathered to hear her. Soon they had a procession following behind them – dozens of gemini all swaying and slithering.
Piper had lived up to her granddad’s prediction. She had learned the song of the snakes – which turned out to be a George Gershwin number from 1935. So far she had even kept the snake king from biting, just like in the old Cherokee story. The only problem with that legend: the warrior who learned the snake song had to sacrifice his wife for the power. Piper didn’t want to sacrifice anyone.
The vial of physician’s cure was still wrapped in its chamois cloth, tucked in her belt pouch. She hadn’t had time to consult with Jason and Leo before she left. She just had to hope they would all be reunited on the hilltop before anyone needed the cure. If one of them died and she couldn’t reach them …
Just keep singing, she told herself.
They passed through crude stone chambers littered with bones. They climbed slopes so steep and slippery it was nearly impossible to keep their footing. At one point, they 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 her, they sounded like an army of football players shuffling with sandpaper on their cleats.
Piper wondered how many gemini lived down here. Hundreds, maybe thousands.
She thought she heard her own heartbeat echoing through the corridors, getting louder and louder the deeper they went. Then she 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 Piper’s 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.
Piper’s singing wavered.
Fear washed over her, as it had in the Spartan temple. But the gods Phobos and Deimos were old friends to her now. She let the fear burn inside her like fuel, making her voice even stronger. She sang for the snake people, for her friends’ safety. Why not for Gaia, too?
Finally they reached the top of a steep slope, where the path ended in a curtain of green goo.
Kekrops faced the demigods. ‘Beyond this camouflage is the Acropolis. You must remain here. I will check that your way is clear.’
‘Wait.’ Piper turned to address the crowd of gemini. ‘There is only death above. You will be safer in the tunnels. Hurry back. Forget you saw us. Protect yourselves.’
The fear in her voice channelled perfectly with the charmspeak. The snake people, even the guards, turned and slithered into the darkness, leaving only the king.
‘Kekrops,’ Piper said, ‘you’re planning to betray us as soon as you step through that goo.’
‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘I will alert the giants. They will destroy you.’ Then he hissed. ‘Why did I tell you that?’
‘Listen to the heartbeat of Gaia,’ Piper urged. ‘You can sense her rage, can’t you?’
Kekrops wavered. The end of his staff glowed dimly. ‘I can, yes. She is angry.’
‘She’ll destroy everything,’ Piper said. ‘She’ll reduce the Acropolis to a smoking crater. Athens – your city – will be utterly destroyed, your people along with it. You believe me, don’t you?’
‘I – I do.’
‘Whatever hatred you have for humans, for demigods, for Athena, we are the only chance to stop Gaia. So you will not betray us. For your own sake, and your people, you will scout the territory and make sure the way is clear. You will say nothing to the giants. Then you will return.’
‘That is … what I’ll do.’ Kekrops disappeared through the membrane of goo.
Annabeth shook her head in amazement. ‘Piper, that was incredible.’
‘We’ll see if it works.’ Piper sat down on the cool stone floor. She figured she might as well rest while she could.
The others squatted next to her. Percy handed her a canteen of water.
Until she took a drink, Piper hadn’t realized how dry her throat was. ‘Thanks.’
Percy nodded. ‘You think the charm will last?’
‘I’m not sure,’ she admitted. ‘If Kekrops comes back in two minutes with an army of giants, then no.’
The heartbeat of Gaia echoed through the floor. Strangely, it made Piper think of the sea – how the waves boomed along the cliffs of Santa Monica back home.
She wondered what her father was doing right now. It would be the middle of the night in California. Maybe he was asleep, or doing a late-night TV interview. Piper hoped he was in his favourite spot: the porch off the living room, watching the moon over the Pacific, enjoying some quiet time. Piper wanted to think he was happy and content right now … in case they failed.
She thought about her friends in the Aphrodite cabin at Camp Half-Blood. She thought about her cousins in Oklahoma, which was odd, since she’d never spent much time with them. She didn’t even know them very well. Now she was sorry about that.
She wished she’d taken more advantage of her life, appreciated things more. She would always be grateful for her family aboard the Argo II – but she had so many other friends and relatives she wished she could see one last time.
‘Do you guys ever think about your families?’ she asked.
It was a silly question, especially on the cusp of a battle. Piper should have been focused on their quest, not distracting her friends.
But they didn’t chide her.
Percy’s gaze became unfocused. His lower lip quivered. ‘My mom … I – I haven’t even seen her since Hera made me disappear. I called her from Alaska. I gave Coach Hedge some letters to deliver to her. I …’ His voice broke. ‘She’s all I’ve got. Her and my stepdad, Paul.’
‘And Tyson,’ Annabeth reminded him. ‘And Grover. And –’
‘Yeah, of course,’ Percy said. ‘Thanks. I feel much better.’
Piper probably shouldn’t have laughed, but she was too full of nervousness and melancholy to hold it in. ‘What about you, Annabeth?’
‘My dad … my stepmom and stepbrothers.’ She turned the drakon-bone blade in her lap. ‘After all I’ve been through in the past year, it seems stupid that I resented them for so long. And my dad’s relatives … I haven’t thought about them in years. I have an uncle and cousin in Boston.’
Percy looked shocked. ‘You, with the Yankees cap? You’ve got family in Red Sox country?’
Annabeth smiled weakly. ‘I never see them. My dad and my uncle don’t get along. Some old rivalry. I don’t know. It’s stupid what keeps people apart.’
Piper nodded. She wished she had the healing powers of Asclepius. She wished she could look at people and see what was hurting them, then whip out her prescription pad and make everything better. But she guessed there was a reason Zeus kept Asclepius locked away in his underground temple.
Some pain shouldn’t be wished away so easily. It had to be dealt with, even embraced. Without the agony of the last few months, Piper never would have found her best friends, Hazel and Annabeth. She never would’ve discovered her own courage. She certainly wouldn’t have had the guts to sing show tunes to the snake people under Athens.
At the top of the tunnel, the green membrane rippled.
Piper grabbed her sword and rose, prepared for a flood of monsters.
But Kekrops emerged alone.
‘The way is clear,’ he said. ‘But hurry. The ceremony is almost complete.’
Pushing through a curtain of mucus was almost as fun as Piper imagined.
She emerged feeling like she’d just rolled through a giant’s nostril. Fortunately, none of the gunk stuck to her, but still her skin tingled with revulsion.
Percy, Annabeth and she found themselves in a cool, damp pit that seemed to be the basement level of a temple. All around them, uneven ground stretched into darkness under a low ceiling of stone. Directly above their heads, a rectangular gap was open to the sky. Piper could see the edges of walls and the tops of columns, but no monsters … yet.
The camouflage membrane had closed behind them and blended into the ground. Piper pressed her hand against it. The area seemed to be solid rock. They wouldn’t be leaving the way they’d come.
Annabeth ran her hand along some marks on the ground – a jagged crow’s-foot shape as long as a human body. The area was lumpy and white, like stone scar tissue. ‘This is the place,’ she said. ‘Percy, these are the trident marks of Poseidon.’