Chapter 44. 

Chungha wasn't stupid enough to believe that convincing a bunch of demigods was easy. Trust was a foreign word when it came to people like them. 

It was difficult to act trustworthy and not even one of them had opened up to her. 

Mina had been suspicious the moment Chungha had appeared out of no where to suddenly warn them about trapped Gods. 
Chaeyoung avoided her like the plague. Jeongyeon and Nayeon might be acting like complete idiots at times but the both of them had decided to be adults for once.

And then there was Momo. 

She seemed like the only one that tried to be friendly and open around Chungha but that all too familiar fake smile made it difficult to actually connect with her. 

The daughter of Poseidon tried to stop her thoughts from racing around too much. She could already feel Mina's judging gaze on her back and the closer they came to their destination the more uncomfortable Chungha seemed to act.

The group walked straight through some bushes when suddenly the ground around them shook. It was very subtle at first but rapidly became more noticeable. 

Jeongyeon's eyes met Chunghas. 

Je: "Is this something we should ignore or-?"

The ground shook again and they all crouched. The muddy floor made everything soaking wet the moment something touched it. 

The daughter of Poseidon ignored Jeongyeon's concerned question and sneaked towards where the noises came from. It was like somebody emptied a bucket with freezing water over her head. What she saw was not what she had expected. 

In front of her was a wide area. For normal people nothing special was located there but they weren't normal. They were demigods and they could see why exactly the ground had shook. 

A human looking creature was jumping onto a big iron cage pushing it deeper into the ground. The goldish bars were clearly inhanced with some kind of spell or potion. Inside that cage was a beautiful woman. 

Everyone immediately recognized her. 

Min: "Iris... Goddess of the rainbow..."

Mina's hushed whisper was enough to make Chungha notice the sudden mood change. The group turned towards her and seemed as serious as ever. 

Nay: "Explain. Now." 

The daughter of Aphrodite was not joking around anymore. 

Chungha was at a loss for words. This was not what Dahyun's stepmother had promised. The deal had clearly stated that the Olympus was located here. Something hadn't been right from the beginning but now the weight of the mistake Chungha had made seemed to crush her. 

She had been tricked and now Jihyo, Sana, Dahyun and Tzuyu had to pay the price. It had been a trap all along. 

The gods weren't here.... 
but maybe..... 
just maybe there was still hope.

Chungha straightened her back again and stared at the other demigods. 

Chu: "There's been a change of plans-" 

Chae: "What!?" 

Chu: "We don't have enough time for this argument. Just listen. The God's are not here. They are probably where Dahyun's stepmother is. Turns out we walked straight into a trap but there is still some hope. If we can free Iris and deliver a message to Jihyo and the others we can figure out where they are and how to help them. But we have to be quick. The longer we wait the more likely it is that Dahyun's stepmother gets a hold on her." 

Nayeon's voice was calm but with a hint of frustration. 

Nay:"Are you messing with us?" 

Chungha knew that messing with other demigods was never a good idea. She had joined a gamble she had feared she'd lose. She still took that small chance of winning and still, unsurprisingly, lost. 

Now, in the eyes of every demigod out there, she was as trustworthy as the enemy herself. 

Chungha inhaled then exhaled. Her mind wasn't as clouded as it was before anymore. She calmed her nerves. It might have been too late now but she wasn't going to give up on Dahyun. Not after everything that happened. The daughter of Poseidon would deal with the consequences later. 

Chu: "Sadly, no. I am not messing with you. I made a grave mistake and now everyone is in danger. But we have a chance of fixing my wrongdoings. We have to be quick though. The time is ticking and I'm pretty sure the giant, that is currently jumping onto the cage that is trapping Godess Iris, over there is going to notice our presence soon." 

Momo nudged Jeongyeon's side. 

Mo:" It doesn't matter why this went wrong and killing Chungha isn't going to help either. We have to free Iris regardless of the circumstances. It's our job to help her."

Mina seemed to agree. The daughter of Athena had known that Chungha was hiding something. How else could she have known where exactly the Olympus was currently. Although she now regretted not confronting the other. 

Mi:" If we're already on a tight schedule we should probably get going. I think that Giant is Athos." 

Chungha nodded. 

Chu: "He looks like the drawings my father- I mean Poseidon once showed me. A giant that resembles a Mountain." 

Nay:"A giant that's supposed to be crushed and buried underneath mount Athos. As in: He should be dead." 

Chaeyoung was still watching the giant not letting it out of her sight for once. 

Chae:" Wuhu another creature that's supposed to be dead but isn't. Now to the important part. How do we kill it?" 

Nobody said anything until another jump caused the ground to shake. 

Nay: "Well the last time I checked Poseidon killed him by throwing a mountain at him. But I'm guessing nobody here can lift a giant piece of rock so that option is out of the way."

Chaeyoung interrupted their brainstorming. 

Chae:" Whatever the answer is we have to come up with a plan during the whole fighting part. Athos noticed we're here. Run!" 

They spread out and only a few seconds later a rock the size of a small tree, shattered the earth where they'd been crouching on. 

Jeo:" Holy ! Is that thing for real." 

Her breath caught in when another rock nearly took her head off. 

They all drew their weapons. Mina was wielding a spear and pierced a rock that was coming for her at its weakest point. Making it crumble into bits. 

A roar came from the giant. 

Athos:"I can smell the blood of Poseidon from here. He dares to send one of his offspring to mock me!?" 

Chungha wanted to slap herself. She had forgotten how revengeful and resentful giants could be. 

Another rock came crashing towards them.

Whilst the others dodged Jeongyeon and Nayeon ran from both sides towards Athos. 

Nayeons sword was shorter than Jeongyeon's which made it easier to wield and her a lot faster. 

Athos was aware of this new outcome and tried to get away. He grabbed a smaller stone and yanked it onto Jeongyeon's feet. She nearly tripped but managed to avoid getting her feet squashed. 

The giant had forgotten about Nayeon whilst trying to hurt Jeongyeon. A mistake he soon noticed. 

Nayeon wasn't keen on fighting and rarely participated in any sort of violence (Excluding hitting Jeongyeon for being a donky of course) but these past few days were frustrating and she just wanted this nightmare to end already. 

Her sword connected with flesh. It was a clean cut that appeared on the giants exposed thigh. She was about to pull back and get to a safer distance when Athos grabbed her shoulder. 

Even though he was only a few feet taller than any other human being, his strength was out of this world. 

Nayeon bit the inside of her cheek in order not to scream in pain. Luckily, Athos wasn't trying to break her shoulder. He just wanted Nayeon to get as far away as possible. Without any sort of hesitation he threw the daughter of Aphrodite to the side. 

Jeongyeon screamed and threw a dagger at him but Athos avoided the attack this time. Forcing her to retreat unless she wanted the same to happen to her that happened to Nayeon. 

Na: "I hate this!" 

Her flying through the air was signal enough for Momo to start moving. She yanked her arm towards the sky looking straight at the daughter of Aphrodite. 

A wine rank ripped through the surface of the mud and caught Nayeon mid flight. Gently, placing her onto a grassy part of the area. 

Athos screamed again. Red streams of blood were running down his damaged leg. 

Athos: "You coward send your companions first!?" He was clearly talking to Chungha. She was the daughter of the person that killed him after all. "If I get a hold on you, you will wish you were crushed by that boulder I threw at you!"

Chungha wasn't going to let these insults slide. Her pride might have been damaged already but she wasn't going to let it be completely destroyed. 

She took her bow and shot two arrows. They were fast and accurate. One hitting the giants shoulder the other slicing the wound on his thigh further open.

She ignored his anger