That night, Baekhyun dreamt. He was sitting in the middle of the resistance sand field. It was empty and it seemed like it was just like a morning he had woken up to train. He could hear the echoing voice of Chanyeol repeating a conversation they’d had before.

“His lair is located in the depths of my office…” 

Baekhyun found himself standing up on its own accord. His mind is racing and curious. He walked over to Chanyeol’s office in his dream, tip-toeing although he knew this wasn’t reality and no one was there to catch him. 

Creaking the door open, he heard nothing but silence. He half-imagined Chanyeol to be asleep on his desk from exhaustion, but no one was present. He immediately recognized the door the general had mentioned before. 

When he opened it, he was surprised to see complete darkness. When he took a step into the infinite black several candles surrounding him lit up. 

Around him was only tunnel rocks and dirt. A long narrow hallway leading to the unknown.

Just as he was to take another step, something came running from the darkness. The blood in his veins pulsed as he heard the discrete noise of hooves pattering on the cobbled ground. Baekhyun knew it was a dream, he knew it deep down, but he felt the need to run.

Yet, he could not do so. His feet were stuck on the hard ground of the tunnel.

“I am disappointed,” said the voice of the creature that lurked in the shadows.

Baekhyun covered his ears from the sound. It was loud, screeching and painful. It was simple words that made him double over in pain.

“You have disappointed me,” It screeched again.

Before Baekhyun woke from his dream he saw the look of distrust on the face of Alec who could do nothing but say the same mantra over and over again.

Baekhyun shot up from his bed, holding his palm to his chest to check his heart beat. It had shot up drastically. Dreams were manifestations of messages from people and gods. He wondered what was the purpose of this dream besides reminding him that his plan to save Chanyeol wasn’t going very well.

Looking around the cabin he saw that Harmonia wasn’t on her bed like she usually was. He wondered if she had gone to do some last minute training, but knowing Harmonia it wasn’t like her to be up at night. 

He grew worried.

  When he stepped out of his cabin, his search was cut short as he saw her just a couple meters away. Harmonia was still in her sleep-wear. She didn’t notice Baekhyun as she continued to walk in the opposite direction.

Baekhyun didn’t say anything. He wanted to call out her name, but he knew a tiny bit of noise could wake someone up. He decided he’d get close enough and then ask her. 

Her golden hair moved around as she walked farther and farther from Baekhyun. She made no effort to turn around, only looking side to side as if to check if someone was watching her.

When she’d walked almost the entire length of the practice field she finally came to stop at the bottom of Chanyeol's office. She looked up, her shoulders slumped, then turning to her right she walked along a small foot path that led to a secluded cabin.

Baekhyun had always wondered where the general resided and it only made sense that he had his own private quarters. 

What he wondered now was why was Harmonia going towards it?

“Har-” Baekhyun began.

“You’re tardy,” Came Chanyeol’s deep baritone voice.

And yet, it wasn't the same tone as his. It was dull and almost monotone.

Harmonia fingers slicked her hair behind her ear, “Sorry,”

The general then turned to open the door for her. Harmonia thought back to Baekhyun smiling. Her hand came up to reach Chanyeol’s nape and landed her lips on his.

Chanyeol did not object.

Baekhyun stumbled backwards and took to his cabin.

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The next morning he found Harmonia where she was supposed to be. Rolled up her in sheets like last night had not occurred. How long has this been happening, he wanted to ask. How long have you been deceiving me? He wanted to ask.

Instead he said, “Good morning,”

Her eyes fluttered open. Harmonia yawned. 

“Morning. Didn't I go to morning training I see?” 

“Not yet,” Baekhyun said, his tone dangerously close to passive aggressive. 

“I imagine he’s busy and can’t make it now that we have one day left before the infiltration,” Harmonia lied.

Baekhyun fists automatically clenched. His leg shook restlessly. 

“Where did you go last night?” He asked.

Harmonia was a good liar. There was only a millisecond that passed that proved her guilt, but after, she morphed her face into neutrality. 

“Last night?” She questioned.

“I saw you leave the cabin. You were walking towards the generals’ cabin,”

“Oh,” She said, her tone giving away that she’d been caught.

“What were you doing?” Baekhyun asked, he managed to not let his tone waver. He must not look weak and vulnerable. He must not give away his true intentions.

Harmonia looked at him fiercely, “What are you going on about? I just woke up in the middle of the night to do some last minute training,”

Baekhyun hated that she lied. He hated that from this day forward it was going to be hard trusting whom he thought was his sister.

“I trusted you. You told me-”

“Baekhyun, you sound insane,” Harmonia shook her head from side to side.

“Tell me what you were doing there” Baekhyun used his charmspeak, his voice shaking.

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Baekhyun headed for Chanyeol’s office right after he’d heard the implicit details of Harmonia’s meeting with the general. Part of him wished he hadn’t pressed on and charm spoke to Harmonia. Part of him wanted to keep what he’d just learned a secret. It hurt more than anything he’d experienced. 

Pandora’s jar was nothing compared to the pain he felt knowing your boyfriend had slept with another girl. Boyfriend? Should he even call him that at this point? It was irrelevant. It didn’t matter. Aphrodite had tied their fates together and somehow had made it fall apart in an instant. 

Just before he ran into the office he stopped. He breathed slowly, attempting to stop the tears that kept falling. Baekhyun had a lot of pride. It was his fatal flaw. If he even shed a tear in front of the general it would destroy him. He knew he needed to go head first into this. Yet, what was there to say “you used to be my boyfriend three months ago, but you lost your memories and I don’t like that you are sleeping with my half-sister?” These words were impossible for himself to comprehend, much less Chanyeol.

The general would kick him out. He’d tell him he was being absurd. 

When he saw all the demigods gather below the cliff for their last day of training he realized: Chanyeol wouldn’t say anything. He was training. His office was empty.

Baekhyun walked in without permission. First, he saw that single candle illuminated the room around him. It was on the desk, the wisp of fire not moving rapidly as if in an environment without enough oxygen made it wither. Around the desk were several papers, some attached to the clipboard and some left astray. 

He plucked one of the clipboards and read over the contents, a chill flowing down his spine. These were the same notes that Chanyeol scribbled on everyday. They were neatly done, almost methodically. He flipped through each page, recognizing some names. Kyungsoo’s paper was full of notes about technique and strength, Mina’s was littered with pencil etches. Under each of their names was written in bold letters a title such as Left Flank, Colonel, Stratigos, Right Flank. Mina’s name was accompanied by the title: Substitute.

Baekhyun understood these notes to be decisions made on the rank in their resistance army. He thought nothing of it, but when he finally reached the very last page, he couldn’t help but stare longer at his own sheet.

Byun Baekhyun, son of Aphrodite

Rank: 

Notes: Strong fighter, talented charm speaker.

Baekhyun didn’t have time to understand why his sheet from everyone elses was empty. Most of all, why hadn’t the general given him a rank like everyone else. He understood Mina to be one of the weaker fighters although he didn’t like admitting it, but even she held a title. 

He dropped the clipboard where he found it. 

The door behind him almost called his name. It almost took and absorbed all the light from the single candle in the room. It was a call from him. In that moment he felt like a mortal being called by a siren, easily pulled into a trance. 

The door clicked open just as it had in his dream. When he walked in he wasn’t surprised to see the same wall candles and the stuffy environment around him. As he took several steps forward the candles began to light up as if sensing his presence and giving the demigod a way through the tunnel.

A set of cement stairs reached  as it’s texture was far different from the soft dirt behind. Baekhyun stepped forward.

When he did, an entire room lit up. It was similar to the room he’d come in just before entering the resistance. In this room he’d practiced a test Kai had explained where he needed to prove his worthiness to the resistance. Looking around he noticed small divots in the wall where candles were flickering. Beyond all this was another door, locked and sealed shut. 

No one was here. He could feel no other presence around him.

The door was unlocked. 

He stepped into the light.

His eyes found a golden throne. It was adorned with rubies and emeralds in an intricate pattern. It was only something Baekhyun had seen up at Mt Olympus. He recognized the throne to be for a God, no one else. 

Hephaestus. 

When he took a few more steps into the room which was lit up merely by the shiny throne itself he recognized a small hot water-bottle he used to carry around back at camp half blood. It stood at the foot of the throne.

Baekhyun picked up his long forgotten ambrosia bottle. He felt it’s lightness. No, it’s emptiness. He turned it over, a single drop of viscous honey-like ambrosia gracing the floor.

When he stood to look behind the throne he saw only a landfill of containers, tiffins and water satchels. They were all empty. dry.

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Baekhyun ran out of the tunnel quickly with the knowledge he had. If he could tell Chanyeol what was happening and what Hesphestaus was doing with their ambrosia nectar-that he was drinking it for himself and refraining from giving it to the very army who was fighting his cause- Chanyeol wouldn’t need his memories back to leave the resistance. They’d go back to camp half blood and fight together. This was his ticket back home. 

Except when he reached the entrance he was surprised to see Kai standing with his weapon drawn at the frame of the office door. He looked angry. His ears are red and face is scowling. His shadow from the door reached Baekhyun’s toes. 

“Wait-”

“You were forbidden to ever enter my father’s lair.”

“Kai, listen. You need to know your father- he isn’t telling you the truth.” Baekhyun felt trapped between the tunnel door and the exit.

“Come with me,” Kai said carefully.

“No,” Baekhyun clenched his fists, weaponless.

“Come with me or I will have to force you,” His voice was borderline insanity.

So Baekhyun let him. He let the general's assistant grab him by the arms and tie his wrists together. He then took him aggressively and walked him down towards the training grounds.

He saw Kyungsoo and Mina look at him with a mix of confusion and panic. Perhaps wondering if Baekhyun had revealed his identity somehow.

When they reached the bottom of the cliff, Kai threw Baekhyun onto the dusty plain pointing an accusing finger at him.

Baekhyun turned to find Chanyeol’s who had given a random demigod his clipboard and pen and walked over to the commotion. He looked concerned, his eyebrows scrunching up like they did when he was worried.

“What's the meaning of this?” Chanyeol hissed.

“This demigod has disobeyed the laws of the resistance!” Kai’s finger was crooked and shaking.

Chanyeol looked between the two of him, casting an intense gaze over Baekhyun. The son of Aphrodite could only sit there, disheveled on the ground, paying for the crime he’d committed.

There were gasps made in the mess of demigods.

“Explain what you mean,” Chanyeol pressed.

“He entered Hesphestaus’ lair!” Kai bellowed.

“Kai, take heed, what is the evidence you present?” He asked carefully.

“I saw him with my very own eyes,” Kai said bitterly.

Silence. Nothing but the noise of breathing in a room full of 200 demigods watching Baekhyun receive public shame.

Everyone knew to believe the general’s assistant, a man who had been loyal to the resistance since he was a child. Baekhyun had no argument. Only the truth.

“Let him speak,” Chanyeol held up his hand.

Baekhyun saw his eyes then. They were large, hopeful and glassy. It was like he was telling him to deny the claims. It was like the general was going to get him out of this predicament. 

“I went into his lair,” Baekhyun admitted, earning a few more gasps.

“Silence!” Chanyeol roared to the crowd, “Why would you do such a thing if you had known it was a punishable crime?” he asked.

Baekhyun bit his lip. Because I was furious. He wanted to say. I was mad that Harmonia had gone to you the night before and shared the same bed with you. I was jealous. 

But he held back his true thoughts.

“I don’t know,” He said instead.

Chanyeol closed his eyes in disappointment, “Were you looking for something?” he asked.

“I was not.” 

Everyone looked at each other, confused by the demigod in front of him. Not only had he committed a crime, but done it for no apparent reason.

“But I did find something,” He spoke up, turning heads, “Hephaestus. He takes ambrosia from us. He conceals it in his lair. It’s hidden there. Empty bottles upon empty bottles.”

“Conspiracy against our leader will not be tolerated!” Kai roared. 

Baekhyun shook his head, “It’s not a conspiracy, it’s the truth.”

Chanyeol rubbed his temples together in frustration. It seemed like before he could do something about the situation, but now that Baekhyun began accusing a God things wouldn’t turn out well for him. Please, thought Baekhyun. Please you have to believe me. 

“We must discuss this-”

“No, my father has given me strict orders.”

Chanyeol’s face went slack, “Kai, think clearly.”

“My father has decreed that if anyone were to enter his lair they would be hung at the cliff. This is a crime punishable by death,”

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Everyone spoke amongst themselves, creating an intense environment. Baekhyun was no longer on the ground, but beside a long wooden pole which had tied to it a decent slack of wood. Hanging from it was a large noose. Baekhyun could feel his neck tightening just by looking at it.

He saw his friends look at him, even Harmonia surprised by the events unfolding in front of her. The morning had gone from 1 to 100 very quickly.

It all happened so quickly. One minute they were discussing Baekhyun’s crime the next they began setting up his punishment. 

Baekhyun stood, tied at his wrists, face fallen and emotionless. He occasionally looked up at the noose which barely moved an inch but felt like it was speaking to him. Did he deserve this? Had he made it to such a point that this was necessary after a failed attempt to get the son of Zues back.

He thought about old conversations he’d shared with Chanyeol. Once, when they were fighting Oceanus back at camp half blood Chanyeol had asked him an important question. He remembered it vividly. 

Chanyeol's youthful, 16-year old  and curious face. His stern yet concentrated look as they had just come to camp after bringing Adrian.

“If I joined an evil titan like Oceanus would you still believe that I was good deep down? Would you still accept me?”

              Baekhyun choked up at the thought of his statement. At the time, he hadn’t responded. Simply because he knew that if he did, there was going to be weight to his words. That some part of Chanyeol’s question would ring true. The gods were capable of miracles, but they were also known to cause sorrow.

His eyes naturally found the bracelet that struggled against the rope in his hand. The bracelet Chanyeol had gifted him last year. Dainty and silver written in tiny writing: fearless.

A single tear streaked from his right eye. He swore to himself he wouldn’t cry, not in front of Chanyeol, but he’s broken the promise. 

He hadn’t looked in a mirror in a long time, but he imagined he had scratches on his face, blemishes here and there. He knew his lips were destroyed from nervously plucking the skin off of them. Anxiety riddled his visage ever since he got here. Yet, in these last moments, his face was calm and somber. He wanted to think of nothing else but Chanyeol. He wanted to hold him one last time.

His eyes met with the generals who were frozen in shock as Kai had set up the stage before him. 

Kyungsoo ran up towards him, but was stopped by demigods who were ordered by Kai to guard him. His friend had tears running down his eyes, “Baekhyun!” He wailed in hysteria.

Mina was too weak to come towards him, her face red and sweat beading from her head. She was already so tired and weak this entire trip it hurt Baekhyun seeing her that way. 

Harmonia looked at him with extreme sadness. Nothing else. She too was shocked by this outcome. Had she known the events that were to occur to her half-brother perhaps she would not have committed what she had last night.

“The ceremony of the execution of Baekhyun, son of Aphrodite will commence,” Kai said robitcally.

Up until this point Chanyeol had not stepped forward, nor had he said much in protest of Baekhyun’s crime. It was like they were back in square one, his memories just freshly lost. 

“For this heinous crime that was committed. It is only punishable by death…”

Everyone let those words sink in.

Chanyeol clenched his jaw and strode in the other direction. Perhaps he couldn't bear the sight of someone’s execution, perhaps it was disappointment, maybe it was simple disinterest. 

“We will begin now,” Kai walked over to the stage and made Baekhyun stand on a chair.

Then, he laid the noose along his collarbone, not yet tight around his neck. Some demigods turned with their eyes shut in horror, while others simply watched in anticipation.

He saw Mina double over and vomit on the floor. 

“May this be a worthy sacrifice to the gods,” Kai tightened the rope around his neck.

Baekhyun felt the sharp hay-like cotton hemp sticking into his neck, not sharp enough to penetrate. All he had to do was take his foot off the chair. Kai stood by his feet. He held one foot jutting out near the chair so it would be easy to kick him off.

Baekhyun could see in Kai’s eyes regret, but it was too late now. His mind was counting to three.

One, two, three.

Snap!

It was not his neck. Baekhyun had fallen, not from the impact of falling off the chair, but the noose cutting loose. He heard a strong whistling note of a familiar weapon he was comfortable with. 

He was alive.

He laid on the ground, but moved his head, which was still tied around the detached noose towards where the arrow was thrown.

The general stood at the edge of the cliff, holding a bow to his chest. There was no wind underground, but Baekhyun saw hallucinations of Chanyeol’s hair being blown in a gust of air. Like a hero who’d just saved a country. A man worthy against greek heros like Achillies, Heracles and Perseus. 

“I will not let my army die unnecessarily.” He held the arrow up as if to prepare for anyone else to object.

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