For a moment, everyone was silent. The nymph that had them tied up in vines stayed silent, waiting for their answer to the confusing question. 

“You are the quiet bunch, I must say. Oh well, silence usually means you’re not part of the resistance,” The man shrugged nonchalantly, “Poor demigod,” He looked at Kyungsoo, holding him bridal style, “He’ll have to parish…”

Adrian and Mina were too overwhelmed to respond, but Baekhyun knew exactly what the man was talking about now. This man...that meant...he was a demigod.

“Defectors!” Baekhyun yelled before the stranger could throw Kyungsoo across the cliff just as he’d done with the cyclopes.

The tanned-skinned man turned his head and bobbed it to the side, inquiring Baekhyun's response. This is when Baekhyun had noticed his longer toned arms adorned with a skull tatoo. Around it was a crescent moon. He hadn’t seen anything like it before.

“W-we’re defectors. We want to join the resistance, come to seek your refuge. We want...to end the gods,” Baekhyun said.

To some of his statements, there was sadly some truth.

The strange demigod smiled, chuckling a bit before dropping Kyungsoo-who looked to be breathing fine, but extremely exhausted on the ground.

“I have never heard someone say they want to end the gods so passionately…” He tapped his chin, “Very well, defectors, please state your godly parents.”

Baekhyun looked at Adrian and Mina, nodding his head to let them know it was okay to speak.

“I’m...the son of Athena, Adrian Drivas.”

“Daughter of Zues, Mina Satori,” She said, “Oh...and Do Kyungsoo son of Ares.” Her eyes went to the ground where Kyungsoo lay. 

Then came Baekhyun who took a deep breath. It had been a while since he’d said his mothers name, their relationship had always been rocky so it always felt weird telling people who his godparents were.

“Byun Baekhyun, son of Aphrodite,”

The strange man raised his eyebrows, lifting his hand and queuing the plant nymph to release them from the strangling vines.

When they got out of the restraints, all of them heaved a breath, and ran towards Kyungsoo who was thankfully alive. He needed rest though, some ambrosia.

“Very unique bunch, you could greatly help us in the resistance,” the tall man kept speaking, “Oh, where are my manners, I’m Kai, son of hephaestus,” he smiled.

Baekhyun finally got a close look at this Kai dude. He was rugged. Tall, tan, had muscular arms and a well toned body. He looked exactly like Mina’s drawing of the people she saw in her dreams. He remembered this particular man standing beside Chanyeol. Was this his comrade? 

Kai took his fingers up in the air and snapped them again.

There was darkness.

Then a sudden silence.

Suddenly, Baekhyun felt his body being moved into a portal with such strong light he shut his eyes closed. Before they knew it, he opened his eyes the next second and they weren’t in texas anymore. 

They were no longer in the bustling city of Houston texas, but a run down suburb, with a hot desert like breeze and long fields of wheat and barley.

“I would take you straight to the lair, but it's highly protected. Even from a demigod that practices teleportation,” Kai sounded slightly irrirated mentioning that fact.

Mina and Adrian were there beside him too, and to his surpirse, a very awake looking Kyungsoo who groggily opened up his eyes.

“Kyungsoo-” Baekhyun could already see the anger in his eyes.

“Yah!” He ran over to Kai with his dagger, missing him only by an inch.

Kai seized Kyungsoo’s strong hand, and tilted his head in confusion.

“Now, now there's no point in fighting with me, I’m on your side,” He smiled.

The distraught demigod looked around to find his friends looking at him. His eyes met Baekhyun's, who immediately bowed his head in a nod, as if to confirm that Kai was on their side. Except, well except the fact that he wasn’t actually on their side. Kai didn’t know they were just pretending to be on his side. 

“This one’s feisty, I kinda like it,” Kai smirked.

Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes before dropping his weapon and going to stand beside Baekhyun, who looked at the tension between the demigods.

Wait till Kyungsoo found out that Kai was the one who actually saved him from the cyclopes.

“Alright demigods, yield and prepare your weapons. We are about to embark on a rugged journey that may or may not kill you,”

“I thought we were just going to the lair,” Mina said with a shaking voice.

“We are, my dear, it’s just due to many spies and infiltrators our high powers have seen it necessary to blockade and make sure the lair is fully pro-god proof. y traps change every day, the monsters you must fight to reach the lair grow stronger and stronger. It won’t be an easy trek,” Kai said.

“Can’t you just tell them we’re on their side so they can let us in?” Adrian asked.

“Now where’s the fun in that?” Kai laughed.

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Later they learned from Adrian’s brains that the reason they had the lair so heavily guarded was because they weren’t the first demigods to be acting like defectors. It made sense why they had to go through the work of fighting monsters to reach the place, but why did Kai have to come along with them? Surely he deserved some time of armour? A special ambrosia such that he didn’t have to fight.

That didn’t seem like the case though. He too had his sword drawn ready for an attack.

This wasn’t about whether they could fight all the monsters, it was about their willingness to join the force. In other words, it didn’t matter if you were the strongest demigod out there, it was whether you’d give your life-your soul to this resistance. 

They were back underground. To their demise. Kyungsoo wasn’t feeling it at all. After having to dig an entire tunnel underground he’d almost become scared to even be underground anymore. He stood out of the perfectly made stairs that led into an unknown tunnel.

After all the demigods had stepped inside, Baekhyun noticed Kyungsoo’s absence. 

“What's the matter?” Baekhyun asked him, poking his head out of the tunnel.

“I’m not going back into the ground. Is there any other method of transportation there?” Kyungsoo shook his head like a baby.

“Come on Kyung this is the only way-” Baekhyun said desperately.

Before he could console his friend, he felt Kai walk behind him reaching out his hand towards the grumpy son of aries. 

“Don’t worry, when you’re with me nothing can hurt you,” He said dramatically.

Baekhyun was the son of Aphrodite. He knew flirtatious-talk when he saw it. It was a stretch, but either Kai was just super flirty with everyone he met, or he had a thing for Kyungsoo.

“No thank you, I'd much rather die in a ditch,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

Baekhyun looked at Kai who instead of feeling hurt by the sudden rejection raised an eyebrow and smirked in satisfaction. 

The son of Aphoridte also knew this look-the look of someone who craved someone’s attention through teasing.

For some reason though, Kai’s lack of ability to make Kyungsoo swoon, immediately made the demigod walk into the tunnel without question.

“Stubborn friend you got there?” Kai told Baekhyun.

The son of Aphrodite didn’t respond, only scoffed before following Kyungsoo in.

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Forget monsters. Kyungsoo was right, the damp and dreaded environment of the underground wasn’t very pleasant. At Least now, the son of Ares didn’t have to dig a hole continuously, but that made it harder to distract himself from the stench of the underground. 

There only source of light was this small lamp that Kai had brought along with him.

Baekhyun could only describe it as having a really really humid basement and not being able to escape from it. He felt like he was losing oxygen by the minute, but for some reason he couldn’t find it in himself to complain. His mind was fixed at one point-Chanyeol.

“If all monsters hate the gods, why can’t they let us go...we’re part of the resistance aren’t we?” Mina asked. 

“Because, oh naive little demigod, there are many monsters who are in debt to the gods,” Kai explained, “Have you ever heard of Furies? They’re these creatures who act like crime stoppers for the gods. They will try to stop us from going into the lair-warn us, but we cannot fall for it. They want to attack us, because we are committing an offense against the gods by creating our own army. Little do they know, they’re being tangled in the horrid spell of the gods. Simple minded creatures.” he shook his head.

Just as he had finished explaining this, there was a sudden movement behind them that caused a sound. It was minuscule, but could be heard by any demigod.

All their swords clanked against each other in such a small area prepared for the monsters in the darkness. It was pure silence, and then...nothing came.

“False alarm, they happen a lot ‘round here,” Kai explained, putting his sword back into its sheath. 

He raised the lantern again, leading the demigods into an endless tunnel of darkness.

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Back at camp:

“I’m not going to ask you again, Junmnyeon, where are they!?” Alec slammed his fist into the coffee table in his cabin.

The son of Poseidon swallowed, holding his tongue in because he knew that if he said anything now, the camp conseiller would be able to locate the demigods quickly. He needed to buy time. He needed to let them at least reach the lair before Alec found them.

“I’m telling you, last I saw them was at dinner, and then I woke up and they were gone. Obviously, they knew not to tell me of their plans since I’ve been working with you closely this summer to find Chanyeol.” 

Alec pulled his hair back in frustration. It hurt to see their camp counsellor like this, but he knew that if he even said a word Baekhyun would have his throat. It was not a good idea going off plan-not now. 

“Very well, go back to your cabin, but if you hear or receive any iris message you must inform me at once,” He said carefully.

Junmnyeon nodded, feeling a tremendous lie he was making grow larger by the minute.

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Hours passed before they even caught sight of anything different. It was mostly, well, just ground. After an estimated six hours, it was clear that everyone’s energy was drained and they needed to rest.

Kyungsoo was quick, using his fingers to make a circular room in the tunnel such that everyone could all lay near each other in comfort since their walkway was so narrow. 

They’d packed their own sleeping bags. One by one rolled them out and lied flat.

Baekhyun looked up and could only see darkness. 

Once his eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light he could make out bumps and crust of dirt. Not much else, maybe some ants and beetles. 

Wasn’t anything like a view under the stars, that was for sure.

He saw Mina shutting his eyes closed tightly, not from exhaustion but fear of the beatles above her. They crawled and looked to be communicating with each other.

“Fear of bugs?” Baekhyun hid his smile.

Mina nodded her head quickly, her lips in a thin line.

“What you’re not?” She defended.

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows, pondering the questions. Well, no was the short answer. 

But then, he remembered back when he was in New York with Chanyeol almost a year ago. He’d come across a bug he’d never seen before. A cockroach? That's what Chanyeol had called it. He remembered his scared and shocked face. He remembered Chanyeol’s melodious laugh when he saw Baekhyun, someone who he’d known as very strong and unhinged, almost near tears after seeing a measly bug. 

“I’m not afraid of bugs per say, perhaps the unknown,” Baekhyun's eyes went glassy, his mind flashing all those cold memories. 

“You always have to go and make everything deeper than it already is,” Mina whined.

“I heard it’s an Aphrodite thing, romanticizing everything about your life,” He lied.

Mina rolled his eyes playfully. Thankfully, it seemed that her nerves had died down now, and her eyes shut quickly.

He turned his head to find that Adrian and Kyungsoo were already in a deep sleep. 

There was only Kai left, leaning against the tunnel wall, looking straight at the darkness ahead, the lantern on the ground near his foot. His arms were crossed over each other. He was clearly in deep thought, his playful smirk no longer adoring his face.

“Not much of a sleeper?” Baekhyun sat up.

“Not much of a person to let my guard down,” Kai said in a serious tone.

“From monsters?” He asked.

“Hardly. From all of you. You people may have pledged your allegiance to the resistance, but so long as you have not stepped foot into the lair, you’re not one of us yet.” He said.

Hearing those words made Baekhyun stare at Kai’s mysterious tattoo. It was of a black skull and a crescent moon. He remembered seeing a similar image in Mina’s journal, but he couldn’t understand what it was. Was this the final pledge of allegiance to join the resistance. If so, was Baekhyun prepared to commit to it? 

Baekhyun really hoped Kai couldn’t tell how nervous he was. Thankfully, there was a substantial amount of darkness so he wasn’t able to see his sweaty forehead.

“I understand,” Baekhyun nodded, “You can’t trust us yet,”

“I don’t trust anyone,” Kai corrected him, “Even my closest comrades. It's free for all in this world-even for humans. Only trust yourself.”

Baekhyun could understand where he was coming from. After all, Baekhyun used to think like this when he first came into camp, when he’d lost Jongdae especially, he didn’t see himself trusting anyone. After all, his father had abandoned him, his mother could care less about him, and he only had a handful of friends. Kai had a lot of qualities Baekhyun had lost after meeting Chanyeol.

“Not even your comrades?” Baekhyun knew  where he was going with this.

After all, he remembered seeing an image from Mina’s diary with Kai in it. He was standing next to Chanyeol. That meant he knew him, he’d at least met him, right? He wanted so badly to ask him about his boyfriend, to ask if he was safe. But he also knew if he pandered he’d blow his cover.

“A lot of demigods come and go, there really isn’t one I’ve met who has stayed true to the cause, save for a few,”

Baekhyun bit his tongue. He knew he shouldn’t ask about Chanyeol, but it was killing him inside.

“Any new recruits? I imagine you get a lot-the camp has been losing demigods daily to the resistance,” Baekhyun said.

“Several. Ones that could greatly benefit us in the overthrow…” Kai spoke vaguely, perhaps wanting to conceal the identity of his comrades.

After all, they were defectors, only this time real. 

It was going to be hard to get anything out of him.

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Authors note: Please guy write in the comments, what you're excited about, your predictions, the characters you hate and love! I would love the feedback. You never know I may use your opinions to change and shape the story as I go :)