Chapter Text
Jungkook woke to sunshine streaming in through the windows in Demeter's room. As he left the room, he found Taehyung, Jimin, and Hestia all waiting for him. "Morning, dear!" Hestia greeted him warmly. "I wasn't sure if you prefer tea or coffee so I made both." She passed two steaming mugs to him.
"Thank you," Jungkook said, taking a long sip of the coffee. "Are you all coming with me to the grove?"
Taehyung nodded. "If you'll have us. It could be dangerous. I wanted to offer some backup."
"Until your mother is found, I still owe her a debt," Jimin said.
"Plus ritual is one of my domains," Hestia said. "If you're to set the cycle of life to rights, I may be able to help. And if you find any news about my sister…"
Emotional welled in Jungkook and he swallowed thickly. "Thank you all for doing this."
Hestia smiled. "Of course, dear. Wherever this search takes you, you're not alone."
They summoned Hoseok's taxi, and before Jungkook knew it, he was stepping out onto a dusty road in the Central Valley of California. Row after row of grape vines covered the rolling hills. "Good luck, gang!" Hoseok waved at them. "If you need anything, I'll be just a few seconds away!" He zoomed off, leaving them standing in the roasting heat.
Jungkook saw a few people trimming the vines, occasionally stopping to wipe sweat from their brows. "Is it extra hot or is that just me?"
"Part of it is the Central Valley's climate compared to Seoul's," Jimin said. "The other part is Demeter's absence. It may not be as urgent as restoring the cycle of life and death but Demeter also turns the seasons. So if this ritual doesn't work and summer never ends…"
"We'd better find this grove then," Jungkook said.
"It'll be hidden from sight to keep mortals from stumbling across it." Taehyung nodded toward the workers they passed as they strolled between the vines.
"But you're part of Demeter's lineage," Hestia said. "It might have a connection to you."
Jungkook took a deep breath. "Let's see if I can find it." He closed his eyes and recalled that feeling from the vision room where he'd seen that flash of a grove. He didn’t see anything like those thick trees there, but as he concentrated on that feeling of pain and anguish, Jungkook felt a tug on his heart strings. "I think it's over by those scrawny trees on that hill." Jungkook pointed. "They feel the same way that vision did yesterday."
"Like they're in pain?" Jimin frowned. "Wonderful."
"At least we have a direction," Taehyung said.
As they followed that feeling toward the distant strand of trees, Jungkook glanced at the gods walking alongside him. "So if this place we're going to is one of Demeter's seats of power, do you all have spots like this? Hidden in plain sight?"
"You visited mine last night," Jimin said. "It might look busy but trust me, it is invite only."
"And I have a sanctum in Seongbuk-dong," Taehyung said. "Although if you've ever been to the Myeongdong Arts Theater, I have more influence there."
Jungkook raised his eyebrows. "So who gets invited to your parties, Jimin?"
Jimin shrugged. "People who want to be seen and adored. Or people looking for a certain kind of connection."
"That doesn't exactly narrow it down," Jungkook said. "You just described 90% of the world's population."
"Ones that I like then," Jimin amended. "I guarantee that by the end of a night at my mansion, they'll have found at least one of the things they're looking for."
Taehyung nodded. "And their follower counts tend to blow up a few days later. Having a god on your side is a big deal."
"What about you, Hestia?" Jungkook asked.
Hestia shook her head. "I don't have anything as dramatic as these two. I have a little bit of power anywhere there's a warm fireplace or a family gathered around a meal. That's more than enough for me."
"Well we're about to see what Demeter's seat of power looks like," Jungkook mused.
They reached the shade of that stand of trees and the illusion dissipated. Suddenly they weren't scraggly at all. Jungkook recognized the towering trees from his vision. "Careful," Taehyung said. "We don’t know what could be waiting in there."
Jungkook inched slowly through the trees and stepped into a shaded grove that had been torn apart. The earth was rent with signs of struggle and several trees laid broken and toppled. Others bore heavy scars across their bark. "Good gods," Jimin whispered in horror.
"Oh, sister, what happened to you?" Hestia's voice was full of pain.
"This is even worse than I imagined," Jungkook said, rubbing his chest with a wince. "I didn't think Demeter would be hanging out waiting for us but this is bad."
Jimin nodded. "Very, very bad."
Taehyung ran a hand over one of the damaged trees with a frown. "These torn branches don't belong to any of those trees. There were dryads here. Wounded in the struggle."
"Why would any tree spirits want to harm Demeter?" Hestia asked. "She's always been friendly with them."
Jungkook spotted a flash of color among some tree roots, stamped into the dirt, and his blood went cold. "Tree spirits weren't the only ones attacking this place." He picked up the familiar purple feather. "Sirens were here. And sirens came after me in my shop last night."
Taehyung scowled. "That doesn't feel like a coincidence. But neither sirens nor dryads could do that." Taehyung nodded toward the large gashes in the ground where trees had fully been split in half.
"Taehyung's right," Jimin said. "Someone very powerful came after Demeter here. And if someone is attacking gods, we could all be in danger."
Jungkook turned to look at them. "Important question for the newbie in the grove--how much danger are we talking about? Can gods die?"
The three gods all looked at each other. The grove was eerily silent for a few seconds too long. "None of us ever have," Taehyung finally said. "Not permanently. But if you ask other pantheons, yes. It is possible."
"Great," Jungkook muttered. "Then we really need to find out what happened here." He brushed his fingers over one of the fallen trees. Some of the bark healed a little under his touch, but then his vision went hazy. For a split second, the tree was shattered on the ground and it was standing strong with a healthy grove around it. Jungkook shook his head and the double image cleared.
Hestia was staring at Jungkook, her eyes bright. "So you can sense it!"
"Sense what?" Jungkook asked in confusion. "What was that?"
"Some gods are capable of what we call psychometry," Hestia said. "The ability to see the history of objects or growing things. If you can tap into the sense memory of the plants here, they may know more of what happened. But first I'll have to show you how to access it."
Jungkook nodded immediately. "If there's a way to see what happened here without feeling like I've got a bad case of vertigo, I'm all in."
"Then sit." Hestia patted one of the fallen tree trunks and Jungkook sat down. "Different beings approach psychometry in different ways. I find it easiest to focus on the hands that last held an object. For you, though, there is so much life in this place. You may be able to feel some echoes of movement through their senses."
"Can we practice on something easy to start?" Jungkook asked.
Hestia smiled. "Good idea. Maybe one of these two statuesque wonders can give us a hand?"
Jungkook glanced at Taehyung. "Want to give us a hand?"
"It would be my pleasure." Taehyung smiled and stepped closer. "How can I help?"
"Let's have Jungkook here close his eyes and you do something visible," Hestia said. "We'll see if Jungkook can sense it after you're done."
Taehyung beamed. "Fun! Alright, whenever you're ready."
Jungkook closed his eyes and, for a few moments, just sat in the dark, breathing in the lush scents of the grove. He heard a faint rustling sound then Taehyung's voice. "All done. You can open your eyes."
When Jungkook opened his eyes, Taehyung was standing a few meters away beside some flowers with a smile on his face. Hestia nodded to Jungkook. "Let's see if you can get an image. Reach out for the plants in this grove. Not with your hands but with your senses."
As strange as it sounded, it was easy for Jungkook to do. Even easier than the night before when he'd made vines in his shop move for the very first time. When Jungkook concentrated, he could feel the thrum of life through the flowers and blades of grass surrounding him. "It feels like breathing. I can't believe I wasn't doing this my whole life."
"You would've learned to sense things like this in time even if those sirens hadn't found you," Taehyung said. "But you're doing well. You've taken to it faster than any other demigod I've seen."
Jimin let out a laugh. "Don't flatter him too much, Taehyung. Not until he's learned a new trick."
"Hold on to what you're feeling, dear," Hestia said. "Then reach beyond what the plants are feeling now to what they just felt."
Jungkook exhaled, and as his breath seeped out of him, he could feel tiny vibrations in the plants beneath his feet. He followed the pattern of the vibrations back and then that double vision hit him again. He saw Taehyung standing where he was and Taehyung kneeling. That double image of Taehyung cupped a hand around one trampled flower and gentle sunlight shone down on it. "You've had a rough couple of days, little friend. Want some light?" The flower's petals unfurled slightly, mending themselves beneath the sunbeam's warmth.
Jungkook blinked and the vision vanished. Taehyung just stood before him, looking expectant. "You gave that flower some sunlight." He nodded toward the one slightly perkier flower beside Taehyung.
Taehyung chuckled. "Guilty as charged."
"That was sweet of you," Jungkook said. "You could've thrown a bolt of sunlight at one of those trees but you didn't. You wanted to help this place."
Taehyung shrugged. "The sunbeams are flashier but healing magic is more rewarding. I don't like leaving a living thing in pain if I can help it."
Jungkook smiled. "I know. You saved my life yesterday, remember? That's not something a guy forgets."
"Then I would ask you to not consider it a debt," Taehyung said. "That help was freely given. You owe me nothing." His gaze met Jungkook's, suddenly serious despite the warmth in his voice. "I’m just glad I got there in time."
"So am I," Jungkook said.
"Yes, yes, he's very heroic," Jimin cut in. "Now if you two are done flattering each other, I found something else to test Jungkook's new powers on." He guided them all toward a piece of broken wood embedded in one of the fallen trees.
"This isn't some dryad's arm, right?" Jungkook asked.
Jimin shook his head. "Not the right texture for dryad flesh. And it's not a branch from here."
Jungkook hummed. "Then let's find out what it's doing here." He touched the broken wood and reached out the same way Hestia had just taught him. But that time as he felt the echoes of movement through the roots in that place, the grove changed. It was intact but under siege. He saw sirens and tree like dryads moving through the trees like echoes attacking something. Someone.
"Get back!" Jungkook couldn't see his mother among the translucent echoes of what had happened there but he heard her. There was a crackling of roots and vines and then several sirens were knocked out of the air, several dryads crumpled against trees. "I have no quarrel with any of you. Who sent you to carry out this-" Another presence Jungkook couldn't see strode into the grove but he could feel it like a leaden weight atop the roots of that place as it swung some form of weapon. "You." A tree snapped in half with an ear shattering crack and Demeter screamed. Jungkook strained his senses, concentrating on his mother. The air wavered where he imagined she must have stood, and though no image of her appeared, he heard her voice again, louder and clearer. "I am not your enemy. Stand down. Let me talk to-" Jungkook sensed great magic coursing through the grove like water, reaching toward the spot where Demeter stood. "No. I will not surrender!" Everything went dark. The last thing Jungkook felt was every leaf and vine in the grove reaching for her, trying to help as Demeter's presence was dragged away. But every one that touched her was cut down.
Jungkook leaped bolt upright, back in the present, as his companions stared at him. "What did you see?" Jimin asked.
"Someone was leading the sirens and dryads here," Jungkook said. "Someone powerful. Someone she recognized. They did some kind of magic to subdue her. But she was alive when they dragged her away." He pointed toward a gap between the trees where furrows ran through the dirt before vanishing. Hestia knelt beside the furrow in the earth, a tear running down her cheek.
"At least we know for certain that she left here alive," Taehyung said. "That's more than we knew before."
Jimin scowled. "I'd love five minutes alone with whatever godsforsaken asshole hurt her."
"I'm sorry I couldn't see their face," Jungkook said.
Hestia shook her head. "Anyone going after a goddess likely had protections upon them. You've done plenty, dear." She wiped her cheeks and rose to her feet. "But since Demeter wasn't here waiting for us, we do still have a ritual to carry out. We'll need some herbs. Can you bring me a few springs of pennyroyal? It's the flowers by that tree with the-"
"Clustered purple petals." Jungkook smiled. "I know. I've been working with plants since I was a kid." He carefully plucked the flowers by the roots and brought them back to Hestia.
"You really are your mother's son," Hestia murmured. There was a puff of smoke as she summoned a ceramic bowl into one hand and a small vial into the other. As she poured honey and wine into the bowl and mixed in the pennyroyal, she began chanting aloud. "Root and leaf, see this one who comes among us, and know the blood he bears. Grant him the thread that binds you to season and soil, beginnings and endings, and let him touch the Great Wheel." There was a whoosh of energy and then the bowl was gone. In its place, Hestia clutched a small flask.
Jimin clapped. "She always makes potions look so easy."
"I take it that's for me." Jungkook nodded to the flask.
"Yes," Hestia confirmed. "This is a potion we call kykeon. Drinking it will begin the ritual but it will be difficult for the mortal parts of your body to stomach."
Jungkook paused. "It's not gonna kill me, is it?"
"Hearth and home, no, child!" Hestia exclaimed. "It will taste like a nice sip of honey!" She passed him the potion. "But it might also bring any of that coffee back up."
"Great." Jungkook took a deep breath before bringing the bottle to his lips and drinking. His head immediately started to spin. His stomach twisted as magic billowed through him in nauseating waves. His body immediately wavered but Jungkook managed to catch himself on one knee.
Hestia knelt beside Jungkook, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just breathe. Reach for the power that lies beneath this place. It will connect you to the Great Wheel."
Instead of trying to stand up, Jungkook dug his hands into the soil, gritting his teeth. "Hey, magic. Want to help me fix you?" He reached out through that sixth sense he'd had since those sirens broke into his shop.
Just as Jungkook felt something reaching back toward him, footsteps thundered through the trees. He looked up to see dryads and other wooden creatures surrounding them, led by an axe wielding minotaur. "Sorry to bust up the party," the minotaur said. "But we can't let you do that." He stamped one hoof and leveled the hoof of his axe right at Jungkook. "Take that one out."