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The First Battle

Hick paced the floors of the control unit back and forth, feeling awfully anxious. It was almost evening and they were still trailing the huge migrating group of what Hick has decided to call 'bugs'. Everyone else had left the control unit, so it was just she and the undead sailors keeping tight watch over where the trail of bugs were going. Some of the terribly injured fell behind as the pack moved on, quivering in pain while some bugs watched on helplessly before continuing on their journey.

"For Oceanus, swim, swim, swim again.
Thou see the what but not the when."

Hick recited the first half of Phoebe's prophecy in her head while she focused on manipulating the Mist. The bugs had yet to realize they were being tailed. All they saw in place of the submarine was a group of harmless dolphins following them out of curiosity. She had to be missing something Phoebe was trying to tell her. What "when" is she not seeing? Hick sighed, scratching her head in frustration.

One of the undead sailors approached her. It was Matthew, the same sailor that welcomed her aboard and showed her around the submarine.
"Ma'am, it's been six hours. Perhaps you should rest."
Silence.
"Ma'am?"
"Not now, Matthew."
"You know, I may have been dead for a long time, but I still haven't forgotten that the living needs to EAT."

Hick looked up at Matthew, a little taken aback by his sudden display of humour. His white, skeleton hands were carrying a tray of freshly cooked, piping hot spaghetti mixed in with neat, square pieces of cooked salmon. "I don't remember packing salmon along for this trip. What happened to the hot dogs?"
"In the fridge Nico got some underworld folks to build. Percy caught the salmon. You know… just in case we ran out of food."
"Is that coffee?" Hick frowned at the cup of steaming brown liquid.
"Yeah… Nico didn't just construct a fridge… He added a lower hull to the submarine to install the new barista bar and a bigger resident quarter."

Hick gaped at Matthew. "What the heck is Nico doing? Building a hotel? This isn't some Tiny Tower game! It's gonna slow the submarine down, isn't it? I told him strictly to reconstruct the windows and he comes up with this whole bunch of crap!" A chorus of deep chuckles echoed the control room as the undead sailors try to muffle their laughter at Hick's outburst.

"Oh the speed isn't a cause for concern, ma'am. He took care of the engine power," Matthew replied. Hick's jaw dropped. What used to be a vessel for battle was fast becoming some sort of luxury cruise.

The door to the control unit opened, revealing Hazel. All the undead sailors turned to look at her, before resuming their work. There stood Hick in the middle of the control room, with Matthew still holding onto her tray of food.

"You know, you should really eat that. It's getting cold."
"Then I'll heat it up later."
"Hick…"
"Ugh! I know! In a minute, mom!" Hick groaned.

It was obvious she wasn't going to budge.

Hazel sighed and stepped into the room. Matthew stepped aside and all the undead sailors turned to look at the two Hades girls, catching onto the strange vibe Hick was finally unintentionally emitting. Hazel slowly made her way over to the girl who was too busy taking command of the submarine to even turn and face her.

"Something is up. Hick, tell me what happened to you back there."

"Nothing happened to me. What're you talking about?" Hick replied, trying to avoid her comrade's big, wide, puppy eyes; the kind of eyes that'd make anyone want to succumb to the cuteness and spill out all their secrets. A momentary flashback of Percy puppy/baby seal eyes popped up in Hick's mind. It was when they were watching the jellyfishes on the submarine's roof. She took a peek of the scenery through the submarine windows. There were no jellyfishes in sight.

"I don't know," Hazel said, bringing Hick out of her reminiscing and back into reality. "You seemed really out of sorts out there, when we pulled down the fortress and killed the queens."

For a second, Hazel thought she saw Hick's face turned dark. But then a wide grin spread across Hick's face and she laughed, ruffling Hazel's head of bouncy curls like always, as if she were a little kid.

"Oh Haze! That's what you're worried about? It's nothing! I'm fine!"

Hazel pursed her lips. If she knew Hazel was actually 86 years old, she wouldn't be treating her like a senseless little sister. It didn't assuage her frustration when Hick had chuckled at the sight of her disgruntled expression and put her arm around her shoulders.

"I promise, Haze. I'm really glad you're worried about me. It shows you care, and you're kind of the closest thing I've got to a sister. I really enjoyed your company, and…" Hick chuckled, retrieving a happy memory. "… and all that hide-and-seek games we played at the lower hull. But I'm fine. I swear."

Hazel inhaled deeply, slowly digesting Hick's words. "Okay. I trust you," she finally relented after a while, smiling up at Hick.

Jason slurped up his spaghetti, his eyes darting wearily between Nico and Percy. There was definitely an air of tension between the two, and without Hick or Hazel around, Jason wasn't quite sure what to do. Out of everyone in the submarine, only he knew Nico secretly loved Percy in a romantic way.

"So… uh… we've been fairly inactive in combat this mission, eh? I mean… you know… so far…" Percy finally spoke up awkwardly, twirling his fork in the pile of spaghetti out of nervousness.

Nico looked up at him and as soon as he met Percy's gaze, he immediately averted his eyes and looked down at his unfinished food. He hated how hard it was, getting over his first love.

"Why isn't Hick here yet?" Nico asked in exasperation, turning to Jason and ignoring Percy's comment.
Jason shrugged. "She's been focusing on trailing the bugs ever since we destroyed the fortress. Did you see how many bugs swarmed out of that huge fortress? It's a good thing Hick figured out killing those bug queens would make them so disoriented and defenceless."

"I really wonder why Gaea created them. They don't seem fatally destructive," Percy commented.

All of sudden, the door of the much spacious and refurnished pantry burst open, revealing an utterly alarmed Hazel. "Guys! You've got to check this out!"

"You really shouldn't be doing this, ma'am," Matthew pleaded Hick nervously, scratching his white skull with his bony fingers as Hick puts on the closed-circuit scuba diving equipment with the help of the other undead sailors. Hick looked through the submarine window. Bug after bug after bug was disappearing behind some invisible force field, as if teleporting to another place. "It's better if I just go alone. Don't sweat yourself over it."

"But we have no idea what that is, and what danger it may bring. You can't just go swimming into that thing!"
Hick tightened the harness around her waist, her gaze fixated on the trail of bugs. "Trust me, Matt. I'm pretty sure it's one of the realms Okeanos connects the human world to. It doesn't feel like Hades' domain, and it is definitely not Olympus they're charging into to attack. They have no queen to help them coordinate one."
"Then where do you think the portal leads?"
"Most likely a place to recuperate and get a bunch of new queens. If my hunch is right, I've got to stop that nonsense from happening. But if it isn't… there's only one way to find out," Hick shrugged. "I'm going in."

"Alone? What do I tell Hazel when she comes back with the others?"

Hick grinned cheekily at the undead sailor, tightening the harness around her waist. "Chill out, Mister Anderson. I'll be back after a peek. Is there enough breathing gas in the tank?" She hadn't answered his question. Matthew sighed and checked the pressure gauge. "It'll last you about eight hours or nine hours max, depending on your respiratory rate."
"Alright… got my fins, weight belt, gas tank, mask and snorkel, alternative air source, brass knuckles…. Did I get it right? Anything else I'm missing?"
"You're good to go, ma'am."
"Awesome," Hick said, biting down on the mouthpiece. The shadows flickered and the lights of the submarine blinked. She was about to shadow travel.

"Ma'am?"
"Yeah?" Hick replied, catching onto the anxiety in Matthew's voice.

All the undead sailors had gathered around behind him, their blank hollow sockets staring back at her. She couldn't see their facial expression because they are practically walking skeletons. But they were evidently concerned for her safety. She had barely talked to them throughout the entire journey. Most of the time, she was running past them in the corridor, playing hide-and-seek with Nico and Hazel. And there they were, standing before her, worrying for her.

"Be safe."
"Aww, you guys! There's no need to worry!" she laughed. "I'm just scanning the area. I'll be back in less than five minutes, I promise!" And with that, she vanished into thin air.

The door burst open and the rest of the demi-gods filed into the room, missing Hick's departure.

"Woah. Is that it?" Jason exclaimed, walking towards the elongated submarine window Nico had installed.
"Yeah, that's what Hick and I spotted," Hazel replied. "She suspects it's – "
"A portal. One of the realms Okeanus contains," Nico finished her sentence, staring in awe and a tinge of horror at the sight of bugs disappearing behind some invisible force field. Percy scanned the room for Hick, but she was nowhere in sight. "Hey, where's Hick?"

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, and the undead sailors shifted in their seats, exchanging glances with each other. Nico stared at them suspiciously. "You heard what he said. Where is Hick?"
"Uh… guys... I think I know where she is…" Jason said, pointing to the school of sardine fishes swimming towards the portal. "Isn't that the same disguise Hick used when she invaded the fortress?"

The closer Percy got to the school of sardines, the thinner the Mist got. There was Hick in her usual brown jeans and Hazel's purple Camp Jupiter shirt, hovering just before the portal. She reached he hand out to touch the portal, exhaling nervously through the mouthpiece and releasing a flurry of bubbles.

No! Percy yelled, hurtling towards her. Of course, she couldn't hear him. Not under water. The moment her hand disappeared behind the portal, Hick decided it was safe and submerged half of her body through the portal. The very next second, Percy had hurled her out of the invisible portal before she could travel to another realm.

Hick instinctively slipped her fingers into one of her brass knuckles in her jean pocket and swung her fist at her attacker, unable to make out who was gripping her shoulders in the dark ocean, with all the bubbles from her mouthpiece blocking her visage. As soon as her view cleared, she saw Percy hovering before her, a chunk of flesh torn from his now badly gashed cheek. His skin was starting to close up around the wound, repairing itself at an alarming rate. Hick gaped at him in horror. After the damage she had done, he was still clutching onto her shoulders, refusing to let her go. He looked pretty angry. She was used to his sarcastic, laidback attitude, but not his angry side.

Hick took out her mouthpiece. Sorry, she mouthed. He was still glaring at her.

SORRY?! Percy appeared to have echoed her furiously, wearing a look of incredulity and indignation.

Hick didn't know quite what to do, but she knew she needed to breathe so she popped her mouthpiece back into her mouth, keeping her weary eyes on Percy so she can duck in case he decides to suddenly let go of her shoulders and punch her in the face. He appeared to be shouting at her rather passionately, but she couldn't hear him. His face was contorted with rage and distress. Was he crying? She couldn't tell because they were submerged in ocean water. So she stared dumbly into his sea green eyes, not sure if she should break out of his grasp and swim away or just wait for him to finish.

Just a few feet away, Nico was hovering before them at the side, as he breathed through an oxygen bubble. The sight of Percy handling Hick so roughly and furiously shocked him. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Percy's furious expression. Then, he met Hick's confused gaze, who seemed to have noticed his presence.

Confusion turned to horror and Hick broke out of Percy's grasp, swimming towards Nico as the one brass knuckle she had slipped on her right hand morphed into a machine gun. Nico turned. Swarms and swarms of bugs were approaching them. They seemed to have noticed their presence, especially since Hick became distracted by Percy's arrival and lost her control over the Mist. And hovering just before Nico was a very angry, bloodthirsty bug.

Before it could snap down and sink its teeth into its prey, Hick had yanked Nico back and slammed a foot into the bug's eyes, causing it to back off. More bugs were starting to approach them, their compound eyes absolutely furious, insect legs poised to strike and sharp teeth gaping wide open to tear at demi-god flesh. Hick was confused. How on earth were they coordinating an attack? And then she saw it. A bug queen situated behind the army of worker bugs. She reared her had back and hissed, revealing her long, sharp, carnivorous teeth. Another had emerged from the portal, joining the battle.

The surrounding sea anemones and seaweed started to brown and wither away. Hick shuddered, feeling death instinctively radiate from her body. It was the same reaction her body naturally executed whenever she encountered a battle that would inevitably lead to the loss of lives. Stay away, Hick warned them, causing some bugs to shrink back in fear. But many were still advancing. Percy fended off more bugs coming from the opposite direction by controlling what appeared to be huge, hardened water fists. He was crushing them in masses, but a few had managed to dodge his attacks and were closing in on him, ready to run their stick claws through her comrade. Hick shifted her gaze back to the approaching army of bugs in front of her, ready to tear her apart. So it has come to this,thought Hick.

The ocean bed began to rumble and crack open. Within the deep fissures, there was lava. Armies and armies of the undead were crawling out of these thick fissures to aid Hick in her fight. Jason had meanwhile materialized on site with Nico to join the battle while Hazel stood guard at the submarine. He looked down at the ground beneath him and stared in horror at the ghost warriors Hick was summoning to her aid. Thousands and thousands of them were swimming up, butchering away at the bugs or pulling them down into the fiery depths of the underworld. A horde of them had taken down the two queen bees, stabbing away at the bugs.

Realising what was going on, Percy stopped his attack and looked in Hick's direction. There she was, mustering all the strength she had to bring the underworld soldiers into the living, breathing world. Her veins were starting to show around her arms and her body was quivering under the strain of suddenly calling on a huge surge of power. The enemy's number was diminishing greatly without a bug queen's aid, but there were still dozens left to deal with and she wasn't going to make it alive if she kept straining herself at this rate.

He grabbed onto her shoulder. Enough! he yelled, but only a series of bubbles emerged. She couldn't hear him. The blood had drained from her skin, making her complexion immensely pale; it was almost to the same sickly pale skin tone Nico had. But that wasn't what horrified Percy. It was the sight of the veins protruding from her arms, creeping up her neck and onto her horribly pale face. It was as if something was wringing the life out of her. Her once lively violet eyes had faded into a cold, dead grey.

Jason swam over to Hick, taking her from Percy. Raising his hand, he swung it hard and smacked Hick in the face. It seemed to have worked as Hick jerked from the impact of the smack. She stared dumbly at Jason, trying to register what hit her. As the ocean bed began to close up, Hick's listless stare turned into a furious glare as she realised that Jason had smacked her.

Snatching up the extra mouthpiece she had to her additional air source, she jammed it hard into Jason's mouth and shot him a triumphant, but rather feeble smile as he choked on the mouthpiece. In the midst of immense danger, Nico was still able to laugh at the slapstick hilarity happening before them, although Percy remained unimpressed. The veins around Hick's face had shrunk back and disappeared beneath her skin. Nico's laughter didn't last for long. More bugs were arriving from the trail, and another queen bee had emerged from the portal. Unsheathing his sword, Nico swam off to combat the bug queen. All of a sudden, a huge army of sea nymphs had swooped out of nowhere and torn apart the bug queen's body with their bare hands right before his eyes, before swimming off to take on the approaching the worker bugs.

The next second, Hazel had appeared at the empty battlefield in wisps of black smoke. Taking everyone's hands in hers, she shadow travelled back into the submarine. Hick removed her mouthpiece, her complexion starting to revert back to its original healthy pink. "So my initial plan to take a peek into that realm has flopped," she remarked, unbuckling the belt that held the scuba diving equipment to her back.

"We don't know what's in there! You SAW how many queen bees were coming out of that thing. You could've died!" Percy roared. "What were you planning to do? Leave all of us behind?"
"Oh, come on. It's not like it's bon freaking voyage. I was just going to peek and come back," Hick shrugged, wringing the water out of her shirt.
"And thanks to that brilliant idea, you could've been dead by now!" Percy yelled.
"Oh come on, Percy," scoffed Hick. "I shadow travel and hide in the Mist. I don't die easy."
"Hey," Jason intervened, putting a hand on Percy's shoulder. "Why don't we just all take a deep - "
"You are an IDIOT going out there on your own!" Percy yelled, shrugging of Jason's hand. "And so are those STUPID sailors who simply let you!"
"Hey! Don't blame it on them! I just wanted to check out the portal first instead of sending the whole freaking submarine in!"
"WE. ARE. A. TEAM. WE STICK TOGETHER!" Percy roared in Hick's face. And boy did she hated that.

"And DIE together? Percy, get a FREAKING EDUCATION!" Hick yelled, shrugging off her scuba diving gear and throwing the gas tank onto the floor. Everyone winced at the loud bang the gas tank made on impact with the submarine floor.

Percy was unfazed.

"You should've discussed this with us before you went off on your own!"
"And what? Send the whole submarine into the portal without a plan? How are we supposed to find out anything about those stupid bugs if we don't infiltrate their territory in discrete? We'd all die without a plan!"
"YOU COULD'VE DIED!"
"DON'T CHANGE THE SUB - "
"Guys!" Hazel yelled. Percy and Hick looked in her direction. "Poseidon's here."

Standing before them was a man in ancient Greek armour, looking absolutely unimpressed. One glance and Hick knew the man was a god. He reminded her of Percy a lot. They had the same aqua green eyes, dark rugged hair and chiselled good looks. And he was approaching her.

"Wow. A god. So what we need right now," Hick commented sarcastically, wringing the front of her shirt dry from the seawater.
"Yes. What a pleasure to meet you too, Hick Valkyrie," Poseidon replied in the same bored, insincere fashion. "I have arrived at Oceanus' territory with my army, under the mutual agreement of all the gods and the titans, to help Oceanus fend off these insect-like species. The gods and the titans seek your audience in Olympus."

Everyone took the news in with a stunned silence in the air. Hick was now seething with rage. It didn't help that Poseidon was shooting her a disconcerted look.

"I don't understand," she said through gritted teeth. She was furious. "You guys dragged me out of college camp into this stupid mission to fulfil some bloody prophecies and I am THIS close to getting this madness over and done with for you. Now you want me to abandon my mission just because you guys want to seek my audience in freaking Olympus? If anyone in Olympus wants to chat me up, then download a freaking Skype app and send a video call to 'hugh_jazz_94' because I am VERY busy figuring out what's behind that portal and cleaning up your stupid shit!"

"You are not ready to enter that portal. Entering it would mean immediate death, even if you were to bring along thousands of ghost armies with you."
"Why didn't you mention this before we went on this mission? You knew about this realm all along?" Jason asked, trying hard to hide his frustration.

"No, Jason. We gods may be unreasonable but we're not stupid. The gods and the titans have been closely following your progress and only discovered the realm when you did," Poseidon replied him calmly. "These monstrous insects aren't just a new mythical breed conjured up by Gaea – the titan of Mother Earth – in the human world. They consist of an entire civilisation that inhabits a whole planet in another dimension that Gaea had created. She knew the gods would overthrow the titans one day and dominate, so she birthed another world that she could nurture into destroying this world. This is not a mere battle against a titan like the Prophecy of Seven. This is not even a world war. Hick Valkyrie, you are fighting a war… the first war in human history, actually… between two worlds. The titans and the gods have doubts that you'd win a successful battle against a whole world of beasts with just one submarine and are desperately seeking your audience."

A deafening silence filled the submarine. Hazel slapped her hands over her mouth in shock and looked over at Hick. The redheaded girl had turned a greenish hue. "Damn this science fiction shit."

To be continued...