In a berserk, insane thunderous roar of anger, pain, and desperation, the worm spun around, trying to use the armored spikes of the body and tail, while using its claws and as the hunting party moved to dodge in all the chaos, the tail smashed into one Ketak, throwing the vehicle and its rider of the glowing blue shield bubble seat, far into the floor between piles of ancient wrecked bridge parts.
"PRINCESS!", one of them shouted as it was Sia's craft that had gotten hit.
Sia had no idea what had happened when she saw the thing thrashing around before the next moment when she saw it coming right for her. The shield had protected her from being injured under the weight of the worm if not outright avoiding death thanks to the shield, but Newton's Three Laws still played in effect as the force of the worm's hit caused Sia to quickly lose course and head straight towards the floor.
When Sia came to, faintly hearing the worm's last-defying roars as it fought to its dying life, she saw that she was several feet from her Ketak, seeing the shield glitching and losing power, and she groaned in pain, feeling concussed yet she can see the path she was thrown across the floor, on her side and such.
She felt pain everywhere, seeing deep cuts and such, thanks to the rocks and ancient pottery and such, feeling that her right arm is wrenched from the shoulder, with her left arm broken at the elbow, with her right leg having a deep cut, her left leg having a badly sprained ankle, with deep cuts on her chest, belly, back, and a serious knot on the back of her head.
With agonized pain yet determined resilience, she used her crystal to try to heal herself while being a bit more comfortable, trying not to move yet when she tried to sit up, she was even more agonized in pain, crying out as she felt it coming from the deep cut in her belly, and worried that something's wrong with her in her stomach bladder or kidney or something else, she went to check, using her crystal to search into her deep cut.
As she tried to heal into the search, she cried out in pain as it came again, and she curled up, taking a better look, and then she saw it...She widened her eyes in horror and shock as she saw a baby, a 5-month-old baby, somehow big despite her flat belly thanks to being fit all those 8 months, seeing tears in the cord, the placenta, the water bag, and even narrowly into the baby's back, nearly falling out through the deep cut in her belly.
Tears in her eyes as her crystal told her that her daughter's in great danger, "No, no, not my baby girl!", as she didn't know that she was pregnant all this time, "Please, no! Hold on, please! I'm so sorry, this is my fault, baby! I didn't know! Please, you can't leave me, I love you already! Please, the Great Kings, please help me!", focusing her all-remaining energy into her crystal to try to save her baby, even when she is far from her beloved city, ignoring the rest of the pain in her body as this is her and Jacques's daughter, sobbing and crying in hysterics.
She somehow knew it when she and Jacques had that night, that tearjerking yet passionate night before he had to leave, she conceived this beautiful, innocent baby girl after she was gifted Korbyn, and now, it's her baby she unknowingly put in danger!
She should have listened to Kida or noticed the peculiar signs like her breasts still flowing with milk or her food cravings, yet she never got morning sickness or gained baby fat!
Sia was practically losing her mind at that moment; in a complete horror and panic as she was almost fairly sure she might end up losing her child as the situation looked very grim. Others arrived on the scene and were in complete shock and horror as well as she was trying desperately to try anything in an attempt to save her daughter.
"Sarge, can we help her? I mean, she's human like us.", asked Corporal Alex. Private First Class Sam replied, "But she is not like us spirits! Can we even touch her and her baby, since she is practically naked thanks to all her clothes being shredded by the crash and all?".
"We have to do something! They're both going to die if we don't at least try something!", Nate Fredericks argued as the three looked to their sergeant.
Sergeant Jerome 'Rome' Daniels took a deep breath and nodded as he narrowed his eyes, "We're American from all walks of life, and America takes the duty to protect the innocent seriously. Let's do this, men!".
The others nodded as they moved closer to Sia as she was continuing to panic. She knew what could perhaps truly help both her and her daughter might be back in the city; but the problem was both not fully knowing what the perfect answer would be to help save them as well as the city still so far away at the moment; even with a Ketak, it still might be too long to make it in time.
Sia wrenched in pain as she can feel her daughter's heartbeat as she tried to focus yet her body is in severe pain, her arms agonized from moving toward her baby. She tried to move lower to help her baby, her hand holding into her baby's body as her daughter was in danger from falling out from the deep cut, crying hysterically as her other hand is occupied with her crystal, trying to find her daughter's cord, yet realizing that she can't get to the other damaged placenta, water bag, and such at the same time, "I want you to live but I am not fast enough! Please, help me!", barely hearing the fuzzy noise of her Atlantean comrades directing the worm away from a very likely collapse that would kill her and her baby on the spot, and then blearily heard a English voice, "Hold on, ma'am, we're going to help you!", and she looked up at a fuzzy transparent form of a man in uniform, with American insignia and the expedition's insignia, "Please, I give permission! Please! I don't want to lose my baby!".
"We're trying!", one of them told her as they quickly looked to each other, "Please, someone here have an idea?". Sia was crying some more as their tone really sounded like even, they were at a loss, and she now really feared that she was going to lose their child...
"Jacques...", Sia whispered; feeling as if her heart had been torn out at the thought of him coming back only to find their daughter dead and possibly even her too!
Sergeant Jerome replied, "She gave permission! One of you, lay her back, we need to somehow pinch the water bag, the placenta, and the corners of that damn cut so the baby won't fall out, just until those people can get down here and get her to their home or a doctor! Let's hope she got family to help out with the blood loss in blood transfusion!".
"I got her!", Cpl. Hughes said as he moved to get her onto her back. "Easy, ma'am, easy... we'll do all we can...", he tried to assure her but obviously, the nagging doubt was in his mind that there might not be much they can do for her other than at least make things slightly more comfortable.
Sia focused on her baby, barely noticing the tingly feeling of spirit presence of hands gently discovering that they can touch her and her baby without passing through, pinching gently not to cut off the blood flow/the water bag to the baby, yet enough to just hold to comfortable limits, their eyes widening as they saw Sia's crystal healing the cord and the cut on her baby's back with all the strength she could, becoming exhausted yet determined to save her baby, feeling the pain of miscarriage contractions lessening yet still painful.
"Please... please don't die...", Sia whispered; she would never forgive herself if she managed to survive but their daughter didn't.
"Hey, hey, hey! Keep looking at me! Don't go falling asleep!", Pfc. Nicholson snapped as he was trying to keep Sia conscious.
Sia's blurry yet clear vision was all over the place as she spoke quietly, "I didn't even name you...", tears falling, and Sgt. Jerome replied, "Hey, hey, talk to me, what are you gonna name her if you could?", and Sia spoke, "I don't know...Are you...are you the lost four?".
"The lost four?", Nate Fredericks asked, and Sia nodded before wincing at the concussion flaring through her head, whispering, "Milo said that four people were sent to their death unknowingly by Rourke's diabolical plans, killed by the worm creature.".
"Diabolical?", Nicholson sounded confused there as Sia slowly nodded. "Rourke apparently was secretly aligned with the Germans.", she said. "Though I think everyone believed that he had no idea about the creature...".
Their eyes widened in horror as they looked at each other, and Cpl. Hughes replied, "Wait, you said Milo, as in Milo Thatch?", and Sia slowly nodded, "Yes...The reason you four came on this expedition was to discover Atlantis, and I'm a Atlantean...Rourke and Helga Sinclair nearly brought about the mass genocide of all my people, if it wasn't for Milo, Jacques, Peggy, Steve, including others like Abraham Erskine, saving us all.".
Jerome Daniels exhaled in shock, "And you know Jacques?", and Sia sobbed, "He's my lover and the father of my children including this one! And right then as I got the news that he's coming home! I can't...I can't leave him...but it's getting so hard to stay awake...But I want my baby alive...".
Nate Fredericks urged, "Hey, hey, stay awake! I think your hunting team got the worm monster down and out, and it looks like they're coming! Hey, tell us your name...I mean, we wouldn't forget you when we hopefully pass over to the heavens...".
"Princess Thalassia Nedakh, everybody calls me Sia...", Sia whispered as her hand was losing strength from holding her crystal, while her other hand cradled her baby bump preciously, feeling her daughter's heartbeat beating a bit stronger, thanks to the healed cord and the healed cut on her little back, back into her body warmth of the womb, but her baby's still in danger as she couldn't move much further to the men's gentle pinches on the baby's placenta, water bag, and her deep cut of her belly.
The men smiled, softly bowing their heads in respect to her title, introducing themselves, "Sergeant Jerome Daniels, at your service. Those boys call me Rome when they're joking around. Corporal Alexander Hughes, but everybody calls me Alex. Private First Class Sam Nicholson, your highness. And I am Private Nathaniel Fredericks, but I prefer being called as Nate.".
Sia gave a small smile, "You four really are good men of America...If I and my baby live through this, I honor you four of using some of your names by naming my daughter Jendayi, yet she will bear the nickname of Jen for short in American style.".
"Thanks...", Daniels chuckled as Sia gave out another pained moan. "Aw, damn it, Fredericks, keep her head up!", he ordered. "Right, sorry!", Fredericks replied back.
Sia gave a small giggle before she winced, feeling the pain in her body, feeling her baby fighting to live as she was losing strength to cry, to pray, to hold on, barely hearing a familiar voice in her hunting group, muffled urgent footsteps, "Princess! Sia, hold on! By the Great Kings, she's really bad, and is that a baby?! Hurry, we have to ride double on the fastest Ketak, turn on the shield, we need to keep her and the baby close to body warmth and upright, with one of you driving in front of me, my crystal should help hold the danger away until we get to the healers, and one of you, take your own Ketak and get to the air pocket! If Jacques is truly her mate, he will know that something's wrong!", as solid hands went to pick her up urgently, yet a weak scream of pain came, her body protesting, opening her eyes, whispering, "Can't move good...Baby...", seeing the transparent souls surrounding her alongside the solid appearances of her beloved hunting team, and a faint realization as solid hands went to try to pick her up more gently, and she whispered, "Thank you...", reaching out to the four souls that the others didn't see, thinking that she's thanking her team's rescue, yet she's not.
"No, thank you for giving us our freedom, to go home to the heavens. We'll pray for you and little Jen...Keep fighting, Sia. You're in good hands. You truly are a princess.", Jerome smiled with a salute before he felt at peace again, crossing over, realizing that altogether with the death of the worm monster and their determination and loyalty as soldiers to save innocent lives in Sia and little Jendayi has given them the release of their souls, and the other men smiled, saluting as well as they crossed over, following their sergeant.
"SIA!". Sia's eyes practically widened upon hearing that voice. It was impossible though... no way that it could be him... could it? Could Jacques have arrived in the nick of time for her and their child?
Concussed the way she is, would she be imagining it? Sia whispered, "Jacques...", seeing a blurry yet clear vision of Jacques running up to her, as the warrior carrying her bridal style gave her gently into his arms, "Prince Jacques, you keep her awake as long as possible while we ride the fastest Ketak back to the city, and I will do my best to keep the baby alive with my crystal, but they will need the best healers and any way you can help.".
Sia felt that he was so solid and warm, and whispered, "Am...Am I hallucinating? How did you get down here so fast?...It was only a few hours since you contacted me...I thought one of your surface ships takes a week to cross the sea before you can even get to the air pocket...", her arms agonized in pain as she weakly tried to lift a hand, tears falling as Jacques gently yet urgently carried her to the fastest Ketak with the driver revving it up already with the aforementioned warrior sitting back to back with the driver, as Jacques took a seat, with the warrior facing Sia and the baby, using his crystal to focus on the baby as the shield came over them, with the Ketak zooming off into the direction of the city.
"Look, it's a long story...", Jacques told her before he sighed. "Stole a mini sub from our old HYDRA foes; faked my death too during a raid... I couldn't stay away much longer, and the Nazis occupation had been greatly weakened though not broken yet...", he told her as he kept propping her head up. "No, no, no... stay with me, stay with me, Sia...", he said as he kept trying to talk. "Anyway... I managed to make my way practically by instinct when my crystal glowed... telling me at least that I was practically above you in a way, though unable to reach... but certainly, something was waiting for me...".
Sia blinked at him, "What?", and Jacques gave a wry grin, "The Levithan.", seeing Sia's eyes widen slightly, "I know, right? I expected him to attack as I was coming down to Atlantis, but he didn't, and he was docile, purring, turning around to surrender his back, showing some sort of seat on his back, gesturing for me to take a ride on him, and so I did, dropping the sub into the seat, and with a flash of his huge tail, he swam deeper, and then he spurted out a beam into some sort of underground cave, with water rushing through the sub-wide tunnel, and he turned around, using his tail as a slide as the latches of the seat to the sub let go, and before I knew it, I was going and going in this tunnel, and then splashed into a newly formed deep pond, barely noticing that the tunnel was getting sealed up as I drove the sub to the shore of the pond, and ran all the way as I heard the worm monster, the Ketaks...By the Great Kings, when I saw you...and our baby...".
Sia whispered, "I didn't know, I swear...It's my fault I put our daughter in danger...", a sob breaking out, "I don't want to lose her...I really tried to keep her alive, Jacques...But it hurts...I can feel her in pain...I'm so tired...I knew I'm really hurt everywhere, but she comes first...I'm scared for Jendayi.".
"It's alright, Sia...", Jacques assured her; at least with one aspect. "I know you must have not known; I know you never would've risked our daughter's safety if you did...", he told her. "Jacques... I don't want to lose her...", Sia cried.
Jacques moved slightly to kiss her gently on the forehead, "I know, I know...It's gonna be okay, we're on the way home, Sia...Our baby will be safe.", glancing at the warrior trying to keep a hold on the extremities of Sia's womb, keeping the baby intact, trying to figure out how to heal the placenta, the womb, the water bag, and the cut with his crystal, mainly focusing on the small stuff as he isn't quite knowledgeable of the deep stuff.