"Watch out!" Eunbi screamed, and Chaewon was forced to throw herself to the left to avoid the flying venom from the hydra soaring towards her. Grunting, she rolled along the grass before stumbling onto her feet and clumsily raising her sword towards the beast once again.
They'd been fighting for nearly twenty minutes at this point, and no progress had been made towards killing the monster. Eunchae was still raining arrows across the thing to distract it as best she could, but her quiver was almost empty, and she looked exhausted.
"What do we do?" Ryujin called, just barely managing to dodge one of the heads flying towards her, teeth bared. She jabbed at it with her spear, but it just left a narrow gash in its scales as the hydra jerked its head back once again. "We can't keep going like this!"
"The body!" Eunbi called from far to the left. She was locked in a battle with one of the heads herself, and she grunted as she rolled away from a spray of venom. "We can't target the head, but what about the body?"
"Why not the head?" Eunchae questioned incredulously, sinking an arrow into one of the creature's eyes as if to prove a point. It roared in pain, the sound of it echoing loudly throughout the stadium.
Chaewon leapt to the side as one of the heads jutted out towards her, teeth bared and eyes narrowed in a feral rage. The serpentine head shot past her, and on instinct alone, Chaewon struck with her sword, raising it high above her head and slashing downward.
The head of the hydra flopped to the ground and its neck recoiled back towards the body. The rest of the hydra roared in agony, and Chaewon allowed herself a moment of reprieve as she stared at the serpent head lying motionless on the grass.
Then she heard Eunbi.
"... That's why we don't target the head."
Chaewon almost didn't want to look, but when she finally gathered the courage to face the creature once again, her heart dropped.
Right where Chaewon had sliced the head off, the creature's skin was shifting and reforming. She watched as the neck seemed to extend outward, and her eyes widened as two serpentine heads eventually took form, swiftly replacing the one she'd cut off.
"IT REGROWS TWO HEADS?" Eunchae screamed, and Chaewon didn't even have to look at her to know that she was also staring at the beast in horror.
"YES!" Eunbi called back, just barely batting away the strike of another head by hitting it with the flat of her sword. "So we have to go for the body!"
"Got it!" Ryujin replied immediately, and she made a running start towards the creature, her eyes narrowed.
"Ryujin!" Eunchae called after her, notching her last few arrows in an attempt to cover Ryujin as she sprinted towards the Hydra's body.
For a moment, Chaewon almost thought she'd make it. She was about 5 feet away from stabbing her spear into its heart before the hydra finally struck.
One of the closer heads, the one that wasn't distracted by everyone else, shot towards Ryujin as she approached, and it was only Eunbi's scream of warning that prevented her from meeting a grisly end.
Just in time, she raised her spear towards the approaching teeth, managing to wedge the wooden staff in between its teeth.
There was a beat of tension as Ryujin grunted against the force of the head. However, the moment was shattered when Eunchae sank her last arrow into the eye of the head that was attacking Ryujin.
Ryujin stumbled back as hydra roared in anger and pain, retreating away from them.
As the hydra moved towards the back wall of the field to deal with the arrow now lodged in one of its eyes, everyone gathered at home plate, winded and afraid.
"Okay, we don't have a lot of time," Eunbi breathed, wiping the sweat from her brow. "We've got to down this thing, and fast."
"The heart, we need to hit its heart," Chaewon said, her eyes trained on the hydra only about a hundred yards away.
"Okay, so we need a distraction," Eunchae said, switching out her bow in favor of her bronze shortsword. "Something that will occupy all of the heads while one of us goes in and lands the killing blow."
"I have something." Jimin said, breathing heavily as she ran up to them from the sidelines, where she'd evidently gone to get something from her bag.
Chaewon opened her mouth to question Jimin, but the words caught in her throat when the girl held out her hands, revealing about ten small, brown bags.
"What is that?" Eunbi asked, glancing between Jimin and the monster.
"They're full of extremely volatile powder, and if they come in contact with heat or flame, they will -"
"Grenades!" Ryujin interrupted, a new sort of excitement shining in her eyes.
With a nod, Jimin began to distribute the bags, each of them taking three or four of the things.
"The friction of the impact should be enough to detonate the powder," Jimin explained. "So just throw far and hard."
"Okay," Eunbi nodded, and Chaewon tried not to focus on the heavy footsteps of the hydra as it finally made its way back towards them. She turned towards Chaewon, giving her a nod. "Chaewon, you go for the chest, and we'll try and cover you as best we can."
Chaewon swallowed, but she couldn't find it in herself to protest. Instead, she just nodded at Eunbi, gripping her sword a little tighter and glancing at the bombs locked in her own grasp.
"Alright, let's go!" Ryujin yelled, already turning around and flinging one of the bags at the hydra.
Chaewon could only stare as the bag soared through the air towards one of the monster's heads.
The impact was enough to shake the stadium. The hydra recoiled with a huge roar, and as the smoke cleared, Chaewon didn't hesitate to sprint towards the beast.
The others waited no longer to spread out and throw their own makeshift grenades, and Chaewon's ears rang as the explosions roared across the field, one after the other.
Through the haze of smoke as Chaewon approached, she met eyes with one of the heads, the one that was perched directly in front of the hydra's chest, as if guarding it.
Instead of slowing down or stopping, Chaewon simply grit her teeth and chucked one of the bags towards the thing as hard as she could. She didn't have the best throwing arm, but the resulting explosion was enough to clear the way for her to land the final blow.
The screams of the others echoed around her, but through the smoke and debris, Chaewon could see her opening. The chest of the beast was exposed, the heads occupied with various explosions coming from four different angles.
Clenching her jaw, Chaewon raised her sword, aiming her balde directly in front of her as she finally reached the monster's chest.
The blade sliced through the scales surprisingly easily, and the hydra's screech of pain was almost satisfying. Chaewon didn't hesitate before twisting the blade with a grunt, resulting in another screech.
However, she wasn't positive her blow would be enough to fully take down the beast. So, before the creature could recoil and retreat, Chaewon withdrew her blade and shoved one of the bags into the gash, pushing it as deep as she could. She cringed at the black blood that spurted from the wound and coated her hand and arm.
Yet, she couldn't focus on it for very long, not when the hydra responded by promptly slapping her across the baseball field, sending her flying towards home plate. She rolled painfully across the grass, groaning when she finally rolled to a stop, lying motionless on her back.
"Chaewon!" she heard someone scream, she wasn't completely sure who. She didn't focus on it, instead forcing herself off the ground, ignoring the screaming pain in her ribs. Spots dotted her vision and she stumbled, dangerously dizzy.
"It's chest," she managed, lifting a shaking finger and pointing towards where the hydra had retreated towards the back wall. "There's - I put one of the bags in its chest -"
She finally became aware of the other four crowding around her, of Eunbis fingers around her arms as the girl struggled to pull her back towards the ground.
"What?" Eunbi asked, her brows furrowed, and Chaewon coughed, unable to summon the words to respond.
But Eunchae knew what she meant, and Chaewon watched as a wicked grin formed on the girl's face. "Oh, I've always wanted to use this arrow." she said, reaching behind her and retrieving a new arrow from a side pocket on her quiver. As she notched the arrow, raising the bow to her face and narrowing her eyes as she aimed towards the beast, Chaewon nearly yelped when the arrow suddenly lit up, flames running along the length of the shaft until they reached the very end.
A fire arrow.
And before they could dwell anymore on it, Eunchae let the arrow fly.
Time seemed to slow as it shot towards the hydra, the fire along the arrow shaft flickering wildly in the wind.
And then it landed.
As the head of the arrow slotted itself directly into the beast's chest, right where Chaewon had shoved the grenade, the hydra exploded.
The shockwave threw everyone back, and Chaewon cried out as she was thrown across the field once again, her ribs screaming in protest.
The last thing she was aware of was the arena shuddering dangerously from the explosion and fire beginning to spread across the grass.
And then her temple slammed into the ground, and she knew no more.
Chaewon awoke to the brush of raindrops falling against her cheeks.
Scrunching her face and trying uselessly to escape the drizzle, she finally forced her eyes open. Above her, dark gray clouds filled the sky and raindrops could be seen falling from above.
"Is she awake?" she heard someone ask from behind her, and she could just barely distinguish the voice as Eunbj's.
"Chaewon?" Eunchae asked, and a flash of brown hair passed in front of her eyes as Eunchae knelt beside her. "Are you okay?"
Was she okay? She paused, as if considering the question.
And then the aching pain in her abdomen suddenly became more of a stabbing pain, and Chaewon's groan was Eunchae's only answer.
"Right," Eunchae replied, wincing a little. "Jimin, pass me those ambrosia squares, the ones in my bag."
Thank god Eunchae is always so prepared, Chaewon thought absentmindedly through her haze of pain. Yep, one of her ribs was definitely broken.
"Where are we?" she managed to ask, withholding another groan as she tried to push herself off the ground.
Eunchae simply pushed her back down, shaking her head and handing her one of the yellow squares Jimin had passed to her. "We're at a bus stop, a couple blocks from Wrigley Field."
"That was as far as we could make it with you unconscious and the police rushing towards the field." Eunbi added with a snort. "One hour in Chicago and we almost burn down Wrigley Field. Figures."
Chaewon had to agree. It was just their luck.
Still, as she plucked the square from Eunchae's hand and greedily ate it, she couldn't help but feel relieved at the comforting taste. Yogurt smoothies. They survived. They made it out.
And now, all that was left to do was to find Yunjin and the others.
As if she'd read her mind, Jimin asked, "So, how're we going to catch up with the others?"
Silence filled the air around the four of them.
"Well, we won't be doing anything tonight, that's for sure," Eunbi replied, not really answering Jimin's question. "Almost everything is closed, and we're worn out."
"But we don't have any money for a hotel," Eunchae said quietly. "Where are we supposed to stay tonight?"
Eunbi opened her mouth to answer, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice to their right. "Looks like you kids could use some help?"
Chaewon cringed, finally managing to sit up and take a look at the man approaching them. He was tall, about 6 feet, if Chaewon had to guess. His hair was spiked with gel, and he wore a dark denim jacket paired with black cargo pants. Just a regular guy, it seemed.
And yet...
The man approached, and as he got closer and closer, Chaewon could just make out a golden aura surrounding him. It made him seem the opposite of regular...almost otherworldly.
She glanced around at the other girls, and, based on their expressions, it seemed they also noticed his unusual presence.
"Who are you?" Eunbi asked warily, her hand drifting towards the hilt of her sword.
The man raised his hands in a calming gesture, a smirk on his face. "Hey, easy there, I'm a friend."
Chaewon narrowed her eyes.
The man sighed, taking off the pair of sunglasses he wore to reveal eyes that glowed an unnatural red. "You might know me better as Ares?"
The world seemed to still for a moment.
Ares?
Eunbi seemed at a loss for words, so Eunchae stepped forward. "What do you want?" she asked firmly, and Chaewon could respect how her voice didn't tremble at all, even when faced with a god.
Ares chuckled, replacing his sunglasses over his eyes and resting his hands in his pockets. "I just want to help, all right?" he said with a shrug. "Why so hostile?"
"Because gods don't typically interfere with mortal matters, even if such matters involve their own children." Jimin replied steadily, her eyes never leaving the man in front of them.
Ares frowned. "Listen kid, I don't want to fight, okay?" he said finally. "I can get you safe travel to Denver. That's where your little friends are going right now, right?"
Chaewon clenched her jaw, and no one said anything.
Ares laughed a little. "Fine, you don't have to accept my generosity, I guess," he said. "But your friends are getting further and further away every minute you sit at this bus stop, and you are no closer to catching up with them without my help."
He was right. Of course he was right, but...
"Why should we trust you?" Eunbi asked, finally finding her voice.
Ares just smiled. "Because I can tell you exactly where Hades' sword is."
They decided to accept his help in the end.
What other choice did they have, really? They were stuck, alone in a city with no money and no roof over their heads. Ares had shown up when they were desperate, and he knew it.
But, his transportation was valuable, and so was his information.
So, as they made their way to the Chicago airport, where Ares promised them a private plane would be waiting (protected from the eyes of Zeus, of course), they stewed over the information he'd provided.
"Alcatraz?" Jimin asked, shaking her head. "Why would it even be there?"
"More importantly, how does Ares know it's there at all?" Eunbi said, shaking her head with furrowed brows. "It just doesn't make sense."
The taxi was silent as they all considered.
"Either way, now we know where to go," Eunchae broke the silence with a sigh. " And, now we can make it to Denver in one piece."
"Yeah," Eunbi agreed, a small smile on her face. "We'll probably make it way before the others, too. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when we're waiting for them."
Chaewon couldn't suppress her smile at the thought, at the idea of Yunjin's shocked expression when she saw them.
Soon. They would reunite with the others soon, and this whole miserable quest would soon be over.
They just had to make it to Denver first.
And then, Alcatraz.