Round Six - Historical Fiction, Ranked 6th

Zeus' eyes opened after much struggles, only to see that he was floating underwater. Everywhere around him was deep, royal blue, and bubbles sizzled around him. Though, surprisingly, he could breathe normally.

He noticed the hard and solid surface circling around him, entrapping its prey, giving a thud as his uncontrollable legs touched it. He noticed something connected quite loosely in his head, arms, back and legs. The objects flowed in unison with the water.

All his energy was being drained. He could barely move a finger. For the first time in his whole life, he felt helpless. He couldn't summon his magic. He didn't even know where his companions were. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't see beyond the deep colored water, as well as the thing that encircled him. He couldn't see anything. Just the water. And he could do nothing. He was weak.

He was the king of the gods. He was the one who saved his brothers from his father, a strong immortal; yet, in this situation against mortals, he could do nothing. At all.

Numbness overcame his body. He was cold. His head continued to throb. His eyelids were getting heavier, craving for rest. He couldn't move or see or hear. All he wanted to do was close his eyes.

He was immortal. Humans couldn't destroy him. It was okay to rest.

So his eyes closed.

***

When she saw him stopped trying, she knew he was gone. Her arms that were held firmly by two bodyguards from preventing her to interrupt the test stopped fighting their grasps. Her legs underneath her wanted to collapse. A lump formed in her throat.

She had failed them. Failed one of them. And she was supposed to free them all from the lab.

Her eyes travelled to the other tanks. Their bodies merely moved as commanded by the water and tubes attached. The lights in their eyes were fading. Their skins were paling.

They were exhausted. They were giving up. And Avanry felt hopeless. If only she had the strength to escape the guards' grasps.

But when she saw something move in a tank from the corner of her eye, a more alive one, her hopes went up. For a moment, her energy came back, her body started to fight, and a small smile curved on her lips.

Someone was still trying. And she had a guess who that was. And she took the chance to escape when the guards thought she had given up fighting for real.

***

He was frustrated. So, very frustrated.

Why did he have these irksome tubes on him? Why was he underwater? Why could he not see anything but the water? Why was it so deep? He wasn't in any deep part of the water, was he?

Then the memory came travelling back: portals opened, mortals barged in, an ambush, gods silenced, dumped into several spaceships-Olympus was wiped out.

Oh, these insolent little humans. Who did they think were the Olympians! Lab rat? He huffed. They were so going to pay for it. They can't mess up with his kind or his family or relatives!

Exasperatingly, Poseidon pulled off the tubes. Finally-free. Now he had to escape this tank.

With all his strength, he commanded the water to break the cover of the tank. Nothing happened the first time, so he pushed more, the current hurrying and the water making sizzling noises in his ears.

The god of the sea couldn't see what was happening, but he felt a hard surface move above. Then, all the water he had in control burst out, and with his reflex, he made some of the water go underneath him before he fell, carrying him out of the opened tank concurrently, before flooding the whole place.

At the sudden commotion, the scientists stopped what they were doing, their faces filled with horror, and pale. How had he escaped?

When Poseidon landed on the ground with a little splash from the small amount of water covering the ground-which he thought would be more-he looked around, noticing the surroundings. His frown deepened as he read the list of names from a nearby screen and found out that all the gods were there, except for four: Athena, Apollo, Hecate and Zeus. The fact that the others looked weak mattered less than the four's absence.

In the room, there were no cleaners or whoever-only professional scientists wearing lab coats scattering around the place; some with glasses, some with clipboard, some operating the computers, some in the middle of running or talking, and some with their jaws agape. They would've been mistaken as statues if it weren't for their subtle yet visible breathings.

When he thought he couldn't interrogate any of those frozen people, he noticed a cowering scientist nearby him-small and nerdy. His body trembled with fear and his face loss of blood. Poseidon approached him with heavy steps, despite the fact that he was peeing his pants.

Glowering, Poseidon demanded, "Where are the others?"

"I-I-I'm sorry-sir! Don't hurt me, please! Th-they're not here. We didn't find them. Four of them are sa-"

"Don't listen to him. He's lying." A familiar voice came from behind him. Poseidon turned around.

"Avanry, you're here!" Poseidon smiled.

Avanry, meanwhile, sighed. "I'm here to save you all once I heard the news, but I guess I failed...I'm sorry, Poseidon..." She looked downward, dejected.

His voice softened as he saw how guilty she looked, and the cowering scientist decided to make his leave while they were talking, which they didn't mind.

"What is the matter?" he asked.

Avanry bit her bottom lip, looking away. "Zeus is..." She let out a shaky breath as she recalled what happened. She couldn't put up an act. She couldn't hide her feelings anymore. "He is..." A sob escaped. Her body trembled then, and tears started to trickle down her cheeks. She couldn't tell him.

When she thought she couldn't continue, a strong yet calm voice spoke for her as a hand comfortably placed on her shoulder. "He's gone," Artemis said.

Avanry's head whipped around hearing her voice, her eyes that were stained with tears were wide with guilt. "Artemis! I'm so sorry! I was too late. I was too weak to fight them. I couldn't do anything. I'm so sorry."

Artemis shook her head. "Don't be, dear one. It's not your fault. It's all right. Indeed it is sad news, but he had tried his best. Now, let us not mourn. Our first priority now is to find my brother, my half-sister and my aunt, as well as freeing the others who are still fighting. We don't want to lose them too, do we?" She looked over to Poseidon, whose face was unreadable.

"She's right. No time to mourn now. We better be freeing them all and teach these little humans a lesson," Poseidon stated.

Avanry let out a soft laugh, wiping her tears away. "I'm a human too, you know."

"But I wasn't talking about you." Poseidon grinned. Turning to Artemis, he asked, "When were you out? Where were you?"

"I was out just now; however, I was able to hear everything while I was unconscious, or maybe the scientists were talking. I don't know," Artemis answered. "I was in another room with Hephaestus who was...unconscious."

Both Poseidon and Avanry stared at her blankly.

"Ah, don't worry. The room's kind of neglected. I'll go get him." The young goddess rushed off.

When she was out of sight, Poseidon and Avanry shared a look, before they took notice of the place.

The scientists had deserted the place-even the tanks were gone. All the tanks. And there were hundreds of them! Big.

All transferred in just a a few minutes of their conversing.

Poseidon's blood boiled and his body trembled with rage. He gritted his teeth.

His anger was back.

How foolish was he, forgetting about them! They might have fled the place already with that kind of speed! Just how many employees did they have?

Now, not only did they have to find Apollo, Athena and Hecate, they had to find the others as well before it's too late.

Poseidon huffed. He tried to calm himself by inhaling and exhaling. Being angry wouldn't do anything. He turned to Avanry, who looked astonished, even if there was nothing to be for, except for their unspeakable speed. And she looked rather calm-self-controlled.

The god smiled, his anger dissipating almost instantly. This girl and her magic...

"Let's tell Artemis the situation." Poseidon sighed. "I shouldn't have taken my eyes off them..."

Avanry snapped back to reality and began to panic. "I'm so sorry! You got distracted because of me!"

Poseidon rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair. "Geez. Stop apologizing for something that isn't your fault. Let's go." He dragged her out of the room, where he almost bumped into Artemis who had an unconscious Hephaestus' arm around her shoulder for support.

At the gloomy aura she had, Poseidon guessed she had discovered that the scientists had taken the others already and fled, leaving only them there. It was unfortunate that their rescue plan was made harder, having them do more tasks than finding the missing three. Plus, they hadn't taught the insolent humans any lesson.

However, Olympus hadn't given up on them; and they hadn't given up as well. They were going to save the gods and return to Olympus. Their home was waiting for them patiently. They needed to succeed for it to be full of life again. They were going to save them. Zeus was counting on them too.

With determination, Poseidon said, "It's our turn."

Well...I tried.