"Why its a Hydra! How fascinating, I didn't think there were still any of them on this side of the barrier."
Myrin's voice chimed in, startling Al.
"You're back! Great, quick! How do I kill it?"
"Kill it? Why ever would you want to kill it? It's a magnificent specimen, one that I had presumed extinct on this side of the barrier."
Albert dove to the deck, dodging a blast from the hydra, returning a blast of water of his own, which merely bounced off the hydra's shield ineffectively.
"Thats why!"
Myrin sighed.
"Very well, though hydras are an excellent example of raw, physical, strength and regeneration, its mental strength is nearly non-existent. Many mystics took control of them and used them as mounts or guards due to that. Simply cast a mental link and overwhelm its mind. Then, you may kill it with ease."
"And how do I do that?" Albert hissed exasperatedly.
"Here, I'll guide you. Spread your consciousness outwards using a thread of numen."
Al flicked his hand, as if trying to offset a fly, and tossed a thread of numen out towards the hydra. After casting, he pushed his consciousness out of his body and into the thread. The world was vibrant and clearer than he had ever seen it. He could feel the ebb and flow of the ocean through the surrounding numen, every flutter and vibration in the air and even the colors of the world were as if he was only seeing them now for the first time.
Now one with the thread, Al moved forwards as if he were a snake, slithering up the pillar of water that shielded the hydra and straight into one of the yellow, reptilian eyes of a hydra head, steam billowing out between needle-like fangs as it prepared to launch another shot.
As soon as his thread touched the hydra, Al's worldview changed. Numerous images opened up before him, all of them focused on the beaten hull of a small boat filled with tiny humans. Albert's own body was at the prow of the ship, collapsed on the deck.
Myrin was right. Though the body of the Hydra was massive and powerful, its mind was anything but. The tiny consciousness that he had felt when he had connected with creature had immediately fled into the outer reaches of its mind, where it hid, trembling like a beaten dog.
Al almost felt bad for the hydra, seeing its true self. It was an animal, no monster. It had merely been hunting and doing its best to survive. Like a tiger, angry at its territory being infringed upon, this creature instinctively attacked them.
"Myrin,"
"Ah, excellent, Albert. Have you crushed its mind?"
"No. You said that mystics used to take control of hydras right? How do I do that?"
"Ah, that? A simple operation, really. There were two main methods used, either destroy the consciousness and turn the body into a puppet, or enter into a contract with the creature. Both methods have their drawbacks and their benefits."
"How do I enter into a contract?"
"Simply send your numen into the creature's numen pool and absorb it into yourself. This will effectively connect you two in a master-servant bond, where the servant cannot disobey the master. Be warned, however, that this bond is a double edged sword. From that point onwards you would be connected, for better or worse. Doing so would increase your available numen and give you a powerful servant, but if the hydra is killed, you too would be damaged or killed."
"That's fine, If it were that easy to kill a hydra, I wouldn't be doing this," Albert replied, approaching the hydra's consciousness, which had begun whimpering.
"Come on, buddy, this is pathetic" Al said, reaching out his consciousness and touching the hydra's.
Energy flowed into him in droves, though noticeably weaker than his own silver and gold numen pools. It filled him with both power, and the now familiar exultation that numen provided.
Soon, the creature's numen pool was absorbed and, with the ceremony finished, the hydra's mind now felt as if it were an extension of his own. At the same time, the noticeable addition of the young hydra's conciousness filled another empty space in his own mind. It was no longer trembling and scared, but it still kept a cautious distance, observing him.
Albert returned to his own body, finding that his sight would slip back to the many eyes of the hydra if he wasn't careful. He had to make a conscious effort to keep himself centered. This would take some getting used to.
"My mind is becoming a freaking hotel."
--
"Now or never, Mr. Magic," Penelope said, watching Al's eyes harden in resolve.
He was handsome and his multi-colored eyes intrigued her, but he was so young. How could this young teenager be wanted for terrorism? Hell, how could he do ANY of the things she has seen him do? She watched Al hop over the rubble that was once the helm and stop at the prow of the ship.
A crescent-shaped blade of water erupted from one of the many hydra heads, aimed straight at Al, who avoided it with an ease of movement that surprised her. Penelope's eyes widened as she saw him raise a hand and send a jet of water blasting out of the ocean in return.
"Yep, definitely Mr. Magic," She muttered to herself, keeping her gun at the ready. She needed to fire and kill that monster as soon as he brought down that shield.
It was hard to believe that, only hours ago, she was arriving at the station for a regular day of patrol and yet, now, she was fighting a creature straight out of the Odyssey. Not for the first time, she wanted to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming, but she didn't dare let go of her weapon.
She glanced at the unmoving corpse beside her, cut as cleanly in two as if it were cut by a laser. The abundance of blood and gore at the site of impact proved that, despite how clean the wound was, it had definitely not been a laser. Surely a laser would cauterize the wound.
A spray of cold, ocean mist hitting her in the face helped her regain her attention. One of the hydra heads had set loose another attack which had punched out a gash into the fiberglass decking a foot away from her toes. She let out a small scream in shock, but quickly shut her mouth as she realized what she had done.
"Okay, definitely don't ignore the crazy, many headed, water sword flinging, monster," she reprimanded herself, her heart beating a frenzy. Her eyes flicked around to see if anyone had heard.
She was a lieutenant in the force now, she couldn't be seen as feminine or weak. Both were a taboo.
In fact, just being feminine was equivalent to being weak for some individuals. Her appointment to lieutenant had evoked many malcontent grumblings in the office, which conveniently disappeared as she drew near.
"When is that boy of yours going to take down that shield?" Captain Boulas called out impatiently from the other side of the ship.
"When did he become MY boy?" Penelope wondered inwardly, shrugging and shaking her head at him in response.
At the prow of the ship, Albert flicked his hand towards the hydra, the strange, symbol covered, sleeves that he wore, flapping in the wind. Penelope waited expectantly, glancing at the water again to see what magical phenomenon would occur, then blinked in surprise as the boy collapsed to the floor in a heap.
"Shit," she swore, dashing to him and kneeling next to his body with her gun angled at the hydra, ready to let loose a couple of rounds to distract it.
She needn't have bothered.
The second Albert had collapsed, the hydra had stopped, its flurry of heads that had been a nest of constant movement before slowing to a halt, like a fan with its plug pulled.
"Did he do it?" One of the SWAT officers asked eagerly.
"Does it look like he's done it?" Captain Boulas snapped in reply.
"Well, its not moving," another officer added.
"The shield is still up, and it's not dead. Though Mr. Magic here obviously has done something," Penelope said, checking Al's body.
It was as if he were merely asleep.
His chest rose and feel with periodic deep breaths and his pulse was normal. Her momentary panic had cleared, only to be replaced with a morbid curiosity.
What was he?
Below her, Albert's eyes popped open.
--
Al opened his eyes to see the lieutenant's face hovering above his, her warm, almond, eyes staring down at him in concern. When she noticed him, she flushed and looked away, focusing back on the hydra instead.
"Good morning?" Al offered cheerfully, glad that his life wasn't in danger for the moment. It seemed to be in danger a lot lately.
The lieutenant coughed and stood up, offering Al a hand, which he took.
"Decided this was a good time for a nap, Mr. Magic?"She replied curtly, though her cheeks were still flushed.
"Well, I mean, it's such a nice day out, who wouldn't want to relax on deck?" Albert said, grinning at her.
"On the deck of a sinking boat," he added, his grin morphing into a frown as he saw the water rising, lapping through the holes that the hydra had torn in the boat.
"This isn't the time for idle conversation boy, what did you do? Why isn't that thing's shield down?" Captain Boulas demanded, stopping in front him and towering over the two.
"Oh you don't need to worry about it now, Captain. I, uh, put it under my control," Al said, deciding it best not to mention that he had spared the creature that had killed so many of his men.
"Did you now?" the captain said quietly, narrowing his eyes at Al suspiciously.
"Seriously, Captain Boulas? He's a 16 year old child who just saved our lives!" The lieutenant snapped, the strand of auburn hair that had escaped her helmet swaying in the wind as she whipped her head around.
"Perhaps, or maybe he just told his OWN monster to stop attacking us for long enough to wipe suspicion off of himself," Captain said slowly, as if uncovering a "hidden-plot" of Al's.
"Save your suspicions for later captain," Al said, rolling his eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, our boat is sinking and we don't have any life boats."
"He's right sir, the water level has risen to my ankles in the aft of the ship," one of the other officers added.
The others also murmured in agreement.
"Fine," the captain snapped. "Radio the other ships, they shouldn't be too far off. "
"Oh, and tell them we got our criminal," he added, smirking at Al.
"Captain!" The lieutenant rebuked.
A SWAT member with a radio belted on nodded and grabbed the receiver from his waist and clicked the button. He was rewarded with nothing, not even the usual background radio static. The radio had been broken sometime during the fight.
"Yep, you got me Captain. Just you, me and the sea," Al mocked, stretching his arms out over the sides of the ship.
"You're stuck here too, you know," the lieutenant whispered to him quietly.
"What are you talking about? My ride's right there!" Al said, gesturing at the hydra behind them, which had lowered the pillar of water and now rested, floating on the surface of the water. The way its body sank halfway into the water reminded Al of a dog lying on a shag carpet.
"You cannot be serious!" Captain Boulas exclaimed.
"Very," Al replied.
One of the hydra's heads lifted from the water and placed itself at Al's feet, waiting for him to step on.
"Need a ride?" Al asked, staring at the lieutenant in particular and offering a hand. She shook her head in amazement, grabbed his hand and was pulled up onto the scaly hide of the hydra.
The rest of the policemen hesitated, but then carefully clambered onto some of the other heads, which Al had lower to the deck. The captain last to join them. His desire to not sink overcoming his instinctive desire to not climb on a monster that had killed his men and was under the control of a wanted criminal.
"You have a lot of tricks, Mr. Magic," the lieutenant said, gripping Albert's waist to keep her balance as the hydra suddenly lifted its heads back out of the water.
"The name is Al, not Mr. Magic, Lieutenant," Al said, flushing at the contact.
"Okay Al, " the lieutenant said, letting Al go quickly.
"Then my name isn't, 'Lieutenant,' it's Penelope," she said, not looking Al in the eye.
"Penelope? It's, uh, nice to meet you," Al finished, unsure of what to say. In order to avoid looking at Penelope, whose gaze he felt burning a hole in his back, Al gazed out over the horizon, a thought occurring to him.
He cast his gaze over the other hydra heads, passing each surviving SWAT member, looking for the cowardly ship captain. Luckily, the captain had not only manage to survive, he had also somehow clambered onto the hydra without him noticing. Al spotted the man sniveling and clutching an extremely off-put Captain Boulas.
"Oi," Al called out. "Which way to the mainland?"
The cowardly captain either didn't hear him or could spare the time to answer. He had his eyes clenched shut and was chanting a mixture of profanities and prayers for safety in a carrying whisper.
"It's that way," Captain Boulas said, grimacing and trying, unsuccessfully, to push the man off him. He pointed opposite the sun and Al maneuvered the hydra in the right direction as easily as he would move his own body. It wasn't as hard to get used to as he had thought. It was merely as if he had rediscovered the use of a missing limb.
The hydra's consciousness also seemed to be getting over its initial hesitation. As they head off towards the mainland, Al felt it brushing against his own consciousness curiously. One of the passenger-less heads rose from the water and tilted its head at him, tasting the air with a forearm sized tongue. Al felt a sudden warmth of affection for the beast, and placed a hand against its scaly nose. It was warmer than he expected.
"What are you going to name this...your pet?" Penelope asked, leaning as far away from the head as she could without falling off.
"Charlie," Al replied after a moment, remembering his old pet dog.
"Charlie?" Penelope repeated with an incredulous look.