"I told you to get close to the boy."
"I did."
"So, why are you here?"
Back in the Surface, Joseph Hayden was once again talking to Hannah in his office; his large frame, barely even fitting at his desk as he was slightly hunched on his chair,
"Why are you here instead of going with them to the Underworld, then?" Joseph's voice did not seem friendly at all. As a matter of fact, it was devoid of any sort of welcoming presence as he just stared down at his daughter; smoke almost coming out of his nose as he seethed in anger... or perhaps disappointment.
"Because I don't like it down there," Hannah, however, just shrugged, "And I already got close to him, if you want me to become closer, then that will take some time."
"Time...?" Joseph's eyebrows began to lower, "The boy is inserting his penis left to right into women he just met seconds ago, and you are telling me you can't even do that? He had sex with a cat, a cat!"
"You said that I don't need to fuck him!"
"Why not!?" Joseph raised his voice and slammed his desk, causing a loud ripple to blast through the entire room, "What is wrong with him!? The man is an idol, he owns a city where people worship him, a man who triumphed over tragedy, and most importantly, he is more handsome than the gods! What else could you want!?"
"You know what's wrong with him," Hannah shook her head, "If it was any other blood flowing through his veins, then I would have no problems making friends with him, he's a cool dude... but his tragedy will never be over, Father."
"Hm."
"You said it yourself, Father — The Fates will always lead him to where he should be. That is the deal you've—"
"You shouldn't be here. You should be there," Joseph then just sighed in disappointment as he shook his head, "I thought for sure you would be joining them in the Underworld, that was the plan — and now the plan is going completely off the course."
"Well, that's not my fault. Is it?"
"No, it was my fault for trusting this to you," Joseph's tone finally lightened up as he leaned away from the desk, "Dan."
"Yes, Sir?" Joseph's assistant appeared out of thin air beside him.
"Contact Margaret," Joseph shook his head, "Tell her it's important."
"Margaret is in the Underworld, Sir."
"Exactly. Contact her."
"Margaret..?" Hannah forced out a chuckle, "You're entrusting this mission to Margaret?"
"Why not? The most beautiful out of all my children, she can be quite unruly like you — but she always follows orders."
"She's a fucking slut who has already been ran down by thousands of men."
"No... no," Katarina was watching everything; her hands clasped together and covering her mouth as she saw the eagle slightly struggle. But then, in the end, it ultimately just violently fell into the water along with Rhys, "No!"
"Captain!" Commander Olga also screamed as she looked at the bridge, "Turn the fucking boat around!"
"Rhys!" Katarina then quickly took off her jacket as she ran to the back of the ship.
"Fuck this," Ayesha also ran, quickly passing by Katarina and pushing her back, "I'll get the recruit, you stay here in case we need to heal him!"
Katarina did not really say anything, she just glanced at Ayesha's eyes and nodded, "Please... bring him back."
"You don't need to tell me," Ayesha continued to run, reaching the back of the ship in no time at all. She was about to dive without any hesitation, but Commander Olga suddenly appeared in front of her, "I will punch you if you—"
Commander Olga, however, did not seem to care for her at all as she just jumped into the water—no, she ran down the walls of the ship and then on top of the water. Ayesha did not really bother thinking about why she would risk her life for Rhys and just also jumped and dived into the water; causing the ship to shake from the ripple she created as she started to swim.
She did not care at all that she might be attracting the sea creatures below, and it did not matter — they are not really known to eat anything that was not at least 10 meters from the surface.
As for Olga, she was just running across the surface of the water — something, however, caused her and Ayesha to stop; with Olga practically just plopping down into the water as she stopped running.
How could they both not stop, when the eagle that was practically twice the size of their ship suddenly disappeared... when some sort of sea monster emerged from below and completely swallowed it in just one swoop?
"Recruit..." Ayesha's eyes could not help but just widen as she saw the colossal sea monster just slowly return to the water.
"No..." As for Olga, her face was almost twisted as her whispers soon became screams, "No... no... Rhys...
...Rhys!"
The ship stayed idle where Rhys and the roc disappeared for a few hours, with Ayesha diving back and forth into the water to try and find where Rhys could be even at the risk of attracting monsters. Katarina also did the same, but Ayesha just quickly incapacitated her as it was dangerous for her to do so.
Dominique also created some sort of binoculars that would allow them to see through the water, but they could not even find any trace of the colossal eagle, let alone Rhys. The orange ocean was empty, they couldn't even see where the mountain-sized sea creature that swallowed the roc was.
Rhys Wilder...
...all of a sudden was just... gone.
***
"Hkah..."
Days later, somewhere in the Underworld, Rhys found himself waking up by the sound of his own gasps. And almost immediately, he grabbed his neck as he felt something tight wrapping it...
...a chain.
He could not even focus, however, as he felt a pain in his leg; specifically, his right thigh where his mechanical limb is supposed to be connected to...
...but it was gone.