Before the Beast

“So, let me get this straight. You were serious yesterday? You want us to hunt the hydra?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s our best bet.”

Adelyn was watching Cozy and Edward discuss as they got ready in the so-called morning. She still wasn’t used to the fact that she's never going to see the sun. Her sense of time was not exactly on the right path in this world.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Teddie chimed in. “Hydras are rare, but they’re also super dangerous. I don’t think you can take it.”

Adelyn, out of curiosity, flipped open her book. Grimace’s compendium had a large section on the monsters found in each city. After some searching, she managed to get to a page labeled as the Flourishing Hydra.

“Is this it?” Adelyn looked to Teddie for confirmation.

She showed him the page, the beast of multiple heads, and glowing scales. Vines draped down across the body as mud was splattered around its scales. From its mouth, came a large cloud of gas that shot into the air.

“Yes, I haven’t seen it myself but I’ve heard whispers about it from my friends,” Teddie said. “Big, scary, and it breathes acid. It can melt your skin off…”

“I can protect against that,” Ed said. “Just stay near me. If anything gets dangerous, then I’ll just cover you.”

Ed demonstrated this by drawing a circle in the air, and then a barrier formed around all of them.

“This should protect us. Though, I’ll probably drop it whenever we attack, it’s not easy to attack and defend at the same time.”

The rest of the kids nodded, and Ed dropped the shield. Cozy however, had something on her mind.

“Well, are we going to kill it or subdue it?” Cozy asked. “It’ll be a lot harder to subdue it, no? So we just bring the government the creature’s head?”

“I think subduing it would be easier actually,” Teddie said. “It can heal its own heads and body. With how powerful it is, I don’t think we could do enough lasting damage and it’ll probably just be more angry.”

“Then we subdue it. I feel like I can probably hold it down and someone has to call the government once we do. I think my ropes are strong enough to do so?” Ed responded.

“Yeah, I can help you too!” Adelyn agreed. “I have a few summons that could probably do the trick.”

“Oh, which ones?” Ed asked back.

“Well,” Adelyn said. “I had two in mind. I showed you the Spirit of Ice, Eira. We could probably slow down whatever healing process it has by freezing it over. But there is the Spirit of Nature, Viridia, too. Her vines are like, really strong so tying it up shouldn’t be an issue.”

Ed paused to consider for a moment, before asking Adelyn.

“How many summons do you have?”

“I have seven! They’re based on elemental spirit. Fire, earth, ice, wind, nature, light, and darkness!” Adelyn said, a bit proud of herself. “The other ones are a bit more… blasty if I had to put it? They’re not too useful. Well actually, Golus, the Earth spirit, might be helpful…”

Adelyn was about to speak more, but then Edward put his hand over her mouth. He seemed to get what Adelyn was saying, even if she wanted to talk about her summons a bit more.

“Sounds helpful. I’ll trust your judgment when the time comes,” Ed said. “Cozy, do you have any additions to the plan?”

“I don’t know if I ever properly introduced my magic before actually,” Cozy said. “If we’re going to subdue it, then I can probably use my Love Magic!”

“Love Magic? Were those crystals that you did before love magic, or…”

“Nah, those were something different. If you could just hold one of its heads in place then I could show you.”

“Why can’t you tell me now?”

“A merchant never reveals her secrets?”

Cozy did a little spin before putting a finger on her lips. Ed sighed. Adelyn figured that it couldn’t be helped. Some people just liked to be secretive about things.

“I’ll…” Teddie raised his voice. “I’ll sing from the back. Maybe it’ll help.”

“Well,” Adelyn thought. “We’re gonna need someone to get the attention of the governor, right? Once we capture it, we’re gonna need you to head back and bring him over to us.”

“Oh… yeah, I suppose that could help,” Teddie said. “I hope you guys can subdue it for long enough, then.”

“It should be fine,” Cozy said. “We’ve all got our own tricks up our sleeve. There’s no way we have that much of a problem.

“Well,” Ed said. “Now that the plan itself is settled, are we gonna do it or what?”

“First, we need to find it,” Adelyn responded, before picking up her book and reading through it. “So let’s get to searching.”

***

A massive lake, stretching out to the horizon, stood beyond the four kids on the shoreline. Adelyn was amazed, though not necessarily at the lake, as she had seen many similar back home.

She was amazed at the fact that it glowed. The incandescence sparkled on all of their skin and reflected into their eyes. She could see various fish skimming just under the top of the water. They were creating moving dots on the surface, like a painting that was always moving.

“Woah,” Adelyn kept on looking in amazement. The other three walked by her and looked at the lake.

“This is the largest body of water in the nearby region, yeah?” Ed asked Cozy, who nodded.

“Yup! On another note, a lot of fishing has been suspended because of fear of the hydra. They do quite like their baths, after all.”

“So we have a pretty good shot,” Ed said. “Plus, with how big it is, it’s not like it’s gonna keep itself hidden.”

“...we’ll just need to hide for a bit. I guess we can just hide in a bush… just make sure not to get stepped on,” Teddie said.

“Hey, question,” Cozy suddenly thought. “If the hydra is so big, how come it isn’t always blatantly obvious where it is?”

That question did make Adelyn snap out of her sense of wonder for a second. They had not heard the sound of any massive monsters while on the hunt, which was odd. If it was menacing the town, one would think there would be a lot more noise.

“Perhaps it’s learned how to sneak around?” Ed suggested. “If the government is so hostile towards it, it’s probably a huge hassle.”

“Animals are smarter than you think…” Teddie said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they found a way.”

“But it’s HUGE isn’t it?” Cozy asked. “That’s what the book said. If it can shake the ground as it moves then how does it even get around without sounding a million alarms?”

As they were talking, Adelyn kept on looking at the lake. The glowing water moved up against the shoreline, and back down. She once again got distracted by the marvel of the glowing lake.

But there was one oddity that she noticed. The lake seemed to be pushing upwards. It was getting closer to their feet. Until it eventually touched her shoes.

“Guys, is the tide rising?”

“What? It’s a lake, not an ocean, the tides shouldn’t-” Cozy says before noticing her own shoes getting covered by the water. “Woah-!”

Out of instinct, the glowing pink wings that Cozy showed before manifested once again and she lifted herself into the air.

All of them took a step back. But the water kept on pushing up closer towards them. Until suddenly, from a distance, the group saw a massive tidal wave that stood above all of them combined!

“Ed!” Adelyn shouted, and Ed quickly complied. Forming a large shield made of pure light around them as the massive wave crashed over all of them. The group was completely submerged for a few brief moments, surrounded only by the glowing blue of the lake.

Adelyn looked around at the water dispersing around them as the wave died down. However, the lake itself had parted, leaving a massive amount scattered on the lands nearby. Ed dropped his shield, and they briefly reassessed their situation.

“Oh my goodness,” Adelyn said, staring ahead at the center of the lake. She finally got a view of what caused this mess.

Multiple scaly heads emerged out of the majorly depleted body of water. The water receded, and gave view to a massive black beast. Five necks that were dozens of men tall, draped with vines stood in the air, and in the skies, a pair of glowing yellow eyes for each head.

A screech was let out in the air as the towering creature looked down upon the party. The sharp smell of acid could be felt as the beast looked down upon them, poised to attack anything that came close.

The hydra had appeared, and it was now their time to act.