Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Le Maree Della Guerra (The Tides of War) ❯ Initiation ( Chapter 16 )

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Le Maree Della Guerrra (The Tides of War)

By: Revamp

Movement 16: Initiation

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The three of them stood at the edge of Hiroto's small iceberg and leapt into the cold waters of the ocean. Bubbles surrounded them as they began to descend down into the water. Gradually, the light of the upper world became more and dimmer as they floated towards the ocean floor and more and more of the undersea town became clearer to them.

All around him, Doku's many long layers of fur and cloth fluttered around him. His tentacles rode the ocean currents and glowed slightly as the light became dimmer and dimmer. Red eyes also glowed faintly and his hair flowed around him.

Soon, their feet touched the ground and they ventured into Nautica. There was no gate guardian to oppose them, so they simply walked through the gates with no problem at all. The group glanced around them at all of the destruction that had befallen the once proud kingdom.

“I haven't been down this deep in a while,” Hiroto commented and broke the silence between them.

“The last Deep Sea War made it to where mortals could live down here if they wanted. Even humans could come down here,” Doku didn't want Hiroto holding his breath for too long, as it was not needed.

“Is that what you bastards were fighting for?” The penguin glanced over to the sage in question.

“The denizens don't know much about your world, Hiroto. It's essential to expand our knowledge, even if it only is with semi-aquatic animals,” Doku informed him. The more they knew the better bonds they could create with many different types of life. The Beast Armies was founded with different alliances made with animals they shared the ocean with.

“Do humans even know they can dive down here?” Hiroto wondered about that.

“Few do,” Doku replied, “most believe they would drown.”

“The only ones who do come down are sorcerers, witches and warlocks. Even then, it's because they have familiars,” Isatsu was sort of happy that not all of the land dwellers knew they could come down to the depths. Keeping their visitors in limited numbers meant that there was less of a chance for another war between the land and sea creatures.

Neptune only knew that they didn't need that kind of problem. They had enough on their hands with the Deep Sea forces.

“Familiars…” Doku repeated the last word in deep thought. His voice sounded out of touch.

“You should know what familiars are. You're a sage,” Isatsu quirked an eyebrow at the octopus. There was something about the way he said that word that raised many questions in his mind.

“I do,” Doku nodded.

“Who wants to be a familiar?” The orca shrugged. “It's just more servitude.” The last thing he wanted was to be controlled by another person. He had enough of that from his father to last him the rest of his life.

“It seems…nice…with the right person,” the sage couldn't think of it as entirely a bad thing. Isatsu might have known torture but he knew that wasn't the normal relationship that sea creatures had with their parents. Being a familiar was much different, anyway.

“Fuck that,” Isatsu nearly laughed at the sheer thought of it. “I'm not about to live some domesticated life being a mage's lapdog.”

“Why is it that I can breathe down here, anyway? Not that I'm complaining but…it's weird,” Hiroto looked at his hands, then back to the two sea creatures in hopes that one of them would answer his question. It was very strange that he could inhale under water. It was as if he had a very thin layer of oxygen around him, a feeling unlike any other that he experienced.

“Because of Ezra,” Doku educated him.

“Ezra?” Hiroto didn't even know who the hell that was.

“Ezra is the water goddess, the grand high rulers of the ocean and the one said to have created it. When Nautica was first formed, they went around gaining alliances with as many denizens as they could. While not all of them complied, they gained a good amount of them, both in the sea and above in the upper world. To keep their treaties, they needed a way to supply oxygen to the water so it could sustain all forms of life. Thus, they got into contact with Ezra and she performed a magical spell that converted water into oxygen automatically for those who breathed it. It's not a widely known fact, because of the threat of invasion if it was placed into the wrong hands, but it's why beasts can live down here as well as humans, and other magical beings,” Doku let them all know the history behind why and how land animals could breathe under water. Hiroto was one of the few who knew of just exactly how and why it came to be.

The penguin stared in awe at Doku's knowledge. It really was impressive. “You sure do know a lot about this place.”

“Besides your sister, I am the most powerful sage in the sea,” it was a title that the octopus wore with pride. Doku liked the importance such a title gave him.

“So, you're that guy she talked about.” It all made sense to Hiroto now.

Doku blinked a little and turned to the penguin, “she spoke of me?”

“She said you were a threat to her position,” Hiroto could fondly remember Symphony telling him that the two of them had a rivalry. It was definitely Doku that she was referring to, now knowing what he did.

“I never tried to take it, nor do I desire it,” Doku wasn't power hungry or greedy. He was happy as he was and his position as adviser to the princess made him feel secure enough. He really didn't need anything else.

“Amusing,” Isatsu smirked. Just listening to their interactions only piqued his interest over them. He never knew that Symphony had some kind of rivalry out for the octopus.

“You could have stayed quiet, orca. No one wants to be reminded of your existence,” Hiroto was still irritated at Isatsu for prior offenses. He had forgotten he was even around until he decided to inject himself into the conversation.

“Are you an alchemist?” Doku was a little curious as to what Hiroto's powers were. If he was anything like his sister, then he had to know some type of magic.

“Not as a profession. I know magic but I don't like using it unless I have to. I'd rather kick ass and take names,” Hiroto didn't know what kind of expectations the octopus had for him but they weren't what he was thinking in that regard. Hell, he didn't even know why Orzo wanted someone like him. It wasn't as if he had the best magic skills there was.

“I see,” Doku merely nodded.

Hiroto narrowed his eyes and frowned. “What do you mean I see?”

“It doesn't seem your interests lie with your sister's,” Doku meant nothing offensive. In the back of his mind he wondered why Orzo wanted someone like Hiroto himself. Other than being related to her, there was nothing too special about him.

“We're far from the same person. She's a traitor and…” Hiroto paused upon saying those last words and frowned. He then sighed and closed his eyes, running a hand down his face. “Ugh…I can't believe this shit. What the hell is she thinking?”

“I'm not sure she is thinking,” Isatsu couldn't resist the urge to slam her name into the ground. Anyone who sided with the Deep Sea obviously had some kind of mental deficiency. What idiot would want to willingly work for Accord?

“So, are we going to the Northern Capitol?” Hiroto inquired after what seemed like hours of walking through the sea.

“Yes,” Doku nodded.

“Better watch out for the armies. It's a war zone down there,” Isatsu decided to give him a head's up on the situation that was taking place near the castle. He didn't want his friend being picked off by some kind of enemy soldier before they had the chance to get him to King Orzo.

“Oh balls,” Hiroto blurted out sarcastically, “just what I wanted!”

“I can protect you-“ Doku tried to say, but he was interrupted by the irritating penguin.

“I said shut up and look like a girl in the background,” Hiroto didn't want anyone to protect him. What did they think he was? Weak? If that was the case, then why did they even want him to be a Sea King?

“Rude,” Doku frowned and walked ahead of the group with his nose stuck in the air. He had enough of that penguin's shit. At this rate, if they encountered anyone from the Deep Sea, then Hiroto could just fend for himself and hope that he didn't die horribly.

“It looks like shit down here,” Hiroto finally spoke up as they walked past corpses and demolished houses. There was rubble everywhere and blood clouded in the water around them. It felt thick and murky around them, and it gave Hiroto the feeling that someone was going to jump out and attack him at any moment. He could just feel the eyes on him and it was making him a little paranoid.

“We've been warring for a while,” the octopus pointed out the obvious. They had many, many of their denizens die, not to mention their gate guardian had been taken out and they were betrayed by another Sea King. Needless to say, Nautica had some problems. It's why they needed someone like him.

“No one ever tells me anything,” the penguin felt so out of touch with anything that happened under water. He'd definitely been away from the sea scene for far too long. It seemed like there was always something going on with all of these damned fish.

“Who has time? It's been a real party down here,” Isatsu told him. He barely had time to go and get him from the Arctic, much less think about anything else that wasn't the war.

“Damn Accord…He really busts my balls. I'm gonna wreck his shit when I find him,” the rock hopper penguin clenched his fists and created his long, yellow eyebrows. He could feel the anger seething throughout his form at the thought of that shark putting his disgusting hands all over his sister.

“I will kill him,” Doku wasn't going to let Hiroto have any of the glory. He had his own score to settle.

“Oh?” Isatsu arched an eyebrow. He didn't know that the octopus had any personal endeavors with the Deep Sea.

“I have to. I want to make sure he doesn't come back,” the octopus couldn't afford to screw up. There were just some things that he had to finalize for the peace of the land…and his peace of mind.

“That son of a bitch,” Hiroto cursed.

“He'll keep coming back unless we kill him.” The last war taught everyone that Accord was more resilient than they gave him credit for. Doku knew that they had to chop him into pieces or make sure that he was dissolved into nothing to call him dead.

“I'll kill him first,” Isatsu wasn't going to let either of them have their way. Did they really think he was just going to sit back there and let them fight over who was going to get Accord's head? What nonsense!

“I'm fixing to teach you a few things about challenging my authority, orca,” Hiroto turned to the taller male with a scowl on his face, but it was short-lived as a bright beam of energy shot between them. It caused the both of them to jump back and evade the attack.

“No time for that,” Doku turned towards the source - a group of Deep Sea soldiers that had come crawling up from the woodwork.

Isatsu grew out his fingernails and conjured up a ball of spirit energy that was the size of a globe. He called the attack a Poltergeist Orb and threw it into the group. When it contacted them, it caused a huge explosion that made a small earthquake. It hit some of them, blasting off their limbs as their comrades did all they could to avoid being touched by it.

“Fools! Die!” A soldier called out and fired another beat at them.

“Cyan Blast!” Doku fired his bright blue beam back at them, but the soldier who spoke to him managed to back flip out of the way.

“Tetsuken!” Hiroto threw his hand out. It emitted a large, bright yellow beam that illuminated a good portion of the ocean floor. However, it proved useless as the soldier moved out of the way again.

“You're good,” the soldier gave him a compliment. That was a pretty big attack for someone who was so small in stature. He was impressed.

Isatsu took notice of just what Hiroto had done. “Isn't Tetsuken your father's move?”

“Yes,” Hiroto replied as a magical symbol glowed in a light, neon green below the soldier and they disappeared.

“What is this? A false trap,” one of the soldiers asked but his question was never answered. A beam of magic cut him down the middle. He screamed in agony as the magic ripped through him. Blood and organs expelled themselves into the water. Watching in dismay, his torso floated down onto the ocean floor as he gurgled his last word, “st-op…”

The ground flew up as an explosion ripped through the ears of the orca and octopus. They leapt backwards as chunks of land and ocean silt flew up around them. A cloud of debris kicked up around them and shrouded them from Hiroto's view.

“We have more,” Doku said as the cloud slowly cleared. It looked like they were drawing attention to themselves.

“Fucking fuck,” Hiroto cursed to himself. He wasn't ready for any of this.

One of the Deep Sea soldiers rushed at the penguin and attempted to kick him.

“Balls,” Hiroto dodged the foot that nearly took off his face. He blocked the strike with his hand and felt the force of the blow. His body jolted a little and he stood his ground. He found an opening and thrusted his fist forward, punching the man straight in the groin. The soldier shrunk back and held himself, lying on the ground.

Hiroto wasn't going to take any of his shit. “Say goodnight, you son of a bitch,” the penguin stood above his victim and viciously stomped the man's neck. His foot made contact with it over and over as blood and gurgling noises were emitted from the creature until he didn't move anymore.

“You're awful,” Doku's emotionless red eyes watched the penguin work.

“Shut up, kalamari. I don't need your criticism,” the last thing Hiroto needed was someone criticizing his killing methods.

Across from them, a soldier took a fighting stance, ready to face off against them. This drew both of their attention to them. That soldier was going to make sure that none of them got to the castle alive.

“What? More of you want me?” Hiroto was getting tired of this. He slammed his fist in his hand and glared the soldier down. “Let's get this shit started!” The penguin rushed at the offender and tried to punch him, but the soldier was so quick that his fist went straight through a mirage. Red eyes with black pupils darted behind him where the soldier now was. He turned around and tried to punch him again, only to meet the same after image.

“Getting real sick of your shit!” Hiroto didn't get to say anything more as he felt the contact of a foot in his face.”Balls!” He exclaimed as the force of the blow propelled his body back and sent him into coral. His back hit the coral first. Sharp pieces sliced him, tearing his clothes and ripping through his skin. Searing pains shot through him as he landed in the busted branches. They stabbed him as he laid there.

“Illumination!” Doku called fourth his blinding attack that flashed bright enough to be seen several miles away. Its light caused his opposition to hold their faces and scream.

Isatsu brought his knee up and hit a soldier in the gut so hard that he threw up blood. The orca than grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed him into the ground face first. When the soldier was lying on the ground, he lifted his foot up and stomped his face in viciously. “Do I have to do everything myself?”

Hiroto rubbed his head as he lifted himself up off of the jagged coral. Sharp pains shot through his body as he cursed to himself. “God damn that hurt! Ahhh shit!”

He didn't have time to recover before a soldier's foot tried to stomp his body. Thinking quickly, the penguin rolled out of the way as the limb crashed through the coral and snapped it further. The penguin shouted `fuck you' before he lunged at the man and kicked him in the ribs, or he attempted to. The soldier caught his ankle and grabbed it, squeezing him hard enough to earn a pained grunt from him.

Hiroto tried to flip the man over and managed to get him on the ground, where he attempted to stomp on him. However the soldier rolls away from his foot as it hits the ground. He made sure he was a few feet over and jumped up, only to be met by the cold eyes of the octopus and the white suction cups of Doku's tentacle, which came down on him and knocked him to the ground.

“I'm going to kill you,” the soldier's words were quickly snuffed out.

“Did I hear you say you were going to beat me?” Doku hoped that soldier was joking. If not, then he was about to show him just how much of a joke he was.

“Depends on how you take it,” the soldier retorted.

Isatsu cracked his knuckles and flashed his deadliest smile at the opponent. “I say let's get low and cruel. I want him to bleed,” the orca wasn't going to stop until he got what he wanted.

Thinking quickly, the soldier spun around as fast as he could, enough that currents picked up around him and created a tornado. He wasn't about to let any of them strike him again. By making a wall of currents between them, they would have to try and get through the powerful currents in order to strike him.

“Coward,” Doku shot out. He couldn't even face them directly. Such weak things shouldn't be allowed to be on the battle field.

“I didn't leave,” the soldier spoke through his attack.

“You hid,” the octopus was going to point out his actions.

“You know damned good and well we're not coming in there,” Hiroto pointed out the obvious. That's why the guy did it. Fucking bastard!

The soldier laughed through his walls of rushing water. Who cares if it was cowardly? It was effective and it was a way to survive. As long as he made it out to fight another day, then he was fine with doing whatever he had to in order to ensure survival.

Doku performed his Strings of Fate attack and the soldier watched in horror as red strands of magic shot up from the ground and wrapped around his arms, legs and midsection. They pulled the soldier through his walls of protection and made him vulnerable. Hiroto ran forward and kicked the man in the genitals so hard that caused him to be knocked off of his feet.

Isatsu turned around and head butted a soldier before he punched another one in the face so hard that he dislodged some of his teeth. Another soldier tried to stab him, but he grabbed his wrist and punched him across the face.

A few feet away, Doku performed a Seaside Buster move. An opposing soldier fired a Deep Sea Blast, and the two beams hit each other. However, the Deep Sea Blast overpowered Doku's beam and hit him, knocking him off of his feet and sending his body sailing back through the water. The octopus landed in the sand on his back.

“Hang in there,” Hiroto rushed to his ally's side. He wanted to check on him and see if he was alright.

“How careless of me,” Doku simply got up, as if nothing affected him and in truth it didn't.

“What the fucking fuck?” Hiroto was flabbergasted by his actions. “How are you not in pain?” If it was him, he'd be on the ground moaning and groaning. That was a big blast. Doku should have taken a lot of damage from that kind of thing! Why wasn't he in pain?

“I don't feel pain. I have no pain receptors,” the octopus explained his special condition to Hiroto. He was used to this kind of reaction by now. Doku wasn't sure if this was a curse or a blessing at this rate.

“You're not even fucking real. How can you tell when you're mortally wounded?” That seemed like something that would be really dangerous to the penguin.

“I bleed,” Doku knew that didn't exactly sound like the best way to tell, but he knew it was the only way he could register that he was hurt badly. It was either that or wait until his body tingled from trying to numb himself due to the force of the trauma.

“You weird ass, I-“ Hiroto didn't have an opportunity to finish that sentence before he felt a sharp pain in his side. A harpoon penetrated him in the ribs, tearing his flesh as it dug into his body. “Ahhh! You son of a bitch!” He screamed in agony.

“I've got it!” Isatsu said happily from behind him and grabbed the weapon, ripping it viciously from the penguin's body with little disregard.

“Fucking fucker fuck! You stupid piece of shit! You don't just go ripping harpoons out of people! You just ripped my fucking internal organs out!” Hiroto turned around and screamed at the orca, who wore a friendly smile on his face. He held his still searing side as blood poured down his hand. He felt as if he had a huge, gaping hole in his side, and that wasn't too far from the truth. The pain was nearly more than he could bear.

Doku just stared at the two of them and sighed at their idiocy. They were both going to get hit again if they kept going on like this.

“That hurt!” Hiroto screamed as Doku walked over to him and began to heal his wound. The octopus placed his hands on the penguin's afflicted side gathering small sparkles of light energy before they glowed a golden color and began to envelop the wound. Their light felt calming and warm.

“Do you feel alright now?” The octopus pulled away after the wound had disappeared.

“No thanks to dunderfuck,” Hiroto glared down the orca, still pissed at him for nearly killing him or putting him in a coma from the intense pain.

Isatsu charged at the soldier who had fired the harpoon and rammed it through his face. Another soldier who was nearby attempted to swing at him to punch him in the face, but the orca lunged forward and bit his neck, biting his jugular vein as he continued to tear flesh from his neck. Hiroto took out the last soldier by jumping up and punching him in the face. He could hear Doku say `let's go' as he took off behind him.

The orca tried to follow behind them, but his waist was grabbed by a soldier. The orca turned around and stared into the man's emotionless eyes before his long nails penetrated his throat. Blood cascaded from his severed neck as the orca looked on at his work with sadistic pleasure. “Yes, die for me.”

A red magic circle with an intricate octopus design in it appeared below Doku and Hiroto, bathing them in red light as Isatsu made his way over to it. The orca stumbled into the circle as Doku spoke, “come, I'll transport us to the palace. We can't risk being followed.”

The circle's light glowed brighter, blinding them as they were consumed by magic as they were transported into the castle. They appeared in the guest room. Currently, there was no one around as the sparkles of the red energy that the spell made fell around them and flickered as they fell to the floor.

“Shit! We barely got out of there!” Hiroto wanted to drop to his knees and kiss the floor at that rate. He was happy just to be away from all of that carnage on the battle field.

“That was fun,” Isatsu continued to smile. He had killed so many people, and that was more than satisfying. There was nothing like a good dose of bloodshed.

“Shut the fuck up! You tried to kill me, you fucking fuck!” The penguin turned around and gave Isatsu an even bigger piece of his mind. He was really sick of the orca by now and he never wanted his help with a wound ever again.

“You're not dead yet, and that look on your face was sexy,” the orca taunted him, licking his lips seductively.

“I'm going to puke,” Hiroto felt ill just listening to him.

“If you don't watch out, Accord is going to beat the shit out of you,” Isatsu was going to give him a little warning about his actions in battle. Fighting the way he did wasn't going to fly with the big fish like the Deep Sea Generals.

“He's gonna beat the shit outta me anyway,” Hiroto didn't really have any high expectations for his fight with that guy. No matter how much he hated Accord, he knew that he was far more powerful than he was.

“So, you just give up?” Isatsu didn't think that was any way for a future Sea King to act.

“Fuck no! I'm still going to try!” Hiroto shot back as Otsune walked into the guest room.

The sound of her sea foam green high heels clacked on the white tile floor as she reached the warriors at the other end of the room. Red eyes looked to the group of men and she blinked a little. One of them was someone that she didn't recognize. The anglerfish could only think that it was the one that they had all been waiting for.

“Oh? Hiroto…you're here,” she greeted him.

“No thanks to these two assholes,” the penguin crossed his arms and closed one eye, looking to the octopus and the orca with a scowl.

“Does this mean you want to be the new Beast King?” Otsune was hopeful that he would accept the position. His involvement would help Nautica considerably.

“That's what I'm here for,” Hiroto wasn't sure why King Orzo wanted him for this job, but he was willing to take it.

Otsune put her hands together and smiled warmly. “Thank you so much! I was so afraid that you'd decline.”

“I can't do that. My father loved this place, and he helped found it. I owe King Orzo for making my sister a royal.” There was a lot that Nautica had done for him. Hiroto was in debt to the kingdom far more than he could say, and he wasn't about to turn his back on it now. It's not what his father would have wanted.

“I'm sorry about the last war…” Otsune's visage saddened as she placed her hands down at her sides. “That must have been hard.”

“My father died protecting us. The most I can do is make things right. He wouldn't like to know that Symphony is being like this.” In fact, if his father were looking upon everything right now, Hiroto was sure that it would break his heart. Symphony went against everything that his family stood for by allying with Accord. He was certain that Ikki was rolling in his grave right now.

“Your father was killed by Collossus?” Isatsu glanced to his friend and Doku's sights fell on Hiroto as well.

“Collossus ate him alive in front of me. All we could do was watch. When I heard he died, I couldn't have been happier. That and his son, Helix. That ass hat killed a lot of people,” Hiroto's voice was solemn as he spoke of what happened to his father. Doku just stared at him, unblinking with an unchanging visage.

“I'm glad I got rid of that guy in the war. If nothing else, I can say that I did kill him.” It was something that Isatsu was proud of. He had succeeded in that aspect, anyway. Small victories were better than none at all.

“If it wasn't for those wars, we could be a hell of a lot happier,” Hiroto didn't like talking about this subject. More than anything he could only feel sorrow and guilt over the choices that he made back then. These memories were so painful to him, but he knew that he had to talk about them. It was better to talk about it despite the pain.

“You guys could. I can't say the same for me,” Isatsu closed his eyes with a bitter smile and Doku's sights went back to his expression. The octopus knew what he was referring to.

“Isatsu…” Hiroto's tone held some sympathy for his friend. “I think you need to smoke. It would mellow your ass out.”

“I like my lungs.” There were better things that Isatsu could think of that would mellow him out than smoking those cancer sticks.

“Follow me, I'll take you to the others,” Otsune gestured to the group of men as she walked through the guest room and headed towards King Orzo's throne room.

Everyone followed the albino princess. It was quiet except for the faint sound of their footsteps against the hard floor. It was silent for a good while. No one said anything to each other. Hiroto looked around at all of the lavish interior. The castle truly was a thing to be marveled and he nearly felt surreal being in there. Hiroto was just a single guy who lived in a little igloo on an island, he felt out of place somewhere so rich.

“Hey calamari, why are you quiet?” Hiroto finally looked to the octopus and asked.

“I have nothing to say,” Doku replied as they turned down the hallway and found the ones they were looking for.

Orzo and Cyra were talking to each other, accompanied by Oro, who stood a few feet away from them. They all turned to see Princess Otsune and her small group of men who followed behind them. It was then that Hiroto saw the Great Sea King in all of his glory. The red eyes of the narwhal looked upon Hiroto's form and said his name as he walked over to the group.

“King Orzo,” Hiroto looked up to the refined man. This place didn't feel real. This man didn't feel real. He looked like some beautiful prince that he wasn't allowed to so much as touch.

“I presume you know your business here,” Orzo skipped the formality and got straight to the point.

“To become the Beast King,” Hiroto told him the message that was delivered to him.

“Before you do that, we're going to give you a mission,” Orzo educated him on the initiation process. “The outcome of his mission will determine if you're worthy or not.”

“A mission? Is this like that mission you gave me?” Isatsu wondered aloud. It seemed this was the standard procedure for the initiation of all Sea Kings below him.

“It's similar, yes,” Orzo replied.

“What kind of mission?” Doku asked.

“This mission will prove if you're loyal to Nautica. You have to complete a series of tasks by yourself. If you pull them off then you get to be coronated as a Sea King,” Isatsu explained the process to the others. It was simple, really and Isatsu didn't know how Hiroto could fail such a thing.

“Piss and ass, what do I have to do now?” Hiroto just got done nearly being killed. He didn't want to go back to nearly being killed again. Whatever Orzo had for him to do, he knew it wouldn't be easy in the slightest. He was more than likely going to die before he could be crowned.

“Vulgar,” Doku shot. Why would he curse in front of the king like that? How rude.

“Bite my ass, calamari,” Hiroto didn't want to hear any lip from that octopus.

“I want you to infiltrate their military base. We've been slowly gaining intelligence on them and we've learned a few things regarding their secret position,” Orzo began to explain and turned round with his arms behind his back. “There is an old prison outside of the gates of Nautica that they're stationed in. They managed to convert it into their headquarters for now. All we need you to do is get inside and rewire their security feed through their cameras. The first part of your mission will be to get inside and wire the cameras at several points. Once you do this, you'll need to stay at their control room where you'll get into contact with one of my affiliates. From there, you'll make your way out and back here. If you can do that, then we can spy on them without their knowledge. We'll know their every move.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Hiroto tried to compute everything that he was just told. He didn't want to screw anything up. “I have to go in, wire the cameras, make sure they all work and sneak out?”

“That's it,” Orzo confirmed.

“Are you sure he can do it alone?” Otsune turned to her father with a worried expression. That sounded dangerous and she didn't want Hiroto to get hurt.

“He has to. If you cooperate, less people would end up prisoner,” Isatsu made a compelling argument. What Hiroto did in this mission would be very important, not only for the advancement of Nautica and to get them a leg up in the war but to keep prisoners of war from being tortured, or to keep them from ending up prisoners in the first place.

“I can do it. How will I sneak in?” If Hiroto was going to infiltrate, then he wanted as much information on that place as he could get. The more he knew about his surroundings, the better off he was when it came to getting shit done.

“From what my sources tell me, when they're out here the war is intense. I've noticed that the war is most intense at mid-day. You'll be able to get in that way,” Orzo gave him a window of time that he would be able to get in efficiently. There would be little to no guards around to stop him or even offer any kind of fight if he happened to run into them. The Great Sea King turned to the others, “Oro, Isatsu, Doku…”

“Yes?” The three said in unison.

“You will all be battling at mid-day. Make sure you see all of the generals out.” In order for the plan to work, they had to make sure no one would catch Hiroto going in their base. It was important that all of the generals be present in battle.

“How many generals are there?” Doku inquired.

“There are four - Symphony, Accord, Topeka and Cristo. You'll recognize them by their dress,” Orzo named them all. With the exception of Symphony, the others wore dark blue clothes with white wave patterns on them. The Deep Sea Generals dressed in blue, white and gold and were easy to spot due to their outfits.

“Well make sure, no worries,” Isatsu reassured the Great Sea King that they would carry out his plans. He only hoped that Hiroto would return safely from his mission.

…To Be Continued