DIVINE » l. valdez

never say 'momma' again

nothing changes. nothing ever will.

An enraged screech echoed through the cavern, shaking the remaining bits of ceiling and showering the trio in dust.

"That's the queen ant," Apollo guessed. "We need to leave."

Meg pointed her sword toward the room's only remaining exit. "But the sound came from there. We'll be walking in her direction."

"Exactly. So perhaps we should hold off on making amends with each other, eh? We might still get each other killed."

"Fun," Hina cheered, moving to meet up with Apollo and Meg.

"You'll need this," Apollo said, handing Hina her sword that had been tucked hidden into his quiver.

"Thanks."

A silent truce solidified between the estranged family. A promise to trust one another until Meg was safe.

All of the corridors must have led to the queen. They radiated out from her chamber like the legs of a spider. The queen herself was at least three times larger than the soldiers they had encountered. Her abdomen was a swollen translucent sac filled to the brim with glowing eggs, the sight sending chills down Hina's spine.

They stood no chance. Even with the ballooned abdomen slowing her, the queen was so large she could easily block the exits, or worse- snap them in half like twigs in her sharp mandibles. 

"Ladies," Apollo whispered. "how do you feel about using three really sharp swords against this lady?"

For some reason, Hina couldn't bring herself to reach for her blade. 

Meg looked appalled. "She's a mother giving birth."

"Yes...and she's an insect, which you hate. And her children were ripening you two up for dinner."

Meg frowned. "Still...I don't feel right about it."

The queen hissed- a dry, gut wrenching noise. She could have vaporized them in a spray of acid if it weren't for the precious larvae.

"Any ideas?" Apollo asked, annoyed at being overruled. "Preferably one that does not involve dying?"

Meg pointed at a tunnel directly behind the queen's clutch of eggs. "We need to go that way. It leads to the grove."

"How can you be sure?"

Meg tilted her head. "Trees. It's like...I can hear them growing."

Hina nodded, her eye's scanning the area for any way to get Apollo and Meg safely across. 

"I can't shield all of us. She's got too much leverage."

"Sing," Meg demanded. "Sing, like you did before."

"I-I can't. My voice is almost gone," Apollo said. His eyes were desperate, and far away from the cavern they stood in.

Hina understood what he was thinking. He'd already broken both oaths he had made on the River Styx. He couldn't risk anymore.

In the end, it was not Apollo who would be punished once he returned to Mount Olympus. It would be whoever could hurt Apollo the most: Meg.

The queen snapped at them. Her mandibles so close that she almost caught Apollo's head.

Apollo burst into a rap, starting with a boom chicka chicka before beginning to do some jerky dance moves.

Meg looked at Hina increndously and Hina felt a wave of embarrassment. Whether or not she wanted to admit it, the gangly sixteen year old breakdancing and rapping was her father.

Apollo glanced back at the two girls. Silently pleading for backup. Both shook their heads and backed away.

He launched into a rap, an ode to mothers. Hina assumed he had taken some liberties as the song became more insect centred than she remembered. The god sang with sincerity, pouring his heart out to the gigantic ant before them.