The sound of stone hitting stone could be heard. A faint clacking noise as pieces were brought together.
Clack-clack-
There wasn't much other in sounds. Asides from the sounds of the ocean tide faintly in the distance. Despite it being a forest, it remained incredible quiet.
Four children placed together the stone pieces. Trying to find ones that fit. Their progress had been painfully slow, only a few pieces were stuck together out of sheer luck. The greatest progress they've made was sticking together three pieces to the same statue.
Givale clicked two stones pieces together, and found they didn't fit. Preventing herself from throwing them she gently placed one of the pieces onto the floor and picked up another. This repeated at least twenty times before she felt her eyebrow twitch.
It had been nothing but this for the past few days! She wanted to explore the west continent, find all sorts of crazy creatures and treasures. See what it's like on foreign land! Yet here she was putting small pieces of statues back together.
After another 30 minutes she could barely contain her boiling frustration. She knew it was going to take forever to complete this task and she wanted to do anything but sit here for a moment longer! If it wasn't for the peaceful look Mira was showing, she would've left a while ago!
Click-
By another bout of good luck Givale managed to find two pieces that fit together. One thing she noticed in this process is that when the stone statue pieces were able to fit together, the pieces automatically glued to each other. Once they were stuck together you'd have to break the statue again to separate them!
Holding the new larger stone statue piece Givale audibly sighed. She placed it back onto the ground and fell backwards, now lying on the ground and staring at the treetops. This was so boring and it was starting to wear at her mentally.
This was until the twins' faces came into view. Their heads on opposite ends. As they leaned down to look at Givale their foreheads touched each other. Together they asked, ""Are you tired?""
Feeling this strange sense of pride Givale sat up slowly, "No. Just taking a small break."
They nodded together. Interlocking their fingers they spoke in unison, "Breaks are good."
Mira placed two pieces down and looked towards Givale. Seeing her expression he suddenly felt bad. Remembering how excited she was to explore new lands and how he was keeping her here. Givale definitely wanted to do anything but this monotonous task, but this was doing wonders for Mira.
He wanted to tell her to go out and explore, but he knew Givale. She would adamantly refuse and say she was fine. Standing up he dusted off his clothes and walked towards them. His heartrate steadily increased as he approached the twins, the Hydra reacting to the two children. Especially when they turned their gazes towards him.
By now Mira and Givale were used to the twins presence. Not finding it nearly as terrifying. The only exception was the Hydra's instinct. It had been slowly getting better, but it would still react. Slowly exhaling Mira forced a smile and said, "Breaks are good, should we all take one?"
""Okay!"", the twins spoke in tandem.
Returning to the usual spot--the place where the twins awoke--they all sat together around the embers of the previous night's fire. Givale and Mira took place on one half while the twins took the other.
A silence grew over them Givale stared at the embers, entirely relieved to not be seeing more stone statue pieces. Mira extended a leg and gently pushed her with it, "Sorry."
"Why are you sorry?", Givale intentionally kept her voice quiet.
"You're still here because of me.", Mira made an apologetic expression.
"It's helping you isn't it? There's no need to be sorry."
Pushing her legs closer to her Givale wrapped her arms around them. She was very well aware of just how much strength the Origin Hydra had. As someone who grew alongside Mira she had to work twice as hard to master her magic to ensure she could beat him. She had gotten really good at it, but if Mira used {Acupuncture Limitation} she felt the odds would drastically shift into his favor.
This meant if he lost control, Givale wasn't confident enough to be able to stop him. Right now the only way she could help is to assist with Mira's control over the Hydra Heart. So naturally she didn't voice her complaints about the statues. It's clearly been a real help for Mira.
Stifling a sigh Givale controlled the fire to alight again and prepped more of the packaged food. Immediately the twins reacted, a sort of excitement could be felt from them. It was at times like these the sense of horror she felt watching them was significantly subdued. Mira could also feel the Hydra's Heart not beat as quick during mealtimes.
Heating the packaged food Givale handed them out and sat to eat. Today's option was a mix of food stuffed into a fruit that held similarities to a pumpkin. The fruit held a red exterior, and was soft to the touch now that it was warm. It was large and hollow, a lot of its flesh carved out and used together to cook the stuffing. Shredded monster meat and a series of vegetables made the stuffing. The fruit was tangy and not very sweet, but made an excellent combination for the savory stuffing.
The twins seemed to stare at this red fruit. Givale gently ate the insides and made a show of ripping the red "pumpkin's" outer shelling and eating it. The twins seemed enlightened and began to enjoy the meal similarly.
Givale had Akiol pack a lot more of this meal. She was quite fond of it, not only was it extremely tasty but it also was very filling. It satisfied her greatly. As the four finished their foods a look of content spread amongst them. Silently storing away the wrappings back into the subspace Givale fell back to stare at the sky through the treetops.
Suddenly Basil asked, "Givale?"
Her hand twitched out of surprise. Without sitting up she asked, "Yes?"
"We thank you, for sharing your food.", Whisk said.
"Did you enjoy it?"
Basil answered, "We did."
"That's good, you're welcome. I am happy to share."
"We want to share but. . .", Whisk seemed unable to finish her words.
So Basil finished her sentence, "Our food is not as good."
This caught Givale's attention. By asking about the twins' past they would shed a tear each, so she often avoided the topic. For the first time the twins were willingly sharing something without being asked. So she sat up and looked towards them, barely managing to catch them wiping away each other's tear.
Tilting her head she asked, "There's no food around here, what did you eat?"
They moved their fingers together and pointed towards the ocean, mirroring the other. Givale looked left following Basil's finger, and Mira looked right following Whisk's finger. The rising tides made Givale realize the answer, "Fish huh?"
"Sometimes there is no fish.", Basil said.
"Sometimes we eat the plants that grow inside the water.", Whisk added.
A tear shed from Basil's right eye, and another from Whisk's left eye. Reaching out they wiped each other's faces with a learned reflex. Givale crossed her arms and asked, "For tonight, should we catch fish to eat?"
The twins looked towards each other despite their blindfolds. As if coming to an agreement they spoke together, ""We don't think you'd like it.""
"Akiol says it's important to try many foods, even if you don't like it.", Givale crossed her arms.
Basil and Whisk slowly got up together. Pinching their clothes they then said in unison, ""Then we start now.""
"Start now?", Givale asked but the twins did not answer.
Together they walked towards the ocean. As they got closer to the gravel beach the sound of the tide was growing louder. Givale couldn't help but glance towards Mira, who nervously smiled and made a thumbs up to show he was okay.
The twins waded through the water and continued to walk, surprisingly it was as if the water was solid. They continued to walk upon its surface with ease. Givale could sense they made platforms with mana, their control over it no less inferior than Givale's own control.
Their figures became smaller as they stood far into the ocean. They then stopped and sat back to back. Minutes rapidly ticked by as the twins stood unmoving. The ocean waves continued as normal, and time turned into hours passing.
Mira felt a sense of calm. His focus shifting towards the calming ocean, its tide turning deafening. It wasn't until he felt a pinch on his arm did he snap out of this daze. Givale's concerned face came to sight and he smiled apologetically, "Sorry. . ."
"Maybe you should wait deeper in the forest?", Givale asked while suggesting.
Shaking his head Mira denied the suggestion, "You wouldn't be there to snap me out of it."
Her concern deepened on Givale's face as she pursed her lips. Just as she was about to say something her senses turned towards the ocean. The twins still sat, but suddenly from the waters a large eel broke the surface. Opening its jaws it threatened to swallow the twins whole.
Reaching out a hand Givale controlled space to form a wall and also to grab ahold of the eel. Wrenching it towards the beach. It squirmed about until Givale quickly ended its life.
The twins got up and returned to the beach. With a gentle bow they said in unison, ""Thank you.""
"Why use yourself as bait?"
"The others caught the fish.", Basil said.
"We've always been the bait.", Whisk added.
They reached out to wipe each other's newly formed tear but paused. After the eel launched out of the water they were sprayed with a wave of water. There faces were wet and the two didn't know where the tears went.
Givale's expression twisted, she looked towards the large eel and pointed towards it, "You eat this?"
"Today we were lucky.", Basil answered.
"We got an Ocean Swallower.", Whisk finished.
Looking towards the large eel Givale felt it was unbefitting of such a grand name. It was clearly just a really large eel. It wasn't even First Stage!
"So. . . how do we prepare it?", Givale found herself looking forward to how it tasted!