Clack-clack-clack-
Mira put together two pieces and they automatically fused together. Inspecting the new piece his eyes brightened and he rushed over to another location. Searching about he found another large section of statue. Placing the two pieces together the statue was complete.
It was a small baby bundled in a cloth. Its crying face etched into the stone. As Mira gently laid the statue onto the ground he stared at this piece for a bit. He then looked upwards towards the sky. His eyes lingering around the location where his gaze met the large snake eye.
A few weeks had passed and the four had made good progress on the statues. A handful were now complete, and the tiny pieces have grown larger in size as the statues were being reconstructed. One common theme of all the statues was horror.
Mira thought of the Domain of the one the twins called 'Mother'. In there the statues still held that look of fear, but he still wondered why they reached for the light that turned people to stone. The more he thought about it the more he desired to explore that Domain further. However without the twins' help he would probably be unable to exit it. So he subdued the thought.
Givale clicked together two pieces and watched as they didn't fuse. Staring at the pieces she stifled a helpless laugh. Weeks of eating, sleeping, and putting together statue pieces was wearing at her mental strength. She had insisted she was fine, but she was really at her limit! This was so boring!
Her blank stare was caught by Mira. His face twisted slightly as he felt a wave of guilt. These past few weeks have been incredibly healing. The constant pressure of the twins have helped Mira control the Hydra's Heart. Suppressing it and its whims. It was a shame that the opposite seemed to happen to Givale.
Walking over Mira kneeled next to Givale, "I'm craving something fresh for tonight. . ."
"You want to fish again?", Givale slowly removed herself out of her trance.
"No, we'd get Mother's attention that way. I was thinking we could hunt outside of this place?"
Life was poured into Givale at the suggestion, "Fresh meat! We can definitely do that!"
Relieved Mira stood back up, "I'll tell Basil and Whisk. Can you find the exit?"
"No problem, I'll come grab you once I have!", Givale leapt into the sky.
With a twist her body transformed into her full dragon form and she caused the leaves to violently shake with a flap of her wings. A portal manifesting in front of her. Mira watched her dive into it before letting a sigh escape him. Putting a hand to his heart he inhaled deeply.
Finding Basil and Whisk he approached. The twins silently put together statue pieces. They rarely were ever talkative during the day. Always silently working, never spoken unless spoken to. Only when something requires their attention do they speak. Like when Mira was turned into a statue, or when they awoke from being statues themselves.
"Basil! Whisk! I'm going hunting with Givale! We'll be back for dinner tonight!", Mira called out to them.
The twins turned their heads simultaneously. Raising a hand the two waved in tandem as they both responded, ""Okay!!""
'Phew.', Mira found his hand still at his heart.
Walking towards the gravel beach Mira waited for several minutes before Givale exited a portal. Having returned to her human form she made a grimace, "The exit is really weird. But I found it!"
"Let's go! I wonder what's safe to eat."
"We'll find out!", Givale grabbed Mira's hand and pulled him through the portal.
Arriving at the exit Mira stared at the low poly view. Tilting his head he asked, "Why is it. . ."
Givale nodded, "Weird right? But you just walk through it!"
Taking a step forward Givale pushed through the strange barrier and disappeared. Mira examined the low poly area for a few more moments before walking through. When the mountain came to view Mira took a moment to gather his bearings.
One thing he noticed was the immediate calm of the Hydra's Heart. Now that he was away from the twins it felt like the tension was unwound immediately. Mira felt his shoulders relax and even massaged his neck.
Looking about Givale beamed, "Where do we go first? We could visit a place to see what they eat and try hunting the creature."
"Akiol said to be cautious of the Semi-Immortals though. They like hanging out in the cities. . ."
Givale froze as she considered this. Crossing her arms she then asked, "Should we just try out luck?"
"I can try it! If it's poison I could heal the harm before it become too painful."
"You sure?"
"I did that all the time before you and Akiol found me!"
"Okay!"
The two dashed around the mountain, keeping their senses sharp for any creatures. With their movement they covered plenty of ground in record time. Yet despite their search they couldn't find any decent creatures. Undoubtedly the result of excess hunting by the players.
It was only when they sensed a Second Stage creature did they stop their movements. In the distance a large centipede dug throughout the ground only to have a few players force it out with earth spells. Fireballs launched through the air and singed the centipede and it squirmed about violently.
The two watched this from a distance. Both intrigued and worried. Akiol's warning rang through their mind. So they didn't help, and simply took on the role of a spectator.
It took the players ten more minutes before the centipede stopped squirming. They celebrated their hard fought victory before discussing loot.
"As promised Napkin gets the mandibles. You'll finally have those daggers you've been theorizing about."
"Hell yeah, thank you all so much."
"Anytime dude. Anyone want the carapace?", one player looked about.
"It's too tough for any other class besides defender. You take it.", a sorcerer waved his hand.
"Alright! We have countless legs, the eyes, and the flesh."
"I need the eyes!", another sorcerer called out.
"No problem, anyone else need eyes?"
Nobody else spoke up, meaning the player who claimed the eyes received the items. The leader player looked about before closing the deal, "Alright! The rest of the materials can be sold for a decent price, so it will be split among those who didn't claim anything."
The leading player looked up towards a tree, "Excuse me! Would you like a share?"
A player leapt down, a card being skillfully rotated between their fingers. An insignia of a hand with two extended fingers on their chest. They threw the card upwards, allowing it to rotate before catching it. Looking at the card a few times they seemed perplexed, "No not at all. I was only here to make sure you all succeeded. This is your effort, so you all get the rewards."
"The Guidehands sure are generous. Thank you Royale."
The card holding player, one who was called Royale, nodded in return, "Anytime. You can always count on your Guidehands."
Royale flicked a wrist and a deck of cards shot out to their hand. Pulling it out they placed their held card into the deck and shuffled it skillfully. Cards flew from one hand to another and were thoroughly shuffled. Extending the deck towards a player they asked, "Do me a favor, could you split this for me?"
"Oh, sure!", a sorcerer was happy to help.
The deck was split and Royale drew the top card. Immediately an eyebrow was raised and they mumbled, "Same card?"
With another flick of their wrist the deck vanished and they continued to hold onto the cards. With a bow Royale bade farewell, "Then I shall take my leave."
"Thanks again!"
Like a magic show Royale vanished with a puff of smoke. Yet this was merely an illusion. Instead they returned to the top of a tree. Reaching into their storage bag they fished about before finding an item. An old pair of circular lens glasses. A strange green metal for rims. Placing them on Royale looked about before spotting two things in the distance.
Taking the glasses off they looked at the card in their hand. A tarot card within their hand, the six of wands. One of celebration, one of good reward. When Royale drew this card after contemplating if he should assist with the Second Step players with their hunt, he was surprised to see such a good omen. So he tagged along to see what good fortune awaited him.
Yet nothing out of the ordinary appeared, and the hunt proceeded as planned. So just in case he did another reading just to find the same card reaching his hand. This clearly meant that something of good fortune was awaiting him, somewhere.
That or he was misinterpreting the card.
It was only through the glasses did he find the hunt was being watched by two individuals. Silently he followed them, watching them search about. These were clearly NPCs, so it brought even more interest to Royale.
They successfully hunted some strange deer-like creature. Quickly they roasted it and one ate it with no hesitation. With a joy they proclaimed their enjoyment and the other made the deer-like creature disappear into thin air. Then they swiftly left.
Royale followed from such a large distance that he could only seem them through occasional use of his special glasses, relying on various tricks like scrying to see what they were doing. It was only when they dashed by did he finally catch a glimpse. Two children with joyful expressions. With an expert swiftness he probed the Framework, and two Epithets returned.
Blood Crazed Calamity, and All Reaching Dragon.
A smile crept onto Royale's face, "Good fortune indeed."
Returning to their campsite he looked about before finding a stick one used to try the deer-like creature. Through the scrying Royale was able to see their actions, but not their faces. So he wasn't sure which of the two ate the deer. Regardless if they were sticking together, this was two birds with one stone.
Picking up the stick he snapped a bit off and rubbed it between his palms. It turned to ash and stuck to his palms. He then pulled out two dowsing rods and began to follow their guidance.
It eventually lead him to a cliff edge. With a frown he looked at the sea crashing against the cliff, "Did they go across the water?"
Controlling mana he planned to step onto it as a rudimentary platform, but when he took a step forward his surroundings changed. A peninsula came to view.
"Very good fortune indeed.", Royale grinned.
Stepping back he left the peninsula and pulled out a teleport token. Soon vanishing into white lines.