The remainder of the two rest days was mostly as calm as such days should be.
Everyone, just somewhat remained in their own small cliques, which in this case, meant that Sunny was mostly by himself, which did not seem to bother him too much, if observing him, and his weird… training? ...dancing? was anything to go by.
Nephis and Cassie were as always nearly inseparable, while Caster always seemed to hover close to them. From time to time, Caster and Ray found their eyes meeting one another, after which Caster, often rather quickly, averted his gaze, and began doing something else.
It seemed, the partial intimidation was successful.
Aside from that, the trio spent time talking, though that was mostly done by Kai, due to the other two always trying to change the topic when it came to that. It wasn't that they didn't say anything, it was more like, as if they only talked about the surface topics of their lives.
Once, during such a conversation, Ray was unable to completely deflect the question, and ended up talking a bit about who had trained him, and how he had apparently been able to defeat Caster that easily.
By the end, it resulted in Ray suddenly demonstrating the same move, of course without the finish, on Kai first, and after that on Effie, who through the prior observation was confident to evade and counter-attack, which caused her to trip over Ray's outstretched leg, due to being too over-committing.
Ray couldn't help but laugh at her expense, and even Kai couldn't stop a small chuckle from escaping his mouth.
Effie was, at first, pissed, about being laughed at, but quickly joined them, imagining how it must've looked. This also helped her realize that there was much more to the technique than met the eye.
After that, she kept on asking him to teach her, and while he was reluctant at first, eventually retaliated, under the condition that he would only teach her the foundation, or rather the concept, on how it actually worked.
The two of them ended up using nearly the whole second day for that, only stopping an hour before the single thing hovering in the sky of the forgotten shore, would begin to disappear once more, and bring with its descent the dark sea once again.
While these two were busy, Kai decided to not just idly sit nearby, and having no real interest in Spearmanship, went over to the 'outcast' of their little cohort, Sunny.
Somehow, they managed to talk about their various experiences, in their very different lives, for hours on end.
Kai speaking about his life as a celebrity, while Sunny talked about his life in the outskirts. Both managed to learn a lot, especially, now, with the direct comparison, how different lives could potentially go, depending on where and how one was born.
The second day, and most likely the last, until everything was over, came slowly to an end. Everyone knew that the next day would be were it counts.
---
Today marked the day where they would either fail, and fall right here, or be able to continue on their perilous journey.
All seven of them were currently standing near the edge of the giant canyon, which was the same they had gone through just a few days ago. That thing was simply too massive, to even fully comprehend, for mere sleepers.
The worst thing, though, was by no means that they were standing practically defenseless near the edge, and with it, close to the remains of some ancient bridge, which had the same architecture style, as most important ruins that had survived until today, in this dreadful hell.
No.
The real worst thing was that the sun had already begun its descend, and was actually in its last moments for the day.
Having only been told about the plan a few days ago, Ray couldn't help but look towards Nephis skeptically, "And you are a hundred percent sure, that thing will arrive here? At least before we have become the snack for one of these disgusting depth dwellers?"
She only nodded, not even sparing a glance, nor saying anything else.
Ray could only roll his eyes in annoyance, but kept quiet after that.
When the sun had completely disappeared, plunging the whole forgotten shore into a land of darkness, Nephis started.
There was a short moment, in which her eyes lit up, before suddenly her sword was held high, and she activated her dormant ability, causing the familiar incandescent, bright light to descend on this dark world, illuminating them, and their immediate surroundings.
'Guess now there is really no backing down…' Ray mused.
She had already broken one of the most vital rules established in this land; no light should ever shine in the darkness of the night. For most, it would be akin to suicide to even try something like that, but here they were.
As the sword continued illuminating them, and basically showcasing them to any, and every nightmare creature for kilometers on end, the dark sea began slowly rising again.
Most of them were unable to notice this at first, due to the light not shining deep enough into the canyon, only noticing the black water, when it was nearly upon them. Only Sunny was forced to continue watching the ascend of the fluid darkness, while looking for their 'transportation device'.
When they were nearly to their calves deep in the water, Sunny's expression shifted slightly, "...its here."
Hearing this, Nephis gritted her teeth, and intensified the her illuminating light once more, spreading it about a dozen or two steps further.
"Get ready."
The next instant they all began hearing the sounds of something gigantic parting massive volumes of water.
And not even ten full seconds after that, an enormous frame appeared before them, in the small drop of light, in the midst sea of darkness.
Ray couldn't help but shake his head once more, as if only now properly grasping the actuality of their situation.
Before them, there were two mountain reaching out of water.
No, not mountains, shoulders, with no head in the space between.
Ray looked at it with a mixed expression, he had been told about this, but seeing it in reality was another thing entirely.
Indeed. Their way of quickly getting to the southern edge of the forgotten shore was by none other than hitching a ride on one of the headless giants.
Everyone continued watching it in awe, horror, or whatever emotions were going through their minds at the incredible and unbelievable sight before them.
Then, when the giant was in the slow process of climbing out of the deep crater, destroying the remainders of the bridge in the process, Sunny yelled, "He's coming!"
Noticing the water that was already to their knees, everyone realized once more; this was their one and only chance.
Failure would only mean death, therefore everyone steeled their nerves and prepared themselves for what would come merely a few moments from then.
And these moments passed quickly.
When the shoulders of the giant, which still rose above the waves that slowly began to scale their heights, were close enough to the, by now, invisible edge of the canyon, Nephis jumped into action.
She simply started to sprint, and then jumped, as everyone was following the only light in the depths of the darkness. Before hitting the stone surface, she branded her sword, and slit it right into the stone skins of the giant.
The sword embedded itself as if it was actually melting the stone, where its blade and the stone were meeting. Using it as purchase, she quickly began to climb up the rest of the way.
Not waiting for any more signs, the others also used the one chance they had.
Kai took Cassie into the, by now, familiar princess-carry, and flew over to where the giant's head was supposed to be, before putting their blind seer down. Throughout it all, he never stopped being wary.
Caster was, as always, merely a blur, before he already appeared next to Nephis, having crossed the distance in a matter of seconds, thanks to his flaw.
The only ones still remaining below were Effie, Ray, and Sunny. The latter appeared unsure, about how he should climb up the shoulders, not having the size, aspect, nor overwhelming strength, his comrades possessed.
Though, the choice was quickly taken from him, due to Effie simply grabbing his collar, and tossing the young man towards the giant. He was so surprised, he didn't even have the time to complain, before he already landed, rolled a few times, and nearly fell off the other side.
Effie and Ray's entrance was the least special, with both of them merely jumping of the edge, and grabbing onto whatever they could grab, before beginning their ascend to the empty space between the shoulders.
They still, even with this relatively simple method, managed to reach the top, just as Sunny finally managed to balance himself out.
Both were unable to suppress a short chuckle.
"Heh, that could be an interesting game; Throw the little Sha-"
Before Ray could even finish his sentence, the stone colossus was already moving again, causing them all to stumble and fall.
The giant statue, simply began walking into the distance, where they were headed to.
South.