“Hubby…” Miyanna muttered, her tears on full display as she hugged him, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Of course I am,” Blanc chuckled, hugging her back, “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”
“Hehe,” Miyanna laughed lightly, sniffing her nose, “Who said I want to?”
“And for the scare I gave you, what do I need to do for you to forgive me?” Blanc asked.
“I don’t-” Miyanna opened her mouth, but Blanc interrupted her.
“How about a child?” he whispered in her ear.
Miyanna pulled back from the hug, her eyes wide, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to speak.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Blanc said to her, before turning to the rest, “Sorry for the scare, everyone.”
“As long as you are well, Brother,” Kael said, to which Lune nodded sharply.
“But do not scare us like that again,” Lune added.
Blanc shook his head, “Do not worry, little ones. I just had a feeling it would be a pity if we left, so I went in alone.”
“I am not mad at you, my love,” Celine spoke, as Blanc turned to her, “I wanted you to go, but the decision to allow you to go was not yet made. We were still voting on it.”
“Yes,” Blanc nodded, as Celine hugged him, but stopped any defense as Celine’s lips approached his ear.
“If you ever disregard my attempts like that again, I will beat you senseless,” Celine whispered. “You told me not to hold back on anything I have to say or think. But that does not mean anything if you just go and do what you want to do.”
“You are right,” Blanc replied, not minding the threat since he knew he was the one who made them angry. And for good reason, he did not argue, but instead apologized once more, “And I am sorry.”
“We will talk more on this later,” Celine said out loud as she broke off the hug, taking a step back, “Tell us what you saw and how you got in and out so quickly.”
And with a sharp nod, Blanc explained everything he had done and seen after entering the water.
How, before entering the tunnel, he attempted to escape the current successfully.
How large the tunnel entrance was, and how fast he exited it.
Every detail he saw inside the cave, his theories, and all the turtles present there.
Lastly, he told them about the ease he swam back up, despite the huge quantity of water he was up against.
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“It was as if-” Blanc began.
But Celine finished his sentence, “As if it was the right thing to do, as if it was designed that way.”
“Correct,” Blanc nodded.
“And about your theory that the deep pool in which you fell goes down to the river inside the gap, how did you come up with that?” Celine wondered.
“The water inside the cave mostly stays in the pool, with not much overflowing onto the cave floor. The Silver Gardens have been here for a long time, and if we were to assume that the river is as well, the strength of that water would have carved the cave floor over centuries, but it didn’t.” Blanc explained, “Instead, it falls into that deep pool, yet the water still remains somewhat leveled as if something down at the bottom of that pool drags the water elsewhere.”
“Fascinating,” Celine muttered.
“I want to explore the cave system and see where it leads,” Blanc said next.
“Hubby,” Miyanna wanted to argue, but Blanc kept on talking.
“But this time, not alone,” Blanc began, “It might be dark inside, with close to no natural lighting, but we should be fine with how much Raw Vita we have inside our bodies.”
“How dangerous is it?” Miyanna asked.
“The hardest part would be getting out of the pool, but if I go first, I can help everyone get up on the cave floor,” Blanc planned.
“Won’t the turtles you said are there attack us then?” Kael asked.
“And that’s the second issue,” Blanc nodded, “They will attack, so we bring only our swords since other things won’t work.”
“And we start killing them?” Lune wondered.
“No,” Blanc shook his head, “There were more than eight turtles, nowhere near enough. We incapacitate them and then decide how and who gets the kills, but each of us should have two turtles harvested by the time we leave the room. Any complaints about that?”
Nobody argued against Blanc’s proposition. And why would they?
It was fair and equal.
Even though Blanc could have butchered all the turtles in that room, he decided to come back and share the news and the harvest with them.
Nobody would dare complain for more after their husband and brother did such a thing.
“Do we go now?” Miyanna asked when it was clear that nobody would argue against Blanc’s plan.
“I don’t see why not,” Blanc said, “Since we found them, we won’t leave towards the gap to look for the passage into the other Gardens yet. We can leave that for tomorrow.”
“I agree,” Celine nodded.
“Same,” said the twins in unison.
“You, my love?” Blanc turned towards Miyanna. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novel⦿fire.net
“I need to get ready first,” she replied, somewhat scared.
“Get to it then,” Blanc nodded, “Get ready, eat, drink, rest, and in an hour we go.”
And an hour later, the five stood before the river.
Blanc and Kael were down to their undergarments.
Lune wore a small shirt, wanting to keep the scar that the Moroi gave her hidden, and a pair of tight pants that wouldn’t weigh her down when wet.
Celine and Miyanna had their usual chest bandages wrapped tightly, just the way they liked, and on their lower halves, they wore longer, form-fitting undergarments that covered most of their bottoms.
Each of them held their swords reversed in their hands, blades pointed behind them, to avoid the swords getting in their way as they swam.
“All ready?” Blanc asked.
To which all nodded as they controlled their breathing.
“Well then,” Blanc said, preparing to inhale, “May the Vita be with us.”
And with that, they took the air in, filling their lungs, and jumped straight into the river.