It was well known that one must keep his Marks hidden from the eyes of others to avoid unnecessary dangers.
One of them, for example, is the fear of fire.
If a person has many black Marks that come from herbivores, or otherwise peaceful animals, who avoid a fight when possible, an intuitive fear of fire begins to creep in without a person noticing, until that thing is used against them, making it too late.
Thus, what and how many Marks a person has are usually kept secret.
Unfortunately, this situation called for an exception.
An exception that made Blanc half-naked in front of thousands, with at least a third of them being women, who did not mind the sight in front of their eyes, on the contrary, even.
“First, I want you to prove the turtles are really here,” Alvin said, “Bring a turtle to this shore.”
“A fair request,” the Daughter mentioned, “How much time do you need, Lord Blanc of Blood Denegis?”
Blanc entered the water until it covered the lower half of his body.
The water was soothingly cold, a joy compared to the warmth of the rainforest they found themselves in once more.
He took a look at his wives and siblings, who either smiled or nodded towards him.
With a nod back, he exhaled until his lungs were empty of any air.
He then inhaled deeply, his chest rising until his lungs were full of oxygen.
“Give me two minutes,” Blanc said to the Daughter.
To which both Daughter and Alvin nodded.
Taking another deep breath and filling his lungs as much as possible, he dove underwater, sending his body forward with each swing of his arms.
There was barely any light left, but he did not need it. He was able to see just as well in the dark.
He entered the current, which accepted his presence gladly.
Not planning to waste any time, he allowed the fast current to take him inside the underwater tunnel, which swallowed him whole and spewed him inside the cave system’s pool.
He grabbed a rock on the cave floor and pulled himself upward on the wet, cold rock.
As if he had traveled back to the moment he first entered the cave, he felt something pulling his hair lightly, removing a few strands of wet gray hair from his scalp.
This time, however, it stung pretty badly, which sent him into a sitting position, turning towards the source of his pain.
It was a baby turtle, munching on the gray hair as if it were a most delicious meal.
“You little bastard,” Blanc sighed, scratching the sting from his head with one hand and petting the baby turtle with the other.
A deep, low growl came from behind the turtle, which made Blanc remember that the baby turtle’s parents were also present.
A large four-foot turtle took a step forward, elongating her neck upwards to appear larger than she already was.
“Oh my, ferocious,” Blanc muttered, jumping to his feet before dashing forward.
He was behind the large turtle before it even processed what had happened, only realizing it when the floor vanished from its eyes, being replaced by a pair of gray eyes and white teeth grinning at it.
“I apologize for the inconvenience,” Blanc told the large turtle, “But you will have to come with me.”
He took a step forward, back towards the waterfall, turtle in hand, when he felt a light tap on his ankle.
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Looking downward, he saw the small baby turtle attempting to rescue his mother by taking a step back, building momentum, and bashing his shell on his ankle.
It made him chuckle, lowering just enough to grab the small beast into his free, wounded hand.
“I see where you got the ferocity from,” he laughed before an idea struck him. “Say, little one, do you want to come with us?”
As a response to his proposal, the baby turtle bit into his finger, locking its jaws shut.
After freeing his finger, he placed the small baby turtle back on the cave floor.
“I guess not,” he muttered, after petting the turtle’s head again, removing his hand from its path when it came to bite him, he moved towards the waterfall, “I’ll be borrowing your mother, though.”
With that, he jumped into the waterfall, slowly swimming upwards against the heavy current until he was out of the underwater tunnel and back on the surface.
“I’m back,” Blanc gasped for air.
“One minute and forty-seven seconds,” the Daughter nodded.
“Well, where is it?” Alvin asked, not seeing the turtle since Blanc was holding it underwater.
“As I said, Lord Certa,” Blanc sighed, swimming slowly towards the shore, “A deal is a deal.”
As Blanc spoke, the rest of his body and what he was holding became more and more visible, with the full view of the turtle only after he climbed onto the shore.
Alvin was speechless, seeing the size of the turtle and the vigor inside it, as it fought to escape Blanc’s grasp.
Murmurs from the soldiers witnessing this could be heard overtaking the shore of the river.
“Could you show my men where you find this magnificent beast?” Alvin asked, vigor and energy overtaking his tired body.
“I can, but I would not recommend it,” Blanc replied, shaking the water from his hair. “It’s a cave system that you can access via a current that takes you inside, but to escape it, you need to swim upstream a waterfall before escaping the tunnel and the current pulling you back in. Meaning people with a certain amount of strength and Raw Vita can only leave that place.”
“Show me then,” said Alvin, as he began undressing.
“No need to get fully naked, Patriarch,” the Daughter sighed, seeing how Alvin was about to remove his pants.
“It won’t weigh you down that much,” Blanc added, “Topless is enough.”
Slightly embarrassed, Alvin nodded, entering the water.
“How are your eyes in the dark?” Blanc wondered.
“Good enough,” Alvin replied, as he threw water onto his chest, “Lead the way.”
With a nod from Blanc, they were back into the water and entering the current.
While the two of them were away, Allegra approached Celine and Miyanna, who were talking amongst themselves.
“Good evening,” Allegra said to the two, who took notice of her presence.
“Ah, Allegra,” Celine said, turning towards her, “Good to see you in good health, now that things are starting to get solved.”
“Hard to say solved,” Allegra replied, “We lost many for no other reason than impatience, greed, and a lack of a plan.”
Miyanna giggled, “That means you Metamorphs are not so different than us humans, then.”
“Exactly, sister,” Celine nodded, “You make mistakes, get hurt for it, regret them, and you make sure you won’t do them again. Human nature.”
“If you are alive to not make them again, that is,” Allegra added more to herself than to Celine and Miyanna.
“At least you are alive,” Celine offered her a smile, “Live for yourself, and for those who passed.”
“Tell me,” Allegra said, changing the topic while looking into their eyes, “What do you want from us? Now that the deal has been made, we cannot back down from it.”
“That is true,” Celine nodded, “What we want is a friendship between our Blood and the Metamorphs, in hopes that if we ever need your help as you did today, the Metamorphs will come to our aid.”
“So you want us to fight for you if need be?” Allegra questioned.
“Not as pawns to be used and thrown away,” Celine shook her head, “But as allies, as friends, with a proper reward for it.”
Allegra thought for a while before replying, “I will have to talk with the rest of my people about this. All I can say for now is that it is indeed a cheaper price than having half of our young die.”
And with that, Allegra turned on her heels and backed away from Celine and Miyanna.
“What a weird woman,” Miyanna muttered.
“Oh? Are you beginning to like her slightly?” Celine giggled.
Miyanna frowned, hearing the question, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Don’t act tough now, sister,” Celine drew closer to Miyanna, “You previously couldn’t stand the sight of her, and now you don’t mind light conversations. I call that progress, do you not?”
“Good thing you are cute,” Miyanna sighed, “Otherwise I would have punched you just because I felt like it.”
“Keep the violence for the bed, because I know you prefer it,” Celine grinned, dragging her finger across Miyanna’s cheek.
And before Miyanna could get embarrassed, argue, or even say something, Blanc and Alvin resurfaced, gasping for air.
“You were right,” Alvin exhaled, “Most of my men would drown before escaping, but if what you said inside is true, then it’s doable.”
“I can map out the location of the rock path, but I would also suggest you not overhunt them,” Blanc replied, “There are many, but you know what happens when you overextend because of greed.”
Although Alvin would have argued previously, or cursed at him, this time, he chose not to, “I will keep that in mind. Now let’s get out of the Gardens.”