The Twins from the Sea

Chapter XXIX

Ophelia's stomach lurched and twisted as she sped in the direction of the compass' needle with labored breath and a racing heart. Millions of thoughts raced through her mind- worries of the possibility of being too late, heart wrenching concerns for her sister's safety and regrets of letting her get pushed so far as to run away. Anxiety ate away at her as she raced along, ignoring the growing pain in her side.

After relentlessly pushing on for what seemed like forever, Ophelia stopped as compass led her straight into a huge, thick forest of seaweed. She spun, looking around her. Not a sound echoed from the forest around her. She clutched the compass in her shaking hand, took a deep breath, and pushed her way into the thicket. As she struggled to get through the near impenetrable seaweed, she constantly glanced down at the compass to make sure she wasn't mistaken. She reached out, pulled aside a long strand, and was met with a shocking sight- endless blue sea.

She moved forward and her heart dropped to her stomach as the sandy floor sharply dropped off, and she hovered over a drop that she couldn't see the bottom of. Her heart pounded in her chest. Could Moana really still be that far away, that she'd have to swim over this daunting amount of open water, on her already exhausted fin? She looked down at the compass again. The needle had spun back to the direction from which she'd come. Puzzled, she made her way back to the seaweed, and the arrow confusedly moved back and forth, as if the Moana was right there with her. Ophelia threw the compass on the ground in frustration, sinking to a kneel. Had Amphitrite lied to her? Was this a trick used to lure her out to the middle of nowhere for an ambush? That couldn't be true. Amphitrite had been so full of love and care that it didn't seem possible for her to have sinister motivations. She got up, swam back to the edge of the cliff, looking out over the enormous drop. Anxiety ate away at her insides. Suddenly, Ophelia heard a gruff voice behind her. Panicking, she swam back into the kelp, willing her labored breath to quiet. The voices spoke in the same accents as the cyclops.

"Adrastos is in it deep. The only thing he has going for him is that he brought the girl," said the voice. Another grunted in response.

Ophelia's heart stopped. The girl. Moana. How could they have her? The voices were on her right side, quickly approaching, and she heard them push through the kelp. She slowly and cautiously peeked out of the kelp that hid her. Two other cyclops, looking similar to the one they took captive who she now knew was called Adrastos, stood at the edge of the cliff. Without hesitation, they stepped off the cliff and began to sink. When they were out of sight, she peered off the cliff and watched as they as they swam straight into the side of the cliff, and disappeared. Ophelia looked down, and back at the compass. Of course! Moana was underneath her. This must be the "home cave" that Adrastos had told them about. And as much as it terrified her, she knew that she had to be done.

Ophelia slowly made her way off of the cliff and over the open water. She cautiously moved downward, keeping her eyes peeled for any sort of opening. Then, about a hundred yards down the face of the cliff, gaped a wide opening, big enough for a whale to fit through. She reached the side and paused, trying to piece together some form of a plan. She judged that because all of the monster army was a great deal bigger than her, she could lurk around in the shadows unnoticed to see what the situation was. Her first thought was to simply wait until her sister was unsupervised, grab her and make a quick getaway. But she pinched herself, a reminder to not be so naive. She allowed herself a few minutes to breathe and think, before taking a breath and slipping into the cave.

Ophelia had been right about one thing. She was, by far, the smallest creature in this cave. It teemed with enormous beasts of all shapes, from unnaturally huge sharks swimming in lazy circles near the ceiling to giants with arms as thick as tree trunks, gathered around tables. For all the noise being made, Ophelia was surprised that she hadn't heard it when she had been standing above. She moved further inside, staying close to the walls, being as quiet and moving as little as she could. It got darker the more she moved in, straying further from the sun's glow that filtered through the open water. The place was so filled that it wasn't difficult to blend in. She moved into an area so dense with creatures that she was able to push through crowds without being given a second glance. She had never been more frightened in her life. It didn't seem possible that she was able to infiltrate their lair so easily, and she worried, yet again, that she'd walked into a trap. To find out what exactly was happening, she attempted to eavesdrop on the conversations around her. But between their thick accents and the sheer amount of creatures around her, it was impossible.

She then saw, hanging from the belt of a cyclops standing next to her, a sheathed dagger, barely visible in the darkness of the cave. Before she could overthink it, she slipped the blade from its holster. Looking down at the littered floor, she grabbed a dirty piece of cloth, wrapped it around the dagger, and slipped it into her bag. Just in case.

Ophelia slid back to a wall, trying to become invisible in the darkness. She contemplated her options from here... she could only avoid being noticed for so long. The cave seemed to continue on for as long as she could see, so she decided to keep moving. Gambling tables like the ones she had seen towards the front were everywhere, and as she moved she saw fighting pits, surrounded by screaming mobs of monsters. Bottles of pungent liquor were passed around. She guessed that her being unnoticed could attribute to that. The shouts from the chaotic, drunken mess around her intensified. She felt as if she was crawling deeper and deeper into the belly of a beast. She was more and more nervous by the second, running into what could turn into a fight without any sort of a plan.

Suddenly, from a nook in the wall she hadn't even seen before, emerged a sight she least expected. A stream of female sirens carrying trays of drinks and food rushed out and dispersed amongst the crowd. The monsters snatched drinks off the trays, throwing coins at the waitresses in return.

Silently thanking God for this opportunity, she rushed into the room from which the sirens came. It was empty except for a grouchy, fat giant organizing bottles on a far shelf. Upon Ophelia's entry, he spun around.

"You're late! The first round just went out! Get your uniform on and go, wench!" shouted the giant, pointing at a rack of aprons and hats behind her.

"Yes, sir," she said, assuming a breathy and aloof voice. She emptied the contents of her bag into the apron's front pocket before hanging it on a shelf with other various belongings. She collected a tray of drinks, plastered on same cocky smirk that the rest of the Sirens wore, and sauntered out into the hall, ignited with a new hope and vigilance.

hello! I'm back! I'm happy to announce that I am participating in an abridged version of NANOWRIMO! my goal is to make significant progress on this book, and I'm proud to have stuck to it so far. thank you all so so much again for reading. you have no idea how much this story and your support means to me. seriously. and if any of you are also participating in this month's writing challenge, I applaud and support you! you got this!

much much much love.