Metanoia; The Hybrid
CHAPTER 5O: THE WANDERING WITHOUT SPECIFIC PURPOSE.

For hours, Piers and I have been walking without direction. I didn't know where we were going, but I continued to lead the way by following the sunset.

"We stop first, we don't even walk on a right path" Piers leaned against a tree, sat down while regulating breathing. Not only him, but I'm tired. As I was about to sit down, I heard the sound of a bush, which almost adorned the ground.

I stood up, looking towards the source of the sound. Then, a silhouette came from there. As he came out, Piers and I were shocked at the same time.

"Xavier!" Shouted Piers.

"Finally, I found you..."

Suddenly I woke up to hold his limp body, "I was lost, since 2 days ago. The forest is endless, thank goodness I found you."

"2 days ago? Aren't you wrong?" Manya make sure.

"2 days ago I arrived in this forest after we entered it! But I'm alone! You disappeared somewhere!!"

Her eyes were a little swollen, maybe she was crying because she was lost day and night. But this is getting weird. Piers says he's been looking for us all day, and Xavier's been 2 days since his arrival.

I sat under the tree for a while, after all Xavier looked very exhausted and hungry. But I don't bring food but my degger as an important item.

"ah! Thank God I brought a basket of bread as my luggage!" Piers who just remembered him immediately took out a basket filled with bread and jam from inside his waist bag.

"You cheated! You didn't bring 1 thing, but it was a lot!" Xavier's protest robbed a piece of bread from inside the wooden basket.

"I'm not cheating, I'm smart. I only brought 1 basket, but it contained a lot!" Piers.

"It's getting weird and interesting. I arrived about 6 hours ago, Piers arrived about 12 hours ago, and you were 2 days ago. We enter the portal together. I'm sure something went wrong from the start and it made a difference in time between us" I explained, noting that the two men were eating bread.

"I don't expect anything, I just hope I find anyone in this forest" Xavier said.

I looked at Xavier, "And you, shouldn't you turn around and avoid me like you used to? Aren't you afraid of me?"

He finished his meal and looked at me as well, "I'm not afraid. However, I was only so shocked when I sensed the Hybrid aura within you. So foreign, so powerful. That aura blinded me and made me angry with you. We knew each other the first day we went to the Academy anyway, but instead of you telling that to your first friend, you shared it with your group of friends. I mean, I'm disappointed in that. I'm also your friend, if you say it in the first place, I won't be that disappointed in you."

"When I told you about my problem with my twin sister, but that day you told me nothing" he continued.

I paused for a moment, then chuckled, "I'm sorry I let you down and didn't appreciate your position as my friend. But I don't mind if anything between us happens. I'm even grateful for a moment, so you won't be near me, you won't get hurt by me. But believe me, it's like the worst nightmare ever."

Xavier smiled and held onto my shoulder, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so to you. I should have understood your condition beyond my problems. However, do not bear everything alone. You have many friends, you can share your problems with these friends."

Piers brought himself closer to the two of us, and the three of us hugged together. Afterwards we continued our journey, looking for other existences, but we had not found anything for hours. Still the trees are so foreign that they make Xavier sick.

Then suddenly I heard something until I stopped my footsteps. Xavier had to hit the Piers because we stopped walking.

"You hear that?"

I further sharpened my hearing, it was the sound of a river that seemed not far from where we were standing.

"That's a river, water, I need water" Xavier ran towards the source of the sound.

"Xavier, wait!" Shouted Piers and we both followed him. After arriving, I found a large river, the current was also very strong.

"It's so beautiful" muttered Piers who was standing beside me.

"There are people there" Xavier pointed towards the middle of the river, between the rocks, there was a slightly different boy. He just stood still, closing his eyes, leaning against the side of the rock opposite the stream. His clothes lay neatly on the ground.

"It looks like he's from the Mermaid clan, could it be Iris...?" I still don't step foot.

"Wow, I've never seen the true form of the Mermaid clan. I became curious about the area below" said Xavier...

"What do you mean?" Much

"Score! Beautiful tail, of course I mean" I said.

I picked up Iris's clothes folded over the ground, "Try shouting, Xavier."

He nodded, "Hey, who's taking a bath!"

The boy was surprised, opened his eyes, and looked up right at us and sure enough, he was Iris. Right then, Iris covered the body with her hands, and slightly drowned herself.

"You guys!" Her screams are so happy.

"He's ashamed. Would everyone be ashamed to be seen by others while wearing nothing, even fellow men?" Xavier said in a tone of disbelief.

"It's just you who don't have manners" Piers hit his shoulder.

I put his clothes back on, and asked the others to wait for him to climb up. I see, her clothes are taken, and some time later Iris appears. He climbed the ground higher than the river.

Xavier came to help her up, then when our eyes met, Iris ran with her two injured legs towards me and hugged me tightly, "Thank God! Moon Godes has listened to my request!"

I hugged him too. Once satisfied, I let go of the hug, "Your leg is hurt."

"true."

We rested for a while beside the river, under the low-sized trees.

"You hungry? Piers has a lot of bread, let's eat it" I bid by giving Iris bread, and she ate it so greedily.

"I was here and lost 4 days ago. I didn't find anyone. Until I found this river. I sleep and eat in it. Don't ask, what made my stomach last" Iris looked at the river as she chewed. She looked traumatized, as if something bad had happened to her.

"What?" Ask Xavier.

"What else! I ate fish in the river!!" Iris was silent for a moment, then she cried.

"Why are you crying?" Xavier's distraught.

"We, the Mermaid clan, must not eat aquatic living things. It's the same as we're becoming cannibals" Iris's cries are becoming more and more. Ah right, eating a fellow creature, means you're a cannibal.

"But you did it because you needed it, there was no other choice" Piers tried to calm the hysterical Iris.

"But I have sinned..." Iris kept crying.

Shit, I don't like seeing people cry.

"Hey, listen to me Iris. Other people or your clan don't know what you're doing, so none of us have ever known that you've been a cannibal for a while. So, relax" I said. Iris calmed down, realizing that I was right.

"Please promise, don't tell anyone about this" Iris rubbed her eyes. We nodded.

"Eat until your stomach is full. Night is almost here, we have to find food other than bread" I said.

"Well, then what are we going to do?" Xavier looked excited.

"We hunt."