The Secret Sea - (Chaptered Version)

* 27

An incredible aroma stirs me from my sleep. I wince as I lean up, feeling my back complain. "What's that?"

Jesus waves to me. Something is sizzling inside a pan he has sitting on the fire. "Good morning, friends!"

Of course he's a morning person. Eve rises beside me and rubs her eyes. "Food. Want."

"You sound like VarnLiqn," I tell her.

"Food want!" says VarnLiqn.

Jesus jabs a stick into a plump sausage in his pan and hands it to the racoon, who devours it hungrily. He passes out more to the rest of us. "Dig in."

I take a few bites. It's delicious but has a strange texture. "Where did you get sausage?"

Eve says something with her mouth full, but I can't make it out.

Jesus smiles. "It's better with some eggs, but it will do in a pinch. Karakasa-Obake was kind enough to share with us. He's able to regrow that long tongue of his as he pleases. Taking a piece doesn't hurt him a bit.

Karakasa-Obake's canopy twists in a grin. His eye blinks a few times. I can see his tongue is missing its tip. My stomach tumbles and I nearly throw up, but I manage to keep my meal down.

Eve isn't so lucky. She runs out of the cave and hurls somewhere out of sight.

"What's the problem?" says Jesus, taking a bite of tongue for himself. "Too much salt?"