Noodles, Fish and Devil's soup

We made a make-shift hook using some string and a piece of the car that was sticking out. By puncturing a hole through the fish, we threaded the string through that hole and hung it on the car. Below the fish was a basin that was catching the blood. Occasionally Sazzy would go over to throw the blood into the sea.

[Well now that the fish is a bust, are you going to move forward with another dish like you planned?]

Sazzy asked as she opened the lid and peered into the devil's soup. The moment she opened the pot, I could smell the spiciness of the soup that made my eyes slightly water. And from across the car, I heard Oliver start coughing.

"Maybe the spiciness is a bit too much."

Walking over to the soup, I took the container of clam powder and started aggressively adding more into the soup until the smell was suppressed into a sort of mild spiciness level.

"I wonder if jasmine milk would have a good effect at curbing the spiciness."

Mummering to myself, I recovered the lid and went back to check on the fish.

At the current moment, the majority of its blood had been drained out of its body and the fish was looking paler from being left in the sun.

[After washing the fish, I think it would be toxin free.]

Sazzy came over. She then casually took the fish and dipped into the sea, swishing it around to wash away the blood. Once she was certain all the toxic blood was gone, she washed it once more just to be safe. Then she dumped it back into the pot.

Taking the pot from her hands, I washed the fish again with our clean water before boiling it for a while. I didn't boil it in water alone though. I added a little bit of clam powder in as well since some websites said that doing so will enrich the taste of boiled fish as well as detoxify it more. The fish in that website was a different species from another planet though, but there weren't any appropriate recipes online so I just used it.

While the two of us were staring at the pot, I heard footsteps from behind me.

"Is this going to be our lunch?"

Oliver peered curiously at the two pots. One had what probably seemed like plain and boring fish inside, while the other had a monstrous black concoction that seemed to scream at people to run away.

"We are trying out several things, but yes this is our lunch."

Trying to reassure him, I scooped out a little of the devil soup and let him try. At first, he made an obviously hesitant look at the black soup. But after a little convincing from me, he took a tiny little sip before his eyes started to turn slightly red and his face flushed.

"It's spicy!"

Oliver exclaimed as he rushed to get some water to calm down his taste buds.

"It's spicy for now, but when we add it with other dishes, the spiciness will be reduced and it'll be much more bearable and delicious."

I closed the lid of the pot and went to check on the fish once more.

After a couple minutes of boiling, the original gray skin of the fish started to peel off the fish to reveal tasty looking pink meat.

[I don't sense any poison from this so it should be fine.]

After asking for Sazzy's poison test, I scooped the fish out and took a bite off it.

The pink flesh not only looked delicious, it tasted divine. Soft enough to melt in your mouth, the clam powder added just the right amount of saltiness to it that enhanced its taste.

Taking a little scoop of the fish once more, I scooped a little of the devil's soup and added the fish to it.

Then I gulped down the combination in one breath.

The spiciness of the devil's soup was slightly too much, but it still resulted in a heavenly mixture of spiciness, softness and saltiness that just left my tongue craving for more.

It seemed that I didn't need to do anything more.

Putting aside the ladle, I refilled the pot with water and set it to boil. Then, taking a premade mixture I had bought, I added the instructed amount of water and rolled the mixture into a dough. After twisting that dough into long noodle strands, I then boiled it to get the staple food for our meal.

"Oliver! Lunch is ready!"

I took our two plates and put the boiled noodles into it. Then I placed the boiled fish, and topped it off with a little devil's soup.

"Here."

Passing the bowl over to Oliver, he murmured a thanks as he gripped the water bottle in his hand.

We both sat down on the seat backs and dug into our meal. While I was eating, I kept my eyes on Oliver to observe his reaction.

Before his first bite, Oliver smelled the dish and seemed to be taken aback by the spicy smell. Then, taking a little gulp of water, he shoved one whole spoon into his mouth.

Immediately, his eyes turned quite red and tears started forming. He was also starting to perspire. But the cool sea breeze evaporated all his sweat before they could form large droplets.

Opening his eyes, instead of pain, all I saw was surprise and joy as he took another mouthful of the noodle, fish and soup. Then he downed it with water.

[It seems he likes the taste.]

Sazzy drooled as she stared greedily at our bowls.

"I think most people would like slightly spicy foods. And although Oliver can't take too spicy foods since he is still quite young, I think a little spice once in a while is a good thing for him to experience."

Talking while scooping the food into my mouth, the two of us quickly polished off the meal.

"The fish was super good! The soup was slightly spicy but you were right, the noodles took away most of the spice!"

Oliver smiled with black tainted lips as he passed his bowl for me to wash.

"It's good that you like it! I'll see if we can eat something different for dinner. It'll depend on whether we catch anything to eat or not."

Dunking the bowls into a pail of water with soap, I wiped it with a soapy cloth before dunking it into another pail. This pail only had clear water in it. I then used a clean cloth to wipe the bowls.

I then placed the bowls back in the dish bag.

Watching as Oliver went back to the corner with Ava to talk about their confidential matters, Sazzy huddled next to me and spoke in whispers about our own matters.

[I know that you didn't want to answer about Andrew yesterday. But, if it's alright. Would you tell me about him? You said he was your legal guardian, so was he like your biological parent?]

I watched as Sazzy tried her best to word her question in the most polite way possible.

Moving towards the furthest end of the car from Oliver and Ava, I sighed.

"He's not a bad person. It's just, I don't trust him. To put it simply, I just really doubt his motives."

I leaned my head on the side of the car and allowed the sea breeze to comb through my hair.

[Is it too much to ask why?]

Sazzy gave a concerned look as she sat straight as an arrow.

"It's not something too good to talk about. But since we have been together for quite a while, I might as well tell you the whole thing."

"My 'parents', if you could even call them that, were irresponsible at best, and downright neglectful at worst. Except for providing monetary expenses, they were never there for anything. Our house always had money, but it was an empty shell with nobody but me. I grew up like that, and I had learnt to accept it. Until Oliver arrived, that is."

"The thing is, although they were married, they weren't exactly together. And so, one day my 'mother' brought home a sweet little child that she didn't care enough to give to the orphanage. After all, according to her, she had a perfectly fine and capable 'daughter' at home to take care of the child. And that was the last straw for me."

I cringed as I said the word 'mother'.

"On the day I turned legally responsible for myself, I took Oliver away from that shell of a house and we lived on our own. I left behind everything that was related to them, and worked hard to take care of the two of us. However, that didn't last long. After around a couple of months, I was diagnosed with MDVA and was taken to the center. It was at the center that Andrew burst into and claimed legal guardianship over us."

As I recounted those days, I could almost smell the scent of the center, the nurse's eyes as she hesitated with the needle in her hand. And then there was the loud noise as the door opened to show Andrew, panting and sweating as he told her to stop and held out some papers. Behind him was Oliver, 5 years old at that time. Staring at the whole thing with wide eyes.

[If that's the case, then why do you suspect him? It seems as if he saved you two during a very critical situation.]

Sazzy tilted her head as she digested and pictured everything I said.

"Would you trust any adult that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and showed an overflowing amount of compassion at you? Additionally, he was a professor that specialized in MDVA. The reason he adopted us could definitely be good and pure, but it could easily also be incredibly selfish."

[But you said he was probably not a bad person?]

I sighed as we came back to the main issue. Why I couldn't trust Andrew. Even Oliver seemed to not understand my reason, resorting to defending him in one of the most serious spats we had ever had as sister and brother.

"I lived with that man for two years. If he wanted something, he would definitely have not waited so long to get it. But, on the other hand, I just can't let go of the possibility that it's all a front. Call me paranoid, but I just can't fully trust someone who seems to only have the good of others in mind."

I shook my head as Sazzy furrowed her brows. You could tell she was thinking as hard as she could, rocking her brains, the cogs turning until she seemed to see something that even Oliver could not see.

[In a sense, I understand. I too experienced something similar. Although it was not as horrible a situation as yours. You see, my family was always too overprotective of me. They sheltered me from everything, and kept me in a bubble that only held what was good. On the outside, it seemed like my life was a luxury. On the inside, everything was a lie. I thought I was normal, that everyone experienced these sorts of privileges. I was ignorant. And it only took until after death to realize how wide and diverse the world was. And how guilty I was of never realizing it. I understand how it's really hard to trust people after experiencing such betrayals. Although I can't say it can compare to yours, I just slightly kind of get why you can't trust him.]

Sazzy sighed as she told her tale, as carefully as possible to not seem like she just wanted to talk about herself.

"I don't think we have to compare them. Our own situations are unique. Although the fact that because of them we can share this feeling is quite...nice. Ironically."

Giving a little chuckle, the both of us lightened the atmosphere as we started sharing small snippets of our past lives.

I wonder if we got just a little closer to each other.