Layla and Allen were already waiting back at the umbrella and blanket we had set up. As I approached, Layla saw me and flashed a condescending smirk in my direction, which I forcibly shrugged off, not wanting to speak to that woman again after the incident.
"You've actually brought back a haul, hm?" Allen said, standing up with his team's bag in his hand.
"Yeah! I think me and Halvatt make a good team, to be honest," you said, holding out your bag as well.
"Let's see how true that is, then." Allen turned to his side, looking at Cedar, who was sitting on a rock enjoying a cool drink. "Would you do the honours, gramps?"
"Of course, of course." Cedar stood up on his frail old legs, coming over to take the bags. "It's time for the final count. Let's see..."
You seemed to be holding your breath as Cedar took each shell out one by one, placing them in their own piles on the beach blanket as he counted the spoils. Somehwat amused, I wondered if you were able to hold your breath until he finished counting.
"27...28." Cedar placed the last shell down on our pile. "It's a tie, it seems. But what now?"
"Oh! There you are."A familiar voice sounded from nearby. I looked up and saw the orange-haired woman approaching me, the conch shell still in her hand. I immediately scowled.
"What do you want now?"
"Well, I heard from my brother than a really skilled 'magician' helped him out today. He also told me you were looking for shells. I suppose this is the least I could do after what happened earlier," the woman said, and from behind her, the child I had threatened peeked out, a huge grin on his face.
"Yeah! My sister's a magician too, did you know?" the child said proudly.
"I'm well aware," I deadpanned, accepting the conch shell from that accursed woman.
"Wow, I didn't know you made a friend today," you said with a smile. "Halvatt is finally going out of his comfort zone after all this time."
"Believe me, I've been far too uncomfortable today already," I replied. I then pointed the conch shell at Allen. "Looks like we win after all."
"The great Halvatt, always right as he is," Allen chuckled, holding his hands up in defeat. "Such an easy task truly was beneath him. I guess that means you guys win the big prize for today."
"There was a prize?" you asked, straightening up instantly at the mention. "What is it?"
"Well, I thought it'd be great to give the champions the honour of buying us all dinner," Allen said, doing a mock bow in my direction. "And since it was Halvatt who led your team to victory, who better than to treat us? Being such a kind man after all, his magnanimity surely knows no bounds."
"I'll take you up on that offer from earlier and grant you the privilege of dying by my hand now," I growled, taking a step towards him menacingly as he broke out into a fit of laughter.
"That's great. But I think we need some help." From out of what seemed like nowhere, Dmitri appeared, taking all of us by surprise.
"What's wrong?" Layla asked, tilting her head.
"It's high tide." Dmitri said, and offered no further explanation than to jab his thumb backwards, directing our gazes towards Aidan, who was buried up to his neck in sand and looking very concerned as the water drew closer and closer to him.
"Okay, change of plans. We save him first, and then Halvatt buys us dinner," Allen decided, taking off in Aidan's direction. I sighed exasperatedly as your entourage rushed over to dig Aidan out of the sand, and removed my sunglasses, looking directly into the melting pot that was the sunset dipping below the horizon.
Maybe it wasn't too late to stare into the sun and irreparably damage my vision, so that I would never have to ever see another day play out like this again.