The hydra peered at Jack rather curiously with each of its heads. The heads at the sides lazily looked on, while the one in the center spoke up.
"It appears you passed the test... and without a single flower growing out of you. Quite impressive."
Jack walked up rather excitedly, giving a big thumbs up.
"Yeah! I just followed the instructions from her and it all worked out!"
He looked over at the flower girl with his hands on his hips, rather proud of her as though it was a collective achievement they worked on together. The flower girl blushed slightly, looking a bit embarrassed.
Before the hydra said anything else, the girl walked up hurriedly, holding up her hands towards it.
"Please let this one pass! I know I say this all the time, but I really really don't want this one to fail, please!"
She pouted while the flowers on her head swayed down, moving akin to the ears of an animal. The hydra lowered its heads to look at her with each and every one of them. There was a somewhat forlorn look on its face.
"...All of them must go through a fair trial, regardless of their results from the previous ones."
It then moved its heads over to Jack. The hydra inspected him for a good while, and he in turn was smiling brightly while doing the same. After a few moments, the middle head spoke.
"So, for this test, you have to convince me to let you pass. Though if you would like, there is a second option where you slay me and get through that way."
Jack tilted his head to the side.
"Why would I want to do that?"
The hydra let out a chuckle.
"That is how you pass this test and how you leave here. Otherwise, you will simply be stuck here."
Jack thought about it for a little while. He put a finger on his chin and let out a small hum.
"Can I take you guys with me?"
The hydra was rather baffled by that question, all three heads retracting slightly.
"What? No, why would you want to do that?"
Jack tilted his head to the side curiously. He put a finger on his chin rather cluelessly, not sure what was so strange about his statement. In fact, he thought he was the one being reasonable here.
"But I hardly got to know either of you! If I left, would I be able to come back?"
Before the hydra could answer that question, it was the flower girl who spoke up while fiddling with her fingers.
"No, nobody can come back after leaving."
She looked down at the floor with her head down. There wasn't any effort to pretend that the fact weighed quite heavily down on her.
Jack blinked a few times, smiling a little.
"Then I would like to stay here for a while, as this will be my only chance to talk!"
The hydra narrowed all of its eyes, looking at him from various angles at the same time. It was as though Jack was some sort of strange specimen. For whatever reason, the hydra took his time closely looking, just silently peering.
As for Jack, he didn't mind. Still smiling as he had been.
Eventually, the hydra did end up pulling back.
"...It really wasn't a lie. But that is rather confusing. Why would you ever truly care about some random passerby? Then to go even further and desire genuine connection with people you know you will never meet again? I can't possibly understand the logic behind it."
Although the flower girl didn't say anything, she seemed to be of the same opinion, looking to Jack for his answer.
However, Jack looked at them back similarly, confused as to why they thought differently. Despite thinking that it was obvious, he voiced his opinion.
"Why would I not try to talk to different people? It's so fun getting to know them all because everybody is so different! If I can't come back here ever again, that means this is my only chance to ever talk to you. Why would I want to just give that up?"
The hydra stared for a few seconds before responding.
"There are plenty of people to talk to. What is the point of forming a relationship with someone whom you will never see again? Is that not a waste of time?"
As for the flower girl, she similarly spoke, though far more sheepishly.
"And if you do, it just hurts so much when they leave..."
Jack scratched his cheek while pouting. He couldn't help but think of his own father, how he hardly ever saw him. But just because he missed him during the times that he wasn't there never changed how he valued the few times that he was there for him.
"It does hurt, but it only hurts because it mattered to you, right? Wouldn't it be better if you had those fun times, even if they were only for a little bit? It won't make sense if it hurts more than the happiness that comes with it!"
The flower girl walked over and grabbed onto the tips of his fingers with both hands, pulling it towards herself.
"That... that is true."
She bit her bottom lip while holding onto his hand rather tightly. As for the hydra, it too thought for a while before it lifted its heads up and gave a small sigh, contemplating things.
"I see. Now that it is said out loud, I've come to realize that I think the same way too. Though it really doesn't seem so on the surface, when I truly think about it, I do still cherish my memories of her."
Jack grinned, purely out of the excitement of getting to talk to them.
"So now we can do introductions, right? My name is Jack! What about you guys?"
The flower girl smiled slightly and shyly spoke up first.
"My name is Kyria."
As for the Hydra, it let out a small sigh.
"And my name is Ben."
It was a rather normal name considering it was a three-headed hydra, though that fact was lost on Jack. He raised both his hands into the air.
"Kyria! Ben! Is there anything you want to talk about first?"
He sat down on the grass, patting the ground on both his left and right sides invitingly. Ben laid down one of his heads at the left, before letting out a soft sigh.
"There is nothing in particular that comes to mind for me."
Kyria gingerly sat down next to him at the same time. There was an awkward smile on her face.
"I-I'm not sure. This isn't my um, strength..."
Jack tilted his head to the side before turning to look at Ben.
"Why don't you talk about the person you were thinking about?"
In response, Ben did the equivalent of furrowing his brows.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
Jack giggled.
"You were saying something about memories of someone! I don't know who it is, but they sound cool! I wanna hear about them."
Ben blinked a few times. He looked off into the distance for a few moments before taking a deep breath.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to talk about my master. Perhaps if I continue to speak word of her, it will be as though she is still right next to me."
Jack clapped a few times, raising both of his eyebrows.
"Ooh!"
Ben closed his eyes and continued on with a gentle voice.
"In such a dark place, where everyone had fallen to darkness, she was one of the few who saw things in a bright light. To find purity in the darkest of evils. It was her that restored my faith in the world."
He lowered his head slightly.
"That even in a dark world, just the smallest of lights is enough to continue living on."
Jack took quite an interest in the story.
"Wow! That sounds so cool!"
Ben let out a deep chuckle.
"I see a lot of her in you, though it may be expressed in somewhat different ways. She would always make jokes to lighten up the situation. But despite everything, her commanding skills were impeccable, assessing the situation immediately and thinking several steps ahead at the same time. Even now, I am unsure as to how she does it."
Jack's eyes widened slightly.
"Wow! That reminds me of how Dad describes Mom!"