The routine the following days was more or less the same as when I first broke out of that egg up. I woke up, ate some helpless creature brought to me by mother, and then would go back to sleep. It wasn't necessarily boring, but it was definitely monotonous.

Finally, two weeks and fourteen dead animals later, ranging from adorable-looking bunnies the same size as me to nightmarish lions with bone spikes sprouting from them, I was finally able to do more than just sleep and eat.

I moved around the cave, exploring it. Mother was out hunting, or at least I suspected she was, so I was more or less free to do as I wished during her absence.

Our home was... bare. There was very little to set it apart from a regular cave without two hydras living in it, and apart from a few scattered bones here and there, we really did leave no trace of our existence here.

Other than that, though, the cave did have a very beautiful and natural feel to it. There were softly glowing stones stuck in the ceiling which provided a dim illumination to the place, and the few stalactites here and there only made it better.

... I was really grasping at straws if I was starting to think of caves as beautiful. I'd already come to terms with what had happened, and while that didn't mean I didn't regret dying, I don't want to waste this opportunity, for what else could it be?

I hadn't seen mother do anything that would resemble magic, but as each day passed, I only grew more and more confident that magic did exist, and that if it did, then an entire world of opportunities would open up.

I licked my lips, the motion reflecting itself through all of my heads. I didn't exactly have a 'main' head, so instead, I tended to just have all my heads mirror each other whenever I did something with them, which made the adjustment easier.

Back on topic, I knew that I could do something 'magical'. After all, the gut feeling in me told me so, and it'd rarely ever lied to me before.

I tried to meditate like I did in the few yoga classes I'd taken back in the other world. Take deep breaths, keep a calm mind, and focus inward. It was a difficult exercise to do when I had an entire riot of strange feelings demanding both food and death within me, but ignoring them had gotten easier with time.

When I opened up my many eyes again... Well, I was a bit disappointed. I'd felt something within me, somewhat like the strange warmth I felt every time I killed one of the beasts mother brought to me. However, I was completely unable to do anything with it. Hell, I couldn't even touch it!

A low, deep hiss jerked me out of my thoughts. One of my heads twisted around, staring behind me, where mother sat in all of her nine-headed glory. She let out another hiss, one that sounded strangely... pleased.

I blinked, staring at her with slight confusion. This was the first time I'd understood what she meant with her hisses and sounds, and while it wasn't even close to real words, even just understanding the meaning behind it was... strange.

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Was it because I'd meditated? But that made no sense!

I was once again ripped out of my monologue when mother licked me, her raspy tongue bringing a small, childish whine out of me. Retreating that head, mother gently deposited what looked to be a two-headed tiger. Like all the unfortunate critters before it's arrival here, it too was completely frozen.

Unfortunately for the poor creature, I was both very, very hungry, and also not willing to do anything to displease my very scary mother.

I killed it quick and easy, and proceeded to satisfy my inner cravings. I had nothing against the tiger, but so was life.

When I was done, instead of urging me to go to sleep as she'd always done, mother seemed to be much more interested in something else. She prodded me with her nose, time and time again, seemingly trying to convey something.

I shifted around awkwardly for a while, trying to understand what she wanted. Finally, after a bit, realization struck. She'd been pleased with me when she found me meditating, so maybe...

With barely hidden anticipation, I closed all of my eyes, once more focusing inward, trying to once again 'touch' the warmth within me.

Mother's nudging immediately stopped when I did, allowing me to concentrate much more effectively. However, instead of doing nothing and waiting as I'd expected, I felt one of her muzzles gently poke one of my own.

A massive amount of warmth streamed into me through her, forcing a gasp out of me. My own warmth seemed to be stimulated by her own, roaring to life within me.

It was so much easier to feel like this. I still had no real idea what I was doing and I was basically just trying to wing it, but thankfully my instincts came to the rescue as they gave me a vague sense of what I should and shouldn't do.

For now, they insisted to simply get a feel for the energy, but not to do anything substantial with it. Since it made quite a bit of sense not to touch unknown and potentially dangerous stuff inside my own body, I easily agreed to just go along with whatever my instincts said.

"Good." Mother hissed from around me, her heads circling me like vultures as they stared down at me. I felt a jolt run through me at her 'words', ripping me out of my thoughts as I stared at her with disbelief.

"M... Mother?" I asked cautiously, my voice coming out as a quick, snake-like hiss. Now, it was her turn to recoil back in surprise, all of her eyes focusing on me with an intensity that made me squirm.

A few of her tongues flickered out. "Understand?" She asked / hissed. I was quickly getting weirded out by what was happening, but nonetheless answered positively. "Yes."

"Smart. Talented." One of her heads hissed, and before I knew what was going on, I was assaulted by an onslaught of raspy tongues. Somehow, I could tell that it was a gesture of affection, and also confirmation. Confirmation for what, I didn't know.

As I squirmed around, trying to escape the far too numerous tongues, I was also furiously trying to decipher what the hell happened.

I looked into what I'm fairly sure is some sort of energy within me, and after I did, I could slightly understand mother's hisses. Then, when I do it again, I can understand her words.

Maybe it's some sort of innate ability of hydras?

"Mother. Understand, how?" I asked after she'd allowed me to escape her clutches. Her heads tilted slightly, considering my words as she stared down at me.

"Heritage. Unlocked." One head hissed the first word as another one hissed the latter. Bamboozled, I continued to stare at her stupidly for a bit, having received zero meaningful information from that answer.

"Rest. Too young." She hissed again, nudging me back into her embrace. I didn't question it, deciding that it wouldn't be worth it. I had too much to think over anyway.

Mother didn't seem to mind my silence as she wrapped around me, her eyes not closing as she watched me slowly fade into sleep once more.