Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2014 17:47:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: Andrew Bailey <feare909@yahoo.com>
Subject: Aquata Cove - Chapter 27

Aquata Cove
Chapter 27: Coshiton


"Mmmm! Mmmmffffrrrmm!" Adam grunted and squirmed as he is pulled into the
sea, feeling his whole body being pressed all around by the increased
density of the water, just like before with Umiato! Only this time, it's
more... Sudden, almost hostile.

Suddenly, Adam was shoved roughly against the reef. "RRRNNNGGHHH!" He
grunted as he felt his neck grabbed. He opened his eyes to see a pearly
white mermaid. A young, frilly sea creature with a seaweed band around her
head with a spiral shell slice tucked in, and a string of pearls around her
neck. She growled and kissed at him as she pinned him down.

"Yooooouuu!!" She said, her voice so lethal and ragged with rage, "You took
my Brother away from me!!"

`Brother'? A young, white mermaid, and this one is too small to be
Umiato. `Oh snap!' Adam thought, `This is his SISTER?!' Adam then flinched
when he saw her other arm lift up a spear that has been broken in half, and
bound together with fishing line. He looked as a stingray barb as also been
tied at the end of it. It shimmered with a light along the shaft, before
migrating to the end of it.

"You took him from me, Human!" She said to him. She glared fiery daggers at
him as she bared her teeth. She looks so full of hatred, and what does she
mean?? He TOOK Merrick away from her??? His eyes looked along the shaft of
the weapon, and spotted a barnacle with a metal tab on it.

That's MERRICK'S trident! What's SHE doing with it?!

"If I kill you..." Adam's eyes widened at what she said, "He can come back!
You will die! I will have my Brother BACK!"

The mermaid drew the spear back, and sunk her spear into his Adam's right
pec!

"RAAGGGHHH!" Adam clenched his eyes shut as that stinger stabbed into him!
The mermaid yanked it out, yielding a cloud of blood from his chest.

"Where is your heart?! I will rip it out of you!" The vicious mermaid
savagely said. She carved into Adam again, before the spear was removed
promptly. The mermaid growled as a webbed hand grabbed her by the arm, and
attempted to pull her back. She struggled and growled as she writhed from
the unseen force pulling her away.

In a fit of anger, the mermaid brandished the shimmering spear, whirled
around, and slashed the stranger across the torso!

Merrick yelped a shaky cry as his webbed hands clutched at himself. The
mermaid suddenly gasped as the merman faltered to the reef, clutching at
the gash across his chest and midsection as blood drew out of his wound.

"Brossannn!" The mermaid said as she went to him, "Sonaarrus! Heemoorrreen
konneerrii" She spoke in a series of strange moans and noises at the blue
and silver merman, pulling at his hand and tried to take him from the reef.

"Noorraaan," Merrick said, as he shook his head, and pulled his arm back,
"Koraaatuss sanna."

"Eegonna doreetta!" The mermaid replied, sounding upset. She shook her head
slowly and spoke more, "Brossan... Dorakiinnaa!! Kensooorrraaata!
Konnerrii!" Adam has no idea what they could be saying, only adding more
confusion to the situation, along with the growing sting in his body.

"Seetoorruuun!" Merrick said, grunting in pain as his wound sparked with
red static, as with Adam's injury. Adam grunted as his right arm started to
feel a very vicious sting, along with going numb, "... Meforruunn
taeekeen..." Merrick grunted as he tried to speak through the pain,
"Mefoorii, Sissan... Kesshhhiiinn..." He said as he put his hand onto his
sister's shoulder. The mermaid backed away from him.

"Secoootana!" She said angrily, "Mefforruunn haaseennaata seroooum!" She
then slashed at Merrick's tail, making him yelp in pain before she turned
around, grabbed Adam, and swam off with him.

"MERRICK!!!" Adam called as he reached his left arm out as the mermaid
forcefully carried him away.

"Aaaddaaaaa!" Merrick called back, reaching out for him, but his mystic
injuries sparking and paralyzing him from swimming any further.


~~~


Adam struggled against the mermaid's hold. She must have some binding spell
on him, because he can barely writhe in her grip. "I will take to the
depths!" She hissed, "When you are gone, he will see he can come back!" She
growled at him. Adam tried more and more to squirm his way out of her grip.

This mermaid... Merrick's sister, she's supposed to be the Adra Noita, the
child mystic of the pod... But she's so young! Then again, whatever magic
she put in those strikes, the pain his driving Adam crazy! And being in the
seawater isn't helping -- the salinity is intensifying the stinging bite of
the injuries.

"Please..." Adam said, his voice low and distorted as the mermaid rushed
them deeper and deeper. He can feel his ears start to ring and ache as the
water's pressure increased. He can't even move, from the harsh, freezing
depth, and from the pain sparking inside his body, "I love him..." He
managed to say, "Let me go..."


Just then, there came a drawling, raspy screech. Adam and looked to see a
scary image; a white snake humanoid jetting through the water, a black,
swirling tattoo on her shoulder, bait tackle around her neck, fish hooks
attached to her two gills, her long, serpentine tail whipping back and
forth, her razor sharp teeth baring as she zoomed towards them.

Merrick's sister looked, and hissed viciously at the incoming Holsien. Adam
grunted as he felt the mermaid's arm wrap around his neck and push the
stingray barb at his stomach. Adam clenched his eyes as he could feel the
biting energy graze at his skin, besides the agonizing fire already
electrifying his wounds. The Piscien mermaid called out an anger-filled
screech at the other mermaid, as if threatening to kill Adam if she came
any closer.

The snake-like mermaid opened her jaws, and let out an echoing cry as she
clapped her peach, clawed hands together. Adam felt a very narrow current
push between him and Merrick's sister. The young mermaid growled as her arm
tightened around Adam's neck, before the water seemed to yank them two of
them apart.

The younger mermaid held the half-broken staff and pointed it at the
Holsien mermaid. Belinda shot right at the young mermaid, and tangled with
her. The Piscien shrieked with ravenous wrath as the snake whipped her tail
at her. Belinda hissed as she chomped down onto the fishing line-tethered
part of the spear, and broke it in half. White wisps seeped from the
Piscien's eyes as she cried out as she jabbed an icy spike at the
Holsien. The snake mermaid whirled around, grabbing her wrist, and pointing
her hand at another direction, forcing the stream of cold energy to freeze
ice blocks into the sea.

A white light came from the Piscien's palm, and slashed at the snake's
tail. Belinda screamed in pain as the light crackled into her scales. She
sharpened her fingernails on both hands with long, red energy as she
circled around the younger mermaid. The small Piscien writhed and struggled
to get away, but Belinda's snake-like body is too long, and thus formed a
sort of cage around her. She cried and grunted in pain as Belinda's claws
scratched in several places around the white mermaid's body.

Try as she would, the young mermaid would not struggle her way out of the
forensic spiraling of the sea snake mermaid, until Belinda coiled herself
tightly around the white mermaid's body.

Adam gasped as he watched Belinda's shadowy outline constrict the Adra
tightly, with her neck exposed, like a serpentine vampire about to sink its
teeth into its prey.

"Beeelliinnda!" Adam called out, his voice strained by the chill of the
ocean, "Nooooo!" He said. The Holsien didn't seem to hear him at all. The
Piscien grunted and whimpered in painful discomfort, rendered helpless in
the snake's squeeze.

The young Piscien started to show discoloration from the tight wringing,
until the reptilian mermaid unfurled herself from the frilly mermaid, and
whipped over to the human, circled her elongated body around him, hissing
threateningly at the Piscien. Without even looking at them, Merrick's
sister quickly swam away, kick her tail as hard as she could from the human
and Holsien.

Belinda then turned around to Adam, and made her pointy, fingertips
illuminate, and press over Adam's wounds. Adam yelped in pain as a red
spark crackled and bit at her fingers.

"Ahhhsss!" She hissed. Belinda looked with concern at her friend, "No heal!
Isss no heal!" Her voice, like the young mermaid, is distorted and watery,
barely even comprehendable.

"Ah..." Adam struggled to say, completely stunned in this state,
"Ahh... Ahhtaahh..."

"You arr too deep! You need out of deep!" Belinda then put her sharp,
scaled hand to the back of Adam's head, and the other on his abdomen, and
swam forth. Adam's eyes closed, unable to process any thinking. He merely
submits himself to the mercy of his Holsien companion, unable to move from
the pain and cold, not to mention getting the bends from going in that deep
and having Belinda escorting him quickly from the icy depths.

As they swam, however, Belinda channeled her own, long-stolen magic into
Adam's body through his head, and into his stomach. She knows full well
what happens to humans when they dive deep into the ocean, and ascend too
quickly to the surface. The shallow energy flows in his blood stream,
disabling any and all sudden gaseous bubbles forming in his veins, and
regulating a steady moderation for his body fluids as they continue to
rise.

Through the dark haze of his vision, Adam can feel the water's temperature
improve as the Holsien mermaid carried him towards the beach at his place.

"Hnnngghhh..." He can feel the motion of himself and Belinda slow down, and
he could sense a familiar surrounding of the warmed water. Soon, he felt
Belinda let go of his body, and swam around to look at him.

"Adaahhmm? Is you ok?"  She asked. Adam grunted as he struggled to move. He
is in total agony; whatever magic the mermaid put into that weapon, it's
fucking with the venom from the stingray barb. His muscles are locked and
straining right now, severely restricting his movements. He can barely
shake his head at this point, "I take you to home, I seek you halp!" She
said as she put her scaly arms around him, and carried him further through
the water.


Adam grunted as the horrible pain surged inside his body. He looked up, as
he sensed his merman coming closer to him. He gasped as he saw Merrick,
clutching onto reef, hissing and grunting in pain as he struggled to move
along the rock.

And there, right behind him, is a strange creature, hovering behind him,
nuzzling the back of his neck. It appears to be a blue and purple fish with
a long, spiral-built tail, a goat-like upper body with curled up horns and
glowing eyes, and two front flippers at its front. It's gleaming, golden
eyes shone through the water as it pushed its maw into the back of his
neck.

"Meerrriiic!" Adam said in his haze. Belinda looked at the human, then at
Merrick, and gasped. The Holsien then whipped her powerful tail around and
screeched a cry at the weird animal. The strange goat-fish jerked its head
at the incoming snake, baring her fangs as she undulated quickly and
violently at it. It bleated suddenly, whipped around, and swam as fast it
can from them, soon disappearing into the deep blue.

Having sufficiently scared the creature away, Belinda turned back and
swiftly returned to Adam, and carried him forth once more.


~~~


"Where IS everybody?" Yuri asked as she walked around, petting Roxas in her
arms. Jamal's at work, and Adam and Merrick are off walking together on the
beach...

She looked out the back front door, and gasped as she spotted a grotesque
white humanoid snake, dragging Adam from the water, "Oh my God!" She said
as she put Roxas down, threw back the glass door, and sprinted out to the
beach, just as the white and peach monster crawled into the ocean, "ADAM!"
She called out as she ran to the beach.

Yuri stopped and slid onto her knees next to Adam, looking in shock at the
deep gashes and stab wounds on his torso, "Oh my God, what happened?!" She
said as Adam grunted deeply, wincing and gritting his teeth on the sand.

"Yu-Yuri!" Came another voice. Yuri turned and gasped again, as she saw the
same white creature, helping a blue and silver fish person from the shore,
"Yu-Yuri, it's me!" The merman said, "It's Merrick! Adam's hurt!"

"Me-Merrick?!" Yuri said as she got up on her feet, and saw the cuts on
Merrick's chest and tail "You're hurt too!"

"They're just scratches!" Merrick said, "They hurt bad, but it's not in my
blood!" He said as he pulled himself on the sand towards his human.

Belinda then hissed as she traced her hand over herself. The peak of her
head dried up, following her face and her shoulders. The water on her body
is literally hovering off of her body, and dripping into the sand. Her
white and peach scales peeled off into water droplets, and soon is in her
human form -- light pink hair, tan skin, and wearing nothing but half a
string of random pearls around her neck.

She performed the same trick onto Merrick, transmuting the sharp fins on
his head into blonde hair, melting his long tail into a pair of legs,
"Adam!" Merrick grunted as he could barely move his legs at all as he came
to his human, "Adam! Say something!" Merrick put his hands onto Adam's
shoulders, and shook him, "Please, Adam, wake up!"

"He need to go to Atarah!" Belinda said as she stood up, and quickly went
to Yuri. The Japanese girl gasped as the naked woman came up to her, "No
fears, girl!" She said, "I shows you teh way!" Without much word from Yuri,
Belinda put her hands onto Yuri's head, and pressed her thumbs over her
temples. Yuri felt herself stunned as new images suddenly poured into her
head.


~~~


"Nnngh... Ahh! ... Sssss, damn..." Adam hissed and grunted as Yuri
tightened the sutures on his wound, before a darkened finger came in and
tenderly rubbed a very weird ointment on him, "I REALLY hope Merrick
doesn't have to be stitched up like this..."

"No, his were only scratches," Yuri said as she set down the needle and
line, and put a gauze onto Adam's wounds, "You got yourself
half-butchered."

"Mereek got off eesy," Atarah said as Yuri took a spool of white
bandage. Adam grunted in pain as he sat up, and let Yuri start wrapping the
bandage around his chest, "You ahh fortunate dat yorr friend ees a heala."
Atarah said. Yuri smiled sheepishly.

"I'm still just an intern right now. I'm only patching him up here..."
Atarah then tilted Yuri's chin up.

"Do not doubt yorrsalf down," She said, "You ah morr capabull dan most of
people." Yuri smiled as she as she bound up the bandage.

"Still hurts though," Adam said, "You sure you don't have any pain killers
or something? Nothing to numb it at least?" He asked.

"I have put all dat I have to yorr wounds, Adahm," Atarah said, "Stingray
poison -- eesy to cure. But deh powa put into deh wound still rings in deh
blood. Eet well vaneesh in time, but I canno interfere wit deh enagy." She
said as she klinked the jars she had out away.

"I'm gonna go check on Merrick, Adam," Yuri said before she got up, and
walked out of the shack. Adam started to get up, but then winced as his
injuries stung underneath the bandages.

"Seet," Atarah said as she smirked at the human, "Deh pain will be dere for
a while yet." Adam sighed as he sat back down.


~~~


Merrick smiles as he looked at the bunyip floating in the crystal clear
water, "Hm?" He turned his head, and saw Yuri come out of the old hut, and
sit right next to him, "How is he?" He asked.

"He'll be fine. Whatever happened, she said Adam is going to be fine
eventually." She said. Merrick sighed as he looked down at the river.

"I know it's not true, but I feel like this is my fault..." He said. Yuri
looked at him with a quizzical.

"What? How would it be YOUR fault?"

"... It was my Sister..." Merrick said lowly.

"Your sister? You mean SHE did this?" She asked as she pointed to the
scratch on Merrick's chest and abdomen.

"Yes. She's the Adra Noita of the pod... She's young, but still more
powerful than all the other mermaids of the pod. Adam didn't stand a
chance... These scratches, here," Merrick said as he pointed at the
discontinued scratch on his two legs -- those scratches are almost already
gone, "When she accidentally got me on the chest, she scratched my tail so
I couldn't go after her... Stingray venom mixed with magic makes for a
paralyzing substance..."

"Why would she even be here in the first place? I thought your pod was
supposed to be long gone by now, and isn't association with humans against
the rules?" Merrick sighed as he nodded.

"Yes... She... She was trying to get me to come back to the pod... She's
young; she doesn't understand that I CAN'T go back... But I never thought
she would try something so drastic... To confront and attack a human..." He
shook his head, "She must've been on her own; I didn't sense any other
merfolk in the pod nearby..."

"... I'm sorry..." Yuri said, "She must really love you to go to such
lengths..." Merrick felt a tear roll down his cheek as he nodded.

"She does... We were so close... By the depths, this is so unlike her... "

"When we lose something we hold dear," Yuri said as she put her hand on
Merrick's shoulder, "We do crazy things if it meant we could get them
back..." Merrick turned his head to her, "Even if it's unlikely, we do
whatever it takes..." Merrick leaned towards Yuri as she put her arm around
him, and hugged him.


~~~


Atarah grinds a couple of leaves with a few freshwater pearls on an old
pestle. Adam shifted in his spot, and looked over to the ancient, "Say
Atarah, how well do you know about ocean?" He asked.

"I know eet boundless, and eempossibill to understahnd," Atarah replied as
she sprinkled a bit of powder into the paste, "What do you wan to know?"

"I saw something before we came here. And I want to make sure it doesn't
get to Merrick."

"Mereek?" Atarah looked up, "He ees a strong one. He can protect heemsalf."

"I know, but he wasn't able to move this time. And something almost got to
him before I could do anything." Atarah paused as she reached up for a
jar. After hesitating, she moved her hand to the side, and plucked up
another jar.

"Go'on." She said.

"It looked like... A half-goat, half-fish."

Atarah stopped in her meshing. She looked up, with a look of utmost shock
on her face, "... The Capricorn..." She said in a hushed tone.

"Oh yeah, I guess it was a Capricorn," Adam said, "I just need to know, are
they dangerous?"

"... Does he carry a mahk?" Atarah asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Mereek. Does he have a mahk on hees skin?" Atarah asked.

"... Yeah," Adam said, "On the back of his neck, he has a tattoo."

"Show me. Deh mahk..." Atarah then got up, and picked up a piece of bark, a
jar of octopus ink, and a handmade brush of a stick and a bushel of her own
hair. She gave the brush to Adam, and set down the ink and bark, "Draw et!"
She said, almost demanding him.

"Ok, um..." Adam dipped the brush into the ink, and then drew the heart
symbol as best as he can, "It looked sort of like this..." He moved the
brush in similar strokes as he remembers from Merrick's tattoo. Atarah
snatched the bark, and examined it. She stared at the symbol for a few
seconds, before sighing, and putting it down.

"... Fobbiden Loove..."

"What?"

"Teh seembol. Tat is what is mean. Mereek ees Coshiton..."

"He's a what?"

"Coshiton," Atarah repeated, "In teh worlt oof merfolk, dere ah many rules
calt Sacret Laws," Atarah picked up a small flower, and the brush, "Dose
who break a law, become Coshiton.

"Teh necklace," Atarah said as she traced a finger onto her chest, "Does he
wear it?" Adam blinked, and then recalled that this past week, Merrick
hasn't been wearing his shell slice.

"... No... It's gone..." Adam said, secretly scolding himself for missing
such an obvious detail.

"Teh sea snake mermaid... Her name Belinda, you know her?" Atarah
asked. Adam simply nodded, before Atarah dipper her finger into the ink,
and traced a swirly design on her left shoulder, "She have dees mahk on
her?" She asked.

"Yes..."

"Teh one who ees Coshiton..." She held up the flower, "Dey take teh trace
-- dere connection to teh pod..." She placed the flower onto the floor,
with a bowl of other small flowers, "Teh Triton..." She held up the brush
with both hands, "Heem destroy dere weapon," The ancient then snapped the
brush in half, and tossed it aside, "And teh Noita..." Atarah then picked
the bark back up, and showed Adam the symbol he painted, "Brands teh skin
wit a seembol of dere crime. And den... Dey are baneeshed."

Adam gasped lightly as he stared at that heart-symbol, "Dis ees
teh seembol of Forbidden Love. Eet ees used for when a merfolk fall een
loove wit a different kind. Forr instance, eef a whale merman where to fall
een loove wit a sea turtle mermaid, and acted upon dat loove, dey be
baneeshed."

"But... Merrick told me... He told me his pod was ambushed by Sirens..."

"Would you be willing to face teh trut so soon?" She asked, "Or to repeat
it?" Adam put his hand over his eyes as he felt his mouth quiver. He feels
so guilty -- forget that Merrick lied to him, but he lost his pod... His
family.

"... His sister... Attacked me today..." Adam said in a thick, faltering
voice, "It's why I got these injuries, she was holding his trident... It
was tied together with fishing line, and she said..." Adam wiped his tears
and sniffled, "She said I took her brother away from her... And then she
tried to kill me..."

"Adra Savahna..." Atarah said, "Mereek speaks fondly oof her. She would not
understand he canno come back..." The ancient looked at the human, crying
lightly, "Eet ees no your fault, Adahm. Eet ees loove."

"I know, but... It's..." Adam sniffled, "It's just not fair... He didn't
choose to fall in love with me, it just happened when the moon turned
red. If merfolk worship this goddess, how can they just banish merfolk who
fall in with the wrong kind of person?" He asked, "It's like kicking out a
teen for coming out of the closet! It isn't fair!"

"Merfolk ah very traditional," Atarah said, "Dey follow teh Laws, and
banish dose who defy."

"Dammit..." Adam then turned to look at her, "Just... Who ARE you,
Atarah?!" He asked, just out of random from his anger, "How and why do you
know so much about merfolk? Aren't you just a human too?"

Atarah did not answer. She simply stood up, and put her hands onto her old
corset. She untied the old lace, bow for bow, until it appeared
loosened. Putting her fingers to the crease, she pulled it back, exposing
her torso to the human. Adam gasped.

"No... You're..." Upon her stomach, there is circle, with a large X symbol
on top of it. The mark is as black as night, but looks as though it was
burned into her flesh with a fire poker, as opposed to Merrick's mark,
which looks like a real tattoo.

"Tey call me teh Forbidden Ancient, because I have been baneeshed... Long,
long, ago..." She said.

"What..." Adam gulped and looked up at her face, "What was YOUR crime?"
Atarah's frowned as she closed her corset, and tied it back up.

"I was teh first Noita in teh worlt," Adam's eyes widened at that, "I was
teh fift Coshiton to be baneeshed... Dey saw my powa, and came to call me a
demon," She said with disdain, "So dey take me to deh hart of a
volcano... And dey burned dis mahk onto my stomach..." She said as she
looked down onto the injured human, "I hailed from deh kingdom of Lyonesse
-- I was what dey call now an Amnien..." Atarah shook her head, "I can
barely rememba what I used to be..."

"But... Wait, how can you be the first Noita? That must have been hundreds
of years ago!"

"Yes..." Atarah looked up, as if trying to remember a distant memory, "I
tink I died..." She said in a as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"But, you're alive NOW."

"No." Atarah said as she looked at Adam, "I am neiter deat or alive. I
rememba I was attacked by humans one day... And I felt mysalf falling into
teh dahkness... Or was it just dahker because of teh eclipse..." She
pondered, "It was probably deh black sun dat kept me here on teh Eart. And
now, I am no human, no mermaid, and still have teh powas I had, and
more..."

"I'm... I'm surprised you weren't angry and didn't hold a grudge over
merfolk for banishing you..." Adam said.

"I was," Atarah said, "I did." She walked around, and fiddled with a wind
chime with shells, "I learnt from teh winds dat odder mermaids had deh powa
as I have... But dey were not called demons, and dey were not feared..."
The ancient's tone became tense, "I was baneeshed..." She seethed, "And dey
revered dem..." Her fingers squeezed down around a shell until it cracked
and broke into smaller pieces. She turned around and looked at Adam, who is
feeling a little uneasy about this conversation.

"I cursed dem. I cursed dem all. Teh black sun gave me new powa, and sought
vengeance from teh land. I was no longa able to return to my home in teh
sea because of dere foolish fears!" Adam gulped as she went on, "Since teh
black sun, I belong to teh land..."

"So..." Adam spoke nervously, "Merfolk are still cursed?"

"... No," Atarah said, sighing as she calmed down, "Anger fades wit time,
as do any curse... After ova 100 years, I had learnt to let go of my hatret
-- teh merfolk who baneeshed me have long since pereeshed..." She said.

"I would not wish to curse merfolk now... Once in a while, a lost merman or
mermaid find dere way into my river," The earthly ancient smiled softly,
"Dey fear me because of my title, but soon dey realize I am but a lone
hermeet in a river. Dey veseet me, and bring me geefs of teh sea..."

"Is... Is that how you met Merrick? Did he get lost in your river?"

"..." Atarah hesitated, "Yes and no. Eet ees how I met his modder. A young,
kindly white mermaid, sickened by swimming in deh freshwater. So I geeve
her aid," She smiled, "When she can, she come to me to veseet, just like
her son..."

"So, how did you meet Merrick?"

"Eet was much, much lata, but I remember eet 5 years ago. When a scaret
merman was swimming wit a human. I lata recognize him as teh son of Umiato,
a dear frient of mine, and he was being hunted by a pod of Sirens..." Adam
widened his eyes at the dark woman, "Dey escaped to a cove of mine, where I
had once planted and hahvested fire crystals. I attempted to narrow teh
cave to prevent entry of teh Sirens, but I ended up sealing teh entrance by
meestake," She said with a smile, "I had to open anodder entrance to let
dem out... Into a waterfall..."

"Wait..." Adam said, "That cave, that was you?? That's where Merrick and I
first met!"

"So eet was..." She said as her voice trailed off.

"Did you... Did you intend for us to meet? Merrick and me, I mean."

"No," Atarah started to finish meshing a medicinal paste, and adding fresh
rainwater to make it into a potion, "I was trying to protect teh son of a
frient. It was seex moons lata when I met heem, when he and heem modder
came to veseet me, and I could feel teh light of teh ret moon in his
soul. I could sense she dit not know, so I neva sait he was -- as I sait,
merfolk ah traditional."

The ancient then picked up an old teakettle, and poured the concoction into
it. She stood up, and carried it to Adam, before kneeling down to hold the
spout to his mouth, "Drink."

"What is it?"

"Healing sleep. Your injuries ah deep, and teh magic is still infecting
your blood. Only prolonged sleep can cure eet." Adam sighed and nodded. He
opened his mouth, and let Atarah tilt the spout into his lips.

He grunted and winced as the nasty cocktail slipped into his mouth. He
sputtered and kept from gagging, and swallowed the potion down. He panted
as he looked at her, "Does Merrick know? What you used to be?"

"No," Atarah said as she helped him up to his feet, "He neva ask me." She
said with a smile, she then put something into the palm of Adam's hand,
"Geeve this to heem lata..." She whispered.


~~~


Adam, Merrick, and Yuri soon made their way out from the swamp. Adam could
feel his senses dulling and his eyelids growing heavy. Just when they made
it out of the marsh, he moaned as he grabbed onto a tree.

"Adam? Are you ok?" Yuri asked as Merrick went to him.

"I'm..." Adam said, feeling so dizzy and drugged up, "I'm fine... She just
gave me some strong sleeping stuff..." Merrick tucked Adam's arm over him,
and helped Adam into the backseat of Yuri's car. Once Merrick put the
seatbelt on himself, he found Adam curled up on the seat, with his head on
his lap.

"Adam? Adam??" Merrick said. He smiled and giggled as he stroked his
sleeping lover.


~~~


"Mmmm..." Adam stirred as he slowly woke up. It's almost completely dark,
and he's in his own bed. He gasped and sat up as he realized someone is
crawling into bed with him.

"Hi babe~" Merrick said with a smile in the dark. Adam sighed as he sat on
his bed while Merrick cuddled up to him, "... Adam? What's wrong?" Merrick
asked. Adam looked at Merrick's face, which is illuminated by the faint
moonlight.

"Merrick..." Adam mumbled, he looked into those deep, blue eyes, feeling
his heart heavy with emotion, "I'm sorry, sweetie... I'm so, so sorry..."
Merrick blinked curiously at him.

"What do you mean? Sorry for what?"

"Merrick..." Adam sighed and shook his head. He looked straight into the
merman's eyes, and brought his hand up. He moved it over Merrick's
shoulder, and placed gently upon the back of his neck. Merrick's lips
opened a little as his eyes glistened as he looked at Adam with light
horror, "I'm so sorry, baby..." Adam said again, feeling his eyes water up
as he rubbed his fingers on the symbol.

The merman whimpered as shimmering tears washed in his eyes. Adam moved in
closer, and Merrick just put his arms around his human. The blonde sniffled
and huffed as he sobbed into the Adam's bandaged chest. Adam put his hands
on Merrick's smooth back and blonde hair. He hissed and cried as he clung
onto Adam. He shook his head as he cried.

"Adam... I..."

"I don't care what you told me," Adam said, still feeling incredibly
drowsy, "I love you... I love you..." He mumbled as he laid back, with
Merrick still weeping into his bandage.

"They're gone, Adam... I've lost them..."

"You... You still have me..." Adam muttered as his eyes dazed into the
darkness of the night and the glow of the moonlight as he fell slowly back
into sleep.

"I love you... You will always have me..." He mumbled as Merrick snuggled
up to him, and slipped into slumper.