"So... does someone want to explain to me why there are cracks all over my tank?"

Cole glanced at Perry who had his hands clasped behind his back and was rocking on his heels. His crew member gave the ceiling a very innocent look and avoided his captain's eye.

"Perry," Cole said and Perry jumped, looking around at the group who all turned to him.

"Y... yes Sir?" he asked, smiling at Cole.

"You're an expert in all things otherworldly and non-existent – at least not supposed to exist," Cole said, folding his arms and titling his head to the side, "Why don't you explain to His Highness why a sturdy tank like this one here may have cracked over night?"

"Ur..." Perry glanced at Dalton who was eyeing him darkly. Jazz and Cynthia looked at him curiously and Aeralie looked between him and Kazimir. Kazimir, in turn, was lounging on his stomach, on a rock, his chin on his palm, tail absently drifting back and forth, watching Perry with a lazy expression.

"Go on then," Kazimir shot at him, "How are you going to explain it?"

Perry winced. "Bad structuring?" he suggested and Kazimir rolled his eyes.

"This tank was built to withhold an extraordinary amount of water – far more than what it is able to hold in terms of physical space," Dalton snapped, "It was not bad structure. Do you honestly think I would put him in something that could break? What if it breaks in the night and he lands on the glass, I wouldn't take such a risk."

He turned away, sighed and pressing his fingertips to his forehead.

"I'll have to speed up the new space for him, this tank is too dangerous," he said, mostly to himself.

"Decent of you to worry after seeming to not care about strangling him," Cole commented absently and Dalton glared at him.

He didn't answer though and instead turned away.

"Let's go," was all he said, walking to the doors. "There's a lot to do today, I need to get started."

The others trailed out, Perry moving over to Aeralie's wheelchair before her servants could and smiling, taking the handles and pushing her out.

Kazimir watched them go, letting out a breath as he watched Perry and Aeralie leave, clearing having a conversation no one else was privy to.

The doors closed on the group and he blinked.

Cole hadn't left the room.

The pirate looked at him for a moment, then walked to the window and opened it, leaning out and looking down.

"You can see the sea from this room, you know?" he said.

Kazimir cocked his head to the side, watching the man. He couldn't be bothered with glaring and growling at him at that moment, he was tired.

"Did Perry make you angry last night, is that why the glass is all cracked up?" Cole asked, looking back at him. Kazimir just looked at him. "He can be a bit of a brat, but I'm sure he didn't mean to make you angry."

Kazimir snorted and looked away. A brat? If he wanted to meet a brat, he needed to get to know Aeralie. She was too used to getting her own way and until now it had never been that burdensome on him. Whatever she wanted, he had provided for her. Well, maybe it was his own fault for indulging her too such extremes. He hadn't imagined it would backfire on him so spectacularly.

"You really can understand me, can't you?"

Kazimir blinked and looked at Cole again, who was leaning against the windowsill, watching him.

Kazimir desperately wanted to ask him just what the hell he wanted but held his tongue. Cole was almost completely sure Kazimir could understand him – which he could – but he didn't need to know Kazimir could speak his language as well.

Cole tilted his head back and looked out at the sky above.

"They'll hit soon," he said, mostly to himself, "We'll have to move ships in before long."

Kazimir tilted his head to the side, looking at him. The ship? Move what ships in where?

"You're from the sea. Do you ever suffer the consequences of the War Tides?"

Kazimir frowned at him. The what? He opened his mouth and almost voiced the question.

"Hmm, I suppose not if you're deep enough below the surface," Cole said, cutting him off before he made his mistake. Kazimir snapped his jaw shut, appalled at himself. "They're huge waves, bigger than anything you've ever seen. They come every winter and this city takes the full force of them every year."

That clicked. He was talking about the Lay Luna waves. Of course Kazimir knew of them but he had no reason to fear them the way humans did. No matter how big the wave, water couldn't faze him.

Humans always made such a big thing about the height of waves.

"I'm boring you, aren't I?" Cole said, grinning and Kazimir was tempted to reply that he wasn't exactly riveted.

Cole straightened and pushed his hair from his eyes. "Oh well, I should get going anyway, you're not great for conversation. I'll see you tomorrow."

He walked out; closing the door behind him and Kazimir folded his arms on the rock and dropped his chin on them, looking at the door.

"Not in here, you won't," he muttered, his voice dark, his eyes drifting away to the window that had been left open, watching the sky beyond. He could see clouds building on the horizon; a storm was going to strike that night.

~~~~

Perry did as he was promised. At the end of the day, he slipped away into hiding, Cole thinking he had gone on ahead while he stayed behind to eat with the prince.

Once the castle had settled, Perry waited some more, almost falling asleep himself until it struck one in the morning and the grandfather clock in the room beside him rang out loudly and startled him out of his broom cupboard.

Scrambling up, he peered into the hall then darted off into the depths of the castle.

Through more magic than talent, Perry retrieved the key from Dalton's office and headed back for the merman, though not before detouring to collect Aeralie.

He found her half way there, still struggling to walk but she had been improving dramatically throughout the day and she would be walking as easily at Princess Cynthia by the end of the week – assuming her friend let them remain on land that long.

"How good of you two show up," Kazimir said, his tone bored when they arrived.

"At least I did turn up. I didn't have to. What moron trusts a pirate to keep their promise?" Perry shot back at him.

Kazimir looked at him and then sneered and somehow – despite being the one locked in a cage with a chain around his neck – he managed to turn his nose up at Perry and look down on them.

"Pirate? You're just playing pretend, Child of the Sky," he said.

"You're sure damn rude to the man who holds your freedom. I simply won't give you the key if I don't want to. What are you going to do?"

"Shall we find out?"

Perry glared at him, an unwelcome shiver shooting up his back, and Aeralie grabbed his arm.

"Let's... let's just get him out," she said quickly.

Perry glanced at her, then tsked and held up the key he'd stolen. "As far as I know, this is the key. But it's only the key for the chain, there weren't any others; I don't know how to open the tank itself."

"What?" Aeralie said, her head snapped around to stare at him.

Kazimir didn't seem to be nearly as shaken as Perry had hoped. Instead, he simply pointed upwards and said, "There is no lock. You just need to open the hatch at the top. This tank wasn't designed to keep in anything that possessed hands – hence, I assume, the chain. I could have got out ages ago if it weren't for the chain."

Perry and Aeralie stared at him.

"The ladder's back there, by the way, in case you planned on opening the door anytime tonight," Kazimir added, jabbing a thumb to the back of the tank.

"Wait, how do you know that? Why would the hatch ever have been opened?" Aeralie asked, stunned as Perry went to find the ladder.

Kazimir looked at him and she flinched – he was still angry with her.

"What?" he asked, his tone mocking, "You think I've been living off sand particles these last couple of days? Jeez, Aeralie, thanks for remembering that I need to eat. Honestly, Dalton is more thoughtful than you at this point."

Aeralie gaped at him and Kazimir gave her a dismissive flick of the wrist, looking away.

"At least the man figured out what I eat," he said, "I mean, I don't care for him just dropping dead fish in but he clued into seaweed pretty fast." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "But you didn't think about that, did you?" he said, his voice darkening, "You didn't think that I might need to be fed because I can't fend for myself. You didn't think to maybe hint to Dalton what I might eat. You didn't think to figure out to how to get food to me."

Aeralie stared up at him, eyes wide, a horrified realisation dawning in her face. Even Perry had to give her a sidelong glance as he positioned the ladder and started to climb.

"What's the matter with you, Aeralie?" Kazimir asked, straightening up, "When did you become so self-centred?"

Perry reached the top of the tank and found the hatch. It was large enough for a big man to easily slide through so Kazimir would have no problem getting out.

Turning the latch, he gripped the handle and heaved it upwards.

The next second, Kazimir's hands pushed from below and the hatch swung out of the way. Perry looked down into the water, Kazimir floating just below the surface.

"Give me the key," he ordered, holding out a hand.

Perry did at he was told and Kazimir drew his hair out of the way and slotted the key into the lock, barely even needing to feel for it.

There was an audible click, followed by a breath of relief from all three of them and the chain sank like a stone. Kazimir handed the key back, then gripped the sides of the tank and pushed himself upwards, so suddenly Perry didn't have time to move back.

Suddenly Kazimir was in front of him, inches away, eyes locking and Perry was transfixed, stunned by the staggering beauty he hadn't paid much mind to before.

Kazimir looked at him for a moment, then grinned.

"You should know better than to get too close to merfolk with your defences down," he said, his voice low, "Or it'll be that much easier for me to drown you."

He then clamped a hand to Perry's face and shoved him back.

"Now move, you're too close," he said.

Perry gripped the ladder for support, glaring as he rubbed his nose and started to climb back down.

"Shall I catch you?" he asked, looking up as Kazimir climbed fully out of the tank, flicking his tail free and spraying them with water before he closed and locked the hatch behind him.

"No."

"Thank you – but, you know, no need for manners," Perry muttered to himself as he hopped down from the ladder and walked back around the front, looking up as Kazimir angled himself so he sat on the edge of the tank.

"So I can't convince you to just leave with me?" Kazimir asked, looking down at Aeralie, "Though I suppose, if you were willing to leave me locked in a tank, you won't be convinced otherwise."

"Kaz, please," Aeralie said, "I'm going to help you back to the sea but I can't come with you. Please, as soon as you get to your mother, just tell her I need more time. I'll find what she's after... or I'll try at least."

Kazimir just sighed. "I'm going to need clothes," he muttered.

"What?" Aeralie asked, just before Kazimir jumped.

The two below shrieked as he plummeted from the top of the tank and he hit the ground before they could grab him, slamming down on his knees then hands, head falling forwards, hair flaring around the floor.

"Are you alright?" Aeralie cried, dropping down beside him, gripping his shoulder before something made her freeze.

She stared at his hair, pulling her hand back, eyes widening.

His hair was changing colour. Black was streaking down from his scalp, dying the white until it was darker than the night sky.

The gentle sheen across his skin faded and warmed until it was a natural, human, skin colour.

The tattoos across his body faded until they looked like scars. Skin closed over his Heart of the Sea so it couldn't be seen.

And then his tail changed.

It pulled in two, just like Aeralie's had. Shifted, splitting, shrinking. Fins turned to feet, toes formed, two separate ankles, calves, knees and thighs. The scales faded away until, from head to hips to feet, a human knelt before them.

If their jaws could have hit the floor, they would be licking the carpet as Aeralie and Perry gaped at Kazimir.

Kazimir, completely disinterested in his transformation, slowly sat back on his heels and pulled his hair from his face.

"What colour are they?" was the first thing he asked, looking between them.

The other two didn't answer for a moment and Kazimir glared.

"What colour are they?" he snapped, "What colour are my eyes?"

"They... ur..." Perry said, stumped, staring.

"Blue," Aeralie supplied for him, looking at his eyes, waiting for them to change colour... but they didn't. They stared one solid coloured. "Your eyes are blue."

~~~~~

Next Up: Monday

Art By: Pinterest Image