Back at their shack, neither Seymour nor Adelaide spoke. She pulled together her things, including a few makeshift weapons she might need. From his mat in the corner of the shack, Seymour watched her with a glare, finally breaking the silence.

"You don't really think you can do this on your own, do you?"

"Well if you aren't going to help me, I don't have much choice."

Seymour shook his head, arms crossed. "This is suicide."

"You go into the compound all the time. How is this any different?"

"I bring out food. You're bringing out a person. An important person."

Adelaide paused, turning to look Seymour in the eye. "Are you going to tell me what exactly is going on?" He said nothing. "No? Well then, I'm doing this."

"You're going to get killed."

"And you're going to let it happen," she snapped back. A tense silence followed until Adelaide groaned. "Oh come on, Sey. Help me. You've always been there for me before, be there for me now."

He glared at her. "I thought you wanted me to stop protecting you?"

Adelaide crawled forward on her hands and knees, pouting out her lower lip and batting her lashes. "Pweeeeease, Sey? Pwease help poor, defenseless little Adelaide?" He pursed his lips to keep from smiling, and it egged her on. She rested her chin on his shoulder. "Come on, you know you're going to do it. You wuv me. You have to."

"Pah." He shoved her off, grinning now. "I do not."

"You do. You love me." She nuzzled him again. "You have to. I'm so cute."

"Fine. Fine, I'll help you." Seymour laughed, shoving her off. His face sobered when he met her gaze, and he cupped her cheek with his hand. "I don't want to lose you."

Adelaide's chest tightened, her stomach flipping, and she brushed him off, breaking eye contact. "Pfft, you won't lose me. We'll get Ro tonight, bring him back here, and then hide out for the day until the sun goes down – drag him down to the beach and all is well. No more UnKept, no more secrets."

"No more Adelaide," Seymour muttered, pushing to his feet and stalking off toward the entrance. "I'll go get a few actual weapons. Put those cooking tools away."

While Seymour went to his secret weapon hiding place, Adelaide stared around the shack. Six years she'd been here, Seymour helping her stay alive. He hadn't been much more than a kid himself when he found her. She couldn't remember anything about who she was or even her own name or age.

Seymour had told her it was Adelaide.

Pheron must have told him.

But why and how did Pheron make her forget who she was? Did mermaids age like normal humans? How long would she live? Could she live a normal life outside the water?

Would she ever want to?

The ocean had called to her for as long as she could remember, and her whole body ached to go back, to feel the saltwater on her skin again. Yet part of her knew, deep down, that choosing the water meant she'd probably never see Seymour again.

She couldn't have both.

"All right," Seymour reentered the tent, a few sharpened knives in hand, along with a phaser-tazer from the late 2200s, "what's your plan?"

#

They snuck into the compound the same way Seymour always did, but this time it was Adelaide in control. She felt free, running along the ground without her pollution mask – she'd asked Seymour about it, and after a moment's hesitation, he said she wouldn't need it.

"We'll be quick."

Something in his tone almost made her ask, but she tucked it away, focused on the task at hand.

With a boost from Seymour, Adelaide scaled the gated compound, plopping down onto the other side. Seymour joined her, but shifted away from her in the darkness, following her orders.

Adelaide dipped and ducked along the compound, staying out of sight, but confident most of the UnKept were now asleep. The new moon left the sky like a bottle of ink, not a light to rat her out.

When she reached the ympic alle bank, she slipped inside, hoping Seymour was in place. It'd only been two nights since the UnKept had attacked her, and she knew they'd be on high alert at the scene of the crime.

To her surprise, no one moved inside the building, and she crept closer to the door. Just as it had before, it whined at the tug of her hand, echoing in the vast space. Adelaide slipped inside, her heart twinging at the sight of the dried up lake.

"I knew you'd be back," a voice said, causing her to jump. Whirling around, she saw the young man from the other night. "Somehow I knew."

"Who are you?" she asked, trying to calm her nerves and the tremor in her voice.

"Ro Aquarion."

Her heart skipped a beat. "Then you're him. You're the leader's son."

Ro's gaze narrowed. "How did you –"

"I need your help. Please." Adelaide clasped her hands before her, widening her eyes as large as they'd go. Out of her periphery, she saw movement beyond Ro. "I need you to come with me. There's a man at the ocean who wants to meet with you. If I bring you to him, he'll save my friend."

Ro snorted, his face scrunching in disgust. "You risk your life to come back and ask me to walk to my own death? What kind of foolish creature are you?"

Insulted, Adelaide dropped her innocent act. "I didn't say you were going to die."

"You said a man at the ocean who wants to meet with me." Ro crossed his arms. "Same thing."

"I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that someone who destroyed a lake wouldn't want to take on an ocean."

"We didn't destroy this lake," Ro countered. "We lost it."

"You're monsters. You wicked and evil and horrible, and I'm going to get rid of you."

"Oh, you are, are you?" Ro grabbed her by the arm, yanking her forward. "I think you'll find you're not getting out of here."

Adelaide let out a little laugh, and a flicker of hesitation passed over Ro's features.

"That's what you think."

Seymour appeared from behind, slamming the butt of his biggest blade down onto Ro's head. The UnKept's eyes rolled up into his head, and he fell forward onto Adelaide. She grunted as she caught his dead weight, dropping to her knees.

Seymour stepped up behind, heaving Ro off of her. "You get his legs. This isn't going to be easy."

They made it out of the bank, Adelaide surprised by how light Ro happened to be. Still, his legs slipped from her grip, and she kept readjusting her position. Seymour hefted most of the weight, dropping Ro behind an obstruction any time they heard a noise of someone drawing near.

"He was waiting for me," Adelaide breathed her words, barely giving them sound as she crouched next to Seymour. "He knew I'd be back."

Instead of answering her implied question, Seymour nodded. "I'm not sure how we'll get him up over the wall. Maybe if you're on top and I pass him to you? But can you lift him up and over?"

The front of the gate was within line of sight, and Adelaide could see one lone guard kicking at rocks near a pile of dead bodies.

"I have another idea."

She and Seymour crept closer to the front, carrying Ro between them.

"What exactly are you going to do?"

"Just trust me." They ducked behind several empty waste containers. "Toss Ro over your shoulder and be ready to run when I say."

"What? Adelaide—"

She took off at a sprint toward the guard, who looked up from his moseying too late. Adelaide collided with him, throwing them both to the ground.

"Run! Run!" She didn't wait to see if Seymour listened to her, too busy struggling against the guard as his surprise wore off. With a grunt, Adelaide shoved his face into the dirt, pushing herself up with the momentum.

The guard caught her foot, taking her down, but she saw Seymour fly through the entryway. Kicking out, Adelaide caught the guard in the shoulder. His grip held, despite his grunt of pain, and he managed to throw himself on top of her, punching her in the jaw.

Stars danced behind her eyes as she tried to reorient from the pain. The guard came into focus above her, his expression shifting the same way Ro's did when he'd first attacked her.

Taking advantage of his second wave of surprise, Adelaide brought her knee up in between his legs, scooting away as he cried out in pain. On her feet, she stumbled through the gateway, chasing after Seymour and Ro up ahead.

#

"That...was amazing," Adelaide wheezed, leaning up against the rendezvous spot they'd chosen. Neither felt comfortable taking Ro back to their hideout. "I just fought a guard."

"You should have told me that was your plan."

"Why, so you could stop me?" She tried to smile, but winced, massaging her bruised jaw. "Admit it – that was something."

"I'm begrudgingly impressed," Seymour said, chucking her on the chin. "Now take the rope out of your satchel. I need to tie him up before he wakes."

"Or we could just drag him down to the beach now. It's still dark enough. The sun won't be up for an hour or so." Adelaide handed over the trusses.

Seymour paused, his eyes on Ro. "I was thinking maybe we don't take him at all."

(Word count 1617)