Three weeks ago

Melitta's awake.

The thought rang through Kain's mind like a temple bell. Each echo of the words seemed to strip something heavy from his heart, leaving behind warmth and relief in excess. It was enough that at first, he could only stop and study her, each detail easing the fear that'd consumed him since she'd first been struck down.

Her light golden locks hung over shoulders in waves, framing her too-pale face. Melitta's deep blue eyes, reminiscent of the ocean's heart that had been used to cure her, watched Callias as he spoke. The small smile she wore, and the way she didn't even seem to notice Kain's arrival, spoke leagues about how invested she was in whatever her brother was speaking about.

Bandages covered what skin Melitta's gown didn't hide, a realization that pricked his healing heart, but he forced himself to look past them and focus on the most important details.

Melitta was awake and talking. She wasn't going to die.

Isidor had said she wouldn't, but it was one thing to hear it, and another entirely to see it with his own eyes.

The thought pulled his attention to the other beds. Rhode rested with her eyes closed, her chest-length, black curls sprawled around her. Her tanned skin was pallid, but thankfully bandage-less.

The nightmare's cot was empty.

"Kain!"

Something unidentifiable grasped his chest as Melitta's voice pulled his attention. At some point while he stared at the empty cot, Melitta had noticed his arrival and turned a smile in his direction. His realization only made that strange feeling stronger as he crossed the room to join them.

Callias nodded a greeting, but said nothing as he continued to focus on Melitta, as if he, too, was still soaking in the awareness that she had survived.

"Calli said you were fine, but it is a relief to see it myself," Melitta said, eyes seeming to sweep over Kain from head-to-toe. "You are well?"

"Left with nothing but bruises," he confirmed. "Yourself? Isidor said you would rest until morning."

An edge of wryness touched Melitta's smile. "I woke before he left. I believe from the grumbled words about merfolk as he checked me over, he might have forgotten to adjust for our recovery rate when inducing sleep."

A strange oversight for someone of Isidor's skill, but Kain simply nodded his understanding. There wasn't sense in questioning it. Rather, he was glad the estimate was wrong. Each word she said seemed to lift weights from his chest, leaving him feeling lighter than he had in days.

"Did he say everything was fine?"

"You're as bad as Calli," Melitta sighed. There was affection in her voice, however, so he took the statement as a compliment. "What is left of recovery will be finished by morning."

Her word choice felt off, but Kain smiled, letting his relief show. "I'm glad."

"As am I," Callias murmured.

"Isidor talked about being able to travel...?" Melitta questioned.

Kain hesitated. "I... won't force you two, if you aren't interested in continuing--"

"There's no force about it, Kain. We won't abandon this halfway," Melitta interrupted, giving a small shake of her head. "What has happened was horrible, but it only proves how dangerous it would be for you to continue alone."

His mind stalled for a moment. He had known, of course, that it was unlikely Melitta would choose to stop. But, however slim, it had still been a possibility. Warmth twisted with uneasiness as he reached for his cap, only to end up tucking back his loose hair instead. Gods, what a mess this was.

He couldn't decide if he was relieved, or scared, by her decision.

"Please, continue," Melitta added. "He said you had a plan."

"Calling it a plan is a stretch," Kain replied, hesitance invading his tone. "But, I've something."

The words pulled Callias' attention as well, the merman's oceanic eyes seeming to dig into Kain. It only worsened his uneasiness. What did Callias think of all this? Had he argued against Melitta's decision before Kain arrived? Or had he gone along with it? What little he knew led Kain to guess it was the first, which made it harder for him to gather his thoughts about the little plan he'd managed to form since Isidor had first posed the 'what comes next' question.

"I think our best bet is to detour through the capital, Sol, buy supplies there, then hike over the Cieonian pass before it closes. I considered heading North to the ocean since it's closer, but then we'd have to hope that someone was willing to give us passage to Reotak, and then follow it up by searching for a major city to buy information."

Which had a large chance of ending poorly given Reotak's heavy nightmare population and Kain's curse.

"Most of the big cities that were noted in Artemios' maps laid to the South, closer to Cieon than the Northern tip. That includes the capital. Which is why I think we should enter from Cieon, cross Lake Kai, and start our search for Iliana in Chuteros."

It was the only plan he could think of that would leave them spending as little time in Reotak as possible.

There was a minute of silence as the siblings seemed to consider his plan. Kain watched Melitta while attempting--and failing--to gage her thoughts on the matter. She'd furrowed her brow, thumbnail pressed against her bottom lip.

"It would take months," Callias pointed out.

Kain jumped slightly, not having expected the merman to be the one to break the silence. He tore his gaze away from Melitta. It was impossible to read Callias' expression, as it was as blank as ever, but Kain had the distinct impression that he wasn't objecting to the plan. Instead, he was simply observing something that weighed heavily on Kain as well.

No matter what choice they made at this point, there was no quick solution.

"Three weeks to reach Sol, if we can keep an average pace," Kain agreed. "From there, a week to the pass, then two weeks to clear it, before grabbing supplies at the base and spending another three passing into Reotak."

"We can cross Lake Kai in two days if we swim it," Melitta suggested.

Kain rubbed the back of his neck. "I was thinking the same thing. As long as we're careful and take a day's rest at shore, I could probably keep up. Weather abiding, it'd probably take a week to reach the capital from the pass."

Altogether, it would take ten weeks if they were in good health and nothing went wrong. If they erred on the side of disaster--given shit luck tended to follow Kain--it would be a minimum of three months before they even reached Chuteros and began the actual search for Iliana. That was also assuming the merfolk could travel that long without having to return to the ocean.

Perhaps it would be better if we split up in Sol.

The thought pained him, but it would probably be for the better. By the time he'd have had weeks to make a judgement over if it was safe for them to continue traveling with him, and then whatever time was left convincing them he would be fine on his own. Which would likely be a lie, but at least then they wouldn't asphyxiate.

"She'll be alone for three months," Melitta murmured. "A lot can happen in a third of a year."

Kain grimaced.

The dark feeling those words sparked was only worsened by the knowledge that it had already been two months since this had all begun. Depending on how long it took them to find her in Reotak, it wasn't unthinkable to think the one-third of a year Melitta mentioned could end up being all nine months.

What would a year in the hands of someone willing to kidnap a siren result in? What would she have to deal with between now and then, that could've been avoided had they been just a bit faster, or had Kain not brought a wyvern down on their heads?

A soft brush of fingers against his started Kain to attention. Melitta had leaned forward on the cot in order to grasp his hand, a soft, understanding smile touching her lips. "You've done everything you can."

And just like that, the panic lessened. His face warmed, however, and the feeling only grew worse as Callias eyed their hands with the faintest of frowns. The fact that Kain could even pick up on the miniscule reaction told him just how strongly the merman felt about the sight. Still, he didn't pull away.

"I'll take your word for--" Kain began, cutting off as the door behind them swung open. He glanced over his shoulder, then froze.

Meeting his brown gaze with an eerie, violet stare was a blackish-brown wolf. It was scrawny, the barest hints of ribs visible despite the thick fur, and seemed to be favoring one of its legs, but nevertheless, a sense of sourceless danger rolled off of the creature.

"That--!" Melitta fell silent as the wolf prowled forward, and Kain turned to face the potential danger.

The nightmare.

His hand reached for his missing sword, before curling into a useless fist at his side.

Suddenly, the wolf stopped. It cocked its head to the side, one ear flipping down, before it sat. Then, it slid down to an almost lying position. The wolf edged itself forward like that, a soft whine leaving its throat.

"Natia."

Callias's voice drew his attention, causing Kain to spare him a quick glance. The merman sat still, but relaxed, gaze focused on the wolf.

"Natia?" Kain asked.

"Her name," Callias provided.

Natia. The information brought a new image to Kain's mind, of the scrawny, injured child he'd seen laying on the cot just that morning. His previous fear and guilt resurfaced and drove him to take a few, cautious steps forward, before kneeling and offering his hand in the nightmare's direction.

'Let's take a chance,' he thought. "Natia, is it? I'm Kain. It's nice to finally meet you."

The whining stopped, overtaken by a stressful silence. Then, Natia's ears flicked down as she rolled onto her back, tail sprawled across the floor. Kain let his hand fall against his knees as he relaxed the faintest degree. She hadn't met the offered hand, but her body language was obvious. She had no intention of fighting them.

"What do you know about her?" Kain asked Callias, not looking away from the wolf. Even if she seemed harmless at the moment, he couldn't completely shake his apprehension. "Were her parents with the group that took Iliana?"

Even if she was a nightmare, they couldn't just abandon a child. Before, Kain had pushed the issue to the back of his mind, given his doubt that the nightmare would be friendly. Now, however, the matter was different. Especially given the reminder that Callias had traveled with the group.

Gods, there was so much he needed to ask him about that.

"I am not sure if she has any," Callias said after a moment. "There were others in the group she was more interested in conversing with, so I didn't bother to approach her." He paused, then continued with an unidentifiable edge to his tone. "She was a slave, before. That's all I know."

"A slave?" Melitta's question was sharp.

Kain turned, then, just so he could see their faces. Melitta was studying the nightmare with a frown, whereas Callias was watching his sister with what might have been resignation.

"Lykos, the man leading the kidnappers, won her off an inn-keeper. It was a farming village near Nokos. He gave her the keys for her collar right after."

"He freed a slave?" Kain asked.

Questions swirled through his mind. One of his initial assumptions, one only solidified by the group heading into Reotak, was that the kidnappers must have been looking to enslave a siren. Which siren most likely hadn't mattered, given the fact they'd likely already been studying the island when the Airlea had met disaster. Callias' new information, however, altered matters.

If they were slavers taking a risk, they wouldn't have bothered to free Natia.

Who were they?

┈♔◦𓇣◦☽◦❤◦☾◦𓇣◦♔┈

In the end, it was decided she would travel with them. After hearing the full story from Callias, it became obvious they couldn't leave Natia in the village. There was too high a risk that if any slavers passed through they might recognize the girl and decide a former slave was easy profit. And with her lack of background, the best they could hope for was that Kain's curse would draw the right kind of nightmare attention when they passed into Cieon.

Legend said that most wolf packs lived in the mountains.

Kain prayed that Koun would send some luck their way, as he couldn't justify taking a child into Reotak. The matter had to be handled before then. Natia, herself, seemed passive about the issue. She listened to the conversation in silence, before giving a soft nod of agreement and curling up at the foot of Melitta's bed.

About that time was when Isidor returned to the back of the shop, Rhode trailing behind him. Kain paused at the sight of her, only recognizing the siren do the strange draw that staring at her provoked. While she'd been out, Rhode's curly coal hair had been trimmed into a short, ear-length bob, and her forest-colored eyes somehow disguised as dark-brown. At the questioning look Kain wore, Rhode looked away.

His answer came in the form of a loud grumble from Isidor as the witch dropped into his desk chair.

"You're lucky I recognized her before you all left. The disguise should hold as long as she wears my charm. Honestly, what were you dumbasses thinking, traveling to the capital with Asha of all people." 

A/N: So sorry it's been so long. I was having issues getting this chapter out, and when combined with extra shifts at work I just, fell into a hole. 

Now, however, I know how I want to bridge things, so look forward to the next chapter being released next week. To make up for falling so far behind, I'm going to *try* weekly updates for May. We'll see how that goes. Then in June we'll be back to the original every other week. 

Hope you enjoyed! 

P.S. Do you guys remember who Asha is? Did this come as a surprise, or were you expecting this?