Cross is cursed, and trapped, in a Mermaid AU, and the Bad Sans now have to find him, and break the curse, before the locals use Cross as a sacrifice, by throwing him into a volcano.

---

This is another story that was co-written, by me, and Firehedgehog on Discord, I hope that you'll enjoy it!

--

"Hey, is it me, or are we one member short?" Killer asked, after everyone had caught their breath, after that rather disastrous supply run mission.

Dust frowned, looking up, from where he was wrapping a nasty bone bruise on his leg, in healing salve, and bandages. "Panda's missing."

Horror groaned, as he pulled an octopus off of his ribs, destroying his shirt. "Last thing we need..."

"The Stars were not there, so we know that they don't have them." Dust responded, rather disliking Dream and Ink. Cross was their friend, and Ink had messed Cross up, badly.

Killer groaned. "We're gonna have to go back for him... Aren't we?" He grumbled, not happy about the fact that the weapons used by the locals, had shredded his jacket.

"Better tell Boss, not it!" Dust called, limping towards his room, he wanted a shower, clean clothes, and a lot more healing items.

"Not it." Horror drooled as he stumbled towards the kitchen, carrying the octopus, and looking forward to eating the damn thing, and getting revenge for the trouble that it had caused for him.

"You two are cowards!" Killer almost yelled, before he groaned, and he pulled himself to his feet. He was hoping that Boss would not be angry, when he learned that Cross hadn't come back from the supply run.

Nightmare was looking at some paperwork, when he arrived, frowning at a few pieces.

That meant that it was very likely that Dream had caused issues with the balance... again.

"What is it?" Nightmare asked, he was a bit distracted...

"Errr... Boss... We have a problem..." Killer nervously said.

"What is it, did that damn Fell Sci, break in, again?" Nightmare asked, with a sigh.

"Nope." Killer shivered. He didn't know why that Fell Sci, kept on trying to break into their home, but it was getting annoying. "We lost Cross."

The cursed covered monster paused, before he turned around, and he looked at him. "You what?"

Killer winced. "The supply run went to hell, and we lost Cross on the way back home..."

"Explain." Nightmare scowled, he felt an ache in his skull.

"Everything was going okay, and we were checking things out... We were about to start the supply run, when a gust of wind blew Cross's hood off of his skull, and the locals started to freak out, when they saw his red scar." Killer sighed. "They attacked us, and we had to run for it. The locals were screaming in a language that we didn't understand, so we decided to just come home, and get our supplies from another AU, but during the chase, we lost sight of Cross, and we thought that he had managed to get home, on his own..."

Nightmare swore, apparently, there had been bad information about the AU. They had actually gone in with money, as some of the items that they wanted were rare, and it was easier for them to buy them, instead of stealing them."Come here, I'm going to play a few language clips from my computer, to see if they match... So that we know what type of translator we'll need, to get Cross back."

Killer nodded his head, and he made his way over to Nightmare's computer. "What are we going to do if we can't find the language Boss?"

"Then I'll call Error, but I would rather not do that, since he gets so little downtime." Nightmare sighed, clicking on his keyboard, as he started playing language clips.

"Okay." Killer settled down, and he listened to the language clips.

"Anything?" He was asked, once they were half way through the language clips.

"No.. not yet..." Killer shook his head. "Some of them do sound like the language that the locals used, but it's not the language that they used..."

"Which ones?"

"That one's the closest." Killer pointed at the language that had just been played.

Nightmare switched lists, and he played a few different clips, based on what Killer had said.

"Yeah... It's starting to sound close to what they said." Killer smiled.

Then it happened, the next one was the language.

"That's it! That's the language!" Killer yelled.

"That language... I thought that it was extinct, as even Ink disliked those AU's." Nightmare scowled. "Grab your weapons, we're going to go back, and kill everyone between us, and Cross."

Killer grinned. "Okay Boss! I'll get Dust and Horror!"

Why... Why did that messed up cult still exist?

And why did they go after Cross?

Killer hummed as he left Nightmare's office.

---

Cross really didn't want to know how he got into these situations.

His fingers dragged at the palms of his hands, as he curled up in the deepest part of his strange cell, one that was mostly filled with water... he kinda needed it, right now.

To breathe... Since he now had the Skeleton version of gills.

He shifted to get comfy, with his tail scraping weirdly, on the sandy soil below him.

A funking tail, long and slender, it's scales were mostly black, and then, slowly shifting to silver, then white, in the front. There were small silver fins that he thought were to help him swim, but there wasn't enough room, for him to swim in. He could see very well, even though it was pitch dark, so his eyes had likely been changed, to allow him to see perfectly, in the dark, and under water.

He groaned. He had no idea why the locals of this AU had been so eager to get their hands on him... And Fresh had to be here somewhere, or he had just been here, since he couldn't swear...

He hissed as the top of the cage opened, with his mouth revealing longer fangs. And a few moments later, fish were tossed in, and acting on instinct, he grabbed them, and he ripped them apart, to eat them.

Freaking instincts.

He already had to deal with his Skeleton instincts being screwed up, thanks to the actions of his so called father, and his AU...

The cage jostled, shifting the water inside of it, it was clearly on some type of moving platform.

One that was heading away from where they had caught him.

He began to feel sluggish, the water was becoming way too warm, and he just flopped on the sandy soil, in the bottom of the cage, listlessly.

He didn't feel so good... He felt sleepy, but he couldn't sleep... Not now...

He wanted to go home.

He wanted his family...

"I wanna go home..." He mumbled.

----

They heard humming...

Killer blinked, and he grinned, when he saw who was humming. "Hey guys, it's the female Pand... Eek!"

He almost screamed, as he barely dodged the short sword that had been thrown at him.

"I don't like being called a Panda, Killer." Zero said, as her head dropped down, from the tree. She was hanging upside down, using her knees to stop herself from falling out of the tree. She was virtually identical to Cross, and the only difference between them, was that Zero had more feminine features, and she looked, and dressed, in more feminine clothes. "Besides, that is Dust's special name for Cross... I don't have a right to use it."

"Zebra then." Killer smirked, teasingly.

"That's acceptable." Zero grumbled, before she pulled herself up, so that she could climb down from the tree, properly. "So, what brings you guys here?"

"Crossy got kidnapped by a cult, we're off to save him, and Boss actually told us that he was giving us permission to kill everyone." Killer responded, it was a big thing for Nightmare to say that.

"Are you talking about the idiots that live next to that active volcano?" Zero asked, as she picked up the short sword that she had thrown, and she tucked it back into it's sheath.

"Yeah, Boss wouldn't have sent us there, if he knew that the cult was there." Killer replied, leaning against the tree.

"Well, those idiots have a fascination with mermaids... They said something about them being their god's blessings, or something... I don't know..." Zero shrugged her shoulders. "I ran the moment that I saw them kidnap a Fell Sans, because of his red eyelights... And there was a lot of smoke from the volcano, the day after he was kidnapped."

"Will you be coming with us?" Nightmare asked, walking up to the two of them, since she had arrived, a bit before they would leave.

"I'm bored, so I'll tag along... It gives me something to do." Zero smiled. "And while you're dealing with the cult, I can get Cross."

Dust, who had come over with Nightmare, looked agitated, but he said nothing. Crush on his panda or not, he wasn't going to get in the way, as Zero was very skilled.

And if Cross needed Healing, it would be in his best interest for Zero to get to him first, since she was a speed, and Magic, type when it came to fighting, and she had the most skill, out of any of them, when it came to using Kindness Magic to heal.

"Don't worry about the Stars interfering, even Ink agrees that this group must be wiped out. Their whole AU will be destroyed, once we're done. I had to contact them, to send the word." Nightmare said the last part in distaste, it was one reason why both groups had methods of contact, through third parties, for things like this.

He had only used it once, before.

Horror walked over to them. "I got all of the food prep, that could be done, before we had to leave. We'll be eating Cross's favourite stew, when we get back."

"Good, everyone ready?" Nightmare asked seriously, and thank goodness, that unlike humans, they didn't have to ask about bathroom runs.

Zero grinned, and she nodded her head. Horror chuckled, and he swiped a sharpening stone over the blade of his axe.

Moments later, the area was empty, as they entered the portal.

Heading back to the AU where this mess had started.

In the distance, the volcano spewed heavy black smoke.

"That isn't good!" Zero hissed.

"Catch." Nightmare said, tossing a strange orb to Zero, it kinda looked like a pokeball, from the game. "It's a medical capsule, it puts people in stasis, if there's no other choice."

Zero caught the device, and she nodded her head, understanding what Nightmare was saying to her, if she couldn't heal what they could have done to Cross, this device would allow her to take him to a place where he could be healed, without putting him in danger.

"Here's hoping that you won't need good luck." He said, striding forward towards the crowds of cultists that were ahead of them.

"Yeah... Hope you don't need it too." Zero whispered, before she checked to make sure that her hood was up, and that her red scar was covered by the bandage that she kept over it, another way that she made it easier for others to tell herself apart from Cross, and she disappeared into the crowd.

Horror gently nudged Dust, so that they could start heading towards where they needed to be.

Dust grit his teeth, and began the task against these bastards who took Cross.

Killer giggled, and he got to work, being a gremlin as he yanked important looking objects out of the cultists's hands.

Nightmare sighed, as Killer started singing a looting song, and Dust joined in.

Horror started to whistle to the tune of the song.

Nightmare grumbled, and he joined in.

Zero cheerfully started to hum along, to the song, as she made her way through the crowd. 'If I was a cult member, where would I keep my sacrifice?'

He was probably in that weird bulky cart that was making it's way up to the summit of the volcano.

Zero's eyelights narrowed... Her and Cross may not be actual twins anymore, thanks to what their Gaster had done to them, but the small pull on their Souls, that they had come to call their 'twin bond', was reacting to that cart.

She quickly summoned a Blaster, and she climbed on, it wasn't as big as the Blasters that the male Skeletons could summon, and it wasn't as powerful, since she had just figured out how to summon it again, but it made up for it's lack of space, for it's passengers, and it's power, with it's speed, and it quickly began to fly after the cart.

She was not going to lose the nearest thing that she had to a biological family, to slimy cultists.

No. She wouldn't let that happen... She would never forgive herself if she didn't try to save him. "HEY!"

The cultists by the cart looked up, quickly pulling out weapons, and if they had magical attacks, started powering up. Words that felt like gibberish were shouted at her, but she knew that they would kill her, if they were given a chance.

Zero snarled, and her Blaster immediately started to charge up it's own magical attack, as she drew a sword from it's sheath. She wanted her brother back.

Suddenly, the volcano rocked violently, knocking most of the cultists down. A cry from the cart's driver filled the air, as one of it's wheels broke.

"Cross!" Zero yelled, before she jumped off of her Blaster, wanting to bring the fight to the cultists themselves.

She got no reply, the heated water inside his cage had pretty much turned him comatose, at this point.

Zero snarled, her red eyelight flashing, as she drew her other sword from it's sheath. "Get out of my way."

They fell to her blade, with blood and dust covering her, she felt grimy, and she would definitely need a shower, once Cross was safe again.

She was careful with how much damage she did to them, so she knocked them out, or she left them with serious injuries. She really didn't like gaining levels, it made her feel sick.

Sure, she knew that they would die, soon, because once Cross was safe, Nightmare would bring down the AU. Yet, like her male counterpart, neither wanted the levels.

She banged a foot against a side of the cart, once she had managed to get to it. "Cross, can you hear me?"

The sound of sloshing water met her, as the volcano began to sprew bits of ash, and sparks of red/orange light, could be seen.

"Okay... I'm coming in, and they're making you wear something embarrassing, I have the right to tease you, about this, for a whole week." Zero mumbled, as she put her swords back into their sheaths, and she climbed onto the top of the cart, trying to figure out how she was going to get inside of it.

It took a bit of fumbling to open it, there were no keys.. And extremely dark water met her gaze, as soon as the lid popped off, and she could just make out an unmoving figure, at the bottom of the water.

Zero growled. "I hate water." She snarled, before she summoned a long bone, poking at the unmoving figure.

There wasn't even a response from the poke.

Zero sighed, and she jabbed the long bone into the bottom of the cart, and she started to shimmy down it, stopping just above the water.

The shape, while hard to see, seemed to be wrong... Yet, she could definitely feel the pull towards Cross.

He was down there, what had the cultists done to him?

She didn't know if the water had done this to him, which meant that it would be a bad idea for her to dive into it.... But at the same time, he needed medical attention... She rummaged through her pockets, and she pulled out the medical capsule that Nightmare had given to her. It would put Cross into stasis, and it would grab the water, in case they needed to use it later. "I have to tell Nightmare to stall destroying this AU..." Zero groaned, they might need information, that could be lost, if the AU was destroyed...

Some days, you wished that you didn't get up in the morning.

The device hummed as she activated it, and suddenly, the water, and Cross, were missing.

Damn... she wanted one of these things for emergencies, she was definitely asking where she could get one for herself.

She really was...

Zero breathed a sigh of relief, once she had confirmed that Cross was okay, and she started to shimmy her way up the long bone that she had summoned, heading for the exit.

At that point, she wanted to swear, as lava was starting to slide down the volcano's sides, at a high speed.

But she did growl as she threw the cultists into the cart... She knew that they would go with the destruction of their AU, but she was too soft hearted to let them die via lava.... Blue Magic made it quite easy for her to do this, before she got her Blasters to dislodge the cart... It was a bumpy ride for them.

She sharply whistled.

The lava angrily flowed towards her, scorching her with it's heat.

"Guys... I think that the lava's alive!" Zero yelled.

"Joy..." Nightmare scowled, the area was covered with bodies of humans, and dustpiles.

Zero forced the cart to stop moving, not even caring about the new injuries, that she was giving to the cultists in it. "And I had to use the medical device on Cross."

"Everyone, back to base, we're crashing this place.. Are those the people that were about to sacrifice Cross?" He asked, face hardening.

"Yep." Zero grinned. "I really didn't feel like letting the lava take them, I'm too soft for that... Not when you get more mileage out of them, if their death sentences are prolonged... And I'm not the only one that wants them to pay... I'm Kind, but I'm not stupid. It was a bumpy ride down here..."

"They'll live.. for much longer than they want..." Nightmare told her, as one portal popped open, for all of them, while the cart, and it's prisoners, were dropped into another portal. There would be talks, as he had to make sure that there wasn't any more hidden cult AU's.

Zero smirked. "It is the perfect punishment for them..."

"Head through, I'll take care of this trap." Nightmare suggested.

"You might want to delay that, for a bit.... Because we might have a problem that's going to need this place to fix it."

He stared at her, and he nodded his head. "Still, go through the portal, I'll make sure that the lava doesn't destroy the area, and that the AU is sealed.. you know where everything is."

Zero nodded her head. "I'm going to have to send those three out, to get a few things. They turned Cross into a merskeleton, and until that's reversed, or fixed, he needs to live in an aquatic environment."

"The pool is free." He said, as she rushed through the portal.

------

Once Zero was through the portal, she quickly ran over to where the pool was.

The pool was small, and had no water in it, but it meant that she wouldn't flood the pool area, when she released Cross. She climbed down the safety ladder, a bit, and then, while she was holding onto it with one hand, she used her other hand to release the medical ball.

She watched as Cross was released, and she hoped that he was okay.

"Cross?"

She summoned a long bone, and she used it to poke the not moving body of Cross.

Cross shifted sluggishly, and then, he grew still.

They would definitely need a doctor.

Zero quickly climbed up the ladder, and she headed to where the Murder Time Trio was.

"How's Panda?" Dust asked, worriedly.

"We're gonna need a doctor..." Zero told him. "And possibly fish... A lot of fish, because I don't know how long it's going to take to fix this..."

"Are you okay with Fell Gasters, we actually know one, that's a doctor, that we usually deal with?" Killer asked, as she would have reasons to be leery of Gasters.

Horror mumbled about fish, and he went to check their stock.

"I think that I'll be okay..." Zero squeezed her locket... Killer was right... She did have reasons to be leery of Gasters, especially after one had tried to technically kill her, by deleting her from her AU, which had resulted in her being ejected from it, and turned into an Outcode. "They're different enough, visually, that I should be able to tell them apart..."

"Doc goes by Needles, but don't ask him why he uses that name, it's a hilarious story that just takes too long to tell. But he's been our Doc for years." Killer told her. "I'll go and get him."

"Okay." Zero nodded her head. "I'll keep an eye on Cross, to see if anything changes while you're gone... Or would Dust like to do that?"

Dust nodded, looking stressed, he was usually quieter than the other two, of the murder trio.

"Okay." Zero smiled. "Go and keep an eye on him then, while Killer gets the Doctor..."

Dust, quickly rushed to keep an eye on his friend ̶c̶r̶u̶s̶h̶.

Zero smiled. She knew that Dust would do his best to look after Cross, and now, it was a waiting game...

When Needles arrived, Zero felt a sense of relief, when she saw just how much he didn't remind her of her Gaster.

"Are you the Doc?" Zero asked.

"Ah yes." Needles said, looking startled, he had an Irish accent. "Goodness, my apologies madam, I was struck at meeting dear Cross's soul twin."

"Soul twins?" Zero smiled. "I guess that we can still be called that... Anyway, Cross is in the Pool, and Dust is keeping an eye on him. Would you like to see him?"

"Please, lead the way, dear lady." Needles said, politely.

Zero nodded her head, and she brought the Doctor to the Pool. "Dust? The Doc's here."

Dust looked up from where he was watching the water, and Cross. "Thanks for coming Doc."

"No problem Dust." Needles said, frowning at the water, as he pulled off his Doctor's jacket, and he pulled out breathing gear, for himself. "It's so rare for me to need this gear."

And he climbed down, into the water.

Zero sat down, by the edge of the Pool. "I would freak out about him going down there, but he's the Doctor, so he has to know what he's doing..."

"He once climbed into a volcano, when Killer got hurt, and we couldn't move him, due to it." Dust grinned at her.

"So yeah, he definitely knows what he's doing." Zero grinned back at him.

His smile fell, and he sat down, on the tiles by the pool, morosely watching Cross's too still form, and the form of Doctor Needles, that was below them.

Zero's smile fell, as she wrapped her hand around her locket.

"He'll be okay..."

"He has to be..." Dust said, quietly.

Zero nodded her head. "We'll do our best to help the Doc heal him, if something is wrong..."

After half an hour, the Doc climbed out of the Pool, sopping wet, and he pulled his breathing mask off. "I've given him some shots for his altered biology, and I'm going to run some tests, in my lab, to see if medical science can break it, but Cross should wake up, within twenty-four hours. I'll write up a list of safe foods, and what we'll need for the pool environment, to keep him healthy."

Zero nodded her head. "We already have Horror looking into what fish we have here, and Killer and I can get anything that we don't have here, while Dust keeps an eye on Cross."

"That's good, I'll speak to Horror as I go. Call me if anything is needed, before I return after running tests." Needles said, walking away.

"We will!" Zero chirped, before she gently nudged Dust. "He'll be okay... I don't know how I know this, but I can feel that he's going to be okay..."

"You and your twin thing." Dust softly responded.

"Yeah... Us and our twin thing." Zero softly smiled.

"Ya' know, the boss has a room here, if you ever want to stay." Came Dust's reply.

"I like my freedom... And I get a lot of joy from knowing that every moment I live, I'm pissing off that stupid old man, from my AU." Zero grinned. "But... Someday... I might stay... Longer than a night, or when it's not an emergency, but not now, I'm still finding myself, but until Cross is okay, I'm not going anywhere."

"Don't be a stranger then, you're the only sibling that he has." Dust said, and he would make sure that Cross did not lose her, again.

"I know, and I'm not leaving him without a fight."

At this point, all that they could do, was to wait for Cross to wake up, and for the Doc to return.

And hope that the Stars didn't do anything, that would create problems for them...

------

He ached... every joint, every bone... and his stomach felt as if he would become sick, soon.

But he wasn't hot anymore, so he slowly shifted with his now, strange body.

Zero blinked, when she felt something shift in the 'twin bond', that she shared with Cross.

Suddenly, the water surged, and Cross was there, with everything that was above his shoulders, out of the water.

"Hey Cross." Zero grinned. "Long time no see."

"Hey ZZ." Cross said, with an exhausted grin, his voice had a strange echo effect.

"How are you feeling?" She asked him. "Does anything hurt?"

"Really, really pissed off, and achy... I have a funking tail." Cross said, his mouth had sharper teeth, more than it usually did.

"The Doc's already looking into how to fix it." Zero told him. "Horror's been meal prepping, Killer and I left, a few times, to grab things, and Dust has been keeping an eye on you... We just got him to take a nap." She smiled at Cross. "Would you like a hug?"

"You'll have to come in the water... Even being this much above water, is uncomfortable." He apologized, but he really wanted a hug.

Zero smiled, and she carefully climbed into the water. The Doctor had said that it was safe to enter the water, and because of that, they had dug their swimsuits out of storage.

Cross leaned into her, as she hugged him, a small whine escaping him, from the stress.. then, he paused, and he stared down. "Apparently, I can hug you, with my tail too."

Zero giggled. "It looks like you can." She smiled at him.

"I'm... mostly blind up here... I think this mer thing is more like night vision for water." He admitted, as only when she was this close to him, she wasn't a total blur.

"Hey, it's okay... We'll be your eyes, for as long as you need us to be." Zero told him. "Everyone's been very worried, so it will be good for them to see that you're awake now."

"Thank you..." He said, quietly.

"It's what siblings do for each other." She smiled.

He hugged her tighter.

Zero purred, happily. "The Doc should be back with more information, soon."

He nodded, not really saying more.

Zero gently patted the top of his skull. "Do you want something to eat? Horror's been stress cooking, and some of it should be safe for you to eat."

"Fish..." He mumbled. "Probably raw, before we try cooked."

"Okay." Zero smiled, before she untangled herself from the hug, and she climbed out of the pool. "I'll be back soon, or someone else will bring the food to you."

She happily hummed, before she headed to the kitchen. "Horror? He's awake."

The large gentle giant of a monster brightened. "Hungry?"

"Yeah. He wants raw fish, before he can see if his changed body can stomach cooked fish."

"Mer.. live or dead? To keep him healthy?" Horror asked, as he did have a medium fish breeding pond, that he could grab from, if it was needed.

"How about both, just to be on the safe side." Killer suggested, as he walked into the kitchen. "Having something to chase will give Crossy something to do, when we're not there."

"Chase.." Horror said, amused, as he walked outside, and he quickly placed a fatty fish into a bucket.

Killer chuckled. "We gotta keep him relaxed... Stress can be bad for mers, if it's left unchecked."

"He's not quite a normal mer, this is a curse.. so normal Mer rules may not apply. So.. we need to break it... or, at least, partially break it, so he can walk again." Dust said, stubbornly.

"Dust is right." Zero sighed. "We need Cross back, but Killer is right too. We don't know how much the Mer curse has changed him, and you know what Cross's anxiety is like, when he's dealing with a lot of stress..."

"He can't even read books, and you know that he reads to destress." Dust grumbled, as they walked back to the pool area, muttering ideas about waterproof books, or screens.

"The damn curse has even screwed up his eyelights." Zero huffed. "According to him, it's like they're in night vision mood, for water."

"We'll ask Doc if there are waterproof glasses that he can make." Killer said, patting Dust's back. "And Boss is looking over what he found, Crossy will be back to normal in no time."

"And have base Codes... If needed." Horror nudged Zero.

"Yeah..." Zero nodded her head.

Cross surfaced, as soon as they arrived, looking awkward, and hungry.

"Hiya Crossy, how's the water?" Killer asked him.

"Boring."

"Food." Horror dropped the fish into the pool.

Two seconds later, they were all wide eyed as Cross's new instincts had him grab the fish, and rip it to shreds, with his teeth, but the fact that it was alive, didn't even make him pause. This Mer was a predator.

"Holy shit..." Killer whispered.

"Hot... I mean.. shit." Dust said, stuttering, as a blush covered his face.

"Good appetite." Horror smiled.

"I swam in that water..." Zero muttered.

"He can bite me anytime," Dust said, absently, and everyone looked at him.

"... I am now cursing the fact that brain bleach does not exist..." Zero mumbled.

Thankfully, for their sanity, Doctor Needles arrived. He climbed right into the water, cheerfully greeting Cross, and checking up on him, right away.

Zero smiled, and she climbed down the ladder, sitting down on one of it's rungs.

"Good, you have improved greatly Cross. While my tests don't show a way to break the curse, I have found a way to.. well, bend it." Doc said, cheerfully. "This way, you are not trapped in the pool."

Dust smiled, and Horror gently nudged him.

Zero chuckled, and she swung her legs.

"I have created a solution, that will allow you to take monster form, but unfortunately, you will still have to sleep in Mer form. Your body will still have their bodily wants and urges, so Nightmare will be helping you learn how to control it. Normal food, is still a no go." Doc said. "But it's up to you, if you want to agree to this, or wait for a full cure."

"I'll take it, I miss my feet. Even a partial cure is better than this." Cross replied.

"Lady Zero, can you and the others head to Cross's room, for his towels, and fresh clothes. No shoes, socks, or long pants for now." Doc asked, since Cross would be naked, once he got this semi cure.

Zero nodded her head, and she climbed up the ladder. "Come on boys, let's get Cross some clean clothes and towels."

"Will this fix my eyelights?" Cross asked, once they were gone, swimming to the shallow area of the pool, with Doc.

"To a point, and hopefully, they'll be fine while you're in your monster form. If not, I'll arrange glasses for you." Doc promised, and Cross's face fell, a bit.

"Here's hoping then." Cross sighed, as Doc pulled out a glowing vial, and he began to prepare a needle to inject the cure, once they had clothes for Cross.

Zero hummed, as she followed the boys to Cross's room. "So, what's the plan for the celebration dinner?"

"It depends on if he can eat normally." Killer shrugged.

"Doc said no normal food." Horror grumbled.

"What about Sushi? It's mostly raw fish, seaweed, and rice..." Killer hummed.

"That does sound nice." Zero smiled. "And it's easy to adjust, if one of the ingredients is something that Cross can't eat."

"See, we just have to work around this handicap. We got Horror, who's like the king of cooking, and I'm sure Crossy's dietary needs will be mostly fish, but we should be able to slowly bring in certain things, to keep him healthy... as long as we stay out of the water, when he eats live fish." Killer muttered the last part.

Zero chuckled. "Yeah... You're right... He'll be okay... Do you think that we can get some of those floating seat things?"

"Here." Horror said, as they arrived at Cross's room.

"Maybe..." Killer sniggered, as he dug through the closet, and pulled out several of Cross's non uniform clothes, that he used to relax. "Plenty of choices."

"Got his towels." Dust said, from the attached bathroom.

"No one's using the large room next to this one, so maybe Boss can renovate it, so that Cross has a private pool area... that has a water tunnel that leads to the outside." Killer said, thoughtfully, because the castle's pool was inside, and there was not a lot of room for Cross to swim in it.

"It would also make a good escape tunnel, for emergencies." Zero mumbled, as she pushed the clothes that they didn't need, deeper into the closet.

"We can also cover the exit by expanding Horror's fish pool, or by installing an outside pool..."

"Outside pool, fishes in breeding pools, can pollute waters for normal people." Horror told them.

Killer smiled. "We could even put the grill next to the outside pool!"

It was totally not, an excuse for more barbeques.

"Reading nook?" Dust asked. "For Crossy?"

"It really depends on what Boss says, he'll want to plan it, so that the construction doesn't take over the base." Killer chuckled, as they arrived back at the pool.

"And he probably doesn't want the workers to find out about things, that they shouldn't know about." Zero hummed.

"You missed the chaos of when we had to get the roof fixed, but yeah... Neutral construction people, everywhere, are under magical oaths to not reveal the location." Killer told her.

"That's a relief..." Zero smiled. "That should make it easier for us to control the flow of information."

"Hey." Cross said, seeing that they were back.

"You're just in time, I'm about to inject it into his mana veins." Doc said, holding up a rather nasty looking needle.

Zero shivered, she hated needles.

Cross didn't look any happier, but it was a curse, and even a partial cure was better than nothing.

Even if it meant giant needles.

Killer winced. "The Doc's not playing around."

Said Doc, gave Killer a look, reminding him that he had an appointment due, and there would be no skipping out... again.

Zero tilted her head. "What does that look mean?"

"He's not skipping out on his next appointment. Doc will chase him down, next time, to stop avoiding his checkup." Cross sniggered.

"Do I get snacks if I help to stop Killer from running away?" Zero innocently asked.

"Yes." Nightmare said, striding into the room.

"Okay!" Zero smiled.

Killer looked betrayed, at Zero's offer, and Nightmare's reply, meanwhile, Cross gave a small whimper, as the liquid was injected... it freaking burned.

Zero frowned. "It's burning him..."

"We're adjusting a curse, my Lady, to allow him to have legs again." Doc said, making a face, but he stayed with Cross, who started thrashing in the water, as his tail glowed... And then, suddenly, he had legs. He gasped, in shock, at the sudden absence of pain.

"Sorry dear Cross, only the first time hurts... but welcome back to the land of legs." Doc told him, before he gave him another checkup, and Nightmare pulled him from the water, his form was a bit limp, from the pain. Doc wrapped Cross up, with the towels, and then, he went to look over the clothes, for the ones that would agitate Cross, the least.

"Can see better..." Cross said, in relief.

"Good, but we'll see if you need glasses above water, once you rest more." Nightmare said, as he helped the Doc dress Cross, he did notice that Cross's teeth were slightly less sharp than they had been in his mer form, and around their hips, and ankle bones, were markings that looked like scales.

At a glance, they could pass for bone tattoos.

Zero carefully walked over to Cross. "How are you feeling?" She asked him.

"Want a nap... but then, I would have a tail again... just want cuddles..." Cross told her, tiredly.

"Okay." Zero softly smiled, before she gently hugged Cross. "I think that a cuddle pile, and a movie, should be good for you."

He hugged back, the last few days had been rough, on his mentality.

Zero looked at the Murder Time Trio. "Get over here, and join the hug."

Soon enough, there was a giant cuddlepile in the living room, since Cross wanted to be away from the water.

And none of them wanted to deal with that, right now, that was an issue for another day.