Aquarius saw the door open. Unaccustomed to being greeted at home, much less having anyone around, she felt alarm. Then seeing him, recognition flowed through her. He was safe. He had to know that there were now two men back by the road crouching, watching. She would worry about that later. If all else failed and they were both in trouble, she would tell him to run for the cliff. But that was a last ditch effort. Her life had always been one of danger, this was just the first time it followed her home. So much for a place of refuge. That evidently only was in the ocean at her hideout.

Knodding casually to him as if nothing was out of the ordinary, she walked up to the porch. Glad to see you. I don't suppose you feel like a cup of tea? Today was incredibly boring. The two girls I hired are so chatty, always gossiping. She knew once they were inside the two men most likely would get closer, allowing her a better look at them safely from within her walls. She just had to hold this charade up until they were inside. To give her hands a reason to look relaxed, she offered him the bags in her right hand with easy grace and style.

Carter smiled in greeting at Aquarius, and, as she approached, glanced quickly behind her at the men following behind. But he brushed it off to keep an air of relaxed ignorance and when she held out the bags, he took them off her hands. “Well, Aqua, if you’re making tea, I wouldn’t say no.” He said calmly. He stepped back and held the door open for her. “I hope you don’t mind the nickname, it’s easier to say.”

He hoped the men would wander off, perhaps lose interest. He didn’t want to employ his switchblade, which, in any case, wasn’t visible in his pants pocket. If they were targeting Aquarius, which he didn’t have much doubt they were, they might have a wild hair and try to attack them inside the house, thinking their guard was down. Aquarius could obviously pull it off very well, acting as such, as long as neither man had as good hearing as Carter himself did and could hear her faster heartbeat. “I hope you didn’t go through any trouble on my part.” He added. “I wouldn’t want to cause any stress or be a nuisance.”

She closed the door beyond him once they were both inside slowly. Then all pretense left her and she leaned against the door. She looked up at him, "You know?" She realized that she should be spying on them like they had been spying on her and swung to look out the door's peephole. "The bags are actually for you. You might think I owe you nothing, but seriously, house sitting is a job and people do get paid for it." She watched them crept up the sandy path and ease up towards the house. Damn. Looks like they were going to try to get inside. She glanced over at Carter. He was just a kid. She narrowed her eyes in worry about him. "Can you track where they are by listening to them? Is your hearing that good?" She was already on her way to the kitchen. With the way the clouds were blowing in, there was another storm brewing. This was going to have to either end quickly outside, or they would have to outwait the strangers inside. She wasn't sure which was the better idea. He might prefer being outside. "There is a tree outside my window. You can always head there is worse comes to worse. I never use it because I am strong enough to leap to the ground."

For me… The thought resounded for a moment in his head. The bags, for him? Nothing but ill-gotten clothes from suspicious strangers was ever for him. He looked at the bags, with different names on them that he couldn’t figure out, differently colored, so he figured they came from many different places. At least, the names on the bags were of different lengths and styles. He shook his head, setting the bags beside one of the chairs and brushing his hair back, looking up to see Aquarius spying out the peephole in the door, but glance back at him with eyes narrowed in a worried expression. She worried about him, but he felt the need to employ his sense of extraordinary hearing when she brought it up.

“Hold on.” He closed his eyes and cleared his mind again. As he did, zoning in on all the hushed, vibrant sounds of the world, he smiled a bit. “Worse coming to worse is all I worry about.” He spoke softly, not to break the spell settling over him. “But don’t think I’ll leave you alone if it happens. Not even if you can take care of yourself. I’m not made of glass, you know…” He paused. Heavy movements, breathing, and overlapping heartbeats were moving past the house. “They’re going into the garden. Probably looking for a weak spot in the house to break in or an unlocked door or window.” He moved to the wall, following the men as they walked about just feet away.

She stepped into the kitchen and crouched down. She had to have windows didn't she. At least they were too high up for people outside to see in. The foundation of the house was purposely built so that they were higher than the outside. She reached under the sink and pulled out her set up gauntlets, a beautiful matching blue to her hair. With these are arm guards, she strapped on a boot knife and slipped to the patio's sliding door. She checked the sky. The weather wasn't cooperating. The garden wasn't a safe place for her if her enemies knew of her weakness. However no one had reason to suspect. No one knew she was a mermaid. She looked with regret at the small fish pond on the left. It was salt water. Her worst enemy. She glanced toward the herb on the far right. The water hose was coiled up over there. She saw the watering can on the patio for her hanging plants. She sighed. Of course it had to be an obstacle course. Of course she would be thoughtless of that on all days.

She thought over what Carter had said. She liked being called Aqua. It was kinda neat. However, she pulled him into this and she sure wasn't going to let him get hurt if she could help it. I'm taking this outside. It is easier to clean up afterwards. I just want one alive enough to question. The ocean can claim them both readily enough when we are through with them.

She glanced at him as he followed them. They weren't to the corner yet. She slid open the door and closed it so that Carter had some protection from them and hurried to the corner and leaned against the wall. If she could smack one good in the neck, he would be unconscious while she fought the other one. The wind picked up. Inside she groaned. Too bad she couldn't make the wind go away. The clouds were here in all their glory now. She was out of time. It was now or never.

Aquarius didn’t seem to want Carter to get out and into the situation. He stayed behind the glass, feeling like a fish on display as he pressed his face and hands against the glass while a horrible feeling of worry and regret started settling like a huge, cold stone in his stomach. She was out there, perhaps with some protection, but there were two of them. He could get one, so easily he could, a simple attack and react and one would be dead, leaving the other to be injured to the point where they could question them. Yet there he stood. The young woman who had helped him so much and allowed him to be in her presence outside, while storm clouds festered above with cruel intentions. Finally, he slid the door open and stepped outside, reaching into his pocket and flipping out his seven-inch blade.

The first one came around the corner of the house. He was a tall man with black hair and eyes. Her aim was true. Spinning around fast with her elbow, she jabbed him straight into the neck. He gasped while his eyes rolled back into his head. With a stagger he fell limply to the ground, a gun falling from his hands. Both created a thud of weight on earth.

She leaped out away from the house and back up while pulling out her knife. The second fellow came towards her quickly. Faster and smaller, he roundkicked the knife out of her hands and brought a knife of his own down at her. She crossed her forearms to allow the gauntlets take and hold the blow. He pushed down forcing her to keep her arms tightly crossed in front of her to avoid having the knife slip through. He grinned through his bangs at her and with swift speed kicked her in her midsection knocking the air out of her. She flew backwards right into the fish pond, gulping in the water.

Her brain exploded into bright lights and her heart felt like it stopped. The sensation of pain was overwhelming. She had never inhaled salt water before. Her skin felt like it was burning off. Her clothes were light molten fire. Her eyes open wide with shock went blank as all reason and thought left her. Her mouth, throats, lungs... it was worse than being caught in a rainstorm or forgetting to transform mid-dive towards the ocean. Pain filled her and she screamed, bubbles flying out of her. Though only 1.5 feet deep, it immobilized her.

Carter made it to the garden without a moment to spare. All he saw was a black-haired man on the ground beside his gun, and the other kick Aquarius into the pond. Water. Salt water, by the smell. It would hurt her, though hurt was certainly an understatement. A fiery anger rose up inside him as the man stepped over the pond where she lay, seemingly frozen by what she felt. Gritting his sharp teeth, he flew across the garden, crushing some flowers in the process, and when the man turned around, he brought up his foot well above his own head, striking him in the forehead. He stumbled back, over a stray rock that probably came from the pond, and fell. Carter fell on top of him, rolling him onto his stomach and pressing his knee into his back. He slid the blade’s stainless metal across the assailant’s neck, letting blood stain the ground, and though he could have left the man to bleed out, twisted his head around so swiftly he clearly heard the snap.

Spinning around, he found the other man sitting up, reaching for his weapon. He leapt forward, kicking the gun away and letting it skitter under a bush, out of sight. The man shot up, grabbing Carter’s hair. He kneed the surviving stalker in the stomach and kicked him back, pulling off his belt and smacking him with the buckle as hard as he could in the jaw. It left a red mark, and sent the larger man over a bit. With a moment to spare, he twisted the belt around the man’s neck and, with the knife, dug a new hole into the leather and tightened it to where he couldn’t easily breathe. Pushing him into the tree behind, Carter took the knife and thrust it into the man’s shoulder, pinning him there and growling at the fool’s strangled cry of pain.

As the adrenaline wore off, rain started to fall. Instantly, he recalled the source of his anger. Aquarius’s pain. He rushed to the pond, using the remaining adrenaline-fueled strength to haul her up. He remembered her saying that pure water didn’t hurt as much as salt. It would help her regain movement, perhaps enough to where he could help her into the house. Taking the lightweight jacket from the dead man, he knelt at her side and wiped the water from her face. “Aqua? C’mon, you’re all right, you’re okay now. Can you hear me? We have to get out of the rain…” He bent close to her, listening for signs of response. But the scream she had let out was still ringing like an omen in his head.

Aqua felt something on her face. Something that wasn't pain. Trying to gain some sense of understanding, some sense of ability to think, yet all she could make out was that now there was less pain with the molten pain. Less pain. Struggling to remember, the only thing that seemed to make sense was words. Her name? Carter! She was supposed to be protecting him from her world. She started forcing herself to gasp more air, more breathes. Her eyes squeezed together even tighter from the effort. Using the only tactic left to her, she channeled the pain into movement. Reaching blindly towards her neck, she grabbed her key - and transformed.

The pain slowly began receding from her as she lay there now a mermaid. Relief flooded her and she was able to breathe more clearly. Weakly opening her eyes, she looked up at the kid she was supposed to be taking care of. Carter was looking down at her, worry filling his face. She managed a weak whispered "My bad." Looks like the babysitting had switched owners.

She was breathing. Carter let out a shaky pent-up breath of his own as she forced herself to move, reach for her key, and change on mostly dry land. She wouldn’t be in pain anymore, Carter was relieved about that. “I’m so glad you’re all right.” He said. “I worried for a minute there.” He laughed weakly, helping her sit up. “I… Couldn’t stay inside. Not with you out here risking yourself without me trying to do something to help. I’m glad I came when I did, though.” He indicated the dead man and the one who couldn’t quite control his limbs well enough to reach the knife and pull it out of his shoulder. “You said you wanted at least one alive, so I didn’t kill the other.”

He sat back on his legs, letting the rest of the adrenaline seep away. He hadn’t been so active in quite a while, and the rush was rejuvenating. At least his life was put to something useful, he thought to himself.

Aqua let out a shaky laugh. "It seems I underestimated you. Do you interrogate as well? If you go grab me one of my large umbrellas from my room and a blanket, I'll focus on getting dry enough to be human again. As for that jerk over there, I want a chance to punch him again." She decided against telling him about the migraine she was going to have after this. For the moment they had a lot more important things to worry about. Who had caught on, how, and why. She figured once she was dry, she could grab the dead guy with one hand while staying under the umbrella with the other, head for the cliff, transform, and go bury the bastard. But for now, she was useless. She didn't like that at all.

There went her afternoon of seeing how he liked his new wardrobe. Hopefully he now felt like he had more purpose to life than being manipulated and used. At least it was Friday. She wouldn't have to go to work over the weekend. She was totally going to sleep in the ocean tonight. She didn't think she could handle being asleep on land after today. Just like when she returned from missions, she was just too jumpy to rest among the human world.

She mentally began planning what they were going to need. She could brew a tea similar to what she had sold earlier today. That way the interrogation would go quicker. She was also going to brew some tea for the both of them that would calm their nerves while keeping them alert. She would need to bury both of them out where they wouldn't be found. The sharks would think she was their new best friend. He shouldn't stay here alone tonight either though. She could drag another cot to the ocean home easily enough. There were more thin mattresses and blankets already down there. They could sleep in! That would be nice. All really depended though on what they got out of that guy pinned to the tree with a knife.

She glanced at him and felt no pity. Puppets who didn't think for themselves were of no good use to this world. Those were the very people that made gave kings power. They could bully whoever without a conscience. The Council would have two less to worry about now, once they figured out who these two are... were. He was as good as dead already. She turned to Carter and marveled how he pulled this off. The guy was clearly beat and down for the count.

Carter laughed. “People do underestimate me. I don’t look strong or able to pull anything strenuous off. And since I quit school so early, they also don’t expect me to be as smart as I am.” He felt a long-lost sense of pride growing into something that made itself present, feeling needed for the first time other than for a well-trained diving dog. He shook his head. “I can give you the blanket and umbrella, but you have to get inside and take care of yourself. Get in, get dry, and come back out. I’ll have this one taken care of, but I won’t let him get off without your present.”

He stepped forward, toward the struggling man. His eyes were wide and wild, color drained from his face and blue around the lips from lack of oxygen. Blood had soaked his jacket from where Carter had pinned him to the tree, but he didn’t hit anything especially important, so he wouldn’t completely bleed out for quite a long time. Instead of reacting to the glare the speechless man shot his way, he sped inside to get the umbrella and blanket for Aquarius. He could tie the man’s hands behind his back, perhaps secure him against one of the outside chairs with the belt around his neck. The man wouldn’t have much room to move, if he even wanted to with the hole in his shoulder. Carter could catch his lies, his truths, and anything he might be keeping from them as Aquarius questioned him. That was, if she had the energy. Otherwise he would use what was left of his anger at Aquarius being harmed and funnel it into useful interrogation tactics.

He found an umbrella and a heavy blanket in Aquarius’ room, and held them over his head as he returned to her. The rain wasn’t heavy, but the overbearing clouds threatened that it would soon be otherwise.

Aquarius gladly took the blanket and rolled into it. With her body now slowly drying and her hair away from her thanks to the blanket, she transformed back. Wabbling up onto her feet, she slipped a hand out to hold the umbrella. Hey listen Carter, as fun as it would be to hurt this guy... and don't think I won't... let's get the information the easy way. I have tea in the house that will make it so he can't lie. Unfortunately it pretty much drugs him senseless too so if you will hold on one second... She stomped towards the bleeding fellow and looked into his eyes. They weren't reflecting enough agony for her. She dropped the umbrella and with a swift twist landed a blow of her elbow across his face. He screamed as his nose folded over and flattened against his cheek. He continued to make some racket, but she was satisfied. Picking the umbrella back up, she turned and slowly stumbled for the house. She needed a shower and some tea herself.

Getting into the kitchen, she started up a tea kettle of her "truth concoction." Then she pulled out a tray and set on it a potholder for the kettle, a funnel, and a bib. Turning to Carter, she pointed at the setup Knock yourself out. Don't wait for the tea to cool. That takes away some of the fun. Excuse me while I go clean up. She proudly walked towards the stairs, head held high. That darn headache was coming on. Pity she couldn't be graceful about this whole thing. Her skin still hurt so shuffling and stumbling was still part of her current display.

Once in her room she dropped the blanket and stripped. Her hair fell on her back and she gasped. Good thing the blanket had absorbed most of it. Also a good thing the salt water had been rinsed with rain. She gritted her teeth and climbed into the shower. Once the formula of her scented shower started easing the pain, she reached out and opened the medicine cabinet. One lovely pain pill for her. Sliding back into the shower, she closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the wall. This was not how she planned her late afternoon.

That didn't mean she couldn't replan the evening. Okay, get dressed. Get into rain gear and hat. Double check on what he had found out and if additional questions should be asked. Maybe enjoy some tea. Have Carter look through the bags of stuff she brought. Drag the bodies out to sea. Sleep in ocean home. She could handle that. Aqua sighed and grabbed the soap.

With the tea poured out, Carter left the steaming cup on the counter and returned to their captor. His nose was bleeding, looking more like a deep red waterfall had taken up residence on his face, and when they had gone inside, he had taken that time alone to try to wedge the knife out of his shoulder. When Carter showed himself again, he stopped and glared at the boy. Ignoring that, Carter crossed the patio and pulled the blade out of the tree and the intruder’s flesh with one quick movement. But the renewed pain made him cry out and whimper through the belt around his neck. Carter grabbed his shirt, unfastening the belt and dragging him forward, onto the patio. Throwing the prisoner into one of the chairs, he went around and forced his arms behind his back, through two rungs of the chair, and tightened the belt around his wrists.

Carter didn’t leave him for long. Ignoring the majority of the setup, he returned inside to get the cup itself and, as he went back outside, he leaned close and drew a sniff of the tea. It was powerful, and momentarily made him lightheaded. Dragging the chair back and closer to the house, he grinned at the man, showing his sharp teeth. “Open wide, this’ll help you relax.” He put a hand on the prisoner’s forehead, forcing his face up. It made it difficult for him to avoid swallowing the hot tea, but didn’t stop him from cursing Carter and the heat of the liquid. Carter managed to get half the tea down his throat, and the rest had gone down his front, splashing onto the wound in his shoulder.

Carter turned to put the cup down, and when he returned, the stranger seemed faraway, his eyes a little distant. “Hey.” He said, waving a webbed hand in front of his face. “Stay around, ‘kay? What’s your name? Your name!”

“D-Dennis. Williams.” The man had an identity, and his voice was calm, soft. It was as though he didn’t feel the possibly-broken nose or knife would anymore. He was dazed.

“Right, Dennis. Why are you here? You and your little friend? How’d you find this place, and what do you want from us?”

Dennis smiled a bit, head rolling until Carter steadied him. “Um… Erh… Me and Adam saw you, this morn. Saw you come up out of the ocean without ever goin’ in, then that girl, fly out with a fish tail, like a mermaid. Didn’t think they ever existed, them. Then she turned into a human. Had to get more intel. Had to find you two. But you vanished. So we went to town, and found the girl, and followed her. Thought you’d be with her, or around nearby. C-Council…”

Carter narrowed his eyes, but Dennis’ head fell forward. “Dennis! What’s up with the Council? Is it the same thing Aqua works for? Is it the same place that wants me to be their interrogator and eavesdropper? Dennis, wake up, you bastard!” His voice cracked a bit and he shook him about. “I’ll knock you senseless when you wake up!” He growled, exasperated, sitting on the ground beside him.

Aqua climbed into sweats and a t-shirt. Braiding her hair into a tight french braid and securing it out of the way, she opened her closet and found her rain coat and hat. Carrying these in one arm, she walked with a tired step down the stairs. She got to the bottom and headed into the kitchen. Pulling out a second kettle, she brewed tea for energy and let it steep. In the meantime, she walked to the patio door and opened to lean out. Seeing Carter looking dejectedly at the ground with the strange man slumped forward, she guessed that maybe it was time for some good 'ole fashion horse whipping. She slipped back inside and opened a cupboard. Locating smelling salts, she grabbed them and the first hot teapot of her truth serum. Armed with these she threw on her hat and marched outside.

Closing the patio door with her elbow and walked confidently and gracefully over to where Carter and the intruder were sitting. Glancing at Carter, she allowed a moment of pride to show before turning cold eyes on her victim. This guy was not going to survive her. She placed the smelling salts under his nose until he came to, then grasped his hair and jerked his head back. She shoved the funnel into his mouth and let him stare in horror into her cold, malicious eyes. She worked for The Council, and she was good at what she did. She grinned, letting him realize he faced his worse nightmare, then dumped the hot tea into the funnel. He had no choice but swallow or choke. He did both. It burned down his throat and caused him to gurgle and gag. She smoothly put her implements down, stared coldly into his eyes, and reached quickly up to his right ear and ripped it off. Between the pain and her tea, he would be wide away to answer any questions they might have.

Letting him go, she stepped back and turned to Carter. What has he so kindly volunteered so far? Inside she was worried at the answers, but right now she was in killer mode and could not allow anything be detected from her except fury, hatred, and the gorgeous promise of death. The look both this stranger and Carter saw was that of the predator and heartless. The look that Carter had first seen when she had questioned him at their first meeting, only angrier. Deadlier.

Carter had his head resting in his hands when he heard Aquarius moving about in the kitchen. The scrape of another teakettle, footsteps that approached, then left, and the unmistakable sound of cabinet doors. He looked up when Aquarius stalked outside with a large funnel and the rest of the tea in its original container, steaming powerfully. As she forced the rest of the piping hot concoction down Dennis’s throat, Carter couldn’t help but smile a bit. It was no less than what he deserved, and he should have considered the repercussions of lurking where visitors were deterred. If he didn’t before, he certainly did when the tea hit him. But it was piping hot. Carter didn’t have much doubt it had caused a good amount of damage to his esophagus, possibly making it difficult or impossible for him to speak again. That wiped the faint smile from his face as quickly as it appeared.

As his thoughts on that subject flooded in, he didn’t see Aquarius continue her siege. If they couldn’t get anything more out of him, both of them would be at a loss. Perhaps the Council, which Aquarius worked for, was starting to turn on her. Perhaps the Council wanted to ambush them to take Carter himself away instead of wait for him to make a decision. Perhaps others other than Dennis and his accomplice had seen Aquarius transform, or Carter breech the water during one of his high-speed runs with the dolphins or noted the oddity of him diving down and not returning to the surface within several minutes. Or, Dennis and the other, Adam or something, had spread the information to more important people and took it into their own hands to tail Aquarius and find them both.

He turned around when Aquarius spoke to him. Controlling his paranoid suspicion, he shook his head. “Not much. Said he saw us come up this morning, you return to your human form. They decided to follow, but didn’t know where we’d gotten to. Found you in town, and followed you to get to both of us since they figured we’d still be near one another. He said something about the Council before losing it on me. But I don’t know if we’ll get anything else out of him, even if he wants to talk. That tea might’ve damaged his throat so much, caused so much swelling and possibly flash-fried his vocal cords on the way down, he might be beyond ability to speak.” Carter crossed his arms and chewed his tongue, glaring at the one they were keeping alive for the time being.

Aquarius turned her cold smile on Carter. She was going to relish informing him about boiling tea, knowing how this jerk bleeding beside her would take the news. Oh, he can still talk. For now. We have about a 5-10 minute window of opportunity. He will be awake for it all. Blisters are going to start forming and bubbling larger and larger. This will restrict his airflow. He didn't swallow all of it like a good boy though, and choked some of it into his lungs. His lungs are also going to start blistering and possibly segments will collapse. If he survives all of that, then pneumonia will set in. However, we won't give him even until midnight to find out. I have plans.

With that she turned her steely eyes back on the now terrified man. She gave him a long measuring look. He couldn't work for The Council. The Council was started by a few people who were tired of seeing the innocent and defenseless bullied. They had worked quietly on their own to intervene the few times they could. Over time more and more of the common people, and a few of the lesser nobility, had joined their ranks until there was a system that could quickly react and work to save those who would otherwise be hurt beyond normal protocol. Even part of the secret service, supposedly completely loyal to the king, had turned their true loyalties secretly to The Council in order to help create ways out of some of the more hideous tasks that even they could not stomach.

There was a story of one man who had two lovely daughters. The king has wanted to praise one of his men and ordered the man to give one of his daughters as a wife to him. The man refused for the groom-to-be was a rough and violent landowner out on the frontier. So the king sent an armed escort to the man's house to slowly chop off appendages until one of the daughters volunteered to go. However when the armed escort arrived, they found the estate empty and the servants sick with plague. They fled. In reality, the daughters were spirited away to a convent in the countryside, the father went to work at the lumberyard, and the servants worked kept up the place until it was safe to return. There in truth had been no plague.

Aquarius wondered who then these men worked for? And how had they come to learn of The Council. It was supposed to be a closely guarded secret. So I will make a deal with you. You tell me of your employment, which town your from, and what you and the council have in common. What you even know of The Council. If you satisfy me, I'll make sure you don't have to face the nightmare of dying I described earlier. I do have soothing teas that can heal as I am sure you are aware since you saw me in town. She glared at him with the full coldness and impartialness of her beauty.

Dennis gave a look of sheer terror to Carter. The boy hadn’t described that much, and he feared for what he would be put through, or what he would have to endure by the hands of the two before him. Carter could tell that much, as he looked between the two. He sighed. “I’m…” His voice cracked. The heat had already started to irritate the skin in his throat. “I’m from Australia, all right? I’ve been trained to hide my accent perfectly, so my place of residence couldn’t be identified directly. I work for the Council, my brother and I, the one you killed.” He nodded to the motionless body lying in the rain. “Worked for them a few months. They weren’t talking too kindly of you, girl.” He glared at Aquarius. “Then when I saw you and the kid earlier this morning, I didn’t think I could believe it at first. But I got over the shock and took it back to the Council. They didn’t need convincing,. They wanted to get rid of you before today, they’re cutting the weak ones or the liabilities, or the ones they deem ‘unfit’ or ‘no longer needed’. They said to get rid of the boy too, since he probably already knew too much.”

Carter pushed his hand down on Dennis’s shoulder wound, causing a searing pain to shoot through him. “Why would they want to get rid of Aqua? She’s very strong, as you obviously saw!”

Dennis grinned painfully. “I dunno. I guess one or two of the higher-ranking guys know merpeople exist, and know about that weakness you got. What with water in your human form, an’ all. Saw that pretty clearly when Adam pushed you in that pond over there.” He nodded to said small body of water. “Guess they can’t rely on you anymore.” He laughed weakly.

Carter grabbed his hair and pulled his knife out again. “Aqua, we can’t let him just die without doing something to him first!” He growled. “I don’t know if you believe this or not, but I don’t! I can’t believe they’d just drop you and want to get rid of you and anyone near you that easily, not with how much you’ve done for them and what you still have to offer.” He put the blade under Dennis’s neck. “I’ll stab him in the heart. He won’t die immediately. When the heart stops functioning, the brain can live for another six to seven minutes.” He looked toward Aquarius.

Aquarius knodded. This didn't make sense. She had been incredibly reliable. She was strong. Also, The Council wasn't like the power hungry kings. They were the common people. They fought injustice. They wouldn't be out to hurt her would they? She wanted to curl up and cry. Her life had been so certain, so set. Now everything was turning upside down. She struggled against the tears that threatened to overwhelm her cold exterior. Clinching her jaw she stared out into the gathering darkness. Do with him as you will Carter. He is of no more use to us if that is all he has to tell. If that is all he is worth. I'm not satisfied. She stared at the idiot before her and quickly thought of a way to double check. If he was truly from The Council, he would know to use the keyword balloons. "I warned you that I had to be satisfied didn't I? Last chance. What is the keyword? Use the keyword in a sentence.

Dennis stared at her as though she had gone completely insane. “What? Why a sentence? I mean, they told me it was balloons, unless they changed it on me already!” He coughed, eyes wide as Carter pressed the knife into his neck. “H-hey, I’m just saying what they told me! They said find Aquarius, and if she’s got anyone with her, take care of both of ‘em and get back here.”

Carter shook his head. “I don’t believe they’d send you and your brother to get rid of us! Aqua’s too important a person to just be gotten rid of like that, and if the ones I’ve been working for are part of the Council, they wouldn’t offer me a proposition then off me like that!” He growled in exasperation, thrusting the knife into the man’s left shoulder as hard as he could. His hand slipped a bit, cutting his palm a bit on the blade that was still protruding, but he didn’t see the blood or feel the sting as he turned to Aquarius. “Aqua, I can’t just believe this. I don’t think they actually believed they could get rid of you, after being employed for a few months! They probably realized what a mistake they made, or these two done something to lose trust, and they were sent here on false notes to be taken care of by you and I. Or, maybe you, more or less.”

He glared at the man. “They don’t seem useful anyway.”

Aquarius stared thoughtfully at Carter. Sent under false pretenses to be killed? These men were definitely cruel enough to be spies. The Council gave them the password, but they didn't use it in a sentence. He was baffled that he even had to use it in a sentence. Carter had a good head on his shoulders. Aquarius smiled. She would have to double-check, but it seemed the most probable explanation. Which just left one question. Who were these two men spying for?

She lunged forward and grabbed Dennis by the bleeding shoulder. You will live a long time. Long enough to be fed alive to the sharks. With that amount of blood covering you, they won't be able to resist. You want to avoid that? Then tell me more! Dennis' face was quite pale by now. He looked up at her in anger and hate. His eyes twitched and he looked to the left. She saw the signs, he was getting ready to lie. She punched him and knocked him out. No more lies. She swung towards Carter, "Take both of them to the cliff. I will follow shortly. Do me a favor, take off their boots and check to see if they are missing their smallest toes. If they are, we feed him alive to the sharks. If they are not, finish him off. Then come back here. Let's finish what we need to do here for tonight and then head to the ocean. I'm not sleeping here.

She hurried inside and pulled a second cot from the hall closet and set it by the patio door. Then she poured two cups of tea for the both of them. Looking around, she got out some cleaning supplies and headed outside to clean up all signs that any of the events of the afternoon and evening had even taken place.

As Aquarius went back inside, Carter pulled his knife back to him, undid the belt tying Dennis to the chair, and spun him around, bounding his arms again. Smacking him in the back, Carter forced him down and into the grass. “Stick around there.” He growled. Adam was mostly clean of blood. Carter rolled him over and grabbed his shirt collar, dragging him over the grass and leaving a trail of flattened lawn behind. Taking Dennis around the arm, he led the man along, making sure to shake him a bit to keep pain radiating through his body, through both the injury in his shoulder and his worsening condition inside.

No one was near or on the road as they approached it. Carter had to focus especially carefully on his feet, where they went and how high he lifted them. He focused on Dennis, grimacing as he walked, limping a bit, which Carter found odd since they hadn’t touched his foot. He breathed a bit harder, though, as he dragged the man’s brother behind him. “Bah, what a deadweight.” He huffed. “Your brother’s mostly meat, isn’t he?” He laughed, but didn’t get much more than a whimper. “Why are you limping? You have a pain in your foot? Nine toes instead of ten?”

Dennis glared at him, but Carter jerked him forward. He went left of the cliff, taking a small dirt path that went around the trees rather than snaking through the trees. It would save quite a bit of time. Dennis was breathing heavily, ragged and often he started coughing, hacking, stopping for moments at a time. It annoyed Carter, and he pushed Dennis along more viciously. “Keep on. Stalling will only make you die slowly and more painfully.”

The rain made it difficult for Carter to keep traction and all the harder to drag Adam along. But as the steep incline started leveling out, grass sprouting up underfoot. The cliff top was within sight, the trees falling away to present a wide open area, the dark gray backdrop rolling ominously, and the ocean could be heard rushing, crashing below. As he moved the man along, Carter could feel Dennis tense up with every step, but wasn’t in the position or condition to fight back. The grass was tall and full under their feet, and before Carter went to the edge of the cliff to look down, dropped Adam’s useless body with a relieved sigh.

Dennis was in agony. The stab wound was still bleeding, his crushed nose throbbed, the punches and blows he had taken burned. Then there was the hot pain running down his throat and into his lungs. He could feel the blisters growing inside him. If he swallowed too hard, sometimes one would pop and more pain was lacerate inside of him, only to have the blister grow back. He felt a bit dizzy and light-headed. As they neared the cliff his apprehension grew. When they reached the top, Carter dropped his comrade Adam to the ground and turned to him. Dennis tripped as he tried to back up and fell into the tall wet grass. He gazed up at Carter in horror, uncertain of what awaited him before the inevitable death. He felt his facilities give way and he blacked out.

When he came to, he was wet for more than the rain-slicked grass and battered blood. He glanced at himself and felt humiliated. Then he realized his shoes were off. Adam's shoes were lined beside his nearby. He looked between his feet, the shoes, and finally into the grim face of Carter. "Hey man, it isn't what you think... okay it is. I can explain. I can give you good intel. You gotta believe me. You gotta let me go." Suddenly it dawned on him that Adam's body wasn't anywhere nearby. He turned in horror to look towards the edge of the cliff. He didn't... he wasn't...

Suddenly a yearning to live filled him. Struggling to speak despite his throat he started painfully babbling, saying anything he could think of that would satisfy this guy enough to let him go. Maybe Carter was more of a kindred spirit than that Aquarius. Maybe Carter would have some respect towards him as between warrior to warrior. He stuttered and stammered, finally forcing himself to speak clearly, if not drawn out, in an effort to save his life. "Hold on man. Listen. Don't do it. I can tell you stuff. Stuff you won't believe. You'll understand. You'll see my side. It's okay. You don't have to be a slave under that woman. I can help you break free of her. Hear me out... my side. You'll understand. You have to understand. Coming to a momentary halt, he gathered his strength around him and continued.

King Goce, you know, the one to the south? King of the Wastelands? We are his elite, well, newly elite. Just joined a week ago. Elite unit. The Black Heart Guard. We are one of them. You understand how hard it is to get a part of that group. That is why the smallest toes are missing. You don't know what that lady of yours does. She uses sneaky means... means a warrior can't fight. Your a fighting man huh? How would you like it if you couldn't find all because of a sip of a drink? Huh? How would you like it if you started babbling secrets you didn't want anyone to know huh? What if you were put to sleep? Would you like being put to sleep? She can do all these things and more. She probably is manipulating you, taking away your free will. All with a few sips of tea. Your a fighter. Anyone can see that. She isn't. She's weak. She uses others. That is why I took such pleasure in planning her death. When we infiltrated The Council under pretense of bereft brothers and learned of her, we couldn't let her live. King Goce would understand. He might be harsh, but at least you know where you stand with him. No tricks. We sent a plant through town and he got drugged and disappeared this morning... at her store. She used her teas on him. He didn't have a chance. You believe in chances and honor right? She takes that away. King Goce gave people under him chances to prove their loyalty to him, to stand by him. Then The Council came along and started encouraging freedom of choice, rights, and all that. No loyalty to Goce, just themselves. She is a thorn in the side. A curse to the earth. A blight to any noble fight. She is a poison. I have almost liberated all mankind! You are impressed yes? I'm your rescuer! The rest of the Black Heart Guard knows of her and will come. Join us! You don't stand a chance if you don't. Choose life and the victor's side! We will get rid of your manipulator for you and you will be free! We will peel off her skin, chop off parts of each finger several times, rip her ears off as she ripped mine, stretch her on the rack, give her an amazing amount of piercings like no pop star has displayed, and finally give her a full body tattoo that will infect her with the most painful of infections leaving her to die of fever and hallucinations! Wahahahahaha! Crazy in pain, mad in his ideals, his sense of time gone... Dennis figured he had given a winning argument and that even now he would be called hero.

Carter was worn out. His hand was cramping from carrying the sack of useless meat Dennis called his brother. He wasn’t paying attention to Dennis as he fell, lost consciousness. He was focusing on calling nearby sharks to the bottom of the cliff with promises of an easy, free meal. It needed his full attention, his immediate concentration to convince such large, intense creatures to come. They weren’t his favorite animal, and on more than one occasion he had been chased away by them. But when he glanced down into the iron-gray sea, he saw the fins and smiled when they breeched the water, waiting for what was promised them. Quickly, Carter removed Adam’s shoes, finding his smallest tow missing on one foot. The same discovery was made when he inspected Dennis’s feet.

Hoping it would make him a bit more liked among their sharp-toothed, razor-eyed ranks, Carter lifted up Adam and shifted him to the edge, kicking him into the open air. A movement behind him made Carter look away before he hit the water. Dennis had awakened, obviously with a new will to live that outshined the obvious death he would experience if he wasn’t taken care of quickly. He crossed his arms and glared at Dennis as he stuttered for his own life. He didn’t seem to care about his brother anymore. Aquarius was his new target, and it only made Carter angrier at Dennis for making such accusations. It took all the self control he had to keep himself from ripping the man’s neck out with his knife, trying to cut his heart out before throwing him to the sharks. He knew what Aquarius could do. He was wary of her ability to mix teas, but he trusted her enough not to always keep one eye open.

He grabbed the newly-insane Dennis and jerked him to his feet. “There’s a nice little difference between you and I, Dennis.” He said, showing him to the edge of the cliff. “Our trusts lie with very altered origins. Yours lies with a tyrant, someone destructive and despicable, untrustworthy, someone who should be killed. Aqua wouldn’t harm you unless you deserve it. And you deserve it. She isn’t weak. She’s someone you should fear if you have anything against the Council or anyone she cares about. And she isn’t the only one you should worry about.” He took the belt off Dennis’s arms, freeing his hands. Dennis had fallen silent at that time, either accepting his ultimate death or speechless that his words had gone unheeded. “Don’t worry, Dennis.” Carter said. “You won’t be alone for long.”

With those words of parting, Carter kicked him in the back, sending him into the open air. Whatever words were cried out were lost on Carter’s ears as one of the sharks breeched the waves and snatched Dennis by the leg, tossing him like a rag doll into the frenzy that had started when Adam was thrown in. Carter threw the boots into the air as well, and with no farewell glance, left the cliff for Aquarius’s house. He was soaked to the bone.

Aquarius strolled inside. It had been a big day. Bigger than she was used to. She generally didn't make a habit of getting soaked in salt water and now it had happened twice in the last 36 hours. She sighed and put away the cleaning supplies. It was past dusk now. She picked up the bags that she had brought home from where Carter had set them and took them up to his room. She set them on his bed, and put a waterproof bag on his bed as well. He could unpack and settle in. If he wanted to take anything to the underwater retreat, he could pack it.

She went back downstairs and watered the few indoor plants she had laying around. Then she went back to the kitchen and fished around in one of the cupboards, finding some painkiller. Settling back with her cup of tea, she downed the painkiller, and filled her cup again. Tomorrow she needed to get some intel on The Council and on The Black Heart Guard... BHG for short. If it was as she now suspected, then she was going to be having more visitors from them. And that wasn't exceptionable... if not on her terms. She would meet them partway if she could, that way they didn't travel through too many innocent towns or taverns. Crime went up overnight everywhere their feet trod.