((Lovely if I do say so!))

Leith's most recent memories were a blur of frantic negativities and calls to leave well enough alone. Though while he was moved from tank to tank, adjusting and readjusting to the colder water and smaller vessels, smuggled away like some kind of priceless artifact, he couldn't seem to get through to either Camilia or the new face, whom Leith was told was her cousin. Sometimes he felt rather helpless in certain situations, especially the drive, which was enormously bumpy and nerve-wracking. He'd only seen and heard human vehicles from afar, and the last time he'd actually walked among them, there hadn't been any to pollute the air. They were loud and worrisome when close by, and when inside, it was all Leith could do to keep himself conscious and focused.

Still, when they made it to the cove they arrived to, and he flew into the lower tidal pool out of public viewing and into actual, real water, rather than the continuously filtered... stuff... he'd been in the past days, he couldn't quite express his gratitude but with stuttering words and a wide grin. Yet, he couldn't quite make himself turn and just leave.

"You'll be chased now. Now that you've stolen me from everyone else. They'll come for you, won't they...?"

Camilia bit her lip a little, and then waved the question off.

"It's worth it," she replied. "You're not in the tank anymore." She knew, though, that she was going to have a hell of a time once she went back into town. It was inevitable, given what she'd just done, but it was better than watching Leith be so unhappy in the tanks.

The more she thought about it, though, the more it really started to hit her. She'd essentially just given up her job and everything to get him out of the aquarium, and she had no idea what she would do next. For all she knew, she'd just earned herself jail time.

"God, I'm screwed," she murmured as she sat down on a rock and put her head in her hands.

Leith moved closer to where Camilia placed herself. Hoisting himself up and onto the flat area beside her, he put a hand on her knee. "I'm out." He said. "But what if they put you in a tank yourself? I don't want that to happen. Not after how long you've put up with me. That just sounds like a lose-lose situation, doesn't it? Take me back and I'll tell them I forced you to get me out. They won't blame you for anything and..." He paused. What would they do to him? "And they'll probably just put me in a more secure tank. Right?"

He looked around to his right. The sky. For the first time in what seemed like decades he could see the sky. And smell air that hadn't been put through a cooling device. He didn't even hear the hum of mechanical equipment. But the prospect of just fleeing back to his home was dampened by the fate of Camilia that wouldn't be known to him if he left.

"It won't be a tank they put me in," Camilia replied frankly. "Probably more like a jail cell." She looked at him and shook her head when Leith said to take him back. "I can't do that. If I take you back, they'll still arrest me, and they'll probably put you somewhere you'd never have the chance to get out of again, and you'll be watched at all hours. I can't let that happen."

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She had no idea what she was going to do now, but at least Leith was free. That was the goal in the first place.

Leith bit his nails. It was a bad habit and he needed to stop, but when he was nervous, he tended to bite them out of existence. It didn't seem either of them won in this situation. If Leith just... went away, he'd be consumed by guilt. And if he didn't do something, Camilia would be paying the price while he was free to do as he wanted, at least until he had to take the throne and oversee everything within the kingdom.

Camilia could change her name. Her appearance. When refugees arrived in the kingdom, not that they did often, they changed the color of their scales and hair, changed their name, and lived in marked freedom from their old, slave-run villages out of the kingdom's jurisdiction.

Leith gasped, going toward Camilia as though his idea had jerked him forward, but he landed at her feet. "You can come with me!" He exclaimed. "Come to me to the kingdom! My home, you'll be safe there!" He twisted a bit, but the rough stone scraped his scales and he grimaced, sliding back into the low-tide pool.

Camilia blinked and looked at him.

"Maybe I'm missing something, here," she said, "but I see a major problem with that." Even if through some miracle they actually let her into the kingdom, it wouldn't even be an option until they solved the other issue first. "Unless you have some way of keeping me from drowning..." She could swim, sure, but breathing underwater was a whole other impossible issue. She trailed off and looked down. At the moment, she couldn't see any solution to the problem, but she would admit that maybe she was missing a piece of the equation.

Leith smiled. Of course he expected such a reaction. He tapped the gold-plated gem held by the loop around his head. "I can, with limited power, give you my lungs. They're made specifically for breathing underwater, and regardless of salt water or fresh, it's basically like breathing regular air. Which you'll also be able to do. The transfer from air to water and back again takes a bit of practice, at first, and you might find yourself a little choked up in the beginning."

He moved back. "I don't have the right power to give you an actual tail. Not now, anyway. That privilege comes when my title moves from 'prince' to 'king'. But for the time being, I can give you webbed hands and feet, something like... seals, if you've seen theirs. They'll still look like hands, but they'll be more powerful and quicker through the water. You'll have to get used to the pressure under the waves, but I can make it so you'll be just fine."

He raised a hand as though inviting her. "I promise the transfer won't be painful. And once this... whole situation fades, and you think you can come back to the surface, you can. I... just don't want you paying the price for my being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Wait, what?" Camilia stared at him as she tried to wrap her mind around exactly what he'd just offered. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he'd just offered to make it so she could live underwater... Except he had. And it was just so unbelievable that she was having issues reconciling it with herself. If such a thing were possible, wouldn't people already know about it? Except, people hadn't even known about real merpeople existing until last week. So maybe it really was possible. "But... How? And... why? I mean, you should be miles away by now, why are you hanging around?"

Leith put his hands back on the rough floor of the cove. "Like I said; I don't want you paying the price for getting me out of there. I'd feel terrible if you were penalized, imprisoned for what you've done. It's no acceptable type of thanks for you after what you've done. I can use a limited bit of my power and give you the ability to breathe and move under the water, not quite like a human." He looked back to the ocean. It was calling to him, and no doubt there were guardsmen out searching for him. "You'll be accepted." He promised. "You got me out, you'll be seen... as a hero, no doubt. You just have to come with me. I don't want you in trouble because of me." He raised a hand to her again, an almost pleading look in his eye. "Some things you don't question. You just go along with it. This is one time."

Camilia hesitated. Her rational mind was fighting against her, howling that she would drown and was she stupid or just delusional?! But, she told herself, Leith hadn't given her a reason to distrust him yet, had he? But he also hadn't given her a reason to trust him, either. But--

The thoughts whirled around in her head, until finally she ignored them all and reached for his hand. If she was going to be impulsive enough to break him out of the aquarium, then she would ride it out all the way and be impulsive enough to go with him. She couldn't go home either way, so what did she have to lose?

Leith took her hand and put it to his forehead. It touched to the blue gem on his headband and the gem itself glowed. He shut his eyes, focusing his own energy into her. After a moment, Leith opened his eyes wide and focused more on her. Camilia's hands began growing a set of fin-like webs, thin enough to give her the same amount of control and ability but strong enough to help propel her through the water.

"You should feel a cold weight in your chest." He said. "It'll pass in a moment." He pulled Camilia's shoes off her feet, and found that the webbing had flattened out her feet a bit, letting them retain their shape, but giving her ever more control. "Test your ability when you feel you can. Swimming in clothes is a bit difficult, I know." He went backward and flicked his tail. Camilia's hands and feet were both finished altering. Her lungs would be ready for both air and water by this point.

Camilia watched with wide eyes as her fingers lengthened slightly and webbing formed between them. In truth, it was rather unsettling to watch, in an unnatural kind of way, but she couldn't bring herself to look away until she felt the tingling in her feet. Her attention snapped to them as Leith took her shoes, but she didn't have a chance to really look because immediately after, an icy heaviness settled in her chest. It made her gasp just slightly.

"This feels so unnatural," she muttered as she wrapped her arms around herself for a moment, trying to get warm again. When she dipped her feet into the water, however, it didn't seem cold. It actually seemed... comfortable.

Leith went back to make room in the smaller area of the cove's pool. "Test your arms and legs." He said, nearly falling into a deeper area just outside. "When you go under, take a breath through your mouth first, as if you would with air." He went under, taking a breath and relishing in the unfiltered, flowing water. Coming back up, he watched from a good distance. "I've got complete faith in you." He said as she tentatively stepped into the water. "In this temporary form, you'll be able to adapt to swimming and breathing quickly. Soon it'll be as natural as walking on land."

He fell back and out of the cove, but with a swift look around found no one near to see down. He held onto one of the protruding rocks.

After a moment's hesitation, Camilia stripped off her overshirt and shimmied out of her jeans, leaving her in a cotton camisole and her underthings. She knew it would be easier to swim that way, and tried to placate herself by reminding herself that it was just like wearing a bathing suit, and she wasn't naked, after all. She still turned red, though, as she carefully climbed down into the water. She wasn't used to people seeing her in her underthings, even if she was still wearing a shirt over them. She just thanked any deity listening that she was wearing things darker than white.

Once she was in water up to her neck, though (and treading water better than she ever had before, that was a plus), she stopped.

"Are--are you sure this will work?" she asked. Because yes, she was afraid of drowning, and she was fighting against every human instinct there was, because they were all screaming at her that trying to breathe water meant death.

Leith rested his head on his arms. "Sure, I'm sure." He said. "I've done this for people before. Mostly wrongly convicted witches of the Colonies, who could believe in the merfolk without thinking they were insane." He moved forward in case she lost her balance. The ocean did tend to knock one off their feet, or fins, without warning. "Blow all the air from your lungs and duck under. It'll feel difficult, and a bit frightening at first, but you'll get the hang of it faster than you think. Just don't panic, it'll lead to... not good happenings, to put it generally."

He braced himself against the ocean waves. It seemed it was getting a bit frustrated with them and wanted them out of its cove.

Camilia hesitated a moment longer and took a few breaths as she fought with her resolve. Finally, she released the breath she'd taken and ducked under the surface. However, she didn't immediately take a breath of water. She tried to do so, but the instinct not to was very strong and she fought with it even as she felt the burn in her lungs as she ran out of oxygen. When she couldn't take it anymore, she broke the surface again.

"I can't do it," she gasped quietly. "I can't."

Leith moved forward and put a hand on Camilia's shoulder. "I know how difficult it is to override your instincts." He said. "It'll take a few tries. I promise, I won't tell you to do something that would hurt you. It'll burn a little at first, but that's just your body getting used to the new textures of your lungs, and your lungs getting used to the different medium."

He went back, but kept close enough to Camilia. "You can do it." He urged. "I've seen you work, you're very strong." He went down, and back up. The ocean called to him so loudly, but he fought the urge to fly out of the cove.

Camilia took a shaky breath. She wasn't at all sure she could do it, but it wasn't as if she could back out now. Before she could try to talk herself out of it again, she went back under the surface. Again, she didn't take a breath right away, but this time she stayed down a little longer, trying to force herself into it. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore, and took a gasping breath of water.

It choked her at first, and she had to grab onto a rock to keep from flailing herself back above the surface as she coughed and sputtered. It was a strange sensation; the water was a new presence in her body where water had no right to be, and even as her body tried to expel it, it wasn't drowning her like it should have been. After a few moments of helpless coughing and choking, her breathing became a bit more regular, if still shallow and ragged.

This time Leith went under with her, and watched her reactions. It didn't look promising at first, but a smile quickly appeared when she didn't go up immediately and reacted as he thought she would. Water was definitely a strange thing to inhale when someone never has before. He approached carefully when she seemed to calm. "I had faith in you." He said. "I'm glad you got it! You'll be able to hear me fine under the water. Sound travels easier here. Come on, out of the cove." With that, Leith went back and over the ledge separating the cove from the rest of the ocean.

Outside, Leith stretched his arms and tail, following the movements of dolphins as he flipped through the deeper water he hadn't felt in far too long. There were a few currents, but nothing he couldn't handle, and nothing that would be too difficult for Camilia.

Camilia followed him out of the cove, watching him carefully. His movements seemed to be much more efficient than hers were, so she tried to copy them. It took her a few tries to realize that the movements for the dolphin-kicks had to start in her shoulders, rather than her waist, but she managed to get it fairly quickly and she worked to catch up to him. That was about the point she ran into her second problem: water was much, much harder to move through than air, and she didn't have the endurance built up that she needed to swim for more than a few minutes at a time. It didn't take long for her to start lagging behind, even though she did try to keep up the pace.

The sun shone through the entire ocean, even deep down. When he wore himself down, Leith glanced back to find Camilia. She seemed to be taking it with ease at first, but began to struggle a bit. He froze, going back and taking her hand. "You can speak, you know." He informed. "It might be a bit difficult, but you'll get the hang of it." He kept hold of Camilia's hand and moved forward, not as swiftly as he had been, but as he moved, he brought air up from his internal reserve and funneled it through the thin holes in the top of his skull, speaking a universally known word of dolphin speak. It seemed one, or many more, had been passing near the deeper area they were above, and came up to meet the source of the voice.

It nudged Camilia as its entire pod joined the first, following along as they dove deeper, Leith holding onto Camilia's hand and dolphins periodically pushing them along and swimming along. They chattered and whistled to one another, bumping the two as they moved far away from the shores that had kept them both above the water until that point.

Camilia just gave him something of a Look and shook her head slightly. It still felt more than a little wrong to be breathing water, she wasn't going to make it worse by trying to speak. She did, however, jump when she was bumped by something. Her eyes widened when she saw the dolphin. She wasn't used to being so close to them; she hadn't been one of the dolphin handlers at the aquarium, after all. She was grateful for the pushes, though, even as she tried to fight back a bit of childish joy at being so close to the dolphins. And she thanked god that they weren't sharks.

Slowly, the trash of the dry land began fading away. Currents floated them along and the dolphins began taking to a different direction, having done their part. Camilia would be able to move a bit easier with the currents as they went outward, into the dark blue and down, the pressure periodically strengthening.

As the light from the surface became distorted ever more, so much that it seemed a bit like late evening rather than afternoon, Leith saw something in front of them. Brightly colored scales flashed in the quivering sunbeams, large, flat tails powerfully moving. One was dark green, and another, light yellow. They were approaching then, suddenly, as though they had noticed Camilia and Leith as well. “Guards!” Leith exclaimed, and almost went forward without remembering Camilia was with him. He steadied himself.

As they approached the guards that were coming at them, Leith glanced at Camilia. “Didn’t know they’d be this far out.” He told her. “Keep your hands down and look non-threatening.”

The guards were both men, one wearing a set of lightweight scale-like armor, the other carrying two large, heavy-looking and well-built spears made of obsidian, hinted with gold and a few gems. “Prince Leith!” The yellow-tailed guard exclaimed. “You’ve no idea how worried we’ve been!”

“I’m pretty sure I do.” Leith assured them. As the guards drew close enough to recognize someone other than a mermaid or merman was present, they stiffened. Leith raised a hand. “She’s a friend.” He said. “She got me free of my prison. I’ll tell you all when we’re back home, I promise.”

The guards glanced to one another, and nodded. “Then, come along. You may have forgotten where home is by now.” The green-tailed guard seemed to be joking, but his serious tone didn’t waver.

Camilia was still having some trouble keeping up with Leith. She just wasn't used to so much swimming at once, and she was tiring out quickly. She did, however, pause a moment when she saw the two figures coming closer. At this point, she had no idea what they could be, although she did feel just the slightest bit of awe when she realized that the two figures were a pair of mermen. It was one thing to know they existed, it was another to actually see them.

She flinched slightly when they noticed her, and didn't quite relax when Leith said she was a friend. No, now she was completely out of her depth, pardon the pun, and she wasn't about to relax just yet.

Leith glanced at Camilia every now and then on their way. She definitely wasn’t accustomed to swimming so deep down, or going so long using a lot of muscles that weren’t as necessary when one was simply walking or running. “We’re not far.” He assured her. True, they weren’t. The dolphins, plus the currents pushing them further out to sea, had shaved a lot of time off their arrival. Dry land was a past memory, save the occasional young island. They moved along the sea floor now, passing coral beds, anemones, and the fish that hid away inside their feelers.

The guards went upward, up a dune in the sand that began jutting upward, higher and higher, forming a massive underwater mountain. It was impossible to see where the high land began to curve. But the guards went around, then upward, and revealed a wide gate that looked to be able to fit several semi-trucks through at once. The gate was lifted, and the group was met by a series of guards. These guards flanked the arriving group with quick, respectful hellos to Leith and slightly wary glances at Camilia.

Through the huge cavern, which was lit by glowing jellyfish in transparent window-like areas that allowed them to come and go as they pleased, giving the place an odd bluish-yellow glow. They exited this tunnel to see a massive city reigning through a huge crater that seemed to be wide open to the ocean, but hidden by a sheer cliff on the other side, flanking the mountain. Merfolk flitted along laid-stone streets, visiting town squares and going about their business, their tails as brightly colored and diverse as their hair and jewelry, homes resembling those on dry land but built to withstand the saltwater erosion. A massive, ornate palace oversaw all the activity from a specific place right beside the cliff, as though it were built into it. Leith glanced to Camilia as they started down the main road, headed toward the palace with the group of guards.