Mature Content Warning: There is a lot of snuggling cuddling and overt emotional angstiness in this chapter. If emotions and sad mermaids who need a hug offend you, please die in a fire.

Author's Notes: This chapter is really more of an extension of the last chapter. Sadly, that means that it is much shorter than I would have liked, but it really helps to show a little of what can happen to a girl after she is rescued from her nightmare.

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Chapter 7: Why?

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Soft blue eyes, both hopeful and accusing, gazed out between slender fingers. The heart of a young girl is a mysterious thing. Did this beautiful creature believe that she was truly hidden?

Scott leaned over slightly and the mermaid made a soft cry before closing her eyes again. He was heartened by her choice not to run away, but at a loss regarding what to do about her shyness. She could not possible be useful in a fight like this, and it would be difficult to get to know her better while she was too terrified to even look at him.

He thought about the situation for a moment and then, as his training had taught him, he reflected on how their initial bond had formed. During her chaotic time immediately following the defeat of her nightmare form, she had been shy but frisky. She had seemed extremely interested in physical interaction.

The hunter slowly nodded after a moment. He believed that he had found the key. Scott glanced over at the mermaid then did something that he would normally not do to someone he did not know, or who seemed reluctant in his presence. He slid over and gave her a hug.

“Kyaaa!” screamed the girl. She started to writhe and wriggle, like a fish fighting to be free of a hook or net.

Scott did not speak, he merely held on gently. After a brief moment her movements calmed, but she gulped in air like a fish out of water.

“W-what are you going to do to me?” she asked softly. Her voice was laced with panic and a hint of excitement.

“I’m already doing it.” said Scott simply.

She gasped and panted a little more. Her cheeks, hair, and tail were bright red at the moment. Still, she did not fight his embrace.

Despite the fact that she was a fish, her body gave off a lot of heat. For a moment, Scott wondered if she was broiling inside.

The Caesg gasped and panted, his simple embrace had set off a firestorm of emotion within the painfully shy girl. Yet, she could not make herself force him away. His strong, gentle, arms felt nice. The sensation of his flat masculine chest resting against her back made her feel strangely warm and safe.

She looked down then closed her eyes. “Why are you doing this to me...?”

There was no accusation in her tone. Scott felt that she was merely curious, though she had said it in a half-choked manner. He spoke honestly. “I want to get to know you better, but I was scaring you. So, I wanted you to know that I am not as frightening as I seem.”

“Yes, you are...” she whispered. Her panting slowed a bit, however.

“What’s so frightening about me?” he asked her in a gentle tone.

She sniffled a little, as though she was about to cry. “Everything....”

The mermaid girl was lying down on her stomach. Scott chose to move a little and positioned his entire body atop hers. She wriggled a little in response, but did not try to move away. He did not force his arms underneath her. He simply allowed his weight to lie atop her while he hugged her as best he could in the situation.

He tail flapped up and down a little and she turned her head to the side. “What are you doing now...?”

Scott had straddled her decidedly beautiful rear end, and then rested his upper body on her back. “What would you like for me to do?”

She bit her lip a little then closed her eyes again. She did not say anything, but her tail flapped in a slightly erratic manner and her lower body wriggled gently.

“You’re warm.” said Scott.

Her eyes opened slightly and she giggled softly. However, she realized what she had done. The surprising response frightened her a little. She gasped at her sudden boldness and then closed her eyes tightly once more. If she closed them, he could not see her. That was how it worked, right?

“Am I hurting you?” asked Scott.

“Yes...” she answered quickly.

Scott smiled. He doubted that she was in real pain, but he would continue with that line of thought. “Do you want me to get off of you?”

She did not answer for a full minute but when she did, she said, “...No.”

Scott thought about her sweet response for a moment. She had her arms under her body with her hands forward so that she could hide her eyes if she needed to do so. It was adorable, as far as he was concerned, but he had to make a choice. Did he press the issue? Did he hold position and wait for an opening so that he could strike? One wrong move could set them back quite a bit.

The hunter reviewed their first meeting once more. She had enjoyed his sweet thoughts, but had sent back a desire for physical intimacy. He had responded by sending back an image of him in a dominant position. His mental image had been gently but authoritative.

“If you don’t want me to get off of you, stretch your arms out and reach toward the end of the bed.” said Scott.

She whimpered gently in protest and then made a cute little strangled noise. However, Scott started to make good on his threat. He began to lift up off of her back.

The shy girl whimpered once more. “No...”

“No, what?” asked Scott softly.

She sniffled a little and then slowly shifted her weight. Her hands slipped forward a little, as though she was still uncertain. Finally, she removed them from beneath her entirely. She stretched them forward as far as they would go.

Scott pressed down against her once more and she sniffled again. He smiled then nuzzled against her. He had his answer. His new friend had made it clear that she what she needed was for him to take charge of the situation, to bring her out of her shell formed by shyness. However, he had to do it slowly. She had to be allowed to make the decision to accept him.

They did nothing for a short time. Scott continued to hold position, and the unnamed Caesg continued to have a bright red tail. When the hunter made his next move it was slow and deliberate. He also announced it in advance. “I am going to kiss your shoulder.”

“W-why...?” she asked. The girl began to tremble softly. A boy was going to kiss her?

“If you don’t want me to do it, just tell Me.” he said with a smile upon his lips.

She sniffed a little, and trembled. Her outstretched hands curled into cute little fists, but she said nothing.

Scott slowly leaned forward and took his time while he kissed her shoulder. His lips parted and pressed down in deliberate manner that caused her to whimper once more. The man was surprised a moment later when her lower body bucked and writhed a little and she gasped loudly then unleashed a cute little cry.

A strange scent permeated the air and he glanced back to see that the bed sheets were rapidly becoming stained. It took him a moment to realize what had happened, but when he did his eyes widened in surprise. She had just had a powerful, but discrete orgasm, from a simple kiss on the shoulder. This girl was not just painfully she, she was a high-explosive that needed careful handling or she would go off at any moment.

She trembled and gasped for air. Her eyes opened slightly but they held a glassy, unfocused, gaze.

Scott gave her a moment to enjoy her first Lucid orgasm then whispered into her ear. “I am going to kiss you again, but only if you pick where you want me to kiss.”

She whimpered then bit her lip. She shook her head a little in response. The girl refused to go through that again.

“If you don’t pick a place, I won’t kiss you again...” he said gently.

She made a strangled cry and whispered something that sounded like, “So unfair...”

“I guess you don’t like me... It’s, OK... I should probably go run some errands anyway... I should get ready to go.” said Scott.

Her eyes widened further as she realized the implications of his statement. He was going to leave. That meant that he would need to get up. This, whatever it was, was going to end. “Go... No, don’t...”

Scott smiled slightly and waited a moment, as though he were considering his options. After a brief moment of false-consideration he said, “If you want me to stay, tell me where you want me to kiss you.”

She whimpered gently in response. Scott started to get up, and this time she did not say anything. Reluctantly, he continued. Eventually, he was sitting up while straddling her lightly scaled posterior.

The girl started to tremble and then made a soft complaint. “It’s cold.”

Scott placed his hands on her back then gently ran them along her trembling form. She gasped gently and fanned her tail a little, but did not say anything negative. Scott said, “I won’t pressure you, further.”

She whispered softly, “It’s, OK...”

“Is it? You do not know me. Yet, I held you close and even kissed you.” said the hunter. He smiled down at the girl. As far as he was concerned, they had made a lot of progress already.

“I don’t mind...” said the Caesg.

“Are you sure? I should probably avoid doing that sort of thing in the future.” he said.

She shook her head a little then said, “No, no... It is fine. You don’t have to stop.”

It was time to press the issue a little. He had no desire to force more physical contact than he already had, but he did need to further their connection. “I don’t know... You won’t even look at me, right now...”

She became deathly still for a moment. Scott could see the tension in her back and shoulders. Nearly a minute passed before she started to wriggle. “You’re too heavy...”

Scott slid off of her waist and she rolled over in a slow, deliberate, way. She looked up at the ceiling and panted gently.

Her beautiful chest rose and fell as she gasped for air. For a moment, her master became fearful that she was having a heart attack. Her body may be a manifestation of her will, but it reacted like it was completely natural.

Slowly, she turned her eyes toward Scott. She panted a little while she looked at him.

He smiled gently at the girl then stretched out his hand. It took her a brief moment to realize what he wanted. However, she did realize the truth. She lifted her hand and gently placed it atop his. It was the first deliberate contact that she had made with him.

Scott smiled at the girl once more then placed his other hand atop hers. He clasped her hand between his hands and then nodded.

Timidly, she nodded at him as well then instinctively looked away. They had a long road to travel, but it seemed that the painfully shy girl had slowly begun to accept that the boy, who had freed her from her Nightmare, was actually not so scary after all. After that timid, tenuous acceptance, several short but sweet things happened.

Soon, a few hours had passed since the Caesg had reached out to her master. Since then, they had slowly become more comfortable with each other. Currently, they were propped up against the headboard of the bed. She sat in Scott’s lap, and leaned back against him. It was easier to be close to him when she did not have to look at him directly. She fanned her tail and sighed softly. It felt nice, if scary, to be held in this way.

Scott nuzzled his cheek against her ear and she smiled. “Is this so bad?” asked the man.

“No.” she said simply. It was not bad at all. They had spent a few hours together today and she already felt much more comfortable with him. He had been confident, but gentle.

There were questions weighing on her mind, however. Over the course of the last few hours he had constantly said things like, “He wanted to know her better.” and “He thought that they could be good friends.”

She did not understand why he wanted to do either thing. She did not know him, and did not know why he wanted to know her better. So, she asked him. “Why...?”

“Hmm?” asked Scott.

“Why, why do you want to know me better?” she asked. It had been hard to speak those words. They had barely spoken the entire time that they had been together. Well, she had barely spoken.

Scott caressed her stomach a little and her face began to heat up a little more. He was silent for a moment; he had to choose his words carefully. Finally, he said, “There are several reasons. At first, it was mostly due to the fact that it is my duty to help girls like you.”

“Your duty? What do you mean?” She tilted her head to the side then leaned back.

Her head fins came dangerously close to hitting his eye, but Scott did not make a fuss about it. He wanted to keep her calm. “I am a hunter. My job is to go out into the wilderness and find girls like you, girls who are trapped inside themselves and free them from their Nightmare.”

She thought about that for a moment and then nodded slowly. “I see. That is nice of you, but... Why do you want to get to know me, better?”

“In order to do my work, I have to have a team of people who are capable of fighting alongside me. You seem like you can become strong enough to help a lot of those girls. Getting to know you better, would allow me to evaluate your potential.”

“So, you want to get to know me better just because of your job?” she asked. There was a deep sadness in her voice.

“No, that was what caused me to be interested initially. It did not take me long to want to know more about you for other reasons.” said Scott.

“What other reasons?” she asked quickly.

Scott ran his fingers gently along her stomach tracing the curves of her abdominal muscles. She shuddered softly then wiggled against him. “Well, there are several. You are a sweet girl, and sensitive. You were so shy that I just wanted to hug you till you squeaked. You’re very pretty...”

Her tail turned bright red and she started to gasp for air as he rattled off a list of various things that he liked about her. Even though they had spent only a short time together, he seemed to pretty much like everything about her and she did not know how to react to that sort of overall acceptance.

She loved hearing about the things that he liked about her, but she was fearful about hearing more at the moment. She chose to change the subject. “Why are you a hunter?”

“Why?” asked Scott, a hint of confusion in his voice.

“Yes... It must be dangerous. I can’t remember much, but I do recall a fight with someone before I woke up here.” she said.

“Oh, I don’t mind the danger. It’s necessary and a good thing. Crystallim girls they need help, I like to help them.” he said.

She tilted her head a little then asked again, “Why?”

Scott thought about it for a moment then nodded. “It must be very lonely for them. I know what that is like, so I want to help those girls. If I don’t help them, and other hunters don’t help them, who will?”

She nodded slightly. She did not remember much about her Nightmare state, but she did recall that she was always alone. Memories, discordant and fragmented memories, existed within her. She could recall sitting on the shore of the lake while looking up at the moon high above. There was nothing there for her but darkness and the moon. No one spoke to her. No one visited her. No one cared for her.

She sniffled a little and then her eyes began to tear up. Soon, she openly sobbed and started to shake. Memories of her loneliness slipped through her consciousness. Hot tears flowed down her cheeks and she sniffed loudly.

Her eyes widened when two strong arms wrapped tightly around her and held her close. She began to pant a little once more, but managed to ask, “W-what are you doing?”

“Reminding you that you are not alone.” said Scott softly.

Her eyes widened completely for a moment then closed tight. Her face screwed into an agonized expression and the tears came harder than before. Her entire body became racked with sobs and violent trembling.

Scott held her and said nothing. He did not try to tell her it would be alright. He did not try to analyze her pain. He simply held her. Every Crystallim who was rescued from the Nightmare state had a different method of coping with their memories. Some repressed them. Some became depressed. Other girls might be angry or become openly sexual as a means of trying to avoid their old lives altogether. This unnamed girl became sad and emotionally distressed.

She hiccup sadly then rolled over and hugged Scott. She pressed her face against his and made little sniffling noises as she clung to him for emotional support.

Scott rearranged his hug and then lightly caressed her back. Several minutes passed in that tender embrace before either of them spoke again.

“Thank you...” she said softly, almost too softly for Scott to hear.