Riley sighed as she leaned against the ledge of the pool and stared up at the clock mounted on the wall. She still did not understand the human means of tracking time, but for now, staring at the little red stick inside as it spun in slow circles was somewhat hypnotic.

She could not shake the prickling sensation creeping along her scales and it was starting to drive her crazy. She knew it was not just her – they were all anxious – but she did not like how quiet it had been. They had all been anticipating the scientists to take an avid interest in Karina and her baby, and with that their fragile peace would end because her family was no longer willing to play nice or risk their well-being. While Karina was still not going to be the most efficient fighter with her baby to protect, but she would be able to get around far easier now and Nero was not likely to leave her side.

But it had been mostly quiet after Karina’s labour. They had one handler coming and going. He was always accompanied by a guard who stood in the doorway with a prod at the ready but never spoke or properly entered the room. So far, the handler had been decent. He used the names Lemuria had given them and spoke down to them a little, but at least he responded if they spoke and had not been aggressive or grabby.

It could be worse, but she was far from happy. Riley sighed and lashed her tail. Her fins stirred the water around her and caused some of it to wash up over the lip of their cage. She knew she could leave the water if she wanted, but it was still just a room with a closed-door she was not allowed to leave through unless she wanted to shed blood over it – which she would if she got any tenser because the confinement was driving her mad – and the water was a more comfortable place to be, so its confines may as well define their barriers.

Baring her fangs at nothing in particular, Riley glowered straight ahead with an unwavering gaze on the door and wondered if she should just start a fight. It would not be hard and she knew the others would join her if she did, but it felt hasty. Hasty was fine for her usually, but there was a newborn infant, a recuperating mother, and inexperienced fighters now to think about, and that knowledge was the only thing holding her back.

At least there was no pressing claustrophobia. If they stayed in the room much longer, she knew it would start to feel too small and void of air, and that would cause her to panic, but it was fine for now. She was more just feeling on edge because of their predicament. She never was good at lingering in one place too long.

As she thought about it, Riley frowned. That was not entirely true. It had been many turns in this room now, but not near the amount she had spent comfortably, happily here. Turns she knew she could have spent easily at the other home, with the cove and the dock and all her family waving her off when she had to leave. All her life, Riley’s fins had itched to move, her heart ached for things new and different, and she had found herself exploring almost fervently. She had swum herself to exhaustion more than once over the cycles. It has always felt like she was searching for the next great thrill. But when she was with her family, that itch was dulled, soothed finally.

True, she still craved adventure and to expel energy, to swim far and fast, ride currents and leap into the air, and race among the various beings of the sea, but she had been granted reprieves from some dark bit of her being urging her forever forward, refusing to settle.

It brought a smile to her lips to remember the chess games – she really needed to force someone to play with her again soon – and Sophie’s kind smile, her warm embraces, and her unwavering adamance when it came to the well-being of her ‘ducklings’ as Katie had put it. She had meant every word she had said to the woman about finally feeling like she had a home and a family of her own. Her heart squeezed when her thoughts drifted to Lewis’ goofy grins and agonizingly long raves about things Riley did not fully understand but found herself retaining regardless. She had learned her lesson very early on not to ask Lewis clarifying questions as she could with Sophie or his ramblings would drag out even longer, but she knew he meant well. And he teased her. He poked playful fun and tussled with her, and she loved that. That he would joke around and just have fun, and that she could enjoy the feeling of a game that she did not have to win. Her competitive streak only rose so far to match Lewis, not overpower him. It was relaxing and revitalizing.

She thought back to one of the last things he had said about her when defending her against the woman who had done her x-rays. She wondered if he had meant them or merely said them in the moment. She had never known who her other parent was or what happened to them, but if how she felt around Lewis was what it felt like to have a father, then she wanted that again, desperately.

She missed them. Riley knew that was the real reason she was so on edge and unable to settle herself. She wanted out of this room so she could go find them. Her jaws parted as she drank in the air around her. Their scents still lingered, but they grew staler with every passing beat of her heart. They were far from her now. It was disorienting to stretch her senses for them, as though she were trying to scent through the ground or a thick cave wall. They were not near the water, and her body did not know how to gauge that. She wondered if this is what it had felt like for her aunt and uncle when Kera had gone missing. They had taken their daughter far away and to land, and likely very quickly. It probably felt like any trace of her had snapped away. It made Riley tense. She worried if Sophie and Lewis went too much further away from the water, she would lose sense of them too. It made her desperate to leave and get to them as quickly as possible, though she had not quite worked out how she would travel inland.

She heard the water ripple and split, and her Aunt Rebecca’s presence hung in her gills even before the woman wrapped an arm around Riley’s shoulders and leaned close. “It is not like you to be brooding like this. Is something wrong?”

Riley shrugged. “I am ready to be free of this place,” she said, carefully picking her words as she spoke.

“So am I,” her aunt agreed. “Ixion and I have spoken to Nero and Karina…it is time. But it is dangerous for us to simply charge the door. They have too many means of easily incapacitating us and our task becomes infinitely more difficult with each one downed. I will not leave anyone behind.”

Riley pursed her lips and nodded. “We have to remain together,” she acknowledged. “But perhaps we should add to our numbers.”

“What do you mean?”

Riley grinned and pointed to the clock on the wall. “I do not understand how humans track time or why they require it to be so precise, and I cannot read it, but I can recognize that every time both of the dark sticks – the long one and the short one – are aligned and pointing to the ground, our ‘handler’ comes back with food.”

Her aunt frowned. “How have you noticed that?”

Riley shrugged. “I have been paying attention to everything. It is not like there has been much else to do while we have been here. They come in other times – more random ones – if they want something different, but it is consistent when the sticks point down. I think we should ask them for their help,” she growled. Riley’s fins flicked and she curled her fingers into fists.

“Threaten them, you mean,” Rebecca clarified.

Riley nodded. “It would not be hard. The man is always accompanied by the guard. All we would need to do is gain control over the one and issue instructions to the other. I do not know if they are willing to sacrifice the life of our ‘handler’, someone more important would be more ideal, but I think we will have to settle for what we can get easily enough.”

“And are you prepared to end a life, Riley? That is very different from hunting a fish to fill your belly or defending yourself. We will be starting a fight.”

Riley hesitated. She had never taken a life in this way before. It was different from hunting or from defending herself or others when forced. This would be intentional and preplanned, and it sent a shiver up her spine and caused a prickling sensation in her gut. The man may still treat them more like talking animals than people, but he had not been cruel to them as some of the others had. He was decent enough and it would be a shame to end his life. “If I have to,” she decided finally. “But only if it comes to that.”

Her aunt quirked an eyebrow and drummed her fingers against the floor. “And if they call that bluff of yours?”

Riley hissed and lashed her fins. “Then I will make good on the claim and live with the consequences of that! What other choice do we have? Do you have a better idea?”

Aunt Rebecca squeezed her shoulder and shook her head. “No,” she replied. “But that is too heavy a burden to put on yourself, Riley. You are still so young, do not be hasty, alright? We will navigate those waters if we must.”

“I am not a child anymore. I have not been for a long, long time now.”

At first, her aunt did not say anything, so Riley glanced up into her face. Aunt Becca’s lips were pressed into a thin line and her brows were furrowed, but her dark eyes glittered with sympathy that made Riley tense. “That from the Mer sitting up here alone and down because she misses her mother,” she countered softly. “You have grown, Riley, I am not denying that, and I am incredibly proud of you. But in many ways, you are a child, you are still searching for the love and comfort you never felt you got, and this task is too weighty. I will not allow you to sacrifice that part of yourself for this. You are probably the best of us to subdue the man who brings food, you have more ferocity and experience with moving on land, but if it comes to biting down, I will do it for you.”

Riley’s jaws parted, but her attempt to protest faltered as her aunt gave her a firm look. She was not willing to debate it and while it felt weak; part of Riley felt incredibly relieved. “Thank you,” she caved.

Her aunt nodded. “Go below. We should all get some rest if we are going to do this when they next return.”

Riley nodded. She did not need further prompting. The conversation had left her a little unsettled and she was not sure how to feel about it. She knew her plan had a few holes in it, but she was also confident it was their best chance.

She felt a little better once she was below the water, and she took a moment to observe her surroundings. Nero was sitting on the floor of the pool with Karina leaned against him. He had his arm wrapped around her and they were conversing with her uncle Ixion, who was leaned against the wall of the pool with Luna sprawled across his tail. He was petting her hair the way Katie had shown him.

Riley turned to look for Katie, since she was not with the others, and found her curled up on the floor a ways away. Riley frowned. The other girl had been spending more time alone than she probably should be lately. Without thinking about it, Riley dove deeper to check on her, and found her tense and shaking. Her eyes were closed and her face scrunched up into a grimace. She was having a bad dream. “Katie,” Riley called as she reached her. She placed a hand on the other Mer’s shoulder and shook her gently. “Katie, wake up.”

“Huh-wha?” Katie slurred as her eyes opened and she sat up. She looked around in confusion. “Oh…Riley…thank you,” she murmured.

“We have a plan,” Riley announced instead of replying. She did not want Katie feeling any worse about the bad dream, so she decided to just move on from it for now. “I am going to need your help with it.”

“My help?” Katie’s words were still a little slurred, so Riley waited a moment for her to wake up a little further. It was rather amusing to watch Katie’s eyes widen as she finally processed exactly what had been said. “Okay, yes,” she agreed. “What do you need me to do?”

Riley shrugged. “You would know better than I would, but we are going to stage a small…protest. Be our negotiator?” Riley felt her lips curl into a wicked grin and she lifted her chin defiantly in Katie’s direction. It was time to show these people that Mer were not pets.

“I can manage that,” Katie agreed. “Are you going to need an extra set of teeth as well?”

It took Riley a few heartbeats to figure out what Katie was asking, but once she did, she smiled and nodded. “Yes, as many as I can get. Just not yours.”

Katie’s own smile faltered as Riley spoke, replaced with a frown. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I need warriors who can actually win battles,” Riley teased. She stuck her tongue out between her teeth and blew some bubbles in Katie’s face.

“Riley, I can hold my own!” Katie protested.

“Against a couple of sardines, perhaps,” Riley countered.

Katie huffed and Riley saw the muscles in her tail bunch. “I will prove it to you,” Katie declared before she launched herself forward and tackled Riley.

Riley grinned eagerly and rolled backwards with the blow. She spun and whapped Katie on the back with her tailfins, which seemed to startle her friend because Katie’s sail flared and the girl sighed in annoyance. Taking advantage of Katie’s momentary distraction, Riley darted to the side and crashed back into her. She flipped Katie over so her back was flat against the pool and dropped her weight down on the other Mer.

“This is not what I would call winning,” Riley taunted as she pinned her.

Katie huffed and bubbles shot from her gills. She lashed her tail and strained against Riley, but could not squirm free. Riley’s smirk deepened.

“One day,” Katie vowed. “I will win one of these days.”

“Perhaps,” Riley agreed. She stuck her tongue out. “Keep trying, anyway. It is good practice for you. It takes a long time to perfect successfully losing a fight.”

“You are terrible,” Katie muttered. “Now let me up.”

Riley shook her head. “You want up, get up,” she countered.

Katie scowled and bucked against her, but Riley refused to budge. She knew Katie could hold her own in a fight. She had the skill and the strength, she just seemed to hesitate on how to utilize it. She wanted Katie to get frustrated enough to realize her own strength.

Then they were interrupted as another weight flopped down on Riley’s back. If she had not been bracing her weight already, the combined would have squashed Katie. Luna sighed lazily as she peeked up over Riley’s shoulder. “Is Riley being mean?” she inquired.

“Yes!” Katie puffed.

“Oh, good, because that means we have a reason to make mischief back and I will not get scolded for it,” Luna declared.

Riley decided not to wait for them to design some battle plan and instead tucked her head, bucked her tail, and flung Luna over her to flop onto Katie, who wheezed. She sat up and left them to sort themselves out.

“You are doing her no favours interrupting like that, Luna,” Riley scoffed. “I am trying to teach her to fight.”

Luna grinned cheekily and leaned back on her hands. Her sapphire scales twinkled in the light from above and she flicked her fin so that the tips snapped near Riley’s nose. “I had to help my sister,” she argued playfully.

“I appreciate the help,” Katie agreed.

“Yes, well, Aunt Becca did want us to start settling down. Even I will agree we should all be well-rested if we are going to stir a ruckus.”

Luna’s smile faltered as Riley spoke. The pink of her bottom lip disappeared as she sucked it between her teeth and chewed on the thin flesh. “We are going to cause trouble?”

Riley nodded. “Yes. It is time now. But do not fret little cousin; we are ready and we have a plan. All you have to do is look scary.”

Katie gently elbowed Luna. “You can do that,” she assured her. “You have done it plenty of times before. We are all going to stick together and be proactive about getting free, right Riley?” she added.

Riley dipped her head. “Get some sleep, Luna. Do not fear what is to come.”

Luna sighed and pushed herself off of the ground, but she stopped when Katie noticeably deflated. Riley frowned. Katie had been holding a lot in, and it was obvious that she was floundering with all the changes that kept happening around her, but she could not understand why the violet Mer would not just admit that she was feeling lonely.

Luna weaved back around and rubbed up against Katie’s side. “I think maybe I will stay here…if that is okay?”

Katie smiled. “It is always okay, Luna,” she reminded. “You do not ever even have to ask. But you do not have to stay; I know you have been sleeping better over with your parents, you should enjoy their company.”

“I do,” Luna agreed. She plopped down nuzzled into Katie’s side. “But I miss yours.”

“But what about your family?”

Riley leaned back on her hands to watch the scene unfold as her aunt dropped a hand on Katie’s head, which elicited a startled yelp from her. “Katie, the rest of us do have this amazing ability to move, you know. We do not have to be stationary.” She settled in on Katie’s other side and tucked some of Katie’s hair back behind her ear. “I have wanted to give you a little space since you just lost the members of your family and I did not want you to feel pressured to be comfortable with ours, but I do not like how lonely you have looked the past few turns.”

Katie averted her gaze and slumped. “I did not want to intrude,” she admitted.

“We suspected.” Riley looked up as her uncle swam over them and dropped down beside Luna. “But you are family and it is no intrusion. We do not wish to come between a pre-existing bond between the two of you.”

“Oh, are we piling?” Karina called. She was swimming over to them and towing a rather reluctant looking Nero. It made Riley snicker. She knew Nero was fine in all of their presence, but he was never one for larger scale communal cuddling. Seemed he was going to get a taste of it either way because Karina happily sprawled out on the floor by the ends of everyone’s tails, and had him at her back heartbeats later.

Now she was the only one not curled up into a pile with the others, and while normally she would make a joke or pretend not to be interested, Riley knew that Katie needed this; to see that they were a united group and that she was welcome among them regardless of her origins, so she pushed off the floor and swam around the far side until she was at Katie’s head, where she purposefully flicked her fins to stir the girl’s hair into her face.

Though it earned her a glower, Riley only chuckled in response and settled in so that when Katie actually reclined, her tail would be in the way.

When Katie’s brows furrowed, Riley shrugged and stuck her tongue out. “You have already done it once,” she teased. She enjoyed the way Katie’s face flushed at the comment and the way her fangs bared.

“That was an accident,” she protested.

Riley’s grin widened. “I know,” she agreed. “But we are all gathering together and I will be left to the outskirts unless I sleep here or drape myself over you all, and I believe this will be far more comfortable for all of us.”

Katie looked like she wanted to argue further, but Riley merely shifted her weight and sprawled out. While Katie sighed, Luna did not hesitate to flop down on Riley’s tail. Riley shook her head. Luna grew more mischievous every day and Riley now supposed she knew how Nero had felt putting up with her all those cycles. She chuckled softly and closed her eyes.

Eventually, Katie did lie down too, and then it really did feel like a warm pile of bodies with steady heartbeats and calm waters. Things were going to dissolve into chaos soon, and even Riley had to admit this was exactly what they all needed first.

Katie was the first to start purring. The sound resonating from her chest was deep and it seemed like she could not hold it back even if she wanted to. It infected Luna next, then Karina and Nero, and her aunt. When her uncle began to purr, Riley lost the battle with the internal desire to match them, and she did.

She was not sure if the scientists were watching them or trying to listen in at all – they had all been very careful to avoid using English so they could not be understood – but if they were, she almost wondered what they would make of this. She supposed she did not truly care. They would prove who they really were soon enough.