Though she was exhausted from such a long and emotional day, especially one with such a stressful and terrifying encounter, Marlow did not sleep long. She woke groggily to tremors against her side. She blinked a few times to clear the blur from her vision and twisted her head to find Nix’s face scrunched up. The other mer was shivering and her expression was contorted. Her gills were flaring heavily and bubbles were popping on her slightly parted lips as she panted weakly and rapidly, as if she could not get enough breath from the water around them.

The black and white mer looked so frail that Marlow pushed herself upright to better examine her injured friend. She glanced first at Nix’s injuries. They had not bled through the bindings and Delthor had assured her that injuries clotted easily for their kind and that Nix could fully recover if she survived the venom and avoided infection, but Marlow needed to check regardless. It was more likely the poison in the apex’s bite that was affecting Nix.

“Nix,” Marlow murmured. There was a thicker shimmer to Nix’s skin than Marlow had seen when they were down with the vivikneire, so she placed both hands on Nix’s back and began to rub her fingers over her friend’s skin in hopes of driving away the venom-induced numbness. When her friend did not stir, Marlow called her name just a little louder, then glanced around. Delthor had remained nearby, curled up in the sand, so Marlow called for him just a little louder than she had for Nix.

Delthor appeared to be in a deeper slumber, with bubbles drifting lazily from his gills and there was a steady, even rise and fall to his chest. He did not initially stir.

“Delthor!” Marlow tried again, her voice echoing through gritted teeth.

Delthor grunted and his slate eyes finally opened. It took a moment for his gaze to register on her, but when it did, he bolted upright. “Marlow, is something wrong?”

“I do not think Nix is doing too well,” Marlow whimpered. “But I cannot wake her. What do we do?”

Marlow had barely finished speaking before Delthor was up and beside them. He hovered over Nix with his lips twisted into a frown. He brushed his fingers down Nix’s back and called her name. “She is having another nightmare. The venom is growing stronger.”

“Should it not be getting weaker?” Marlow inquired. She did not know much about how venom worked, but it had been at least half the night since Nix had been envenomated, so if it had not killed her, that had to mean she was fighting it off.

But Delthor shook his head. “It will fester for a while still. The longer it sets in, the worse it will get. If Nix is strong enough, the poison will begin to break down, but it has not yet reached its peak.”

Nix’s breathing was still frantic and wheezy, and despite both her and Delthor keeping contact with their sick friend, Nix’s skin still had a strong blurr to it. She was growing number faster than they could stave it off. “What do we do? Should I get Grongo?”

Marlow watched with bated breath as Delthor pursed his lips and continued to hover over Nix. Instead of answering, Delthor placed his hand on Nix’s lower back and began pressing two fingers up against the bottom ridge of her dorsal fin, where it met Nix’s back. Marlow frowned as she watched. She had been a mer long enough to know that the top ridge of her own dorsals tended to itch and felt really nice to have rubbed because they were hard to reach. At least, the one on her back was, just like Nix’s. The one lower on her tail could be reached if she twisted awkwardly enough. But she had no idea how that helped Nix now.

“What are you doing?” she finally asked.

Delthor sighed as the tense silence shattered like glass against a rock. “Trying to wake her,” he muttered.

“That usually makes me sleepy,” Marlow admitted.

Delthor shook his head and brought his free hand around to Marlow’s back. As soon as his fingers began to press against the bottom of Marlow’s dorsal, she began to squirm away from him. Where he applied pressure, pain sparked down Marlow’s back. Not enough to truly hurt her, but it felt quite similar to stubbing her toe or pinching her finger in a door.

“Oh,” she acknowledged as she batted his hand away as politely as she could and shook herself to rid the lingering unpleasant sensation from her back.

A moment later, Nix began to groan softly. Her lips twisted into a grimace and her nose scrunched up. Then her normally bright blue eyes blinked open. Except now they were glazed and dull, and they rolled shakily in her head as she tried to shift.

Delthor placed his palm between her shoulders to push her back down. “Be still, Nix.”

“Delsor?” Nix slurred.

“You need to stay awake for a bit,” Delthor urged. “The venom is getting worse.”

“Hmmm?” Though her expression was still twisted up into a pained grimace, there was a giggle in Nix’s voice.

Delthor held a hand up in front of her face with three of his fingers extended up. “Nix, how many fingers am I holding up?” he demanded. Marlow felt her heart squeeze as the waver in Delthor’s tone. He was really worried.

Nix stared at his hand for a moment before a sloppy smile stretched across her lips and she raised up four fingers instead of three. “I…do…too,” she mumbled. Her behaviour was reminding Marlow of when her father had a bit too much to drink after supper. It was as if Nix were drunk. Really drunk.

“Go get Grongo,” Delthor decided. “He will not sleep tucked away after everything that has happened. Even if he is resting, he will be in the main cavern.”

Marlow dipped her chin and pushed off the floor. She raced out of the nook and down towards the central hub of the mer cave. Delthor’s prediction was correct, and Marlow found the older mer hovering in the water above two others. One was tending to a few minor injuries and Marlow guessed was probably learning how to heal. The mer did look a little younger than Marlow, though not by much, so it would not surprise her.

“Grongo?” she called hesitantly. The injuries did not look serious, but she did not want to risk spooking either of the medical mer in case she interrupted something important. “We need you to come up to the upper ring…Nix is not doing very well. She has become delirious.”

“Stay here,” Grongo told the other mer before he rose and turned to Marlow. He gestured for her to go and Marlow did not hesitate. She was glad that he followed immediately. Her few interactions with Delthor so far had left her feeling rather intimidated by the older mer, but Nix needed his help, so she was glad the interaction had gone seamlessly.

When they got back up to where Nix was resting, Delthor had her leaned against him with his arm draped over her dorsal and his opposite hand holding her arm. She was shaking so badly that he appeared to be having a hard time keeping a proper grip on her. A grimace was twisted onto his pale gray face and the tension in his body made the vertical stripes down his face and torso seem to sharpen.

Grongo approached and hovered over both of them before pressing the back of his hand to Nix’s brow. “Has she eaten anything?”

“No,” Delthor reported. “I brought her something when she first awoke, but she was out again before I could get her to eat. She seemed coherent at the time, but now…”

“She is going to need food.”

Delthor nodded and propped Nix up. There seemed to be a silent conversation going on between the two because Grongo settled in and grabbed Nix by the upper arm to hold her steady while Delthor squirmed free to where he had clearly left some fish in case Nix woke with an appetite.

“Nix, how do you feel?” Grongo pressed.

Nix’s usually vivid eyes were now dull and glazed as she turned her head to look at him. Every motion was sluggish and she was still shaking. The quiver followed into her voice as she spoke. “Lemacur, yurar qena. Pel’i.”

“Nix! Speak properly,” Grongo scolded.

“There is no use, Grongo, she slipped into it just after Marlow left to fetch you. I have not been able to break her from it. I do not even think she is speaking properly. It is all gibberish,” Delthor reported as he returned.

Both he and Grongo focused their gazes on Marlow, who frowned and shook her head. “I do not know the language,” she refused. “Nix has been using a little bit of it around me, but I have only learned a couple of words…I think…I think ‘pel’i’ is ‘nightmare’ though.”

Delthor nodded as he got himself situated once more and gathered Nix back into his arms. He was cradling her more delicately this time as he held a fish scrap up to her lips. “She knows she has been envenomated. Trying to tell us about the nightmares would make sense but she is not numb, just…whatever this is. Nix, come on, you have to eat something.”

Nix was trying to turn her head away from the fish, but Delthor was practically forcing it into her mouth. If it were not so horrifying, Marlow may have laughed at the mental comparison to her mother trying to force a few vegetables into Fae. Her younger sister hated her greens.

Nix was grumbling and squirming much the way her sister would, but unlike Fae who would have spat it out, once the meat was in her mouth, Nix reluctantly chewed and swallowed, though Delthor had to fight her on each bite. “Even when you can barely move or speak straight, you still find a way to be stubborn and foolish,” Delthor complained as he wrestled with her.

“She has a fever,” Grongo announced. “I imagine that is agitating the effects of the venom and causing this delirium. Nix has always had poorer body regulation and usually just a bit too warm.”

“Is there any way that we can cool her off?” Marlow inquired. “I know the water gets colder when you go deeper, but are there any…I do not know…cold spots or anything?”

“None that we could easily or safely transport her to while she is like this,” Delthor replied.

“Keep her steady, Delthor,” Grongo ordered. “I need a few supplies, her wounds will need to be tended to. There is little I can do for the delirium other than try to treat the fever. She will have to snap out of it on her own.”

After Grongo left, Nix began to stir more. Delthor had his hands full trying to keep her still. At least she was not lashing her tail much, though by the grimace warping her lips Marlow assumed the pain was keeping her from completely thrashing about. But Marlow was still concerned that her delirious friend might reopen the deep wounds on her tail.

“Marlow? Marlow?” There was a slur to Nix’s voice and she began to fuss even more as she began looking around. Marlow had not moved out of sight, so it was frightening.

Marlow reached out and grabbed Nix’s tail right at the base of her fin and gently pushed it down against the rock it was elevated on in hopes of stilling it before Nix agitated her injuries. “I am right here, Nix. Settle down, okay?”

Nix froze and redirected her attention to Marlow. They stared at each other for a few moments in complete silence before Nix fell slack against Delthor and beckoned with her wrist. “Marlow. Ryila, ryila,” she urged.

Though Marlow did not know the word Nix was using, her gesture was clear, so Marlow approached and settled in directly next to Delthor. Nix raised a hand, so Marlow reached out and took it. Since Delthor was still fighting to get Nix to eat a little more, she decided to try to help. “Nix, you have to eat or you are not going to feel better.” But it was clear that Nix was not truly listening to her, so Marlow wracked her brain for one of the black and white mer’s ice words. She knew Nix had used a word for eating in the past and maybe the language would help break through the fog better than their current efforts. She took the fish off of Delthor and held it up to her friend’s face. “Nix, niriakatar.”

Instantly, Nix’s expression fell. Her smile slipped and her dark brows furrowed, darkening her bright blue gaze, and her head tilted to one side. She glanced between Marlow and the fish and then finally spoke again. “Niriakuraqtar?” she questioned.

Marlow flushed upon realizing the reaction had come from her mispronouncing the word, but she nodded and repeated Nix’s version back as best she could in confirmation. After another moment of silence, Nix reached out and accepted the food, and began to eat on her own, so Marlow relaxed with a sigh. Now that her focus was on consuming the offered meal, Nix had settled down properly. Though Marlow had seen Nix behave recklessly or with a bit of a hot head in the past, she had never seen her look so disoriented and small.

When she finished her meal, Nix returned her attention to Marlow. She stretched out a hand and curled her fingers around Marlow’s before giving them a squeeze. “Ito matikaye, Marlow. Ito matikaye.”

Marlow shook her head. “I do not understand.”

Nix pulled her closer and Marlow found herself pinned in an embrace, half-leaned against Delthor too. He did not seem to mind, but she still felt bad that he was supporting the bulk of both her and Nix’s weight now. “Ito matikaye, fuim picurn.”

As soon as Nix spoke the last word, Delthor stiffened and it made Marlow tense. “What did you just say?” Delthor demanded. His tone was low and Marlow immediately pulled back from the anger in his body language.

His tone drew Nix’s attention too and she angled her head up to look at him. “Delthor?”

He pointed at Marlow. “What did you just call her?”

Marlow was not sure how much Nix was actually understanding them at the moment, but she followed where he indicated and when she focused on Marlow once more, she smiled. “Fuim picurn,” she reiterated.

“Has she called you that before?” Delthor inquired. A lot of his anger seemed to have fled as suddenly as it came on, but he spoke with a sigh and just seemed weary now.

Marlow nodded. “I have not heard ‘fuim’ before, but picurn, yeah. I do not know what it means though, she will not tell me when I ask. Is it something bad?”

But Delthor did not reply. Before he had a chance, Grongo returned with a few waterlogged leaves that were so dark a green they looked black in the low lighting. They certainly did not look very appetizing to Marlow, but Grongo held them out to Nix and shook them expectantly. “Eat this.”

Nix eyed the offering for a moment before her nose wrinkled and she shook her head. “Angu.”

“Now, Nix,” Grongo pressed on.

Nix sighed heavily and accepted the leaves. She stuffed them in her mouth and chewed with a twisted grimace. When she finally swallowed, she snorted bubbles from both her mouth and nose.

A satisfied nod from Grongo followed and then the older mer leaned over Nix’s tail. “Delthor, try to hold her still,” he advised. “And Marlow, you should go now. Find another nest and get some rest.”

Marlow opened her mouth to protest, but Grongo shook his head. “Do not argue. You have had just as long and stressful a day and need to rest, and Nix prioritizes your well-being over her own. Your presence will only be a hindrance right now. Come back in the morning.”

At first, Marlow wanted to protest. It did not seem like Delthor or Grongo knew much of Nix’s language, and while Marlow was incredibly far from fluent, she did have a few words in her head that had proven helpful so far. She wanted to stay and look after her friend. Nix’s precarious condition was still her fault and she needed to make it right.

But Grongo had a grim press to his lips and a firm furrow to his brow as he stared at her. His tail stirred the moss they were all lying on as it twitched and Marlow sighed. She knew he was not going to relent.

Still, she risked a glance at Delthor to see if he would protest, but he shook his head. “Grongo is right, Marlow. Go get some rest. If anything changes with Nix’s condition, I will wake you, but there is little more you can do and you are still a new mer. You need to rest. I will stay with Nix.”

That decided it for her then, so she pushed herself up off the ground and gave Nix’s fingers a squeeze before she slipped past all three of them. Now that the initial adrenaline of waking to find Nix doing more poorly than before had ebbed, the exhaustion that was clinging to her felt like trying to carry two of her siblings at once, and it took immense effort to keep moving her tail. Delthor was right. She had pushed herself far further today than she had since she had been flung from that ship. And she had not yet had any time to process the painful, bittersweet feelings that seeing her family had churned up. It had been a long, long day and she was eager to collapse back into slumber as quickly as possible.

And she knew Delthor would keep his promise and fetch her back if anything else happened. For now, Nix was as well looked-after as she could be.