A/N: Ok, so Final Exams start next week so I'll probably drop back to updating every other day or so, with a few exceptions here and there, during that time. Thus why I didn't update last night. I hope this chapter leaves you feeling better. ^_^ I decided to be nice... This time.

Also, as of this chapter, I'm finishing NaNoWriMo 2017 with 22 chapters and 80,235 words (only counting chapters 16-38 which were written during November). I won! WHOOO!

Chapter summary: In which Keith discovers the Myr aren't safe, gets some much needed information at the possible expense of his sanity, and finally gets something he didn't realize he wanted or needed until now.

38: Myr

Keith dutifully stood behind Lance and the Vuana woman -what was her name? Did she ever say?- wanting very badly to get closer. The mermaid… Myr, he corrected himself -they would always be mermaids in his mind- was perched on the pier in such a way that her long, sinuous tail looped around herself much like how a snake coiled itself up. It reminded Keith of coiled rope, if rope was long, scaly, and half fish half human…ish.

She -was the Myr a she? He wasn't actually sure about that one either- cocked her head to the side, observing them with her huge sea-green eyes as they approached. When she raised a four-fingered hand and waved to them, Keith noticed webbing between each finger and thumb. Above her pupilless eyes was a pair of antennae tipped with frills the same shade of red as the red fins behind her cheeks where human ears would be.

She had no visible nose though there were two narrow slits where a human nose would be. Three frilled gills were visible on either side of her neck but they weren't moving much. The Myr was probably breathing through her mouth or… nostrils while on land.

A thick band of green-brown seaweed was wrapped around what Keith thought was the Myr's hips above a strand of oddly shaped seashells. She toyed with the shells with one webbed hand while a clear film slipped over her eyes and vanished just as quickly. Was that… Did she blink?

"Plaxum," the Vuana woman said, returning the Myr's wave. "Warm waters and safe tides to you."

"Warden Maaike," Plaxum said, her long tail twitching in its coils. "Warm waters and safe tides. We apologize for the delay."

Woah. Her voice warbled too. Not a surprise really considering the calls she'd made earlier, but still… Keith had begun to think the Myr only communicated in screeches and warbling. They could speak words?

Maaike bowed her head respectfully before kneeling to be on the same level as Plaxum. When Lance knelt next to her, Keith quickly followed suit.

"We understand the circumstances," Maaike said calmly, glancing pointedly at the storm on the horizon.

Plaxum frowned, her eyes narrowing despite her lack of eyebrows. She warbled something that included clicks and a hiss, shaking her head. "Our southern brethren are guiding the Oceanborne through the sea," she said in a language Keith could understand. "The waters have become," her head twitched unnaturally, "unsafe."

"Unsafe?" Lance asked, leaning forward, his eyes full of concern.

Pupilless sea-green eyes shifted to him and the clear film flashed over them once more. "Druid," she said.

She whistled shrilly, her tail twitching when she ended in a sharp click. Keith winced at the high pitch but whatever those sounds meant, Lance seemed to agree with them. The Druid nodded and smiled, curled his hands in front of his mouth, and made a warbling trill that had the Myr clicking in mermaidish laughter.

At least, Keith hoped it was laughter.

"You come late," Plaxum purred, reached out with one of her webbed hands to brush Lance's cheeks. "You bring treats?"

Lance blinked, his mouth forming a small 'o' before paling. "Not this time, beautiful," he said sadly.

The Myr chirped in disappointment before her eerie eyes locked on Keith. Her face slackened in surprise letting out a hiss as she pulled herself closer to him. Instinctively, Keith flinched back when Plaxum was suddenly very much in his personal space, her face mere inches from his own.

She chirped. "What is wrong with your ears?" she asked curiously.

Really?

"There's nothing wrong with my ears," Keith said in mild annoyance. "They can hear you perfectly fine."

A cool, webbed finger brushed his cheek, right by his eye and Keith held perfectly still. The clammy finger brushed his other cheek in the same place before the Myr drew back, clearly flummoxed by something.

"No scales," she gurgled deep in her throat.

Oh. "I'm not-"

"He's not full Vuana," Lance said quickly, drawing the Myr's odd gaze back to him. "He's visiting us for the equinox festival. Keith? This is Plaxum, the messenger of the Freya Myr. Beautiful Plaxum," -the Myr warbled cheerfully- "this is Keith, my charge."

Sea-green eyes sparkled playfully as Plaxum smiled and let out a chirrup that quickly ended in a series of clicks. She shook her head, the thick appendages hanging from her head flopping about and splashing them with water droplets.

"We like," she chirped with a flirtatious wink.

Something passed over Lance's face, darkening his friendly expression a shade before vanishing. "So do I," he said simply.

Plaxum flipped her tail just so and ended up nuzzling Lance's cheek with her antennae, making contact with the Druid's blue scales. Lance twitched then chuckles trailing his fingers along the Myr's frilled gills. Plaxum made a chittering sound much like little Chulatt's squeaky laughter.

For some reason, seeing the easy familiarity between Lance and Plaxum bothered Keith. The suddenness of the feeling actually caught the red paladin off guard. Without realizing it, the high Keith had been riding since he first saw the Myr appear plummeted leaving an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. The hell?

"Plaxum," Maaike said, cutting through Keith's dark thoughts and dragging him back to the here and now. "Where is Florona? She usually comes with you on these visits."

The Myr leaned away from Lance, coiling her long tail underneath her and arching her back before settling down on the thickest part of her tail. "She is guiding the Oceanborne through safe currents," she replied. Her eyes flickered oddly in the sunlight. "We worry about her."

Maaike nodded. "Because the waters are unsafe," she murmured.

All amusement slipped away from Plaxum's face as she leaned towards the warden and brushed her antennae against the Vuana's green scales. Maaike gasped but made no sudden move to pull away. However, her face darkened and her eyes sparked.

"Explain," the warden said curtly.

Plaxum withdrew, her eerie eyes sad and vulnerable. "We do not know how," she mumbled, making a warbling trill. "They simply vanish into the ice and deep sea alone and do not return."

"What do you mean?" Keith asked. He didn't realize he'd spoken out loud until he noticed all three startled faces staring at him. He flushed and tried to recover. "What do you mean vanish? Who's vanishing? You mean like the Breeders?"

The Myr blinked and cocked her head in an unnatural way, her tail twitching. Lance nudged him and yes, Keith was aware he messed up, thank you. No need to rub it in.

"Ah." Plaxum grinned, and holy shit those were sharp teeth. "Breeders. Tasty."

Oh. Oh! Holy fuck!

"Breeders tend to stay away from the ocean, Keith," Maaike said, a sly smile tugging her lips. "The few… brave ones have a terrible habit of disappearing."

"Unfortunate really," Lance finished with a heavy sigh.

"Most unfortunate," Maaike said, nodding. "

"Terribly unfortunate," Lance added.

"Crunchy," Plaxum added, tapping her too wide mouth with a webbed finger. "And wriggly as a fresh fish." She trilled and flipped her tail with glee. "Oooh, we do love fish."

Holy. Fuck.

"Breeders steal younglings," Plaxum cooed, leaning forward and suddenly Keith did not want a closer look at her. "So we steal Breeders. Younglings like fresh meat."

Holy. Fuck.

"Easy, Plaxum," Lance said, a sly grin on his face. "You're scaring him." Hooded blue eyes gazed at the Myr with an emotion that made Keth's pulse skyrocket. And it wasn't even aimed at him.

Plaxum chirruped. "We saw him in Freya," she murmured, her sparkling gaze holding Keith's captive. "We find him… fascinating."

Uh oh.

Keith gulped. "Fascinating?" No, his voice did not just break. He wasn't in middle school anymore, thank you very much.

"That was you then," Lance said, his tone carefully neutral. "I did wonder."

"He burns in our eyes," the Myr purred, sea-green orbs staring straight into Keith's violet as if looking deeper than what was visible on the surface. "Like the nasty fire that fell into our sea."

Nasty fire? What… Oh. Shit. The Red Lion. Stunned, Keith broke the Myr's gaze and glanced at Lance. He was disturbed to see a kind of dangerous glint in those stormy blue eyes that he only ever saw last night when the Breeder passed by their home.

Plaxum suddenly withdrew, her eyes shadowed with suspicion and curiosity. Sea-green eyes turned to Lance, holding his gaze just as intently as she held Keith's. The Druid tilted his chin down, his eyes cold and hard. The Myr leaned close and brushed her antennae against Lance's scales. Then Lance blushed a deep red and Plaxum arched her back unnaturally far, cackling madly.

Violet eyes flashed between Lance and Plaxum, completely flummoxed by what was going on. What was Keith missing?

"Plaxum," Maaike said, placing a dark hand on the Myr's pale blue shoulder. Gently, she pulled Plaxum away from the Druid and closer to her. "Are you deliberately ignoring me?"

What was he missing? What the-

She kissed her. Holy shit. She kissed her?!

Keith slipped from his knees to his butt and stared at the Myr and the Vuana who were currently very much… um, occupied. Maaike's lips were pressed gently to Plaxum's gills and the Myr was making a soft warbling sound. Plaxum tilted her head back, two eyelids slipping over her eyes, as she wrapped her sinuous tail around Maaike's kneeling form.

How was this okay? Didn't the mermaid just say she… ate… people? And now the… people she eats are… is… making out? Kind of? Is that… How does that…

"What the fuck?" he whispered.

Keith wasn't handling this very well. Lance should have known this would happen. Too many things happening in a short span of time tended to make the red paladin overwhelmed. Besides, Lance didn't need to stay. He had what he needed and staying any longer would be an intrusion on Maaike and Plaxum's moment.

Rocking up to his feet, Lance stood and stepped over to Keith who was still flopped on his ass staring at the couple with an expression that was a mixture of shock and horror. Rolling his eyes with a sigh, Lance scooped a hand under Keith's armpit and hauled the red paladin up.

"Come on," Lance muttered, moving them both towards the stairs. "Leave them to their moment."

Keith's first couple stumbling steps backwards were awkward before he finally caught his balance and managed to get himself turned around to face the direction Lance was pulling him. "What the fuck?" he said under his breath. "What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck, Lance?"

"I have no idea what's bothering you, but whatever it is, get over it quickly," Lance said, pulling the paladin up the steps to the upper platform. "We have work to do."

"But…" Keith turned his head back to where Lance knew Maaike and Plaxum were reacquainting themselves. "But they're kissing?!"

Lance paused, not sure how to respond to that statement. He glanced at the red paladin before turning around completely. "They haven't seen each other in a long time," he said. Heaving a sigh, he tugged Keith away from the edge of the platform so Plaxum and Maaike were no longer in view. "There are certain needs that were best met…" a splash, "underwater."

"Underwater!?" Keith cried. "Lance! Lance, what the actual fuck?"

"What is your problem, Keith?" Lance demanded, turning around and facing the red paladin in mounting frustration.

Keith reeled back. "What is my…?" He blinked and shook his head, staring at Lance as if Lance was the strange one here. "That mermaid-"

"Myr."

"That Myr just admitted to eating people and then she just-" He quickly lowered his voice, flushing, "-she just flopped into the ocean to have sex with a people! Person! Maaike! Whatever! That's just-" He waved his arms around as he tried to find the right words. "That's just wrong! You don't tell people you eat them and then have sex with one of those people!"

Oh. That's what Keith was freaking out about? Huh. Lance tilted his head in thought. "I… never thought about it like that before," he said.

Keith flailed dramatically, his face pale and shocked. "How could you not?" he shouted.

"Because it's normal?" Lance asked. Honestly, things like this never bothered him. Why would it? He was Oceanborne.

"That's normal?"

Keith looked like his mind was literally blowing itself to pieces trying to wrap itself around the new information. Or, maybe this was just the final chink in the glacier for the paladin. Lance quickly thought over everything the Human had been exposed to over the last few quintants and flushed awkwardly. Maybe it was a bit much. Still…

Fighting the odd feeling settling in his belly, Lance said, "For most Oceanborne, yes. Almost all of us have some Myr in our ancestry. It's one of the reasons why we get along with the Myr so well-"

Keith huffed in disbelief. "Understatement of the century."

"-and why we can sense the Breeders when they're nearby," Lance continued, mildly annoyed by the interruption. Ah. Now he had Keith's full attention. "The Myr despise the Breeders because they don't feel…" he shuddered, "natural."

"What do you mean?" Keith asked. "I mean, I know what you mean. When that Breeder showed up last night, I kept feeling like someone or something was watching me. Something that wanted me dead."

Lance hesitated. "You don't have Vuana in you," he said softly. At least, he was mostly sure Keith didn't. "You shouldn't be able to sense them."

The red paladin shrugged. "Well I did."

"Yes, I can see that," Lance said wryly. "What I mean is I've never met anyone from another race, the Galra included, who could sense the Breeders before."

Dark eyebrows furrowed over bright, violet eyes. "Maybe it's a Human thing?" he suggested.

"Maybe," Lance admitted, nodding slowly. "Do you have anything like Breeders on your world?"

Keith shook his head, then paused. "Not in so many words, no," he said carefully. "There are people who prefer one group of people over others, but…" He shook his head. "Nothing like these douchebags. But," he added after a tick, "we're pretty good at detecting when we're being watched or spied on or if something isn't right about something. We call it a 'gut feeling' or 'instinct'…" He paused, eyes widening. "The Red Lion is instinct."

"That would explain it, I guess," Lance said, considering the implications of the red paladin's words. "Do you think the other paladins could sense the Breeders?"

"I… I guess so," Keith said. "If it's a Human thing and not a Red Lion thing, anyway."

"Interesting," Lance murmured. He gazed out over the ocean and the approaching storm. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier," he said reluctantly. "I wasn't… I was sensing the Breeder and since I was already upset, everything got tangled up and…"

"Yeah. Same here."

A faint smile flickered over Lance's face before fading just as quickly. "I told you the Breeders are responsible for making sure the Vuana maintain a strong genetic connection to our Altean ancestors," he began. "I didn't tell you how."

"You said people vanish," Keith said softly and Lance nodded.

"They do," he whispered. "They can be standing right next to you one moment, then just walk away and never be seen again." Lance took a deep breath. "That's why we Vuana are close knit despite how different and spread out we are. We have to be. We never know when someone could disappear."

He swallowed and hung his head. "Taavi was almost taken," he said. "He was Oceanborne but was too young to understand why the Breeder scared him. He doesn't remember much beyond the mask all Druids wear while among the Galra and falling into the water. Keith," he lifted his gaze to those striking violet eyes and said in a calm, serious tone, "if you ever find yourself in a situation where a Breeder is nearby and I'm not there, run to the ocean and jump in. The Myr will protect you. If the Breeder tries to touch the sea, the Myr will rip them apart."

Keith said nothing, but his eyes darkened in grim understanding.

"At first, no one was sure how the Breeders were pulling off their kidnapping in plain sight," Lance said. "We had our suspicions, but nothing conclusive. The Breeders are a secretive group. They rarely contact other Druids outside of their filthy branch. And since the only Druids who were allowed to serve in the Galra Empire are those who have an affinity for black quintessence, or those who can," he cleared his throat awkwardly, "can, er, mimic black quintessence, you can understand why getting a spy into their ranks has been… difficult."

He waited, watching as Keith began to fully grasp what he meant. When he did, the red paladin's eyes grew wide. "You're a spy?"

"One of many, actually," Lance said. "Our numbers have been dwindling and until recently, we weren't sure how. I've never been very good with black quintessence. It's not… mine, I guess." He glanced back to where the Blue and Red Lions were hiding on the mainland. "Although, I'm beginning to see why that is," he added in a low tone.

"That's one of the reasons why I was struggling to pass my Apprentice Trials to become a Master Druid," he said louder. "That and… I think we finally figured out how the Breeders are turning our own spies against us, and why they feel so… wrong." He met Keith's gaze. "They're quintessence is corrupted."

Keith frowned. "Corrupted? What, you mean like a computer file can be corrupted?"

"Exactly," Lance said, nodding. "I didn't realize I had been corrupted until Blue merged her quintessence with mine on the Balmera and my shield changed color. I had forgotten that I'm supposed to wield blue quintessence, not black. And then when High Master Haggar touched my quintessence with hers, it felt disgusting."

He winced as the mere memory of the thick, inky substance that was the High Master's quintessence pushed its way into his veins. "I've never felt so filthy or violated before," he murmured, staring down at the scars on his wrists. He missed Chulatt's comforting presence on his shoulder. "It felt like my blood was coagulating in my veins, cutting me off from my own quintessence and forcing open an artery deep in my… sense of self that should never be opened." He clenched his hands into fists.

"Whatever that was, I'm almost certain that that's what the Breeders use on our people," he continued. "It must confuse the mind, convince the victims to leave willingly, or something. But it doesn't make any sense!" he vented, shaking in frustration. "Quintessence is in our blood. It's why Druids in the Empire cover most of our bodies. If we're cut, our quintessence leaks out faster and can be more easily influenced. How could the Breeders cut someone without them noticing? It's… They're children! How could they-"

Suddenly, he had a faceful of fabric. Arms wrapped around his back, pressing him closer to the firm body in front of him. He tensed, uncertain of what to make of this new… development. But when hands began rubbing up and down his back along his spine and digging into the dips between his shoulder blades, he relaxed in the embrace. He closed his eyes and hesitantly looped his arms around Keith's body and clutched handfuls of Keith's shirt in fists.

"We'll stop it," he heard Keith murmur close to his ear. "We'll find a way. If I have to kill every last Breeder I find to do it, I will." His arms tightened around Lance's body. "I swear." He huffed. "Even Red agrees. Hell, if the rest of the team gets here, we'll have even more firepower."

Lance tried to laugh, but it came out more like a muffled wet sob. He was so glad his face was buried in leather and that smelled like Keith. He was probably blushing like an idiot.

"They probably won't make it before the storm hits," he mumbled just loud enough for Keith to hear.

He felt the red paladin shrug. "There's always the eye of the storm."

"The what?" Lance asked, tilting his head far enough back to look at Keith in confusion.

Keith nodded. "The center of the storm. If that is a hurricane," he said, nodding to the oncoming storm, "then there should be an eye at its center. The eye is typically calm, relatively speaking."

"Oh, yes." Lance nibbled his lip. "You call that the eye?"

"Yeah." Violet sparkled. "Why? What do you call it?"

A teasing grin worked its way onto Lance's face. "The center. Like a sane person."

Keith gave him a flat stare and Lance couldn't fight back the laughter bubbling up his throat. Oh, he was probably going to regret this. But he wanted to do it so badly. It was too tempting and Lance was a weak person. He should probably give Keith a little bit of a warning, though.

"Um."

Oh yes, very intelligent, Lance. Way to go. Try again.

"I, uh."

Better. Keep going. Finish a sentence this time. He cleared his throat.

"I'm going to do something," he said, swallowing heavily. "If you want me to stop, just, uh, push me away or something. But just…" He sighed nervously. "Just don't… hate me."

Keith frowned warily, but didn't seem too unnerved. "Okay."

Lance swallowed and took a deep breath through his nose, blowing it out through his mouth. Then he leaned close, his eyes watching violet, looking for any sign of rejection, and pressed his lips to Keith's.