Chapter IV

The reef had become pitch black by the time they had reached the cave, the only thing lighting the water was the shimmering scales of the mermaids. None of them were scared, they had been trained soldiers back before they were transformed.

"So this is where your friends are hiding?" Annie asked. "It looks safe, if you don't mind I could help make it more comfortable"

With that she touched these exotic corals on the walls of the cave with super-light fingers. Somehow they illuminated the cave "Some sort of mermaid power?" Armin wondered. Now it felt more cosy. Annie and Armin looked around and found Eren sitting at the far end with Mikasa who was lying down on her chest asleep.

"Armin!" Eren cried out when he saw him. He swam over and hugged his friend tightly.

"Don't worry Eren, I'm fine" Armin patted his back and turned around to Annie "These are Eren and Mikasa" He said "They are my family, the only family I have left"

"It's nice to meet you Eren" She greeted him with a friendly smile

"Oh Annie!" Armin said "Tomorrow can you help us out with something?"

"Of course, what is it? Can you tell me?"

He hesitated to tell her for a second "Uhm, well it's Mikasa... she's not exactly comfortable with having her chest exposed so could you maybe help us trying to look for something for her to wear?" An idea suddenly sprung into Armin's head, all in an instant "Seaweed!" He cried out "We could use seaweed, maybe some kelp?"

Eren knew what seaweed was from those times that he had looked into Armin's books about the ocean, so didn't have to ask. "Armin, that's perfect! We should go looking for some tomorrow, and get your mermaid friend to help us out"

"Hey Annie, would you like to help us?" Armin asked.

"Of course guys, it would be rude not to" Armin thanked her with a smile "Now, we should all get some rest, this cave seems to have a lot of sponges and corals so it shouldn't be that hard to get a decent rest"

Armin swam over to a sponge bed and lay down on his back, letting sleep take over his body. He was not afraid of anything as long as he had his best friends here with him and he was safe. His tail swished about like a palm frond in a gentle breeze, rippling with the colour of deep crystal. He looked up at the stone walls of the cave, dirt with some shells embedded coating the surface. He lay on his side, trying to close his eyes. He could not stop thinking about his friends and the life they left behind, if they will ever get it back. He took the decision in his head to try and search for Mikasa's scarf tomorrow. It should hopefully still be on that beach. The only problem is how they would get out of the water. He also tried to think about the people who had taken them to the sea. Did they take all their clothes? If so, what would they have done to them. He only remembered briefly one of them injecting him with this fluid. He was too tired to think. He gave up and let sleep take him over.

"Who were those people?"

Sorry it took so long writing another chapter, I'm working on doing two other fics at the moment.