Genis opened his eyes, clutching at his side instinctively. He vaguely remembered several mermaids swimming towards them, one of them stabbing him, then...nothing.

"Genis, thank Goddess you're awake," Raine murmured, and he turned over to her.

"Sis? What happened?" he asked, pushing himself up.

"Those mermaids who attacked us were Desians. I only convinced them to let me heal you when I said I wouldn't fight when they took us...I couldn't risk it. I'm sorry," she said quietly, gazing down at the ground.

Genis gave a half smile, reaching up and hugging her. "Don't worry, sis. It's not your fault," he said.

Raine glanced at him, then hugged him back. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Genis.."

Genis nodded, and eventually the two of them pulled back. Genis glanced around. "Where are we, anyway?"

"A base for the Desians in the capital, if I had to guess. That's what it looked like when we headed to it, at least. They lead Kratos off somewhere else, so I'm afraid we can't ask him."

"Well, if we're in the capital, do you think Colette would be here somewhere? Maybe we could find her if we escaped!"

Raine sighed. "I don't know how we would, though. We're not exactly agile, not like Lloyd."

"Oh...Right," Genis mumbled, gazing down at his tail. He gazed at it a moment, then frowned. "They're not going to let us go free, right?" he said, looking up at her.

"Probably not."

"So...they'll kill us, then?" Raine gave a solemn nod, and Genis considered. "Do you think they'd drown us?"

"Hmm...That would make sense, actually. If we consider their thought pattern, then it would seen reasonable to assume they would go along the lines of drowning us for coming into their waters."

Genis nodded, then reached up. Raine blinked as he took off the necklace around his neck.

"Isn't that how you transformed?" she asked, confused.

"No, I got a bracelet," Genis replied, lifting it.

"Then what's that?"

"...It's a special necklace made from shedded mermaid scales. They'll probably take it from me, but..." Genis went a bit red, then sighed. "Well, I figured if they thought it was a part of your swimsuit, then they would leave it alone. If we put a scale in our mouths, we can breath underwater for a while, and the newer ones on the bottom strand last longer because the mermaid was more developed."

Raine frowned. "I don't know where you got this from, but I won't question it. Give it here," she said. Genis handed it over, and she lifted it before giving him a sharp glance. "And don't look!" she snapped. Genis flushed and turned away, gazing out the window instead.

Colette was standing at her window as usual, gazing out at the city. She was mostly daydreaming for a moment before she saw a bunch of mermaids gathering together.

"What's going on?" she wondered, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look.

"Are you interested?" a voice asked behind her, and she turned. The mermaid was there, gazing at her with his unnaturally cold eyes. He'd visited her everyday so far, and she'd eventually found out from one of the guards talking that he was called Yggdrasil.

"A little bit. What's going on?" she asked, jumping off the bed and padding over to him.

"Why don't you come with me and see," he offered, the bars vanishing. Colette hesitated, touching the water. If she used a scale, she'd be alright, but she didn't want the mermaid to know about them...

"I can't breath underwater though," she said uncertainly.

The mermaid humphed, thrusting something to her. She stumbled as she caught it, nearly dropping it, but recovered and gazed at it. It was the same golden-yellow as his scales, and she hesitated before slipping it on.

Pain suddenly flared through her, and she screamed, falling to the floor. The pain focused around her legs, and she glanced back, watching as a black tail appeared. The darkness quickly closed in, and she collapsed. "Lloyd..." she whispered as her eyes slid shut.

"It's so empty," Lloyd said, looking around the city in confusion.

Sheena frowned. "Usually it's very busy, even at night. Something's wrong," she murmured.

"Hello hunny~!"

Sheena blinked then gave an annoyed grunt, before turning. Lloyd followed her gaze, watching as a red-haired, orange and red-tailed mermaid swam towards them.

"What do you want, Zelos," Sheena sighed.

"Aww, isn't that a bit cold? I just wanted to see you, my sweet hunny!"

"You've got a million other girls fawning over you. I'm pretty sure you could survive without me."

"You're so harsh, Sheena," Zelos pouted, then blinked as he saw Lloyd. "And who do we have here? A secret lover?" he teased, grinning.

"We're not lovers!" snapped Sheena as Lloyd went red. She quickly regained composure, brushing a few stray hairs back. "He's a survivor our village picked up and looked after. He's looking for his friends, is all."

"Mmm...Well, if they're here, then they'll be at the city centre. There's an execution going on."

"Oh? How come?" asked Sheena as Lloyd went still.

"Those Desian bullies caught a couple of fake mermaids wandering around. They're going to be drowned; y'know, like normal."

"Where's the city centre?!" demanded Lloyd suddenly.

The two of looked at him in surprise, taken aback by the sudden determination in his gaze. Zelos frowned, then shrugged. "Follow me," he said, motioning before starting off. The two of them quickly followed, Lloyd soon catching up to Zelos and starting to overtake them.

"Slow down, Lloyd! You can't rush into things!" Sheena called.

"We don't have time to wait around!" Lloyd snarled, giving a quick flick of his tail and speeding up.

A/N: Sorry for cutting it off so suddenly, but next chapter deserves it's own one :3 And Zelos is finally introduced! Unfortunately, he doesn't really get a part in the story until Regal is introduced.

Review?