A/N: Eh, last chapter wasn't too short at least. I don't feel too indebted to you guys now.

Also, it just occured to me I keep forgetting to do my 'every 5 chapters disclaimer', but I can't be bothered now, so :P

"Are you alright?"

Lloyd slowly opened his eyes, wincing as pain raced through him before it abated slightly. He looked up, pushing himself up and looking around in confusion.

He was lying on a wooden deck, and a man with blue hair was kneeling next to him. He rubbed his head, feeling a vague bump at the back but disregarding it.

"Um...Sorry, where are we?" he asked.

"You're on my ship. You...well, you hit the side, actually, then I pulled you up. You don't have a concussion, do you?"

Lloyd considered. "I don't think so. Anyway, sorry about that. I'm Lloyd, nice to meet you," he said, holding out a hand.

The man took it, smiling. "I'm Regal Bryant. Who's your friend?"

Lloyd blinked then glanced down before giving a sigh. Zelos was happily curled on his side, a slight drool coming from his mouth.

"He's Zelos. Oi, Zelos, wake up," Lloyd said, nudging him. It took a couple of tries, but finally Zelos gave a snort and woke up, gazing at Lloyd groggily.

"What's going on?" he yawned, looking around blearily.

"Regal helped us. Thank you, by the way," Lloyd said, looking at him.

"Don't worry about it. What do you plan to do now? We're pretty far from land..."

Lloyd stood up, walking to the edge of the boat and gazing out with a frown. "We need to find our friends, first. If you can just drop us off at the nearest port, then that would be great," he said, turning back to Regal.

"We're a couple of days away from the nearest port. Don't you want to go yourself?"

Lloyd looked confused, and Regal walked over to him, speaking quietly so that the rest of the crew couldn't hear him.

"You guys are mermaids. I saw the tails."

Lloyd glanced at him, then at the rest of the men. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

Regal shook his head. "I've saved a fair few in my time. Admittedly, they didn't make quite the same entrance as you guys, but that's beside the point."

Lloyd hesitated, glancing back at Zelos who was now leaning against the side of the ship, looking around disinterestedly. "I don't want to take up too much of your time or supplies, but if we can just stay a night to regain a bit of strength..."

"That's perfectly fine. I was going to suggest that, actually," Regal replied with a smile, before motioning for them to follow. "This way, I'll show you to a spare room you can use for the night."

A loud bang woke him up. Lloyd quickly sat up, looking around, then jumped as there was another bang. Zelos opened his eyes with a groan, rolling over with an incoherent mumble and falling off the hammock onto the floor in the process.

Lloyd pulled on his shirt, pulling the door open and running for the stairs. He reached the deck, stepping on before stopping in surprise as he saw the crew fighting Desians. He paused, glancing around, and saw Regal fighting several of them.

He ran towards him, hitting back a few of them to give him some space. Regal shot him a grateful smile before attacking several more, helping a few of the crew members. They called their thanks as they backed away for a breather, and Regal turned to get several more.

There was another loud bang, and Lloyd stumbled as the boat rocked, hitting the floor. Someone grabbed his arm and helped him up, and he glanced round to see Zelos smirking.

"For a half-human, you've got rubbish sea legs," he noted.

Lloyd ignored him, turning to Regal instead. "What's going on? Why does the boat keep banging like that?" he asked.

Zelos turned as well. "I saw several Desians down there, but I beat them up before coming up.."

Regal frowned. "It sounds like they're trying to break the boat. It's too dangerous to stay on here." He turned to the rest of the crew, who had mostly beaten the Desians back. "Everyone, onto the life boats! The ship is going to sink!" he ordered.

They quickly hurried onto the boats, lowering them into the water. Regal made sure they were all on board, until it was only him, Zelos and Lloyd left.

"Captain, get on!" one of the men called. Regal hesitated, glancing back at the other two who nodded, before starting towards the boat. Another bang suddenly sounded, and the boat began to tilt, sending them slipping back.

"Go!" Regal shouted at the men. The boat quickly keeled over, the three of them falling over the edge and crashing into the water.

Lloyd felt the tingle through his legs, but ignored it as he looked up for any sign of the last boat. The water suddenly rippled as something hit it, and he quickly recognised the hull of one of the life boats. Happy that the men were safe, he turned, determined to help Regal up to it before stopping and staring.

Zelos backed away a little as Regal stared down at the cobalt tail which had suddenly appeared. "Uhhh...What?" he asked finally.

"You have a tail? Do you have a pendant or something?" asked Lloyd, swimming forward.

"No...My only heirloom was my boat," Regal murmured.

"So, wait, he's half-mermaid too?" asked Zelos, looking between the two.

"Well...I guess so. I mean, he's not using a pendant to be human or mermaid, but he quite clearly had legs and now has a tail.." Lloyd said, frowning.

Regal looked up. "Half-mermaid?"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah. They're people who are half-human, half-mermaid. Most are raised as mermaids, but I'm one of the few raised as a human but knowing I'm a mermaid. I...didn't expect to meet any others."

Regal frowned. "I see...I suppose it makes sense. My father never enjoyed going into the ocean, even though he was the one who passed down his boat to me."

"Did your dad ever wear a necklace all the time?" asked Lloyd.

He slowly shook his head. "Not that I knew of. And my mother was always happy enough to go into the water."

"So, wait, your dad was half-mermaid?" Zelos asked, rubbing his head.

"I suppose so."

"So you're quater...Maybe he thought you would never get a tail."

"Guys, I get this conversation is interesting, but we should really move before the huge boat hits us," Zelos interrupted.

They glanced up before quickly moving out of the way as the boat began to tip over, more holes in it's side. "We have to get away. The force of the boat being pulled under will drag us with it," Regal said, turning to them. They nodded, the three of them swimming away until they were safely out of range.

Lloyd glanced back at Regal, not sure how he was holding up with his first change, but he had quickly adjusted and moved as easily as them.

When they were out of the way, they rose to the surface, watching as the boat sunk beneath the waves. Regal gave an unhappy sigh, then shook his head before glancing around for his crew. They were paddling for the shore, and he nodded.

"They have enough supplies to last a couple of days until they get to the dock or are picked up by another ship. They should be fine," he murmured.

"Don't you want to go with them?" asked Lloyd, confused.

Regal shook his head. "They will be better off without me for now. Maybe at a later date I can rebuild my crew, but for now I have more pressing matters."

"What do you mean?"

"If I am part mermaid, I am involved with whatever is happening. I've felt the unease from the water; there is something going on, and you are at the heart of it. Please, allow me to aid you."

Lloyd hesitated, glancing at Zelos who shrugged. Finally he nodded. "Alright. We'll be happy to have you along," he said.

A/N: Regal's quater mermaid! It just hit me one-day - I was thinking 'should Regal be human or mermaid? Maybe mermaid, but then there'll be less humans' and then my brain went 'HALF-MERMAID' at me and I had a spaz attack (which freaked my friends out).

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