Aithne led Fai to a small cave surrounded by glowing coral, quickly ushering him inside. The opening was so small though, that Fai cut his shoulder on a jagged orange branch. His head was already past that spot, and he never noticed how his blood seemed to melt into the animal. Aithne zipped in after him, having more practice with a tail than he ever would.

"You may need to hide in here for a while. Maecenas has a temper like no other."

"I noticed." Fai smiled, his hand pressing over the small wound. The mermaid smiled kindly and handed him something to cover the wound. "Feel free to look around; just don't leave this cave." With that, she swam out and away.

Fai frowned and shrugged, going over to a shelf carved into the wall. It was full of scrolls covered in words. Intrigued at the fact that they all remained intact in the water, he pulled one off and began examining it. His eye widened in disbelief.

"I can actually read this?" He thought; a lost expression on his face.

I'll just keep that my little secret for now.

The mage grinned evilly, pulling several more scrolls down onto his lap to read. They were all full of new magic spells, including transfiguration, and he quickly found what he was looking for.

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Akitla silently swam over the cave where Fai was, hiding outside the pool of light produced by the coral. Her long dark hair and tail made it all the easier to remain concealed. She had seen and heard it all; Aithne leading the merman in and quickly leaving. At least she thought she did.

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By the time Aithne returned, Fai had put back all of the scrolls with transfiguration and attack magic; leaving a single one in his lap. He looked up and smiled at her.

"Marvelous stuff, don't you think?" Aithne said, gesturing to the scrolls. Fai nodded and she continued. "What are you reading about now?"

"I have no idea." He said smoothly, months of practice behind his words. Aithne chuckled.

"Right, I forgot. Humans can't read our language. Here, let me help you."

She swam over to his side and began quietly reading. Fai already knew what it said, it was only the introduction to all of the spells that the following spells boasted of; it had been the first scroll on the shelf.

"Hmm, this is just an old almanac. Who cares about the weather that happened a century ago, right?" She laughed, and Fai joined.

Liar. But, why?

"I'm sure Maecenas has cooled off by now. Why don't you go and look for her?"

"Alright."

"Just follow the school of fish past the coral; they'll show you the way."

"…Okay."

Akitla swam away as they emerged from the cave, her sister coming out first to give her more time to get away. Fai swam out carefully this time and went left, following the bright group of fish quickly. Akitla shot to the cave, wrenched an orange branch free, and swam to catch up with her sister.

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Hans yawned, pushing his empty plate away heartily, leaving the dining room with his wife. The others had already gone to bed.

"Another amazing meal, Dear. Always the best!" He said, giving her a kiss. Ariel smiled. "Sakura and Mokona helped too."

"It's a shame Mr. Fai couldn't enjoy it with us. Where is he?"

"Syaoran said that he found a way to get the feather, and that he may be out for a while."

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Kurogane frowned at Syaoran. It was dark in the room, and Syaoran was in a separate bed on the other side of the room, so the frown went unnoticed. "Hey, kid."

"Yes?" Syaoran asked.

"Did the mermaid catch him?" The silence from Syaoran gave him away, and the ninja sighed angrily.

"Did it drown him or something?"

"No." The boy sighed. "She turned him into a merman."

Kurogane's eyes widened.

"I followed him onto a ship today. Fai-san wanted to see if he could meet the mermaid and get his voice back."

"And?"

"Well, he did meet her, her name is Maecenas, and he did get his voice back. He fainted after being on deck too long as a merman, and Maecenas jumped back in the sea with him. He came back a few minutes later and told me that he'd find a way to get the feather back."

"So, the fish people have it?"

"I guess."

Later, when he was sure the rest of the home was sound asleep, the ninja crept out and down to the docks.

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Fai eventually found Maecenas outside a stone house. She was calmed down, but still upset at the fact that he briefly went missing. She sighed.

"I'm too tired to deal with this right now. Just go inside. I have an extra room you can sleep in." She pointed to the doorway of what was clearly her home. Fai swam in.

His room, like the rest of the home, was decorated with salvaged items taken from shipwrecks. There was a window with an amazing view, but he ignored it for the moment. The bed, down to the blankets and many pillows, was man-made, and clearly charmed to protect it from the water around. There was a table with a large vase overflowing with flowers hidden in the shadows. The chest at the end of the bed, he found after searching, was full of robes, coats, and jackets, which were also charmed. He pulled a long navy robe on and crawled into bed.

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Maecenas peeked into his room later to check on him. Or to just check that he hadn't tried to escape.

She hoped that he never tried to open the window. She'd nailed it shut.

When she looked in though, she relaxed. He had already fallen asleep. She smiled.

"He sleeps face down. Odd." She thought, before swimming away to her own room, locking the door behind her.

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Fai breathed out a sigh of relief, sending bubbles to float up to the ceiling. He had seen Maecenas check in, and mentally gave himself a point. He had stuffed a few pillows under the blankets and placed some of the strange pale sea flowers where his head would have been. Already knowing that an exit via the window would be too obvious, he took off the robe and slipped through the door and out of the home.

"The whole polis seems to be asleep." He said, looking around and then up. Once again, the merman shot for the surface. Fai could make out where the moon was after a minute of swimming, and knew the surface was close. Having difficulty stopping after a fast speed, the blonde flipped out of the water. Again. He fell back in and stuck his head out to see where he was. Fai was close to the docks, and able to make out a few people here and there scattered across the dockyard. He decided that it'd be better if he went for one that was alone, rather than a group of them, and swan towards the body sitting alone at the end. The merman wanted someone to talk to, not that he'd really even say anything.

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Kurogane looked up at the sound of something in the water. It sounded odd, but he chose to ignore it.

"It's almost daybreak. I better return." He thought, and stood up to leave. A soft voice called out at his departure.

"Kuro-puppy! Hey!" The ninja growled before turning around and looking in the water.

"What the hell have you been doing, baka?"

"I was in the aqua polis, but snuck out when they all fell asleep." Fai said slyly. Kurogane looked surprised at the gills on the man's neck.

"The kid told me what happened." Fai's face fell for a moment, but he quickly plastered another smile on. The ninja noticed this, and frowned.

"You're hiding something?" He demanded. Fai shrugged.

"So I can't come and visit my favorite ninja? How harsh."

"Don't change the subject. Why did you come here?"

Fai looked past him into the distance, where the rest of the group was sleeping. He sighed, and ducked back under the water. Kurogane wanted to yell at the thin man, force him to come back up and talk. He sure as hell was not leaving until he got some answers. Fai showed his face again. His eye held a lost look, and he lifted a webbed hand up to cover it momentarily. "I don't know what to do." He said in a small voice. The ninja's face softened, but his eyes remained angry.

"Do they feed you? Do they even eat?" He asked, trying to clear his anger. Fai laughed humorlessly, still keeping his face hidden.

"I don't know. It's not like I have an appetite anyway."

Kurogane wasn't surprised at how quickly Fai's mood had fallen. He could tell that he'd been keeping his emotions bottled up, and still was. He had almost gotten him to open up and actually talk for once in Tokyo, until Kusanagi and Yuto barged in. Maybe Fai would talk now.

"Are you trapped as a…?" Fai looked up at him.

"Merman? No."

"You're not going to try and free yourself?" Kurogane studied the man's face. Fai looked away.

"No, not yet at least."

"The princess is worried about you."

"I'm sorry." Footsteps approached. Kurogane tensed, knowing that if Fai got the chance, he would run away again.

"What is going on, anyway? Why all this fish magic?" He asked. Fai sank a little in the water, as he also noticed the new person. He didn't answer.

"Hey, sir." A gruff voice said. A hand landed on Kurogane's shoulder, dragging his attention away from Fai. He looked up to see this world's version of Kusanagi.

"This part of the docks is closed at this hour. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Kurogane glared, and shut his eyes angrily when he heard the sound of escape in the water.

"I was just leaving."

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Fai shot down in the water, frowning sadly. True, he really wanted to talk, but how could he? He already had Sakura upset; telling them about how confused and worried he was would only make it worse.

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Fai spirited through the stone home, back to his room, pulling the cloak back on. He wrenched the flowers out of the bed and returned them to their vase, threw down the extra pillows, and collapsed on the bed, hiding his face in the feather down.

I don't know what to do.