"This is the most undignified thing we've ever done," Adin complained for the twentieth time.
Joe cocked a brow in his direction, unable to resist a sardonic glare.
"Alright, it's the most undignified thing I've ever done. Is this really necessary?"
"I don't suppose you have a better idea?" Joe pointed out.
Adin didn't stop his grumbling, but he didn't offer up any other options, either—because there were no other options.
Joe tightened the knots over Ariel's tail just enough that she couldn't move from the bed, and double checked that she was hog-tied and gagged properly. They'd wrapped her wrists and tail with strips of cloth from the disgusting old sheets so that the ropes wouldn't burn her, but the look of betrayal and what he was sure was another slew of entirely 'undignified' insults in her eyes were both unmistakeable.
Adin had admittedly done an admirable job of finding an inn. The Cozy Cod was the tiniest, shabbiest inn in the locale, and the interior decorating, guests, and inn-keepers all seemed determined to match. From the outside, the inn's appearance was negligibly impressive, and boasted being nearly impossible to spot, with its crumbling structure crafted from the bones of ancient sea-creatures so well-welded into the rocky walls lining the street it could have been mistaken for a store-house, or perhaps a public lavatory.
The dimly-lit entrance was decorated with strange and unsettling artifacts from the ocean's depths, hinting at the owning family's long, mysterious, and dingy history. The owners, Mr. Conch and Mrs. Coraline Cod themselves, were deep-sea creatures that had adapted to life in the extreme pressure and darkness, and had the unfortunate appearance of those rare mer who preferred it that way. Their faces were normal enough, if a little squished, and their codfish tails moved with grace as they haunted the inn's narrow hallways, knocking on doors to deliver sheets, nearly-unpalatable trays of biscuits, and spy on the guests' affairs. Like the policy over the door promised, the two never asked a single question, settling instead for hard statements, like that they would indeed take some of Ariel's jewelry as payment, and that extra sheets would run them a brooch on top of the necklace she'd offered.
Joe had felt guilty about making Ariel pay for their stay, but it wasn't as though he had any money on him, and he wouldn't have been able to get any if he'd tried. Ursula kept a tight lock and key on their chested income, and with all of his clever hacks, Joe had never once been able to break in.
Now safely locked in their tiny driftwood room, accompanied only by the leering stare of a small collection of fish-skulls over the bed's headboard—what Mr. and Mrs. Cod seemed to consider 'haute decorating'—Joe sunk to the floor with a groan, dragging a pillow down with him.
"What is it?" Adin asked, just as Joe let his eyes closed.
"What is what, Adin?" Joe asked exhaustedly.
"You have something on your mind. Something more than getting her a cure. What is it?"
Joe let his chest sink into the floor. The gashes left from the squid's tentacles still stung, and although they'd closed on the surface, they were far from fully healed. The firm floor provided a little relief, but only barely. He needed a whole lot more healing salve than he'd brought with him, and there wasn't a chance the ingredients grew down here.
"I have a lot of things on my mind, what makes you think there's more?"
"What did that fish say to you before we got to the gate?"
Ah, there it was. He should have known Adin would be curious. For a fact, Ariel should have been curious, too, but she'd played her cards better than he'd anticipated and focused on getting inside the city. If she hadn't they might not have made it before the sun was fully up—not that any sunlight really reached down here. Ariel's soft breathing on the bed above the sleeping places he and Adin told him she might have fallen asleep, but he wanted to be very sure she was unconscious before he had the conversation Adin was prying for. With another muffled groan, he pushed himself and ascertained that Ariel's eyes really were closed before casting a weary glance at Adin.
"That fish was a sea-devil. He wanted to make a deal with me that would have complicated things for us."
"Sea-devil," Adin parrot-fished. "Like the ones in the stories?"
"I'm very surprised if you've heard stories about his kind. Where did you say you were born?"
"No idea. And you didn't answer my question."
"Didn't I?" Joe said tiredly, letting his eyes close again. Nothing good could come of Adin knowing this, especially if he already wanted to drag Ariel back to the surface before she could be exposed to any more 'filthy magic.'
"Don't try to distract me, Joe. Didn't you say we should try to trust each other until this whole thing is over?
"Did I?"
Adin slammed his pillow into Joe's face.
"Come on, Joe! We've been friends for ages, and I'm just trying to do the right thing, same as you!
Joe threw an arm over his face, deliberating. He had a feeling he was going to regret this.
"The devil said he would make Ariel a cure…" Joe recounted everything the devil said, including his price, his odd prophecies, and the comments he'd made about himself that he didn't understand. Adin listened quietly for a time, and when Joe had finished, asked:
"So, wouldn't it have been easier for you to take his deal? I mean, if she's leaving the kingdom, the price would have made things less painful, and it really would have saved us time. We could always go back—"
"No," Joe cut off with a hard jerk of his head, lolling his head to face Adin. "He might have taken any of ours souls, too, or blinded us all, or made it so none of us could ever think normally again—not because it was part of his deal, but because we didn't specify it wasn't! There's too much fine print in contracts with devils, and it's a contract you never get to read."
"Oh," Adin nodded, letting Joe's outburst sink in for one long moment. "That...that really would be horrible, then."
"You've no idea. Kings, scholars, and even a good lawyer or two have all been shafted by devil's deals, thinking they could come out on top, and trust me, no one ever does."
"So, a solid plan B, then," said Adin, evidently trying to lighten the mood between them.
Joe sighed, shoving his head back into his pillow praying, though there was only the merest chance, it would never come to that.
"Yeah. Yeah, a solid plan B."
"Wait a slug-slimed minute. You actually considered his offer. You're really going to cure her, and then let her go," said Adin.
Joe peeked an eye open at him. Adin was staring at him in disbelief, as if Joe hadn't been assuring Adin from moment one that that had been his intention.
"Of course I am," he snorted. "What else would I do? What else did you think I was doing?—actually, for the sake of peace, please don't tell me."
"It's too bad you're not a prince. Any chance you could claim territory in the open ocean? You'd make a better one than that eel," Adin said matter-of-factly.
Joe almost choked. How had Adin reached that conclusion from a conversation about devils? "Who the trenches are you, and what have you done with Adin?" he demanded.
"I'm serious, Joe, and it's not as if she's not moony over you, too."
"She absolutely is not."
It was Adin's turn to groan. "Man, you really aren't perceptive at all."
"What?"
"I'm calling you blind, you dumb octopus."
Joe rolled his eyes, wondering if this trip alone would render him with rounder eyeballs than he'd ever had in his life.
"Right. Assuming you're right—and you're not—Ariel was bred for—and I know you agree, Adin, you've been blathering about it since the moment you started working in the palace—anyway, it's in her blood to lead. It's in her blood to always be solving problems, and looking at how she can change the world. She might do it differently than her sisters, but I don't know if that's such a bad thing. Part of the reason we're on this stupid quest is to make sure she doesn't lose that part of herself permanently."
Adin gasped, his anxious striped tail flopping him over on his belly to get a better look at Joe. "That's what the potion does?"
Joe beat his head on his pillow loud enough that the customers in the room below them started shrieking at them to keep it down, among other lewd things.
"Yes, Adin." He settled for something simple. "Ariel would never think the way she does again. Magic doesn't bend the heart, it only affects the mind. When Ariel gets…like she is, she isn't actually in love at all. If this thing takes full hold, her head would be completely malleable. She would forever be a puppet to the one tied to that cursed potion. "
"And that's the eel prince."
"Got it in one," he said blandly.
"Poseidon's broken singing wall-fish," Adin swore.
"Language," Joe said half-heartedly. "Ariel will wake up and try to join you."
But Adin ignored his comment. "She really is in trouble. Hah! Even once you cure her, she's still going to be in a tough spot."
"Once I—or whomever I can bribe or buy a cure from, cures her, then she will be free to choose, and you can bally well bet it won't be me, Adin."
"I'm not so sure."
"I am. Use your head you silly merman. The very cavern I live in doesn't belong to me. The business I run pours money into a different sea-witch's pockets. I have neither heritage nor livelihood. I can't even keep Krill safe, let alone Ariel!"
"Krill?" Adin sat up, and faced Joe from his sleeping spot on the floor. "What happened to Krill?"
Joe supposed that since he was already in a position to be forthcoming, he might as well tell Adin. Afterall, Krill somewhat considered Adin family, too. Adin's eyes widened as Joe described the graphic scene, and the weapon, though he didn't say who had done it. He was surprised, when he was done, how much of a burden lifted from his hearts to have the story out of him. Although it wouldn't change any of the pain Krill had been through, he felt lighter, somehow.
"There's only one set of mer with the kind of weapon you're describing," Adin said gravely, and Joe knew he'd caught what he'd left out. "Why didn't you tell me? Wait, you haven't told her, either, have you?"
"No."
Adin's fists were shaking like rocks in a storm. "She really wouldn't choose him if she knew."
"Or she will be forced to choose him, potion or no, and it will make her life that much more miserable."
Adin's face fell childishly into his blanket. "I suppose I hadn't thought of it that way. Anyway, I know you said Krill's okay but…are you sure? What you described, that should have killed him!"
Joe's tentacles twitched beneath him, and he hoped Adin couldn't see that he was reassuring himself just as well. "We're a bit tougher than you think," he said wryly, giving Adin a twisted smile. "And I left him in Ursula's care. If Ursula wants him to live, he will."
As he spoke the words, he, himself heard the truth in them. The question only remained was how badly Ursula would want her second little apprentice to live.
"Adin, I do tell you all of this in good faith. I'm sure you understand that telling Ariel would make things far more complicated for her until we actually get the cure."
"Say no more," said Adin, seeming troubled about something, but that was hardly surprising considering the things he'd just learned. If Joe had known it would be so easy, he might have taken the time to do it earlier—or maybe not. Time was of the essence, afterall. "I have full faith that you'll cure her. I, um…apologize for being such a loach on the way here."
"One of us seems to always be. My turn, then?"
Adin snorted, although he still seemed distracted. "You could manage take a break for a while, I think."
"Hm."
"I'm going to scout the city later. I think it would draw some attention if you were seen with one of Triton's guards…ironic, isn't it? The tides have turned on us down here."
"But that's not the only reason, now is it?"
Adin shifted uncomfortably. It was telling. "This is also my only opportunity, probably ever to see a piece of the Kingdom of the Depths before I start working in a real position in the palace…or they behead me for treason if you don't manage to cure Ariel and get her to vouch for me."
"Yeah, it might be. What else?" Joe asked, hearing there was something he didn't say.
"Well, maybe you and Ariel should have a bit of a chat once you've cured her."
That time, Joe let out a real guffaw, loud enough that Ariel stirred on the bed above them. "You're worse than a meddling old gran-grouper, you know that?"
"Yeah. Yeah, maybe I am," Adin huffed, rolling away to keep from looking at Joe, but he'd already seen the red tinge in his cheeks. "Because you're a blithering idiot if you waste the only chance you've got. If it's going to be someone, better you than the eel."
If it can't be me, Joe heard his unsaid meaning.
"It won't be," Joe protested. "And you're vastly overestimating our friendship."
"Yeah, whatever. I'll meet you back here when you've managed the cure, or you can give me the news of our sordid future. Only one more day until the eclipse, right?"
"Right," Joe said gravely.