A new adventure waited on the horizon and uncertainty brewed a stomach full of butterflies for one trepid adventurer. Legends of the hostile surface replayed through Semeru's mind the whole trip, urging him to stay where it was safe and yet he moved forward. Luckily the way to the surface was easy enough to remember thanks to his repeated visits a few months prior.

By mid-day he could see the shoreline. If he swam any closer, he'd have to lay on the sand to stay under the waves.

Cho Oyu's words replayed in his mind as he hesitantly stared up at the edge of the water.

"Should you breathe in the surface, your form will change to match."

He rolled his eyes at the woman's cryptic way of speaking. Breathing air would give him legs and breathing water would restore his proper form. It was simple enough yet he still found himself resistant.

Semeru wasn't sure how long he spent staring by the time he tightened his grip on his spear, took one last deep breath of ocean water and pushed past his self-preservation instincts to breach the waves.

With his first breath of air, gills turned to lungs as an odd cramping feeling rippled up his tail that suddenly felt heavy and rigid. He coughed as his subconsciousness rejected the air, though his body accepted it.

The force of a few waves pushed him closer to shore as he used his spear to stumble onto the beach where his legs gave out, causing him to collapse.

Semeru winced from the impact before shifting to try and get back up. "How the hell do these things work," He grumbled as he dug the pole of his spear into the sand in an effort to pull himself back up right.

A piercing scream came to ear that only caused him to grimace further. As he looked around, he found a land-dweller pointing at him as she shrieked.

"Theo, Theo come quick there's a naked drunk on the beach!" Eleanor announced as she quickly covered her eyes.

Upon hearing this he quickly dropped his fishing gear and ran over. "What the hell?" Theo glared at Semeru. "Sir, this is a public beach, you need to be wearing a swimsuit."

What on earth were they saying? Semeru looked between the two only to scowl as Theo got closer. "Stay back."

"Oh gosh, he's European," Theo massaged his face as he listened to the foreign merfolk words. "Eleanor, go back inside. Call Kira and the others. He's armed so, I'm gonna need some help with this one." He instructed as he watched the drunk European stumble and fall again, dropping his spear in the sand. "Where the hell did you get that?"

Blissfully unaware of the chaos ensuing on the beach, Olivia cautiously walked further into the latest cavern floor. Her first few days of cave diving had been relatively uneventful and gratefully monster free. The first and second floors were cleared already and the path to the third had already been discovered leaving the third floor, partially cleared thanks to Mark, Kira and the rest of the band of smiles.

However, mostly cleared was not, completely cleared and still meant partially dangerous. Leaving Olivia constantly on her toes, high strung and flinching at any noise she heard as she'd drop her pick axe in favor of unsheathing her sword to look around for danger.

This made progress particularly slow. She'd spent three days looking for the way to the fourth floor and another looking for a way to the fifth which still illuded her.

A decent size crack in the ground caused Olivia to stop in her tracks.

"Bingo," she whispered before swinging her pick axe at it. The crack split and trailed along the cavern floor. There had to be a weak spot at some point. The sound of metal clashing against stone rang as she followed the stubborn fissure.

Amidst the sound of clashing elements, a deep groaning grew louder.

"Shit," Olivia yelped as she dropped her pick axe in favor of drawing her sword to look around for the source of the noise. Where is i-

The ground crumbled at her feet as a familiar green, yellow and red caterpillar-esque monster sprang forward to lunge at her.

Olivia stumbled back tripping over her discarded pickaxe, which, by sheer dumb luck, kept her arm away from the monster's bite.

She quickly shuffled back and hurried to get onto her feet before it swiped at her again. This time, she attacked in return.

Her sword pierced the monster's hide before being swiftly retrieved, though her action caught her arm against one of its barbed claws.

Two splatters of blood stained the cavern floor as Olivia winced.

"In the heat of a fight, you think clear, you move smart. Emotions get you tangled, and slow you down. The slow die."

Sage advice came to mind as she pushed past the injury's sting to fight back while the monster reeled back in agony. She made several wide, slashing strikes, unaware of flaming embers that sparked from each blow.

With a loud defiant shout, she lunged forward and those embers grew to a flame that engulfed the blade of her sword. The creature grew limp and fell to the ground as she withdrew her weapon from the now dead monster's heart.

"Holy shit what the F-" The sound of the burning sword clattering against the ground cut her off as she again stumbled back.

She took a frustrated breath and gripped her hands into a fist as she fought back another shout. Cool, her totally normal sword could just. Catch fire. "Stupid magical bullshit just showing up with no warning," She grumbled as she walked back over to the sword and picked it up now that the blade's flame had died down. "Why did no one tell me it could do that? Coulda set myself on fire." She continued to grouts as she shoved the blade back into its sheath.

The less then gentle action set a ripple of pain through her arm as she was reminded of her victory's cost. She looked over the decent gash before tying her makeshift bandage bandana around it to apply pressure to the wound. She should probably get that looked at sooner rather than later…

Once she was sure that the pressure was helping, she walked over to her discarded pickaxe and picked it up. Olivia looked from the tool in her hand back to the direction of the rope that led to the 3rd floor.

If Scott was right, there would be an elevator that could take her to the surface if she made it down one more floor. That would mean less stress on her injury. If she couldn't find a way to the 5th floor she might run into more monsters and risk more injuries…

Her eyes trailed to the crack in the ground she'd been working at before.

"If this doesn't work, we'll climb up and call it a day," She announced to no one as she made her decision.

A few more strikes and slowly the ground began to crumble. Seeing this caused her to smile as she took a few steps back allowing a large hole to form as the ground gave way. "Alright Scott, let's see if you were right about the elevator." She whispered as she kneeled down and took off her back pack so she could dig around for some rope and a spike.

The two items were combined and the spike was driven into the ground so the rope could fall freely to the next level of the cavern. A soft thud let her know that the rope did hit a solid surface. After a few test tugs to make sure the rope was secure, Olivia slowly slid down the rope, holding on with her good arm as she pinched the rope between her legs to control the speed of her descent.

Sounds of distant monsters only made her grow more nervous but, her prize laid waiting nearby. An elevator cabin was stuck in place as wooden polls seemed to block its ability to ascend or descend. Two leavers nearby seemed convenient enough for Olivia to try and flip both.

While there was an eerie grinding sound in response, moving chains rattled as the wooden poles were moved out of the way and to her relief, the elevator cabin remained in place, even without the support.

The sound did not put her fully at ease as she warily eyed the inside. Again, she took off her backpack and this time tossed it onto the elevator ahead of her to see if it was able to support weight. Her pickaxe was thrown in after that before a cautious foot allowed her to partially enter the elevator.

While there was a slight groaning sound of old wood, the structure remained firm enough that she finished stepping in before flipping another lever inside the elevator cabin.

Nothing happened.

"Come on," Olivia grumbled as she flipped the switch back the other way. This time a whirling of gears could be heard as the elevator ascended.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Let's see. 5 divided by 120…. Ugh. Who was she kidding it took her 5 days to go down an additional 2 floors. With 115 to go, this was going to take her another year. At least.

While Olivia thought this over, she adjusted her makeshift bandage to assure it was holding up. While she could see some staining from the outside it was relatively minor compared to the size of the cut. The elevator eventually slowed to a stop as the main lobby of the cavern came to view.

Freedom.

She closed her eyes and stretched as she walked out of the cavern only to open her eyes again and see Mark a fair distance away. He was kneeling down and looking back at her. "Shh, C'mere cutie. I'm not gonna hurt ya."

"Excuse you?!" The hell did he just say to her?

Mark glared at her. "SHH!" and just that quickly she realized he wasn't talking to her.

A small fluffy white dog that's fur was practically dyed brown with dirt, walked out of a bush next to the cavern entrance and slowly stalked a little closer to Mark. Its nose twitched as its hackles remained raised in warning.

"Very good," He smiled while holding his hand out a little further for the pooch to sniff at. Doing so gave Olivia a clearer view of what he was holding.

"Dog treats?" How convenient he had those on him…wait. "Do you just, carry those around with you?"

"Sure do, in case of emergencies just like this one," He confirmed while waiting as the dog more eagerly nosed at his hand and it's bristled back started to ease. "They're yummy, I promise. Try some." As he said that he eased his grip on the treat to allow the pup to eat from his hand.

Olivia watched the amusing sight. With how rude and gruff he usually was. Seeing this was, oddly charismatic. Not wanting to spook the dog she waited quietly as it ate.

"Good pup," Mark gingerly reached out to pet it, and subtly check for injuries and parasites. "You've been through some rough times, haven't you? How long have you been living out in the wild?" He asked while feeling the dog's ribs which even Olivia could see from her distance. "You're in luck, I have just the place for you. We'll keep you at the animal shelter until we can find you a good home. How's that sound?"

Olivia held a hand over her mouth to hide her snickering as the dog yipped in response.

"I thought you'd like that. Come on, you can stay with me tonight. I'll get you cleaned up," Mark carefully moved to pick up the small dog.

As she heard this, concern replaced her amusement. "Wait you're going to keep a stray dog in your house? What if she bites?"

"This small thing? No, She's a sweetie. I can tell, it's all in the eyes." Mark insisted as he moved to get up now that the dog was calmly staying in his arms. "The drunk European locked in the Inn is more likely to give me rabies."

"I'm sorry, the what?"

Mark laughed. "Yeah, some tourist apparently got drunk and wound up naked on the beach. It's why I'm late getting here." Mark scratched at the dog's chin to placate it as he continued to talk. "Poor sod couldn't even stand and kept shouting at everyone. Strangest thing too, no one could figure out what language he was speaking. Alice was insisting that he didn't have a reservation at the Inn and for some reason the guy had a spear with him. Wound up calling Scott to see if maybe it was a museum piece and if he might know the language. He's the most traveled of all of us."

It couldn't be. Could it? "Call me crazy but did this tourist happen to have a scar across his face?" Olivia traced a finger across her face to mimic Semeru's scar.

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you know him garden rake?"

Olivia immediately broke into a sprint "Son of a B-"

BARK!

Hurried steps rushed into town. She wasn't quite sure how or why, but for some reason Semeru was on land and a particular detail of Mark's story kept her from going directly to the Inn. Instead, florescent letters spelling "White Flamingo" came into view as she entered the only clothing store in town.

"Welcome Olivi- are you bleeding?" greeted the store owner as his smile contorted to disgust.

"Hi Antonio," Olivia replied. "Yes, I'm going to go to Charles after. This is kind of important though."

"Uhuh, He's at the Inn at the moment making a house call," Antonio was not any more impressed than he was before. "And, what can I help you find? The blouses are this way if you need a new shirt to replace your, unfortunate one."

"Um. I'm actually looking for some cheap men's clothing?" She winced as she noticed Antonio raise an eyebrow.

"Ah," Cheap. How insulting. "What size."

"I uh. Don't actually know per say," Olivia looked away as his judgmental gaze remained fixed on her. How did men's sizing work anyways? Maybe a frame of reference would work? "Kinda a Rafael in the shoulders but more of a Pablo at the waist?" probably? Does he still have a dorsal fin?

"I'm not sure how I feel about you using my cousins as a unit of measurement…" Antonio bluntly admitted which only embarrassed Olivia further.

She quickly held her face to hide her deepening blush. "I'm sorry. I figured they'd be the best reference because you know them. I have never had to dress a person other than myself before. I just know they're currently naked, please help."

"Oh! Is this for the drunk man at the inn? Why didn't you lead with that," Antonio laughed as pieces finally fell into place. She wasn't calling his products cheap; she just didn't want to spend a lot on a stranger. It was understandable enough.

With that he walked away. "One moment please."

"I keep a few of these in stock since Ben doesn't seem to wear anything else." Antonio explained as he put a pair of sweat pants on the counter along with a pair of flip flops, boxers and a plain white shirt. "This should keep our new guest, comfortable and decent."

"How much," Olivia asked as she took off her backpack to get to her wallet.

"I'll just charge our guest later," Antonio laughed as he waved her off.

"Unfortunately, I'd be the one paying either way. If it's all the same, I'll just pay now," Olivia replied as she opened her wallet.

Antonio took a moment to process this. "I. Oh. Uh. Okay?" That was... Huh. He was definitely going to be having a conversation with the ladies next door at the hair salon after this. "All together that will run you about 3,850 local or $105."

Ouch. "Here you go," She replied as she forked over the money and accepted the clothes.

Still confused Antonio watched her pack and shoulder her bag once more. "Have a nice day?"

"Yeah," Olivia laughed. It was certainly a day. "You too. Bye."

Now that she was better equipped to handle whatever madness waited for her at the beach side Inn, she left the store and jogged her way through town, to the all too familiar wooden deck of the inn and into the building.

"Hey," she greeted as she found a sight she was only partially prepared for. Semeru was somehow here and had legs. He was surrounded by townies, tied to a chair and struggling to get out. Though mercifully a towel had been wrapped around his waist. "Sorry, that's mine. I'll get him out of here. So sorry." Her panicked words cracked as she hurried to join the others.

As she said this, the gathering, consisting of the Mayor, Alice, Scott, Charles, Theo and another person with glasses she didn't completely recognize, turned to stare at her with varied reactions.

"Excuse me?" Scott asked as his eyebrows knit together and his expression dropped. What did she mean by 'that's mine'.

"Are you bleeding?" Charles asked as he quickly moved to go to his bag of supplies that had been left on a nearby table.

"Olivia Hi!" Alice waved only for the man in glasses to jolt back upon seeing her.

"Oh, thank the goddess. Get me out of here!" Semeru pulled at the ropes that tied him to the chair all the more.

As she saw Semeru pulling to get free again she motioned for him to calm, "give me a minute."

"Whoa hold on a moment. That's her. That's the one I saw get abducted by aliens," announced the man in glasses.

"What?" Oh no… Ooooh he saw her teleport. How many people did he tell about this?!

"Noah," Alice quietly chided. "I'm sure Olivia would tell me if something like that happened. Maybe it was just a spirit that steals faces?"

"Or would she? Seriously, it explains all of this. It's why the random guy showed up. It explains how he got here without Wataru. it explains the weapon no one here has seen before. It's why no one can understand him, not even google translate is working. He's an alien. They must have sent someone who looks like the farmer to collect this one since they abducted her before! We can't let him leave yet."

Olivia nervously laughed. So, this is what Alice meant before when she mentioned her friend Noah might be fun to meet. They both liked paranormal stuff. Great. "Um. Interesting theory. How about this. Alice, ask me a question that only I would be able to answer."

"Okay… What was the first invention you made for me?" Alice asked as she glanced between Noah and Olivia.

"These are questions that can wait a minute longer. She is bleeding," Charles reminded as he walked back over with a cotton pad and antiseptic cleaner in hand with some gauze and a clasp in his lab coat pocket.

Hearing this seemed to silence the once talkative crowd.

"Can you remove the bandana please?" Charles requested as he prepped the cotton pad. Olivia complied exposing the now hour old gash. Upon seeing it Charles clicked his tongue. "Tsk. I'll clean it up for now to try and keep it from getting infected, but stop by the clinic later so I can stitch this properly and write up a prescription for antibiotics. We need to keep it clean." He instructed as he gingerly dabbed at the wound.

"Right. Thanks Charles," Olivia winced as the alcohol coated cotton stung slightly. She glanced from Semeru, who'd seemed to calm down, to Alice.

"Sorry, um you were asking me a question before. First invention… It depends on who you asked. You called it a paranormal activity detector but I just called it an abnormality detector. It had a heat sensor and a magnetic pull sensor and would only set off an alert if both sensors detected a change at the same time." Olivia explained. "Basically, I modified one of those forehead scanning thermometers. We had a blast making it but it was only really good at finding metal air ducts."

"Yeah, that's her," Alice crossed her arms and gave a defeated sigh. "I could have sworn that air duct was a ghost."

"Thank you. Now could you please untie him," Olivia requested as Charles placed a clean gauze pad against the injury and wrapped it before heading back to his bag of medical supplies.

"I would advise against that," Theo chimed in. Further inspection made a newly forming bruise on his face more apparent.

Olivia turned her attention from Theo to Semeru. "Did you punch him?" She asked while glaring at the no-longer Merfolk man. Her tone and body language spoke loudly enough as she gestured to Theo.

"He started it." Semeru muttered.

Yeah, she knew that expression. There was no remorse. "You have got to be kidding me," Olivia held her face. How did this happen, why does he have legs? What is going on.

"I'm sorry can we get back to 'who is this' and 'how do you know him'?" Scott asked as he looked between the two with a dumbfounded expression.

"I'm also wondering this as well," Mayor Connor admitted.

"This is Semeru. We worked together on a project not too long ago," She answered as she made her way around the chair to start untying his arms.

To everyone's confusion, the previously aggressive man was still, and once he was free to move, he simply rubbed at his wrists where the rope used to be.

Olivia walked back around to face him again. "There, that's better, right?"

"…Thank you," Semeru glanced around before pointing to his spear. "I want that back though."

Olivia's eyes followed his pointing to see the mayor holding Semeru's spear. "Ah." again the request did not need a translation. "Mayor Connor, I apologize for my friend's disruptive and unacceptable behavior. I'll make sure he apologizes properly once he's recovered but could he please have that back in the meantime?"

"Well. Scott already said it's not a museum piece… It's technically not illegal for him to have it," the mayor bobbed his head before cautiously offering the spear back to Semeru, creating an air of tension in the room.

Just as quickly the tension faded as Semeru gently took it back and used it to help himself shakily stand up.

"It's like I'm looking at a completely different person…" Theo muttered.

"Sorry, he probably just got spooked is all. Not that it makes his reaction any better," Olivia nervously replied. "Again, I'm really sorry."

Theo bobbed his head. "I'll accept that apology from him later."

"Right, of course. For now, though, Alice is there a place he can get changed?" Olivia took off her backpack to dig out the clothing she purchased earlier.

"Yeah, there's a bathroom down the hall and to the right." She pointed in the general direction she mentioned.

"Thanks," How to tell him what to do without alerting the others that he didn't know how to wear normal 'land-dweller' clothing… Noah was already suspicious of them. "Okay. Here. Boxers," She held them up, then put them against her leg. "Sweat pants." She held up the sweat pants and did the same. "And a t-shirt." She held the shirt to her shoulder before bundling them again and offering them to him.

Semeru nodded as he watched. It was vague but it was enough. "Very well." Before any further instructions could be given, he loosened the towel around his waist and plucked the first article of clothing from the pile.

The others quickly averted their eyes while Olivia remained frozen in place. Eyes at eye level, eyes at eye level, eyes at eye level. Do not move. Do not blink. It wasn't a dorsal fin but he certainly had something going on down there and she was not going to make this anymore awkward than it had to be by looking.

Despite her efforts her nervousness caused her to laugh as Semeru had to sit back down to dress himself without falling over.

Hearing her laughter caused Scott to reluctantly lower his hand to check on her. She was still standing there. Waiting like nothing happened. They were just friends, right? This Semeru guy was only visiting for a few days. This was fine, everything's fine.

Olivia remained oblivious to the crisis her reaction caused and with some struggling and concerted effort, Semeru managed to get dressed.

"Because walking wasn't difficult enough, Lets impede my movement by wrapping me in fabric." He grumbled as he got up once more and shifted to try and get comfortable in the unusual garments. "Land-dweller logic continues to elude me."

Olivia watched Semeru glance at his new outfit and listened to his inflections. "Okay maybe it's not to your taste, we can find something else once you're back on your feet." Olivia gestured to the door. "We should get going."

The door looked so far away. "I hope you do not expect me to move quickly." Semeru took a step forward that made him resemble a new born deer.

Olivia chuckled "Here, I'll help you," She reached to help support his arm.

The soft touch of her hand felt like static and caused Semeru to pull away. "You're invading my personal space. Step back!" Any contact he'd ever had with her in the past wasn't truly, her. It was an artificial wrapping of plastic and fabric. To remove that barrier, to feel warmth from another person, it felt foreign.

Scott breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, Alright, Sheesh. I was just trying to help." She took a few steps away and held up her hands to signal surrender before looking at the others. "Thanks, guys, for looking after him. And sorry again for the trouble he caused."

Semeru was able to take a step, then another before stumbling.

"Semeru," Olivia quickly stepped in to catch him, throwing her weight into him to keep him upright as the foreign warmth returned and with it came a new itch in the back of his mind. "Easy, find your balance."

"This is easier said than done you know," He groused while doing everything in his power to get away from her, back onto his feet, and back to the chair.

"How did you guys get him here?" Olivia asked as she scratched at the back of her head.

"Oh, when Eleanor called around and told me what happened, I brought one of the public use wheelchairs with me." Mayor Connor announced. "Did you not see it outside?"

"Mighta missed it," Olivia admitted before looking between Semeru and the door. "Is there any chance you could help him back into it for now so I can get him home? I'll drop it off once I'm done using it."

"It's what they're here for… Kind of. So long as it's returned in good condition," Mayor Connor agreed with a nod.

"I'll help," Charles offered.

Noah stepped forward as well. "Same, I kind of owe you after the alien accusations. I know I saw something but, I guess I need to do more research."

"Don't worry about it," Olivia forced a smile. Please don't look into it. "But thanks for the help."

As Noah and Charles walked over each offered an arm and waited, having learned that grabbing first didn't end well, thanks to Theo's black eye.

Semeru glanced at the men on either side of him before looking at Olivia. "Seriously?"

"It's either they help you out," Olivia pointed one hand at Charles and the other to Noah before pointing both at him then gesturing both to the door. "Or I'll leave you here." She pointed at him, then the chair, before pointing at herself and the door.

"Please don't." Alice squeaked.

Semeru sneered at the mimed message and reluctantly accepted the help. While the feeling of someone touching him still felt foreign the itch in the back of his mind was not present which only confused him further.

"Thank you," Olivia walked ahead of the Trio and opened the door for them. As the three made their way over to the parked wheel chair, the rest of the crowd made their way outside too.

"Well, that seems to be everything. I'll see you back at the house Charles," Scott announced before stopping by Olivia. "And don't be a stranger, okay? We should get drinks again soon."

"Absolutely," Olivia happily agreed as she accepted a quick hug from Scott.

"See you around." With that said and done, Scott left with a victorious smile.

"Easy does it," Noah's voice strained as he and Charles helped Semeru into the wheelchair. "And we're good. Anything else I can help with?"

"No that's all, thanks again." Olivia felt a little lighter as Noah left to go back into the Inn.

"I'm going to head out as well. Don't forget to stop by, it's important to get that closed up," Charles reminded and gestured to her bandanged arm.

"I'll stop by before the clinic closes, cross my heart," Olivia made a crossing motion over her heart.

Seeing this caused Charles to snicker. "Alright, I'll let Yuri know we're expecting you and get everything set up."

The mayor left with Charles and Theo. Just like that the once numerous crowed dispersed. Olivia moved to stand behind the wheelchair and got to work, pushing it the whole way back to the farm.

Silence clung to the trip as speaking seemed useless when any questions that remained, required detail and nuance that could not be gleaned from a vague gesture or tone.

Once the wheel chair stopped, Semeru stuck the point of his spear into the ground for additional stability before pulling himself out.

"Are you going to be stubborn and refuse help again?" Olivia asked only to frown as he started taking very small shuffled steps towards the porch stairs. "You are so stubborn…"

"You want to go in there, right?" Semeru asked as he pointed his thumb over to the front door.

Olivia watched as his head tilted slightly as he spoke. "Yeah, That's my house, go on." She made a shooing motion, then waited as slow shakey steps struggled up the three stairs towards the door. The blade of his spear was strategically placed between planks of wood to continue supporting his weight.

While the method worked, it was quickly discontinued once the front door was opened and he entered the home. While the outer deck had slight gaps between the wooden planks, the interior floor was a neat braided pattern with each board pressed firmly against the other.

"You need to stay here," Olivia said as she gestured to Semeru and then the Couch. "I need to go." She gestured from herself back to the door.

"We just got here. What do you mean, you're leaving," Semeru held the side of his head as he reluctantly sat on the couch to rest his legs.

"Of course, you're objecting. I hate to do this but, frankly it's not like you can keep up, so see you," Olivia gave a sarcastic salute before turning around and walking out the door.

While part of her debated going back and putting on her scuba gear to see if the translator would work above water, the other didn't want to for a multitude of reasons. Professor Ling would know what to do but bringing him to her, unannounced, was a really bad idea. He needed to stay here.

So, she made her way into town up a sloping path and down a narrow stone road to get to the lab as quickly as possible.

"Professor Ling, we have a problem," Olivia announced as she walked in and closed the door behind her. "Oh, Hi Surya."

"Hey um, what's wrong?" Surya asked as he put down the clipboard he was previously reading.

"The coral project we were working on has had some unexpected developments that I need to discuss with her, urgently," Olivia replied while annunciating to make sure her voice carried into the lab.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Professor Ling assured as she entered the front room of the lab. "Surya, could you go and collect some coral samples. Sounds like this is important so I'll need new ones to study to confirm whatever Olivia tells me."

"Right, on it. Yes ma'am," Surya quickly collected his coat before leaving the lab.

Once the door closed Ling nervously looked at Olivia. "What happened."

"Semeru's on land. Why does he have legs? I mean I know you have them but you made it sound like it was a secret sort of hush hush thing." Olivia began to pace around. "How is this possible?"

"Did he really?" Ling's concern was quickly replaced with sly amusement. "I must say he did seem quite fond of you. I know he said you'd grown on him but this is unexpected. He was always such a reserved child but it seems he's grown to be a more confident young man. It was surprising to see."

"Yeah, well now I need to figure out how to talk to him and figure out why he's he-what." Olivia's steps stopped cold as Ling's words finally registered. "Surprising to see what?"

"Oh. You forgot what I said before huh? Um. Hmm. So, I can monitor what's going on here at the lab, from Kible's point of view. I think I've mentioned it a few times now actually." Ling explained while doing her best to hold back laughter. There were no secrets to be had.

"You... you've grown on me. I didn't expect that." "Nor did I expect... to grow on you."

Oh. She saw that. Oooooh, she heard all of that. Nooo. Panicked screaming filled her mind as Olivia nervously joined in the laughter. "Yeah, um so anyways." If she ignored it then the problem didn't exist. She was sticking to that. "Is there any way you can make a translator that works the other way around so I can figure out why he's here?"

Ling held her breath for a few seconds to calm her giggle fit. "As much as I would love to help you, I don't think I'm the best person for this," she reluctantly admitted. "Anything I can make will be excessively obvious and bulky. Technology has its own elegance but it's not always the most subtle. You'd be better off asking Cho Oyu." Ling silently debated teasing the poor woman further but thought better of it. "This problem would be better handled by the magic arts if you don't want to draw further attention to him. I have a reason to believe she already knows he's here. So, I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help come spring."

Spring?! "Professor please," Olivia pleaded while trying to ignore the burning blush across her face. "Have mercy. He can hardly take three steps; I just need to know what's going on."

Professor Ling walked over to give Olivia a few gentle pats on her back before directing Olivia to the door. "You'll figure it out, I have faith. Good luck."

Faith was nice but she'd rather have a solution. The sound of the door shutting behind her just made her all the crankier. She was not waiting until spring for answers.

Olivia grumpily continued down the stone pathway, instead of heading back the way she came. A set of stairs a turn and another set of stairs brought her to the towns market area and allowed her to walk past the pillar she'd used before. She muttered under her breath as she spared it a passing glance. That warp point was officially off limits again.

Her new destination came into view as she approached the clinic. if she was going to find an answer, she'd need to take care of this first. If she showed up with a sopping wet bandage, she'd never hear the end of it.

The chime of a bell above the door announced her arrival to everyone inside.

"Welcome," called a woman with long green hair and tattoos that covered from her neck, down her left arm.

"Hey Yuri," Olivia greeted in return as she approached the clinic's front desk. "Slow day?"

"Ha!" Yuri shook her head. "Well, it's not every day we get a house call to the Inn for a drunk foreigner. Well. actually, we used to get more calls for that when the summers were busy. but." She bobbed her head. "Anyways you can head on back. Charles has his exam room ready for you. You do know we don't have a punch card reward system for regulars, right?"

Olivia laughed in turn. "Well darn, you mean you're not going to start one for me?" She waved it off as she took a few steps to leave. "I'll try to visit less. Thanks, and see you around."

"Hopefully not, Stay well."

A few quiet chuckles were suppressed as Olivia made her way back to an increasingly familiar examination room. "Hey Charles."

As she walked in Charles looked up from his phone. "You made it, good. Take a seat," He quickly pocketed the device before walking over to a tray of supplies he'd prepared.

She took a seat on the exam table as she was told, "Well, doctor's orders, right?"

"Hah, yeah, I guess. Sorry, I guess I did come off a bit demanding," Charles picked up the tray and walked over to join her.

"Not at all. Besides sometimes I need that stronger voice of reason. I appreciate that you keep an eye on me," Olivia held out her arm to make it more accessible as Charles put the tray down on the longer, bed like exam table.

"I get enough practice with Scott, what's one more person to look after," Charles shrugged before unwrapping his previous handywork to get started.

"I don't know if I should be offended or not," Olivia teased through returning snickers.

"Well, for what it's worth, I didn't mean any offense," Charles remained quiet as his eyes narrowed so he could focus on the task at hand.

Olivia looked away to avoid freaking herself out and with that allowed her mind to trail off. "So, how's that show of yours doing?"

"You still don't have cable?"

"It hasn't exactly been a priority," Olivia admitted while thinking it over. "The second floor of the house still needs to be repaired, and considering how expensive it is to run cables, I'd rather focus on having spare rooms in case I need to host guests."

"Fair enough, the extra rooms in my own place have been rather useful," Charles paused to focus for a moment before continuing. "As for the show, it's been a little frustrating. They just started an amnesia arc."

"Whaaat?" Olivia gasp. "Wait. No. But, he has two kids now. What?!"

"That's what I said. The poor wife isn't saying anything about it either to try and let him remember on his own. Going back to the 'will they won't they' phase is torture," Charles lamented. "They're five seasons in. I think they're just running out of ideas."

"I mean is it at least interesting?" Olivia asked while Charles tied down the last stitch.

Once his hands were free, he held one up to wobble it back and forth. "It's alright, you know how I get with medical treatment in shows."

"Can't expect too much from writers, accurate medical treatment doesn't make for an interesting story some times," She heaved a tired sigh.

"True, I mean at least it's not Blue's anatomy, or Home, level of annoying where they just make up treatments for very serious diseases but it still gets my goat," Charles grumbled as he cleaned up the closed injury once more.

The solution caused Olivia to wince.

"Ah, sorry about that," Charles pulled back the cotton swap.

"It's okay. Just the tax for being stupid," Olivia offered as an attempt at a joke. "I should be paying a premium for your help at this point... I have a feeling you're going to be doing this again in the future if I keep exploring the cavern."

"Hmm," Charles started to re-wrap the stitched-up injury. "As your friend, can I suggest that you not do that then?"

"I mean you can," Olivia winced again from the pressure of the bandage.

"But you're not going to listen," Charles shook his head as he tied down the gauze wrapping. "Like I said, I'm already used to looking after Scott."

"Everyone would benefit from getting access to the mines again... I'll try to be more careful," She insisted.

"We've been fine without them for over a hundred years. We'd be fine without them for a hundred more. It's not worth getting maimed, or worse," Charles started putting the stray supplies back onto his tray. "But do what you want. Yuri will mail you your bill."

"Thanks, See you for coffee tomorrow." Olivia meekly replied before making her way out of the office. "Bye Yuri," She called as she made her way to the door.

"See you later," Yuri waved to the retreating farmer.

Once out of the clinic she started making her way back to the farm once more. It seemed her scuba gear could not be avoided.

Once she'd made it home, she found Semeru still sitting on the couch with a bored, deadpan expression.

"Are you finally going to talk to me?" Semeru asked as Olivia closed the door behind her.

"One minute," Olivia requested as she took a hard left, through an open doorway and into her room so she could change. Now wearing her suit, she made her way back into the living room and put on her mask. "Can you understand me?"

Semeru raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, it doesn't work above water... Sound travels differently through air," Olivia shook her head and turned to leave again. It's not like the water was going to get any warmer any time soon.

Once she made it to the pillar next to her house and reached out to it, she yelped and grimaced as the shock of icy water hit her, causing her muscles to tense as she breathed through clenched teeth. After giving herself a moment to acclimate to the temperature she pushed herself to swim to the Oracle's home.

She parted the sea-glass curtains that clinked and chimed as she entered the spacious and cluttered hut.

"Ah, there you are," Cho Oyu greeted. "I take it Semeru has made it to the surface."

"Hey. Um, yeah. So where to start." Olivia clasped her hands together as she thought. her initial question of 'what the fuck' didn't seem appropriate, so she skipped to the second. "No one can understand him, I was told you might be able to help?"

"Ah, right, the land-dweller language is different from our own," Cho Oyu pondered over this. "I suppose that was a slight over sight. I'll need a few ingredients from the deep sea but if you can collect them for me, I can make a charm to aid him."

Olivia thought it over before nodding. The less time she spent here the better and that would not be possible with excessive questioning and arguing. "Alright, what do you need?"

"I'll need a geoduck, and three bundles of Osmium kelp, I have the rest of the ingredients that I need here." Cho Oyu explained as she swam over to a shelf of various vials and oddities. "I'll start preparations while you collect that."

"Okay. I'll be right back," Olivia agreed and swam off to do that. As she left the hut a familiar white egg-like robot made its way over to her.

"Caution: water at dangerous temperatures and poses risks of Hypothermia. Emergency evacuation protocol recommended." Kible loudly announced in greeting.

"Override protocol," Olivia ordered as she swam into the depths.

This alert would go off every five minutes, insisting on evacuation only for the alarm to be snoozed.

After a good two hours of searching, Olivia finally made her way back, now with a pounding headache from the insistent repeated warning.

"Caution: water at dangerous temperatures and poses risks of Hypothermia. Emergency evacuation protocol recommended."

"Override Protocol," Olivia groaned through chattering teeth as she slowly swam back to Cho Oyu's home with her arms full of glittering purple kelp. "I'm back."

"Welcome back," Cho Oyu hurried over to accept the bundle from Olivia. "This should be plenty. and the Geoduck?"

Olivia dug through her hip pouch and pulled out the small shell bound mussel. "Here."

"Perfect, this should do nicely," Cho Oyu accepted it as well and went back to her table. The Geoduck was added to a mixing pot before she pulled the leaves from the kelp stems in one swift movement and added those to the pot as well.

"Now to add a bit of this, and a dash of that," Cho Oyu opened a few vials and spooned out ingredients into the pot before a hymn like prayer was offered, causing the pot to glow a deep purple hue.

"Almost done, now I'll just need you to speak to it in your language for 5 minutes," Cho Oyu explained as she pulled the geoduck out of the pot and offered it to Olivia.

Olivia pressed a button on the side of her mask to turn off her translator and accepted the likely deceased muscle. "Okay, where to start. once upon a time there was a very tired adventurer who just wanted to rest. She made her way to a sleepy kingdom in hopes to join their ranks and began a quest to collect everything she'd need for a good night's sleep. the world's most comfortable blanket, pillow, and mattress. As she traveled-" Olivia continued to make up a silly story in an effort to find a way to talk for five solid minutes. "And she finally lived happily ever after with all her new friends. The end." Olivia clicked the button on the side of her mask once more.

"Was that long enough?" Olivia asked which caused Cho Oyu to laugh.

"Cho Oyu was trying to tell you some time ago, but you seemed to be enjoying yourself," the oracle admitted before holding out her hand. "It's ready, if you could give it back to me, I'll weave it into the remaining kelp stems to make a necklace."

"Oh um, sure here," Olivia handed it back and the now empty shell became a pendant.

"There, If anything else comes up let me know-"

Kible cut off Cho Oyu. "Caution: water at dangerous temperatures and poses risks of Hypothermia. Emergency evacuation protocol recommended."

"Override protocol," Olivia frustratedly grumbled.

"Though it seems you are needed elsewhere," Cho Oyu smiled and waved to the little robot.

"Thank you," Olivia accepted the pendant. "See you in the spring." Maybe? Probably? Probably not.

"Take care." The oracle replied as Olivia left.

Shivering set in as she forced herself to move again and reach out to the underwater pillar that warped her back to her farm.

"Cold. coldcoldcold," Olivia chanted as she hurried back into the house and closed the door behind her. Instead of finding a bored Semeru, this time she found the guard had managed to fall asleep while sitting upright. She thanked her stars for that as she rushed back to her room to change, dry off, switch out her bandage and warm up.

The blanket laden farmer sneezed as she shuffled her way back into the open living space and over to the couch. She debated nudging Semeru to wake him but thought better of it as she put the kelp and shell charm around his neck first. "Psst. Semeru, Can you hear me?" She whispered.

He inhaled deeply as his mind woke up, and the rest of him followed. tired eyes looked up and blinked away fatigue to clear his vision. "What?"

"Oh, thank the goddess, it worked." Olivia finally relaxed as she moved to hold her blankets closed.

"What worked? Why can I understand you?" Semeru looked around to try and find an answer. "What happened?"

"Easy, easy. I just went back to the merfolk kingdom and got some help from Cho Oyu," Olivia explained.

Semeru groggily rubbed his face. "You mean this could have been avoided?"

Hearing that caused her to chuckle. "I was able to talk to everyone from the get go, so it probably slipped her mind. Though, and I mean this with no ill will, why are you here?"

"The princess decided that an ambassador should be sent to the surface," Semeru answered. "Said we should help with whatever it is you're working on that required training. The king agreed so," He gestured to himself. "Curtesy of royal decree, the oracle gave me a new form. It seems a land-dweller can practice swimming with legs, but a merfolk cannot practice walking with a tail." As he played out the memories from earlier that day, he spoke again. "She also wanted me to pass along a message."

"Oh?" That was a lot to unpack but, one thing at a time. "What message?"

"She's beyond cross that you'd think of leaving without saying goodbye. So, you're hereby ordered to return. Regularly. Once winter passes." Semeru recited the words as exactly as his memory allowed before a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "She also wants more of those jarred fruits you dropped off."

Hearing the additional request caused Olivia to laugh. "Well, maybe it's a good thing I managed to avoid being seen by her then. I'd hate to disappoint her."

"Oh no, she gets to see you sooner than expected. How disappointing," Sarcasm dripped from his words as he looked away.

Olivia looked over the now Human captain. "I'm sorry that you got forced into this. I should have kept my mouth shut. I didn't think they'd order you to. you know." She gestured to his legs. "It seems cruel."

He pressed his lips together to keep from talking before heaving a tired sigh. "I, may have also agreed to go. The decree was more so." He paused to think of a better word. "Permission to do so. Besides, this isn't permanent. I'll change back once i'm in the water."

Olivia quietly nodded. "Well, it's good to see you again."

"...Good to see you too. Things were getting a little too peaceful," Semeru replied while sparing her a glance. "Though, I could have done without the 'warm welcoming'." Olivia's laughter returned causing some of the tension in his shoulders to relax.

"What were you expecting? You showed up naked. They didn't prepare you for this at all. Just threw you at the surface and said figure it out," she replied while miming a tossing motion.

"Perhaps I could have prepared a little better," He reluctantly admitted.

"Well, prepared or not. It's probably a good thing that you're here. The mines are proving, difficult. The help would be appreciated, Once you're able to." Olivia bobbed her head.

Semeru moved to cover his eyes with his hands. "Who knows how long that will take."

"It's not like you're starting from nothing. It should be easy enough to teach you how to walk, it's just going to be a matter of practicing and getting to a point where you feel confident you can fight." It's not like he was a top-heavy infant, he just needed to get used to a new sense of gravity and balancing. "Two, or three weeks maybe?"

"Time that you won't be able to work, seems this is more of a hinderance then a help," He frowned as he thought it over.

"Well, in the meantime it doesn't make sense for you to go to and from the merfolk kingdom until you're more stable on land. You're welcome to stay here while we figure this out." Olivia offered while adjusting her blankets in an effort to stay warm. "I can bring some spare blankets and pillows for you to use."

"I. Well, hm," Semeru tried to argue but any attempt to do so fell short. She made a decent point. "Alright. Just until I'm useful here. I do need to go back every so often and report on progress and keep up with other duties." Sure, the king said Deno would take over and while he trusted Deno, there was no way on the goddess' blue oceans that he'd let his army go unreviewed.

"Just until then," She agreed and as she did so, she heard his stomach growl. "When was the last time you ate?" Olivia asked as she held the side of her head.

"Breakfast?"

"I am so sorry," she immediately started walking away, ditching her blankets in the process, to act as a proper host by finding something for him to eat and drink.

Clinks and clanks of metal only left Semeru confused as a searing crackling was heard after. A warm fragrance filled the air and in no time at all she came back with a plate and a glass. "Here, it's not much but it's quick food. A grilled cheese and a glass of water."

"I thought water hurts land dwellers?" Semeru asked, eyeing the glass with suspicion as she placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

"Well, we're not supposed to breathe it, and being submerged in it for too long can cause damage, yes," She agreed as she walked away to go and collect her own plate and glass from the kitchen. "But we do still need water so we drink it." As she said this she remembered Princess Miranjani's past laments. "Just pour it into your mouth and swallow it like it's food you already chewed up."

"Hm," Semeru picked up the glass and looked it over before following the given instructions. His expression immediately soured after.

Olivia chuckled at that. "You'll get used to it." She assured before taking a bite of her own sandwich.

"Seem's I'll be getting used to a lot of things," He remarked as he picked up the sandwich and looked it over before cautiously taking a bite. Soured distain turned to surprised wonder. Food in the merfolk kingdom was rarely crunchy, and often only the most experienced chefs could manage to create such a texture underwater. The only exception he could think of was raw vegetables. Warm crunchy food was a rarity to put it mildly. "And this is a common dish?"

"It's just bread, cheese and a bit of butter. So, yeah, it's a pretty simple dish," She confirmed before watching with amusement as he scarfed down the rest.