Feliciano strode out of the castle doors and onto the path down to the water, seeing the girls already on the docks and hearing his brother's footsteps behind them.
"I'm surprised you're so concerned about her," Lovino pointed out, "You've only known her for four days."
"Why shouldn't I be concerned?" Feliciano defended, "She's in pain, after all."
"It could just be exhaustion, for all we know," Lovino speculated, "It's also been only four days since she apparently got her human legs."
Feliciano rolled his eyes, and didn't bother commenting on Lovino's assessment. It probably rang true, but he couldn't help but worry about Erika nonetheless.
Per Laura's report this morning, Erika woke up to intense pain in her legs and feet, making it very difficult to walk. She stayed in her room all morning, while Feliciano and Lovino were in meetings with their father, before insisting on getting fresh air this afternoon. Just now, Laura and Natalya managed to help her walk down to the docks, where she could dip her feet into the sea for a bit. Now that the twins were free for the rest of the afternoon, the first thing Feliciano wanted to do was check on her personally.
As they reached the dock, Feliciano saw that Laura was now holding Erika's shoes and stockings, along with a towel on her arm, while Natalya helped Erika sit down on the edge. Once seated, Erika quickly swung her legs down, so that her feet dangled in the first few inches of the seawater.
"How is she doing?" Feliciano asked as he approached.
"She made it fine coming down, but stumbled quite a bit," Natalya detailed, "She will probably struggle to get back up to the castle afterwards."
"We can make that easier," Lovino determined, "Laura, can you have the stablehands prepare a horse to bring down here, for when Erika's ready to head back up?"
"Yes, I can do that, Your Highness," Laura complied, "Miss Natalya, may I leave these items in your care?"
"Of course," Natalya directed, "If you could leave them in a pile by that post, that would be just fine."
While Laura did as requested, Feliciano walked around everyone and went to Erika, kneeling down to sit beside her on the edge of the dock.
"How are you feeling, Erika?" Feliciano checked, "Has your pain decreased at all?"
Erika raised her hand, held her palm level and twisted it side to side.
"Not really?" Feliciano interpreted.
Erika nodded, the expression on her face showing disappointment.
"How's the water?" Feliciano inquired, "Does it at least feel cool and refreshing?"
Erika nodded, giving a small smile this time.
"I'm almost tempted to take my shoes off and join you," Feliciano remarked, "It is a hot summer day, after all -"
"What in the world is that?"
At Lovino's interruption, Feliciano looked up to see Lovino pointing out at the sea, with Natalya looking in the indicated direction, so he turned to do the same. The sea was calm today, with hardly any waves at all, but there was one swelling wave a couple feet high that was careening towards them very quickly.
"There must be something in the water," Natalya presumed.
Feliciano glanced at Erika, who was staring intently at the wave, before turning to watch again as the wave reached the dock. He saw a figure under the surface spin around in the water, stopping before the dock posts while the water kept moving forward. The water level rose to hit both Erika and Feliciano where they sat, while splashing hard against the two posts of the deck and spraying upwards. As he shook off the water, Feliciano quickly made out the details of a human torso and a teal-green tail that matched Erika's, before glancing at her and noting that she was rolling her eyes.
Their head and shoulders emerged from the water, revealing a face that looked a lot like Erika's, teal-green eyes that were fixed on her, and an expression that indicated a foul mood.
"Here you are, I've spent the last five days looking everywhere for you!" they interrogated, "Why do you have human feet, where are your fins?"
"You're a merman?" Lovino realized.
"Obviously," the merman derided, "And my sister needs to explain why she's not a mermaid right now."
"She can't talk," Feliciano disclosed, "She traded her voice to a sea-witch to get legs and become human."
"Erika, please tell me he's joking," the merman pleaded, "You did not make a deal with a sea-witch, did you?"
Erika cringed, before shaking her head up and down to confirm Feliciano's story.
"At least tell me it wasn't Antonio."
Erika reluctantly nodded again.
"Of all the insufferable fools -"
The rest of the merman's mutterings were caught off as he sank back into the water and swam a short way away. Feliciano looked at Erika to find that she was watching her brother curiously, before her eyes widened in alarm.
"Is something wrong?" Feliciano asked.
She immediately reached her hands up to her ears and covered them, staring intently at Feliciano as she emphasized what she was doing.
"Should we cover our ear-"
Before Feliciano could finish the sentence, an ungodly shriek filled the air and gave him an intense headache. He immediately planted his hands to his ears to muffle the sound, which was already partially muffled by the water in which the merman was screeching. Behind Erika, Lovino and Natalya were also cringing in pain as they held their own hands to their ears.
After a ridiculously long minute, the shriek finally ended. Feliciano breathed a huge gasp of relief, and slowly lowered his hands from his ears. Lovino and Natalya were whining behind Erika, who was just shaking her head in exasperation. The merman rose to the surface at their feet again, and observed their reactions.
"Oh right, humans don't like my shrieking," the merman remembered, "You should've considered that when you became one of them, Erika."
"What was that for?" Feliciano whined, "Did you really need to do that?"
"Yes, I needed to do that," the merman justified, "He needs to answer for what he's done to my sister?"
"The sea-witch?" Feliciano checked, "Antonio?"
"Who else?" the merman sneered, rolling his eyes.
"Another wave," Lovino interrupted.
Feliciano, along with everyone else, turned to look out at the sea again. Another wave was coming towards them, just like the one formed when Erika's brother approached, and he silently braced himself to get splashed with water once again. He glanced back as he heard footsteps on the deck, and saw that Natalya and Lovino were backing away from the splash zone to avoid getting wet again.
He turned back in the water just in time to see the swell of water reaching the deck, the merman calmly bobbing up and down with the wave as it reached where Erika and Feliciano were sitting, before it splashed against the poles. Feliciano didn't bother shaking off the water this time, instead watching the water closely as the second figure swirled underneath, with eight seaweed-coloured appendages instead of a tail, before also raising their head above the surface.
"The entire Eldarin Sea heard that one, Basch," the creature greeted, "Was it really necessary?"
"Yes, it was, Antonio," Basch demanded, "You need to change my sister back into a mermaid right now."
"That is not possible, reversing the spell will turn her into a seafoam," Antonio declared, "I highly doubt either of you would want that. And before you ask, she agreed to this of her own free will. Isn't that right, chica?"
Feliciano looked over at Erika, who only nodded in confirmation.
"Now that that's settled, I trust all is well with the spell?" Antonio redirected, "No unexpected side effects?"
"Her feet are painfully sore today," Feliciano reported, "She's having trouble walking."
"Oh dear, let me see," Antonio examined as he reached for her feet, "I hope you haven't over-exerted them already."
"He's a cecaelian," Feliciano heard Natalya quietly inform Lovino as Antonio's fingers glowed with magic while inspecting Erika's feet, "You see his eight tentacles, like an octopus?"
"Well, that's not good," Antonio announced as the glowing magic disappeared, "It's not just wear and tear, the spell is punishing you."
"The spell is punishing her?" Basch denounced, "Why would you cast a spell on her that would harm her?"
"It's not my fault, it's the nature of the spell," Antonio elaborated, "Erika's choice to become human was based on certain desires, both conscious and subconscious, and the spell wants her to achieve those desires. It seems that she has not yet reached that goal in a timely manner, so the spell is making it painful to remain human."
As Antonio spoke, Feliciano glanced at Erika and noted that she was blushing strongly and looking down at her feet resiliently. She had been unable to tell him before why she chose to become human, and now she seemed to be punished unfairly for it.
"So she is going to be in a ridiculous amount of pain until she figures out how to obtain her wishes as a human?" Natalya calculated as Feliciano reached over to gently stroke Erika's back to comfort her.
"That is correct, yes," Antonio answered, briefly glancing at her before doing a double-take and looking closer, "I swear you look familiar, have we met before?"
"Can you at least return Erika's voice to her?" Basch appealed as Feliciano watched the cecaelian in the water more carefully, "She should at least be able to communicate to these humans that she needs help."
"Her voice is the payment for the spell, I'd have to receive something of equal value in exchange for it," Antonio divulged, sparing glances in Natalya's direction when he could, "Unfortunately, however, her voice has already been sold."
"Sold?" Feliciano repeated, "You sold her voice to someone?"
"A mermaid's voice is a rare commodity, especially when you know how to use a siren's song," Antonio defended, "The fae had an interest in acquiring it, and the sale was made just an hour ago."
"You sold my sister's voice to the fae?" Basch charged.
"Of course, you're Natalya, aren't you?" Antonio diverted as he swam closer to her, ignoring Basch's question, "You're Francis's little adopted sister, the young child from years ago that looked like a porcelain doll!"
"How would you know that?" Natalya asked, stepping back from the edge of the dock.
"We met years ago, I could tell you recognized me," Antonio described, "Shouldn't you still be in your tower? Francis was keeping you there for your own safety."
"I escaped the tower," Natalya confessed.
"Well, that's unexpected," Antonio mused, "I hope you haven't done anything scandalous in the meantime, your betrothed would not approve of that."
"Betrothed?" Lovino double-checked, "Who is she betrothed to?"
"King Gilbert of the Unseelie Court," Antonio revealed, "Francis arranged years ago for Natalya to marry the fae prince once she was of age."
Feliciano's jaw dropped in surprise, as he watched everyone else do the same in speechless shock.
"Oh, you didn't know, did you?" Antonio realized, "In that case, I better get out of here before I spoil any other surprises."
"Don't you leave yet," Basch protested as Antonio dipped back into the water, "You still haven't helped my sister!"
Antonio did not respond to Basch, instead swimming away quickly as the water rose to create a wave in his wake. Basch immediately submerged and swam away to follow, giving another ungodly shriek that made Feliciano cover his ears again. The shriek did not hurt for as long this time, as it faded as Basch swam away in hot pursuit of Antonio, the two waves stirring the surface of the sea as they sped off into the horizon.