The cave was quiet but for the gentle lap of water against stone as Leilani led Cian silently from the inner chamber, peering hard into the darkening salt water to be certain that none of her sisters had lingered. The queen would, no doubt, have her daughters patrolling the waters beyond the guardians, to be certain that their currently captive human was not about to turn tail and run away from them. They would be very lucky indeed if they managed to reach the underwater caverns without running across at least one of her sisters. She could only hope that the queen herself was not running those patrols personally.

Cian followed Leilani as quietly as he could, one hand resting against the handle of his sword, though he didn't really want to have to use it against one of her sisters if he didn't have to. Pirates were another matter. Either way, if it came down to it, he was willing to do whatever was necessary to keep Leilani safe. He watched silently as Leilani peered into the water, feeling a small pang of guilt once again at leaving the mermaids behind to fend for themselves, and yet, he believed Leilani when she told him that they held little love for humans and wouldn't think twice about killing him once he'd served his purpose. Peering into the water behind her, he silently prayed to whatever gods might be watching to favor their journey and bring them safely to their destination.

Satisfied that no one was waiting within this part of the underwater cave system, the little mermaid he'd taken for his own turned to Cian, her voice low. "It will take a few minutes to reach the cavern that holds the entrance to the maze," she told him softly. "We'll have to pass the other serpent, and probably one or two of my sisters. Don't attack anyone - let me deal with it. They have no reason not to trust me."

A maze. That was news to him. It meant they'd have to stay close to each other and keep each other in sight or risk getting separated and lost. He nodded his head, matching her volume when he spoke so that their voices didn't echo through the caverns. "I'll be right behind you." Hopefully, the mermaid queen's charm around his neck would not fail him, though he was betraying her trust by leaving.

Nodding, Lani squeezed his hand between her own briefly before turning to slip gently and almost silently into the water, making as few waves as possible even as her tail resumed its place in the fusing of her legs in the seawater. She swept back a little way, waiting for him to join her. "I won't let anything happen to you," she promised in a whisper.

He crouched down at the water's edge, watching as her legs fused into a tail and she became a mermaid once again. "I won't let anything happen to you either," he promised in return, slipping over the edge into the water, the sword hanging clumsily at his hip. He spread his arms and swam out to meet her, looking around warily for mermaids or pirates who might try to stop them.

This was the point of no return. She took his hand in hers and slowly slipped beneath the level of the water, drawing him deep toward the blackness that surrounded the entrance to the queen's court. This time, she did not lead him inland but seaward, the opposite direction to the one in which they had come, into the inky darkness of the water that changed with the tide, so far beneath the island that no light pierced its depths.

For just a moment, fear gripped his heart, though not because he was afraid of the mermaids or the pirates or of leaving this place behind. It was the fear of plunging into the blackness of the unknown that awaited and the fear he would somehow lose her in that darkness. He linked his hand to hers, hesitating just a moment as he fought the instinct to take a breath before plunging downward, before slipping beneath the surface into the dark waters that led away from the island.

She couldn't see the way herself, but Leilani had passed this way many times before. She knew the caves and passages that criss-crossed back and forth beneath the island better than any other, purely because there was one system that only she could traverse. Holding tightly to Cian's hand, she drew him through that terrifying pitch black, relieved in herself when the water around them began to lighten once more. As around them the world grew murky and then clear once again, they found themselves swimming along the length of the giant serpent who guarded the court at this seaward side, its huge head turned to watch them pass by with impassive interest.

Terrified of the pitch black more than anything else, Cian let Leilani lead him through the darkness, relieved that the charm continued to work and he was somehow able to breath beneath the water. He moved through the water with the grace of a skilled swimmer, even with the cutlass hanging heavily from his hip, heart pounding as they came up alongside the sea-serpent that guarded the mermaids' realm, warily eyeing the beast with a sidelong gaze as they swam past.

Yet it wasn't the serpent that caused Lani's heart to skip a beat in wary uncertainty. It was the figures she could see beyond it, delicately-tailed, their bodies covered in beautiful fins that disguised a deadly sting. They were her sisters, twins born of the queen's dalliance with a lionfish, and they were the deadliest of her children. Lani drew to a halt, tucking Cian behind her as she called to her sisters, hoping they would accept her explanation that she was going to show Cian the treasure house as truth. It was the first lie that had ever passed her lips, and she hoped it would be the last. It didn't feel right at all.

Cian hovered behind Lani while she spoke with her sisters in the chittering undersea language he didn't understand. He had no way of knowing what she was telling them or that she was lying to them. If he had, he might have told her to tell them the truth, preferring the truth himself, though he had the feeling her sisters' loyalties would most likely lie with the queen.

He was lucky not to understand what it was that was being said. Lani was bristling at the dismissive words her sisters threw at her about the human male hovering at her back, at the disparaging remarks made about herself and her sudden lack of use. In the midst of this unpleasant interlude, it was decided that one of the twins would continue on their patrol. The other, however, was going to escort Cian and Leilani to the entrance of the treasure cave, under orders from the queen not to allow them out into the open sea. Reluctant to agree but recognising that she had no other choice, Lani nodded, signing to Cian what had been decided. Her eyes warned him against arguing as she took his hand once again, falling into an easy pace beside her sister.

Though he might not understand what was being said between them, he knew Leilani well enough to know she was upset about what had passed between herself and her sisters. He furrowed his brows at her as she let him wordlessly know that they had acquired an escort and nodded his head to acknowledge that he understood. He took her hand in his own and continued on, letting the two mermaids take the lead.

The passages they passed through began to narrow, cramping the three of them together in uncomfortably tight quarters. Lani deliberately fell back to allow her sister to take the lead, not wanting the deadly spines hidden within those beautiful fins to even chance brushing against Cian's skin. She knew her sister would not care, one way or the other, but she had seen the damage those spines did. She bore a pair of her own, after all, however well hidden they were. As the tight passage opened out once again, the water around them suddenly became crystal clear, sparkling with sunlight, proving that they were passing beneath another sinkhole within the island's substrata.

"Work?" The innocently beautiful face he'd come to cherish crumpled into a thoughtful frown. She'd never truly considered just how the stone she had been born to protect could take a person from one world to the next. It was something she had always simply accepted as fact, never a thing to question. "I don't understand."

He mirrored her frown, having to explain to her yet again what he meant. He had a feeling he was going to be doing a lot of explaining in the days ahead. He'd forgotten to explain to her the reason that clothing was necessary, but the subject was sure to come up again. "I mean....What do we have to do to make it work" Where will it take us" Do we just have to touch it to have it take us somewhere else?" He supposed they'd find out soon enough, but he was full of curiosity and questions.

"Well, it will take us to another world," she said, her confusion still shining forth. "That's what it does. I was taught that it takes you away from here to somewhere else, somewhere you are needed, and it will not let you leave until you have fulfilled your purpose on that world." She shrugged, not knowing what else she could say to him. "Perhaps the reason it is in the chest is because it works just by touching it?"

He considered that thoughtfully a moment as they made their way slowly along the path. "If that's how it works, we should make sure we're holding hands before one of us touches it." He thought that made the most sense. They'd have to be careful until they knew how it worked. If they got separated somehow, he wasn't sure they'd be able to find their way back to each other. He stopped on the path at that thought and turned to face her. "Lani, I need you to know that no matter what happens, I'll always love you."

She pulled up short, startled by his sudden about-face, blinking in the face of his fierce declaration. "What do you think will happen?" she asked curiously, her expression made wary by his unhappy consideration coloring his face and voice. Her fingers reached to curl into the damp folds of his shirt. "I will always love you, too. Always."

"I don't know. I just....need you to know that," he told her, sliding his hands against her bare arms. "I don't know how this thing works or where we're going to end up. It's supposed to take us where we're needed most, but where's that?" What about what they needed" What they needed most right now was some food in their stomachs, a safe place to sleep, and some clean clothes.

Lani stepped close, touching her forehead to his, staring deep into his eyes, willing him to be calm, not to worry himself over something he couldn't possibly predict with any kind of accuracy. "If it takes us where we are most needed, then it will always take you to me," she murmured softly. "I need you like the island needs sunlight and rain. I need you most." She didn't understand his fears as deeply as he might have liked, but it was a start.

He relaxed a little as she touched her forehead to his, calming his worries, her words touching his heart. His hands reached for hers, needing to touch her, feel her close, realizing just how much he needed her, too. "There's only one place I want to be, and that's by your side. You are everything to me, Lani. Without you, I'm nothing."

"I don't believe that," she murmured back to him, her lips curved in a fond smile. Up onto her toes, and her mouth brushed his with soft tenderness, negating any argument he might put up against her gentle denial of what he might be without her. "We're almost there." Stepping back, now Lani took the lead, drawing Cian beneath the low overhang of rock that seemed to have been caught in the moment of pouring from a crucible. Beyond it lay a small, rounded cave, and in the centre of that cave, lay a single, unadorned chest.

He returned her kiss, just as tenderly, before she drew him along beside her. He ducked his head beneath the overhang as he followed, feeling a mix of excitement, mingled with anticipation and just a touch of trepidation. They had passed the point of no return in more ways than one. There was no turning back now. They were in this together, their very first adventure nearly at an end, and yet, their whole lives stretching out in front of them, full of adventures to come.

((Bet you weren't expecting that, huh' :grin: Oodles of thank yous to Cian's player, as ever!))