~portum Arcanum

Actaeon woke up, the man still as resolutely there as he was from last night.
His injuries had been patched up, and his wounds had been treated.
"The merman that killed your parents was a bodyguard, who did so on the orders of his client - a mermaid called Nerissa."
Actaeon scrunched his eyes up tight - where had he heard that name before?
"We have their address, we know where they're currently staying on land, not too far from here."
Actaeon struggled to be free of his bonds. "Let me go. Let me -"
"You're in no fit state to fight. He would kill you easily. Instead, we're going to talk about how to kill merpeople."

 

“It would be my pleasure. The map I’m looking for is actually hidden in a very common book, it is almost like a reference book for ship navigators. It is also one of the oldest books on navigation. No one would even think to look for it, because of the way it is hidden.”

They went into the library, and Raleigh found the section on ancient sea navigation. The book had seen many years of use, and was probably donated quite a while ago. He opened it, and found the section on astronomy.

“Many sailors used the stars to find their way to distant lands, since they could rely on the stars to guide them. What they didn’t realize is that the stars themselves hold maps to things that would make even our gov’t jealous. You could call me a pirate as well, since I know how to find these maps. I have a special tool that helps me find them.” Raleigh then brought out what looked like a marble, and set it on the constellation. It started glowing, then an image shot out from it.

“Now this is quite the thing. See where that red dot is? It is the location of a compass that will guide me to where the item is. I’m quite the adventurer, I have been able to travel to many places because of my client’s requests, so I have learned many things about the sea. There is actually a book that is probably in here that tells many stories about sailors adventures on the sea, I’ll see if I can find some.”

 

( ooc: sorry for the lack of response from me. I had to take some time to myself. )

She stood silently for a few more minutes before realizing she had only ran into a lamp post. Her eyes were adjusting to the lack of water, causing her vision now to become very, very clear. Glancing off into the distance, she saw the sun begin to set. Getting worried, Calliope looked around, trying to find a place that hopefully had people inside. Just up ahead was the library, not knowing what time it was or not even knowing whether or not it was closed yet, she took the chance and pushed at the doors. It was still open. "Thank goodness." She uttered to herself while walking in through the second set of doors.

Looking around and scanning the tables, Calliope could feel eyes burning into her skin, staring at her markings. Flustered, she stumbled about trying not to make eye contact with others. Feeling at a loss, she continued towards the back of the library, hoping that maybe there would be a kind soul or two willing to help and give her some sort of direction.

Peeking around a bookshelf, she heard two voices talking about what sounded to be like a map. There was one female voice and one male voice. Worried about stumbling into something she shouldn't have witnessed, Calliope stayed in the shadows but still continued to watch the two strangers huddled over a table and tried to quiet her breathing.

 

OOT: Sorry for the late reply, Lully.


Even though I feel kinda bad having her sleep on a futon, I let out a small sigh of relief under my breath.
"Okay, suit yourself."
I leave the room for a little while, grab the futon out of a nearby closet and come back out to set it up. I also grab a few pillows and blankets and throw them on. I look back at Lilly with a smile.
"Rest up while you can, tomorrow's when things are gonna start getting interesting!"
I turn around and start heading back to my room.
"If you need anything, just holler for me."
I open the door to my room, where I'm immediately greeted by my collection of posters plastered all over the walls. A lot of them are wrestling posters, especially from New Japan Pro-Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment and even some old posters from the World Wrestling Federation. I like Japanese wrestling, but I've always been a bigger fan of American wrestling, to be honest. I also have a few anime posters, which fits perfectly with my ever-growing anime DVD collection. At this point, I almost have as much anime as I do wrestling DVDs. In other words, my room is pretty...nerdy, and I don't really like showing it off to people. A bead of sweat rolls down my cheek as I think of how shocked Lilly would have looked.
"Ah well. Crisis averted."
I mutter those words under my breath and hop onto my bed. I never actually thought about what it would be like to have an apprentice...I hope I'm ready for it.

 

The futon sat on the floor before her, simply, efficient. It was just as she liked it. Only one problem though. Grabbing one of the corners she dragged the thin mattress into a corner of the large room and then sat down on it. It was soft yet firm from being directly on the ground. STanding up again Lilly walked around the room a few times, familiarizing herself with the contents and locations. SHe felt her body swaying more then necessary, the learned compensation from being on boats the entire time she was on the surface.
Her wetsuit slipped off easily enough and she stored it and her bag next to the futon. Slipping under the covers was an odd relief for her. SHe chuckled softly as the foreign emotions played through her. As she settled her body into its slower rythm she wondered what Azael had wanted to keep hidden from her.

 

OOT: Gonna go ahead and move on to the next day.


After getting a good night's sleep, I slowly start to wake up as the morning sun pours into my room. When I wake up enough to sit upright, I let out a big yawn and open my eyes. Yesterday was a pretty long and eventful day, wasn't it? The fact that I have an assistant now comes back to me...along the fact that I'm not really sure what I'm gonna have her do, exactly. I smile and chuckle to myself.
"Well, I'm sure we'll figure something out."
I make my way towards the bathroom and brush my teeth. Anything has to be better than the life she was living before. I just hope I can help her out somehow. I want her to see that no matter who she is or where she came from, there's more to life than the violence and bloodshed she's seen so far.
"Let's see...what should I wear today?"
I pick out a set of clothes and get dressed. Just then, I hear a bird singing outside my window and I can't help but smile.
"Everything will work out. I'm sure of it."
I feel a little flash of determination as I walk out the door. I head out to the living room and see Lilly sleeping peacefully. Aww...she looks adorable when she's sleeping! I can hardly believe that this is the same girl who was telling me those terrible stories about her past yesterday...I shake those unpleasant memories out of my mind and head into the kitchen to start making breakfast.

 

The sound of someone moving around wakes Lilly up. Groaning sleepily she reaches for her bag and pulls out a small tank top and a pair of sweat pants and pulls them on. Getting up off the futon confuses her for a moment but figures she passed out somewhere on board. Close to the galley from the smell of things. Good. She grinned. That meant that she'd be first in line for breakfast.
The room wasn't laid out the same as the previous day, but Lilly's sleep encrusted brain didn't process this. Stepping towards the kitchen, following the wafting scents from within, her body swayed dangerously to counteract the waves that weren't rocking her side to side. Losing her balance, Lilly toppled over and hit her head on the table in the center of the room.

 

Hearing Lilly walk into the kitchen, I turn around to greet her.
"Good morning! I hope you slept--"
*THUD*
I turned around just in time...to see her fall over and hit her head on a table.
"L-Lilly?!"
Did that really just happen?! I rush over to her as fast as I can and kneel down in front of her. I gently hold her up, checking her forehead for any serious injuries.
"Hey, are you alright? That was a nasty fall you took there...can you still hear me?"
I don't think she hit herself hard enough to get knocked out, but I still feel the need to make sure.

 

"Unnngh." Lilly groaned putting a hand to her head. "Azael?" She asked. Everything was confused for a few moments as she put last night's memories back in place. Relief flooded her when she realized that this wasn't a cage. Taken by the moment she embraced Azael and clung to him for a moment or two before pulling away blushing.
"S-Sorry." She said disentangling herself from him. "Do, do you need any help with breakfast?"

 

OOT: Just for the record, it's Azel.

Whoa...what was that all about? I have to admit, I'm stunned for a few moments when Lilly suddenly reaches out and hugs me. Hmm...maybe she had a bad dream or something? I finally realize that I'm just sitting there with a dumbstruck look on my face and compose myself.
"Nah, don't worry about it. Just relax for a while, before you hit your head on something else."
I chuckle with a wry smile on my face. Ooh, I'd better get back to making breakfast before something burns! I stand up, dust myself off and focus on my cooking again. After a little more preparation it's ready to go, so I bring out two plates of food, grab some silverware and napkins and set them on the table. I look over to Lilly with a smile.
"Eat up while you can, I get the feeling today's gonna be pretty busy."
I sit down at the table and wait for her.

 

"You have classes today?" Lilly asks as she eats. She knew some things about hand to hand combat, but it probably wasn't any human martial art. "Or are you going to have to train me properly?"

 

As I'm eating my breakfast, I take some time to think about my response.
"Good question. The answer is yes."
I put my head on my chin and start going through today's schedule in my mind.
"Let's see...first of all, we'll need to get you a proper uniform. Then we'll have a few hours to run through the basics, I guess-- although we probably won't get very far, but we can improvise from there. I won't ask you to do too much during class for now since you're just getting started. But my students are gonna expect something once I tell them that I've taken you under my wing, so I hope you've got some kind of training to work with or at the very least, a decent right hook."
I laugh and wave my hand dismissively.
"Ah, we'll make it work somehow. For now, let's just finish breakfast and get out the door."

 

"Out the door?" Lilly asks confusedly. "But don't we train inside?"
"I don't wanna go outside. It's scary. There are robots out there."

 

Robots? And here I thought I was watching too much anime. I try my best to stifle a laugh as I look back at Lilly.
"Ha ha...robots, that's a good one! Like I was saying, we need to go out to get you a proper uniform for training."
Hold on a sec...from the look on her face, I'm starting to think she wasn't joking.
"So, uh, that was a joke just now, right? Or...do you really wanna stay inside?"
I tilt my head curiously. It's hard for me to tell if she just used the robot thing as a weak excuse because she wants to stay here, or if she's actually afraid that there might be robots outside...

 

OOT: I was drunk when I posted that xD

"Can't we just make do with something you have here?" Lilly asked. "I mean, don't you special order your stuff and get it delivered here?"
It probably wouldn't matter, as long as she hid her face, but taking unnecessary risks never helped anything.

 

OOT: I figured, but a post is a post so I just rolled with it.


I don't get this girl sometimes. She goes outside all the time for her diving job and now she doesn't even want to take a short shopping trip? Although...if I had to guess, I'd say it's probably because she doesn't like being around crowds of people. She's a nice girl, but she doesn't seem to be the "social" type. I get that, but it does create a little bit of a problem...
"Sure, that's an option, but...well..."
Oh boy. This is where it starts getting awkward.
"The thing is, I'd need to tell them your...measurements."
You know, I really should have seen this coming. Living alone with Lilly is already getting more complicated than I thought.
"So...yeah, it would make things easier if we went out. Unless you happen to know that particular information off the top of your head."
I clear my throat, trying my best not to make things weird.

 

"Measurements..." Lilly thought about what that meant for a few moments, then got it. Her face went red. "Well... uh... you see... don't you just have some old stuff lying around I could use?" She asks.
"I don't need anything special. Maybe an old outfit of yours?"

 

OOT: Sounds good to me. But hey, no rush, me and Lully are holding down the fort pretty well lol.


I take a moment to mentally sort through my closet. Let's see...yeah, I'm pretty sure I've still got a few old outfits laying around. I shrug and start making my way towards my room.
"Yeah, I think I've got something, let me take a look."
I walk into my room and start digging through my old clothes. Sure enough, an old uniform from a few years back is still here. It might be kinda loose since these uniforms are already made to be loose and maneuverable, and this one was made for a guy. But...it should still work, I think. Although I'm pretty much just taking a rough guess from looking at Lilly. I head back out to the main room and hold it out for her to see.
"So, what do you think? Try it on and let me know if it works for you."