NERO

Friday, March 23, 2018

"Nero?" Jude's voice was high and ragged, frightened. "Where are you?"

"Here." I reached around the sea-slicked rock face of the Delphiri Seamount to grasp his hand. The muscles in my back protested, and I groaned loudly.

"Are you...okay?" Jude squeezed my fingers, sounding relieved. It was like he'd forgotten I was there, even though I'd barely left his side for the last five days.

"I'm okay, my back is just sore." I locked my arms behind my head and bowed my stomach outward. "What about you?" He hadn't sounded this lucid all week.

Jude said nothing, so I twisted around to study his face. The sunrise was burning on the oceanic horizon, giving his cheekbones a deceptively rosy color. "Don't...know," he muttered; it was hard to hear him over the churn of the surface waves. "My...stomach...hurts."

Still? I tried not to betray my amazement. Following Kuma's advice, Jude and I had camped out on the Delphiri Seamount for the past five days, waiting for Jude's more severe Drought symptoms – the seizures, the headaches, the aversion to seawater – to subside so that we could begin the process of helping him transition to landside form. And while Jude's fever had stayed gone and his seizures loosened their grip, the seawater sickness persisted; just the scent of the ocean made him ill, and if he put so much as a scale in the sea, he succumbed to rounds of dry heaving not long after.

Worse, his gills seemed determined to keep up their game of hide-and-seek; close to sunrise on that terrible Sunday night, they had miraculously reopened, only to seal shut half an hour later. The bizarre cycle had occurred in two hour shifts ever since.

At this point, Jude Drought symptoms had hung around for the length of an entire Drought cycle, and five days of exposure to the sun and air had not triggered the natural shift to landside form. In a word, Jude was stuck; allergic to the sea and unable to physically access land. Understandably, I was trending towards panic.

Land. Images of Magdalene flashed behind my eyes, and I wanted to drive a fist into my head to knock them loose. Don't think about her. Not yet. Unintentionally, my mind turned to memories of the trench, and Jude's last disastrous Drought cycle. How long had that terrible time lasted?

Stop. Don't think about that either. I refocused on Jude. He was saying something.

"Delph...ir...ius," he said.

"We're still there. This is the peak of the seamount. It's the closest land I could get to after..." I paused. How to bring this up without invoking all the bad memories?

Jude looked relieved, then concerned. "A-after...?" He turned to get a better look at me, and his tail splashed into the water.

I swore as Jude turned yellow and folded in on himself, dry-heaving violently. Little came out – bile, some vile-smelling foam. "Pull out your tail," I commanded when he finished; I pushed him back against the peak by the shoulder. "You can't touch seawater right now."

There was amazement on Jude's face, and it turned into terror. I knew at once that he'd remembered. "D-Drought?" he said in disbelief.

I skipped the confirmation. "Kuma thinks that if you get into landside form, it'll wane."

He folded his arms around himself and stared into the water. It was such a bizarre sight: a merboy looking fearfully at the ocean. "Why?" he gasped. "So...long...ago..."

The fright on his face and in his voice brought me great pain; it was so cruel that after all Jude had endured, he would have to face this suffering again. But maybe this time...

I stared out to sea, chewing on my next words. Under the brutal light of the strengthening sun, the waves phased between blue and indigo. The air's warmth thrummed in my skin, giving me a preview of the day's heat. And a warning – a telltale pulse was prickling through the crown of my head, telling me that due to five days of sitting in the sun with Jude, my own Drought cycle was coming earlier than usual. Likely I would have legs sometime today or early tomorrow.

"Remember how I mentioned there are Seawatchers nearby?" I asked.

"Y-yeah?"

More chewing. My tailfin swept, turning over the surf breaking against the seamount. "Kuma says... They have a place around here. Like a base. Closed-off, private property. Delphiri merfolk go there when they need to transition."

Jude turned to peer at me. "O-okay?"

He didn't sound as stunned as I'd been when Kuma had explained it to me Sunday night. I was quite familiar with the concept of Seawatchers; in the past, I had dealt with humans who were aware of the existence of the merfolk and were in regular contact with them. But trusting them with my safety during Drought? A whole other matter.

Not that the Seawatchers of my past had been untrustworthy. But boarding with them during Drought just seemed like too much of a risk. That was why my teeth were gnashing now. "At this base," I continued, "they have a facility. According to Kuma, it's specialized to help young merfolk transition from form to form."

Jude's eye widened. "How?"

"Don't know. But Kuma thinks it'll help you."

Jude searched my face. "I want...to go," he said. "P-please?"

Slowly, I nodded, to his everlasting surprise. In truth, I'd made the decision with Kuma last night; she had explained that the salve for Jude's aches had come from these Seawatchers, and despite myself, I had begun to hope against hope that they might know how to handle Jude's situation as well. And even if I hadn't known about the salve, after five days of sickness, there was little I wouldn't do to help Jude recover, including invest a grain of trust into Kuma and the Seawatchers she'd vouched for. I could hold back my distrust of others for as long as it took for Jude to be his hardheaded self again.

There was only one detail that kept getting caught in my throat.

"I need to warn you," I growled, twisting around again. "This place, it's—"

Before I could finish, the sea rippled several yards way. Kuma surfaced, loaded down with something in both arms.

"Old...lady," Jude said.

"Ahoy." She lifted a brow at Jude's consciousness. "Awake at last. Feeling alive, boy?" She handed me the parcel from her left arm – likely food, which she'd delivered in a similar manner over the past week. Yep – more Magikarp meat croquets. Yum.

I jammed a cake in my mouth and noticed a mass of moving shadows beneath the sun-dappled surface of the ocean. Through the distortion, I could just make out a group of merfolk loitering around the base of the seamount's peak. Had they come up with Kuma?

Kuma noticed my suspicious stare and said, "They'll be accompanying us."

I stopped chewing, and Jude rasped, "To the...Seawatchers'...place?"

"I see Nero's filled you in. Aye, boy; this lot's got the Drought shivers just like you, and are ready for a vacation at the Sea House."

My teeth ground so hard I could hear the sound over the rumble of the waves. I don't think you'll be doing much business without shoes or proper clothing. We have all that for you at the Sea House. Or do you prefer to steal your outfits? The memory of Simeon grabbing my shoulder came to mind unbidden. A third thing I didn't want to think about right now, but it was hard not to imprint my suspicion of Simeon onto the Seawatchers. For Jude, I thought.

Jude looked dubiously out to sea. The mainland was a scrubby smudge in the middle distance, quite a stretch for someone currently allergic to seawater. I said as much: "Now? His gills aren't open. And how is he supposed to get to the...Sea House without vomiting himself to death?"

"No matter, he doesn't need to swim – we have this." Kuma presented her other cargo. It was yellow and squeaked – plastic. She handed it to me like I knew what to do with it.

"What the hell is this?" I unfolded it. It was longer than I expected.

"A floatie," she said, as if that explained it. "Like a raft. It's a bit small for that unruly tail of his, but if he folds himself properly, he should be able to fit without touching surf."

I gaped with sudden understanding. "Are you suggesting we tow him all the way there?"

"Assuming your brilliant idea doesn't work. What was it, by the way?"

My lip curled. Pulling Jude along on a plastic raft sounded stupid, but I really couldn't think of a more viable alternative. With a grunt, I decided not to argue.

Kuma and I took turns inflating the "floatie" with our breath, while Jude got down a Magikarp cake. It didn't agree with him – he puked it up ten minutes later. After cleaning his mouth, I was bothered by how cold his face was – his body was screaming for a shift to landside form for sure, and the bitter reality of that made the floatie plan seem less and less stupid by the minute. Whatever gets him there.

Speaking of which, it was inflated and dry fifteen minutes later. It resembled a long lawn chair, only it was buoyant and yellow. We were helping Jude onto the thing when Cora appeared behind us, surfacing up to her neck.

"Granny, what's taking so long?" she asked.

"No one likes a whiner," Kuma grunted as she shifted Jude's tail – the floatie bobbed under his weight, but stayed afloat. He looked doubly nauseous atop his plastic throne, which I would've found funny under different circumstances. There were two long weathered cords attached to the front of the seat; Kuma handed one to me, the other to Cora. "You two pull."

I glared at Cora, then Kuma – I didn't appreciate being saddled with a nosy partner. "I can do it myself."

"Two fins will ensure the thing stays balanced and doesn't tip over," Kuma said with finality. With that, she dove.

Cora glanced at me awkwardly. Wisely, she backstroked to Jude. "Are you excited, Jude? Have you ever been to a Sea House?"

"N-no." He sounded like he was fighting to hold down his gorge.

"You'll love it," she assured him. "The Seawatchers are all so nice, and the cooking is amazing. And their private beach is so pretty! Miss Hannah does a painting class, you should join us." She turned back to me. "You too, Nero."

I almost scoffed. I didn't know what to expect when I got to this Sea House, but painting certainly wasn't one of them. Hopefully, running into Simeon and that old man wasn't either. Tension hardened my spine; if they were affiliated with the Sea House, the two had to be Seawatchers, but that episode where they'd tried to lure me into their vehicle still didn't sit well with me. Hopefully, I wouldn't be bothered with them again.

Kuma surfaced a moment later, telling us we were good to go, and I told Jude, "We'll be underwater. If you need us to stop, give the line a hard pull."

Cora and I dove and began to tow the floatie forward. It was a rough go at first – Cora didn't have my arm strength, and the difference in power had the floatie weaving crazily across the surface. After several starts and stops, I eased up, compensating for her lack of strength. At last, we got Jude going in a straight line.

Silently, we trailed behind the group of merfolk bound for the Sea House. They swam along about a half mile below us, with Kuma at the head and Uncle the Dragonair's slithery form bringing up the rear. Between them, a handful of adults and a cluster of young fins; I spotted Dinah's wealthy of straight hair up near Kuma. The sight made my stomach twist – taking so many young merfolk to land felt like highly-visible suicide, even if they would be with Seawatchers.

For Jude, I quickly reminded myself.

The pace to shore was pretty agonizing, especially for a Milotica like me who appreciated speed. Unfortunately, the young merfolk, even the young Miloticas in the group, were not enough to be as fast as I was. That, and the convoy had to cater to their need for constant bathroom breaks – three, which tried my patience. Add to that unwanted attention from hungry Pokémon – a Huntail in one case, a Kingler in another, both quickly seen off by Uncle the Dragonair – and our journey to the mainland turned into a crawl.

Thankfully, another half hour later the seafloor finally began to rise up to meet my tailfin, and I could taste the earthy flavor of the intertidal zone as we at last reached the heel of the mainland. The Drought group pushed inland without pause, but a hard tug from Jude pulled me up short. "Wait a moment," I told Cora, and surface. "What is it?" I asked him.

Silently, Jude pointed ahead of us, and when I saw the problem, I cursed and almost dove. Before us, the ocean channeled into a river, flanked on either side by two walls. To the left, woodland, a dense glut of pine. On the right, a high cement wall. I could see the gables of tall buildings on the other side, and more importantly, I saw a scattered line of humans standing at the top of the wall, each manning a fishing pole. The lines cut into the water a ways ahead of us.

Irritated, I dove and found Kuma swimming towards us. "Looks like you forgot to mention a few details about the route," I snapped.

"This old crone begs your forgiveness," she growled back. "Here." She passed me a blanket. "Have him spread that over his tail."

"Any other surprises that might need mentioning?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "A turn in the bank, and you're there," she said before swimming off.

I surfaced and spread the sopping wet blanket over Jude's scarred fluke, until every scale was out of sight. "We're almost there," I told him. "If anyone calls out to you, ignore them."

I dove, and Cora and I began our careful navigation through the lattice of fishing lines. The silt of the riverbed made it difficult to see, and not just for me – the water was teeming with water-types, and some of them were falling for the finishing lines' fake lures.

Jude did get some attention – one fisherman asked if he needed a rescue – but Jude ignored them as instructed and we reached the bend in the river. Woodland walled us in on both sides now, with the exception of a gap in the trees up ahead, one admitting a long pier out into the water. Surfacing, I spotted a trio of humans in identical blue shirts standing on the pier, shielding their eyes from the sun. Flying-types surrounded them, Wingulls all; some perched in the surrounding pines, while others circled over the river. All of them had dark bands encircling their throats – collars.

I hesitated. To my left, Cora broke water for air and wiped her eyes. "Ah!" she exclaimed. "There's Hannah and Mae. And Mr. Clay!" She glanced at me. "They're the Seawatchers. It's all right."

I grunted and pulled the floatie forward. I didn't like that my skittishness was so obvious.

Kuma's head was bobbing in the water when we reached the pier; the rest of the Delphirius merfolk were nowhere to be seen. One of the humans, a teenaged girl with a russet ponytail and a Wingull on her shoulder, knelt down as Cora and I swam into the shadow of the boardwalk. "Hi Cora," she said with a wink. "And you must be Nero and Jude." She pointed to herself, then her companions. "I'm Hannah Beck. That's Mae Munoz and Uncle Clay. We're here to take care of you today. Nothing for you to worry about."

I glanced at Jude – he was picking at his fingers. The man – Clay – examined him silently, and I bristled. Was he staring at Jude's scars?

"I hear you've got a Drought problem, young man," Clay said to Jude. He was short and stocky, and about as tanned as Jude was pale. "Well, fear not – I've coached more than one young merkid through a tough transition. You'll be stumbling around with the other kids before you know it."

Jude looked up, somehow looking both doubtful and hopeful. "Really?"

If the horrible scars on his face or the rasp in his voice stunned the Seawatchers, they didn't show it. "We'll prove it," Clay said. He reached down. "Get up here, buddy."

I stiffened as Jude hesitantly grasped the man's hand. Clay lifted him off the floatie like he was lighter than seaweed; Mae and Hannah quickly rushed to Clay's side to support Jude's tail. I bit my lip, trying to control a sudden, animalistic urge to attack and free my brother at the sight of him bundled up in Clay's arms. "Where are you taking him?" I asked.

A jerk of Hannah's spine told me that my Pitch had knifed her eardrum. "There," she said politely, pointing. At the far end of the pier, a ways into the wall of pine, was a small wooden building; steam was pumping from a small chimney. "That's the bath house. We'll be coaching him there."

"You can join us, if you want," Mae said. "Go through the pipe."

"Pipe?" I demanded, speaking from lower in my throat.

Cora tapped my shoulder. "This way." She dove.

I cast Jude one last uneasy look as the Seawatchers advanced down the pier before following Cora underwater. We swam along the riverbank until Cora stopped before a large round opening in the earthy wall. A cement tube emerged from the earth here, big enough to accommodate a merman twice my size. Uncle the Dragonair lay in a heap beneath it, fast asleep.

Cora gave the Pokémon a dry smile and patted his head before saying, "It leads to the bath house. It goes straight a ways, then up, then straight again, then up into this large pool. Jude and Kuma and the others will be there."

I considered the tunnel. A secret, underwater route into a private building where merfolk could transition to landside form without fear of discovery? I had to admit, that was pretty damned ingenious. Not enough for me to completely lower my hackles, but enough to increase the hope that the same people who'd come up with this clever idea and provided Jude's salve could help him through his bizarre Drought.

"Thanks," I said to Cora. Her eyes widened, stunned at my sudden gratitude – my antisocial attitude really had been raging over the last week. Maybe once Jude got the help he needed, I'd become charitable again – as charitable as it was possible for me to be. I plunged into the pipe.

It was pitch black, but vibrations from far beyond and Cora's instructions helped me navigate the bends. Sure enough, the pipe had two upward kinks, and on the second, I burst into a giant, dimly-lit space filled with writhing tailfins and very hot, salt-less water. Gills burning, I swam through the mass of swimming bodies, some of them glowing with the light of transformation, looking for Jude. I didn't see his fluke, so I kicked up.

I surfaced to the sounds of kids complaining, splashing, and fooling around, and adults chastising them. The space smelled like wood and heat and river water. The pool, maybe twenty yards wide and twelve feet deep, occupied most of the space, save for a narrow walkway connection two storage spaces at the front and rear of the building.

At the front, by the door, was a table covered in flickering candles, chairs, and some kind of furnace – the pool's heat source. Mae Munoz, Hannah Beck, and Clay were standing close to its superheated mouth, facing a door in the opposite wall. They were speaking to it. I tensed. Is that were Jude was? Beyond that door.

"That's the sauna." Kuma swam up to my side, looking irritated – after surfacing, I'd spotted her coaching a young mergirl into transition, apparently without success. "A hot air bath."

I scowled. "I've never heard of such a thing."

She waved off my ignorance. "Normally, the brats are placed in a hot bath, but with his aversion to seawater, this is the next best thing."

"You're trying to force it," Clay said before I could respond; he was speaking to Jude through the door. "That's not going to work, buddy – Drought's a natural process. It'll turn when it's good and ready. So you need to relax."

I narrowed my eyes. Solid advice from someone who had never and would never undergo Drought himself. How many other merboys had he helped through this process?

"Your brother's here," Hannah said, shooting me a wink. "He's right outside in the pool. So don't worry, you're not alone."

And hopefully I would actually be at his side soon. I could feel it – the steaming pool was giving me strong heat aches, driving me closer and closer to transition. And I wasn't the only one – behind me, a triumphant cry went up. I looked over to see a kid Jude's age climb out of the pool, fully legged. "Did it!" he cried. His goofy grin irritated me – maybe it was because I would've loved to see it on Jude's face, and for the same reason.

The commotion grew louder as the rest of the kids started a competition of who could transition the fastest. One by one, they climbed out of the pool, dripping wet and taunting the others still struggling. Dinah actually shook her butt at her friends as she scrambled out of the water, her ridiculously long hair swinging behind her like a white tail. The adults made no effort to quiet them down and started transforming themselves, climbing out and hurrying after the children down as they dashed outside to go skip rocks in the river.

Before long, everyone in the pool had shifted to landside form, including me – at the half hour mark, I felt the bath's heat pulse into a fevered point in my body, then rapidly cool as my failfin glowed and split into legs. There was a moment of dizziness as my expanding lungs drew in more air and my blood vessels shifted positions, but my head cleared quickly – definitely a lot less painful than going Dry out of cycle.

As soon as the blood started flowing properly, I heaved myself out of the pool. Unsteadily – my legs shook and would have dumped me back into the water if Mae hadn't seized my arm. As I pulled out of her grip, Clay handed me a towel. I took it and pulled open the door to the sauna, and was nearly bowled over by a blast of heat. "Jude?" I coughed.

The space beyond the door was the size of a large closet. There was an L-shaped bench buildt into the north and right walls, and a small wooden box pumping out steam situated on the wall opposite. Jude was lying on the bench on the northern wall, tail piled beneath him. He had taken off his floves, mask, tunic, and underwear, and was now wrapped in a long white towel. He rose onto his shoulders as I came in.

"Not...working..." he said. The discouragement on his face turned my stomach.

I stepped inside, avoiding the box pumping out the searing steam. I'd just gotten out of the water, but already I was sweating profusely. "You heard what that guy said," I said, pushing aside his tail and sitting down on the bench. "You're thinking about it too much. You have to relax, and—"

"I am...relaxed!" he snapped with sudden vehemence. He wiped at his good eye – Arceus, was that sweat, or tears? "I-I-It won't...w-work, I—"

"Hey buddy?" Clay stepped into the sauna, frowning. "This isn't a race. You're not competing against those kids, are you?"

Jude bit his lip – behind Clay, a couple of merkids suddenly burst inside, looking for towels after having fallen into the river, and Jude's face twisted with a crushing anxiety. My annoyance at the young kids turned into active hatred – obviously, they didn't understand how distressing their happy-go-lucky enjoyment was to Jude.

"Don't," Clay said quietly. "This isn't about who can transition the fastest. Drought is different for everyone. Some undergo the change quickly, and some need more time. That doesn't make you strange or weird. It just makes you, well, Jude. Nothing wrong with that."

Jude turned away, staring into the wall.

Clay stepped back. "Well, now that you're brother's here, we're going to step back for a spell. We'll be hanging around if you need anything, but I'm sure you don't want an audience for this – maybe some peace and quiet will help." He turned to me. "You two must be hungry, so I'll have the Suites wrangle you up some food." With that, he turned and closed the door.

For a time, the rowdiness inside the bath house continued – kids screeching and stomping about, adults shouting at them, the rattle of the furnace as someone threw in blocks of wood. Then the bath house door opened and closed several times, and the noise eventually faded.

"Finally," I growled, flexing my scarred legs – sweat poured like rivers into the hollow curves of the healed wounds. "Some peace and quiet. Mostly." I scooted closer to Jude and ran my hand up his face, forcing back his choppy bangs. "I've still got to deal with you, but I'm used to that."

Jude rubbed at his eye again. "Not...going to...work, is it? I-I'm...I-I'm stuck."

"Don't talk like that. We don't know a lot about your situation, and this is the first time we've tried this remedy. It could work." Especially because the idea behind it was, again, very clever. Seafolk on Drought craved heat; the need, which manifested as chills, was what drove them above water and into the arms of the sun. Enough exposure to a high enough temperature generally induced the change. And in this steaming hot box, Jude and I were being inundated with heat. Jude's body would have to succumb to it eventually.

"I-It might n-not," Jude sniffed.

I leaned back, wiping sweat from my neck. "That guy was right – you are competing against those stupid kids. Just because you have trouble transitioning and they don't doesn't mean you're any less—"

"Not...compet...ing," he rasped. He faced the wall again. His shoulders shook. "I...want to...play...too..."

What? I swallowed, speechless. Play with the same kids that had gasped in revulsion at the sight of his scars? The ones that had called him odd? With Dinah, who had fled at the sight of his wounded back? How could he forgive them for such behavior, much less want to play with them? How did that not matter to him, a petulant brat who was usually so easily offended?

A petulant brat that was on the run. One who, perhaps, was so lonely that he saw past those predictable reactions to his awful scars. Maybe all he cared about was slowing down and accessing a group of kids his own age after years of virtual isolation while fleeing from Titus. If so, those two years had affected Jude more than I had cared to realize – another scar set on ruining him. Yet it was the only scar that had a chance at fully healing.

If you let it, a cruel voice said in my ear. If you give him the time. The sight of Magdalene swam behind my eyes again, and my sense of urgency returned, doubled.

Jude sniffled.

Enough. Reassure him. That's your job. "You..." I searched for the right words. "You will play with them." He turned to look at me, and I said, "We'll be here..." My stomach sank with realization. "I don't know, however long it takes you to go to landside form and back. So during your Drought, you can play with those stupid kids all you want."

His tears dried, and wonder filled his good eye. "R-really?"

"Yes," I gritted out – I struggled not to take any of my words back. Because objectively, I had no choice in this – I was on Drought, Jude was on Drought, and Titus or no, we couldn't travel until both of us were fully healthy and back in seaside form. It felt bad, but we were stuck for the moment. It was a tough pill to swallow.

Jude's anxiety returned – he lifted his head, looked down at his tail.

"You have to be patient," I said. "It's too early to give up. We've been here, what, an hour? Give your body time."

"How...much...time?" Jude asked.

"As much as it needs. These Seawatchers aren't going to kick us out. So you take all the time you need, and don't worry about anything else." I tried to tell myself the same, tried to quell the panic stirring in my belly. Get Jude squared away first. "Food'll be here soon. I'll try to find a pillow and a blanket, and you can sleep while your body works. When you're awake, think about nice things."

His brow furrowed. "L-like...?"

"Like all the games you're going to play with those brats. Like all the tasty food you want to eat. Like all the cool stones you're going to collect. Like..." Careful pause. "Like Alto Mare."

He stiffened. "That...wasn't...nice."

"A lot of it was nice. Think about those parts. Not the bad parts. Not Titus."

Pain, then wistfulness came to his face. "Rem...ember...the...party?"

"Always." I reached up to fiddle with my earrings, which suddenly felt twice as heavy.

"What's...favo...rite...memory...from...?"

I shook my head. "I just try to remember the city itself, now." Because though I'd told Jude to remember the good times, for me the good memories from Alto Mare would always be connected to ones of horror. So I buried those memories, and remembered the ancient, architectural maze that was Alto Mare instead; the city on the water, a metropolis of high walkways, majestic buildings, bridges and sunny squares and churches, docks and piers, ponds and channels, harbors and flooded plazas, and secret fountains. And under the water, hidden tunnels, forgotten shipwrecks, nooks and crannies, cracks and crevices that no one knew about.

And of course, that secret garden in the center of the historical metropolis, filled with soaring trees and ponds and fountains. And the Guardians, watching over all who lived there.

An old pain constricted my chest; the heartache hadn't really gone away, and in this moment it burned like a raw wound. I miss them. Everyone we'd either lost or left behind in Alto Mare, I missed them about as much as I hated Titus. And at this strange moment, in a sauna at a Sea House on the coast of the Hoenn Region, that hatred grew a little more pointed. He had so much to answer for. The deaths of people I loved. Our isolation, fear, uncertain future. Jude's youth and hope and strength, his ability to connect with other people. He'd crushed them all in the pursuit of his destructive and apocalyptic desires. And he wasn't finished yet.

I looked to Jude, who had stilled and finally seemed to be trending towards sleep. A sudden striking chill kept me from following – Have you forgotten about Magdalene? When are you going to go out and look for her? Or are you determined to loiter around this place until I inevitably catch up to you?

Shut up, I told Titus. Of course I hadn't forgotten about Magdalene, and the thought of just hanging around this place with a bunch of humans and merkids until Jude's Drought ended – and Arceus-knew how long that might take – sickened me. Who knew where Magdalene would be by the time Jude was well again?

So don't wait. Titus again, cold and calm. You have legs, and a group of humans voluntarily at your beck and call. Use them.

Use—? Was he suggesting I enlist the Seawatchers help in finding Magdalene?

Yes. Yes he was.

(Ver. 4.0)

—

Editing Trivia

I basically re-wrote Chapter 19. And unlike the previous chapters, I did not subtract from this chapter -- for once, I have added to it, to the extent that part two of chapter 19 is now becoming chapter 20. After I rewrote the chapter, I printed it off and edited it too. Thus, the final product is technically version 4.0 of the original chapter 19.

Major, MAJOR change in this chapter, and that is how the Seawatchers operate. Before (and I have left the map of the original Slateport Seahouse below), they were an official, tightly-run organization, with armed security, fancy buildings, and lots of beachfront property. In this chapter, I have transformed them into a loosely-structured organization where the volunteers operate out of their own homes. This just felt like the right change to make to the organization, based on plot points that I have scheduled in upcoming chapters. I think this environment of Seawatchers will promote stronger growth in my characters, and make more logical sense for some upcoming developments.

I had to rewrite the end of this chapter a couple of times, because it was difficult to figure out how to start Jude's plotline with the Delphirius kids. Then when I stood back and thought about the most logical, path-of-least-resistance explanation, I realized Nero didn't have a choice but to give Jude some quality time with the kids -- they're both on Drought, after all.

Anyway, there's definitely going to be some editing pain coming up, as I make shift the story to fit the changes I have made in this chapter. I think all the plot points are going to stay the same, but the path to reaching those points will change in different areas of the story. Hopefully, the pain will be worth it!

Map of the Sea House

Original

As you can see, an expensive operation! But the more I thought about their organization, the less logical it seemed. Something this high-end would be quickly discovered. A more casual setup would be more likely to go under the radar.

Current Sea House

Bonus Art: "Think About Alto Mare"

Originally, Jude transformed very quickly once he got into the hot tub at the Sea House. But upon editing, I realized that his rapid transition to landside form undercut Nero's fear about Jude's condition and the struggle he'd had to make the change in the past. So I decided to use this chapter to dwell on Jude's condition a little more, and the boys' anxiety surrounding it.

Original piece, "Think About Alto Mare" (the updated piece is in the chapter heading.)