The Forgotten Zodiac

Bershee chuckled. "They'd better not make fun of each other, for any reason. I think...that's one of the more important things I have to teach them. They're the only hope for their race. They have to get along, and they have to take good care of each other."

Bermuda nodded. "That's right," he agreed, crossing his arms as he looked at the eggs. "I bet they'll be cute," he added, smiling.

"Actually no, Octi babies are horrifyingly ugly," Bershee said, sounding quite serious until she giggled and smiled. "They'd better be. But, even if they aren't...I'll love them anyway. I'm starting to understand how much is going to change, too...I can't just continue on as though nothing has happened. I've got to settle down somewhere safe, and raise these young. It will pain me to leave this village, as it will others, but...I hope your friends gathered enough supplies for me to make a good stock of potions."

"I'm sure they did," Bermuda said. "They tend to go the extra mile on everything, so I'd not worry about that," he added.

"Well, that's something I can leave behind. Lots of potions for these people to use." Bershee smiled a bit, then pulled a small vial from her shirt pocket. "Here, you need this. It's the last dose, I promise." She put it in Bermuda's hands, then went back to fawning over her eggs, picking bits of dirt off of them and singing softly.

"Thanks," Bermuda said, but without feeling. He regarded the bottle with a small look of revulsion, then muttered, "Well, if it's the last one..." and swam back towards the surface so that he could drink its contents.

'It is. I promise." Bershee watched him go, smiling.

Verolen was at the surface. "Everything alright? Seems pretty peaceful." He smiled. Surprisingly, he had his feet in the water and he seemed more or less to be relaxing. Then again, if he were to fall in, he'd have an easier time getting out. Bershee had taught him the basics of swimming, and he figured he could get out of it with that much.

"Everything's fine, yes," Bermuda said, smiling. He sighed as he uncapped the bottle and quickly swallowed its contents, shuddering and grimacing slightly. "Last one," he said, showing the empty bottle to Verolen.

Verolen grinned. "You should be good to go by tonight, then? We really need to get a move on. I'm not rushing you or anything, but the longer we wait, the more chance there is of Serris doing something we can't fix...and L'arc won't like that."

"I'm good to go right now, actually," Bermuda said. "Though Bershee and L'arc might argue against that assertion." The nereid pulled himself out of the water, shifting to his humanoid form and taking a seat by Verolen. "Did you go down and see the eggs?" he asked.

"Yeah, we had kinda planned on going at night." Verolen chuckled. "Me? Nah. I don't know who has the water-breathing pearl, and I don't care to go ask around for it. I'm just happy that Bershee's happy. She's gone through a lot, and even though they weren't happy things, she's probably better for it. I doubt she would change anything, anyway."

"You're probably right," Bermuda said. "She'll need to talk to L'arc before we go. He's supposed to name one of them," he added.

"We could just remind him. And then ask if any of the others made it back yet." Verolen shrugged, standing up and getting his boots back on. "I think he's still at the orchard. Let's go see."

Bermuda nodded and stood as well, simply glad that he wasn't being asked to go back to the medical tent again. He walked with Verolen back to the orchards, looking around for L'arc as they arrived.

The druid found them first, however, coming up behind them. His hands were covered in dirt and a small sheen of sweat coated him, but the same could be said for the rest of the druids working out here. "Hey guys, what's going on? I thought I told you to go back to the medical tent," he said, the last half of his words directed at Bermuda.

"Oh, shove off. Bermuda's fine. Look, he's feeling much better, and looking the part." Verolen chortled, shaking his head. "We were just wondering if you've spoken to Bershee lately. Her eggs are hatching in a couple days, you know."

These words seemed to trigger in L'arc's mind the fact that he was supposed to name one of the new Octi. "Oh, shoot, no, I haven't!" he said, hurriedly wiping his hands clean on his shirt. "I'll catch up with you guys, I have to go talk to Bershee!" he said, running off towards the pool.

"Alright, have fun," Verolen waved, chuckling. "Come on, Bermuda, let's walk around town."

Bershee was wringing out her shirt, having climbed out of the pool, as L'arc approached. "Hello there, oh young king." She smiled, brushing her soaked hair over her shoulder. "How are you today?"

"Spectacular, actually," L'arc said, smiling at Bershee. "Did we get you everything you needed for the potions?" he asked, then paused. "Actually, have the other two groups made it back yet at all?"

"Sylas and Kendra have returned, they're busy following my instruction to make the base of the potion. but Byrne and Bird are still absent..." Bershee frowned lightly. She closed her eyes for a moment and hummed a low note, then sighed. "They went to the Nymph temple, yes? I cannot feel out that far. I'm unsure if they've run into trouble, or are merely taking their time. I would wait awhile longer, then go out to search for them, perhaps."

"I'm sure they're fine," L'arc said. "I did send them to Bird's old home, after all. I'd wager it'd be pretty difficult for Bird to lead them into trouble."