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Open Tides Under Siege

Yes! Even he wanted me to be under the sister! Echo felt a bubbling excitment building up in her. She could help her. Echo knew she could. She would help her by helping her against the scarred Kingdra, not really liking him at all. I must make my case-

"My quarters, two minutes. I shall make it worth your while." The Kingdra. He wanted her to go into his room so he could possibly employ her. Before she could say anything to deny he left. Glancing at the sister, she wondered whether she should go or not. ...I can go to her after. I know what I can do now.

Looking around her, she sped out of the room as calmly as she could. She managed to catch a glimpse of his tail as he swam up the stairs. There didn't seem too be many stairs and it didn't seem there would be many rooms up there at all. Moving slowly, she made her way up the stairs, making sure not to be noticed. A single door...so he'll be in here...

Echo raised her paw slightly as if to knock then put it down. "You in there? I came like you wanted."
 
~Phish

Phish watched as the others slowly left the room, Angel taking a quick opportunity to address the unknown Buizel, probably some sort of discreet offer of a possible job, or possibly something else. In any case not Phish's business and sat there as he awaited Claudio to address him, now only waiting for Beauty to leave.

In the mean time Phish noticed that Claudio had noticed Dawn in the corner now too, possibly due to Phish's quizzical glance her way. It seems he hadn't expected her to be there, but that wasn't an entirely surprising thing for Phish, the Dragonair was quite adept at remaining unnoticed, at least as long as no one was looking around with any level of need to see something.'Phish grinned slightly, if not only to himself as he watched Claudio address Dawn, whislt awaiting what Claudio had to say to him.
 
"You in there? I came like you wanted."
The voice came, a little later than Angel would have liked. But, whatever, the Buizel was here, little else mattered. He thought of not answering, if only to keep her in suspense for a few seconds, then thought better of it. "Come in, come in" he said briskly. He than raised his voice, so that she could hear him whether she headed him or not. "Listen. I know you, truly, I do. Well enough to know that you plan to make a deal with my sister. Anything I tell you hear you will repeat to her, that's a given, so trust is obviously an issue. I'll offer you the world, you hear, but you probably won't listen. The scars. They've lost me quite a few battles. This won't be one of them.

First off, there's an issue of allegiance. My sweet sister will no doubt expect me to send you as a double spy. She will expect your only pretend to work for her, and are in fact, mine. Quell her doubts by telling her I asked you to be a double spy, and that you accepted, but would never work for someone so ugly, and wish to truly work for her. No reasonable person could ever truly suspect this to be lies, unless they were extremely paranoid. Beauty could still manage it, however, so we'll need to give you some information to tell her. Something juicy. Ooh. I've got it. I could have a son. A maid rushed in, and you heard it all...What a terrific buzz she'd get. In her horror and excitement...well, you won't even register.

Make no mistake. You do not have my trust. You can choose to rush to Beauty, telling her I tried to recruit you; or you can rush to Beauty, telling her I recruited you. Or you can go home. But no matter who's side you choose, remember, it's what I told you to do. Meet with me again here, the same time tomorrow. The amount of information you bring me will detail how long you'll be staying with me. Goodbye"
 
Why, Rafael... Angel ruling will kill us all, yet you aren't opposing our imminent demise at all with the current events. Lateness, leaving early... political events have been on a high lately and you're missing them all! It was not that she could not keep up with them herself; she would drive herself to do double, triple, hundreds of times the work if needed. It was that he was slandering them both, painting them as immature and unknowing of the gravity of the situation. The meeting was cut short, most likely because of him. If you cause us to lose the throne... will I have to stop Angel myself? She probably would. Perhaps a suspicious suicide would stop him. A few of his scales left at the scene, signs of a struggle, maybe a picture of him (which she didn't have) smashed... would that be enough? To shame him to resign or maybe convict him, she would need to make it perfect. Sighing, she turned to look at her soon to be murderer.

He was whispering to the buizel. The words were unclear but the intentions were shining bright. He's making a spy out of her... just like I suggested. Pathetic; how could he possibly think that I would take her after that? She's very noticeable. I suppose I should expect a proposal of backstabbery in the future, however. He's probably going to send her to me, her saying that she wants to be a double agent. Well, that simply won't work! I cannot believe he is so simple. Well... at the same time I very much can believe that. Seeing the orange otter follow, this was when Beauty took her leave; jetting off the fastest she could and heading straight to her bedroom. She had made it as safe as she possibly could, making sure it could not possibly be heard from the outside. The door was locked, so no one could disturb her. She did not allow it to have windows, either; someone could look in and see. See what was unclear, however she did not risk to want secrets to be revealed.

Like this one. She had put up with him long enough. Angel had to die. Mentally, of course; murder was inappropriate. She grimaced at the very thought of him, it was truly... He was a liar. I am normal. She smashed her one picture of him (okay, so she did have one from when she was a child) with an unstable psychic; the shattered remains of it were flung into the wall. Why would he say that? He can't possibly know! She was full on vibrating now; he did know and was going to inform the world. Deepshell is fine! I will have none of your slander! Out went a signal beam, aimed at an inoffensive shell of a table. Both broke. This is ridiculous! You are not a king! He is! Her father stared at her from a frame, and she glared back. Why would you do this? Why didn't you kill him?! She barely stopped herself from breaking him. She'd already broke one of his photos, because the one of Angel was a family picture... I am the royal one! I respected him more! Because she was unworthy. She did not deserve the crown, no more than Demon did. He may be a liar, but I am a lie if I pretend to hold a title to the throne... I am not even good enough to serve Rafael. I don't understand why he even lets me. I am a failure... Now she was crying even more; when that started was unsure but her room was slowly but surely becoming much more salty than normal. I can't believe I'm doing this... why, father? Why was she shiny? Why was she a mutant? She didn't deserve it! Angel did! It was so unfair...

She lay on the ground, wishing that justice would occur just one time. We need to sort things out, all three of us...

((I hope psychic isn't too powerful. If so, then would confusion work?))
 
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Dawn swam out from the corner and went next to Claudio, how could he not know why she was here?

"Well you know how I am trained to be the bounty hunter to the king," Dawn said in a hushed voice, "Well since those sceptical events I am now your bounty hunter as I believe you are the rightful heir to the throne. Also I want to make sure nothing 'skeptical' happens to you."

She always liked Claudio but never could admit it. Then again a bounty hunter and a king would never work out, at that thought she sighed.
 
((Psychic is just fine.))

"Well...", Claudio had to think about this one for a moment, "Alright. But don't get into trouble, and try not to act autonomously."

The king's bounty hunter?, Claudio thought, Hell of a bargaining chip...

"Anyway, Dawn," Claudio continued, "I've got to have a quick private word with the commander, so you're dismissed."
 
A little bit strange. Tur's apprentice might have gone off to look for something, or maybe she just wasn't responding. Either way, the conversation was rather one-sided. In that case there wasn't much of a point in continuing it.

The Relicanth rotated in a circle, scanning his surroundings. A patch of sandy ground extended from behind his little cave, which he had always found was a good place for finding buried objects. Whether it be a rock or a piece of human trash that had been accidentally dropped there from the surface years ago, he liked finding things. The trash did make him a bit uneasy, though. At least there were no humans down here in the kingdom. That would be a bit strange.

Tur walked along the seafloor, enjoying the touch of the fine, white sand as he used his narrowed eyes to scan the ground in front of him. A patch of ambitious weeds came up to his right, and he meandered in that direction; not only did he like the texture of the underwater plants, but there might always be something interesting in there as well.
 
"If you insist," She said swimming out of the room but then turned around, "I'll be waiting outside then."

She left the room and went the hall a bit, settling on a nice spot to lay.
 
After Dawn left the room, Claudio turned to face Commander Phish and finally was able to speak in peace, "Alright, Commander. You've probably already figured all of this out, I trust my uncle picks smart marshals, but it's good to hear what you have to say. While I have my own levies, and I'm sure my cousins could muster up at least a few good men from their villages, you are in command of the rest. Now, who you throw your weight behind might technically be up to me, but I leave it to you. All I ask is that you stop this dispute from turning into a real mess for the realm and her subjects. Make sure none of my cousins do anything too heavy-handed or go to far in their bid for the crown."

Claudio then paused for a breath before continuing, "Now, if you fail to do that, I suppose I could... sack you, but finding a replacement would be difficult for me in this position. So I ask that you make sure your men keep the peace. I pray that this is won by the pen and not the claw or the tooth. Do you understand?"
 
~Phish

"Oh, I assure you, Lord Claudio, I have absolutely no intentions of dragging the military into some conflict here. In the end, the only way I'd see them seeing any action, would be to prevent a riot, repel militia or mercenary attacks, and the like. I'd prefer to not shed our own blood while we're essentially in stand-by, but all the same I'm amazed neighbouring kingdoms have ignored us as well as they have." Phish sighed slightly, and continued, "It may be due to the number of men I have on the borders, as I've essentially tripled security at main watch points, and increased the number of patrolling troops by twicefold, essentially keeping a skeleton crew of soldiers here."

Phish chuckled inwardly at the idea of any other family even taking his family's role. "Sir, if I may point out, my family, whether male or female, have been serving as field Commanders for almost as long as there has been a royalty, a disruption in that, well it wouldn't end well in future military concerns. Though I'm nopt saying that there'd be any reason for such a situation to occur. If your asking me as to who I'd be leaning towards, I'm not entirely sure yet. Angel seems have more experience, though I suppose not in the court, but that wasn't his fault, and my father can back me up on that one. He's also militaristically ambitious, which would likely put us in conflict with neighbouring lands, possibly good, possibly not. He has a temper, and it's short, likely the cause of the discontent put his way all these years. He also had came to my home to try to recruit me..."

Phish made a quick mental scan of the Lord, for whatever reason he'd have, and continued, "Rafael I know less about. I know he was the hands, eyes, and mouth for our late king, so he knows his royal responsibilities, at least that's what I'm aware of. He's also younger with this sort of court experience, so he'd likely last longer on the throne. But his schedule was full today, and he had no time to properly accomadate the meeting, so that concerns me as to why he's so busy when you are currently in charge. There's also something, I don't know, off about him, but I don't know what. And then there's Beauty. There's no hiding that she's supportive of Rafael, and that's concerning, because unlike his calm nature, she's assertive, aggresive, and in all honesty, kind of scares me. It was also quite evident that she holds no love for Angel, and knows that she can be easily picked at, verbally, by him, a problem in my eyes, I can easily see that she's unstable, but she can almost ensure a public backing for Rafael, one way or another."

Phish closed his eyes, bringing hios thoughts into proper focus.

"And finally, there's you, milord. You are easily the most level-headed, and most capable amongst the four of you, but I know that it goes against tradition for a cousin to inherit the throne, at least so long as there are still direct heirs from the previous king."

"On another note, I have recieved word that there are now several mercenaries in the kigdom, and they will easily be looking to tip the scales, and keep them tipping. I find this a problem, but as they have not acted, I can have no action taken against them."
 
"Then you'll have to excuse me for threatening you. Best not disrupt anything up here.", Claudio apologized, "Although I suppose I could just appoint Angel, he's quite martially inclined and skilled at it."

After a bit of a laugh, Claudio went on, "Yes, Angel is, eh, strong-willed, which we would all like in a leader. Being able to personally jump into combat is a plus. Ambition doesn't seem bad, but his temper will get in the way of things. I fear it'll get us into more trouble than anything else. He'll need help to reign in that temper."

"Rafael's manner certainly fits in with the court, but he is vain. Just look at the way he sees just about everything. Far too concerned with appearances, and yet otherwise he doesn't seem like a terrible person, he's certainly a lot more stable than his brother, and as you say, his background is in the court. However, he seems well, not-so-strong. I'm sure someone like you could stiffen his resolve if he came to power, though.", Claudio explained.

"And please, don't go on about me, you'll start to sound like Dawn.", Claudio said with as much humility as he could gather, "I'd much rather see out this period, maybe make sure whomever wears the crown doesn't collapse everything, and get back home to running my own patch of land."

Claudio then added, "About those mercenaries, my cousins are certainly free to hire them if they can afford it. Really, think of it as a way to end this mess faster if it comes to arms. I doubt we'll be needing their help, but do keep an eye on them."
 
~Phish

"Oh, I'm quite certain that Angel would find himself a suitable field commander, sadly, I'd feel he'd only acquire that if Rafael were to take the throne, and I somehow lost the position, thus I'd believe that Angel would rather die than serve under his brother." Phish replied, "And I was merely pointing out the distant possiblity concerning you, I know just as well that you would prefer to return to your land once this is all sorted, and I respect that. Don't worry about the mercenaries, I have a few recon soldiers watching each of them, most at a distance."
 
In the blinding darkness Alabaster lay sleeping, heavy snores echoing through the desolate ruins he called home. The darkness of his scaled flesh kept him camouflaged to the trained eyes for darkness. Against the rubble and debris his long body was carefully stretched out, completely uncoiled. Bubbles danced above his nostrils with every snort and twitch of the nose.
 
Takida felt a little disappointed in how her scouting had turned out. She couldn't really find out what had happened in the meeting from what she saw, and what she saw ended up being very little. She knew an easy way to find out about what transpired in the castle, and it was so absurdly simple that the more elaborate thinkers would outright dismiss it: all she had to do was find someone that had been at the meeting, ask about what transpired, and use that information for her own gain. Despite how often she turned on the nobles, they simply trusted her due to how efficient she was. It was too bad, really, that none of them realized she wanted to upend the kingdom.

The Carracosta propelled herself off the ledge she was perched on, and swam for the castle entrance. She knew that there were guards at the entrance, but that didn't matter to her. She could be let through peacefully, or she would utterly wipe the floor with whatever guards confronted her. It didn't really matter to Takida. She'd get through either way.
 
Reiki stood outside the small building, in the cold, dark night. Her gem, flickering from her anxiety, was the only light illuminating the narrow alley. A door creaked open. A hushed voice penetrated the silence. “Come, we can talk inside.”

The starmie looked around the dimly lit room. A glass box lay in one corner, bubbling and glowing with a strange red light. Microscopes and glass instruments lay on a table to her right. “Have a seat,” coughed the octillery, pointing towards a chair by his desk. Reiki obeyed.

The octillery held up the pill bottle with one of his tentacles. “I have run an analysis on the contents of this container, just as you asked.”

“And...?” Reiki questioned. Her gem was flickering even stronger now.

“And…” the octillery began, clearing his throat and smiling as he noticed Reiki’s impatience, “…it is just as you said, high-dose ibuprofen, the popular painkiller.”

“Yes, yes, but… did you find anything else?” Reiki’s core was glowing like a myriad of fireflies as she tried to brace herself for what she was about to hear next.

“What I found,” the octillery said with a stern gaze at the starmie, “was trace amounts of mercury.”

The room started to spin as Reiki tried to process what she had been told. Mercury. Mercury was what led to his madness, and eventual death. She remembered, back in her nurse training, reading about a disease commonly referred to as “Mad Hatter Disease” that was caused by long-term mercury exposure. Why didn’t she recognize the symptoms? Then another thought hit her. She had been exposed to the medication as well. The effects hadn’t been as drastic as with the king, as she hadn’t been actually ingesting the pills, but she had been in contact with the medicine every day. The anxiety and depression she had been feeling could probably be attributed to the mercury. Reiki felt agony sweep over her. She knew that their secret affair wasn’t good for the king, but she had no idea that she had been the one administering the poison. Reiki had never felt so low…

Reiki thanked the octillery, and made her way back home. When she reached her home of marble and coral, she found it had been raided. The windows were broken, and her belongings had been thrown about on the ground. Someone has been looking for me, probably the one that had been slowly killing the king. Word must have gotten out about my discovery, and now they want me dead. I need to find someplace safe to hide… But where could she go? If she went back to the palace, they would find her there. She had no family living in the capital, and she couldn’t leave now. She also needed to tell someone what she knew, even at risk of getting herself killed. Claudio, she thought, I can tell him… He will know what to do...
 
"I appreciate your initiative. If anything happens, please do not hesitate to tell me.", Claudio said, "And then tell my cousins afterward. I'm sure that deep down, they're still good people, but they've been totally enveloped in this and, as you saw, most likely can't be counted upon to think straight. Thanks for your cooperation, commander. You're free to go now."

With the meeting cut short, Claudio was left with most of an afternoon to do something. He looked out the window. Sunlight filtered down from the surface. People seemed to go about their day relatively normally, which was a relief.

"I think I'll go for a stroll around the city.", Claudio declared, "Would you like to join me, Commander?"
 
Reiki was swimming madly towards the palace when she spotted Claudio. He was not alone, as she had hoped. Still, I better tell him...

She approached the lapras and spoke in front of him. "Claudio, I need to have a word with you," Reiki turned and looked at Phish, who was accompanying the lord, "in private, if you don't mind." An anxious glow was emanating from the starmie's gem.
 
~Phish

"No that's fine, milord, I have to tend to my daughter, she has a mild fever and I feel it best if I return home. I appreciate you asking for myninsigjtnon the matter." Phish responded, smiling politely. Quite quickly Reiki appeared, taking Phish offguard. Her expression, as far as he could read it, was somewhat distressed.

"No, that's quite fine, I was already taking my leave milady." Phish responded, a little flustered, but politely bowing to the nurse. Phish then quickly took off and made his way home, making no time for deviations. "Pribably something quite important she had to tell him, I could speculate, but I think I already know..." Phish thought to himself along the way.
 
She had to get up. This was pathetic. I can't believe I was going to do that... however, there lies truth in words I did not mean to think. Beauty surveyed the remains of her room critically, trying to figure out what was salvageable. If anyone sees this it will not be good. I must fix it.

Her room was manageable, if a bit salty. Her table was crushed, but that would be fine; the remains of pictures and other hapless things were on the floor as well. Overall, her room was fine. All she had to do was get a new table, or at least discard this one. Oh well. I suppose I will just get rid of this before something bad happens. Like someone seeing it. She gathered the debris into a bag, which she zipped up carefully with confusion. She checked herself in the mirror once, and seeing that her paint was undisturbed (her face was locked into a purely neutral expression to prevent slip-ups) she exited her room and the building. Her bag was trailing behind, brought with psychic power; it was getting a bit draining but how else would she take it?

She darted around the city, avoiding contact by any other the others. Instead she went straight to the ruins; she wasn't exactly sure what they were ruins of, though. Everyone had tended to discarding their old furniture there, as demonstrated by a few broken driftwood chairs and benches in a pile beside her. She did the same, retrieving her battered things from the bag and putting them beside her. She made sure that they were unrecognizable as hers with a water pulse, then swam away quickly to make sure her deed went unnoticed. Now, what to do, she wondered. I could go campaigning around the city, or pay a visit to Deepshell...

An image of a shattered conch broke off that thought quickly. Wandering around the city it is, she decided. Snaking through the water with a mild urgency, she saw a carracosta approaching the castle. Curious. Is she the mercenary that I heard about? Perhaps she wants to get in on the crisis. Well then, I'll make sure it's Rafael she's rooting for. Mercenary or not. Approaching her carefully, she spoke with a politely refined air. I must make a good first impression, after all. "Hello, Carracosta. I noticed you were heading for the castle. Any particular reason, perhaps? I'd be glad to help you, whatever it is. My name is Beauty, if you did not know. Do you have business with any of us?"
 
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Takida felt a bit of inward satisfaction that it didn't take too long for her move to be noticed by someone that was clearly working with one of the nobles - to top it off, it wasn't even a palace guard that noticed her move. That made it all oh so much better. Now all she had to do was create a credible reason for being here - "My business here? A messenger from one of the lower nobles asked me to observe a meeting from afar, and then arrive here once the supposed meeting was over. From there, I'd be filled in on the details of the meeting, and would likely get an assignment from a higher noble."

The Carracosta looked at the Gorebyss with a slightly incredulous expression. "Would you be the one filling me in on what happened during the meeting? Or should I ask someone else entirely?" This was yet again another important point - as long as this one bought Takida's story and let the Carracosta know of what happened, she could make far more free movements - she had a good defense in case her alibi was questioned, but quite honestly, the Carracosta would find it much easier if she could get what she needed and get moving.
 
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