Mermaid Meanderings

For once the veil of slumber pulled back from Mina's mind in a slow and pleasant manner.  Just the half-asleep, subconscious knowledge that Holly was so close gave her a rare feeling of comfortable security.

She opened her eyes and stretched where she lay upon a bed of soft river-plants, causing tiny fish to dart away at her movement.  Morning had come, and cheerful sunlight filtered down from above, where it danced and dappled over her bare, pale blue skin and glittered on the dark, shiny scales of her fish-half.  She took a few moments to smooth the tangles that had accrued overnight in her long, dark hair, and shake off the bits of sediment and plant matter than had settled over her.

Once satisfied she was suitably presentable, Mina pushed off from the riverbed.  With a few leisurely pumps from her tail, she set herself floating gently to the surface, where she transitioned to the world of air and trees with little more than a ripple.

She was right next to the riverbank, a pleasant area lush with verdant plants and trees, many of which sported pretty blossoms.  The manic chlaena Chintipni was thankfully nowhere to be seen, while the injured harpy Hilde appeared sound asleep.  Hilde looked oddly pretty and peaceful like that, the golden brown feathers of her wings wrapped protectively around her body, her dark blonde hair somewhat frazzled but now dry.  

Holly was also there, but had her camouflage up, which made her all but invisible to Mina's eyes.  If not for the fact she knew Hilde was sleeping at the base of Holly's trunk, Mina might have still had trouble pinpointing her exact location.

It was funny, the sleepy mermaid mused.  She rarely had an opportunity to observe Holly in her camouflage mode, at least in cases where she knew exactly where the dryad was.  It didn't seem to be an illusion . . . at least in the way Mina understood them – rather that her eyes couldn't quite seem to focus upon anything that would definitively identify Holly as something besides another tree.  

Perhaps, if she focused her eyes at the base where Hilde was, and then brought her gaze up slowly enough . . . much to Mina's delight, she immediately had a clear view of Holly's upper torso.  The familiar features of the dryad's light green skin and dark, earthy-brown hair dotted with tiny flowers was always a welcome sight.  Her eyes were closed, and her gentle face bore a look of concentration.

"Good morning, dear,"  Holly said, her lips curving into a knowing smile.  "Were you looking for me?"

Mina sighed, her moment rather deflated by the realization that Holly had just dropped her camouflage.  "Morning,"  the mermaid replied, resting an elbow on the bank and allowing a large yawn to overtake her.  Upon closer inspection however, most of Holly's attention remained elsewhere, her eyes still closed.

"Are you talking to one of your long-distance dryad friends?"  Mina asked, feeling a familiar pang of envy at the dryad ability to be permanently immune to loneliness.

"Listening, actually,"  Holly said, still without opening her eyes.  "Shelny seems to have quite the production going.  Gathered up a sizable crowd, to have some sort of debate."

"Oh?"  Mina perked up, curious.  "What's it about?"

"There appears to be some disagreement about whether it's ethical to eat elves."

"Huh?"  Mina blinked, not sure she'd heard right.

"Shelny – the dryad – is a very gentle soul.  She won't eat any kind of animal, because she feels sorry for them, but they're focusing on just elves to keep it simple."

"Hmh."  Mina had never given much thought to how the various fish and birds and humans and whatnot she ate might feel about being food.  It was clear they didn't like it, from their constant escaping, but the whole process was so universally pleasant and natural, it seemed like quite a stretch to cast it in a negative light.

"They're taking questions from the audience now.  If you're interested I can relay what everyone's saying?"

Mina swished her tail back and forth in the water with excitement at the prospect of such a novelty.  "Oh yes please!  Do you think it might be possible for me to participate?  You know, through you?"  She backed off a little before Holly could answer.  "Unless that's against the rules or something.  That's fine if-"

"I'm certain that would be perfectly fine,"  Holly said firmly.  "Shelny is proposing that it's wrong to eat elves, while Irenn is naturally arguing the opposite.  Just let me know if there's a question you want to ask either of them, and I'll relay it."

"Okay!"  Mina said, resisting – for the moment – the urge to clap her hands together in excitement.  Somehow having everything go through Holly disabled a great deal of the usual nervousness from trying to socialize with strangers.

=================================

It was some time later when Holly informed Mina that the engrossing event was winding down, and stopped relaying what the physically present participates were saying and doing.

"That was fascinating,"  Mina said, feeling pleasantly giddy and restless after the unique experience.  She couldn't quite keep herself from swishing back and forth in the water next to Holly with pent up energy.

"Yes it was.  And did you learn anything new?"

"Yes!  I learned your friend Shelny worries too much."  Mina stuck out her tongue playfully . . . and then immediately remembered her manners, and withdrew it.

"She does,"  Holly agreed gently.  "But she is also one of the wisest and eldest dryads I've had the privilege to know.  It is important to remember that even the very best of us can be wrong about things some of the time.  Or perhaps she's right – maybe it would be technically more ethical to never harm anything alive."

"Ummm,"  Mina fidgeted uncomfortably at the thought, considering just how many things she had eaten in her lifetime.

Holly chuckled kindly.  "Oh, don't look so worried.  If everyone and everything followed her advice, I expect there wouldn't be much alive at all after very long.  Even if Shelny takes it all rather seriously, it's more of an interesting thought experiment as far as I'm concerned.  Nothing I would consider practical."  

"I see,"  Mina said, feeling vaguely naive and foolish.  She averted her eyes and splashed her fingers about on the water's surface for a moment, before she could think of a way to change the subject.  "I also don't think I really realized before just how amazing the dryad network is!"  She continued, perking back up.

"It is.  Truly, being able to travel around easily seems like a rather poor substitute, compared to what we dryads have."

For a moment, Mina entertained the appealing fantasy of being part of a huge community, that she could contact instantly at any time . . . in exchange for being stuck in the exact same boring, unchanging spot for pretty much her entire life.  "Hahaha . . . I think I'd take swimming over long-distance communication, actually."  Mina flipped over into her back, and paddled about in lazy circles next to the bank where Holly stood, as though to reassert her own mobility.

"Of course you would.  You're a mermaid – constant motion is your nature.  You can't even sit still while we're talking,"  Holly said, voice full of mirth.  "Trapping you in one place would surely be horribly uncomfortable, and possibly quite damaging.  Much like a dryad being cut from the network for an extended period."  Holly got a vaguely faraway, wistful look in her eyes for a moment.

Mina flipped back over at once, suddenly curious and concerned all at once.  "Did that happen to you?  I mean, did you get separated from the network at some point?"

Holly recovered her composure immediately, looking down at Mina with affection.  She pursed her lips, as though mentally deciding how much she wanted to share.  "Not precisely, but . . . yes, after a fashion.  I was actually born somewhere outside the range of any dryad communications."

"Really?  But . . . how did you even know . . .?"

"I didn't.  But I was a very frustrated, melancholy youth, even if I didn't know why.  Perhaps especially because I didn't know why."

Mina clasped her hands together in anticipation, but after a moment or two without Holly continuing, she could no longer stand the suspense.  "So what happened?  You have to tell me the rest of the story!"  She said urgently.

Holly blinked.  "Oh.  Well, it's not all that interesting a tale, I'm afraid.  Eventually I was so eaten up with discontent that I moved."  The dryad made no indication she intended to continue further.

Mina splashed her hands about in frustration.  "And then what happened?  You're my closest friend, and somehow I don't even know the story of your tragic childhood!"

Holly smiled and gave her a very affectionate look.  "Ohh, come here you."  Without further warning Holly's lean, impressively strong arms scooped Mina up out of the water like she weighed nothing, and gathered her into a firm embrace.  It was always a little disconcerting to be suspended that way, her tail dangling helplessly in the open air.  But Mina trusted Holly implicitly, and reciprocated the hug with only a moment's hesitation.  There was, she had to admit, something very comforting about being held like that.

Eventually Holly returned her gently to the water, the cool, comfortable river providing its own sort of welcoming embrace.  "I have the distinct impression you don't get enough cuddles in your daily life,"  Holly said playfully at last.

"Maybe,"  Mina replied, not especially wanting to admit that pretty much all her 'cuddles' came exclusively from Holly.  "So, are you going to finish the story?"

"I told you it wasn't all that exciting.  I finally gathered the courage to move, and then relocated to a more hospitable area.  I must admit I was quite surprised and frightened to suddenly have voices in my head asking me questions and introducing themselves!  I didn't even really know how to talk properly at the time, so I had no idea what was going on.  Luckily more than words can be shared through the network, and with several of the older dryads transmitting calmness and affection, I eventually stopped panicking.  And I like to think I speak rather well now, considering I never learned as I child."

"I never had any idea!"  Mina said honestly.  "But I think your story would have been more exciting with a proper antagonist, and maybe a smattering of romance,"  Mina said impishly.  "It doesn't quite stand up to most of the tales I've heard."

Holly laughed.  "And thank goodness for that!  I don't know what I'd do if the fate of the world hung in the balance every other day." She sighed, as though just the thought of exciting drama and suspense made her tired.

"I guess that's true.  Hearing about that sort of thing is not the same as having to live through it.  Just one person's life is enough stress for me on most days,"  Mina said more quietly, her eyes shifting to look at Hilde's prone, still-sleeping form.  It struck her then just how absurd it was that the harpy had apparently been trying to make friends all along.  And Mina had been rather acerbic and cold to her in response, because of the strange and confusing way harpies spoke.  She resolved inwardly to try being nicer.

"I'm baaaaack!!"  A huge splash, accompanied by a flurry of tentacles and rapid color-changes signaled the return of a certain chlaena.  Chintipni was (thankfully) a bit on the small size, with a slim, pale pink upper half and very dark hair and eyes.  As usual, she had that strange pink bandanna around her forehead.  

Mina winced a little at the sight of the grinning chlaena, edging away from where she'd emerged.  And it looked like even Hilde was stirring at the spatter of river water that rained over them all.

"And I brought luuunch~!"  the Chintipni continued, and only then did Mina take a closer look, and notice she was carrying something in her arms.

Chintipni sidled up to the bank, and deposited her prize in a pile for all to see.

"Are those . . . rocks?"  Holly said, perplexed, as she leaned down to examine the pile, but Mina recognized them for what they were at once.

"You found mussels!"

"Mussels?"  Holly asked, lifting one up and giving it a dubious look.

"Shelled creatures, a little like snails, but much easier to eat, if you can get them open,"  Mina reached out and took one, turning it over in her hand.  "And you're sharing all these?"

"Well, I actually already ate a bunch when I found them, so I brought these for you all!"

"Thank you, that's very generous,"  Holly said immediately.

"Yes, thank you,"  Mina agreed, feeling somewhat awkward about her initial irritation at the chlaena's arrival.

"Maybe if you passed out more offerings of food, I wouldn't have such a pressing urge to murder you,"  Hilde added with a sleepy yawn, as she sat up and blinked.

"Harpies are weird,"  Chintipni said, peering at Hilde with an inquisitive expression.

Without further conversation, Holly, Hilde and Mina went to work on the delicious river creatures.  Holly, it turned out, had very strong hands indeed, and was able to pop the shells open with easy little twists and pass them around.

Though decent-sized ones were normally quite hard to open without ruining them, mussels were among Mina's favorite food.  Unlike fish, they had a smooth, pleasantly soft mouthfeel, and while they weren't warm or very wiggly, they were nonetheless quite satisfying to swallow down.  By the time she'd consumed three or four, she was feeling far more charitable towards Chintipni in general.

"I've never had anything quite like these before,"  Holly said as she opened another and passed it to Hilde, who gulped the slippery creature down eagerly.  "Between these and fish, I think I'm becoming rather taken with sea food."

"Where did you find all these?"  Mina asked pensively, once the last of the mussels had been polished off.  It had been far from a satiating feast, yet quite a bit more satisfying than the breakfast of river plants she had expected.  "It's really hard to find ones this big."

"There's a little rocky crevice right around here that opens out with hundreds of them all along the walls.  It was pretty dark so I had to taste my way through, but I was surprised it was untouched too!"  Chintipni said with her usual exuberance.

"Where?  Show me!  I can't believe I missed it all this time!"  Mina said with a tiny bit more sharpness than she intended.

"Haha, I don't think a mermaid could fit in there . . . at least not one your size.  The entrance was only about thiiiiis wide!"  Chintipni made a circle with her hands that was not much larger than Mina's bicep.

"Oh.  That explains why it was untouched though . . . chlaena don't really come into this river very often."  Mina sighed, feeling oddly disappointed . . . but also relieved she hadn't been stupidly overlooking it all this time.

"I see!  I'll have to visit more often, if the riverbed is lined with troves of delicious mussels!"  Chintipni laughed, the giggly, tittering noise contrasting with the usually silent way she communicated.

"Speaking of visits, we got a bit distracted yesterday, but I understand you were unable to attend your previous appointment with that fairy?  Subeta?"  Holly interjected.

Mina winced and deflated immediately, her stomach clenching up uncomfortably on her breakfast.  "Yes . . . after the thing with Hilde, it just completely left my mind.  I really hope she's not too mad or anything . . ."

"Well, it's a good thing I got back into contact with her earlier this morning then,"  Holly said with a knowing look.  "It took a bit of asking around, but once I managed to relay to her that you've come into possession of a rather unique sword, she agreed to try another meeting.  Someplace called the Siren Sands, by Jadong Lake."

"Wh-wha?"  Mina yelped, heart accelerating with anxiety at the unexpected news.

Holly looked apologetically affectionate.  "You just seemed so upset.  She said she'd try to be there around noon today, so you've still got at least a few hours I think."

Mina blinked in disbelief, doing some quick mental calculations.  "B-but that's too far!  There's no way I can get there in time!"

Holly furrowed her brow.  "What?  No, but you have hours still, surely that's enough time.  With how quick you can swim about, I'm sure . . ."

"Nnngh.  Dryads have no concept of travel time or distance,"  Mina said, covering her face with her hands in frustration.

"That's not . . . completely true,"  Holly said, looking away awkwardly, and sounding as unsure as Mina had seen her.  "I've relocated over a dozen time in my life after all, so I'm sure I . . . I at least have a far better grasp than most dryads."

"Even with harpy-speed, you'd never make it there before this dumb fairy has decided she hates you for wasting her time,"  Hilde said sympathetically.  "Twice."

Despite knowing better, Mina found herself struggling to suppress her irritation with the Harpy.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry,"  Holly said, wincing.  "I'm not sure where she even is at the moment, but I can try to get a message out telling her about the change of time.  How soon could you get there?"

"Maybe before dark, if I hurry and leave right now."

"And I can go with you to meet the fairy!  I love fairies!!"  Chintipni piped up.

Mina frowned, mind racing for some excuse to say no, until she remembered Jadong Lake was technically Anko's home.  She could be a bit of a bully, and delighted in teasing Mina . . . but it seemed plausible that Chintipni's craziness might effectively deflect even Anko's attention, if they crossed paths.  "Alright, but you have to behave yourself and try not to weird out the fairy, okay?"

"Yes ma'am!"  Chintipni cheered, wiggling all her tentacles about in highly disturbing fashion.  "And this outing is the perfect chance for me to try seducing you, too!"

"Goodness, she really doesn't hold anything back,"  Holly said, shaking her head.  "Anyway, I'll look after Hilde here, so don't worry about us while you're away."

"And don't be surprised if she likes me better than you by the time you get back, ya' winy, fairy-loving, matty-haired, fish-faced little bleeding heart twit.  Of course I'll probably wish I was with the sphinx soon, with this creaky old tree-witch bothering me all the time."

"Hilde says she trusts me, and is . . . exuberantly grateful to you for saving her life and taking her here.  She also managed to work in a subtle comment about how she think's you're pretty,"  Holly said by way of translation.

Mina blinked, looking to Holly, and then to Hilde in turn.  The harpy smiled at her, and then averted her eyes in an almost bashful fashion.  "Hmmh, this is a lot easier with you here to translate, Holly."

"A romantic rival appears!"  Chintipni said, looking at Hilde with ecstatic glee.  "But could this rivalry turn into a torrent of mutual passion, fueled by-"

"Be quiet and come on,"  Mina said, grabbing one of Chintipni's wayward tentacles.  "I'll see you two later."  She waved at Holly and Hilde, and then took the sword in her free hand.  She submerged swiftly, dragging Chintipni under with her.

Once back below the surface, Mina released her tentacled companion and sighed.  "Alright, shall we get going?"

"Yeah!  Traveling together builds friendships and mutual attraction!"

Mina sighed again.  "Just come on."  Without further ado, they set off at a brisk pace towards the place where Mina knew the Jewel River branched off into Jadong Lake.  It always felt nice to cut through the water, building up inertia and watching the reeds and rocks zip by below.

A few pleasant minutes passed, with nothing but merciful quiet from Chintipni, and Mina relaxed into the rhythm of her 'comfortable travel' pace, just letting the world slide by under her.  She was feeling quite content, in fact, when something rubbery snagged the tip of her tail, slowing her and pulling somewhat painfully.

"Hey!"  Mina yelped, flipping around angrily, swatting Chintipni's tentacle off her tail.  "Don't do that!  That hurts!"

Chintipni flashed a series of wordless colors which seemed to convey relief, and she was breathing visibly hard.  After a moment she apparently composed herself enough to communicate.  "Please go slower I can't go that fast!!"

"What?"  Mina pursed her lips, floating upright and staring at the chlaena.

"Chlaena can be very fast in bursts, to catch prey, but mermaids are waaaay faster over long distances.  It's impossible to keep pace with those sexy tails you have!"  Chintipni explained, her cheerful demeanor already back in full force.  "It's really awesome watching you swim, but I can barely keep up."

"I didn't think I was going that fast . . ."  Mina said, feeling vaguely, irrationally guilty.

"Maybe not for a mermaid, but chlaena are much more suited to nice craggy, closed-in spaces than open waters like this!"  Chintipni gestured aimlessly.

"That huge scary one who tried to eat me before seemed pretty fast . . ."  Mina recalled the unsettling near-death experience with displeasure.

"Well, at his size he's a lot faster than me, so he might have just caught you anyway,"  Chintipni said happily.  "But you would have been waaaay better off just trying to outrace him, rather than all that fancy illusions and stuff."

"Well, I've never had a giant chlaena trying to eat me before,"  Mina said somewhat defensively.  "And I don't think I like this Jalandro character much either.  Coming here and trying to eat people up like some kind of river monster."

"Haha, pretty rude, right?  But don't worry – me and Siren made him promise not to eat anybody in these parts anymore.  And if another chlaena tries to eat you just remember: you're crazy fast!"

"That's not very reassuring,"  Mina said honestly.

"I'm not trying to be reassuring,"  Chintipni returned happily.  "I'm trying to decrease the chances of you being eaten!  And those two things are actually very rarely the same."

"How can I ever repay you,"  Mina said with slightly sharper sarcasm then she intended.

"A hint about how to seduce you better would be awesome!"  Chintipni said obliviously, reminding Mina she didn't understand sarcasm at all.

"There's no time to be floating about chatting when I'm already going to be late to see that fairy,"  Mina said, evading the whole line of discussion as best she could.  Before Chintipni could reply, she turned around and resumed swimming in the general direction of the Siren Sands, albeit at a somewhat slower pace.

=============================

The sun was setting by the time they reached Jadong Lake, the sky streaked with gorgeous orange and yellow hues.  Mina always enjoyed the beautiful colors and clouds of the sky, but was at that moment far too distracted to pay it more than a passing glance.

There was no sign of Anko, much to Mina's relief, and she gave the Mysterious Temple a wide berth as they passed, its angular shapes swathed in shadow from the dim evening light.  Even without Anko always lurking about the perimeter, Mina didn't much like the structure.

The stretch of beachy area known as the Siren Sand was utterly deserted when they got there, the occasional mermaids and other visitors who enjoyed the sun having long since returned to the water.  It actually looked rather lonely, all that sand going out in both directions, bereft of any visible life or movement.

"I think we missed her!"  Chintipni said cheerfully, looking up and down the beach.  "I really like this spot though."

"That's wonderful for you.  I'm certain now she must think I'm a flighty, unreliable nitwit."  Mina turned and leveled a severe look at Chintipni, but her companion just gave her that usual manic grin in reply.

"Ahh, you must be the ones I was waiting for,"  a small voice broke in calmly.  Mina turned to see a little human on the beach right next to them, with pretty orange hair and a distinctive hat.

"Oh!"  Mina raised her hand reflexively to catch it . . . but then the creature expanded in size with startling speed, until she was very much equal in scale to Mina . . . and the fairy wings on her back were suddenly quite a bit more obvious, as well.

"Oh."  Mina withdrew her hand as subtly as possible.  "Hi.  You must be Subeta?"  She waved a little awkwardly, not sure if she should admit to mistaking her for a human, or risk letting her think she ate fairies.

"That's me!  I got the message that you were gonna be late, too, so no worries."  Subeta replied cheerfully.  Whether she'd noticed Mina's mistake or not, she didn't seem upset about it.

"Heeellloo fairy!"  Chintipni cheered, doing what almost looked like a little impromptu dance, her arms and tentacles wiggling about randomly.  "I'm Chintipni and this is Mina!  We're here to talk to you about . . . about . . . hmmm."  She turned her manically cheery gaze at Mina and tilted her head.  "I don't know why we're here!"

"You wanted me to look at something you found, right?  A sword?"  Subeta sounded immediately more eager at that last word.

"Uhhh, yes and no,"  Mina said quickly, before Chintipni could derail the conversation any more.  "I did find a sword,"  she continued, lifting the weapon out of the water and laying it in the sand at Subeta's feet.  "But that's not what . . ."

"Ooooo!"  the fairy cooed enthusiastically, shrinking down to around hand-sized.  She hopped up onto the weapon, walking along the flat of the blade towards the hilt.  Once she reached the hilt, she stooped down to examine the intricate, angular engravings.

"Is it magic!?"  Chintipni asked excitedly.

"Yes.  It's no unique, legendary weapon or anything, but the quality is really high,"  Subeta said, hopping off and shifting back to normal-size like it was easy and casual.  "It's got some standard enchantments to keep the blade sharp and sturdy, but the main component seems to be a really powerful venom-neutralizing effect.  Kinda narrow in scope, but when you want it, you'd really want it."

"That's nice, but I'm really not that interested in the sword,"  Mina said, trying to restrain her impatience.

"Really?  Because if you don't want it, I'm sure I could find a good home for it!"  Subeta grinned, eyeing the weapon with clear interest.

"Well, I don't really have much use for it . . ."

"Awww, don't just give it away!  You had to fight a sphinx for it!  And I bet you could trade it for all kinds of cool stuff at the bazaar!"  Chintipni broke in animatedly.

Subeta fixed the octopus-girl with an annoyed glare, but only received a cheery grin in reply.  "Anyway," The fairy sighed, "what was it you wanted me to look at?"

"This!"  Mina said dramatically, removing the tiny pebble from her belly-button and holding it up for Subeta to see.  "It used to sing songs.  But it stopped a while ago, and I'm not sure how to fix it."

"Oh."  Subeta took the tiny, precious thing, and much to Mina's delight, the object increased in size until it fit neatly in the fairy's palm.  "Hmmm.  It's not magic at all."  She fiddled with it, while Mina wrung her hands nervously.

"It's some sort of human gadget or something.  It probably broke when you took it in the water."  The fairy shrugged.

"No!  It was fine in the water for days!  I just . . . can you fix it?"

"Nope.  Sorry, but I don't have a clue how this thing works, or even what's wrong with it."  Subeta handed the now-larger device over to Mina and shrugged again.  "Oh, also it'll go back to its original size after a while."

"Hmmph,"  Mina sighed, looking over the shiny disk of strange material dejectedly.  It was interesting to see all the little details and buttons now that it was sized-up, but unsurprisingly she couldn't find anything the fairy might have missed.

"Uhh, if you really want, I could take it over to Anna and see if she could do anything with it, but . . . she does have a habit of taking things apart, and they don't always work the same after.  She might fix it, or she might just use the parts for something 'better' instead.  But if it's totally broken anyway . . ."

"Nnnn,"  Mina winced at the idea of letting it out of her possession.  Just the thought of all those beautiful and varied songs being lost forever was enough to make her anxious and tense.  "M-maybe it'll just start working again eventually?  Human stuff is weird, so maybe . . . ?"

"I really doubt it,"  Subeta said kindly.  "But anything's possible I guess.  Sorry I couldn't be more help."  

"You know who I bet could fix it?!"  Chintipni piped in with her usual cheer.  "Someone in Ryzelm’oire!  We've got all the best stuff down there, so someone would know how it works for sure!"

"Ryzem . . . ?"  Mina attempted . . . trailing off awkwardly when she couldn't quite recall the whole word properly.  Mina knew from her mother that she'd been born in an underwater city, and had wondered in the past if perhaps the chlaena city was where her parents had come from.

"Ryzelm’oire!  You've never been?  It's the greatest city in the world!  It's where I was born, so I would know.  It's where the bazaar is.  They have everything there.  Maybe you could trade that sword for someone to fix your singing thing!"

"Ryzelm’oire huh?  Where's that?"  Subeta asked, looking interested.

"At the bottom of the Topazial Sea!  It's really dark and beautiful down there, even if the pressure can take a little while to get used to compared to the surface.  The Reef of Ryzelm can also be kinda dangerous, too."

"Hmmm,"  Subeta intoned, as though she were thinking of something.

"Well, anyway, it was very nice to meet you Subeta,"  Mina said truthfully.  Still, it was hard to keep from feeling too disappointed with the whole fruitless affair.

"Right back at you,"  the fairy said amiably.  "You sure you don't want me to take that thingy to Anna though?  If it's busted for good she'd get more use out of it than you, and even if it's a long-shot, she might actually be able to fix it after all."

Mina held the precious object between her hands protectively.  "No . . . I just, I just want to keep it for now, I think.  Maybe if nothing else works, I'll contact you again and we can try the Anna thing?"

"Fine by me!  But . . . if I could find another music-device-type thing, you might trade it for that sword?"  Subeta raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"Oh yes!"  Mina said with sudden enthusiasm.  The idea of more than one such object existing had not occurred to her, but it made sense there might be others.  "That would be wonderful!  If you find another like this one, that would be perfect!  If you can't find me, there's a dryad named Holly I'm friends with who can help set up a meeting."

The fairy grinned pleasantly.  "It's a deal.  Just don't lose that sword in the meantime, okay?"

"Of course."  Mina said, taking the shiny metal weapon up in her hand.  She felt a sudden surge of protectiveness towards the object, now that it was potentially the key to her acquiring a new singing thingy.

Subeta gave an enthusiastic wave, and hopped up into the air.  Her shimmery wings hummed to life, and she zipped back towards the tree line with impressive speed.

"Bye-bye fairy!!"  Chintipni said with so much color it almost hurt Mina's eyes.

"Bye.  Thank you for your time!"  Mina said with a bit more restraint.

"She seemed really nice.  I wish fairies could breathe underwater."  Chintipni said happily.

"They can't?"  Mina said absently, as she tucked the useful bit of information away in her mind.

"Nope!  They totally just drown.  Except for the . . . water sprites I think?  I'm pretty sure they can breathe underwater."

Mina ignored Chintipni as a pleasant thought struck her, brought on by Subeta's suggestion that there might be more little singing pebbles in the world.

She pursed her lips thoughtfully.  "You know, I'm going to start asking any humans I catch if they have music thingies."  If they were in fact more common than expected, the idea that she had perhaps unknowingly eaten quite a few of the precious little devices over her lifetime was an odd one indeed.

Chintipni wiggled in place, in apparent approval.  "That's a really good idea!  If you can find one, then you can keep the sword and still have a music thingy."  Her eyes shined with pleasure, and she somehow managed to grin even wider.  "Ohhh, if I found you one, I wonder if that would help me seduce you?"

Mina sighed and rolled her eyes.  "You know what?  If you found another musical thing as good as this one was, I'd seriously consider it."  As soon as the sarcastic quip left her mouth, she realized her mistake.

Chintipni giggled with unrestrained glee.  "Perfect!!  I think I'll hunt around for some right now!"  The tentacle-bedecked girl vanished under the water with a giddy splash at once.

"Drat,"  Mina sighed to herself, unable to decide if she was more amused or annoyed.  As uncomfortable as it made her, she had to admit there was a flattering aspect to Chintipni's cheerfully earnest affections.  And she'd only promised to 'consider it' after all, which shouldn't be too hard to fake, if it came down to it.

And if Chintipni, Subeta, and herself were all on the lookout for another one, it would certainly improve the odds.  She could ask Holly to look too, later.  Plus, it would add an extra aspect of excitement and anticipation every time she caught humans, since each one represented more than just a satisfying mouthful now – but also a chance at a rare and precious prize.

Despite the lack of a simple, immediate solution, Mina was feeling quite pleased about the overall outcome.  And very much resolved to put in a lot more time and effort when it came to hunting for humans and other similar creatures.