The third day was when everything came together. Alicia spent the morning diverting water from the river into Elias’ pond, and even found the time to steal decorative bricks from all her neighbors to line the edge of the water. She had only just finished when they received a text from Elias, confirming that he was on his way over. The four of them had pooled their money to purchase a Race-inclusive rideshare service, and after days of nonstop texting, Alicia was ecstatic to finally meet him.

  His arrival, sadly, had been set for later in the evening. Rideshare services that accommodated mermaids were few and far between, and only had availability at fairly restrictive times. Elias’ only other choice was early afternoon, which would have prevented him from properly preparing for time off from work.

  On the bright side, this meant Katrina would be up to greet him as he arrived. On the downside, this meant Alicia spent the entire day battling her nerves. She felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, desperately waiting for enough time to pass.

  Meeting Katrina had been completely on accident, and incredibly sudden, while meeting Tabitha had been a blind affair. After texting Elias nonstop for nearly a week, she was confident they were going to be best friends, which gave her plenty of time to stew in her nervous energy.

  “Do you think it’s big enough? What if it’s not big enough? Ughhh we should have made it bigger!” Alicia moaned, walking along the side of the pond.

  “Alicia, you sent Elias thousands of pictures the whole time we were digging this out. He knows exactly what he’s getting, and he’s okay with it,” Katrina said mid-yawn. She had only been up for about half an hour, and was still sipping on a ration to try and wake herself up. “Besides, it’s not like we had any more time. We need every minute we can get for this dungeon.”

  “What if I picked the wrong plants? I tried to pick things that were native to Lake Michigan, but is that offensive? Is that, like, the mermaid equivalent of putting fake kelp in a fish tank?” Alicia knelt down and dipped her finger into the water.

  “If anything, I think the most offensive thing would be likening this to a fish tank, Cherry Blossom,” Tabitha said with a smirk.

  Alicia jumped up. “I’m going to go check where I diverted the river, just in case!” She ran quickly, taking yet another mental inventory of all the plants she’d filled the pond with.

  I went over them all with Elias, but what if the plants I make are subtly different than ones that occur naturally? Do they have weird thaumic levels because I basically make them with magic? What if I have a poor understanding of them, and accidentally make some weird new variant? I already know I’m able to make brand new plants, I did it with Katrina’s orchid. Would that mess anything up?

  Alicia sat down at the fork in the river and connected with all the plant life one last time. She had purposely lined much of the new riverbed with different types of plants so that she could monitor the structural integrity, but also to reinforce everything,

  After some time had passed—Alicia’s inner clock still couldn’t keep track—she jumped back up and decided to head back. Her eyes were glued to the river the whole time, watching the water, looking for abnormalities, and checking her brickwork. The myriad distractions almost blinded her to the fact that she’d spent longer than she realized at the fork in the river. When she finally looked up, she saw the rideshare driver carefully lowering a short-haired Mermaid into the water.

  “ELIAS!!” Alicia shouted excitedly.

  “Alicia! There you are!” Elias responded.

  Alicia broke out into a sprint, her feet pounding against the ground as she picked up speed. Elias was now floating in the middle of the pond, which meant there was plenty of room for Alicia’s greeting.

  After closing the distance, Alicia dove forward with her arms outstretched. Elias managed to catch her, and the two plummeted several feet under the surface. Elias was laughing hysterically and even spun Alicia around a few times while hugging her tight. Despite every chloroplast in Alicia’s body urging her to laugh back, she made sure to keep her breath held as they danced around under the water.

  After the initial burst of excitement, Alicia returned to the surface. She looked up to see Kat smiling down at her, and Tab waving goodbye to the car as it drove off.

  “You keep that up and I’ll start getting jealous, Alicia,” Kat said with a smirk.

  “What, don’t you want to come greet Elias with me?” Alicia said, a playful glint in her eye.

  “I’ve never really been much of a swimmer, at least since—Hey, wait! Stop!!” Despite Kat’s higher Agility, she was unable to stop Alicia from grabbing her wrist and pulling her into the water. After another loud splash, Kat swam to the surface. Her long black hair was plastered to her face, and she shot Alicia a dirty look before surrendering to the absurdity of the situation. “I’ll get you back for this, Alicia. But, since I’m here, get over here, Elias. It’s good to see you again.”

  Elias swam closer for another hug, even helping to pull the hair from Kat’s eyes. “You sure you’re okay in here? Isn’t running water supposed to hurt vampires or something?”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Well, for one thing, this is a pond rather than a full river. However, that part of the Vampire mythology didn’t actually take hold during the Change. Not really sure why, if I’m being honest. Maybe the idea wasn’t widespread enough? If anything, I’m better suited to the water than Alicia is since I don’t have to breathe.”

  “But you still do!” Alicia said, splashing Kat. “I see you breathing all the time! When we’re cuddled up at night, your chest still rises and falls!”

  Tab spoke up next. “Just a holdover from being human. It’s pretty common, actually. There are a bunch of Races that technically have full control over their form, but still opt to stay humanoid, like Slimes or Elementals. For many people, it’s hard to forget their formative years as a human.” She set her shoes down, rolled up her pants, and dipped her legs in the water.

  “Yup. Even though I know I don’t need to breath, I still have a panic response built in. If I dive down to the bottom, my brain still thinks that I need to surface soon or I’ll drown,” Kat said.

  “I’ve met other people with aquatic Races that have similar problems, honestly,” Elias said, floating up on his back. “It’s a little easier for us, because the instinct to breathe is still valid, it just also works with water now. That being said, most people have an innate fear of open water, and changing Races didn’t do anything about that. There’s a reason so many of us stay close to land, and even still keep houses and stuff.”

  As Elias floated closer to Tab, she held out a hand. “Also, it’s good to meet you, Elias. We’re happy for the extra help, and Alicia here speaks quite highly of you.”

  “Tabitha, I presume? I could say the same about you; I’ve heard all about the harsh schedule you’re keeping these two on.” Elias returned the handshake, then paused briefly to pick his next words carefully. “Do you think you’re ready? Tomorrow is the first delve, isn’t it?”

  “These two are tough cookies, and they’ve come a long way. We don’t have a huge party, but we’ve got a solid composition,” Tabitha said, leaning back as she talked.

  Alicia jumped on Elias again, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “And we’ve got extra healing because of you!” The two started laughing again.

  “It honestly is a huge help, Elias,” Kat said. “It feels like I have a lot more room to breathe now that I’m not the only person with healing magic. Between that and the extra mana regen I get from Alouette, I really think we’ve got a solid handle on things.”

  “Alouette?” Elias asked, looking back at Alicia. “Right, the dancer. I heard she was… inspirational.”

  Alicia locked eyes with Kat, both girls blushing as they remembered that first night after the strip club. Alicia didn’t quite feel like making her sex life the new topic, however, and tried to steer the conversation elsewhere. “Right, well, we should probably fill you in on the details, right? What our schedule looks like?”

  “I’m all ears!” Elias said.

  Tab looked over at Kat, gesturing for her to take the wheel. Kat nodded, then floated out of the water before sitting at the edge of the pond. “We’re going to be delving as soon as the sun sets every day. This lets me walk around safely, and it ensures that Alicia can spend all day in the sun. This also means that, if I get injured, it’s easy to get to you for healing. Alicia goes to sleep immediately after we return from each run, but I’ll still have a few hours left in me, which will give me time to visit Alouette. Other than that, we just kinda… keep going. Change plans if needed, adjust to what the Dungeon throws at us.”

  “Key Dungeons are easier than normal, right?” Elias asked.

  “Oh yeah, we wouldn’t be attempting this if it weren’t a Key Dungeon. Normally finding them is harder than clearing them. For official Guild teams, of course.”

  Tabitha cleared her throat. “There is… one other thing, actually.”

  “Is there? I don’t think I forgot anything,” Kat said, furrowing her brow in confusion.

  “No, it’s nothing we’ve talked about before. It’s… well, there’s no easy way to say this. Before we start delving, Kat, I’m cashing in my blank check.”

  Alicia’s eyes went wide, and she carefully watched Katrina. “Tab, you’ve got to give us more to work with. What do you want?” she asked, swimming closer to Katrina.

  A heavy silence fell, and Tabitha took a deep breath before speaking up again. “Look, cards on the table, I… It’s just… Kat, I’m scared of your Race.”

  Kat grabbed Alicia’s hand, squeezing it tight as her breathing picked up. “What are you saying, Tab? You agreed to help, didn’t you?”

  “I did, and I’m a fox of my word. I’m still in this, I promise.” Tab paused again, and Alicia noticed how difficult this conversation seemed to be for her. “I just see the way you get around blood, how much it dictates your life, and… it makes me think back to the Change. I survived, obviously, but those first few weeks were brutal. I saw so many good people die, and I saw even more people stoop to horrible acts to keep themselves alive. I know you’re a good person, Kat, but I know how powerful the demands of the Status are. What they push people to do. Don’t think I didn’t see how stressed you were at the strip club. There was this look in your eye, like you were moments away from losing control.”

  “I-I…” Kat stuttered.

  “Tell me I’m wrong, Kat,” Tabitha said. “Tell me and I’ll drop this for good.”

  Kat swallowed nervously. “No. You’re right. It’s always on my mind; it has to be for me to stay in control. But I’ve got my rations, I’ve got Alicia, I can handle myself.”

  “But what if, Kat? What if all three of us get hurt, and she can’t stop you? What if I’m bleeding out on the ground and you’re the only one that can get us back home? I’m going to get hurt, Kat, we’re up against a Dungeon. I’m going to bleed. A lot. And you’re going to be there for every second of it.”

  “…So, what do you want?”

  “I need to know I can trust you. I didn’t say anything the last few days because… well, I thought maybe the extra time with you would make this easier, but I need something more. Something that proves to me you can handle yourself even when I’m bruised and bloodied.” Tab looked up at Kat, her fear even more obvious now. “I want you to drink my blood. Directly from my neck.”

  Somehow, Kat’s face grew even more white, and Alicia felt her squeeze her hand even tighter. “Tab, I… If that’s what it’ll take, I’ll do it.”

  “There’s one more thing, Kat, and you’re not gonna like it.” Tab’s eyes fell to the ground. “I’ll only feel safe if… if this happens live. On my stream.”

  Alicia expected an outburst, a gasp, something dramatic, but Katrina stayed perfectly still. Her pale hand was still gripping Alicia’s unnaturally tight, but otherwise there was no sign of distress, which worried Alicia. After a moment, Kat released her grip, stood up, and walked away. “Kat, wait!” Alicia shouted, jumping out of the water.

  Kat jumped into the air, and Alicia feared that she might fly out of reach, running even faster to try and keep up. Thankfully, Kat steered into Alicia’s Heart Tree, eventually coming to rest on the same branch they’d met on.