I'm Going Slightly Mad. (Open)

[Eli Triton]

How long had he been here? Was it days or weeks? Months or years? Had his friends given up entirely, were they even still there? As the cold weather set in and the water became too chilly to swim in, he hadn't even seen any of his friends splashing about on the surface above him. The overcast skies made it easier for him to come further into the shallows, hoping to catch a glimpse of anybody who might be walking on the lake's edge, but so far he hadn't even managed that.

The last couple of days (they were days, weren't they? Was it maybe just hours, or could it have been longer?) he'd given up on these attempts, resigning himself to drifting around the lake bed looking for interesting stones and pebbles. He had quite the pile gathered currently, soon it would be big enough for his boredom to make him hide them all again and go on another hunt. This was his third pile so far. Or was it his fourth? He wasn't quite certain, he wasn't quite certain of anything anymore, down here in the depths of the water. Maybe he hadn't even been a human at all, maybe he'd always been a merman, living here alone and dreaming of a life with his friends above the surface.

He'd tried breaking the crushing loneliness by talking to the few fishes that lived here, but they weren't like the ones at home, they just gave his attempts a disinterested glance and swam away - at least they now didn't flee on sight, they'd worked out that he wasn't a threat but that was about it, there was no companionship to be had there. He'd taken to swimming to the surface at night, calling for his friends, pleading for them to come and find him, to save him... but above the water his voice was nothing but the cries of some strange animal, they wouldn't recognise it for what it was even if he was able to be heard from the dorms. Still, it didn't stop him shouting until his lungs gave out and he had to dive back beneath the water to prevent himself passing out. 

After each attempt he would sink slowly back down to the lakebed, wondering how many tears it would take to turn the whole lake to salt water.

[Isla Triton]

Isla couldn't believe she hasn't thought about the lake. It made perfect sense for Eli. Of course he would want to be a merman. He was always the human cousin that jumped into the water first and got out last. He had always been interested in learning about the life they lived under the sea. He wanted to know everything about it.

But Isla had been to caught up in her own turbulent feelings to recognize what she should have known all along.  She and Eli were best friends. She should have known and she was ashamed that she hadn't realized it sooner. Poor Eli had been isolated in a new body in a strange environment that really want meant to support such a large creature.

Isla was running down to the lake. The amulet was stuffed in her pocket. Reinforcements were in the way thanks to James showing up where he wasn't supposed to be. But that didn't matter now. They knew where Eli was and the rescue was about to get under way.

Reaching the shore of the lake Isla stripped out of her jeans, pulling her shoes off in the process as well as her socks. She pulled her shirt off over her head throwing that on the pile of clothes. Then she jumped into the lake. "Eli," she called knowing that she wouldn't be able to speak under water. She hoped that he would hear her. "Eli, I'm coming."

[James Florian]

James couldn't believe how stupid they had all been. Of course Louis would put Eli in the lake, it was the one place they would never think to look, but it was the place that made the most sense. To their lost comrade, any body of water was a little slice of heaven and Eli was notorious for spending all of his free time there, splashing and diving like a kid on Christmas morning. James likened it too how he felt about the stables; nothing, not even their closest friends, could pull them away from the shining allure they provided the boys. They all should have realized earlier that the lake was the only place Eli would be. James might not think that highly of Louis, but even he had to admit the bokor was really freaking clever. A little too clever if you asked this prince. 

However the raven haired lad couldn't stop thinking about how stupid in particular he had been, since after all not too long ago he was in the lake with Eli and he didn't even know it. Granted at the time he was literally dying so maybe that might give him a bit of a free pass, but still. He could have been three feet away his friend the entire time, and he didn't know because he couldn't find the courage to swim with his eyes open! How could he have been so stupid? Eli was right there, they could have rescued him quite a long time ago and they missed the chance because of Jim. He wanted to kick himself for being so stupid and blind. How could he miss something so blatantly obvious? How could he?

This was all he could think of as he raced around the dorms, banging on his friend's rooms until they let him in and he was able to hurriedly explain what Isla had learned with her talk with Louis. Now everyone knew where Eli was and was currently hightailing it to the lake like James was at this moment, his shoes eating the sand colored gravel like it was a buffet before skidding to a stop at the lakes edge. He could already see that Isla was in the water, a sense of primordial embarrassment set in by his homeland's high standard of modesty made him want to walk away and pretend that he hadn't seen a pile of Isla's clothes on the dock. But that was stupid. He was stupid. Of course Isla would jump in, she's trying to find her cousin and James couldn't just walk away now because of the foolish chivalry laws that had been drilled into him since he was a baby. He had to help Eli, he had to somehow make it up to Eli for not realizing that he was here sooner. Running away would not do the trick.

However there was another added factor that James didn't realize that affected him until now as he stood on the edge of the dock, torn between going to the edge or not. He was afraid of the water. His hands were shaking and he couldn't get the memory of his lungs burning and his vision fading out of his mind. It was there, blinding him with the pain and terror he went through. James's heart was racing, at the mere notion on trusting himself to the lake again. He couldn't help, but think of the unthinkable. Him falling in, the dock breaking, him drowning again with no guardian angel to save him at the last possible moment. He didn't want to do this. Oh he really really didn't want to. But he knew he had to. That was the worst part of it, he always had to do things that frightened him because it was what others expected him to do. After all he had yet to breathe a word about what happened here, not even to Grove so if he ran no one would understand. 

What on earth was he thinking? Running at a time like this, when they were so close to getting Eli back because he was scared of some water? He was insane. James needed to pull himself together, he would be fine. Nothing would happen, he would fine. He felt a little a better after muttering this to himself over and over, however he didn't feel completely safe with him carrying all these things that would weigh him down if he did meet trouble by some rare chance. So off came his shoes, as well as his socks. The sword was cast aside and the heavy jacket he wore to ward off the chill fell off of his shoulders before the prince took his first shaky step onto the dock. Fighting the pit of dread building in his stomach and the woozy feeling in his head he carefully took another one, and then another one. He kept his breathing steady though it did nothing to calm his heart as the unfixed dock bobbed and bounced as he moved.

Before he knew it he had reached the edge where Isla was already in the water searching for her lost cousin. "Any sign of him?" James asked as he knelt down to the edge so it would be easier for him to see into the water. It was a stupid question and he knew it so before she could turn to him and tell him off for it, he joined her in calling out for him, using his voice with hers to penetrate the water for their friend to hear "Eli! Eli!" Jim could only pray that he could hear them. 

[Azalea]

Azalea was running like her life depended on it. She had been startled from her homework by James pounding on the door like the world was falling apart. The hurried explanation from her friend did little to calm the adrenaline rush and she had thrown on some shoes and started running, maybe a hundred yards behind the prince as they raced to the lake. She knew the others weren't far behind either.

Her lungs were burning when she got to the lake, but she kept running, straight into the water to join Isla. She was used to swimming in her clothes (after all, sunburn isn't a good look on a princess, and indoor pools weren't really a thing in agrabah yet) and moved unhindered to join the mermaid.

Az gave her roommate a reassuring smile "well done Isla. I'm sorry I doubted you. I was just worried that we'd be looking for you too."

She knew that it was likely that Eli would be deep under the water. It had been some time since she dove for any length of time but she had no intention of letting that stop them.

"I'm going to go down for a look" she told the pair of friends. She fully expected Isla to follow, but James didn't fare too well the last time he was in this lake. She was worried but she had to trust him to be sensible. She shot him a look to try and tell him to be careful and purposefully hyperventilated before taking a breath and dipping under the water.

It was cold, but she swam powerfully, her eyes open, searching the water for any glimpse of Eli. Shoals of little fish swam by, darting in and out of the reeds. She knew it was only time before she had to surface.

[Admiral]

Admiral was excited for any excuse to get him out of his dorm room. It has been very lonely without Eli. Being a dog be liked the comfort of other people. He liked to share space with others, so it had been very strange not to share space with Eli. All of his things were still in their room, but Eli wasn't. So when James came to rally the troops he hoped up quickly.

Finding Eli made him very excited and he bounced quickly around the room gathering all the towels be could find. Between the two boys they had a fair few. Admiral want a strong swimmer but he could keep his head above water. And he figured that people might need some towels to dry off after everything has been done and Eli had been rescued.

He tried very carefully down to the lake, stopping frequently to pick up dropped towels as he went along. "Hey James," be called approaching the other boy. Admiral could see both of the girls were in the water. "I brought towels," he declared proudly. Then he dumped them ceremoniously by the edge of the water. "I'm not a very good swimmer so maybe I should be a lookout with you."

[Eli Triton]

There was a splash above him, louder than he'd usually hear from the other occupants of the lake, and he wound his way slowly out of his den of weeds to peer up through the murky waters. A noise reached him, a muffled attempt to shout through the water that sounded like his name, and his first instinct was to dart forward, towards the source of the noise.

Then he stopped, and thought about it, and sank back amongst the reeds, because there was no use searching for whatever was making that sound, he'd heard it a hundred, a thousand times before, it would be his imagination, just like it always was, and he wasn't going to disappoint himself by going to look for it.

There was more shouting, but he put his hands over his ears to block it out, curling in on himself even more. He didn't hear the second splash as Azalea jumped into the water as well, but even if he had he wouldn't have believed it either.

"Go away! You're not real!" he yelled, voice piercing the water far better than theirs would, but whether it would reach them through the reeds and the distance, who knew...

[Isla Triton]

Isla was trying to think about how best to proceed now that she was here. She needed to think like a merperson. It had been so long since she had been a mermaid that for a moment, she wasn't sure of she could do it. And then, as she heard the splashing at the shore, she realized how ridiculous that was. Just because she was stuck in a human body didn't make her any less than a human.

She looked at Azalea when she spoke, but Isla was still thinking so she merely nodded to her friend. She could see another figure running to the lake too. So just about everyone was there. Good. Eli would probably need the support. She nodded again at Azalea. Isla was going to be methodical about this and if nothing else she would ask the fish. She didn't need to physically speak to speak fish. And the fish in this lake were decidedly less sentient than the ones back home.

Isla took a deep breath and ducked under the water. If she were stuck as a mermaid in a lake that was too small to really sustain her where would she go? She would probably hide. Find protection from the weeds. She swam, eyes open and looking for anything that might indicate that Eli had been there.

Then the voice rang through the water and Isla froze for a moment, listening to it and trying to locate where it had come from. She had an idea of the direction, but she wasn't certain. Human ears weren't built to listen to voices under the water. She surfaced quickly, letting out a deep breath before pulling all the air she could into her lungs diving back down into the water again. This time she aimed in the direction of the voice, swimming deeply so that she was near enough to the bottom that she could run her arm along it. "Eli," she called out once. It wasn't strong and she wasn't even sure if she could hear her. It was utterly frustrating and she blew out a string of bubbles quickly. At least bubbles would be louder under the water than her human voice.

But if Eli didn't show up in a moment she was going to need more air. And her lung capacity was pretty good for that of a human. This would so much easier if she still had gills.

[Grove]

Grove was running down to the lake. He wasn't really sure how he was going to help, but he needed to be there to support the others. So he was running to the lake. But Grove didn't swim, so he'd have to hang out on shore, with what appeared to be James and Admiral. He wondered what else he could do. Standing around at the edge of lake seemed to be super unhelpful.

"Hey," he said when he got close enough to the others. He noticed a pile of clothes on the ground and since James and Admiral were both clothed he could only assume that they belonged to someone else. "Are the girls here yet?" he asked anyway.

[Azalea]

"Surface now!" Her lungs screamed at her as she forged on through the water, desperately looking for any clue at all as to their friend's whereabouts. Sooner or later though, she had to listen to them and she broke the surface, gasping for air. She waved to the collection of boys on the shore. She was glad they were there, even if swimming wasn't an option for them. Eli would need them all when he got out of here.

Hurriedly, the Arabian princess filled her lungs again and rejoined Isla. She panicked for a moment when she heard the same noise as Isla, she simply hadn't been expecting it. It took her a moment, but she followed her roommate. The girl was a mermaid and she trusted her sense of direction. She swam with renewed strength. If that voice was Eli, then they had to be getting close. However, she dared not blow bubbles, she knew she would have to surface again faster if she did.

[James Florian]

Watching both Isla and Azalea dive into the water without a second thought set James on edge. He knew for a fact that he was being paranoid, that at the very least Isla was twice as strong of a swimmer as Eli and he was positive Az knew how to swim too. However his mind just couldn't help running to the worst possible conclusion. Which of course was that they too would become entangled in the reeds at the bottom and then it would be left to him and the others to rescue them. James didn't trust himself to be able to do that. As brave as he tried to be with the sword at his side, deep down he knew he was no hero. He was just some prince that could barely stand underneath the pressures brought on him because the stupid crown. He wasn't a knight in shining armor who could swoop in and save the day with just a swing of the sword. He was no Philip or Eric. If anything he was like his father, who did nothing for an entire year. Then finally he went to the forest to kiss a dead girl. That's it.

So it brought a small amount of relief to him to see Azalea breech the surface as Admiral ran up to him. He let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding in as she waved to them and reassured them that she was okay. Isla hadn't come up for air yet, but he still felt that she had some time figuring since she was the stronger swimmer and had different limits than the Arabian Princess. Once the girl dove back under the water, he turned to the puppy dog left on the shore with the prince. Surprisingly the prince was noticeably calmer when he spoke, "Great thinking Admiral. We're probably going to need them once the girls come out... with Eli." He added the last bit with a reassuring smile on his face. The prince was grateful that at last they could say that. Finally after months of not knowing they knew where their best friend was. Now it was all of a matter of finding him in the lake. 

Well not my best friend, James thought as he saw a familiar redhead jog up to the group. Grove was his true best friend. The two were practically inseparable, if one was around the other was not that far off. Little did they know that the brotherly love would soon grow into another kind of love and that both of their hearts began to flutter at the mere mention of the other's name. So it was only natural that even before Grove came to a halt, James was already practically leaping into his arms out of a sudden rush of pure joy that filled him as the realization sunk in that they knew where Eli was. He squeezed his friend in a hug that would be almost considered bone crushing if James had been any stronger. "We finally found him! He's here!" Grove might not know Eli that well, but even he knew how badly the disappearance effected the prince. Eli was Jim's best royal friend, well him and Azalea. They weren't quite as high as Grove on the totem pole, but they were still high up there. 

Suddenly realizing that he was being super touchy-feely again, James suddenly drew back with a blush crawling up his cheeks partially from the embarrassment of being around people for such an intimate action, and partially from...something else. James couldn't place what it was. He had never felt this way for anyone before. He didn't know what was going on in his brain or his heart.

Wanting to quickly move on and avoid any more of the primordial shame James felt for hugging his best guy friend the prince suggested to the group, "Hey why don't we go on the dock and call out to Eli? The girl's seem to be having trouble, maybe our voices can carry if we work together?" Sure he was nervous about going near the edge again, but he knew he was safe. Grove and Admiral might not be the strongest of swimmers, but he knew that if anything happened both of them would dive into the water to help Jim if he got into trouble. Just like how Jim would do the same in a heartbeat if either of them fell in, despite his fears over being trapped in a watery grave once more. 

[Grove]

Grove was more than a little surprised when Jim all but threw himself at Grove. The redhead caught him around the waist though, surprise or not surprise. He didn't want Jim to accidentally hurt himself. And he allowed himself to return the hug with a good squeeze that wasn't too tight. He didn't want to hurt his friend, after all. Grove was pretty strong. "I know," he told Jim. "You already told me." He was a little amused at Jim's excitement. Eli's friendship was important to his friend, Grove knew that. And Eli was about to be rescued, which would give everybody a morale boost that they desperately needed.

He let go of Jim almost reluctantly. Grove wanted to touch his friend, but he also knew that too much physical affection made Jim uncomfortable. It was easier here at school to give in to these kinds of feelings where the idea of masculinity wasn't so rigid, but Jim still kept to his medieval roots and Grove understood. He just didn't like it much.

Grove shrugged, looking at the lake critically. "I don't know if that would help much. I don't think sound penetrates water the same way it penetrates air. Eli will probably have a better time hearing the girl since they're in the water." He wondered if Isla could speak to the fish. It might be easier to get a fish to talk than to yell into the water. "Do mermaids speak fish?"

[Admiral]

Admiral smiled at the praise. He would have wagged his tail if he had a tail, but he didn't and smiling was the closest he could come to an equivalent for tail wagging. Smiling meant he was happy. "Thanks!" he said proudly, happy to have a few good ideas here and there.

He bounced happily at the hugging. Admiral, ever a dog, loved hugs. He loved physical affection from everyone and wasn't embarrassed about it. He was a dog, after all. There was nothing better to him than a little physical affection. Plus, he knew that Grove and James were old friends and he knew that old friends liked to hug even if they had seen each other recently.

Admiral peered down into the water. "Is that how it works?" he asked, genuinely curious. "I used to bark at fish in a pond in a park back home but Jim Dear and Darling didn't like that. Mother said that good dogs don't bark at fish. Wouldn't yelling into the lake for Eli count as barking at fish?" he asked, worried. Admiral wanted to be a very good dog, but it was hard to be a good dog in a human body.

[Eli Triton]

Did he...did he just hear his name? Muffled and mangled by the water but it almost sounded like a human voice, followed by a stream of bubbles. They sounded close. Close enough to almost make him... but he didn't want to, he didn't want to swim out of his reeds and see nothing but fishes, the same thing he'd seen every second of every day since he was confined to these depths.

And yet... the lure was too strong, he edged forward, still keeping himself as hidden as he could, but peering through the waving plants to try and catch a glimpse of what might be on the other side, telling himself it was nothing but unable to hide from that spark of hope that consumed him.

There was a flash of movement and he darted forward before he even thought about it, siezed by a desperate need for it to really be Isla, for his cousin to be there looking for him, for anyone to be there looking for him. It wasn't until he was out of the reeds that he thought twice about it, that he wondered if it was just another delusion, he'd imagined hearing things before, why not seeing things? Not only that, but did he really want his friends to see him like this? To see how weak he had been to take that stupid deal, to fall for the same tricks as his mother?

He was out of the reeds, but he shrank back, suddenly nervous, suddenly hoping they didn't see him.

[Isla Triton]

Her human body wasn't fit for this kind of foray, she was rapidly realizing. The water was murky and hard to see through with human eyes. She couldn't breathe under water either, which was the most frustrating part, even though she did have the lung capacity to hold her breath for 3-4 minutes under water. It wasn't long enough.

She saw movement ahead and she darted towards it. Or at least she tried to. She had too many limbs which inhibited movement in the water. And it looked like a big shape in the water, so it was likely that it was Eli, but she was still too far away. She just steadily swam closer until she could see Eli.

Isla made a high pitched noise of surprise because that was definitely her cousin but also not her cousin at the same time. Regardless, she had found him now and that was the most important part. She reached a hand out to him, making an inquiring noise at the back of her throat that would carry through the water, similarly to how whales might vocalize. She needed to know he was okay at the very least.

[Azalea]

She froze in the water when she saw the movement. Az was right behind Isla when Eli emerged from the reeds. She had never seen a merman before and the sight was confusing and scary to her. Eli was a good friend, but right now, that was not the Eli she knew and it took her a moment to recognise him. Isla's reaction was her confirmation.

"Eli!" Azalea called, or didn't because that's not what human voices do under the water. It really came out as more of a blub blub blub, but she hoped Eli understood enough to know they were here to get him.

Respectful of the family reunion taking place ahead of her, she followed her best friend at a little bit of a distance, surfacing when she needed to, but returning each time, just in case they needed help.