He wasn’t pleased with what he had to do as far as getting that blasted overgrown fish to relinquish Undine. Yet here he was, in the wake of his hideout with her laying in the bed, still trapped in the slumber from before. His men (or more so the remainder that wasn’t slaughtered by Junko and his devilish siblings) were busy removing the dead weight off the grounds. The bodies would make for good fish food and less attention would be drawn back to him. The last thing they needed were more unwanted company.

He had sat for hours, bored out of his mind as he looked onto the hand that was cut for the deal. This had all better had been worth it but for the time being, her sister wouldn’t bother him, not unless his father wanted him that badly again. He wouldn’t put it past him at all, perhaps he would send more of his twisted and jaded brothers and sisters to get him.

The thought didn’t ease well with his mind as he had to once more start over. Perhaps Abed wasn’t the best place since those that knew him knew that these were his grounds. A change of scenery seemed like an appropriate call to him. Her father had said it would take a few hours, but nightfall was creeping up and still no change in her status. Was this another trick orchestrated against him? Sol would have been burning mad, but instead, he was calm and expressionless as he lazily watched the siren. Exhausted himself, the djinn leaned against his hand and was starting to nod off into his own slumber.

Her dreams were more vivid this time around. She found herself in the place she was after. That magic little underbelly of the sea. The crystals under the water were so bright and she felt at peace with herself and with the mighty power flowing through her veins. Maybe that was what she was using Sol to find… Was it a real place or maybe it was just a metaphor for being at peace with herself? Gently she scooped up a little crustacean from the bottom of this mythical place and held the tiny creature in the palm of her hand. For now, her rage was settled… It was gone. She felt at peace.

That dream came to an abrupt halt as the fog rolled in. It was an odd sensation as it felt like she was falling which shouldn’t have been possible in the water. Not when she floated about so easily. That was when her body jolted up as she began to heave breaths and cough as she flung herself over the side of the bed. Seawater came from her lungs as she gasped for air and cleared her land lifelines. There was a dull ache in her head as she put her face against the blankets and gripped with her hands at the edges of the bed. “Where am I?” She sounded so dazed and confused as she tried to pull herself up.

It was evident how effective the sleep kelp was as her body fell back down. Her muscles were visibly twitching from her stressing them too hard to move. Her eyes were bloodshot from the forced sleep but visibly healing as time went on. She looked up at Sol and fell back on the bed as she put an arm over her eyes shielding herself from the light that was now hurting her head from being lost in the darkness for hours.

“I can’t remember what happened… I just remember his face…” It was then that she seemed to snap to and forced herself to a crawl as she moved across the bed to his face. “How did you get me back? Sol, you shouldn’t have bargained with him if you did.” Her voice was frustrated but she fell back down with the last bit of her newfound energy gone. “What did you do?”

Sol lingered over her, sitting upon his chair. After a few long sessions of fighting off sleep, the demon hazily could see her body move every now and then. Though he wasn’t sure if it was simply his exhausted eyes and mind playing tricks on him. But when she jolted up from the bed, he snapped awake himself and watched her come to.

“You are back in Abed, away from your father”, he explained solemnly. The events of what happened once more played out in his mind and he let out a visible sigh. “You’ve been out for hours, which that stuff he used on you. Sleep kelp I think he called it.” From the way she was reacting, one could have thought that she was recovering from a night of drunkness. Standing up, Sol got a glass of water and quenched his somewhat dry throat before looking back at Undine.

“I did what I had to do. We have a business deal after all, Undine. I couldn’t let you stay in his custody while we have that intact. So I went to see him and with Junko, we performed a blood oath. As long as you are safe, all is fine. If not, then I die.” He said it as simple as that. It was all or nothing for him. The risks were well worth the rewards and should he fail, he believed that he might as well be better off dead. “Don’t concern yourself with it. I still need you as a partner in all this, is all.”

“Sleep kelp?” Her mind was hazy but she knew of it. “Dangerous stuff. Could put entire legions to sleep underwater.” Perfect for keeping a dangerous daughter asleep. Slowly Undine was starting to recover from the rancid sleep kelp. Anymore under its influence and she thought she would have died but perhaps he hadn’t planned on waking her up at all? Who knew with that demon king.

Finally finding her strength she pulled herself to the edge of the bed. “And they just bought all of that? I don’t mean the blood oath. I mean the fact you were let go and Junko is now gone.” Her blue eyes batted her eyelashes and she found her stomach in massive knots.

His answer made sense to Undine. Even if that wasn’t how he felt he still would have responded that way. It was in his nature to do so. Undine had learned a while ago how he was. He would complain ever so often about her clinging to him. True she did so because he amused her but in this moment when she was tired and frazzled she gave instead of just waiting it out for him to give in. “I’ll leave you to sleep then.” Her voice was soft as she got her feet on the ground.

Her legs wobbled gently past the tattered mess that was her skirt from her tail reforming and she gave a good push. It was a hard start but she took a deep breath. She doubted the last thing he wanted to see before he slept was her face. Normally she would have more confidence in herself but she had it beaten out of her. “I’m exhausted from the kelp as odd as it is.” She moved her hair over to one side and started to make her way for the exit so she could go back to her own tank of water and sleep more peacefully.

Sol folded his arms; he couldn’t very well doubt her skepticism about both her father and Junko would let him be with his life. Not only that, but to have her in his custody as well. He wasn’t ignorant of how his demeanor was; he simply didn’t care about how others felt about him. Sol also knew that Undine would be more worth something at putting her skills to use than to be left alone to sleep in the deep, deep sea.

He knew Undine was used to his antics and how he was, as he did with her. As long as she didn’t get in his way, he let her do as she pleased. “Yes, it took me a good deal of time to convince that sister of yours. I take it that she came after you were put to sleep?” In any case, she was ready to slit my throat when I spoke of going to the bottom of the sea to go get you. Your father…was a harder case and I had to resort to the oath.”

He stood by and watched as she forced herself up off the bed and started on her way out of the room. Letting her go was what he was going to do so that he could prepare to end his day, but the more he watched on, the more he could plainly see that letting her go on like that was futile. His arms dropped to the side and moved behind her. A hand lifted up and took her by the arm with mild force. “Might as well stay here”, he spoke bluntly. There was no annoyance or angry in his tone; hell he hadn’t really expected her to go back to the tank. If it had been his intention to have her in it, then he would put her there when she was still asleep.

“It matters not to me which you prefer, whatever you wish.” He released her arm and moved to undo his shirt and boots and slid into the bed.

“I don’t know much of anything about that girl. She happened much after I was put to sleep the last time. I barely remember Lotus and she was just a girl when I showed up.” There was an exhausted sigh from her lips as she thought about it. “Probably the lot of them are like that… but I do not blame them. Side effects of tough love from our mother I bet. I wasn’t in her custody like the others… even Eldora escaped her but Eldora is an entirely different fiend compared to the others.” She tilted her head at him and her blue eyes went gentle as she looked him over. “He’s protective of me and would rather me asleep than dead. For him, I would have died twice so I can… I suppose understand his worries.”

Undine was part way to the door so she could rest herself in its frame when he grabbed her. Her knees buckled showing the strain that she was putting on herself as she fell back into him and steadied herself. Stubborn eyes looked up at him but she didn’t fuss. “Hmm…” It was her only reply to what he said. She didn’t expect him to want her to stay but she supposed that they both had much to learn still.

Once she was steadied and he let her go she nodded to him. “Your bed is easier at the moment.” She wouldn’t ask for his help as she got rid of her tattered mess left on her body. The bed was cool as she slid into it but she found herself right up against him. It was almost routine now as she got his arm under her side and nestled her head against his chest. He was more like a hot summer day and that was comforting to her a lot more than the coolness of the rest of the bed.

Reeling her head she pushed her forehead against his neck softly. It was almost like a silent thank you for getting her out of that place. She hated to be forced asleep but a part of her also knew he probably did it for himself. In any case, she was bound to him now by a much stronger force than her own word. She could no longer flee from his side if things got too thick. Her body gave a shiver at the thought as her eyes closed and once more she snuggled herself close to him. “We should decide what to do tomorrow… I doubt Abed is safe now.”

“I figured as much”, he spoke as he watched her fall back against him and he caught her enough for the siren to regain her footing. Undine did look like she would fight him on the issue, but she wouldn’t press her luck. To Sol, it was probably because of the aftereffects of that sleep kelp. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about it again. After she undressed, she got into the bed herself and immediately crept up to him. Not that he minded it as he looked down at her form up against his own. It wasn’t something strange for him; these incidents had become commonplace and had she really decided to sleep elsewhere, then there would reason for concern. It wouldn’t be like her, that much he knew or was willing to share. Sol was not one to share his utmost feelings other than determination and his selfishness. But now he had to make sure that Undine’s life was safe, not just for his sake but for hers as well.

“I realize that, so I will have to relocate for the time being. My father, your sister and gods know whoever know where we are. We will likely have to move into the mainland where we will be safer from Xunatar’s eye and likely lose your sister there if she tries to pursue us again.” There was some doubt that she would continue to mess with them, especially now that Undine was back. Then again, his father could be ruthless, nearly as much as he could be. The thought disturbed him so that he could be like that man, the one that took everything away from him with the snap of his fingers. Now that he was a god, how would he contest him now? Was there a point to? Sighing, he allowed his arm to snake around her body, his hand halting and resting on the top of her hip.

“ I guess we should travel north of Parvpora, what do you think?” It wasn’t much like him to ask for her opinion as far as moving forward, but all things considered, he had to adapt a bit towards the situation they faced. Liked it or not he would require her for much more than just her talents. It didn’t settle to well with him, it was like the demon was made to swallow molten rock, but he would brave it.

That was who he was, after all.

Undine didn’t know whether or not this was Sol trying to care for her or just save his own skin. She knew she was his ticket in many ways and that he most likely came to get her to help himself. However, he did once in a while tend to show he cared even if they appeared in callous ways.

Gently she nosed his neck. “I know you do.” She didn’t want him to think she thought he was incapable of smart thinking. It was debatable sometimes but Sol was a smart man but his ambitions were larger than he was and that sometimes didn’t end up well at all. “Any other family we might have will prove problematic unless they don’t nark…” It was hard to say how many children her aunt had or if her aunt was even going to get involved in all of this. She supposed that she would have to disclose that information to Sol eventually.

Listening to the sigh she merely snuggled up into him once he wrapped his arm around her. “I’ve never been into the mainlands before. Never had a reason to… Sounds like a big adventure to me. As long as you promise not to sundry me we should be okay.” It was more of a joke as she flashed him a smile. “It might be a good idea since I don’t go mainland… They might not think about it if we stay away from the coast. Or at least a ways into the mainland.”

She kissed his chest gently and took his hand in hers. It was more of a comfort but she wouldn’t leave him not even if he gave her the choice. She owed him for coming to get her. “We’ll figure it out. However, let's figure it out tomorrow when our heads aren’t quite as tired.” She pulled the blanket up a bit more and tucked some of it around his side. “Get some good sleep, Sol… I won’t go anywhere.” Not that she could but she didn’t know if her soft words would help him. She had up to that point told him she would leave him when things got tough… and now she was deciding against it even if she didn’t have a choice.

In the morning she woke up with a shiver as she pulled herself more around him. Her blue eyes popped open and she checked to see if her movements had woken him up. “Hey, Sol… I had heard of a town during my time out at sea so many years ago… Jayou? It might be a good place for us to hide.”

He didn’t know of any of his other siblings than the ones that existed before he was imprisoned. And frankly, he didn’t care, as long as they didn’t stand in his way. The youngest that he remembered were Steele and Carrie, along with some others but those two stood out. The former was the second sin and the latter was the thief that stole his power. All the others that had been mentioned to him didn’t hold him to any regards other than to just ignore them unless they acquire his attention, usually in a bad sense. Whether or not Undine held the same opinion of her own family was her decision, not his.

She did have a point about moving further into the mainland- they knew by now that her strength relied upon the seas and if they weren’t close by, they wouldn’t have the slightest of a clue. Not to mention it would serve them better for more hiding places. His eyes lowered to her hand taking his but didn’t speak of anything against it. His mind was already made up- they had to take their leave in case his father would send more people after him. The old man certainly wouldn’t just give up the chase- no, knowing him, he would let them move a few moves without interruption while scheming something wicked ahead of them. Perhaps it was his paranoia creeping into his head, but with his father, nothing could truly be said to be safe.

Slowly he let sleep take its course and slumbered into the morning hours. His body barely registered that Undine had moved, merely moving a bit to get more comfortable. His eyes opened just a little to see her and pay some mind to. “Not familiar with the place, but that might mean that he doesn’t either”, he mumbled, moving his arm to shield his eyes from the sunlight. “Have you heard anything about this place and where it is?”