Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Okay," replied Tianara amicably enough. She fell silent as the trees began to thin out. It was good that he got Katalina. Dropping back slightly, she walked with Aria and Allen instead, so that she wouldn't distract Joshua as he talked to the mermaid. Particularly if he was having issues with keeping her at the cove.

Hmm? Oh, yes, murmured Katalina's voice. Yes. We're still here. I managed to...convince him that I'm not going back to see any quack healer. The soft, happy glow seemed to tone down in her mental voice as she listened to him. You found the descendants? Already? Fast work, Joshua. We'll check for you. You said you had someone you wanted us to meet - is that the descendant in question? She fell silent for a minute, then nodded. Bring them.

As they came out of the trees onto the beach, there was no one to be seen in the water. Nothing stirred. Tianara rolled her eyes. "Come on, you guys," she said irritably.

Right now? Katalina inquired. There was a few seconds of silence, and then she sighed. Oh, all right. I'm coming. There was a minor splash from the general direction of the coral, a brief sound of laughter, and then Katalina surfaced. Pushing back her hair, she glanced in the direction of the beach. She waved at Joshua briefly, and came towards the beach - a little slower than her usual bullet-like speed, probably due to the injury to her arm, but still very quickly.

Smiling, she settled on the shallows of the water. Her eyes went to Aria. "That one." She said it immediately, with only a hint of amusement. "She's got our blood, Joshua. Only a drop or two of it - it's very diluted. But she has it." Swishing her tail slightly and managing to only wince marginally as sand brushed along the edges of the tear, she let her gaze trail across the group. Immediately identifying the fascinated-looking old man as the 'grandfather' that was so excited to meet them, she smiled at him and held out a hand. "Hi," she said lightly.

Narcis had come out more slowly, his wariness plain. He examined the group that stood on the beach, and though his eyes widened slightly as he noticed Aria, he said nothing.

Tianara grinned. "Now all we need is for Jinx and Nezik to come back," she said cheerfully.

Katalina smiled very gently at Aria. "We know our own magic when we see it," she replied easily. "If it satisfies you, I'll do a more in-depth search in a minute - see if I can guess what clan your ancestor came from. That's harder, though." Then she turned her attention to Allen. She thought he, too, might be one of theirs, but in men it was harder to tell than in women. Pushing back her wet hair, she smiled when he shook her hand. "I am Katalina," she replied equably, entertained by the man's fascinated demeanour. "It's nice to meet you too, Allen. Narcis, say hello," she added, glancing at the Siren.

Narcis remained silent, examining Aria and Allen minutely. He shot Katalina an irritated glance when she spoke to him. "Hello," he said in an absolute monotone. Even that effort - and it was a good one - couldn't completely disguise the musical accent of the sea. Nevertheless, Katalina narrowed her eyes at him. With a sigh, he continued, "I'm Narcis." That seemed to be enough to satisfy the mermaid, who turned her complete attention back to Allen and Aria.

Tianara smiled a bit. "Joshua," she said as a thought occurred, "if they find the chained thing, what are they going to do with him? They can hardly fight him. They're just kids, really."

Katalina smiled a bit at the girl. It was true - it didn't really matter. She had made the offer only because Aria didn't seem to believe the idea that she had any seafolk blood at all, despite having had a mermaid tell her so. It had been the slightest p***k to her pride that the girl would disbelieve her on a point that she would so obviously know. Well, at least she could be assured that the girl sort of believed now, and that was better than nothing. Patiently, she turned back to Allen. "Yes," she said. "I haven't always lived here, that is, but it's been a very long time. I spent most of my time in the coral beds, there," she nodded in their direction. "Ever since I met Joshua, I've been living just in the cove. It's easier."

Tianara looked troubled. "Maybe we should have told Jinx that," she murmured. "She has a fighter's spirit. I doubt she would be content just to watch the thing, and Nezik would probably go along with her. She's very persuasive."

Her fears were proved unfounded, however, when two more shapes appeared in the distant water. Nezik surfaced first, looking around for Joshua. "We didn't find anything," he called. "No one's seen anything like--" He cut off when he spotted Aria and Allen, backing up just slightly and seeming to think about diving again. Then he seemed to note that his sister and Narcis were talking to the new people, and relaxed. He made his way over to Joshua. "No one's seen anything like what we saw in Tianara's family's cave," he finished more quietly.

Jinx, also coming to the surface, shot the new humans a quick look before joining Nezik. "We looked all over the place," she added in disgust.

Mac went up to Aria, "Aria...You are the one..." he said calmly, "my earthbound soul was once your great grandmother, the same mermaid that the legends spoke of". He looked deep into her eyes, "There is something that I need to show you, something that will be of use to you" he finished. His eyes gave a small radiant flash of beautiful blue.

Mac looked at her and looked back at everyone, "I need to take Aria to the shore line in front of the town. Who will come along?" he asked aloud.