Azul stumbled through the mirror on wobbly tentacles, face bruised from his mother’s slap, and his innards bruised by everything else. He nearly collapsed on the Octavinelle floor, unaware of what time it was. Unaware, even, that he was being watched, until the usual suspects sauntered up to his weakened form, dispensing the usual friendly derision.

  “So, Boss,” Floyd smarmed, before leaning down on the boss, the picture of casual aloofness. “So…have a fun date?”

  “Where is your date, by the by, Azul?” Jade had joined in the gloating. “Misplaced her?”

  For a moment, Azul’s stomach dropped.

  “Yuu didn’t come through before me?” he groaned.

  If the mirror had misplaced her, she could be anywhere by now. The last thing he needed tonight was to traipse all over the mirror-network looking for one human, and the second-to-last thing he needed was to have to run into her again before he’d pulled himself the hell together.

  “You’re sure you didn’t miss her? If not, I’ll have to go back—”

  “Calm your arms, Azul,” Floyd dismissed his rant with a wave, before Azul could force himself back up on his jelly-like arms. It took a lot to walk without legs out of water, and he’d been doing it for at least an hour, amidst his mother’s scorn.

  “Yes, Miss Yuu did come through earlier,” Jade smiled, though there was a hard glint to it that Azul recognized immediately as anger. “She did not look as she had before.”

  “Torn dress. Dripping blood all over our floors. Wet? You wouldn’t know anything about that, Azul?”

  “Before you two go making assumptions, do you really believe that I would do any of that to her?”

  “That’s the thing, Boss,” Floyd said.

  “We wouldn’t,” Jade remarked.

  “Except for the fact that there was a very octopus set of jaws set into her neck. SO unless you mother decided she was the tastiest human on the menu tonight—” said FLoyd.

  “We could only surmise that the bite belonged to you. We would have kept her here for safekeeping—” said Jade.

  “But MAN did she want outta here! Didn’t ask for help with the venom she was dripping or anything!” finished Floyd.

  “DAMN!” Azul roared, tumbling back to the ground. “Oh, will one of you get me a potion already? Why didn’t you lead with that!? VENOM?”

  “Cecaelian venom,” said Jade, already producing hte necessary potion from his jacket pocket.

  “You’re worth your bloody weight in gold, Jade,” Azul grumbled as he downed it in one gulp.

  “Hey, and what am I?” Floyd demanded.

  Regrowing bones, and dissolving eight limbs was never a comfortable experience, but knowing exactly how long the heated agony would lastwas something that helped control his reaction.

  Three, four, five… he counted, until at last, his lower half reappeared. Unfortunately, it seemed his cousin’s magic pool had eaten his suit. He’d come back entirely naked. Suddenly, he was very, very glad that Yuu wasn’t around to see this. He hadn’t actually considered that risk until now, and that was a true testament to the stress of the evening.

  “Floyd, you’re worth your weight in mojito,” Azul groaned, as the pain subsided.

  “And don’t you forget it!” Floyd said happily. “So! Date! Why’s the dame poisoned?”

  “As it turns out,” Azul said through gritted teeth, pushing himself to his feet, “the rumors concerning the Banejaw’s new Red Dust were all real—and somewhat understated.”

  He stalked over to one of the lounge tables, ripped off a tablecloth, and wrapped himself in it. There were many things in this life that should never be attempted sans trou.

  “Red Dust. The drink powder?” Floyd prompted.

  “It seems that the new Banejaw bride has found a way to take the red string of fate, locally sourced from her fiance, and reduce it to a dust stable enough to be used in potion-making,” Jade said swiftly.

  “Meaning?” Floyd rolled his eyes. “I’m getting old here.”

  “Exactly,” said Jade. “The Red Dust, when treated properly, can connect you to people supposedly fated to cross paths with you. Although, since the red string of fate is not real, and in fact, synthetically created by the Banejaws, what id truly does is closer to finding compatibilities or incompatibilities with yourself and other people, and then speeding up that relationship artificially. Enemies made in seconds. Compatible lovers flinging themselves at you. Friends pledging their loyalties overnight.”

  “Sounds awesome!” Floyd gaped. “Why don’t we get some for our drink counter at the lounge? THat’sd be a laugh. I wouldn’t mind getting some myself.”

  “The bride this evening thought the very same.” Azul gritted out.

  “Oh dear… I think I can see where this is going. Do continue.”

  “Unfortunately, our very human bride forgot to consider the consequence that this was a mixed-species event. When used on humans, the results are both unpredictable, and untested—well, untested until tonight, apparently,” grated Azul.

  He folded his arms and glared at Jade.

  “Care to take a gander at what happened?”

  “I’m guessing you and shrimpy got a faceful?”

  Jade snorted, at the same time as Azul made a disgusted sound.

  “Hey, I meant a faceful of the dust stuff! What are you two picturing?” Floyd complained.

  “I am envisioning that things did not go…smoothly with Yuu?” Jade asked politely, but his wicked, creeping smile told Azul that he was picturing exactly what Floyd described.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Unfortunately,” Azul bit out, “Floyd isn’t entirely far from the truth.”

  “NO WAY,” Floyd said. “You tried to eat shrimpy?”

  “That is not what I said!” Azul snapped.

  “Only kidding boss! Continue!”

  “When humans are forced to move up timelines, their reactions are… unpredictable. There are REASONS the history books are full of heroes and heroines trying to defy fate,” said Azul.

  “Meaning?” asked Floyd. “Get to the good stuff.”

  “Meaning that even if the red dust points out compatibility—in the form of dulling one’s inhibition, and heightening neutral instinct—that humans are perfectly capable of resisting those compatibilites.”

  “If the timing is unnaturally pushed, then humans will resist no matter how compatible they are. Meaning that it works best on merfolk, and very specifically, smaller mermen and maids, and not cecaelia, who would react too strongly, and not humans, who would find the wrong timing wrong no matter what the dust pointed out to them, and therefore either resist, or simply….leave,” finished Jade. “Oh dear.”

  “‘Oh dear’ is an understatement equivalent to calling the NRC clock tower a chintzy timepiece,” Azul groaned, sinking down into a nearby chair.

  “How is it, then, that you are not…still under the influence?” Jade inquired politely.

  “My mother,” Azul said, as though that explained everything.

  “Yeah, shrimpy said she was there. What happened with the matriarch, then?” asked Floyd.

  “She… used her ink to remove the effects of the dust on me—which only worked on me because I am her own blood. Then, she narrated in great detail what I had done while under its spell… which was… troublesome to say the least. She is also of the opinion that courting humans is tantamount to scandal, considering what happened with my father, and considering the side-eyes it put on the Banejaw family. Varrun only got away with it so cleanly because he is the heir, and still, tongues will wag. Bad for business.”

  “What’s this got to do with Yuu? Sure she’s human. But she’s not close enough to you for your mum to go ballistic. You’re not even dating,” said Floyd.

  “You mate-marked Yuu,” Jade stated. It wasn’t a question.

  They’d seen the bite. They’d seen the blood. They’d seen the venom.

  Floyd whistled long and loud.

  “You getting hitched, Boss?” he asked, amused. “Skipping a few steps?”

  Azul’s head shot up angrily.

  “This isn’t a joke, Floyd. This was in NO WAY consensual.”

  “Yes it was,” said Jade, surprising them both.

  “And how in the TRENCHES do you figure that, Jade?” Azul snarled tiredly.

  “She asked you for something, no? If she hadn’t you wouldn’t have been able to produce the venom in the first place. That’s how the magic works. It’s basic blood anatomy,” Floyd supplied.

  “How do you both know that?”

  “We pay attention to your monologues, Azul,” both Jade and Floyd said at the same time, their matching eyes flashing at him.

  “Since when?” he demanded.

  “Well, it’s not like we wanted to,” Floyd grumped.

  “Entertainment,” added Jade.

  “Marvelous,” Azul groaned, his face falling into his hands.

  “Well?” Jade said, far more calmly than he should. “Where is the problem then? You made a contract with Yuu, at a time when, it seems, neither of you were feeling yourselves. SImply nullify the contract, and the venom will lose its sting, and Yuu’s shoulder will heal with a potion or two. Gift the healing elixirs to her free of charge, and everything is as it was.”

  “Oh, for it to be that simple.” Azul’s head fell back into his hands. “The contract wasn’t a paper signature. It wasn’t in ink. It was in her blood, and my venom. We can’t just annul it without tearing up one of those, and that would mean—”

  “Dying a horrible death?” Floyd asked blithely.

  “Yes, that,” said Azul. “The venom would eat her alive, or I would have a blood curse on me that would wring the life from my limbs. A lovely way to go.”

  “This is why mating marks aren’t used in nuptial ceremonies anymore,” Jade sighed. “Makes divorces very messy…”

  “So, how would you fix it, then? You could just give her whatever she asked for, and then call the contract complete?” suggested Floyd.

  “Unfortunately, considering what she asked for, that won’t be possible, either…” said Azul, remembering with a small rush of blood to his face…and perhaps farther down. He shoved that thought away viciously. This was all so wretchedly complicated.

  “What does the human want that you can’t give?” Floyd asked immediately.

  “I admit, I’m curious as to that, myself,” admitted Jade, tapping his chin. “Perhaps if you tell Floyd, he can win her over, and overwrite your mark. Or anyone who likes her already, really. The man in question would certainly owe you a favor…”

  “Business-minded as usual, Floyd,” Azul dismissed. “Unfortunately, that is not an option either.”

  He said it with such finality that Jade and FLoyd shared one of their signature brotherly ‘looks,’ but Azul didn’t have time to worry about that now.

  “There’s only one person I know practicing high enough magic in my species who would know,” Azul groaned from in between his fingers.

  “Madame Ashengrotto,” Jade supplied again, helpful as ever. “Is there a reason you did not simply ask her at the wedding?”

  “At the wedding, she was under the impression that I’d lost my head enough to start eating a human not—not—”

  “I see,” said Jade. “I can see why that would invoke her ire considering….past rumors.”

  “Exactly. Considering she hadn’t seen the nature of the mark, yet, I admit I wasn’t in a clear enough headspace to be asking her questions. In fact, I attacked her—oh, don’t look at me like that. She bested me like I was still a guppy in a tidepool. I still have so much to learn here… my dueling is clearly still in the range of ‘utterly pathetic.’”

  “You duel with the upperclassmen two years ahead of us,” said Floyd. “Is Madame still that scary?”

  “Scarier,” Azul and Jade said at once.

  “In any case,” Azul sighed, pushing himself very reluctantly to his feet. “I will have to see my mother at the end of the week. Unfortunately, three days is the minimum I’ll have to wait before she’ll either see me, and before I can leave again.”

  “Always three days,” Floyd rolled his eyes. “C’mon Boss, let’s get you to bed. Unless you want one of the first years to see you standing around arguing naked in a sheet?”

  Azul blanched.

  “No, thank you, I’ve faced enough horrors for one night.”

  With that, he retired as quickly as he could on his new legs, determined to somehow shovel himself, and everyone involved out of this mess as quickly as possible.

  When he’d reached the relief of his own bed, Azul couldn’t help but marvel at the grand difference there was between now, and the last time he’d laid in this very spot.

  Last night, he’d been on his phone, messaging Yuu as freely as he would an old friend. It had been light, happy, easy. Now, tonight…tonight his head was full of sweet, intangible memories that shouldn’t have been his in the first place. Sure, the Dust had shown them a potential bond, but that didn’t mean it had been earned, nor did it mean that it was founded on anything. In fact, its only foundation was a few long days of feeling…

  Feeling what, Azul? Wanted? Needed for something other than favors? Welcome among your own for the first time in years?

  And the connecting link to it all was Yuu.

  Azul Prided himself in being a gentleman, and here he was, an utter cod. For the first time, he felt sympathy for the students who came to him, begging for contracts, begging for fixes and favors. There were few things he wouldn’t pay to fix this, and, if he were being honest with himself—which he swore, on this matter, he would never do, he would give a great deal to feel what he had in that lagoon pool again—the right way, this time. With Yuu in full possession of her faculties…and with himself not behaving like a complete sea-monster.

  He closed his eyes, and for a moment, let himself wander through the memories of their evening together. He let himself feel that unearned kiss on his lips again. It had been better than any sensation he’d ever felt. Better than the sweeping currents. Better than his victories in the lounge. Better than the thrill of meeting an impossible goal, because Azul realized that that was exactly what Yuu was now—an impossible goal.