Fahl continued to follow. Although his grace was far greater than it'd been on land, legs propelling him forward with a practiced swimmer's ease, his brief headfirst dive still proved a mild irritant for the moment. Vision blurred as water trickled over his broad face, and despite the desire to remain wholly attentive to the surroundings, rapid blinks responded to the issue.

"Children of Rot" drew a sharp intake of breath though, revelation resulting in a blurted, "Rot, like after the food?" His jaw clamped shut after. Thin yellow-green markings traced its underside, but the need to clarify forced him to speak again. "Imp mentioned a pile. Of that."

Struck by the absurdity of the question but too late to erase it from existence, Fahl tried to brush the words away with a mumble. "Or rot because of the... Yeah, children. Of rot. I understand."

"So that's why you were there," he supposed, head jerking to one side and then to the other. Droplets scattered either way at the forceful gesture. "To make sure all the City shit with Farina didn't dirty the waters. Erm. So to speak, sir."

The conclusion was sensible, really. No fault could be found in ensuring that the powerful's (apparently common enough) squabbles didn't cause worse problems for everyone else.

@Dragon

Imp's barrage of questions was addressed first, as he made his way to the edge of the Heart:

"Many, Imp--I did not count!" he laughed. "Twenty, perhaps, sounds right. Or more. I saw her, briefly. It was very dark, very cold, and very wet. But we were breathing the water like air, with magic," he explained. "There were beasts guarding the way, some we fought and some we spoke to." He might have gone into more detail if they hadn't had a guest who already knew all of this--a guest he now turned his attention to as he plodded onward.

He cast a sideways glance at Fahl. "Rot, because of the way death shapes the living," he answered, and there was solemnity in his tone now. "Out of a hundred, if eighty of the slow and the weak die, the twenty that live--the fast, the strong, and the lucky!--they form the next generation, and make it faster, stronger... perhaps luckier." Humor crept in on this last, and if he could have shrugged his alligator shoulders, he would have. "What remains--the survivors--are shaped by death; the strong, the cunning and the stubborn, the Children of Rot." He reached a slope--reeds and mud, and crawled out to lay belly-first; then he slid down, landing in a channel farther down with a splash, and continued.

"It is the name I gave those of us who live here, who try only to survive the idiot machinations of the leaders of these caves. Those that call themselves Masters and see us as pawns. We will stay out of the way where we can, build ourselves a safe haven, insurance, places of hiding, and we will survive. I was there just to see what the hell was going on," he explained, finishing with a grin in his tone that matched the permanent one on his face. "-Toward that end. Our survival. We can better weather a storm that we know is coming, yes? Which is why-..."

He came to a halt at the lip of the Heart, the black water stretching off still and cold into the fog. To his right, some twenty yards off and strong, now, in its rotten odor, was the carrion pile--an offering place that Dragon offered merely a glance.

His first deep breath fed a bellow: "AQUAAARIAAAN!" -and his second, a blast of flame that lashed out some nine feet into the air, a guttering torrent of fire that illuminated the mist in a glowing orange ball. When it faded, he plunged his jaws into the swamp's water, a loud hissing accompanying the hot steam that seared up from it. He winced--it hurt, even now; it always did.

"Now we wait, and perhaps he will have some answers," Dragon told them, water dripping from his jaws.

The water remained still, for a moment--black, motionless, and like that terrible cliche, mirror-still.

A ripple then disrupted the surface. It wasn't large, just a thread of water and wave arrowing to shore; and then it erupted. A tower of teal scales burst from the Heart, touched by the bright yellow of fins, and gleaming eyes, and a point of citrine atop its skull. It was serpentine, yet fish-like, long-bodied and sleek and utterly enormous: some three hundred feet long, though for now only a third of that had burst forth toward the shore.

It ignored its three guests, its massive jaw instead ensnaring the pile of carcasses--the non-gem bodies that had withstood the few days or even weeks of rotting without turning to black-slicked Oil. Cave deer, rabbits, lizards and fish--all of it was tipped back and gulped down in an instant.

Only then did Aquarian turn, examining (with tilts of his massive head, one eye, then the other) his three summoners. Dragon he gave but a glance, Imp a more lingering stare, and Fahl he fixed with close study. Imp had changed, but Fahl--he hadn't seen Fahl, before.

Aquarian looked back to Dragon, his enormous girth sliding half back into the swamp, as if eager to be away. His impatience was palpable, ticking with every twitch of his scales. "WHAT?" he demanded, and rather than a booming bellow, his voice was an irritated screech, high-pitched and melodramatic. "YOU HAVE BROUGHT AN OFFERING," and the serpent hissed a belch, "SO I WILL LISTEN! -FOR NOW!"

Then he puffed up with his own self-importance, coiling high above the water, staring down at these lesser beings that dared his wrath!

Dragon's answers (along with any follow-up questions Imp may have otherwise had) were quickly forgotten in the quite literal wake of the serpent, a wake that washed over Imp in a feather-drenching spray. He shook himself, then grinned (well, he was always grinning, but-) up blindly toward its source.

"HI, GRANDDAD!" he bawled up, as loud as he could manage, when Aquarian had finished speaking. And he struggled, without sight, to maneuver his way back through the sucking muck to his father, without getting lost and swept with the wave's backwash into the Heart. With surprising agility, he succeeded, scampering back to shore and turning as if completely unbothered by his brief soaking.

"THERE'S SOMEONE NAMED FARINA WHO HATES NEMEAN TOO! SHE ASKED FOR HELP AND DAD AND FAHL HELPED HER--THIS IS FAHL--"

Imp was shouting, because honestly he had no idea how far away Aquarian was and shouting just seemed smart. Just in case he was far away, now, or something. "WE WANTED TO KNOW WHY NEMEAN'S SUCH A SHIT. SHE TORE OUT MY EYES! BUT WHY SHE'S A BETRAYER AND WHY EVERYONE HATES HER AND-" He paused, and 'looked' vaguely in Fahl's direction, mostly missing him entirely, but the point was clear enough.

"Uh, what else was there? You can ask him!" Imp suggested, cheerfully.

Cheerful, because here--beside Aquarian, and Dragon, and Fahl--he was safe, for once. Even Vargas wouldn't try to fuck with him here and now--Aquarian would eat him whole!

Good times. Good times...

@Fahl

Whereas Imp's reception to the gargantuan reel of scales that burst forth from the swamp could have glowed with his enthusiasm, Fahl's possessed more similarities with that of a frightened minnow. He looked the part too, body flashing to a uniform silver that emphasized his minuscule size. Caught off guard by the sudden spray, hearing muffled by the roar of adrenaline, instinct sent him scrabbling up the shore to safety. Mud-slicked limbs flailed in an undignified mess to reach what could barely qualify as higher ground, and in the long shadow the serpent cast, a violent shiver shook his spine as he tugged his tail close to him in a defensive curl. This entire instant was one that he'd likely look back upon, full of embarrassment and disgust at his conduct. Nevertheless it was to be expected; how else could one react to a giant?

Prey under the beholding eye of what felt to be a predator, the iguana lacked the nerve to stare back. The screeching wavered his convictions even more so. Instead he focused on whatever might slow the flutter of his heart: the sight of Dragon, the shouts from Imp. Even the stomach-churning stench from the rotting pile of offerings could serve as an anchor to weigh down scattered, worried thoughts. Swallowing back the rising bile in his throat was an unpleasant experience, but it reminded him that he'd not yet been devoured whole.

Imp imperfect in his gesture for obvious reasons and Fahl consumed in a minor flight of terror, a heartbeat passed before realizing the thread of conversation had been given to him. He startled, head jerking abruptly to where Aquarian loomed. An ever so helpful "um" left his mouth. "I'm—"

No, he knew who he was. He'd already been introduced. What had Imp covered? Farina, yes. And Nemean. So other related questions.

"Yes, we've seen Farina and..."

Was that loud enough? Uncertain, his teeth chattered in a wordless stammer. Perhaps he ought to try following Imp's lead here.

"WE'VE MET FARINA. SHE AND THE ONE CALLED ARTIO WERE, ACCORDING TO HER, BETRAYED BY NEMEAN. FARINA CALLS HERSELF—" At this moment, he hacked, unused to sustaining such volume, before resuming. "A REAL MASTER OF THE CAVES AND CLAIMS SHE'LL FAVOR THOSE WHO SERVE HER. WHAT KNOWLEDGE HAVE YOU OF THEM, THEIR HISTORY, THEIR THREAT OR LACK OF?" Then, meek at the possibility of being perceived as too demanding, followed, "Uh, if you wish to share it. Sir?"

Although he could think of no greater title of respect, it seemed inadequate applied to one so intimidating.

@Dragon

It was probably clear, at this point, that there was simply no way that Aquarian was Dragon's father--nor Imp's grandfather. Whatever the reason they called him that wasn't clear, and Dragon (still staring up with admiration at the serpentine shape) didn't seem about to explain.

Not that this was probably at all in Fahl's mind, right now. No: the towering Master, if Dragon were any judge, was holding the iguana rapt.

He didn't contribute much; but after the two had spoken, he did quietly add to their questions. And he wasn't fawning about it, but it was clear he held respect for the sea monster in front of him. Well-... above him. Towering, in fact.

"I would like to know if this Farina can be trusted," he rumbled, staring up at Aquarian.

Aquarian stared, for a moment, down at the trio beneath him. He listened, water cascading from his scales; and when they had finished, he thought for a beat.

Then he tossed back his head in a grandly dramatic gesture, a bellow escaping him. "THIS IS WHY SHE IS A BETRAYER!" he screamed, and there was a thread of despair through his words--as if this should have been obvious all along, or maybe as if he lamented her betrayal. It was difficult to discern, and he gave little time for contemplation before he continued, his form flailing its coils this way and that. "OUR WORK, UNDONE! UNFINISHED! THOSE WHO WERE LOYAL--BETRAYED! ABANDOOOONED!" He paused, and curled his head back down, citrine point gleaming, the matching yellow eyes narrowing at the three. "Serve Farina, if you wish! Serve Artio! They have remained loyal."

His gaze, now, had fixed upon Fahl--Fahl, the stranger to him, who had addressed him so politely. "I do not know why she did these things! For her FUN and her GAMES," he suggested, snorting, and water sprayed from his gills and nostrils. "Or if she serves some OTHER force, now!" He tilted his head back, eyeing the darkness that obscured the ceiling's cave from view. "THE CREATOR HAS NOT ANSWERED ME!" For a moment, Aquarian seemed to bask in his own abandonment, as if a spotlight had fixed on him; and then he angled his head back down to eye Fahl once more.

"WHO IS THIS ONE?" he asked--demanded--even though Fahl had already been introduced. "WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?"

Imp listened, rapt; he hung on the serpent Master's every word. He waited, though, waited for any conversation to happen and to finish, before he himself at last spoke up.

"That shit took my EYES!" he repeated, loudly, as if that outweighed all the other horrors that Nemean may or may not have committed. His words were filled with indignation. "Hey, is there any way to get NEW eyes? Or to get MY eyes back?" he asked, suddenly hopeful.

"'Cause I can't see," Imp added, in case that wasn't clear.

@Fahl

Paying heed to voice instead of full-body theatrics wasn't easy; sinuous coils swayed to and fro and every which way, accentuating the declarations that left Aquarian's massive jaw. Each time his head whipped far enough back, many glinting teeth framed a yawning chasm of a maw. The entire scene transfixed Fahl. However, though caught once more under glaring yellow scrutiny, his tensed shoulders eased. Claws that'd been stuck in the more tender scales of his tail marginally withdrew, as paradoxical as it might seem to do so, as well. He might've struggled to follow everything, a concerned little creature in the larger one's midst, but excluding further questions aroused, the gist he understood: Farina and Artio were better than scum like Nemean, for whatever that might be worth.

He balked at the demand, a glance cast to Dragon and then Imp, perplexed at restating what'd already been mentioned. His teacher, after all, had been plenty loud, hadn't he? Or had his name simply slipped unnoticed through the jumble of questions asked?

"I'M FAHL," came the responding croak. The shouting was already taking a nasty toll on his throat. "I CAME FROM PISCES. I, erm, live there." Born there too, he reckoned, unless there'd been a world before the darkness and stone he'd left.

The next was said with the caution one might use when poking at an open, infected wound. "Was the work incomplete supposed to be for the... creator?"

Regardless of what came after, whether an answer that made his limbs quiver or nothing to fret about at all, Fahl offered his own questionably helpful counsel to Imp. "Farina maybe? I've a... different body than before. Shit like eyes couldn't be any tougher to mess with."

But what she might consider an improvement on blindness? Something in the crab's own image?

He pictured sockets no longer empty. If an involuntary shudder passed through him at the possibility of long eye stalks that jutted up from them, he'd blame it on the surrounding fog and their present company.

@Dragon

Dragon remained quiet, now--Aquarian, despite his immense size and his sheer volume, became background noise. His inner thoughts rose up to the forefront of his mind, instead.

They were allied, then-? Aquarian and this--Farina, this Artio. Loyal to a Creator. Dragon wasn't as well-versed in this whole 'Creator' thing as some, so he just sort of mulled this over for a moment and came to no real conclusions; it wasn't particularly new or useful information. But it might become so, in the future, and so he tucked it away into his memory for later.

He did, however, wonder at the "some other force" that Aquarian mentioned. Who else could she have possibly become loyal to? Herself, most likely, he reflected.

Another question occurred to Dragon, but the hefty alligator waited with a patience that suited his bulk. Waited for the serpent to stop his dramatic speeches, waited for Imp (poor Imp) to blurt his hopeful request. At least if Aquarian denies him, it won't get him down, he thought; even the worst of Imp's moods were just as dramatic as the great serpent's, and he tended to rebound melodramatically at the first thing that caught his interest. Indomitable, if a little dumb at times.

Fahl's mention of Pisces brought a long-distant memory bubbling up from the murk of Dragon's mind. Cold, he remembered--and he remembered Tenzin, almost mournfully discussing the Kings with he and the others who had sought the phoenix's council. 'There are those that rule even us,' he'd said--or something like it-? That had stuck with him, and he eyed Aquarian thoughtfully, wondering if it were perhaps this Creator. He hadn't meant Raheerah--he'd fought Raheerah--which meant it had to be something even bigger and even stronger than that.

Dragon wondered if it'd be something fun to fight.

It did add something to the question he'd intended to ask, though, so when Fahl had finished, he spoke at last.

"And what of Astraea, of Tenzin? Have they 'remained loyal?'" he asked. It was a genuine question, a critical and curious eye staring up at his own chosen patron as he asked it.