“W-what the hell? W-what was that?” Bartz said when he was hit by the blob of water. While this ended up startling him and caused him to step back, he also ended up accidentally falling into the lagoon as well which soon caused Vaan to run straight up to the water’s edge to see if he was able to spot the faerie that had fallen into the water.

“Oh crap… Bartz! Are you okay?” Vaan said as he quickly ran over to the edge of the water. He had been able to catch a glimpse of Bartz falling into the water and as a result, ended up trying to find him in order to pull him out of the water.

Emerie watched, entertained but her face displayed nothing. She had no emotion in her expression, but this entertained her. It was cruel humor, really.

After not receiving a response from Bartz, Vaan quickly dove into the lagoon and then pulled him out of the water. While he was still clearly worried about Bartz, he was also lucky enough to have been able to pull him out of the water as well.

“Please be alright… I really don’t want to have to get someone in here…” He muttered softly as he continued to glance over worryingly at Bartz who was currently unconscious.

The water started dragging them down as the mermaid swam closer to them, a playful smirk now on her face. Now that she had come over, it was clear she was messing with them. She didn't speak to them, only pulling at their ankles with small whirlpools.

Vaan only ended up creating a massive fireball in the palm of his right hand as he glared at the water. While he had noticed the creation of the whirlpools, he was also clearly not very receptive to them either and as a result, had created a large fireball to show that he was very clearly annoyed.

“Would whoever is doing that please stop? Bartz is currently out cold and I suspect that it was from the water so please do not make the situation worse!” He growled softly as he held the flame aloft.

Emerie giggled upon hearing this. Her behavior would annoy, and that was her objective.

"Your little fire can't hurt me! Why should I?" Her voice was taunting as she surfaced for a moment to speak before ducking back down.

To the girl, this was a game. She liked games. She also liked the suffering of others, but that was a subject to change with her. Little boys. The researchers should have known how I would react, She thought, daring to run her fingers along Vaan's ankles before darting away.

---

Claire finished the cookie, which made her sad but she didn't show it. She lowered her hand and remained motionless. The girl wouldn't move until somebody came into her room and interacted with her, but she doubted that would happen any time soon. Very few people actually interacted with Claire.

“Because some people don’t like it when you mess with them. If you annoy the wrong person, the chance of injury or death can greatly increase depending on the person. To that extent, it is best to be aware of how your actions may affect others to avoid that outcome from happening.” Vaan said as he quickly stepped away from the lagoon. While he was currently carrying Bartz for the time being, he had also taken care to make sure that he didn’t end up dropping him either.

The girl surfaced again in time to hear his words. She laughed, a cruel but light sound.

"And I care? They introduce boys to me, knowing exactly what I'll do. They want me to kill you. It's that simple. God. I should have drowned you by now," Her last line was muttered, as if she meant only to say it to herself.

---

In fact, this was true. Dr. Rivercot was wondering why the girl hadn't caused significant harm yet, or at least attempted to. She made note of this, and knew the mermaid would be reprimanded later.

“Well, if you attempt to harm us, there is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to defend both myself and Bartz. As any creature knows, you never mess with a dragon unless you’re ready to face the consequences.” Vaan said before he unfolded the wings on his back. While there was now a cold look in his eyes, his pupils had also turned into mere slits instead of the normal circular shape found in the eyes of other humanoids. He also ended up slowly raising his hand and calling down a bolt of thunder to strike the water in the lagoon as well.

The girl just laughed, uneffected by his words or actions.

"Dragons are species of fire and electricity. I'm not worried about that," She replied, a laugh in her voice.

Emerie covered her wince as the thunder hit the water by ducking under for a moment. She surfaced farther from Vaan and Bartz on a rock, remaining in her mer form though.

---

Dr. Rivercot watched with entertainment. The dragon boy's actions surprised her, but it was still interesting to watch.

“We are much more than creatures of thunder and fire. There are many different subspecies of us where I’m from with the most powerful being those that can use magic. To that extent, you shall face the consequences of your actions for trying to drown my friend.” Vaan said before he ended up creating several shard of ice and sent them all flying towards Emerie. Judging by his tone of voice, he was no longer in a cheerful or even neutral mood when he spoke as also indicated by his actions. Rather, he seemed to be rather infuriated by the attempt made on Bartz’s life and as a result, had resorted to using magic for the sole purpose of both warding off his foe and also keeping Bartz safe from any further harm.

“However, to harm those who have befriended as a dragon can easily be seen as an act of hostility to the dragon itself. As a result, you have not only harmed my friend but you have also declared an act of hostility towards me and that WILL NOT go by without consequences!” He growled softly.

The girl laughed, sliding into the water and letting the ice shatter onto the rock. She surfaced nearby as a wave crashed warningly into the shore.

"If you say so. I really don't care, considering this is exactly what the researchers want us to be doing. If it's anybody you should be trying to kill, it's them. I just follow orders!" Her tone was extremely mocking.

---

The researchers fussed over Claire, finally getting her to glare at them as she was sick of being poked at. The girl did not speak, but was allowed to stand and walk a bit away from them- as far as she could get. Not far, but it was good enough. Then a scientist spoke to her, treating her like a living being instead of an experiment.

"Claire. Will you please cooperate? Only a few more things, then we can do something you'd like, if you want."

The demigod reluctantly allowed a few more tests to be run, though she still made it a bit difficult for them. She knew the scientist had been lying, but the fact that she was being treated as human was good enough.

“Says the person who literally tried to kill us! You’re not one to be speaking!” Vaan hissed softly before he ended up using his wings to fly up into the air. He was waiting for when the door would be open again so that he would be able to bring Bartz over to a safer location where there wasn’t so much water however, he was unsure how long that would take.

To that extent, he was still going to make sure that both he and Bartz were safe from any incoming attacks whilst waiting for the door to open.

"They're not going to open the door until one or more of us is seriously injured. I don't intend it to be myself," She sighed, "why are you so overprotective? We both know it's each for themselves in this place."

She ducked back under the water, which was still generating little whirlpools that she was able to move through with ease. Waves gently lapped the shore, though she wasn't controlling them. Most of the time, she wasn't trying to mess with the water, she just did. But on ocassion she would annoy people.

“Bartz is already unconscious due to almost drowning! I need to get him out of here before anything else ends up happening.” Vaan said before he ended up throwing a fireball at the door. His hope would be that he would be able to destroy the door and get Bartz out of the room however, he wasn’t sure how well his plan would end up working in the long run.

The door was not destroyed.

"They won't let you out until you either fight me, let me kill him, or some variation of that," The girl's voice was taunting.

It was to the point now where she wanted a fight, just to show Vaan that he was being an idiot. She hated males in the first place. This would be fun.

“Shut up! There is no way in hell that I will let you kill Bartz for both your own well-being and his. There is someone here named Firion who is highly protective of you and if you thought messing with a dragon was bad, mystic vampires are worse. The most powerful of them have blood magic which can sometimes allow them to manipulate other beings with blood as if they were puppets and this also includes reanimating the dead as well. There is a reason why nobody messes with them and lives to tell the tale.” Vaan said. While he still remained in the middle of the air, the occasional flap of his wings also served to keep him airborne so that he didn’t end up falling back onto the ground.

The girl laughed. "I'm not scared of some mystic vampire brat. We both know it's killing or being killed. I intend to stay alive, thank you very much. Besides, he was in the way of the wave, it wasn't technically my fault he's out."

A wave splashed on the shore, sending drops of water high into the air. Emerie knows she could easily have killed both of them by now- she probably should have- but she was enjoying this way too much. It was almost sickening, she realized, but she enjoyed the causation of suffering.

“You should be. Mystic vampires are quite capable of killing their prey rather quickly and even have a reputation of being merciless once something sets them off. To that extent, many creatures choose to not mess with them however, some do not seemingly understand that one does not simply mess with a vampire or mystic vampire and walks away without a scratch.” Vaan hissed softly before he attempted to fire off another fireball at the door. He was determined to get it open so that he could escape however, he was also being careful to make sure that he didn’t drop Bartz either.

"Well, I'm soooo sorry. I don't give a sh#t," Emerie laughed, using a blob of water to disrupt and destroy the fireball.

She ducked under the water and swam around, now growing bored. With neither male on the ground, she had no form of entertainment. Even her typical forms of entertainment bored her now that she was able to interact with the males if she chose to do so. But they bored her, and she chose not to. The water near the shore bubbled and frothed, with no real reason except her own boredom.