legend has it [thoth]

@"Thoth"

Depending on the individual, some Panthalassians could regrow limbs, but none could reattach lost ones. If you got a limb hacked off and weren't one of the ones who could regenerate, then it was your loss. Fighting was rampant in their society, so it wasn't uncommon to be missing a few limbs, an eye, patches of scales and teeth...

His grin only grew, the glow leaking out and creating a sort of beacon in the dead of night, as the man opened the bag. His expression shifted from terror to a sort of awe when the contents were revealed. It would have been a child's idea of pirate treasure; the sack contained a very decent heap of material riches, but technically a drop in Ulrich's massive collection. There were ancient gold coins, tarnished from their time in sea water. There were gems and a few golden spoons, some silver jewelery, a bottle or two with rolled up papers inside. Love letters or words sending for help, tossed into the ocean and sunk where sea monsters found them.

Every man had a price, and Ulrich seemed to have guessed this man's correctly. Good, he wasn't going to be difficult, then.

He almost laughed.

"The terms can be as simple or as complex as you'd like them." He purred, though it sounded like a deep, droning rumble from deep within the water. "I must inhabit an island for a while. A small island filled with many strange things. As you may have guessed, this island is land and I am no land dweller."

If he transformed on land, he'd probably crush everything in his path and end up like a beached whale. He had to be careful. "I'm unfamiliar with it, and I need a guard who is."

He'd seen the redhead, and he'd been a brave man. He'd explained so to his court, but they all gawked at him like he was mad.

Perhaps he was.

@"Thoth"

'A while' to Panthalassians was entirely different from 'a while' to humans. Humans lived a meager 80 years or so, sometimes a little more or less, though either way it was merely a blink in the lifespan of those enormous sea creatures. He had to think about it for a moment.

"Quite a while, in human years, I imagine." Luca had a lot of growing to do. He would likely never truly leave his son's side, but he'd return to the sea more often as Luca became more independent. What Emma did was up to her. Once he was back in the sea on a more permanent basis, perhaps then he could let the man go... that was, if Luca's childhood didn't downright outlive him.

"The island is called Monte Carlos." A relatively unknown place. "I will take you there, if you agree." And he nodded towards the beachball sized sack sitting at the man's feet. "You will be paid. You will be fed and clothed and sheltered. There is little for you to want."

@"Thoth"

Ulrich wasn't entirely bumbling on land, but he needed a bit of help here and there. Challenging a person to combat didn't solve all situations on land, apparently. Tearing apart the food with your teeth was considered ill mannered among other things. He could blend in physically, but the smaller mannerisms and cultural tics were the real catch.

So the man was correct in thinking he'd be less of a guard and more of a helper.

The sea monster chuckled, to the best extent that he could, anyways. A few of the other heads underwater did so as well, and the head the man was sitting on gave a vague rumble. He'd still yet to find this man's name, but that would come in time. Let him ask his questions.

"I have an alternate form. One that looks much like you humans." Fairly identical to one, in fact. It was the reason his lineage became the royal family all those years ago. "I will be able to join you on land."

@"Thoth"

Even if the man would have asked, he wouldn't have explained it much. Even if they got to the point where he agreed and he'd introduce him to land, he'd likely not let him become too acquainted with his personal problems with his three-generations-removed cousin. Luca was almost out of the question entirely unless it became serious enough, but he doubted it would happen.

For the time being, it seemed that he agreed just enough. Yes, just enough for him to allow Ulrich to take him where they needed to go. For the night, that was unlikely to be Monte Carlos. There were millions of little islands, unexplored, that dotted the ocean. Ulrich knew the vast majority of them by heart so it's likely that they'd head to the closest one. Besides, there would be nowhere for the man to run.

They began to move, almost cruising through the water. The many heads that swarmed just beneath the surface followed, creating little flickers of light like fireflies in the vast night sky. The one the man sat on sunk down a little further until he was sitting on what looked like a little patch of land just above the water.

One head remained above water at all times, though not necessarily the one that had been speaking. "What is your name?"

Because, despite choosing him as a guard and sending his men to stalk him for months at a time, he'd still yet to find the man's name.

@"Thoth"

To him, sailing through the water was just as easy as walking on land. Underneath the waves, who the hell knew what his body was doing. Did he even have legs? That was a different mystery altogether, but on the surface he glided along smoothly. The waves rippled around him as his eyes glowed and disappeared, stars and fireflies in the deep vastness of the sea.

The head above the water shook a little; no, he didn't know the man's name. Something to start with an 'N', but that was as far as he knew. It wasn't his job to spy, but he'd given the job to some retrieval experts and he'd pay them handsomely for their work. He'd take over from here. There was no fear of the man, Nicolas, hurting him.

"I am the royal king of an ancient race." He said it with no small measure of pride, though he was entirely sure that Nicolas never would have heard of Panthalassians. "You may call me by standard royal titles."

There was a pause, as if nothing more was forthcoming. "My name is Ulrich von der Sieben Meere."