Eikki smiled in delight as his boss opened up a small box containing cigars. The merfolk had smoked cigars in the past, however, sometimes the sweet smell made him nauseous. He preferred the charred, burnt, woody smell of his own cigarettes; of course, made by men and filled to the brim with all kinds of pollutants and trash, but the merfolk minded not, for his physiology denied all side effects of such a poisonous vice. However, when the smoke from Reficul's cigar reached his nostrils, Eikki could not help but take a deep breath, inhaling it. The smeel was that of some kind of exotic fruit, from a jungle never stared upon by mortals. Sweet, a tiny bit acid, yet when combined with flame that lit it, produced a delightful incense smell. Mr. Reficul was indeed a man of good taste: both for his vices and his women.

As if his thoughts had been made true by some cruel god of old, the knock at the door would bring much more than an annoying faerie inside Reficul's tent. As Eikki was taking a deep drag of his cigarette, the words his boss had spoken to him filling his head and producing a feeling of satisfaction in his gut, Mr. Seil rose up from his leathery throne, to see to the importunate faerie. Eikki would not have risen up from his comfrotable seat, smoke and drink, however a soft and undeniably alluring whelp came from behind him. Rosalina had been startled awake.

The merfolk stood up and faced his fate. There she was, in all her beauty, impecably presented in a perfect form: Rosalina. Her light filled Eikki's eyes, his pupils dilated to the point where one would guess he turned into a great white shark when in merfolk form. A couple steps forward he took, only to find mr. Seil's dog, Dimuegos, barking at the door. The next words he heard would lead to something that would keep him awake at night, that would deny his sleep, that would fill his lungs with smoke from uncountable cigarettes throughout the dark and haze his mind with the strongest liquor he could find in his tent.

[b]“Rose you remember Eikki?”[/b]

[b]"Yes, of course!"[/b]

[b]"Stay with him for a moment..."[/b]

The rest of whatever Reficul had spoken was lost forever inside his mind. Her voice filled his ears as the beauty in front of him smiled warmingly at his sight. If Eikki were just a tiny bit more of a lunatic, he would firmly believe the woman had feelings for him. But someone so beautiful, smiling so uncaringly at him in front of her husband could only mean one thing: his hold over her was absolute and uncontestable. Of course, it went without saying that Eikki would not dare to taint her sense of smell with the filth of his cigarettes; he was completely aware of how disgusting his vice could be to some people. And so, using his arcane magic, Eikki vaporized the cigarette butt in his hand, the act emitting a soft spark and a crackling sound.

Reficul left, and Eikki was completely helpless, a complete hostage to the woman in front of him. She graciously made her way across the room, every movement and expression being unbelievably beautiful to his eyes. Her cuteness was only outmatched by her sheer beauty: even expressions that were meant to seem ugly, in her, failed miserably. Her every move, every glance, every expression, was like a painting,a photography, forever to be engraved into the blond man's mind.

[b]"Mind not if I speak do you? For Reficul never voiced that I wasn’t permitted to speak..."[/b]

Her words were like music to the merfolk's ear. He took a soft bow, his glance moving downwards to free him, if only a bit, from the hold she had over him. His only spark of light in the dark life he led, Rosalina was starting to mean much more to him than he had antecipated. [i]"I'm...i'm unwillingly surrendering myself to this woman. As did all who came before me. But i cannot. It will be my death.[/i] he thought to himself, though his lips voiced something else. [b]"Absolutely not, Lady Rosalina. I'd much rather hear you speak than bore you with my ramblings."[/b] he said, looking back up and staring deeply into that woman's eyes, with the warmest smile had had ever given anyone.

Their conversation proceeded in a rather pleasant manner. Rosalina's looks and stares made Eikki feel wanted as much as his glances at her made her feel beautiful. Yet the merfolk was desperately trying to build a wall around his heart. [i]"I will allow myself to like her. I'll allow myself to talk to her, to stare at her, to think of her, to smile to her and to laugh at her jokes, i will allow myself to comment on her beauty and to make her feel wanted in a way Reficul is unable to. But i will not, [b]never[/b], allow myself to love this woman. For letting myself open up to this angel, i already am a dead man. From the moment the beast stares at the beauty, he is already dead, and the same has just happened to me, i just signed my death sentence. But if i must go, i shall go with my dignity intact. I will not love another man's woman. My loyalties lie with the demon, not with his lover."[/i] he thought to himself as Rosalina talked away to her heart's desire, Eikki apparently paying full attention to every word she said. His smile and the way he looked at her betrayed his wanting, his desire to make feel wanted by him in such a burning fashion that would be considered a sin under the eyes of his godess. Yet, he betrayed nothing more than that. Rosalina was unable to see under this uncommon warm friendship he was showing her. She could not see the war he was waging against himself.

------------------------------------

As she was disturbed by a knock in the door, thinking it be her beloved one, Eikki promptly stood up and followed her. Her comment about that door left him startled. Yet, he could not bring himself to feel disgusted by Reficul's iron grip on her. In his place, Eikki would do the absolute same thing, if not worse. [b]"Of course, m'lady...i'll open her up."[/b] he said, with a warm smile and a wink at her.

The sight that was brought upon his eyes and the events that unfolded next was what kept him awake that night.

[b]"Oh winged sister of the Azure how dost not perceive how immoral thou actions be? Here you stand before me, one of the many princesses of the Azure angels, as an Arch One. Oh how wrong it be. Ought to question thy’s recently blossomed friendship with thou – I ought to, yes. For this… you… shall not befall me. I shall not let it stain me. Contamination be infectious."[/b]

[b]"Rosalina, darling! Away, away from her, darling! Come here right away!"[/b]

A mix of feelings assaulted Eikki like a tsunami. Yet, being a merfolk, swimming was his most proeminent ability. Without a split second of hesitation, Eikki metamorphosed into his aquatic form; his body assuming a dark green tone, his skin becoming wet and glistening under whatever light hit him. Fins appeared on his forearms and back, his hair and beard turned into tentacles, their tips glowing in a soft light blue tone. The lower part of his body turned slender and legless, giving him the aspect of a half-snake. His eyes pitch black, such dark abysses that no reflection could be seen upon them, only darkness. His left arm turned into a coral monstrosity, yet, even without the lantern, it was not just a useless limb. Even before his transformation was complete, the angel called Celleci had a sharp coral blade pressing against her Adam's apple. His arm answered his every command, and his command was to stop that angel from harming his dear Rosalina. The blade, thirty inches in lenght, was translucent, the light that hit it refracted to the wall, exploding in the colors of the rainbow. Even though the sword was made of coral, it looked like an exotic form of glass, only found under the depths of the sea.

Andracos' remark on the angel and on himself had not gone unnoticed. Eikki had taken only but a quick glance at the two of them, to find Rosalina holding hand with that brat that called her his darling. Yet his eyes diverted back to CeCi, and when the words came out, they didn't betray his predatory mouth. His beauty had been made exotic by his transformation, yet his sharp teeth and tongue made for penetrating his prey's skin were not visible, hid under more human, well formed teeth.

With anger filling him and tying a painful knot in his gut, Eikki spoke to Andracos first. [b]"Silence your treacherous mouth, siren, for i am not one of childish play, nor do i need to explain myself to you. Rosalina was, and still is, under my care, so do not make the mistake of fooling yourself: in the current game, you are nothing but a pawn, even if you think you are the knight in shining armor. Begone Andracos, release us from the disgust of your presence."[/b]. Eikki hoped that the words he had flung towards the siren were enough; not make him go away, but to spark his rage. It was all he wanted.

Without ever taking his eyes off CeCi, he now adressed to her. His blade was touching her skin, pressing forward against her neck. She would not move anywhere unless Eikki permitted her to do so. Putting a bit more pressure on the blade, his rose his voice high so that everyone around, not only the avenging angel in front of him, would hear. [b]"What is the meaning of this treachery, Celleci? you are not one of tricks and deceit, nor one of murder, this much i know. Explain yourself right now. Do not force my hand, for Andracos made sure my to wear my patience even thinner than before."[/b]. Eikki released a bit of pressure from his sword, just enough to give the woman room to move her head freely. [b]"I cannot kill on carnival grounds, but i can make sure to have you carried over to your tent with a hole in your neck."[/b]

With that said, Eikki kept his coral arm pressing against the angel's soft skin, waiting eagerly for the lady knight's reply. It would not take long before Reficul had returned, and, the way things looked, Eikki was not satisfied with. Andracos would lie to no extent to make him look like a savior, a saint, where he was nothing more than a disgusting snake taking advantage of the situation. The merfolk could only hope his loyalty to mr. Seil would weight more than any words Andracos could utter.