Seas of Magma

The Plan

"... So THAT'S yer plan?" Archie was still a little baffled when Maxie had suggested to line the bed of the truck with a plastic sheet and fill it with water before moving him out. "I ain't so sure, Max. The water ain't contained so it could all splash out and then we'd be back to square one, y'know?"

Maxie leaned up a little and closed his eyes for a moment. "It's all I have. But where would you take me? I mean..."

The Aqua leader frowned briefly. "The best place for ya is the sea... but since this only just happened to ya, I think it's better if ya go to my place. I got a big pool that ya can swim around in and get used to this, 'cuz I dunno if this can be reversed, or what." He stood up then, patting the merman's head. "You try and keep yer strength up. I'll grab that plastic sheet from the garage and fill 'er up. See how it goes, 'ey?"

Maxie gave a slow nod and submerged himself under the water while Archie went back downstairs. Heading into the garage, he dug through the many shelves and found the plastic sheet, unfolding to check that it was intact before he laid it out in the truck. It just fit in the bed with some slight overhang. Good enough. He then went back to pull out the hosepipe and connect it to the outside tap, filling the bed of the truck up with water. Once all that was done, he went back to Maxie and carefully lifted him out of the bath, trying not to jolt him too much while carrying him down. The merman clung tightly to Archie, keeping his breathing shallow while out of the water so he wouldn't irritate his lungs too much.

The sailor set him down in the water filled bed of the truck, carefully reversing out of the driveway and heading down the rugged road, grunting every time he hit a bump. He could hear the water sloshing about. Each bump also gave Maxie a jolt, the impact between his body and the hard metal bed of the truck making him wince. At one point the jolt was bad enough to cause a rib to crack, a sharp gasp escaping him. It was at that point that Archie pulled over onto a flatter part of the road to inspect the damage. Fortunately it wasn't anything major when he looked.

"Why'd ya hafta live in such a rough place?" Maxie couldn't answer Archie's question due to the sudden pain that he was trying to fight through. "We're nearly down from the mountain. After that ya should be good." Slowly the sailor tried to make sure Maxie was comfortable before he set off down the mountain path once again, driving slowly so he didn't jolt the merman too much.

Once they had made it back onto smooth roads, Archie began to drive towards his house in Slateport, a rather spacious beachside home with a large pool in the back. Parking up close to the pool, he stopped the truck and gently lifted Maxie out, mindful of his cracked rib as he lowered him into the pool. It took a moment before Maxie began to swim away, his movements unsteady and not as graceful as the merfolk of legend, though Archie did wonder if that was due to injury. He kept a close watch on Maxie before he headed for the front door. "'M gonna go and get us somethin' to eat, alright? I'll bring it out to ya."

Maxie swam up to the edge, resting his arms on the side of the pool. "Alright then. I'll be waiting." Giving a nod, Archie then went inside to get them both something to eat.