"DO YOU TRUST these humans?" Mother Senthuria asked as she walked her way back to the house. Asceia was full of scrapes, bruises, and stains of blood. Her hair has chunks of wood and some dried leaves that she combed off her head using her fingers.

"No, mother. I don't trust them. But they know better about our enemy --- it's their own kind. They're willing to help, maybe they can find our people much quicker than me going alone." She threw a glance at her Mother and then focused on the marked path she was following.

"Just don't get too soft for them."

"Have you talked to the Elders about this mission, Mother?"

"Yes, they're going to send reinforcement once you finally pinpoint the precise location of our missing people."

"How about the fact that I used my voice?"

"They said it's fine, as long as our existence is not threatened and exposed to the public."

"It's already threatened, Mother." She stopped and faced her. "They took Leyrosa and they almost had me. They know about us."

"Only these people that are after our kind. If you take them all out...kill them all. Then we can contain and prevent the spread of our existence."

"I hope it ends with that."

°°••°°

Twenty-four hours ago...

INSIDE THE MOST secured underground bunker in a classified location in Mindanao, the man in a tuxedo pushed the metal door and stepped inside the room with glass walls. Two of his armed men remained outside and stood beside the door and another two followed him and stationed themselves in a corner. He sat on his swivel chair and faced the wall full of monitors showing different feeds of the secret laboratories they have across the Philippines.

Under the monitors, there was a wooden table where his tablet was placed. He picked it up and opened the application that controls the feed presented on the monitors. He focused on the feed coming from Davao Occidental Laboratory and it consumed the whole wall of monitors. He moved his chair back to have a much better view and watched the group of doctors perform an autopsy on the bodies of the men who died earlier this morning after their encounter with the mermaid. He looked at them took out their insides, observed them, and recorded their findings.

He heard the footsteps of his guard coming up behind him. "Sir, our team on Davao Occidental is calling."

"Give it to me." He took the phone and put it on his right ear.

"What's the update?" he asked while watching the feed.

"Mr. Santos, we found out who helped the mermaid escape. It was Troy Aguirre."

"That fucking son of a bitch..." His jaw clenched and his grip on his phone tightened. His family name got on his nerves. "Did you catch him?"

"I'm afraid no, sir. He quickly got away."

"The board will be here soon and I don't want to disappoint them with these minor inconveniences, Rick. Fucking find that boy and kill him."

"I already sent someone discreet to handle this, sir. We are now waiting for their precise location."

He ended the call and returned the phone to his guard. He sighed, leaned back in his chair, and continued watching the scientists performing an autopsy.

••°°••

THE SUN WAS directly overhead in the old house, the base of the triad's operations. Troy and Frejean were still on the balcony, working on their leads. Their workplace was cool because of the big Acacia tree near the house, giving them shade, and comfort as they concentrated on their research.

"What do you have?" Asceia telepathically asked when she overheard Troy and Frejean's serious discussions right at the moment she arrived at the balcony. They paused in her presence and threw glances at each other.

"Oh, geez. What happened?"  Frejean stood and approached her. She scanned her from head to foot.

"Why do you have so many scrapes and you're covered in blood?" Troy just stayed in his chair, but he started to sound worried. "Are we under attack?"

"No, I was training in the woods. I also scanned the perimeter to check if there's anything suspicious."

"That's a very wild training you had." Troy sighed in relief.

"Let me check and clean your wounds," Frejean offered.

She shook her head. "It's fine it doesn't hurt that much. Besides, our wounds heal quickly compared to yours. These will just become scars later."

"Oh..."

"I just need a bath and a change of clothes," she said while looking at her torn clothes.

"You can use my clothes," Frejean suggested, "I brought extra pairs for you. Take anything you'd like to wear in my bag."

"Thank you...I better go get cleaned first before we indulge in a discussion."

Asceia left and headed to the bathroom bringing the towel she hung on the door of their room. Frejean returned to her seat, and they continued following the trail of the lead they focused on, hoping they would find other helpful information that would advance their investigation. After a few minutes, Asceia finally returned. She joined them on the balcony. She was wearing a blue shirt with the logo of Frejean's organization in school and a pair of pants that were perfectly fit for her. And she wore the same black rubber shoes she had since she arrived.

"Tell me everything you've got." Asceia sat on the vacant chair in between the two.

"Yeah...yes, we now have a lead." Troy pushed his laptop near Asceia to show a photo of a man wearing a tuxedo stepping out of a car taken from a CCTV camera. "I accessed the surveillance cameras of the adjacent and nearby buildings and I saw this man came in with the armed men yesterday minutes after we escaped. I have never seen him before since Leyrosa's disappearance. I looked him up but there was enough information regarding him. This is Rick Corpus, a Filipino marine scientist who was known for his contributions to the field of Medicine. He also led some underwater explorations in search of new life forms in the ocean. I asked my powerful friends for help and we tracked him on these places just this week." Troy clicked the arrow button on his laptop and showed a map of the Philippines with red dots placed in specific areas. "He was found to have visited these towns near the coastlines of open or main seas this past three days. And guess what? The newspaper clippings Leyrosa collected coincide with the location he visited. She was investigating him until they came for her."

Asceia didn't show any expression. She just stared at the face of the man. "We need to find him. He can bring me to my people."