A small multitude of voices careened through the air. Words both hopeful and hateful echoed from the walls of the small manor house which stood as the headquarters for Team Badass, the last best hope for humanity. At least, the last best hope for humans in the region. The topic of discussion was as ridiculous as it was momentous.

Rosa stepped up to Scott and took his sword to hold until the end of the meeting. He thanked her gently, an act that elicited a slight smile, then turned back to the three faction leaders whom comprised the main portion of this meeting.

"I know this can complicate things. I can't in good conscience deny the needs of someone like the Mermaid Queen," said Scott while he looked into the eyes of Brittani and then Eloa. "I know that you both have said that it would cause no problems, but now that the decision is made... Has that changed?"

Brittani took a soft, deep, breath but allowed Eloa to speak first. The complicated expression that she wore bespoke the conflict that brewed within her.

Eloa lightly tapped her lower lip for a moment then walked over to Scott. "I won't marry you, given your current ability, but I find no issue with your decision to marry her."

She reached over and lightly placed a finger to his lips. "You should visit my bridge more often as compensation, however."

Harley made a soft coughing noise, but said nothing else. Her eyes were downcast, though no one could see them due to her visor.

It was supposed to be something akin to a wedding, but the gathered party-goers acted more in the manner of funeral attendees. Despite the fact that many professional comedians might claim that those events were essentially the same thing for a man, the moment should have been a happier one.

Scott smiled at Eloa then turned to Brittani. "I'm not certain what to say here."

She shook her head. "I definitely cannot marry you at the moment, even if my grandfather went senile and allowed it, we don't really know each other."

The ghoul superstar sat down atop the dinner table then frowned softly. "This could be salvaged, though, maybe."

"Salvaged?" asked Scott.

"Yes, maybe." She bit her lip slightly then acquired a thoughtful expression. Her gaze turned distant for a brief moment before she nodded her head.

Brittani pointed to the mermaid. "If you would stop groping him for a minute, and answer one question for me, this might be settled reasonably."

The mermaid queen pouted at her then snuggled against Scott's chest. "I can do both things at once. This is my wedding night, you know."

Brittani snorted at her then waved her hand imperiously through the air. "The moon bride thing. I think that I remembered something else about it. It varies from one mermaid gossip to the next, right?"

"Gossip?" asked Cia. She would, of course, be the one interested most in possible gossip.

"That's what a group of mermaids is called, is it not? A gossip of mermaids?" asked Brittani.

"Is it?" asked Cia thoughtfully.

The mermaid nodded a little. "Yes, different families do hold different versions of the tradition."

"Be honest. Does your tradition include the necessity for a moon bride and a dawn bride?" asked Brittani.

The mermaid's feet seemed to wiggle and she clung tighter to Scott. She laughed nervously and asked, "Why would you ask a girl such a thing?"

"Dawn bride?" asked Scott. He pushed the mermaid away and looked her in the eyes. "There's more to this that you aren't telling me?"

"W-well—" began the mermaid only for Brittani to cut in and answer for her.

"In some mermaid gossips, they have a moon bride only. You're considered married if you accept her under the light of a full moon," said Brittani. She glanced at the mermaid. "In other traditions, the moon bride signals an engagement. Consummate with them once under the light of the full moon, and you're engaged. It isn't until they choose to do it again at sunrise, after she is back in her natural form, that it becomes an actual marriage."

"There is such a tradition?" asked Eloa. "I admit that I don't know all of the mermaid customs, but the ones near where I grew up only had moon brides. Even that was rare as they certainly did not need to marry their moonlight lover to mate with them."

Eloa's tail lashed in a thoughtful manner. "There was one beach that males often visited on the night of a full moon. It was quite an eye-opening sight, all things considered."

"Mermaids like to party, huh?" asked Cia.

"Indeed they do. It was rare to hear of one who actually fell for one of their mating partners. Rarer still was an event where the mermaid sought marriage," said Eloa. "Why do such a thing when one could have her fill of mating at any time and without regrets?"

"Wow," said Cia with a silly laugh. "I might be in the wrong faction."

Several other feminine voices made amused commentary about her declaration, but none of them disagreed with her. Scott offered a wry smile then chuckled softly.

Scott clasped the mermaid's cheeks in his hands and looked into her eyes. "Be honest with me. If you lie, and I find out, it will go badly for you."

"I... Yes, darling," she said softly. The mermaid bit her lip gently then sighed the sigh of a girl who has been defeated. "It is as has been said. I come from a family who practices the tradition of the sun and moon bride."

"So, how does that change things?" he asked her without a hint of reproach.

"Well, on the most technical of levels we won't be married just because of the passionate love that we will soon share under the moonlight," she said. The mermaid took a soft, deep, breath then continued. "You have to be willing to accept me also under the light of day and take me as your own despite our differences."

"Oh, so it doesn't count until he bangs you as a fish?" asked Cia crudely.

"Fish? I— I am not a fish!" exclaimed the mermaid. A bit of pride entered her eyes in that moment. "It is one thing for darling to call me such, but I will not accept it continually from others..."

Scott easily saw through her obfuscating bluster. "You just don't want to answer the question, do you?"

She made a slight squeaking noise that sounded fairly similar to a dolphin squeak. "Eeeh..."

"Look. I'm fine with it. I don't care if you're a human, or dolphin safe tuna. I made you a promise," said Scott.

"That might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me..." she replied. In truth, she was uncertain of his words. What exactly was dolphin safe tuna? In that moment the only certainty that she possessed was that her husband would prove to be quite the mystery.

"Right. Anyway, what are we after tonight? Are we married, engaged, cross-species sex friends?" asked Scott.

The mermaid nodded gently then lightly reached up and clasped Scott's wrists in her delicate hands. "We will only be engaged until after we have consummated our beautiful love under the light of the sun."

"When does that have to happen?" asked Scott gently.

She mumbled softly to herself and looked away. He leaned forward and made her look at him once more. "What's that?"

"We only need to be together tonight in order to satisfy the urges of my body, and to bless our union," she said softly. "We can show the world, and our marriage witnesses, our love at any time after that..."

His eyes searched hers for a moment then he smiled at her. "Alright, but you do realize that this changes things a little. Right?"

"Yes," whispered the mermaid sadly. Though, her voice became strangely erotic as she continued, "You will no doubt only sweetly violate my body under the embracing cloak of night, even as you make preparations to receive your other wives into our faction."

"Woo!" exclaimed Cia lightly.

Everyone ignored her antics, so she headed to one side of the table to get herself another taco. Soap operas made her hungry. The others continued to look at the drama unfolding before them instead of at the strange cheerleader and her indulgent mannerisms.

Eloa, however, did have something to say. "Girl. I know he's the first one you've ever almost mated with, but you really need to tone it down a notch. I might blush if this keeps up."

The mermaid became petulant. "I've mated before..."

"With a guy?" pressed Eloa. "One with legs, and everything?"

The mermaid's face suddenly took on the color of a ripe tomato. "It can't be that different—" She whirled toward Eloa, "and I'll have you know that I told you of my secret shame in confidence Eloa Riverdream!"

"Oh? Did you?" asked Eloa innocently.

"This is getting good," said Cia before she lifted up a taco and took a bite. Her eyes drifted from one girl to the other. Without television, this was the best show that she had seen in days.

Brittani interjected once more, her beautiful voice flowing through the air melodically, "That helps the situation. An engagement keeps the situation down to a more tenable level. Provided you can continue to impress me, I might be able to put in a good word for you with my grandfather."

Scott looked to Brittani then offered her a nod of his head. "This is a strange situation for everyone. Thank you for not eating our brains or something. We appreciate it."

Several people gasped slightly then drew in a deep intake of breath and held it. What manner of idiocy was he speaking, now? Such words could easily offend Brittani, or at least there was such a possibility.

However, their momentary fears were soon assuaged. Brittani fought down a laugh while she shook her head. "You really won't give up on that brain eating thing, will you?"

He arched his eyebrow and offered her a roguish grin. "You first."

Brittani could not stop herself upon hearing that, and a soft giggle-snort escaped from behind the iron walls that comprised her feminine will. The escaping noise lasted but a brief moment before she managed to stifle it once more, but the truth was now out there.

Scott tried to avoid it himself, but soon he too giggle-snorted. The mermaid, still nameless, pouted slightly and clutched his wrists tighter. It was her special night, and her darling was flirting with other women. Worse, he did it without also flirting with her. The shame of it all!

Once he calmed down he looked back and forth between Brittani and Eloa. "So, you're both able to accept this situation?" asked Scott. "At some point I will have to start marrying people..."

"This is more than fine," said Eloa. "In fact it is great news. The position of first wife will still be left open. We can slowly enter into engagement status with you, and then when the time is right the wedding can take place... provided you are strong enough to convince me to accept you in such a position."

Brittani glanced at Eloa then looked back to Scott. "I'm going to have to accept it at the moment, but well... Marriage isn't possible unless you become considerably more powerful both as a fighter and as a political figure."

She crossed her arms over her chest lightly and rocked her hips a little. "I do want to try to hang out and stuff, though. I mean, us alone for a while. None of these... people... around."

"That sounds good—" began Scott. Brittani hopped forward them clapped her hands excitedly.

"It's settled," she said. "You'll come visit me across the river. If you choose to spend a couple of days in my faction, I can promise you an exclusive deal."

"Deal?" asked Scott. "By a couple of days, you mean...?"

"Two, or three," said Brittani. She grabbed her ponytail then brought it over her shoulder and stroked it a little. "There's always some distraction or other, and I want to get to know you better before I fully commit to anything beyond a simple alliance."

"A couple of days might be a bit much," said Michael. He stepped forward them looked from Scott to Brittani. "He's the leader. There are some decisions only he can make."

Brittani offered Michael a cute smile. "It'll be fine. We can set the date for a week or two from now. I can't withdraw my people from the Southern housing distract on the other side of the river due to political concerns, but I will certainly give them the order to stand down and allow you safe passage."

She looked to Scott. "Our alliance alone is enough for that, so it should make things a bit easier. You'll still have to deal with non-ghoul combat concerns."

"What other concerns are there? All I ever saw there were ghouls..." Scott's eyes widened as his words trailed off. It was not true. There was a monster there that was unique in nature. He remembered it clearly now.

His silence and strange expression drew concern from the others. Frank was the one who asked the obvious question. "What's wrong, boss man?"

Scott nodded his head then said, "I remember now. I had forgotten all about it because of everything that's happened since then..."

"What?" asked Frank, while the others crowded forward slightly.

"On the first day that all of this started, I had just crossed the river with Dale." Scott glanced to Frank. "He's the guy that helped me that first day, the one looking for his family."

Frank nodded to him, and Scott continued. "Anyway, after Dale became a ghoul, I was on my own. I headed toward my house and saw something weird on the way."

Before anyone could ask a leading question, Scott drew away from the mermaid then said, "It was this bizarre creature. It was like a centaur, except it was a wolf. It could talk a little."

"I've never seen anything else like it," said Scott. "I mean, it was this big wolfman centaur thing chasing after a Chihuahua."

Brittani stepped in to be helpful. "If it's on the East side of the river, my ghouls can search for it. If it's actually a unique monster it might be your dungeon seed candidate."

Scott nodded to her. "We would appreciate that, but..."

She raised her hand up and shook her head. "No need to ask if I'm going to charge you. There's a possibility that we might become more than friends... So, this is like me sweetening the deal for when you come spend a little time with me."

He grinned at her, "You drive an easy bargain."

She laughed beautifully then flashed him a victory sign with two fingers. Scott joined in and laughed along with her for a moment, but then realized something that actually bugged him since the moment he saw that monster. "Ah. If it's alive, any chance you could tell me where that Chihuahua is too if your people see it?"

"Why do you want a Chihuahua?" asked Michael curiously.

Scott shrugged to him. "I felt bad for the little thing, but there was nothing I could do for it at the time."

"Sure, we'll look for your little dog too," said Brittani with a grin.

"Man, I haven't see a dog since all this started," said Hana with a sigh.

"Yeah. Come to think of it, neither have I," said Frank.

"Isn't that weird? There were very few dogs over in the desert, too," said Michael.

Scott considered their words carefully. "I haven't seen that many normal animals at all, really. Fish I guess, but not much else. Very few birds, even."

"They probably got eaten or ran away," said Eloa. She nodded toward Brittani. "Not to be rude, but most animals don't care for the undead, and some other species scare them as well."

"I see," said Scott.

"Well, I guess that tidies everything up," said Michael. "Our factions will try to work together, even after whatever our leader ends up doing with the newest member of our faction."

Everyone agreed with his words, save for Scott. The faction head shook his head slowly then said, "No. There is definitely one more conversation that I need to have."

Scott stepped away from the mermaid and walked the short distance over to Harley. He reached out his hand to the young automaton and said, "I try to act oblivious, but I can't do that right now. Can we go somewhere to talk in private?"

Harley's face reddened considerably, as all eyes in the room turned toward her and Scott. The little robotic badass nodded mutely then took Scott's hand. Before they started to walk away she said, "If you want to do that, Scott..."

"Call me master, Harley." Scott never looked at her as they walked away. However, he would have sworn that he knew the moment that her mind processed his words, and a genuine smile broke out on her lips.

"Where...?" asked Michael.

"I don't want to be rude to my guests," said Scott without turning around to look at them. Though, he did briefly stop in place. "I've done a great disservice to Harley tonight, and in recent days as well. I need to clear the air with her. So, give us a few minutes and we will be back."

Scott and Harley walked out of the room while all eyes remained on her. Of them all, only Brittani did not seem confused. She sighed a little then offered a soft and slightly crooked smile. "Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that conversation."

Cia looked to her, eyes alight with mischief. "Care to share with the class?"

Brittani shook her head. "No. It's not my story to tell."

That pronouncement caused far more interest to accrue. Team Badass and their other faction associates gathered around in the hopes that she would change her mind. Meanwhile, Scott and Harley wandered over to the guard tower for a much needed discussion.