13

Arraia lashes her tail harder. "That's exactly what I'm talking about," she says. "How can some mortal commit to that kind of decision forever?"

Estre pushes himself hard to catch up. "The alternative is to treat their kind like they're lesser, like they're below us, unable to make their own decisions. It's infantilizing."

You glide deeper still as the sandy seafloor turns to bubbly smooth rocks: pillow lavas that indicate you're close to the rift where the city is located. You think you can see the gleam of the city in the distance, but it may just be another merperson coming or leaving.

Arraia slows her pace. "I guess giving them the option to return if they want is really the only solution that makes sense," she says. "I'm going to push for that, I promise."

"I doubt the council's going to change their minds on that," Estre says. "It's tied up in whale politics. I say we do our best to be welcoming, to make this place as pleasant as we can."

"Yeah, forget autonomy," Arraia huffs. "We'll gild up the cage instead."