Quinn, correctly decoding the look on Jack's face, sent a short message of, "Kiache."

Then, reaching out to the Royal Mer, Quinn opened up the door, "Good - you are here."

She let Jack into the conversation, although she hoped he would stay silent for the time being. Kiache swam into their shared room, looking at Quinn curiously, the bags under her eyes obvious.

Quinn felt bad adding to that burden, but she had to let Kiache know what she had felt, "When the battle began, I snuck out, and went out to the battle grounds. I did not engage," She added, seeing an edge of anger enter Kiache's eyes, "I was just gonna watch. While I was there, though, I felt a... a tug... that told me to get into formation - on the other side - and fight. It wasn't my voice in my head, though."

Quinn paused, letting Kiache say something for the first time.

Luckily, there was no anger in her voice, "How.... odd. That is...huh," the Princess mused, "What did the voice sound like?"

"Uh... It was... it was cold.. um.. like it didn't know what was currently going on - just had a connection to my mind, and was giving me my orders. And... as I was there, all the other Octo Mer always moved the same? They would get hurt - badly - and still soldier on. Even the younger ones..."

Kiache was now pacing, swimming back and forth in the small room, "I see. This... this is good. Gods, well, not good, but you see?" Kiache looked up, her eyes bright with hope, previous exhaustion forgotten, "It is like a... a hivemind. Their leader - their leader controls them, then. We've been suspecting something was up, but this is confirmation. This is good. Now, we know we shouldn't focus on just fighting battles. We need to go for their leader."

Jack gave Quinn a grateful smile from his place on the floor, where he was surrounded with Mer instruments that the local people had been happy to let him borrow whenever he wanted. He didn't move when Kiache entered, although he very much wanted to get up and give her a hug, something on Quinn's face told him to stay quiet for now. There was this air of seriousness about her that was more intense than normal, and he didn't want to ruin it by giving Kiache, whom he saw less and less frequently, a hug. Instead he gave her a small wave and got comfortable in his spot as Quinn spoke.

Although he was bursting with questions, Jack stayed quiet, knowing that although he'd been let into the conversation, he wasn't meant to have any real input. He really didn't have anything to say when Kiache put all his thoughts into words, and phrased it much better than he would have. She was just awesome like that.

Regardless, there was still the problem of how the hell would they get into the palace? He had to assume that the Octo-Mer had some sort of stronghold that was very well protected. So how the hell would they get in? And if they succeeded, what would happen to all those Mer that were under the influence of their corrupted leader?

Kiache was silent for a bit, then snapped her fingers rapidly, although it made no noise, "I've got it! You, Quinn, plus a group of guards, are going to go on a stealth mission towards where we think the Octo-Mer are. You'd be able to hear them, and feel that pull. After we figure out the location, I will lead a group to infiltrate and assassinate their leader. Then, hopefully, that will break the hold the leader has."

Kiache frowned to herself, "I hate how many hopes this plan relies on, but it might be our only choice. Plus, it asks a lot of you, Qu-"

"I'll do it," Quinn interrupted, "I'll do it," she repeated, as if reassuring herself of the fact, "I just want to wait until Ripley is healed. I'd want them on my team."

Jack shrugged, the plan sounded like a good one to him. After a moment, his brain actually processed what Kiache had said and he paled. He waited till Quinn was done speaking before actually trying to get his two cents in. "Hold on, did you mean you as in me? Thank you for the vote of confidence but I don't know if I should even go. I'm not half as strong or as good at this kind of stuff as you guys are. I wouldn't want to get in the way. Also, why do you have to be with the group that tries to assassinate the leader? That's incredibly dangerous Kiache, and I know you can handle yourself but so could Ripley and now they're really hurt." Jack didn't mean to seem negative, but if something happened to Kiache he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

As for him going along, well he wasn't opposed to the idea but he didn't want to hold anyone back. Especially since Quinn was in much better shape than he was.

sorry this is dialog heavy

___

Kiache raised an eyebrow at Jack, "Look. You've gotten a lot better, and to be honest, I'm putting you there as Quinn and Ripley's impulse control. Both of them are going to want to shoot off and go fight the Queen, and that would be disastrous. A stranger killing a Queen would not look good to any of the other kingdoms. It would look like we resorted to hiring an assassin, rather than trusting the matter to our people. We would be seen as weak."

Kiache paused, and settled back to sit on the bed, absentmindedly rubbing a knot in the muscles of her tail, "Plus, your group isn't going to be fighting. The guards are there to protect you and Quinn in case there is violence, but your job is just to locate the Queen's location."

Then, Kiache captured Jack in an unimpressed look, "I am the heir to the throne, and I have been missing for years. By now, I should have proven my eligibility in the eyes of my people, as well as in the eyes of the other kingdoms. If something - and by gods I hope this isn't for a long time - but if something were to happen to Pater, no one in the Council of the Seas would listen to a word I said. I am unproven and unaccomplished. This must be the first, and it must be me." Kiache stopped messing with the knot in her tail, and cracked her knuckles, her hands in a tight fist. There was a dangerous light in her eyes.

"Plus, they are the reason my people are suffering. It's time for the Queen to pay."

And they all lived happily ever after - eventually.