Just an hour later, the group had reached the first of the sea stacks Pretie had mentioned. The banded column of rock towered above them, stretching its crooked finger into the sky. The tallest of three, this stack stood on a narrow base and gradually broadened into a wider top; the rock looked like it could topple over at any moment. The stacks closer to shore were shorter, one narrow and one wide, sporting a hook-like curve.

"So, which one's our best bet?" Krill asked, running a hand across the stack's craggy exterior. His eyes seemed dimmer out of the water, as if it was the ocean that gave them their electric green brightness. 

"I have no idea," Melody admitted from beside him. "The mythology was never very specific about the stone's whereabouts, and what with the numerous different stories about the event and so many varying opinions about it, it's not very clear—"

"So you're saying the Stone of Edrisse might not even be here?" Pretie hissed. A note of panic buzzed to life in her mind. Ephyra's hand slipped into hers. The panic lessened to a low simmer, appeased by her touch.

"It's here," the mermaid promised with a smile, giving her hand a squeeze. "We'll find it, Prettypants. You'll be back to your human self in no time."

"Oh. Good." Pretie managed a smile, though it felt more forced than she would have expected upon hearing the news.

"I say we split up," Ephyra added with a shrug. "That way we can check more than one stack at once. It'll be easier to search before it gets dark." Her gaze shifted to the western horizon, where the sun hung dangerously low. It wouldn't be long before it set and plunged the group into darkness.

"Sounds like a plan." Krill agreed. An unspoken secret seemed to pass between him and Ephyra as they shared a look. The result was a knowing smirk that curled his lip. "You and Pretie can head for the stack closest to shore. Melody and I will start off with this one and meet you in the middle."

A matching grin lit up Ephyra's features, though Pretie noticed her attempt to tamp it down, burying it in a nonchalant shrug. "If you say so." 

Melody met Pretie's eye. The expression on her face—wide eyes, wide smile—made it perfectly clear what she was referring to as her gaze darted between Ephyra and Pretie. The girl rolled her eyes, though a blush tickled her cheeks and neck. It seems like I'm the only one not in on this. There was clearly plenty of discussion going on behind her back, for better or worse. She caught Ephyra's eye.

"Let's go, Prettypants." The mermaid purred, dipping back into the water. Rolling her eyes, Pretie followed.

As they swam toward the shore and the furthest sea stack, the girl finally realized how close she was to Aecora. The water was gradually becoming shallower the further they swam, maintaining a depth just great enough for the two to avoid brushing their tails against the floor; they couldn't have been more than a few yards from Aecora's sandy beach. I could just walk up that sand and go right back home, she thought to herself. If I had my legs back, at least. The nearness was almost unnerving.

"So. How's it feel to be back?" Ephyra asked, as if she'd read the girl's mind.

Pretie shrugged, focusing on the tug of the muscles in her tail as she swam. "I don't know. I thought it would feel different."

"Different how?"

The girl hesitated. How, indeed. "I... I don't know. I thought it would feel like... Like I was coming home. And... It doesn't, for some reason."

"Well, maybe it'll feel more natural when you're able to walk on land again." Ephyra reasoned tentatively. "You're probably not used to being here with a tail."

"Yeah. Maybe."

The two reached the sea stack before Pretie could question the feeling any further. While it wasn't the tallest of the three, Pretie had always thought this stack had the most interesting shape. The rock looked like a chunk had been bitten out of its side, giving it the semblance of a fishhook or an arch tipped to one side. Pretie remembered looking out from her room in the castle—during sunsets just like the one approaching—and staring at the stack's jagged silhouette against the sun's brilliant golden glow.

As they dived lower, Pretie began to pat her hands against the rock, searching for a hole that might house the stone they were looking for. She'd never seen these stacks from underwater—or this close up. While many Aecoran thrill seekers enjoyed climbing them—or going so far as to jump from their tops—Pretie had never approached them. On the occasions she had visited the shore, she'd stuck to the beach and the shallows, preferring to seek out colorful shells and rocks than challenge herself with swimming in the deeper water. Oh, how the tables have turned. Though, somehow, I'm still hunting for rocks.

"What does the Stone of Edrisse look like?" The girl asked after several minutes of searching the grooves in silence.

Ephyra shrugged, peering into a crevice just above her. "Beats me. I'd assume it glows or something, considering it's supposed to be a goddess, but... I have no idea. Should have thought to ask Melody about it."

Pretie drifted lower, her eyes darting across the rock's craggy surface. "Hey, Ephyra?"

The mermaid's head whipped toward her immediately. "What? What's wrong? Did you find it?"

"No, no, it's not... It's just... Would it be weird if I, um..." She took a breath, letting her mind go still so she could piece together her words into sentences that made sense. "Sorry. Just... Would it be weird if I said I've felt like I..." She glanced up, making the mistake of meeting Ephyra's eye. The words slipped away as soon as their gazes met. "Sorry. Never mind."

"No, don't 'never mind' me," Ephyra replied with a shake of her head. "You've felt like... What?"

Pretie paused, staring into the depths of the mermaid's dark, glimmering eyes. She opened her mouth, but the words caught in her throat before she could manage to get them out. Ephyra's eyebrows furrowed in a clear display of concern as she drifted closer.

"Hey, hey, it's okay..." 

"I've felt more at home than... I think I ever have."

The words seemed to take the mermaid by surprise. "That wouldn't be weird, I don't think." Ephyra murmured in a soft voice. She offered Pretie a gentle nod, as if to assure her it was alright to continue.

She did, however hesitantly. "I told you before that I didn't feel like I belonged in Aecora. And, at first, I didn't think I belonged here, either, but... But you've made me wonder otherwise." Self-conscious, Pretie raised a hand to tug at a lock of the hair floating around her face. "I feel at home around you, Eph. For no apparent reason. I just... I just do."

A smile tugged at Ephyra's lips. A hint of an emotion Pretie couldn't quite identify—it could have been any combination of surprise, delight, and a dozen others she couldn't detect—shined in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but froze. "Prettypants."

"Um, Ephyra? Sorry, I guess that was a lot to dump on you all at once—"

"Look."

Her brows hitching upward, Pretie followed Ephyra's gaze. Her own eyes went wide as she realized what the mermaid had spotted. Glimmering with a faint golden light, a stone sat in a nook in the rock beside them. Pretie watched, finding herself holding her breath as Ephyra carefully lifted the object from its resting place. It was large enough to take up both of her palms, smooth and unmarked except for the shimmering veins creating a web across its surface. 

"This has to be it," Ephyra murmured quietly, staring transfixed at the stone in her hands. "Here, feel it. It's got... A pulse, almost."

Pretie obliged, placing one of her hands atop the stone. Sure enough, it seemed to beat with a steady rhythm beneath her touch, its faint glow flickering in time with each pulse. "The Stone of Edrisse."

"Hells, Prettypants. We did it. We found it." When the girl looked up to meet Ephyra's eyes, she could practically feel the pride radiating off of her.

She couldn't help a small smile from tugging at her own lips. "We did."

"Now you can get exactly what you wanted from the beginning," the mermaid continued with a nod, her smile quickly replaced by a more serious expression. "You can become a human again, and exact revenge on your father and not-husband. You'll be free from your curse."

"Yeah," Pretie whispered, staring down at the pulsating stone. "I will be." 

This is what you wanted, she reminded herself as she watched its golden light wink up at her. And, beyond that, this is what you have to do. You were never meant to be a mermaid. This is what will make everything right again... I guess.

"So, I don't know how this works, exactly," Ephyra replied after a moment, shrugging. "But I think it has something to do with you telling it what you want? The stone's all about desire, and righting the wrongs, so I'd imagine you just say you want to revert your curse and become human again, and if it's what you want... Bam. Back to two legs, just as promised."

"Just as promised." Pretie agreed softly.

Ephyra grinned at her—though it didn't quite meet her eyes, Pretie couldn't help but notice. She lifted the stone a little higher. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, Prettypants."

"Wait, before... Before we do anything, I just want to say thank you."

The mermaid's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Thank you? For what?"

"For helping me. For... Seeing me as me, and not what I'm supposed to be, or what I'm not." Pretie chewed absentmindedly on the inside of her cheek. "It was almost possible to imagine, for a little while, that everything could be alright. With Krill and Melody, sure, but... Mostly you. You made this screwy situation a little less screwy. I just want to thank you for that."

"Right back at you, Prettypants."

An amused smile twitched its way onto Pretie's lips. "You're just... You're amazing, Eph. You're clever and beautiful and, honestly, just perfect. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, okay?"

"You're all of those things and more, you know."

"If you're trying to make this into some contest where you think I'm better than you and you don't believe that any of what I've said is true, then I don't—"

Ephyra chuckled. "That's not what I'm trying to do. I just think all of those things about you. And... You somehow bring out the best in me, which I know is dumb of me to say, but... I can't say that about everyone. You said I've made you feel like everything could be alright, well..." She trailed off, her smile softening. "You've made me feel like everything could be more than alright. You've made me feel like everything could be good. And I don't often feel that way."

Pretie felt the prickle of tears—and had started to question the purpose of mermaids having tear ducts when she couldn't release them—as she stared at Ephyra. Her gaze trailed from her dark, clever eyes to the scar on her cheek to her lips. Pretie had never felt the desire to move closer to anyone—not in the way she wanted to now. And, knowing her time here with Ephyra was limited, she found herself doing so, as if she had finally bowed down to whatever larger power had been puppeteering her this whole time, letting them steer her forward despite her doubts.

Ephyra removed a hand from the stone in her palms to cup Pretie's cheek. An unfamiliar feeling of euphoria coursed through her as the mermaid drew her closer, her eyes fluttering closed...

A loud splash was the first sign something was wrong. It was accompanied by a flurry of bubbles, the force strong enough to propel Pretie backwards several inches. She blinked to clear her vision, just enough to spot the glint of something rocketing through the water.

"Pretie!" Strangled with fear, the girl hardly recognized the voice as Ephyra's. By the time Pretie understood what was happening—let alone realized this was the first time the mermaid had ever used her real name—it was too late to do anything to stop the scene before her. 

Pretie could do nothing but watch, helpless, as the blade of the harpoon plunged into the mermaid from behind.