"Ephyra," several mermaids hissed as the figure swam into the clearing. She just flashed them a grin in response, stirring sand up into their faces in a way that couldn't have been accidental.

There was something... Different about this mermaid, though Pretie couldn't place what it was. Perhaps it was the way her hair was cropped short—the sides and back sheared close to the scalp, while the top remained just long enough to wave as she moved—in great contrast to the long locks of many of the others surrounding them. It could have been the shape of her tail, which somehow seemed less delicate than Nehla and the others, with more angular fins and a strange pattern of spots that started at the tip of her tail and spread all the way to her shoulders. 

For all Pretie knew, it could have been the way she moved around the clearing as if she owned the place. Each lazy swish of her cornflower blue tail seemed to make the other mermaids flinch. She wore a lackadaisical grin all the while, taking her time drifting around the space before she finally made her way to Pretie.

"Princess Prettypants," the mermaid greeted. "What an honor it is to meet you."

"It's Pretie Panton," she corrected, raising an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

The words brought a smile to the mermaid's face. Pretie was close enough now to spot a shimmering scar tracing one side of her face, narrowly missing one of her dark eyes. "Ephyra."

"Nice to meet you." Pretie replied tentatively. Her gaze darted up to allow her a glance around the clearing. The other mermaids were watching the interaction from a distance, their expressions wary. Just who is this girl? Should I be scared of her, too?

"Well, now that that's settled, I'll bet you'd love to know the solution to your predicament, Princess Prettypants."

"It's Pretie. Pretie Panton."

"Isn't that what I said?" Ephyra's sharp-toothed grin revealed that it was very much not what she'd said.

Pretie crossed her arms. "The solution?"

"You're in luck, because you just so happen to be facing the most experienced adventurer in all the gods-almighty seas." When Pretie remained silent, the mermaid rolled her eyes. "I know what you're thinking. 'But why would the most amazing adventurer want to help me?' Well... The solution to your problem happens to be an adventure I've wanted to go on for a long, long time."

Confused, Pretie could do little but stare.

Ephyra snorted, the tip of her tail flicking as she drew closer. She stretched out her hand. "Just... Come with me? I'll answer all of your questions, I promise."

She glanced over to the other mermaids. A few of them seemed to have lost interest in the conversation, chatting among themselves or beginning to swim away from the clearing altogether. Nehla still continued to watch Pretie, her eyebrows hitching upwards as they locked eyes. The girl looked away, torn. 

"I... I guess so." She finally responded, her gaze returning to Ephyra. 

A grin flashed across her face and she grabbed Pretie by the wrist, tugging her up from where she'd been sitting on the sand. The girl just began to float upwards, pitiful as a dead fish. Almost forgot that I have a tail I need to learn how to use, she grumbled to herself as she wriggled helplessly, only succeeding in spinning herself around.

"Flex the muscles by your hip," Ephyra advised, watching Pretie with a mildly amused expression. "And your core." She patted her own lower stomach.

Biting back a frustrated retort, Pretie did as she said, focusing on the areas of muscles the mermaid had mentioned. At first, she only managed to rotate in a slow circle before she was finally able to summon a flap of her tail.

"There you go." The mermaid commented with a snort. While Pretie was sure Ephyra had to be teasing her, she felt a small rush of pride at having accomplished the task. The next few movements of her tail didn't take as much conscious effort, and soon the princess was able to keep herself upright. After that, Ephyra didn't waste any time; she swam off, her tail propelling her forward with ease.

Pretie had no choice but to follow.

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It was nearly ten minutes before the mermaid in front of her slowed, straightening up and turning to face Pretie. A hint of a smirk rested on her lips as the girl caught up. 

"Slowpoke."

"In my defense, this is my first time swimming with a tail." The girl growled through gritted teeth, staring at Ephyra with narrowed eyes as she drew closer. She eyed the dark, jagged rocks they had swam through. Pieces of broken planks in varying stages of decay poked out of the sand below, baring sharp wooden fangs that threatened to snag her skin. Pretie took care to avoid them, the tip of her tail twitching away with unease. "Why did you bring me here?"

"This is where the gang and I hang out," she replied with a shrug, drifting toward a crevice in one of the rock formations. "Most mermaids avoid these parts, so it provides privacy for plotting our trips."

Trips? Gang? Pretie couldn't decide what to ask her about first; she eventually settled on a simple, "What?"

Ephyra snorted. "Jeez, Prettypants. Be patient, will you? It'll all make sense in time. Now, are you going to come in or not?"

"In?"

The mermaid rolled her eyes, ducking into the crevice of the rock. Startled by her sudden disappearance, Pretie hurried to follow her. As she peered into the rock's indent, she realized that it wasn't just a shallow crevice, but an entryway into a larger hollow. Grabbing hold of the rough stone with her hands, Pretie guided herself through the entryway. 

The room seemed to be built partly into the rock, with the opposite wall being made out of... Is that part of a ship? Aged wooden beams lined half of the room, a small porthole window providing most of the hollow's light. A barrel in the center of the room seemed to serve as a makeshift table, while niches in the surrounding rock had been turned into shelves to hold glass bottles and various knickknacks. Pretie spotted a map hanging from a hook on the wall and drifted closer.

The map didn't look like anything the princess had seen before. As she studied the squiggly lines and unfamiliar curves, she realized why: the map didn't include land formations at all.

"This is just a map of the ocean." The girl murmured, her eyes going wide.  

She felt movement ripple through the water as Ephyra approached. "Well, yeah. Obviously. Doesn't make much sense for us to map out places we can't go."

"Huh. I guess you're right." Pretie ran a finger across the hard, silvery material the map was etched onto. Each line felt like an indent scratched into its surface. "What is this drawn on?"

"The inside of a scallop. See?" She reached over, taking the map off of its hook and flipping it around. Its blank side was rough, marked with the tan ridges of the shell's outer layer. The girl's eyes went wide as she realized just how large the shell really was; it was almost bigger than her two hands put together.

"That's actually really—"

"Phy, what's going on? Who's this?"

Pretie turned as she heard the voice call out, sucking in a breath when she noticed that two mermaids had entered the room.

"Oh, good, I was hoping I'd be able to introduce you guys," Ephyra replied in place of a greeting, her dark-eyed gaze shifting between Pretie and the other two mermaids. "Krill, Melody, meet Princess Prettypants."

"It's, um, Pretie. Pretie Panton." She corrected self-consciously as the two stared at her.

"Nice to meet you." The boy who must have been Krill replied, chuckling softly. Bare-chested, Pretie couldn't help but notice the pair of symmetrical scars underlining his chest. Krill tilted his head as he took her in with electric green eyes that matched his tail. "Where are you from?"

Before Pretie could answer, the second mermaid—Melody—swam closer, propping a monocle up to one of her brown eyes as if she planned to closely examine the girl through its glass. "I haven't seen you around before—which is strange, considering I know practically everyone who lives in the nearest dozen reefs."

"That's 'cause she's not from a reef." Ephyra replied proudly, as if this was some sort of accomplishment on her part. Upon seeing the others' confused expressions, she crossed her arms and nodded towards Pretie. "Tell 'em where you're from, Prettypants."

Raising an eyebrow, her gaze moved between Ephyra and the other two mermaids. "Aecora."

"But that's a human kingdom," Melody answered immediately, the tip of her coral pink tail twitching. "How can you be from... Wait. Are you— How—"

"Human." Ephyra agreed.

Krill and Melody shared a look, their eyes wide in disbelief.

"I think someone somehow put a curse on me," Pretie explained hesitantly. "Used magic to... Turn me into one of you. So, I'm a mermaid... But I'm not, actually."

"Fascinating." Melody murmured, propelling herself in a slow circle around the girl. She twisted a lock of springy black hair around her finger, lost in thought.

Krill's disconcertingly sharp gaze met Pretie's. "If it's magic that sent you here, then... Magic could bring you back." His eyes shot over to Ephyra. "That's why you brought her to us, isn't it?"

A sharp grin was the mermaid's only response.

"You mean— It's finally time for... You know what?" Melody hissed, pivoting to face the other two.

"It's time." Ephyra agreed. She glanced over at Pretie, a mischievous smile on her lips. "How much do you know about the legend of Edrisse, the Forgotten Goddess?"

｡𖦹 °

The room had grown darker in the time it took for Ephyra to locate a small stack of stained parchment. It seemed to be made of a thick, leathery material meant to keep the ink upon it safe from the water, though the words were faded with time, the edges frayed and threatening to dissolve under her touch. The mermaid laid out the pieces on the flat top of the barrel in the room's center.

The page on top was an illustration of a woman with long, flowing hair and... She's a mermaid, Pretie thought to herself as she saw the woman's tail. Unlike those around her, though, this tail was serpentine and ribbon-like, similar to that of an eel's.

"This is Edrisse," Ephyra told her as she laid a gentle hand on top of the parchment to keep it flat in front of her. "A minor goddess of the seas. Her whole deal was transformation magic. Legend said she could shape-shift into whatever form she wished, though she favored the form you see here."

Melody's tail twitched with excitement, her hands flapping along with it as she moved closer. "Edrisse had a strong bond with mermaids. The ocean was perfect for her kind of magic, because the seas are constantly changing."

"While Edrisse didn't often use her magic on mortals directly, she would enchant objects for their use," Ephyra continued. "She enchanted wands of driftwood that could change your hair color, or shells that could help you understand your fate by showing the consequences of the choices you made." She set another piece of parchment on top of the goddess' portrait. This one was filled with words, but they were so small and faint that Pretie struggled to read them, even after leaning close enough to press her nose to the page.

"One particular myth tells the story of Edrisse's encounter with the storm god, Indignor." Ephyra tapped at the parchment with her pointer finger. "Indignor was mad, which isn't too unlike him, but this time his rage was directed at Edrisse. 

"The goddess had changed the tide without telling him, which had messed up the storm he'd planned. So Indignor summoned a giant lightning storm and struck at the ocean with his bolts. This wasn't your average thunderstorm, though, and while most of the ocean life could handle it, the heat was too much for the mermaids. Edrisse was never one to respond in anger, though. Instead, she was worried for her ocean friends and sought to protect them. She transformed the mermaids into humans on the shore to keep them safe from Indignor's wrath, which was only targeted at the water.

"However, in doing so, Edrisse left herself completely vulnerable to his storm. She was struck by the bolts and, though she was a goddess, she could do nothing to stop them from taking a toll on her. Just as a final bolt was headed her way, sure to finish her off, Edrisse realized that she still had to ensure her mermaid friends could transform themselves back to their original forms. So she transformed herself into a stone."

Pretie's brows furrowed. "That's an interesting story, but I don't see what it has to do with me."

"That's because there's one final detail in the story that I haven't told you yet, Prettypants," Ephyra responded, her eyes alight with mischief. "The Stone of Edrisse is rumored to hold the ability to transform those that use it into whatever form they wish. That's how the mermaids she turned into humans were able to change themselves back."

"And so that's the key to turning me back." Pretie whispered, her eyes going wide at the realization.

"Sure is," the mermaid replied, flashing her a grin. "And it just so happens to be an artifact the gang and I have been wanting to find for a long time."

Her eyes drifted to the other two mermaids. Sure enough, they both seemed to shine with excitement; Krill wore a wide smile and Melody was practically vibrating beside him. Pretie's gaze returned to Ephyra. "And you know how to find this legendary stone?"

"More or less."

"More or less? That's what we're going off of?"

Ephyra rolled her eyes. "We have a map that seems to mark the general location. We've been able to assume the specifics based on where the stories indicate Edrisse's final location was. Between the three—or, I guess, four—of us, we should be able to decipher the clues easily enough."

"And this will work?"

"How badly do you want to return to your human form?"

Pretie's eyebrows furrowed, her thoughts snagging on the memories of her father assigning her this fate and of Virid ratting her out—both doing so just to save their own skins. She gritted her teeth. I need to go back, if only so I can get revenge on those assholes for what they've done to me. She offered Ephyra a firm nod. "I have to go back."

"Then this is your best shot, Prettypants." The mermaid's lips twitched in a knowing smirk. "Whether you like it or not."