Pretie swam in silence for much of the rest of the afternoon, lulled into a strange feeling somewhere between numbness and contentment. Her muscles were still sore—that much was to be expected from taking such a long journey with no prior practice using a tail—but the pain had become a distant, dull ache. The ray worm had done more than brighten her now-colorful scales. She felt rejuvenated, energized. Her mind was clear, and yet... Everything seemed a bit askew. Her scales didn't feel quite like her own. And they're not, Pretie reminded herself. This is just temporary. I'll be changed back as soon as we find that stone.

The other three swam ahead, Krill still leading the way with the aid of his compass. Melody and Ephyra swam side by side, murmuring and laughing to each other. Pretie's gaze kept absentmindedly flitting to Ephyra—but what she was looking for, Pretie had no idea.

Judging by the angle at which the sunlight was breaking through the surface above, the girl guessed it was late afternoon or early evening—Pretie hadn't quite figured out how to tell time, but it didn't seem like the mermaids around her relied on any real structure. The clocks Pretie was accustomed to reading off of didn't seem to exist here. They just seem to inherently know what time of day it is.

Pretie wasn't entirely sure when the group planned to rest for the night. Surely it has to be sometime soon. They can't possibly expect that we'll swim through the night... Right? She shuddered at the mere thought.

"Falling asleep back there?" A voice teased. Pretie blinked herself out of her daze to find Ephyra turned around to face her, swimming backwards with an ease that Pretie didn't even have swimming forward. 

"When are we going to stop?" She asked, hoping her words came off as mildly curious and not desperately out of shape. 

Ephyra chuckled. "Sun's still pretty high up, isn't it? Would hate to waste daylight."

Pretie opened her mouth to argue, but the mermaid just barked out another laugh. "It might still be a while, is what I mean. But, hey, you could always hang onto my shoulders, if you want to give your fins a rest and doze off for a bit. Get your beauty sleep, or whatever it is you princesses do." 

"Hang onto your shoulders? I'm not going to— Why would I—"

Ephyra held up her hands in surrender. "Calm down, Prettypants. The offer's there. That's all I'm saying."

Pretie crossed her arms with a huff, pointedly looking anywhere but at Ephyra. "I'm not some child that needs carrying around." 

"I didn't say you were."

"Yeah, well, you're treating me like I am," she couldn't help but grumble. "I don't need you to carry me. I can swim perfectly fine on my own, thank you."

"Didn't say you couldn't."

Pretie let her eyes leap once more to Ephyra, who continued to swim backwards. She let her gaze harden into a glare. "Would you stop that?" 

"Stop what?" By the way her eyes were crinkled in amusement, Pretie guessed that Ephyra knew exactly what she was referring to.

"You. Are. Impossible."

"Aw, thanks," the mermaid purred. "I really try to be the best, most impossible version of myself that I can be. I'm so glad you recognize it."

"Oh my gods," Pretie groaned. "Are you always like this?"

"She's always like this." Krill agreed from ahead, sparing a glance back toward Pretie. Ephyra stuck out her tongue, but he just chuckled. "Frustrating, isn't it?"

"Very."

Rolling her eyes with a smirk, Ephyra turned back around. Pretie let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. Gods, she gets on my— 

"What are you doing?" She cried as Ephyra suddenly appeared swimming below her.

"Just hold on. You're tired and cranky and in need of a nap." Ephyra grabbed her hands, tugging Pretie close enough that her stomach practically pressed into Ephyra's back. She was close enough now that Pretie could see the silvery white spots freckling her body from her tail to her shoulders, in great contrast to her tan-going-on-bronze skin.

"I don't need a—"

"You're seriously going to fight the chance to rest your tail? I've seen how exhausted you are," Ephyra murmured, tilting her head to look up at Pretie. "Just... Take a break. It's alright."

"What do you even want me to do?"

"Hold onto my shoulders," she replied with a shrug, as if this should have been obvious. "Or I could carry you in my arms, but I figure you'd probably be opposed to that option." 

Pretie snorted. "Um, yeah, I would be."

She caught a glimpse of Ephyra's sharp-toothed grin. "Look, if you don't want to, I'm not making you. But the option's there, and it seems like a lot less work on your end. And you could move a lot faster. You're not exactly a fast swimmer, in case you haven't noticed."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. If it'll shut you up." Staring down at the bare skin of Ephyra's back, Pretie tentatively set her hands on the mermaid's shoulders. Her skin was warm and smooth and as Pretie maneuvered her way into an ideal position, her chest and stomach were pressed flush against Ephyra's back. Okay, wow, touching. 

"Here, move up a little." She advised, gently shifting Pretie's arms to wrap around her shoulders. The girl remained almost paralyzed in the mermaid's hold, too bewildered to do or say anything. "Oh, and keep your tail still or keep it straight back—whatever you do, don't put it off to one side. Don't need you to make me swim in circles."

Pretie hadn't been given a piggyback ride since she was a child; even then, it was never her father that had offered them to her, but her handmaiden. With her weight settled onto Ephyra's shoulders, Pretie thought back on the times Juva would carry her around the halls of the castle, bouncing and jumping to elicit fits of giggles from her younger self. Pretie hadn't giggled like that in a long time. 

The girl wasn't sure what the underwater version of a piggyback ride was called, but swimming like this was almost... Serene. The current ruffled her brunette hair and swept coolly across her skin without her having to use the aching muscles in her tail. 

At the same time, Pretie was very aware of how close she was to Ephyra. She could feel her muscles twitch with every movement of her cornflower blue tail, watched as her gills fluttered with each breath. There was something rhythmic about the movements. Something almost calming.

Pretie let her head rest on one of Ephyra's shoulders, her eyelids fluttering closed.

｡𖦹 °

The girl wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, but when she awoke, the water was slightly darker than before. Has the sun set? She wondered to herself, lifting her head from Ephyra's shoulder.

The mermaid tilted her head at the movement. "Well, good morning, Prettypants. Have a nice nap?"

"I wasn't asleep."

"You were snoring."

Pretie's eyes went wide. "What— I don't— I don't snore!"

The mermaid's body vibrated with the force of her laughter. "You're hilarious. No, you weren't snoring. But you were definitely asleep, considering the fact that your body's been totally limp for the past... I don't know. Krill, how long's it been?"

When he didn't answer, Pretie looked up, her eyebrows raised. Their navigator had stopped swimming ahead of them, and a shadow had eclipsed the sunlight—however dim—breaking through the surface. No, not a shadow, she mentally corrected after a moment of confused squinting. That's a school of fish.

As Ephyra swam them closer, Pretie saw the movement of the cloud in front of Krill. It must have been made up of hundreds—if not thousands—of fish, each the size of Pretie's hand, their silvery scales catching the light with each twitch of their tails. 

"Look how many of them!" Melody squealed, swimming over to Krill's side. The two shared a look—and must have telepathically conveyed a message to each other, because they shot off a moment later, their movements nearly in sync as they rocketed towards the school.

As Ephyra moved closer, Pretie let herself slide off of her shoulders, watching with wide eyes as Krill and Melody weaved their way through the school of fish—which began to scatter in a thousand different directions as they noticed the mermaids' approach. Ephyra barked out a laugh as the two switched direction to swim around the fish, their circle growing smaller and smaller to draw the school closer together.

"Are they... Herding the fish?" Pretie couldn't help but ask.

"They're having fun." Flashing her a grin, Ephyra started off toward the school, leaving Pretie to watch. Just as the girl was about to drift back and put some space between herself and the other three, Ephyra spun back around to catch her eye. "Come on, Prettypants, are you allergic to fun?"

Managing a baffled smile, Pretie swam hesitantly up to join her. Ephyra's smile widened and, having confirmed that Pretie was close behind, shot off toward the cloud of fish.

Pretie spat out a confused laugh, keeping up as best she could as Ephyra joined the others in forming a circle around the school. Krill and Melody swam in the opposite direction; Pretie had to veer out of their way as they came speeding past. She heard Ephyra let out an excited holler from up ahead and Pretie couldn't help but watch with a chuckle as the mermaid swam in and out of the school, letting the fish swerve a few feet away before she slammed herself right back in, forcing them back into their tight group.

"Hey, Phy, how do you feel about a game of Catch and Chase?" Krill called out. 

"Oh, I am so down!"

Laughter rang out as the three slowed their pace. The fish hesitantly began to spread out—and that was when Krill dove into the school. They scattered at once, hundreds of fish flying out of his way like a bag of silver coins spilling into the water.

"Ready?" Ephyra barked.

Krill chuckled. "Ready."

"You two are so immature," Melody replied with a laugh, drifting away from the two. "I'll count you off?"

After she counted down from three, Ephyra and Krill raced off, darting around the silvery fish as they tried to swim out of the way. Melody chuckled, rolling her eyes as she moved over to where Pretie hovered at the edge of the excitement.

"What are they doing?" Pretie asked as she swam up.

"They call it Catch and Chase. Basically, whoever can catch the most fish in the shortest amount of time wins. I never really understood it, but they seem to have fun."

Pretie let her gaze slide over to Melody, who was watching the two race around, laughing and shouting at each other as they grabbed at the scattering fish. Melody wore a content smile, the tip of her coral pink tail twitching. Pretie turned, her gaze catching on Ephyra. It was like the mermaid had a gravitational pull that made it impossible to look away. Pretie watched as she spun and flitted around, snatching at fish as quickly as she could. An excited grin remained on Ephyra's lips the whole while, even when Krill swam right in front of her and caused the nearby fish to dart out of her reach.

"She seems to really like you." Melody blurted out from beside her. Pretie glanced over to find her brown-eyed gaze resting on her. "Which is honestly kind of weird, because, when I first met you, I thought you were kind of stuck up. I don't know, though, I think your stubbornness matches hers. Gives her someone to go back and forth with. She probably likes the challenge of—" She fell silent, her eyes going wide. "Oh my gods, I shouldn't have said that. Right? I'm so sorry. It's just that, I don't always know what's appropriate for me to say, and sometimes words just come out of my mouth without—"

"No, that's..." Pretie shook her head, breathing out a disbelieved snort. "Ephyra? Really?"

"I mean, I struggle with tone and everything, so maybe don't completely trust my judgment, but I've seen how she acts around you," Melody replied, a smile tugging at her lips. "She's a tough one, Ephyra, but there's something about her that goes soft when you're around."

"Huh," was the only answer Pretie could manage. She turned back around to face Krill and Ephyra, who seemed to have finished their game. Both of them held bundles of wriggling silver fish in their arms—though Ephyra's collection seemed the larger of the two. It took significant effort for her to keep the fish from escaping her hold.

Letting out a bubbly laugh, Melody swam over. "You're both crazy. How many did you catch? Did you count?"

"Like I would bother to do that," Ephyra muttered with a roll of her eyes. "I've obviously won."

"Well, we won't know until we count! Ephyra, hold still, let me..."

Pretie chuckled, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched Melody calculate how many fish the two had succeeded in capturing. When she let her gaze drift over to Ephyra, she noticed that the mermaid was watching her, a glint in her dark eyes even though she was still wrestling with the fish in her arms. Pretie felt her cheeks flush as Melody's words echoed through her mind.

She began to drift Ephyra's direction—to congratulate her on her win, maybe? Pretie couldn't decide why, but she felt like she was drawn to her—but the girl froze when she spotted a shadow in her periphery. She slowly turned, feeling cold fear slip down her spine as she laid eyes on a dark, impossibly large silhouette.

"Um, guys?" Pretie called out as her heart picked up its pace. The figure had swam just close enough for her to make out the dagger-sharp angles of its fins, its tail sweeping side to side. A flash of layers and layers of pointy teeth was all she needed to confirm the creature's identity.

A shark.

Letting out a squeal, Pretie raced towards the others, her hazel eyes blown wide with panic. It was like she was viewing her surroundings through a tunnel as she jetted off; she wasn't headed in any particular direction, just away, away, away from—

"Prettypants!" The word reached her ears just as a hand shot out to grab her arm in a firm hold. The touch was enough to jolt Pretie from her panicked state, and she blinked up at Ephyra as her vision cleared. She noticed that the mermaid had let her fish escape, clearly sacrificed to free up her arms to grab Pretie.

"But— There's— We have to—" Her heart pounded in her ears.

"Hey," Ephyra chided, an amused smile on her lips. "Calm down."

"There's a freaking shark and you're telling me to—"

The mermaid just rolled her eyes, maintaining her grip on Pretie's forearm as she turned them both back around in the direction they'd come from. Krill and Melody watched her—the former appearing concerned, the other just confused about her hurried escape. And the shark was growing ever closer.

"Please tell me why we're headed directly toward the thing that could tear us to shreds?" Pretie hissed as Ephyra tugged her over.

"That's because that 'thing that could tear us to shreds' is a dear friend," Ephyra answered, chuckling. "Princess Prettypants, it is my honor to introduce you to—"

"Oh, no, no, I am not going to say hello to a—"

"Butch."

Pretie wriggled out of Ephyra's grip—who let her, surprisingly enough—as the mermaid approached the shark, her arm held out in front of her. Pretie couldn't help but brace herself as the shark swam up to Ephyra and bumped its broad nose into the palm of her hand. When it didn't sink its teeth into her skin or spill her blood into the water around them, Pretie managed to breathe out a shaky sigh of relief.

"As I was saying, Prettypants," Ephyra spoke in a low voice. "Butch is a friend. Now, come here."

The girl cringed, hesitantly drifting closer. As soon as she was within arms' length, Ephyra grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her the rest of the way over. With that, Pretie was face to face with a shark.

"Oh, wow, that's... A lot of teeth." Pretie whimpered, staring at the curve of the creature's mouth. She could see every mottled scar lining its otherwise smooth skin and the dark stripes lining its bodice. A noticeable notch had been taken out of its dorsal fin. The shark bumped into Ephyra's side and Pretie instinctively flinched away.

Rolling her eyes, Ephyra adjusted her grip on Pretie, sliding her hand down from Pretie's wrist to her hand. "Here. He likes when you pet him like this." The girl's wriggling was futile as Ephyra moved her hand to rest on the top of the shark's head.

Butch's skin felt surprisingly rough under her touch. With every flutter of the shark's gills and twitch of his head, Pretie tensed, but Ephyra's gentle hand remained atop hers. She found herself relax into the motion as the mermaid's hand guided her own in long, slow strokes.

"He's kind of... Cute," Pretie admitted. "You know, in a chunky, murderous, hundreds-of-teeth way."

Ephyra laughed, flashing her a glimpse of sharp teeth that made Pretie note the similarity between her and the shark. The sharp angles of her fins, the scar slicing down her face. A smile tugged at Pretie's lips as she stroked the creature's head.

"See?" Ephyra murmured. "Not quite so scary after all." She lifted her hand from Pretie's.

Her lips twitched, but Pretie couldn't get the words out. She just stared into the depths of the mermaid's dark eyes, wondering what Ephyra saw in her own hazel-eyed gaze. Whatever she found, it made a crooked smile spread across her lips as she watched Pretie. 

Butch butted his head into Pretie's palm, his weight causing the girl to bump into the mermaid beside her. Pretie sputtered out an awkward laugh. "Sorry."

Ephyra just shook her head, a knowing smile still resting on her lips. "Butch just can't stand you giving attention to anyone other than him. Jealous fish." She reached past her, her arm brushing against Pretie's neck as she gave the shark a pat. 

"Tell your buddy we have to go," Krill called out, and Pretie felt both herself and Ephyra flinch as they turned. "In case you haven't noticed, it's getting dark, and I'd like to avoid having to fumble around for a sleeping spot when it's pitch black out."

Pretie's gaze flitted back up to Ephyra, who just rolled her eyes. "Aye, aye, captain. We're coming." She looked down at Pretie, something in her gaze softening. Pretie's heart beat faster under her stare, but the mermaid turned to face the shark just as quickly. She watched as Ephyra gave the side of his head a firm push. The shark turned with the movement, swimming off into the darkening sea.

"Bye, Butch," Pretie found herself whispering, a hand held up in a shy wave as the shark's form receded into the distance. "It was nice meeting you."

"And you said you wouldn't say hello to a shark."

Pretie snorted, rolling her eyes as she turned to face Ephyra. "Well, I didn't. I said goodbye, which is an entirely different—"

"Come on, weirdo. We're wasting daylight." With that, she clamped her hand around Pretie's wrist. An amused smile tugged at the girl's lips as she let the mermaid lead her back to the others.