Curiosity gets the better of you as you swim toward the source of the splashing. When you get there, you see nothing around. You scan the water's surface, but still, there's nothing to be found. Finally, remembering your current predicament, you decided to swim back to land; just as something grabs you at the hips and drags you underwater.
Your cheeks puff up as you strain to hold your breath; a combination of your ignorance of your newfound mermaid ability to breath water, and latent human instinct. Your assailant had already dragged you to the bottom of the stream before you could compose yourself enough to see what it was. "Well, hello beautiful." It spoke with a feminine tone, mixed with an ethereal echo.
You finally get a good look at the source of the voice. It's another mermaid! She has long, blonde hair, large scallop-like shells covering her ample breasts and a shimmering pink tail. "You must be new here." She takes her hands and slaps your cheeks, forcing the water out of your mouth. "You don't need that silly air to live anymore." You stare at her for a moment; partly transfixed by her beauty, but also contemplating her words. You soon spit out the air in your lungs, which float up in a cloud of bubbles, and slowly take a breath of water. It was as easy as taking a breath of air, and the feeling was cool and exhilarating. "There you go!" The mermaid cheered. "By the way, I'm Melanie. What's your name?"
You tell her your name, which she reacts with a grimace. "Oh, you were a male as a human, huh? Well, sad to tell you, but that name no longer suits you. Might I suggest a new one? How does Crystal sound? You can shorten it to Crys, and it'd still sound male until you get used to it."
"Uh, I appreciate the thought, but I don't really plan on getting used to it. I want to find out what happened so I can reverse it."
"Well, what happened was you swam in a sacred river blessed by the goddesses Atargatis and Larissa, and it cursed you. As for reversing it..."