When the kiss broke off, the two mermaids gazed into each other’s eyes. The dark murkiness of the water proved no impediment to their newly adapted vision, and each sister admired the other for a few minutes, awed by their perfected beauty. Meanwhile, pleasured moans and feminine giggles echoed in their ears from all around. In the surrounding waters, the lithe forms of the crew frolicked about, sharing kisses and caresses or chasing each other through the currents in childish glee.
Finally, Emilia broke the silence. “Oh, Manuela. What have we done?”
“Only what we had to, dear sister,” Manuela replied with an apologetic smile. “When the sea calls, her children must answer.”
“But our ship. Our voyage.”
Both mermaids turned to study the great underside of the Balcahau Salgado, now abandoned and drifting in the currents. Oddly, they didn’t feel particularly sad about anything. In fact, an overwhelming giddiness took hold of them. Laughing, the two of them darted upward to touch the barnacle-covered keel of the great vessel.
“Do you think we could sail her as we are, sister?” Emilia asked.
“Only one way to find out,” Manuela grinned. Going around to the side of the ship, she shot upward, vaulting clear out of the water and catching hold of the rail. In an incredible feat of athleticism, she flipped herself over onto the thin rail and balanced there for a moment. Then, she gently lowered her tail to the deck and eased into a sitting position.
For a while, she wondered if she had done something foolish by stranding herself in this way. Suddenly, her tail shivered and changed, losing its shimmering scales and splitting into two shapely legs. As if seeing them for the first time, she ran a hand over their silky skin and laughed. Jumping up, she leaned over the rail and, without worrying a bit about modesty, swung one of her legs up to dangle it over the water where Emilia looked on.
“See?” Manuela giggled, wiggling her dainty foot. “We can continue our mission easily! Gather our crew!”
It took some time to get everyone’s attention. The constant sensation of joy had a side-effect of lowering one’s level of self-discipline. In the end, though, Emilia managed to herd her sisters together long enough for Manuela to propose carrying on with their journey. Thankfully, the crew was loyal, and they agreed.
The sea seemed to boil for a minute as mermaids shot up onto the ship, and soon, the deck was covered in glistening bodies. One by one, their tails then reverted into legs. In another five minutes, a crowd of naked women rushed below deck to retrieve some manner of covering.
After working their oversized men’s clothes into something reasonably functional, the ship’s crew once more sailed towards Porto Blanco.