Monica looked outside of Damon's apartment building, taking a long sigh of defeat as she looks down at her shoes. Sulking over what she had done to Damon weeks ago.
She broke up with Damon after feeling as if their relationship wasn't working out and that she was seeing somebody. Ironically, those reasons were the exact same excuses that 'somebody' used when he broke up with Monica just a few hours ago.
Monica felt awful about her heart being broken, but she felt even worse knowing she inflicted that same pain onto Damon. She felt as if she had to see him again.
Best case scenario, she would be given a second chance and things would go back to normal. Worst-case scenario…
Monica shook her head from her negative thoughts. She had to talk to Damon, for closure's sake.
Once she stood in front of the door to Damon’s apartment, Monica was surprised to see that the door opened easily once she knocked on the door.
“Hello?”, Monica questioned as she stepped onto Damon’s home.
“Damon are you home? I really need to talk to you.”
Monica walked throughout the place to discover that Damon wasn’t home. She was worried, it wasn’t like Damon to simply leave his apartment door unlocked- He cared about his security.
It was then that Monica looked a dirty lamp sitting upon the floor. She was curious by its mystical look and tried to clean it with her shirt when smoke came out and a genie appeared.
Monica gasped and fell on the floor in shock as she looked at the magical woman.
“W-What are you?” Monica said.
“Hello, miss. I am the genie of the lamp. I can grant you any wish. However, I am limited to three and you can't wish for any more wishes.” The Genie spoke.
Monica was confused. “Genie… Wishes?! What are you talking about?”
The Genie was amused by Monica’s shocked reaction. “I thought I made it clear, didn’t I?”
“Don’t play smart with me. What are you doing in Damon’s apartment?” Monica snapped,
“Oh, Damon? He’s my master. Or, should I say… She’s my master.” The Genie replied.
Monica’s eyes widened. “She?! Where is my boyfriend?”
“Your ex-boyfriend isn’t really a boy anymore. Damon wished to become a mermaid that lived underwater, so I granted it.” The Genie said.
“A mermaid… But why?” Monica cried.
“Your break-up with Damon really hurt her. So she became a mermaid to indulge in her childhood dreams. She’s quite the beautiful mermaid as well. Last I checked, she managed to woo a prince of a merkingdom and is pregnant with a royal baby. From what I can tell, she seemed to have moved on from you just fine.” The Genie replied.
Monica felt as if she was hit by a truck. She not only hurt and cast aside a man she loved but said man changed their entire identity into a mythical creature just to be able to move on. The boyfriend she once nurtured and cared for, and had cared for her back, was now gone forever. Monica buried her face into her hands and sobbed.
For a brief moment, The Genie smirked at the waterworks but soon felt guilty once she realized that Monica’s tears were those of mourning - mourning for the loss of a man that she once passionately loved. The Genie approached the crying Monica and hugged her.
“There, there, Monica. I know it’s hard to accept someone’s wish, but Damon’s OK now. She’s happy with her merboyfriend under the sea and is even going to have a wedding with a baby in her arms. She’s happy now.” The Genie whispered as she patted Monica’s back.
Monica’s voice wavered. “N-no. You don’t understand! I… I should’ve been the one carrying the baby. I had something with Damon and I ruined it! Damon was my one true love and now he’s never coming back and it’s all my fault!”.
The Genie could hear Monica sobbing harder, likely thinking of the many scenarios that she would’ve taken to prevent that break up. “Damon’s not gone, Monica. She’s still alive and flourishing. While you may not be able to make Damon fall in love with you again, you can still talk to her and bring closure between what happened.”
Monica sniffled. “But how? She’s a mermaid and I’m a human.”
The Genie let go of her embrace and gently brought up Monica’s tear-streaked face to look at The Genie. “Damon and her fiance, Prince River, are having a royal ball soon to celebrate her pregnancy. You can talk to her and tie up the loose ends you two have over the breakup. The only challenge with that is that you would need to be in a relationship with a merprince in order to be accepted entry.”
Monica’s eyes widened and looked over her body. “A relationship with… A Merman prince?! I can’t even keep a long-lasting relationship with a normal human man. A merman is extremely out of my league, let alone one who’s royalty. I’m hopeless...”
“I wanted you to say that!” The Genie said eagerly.
The Genie snapped her fingers and, upon hearing the snap, Monica felt strange and backed away from The Genie.
“What… what’s going on? Why do I feel so… off?” Monica asked.
“Let’s just say that your pleas made me feel a bit sympathetic. Genies almost never do this, but I’m willing to give you a freebie and turn you into a beautiful mermaid without using any of your three wishes. This one’s on me.” The Genie explained.
Losing balance, Monica fell on her backside. Feeling quite hot, she looked down at her body to see that the skin of her legs was changing texture and color extremely fast.
“Thank you so much, Genie. But this still feels weird.” Monica said as she was losing mobility in her legs.
“You’ll get used it, dear. You’ll find that a tail will feel better than a pair of legs eventually.” The Genie replied.
“What?” Monica asked as, from the waist down, she had no control over her body. Her legs took on more of a violet tone as its skin now grew scales. Her legs began to move by themselves together and even began to fuse into each other.
“Oh dear, oh dear!” Monica cries out as The Genie makes her way towards the half-mermaid and bends down beside her.
“Don’t worry, Monica. Everything will be worth it. Look even your hair is a long lovely shade of blonde now.” The Genie said.
“Are you sure a merman prince can fall in love with me?” Monica questioned as her feet and toes vanished into one solid mass that her legs were becoming.
“There are 50 merkingdoms with many princes looking for a mate as they approach your age. I don’t want to make this feel like a guarantee, but I’m sure you’ll find a merman fit for you.” The Genie explained.
Monica couldn’t believe it, she was turning into some sort of fish person just so she could have a chance to meet her ex-boyfriend. But her need to have closure with Damon immediately outweighed her hesitance. If she had to be a mermaid, then so be it, she will be a mermaid.
As her tailfin grew up from the scaly mass of her body and fanned out, her hands became webbed while her ears pulled to be pointed fins sticking up from her hair and gills opened on her sides.
Monica was now a mermaid. Finally able to move her lower body, Monica was awed at what she had become. She looked so beautiful that she refused to believe that the mermadic body she had was even hers but it was.
The slight breeze moving through Monica’s long strawberry blonde hair, the increased hearing she was given by her finned hears, the comfiness of the two seashells covering her ample breasts without any need for a bra strap, the pulsing of the gills that supplied her body with extra air, and the feeling of her long violet-scaled tail flopping against the apartment floor… It all felt real.
Before she could thank The Genie, Monica heard a snap of the fingers and she was immediately teleported to the sea. Monica looked around to find she was in the middle of the ocean, miles away from any human, but she didn’t mind.
The peacefulness of the ocean gave Monica the state of mind needed to think of her next move.