For a moment, Anna's mind was blank. But soon came back to life as she felt her tailfins flap and splash on the water's surface. Eric lightly touched her tailfins and Anna gasped at the sensitivity, her fins were much more sensitive than her old human feet.
This wasn't a dream. This was real. She was a mermaid, a real life mermaid.
Curious, Anna laid a careful hand on her hand and immediately retracted it upon feeling the thick slime on her tail. Even though she touched it for a moment, she could tell her tail wasn't going to dry out into a pair of human legs like in the movies.
Eric wanted to make sure it wasn't just a costume or hallucination that he's projecting on a human girl due to his lack of game with mermaids underwater. His hands explored and stroked the hard fish scales that completely covered the area that her legs once occupied not too long ago. Once his finger grazed upon a tiny opening that made Anna jolt up, he knew this was tail was for real.
"Anna. I'm... I'm..."
"It's okay, Eric." Anna said calmly.
Eric was a bit baffled by this. She had every right to panic and scream, to try and escape from the beach in a futile attempt to turn back into a human again.
"What do you mean, Anna? Your legs are gone. " Eric said with a tinge of guilt in his voice. Even though he didn't try to harm Anna, he couldn't help but feel complicit her invuluntary transformation.
But Anna continued to smile as she used her tail for the very first time to embrace Eric and kiss his chest.
"It's fine, Eric. Really. I know you didn't mean to do anything to hurt me."
Anna looked right at Eric's eyes. "But I still want to know how this could've happened. I didn't feel my legs transforming at all. How is it possible?"
Eric's heart started to beat. He had no idea how this could've happened either. He sighed and decided to try and give her at least some type of response.
"To be honest, I don't know. However, I do know mermaids can transform men into mermen using a starfish."
Anna's eyes started to widen like a kid getting a new toy. "Woah, mermaids can do that?"
He nodded. "Yes. But I don't know how mermen transform women into... Well, you know what."
As if on cue, Anna's tailfins briefly rose up to breach the water's surface before returning back down into the deep. Anna giggled at that, but she could see that Eric had a rather mournful expression on his face.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Eric tried to look away but he knew Anna wanted to finally know why he was brused up in the first place.
"Do you really want to know?" He asked.
Anna nodded.
"I used to know a mermaid named Clia. She was gorgeous and I wanted her to be my mate. But she transformed a human man into a merman and he took her away from me."
Anna's eyes turned to sympathetic. "Oh no..."
Eric clenched his fist as his deep hatred for that merman was starting to return, but he paused let out a deep sigh. "I hate that merman. Clia was mine. We both had something until that merman swam in. "
"And that bruise you got?" Anna whispered.
"Clia gave it to me." Eric said, sniffing.
Anna was silent, wanting to let him continue just a bit more.
"She gave it to me on the first day of the merfolk mating season. Everyone under the sea is making love except me." Hot tears of rage and sadness fell upon his face.
Eric laid his face on his hands. "I ruined my chance with Clia forever. She's with him now. I lost my trident, I have no way to pleasure myself and all I'm probably going to die alone with no kids. I'm a failure."
Anna was silent as she swam up to Eric gave him a hug. "I don't think you're a failure, Eric."
Eric looked at Anna with tears in his eyes. "Anna... please..."
"Eric, I can't imagine what it was like to a heart torn like that. But I trust you. I really do." Anna spoke with sincerity in her voice.
The merman wiped his eyes as he looked at his newfound mermaid. "You really mean that?"
Anna nodded eagerly. "I'm a new mermaid here. I have no idea of how the mating season works or even what's life is like underwater. But I'd love to have you as my guide. "
Eric's was starting to smile again. He gently held Anna's hand. "Anna, I'll do my best to make this... thing work."
Anna excitedly coiled her tail around Eric's muscular scaly limb and gave him a long passionate kiss.
Before Eric could react, Anna spoke up with a grin. "Listen, I may not be this 'Clia' and you may not be her merman. But I'd love you to take me to where merfolk mate. I want the two of us to show those two who's boss once we have a bunch of fertilized eggs to call our kids. Wouldn't that be nice?"
Eric's smile reaches his eyes at that exciting thought. In less than a minute, he was diving underwater with Anna by his side.
Anna couldn't exactly describe the feeling she had in her stomach, but something told her that the merfolk mating season was going to feel good. Really good.