The two women looked at each other for a moment, before shrugging in agreement, their tails once more reverting to legs. Sofia let out a little sigh of relief, havng briefly been afraid that they might refuse, or try to actively impede the teenagers. "Alright, good. Come on then, we'd better hurry - I don't want to imagine what all this cursed singing is waking up out in the depths."
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Meanwhile, in a distant little paradise...
"So I'm guessing that's not normal around here?"
"No, I would suppose not."
A deep, heavy sigh left Cassandra's mouth as she stared up at their latest problem. "Yeah, I figured it wasn't." She reached up to rub the back off her neck, wondering how in the hell she was supposed to deal with this. Sure, she was strong, superhumanly so, but... a WWII German Battleship with giant krakten tentacles coming out of the side, blasting shells from its massive cannons in all directions?
That was a bit much.
"Guess we can put aside peace between the tribes for now, huh?" Christ, this was all she needed. She'd actually been making some goddamn progress lately; all four elders had at least agreed to meet at the temple to discuss terms of a peace treaty. All four of them were also expecting to spend the nights there alone with the inhumanly sexy Champion, and she wasn't sure how to resolve that sitcom-tier problem yet, but, well, that would've been a lot easier to deal with than a giant battle-kraken. "I don't suppose you've got a single clue in fuck as to what might have caused this?"
Elizabeth looked up for a moment as they strolled down the beach, pondering various possibilities. "Well... I supposed if there was some great increase in the magical force within the oceans, it might... wake up a few slumbering creatures."
"Great Old Ones?"
"Great Old Ones."
"Cool. Always wanted to fight Cthlhu." She signed as she took the sword from her hip, gripping it tightly in one hand. "Aaaaand what could cause a whole lot more magic in the ocean?"
"Well, I suppose if there were suddenly millions of mermaids singing magical songs, it could happen. But I can't imagine millions of them simply appearing overnight."
"Uh-huh. Well, uh, why don't you brainstorm that, while I go deal with this?" She took a deep breath before charging out into the lapping waves, figuring that she might as well start by trying to stab this thing in the tentacles. That would probably do something.
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For the sake of preserving limited means of teleportation, the four of them found themselves taking Emma's car to the beach. It was a bit cramped, but the roads were at least clear for the most part - very few people were actually out driving under current conditions. Every now and then, they would pass what seemed to be some kind of quarantine checkpoint set up by the Police or National Guard, but not a single cop or soldier was around to man it. Or woman it, as would be more accurate to say given current alterations to the gender distribution of the United States.
The beach, however, was another story. The parking lot was well and tryly packed, and even the streets were filled with abandoned vehicles, forcing them to park some distance from the actual beach itself. It seemed as if they were only the latest people to come flooding out to the shore; thousands more had already been drawn here by newfound mermaid instincts, seeking out the oceans with incredible fervor.
A fraction of those who had come seeking the embrace of the sea were still along the beach... but this was enough to leave it jam-packed like never before. Thousands of women could be seen in all directions, the vast majority of them nude and in their varying fishy forms. Tales, tentacles, fins, gills, all proudly on display as they writhed in the sand and lapped up the waves. Some were merely enjoying the sun, others were pleasuring themselves, and quite a few were locked in orgies of mind-boggling size.
"...I'm just saying, maybe this isn't so..." Rhonda didn't even bother finishing her sentence, nor turning to see exactly how Sofia was glaring at her. "Alright... Millie, you want to show us where you heard this singing?"
The rainbow-haired woman nodded, quickly heading off in that direction with Emma's hand in her own. Rhonda couldn't help but notice that she wasn't even glancing at all the gorgeous woman out on the beach, a fact that was... surprising. Rhonda was certainly staring, and even Sofia's anti-lust spell couldn't keep her from peeking at some of the displays. It took her another few moments to realize that Emma was just as disinterested in everything... huh. Could've just been that they were the first victims... but maybe whatever they shared was enough to kill their interest in other women. Good for them, she supposed.
It took a little while, due to the difficulty in sifting through the hordes of women on the beach, but finally they reached a collection of boulders around which had congregated a gaggle of mermaids groping at each other. "Okay," Millie explained, "This was where I heard it. I turned right over there... but I don't know what you're gonna find. That was yesterday, and I mean... the mermaid who sang to me might be around, but... which one could she even be?"