"Problem: Arawak is... a special place." Rachel and Naomi had gathered as much, but they let Stacy continue. "You can see what the enchantment does - it makes you into a mermaid, with a tail that suits whoever you are as a person, and it exemplefies your best asset, be it your ass, or..." She trailed off as she realized the true enormity of Rachel's rack. "Or gigantic boobs... that... somehow lift themselves up..."
A clearing of the throat brought her back onto task. "Right, sorry. See, unlike normal curses, I can't really undo what Arawak does. Nobody can - it's not the sort of enchantment then you can just dispel at will. Now, the upside - it's like that because this?" She gestured to their tails. "This is a temporary thing. Eventually, the magic will wear off, you'll revert back to normal, with legs again and everything - and if you get lucky, it might even let you retain your enhanced... assets."
"Huh." Rachel scratched the back of her head. "That... that doesn't seem so bad." She'd have liked to get back to having Naomi's long, sexy legs wrapped around her body right then and there, but as long as that happened eventually, she supposed it wasn't a catastrophe. Moving her hand back down to squeeze Naomi's fish-butt, though, she had to ask the obvious question as the speedster tried not to squeal with delight. "How long does it take before it wears off?"
Stacy shrugged. "Isn't much more than an hour, usually." Oh thank god. "As long as you don't have an orgasm while you're wet with the Arawak water, it'll pretty much revert as soon as you're dried off."
The two girls froze, staring at Stacy.
"Um."
Their friend's eyes widened. "You didn't."
Rachel winced.
"Oh fuck." She let out a long sigh. "Yeah... so... bit of a thing here. Arawak's effects are temporary... but... sexual release... that seals it in." She swallowed audibly. "If you have an orgasm while it's turned you into a mermaid... that's it. You don't come back from that. You're stuck, forever, and no force in the universe is changing that."
Rachel's head was starting to spin. She'd been a superhuman, for, what, a few hours? And she'd already screwed up irrevocably? She looked down to Naomi, finding that ths speedster was starting to breath a little heavy, holding onto her girlfriend for dear life. "Y-you mean... I never... I never get to run... I... I can't..." Tears were starting to well up. "But... I..."
"Hey hey hey." Stacy quickly pulled herself over, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay. I know this is super scary - I went through the same thing when I got permanently turned. But you'll be okay - I promise." She smiled. "You've still got your speed, I'm here to help, and you're gonna be going through this with an awesome girlfriend."
Scrunching up, Rachel looked about ready to cry herself. "Wouldn't say I'm awesome," she muttered, hugging Naomi tight. "I... it... it was my fault. I dared her to come out here... a-and... and now..."
"Stop that right now." Stacy gave her a stern but understanding gaze. "It happened. You can't take it back. If you feel guilty... then you do everything you can to make it right, starting by being there for the girl you like." She looked between both of them as she started conjuring up another watery portal. "Look - I'm gonna take you home, and we're gonna figure this out, okay?"
The two shaken teens nodded, allowing Stacy to envelop them in her oceanic magic. Instantly they found themselves teleported far away, back home to the pool in the backyard of the Clark home - and their timing proved impeccable, as they arrived just at the right moment for a returning Anastasia and Veronica to glance out the window and see them dragging themselves onto the edge of the pool. Suffice to say, there was a bit of shock as they rushed out to find their daughters sporting fish tails.
One explanation from Stacy later, and both Athena and Superluminal were stripped down to swimsuits and sitting next to their daughters at the water's edge, looks of great concern on their faces. It was evident that they hadn't been expecting this development - they were superheroes, certainly, well-accusotmed to the bizarre, but it wasn't as if their own flesh and blood becoming aquatic creatures was a thing they were constantly preapred for.
An awkward silence hung over the air for a few moments before Veronica finally spoke up. "Okay... okay." She drew in a breath then let it out in that long, I-am-trying-not-to-blow-a-gasket way. "I... I am not mad at either of you, okay, girls. I want to make that clear. I. Am. Not. Mad."
Anastasia joined in, "Neither am I."
Neither girl looked convinced, but they were feeling too sheepish to argue. "That being said... you both need to take this lesson to heart." Veronica raised both eyebrows. "Not just that you shouldn't fuck around with magic. You need to think before you act - there's a lot of crazy shit out there, and we're not always going to be here to keep you both safe. If that lake had some sort of death enchantment instead...."
She sighed. "Just... just hang out back here for today, okay? We'll... we'll talk to some people in Atlantis, figure out... I don't know." It wasn't often that California's greatest protector was at a loss for a plan of action, but this was one of those times. She stood up, heading back inside with Anastasia hot on her heels - neither of them claimed to be angry, but they sure as hell didn't look happy about this turn of events.
The trio of teenagers remained still before Naomi finally said something. "So. That went... okay."
"Yeah. Okay." Rachel shrugged. "They're pissed."
"Oh they definitely are, but not at you," Stacy chimed in as she slipped back into the water, floating freely in the pool. "More at the circumstances, I think. They were probably expecting you to join the Pacific League, not end up with the Deep Blue Patrol."
Naomi raised an eyebrow. "I... guess.... that's... that's the only team we could join now..."
"Hey, it's a fantastic team," Stacy said with a reassuring smile. "C'mon - how about we take a quick trip to the HQ? I can show you around... and, hey, deep ocean is a great place to learn the ropes of being a mermaid. Might even be fun." The girls were hesitant for a moment, but finally both nodded, jumping back into the water and following after Stacy as she opened another portal to the coastal base of the Deep Sea Patrol.