The energy was gathering in the palm of the mermaid as the new mermaids and merman huddled together in fear. Suddenly their was a flash as the ball of energy shot up before exploding with a gentle pop causing small orbs to fall around them like rain.
“Well that should work now.” Said the mermaid in a rather beautiful voice. “Hello, I am Mage Priestess Rin, who are you?”
“What…” said James
“Don’t worry we aren’t going to hurt you.” Said the merman with the facial tattoo.
“How could you say that when we are now this?” inquired Zoey
“That was an unfortunate accident, if we had found the little one before it could have been found by you or anyone else you wouldn’t even have learned merpeople are real.” Said Rin
“Damn back to nature movement.” Said the older merman
“What is going on?” inquired Chloe “And how can we understand you now?”
“Well we can understand each other because I cast a translation spell, that should work for a couple of days but in time you will learn to speak our language.” Stated Rin “As to what happened to cause this, it wasn’t us but the baby you found.”
They parted to look at the little baby still pressed to Chloe’s chest, if Chloe’s idea was correct that the tail form told the gender then it was a little mermaid who was snuggling against her.
“Every mermaid and merman baby, has natural magical abilities. Most scholars believe as do the priestess and priests that it is a defense left over from the ancient past when we had to worry more about sharks and the like.” Explained Rin
“Like how ancient humans had to worry about being attacked by bears and wolves when they left the cave.” explained the merman again.
“In order to give itself the best chance to survive the baby’s magic can transform whoever finds it into merpeople so that they can watch over it.” explained Rin “It has no control over it and it happens naturally.”
“So the claps?” inquired Chloe
“That was it using it’s magic.” confirmed Rin “She made a new family for herself, you all.”
“So it’s a magical adoption?” inquired Zoey
“Not really an adoption, because the baby changes itself as well.” said Rin “With everything going on I am sure you hadn’t noticed but look closer at the child.”
Everyone did, the baby was still a mermaid with blonde hair the same shade as Chloe with a tail heavy on golds and yellows like Chloe but with some blacks mixed in like Luke.
“Her tail, it isn’t blue anymore and the hair has changed.” stated Nathan
“Yes, she is your sister now…her very blood…or DNA as you would call it on the surface has been transformed to be as if she was born from your parents.” explained Rin “By law and custom, she is yours now.”
“I know this will be a shock and an adjustment but there is no way back, you are merpeople for the rest of your lives and we will make sure you have the best life you can possible have and likely you will have a better life with us.” Stated the merman “Once we get back to the city there will be time to explain more and to help adjust you to your new lives.”
“Wait…wait…wait.” Countered Lily “You can’t just change as us back? You have magic.”
“No, we can’t most merpeople loss their magical abilities around 7 or 8, those who retain it like me are trained in how to use it but transforming merpeople back into humans is beyond what any of us is capable of and any attempts to do so has ended in death.” Stated Rin
“But we have lives…family…jobs…” started Lily
“I am truly sorry, we will contact the surface and they will come up with a cover story about how you died…likely given the numbers here a fire at some house.” Explained the Merman “Now I need your names.”
Slowly everyone gave their names, as a different mermaid wrote it down on what looked to be some kind of green paper note pad.
“Wait…what happened to the mermaid’s parents wouldn’t they want her back?” inquired Molly
“No…her parents…well her birth parents where part of a movement called back-to-nature.” Said the merman with a roll of his eyes “They want to give up on all technology and society and get back into contact with mother-nature and live in caves and the like away from the cities and all the protection they bring.”
“So they are like hippies?” inquired James
“Don’t know what Hippies are.” Countered the merman “But they fail to realize part of the reason we live in cities and communities is to avoid things like sharks. We found their bodies and given the birth mother had a child sling on we knew their was a baby about. We are the search team.”
“Oh…” said Chloe as she looked down at the little baby girl, the orphan mermaid who had transformed them into merpeople and herself into her and Luke’s daughter.
“Now….it’s a long journey to our nearest community so and we don’t want to keep a constant eye on you.” Said Rin as energy began to gather in her hand again. “Why don’t you rest.”
“Wait…I still have more…” started Zoey as the energy shot out again. This time however it was a wave which hit all of them. Their eyes felt heavy as one by one all of them began to find themselves passing out. Chloe somehow managed to keep her eyes opened long enough to see Rin casting another spell, floating platforms appeared under each of them, she settled on it beside her husband and son with the new daughter still in her arms. She could see her sister-in-law and girlfriend lying on one together while her in laws where on another. A sort of magical rope went to Rin’s hand as they began to be pulled through the water toward wherever they were going.
Finally she couldn’t keep her eyes opened anymore as darkness took her.