You start to feel strange. Very strange indeed. Your mind feels very, very foggy too. You can barely concentrate. The shopkeeper girl presents you with various objects to complete your costume. You try to focus as said objects swim before your eyes. You grab the seashell, called a triton. Then the woman asks you sweetly if you would like to sit down and you nod feebly. She brings a chair and you sit, clutching your head, still very much in a daze. Also, your skin and muscles feel like it's hit by a series of cramps - dull pains though. The world seems larger at that to. And your mother is dry. The shopkeeper kindly says she will give you a drink as you attempt to speak. You thank her feebly, noticing how squeaky your voice is. Is there something wrong with your throat? Oh, and why is this woman so tall and big? Was she like that before? You cannot really remember.
As you wait for the glass of water, you gaze absent-mindedly downwards. Your limbs seem skinnier than before and... Wait! Where did your arm and leg hair go? Was it shaved!??! When???!!!! And how come you did not notice it??!! And... And the toga fits you much more now! How come? This is crazy! And then you see something worse.
You see scales on your legs. Actual scales, blue-green ones! You touch them tentatively. It's actually true! Your suspicions are correct! You have grown fish scales upon your body! And they are spreading! Spreading up your legs and to your crotch! A crotch that has no more hair and a puny penis and a bald sack supposed to be a scrotum. You scream in terror and glimpse yourself in the mirror. You're a kid, no more than ten! And you have scales covering your body, along with gills and fins on your neck and ears. You stare dumb-struck at your hands and feet, which are now webbed. You are a mercreature of some sort! Actually, you are a mythological triton, but that is beyond your immediate concerns for now. You still have a collar but that is forgotten. You are so panicked that you do not hear the lady coming back and making you sip a liquid that tastes like seawater. Seawater that does not taste THAT bad, to your surprise. But then the world fades even more and everything turns to black, the woman's smile the last thing you see. You are still a slave and about to get sold.