As you and Rachel draw nearer to the figures on the rock ledge, you slow down. Then a thought hits you, and you stop.
"Hey! Wait a moment, Rach!"
She grinds to a halt, and wheels round. "Yes, Ben?"
"I can't remember seeing Deirdre and Felicia in the hall, when we woke up! They had settled down, last night, on the floor near to us."
"You're right! When I got up, my thoughts were just on me and you! Do you think, after the singing they both heard at the cliffs, that they...?"
"We haven't got that receipt with our coded list of names on us, right now," you grumble. "Still, if we can remember them, then they can't be transformed..." You fall silent, as centaur wisdom kicks in, filling your mind with new knowledge. From the expression on Rachel's face, you can tell she is experiencing the same sensation. Her next words confirm this.
"We won't forget them in any case..., because we are already transformed!" She claps her hands. "The Management staff aside, the memory-wipe enchantment affects only the unchanged... But me and you, Ben - we were the only ones in our party who were never affected by the amnesia... For example, I remembered Dick after he vanished, and before I saw him as a satyr..."
You click your fingers in realisation. "I know why, Rachel! It's because we were both nearly transformed ourselves, into satyrs! Surviving that ordeal has made us resistant to at least some of the enchantment on this island!"
"Got you!" Rachel shivers at the memory. "Brr! If we had succumbed to Cedius and his tribe... Well, we would never realise the freedom and enlightenment we have now, as centaurs!"
A shout from the waving figure on the rocky shore redirects your collective thoughts. Trotting over, you both see that the welcoming stranger is a young, brown-haired merman with rather feminine features. He is smiling, and lounging in the company of two bizarre-looking, bikini-clad mermaids. One has green-tinted brown hair and a green-scaled tail; and the other has blue-tinted black hair and a blue-coloured tail. Both mermaids smile and greet you.
"Bueno vistas! I'm glad to see you two enjoying yourselves." The merman grins, and speaks in a non-English accent that sounds familiar to you. "Let me introduce Sapphire and Emerald to you - two lovely ladies, who are born mermaids."
All three merfolk dip their fish tails into the incoming tide below the low rock ledge they are 'sat' upon. They project an image of grace and beauty - yet you sense they are troubled somehow.
"And you are...?" Rachel prompts the merman, as the tide licks at her legs and yours.
"You don't recognise me, do you, Rachel?" He smiles sadly.
Taken aback by his words, you carefully study the merman's face. The once-brown eyes are now a dark-blue colour, like his scales - but the Roman nose and chin are the same shape...
"Felicia...?" you gasp.
He giggles. "I guess I'm Felix, now! Still - I'm over the shock, amigos. I think there was always a part of me that wondered what it would be like to be male. Anyway, Deirdre and I both heard the song of the mermaids in our heads, last night, in our dreams. We woke up, and both snuck out whilst the centaur sentries weren't watching." 'Felix' shrugs. "We couldn't help it! We were compelled to come here, to be embraced by the mermaids. And now, my friends, ALL of our little gang belongs to the island! Only the mermaids didn't want us as sisters. We were required as BROTHERS - and lovers!"
Rachel gasps, and shoots her hands to her mouth. "Do you mean Deirdre is now a merman, too!? Where is she...? Or he...?"
Felix's face turns gloomy. "This is the important part, my friends. I'm not sure how to describe what happened..."