“Umm… Sorry, Caroline. I got carried away,” you mutter sheepishly.
Caroline judges your expression - then comments wryly. “Well… I saw your transformation, Neil. It did seem to be quite…wondrous. Is there room for three tails in this pool of mine, do your think, Topaz?”
The mermaid giggles. “Certainly! I am ready to transform you, Caroline. Would you like Neil to help in the process?”
You silently hope that she does…
“I’ll let Neil do the kissing and tail-wrapping.” Your friend manages to smile at you. She drops the towel – and you notice that she’s wearing only a gold and green-coloured bikini top. You like what you see, and you are eager to take in what Caroline would look like as a mermaid.
Summoning her courage, she leaps into the swimming pool, then resurfaces. When she is ready, Topaz draws alongside her, and performs the same yoga-like technique – mentally preparing your friend for the change. Then she discharges a surge of magic from her pressed hand onto Caroline’s legs. They now glow a blue-green colour, and the energy reaches out to embrace all of Caroline.
“Oh, god!” She sucks in her breath, as she basks in the invigorating waves of power now changing her body. Within the magical glow you see skin growing inbetween Caroline’s legs, linking them. The cells of her dissolving feet and ankles reshape themselves into a caudin fin, just as scales start to appear below her hips…
Smiling in approval, you glide across to Caroline as Topaz backs away. Touching cheek to cheek, you gently wrap your beautiful tail around Caroline’s transforming legs, sealing them together. For her part, she is trembling - and she hugs you gratefully.
“You look gorgeous, Neil…,” she sighs.
“So will you. Just relax,” you reassure her. You part your lips in invitation.
Caroline and you lock mouths together. Holding onto her tightly, you sink vertically to the bottom of the pool. Eyes now impervious to stinging water, you see Caroline’s pelvic fins grow into place, just as the glow disappears from her.
You break lip-contact with Caroline. Her eyelids flutter open as she realises she is still breathing. She feels the pulsating gills on her neck, below her floating ginger-brown hair – then she examines the fins on her forearms.
Grinning, you release your tail from Caroline’s lower body – to reveal a fully-formed mermaid’s tail, her bright aqua-blue scales the same colour as yours and Topaz’s. Caroline bends her new, flexible limb and feels her scales in growing wonder – then smiles broadly and kisses you. She tries to say “Thank you”, but only bubbles come out from her mouth. You guess Topaz can teach you both how to communicate underwater, later on.
After taking a tour of the pool in her mermaid form, Caroline takes your hand. You rise together, to meet up with Topaz. She is pleased with your joyful expressions.
“Well, friends. You are now experiencing what it is like to be merfolk! I trust you will take me back to the sea? Maybe even join me there, one day?”
“We’ll ensure that you get back home.” Caroline speaks for both of you, once she has stopped grinning with happiness. “But I can’t promise anymore, personally, just now.” She turns to you. “How do you feel about this, Neil?”
“I love this body!” you confess. “But giving up on life as a human, for good…? I’ll need to seriously think about it.”
Caroline nods. “I want to spend some time alone with Topaz, Neil. A mermaid-to-mermaid chat, if you like. Tell you what – fix up a meal for us all! Perhaps Topaz could do with some seaweed – a quick trip to the supermarket will help.”
“Okay, I’ll excuse myself.” You use the handrails to pull yourself out of the pool. It’s difficult without the use of any feet – but you manage it. Flopping onto the pool side, you wait for your tail to dry.
You, Caroline and Topaz watch as your scales become hard in the late-afternoon sunlight. They then start to disappear, along with your gills and fins – and your sleek, graceful tail splits into two. The piscine tissue that had grown over your male equipment shrinks out of sight – and you get up on your reformed feet. You have hard bones, knees, and ankles once more – Topaz’s magic has been flawless both ways. The only thing that marks the fact you were…changed…is the absence of any hair on your legs. The skin there is now smooth.
Waving back at the mermaids, you slip into the house with your towel to dry off, don your clothes once more, and walk out to do your shopping trip.