“Neil! Caroline!” Topaz is delighted to see you – and is further pleased when Chen kisses her, then wraps the pool side mermaid in a damp towel. He manages to lift her up, and Topaz begins smooching him with abandon. You and Caroline share raised eyebrows – evidently Chen has fallen for the mermaid’s beauty and charm; and Topaz has set her heart on him, in turn.
“Right! So far, so good. Where to now, Chen?” you ask, sweating nervously. You are still watching over the gagged Doctor Bright. “The full moon will soon claim me and Caroline again!”
“Ahh, yes! Speed is of the essence. So…, this way.” Chen rushes over to the far side of the pool room – the same room where you first met Topaz. At his nod, Caroline pushes open the double doors – activating the fire alarm in the in the process.
Outside, your group – with Chen (carrying Topaz) in the lead – runs over to the jutting cliffs overlooking the sea. Nearby, a guard gives a cry. Reinforcements are on their way…
Chen, Topaz, Caroline, and you all look at each other.
“Well, this is it, then. It’s goodbye to life on land for us!” you point out. “But what about you, Chen?”
“I’m coming with you!” The young Oriental smiles. “Topaz has asked me to become her merman companion – and I’ve accepted her offer!”
Topaz beams. “That is right. The only one staying here is that repulsive woman,” she nods towards the Doctor, whose arms you holding tightly together behind her back.
Caroline steps up to Stella Bright. “Ungag her, Neil. She needs to learn how she made us feel,” she announces calmly.
Nodding, you remove the gag.
Doctor Bright sucks in her breath, and spits at Chen. “Traitor!” she hisses. “Well - you have me at your mercy, you mutts. Kill me, then! But in doing so, you’ll be abandoning the last of your humanity. And even werewolves won’t survive swimming in the sea!”
“We will.” You smirk at the Doctor.
“And we’re not going to kill you. You’re just going to explain yourself to the government for your drug-trafficking. Oh – and you’ll be taking OUR place in any future experiments!” Caroline declares. She nods to you, giving a hard smile, as she holds the Doctor in place.
Understanding her, you concentrate hard, and manage to shift into your wolf man persona – your clothes merging with your body. Snarling, you bite the screaming Doctor on her shoulder, with relish.
“No! I don’t want to be a werewolf!” Doctor Bright tries to squirm out of Caroline’s firm grip.
“Then you can redirect your cleverness into finding a cure! Good riddance, Doctor!” Shoving her roughly to one side, Caroline smiles and strokes your facial fur. With an effort, you reassume human form, your clothes re-forming on you.
Doctor Bright curses you all, as she clutches at her bleeding shoulder wound. The guards are now coming out of the manor, and sprinting towards your group, in the fading light. On the eastern horizon, the moon will be rising before long…
“Chen and I are ready to go!” Topaz twitches – eager to escape this place, for good.
“So are we, I guess.” Caroline gives a wistful smile, and holds your hand tightly. You nod.
“Farewell, cruel world!” Chen leaps over the cliff edge, still holding Topaz in his arms. Seconds later, you and Caroline jump together - with a cry of exhilaration. The four of you splash into the deep bay below, avoiding the rocks.
Feeling your gills form, Caroline and you let go of each other’s hand. Still in human form because of you wearing clothes, you both aid the revitalized Topaz in carrying Chen directly out to sea. She kisses him, and applies her magical touch to his neck…
Chen’s eyes flicker open, and he feels his new gills with delight. Once you have all swam far enough, leaving the bay behind, Topaz stops and addresses you all underwater – using her mind. With your eyes no longer blinking from the sea water – you, Caroline, and Chen rest on the sea bed.
‘Since you three have been touched by my magic, we can communicate with each other in the water – like this!’ Topaz informs you all. ‘Neil and Caroline – take off your clothes, so that you can assume merfolk shape for the second time. There is a tiny island close by, which is only inhabited by birds – but has a cove large enough to shelter you. There, you will revert into landfolk, and my magic on you will be spent - before the moon transforms you into your wolf forms.’
‘Good thinking.’ Caroline nods brightly. ‘We will be marooned, as werewolves, for the night – unable to hurt anyone! What about food, though?’
‘I will provide fish for you,’ Topaz replies. ‘Then, when you are human again in the morning, I shall convert you both permanently into my kindred! You will become fully-fledged merfolk!”
You and Caroline smile in relief.
‘What about you, Chen?’ you think to him.
He looks to Topaz for the answer. In response, she takes his hand and beams at him. ‘You will soon be a merman too, Chen! We just need some privacy – once we know our friends are safe and sound!’ Winking at you and Caroline, Topaz then swims off with a grinning Chen.
‘Well, Neil… That just leaves us.’ Caroline gives you a flirtatious look.
‘Right…,’ you think back. You and Caroline get to work, and undress each other underwater. You both pause only briefly to exchange deep kisses, as the two of you discard the garments of your human lives for the last time. Now totally naked, Caroline and you feel relief as the pressure in your bodies ebbs, now that there are no clothes to prevent the sea water from morphing your forms.
Your legs are drawn together, and merge. The bones within you soften, before re-hardening to partially form the spine of a fish’s tail. Your feet shapeshift into your caudal fin, and the brilliant blue scales magically form on you once more from the waist down. Protective piscine tissue grows over your male equipment, and hides it from view. Meanwhile, Caroline’s legs dissolve seamlessly into her now-scaled blue tail – and within the minute you are both temporary merfolk once more. Suddenly the sea water doesn’t feel as cold as it did a moment ago – instead, it is energising and clear to your adapting eyes. You feel as though you are at home in the sea.
‘I’ll race you to that island, C!’ you announce to Caroline, by telepathy. Knowing just where to go, you set off, thrashing your sleek tail. Smirking, your beloved gives chase after you – and she cuts through the sea as majestically as yourself.
You both reach the rocks of the isolated island at the same time. Rolling yourselves out of the seawater, you and Caroline watch as your tails dry and reform into pink human legs once more. Then the rising gibbous moon pulls itself free of the clouds on the horizon, and it claims you both with its pure light.
Fins and gills disappear on both of you – to be replaced by the onset of hairy pelts and lupine tails, pointed ears, and fang-filled muzzles. Now baring four legs each, the howls of you and your mate are drowned by the crash of waves upon the cove where you take shelter for the night. And true to her word, Topaz pops up out of the water nearby, and throws some fish for you two to eat.
After eating your fill, Caroline and you snuggle down in-between some dry rocks, and keep each other warm. Eventually, you both fall asleep.