"Michelle," Florencia spoke, "we have offered you a very generous gift. One that is rarely given to surface dwellers..."
"Please, let me go back to my wife," you pleaded.
Your walk by the seaside had brought several unexpected consequences down on you. You'd stumbled onto a group of mermaids, and ended up joining them, in more ways then one. You'd never imagined becoming something that was only in story books and had two interpretations. Walt Disney had mermaids and "mermen" as friendly and musical creatures who were fearful of humans and their activity. Ancient stories, however, had mermaids being far more threatening. The sirens that tempted Odysseus and all that. Yet, you were one. A mermaid and one with breasts that he would have drooled over as a man... and some of the others were even bigger in that department. Only Mary had a chest smaller then a D cup.
It was embarrassing and all you wanted to was to get away and forget about the mistake. Judging by the look Florencia gave you, "getting away" wasn't a likely option.
"I am trying to offer you a deal that will allow you do just that," Florencia spoke, "If you could only listen..."
"You're offering some deal that would KEEP me a mermaid," you challenged, "I don't want to be a girl... I don't want to be like this... I want to be with my wife."
You heard, but didn't notice a few sniffles coming from the other mermaids there.
"It is a compromise," Florencia replied remaining calm, "one that would also allow you to remain alive."
"Alive?!"
"We are a people that desire our own safety and prosperity," Florencia explained, still sounding calm, "and we know a lot about humans. Greedy, lustful, and poor swimmers. Our existence depends on humanity not knowing of our existence. If they did... we'd be fished out of our seas and put in tanks to either amuse you or be experimented on. We do not want people to know of us."
"Not all people are like that," you said weakly.
"Most are," Florencia dismissed it, "Some have been trustworthy and have tried to protect us wherever possible, but not all humans are like that. The boy who had first found and named us was killed when he tried to stop some leach of a man from killing Veronica."
"I'm not like that," you try, trying to get some way that would get them to change you back so you could forget all this.
"I've gotten the sense that you're not," Florencia answered, "but we can not take that chance. You've found us and encountered the magic that made you like us. We can not simply let you go. If you insist on not being a mermaid, we will grant your wish to be human... but you would never see your wife again..."
"What?"
"We are mermaids... sirens... upon your resumption of your male human form, one of us would have sex with you, and drain you of all your sexual and life energies," Florencia continued, her voice was both firm and authoritative, but still soft and loving... like a mother trying to explain things to a disobedient child, "all to protect our secret. That CAN NOT be changed. I am offering you a solution that will allow you to be with your wife and child and with us... thus our secret will be preserved and you will have your wife and your sisters."
You nervously glanced to the others. The blond, Elizabeth, looked like school girl about to lose her best friend.
"Please... take this option," Elizabeth urged as she moved forward, gripping at your hands, "I promise we'd love your wife just as much as we'll love you."
Something in the "puppy-dog" eyes she was giving you made you falter. You didn't know if it was part of their magic or something else... or maybe it was the fact that you didn't want to die.
"What do you want me to do?" you sighed.
"I will give you a twenty four hour clock," Florencia stated, "in that period you must collect your wife and return here with her. Once here, you will take her into the water and have sex with her. In doing so, you will activate the portion of your own siren magic and will transform her and the unborn child she carries. And the three of you may join your sisters."
You were silent for a moment. You didn't think your wife would want to become a mermaid, but then, you didn't want to die either. And that was the threat they had made if you rejected the deal. It was a lose lose scenario. Either you'd get your wife, but you'd be female for a very long time, or you'd be male, but dead.
"How would I even do that?" you ask, "you've turned me into a mermaid! I can't go on land."
That earned a chorus of giggles from all but Florencia.
"You must believe we're all like Ariel from Disney's movies... that we'd need Triton's trident to become human in form," Elizabeth giggled beside you.
She then began to pull you toward the shallows. Once there, she let go of you and using her arms pulled herself onto the sandy portion of the beach You watched in surprise to see her roll in the sand to dry her tail, and as it did, it became encased in a soft glow of light that matched the color of her tail. When the glow began to fade, you could see that her tail had split into two human legs and the fins at the end of her tail were reshaping into feet.
"We're much more like Madison from Splash," Elizabeth, now looking like a naked, busty, blond woman laying in the sand outside of the surf, "we can shift from human and mer forms..."
"Remember that the sirens from the Odyssey had legs, not tails," Florencia added from where the others were, "and Elizabeth, you know what you will HAVE to deal if Michelle doesn't bring her wife her to transform."
"Yes, Florencia," Elizabeth said grimly and in a manner that indicated that she didn't want to kill you.
You only sighed and began to climb out of the surf yourself. You found yourself surprised by how strong your arms were, and part of you enjoying the physical strength that was there, even though your body didn't look it.
"Come on, Michelle, we don't that much time," Elizabeth urged to you as you began to roll in the sand to dry off your own tail, "we only have twenty four hours."