Page 55 of Monster's Pet

The difference in temperature was the first thing I noticed. It was colder than I’d expected, and I was even more thankful for the wetsuit. My feet, hands, and face felt the bite of cold, but the rest of me remained warm.

We kept swimming straight ahead, to where Professor Akhtar and the students who had gone ahead of us were bobbing in the water. Once we got closer, I saw that an Atlantean was next to our professor. She had a beautiful long, green tail and a large necklace with a shimmering blue jewel. Her torso was bare, and I wondered if she could feel the cold the way we did, or if she would think that our warm pool was boiling hot.

I greeted the Atlantean with the respectful gesture Professor Akhtar had taught us before joining my classmates to wait for everyone else.

Peering around, I couldn’t see much through the darkness. The portal was lighting up the area surrounding it, but beyond its light, everything got dimmer. It hadn’t occurred to me to put a sight spell on, and all the ones I knew involved speech of some sort.

I bit my lip.

Would we be able to see anything?

A tiny tug on my hand had me looking down at a young mer, their long hair rippling in the water. They handed me a chain and mimed putting it around their neck.

The instant I was wearing it, my sight improved, the darkness lifting.

“Thank you,” I signed to the child mer, who beamed at me.

I looked around eagerly, but there still wasn’t much to see. The rocky ocean floor wasn’t far below our feet, part of it circling naturally around the portal. With my sharper eyesight, I could make out the carvings in the rock, indicating land animals like dogs, humans, and birds. Tall plants grew from the seabed, waving slowly in the currents of the ocean.

I was glad I’d tied my hair back, so I didn’t have to deal with my hair blocking my vision, although it was cool to see some of my classmates with colorful halos.

Professor Puddlemoan was the last to exit the portal, and then he turned to shut it off. The glow stopped and I blinked a few times to adjust my vision.

Professor Akhtar waved his hands in the water over his head to get our attention. “Thank you for welcome,” he signed to the adult mer. “Much appreciation.”

The mer showed a sign of respect. “Much enjoyment. Name Aquilia.” She finger-spelled her name before giving the sign for it. “Surprise for you.” She gestured and the child mer swam up to her. “My child, Merle,” she signed as an introduction. “Gift tails for time here.”

My jaw dropped, hoping I understood correctly.

Professor Akhtar signed, “Mer tails for us?”

The mer smiled. “Safe. Reverse. Try?”

“Yes,” Professor Akhtar agreed.

The child gave him something I couldn’t quite make out. “Eat,” they signed.

The professor put the item in his mouth and started chewing. He smiled and signed, “Delicious,” making the child beam at him.

The effect took place slowly, rippling over his skin slowly from the center outward.

Probably originating from his stomach,I realized.Makes sense.

His legs fused together, a tail the color of his red wetsuit appearing, with long fins like the adult mer. He flicked it and flipped upside down, making everyone laugh.

He righted himself with difficulty, eyes twinkling with amusement. “Hard. You try.”

I nodded eagerly, holding out a hand for the child to give me the spell that would transform my body.

They pulled out more from the sack strapped to their body, handing them to my classmates.

I examined it once I got one. It was a small, round green ball, slightly sticky to the touch. I popped it into my mouth, a burst of flavors exploding on my tongue somewhere between apple, watermelon, and citrus. The change to my body started at my belly, a warmth spreading over me down to my toes.

I looked up at Aiden once I’d finished my transformation, eager to see what he looked like as a mer. He had a royal blue tail so dark that it almost matched his hair.

Mine was the same bright green I had been wearing. The torso of the wetsuit had melded with my skin, something I hadn’t realized would happen when I’d watched the professor’s transformation. It felt like I wasn’t wearing anything at all, even though my skin was now completely green. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but the mer had no problem with their nudity, so they probably hadn’t given it a second thought.

I was happy to notice that the cold had all but dissipated once my transformation was complete, which was a pleasant surprise.

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