Making a Splash

A Royal Mess

Summer was in full bloom as Lily walked along the shore. With school out, she and her friends had far more time on their hands to go swimming out in the ocean. Cleo even joined them frequently, having finally been able to move past her sins from when she was forced to do Grimlur's bidding.

Today however was different. Emma was busy doing her summer homework and Marie and Cleo both had plans already for today. That left Lily alone. She didn't really have any plans for the day and she didn't want to do homework on such a beautiful day. So she decided that she would simply go swimming on her own for today. Even without her friends, there was still plenty she could explore.

With it being well into summer break, the beach was crowded with people. Not only were Malenia's residents out and about, but there were also people from out of town who simply wanted to enjoy a day at the beach. With extra eyes around, Lily made a mental note that she and her friends would probably have to be even more careful about sneaking into their secret cove without anyone noticing.

As she neared the spot on the boardwalk where she usually stepped onto the beach to reach the cove, Lily heard a commotion. A small crowd of people were gathered. Lily walked up to them curiously. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"There's trouble." one of the onlookers explained. "A child got swept out by the current."

"What?!" Lily gasped. She looked out towards the ocean where everyone's eyes were facing. True enough, there was what looked like a little girl flailing about in the ocean far from the shoreline.

The girl flailed around helplessly, struggling to stay afloat. "Help! Help!"

The lifeguards were already beginning to mobilize. It was too far out for them to safely swim and get the girl back, so they were preparing a canoe boat. Lily watched worriedly with the others, praying the lifeguards would reach her quickly. However, the waters seemed especially rough today. Just as the lifeguards were beginning to row out, the little girl's head went under the water. Several seconds passed without her resurfacing.

"Oh no!" a woman gasped.

Not thinking twice, Lily bolted. She ran to the cove and squeezed through the entrance. She undressed as quickly as possible, tossing her clothes onto the sand. The second her clothes were off, she dove into the water and transformed into a mermaid.

Lily moved through the narrow tunnel connecting the cove to the ocean as fast as she could. Once she was at the end, she pushed herself out and began swimming towards where she had seen the girl.

Moving her tailfin as fast as she could, Lily noticed the shadow of the lifeguards' boat making some headway. But as for whether or not they could arrive and find the girl before she drowned, Lily wasn't sure. It was up to her.

Lily reached the area where she estimated the little girl had been and began scanning the area. She soon found the girl towards the sandy ocean floor. She was floating around, completely still with her eyes closed.

Not wasting another second, Lily swam down and grabbed the girl by the arm. But what was she going to do now? She couldn't bring her up to the lifeguards without getting seen. And she didn't have magic like Marie to turn the girl into a mermaid. The cove was out of the question, as nobody would believe she simply washed along there. Besides, fitting the girl through the tunnel with her would take too long.

Lily thought as hard as she could. She had lived here all her life and knew this beach like the back of her hand. There had to be someplace she could bring the girl without being seen or arousing suspicion. Finally, she thought of a place. It was an area of the shoreline surrounded by a steep rocky hill. The only way there without going over the hills was going around by water. Nobody ever went there, outside of the rare beach barbeque after a boat ride.