Mermen on Accident (DNF Mermaid AU)

Land vs Ocean

George and I swim out of the cave hand in hand. We slowly get the hang of how to use our tails. I let the warning drums banging in my head, subside to the back of my mind and replace it with curiosity.

You would think being turned into a fish would scare the crap out of you, and it did, but I was too terrified to dwell on it. I wanted to explore it.

How did this happen in the first place? What kind of abilities does it wield? What else can I do besides breathe underwater?

I keep a hold on George so I don't lose him, and because I didn't want him to freak out. We make it out of the dark cove and into the open ocean. The water quickly lights up and we can see all the coral reefs on the ocean floor.

"Woah!" we gasp in unison.

We swim to look at the coral reef, and the exotic ocean life. The fish swim around us happily. George giggles as one swims into his hair and back out. I smile at a lingering green and yellow striped fish. A crab crawls into the sand to avoid our prying eyes.

George let's go of my hand and glides over to a school of fish. They swim around him, inspecting his sparkling blue tail and swimming around his small frame and flowing hair. I smile at the sight. I notice across his midriff, just above his tail, are stray blue scales winding up his bare chest. His hair has streaks of blue on the tips too.

He watches in awe as the fish swim away and he moves to look at more colorful reefs. I follow him as he gazes at tiny finger length fish eating at a bright pink coral reef. His eyes widen in awe at all the amazing things on the ocean floor.

I take a deep breath and think about the situation.

So, all I know is that we turned into mermen when we jumped into the ocean, we can breathe underwater, and it most likely happened because we entered a magical cave that somehow disappeared and no longer exists.

"George?"

His eyes jump to mine and I realize they are two different colors, one blue and one brown. The wide smile on his face fades as he notices my concerned facial expression.

"What should we do?" I ask.

He nods his head. "I've been thinking about that."

"I mean, I don't think it would be the best if we stayed in the ocean," I note.

"Well, it's not like we can walk on land," he says matter of factly, gesturing to his tail.

"Yeah. I know that, but... we're not fish. We can't stay here."

"Where else are we supposed to go?" He flicks his tail, gliding towards me.

"Can we at least try to go on land? Maybe since we're mermen, we can do magic or something? If we go on land we can try to cast a spell...?."

George's face goes flat. He raises one eyebrow.

"Do you have any better ideas," I ask with frustration.

He sighs. "I guess we can try it."

We swish our tails and swim straight up. Our heads poke out of the water and I instinctively take a breath. We paddle our way to shore. Once we reach the sand we army crawl until our tails are out of the water.

My breathing is labored as I twist to lay on my back. George follows my movements, also breathing hard. I notice that both of us are a lot longer with our tails. George looks almost six feet tall, if he could stand up, and I'm probably an extra four inches taller. 

"Was it really necessary to get all the way out of the water?" George says in between gasps of air.

"I don't know. I just did, because I like to make life hard."