Midnight (DISCONTINUED, INCOMPLETE)

6 || Stolen Ending

"What in all of Somniox is going on here?"

Ash blinked, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from her legs. Or lack of them. Based on the voice, the head guard had arrived. He must have been a compromise. If the guards weren't to awaken the king and queen, they would at least awaken one of the higher authorities.

"I don't know, Gareth. One moment she was fine, and the next, well..." Callum trailed off.

One moment she was completely human. The next she was part fish. But only an insane person would say that because all of this was crazy. People didn't just grow fish tails where their legs should be. The only thing that could cause that to happen was magic, and her fairy godmother was the one person she knew with such power.

Callum squeezed her arm. "Calm down, Ashlin. It's okay. We're going to figure this out. I'm here."

Despite his words, Ash's breathing became harder. The blue of her tail was scarily familiar, perfectly matching the shade of her dress from the ball. That just didn't make sense though. None of this. She had a fish tail! This couldn't be happening.

"How did this happen, Prince Callum?" Gareth's voice. It somehow remained steady within the panic.

Callum shook his head. "I don't know. It was just the two of us here, and then there was this purple energy, and now Ashlin is like this." Realizing she still wasn't calming down, he began to run his hand through Ash's hair. "This is all going to be okay. I promise."

She wasn't sure how he planned on keeping his promise, but if it was Callum, he had to find a way. He wouldn't just go back on his word. And even if that wasn't enough comfort, Ash knew panicking would only make the entire situation worse. Squeezing her eyes shut to try to ignore the tail, she took a deep breath.

Then they shot back up, her hand darting out to grasp Callum's forearm. The shallow breathing proceeded once more. It wasn't like it mattered. When she had tried to take a deep breath, it had been as if she was breathing in from behind a dusty rag, leaving her throat burning. And it wasn't getting any better.

"Callum," Ash gasped, "breathing hurts."

"Breathing hurts?"

She nodded, squeezing his arm harder. If it hurt, Callum didn't show it. She glanced at him. Tears had built in her eyes after she had tried to take a deep breath, blurring her vision, but she could still see the pale, taut face focused on her. He looked nearly as lost as Ash felt.

"Lady Ashlin, I am going to need to touch you. Is that okay?'

The sudden voice in front of her made her jerk back. Twisting her head around and blinking away the tears, Ash found that Gareth had kneeled down beside her and Callum. His hand was outstretched, hanging in the air a few inches from her. Her gaze flickered from his hand to his eyes, which were as steady as his voice had been. Gulping, she nodded.

Gareth gave his own nod. He reached toward her neck, brushing back the hair that had been there. The only sign he gave he saw something there was the slight downward twitch of his lip. Callum, however, was much more vocal with his surprise, a foul word slipping from him before he cursed his own idiocy.

"Of course. If you would gain a fish tail, why not fish gills?" Gareth reasoned.

Ash's mouth fell open. She had gills? What was next? She would shrink down to the size of a fish? Her astonishment was short lived, cut off by a yelp as Callum began shifting her around.

"Gareth, I need your help," Callum grunted. He tried getting his feet underneath him while still keeping an arm around Ash. "We need to get her to water quickly."