The Cursed Mermaid

Chapter 8: what they lost | Arya

I watched in horror as Nam's body began to convulse. The others retreated from him rapidly, each exchanging a wide eyed glance. "He's okay," I reassured them, even though I was starting to have doubts myself when he flopped forward, his head sinking into the water, and he didn't move. I rushed forward, turning the boy over so that he would be able to breathe.

Turns out, I didn't have to.

As I moved him, I could see the shape of his new shamrock green tail under the surface of the water, glowing vibrantly. Nam began to cough, spitting out salt water that he'd apparently managed to swallow.

"I was about to warn you that it could be painful, you retard," I chided him. He blinked at me in surprise, and I realised that I'd just insulted him - out of pure habit, since I was so used to doing the same to my brothers back home. There was something strange about his gaze, but I couldn't put my finger on it. But then he smiled, and any thoughts I had vanished.

"This isn't so bad," he said, reaching out to touch his tail. He was still wearing the same shirt, I noticed. But his pants had disappeared.

Justina's already colourless face somehow paled even more. "Isn't so bad? Nam, your horn is gone."

Nam's hands instantly went to his forehead, searching for the ivory horn, but felt nothing. "That must be what I gave up, then."

"Not just that." Since Justina had brought my attention to his appearance, it had finally clicked about what I had found strange about him. "Your eyes. They're...not multicoloured anymore."

He frowned. "So what colour are they?"

"Brown," I supplied, still trying to get used to the new change. If Kim saw him now, for the first time, they wouldn't look like fraternal twins.

While Nam practiced swimming around with a new tail, the others hesitantly began to take turns sipping a tiny portion of the potion. Kameron went after Nam, and she was gifted with a sapphire blue tail. Justina's tail was the colour of sage, and Cailyn's teal scales that seemingly blended into the murky green ocean water. Penny's tail was onyx, matching her eyes, and Brendan's was a berry blue.

Penny screamed at first when she saw her own tail, but I'd told her that it was natural to have a tail that was so dark compared to everyone else's. "Tails aren't just blue or green," I explained, grinning. "There's pink and violet and yes, even black."

Penny beamed then. "I'm unique!"

"Uh," Kameron began, her voice quavering slightly, which got everyone's attention. "What colour is my tail?"

"It looks like your tail is a gigantic jewel, Kam. It's blue and glitters like sapphires," Penny responded, before frowning. "Wait, can't you tell?"

Kameron was eerily still. "I can't see," she whispered.

We all froze, watching the Queen of Hearts as she reached out blindly with her hands, managing to find my arm in the process. She gripped onto it tightly, pulling herself closer to me, and that was when I saw that tears had gathered in her eyes, although her eyes were mostly hidden by her auburn fringe.

She wasn't really upset, not in the usual way. That I knew. She was trying to deal with the loss of her sight, something that we all heavily relied on.

Between losing my voice or losing my eyesight, I would always pick the former. I suddenly pitied Kameron. "You don't have to do this," I said gently. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to control what you give up - "

But she was shaking her head, putting a finger to my lips - how had she known where to move her arm without accidentally whacking me in the face? "It's okay, Arya. I can do this." She took a deep breath, spun around, and pointed at everyone in turn. "This is Nam, right here. Then Penny. Brendan. Cailyn. Justina." She was scarily accurate.